Improving

Things have been kind of stressful in the Life of Becca as of late and I'm finally seeing a little "break" in the action this weekend. Thank goodness!!! I can't explain just how psyched I am to sleep in tomorrow morning. It should be glorious.

Anyone have exciting weekend plans?

Movie of the Day: Shag. The dance, not the Austin Powers action. Great chick flick.

Corey Haim

I have a confession: I was madly in love with Corey Haim in junior high. Madly. I had 80 posters of him on my wall. I bought every magazine that had him in it. I saw all of his movies except Lost Boys because my folks wouldn't let me. (A couple years later, they said I could, but I decided not to). Any way, wow. It was pretty serious between us.

Eventually reports of drug use, etc. started the downward spiral of our "relationship." The posters started coming down and he was replaced. I still have the posters, though. You have to cherish your first crush. (Well, movie star crush any way....)

Movie of the Day: License to Drive. Saw this one quite a few times. Stars The Coreys (Haim and Feldman) and Heather Graham.

Time

Welcome to the Time Store, where you can find more time!

Need an extra day to finish a project? No problem. Need more hours in the day to accomplish everything? We've got your answer. Need someone to "hold on a sec"? Piece of cake.

Our prices are right, too! An extra day is only $50! One hour is $10 while minutes are only a buck. Just need a second? Three for a quarter!

It's a great way to get through your day without being rushed. Just stop in or save time and order online.

Coming soon: Time Bank. Need to live on borrowed time? Want to save time at a high interest rate? Visit us!

Movie of the Day: Space Camp. My favorite movie of 1986. Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Tate Donovan, Joaquin Phoenix (when he was called Leaf), Kate Capshaw, and Tom Skerritt. LOVED this movie!!!

Grandma Sylvia

Yesterday would have been my grandma's 92nd birthday. She was such a cool lady and I miss her a lot. A few funny facts:

• When she taught us how to blow bubbles with our gum, her bubble exploded on her glasses and she had to go in to get them fixed. Imagine explaining that!
• We used to watch Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters together.
• She LOVED ice cream.
• She used to whistle without whistling- a sort of breathy half-whistle.
• She liked to square dance.
• She didn't sleep with a pillow.
• She helped me with my frog biology project.

Movie of the Day: Wings of the Dove. My sister Sara and I were watching this and JUST when it got to the love scene, my grandma walked in and was appalled! From then on out, it was Parent Trap and Shirley Temple when Grandma was in town!

Nerd Summer School

I've gone to nerd summer school twice in my life, ...which might relate to why I'm not more outdoorsy.

The first time was the summer after 5th grade. It was a Gifted and Talented program and we took a bus down to Washington Jr. We had classes like computer science, physical science, creative writing, dissection (ugh), acting, art, and movement (dance, not gym). The cool thing was getting to meet other 5th graders from around town who later became friends in junior or senior high.

The second time I went to nerd summer school, I went away to U of M Morris the summer after my junior year. It was a program for minorities in science and math (females count). I was there for 7 weeks and studied astro-physics, psychology, and scientific ethics. I met a ton of different people, but haven't kept in touch with many. It was cool in a nerdy sort of way. Plus, they gave us $100 for food each week and then my folks bought me food instead of having me spend it!

Movie of the Day: Something New. Great movie that I saw yesterday.

Parallel Lives

Have you ever thought about how many parallel lives a person could have? Now, technically speaking, they couldn't be parallel because each of them would have started at your birth or whichever decision made your "lives" branch off, but you get the idea.

What if you had asked out that "crush"? What if you studied harder, went to a different college, studied something else? What if you moved somewhere exotic or less exotic or became an astronaut? What if you slacked off more, or lost your job, or ate 24-7? What if you married the weirdo who kept asking you out or didn't marry them?

Oh, the possibilities!

Movie of the Day: Bubba Ho-Tep. Michelle recommended this for movie night. She thinks we hated it, which isn't true. I thought it was weird and I probably won't be buying it, but it was entertaining. They're making a pre-quel. Beware.

Under Pressure

I don't do well under pressure. I panic. I hold my breath. I think too quickly and talk even more quickly. This happens when I think I've lost my credit card somewhere or there is an emergency.

When I have smaller issues, I sometimes get stopped in my tracks. Lately, I've had decisions to make and I'm stymied. I can't make up my mind this week. I heard somewhere that teachers make 1,000 decisions a day, so having my skills on the fritz is a huge problem.

Yesterday's turmoil was about my former student's funeral. To go or not to go? I know I sound callous in even wondering about going, but I also think I might feel like a hypocrite if I do go. I didn't know him well at all and I think I would be going out of guilt and obligation instead of to honor who he was.

As I walked into school yesterday, I saw some graffiti on a table that said "Rest in Peace, _____". May he rest in peace.

Movie of the Day: Boyz in the Hood. Sad. Compelling.

Surreal

Do you ever have a sudden surreal glimpse of your city or town?

I was driving along, minding my own business last night when I had this sudden feeling of "If I were visiting a different town and drove down this street, what would I think of it?" Would I think, Hmmmm.... they live near a lake (a huge one)? Would I pay attention to how wide the road is or how it's lined with trees?

It's weird. I get surreal feelings every so often. When I was younger, it used to creep me out. It's like looking at yourself in a movie only you can't get any clues from the soundtrack.

Movie of the Day: Friends with Money. Saw this last night with my friend Laura. We didn't get to see it at Sundance, so wanted to make sure we saw it now. I really liked it.

Roller Coasters

I had a "Roller coaster" kinda day yesterday. I got to work and found out one of my students from first semester had taken his life. That sent the day and most everyone in it into a tailspin of questions and tears. Teachers were asked to try to carry on, which worked to some degree. After work, I had some good things happen (watched Alias, received some fun email, etc.). Rollercoasters.

My random brain takes roller coasters and jumps to Valley Fair (Minnesota's main stationary amusement park). I haven't been there in years, but I love three specific rides:

1) The Flume aka log ride. Fake log boats. Water. FUN!
2) The Corkscrew. About an hour's wait for 45 seconds of fun. You get to be upside down.
3) The Looping Starship. Looks like a Viking ship. Swoops like a pendulum until you are upside down. (Theme?) Very good for losing change, glasses, your lunch.

Movie of the Day: A Time to Kill. Amazing movie. Very emotional, so brace yourself.

Alias

"Alias" is about to wrap up its 5-year run and I'm sad since I only started watching it a year ago! Thanks to DVDs, I've watched them in order and have only missed two episodes (they're somewhere on my tapes and I'm too lazy to go through all of them again to find them).

Thankfully, Michael Vartan is back for the last few episodes and I can drool once more. I've liked him since Never Been Kissed came out.

Now, they just have to get through the last two episodes without everyone dying and we'll be good.

Movie of the Day: The Myth of Fingerprints. Good family angst movie. With Michael Vartan...

Veggies

Argh!!!! I have reached the critical stage in every teacher's year where I just can't deal with students any more! I feel like drawing a picture of a HUGE vat labeled "Patience for Teenagers" and show it tipped upside down with one last drop coming out. Oy. There are 17 more school days and I might need a transfusion of hope. Hmmmmm...

Other things in my life are weird. This morning, after my commune with the treadmill in my basement (weird in and of itself), I actually ate a cucumber. Before 5:30 AM. Now, it's not the actual vegetable that causes me concern, but the timing of the whole thing? Who eats that before their Wheaties? I must be losing it.

Chocolate before breakfast is another story....

Movie of the Day: Fried Green Tomatoes. Grab the Kleenex.

Fiction

Have you ever thought about your favorite fictional characters? Are there any that would make you drop everything and run away with them? Come on.... think about it a minute. I have one friend who likes the girl in The Fountainhead. He's into pain, I guess.

I prefer James Fraser from the Outlander series, myself. Sigh. More on that later....

Movie of the Day: The Butcher's Wife. Demi Moore marries a butcher thinking he's her soulmate. Odd things happen from there. Cute. Funny.

Get a Life

I'm having one of those evenings that end up with me telling myself to "get a life." I need to figure out something exciting to plan, look forward to, etc. Something unique, fun, and "cool." Well, "cool" in a "I'm a cautious, nerdy, teacher type" kinda way. Ya know?

I'll be on the alert for major spiritual promptings for a bit while simultaneously trying to cultivate patience (not my forte).

My Yard

It's that time of year, when greenhouses are sharing their wealth (while we spend ours). Heaps of plants crop up everywhere and I have the urge to spend hundreds of dollars on flowers. Flowers for the back yard, front yard, shepard hooks, along the driveway, hooked to my garage, or pretty much anywhere I can think of! I'm psyched!

Movie of the Day: Daddy Daycare. Saw it last night because my students think I look like the little girl with glasses who is ironically named Becca. Hmmmmmm.... Maybe I can see it.

I used to have a student who looked so much like Vincent on Judging Amy, that it was uncanny. I also had a student who looked like a girl in Camp. Funny.

Rainy Days

Today is one of those days best spent reading, napping, or watching dvds. I, however, am going to correct tests and run errands. So far, I've slept in, used my treadmill, and ate some cereal at noon. Thrilling, huh? Luckily, I like slow days, sometimes.

Anyone have a fun ritual for a rainy day?

Movie of the Day: Elektra. Cheesy. Odd "plot." Jennifer Garner kicking butt.

Life Coachin'

While my class was having a work day, I helped one of my students get her act together. She looked like she might have a panic attack at any given moment. I had her make a list of everything she needed to get done. Then, we prioritized it by how much time each thing would take, what was realistic to get done, and how many tests/quizzes she could make up in the morning. I then came up with a painting idea (she was having painter's block) and gave her advice on how to break some news to her parents.

It was awesome!!!

Movie of the Day: Last Holiday. Excellent message. Positive. Queen Latifah is very cool! LL Cool J has "cool" written all over him!

Late Night

My friend Rick played a show at Amazing Grace last night, so I didn't get home until about 10:20. I would have been fine if I didn't need to write a test for today. Ack. Poor planning on my part. Well, by the time I finished the test, it was 11:00. I was a bit loopy from the day and decided to number the questions with perfect squares. Yes, that means, 1, 4, 9, 16, etc. I got up to 1024! That's a normal number of questions, but I'm going to tell people that the last question is # 1024 and see if they panic. Should be funny. At least for me.

Movie of the Day: Picture Perfect. I know it's a cheesy Jennifer Aniston movie, but I really liked it. Give it a try.

Cop Out

An example of just how much I over-think things:

I have an opportunity to volunteer for a good organization Saturday morning.
I'm dragging my feet about signing up.
It's not a hard task, but it's early.
I tell myself that my partner from last year can't go, so I'd be alone or go with my folks.
Would I be that much extra help?
Could I use the sleep?
Am I just rationalizing laziness?

I know I SHOULD go, but I SHOULDN'T do it grudgingly. Is there another way to help? Argh. What is my problem?

I have to decide today.

Movie of the Day: Matilda. Strong, smart girl. Interesting school. Crazy parents. Plus, Pee-Wee Herman!

Kohl's

My family's Sunday routine is to go to lunch after church. Sometimes people go with us, and other times not. This past Sunday we went to Olive Garden and then to Kohl's. Somehow we ended up sitting in the "deck furniture" area in the back, under a canopy, and chatting. The chairs were comfy and that part of the store was relatively empty. I could have sat there a lot longer than the 10 minutes we were there, but it felt a little weird. Comfy, but weird.

About three minutes before we left, a couple sat down in some other chairs to rest. We tipped them off to the comfy ones.

Oh, and I dressed a mannequin who seemed to think it was Mardi Gras.

Movie of the Day: Nell. Jodie Foster is awesome, especially in this movie.

A Fresh Start

Dear Monday,
I'm writing to let you know that I'm a bit tired this morning, but don't worry I'll perk up when the caffeine hits. I know you have a lot of pressure, being the first day of the work/school week and all, but if you could somehow find a little time for goofing off, that would be cool. You have a lot of responsibility having to start the week. Every week. Forever. I know it must wear you down, just like it wears down some people. I hope you have a chance to rest the "rest" of the week.

Take care,
Becca


Movie of the Day: United 93. I saw this last Monday and it was awesome. I was scared to see it, actually, but it was very well done. Even though you know how it ends, you hope and hope that something will change. The hardest scene to watch was when the passengers are calling their loved ones to say good-bye. See it if you think you're in the right state of mind. Oh, and I liked that it didn't paint the hijackers as horrid people.

I Might Stink

My shower is broken. It won't drain. Even after my dad worked on it with a snake and Drano. This morning, when I put water down it (to test my luck), the water drained into my basement. Literally into a bucket in my basement. Swell.

So, I shall improvise this morning and come up with a plan later. Maybe it's time to set up a sprinkler and grab my swimsuit....

Movie of the Day: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Great movie!!! My church movie group is watching it tonight! Yea!

Hyper

I'm having one of those mornings that start out good and just get better. Now, I'm franticly trying to find someone at home to babble to over the phone and everyone is out having a life! I wanna talk. Speed talk. Get hyper and silly and tell stories. Is everyone mowing their lawns or what? Yikes.

I've also noticed that I am a slob in the evening and then run around all morning putting things back where they belong. I'm like "Why the heck is this sitting here?" I know why, but why didn't I put it back?

Oh well. I've now typed this in about two minutes and my fingers can't go fast enough for my brain (not even half a can of pop in me yet today, so don't try to blame that). hmmm... who else could I call?

Movie of the Day: Lilo & Stitch. Watched this last night with my buddy Zane, who is 6. We had a lovely evening.

Interesting Week

As this week comes to a close, I'd like to take a moment to ponder why I'm in a decent mood. Could it be that my classes were smaller? Could it be that I watched a movie every day this week after school? Could it be that things are calming down? Or, could it be that I'm using my treadmill?

What movies did I watch, you ask? M: United 93. T: Fun with Dick and Jane. W: Proof. Th: Pieces of April. Tonight? Who knows?

Movie of the Day: Pieces of April. Blogagaard recommended this movie and I really liked it. Katie Holmes is great and in a role with more than one dimension (nice change). The movie is about a family about to lose the mother to cancer. It's funny, sweet, heart-breaking and according to B. an accurate representation of what families go through.

To Soul-Laugh

Digging through some papers just now, I stumbled across my "list". You know, "what do you want in a guy?" Blah. Blah. Blah. One thing on my list is to find someone who makes me soul-laugh.

Soul-laughing is that uncontrollable, stop what you're doing, try to quit crying, and if you're lucky, keep breathing kind of laugh. Mine end up silent somehow. It's like I can't get enough air in to create a sound.

I came close to having a soul-laugh yesterday. I was at choir practice and my voice kept cracking in this one spot and I felt like a junior high kid. The third time I just started laughing, which got Nancy started and she didn't even know what she was laughing about. That's the beauty of soul-laughing.

Grandma's Marathon

For the last five years, I've volunteered for Grandma's Marathon in one capacity or another. It started with me gathering about 15 people to help hand out water along the route. Then, I was recruited to be in charge of the entire waterstation. I did that for three years while also helping with the hospitality committee. My job was (and still is) to create gift baskets for the elite runners and then deliver them to hotels. Usually it's around 100 baskets and takes about three days to do the job.

Last year, I decided that I couldn't do both the baskets and captaining the waterstation. The baskets are done by Friday noon, and then I would get up at 3 AM to set up the station. I just couldn't handle the pressure, I guess.

This year, on June 17th, I'll be back to handing out water along the route (and doing the baskets). If you have any interest in tagging along, let me know. Everyone is welcome (well, you should be at least 4 year-old)! Everyone gets a free shirt.

Movie of the Day: Proof. Jake Gyllenhaal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, & Hope Davis. AND math!!!! Gotta love it. Actually, it was an excellent movie. Very emotional.

New Vocab Needed

I was talking to a friend yesterday about the Land O' Blogging and how strange it is to read someone's blog, make comments, have them make comments on your blog, and realize that you haven't actually met the person. How do you address or refer to such a person? "Friend" seems too strong. "This guy/girl whose blog I read" is a bit cumbersome and too impersonal. "Using actual names is confusing for non-readers. My friend suggested "Blog Acquaintance". BA? Hmmmm.... might work. Might make me sound like a sheep. Here's to ewe, BAs!

Movie of the Day: Fun with Dick and Jane. Funny, after it's done being depressing. Jim Carrey cracks me up. And, what's with Alec Baldwin in all of these "nasty boss" roles?

Baby Steps

I'm in a group that meets each Tuesday to talk about how our faith/life is going. At the end, we each ask for a prayer. Then, we pray for each other every day. My prayer for last week was for "playfulness" which I desperately want right now.

My prayer this week was too complicated to verbalize in the time we had, so I said "help and understanding for people who cause pain."

I don't know what the other ladies thought of when I said this, but here's the long story...

I was thinking of some of the difficult prayer requests that we've had so far and what would be the toughest one I could think of. I finally decided to have them pray for the President. Now, I'm a Democrat. Forever. End of story. So, this was a big step.

Then, it morphed into praying for all of the people who have seen so much hurt in their lives that they see no alternatives to violence, fear, and oppression. People who grew up in poverty of spirit or finances. People who didn't have time to be kids.

In Becca's Ideal World (I'm sure there would be kinks to work out), everyone would receive enough food every day (and not too much), everyone would have a noble task or job to perform, and everyone would have someone to talk to (parent/counselor/teacher/religious leader) who was wise and kind. Everyone would have medical care, a roof over their heads, and enough clothing for their climates. Everyone would have time to think/relax/dream. Everyone would have access to an unbiased education. Everyone.

Kind of a long prayer request, huh?

Beads

I had a couple minutes to spare yesterday, so I ended up in a bead store, just looking around. I heard the clerk say that she marks the beads up 300% because of theft. This pisses me off. I spend too much money on beads and hearing that it's because of bead thieves is annoying. I should get my act together and make some bead myself. The chance of theft is much smaller.

Movie of the Day: Harold and Maude. I remember sitting in my backyard as a kid and having my mom yell out of the kitchen window that a cool movie was on tv. I was at the impressionable age of an early teenager. The last thing I wanted to see was a teenager and an octogenarian falling in love. EW!!!! I should try it again. Maybe. Someday.

Plans

I think I have a new project for this week. One that will get me through. It's gonna sound nerdy, I'm sure. While walking on my treadmill this morning, my thoughts wandered to what I'm going to do with my Algebra 2 class on Wed/Thurs/Fri. this week. Eleven kids are going on a chemistry fieldtrip to Chicago, leaving the rest of us to go on about our business. In most classes, this would be half of the kids and I would fluff my way through the time. My class has 30 kids, though, thus taking the class down to about all the other teachers' class-sizes. hmmmm...

So, I've decided to make the three days awesome (and educational). Just how, I'm not sure yet. It must involve food, math, and (I hope) laughing. I'll keep you posted on what I come up with.

Movie of the Day: The English Patient. Oh, how I loved this movie. The torment. The secret love. Ralph Fiennes. Sigh.

Getting a Grip

No, not "a lot" of something, but a handle on things. I feel like I've been in survival mode this week and maybe even for weeks or months. It's a sort of disconnected, wandering type of feeling that isn't as fun as it could be.

I'm trying to do the things that I "should" do. Here's a list:

floss (yep, I was busted)
exercise
do my correcting
pay bills & write letters/e-mails
general tidying up of piles of papers around the ol' house

It's not astro-physics, but I have to make myself do the list. (I wonder if I'd have more fun with astro-physics?).

Any way, I'm off to bed so I can get up at 4:30 to walk/run. Some of you don't even go to bed by 4. Oy.

Until tomorrow...

Hi

I think it's funny how people talk to each other depending on how long it's been between visits and how close they are as friends, etc. I went to a birthday party yesterday and I hadn't seen some of my friends for a while. When they asked if anything was new, I said no. So did a couple other friends.

I know for a fact that there are new things going on in their lives and in mine. Somehow, these are too personal to share in an initial "how are ya?" conversation.

How are you?
Good. I'm moving. (A friend)

How are you?
Rotten. My students are shoving me off the deep end.

How are you?
Well, my toe hurts and I can't feel anything in my left arm.

When these types of answers do happen, we all think it's weird. We're trained to be "good" and then eventually own up to things. Hmmmmm....

Movie of the Day: Tristan + Isolde. A star-crossed love story. I felt bad for Mark (whose name, you notice, is not in the title).

Soon

It's about the time when I start fantasizing about Summer. The lure of sleeping in. The thrill of having "nothing but time" on my hands. The freedom from pesky teenagers and demands. Ah, it's sweet.

My last day of work for the year is June 9th. Teachers have one day to wrap up grades, finals, clean their rooms, and check out. Yes, we have check out sheets. As soon as you're done, you go home.

One year, I was done so early, I felt guilty leaving. So, I helped other friends clean and organize their rooms. I had "nothing but time." Such an amazing feeling.

Now, I've started looking at projects for my free time: an awesome Sundance scrapbook (It won't be cheesy. I'm not into all of those themes stickers and stuff), planting trees in my yard, reading the piles and piles of books in my office and maybe an Oppegaard original if he's willing, and just chillin' on my hammock. I CANNOT wait.

Movie of the Day: About a Boy. Hugh Grant plays a man living off of his inheritance. He meets a boy who changes his life forever. Quirky and fun.

Cute Waiter

Four women from church, sitting around a table discussing "A Girl Named Zippy" by Haven Kimmel, and I have my eyes peeled for the cute waiter. Yep. Typical Becca, I guess. He's in his late-twenties, I think. When he brought us water, he asked how we were and when I returned the courtesy, he said he was "fantastic." Yikes. Okay. Cool. Wonder why he's fantastic. I wish I'd asked.

This was the second time our group met there and he was our waiter then, too. Well, actually, I think he wasn't. He just kept our waters full because he's OCD about water. He also said he was an avid reader (sucking up to a book club? Wanting more tips? Who knows?).

Any way, he seems interesting. The trouble is that at some of the local establishments, it's tough to tell the orientation of the wait staff, especially it they aren't overtly gay. My sister has the perfect question: "What does your ex-girlfriend think of you?"

If he answers: He hates me, She really hates me, What ex-girlfriend?, or We're best friends, then you have some answers without being quite so rude.

I'm not sure I could even pull off asking that question. I'd like to learn more, though.

Maybe next month.

Movie of the Week: 20 Dates. A man makes a documentary about asking out 20 women. Very interesting.

Catch Phrases

My phrase for today will be "Step away from the teacher." I need space or I might end up in a padded room. (End of the grading period).

Other interesting catch phrases from pop culture:

Arnold: What you talkin' `bout Willis?
Mr. T: I pity the fool!
Cookie Monster: Me want cookie.
Fozzy Bear: Wacka wacka
Bart Simpson: Don't have a cow, man!

I especially like Fozzy's.

I better go make my "Step..." sign.

Movie of the Day: Three Men and a Little Lady. If you haven't seen Three Men and a Baby, watch that first, then see the above. Super cute. A little 80's, but still relevant.

Slang

My days have been filled with teenagers lately. They have their own language, as I'm sure you know. Since I'm around it so much, I know what most of it means. Here are some translations for you. Use them at your own risk (of being laughed at).

grip: a lot usage: I got a grip of money or a grip of homework tonight
crib: my house/apartment/cardboard box/home
Oh, snap: Oh no/Oh crap.
shart: to fart and a little poo comes out (gross, I know)
lurk: someone who wanders quietly or lurks around

Movie quotes are big. I try to see teen movies, but avoid anything in the horror genre. No need to lose sleep over slang.

Movie of the day: Michael. John Travolta plays Archangel Michael. An all-star cast travels cross-country with him, learning about life.

Substitute Teachers

I started my teaching career as a sub. For three months, I hopped from school to school, never knowing what I was getting into. By November, I had a semi-permanent job for a teacher out after surgery. Then, I switched at semester time and took over for a teacher who retired. From there, I had my own job.

Last Friday, I had a sub while I was at the Math Conference. The day after a sub can go a lot of different ways. If you have a good sub, everyone did what they were supposed to do without getting sent out of the room. If your sub didn't have a good day or didn't do what you expected, the day after is annoying. Yesterday was really annoying.

The kids all wanted to complain that the sub talked the whole hour while they wanted to work (Imagine this. They wanted to work.). He read poems and stuff, which would be fine if it weren't the end of the grading period and the kids were done with everything.

I had one class that spoke up and said they had to work. I'm guessing they were less than tactful about it, based on their personalities. He did, however, sit and let them work. I guess he was sad and crabby after that.

Yikes.

Oh well.

We try to move on....

Movie of the Day: Possession. A movie about two researchers (Gwyn. Paltrow & Aaron Eckhart) who make a discovery about two poets never thought to know each other.

Flossing

I have a love/hate relationship with flossing. I love when I do it, but hate the actual process. It's one of those things that I know I SHOULD do every single day. If I skip ONE time, I'm doomed to not floss for months. (I brush three times a day, though.)

Today, I see the dentist. The hygenist is probably going to comment, but there has been the rare occasion when she didn't. Yep, that's right folks, I got way with cram-flossing before the appointment (a couple days).

This time, I started last night, which probably won't cut it. Well, it cut my gums, but ... Any way, we'll see. If she mentions it, I'll own up to my laziness and try to do better. What else can she do, right? Slap me with a No Flossing Ticket?

My favorite line from Prelude to a Kiss is when the old guy tells Meg Ryan to floss. I think of that in my times of flossing shame.

Confession

My confession: I've never been fishing. Yep, you read it here first. Becca has never been fishing. And I live in Duluth.

Growing up, no one in my family fished. My dad is a do-er not a sit-er. He's also a talker which I guess is not a good thing while fishing. I, too, am a talker (more on that later).

Today, our church service will have a fishing theme and I feel like a poser. So, I'm going to tweak my themed outfit to match my allegiance to the fish. (I won't eat them, so why kill them, right?).

Back to the talking thing. My sister Sara says I talk more on days that I'm not teaching. Do I have some sort of quota to fill? Is it that if I'm not teaching, I have some other activity to report on? Or, was it just a more exciting, less confidential kind of day? Who knows? I think it tapers off in the Summer, but I'll have to pay more attention in June (which is REALLY close now!!!).

I also can hang out with friends and just talk. For hours. This shocks my friends who have kids or lives or whatever. Bottomless coffee? Nope. Many course meal? Nope. Sitting and talking? Yep.

Oh, and one more random thing: if anyone out there knows how to disable Norton Anti-Virus so a new printer can be installed (and then enable it again), could you give me some pointers? Thanks.

Movie of the Day: Look Who's Talking. Classic 80's movie that I completely forgot about until channel-surfing one day. Cheesy. John Travolta's "come back" movie.

Math Conference

I spent yesterday (and half of today) at a State math teachers' conference here in Duluth. Picture 1200 math teachers or future teachers gathered around. The Nerd Factor was high.

It starts early in the morning and we attend a couple seminars, eat lunch, go to a couple more. Lather. Rinse. Repeat today (minus the afternoon stuff because some people have more than a 10-minute drive home).

Any way, my seminars were a mixture of The Good, The Decent, & The Ugly. I actually made a couple mouthy remarks in the Ugly one. Nothing disrespectful, just more disappointed in the content of the presentation compared to my expectations. Oh well.

My students in 4th hour are HUNG UP on me getting a boyfriend, so they told me I needed to get three phone numbers of guys and that they'd call them during class. Oy. Not going to happen.

Any way, I hope ya'll are havin' a lovely weekend. Here's the Movie of the Day: Thank You For Smoking. Saw it last night. Funny. Tongue-in-cheek. Also had a preview of my favorite Sundance movie: Little Miss Sunshine!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Girl Scout Cookies

I asked Tracey what I should blog about "tomorrow" and she said "Girl Scout Cookies." She got hers yesterday and I got mine on Wednesday (some of them) .

My favorites are Samoas. You can get any of the rest of them as knock-offs year round. Samoas are special. When Kid #1 asked me to buy them, I forgot about potential kid # 2's and beyond and ordered 4 boxes of Samoas. Then, Kid # 2's younger brother asked me to order some. How could I say no? I don't have those yet, but I think I probably ordered more Samoas! Ha.

I wonder what the average number of boxes ordered is per person ordering?

Movie of the Day: Chasing Amy. Not for the stuffy people out there.

Reality TV Bugs Me

I get enough reality every day. I don't need it on TV. I need to see shows with smart dialogue, interesting characters, and normal life stuff. Shows where the parents are smarter than the kids and teachers are there to help. Right now, that wouldn't sell, I guess.

I think of the shows of my youth and what the kiddies have now. I watched "Family Ties," "Growing Pains," and "Facts of Life." Now the kids have "Malcolm in the Middle" with stupid parents and mouthy kids and "Yes, Dear" with the same scenario. I'm sure there are even more that I just can't think of right now. Why are we teaching our kids to be rude?

When I was a sophomore in high school, I was sick for a day and called my Algebra 2 teacher to get the assignment. I said, "Could you tell me the assignment and junk?" (Common vernacular for the early 90's). He said "Junk?" like I had offended him. I felt so bad. Yikes. Now, if I had a kid call for their assignment, I think I'd pass out from shock.

Movie of the Day: Patch Adams. Robin Williams is awesome and inspiring. The REAL Patch Adams spoke at my school a couple years ago. He said the movie was tamer than he really is and commented on how awful it is that we PAY to advertise for clothing like Nike, Old Navy, Gap, etc. He was fascinating!

Things that are Blue

A random list of things that are blue:

• the sky
• blueberries
• Jell-O
• eyes
• Grover
• bodies of water
• my kitchen
• Cookie Monster

Movie of the Day: Blue Sky. Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones. A married couple who live on a military base. She's a little loony. I saw Jessica Lange at Lake Ave. Cafe a couple years ago; she was wearing all blue (denim).

Howdy

My mind is swimming in mediocrity right now. Nothing to report. Nothing to ponder. Just routine. Tromp. Tromp. Tromp.

Anyone out there have something exciting going on this week?

Movie of the Day: Gattaca. Good movie. Futuristic space travel and how we get ourselves in trouble with too much genetic advancement and not enough heart.

I have time?

I left work today at 3:47, two minutes after I could have done so, but about 30 minutes earlier than usual. I thought I'd run a few errands, pick up some food, etc. Then, I decided I didn't feel like running around and decided to go home and rake my yard (how noble, huh?). Well, turns out it's a bit too windy for any productive yarding. Darn (half-hearted darn, really). What to do? I guess I'm just going to have to read a book, watch some of my backlog of taped tv shows (LOST & Alias), and essentially be a lazy bum all evening. WOO HOO!!!

Here We Go

It's back to school today for all the Duluth kiddies and teachers. There are thousands of little groans going on (or will be in the next few hours) across the city as we face the final stretch of the school year. It's exciting and I tell myself "That's nothing!" Then I remember the obstacles:

• state testing (starting Wednesday)
• field trips (not mine, but absences from other trips)
• General lack of attention because brains turn off at about 70 degrees or the glimpse of a sunny day

I'll see what I can do to get things to stick in their supple minds. Hmmmm...

Movie of the Day: IQ. Meg Ryan plays Einstein's niece. Tim Robbins is the mechanic who tries to show he's a genius to win her love. Walter Mathau is Einstein. His buddies are famous mathematicians. Cheesy, but funny.

Up Early

Happy Easter!

Today is a day for getting up early. Really early (at least for a Sunday). Church-goers across the world are dragging their drowsy butts out of bed to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. I suppose it wouldn't show enough excitement or respect (somehow) to have a noon service today. Hmmmm...

It took me hours to fall asleep last night. Usually, I'm good for about 5-10 minutes of unwinding and then I'm out, but yesterday I had caffeine after a couple days without it. Maybe that was part of my problem or maybe it was all the post-vacation re-entry stuff buzzing in my head. Either way, I'm gonna need a nap today.

Movie of the Day: Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Very quirky. Very. Funny, though.

Teeny Tiny World

It's a small world, after all. It's a small world, after all....

As promised, here is a recollection of the last day of our trip a.k.a. The Day Becca Felt Like Crap.

I woke up at 3:30 AM with huge stomach cramps, like knives. I thought it was something I'd eaten and tried to go back to sleep. Woke up with a headache, chills, and other unmentionable symptoms. Not the best state for flying home. Oh, AND the sun was out for the first time all week. Oh well.

I spent the whole ride to the airport trying not to yak in the hotel's van. I was still freezing.

Once we got on the plane and I sat in my window seat (not the best for a sick passenger, I might add), I suddenly flipped from chills to sweats. Yep, swell. So, I sweated my way home, hoping not to infect the lady next to me.

At one point, I thought I was going to pass out. I kept seeing stars. Misery!

It was a three-hour flight and by the last half hour, I started feeling better. So, I chatted with my neighbor a bit. She was chaperoning a church youth group from North Carolina. They had 14 kids and 5 adults on this year's trip. They pick a new place each year. She said they were Quakers.

Suddenly, I remembered that I had had a brief (very brief) e-mailing stint with a Quaker pastor from North Carolina this fall. I'd never met him or seen his picture, but only knew his first name. I said that he was a huge Republican and she was mortified! (I was too.). She asked if she could retell the story to the guy next to her and it turns out he knows said pastor!!! How bizarre!!! He gave me the guy's last name and verified it with the Quaker pastors index that he was creating for his church! WEIRD!!!!

It's a small world....

(I also forgot to mention Ghirardelli Square in my previous post. Chocolate. Lots and lots of it.)

My Trip

San Francisco has a ton of interesting museums, hills, and nautical views. Here are some of the fun sights:

SF MOMA (San Fran Museum of Modern Art)

• A Picasso
• A Diego Rivera
• A Salvador Dali
• 3 Ansel Adams photos
• 2 Frida Kahlo paintings
• A bunch of Calder mobiles

de Young Museum

• Tons of African, Aztec, & Incan art
• Funky glass art
• a HUGE picture of blurry circles that were supposedly to be vibrating atoms
• a James Terrell skyspace "pod" that you sit in and look at the sky. It was overcast, so not that thrilling. Did see a bird, though.

Hills

• Went down Lombard street. Slowly.
• Took a cable car in the pouring rain. Lots of bells dinging.
• If you know how to repair brakes, you would strike it rich in SF.

Ferry/Cruise Rides

• Our hotel was in Oakland, so we took the ferry over to SF a couple days. It was about a 45 minute trip for $4.50 (if you bought a ten-pack of tickets).
• The bay cruise takes you under the Golden Gate Bridge which was awesome.
• It also takes you around Alcatraz. Did you know Native Americans claimed it as their land for two years (after it had closed)?

Golden Gate Bridge/Golden Gate Park

• We didn't actually touch the bridge, but took some lovely pictures. Lots of pretty flowers in the park too.
• Did you know there are buffalo in Golden Gate Park? Oh, give me a home...

Well, that concludes our mini-tour of San Francisco. More details to leak out later, I'm sure. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for the events of "the last day" or "The Day Becca Felt Like Crap".

Movie of the Day: Saved. A satire on Fundamentalism. Hilarious!

I'm back!

Greetings! I'm back from my short vacation to Soggy San Francisco. The sun came out yesterday morning as we packed to head to the airport. Typical, I suppose. When we left SF, it was a whopping 70 degrees. When we landed in Minneapolis, it was 84! Yep, global warming is alive and well.

Any way, we had a nice time hanging out with my aunt and uncle, and seeing the sights of the Bay Area.

More details to follow....

Movie of the Day: The Rock. We took a bay cruise around Alcatraz on Wednesday (in the rain). Very interesting...

Greetings

Greetings From Sunny California. There's a little sun. A little. We are relaxing this morning, plotting out what to do for the rest of the day. My aunt is prepping her music for her orchestra rehearsal tonight. Her orchestra is playing with the San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus. We're going to try to catch a bit of the rehearsal. It's a shame that all of those cute, clean men will be gay. Maybe there will be a few scruffy ones for balance.

My aunt claims that there are a slew of single, straight men in the city, but I'm not sure I buy it. It's kind of nice to just assume that no one would be interested and just go on my happy way. Hmmmm... a new way of life? Ignore men? Hmmmm.....

So, I know you've been missing a movie of the day (for two whole days!) so, I'll give you a trilogy to take care of you: The Lord of the Rings saga. Enjoy!

I'm officially old.

Well, maybe not so old. Maybe just mature or tasteful. I don't know.

My friend's little sister tried to convince me to get a myspace account. I told her I had a blogspot, but she kept on with the pressure. So, I've been doing a little reading and searching on myspace and I'm just not impressed with what I'm seeing.

I found the site of another friend's little sister and found more than I EVER want to see.... Gross!

I'm either old or just out of that "age-bracket" or something. Or, I'm just a prude. Whatever. I don't need those types of images in my head....

Any way, how y'all doin'?

Whew.

Today is the last day before Break. Thanks goodness. Tonight, I do my dishes. You might think this is pathetic, and maybe it is, but I feel better when my dishes are done and my house is reasonably clean.

When I was a kid, my friends and I were obsessed with the movie Annie (coincidently, the Movie of the Day). We had all the songs memorized, would pick parts and put on the play. Some of us even helped clean one mom's house! She had to pretend to be like Miss Hannigan. I wasn't there, but I wonder if she did the drunken slur too. Hmmmm... I love Carol Burnett!

PA

I could really used a temporary Personal Assistant right about now. Someone to pick up the metaphorical drycleaning. Someone to get me lunch. Someone to remind me to make the test I have to give at 10:00 (I forgot to tweak the tweaks I wanted to make. Drat!). Someone to pack my suitcase! Someone to have my mail and newspaper held.

Yep, that would be lovely.

Movie of the Day: War of the Worlds. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise any more, but this was interesting and made me jump (in a good way). Dakota Fanning is going to need extensive therapy as an adult.

Recycling

A little while ago, I had a huge problem with junk mail taking over my kitchen (more specifically, the top of my microwave). I decided to buy a $2 waste basket and keep it near my front door and then chuck junk mail straight into the "recycling bin" right there! It's actually quite nice!

Since I haven't had any major projects aside from work and church stuff, it's nice to use some creative ideas to smooth annoyances at home. I feel a little bit like Doc in Back to the Future.

Movie of the Day: Back to the Future. I LOVED this movie growing up. Classic 80's.

Micro Happiness

Do you ever think of the teeny, tiny moments of happiness that you have throughout the day? Here are a few of mine:

the feel of my pillow right before I get up
the last couple seconds of a warm shower
the first three M & M, which always taste different than the ones to follow
getting personal mail
hearing an old favorite song on the radio at the exact time I needed to hear it
making my quiet students giggle

Sometimes, I think we focus on chasing macro happiness too much and ignore the micro stuff.

Movie of the Day: Good Will Hunting. Robin Williams. Matt Damon. Minnie Driver. Ben & Casey Affleck. Math. A brilliant, tormented young man, and a wise mentor. Great movie!!!

Jewelry Shopping

Yesterday, I stopped by Catherine Imports with my sister Sara. We were just looking around, but I was drawn to the jewelry counter (naturally). I'm a jewelry junkie. My grandfather was a jeweler and one of my only memories of him was sitting on his lap in his tiny workshop while he worked on watches. He smelled like mints (similar to Altoids). My whole life, I've been drawn to shiny, pretty jewelry.

Sara laughed when I asked to see something by name: "Can I see the blue abalone with the pearl?" I know what the stones are and usually what the cut is.

When Sara was looking for engagement rings to suggest to her honey, I went with to help decipher the "Diamond" stuff. It was fun.

Now, they have right-hand rings. I would love one, but worry that if I bought one, it would outshine any possible engagement rings in my future. I tend to be attracted to smart, but poor guys. Drat. So, I hold off on it.

Movie of the Day: Big Daddy. Adam Sandler. Joey Lauren Adams. Jon Stewart. A man helps take care of his friends new-found son. Sweet and funny.

Inspired

Sleep helped. (Whew).

Movie of the Day: Emmanuel's Gift. It was a wonderful documentary about a man who was born with a deformed leg. He overcomes amazing prejudice to become a national hero and help so many other people who have disabilities. I just happened to notice this movie when I was cruising Block Buster. I'm glad I did.

Well...

Do you ever get in one of those moods where you just don't know what to do with yourself? It's like you are Monumentally Bored. Not just a passing moment of, "hmmmm....what should I do now?" but a "My life is a Hamster Wheel of Nothingness"? I need energy to create something good and fun right now. I need to reconnect with friends and laugh.

Or maybe I just need some sleep. (My mom's answer to this "beside yourself" kind of feeling.)

Teaser: Saw an awesome movie tonight. More tomorrow....

Random Thoughts

I can't come up with a topic for the life of me today, so you're going to get some genuine randomness for this lovely April 1st.

• My new shampoo is grapefruit & honey, but it smells like caramel apples to me.
• I think this is probably a bad idea for spring.
• Steven Wright has a good quote about shampoo: Boycott shampoo. Use real poo.
• My yard looks like a lake and it's turning into a river in my basement.
• The Month of Trudge is over!!!!!
• One purchase on the National Parks website has landed me on at least 10 environmental mailing lists. Save a tree; quit mailing me.
• One week from today, I'm leavin' on a jet plane. WOO HOO!!!! California, here I come!
• I don't think Duluth is going to get another snow day, so now I'm hoping for a power outage or maybe a day to sanitize the whole school (mono is all over this year!).
• I know, "Sanitize?" It happened in Wisconsin, it could happen here.

Well, that's about all that's been buzzing through my head for now. I hope you have a lovely April Fools' Day. Look alert!

Movie of the Day: Memoirs of a Geisha. Saw it last night. I didn't know anything about geishas before seeing it, so it was very educational. Also, the cinematography was amazing!

Stress = Death

I must be stressed out. I always have death dreams when I'm stressed out and last night's was quite interesting. I was in a group of people, maybe 20 of us, at some sort of summer school or training or something. We would return from a session or dinner or whatever and there would be a dead body and a sign. I don't think I ever saw what the sign said, but I think it was elaborate (like typed, of all things!). The last victim was the guy who plays Mini-Me. One of my friends had already died. For some reason, I wasn't scared that I would get killed.

Movie of the Day: Bourne Identity. Matt Damon is an awesome action hero! He wakes up in the ocean with a bullet hole in his back. His memory is sketchy, at best. And people are trying to kill him. Run, Jason, Run!

Only the beginning

I think my classroom is jinxed. You read about the MacGyver-style monitors this morning. Today, I had a calculator do the weirdest things I've ever seen. Multiple cursers, numbers jumping around, shutting off at random, nutsy stuff. Then, mid-lesson (no periscope yet), I notice that the lock on the middle drawer of my desk is loose and it then falls out! It hasn't worked in the 6 years that I've been using it, but at least it stayed in! Yikes.

I shudder to think of what's next. (Knock on wood).

MacGyver, help!!!

I need MacGyver to make a little visit to my classroom. Soon! I have one of those gizmos that will focus a camera on my desktop and then show a picture on two tv screens. It's very helpful for notes, demonstrations, etc. It also has a tiny little monitor so I can see what I'm doing.

Somewhere between my first and second classes yesterday, the monitor went black. Nothing. Now, I have to either lean way over to see what the tv is doing above my head (have I run off the page? Is it too small?). OOOOORRRRRR...... I can rig up some mirror system to tell me what it looks like.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have about 100 aol discs in my room. I did take one and tape it to the top of the camera and that worked so-so. Everything was backwards and I needed to half stand up to see it. I tried moving it down, but it got in the way of the paper. Ideally, I would have two big mirrors, but I haven't figured out how that would work.

Maybe I need a periscope.....

Movie of the Day: Strictly Ballroom. It doesn't have anything to do with MacGyver, but it's a great movie about risking being yourself. The first couple minutes are a little frantic, but it calms down after that, so have no fear.

Save the Children

Right before I fell asleep last night, I had an image in my head. I was a huge bird and I was trying to gather all of my students under my wings to protect them from the world.

If only...

Movie of the Day: Lady Hawk. Michelle had the church movie group watch it. Very interesting. A little cheesy-80's-esque, but good.

Bead Happiness

I like beads. I like looking at them, making jewelry with them, or just plain shopping for them. A coworker had an awesome necklace on the other day: a strand of grape-sized agates. She said she bought the beads at Spirit Bay in Canal Park!

After work today, I took a little detour to Spirit Bay and found some lovely grape-sized agates for myself. Can I repeat her necklace? Sure. Will I? No. I would never be able to wear it to school without feeling like a cheat. But, I was looking around and found an awesome agate slice (with bead hole) from Botswana, where my friend Nate doctored for 6 weeks. I figure it'll do nicely as a center to the ten other agates. When I finish it, I'll post a picture.

Three more days of Trudge, everyone! Hang in there!

Un-snowing

We have the phrase "to unearth" but is there a phrase for the act of revealing things that were buried in the snow? I'm not talking about the permanent things in our yard, but everything (specifically garbage) that blew in for the Winter.

Everywhere I turn, there's some sort of fast food wrapper, wind-blown "recycled" item, or just plain salt and silt from the snowplows.

Wouldn't it be cool if someone hired people to clean up the junk? Sort of an FDR-esque movement.

The saddest thing I've heard of after a Winter melt is my parents' neighbor finding a dog who had tried to stay warm by curling up next to their house. It didn't make it. That poor dog.

Movie of the Day: O Brother, Where Art Thou? It starts with men in a chaingang. They escape and go on any journey. Great music. Great lines for George Clooney.

Bottled Up

I'm one of those people who likes to look calm until I've finally been pushed to my limit. Once I hit that limit, I start speaking quickly and poignantly, trying to make my case. I can't give details, but some parents riled me up tonight. Luckily, I had some nice conferences afterwards to settle me down.

Conferences are always kind of an interesting night. Sometimes, it's a little weird. A little creepy. Sometimes, it's just long or boring.

The important thing about tonight, though, is that my 27 hours of conferences for the year are OVER!!!!!! I actually did a little happy dance in the hall afterwards. Well, it was more like a gallop with clapping, but whatever....

T - 9 days and counting `til break!!!

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