January Photo-a-Day: Week 4

January Photo-a-Day.  Prompts by Fat Mum Slim.

This past week has been so cold that I didn't really want to even take my phone out of my pocket to snap pictures outside.  It was so cold that I didn't show much more than my eyes when outdoors.  I was so cold that it hurt my eyes.  Because of that, most of my pictures are inside this past week.  Hopefully, this next week sees temperatures past the twenties.

January 21 - What you do

21. I love trying new things with my hair now that I don't look like Hey Arnold anymore.  I tried to blow it out and can now even put parts in my hair - with the assistance of a few bobby pins.

January 22 - Corner

22. This is a corner of my pre-war apartment elevator.  I like that it is winter and I don't have to touch the buttons without gloves or with my keys anymore.  They just seem as though they are icky.

January 23 - Electric

23. I like to shred items with my name on them that come in the mail.  I guess I am a bit paranoid, but I don't like my name and address to be in the trash and then wind up in someone's hands.  Same with private information and even prescription information.  I finally got a shredder here in NYC - didn't bring mine from StL.  Now I have eliminated a huge pile of papers and feel lighter.

January 24 - Stripes

24. I love my Uniqlo clothes.  They have some sort of heat technology that makes you warm without needing a lot of layers.  I have this striped tunic that I am in love with (also have it in tanish).

January 25 - Landscape

25. I found this shop where I would eventually get my printer.   I like the little bitty park that is across the street from it.  The shops are behind the trees.

January 26 - Together

26. I don't know why this man sitting across from we on the subway had on two watches.  I guess so he could tell the time two times as well when his hands are together.  I tried to take the photo all sly, but my flash went off as I accidentally hit the snap button before I even had it pointed right.  I tried to play it off, and got a better picture after sitting like I was just looking at ish on my phone for a few stops.

January 27 - Sun

27. I should have known this printer would not be the sunshine in my life when, as it was being transported up the conveyor belt to be handed off to me, it slipped back down and I heard it sliding and tumbling.  I should have known.  Instead, I figured it must be padded enough and took it home.  After setting it up, it printed every page completely black.  I called customer service and they said it was broken and needed service.  Now, I must figure out how to carry this big-a thing back down to the beautifully landscaped store and get another one.  So much for saving time on school prep this week.

New Yorkers don't like straight lines

I don't know what it is about New Yorkers and the way they walk down a street.

I have never seen so many people that cannot walk in a straight line.

My mind has tried to come up with logical reasons for this occurrence.  Here are a few of my guesses:

• New Yorkers are so used to walking through big crowds in certain areas of the city that even when they are walking on a sidewalk with only three other people occupying the super-wide sidewalk with them, they wander in a zigzag motion out of habit.
• The city is has so few nearby parks and outside play areas that people don't learn coordination at a young age. 
• Along the previous note, I cannot for the life of me understand how so many people in a city lack the ability to turn their head to look at something and not have their body move in the same direction.  I knew a girl in college who did this when she drove, and it was frightening.  When walkers do it, it is not as much frightening as it is annoying as hell.  
• Another guess is that the advertisers in New York are so good that they really do create magnets that draws people to whatever they see.
• Some of the people I have seen will suddenly start walking from one side of the sidewalk all the way toward the store side, as though they are about to enter a store.  It is always to my chagrin that the person is not going into any store on either the current block or even the next five blocks.  There is, again, some sort of magnet drawing the person toward a store.  I guess the magnet is not strong enough to make them go inside.  Instead the person continues to walk close to the storefronts for  at least a block and them, of course, migrates back to the other side of the sidewalk and back again since it is impossible to continue to walk in a straight line.
• My final guess is that the people who walk in s-formations on the street actually really do have eyes on the back of their head.  When they see me coming behind them, they immediately start to walk in whatever direction I am moving to try and get around them.  When I finally do succeed, they proceed to laugh behind my back.

Kid Sis #1's dog is so 

incredibly cute and friendly!

I was in a Rite Aid the other day picking up some dog treats for Kid Sis #1's super-cute, new, Chihuahua dog she adopted.  While in the store, I saw a phenomenon that I have never witnessed before.

When I finished gathering the dog treats and a Snickers bar so I would not act like Betty White during the bout of hunger I was suffering, I went to get in line to check out.

I have never been in a store and had absolutely no clue what was going on with the checkout line.  I started to get in line behind a man who looked to be in the line.  Then I glanced to my left and saw three people who looked like they might also be in line and was totally confused.

Why was I confused?

WTF is up with the long break in the line?

Because the three people who looked to be in line were super far from the man who looked to be in the actual line.

I had to take a picture of this ish!

Help me understand what the reasoning was for this man to be standing so far back from the start of the line.

It's not like the man in blue was at an ATM and required some privacy so no one stole his pin number.  I have never even seen people at money machines give people this much room!

I asked the man in red twice if he was in line - I hoped that the second time I asked he would realize that he was too far back to make any sense, but he just stayed where he was until the man was finished.

When the man in red went to the counter to check out, the two women in front of me only moved forward to where the man in red had been standing.

Fortunately, a new checker came to the front about where you see the 75% off sign and I went into that line and no longer had to deal with the madness.

Wood and wandering

I have internet and cable in my apartment!!!

I feel like a real human again!!!!

I have still been wandering the city, running errands, and sometimes, just wandering just to be wandering.

The other day I went into the downtown Macy's.

They has wooden escalators.  The actual steps used to be made of wood, as well, but now they are metal.

All the escalators in the 9 1/2 story building (the half story houses some of the men's items) are like this.

So cool!

While walking downtown, I also saw a little lapdog wearing sunglasses and a four-five year old boy still drinking from a baby bottle.

I have seen a man get hit by a car on a street corner.  I have been asked for money by an innumerable amount of people.  I have witnessed two block parties in Harlem.

I have eaten breakfast for dinner three times and have also managed to eat frozen yogurt from 16 Handles as a meal twice.

So far, I am adjusting to the City.

I have a retreat for the new teaching job I have secured starting on Wednesday through Friday and then start actual work on Tuesday if I can get all of my paperwork sent in from the Departments of Education of Missouri and New York.

Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Discarded - still making mega bucks

I know that many people look to get a side hustle going to earn extra money.  Who can blame them?  Some people tutor, others sell products, others walk dogs, others make jelly, others make cakes - to each their own.

We all want to have more money and there are many ways to try to go about doing so.

I do, however, have to give props (and question marks) to this kid for putting his name on basic products that his fans will surely buy just because his face is on the box and they will add it to their bedroom collection of photographs.

This product was sitting (seemingly discarded) at the register in Walgreens - so maybe it's not that great an idea or maybe the parent who was to buy it is tired of all the paraphernalia with him on it crowding their child's bedroom.

A toothbrush that sings two of his songs?!?  Seriously?!? This guy is genius and also extremely greedy for money all at the same time.

I'm not sure if I'm mad about this product or if I think that he needs to just take what he gets with his music - though this is related to his music.

I would love to be given the money he makes on this product.  I'm not greedy.

I won't touch his royalties and other earnings.

Just give me the toothbrush profits.

Please...

July second week photos

Second installation of my July photo-a-day-challenge images.  I'm using the prompts by the host, Fat Mum Slim on her blog.

11. Letter - I like the handmade signs in Vintage Vinyl with their block-lettering.  I would really like to write a letter to (and get a response from) the crazy person who buys the Richard Marx cassette tape that is on the right picture in brown.  I would really like to know if they are doing it to be ironic or for their true love for Richard Marx.  I would also want to know if they actually have a cassette tape player that really works.  I am assuming that some people do because my kid sisters saw someone with a cassette in their backpack a bit ago like he was going to drop it into his Walkman and listen to it on the DC train or something.

12. Texture - I am still trying to get used to the trend of wearing shoes that look like house-shoes out of the house.  It is something that I will never do myself, something that I will never understand, and something that I will never think is acceptable.  Sorry if this offends you house-shoe-outside-of-the-house-wearers.  This photo was at the chiropractor's waiting room (I have been so many times for my messed up elbow (that seems to be getting worse each week after it starts to feel better) that it is really messing up my summer budget; it is causing me to hemorrhage money!!)

13. Open - I finally opened my Google Reader after forever.  It was up to 1000+ (not even sure the exact number of unread posts from blogs I follow because after it hits 1000 it stops going any higher and just says "1000+").  I successfully got down to 136.  I like to comment as much as possible and read as many posts as I can.  But, for the sake of my sanity, there were some blogs that I didn't read all of the posts and there were SO many that I did not comment on.  I did read a lot, though.  Goal now, is to not let it get back so high.  Perhaps tomorrow I will go back and chop the number down some more... I'm sure it will be a lot higher again tomorrow.

14. Building - You can see this building (Sheraton Hotel) from the highway heading downtown in StL.  Or you can get a better view of it going East on 14th Street from Chouteau.  I go back and forth with loving that all of the stuff is actually painted on the building and not really architecturally present and hating that it is all painted and not real.  Everything (except the windows) is painted onto the building.  Even the stuff below the windows.  The arched windows at the top are painted, too.

15. Finger - The first time I heard the song, "Peace Sign/Index Down" by Gym Class Heroes, I loved it.  Their offer to put up the peace sign and put the index [finger] down is awesome.  I await the day when I have balls (really ovaries) enough to give some one the peace sign with a smile and then slowly turn my smile upside down, lower the index, and flip my wrist around.

16. Sign - Questions that arise after seeing this poster sign:

• Are people actually going to attend?
• Do they have new songs, or will the bands be recapping their 80s "masterpieces"?
• Will the bands still be rocking tight leather pants and cutoff shirts?
• Will the bands don bandanas to cover their balding heads or will they go au naturale?
• Will the audience be rocking acid/stone-washed denim?
• Will anyone in the audience be under 30?
• Will said older audience be able to catch the performers when they try to crowd surf?
• Will I sneak in to the concert for a last listen to "Pour Some Sugar On Me"?

17. Your addiction - I am still a big fan of WWF.  I made this move against my sister and had to take a screen shot of it.  I have scored over 100 before, but didn't have a fancy phone to take a screen shot of the word.  I love that this one was such a simple word, too.

You can see photos from the first week of July, too.

Anonymously public

Years ago, I had to close down a blog because some anonymous person associated with work (I think a parent) found it and thought the comments I made about how the district should have hired a friend and colleague of mine were uncalled for and out of place.  I had written that blog anonymously, but had it linked to a colleague's blog who had her name on it.  I think they put two and two together and discovered who I was.  I had a lot of good writing on that blog, but because I was so fearful of the admin at the time, I erased the entire blog without backing up or copying any of my posts.

It was a very sad day.

Now, I write fairly anonymously.  My family and some friends know I write this blog, but I leave my name off of it.  I don't name names and I don't detail who I work for, just that I am a high school teacher and coach.  I'm sure there have been some clues that if a person really wanted to figure out my identity, they could.

I don't really know that I care anymore if my place of work finds my writing.  I did the unthinkable and friended some of my current colleagues on FB and they can see the links I sometimes put up to this blog.  I have had a few of them tell me they are reading posts, or leave comments on the FB links.

It is kind of weird knowing they see this side of me.

At first, I didn't even tell my parents about this blog.  But I have opened it up to them.  Not sure how often they read it, but when I send them links to posts, they comment on how they read it and enjoyed the posts.  Siblings, same way - not sure if they are regular readers, but I know they at least read every so often when I write about them.

My boo doesn't read the blog and doesn't even know that I've been writing daily for this year.  I have told him about it and he has said that he will get around to reading, but I don't force it.

I kind of like that I have this outlet that is not regularly read by a lot of people I know.  I kind of like that most of my comments are from people I have never met IRL.

At first, when people at work started to tell me that they were reading my stuff, I thought about being more cautious.  But, this is my blog, and I will write whatever I desire.  I don't write things to hurt people, I don't write things about work using names.

I was debating a summer project of starting a Google+, FB, and Twitter page for this blog, but am not sure if I want to open it up that much.  I have a few regular readers, and some randoms, and maybe even some lurkers.

I'm not sure if social networking sites are necessary at this point since I'm not sure if I want to make this blog bigger than it is.  I do, and I don't.

And, I'm not sure that I want to keep up with posting information on all those different mediums.  Though, I think there is some sort of way to have posts cross to each medium with one click... though that could be annoying if followers are connected with each one and receive the same notification thrice and in their Google Reader.

For now, I guess I will remain somewhat anonymously public.

I will continue to write my thoughts.  Just what I am thinking at the time.

Once again, it is Stream of Consciousness Sunday.  Five minutes (though today was a bit longer) of free writing.  Today's prompt on Fadra's site, "Do you have a secret blogging life?  Are you connected to your "real life" friends and family through social media?  How does that affect your writing?"

Control+Alt+Delete

Another week down.  Still tired.  Still getting rid of something each day.  Still stressed.  Still trying to relax more.  Still trying to figure out in what direction my life needs to be going.

Because I have so much going on in my head, I am finding that I am easily annoyed by chatter - in person, on the television, on the radio.  It is almost like I don't want to hear seemingly mindless talk when there are bigger issues in the world and in my life.  (The awesome oil-addiction world pic comes from makefive.com.)

Please do some reading on the current oil subsidy crisis in Nigeria when you can.

I think bigger issues are why I have been drawn more to documentaries and informational shows the past few weeks and have barely watched my typical shows.  (I am really not impressed by the Project Runway All-Stars - though Austin Scarlett is still mesmerizing, especially with the new 'stach.)  There is just something that makes me really want to turn the channel or walk out of a room when the talk is banal.

And all of it has caused me to loose some of my luster.  I have lost a bit of my sarcasm.  I am no longer able to come up with quick comical quips.  I don't seem to be able to recap stories in the same illustrative way anymore.

I need a restart button.

Or if one of those does not exist, let me just hold down a power button and then do a manual restart.

I still love this movie

Another quote I love for Saturday!

I love this movie and love that my nephew loves it.  I have even used scenes from the movie to help high school kids understand the concept of an absolute ruler in history class.

Wordless Wednesday: Funny, but sad and sadly true

Two things for you mind and your funny bone.

Lauryn Hill is still amazing: Pageant concert review

I know there was incredible anticipation and questioning about how the Lauryn Hill show would turn out here in St.L at the Pageant, but as a good friend put it, "She can show up and be kind of horrible, and it would still sound and be great!"

Well, she definitely did more than just show up.

I got an email a few weeks back that pushed the door opening time back from 7 to 9.  That actually reassured me that she was going to come and that it wouldn't be too late like in some previous concerts.  There was still no official start time on the tickets, but I was feeling good.

The DJ that was on when we entered the Pageant was good.  Played a mix of mostly old-school jams that got the crowd hyped up.  Almost didn't seem like he was on the stage for the whole two hours that he was up there.  Close to 11 (the time the doorman said the show would start around), a second DJ came on stage (onto the actual stage) and started to hype the crowd up even more.  He played for another 52 minutes.  Around minute 40, the band came on.  Bassist even started playing along with the DJ - sounding super cool as he thrashed his locks around to the beat.

About the band, they kind of looked like they had been found by Ms Lauryn on Craigslist yesterday morning.  There was just no cohesive look about them.  One of the bassists kept trying to take pictures of the crowd with his cell phone.  One of the keyboardists looked like he would rather be about 100 different places than on the stage.  When the DJ said that Lauryn would be out soon after the crowd started chanting her name, two of the back up singers gave a look that basically looked like "We'll see if you still want her when she comes out."

From my phone, you can kind
of see the shrug-thing

Well. At 11:52, she came out and told everyone that she was going to "do old music new ways."  And with that the show started.

Set list:
"Forever Loving Jah" by Bob Marley
"Lost Ones"
"When it Hurts So Bad"
"Ex-Factor"
"Final Hour"
"How Many Mics"
"I Only Have Eyes for YOu"
"Fu-Gee-La"
"Killing Me Softly"

And two encore songs:
"Turn Your Lights Down Low"
"Doo Wop (That Thing)"

She changed a lot of the songs up, but I thought it was musically amazing.  She had the live band (Which played better than I expected - way better, though the level of their sound was really high and sometimes distorted.)

The way she played most of the songs was more upbeat and more rocked out.  Kind of a funk-rock fusion of some kind.  It was mesmerizing.  It was still possible to sing along to favorites once you caught on to the new beat and sound.

I'm sure that some fans were disgusted because they are so attached to the old songs (those songs have such strong meaning to me as well as so many other people).  I saw some people leaving and not coming back... not sure if it was their disdain for the music or the fact that it was getting late and they may have had to work on this MLK day.

I feel like a lot of the songs have a really strong meaning to Hill, as well, and that makes it hard to play them the same way she played them years ago without starting to (possibly) feel as vulnerable as she did when she first made them.

The new sound was amazing.  She even did "Ex-Factor" two different ways.  Really, really fast and rocked out, and then more slow and mellow.  Kind of weird, but it was ok.

She seemed really, really sincere and passionate.  She many times thanked the crowd for coming out and supporting her for all this time.

One thing that made the show even better was the genuine looks of enjoyment from her and the band at several points.  It was almost like they were shocked that things were going so well.  The bassist took his phone out a few more times to snap pictures of the crowd.  And the back up singers and one of the keyboardists looked like they were truly amazed by the show and sometimes amazed by Lauryn's singing and rapping and interactions with the crowd.  I even heard later that night that she had stuck around out back in her vehicle saying hey and greeting people.  Very much seemed like the Lauryn Hill that I believed was the most beautiful person on the planet back in her heyday.

She danced a-la James Brown at times, she sang in her trademark raspy voice (now a bit raspier with age), she rapped with such speed and fluidity that I was in awe.  And.  It.  Was.  Awesome.

Several times she got on the band (in jest?) to let them know that they need to "move the crowd."  She even told them once that they needed to not "waste this tune."

I cannot express the vibe of the crowd jumping in unison with the each other and the band during "Fu-Gee-La" as soon as the familiar beat and tones came out to let us know that was the next song.

So glad I got the tickets.  So glad to share that experience with friends, and strangers, and the band, and Lauryn.

Only complaint would be that she didn't take off the crazy shrug-thing that she had to keep annoyingly adjusting the whole night (like, every 20 seconds throughout the night).

I am pretty sure this may be the last time she goes on tour sounding so good.

I hope she makes some kind of recordings of the new versions of her songs.  I would buy that just like her early Fugees, the big Fugees, and her solo stock.

Three -- an old school poem

An old poem I wrote freshman year in college.  I was cleaning out some old stuff and ran across some old 3 1/2" disks.  Unfortunately I erased some of the ones that may have had more poems on them before really looking at what their contents were -- including a poem I won money for senior year in high school.

I'm not sure what I was writing about, but it is still a decent poem.

Three 

In that place i could see

seven stars in the sky

    i had designed

    my own prison

    then something happened

         the walls disolved

         and the sky collapsed

I’ve never known anything so great

as that feeling

            the kind so bad

            you wouldn’t wish

            your worst enemy

    once you feel it      though

       it’s different

            you wish it to anyone

            anyone -- your worst enemy

            even your best friend

    and you mean it

    crazy thing is

            you always knew this

                    you meant it

The walls are gone now

and taking another look up

i realize that really

         one’s a satallite

         two are planes

         and another a paint splash

                on the window

                from when i redecorated

In this place

             i    can    see

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it

No, this is not a tribute to Jessie Spano of Saved By The Bell.

I love to sleep.  Most nights I don't get enough sleep.  I usually stay up later than I need to doing things that I don't really need to be doing or watching movies like The Shawshank Redemption, which I have seen numerous times, but love and can watch many more times.

Last night I went to bed around midnight.  Woke up today around 5:20 - the usual time.

I left at my usual time to head for work - around 6:15.

The interstate (Highway 40 to locals) officially opened this morning.  It took me 22 minutes to get to work.

That is about 15 minutes less than usual.  Which means, I can now sleep about 15 minutes more in the mornings.  I was so excited driving out here that I didn't even get to enjoy the new route.  The singing, shouting for joy, and rush of it all (plus the fact that it was still pitch black) all made it hard to take in the scenery.

Maybe on the way home.

Off to start my day full of children, the Russian Revolution, and the Enlightenment.

One year later it is finally hitting me

I really don't try to watch a lot of news.  I have even strayed away from Amy Goodman and Democracy Now (that is partly because they don't play it on the radio and some times not on the public access channel).  I sometimes go to some websites to see what is going on, but for the most part I am oblivious.

I know this event was long ago and far away to some, but it is still something that I am amazed at and still ponder.  The attacks in Mumbai that took place the 26th to the 29th of Novembr 2008.

One of Kit's recent posts was on the normality of all things strange.  Even with terror attacks there is a sense that it is not really real, that it is not really happening.  When I first heard of the attacks in Mumbai, I was shocked that such a large thing could occur in India.  I know through studying history that there is a lot of conflict between the Pakistani and the Indian people, but it had never escalated to something so large.  Previously the attacks had not attacked the more wealthy people in the larger cities; previously the attacks had not been on international people in the area.

This was different.

This weekend I happened to see the HBO film, Terror in Mumbai.  If you have HBO, you need to watch this.  It was a great documentary.  It had the actual phone calls the terrorists were making as the events unfolded.  It has images of the actual dead bodies that were splayed in the station.  It shows the media as they were attacked by the terrorists as they drove through Mumbai.

One of the really crazy things was the police that were involved in the whole catastrophe.  From the start, it was clear that they were not ready for such an attack.  In the station, they basically stood back and waited for the shooting to end rather than stepping up to retaliate.  Later, they are shown with a sever lack of weaponry to go against the well-equipped terrorists.  They made calls for reinforcements and backup, but even when they had video coverage of what the terrorists were doing inside the beautiful Taj Mahal Hotel, they could not do anything since the people who had the real weapons and the training had not arrived.

The things about the police is that they are prepared for what they have experienced and what people close to them have experienced.

So, I guess the Indians have never really had anything that led them to have to have strong weapons, to wear bullet-proof vests, to have to be ready for terrorists.

They lived in a fairly peaceful society.

In the United States, we are so accustomed to violence that our police are always ready, we have intruder drills in the schools in case there is someone in the vicinity of the school who is not supposed to be there, even airports have drills to make sure they are ready.

I'm sure that the Indians now are more prepared now for such a horrific event possibly happening.

I wish we lived in a society where there was not a need to be ready for such things.  A world where there such events were not becoming a regular occurrence; where people are not numbed to the feelings of others; where people care about what is going on with the people near them and the people not so near them.

A world where the killing with weapons ends, where the killing with discriminatory laws stops.  A world where we can all sound corny like Rodney King, but really mean it when we ask, "Can't we all just get along?"

Live like a hamster - in France

I have sometimes seen people and wondered what it would be like to live a day in their life.  Even when things are going bad in my life, I still am ok with it.  There is always hope for it to be better – I just have to put in work.

But I have never wanted what it was like to live as an animal. 

But if you have, you can stay in this nice villa in Western France and for 145 USD stay in a suite that will allow you to live like a hamster. 

If you are not feeling like you are running around crazy in your regular life, you can run around the giant hamster wheel.  You can drink water out of one of those big hamster water jugs with the metal straw-like thing.  You can sleep on hay.  You can even wear some hamster ears.


If you want to live like a hamster, find out more here.

I really need to get in on some of these wacko inventions/resort ideas.  There are always people wanting to do these things.

There is money to be made.

Not really enjoying the commute

On the way to / from school I like to complete various activities.

• I can focus on what I am about to teach or what I taught and how it went.
• I can try to unwind after a hard day of dealing with class after class of freshmen.
• I can listen to some really interesting stories on NPR during Morning Edition, or The World, or Talk of the Nation. Usually informative, entertaining, or thought provoking.
• I can listen to the Ricky Smiley Morning Show and Gary's Tea in the morning to catch up on some celebrity gossip.
• I can listen to the hilarious prank phone calls sometimes played on the Steve Harvey Morning Show.
• I can try and find music in the morning on radio channels that seem to think that people want to hear talk. Who started that? I am pretty sure it would be more motivating to listen to some good music on the way to a movie rather than some people who think they are funny.
• I can try and see how many people almost hit me because they are talking or texting on their cellular phones.
• I can debate why I get mad at people for driving under the speed limit. I know they should be able to go slower since the number is the maximum speed they should be going, but it is really annoying when people drive below the speed limit.
• I can try different routes to see if they are faster than taking the Parkway home.
• I can daydream of the day when the highway will be opened.

That last one is really on my most days.

Once the highway is finished it will potentially cut off up to 15 minutes from my commute to and from school. I guess, then, I won't be able to do all the enjoyable activities, but I'm sure I will enjoy being able to sleep in a little longer, or being able to get home faster and do whatever it is I choose to do with my personal time.

December 7th cannot come sooner.

Reality tv causes me pain each Tuesday

When I was younger and the Real World was still good and not as predictable and full of young bucks just trying to fornicate and drink until they die, I used to want to be on that show. I thought it would be cool to be on tv and see how I would interact with some people I had never met.

There are a bunch of reasons why I am glad I did not send in the videos to audition for a cast position. First, I would have been THAT black chick -- I'm sure that one of the roomies would have pushed my buttons so far that I would have had to keep it real and then might have gotten the boot. Second, I might have indulged in so much drinking that I would have done something on camera that I would not want to be replayed in marathons of the show for my family, friends and students to see. Third, many of the people on that show (as well as Road Rules) seem to not have lives after the show - they make it through life by being on the challenge shows and doing the reunions and college tours. Seriously guys, life does go on after the Real World -- Kevin Powell is proof of that.

Now that I am older, I would love to go on one of the reality shows where I could win money for doing stuff that I know how to do, or for traveling around the world.

Each Tuesday when the Biggest Loser comes on, I am always eating a huge meal and I always end up eating way more than my stomach can handle.

Last night it was chicken wings, carrots, celery, and french fries.

I ate so much that it really hurt.

I don't know how people can eat this much. Every week I have that thought -- how could I have eaten so much? Why did I just eat so much that my stomach is so tight that it pains me to laugh?

My only answer is that I am subconsciously trying to be on the show. I know that it would take a lot for me to be on that show, but what else could be the reason for me binging so much each Tuesday? I love that the people on the show are getting healthy and learning to eat better and recognize their problems that led them to get to the size that they are. I also hate that people who are healthy do not have a chance to win thousands of dollars for being healthy already.

For my health, I will have to find another show to try and work toward being on.

And hopefully next Tuesday I will not be pigging out in front of the tv.

Fatpita can take up a lot of time

Saw these while wasting time on the site fatpita and couldn't stop chuckling:

Imagine if we, too, were America

In the summer time, I get to really see more of what is going on in society. I get to see the numerous men who cannot find work, the people who struggle to find food, the kids who cannot afford to be sent away to expensive summer camps or even local sports camps. I get to listen to the hardships.

I get to see America and what it has or has not done for some of its people.

Imagine if it wasn't like this. Imagine if people on this side of the world used Twitter to let other people know the injustices going on in their daily lives just as the people in Iran are now. Imagine if people across this nation would shout out for justice to be served and equal chances to be given for its own people.

Imagine if we, too, were America.

Imagine.

This is Black Ice from Def Poetry.

The most interesting man in the world

This guy rivals Tony Sinclair from the Tanqueray commercials.

I love it. I, one day, will live like him.

On a mission to make that money

I guess that people think that the more annoying they are the more you will give in to them. Not only am I having to listen to the annoying interruptions of my NPR shows on the radio, but also something even worse at school.

I don't know who thought of this idea, but the Key Club is trying to raise money. Not sure for what. Their technique is going to really kill me.

They are playing a song each day on repeat before school, between classes, after school, and I think they are going to try and find a way to do it during lunch as well. They will continue this process until their monetary goal is reached.

What lovely song did they introduce this morning as the #20 (I think) song on Vh1's Greatest Hits of the 90s? What song is stuck in my head even as I type this? What song is going to lead me to choke every kid that just walks by the people standing in the hall trying to collect money without donating anything? What song is going to lead me to do like the corporations do on NPR and match whatever is donated just so that this all is over quicker?

None other than "MMMBop". "Yea-aa yea-aa. Can you tell me who will still ca-aa-aarree?"

I guess this stuff works. I always give money to the station to get them to shut up and get back to my regular programming. And I am going to bring cash to school to help this song end.

I think that I am going to embark on a similar plan at the school until the superintendent and the school board raise either my personal pay or the salary scale to meet my desires.

I have a few options I am pondering:

• Pass out liberal propaganda to all the students and wear liberal t-shirts and jeans with holes everyday.
• Reserve the most expensive hotels for the State track meet (one suite for each student-athlete) and any other conferences I attend.
• Constantly play the scene from the Fugees album when Praz is in the Chinese restaurant and the guy tells him "Like Burger King, have it your way" and jumps the counter. Over the projector speakers in my classroom. All day. Every day. Well, I might mix in some of the songs, too, since I still love that album.
• Call in sick every other day and not leave any sub plans for the substitute teacher.
• Come to school with my Sigg bottle filled with something quite a bit stronger than water and get progressively drunk as the day progresses.

Not sure which one will lead to more money for me.

I'll think about it.