You Take a Piece of Meat with You

When I was seven, my sister and I argued in the car over the 1985 song "Every Time You Go Away." She claimed Paul Young was singing "Every time you go away, you take a piece of me with you." I was appalled, unable to conceive of why my sister viewed the singer's girlfriend as a cannibal who enjoyed walking away with a piece of his flesh every time the two parted ways. I told her it was clear that what Young was actually singing was "Every time you go away, you take a piece of meat with you." Because, you know, every one likes a snack for the road.

Anyway, we argued our points, both convinced that we were right, but with no way to prove it. The internet had yet to exist. 

Throughout the years, this occurred many times with many songs. And my sister and I weren't the only ones confusing lyrics. Even though it wasn't our generation of music, my entire graduating class used to sing Creedence Clearwater's song 'Bad Moon Rising' as:

Don't go around tonight 

Well, it's bound to take your life 

There's a bathroom on the right

Such a polite song, right? To stop in the middle of the lyrics to give listeners directions to the bathroom.

But it wasn't merely songs we debated about. It was any random topic under the sun. And the conclusion was always the same: There was no conclusion. Unless we were willing to go to the library to research answers to our questions (some of them nearly impossible to research, such as song lyrics or pop culture), we would never know--until we were adults--who was right and who was wrong.

It got me thinking: I miss those days. I miss the days where people engaged in lively debates without being able to immediately end the discussion with a quick fact-check on Google. I guess it's a funny thing to miss, but there's something I treasure about debating a pointless or silly topic for hours, knowing I'll never truly know who is right and who is wrong. As a kid, that suspension of an answer stretched a debate out for days, weeks, and sometimes (as was the case with the meat song), years. And then, ten years later when you finally have the solution to the riddle and you can put the argument to rest, it's that much more satisfying.

Having answers right at your fingertips with no waiting, wondering, or work (the old www) has taken away something special.

Chasing Echoes Trailer

Last week I asked Trinity, "What can I bribe you with to get you to make a trailer for Chasing Echoes?"

She immediately replied, "Sushi."

The girl is 15 years old, and she wants sushi. Whatever happened to pizza with extra cheese?

Anyway, I agreed to her terms, and here is the sweet little 90 second trailer Trinity created (be sure your volume is up):

On a related note, sushi ended up costing me $58, so I probably should have pushed for that pizza.

Summer Catch-Up

Look, I'm writing a post you guys. It's a post!

I went through a massive blog drought over summer. I can't explain why, since summer should be when I finally feel the freedom to write. But right from the onset I knew I didn't want to even look at my blog.

There's so much to talk about from this summer...it would make for a very long and boring post (and still might). So I'm just going to abbreviate the main things that happened:

• Grandma's Ashes: I flew to Cushing, Oklahoma to deliver my grandmother's ashes to her hometown. I made the trip with my half-sister Sarah. We stayed in a lovely hotel suite, swam at an awesome pool, enjoyed some nice dinners, had a little girl-time at the local bars, and met a lot of really cool people. Very memorably experience.
• My Niece Graduated! I guess this doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was for me. Not only am I close to my niece Cassidi, but she's the first of my and Shannon's kids to graduate. It makes me feel weepy--to think she's all grown up now, and sort of marks a new era. 
• Clint's Knee Surgery: Clint had knee surgery the first week of July and is out of work until October. The first week he couldn't walk and I learned what it feels like to do everything.
• Jamboree Days: I ran a Chasing Echoes booth in Crestline selling my books and some other related stuff (see here). It was fun! The only caveat was I was supposed to do the booth for two days, but I only lasted for one day before getting totally wiped out. In my defense, I was staying at my sister's house that weekend and her entire household (including my kids) were still up running around at 1:30 a.m., on a night that I was supposed to get up at 6:30 in the morning. Plus it was the 4th of July, so we were up watching fireworks and celebrating. And I had a crippled hubby who couldn't help me with the heavy-lifting.
• Comic-Con: Comic-Con was immensely fun--even better than last year (even with Clint on crutches--which he turned into assault rifles, by the way).
• Camping: This almost didn't happen due to Clint's parent's RV breaking down. But after spending over twelve hours fixing it, we ditched our original plans of camping in Oregon and, instead, found a beautiful campground outside of Lake Tahoe called "Snowflower." I could do an entire post just on that. It was gorgeous.
• Monopoly Tournament: Elijah participated in the Juniors Monopoly Tournament on the world's largest Monopoly board in San Jose. He didn't win, but the experience was awesome! We all stayed at the Hilton. Clint's parents were trapped in their room the morning of the tourney when their deadlock broke. Maintenance couldn't get them out, so they were forced to climb out the window onto the roof, down an emergency escape, and through a service door to get back to the lobby. I wish I was making this up.
• Dog Beach: I went to a dog beach for the first time with Shannon, Jeremy, my parents, and all the kids. A dog beach is just like a regular beach...with dogs.
• Ringworm: My whole family (except for Elijah) came home from camping with ringworm. I still have scars. 
• Writing: I didn't get a lick of writing done.
• Art: I drew with charcoal for the first time! And I dabbled with oil pastels too. I LOVE charcoal. My goodness where has this been my whole life? Here are my first two drawings: 

I have a ton of other pictures from summer but I'm too lazy to find/organize them.

That's about it. Now I'm back to work. We're in week 4, actually. It already feels like it's going so fast. And of course I've already slipped up in the classroom. Last week I told the class "In today's society you just don't see balls anymore." Of course we were talking about the setting for Cinderella, but it didn't matter--the class was howling (7th graders. *sigh*). Today I was tempted to play AC/DC's Big Balls to the class, since, like me, he's talking about parties and dances (ha!), but I thought that might be a little over the top.

Okay, a real song now. You've heard it before...it's pretty popular. When I focus too hard on the lyrics, it makes me sob like a baby.

Title...? Oh I Don't Know

Oh MY GOSH I am going to force myself to write a post RIGHT NOW because my lack of blogging this month is downright RIDICULOUS (don't you love using caps to make yourself sound like an over dramatic lunatic?).

Last week I had to work four sixteen hour shifts in a row due to extracurricular activities--hence my lazy blogging. Some of them were fun (like taking the Rattler Readers to the movies to see "Divergent"), and some of them were grueling (like spending three hours creating a picture-video-presentation-thing). I think the only thing that pulled me through this week was Trinity, who helped me put together my picture presentation, and Clint, who took two days off of work and bent over backwards to get me through the end of the week. On Thursday night, we had "Kiwanis One Night," which is where my club (Builders) gets together with Kiwanis to eat dinner, play games, and do some kind of service project. Usually we make blankets for homeless shelters, but this year we put together care packages. It was fun and well-organized, but I missed the blankets. Something about making cuddly stuff for kids--you can't beat that. Anyway, at the end of the evening, the president of Kiwanis called me up and gave me an award for my "service and dedication to Builders Club." She also gave me a $100 Visa Gift Card. I was so surprised and touched, but I felt (and still feel) a bit awkward too, because...well...I plan to quit running the club next year, and all of this is making it that much harder for me to tell them.

In other work-related news, our principal is leaving us (*sniffle*) and we have a new principal coming in for next year. Because I run our staff newsletter, I was able to sneak out of class to interview him on Friday. The interview was awesome--a lot of laughter and boisterous fun. But check this out:

The dude is HUGE. I'm average-heighted, and he towers over me. He used to be an MMA fighter, which sadly he doesn't want to share with students (I think it would be great for classroom management).

Oh, for the record, us teachers don't generally wear oversized paint-splattered overalls to school. It's just that every now and then us tenured teachers get lazy and become total slob dogs. Plus it was laundry day.

Okay, I'm totally kidding. Friday was our "Country Jamboree," and we were dressing the part (that explanation seems so boring now...I liked being a slob dog better).

We signed a contract for our pool! It's going to be a 16x30 ft. free-form (wavy-ish, lagoon-shaped) pool, with a six-man spa set above the pool and a simple waterfall feature. We're also adding a baja shelf (this slightly submerged island type area) for small kids to play. We're set to break ground on May 19th, and estimated date of completion is June 16. I am too excited for words. I'll take lots of pics.

This song came on a Pandora '90s' station that Clint downloaded the other day, and I can NOT get it out of my head. Shan says I shouldn't post songs because it might be construed as me reaching out to people. To her I say, yes, I see your point. I AM reaching out. I hope this song (despite it's really crappy graphics) speaks to all fifty-some of my secret lovers. Alejandro, this includes you.

That's about all I've got steam to write. Time to stuff my nose back into "Ruby Red"--my latest mindless YA read--which of course has to do with time travel because, as usual, I'm obsessed with time.

Sad is Happy for Deep People

So...I love this weird little song.

The lyrics refer to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It's one of my favorite kinds of songs--the kind where the upbeat music contradicts the serious subject matter. It's the language arts lover in me...she thrives on oxymorons and juxtapositions and irony. In this case, you have your protagonist in the song (do songs have protagonists?) trying to find some inner-optimism in the midst of an unfathomable calamity. Even when he's singing about the doom-ridden gray clouds rolling in, he does so with almost a cheery demeanor.

But I think I like the song even more because of a Doctor Who episode I watched awhile back called the "Fires of Pompeii."

In the episode, the doctor and his companion, Donna, travel back in time to Rome the day before Mount Vesuvius erupts. Here the doctor faces a huge moral dilemma. The eruption of the volcano is considered a fixed point in time, thus, he can not alter the course of history by warning or evacuating the citizens of Pompeii. But while there, he and Donna bond with a specific family--heightening their dilemma.

The family awaiting their impending doom

The Doctor agonizing over this dilemma

In the end (spoilers ahead) the doctor, in the spirit of cold logic, decides to leave the family behind to die. Donna pleads with him, and at the last possible second he saves the family and drops them off on the outskirts of the town to watch their city burn. I loved the underlying theme...the idea that some things can never be changed, but once in awhile being human means breaking the rules. It's like a friend of mine once said...sometimes you just want to look up into the sky and say, "Hey, it's not always easy down here in human land."

It's interesting because there are so many parallelisms between the song Pompeii and the episode "Fires of Pompeii," you would swear that the song was written for this episode, even though the two were released five years apart. Still, every time I hear this song now, I see that family standing up on the hillside, watching fire and ash rain down upon their beloved town. I see them closing their eyes, imagining that "nothing's changed at all...."

I guess that seems depressing, but it's not. I can explain this through a brilliant quote I heard several months ago. Okay, I have to admit that this one also comes from Doctor Who. I can't help it--for such a silly, un-logical show, it has a ton of great observations about life. Anyway, in the episode "Blink" (one of my favorites), a young woman, Sally Sparrow, is asked by her best friend why she is so attracted to a yard full of crumbled, weeping angel statues:

It's happy for deep people. I get this. It's not that emotionally-charged books or gut-wrenching music appeals to some inner-sad person in me--"happy" is actually my default personality. I think (as I've mentioned in the past) it's because the writer/artist in me likes to explore the highs and lows of the human emotional spectrum.

The song below, for example, is one of the most beautiful  "happy for deep people" songs I've heard in the recent months (you can breathe a sigh of relief that this one isn't Whovian). When I listen to it, it doesn't make me feel sad at all. It just moves me and scratches some little emotional itch.

Oh, one more thing I left out about the Fires of Pompeii episode....

Yes, that is indeed the Doctor fighting off lava monsters with a bad ass...squirt gun. Hey, I never claimed it was a DEEP episode.

Staring at the Ceiling

I think I must post this on my blog every year...this is my all time favorite not-really-a-Christmas-song Christmas song:

Maybe by the time I post it next year, there will actually be a decent lyrics video to go along with it.  Everything I found was mushy and full of fireplaces and hearts.

I can't make up my mind about this next song.  His voice has an interesting quality and definitely isn't what you'd call 'manly.'  But the song has been sticking with me since the very first time I heard it, so I think I must love it.  It's not a Christmas song at all, but he does mention snow, so close enough.

There's quite a few parallelisms between the two songs, actually.  They both mention dimly burning lights and empty glasses.*

*(The rest of this post has been deleted because...well, it was just me lamenting)

Settling In

It's such a pretty night, and I'm doing nothing but listening to beautiful music.  My manuscript went stagnant this week after my blog went MIA.  It occurred to me that it's harder for me to write without my word meter.  Such a stupid little thing, but without being able to see myself progressing, I get discouraged before I even begin.  I'm like a little kid--I need that affirmation.  Now my little ticker is back and I should be able to get a couple thousand words pounded out soon (I hope).

This week was relaxing, somehow.  It helps that I adore my students this year.  Like, all of them, which is rare.  I wish I could retire with this group and end my career on a high.  One thing I find amusing is they are all so eager to volunteer for stuff, even before they know what they're volunteering for.  Today I needed a volunteer to be my "technical assistant."  Here's how that went down:

"I need a volunteer to--"  (twenty hands shoot up in the air, I raise my eyebrows) "--to clean my toilets this weekend and every alternating Thursday." (They roar with laughter).  "Cool, I'll take you, you, and YOU.  Thanks guys!"  

I'd like to say they learned their lesson, but yeah...no.
   

Clint was gone for five days and just got back today.  His schedule is still an adjustment, but it's getting easier.  I can finally sleep through the night now without jumping at every noise.  It helps that the dogs sleep in the house now.  And the rooster, but that's a whole 'nother story.  It also helps that I booby-trap all my doors.   

Okay, I might be a touch on the paranoid side.    

We have a birthday party tomorrow.  It's my little niece (Moo's little girl) who's turning three, but it's a costume party.  I guess that sounds odd.  Every year we have a themed-costume night with Clint's family around Halloween; this year everyone voted to move it up a month because we're all crazy-busy for Halloween.  So they decided to have the costume party for my niece's birthday.  The theme is Enchanted Forest.  I'm dressing up as...well, I don't know what it is.  I picked up the costume last year for 50% off, and it's some kind of purple, girly one-eyed woodland creature/monster thing.  Maybe I'll call myself the "One-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater."  Anything can be found in an enchanted forest, right?

Speaking of birthdays, Shan and I celebrated our 35th last week.  I wasn't depressed to turn 35, which surprised me.  I think it helps that I inadvertently roll my sister's successes into my own, and between the two of us we kicked ass this year (I can say that in my blog because I'm an awkward ball of insecurity in real life).  For our birthday, as I mentioned before, we went to the LA County Fair.  It was both fun and not at the same time.  Fun throughout most of the day while we were enjoying margaritas, funnel cake, and shopping; not fun when I got terrible cramps/fatigue that night (three guesses why) and lost the three dresses my parents had bought me for my birthday.  They were all in one bag, and I had set the bag down when Clint and I were talking to a guy about possibly installing an in-ground pool.  When we left the booth to catch up to my family, I realized I had left it behind.  When I ran back to get it, the bag was gone.  I knew for a fact that if I told my parents I had lost it, my dad would want to re-purchase the dresses--which would make me feel even more crummy.  So I decided to lie.  When I reunited with my parents, I forced a cheery smile on my face and said I had found the dresses, and Clint had made me stuff them into my backpack so I wouldn't lose them again.  They believed me and everyone was happy.  Except for Shannon--she walked up to me about five minutes later and whispered "You're so full of it. You didn't find that bag."  I was shocked.  I whisper-exclaimed, "How did you know? I thought I was so convincing!"  She said, "You were.  I just know you."

Twin sisters.  Or therapists.  Either way, *sigh*.

Signing off now to listen to more music.  I wonder if songs of the future will ever be as good as those of the past.  It seems impossible.  Here's an old-school piece I ran into on YouTube--Total Eclipse of the Heart.  This was my mom's all-time favorite song in the 80s.  She rarely blasted music, but she would blast this one, which was much more preferable at the time than Crimson and Clover, over and OVER (also her favorite).  Total Eclipse has got some of that 80s corniness, but wow does her voice and the instrumental get powerful.  I bet you Bonnie Tyler collapsed when she reached the end of this song...it had to be exhausting.  Seriously, it practically blows up near the end.  It's like a gripping story line, with that steady build-up of rising action, until it peaks at the climax and all that intensity explodes...okay, I swear I'm not talking dirty.  Those are the appropriate terms.  Really.

Whatever.  Never mind.

I love these lyrics because they're no frills.   

Typewriters

Three quick things:

1. Shannon's MIA because she no longer has a laptop.  Unless a new one spontaneously sprouts from one of those tall Pinecone trees in her yard, this problem might go on for a little while.  Until then, let's just pretend this blog is mine.  ALL MINE.  *insert maniacal laugh here*.
2. DoT is still moving forward.  This is noteworthy only because I thought once I started back to work, it would be shoved on the back-burner until summer break next year.  It actually depressed me--the thought of all that hard work sitting around, collecting dust.  As it turns out, I was able to apply my grandpa's advice.  I find an hour here, twenty minutes there, to keep the story alive.  It's awesome to see my word count bar moving forward every day.  It's not moving forward in big leaps like it was over summer break, but it is slowly inching it's way toward 100%, and the thought of reaching that finish line makes me absolutely giddy.
3. We bought Elijah a typewriter for Christmas.  I know--weird, right?  Like what nine year old boy wants a typewriter?  But it was inspired by a lyrics video for "The Lonely" by Christina Perri.  Elijah saw the video and fell in love with the typewriter and asked if he could have a working typewriter for Christmas.  I laughed, telling him, "Dude, they don't make them anymore."  But of course the writer in me fell in love with the idea of purchasing such a nostalgic piece, so we shopped around and purchased this one from eBay:

I'll have to let you know how long the honeymoon phase lasts with this thing before he casts it aside and returns to his iPad.  But I figure once he's bored with it, I can put it on display somewhere--maybe next to a quill-pen and a jar of ink--and daydream about the writers of yore.  And then maybe I'll feel inspired.  You know, to get off my ass, quit daydreaming, and actually write something.    

Oh yeah, the video.

  

Little Boxes

This week I am going through a marital issue that I can't really discuss, a medical issue (small, I hope) that I won't discuss, and a family drama that I really shouldn't discuss.  So yeah, fun day to blog.

Since I am officially passing on writing about any thing that's actually on my mind, I thought now would be a good time to bring up my favorite parody band, "Walk off the Earth."  Have you heard of them?  My friend Julie introduced me to them well over a year ago.  Most of the time they specialize in covers, but they are so original and talented that I am really surprised they haven't made a bigger name for themselves by now.  Although I do believe they are on tour right now, plus they have an entry in Wikipedia, so maybe it's just people in my world who haven't heard of them.  At any rate, the members of the band can play just about any instrument, and they always choose interesting, quirky instruments over your everyday guitars and drums.  Or, if they do choose a guitar, all five of them might play it at once:

I love the female member, Sarah Blackwood.  She has an incredible voice, and she herself is so beautiful and adorable.  Although I can NOT resist the dude on the very right.  His facial expressions (or lack thereof) and level of participation crack me up.  They actually have his face on a t-shirt now, though I can't remember what the caption says.

The group does have a few singles of their own.  My kids adore the song, "Summer Vibe."

I enjoy the song as well; it has a happy, calming feel to it.  I'm not sure why, but it has become our car wash song.  We listen to it every single time we go through the car wash.  The problem is every time I hear the song now, I think of summer breezes, a warm buzz, that special someone...and giant sponges spinning toward me, foaming with suds.

Here is my personal favorite original piece by the group.  This would never be a song you'd hear on the radio, but I think these lyrics are really onto something.  

Now I need to get off of my computer-box and jump into my shower box and try to wash off the last two days. 

 

A Tale of Two Billy's

Nope, nope...THIS one is FOR SURE the most romantic song ever (again, this will change by tomorrow.  Or even by 11:58 tonight).

Yes, I do realize that I have some sort of love song psychosis right now.  I'll work on that. 

Clint told Trin if she ever comes home with a plastic ring from her boyfriend, he'll have to beat the dude to a pulp for not having more class.  I said I thought the whole plastic ring thing was incredibly sweet and romantic.  I like love stories that start off with humble beginnings.  I still remember in sixth grade, a boy named Billy bought me a plastic diamond ring for ten cents from the student store.  He put it in a brown lunch sack and placed it in on my desk when I wasn't looking, with a note that said "From your secret admirer."  The next day I received a little brown bear, and this time he signed it "Love, Billy." 

The thing is, there were two Billy's in the class.  I thought the gifts had come from the other Billy, who happened to be cuter (in that pretty boy-band sort of way), and the one who all the little girls swooned over.  So the next day, when I got a note asking "Will you go out with me? Yes [bubble], No [bubble]," I checked "Yes." 

Shortly after, I found out that I was going out with the wrong Billy.

In retrospect, I should have appreciated the Billy that I ended up with.  He was much more thoughtful and witty than Boy-Band-Billy.  But grade school girls can be shallow.  Even though I went through the motions of being his "girlfriend" and enjoyed our little dates on the playground, I knew deep down that my fondness for him was only because he was the one who gave me the ring.

Once I entered seventh grade, Billy called me and asked if I wanted to have a long-distance relationship with him since we no longer shared the same class.  I said "Sure!"  I think that was our last conversation.  We never broke up, so technically speaking, he's still my boyfriend. 

But here's the thing:  No matter my lack of a geniune attraction for Billy, or who he's married to now, or what kind of gorgeous rock he put on her finger, I'm always going to be that little girl for whom he first bought a ring.  And he will always be the first boy in my life who gave me a ring.  So the plastic ring thing?  Romantic. 

I hereby rest my case.         

Archery, Work Stuff, & Car's Lucky Day

Forget those other songs; THIS one's the best.

No, I'm not going to stop posting mushy love songs anytime soon. 

I've been in insomniac-mode again this week.  I remember the days where sleep-deprivation used to bother me.  Now it's like, "Yeah, whatever." 

Today was Read Across America Day, so the language arts teachers dressed up as literary figures.  I was Katniss from The Hunger Games.  My costume was mediocre.  I did her tell-tell side braid, boots, and mockingjay pin, but without the bow and arrow, it just seemed a bit lacking.  The school said "No props,", so the bow had to stay at home.  Too bad.  A bow and arrow makes for awesome classroom management.

Speaking of bows, Clint and Elijah have started doing archery.  Clint has been expressing to me lately that he often feels frustrated that he has no goals in life--nothing to aim for.  Even though writing a manuscript is a bottomless pit, he feels envious that I have a dream that I'm trying to reach.  I told him that getting his black belt was an awesome goal; he just happened to already reach it.  But I guess that's the problem...now he needs something new to strive for.  So I suggested, "Why not become a bad ass at shooting a bow and arrow?"  His dad just gave him one for Christmas, so it was a pretty natural suggestion.  Now I've created a monster.  He is getting really into it, and I didn't realize how much money can be poured into archery.  But I'm happy he's found a new hobby that excites him.    

Trin had to do a creativity project for her ASB class.  She decided to create a dance routine that combines moves from bo staff and traditional form.  The dance was only about a minute long, but it came out pretty cute:

A quick update on yesterday's post:  Niecy's back to work this Monday!  Needless to say, I'm pretty thrilled about this.  I also noticed during lunch today that a couple of newer teachers have joined our ranks.  A computer teacher who transferred from the high school has been eating lunch with us lately, along with the new Avid teacher who replaced Brad.  My friend Lauren has also rejoined us (she quit eating in the staff room during her pregnancy because the smell of everything made her sick).  I had such a pleasant time at lunch today and decided that I've been way too whiny about "change."  I still wish I could keep Mr. Moore next year though.  I'm going to miss bantering with him every day, and his shiny bald head, and his fishing stories, and that scoffing laugh he does when he thinks I'm nuts  (crap--I just realized that I forgot to pay him back the lunch money he loaned me this week).

I've been teaching my homeroom class how to line dance every Friday.  Homeroom is a study hall class, but I noticed last term that the kids generally don't have homework on Fridays.  Figuring that unwinding in healthy ways is an important part of good study habits (sounds legit, right?), I officially launched a line-dancing unit.  Now every Friday we go outside, I teach them the moves, and when they're ready, I blast the music and we dance.  So far we've only done the Cupid Shuffle and the Electric Slide (Electric Slide took three Fridays--we finally finished up today).  Next week we'll do the Cha Cha Slide, and the weeks that follow will include the Macarena and Powerstep.  The Powerstep is trickier...that one's going to take several Fridays.  Toward the end of the year, I might have to teach myself some new dances in order to keep going.  I'd love to teach them some fancier stuff, but I'm clueless how to do them. 

Wow, it is SO easy to write a post when you've just written one the day before.    

I just noticed that this is my 497th post, and I have exactly 497 followers on twitter.  What are the chances?  It reminds me of the time my car reached 77,777 miles and it was 77 degrees outside, so there were seven sevens going across my dash.  Hold on, I'm pretty sure I have a pic...

That day, a friend of mine told me that I should've gone 77 mph, that way I could have enjoyed even more sevens.  I told her that going 77 mph on a residential street while attempting to take a pic of all these sevens would probably have been a recipe for disaster.

This Week: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

I am so, so, SO far behind on this blog.  I even went months without checking my stat counter, because I found myself no longer caring.  Today I finally logged in and was surprised to see over 220 hits from Palmdale.  I'm thinking that has to be some sort of glitch...does Palmdale even have 220 people?

Okay, so I'm going to break this down.  Here's this week's "good":

Last weekend we visited my stepsister's farm in Northern California.  That was awesome.  Her and her husband farm walnuts, cherries, and tomatoes; they have so much acreage that I can't even tell where it ends.  They live in a small house that is over 100 years old and is simply adorable.  She's pregnant with twin girls, so we were actually there for her baby shower.  Her baby shower ended up being huge (over 100 women) with the atmosphere of a classy wedding reception...a far cry from your typical pin-the-diaper-on-the-baby type shower. 

Maybe it's because I'm a twin myself, but I think I got a little excited with the prospect of my stepsister having twins.  I don't make gifts EVER (unless it's scrapbooks or paintings); I'm really not a crafty person.  But I wanted to do something cute for the twins, so with the help of my sister-in-law, I made these outfits:

These are completely impractical, but I don't care!  I officially want twin baby girls myself now so I can dress them up in these.

Another good from this week is I have a student, Johnston, who is painfully shy in my classroom, to the point where he will absolutely shut down if I try to get him to read outloud or respond to a question.  The counseling department, after assessing him, finally told me to let him off the hook for sharing outloud and any other verbal presentations.  It's just way too traumatic for him.  But I've been working really hard with him this year, trying to guide him into being more comfortable talking in front of people.  Every step of the way I let him know that I wasn't going to push him, but I wanted him to know that I believed he was capable of expressing his thoughts outloud, and that others would appreciate what he had to contribute.  Well today Johnston did a full two minute presentation in front of the class!  I was so blown away and had to try not to cry.  He actually volunteered to talk for his group, and I could see him shaking with fear, but after awhile he started smiling and laughing.  He was amazing.  I've never once heard his voice that loud and clear before, and it was the most words I have heard him utter this entire school year.  Before he left class, I told him, "Johnston, you made my heart sing today," and he was grinning from ear-to-ear.

The bad:

My coworkers--the ones I have the closest relationships with, are dropping like flies.  Every day I eat lunch with my collegues Niecy, Brad, Bev, and Mr. Moore.  Or I used to.  Niecy has been out for about half of the school year now due to her health issues.  Brad (previously dubbed "Mr. A")--the teacher whose shoulder I cried on my first year of teaching, who talked me into getting a master's degree, who taught me how to play three-card-poker at an Indian Casino, who taught me how to ski, who carried me home when I was drunk--left our school last week to pursue a new career as a speech pathologist.  That one hit me hard.  I could write an entire post just on this, but our initial e-mails to each other sum it up well enough:

Me:  Oh my god, I just read the bulletin and got a cold chill. You're leaving us? No Brad, no!!! 

(Okay, I'll work on being more supportive). 

 

Brad:  Lol... I love you too.  You have been one of my favorite peeps since I got here... love you and your husband.  You are both good people!   The kids love your joy and enthusiasm as well... it shows every day. 

After that, crying and temper tantrums ensued (he cried, I threw tantrums). 

In addition to that, Mr. Moore, my onery lunch buddy who I just adore, is retiring at the end of this year.  So I have only three short months left of his teasing me and always thinking I'm crazy.  Bev, our quirky music teacher, will still be here next year, but her prep period follows lunch, so she doesn't join us until the last ten minutes or so. 

I'm not a person who likes change, and I hate it that the people I care about are disappearing little by little from my life.

The ugly:

I just got the news today that a friend from high school died.  I went to his facebook wall after work, and it made me sick to my stomach.  I know it's just a personal thing, but I hate how people are writing "R.I.P. Ed" all over his wall as if it were no different than plastering birthday wishes; as if he can actually read them.  They're also writing stuff like "You were a good person" and "I'll miss you."  Again, as if he can read them.  That's a new low...death itself being cheapened by social networking.  Way to go facebook.   

This day sucks in other ways, but I've written enough for now. 

I'm stuck on sappy love songs right now.  This one isn't exactly "pretty," but it still moves the hell out of me.
 

 

Between the Raindrops

The video is okay, but this song...I love it.   

To be fair though, I say those exact words for a new song just about every other week.  As customary, I'll overplay this song until my brain gets tired of it, and eventually move on to a new fave.  Until then, I can't think of anything sweeter than walking between raindrops and riding aftershocks with that special someone. 

On a side note, I swear I'm not obsessed with horses, even though my recent video choices beg to differ.

On another note even more to the side, I just noticed that the couple is never once shown together in the same frame.  I wonder if the producers opted to shoot both of their scenes at different times in different locations, and simply merged the two together to create the video.  Have Jason Wade (Lifehouse lead singer) and Natasha B. ever even met?  It would have been cool to feature at least one scene of the two coming together.

Real post to follow later this week (but don't hold your breath on that one).

Fire and Ice

I don't know how to start this entry because I'm so behind on writing, and so much has been going on. 

I think the first thing I want to address is the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.  Like most Americans, I was horrified by what happened on Friday. This feeling intensified last night when I came across a CNN article that actually gave the profiles of several of the victims.  Reading about little 6 year old Jenny who loved her chocolate lab Sasha, or about 7 year old Cody who was getting his first bike for Christmas (randomly generated facts, but you get the point)...it was just crushing.  On the spur of the moment I texted my principal and told her I was going to start a charity drive for the Sandy Hook Memorial Fund.  I made a giant collection box and decorated it in green and white with a soaring eagle to represent the school's colors and mascot.  During lunch this week Builders Club will be collecting students' spare change.  None of this will do a damn thing to allay the families' grief, but I just feel like my school can--and should--do something.  I'm still absolutely chilled by the fact that so many families In Newtown, Connecticut are going to experience Christmas day beneath such a black cloud.   

Okay, much needed change of subject before I start shuddering with rage again.  On Friday night Tarius (a teacher/colleague) and I put on our school's Winter Dance.  We were nervous as hell about it because neither one of us had ever been responsible for an entire dance before, and there is a ton of work that goes into them--everything from advertising, creating/selling your tickets, getting all of your approvals turned in, buying/making decorations, planning for concessions, and so on.  The most stressful part for me was the decorating.  We had three periods to pull it off, which sounds like a lot, but the cafeteria proved to be a massive space when you're trying to fill it all in with a chosen theme.  Our theme was 'Fire and Ice', and we ended up with a wall of fire on one side of the cafeteria and ice on the other.  We also had columns of balloons everywhere--red/yellow/orange for fire, white and pale blue for ice; not to mention streamers, sparkly snowflakes, garland, piles of white "snow" (made from fluffy strips of cotton), white silky fabric draped in various places, and so on.  The best part of the fire side was a huge red arch with flames coming out of it.  The best part of the ice side were the giant snowflakes (they were the size of Saint Bernards) and all of the white Christmas lights.  We had four choreographed student performances that night, and we also crowned a Fire Queen and Ice King.  The dance turned out to be awesome.  Tarius and I had both been losing sleep over this dance for nearly two weeks, so we were on such a high when everything was over--we were thrilled that we had actually pulled it off!  After the clean-up (which lasted over an hour), we went to wine night at a colleagues house (Mr. A) to celebrate.  I am proud to say that this time around, I stayed away from the red wine.

Today I got annoyed and slammed a jar of lingonberries on the counter while emphasizing a point, and the jar ended up breaking.  It's weird, I haven't broken anything out of anger since my early twenties (I broke a bathroom mirror once with a hairbrush a long time ago).  But this jar did indeed break, and at first I didn't notice, until I was flinging my hands around emphatically and I saw red drops puddling all over the floor.  I realized the jar was broken and thought the red splatters were the lingonberries, but it turned out that I was flinging my own blood all over!  I looked at my finger and it was dripping with blood.  Even beneath water and with pressure it would not stop bleeding for a good twenty minutes.  It was a small cut but it went in deep (haha, serves me right).  Trin asked me later what happened to my finger, and I said "I was throwing a temper tantrum and decided to shatter a jar."  She thought this was really funny and said "Are you still mad?"  And I said "Yes, because I'm really craving lingonberries." 

Other things I want to talk about but will have to wait for another time include:  Our new(er) Great Dane pup, an upcoming visit with Matt and Alana (yay!), another finished painting, a current bathroom remodel, and...I think that's it. 

Oh, but real quick, I want to paint this picture.  I found this back when I was searching out ideas for 'Fire and Ice'.

And I love this song.  Rihanna's lyrics are happy, but somehow the song sounds sad.  In the video, I find the scenes with the horses incredibly sweet.

Slightly Oversized Nutshell

My week in a nutshell:

Monday I stayed home from work because I got food poisoning and I thought I was going to die.  Okay, that might be an exaggeration.  But I did get food poisoning, and it was probably the sickest I have been in four or five years.  Clint got it too, and it was quite the bonding experience as we both raced for the bathroom at the same exact time (1:18 a.m) where we became the world's most talented synchronized pukers. 

Tuesday through Friday I worked.  Friday was our fall carnival, but this time our carnival fell on college week, so we made all of our booths college-themed.  My club decided to do "Pin the Tail on the Mascot"--the mascot being Scotty the Bear from UC Riverside.  It was very cute.  We also sold nachos.  I have no co-advisor this year, so I had to have Teri run our Pin the Tail booth, while Clint ran the nachos booth.  They both did such a great job.  After the carnival, we had to dash over to Elijah's school for his parent teacher conference.  As we were rushing into his school, Clint pointed out that all of us were wearing the same t-shirt (we still had our Builders Club shirts on from the carnival).  I just burst out laughing because it was SO corny, like something Clark Griswold would force his family to do.  "Let's all be matchy-matchy for the kid's conference!"

Once home, the kids went to karate, and I headed over to my friend/colleague's house--"Mr. C"--for wine night.  He was the one who was awarded Teacher of the Year, and also the same one whose mother died in a fire last year.  I bring this up because this was the whole purpose of this particular wine night.  Last night was--or would have been--his mother's birthday.  He decided he wanted to surround himself with good friends to help him cope.  Mr. C did have a few emotional moments here and there, but as it turned out, the evening was far from somber and really enjoyable.  There was a great mix of people that meshed together really well...it was just fun.  Unfortunately I was stupid again and went for the red.  I started with a glass of white wine, but switched over to red by glass number two.  After that, it was all over.  I swear red wine is the devil.  My dear friend Mr. A (same teacher who taught me how to ski, taught me how to play three-card poker, and talked me into getting my Master's degree) not only drove me home, but carried me to my house.  Or drug me there.  I'm not sure exactly.  I just remember being delivered from his arms to Clint's.  I apologized to him profusely this morning via texting, and he said no apologies were necessary--that it was just a big bro taking care of his lil' sis.  That made me smile, but I'm still embarrassed to have been so incapacitated in front of coworkers.  This can NOT happen again.  I need to figure out a way to say NO to red wine.

And that was my week in a nutshell...a slightly bigger nutshell than I was aiming for, and one that ends with me being sloshed.  Yeah, my idiom is unraveling here, so time to give it up. 

I love this song.  It makes me think of Niecy, and Mr. C., and others who are struggling through real life issues.   

*P.S.  I just noticed that my sis posted an entry today, and now mine just knocked hers down.  Sorry Sho!  But to be fair, this blog was lifeless for a week.  In the future, can you please get your writing urges on a different day than I get mine?  I'd really appreciate it--thanks.

Tumbleweed, CA

I try not to say the name of the little city I live in.  It's a pretty pointless endeavor, because at this point a person trying to figure it out would probably have no issues connecting those dots, but at least I give internet safety a feeble effort.  In three years of blogging, I've only slipped twice and said my city's name.   I figured this out just now--I actually typed my city's name into my blog's search box, and it came up with two posts.  I found the slip-up on both of them, and changed the name from the real-thing to "Tumbleweed".  So I guess for all intents and purposes, I now officially live in Tumbleweed, California, located somewhere in the High Desert.  I don't know if Shan is trying to keep her location a secret too, so until she tells me otherwise, she now officially lives in Pinecone, California.  

By the way, I love Wikipedia's definition of the High Desert:

The High Desert is an unofficial and vaguely-defined geographic area of southern California located to the northeast of the San Gabriel Mountains. 

Thanks for such startling precision, Wikipedia. 

In other news (literally), it has been so very hot here in good ole' Tumbleweed.  It's not just the triple digits...that's pretty standard for August.  It's the mugginess.  We've had this constant half-cloud cover nonsense that's making the air all yucky and humid.  I was working in my classroom today, and every time I stepped out, it felt like a sauna.  With twenty laundromats running inside the sauna.  And the AC broken in all the laundromats.  Okay, you get the point.  

Here's our weekly forecast.  I'm pretty sure Wednesday is a typo and is supposed to say "100% hot", unless the author of this chart believes that 1,090° constitutes a typically hot day.  I like how Thursday and Friday say "Super Hot" and "More Heat"...I think the forecaster typologist person (okay, I obviously don't know his job title) is suffering from creativity-fatigue due to all of this heat.  

Tomorrow and Friday are in-service days at my work, and then Monday I officially start the new school year with students.  As usual, I'm both excited and apprehensive.  My biggest regret is having to say goodbye to this fantasy summer.  This was honestly one of the nicest summers I've had in the past six years.  I think working at the college played a huge role, but I also did a lot of outdoor activities (camping, hiking, 5Ks, etc.) that kept me feeling rejuvenated. 

In honor of saying goodbye to summer...

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I used to love Dido many years ago (back when they were popularized by the show Roswell), but had actually forgotten all about them.  Yesterday this song played on the satellite radio at Jack in the Box, and I was trying hard not to shush the customers in my attempt to identify it because it seemed so familiar.  I think the video is cute, although I'm jealous cuz now I want to play dominos and drink moscato in the middle of a busy street.

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Wish me luck for this Monday.  Hopefully I won't enter my classroom on such a balmy 106° day with sand dribbling from my shoes. 

Nostalgia

Today we spent the afternoon/evening at Sarah's house.  She just moved, and her new house has an in-ground pool!  I've waited my whole life for a friend with a pool.  And luckily she can never accuse me of using her specifically for her pool since we've been good friends for over a decade (haha).

Around 8:00 p.m., everyone decided to drive to our house to watch the Avengers.  Our house was voted over Sarah's because we had flan.  It doesn't take much.  Anyway, I had never seen the Avengers before but I heard it was really good.  Unfortunately, I was very bored from the movie.  I think it was probably because I never followed any of the prior movies (Iron Man, Captain America, etc.), so I felt detached from the characters and storyline.  Shan felt the same way, so we ended up ditching the end of the movie in favor of laying on our backs in Trin's room and staring at the ceiling fan for a half hour.

After the movie, Clint plugged his laptop into our TV and we watched music videos for nearly an hour.  The two below were my favorites.  They both deal with feelings of nostalgia, although the first one is more warm and happy nostalgia, while the second is a more cutting, sad nostalgia (could Lana possibly look more depressed?).  The first one really speaks to my inner desert-rat.  All of that desert scenery, the bare-feet, those spontaneously carefree moments...this was life in the desert when I was a child.  Those unexpected moments of sheer joy never came in eloquent packages.

 

Lazy Post #2: Born to Die

I am crazy about this song.  I have no idea why.  Her voice is NOT pretty.  And most parts of the song have no relevance to my life (i.e. getting high).  But for some reason the music and the lyrics move the hell out of me.

The video is...not great.  These images would not have been my first choice.  I don't understand the point of the flag.  Plus the producers took the death-metaphor too literally.  From my view it's the relationship that's doomed to die, not the literal person.  I did enjoy the lighting in the palace; how the lights grow dim during more somber parts of the song.  Plus I love Lana's facial expressions.  There's certain parts of the video where she goes from looking like a confident seductress to an indignant, vulnerable little girl.  Luckily I like the song enough to put up with the flaws in the video.  I could listen to this song over and over.

I know I still need to write a real entry.  Can someone just write one for me and plaster it on here?  Shan, where the hell are you?

Fourteen Years

Today marks fourteen years of wedded bliss (more or less, haha) with my amazing hubby, Clint.  I told him he'll have to find his card on my blog, so here it is--one of those high-tech, super-modern music cards.  Okay, I might be trying REALLY hard to avoid a stop at Wal-Greens later, but that's beside the point.

On that note, I think this should count for at least 30 cards (I started to lose count after that).

Happy Anniversary babe!

Midnight City & Storybook Love

I've been in a writing frenzy today (I'll explain another time), so I'm officially out of steam as far as writing a decent entry is concerned.  But I'm going to cheat like I always do when I'm suffering a blog-inspiration drought and post a song (maybe two.  Yeah, let's go with two). 

This first one came from my sis.  She periodically messages me with songs to download that she thinks I'll like, and I love this one.  I don't know why I love it so much.  It's pretty bizarre.  Plus it probably doesn't help that the video features creepy little kids with super-powers and glowing eyes. 

Anyone else wondering what the hell is wrong with those kids?*  Anyway, this next one is the opposite of creepy.  I adore the movie The Princess Bride, and the end-credits song (Storybook Love) is so darn precious.

I almost followed this with "Damn I Wish I was Your Lover", until I realized how obscene those lyrics are (Damn I wish you were a slightly cleaner song).  That would have been like following a Shirley Temple with a tequila-chaser.

(*After I published this post, I watched the Midnight City video again, and I have to admit, I really like it--minus the glowing eyes at the end.  The video plays out like a miniature movie, complete with interesting plot).