Squamloonland

Here’s my 12 of 12 for August—summer’s endgame.

For those who don’t know, 12 of 12 is an internet photo project—started by a guy named Chad—whereby every twelfth of the month, one collects twelve photos of the day and posts them. Here below is my 32nd consecutive twelfth. I continue to find the process to be a useful self-reflective dipstick.

By the way this month I’ve decided to cheat, sort of. While these are the twelve I chose, almost every caption has a link to another photo I’d've liked to include.

6:12am: I set my coffee and electric toothbrush on my Mac in front of the recently painted front door as I ran back in to grab my cell phone and say goodbye to the SquamDogs.

7:10am: I participated in a training in Keene all day every day this week. My drive on this morning was made more interesting by the fact that this pickup truck forced me to follow two convoys like this all the way down NH Rte 9.

8:03am: Having notwithstanding arrived at Antioch on time, I grabbed my class materials from their spot in my immaculate and organized car among my camera, CPAP machine, Malcolm Gladwell audiobook box set, and boat bag.

8:35am: These are the people with whom I spent a truly transformational week with Kim Carter from QED as she trained us to be Critical Friends Group coaches. The only one not pictured is in this shot from later in the day.

11:14am: Since my camera was next to J while I was presenting, she was kind enough to take a few shots of me unawares. Here I was in the midst of an Issaquah protocol around solving one of my bigger professional dilemmas. The best part of this protocol is that you end up with a pile of Post-it notes written by the group containing probing questions to ponder.

12:50pm: Lunch hour was always a welcome respite from some very deep thinking. Here we are giddily rushing back after a great meal at Keene Fresh Salad—recommended to me by a former student. (I ate there twice this week.)

4:53pm: Lucky for me, friends D&S live only twenty minutes from Keene, so I saved myself a few long drives by spending Tuesday and Thursday nights at their house. I arrived just as D was finishing up his workday in his home office…

5:09pm …and S was finishing up typing her lesson plans for her first week back at her high school teaching job. She jokingly scolded me that my stay two nights before had gotten her back in school mode.

5:10pm: This is the view of Mt. Monadnock  that one wakes up to in D&S’ guest room. A five-star B&B. Bonus shot: a side view of the mountain from the drive to their house.

6:47pm: While D cooked, S and I agreed on how lucky we are to be able to stand around while our spouses cook amazing meals.

6:58pm: We had good conversation as always over D’s pasta primavera with sausage, and then postponed doing the dishes to watch…

8:58pm: …the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. It was a must-see in their household, and it didn’t disappoint. There were some truly powerful routines.

Voilà. See you in the school year.

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Nestled in my busy annual teacher’s summer vacation, there is always a sacred week when the family lake house is ours and ours alone. For the third year in a row, I’ve taken this time to set aside my BlackBerry and my laptop and disconnect from the world outside.

It just so happened that the twelfth fell on the first day of that week. And interestingly, even though I was cognizant of it being 12 of 12 day (my 31st consecutive!), I ended up with fewer pictures of it than I usually do. Luckily, I managed to scrounge up twelve I like.

Summer vacation for this teacher perhaps, but not for my wine-rep wife. While I was beginning my idyllic vacation-week-within-a-summer-vacation, her computer went on the fritz, she dropped her cell phone in the toilet, and her brakes froze up in the driveway as she was leaving for work.

So I told her to take my car, and asked my sister to come get me and all of the stuff I was taking to Squam for the week. It was not a good day for our driveway however, as the truck that AAA sent to take the car couldn’t make it up, and my sister’s Volvo was already so laden as to be unable to clear it either. She generously hiked the driveway three times to help bring everything down.

I have three sisters, born ten, nine, and five years before me. That was the eldest who rescued me, and this is third. They were both staying at the house next door.

My grandparents bought the Squam property in the 1930s, and they had powerboats there up until about 1972—when I was eight years old and my sisters were teenagers. Most of my parents’ generation, however, had a different mindset, and thought the lake should be experienced by sailboat, canoe, kayak, or rowboat—and once in a great while by the 7.5-horse putt-putt outboard. So for nearly 40 years, unless I’ve had a full day to paddle or putt, I really haven’t had an opportunity to fully explore the expanse of Squam’s 6800 acres.

Until now. That pretty boat at the dock, a 2003 Silverline 1705 with a 130-horse stern-drive Mercruiser, became mine at the end of June. I’ve christened her (him?) the Invictus.

Never in my life have I been happier about a purchase.

“We can go to the other side of the lake, like when we were kids!” said the middle sister over the phone when I told her the news. And indeed we can. Daily. At 40 miles per hour if we like. (By sheer coincidence, that’s both the posted speed limit on Squam and what the Invictus tops out at.)

Since Kasey and my SquamDogs haven’t yet learned to get along, mine stayed home for this ride. If you look closely, you can see my oh-so-well-trained pooches waiting for our return. Atop the the dining room table.

Prompted by a FaceBook suggestion from stepdaughter T2, I decided I really wanted to re-create the scene that my grandfather painted in 1971—a painting that hung in my childhood bedroom. I took this picture from the attic crawlspace, where I had hoped to find his easel, but didn’t. What I like about the shot, though, is that the blocks and the rocking horse were made by him, and I believe that the steamroller on the lower left was his childhood toy as well.

Since there’s no longer a mooring, it took forever for me to get the sailboat in anything close to the right position, especially given the wind direction. Grandpa’s perspective was definitely off, and he took a great deal of license on the mountains, but it’s still fun to see how level the bench used to be, and nostalgic to note the old Mouse Island boathouse.

P wouldn’t be joining me until the following night, so the SquamDogs and I had a solitary evening. We took a sunset cruise…

…and I grilled up some pre-packaged ribs and read some more of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I finished the day with a swim beneath the stars, and thanked my parents’ parents for the ten thousandth time for the choices they made nearly 80 years ago.

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Whoops! Forgot to finish writing this last week. Summertime…
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12 of 12 (twelve photos of the twelfth of the month), the brainchild of a guy named Chad, seems to have become my consistent means of maintaining a personal blog. Thanks, guy named Chad.

I took a lot of pictures on the twelfth, and had a heck of a time winnowing. The shots below are my own personal twelvoftwelvy take on the day. The full photo album of people and events can be seen here.

I’ve also decided to cheat this month, and added links where I felt a picture could use a bit of juxtaposition. Click away if you’re so inclined.

Rain was beginning to fall when I got up. Graduation would be in the gym.

I only just realized that the background of this shot of my FaceBook status was in my very first 12 of 12.

Two fellow twelve-of-twelving colleagues appear in this shot, and their takes on this day can be seen here and here.

Graduation day’s always bittersweet.

I like the candid moments.

The cap thing just isn’t as photogenic indoors.
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So right after graduation, I loaded up my car with six cartons containing 40 painting-in-a-bottle centerpieces (made by LH and the NRHS Art Club), and drove an hour to the Manchester Radisson, where I backed my car right into the function hall…

…and then placed the bottles (and the sunglasses, and the little umbrellas) on 40 of the 100 tables in anticipation of the EDie Awards gala. (It’s an odd tradition: the winning elementary, middle, and secondary schools all provide the centerpieces for the event.)

I then parked near the exit, thanks to a tip from my savvy wife, who’s worked her fair share of wine tastings here. And given how much faster I got out than everyone else at the end of the night, I think I’ll always think this way when parking for events from now on.

The meal was surprisingly good for such a massive event. There was a chicken dish after this, and an amazing cake to finish.

We were here, of course, because unlike last year, when we were the second-place finalist…

…this year, Newfound Regional High School is the New Hampshire Secondary School of Excellence. This is my on-stage shot of Mike O’Malley delivering the acceptance speech. And for all you click-happy readers, here’s a shot of me taking this shot. Well actually, I think it’s a shot of me taking this shot.

Last year felt good, but this year felt pretty darned special. (I should note here that Deb Howard was very much with us in spirit. She was instrumental in the application process last year, and vowed we’d win it this year.

Somebody had to hold on to the Bell and the Big McCheck for the night, so I figgered it might as well be me.

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I was hoping to come up with a good theme this month, and had some good suggestions, but none seemed to work with the day—until I realized that my wife’s did. She’d said “How about reality?”

This is not to imply that my previous twenty-eight 12 of 12s weren’t reflective of reality, of course. :^)

5:28am  The reality of our yard: we like our phlox to be accompanied by violets and open ledge, rather than a “lawn”.

6:04am The reality of commuting in New Hampshire. (You might be interested to know that New Hampshire has the largest per capita number of vanity plates. This guy’s says “NH-HOBO”.)

6:20am The reality of my fitness program: I may be there here, but I really don’t go to the gym as often as I should.

7:19am The reality of my eclecticism: I recently dug out my tarot cards from over a decade ago, and it’s been fun to get reacquainted with their Jungian symbolism.

8:24am The reality of teaching: sometimes a computer conjugation website is a welcome respite.

10:14 The reality of 12 of 12: I love that my colleagues are doing it too. That’s Nancy in the background, taking picture #7 from her set.

11:08am Another reality of 12 of 12: Sometimes I don’t get the shot I want. It was weekly advisory day, and I forgot to get a picture of my advisory. So at lunch I asked some of my advisory kids to raise their hands in advisory solidarity. Advisory. There. I said it again.

12:17pm The reality of French IV: sometimes they goof off—but it’s in a cool way. Zach recently learned to solve a Rubik’s cube no matter how you shuffle it, and here we were watching him do it in under a minute.

2:45pm Another reality of high school teaching: Sometimes we’re just supervisors, like here during class meetings. That’s my colleague Jen in front of me taking a picture of the freshman class officers for her 12 of 12.

3:28pm The reality of Leadership Council: There are humorous moments, like when Christina (another 12 of 12er) was giddy over the news that our school district is adopting Google Apps as the main communication and application conduit for next year.

6:24pm The reality of our evenings: We like our TV. Here I’m watching the Dr. Phil that P had just watched, while she makes dinner. This was the case of an anorexic girl who’s been bullying her family with emotional extortion.

7:59pm The reality of dinner at our house: we eat well, and healthy, ninety percent of the time. But nice juicy fatty burgers do happen. And this one was damned good.

Time once again for 12 pictures of my 12th of the month, an idea conceived by a guy named Chad.

With over 12 hours of this 12th spent at work, I needed to do something with the pictures to add a little pizzazz.  When I colorized just a portion of number 6 to add to my students’ trompe l’oeil, it dawned on me that the technique might be fun to try on all 12. So that’s what I did, with varying degrees of success.

Up at 5:30 am. About 40 degrees.

The SquamDogs look kind of Blue-mannish here. Or orange-doggish. Anyway they’re wondering why I’m going back outside with shorts on.

It’s because I was going for a run… frankly not a frequent occurrence yet. But it feels good when I do it, and I’m hopeful for spring motivation.

School, just before first period. The ceiling tiles outside the art room are all student-painted reproductions of famous paintings.

My desk. I’d forgotten my lunch, so I had to settle for school cafeteria chicken nuggets.

This is the picture that inspired this theme. Not my idea. French IV likes 12 of 12.

Just after school, one of my former students who hadn’t had enough credits to walk at graduation last spring was finally awarded his diploma by the principal and superintendent. That’s his mom, in case you couldn’t tell.

My favorite monthly meeting: the two-hour session of the Professional Learning Group I’m in.

The musical’s this coming weekend. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I have nothing to do with it; I was just looking for a projector for the school board meeting.

Sadly, I didn’t get to go home for dinner. Other people like this place, but I haven’t had a good meal there yet. Maybe I’m just spoiled by my wife’s cooking.

I went to the school board meeting for two reasons: 1) those of us who facilitated the EDies application and visitation process were being recognized, and 2) the high school art department was in jeopardy. Luckily, it no longer is. I didn’t find that out until the next day though, as I had to leave the board meeting to get to my…

…Sleep Center appointment. The sleep technician was kind enough to take this photo of me wearing the CPAP for the first time. I’ve been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, and this was my second sleep evaluation where I was shown the use of the freaky apparatus. It was a long night, and I very much hope I’ll be able to find a mask and a position that work for me. Thus far, it’s nothing but bizarre.

So that’s it. See you in May!

Another 12th of the month, another 12 of 12. Twelve pictures of the day. An idea conceived by a guy named Chad.

We have a new front door, and we love it. (That top storm window slides down and a screen comes down out of the inside of the door.)

Izellah awaits her morning treat in front of the new barleycolored wall. (It looks much yellower here than it really is… and the masking-taped cabinet’s waiting for another coat of Super White.)

Signs of spring on Meredith Bay: hooded mergansers and a neglected bobhouse. (See last month for comparison.)

7:30 Senior Project planning meeting.

I’ve been promising my French II class a movie for a while. You can’t tell, but this is Amélie on the big screen in the auditorium.

I often bring French IV to room 106 on Fridays. We were so comfortable where we were that I decided to get creative on where I projected my subjunctive vs. indicative transparency.

I was incredibly psyched that three of my colleagues were shooting 12 of 12s for the first time today. CS took that last shot, and here JC’s getting a shot of me (and LD) while I type up a schedule and planning email for our school’s upcoming visit from the EDies Selection Committee.

Our new front door, in all its glory (the promised “after” shot from last month). (You can hardly see her, but Izellah’s there in her favorite spot.)

I hate that this 45-year-old looks 95 in this picture, but it’s just so good of the typical SquamDogs’ attitudes headed down Sawmill Hill on the ride to their walk.

Smells of spring.

P grabbed the camera to document my Friday afternoon nap.

It was a rare movie night (Julie and Julia—I recommend it), and my darling made delicious finger food—shrimp with a mango-pepper sauce, vegetables with a yogurt dip, and chicken satay. We also had baked mochi for the first time… a whim from a Whole Foods expedition a few weeks ago. It was pretty good. Interesting. We need to research it more.

Every twelfth of the month, I compile twelve pictures of my day for my version of an internet practice known as 12 of 12.

This month’s set was kind of mundane, so I’ve spiced up the descriptions with hyperlinks.

I still haven’t upgraded my WordPress, so comments don’t work unless you delete the gobbledygook from the end of the address that they point to. If that makes no sense and you’d still like to comment, feel free to comment on a photo’s Flickr page, or on my FaceBook page.

I took a picture of our front door in all its ugliness to serve as a before for next month’s after. (Please disregard the garlands—we like the lights at night.)

I followed Tweety through most of my commute. This is the lighter side of Tweety, and it will be my first entry into my friend sgazzetti’s Flicker group Tweety Light and Dark.

My French II class, taking a vocab quiz. A lot less fun than what they were doing last month.

While I was posting the announcements, the district IT guy was solving a problem with the wireless nodes in the building. During our chat he turned me on to the WiFiFoFum app for my new (on-loan) iPod Touch.

7th period outside my cubicle. On my screen is this prototype I recently received of the Data Dashboard, coming soon to our school (in a revised form).

When I don’t make it to the gym in the morning, I drag myself there in the afternoon. (One of these days I’ll look like the dude in the picture.)

Passing through Meredith. The Fishing Derby was a couple of weeks ago.

My wine-rep wife has a huge territory, but oftentimes on Fridays she does a tasting at our local neighborhood grocery store.

The dogs were most excited when she got home. (That’s Mike Haddad in the reflection.)

Why the cone, you ask? Well, because my little buddy chose to swallow another chunk of rubber big enough to get stuck in his small intestine. Again.

Crushed pistachio and brown-sugar encrusted pork tenderloin over carrot-parsnip purée, topped with a sauteed onion and golden raisin sauce. Pretty darned amazing. Have I mentioned how lucky I am?

I know it was no Beijing, but I still really liked portions of the Olympics opening ceremony.

My favorite part was this boy flying to a reflective rendition of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. I felt like he was reenacting one of my dreams.

If anyone has a link to the video of that portion, please let me know.

Happy New Year! And happy first twelfth of the month, the day of which I try to capture twelve representative photos. Credit for the idea goes to a guy named Chad.

Given my inconsistency in so many areas of my life, I must say I’ve flabbergasted myself to have successfully twelve-of-twelved twenty-four times in a row. I’ll never be a full-fledged blogger, but I’m loving the monthly ritual.

This month’s has no theme, no song, no rhyme. But it’s done. (Oh, and I’m still not a WordPress geek, so I still haven’t fixed the comments thing. If anyone knows what’s wrong with them, feel free to help me.)

Yes, I know: the Christmas tree’s still up. But it does create a great silhouette of Denny wondering why in God’s name I’m leaving at 5:45 am.

This is why—and I’ve been back at it since New Year’s. (I took a side view of myself, too, considering a before and after. But I’m too embarrassed to post it.)

It’s the week before midyear exams, so I had my French II class reviewing vocab with the same musicalchairsy Levez-vous si vous avez game that was featured in my 12 of 12 from last May.

My daily dissemination of the school announcements. The little people are representations of the cast of Ralph Roister Doister, the one-act I’m directing. I was using them to figure out the blocking of the “battle” scene.

Here I had just brought the “well” (formerly part of the fountain from our 2000 production of Much Ado) up to the art room, so that my co-director (the art teacher) could paint it in the same motif that she’d painted that wall.

My French IV students are well acquainted with 12 of 12 (they’re the ones who were Levez-vousing last May), so they were all about taking my picture this time around. (We were working on imparfait vs. passé composé as well as the adverbial pronoun en.)

Here’s an interesting repeat performance: Joe Dimartino, the nationally recognized proponent of high school redesign that I saw in Concord in November, was at Newfound to help train us as we launch our advisory program.

The daily SquamDog silhouettes greeted my arrival home. (Those tree lights look better than they look here, though I’m going to wrap it better for next Christmas.)

P’s hair looked especially beautiful as she cooked yet another especially delicious meal…

…namely chicken chili. The prosecco complemented it nicely.

This Farmville thing’s getting out of control—but it really is fun. It’s free fuel week, so I had a lot planted. Last week my farm was a map of Paris. The Eiffel Tower’s all that’s left. (It’s made out of chickens.)

I’m trying to make a point of disconnecting from my gadgets at bedtime, and it’s proven to be a good thing.

Voilà. That’s all there is to it. Try it, you’ll like it. Twelve of twelve with us next month!

This month’s 12 of 12 (twelve photos of the twelfth of the month—this being my twenty-fourth) is written to the tune of the classic Christmas song Silver Bells. Roughly. Some of the stressed syllables and, for that matter, random syllable additions, are a little hokey. My apologies to my vast readership.

Snowy front deck,
Chilly front deck,
Dressed in holiday style
In the air
There’s a feeling of Christmas.

Mantle’s merry
Tree not very
(We went a little too small),
But with ornaments on it will do.

12 of 12, 12 of 12,
It’s Christmastime down in Boston.
Let’s go down,
Get out of town,
’cause soon it will be Christmas day.

Christmas tie fun
Bought a sleigh one
While on Washington street,

Macy’s Santa
Was rocking the carols.
In TJ Maxx
Behind the main racks
It was poignant to see,

Poor Annalee relegated to schlock.

12 of 12, 12 of 12,
It’s Christmastime in the city.

Faneuil hall,
Foodie mall,
Curry and spanakopita for lunch.

Skaters skated
While we waited
For the evening at hand

Back at the hotel
We dressed for the ballet,

This dog’s sheer bliss
Made us both miss
Our poor puppies we’d left
At the Inn for a night on their own.

12 of 12, 12 of 12,
It’s Christmastime in the city
Twelve photos,
In toto,
Can’t tell how special it was.

Nutcracker was
Worth all the buzz
That surrounds it each year,

As was Teatro
(The place we had dinner),

Lobster pasta;
Sopressata
Potatoes and octopi,
Chicken livers, cheeses, and good wine.

12 by 12, I have delved
Into my twelfths for two years now
Hoping then
2010
Will be just as twelvey a year.

I’ve decided it’s time
To do one in rhyme.

12 of 12 rhyming? It might get read quicker.
(For notes on this photo just click through to Flickr.)

In my driveway, a shot through the frost seemed like fun…

..and on my commute there was this one of the sun.

At school I wrote plans for the sub who’d stand in my stead…

…while I saw Joe Dimartino at the Department of Ed.

On my way back up north I exchanged this commode…

…then returned back to school where more meetingness flowed.

You won’t grasp the coolness if you’re not caching inclined,
but by headlamp near home I got a rare First to Find.

The SquamDogs were waiting with the fresh haircuts you see…

…for an enjoyable evening with P J M & E.

I’ll finish with M in this shot at my desk…

…and my wind-down in Farmville, oh-so-12-of-12-esque.