Friends in education, especially in California, listen to this

A brief interlude. Those of you in California probably know that Steve Poizner is running for Governor as a Republican. But did you know he taught for one semester in a San Jose school and then wrote a book about it? I surely didn't, at least not until This American Life.

On a recent This American Life episode entitled "True Urgan Legends", Ira Glass deconstructs a local controversy over Poizner's portrayal of the school and community - which he apparently classified as very dangerous and uncivilized, but many believe is straight-forwardly working- and middle-class. It is quite a listen, and gave me more reason to be skeptical of him as a candidate.

You can listen here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/406/true-urban-legends

H/T to Jenika for the recommendation.

When one door closes....

Some word from the mainland has reached me: The class at Harvard for the inaugural Doctor of Education Leadership program has checked in full. No room for me from the waitlist. Darn!

Well, with that door closed, the next one has opened. The question is, where does it lead...

Potential door #1: Become a teacher and start this fall, likely in math and likely in high school

Potential door #2: Find other useful work in the fast-moving field of education reform

Potential door #3: Pursue cooking school and then loop back to one of the doors prior

Or potential door #4: Something else entirely and / or some creative mix of the above

Your ideas are welcomed in comments!

More suspense than I anticipated!

So, I apparently need a Blogger tutorial...sorry about the absent picture at the bottom and the increased wait to see my new look...

Here it is!

Bonus shot right outside of the BART station. This is strange, it has been nearly ten years since I've been clean-shaven. And it probably won't last too long!

And, final shot of me and my (minimal!) luggage for the journey.

Heading West, into that great big question mark!

Let the adventure begin!

To launch this trip, and to turn 30, a spectacle was in order. And what could be more spectacular than dining on an entire pig (and with all the bits too; waste not, want not)? I could think of nothing, so that's what a group of friends and I did.

As you can see, the pig is no suckling, and he (she?) is entire. The meal commenced with Chef Chris Cosentino, slicing aggressively down the spine and releasing an enormous waft of pig steam. Then the meat, roasted at 200 degree for 8 hours, came out by the plateful. We dug in - it was the most tender and juicy roast pork I've ever had, and the gravy accompanied fantastically well.

However, we didn't eat just the meat. There was the whole head, which the chef helpfully deconstructed into its component parts: ears, cheek, snout, and skin. Oh, don't forget the brains inside! They were.....odd, quite creamy, much better when smeared on a slice of thick bacon (from a side dish served with Savoy cabbage).

As you can see, it was a feast for the ages! We did the pig justice, making our way through about three-quarters. Apparently the only group to ever polish one off was a group of teenagers there as part of their history class, all decked out in character (Albert Einstein, etc.). We had no hope of catching them...

With the spectacular spectacle behind me, the past couple of days have been a flurry of packing. Oh, so much packing! A million thanks to all those who helped, and a ridiculous fantastic thank-you-very-much to Carolyn for going above and beyond the call of duty as roommate.

And, so, as BART speeds me towards SFO and the first flight to Narita airport in Tokyo, just 11 hours away, we are officially launched.

Oh, and I'm sporting a new look for my trip! We'll have to see how this evolves.....

Keep on reading - posts should come at minimum 2x / week, and an itinerary will follow in short order!