Well, dear readers (if I have any readers left), you may have noticed that I have been VERY inconsistent about blogging during the past few months. And even more unforgiveable: I've been boring.
Well, readers, I have been occupied with many things of much importance. I've been gainfully employed, of course, with my construction administration job at the Medium-sized Consulting Architecture and Engineering Company (MCAEC), and that has been fun, and I've enjoyed learning about the construction industry as part of a full-service architectural firm. I try to keep my employers anonymous, for their sake as well as my own, but I will say that this particular company is classy and professional, and they're really good at what they do. I've had some great coworkers, and none of my bosses are psycho, nor is there any probability that ethical scandals will land our company on the front pages of newspapers and threaten our stock values (for one thing, the MCAEC is not a publicly traded company anyway). With all my satisfaction with the work and the people, it's sad that I have to move on from there.
As most of you are aware, Jeff was placed for work in Phoenix, AZ. We've spent almost all of our time apart for more than two months, due to this circumstance, and it's been really difficult, but now the time has come for us to finalize a move to Phoenix. Yes, we're really almost there! In one week, we'll be all moved and starting to settle into the desert. Many thanks to my parents and Jeff's parents, who have really helped us in so many ways to pack and get the house ready. I'm just ready to be done with it now.
One thing that has kept me super-busy is yet another changing circumstance in our lives. Again, most of my readers already know, but for those who have not yet heard: Believe it or not, we are expecting a baby! I've not posted it on my blog for a few reasons. First of all, I'm paranoid. It's my first pregnancy, and I know of many people who have lost babies even several months along, and I just didn't want to be publishing it for the internet to read, and then having to write and report a miscarriage or something. And second, I really do not want to be one of those women who is obsessed with her pregnancy ("OH, MY GOSH. I'm PREGNANT! It's all about ME! And it's like NOBODY has ever been PREGNANT before.") and thinks everyone needs to hear all about it for more than nine months. Yes, I'm having a baby. And billions of women have had babies before. Anyway, Baby is due mid-February, and it has been an adventure for the past few months. It really is such a strange thing to grow another human being inside your own body. Yes, it is like having a parasite (I've had enough parasitic diseases to speak with authority on this matter). Also, I am pretty much huge by now. I might post some pictures, if I overcome my self-consciousness.
The prospect of me being a parent is amusing, of course, for those who know me and my attitude toward children in general (they should be seen and not heard, and preferably not anywhere close to me), but I expect that I'll gain some affection for my own child. If nothing else, becoming a mother will teach me a lot and lead me to become more Christ-like (I hope). All of our friends and families are so supportive and excited. It is the first grandchild on both sides, and one of the first babies in my group of friends. [Sherida, of course, has just had her little Caleb, and Amanda is going to have her baby just a little before me!]
I'm planning to post more regularly (finally!), and life will actually become easier when I'm living in Arizona with my husband, so I might have good things to write again.
01 December 2007
27 November 2007
Ooh la la, Larissa!
My coworker and I are obsessed with the proceedings of the trial of one Larissa Schuster, who is accused of murdering her husband by stunning him, stuffing him into a barrel, and pouring hydrochloric acid on him (nice lady). We read the daily updates and discuss the testimonies and ensuing developments.
Schuster is from the Fresno area (Clovis), but is being tried in Los Angeles County, as it was felt that the notoriety of the case would make it impossible to obtain impartial jurors in Fresno County.
Schuster's alleged co-conspirator has already been convicted, and Schuster herself has had to do some fancy talking to provide any explanation for her bizarre behavior in the days surrounding her husband's disappearance, if she wants to demonstrate her own innocence (she claims her accomplice committed the murder, and she merely helped cover it up, out of fear, after the fact). But whether you are guilty or innocent, why would you hide your murdered husband's body in your rented storage unit? That's just not a good idea.
Check it out. This is one crazy murder case.
Schuster is from the Fresno area (Clovis), but is being tried in Los Angeles County, as it was felt that the notoriety of the case would make it impossible to obtain impartial jurors in Fresno County.
Schuster's alleged co-conspirator has already been convicted, and Schuster herself has had to do some fancy talking to provide any explanation for her bizarre behavior in the days surrounding her husband's disappearance, if she wants to demonstrate her own innocence (she claims her accomplice committed the murder, and she merely helped cover it up, out of fear, after the fact). But whether you are guilty or innocent, why would you hide your murdered husband's body in your rented storage unit? That's just not a good idea.
Check it out. This is one crazy murder case.
Film Review: Chariots of Fire
I finally watched Chariots of Fire last night. I say finally, as if to imply that I've been trying to view it and been repeatedly stymied in my attempts, or something like that. Actually, not only have I not had Chariots of Fire at or anywhere near the top of my viewing list, but I've even seen it before, technically. However, I choose to discount my initial viewing, because at the time I was (1) 10 years old, and (2) suffering from a malaria-induced fever of c. 104 F.
My real impression of the film from my childhood was that it consisted of a bunch of people standing around talking a lot, interspersed with scenes of some guys running around. And as it turns out, that juvenile impression was extremely accurate. This movie is stodgy and talky, indeed. However, if you have to have pedantry and verbose pageantry, it's always a safe bet to go with the classy British production, and if you get a fabulous cast, solid script, and well-crafted direction to go along with your tony accents, so much the better.
I have spent the better part of 24 hours trying to decide if Chariots of Fire is a great film, or merely a good film. Many people count it among the very best films ever made, but a glance through IMDB's entry for Chariots of Fire will reveal that many other people also have things to say along the lines of "This movie is more boring than C-SPAN" or "THIS is the clunker that beat Raiders of the Lost Ark for Best Picture Oscar?" Each according to his or her taste, I guess. Chariots of Fire is actually a bit like another slow-moving but critically-lauded British movie that won the Best Picture Academy Award during its time: Cavalcade. Both films have opponents labeling them as "least deserving Best Picture winner ever", and both end up being better movies after one is done watching them. Ultimately, both films are not really about events; they are about people, and watching people who are human beings, and not merely figures in an explosive action sequence, requires a little more concentration and reflection than the standard summer popcorn movie viewing experience.
Anyway, I finally concluded that all things considered, Chariots of Fire could justifiably be described as a great movie, not merely good. Why? Well, why might it be less than great?
The Cons:
-Gab gab gab. The script itself isn't bad, but there's just so much of it.
-Yawn yawn yawn. It's a sports movie that even sports fans can find boring. The overall pacing is incredibly slow, especially considering the fact that it's about men who are incredibly fast.
-The score. Okay, okay, I know Chariots of Fire has one of the most recognizable and beloved film scores of all time. And it won an Oscar, of course. BUT, while the composition isn't bad, I think the arrangement was severely lacking, a fact which is more glaringly evident after one has left the 1980s behind. The whole synthesizer thing is jarringly incongruous with both 1920s Europe and the world of competitive sports.
-Editing. Oscar-nominated, and beautifully done in most parts, yet WHAT IS UP with the constant slow-motion thing? It loses its impact if done too often, okay?
-The fact that, despite the title, this movie contains not one single chariot of fire. As a child, I would really have valued a few wagons being alight at some point in the narrative, and my adult self agrees. If nothing else, it would have been a relief from the tedium of the talk-talk-talk of post-Victorian existential crises.
On the plus side, the Pros:
-First of all, it's gorgeous, a visual treat. The lands of England and Scotland have never looked better, and it's all nicely staged with fairly good 1920s period detail. The Oscar-winning costumes help, too.
-The acting is earnestly done, with sincerity but without undo Brando-style emoting. Very British, very RSC. Seasoned professionals such as Sir John Gielgud and Ian Holm (Oscar nom) keep standards high, and lesser-known individuals such as Ben Cross and Ian Charleson do not fail to meet those standards in their own performances.
-Then there is the script. One never sees characters reciting lines, but rather genuine people speaking honestly and realistically. The above-mentioned acting helps, but good writing shines through in the fact that despite the much-complained-about talkiness of the film, the dialog itself never sounds heavy-handed.
-The honest and positive portrayal of a truly godly man. This is one movie wherein the religious man is lauded for living by his principles, rather than sneered at for his gauche naivety or exposed as a bigoted hypocrite.
-The simple fact that, like all great films, Chariots of Fire works on so many levels. It can be viewed as a sports movie (everything leading up to the Big Race), as a story of the human spirit, as an illustration of the triumph of faith. The film has all of the elements because it is a story of humanity, of human individuals, and so it will have as many facets as real people themselves do.
Bottom Line: See this movie! Even if you don't much like it, you should be able to find at least something to appreciate.
My real impression of the film from my childhood was that it consisted of a bunch of people standing around talking a lot, interspersed with scenes of some guys running around. And as it turns out, that juvenile impression was extremely accurate. This movie is stodgy and talky, indeed. However, if you have to have pedantry and verbose pageantry, it's always a safe bet to go with the classy British production, and if you get a fabulous cast, solid script, and well-crafted direction to go along with your tony accents, so much the better.
I have spent the better part of 24 hours trying to decide if Chariots of Fire is a great film, or merely a good film. Many people count it among the very best films ever made, but a glance through IMDB's entry for Chariots of Fire will reveal that many other people also have things to say along the lines of "This movie is more boring than C-SPAN" or "THIS is the clunker that beat Raiders of the Lost Ark for Best Picture Oscar?" Each according to his or her taste, I guess. Chariots of Fire is actually a bit like another slow-moving but critically-lauded British movie that won the Best Picture Academy Award during its time: Cavalcade. Both films have opponents labeling them as "least deserving Best Picture winner ever", and both end up being better movies after one is done watching them. Ultimately, both films are not really about events; they are about people, and watching people who are human beings, and not merely figures in an explosive action sequence, requires a little more concentration and reflection than the standard summer popcorn movie viewing experience.
Anyway, I finally concluded that all things considered, Chariots of Fire could justifiably be described as a great movie, not merely good. Why? Well, why might it be less than great?
The Cons:
-Gab gab gab. The script itself isn't bad, but there's just so much of it.
-Yawn yawn yawn. It's a sports movie that even sports fans can find boring. The overall pacing is incredibly slow, especially considering the fact that it's about men who are incredibly fast.
-The score. Okay, okay, I know Chariots of Fire has one of the most recognizable and beloved film scores of all time. And it won an Oscar, of course. BUT, while the composition isn't bad, I think the arrangement was severely lacking, a fact which is more glaringly evident after one has left the 1980s behind. The whole synthesizer thing is jarringly incongruous with both 1920s Europe and the world of competitive sports.
-Editing. Oscar-nominated, and beautifully done in most parts, yet WHAT IS UP with the constant slow-motion thing? It loses its impact if done too often, okay?
-The fact that, despite the title, this movie contains not one single chariot of fire. As a child, I would really have valued a few wagons being alight at some point in the narrative, and my adult self agrees. If nothing else, it would have been a relief from the tedium of the talk-talk-talk of post-Victorian existential crises.
On the plus side, the Pros:
-First of all, it's gorgeous, a visual treat. The lands of England and Scotland have never looked better, and it's all nicely staged with fairly good 1920s period detail. The Oscar-winning costumes help, too.
-The acting is earnestly done, with sincerity but without undo Brando-style emoting. Very British, very RSC. Seasoned professionals such as Sir John Gielgud and Ian Holm (Oscar nom) keep standards high, and lesser-known individuals such as Ben Cross and Ian Charleson do not fail to meet those standards in their own performances.
-Then there is the script. One never sees characters reciting lines, but rather genuine people speaking honestly and realistically. The above-mentioned acting helps, but good writing shines through in the fact that despite the much-complained-about talkiness of the film, the dialog itself never sounds heavy-handed.
-The honest and positive portrayal of a truly godly man. This is one movie wherein the religious man is lauded for living by his principles, rather than sneered at for his gauche naivety or exposed as a bigoted hypocrite.
-The simple fact that, like all great films, Chariots of Fire works on so many levels. It can be viewed as a sports movie (everything leading up to the Big Race), as a story of the human spirit, as an illustration of the triumph of faith. The film has all of the elements because it is a story of humanity, of human individuals, and so it will have as many facets as real people themselves do.
Bottom Line: See this movie! Even if you don't much like it, you should be able to find at least something to appreciate.
23 November 2007
Mew mew!
Touchy visits Grandma and Grandpa's house, and climbs up into the skylight frame, via the fridge. He's such an adorable little pudgekins!
15 November 2007
Meme (tagged by Willow)
1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.
Billy West, voice actor on Futurama.
2.What were you doing at 0800?
At 0800 today, I was at work, doing work stuff.
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Eating.
4. What happened to you in 2006?
At what point? I held four different jobs at three different establishments, I was a bridesmaid in three weddings, and helped out on three other weddings, and then was introduced to World of Warcraft.
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
I don't remember, but it probably wasn't interesting. I was probably chatting up Touchy or Hobbes.
6. How many beverages did you have today?
Define "beverage". Do you mean "How many ounces of beverage did you have?" Or maybe, "How many different types of beverage?" I drank coffee, a lot of water, and a smoothie.
7. What color is your hairbrush?
Blue and white.
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Bulbs to replace the ones that died in my headlights.
9. Where were you last night?
Why? Who wants to know?!? I was at home, and yes, I have reputable sources who can confirm my alibi.
10 What color is your front door?
Blue.
11. Where do you keep your change?
Mostly in a jar, which I raid when I want to buy something at Starbucks.
12.What’s the weather like today?
Foggy in the morning, mild and sunny during the day, chilly at night.
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Mint chocolate chip.
14. What excites you?
Good theology, a balanced equation, a nicely worded sentence.
Hearing good news from friends or family.
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Yes, eventually. I just got it cut a few weeks ago, though, so I'm fine for now.
16. Are you over the age of 25?
It depends on what is meant by "25".
17. Do you talk a lot?
Depends on who is listening.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes.
20. Do you make up your own words?
Sometimes. I can't think of any interesting examples, though. I'm more likely to confuse people by tossing a word from another language into my English conversation. If I use a Greek or French word, I might be trying to sound clever. If I use an Indonesian word, it's more likely that my brain is way out there and forgets what it's doing, and in what language, so my mouth just spews forth whatever verbage may be easily accessible.
21. Are you a jealous person?
Sure, but that's not always bad. The LORD is a jealous God.
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Amanda (Winter).
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kevin (White), or Katie (Coffin).
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Jeff.
25. What does the last text message you received say?
Katie was asking if we live near Long Beach (we don't, but I wish we did).
26. Do you chew on your straw?
No. Should I?
27. Do you have curly hair?
My hair is mostly straight, but I have a cowlick, so it curls exactly the way I don't want it to.
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Work, tomorrow morning.
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Meh, lots of people are rude. I'm not tracking and measuring or anything.
30. What was the last thing you ate?
Half of a sweet potato.
31. Will you get married in the future?
I doubt it. I'm already married. If I become a widow, I don't really see myself getting remarried.
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
I'm watching Quai des Brumes right now. It's pretty good, if you like early French film noir.
33. Is there anyone you like right now?
It's more remarkable to note that there is not anyone I am actively disliking right now.
36. Did you cry today?
No, but I cried last night when I found that my car headlights were both burned out.
37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because Willow tagged me.
38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I'll tag Mama Mia, because she needs to update her blog anyway, and leave the other four open to volunteers.
Billy West, voice actor on Futurama.
2.What were you doing at 0800?
At 0800 today, I was at work, doing work stuff.
3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Eating.
4. What happened to you in 2006?
At what point? I held four different jobs at three different establishments, I was a bridesmaid in three weddings, and helped out on three other weddings, and then was introduced to World of Warcraft.
5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
I don't remember, but it probably wasn't interesting. I was probably chatting up Touchy or Hobbes.
6. How many beverages did you have today?
Define "beverage". Do you mean "How many ounces of beverage did you have?" Or maybe, "How many different types of beverage?" I drank coffee, a lot of water, and a smoothie.
7. What color is your hairbrush?
Blue and white.
8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Bulbs to replace the ones that died in my headlights.
9. Where were you last night?
Why? Who wants to know?!? I was at home, and yes, I have reputable sources who can confirm my alibi.
10 What color is your front door?
Blue.
11. Where do you keep your change?
Mostly in a jar, which I raid when I want to buy something at Starbucks.
12.What’s the weather like today?
Foggy in the morning, mild and sunny during the day, chilly at night.
13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Mint chocolate chip.
14. What excites you?
Good theology, a balanced equation, a nicely worded sentence.
Hearing good news from friends or family.
15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Yes, eventually. I just got it cut a few weeks ago, though, so I'm fine for now.
16. Are you over the age of 25?
It depends on what is meant by "25".
17. Do you talk a lot?
Depends on who is listening.
19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes.
20. Do you make up your own words?
Sometimes. I can't think of any interesting examples, though. I'm more likely to confuse people by tossing a word from another language into my English conversation. If I use a Greek or French word, I might be trying to sound clever. If I use an Indonesian word, it's more likely that my brain is way out there and forgets what it's doing, and in what language, so my mouth just spews forth whatever verbage may be easily accessible.
21. Are you a jealous person?
Sure, but that's not always bad. The LORD is a jealous God.
22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Amanda (Winter).
23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kevin (White), or Katie (Coffin).
24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
Jeff.
25. What does the last text message you received say?
Katie was asking if we live near Long Beach (we don't, but I wish we did).
26. Do you chew on your straw?
No. Should I?
27. Do you have curly hair?
My hair is mostly straight, but I have a cowlick, so it curls exactly the way I don't want it to.
28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Work, tomorrow morning.
29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Meh, lots of people are rude. I'm not tracking and measuring or anything.
30. What was the last thing you ate?
Half of a sweet potato.
31. Will you get married in the future?
I doubt it. I'm already married. If I become a widow, I don't really see myself getting remarried.
32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
I'm watching Quai des Brumes right now. It's pretty good, if you like early French film noir.
33. Is there anyone you like right now?
It's more remarkable to note that there is not anyone I am actively disliking right now.
36. Did you cry today?
No, but I cried last night when I found that my car headlights were both burned out.
37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because Willow tagged me.
38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I'll tag Mama Mia, because she needs to update her blog anyway, and leave the other four open to volunteers.
14 November 2007
Still here
Once again, I'm checking in to let folks know I'm still alive and I haven't given up blogging. I'm just focusing on other things right now. December should be much better.
28 October 2007
Freedom of the Press: Ultimate Purpose Realized
People have started wondering, "What is emo? Am I emo? Could I be emo if I wanted to be? Is emo like one of those big elephant birds in New Zealand or whatever?" And that venerable institution, journalism, came to the rescue with the answers! Long live the free exchange of information!
25 October 2007
Funniest Thing This Week
Okay, folks, this is seriously the funniest thing I've seen all week. Of course, if you have never spent much time in the Indonesian province of Papua, you probably won't think it's funny at all. I can't help you there. Unfortunately, the audio does not really sync with the video, so it requires patience and some careful attention to follow along.
Remember, Papua is the Silicon Valley of the Third World islands south of the equator.
Remember, Papua is the Silicon Valley of the Third World islands south of the equator.
16 October 2007
So THAT'S what happened to Common Sense!
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a Bandaid to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a Bandaid to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
10 October 2007
Quippage and quotage
Charmed can actually be a pretty funny show. Not as funny as Buffy, but funny none-the-less.
Example:
Paige has lost her voice, so she is communicating via writing on a notepad. She is interrogating a demon the sisters have captured.
Paige (writes): WHERE IS OUR WHITELIGHTER?
Phoebe comes in, and sees what Paige is doing.
Phoebe: Did it ever occur to you that Kazi demons might not be able to read?
Demon (gratefully): I tried to tell her that...
Paige (writes): DEMONS LIE!!
Phoebe: Yes, but not about literacy.
Or some great exchanges between Cole and Phoebe (or Cole and, well, anybody):
Phoebe to Cole: Good people don't turn other people into water coolers!
On another occasion:
Cole: Don't you think you might be a little paranoid?
Phoebe: About my demon ex-husband from hell? No, I don't think so.
Cole trying really hard at the relationship thing:
Cole: Did you get my flowers?
Phoebe: Yeah. "Sorry I tried to strangle you." Probably not a card the florist gets to write everyday.
Or one-liners from the fabulous Piper, who tells it like it is:
-Life isn't a garden so stop being a hoe.
-Be careful of the feet you step on, they may be connected to the boot that kicks your ass.
-Phoebe, you're overreacting. That's my department.
Example:
Paige has lost her voice, so she is communicating via writing on a notepad. She is interrogating a demon the sisters have captured.
Paige (writes): WHERE IS OUR WHITELIGHTER?
Phoebe comes in, and sees what Paige is doing.
Phoebe: Did it ever occur to you that Kazi demons might not be able to read?
Demon (gratefully): I tried to tell her that...
Paige (writes): DEMONS LIE!!
Phoebe: Yes, but not about literacy.
Or some great exchanges between Cole and Phoebe (or Cole and, well, anybody):
Phoebe to Cole: Good people don't turn other people into water coolers!
On another occasion:
Cole: Don't you think you might be a little paranoid?
Phoebe: About my demon ex-husband from hell? No, I don't think so.
Cole trying really hard at the relationship thing:
Cole: Did you get my flowers?
Phoebe: Yeah. "Sorry I tried to strangle you." Probably not a card the florist gets to write everyday.
Or one-liners from the fabulous Piper, who tells it like it is:
-Life isn't a garden so stop being a hoe.
-Be careful of the feet you step on, they may be connected to the boot that kicks your ass.
-Phoebe, you're overreacting. That's my department.
'Tis that time of year
That time of year when we celebrate the achievements of the ordinary scientist who just wants to find an answer to a gnarly--if often quirky--question or two.
The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize winners have been announced.
The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize winners have been announced.
04 October 2007
My Day
Didn't Eleanor Roosevelt have a [rather popular] column called My Day when she was the First Lady of the USA?
Anyway, my own day was eventful without being particularly interesting. I awoke at 5:30, but snoozed for a while. It's so hard for me to get up before the sun rises. I showered and got ready, scrambled with my bevy of morning tasks (usually including feeding and water the pets, checking the plants, and a few other household chores).
I stumbled out of the door, hauling my bag full of stuff that I would need for the day (e.g. purse, water bottle, lunch, various pieces of paperwork, and so on). I had some CDs that I could listen to in the car or at work. I stopped by Starbucks because I deserved a treat and because I had a gift card (a coworker gave me one he didn't want-- imagine that) and so did not have to pay for it.
My job is a few blocks from Starbucks, so I made it in by 7:30. However, despite me being a morning person, the early start didn't help. Even with some caffeine, I was tired and groggy all day. I hate that, because I'm unfocused and unproductive. I was done at 4 pm, and it was just icing on the cake to discover that I'd received a parking citation that (to the best of my knowledge) I shouldn't have gotten.
I was not a happy camper when I got home. I really needed to get my mail, as I was expecting a paycheck (one that has not yet arrived, which brings even more frustration). Well, no time to fret. I grabbed some other checks and headed to the bank, to do some business before it closed at 5 pm. With barely a break to breathe, I went to the Verizon store to examine some cellular phones, as we are changing our wireless service over to Verizon. I finally selected a phone that (1) would be workable for me and (2) more importantly, would be free with signing up for a wireless service package.
I zoomed to Jamba Juice to pick up some sustenance, both because I like smoothies and because I had a gift card that would pay for my purchase (long and pointless story as to how I obtained the JJ card). At that point, I was heading west, making my way to the gym, so I decided to stop by Rosalee's house, which is in that area, for a quick little visit. We chatted and I showed her that I was wearing the sweater I had bought with the money she'd given me for my birthday. It was nice.
I had to zip off in order to make it to the gym to change and try a yoga class. The class was fine, but turned out it was an hour and half long, instead of one hour. That threw off the rest of my evening. Post-yoga, I went to the grocery store (a necessity, since I needed food), and spent a while shopping, but managed to forget a few important items. Grr. By that time, I was starving (a smoothie is a good snack, but is, for me, an insufficient meal). I had to eat something when I arrived back home after 10 pm, after which I put away groceries and got stuff ready to take out for trash and recycle pickup tomorrow. Now, my tummy is finally settled, so I'm able to stagger off to bed, and hope my poor neglected cats will take pity on me and cuddle me.
Tomorrow is another big day that will start too early and probably go too long.
Anyway, my own day was eventful without being particularly interesting. I awoke at 5:30, but snoozed for a while. It's so hard for me to get up before the sun rises. I showered and got ready, scrambled with my bevy of morning tasks (usually including feeding and water the pets, checking the plants, and a few other household chores).
I stumbled out of the door, hauling my bag full of stuff that I would need for the day (e.g. purse, water bottle, lunch, various pieces of paperwork, and so on). I had some CDs that I could listen to in the car or at work. I stopped by Starbucks because I deserved a treat and because I had a gift card (a coworker gave me one he didn't want-- imagine that) and so did not have to pay for it.
My job is a few blocks from Starbucks, so I made it in by 7:30. However, despite me being a morning person, the early start didn't help. Even with some caffeine, I was tired and groggy all day. I hate that, because I'm unfocused and unproductive. I was done at 4 pm, and it was just icing on the cake to discover that I'd received a parking citation that (to the best of my knowledge) I shouldn't have gotten.
I was not a happy camper when I got home. I really needed to get my mail, as I was expecting a paycheck (one that has not yet arrived, which brings even more frustration). Well, no time to fret. I grabbed some other checks and headed to the bank, to do some business before it closed at 5 pm. With barely a break to breathe, I went to the Verizon store to examine some cellular phones, as we are changing our wireless service over to Verizon. I finally selected a phone that (1) would be workable for me and (2) more importantly, would be free with signing up for a wireless service package.
I zoomed to Jamba Juice to pick up some sustenance, both because I like smoothies and because I had a gift card that would pay for my purchase (long and pointless story as to how I obtained the JJ card). At that point, I was heading west, making my way to the gym, so I decided to stop by Rosalee's house, which is in that area, for a quick little visit. We chatted and I showed her that I was wearing the sweater I had bought with the money she'd given me for my birthday. It was nice.
I had to zip off in order to make it to the gym to change and try a yoga class. The class was fine, but turned out it was an hour and half long, instead of one hour. That threw off the rest of my evening. Post-yoga, I went to the grocery store (a necessity, since I needed food), and spent a while shopping, but managed to forget a few important items. Grr. By that time, I was starving (a smoothie is a good snack, but is, for me, an insufficient meal). I had to eat something when I arrived back home after 10 pm, after which I put away groceries and got stuff ready to take out for trash and recycle pickup tomorrow. Now, my tummy is finally settled, so I'm able to stagger off to bed, and hope my poor neglected cats will take pity on me and cuddle me.
Tomorrow is another big day that will start too early and probably go too long.
02 October 2007
Charmed, I'm Sure
One TV show I've been watching (seeing as how I have little better to do) is Charmed, which airs a few episodes each weekday on TNT. It is kind of cheesy at times, and I'd like to say I don't know why I like it so much, but actually, I do. This show has a quirky charm (no pun intended), to be honest, and occasionally whips out a good quip or two; but ultimately, the real foundation of the entire series lies in its exploration of the complexities of relationships among close-knit, but all very different, sisters. The writing and characters of the show are far inferior to those of Charmed's fellow, and distinctly similar, WB dramas Buffy and Angel. Indeed, at first glance, Charmed seems to be almost a cheap knock-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with its pretty and supernaturally gifted chosen females battling demons while constantly griping about the struggle to have normal lives (read: mostly, boyfriends and sex), not to mention the Wicca-infused girl-power rhetoric. However, Buffy was all about being the Chosen One, aware of the weight of the world on her shoulders, while Charmed is, as mentioned before, a portrait of the joys and considerable duties of sisterhood. On that level, really, it works. I don't know if men would "get" Charmed, as they can have sisters, but cannot be sisters. I am not disparaging brotherhood, just observing that sisterhood seems to be its own thing. Never-the-less, a good many men probably watched Charmed on the sly, without admitting it, due to the trios of beautiful, usually scantily-clad, actresses who were the stars.
Note: It must be said (though I wish it wasn't necessary) that I do not support the practice of magic in real life. I approve of it only in a fictional context.
Note: It must be said (though I wish it wasn't necessary) that I do not support the practice of magic in real life. I approve of it only in a fictional context.
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Well, in the month of September, I learned, among other things, that just because I CAN do 45 squats in a row, doesn't mean that I SHOULD. Words of experience, people. Heed them.
I have several social and political issues about which I should like to write on this blog, but for which I never seem to have inspiration when I am at my computer. Among these are:
-The thing about which everyone has an opinion these days - Ahmadinejad speaking at US university.
-Humpbacked whales, evolution, and the limits and hypocrisy of practicing scientists.
-Burma/Myanmar, and the fact that despite their claims, world leaders don't really want freedom and justice for all oppressed peoples. They are interested in helping only those whose oppression is not beneficial to themselves.
-The ridiculous and pointless political system in the US.
However, I don't know if I will have the patience or fortitude to write about those topics. Some of them just make me really irritated.
Any votes for topics you'd like to have addressed? Feel free to write in nominations for something not covered above.
I have several social and political issues about which I should like to write on this blog, but for which I never seem to have inspiration when I am at my computer. Among these are:
-The thing about which everyone has an opinion these days - Ahmadinejad speaking at US university.
-Humpbacked whales, evolution, and the limits and hypocrisy of practicing scientists.
-Burma/Myanmar, and the fact that despite their claims, world leaders don't really want freedom and justice for all oppressed peoples. They are interested in helping only those whose oppression is not beneficial to themselves.
-The ridiculous and pointless political system in the US.
However, I don't know if I will have the patience or fortitude to write about those topics. Some of them just make me really irritated.
Any votes for topics you'd like to have addressed? Feel free to write in nominations for something not covered above.
29 September 2007
Going on
I've been pretty tired lately. Either that, or ennui is making me sleepy.
I'm enjoying my job, at the Medium-sized Anonymous Engineering Company (MAEC). I'm learning a lot about civil engineering, architecture, and construction. I'm once again working with crusty, middle-aged male engineers, which is a demographic with which I am very familiar and comfortable. Overall, I like it.
Last weekend, Sara and Elizabeth came to visit. We watched Bones, put together a puzzle, went shopping, and spent time together talking, which was the most fun of all.
Speaking of Bones, did everyone get a chance to watch the Season 3 premiere episode that played on Tuesday night?
I'm enjoying my job, at the Medium-sized Anonymous Engineering Company (MAEC). I'm learning a lot about civil engineering, architecture, and construction. I'm once again working with crusty, middle-aged male engineers, which is a demographic with which I am very familiar and comfortable. Overall, I like it.
Last weekend, Sara and Elizabeth came to visit. We watched Bones, put together a puzzle, went shopping, and spent time together talking, which was the most fun of all.
Speaking of Bones, did everyone get a chance to watch the Season 3 premiere episode that played on Tuesday night?
20 September 2007
My kingdom for a copy editor!
I was flipping through one of Debbie's Cottage Living magazines the other day, and came across a reference to a furnishings designer who started her business working in a "chicken coup". Into my mind flashed a wild series of plausibilities and images. Did this woman's farm experience some sort of Orwellian, Animal Farm-style rebellion, centered, unlikely as it may seem, in the henhouse? Was there an event similar to the planned "great escape" of the movie Chicken Run? Did the poultry simply refuse to be kept down on the farm, after they'd seen Paree?
Obviously, the incongruity-resolution section of my brain kicked in after a few seconds, and I realized that the writer actually meant "chicken coop" and simply either typed it incorrectly (it can happen to the best of us) or substituted a word that looked like it should be pronounced "coop" but really isn't. In either case, the error lent some unintentional humor to the proceedings of an otherwise-routine article about stuff you can buy at Target, plus it just goes to show something about education in the USA.
Obviously, the incongruity-resolution section of my brain kicked in after a few seconds, and I realized that the writer actually meant "chicken coop" and simply either typed it incorrectly (it can happen to the best of us) or substituted a word that looked like it should be pronounced "coop" but really isn't. In either case, the error lent some unintentional humor to the proceedings of an otherwise-routine article about stuff you can buy at Target, plus it just goes to show something about education in the USA.
15 September 2007
Funny memories
I have no idea who this guy is, but his song is hilarious and pretty much dead-on. I now need to write The Talbot Song.
14 September 2007
By the Way
I am once again gainfully employed. I'm working in construction administration at a local architecture and engineering company. I enjoy the industry. I wouldn't want to do my exact job forever, but it's fine for now. I could, however, see myself doing something in the realm of civil engineering for a good many years.
Strangely, both of the coworkers in my department are LDS. Coincidence? Or a leading to return to some parts of my life that I might rather leave behind? It's reasonable to suppose that despite what I want, it's not really possible to just brush away pieces of one's past (or their implications). Are we, as humans, really essentially a summation of our past experiences? Or more appropriately, created in such a way to be shaped and molded by our past experiences? Are we, as Plato might assert, wax that is intended to be imprinted properly (i.e. to reflect the image of the True-cast Mold of the Creator), but can occasionally (or rather, in real life, regularly) be impressed upon by improper images (the effects of sin)? "What is good wax?" Is it possible that, even if we warm ourselves in the fire of the Spirit, becoming pliable and attempting to reshape our waxy selves in the Right Form, we cannot totally rid ourselves of the traces of bad imprints, until the Great Fire at the end of time melts us down completely and gives us new heavenly wax for eternity? And why am I trying to rid my waxy self of imprints that are not necessarily sinful, just because I want to be different from what I am?
We are currently in transition-- AGAIN. Jeff is going to Phoenix to start work for a company there. We'll figure out a way to get me out there soon.
Strangely, both of the coworkers in my department are LDS. Coincidence? Or a leading to return to some parts of my life that I might rather leave behind? It's reasonable to suppose that despite what I want, it's not really possible to just brush away pieces of one's past (or their implications). Are we, as humans, really essentially a summation of our past experiences? Or more appropriately, created in such a way to be shaped and molded by our past experiences? Are we, as Plato might assert, wax that is intended to be imprinted properly (i.e. to reflect the image of the True-cast Mold of the Creator), but can occasionally (or rather, in real life, regularly) be impressed upon by improper images (the effects of sin)? "What is good wax?" Is it possible that, even if we warm ourselves in the fire of the Spirit, becoming pliable and attempting to reshape our waxy selves in the Right Form, we cannot totally rid ourselves of the traces of bad imprints, until the Great Fire at the end of time melts us down completely and gives us new heavenly wax for eternity? And why am I trying to rid my waxy self of imprints that are not necessarily sinful, just because I want to be different from what I am?
We are currently in transition-- AGAIN. Jeff is going to Phoenix to start work for a company there. We'll figure out a way to get me out there soon.
02 September 2007
Cow Town
You know you really live in a cow town when:
(1) A cow wanders onto the major freeway,
(2) The cow literally stops traffic, and
(3) It's front-page news!
No, I am not making this up. I have pictures of the front page to prove it.
(1) A cow wanders onto the major freeway,
(2) The cow literally stops traffic, and
(3) It's front-page news!
No, I am not making this up. I have pictures of the front page to prove it.
01 September 2007
Update, Part 2
In early July, I went down to LA to help Mom and Dad move up to their new house in Camarillo. Hard work! Mia toted cleaning supplies, Mom dealt with masses of mess, and the moving truck was more than sufficient to hold all their worldly possessions.
27 August 2007
Update, Part 1
What have I been doing this summer, when I haven't been posting?
Well, Jeff's grandfather died, as I've mentioned previously, and because it was unexpected and tragic, it took up most of our attention during the latter two-thirds of June. Olaf 's grave marker was still being made at the time of the graveside service. The roses mark the spot; he is buried right next to his mother, Lenora Feely.
The memorial service was in a church, and there was a flag thingie in the front, which was related to Olaf being a WWII veteran, along with a display with his picture and some other paraphernalia.
Mom and Dad came up for the funeral, to be supportive. A fun time was not had by all, even though the church provided a nice luncheon reception.
The next week, we got Rosalee a kitten to give her something on which to focus and provide companionship. Rosalee named her Mittsy. She's so cute.
Well, Jeff's grandfather died, as I've mentioned previously, and because it was unexpected and tragic, it took up most of our attention during the latter two-thirds of June. Olaf 's grave marker was still being made at the time of the graveside service. The roses mark the spot; he is buried right next to his mother, Lenora Feely.
The memorial service was in a church, and there was a flag thingie in the front, which was related to Olaf being a WWII veteran, along with a display with his picture and some other paraphernalia.
Mom and Dad came up for the funeral, to be supportive. A fun time was not had by all, even though the church provided a nice luncheon reception.
The next week, we got Rosalee a kitten to give her something on which to focus and provide companionship. Rosalee named her Mittsy. She's so cute.
Revamp
I have a new theme and a new look (currently boring, but I'm going to try designing a header and some other stuff) for my blog.
I'll be posting more, for real. I'm sure you're all relieved to hear it.
I'll be posting more, for real. I'm sure you're all relieved to hear it.
17 August 2007
Tujuh Belas Agustus (17 August)
It comes around every year, and while I do not actively celebrate Indonesia's Independence Day (as in, I don't take a holiday from work or school or anything like that), I usually observe it in some way. This year, I opted to make myself some nasi goreng (fried rice) and teh manis (sweet tea) for dinner. I'd been craving the fried rice anyway, I had some leftover nasi putih (steamed white rice) in the fridge, and I'm rather a devotee of the idea that kalau belum makan nasi, belum makan (basic translation: "If you haven't yet eaten rice, you haven't really eaten").
Politically and socially speaking, there are plenty of things I dislike about Republik Indonesia. Nevertheless, it does have a place in my heart, and not just because of the food (even though the food is really great-- way better than indigenous American food of any variety).
Politically and socially speaking, there are plenty of things I dislike about Republik Indonesia. Nevertheless, it does have a place in my heart, and not just because of the food (even though the food is really great-- way better than indigenous American food of any variety).
14 August 2007
Panjang Umurku
Yesterday was my Hari Ulang Tahun, known in the US primarily as "birthday". My parents were visiting, and while Jeff had to go to work, so I didn't get to see him all day, I had a lovely day of relaxing and doing what I enjoy: Starbucks for breakfast, a visit to the library, a stroll through downtown Visalia to look at shops with Mom. Then we had pizza dinner at Debbie and Jerry's house, and Rob and Candace were there, so it was nice to see them.
11 August 2007
The terror that flaps in the night
For Christmas, Sara gave me a set of Disney's Darkwing Duck cartoons on DVD (Yay! Thanks, Sara!). Darkwing Duck is my favorite cartoon of all time. I watched it when it ran on The Disney Afternoon in the early 1990s, and my whole family loved it. Unlike many silly or saccharine cartoon shows, Darkwing Duck has dark comedy with an edge, featuring humor of the gallows or even (occasionally) potty variety (several IMDB reviewers commented, and rightly, "I can't believe Disney did this-- and got away with it in an afternoon cartoon!"). The basic set-up is something of a satire of Batman: the main character has no supernatural abilities, but relies on handy technical gadgets and a modicum of crime-solving know-how to capture a variety of villains. There are puns, sight gags, inside jokes, running jokes, and a general hilarity related to the characters and the situations in which they find themselves. The alliterative and articulate masked mallard fights crime in the Gotham-like city of St. Canard and encounters evil-doers of both the mutant and simply psychopathic variety. In addition to Darkwing Duck (and his civilian alter ego, suburbanite Drake Mallard), series regulars include goofy pilot sidekick Launchpad McQuack (crossing over from an earlier Disney Afternoon series, Duck Tales), adopted daughter Gosalyn, and the Mallard family's utterly boring and predictable next-door neighbors, the Muddlefoots.
See as many episodes of this cartoon as you possibly can. Someday, you may need to know about vampire potatoes or that "the cows are not what they seem".
[Notice: Darkwing Duck, his image, and anything else pertaining to him, are property of DISNEY. Please buy only legally licensed Darkwing Duck paraphernalia (not that I've seen a big market for illegally licensed Darkwing Duck items, but still). Speaking of which, why doesn't Disney do more to market Darkwing, rather than that lame other duck, Donald, or even that mouse?]
10 August 2007
Lassie, eat your heart out!
As many of you know, Jeff and I are owned by two cats: grey tabbies named Touchy and Hobbes. [We are temporarily possessed by a long-haired calico named Nala, but she will be moving out to be with her true family in a few days; we're keeping her while her humans settle into their apartment.] I have no shame in admitting that a fair portion of joy and amusement in my life comes from these kitty cats.
Touchy is pudgy, a bit clumsy, sweet and shy. He will come and hang out with me, and follow me around the house like a puppy, but he is not a lap cat. Hobbes is leaner and meaner, the alpha cat in the household. He is not a lap cat, either, but he does make a habit of sleeping on our bed at night, and I like it, because he sleeps ON my feet, and keeps them warm.
Hobbes is the primary subject of my post. He is a cat that is far too smart for his own good. In our old apartment in Fullerton, Hobbes figured out how to open door handles; we always had remind guests to lock the bathroom door, lest Hobbes take it upon himself to open the door and invoke a rather embarrassing situation. Fortunately, our current home has round knobs, rather than handles, on the doors, and since Hobbes lacks opposable thumbs and is furthermore unlikely to acquire them anytime in the near future, we think things are safe for now. But Hobbes also took the opportunity, in the Fullerton apartment, to figure out how sliding glass doors work. He knew how to open the sliding door to our balcony. Of course, Hobbes is only 11 pounds and maybe 11 inches long, so he could not actually MOVE the sliding glass door, despite his best efforts, but it was pretty undeniable that he understood how it worked: when he wanted to go out onto the porch, he would stand on his hind paws, hook his front paw through the door handle, and lean back, trying to pull the door open.
In truth, Hobbes has outdone himself. We now have a sliding glass door, coupled with a screen door, that leads to our back yard. It has been my habit to open the glass door in the morning, allowing fresh air to circulate through the house before it gets too hot (or what others would consider "too hot", since I myself don't usually feel the heat) by mid-day, and just leave the screen door shut to keeps cats in and bugs out. In the past few days, Hobbes learned how to open the screen door. Day before yesterday, I was out doing some yard work and heard a scraping sound from the direction of the house. I looked up and discovered that the door was opened about three inches, Nala was on the little patio, and Touchy was cautiously poking his nose outside, while Hobbes was nowhere to be seen. Oh, no! I ran and grabbed Nala, shooed Touchy back in, and began calling Hobbes. He didn't show himself, so I pulled a trick from the Bad Parenting Handbook and got out his favorite treat (powdered milk), intending to bribe him back into the house. I called him again and made the tsking noise the cats associate with treats, and sure enough, he came running back inside. Too smart for his own good.
All's well that end's well, but now I can't leave the glass door open even a few minutes, if I'm not standing right there to catch Hobbes poking his paw at the screen door and scooting it open. I'll have to rely on opening the windows to keep the the house fresh and airy.
Touchy is pudgy, a bit clumsy, sweet and shy. He will come and hang out with me, and follow me around the house like a puppy, but he is not a lap cat. Hobbes is leaner and meaner, the alpha cat in the household. He is not a lap cat, either, but he does make a habit of sleeping on our bed at night, and I like it, because he sleeps ON my feet, and keeps them warm.
Hobbes is the primary subject of my post. He is a cat that is far too smart for his own good. In our old apartment in Fullerton, Hobbes figured out how to open door handles; we always had remind guests to lock the bathroom door, lest Hobbes take it upon himself to open the door and invoke a rather embarrassing situation. Fortunately, our current home has round knobs, rather than handles, on the doors, and since Hobbes lacks opposable thumbs and is furthermore unlikely to acquire them anytime in the near future, we think things are safe for now. But Hobbes also took the opportunity, in the Fullerton apartment, to figure out how sliding glass doors work. He knew how to open the sliding door to our balcony. Of course, Hobbes is only 11 pounds and maybe 11 inches long, so he could not actually MOVE the sliding glass door, despite his best efforts, but it was pretty undeniable that he understood how it worked: when he wanted to go out onto the porch, he would stand on his hind paws, hook his front paw through the door handle, and lean back, trying to pull the door open.
In truth, Hobbes has outdone himself. We now have a sliding glass door, coupled with a screen door, that leads to our back yard. It has been my habit to open the glass door in the morning, allowing fresh air to circulate through the house before it gets too hot (or what others would consider "too hot", since I myself don't usually feel the heat) by mid-day, and just leave the screen door shut to keeps cats in and bugs out. In the past few days, Hobbes learned how to open the screen door. Day before yesterday, I was out doing some yard work and heard a scraping sound from the direction of the house. I looked up and discovered that the door was opened about three inches, Nala was on the little patio, and Touchy was cautiously poking his nose outside, while Hobbes was nowhere to be seen. Oh, no! I ran and grabbed Nala, shooed Touchy back in, and began calling Hobbes. He didn't show himself, so I pulled a trick from the Bad Parenting Handbook and got out his favorite treat (powdered milk), intending to bribe him back into the house. I called him again and made the tsking noise the cats associate with treats, and sure enough, he came running back inside. Too smart for his own good.
All's well that end's well, but now I can't leave the glass door open even a few minutes, if I'm not standing right there to catch Hobbes poking his paw at the screen door and scooting it open. I'll have to rely on opening the windows to keep the the house fresh and airy.
21 July 2007
In honor of Mia
My adik Mia had this in her blog, so I stole it.
Here are the rules:
~Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
~They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!
~If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
~You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Your Name: Deb
1. Famous Singer/Band: Duke Ellington
2. 4 letter word: duel (also, dual)
3. Street: Demaree
4. Color: dandelion yellow
5. Gifts/Presents: DVD
6. Vehicle: dump truck
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: decorative figurine
8. Boy Name: Daniel
9. Girl Name: Doris
10. Movie Title: Destry Rides Again
11. Drink: Diet Coke
12. Occupation: DMV clerk
13. Celebrity: David Beckham
14. Magazine: Doll Reader
15. U.S. City: Dallas, TX
16. Pro Sports Team: Dodgers
17. Reason for Being Late for Work: Didn't wake up when my alarm clock went off.
18. Something You Throw Away: dirty tissues
19. Things You Shout: Doggone it!
2o. Cartoon Character: Darkwing Duck
Here are the rules:
~Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
~They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!
~If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
~You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Your Name: Deb
1. Famous Singer/Band: Duke Ellington
2. 4 letter word: duel (also, dual)
3. Street: Demaree
4. Color: dandelion yellow
5. Gifts/Presents: DVD
6. Vehicle: dump truck
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: decorative figurine
8. Boy Name: Daniel
9. Girl Name: Doris
10. Movie Title: Destry Rides Again
11. Drink: Diet Coke
12. Occupation: DMV clerk
13. Celebrity: David Beckham
14. Magazine: Doll Reader
15. U.S. City: Dallas, TX
16. Pro Sports Team: Dodgers
17. Reason for Being Late for Work: Didn't wake up when my alarm clock went off.
18. Something You Throw Away: dirty tissues
19. Things You Shout: Doggone it!
2o. Cartoon Character: Darkwing Duck
I'm just wild...
... about Harry.
And yes, I've seen so many articles using that line, but oh, well.
Anyway, it is true. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released to the world in two hours, and has already presold more copies than any other book ever written. No, I didn't order a copy. No, I don't know when I'll be able to get my hands on a copy. I just know that if anyone spoils it for me, that person will not be my friend. Ever.
[As a side note, I found it extremely disturbing that when I searched for "Daniel Radcliffe" on Google images, in order to put a pic in this post, the first several images that popped up were naked pictures from his role in Equus. Eek!]
And yes, I've seen so many articles using that line, but oh, well.
Anyway, it is true. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released to the world in two hours, and has already presold more copies than any other book ever written. No, I didn't order a copy. No, I don't know when I'll be able to get my hands on a copy. I just know that if anyone spoils it for me, that person will not be my friend. Ever.
[As a side note, I found it extremely disturbing that when I searched for "Daniel Radcliffe" on Google images, in order to put a pic in this post, the first several images that popped up were naked pictures from his role in Equus. Eek!]
15 July 2007
HP Madness (not too many spoilers)
Well, life goes on.
Jeff and I took some time yesterday afternoon to follow the example of millions of children and teens, and went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. What can I say? Either we are lemmings or we just really like Harry Potter.
I liked a lot about the production, and the casting was, as usual, spot-on. However, both Jeff and I thought the book-to-movie adaptation could have been a little better. I know that such adaptations are challenging even with routine material, and with Rowling's books, everybody has an opinion and many people are dissatisfied with their favorite parts or characters being given short shrift. However, the movie axed some aspects of the book that really contribute to the unfolding of the plot (for example, the actions of the house elf Kreacher, the significance of Harry's growing isolation when Ron and Hermione achieve important roles at school, and so forth), and the emotional climax was hurried in favor of a showier action-fueled climax. And (most offensive of all) there is not a speck of quidditch anywhere in this movie! If you've read the book, you know that quidditch plays as important a role in the fifth story as in the previous four.
Dramatically, the film hits its stride and is most comfortable when showing scenes of the DA students training and growing in skill (we feel their exhilaration when they cast successful spells), and in the few quiet moments when the three close friends (Harry, Ron, Hermione) are talking with one another. We see the ease the actors have achieved in their years of working together, and director Yates seems to know how to handle them. On the negative side, the action and the smooth flow of the plot have, regrettably, suffered. To be fair, if you've read the book, you know the plot gets pretty convoluted in the parts when Harry isn't overcome with teen angst (although if any teenager has the right to a bit of angsty self-pity, it must be Harry Potter) and in some parts even when he is. However, other directors have managed to keep some complicated plots afloat (cf Alfonso Cuaron with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which plot involved time travel, of all things), so we'll hope that we get good writers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and give David Yates another chance at directing (per IMDB, he is currently set to take that chance).
As noted above, the film's greatest strength is in its cast (the Potter films have always been fantastic in this respect), and the actors do not disappoint, even when allowed only disappointingly small roles in this entry (Robbie Coltrane's Hagrid, for example, is in only a few short scenes, and Maggie Smith's Professor McGonegall is much less in evidence and much less spunky than in the book). We see a bit more of Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, but David Thewlis as Lupin and Natalia Tena as Tonks are practically absent (we hope this will be remedied in the sixth movie). Likewise, talented Alan Rickman has little to do as Professor Snape, but he makes as much as he can out of it. Props also to newcomer Evanna Lynch as a perfect Luna Lovegood (even if the writers took the Quibbler away from her), as well as solid Matthew Lewis, still portraying the put-upon Neville Longbottom. So far, the Potter series' best secondary villain (the primary villain being always Voldemort) is Dolores Umbridge, and gifted actress Imelda Staunton brings her to life in an amazing way, her pink suits and floral teacups contrasting perfectly with her cruel punishments and destruction of students' rights, all done with a creepy smile on her face. Other evil-doers are also done well, with showy Helena Bonham Carter making good with the crazy as Bellatrix Lestrange, and series veteran Jason Isaacs still collecting his paycheck as the menacingly silky-voiced Lucius Malfoy. As the self-styled Dark Lord himself, Ralph Fiennes is acceptably scary, if not particularly charismatic.
Overall, I thought the film's unintended consequence was to aptly illustrate why government should not be in charge of education. The attempt to control minds and thoughts, the intentional subjugation of truth for the purpose of political agenda: these seem to be the exaggerated fabrication of fiction, but they could happen in real life. [Obviously, they have happened in other nations.] The state's selection of standards and curricula already have garnered a predisposition of the state-run schooling system to sacrifice the next generation to an arbitrary set of expectations. If some person decides that controlling students' access to certain information and training in certain areas would be a desirable end, the means are available and such a person need only apply slight manipulation and force of will to achieve his or her ends.
Education, like journalism, should be free from government tampering. This will produce better citizens in the end.
Jeff and I took some time yesterday afternoon to follow the example of millions of children and teens, and went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. What can I say? Either we are lemmings or we just really like Harry Potter.
I liked a lot about the production, and the casting was, as usual, spot-on. However, both Jeff and I thought the book-to-movie adaptation could have been a little better. I know that such adaptations are challenging even with routine material, and with Rowling's books, everybody has an opinion and many people are dissatisfied with their favorite parts or characters being given short shrift. However, the movie axed some aspects of the book that really contribute to the unfolding of the plot (for example, the actions of the house elf Kreacher, the significance of Harry's growing isolation when Ron and Hermione achieve important roles at school, and so forth), and the emotional climax was hurried in favor of a showier action-fueled climax. And (most offensive of all) there is not a speck of quidditch anywhere in this movie! If you've read the book, you know that quidditch plays as important a role in the fifth story as in the previous four.
Dramatically, the film hits its stride and is most comfortable when showing scenes of the DA students training and growing in skill (we feel their exhilaration when they cast successful spells), and in the few quiet moments when the three close friends (Harry, Ron, Hermione) are talking with one another. We see the ease the actors have achieved in their years of working together, and director Yates seems to know how to handle them. On the negative side, the action and the smooth flow of the plot have, regrettably, suffered. To be fair, if you've read the book, you know the plot gets pretty convoluted in the parts when Harry isn't overcome with teen angst (although if any teenager has the right to a bit of angsty self-pity, it must be Harry Potter) and in some parts even when he is. However, other directors have managed to keep some complicated plots afloat (cf Alfonso Cuaron with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which plot involved time travel, of all things), so we'll hope that we get good writers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and give David Yates another chance at directing (per IMDB, he is currently set to take that chance).
As noted above, the film's greatest strength is in its cast (the Potter films have always been fantastic in this respect), and the actors do not disappoint, even when allowed only disappointingly small roles in this entry (Robbie Coltrane's Hagrid, for example, is in only a few short scenes, and Maggie Smith's Professor McGonegall is much less in evidence and much less spunky than in the book). We see a bit more of Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, but David Thewlis as Lupin and Natalia Tena as Tonks are practically absent (we hope this will be remedied in the sixth movie). Likewise, talented Alan Rickman has little to do as Professor Snape, but he makes as much as he can out of it. Props also to newcomer Evanna Lynch as a perfect Luna Lovegood (even if the writers took the Quibbler away from her), as well as solid Matthew Lewis, still portraying the put-upon Neville Longbottom. So far, the Potter series' best secondary villain (the primary villain being always Voldemort) is Dolores Umbridge, and gifted actress Imelda Staunton brings her to life in an amazing way, her pink suits and floral teacups contrasting perfectly with her cruel punishments and destruction of students' rights, all done with a creepy smile on her face. Other evil-doers are also done well, with showy Helena Bonham Carter making good with the crazy as Bellatrix Lestrange, and series veteran Jason Isaacs still collecting his paycheck as the menacingly silky-voiced Lucius Malfoy. As the self-styled Dark Lord himself, Ralph Fiennes is acceptably scary, if not particularly charismatic.
Overall, I thought the film's unintended consequence was to aptly illustrate why government should not be in charge of education. The attempt to control minds and thoughts, the intentional subjugation of truth for the purpose of political agenda: these seem to be the exaggerated fabrication of fiction, but they could happen in real life. [Obviously, they have happened in other nations.] The state's selection of standards and curricula already have garnered a predisposition of the state-run schooling system to sacrifice the next generation to an arbitrary set of expectations. If some person decides that controlling students' access to certain information and training in certain areas would be a desirable end, the means are available and such a person need only apply slight manipulation and force of will to achieve his or her ends.
Education, like journalism, should be free from government tampering. This will produce better citizens in the end.
06 July 2007
I'm still alive
I can't say that I haven't had time to blog in the past few weeks. I've had plenty of time. I just haven't blogged.
Things have been eventful in our lives since the end of my school term, last month. I am enjoying my time of relaxation, prior to finding another source of gainful employment. We experienced a tragedy in our family, as Jeff's grandfather became suddenly dead.
I am currently down in LA, helping Mom and Dad pack up and move. We are hard at work, and I have gotten to see two of my siblings (Mia and Mike).
Things have been eventful in our lives since the end of my school term, last month. I am enjoying my time of relaxation, prior to finding another source of gainful employment. We experienced a tragedy in our family, as Jeff's grandfather became suddenly dead.
I am currently down in LA, helping Mom and Dad pack up and move. We are hard at work, and I have gotten to see two of my siblings (Mia and Mike).
14 June 2007
Yet another wedding
So, last Saturday, my cousin Becky got married in Moorpark, CA. I attended the wedding, and it was nice, mostly because I saw my family, both immediate and extended. I don't really know Becky, so while it was nice that she got married (and to a reputedly very nice young man), it doesn't really affect my life at all.
It was an outdoor wedding in a place called Walnut Grove. I sat with Mom and Dad and Dan and Jen and Mike.
This was my view of the wedding ceremony: the back of someone's head.
I met my Aunt Rachel's boyfriend Prentiss.
I drove down in the middle of the day, and discovered that Ventura County is very beautiful during the late spring. I spent the afternoon with fam at Mom and Dad's new house in Camarillo. We all got ready and carpooled over to the wedding site.
It was an outdoor wedding in a place called Walnut Grove. I sat with Mom and Dad and Dan and Jen and Mike.
This was my view of the wedding ceremony: the back of someone's head.
At the reception, I mingled with family and relatives. Like Tim and Mia.
I met my Aunt Rachel's boyfriend Prentiss.
And chilled out with my cousins Steve and Jesse (remember them from pics at Dan's wedding?).
And chatted a while with my cousin Beth:
All of the Price cousins gathered for a photo op. Unfortunately, this is not a good picture. However, I'll try to identify folks from left to right: Steven (in law school), Jesse (student at UCSB), Michael (brother, hidden behind Jesse; engineer/physicist in aerospace), Bob (fireman for LAFD), Deb (obviously uber-cold when this was taken), Tom (tech guru for TEAM), Matt (does something technical in Chicago), Becky (The Bride), Dan (brother; chaplain in US Army), Mike Smith (The Groom), Jen (married to Dan; librarian), Billy (no clue what he's doing with his life), Beth (going into child development and early childhood education), Mia (sister; student at SDSU, working on BA in anthro), Tim (married to Mia; works for USMC).
Blogger lies
I wrote a post and saved it to publish later.
It didn't save. It is gone forever.
Blogger, you have failed me. Why, Blogger, WHY? Why say that you are going to save something if you actually don't?
At least we can be thankful that Jesus is more reliable than Blogger when it come to saving things.
It didn't save. It is gone forever.
Blogger, you have failed me. Why, Blogger, WHY? Why say that you are going to save something if you actually don't?
At least we can be thankful that Jesus is more reliable than Blogger when it come to saving things.
08 June 2007
What's on YOUR plate?
Once upon a time, in the not-too-distant past, Jeff and I were eating at a Chinese buffet. I somehow (well, it was influenced by a futile effort to find sweet-and-sour chicken among the sweet-and-sour shrimp) stumbled upon the brilliant conclusion that one might analyze one's food according to their kingdom/phyla in the taxonomic classification system.
I wasn't too sure about many of the foods (Wouldn't broccoli, rice, and zucchini be closely related-- flowering, seed-bearing plants-- even if they don't taste similar? Answer - Yes.), but my plate turned out to be fairly boring. Jeff's, on the other hand, bore the plants (rice, broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, carrots; phylum Anthophyta), crustaceans (shrimp; phylum Arthropoda), mollusks (scallops; phylum Mollusca), and fungi (mushrooms; phylum Basidiomycota). However, he had no vertebral animal meat on his plate, and I immediately began worrying about the fact that there was no representative from the phylum Chordata. I quickly forked some of my orange chicken and deposited it on his plate. And then realized how weird it was that I was worrying about such a thing, and then proceeded to worry, instead, about being weird.
I wasn't too sure about many of the foods (Wouldn't broccoli, rice, and zucchini be closely related-- flowering, seed-bearing plants-- even if they don't taste similar? Answer - Yes.), but my plate turned out to be fairly boring. Jeff's, on the other hand, bore the plants (rice, broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, carrots; phylum Anthophyta), crustaceans (shrimp; phylum Arthropoda), mollusks (scallops; phylum Mollusca), and fungi (mushrooms; phylum Basidiomycota). However, he had no vertebral animal meat on his plate, and I immediately began worrying about the fact that there was no representative from the phylum Chordata. I quickly forked some of my orange chicken and deposited it on his plate. And then realized how weird it was that I was worrying about such a thing, and then proceeded to worry, instead, about being weird.
06 June 2007
Notes written by middle school students, Part Whatever
I confiscated this today.
One person wrote:
iz yo Mom going to buy some chips or somethin for the party?
Another person replied:
i don't know, cuz hopefully it's not at the time when we going shopping, but i think she told yo daddy she will.
Yeah. Boring. My students just didn't come through with the laughs for me. When the end of the school year comes around, not only are they not focused on their work, but they aren't even focused on writing solid, communicative, hilarious [illicit] notes.
One person wrote:
iz yo Mom going to buy some chips or somethin for the party?
Another person replied:
i don't know, cuz hopefully it's not at the time when we going shopping, but i think she told yo daddy she will.
Yeah. Boring. My students just didn't come through with the laughs for me. When the end of the school year comes around, not only are they not focused on their work, but they aren't even focused on writing solid, communicative, hilarious [illicit] notes.
04 June 2007
Weekend Report
Nothing much.
I have only 1.5 weeks of school left. Whoop-dee-doo! I'll be sad to let go of some of my kids, but overall, I'll be happier when I'm done with the teaching-middle-school phase of my life. It's been a great experience, overall, and I am glad that I had it. But I know it's not a permanent thing.
Currently, I'm trying to find what is my permanent thing. Folks, I need a destiny!
I have only 1.5 weeks of school left. Whoop-dee-doo! I'll be sad to let go of some of my kids, but overall, I'll be happier when I'm done with the teaching-middle-school phase of my life. It's been a great experience, overall, and I am glad that I had it. But I know it's not a permanent thing.
Currently, I'm trying to find what is my permanent thing. Folks, I need a destiny!
01 June 2007
Happy Birthday!
To my dear friend Rebekah (Newell) Farber, who is someone that I've known literally as long as I can remember. Bekah has been almost everywhere and done almost everything, since she was born in Bandung, grew up in Irian Jaya, went to high school and college in the American Midwest, then worked in the Philippines before getting her masters degree at Moody and then getting married and moving to Phoenix, AZ. A diligent, intelligent, godly woman, Bekah is someone that I greatly admire and appreciate.
To my brother-in-law Tim, whose birthday is actually on 30 May, but I was deceived by his MySpace, which claimed that it was the 31st. Tim is a great addition to our family, and I enjoy spending time with him. He is especially nice to me, considering the fact that I apparently scared him when he first met me. I know, I know. Me scary? Pshaw. But anyway, by all appearances, Tim makes my baby sister happy, so he's acceptable to me.
To my brother-in-law Tim, whose birthday is actually on 30 May, but I was deceived by his MySpace, which claimed that it was the 31st. Tim is a great addition to our family, and I enjoy spending time with him. He is especially nice to me, considering the fact that I apparently scared him when he first met me. I know, I know. Me scary? Pshaw. But anyway, by all appearances, Tim makes my baby sister happy, so he's acceptable to me.
31 May 2007
Broaden your horizons
I'm really tired and on my way to bed, but I wanted to share some pretty music with you, and to show an example of 1960s music video.
Quel était dit?
Or, Less Eloquently: Huh?!
I am currently cleaning out boxes in my house, and am sorting through vast mounds of papers and stuff. These papers can be anything from Jeff's old photos to my old school work. We have lots of paper. And much of it is going to be recycled...
At any rate, I've found quite a lot of stuff that relates to my various studies through the years. Tonight, I found some notes that I'd made for a class presentation I was doing on Kierkegaard. The text in question was Fear and Trembling, and for some reason, I'd seen fit to write, in the margin of my notes, "Knight of Faith's noble steed is an ass".
I'm sure I had a reason, at the time, for writing that. I only wish that I could remember whatever it was I was thinking then. Must have been really profound.
I am currently cleaning out boxes in my house, and am sorting through vast mounds of papers and stuff. These papers can be anything from Jeff's old photos to my old school work. We have lots of paper. And much of it is going to be recycled...
At any rate, I've found quite a lot of stuff that relates to my various studies through the years. Tonight, I found some notes that I'd made for a class presentation I was doing on Kierkegaard. The text in question was Fear and Trembling, and for some reason, I'd seen fit to write, in the margin of my notes, "Knight of Faith's noble steed is an ass".
I'm sure I had a reason, at the time, for writing that. I only wish that I could remember whatever it was I was thinking then. Must have been really profound.
30 May 2007
Another Personality Test
Go to www.kingdomality.com and take the personality test.
Mine is the Prime Minister.
Your distinct personality, The Prime Minister might be found in most of the thriving kingdoms of the time. You are a strategist who pursues the most efficient and logical path toward the realization of the goal that you perceive or visualize. You will often only associate with those people who can assist you in the implementation of your plan. Inept assistants may be immediately discarded as excess baggage. To do otherwise could be seen as inefficient and illogical. On the positive side, you can be rationally idealistic and analytically ideological. You can be a bold decision maker and risk taker who can move society ahead by years instead of minutes. On the negative side, you may be unmerciful, impatient, impetuous and impulsive. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms.
What is yours? Post in comments, preferably with links!!
Mine is the Prime Minister.
Your distinct personality, The Prime Minister might be found in most of the thriving kingdoms of the time. You are a strategist who pursues the most efficient and logical path toward the realization of the goal that you perceive or visualize. You will often only associate with those people who can assist you in the implementation of your plan. Inept assistants may be immediately discarded as excess baggage. To do otherwise could be seen as inefficient and illogical. On the positive side, you can be rationally idealistic and analytically ideological. You can be a bold decision maker and risk taker who can move society ahead by years instead of minutes. On the negative side, you may be unmerciful, impatient, impetuous and impulsive. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms.
What is yours? Post in comments, preferably with links!!
29 May 2007
Seven Random Facts
As requested by my mother:
1. My hair is naturally blonde. Not profound, but random, and a fact. I can assure you that, over all, blondes don't really have more fun. Or maybe most blondes have more fun, but not blondes that are INTJ. Whatever the case, I do think that blondes, particularly ones with pale skin, occasionally do get more attention, but it's only because we are more noticeable: We reflect more light than people with darker hair and complexions, and so tend to draw the eye a bit more. Simple physics. At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
2. I am excessively fond of not-quite-ripe guavas. Mmmmmm.
3. I can dance the Charleston.
4. I like to play Sudoku. I find it soothing.
5. One of my life goals is to visit the location and/or see remains of each of the ancient wonders listed in the book, The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World. I've already been to 22.
6. As indicated above, my personality is INTJ in the Myers-Briggs personality profile. It is a fairly rare personality type (estimated at 1% of the population). Yes, yet again, I am a freak of nature.
7. One of my first jobs in science education was working as a teaching assistant in my biology department at college. I got paid something like $5/hour to push cadavers around on carts, and dissect worms, and stuff like that. I actually loved it a lot.
1. My hair is naturally blonde. Not profound, but random, and a fact. I can assure you that, over all, blondes don't really have more fun. Or maybe most blondes have more fun, but not blondes that are INTJ. Whatever the case, I do think that blondes, particularly ones with pale skin, occasionally do get more attention, but it's only because we are more noticeable: We reflect more light than people with darker hair and complexions, and so tend to draw the eye a bit more. Simple physics. At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
2. I am excessively fond of not-quite-ripe guavas. Mmmmmm.
3. I can dance the Charleston.
4. I like to play Sudoku. I find it soothing.
5. One of my life goals is to visit the location and/or see remains of each of the ancient wonders listed in the book, The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World. I've already been to 22.
6. As indicated above, my personality is INTJ in the Myers-Briggs personality profile. It is a fairly rare personality type (estimated at 1% of the population). Yes, yet again, I am a freak of nature.
7. One of my first jobs in science education was working as a teaching assistant in my biology department at college. I got paid something like $5/hour to push cadavers around on carts, and dissect worms, and stuff like that. I actually loved it a lot.
20 May 2007
Sunday report
We are currently enjoying a visit from Sam and Melissa, which is very nice, but sadly, I am rather sick. I have a pretty bad cold, and am constantly snuffling, sneezing, and hacking up nasty phlegm. Last night, matters were complicated by the fact that I started having spontaneous nosebleeds. I do not, as a general rule, spew bodily fluids at random. It's just embarrassing.
We have stuff planned for the week, such as taking Sam and Mel to see the big trees (you know, THE big trees in the big tree park), although I may not be able to go, due to health issues. We are currently playing a lot of WoW and watching Futurama. That's good stuff.
We have stuff planned for the week, such as taking Sam and Mel to see the big trees (you know, THE big trees in the big tree park), although I may not be able to go, due to health issues. We are currently playing a lot of WoW and watching Futurama. That's good stuff.
17 May 2007
Guilty Pleasure
I've recently started watching a TV show that I secretly really enjoy, even though I know it's trashy and all that. No, it's not American Idol or some other reality show. It's Sex and the City. The reason I really like it is that it's such a portrayal of how empty one's life is when one seeks only pleasure and self-indulgence. The four characters in S&tC supposedly have it all: money (most of the time), great clothes, status-filled jobs, and a lifestyle of guilt-free promiscuity. They were supposed to represent, I suspect, "liberated" women, living it up in New York. But art can cheat life only so far, and eventually, these characters are portrayed as being among the most miserable and directionless creatures one can imagine. Life without a guiding moral compass can be devastating. Instead of being independent and powerful, they are utterly obsessed with men and relationships, enslaved to the very masculine domination they wanted to escape. It's like a female fantasy suddenly gone horribly wrong. But they are often witty in their misery, sort of like a post-modern version of women from a Noel Coward play. Which is why I like to watch their agony.
Winding down
Not much to report of the exciting nature. I've reached the just-under-four-weeks point at work, so of course I'm just as antsy as the students are to get out for summer break.
Don't know what I'm going to do after June 12. I guess we'll take it one day at a time and find out.
Don't know what I'm going to do after June 12. I guess we'll take it one day at a time and find out.
15 May 2007
Ho Heortay Tes Metrothen
Okay, so my Greek is a little rusty and I'm only hoping that the genitive singular of "mother" really is somewhat close to my English transliteration above... At any rate, I was thrown into a grammatical quandary on Saturday when discussing the "holiday" that is present in current US culture as "Mother's Day" and realized that I've seen the title written, variously, as Mother's Day, Mothers' Day, and Mothers Day. Most cards favored the singular possessive noun version, so I think that may be how it really ought to be. However, is that appropriate? Is the day really just belonging to one mother? Shouldn't it be plural possessive, as a day for all mothers? Or is the maternal address really just descriptive, and not possessive at all (as in, "a day relating but not belonging to mothers")? I just don't KNOW. And for a grammar stickler such as myself, that is agonizing. I discussed it at length with Candace, the English teacher; she had no answers for me. Must... do... research...
We had a few celebrations over the weekend. On Saturday, Candace and Rob were up from the LA area, so we had brunch for Debbie and Rosalee (Jeff's mom and grandma). It was pleasant and genteel and quite tasty (Debbie made quiche, the only quiche I've ever liked!), and marred only by the fact that Jerry was on holiday in Moab. Then on Sunday, Jeff and I took Debbie to lunch for Chinese food, and then strolled a bit through downtown Visalia. Jeff and I hadn't gone to church, because Jeff held forth that he would NOT subject himself to having to sit and listen to me gripe about exegetically inexcusable "Mother's Day" sermons. He didn't entirely escape, though, because sure enough, Debbie told us about the morning's sermon she'd heard at the E Free church, and while she said she found it true-to-life and encouraging, I spent most of the time pointing out to her all the ways that it wasn't actually doctrinal and drawn from the Bible. What can I say? I'm a tough audience.
I called my mom in the early afternoon, but she was about to sit down to a late lunch of BBQ salmon, so she had to hang up. She called me back several hours later, and we had a nice chat.
Last week, a student had an assignment to write a short essay about his mother. I told him, "You write about your mother, and I'll write about mine, and then we'll trade and read about each other's mothers." [Anything to get this kid to do his work.] I am not at liberty to publish the student essay, but I thought I'd share mine. Disclaimer: This was written in the course of 10 minutes or so, and has not been edited.
My Mother
My mother is physically small, but is a giant in many other ways. Her heart, her mind, and her talent are all very large.
Mum loves people. She has spent most of the years of my life in active Christian ministry. She lived in the jungles of New Guinea for 12 years, enduring many illnesses, hard work, and adventures. She made a home for her family, despite limited resources. Later in her life, she worked as a teacher for the urban poor in Los Angeles, and lived among them in South Central LA. She also devoted herself to loving and serving not only her children, but their friends.
Mum is a very smart lady. She is a voracious reader and enjoys non-fction (historical books, as well as tomes on gardening and fiber arts) and fiction (such as books by Dorothy Sayers or Dorothy Gilman). She continues to teacher herself about math and science and other subjects, even though she is no longer a student in school.
Finally, Mum is very gifted and talented in such things as knitting and crocheting. She is certified with the Knitting Guild of America, and loves fiber arts. She even cards, dyes, and spins her own wool. Mum will soon launch her own line of specialty knitted goods, and it's sure to be very popular.
Wouldn't you like to meet my mom?
[Note: After reading my essay, the student simply wrote "yes" under the last line.]
We had a few celebrations over the weekend. On Saturday, Candace and Rob were up from the LA area, so we had brunch for Debbie and Rosalee (Jeff's mom and grandma). It was pleasant and genteel and quite tasty (Debbie made quiche, the only quiche I've ever liked!), and marred only by the fact that Jerry was on holiday in Moab. Then on Sunday, Jeff and I took Debbie to lunch for Chinese food, and then strolled a bit through downtown Visalia. Jeff and I hadn't gone to church, because Jeff held forth that he would NOT subject himself to having to sit and listen to me gripe about exegetically inexcusable "Mother's Day" sermons. He didn't entirely escape, though, because sure enough, Debbie told us about the morning's sermon she'd heard at the E Free church, and while she said she found it true-to-life and encouraging, I spent most of the time pointing out to her all the ways that it wasn't actually doctrinal and drawn from the Bible. What can I say? I'm a tough audience.
I called my mom in the early afternoon, but she was about to sit down to a late lunch of BBQ salmon, so she had to hang up. She called me back several hours later, and we had a nice chat.
Last week, a student had an assignment to write a short essay about his mother. I told him, "You write about your mother, and I'll write about mine, and then we'll trade and read about each other's mothers." [Anything to get this kid to do his work.] I am not at liberty to publish the student essay, but I thought I'd share mine. Disclaimer: This was written in the course of 10 minutes or so, and has not been edited.
My Mother
My mother is physically small, but is a giant in many other ways. Her heart, her mind, and her talent are all very large.
Mum loves people. She has spent most of the years of my life in active Christian ministry. She lived in the jungles of New Guinea for 12 years, enduring many illnesses, hard work, and adventures. She made a home for her family, despite limited resources. Later in her life, she worked as a teacher for the urban poor in Los Angeles, and lived among them in South Central LA. She also devoted herself to loving and serving not only her children, but their friends.
Mum is a very smart lady. She is a voracious reader and enjoys non-fction (historical books, as well as tomes on gardening and fiber arts) and fiction (such as books by Dorothy Sayers or Dorothy Gilman). She continues to teacher herself about math and science and other subjects, even though she is no longer a student in school.
Finally, Mum is very gifted and talented in such things as knitting and crocheting. She is certified with the Knitting Guild of America, and loves fiber arts. She even cards, dyes, and spins her own wool. Mum will soon launch her own line of specialty knitted goods, and it's sure to be very popular.
Wouldn't you like to meet my mom?
[Note: After reading my essay, the student simply wrote "yes" under the last line.]
10 May 2007
Day Trip
Last weekend, on Saturday, I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. You see, our school's EL (English Learners) Department had organized a field trip for good, high-achieving students, and on a whim, they asked me to participate as a chaperone. And I had SUCH A GOOD TIME. Since I am accustomed to working with budding criminals and just plain naughty children, it was a revelation to be among hard-working, well-mannered young people. Nobody cussed at me or threatened to sue me; nobody threw things or argued unnecessarily. Wow, I thought, if I had the right group of students, life could be almost this good EVERY DAY. Whoa. Almost enough to make me want to teach in middle or high school again. Almost, but not quite. I was given five young ladies as my charges. We stuck together throughout the day, learned some stuff, and had fun.
And a kelp forest, including some tiger sharks:
And penguins: 
We also visited the Monterey State History Park, which was well-done and educational. Did you know that Monterey was the first capital of California? And that it was a center of the 19th century whaling industry? [Why, oh why, didn't I take pictures? Guess I was too busy learning and having fun.]
And I can't forget the quality time spent with the candy cigarette, given to me by a student who had bought a pack.
We saw some jellyfish:
And a kelp forest, including some tiger sharks:And penguins: We also visited the Monterey State History Park, which was well-done and educational. Did you know that Monterey was the first capital of California? And that it was a center of the 19th century whaling industry? [Why, oh why, didn't I take pictures? Guess I was too busy learning and having fun.]
Then we walked along the historic Fisherman's Wharf (although we avoided infamous but boring Cannery Row). We had a close encounter with a sea otter, that swam right up to the dock where we were loitering. The girls named it Cecilia the Sea Otter, for reasons never revealed to me.
I particularly enjoyed the quaint Bruce Ariss Wharf Theater. They were doing a production of H.M.S. Pinafore at the time. In addition to being an active participant in the thriving local arts scene, the Bruce Ariss Theater is a sort of little theater museum, with posters and artifacts from its history of more than half a century of performing great dramatic and musical productions, as well as a little gallery showcasing local artists. Very cool. I took the girls inside and pointed to posters and pictures on the walls, identifying musical plays (Annie, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, Cabaret, to name a few) and explaining their origins and plots, and occasionally, even singing some snatches of the scores. My young ladies bore it with patience, although one or two betrayed genuine interest. Most interesting of all, we could go into the actual theater and see the set for their current play. There was a man working there, who was about five feet tall and 100 years old, who creaked over to turn on the lights and let us in, and gave us as much time as we wanted to see the Pinafore set. Again, I wish I'd had presence of mind to take pictures. *sigh* But I was able to explain some principles of set design and demonstrate to the girls how clues from a set can aid a viewer in understanding a play's setting, even with no actors on the stage to speak dialogue. In the case of Pinafore, I pointed out that we could immediately tell that the play was set on a ship, thanks to the set, and we could also see that the ship was named the H.M.S. Pinafore, because the ship's life preservers had that name on them. We could tell that Pinafore was a British ship, thanks to the Union Jack and portrait of Queen Victoria (which also signaled to the viewer the time period of the play's setting: mid-late 19th century) on display.
I also enjoyed spending time with some great coworkers, who were fellow chaperones.
And I can't forget the quality time spent with the candy cigarette, given to me by a student who had bought a pack.03 May 2007
Believe It or Not
Believe it or not, today, I had standardized testing interrupted because the police dogs had to search the room in which I was proctoring.
And believe it or not, I will really miss a lot about my school when I finish my job there in mid-June.
Don't forget to read about some adventures of the past few weeks.
And believe it or not, I will really miss a lot about my school when I finish my job there in mid-June.
Don't forget to read about some adventures of the past few weeks.
01 May 2007
Funny Notes from Middle School, continued
Or, Words of Wisdom on the Meaningful Things in Life
Fun times abound with another poorly spelled/punctuated, handwritten note that I found on the ground at school.
4 yo ugly eyes only
30 yEars from now, it wont matter what shoes you wore, how your haired looked, or the Jeans you bought, but what will matter is how you lived you life and how many hot boyz did you date and who was your very first crush... well yeah dat was hard! Ha. Ha. Ha.
Well gotta boocket
----------------------------------------------------------------
love ya
O my gosh why somebody Just westside me 4 my pencil.
Love alwayz
de one and only
Cxxxxxxx bxxx
Editor's note: Thank you, Cxxxxxxx, it's refreshing to finally have a 13-year-old clarify for me what will and will not matter in 30 yEars. I'd better try really hard to remember just who was my first crush, and discount my dependence on my denim trouser purchases to cement my legacy to future generations. Whew! How close I came to disaster, and you, dear Cxxxxxxx, spared me from it. Although, if truth be told, I'd better rack up some dating time with several more cute boyz, in order to be truly on top of things.
Meanwhile, I really wonder what it means to "westside" someone. I'm guessing it's a gangsta term that means to "attack someone viciously", or something like that. As in, "The cats totally westsided my ankles till I refilled their bowl with food."
Fun times abound with another poorly spelled/punctuated, handwritten note that I found on the ground at school.
4 yo ugly eyes only
30 yEars from now, it wont matter what shoes you wore, how your haired looked, or the Jeans you bought, but what will matter is how you lived you life and how many hot boyz did you date and who was your very first crush... well yeah dat was hard! Ha. Ha. Ha.
Well gotta boocket
----------------------------------------------------------------
love ya
O my gosh why somebody Just westside me 4 my pencil.
Love alwayz
de one and only
Cxxxxxxx bxxx
Editor's note: Thank you, Cxxxxxxx, it's refreshing to finally have a 13-year-old clarify for me what will and will not matter in 30 yEars. I'd better try really hard to remember just who was my first crush, and discount my dependence on my denim trouser purchases to cement my legacy to future generations. Whew! How close I came to disaster, and you, dear Cxxxxxxx, spared me from it. Although, if truth be told, I'd better rack up some dating time with several more cute boyz, in order to be truly on top of things.
Meanwhile, I really wonder what it means to "westside" someone. I'm guessing it's a gangsta term that means to "attack someone viciously", or something like that. As in, "The cats totally westsided my ankles till I refilled their bowl with food."
29 April 2007
News from Oz
Australia, that is.
I think I might like to live in Australia, as it is a western nation that sits squarely in the Far East, and has its main political and commercial dealings with Asian-Pacific nations.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0704/S00509.htm
I think I might like to live in Australia, as it is a western nation that sits squarely in the Far East, and has its main political and commercial dealings with Asian-Pacific nations.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0704/S00509.htm
20 April 2007
Best Stories Ever
So, I am thrilled to finally have some more funny stories to share from work. I haven't been having some thrillingly wonderful days, recently, but things have gotten better this past week.
I have a student who has been in and out of Transition a variety of times in the past several weeks. He is a swarthy, stocky kid whose nickname (bestowed by the school's administrators) is Sling Blade. He has a rather deep voice, for a seventh grader, and either mumbles or barks (the latter always without warning and at inappropriate times). He has a halting cadence to his words, and ducks his head and quirks his eyebrow when they stumble out. And he is one of the funniest kids I've ever encountered. Sling Blade is a fairly active gangbanger (he claims Fresno Bulldogs) and has a tough attitude and a potty mouth, but I've never felt him to be at all dangerous or threatening. He makes me laugh.
For example, he was once in Transition with a few of his ESF BDS homies, and they were messing around. When students are noisy and disrespectful, I put marks up on the board for minutes that they will have to stay in after the bell rings at the end of the day. Sling Blade was one of the most disruptive, until he figured out that he'd have to stay in with me after school until I saw fit to release him. He started growling at his buddies, "$%&!, you guys! Shut the %^&!$ up! I don't want to stay after school. %&*!@!"
This week, we were doing standardized testing. Sling Blade came in wearing red shoes (red is against the school dress code), and started (with his buddies) being disruptive and making threats about jumping another student. The admins confiscated his shoes during the break. He came back to the room after the break in his stockinged feet, and muttered, in his hoarse monotone, "They took my shoes. I want my shoes back!" He had to finish the day of testing in just his socks. It was funny, if you were there.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of the company of a certain three students who were put in for ditching school. I get students caught for skipping class all the time, so this in itself was not notable. Their situation, however, was interesting: they'd been brought in for truancy by the cops. I started chatting with them during lunch time, which is really the best way to get a boatload of middle school gossip, and unearthed more of the story.
"We weren't really skipping school," they said to me. "Just first and second periods, because we don't like those. We were going to come back for third period." Uh-huh. I'm sure the police thought their logic was impeccable..
The three boys (let's call them John, Paul, and George) had a partner-in-crime who wasn't with us at the time. This fellow (let's call him Ringo) had recently moved, and instead of going to school that day, he and his pals went over to his old abandoned house and got inside (John, Paul, and George assured me that it was not actually breaking and entering, because they hadn't broken anything; there were no knobs on the doors, so they just were able to go in. More flawless logic.).
They proceeded to mess around, as young boys will do, and somehow a neighbor saw activity in the abandoned house and called the police. The four boys had just begun a rousing game of cops-and-robbers when the police arrived at the front door and shouted, "This is the police. Come out!" ["We thought it was ironic," Paul said, "that the real cops showed up when we were playing that game." No sarcasm intended: Color me impressed by a seventh grader's proper and utterly timely use of the word ironic in a sentence.]
"When we heard that, at first, we didn't come out because we thought it was a black guy with a crow bar trying to hurt us," they told me. "We were scared, and thought he was trying to trick us into coming out." [Note: I was never able to glean from them the origin of the black-guy-with-a-crowbar idea, but these little guys are all Hispanic, and as I've noted before, there is a lot of tension, distrust, and prejudice in a well-documented black-versus-brown urban struggle. It just goes to show how deeply rooted certain attitudes are in subcultures and communities, if little kids are already picking up racist attitudes and internalizing them.] Meanwhile, John attempted to sneak out the back door, only to be met by the business end of a police gun. The cops had them thoroughly scared and subdued in a short amount of time, and Ringo was put in cuffs and taken away from the others, who were booked with OSIS (Operation Stay in School) and then toted unceremoniously back to our campus.
After John, Paul, and George finished relating their little tale of law enforcement-flavored woe, I laughed long and hard and then, at the cafeteria lunchtable, attempted to impress upon them the seriousness of their behavior and its consequences. I can only hope that even one of them really listened.
*sigh*
Middle school: Come for the witty repartee, stay for the poignant life lessons.
I have a student who has been in and out of Transition a variety of times in the past several weeks. He is a swarthy, stocky kid whose nickname (bestowed by the school's administrators) is Sling Blade. He has a rather deep voice, for a seventh grader, and either mumbles or barks (the latter always without warning and at inappropriate times). He has a halting cadence to his words, and ducks his head and quirks his eyebrow when they stumble out. And he is one of the funniest kids I've ever encountered. Sling Blade is a fairly active gangbanger (he claims Fresno Bulldogs) and has a tough attitude and a potty mouth, but I've never felt him to be at all dangerous or threatening. He makes me laugh.
For example, he was once in Transition with a few of his ESF BDS homies, and they were messing around. When students are noisy and disrespectful, I put marks up on the board for minutes that they will have to stay in after the bell rings at the end of the day. Sling Blade was one of the most disruptive, until he figured out that he'd have to stay in with me after school until I saw fit to release him. He started growling at his buddies, "$%&!, you guys! Shut the %^&!$ up! I don't want to stay after school. %&*!@!"
This week, we were doing standardized testing. Sling Blade came in wearing red shoes (red is against the school dress code), and started (with his buddies) being disruptive and making threats about jumping another student. The admins confiscated his shoes during the break. He came back to the room after the break in his stockinged feet, and muttered, in his hoarse monotone, "They took my shoes. I want my shoes back!" He had to finish the day of testing in just his socks. It was funny, if you were there.
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of the company of a certain three students who were put in for ditching school. I get students caught for skipping class all the time, so this in itself was not notable. Their situation, however, was interesting: they'd been brought in for truancy by the cops. I started chatting with them during lunch time, which is really the best way to get a boatload of middle school gossip, and unearthed more of the story.
"We weren't really skipping school," they said to me. "Just first and second periods, because we don't like those. We were going to come back for third period." Uh-huh. I'm sure the police thought their logic was impeccable..
The three boys (let's call them John, Paul, and George) had a partner-in-crime who wasn't with us at the time. This fellow (let's call him Ringo) had recently moved, and instead of going to school that day, he and his pals went over to his old abandoned house and got inside (John, Paul, and George assured me that it was not actually breaking and entering, because they hadn't broken anything; there were no knobs on the doors, so they just were able to go in. More flawless logic.).
They proceeded to mess around, as young boys will do, and somehow a neighbor saw activity in the abandoned house and called the police. The four boys had just begun a rousing game of cops-and-robbers when the police arrived at the front door and shouted, "This is the police. Come out!" ["We thought it was ironic," Paul said, "that the real cops showed up when we were playing that game." No sarcasm intended: Color me impressed by a seventh grader's proper and utterly timely use of the word ironic in a sentence.]
"When we heard that, at first, we didn't come out because we thought it was a black guy with a crow bar trying to hurt us," they told me. "We were scared, and thought he was trying to trick us into coming out." [Note: I was never able to glean from them the origin of the black-guy-with-a-crowbar idea, but these little guys are all Hispanic, and as I've noted before, there is a lot of tension, distrust, and prejudice in a well-documented black-versus-brown urban struggle. It just goes to show how deeply rooted certain attitudes are in subcultures and communities, if little kids are already picking up racist attitudes and internalizing them.] Meanwhile, John attempted to sneak out the back door, only to be met by the business end of a police gun. The cops had them thoroughly scared and subdued in a short amount of time, and Ringo was put in cuffs and taken away from the others, who were booked with OSIS (Operation Stay in School) and then toted unceremoniously back to our campus.
After John, Paul, and George finished relating their little tale of law enforcement-flavored woe, I laughed long and hard and then, at the cafeteria lunchtable, attempted to impress upon them the seriousness of their behavior and its consequences. I can only hope that even one of them really listened.
*sigh*
Middle school: Come for the witty repartee, stay for the poignant life lessons.
19 April 2007
Life and virtue
I've been slowly recovering myself and trying to get chores and cleaning done. My mom got me started going through some boxes when she was here visiting, and I've been trying to get up the discipline to continue the task. Last night, I went through one entire box. It was mostly full of Utah stuff-- binders, education manuals, notes for books I'd read or lectures I'd given, even some tracts that we wrote and published in 2000. I saved a bunch of stuff for archival purposes (maybe I'll actually organize and archive it!), and still was able to throw away or recycle c. 25% of the stuff in the box. If this keeps up, I'll be able to get rid of so much stuff, consolidate boxes, streamline and simplify our life... I feel so virtuous!
And speaking of virtue, I watched part of Ben-Hur while I cleaned and sorted last night. I haven't seen that movie since I was 10, and boy does it seem different now. I liked it back then, and I liked it last night, but the general impression was so different! I'm a lot more aware of things like historical context, scripts, acting, life in general... Ben-Hur won a truckload of Oscars in the Awards for 1959, and it really is a good film. The script, despite its Oscar nomination for best writing from previously published material, isn't that good. It contains few beautiful and memorable lines, lacks smoothness, and bears too much of the stiffness of its source material (which problems can be blamed on that material, the reverent novel by Wallace). Sometimes the actors seem to be playing bipedal platitudes, rather than passionate human beings. In my opinion, Charlton Heston, however, turned in a really good performance with the material he was given, even if he seemed too ruggedly old and jaded for his part in the beginning of the film. The direction, sets, costumes, all are very nice but somehow stuffy. It's a good epic, but I wouldn't buy that it is a better movie, qua movie, than other 1959 efforts such as Some Like It Hot.
One thing that caught my attention and made me realize how much my perceptions have changed since fifth grade, is the portrayal of the relationship between Judah and Massala in the early portion of the film. The two young men are so thrilled to see one another, and grasp and touch each other, and gaze into one another's eyes... "It will be just like old times!" It was all kind of... CREEPY. Just what DID they do in those old times? Yeesh. It was like Brokeback Mountain with togas. I wonder if director Wyler was intending to portray that subtext, or whether it was just played for innocence in '59 but seems less innocuous in these morally degenerate times.
Maybe I'll do another box and watch another old movie tonight. Or maybe I'll level my WoW character. The pursuit of virtue is a complicated path.
And speaking of virtue, I watched part of Ben-Hur while I cleaned and sorted last night. I haven't seen that movie since I was 10, and boy does it seem different now. I liked it back then, and I liked it last night, but the general impression was so different! I'm a lot more aware of things like historical context, scripts, acting, life in general... Ben-Hur won a truckload of Oscars in the Awards for 1959, and it really is a good film. The script, despite its Oscar nomination for best writing from previously published material, isn't that good. It contains few beautiful and memorable lines, lacks smoothness, and bears too much of the stiffness of its source material (which problems can be blamed on that material, the reverent novel by Wallace). Sometimes the actors seem to be playing bipedal platitudes, rather than passionate human beings. In my opinion, Charlton Heston, however, turned in a really good performance with the material he was given, even if he seemed too ruggedly old and jaded for his part in the beginning of the film. The direction, sets, costumes, all are very nice but somehow stuffy. It's a good epic, but I wouldn't buy that it is a better movie, qua movie, than other 1959 efforts such as Some Like It Hot.
One thing that caught my attention and made me realize how much my perceptions have changed since fifth grade, is the portrayal of the relationship between Judah and Massala in the early portion of the film. The two young men are so thrilled to see one another, and grasp and touch each other, and gaze into one another's eyes... "It will be just like old times!" It was all kind of... CREEPY. Just what DID they do in those old times? Yeesh. It was like Brokeback Mountain with togas. I wonder if director Wyler was intending to portray that subtext, or whether it was just played for innocence in '59 but seems less innocuous in these morally degenerate times.
Maybe I'll do another box and watch another old movie tonight. Or maybe I'll level my WoW character. The pursuit of virtue is a complicated path.
Another legend gone
Kitty Carlisle Hart, who made films and appeared on stage as Kitty Carlisle and then married playwright Moss Hart (of Kaufman and Hart fame), died on Tuesday, 17 April. My exposure to her work is mostly limited to the few musical films she made in the mid-1930s (the most popular being A Night at the Opera with the Marx brothers).
Sorry and my hair
Dear Internet,
Sorry I've neglected you again. I actually didn't mean to. I posted over the weekend, and thought everything was okay, but my mom sent me a note asking if I'd posted yet, and I looked, and apparently the post didn't publish. And Internet, I can't help thinking this is pretty much YOUR fault, because you dumped my post, and you really haven't been working to resolve your differences with my laptop. So get on that.
And internet readers, my big news is that last weekend, I cut my hair! It is a short, cute bob, sort of Louise Brooks without the bangs. I know, I know, it is sad if my biggest news is the fact that I chopped the dead tissue from my scalp... Well, the hair is now nice and easy to manage, as it is truly wash-and-go, with no need for gel, blow dryer, or curling iron, etc. On the minus side, however, is the unfortunate result that I now look several years younger. When one is 50 years old, I'm told, taking off 10 years with a haircut is a good thing. Not so when one is younger than 50, teaching middle schoolers, and looking barely older than one's students, to begin with. Ah, well, such is life. I guess I'll enjoy it when I'm 45 and still getting carded.
All the best,
Kiti
Sorry I've neglected you again. I actually didn't mean to. I posted over the weekend, and thought everything was okay, but my mom sent me a note asking if I'd posted yet, and I looked, and apparently the post didn't publish. And Internet, I can't help thinking this is pretty much YOUR fault, because you dumped my post, and you really haven't been working to resolve your differences with my laptop. So get on that.
And internet readers, my big news is that last weekend, I cut my hair! It is a short, cute bob, sort of Louise Brooks without the bangs. I know, I know, it is sad if my biggest news is the fact that I chopped the dead tissue from my scalp... Well, the hair is now nice and easy to manage, as it is truly wash-and-go, with no need for gel, blow dryer, or curling iron, etc. On the minus side, however, is the unfortunate result that I now look several years younger. When one is 50 years old, I'm told, taking off 10 years with a haircut is a good thing. Not so when one is younger than 50, teaching middle schoolers, and looking barely older than one's students, to begin with. Ah, well, such is life. I guess I'll enjoy it when I'm 45 and still getting carded.
All the best,
Kiti
06 April 2007
Alive
I'm feeling as though I'm coming to the end of a long dark tunnel, and there is, indeed, a light. I think I'll actually start cleaning my house, communicating with other human beings, and generally acting civilized.
Part of my cheery manner is probably derived from having spring vacation and not being around people for several days. I am also watching happy old movies and reading some books.
One of the movies I've watched is Hit the Deck. The score isn't altogether great, but the film reminds me of how much I loved to dance, and how much I'd like to take it up again. I am NOT too old. Here is a picture of one great dancer, Ann Miller:
Part of my cheery manner is probably derived from having spring vacation and not being around people for several days. I am also watching happy old movies and reading some books.
One of the movies I've watched is Hit the Deck. The score isn't altogether great, but the film reminds me of how much I loved to dance, and how much I'd like to take it up again. I am NOT too old. Here is a picture of one great dancer, Ann Miller:
04 April 2007
Vacation
Well, I'm half way into my spring vacation, and it's been nice and lazy. I've played WoW and watched some movies and done quite a bit of sleeping in. I hope to watch some more movies and eat a lot of junk food. Booyah.
I'm feeling a bit of Bones withdrawal, since we recorded last week's episode, but didn't watch it yet, and there's ANOTHER ONE ON TONIGHT. We are falling behind! Can Brennan and Booth go on without our faithful viewership?
I'm feeling a bit of Bones withdrawal, since we recorded last week's episode, but didn't watch it yet, and there's ANOTHER ONE ON TONIGHT. We are falling behind! Can Brennan and Booth go on without our faithful viewership?
01 April 2007
I've complained about it before, and I still don't understand:
How difficult is it to punctuate correctly when creating slides for the use of worship in the LORD's house?
One suspects that the Levites worshipping at the Temple avoided similar errors by (1) being conscientious and actually caring about things and (2) utilizing ancient Hebrew, which lacked, in its biblical forms, both vowels and written punctuation.
How difficult is it to punctuate correctly when creating slides for the use of worship in the LORD's house?
One suspects that the Levites worshipping at the Temple avoided similar errors by (1) being conscientious and actually caring about things and (2) utilizing ancient Hebrew, which lacked, in its biblical forms, both vowels and written punctuation.
That's Good Satire
Or, Proof Positive That Gamers and Scientists Have Great Senses of Humor
Molecule of the Week archives from the American Chemical Society:
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/?id=ec20b7786c5511d7e45f6ed9fe800100
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=HomeMolecule%5carchive%5cmotw_mithril_arch.html
And the introduction of a highly desirable new item in World of Warcraft:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/items/tinfoilhat.xml
Yes, it is the first of April.
Molecule of the Week archives from the American Chemical Society:
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/resources/?id=ec20b7786c5511d7e45f6ed9fe800100
http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=HomeMolecule%5carchive%5cmotw_mithril_arch.html
And the introduction of a highly desirable new item in World of Warcraft:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/items/tinfoilhat.xml
Yes, it is the first of April.
Benign neglect
Dear faithful readers (if indeed I do have any),
I have neglected you. Shame on me!
So what's new in the life of Deb? Not much. Jeff and I have been going to work, coming home, playing World of Warcraft, watching a few TV shows, and in general, contributing as little as possible to the advancement of the human race (which doesn't bother me, as I don't much like people anyway).
I've been slowly reading my way through a few books: After the Ice (Yes, still--it's a long book.) and The Introvert Advantage (Aha! I knew there had to be at least one.). I'll be posting information and reviews.
I've watched a fair number of my dear old movies. Some were great, some good, some just barely decent:
Sunrise - great
Peter Ibbetson - good
Design for Living - good
If You Could Only Cook - good
More Than a Secretary - decent
The Rich Are Always With Us - decent
The Importance of Being Earnest - good, bordering on great
Designing Woman - good
Two Arabian Knights - good
Cattle Empire - decent, but it had Joel McCrea, so bordering on good
Elephant Walk - good
The Penguin Pool Murder - great
The Mating Season - great
Adventure in Manhattan - decent, but again, Joel McCrea...
I also watched a more modern movie:
Bride and Prejudice - good, bordering on great
Far from being completely lazy, however, I have been doing useful things like washing dishes and the laundry.
On a larger scale, Jeff and I are trying to figure out what to do with our lives , long-term as well as in the next year or so. My current favored occupations are:
Beach bum - Low start-up cost, but becomes increasingly difficult, the further one lives from a coast.
Film and/or art critic - I think it would be fabulous to get paid to say nasty things about other people's hard work and creative endeavors. Maybe I don't know art, but I know what I don't like.
Performance artist - I could put all those black clothes from my early twenties to good use.
Shock novelist - If you thought The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure were bad, wait till you read my next opus, wherein you'll discover that Rand McNally are behind a huge international conspiracy and their road maps contain coded information regarding the path to a planet near a star called Kolob...
Anyway, glad to hear from any of you, and drop by my blog any time.
All the best,
Kiti Fantastico
I have neglected you. Shame on me!
So what's new in the life of Deb? Not much. Jeff and I have been going to work, coming home, playing World of Warcraft, watching a few TV shows, and in general, contributing as little as possible to the advancement of the human race (which doesn't bother me, as I don't much like people anyway).
I've been slowly reading my way through a few books: After the Ice (Yes, still--it's a long book.) and The Introvert Advantage (Aha! I knew there had to be at least one.). I'll be posting information and reviews.
I've watched a fair number of my dear old movies. Some were great, some good, some just barely decent:
Sunrise - great
Peter Ibbetson - good
Design for Living - good
If You Could Only Cook - good
More Than a Secretary - decent
The Rich Are Always With Us - decent
The Importance of Being Earnest - good, bordering on great
Designing Woman - good
Two Arabian Knights - good
Cattle Empire - decent, but it had Joel McCrea, so bordering on good
Elephant Walk - good
The Penguin Pool Murder - great
The Mating Season - great
Adventure in Manhattan - decent, but again, Joel McCrea...
I also watched a more modern movie:
Bride and Prejudice - good, bordering on great
Far from being completely lazy, however, I have been doing useful things like washing dishes and the laundry.
On a larger scale, Jeff and I are trying to figure out what to do with our lives , long-term as well as in the next year or so. My current favored occupations are:
Beach bum - Low start-up cost, but becomes increasingly difficult, the further one lives from a coast.
Film and/or art critic - I think it would be fabulous to get paid to say nasty things about other people's hard work and creative endeavors. Maybe I don't know art, but I know what I don't like.
Performance artist - I could put all those black clothes from my early twenties to good use.
Shock novelist - If you thought The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure were bad, wait till you read my next opus, wherein you'll discover that Rand McNally are behind a huge international conspiracy and their road maps contain coded information regarding the path to a planet near a star called Kolob...
Anyway, glad to hear from any of you, and drop by my blog any time.
All the best,
Kiti Fantastico
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