February 14, 2020

The 10% Rule

In ecology, the 10% rule states that that only 10% of the energy at any given trophic level of an ecosystem can move to the next trophic level. In social media, the principle seems to work a little differently. Somewhere in the arcane documents governing internet-based dialogue, there must be a clause that states users have to break their years into 10% segments. Then, they have to publicly lament or celebrate the loss of each randomly grouped collection of days. As a result, via Twitter I recently received the cheery news that 2020 is 10% over. I know, I know-Twitter always hits you with the truth when you least expect…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

April 9, 2019

Deep Thoughts on Alice Waters and Slow Food

Hi readers, I was just listening to the latest ‘How I Built This with Guy Raz‘ and I had some deep thoughts on Alice Waters and the slow food movement. If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s an interview-based format where Guy asks various successful entrepreneurs how they got their ideas and started their businesses. It’s always super interesting, with guests from Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler (Soul Cycle) to Haim Saban (Power Rangers). This week he interviewed Alive Waters (founder of Chez Panisse and by virtually all accounts, founder of the ‘Slow Food’ movement in the United States). They went through all the normal, interview-y stuff, then Guy…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

June 8, 2018

Important Friday Questions

I am a teacher with two weeks (and one day) until the end of the school year. I have 75 comments to write, quadruple that number of grades to assign (we assign four grades per student. It’s a complicated topic for another time.), two tests to compose, three tests to give and three students to meet in order to discuss their ‘extended essay’ (a 4,000 word essay that the majority of IB high school students attempt to write the night before its due.  This makes the year and half of meetings prior somewhat painful for teaching faculty.) Oh, and have I mentioned I’m moving? (Countries-from Spain to the USA.) So-this…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

June 4, 2018

Insta-fabulous

I probably spend too much time on Instagram.  Like in a “I’m-worried-I-need-glasses-now” kind of way. Why? You are dying to know! Why I Spend Too Much Time on Instagram First, as a teacher of the “pictures-are-the-new-books” generation, I think it’s fascinating how people use social media to communicate with each other.  Second, I’m always curious what my students are doing smiling into their laps all day long while they pretend attempt to listen to me. Third, as a single-platform-social-media kind of girl, it’s the only thing I keep on my phone. So…I spend a lot of time lurking around, scrolling through the photos of people I haven’t spoken to in years…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

May 22, 2018

A Typical Day

Here is a typical day.  See if you can notice any patterns. A Typical Day Schedule 6:45 AM: Wake up. Drink moderately excessive amount of coffee, but eat healthy breakfast, brush hair, etc. 7:35 AM: Leave for work.  Rejuvenating 10 minute walk to train station. Deal very patiently with Spanish slow walkers as they shuffle down the street, apparently headed for a job that starts in 2019. 9:15 AM: Tell hilarious joke to my first period physics freshmen (we were studying momentum and I told them to ‘get their mass in motion’. Maybe you had to be there.) 10:25 AM: Procure snacks for my whole 9th grade advisory because the student…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

May 14, 2018

Throwing Baby Showers: It’s a Girl!!

You know what it turns out is really fun?  Throwing baby showers! What? I’m serious.  Hear me out. First of all, it turns out baby showers are very American.  As with all US-related holidays, I enjoy a certain, heightened patriotism when I get to celebrate overseas and fabricate embellish upon the importance of various customs.  Like celebrating the 4th of July in New Zealand, when I convinced all the Kiwi’s we had to wear towel capes and salute each other each time we spoke.   (In my defense I was 22, and everybody was totally into the towel capes.  I think.) Anyway, it turns out that people in other countries (or at…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

April 16, 2018

Monday for Sale

At this point in the year, I’m usually ready to put up Monday for sale. When I started working my first full time job, I loved the idea of a Monday morning. It was a fresh chance to start a new week as a responsible adult. This may have been because I came to the weekday 9-to-5 later than most. First, I spent years in school working afternoon shifts. That part felt normal. But then, I spent years after college graduation in seasonal, ski-industry work. Saturdays and holidays were my on-call times. When I switched to a normal schedule, getting up on a Monday morning felt great. Fast forward to…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

January 9, 2016

Charlie Hebado

 Year in Review 2015

It’s hard to believe it has been a year since the Charlie Hebado shootings in Paris.  Looking back, it feels like the shooting was the beginning of a hectic, shocking year of world events.  Find a short list below. (You classy, academic types can read the all about it on The Atlantic website). Important 2015 Wold Events SpaceX Lands Rocket Successfully Makes Reuse Possible. (12-22-2015, 10 Records)Climate Change Deal Reached by about 200 Countries. (12-13-2015, 23 Records)Paris terrorist attack, hundreds dead. (11-13-2015, 35 Records)Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai. (10-30-2015, 22 Records)Russia intervenes Syria civil war. (10-01-2015, 55 Records)Flowing liquid water found on Mars. (09-25-2015, 12 Records)Migrant crisis of Europe. (08-30-2015, 114 Records)Earthquake 7.9 Magnitude hits Nepal. (04-24-2015,…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

September 12, 2015

Menu del Día

 woman sitting in a restaurant

Menu del día translates to mean ‘menu of the day’. The concept contains three key components for the Spanish. It involves eating, sitting and talking.   People here love lunch. It often starts at 3 PM and lasts until dinner. In summer, work stops at 2 PM and lunch and a mandatory nap are often the only activities left in the day.  The nap is mandatory because the “lunch” is a 3-course affair that begins with paella and ends with tarta de queso (figure it out).  And coffee. And free shots of weird herbal liquor.   In my observation, this Spanish tradition varies from the New York City restaurant experience…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

September 11, 2015

Appropriate Use of a Cell Phone: A History

 Appropriate Use of a Cell Phone

I think often about appropriate use of my cell phone. The topic seemed especially poignant when I switched over to an iPhone, a heart-breaking technological change in 2012. (Yes, I realize this was roughly five years after everyone else.) The switch to iPhone   My beloved Droid 3 had finally broken beyond repair.  I strolled to the Verizon store on 3rd Avenue, convincing myself that change was good.  The panic welling was the same as when I was five and my parents would decide to “upgrade” our refrigerator.  I still have an old-dog eared picture of my tearful, scraggly five-year-old self next to my cherished, ancient refrigerator during our lengthy…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous