"Just think of him as bug spray."

Another day, another movie recommendation. This time, you'll have to rent: Raising Victor Vargas. The characters are so real - these could be my students. It's a small story of three children growing up in Manhattan with their Dominican grandmother, who is doing her best to raise them well. It's also the story of Victor's romantic pursuit of Judy, and how Judy and her best friend (whose name I forget) deal with being teenage girls in a world of interested boys... One fun thing about this movie is that it was shot in my own neighborhood, and the stars are kids from NYC performing arts high schools (possibly why they sound so authentic). Anyway, it's hilarious and very sweet.

Today: WNYC (local NPR station), grading papers, playing with Valentine, and cleaning my room. Oh my god did my bedroom ever need to be cleaned! I have about three pounds of dust to take out with the garbage. Valentine is a little disgruntled over the moving of furniture, wetting of floors, and rustling up of dust that accompanied the cleaning.