Phrases, Phases, & Faces of Katie Courtien

stokan:

If those who can’t do teach, then those who can’t teach criticize.

Hell fucking yeah. Anyone who has ever said “those who can’t do teach,” has clearly never taught. It requires more talent than most occupations. Not only do you have to have a wide breadth of knowledge, you also must have the ability to communicate your knowledge in a way that doesn’t alienate your students. You have to deal with limitations set by the bureaucracy above you. You have to impart your knowledge without forcing your opinions on others. You have to help the advanced students stay interested, without making the other students feel like failures. You have to be a  great storyteller and performer. You have to give a damn.

Now I will agree there are A LOT of crap teachers out there who probably thought, “Well I can’t make it as ….. so I might as well teach.” They lack the heart and soul for teaching as much as they did for the first profession they gave up on. They discredit my profession and honestly have no business imposing their nonsense on other minds.

Phew…. sorry. It’s been a bad week and nothing can get me more fired up than talking about education.

Ok. Done.

jessebarton:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/fashion/15pulse.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=pulse&st=cse

I am so intensely proud of this girl!!!

Hey All!!

If anyone is free tonight and looking for a good time, (no I will not sleep with you…get your mind out of the gutter dirt bag!) I’m singing backup for my girl Susan Elizabeth tonight at the Perch Cafe located at 365 5th Ave btwn 5th and 6th street in Park Slope!

Come if your cool. If not, well, I’m sorry. Your clearly not cool.

jendunlap:

Eating and food has actually been the most difficult thing through all of this. Whenever I start to take a bite of something, ANYTHING - it’s like this very visceral sense and feeling, and emotions come flooding back to me. I’ve never really experienced anything like this before. I can’t eat more than a few bites before starting to cry or tear up. I guess I am grieving? The most important thing for me to get rid of in our (now my) apartment was all of the food we shared. Weird, huh? Sleeping here is okay, all of the other stuff is fine. But eating, for some reason is the hardest thing. Maybe because it’s the most tangible, the most sensual feeling I have in my life right now? Has anyone else experienced this?

YUP! After the worst break up of my life I went almost 2 weeks without eating. I went down to 97lbs! It was really scary and intense because I had no control over it. I wanted to eat, hell i love to eat, but I could not swallow more than a bite or two. There is somthing about the anxiety after a breakup that is so heightened, you just can’t seem to do anything you need to do. Everytime I tried to eat, I immediately felt nauseous because of how overwhelmed I was by everything. But it does fade away and you do get better. Still, it’s amazing what grief can do to you physically.

So last month, there was this article about how the deficit reduction plan for NY was going to lead to major cuts in the programming for cultural institutions. I currently work at one, NY Transit Museum, and formerly worked for the Prospect Park Zoo and Wildlife Center. I was deeply concerned, particularly for the Zoos because they were going to lose ALL state funding as of next year.

When a zoo loses its funding, people don’t just lost their jobs, animals lose their homes. Exhibits close, forcing the animals to be moved to sanctuaries or other zoos. This can divide entire families, herds, flocks etc., leaving them to live out the rest of their lives in a completely unfamiliar place with unfamiliar animals. Even worse, they could continuously get bounced around to different places. It is torturous and wrong.

As soon as I heard about this I went on the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) website and filled out a letter to my local assemblyman. Every now and then I will do this but I have NEVER received a letter so wonderful as this one….

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for your concern about the environment, tourism, and specifically the Zoos, Botanical Gardens, and Aquariums (ZBGA) program. I agree with you that the supporting these programs are very important for not only the state as a whole, but they are good for people in general. So I am pleased to tell you that ZBGA did not suffer any cuts in the Deficit Reduction Plan. I will do my best to make sure that funding is going where it needs to be, and I will try to follow what will happen with ZBGA in the future. Thank you again for voicing your concern, and if you have any questions or concerns again, please contact my office.

Sincerely,
Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez

I feel so victorious!!! I’m really happy to know that I was able help someone in someway during this really horrible time. YAY!

Oh wait… those were the Oscars? I’m sorry. The fact that Fing Hugh Jackman couldn’t stop dancing, singing, and gaying it up confused me. Am I crazy or were those the weirdest Oscars ever? It mostly felt like Hugh Jackman was torturing us all because Australia didn’t get any nominations.

Aside from the ridiculous amount of pointless singing causing the show to run THIRTY MINUTES over, my favorite moment was when the actors all jerked each other off during the best acting categories. Where were the freaking clips? Apparently I’m just supposed to trust Cuba Gooding’s judgement. That’s right, trust the guy who did “Snow Dogs”. What the hell happened?

There were of course redeemable moments in the evening such as the Ledger family causing every person in the audience to weep, Sean Penn admitting how hard he makes it to like him, and Ben Stiller mocking Joaquin Phoenix.

The best moment however, and the only moment that should have been sung, was the best song category. I LOOOOVED how they combined “Jai Ho” from Slum Dog with “Down to Earth” from WALL-E. It was really beautiful and exciting. Plus “Jai Ho” should have been played every time anyone came up to accept an award. It would have gotten everyone really pumped up! Instead they played this lame little song that my brother realized sounded a lot like “Belle,” the opening song from Beauty and the Beast.

They said this was a “re-imagining” of the Oscars. You know what I say? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Otherwise you’ll end up with Beyonce and the cast of High School Musical …

If I get bossed around by one more child, insane person, or asshole this week, someone is going to die. I can’t believe my professional life right now. My masters degree might as well be a gum wrapper at this point…. Ok done venting the negativity.

I’ve officially begun giving tours on Thursdays and Fridays at the New York Transit Museum! YAY!

I’m usually busy with classes in the morning, but in the afternoon, starting at 2pm, I am pretty much just wandering around the museum, yelling at children. I would love for any of you to come and wander with me!! You’ll get a tour and a seriously large hug. Seriously….

For more information, here is the link: http://www.mta.info/mta/museum/

Hope to see you there!

And the winner is…..

Champion Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, whose call name is “Stump.” This little fella (who by the way is a Sussex Spaniel) is TEN YEARS OLD!! That makes him the oldest dog to ever win Westminster. Quite an accomplishment for an old boy like him. And look at that mug!

thatgirldre:

I’m just too tired to be nice. But it’s my job.

Dude I hear that. It’s even worse when you have to resist the urge to punch a 3 year old in the face. This is my struggle…

January 28, 2009,
7:35 pm

By Robin Pogrebin

The House approved $50 million in recovery funds for the National Endowment for the Arts on Wednesday as part of the economic stimulus bill. The legislation, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill, was not included in the Senate’s version.

“We hope Congress can come to a sensible consensus as the bill is prepared for its final vote,” said Robert L. Lynch, the president and chief executive of Americans for the Arts, a national lobbying group. “The arts are essential to the health and vitality of our communities, and it is fiscally sound policy to invest in our nation’s arts infrastructure.”

The House plan, which passed by a vote of 244 to 188, is expected to reach President Obama by mid-February. Arts groups say they are working hard to ensure that support of the nation’s cultural institutions becomes an integral part of the recovery.

stokan:

Anna Paquin won an award? For acting?!? That would be like nominating Kevin Connelly for an acting award. Oh wait, never mind…

Waaaa Waaaa Waaaa Waaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Good call Stokan.

Call me lame, but I got a little choked up about Heath Ledger winning the GG. It still amazes me how sad it makes me. What an absolute waste. Regardless, I am so happy he won. He absolutely deserved it.

Not sure if anyone out there cares, but maybe even just one of you may be wondering why I haven’t been posting consistently as of late.

Well, for starters, I’m working three jobs leaving me no time for thoughtful tumbling.

Also, I’m a little miserable at the moment and don’t wish to spread my misery to others. I think that’s pretty freaking nice of me.

And finally, I am once again working for the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theater. The lineup is dynamite once again and I HIGHLY recommend you get your tushies down there asap. My favorites thus far are the always funny Reggie Watts and the beautiful and damn near perfect production of Woyzeck by the Sadari Movement Laboratory, a Korean based Theater Company. The precision, strength, and beauty in their movement puts any and all other physical theater I’ve ever seen to shame. There are tons of other great shows including First Love, a novella by Samuel Beckett adapted into a one-man play and performed with one of the world’s greatest Beckett actors, Conor Lovett.

It’s a good year guys. Get out there and see some awesome/cheap theater!!!