Barbaro

I'm sad about Barbaro. I admire good vets, and lack of giftedness in science and math aside, I could not be a vet. I just couldn't. Of course, I could possibly be a vet for exotic animals. (Read the bottom of Max's post to "get it.")

The Weekend--Friends and Chick Flick

Because of Darryl's work demands this weekend, I was able to spend some time having "girl time" and "me time."

Friday, I met up with my friend Lisa, whose wedding I wrote about back in November, at our favorite Mexican restaurant...or at least the favorite one that we often ordered from when I worked at the law firm. I haven't been able to see Lisa since the wedding, so we had lots of catching up to do. We stayed at Monterrey's for over 2 hours, and then we had to continue our conversation at a Starbucks when our waiter kept giving us looks that expressed his desire for us to leave his booth so he could make some more tip money. Anyway, it was great seeing her. Lisa is hilarious (and a wonderful storyteller), so she had me in stitches most of the time.

Saturday, I did a little shopping but didn't really buy anything worth posting about...unless you are interested in the two pairs of fuzzy "cozy socks" that I bought on sale at Belk's.

I went to see the movie Catch and Release Sunday. Definitely a rental. (But I still find Jennifer Garner endearing.) I'm sorry, but what has happened to all the good, smart romantic comedies? When I think about my faves, I think of Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually, and About a Boy, which leads me to think that my criteria for a good, smart romantic comedy are 1) The movie is "British," and 2) The movie stars Hugh Grant. I'm supposed to see Because I Said So with Diane Keaton, Lauren Graham, and Mandy Moore this weekend with my friend Casi. Ladies, don't let me down! Make me laugh!

If I could sing...

I would SO be a diva.

I took a 2-week break from the Dreamgirls soundtrack, but this morning I put it on for my drive to school. I have what I call my "Jennifer Hudson Medley"--"I Love You I Do," then "I Am Changing," followed by "One Night Only," ended by "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." That last one gets me really fired up, helps me get my caffeine kicking in high gear. I like to do hand movements and facial expressions for these songs, too. Should I be saying all this?

I'm thinking about seeing Dreamgirls again this weekend. So yeah, if you haven't seen it yet, you should. And you should buy the soundtrack so you can get your "diva" on, too. You won't be sorry.

Tidbits from the week

I haven't posted in a week or so because frankly, not much was going on. Here are just a few thoughts...

--The diet is going so-so. I'm doing somewhat okay with the eating rules (3 meals, 2 snacks, no eating two hours before bedtime), but I'm not doing so great with the exercise. It has been too cold out to walk (I'm sure I could "layer up" and brave the chilly wind, but I don't wanna), so that requires driving to the gym, and that sucks up some time with all the school stuff I need to work on. I must get better about this!

--My students drove me absolutely nuts today. I gave a test that they knew about well in advance, and we did EXTENSIVE review yesterday. When I tell you (you, being the student) that you need to know who wrote what, don't act shocked when you have questions about that info on the test. Seriously (see footnote), they were being ridiculous. And from what I've graded so far, well, the situation is abysmal.

--I was observed last week for my yearly evaluation, but I haven't received the report yet. Fortunately, the administrator came to my honors class. Unfortunately, the students were a bit "off" and somewhat lethargic that day. It could have been worse, though. (The next day I had one of my best classes ever with them. Go figure.) Am I the only teacher who HATES being observed? I hate it. I don't know why...

--That's about it, except for my "seriously" footnote...

**For the record, I would like to say that I used the expression "seriously" quite a bit BEFORE I started watching Grey's Anatomy. (If you watch the show, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, you have no clue what I'm talking about.) I just felt that I should establish that fact. I'm not one of those people who pick up phrases from TV shows and use them just to be "cool" (not consciously, anyway). Seriously.

I bought a "diet" book

I had pretty much sworn to myself that I wouldn't buy any more "diet" books--I mean, we all know that to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume--but I caved the other day and bought Bob Greene's Best Life Diet book. I've skimmed some of his books before, watched him on Oprah, and his way seems to make sense. (This book was also more tempting because Borders had it for 30% off, plus I had a $10 Borders reward certificate. Nice.)

He admits up front that the only way to lose weight is to burn more than you take in, but he argues that many people crash and burn on diets because people try to do too much too soon; he suggests making small changes before going hardcore diet-and-exercise crazy.

So for the first four weeks (Phase One), I'm supposed to do the following:

--Eat a good breakfast. This is pretty huge for me because I've been eating a banana. This isn't Bob Greene's idea of a good breakfast. This also probably explains why I'm hungry. All. The. Time.

--Eat three meals and two (preferably healthy) snacks. I guess that means I should grab an apple instead of the M&Ms. (Another reason why I'm hungry all the time.)

--Drink more water.

--Increase my fitness routine. Based on the five levels of fitness Bob gives, my New Year's Resolution (to work out three times a week) should suffice for now. (Side note: I've been pretty good about keeping this resolution!)

--Stop eating two hours before bedtime. This is one of Bob Greene's things. He mentions it in all his books. I don't think this will be a biggie for me--I'm not much of a grazer before I go to bed.

And that's all for Phase One. Oh, and I'm also not supposed to weigh myself for four weeks. It all seems doable to me. The hardest thing for me is going to be the healthy snacks. Who wants an apple when the vending machine offers more enticing snacks like Reese's Pieces?

Is anyone else fascinated by this news story?

I can't stop thinking about the story of the two missing boys who were returned to their families. I don't have much to say about it other than the fact that I'm sure the elation these parents feel is indescribable. I'm also finding myself thinking about the boy who was missing for over four years--who knows what all he has been through in that time. I'm sure the psychological ramifications of all this are huge for him. But still...this is a happy ending to long nightmare, for sure.

Additional bonus: I'm glad that this story has put Rosie and Donald on the backburner, at least for a few days.

Shafty

One of my students has given me the nickname "Shafty" because he claims I "shafted" him a point on a vocabulary quiz back in September. (Apparently I should have known that he "meant" to mark answer C instead of answer A.) He reminds me of this every week. He won't let it go. (For the most part, he's joking, but I think a small part of him is really miffed over the one point.)

Anyway, the other day, I had my students respond to a choice of prompts, and one of them was a prompt that called for them to recall a time they had suffered and had become a better person through their suffering. (We were studying John Donne, who is all about the suffering.) Of course, this student wrote about the time I "shafted" him on his vocabulary grade. :)

The piece de resistance (forgive my lack of accent marks--I can't figure out how to do them) occurred yesterday when this student and his sidekick performed a song for me, sung to the tune of Isaac Hayes's "Shaft":

Who is the teacher who will take your point away?
She's Shafty, Shafty [my last name].
Who is the teacher who will rain on your parade?
She's Shafty--yeah, that's right.

I think I like being Shafty. Especially if I get my own theme song.

Billy Collins

I'm about to start a poetry unit with my 10th grade honors class, and because they have already indicated that they don't like poetry, I thought I would start them out on some poems that would be accessible and, dare I say it, fun. Anyway, I came across this one by Billy Collins, and it made me laugh out loud. Thought you might like it.

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.

Another good movie--We Are Marshall

If you haven't seen Dreamgirls yet, as I told you to several posts ago, shame on you. See it.

I also recommend We Are Marshall. Darryl and I saw it last night. It's very sad, but still interesting and inspiring. (Side note: Matthew Fox is an excellent crier. If you watch Lost, you already know that.)

See Dreamgirls first, though.

Recent Events

This is going to be a scattered post, I'm sure, but I was just in the mood to post about some random things that have taken place in the past couple of weeks.

--School started. We started back Tuesday (with a wonderful Diversity Training session--yes, I'm being sarcastic), and students came back Wednesday. So far, I can't complain.

--Darryl and I now have knife skills. For Christmas, Darryl gave me a really nice chef's knife (that's okay, ladies--I actually wanted a chef's knife), and he signed us up for a knife skills class at the Viking store in Atlanta. I loved the class; it was hands-on, and I learned how to chop/mince/dice/julienne/debone in ways that will likely save time and my fingers. I told Darryl that if he wins the lottery, I'm quitting my job and taking cooking classes all day, every day.

--We bought a sofa. That was a pretty big undertaking. We should have it in 8 weeks...I hope.

--I love the show Everwood. I've said it before, but doggone it, I'm saying it again. No wonder fans were incredulous when the show was cancelled in the creation of the CW network. Seriously, the show (which now airs on ABC Family) has made me cry about four times in the past week. That's huge--people who know me know that I lack the ability to produce tears at even the tear-jerkiest of movies. Anyway, Everwood is heartfelt without being schmaltzy, with story lines that often follow a more realistic ending than a "happily ever after" one; the setting is beautiful; and the teenagers actually look and act like...teenagers. And I love Treat Williams.

--LSU 41, Notre Dame 14. Geaux Tigers!

--I'm trying to stick to my resolutions. I've exercised twice this week, with plans to exercise tomorrow.

--I'm tired of the Rosie/Trump feud. Right now, they are both annoying me. Enough already. Who cares?

--Freedom Writers: same song, 514th verse? Most of what I've heard about the movie Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank, is on target with what I assumed: it is yet another movie about a teacher who makes a difference with inner-city kids. (I'm guessing the plot is something like this: teacher is naive, students hate teacher, teacher does something cool and innovative to make students like teacher, administrator disapproves of the innovation, one student gets killed or almost gets killed, students and teacher bond together to change their lives, the teacher realizes she learned as much from her students as they did from her.) I don't plan to see the movie, but I would be interested in seeing a documentary about the real teacher, who was interviewed on GMA this week. She mentioned how she "threw out the curriculum" (um, okay) and decided to teach the kids to find their voice. Sounds cool, but I still think I'll skip the Hollywood version.

Now, back to the knife skills...I'm making tortilla soup tonight so I can practice by slicing and dicing. I guess I better get to it...

P.S. Forgive my failure to provide links to terms, things, or ideas that may be of interest. I just don't feel like doing it. That's what Google is for.