Vacay

I'm still working on switching over to the new Google-compatible Blogger. It's just so hard to commit.

I started my official vacation time today. I spent it cleaning the lower part of my house, as well as cooking lentil soup and biscuits. Whee.

Now, Jeff and I are watching Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, as he wanted to do something relaxing while he does important computer-type stuff on his laptop. I'm always torn between enjoying the pure visual spectacle of these films and disliking them because I love the books so much. I especially dislike the casting of Liv Tyler. Ugh!

I think I'll be shopping tomorrow, as well as doing more cleaning. Such excitement.

A good Sam Cooke fan is hard to find

Sam Cooke was a seminal artist in the early rock-n-roul/soul music scene, but he is hardly remembered today, it would seem. I am a fan, and have been since high school. My dad is also a fan. Anyone else out there?

Cupid (Draw Back Your Bow) and (That's the Sound of the Men Working on the) Chain Gang are two of his best-known tunes, but he did some great gospel and catchy songs such as Everybody Love to Cha-Cha-Cha and Another Saturday Night.

Cooke just had a unique voice. My dad identifies it as achieving its tone by somehow resonating air in his sinuses a certain way; listen for it when he does long, drawn-out vowel tones, such as when he sings:
"Cupid, draw back your bo-o-ow, and let your arrow flo-o-ow,
Straight to my lover's heart for me-e-e..."
Had he lived longer, I suspect that Cooke would have become one of the great singers of the 20th century, and his memory would not reside in semi-obscurity.

The weather here in the Valley has been getting colder, and the sky is often grey. I hate cold and grey. The saving grace is, it doesn't rain a lot. Oh, well. Perhaps some day, I will move back to the equator and live on the coast of a tropical island. I can dream.

Anyhoo.

We did our usual Saturday thing of sleeping in, and I made eggs and pancakes for breakfast. Then Jeff cleaned his computer nook and I did some dishes and several loads of laundry. And then Jeff taught me how to play Magic the Gathering. And then we went to the gym and exercised. And finally, we came home and watched a movie or two while I folded laundry.

Jeff has gone to bed, and I am just waiting for one last load to finish in the dryer. And watching F List on Fuse TV.

Saturday, in a nutshell.

Par-tay!!!

NO MORE JUVENILE DELINQUENTS UNTIL JANUARY 8!!!!
Have I mentioned that "vacation time" is a good reason to work for a school district?

Hypothetically, I am moving into a new classroom for the next quarter(s), but we'll see if that becomes reality.

Meanwhile, I'm working on figuring out goals for the next semester and year.
More grad school?
Learn a new skill?
Lose some weight?

Best. Clip. Ever.

Ginger Rogers dancing the Charleston.

Chipmunk-face Zellweger, eat your heart out! You are not Roxie Hart.

[By the way, I'd like to embed the videos in my posts, but for some reason, the coding is not working. So, please, please click on my links.]

I still need to switch to the updated Blogger. Maybe I'll figure that out this weekend.

Meanwhile, I'm discovering the treasures of Youtube.

Vintage live performances:
Marlene Dietrich singing "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?".

A link Jeff shared with me a while ago, that I found again: Halo footage set to a nonsensical yet catchy tune about a kitty cat.

Open your Christmas present early:
The great Eartha Kitt and the original Santa Baby.

Moving backward

Well, now that my laptop is mostly resurrected, I will resume some of the wedding narratives. Here's a morsel to whet your appetite.

Christina's wedding was at the end of October. I was concerned about the strapless bridesmaid dresses (hey, for many years, I might not have been able to keep the top up), but mine turned out to be okay. In fact, it was more than okay: I ended up liking it a lot, and Christina gave her bridesmaids very lovely jewelry (a silver brooch) to accent the dresses.

Here I am with super-beautiful Sharon Campbell and Kristin Nassau. We had fun partying it up together, bonded by joyful spirits and a love for Christina.

School Daze

I haven't blogged about work/school for a while. It's sad, because I have all kinds of funny stories. Honestly, juvenile delinquents (especially the less-than-intelligent ones) can be hilarious.
Names have been changed to protect the underaged-but-far-from-innocent.

Let's talk about "Andrew". I know which students are supposed to be in my Transition class on any given day. If the students don't show up, I call their first period classes to ascertain whether they've gone to class instead, and if so, I have them sent over to me and proceed with business as usual. Andrew has a problem with attending school regularly, which is one of the reasons why he got sent to Transition in the first place. One morning, I called Andrew's Period 1 teacher, and he had indeed gone to his class. His teacher (who is a very good teacher, by the way) promptly sent him over to my room, except... somehow, he never arrived... How stupid is it to ditch school when both your regular teacher AND your Transition teacher know that you are ditching? Exactly.

Now let's talk about "Robert". Robert also has a problem with chronic ditching of school. On another fine morning, he wasn't in Transition as scheduled, so I checked in with his first period teacher. No Robert. Following my established routine, I then called his home to see if he was there, or at least to discover what his mom or dad would have to say.
Me: Good morning. I'm calling from xxxxxxxx Middle School, and I'm trying to located Robert xxxxxxxxx.
Dad: Oh, he should be in class by now.
Me: Well, he's supposed to be with me in Transition, but he failed to show. I called his first period class, and he is not there, either.
Dad: I don't understand. We sent him to school more than an hour ago.
Me: Let me explain. Your son is ditching school.
Uh-huh. There's our problem right there, folks. Robert gets away with everything short of felonies because Dad is totally clueless... Robert was SO BUSTED this time, though. Aside from his attendance problem, of course, he is unpleasant, disrespectful, and had the gall to start a food fight in the cafeteria when I was standing RIGHT THERE. Of course, he didn't get to have any real fun with the food, since I put an immediate stop to it. I have it on good authority (i.e., some middle school kid told me all about it) that Robert just hates me. Mwahaha. [No, Mom, I don't think he will bring a gun to school and try to off me; he's not that organized.]

And "Leonardo"? He's my Tracking Anklet Boy. Yes, he's on parole. No, I don't know why. That's police business. But I think the whole thing is extremely funny, even though I know I shouldn't. Teehee.

Never a dull moment in Transition, I swear.

It's a great day for America

I'm still on the thing where I watch Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show on Youtube.

Example. Even if it's old news.
"I think Michael Jackson may be gettin' a bit weird."

Awesome.
"If OJ won't admit, you must cancel It!"
"He's right, yet... curse you, Spielberg!"

I've been watching a few films with Constance Bennett. Gotta love the husky-voiced queen of the pre-Code screen!

Today, I drove down to Bakersfield with Debbie to meet my parents and pick up a sheet music stand from them. I had a good time, and after getting lost in Bakersfield on the way home, she and I decided to do some impromptu Christmas shopping at the Tulare outlet mall. We also ran over to Pier 1 to look at coffee tables. Unfortunately, I thought that I had communicated to Jeff that we would be stopping to shop, but he had been expecting me home a few hours before I arrived, so he was really worried and upset when I finally came in. Oops!

I wish I were better at shopping. I feel so inadequate, as I struggle with identifying gifts that my loved ones will really want.

My computer seems to be acting strangely again. Very odd. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that water was probably spilled on it while I was gone today.

New version of Blogger?

I guess I will be switching over. Using my Google login. Finally, Google is unifying their products.

Anyway, more happy gifts. I wear size small. But I don't actually expect to get any of these. And I don't actually condone purchasing via the internet. Heh.

-More Hello Kitty. A shirt.
-Canvas tote bag, perfect for a teacher, who's hip enough to know what it means to be Bored Now.
-UC Sunnydale t-shirt.
-Wear the Bronze.
-Even law firms have a t-shirt.
-Hostile 17 gets his revenge.
-Budget nostalgia. Welcome to Sunnydale sticker. Bad Miss Edith sticker.

Who knew there was so much STUFF in the world?

Christmas cheer

I can't say that I'm really looking forward to the holiday season (or rather, enjoying it now that it's here). I have a lot of people interaction on a daily basis, so I'd really just prefer to have a few weeks of hermithood. I love my family and friends, butI just don't feel festive. This despite the fact that 2006 will be the first Christmas in twenty-something years that I haven't had to worry about school, and final exams, final papers, etc., during the Christmas season.

Continuing with a haphazard Christmas wish list:
-Cute clothes. I can always use more of those.

Not a sound from the pavement

Jeff and I watch Farscape. The episode we're watching right now involves some kind of clone thingie in the plot. It triggered a long-forgotten (repressed???) memory.

Despite the fact that I've never watched a soap opera in my life, when in high school, I used to love to read the daily soap opera synopses in the paper. Why? The plots were all so farfetched that I found them hilarious, and couldn't believe that anyone would take them seriously enough to put them in TV series. Heehee. In the early 1990s, there was some soap opera (I forget which one) that had a plotline involving some character's scheming clone. This in addition to the usual adultery, murder, and blackmail plots. My 11th grade year, I was homeschooled, and every morning, Mike and I would read the paper, do the crossword and word jumble, and snicker over the soaps. Totally educational. Ah, memories. Heeheehee.

Anybody else have a long-buried oddity to confess?

Not familiar with this guy, but he's funny.

"Killer whale". He's right, that is a hilarious name for an animal.

Depressed

Well, I am not one of those people who obsess about numbers on the scale. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, and how you feel is more important than how you look, anyway.

But it was still depressing to hop on a scale, on a whim, at the gym, and discover that instead of losing weight over the past few months, I've gained. I was 131 pounds in July, and now I tip the same scale at 137. My clothes don't fit any differently, so I haven't gotten fatter, but it is certainly odd.

I guess I ought to start cutting back on the M&Ms and ice cream.

Successfully accomplished:

Performance of Ave Maria (Aquilanti), Regina Coeli (Mozart), Magnificat (Bach), and several Christmas carols.

Tomorrow is Monday, and we return to work and all those other regularly scheduled items. I don't really feel ready to get back to work. I am sooooo tired, and I'm not sure why. I guess I'm just more in the mood to fool around, rather than be productive.

If I could eliminate the need to sleep and eat, my life would be better, also.

Hated

I'm no luddite. Really. I like technology, and appreciate its many contributions to my lifestyle. [This is possibly a result of having spent a significant portion of my childhood sans electricity and plumbing, but I can't be sure, since I know a lot of people who like technology who always possessed in-home running water and working light switches.] However, my love of technology is definitely unrequited. It is true. Technology hates me.

I now refuse to buy anything on the internet. Aside from the normal security concerns regarding the transmission of information such as credit card numbers and PINs, there is the simple fact that every one of the few internet transactions I've ever completed has gone wrong. Once upon a time, some years ago, I attempted to buy a textbook from Amazon. I put in my order, paid, and received e-mail confirmation that I would receive my product. Several weeks later, I received another e-mail, stating that my desired book was no longer available. So I didn't get the book, and Amazon never gave me my money back. They claimed they returned it via electronic transfer, but I never got it. Long story ensues, involving me getting married and setting up a new credit union account with my husband in the weeks between ordering the book and getting the notice that the book was no longer available. I spent so many hours communicating with their customer service and finance people, trying to clear up the situation and get either my money or the book that I had orginally been promised, that I finally realized that on a per-hour basis, it was no longer worth my time. It's only thirty-something dollars, I told myself. But now I absolutely will not buy from Amazon. DO YOU HEAR THAT, AMAZON?!? You lost a lifetime of my business due to thirty dollars and change for a book about Old Testament prophecy. For shame, Amazon! Dot com? More like DOT CON!

There is another tiresome story regarding a pen light that I ordered online as a gift for Jeff, a few years after the Amazon fiasco. I received a confirmation e-mail, as a matter of course. But the pen light never arrived. I called the customer service number in the e-mail, and while it was the right number for the right company, they claimed to have no record of my order. They never charged me for the light, though, so at least in this case, it was a wash. But that was the end of it. E-commerce is just not for me, because e-commerce hates me.

The above are just a few examples. There are many more. I am always having issues with my computer. And cel phone. And PDA. And various TVs and stereos. They respond magically to Jeff's commands, even if he just does exactly the same things I've tried to do previously. Jeff is mystified by the problem, and agrees that "Technology hates me" is probably the best and simplest explanation for the phenomenon. And that is why I am reluctant to embrace technology. It makes me sad, but I avoid it because I must. I mean, it's not like I NEED more frustration in my life.

I'm thinking about joining Holidailies. I'd have to post daily for one whole month. Quite the commitment.