Screw the whales! Save the music teachers!

So one of my favorite people called me yesterday and leaves a message that says, "I have some news, not necessarily good and I don't want to leave it on a voicemail". Well, crap.

Apparantly, one of my high school music teachers (there were only 2) went to the doctor to investigate some stomach issues and they found malignancies in her kidneys, intestines, colon, and ovaries. They then rushed her to Denver and she's in that 48 hour make or break period. This woman was FINE a week before!

Backtrack: My OTHER teacher, Mr. Pelz- my mentor, father figure, adversary.... Was ill with some mysterious illness all through my schooling. My sophomore year they finally diagnosed him with non-hodgkins lymphoma. He was in and out of remission for 8 years until he passed away in December (05).

You know that feeling when someone truly incredible dies and you are absolutely heartbroken because now the world is somehow "less"? I was fine at his funeral, but on the plane ride back I realized how much this world was going to miss him and I lost it. I didn't stop crying until Ross and I got to Whole Foods after he had picked me up. This may sound incredibly narcissistic, but I thought I would be crying for my loss- not the world's. That's how incredible he was.

So now it looks I am going to lose my other one. And that's one less music teacher to find those kids that are going to slip through the cracks. One less person to seek out those children whose only escape from feeling insignificant and stupid and fat or whatever is shining through music. It is so very hard to be a music teacher. Even though I've always known that my life would revolve around music, teaching music outside of a private studio was NEVER a consideration. In the case of Dean and Jeannie, they were paid nothing to run all over town teaching music to all 3 schools. Every fall brought the threat of the school board cutting the arts. Music teachers often rely on non traditional methods to teach (it IS art, isn't it?), so they were under a constant microscope from the parents.

Not for all the money in the world.

I didn't understand Mr. Pelz's true goal in teaching until his death. It never hit hit me. On the funeral prgram was his signature quote, "Education is my goal, music is my vehicle".

Whether I realized it or not, it wasn't about being the best musician I could be, but the best human being I could be.

So, parents, I PLEAD with you not to let your children's arts fall by the wayside. Please fight for them. It is a great diservice to their future if you choose not to care. You can't possibly know in advance if it's going to be YOUR child that falls through the cracks, who never found the outside inspiration that only a passion and a teacher can give. I beg of you.

And for anyone who has ever been inspired by one of those crazy art/music/photography/theater department kooks..... Tell them. It's not too late.


Ok. I will step off my soapbox now, but only if you promise to do as I say. Maybe I should shoot for a larger audience on this one, no?

I ran today. 5 days last week and I'm going to shoot for 5 this week. If it's only 4 I will still be satisfied. I'm kinda bummed, though. My stamina is progessing nicely, but I'm having this crippling pain in my right hip/butt. And only when I jog.

I've finally convinced Ross to cut some calories on the weekends. He is one of those subscribers to the "one free day a week" theory. I disagree. While I love pizza and all, I don't crave it once a week, but we always order it on Saturday. That's also when I eat out, so when Monday rolls around I feel like I have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. I would just like to keep up the pace, you know? We'll see how it goes.

So I did something completely out of character this weekend. I ate fast food.

We had left the club where we had been subjected to this louder than the voice of God techno followed by REALLY bad rap (I did some networking, so it wasn't a total loss). Afterwards we were hungry so we headed to Taco Bell. I opted for a Fiesta salad and was horrified at how NASTY it looked. So Ross took me to Wendy's. I got some fries and a junior chesseburger.

How do people eat this? The meat didn't taste real. It literally tasted like a brown piece of dirt soaked in salt. And the fries were so stale I felt I was chewing on tissue. Evn though I can't remember the last fast food I had, I made a vow to NEVER go to those places ever again. Unless it's Sonic and those are for the drinks anyway...

You know what? Fast food pisses me off. The quality is typically so piss-poor that I wonder what can these executives be thinking? It's atrocious how low their standards are. And we keep buying it! My dad is sending me his copy of Fast Food Nation. I'm ready.

Don't get me wrong, as much as I loooooove veggies and raw eating and juicing, I enjoy a good hunk of red meat once in a while. I just don't understand the allure of fast food. I should have taken a picture. It was just one sad looking burger.