| blog |
[Oct. 10th, 2005|02:35 pm] |
i posted a new blog on my myspace thing.
i think LJ and i are calling it quits.
www.myspace.com/bemoreclever |
|
|
| a rumble at chuck e. cheese |
[Oct. 2nd, 2005|12:46 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  crazy | ] |
i also posted this on my myspace, but this is for those of you who don't dabble in that scene.
crazy...okay here's the CRAZIEST story you'll ever hear. EVER.
so...my neighbors Blake and Brooke came over the other night and asked if we wanted to go with them to Chuck E. Cheese to hang out with them while they took out Avery and Ross, our pastor's kids. (his wife is in Tanzania on a missions trip, so they wanted to take them off of his hands for a second.) so we go, and everyone's having a good time. we're playing ski ball, that squish the spiders game...anyway, so little Avery decides that she wants to go to the prize counter because she's run out of tokens.
we go up to the counter, and she's taking FOREVER, as children do when they're trying to make a decision. and as she's deciding, we hear a man's voice saying to the girl behind the counter (who is noticably at least 6 months pregnant), "Hey, is that mouse booked for the rest of the night?!" the girl doesn't respond, i guess she didn't hear him. so he says, "HEY! I'm talking to you, I SAID what do i have to do to get Chuck E. Cheese to take a picture with my daughter?!?" the girl is silent, i'm sure she was stunned and the man says, "IS THAT AS FAST AS YOU CAN THINK ON YOUR FEET, HONEY? YOU'VE GOTTA THINK FASTER THAN THAT!" this man is like. 6'2" 300+ lbs, he's wearing sunglasses at night, inside...and then the girl says, "you can go ask a manager, i'm helping these people right now, " he then says, "What the F is your problem?!? I WANT YOU TO GO GET THE MANAGER, MOVE IT!" and then he starts going off, "What the F is wrong with your texans? are all of you this F-ing stupid!? Jesus Chri**!"
by then, my friend Brooke turns to him and says, "Sir, we're almost finished, if you would just wait for a second, she'll be right with you..." she gets cut off by, "was i talking to you, honey? no, i wasn't so i suggest you shut the F up and F off!" and poor brooke is newly pregnant, her face gets all red, i immediately covered Avery's ears, and then another mother who is close by says, "Hey mister, you need to watch your mouth, there are kids around here..." he replies by saing, "Oh yeah? they didn't like that, then they won't like this either,--" and flicks us all off. the mother then says to the girl behind the counter, "you need to get your manager, and you need to call 911" the man says, "yeah, call 911, here you can use my cell phone."
Keith and Blake are with Ross in the ball pit or something, because they weren't there. so we go find them and tell them what happened, and Blake says, "Well, i'm gonna go tell him he owes you an apology, brooke." and i'm thinking, "no, don't do that, he's a big guy." and keith says, "yeah, i'm gonna go too." yikes.
so they walk up to him, Blake taps him on the shoulder and says, "um, sir, what you said to my wife was unecessary and very rude, and you owe her an apology, " the man looks at Blake, then looks at keith and says, "you need to take a step away from my family right now." how weird...then he starts saying, "i don't know what's wrong with you redneck southerners, but you need to get away from me right now." Blake says, "you owe my wife an apology" the man says, "look, we can make this a good night if you guys walk away right now, or we can make this a bad night-right now" and rubs his knuckles...Blake and keith are just looking at eachother jaws dropped, "are you serious?" and Blake just says, "okay, well sir, God bless you..." and the man says, "Yeah, God bless you, Kiss my A$*"
how crazy is that? he wsa ready to fight in the middle of chuck e. cheese. i want to know where he was from that it's cool to wear sunglasses at night and to start fights in the middle of chuck e. cheese. what's wrong with people? they need the Lord. |
|
|
| let me share something wonderful with you. |
[Sep. 25th, 2005|11:17 pm] |
i'm getting paid this wednesday...keith and i were planning to immediately spend our money on the following saturday, but i forgot i have to take my Texas Examinaion of Educatior Standards (or TExES Test) this saturday at 7:30 am.
Freaking out, i went to a website where they provide a little "practice test" or "study guide" for you. it's insane how much i've forgotten over the past year and a half since i've been in school. i guess it doesn't help that i basically crammed all that i could learn about music into my brain and then forgot it after the exam. Nevertheless, i felt as if a few of these questions were complete subjective. for example,
A general music teacher introduces the
concepts of intervals, music notation, and
music forms to seventh-grade students.
Which of the following methods would
provide the most effective use of instructional
time and increase the probability
of students' success through immediate
feedback?
A. programmed instruction using
computers
B. small-group instruction provided
by the teacher
C. individual instruction provided
by the teacher
D. programmed instruction using
audiotapes
now, i answered, "B. small-group instruction provided by the teacher" but the correct answer is actually, "A. programmed instruction using computers" Now, i'm thinking...i had to BEG the administration for a computer of my OWN! there are no other computers in my classroom, and if i were to try this method on my students they would not do their work on the computer, they'd go on some crazy website and listen to "Gasolina" over and over and over again. i'm screwed.
i frantically tried to change my test date, but apparently, i've missed the deadline.
help. |
|
|
| holler. |
[Sep. 20th, 2005|10:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  good | ] |
so here i am.
i've been a teacher for a little over a month now and i have yet to be paid. but man, do i have plans for when that paycheck comes. keith and i are hitting ikea and never looking back.
this job does come with a few perks, i get to witness the ridiculous reasoning of middle schoolers on a daily basis, and i get to hear their creative excuses for things, not to mention full benefits, weekends/summers off, spring break, fall break, Christmas break and a pay check year round...
keith brought me lunch today since he doesn't have school on Tuesdays. He and i had lunch in my little ghetto classroom. When he left, i handed him the trash saying, "you'll have to take this, if i leave it here for 10 minutes, it'll be swarming with ants." they love their new Faculty at rosemont middle... they spare no expense for us.
although i am not pregnant, keith and i have decided on a few names for children, they will be named the following:
boys: Indiana, Silas, Ezekiel and we're still thinking about August
girls: Madeline, Cecilia, and Hono(u)r-haven't decided on the 'u'
so now it's official, i've laid claim to these names, so please do not take them. i'm not sure if we'll have enough kids to take up these names, but we'll see. just don't get your hopes up-yet.
i accidentally made a chapelle's show reference today during my "lecture" hehe. "When keepin' it real goes wrong" I was talking about Rachmaninoff and how when he came to the United States from Russia he had the choice of "keeping it real" by maintaining his Russian style of composing, or conforming to the American style of composition. He decided to "keep it real" and thusly suffered a Nervous breakdown when his Symphony no.1 failed miserably. He couldn't write during his early career until he saw a hypnotist-to whom he dictated his Piano Concerto no.2...this was his comback composition, and became his most popular peice |
|
|
| back to school |
[Sep. 19th, 2005|09:56 pm] |
so the back to school dance is this friday...call me crazy, but guess who's chaperoning.
oh yes. i'm hopefully gonna bring my camera.
holler. |
|
|
| now they've gone and done it. |
[Sep. 8th, 2005|11:40 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sick | ] |
they say that after 3 years of teaching, your immune system is iron-clad. since it's only been 3 weeks, i'm of course sick. i've got a head cold, and just tonight i stopped smelling smells and tasting tastes (or flavors, if that got on your nerves). i'm miserable. i've rediscovered the power of vicks 44 though...that stuff is magic.
things are getting much easier i suppose. a bunch of kids have switched out of my class, but i was told not to take it personally because everyone's been switching out of everybody's class.
in other news, i think that we'll be heading to VA for pre-Christmas and then Ft. Lauderdale for Christmas through New Year, the holiday in question now is Thanksgiving. where shall we spend it? Keith and i had a few thoughts: Lakeland, we spent last thanksgiving with the boys, so we would like to do it again. or with the newly weds, arianne and bill...but i was thinking they probably already have plans.
i realized today that i can't play a soprano line and sing an alto line at the same time. especially if the words as well as the rhythms are different for each part.
keith fell asleep on the couch last night, i went to bed early, so i didn't even notice. what's retarded is that we never go to bed separately, and the one time we do, keith falls asleep on the couch. He came in at 3am and i said, "Where'd you go?" hahah....how accusing! it was 3 am what do you expect. When he woke up this morning, i was getting ready for work and the first thing he said was, "do you think what you get paid is enough for the job that you do?" heheheh no good morning or anything. i didn't even know he was awake. he later admitted to me that when he first wakes up in the morning, he tries to wake up fast, but his mind isn't quite there yet. he's funny. |
|
|
| monsters. |
[Aug. 31st, 2005|10:58 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
So here's what happened today at work.
Today I gave my General Music students their first test. I thought it was going to be really really easy considering we've been going over the same stuff for almost two weeks, and I gave them 10 minutes to use their notes, and we played a review game yesterday where the winning team got extra points on their tests. Needless to say, I wanted these kids to do very well on this test. During 3rd period, i have a class full of monsters, they talk CONSTANTLY, curse in English as well as in Spanish. one child walked in today with his pants around his ankles and his t-shirt over his head. Well of course, all the "bad kids" forgot their notebooks and so decided to try to send bits of their own notes to each other across the room in the form of paper airplanes. After snatching a few mid-air, i separated them into a few corners of the room. In this class of about...23 there are 8 or 9 bad students, that's a lot. Well, after that, i resorted to threats, saying, "If you boys don't settle down i'll start taking points off of your tests." I should have known this was the que they were waiting for. "So miss, i don't care, imma turn it in right now, i want a zero!" so Ruben wrote his name on his paper, got up and turned it into me blank. And the other 7 or 8 followed in suit. I was heartbroken and devistated. These kids don't care at all. During the course of the 50 minute period, i had to take 3 kids outside in order to talk to them one-on-one. "Why are you being like this?" i'd ask. "Uh...i dunno." "Do you think it's funny or cool or something? Because it's not." "....-shoulder shrug-..." I'd even try to talk sensibly to them, asking about their other classes, what they liked and disliked about the class...etc. during the one-on-one conferences, there would be screaming and loud booming noises coming from the room, followed by a few bangs on my piano, i'd stick my head back in to find giggling faces staring back at me, and then " It was him, miss! i told him to stop" the fingerpointing.
So when everyone had turned in their tests, one of the problem children walked over to my piano, on which i have my 6 stacks of music neatly arranged, and pushed them all off of the piano. 6 stacks of at least 25 music booklets! like a little 2 year old, he pushed them all onto the floor, looked at me and started laughing. the other kids start in right away, "oooooh! miiiiiiiss! look what he did!" my temper is boiling and i scream, "ALL OF YOU BOYS PICK IT UP, NOW!" They all laugh and start picking it up, trying to sort it out...of course the bell rings in mid-collection and they all scatter and i'm left in a terrible mood and with a mess on the floor.
these are the type of monsters i deal with every day.
the thing that sucks is that i hardly ever get mad. i am definately not a yeller and i'm especially not a screamer. but i think i'm managing to lose my voice, and i've only been working for 2 weeks. Lord, help me. |
|
|
| quick update |
[Aug. 28th, 2005|08:47 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | fine | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Do it again- Diana Krall | ] |
i'm up at my neighbor's house. she and a few other girls (all of whom are the better halves of married couples that we hang out with) love to scrapbook. i on the other hand, don't love to scrapbook. so i just hang out and do geeky things...like look for "Autumn leaves" the diana krall rendition on the computer for 1 and a half hours. and then play that heliocopter game on that game website. and update my LJ. HAHAHAH.
okay, i'm going into my second full week of teaching, and i've already managed to lose my voice and call a child "retarded" under my breath. if that gives you an idea of how my job has been going....man, these kids are insane.
leave it to my "mentor" to tell me on last friday that we have open house on THIS tuesday night. i don't even have my dag gone room decorated, and i really have no idea what "open house" entails. man, i never went to open house when i was a kid. SHOOT!
can i also just tell you that i didn't get a curriculum, or lesson plans from anyone, so i've been making up my own stuff. that's kinda good though because i can cover what i know really well. But try teaching 7th and 8th graders about the Baroque period and about what a Sonata is (which actually came about during the classical period 1750-1820 ad...that was for Chris Jussel) and answering the question, "Why don't they just speak english over there? man, it's so confusing." "over there" meaning Germany, Italy, Austria, Vienna etc. this is nuts. but at least i feel fulfilled at the end of the day.
my FIRST pay check comes in on the 26th of august. on the 27th, i'm going to the new ikea.
my sister Arianne who just got married called me the other day, she and her new hubby sound so relaxed and less up tight now. oh thank God. haha
everything else...i dunno i'll update later. we have DSL now.
oh...how much of a dummy am i:
(keith and i were driving in Arlington after seeing "Red Eye" which i found surprisingly good)
Elise: Wow, look at all those birds...why are there SO many birds out right now?
Keith: i dunno.
Elise: oh my goodness, i've never seen so many birds in one tree. what kind of birds are those anyway?
Keith: oh, i dunno...ravens?
Elise: WHAT? ravens are huge...those are little...like blackbirds?
Keith: no...maybe pigeons?
Elise: WHAT? PIGEONS AREN'T BLACK...THEY'RE WHITE!
Keith: Pigeons are white? (sarcastically)
Elise: yeah...duh, like at the beach!
(a moment of silence)
Elise: oh wait...those are seagulls. |
|
|
| your kisses taste like honey... |
[Aug. 2nd, 2005|12:09 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | feist-let it die (i LOVE this album) | ] |
i'm here in VA and things are CRAZY! there's a lot going on with wedding stuff and i think it's good that i'm here. this wedding needed a "fresh mind" one that hasn't been on "wedding mode" for the past 6 months. it's insane.
can i just tell you that i've been mooching off of my parents since i've been here? i've been sucking them dry like a hungry leach. that's because after keith's next paycheck, we won't be getting anothe paycheck until September which is when i get my first pay check. nevertheless, i've been having to shop for "teacher clothes" since all of the dress clothes i own no longer fit me. ah, the joys of marriage fat.
my mom took me to this insane sale they've been having at J.C. Penny's and bought me a bunch of stuff. niiiiiiiiiice.
in other news, keith and i have been apart for 8 days now and it's really weird. i can't handle it. he'll be here on friday, he had to stay in TX to finish up the rest of his summer camp. this is the first time we've been apart since we've beem married. have i mentioned this already? but it's cool. today he called me and read me a letter i that got from my favorite red-headed girl kristin green who told me that she ran into my favorite red-headed boy Justin at a blockbuster in lakeland FL where they both live. i wish i had been there to see them both. and then i thought of how sweet it would be if they got married and had little super red-headed children.
chris jusell, arianne, her fiance bill and i went to vivo cucinas the other night and had a grand ol' time. he (chris) apologized for always correcting my grammar and punctuation on these entries. but hey, have at it, bro...have at it... |
|
|
| 1 year |
[Jul. 24th, 2005|11:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  content | ] |
yesterday was me and keith's one year anniversary. horray!!! we went out to dallas, went to dinner and a movie and stayed at a hotel it was very fun. the next day we went shopping and ate at Smokey Bones--i had the ribs. nice.
i'm heading for VA tomorrow night. i hate traveling alone. it's so uncomfortable. i'm just realizing how LONG i'll be away from keith. 10 days! that's a freakin' long time! man...it's gonna be like when we were dating or engaged. rough man.
are the people you've met from Oklahoma/Texas really weird? yeah, me too.
VA here i come. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7){kind=small}
be_clever's journal