Would you say I have a plethora of Twitter posts?
92. Reach 1000 tweets on my Twitter account
34. Participate in #edchat at least twice a month
My uncle and my mother both started using Twitter pretty early on, and I used to tease them mercilessly about it. They would keep track of companies, podcasters and celebrities, and use it as an alternative means of text-messaging each other. I couldn’t figure out why you’d use it when you could use Facebook notifications to tell people what you were doing, along with all the other awesomeness that you could get from Facebook. I never saw the point of it. That’s why I had considered it a challenge, to use Twitter 1000 times seemed like a lot to me when I wrote this list.
That is until my coworker Brian told me about #edchat, an hour where teachers got together to talk about the topic du jour relating to education, whether it was assessments, learning styles, professional development, 21st century skills…you name it. I followed the conversation one evening, just to see what people were saying, how people were expressing themselves in such a text-limited format, how back and forth discussion was handled, just trying to get the lay of the land. I was amazed – passionate teachers being passionate about education! On their own time! Using social media! I knew this was a group of professionals I would want to get involved with and learn from. The next week, I threw out a statement or two, hoping to gauge response…and people started answering! People smarter and way more-savvy than me, interested in what I had to say! I don’t remember the first time one of my Tweets got retweeted, but I remember doing the happy dance I was so pumped up to be contributing something worthwhile to the conversation.
The other amazing thing to me was that as I was picking and choosing people to follow, they were following me back and adding me to their network, in the hopes that maybe I’d have some knowledge that I could share with them. Not only was I following some pretty amazing people, but I also started following their blogs and reading what they had to say in a format that went beyond 140 characters. I now have a blog list of about 20 that I keep tabs on, and I pick up something new everyday from my professional learning network (or PLN, as those in the know like to say). It’s no surprise that I look forward to Tuesday nights, nor a shocker that I blew through 1000 Twitter posts so quickly. Whether its a link to a resource, or a new blog post, or a conversation, I find I’ve improved as an educator simply through my involvement with such amazing and passionate professionals, and hope to try my best to give back as much as they’ve given to me!
I should note the irony that my 1000th tweet, which occurred on 5/17/10, was one linking to this blog!
Ring ring ring ring ring Bananaphone!
8. Cook 5 new recipes from Nicholas cookbook
Restaurant Nicholas is the single greatest restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. I’ve had the good fortune to dine there on numerous occasions with Steph, with friends and with family, and I still find their food to be conceived and executed at the highest level. I’ve met the chef on more than one occasion, have his autographed cookbook, and have even contributed my friend Rob’s blog (who I met thanks to our mutual love of the restaurant) as he cooks his way through said cookbook.
You could say I’m a Nicholas groupie, but I like to say I’ve got a great deal of respect and appreciation for his food.
I’ve attempted a few recipes from the Restaurant Nicholas cookbook, and have had a decent amount of success in pulling them off. One of my goals for my 101 was to take the time to make 5 more recipes out of the book, especially since some of them would pose a challenge in terms of ingredients and technique. That being said, of course the first one I chose to make was probably the easiest in the book. One of the highlights of a meal at Nicholas comes at the end, when they present the ladies at the table with a small bag containing a freshly baked loaf of bread or cake, so that the dining experience can continue the next morning after they’ve left the restaurant. Brilliant idea, and we always look forward to tasting what seasonal variation the pastry chef is baking up.
I’ve started eating bananas, but apparently I haven’t mastered understanding their life cycle, since I invariably end up with a few brown and mushy bananas by the end of the week. What to do with mushy bananas? Banana bread! Talk about an easy recipe, with a short list of ingredients consisting of butter, sugar, eggs, bananas, salt, flour and baking soda*. I’ll admit that I need to do a better job of scaling the recipe, as it was a pain in the butt to add ’2.5 eggs’ to my bread batter. Cream butter & sugar, add eggs & pureed bananas, sift in flour, baking soda and salt, then put in an oven and bake. Easy! I don’t have my own picture, but check out the sweet shot that Rob took when he made this recipe.
photo courtesy of Rob Timko
*As I’m typing this entry, I realized I used baking powder by mistake. No wonder I didn’t get as much of a rise as I’d have liked in the bread. No matter, still delicious!
Offal? Offal good!
24. Try 5 new foods
After a great weekend floating on Lake Marburg at Codorus State Park and spending some quality time with Eric and Kristen, friends we don’t get to see all that often, we swung through Philadelphia to visit more dear friends, Aaron and Meghann and their (in awesome game show host voice)……brand new house! Can’t begin to say how happy I am for them to be homeowners with a kick-ass new place down in South Philly. After a quick tour, we went off to some lunch at the South Philly Tap Room, a short few blocks away from their swanky new pad in Newbold.
I’ve eaten a wide variety of food over the years, but the world of offal is one I’ve only taken cursory and hesitant steps into. Offal, in case you didn’t know, is the term used to refer to organ meats and innards other than bones and muscle. The most common type of offal that I’ve had chance to eat is liver. Chopped chicken liver is a standard at most Jewish family gatherings, but I’ll admit that it’s not one of my favorites (but may be worthwhile to try again). I am, however, a huge fan of foie gras in all forms, especially the terrine preparations at Restaurant Nicholas. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it…
So I am, sitting at the bar, reading the special menu and I see “Duck Heart Skewer, Baby Spinach, Pickled Pork Skin, Warm Bacon Fat” and both Aaron and Meghann look at me expectantly. It’s nice that my friends know me well enough to know that that is the kind of thing I’m going to order, just to say that I ate it. After a decently long wait, here’s what I got:
I’ll admit, not the most mouthwatering presentation, a trio of three pieces of meat on a skewer over some greens and bacon. Cutting into the hearts, I found them to be a bit tough, a fact confirmed when I started eating. The hearts had a bit of a very slight gamy flavor, but I found that the warm bacon fat overpowered all of the other flavors with its unctuousness and smokiness. The pickled bacon skin was a nice acidic foil that cut through the richness of the dish. I was a bit sad to find that the hearts on their own were a bit chewy and tough, as well as only hints of flavor. I’m glad for the experience of trying something new, and I think I’d try them again if they were prepared a bit differently.
…So forget all your duties, oh yeah…
45. Compete in a cycling race
54. Compliment 143 strangers
Rewind to 1997: I’m working in Sea Girt, New Jersey as a beach lifeguard, a skinny 16-year old rookie with no license and no car to get around. My co-workers, eager to help, were more than happy to lend me a bike, much to my chagrin. You see, I had never learned how ride a bicycle growing up – there was no need living in a small housing development sandwiched between a major highway and a busy county road. After plenty of shaming and ridicule from my co-workers, I resolved that by the end of that summer, I would master riding a bicycle. I ended up teaching myself by riding the downward slope of Seaside Ave. from the beach down to 1st Ave on a grey and cold day with no beach patrons. As a reward for my dedication and achieving my goal, my parents bought me a Trek mountain bike that served me faithfully for many years. However, once I got my driver’s license and my own car, my bike became unneeded and found a happy home in my parents’ shed.
Fast-forward to 2010: I had been mulling over triathlons ever since my friends Brian, Jen and Jon did a relay tri last summer. I did some research and decided the most cost-effective way of getting a ‘new’ bicycle was to retrofit my old mountain bike (which had sat unused for a better part of a decade) for road racing. I brought it to Beacon Cycles in Freehold (supporting my local businesses), and emerged with new road tires, a racing seat, a tune-up and parts replacement (chain, brakes, wires) as well as a brand-new set of derailleurs and a sweet helmet. Was it a real performance machine with aerobars and clipless pedals? Nope, but it was good enough for what I needed it for, which was to see whether this whole multi-sport thing was for me.
I had mentioned the Pier Village Duathlon to Blog Buddy Rob, and he was all about it since he had just bought him and his wife a pair of amazing bicycles (supremely jealous of his kick-ass Cannondale). I was pumped to do another race with him, especially since this time we’d actually be racing together! I had never heard of a duathlon before, but the distances didn’t seem to be too outrageous – a 2 mile run, a 9.5 mile bike, finishing with another 3 mile run. Easy, right? Wrong!
I got a good laugh with the people standing behind Rob and I on the starting line (one of whom I complimented on her sweet hot pink Nike Free 5.0′s) about how it didn’t matter whether or not we heard the course directions from the race director, since we didn’t have to worry about being in 1st place. Before I knew it, the starting gun sounded and we were off!
I felt really good during the 1st run. My goal was to stay long and strong for the first race, keeping my stride open but without really exerting a tremendous effort. I kept a pretty nice pace and stuck to my game plan, averaging an 8:19/mile, which is pretty sweet considering that was my race pace for the first 5K I did back in April. I was surprised how fast I was going and how well I felt.
Let me say something about the bike portion: I was pretty freaked out about the cycling, since I was suffering from a bit of an bike inferiority complex as I was looking around at the other competitors. I saw lots of really amazing bicycles, both tri and road bikes, and all I kept thinking was “How am I supposed to keep up with these people?” Then I saw other people riding mountain bikes, and even some hardcore racers riding beach cruisers, and I relaxed a little bit. The cycling felt good, despite I was on platform pedals with no clips and the fact that I seemed to have a headwind in every single direction I rode. I didn’t turn in a bad time, averaging just under 4:00/mile, which is definitely faster than the pace I’d been training at.
It was great seeing Steph waiting at the bike reentry area to cheer me on, it gave me a great boost to push forward. I needed it, since this was the bike-to-run transition. I can’t even begin to tell you how dead my legs felt as soon as I got off the bike and started to jog – it was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. My mind and body were willing me to move forward, but my legs weren’t having any of it (and it didn’t help I had dropped a Gu packet and couldn’t find it). For the first half-mile after the transition, I felt so stiff and slow, but all I kept thinking was to just keep moving and to stretch out my stride, which I eventually did. Once I got to the 1 mile point, I was back into rhythm and moving at a great pace. I was passing people and feeling great, up until the last tenth-mile before the finish line, when my body finally decided it was having enough – my thighs cramped up in the worst possible way, and I was having difficulty running without intense pain. Runners who had passed previously were overtaking me. I could see the finish line. I would not be denied. I saw the end and I willed myself across. Not a moment too soon. Here’s the breakdown of my splits:
- Run #1 (2 miles) – 16:37
- Transition 1 – 1:27
- Bike (9.5 miles) – 37:58
- Transition 2 – 1:02
- Run #2 (3 miles) – 25:52
In the end, I was very happy with my total time of 1:22:55 and my performance during the race, and was thrilled to have enjoyed an excellent Sunday morning with Steph and Rob. Next time, we’ll throw in a little swim and we’ll make it a triathlon. I’m already registered for the July 11th sprint tri at Pier Village – hopefully you’ll all show up and cheer me on and participate in a Cocktail Triathlon with Steph!
Free Rice! Carbs for Everyone!
53. Donate 10K grains of rice at freerice.com
I’m not entirely sure where I picked up this site, but somehow or another, I stumbled upon FreeRice.com. It’s a site that asks you to answer questions, and for every question answered correctly, they’ll donate 10 grains of rice to feed needy people. Trivia + helping those in need = something I can get my head around!
You may be saying to yourself “That sounds really weird, why wouldn’t they just donate all the rice instead of testing your vocabulary?” and I’ll admit I said the same thing. However, the money they make on the sponsors pays for the rice. In the time they’ve been going, here’s where the rice has gone to:
- In Bangladesh, to feed 27,000 refugees from Myanmar for two weeks.
- In Cambodia, to provide take-home rations of four kilograms of rice for two months to 13,500 pregnant and nursing women.
- In Uganda, to feed 66,000 school children for a week.
- In Nepal, to feed over 108,000 Bhutanese refugees for three days.
- In Bhutan, to feed 41,000 children for 8 days.
- In Myanmar, to feed 750,000 cyclone affected people for 3 days.
So far, I’ve only donated 2K grains towards my goal of 10K (which will probably be bumped up as I progress through this challenge) but I’m also planning on introducing this to my English teacher colleagues to pass on to their students, especially juniors. The students can get their SAT practice in, while simultaneously helping out those who need it.
Check it out!
He’s a freak…he’s the fastest kid alive…
40. Run 3 10K races
From the time I was a little kid, I always disliked running. At summer camp, I always tried to play positions in sports that minimized the amount of running I would have to do: catcher, goalie, defense, and the like. I was not very good at it, I was always slower than everyone else, and I always felt goofy. Fortunately for me, as much as I was unlike a gazelle on land, I was a fish in the water, so my lack of running skills was made up for in spades by the fact that I could swim circles around them. In college, we were always encouraged to run in the off-season and we used to run at the beginning of the season to get ourselves back in shape before really dialing up the yardage in the pool. We used to run 3 miles at a clip, and I used to hate it. Didn’t help that I was a good swimmer, since I was running with a bunch of swimmers.
Since I finished up graduate school, I’ve been working really hard at getting back in shape. My friend and coworker Joe started running, and I took it as a challenge – if Joe could do it, then why not me? I started off slow, running on the treadmill, a mile at a time. I started talking about running with my blog buddy Rob, who ran the NYC marathon last year. It turned out that my other coworker Brian was an accomplished runner in his own right, and he gave me tons of advice and guidance.
I’d also just like to point out how amazing Caitlyn, Rupert, Laura, Jenny and Brian, MD and Donna are for coming out to support us. Just check out these awesome signs and awesome people.
I don’t remember who suggested it, but we drafted two more science teachers and formed a team to compete in the Jersey Shore Relay Marathon. Joe and I wanted to take on the challenge of running two of the 10K legs, and we’d been building up to it for a few months. Here’s the batting order:
- Leg 1 – Post: Seaside to Brick Beach
- Leg 2 – Fritsche: Brick Beach to Point Pleasant
- Leg 3 – Schwartzman: Point Pleasant to Manasquan
- Leg 4 – Rosenwald (that’s me!): Manasquan to Belmar
- Leg 5 – Pevovar: Belmar to Asbury Park
Alright, this wasn’t technically an official ’10K’ race, but my portion of the relay was 6.28 miles, which is slightly above a 10K, which makes it a 10K race in my book. I got to the transition area in plenty of time to scarf down some Cheerios, do some stretching, finally meet Steph’s cool friend Jon Vena (who was cheering on his wife, also tastefully named Alex), all before I took the handoff from Dave right in front of Gigi’s on the Manasquan boardwalk.
I started off feeling good running through Manasquan, but then hated the gravel path through the National Guard camp. The Sea Girt boards were pleasantly short, followed up by a quick run over the pond before getting to Spring Lake. The rest of the race was a straight shot down the boardwalk from Spring Lake to the end of Belmar, which was right in my comfort zone as I’d been up and down that stretch of boardwalk more times in my life than I can count. Around the B&T, two things happened: my iPod finally crapped out, and Post joined me and ran with me for a little bit, giving me encouragement and a pick-me-up. I was met by the amazing Jenny just past the North End Pavilion, who ran with me up through the ‘arches’ that mark the crossover from Spring Lake into Belmar. At that point, my parents and Steph were there at the end of the boardwalk cheering me on. Seeing them was excellent – knowing they were there supporting me and cheering me on gave me my 2nd wind and gave me the pick-up I needed to finish strong. Couldn’t have done it without them.
After I had passed them, I knew I was in the home stretch, so I picked up my pace as best as I could. The nice thing about running down the Belmar boards is that there are tons of landmarks, so I could gauge my remaining distance and how much I had left in the tank. I really hit the gas once I passed 5th Avenue, and started bellowing at people as I ran into the transition area – people were walking in my way, and I told them in no uncertain terms I would run them over if they didn’t move. I literally almost barreled right into the back of this woman. Alas, the pass to Pevovar was blocked by her bad-mannered face.
So how did I do? According to my Ironman watch, I ran 6.28 miles in 54:06, which works out to about 8:37/mile. For the first time running a 10K, I was pretty pleased. Our team finished in under 4 hours, with a clock time of 3:52:43, which apparently got adjusted somehow (according to the race results page) to 3:37:42. We came in 145th overall out of 452 teams, which put us in the top 1/3 of finishers! Go Running Rebels!
Check out the rest of the photos that Stephanie took here.
Bananas of the World…UNITE!
25. Retry 5 foods I don’t like to see if my opinion has changed
Photo courtesy of Steve Hopson
Growing up, I was a picky eater. Not as picky as my uncle would lead you to believe, but I liked what I liked and I never had any issues when my parents would take me out to dinner. Thank goodness my parents were patient with me and didn’t really force me to eat anything I didn’t want, unless you count broccoli, and I’m secure admitting that Herschel and Irving (my Labradors) loved the steamed broccoli that I used to pass them. I expanded my tastes once I graduated college, and started eating vegetables only after I started seriously dating, since I didn’t want to be that guy toying with my dinner while on a date.
I’ve become somewhat talented in the kitchen in the past few years, and that has led me to expand my palate to include even more to foods I’ve previously disliked, but there are some things that are still on my list. Some are due to flavor, some are due to appearance, some are due to texture, which was my main reason for avoiding bananas.
Here’s one of my favorite swimming cheers, which was taught to me by my sister (if I remember correctly).
This is the t-shirt from the MAC Swimming Championships in 2001, where we performed that same cheer, along with the always-popular, awe-inspiring and head-turning ‘Bad Banana” cheer. Good times!
In college, my swim coach Maggie used to extol the virtues of the banana, but I never wanted to give it a retry. Years later, I decided that I needed to retry bananas because they are one of the best sources of potassium, and since I’ve been upping my running mileage, I want to keep my electrolyte levels high. I picked up a bunch of bananas from Wegmans, and enjoyed one as a post-run snack while I was stretching. The verdict? I enjoyed the banana! I didn’t find the texture too offensive, and the flavor was delicious. I’m definitely a convert, and plan on adding bananas to my daily eating plan. Definitely enthused to get this 101/1001 underway.
Gwen Stefani, singing about bananas at 2:30. Hot. Enjoy.
Like I Don’t Have Enough to Do
My wife Stephanie is a pretty amazing person. Not only is she the hardest working teacher I know, she’s also taken the time to take on the Day Zero Project. Simply put, it’s a challenge to complete 101 goals in 1001 days, which is a little over 2.75 years. Like I said, pretty amazing.
As I’ve been reading about her progress on her blog, I’ve been thinking about how many things I’ve said I want to do at one point or another, how I’ve achieved some personal goals, and how I’ve lost track of some things along the way. For about 3 weeks now, I’ve been slowly but steadily putting together my own 101 list, inspired not only by Steph, but by joining the Day Zero Ning and by some of Steph’s friends that she inspired to take on the Day Zero Project.
Today, I put the finishing touches on my list, registered my blog and am now ready to go. I look forward to taking on this challenge and writing about it as I progress through!
