This is the Thread where I say... Part

bah why can’t i be properly ill or properly well? this vague sub-weather wan-ness (= getting old?) has lasted for TOO LONG!!?

*sends out good vibes to all*

Of course I don't mind, Sarah - you rock.

T/S: "shiny penny" vs "quarters to spend"

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-acb/quarters.gif

But now I'm home and far away from those friends and time seems to be moving veeery slowly. And I have a really fucking bad headache. But I do have lots of leftover cookies.

Nick Southall, you think too much. This isn't that hard to understand. Understand it as a coffee social transformed to the Internet and populated with quirky types.

Or Luna's explanation can be good. "Mini-blog" -- yes, yes, I've posted some things to other TITTWIS threads that I think I should've [also?] posted to my little journal thingy. :)

Also bumping this thread up, btw. Shame it was nearing the bottom of the page!

Hey Dee, hope you had a good w/e sweetie.

I am sorry to hear about the kitty though.

Unsurprisingly, there is a cat (or two) in my NaNoWriMo novel. But, no, they do not talk. Maybe next time.

Sorry I f-ed up the thread by not putting Part FIVE in the title, guys. B-but it was my first time starting a This is the Thread where I say...! And I started it in italics and everything!

My old boss just came up to my desk to try to recruit me again. Out of nowhere, she said, "So, are you fed up with your job yet?"

It tastes kind of like burning.

They had it in orange flavor, and I think I'm glad I didn't try that. They need a whole line of flavors like Camel has now, with the Mandarin Mint and the Water Buffalo Melon Surprise and the Hai Karate and whatnot.

...

Yeah, that is weird!

And hey! Typing is a great way to keep your hands busy.

If not, get on AIM.

... or something that doesn't suck. WHORES. Want a whore? I could totally hook you up. Or maybe an Aero. Maybe you could buy me an Aero. I'll buy you a whore.

and i've already spent part of my day looking for squishy fish things for people to fuck.

OK, it's like $7.50, which is a smidge high, I think, compared to around here.

I totally forget what made me think that now. Probably being sick too long. Every time I'm sick for more than three days or so now, I end up having nightmares about being in the hospital, and etc. When I die, what will flash before my eyes is stories I didn't finish, pizzas I didn't order, and movies I forgot to return to Netflix.

Typical game, Pink. (I did security for enough of those games, so I know how tis)

Tep, sick again? Have you thought about checking into a hospital? Feel better, dude.

Hullo, everyone!

Still, I do seem to be getting sick pretty frequently. It's irritating.

Oh man, that would be the most kickass idea ever, Tep. (Oh dude, I almost called you "Temp". *laugh*) I would certainly subscribe to that idea. When, though? And would you guys be partial to flying down to, oh, say, Dallas during the Christmas holidays? ;)

</lazyselfishme>

"Oh yeah? Well, fuck you too!"

Sorry. I just had to post something that has been continually going through my mind at the moment. It's cycling through my head and shouting aloud its presence.

This is one of those nights. Grrrr.

Luna, sorry I didn't get back to you last night. We ended up hitting Barnes & Noble instead of staying in.

At 3 this morning I woke up and could swear I smelled burning plastic. I started freaking out that there would be an electrical fire the next time I woke up, so it took a while for me to go back to sleep. As of 8 this morning, everything was fine and the smell had gone away. I was pretty scared though.

Yay, Tep!

I'm home sick today. Which would be fun if I wasn't really sick. boo.

Hola, everyone! Tis a pouring, chilly day out (won't get any higher than the 80's). Munching candy, as I talk to you lot. Job searching goes, though little else does, at the moment.

Sam, sorry you're sick, chica - I am, still, too. I'm unbearably tired, just really dragging ass lately, and I've been feeling faintly nauseated these last couple days. Fuck I hate that.

Everyone, you've got to promise me you'll get as much sleep as possible, guzzle down that orange juice, and take some cold/flu meds, ok? *hugs*

p.s.: My mood's pretty much over & done with. *hugs luna & the rest of the Caring Coterie*

If you don't what I have to say, if you don't like the way I say it, the way I look, the things I do, that I have tattoos or have slept with more than two people, then get the fuck over yourself or climb back down into whatever fucking weasel hole you came out of and leave me the fuck out of it.

You succeed in what counts the most -- you're a great friend and great person overall and we all really like you. We're the ones who count here. The others be damned.

It's a sleepy, rainy day today.

In a couple of hours, I'm calling that Chicago company back I had the phone interview with. There was a message on my machine at home that they want to do the second interview, so I think they'll be flying me up there (*fingers crossed). I want to get the call over with but I think they won't be at work yet and I need to make sure my boss won't be walking in the door while I'm talking to them.

(x-post: Sorry, Pink :( )

Good luck with your interview, keep us posted.

Where are all the rest of my 'this is the thread'ers today?

I feel a bit sick about ILE today. People snapping at me and other posters I like out of nowhere... I actually find it bizarre that anyone on here wouldn't like me as I don't think I've ever insulted anyone. In fact, I tend to like most posters. Then times like this come about and I get all paranoid.

I need to take my lunch break. And take a breather.

http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/acatalog/680.jpg

Aw, Pink, sorry about your friend's cat.

Hello everyone. Today is still gray, as it's been every day lately, but it's all rainy or misty in the eves when I go out on a little walk and I like that.

My brother-in-law was on Nova last night. He was on for a total of 2 seconds or something (he worked for the guy who did the show, so he was an extra). Still, it was exciting to see someone I love on TV.

I need to buy a wedding present for a close friend and am drawing a complete blank. I was thinking of starting a wedding-gift-idea thread but I don't know. I always think of starting threads then don't actually do it.

Hope everyone with colds/flu etc. is feeling better.

(x post - is that your new name, Chris??)

Maybe I should change my name too. What the hell.

What should you be doing that you're being lazy about, Casuistry?

Also, according to a t-shirt I have, Life's a Bitch and then You Marry One.

Maybe I'll just go around Canada and sing my songs under my breath and call that my tour. I could probably get a grant for that, if I called it performance art in a Fluxus tradition.

I'm sorry, I'm just feeling whiny and entitled today, don't mind me.

Why don't you get your fellow birds to help with the tour setup? Or are you going it alone?

I do appreciate that it's OK to whine here, even though I still want to keep it in check, espeically since everything is being saved FOR ALL ETERNITY.

(((casuistry)))

I just stated in my little journal thingy today that I missed myself. I'd really meant that I missed the old me. I had things so much easier even as recently as this time last year, even though I have more friends this year than I did at that time.

I used to be a member of another online forum, a different person, a different persona. I still whinged on, sure, but my dissatisfactions were smaller and thus a bit easier to manage, though I didn't really recognize it at the time. I'd been a member of that online community almost since it started, so it was easier for me to communicate and relate to the individuals who made up that forum. It wasn't as scary or hard to navigate. I think the one disadvantage it had was that out of the 150 or so regular participants in that world, maybe only three or four of them were male. It was overwhelmingly female, which was fine for me at the time because I was into laziness and not really trying, but now I realize just how much of a disservice this had done to me.

I suppose what I'm feeling is just resultant from tiredness. I'm weary and overwhelmed and am deeply tempted to fall back into comfortable patterns and ideas and worlds. I'm fighting against this, though, because I don't want to be the old me. I don't want things to be the way they were just twelve months ago. So I think I'll just continue struggling in a new environment in hopes that this new skin will become as fully a part of me as the old skin was.

My interview went really well last night! They didn't offer me a job. They said that they would have a decision made by the end of the week, but they did seem to like me. It was a conference call. The woman who spoke to me most of the time said things like "I will train you to do this," as opposed to the usual, "I WOULD do this... you WOULD be doing that..." I think that's a pretty good sign. They asked me a million times, "So, you're telling us that if you get the job, you can be here in 2 weeks??" And I kept reassuring them that I would, so it was pretty obvious that was their main concern.

I've decided to not think about it. I'll hear something tomorrow or Monday I suspect. If I get the job, hurrah. If not, at least I won't have to figure out where I'll live while looking for an apartment!

Sounds positive to us, Sarah! If they weren't thinking about you, it would be the pithy, "Don't call us, we'll call you" scenario.

Mucho luck!

Also, I might get out of work early today.

ALSO, I might find out about that job I interviewed for today.

How is everyone?

(I'm sure you look fab though. Pics?)

I'm good, though my lunch break has lasted 20 minutes too long because I know that all I have to go back to is hideous data entry. Ah well. You've also reminded me that I should have heard back re: the job as a children's information book writer. The fact I haven't fills me with gloom.

However, it's the weekend, and I have a full couple of days ahead, starting with a romantic evening with Sarah, followed by much sport, socialising and drinking. K-nice!

You are so lucky that it is Friday afternoon in your world! It is only 9:24am here!

I actually got to work a shockingly 20 minutes late today but it made no difference.

Have fun, Markelby. I love your new name!

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-10/463758/boots.jpg

A bit clunky, but I am new at this heel business.

(glad you like the name - it's a little bit twee, but I seem to be the only one around. Let Mark C fade ignominiously into history.)

Being a boy means never owning boots that look that good. Sigh. Though there was a guardsman selling poppies at the tube station yesterday with some lovely shiny 18th century-style military boots which I rather liked.

Today, btw, there was a dude in a camoflage boiler suit and a beret. No guns though.

Sarah - how unfair, i was just about to aim you & you left!!

Actually, the boss said I could go home at 1 today! I'll be there working on my novel and I'll get on AIM too.

We did a show last night which was fun, though. There'll be photos up on our website soon but here's a sneak preview:

http://www.theminorthirds.com/concert-031106-tm3.jpg

This is how we do what we don't call "rock".

Them Minor Thirds look like they were rocking internally, I tells ya.

(xpost)

*shrugs* I have AIM up.

I like the Minor Thirds kick drum decorations.

I'm glad to hear that Sam is recovering!

-my next-door-neighbor/best friend has had his apt. broken into 3 times
-his car once (he's moving now)
-there have been a string of armed robberies on the strip of bars where my bar is (where I'm going to work at here in a few hours)
-and this morning, some friends were carjacked.

I'm beginning to wonder when my luck is going to run out. :(

I can't afford to move and don't really want to be run out of my hood b/c of baddies but still. . .

I'm at work, but the boss is out all week hunting. I've brought in a bunch of cds. Oh, and I'm on AIM at work now, so hit me up with the messages, yo.

Otherwise, it's 2:30 and I'm in a surprisingly good mood. This whole NaNoWriMo thing has done me good, as has being surrounded (though sometimes from 8000 miles away) by people I love and those who love me.

< /tweemo>

i wish i had some valium or pot. i'll probably just take a couple of ativans.

Nah, my pussy-ass will just have to deal with it. That's part of what I love about tattoos. YOu have to suffer for them.

I have decided to wait until Friday to call about that job. And sometime this week I will check with the EOC. But I haven't decided about notice.

He just kept saying, "Sarah, you have to do the right thing and the right thing is to tell your boss."

You know, a million and one people tell me I should give 2 weeks notice (or even, none at all) and then I have this one talk with my dad and I freak out again that maybe I should speak up... URGH.

I'm going to the Employment Commission over my lunch break today to double check on what my dad said since I really do need the income.

My boss said he'll actually be in today at some point. Blah.

But yeah, it's beautiful here too. The sun is out and it's in the 50s.

yay snow!

Hello everyone - I'm back at work today and, well, it's okay basically. Sarah and I cooked last night, like, we actually bought raw ingredients and prepared and marinated stuff and cooked it and it was nice. Hurrah for monkfish!

This thread feels like a neighbourhood coffee shop where we all stop in to chill out or on our way to somewhere. Twee but true. So who does the barista fancy most?

I will have to re-read this whole thread over again just so I'll know what to respond to and what to add. I totally hate missing out on this thread. You guys are awesome and I love this thread.

We need to have another "This is the chat where I say", btw. :)

In better news, I spent most of last night shopping, even though I only bought one little present for NA. Also, I watched the rest of Lady Eve which was very entertaining.

It started when i turned off my alarm yesterday morning instead of hitting snooze and was awoken at 9am by the principal's secertary calling. school starts at 8:05.

and then this morning getting gas my keychain broke, sending keys everywhere. took 15 min for me to find my damn car keys, people are cussing me out in spanish etc, late for school. .. again

then last period the audio book i just special ordered, paid $30 for and bought a cassette player for got eaten in the machine. spent my whole off period performing surgery on the cassete. it didn't pull through. :(

despite all this i still feel in a fairly decent mood just harried. nothing else better happen though or that will be it. i have four minutes left of lunch now. .

I'm listening to, uh, that same Shocking Blue cd of course. I'm still surprised I didn't get many responses to that thread.

Casuistry, who sings the female lead on... track 3 I think? My car cd player and your cd are totally incompatible I'm afraid. It always gets to track one 2:20 and then won't show what's playing after that. I guess it's kind of mysterious like that. I can still listen to the other tracks though. The display is just screwed.

Charlotte, my bandmate, sings on tracks 2 and 4.

OK, I'm at home (came home from work sick, basically), in bed, waiting for a call from an Edmonton newspaper for an interview, where we will talk about my upcoming gig in less than two weeks, which is not in fact set up yet, and I'm pretty hungover and feel like I might puke. Also my cat keeps giving me funny looks. Whee!

Bryan, does "Corn Flakes Fever" have the same melody as "Cat Scratch Fever"?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000E6XGR.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

it comes out December 2.

I get to spend the weekend with my dad, who, for those of you that don't know, is home now and doing quite well. I'll mostly just be playing crib with him so it should be pretty fun. I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Issues, man

Social faces, nothing to say and everything to hide. Attracted by shiny things, with attention spans of 2 minutes 57, they treat people like bullets on the charts, flavor of the week got old, "Where's my new shiny thing?".

Pop culture, the shiny beads of the post-millennium native, a kula ring with no meaning outside remote islands of exchange. Who are these millennial natives, constructing (false?) identities through carefully controlled glimpses, until the electronic persona bears no resemblance to what is inside the beating heart; unemcumbered by messy reality and the messier truth that lies between synapses.

Reveal youselves in pieces, asynchronous, controlled; feint, parry, thrust at electric windmills. Listen carefully to the silences if you want the truth that runs down the street and into a side alley where you are too lazy to follow.

How many circuses do you need to amuse you? What is your relationship to the circus, the illusion of belonging to a place you paid admission to enter? The players dole out shiny beads, a beer, a meal, a backstage pass but don't mistake it for caring.

And stay away from the alley.

No boss again today! After I make some phone calls, I'm going to listen to the Rapture and fool around on the net. Oh, not that kind of fool around, you naughty minxes.

Please excuse the expression "naughty minxes." I saw an interview with Hugh Grant this weekend. ;-)

I hung out with friends with a one-year-old yesterday. And he spilled red wine on my jeans! But bless him if he wasn't the cutest thing. Best of all, I got to play with his toys. Toys are SO COOL these days.

Yesterday my wife and I went to my friends gf's exhibit in Boston. It was absolutely amazing.

So I've been pretty productive today, at least concerning my personal life.

Now I'm dizzy, so I'm going to eat some soup. Healthy valley Creamy Potato with Broccoli Soup to be exact.

Hopefully it won't suck.

Now I'm gonna make some coffeecake and a buttermilk pie, if there's enough cream left. (I'm being productive, honest; this afternoon is a "clean out the fridge" afternoon precursoring a very hectic week in which I likely won't get to cook much.)

it's so freaking humid and hot here, it's disgusting. everybody's sweaty and cranky and the kids are just argh ..

But anyway, maybe I'm just tired. I've been very productive today in a lot of ways.

It hasn't been that cold out today. During lunch, I sat outside under a tree working on my novel on the laptop.

I am all sleepytired because I wasn't able to sleep til 4:30 in the morning.

And Sam, I'll cook for you any time you're in Bloomington or I'm (even less likely) in Dallas :)

Here are some pictures of my classroom.

Also, one of those contractors finally got back to me. He didn't bother calling me back first to find out what I wanted him to look at, so he didn't see all of the damage (he went out to the property and back to his office without asking me about it first!). Plus, he got totally pissed off because a buddy of his is another one of the contractors I called. Said buddy told him, "oh, no, I'm doing that work." Of course, that guy didn't tell me he could do it! Bastards! all of them!

At least there's only 30 minutes or so left at work today.

My mortgage broker has fucked some stuff up. It's going to delay things at least another week beyond what we'd thought, and the pencilled in completion/moving date is now not feasible. A delay of a week or two would be no big deal to me, but the estate agent thinks the person I am buying the flat from might want to pull out and start again, looking for a higher price, so I might be back at square one, except with more pressure, not least from my ex-wife and her solicitors who'll be very upset about not getting their share of the sale proceeds yet. There are other horrible consequences that I don't want to talk about.

If this does fall apart I'm not sure I have the strength to cope, to be honest. Today, I feel as if I won't.

xpost -- ack, Martin! This just isn't a good day for anyone.

Won't the person you're buying the flat from face penalties if they pull out?

Exactly. This situation outlines the reasons for those penalties (in the first place). I'll cross my fingers.....

Sam - great pics
Sarah - i hope all is well. Tell me all about jobs & stuff.

Seems like today's the down day to accompany the up days we've had recently (I'm not just imagining that, am I?). I'm having a slightly weird day, as for the first time ever I am MY MUM'S PERSONAL ASSISTANT. And it's scaring me rigid. Is that mad? She's a high-powered top agent, but I've worked for high-powered people before; I guess what the real problem is that at work she has a totally different (professional, hard-nosed, brooks no bullshit) persona from the one I know and love in the bosom of my family. So I'm terrified of her wrath and scorn.

It's only for today, but still. Weird.

On the plus side, I get to see Madchen and Ally C later this week, and they're staying at my house! Wh3rd!

I'm going to take some pics soon, maybe show you my house and my hood. I dunno why, I think of the regulars on this thread as my real friends and I want to share more of the mundane crap that makes up my life with you guys.

< /sap >

I just spoke with the Buyers Agent and he said my boss will be in the office today. This is not so fun. Also, I'm wearing this funny knee high socks today and an above the knee skirt because I felt like it and didn't think I'd have a boss. Ha ha, he probably won't even notice.

I've been in and out of talk therapy since I was 13. I've been on every type of medication out there and they have been playing with the combinations and dosages constantly for the past five years. I'm so sick and tired of feeling this way. I can't deal with feeling this way for the rest of my life.

Also I've turned pictures to links after we were innduated with food pics on the 'what do you look like' thread. this has greatly improved my ilx surfing.

(btw, what I'm attempting to do is extricate myself from the love triangle I've been in since the spring. both the other parties are not very healthy people and are contributing to bringing me down. and making me feel used. boo. I'm off relationships for a good while.)

I woke up with that "All I wanna do is a zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom..." song in my head from nowhere. Rump Shaker. Where the hell did that come from? My brain is a perplexing place, I wish it would drop bits of info like that and manage to comprehend the B and G strings on my new guitar, which I keep yelling at because I can read the music just fine but can't quite convince myself of these being open strings.

It is all rainy, and an overall meh day. Maybe if I go on a little walk in the rain I'll feel better.

Sam, where is the pic of your tattoo posted? I don't think I've seen it...

Anyway I've stopped being paranoid about gigs and starting going back to being paranoid about the border crossing.

HA! I was just skimming this newsletter from a mortgage company and they have a section called 'Boost Your Business with a Blitz!' It says you should:
Creat a reward and/or consequence so you'll be motivated (pay $100 to a cause you abhor, for instance)
WTF?! Why not pay $100 to a cause you do support. You lose becaue you have to pay out the mula, but it's just dumb to give money to a cause that... OH, never mind. I just found it funny.

I feel sort of good, 'cause I just got my mom a job for a week... It's only working at my office, but it pays $21/hr and it's better than nothing, right?

Jesus! Sign me up too, Luna. And how many of us can it hold? (Though fingers crossed, I might have a PT job, come Jan)

Channel the hate, and work with him.....then skim some profits off the top.

thanks nick, the pics I posted were from after school. I figure I shouldn't really post pictures of children online. Has to be illegal.

Pink, the blurry part I of my tat is here

For the thought of my decent paycheck at the end, I would have grit my teeth, dude.

Where are this generation's priorities;>?

Perhaps you're right. You'd prolly need a Waiver to show them, at the very least. (Pathetic that society has needed to get so protective of itself, though tis necessary)

Hiya Pink, and all!

And Mum will. Are they paying her more, cause of her years of experience?

Anyone want to sign my bosses name for a while? My hand's getting tired.

I got a devil child back in my (already bad) 6th period. This girl was in my homeroom and lang. arts class last year and gave me all kinds of hell. She's been in "promise house" so far this year. that's like a halfway house that's the last step before juvenille detention. She's back with us now though. She's doing all the little things she did last year to try and undermine me in class. and of course the kids think she's cool so it works. I'm trying to keep *my* cool though. She kind of makes me nervous and I can't let this happen. They can smell lack of confidence on you the way dogs smell fear.

by the spring semester of last year she finally took to skipping all the time. I kind of hope she starts doing that again soon. maybe then they'll just send her to juvie and spare me the unneeded stress.

Exactly why you can't lose your cool, Sammy. Kids like to push til the grownup 'cracks'---they see it as a game. YOU are the authority figure; tell her if she doesn't cool it, tis back to the detention center. Don't crack, and I bet you'll eventually earn her respect (though she may not tell you)

Some kids are just a lost cause. I hated it when I first started teaching and heard teachers say this. It's true though. You can't save them all. All you can do is do your best to give *them* respect even though it isn't returned and bide your time until they are passed on to the next unfortunate teacher.

Do you pay income taxes on penision, btw?

Think so, though I might be wrong. Why would the IRS would take pity on the old when they have none for the young?

Lost my point. Oh yeah; that level of reality claim, and that distance from the real world, with maybe a little more sometimes, is what I try to go for. But horror was the first thing I really enjoyed writing, so I still get a kick out of "This gave me nightmares," and I've found that it can sometimes be just as rewarding to hear "This got me off."

So, wrap it all up in a package, and ... whammo.

I could see how that whole combo you're trying for would be a difficult thing to capture...but probably kind of fun too.

Thanks!

thanks pink.

mcdonald's forgot about me this forcing me to get pissed. they gave me a free apple pie to make up for it. yay.

it must be 90 degrees in my room. as soon as there is a hint of chill they crank up the heat forcing me to open windows. bastards.

i'm a cynical bastard. feel good movies piss me off.

it's wednesday, yay!

REGULAR, I'm sorry you are not coping well. I think everyone has received some sort of jab or, indeed, diatribe against them at some point or another. I'm sure it's worse for some than others, but you just have to balance that with those people that are there for you, who entertain you, and/or who are interested in similar things and are just plain good company.

I sincerely don't know who you are. It's a bit depressing - though perhaps in an odd way comforting, dunno - but quite a few of our regular ILXors have gone through rough spots in their lives and on the board. Please feel free to email me and I'll do whatever I can.

I really should write ACTION PORN! Ironically, given my mention of romantic comedies and whatnot, my smut is generally unhappy and unhealthy and claustrophobic because I figured people'd had enough of happy people getting it on.

I'm not gonna go near the Tepcock.

I mean, I am, but ...

I don't mean "I am butt" ...

Aw, crap.

I woke up with alternating Van Halen/Bowie in my head.

Tep, could you email me? j_bdules is my hotmail username.

I've had flying-vampire-sex, though.

(That's probably not a word.)

Pink, do you have room for a couple hundred K attachment at your hotmail address?

*SIGH!!!!*

I won't even go into my other day's frustration: the in-house suspension going unsupervised b/c the teacher who is responsible shows up late everyday, leaves them alone (of course they are roaming the school, causing havoc b/c, well. . .they are in "school jail" for a reason), and who is also overheard yelling things like "shut your fuckin' n***er ass up". Lovely. (He is black, too, btw.)

I've spoken to the vice-prinicpal about the poor mgmt of in-house before. He denied all the problems and concerns I brought up. Another teach and I were just discussing hidden cameras. hmmm.

(well i guess i just did go into it. thanks for reading yet another daily gripe session from me.)

Sam, gripe any time! How many other people have talked to the vice-principal?

I am bored at work today, people should email me: naamme @ yahoo.com.

WAIT XPOST WHAT CHRIS SAID! Write your book, Nick!

BLEARGH. . .I grabbed a lunch tray that I thought had mashed potatoes. But instead it's very watery rice with brown gravy. And the rest of the food is cold. :(

*non gripe below*
Somewhat positive thing of the day: I have this one 7th grader who's well on his way to becoming a notorious pain in the ass. He's usually alright in my class however. (I think b/c every now and then I'll let him get up and freestyle rap for the class.) We passed out report cards on Monday (he's also in my homeroom) and he just got up and walked out. I chased him down the hall to see what's up. He was pissed b/c he failed 6 out of 7 classes (inc. mine and gym. He couldn't figure out how he had failed gym.) He said "I'm gonna get kicked out the house now. I'm just going to quit school." I lured him back, saying walking out would just make things worse.

Fast foward to today, He comes in with his pants hanging below his butt and shirt untucked. Against dress code. Tell him to pull up his pants, etc. Tell him again. He says, "no, write me up." I tell him just to sit down and get to work. Later I'm helping another student at his table and looking right at me he pulls out some sort of biscuit sandwich and starts chowing down. I flip out tell him to throw it out, etc. "No, write me up." cue dragging him to trash can, disposing of food 'sit down, etc.' Little later, still not working, tell him to get busy, "No, write me up. I want to get suspended."

So I take him in the hall and ask what's up. After a few minutes of prodding he says he doesn't want to go to school anymore. His mom did kick him out for the report card and now he's staying at his auntie's. He doesn't care anymore, etc., just wants to stop going to school. I launch into standard, 'you need to stay in school or you'll end up working at mcdonalds, etc." he tells me he already has a job and makes more than he would at places like that. why bother with school. ask him what he does. Keep asking. finally he says "my job is illegal." I tell him people with those jobs usually end up dead or in prison so that's just plain dumb no matter how much money he's making. Coax him back into class telling him there's no way I'm going to write him up so he should just stop the nonsense.

Here's the positive point I'm getting to: graded in planning period, his current average is 94. Have to track him down and tell him that. Maybe I'll bring him a little present tomorrow or something.

And I got flowers and chocolates!

thank you for the compliment, that made me feel very good. :)

I was looking forward to that novel most of all.

I am concerned at Tep's porn breaking Pinkpanther's box. Is she okay? Maybe it needs a health warning, Tep.

Sam, you sound totally rad. I had good teachers too, but you seem to go even further than they did. I'm sure you quitting the profession would be a disaster for thousands of future students (not that that's meant to emotionally blackmail you or anything).

I sold my soul this afternoon. I signed up to AOl after my phone company change invalidated my previous ISP. They suck so much! I don't have AIM any more (wtf?) and it keeps connecting at 28K. I switched phone companies so I could get broadband, so hopefully in a few days everything ought to be fine. But for a week or two I am sucking the suppurating cock of AOL. Forgive me.

(on the plus side, I did manage to do some home wire-rejigging to get my computer phone line to work. On the minus side, there are now naked phone wires in my hall. Probably should do something about that.)

I'll bet the Aolcock hasn't busted any boxes, if you know what I mean.

No no, that's not how...

Can we get an AMEN!

xpost Oh yeah, I'm an uncle now. Oh dear. I better never become a clown.

But you could be.

Lesser of two thousand evils?

Clown Dom. Well, come to think of it ...

Even so, no.

don't speak so soon.

A girl can dream!

don't speak so soon.

No no, he's not. We let that one go in favor of the pineapple zombie blowjob guy.

Can't I be flying vampire sex guy?

Even Tepcock guy?

... or at least flying vampire sex guy, anyway?

you folx are an oasis of positivity during the day.It's a good thing. (btw, I'm posting so much b/c we're doing a vocab preview for the next section of our novel. I get to sit down for part of each period.)

OMG IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!

canada is weird! ;) It's 75F here.

I do have winter clothes now. Shirts with long sleeves. Flannel and corduroy. A goosedown jacket that's all poofy (much like my hair lately, really). And black sneakers. See, those are warmer because they're black. They absorb the sun! And warm your feet up!

... or at least flying vampire sex guy, anyway?

No. Not as much fun.

Oh okay maybe, but really, it hurts me in my heart.

Fine. You're the flying vampire sex guy. Goodbye little pineapple zombie blowjob.

Even Tepcock guy?

you could be like a 60's Hanna-Barbera cartoon superhero.

"TEEEEEEEPPPCOOOOOOOOOOOCKKK!!!"

lord knows what animal sidekick you'd have.

Even though he's been ousted from the ILxicon, I suppose he can still get a job on the Island of Misfit That Guys. I weep.

as what? "undead corpse fluffer?"

THAT's a goal?

"Yo! pineapple dude! you're needed on set! The Undead Squirtgun What Shoots Jelly is feeling a little 'loose' between takes. Go improve things."

Then I came back here and there were 50+ unread posts on this thread?!

"Yo! pineapple dude! you're needed on set! The Undead Squirtgun What Shoots Jelly is feeling a little 'loose' between takes. Go improve things."

No, he GETS the pineapple blowjobs.

Nevermind.

It's thunderstorming and hot here today.

Tep, you will always be pineapple zombie blowjob in my heart.

You guys are my friends, right - can you add Markelby666 to your AIM buddy lists? It's my new and (hopefully) temporary filthy AOL account and I don't want to miss y'all.

I went to see AFC Wimbledon tonight and it finished 5-4* after we were down the entire game until 5 minutes from the end. Very exciting and very stressful and very very satisfying :)

*for my yanqui chums: imagine a baseball game that finishes 15-14 in the 12th inning.

I'll add you when I'm AIMing again, Mark, but you may have to remind me (if you're still filthy then).

Our best players - Kevin Cooper, who's scored an amazing 25 goals already this season. Matt Everard is our star defender, and scored the last two (crucial) goals tonight - he scores a goal every other game which is almost unheard of for a defender. Joe Sheerin, our other striker, actually played in the Premiership - a whole 17 minutes for Chelsea, ironically against Wimbledon (the club whose franchising and betrayal spawned the breakaway AFCW). But we have a load of stars - almost all of them are higher quality than the league we're playing in. Hence 16 wins in 16 league games :)

Chris, cos I'm currently forced to use AOL as my ISP. I HATE it.

AIM me whenever, everyone - I'll try and revive markelby as soon as I can.

That's just kind of incidental, and somehow decided to waltz in and preface my actual post, which was going to be "working on this paper is boring, but is also an excuse to order Pizza Magia tonight." And I have my permanent crown now, so can order the hot wings as well. That's a hunnerd percent pure porcelain right there, baby! I'm sinktastic and toilet-strong!

xpost; I'm flying drunk vampire sex guy, I'm like open by default. I'm 7-11 Tep.

Okay FINE, christ, I give up.

You are no longer the pineapple guy - WHO IS LOVED AND ADORED BY MILLIONS WORLDWIDE - but instead the flying vampire sex guy - WHO IS ALSO LOVED AND ADORED WORLDWIDE, as well as being devastatingly, handsome, strong, sinktastic, charming, well-read, witty, and an all around fabulous guy.

Am I off the hook yet? Can I go now?

Someone pour me a drink or five. NOT OF MOXIE.

http://www.e-drinks.com.pl/images/drinki/Pineapple_Milk_320.jpg

That makes sense when I haven't just woken up. Or something.

Ha, tell me about it. I think maybe we've talked about this before, but I was a religion major at a pretty conservative (though public) university. Part of the joy of being a religion major is seeing the really really devout kids try to challenge the professor and get shot down. It makes things so much more interesting.

I was happy about going to work today and tomorrow without my boss being here. I came in 15 minutes late. I thought, hmm.., I'll play on the net, maybe find an apartment or apply for some jobs. Oh, what a life. I'll go outside as it's sunny today and work on my novel...

But it turns out instead I have to go out to a property FAR FAR away to pick up a key, take it to an attorney's office, go to another realty company's office to pick up some papers, take them along with another packet I'll have to assemble to a different office... AND we've got three closings today I have to make sure are all wrapped up. ARGHGHGHGHGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!

Thanks for listenin'.

I had a great anniversary.

No I think it's a different one, not the p0rn one. Oh & btw, I never saw tubgirl, so I am very jealous that you all saw it and I didn't. Not jealous enough to go searching for it though!

See, I have yet to see them get shot down. IU is ... actually, here, let me Google-ensure this:

Indiana University at Bloomington, Home of the Hoosiers, is a fucking strange school, particularly for graduate students and anyone who is there for more than basketball.

I mean, I came in from UNO, a state school in New Orleans, a pretty churchy town, but even in the undergraduate classes, the sophomore-level classes, people'd get shot down for literalism, and at a minimum, attempts to treat an academic class like a Sunday school extension would get the "Jesus of history, Christ of faith" lecture.

Here? In a mixed grad student/senior-level course designed for religious studies majors, students who answer questions like "what was one of the causes of the conflicts between the bishops and the monarchs of Europe" with "we're all sinners" get a pat on the head, without even any indication that their answer is crap.

I wouldn't be nearly as bothered by it if it were discouraged, but it's very off-putting, and really undermines any claim to an "intellectual environment" (I didn't have a very high opinion of that claim, from any graduate school, to begin with; I've just been in and around college too long to be impressed anymore by someone who happened to read a book.)

Networking here -- the way you make your academic connections, the way the social bonds are formed that determine who gets what appointment, and where funding goes, and who gets spoken highly of ten years later at a conference -- is done exclusively through churches. What church you go to -- not which denomination you're part of, but specifically which church in town you go to -- determines which camp you're in. That's where people gossip about each other, and let their hair down, and so on.

This is apparently a uniquely Bloomington thing more than a Midwest thing; several professors and graduate students, in different departments, have brought it up to me (because I've mentioned my religious studies interest). My academic friends at other schools are ... uh, alarmed.

I have never fantasized about the Tepcock!

Different flavor of anecdote, Tep Experiences Culture Shock:

The prof for the above course assigned group presentations to the undergraduates in the course, which necessitated a class period spent in the library with the subject librarian showing us how to use the various resources and so on -- erring way on the side of overexplaining, since after all, these are all upperclassmen and none of it is more complicated than "here's how to look up a topic in the card catalogue."

SOP, pretty much, I'm more than used to that by now; you overexplain so that you don't deal with student email/meetings/phonecalls (department secretaries are not as good as they could be about not giving unlisted, undisclosed phone numbers out to students who ask for them, ahem ahem) at the last minute, all frantic and "HOW DO I FIND THE BOOK I WANT THE BOOK ABOUT THE PEOPLE I HAVE TO WRITE A PAPER ABOUT THE PEOPLE HALP ME HALP ME" and so on. I totally sympathize with that, since I've been on both ends of the stick there.

But the group presentations are Powerpoint presentations, and amidst all this "if you want to look up an author, click 'author' not 'subject'" stuff, there's no explanation of how to use Powerpoint! Not even a "if you haven't used Powerpoint before, go to this page..." or "if you don't have Powerpoint at home, it's on the library computers," or anything.

I've never used Powerpoint in my life. I'm 28, I've been using computers since 1983, I've had an online account/address/etc. of one kind or another since 1986, and although I'm sure the application is simple and intuitive to use, had I been asked to do this, I would've felt a bit of "well dammit, I gotta go learn how to do this crap now." These kids didn't blink. They've probably done it a billion times before. Hell, they probably did it in high school.

I've never heard a Coldplay song.

ARGH! doctor nightmares. Finally got a live person at her office. She will be out of the country from Dec. 9 until the day of my appointment in January. No openings before then. I told the receptionist i was in a pretty bad way and asked if there was anyway she could adjust my meds or do something to tide me over. I told her I didn't think I would make it till January. The doctor is supposed to call me back. I'm sure I'll be in class when she does.

Entire planning period taken up by pointless mtg with prinicpal. Copies needed for today's classes fucked up again. Four parent calls and one conference so far. It's only lunch. They can feel Xmas break coming too. They're off the chain like a broken toilet.

And I've been manic yesterday and today. Restless, racing mind, going nuts trying to do a million things I haven't even thought of for the last week. ARGH! this shit sucks. . .

-A bunch of promo posters for his record. I had several girls ask if they could have one after I put one up in the room.

-A whole bunch of CDs: the black album, g-unit, an underground fiddy, obie trice, big boi, andre 3000 (?), and--this is the best--a DVD home movie of my nieces and nephew. :)

I turn on the radio for the last few minutes of class while we're putting up and when I did one of his songs was on the radio. :)

He released his album on his own label this summer (let's hear it for true independents!). He just recorded a girl rap duo from Oak Cliff (the hood I teach in) and is going to release them on his label as well.

He's selling the record in local stores and via CD Baby. It's selling pretty well overseas. Local "radio personalities" guest rap in some of his songs so in turn are giving him good airtime.

He used to rap in a church group but has since seen the light and stopped with formal religion. He still rhymes "positive" though and doesn't use curse words or talk about thug life. Which means I play him in the classroom all the time.

Keep in mind this is the kid who used to be a drug runner for a local Crips syndicate, was expelled from school, and had a criminal record by 18. I'm *so* proud of him. (hence all the bragging)

*blush*

Sometime tonight I'm going to upload an MP3 of this track he just did that I think is just phenomal. I blast that song in my car and hit repeat over and over. Love it.

I've gotten so attached to ILX that having to run errands all day for work makes me mad just because I can't hang out with you guys (um, also I HATE driving so much and rushing around, but anyway).

Nick is making us asparagus and black beans with spices. mmm..

Tep, I'm sorry you're going through all these bits of culture and environmental shock. Hopefully you'll be able to get used to the situation ASAP.

Sam, it's good that your brother did all that for you. Yay for the CDs and the DVD! Terrible to hear of your problematic situations. Hope things go better for you there.

Once again, congrats to Sarah and Nick on the move!

Um, to Chris, Pinkpanther, Martin, Ned, oops, Kingfish, luna, and -- what the heck -- everyone else who's posted on this thread whom I've completely forgotten at the moment, I send you huge hugs and my affection.

finally heard from my doc's nurse. She upped my wellbutrin and I just got them from the pharmacy. hopefully they will work.

I've been sooo manic the past couple of days. I'm not sure what's worse. I feel like my head is full of static and I can't finish doing one thing before I feel this urgent need to do something else. I've had three beers but I don't feel a thing. I'm restless and wide awake. argh.

I'm sure I'll be at rock bottom again by sunday.

(there's lots to like about this place, and there's lots that we gain from having you here, Dee)

Today I am wearing a black slip, underwear, and that's it!!

Hopefully, knock on wood (let's see, I mean, the bedside table), I will be able to relax more at work today, play on IM & ILX, search for apartments, and work on my resignation letter.

Tonight, we're supposed to have Thanksgiving with my mom since I'll be at my dad's for the real thing. But also, my youngest sister is supposed to drive up, and my mom won't let her if she hasn't gotten insurance yet (which she probably hasn't), IN such case, Fake Thanksgiving is RUINED! RUINED I tells ya! But either way, we're also painting our apartment back to all white. Soon it will look like crap, but what can you do?

I think I'll have some decaf french vanilla cap. to help heat you up!

(So sayeth my big fat full tum)

And Pinkpanther, I will have to send you some of the warmth from around here to get you feeling all wonderful and warm again. We're expecting a high of 77 today. I figure we could lose about seven degrees and have a more than pleasant day today. Give them to you and -- hey, no more shivering!

For like fourteen minutes I thought "the Threaders" was Sarah's new nickname and this was her trying unsubtly to get us to use it, like when Jodie Foster's character in Freaky Friday -- except I think only the book, not the movie -- tries to get everyone to nickname her Bubbles by saying things like "don't you think Bubbles would be a great nickname for me?"

(I have no sense of time, by the way.)

It's supposed to maybe snow here on Monday. Did I say that already?

[1] I'm just like that.

Should It Have Been Like This?

More meaningful, like.

(Sarah, italics are like shoes on the beach, tilty and optional.)

Dear [Boss],

This letter is to inform you that I will be resigning effective [date].

Next month I will be moving to Chicago. [If you have it, add your new address.]

I have enjoyed working with you the past [howevermany] years, and wish you continued success in the future.

Yrs,

Sarah [McL.]

I mean, even that's a bit effusive for my taste -- the resignation letter is just a legal document, so just spill the beans quickly. Save the reasons behind the resignation, etc., for when you give the letter to your boss.

I'll call the Chicago guy now to find out my exact date for the letter.

Turkey soda? bleargh. . I love Jones, esp the green apple. (and not lease of all for this.
:)

/is taping all of the VLBs on fast speed.

This isn't fishing, honestly - I won't even look at this thread again for at least three, four hours. I guess this phase might last until the legal and financial matters are concluded or fall apart - and I think I need it to be the former or I am in serious danger.

THEY ARE SO FUCKING ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You repeat instructions three times. You write the instructions on the board. You're guarnteed a half-dozen of them are going to say "what do we do?" when it's nearly time to stop and move on already.

(Martin, I'm really sorry you're down. If I was over there I'd talk you out for some drinks or coffee or something. Please feel better. email me if you need to.)

ARRRRRRRRGHGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

You tell them to stop talking and all they want to do is talk back: "Stop talking." "But wasn't." "You are now, stop." "Alright." "Don't open your mouth again." "Alright"

FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!

It's all I can do to keep from flipping the fuck out. My teeth will be worn down to smooth little nubs by the end of the year.

The whole not-paying-attention thing drives me nuts. Especially when I stand up front repeat the same thing three times, ask someone to tell me back what I just said, write it on the board and then 15 minutes later someone says "what are supposed to be doing?"

grrr. I'll have an ulcer soon, too. My stomach is killing me and I'm out of the Zantac I usually keep in my desk.

(oh and I had to take off my denim "faculty" shirt inside my room b/c it's just too freakin' hot. So my tatto's showing. Kid comes up starts rubbing it "Is this real?" I slapped his hand out of sheer reflex. grr)

Sam, I hope the increase in meds helps you out. And hugs to Martin and Dee. (and everyone!)

It's 50 degrees here. The heat is blasting so I'm wearing a tank top and shorts, and have the window wide open and fans on. I'm sure everything will be covered in ice tomorrow or something.

there are no goths at my school. Although I was asked once if I was "gothic". I was clueless. I was thinking Jane Austen. I asked for clarification.

"You know someone who wears all black, is real white and listens to weird music."

"Oh, you mean a 'goth'. No, I'm not."

(hugs also to those having a bad time. maybe i'll see you in aim.)

Ok, so this is the thread where I say I'm incredibly glad I've found this forum, but I'm even more incredibly gladdened I've returned to this other forum I used to go to a lot. Over there, I'm a lot less likely to feel like an idiot or to feel as though I can't compare, because there are a lot more "regular folks" there. Granted, we're also talking about an environment where I was possibly one of the geekiest people present, but at the same time it feels good clicking on a random thread and not going, "Oh dear God, I can't relate to this," or "My goodness, I have no earthly idea what they're talking about."

I'll still keep coming here to fulfill my daily requirement of hanging around my fellow "stick out like a sore thumb"ers, but I think it'd be good for me mentally to go to that other place as well.

Snails, which I've had but have never made myself (I'm not worried).
Goat chops; again, never cooked goat myself, but I used to get jerked or curried goat all the time at the Jamaican place on the way to class, back when I could still have Jamaican ginger ale.
Elk steak! Never cooked it. Never had it. A friend who has had it only in jerky form said it was tougher than most game jerky. We'll see.

The snails I will probably make tonight or tomorrow. The goat will probably be part of a paprikash or goulash after Christmas. The elk, I think, will be Christmas dinner, since it is after all the most reindeer-like of the above.

what kind of legal matters?

The guy happens to be David Bowie :) Who, of course, is a real guy, and there was a little bit of concern that might not be legal, although they were able to find other books that have used living public figures in similar ways.

Along the way I quoted snippets of his songs, and although it was only a phrase at the most -- never a full line, much less more than two (the standard is that up to two lines is fair use) -- the nature of the story meant I couldn't attribute them. It's clear they're Bowie lyrics, I just don't say which songs.

Anyway. Like I said, those weren't the reasons for the rejection. I kind of wish they WERE, because then I could be all "yeah man, I got this story, but the MAN won't let me PUBLISH it!" instead of "I guess next time I should write it better."

I could make him not-quite-Bowie, but ... it would have to be very transparent. The alternate lives there are from his songs -- the artcrime from Outside, the dictator's the Thin White Duke, the astronaut who dies first is pretty much Major Tom, and so on. Figure, may as well keep it blatant.

The thing to do is just to tighten it up, ditch Angie's character, and try another door.

I'd come to this thread to bitch that it's snowing.

The main thing to bitch about is that we had a weird warm front before this cold front, so it dropped like fifty degrees overnight, which means everyone's going to get sick again. I'm gobbling oranges as we speak.

Today, my eyes hurt.

First I'm on the way to the bathroom when a sub across the hall calls me over. She says she caught two kids making a drug deal in class. She hands me a fat quarter bag of pot and turns the kids over to me. So I start escorting the kids down to the Youth Acti0n Center and am a little nervous. These are big kids and they know I'm taking the down to be arrested and expelled, no two ways about it. I was worried they were going to bolt out the first door we passed or something worse. . . I've seen my kiddos arrested for drugs before but have never had to walk through the halls with drugs in my hands.

There was a DPD officer in the office already when I walked in. I handed the pot to the vice-prinicpal he gave a whistle and waved the cop over. Those kids school year is over.

Then the security guard who always flirts with came in my room and spent the rest of the period chatting with me. He was a teacher at the HS we feed into but didn't get certified so is one of our guards now. He told me the kiddo I wrote about alot last weeks is physically abused. They reported it to the prinicpal but don't think he has done anything. I told him we are required by law to report it to CPS ourselves. He said he realized that but you have to follow the chain of command if you want to keep a paycheck. Great I have another thing to lose sleep over now.

And before he left he asked me for my phone number. heh.

*sigh* so much for finishing writing the test I need for tomorrow.

I got woken up this morning by my best friend calling to say that her mother might have cancer... not my optimal morning.

Tep, I have the same attitude about snow - but you know, now that I don't have it, I miss it.

Pink, fingers crossed about the house, sug.

Are you kidding me? Wouldn't the news eat up a story about how a principal was told repeatedly about some kid being abused but wouldn't do anything about it and the brave teacher who did the right thing -- and then lost her job for it? Wouldn't the principal be in much more danger?

A couple of yrs ago our police dept was caught red-handed framing Mexicans for drug charges. Planting bags of gypsum on them then arresting them for cocaine charges. It was the news for a bit then died down. A columnist in the "alternative" paper railed on about how in a city up north perhaps people would have been marching on City Hall about the injustice, be up in arms, etc. He suggested that the people who have the most influence in Dallas (the white and comparatively wealthy) don't really care about a bunch of mexicans being mistreated.

Those same people really don't care about ghetto kids getting abused. Not like they would if it was in a white, suburban school I mean. I have other stories like this I will blog about when I get the time.

Regardless you can be assured I'm going to spend more time trying to crack this kid and if I can find anything out I'll report it. Oh, and I'm not making any calls home anymore about his conduct/work. I imagine that will create more problems than it will solve.

(the true answer for not rioting=drugs flooding the ghetto, everybody's too stoned/high)

(The implied speaker there can be any race except Vietnamese, in New Orleans. The Vietnamese seem to have learned not to talk about race issues in mixed-race groups.)

Nick, I'm incredibly sorry to hear of those tidbits of news. Please give Sarah my condolences. And I hope this will be as smooth a time as possible for the two of you.

Sam, you're doing the best you can under these constraints. I would offer suggestions on what to do instead of trying to follow the chain of command, but my mother taught me never to rock the boat and so I'm hopelessly uncreative when it comes to doing otherwise. All I can say is that I hope the situation rectifies itself ASAP.

I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for more Minor Thirds CDs, fyi, as soon as next month comes my way. I just spent all the rest of my spare change for the month on the Duran Greatest DVDs and I'm hoping it'll transcend all the negative remarks I've been reading from the fan communities.

This is also the thread where I say that I am beyond eternally grateful to have discovered this forum, because you guys have made it so much easier for me to not be sad about my social shortcomings. I came across one of my old HS classmates during my lunch break and it took all I had not to have a mental meltdown. I kept on saying to myself, "Hon, look at how far you've gone since those HS days! You've found a community of individuals similar to you in all but a couple of areas, who could relate to a similar situation, and this girl is small potatoes compared to a lot of them. Don't let her get you down." But I couldn't keep myself from being uncomfortable, and I'm still feeling a little ill at ease about the whole scenario. But at least you guys are here, which is utterly fantastic. Thank you.

I try to not be too pollyanna-ish but don't want to be too jaded either. *sigh*

Thank the lord for beer.

(nick, if sarah needs to step away from the family activties for coffee or something she can call me. i'll send you my phone.)

Is there a point when pop culture just goes *plop*?

My interest in things that used to be important to me - books, music, movies, etc - has dropped considerably since I began this job. I just don't have the energy to be interested anymore. All of my creativity and intellectual curiosity are sapped by the time I leave school every day.

Just finishing off my lunchtime interweb fix. I got my moped fixed this morning - I'm actually getting things *done* at the moment and it feels kinda good. If only this job wasn't so fucking tedious.

I initially read this as 'Minor Threat CDs' and thought Dee was about to get all straight-edge on our asses.

Americans, what do you have off this week. I'm out for the rest of the week and couldn't be more pleased. :)

I'm giving a mid-six weeks exam today. Our principal has ordered us to write all tests in the format of the state standarized test. This means multiple choice. I hate multiple choice.

Usually my tests are short answer and essay. More of a pain in the ass for me but I know I'm forcing the kids to think instead of just choosing any letter. Oh well.

I did manage to tack on two short answer/essay questions about our novel on the end. tee-hee.

This morning I gave my key a "69". On the back, I wrote a lengthy note about how we've been reading our novel for a month now and how the key should at least attempt the essay questions.

Moran.

- Friday, Prof calls S, the other assistant instructor for the course, and tells him to show a movie on Tuesday (today), which is what we do when Prof isn't going to be there. It's generally what we do on days when papers are being returned, so Prof doesn't have to sit around while we deal with the mechanics of the course. (The professor for this course is just a lecturer; we do everything else.)

- S and I had already been switching off days, since there's so rarely any need for us to be at the lectures anyway, so we just hang out in case someone has questions after class. Tuesday's my day. So S emails me over the weekend, tells me where I can pick up the video.

- Monday, I pick up the video, along with a "paid internships at Disney World, come to the meeting!" notice dated November 6th, which is beside the point.

- This morning, I go in, and as expected, hardly anyone's there. Most people have cancelled classes today; I'd already returned papers to a number of students who were flying back to Mom&Pop's over the weekend. Out of 150 students, there were maybe 25 there. I'd brought in a huge bag of leftover Halloween candy, and said, "Okiedoke, take as much frickin candy as you want, take your paper, write 'turkey' down on your next paper to get extra credit for being here at the crack of dawn, and go home. Have a good Thanksgiving."

- Answered some questions about the next paper, and rewrites (it always alarms me slightly when people are asking me when the rewrite of a paper is due before they've even looked at the grade they got), handed back papers, and as I was handing out the last paper, Prof walks in.

- "You're not supposed to be here today!" sez Yrs Truly, and he says something about having talked to S, which makes little sense, and I explain about sending people home because of there being so few people there and all.

- He just stands there for a moment like I've been speaking Basque and flashing jazz hands at him, and then takes the video, says, "What's done is done," and leaves before I can say anything.

Mark, I meant the answer key that I was supposed to be using to grade the tests.

So it will be a quiet week but I have the complete season of Sports Night on DVD--yay. The quiet will be welcome, I've had lots of ridiculous appointments lately.

Sam, I went to check my voice mail this morning and forgot my own phone number. I had to look it up. Dumbass me.

heh.

Enjoy yr solo weekend Julia. I'm also skipping Thanksgiving with the family. I try to skip as many holidays as possible. ;)

My sister was saying that she and my bro-in-law would be toasting me with many beers. :) They'll need them, spending the holiday with my parents. My bro-in-law usually spends a lot of the time chain smoking outside. He doesn't smoke anymore, usually. Just when it's a Family Holiday.

Don't promise if you can't deliver, dude.

He doesn't smoke anymore, usually. Just when it's a Family Holiday.

De-stress, Julia? I know what he's saying, believe.

Julia, I'm spending Thanksgiving fairly solo this year, too. No shame in that. There's no one down here I WANT to spend the holiday with.

Nick, you'll find a flat ace enough to kill for. Finding a steady job makes most prospective landlords beg to kiss your feet.