Ok, I kind of can’t believe it, but apparently it is already the last day of classes for the fall semester. How did it go by so quickly? I put on most of what I have in my closet (I am seriously terrible at dressing for cold weather), hopped on the bike, and thought about what to say to the students, pedaling up St. Charles for the zillionth time, a ride where I do much of my class planning. I love the last day of class almost as much as the first day. Continue reading
schools
Tulane VS South Alabama Women’s Basketball Game at Fogelman Arena
I teach a lot of student athletes at Tulane–basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, football, I teach them all. Athletes get a bad rap sometimes for blowing off coursework for the culture of the game. Well, all kinds of students manage to blow off coursework, so it hardly seems fair to lay that on the athletes. And in my experience, athletes balance an incredible number of commitments, often impressively. So when the football team invited me to go behind the scenes at a game, I eagerly said yes, because I wanted to show my support for my students, and because who doesn’t want to watch the game from the field! My body was requesting a rest from the bike, so I thought I’d drive, but alas, when you leave your car idle for weeks because you’d rather ride your bike, the battery dies. So I put on the bike shoes, climbed on the Surly, and headed down to the Superdome with N. in tow. Continue reading
John A. Shaw Elementary School at Music & Law
It has been a long week, so when I was finished with work early, I took the late afternoon to ride my bike around in what continues to be absolutely ridiculously nice weather. I hadn’t ridden the new bike lane on St. Roch Avenue, so I headed there to check out our new bicycle facilities.
I spend very little time in that neighborhood, so I just rode around, checking things out. I turned on Music Street and noticed this school, seemingly abandoned, gutted by fire. I circled around it, waving to the guy standing on the corner, smelling the barbecue wafting on the air, thinking about how this is a neighborhood, but this abandoned school is rotting up the place instead of being alive with kids and playground equipment (there is some–not in usable shape by any means). Continue reading
Speaking Out for Education at First Grace United Methodist Church
Today I got to ride my bike in a skirt and a tank top. Thank you, New Orleans, for giving me another day of summer, in November. I pedaled down to the Bywater to meet J. for a meeting to talk about planning a bigger meeting. And then I headed over to Canal and Jeff Davis to First Grace United Methodist Church, for a the event Post-Katrina Education in New Orleans: A Human Rights Violation. There’s a lot of talk about how education in New Orleans has improved since the takeover of schools by the state and their decentralization through charter schools. There has surely been improvement for some kids, but the picture is just more complicated than that. Continue reading
Upward Bound Tulane University Sign at Broadway & Plum
My Wednesdays are crazy busy and this one had a couple of bumps that made it particularly long, so by the time I stumbled out of the office at 6:30 I wasn’t exactly looking forward to getting on the bike. But then I felt the air–cool–and clipped in and was off, tonight to Bayou St. John for dinner with T., T., and N. I stopped quickly, though, to take a picture of this sign at Broadway and Plum. I mean, the thing is seriously proud of itself. Continue reading
Tulane Marching Band Practice on the LBC Quad
I am home again, home again, jiggity jig after a positively lovely trip out west to see old friends. Home means back on the bike, and I couldn’t have been more pleased to velcro-up my shoes, clip in, and head to campus to unpack my new office. It took a few blocks to get up to speed, and I had to play around with the gears to get comfortable again, but man, it is seriously good to be back on my bike. And it is also seriously good to be back on campus with that smell of back-to-school in the air. Continue reading
The Edible Schoolyard at Samuel J. Green Charter School at Cadiz and LaSalle
Oh, man, it was hot today. When the cloud cover is light there’s simply nothing to do but feel the heat. Which I did, as I rode Uptown to meet R. for lunch. After a lovely meal with good food and good company I got on my bike–the hot seat reminded me of at least one good reason not to wear skirts and ride–and headed toward the river to help N. move something heavy. Continue reading
Standing Ashtray on Tulane’s Academic Quad
You know what a long day of bike riding often gets me the next day? A tired day of lazy bike commuting and not much other riding, which is fine, but kind of hard to balance when the weather is just so perfect and the bike beckons, as always. But alas. I hopped on Rhoda this morning for a leisurely pedal to campus where I met up with campus guest Susan Stryker, who kindly agreed to visit my classes and dazzle us all with her proven wit and intelligence. Continue reading
Frat Boys On Their Porch on Broadway
Yep, it was another beautiful day in New Orleans, and my bike took me up to campus to meet a friend for lunch. I was feeling a touch under the weather today, maybe from not enough sleep and too many weather changes, so the ride didn’t feel as good as yesterday. Continue reading
Set Painting at Tulane’s Dixon Hall
I rode my bike to work this morning, pumping as fast as I could, clocking a quick 12 minutes. I was excited–tonight was our big program event that we’ve been planning for two months, and I was ready to put that baby to bed. I needed to get some things from the theater department for our performer, so I rode over to Dixon Hall after office hours. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 