Duck and Weave: Life with a Liberal Arts Degree

Travelogue, days one & two

2010-11-16T13:10:00.001-06:00

Jess and I went to the Lindbergh terminal first, only to realize that we wanted Humphrey. Now, they've apparently remodeled it since I was last there (YEARS AGO!) The building looks completely different from what I remember. I've also never been IN Humphrey terminal. Jess and I have both used the main terminal before, but after yesterday, we are converts for life. We both LOVE Humphrey terminal. It's so relaxed and small, most of my anxiety over flying was gone just from how easy our check-in was. However, it was actually a bit too easy. We had arrived nearly two hours early, and suddenly found ourselves with about an hour and a half of travel time.

My only complaint about the first flight to Atlanta was the dog. One woman had a dog in a carrying case who was definitley not happy to be in the case. I thought at first that what sounded like a whimpering dog actually had to be a squeaky wheel on a carry-on case. Imagine my surprise when I realized it really was a whimpering dog... who was going to be on our flight with us.

The flight itself was delightfully smooth, and once in the air I was fine, even when we hit pockets of turbulence descending into Atlanta. Jess graciously allowed me to have the window seats both times, even though the tickets said that was her seat. Luckily, I was also over the wing both times, which is my favorite place to be. (I can make sure they don't fall off!)

We only had about 40 minutes to get from concourse D to concourse C once we got into Atlanta, and by the time we got there they had already begun seating... so off we went a second time. This place had the engines on the main body of the place, while the first had engines under the wings. Both were very nice planes, though I think the first had an overall smoother ride, while the second went considerably faster. Our flight from Atlanta to Buffalo was only about 75 minutes! I barely got halfway through the album I was listening to on my MP3 player, and when I did start to doze, I was quickly awakened by Jess to give my beverage order.

Buffalo international airport is about the same size (give or take) as the Humphrey terminal back home. We were out of there in under 10 minutes, and Robyn and Bob met us before we got our baggage. We hit a Ruby Tuesday's for dinner on our way from Buffalo to Ripley, where I had the Cajun Catch with steamed broccoli and grilled asparagus, as well as a run at the salad bar. Good food. It was totally dark by the time we got to Robyn's place, so I didn't get to see any of the wine vineyards and farms we passed on the way in, but they have a lovely little house... I'll try to remember to send pictures later. We watched some of Dancing with the Stars, The Middle, and Castle (one of my favorite shows!) and went to bed. Robyn had carefully vacuumed both guest rooms, washed the sheets, and been keeping the cats out for weeks (they have four now!) to make sure my allergies weren't a problem while we are visiting.

This morning we got up and went to Meeder's, the only restaurant in town. We were too late to be introduced to the "usual crowd" however. They offer delicious toast made from home made bread. It was very good dry with a bit of jelly. After breakfast, Robyn gave us a look at the veteran's memorial (which is unique in that it includes the names of living veterans from Ripley as well as deceased,) then gave us a brief driving tour of the town's more notable decrepit buildings. I then got to meet Noni and Bill (Robyn's parents.) They were very nice, if a bit terse. I seem to have made a good impression, though. Noni told Robyn, "He isn't what I expected. I like him." Bill showed us all his recumbent bicycle and made us each take a spin around the yard (though it has no traction on the tires - they're made for riding on a track, not off-roading.)

Then we ran back to Robyn's and Bob's house. Robyn and Jess went to get pedicures, to be followed by some grocery shopping. They went to one of Ripley's sister towns, for these errands, though I can't now remember if it was Westerfield or Northeast they went to. Bob and I stayed home. I worked on a little of the massive amount of homework I need to do while I'm here, and Bob has alternated between reading, replacing the water filter, and keeping the cats away from me. Once I finished my homework reading, I decided to hop online and take care of a few things (like the 22 e-mails that were waiting for me. Just while typing this, I've gotten 2 more!) I'm not sure what is planned for the rest of the day, but I know Jess also has homework to do today.

Tomorrow Robyn is going to take Jess and I over into Canada to check out Niagara Falls. On the U.S. side it's a national park, but the Canada side is a swinging tourist spot. Hopefully should be fun.

Transition

2010-10-27T22:52:00.002-05:00

Transition. I've been hearing and saying and typing that word a lot lately.

After about three weeks of e-mail tag and missed opportunities, my principal and I finally met briefly to discuss the transition that will take place at the end of the quarter; namely, that I will stop teaching theatre there and somebody else will take over for me.

Very little was actually accomplished at the meeting other than my receiving permission to communicate directly with the incoming teacher to coordinate the TRANSITION and make it as smooth as possible. It helps that it is a guy that I know. I had met him briefly months ago, but had no idea at the time that he was a theatre teacher. He's very friendly, energetic, and (most unlike me of all) charismatic. He'll do wonderful things for that school, I wager.

It's odd. I'm chomping at the bit to get out of that school, but I'm very excited on behalf of the new teacher. I think he'll really thrive there in a way that I wasn't able to. While I am going to sorely miss some of my students, others I hope never to see or hear from again. That sounds terrible, I know.

I'm meeting the new teacher for coffee tomorrow night to discuss various things. I'm interested to see how the conversation plays out.

Look who's talking!

2010-10-18T07:39:00.004-05:00

Many mornings (and occasionally evenings) I will do my regular web-surfing thing. I'll check my e-mail, then hop on Facebook for a while, then dump an absurd amount of time into playing Castle Age on Facebook, and then begin browsing the blogs of my dear friends.

Most days, I flip through all of them in under a minute, and then grumble to myself that people don't update their blogs often enough.

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself reading a relatively new (four days old) blog by Sean when it occurred to me that I also update my blog very rarely, and that it was just as likely that my friends occasionally find themselves grumbling about not being able to keep up on the happenings in my life. Huh.

As it so happens, I do have some happenings to report:

About a week and a half ago, another teacher interviewed for the permanent drama teacher position at the school where I work. Around the middle of last week, they were offered the position and accepted. I will continue as the drama teacher until the end of the first quarter (two weeks before Thanksgiving) and then I will leave and the new teacher will come in. While I'm glad to finally have a concrete answer, it is also fairly irksome that both I and my students are getting jerked around in this way.

This also means that I get to return to job hunting, my least favorite activity in the entire world. Hooray. Fortunately, the storm of job hunting I did the day before I was offered my current job did lay the groundwork for a smoother re-entry into the ranks of the unemployed. Wish me luck.

Wrestling Demons

2010-10-04T06:53:00.002-05:00

Okay. I am happy to be gainfully employed, and I hate being unemployed... but now this is getting a bit ridiculous. I almost prefer unemployment.

My capstone class, I'm realizing, is a huge commitment, and often has me working on things alone that I don't feel comfortable doing without the input of others. I mean, our assignment for week two was to come up with the question that would be the basis for our entire capstone. While I have managed to choose one, I'm riddled with doubt. I don't know if I care enough about this topic to crank out 75-125 pages on it, and my alternative questions are fairly mediocre. Oh, except one... that would probably end up being 400+ pages and take 5 years to complete (which I don't think I have the strength for!)

Then, over the same weekend that I'm supposed to be writing my first draft of my first chapter, I'm also suuposed to be choosing plays to direct for the drama club at work. While I have ideas, I don't personally have a very developed dramatic library, so I don't have a whole lot at my fingertips. I also don't have the time to order a bunch of possible plays and read through them, as I'm supposed to have a list of possible plays by Tuesday. Grr.

I guess I'm just frustrated. I went from having almost no responsibility to having so much that I'm nearly paralyzed by my inability to find a starting point.

Gotta go.

Limbo, take 2

2010-09-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I got my answer... but it was neither a yes or a no.

To paraphrase the way Jess summed it up: "We want somebody better than you, but we can't find anyone that fits that description, so we'll keep you around for now." I've been extended through at least the end of the first quarter, and I've been asked to begin planning for a fall/winter play (which implies I'll be here for the whole first semester.) I don't know how I feel about this response. A bit annoyed, but simultaneously grateful. Huh.

Waiting in Limbo

2010-09-23T17:24:00.002-05:00

So, I've been working at this school for three weeks. Tomorrow could be my last day. I honestly don't know. They interviewed me again for the permanent position on Tuesday. Now it's Thursday and I still don't know if I'll still be around on Monday to continue grading the performances that my classes started today. Huh.

Limbo is slightly irksome...

Ray of Hope or Be Careful What You Wish For

2010-09-02T10:46:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I woke up in a REALLY depressed mood. Jess could tell something was wrong, and when she asked I told her something to the effect of...

"It's September first. I shouldn't be struggling to find a job. I should have been hired by now. I am supposed to be up to my eyeballs in lesson plans, and you should be complaining about how busy I am and how you never get to see me anymore."

That conversation happened as we were taking a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. After this proclamation, Jess gave me a pep talk. It seemed to work, and upon returning home, I went into a mad frenzy of filling out applications, calling places that I've applied to, following up on potential job leads, the whole shebang.

(Side note: The other day I was doing a crossword and one of the clues was "The whole _______" the answer to which was "Shebang")

Well, good thing I did. Last night we were visiting my mother when my cell phone rang. The job that I interviewed for about a month ago was given to the woman who had taught my Creative Dramatics for Teachers class last summer. She in turn gave a copy of my resume to the Interim Principal at the school she was leaving. (She was leaving because they had cut her down to just under half time, after being full time just two years ago.) That same interim principal was the person on the other end of the line. I now have an interview today at 2. If it goes well, I will stick around for the school's open house night tonight, and be hired as a short-term sub for the first two weeks of school. If that goes well, I will be hired for the rest of the year. Now I have only FOUR DAYS to create my curriculum! Gah!

Be Careful What You Wish For.

Reaction: Eat

2010-08-20T14:13:00.002-05:00

So, Jess' mother is staying with us for the week. She says the thing she has missed most about Minnesota is food.

Reaction: Eat.

I'm done with Godspell now, and I find myself quite bored, especially since I don't have many job prospects to follow up on.

Reaction: Eat.

I sometimes get nervous when forced to entertain. Having a houseguest for a week falls under that category. Hence, I frequently feel nervous this week.

Reaction: Eat.

I'm depressed slightly about not having a job yet.

Reaction: Eat.

I've gained back about 8 pounds that I had lost on Weight Watchers.

Yech.

Robyn is leaving Sunday. Monday, I am SO back on weight watchers.

Irritability

2010-08-05T01:53:00.003-05:00

Much to my chagrin, I am now thoroughly engaged in my least favorite of all human endeavors: the Job Hunt.

I worked very hard over the last two years to earn a teaching license. This was primarily (though not solely) because I couldn't get a decent job with a B.S. degree in Theatre. So now I have a license to teach Theatre to students aged K-12... yeah. HUGE step up there in employability.

I've been job hunting to a greater or lesser extent since early May. Today was my first interview. There's a mindblowing thought: my very first interview for my new career. Anyway, Theatre is a fairly small and incestuous world, and Theatre Education is even more so.

Case in point: I'm in the office at Central Middle School in Columbia Heights. I'm wearing clothes that fit me very well about 20-30 pounds ago, though still managing to look fairly snazzy (aside from my fringe of thinning hair that my freaking Godspell director has forced me to grow out!) Where was I? Yes, I was sitting there, and out of the conference room walks Tinne. Now, Tinne teaches theatre at Crosswinds, which was (until a year ago) an arts magnet school. When it ceased to be a magnet, she got cut from full time to 50% of full time. This year they're cutting her down to 40%. I observed Tinne a year ago for one of my classes. Then I got her to teach one of my GRADUATE LEVEL THEATRE EDUCATION CLASSES LAST SUMMER! She's talented, experienced, and FAR more qualified than I. It was great to see her, but I could feel my stomach flip, twist, knot, and settle in the moment that I realized who I was looking at, and what her presence indicated.

We had a few happy moments of catch-up, while the secretary stared at us like she's never heard of people applying for the same job knowing one another. Whatever. Tinne left, I headed in, and proceeded to have a thoroughly mediocre interview.

Then I'm walking out, and there's Windy. Windy was in the aforementioned graduate level theatre education class Tinne taught last summer. She's talented, personable, and she's been subbing for several years, giving her far more practical classroom teaching experience than I. So, I was stuck between two applicants that I hold in great esteem, either of whom is far more deserving of the job than I. I wish them luck, but that doesn't help me with the fact I don't have a freaking job!

Jess and I had an agreement that if I got this job, we'd pop for tickets to go see Wicked. I'm never going to see that show now.

2010-07-24T12:43:00.001-05:00

Free invite made with Smilebox

Motivation

2010-03-19T11:53:00.003-05:00

So, I'm student teaching.

What? Yes, I know it has been over two months since my last entry. But I've chosen to give you all an update.

Where was I? Oh yes, student teaching.

One of my classes is Theatre IB, a pre-collegiate class of advanced theatre students. I'm having a serious problem. 3/4 of the class is failing. Why? Because they're choosing not to turn in assignments. My last day is the end of the quarter. I'm interested to see their reactions when they realize they actually pulled an F in the class where they are supposed to be the chosen ones. Huh.

Hubris, gotta love it.

Pretty sure I suck.

2010-01-05T19:44:00.002-06:00

It's been the better part of a month since I've blogged. I managed an A in Dance II and an A- in Stagecraft, thus blowing my 4.0 GPA. I am twenty days shy of starting my student teaching. Jess and I had a group of friends over for a holiday shindig. We've discovered the wonders of Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Star Wars. We've bought our first Wii party game. We've sold my car, and now are a one car, one bus pass family. I've joined Global Harmony, which Sean has been hinting for me to do for months... um, that's about it.

so close...

2009-12-14T09:52:00.002-06:00

I'm sitting in a computer lab classroom at Hamline merrily waiting for my one and only final, which is in Stagecraft... yeah. Just thought I'd let you all know.

From frying pan to... frying pan?

2009-11-17T09:48:00.003-06:00

Okay, suck. Last week was CRAZY busy. One of the hoops to jump through as I approach my student teaching next semester is that I have to attend a conference with my education advisor, wherein we're supposed to discuss my progress with the ten Standards of Effective Practice for Beginning Teachers, or SEPBTs. In preparation, I had to write a one-page paper for each standard, summarizing what it meant in my own words, then adding two or three paragraphs talking about my own growth or experience in this area (and citing three class assignments as proof) and then a final paragraph stating in what ways I still need to grow with regard to the standard. My conference was last Friday, and it gave me the crappiest week I can remember in many years...

And now this week comes along! I have a two-page review of a dance performance to write, and the more I think about the performance, the less clear I am on what to say. I don't want to wait too long, however, or I might forget what I'm talking about! On top of that, I'm struggling to find time for class readings, I need to redouble my efforts to find a part-time job, I have to coordinate class schedules with a partner from dance class to create a 2.5-5 minute piece for class on Thursday, I'm trying (and failing) to arrange a meeting with my Theatre advisor, I'm trying to find time to visit my mother, Jess and I are having our pictures taken Friday for Christmas cards, blah, blah, blah...

I know it doesn't sound that bad from the outside. I know, even I've been busier, but it's been quite a while since I have felt this stressed.

The rhythm of things

2009-10-18T20:44:00.002-05:00

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: I have class from 9:10 to 10:10. Occasionally I will then go to my mother's house, where she pays me to help her clean and organize since I'm currently unemployed. Sometimes I get a free meal or two out of the deal. Jess has classes Monday and Wednesday nights, so I take that time to get some serious Oblivion-playing in.

Tuesday, Thursday: I get up around 9, play Oblivion until 11, and then do any assigned readings for my Dance II class, which runs from 12:50 to 2:20. Jess is usually home when I get back, so I putter around to give her space while she does homework. Then we have dinner and hang out. Tuesdays we usually watch Hell's Kitchen (which just ended last week), and on Thursdays we have a sign language class we're taking through Community Ed. from 6:00 to 7:45. There are a LOT of blithering idiots in that class. Julie, the teacher, is freaking hillarious, however.

Saturday: Hang out, putter, clean, run errands, play Oblivion.

Sunday: Watch the Vikings, play Oblivion, putter, occasionally go grocery shopping. Usually feed one or both snakes.

Change-up: On various nights of the week, we head over to The Chatterbox Pub on Ford Parkway. Sunday and Wednesday they have Karaoke, Thursday they have music bingo. Out first time playing, we won coupons for two free personal pizzas and a free breakfast.

2009-09-21T08:49:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Skulle and I were back at RenFest, this time Jess came with us. She didn't enjoy it quite as much as I did, but her dad and brother were out there, so she got to hang with them for a few hours, and during my break we all went and caught a show together. It seemed like a much longer day this week than it was last Sunday. I'm still signed up for one more Sunday, and the weekend after that, I'm going out as a patron. One day to actually enjoy the festival... and I won't be required to dress up!

Classes are okay, but I thought I was going to die the other day in Dance II. We were doing warm-ups and I thought my back was going to die on me. I wonder if there are warm-ups for the warm-ups.

Dumping burdens

2009-09-15T08:40:00.002-05:00

On Saturday I sent in an e-mail officially telling the Oak-Land administration that I can't direct the Drama Club. I hated to do it, but I just can't handle it with everything else going on.

On the happier side, I worked out at RenFest on Sunday with the MN Herpetological Society. It was hella fun. Skulle handled it very well, but after getting home he slept for over 24 hours. In fact, he only woke up when he did because I took him out to feed him.

Firestorm

2009-09-10T13:45:00.004-05:00

So, I'm back to school at Hamline. I'm taking two classes: Stagecraft and Dance II. I haven't had a dance class yet, but it's my understanding that only 4 people are registered at this time. Should be interesting... and then I'm one of 23 people in my stagecraft class... and only the professor is older than I am.

On top of that, I'm starting the Oak-Land drama club. I was given the go-ahead to direct it in the fall, since student teaching in the spring will leave me unavailable. I've finished a rewrite of Midsummer Night's Dream, and Jess started helping me edit it last night... only to find out that it still needs a lot of work. I think it gets better as the show goes along, though. I think I was still trying to find my voice in the first two scenes.

I have auditions today and tomorrow, and I have homework to do besides! I went from having too much time on my hands to not having enough!

By the way, speaking of too much time on my hands, I've been playing this online game called "Gates of Andaron" lately. It's somewhat like Everquest, but MUCH more "do it in this order"-ish. I enjoy it, though, despite there only being three playable races and six character classes. My favorites are Archers and Evocators. Warriors are okay, Priests are lame (though at level 12 they can transform into ravens temporarily!), Magicians die really fast if you're lagging at all, and NightBlades (assassins) aren't nearly as cool as they should be. They're like crappy archers without all of the cool bow abilities.

Sensitivity

2009-08-31T21:49:00.002-05:00

Well, I did a stupid.

Skulle has been a bit twitchy lately. I think it's a combination of several factors. We just brought Lucrezia, Jess' new Ball Python, home a few months ago. So he has a new neighbor. I've also been practicing to have him for RenFest, for which I have to keep his head and tail away from the public, while keeping his middle available for them to pet. I'm typically very passive when I hold him, so he's not so keen on me taking a more active role in controlling his movements.

Tonight, we warmed some mice, then fed one to Lucy. I then moved to feed Skulle right away. He was immediately tense, since he'd been smelling warm mice for half an hour at that point. When I went to put him in the feeding bin, he undoubtedly smelled Lucy's smell in the bin, and freaked out. He coiled around my hand in a death grip and wouldn't get down. I reached for him, and he snapped at me (and missed.) I tried offering him some food to get him down, and he turned around and bit me on the wrist. I couldn't exactly react, as he was still firmly wrapped around the attached hand. It barely hurt, and to be honest my feelings are far more hurt than my body. I dunno. We'll see how it goes.

Scheduled

2009-08-10T23:52:00.004-05:00

Jess noticed that, without any particular activity to make me be productive, I do as little as humanly possible on an average day. In an attempt to combat this, she has begun making weekly schedules for me. Time is set aside for writing, reading, disc golf, cooking, cleaning, doing dishes, and working on some of my larger, as-yet-untouched projects that have to be completed by the end of August. While I find myself chaffing at times under the constraints of time, I have been much more productive with this schedule than I ever would have been otherwise, and have made good progress both on my Student Teaching Profile, which needs to be turned in by mid-September, and my re-write of Midsummer Night's Dream, which I wouldn't even have read over yet if not for her.

In other news, I got over my bronchitis, but now I think I'm coming down with either a head cold or allergies, because I keep waking up in the mornings with an itch in my throat that whispers "post-nasal drip."

P.S. Lucy finally pooed... and it was freaking HUGE!

recuperation

2009-07-30T14:39:00.002-05:00

Well, I have two more days of antibiotics for my Bronchitis. One of the listed possible side effects of the medication is tendonitis. It says that, if you experience any swelling or bursting of tendons that you should discontinue the use of the medication immediately. Funny, then, that I developed a sore tendon in my knee last night. I'm waiting for a call from the doctor to tell me if I should continue with the medication for two more days or if I should stop. We'll see.

Jess has been down in the dumps because her new Ball Python, Lucrezia (Lucy), is preparing to shed, and hasn't come out of her cave in over a week. We also haven't seen her poo since we got her, so Jess is worried about Lucy's health. I keep trying to tell her that Lucy's fine, but Jess is prone to worrying.

My lower back is killing me.

OH! Good news. I have been in e-mail communication with the principal at Oak-Land. I have officially been given permission to return to direct the drama club this year, but this time we'll be doing it in the fall, not the spring. I'll be too busy student teaching this spring. We'll see how it goes. I have a month to do a modernized re-write of Midsummer Night's Dream.

Totally Suck

2009-07-23T05:01:00.002-05:00

Yeah.

I finished with my summer classes. I know for a fact that I got an A in Creative Dramatics for Teachers, and another in Teaching Literacy 5-12, but I'm not sure about Exceptionality yet... though Jeff, the professor, is a fairly easy grader who also happens to like me.

Then it struck. CrapKarma. The weekend before I finished my summer classes, I began to come down with a cough and fever. After nearly a week, I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Bronchitis. I was put on meds that are helping... barely. So just when I should be jobhunting and enjoying what's left of my summer, I'm stuck at home coughing my freaking lungs out!

In a vague attempt at remaining positive, Jess feels unable to complain about me playing video games while I'm sick.

Out of the job and into the meat grinder

2009-06-13T09:46:00.003-05:00

Well, my last week at Oak-Land was also my first week of summer classes at Hamline. I'm taking 8 credits, which was the same full-time load I've taken every semester, but this time it's being administered in three half-term classes that meet a total of four times a week. That means I'm at Hamline Monday through Thursday every week for the next month and a half. The rest of my time should consist of homework. Oh, holy crap. See you in a month, most likely... at which time I need to find a part-time job.

Greetings from Duluth

2009-05-25T09:06:00.003-05:00

Friday at work, everybody was asking what we were doing for the long weekend. Since we had made no plans, I told them all, "Nothing." I was wrong, however.

Upon my return home Friday afternoon, Jess informed me that we were going to Duluth on Saturday for a three-day, two-night mini-break. We had room service, we went on a boat tour of the harbor area, we went on a scenic train ride, we visited the Great Lakes Aquarium, and we saw "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"... which was awesome, by the way.

The only thing that upsets me is that the nice little cafe downstairs is closed for Memorial day, so we can't get bagels for breakfast. Other than that, this has been great.

We also got the greatest souveniers ever: Little black gloves with cut-off fingers, and with a white skull and crossbones on the back of each! Freaking awesome!

Hatred - OR - The Moustachioed Madman

2009-05-17T22:42:00.002-05:00

It's Sunday night. My final project for my OTHER class is due tomorrow night. I don't want to do it. Do you know why? Because I have a moral problem with a teacher holding me to high standards when he obviously doesn't hold himself to any!

If I'm feeling vaguely sane in the next few days, maybe I'll explain that comment a bit more clearly.

Titania's Domain

2009-05-10T18:59:00.002-05:00

I bought a new laptop yesterday, as I lose my work laptop at the end of the school year. This because I'm not going to be back in the fall. Nevertheless, the important part is the new laptop. I have named her Titania, and she's freaking awesome. I'm typing this on her silky-smooth-actioned keyboard, and she runs games without breaking a sweat. I name her Titania because she's extremely powerful AND quite fickle (last night she decided that she didn't want to restart, and froze in place rather than comply. After a hard reset, however, she's been running like a dream... a sexy, frothy dream with sugary sprinkles on top.

But not in a creepy way...

One down

2009-05-08T11:45:00.002-05:00

Okay. Last night was the final class period of Teaching in Secondary Schools. Despite the fact that last night was the last class, we actually were given until next Thursday to finish our final project. It had been my intention to finish weeks ago (see previous posting), but that didn't happen. Wednesday came and went, and I figured that I would have to turn it in on Monday, but Thursday was a slow day at work, so I made the big push and got it done for class light night... with about 2 minutes to spare.

SO

FREAKING

RELIEVED.

Commitment... and being committed.

2009-04-24T09:29:00.002-05:00

I realized Tuesday that the only thing standing between me and finishing all homework for one of my classes (which has another three class periods) was that I needed to complete a presentation on Thursday, which I then needed to write a reflection on. So, now it's Friday. Aside from attending two plays this weekend, my only plans are to lock myself away and churn out the remainder of my homework, thus allowing me to relax through the remaining two classes. We'll see if I survive. Wish me luck.

Random observation

2009-04-23T08:02:00.002-05:00

African Folktales are pretty cool... but some of them are just plain wrong.

Homework sucks

2009-04-11T17:54:00.002-05:00

I love most of my classes in the MAT program. Most of them either fall under the categories of "Interesting" or "Interesting AND useful." In fact, only one class so far has fallen under a third heading, which I call "Annoying Hoop to Jump Through."

This semester I'm taking two classes. One is "Interesting," and the other is "Interesting AND useful." I enjoy both. There's just one tiny problem.

I don't want to do any more homework.

I feel more than just a bit burnt out. I'm trying, but the work isn't happening. I wrote my professor earlier this week to ask for a two-day extension on my assignment. I'm supposed to have it done and e-mailed to him tonight, and I just can't seem to get anywhere. It feels like I'm trying to use a solid wooden dowel as a straw. I'm trying really hard, but not really getting any results.

Grr.

April Fool's Day: Idiocy In Action OR Youth Inaction?

2009-04-01T08:03:00.003-05:00

It's April Fool's Day, and I'm sitting in my office. I don't need to be in my first hour class for ten more minutes. Unfortunately, most of the students won't be there, since the ninth graders are staging a sit-in in the hallway. OOH - it just got deadly quiet out there, and I now hear the assistant principal talking to them... and now there's a round of cheering.

Why are idiots so prone to idiocy? If I were an idiot, I'd want to do everything in my power to hide the fact. Why do some people continuously search for bigger and better ways to wave their dumbass flag?

Monday, March 23rd: Two days until I'm 31.

2009-03-23T07:39:00.003-05:00

Yes, the shows went very well. We made a whopping $56 in donations, which doesn't even cover our performance rights, not to mention the script purchases. Nevertheless, the shows went very well. I was very proud of the kids.

Then came "Spring Break Oh-Nine! WOOOOOOOOO!" I spent two days observing/helping out at another school for one of my grad classes, then I spent one day getting my car fixed and having lunch with my mother. Friday I had to be up bright and early to get Jess to LasikPlus, where she had her eyes done. The rest of the day alternated between video games (while she slept) and tending to her (when she was awake.)

Saturday I had to take Jess to a 9AM check-up to make sure her eyes were healing well enough. After that we got some iced chai and headed up to Forest Lake. I hadn't been back there since we moved out, but it was home to the Adevia salon and spa, and Jess had signed us up as an early birthday present to me. I had a one-hour massage, a facial, and at the last minute, Jess gave me her reflexology appointment. I've never felt so wonderful in my life as I did coming out of that massage.

It's now Monday the 23rd. I'm back to work. Yech. On the (possible) upside, I'm going to teach a lesson at Crosswinds this Friday.

27 Hours later

2009-03-11T11:56:00.003-05:00

It's noon. I'm still at home, but I started feeling WAY better about two hours ago. I haven't needed a tissue since 9 this morning. This afternoon is the LAST rehearsal before the big show tomorrow. I'm nervous as all get-out. I don't know what I have left to do at this point, however, besides hold on and (try to) enjoy the ride.

I think I almost accidentally typed "ennui the ride." That's funny.

Flarn, as Jason would say...

2009-03-10T09:04:00.003-05:00

It's Tuesday morning... 9:09 according to the clock on the TV (which tends to run 3 minutes fast.) Why am I writing from home on a school day? Because I'm sick as a dog. Two days before my drama club performs, and I'm laid up.

Yes, I'm dragging myself in for tonight's rehearsal. Yes, I can speak. Yes, I'm sniffling a lot, coughing rarely, and my nose and lips are chapped from dehydration and incessant nose blowing.

I was originally going to write myself a speech to give before the show started. At present, it looks like I'll be writing a curtain speech for somebody else to read on my behalf. Suck. On top of it all, Wednesday's rehearsal NEEDS to run long.

The nature of dreams... and why I'm an idiot.

2009-03-04T22:47:00.002-06:00

In high school I dated a girl named Kelly. Some of you know about this relationship, some of you don't. Suffice it to say that the relationship ended badly, and she never wanted to speak to me again... and to be honest, there were a few years in there that I never wanted to see her again. Time, however, is really good at two things: tearing down mountains, and mellowing me out. After a few years of loathing everything that she stood for and regretting everything that had passed between us, I forgave her and let it slip into the past.

There's one problem with the past. It doesn't stay there.

Two years ago, I was working at "The Bend." When things got slow, I'd surf the web. Most days I would just play games online, but every now and then I would think of somebody I knew in high school and wonder what had happened to them. Then I would internet search until I was sure that I had nothing, or until I found out what had become of this person. Sometimes the search would take 20 seconds on MySpace, and sometimes the search would take 30 minutes of hard-core googling... especially when it was somebody who had gotten married.

Kelly was one of the latter, but I found out that she had married a guy from Bethel, where she had gone to college. I also learned that they both worked for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and that he also worked as a playwright. Sounds great for them. I was happy for her.

Every now and then, however, I think of how she felt about me when last I spoke to her. I knew that I had forgiven her, and I had forgiven myself, but I wondered if she had managed to do the same. The thought would come to me, and disappear within a week.

Monday night, I had a really strange dream. I dreamt that a friend of Kelly's that I knew had just had a baby, and that I contrived to be visiting that friend in the hospital when Kelly came for a visit. There was a lot of awkward shuffling, but then a conversation started. That's where the dream got creepy. It was a musical. Even more bizarre, every time a musical number started, Brian Luke, a science teacher at Oak-Land, would walk by, stare at me, and laugh maniacally. I assume he thinks musicals are silly and/or frivolous. Either way, three scenes and two musical numbers later, the dream ended with Kelly and I being friends again.

Something about this dream got to me in a way that I hadn't expected. So tonight, I requested Kelly as a friend on Facebook. By the next time I logged on, she hadn't accepted my request, but she had changed her picture. Bad sign?

Like I said, I'm an idiot. Some people just can't let go.

The incessant march.

2009-03-01T18:08:00.002-06:00

I apologise for any typographical errors... I'm typing this with my glasses off.

I have two weeks left. Two weeks. Then my drama club play will be over, and I can sit back and fight to play catch-up with my Hamline classes. I'm not falling behind exactly, but I don't feel like I'm on top of things, either. I fully expect the next twelve days to be the longest and most difficult of the last five years. We'll see.

Did I mention: March 12th, 7 PM at Oak-L:and Junior High in Lake Elmo, MN. 820 Manning Ave, for those of you who care.

On the flip side: Jess bought a puzzle yesterday, and I find myself having trouble staying away. It's one of those photo-mosaic things, where the hundreds/thousands of tiny pictures make up one big picture. This is scenes from disney movies making a big Mickey Mouse. It's pretty cool.

Also, Jess had gotten frustrated with her diet. She's been maintaining weight for a couple months now, and she said either I joined her on the diet to give her some back-up, or she'd quit. I joined... and now I'm scared. Not much, but scared.

Gotta go. If I finish my homework tonight, we're going to begin re-watching the series of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

I am not communicative lately.

2009-02-24T06:20:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately. By the looks of things, neither have any of the people who normally read my blog.

Things are crazy right now. I'm working five days a week. Three of those days I go straight into Drama Club rehearsals after the work day ends. That takes me right up to 5 PM. Then it takes me about half an hour to get out of there, twenty minutes to get home, and I spend my evening doing homework (or avoiding it.) The other two nights of the week I get done with work at 2:45, hurry home, make sure my homework is done, and then fly off to class.

My drama club performance is on Thursday, March 12th at 7PM. Only a couple of the people who read my blog are even vaguely able to attend, but I hope they do.

I have to go make a pizza. Laters.

2009-02-09T06:58:00.003-06:00

I've come to realize a few things in the last 24 hours. While I don't wish to go into detail, I am going to sum up for those dear friends of mine who give a crap.

1. My priorities are out of whack, and I need to work on correcting them.

2. What started as an attempt to purge myself of an obsession has turned into binging an addiction (to Morrowind.)

3. I am a hypocrite. I complain about apathetic people, yet I let apathy hold me back from trying things all the time.

4. My wife has told me all of these things, and it didn't sink in until last night.

Hecticity

2009-02-06T12:10:00.002-06:00

...is that a word? My computer's dictionary says no, but I remain resolute in my belief that it should be.

So, yeah.

Monday: Stop off at Wal-Mart on my way to work and buy over $100 in supplies for the reorganization of the Theatre storage rooms. Average day at work that seemed to drag on abnormally long, rehearsal was painful and felt relatively unproductive.

Tuesday: Another average work day with a time dilation effect. Afterwards I run up to Menards and spend $300 on MORE storage supplies. Squeeze everything into the car except for the lumber and take it back to school. Take an hour to assemble three sets of shelves, run back to Menards, intending to take the lumber home with me overnight. There's just one problem: It doesn't fit into my car. So I stick it in the trunk, tie down the trunk door, and take off back towards school... and take a wrong turn. Fifteen minutes later I find a road that I recognize and head back to school, dump the lumber, head home, and pass out.

Wednesday: Yet another time-dilated average day. Afterwards I had a "clean-up day" for the Drama Club. Over two hours of cleaning and reorganizing. We didn't finish. With half an hour left to go, Jess calls me and tells me that she has a flat tire. She gets to a gas station and realizes that she has no tire gauge. She hobbles home and I run out of the clean-up right at 5 to pick up Jess and take her to her evening class. Upon returning home, I take Jess' car to refill the tire... seeing if the tire will hold if refilled. It seems to hold, so I take her car to pick her up from class. After picking her up, I get two blocks from Century when the tire blows. We hobble to the gas station on the corner. Jess calls for a tow, and I call for a ride.

Thursday: I call in sick. I take Jess to work, run to Goodyear, and pick out a set of tires for her car. (Only one tire blew, but the other three were nearly bald.) I run home, relax for all of 45 minutes, then run to grab Jess some lunch. I get it to her, then run to Oak-Land for clean-up, Part II. Roughly 6 students show up, but we muddled through. I then run back to get Jess, take her to pick up her car, and dash to Hamline, arriving with two minutes to spare for the first meeting of my new class, "Teaching in Secondary Schools." It was a good class. It was a professor that I'd had before, and I knew 5 of the 20 students in the room (including myself.)

Friday: Time dilation is a serious problem this week. I've got a rehearsal tonight, then I intend to go home and veg out with a movie. Perhaps with a video game. Preferably with the company of my beloved spouse. Tired. Urgh.

sorry for the delay

2009-01-31T10:39:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted in over two weeks. I'm normally better about updating than this, but lately every time I sign onto blogger I find myself growing surly and despondent, leaving me with the urge to say nothing.

Yesterday was Jess' birthday. After I got home from rehearsal we had dinner and then picked up Matt. Then the three of us went to see "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"

We all loved it, but I think I liked it better than Jess, mostly since I'm a sucker for the romantic plotline (which they really didn't hint at in the commercials, oddly enough.)

Rehearsals are... okay. (Pushing the surly monster from the room - excuse me.)

Rehearsals are... okay. I'm doing two short shows. The first, "The Actor's Nightmare," is going really well. It has a fairly small cast, and they've done a decent job of focussing and getting the work done. The second is called "This is a Test" and it certainly is. While yesterday's rehearsal went well, most of the previous rehearsals have been endless tests of my patience. I don't want to hate that show, but if something doesn't change I probably will.

In the last few weeks I've gotten back into my Morrowind obsession. I'm currently working to purge myself of the obsession by actually having a character beat the Main Quest, which I've never done. I feel that the recent slaying of my first Ash Vampire was a step in the right direction. As I recently found out with the game Fable, nothing kills a quest-based game like completing all of the quests. I can't even look at the Fable disc anymore. (Though I'm sure I will again someday.)

That's about it. I'm turning 31 in two months, but I feel way older than that. Stressful shows always make me feel ancient and tired. OH, and I start classes this week. (hooray.)

Breakfast of Champions

2009-01-13T12:10:00.002-06:00

Rold Gold pretzels with reduced fat skippy. Add iced tea and it's also the lunch of champions... at least today. The economy, don'tcha know.

The last few weeks of my life seem drawn out into a list of things I'm putting off: Ordering shelves/organizers for the Drama Club, feeding Skulle his mid-hibernation meal, and... I'm sure there was more than two things. I'm just bored. I'm sitting in a civics class watching the kids take a final test on the bill of rights. This is just SO exhilarating that I can hardly stand it. (I'm being facetious.)

Rehearsals are going fairly well. There are two shows, and three rehearsals a week. One show meets Monday and half of Wednesday. That show is going VERY well. The other show meets the other half of Wednesday and on Friday. Some of the kids in that cast make me wish murder wasn't illegal. No, not really... but almost...

Jess is job hunting, which I know first-hand can be a mind-numbing and soul-killing process. I admire what a trooper she's being about it. She also starts back to her classes at Century tomorrow. I hope she likes Accounting. I would like very much for Jess to find something she enjoys to do with her life.

I on the other hand, don't go back to school until the first week of February. Gotta hate J-Term. On the upside, my classes are only on the days I don't have drama club, so I should have a whopping 30 seconds of downtime on any given day.

Check it out!

2009-01-09T06:35:00.001-06:00

Fillbrandt Review now has reviews of three movies.

Need... Sleep...

2009-01-06T11:31:00.003-06:00

I went to bed early last night, and nearly overslept this morning. I had such a freaking long day yesterday... on top of which, I only got three hours of sleep Sunday night, so I was running on empty from the beginning. Then I went from 4AM to 9PM with only iced tea, cheerios, a salad, and one and a half breadsticks. Today I do feel rested, but I'm getting a wicked-nasty headache. My smiles for the day:

1) The new season of "Scrubs" begins tonight!
2) I don't have drama club rehearsal this afternoon.
3) I think I will finish bringing back the legend of the Bal Molagmer this afternoon.

Second Blog

2009-01-05T00:08:00.003-06:00

Jess and I have a new blog together for reviewing plays (and movies too, I suppose) that hasn't had anything written until now... and what has been written isn't even a review... it's an intro. Either way, I hope our friends will check it out:

The Fillbrandt Review

Christmas... a sad commentary on the broken family.

2008-12-26T23:24:00.004-06:00

Yeah.

Oh, a title isn't enough for you? Picky bastards.

Without saying too much, I will say this: Christmas is the holiday where extended families gather to rub noses in the vast differences between the social class of various siblings... even when those social differences are imagined.

On a happier note, my brother told me that he'd like to see if cutting cheese from my diet would allow me to drink mass quantities of alcohol without breaking out in hives. I don't know if I like his experimental method ("Doing tequila from a ladder?") but the conversation itself was fun.

Drama Club Drama

2008-12-20T18:17:00.001-06:00

I have a cast. Two, actually. I have a crew. I have some wonderfully talented actors. I also have thirty plus teenagers with so much extra energy that I'm waiting for their skins to split and reveal a nuclear reaction inside many of them!

We've had two rehearsals already, with mixed results... but I am very hopeful.

Let's just hope it stays that way.

Auditions, day 2

2008-12-17T08:28:00.001-06:00

It's sad that I wrote my previous post only hours ago and I barely remember typing it. Oh well.

Auditions are tonight, and I'm hoping for a much better turnout. I even have one student that I'm supposed to audition during second hour today. Wonder how that will go.

Wish me luck.

Auditions, Day 1

2008-12-16T06:54:00.002-06:00

Okay, well...

For the informational meeting, we had over 40 kids in attendance. I thought to myself, "surely I can pull it off with these numbers!"

Yesterday was the first day of auditions. 17 people auditioned, 5 of them only wanted to be techies. Of the six males that showed up, three only wanted to be techies, two had great inflection but no volume, and the last had good volume but no personality. I wanted to weep.

Here's hoping that Wednesday goes MUCH FREAKING BETTER!

It starts

2008-12-12T07:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was on my way out of the building when I was stopped by the head secretary. Apparently after the Drama Club informational meeting, several of the kids were running rampant through the building... and we've already garnered a complaint. Mr. Mike is NOT happy.

... and chained again.

2008-12-10T06:49:00.003-06:00

Yeah, it goes like this:

Last Wednesday I finished my last class session for Theory to Practice, officially ending the fall semester for me. I enjoyed the freedom - spending more quality time with Jess, being able to watch shows I liked on Monday and Wednesday nights, putting up our Christmas tree, being able to play marathon sessions of Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii...

But today, that ends.

This afternoon I am holding an informational meeting of the Oak-Land Junior High Drama Club, with auditions set for next week. This means that between now and mid-March, I am going to be ridiculously busy... especially once February hits, when I'm running rehearsals AND attending classes at the same time!

Here goes nothing.

UPDATE: 12/11/08
The meeting went well, but those kids are going to be DAMNED hard to keep under control. I'm also fairly excited that one of the students that showed up had a sign language interpreter with her. Could make for an interesting experience.

I'm FREE!

2008-12-04T06:56:00.003-06:00

As of 8:30 last night, I am finished with my fall semester classes! I'm so happy I could vomit. Now I've got just under two weeks to get ready for auditions and start working to block the Drama Club show. Since I can use this show to "test out" of having to do the "Senior Project" class for my Hamline Theatre requirement, I have to document the crap out of this show! I refuse, however, to let this dampen my giddy mood!

POST 200!

2008-12-02T16:35:00.003-06:00

And what crappy news to be a part of it!

Sunday night, Jess wasn't feeling well. We chalked it up to her eating a potato dish that contained heavy cream, what with her being lactose intolerant and all. Lo and behold when the severe stomach pain and nearly continuous visits to the restroom culminated to a 4 AM trip to the ER.

Turns out Jess has a viral infection in her intestines. Nothing to do but give her pain medication and something for the nausea while her body takes care of it. Doesn't make it any better, though.

The dangers of cooking with cream for the lactose intolerant...

2008-11-30T21:06:00.003-06:00

I'm not lactose intolerant, thank God. Jess is, however, which is leading to her missing a great Vikings game. Too bad. Every time she comes out, however, she gets more good news.

There was an insane amount of food consumed this weekend. I'm actually somewhat relieved to be finished with it all.

Good to catch up with some friends over the long weekend. I look forward now to winter break, when more of the same can occur.

Stewing

2008-11-23T21:59:00.005-06:00

I tend to go in waves with my gaming. I'll play a game for a few weeks like I can never get enough of it, only to lose interest and not touch it for a year, only to pick it up again for another mad flurry of gaming madness.

Last year for NaNoWriMo, I began writing a novel entitled "Ogur Dreemz", about an Ogre whose dreams lead him on a quest. This year, since I knew that I would never have time to crank out another 50,000 words on a brand new novel, I decided that I would make a serious effort to simply finish writing last year's novel.

I'm nowhere close to finishing. In fact, I haven't even reached another 10k. But wait... that's not the point.

The point is that working on Ogur Dreemz again has gotten me into one of those moods where I pick up an old game again that I haven't touched in a while. Enclave is an action game. You start with a single warrior and battle your way through a series of quests, gaining allies, weapons, armor, and money along the way. You can play through either as the forces of Light or Darkness. Personally, I prefer the forces of Darkness. Sure, you start off with an assassin (archer) for your first warrior, but their story arc is much more interesting. And one of the allies that eventually joins you is an Ogre...

Last night, I buckled. I decided that I absolutely HAD to play Enclave. I put away the disc for the game I had been playing, and flipped through my CD wallet to grab the disc... and it's not there.

Over the last 24 hours, I've done about 8 hours of homework, 6 hours of sleep, and a solid 4 hours of looking for that f***ing CD. There is no way in hell that it got left behind either time that we moved, but WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!?

I'm sorry. I'll stop ranting about things you don't care about... for now.

UPDATE: Tuesday, November 25th. I found the disc when I got home yesterday. I spent my evening mercilessly slaying the pathetic defenders of Celenheim. There's nothing quite like a fully equipped Orc Bombardier and Evil Sorceress to soothe my soul.

Crunch Time

2008-11-21T09:01:00.003-06:00

Deadlines are swiftly approaching for the final projects in each of my classes... and yet I'm still not getting the work done. My tendency to procrastinate is rearing its ugly head... BIG TIME. Add to which that the script for one of my shows has come in, so I was reading that last night, I have Thanksgiving plans to hammer out, a NaNoWriMo novel I've barely touched in a couple weeks, and plays to plan... then I have two papers and a presentation for one class, and a presentation with powerpoint and a handout guide for the other... I'm just crawling in my own skin.

Oh yeah, and my Anti-Lock brake light popped on during my morning commute.

On the upside... that script that arrived. I had only read an excerpt before. Now that I've read the whole thing, I'm even more excited. This thing is hilarious!

Financial Recording

2008-11-18T12:18:00.002-06:00

So, a while ago I got a grant of $1325 for the Oak-Land Drama club. While I was focused on how this would enable me to do something really special with the club, I failed to realize that I would be required to account for ever nickel, dime, and penny. Dude, this sucks.

On the upside, I ordered my scripts today. Seventeen copies of "This is a Test" and seven copies of "The Actor's Nightmare." Should be fun. I'm thinking of calling the show, "Delightful Dementia - an evening of short plays." Tomorrow I have to order the supplies for reorganizing the prop and costume storage rooms... which I'm definitely NOT looking forward to.

"... get your money for nothin' and your chicks for free..."

Flashbacks... argh, no!

2008-11-14T21:11:00.004-06:00

So, I don't know if I've explained about the clusterfuck that is a part of my class.

I'm taking a class right now called Theory to Practice. I enjoy the class. However, one part of the grade is dependent upon my doing 15 hours of observation in a junior high classroom at a urban school. Part of the "urban" definition requires a certain level of cultural diversity within the student body.

About a week and a half ago, I had my first day of observation at Murray Junior High in St. Paul. I felt like I connected really well with the teacher. I asked some really good questions (or so I thought,) and she did an excellent job of answering those questions. I felt like a rapport was created, and I felt that I could learn a lot from this teacher.

Later that day, I got home and checked my Hamline e-mail and got a letter from the guy whose job it was to set up our observation positions. He told me that there was a scheduling change, and that I would have to finish my observation hours with another teacher at another school. I was upset, but I was willing.

Today was the first of my two days at Hazel Grove Middle School Academy. Dear God. The first period was an advisory class (read Homeroom) and they were a wonderful group of kids. Then, with each passing hour, the kids became progressively louder and quickly grew out of control. Add to which that the teacher was a slob - he had unpacked boxes all over the room more than two months into the school year. He has a coffee pot behind his desk that, while obviously receiving daily use, looks like it receives bicentennial cleanings. There were papers scattered all over his desk, the demonstration table looked like it had been hit by a tornado, and the kids were absolutely wild. I haven't seen anything that bad since my very worst days working Special Education at Mankato East.

I still have to put in another half day of observation in his room on Monday. I hope I can freaking survive. By the time I got home, I had a crushing headache that was so bad my eye was twitching... like I was suffering a psychotic break or something!

In other news, I have all but given up on the idea of finishing NaNoWriMo this year. I am putting forth an effort to finishing in the next few months - they have a deal for the winners of last year to get a free paperback copy of their novel printed - but I'm not going to knock myself out over this sucker.

I also had a great moment on Thursday with one of my drama club kids. I was transferred into an eighth grade civics class around the first quarter midterm. Civics isn't my thing, but somebody somewhere hates me, so I was put with this difficult kid in a class I never did so well in myself. The upsides: The teacher is really easy to work with, and two of my drama club kids are in there. Thursday they got a new seating chart. "T", (names changed to protect the innocent) walked in and looked at the seating chart, setting off an explosive tantrum. The teacher quickly cracked down, explaining that such behavior was not to be tolerated. When the kids were released for lunch, I asked T to stay behind and talk.

I explained that only "babies, toddlers, and spoiled children" threw tantrums, and that I knew she wasn't a baby or toddler, and that I was hopeful that she wasn't a spoiled child. I then had a brief discussion with her about how adults address problems in a responsible manner. I talked to her about what the problem was she had with the seating chart, and suggested how best to ask the teacher's assistance in solving the problem. I felt like a grown up, and I felt like I had made a really positive impact. By the time she got back from lunch, she had thought it over, and decided that the problem wasn't that bad, and could perhaps be endured. I played the role of the proud papa.

I doubt that any of you care about my tale that's plays like a lost episode of "The Facts of Life," but it felt significant to me. Just felt the need to share. I just wish I could have that kind of effect on the SpEd kids.

Changes have been made...

2008-11-11T17:45:00.004-06:00

...and I have survived them. Now my biggest concern is the massive amount of homework due tomorrow night for my Theory to Practice class. I want to say that this class is being filed as "Useful," but it isn't. On the upside, it also isn't going to be filed as "Hoop I had to jump through." This one will be filed as "Interesting," though it maybe drifted toward the Hoopy end of the file.

I'm freezing. I'm just about halfway to today's NaNoWriMo goal. House is on tonight. How will I handle it all? I doubt that I will. "...and God bless us, every one... even if we may or may not believe in him." I know... why do I capitalize God, but not him when referring to God? Call me fickle. I said, call me fickle, you feckless maggots! I am the Lord of Light and Darkness! Bow before my glory!

I'm sorry for that outburst. I feel better now.

Ode to Mixed Signals

2008-11-08T02:28:00.002-06:00

Um, Jess and I had an argument the other night. I started out writing a vaguely free-verse poem matching the above title about it, but in the end the poem was far too personal to share. Suffice it to say that I suddenly have EVEN MORE on my mind that work, classes, the swift-approaching start of Drama Club, and NaNoWriMo.

Life's a bitch.

A political story

2008-11-05T07:56:00.002-06:00

It was during the 2004 Democratic National convention that I saw a Keynote speech by a charismatic and passionate man running to become an Senator for Illinois. As I watched his speech I wondered aloud, "Why can't I vote for HIM instead?" Yesterday, I did vote for that man, and it payed off. Big Time.

WOOHAH!

2008-11-04T22:22:00.001-06:00

Yeah. Just watched McCain's concession speech. I've gotta give credit where it's due: He went out with style and grace.

Oh yeah, and OBAMA ROCKS!

When Eras Trade Off...

2008-11-02T13:52:00.002-06:00

Halloween: I had been so busy getting ready for our party that I found myself on Halloween morning without having figured out what costume to wear to work. I didn't want to wear my Santa outfit... I wore that last year. I settled for grabbing my RenFest costume. It was suggested that I was either Dracula or William Shakespeare. Wrong on both counts. Then I came home, changed clothes, and cleaned. There was only one thing that I had meant to do that never got done, but nobody seemed to notice, so I won't give it away here.

So, the party... We had invited 40 people or so. I had two people say that they would definitely be here, and about a dozen people said they might be able to make it. So... here's who actually showed up:

Myself
Jess
Matt (Jess' brother)
Evan (Matt's roommate)
Sean
Becky

Yup. That's it. I'm very grateful to those who did come. I'm also grateful to those who were given honorary invitations that I knew couldn't make it. We shared stories about Creme de Mint, and it was almost like you were here... also a story about denting a car with one's head after a drunken fall. Teehee.

Then November arrived. NaNoWriMo. I had previously promised myself that I would use this month to try finishing Ogur Dreemz, but that I wouldn't hold myself to the 50,000 words goal. Oddly enough, now that November is here, I find myself wanting very much to keep pace and pass the finish line again. We'll see how that goes. I just have to make sure that my homework comes first. Damn.

Today we went to Saint Sabrina's to get a few tiny spots touched up on Jess' tattoo. a few spots in the dress didn't take the ink well, so we had made an appointment several weeks ago for Bleach to redo those spots. It seriously took him longer to set up than it took for him to do the work. Now it's just a lazy day of television, NaNoWriMo-ing, and homework. And did I mention that we're also doing laundry?

RARGH!

2008-10-28T09:38:00.003-05:00

So, I'm on my way to work this morning when I notice that, while sitting at an intersection, my temp gauge starts spiking. Big time. I get to work and pop the hood to find two things that seriously concern me:

1) my coolant tank is empty
2) there's a river of coolant trickling down one of my belts, then falling to the ground below.

I SO can't afford this kind of setback right now. F-in' A!

What's New

2008-10-27T09:15:00.003-05:00

Jess had her last performance of Twelfth Night yesterday, and came home with a sore throat that progressed steadily as the evening wore on. Sadly, Jess and I are both the kind of people who become helpless and pathetic when we're ill. Luckily, I don't think we've ever been sick at the same time. I just felt horrible leaving this morning, though. She's going to drag herself to work anyway, mostly because we can't afford for her to miss any work right now. I just felt bad.

Less than a week to our party, and we only have two confirmed guests other than ourselves: Sean and Jess' brother. Add to than a dozen maybes and 10 people who haven't responded yet. This party will either be great or totally blow.

OH YEAH! Apparently Oak-Land, in an effort to keep pushing math on their students, is REQUIRING students to dress up as MATH TERMS FOR HALLOWEEN! How freaking lame is that?!? One class that I sit in on is, as a lesser action, having each kid decorate one digit of pi, which they will wear for a group photo. They have to get in order without speaking, as well. Pretty Awesome, huh (dripping with sarcasm).

Seriously, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and it seems as though the heavens are striving to ruin it for me this year.

I've got homework to do. Gotta go. Laters.

When a good song gets better...

2008-10-24T00:27:00.002-05:00

I was browsing SCRUBS clips on YouTube tonight when I happened across the following cover of "Hey Ya" by The Love Below. I hope you enjoy it NEARLY as much as I do. I like the original, but I freaking Love this version.

A glimpse

2008-10-23T09:00:00.004-05:00

Well, I finished my Wednesday night class "Families, Schools, and Communities," in which I'm expecting an A, and have started "Theory to Practice." I like the professor, but class gets to be a bit long. Not enough variety of activity to keep us fully engaged for 3.5 hours. I'm a little nervous, however, since one of the class requirements is 15 hours of observation in an urban school... that's 15 hours that I need to miss work. I feel a "flu" coming on, cough, cough. Never mind that I just got a flu shot yesterday!

Jess and I are hosting a Halloween party, but I'm a bit worried. Jess and I will be there, probably her brother as well, but at present we have about a dozen "Maybes," a bunch of "No," and a bunch more of "Haven't RSVPed yet." Getting a little annoying.

I've decided that, given the opportunity, I would do nothing all day but watch Scrubs and play DragonFable. I wonder if there is any way to make a living that way. Ever since the Mogloween decorations got loaded on DragonFable, I've been playing incessantly.

Skulle is preparing to shed, but I was expecting it to happen days ago, so I'm beginning to grow a bit concerned. Then again, I haven't fed him lately, which typically helps to stretch out the shed layer a bit. Guess I'm just a nervous nellie where he's concerned.

Jess is talking about getting her Masters of Library Science with an emphasis as an Archivist. Milwaukee offers an entirely online program. Fascinating.

Uh... yeah. Need to buy groceries. Sorry, I got nothin'.

An Apology...

2008-10-19T23:49:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I've been busy with work, school, and wrestling with a malaise of spirit that's taking a lot out of me. Unfortunately, I'm still wrestling, so I'm still not posting.

PS My spirits are somewhat lifted because DragonFable has loaded their Mogloween decorations for the Halloween season, and the quests from last year are available. The new Mogloween quest goes live this coming Friday.

Stress and Relief

2008-10-14T08:17:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was massively stressful on two levels:

1. Upon my own request, I had a meeting with the principal of Oak-Land to discuss changes to the Drama Club Program. I was unbelievably nervous all day. Then I got into the meeting and he was in agreement with almost everything that I had to say. He was understanding, accommodating, and very easy to work with. I guess I've gotten a slightly skewed view of him in my brief dealings with him, so I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the meeting. One less thing to be stressed about.

2. I had a group project presentation for my Education & Cultural Diversity class last night. We had been working for weeks on a presentation about our assigned cultural group (Asian Americans) and how they relate to the achievement gap. Sadly, one of my group partners had her apartment go up in flames last week, and several of our visual aids were destroyed. Nonetheless, I thought that it all went fairly well. I nearly panicked, though, when my group members asked me to go over a slide that had nearly nothing to do with me. Like I said, went well. 'Nuff said.

No homework for tomorrow... I finished one Wednesday class last week, and begin the other tomorrow.

Education and the idiots that love it

2008-10-09T06:55:00.002-05:00

Last night was the final session of my class, "Families, Schools, and Communities." This makes me relax, but beginning next week I have another class (In the same time slot!!!) to replace it. This makes me tense, but then I remember that I don't have any homework for that class to worry about this week. This makes me relax, but then I remember that in my Monday night class I have a major presentation to give, and my group is SO not ready. This makes me tense... with no more factors to make me relax again.

Oh, wait! Jess and I are holding a Halloween movie-night party. October 31st, 7ish to whenever people get sick of us, BYOBeverage and favorite horror films. It makes me relax to think of us having friends over, but it makes me tense to think of how much cleaning we have to do by then. Damn... still stuck on tense.

And work is slowly draining me of my soul. Extra tense.

Odd jobs

2008-10-05T01:02:00.004-05:00

My mother-in-law moved to Ripley, NY last spring to take care of her parents, who were rapidly approaching the point of being unable to care for themselves. She and her husband packed up and took off, their house of nearly twenty years placed on the market.

Yeah, the... real estate... market. About that...

A few weeks ago, a "specialist" was called in to tell them what needed to be done to sell the house. Luckily for us, several of the things to be done were hired out to me and Jess. So, today we headed over to the house (all of two blocks from our apartment) and started on the list. For some odd reason, working with a screwdriver for extended periods of time makes me jittery. My hands started shaking and I had trouble walking downstairs. We were there for about three hours.

Then we got home. Guess what we did! We cleaned, we put up Halloween decorations, we put the knobs from Robyn's kitchen drawers on our drawers. Apparently cream colored knobs with pretty little flowers on them that match the motif of the rest of the kitchen aren't as fashionable as brushed brass. What a load. Anyway, the handles look great in our kitchen, much better than what we had.

Now I can't sit on the couch. There's Halloween decorations all over. Oh well. We'll get it figured out tomorrow.

Reunion and Reconciliation

2008-09-29T00:27:00.003-05:00

This last weekend, the MSU Mankato Department of Theatre and Dance hosted a reunion. It was lightly attended, probably fewer than 40 former students in all, but there were several from my time there, and it was really interesting to catch up with some people that I hadn't seen or heard from since 2004. It was fun to share stories, and I felt for the first time in a long time that I didn't have to be embarrassed by what I had been doing with my life. That was the thing that killed my about both of my high school reunions: at the time I always felt like I had been wasting my life when compared to people I had gone to school with. Having a serious direction in my life has apparently helped with some inferiority issues that had been tumbling around in my head.

Anyway, after the Saturday festivities, several of us congregated (unofficially) at BW3's downtown, and then moved across the street to Pub 500. I was sober cabbing Jess home afterwards, and she had more than she has in a long time. She wasn't blitzed, but she was definitely happy. The funny thing: while under the influence of alcohol, she and another MSU stage manager that she had always felt awkward around got to talking and cleared the air between them. It was really quite cute.

Then I had to get Jess water, saltines, and a plastic bag for the long ride home. She was just fine, though it was 4:30 in the morning by the time we got to bed.

Funny thought:

2008-09-25T00:34:00.001-05:00

I mentioned at some point that there's a woman in my Families, Schools, and Communities class that reminds me of Michele Gressman Benesh. Even scarier was the realization tonight that a guy in the class reminds me of her husband, Jason. I was mentally pairing them together for half of the night... and yeah, they almost look as cute together as the Benesh clan.

Dependence: a downside

2008-09-22T21:48:00.001-05:00

I hate it when you're working on a group project, and there's that one guy in the group that you just know in your heart of hearts isn't pulling his share of the load, and you're seriously doubting if he's going to come through before the project is due. Hate. It.

Slow week

2008-09-19T21:44:00.003-05:00

Stayed home sick from work on Monday, but drugged myself up and dragged my sorry ass to class that night. Had a very slow and annoying week at work, but I managed to get a few things of minor import accomplished. Wednesday night class was fun. My instructor looks vaguely like Dustin Hoffman, which makes me giggle in my heart of hearts.

Thursday night we went to the MoA for several hours. Jess looked for an outfit for next weekend's MSU Theatre & Dance reunion, but didn't get anything. Then she got some nails put on. Not sure what I think of them.

Last night we went shopping for outfits again, but ran out of time - the store was closing. We put a few items on hold and planned to go back today.

Today (Saturday): We go to visit my mother, after which we were planning to head back to the store to continue shopping. Instead, Jess gets a call after an hour at my mother's house telling her that she is called for rehearsal today, and that they are running act 2, which she isn't in, but they've added her. WTF?

So I'm typing this from the "lounge" at Century College while she rehearses for a scene that she wasn't supposed to be in. She's not happy, and neither am I.

Oh yeah... I saw this really goofy YouTube video a LONG time ago, and hadn't thought of it since, but it popped back into my head while we were walking around the MoA Thursday night. DAMN!

Have fun, suckas!

Hell is a 20 minute break

2008-09-16T10:03:00.003-05:00

I drugged myself up, packed some Halls cough drops and facial tissues, and got myself to work today. Actually, I didn't get myself to work, since today was my first day of carpooling to work three days a week... Anyway, I'm here.

The hardest part of my day is my break. Third "hour" is a twenty minute advisory (read homeroom) and I'm not assigned to be anywhere... it constitutes 20 of my 30 minutes of paid break each day. The problem is, it's not enough time to do anything.
If I needed to run to the bank or out to get some lunch, I couldn't. I don't have enough time. Besides which, most places I might go to for lunch aren't open until 11, so my 9:54-10:14 break REALLY won't work for that.

Last year the schedule was different. I had my break back to back with my lunch, so there was plenty of time for errands. Now I don't even feel like I can get any significant reading done, no useful web-searching, I can't even get a decent amount of paperwork done (assuming that I'm stupid enough to do any on my duty-free lunch.)

I don't know. I'm sick and I felt like whining. Hope I didn't hurt your ears too much.

Sick as a dog, and a TON of homework to do.

2008-09-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

Yup. That about sums it up.

Mental Scream

2008-09-11T19:04:00.003-05:00

I feel so very frustrated at the moment. I'm NOT going to work on homework right now, and that leaves me in a bit of a pickle. I'm trying to kill time, just me and my laptop, and I don't know what to do. There's nothing on the web that grabs my attention, I'm burnt out on many of my favorite computer games... in fact, at the moment I'm a bit burnt out on several of my pc games and web-based games as well (except for nosTale, but that's only available on my home desktop, and I'm not at home right now.)

So I tried working on Ogur Dreemz. I wrote half a paragraph synopsis of the brilliant idea I had a few days ago for what should happen next, but I am utterly uninspired to actually write the next section.

I don't know... I need an outlet for my frustrations, and find myself to be without any. Grr.

Laters.

By the way, I'm running for President

2008-09-08T11:39:00.002-05:00

Top Story!!!

too early

2008-09-08T06:29:00.002-05:00

It's 6:38 right now. My heart is beating too fast, which is to say that it's going fast enough for me to be awake, which sucks. Yawn.

I start my second class tonight, which will be hellish, since I'm struggling to find time to work on the homework for the one class I have had! Part of that, however, is because I volunteered to go the second week for a project for which different groups had different due dates. Now I have to finish all the crappy follow-up in addition to my other homework.

Basically, I'm bitching about things that I knew would happen, because they're worse than I had previously imagined... and to top it all off, I still haven't gotten my financial aid, and therefore don't yet have the textbooks for tonight's class. I've never yet needed the book for the first week of class, however, so I'm hopeful. I need breakfast.

I'll shut up now.

Paradigm shift (pronounced pair-uh-dig-um)

2008-09-04T11:52:00.005-05:00

Jess is adjusting. Today she starts a new part time job she got through Jeane Thorne, which means that yesterday was her final day with NorCostCo. She's super nervous about the new job, but I'm really excited for her.

Myself: I was none too pleased last week when I received my schedule for the coming semester at Oak-Land. Now that I'm actually living it... it's not too bad. I've got two pre-algebra classes, a 20 minute break, an advanced wood shop class (what the hell am I doing in there?!?), after which I sit in a resource room for 50 minutes hoping that somebody shows up needing help (what's where I'm writing this from) then lunch. After lunch I go through two science classes, one of which is a skills class specifically for special needs students. While I've been told that schedule modifications are on the way, I don't mind this so much. So far it's much less stressful than what I'm used to.

Last night at Hamline, I had my second class of Schools, Families, and Communities. Aside from doing a presentation that had me seriously sweating, we also had a guest speaker who spoke about a few organizations that I thought sounded very cool. The links are included here:
The Shinnyo-en Foundation
Six Billion Paths to Peace

Other than that, I realized that I had FOUR MAJOR ASSSIGNMENTS to work on in the next week, and my other class starts Monday! Have to get a head start, I suppose...

PS There's a gal in my Schools, Families, and Communities class that TOTALLY reminds me of a certain Michele Gressman Benesh. It's almost creepy. Same coloring, build, hair, vocal quality, and manner of speaking/expression. It's "mind-bottling!"

Laters.

A bit on my real life...

2008-08-29T10:37:00.003-05:00

Wednesday... yeah, Wednesday.

Jess came home at 11:00 after her third class of Beginning French I. She didn't go to work, she just came home, went in the bedroom, and shut the door. I tried talking to her, but she didn't want to talk about it.

Eventually it came out: she didn't qualify for financial aid at Century. They went so far as accusing her of picking up a couple of credits "just to get a student loan." I'm sorry, but why should she be punished for making a choice of college that would be more financially responsible? Why shouldn't she be applauded for going with the less expensive option, rather than penalized for having a bachelor's degree? What's wrong with this scenario?

Then I attended my first class of "Families, Schools, and Communities" which I suspect I'll like... all seven classes of it.

Thursday I went to an orientation/set-up day at Oak-Land. By 11:00 I was done doing anything truly useful. The rest of the day was puttering around, occasionally putting up a poster, and chatting with teachers I like (none of whom I'm with this year!)

Today I have homework to do, then I'm going hunting for a second job, and this evening I have to help Jess set up props for the show she's Stage Managing with New Breath Productions... possibly the last show she'll ever Stage Manage. (Burnout issues.)

On the upside, I just recently took some cute pictures of my and Skulle, though a few of them strung together look like a bad magic trick in progress! Showing here:

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

2008-08-26T13:29:00.002-05:00

Reading ~(~Negative) has exposed me to the works of Ill Doctrine, one of the more insightful speakers that I have ever heard. I found this nugget of a video celebrating the life and works of the late George Carlin. Hope you enjoy.

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

The staggering weight of reality

2008-08-22T15:11:00.001-05:00

I was recently reading from the ~(~Negative) blog of my dear friend JB, when he made a comment about being a moron. Specifically, he referred to himself as a moron.

Reading this, it struck me that "moron" is a moniker that I would never associate with Jason. It then struck me that, having used it himself, and being a self-processed misanthrope, he must have been as least partially telling the truth.

This brings be to the crux of my thought. It's difficult for anyone to admit their own shortcomings, especially in the area of intelligence. Even more so for people who believe themselves to be of above-average intelligence. So how much harder is it to hear someone refer to themselves as a moron when it is someone that you think of as (ahem) smarter than you.

I know many of my shortcomings, and even admit a few of them, but I'm not sure I would be brave enough to call myself moronic, even in the face of my most problematic areas.

I'm going to end this entry now. It's turning into a mash of fragmented thoughts. But I'm not a moron... I'm just not putting forth enough effort at the moment.

Just so you all know, and stop fretting over me...

2008-08-18T01:04:00.001-05:00

I finished my revisions to that last paper Sunday morning. I'm turning it in tomorrow and having done with it.

What?

2008-08-13T21:04:00.004-05:00

I have finished writing papers... kinda. I still have to revise my exploratory paper for Schools & Society, and I have to work up a 10-15 minute presentation based on my case study, but I'm sure that I can do it. The hard part is over, and I don't think I'm actually leaking any brain matter... though my ear does itch.

I'm going to take a break and watch the US dominate the Medal count.

Laters.

Trying to keep the gray matter from oozing out of my ears...

2008-08-12T12:18:00.003-05:00

I've written eleven papers in the last nine days. I still have two to write and one of the 11 to revise. The revision is to the twelve-page monster that I wrote last Monday and Tuesday. The two that I have left... well... one is 3 or 4 pages about the presentation I'm giving tonight. It's due by Friday, and can be turned in electronically. The other is another 10-12 page beast about the student observation that I just finished last night. As I write this on Tuesday, the paper is supposed to be turned in Thursday, but last week we were told that we could turn the paper in a few days late, as long as we're ready to give a PRESENTATION on it for Thursday. As for the revision... that's due a week from today, though I had hoped to have finished it for tonight... NO DICE!

I had a bitch of a weekend. Jess had a nervous breakdown (her words) and decided that she would like to go back to school. This means that she has two weeks to find a couple of part-time jobs to make up for the full-time job she'll be losing. I also have to find a weekend job to pick up the slack. I have a headache.

Funny, tickling little thought

2008-08-08T13:04:00.002-05:00

"Ordinarily, I'm not political, Wittman, but most people are so dumb, I
can't just stand by and enjoy having brains. We have to take
responsibility for the dumb people."
-Tana Ah Sing

This quote is from Tripmaster Monkey by Maxine Hong Kingston. I was cleaning out emails that I have saved on AOL (I need to delete it because I don't use it, and my computer is running like sludge) and came across this quote and grinned. Hope it does the same for all of you.

Just to show I can still rock!

2008-08-07T16:31:00.000-05:00

Confession

2008-08-07T14:17:00.004-05:00

I've become addicted to reruns of "Little House on the Prairie"... especially the later episodes.

Pretzels and Panic Mode

2008-08-06T01:15:00.004-05:00

My weekend was difficult and hectic. Difficult because I had a rough draft of my 10 page final paper due today (Tuesday) that I had barely started. Hectic because I did everything in my power to avoid working on it. I hate research papers... always have, always will.

I barely touched the thing on Saturday, mostly looking over my article sources and highlighting interesting and relevant passages. Relevant: Lots. Interesting: Few.

Sunday I did manage to do more, but again, it was mostly sorting through my source material, trying to get a handle on what I was working with.

Monday, I trucked off to Hamline's Bush Memorial Library at 9 AM and didn't leave until 7... at which point I was about halfway through.

I finished the rough draft at noon today, giving me just enough time to put together my contribution to a group presentation for next week. While at class I got my previous paper back (Philosophy of Education - got a great score on it!) and got some great constructive comments on my research paper from one of my classmates.

Let's see, that means I have my research paper to finish, nine School visit response papers, one School Board meeting response paper, one Literature Circle Reflection paper, and I STILL haven't managed to do the observation for my Ed. Psych Case Study paper, which is due in nine days.

Let's see, that means 12 papers in the next 14 days. Granted, ten of those are only a page long, but it is still massively daunting... and I haven't been doting on Skulle enough lately, either.

I'll munch on pretzels and go to bed now. It's WAAAAAAY past my bedtime.

New Title, New Start

2008-08-03T16:35:00.004-05:00

My dear friend Jason recently ended his tenure as the infamous Cynical Dog. As I read his farewell blog (and the first few entries on his new blog, ~(~Negative), I realized that, much as in his case, this blog wasn't even close to what it started out being.

That changes now. I had two possible routes: change my stated purpose, or fervently return to upholding the original idea.

I'm changing my stated purpose.

This has been mostly a forum for me to let my nearest and dearest know what is going on with my life, but I've tended to avoid (with occasional exceptions) the inner workings of my own head. As of today, this is changing. I will talk about the malaise that plagues me by day, snuggles up to me at nights, and watches reruns of "Little House on the Prairie" with me in the morning. I will talk honestly about the status of my Educational education... if that makes sense to you. I might even riff occasionally about the problems that my wife is having with her place in the universe.

In the mean time, just picture me playing game boy, wearing only boxers and a silver crown... better yet, DON'T.

Summertime... and the living is... (something)

2008-07-28T19:15:00.004-05:00

This has been an interesting summer, to say the least.

I have 8 days to finish a rough draft of my "Exploration Paper" for Schools and Society, and 17 days to do my Case Study Paper for Educational Psychology. Hooray. How much work have I done on them? Well, I have my sources compiled for the Exploration paper, and I have a child picked out to do my case study on... but that's about it.

My Facebook Profile currently says of my status: "Mike hates research papers... always has, always will." That was written in response to these two papers.

Furthermore, I've always written papers using MLA for the citation format. Guess what Education uses? APA! (i'm just sooooo excited.)

I tried biking to my class on Thursday. Yes, that was the first time I'd ridden the new bike since the inaugural wipe-out. The ride there wasn't so bad, but I took a different route home, and the additional hills were killer on my thighs.

In other news, my mother called me Wednesday. My sister and her family are moving in with my parents. This is because her husband, Shawn, is having surgery soon and won't be able to work for six months. So... my mother had me come over Saturday to pack up and take all of my books that I've been storing there. Our living room now looks like a Fantasy & Sci-Fi reader's wonderland... speaking of which, where did I put my copy of "Adventures in Wonderland"?

That's about it. Jess is at rehearsal, and I'm avoiding the three tasks that I should be working on tonight: Homework, Paper research, and talking to our apartment manager about a misunderstanding.

culinary angst & misc.

2008-07-19T17:47:00.002-05:00

A while back, Jess and I decided that, rather than remaining pescetarian, that we would start eating poultry again. However, I've noticed that I've had a much harder time losing weight since the change... and that summer has actually led to backsliding. So, after this weekend, we're going to move toward less chicken. Thus, we are moving (almost) back to pescetarian.

In other news, Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within is very cool. It still has all of the puzzles that punctuate the other games, but it is by far the most combat-intensive of the three games, and it's also the least linear. Not only does the Prince travel back and forth through time with the use of "Sand Portals", but he also gets to revisit areas, something the other games barely do at all. My favorite parts of the game are when the Prince is forced into a mad-dash to flee from the "Dahaka", a massive bipedal manifestation of the curse that is trying to kill the Prince... the entire purpose of his mission is to get the Dahaka off his back. The only thing that bugs me about the Dahaka chases is that, occasionally, the camera angle will switch suddenly to looking behind the Prince (to show how intimidatingly close the Dahaka is drawing), all of which leaves me running tinto obstacles I can't see!

I'll stop babbling now.

Laters.

In real life, I'm not that cool.

2008-07-15T14:36:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting in the Bush Memorial Library at Hamline right now. I realized this morning that I had forgotten that I was supposed to have watched a video for class tonight and taken notes on it, so that I can swap notes with somebody who had watched the complimentary video. I booked on over and watched it. Now I have two hours before I have to be to class. That's okay, though. I have two chapters of textbook to read for tonight as well.

Why, you may ask, did I not already have the reading done, even if I did forget about the video? It goes like this:

A while back, I purchased a used copy of "Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones" for PS2. It's a massively fun game, and I enjoyed it so much that, (in a very un-Mike gesture) I played and beat it on all three difficulty levels. I LOVE that game.

Then, over the weekend, Jess and I stopped at a Gamestop, and I picked up "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" which is the first game in the trilogy that "Two Thrones" ends. I've already beaten it. That game is awesome, too.

On my way to the library today, I stopped off and bought the middle game. "Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within" is currently burning a hole in my backpack. I can barely contain my excitement to use my crazy acrobatic and weapon skills to save ancient Persia yet again. I can't wait to wall run, jump, swing, balance, and fight my way to freedom from the terrible curse that the Sands of Time have unleashed upon me...

Then again, I have to remember: It's not really me.

My friend Sean described me at my wedding as a man of "many little obsessions." I think that I need to put this one to bed as quickly as possible... before it consumes me.

Side note: I learned today that the local driver's licensing office does not take credit cards. I'll need to get my new license taken care of tomorrow, I guess.

Resisting the Urge to giggle

2008-07-07T09:20:00.002-05:00

So, I'm flipping channels this morning, and upon one of my channel flips, I see the talkshow Ellen. She's playing Guitar Hero on a big screen, and the whole audience is clapping along as she jams out to "Barracuda" by HART. She's doing very well, too - I distinctly remember seeing "50 note streak" pop up on the screen. Anyway, after a bit, she stops playing and says, "You know, this is fun, but you know what would be better? If HART were actually here playing it for us." Then the wall opens, and there they are, their rhythm guitarist hopping all over the place while playing the main riff, her HUGE red hair flying every which way. It was truly fun to watch. Now I have to find something more manly to watch.

Covered in dirt and shame

2008-07-04T14:03:00.002-05:00

We recently loaned my bicycle to my brother-in-law. After some consideration, Jess and I discussed just giving it to him and buying a new bike for me. We did just that this morning. We went to a bike store, I tried out a few, and decided on a gorgeous red hybrid (think of a cross between a mountain bike and a ten speed with middle-width tires) bike that rode like a dream. We bought the bike and helmet, and told Jess I'd meet her back at home.

There was construction on Snelling near Macalester College. The sidewalk was diverted onto the road with some barriers to maintain the "sidewalk." I was cruising along well, and noticed as I got to the other end that there was about an inch of curb to hop to get back onto the normal sidewalk. I aimed as best I could to jump the lip of the curb, and miscalculated.

Keep in mind, I only learned to ride a bike in 2005.

Instead of hopping the curb, the front tire turned flush with the lip and skidded sideways, pulling the bike sideways out from under me as I continued in the direction I had been headed. I scraped the crap out of my left knee, my right elbow, and tore a chunk of skin slightly smaller than a dime off the back of my left index knuckle. I have a tiny cut on my chin, and fat lip (that is blessedly disguised by my facial hair), and a massive bruise on my right shoulder that, near as I can tell, is weeping plasma.

Did I mention that I somehow completely jacked my left wrist? I can't tell what's going on with it. I didn't notice anything wrong as I hopped back on the bike and rode (slower) home, but once we started tending to my many wounds, it started getting continually more stiff and sore as time passed.

When I got home, Jess helped me tend to my scrapes. She said, "I saw you at the door and wondered what you had gotten on you." (I landed on gravel and dirt, so the entire right side of my shirt was covered in a swath of light brown) I replied "That was dirt... and shame."

I have a good feeling about this bike. It has been consecrated with my divine fluids, and will bear me onward to great victories... if I can remember not to steer it like a mountain bike.

Raise your hand if you hate Ezri Dax

2008-07-03T09:12:00.004-05:00

Yeah. Jess and I are three episodes in now, and the one thing we've really noticed is that we dislike the new cast addition of Ezri Dax, played by the DeBoer chick who plays in the Dead Zone series. She's just not up to the task of filling Jadzia's shoes... she's just not a good actress.

Yesterday I went to the drama club reunion party. About half of my minions were there, and they were bouncing all over the place, but oddly enough settled down a bit after we had eaten. I finally ducked out around 6:30, as they were arguing over whether to play freeze tag, a game called "mafia", or spin the bottle. It was fun to see them.

I would try to expound a bit more, but I have quite a bit of homework to do for tonight. I have to read five modules for ed. psych., and I have a short paper to write about a video.

Excitement

2008-07-01T16:40:00.002-05:00

Last week, I ordered the final season of Star Trek Deep Space Nine from Amazon. Today as I was heading out the door for class, I checked the mail and, behold, there it was! I'm super stoked to see the last season. I'm getting nervous just remembering how season six ended.

Jess is getting her tattoo a week from Friday. I think it's going to be super cute. It's a pinup girl running a theatrical spot light. She was horribly nervous at first, but now she's just excited. I'm excited for her.

Tomorrow the Oak-Land Drama club is having a reunion soiree. It's a pot luck, but (as Herr Direktor) I am not required to bring anything. Now I just need to get directions.

That's about it for my excitement currently.

haven't moved so much in a month of Sundays

2008-06-27T15:37:00.003-05:00

GOOD MORNING! This morning, after Jess left for work I puttered for a while, then grabbed my favorite golf discs and a good book, hopped on Jess' bike, and rode my ass (though a light drizzle) to Highland park. While there, I played a round on the disc golf course, then back on the bike and headed to J&S Bean factory for a scone and an iced chai while I read another chapter of "Bull from the Sea" by Mary Renault, then jumped on the bike once more and cruised home. A very active morning, I daresay.

Tonight, Jess and I are going to a tattoo parlor to talk to the guy she wants to do hers.

That is SO like me.

2008-06-26T15:12:00.001-05:00

I spent my 150th blog complaining that some website quiz didn't think I was a bigger nerd. Yipes.