Saturday Special: Three Things, Vol. 1

The djs on the morning show I sometimes listen to on my way to work in the morning often have a discussion of "three things I'm into right now". So...

Three Things I'm Into Right Now!

1. Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is an adorable British kid (21 is still a kid) who is a singer/songwriter. One of my favorite students told me about him at the end of the school year and I downloaded his album. It's pretty great. Even better, is his cover of the delightfully filthy 90s classic "Pony" by Ginuwine (which I totally have on my iPod, because sometimes you need to have a Ginuwine/Montell Jordan/Quad City DJs dance party).

2. Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy

I didn't think I'd love this book as much as I did. It won me over with three simple steps: 1. It has a female character is who strong, brave, and awesome all on her own. 2. While there is a love story (not a love triangle...hoooooooooray!!), it's not the dominating plot line because the main character doesn't need a boy to tell her what to do. 3. It's not about vampires. I'm going to start the second book today...and then I'll have to wait a year for the third one. LAME.

3. MTV's Awkward

If you didn't watch Awkward last season, you are so missing out. It's a smart, fun, awkward show about a 15 year old girl who goes through all the normal high school stuff (like having a love triangle...booooooooo!). The thing I love about it, though, is that it's not cheesy, or if it is, it's cheesy in a way I really enjoy. The characters are all believable. The actors aren't terrible, most of the time anyway. I don't watch a lot of teen shows (whatever, Jane By Design doesn't count, it has a lot of adults in it), but this is one show I'm happy to make the exception for.

So what are you into right now? Tell me about something new to listen to, read, and watch!

Are you now?

A random email from K, with a random student comment...

"Frickin' I'm Harry Potter! Look at my wand!"

That sounds like it would require a lot of upkeep...

Another K email...

So today my freshmen practiced interviewing each other. It’s kind of like the traditional “getting to know you” activity, but our focus for the unit is voice & coming of age, so they had to try to capture the person’s voice. Their final assignment will be to interview someone about HS and write a narrative interview.

This is my favorite answer of the whole day.

#1: What type of pet would you like?
#2: I don’t really want a pet because I don’t want to pick up poop.
#1: Well, if you had to choose?
#2: Okay. A mini Cyclops…that could clean up after itself.

Remembering Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron died yesterday. I'm really sad about this because she was an incredibly funny woman who was a fantastic writer. "When Harry Met Sally" has been one of my top five favorite movies since I was about 12 and was way too young to understand what Sally was doing in that restaurant. My friends at work will often reply to advice with "You're right, you're right, I know you're right" and then someone will always finish up with "he's never going to leave her".

Today's List of Note (sister site to Letters of Note, which I have often linked to) celebrates Ephron's life by excerpting some lists of things she will and won't miss written for the end of her book I Remember Nothing.

Hop on over and read: http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/06/what-i-wont-and-will-miss.html

Bacon, fireworks, and Pride and Prejudice would be on my list too.

That girl gets 10 gold stars for awesomeness.

More from K...

Me: The assignment states it explicitly.

Freshman boy, being a jerk: What does 'explicit' even mean?

Me: Clearly stated.

Freshman boy, (with maximum attitude): Uuuuugh. You should have just said 'clearly.' No one knows what 'explicit' means.

Girl: What the--Fool, this is English class. It's her JOB to teach you new words. What you thinkin', not wanting to learn?

Go fast! Turn left! Go fast! Turn left!

More from K...

Just passed out test scores for reading to freshman. Boy looks at his scores and says in a horrible Southern accent: "K, I'm dumb. Should I just drop out and drive NASCAR? I like goin' fast."

Gauging emotional responses is hard?

This week I'm going to post emails from my friend K. I have a bunch of them saved up, so I figure a week of K would be a good thing. I always want more K in my life!

Passing back student work:

Kid: What does this mean? I wrote 'this passage has no tone' and she just wrote '[name]...' What does that mean?

K: Think about it in my tone of voice.
Kid: ...Oh. You're disappointed.

2nd kid: THAT IS SO FUNNY.

3rd kid. Suck it, I got TWO happy face stamps!

Librarians Rule!

You know who you are, and you know I think you're the greatest people ever. <3

Source

Guest Posting: Gatsby!!

Today I'm guest posting over on Fantasy Casting, a blog I've mentioned several times. My friend Gina, who I've known for approximately eleventy billion years, discusses books, movies, and how they can be combined. A while ago she put out the offer for people who wanted to talk about upcoming literary adaptations, and when I saw The Great Gatsby on the list, I snatched that right up.

So head over on to my post and see what I have to say about Gatsby, 3-D, and my loathing for Toby Maguire.

Fifty Shades of Awful

Have some self respect, ladies. Christian Grey isn't the perfect guy. The perfect guy doesn't need to beat you to get off. Three cheers for this artist.


Source

I never forget.

"She looked at us all radiantly. 'Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.'"

Don't worry Daisy, I always remember.

Well that explains everything.

My favorite moment in summer school thus far:

Today, after I gave some directions for the novel we were starting, I overheard one student say to the other, "Yeah, I don't read books."

I smiled to myself, cleared my throat, leaned over to the kid and whispered, "Maybe that's why you're the only person retaking this class to graduate?"

He just started at me and then got to work.

12 more days until four weeks of freedom.

Changes Up In Here!

Hi all, this is a housekeeping post.

I recently changed some things around with my email subscriptions, so if you subscribe through email (although I'm not sure how you'll see this because you aren't a subscriber anymore), you'll need to resubscribe.

I'm sorry for the hassle!

Why I'm a bitch and not apologizing for it.

I found this in my old online journal and I thought I'd share with you all. If you don't know the person I am by now, I guess this will tell you.

* * * *

11 June 2009 @ 02:53 pm

A girl I was friends with in high school just posted this whole thing on Facebook about how God is in control and how we need to pray for the president to make good decisions and we need to protect our marriage laws and the unborn babies who "bear the brunt of our sins" and how we're being led astray but we shouldn't "loose hope".

I respect that people have their own beliefs, but I read the entire thing and the first thing I thought is...

"It's lose, not loose. Study your spelling, bitch."

Saying Good-bye to Friends and Wishing Them the Best

Last night my heart broke into a million little pieces.

As I was getting ready to go out and be sociable with some friends, B called me and told me he was leaving That One School. I knew it was coming. (That's what she said! Fuck, who is going to make these jokes with me now?!) He recently completed his Master's and admin certification, and he's been looking for admin jobs. He had interviewed the previous week, which I knew about, and he was pretty confident about getting the position.

Let me say, with all honesty, I'm SO VERY EXCITED for B. This is an awesome move for him, him career, and his family.

I want to say that loud and clear, because on the other hand, I'm so incredibly sad for me, our school, and our team. Over the past several years B has become a staple in my life. He is most often the co-worker I run to with good or bad news. The one who has talked me off of a hundred ledges during this past year of awfulness. The one who laughs at my stupid jokes, and I his. The one who can make the best, and worst, puns and won't stop making them until I throw something at his head. And even then, he's likely to go on. The first time he introduced me to his wife, he said, "This is M, I'm one of her work spouses." Which is totally true.

He has been a steady contributor to this blog and for that, and many other reasons, I will miss him terribly. Even now I'm starting to well up.

B, I wish you all the happiness in the world at your new job. I hope you find ridiculousness in new and interesting ways.

Time for an essay bonfire!

Summer school is half over. This session we read Elie Wiesel's Night and I had the kids write an essay about it. Many of the essays weren't good. That's an understatement. Here are some awesome excerpts, which are all verbatim from the papers.

"The people die left and right of starvation and being shot."

"There is a bundle of killings and torture throughout the book."

"...the ladies are treated like rat dolls."

"This book is a virtuous book if you like realism, but if you're into action and comedy, think twice before reading it."

"Hitler was the cause of Elie and his family given up faith in the god."

"At the end of the book Elizer is mistreated really badly had mind and spirt is crushed I know this because this very quote..."

"The Book of Night is about a young thirteen Jewish boy names Elie Wiesel."

"Have you ever thought of what your life would be like if you grew up in a concentration camp?"

"In this book the book Night by Elie Wiesel the main character is Elie Wiesel, a thirteen year old Jewish boy."

Oh Tennant.

Am I in love with this blog? Yes, yes I am.

This is my fave:


Have I been in a Tennant spiral since starting Doctor Who? Yes, yes I have.

This spiral is all someone's fault. You know who you are.

Source

Listening is Hard

I had this conversation with K via the internets last week. I like having teacher friends in other states because we note that kids are the same everywhere.

Me I spent five minutes introducing Life is Beautiful and then when I turned on the movie a kid in the back asked, "Wait, so what movie are we watching?"
K: My freshmen did that yesterday when we were defining words in a poem.

Her: "Ebb and flow is the movement of the tide."

Kid 1: "Wait, did you define ebb & flow?"

Kid 2: "You never explained ebb & flow!"
Her: "Yes I did. You were texting. Ask the person you're texting what it means."

K: Obviously whoever they're texting is more important than what we're learning in here.

Me: Obvi.

It's like the Hamptons up in here!

Overheard in class yesterday...

Girl of indeterminate Asian origin: I'm throwing a white party this weekend.
Black kid: I threw a white party before.
White kid: A white party? Like, for white kids? (whispers) But you're black.
Black kid: No dumbass, like a party where everyone wears white.
White kid: Ohhhhh, that makes so much more sense.

I couldn't make this stuff up.

"I do love nothing in the world so well as you..."

During my recent foray into Doctor Who and subsequent ardent devotion to David Tennant, I found that he and Catherine Tate (arguably one of the funniest ladies out there) recently did a run of Much Ado About Nothing, which is my second favorite Shakesperean comedy (right after Twelfth Night). It is a delightful version of the play. Both Tennant and Tate are absolutely hilarious and the staging and concept are fantastic.

If you get want to download it, you can do so here (click!). I've read nothing about a DVD release, which is pretty lame, if you ask me.

Fun fact: I love Mumford and Sons a whole lot. I was lucky enough to see them live and it was a beautiful concert experience. My favorite song is Sigh No More (awesome live version!), which contains several references to Much Ado, a fact that has always delighted me. (Also, their song Roll Away Your Stone references Macbeth!)

Anyway, here's the trailer for the production. Enjoy!

YTWA: You're the Worst Always

On Friday, when I asked the class what the main theme of Elie Wiesel's Night is, a student responded, "YOLO!"

Oh, you don't know about YOLO? You're better off.

I almost burned the room down because, seriously, fuck you kid.

My Weekend Date

I don't think I have a type. I mean, guys are my type (sorry ladies), but I couldn't tell you what I go for, other than funny and smart. If I was pressed to choose a type, here he is:



I knew getting into Doctor Who that I already loved David Tennant. I've seen random things with him; Harry Potter 4, United, St. Trinian's. I think it's the glasses + freckles that do it for me. I'm smitten.

The Doctor is In

During the summer, while I'm trying to be as lazy as possible whenever I'm not grading for summer school, I read a lot of books and watch a lot of tv and movies. Thanks to Netflix, I'm able to watch entire tv series in a matter of weeks, because sometimes binging is the best way to watch a tv show. Last summer I watched all of Battlestar Galactica, which was a very intense few weeks of my life.

This summer I've decided to delve into the world of Doctor Who. Many of my friends watch it and I feel like I'm into so many other nerdy things, that I might as well get into this one too. Besides, David Tennant, even though I'm not to his series yet, is hot. Proof.

I'm four episodes in and hooked already.

My friend Andrew, who blogs about his experiences reading Doctor Who books, has put up with me asking all kinds of questions, fangirling about how I already want the Doctor and Rose to get together, and constantly commenting on his Facebook with my observations about the show. Thanks Andrew!

Has anyone else watched the show? Comments? No spoilers, please!