Going down to South Park, Going to meet some friends of mine...

Last night was fun because I got the chance to see some friends in Matt, Dennis, Allison, and Rebekah. I really hadn't seen them in a while, so it was nice to catch up, and I'll get to see them again next month, which is nice. I met them at the above mentioned bar which I never knew existed. Had a few drinks and found out what's going on in everyone's lives to a limited extent. I also found out there are 2 people living in Bloomfield again who I graduated with and don't hate! Allison and Rebekah are living back home again, so at least there are two normal people my age who live here. Everyone seems to be doing well and they all have been through a lot of interesting experiences, which means I have to catch up and start doing some wild and crazy living...or just make up some stories.

Thanksgiving was also nice. Spent it at my brother & sis-in-law's house. Rachel's parents and brother came, as did my parents, and of course, the lovely Kim went with me the night before. It was nice. We don't really have a large family, so it was a cozy amount of people there and the food was glorious. And what family sits together after dinner to watch an episode of Family Guy on DVD? How cool is that?

The best part about this weekend is that it's only Saturday morning, so there's at least one more full day to this weekend that can include fun, whereas tomorrow I'm sure to whine about going back to work on Monday.

"those Native Americans grew the shit out of that corn"

I was waiting for someone to blog. I was really tired of seeing my mile-long blog every day. Hooray for eating our faces off! I researched online and found a former football player in the NFL has two daughters in my school, and I've subbed in the classes of both of them. I had a feeling a few weeks ago because I saw the names of the parents, and the name was eerily familiar. So that's pretty interesting. I think the best part about it is that nobody has ever said a word about it in the school. Hopefully they don't even know and it will stay that way for their sake.

In other news, I have an interview next week in this place for a fifth grade maternity leave position. I'm really hoping it goes well, and I have a fair chance of getting it. If I don't I, have the opportunity to teach at Sylvan Learning Center two nights per week. I had to sub in art today, plus it was a half day, so classes were 20 minutes long. So my class consisted of:
"sit down"
explaining directions
"time to clean up"
pretty stupid to squeeze in the same number of classes from a full day into a half day if you ask me. But everyone says the teacher needs the prep period. No you don't. What's to prep? There are 4 days off. By the time they brought the class down, they only had maybe 15 minutes to rest anyway.

Enjoy the poultry.

jog, grog, log, hog, flog,...blog!

To say the Eagles beat the cowboys last nite would be an understatement. I have one more full day tomorrow and then 2 half days, followed next week by 3 half days and 2 days off. I don't believe Thanksgiving is next week. Yesterday I subbed in a 1st grade and we thought of words that had -un at the end (like fun and sun), but I began struggling with our list and just laughed at myself because I could not think like a first grader.

I started seeing some other permanent sub positions listed in the paper recently, so I sent my resumes out since they are in a regular classroom like 5th and 3rd. I also got a little bump in pay, which is greatly needed to get by each month. (Thanks Sallie Mae, you bitch!)

In another interesting note...If you knew me about 10 years ago, or if you've ever been in my room, you probably saw an autographed picture of a guy on the Bengals hanging on the wall. He was my favorite player back in the day and I even got a jersey made with his name. Every once in a while I search on google to see if there's anything about him online somewhere. The other day I saw something new and it listed his email. I emailed him and told him the story of my jersey and how I sent him a letter 10 years ago, and he replied yesterday by email thanking me for the inspirational email. What a guy!! Leonard Wheeler, if I ever meet you in person, I will buy you a drink and thank you for being a damn good sports role model.

I stole the following from Meredith's site, who actually stole it from her friend, so thanks. I have a tendency of doing these stupid things every so often-mostly due to boredom. So don't read the questions if you don't want to.

1. What is the geekiest part of your music collection: well, I alphabetize my cd's.
2. What do you eat when you raid the fridge at night: cookies
3. How much money would it take to give up the Internet for one year: whatever you're willing to give me
4. What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie: I'd like to say I didn't have one, but Kim would know I'm lying
5. Do you have a completely irrational fear: getting stung by a bee
6. What is a physical habit that gives away your insecure moments: I bite or play with my nails
7. Do you know anyone famous: my brother
8. Describe your bed: It's soft, has a pillow on top, some blankets, and a Bengals throw on top
9. Do you know how to play poker: not well, but yes
10. What do you carry with you at all times: My wallet and those listerine acid tab things
11. What do you miss most about being little: eating snacks and show and tell
12. Are you happy with your given name: Yes.
13. What color is your bedroom: green
14. Do you consider yourself to be a nice person: yes
15. Do you spend more time with your girlfriend/boyfriend or your friends: I spend most of my time with my girlfriend since most of my friends live out of state and the people i know around here are merely acquantainces in my opinion. when my friends come home, we hang out though.
16. What's one thing you wish you could do but can't: play professional baseball
17. What is your ideal marriage location: on a cliff overlooking the ocean at sunset
18. What's one instrument you wish you could play: keyboard
19. Something you love and hate: work
20. What's one language you want to learn: sign
21. What do you order at a bar: captain & ginger ale or corona
22. Have you ever pierced your body parts: i pierced my sternum once
23. Do you drive stick: no, and i am reluctant to say i don't know how to
24. What's one trait you hate in a person: condescending-ness? do you get what i mean
25. What kind of watch do you wear: a Fossil or my Joe Boxer smiley face watch I've had forever
26. Do you consider yourself materialistic: not really
27. Favorite writing instrument: Uni-ball gel impact
28. Do you prefer to blend in or stand out: blend in when i'm uncomfortable
29. Do you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex: no
30. What is one car you will never buy: vw bug
31. If you won the lottery, what would you do: pay off debt, get married, move to arizona and buy a home
32. Burial or cremation: cremation
33. If you don't like a person, how do you show it: I usually kill them
34. What kind of first impression do you think you give people: people think i'm much younger than i am
35. How many drinks before you're tipsy: can't really say. usually i don't drink to that point, but the one time i did, i had a mixture of drinks and shots throughout the day, so i couldn't put my finger on a number.
36. Have you ever done any illegal drugs: yes
37. Do you think you're cute: i'll listen to my girlfriend and say yes
38. Do you have a problem changing clothes in front of your friends: well i never did, so you could say i probably would
39. Whats the most painful experience you've ever had (emotionally and/or physically): my grandfather's funeral
40. Favorite communication method: Face to face

Rest In Peace

ODB 11.15.1968-11.13.2004

Greetings from Ass-bury Park!

In order to not repeat Kim's appropriate post, I will only speak a few words about the concert experience. Firstly, I can no longer go to shows because I hate the fact of being bored for 3 hours waiting for the band I want to see. Secondly, the price to see a band in a small venue should not exceed $15. Simple as that. There's no way any band should be charging $25 to play in a dump that holds 200 people. Enough of that.

The upcoming weeks of school include half days on Thurs, Fri, and then Mon, Tues, Weds. We are then off for Thanskgiving Thurs and Fri. Not bad. I swear things have been going on in my life lately, but I just don't remember it to write about it.

Teacher's Convention Is Such A Sham!

So I'm off the next two days due to the "Teacher's Convention." It's really just a sly way of getting a 4-day weekend, but I'm not complaining. I took my car for maintanence this morning and to fix a recall on a faulty warning light. After that, I went to visit my former place of employment to see two former people I enjoyed working with. I came home and have nothing else to do the next 2 days except get over my sinus infection. I had already blogged today, but my computer froze for the third time while finishing my typing. 3 times!

I subbed in a 6th grade class yesterday, and I was such a jerk. I was being sarcastic and snagging shit from their hands and throwing it out. I had to be, otherwise they think they can do whatever they want. For some reason, the 6th grades have this thing called blockwork. It's essentially a block of time, up to an hour, in which they line up busy work and worksheets for the students to do. As a substitute, I see the kids know it's busy work, and they don't want to do it. In my opinion, it's like the teacher is saying, "I give up on teaching for this hour." Needless to say, I was bored out of my mind during the blockwork, that I was reading the desk calender on the teacher's desk. The only thing I see in this time is getting them acquainted with homeroom in the middle school, but I never remember it being an hour.

To quote my brother, "How did a record amount of new voters come out and vote to keep the same guy in office?" I don't know, but my complaining will not help the issue. I'm proud to say that I was one of roughly 106,000 citizens who voted green! They now have an all-time high in registered members of the party. I guess I still have something to believe in.

Another quick thing...I just got my issue of Sports Illustrated and they have this little blurb each week entitled This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse.
"A deep-sea diver ended an attempt at a world-record descent when he discovered the skeleton of a
competitor."
That's priceless.

Vote Quimby!

Alright. I didn't want to get all political, mainly because the guy I support has no shot of winning the presidency, but...I still support him. I've been wavering about not voting for him and essentially "throwing away" my vote, but as of right now, I am voting for David Cobb. He's a Green Party candidate, so mock me and call me a hippie if you will, but he's the only person I support for nearly all his issues. His main points are these:
*get us the hell out of iraq, and eliminate any possibility of the draft
*universal health care for all, regardless of income
*cleaning the air and water
*increasing minimum wage so those willing to work won't struggle on the poverty line as much
*decreasing corporations and their role in politics
*increasing pell grants and stafford loans for college
*tax breaks for struggling families wanting to send children to college
*abortion is the choice of the woman

So I agree with all these and more. Yeah, there's stuff I don't support fully, but no one's going to please you 100 percent. Anyway, it probably won't do you any good. If you're wavering between Bush & Kerry, don't let my words take away a vote from Kerry. Only vote for my guy if you really don't like either of the frontrunners, and haven't decided yet. I'm not telling you Bush is evil and Kerry's a muppet; rather, I'm just shedding light on a darkhorse that you may not know about, and giving you an option you may not have considered. That's my campaigning for the day. Let's see what tomorrow brings.