the state of my (online) library

Today I completed one of my big 2011 goals!

I completed my 100th book of the year. Goodreads happened to offer a challenge that would track everything for you, which was a big help so I didn't have to count up my written list all the time.

I chose Charlotte's Web for book #100. Somehow I made it through childhood without ever reading it. It was at the top of the 100 Best Children's Books the other year, and I figured it would be an appropriate book for this special position on the list. It did not disappoint. What a wonderful book! The writing is clear and clever, and even educational (I love the vocabulary that kids can learn from reading this!), and the characters really come to life. It is so sweet and I can just imagine how enchanted a child would be reading this. If I ever have kids, I will surely read this one aloud to him or her.

Other notables from my year's reading:

I read eleven nonfiction books this year, and eight of them were first-person memoirs.

• My favorite by far was Bossypants, in audio, by Tina Fey. She is awesome but also hilarious. I want to be like her when I grow up. (I look forward to listening to Mindy Kaling's new book; I have a feeling I also want to be her when I grow up.)

• Also very interesting was The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, by David Grann. That book is about what happens when explorers stop being polite and start getting real--with plants, animals, and people that want to kill you.

I read a few grown-up literature books this year, including:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
  

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, by Stieg Larsson

• Pamie's third book, Going in Circles.

• My favorite discovery was the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde (the first of which is The Eyre Affair). Fun adventures and clever wordplay? Yes please! I've read five of the books this year; the sixth just came out this spring.
  

Most of what I read was/is young adult literature. Don't scoff; some of it is amazing! (And some of it is stupid [I have never read Twilight, I don't intend to, and its very existence makes me angry].) I've read both types this year, some for the two YA book clubs I joined. Some of the ones I liked most were:

• the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan: Greek myths come to life, fast-paced adventures for middle-grade girls and boys alike. There are five books; I can't wait to read the last one!

• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: a fun satire of modern pop culture mixed with a girl version of Lord of the Flies. Fun for any high schooler.
  

• Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales: The perfect girl becomes not-so-perfect. Excellent for teen girls feeling a lot of pressure to do everything and do it right.
  

• Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (sequel to Chains): A must-read by one of the best historical-fiction writers for young adults. Get an up close look at slavery and the Revolutionary War in the New York area.

• Al Capone Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko: You simply have to read these. Life on Alcatraz is fascinating enough, but the characters seem so real, and the plots are alternately touching and adventurous. Fantastic reads for boys and girls (and their parents!).

Other outstanding YA books that you should absolutely read no matter how old you are:

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D Schmidt
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
• Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick
• Okay for Now by Gary D Schmidt
• The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
  

I hate today

Someone linked to this post yesterday: It's Okay if You Suck at This

I woke up on a bad note today (by a loud noise on our roof--it happens every fucking morning) and then the afternoon got worse as I felt confused and frustrated, and then even more so when Excel proved too much for me. I am over it. (Not Excel, but the day.) It feels like everything started going badly and then I spun myself into a funk. And this doesn't happen at work, at least I don't recall so.

So I came home and ate cookies and faced the fact that while I need a good rant or fit (or a good workout, if I was a healthier person), I have a bunch of photos that I have to process tonight.

It is really frustrating that it seems like I'm working all the time and yet I am so fucking poor. Over. It.

things i've done so much in real life that i did them in my sleep

(in chronological order of occurrence)
1. play tetris

2. an uneven parallel bars routine

3. paint walls

4. teach
4a. write lesson plans
4b. discipline students

How about you?

oh snap

Where did the time go?!

I keep remembering that it's JULY now, for crying out loud, and just feeling like that's insane. I guess since I don't have school as a frame of time or day reference, everything is just blurring together.

Speaking of school, since I wrote that long rambling post about teaching dreams, I haven't had any. Maybe I just needed to get it all out of my head in some other medium?

I baked a cake this weekend, and made buttercream frosting.

I'm currently reading my 65th book of the year.

It is really hot outside. I am so, so grateful to have a working air-conditioner.

This week I'm starting a new part-time gig as a baby photographer. Not so much for the pay, but for the experience. Today I did a training thing and I start for real on Friday.

A Life List

At the end of AmeriCorps, the big push was to think about "Life After NCCC." We were encouraged to think about what kind of life we wanted, what kind of jobs we were interested in, what paths we might take. I learned about the book The Back Door Guide to Short-Term Adventures, which unfortunately I never used (maybe someday I will). It felt like anything was possible, which was exciting as well as unnerving and scary. I was inspired to make a list--a life list, a list of things to do, to accomplish, to work towards, to wish for.

Here is the list all typed out and the 'verdict' on what I've done in the past eight years.

1. TRAVEL (in progress, but satisfactory so far!)

2. Mentor

3. Be an actor

4. Burn CDs

5. Get a master’s degree

6. Pay off my car

7. Dance! (I just saw Burlesque; it made me want to take dance classes. Too bad they're expensive.)

8. Collect maps

9. Write songs

10. Learn/study photography

11. Learn Latin (hahaha)

12. Design clothes

13. Work in film

14. Write a stage production (Oh! I totally did this for my students last year! Does that count?)

15. Buy a print/scan/copy/fax flatbed unit (I bought a scanner after AmeriCorps and a printer when I moved to NYC, but I've never had the thrill of an all-in-one unit.)

16. Learn Italian

17. Buy a new car

18. Own a zoom APS camera (Dated list :D)

19. Volunteer more

20. Find a job I love that lets me live well and travel (Teaching actually worked for the last two parts)

21. Work at a camp

22. Always learn new skills

23. Join a choir

24. Be an NCCC team leader in CA or MD (I applied but never heard back. It was the same time I applied to NYCTF, and after I'd applied to both I felt over NYC and was really excited about TL. Oh well.)

25. Always vote (I've always voted in the presidential elections, but this was my first midterm voting)

26. Donate blood (Total fail. Occasionally there's a trailer on a busy road near me, but I always see it when I'm either on my way somewhere or have time but haven't eaten anything. I always vow to come back and actually do it. But in the eight years since making this I have never donated. I will someday, though!)

27. Play ultimate a lot

28. Visit Alaska

29. Take a bike road trip

30. Get a tattoo (eeesh)

31. Make a movie (Does a stopmotion count?)

32. Visit Africa

33. Own TiVo

34. Be a writer

35. Learn auto maintenance

36. Live in Greece

37. Buy a diamond ring (Note "buy" not "get from a man"; I wanted to get one for myself just because.)

38. Start my own charity

39. Take a cross-country road trip

40. Learn calculus (hahaha)

41. Hike around Europe

42. Live simply

43. Grow roses and herbs

44. Never be complacent

45. Work for a non-profit (Teaching should really count for this...)

46. Lead a Girl Scout troop

47. Support causes I believe in

48. Take voice lessons

49. Buy a new computer

50. Write my life story

51. Buy books!

52. Open my own business

53. Learn HTML

54. Relearn piano

55. Sing on a published CD

56. Tour nation as a speaker

57. Publish a book

58. Live in Los Angeles (Good lord why?)

59. Live in New York City

60. Buy a big new stereo

61. Be a comedian

62. Find a place of my own

63. Study math, music, drama, art history, accounting, writing, poetry, language, drawing

64. Make new friends and visit old ones

65. Be strong

66. Join a softball league

67. Read 50+ books a year

68. Make a scrapbook with homemade paper

69. Hike at least a third of the Appalachian Trail (My knees wince at the mere thought.)

70. Go bungee-jumping (I've been ziplining twice! Much more compatible with my discomfort at freefalling.)

71. Work abroad

72. See one Broadway show a year

73. Write to my congresspeople

74. Work at a national park/reserve

75. Expand personal library of books, CDs, DVDs, videos

76. Find independence!

77. Own DVD/VHS combo

78. Work in community health/public health

79. Endorse a charity—libraries, environment

80. Live in Paris

81. Play the cello again

82. Teach (Wow.)

83. Buy a digital camera (Remember that in 2002, almost no one had digital cameras and they were super expensive.) (Done one, two, three, four, FIVE times. Holy cow.)

2010 Goals Update

1. Go to the dentist twice.
I forgot to sign up in time for dental last year, so I didn't have insurance til September (and Husband added me to his insurance). The other day I finally printed a list of dentists in our neighborhood, so I'm sure I'll get in at least one visit this year, which is a step in the right direction...

2. Buy at least one new lens.
Done! Got the 85mm f/1.8 (used). I also want to get my Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 fixed. I really do need another, wider lens--the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 would be a great one. Next year, I hope.

3. Save up for a D300.
Done! I made my goal in the summer and bought the camera and a lens in early August. I love it.

4. Travel to a new country.
Done! We went to Costa Rica in the spring and had a great time. Oh, and we got engaged. :) We are now making plans for another big trip next spring too!

5. Do a paid photo shoot.
Done! I shot a portrait session in August.

6. Write on blog at least once a week.
Total fail. But this project is an attempt to get over that failure and get back into the habit.

7. Update photo blog at least once a month.
Done so far! I will actually share the link here soon.

8. Exercise at least once a week, at home or at the gym.
Well, I went weeks at a time without working out during the school year. I'm lazy and also I was pretty exhausted.

9. Get a new job. (Not teaching.)
Done! At least temporarily and part-time. Which counts because, as I mentioned the other day, I'm over the hurdle of finding that first job out of teaching. Things are starting to pick up in my main job, which is exciting! I hope I do well.

10. Attend 3 Meetups (for any group).
Not done at all. I signed up for several but either couldn't go, couldn't afford it, or just wasn't interested. But the point was to be more social and meet new people, which I'm partly doing successfully.

11. Shoot a wedding (as first or second shooter).
Done! Second shot a wedding in July! Really want to do lots more!

12. Take a class (photography, Spanish, etc).
Done! I took a street photography class and then a portrait photography class through the Education Alliance.

13. Visit my Grandma.
Done! We visited her and some other family in the Chicago area, after the wedding.

14. Attend graduations.
Done! I had a great time that weekend, celebrating with my younger siblings and catching up with family.

15. Write a real letter at least once a month.
Total fail. I think I wrote one letter to my Grandma in February.

16. Decorate bedroom.
Done! We got a new mattress and bed frame, and I finally got my lovely van Gogh poster (that sat in its holder for three years) in a (cheapy Ikea) frame. We also got all new bedding. We still want to paint.

17. Donate clothes/books once per season.
Semi-successful. Donated in January and this past weekend. I had a big bag of clothes that were too big or that I wasn't wearing, a bag of shoes, plus our two old computers and my old printer!

18. Buy a new computer.
Done! Except even better, a friend gave me an extra one for free. This computer pretty much changed my life! It is SO fast. My old one was over four years old and didn't have much memory. Now I can have internet, itunes, lightroom, photoshop, whatever else all open at the same time and everything still works normally!

19. Knit or crochet a garment.
Hmm. I made a cowl, as well as several scarves, hats, dishcloths. Those don't really count as 'garments' though. I still want to make a vest or skirt, so this is a no. However, I'll give myself a 'pass' if I get through my holiday craft list. Then next year I'll work on a real garment.

20. Some kind of financial goal.
Yeah, no way. I contributed to my Roth IRA every month while I was working, but obviously since the summer I've been trying not to spend or put away money.

21. More freelance photography.
Done! I've done three full portrait sessions! I really want to do more. If you live in the NYC area, I'd love to shoot you (with my camera!)!

22. Do not leave any dishes out or in the sink; wash everything before going to bed.
I have definitely missed stretches out of laziness. :) But I try to be good!

23. See friends once a month.
I added this one later because as noted above, I wanted to be more social. This has been indeed successful! Starting in late spring I met a couple new friends through a couple other friends and I see them sometimes once a week. It's a lot of fun to have people to hang out with. :) We're looking forward to the Thanksgiving gathering this year! And though Ms. M won't be with us in person this time, we plan to see her online. :)

So overall, wow, it's been a successful year! I am happy that so many things have gone well, even through a tough teaching year and crazy transition out of teaching. Not to mention getting engaged and married! I have a lot to celebrate about the past eleven months. This is hard to remember sometimes, with the teaching craziness and then unemployment stress.

There are a number of goals that I will extend or re-do for next year. I'm also working on a "life list," which is another post I'm planning for the month. But I do like having a sort of guide for the things I want to work on--I definitely feel more inspired to work toward them.

My To-Do List This Weekend

1. Sleep.
2. Crochet.
3. Read (a new YA series!).
4. Play new Katamari game.
5. Have brunch with friends I haven't seen for a month.
6. Watch movies.
7. Sleep.
8. Finish the two, er three blog posts I've started.

more link and list love

Mrs Bees at Full of Bees has a great post up about a ticket reward system that I really like. She also posted a list of the top YA books according to the ALA. Now, I love me some YA, because, err, it's my job, right? Yeah, that's it. :) Anyway, so here is The Ultimate Young Adult Bookshelf.

I will bold the ones I have read. A lot I haven't heard of before, so I plan to keep an eye out for them!

Books
Acceleration by Graham McNamee
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Beauty by Robin McKinley (I found it when I was 12 or 13, reread it recently and still loved it about the same)
Black and White by Paul Volponi
Blizzard! The Storm that Changed America by Jim Murphy
Bone series by Jeff Smith
The Book Thief by Mark Zusak
Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Chosen by Chaim Potok (a-maz-ing, moving book.)
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Fruits Basket series by Natsuki Takaya
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (been meaning to read this series)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Guinness Book of World Records
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan (Does seeing the movie count? :D)
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (I've read a bunch of her other stuff and really liked it.)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (I just finished this today. Really good. Very emotional.)
Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff
My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (classic, obviously)
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar
Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (nope nope nope, not gonna read it!)
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block

Magazines
Game Pro
Seventeen
Rolling Stone
Shonen Jump (I always used to have kids order that from the book order!)
Mad (do they really still make that magazine??)

Audiobooks
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Recorded Books) (I just read this last week and LOVED it.)
Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer (Listen and Live)
The Killer’s Cousin by Nancy Werlin (Brilliance)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Caedmon)
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett (HarperAudio)


Bonus lists! "The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18." Check out each year's list! They all sound really interesting.

Positively Peppy

I finally made some companions to the Mildly Melancholy playlist. I'll save Downright Depressing until the depths of December, shall I? :)

Most recently I made this playlist, and I am quite proud of it. I think it will most certainly make you happy too, so enjoy. :)

Build Me Up Buttercup--Temptations
Kodachrome--Paul Simon
Footloose--Kenny Loggins
Material Girl--Madonna
Black Cat--Janet Jackson
Pop! Goes My Heart--Hugh Grant
Fidelity--Regina Spektor
Ievan Polka--Loituma
Objection (Tango)--Shakira
Ain't No Other Man--Christina Aguilera
Dosvedanya Mio Bombino--Pink Martini
Livin' on the Edge--Aerosmith
Dirty Pop--Nsync
Miss Independent--Kelly Clarkson
My Name is Not Susan--Whitney Houston
Tymps (the Sick in the Head song)--Fiona Apple
Sexyback--Justin Timberlake

Things I've Noticed

A young man wearing a cupcake hat. Not decorated with cupcakes, the hat *was* a cupcake. It was actually kind of awesome.

A car with a tiny electronic readerboard underneath the rear license plate. Way too distracting, although it would be a convenient way to tell people, "Get off my ass!"

When I leave a message for parents of my students, apparently they don't take the minute to listen to the damn message and instead call back, saying, "Yes?" when I answer. Gah!

My students don't care much for reading, or even logic. Today I read this on a historical worksheet: in response to who was the leader of the American army? "The English." GAH!!

I loathe a lot of CBS shows and most sitcoms as well. So it's a little begrudging and nerdy of me to admit that The Big Bang Theory is actually really funny. I literally laughed out loud three or four times.

Our landlord is an asshole. Le sigh.

No one noticed my glasses. I've worn the same pair for over three years and a few weeks ago, I noticed that one of the lenses was scratched. So I started wearing my old pair, which have a similar shape but are dark burgundy instead of light, clearish brown. Pretty noticeable, if you ask me. No colleagues, no flickrpeople, no one noticed. Well, ONE student asked me about it. Last Saturday I picked up my newer pair, with freshly replaced lenses. Nobody noticed that change either. Harrumph.

tech misc

At the travel expo this spring, I signed up for a free subscription of Plenty Magazine, dedicated to the environment and green living. It includes tips, gifts, and technology updates. In the most recent issue, I read about some free online video games where you learn about endangered species and natural life, by becoming a threatened fish or a wolf in Yellowstone. Also, from one of their 'infographics,' I learned that under the first Bush presidency, 234 animals were added to the Endangered Species list; Clinton's added 512; our 'esteemed' current administration has added a mere 59. In another issue, I was happily surprised to read about CO2 'vacuums' being used by a handful of solid waste facilities.


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The current Olde Tyme edition of the Onion cracks me the hell up. Some example headlines:

• "M. Webster's New "Dictionary" Shall Burden Us With A TYRANNY of Words.
• "...If is, of Corse, Plain to all Rationnel Foulk that need'd we an Ary for our Diction, the LORD GODD HIM SELF would have design'd us One."
• "Opera Lyrics Blamed In Recent Spate of Regicides."
• "WILL NEW YORK SOMEDAY BE TOO CROWDED FOR FARMING?"
• a last-page 'announcement' referencing Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
• "The Good-Ship Tea Ship has returned from Great-Britain with MORE TEA, thus completing her 47th voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, each time departing with No Tea and porting with Tea Aplenty, tho' We needn't more Tea and are all ready burdened with an Amount of GOD-forsaken Tea so great it is nigh Undrinkable."
• [Please don't sue me, Onion. I love you, but you don't have links to these funny bits on your site.]

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Speaking of "nigh undrinkable," some of the candidates are so ridiculous that I am seriously questioning the sanity of the American public. Somebody smarter than I linked to this New Yorker article that outlines many important facts about the Presidency, although in parts is definitely partial to one candidate. Still a must-read. (Even though, er, I haven't finished it yet. Google is indeed making us Stoopid.)

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I'm using Google Reader, because who am I to avoid us all further becoming Google's bitch? It was easy to set up. You just click on Reader at the menu across the top of the page (from gmail). On the lower left, you see "Add Subscription." Simply cut and paste a blog link and voila, you are subscribed! Ms. M clued me in to folders, so you can categorize your chosen reading material (I have blogs, teacher blogs, NYC teacher blogs, funny, newsy). The list shows all the blog names and highlights a name with new posts. If you're me, those new posts will pile up faster than cars on any New York freeway at any time of day, and you will be quickly overwhelmed. I naively subscribed to mammoth-posters like gothamist, seattlest and jezebel, which pushed the new posts up to nearly 1,000. So with a moment of guilt, I unsubscribed from each of those, to make my life easier, not because I don't care about the news, cultural happenings, or strange pictures of celebrities.

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I bought a Photoshop book today. Oh, the overwhelming choices! Oh, the over-inflated cost! I find it just a leeetle ironic that so many books are published about a computer processing program--but it does make sense. Some things really do need more than a soundbite or a five-minute video on youtube. (Don't think I haven't looked at those either, though.) And most of us will always have real books around--turning pages, flipping between chapters, the unique smell, being able to hold the entire thing in your hands--ebooks hold zero appeal for the many (even those as-yet unidentified) bibliophiles out there.

*

I am so, so sad to report that not only did I NOT find any Fiesta Nacho Cheese (spicy cheese in a can!) at Safeway during my blink-and-you'll-miss-it trip home last weekend, there were no Frosted Joe's O's to be found at the Brooklyn Trader Joe's this morning! I will freely admit to being just a little devastated. (Don't tell.)

*

And in other, strange, TMI news, my BF finally 'gave birth' to an Alien Forehead Baby. Aw.

This week:

I've only slept one full night, and that was because I popped a pill.

A girl IMed me and told me I was really cool because I was the only teacher with an AIM.

I had two good writing classes.

The kids made me crack up talking about dog farts; I covered my face and shook with silent laughter.

A kid had an accident in my room (the first time in my career).

I cried.

I was on the verge of tears most days.

I felt hopeless.

I mapped out rough SS plans for two weeks.

We got two days behind our already-way-behind curriculum pacing.

I taught the kids a memory aid poem thingy, and some of them really seemed to like it.

I went home by or before 6.00 most, if not all, days this week.

Things I Love

1. These guys. Drool.

2. Jezebel, now, obviously.

3. When a song comes on my iPod with a strong sassy beat that matches my walking tempo, and I can strut along to it. Recently it was The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson. I once actually made a mix CD of songs like this. Good times.

4. Receiving basic supplies from my school instead of buying them. SWEET!!!

5. The thought of having a textbook (hello lesson plans, activities, and materials!) and explicit curriculum for one of the subjects I'm teaching. DOUBLE SWEET!

6. My blue walls. I shall miss them. :(

7. Overseas traveling. It's been too long. With the higher salary, and once I'm more sane, I can actually afford to break out the old passport again!

I made a note this week to Stay Positive

Therefore, I shall not complain about the following:

--My sensitive nose equates perfume with headache.

--Smoke (whether fresh or stale on a person) also equals instant headache.

--There were too many bad smells this week, which meant I spent much of it with an unhappy head.

--I probably didn't eat enough real food this week. :(

--A lot of the training sessions devolved into competitions and bragging.

--I'm still anxious and overwhelmed about being unprepared for the school year, despite these weeks of training.

--My knees have completely rebelled on me. For the last two days, they've been swollen, achy and weak. Standing and walking are not happy times here. (Very slight improvement since yesterday, though).


(Hi, this is the BF hijacking this blog post. J is awesome and shouldn't complain about anything except the fact that everyone else is so much less awesome by comparison.)

I'm leaving that in because it is just too cute. I'm a lucky one. :)

I started this post in my head last week but only began the post this morning. Now that it's almost evening, I actually have some positive things to add!! Yay!

--It is fun watching the Olympics! Yesterday I found myself sucked into the women's indoor volleyball game. It was so action-packed and the teams were so high-energy--they hugged and high-fived after every point. Later the beach volleyball came on and what a contrast--only two people on the court, wearing bikinis! I realized that they must have to wear pretty tight suits to make sure everything stays in place. Skidding around in sand, and no knee pads--those chickies are tough! I watched the swimming yesterday too, and this morning. V. excited to go watch the gymnastics that was on last night, too.

--OMG, WE FOUND AN APARTMENT TODAY! More specifically, we GOT an apartment today (we'd found several good ones in the last couple months but hadn't actually gotten one). I'd been really stressed about it, with the timing and location stuff. This place is a nice size, on a quiet block, near my new school and several trains. So as of September first, we will be a Brooklyn couple! Exciting!

I feel old.

The other day we happened upon a rerun of the gymnastics Olympics trials. I recognized not a single competitor, but I did recognize one girl's coach/dad as a famous Soviet (male) gymnast from the 80s and 90s. Then someone's score came up and it was 15 something! Fifteen! What the hell? Why do they have to change everything? What was wrong with the scoring system that's been in place for the last fifty years?! You don't suddenly see baseball making home runs worth two points or something crazy! Argh.

I watched a shitload of stand up on Comedy Central from the weekend. I recognized one guy's name, and though he didn't really look familiar I looked him up. Sure enough, he went to the same high school I did, and I'm pretty sure he was the long-haired silent kid who was after me on the school bus route. Crazy.

This afternoon I just noticed another white hair---IN MY EYEBROWS.

Oy.

sweet!

I bought some brand new books at the local 99cent store! Not crappy generic books either--the two sequels of The City of Ember!

I worked out again today--I'm on a hot streak of working out every other day and I feel great. If I were not so lazy I'd do even more.

I have two interviews this week--think happy employable thoughts for me. :)

SEVEN DAYS OF SCHOOL.

Hey, Guess What?

1. My admin were great today! The dean was more than glad to take out the girl who threw a pencil that hit another girl in the face, and he'd rounded up two students known for cutting. The AP came in to tell me that a parent had come in to see me, and she briefed me on the parent's concern and then asked when I could meet with her (as opposed to trying to pull me out of class right then and/or while teaching). I really appreciated those things--if those kind of helpful and supportive actions happened every day, our building would be a much better, more secure, more productive and enjoyable place to be. (See? I'm more that willing to praise and celebrate administration. I'm not only full of hate and venom. :D)

2. I forgot a bunch more stuff this morning. First, I discovered the potato that I'd begun heating up two nights before. Then I forgot to brush my teeth (gross, I know). And I forgot my breakfast bar.

3. The weather this morning (around 7.30) was absolutely perfect. And last night the humidity became much less oppressive, so it was much more comfortable to be able to sleep. The fans cooled the air a little, although they didn't actually make the air cool.

4. I worked out! For the first time in either two or three weeks!

5. Last night, after that post, I whipped up a random nonteaching cover letter and applied to a completely random job. I felt so rash and daring; it was exhilarating. (Seriously, how lame am I?)

6. Some of my favorite kids from two years ago came around to get yearbooks signed. Love!

7. All afternoon I kept my air-conditioner running and my lights off. The kids didn't seem to mind at all. One kid, who's very sweet, but lacking in self-control, remarked, "Miss, we're much calmer with the lights off!" I agreed. He said, "We should keep them off all the time!" I said, "Good idea."

8. TWO WEEKS TIL FREEDOM!!

random listy

1. Who would have ever thought that in one night, in the same hour even!, on different networks, there would be TWO mentions of Schrodinger's cat on television? Crazy!

2. The season finale of Bones totally blew my mind. I love that show.

3. It would not be possible for me to care less about American Idol and either David. Nevertheless, I'll probably watch the finales, my finger poised on the fast-forward button.

4. We were very sad when our favorite diner closed. The Cheyenne Diner was an old-fashioned place, right across the street from B&H. It was kicked out by their owners, who also run the Skylight Diner. A couple weeks ago, though we felt like traitors, we tried them out. It was actually very good. The Belgian waffle was just as delicious as the Cheyenne's (the main reason I loved it--hands down the best waffles I've had in New York), and the service was very fast. The waitress didn't even mind when we lingered on Sunday morning to work on the Onion crossword puzzle.

5. Last Friday night we had an AWESOME dinner at Florencia 13 in the Village. Oh man, it was perfect! Many of you know my eating quirks, so you probably understand that I rarely get to have a full meal at a restaurant. But not here! It began with a deliciously sweet and tart black cherry mojito, then progressed to roasted corn on the cob (skewered on sticks! corncob kabobs!). The caesar salad was perfect too--creamy, no-anchovy dressing, heavily parmesaned, garnished with tortilla strips. MMM. For dessert, there was a brownie that seemed blah, but somehow turned excellent when combined with the ice cream.

6. After that perfect, delicious dinner, we participated in an Improv Everywhere mission! The email instructed us to show up at 9pm with cameras and flashes. Turns out the mission was to line us all up across the entire bridge and do a wave of flashes from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back. What a neat idea! So the big crowd trudged to and over the bridge, in the cold, windy rain. Unfortunately, once we were all in our line, nothing happened for like thirty or forty minutes. Just standing around, trying to huddle under feeble umbrellas and stay warm. My camera (I had both but kept the new DSLR in my backpack) was covered in rain--but still performed valiantly!

7. For some reason, on Monday morning I was motivated to make up a long list of things to do. I am proud to say that I have gotten many of them crossed off the list (which, as I hope you know, is very gratifying): take out trash, clean bathroom, vacuuming, dishes, countertops, post office, eyebrows, groceries, phone calls, amazon order. There are plenty of items left on the list: take out recycling, do laundry, work out, read my photography books, write some notecards. But I am proud of myself for getting a lot done in the last two days. Now I shall attack more of the data inputting I'm a little behind on, whose deadline is fast approaching.

8. When working on outlining with my classes today, I listed my hobbies as skydiving, globetrotting, paper airplanes, playing cello, and making nachos. Then, making a list of goals, I asked them to add one for me.
"Having kids?"
"Nah, everyone does that! I'm not just anyone. something unique!"
"Be in the military!"
"Wasn't I already in the military?" with a raised eyebrow and grin.
"Win the lottery!" "Be a bookwriter!"
"Oh man, I could write a whole book just about this class...."

9. It's only Tuesday and I'm tired.

What does it say about me that...

--While reading this fun, grammar-related post(check out the graph!), followed a link to this article(word nerdy stuff), I saved it in my favorites, under "Fun Reading"?





--When Jon Stewart did his opening bit and then cried out, "The writers are back!" and the audience burst into thunderous applause, I actually teared up?



--When I tried to play Wednesday's episode of American Idol but it was stupid Big Brother instead, I was rather upset?



--Last night when I should have worked on cleaning and tidying, and gone to bed at a decent hour, I stayed up til 12.30 watching tv and doing nothing?

Because I'm not a "writer"

Things I did not like about this week:

--The stupid test

--The administration doing many, many stupid and annoying things

--My knee twinging more than I'd like

--I think I've had a headache every day this week

--I still haven't read my photography books

--Or signed up for the photography course I want to take


Things I did like about this week:

--I made a cake! From a box, and I had to buy eggs for the very first time ever, but still, it's the only time I've ever baked or cooked anything for real. And oh, it is tasty.

--My kids got through the test okay

--My Gray Bunnies liking the breathing/stretching exercises I led them in before the test each day

--The test is over!!

--I've gotten lots done with the book room (not in the book room; rather, getting things in and out)

--The kids have been very eager and helpful with the book room (yay, nice kids!)

--I think one of my department colleagues is a kindred spirit, which is a relief considering I don't much respect the rest of them

--My Stupid Toe is now officially a Normal Toe! No Pain! Whee!

--Which has helped me be able to work out FOUR times this week! (which sadly is leading to the knee twinging, but this list is about happy! four! woo!)

--Feeling proud that I'm getting into a workout routine (ie, I was looking forward to exercise all afternoon on Tuesday!) (this is someting I've been working on for the entire four years of NY living, so wish me luck and endurance and a happy knee)

--The kids are still so excited about the National Geographics, and they are even excited about the research brochure project we're doing based on the magazines

--I have my whole next week and a half planned out

--My scarf is coming along really well--exactly 32 inches right now!

--The week is now over!!

--We get an extra day of rest! Hallelujah!