A less than brief biography of Nadja Yse Tizer, now Nadja Yse Stringer

A less than brief biography of Nadja Yse Tizer, now Nadja Yse Stringer

Look me up on myspace.com. You might find a profile but you will see it is set to private. That’s because I’m a teacher.
Google “Nadja Tizer.” There are 209 mentions of my name (OMG). The first site that pops up is this one:
schoolweb.acsd14.k12.co.us/ACHS/Tizer.htm - 9k
The second entry looks like this:
indarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_153_39/ai_n6132365 - 38k
I have a degree in psychology and was going to get a PhD in sex therapy but then changed my mind.
If you go on you will find several references to the book I worked on with my psychology professor (yes, I’m published and it was a great honor to be chosen for this).
You will find me “tagged” as “a global learner” by a colleague.
toniajohnson.blogspot.com/2007/10/tag-k12-online.html - 64k
You can find mention of my name in an obituary for the “Stringer family” (my husband's name, soon to be mine legally as well).
You can find my name in relation to El Pomar and the EPYCS club at Adams City High School for 2005 and 2006.
You will find that I worked briefly for Congressman Mark Udall.
www.legistorm.com/member/512/Rep_Mark_Udall.html - 26k
A colleague has linked my teaching blog to hers.
toniajohnson.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html - 80k
You can find me easily and in person. My school address and classroom number are even listed.
schoolweb.acsd14.k12.co.us/tjjohnso/welcometeamteachers.htm - 7k
I never knew it was so easy to be a stalker before. Wow, I hope I haven’t pissed anyone off lately… Apparently there is no hiding. Heck, I’m sure there is a directory with my home address but with MS one can’t waste too much time on paranoia and I did post one of my Halloween pictures on the blog anyway. You will notice it is teacher appropriate because I’m going global with this thing amd a teacher should not show off their shoulders to high school students.
You can find me listed as a UCD (University of Colorado at Denver) “Outstanding Graduate” for the Bilingual/ESL Masters Program.
www.cudenver.edu/.../Student%20Services%20Center/Documents/Outstanding%20grads%20for%20Website.pdf
You can see some of the work done by my ESL students by going to:
principianteglobal.blogspot.com/2007/12/student-work-posting.html - 73k –
I am so proud of them.
You can find me listed as a UCD Masters recipient.
principianteglobal.blogspot.com/2007/12/student-work-posting.html - 73k –
There is apparently both a “Tizer” and a “Nadja” on some 2001 CD Rom that includes both playboy and penthouse actresses as well as the legit kind. Sorry, intriguing as it sounds, I don’t perform publicly and those ladies are not me.
You will find many other Nadjas. Most of them are Russian or at least European. You will find: “Meaning: Its source is Nadezhda, a Russian name meaning "Hope."
http://www.babynamer.com/Nadja
My parents actually named me after a book by Andre Berton called Nadja. Here is the wikipedia link for Andre Berton. My parents are ex-hippies and they are both great intellects. I can’t believe I never researched Berton before tonight.
http://www.babynamer.com/Nadja
“Berton is André Breton (February 19, 1896 – September 28, 1966) was a French writer, poet, and surrealist theorist, and is best known as the main founder of surrealism. (see wikipedia).” He published Nadja in 1928. It is some out there stuff from what I can tell. I just purchased a copy from the comfort of my own couch.
According to an Amazon customer review, “Nadja” is simply one more delightful proof of breton's genius and his infallible flair for the surreal, the mysterious, the mystical, and everything that is profoundly divergent. in this tale of intrigue and obsession he travels the streets of paris with a ghostly, clearly insane young woman who calls herself nadja, which is the russian word for hope.” Full review can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2Z95IGPWT6CV3/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2Z95IGPWT6CV3
The customer review further notes, “at the end of the novel, nadja is put into an asylum after the police are called because of her incessant screaming and apparently incoherent behavior, some of which suggested that she was living in a world of hallucinations and irrational fears. we do know that nadja was a real woman and not by means some fictitious creation of breton's, and we also know that she came to a somewhat unfortunate end.” This is just getting creepy now. And I always did feel a little bit like a “bad seed”. See my blog from 5/03/08.
The review continues, “it may be true that breton's behavior and attitude of indifference and deliberate ignorance about her truly wretched fate (she died of cancer, insane and completely alone) is indeed nothing to admire, but those who put too much emphasis on this admittedly accurate fact forget that while he may in a sense have betrayed her, he also made a truly admirable effort to make the world see nadja and those like her as no one has seen them before, and immortalized her in a book that is absolutely unforgettable and breathtakingly beautiful.”
The review finishes with the following bold statement, “it is true that he occasionally goes over the top with his optimism, but his iron will and determination to fight 'miserabilism', the philosophical justification of human misery, at all costs can only call forth our admiration. his exaltation of the imagination as the highest of human faculties and the sole organ of man that will allow him to attain felicity seems to be verified by direct, concrete experience of life. as we grow older and we come to realize that sensual pleasure is a big part of life but essentially empty and hollow, our inner lives (hopefully) become more vivid and we end up spending more and more time there. breton knows this and wants us to cultivate it to the highest degree possible. don't be fooled by the 'anti breton' rhetoric and take a dismissive attitude toward him, because you'll be missing out on some of the most fascinating books (to my mind) ever written.”
I’ll let you know once I read it. Now I’m really interested and kicking myself for not getting the book ten years ago. It actually sounds like my cup of tea.
Wow! I had intended to just write a little something but instead I find I am researching a book (more to follow on that).
I think I will have to continue this biography another day but I do have to state a few things first.
I intend my blog to be an honest open account of both my personal dealings with MS and my research regarding the subject. At all times the content will remain truthful and open but at times key, personal details of my life will be omitted for privacy and the sake of my very-public career as an educator.
I promise that when I refer to others in my blog that I will omit all names except mine and my husband’s. I will focus primarily on my own feelings and ideas as I cope with and research life with MS. I will not drag my family or my husband through the mud. I will keep most of my marriage private except where it relates directly to my treatment. I will not share my husband’s private blog and I will not refer to it either in person with him or in my public writing. I will send anything I write about family members to those people first and get their approval before I post anything.
I will cite, quote and link all of my sources. I will write in the semi-casual blog voice and genre but at times will write well-documented articles and research reports from a “Systems Change Perspective.” See Mark Clarke’s "A Place to Stand: Essays for Educators in Troubled Times."
www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=8866 - 19k
I am planning to write a memoir, not about life with MS, but about life before MS, and the ways that learning I have MS has shaped me so drastically in the last few weeks. I think the book would be detailed and sensory and would focus on my journey from spiritual teacher’s daughter to yoga instructor and educator. MS would be a thread but not really the story.
I might also need to write an action research book on our modern health care system and various articles as I learn things. I have the Writer's Market Book so I do know where to send things out to as I decide that they are worthwhile. I will actually talk to my mom about finding an agent. I think some of them work pro-bono if they find an author, story or topic compelling. I have always dreamed of writing and I have published before… I guess if I do lose my ability to teach and/or do yoga I will stay home and write and hope I make it as an author. Even if I don’t get published, here is what I believe: I am a true Bohemian at heart. I believe in "Truth, love and beauty" (Moulin Rouge). The "La Vie Boheme" (Rent). Art for arts sake is paramount and if you have the artistic inclination and hit a creative vein you have got to run with it. When I was a child I had unrestrained creativity as a choreographer and I feel that coming back to me now as a singer, yoga instructor, dancer, designer, artist and writer. I think it's because I care less now about perfection and more about the art for art's sake again. I have never had such bad insomnia in my life. To be continued…