It's the unofficial end of summer. Officially. I've finished my first three days of school and as far as first days go, I'll say they were a success. Most of my classes seem good except for one painfully quiet class (there could be worse things). Here are the highlights from the week:
Our Principal is a Dwight Shrute look-alike. He doesn't have quite the same personality but when you talk to him you're almost expecting to hear, "Fact: JBHS is the best school ever." He disappoints every time. It is a well discussed topic among the faculty but I'm not sure if he's in on the joke.
Popular names circa 1993-94: Charlotte, Rachael, Allison and for boys: Adam and Sean.
The guy I am teaching the Contemporary issues/journalism class is very loud, very talkative and has been teaching the course for a number of years. So he's definitely been taking the lead but I think as we get more comfortable with one another it will be fine. Oh, and by the way, he was "teacher of the year" last year. I'm hoping I can learn a thing or two from him.
We gave a "quiz" on day one. Mostly current event/government type questions. The good news is: everyone knew George Bush was the President and only one person missed the VP. Other fun answers: For Secretary of state we got, Condoleeza Rights, "that black lady," and even a shout out to Jodi Rell the Connecticut governor. (At least they knew she was someone in government.) When asked to write what they know about Obama and McCain's platform, someone just wrote "pro-abortion" for Obama and "oil" for McCain. Four of 27 passed.
In my sophomore World Geography class, we were talking about the American culture and identity and I had given them a short reading called, "The Sacred Rac." It tells the story of the Asu tribe who worships the animal, the "rac" (much like the sacred cow of Indian). The story is really about the USA (Asu) and our obsession with the car (rac). The woman who wrote the story cleverly writes about how we care for our cars, the benefits and the negatives of cars. Anyway, we are reading it together and at the first mention of the "sacred rac," I hear little boy giggles. At points there is mention of the "racs" growing - more giggles. Finally, I ask, "what is so funny?" And as I am saying it, I get it. The term rac in their sophomoric minds, also refers to a woman's chest. What fun 14 year old boys can be.
Same World Geography class: I tell them I spent the last year in Bangalore, India. A hand goes up. "Wait, isn't that in China?" I say, "You mean India?"
"No, that city you said, Bangkok."
"Oh, no I was in Bangalore. Bangkok is in Thailand."
"Well, isn't that in China?"
A third party jumps in. "No, you idiot. Thailand is a country."
"So isn't it next to China then?"
His friend says, "no, it's like, near Japan. It's like an island."
It could be a long year.
In other news, I think McCain might have given the Presidency to the Democrats. If he thought he was going to woo Hillary voters by simply picking a women, then he really doesn't get it. From what I have learned so far, she is an ardent pro-life supporter, she wants to drill her native Alaskan land for oil, she voted to ban gay-marriage, she has no foreign policy experience, plus she, by her own admission, is sort of a newcomer to politics. Seeing as McCain is not exactly a spring chicken, am I supposed to see this as a sound, responsible decision. What if he kicks the bucket in office? We'll be under the leadership of a inexperienced, socially conservative beauty queen who still is not convinced that global warming is in part, caused by pollution. Interesting choice, McCain. We'll see you for a final farewell in Minnesota.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Back to School
First impressions of the new job:
1. Will interfere with blogging.
2. Teachers can be an odd bunch. Example: "There's a human skull in my classroom. That's so awesome." (He is an anthropology teacher, but still.)
3. I am one of 4 (or 5?) new Social Studies teachers. This is both good and bad. Good because everyone is very nice and helpful but bad because things seem to be a bit chaotic. Example: I say, "so where do we need to be at the end of the semester, just to the end of Ancient Greece?" One of the veterans says, "well, not necessarily. I mean, that's how we did it last year but this is all negotiable. We sort of have this curriculum but we don't really follow it." New guy 1 says (as I am thinking) "so the curriculum online is not really what we should use?" Veteran 2 says, "well you could..."
4. I was part of a real life "breakfast club" today. We were working on curriculum and there was the perky cheerleader, the jaded cynic, the jock, the nerd, the leader and me. What does that make me?
5. I'm surprisingly calm despite the fact that I'm still unclear as to what exactly I am supposed to be teaching and when, they don't use textbooks, I still don't have keys to my classroom and the kids come next week.
6. I'm thinking I should find out who Joel Barlow is seeing as I am teaching at a school named after him.
7. I do think I will like it there.
Go Falcons!
1. Will interfere with blogging.
2. Teachers can be an odd bunch. Example: "There's a human skull in my classroom. That's so awesome." (He is an anthropology teacher, but still.)
3. I am one of 4 (or 5?) new Social Studies teachers. This is both good and bad. Good because everyone is very nice and helpful but bad because things seem to be a bit chaotic. Example: I say, "so where do we need to be at the end of the semester, just to the end of Ancient Greece?" One of the veterans says, "well, not necessarily. I mean, that's how we did it last year but this is all negotiable. We sort of have this curriculum but we don't really follow it." New guy 1 says (as I am thinking) "so the curriculum online is not really what we should use?" Veteran 2 says, "well you could..."
4. I was part of a real life "breakfast club" today. We were working on curriculum and there was the perky cheerleader, the jaded cynic, the jock, the nerd, the leader and me. What does that make me?
5. I'm surprisingly calm despite the fact that I'm still unclear as to what exactly I am supposed to be teaching and when, they don't use textbooks, I still don't have keys to my classroom and the kids come next week.
6. I'm thinking I should find out who Joel Barlow is seeing as I am teaching at a school named after him.
7. I do think I will like it there.
Go Falcons!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Beijing '08
Where to begin? The Russians in Georgia, John Edwards, Michael Phelps, the rest of the Olympics, the iPhone...
Michael Phelps: Greatest athlete ever? I am a former swimmer so I am sympathetic to the "swimming is difficult" argument. However, I am a former swimmer so I am also sympathetic to the idea that great athletes should maybe show some sense of hand-eye coordination. Then again, didn't we have this same discussion after Lance Armstrong came back from the cancer to win 7
But aside from all that talk about his athleticism and his actual swimming, am I the only one that wants to know what's up with his father? How come Bob Costas isn't asking about his dad? Everyone now knows he has two sisters and was diagnosed with ADHD and that he was raised by a "single mother." His mother has been getting almost as much press as her son and has given interviews about the hardships they overcame and their relationship so...doesn't this beg the question, what happened to Mr. Phelps? I mean, I'd rather hear about that than how many eggs he eats for breakfast or what size shoe he wears. But maybe this is the Ellen (my mother) in me. We're a curious people.
Which is why I'd also like my man Bob Costas to ask, how exactly does one get into fencing or canoing or trampolining for that matter? These are all just a few of the events that I happened to have caught on TV at some point. I was watching the local news, which I don't really like to make a habit of, and they had a short blurb on an Olympic fencer (I think she got the silver) who was a Yale student. But they didn't get at how that happened. "Hey, honey, how about we sign you up to sword fight instead of ballet this year?" There was also a local Connecticut girl who was competing in the shooting events. Again, how does one decide to get his or her child involved in shooting? For fun. With a real gun. Trampolining and canoing I can kind of see only because kayaking and gymnastics are so popular. But what makes you say, "you know what, I think I'd be better in a canoe?" Aren't canoes for picnicking and leisurely afternoon on British rivers? (Canoing always seems like a very British thing to do.) Presumably gymnasts practice on trampolines but what makes you say, "I'd rather not take this to the floor/beam/bars and just keep jumping." The good thing is, these less popular sports are more difficult to find although, I'm still not sure I needed to see synchronized diving and hours of beach volleyball.
I would get into John Edwards at this point but my iPhone has finally arrived and it's just begging me to start setting it up. Just think, now I can blog from anywhere. Lucky you.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Embracing the "staycation"
Two of my roommate's were away last week. Not that George and I, in our early 30s, don't LOVE living with my parent's but it's not exactly the ideal situation (for anyone I presume). Even though I grew up here, there are some rules that I have since let go of and some ways of doing things that I forgot were the norm. And seeing as we are the guests and it is not our house, we have been adjusting to the way of life at 135 Carmen Road. So, when the roomies went to Maine and Canada last week, you could stay that George and I had a "staycation" of sorts. (Staycation of course, being the new catch phrase of the summer of '08. Don't spend your gas money on a fancy trip to Canada, instead stay home and be entertained ("cationed") by the daily, severe thunderstorms.)
A staycation is really no substitute for a vacation. However, it did provide for some "scandalous" deviation for standard operating procedure and gave us a glimpse into home ownership. Here's a bit of what we learned and fun we had:
1. Home ownership is not all it's cracked up to be. What happens when lightening strikes? Not that it actually struck anything but what if it had hit a tree that then crashed into the house? As the rain and hail came pelting down, cascading over the gutter that looked clogged, I got to thinking, who wants to clean gutters? (Not to mention the "how" of the equation.)
2. Flowers, while lovely, are delicate little creatures. Too much sun, too much rain, too cold, too windy - they're like whiny, little children. Gardening is not for the lazy (I suppose neither are children for that matter).
3. Opening windows does wonders in cooling down a big wooden box baking under the summer sun. Some people, who are arguably set in their ways, sometime long ago - ten? twenty? thirty? - years ago decided that it was just silly to open windows in the house for fear that when (not IF), when it rains, we won't have to worry about the inside of the house getting wet. So, on bright sunny, summer days, we won't be made fools. You know how quickly those summer clouds can creep up.
4. The dishwasher. An amazing invention. Instead of you, washing dishes, they have these machines now where you put your dirty dishes, fill it with soap, push a button and voila, an hour later, your dishes are cleaned. This machine doesn't get much use around here because my father likes to say, "with the few dishes that we accumulate, it's just easier for me to do them." I have no doubt that when it's just he and Betty Crocker (with all their home cooking), this is true. But he's been saying this for years - even when he had four kids dirtying dishes throughout the day. "You keep filling that stupid machine up with dirty dishes, then any time you are looking for a clean one, there aren't going to be any. They'll all be sitting in there." The thing is, my parent's have enough dishes to entertain half of Milford.
5. I'm not sure if this is sad, scary or funny. But we kept the Jeopardy! torch alive in their absence. A strange thing happens here at 7 pm. It's like a gravitational pull that circles the house, pulling my parents in front of the TV. When they are not here, I think whoever is around just gets sucked into the pull.
6. By the end of the week, I think we were actually starting to grow into our roles as homeowners. George was found crouching over the lawn, analyzing the difference between lowering the lawnmower blades and raising it. He was mumbling something about the dampness due to the rain. While I could be heard yesterday saying, "stop getting crumbs all over this rug I just vacuumed," after the niece and nephew stopped by.
7. Last, but maybe the most fun of all...we didn't clean the garbage. The same man who doesn't believe in dishwashers does have a thing about smelly garbage. This may sound ridiculous to you but how many of you can say that you've never had some creature of the night break into your garage, lured by the intising scent of garbage. That's what I thought. Because our Chinese food containers are soaped clean, we can proudly proclaim, "our garbage doesn't stink" and mean it.
And even though my father will read this at some point, I'll also confess that we broke one last cardinal house rule: we took the garbage out on Wednesday night. Papa roommate doesn't do this. Ever. The garbage men come on Thursday morning ergo, the garbage goes out Thursday morning. We risked a potential garbage disaster and came out ahead. Said animals did not come and knock any of the cans (containing, dirty, smelly trash) over. We even had fish remains from (gasp!) Sunday night. (Also a big no, no. Fish or other foul smelling foods should ideally be consumed on Wed. so that it can be hauled away promptly in 12 hours.)
We really lived it up during our staycation. We sure did.
A staycation is really no substitute for a vacation. However, it did provide for some "scandalous" deviation for standard operating procedure and gave us a glimpse into home ownership. Here's a bit of what we learned and fun we had:
1. Home ownership is not all it's cracked up to be. What happens when lightening strikes? Not that it actually struck anything but what if it had hit a tree that then crashed into the house? As the rain and hail came pelting down, cascading over the gutter that looked clogged, I got to thinking, who wants to clean gutters? (Not to mention the "how" of the equation.)
2. Flowers, while lovely, are delicate little creatures. Too much sun, too much rain, too cold, too windy - they're like whiny, little children. Gardening is not for the lazy (I suppose neither are children for that matter).
3. Opening windows does wonders in cooling down a big wooden box baking under the summer sun. Some people, who are arguably set in their ways, sometime long ago - ten? twenty? thirty? - years ago decided that it was just silly to open windows in the house for fear that when (not IF), when it rains, we won't have to worry about the inside of the house getting wet. So, on bright sunny, summer days, we won't be made fools. You know how quickly those summer clouds can creep up.
4. The dishwasher. An amazing invention. Instead of you, washing dishes, they have these machines now where you put your dirty dishes, fill it with soap, push a button and voila, an hour later, your dishes are cleaned. This machine doesn't get much use around here because my father likes to say, "with the few dishes that we accumulate, it's just easier for me to do them." I have no doubt that when it's just he and Betty Crocker (with all their home cooking), this is true. But he's been saying this for years - even when he had four kids dirtying dishes throughout the day. "You keep filling that stupid machine up with dirty dishes, then any time you are looking for a clean one, there aren't going to be any. They'll all be sitting in there." The thing is, my parent's have enough dishes to entertain half of Milford.
5. I'm not sure if this is sad, scary or funny. But we kept the Jeopardy! torch alive in their absence. A strange thing happens here at 7 pm. It's like a gravitational pull that circles the house, pulling my parents in front of the TV. When they are not here, I think whoever is around just gets sucked into the pull.
6. By the end of the week, I think we were actually starting to grow into our roles as homeowners. George was found crouching over the lawn, analyzing the difference between lowering the lawnmower blades and raising it. He was mumbling something about the dampness due to the rain. While I could be heard yesterday saying, "stop getting crumbs all over this rug I just vacuumed," after the niece and nephew stopped by.
7. Last, but maybe the most fun of all...we didn't clean the garbage. The same man who doesn't believe in dishwashers does have a thing about smelly garbage. This may sound ridiculous to you but how many of you can say that you've never had some creature of the night break into your garage, lured by the intising scent of garbage. That's what I thought. Because our Chinese food containers are soaped clean, we can proudly proclaim, "our garbage doesn't stink" and mean it.
And even though my father will read this at some point, I'll also confess that we broke one last cardinal house rule: we took the garbage out on Wednesday night. Papa roommate doesn't do this. Ever. The garbage men come on Thursday morning ergo, the garbage goes out Thursday morning. We risked a potential garbage disaster and came out ahead. Said animals did not come and knock any of the cans (containing, dirty, smelly trash) over. We even had fish remains from (gasp!) Sunday night. (Also a big no, no. Fish or other foul smelling foods should ideally be consumed on Wed. so that it can be hauled away promptly in 12 hours.)
We really lived it up during our staycation. We sure did.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Who doesn't love the Olympics?
If religion divides us, maybe it is sports which unites us. By us, I mean, the world. The whole 6 billion of us.
The Olympics start today and I'm finding it difficult to come up with another international event or ceremony that has lasted hundreds of years - enduring wars, deaths, bad press and boycotts. Sure, there have been changes in events and rules but overall, the idea of a worldwide sporting competition has outlived all the controversy. Even though the games are, and have been, very political, the idea of nations putting aside differences (for the most part) and really just celebrating our similarities is comforting and reassuring. Once you get past medal counts and doping scandals, isn't it kind of fun to watch people from all over the world come together for one common goal? How can you not feel just a little bit excited to watch?
I read somewhere that there will be more hours of television coverage than actual hours of competition in Beijing. As much as I like the Olympics, I am not sure I'm going to be glued to the TV for the next two weeks. But the fact that there is going to be uber-coverage, not only on TV but also online and even in newspapers and magazines, I think is also a testament to the power and continuing popularity of the Olympics. Compared to most of the junk that normally is on primetime television, I for one, welcome excessive coverage of the enduring international tradition of the Olympics. Maybe this will help us (again, the 6 billion of us) see that we are actually more alike than we'd like to believe.
But maybe I'm the only one to see it this way. On the way to see a couple of houses today, I was with the male half of the Hanson Realty Group, and we got to talking about the Olympics. Steve said he wasn't sure if he was interested or not in the Olympics - which also seems like a typical Steve response. He said he is a little turned off by the whole thing - the coverage, the testing for drugs, the taking away of medals from fallen athletes, the political/environmental problems in China - he just isn't sure he really cares. I told him I like the feel-good stories and am interested in how Beijing appears to which he said that maybe he was interested. He didn't know.
I'll tell you who I don't think will be watching, the woman who lives in one of the houses that I saw. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary ranch that had had an addition. There were two cars in the driveway and the garage door was opened. We walked up to the front door and knocked. Steve peered in the picture window next to the door and said that he saw someone inside so he knocked again. I heard someone coming out of the garage and said, "I think they just came out through the garage."
"Huh. Someone is still standing in the corner it looks like."
"Hello," says a voice from the driveway.
Steve walks down and says he is a real estate agent to show the house.
"Oh, well you have the key then?" The women is wearing shorts pulled up to her chest and with short frizzy, curly hair and big glasses circa 1970.
Steve says he does have the key and head back up to the front door as the woman drives off in her car.
We walk into to a small living room area and in the corner is a full sized, fully dressed (in all black) mannequin (with a wig of black long hair). But now don't go thinking that the poor old lady goes around talking to a mannequin...there was a sister mannequin lurking in an opposite corner. "This is interesting," Steve says as I make my way, past the purple Wiccan star symbols hanging against the window and the shelf above with bottles labeled "witches brew," to the small kitchen. From the kitchen you could walk out to a deck but to be honest, I was a little afraid what I might find so I went down a hallway passing to bedrooms and a bathroom. One bedroom was entirely wallpapered - including all the doors. The blue wallpaper with the tiny white and pink flowers seemed to contradict the decor of the rest of the place with turquoise and black furniture. At the end of the hallway was a door with sign that read: "Behind this door is the master bedroom, family room, bathroom and second kitchen." I was almost afraid to open it for fear that in any of the aforementioned areas, there might be a cauldron, a black cat or a pointy, black hat but Steve charged forward.
If you could get passed the third, headless but fully dressed, mannequin, the family room was a really great room. It had wood beams on the ceiling and was bright and roomy. Off that room was a very large master bedroom with a pink, flowery decor. There was a staircase heading to a lower level off the family room too. Down the stairs was what looked like a normal, finished basement. However, the room had been cut in half with one half a complete working kitchen included oven and dishwasher. In the other half of the room was a fireplace facing a lay-z-boy chair. Next to the chair was a contraption that looked like the lamp/sink that are normally found next to a dentist's chair. There was no sink but there was a tray about half way down the lamp with nail clippers or something on the tray. As my sister said, perhaps the second kitchen is where the witches brew is concocted. Steve's comment was, "I wonder if the city knows about this." We had to traverse back through the house to get back to the front door. I was really trying to look beyond the decor and picture the place empty. But as we walked through the first room with the mannequins, I was trying to imagine pictures of my nieces and nephews on the mantle when I saw the "piece de resistance" of the place - a framed dead bat.
As we got back in the car, we noticed the bumper sticker on the second car in the driveway. "My other ride is a broom." And, as we took our first left onto Druid Lane, I told Steve that I'm sure that is not our house.
Enjoy the Olympics.
The Olympics start today and I'm finding it difficult to come up with another international event or ceremony that has lasted hundreds of years - enduring wars, deaths, bad press and boycotts. Sure, there have been changes in events and rules but overall, the idea of a worldwide sporting competition has outlived all the controversy. Even though the games are, and have been, very political, the idea of nations putting aside differences (for the most part) and really just celebrating our similarities is comforting and reassuring. Once you get past medal counts and doping scandals, isn't it kind of fun to watch people from all over the world come together for one common goal? How can you not feel just a little bit excited to watch?
I read somewhere that there will be more hours of television coverage than actual hours of competition in Beijing. As much as I like the Olympics, I am not sure I'm going to be glued to the TV for the next two weeks. But the fact that there is going to be uber-coverage, not only on TV but also online and even in newspapers and magazines, I think is also a testament to the power and continuing popularity of the Olympics. Compared to most of the junk that normally is on primetime television, I for one, welcome excessive coverage of the enduring international tradition of the Olympics. Maybe this will help us (again, the 6 billion of us) see that we are actually more alike than we'd like to believe.
But maybe I'm the only one to see it this way. On the way to see a couple of houses today, I was with the male half of the Hanson Realty Group, and we got to talking about the Olympics. Steve said he wasn't sure if he was interested or not in the Olympics - which also seems like a typical Steve response. He said he is a little turned off by the whole thing - the coverage, the testing for drugs, the taking away of medals from fallen athletes, the political/environmental problems in China - he just isn't sure he really cares. I told him I like the feel-good stories and am interested in how Beijing appears to which he said that maybe he was interested. He didn't know.
I'll tell you who I don't think will be watching, the woman who lives in one of the houses that I saw. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary ranch that had had an addition. There were two cars in the driveway and the garage door was opened. We walked up to the front door and knocked. Steve peered in the picture window next to the door and said that he saw someone inside so he knocked again. I heard someone coming out of the garage and said, "I think they just came out through the garage."
"Huh. Someone is still standing in the corner it looks like."
"Hello," says a voice from the driveway.
Steve walks down and says he is a real estate agent to show the house.
"Oh, well you have the key then?" The women is wearing shorts pulled up to her chest and with short frizzy, curly hair and big glasses circa 1970.
Steve says he does have the key and head back up to the front door as the woman drives off in her car.
We walk into to a small living room area and in the corner is a full sized, fully dressed (in all black) mannequin (with a wig of black long hair). But now don't go thinking that the poor old lady goes around talking to a mannequin...there was a sister mannequin lurking in an opposite corner. "This is interesting," Steve says as I make my way, past the purple Wiccan star symbols hanging against the window and the shelf above with bottles labeled "witches brew," to the small kitchen. From the kitchen you could walk out to a deck but to be honest, I was a little afraid what I might find so I went down a hallway passing to bedrooms and a bathroom. One bedroom was entirely wallpapered - including all the doors. The blue wallpaper with the tiny white and pink flowers seemed to contradict the decor of the rest of the place with turquoise and black furniture. At the end of the hallway was a door with sign that read: "Behind this door is the master bedroom, family room, bathroom and second kitchen." I was almost afraid to open it for fear that in any of the aforementioned areas, there might be a cauldron, a black cat or a pointy, black hat but Steve charged forward.
If you could get passed the third, headless but fully dressed, mannequin, the family room was a really great room. It had wood beams on the ceiling and was bright and roomy. Off that room was a very large master bedroom with a pink, flowery decor. There was a staircase heading to a lower level off the family room too. Down the stairs was what looked like a normal, finished basement. However, the room had been cut in half with one half a complete working kitchen included oven and dishwasher. In the other half of the room was a fireplace facing a lay-z-boy chair. Next to the chair was a contraption that looked like the lamp/sink that are normally found next to a dentist's chair. There was no sink but there was a tray about half way down the lamp with nail clippers or something on the tray. As my sister said, perhaps the second kitchen is where the witches brew is concocted. Steve's comment was, "I wonder if the city knows about this." We had to traverse back through the house to get back to the front door. I was really trying to look beyond the decor and picture the place empty. But as we walked through the first room with the mannequins, I was trying to imagine pictures of my nieces and nephews on the mantle when I saw the "piece de resistance" of the place - a framed dead bat.
As we got back in the car, we noticed the bumper sticker on the second car in the driveway. "My other ride is a broom." And, as we took our first left onto Druid Lane, I told Steve that I'm sure that is not our house.
Enjoy the Olympics.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
If the Universe is trying to talk to us, how can you know what the real message is?
It's been brought to my attention that the blogs have been depressing some. I guess my, "we're killing the environment; we're all going to die; doomsday is at hand" rants, I've been bringing you down. Go figure.
Today, I'll go all "10,000 Thing to be Happy About" and try to lift your spirits with some light and fluffy fun news.
Congratulations to me! It's official. I will be a full time working woman in just a few weeks. The pay is good. The district is highly regarded. My classes seem very cool. The people (the few that I have met) seem very nice. If this isn't the best news you've heard all day, you may as well stop reading.
I've never read, "The Secret" but I think I get the gist. Think good thoughts and good things will happen. A few weeks ago I happened to catch Oprah who was doing a similarly themed show about the "law of attraction." It was kind of hokey in an Oprah sort of way, but the idea seemed to be "if you build it, they will come." One of her guests talked about how she uses daily affirmations to "attract" the things she wants in life. One of her favorites was, "the world is conspiring with me." They also discussed how the universe is speaking to us all the time, we just have to be open and listen to hear what it is telling us. Normally, I'd like to think that as soon as I heard these guests going on about their "vision boards" (think, 11 year old collage project complete with pics of Hannah Montana who you're just dying to meet and the Jonas Brothers who are sure you will some day marry), I would have changed the station faster than you can say, "The Power of Now." But, having been rejected from a job I thought for sure was in the bag, living at home with my parents and having no new job prospects on the horizon, I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little Oprah therapy myself.
Not only did I get this new job at Joel Barlow High School, but I also got called for an interview for another job I applied to at the University of Bridgeport a few weeks ago. The position is for an International Student Advisor which I easily talked myself into believing was my dream job. It is a phone interview and tomorrow I will listen to what they have to say even though I've really already made my decision. But I have to say, this is one of those instances which makes me think maybe the universe is trying to talk to me. The trouble is, I have no idea what the message is here. After spending most of the summer feeling like I must be the world's worst teacher, I have finally come to terms with "maybe it's not me, it's them." I am excited about this new school district and excited about they classes I will be teaching. So why, on the day before I signed the contract, did I finally get a call from a job I applied to back in June? Perhaps a vision board will sort it all out. Not that I'm complaining. Having one job and still being wanted for another...I'll just call that plain good news. No buzz kill here.
What else to lift your spirits?
People are finally starting to ask about what Obama's really going to do for us. Is he more like Paris Hilton or say, Hillary Clinton? I think this can only be good.
Grey's Anatomy is coming back on soon. Or, in like, four weeks but let's start talking about it now. Not that I've ever watched it but it seems like it's a crowd pleaser.
Morgan Freeman is doing better post car crash.
I got a job. But not to worry. I'll continue to bring you, my two dear readers, more from the still "nameless" blog.
There is now a "social networking" website for dogs. After Rover takes his Ritalin, he can log on to doggiespace.com to talk to other ADD dogs. OMG!
Gorillas may soon be taken of the "critically endangered" list as 100000 have miraculously been found in Africa. We're obviously not developing enough if 100000 gorillas can just appear out of the mist. (I couldn't resist.) Call McDonald's. Tell them there some prime real estate the Congo.
I'm really not a pessimist but when these are our "feel good" stories of the moment, just what is the universe trying to say? (Besides, congratulations to me...)
Today, I'll go all "10,000 Thing to be Happy About" and try to lift your spirits with some light and fluffy fun news.
Congratulations to me! It's official. I will be a full time working woman in just a few weeks. The pay is good. The district is highly regarded. My classes seem very cool. The people (the few that I have met) seem very nice. If this isn't the best news you've heard all day, you may as well stop reading.
I've never read, "The Secret" but I think I get the gist. Think good thoughts and good things will happen. A few weeks ago I happened to catch Oprah who was doing a similarly themed show about the "law of attraction." It was kind of hokey in an Oprah sort of way, but the idea seemed to be "if you build it, they will come." One of her guests talked about how she uses daily affirmations to "attract" the things she wants in life. One of her favorites was, "the world is conspiring with me." They also discussed how the universe is speaking to us all the time, we just have to be open and listen to hear what it is telling us. Normally, I'd like to think that as soon as I heard these guests going on about their "vision boards" (think, 11 year old collage project complete with pics of Hannah Montana who you're just dying to meet and the Jonas Brothers who are sure you will some day marry), I would have changed the station faster than you can say, "The Power of Now." But, having been rejected from a job I thought for sure was in the bag, living at home with my parents and having no new job prospects on the horizon, I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little Oprah therapy myself.
Not only did I get this new job at Joel Barlow High School, but I also got called for an interview for another job I applied to at the University of Bridgeport a few weeks ago. The position is for an International Student Advisor which I easily talked myself into believing was my dream job. It is a phone interview and tomorrow I will listen to what they have to say even though I've really already made my decision. But I have to say, this is one of those instances which makes me think maybe the universe is trying to talk to me. The trouble is, I have no idea what the message is here. After spending most of the summer feeling like I must be the world's worst teacher, I have finally come to terms with "maybe it's not me, it's them." I am excited about this new school district and excited about they classes I will be teaching. So why, on the day before I signed the contract, did I finally get a call from a job I applied to back in June? Perhaps a vision board will sort it all out. Not that I'm complaining. Having one job and still being wanted for another...I'll just call that plain good news. No buzz kill here.
What else to lift your spirits?
People are finally starting to ask about what Obama's really going to do for us. Is he more like Paris Hilton or say, Hillary Clinton? I think this can only be good.
Grey's Anatomy is coming back on soon. Or, in like, four weeks but let's start talking about it now. Not that I've ever watched it but it seems like it's a crowd pleaser.
Morgan Freeman is doing better post car crash.
I got a job. But not to worry. I'll continue to bring you, my two dear readers, more from the still "nameless" blog.
There is now a "social networking" website for dogs. After Rover takes his Ritalin, he can log on to doggiespace.com to talk to other ADD dogs. OMG!
Gorillas may soon be taken of the "critically endangered" list as 100000 have miraculously been found in Africa. We're obviously not developing enough if 100000 gorillas can just appear out of the mist. (I couldn't resist.) Call McDonald's. Tell them there some prime real estate the Congo.
I'm really not a pessimist but when these are our "feel good" stories of the moment, just what is the universe trying to say? (Besides, congratulations to me...)
Monday, August 4, 2008
Pollution
I'm really worried about the environment. I don't know how you couldn't be. Unless of course, you live in "the now" and don't put much thought into what's happens tomorrow. Or you vacation on ritzy Mediterranean beaches or expect a picture perfect Olympics.
Everywhere I turn, it seems Mother Earth is crying on my shoulder with her big, acid rain tears, whispering with her 100 mph hurricane winds "help me, help me," and yet as Beijing tries to cover their smog with a big aerosol can of air freshener, Mother Earth is clawing at my ankles with jellyfish pleading that my small little herb garden is not enough. And I know that it is not. Pollution not only grayed our skies and suffocated our fish, but it's like it's seeped into every aspect of our world. The economy is polluted. Politics are polluted. Our food is polluted. Society is polluted.
Jellyfish, from the shores of Long Island Sound in Connecticut to the shores of St. Tropez in the Mediterranean, are invading. The stories I have read in our local papers and Time magazine paint it as a "look who's going to ruin your summer vacation" story instead of a "look who's lives you have ruined because you enjoyed one two many lobster rolls on your vacation." It is apparently no big mystery why there is the sudden onslaught of jellyfish - less tuna, shark and other big fish due to overfishing means less predators eating the jellyfish. (That, and rising water temperatures.) Some of the more prestigious towns have invested thousands of dollars and Euros to install nets offshore to keep the gelatinous blobs away from card paying customers. Doesn't it seem like there might be a better use of these funds? Now, if I am paying thousands of dollars to go bake in the Mediterranean sand, of course I'm going to be disappointed if I can't also enjoy the crystal blue Sea. But at least I might think twice before ordering the tuna tartar for dinner. If I'm just encouraged to soak my sunblocked body in the water because my 5 star hotel has made arrangements to hide the pesky stingers from me, I might think my carbon footprint disappears with the tide and go for the tuna and the mahi mahi.
It's like trying to hide the fact that Beijing is covered by a constant blanket of smog thanks to progress and "modernization." How about instead of trying to temporarily clean it up, they just the world see how quickly China has risen to (almost) become the world's biggest polluter. Again, if I have tickets to go watch Michael Phelps win a historic eighth medal, would I be more comfortable somewhere where I didn't have to wear a mask to breathe? For sure. But if I see how bad it really is, maybe just maybe, I and the 5,000 people surrounding me in the stands will be inspired to do something. If I see how clean and fresh the air is, I might get to thinking that Al Gore is the one full of hot air. Why not use the Olympics or the pain of dealing with jellyfish on your vacation as a platform to get people motivated to do more, no matter how little. Covering up the damage we've done is like censoring information on human rights violations in Tibet, Darfur and Myanmar and pretending the holocaust didn't exist.
The environment is not a collective, dirty little secret. It's dirty but it's no secret. It's becoming the elephant in the room. We can't just keep pretending like there is no problem (or that it's someone else's) and hope it just goes away. The jellyfish will keep coming. The hurricanes will just get stronger and the smog will eventually suffocate us all. Mother Earth is talking. How about we stop trying to talk over her and just listen?
NASA wants more money to launch more rockets into orbit but I'm sure they haven't come up with a hybrid or alternative fuel spaceship. I guess there is hope that once we have really, irrevocably destroyed this world, there is always Father Mars.
Everywhere I turn, it seems Mother Earth is crying on my shoulder with her big, acid rain tears, whispering with her 100 mph hurricane winds "help me, help me," and yet as Beijing tries to cover their smog with a big aerosol can of air freshener, Mother Earth is clawing at my ankles with jellyfish pleading that my small little herb garden is not enough. And I know that it is not. Pollution not only grayed our skies and suffocated our fish, but it's like it's seeped into every aspect of our world. The economy is polluted. Politics are polluted. Our food is polluted. Society is polluted.
Jellyfish, from the shores of Long Island Sound in Connecticut to the shores of St. Tropez in the Mediterranean, are invading. The stories I have read in our local papers and Time magazine paint it as a "look who's going to ruin your summer vacation" story instead of a "look who's lives you have ruined because you enjoyed one two many lobster rolls on your vacation." It is apparently no big mystery why there is the sudden onslaught of jellyfish - less tuna, shark and other big fish due to overfishing means less predators eating the jellyfish. (That, and rising water temperatures.) Some of the more prestigious towns have invested thousands of dollars and Euros to install nets offshore to keep the gelatinous blobs away from card paying customers. Doesn't it seem like there might be a better use of these funds? Now, if I am paying thousands of dollars to go bake in the Mediterranean sand, of course I'm going to be disappointed if I can't also enjoy the crystal blue Sea. But at least I might think twice before ordering the tuna tartar for dinner. If I'm just encouraged to soak my sunblocked body in the water because my 5 star hotel has made arrangements to hide the pesky stingers from me, I might think my carbon footprint disappears with the tide and go for the tuna and the mahi mahi.
It's like trying to hide the fact that Beijing is covered by a constant blanket of smog thanks to progress and "modernization." How about instead of trying to temporarily clean it up, they just the world see how quickly China has risen to (almost) become the world's biggest polluter. Again, if I have tickets to go watch Michael Phelps win a historic eighth medal, would I be more comfortable somewhere where I didn't have to wear a mask to breathe? For sure. But if I see how bad it really is, maybe just maybe, I and the 5,000 people surrounding me in the stands will be inspired to do something. If I see how clean and fresh the air is, I might get to thinking that Al Gore is the one full of hot air. Why not use the Olympics or the pain of dealing with jellyfish on your vacation as a platform to get people motivated to do more, no matter how little. Covering up the damage we've done is like censoring information on human rights violations in Tibet, Darfur and Myanmar and pretending the holocaust didn't exist.
The environment is not a collective, dirty little secret. It's dirty but it's no secret. It's becoming the elephant in the room. We can't just keep pretending like there is no problem (or that it's someone else's) and hope it just goes away. The jellyfish will keep coming. The hurricanes will just get stronger and the smog will eventually suffocate us all. Mother Earth is talking. How about we stop trying to talk over her and just listen?
NASA wants more money to launch more rockets into orbit but I'm sure they haven't come up with a hybrid or alternative fuel spaceship. I guess there is hope that once we have really, irrevocably destroyed this world, there is always Father Mars.
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