It was a nice afternoon. Came home to find a letter/note/card from the lovable Leila, inviting me to be her maid of honor. Ali, Heather and I all got them, requesting our services as bridesmaids. It was a lovely card with other bits to it that I won't get into, but the basic point is it was a sweet and beautiful way to ask us to be involved. Go Leila!
Around the time I was marveling about the note, I get a call from *gasps* Ehren! Ok, besides the fact that I was thinking about his wedding, there is the fact that HE called ME. I love him, he's my best friend, but the boy just does not often pick up the phone.
And over the course of a nice conversation, he mentions that I've come up in an earlier conversation he had with Dr. Bagley. Regarding what you might ask? Well, my impeccable organizational skills. [Note. I say this with a bit of sarcasm. My room and the living room look like bombs have exploded in them. Not kidding. I guess I'm selectively organized then? End Note.] It seems that Ehren was discussing the V.C. needing an Exectutive Manager - essentially a non-singing member to look after the administrative minutae. He says to Dr. B - remember CDN? V.C. needs an Anathema.
Heh.
Dr. Bagley, who remembered this all, bless his heart as if he doesn't have enough on his plate, suggested Ehren talk to me about helping out. Ehren, laughing, said that he didn't think I'd want to go through that again.
He related this to me. There was a moment of silence, and then I interjected, well...actually...
Because yes I'd do that sort of thing again. As I told Ehren, next year has been designated "Anathema reclaims her life" year. BEST will be over and I'm re-entering the real world. :) I can't wait. I have all sorts of ideas of things I want to do - Adult Ed classes to take, lessons, it's gonna be fun.
Anyway. It was a nice afternoon.
I've made lemon squares. And chocolate chip cookies that failed the aesthetic test though they taste fine. I also have a container of chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer. Between all the tasteing to figure out what was wrong, I am so sugared up and wired I don't know what to do. Too tired to grade papers, too wired to fall asleep. Maybe I should try anyway?
Yeah, that's the plan.
G'nite folks!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Avalanche
...though I suppose "flash flood" would be more appropriate. It's January and it's 50 degrees. I'm not quite sure what to do with that - not that I like the cold, I don't particularly love it...but this is a bloody tease. We all know what happens in this story - it warms up, teases us as we think briefly Spring is coming...and then it goes all White Witch Winter until mid-May. I'd rather get it all done quickly and be into Spring by early March. More Spring! and Fall! Two perfectly wonderful seasons that too often get shortchanged.
Ok, done now. :)
Of course the title hardly refers to the weather - no that would be far to mundane for me. Rather it refers to the bang that this year started with. Not even a week into the new year and I drop a friendship (technically two) like a hot potato(s). Or a disrespectful, deceitful one(s). Whichever. Surprisingly, I'm not mad or upset. And that's not sarcasm...I think I'm actually relieved if you can believe that. I had suspected the nature of the deceit for months - and having confirmation from said person really just backed up my belief in trusting my instincts. Women's intuition, which I suspect is nothing more than my subconscious picking up things my conscious mind doesn't. Given that women tend to notice more about the world around them in general, this makes sense. Either way - I was right. The two people in questions are, unquestionably, schmucks. Sad for them - not so much for me. Seriously why do people lie? What's the point? Sheesh.
I know women are supposed to be insane...but this particular one has usually proven herself to be reasonable. Oh well. I wish I could say that I'm sad about losing the friends...but I'm really not and I can not for the life of me figure out why. It's not denial...I know that much. Apathy? It's hardly shock. Maybe I just saw this as inevitable? Anytime I start psychoanalyzing myself...well I'd better stop before I convince myself of any number of silly things. :)
In other news...I chopped off about 4 inches of my hair. I love the new cut. I still double-take when I go past a mirror - I keep expecting it to be longer than it is. I've cut down on consumption of shampoo and condition by a significant amount too...which is kinda cool. The reasons for getting the cut are numberous - but was precipitated by a thoughtless comment by some students.
In other news my entire 6th period class will be failing the midterm next week.
I went in the next day, and the reaction ranged from "wait, is that you?" to "wow you look awesome." One student said it looked good...but she liked my long hair.
One student will definately be passing my midterm next week.
I'll put up a picture when I get a chance. For now I need to go get ready to have dinner with the family.
Later kids.
Ok, done now. :)
Of course the title hardly refers to the weather - no that would be far to mundane for me. Rather it refers to the bang that this year started with. Not even a week into the new year and I drop a friendship (technically two) like a hot potato(s). Or a disrespectful, deceitful one(s). Whichever. Surprisingly, I'm not mad or upset. And that's not sarcasm...I think I'm actually relieved if you can believe that. I had suspected the nature of the deceit for months - and having confirmation from said person really just backed up my belief in trusting my instincts. Women's intuition, which I suspect is nothing more than my subconscious picking up things my conscious mind doesn't. Given that women tend to notice more about the world around them in general, this makes sense. Either way - I was right. The two people in questions are, unquestionably, schmucks. Sad for them - not so much for me. Seriously why do people lie? What's the point? Sheesh.
I know women are supposed to be insane...but this particular one has usually proven herself to be reasonable. Oh well. I wish I could say that I'm sad about losing the friends...but I'm really not and I can not for the life of me figure out why. It's not denial...I know that much. Apathy? It's hardly shock. Maybe I just saw this as inevitable? Anytime I start psychoanalyzing myself...well I'd better stop before I convince myself of any number of silly things. :)
In other news...I chopped off about 4 inches of my hair. I love the new cut. I still double-take when I go past a mirror - I keep expecting it to be longer than it is. I've cut down on consumption of shampoo and condition by a significant amount too...which is kinda cool. The reasons for getting the cut are numberous - but was precipitated by a thoughtless comment by some students.
In other news my entire 6th period class will be failing the midterm next week.
I went in the next day, and the reaction ranged from "wait, is that you?" to "wow you look awesome." One student said it looked good...but she liked my long hair.
One student will definately be passing my midterm next week.
I'll put up a picture when I get a chance. For now I need to go get ready to have dinner with the family.
Later kids.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Unintentional Photography
For loyal readers (all 4 of you, hi K, Ehren, Leila and sometimes Dan!) I totally did not intend for this to become a photoblog. It just sorta happened. Anyway. I figured I owed a real post since I had just been pasting so many pictures...which for the record was done because I wanted to show some photographs to non-blogger friends (Eric, Nick are you two reading this? Probably not. That's okay.)
So, a real post...here's one. The paper today included an article regarding the myspace phenomena - not just myspace really, but myspace, xanga, livejournal etc. I think myspace got more hype only because it's like a junior version of friendster. The point of the article is that kids are using this stuff with no real concept of how widespread the readership of those sites are. Really. I mean, think about it this way - I think most of us "adults" understand that whatever we put on a blog site can theoretically be read by anyone and everyone. As a result we are, to varying degrees, circumspect as to what we write here. I don't post my name or major identifying details. Why? Because I'm a paranoid maniac? Not really. I mean I try to avoid giving people my address because really there are some creepy people out there. But beyond that, I am in a profession working with the same teenagers who use sites like myspace...and they know how to google. Google my name and yes you get pictures of me. What don't I want them doing? Finding this site. They don't need to read this type of thing about me. Neither do my bosses. Let's be realistic here for a minute - K and I know someone in grad school who essentially was fired from student teaching (and asked to leave our program) because she called the principal of her school a "fucking moron" on her lj site.
And kids are doing the same. They are effective cyber-bullies, they write things which they really shouldn't write. They post enough identifying details so that pedophiles can find them - there has been at least one case of such a bastard tracking a teenage girl down and kidnapping, raping, and killing her.
How do we protect the kids without banning them from cyberspace? Parents today can do their best - but if parents don't understand the technology, and many of them don't, how can they effectively manage the risk?
I don't know what the answer is here - but I'd love if someone did/could fill the rest of us in. Or really even comment. That'd be cool too.
So, a real post...here's one. The paper today included an article regarding the myspace phenomena - not just myspace really, but myspace, xanga, livejournal etc. I think myspace got more hype only because it's like a junior version of friendster. The point of the article is that kids are using this stuff with no real concept of how widespread the readership of those sites are. Really. I mean, think about it this way - I think most of us "adults" understand that whatever we put on a blog site can theoretically be read by anyone and everyone. As a result we are, to varying degrees, circumspect as to what we write here. I don't post my name or major identifying details. Why? Because I'm a paranoid maniac? Not really. I mean I try to avoid giving people my address because really there are some creepy people out there. But beyond that, I am in a profession working with the same teenagers who use sites like myspace...and they know how to google. Google my name and yes you get pictures of me. What don't I want them doing? Finding this site. They don't need to read this type of thing about me. Neither do my bosses. Let's be realistic here for a minute - K and I know someone in grad school who essentially was fired from student teaching (and asked to leave our program) because she called the principal of her school a "fucking moron" on her lj site.
And kids are doing the same. They are effective cyber-bullies, they write things which they really shouldn't write. They post enough identifying details so that pedophiles can find them - there has been at least one case of such a bastard tracking a teenage girl down and kidnapping, raping, and killing her.
How do we protect the kids without banning them from cyberspace? Parents today can do their best - but if parents don't understand the technology, and many of them don't, how can they effectively manage the risk?
I don't know what the answer is here - but I'd love if someone did/could fill the rest of us in. Or really even comment. That'd be cool too.
The Following will be on My Wall
OK, so following in an idea that Ehren gave me, K. and I are puting together a 4X3 grid of 8X10 pictures on the wall in our living room. The following 12 pictures have been printed in 8X10 format (thank you Sam's club) and have been trimmed (thank you fiskars 12" paper trimmer from michael's) and framed in black frames (thank you Christmas Tree Shop).
We haven't decided what order to put the pictures in though we have a vague idea...the 3 shots of the cats and squirrel are going to form the corners, with the shots of Hob diagnolly opposite each other. And then the shot of us and Roderick close to the middle. other than that... we're still pondering. Comment with suggestions!
On Williams Street - I just really liked the house.
We haven't decided what order to put the pictures in though we have a vague idea...the 3 shots of the cats and squirrel are going to form the corners, with the shots of Hob diagnolly opposite each other. And then the shot of us and Roderick close to the middle. other than that... we're still pondering. Comment with suggestions!
On Williams Street - I just really liked the house.
