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Monday, July 13th, 2009
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4:49 pm - The unexamined life
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So I read a bunch of Livejournal archives the other night, among them the year's worth that I was at Duke doing my student teaching, and two things struck me rather forcefully: first, I was incredibly hard on myself for making classroom management mistakes that were virtually unavoidable, and second, that recording my experiences that year was extremely valuable for my sanity then and my reference now. This isn't really germane to anything, but I intend to keep a fairly comprehensive chronicle of my teaching this year, too, as a result of rereading those entries and finding them so enlightening. So, you can look forward to another year of my self-criticism and angst. (Actually, I expect to have a considerably easier time of it this year, even if I am the only one in charge this time around. Knock on wood.)
On an unrelated note, the weather has been ridiculously awesome here for the last few days. High 70s to low 80s and sunshine with light breezes. It's the perfect Midwestern summer.
Somebody tell me some good fantasy books to read. I'm beginning to despair of ever finding one again.
current mood:  contemplative
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| Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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7:17 pm - Pout and whine and feel the burden of Slayerness
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I'm alive, I just use up all my blogging momentum in Deus Ex Libris and it shows in my Livejournal.
Things, overall, are good. I've had good times with lots of people lately.
That said, I'm tired of work and the fact that our schedules are completely up in the air. I never know when I'm actually done with work until I get there in the morning, and it sucks. But I've got a little less than four weeks left, so I'll live.
Also, I got a speeding ticket for going 10 over yesterday, and the fine is $145. That's out of control, in my opinion. And it would have been the same for any speeding I'd been doing, from 1-19 miles per hour over the limit. Blech.
Whine whine whine. It's what Livejournal is for, after all, isn't it?
current mood:  whiny
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| Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
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4:20 pm - For art's sake!
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So, finally, a few details about my new job and Elias's old job. ( Job stuff behind the cut. )
Other than Elias's crazy job stuff, the weekend was pretty great. Friday Elias and I got Izzy's ice cream to celebrate my getting a job. Salted caramel ice cream is completely awesome. (I know, I'm an insane sodium addict. But still.) Saturday I had lunch at Saji-ya with Emily, and both the sushi and the conversation were excellent. Afterward, Elias and I went to Peter's pool party and spent a ludicrous amount of time swimming, which was lovely. Finally, on Sunday Elias and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. ( More about that behind another cut. )
Tristan the hell-fiend has decided that the kitchen counter is his new favorite place, which is getting really old. He's adorable, but sometimes I want to throttle him. This is why I shouldn't have children.
Work scheduling has been obnoxious. They have me scheduled for time periods like 9:00am to 7:30pm, but then, when I get there, it turns out I'm actually only working until 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon. I just...I've got stuff to do, you know? I appreciate being able to plan my time so that I use it efficiently. Do you think I would get up at 6 o'clock in the morning to work out if I thought I was getting off work at 1:00? ("No, no, god no," is the answer you're looking for there.)
I am pleased that I decided to look at the radar when deciding when to take a walk this afternoon. I got home about five minutes before it really started raining. Go me. Also, the National Weather Service.
It's Elias's birthday on Friday, and my parents will be in town on Friday and Sunday, so I'm quite looking forward to the weekend. Let's just skip right to it.
current mood:  pleased
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| Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
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6:01 pm - Yes. Yes. Yes.
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I got the job teaching at the International School!
I have been waiting so, so long to get a real job that I am incapable of fully realizing what's going on. Full-time, private school employment at an internationally-focused institution with an average class size of 17. That's what's going on.
current mood: ecstatic
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| Sunday, June 7th, 2009
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9:46 pm - Jobs and vocations
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I'm alive. I haven't wanted to post much lately. Elias lost his job and it sucks.
I had a second interview at the International School of Minnesota, which is, of course, a good sign, but I'm virtually ignoring the possibility of getting the job so as not to get my hopes up.
Elias and I are taking the Foreign Service Test on Wednesday. I'm sort of looking forward to it, actually. At the very least, it'll be interesting.
I start working a summer schedule this week at tutoring, so I'll be getting a lot more hours. That's good, financially. I'm a little afraid of my 9-6 shift tomorrow, though, just because it's kind of a lot of straight teaching, what with no breaks aside from one half hour. Ah, well.
I'm sort of leaving out the emotional and reflective bits of this because I don't know what to say about them, especially in a public forum.
current mood: stressed
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| Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
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2:21 pm - La vitesse
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| Sunday, May 24th, 2009
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11:19 am - Non est vivere sed valere vita est.
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I feel good. I don't know if it's spring turning to summer, or if it's finally getting over this cold I've had, or if it's the glimmer of hope that was my job interview at the International School, or if it's just a good moment, but I'm content not to reason why.
I love my amazing husband, we had an excellent party full of friends and games and laughter last night, I have two days off in a row, the weather's gorgeous, there's a purring kitten in my lap, the triple-chocolate cookies I made came out intoxicatingly good, I'm reading a book I really like, I had my favorite student at tutoring yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks and she said, "Finally! It's been so long!" when I came over to get her, and I am pretty darn happy about life in general. It's nice.
current mood: happy
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| Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
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11:55 am - You can whistle really loud.
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Somehow I managed to get sick again, more than a week ago now, and I'm still feeling pretty drained from it. I think I've got a sinus infection; the congestion won't go away, and I keep getting headaches in the front of my skull. Blah.
Anyway, despite the illness, it was a pretty good weekend. Betsy and Richard's housewarming party was fun, I got to see Luke unexpectedly, and I got to see Star Trek again. Still good. The science makes even less sense the second time around, but we don't really care, do we?
(I debated whether to share this next bit in a public forum, but I might as well, since I don't really believe in jinxes, after all.) I also had a job interview yesterday morning to teach high school English next year at the International School of Minnesota. It's a job at a private school that emphasizes internationalism and has extremely high academic standards for its students, rendering it possibly more attractive than anything I've even seen posted in a long time. The interview went well, but I won't know for at least a couple of weeks. I'm trying not to get too invested, but it's pretty hard.
current mood:  tired
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| Thursday, April 30th, 2009
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3:10 pm - Keep Austin weird.
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Hey, we're back from Austin. Yesterday was all crazy, so no chance to post, but the trip was great. We relaxed a lot, and ate delicious food (also a lot), and had a wonderful time. I also got a pedicure with my mom while Elias went target shooting with my dad. (Don't think the ridiculous gender division of that has escaped me.) Pedicures, just so you know, are pretty much awesome. I can take or leave the nail polish, but the warm whirlpool foot bath and massage...that part's pretty ok.
We did, in fact, see the bats, as promised. It was pretty spectacular, I must say. There were thousands and thousands of them. From the time they started leaving the bridge to when they finally tapered off, they streamed out continuously for twenty minutes. They stayed together in columns in the sky, spiraling and twisting out into the distance like skeins of black smoke against the clouds. I recommend checking it out if you're ever in Austin. We went right up on the bridge to see them, so they were flying out beneath us, perhaps fifteen feet away at the most. The oddest thing about it was the fact that you could smell them - it was like (and forgive this for sounding utterly strange) old bones with hide and fur still clinging to them.
As far as Austin goes, we also got completely amazing Mexican food (truly Mexican, too - regional, almost Mayan stuff with names like Txin Pec), and awesome ice cream at a local ice cream joint.
Seeing my parents was really nice; I forget how much I miss my family sometimes. Elias is undeniably comfortable and welcome and loved, too, and has, in fact, been completely assimilated into the Dawson hive mind. He even won Trivial Pursuit.
So, yeah, great time. (As a side note, when one has a tiny kitten, one's old 12-pound black cat looks like an enormous monster when one sees her again.)
current mood: satisfied
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| Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
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10:44 am - At least you'll have company.
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Three things:
1. I am confused about why everyone liked Slumdog Millionaire so much. I only got halfway through. After ten minutes I'd gotten the point, and it seemed like the rest was pretty much beating a dead horse. Or a child in the slums. That had been blinded with hot oil. And possibly raped.
2. There's a Trader Joe's opening about five minutes from our apartment and I'm pretty damn excited.
3. We're going to Austin to see my parents this weekend, and I am pretty damn excited for that, too. We're going to see the Congress Avenue Bridge bats and it promises awesomeness.
current mood: excited
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| Friday, April 3rd, 2009
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10:31 pm - Ask and ye shall receive
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2:28 pm - Fluff!
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| Thursday, March 26th, 2009
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1:45 pm - It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens.
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I don't know why it is that I can't seem to post in here very often. I'll put it down to Deus Ex Libris, and we'll pretend that's a good excuse. Anyway, things are good. I've felt a little more emotionally stable lately, which I think is largely due to the fact that I've been eating more calories. At the moment, the scale's registering a bit high, which I'm not happy about, but I think it might be decidedly feminine water retention, so we'll see what happens. I don't know...I don't want to gain weight back, but it's nice to feel more energetic and less insane from low blood sugar.
In other news, we finally found a kitten to adopt. We'll be able to get him next weekend, meaning the weekend of the 4th and 5th, after he's been neutered. I'm really excited and trying not to be too impatient for him. It's hard, because I feel like a little kid about this. I want my kitten now!
It seems like there's tons of stuff going on in the next month. The kitten to begin with, of course, but my brother's coming early next week, and then the following weekend is Easter, the next Elias's test for his half-black belt, and the weekend after that we go to Austin to visit my parents. It's nice to have a lineup of cool stuff to do.
If you'd like to see a picture of our kitten-to-be, he's the one in the center.
current mood: cheerful
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| Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
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12:16 pm - Little things
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It's been a bit of up and down this week. Elias got his medical statements from the insurance company, and it's not pretty, so that wasn't much good. We still haven't found a kitten, which is immaterial, really, but frustrating. I slept extremely poorly on Monday night and was a little grumpy because of it.
And yet, I've gotten to walk outside four times this week in blue skies and sunshine. I discovered a new kind of Chinese black tea with ginger that's amazing. The medical bills are not impossible to pay, and ensure the health of the husband whom I love*. The kitten will come eventually. Things are actually pretty good, when I think of what's most important.
*This may seem shallow, but can I just say that every time I come home when he's at Tae Soo Do and see his open sword case in the bedroom, I'm like, "That's right. My husband is out practicing with his sword." The word badass springs to mind. I'm not going to say I love him more because of it, but it's debatable.
current mood: contemplative
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| Monday, March 16th, 2009
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12:54 pm - A good kitten is hard to find.
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It was a pretty good week this week. I honestly don't have a whole lot of reasons to cite, but it's sixty degrees outside right now, and I'm feeling pretty generous in my praise of just about anything. Except Atlas Shrugged, which I continue to hate. So, there you are.
No luck finding a kitten yet. We kind of want a kitten kitten - as in "young enough to enjoy the incredibly adorable stage," but there aren't any to be had for love or money. We're continuing to look, but if anyone knows of any out there, let us know.
The weekend was lovely - beautiful day on Sunday, and Elias and I walked outside some and played lots of video games. Saturday was a successful shopping trip with Kate, and then dinner at the new Indian place on Grand with Elias. It was really good. I've had better naan and samosas, but the Chicken Vindaloo and Rogan Josh were excellent. Their plain basmati rice was bizarrely satisfying as well. Anyway, quite nice.
Today I booked plane tickets to visit my parents in Austin and took a walk outside. The world is full of sun and blue skies, sooner or later we'll have a kitten, I'm madly in love with my husband, and life is good.
current mood: content
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| Monday, March 9th, 2009
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12:49 pm - Fluff and buzzes
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Things are pretty much back to normal around here. While one could argue that excitement is nice and keeps things...well...exciting, one would be ignoring that fact that risk to life and limb can be considered a form of excitement. It's really nice to be done with that part and have Elias back how he's supposed to be. Minus an organ. However, I'm still experiencing the aftermath of seeing someone through surgery, since I can't seem to stop having dreams about it.
In other news, I'm still looking for another job and not finding one, or even getting any responses to the dozens of resumes I've sent out. It's pretty frustrating, but since I don't want the jobs anyway, it's hard to be really upset about it.
Elias and I have moved to the next stage of planning to get a kitten and seem to be honestly considering doing it this coming weekend. I need a small fuzzy thing in my life.
current mood: calm
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| Friday, February 20th, 2009
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12:40 pm - Who has John Galt?
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Came in 18th in Triv this year. That's pretty damn good. Jared and Emily developed a highly organized spreadsheet using Google that I'm fairly sure was responsible for a measure of our success. In addition to the good showing, however, my computer contracted a trojan from one of the thousands of websites I looked at. I swear to god, I didn't download a thing. Anyway, it was evil and recalcitrant, and Elias ended up reinstalling Windows for me. While my machine feels shiny and clean now, and I didn't lose anything, my music was only backed up on my iPod. While I appreciate Apple's slick designs and functionality, the fact that I had to download two separate programs in order to both retrieve my music and get the files to be named something other than random collections of letters is pretty disgusting. There is absolutely no need for them to create that much of an inconvenience for their customers in order to get down on their knees for the RIAA. I still have a few dozen identified files and no folder definitions as a result, but at least the good citizens of the shareware universe provided for me in my time of need.
In other news, I need a copy of Atlas Shrugged for my lit blog. Does anybody in the Cities have one they'll lend me? The library system's copies are all checked out and have holds. God only knows why; I'm not looking forward to reading it.
I'm reading The French Lieutenant's Woman for the blog right now, and it's knocking my socks off. I recommend it to anyone looking for a book to read right now. It's not just "literary," but really quite a page-turner.
Oh, man, also, I just discovered they put Mythbusters on the Netflix instant queue! My world is a better place.
current mood: pleased
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| Thursday, February 12th, 2009
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4:47 pm - Koumpounophobics beware.
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Elias and I saw Coraline last night, and it was excellent. The story itself is good, creepy, and endearing all at the same time, and the technical achievement of both the stop-motion and the 3D is pretty astounding. I've been really disappointed by 3D in the past - I found Beowulf nigh unwatchable (Seriously, I had my 3D glasses off for at least half of it.) - but this was both cool and beautiful to look at. I recommend it, unless you have a fear of buttons. Then stay away, for the love of god.
Also, Triv is this weekend! I'm excited to be back in Minnesota for it. It's not the same without Josie's parents' house covered in computers.
current mood: pleased
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4:20 pm - Profound, but fruity in its unctuousness.
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In keeping with the popular trend of posting about our dreams, I felt it necessary to share this with all of you.
The other night I dreamed that Elias, Alex, Ryan, Josie, Eric, Jared, and I were giving a panel discussion on the proper wines to be paired with fine video games. There were heated discussions about the suitability of whites and reds as they related to various RPGs, but Ryan concluded the discussion by holding forth with his extensive knowledge of chardonnay and Uematsu. Well done, sir.
I'd like to point out that I wrestle alligators.
current mood: amused
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| Thursday, February 5th, 2009
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12:33 pm - Well, that and actual love and commitment.
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Keeping my lit blog is bad for my Livejournal, I have to say. It's not as though I've been holding out on you or anything, though. Not a whole lot of excitement around here. I did not, in fact, work out all last week, and in addition to that managed to get sick on Thursday, but other than that and the soul-crushing process of applying for jobs I don't want, things haven't much changed. I did go to Kate's Superbowl party on Sunday, which was a good time. I know, I know, commercialized sports, but it was more about hanging out with friends than anything else. Also, the game was exciting, and I got to feel knowledgeable about football by explaining the concept of a safety.
Tomorrow Elias and I are celebrating Valentine's Day (because I'll be at Triv for actual Valentine's Day) and the two-year anniversary of our first date. I almost can't fathom the fact that two years ago I barely knew him, and now he's the person I know best in the whole world. It's been a good two years. Make that amazing.
This also means that there's currently a cheesecake in the oven. Nothing says love and commitment like complex baking.
current mood: appreciative
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