CrazyTrain

These are just some cute pictures of the girls from my cell phone.

So one night I was bored, painfully bored, and I decided to play around with photobooth on my MAC.  I choose the mirror setting and then accidentally pressed record.  The following video is the product of that.  Kinda scary, but my real photo is at the bottom of the homepage! So it’s all OK.

This is not a joke. All I can tell you is that last night I took Nyquil before going to sleep and I had a dream about a movie idea-complete with trailer!  The movie starred Jimmy Walker from GoodTimes and was called Back to the Ghetto!  Like Back to The Future only…in the ghetto.  I can’t remember a whole lot about it, but don’t you think it sounds like a good movie premise?  Anybody in Hollywood reading this?  Gimme props!

1. You believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin fountain.

2. You want to slap the next person who says, “Must be nice to work 8 to 3:00 and have summers free.”

3. You can tell if it’s a full moon without looking outside.

4. You believe “shallow gene pool” should have its own check box on a report card.

5. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says: “Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.”

6. When out in public you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

7. You have no social life between August and June.

8. Marking all A’s on report cards would make your life SO easy.

9. You think people should be required to get a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

10. You wonder how some parents ever MANAGED to reproduce.

11. You laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the “lounge.”

12. You encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or Home schooling!

13. You can’t have children because there’s no name you could give a child that wouldn’t bring on high blood pressure the moment you heard it.

14. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

15. You know you are in for a major project when a parent says, “I have a great idea I’d like to discuss. I think it would be such fun.”

16. Meeting a child’s parent instantly answers the question, “Why is this kid like this?”

So i was Skyping with the girls the other day and I told them to make funny faces…These are their funny faces!  Too cute!

Runner by Thomas Perry is the latest in a series of novels about a woman named Jane Whitefield.  Jane can make people disappear.  In other words, if you are in trouble and someone is trying to kill you, you find Jane and she will put you into a witness protection program of sorts.  She will change your name, give you a new identity-the whole deal.  You just have to follow the rules.  The problem is that Jane has a new life now.  She is married to a wonderful man and has settled into a quiet life, until Christine seeks her help.  What follows is an exciting tale of near misses and just-desserts.  This story kept me on the edge of my seat and was great fun to listen to.  I didn’t know that this book was part of a series when I first picked it up, but now I plan to read the stories leading up to this one.  My conservative rating is PG-13 for some language and a couple of sexual references.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore could be a fun book, if it weren’t so vulgar.  The story is about a man who unwittingly and unwillingly gets a job collecting “soul vessels” from the dead or dying. There are talking ravens, little animal “people”,  hell-hounds, and f**k puppets.  Yes, that’s right.  In fact, I think that there was one chapter where the author had a contest with himself just to see how many time he could say…the latter word combo.  The problem with the book is that the author is unbelievably vulgar.  So you are probably wondering why I finished it.  Well, I bought it from Audible (based on recommendations from their review section, none of which mentioned what I was in store for-at least not the ones I read).  Anyhow, I felt that since I bought it I should finish it because I would feel bad wasting the money,  and I was genuinely curious about how the story would turn out, also the narrator was entertaining.  I don’t recommend this book, however, unless you like vulgarity and perversion. Seriously.

Rated R

Timeline by Michael Crichton is a sci-fi tell about a group of archaeologists who travel back in time to 14th century France.  The premise is far-fetched enough, but the book is filled with plenty of scientific jargon that make the ideas seem plausible.  If you are a fan of science fiction and action then I recommend this book. I listened to it on audiobook and it was great entertainment because the narrator did a great job with all of the voices.

I rate the book PG for some language, but there is not much so don’t let that deter you. It’s a fun ride.

Student:What happens if we don’t do our homework.
Teacher: You’re gonna burn in hell. Satan sent me a memo this morning and he is looking for the souls of children who don’t do their homework.

The excerpt below is from another blog I came across (while searching for lesson plans) and I have to admit that sometimes I feel like this teacher does. I pasted the post here because he/she doesn’t seem to be updating the blog anymore which means that it could disappear, but I have provided the link too. I think we all feel the way this blogger does at times, but, unlike her, I do still enjoy my job and I do still believe that sometimes a caring teacher is the only refuge for a hurting child. I have experienced that more than a handful of times. And many of these kids are hurting because many of their parents are simply incompetent when it comes to the job of parenting. So I keep my sanity by realizing that teaching is a ministry as well as a profession and while I may not open a Bible with my students or even share the Gospel with them (although they do sometimes ask questions about my beliefs so I invite them to come to Bible Club or chat after school-some take me up, most don’t), it is still my duty to treat them with the care that Christ would. But I don’t always, I really don’t… It’s hard when they are being little jerks!  Here is the quote:

According to studies (don’t quote me, I’m not sure what the studies are, but this is something I was told in grad school), newbie teachers go in with a sense of ideal enthusiasm and then get burnt out around now. I’m not sure if I’m burnt out, but at a recent post-observation conference, I was informed that I sounded as if I was resigned to the fact that my kids can’t remember to bring their supplies, to write legible and coherent essays, to remember their major projects, to get their grades up, or to care about their futures. I lied, I made up most of that, but the part about me being resigned is true. It’s difficult for me to hold on to any hope and enthusiasm when I’m surrounded by jackasses who don’t make any conscious effort and constantly blame me for any failure on their part. I can’t help getting frustrated when the kids turn toward me with big blank stares when I inform them for the nth time that they have a project that is half of their grade due at the end of the semester. I’m literally living for the weekends and the days off when I don’t have to see them anymore. Is this what teaching is supposed to be like? If so, then I chose a bleak profession.

At times, I catch myself daydreaming about jumping ship and getting into another career. However, I don’t think I have the skills and qualifications to do anything else. And honestly, I’m terrified. Am I going to pass my observations and have my contract renewed next year, or will I do the whole job search dance again? Considering how hard it was to get this job, I don’t have the confidence that I will be offered anything else anywhere else. Am I going to be the bitter harridan who just counts down the days until retirement? That would suck.

There are some days when I do enjoy teaching, but I hate interacting with the kids because they can be little shits. Don’t let others fool you because somedays, the kids truly suck. Even the very good kids will have very bad days and they will be a pains in the ass like all the others.

Supposedly, I’m at the low point right now. This is when the noobs realize that teaching isn’t all fairies and rainbowdust and they realize that teaching is hard work and most of that work isn’t even compensated (for instance, I’m supposing to be writing an exam right now and I sure as hell ain’t getting paid to do that). One more week after this and then Thanksgiving Break. A few more weeks after that and then Winter Break. We’ll see what happens afterwards.

http://theenglishteacher.wordpress.com/2006/11/08/rising-action/