No stars present today, though the director is hard at work… looking at blueprints? Large maps? A poster? I don’t know. But I remain ever vigilant:

And Fresh Pot remains disguised as Jitters:

I will keep you abreast of all developments. Also, all breasts will be developed.
Huh?

* Radha Mitchell (the woman from Melinda Melinda)
* Mike Mills (from REM) (He is not involved in “Feast of Love.” He is recording with REM sans Stipe down the street at Mississippi Studios)
And that’s the latest from the UrHo star stalker!

The movie stars are on my street.
I just arrived home from Rebecca’s birthday lunch at Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory and glanced out my window at the Fresh Pot (now ridiculously renamed “Jitters” for the duration of the filming.) Who was sitting on the step talking to a couple of pretty ladies? One Ga-Reg Kin-Near. He’s out there right now, as a matter of fact. He’s wearing sunglasses. Inside I noticed a large black man sitting at a table. I couldn’t see his face, but I guessed it was Morgan Freeman. Cha-ching! He came out a moment later, presumably to rehearse an entrance. I overheard Kinnear say to him, “Didn’t they tell you? I’m sitting on the stoop in this scene!” What a dork. Freeman laughed a little “heh heh,” clearly unimpressed with the bit, but then patted Greg’s back affectionately as he entered the cafe.
Notes:
* Kinnear is a very slight man. Slighter than you’d think.
* Freeman is quite large.
A piece of trivia:
* This is not the first time I have seen Kinnear on the set of a movie. In 1998, on an ill-fated trip from Denver to NYC and Providence, RI to visit a “boyfriend,” I stopped to watch a scene from one “You’ve Got Mail” being filmed on the Upper West Side. Yup, I spent 20 minutes of my life watching Kinnear sigh and then walk down the front steps of Meg Ryan’s brownstone holding a typewriter over and over. Later that night I got dumped. Ah, young love.

1. I don’t care what you say. “Lady in the Water” is a good movie. There are flaws. I won’t deny that. But the characters are so likable and the story is refreshing somehow. Not your typical thriller/hero story/dramady. There is a magic realism vibe that hits home for me. Favorite movie of the summer so far. There. I said it.
2. Settlers of Catan is the new coolest nerd-game. We played two nights in a row, and I won once and came in second once. That means that the game is awesome. I strongly recommend it to the following readers: Liz & J, Sonny, Jon, and Larry F. I moderately recommend it to everyone else (as it is a strategy game, which is deadly boring to many, many people. Myself usually included. But not this time. Probably because I won.) Here are a bunch of nerds playing this nerd-game:

3. They are filming a movie across the street from my apartment. It’s called “Feast of Love” and stars Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. If you give me a dollar you can come stargaze from my window. For two dollars you can show your ta-ta’s to Kinnear after getting his attention by shouting “Look at me!!”
4. Why is it so hard for me to blog when I have all this time on my hands? I could be blogging 6 hours a day, for crying out loud. It would be pretty boring blogging though. Adios!

Man, these ladies are cool. I posted the “Awkward Plea” on my blog and a sweet three days later a package arrived in the mail from one Overarching Lucie containing two volumes for my library- “The Lorax,” and “The Lotus Seed.” Then, two days after that, another package arrived! This time Darcy hit me up with two classics that are staples in any halfway decent first grade collection- “Where the Wild Things Are,” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” While that awesome parcel was waiting in my mailbox, I stopped by Emily’s apartment to pick up a few of her favorite titles from childhood, pictured below. You may notice a Maurice Sendak overlap, which is fine by me. It just means that two kids can be reading this rad book at the same time. However, if either lady wants their copy of “Wild Things” returned, I will certainly oblige.

The point is, thank you. I am so appreciative of the support you’ve all shown me. I can’t wait to see what titles drift through in the next few weeks, and I can’t wait to display them proudly on my shelves come September!

My mom is an astrologer. When I was a kid she created astrological charts for people for extra money. I’ve know my whole life that the reason I’m so stubborn is because I have a Taurus rising, and that my moon in Scorpio means that I can be inflexible when it comes to my ideals, with my ideals coming from my Aquarian sun. My feelings about astrology have always been mixed. I’m naturally skeptical, but it’s sort of fun to think about my character being determined by the cosmos. The idea that I am the way I am because the stars were aligned in the sky a certain way at the moment of my birth is pretty amazing.
Anyway, one of the holdfast truths of any astrologer is that when Mercury goes retrograde shutter your windows and put on your goulashes because things are gonna get stormy. Mercury is the planet that guides communication, and when it goes retrograde (meaning that Earth passes it in orbit, making Mercury appear to be traveling backwards) communication breaks down. During this time you’re not supposed to make any major purchases or sign any contracts. Don’t get married, don’t get divorced. Just wait it out, and give people the benefit of the doubt. Chances are, you misunderstood a perfectly innocent remark or whatever.
I’ve been blaming everything on Mercury these last few weeks. I’ve been having all of these tedious problems getting my property manager to do some simple apartment repairs that were meant to be finished before I move in. I’d call him and think we agreed to have a certain thing done that day and then come home and either find nothing done or something started and abandoned. Let’s just say that my living room furniture was moved into the center of the room and left there until I moved it back four days later, walls unpainted. Ugh. I tried to be real understanding with the dude- he’s a nice guy, my age, got a sweet Canadian wife and besides they live in the apartment next door. But after a month of almost daily conversations and no work completed, I finally tattled to the owners. I felt like a snitch, but come on. I just wanted a toilet paper holder and a coat of paint, you know? Anyway, they were real nice and helpful and stuff is finally getting done.
So that was the major communication problem that Mercury blessed me with, but there have been plenty of minor ones as well. Dumb stuff like, “Oh, I thought you said we would meet at the THEATER!” and “Oh, no. That was a joke. I was trying to…. I was just… It’s a pun, see? Oh, shoot. Nevermind. I’m sorry!”
Mercury should right itself next week, and I think we can all say “Amen.” In the meantime, over-explain everything, and get what you can in writing.

So I’ve been putting off this entry for a while because it feels really weird to solicit mostly strangers to help me with my job, but here goes:

In just over a month I will be starting my first year of teaching first grade. The average public school teacher spends $500 a year out of pocket on her classroom, first year teachers usually spend a lot more than that. I’m trying to build a really killer classroom library, but even hitting yard sales and thrift shops I’m still going pretty deep in the red. Thus I am reaching out to you, dear readers, to help a poor struggling teacher teach her kids to read (woe is me!). Do you have some children’s books you’re willing to part with? Old favorites you want the youth of today to cherish the way you did oh those many years ago? Are you a parent whose children have outgrown their once beloved Maurice Sendak classics (honestly how could they)? If so, please pass them along to me! I will read them aloud to my students! I will write “This book graciously donated to Ms. Wonder’s library by (your name here)” on the inside cover. I will post creative “thank you” photos on flickr or cool book reviews on vimeo and say your name on the internet! if only you will send me books.
If you don’t have any cool favorites lying around, I’ve put together an Amazon.com wish list with some titles that would live in my dream-library. I’ve tried to select books with multicultural themes, that address complex social or environmental issues in developmentally appropriate ways. Of course there are some silly titles and cool classics in there too, so take your pick. Hardcovers last longer than paperbacks (but beggars can’t be choosers), and used books are a-OK with me.
Thank you in advance to anyone who decides to contribute. If you want my address email me at wonderwillow@gmail.com and I will pass it along to you. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!

I entered a cynic and walked away a believer. Which is to say I was not pumped about Shipwreck Days this year. In fact, I almost didn’t go. Mike and Steve had to seriously pump me up for it, which is weird because some of my very happiest memories are from there. But you know, the first year was complete magic, the second year I fell in love, the third year I missed (and was devastated) because I was abroad, and last year… well, it was bittersweet. I did all the fun stuff but it wasn’t transformative like in years past. Connecting with Rebecca in a deep way was the best part of the trip, but otherwise it bordered on painful. Of course I was in a pretty deep post break-up brooding zone, so that certainly affected my ability to have a great time, but still. I sort of felt like the glow had faded for me, and that going back this year without it would just spoil all the good memories.
Luckily I have good friends who insisted (again and again and again) that if I didn’t go I would be all alone for the weekend regretting that I hadn’t taken the chance that it would be awesome again. I don’t know that it would have been as bad as all of that, but I am glad I went. I sort of released my expectations of what it would be like- good and bad- and focussed on being open and flexible. I didn’t get uptight about my Shipwreck traditions, I just went with the vibe and had a nice time. I made some new friends- Juliet the Montessori teacher from New England and I got on like a house on fire- and I went deeper with tight Portland homies. I wouldn’t say that it felt magical this year, but I had a solidly good time. And my warm feelings for the festival are totally strengthened.
On a different note, sorry for the gap between posts. I taught summer school last week which totally swamped me and then went away for the weekend. I feel sheepish that my last post was borderline-emo and then I never followed up with nicer stuff. Yikes. I will do better!

It’s like I go through periods that are so nice that I’ll read the paper or something and blink a few times and then go, “Oh yeah. The rest of the world.” In those times I feel hopeful and sane, and even halfway believe that we are on the upswing of civilization. After my kayak trip I felt that way. I had this idea that Al Gore would run for and be elected president and I would write him a letter suggesting a WPA-style effort to reverse the effects of global warming while creating American jobs and redefining the working class. See, the federal government would employ out-of-work lumberjacks in a massive reforestation project. Fishermen would be trained in aquatic conservation, hybrid car factories would be built, etc etc. Plus tons of money for alternative fuel and energy research. And lots of other kinds of research.
If I looked closely at this idea of course I could see all the holes, but just having it made me buoyant. For a while. But with me it’s a pendulum, and so just a few weeks later I found myself sobbing on the curb outside the Portland Mercury anniversary party. Not because I was drunk (I wasn’t) not because Mike and I fought (we didn’t), but because there are wars and because I feel unrepresented by my government, and because glaciers are melting into the ocean.
When I get dark like that I have to go searching for beauty. I sort of miss the daily nice things that I normally catch, and have to smack myself a little bit to wake up and notice how floaty a person on a skateboard looks, or how rad it is that freecycling is taken for granted in this town (overheard: “Where’s the nearest freecycle?” “Oh, it’s right up the street.”) In Dark Times I feel like I’ve just barely got my finger in the dam or worse, that I’m trapped beneath the rough waters. What good are good works, honestly? There have always been great teachers, always great activists, and we’re still in big trouble. I’ve stopped listening to so much NPR- hearing the same bad news on the hour, every hour can get a girl down. But then, don’t I have an obligation to listen to it? Even if I can’t ease the suffering of anyone on this planet, shouldn’t I at least bear witness to it?
I guess it’s either rose-colored glasses or shit-colored ones for this girl. I’m back on the upswing now- feeling good about riding my bike (even if I did crash yesterday) and being conscious about where I spend my money. Boy, those sure are Bougie things to feel good about, huh? Maybe it’s my job as a middle-class white woman to feel both guilty and helpless at the same time. It’s been that way for centuries, right?
Wow, this is sort of a downer entry for a TGIFriday, but in my defense I started writing it yesterday, and it wasn’t so cynical-sounding in my head. I saw Superman last night, and let me tell you, it was no help at all.

…check out this cool new Hero Club I heard about. (And by “heard about” I mean “started.”) I’m reading the Promethea comics and the novel Fortress of Solitude to get warmed up. Want in?