Things from Halloween on were nutball crazy. I have been on two separate sleeping medications (not at once) lived in 3 separate places (still keeping my house, consider the other two brief hiatuses of a sort. never call that crap a vacation.), taken the GRE (shudder), spent three-quarters of a week on the I-10, read too many “teacher” books, applied to grad school, been denied an exceptional admit to my local teaching credentialing program due to it being “too challenging” (BITCHES, PLEASE), gotten completely hammered and then some, taken test versions of the English CSET about 1.5 million times, spent a fortune, lost a fortune, and started school again. *gasp*

I am set to graduate in June. Word is still out on whether I will get into graduate school where I want to go or whether I will be spending a year in my current institution before next fall rolls around and I begin seriously applying myself.

In other news: Perhaps my husband will finally be a legal permanent resident come February 3rd, 2009. If so, it will have officially taken us 8 years to get him there.  It will also spell the death notice for his current place of employment.

I just finished a book– a real one, not a non-fiction account of what it is like to teach, as a white person, in an all minority inner city school where you are not being lauded as the great white hope but instead laughed at for thinking you can be something as silly as the great white hope. Reading it was refreshing. Unfortunately, the writer had a style of writing that was extremely verbose and kind of crawled around in my brain and nestled there so I am going to stop writing now, less I start to make sure that everything is “exquisitely annotated, and, where possible, provide staggering visual aids” (Pessl 11). And in MLA format, no less.

The book, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, was a very entertaining read. However, to whoever claimed that it was part travelogue– have you ever read a travelogue? A casual mentioning of “Rhoda Harris, Galways, Indianna” followed by “Nondescript Redhead, Our Town, USA” is not, nor will it ever be a travelogue.  Sadly, yes this was why I picked the book up– also because the amazon blurb said something about being packed to the gills with pop-culture and literary references. I give it a smile, nod, and my patented “I liked it, it was good” pin.

–all I am working on is the knitted converse shoes and trying to figure out which yarn I will use for Giselle.

On June 19th I celebrated my 9th wedding anniversary. In order to celebrate like a nearly-wed for a decade couple we are, I moved Heaven and Earth, worked myself to near-exhaustion, and in the end it was worth it. Mostly I just liked spending 5 days with my husband joined to my hip. Oh, and visiting the Atomic Bomb testing museum. And seeing quasi-sex shows.

We stayed at the Stratosphere and I got to ride on all of the rides, which was awesome, in a “why the hell am I going on rides 100 stories up in the air?!” kind of way. My favorite was the X-scream because it was just a sliding teeter totter but it sure did elicit a scream from me! Least favorite was the swing one Insanity– I don’t mix well with swing rides. Also located at the Stratosphere was a shop called Alpaca Pete’s. It had loads of Alpaca stuff and one creepy/pushy/annoying guy who had a recorded spiel in his head and couldn’t really answer any informed questions about his merchandise. Specifically, I wanted to know if any of his stuff was made with fiber from Suri Alpacas because they have longer, silkier locks than the unpronounceable kind (Hyuacaya?)(also unspellable) which is soft and wooly in comparison. My answer, when I explained the difference was “Of course different animals are going to have slight variations in their pelts– this is what makes the stuff we carry here so special!”

Barry bought me a sweater and a stuffed alpaca anyways. The alpaca cost more than the sweater– go figure.

Once we were home from Vegas school started back up for me and I had a job interview that went so terribly I smarted over it for days. I think that asking a question “From the standpoint of a parent as well as an educator” was a bad idea, but I also think that the school was looking for way more than the district advertised and I’d love to know if this is common. How often do they advertise for a teacher’s assistant and then having said assistant be in charge (basically) of the entire IT department (teaching the students how to use the programs, running the computer lab, maintenance on the computers, requisitioning new programs and computers, and maintaining the school’s network)? all for $10.50 an hour, 30 hours a week!!!!!!!!

I can tell you that the minute I walked through the door I was nervous as hell and questioning even wanting to be a teacher if I had to go through an interview like that. It was scary at first but some of the questions were really stupid, and frankly if you are asking a question– I think you should know the answer or at least how to effectively evaluate it. As in, if someone asks for clarification– tell them what you mean. Because “Describe the yearly maintenance for a computer ” is a bizarre question. Yearly? as in once a year? Are they serious?

But then school started in earnest and holy crap– I didn’t know that teachers could arbitrarily remove 5 weeks from a quarter just because they felt like it. I thought that had to be approved by the college! So I’ve been lost in assignments.

Yet I have also been lost in pleasurable things: re-reading the entire Dark Hunter series to prepare for the next book, helping barry make me some shoes (www.craftzine.com) rewriting the knitted converse pattern so I can use Kureyon and because I hate sewing etc, and making stitch markers for lotus knits. I’ve also been indulging in my new guilty pleasure:

edublogs and books. I can’t get enough of them. Although, it does depress me when I hear about the fantastic things these teachers have done– it’s a pretty high standard. It also depresses me because they all pretty much deal with drastically underprivileged or inner city (usually these are hand in hand) schools. What about other schools?

In a year I start my training for teacher’s credentials. This fall I am not only taking the 3 prerequisite courses to get into the teaching credentialing program I am also applying for that program as well as for the Master’s program. It’s scary. I want to teach– I like the idea of the stability of the job and the chance at bettering myself, constantly learning, and effecting the lives of others. I care deeply about education. BUT

Next month I will celebrate being a chatline operator, phone ho, whatever for 10 years. I still get a kick out of my job. Teaching will only be a marginal step up financially, and that is if I deduct tips, amazon gift cards, paypal booty, kpixie giftcards, and stuff from my amazon wishlist from the count. Also, I really really love talking on the phone and hearing all the stories from my clients, as well as not having a set work schedule. I don’t care for slow days, and ocassionally clients get on my nerves, but that’s typical in any field. Will I be as satisfied as a teacher?

Part of me thinks yes. The things that make me love being a chatline operator are the same pluses of being a teacher: a need for creativity, no chance of getting stagnant, dealing with people that change on a regular-ish basis but not like on the scale of say a retail job, building up friendships with clients, etc. Does that make any sense?

I just hope that I will be able to carve out enough time to take calls– or that I will get a job at all.

—

expect pics of the shoes soon.

Reports of zombie sightings are sweeping the nation, panic is widespread and the government is warning that if you are in a safe place to stay there until help can arrive.

other than imming people and prying into their extremely private lives…

My newest guilty pleasure is reading masses of stuff on education. I cannot even begin to explain how bad of a fire got started underneath me when I took my very first teaching class. It was awesome and now more than ever I feel sure I am on the right path.

Megan and I have been enjoying our summer vacation. She keeps waking me up at 7 in the morning, which is WAY. TOO. EARLY. Especially now that I am keeping summer hours @ work. So tonight I wrote her a letter for her cereal and a poem:

MEGAN

 

There was a girl with a smile so bright

          That even in the dark, she always had light!

She’d grin and she’d cheer, every one in the room

          And her smile would chase away even the toughest gloom.

 

The sweet girl of such cheery fame,

          Had a very sweet and very pretty name.

Her name was Megan, meaning full of great might

          And her middle name was Aurora, for bright shining light.

 

She was picky at the dinner table, never ate her peas,

          But she was very polite, and always said please.

People she met would always be charmed by her smile,

          Even if they puzzled over her choice of fashion—her style.

 

Every day she made her mom and dad so very proud,

          Whether she was doing homework, chores, or singing quite loud!

Her parents were very busy, and sometimes she had to shove

          But it was okay because all she did was shower them with her love.

 

Her favorite things were puppies, drawing and giving great big hugs,

          But she wasn’t too fond of chores, boredom, or bugs.

She was very smart and very pretty too

          And if you ever meet her, you’ll probably love her—cuz I do!

1. Pineapple Orange juice: I got hooked on this in Hawaii, and post gastric bypass, the pineapple cuts the acid of the orange juice so it’s a citrus juice I can drink without pain.
2. Pepsi.  I took the Pepsi challenge a looong time ago, LOL. I think that Coca Cola is just too acidy and not sweet enough.
3. Monster M-80 or Monster Assault. The taurine is really strong in both but is offset by the juice flavor, and I don’t crash or dump on Monster like I do on other energy drinks.
4. Milk. Lukewarm. As a kid I loved it! Still do, but can’t handle it too much cuz of my tummy.
5. A Grande White Mocha Frappucino, extra thick with an addshot of hazelnut. Word of warning, it has to be extra thick– I prefer my Fraps to be the consistency of an Icee, and if they aren’t the coffee is too strong for my taste. BECAUSE:
6. Hot tea with milk and a crap load of sugar. I am a tea drinker. Tea over coffee every time.
7. Sweet tea. I’ll have a Venti Black IcedTea with 12 pumps of classic. Which is like 8 oz of syrup (not really)
8. Pina Coladas. Pineapple and coconut milk. I like these because they taste good and the booze doesn’t peel the lining off of my esophogus like the starbucks and cream cocktail I had at Black Angus last night.
9. The Peach Belinis @ Johnny Carinos. Now there is a mixed and frozen cocktail I could drink all night long.
10. Lemonade or Watermelon Ice flavored gatorade. If I am really sick, I also like the lemon lime flavor.

———

Finals are next week. Right now my hair is various shades of purple, orange, green, brunette, and blue. Over the weekend Barry looked at me and said “Your hair looks like it’s going off.” I agreed and said, “That’s why I have an appointment on Wednesday.” I will post before and after pics.

The J4M sweater is almost done! I hate the bottom/hem and am struggling with whether or not I should undo it and redo it. The purl bumps want to curl unflatteringly and overall it’s just not nice. Any suggestions? Furthermore… I have started on the sleeves and am already in the lace section of sleeve one and thinking to myself… “I know I wanted long sleeves… but I could be done in 4 hours, 5 tops if I chose short sleeves…” *sigh*

My headache still won’t go away. It’s devastating (to me) and more than a little worrisome.

Then Sunday night I just kind of said, “to hell with this s–t” and picked up the J4M sweater and started knitting. I am finally finished with the body of the sweater, and expect to finish the sleeves very soon. The lace section is irritating, but otherwise, it’s been a pleasant experience for me, knitting a sweater all my very own. Plus, I’ve gotten to try it on like seven or eight times whilst the knitting was in progress, so I am fairly certain it will fit and not be all for nothing! big cheer.

Because I had a cold I have been keeping away from my sister. I am afraid to go over to her house when I have a really bad cold, because I don’t want to get her sick and actually fear that me giving her a cold will kill her and then it would be on my head… (I mean it). And since I haven’t been in class, I’ve been a little lonely (ok, a lot lonely)

I’ve managed to watch the first 2 seasons of Lois and Clark, catch up on my Tivo, and watch the first season of ER. Not bad, huh???

Last year was the VT massacre and I was, if not OK with it, then somewhat unaffected by it.

I don’t know anyone in Illinois– wait, Oprah, Obama, and the people from ER… do they count? So, having said that, why am I having such a strong reaction to this?

I am saddened by what happened, and I want to know why, to have some sort of an answer, but in my soul I know that I simply cannot accept a bandaid excuse like “the guy was off of his meds” any more than I can understand or accept “because they were bullied.” I think that part of the reason I am having such a hard time is because this guy was an adult, a grad student– and while I can see former colleagues and classmates from the JC going crazy and gunning people down, I have a harder time dealing with the idea that the colleagues and classmates I know surround myself with could do the same.

As a parent it freaks me out even more, the thought that I send my daughter to an elementary school with metal detectors (yeah, already) and if by some miracle she survives public education in the Antelope Valley and manages to get into a proper university, she could still be gunned down in the middle of a lecture… it freaks me out completely.

It’s bad enough I can’t stand going to the post office and never, EVER speak unkindly or harshly to my nice postal workers. It’s even worse that I absolutely hate going to the government buildings like the one @ 300 N Los Angeles street, for fear that while I am inside a bomb will blow it up… (300 N Los Angeles street is where INS.USCIS is… and yes, that is a very real fear of mine, every time I go there. It’s not made any better by the giant bullet hole* ridden metal statuary outside either…) * not really bullet holes.*

I am also currently sick as a dog with some horrible cold thing and it is all karens fault. yeah.

is it any wonder I have a cluster headache on top of a migraine the size of montana?!

Midway through Winter quarter and life is about to get hairy. (uhhhh… about??)

we had a midterm in syntax and morphology which was relatively painless, I only doubted six questions out of fifty. The teacher is insane and likes to have questions like “which of the following words is a blend? shark, sharp, shard, shart” HOW does he expect not to get titters? Astoundingly enough I am the only one who laughed, so either I have a potty brain or it speaks of the high level of distress my fellow students were under. My favorite sentence? The toxic baby panda tasted delicious.

For my L2 acquisition class, I have 2 questions, of which my answers will form part one of a three part case study, and another ‘response’ paper due on Monday. I have to admit that the research facilities we are hooked up with are glorious, wonderful, amazing, and just so much fun to work with— despite what everyone else says. I like being able to sit at home and troll through untold numbers of academic databases just for the hell of it. No wikipedia for me, baby.

My modern Brit Lit class is going ok. We just dipped our toes into Joyce’s Ulysses which is (in my opinion, which again, is not shared with the popular consensus) a wonderful respite from Lawrence’s Son’s and Lovers. Mostly my quibble with Lawrence wasn’t the text but the ceaseless debate over whether or not Mrs. Morel was sexually abusing her son Paul. *gag* I prefer survey classes to lecture classes, but there are times when some people need to be told that their opinions have been duly noted so now they can just shut the hell up already.

I stopped going to my multimedia classes– did you really expect me to be able to endure that torture? I go back this week because by now everyone should know how to turn on their computers and open at least one program… I hope.

**********knitting content***********

Brigitte and I are now almost done with the cable swatch and, terrifically bored by it, I have pressured her into socks! Not only have I done that, but they are the Wyvern socks from Marnie McClean(?) and therefore are TOE UP and start using a provisional cast on. 2 things that I have never done before, so, how cool is that??? Brigitte is using a beautiful blue and green hand painted from Canada (one of my very first SP gifts) and I am using the LotusKnits grey yarn which is so sparkly and lovely that I almost wish I had the socks on my feet now now now!!

and the Just For Me sweater is moving right along. I think that I will actually have it finished in under 3 months, which would be astonishing, really. I only have about 30 rounds left on the body and then just the sleeves and the collar. That may sound like a lot, but in the course of an evening’s tv viewing I can knock out about 15 rows if I don’t get interrupted. (Then my hands cramp and my shoulders ache but I think… 15×250… egads!)

Oh! Lynda @ college brought her crocheting in  to school today. It was a zig zag scarf–very pretty in a nice dusky rose color. I freaked her out by saying, is that Carron? hehehe. does anyone remember dazzleaire by carron? I loved that stuff… then I swore by lionbrand… and look at me now. *snigger* I have become a yarn snob. but seriously, unless it’s for an infant, not even $$$ is an excuse for acrylic…. *I am being slightly sarcastic*

my brain is fried.

s

np/pos/ MY  noun/ BRAIN

verb predicate: MV/BE/IS avb/ FRIED.

Doing Grammar fried my brain so once I have finished diagramming this sentence I will be stalking m morenberg. oh yes, I will be.