A Word on Public Education.

I have always been "good"at school. I have a photographic memory and am an auditory learner. I learned to read at age four, because my parents valued literacy. I would read to them and they would read to me. I would read to absorb all the information I could about the world around me, and I would read to propel myself into other worlds entirely.

It's possible that I would have been successful without public education. It's possible. I learned when my third grade teacher made me do worksheets by myself on the floor in the hall, because I was ahead of the other students. I learned on the bus. When the other kids coming in from my "bad" neighborhood were fighting and acting out Jerry Springer in the back of the bus, I sat up front and read my books. I could read information and remember it. I desperately wanted to do well. Most students are not as lucky as I am, in those regards.

More importantly, however, my learning was nourished and nurtured by public education. Through the SAIL program, a classroom made up of the top 1% of 4th and 5th grade students in the district, I was challenged with rigorous curricula and enriched through song and foreign language and dance and performances. Then came SOTA. I did fine in regular school. I would have continued to do fine in regular school, I'm sure; however, SOTA gave me a number of gifts. The first was the ability to learn through interdisciplinary lenses (a skill which would lead me to an interdisciplinary college in the future).  At SOTA I learned how to create and to collaborate with my peers. When I entered college, in spite of being a first-generation college student, I felt prepared for my classes and my workload, due to the amount of reading, critical thinking, writing, and discussion which had been integral parts of my time at SOTA. All of these invaluable skills would not have been gained without my access to public education programs.

Last year, I student taught at a school with a high poverty-rate and low parental involvement. The job of a teacher in the public education system is to take students from all walks of life and help them to meet nationwide standards for learning, gain college and career-readiness skills, and, ultimately, to graduate with their diploma. Teachers are charged with bridging the achievement gap between races and classes and filling in deficits in learning for students whose parents are too busy working three jobs to read to their children before bed.

My younger brother, Connor, has severe autism. He is the product of 18 years in the public education system. We grew up poor. There was no way my parents could have afforded a special school for kids with disabilities, let alone the therapies provided to him by the school. He reaped the benefits of having small class sizes, individualized instruction, and paraeducators to assist him one-on-one. I am not saying everything ran smoothly all the time, or that the special education system is perfect. At the district-level, we sometimes had to fight tooth and nail to get Connor's needs met. But there was a place for him to learn, and even to gain skills for the workforce; he received job training during his final years at school.

I teach in the hopes that students like Connor and students like me and every student in between can have their own needs met. Not only do teachers provide academic lessons, they also help students gain life skills, as well as support them emotionally. Sometimes a teacher is the only positive adult influence in a student's life. Very often, that student's family would not have the means to "choose" another school.

The charter system of so-called "choice," provides a business-model and an exercise in capitalism which discounts students as people and teachers as mentors and turns them into commodities to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. Charter schools have no consistent way to vet their teachers or employees, and many administrators of charter schools have no formal training at all. Sending a voucher for a student to a charter school takes money directly away from the trained, vetted, and certificated teachers in the public education system (which eats into funding for books and curricula and supplies and arts and you-name-it), and funnels it into a school which may not benefit the students at all.

Just as students are not commodities, the head of education should not run public education like a business. Someone with no background at the classroom level or administrative level has no idea how public schools work, what they value, or what their goals are. Education is not a for-profit organization. It is not trading stocks or bonds. We are trading the lives and futures of real people.

The appointment of DeVos is appalling. The idea of students losing their opportunities and teachers losing their jobs is fear-inducing. It is easy to feel hopeless or lost or trapped or confused. The future looks scary and sad. Who knows what kind of changes may be thrown our way in the next four years?

My plan in the meantime is to teach until they rip the books out of my hands and tear me away from my students. My plan is to love my students and care for them, because they are people, not commodities, and they matter. My plan is to fight when I can fight and write when I can write and vote when I can vote. My plan is to pay attention.

I will not go into this future blind. I will make a difference. I will fight.  Will you?

An Open Letter to the Gilmore Guys

Hi Kevin and Demi,

I've been wanting to write to you for a long time to tell you how much your show has meant to me over the last two years. At the start of January 2015, I discovered your show via the hellogiggles article about it. I was finishing up my last couple of weeks at a job I hated, after having been laid off. I knew I would be facing under/unemployment for the next unknown period of time. Mere days after my last day at my job, my dad was diagnosed with Huntington's, a terminal, degenerative, genetic disease which is sort of a deadly cocktail of ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's-Esque symptoms. This also meant that my siblings and I each have a fifth percent chance of inheriting the same disease. This news was devastating to my family.

For months afterward, I would lay in my bed for hours on end with my mom and rewatch Gilmore Girls on Netflix. 

Like Kevin, I'm a crier. I found that every time I listened to music, no matter what it was, it would either evoke an emotion in me and lead me to tears, or give me too much free time to think, again resulting in waterworks. The only thing I found that I could listen to without sobbing was the Gilmore Guys podcast. It made me laugh in a time when all I wanted to do was curl up and die.

Eventually, the two of you became my familiar carpool buddies, my inspiration as I trained for and ran my first half-marathon, and the warm voices to fill an empty apartment.

I even got my fiancé to start listening to your show, which, finally persuaded him (after years of needling) to watch Gilmore Girls. And now, he actually likes it! He hasn't seen every episode, but he did watch the six hour revival with me, eating pop-tarts and Chinese food, while I raged through the Life and Death Brigade sequence, grimaced in surprise at the last four words, and sobbed uncontrollably through 90% of Fall.

Today, I finished your episode about Fall. From the time Demi started giving his speech, through the a capella version of Where You Lead, I cried and cried. It was ironic (and "full freakin circle") that I teared up at a show which was initially my escape from my sadness. I don't want to say good-bye.  

Here are some pictures of me with my dad (who just turned 50), my half-marathon, and my little GG:AYITL get-together with my mom, sister, fiancé, and dear friend.

Thank you for everything.

Nice chicken.

Kaylie Rainer

EDIT: 
I got a response from 1/2 of the Gilmore Guys and now I am extremely happy.

Hi Kaylie,

Thank you so much for this note, this means a lot to me and I’m very touched that we could bring a little bit of joy in your life in hard times.

I hope your 2017 is full of better days. We’ll be here for you! (if you care about bunheads at all that is) Thanks for writing Kaylie!

Copper BOOM!

-KTP

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Proposal Story 12-28-15

My fiance proposed to me in Disneyland. I had a hunch it was coming. His friend had drunkenly spilled the beans to me a month or two before, and I had been not-so-subtly hinting that Disneyland would be my ideal proposal locale for about two years at this point.  Before we left, I got my nails done, per my mother’s suggestion, in case any proposal hand selfies had to be taken. You know, because, priorities.

We left for Disneyland two days after Christmas. We were going with his parents, who were bank-rolling the trip, in celebration of my fiance’s new job with Boeing. We left their house at 3 a.m. after visiting with friends and family until after midnight the night before. I was extremely excited at that time to go, and we went to the park right away once we got settled. However, we all needed evening naps. Even after a nap, I had still only had about four hours of sleep, and I am no fun to be around when I haven’t slept. I don’t think I am ever truly mean, unless I am sleep-deprived or hungry. My mom has told my fiance on multiple occasions that, much like a gremlin, I need to be fed on a regular schedule, and asleep before midnight. She’s not entirely wrong.

Anyway, that evening, I was trying my best to be cheerful, but I was grouchy and snippy one minute, and then sobbing uncontrollably at fireworks the next. Dylan later told me that he knew he couldn’t propose that day, because I was too cranky. Fair point, Dylan, fair point.

Our first full day at Disney, everyone’s spirits were higher. Dylan had insisted that he and I schedule two fancy dinners during our week there at the nicer restaurants in the parks. (Yes, there is gourmet dining at Disney, who knew?) I suspected that this first fancy dinner might facilitate the proposal. We came back to the hotel for a swim and a siesta around 1:00 p.m., and ventured back out into the park at 3:00 p.m. Now, because we had made our reservations pretty last minute (like two days prior), we had dinner slots at 9:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., respectively. Dylan advised me to get dressed for our date before we went back into the park at 3:00.

Since I was pretty sure he was bringing a ring with him, I knew there would be lots of pictures taken (see also: I would be taking lots of selfies/assaulting strangers to take pictures of both of us). I am not normally a makeup-wearing gal, but I knew if I had huge dark circles under my eyes or a massive zit, it would put a damper on my frantic showing off of our proposal photos. I put on make-up, I put on a nice (albeit stretchy) dress, did my hair, and put on boots with a short, chunky heel. The boots are the catalyst for this entire anecdote.

Now, you’ll remember that I don’t function very well when I’m not eating regularly. I’m actually hypoglycemic.  I was running on adrenaline for the first few hours, but as the day wore on, I became more and more irritable, due to my hunger and my footwear, which I began cursing at every turn. It was about a quarter to six when I was really getting ornery. I was asking Dylan every few minutes if we could go back to the hotel to get my tennis shoes. He wanted to soldier on. Perhaps he didn’t want me looking like Hiker Jane in my proposal...I mean our proposal pictures, maybe he’s just sadistic...who’s to say? His parents were in line for It’s a Small World, After All, and the line was supposed to take ninety minutes. Dylan felt that with his parents saving our spots, now would be a good time to explore Toon Town.

For those of you who may not have been to Toon Town as an adult with no kids...it doesn’t really offer that much besides a photo op in the jail cell.  .

Hilarious

Dylan had set his sights on something else entirely: the Roger Rabbit ride. I’m not sure I ever rode this as a kid. Maybe I did, but I don’t remember. It held no sentimental value for me. He noted that the line outside was very short, so I begrudgingly agreed that we could ride it, envisioning myself shortly stationed in some cutesy rabbit-shaped car, with my feet blissfully burden-free. Never be fooled by a short outside line, folks. The indoor queue took us a whopping 45 minutes. I took full advantage of this time to complain about my sore, swollen, sad feet, and to find other things to complain about. My chosen target: Jessica Rabbit.

“Jessica Rabbit is just another absurd figure in the media who dates some ugly, stupid man, like Lois Griffin or whoever the Queen is on King of Queens. You would never see a male character who was super hot with an ugly or weird girl. Actually, you know what, that’s probably pretty accurate because women are less shallow than men.”

At that point, Dylan finally rose to the bait, attempting to defend his gender. I don’t remember exactly what was said, but the argument lasted us almost the entire queue. My sarcastic remarks turned into a Jessica Rabbit-fueled, feminist soapbox and my unwitting partner could barely keep up with my rage. In between barbs, I found every surface, counter, and floor, which was sit-on-able, and attempted to rest my feet, to very little avail.

When we finally boarded the ride and got settled in the car, I felt the sweet release of my feet not holding up my body, and sheepishly looked down.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered to my lap.

Dylan just held my hand and said, “I know,” because he has a high threshold for my lunacy.

Poor, sweet Dylan and the photo that started it all.

I actually didn’t hate the ride itself, probably because it didn’t include walking. By the time we returned to the Small World queue, I felt a little better and also a little embarrassed, so I tried to be a good sport.

Here is a photo of Dylan, Good Sport Me, and my in-laws Darlene and Brian outside Small World.

When we finally got to Small World, which is the longest ride ever, I was able to relax and enjoy the antiquated, slightly racist, Christmasy puppets of yore. My hunter, builder, woodsman father-in-law pointed and exclaimed with delight throughout the ride, which brought extreme joy to my heart. I was determined to be less cantankerous throughout the rest of the night.

I didn’t actually succeed with this goal entirely, because I got really really hungry, but let it be known that I did try. We watched a parade, I think I ate a churro, then finally it was time to go to the restaurant. Yay! Food! But also, yay potential proposal!

We arrived at the Napa Rose restaurant a whopping 45 minutes early for our reservation. I guess it wasn’t actually time yet. But they were able to seat us a little early, thankfully. Maybe the host understood that I might eat him if we were not seated soon. They brought out pre-dinner bread and I ate the entire basket. Dylan was quiet and didn’t eat much. I didn’t notice because I ate everything. All the bread (except one piece, which I politely gave to Dylan because I’m extremely kind), my entree, some of Dylan’s entree, and a huge dessert. Then I felt extremely content and noticed that Dylan hadn’t eaten or said much of anything.

Here is a blurry picture I took of the bread; I was so excited to eat it. Note Dylan's polite folded hands as I gorge myself.

As I was finishing dessert, Dylan looked uncomfortable and like he wanted to start a conversation.

He finally began, “Well, 2015 has been a pretty amazing year-”

I interrupted him, before I could stop myself.

I snorted and scoffed, “No it hasn’t.”

This caught him off-guard, “What?” he asked.

I listed, “I got laid off, my dad is dying from Huntington’s, I might have it, too…”

Dylan tried to recover, “Well, it’s had its ups and downs, but, uh…well, anyway, cheers.”

And he held up his wine glass, and we toasted. Part of me felt annoyed, “how could he have thought 2015 was a good year, what the hell?!” and part of me screamed, “SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS, YOU IDIOT, HE’S TRYING TO PROPOSE.”

And the moment was officially ruined. By me.

Here is a picture of us outside the restaurant. I am happy and fed and Dylan is phoning it in as I ask the waiter to take five thousand photos of us and he worries the park will close soon. Classic.

I had the waiter take some photos of us, by the Christmas tree, outside by the sign, (hey, I wore make-up, I had to show it off.) When I was satisfied, Dylan grabbed my hand.

He said, “We have to get back to the park!”

“Can I at least change my shoes? The hotel is just over…”

“No time!” he commanded, and whisked me away.

At that point, he had decided his next choice for proposing would be the Storybook Land Boats. He assumed the ride would be a real mood-setter. He was envisioning a private, romantic, intimate boat ride. What he got was a boat captained by the world’s oldest narrator, and a passel  of children on-board with us.

The Storybook Land Boats go through Monstro the whale from Pinocchio’s mouth and enter a small canal, with miniature versions of Disney castles on either shore.

As we passed the castles, at a speed of about two miles per hour, the Professor Binns of boating would drone, “And here’s where Aladdin and Jasmine found a ‘whole new world’...of love.”

I sat back and enjoyed the weirdness that was this ride, but Dylan was visibly antsy. We had been forced to wait a few minutes for the narrator/boat captain to arrive, and dinner had taken a fortnight, so the clock was really ticking. By the time we completed our not-so-magical journey, It was 11:30 p.m., and the park was set to close at midnight. Dylan clutched my hand and started sprinting away, as soon as we docked. This time I had no idea where we were going.

We ended up at Snow White’s Wishing Well. Dylan had confided in me earlier in the trip that this was his favorite place in the park, as a kid. There’s not a whole lot to do in that area at night, no characters or anything, so I was a little confused.

Nearby, there were two young couples canoodling. One couple left fairly quickly but another couple (teenagers) stayed and made out for a few minutes with gusto.

At this point, Dylan attempted to stall for time, since he wanted to place cleared out. He tried making small talk, as he anxiously waited for the couples to dissipate.

“So, uh, who’s your favorite dwarf?” Dylan improvised, taking a cue from the dwarf statues nearby.

I balked, “Uh...I don’t know. Dopey...maybe?”

When the other couple finally left, Dylan needled me to toss a coin in the well and make a wish.

It took me an inordinate amount of time to actually find a coin in my purse and I remember thinking, “Oh gosh, if I don’t find some kind of a coin, he’s not going to propose…”, which was probably untrue but at the time, I was rattled.

Finally I did find one, and I wished for him to propose.

“All my life I’ve waited to find my princess, and now I finally have. Will you spend the rest of your life with me?” He asked shyly.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” I cried happily, kissing his face and jumping up and down.

“Wait, you have to let me kneel down and get the ring out!” he protested.

“Oh, yeah, okay, go ahead.”

He got out the ring, he got down on one knee, he proposed, it was adorable. We rode some celebratory kiddie rides, Snow White’s Scary Adventure and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and I ran around asking people to take our picture and telling everyone who would listen that we were engaged.

Unsuccessful, extremely dark selfie

First attempt at getting a stranger to take our picture courtesy of a lady who didn't understand flash or flattering angles or technology, in general. This was the only non-blurry photo she took.

Second stranger photo attempt: perfection

1/2 point of weight loss!!

Hello!

The last time we "spoke
I was just beginning my weight loss journey in January as a sort of extended New Year's Resolution.  After 8.5 months of Weight Watchers and 2 months of the Couch to 5 K program I am feeling tons better about myself, I know I am looking better and I am in much better shape!! I have lost 43 lbs, and am about halfway to my weight loss goal!  As a part of my quest, I've decided to take pictures at significant landmarks wearing the same swimsuit so people/me can see the differences more significantly.  So...Here are the first half!

September 2011: approx. 228.6 lbs

May 2012: Approx. 205 lbs

and finally, today (8/17/12) at approx. 185 lbs

 It feels REALLY exciting to be able to see such significant progress. Obviously I look diva-riffic in that first picture...not really sure why i look like a limp noodle in the second, and am molto STOKED in the third.

Let me tell you, it is HARD work. Every day is a struggle. But I'm growing to love healthy food and exercise (although I still love me some tasty treats!!)

I've pretty much decided that I am aiming for to lose a full 100lbs.  After which we are going to have the biggest, most awesomest party ever.  Maybe a build-your-own salad high-five fest!

Just thought I would let everyone know about my progress!

Exclamation point!

Day two and three!

Well, it is officially Day Two of Kaylie’s Official Second-Go at Ghetto Weight Watchers. For those who don’t know, Ghetto Weight Watchers is for people who are too poor to pay for meetings, or website use. And if you’re thinking, “that’s not a thing!” you’re right. I made it up. It has one member. That member is me. Whatever. The decision to start Weight Watchers has been a difficult one. The last time I did it, I did it because of severe low self-esteem. I thought being thin would solve all my problems. And, low and behold, at my lowest weight since the seventh grade, I was the most unhappy I have ever been. Outside forces, aside; the size of my jeans didn’t really make me any happier or comfort me when I was sad. I was just colder. And my boobs were smaller. It’s been a long journey of self-rebuilding in the almost 3 years that have passed since then. I’ve spent a lot of that time concentrating on putting less stock in numbers (weight, dress size) and more on the way I feel. I think it’s stupid for women to not feel beautiful if they are above a certain weight. So I’ve tried really hard, and I think I’ve made a lot of progress, to love myself exactly as I am. I’m not saying I’m the Ghandi of self-confidence or anything. But I’ve grown a lot in my appreciation of myself. Or at least, I’ve gotten better at talking myself out of self-deprecating thoughts. So, this time around I promise myself this: I will not lose myself in the obsession of losing weight. I will get in shape because I want to, not because I think it will make me prettier, or sexier, or happier. All I can say for the past two days is this: I’m hungry. It’s probably mostly psychological, I understand that. But still. Also, I’ve been trying to exercise regularly, which is making me really miss Western’s rec center. Maybe I’ll get a gym membership. I do love that elliptical guy. Regardless, I have plans to at least *attempt* doing BodyRock’s 30 day new year’s challenge. Although I may die. We’ll see how things go.

Day Three of Weight Watchers!

Day three has been so much easier. I have hardly felt like dying from hunger at all, which is excellent. Last night Mom and I made a very filling delicious dish (Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Marinara, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower and tofu,) the leftovers of which I had for lunch. It was excellent! I've missed cooking, it reminds me of Italy. Can't wait until I'm doing my own shopping again. This morning I had egg whites with mushrooms and veggie sausage on a whole wheat English Muffin. Nummers!

In the past, I've found Day Three to be the hardest day of a diet. Yes, Weight Watchers Gurus, I realize that WW is not technically a 'diet,' it's marketed as a 'lifestyle,' but for all intents and purposes, I'm calling it a 'diet.'

Anyway, I have a pretty sordid diet-related past. I've started and stopped Weight Watchers more times than I care to count, done all sorts of Fat Flushes and Fasts; pretty much anything advertised on the cover of a magazines and

National Coming Out Day. 2011.

First of all: This post is going to talk about Sexuality. So don't read it if that freaks you out.


Well, it's National Coming Out Day.
Every year this day is a sort of weird internal struggle for me. For a long time, I've struggled with how to define my own sexuality. There are so many adjectives today describing sexual states of being (Just look at how long the LGBTQQ...2...A...A etc. acronym is getting!) and yet, somehow I still don't feel that one of those perfectly describes me. So, as somebody who finds themselves attracted to both sexes at an uneven ratio, who's sort of confused, I guess that would put me at that second Q or ?, Questioning. But as a white, sort-of-straight girl, I don't really feel like I should even be able to "come out." That to me is something private and important for people who actually have an idea of where they fall on the sexual spectrum. I don't want to steal anyone's thunder, and what do you say in my situation anyway? "In honor of Coming Out Day, I thought I'd let everyone know that I'm totally confused. Carry On."

To those brave enough to come out today, Thank you. I admire your courage. Keep on keepin' on. To those of you who are a little confused, like me, well...I guess we just keep trying to figure ourselves out.

Meanwhile. A rant on bisexuality stereotypes.
There are two prevailing stereotypes in American society about people who are bisexual. That they are either gay men, who are transitioning into being "fully out of the closet" or straight women who seek attention from straight men by kissing other straight girls.

Can we please let that die? It's a truly disrespectful response to someone who has been brave enough to express their true sexuality. While I won't say that those kinds of people aren't out there, it is not the majority. Bisexuality does exist. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's not real.

Sorry for taking up your time with my confused rantings. I told you you didn't have to read this.

Post-Graduate Musings

Well, avid readers, it's been almost two years since my last post. When I think about what I was doing two years ago, it makes me unbelievably sad and disappointed about where I am now. Not that my life is so bad or horrible or anything, it's just that...to go from romping about Europe, totally free and independent, surrounded by art and 2000 years worth of civilization, to moving back in with my parents in Tacoma, Washington is a little depressing. It all comes down to money, I suppose. Which is, I think, the biggest lesson I'm drawing from le real world, you gotta get the dolla dolla bills. So, now I'm living with my parents, working three jobs, trying simultaneously to further my theatrical career (gotta buff up my grad school application)and move out of my childhood home. Not that living at home is torturous, in a lot of ways it's really nice. Not having to pay rent, for example, is enough of an incentive to stay with my parents indefinitely. I just feel that, at this point in my life, it's not conducive to my growing and changing. Something I really miss about college is the social aspect. Most days, the only people I spend any time with are my family, who are great, I just miss people my own age. It's strange to come back to this place where I had so many friends and forged so many emotional connections, to find that most of them have flown away. I'm assistant directing and also acting in a play at one of the local community colleges at the director (my high school theatre teacher's) behest. Upon arriving at the campus yesterday I felt gripped with fear and anxiety; something akin to 'first day jitters,' but also overwhelmed with excitement just to engage with people in my own chronological demographic. Much to my surprise, however, community college is not just twenty-somethings and post-high school students, but people of all different ages, from running start high-school students to octogenarian learners. Which, in a lot of ways is really fascinating and cool, but not in the going out for beers after rehearsal kind of way, which I'm so desperately seeking. Not that, honestly, I have time for social interaction most days, that's the nature of the money-grubbing beast that is capitalism, but I do miss it. Which is why I would love to live with people my own age, so that I could squeeze in a little social interaction at those brief times when I'm not at work or rehearsal, without having to hunt down someone on whom I can force my companionship. One refreshing thing about "Almost, Maine" (the play I'm working on) is the big fish, small pond realization. Having just graduated from a highly competitive theatre program among truly proficient artists, it has been a long time since I felt talented, particularly in the acting department. Fresh off a community theatre rejection (that honestly didn't faze me very much, it comes with the theatrical territory,) at the first rehearsal, I was surprised to be given praise and compliments and support. Whether this show turns out to be a great opus or not, I anticipate it becoming a great community, which would be welcome. That's all for now, I guess. It's a slow day at my office job, but I should at least feign working.