Because They Said So: Ep. 2

These posts are going to be rare until the school year starts, since they depend on my memory of things that happened over the last year.  Once I go back to working with the kids there’ll be more to work with.  But.  A conversation I had today reminded me of these two quotes from kids, and I can’t believe I forgot them in the first "Because They Said So" post.   

Backstory on this bad boy: 

So, I was also working for a progressive organization that does a ton of good stuff for New York.  One of the things we worked on (the main thing we were working on, really) was Fair Elections for NY (If you don’t know a lot about public financing of elections, you should check it out.  Good stuff.).  Anyway, at the end of the legislative session, we did a bit of civil disobedience, which led to arrests of 21 activists, myself included.  I was talking to one of the moms at work about it, and her six year old son overheard some of the conversation.  And so he interjected:

“Bye bye, Charlotte, you’re going to jail!”

Six year old boy.  In the funniest voice ever.  (Also, no worries.  He thinks the arrest didn’t happen, and we explained what a sit-in is.)

“He laughed when I lost knock-out, because he wanted revenge for when I beat him.  And revenge is NEVER okay!”

Nine year old boy, on why he hit another boy.  This was one of those moments where I had to try realllllly hard not to laugh.  This was legit the last thing I could have expected to hear.  My coworker, who overheard this whole thing, started cracking up, but she was a couple feet away and her laughter didn’t faze the kid.  I agree with the kid, revenge isn’t a good thing.  But to hear a little kid use this reasoning (especially with the incredibly serious tone he used) was hysterical. 

Book List - Unemployed Edition

So since I decided I'd leave a job I liked and a city I liked and an apartment I liked (...until I realized it was also home to Jaq and Gus) and moved to the Confederacy North Carolina, I have nothing but free time.  Nothing.  Which meannnnnnnnnnnns books.  Bring me all the books in the land!  Well, let's say maybe ten or fifteen.  I need time to hike and to people-watch, but I'm going to take advantage of my temporary period of unemployment and relaxation to read.  I've got a never-ending book list so it seems like a good opportunity.

HERE GOES:

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  Ha.  No, just kidding.  A little dark humor for you.

Here goes.  For real:

1. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.  I read In the Heart of the Sea by Philbrick a few years ago and loved it.  The writing was just as good as the story.  And I always love me a little northeastern history.

2. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson.  I started this a few months ago and enjoyed it, but it became one of those books that you start, put down, read three other books, read another few chapters, put it down, read five other books, and then finish.  Whatever, don’t judge me.  It’s on the list now.  It will be finished.  God willing.

3. Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky.  This is half for fun, half for learning.  Not that fun and learning can’t be synonymous… but yes.  This book.  On the summer list.

4. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder. 

5. Exile by Richard North Patterson.  One of my favorite people I work with recommended this book.  She’s a hilarious, wild, super smart 81 year old lady and I’ll read whatever she tells me to.  Earlier in the year we swapped The Hunger Games books.  What a woman.  For real.

6. Red China Blues by Jan Wong.  This is a book about a westerner in Maoist China.  ‘nuff said, am I right?

7. Plugged by Eoin Colfer.  A mystery written with humor?  Yes, please.  And thank you.  Unless it turns out to be bad.  Then the “you may also like” receipts at Barnes and Noble can fuck off.

8. At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks.  Hey, everyone loves a little junk reading now and then.  Since every Nicholas Sparks love story is the same I already know what happens.  But I’ll enjoy reading it all the same.

9. Top Secret America by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin.  We read excerpts from this bad boy in one of my classes and it was so revolting that I have a desire to read the whole damn thing.  By the way, if you’re not pissed at the things our government does here and abroad, you should be. 

10. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.  With a title like that, who wouldn’t want to read it?

11. The Rise of Islamic Capitalism by Vali Nasr.  This one is going to take me a while.  As in I’ll start it, read all the others on my list, and then maybe finish it.  That happens to me a lot with smart nonfiction books.  Whatever.

12. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  It’s time.

13. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.  Honestly, the cover looks really good.  And while I won’t NOT read a book based on its cover, ya damn straight I will read a book just because I like the cover.  It’s worked out pretty nicely so far.

14. Everything Happens Today by Jesse Browner.  This shit was awesome.  I started reading it and loved it.  Thing is, it’s super slow paced.  But I need to get over that and read the damn thing because I remember doing a lot of nodding and “amen, brother!” while reading it.

15. As It Was in the Beginning: The Coming Democratization of the Catholic Church by Robert McClory. Because I find Catholicism, which I actually love being a part of, really confusing and often frustrating.  Answer, this may be?  

Because They Said So: Ep. 1

As I mentioned in my first post, I work with kids in the morning.  There were several times over the last year that the kids would do or say something either hilarious or enlightening (or both), and I’ve thought, “hey, if I ever woman up and actually start a blog, I should write about this.”  It’s not just things they say, but things I’ve noticed about them and take note of, or things they teach me about myself.  And as fun as the job is (getting paid to play kick ball?  Yes please.), I take it pretty seriously.  I’ve made it a point to be more conscious and mindful of my words and actions; I figure, for two hours a day these kids are around us and let’s be real, we all know they’re super observant and super impressionable.  That and I like to make sure we’re starting their days off on positive notes.  You know?

For this first post, I’m just going to list a few funny things kids have said to me or to my coworkers this year.  Enjoy.

“I hate boys.  They shouldn’t let boys go to school until we’re in high school.  They’re so annoying.”

“They’re annoying in high school, too, kid.”

“Yeah, but in high school they’ll be good looking!”

Nine year old girl.

Backstory on this next one:  I had a copy of Brothers Grimm stories that I’d read to some of the kids fairly frequently.  (Parents, I apologize if it caused nightmares.)  On this particular morning, we were reading Seven Ravens. (I like to think I’m intelligent, but I don’t remember if that’s supposed to be underlined, italicized, or put in quotation marks, and I don’t feel like looking it up.)  I had just finished reading the part where the father curses the sons and they turn to ravens, and then this gem of a reaction occurs:

“That was quite cruel of the father!  He could have at least wished they were dogs!”

Eight year old boy.  I get the kid’s sentiment, but it’s always hella funny to hear a kid say “quite.”  Also, dogs.

“She can’t be pregnant, there’s no ring on her finger!”  Also, there's no man, but I didn’t want to get into that conversation. 

Nine year old boy, responding to another boy who asked if I was pregnant because I said babies are precious.   

“There’s nothing bad about dating, Charlotte.  Nothing bad is going to happen if they sit at lunch together.”

Eight year old girl, upon hearing my objections to two seven year olds “dating.”

That’s it for now.

Obligatory Introductory Post

Man, I don’t know how to write a proper introductory blog post.  I’m Charlotte.  I spend half my life being a pessimistic bitch and half my life being overly optimistic and bubbly.  I’m thinking that’s because old Charlotte and new Charlotte are constantly battling it out.  (Am I starting to sound nuts?  That’s about right.)  I like musicals, superhero movies, and cookies dipped in coffee.  Oh, and books.  A lot of books.  I'm a recent graduate of UAlbany (miraculously.  For real, almost didn't make it.).  During the school year, I work at a before school program watching kids - so basically I get paid to play dodge ball and make crafts.  I also worked on the political scene for a while and plan to go back to that in a few months.  It's fun getting paid to be a troublemaker. 

It’s not really essential to who I am, so I’m not sure it belongs in an intro, but I just moved to North Carolina from New York.  This is for sure a temporary move; even if I didn't want to leave eventually, I’m fairly certain the confederates will only tolerate so much of my socialist, feminazi, liberal nonsense.  I've been here three days and people are already making “north of the Mason-Dixon line” jokes.  No hate, though.  As much as I mock the dirty south, it’s beautiful in these mountains and I’m going to try to use my time here to work on myself.

My plan is basically to write about a bunch of random stuff on this blog.  For a while now, I’ve written down little reminders of things to post, but some debilitating low self-esteem (paired with a little laziness and a hectic schedule) stopped me from ever actually putting it up here.  I figure it’s about time though, you feel me?  So expect some ramblings about politics, family, Catholicism, economics, kids, and other things.  It’ll be fun.  Or not.  Whatever.