a couple of things on my mind...

1. on tv...
i am contemplating avoiding tv in 2007. i was in a session yesterday with my colleagues, a bunch of artists, that was amazing. i listened to stephanie rowden talk about her classes. she made me think harder about something that i have been saying a lot lately, that i want to learn to listen better. that i want to teach my students to learn to listen. that listening is an undervalued and undeveloped skill. i contemplated my relationship to television. and wondered why i watch it so much. then, i looked at one of the pins i was rocking on my long fake pearl necklace: i had a bunch of detroit/michigan pins on, but also one from the wilco tour, kicking television. i thought why not.
and then last night, as i watched my friday night shows to review the week's events, i learned of jessica simpson's flub. i am so angry that any one would ever forget the lyrics to the totally awesome dolly parton song, 9 to 5. it pained me to watch the clip. and i seriously thought, i don't need to see this. and that dolly parton was there. i can only imagine the umbrage julia took at this debacle.
so, the idea is in my head.

on espionage and dermatology...
2. what does viktor yushchenko's face look like now?

on architecture
3. did brad and angelina have sex when left unattended at fallingwater?
4. how long will it take to get from madrid to bilbao and back? i am pretty sure that it is worth it. to see the guggenheim? is it? julia, please advise. i mean advise after your book manuscript is done.

on the bvm...
5. why did mary say yes that she would have baby jesus? i still don't understand that. she was a teenager. father dan emphasized this some last night during the Mass for the feast of the immaculate conception. she was an unwed teen.
6. i think that this year, i will go along to celebrate the feast of our lady of guadalupe this year

in other news, i am pretty sure that i fixed my hip and lower back problem without hip replacement surgery or a trip to the chiropractor. julie helped me in yoga today and wednesday night. that studio is fine, but seldom do we chant and i am losing the sanskrit vocabulary.