Gregy Brown

I saw Greg Brown last night with my friend Michelle. His voice was as deep as usual, but his biceps were covered in a suit coat. Drat. For some reason, I had a hard time understanding his words, so I would close my eyes to try to concentrate. I only caught about 25% of the words, but he music was good.

The man next to me reeked of alcohol; it was permeating from his skin into my air space. Drat. Maybe it added to the bar feel of the evening?

I tried to keep my mind from wandering, but it didn't work very well. Some random thoughts:

What should I wear for parent/teacher conferences tomorrow (today)?
How can I get the kids in my club to DO something?
What "teen slang" should I teach Michelle?
Do I really say "Yeah" a lot (as Michelle claims)?
How do I befriend new people my age at church?
Could I pull off wearing cowboy boots like them? (No.)
How many drinks DID the guy next to me have?
Who is the weird guy in the front row with the camouflage rain gear?

Yep, it was an interesting evening, folks.

Your Movie of the Day: Junebug. I watched this on Saturday with my folks. Amy Adams was up for an Oscar for her role as Ashley, a cheerful pregnant woman. It's a good movie once you get over the fact that two of the actors who play a married couple also played siblings in Mansfield Park (Alessandro and Embeth).

Who are you?

So, it's come to my attention that some of my readers (hi!) are a bit leery to make comments for fear of being traced or whatnot by government entities. This is a valid case, but sad for me because I don't know who all is reading this little chunk of cyberspace called my blog.

If you would like me to know that you read it, but don't like comments, feel free to drop me an e-mail at silentvelcro333@yahoo.com

Aside from that random thought, the only thing going through my head this morning is that the sun is shining, I'm going to lunch with my favorite 6-year-old (and his cool family) and I hope my band does well at church today.

(Okay, there are a ton more thoughts going on, but who really wants to hear them all?)

Movie of the Day: House of D. Watched it last night with my folks. My dad and I counted how many Kleenexes (Kleenices?) we used and then picked on my mom for not crying at all. Ha ha. It's a movie about a guy who finally tells his wife and son about his early childhood and everything that happened to him when he turned 13. Very sweet and moving. Hence, the Kleenex.

Glitter

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to make things a little goofy. So..... I brought glitter to school. It's a roll-on glitter thing that I bought at Bath & Body a while ago. I put some on my cheeks and then offered it to the kids who came in before school for help. Most of them were boys, but they tried it any way. Then, a girl started trying to put some on a reluctant boy. She won. Everyone laughed which is a great way to start a Friday. Now my kids sparkle!

Movie of the Day: 13 Going on 30. Jennifer Garner. Mark Ruffalo. She gets magic dust on her that grants her wish to be 30. Very cute movie.

Yikes

So, it's Friday evening and the weekend is a blank slate until Sunday night (minus church, of course). What to do?

Clean? Watch the old Alias episodes that I taped (even though this season sucks)? Read Kite Runner (good, but a downer)? Who knows? Weird. Weird.

I'm even done with all of my homework for the weekend. Everything is corrected, recorded, and entered into the computer. Sometimes, I boggle my own mind. Ha.

Maybe I'll dust off my treadmill and even turn it on!

Goofy

I could go for some goofy right about now. I had some scheduled in on Wednesday when I had tickets for Steven Wright. However, his show was cancelled and I'm left without my two hours of laughing. Drat.

Sunday night, I'm going to hear Greg Brown with Michelle, which will be awesome. I probably won't giggle a whole lot, though. He tends to bring out the sighs and drool.

So, my mission this weekend is to laugh, relax my tense muscles, and see if I can share some goofiness.

Movie of the Day: Benny and Joon. Johnny Depp. Mary Stuart Masterson. Aidan Quinn. Julieanne Moore. Silliness at it's best.

My Classroom

It's officially Spring and yesterday I started taking things down in my classroom. I like to start slowly. (Anyone remember me doing this in college too?). Any way, in the Fall and Winter, I tend to put up random things that I find funny: a pencil sharpened to within an inch of it's life, an empty box of chocolate fish from Japan, Homies (collectible gangster figurines), a teddy bear, a fake plant, calendars, a tiny ceramic piggy bank that has "bribes" printed into it, a Snoopy piggy bank, foam flowers (from a craft store), etc.

My two favorite things are my wall of aol discs that come in the mail and a freaky holographic picture. The aol discs started when I felt weird throwing them out from the mail. So, I kept a stack of them. This Fall, I put pushpins in a bulletin board and hung them up. They're quite pretty, actually. Kids started donating their discs and I now have an entire board full. It's pretty when my fan hits them and they wave in the breeze.

The picture was something I picked up at a church rummage sale in the Cities. It's a house in the country, but apparently it looks like the Bates house. Ha! It has a plastic coating that's ribbed so it sounds funny when you run your nails across it. Best $1 I've spent in a long while.

My room didn't seem cluttered to me, but now that things are starting to get packed away, the room is opening up. Now I just need to figure out how to wash the floors more than twice a year (yep, twice) and I'll be good to go.

Does anyone else have quirky work spaces?

Movie of the Day: Office Space. Work angst. Funny.

The Screw

When I was in college at St. Olaf, my JC's (Junior Counselors similar to RA's) decided our corridor should go on a "screw." It sounds dirty, I know. The name is short for Screw Your Roommate. The idea is to find your roommate the weirdest date and then everyone goes out as one big group. By the time I got there, though, it had morphed into "Who do you want me to ask out for you?"

I went on three screws during my college career:

Screw # 1 (Freshman Year): Bowling and pizza. Went with my physics TA who was super nice. Found out he was back with his girlfriend (now wife) the day of the screw. Bummer.

Screw # 2 (Freshman Year): Picnic and the Minnesota Zoo. Fun. Hung out with my date and my friend's gay date. Oops. Fun, though.

Screw # 3 (Senior Year): Made spaghetti in our dorm and had guys over. Played boardgames. Many guys left around 9 PM and most everyone else went into their rooms to play drinking games. Good food. Not so fun entertainment (since I don't drink).

Imagine going on a screw now! Of the 9 other girls I lived with my senior year, only two of us are single. Four have kids (some three!).

Movie of the Day: Blind Date. Bruce Willis. I saw it a LONG time ago, but remember liking it.

Torn

My school had two incidents of threatening notes last week. The police caught the kids who did the first note and are closing in on the second. The names of the two boys were going around school yesterday. Most kids who know them were defending them and saying that they didn't mean it and didn't want anyone to see it.

Well, that's not going to cut it these days. The teacher that the first note targeted, spent a terrified week worrying about her safety and her child's safety. Add in 1100 freaked out students and 100 staff, 20 plus police officers added to the building and their little note caused a lot of damage.

Schools need to be safe. Calm. A place to learn and grow.

Movie of the Day: Stand and Deliver. A great movie about a school in East L.A. where students go from taking basic math to the Advanced Placement Calculus test. Inspiring!

Okay....

In an effort to come up with something interesting to write about this morning, I decided to wander around my house. I looked out my front window to see if the paper carrier's minivan was there (can't imagine accidentally opening the door when she's right there).

I didn't see a minivan, but I did see a deer. It was crossing the street and then went through my yard. I ran from the livingroom to my office and watched it disappear.

My friend Catharine thinks that deer might be my animal totem or something because I see them a lot and have spiritual promptings to be on the lookout for them. Beats me. It could just be that there are a ton of deer running around Duluth.

Movie of the Day: Walk the Line. I saw it last night, as probably one of the last people in the country to see it. Very good! Joaquin and Reese both deserved their Oscars.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Michelle!

Movie Prescriptions

"I need a ______________ movie." Romantic Comedy? Tear-Jerker? Action? Artsy? Political?

Some people will stop and think about what they feel like eating or listening to; I stop to think about what I feel like watching. Yesterday was such a good day, that I wanted to keep it upbeat.

My grandma passed away almost 5 years ago and what did we do? Bought food and rented a movie to help us zone out. What movie would we select on a day such as that? Dude, Where's My Car? Yep. The brainless wonder of Aston Kutcher and three other people I can't remember. I watched it with my siblings, aunt, and uncle (the cool ones I'm visiting in CA). The rest of the week, through planning, funeral, and "lunch", we quoted the movie: "DUDE!" "SWEET" "SHIBBY!" "And, then?" We're weird.

Haven't seen the movie since. I wonder if it would conjure up emotions that have passed (for the most part)?

If you haven't seen it, check it out, if for no other reason but to understand what teenagers are talking about.

Good Day

After 11.5 hours of sleep last night and a shining sun this morning, I'm ready to face the world with a smile on my face. It's been a while, actually. I might even get past trudging! Woo hoo!!!

My Spring Break plans are working out: San Francisco. Not the warmest, but it's somewhere I've never been and I have cool relatives there! Adventure awaits!

I'm also going to see Steven Wright next Wednesday with my mom and my sister. Should be worth a couple hours of laughter.

Now, where to start the day?

Movie: The Wedding Planner. Matthew McCutie, J.Lo, San Francisco. Great dancing scene, sculpture encounter, and integrity. Lots of laughs.

Skittish

I'm a little jumpy tonight. It's been a long week in Lake woebegone, dear readers. Long. To unwind, a group of us went to Failure to Launch tonight. It won't win any Oscars, but it was good for some laughs. Much needed laughs. Then, we went to Green Mill for dinner and Thrillz for some Skee Ball. Yep. Six women, 29 - 39, hanging out at the arcade. Good times.

Now, I'm hopped up on diet Coke and grenadine (no green beer for me, I'm afraid). What to do? What to do?

The Community Ed class listings came out today and I'm thinking of trying Tai Chi. I was at a conference with the instructor a couple weeks ago and he seems cool. Might be worth rearranging my schedule for it....

Well, I should quit babbling before I start sharing weird secrets or telling REALLY boring work stories.

I hope you all had a lucky St. Patty's Day. Next stop, Easter!

Early

I've always been prone to waking up early and zoning out for a bit before I had to be somewhere. In elementary school, I would wake up at 6:45, catch the end of "I Dream of Jeannie" on The Super Station WTBS and then watch "Bewitched". THEN, I would get ready for school. Weird? Yep. I've actually had debates about who is cooler: Jeannie or Samantha. I always go for the women's lib favorite of Samantha (who still isn't THAT liberal). Jeannie had to say "Master" and dress all scantily. Not to mention, she wasn't that bright. Samantha at least had the upper hand with Durwood. I was bummed that the recent movie "Bewitched" didn't live up to the show. Oh well. Who can replace Elizabeth Montgomery?

Road Trip!

My siblings and mom were reminiscing about our family road trips and I guess a few stories about me cropped up.

About 10 years ago, my family drove to Big Sky, MT in the summer to meet up with my twin uncles, an aunt, and one cousin. We stayed in a fancy hotel and then drove to Yellowstone on day trips.

Every day, we'd drive past a gas station that had "Fir Woob" on it's sign. It meant "Fire Wood" but I decided that "Fir Woob" was the name of my future husband. You have to pronounce it with a Southern accent. Then, I made up kids: Squinty, Squatty, and Scruffy. Boys.

So far, I've yet to meet a Fir Woob, but if you know of one, give him my e-mail.

Movie of the Day: Big Fish. Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Danny DeVito, Jessica Lange, and the really tall guy who just passed away, star. A man is dying and telling his son the story of his life.

Rubber Duckie

Rubber Duckie, you're the one... My sister tried to convince me to visualize floating on a big rubber duckie when I go to my department meeting today. I think she means I shouldn't internalize the stress of it, for surely there will be stress. From there, I go to a meeting with a parent, and then sit in my room and pray that my dad's surgery is a success.

Rubber Duckie.....take me away!

Movie of the Day: The Shipping News. Kevin Spacey always kind of creeps me out (think Seven), but this is an interesting, dark movie.

Spring Break

March is in full force and I'm ready for Spring Break. Sadly, Spring Break isn't ready for me. We have four more weeks until the happy event. I'm trying to calm my antsy-ness by planning a trip to somewhere warm. Interesting and warm would be best. I'm not much for sitting at the beach all day. I like to see the sights and learn too.

I've been going to www.weatherunderground.com to try to predict April weather in different areas. It's kind of fun and odd when a place is cooler than I thought it should be. We'll see what I come up with.

Movie of the Day: How to Deal. Mandy Moore is a high schooler whose parents are divorcing. Teen angst. Excellent soundtrack!

It's here!!!

The Best Loved Poems of the American People book has arrived!!! The book that shaped the inner philosopher Becca into who she is today. I shall share a few of my favorites over the next few days:

Don't Quit
~Author Unknown

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and its turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When they might have won, had they stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victors cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when your hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit!

Surreal Connections

Have you ever "Googled" yourself? Do you ever wonder who is reading this blog or your blog or you dog's blog? My sitemeter tells me what city and country the visitors come from and I'm always fascinated by places outside of Duluth. What do these visitors think? Can they read English? Has anyone famous from Sundance googled themselves and found my blog?

Whenever I am cruising "Next Blog" land, I keep going when I can't read the language. Next time I should at least look at the pictures and try to figure it out.

Is that the same case here? Do some people see "English" and hit "Next Blog"? I'll probably never know, since they can't read this either. Yikes! I bet some see US and keep going...

Movie of the Day: Scooby Doo 2. I watched it this weekend with friends. I prefer the cartoons, but this was funny too.

A Question

I have a book called "If?" It has a ton of questions, so I pose one to you, dear reader.

If you could occupy the world described in a novel, which would you choose?

Rocks

One of the best places to think in Duluth is Brighton Beach. It consists of a variety of rocks in a variety of sizes. The beach is less than a mile long and has picnic areas and a playground, but I don't recommend the playground if you go there to think (unless it's deserted and you like swings).

I like to do one of two things while thinking "at the shore": wander up and down the shoreline looking for cool rocks (agates, sea glass, pretty stuff) or sit on a big rock and stare at Lake Superior. You can't see the other side, so staring is more meditative.

Movie du Jour: School of Rock. Different kind of rock. Jack Black is well, Jack Black. The kids are funny. Joan Cusack is awesome.

Weird Dream

I was hoping to wake up naturally with the sun this morning, but it turns out the sun took a raincheck. So, I slept a nice, long time.

My last dream had me married to a guy that I knew in college. We lived in different towns and barely acted like we were married. He lived in Madison in a HUGE house, with a girlfriend and I lived in Duluth. Alone. Hmmmm.... how fair. I went to see him and ran into old friends who tried to help me sort out what to do. They kept telling me how great he is now and that I should talk to him. I was pissed that he had a girlfriend, though I was trying to find a boyfriend. I woke up mid-trying to decide what to do.

What the heck does this mean? Who knows. Should I look up the guy from college (who was married as of 8 years ago)? Who knows. Maybe I'll Google him. Weird.

Movie of the Day: An Ideal Husband. All about love and marriage. Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Jeramy Northam, and more star.

HBO

I don't get HBO, so it takes me a while to catch on to the HBO trends. I've resorted to renting the shows I want to see. While at Sundance, I met Justin Kirk who was in "Angels In America," an HBO miniseries. It's 6-hours long and I carved out time to finish it last night.

I think if I'd seen it before Sundance, I would have been more chicken to talk to Mr. Kirk. He was so humble when I got his autograph. He introduced himself "Hi, I'm Justin." So cool.

I get into movies (duh) and the movie at Sundance was so intense/realistic/sad that I felt like he was his character and I was therefore less thrilled at meeting him than I would have been if I'd seen AIA beforehand. He's an excellent actor.

Movie of the Day: Angels in America. It stars Justin Kirk, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Jeffrey Wright, Ben Schenkman, Mary-Louise Parker, and Patrick Wilson. It's about AIDS in the 80's.

No More Teenagers!!!

Yesterday, I had one more hour of school and I had reached my max on speaking to teenagers for the day. I mentioned this to a colleague and two kids heard and said "You're supposed to wait until we're gone." I said that it wasn't them specifically, just all teenagers in general for today.

I think I'm starting today with a low threshold. Oh well. I thought about making a sign to hold up every time they ask me if I know their grade (gradebook closed yesterday and I have a couple inches of papers left to grade). Some of the sign options that I won't use but will giggle about later:

"Keep off the teacher"
"Beware of Teacher"
"Don't bother asking"
"Ask at your own risk"
"No, they aren't done."
"Just leave me alone."

Now, the polite thing is to explain, blah, blah, blah, but they don't really want to hear WHY the grades aren't ready. They just want to know when and will they make honor roll or merit roll or $50 from their folks.

I can understand where they're coming from. When I took calc in 12th grade, I was teetering between an A and a B for my final grade and it hinged on my final exam. I bugged that teacher, I'm sure. Maybe it's Karma for me now.

Can you pay off Karma?

Movie of the Day: Election. Reese Witherspoon as an annoying high school girl. Matthew Broderick as the teacher trying to survive a student council election.

Well...

I cant' think of a theme today, so my theme will be "Randomness". I sometimes cause people to go "huh?" when I'm rambling because I only say a fraction of my thought process and they get lost. I've always thought I was "Abstract Random" vs. "Concrete Sequential" but I haven't really taken any tests to prove it. I could be Sequential with Random sharing? That would be the perfect Becca category.

Years ago, I went to hear a jazz band with one of my best friends, Kim. She's a musician who plays multiple instruments. Afterwards, we were discussing what we were thinking during the set and I had a h-u-g-e list that I rattled off. She said "I was thinking about the music." Ha. Story of my life. I'm overthinking and she's enjoying the music.

Movie of the Day: Immortal Beloved. It's about Beethoven's life. Interesting and sad. It has a wonderful soundtrack.

Mystery Stairs

There are mystery stairs at the school where I teach. They look like ordinary stairs. They feel like ordinary stairs when you step on them. The mystery is that no matter how physically fit you are, you end up winded and "feelin' the burn" after climbing just two flights. Honest.

Yesterday, I was chatting with some fellow teachers and they were going to take the elevator. I figured I'd go with them even though I usually take the stairs. When I walked to my room, I realized I didn't have that shortness of breath and strain in my chest. Hmmmmm..... Elevator? STAIRS!!! Or, lack there of. Interesting....

Is it the distance between each stair? The material of the staircase? The air quality in that stairwell (one friend commented that she can do one set of stairs but not another)? Weird, huh?

Maybe the school should station a monitor/trained CPR specialist in that stairwell. If you're ever at my school, avoid the middle staircase!!!

Movie of the Day: Wayne's World. "No playing Stairway to Heaven" but you can sing along in the car!

:)Becca

The Oscars!

Any interesting question, Anon. I have conflicted feelings about the Oscars. I love seeing magazines with dresses and cute guys on the red carpet. However, I was at a Movie Club last night! I know, the irony. I'm happy that Rachel Weisz won. I haven't seen any of the other winning movies yet! I actually bought Crash at Block Buster and haven't watched it yet. I do want to see Walk the Line and Syriana. Capote? Maybe. I liked Brokeback Mountain.

Here's the conflict: Part of me thinks it's just superficial "Let's get gussied up and pat ourselves on the back". After going to Sundance, part of me wants to take movies even MORE seriously. So, it's weird. I taped it, in case there was something that I just HAD to see for myself.

Did anyone out there watch? Did I miss anything really amazing?

:)Becca

Open for Suggestions

So, I tried to blog this morning and I couldn't get the webpage to call up. Hence, I'm blogging tonight. Sorry for any concerns you might have had about me. I'm all right! Ha ha. Well, I guess I'm a bit sore from shoveling. New muscles discovered and all. Overall, I'm fine.

Any way, I've been spending random parts of the day trying to come up with something witty to blog about and nothing is coming at all!!! Oy.

I've decided to take requests. Anything you'd like me to rant about? Any random stories that you've heard before that you think I should share with The Net?

Speaking of The Net. Excellent movie!!! Jeremy Notham is creepy! I like him much better in Emma (Two for One Monday!).

Oh, another question: Has anyone rented/gone to a movie because I recommended it? If so, what did you think?

:)Becca

Wage Peace

I heard this poem at a Spirituality conference this weekend and thought I'd share.

Wage Peace
By Judyth Hill*

Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildingsand flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping childrenand freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallenand breathe out lifelong friendships intact.

Wage peace with your listening:hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.


* Sometimes mistakenly attributed to Mary Oliver

Yes!

I just heard a bird outside and I think it might be the first sign on Spring!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Friday, I decided to count how many Christmas wreaths are still hanging on houses between my house and the freeway. 9. Then, I've been counting them ever since. I'm at 15. Come on, people. It's time. Are you planning to lodge Easter eggs in them? Think Spring!!!!

I have a flag hanging off of my garage that says "Winter Welcome." Yep, I need to take that down and find something like "Winter Scat," "Winter, Go Away Already!," "Winter's So Been Done."

What would a Winter Scat sound like "Doot Dwee Bop Wow. Get Out Winter"?

Movie: Reality Bites. An early film of 20-something start-ups. Angst. Tons of stars: Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Winona Rider, Steve Zahn, and Janeane Garofalo.

:)Becca

Craving Comments

What is your middle name?

Feel free to comment as an anon.

:)Becca
P.S. No comments for days. Getting sad. May start crying any minute now.... (snif).

Spirits

Spirits are up today. It's Friday!!! What a relief!

I've been living vicariously through one of my friends, as of late. She has a first date tonight with a man who has been courting her for a month! I'm so excited for her! She's going to have an awesome time and I CANNOT wait to hear about it (remember to call me!!!)!!!

I will be at a Compassion Conference tonight and tomorrow morning. I think it will help my restless soul. Or at least, I hope it will.

Oh, Steven Wright is coming to Duluth and I'm hoping to get a group together to go. If you would like to read some of his one-liners, click here. If you're interested, drop me a comment. It's March 22nd at the DECC and tickets are about $30.

Movie of the Day: My Best Friend's Wedding. Cameron Diaz is annoyingly perky, Julia Roberts is kind of scary, Ruppert Everett is hilarious, and Dermot Mulroney is hot. An interesting take in "always the brides-maid..."

:)Becca

Oy

I'm a believer in signs. I think it's a bad sign when the first words out of my mouth for the day are "Oh, crap!". I overslept an hour. I get up way, way early so I can chill, read my favorite blogs and just ease into being human. Not today. I wasn't late for work, but today, I was pissy for most of the day. People mostly could tell something was up, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was bugging me. You would think that extra hour of sleep would have helped my mood, but no. Oh well. I think it was a bunch of little things that I can normally handle.

So, now I am home, facing a little bit of shoveling before book club. We read "Peace Like a River", which I recommended. Did I reread it? No. Luckily, the next book is new to me.

Is it bad to need a day off only four days after returning from vacation?

:)Becca

Ugh

Overslept an hour. Ugh.

Movie: Rush Hour.

More tonight....

I'm Not Crazy, Just Weird

For some odd reason, I was so cheerful yesterday, that I tried to convince my first hour "earlies" to call March "Trudge". ("Earlies" are kids who hang out about 20-30 minutes before school starts because it's a relatively quiet place to sit) . The only people who have opposed Trudge are those with March birthdays. This, of course, is bound to happen. I wouldn't like November messed with either. But, overall, people agreed with me. They also kind of shook their heads in a "I think she might have finally gone off the deep end." I just laughed (which probably didn't help my sanity rating, huh?).

My fourth hour on Monday would NOT stop talking while I gave notes. Sometimes I tell my classes that I'm going to send them the bill from Miller-Dwan (the local padded room institution). They don't understand until I explain and then they might be quiet. Or, they might keep talking... This is a class of 34, with a leaning toward girls with lots of make-up and football players who would rather be charging into something than multiplying letters. They are masters of "distract the teacher" but oddly, it feels like a family. If only I could get the family to do some math....

Movie du jour: Pride and Prejudice. The new one. I'm sure I've recommended this before, but it came out yesterday and I already have it. Watch it. Fall for Darcy or Lizzy or the dad (Donald Sutherland). If you are hooked on the BBC miniseries, there will be room enough in your heart for both versions. Honest.

:)Becca

Movie

And the movie of the day, you ask?

Empire Records. A day in the life of a record store on "Rex Manning Day". Rex is a washed up pop star arriving to sign autographs. One employee (Liv Tyler) loves him, the rest loathe him. Renee Zellweger, Anthony LaPaglia, Maxwell Caulifield, Rory Cochran, and Robin Tunney star.

:)Becca

Ode to Joy

Ode to Joy
On her birthday

The nerd side of the "pod"
Doors open, radios on
Friday nights with KDWB
And books, always homework, you and me.

The Perpetually Single Club
You've left it to me.
You wed James
And moved to Tennessee.



Have a wonderful birthday, Joy!

:)Becca

I Found It!

After mentioning a beloved book of poetry from my youth, many of you offered ideas of how to find it. So, I went to Amazon.com and started looking. After reading a Table of Contents, I think I've found it. Poems that I copied onto bookcovers at school and then forgot. Sigh.... I'm so psyched!!! As soon as I get it, I'll share some of it's "Greatest Hits."

WOO HOO!!!!!

Thanks for the help!

:)B

Me and You

My whole Sunday was spent either at church, sleeping, or watching various movies. I saw the IMAX movie Greece in the afternoon and spent the whole time trying to keep my eyes open (moderate success). Then, I went home and took a 2.5 hour nap.

By the time I woke up, it was 6 and I figured I really, really should correct the tests that I gave a week ago before vacation. So, I popped in a movie and proceeded to ignore the tests. Subconsciously, I knew I wouldn't get the tests done. Oh well.

The movie, however, was great! See below....

Movie of the Day: Me and You and Everyone We Know. I love movies with quirky characters who take an ordinary moment and make it odd. There are poignant moments of human connection, cute kids with odd thoughts, and fun all over. There are surprises too. This movie isn't for everyone, just to warn ya. Don't rent this with your grandma unless she's one cool chick, k?

:)Becca

March

We are three days away from the lovely month of March. March is a long month and the only one that's a verb. April, May, June, and August are all names and May is an adjective, or adverb, or something.

The verb "march" implies a lot of energy. You can't be sluggish; you have to stay in line and lift those knees. In these Northern parts of the world, this is not so easy in the cold and snow. So....

I propose that we change the name of the coming month to "Trudge." That's a more truthful name and sounds okay with January, February, Trudge, April,....

If you think about the "30 days have September, April, June, and November, all the rest have 31 except February...." song, the months left out are: January, March, May, July, August, October, and December. May, October, and December all have holidays on or near the 31st, giving us something to look forward to (even if it's only a barbeque). We would happily extend July and August another week if we could, so there's no problem there. We're left with January and March for the long-ies. We survived January for another year, so if we could fix March (I mean Trudge), we'd be fine.

What do you say?

Movie of the Day: Little Women. The March family in New England. It captures all of life's ups and downs while teaching good morals. Kirsten Dunst as a major twirp. Christian Bale as a hottie.

:)Becca

Good Quotes

I love quotes. If you can say something concisely and get the meaning across while making people think, I get jazzed. I have approximately 25 quote books. Here are a couple quotes that stand out this evening:

Freedom lies in being bold. ~ Robert Frost

The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world. ~ Etty Hillesum

:)Becca

got snow?

Snow can be quite beautiful. It's especially cool at night, for some reason. When moonlight hits snow, it turns it into a million little diamonds blanketing the world. Snow clumps on trees and looks like frosting. When it falls slowly, it makes the world slow down. Maybe it's some yet-to-be-discovered law of physics or something.

By sunlight, snow can be too bright. Too pure. But by moonlight, it's captivating.

Movie of the Day: Heart & Souls. Kinda an obscure movie, but really interesting. Four (or is it 5) people get on a bus, which crashes. They are suddenly ghosts who hang out with a little boy. It's funny and has great music.

:)Becca

Delayed Re-action...

In case you haven't noticed, I'm one of those weirdos who blogs at like 5:30 in the morning- BEFORE the butt-crack of dawn. Not so much this week because of vacation and REALLY not today. I have spent the past two days in the Twin Cities frolicking with my Visa. It was lovely, though not too devastating. (When I got home from Sundance, I told myself that I'd have to lay on the floor before opening the bill. That way, I could pass out safely.).

Any way, I was with my folks who also like to exercise their Visa cards in the Cities once in a while. We're driving along, heading to Forest Lake and subsequently home, when we get an alarming call. The weather is TERRIBLE in Duluth and we should think about getting a hotel for one more night.

Our first reaction was "Huh? We don't believe it!" It was super sunny and only a little chilly all morning. We'll be fine. So, we got almost all the way home with no snow. Then, it hit. We saw a couple cars on the shoulder. Another one upside down in the meridian, and a lot of show-offs speeding along. Luckily, we were in a Subaru with All-wheel Drive and were fine.

So, that was my mini adventure today.

How about you? Any good weather stories?

Movie of the Day: Keeping the Faith. I love that a priest and a rabbi are friends. People who are jazzed about religion, but don't shove it down other people's throats. Cool.

Stay warm!
:)Becca

Alias

I'm probably one of the last people to start watching Alias. I now own all of the season out of DVD but I haven't seen this season. Unfortunately, I see the reviews and it looks like it's good that it's ending this Spring. Either way, I really enjoyed the first three seasons. One of the main reasons is Michael Vartan. I've liked him ever since seeing Never Been Kissed (about 10 times) and he's amazing as Michael Vaughn in Alias. The tension between them! Wow.

One of my favorite Vaughn aliases is above and I have it as my desktop background. Sigh.... Any way, if any of you out there in Cyber Land know Mr. Vartan, please let him know we love him.

Movie of the Day: Rent. Saw it last night. Very powerful and sad.

:)Becca

The Next Step

My best ideas usually come to me while I'm praying or sitting still. When I find an idea that I really like, I usually end up following through with it. Right now, I'm waiting for a new idea to jazz up my otherwise mundane life. It might be a project, trip, hobby or who knows what. For now, I'm in limbo.

How about some stream of consciousness for ya?

Limbo.
Slake's Limbo.
I can't limbo.
Limbo rhymes with bimbo.
Bo and Luke Duke (tv not movie)
Rosco P. Coltrain
Rosco Pico Train (what I thought his name was)
Basset hounds
Angela Bassett
Waiting to Exhale
Sleep apnea
Sleep
Vacation
This week.
Limbo.

Movie of the Day: Broken Flowers. Saw it last night. Bill Murray always chooses odd roles, but this one was interesting too. A man, Don Johnston, gets a letter saying that he has a son, but the woman doesn't sign the letter or leave a return address. So, Don goes on a journey to search for the mother of his son and has to visit the loves of his past. Interesting.

:)Becca

Psychological Relief

I am starting Day 4 of my vacation and I feel like I've accomplished a lot in such a short time. At school (and at home, actually), I like to call it Psychological Relief: that feeling you get when you finally do what's been on the back of your mind or those little details that have been bugging you. They don't have to be big things: fixing the shower head after 4 years of low pressure (honest), hanging up decorations you've had since you moved in, filling in a rebate for $20 that you've had sitting around for months. Things like that weigh me down. I'm now at the point of "Hmmmm... what else???" It's amazing how freeing it is for someone who thinks too much (untreated OCD, perhaps?). Any way, I highly recommend getting yourself some Psychological Relief if you can.

Movie of the Day: What About Bob. I actually hated this movie, but I know a lot of people liked it. I think it hit too close to home. I related too much to both Bob and the Richard Dryfus characters.

:)Becca

Road Trip

Saturday night I watched Elizabethtown with my folks and Sara (sister). One of the best parts is when Claire gives Drew a road trip map (which was really a kit). She tells him where to stop and makes him mixed cds to listen to along the way.

I would love to make and/or receive a roadtrip kit. To find the quirky places in the U.S. So many people around the world only see snippets of what we really are deep down. With our current leader, there are so many people not represented, that I think it'd be cool to really see the country for yourself, especially for foreigners.

A great line in Under the Tuscan Sun was when she was buying a house and they accused Americans to trying to take over everything and she said "A lot of us feel really bad about that." It's so true! There is actually a subtle oppression of the peacemakers these days. Maybe it isn't even subtle. We're trying to make things better.

For the record, I want peace. I would love foreigners to meet Americans who are against the war in Iraq- Americans who care about all of the horrible things that are happening to people around the world.

Any way.... the Movie of the Day: Next Stop Wonderland. We follow the dating lives of a man and a woman who we all know should be together if they would only meet. It's a quiet movie with a great soundtrack.

:)Becca

Sun!

The sun is shining through my prism window (9 prisms) and making a rainbow frenzy in my office. The sun is also warming up a spot on my kitchen floor which I've been known to sit in from time to time. These two facts are making it easier to handle the cold (though it's not SO cold any more). However, I'm really trying not to think about how I nearly went to Phoenix for my break. I'm really trying. For now, I'm going to think of fun, little things that I can do around town or in the Cities and focus on how much the plane ticket would have cost ($600).

Movie of the Day: Clue. I loved all of the different endings as a kid. I'm sure I missed 90% of the innuendos.

:)Becca

The State of My Office

When I bought my house, I was a bit shocked at just how small one of the "bedrooms" was. "People live in there?" Luckily for me, it's the perfect size for my office. The walls are lined with my computer desk, cd rack, short file cabinet, two bookshelves (only one shelf of math books), and a little table of plants. The remaining wallspace is filled with pictures, a clock, a bulletin board, some art, and two windows. All of this in an 8' x 12' room. It's small, but the most "Becca" room in the house.

Movie of the Day: Parent Trap (newer one). I loved this movie and like Lindsay Lohan as a kid. It's the classic story with a couple updates. If you look carefully, the dad's future mother-in-law is the original movie father's girlfriend. I love when they sneak stuff like that in.

:)Becca

Brrrr....

It's not even the crack of dawn and I'm sitting, waiting to hear if I have school today (i.e. work). Sadly, I should be jumping for joy that it's the last day before break, but with the weather sooooo cold, it's hard to defrost enough to jump.

Last night I went to the Whole Foods Co-Op for dinner with a friend. They have a little alcove to eat your deli dinner and we sat for about 3 hours. It was nice to not have a waiter/waitress waiting to seat new people and the food was awesome!

Movie of the Day: Mystic Pizza. A chick flick about 4 young women who work at Mystic Pizza in CT. Tons of famous actresses and I've actually been there! Yummy!

:)Becca

Poetry

I grew up two blocks from a library (less than that if we cut through back yards). It was a tiny building with three rooms off of the main area and two rooms in the basement (which they closed off in later years before closing the whole branch).

I can still picture the "New Arrivals" section and hear the creaking floor.

My favorite book was "America's Most Loved Poems" and it was so old and worn out. I must have checked it out at least 10 times. I think of this book when I wander Barnes & Noble and wish I could find a copy. Unfortunately, when they built the new library, it didn't make the cut and I didn't find it in the yearly sale of old books. So, my new mission is to find out when the heck that book was published and hunt one down. My guess is somewhere between the 1920's and 1950's. Oh my.

Today's Movie: Dream for an Insomniac. A woman just cannot sleep. She hasn't had a good night's rest since she was a kid. Her friends try to set her up with various men and she refuses to lower her standards. It also has an extreme Frank Sinatra theme.

:)Becca

Pretty

Long time, no photo. Here's a pretty spiral for ya. T- 2 and counting for vacation. I think we're gonna make it (knock on wood).

:)B

Glimpses

I was talking to a friend the other day and she said "I'm finally myself again." If you dissect this statement, it's kind of funny, but this morning, I know what she means. I've been feeling "not like myself" ever since I returned from Sundance. Mainly it's my cold that is just now winding down (thanks to a Z-Pak). Beyond that, I'll blame the weather/time of year. My hope is to finally be "myself" again by break (Friday at 3:45 PM CST). WOO HOO!!! Then, I'd like to have a little fun on my week off!

Movie of the Day: The Bad Seed. I did a scene from this movie in my acting class one summer. I was the creepy little girl.

:)Becca

Anything But Math!!!

In an effort to keep me from teaching them any math, my 4th hour decided to brainstorm men for me. Here's a brief list of my "options" (many were deleted because I reminded them that their suggestions were married).

The 60 + custodian
The 58-ish social studies teacher
My high school health teacher
The bouncer
Multiple student teachers
The new Health teacher
My boss
A kid's older brother
The guy who gives pizza samples at Sam's Club
Some guy who works at McDonalds

Yikes! They just kept going and going. Oy.

Weird class.

:)Becca

Some Day...

A little poem by Rumi for the lovestruck and wishful:

A Word to the Heart

That which God said to the rose,
and caused it to laugh in full-blown beauty,
He said to my heart,
and made it a hundred times more beautiful.

Good Luck this Valentine's Day!

Movie of the Day: Singin' in the Rain. I love this movie for it's color, music, and the overall goofiness of the characters.

LL,
:)Becca

Brainstorms

Last weekend, I went to a Mongolian restaurant with my family and successful consumed a meal with chopsticks. If I'm thinking correctly, that was the first time I didn't give up and use a fork. So, I'm now thinking of other things that I want to do. Weird things, some of them. For instance, it would be fun to be a notary. I would also like to be trilingual, go to Europe, write a book (non-fiction), make awesome jewelry, and numerous other things that I'm still formulating.

Now I just need to get off my butt and start....

LL,
:)Becca

Here We Are

I spent the weekend in Fargo with my family. Today is my brother's 25th Birthday (Hi, Matt!) and the family converged on him and his girlfriend (Hi, Jenny!). Fargo really is an appropriate name. It takes about 5 hours to get there from Duluth, but it was worth it.

Now, I'm home and my house looks ransacked. By me. I guess that will give me something to do tonight along with finishing shoveling. Ha!

I keep having dreams about death. I'm not sure what they all mean, but four nights in the past week, one or more people I know have died. I need to figure out what's causing my nocturnal stress, huh?

Movie of the Day: Swiss Family Robinson. I LOVED this movie growing up. They were creative, smart people.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Food

For some reason, Duluth is lacking in some of the major restaurants that are in the Cities or even Fargo. Some think that's a good thing; Duluth has unique places to eat and is less cookie-cutter-esque. Some think that it might be nice to have a Johnny Carinos, Buca di Beppos, or even a Buffalo Wild Wings or a Chipotle.

Hmmmmm....

Movie of the Day: The Mirror Has Two Faces. Love and Smarts.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Who'd I Miss

If you are single, or you can think back to when you were single, do you ever wonder who you missed? Someone who was interested in you and you either were clueless about it or were not interested back? Do you ever wonder how your life would be different if you'd accepted their love? Do you ever think "Hmmmm.... he (or she) was really nice. Why didn't I like them?"

I was reading Blogagaard this morning and he got me thinking. Who have I been meaning to kiss?

Movie: The Ice Princess. In honor of the Olympics. And physics.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Lazy Shoveler

It snowed yesterday for the first time in weeks. The morning after a snow, I peek out the window and judge whether or not I must shovel before school or if it can wait until I get home tonight. My neighbors seem to have different philosophies: Shovel now, don't shovel at all, get someone to shovel. Then, there's me. It gets done, usually soon enough for city regulations, but not the instant it hits the ground.

Today, it'll wait.

Movie of the Day: Some Kind of Wonderful. Mary Stuart Masterson, Eric Stoltz, and Leah Thompson star in a movie about high school kids, socio-economic levels, and love. See if you can recognize the punk boy.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Just Two Clicks Away

I've added a few links this evening. Each one is to a webpage that allows people to click on a tab and a donation will be made to charity. One click a day per person on each site will give food, free mamograms, books, save rainforest, etc. Pretty cool. I keep forgetting to go to the site, so maybe this will get me to go there and spread the word to each of you too!

Other than that, my comments sections have been pretty lonely (nudge, nudge). Is everyone feeling a second round of the January Blahs too? Maybe we all need to stir things up a bit. Hmmmmm....

:)Becca

Prayer

As I was trying to fall asleep a couple nights ago, I was hit with a prayer. I said it at my Covenant Discipleship group on Tuesday and I'll share it with you here:

May each one of us here be filled with your light- a light that flows to our loved ones and the world beyond. May we realize that the whole world is within our reach. Amen.

I've been thinking about the riots over Muhammad and how sad the whole situation is. People are dying. How can this rift be mended?

Movie of the Day: Life as a House. It's a beautiful movie about a man who is dying and wants to reconnect with his son. He decides to build (remodel?) a house and recruits (forces) his son to help. It's a great movie, but grab some Kleenex.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

A New Challenge

Yesterday was an interesting day in one of my classes. While I was trying to review some of the key concepts of the past week or so, my students started talking off topic (not uncommon).

For the past week, I've been reading a book about the framework of poverty and it's starting to shape how I view this class. There are so many things that I hear them talking about that I don't know how to deal with.

Some examples: Gambling, destroying property, stealing, fighting, doing drugs, breaking curfew (by 4 or so hours) and skipping school. My new challenge is to find the best way to talk to these kids (all boys, actually) about their behaviors and where that leads.

According to the book, my middle class mentality will not work in these talks. So, it's time for some research. Yikes.

Movie of the Day: My Life. Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman star in a movie about a man who is dying and making videos for his unborn child to watch as he/she grows up.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Valentine's Day

I'm guessing that over half the population is dreading next Tuesday. Well, maybe some single men are glad to not have the pressure of buying the right candy/flowers/etc., but otherwise, a lot of people are dreading it.

Why dread such a sweet holiday? I'm sure you know some of the answers:

1) Not everyone has a significant other.
2) Not everyone has a happy relationship.
3) Many people have higher expectations than their sig. other realize.
4) Not everyone can afford $50 for roses, plus candy!
5) Not everyone can serenade well.
6) Not everyone has the same idea of what is the perfect Valentine.

I propose that everyone just make up a Valentine this year. I've tried it before and it works very well. Just decide on a name and how cheesy they're going to be and run with it. Did he serenade you outside your window? Did she buy slinky lingerie? Did you get 9 lbs of chocolate? Whatever you like, imagine it! Just make sure you speak a little tongue-in-cheek so you aren't called a liar and make sure your audience is age-appropriate and you're good to go.

Movie of the Day: Just Like Heaven. SOOOOOOOO good. Perfect for sitting home alone on Valentines with the chocolate you bought yourself (you always know what to get you)!

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Untreated OCD

I was hanging out at my folks' yesterday after church and they were sorting out old cassette tapes. One was a tape that we made to send to my grandma who was wintering in California in the late 70's. The first side has my dad rambling while doing the dishes. The second side (which might have really been the first side) had my dad, my little sister, and me talking. There was singing, a little fighting, and me calling Sara a cutie. There was also me asking my grandma "Sylvia! Sylvia! Sylvia! What are you going to do today? What are you going to do tomorrow? What are you going to do yesterday?" Over and over. I commented that I've always wanted to know what's going on and maybe I had some untreated OCD! Ha ha. I was 4 at the time of the tape. Yep. Wow.

Today's movie: In Her Shoes. I saw this over the weekend and it was sweet, funny, and frustrating to watch. Tomorrow is an excellent DVD release day and tons of cheap movies in the ads this week (for collectors out there).

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Random Thoughts for Sunday

Some random thoughts for today:

I think about the ebb and flow of some of my friendships and wonder why it's just me noticing the ebbing. I have friends who I hardly ever talk to, but who don't seem to notice! They're shocked that I'm doing things with my life. Shocked that I would go to Sundance, which is apparently too interesting for little ol' me to go to. Or what? There are aspects of my life that have been waning in recent years and I am now reclaiming them. I sound obtuse, huh? For example, I love to travel. I love to read. Unlike most of my friends, I don't do much with the outdoors besides observe it and marvel at it's grandness. I don't get jazzed hiking for hours, etc. I can see how people do, though.

So, instead, I'm going to do things that I like: watch movies, read books, write, make jewelry and voluteer for charities. If that means my circles don't bump into circles from my old crew of friends, then oh well. They know where to find me if they miss my company.

I'm now accepting applications.

Movie of the Day: Smoke Signals. Funny. Sad. Deep. A Sundance movie from years ago.

Sleep

Since I have a cold, I've been thinking about sle ep a lot lately. I learned about teenage sleep patterns in a grad school class and have tried to apply them to my life. Teens are supposed to get 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep a night. Adults, less.

People sleep in cycles (different depths of sleep, etc.). If you wake up at the end of one of your sleep cycles, you will be more refreshed and wake up easier than if you interrupt a cycle.

I did a little experimenting with waking up naturally and calculating how many hours I'd slept. Turns out my sleep cycle is an hour and a half long. This means if I sleep 7.5 hours, I'm better off than if I sleep 8. Weird, but true.

Since I get up at 5 (ugh) on weekdays, I have been trying to get to bed by 9:30. It's actually working. This morning, I woke up around 8:15 naturally after getting to bed after midnight.

Movie of the Day: What Dreams May Come. A movie about a man whose wife dies and then he dies and tries to find her in heaven. Amazing colors in this film. Sad, though.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Dating Ideas for the Young

I have a student who comes into my room in the morning to hang out for about 20 minutes. On Wednesday, she told me that she's too scared to ask the boy she likes to prom. I tried to give her a pep talk about guts, but she wasn't ready to listen. She told me later in the day that her friends have decided not to go until next year.

So, yesterday I suggested an Anti-Prom party. Dress down. Watch movies. Eat. Invite a huge group, including "The Boy". This was well-received!

Maybe I should throw an Adult Anti-Prom. Dress down. Watch movies. Eat. Invite a huge group, including..... Hmmmmmm..... I bet I could get a group together.

Today's Movie: Sixteen Candles. When I first saw this, I nearly keeled over when her grandma felt her up. The HORROR!!! I saw an ad in a magazine yesterday for a t-shirt that says "I (heart) Jake Ryan". After you watch this movie, you'll know why.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Math and Religion

I am drawn to people who can have real, deep conversations about "the important stuff." By this, I mean the meaning of life, God, philosophy, psychology, etc. If you want to talk recipes, hiking trails, or sports, I'm not your gal. Sorry.

In college, I would have people ask me how I could be a religious person and a math major. My favorite class in college was Judaism. It was fascinating. Our prof was a rabbi from Wisconsin and I would catch myself saying "My rabbi said...." instead of "My prof..." That seemed to disturb some of my more conservative friends. At one "pod" dinner (10 of us), I announced that I thought that I was Jewish. Multiple people didn't talk to me for a couple days because of it. My reasoning? I don't believe in hell (neither do Jews). I read ahead in that class (not easy at St. Olaf where homework is abundant). When he would tell us about different aspects of Judaism, a small voice in my head would whisper "Yes."

In one of my journal entries for this class, I said that the more I learn about math and science, the more I believe in God. Such intricate details of the world could NOT be random. My rabbi seemed impressed. He also liked the one that I wrote about the number branding of concentration camp prisoners and how horrible it was not only because that's simply horrid, but because Jews do not believe in numbering people. For instance, in order to start a service at a synagogue, you need to have a minion, which means 10 people. Instead of counting off, they use a list that is 10 items long. If they get to the 10th item, they can start.

Movie of the Day: pi (pi symbol really). It's a bit weird. Okay, a lot weird. So, brace yourself. It's interesting, though.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Crash Test Dummies

A little over a year ago, I went to a Crash Test Dummies concert in Duluth. I hadn't heard any of their new stuff, but knew a couple of their old songs. Well, actually just the "UmmmHmmmmHmmmmm Ummmmm" song, really. I was a little blindsided when I got there.

We started by standing in line outside, which wasn't too cold because I think it was October. When we got inside, it turned out that they were taping the concert for a tv special/dvd. Cool! Only, not cool because that meant we had to sit on the floor to allow for the boom to move around.

The concert was at Sacred Heart Music Center, which is a beautiful converted church downtown. It's a great place with really hard floors.

Any way, because it was being recorded, if anyone screwed up, they would start the song over again. Odd for concerts, not odd for recording.

What really drove it home that I should have indeed stayed home was the fact that all the songs were DEPRESSING. They should have handed out Prozac when we bought our tickets. Seriously, it was such a downer.

To top it off, the camera kept panning the audience so I ended up faking that I was a big fan because I didn't want to look like a schmuck on a dvd. I should have just gone home.

I just found out that the dvd is coming out "in the early months of 2006." I might even buy it (huh?) because I want to see if I'm in it! Yep, I'm crazy.

Today's movie: The Suicide Kings. Interesting plot, nice looking gentlemen.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

A Positive Work Environment

Does anyone work with cheerful people? I don't mean "annoyingly cheerful", just people who don't gripe about everything? I know it's a coping mechanism, but it's starting to get on my nerves. I try to stay positive against some pretty tough situations, but when I'm faced with a gaggle of coworkers who are upset, it's tough. I don't know how to guard against it except to put up walls, which of course is not how I want to spend 8 hours of my day. Oy.

Any suggestions?

Today's movie: Working Girl. Melanie Griffith posing as her boss. Harrison Ford being cute.

Bonus movie: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. Christina Applegate forges a resume to get a job in fashion for a summer. Excellent example of pushing yourself to do what others think you can't do.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Books

I've been thinking about my college days today and I've realized that I started multi-tasking books during college. I would read a chapter of psych and then give myself half an hour of a fun book, chapter of psych, half hour... until I finished.

Now, I have books for moods. I have a chick lit book, a Harry Potter-esque book, a funny short story book, a book on teaching students in poverty, and random quote books that I pick up. I like to think of them as sets of parentheses that have book embedded in book (bo (bo (book ) ok ) ok ). Go figure.

How many books do you have going right now?

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Brokeback Mountain

Movie of the Day: Brokeback Mountain. I saw this movie yesterday with my sister and my friend Karen. I know that some are nervous to see two men falling in love. I was a bit nervous too. However, what's cool about this movie is that it isn't out to shock us. It treats their love as something sacred instead of graphic sex (which it doesn't show). It makes you think about the lives of these two men in the 60's and what little difference there is today. By the end, you forget that they are both men and just think of them as two people in love. This is a very important movie.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

I'm Ready

Things are starting to get back to normal and my natural January instinct is kicking in: buy a lot of food so I won't starve in a storm and stock up on books to read. Barnes & Noble had a teacher appreciation day yesterday, so I have about 7 new books to read (in addition to the other books to read) and then I hit Cub (Foods). My mom always makes fun of me when I go to Wal-Mart (about once a year) because I buy the stuff that I can only buy there (certain beads) and then get out as quickly as possible. She says I shop like I've just come in from Alaska and need to stock up! Well, same philosophy at Cub yesterday. Maybe that was spurned on by my four days of "creative" sparse eating. Who knows?

So, I'm ready for snow days, empty evenings or just a really big snack.

Movie: The Saint. Val Kilmer really gets into his roles. I like his change of character and I think Elisabeth Shue's character is interesting too. There's action and a little mush and nothing tooooooo heavy.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Who the Heck?

So, some of you might have read that I was at Sundance. Yep, 'tis true. I also wrote about who I met/saw there. If you are at all like most of my students, you don't know some of them.

For instance, Jeffrey Donovan (above) played Cal in Come Early Morning. The whole movie, I sat there thinking, "he was a creep in another movie". Actually instead of "creep" I thought "rapist" but turns out he was just a creep in Hitch who wanted to use KC and dump her. He was much nicer in CEM and nicer still in person when I asked him to sign my scavanger hunt. He said it was the first time anyone has asked him that.

A few of my students are now in love with him.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Better Be Quick

So, I'm sitting here watching the minutes tick by, deep in thought about what the heck to blog about. How do you top star sightings? Today, I just can't. All I can think about it my runny nose, my lack of groceries, and the fact that my students cannot or will not learn any math without me. Oy. Not an exciting blog topic, huh? Oh well. Maybe something will come to me later in the day. For now, here's a movie:

The Princess Bride. Oldie, but goodie. Hundreds of fun quotes to use in your every day life.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Home

After five days of wandering Park City, I am home. Yesterday was pretty much devoted to travel, but Laura and I did head to town and saw a couple stars in cafes: Sam Shepard & John Malkovich (not together). Oddly, I walked right past both of them, but Laura noticed (thankfully). I don't know why I didn't see them. Hmmmmm... Laura is still there, so maybe she'll see a few more!

Any way, I am back and hope to share pictures soon. I just read a little article on MSN.com about Sundance. It's so weird to think "Oh, I saw that one...."

Today's movie: Annie. My "gang" acted this out when we were growing up. The Sun'll come out.....

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

That's a Wrap!

I'm heading home tonight; there are just a few more hours to catch some star-seeing. The remaining three from our group will head to town for lunch and then to Salt Lake City this afternoon.

This trip has been surreal. Laura's parents are awesome hosts (visit them if you can) and the star sightings were so amazing. It's just plain cool.

Today's movie: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Let's hope I don't need to take a train!

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Wow!

Yesterday was so eventful, I didn't get a chance to blog. Today has been pretty full too! So, I'll try to keep this chronological...

Sunday morning: Woke up at 5:30 to go to 8:00 Mass. I'm not Catholic, so this was an interesting new style of worship. The visiting priest was a filmmaker in town for the festival and kept the homily short (I mean REALLY short). Then, we walked to the shuttle bus and got in line to see Come Early Morning, which was written and directed by Joey Lauren Adams. We were there three hours early and were 21-27th in line.

Eventually, they announced that the first 25 would get in. Yikes. What to do? Turns out, they let us all in. As we were getting our tickets torn, we noticed that Dennis Quaid was right ahead of us!

The theater sat 1270 people and it was packed! Afterwards, Joey, Ashley Judd, Laura Prepon, and Jeffrey Donovan were there to answer questions. As we left, Dennis Quaid walked out and then we saw Jeffrey Donovan. I took his picture and then asked him to sign the scavenger hunt. He was really nice.

Then, we went back to Laura's folks' to have an appetizer dinner party with some of their friends. Overall, an excellent day!

Now on to today (so far)....

Woke up at 5:05 and Laura and I took her stepmom's car into town to see Flannel Pajamas. Well, we sat in line for about 30 minutes and then a man walked in and sold us his tickets. So, we went into the building and sat in another line (that was at least inside and warm). We ended up with great seats.

The movie was odd. Good, but too much nudity for me and I really didn't like the male character. But, the acting was good. I'll blame it on the writer....

After the Q & A, I went up and introduced myself to Julianne Nicholson and Justin Kirk, the stars and got them to sign my scavenger hunt too. Both were really nice.

We ended up lunching at Zoom, Robert Redford's restaurant (amazing ravioli) and wandered the shops. We saw a woman from North Country, Michael Rappaport, and Rosie O'Donnell. Not bad, huh?

Now, we have a little down time before the skiers get back and then who knows what we'll do tonight!

Movie of the day: Spellbound. It's a movie about a spelling bee. Stressful!!!!

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Eventful day-well sorta

Woke up at 5:45 AM to get in line to see Little Miss Sunshine. After an hour and a half of waiting, it was still touch and go as to whether or not we'd get in. Turns out there were only two guys allowed in behind us!!!! We sat in the front row and had an awkward slanty view, but it was awesome!

The movie was hilarious and the entire cast was there afterwards: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Steve Carrell, and Abigail the little girl from Signs. We have some awesome pictures, if only they would upload.

Then, Laura's sister Emily and I wandered town, hitting the shops and wishing we could find a nice quiet place to sit. The town was packed! It was also snowing, the light, fluffy stuff that makes you say "Oh, isn't the snow beautiful" unless you are wandering around in it without proper headwear (Sara, I did put on my hat eventually).

Laura saw D.B. Sweeney or "That guy from The Cutting Edge" as she called him. We also saw the car all the stars are signing. I now kind of have Jennifer Aniston's autograph.

I didn't accomplish any signatures for my scavanger hunt, but oh well. I was really close to Steve Carrell, but he was being mobbed at the time (poor guy).

Any way, all is well in Park City. It's looking like another early morning tomorrow, only this time for mass (Holla to my Cov. Disc. group ladies, aka Prayer Warrior!) Then, it's off to line up for more movies!!!!

Movie of the Day: Signs. See the little girl from Little Miss Sunshine. And some creepy aliens. Ignore Mel. Drool over Joaquin.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Stars and Dorks!

So, we saw stars!!!!! Actually, we started walking around and this guy with cool eyes said that he would give us free tickets to his movie (he was the producer) if we PROMISED to use them. We saw Things To Do. It was SOOOOOO funny! While in line, I met two women who asked if I ever watched "Everwood". I said that my parents did (Hi, Mom and Dad) and they said that their brother was one of the actors on the show. Turns out he was in If You Believe, one of my earlier movie suggestions!!!! AWESOME!!!! They ended up sitting with us at the movie and both signed my scavanger hunt form as well as the two main stars of the movie and the producer. SCORE!

Well, after that, we decided to grab some lunch and there was a crowd hanging around. We asked what was going on and they said that Jennifer Aniston was supposed to be coming out. So, we waited and waited and waited. Finally, we see cameras flashing inside. Well, out comes Joey Lauren Adams! I didn't get a picture of her thought.

Then, we waited some more and Joan Cusack came out!!! I did get pictures of her! We also saw Scott Caan (Ocean 11) and the guy from Ally McBeal and Ned and Stacy.

We kept waiting, but then I had visions of spending the rest of my life with less than 10 toes, so I thought it best to throw in the towel.

A couple hours later, as we headed to the car, I saw a guy who had also been waiting and asked if Jennifer ever came out. He said that she snuck out the back (I don't blame her).

I just tried to upload some photos off Laura's camera, but we are having technical difficulties. I'll see what I can do in the near future.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

The Mountains are Alive!

I am sitting in my friend's dad's office! After 5.5 hours of flying, we arrived in Salt Lake City last night around 8 (our 9). After a good night's rest, the ten of us are lobbying for shower time and then we're heading to Park City to see what there is to see and get a feel for the layout. Tonight: we try to get into our first movie. Tomorrow, 80% of the people want to hit the slopes for half a day and then who knows what!?!

Laura is sitting here reading tips on how to see celebrities. Better go! No celeb sightings yet, but literally hundreds of 20/30-something men at the airport. Not bad.

Movie of the day: When a Man Loves a Woman. Good. Sad.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

It's here!

Today is the big day. The day I've been waiting for for 5 months. Yep. I'm leavin'. On a jet plane. I do know when I'll be back, though. I have half a day of work (where I will be wrapping up the loose ends of this semester) and then I'm off to Sundance. Yes, Sundance Film Festival. Started by Robert Redford, supported by the stars! I have tons of film and a scavenger hunt created by my lovely sister. So, I'm all set. To scope out all the movie potential, click here.

I plan to blog from Utah, so stay tuned!

Movie of the day: A Stranger Among Us. Melanie Griffith is a cop who investigates a crime in a Hassidic Jewish community. There's some love which I'm told is completely unheard of and would never have happened (according to my Judaism prof in college). However, still super good!

Ludicrous Lutefisk!
:)Becca

Hmmm....

I've been sitting at my computer for a good five minutes now trying to think of something to blog. Something that would be interesting to you and fun for me to write about. Nothing is coming. I could tell you that I got 5 hours of sleep last night after getting only 5 hours the night before (I'm best with 7.5). I could tell you that I'm not nearly packed and my dishes aren't done. I could tell you that I'm dreading correcting finals today and wish elves existed (with math degrees, of course). I could tell you that my students and coworkers add up to more people than I can deal with in my current state (energy-wise). I could tell you that when I stop to think about my trip, I get energetic (briefly), which is a good sign. I could tell you the cure for eye strain that I learned last week: focus on something close, then far, then close.... It really works!

The movie of the day: Playing By Heart. Tons of stars with multiple lot lines. It's all about different kinds of love. Stars: Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Gena Rollins, Ryan Phillipe, Gillian Anderson, Jon Stewart, Anthony Edwards, Dennis Quaid, Jay Mohr, and Madeline Stowe.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Cameras and Peace

I am spending 80% of my time on school stuff right now and 20% with normal life stuff and trying to get ready for my trip. One dilemma was my camera situation. I do not own a digital camera. I actually don't want one of the standard ones because I like my pictures to snap quickly. I also want good resolution. However, my camera is too big for wandering around Park City so I ended up heading to Target and getting a normal camera (little) that uses film. I hope it does the trick.

In the last couple months, I've been focused on the word "peace". My sister gave me a mug for Christmas that says:

Peace.

It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. ~ Unknown

Movie: 50 First Dates. Drew Barrymore has a weird memory issue that makes her relive one day of her life over and over. Adam Sandler is the guy who falls for her. I like how this movie advocates thinking outside the box.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Finals-The Ultimate Test (of patience)

Finals begin this week in the high schools and tensions are high. An odd thing happens when you get to the last week of the grading period and it's even worse when that coincides with the end of the semester. Kids start to really care about their grades.

The first four weeks or so of the six-week grading period, most kids coast. They try to turn in late work, when they get around to it. By Weeks 5 & 6, they start to apply pressure to me to let them turn in REALLY old work (sorry, kid).

Then, there's the "What can I do to get my grade up?" epidemic. They want to retake tests (I let them redo one a grading period). They want extra credit. They want me to "give" them a better grade. They try to bribe me. Honest. I keep telling them that it's have to be enough for me to retire on since I'd lose my job. They say no one would have to know. I just laugh.

Of course, the laughing is only when I'm not stressed out myself, which will be rare this week. I try to mentally "step out" of the whole situation and just do the work without absorbing the kids' stress as well as my own. It's tough.

While this is going on, I'm also going to be packing for my trip. I haven't been talking about it much, even to friends. I don't know if I just don't want to jinx it or tell everyone and then have it fall through or what.

Any way, the movie of the day: Tuck Everlasting. It's a Disney movie about a family that finds the fountain of youth and a girl who falls for the son. It's an interesting look about the good and bad of being young forever.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,

:)Becca

Quick quotes

Busy day so I think I'll send you some quotes I like:

Opportunities are seldom labeled. ~ John A. Shedd

Some day there will be a war and no one will come. ~ Carl Sundberg

Today, teach what your conscience says is right, teach what reason says is best, teach with all your mind and might; do your duty and be blessed. ~ Unknown

Never let the odds against you keep you from pursuing what you know in your heart you were meant to do. ~ Unknown

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. ~ Bumper Sticker

Movie of the Day: Music From Another Room. Jude Law, back when I liked him. Gretchen Mol. It's an interesting take on persistence.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Share the Random

I'm random. My "randomness" appears anywhere from when I'm cleaning my house to when I'm having a conversation (or if I'm hyper, a monologue).

At times, I have random ideas that tug at me. I'm also someone who debates things in my head too long. However, when I get a tugging idea, I try to go with it because I think it's a spiritual prompting. It might mean sending a care package, a note, an e-mail, a bouncy ball, or Pop Rocks. Whatever it is, I get really excited about it. It's weird. We'll see what comes next.

The idea that I had last night was to have some granola bars and handwarmers with me on my trip in case I meet someone who is hungry or cold.

Random request: How many of you have decided to watch one of the movies that I have suggested? What did you think?

Today's movie: Kissing Jessica Stein. A woman decides to read the Personals to find a man and ends up interested in another woman. They meet. They court. There is awkwardness. Not for kids or super conservative adults.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Teachers I've Known Before

The weekend of my 10-year high school reunion, a group of us went to breakfast with our newspaper advisor. My friend Nate stays in contact with him and set the whole thing up.

Mr. Braafladt looks like Mark Twain. Honestly. I first met him in 10th grade honors English and I was scared. I learned a lot from him: how to take multiple choice tests efficiently, how to see the poetry of songs, and how to spell his name (no nicknames for Mr. Braafladt!), but was still a bit scared all year.

When I was a senior, I was a member of the newspaper staff: reporter and photographer. That was when I relaxed a bit in that room. I loved being on the newspaper. We also had our own darkroom. There were only two of us taking most of the pictures and he would send us to the lab. As a teacher, I never would have sent a senior girl and a junior boy to a dark closet, but that's just me. In case you were wondering, nothing happened.

Whenever the photo editor (the junior boy) really wanted a picture in the paper that grading period, he would have me ask Nate (Hi Nate!) because he thought I had more pull. Nate was The Editor and is still a subscriber to the paper! It always worked so maybe the guy was right.

Any way, when we went to brunch with Mr. Braafladt, he talked about friendship and said "Take care of your friends." His statement resonated with me and I ended up typing it and framing it for my office. Now I see it and think of Mr. Braafladt, my time on the paper, and my friends.

Today's Movie: Top Secret. Stupid movie, but the first one my little brother ever went to. Luckily, he's developed better taste than when he was 2 years old and we dragged him along. (My mom was out of town and my dad took us to see it. I don't think we "got" much of it.)

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Meth = Death

WARNING: THIS IS GROSS!!!!

We had two assemblies yesterday at school and one of them was "Meth = Death". It was fascinating! And gross. They showed a Power Point of pictures of physical side effects of using meth. I actually got light-headed by just how disgusting it is. Some examples:

Someone's butt that looked like acid had been tossed on it. One whole cheek was chewed away. That happens when the user has all collapsed veins in their arms and starts shooting it into their butt. (Meth is up to 32 different acids and stuff like lighter fluid, Drano, etc.).

Before and After photos. After less than four years, this woman looked like the waking dead. She had lost probably 50 pounds and looked HORRID!!!

They talked about Meth Mites which are imaginary bugs under their skin while they are using. The scratch at them over and over until they bleed. When they're really desperate, they try to get the residual meth out of the wounds. GROSS!

They showed what looked like a glove, but was really a person's skin that had blown off in a meth lab explosion.

I guess it takes a year of treatment to get off meth and you still have paranoid feelings for a years later, but it is treatable. They said that if you know someone on meth (or suspect that they are), you should seek outside help and not just confront them alone because many users carry guns!!!

Yikes! I'm sorry to gross everyone out, but I thought it was interesting and something everyone should hear.

On a lighter note, Saturday is a full moon. Maybe I should buy some organic apples. Anyone care to join me for some freaky love spells?

Today's movie: Pay It Forward. It's really about math. MATH. Not Meth. A boy decided that if he helps three people and then they help three people and so on, paying it forward, the world will be a better place. Great good. Good movie.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Bubbles

I have personal space issues. I like to know who is getting near me, etc. I have students who have different personal space needs than I do and sometimes they push it.

Yesterday, I had a student leaning on my desk. A lot. In my "personal space". He's done this for months now and every time I tell him to stop. Finally, I think it worked. He asked if he could "hug my bubble" (meaning my personal space bubble). Picture this, a 16-year-old boy with his arms stretched out wide, slightly curved, hugging my "bubble." I just laughed and laughed. So, now he's allowed to hug my bubble and I hope that keeps him off my desk!

Also, I had a friend give me a "love spell" recipe yesterday. Do any of you believe in love spells? It calls for taking an organic red apple, holding it up to a full moon, carving two connected heart shapes out of it, wrapping it with a "love request" type thing written on pink paper with a red pen, tying it with a red bow and then placing it in a natural place like a park. Then, I'm to bow to the moon three times as I walk away.

Another spell ends telling me to wait a while. It says to "keep healthy, stay happy, and be patient." Well, couldn't I just do that any way? Hmmmm...

What do you think? Bunk? Worth a try? Will I get kicked out of all of my Math societies and run out of Dodge?

Movie of the day: Parent Trap (recent version). My dad took my cousin to this movie when she was about 8. Precious. I think it's funny and a time when Lindsay Lohan was sweet and innocent!

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

It's Time.

For the past 5 months, I've been planning my trip to Utah next week. The whole time, I kept saying "I'll make it work." See, it's finals time and semester's end and things are tricky as it is without me jetting off to be with the rich and famous for 5 days (only missing two days of class). So, I'm in the thick of getting myself organized and if I put it off, I have nightmares.

Last night, I REALLY wanted to just chill and try to get rid of a headache, but my friend said to just do the stuff. It was so matter-of-fact that I plunked in I'm With Lucy to speed watch (you know, skipping scenes that aren't as funny) and did homework. No nightmares!

Well, actually, my dream had me getting held up at a store. I guess that counts as a nightmare, huh? The weird thing was, as I was digging in my purse to get some cash, I asked the woman if she was all right. Was she sick? Was this for something important? Then, she started crying. She was being abused. I gave her "hidden money" that she didn't see originally. (She was wearing a garbage bag and the only one of four to come in while the rest stood guard). Yep, weird.

Any way, I better get on to the movie of the day: The Prince and Me. Julia Stiles has great hair in this movie and she's smart, which I always like. The prince is interesting too. He actually believes Wisconsin is the best place to see Girls Gone Wild.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Curing Afluenza

Next Friday, Tony Campolo will be in Duluth and speaking at the DECC. He is a religious speaker to talks about how our society is so focused on stuff, money, working too much, etc. in order to get the "correct" lifestyle that we ignore basic values and the poor.

Tony is a Christian, but I think people of many faiths would find kernels of truth in what he says.

The event starts at 7:00 at the DECC and it's free! They will be taking a free will offering to help defer costs.

Here's to nice traveling weather!

Movie of the Day: Red Eye. It comes out tomorrow, so get jazzed about it today! It stars Rachel McAdams (who is everywhere lately) and Cillian Murphy. I thought I would be SUPER scared, but it wasn't that bad! If you like gross, scary movies, this probably won't do it for ya.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Things I Love

Here is a random list of some things (or stars) I "love". I don't get into family, friends, religion, peace, justice, etc. Just some fluffy stuff for this gray Sunday (Week 3: Still no sun. Help!!!)

Calvin and Hobbes
Almond M & M's
Michael Vartan
Mrs. Baker's Spiced Plum candles
blue twinkle lights
My purple glasses
The Time traveler's Wife
The Quadratic Formula
The Spanish word "temperatura" (temperature)
wearing bright colors with black t-shirts
jewelry, but not bracelets or toe rings (too annoying)
Born shoes
bizarre snowmen (or snowwomen or snowpets)
witty play on words
Zach Braff's humor
veggie pizza
penguins
popping bubble wrap
peeling foil off pill packets
long phone conversations

Movie: Runaway Jury. John Cusack is great and this is an intriguing movie. I don't want to give anything away, so just trust me. ( ha ha).

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Photo Album

A couple years ago, I asked everyone on my Christmas card list to send me a picture of themselves that they like and then I would make a photo album of friends. Since then, I have created an album of Christmas photos. Each year, I add to the album my making collages of the photos I get in Christmas cards. This year, I had 5 pages! I love just looking at it throughout the year and watching everyone's kids grow up. I even add pet pictures! So, if you haven't sent pictures at Christmas, but would like to be in the photo album, let me know!

Movie of the Day: Mission Impossible I. It was back before we knew Tom was a loon and when Katie as still about 12. I like the gum.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Quotes

Happy Friday! I collect quotes so I thought I would add a couple here for your Friday enjoyment:

My best friends bring out the best in me. ~ Henry Ford

Speak little, do much. ~ Ben Franklin

Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful. ~ Annette Funicello

Movie of the day: Dead Poets' Society. This movie was so important to me in high school. I think it really shaped a lot of my thinking. Carpe Diem. Poetry. Theater. Flying desk sets.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Seeking Adventure

I've decided that I need more adventure in my life. Nothing too psycho or wildly dangerous, but something intriguing and still legal. A lot of my friends have families now and aren't able to jet off to lands unknown at the drop of a hat (hey, I could do it in the summer). Any way, so as long as I don't have little ones, I should be exploring the world, right?

There is also the question of when the heck Becca is going to get a boyfriend. It's not that easy. Honest. I'm kind of picky and I would like to find someone who can carry on a conversation about intelligent things as well as be silly enough to indulge my whims. Where to find this guy?

One friend (hi, T) suggested that I announce to anyone and every one that I'm looking for a boyfriend and see where that leads. My gut said no. I think that the guy (or one of the guys) that I'm meant to spend time with will appear while I'm on my adventure.

The key is to find something to do that would be fun, amazing, and fulfilling. That way, I can be myself, doing something I love, and if I meet someone, cool. If not, oh well.

So, dear reader, I ask you for suggestions about an adventure. Think classes, tours, volunteering, etc. Forgo ideas of camping in Alaska, anything that involves a whitewater raft, or major heights. (I'm so difficult, I know. No wonder I don't have a boyfriend).

Any way, feel free to ask your friends for suggestions too.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Books

Do you ever pre-plan which book you will be reading in public? Leave the self-help or chic lit at home when you're going to the dentist and take along something more "respectable"?

I try to have a book with me if I know I'm going to be waiting somewhere- especially the doctor's office. Germs!

Any way, I have decided which book I'm going to take to Utah in two weeks. I would rather be seen reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke than Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. Maybe I don't want people to think I'm an angry housewife. Or maybe Inkheart sounds cooler, I don't know.

Is that weird?

Movie of the day: Grease 2. I know what you're thinking "Huh?" It's a funny, funny movie and has goofy songs. Don't watch it expecting great filmmaking. Just watch to be lighthearted.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

What the Heck!?!

When I was a kid, I pretty much had to be coughing up lung chunks (sorry for the visual) or bleeding with a 102 temp to stay home. By the time I was in high school, I felt guilty for staying home sick to the point that one day I went to school later in the morning when I felt better.

Now, it isn't any easier! Not only do I have to decide at 5 AM (as I did today) that I was too sick to survive school, but I then have to call in or log on to get a sub, create lesson plans, and then creep back to bed. It's harder to be gone than it is to go in sick.

Then, of all things, I woke up feeling better. Not perfect, but not like my stomach was practicing new torture methods on me. What can I do? I can't show up and boot the sub out, so I decided it was time to lay low and not push myself (and do what I didn't do (homework-wise) yesterday. I also watched TV (rare).

Movie of the day: Never Been Kissed. Drew Barrymore goes undercover in a high school. Michael Vartan is the hottie teacher. Watch it just for him. Or, the goofy high school antics and cringe-worthy moments that we all remember.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Catch up or give up

Today is the last day of "Winter Recess" in Duluth. One might think that everyone would be at their most relaxed today, but it's the symbolic "Sunday evening" of the break. Time to dig out the homework we were supposed to do, get to bed on time, cut down on caffeine, etc.

I have a tendency of re-evaluating what I took home to do over break and deciding that it didn't really need to get done by tomorrow morning. "Oh, that can wait." It's lazy, but then I rationalize that "I'm on vacation and I only have one more day to live it up."

Today, if you see anyone who has to be back to school tomorrow, please either 1) don't mention it or 2) say "How's your break going so far?" Most of us are in denial.


Today's movie: Cinema Paradiso. It's in Italian, so be ready to read. It's about a little boy and a movie theater. I haven't seen it in a couple years, but it's a good one.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca

Rocky Start

I've spent the first 30 hours of 2006 sick in bed. It wasn't alcohol-related (since I don't drink), but I was woosie, queasy, and just plain exhausted. I tried to sit up for a couple hours last evening and ended up back in bed after 10 minutes.

Let's hope today is better....

Movie of the day: Lucky Seven. A woman thinks that she has to marry her 7th boyfriend. This speaks to the whole "making plans" idea.

Ludicrous Lutefisk,
:)Becca