There was a time when I knew exactly how many digital pieces I had created, but not N any more, especially after our ABC movie collaboration last year. Thank God Kevin and I were able to expand the community for the project but we still took on a large number of letters each… A is for…, B…, C… Last year at this time we were wrapping it up. Remember, Kevin?

For this piece, I was commissioned by the NWP ELL network to document their TESOL pre-conference workshop focused on ELL writers in the digital age.

Judy Rance-Roney, a member of the ELL network of the NWP and a buddy at SUNY and our writing project, invited me to participate in this conference day when the group was in its earliest planning stages.

At first I was asked to collaborate on a digital storytelling workshop and document the day as well. As I sat with the group for an initial planning session last November at the NWP conference in NYC, I realized that I could not do both and everyone seemed to agree that wearing both hats would be just impossible to do justice to either work. So I moved to observer role happily.

This pre-conference day kicked off the TESOL conference and what was I thinking? Tuvia and I returned from Israel the day before and of course, I was just beginning to suffer from Jet Lag. As I rode up 6th Avenue in a taxi cab I was kicking myself for not planning differently. Oh well, next time, I have to remember, more down time to adjust.

But the group was a great one to work with,very sympathetic as I dragged myself up to the hotel room where the last minute details were being shared. The conference would be held in typical conference rooms just two floors away from us and even though the lighting was terrible the number of participants,30, made the setup perfect for documenting . I spontaneously abandoned my still camera for the video recorder and the inner lighting worked better than the odd external flash on my advanced point and shot, which has been put on the shelf when I moved to my Nikon D60 SLR with an external flash.

I knew I was taking a risk and walking around with the camera, not always resting on my tri-pod caused some shake but these days, with You Tube, it’s not as much of a problem. So I left the conference not filming everything but with almost a full hour of video and some photos. Given the comfort with presenters and a good group of 30 participants, and an clear plan to document their movement throughout the day with this hands-on experience with technology and its power for ELL’s, I had a challenge that could be achieved and thinking about what I have almost finished,

So here’s my request. Just below this post is my video draft. If you have a few minutes, 7 minutes, 15 seconds to be exact, I’d love some feedback. My goal was to move with the participants from start to finish and to see what they left with, so comment away.

I’m going to include some of the comments I already received via email.

Here’s the You Tube link if you can’t access it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0HROCVB05k

Bonnie

Tim Russert, dead at 58.

I am feeling his death because there is rarely a day passes that I’m not watching news on NBC. I wake up, click here, turn on the coffeemaker and reach for Today on NBC. And I love politics.

So NBC and politics, spell Tim Russert.

Why all the attention to this one news guy? Tuvia’s starting to wonder.

Why am I feeling sad?

Yesterday I watched Charlie Rose’s tribute to Tim. The first half of his show was a conversation between Al Hunt and Charlie just reminiscing about their personal relationship with Tim and then a series of interviews Charlie had with Tim throughout the years. and that was revealing. Tim Russert is getting all the this attention because he was passionate: loved his job, his family, politics, the world around him and lived his values. It’s the heartache that so many who knew him personally and right in his moment, he was here and then gone, suddenly at 58.

And the more I’m learning about him, the sadder I am. For example, I didn’t know that TIm began his career in politics with Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo, two of my favorite politicians.

Tim Russert, you lived well and we rejoice in what you’ve left behind.

I’ll miss you.

Bonnie

Honestly, I was not a big fan of Sex and the City in the early seasons. I found the group way too gross. But I jumped on the bandwagon for the last season and as they mellowed, I began to look forward to Sunday nights especially when Mikhail Baryshnikov shared the screen with Carrie as one of her love interests. Tuvia often sat with me, quietly enjoying “Samantha” and as the show came down to its final episodes I was down right sad

As the HBO version ended and went into syndication,the wondering began: Would there be a movie version to pick up where the final episode left us? Of course, the project began and we waited. I waited patiently. And last night Tuvia( not feeling great) shelped with me to an early 6:30 performance because everything later was sold out.

As we arrived comfortably early as usual, we were directed to a line cordoned off on the side of a 300 seat theater and we were in a good position to get our favorite seats. We were surrounded by women, arriving in groups, 4’s and more. There were a few couples like us but not many. Tuvia didn’t care. He was studying the crowd.

As we were finally herded into the theater, an usher checked our tickets because the performance was officially sold out and maybe we were desperate to crash.

The place filled quickly, excited women prepared to enjoy the screen and the overflowing bags of popcorn and candy- a truly joyous and long awaited event. I wondered how many times Tuvia would be checking his watch.

As usual, lots of previews first and the movie would still clock in over 2 hours. I was feeling the excitement.

The four friends were back: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte and now in their 40’s the women were seasoned. Men friends, husbands, all the regulars were back and the 5th lady, New York City was back as well, in all her glory. Made you want to be in there with them. I wondered as I went deeper and deeper into the bowels of the film how many, in this crowd were right there making the journey with me.

I loved the focus on friendship but as Carrie prepared for her over-the-top monster of a wedding, I wondered, does she have any family: parents, siblings??? Just a thought.

I glanced over at Tuvia often. He laughed with Samantha and rarely glanced at his watch. I’m sure he was enjoying it more than he thought he would.

It was well done from the script, to the sets, to the music, to the four very clearly drawn women and their modern struggles.

And then the screen went black and we were asked to vacate the theater, the fire alarms went off.

30 minutes to go. A theater filled with women loving the experience and an abrupt break. UGH!

We left reluctantly and while many people seemed to linger just outside the main entrance, we took the directions seriously and left for the evening, unsatisfied and without conversation.

We sat through dinner at the diner planning our return the next day, wondering what happened.

So this morning, after a conversation with the manager on the phone, we returned and sat through most of it again, at 10 AM. The theater was almost filled, again with a large majority of women.

And I loved it a second time. I usually do. Tuvia laughed even more this time. The whole audience participated as well: laughing, applauding, sighing, crying( me for sure), actively engaged.

I recommend it if you hadn’t guessed and it’s too bad there aren’t more men joining their women for it. The experience should be shared but given the tone of some of the star reviewers, I can understand why many men might shy away. They focus on the chick clothes, the bags, the shoes, but there’s more than meets the eye for those who look. The women, especially Miranda and Carrie are dealing with the single woman’s need to give up some of the “I” to become a “we”. We both bought their struggle and honest efforts to really look into the mirror.

That’s what we left talking about, even though the male characters are really shadows to their women, they remain the focus of attention.

Tuvia, you are walking at the head of the line!

Men, get off the couch and join your ladies!

Where were you when the Recount was stopped?

Last night we watched the movie, Recount on HBO,returning us to a turning point in our history, when Al Gore was beaten to a pulp by James Baker and the Republican street fighters,while he, as the sitting Vice President, looked Presidential, concerned more about history.

Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern, Ed Begely Jr., John Hurt, and Denis Leary were all fantastic at bringing back this moment.

I have thought about that Saturday morning often.

I was packing up my apartment, getting ready to move to a new home. My friend Nancy was individually wrapping each piece of pottery, each painting. I handled the bulk items: pots, pans, dishese.

We had both tv’s on: the small black and white in the bedroom and the large SONY running in the living room. We luxuriated in stereo. We were giddy as we packed a bit, watched a bit, drank coffee a lot.

A democrat and fresh from 8 (almost) perfect years with Bill Clinton, and the long election night, watching the numbers roll in from Flordia bringing the count so close, we were juiced by the spontaneity of events until something happened as we watched, as everyone watched.

Everything stopped!

We banged both tv’s hoping it was just us.

No!

Recount brought it all back.

It’s a great movie, but it brought back my 8 years of frustration as I fight against the what if. mantra because no matter who is elected president in November it will be hard to make up for the last 8 years.

So even though it’s a gorgeous Memorial Day in the east, I’m saddled today with a return to sad memories and thoughts of what could have been with Al.

Where were you on the day the recounting stopped? What do you remember?

http://www.hbo.com/films/recount/video/spacey_klain.html(Sorry, I can’t find the link for this)