Price's End of the Year Wrap Up

Howdy friends!

I hope YOU'VE had a great year and that this finds you happy and well. 2006 has been eventful for me. The whole story? Sure.

I started the year off in North Carolina, but very, very quickly discovered that it was not to my liking. And typical of me, when I find a situation to be not to my liking, I hit CTRL Z (that's "undo" to you Mac users). I was back in my Mount Pleasant apartment of 5+ years before sunset on January 6^th. No kidding. But I couldn't stay there either. Not for long. As you've no doubt heard, Michigan is dying. I knew by this point that I was going to have to leave. I'd already begun searching for teaching jobs all over the US, even interviewing in October of '05 for a job in Scottsdale, Arizona. But it was a small, rural school in Northwest Indiana that came through with a long-term sub job in late January. 250 miles away from home, this was an extremely tough commute. I loved the job, though, and it thankfully confirmed that I have it in me to actually be decent at my chosen professional (there was definitely some doubt). But still, I was happy when it ended early, and so I spent May casting off belongings, packing what I wanted to keep in storage, and driving back and forth to Chicago (and one trip to downstate Illinois) for completely fruitless job interviews. And while I wanted to be in or near Chicagoland (since a job in my home state of 30 years was a non-starter), I'd begun sending resumes to Florida, Arizona, and California. Well, it didn't take long to get a response from Arizona schools. I interviewed with a school outside of Tucson that sounded terrific, and within days I had a job offer and a destination. I hated to leave Mount Pleasant, my longtime home, and my awesome apartment, but Michigan felt, at this point, like death, so I was eager to get out alive. I packed up my car and made it to Phoenix by June 1^st. I stayed with an old, old friend (Scott Rusch, for you Cadillicans) for a few days, before heading down to Tucson to wait for my new life to start. I spent two weeks hiding out in the University of Arizona library, dawn to dusk, avoiding the punishing heat, and expecting to do this for the nine weeks until school started. But a chance discovery of a summer job advertisement that sounded PERFECT for me changed, well, everything. It was with the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) on Medicine, up in Phoenix, and I got the job and was heading up to Phoenix June 17^th. I'd spent exactly two weeks in Tucson, and it would turn out to be all the time that I would spend there. NYLF was amazing. There were so many wonderful experiences in that month at the Sheraton, that to detail them all would make me sound more than a bit cult-addled. So let me just say that I worked with a group of absolute superstars, made a few lifelong friends (and a few short-term ones, but that was great too), and got to help bring amazing educational and personal experiences to two groups of 20 high school kids (who were themselves superstars). During my month with NYLF, I decided that I preferred Phoenix to Tucson (and not JUST because I was seeing one of my fellow NYLF FAs, who was a local), and began emailing resumes to Phoenix schools. Well, it didn't take long before I had six interviews scheduled. The first to get to me was Arcadia High, in the Scottsdale district. They interviewed me during the break between NYLF's 1^st and 2^nd sessions. It turned out they were perfect for me, and apparently I was what they were looking for too, as I got the job four days into the second NYLF session. And then NYLF was over. And within a week so was my implausible fling with my local girl. Right on schedule, in retrospect, but I spent most of August living with Scott Rusch again, filling out Myspace surveys, and thinking my local girl would soon come around. 15 years younger than me, she did not come around. Surprised? Me neither. But the Scottsdale Unified School District set about keeping me busy with trainings and such until school started August 22^nd.

And now here I am. Or at least it feels that way. The last four months have blown by unbelievably fast. But let me tell you what I can remember.

I teach four classes of American Lit (11^th grade) and one class of 9^th grade English. I have terrific kids. I have almost zero discipline problems. And I like to say that the discipline trouble I DO have is students not kissing my ass to the degree that I'd like. I have a terrific department, and most of us eat lunch together every day. They are a great resource. I also make good money (for Arizona teachers anyway). And I live half a mile from school, in a pretty cool part of PHX called Arcadia (just like the school!). …That's all I can remember. …Oh, I think we read Huck Finn too.

In November I had a bite of interest from a school back in Michigan, but after my initial excitement subsided, I decided that I did not want to leave AHS in the middle of the school year. And, really, I like it here. I never liked the Michigan winters all that much. I'll never spend another summer here, ever, of course, but I am also okay with never spending another winter in Michigan again.

And that brings us up to now. I cancelled my travel plans to go back to Michigan & Chicago for winter break, and am now in the middle of two glorious weeks of watching DVDs of the Greatest American Hero, Invasion, American Gothic, and Grey's Anatomy, eating Pei Wei takeout every lunchtime, and not running (I think I have a stress fracture in my right foot). Oh, and I'm leisurely grading benchmark essay exams. And the best thing is I still have ten more days of break left!

And last but not least is my top ten CDs of 2006 (exactly one of which I own as an actual CD). But first a caveat: These are merely MY favorite CDs that came out this past year. This doesn't mean you should go out and buy ANY of them. I am not a rock critic. I am not a professional. I mean, my MP3 blog was last updated in June! In other words, your mileage may vary.

Price's Top Ten CDs of 2006

1. Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse – Hands down, my favorite of the year. I had to take it off my iPod when the first coupler of songs hit 50 plays in less than six months. But I MUST see them live in 2007.
2. The Hidden Cameras – Awoo – The soundtrack to many late nights in my classroom during my first weeks of school. Brilliant from start to finish. When it was over I'd start it again. How is it you haven't heard of these guys?
3. Mew – And the Glass-Handed Kites – My initial response: "Holy shit! This is really good!" After school last week, right before break, I was playing it in my classroom, and some kids came in to say goodbye. Their initial response? It was the same as mine. "Who IS this?!"
4. Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That – Six years ago I thought Tahiti 80 would be THE French indie pop band. Ha.
5. Sloan - Never Hear the End of It – Listen, any year with a Sloan release will also see a Sloan release in my year-end top ten list. It's just a given. But I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. It's a weird record. 40 songs. Almost 80 minutes. It's definitely not the crunchy riff-rock record they put out last time. But it might be a grower. Feels like it two months later. And, of course, I can't wait for the tour. SLOOOOAAANNN!!!
6. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped – All the year-end reviews of this one seem to say the same thing: "These guys are making great music, 20+ years into their career." No shit, Sherlock. Where've you been? NYC Ghosts & Monsters excepted, they've been on a roll for THE PAST NINE YEARS.
7. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther – Believe the hype. Seriously. Just listen to "Roscoe." Then believe the hype.
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones – The soundtrack to the highly plausible breakup of my highly implausible summer fling, I will probably always think of her when I listen to this. And as a result I will probably never listen to this. But we'll see.
9. The Charade- A Real Life Drama – Probably the most obscure thing on my list. So I'll just say that this is my favorite Scandinavian indie pop. Gotta thank the mp3 blogosphere for this discovery, BTW. The MP3 blogs are turning me on to LOTS of new stuff.
10. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit – This is probably only so low on my list because I had an illicit copy in late 2005. But B&S are still going strong. The hype is long gone, and only terrific records remain.

And, finally, I am just now getting into 2006 releases from Regina Spektor, Lupe Fiasco, The Decemberists, and Sparklehorse. Not to mention that 2007 already promises new music from Deerhoof, The Apples in Stereo, and Of Montreal! Wow. I mean, I am pushing 40, man, and music is still a huge part of my life. Pretty cool.

Happy New Year!

AP