Anna | Frivolous Universe

When there’s no time to play, make work = play………

By: Anna D.

30-05-2012

Due to a major work malfunction involving excel spreadsheets, mysterious loss of data, and a hard deadline of 8am this morning, I was up until midnight last night repairing a document I had been working on most of the day. This, in addition to wall-to-wall meetings until 11am today, means I am posting my blog late for the very first time. Apologies, early morning readers. There are certainly many joys to working from home, but major malfunctions that cannot be left at work till the next day because one’s workplace exists across the hall from one’s bedroom is not one of those joys….

However! Since I am telling you a recent trial, I’d like to balance that out by telling you about an aspect of my job as executive director for the McCall-Donnelly Education Foundation that makes any trial well worth the late-night work and added stress – our grants program. As a former student of the McCall-Donnelly school district, seeing these incredible projects being developed for today’s students gives me immense satisfaction and pride for my job and the people I work with. Truly, I am honored to do the work I do.

This year, we are proud to fund the Payette Lakes Community Association for their Lifestyles after-school program for the Barbara Morgan and Donnelly Elementary schools. This innovative program engages students in physical and educational activities by coaching students on how to integrate nutrition and exercise into their daily lives.

We are also pleased to present the Payette Lakes Middle School with funds to build a greenhouse. The project will teach students how to grow and tend their own garden – a valuable lesson in both nutrition and biology – and will result in fresh produce to be used in school lunches at PLMS and Barbara Morgan Elementary.

PLMS will also receive funds for an after-school technology camp called 21st Century Learner, organized by principal Susan Buescher. The camp will last 3 weeks, and will teach students basic computer programming skills and will result in a project template that can be applied to classrooms in the upcoming school year.

Donnelly Elementary is receiving funds for three exciting new programs – the first is a musical production by Missoula Children’s Theatre, in which the students are invited to play key roles in the play. The second is Tyler Vance’s new music program concept – Music Matters. He will be hiring a professional composer to visit his music class and help the students compose and perform their own original piece. Lastly, Angel Hudson’s kindergarten class will receive a new program called Touch Math, which is a highly effective, interactive way of learning math concepts and formulas.

McCall-Donnelly High School’s Winter Sports Club has been granted funds to purchase new equipment for their highly successful program, Winter Sports Are for Everyone. The program grants access to winter recreation equipment for students who would not otherwise be able to afford it. MDHS will also be receiving funds to purchase poetry anthology e-books, which will redefine the way students and teachers look at and discuss poetry by granting the entire school a more versatile way of accessing volumes that span centuries of poetic authors.

And I feel I should mention here too, that is only 8 of the 30 amazing applications we received, and many of the programs we’re funding this year are being organized by people who volunteer their time to make these things happen. I am humbled and amazed by our endlessly motivated and generous little community.

So, although other components of my life may take the back burner at times, all I have to do to remind myself of why I’m sometimes up till the wee hours hammering away at my keyboard is take one look at the phenomenal programs my work helps support.

The “I want to be as comfy as possible but still look professional” Look
Top: handmade by Portland designer ADD
Skirt: handmade thrift store find – no tag
Shoes: Cole Haan – thrift store find
Glasses: Alain Mikli
Earrings/Necklace: Hazel Cox

Many thanks to Kelly Lynae for this quick and dirty playground romp photo shoot.
When one can’t just play, at least make work feel like play from time to time………

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Seeing Red.

By: Anna D.

22-05-2012

Anna

As I write this, I am angry. I feel that we “civilized” people are taking advantage of each other in a most blatant and insulting way. I recently spent the better part of a day trying to configure my new MacBook Pro. By the time I left the Mac store, I felt utterly hopeless. In order for me to utilize the machine I just purchased for the sum of a month’s pay, I must spend an additionally egregious amount in software updates.

I don’t need fancy new software – I just want the older versions currently running on my outdated machine, but thanks to “new advances in technology,” those old programs won’t run on my new computer. And thanks to those same new advances, my old computer is slowly becoming more and more isolated from the rest of the world – unable to send and receive documents and messages that are vital to my ability to stay employed.

And really, it’s our fault – we, the consumers. We love the beautiful marketing baloney that’s thrown at us daily – iPhone, iPad, iBook, iPod, iTouch, iSayEffOff. I say let books be books, phones be phones, and leave touching for human interaction.

Thank the Great Unknown for simpler beauty, like red velvet…..

…and scarlet clematis blooms….

…and little red dacshunds…liittle red dacshund – ooh ooh ooh! – baby you’re much too fa-at….

…and giant, leafy rhubarb plants with their ruddy, secret stalks….

…and crimson silk-threaded antique silver beads from Afghanistan, thanks to a lovely friend…..

…and deep carmine calla lilies, so dark in complexion they appear as hooded apparitions against a stark sky….

…and bare feet in trees…..

…and a man in my life who plucks the first rose bloom of the year and sneaks it onto my desk when I’m not looking…..

All photos taken by yours truly.

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An (un)told Crime Tale

By: Anna D.

16-05-2012

Anna

It’s not that I haven’t committed any crimes……I have. In fact, Anna the teenager was quite the sneakster. My friends and I crept around our one horse town engaging in all manner of illicit activities. But as I said, I was sneaky – never got caught. Either that, or I was lucky……

Either way, when we at Story Story Night decided last Monday’s Late-Night theme would be “crime”, I donned my best double-agent outfit – jet black, turtlenecked, snug-as-a-glove Calvin Klein knit dress and sling-back black heels with an “I’ll smash your face with it if you get too close” bracelet of antique silver beads from Armor Bijoux and headed to VaC fully prepared to tell a tale of crime. But not my crime.

Since my name was not selected at random from our guest host, Josh Gross, I have decided to tell my story here. It goes like this:

My stepdad was one hell of a working man. Charley did everything – your classic contractor renaissance man. When I was growing up, I went with him to many a job site, most of which were “quaint” second homes tucked in amongst the pines lining Payette Lake.

One client in particular will always stick with me – we’ll call them the Smith’s. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who used their cabin perhaps a dozen times per year, had been hiring Charley to do odd jobs for years. Then one day they stopped calling. It had been six months or so when he finally decided to stop by their place and attempt to unravel the mystery. Turns out, it was a pretty easy one to solve.

When he drove up, he was greeted by a crew of four or five migrant workers. It didn’t take much to put this puzzle together – the Smith’s had replaced him with a crew of folks who would work for whatever they could get, which he soon found out through using his limited Spanish skills was collectively much less than they were paying him.

Well, he stewed over this for a few days, and then it happened – he hatched the perfect plan. On a Friday afternoon, he drove to the Smith cabin, told all the workers to call it a day and invite their families over – he was going to throw them a barbecue!

See, Charley knew the Smith’s were planning to have a party soon, so there would be plenty of cheer in the fridge – spiral cut ham, lamb shanks, filet mignon, veggies galore, and all the fancy wine and beer a thirsty, jilted man could hope for. It was indeed quite the party spread, and they all feasted together, having themselves a lovely time. Gracias, Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

Needless to say, Charley never heard from the Smith’s again, but he did make some new friends….small price to pay for a stellar story and a belly full of excellent food with a hint of retribution, if you ask me.

Most photos by Whitney Rearick, some by yours truly.

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