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I'm sad to say that my school has lost yet another member of our family. The year began with the death of a young man who was only a junior...followed shortly thereafter by the death of one of the friendliest, hardest working janitors I ever met. And now, the art teacher has died. I'll admit this upfront - I didn't particularly like her. She was excessively annoying, and had a bad habit of wandering into my classroom at the most inopportune times (like when I was trying to tutor a student or packing up to leave for the day). However, that is not to say that she wasn't a good person. She showed me kindness when I first started working there (her room is right down the hall), and though we had our differences, I think she liked me. I feel bad about the fact that she (unintentionally) got under my skin all the time...because I know her heart was in the right place. But I'm glad that the last conversation I had with her was a good one. I don't know what inspired me to do so, but right before I left school last Wednesday (on my way out to begin spring break), I stopped by her room to chat. We talked about prom (she was the faculty adviser), the trip to England she went on with a few students, and her most recent observation by an administrator. All in all, it was a pleasant conversation...and now I'm really happy I took the time to wish her a nice break. I just wanted to write a short post on her because her passing should not go unnoticed. She made a difference in students' lives...in other teachers' lives. She should not be forgotten.
I don't know if that makes sense... And I honestly don't know if I wrote this or if I read it somewhere, but I can't get it out of my head: In darkness and in death, we are all equal. Good night. Tags: death, work/teaching
Current Mood:  sad
Current Music: Silence
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I feel like I'm going to die. I don't get sick very often...but when I do, watch out. It's only a cold, and one could argue that I'm being a whiny little baby...but I assure you, it's one HELL of a cold. This almost always happens when I have any significant time off from school - as soon as I get a break, it's literally like my immune system is says, "Ok guys, take 5." So now I have some kind of killer virus, thanks to one of my lovely students. *sigh* After attempting to ignore it for several days (including going to Easter dinner at the 'rents and taking my first trip to the mall since...God, I can't even remember the last time I went to the mall...), I've spent today camped out on the couch, drinking lots of fluids and drifting in and out of consciousness while L&O: CI repeats play in the background. Here's hoping tomorrow is better... Tags: health
Current Mood:  sick
Current Music: L&O: CI...didn't you read the post...?
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Ok...so...I'm a nerd, but I'm not a big "Star Trek" fan. Which not to say that I didn't watch it (re-runs of the original when I was little, grew up with TNG, but couldn't really get into DSN or "Voyager"), just that I wasn't all obsessed with it. That said...can I tell you how much I love this clip? If you're afraid to watch it, it's only 42 seconds of Kirk and McCoy, so I wouldn't consider it spoilery. I absolutely LOVE the quote about space (and disease and death) from McCoy. I do believe I've found next month's "quote of the moment"... Does anyone else out there watch "Rescue Me"? I had forgotten how much I missed it. I appreciate the fact that it's not afraid to be real, to take a look a people's good AND bad sides, to acknowledge the fact that a "hero" doesn't have to be (and probably isn't) perfect. The characters in this series are so wonderfully complex. Anyway, I really enjoyed the season premiere...and I thought Michael J. Fox was hysterical. It's great to see him, even if it's only for a brief guest spot. Does anyone know anything about this new series, "Harper's Island"? I think it's supposed to premiere tomorrow night...and the premise seems to have potential, but one misstep could ruin everything. I'm totally going to check it out... And now...let spring break begin!!!! Tags: movies, tv
Current Mood:  excited
Current Music: "So What," Pink
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I know it's been over a week since my last post, but between grades being due and play practice, I've been absolutely swamped. The good news....SPRING BREAK IS IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need a break. I need a chance to sleep late and maybe play some video games now that my PS2 (which my brother "borrowed" several years ago) is back in my possession and do some spring cleaning. I need to read a book. I need to finally do some writing. I need to send some resumes out so I can gt a job in public school. I would love to go on a little min-trip - preferably to Salem, Massachusetts, which I've been aching to visit for a while now - but money is tight, and I've been nominated to stop by my parents' house every other day to feed the cat/birds while they go on vacation. Ah well...I suppose I have all summer to plan an adventure... Meanwhile, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde has almost been...dare I say....pursuing me ever since I told him that I was fine with the way things turned out between us, and am happy that we're friends. I'm not sure what to do with this. I know what I should do (stick to my guns and stay friends), but I don't know if I'm strong enough to resist... The school play is...well...it is what it is. I suppose there is a bright side - the dance seems to be going pretty well. The choreography is complete, and it looks ok so far. But it's rare that all my dancers show up (I'm usually lucky if I get half), and we practiced with the pianist for the first time today, and it was a near disaster. I told the director that we should have been practicing with the piano from the start (obviously the song sounds different on a piano vs an entire orchestra), but he wouldn't listen. Still...I have hope. The choreography itself is rather good...that probably sounds stuck-up, but it's not meant to be. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. Now it's up to the kids to get it right... As for the rest of the play...I'm not a big fan of "Camelot." But, like the dance, it's coming along. Will it be ready by the end of the month? That's the real question... I updated the "quote of the moment" in my components, provided by my good friend Alex. It's the best description of my love life that I've ever heard....LOL And, to my LJ friends - even though I don't reply often, I assure you that I read every post. You all live very interesting lives, and I enjoy hearing all about them... Tags: jekyll/hyde, lj: quote update, randomosity, school play, spring break, work/teaching
Current Mood:  drained
Current Music: "The Simpsons Theme Song"
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As promised, my thoughts on "Watchmen"... Non-spoilery thoughts: - I love Rorschach. I loved him from the moment I first heard him speak...way back when I saw the trailer for the first time and thought, "This looks stupid." Clearly I changed my mind about the stupid part...but not about Rorschach. Loved him in the book. Loved him in the movie. Rorschach is the man.
- I appreciated the Comedian as a character. I mean...as a person, he was a scumbag, but as a character he was interesting.
- I liked the use of music in the movie, especially "The Sound of Silence." I hate the fact that I need to buy the entire album on iTunes in order to get the Phillip Glass piece.
- Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II were too whiney in the book. I liked them better in the movie.
- I liked the way Dr. Manhattan's perception of time was portrayed in the book. It wasn't as well done in the movie. But the chapter that focused on him, with him holding the photograph...I thought that was incredibly well done.
- Bubastis is awesome. Too bad he (she?) was seemingly thrown into the movie with absolutely no explanation. The damn movie was already 2 hours and 40 minutes or something...you couldn't add another minute and have one person mention Adrian's genetically modified pet Lynx? You know, so the audience knows what the hell is going on...?
- The endings of the book and movie were...different. Both acceptable in their own ways. I can live with both of them, and think that each one works for the medium in which it appears.
- On the other hand...the fact that they kept the *VERY * ending the same made me happy. :-)
- Why must super heroines always wear lingerie-like latex outfits and 5 inch stiletto heels? I mean...at the very least...lose the damn heels. A girl is more likely to sprain her ankle on the way to fight injustice than to do any actual good in them. And for God's sake, cover up! That outfit will do nothing to protect you from fists, knives, lead pipes, or bullets.
( Avast, matey, there be spoilers ahead...don't click if you don't want to read them... )Is there anything anyone would like to add? I'm interested in what other people thought about the book, the movie, or both... Oh, and did I mention how much I love Rorschach? Tags: movies, watchmen
Current Mood:  geeky
Current Music: "The Sound of Silence," Simon and Garfunkel
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It's still dark out when I wake up in the morning...I wash my face, feed the cats, then open the blinds in my living room so they can climb on the windowsill and look outside while I'm at work...followed by my normal morning routine. Today, as I rushed back into the living room to retrieve my coat, I literally froze in mid-step - there were HUGE fluffy snowflakes falling at at alarming rate outside my window. I thought this was supposed to be the first day of spring... Luckily, it was too warm for the blizzard-like flakes to stick to the roads. But still... So far, choreography on the school play seems going well. *knocks on wood* Despite the fact I'm working with non-dancers, and the fact that many of them are late to rehearsal (if they show up at all), I've taught them a full minute of the routine, and have another 30 seconds mapped out, which makes me halfway done. This time around, my muses only seem to show up the day of practice...usually several hours before. That's cutting it close, but I like the results. With practice and patience, I think it's going to look really nice. I really, truly intend on posting "Watchmen" thoughts tomorrow...if I can squeeze it in between grocery shopping, cleaning, grading, and going out to dinner with some old friends. I'm excited about that last part...if only my ex-boyfriend wasn't going to be there. I don't hate him or anything, but he's one of those people I could go without seeing for the rest of my life and be a very happy woman, and he has a bad habit of trying to make nice whenever we're both at these get-togethers. I wish he would get the hint - I don't particularly want to talk to him. I will be polite, but that's it. "Hi, how are you? Nice to see you. Go away." "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" was actually pretty cute. Well...as cute as a movie about making a porno can be. I enjoyed it. Tags: boys suck, movies, school play, weather, work/teaching, wtf
Current Mood:  creative
Current Music: Cheesy porn music
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I've been meaning to post for so long...and every time I'm about to, something distracts me. So, a brief summary: - I must comment about "Watchmen" - both the book (which I read 2 weeks ago) AND the movie (which I saw last week). For now, all I can say is this: I love Rorschach. He's the man.
- I'm having boy issues. Again. I think I have more boy drama in my life when I'm single than when I'm part of a couple. This time the drama is care of "my Jacob." More to follow.
- The school play is upon is. I've been asking for the music literally for MONTHS...I got it Friday afternoon (and not even the piano music [we're a small school, so there's no band], the full orchestra version, which will sound completely different from the piano-only version) and was asked to "have something" by Saturday. Really? Do you think choreography is that easy to do? *sigh* In the end, it didn't matter...half the "dancers" didn't come to practice. And by "dancers" I mean random students with absolutely no dance experience.
- On that note...I've listened to "The Lusty Month of May" a gazillion times. I have some general ideas, but nothing specific. My muses better get off their butts and start contributing...it's only a month and a half 'til curtain...
- We're giving Terra Novas next week - it's a standardized test. As a result, I'm not allowed to assign homework, give quizzes, or give tests during that time. Too bad that's the last week of the marking period. And they only told us about it last Thursday. Nothing like letting us plan ahead.
- I hate daylight savings time...stupid clock making me get up an hour earlier...
- My mom bought me some Thin Mints. Awesome.
- This weekend I bought a white and green striped shirt for a mere $10. Now I will be set for St. Patrick's Day for life...
Tags: comics, movies, my jacob, randomosity, school play, work/teaching
Current Mood:  working
Current Music: "The Lusty Month of May," from "Camelot"
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YAY!!!! School is closed tomorrow! And the best part is, the powers-that-be made the decision tonight...instead of tomorrow morning, after I've woken up, gotten dressed, or worse, already tried driving in the storm. So, no risking my life to go to work (which I totally would because I'm an idiot)! Thank you, oh wondrous snow gods for preventing my stupidity, I am in your debt... Happy birthday to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ladyaeryn ! I know things have been tough lately...I hope they get better soon... There's a new quote of the moment (which is really more of a "quote of the month," I'm just too stubborn to change the title) in my components - " I'm not locked up in here with you. You're locked up in here with me." ~ Rorschach, "Watchmen" Plans for tomorrow: - Sleep late.
- Finish "Watchmen," which I purchased Saturday. I'm already up to chapter ten...I think I like it.
- Eat Breakfast for lunch.
- Figure out homework assignments for the rest of the week.
- Fine-tune chapter 13 project, which will count as a test grade (and hopefully save my students from their shameful performances on the last test).
- Post new article/assignment on honors blog.
- Shovel my car out.
- Play with my cats.
</lj> Tags: birthdays, graphic novels, lj: quote update, work/teaching
Current Mood:  relieved
Current Music: "Intro/Logos" (from "Psycho"), Bernard Hermann
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