So I went on a rundown of my usual site during lunch and I noticed Michael suddenly had comment boxes... and I wanted them too! So I stole them.
It was actually fairly easy to do... but as I was doing it I noticed mysterious message in my tagboard from VH. Creepy really. Is that really you Vuong? And if it is... how'd you find me? And why haven't you said "Hello!"
I guess I begin to think that none of this is public and that only the people I beg to read it go and check it rather than random people from the ether hovering, visiting, and commenting on a story about a classmate from eleven years ago. Of course it's *mostly* accurate... memory tends to hyberbolize events, especially humorous ones. Anyway... if that really was YOU Vuong that stopped by, and not some random April Fool's joke, then drop me a note.
Friday, April 02, 2004
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Babies and Fools
As of last night - details are sketchy as to everything but the date, the sex, and the name - my aunt is a grandmother and my grandma is a great grandma. Keith and Marcie Skelton are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Haley on March 31, 2004... sometime in the evening I believe. I'm not sure if that's even the right spelling, but congrats are in order anyway.
We got school newspapers this morning. The front page had a story about our VP's new vehicle... she's famous for her golf cart, but she's upgrading to a tank. Another article discussed new open campus policy. Kids are going to ditch... why not let them? The sports page discussed the closing of the football field for more bungalows and the recent incident where a pole vaulter was impaled... including a picture. It was great! I knew it was a joke, but just for those slightly slow witted, when the paper was opened to the second page, there was a huge "APRIL FOOLS!" printed. Page three began the real newspaper. I wish our paper had thought of that. It was quite amusing.
I remember being in the fourth grade and my Girl Scout troop had just finished our first aide patch. We'd cut up sheets to make slings and I wore one to school. I told everyone I had fallen down the stairs. So one student wrote for me and it was great fun until recess, when I got tired of it, and put it away. The teacher was furious. I remember crying and crying when she yelled at me. I don't think she understood that's what you're supposed to do on April 1. Now that I think back about it, as a teacher, I would have expected a note from a parent to accompany a homemade sling.
But anyway, nothing tops Vuong and Ms. Barnes. I take credit for the whole thing. Vuong was one of those "too smart for his own good students" who got like a 1450 on the SAT, but couldn't sit in class long enough to pass. So one day, he was goofing off in English class and Ms. Barnes sent him outside for a while until he could behave himself. Instead, little guy that he was, he managed to climb on top of the locker bank and make fishy faces at the class through the window before she actually noticed him. For some reason, the class was mainly laughing, and she wasn't really mad. We began to discuss what to do with him. She didn't want to write a referral, but she did want him to stop disrupting the class. I, sitting in the front row, remarked, "Ms. Barnes, you do know that's it's April Fool's Day, don't you?"
I still remember the gleam in her eye as she pulled out the referral form and began to fill it out. She paused on her way out the door to collect herself and replaced her giddy amusement with abject disgust. She swung open the door and held the referral out to Vuong, who had climbed down from the lockers.
"Go!" She said. He tried to apologize and plead with her. The whole class watched, trying to keep a straight face. He was practically on his knees. "No," she demanded, looking away from him. "Just go!"
Vuong grabbed the referral and stomped toward the office. She closed the door, picked up the phone and told the secretary to say "April Fool's" and send him back.
Two minutes later we hear a scream coming down the hallway and Vuong threw himself against the door. Everyone laughed and we really didn't get any work done that day.
He got her back for it though... well, sort of. One of the last days of the school year, he and a friend or two were caught by the principal while saran wrapping her car. They were almost suspended. Instead they received several detentions. Ms. Barnes went into the detention room and demanded they serve the detention with her. Then she let them go.
We got school newspapers this morning. The front page had a story about our VP's new vehicle... she's famous for her golf cart, but she's upgrading to a tank. Another article discussed new open campus policy. Kids are going to ditch... why not let them? The sports page discussed the closing of the football field for more bungalows and the recent incident where a pole vaulter was impaled... including a picture. It was great! I knew it was a joke, but just for those slightly slow witted, when the paper was opened to the second page, there was a huge "APRIL FOOLS!" printed. Page three began the real newspaper. I wish our paper had thought of that. It was quite amusing.
I remember being in the fourth grade and my Girl Scout troop had just finished our first aide patch. We'd cut up sheets to make slings and I wore one to school. I told everyone I had fallen down the stairs. So one student wrote for me and it was great fun until recess, when I got tired of it, and put it away. The teacher was furious. I remember crying and crying when she yelled at me. I don't think she understood that's what you're supposed to do on April 1. Now that I think back about it, as a teacher, I would have expected a note from a parent to accompany a homemade sling.
But anyway, nothing tops Vuong and Ms. Barnes. I take credit for the whole thing. Vuong was one of those "too smart for his own good students" who got like a 1450 on the SAT, but couldn't sit in class long enough to pass. So one day, he was goofing off in English class and Ms. Barnes sent him outside for a while until he could behave himself. Instead, little guy that he was, he managed to climb on top of the locker bank and make fishy faces at the class through the window before she actually noticed him. For some reason, the class was mainly laughing, and she wasn't really mad. We began to discuss what to do with him. She didn't want to write a referral, but she did want him to stop disrupting the class. I, sitting in the front row, remarked, "Ms. Barnes, you do know that's it's April Fool's Day, don't you?"
I still remember the gleam in her eye as she pulled out the referral form and began to fill it out. She paused on her way out the door to collect herself and replaced her giddy amusement with abject disgust. She swung open the door and held the referral out to Vuong, who had climbed down from the lockers.
"Go!" She said. He tried to apologize and plead with her. The whole class watched, trying to keep a straight face. He was practically on his knees. "No," she demanded, looking away from him. "Just go!"
Vuong grabbed the referral and stomped toward the office. She closed the door, picked up the phone and told the secretary to say "April Fool's" and send him back.
Two minutes later we hear a scream coming down the hallway and Vuong threw himself against the door. Everyone laughed and we really didn't get any work done that day.
He got her back for it though... well, sort of. One of the last days of the school year, he and a friend or two were caught by the principal while saran wrapping her car. They were almost suspended. Instead they received several detentions. Ms. Barnes went into the detention room and demanded they serve the detention with her. Then she let them go.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Open House Nerves
So I just got my first Open House shot of nerves. Those gurglies in my stomach will be around for the rest of the afternoon. My room is clean - dusted, swept, wiped down, and picked up... almost eerily so.
Parents make me nervous. At least these ones are polite and I can talk to them only a little because of their English and my Spanish.
I'll fill you in on the events of the night later...
Parents make me nervous. At least these ones are polite and I can talk to them only a little because of their English and my Spanish.
I'll fill you in on the events of the night later...
Friday, March 26, 2004
Glug!
SWOTD - Esperar - which strangely enough means to hope and to wait.
That's what I'm doing. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. For the PGL Site to calm down so I can actually see what's going on without waiting 10 MINUTES for a bleepin' page to load.
Good News: Canterbury Made It.
Bad News: Princess Charming is not on the list.
Strange News: It shows that none of the reviews counted for scoring. Why? I haven't figured that out because I'm waiting for the blinkin' pages to load!
That's what I'm doing. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. For the PGL Site to calm down so I can actually see what's going on without waiting 10 MINUTES for a bleepin' page to load.
Good News: Canterbury Made It.
Bad News: Princess Charming is not on the list.
Strange News: It shows that none of the reviews counted for scoring. Why? I haven't figured that out because I'm waiting for the blinkin' pages to load!
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Nachos and Patriotism
Spanish Word of the Day: Nachos
Just got done with serving nachos for three hours at the Cesar Chavez festival at the school. I can still hear the dance music thrum through my window. My hands smell like combination processed cheese and flan.
I have been so irritated lately. I seriously need to destress. It all started when a history teacher told and encouraged students not to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance. Now technically they have the "right" not to stand... as long as they sit silently, but as teachers, we're used to having students follow directions.
So just because he was told he could, one of my students pushed my buttons and told me "Mr. ___ said I didn't have to stand." I asked to speak with the student outside. The student refused to leave my classroom until I had him threatened to have him bodily removed from class... that was the fifth time I told him.
Once outside he proceeded to argue with me, telling me in no uncertain terms that he didn't have to... his sole reasoning was because the other teacher told him he didn't have to. I told him his laziness was a personal insult to me, my father, and my family. I told him that he was here in the US to get a free public education and the flag is the embodiment of the ideals that support the public schools. The smirk on his face didn't falter when I told him that he could stay in my class if he could follow my directions. If he refused, then he would find himself elsewhere.
So I go back into class and he sits down immediately confabbing with his buddies about the whole thing and I begin to speak. "Despite popular opinion, schools are not democracies. They are monarchies... and I am the Queen of this Classroom. When I say open the window, you open the window. When I say open your notebooks, you open your notebooks. When I say stand, you stand."
"No." Jorge says loudly.
"You don't follow my directions, you receive a referral." So I sent him to ACE... then I went downstairs to the counseling center to talk to the SLO, (Spanish Liason Officer). She agrees with my side of the story and starts looking to see if we can write a truant letter on him and get his mom to sign a "you're a second semester senior and there's no hope that you're going to graduate so go away" slip.
Good News: Student should be gone.
Bad News: I don't have the authority to tell a student to stand up for the pledge.
Just got done with serving nachos for three hours at the Cesar Chavez festival at the school. I can still hear the dance music thrum through my window. My hands smell like combination processed cheese and flan.
I have been so irritated lately. I seriously need to destress. It all started when a history teacher told and encouraged students not to stand up during the Pledge of Allegiance. Now technically they have the "right" not to stand... as long as they sit silently, but as teachers, we're used to having students follow directions.
So just because he was told he could, one of my students pushed my buttons and told me "Mr. ___ said I didn't have to stand." I asked to speak with the student outside. The student refused to leave my classroom until I had him threatened to have him bodily removed from class... that was the fifth time I told him.
Once outside he proceeded to argue with me, telling me in no uncertain terms that he didn't have to... his sole reasoning was because the other teacher told him he didn't have to. I told him his laziness was a personal insult to me, my father, and my family. I told him that he was here in the US to get a free public education and the flag is the embodiment of the ideals that support the public schools. The smirk on his face didn't falter when I told him that he could stay in my class if he could follow my directions. If he refused, then he would find himself elsewhere.
So I go back into class and he sits down immediately confabbing with his buddies about the whole thing and I begin to speak. "Despite popular opinion, schools are not democracies. They are monarchies... and I am the Queen of this Classroom. When I say open the window, you open the window. When I say open your notebooks, you open your notebooks. When I say stand, you stand."
"No." Jorge says loudly.
"You don't follow my directions, you receive a referral." So I sent him to ACE... then I went downstairs to the counseling center to talk to the SLO, (Spanish Liason Officer). She agrees with my side of the story and starts looking to see if we can write a truant letter on him and get his mom to sign a "you're a second semester senior and there's no hope that you're going to graduate so go away" slip.
Good News: Student should be gone.
Bad News: I don't have the authority to tell a student to stand up for the pledge.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Okay... thought this was amusing...
There's also a statistics page... most people tend to be Galadriel, followed by Aragorn. Yoda's third. It's got characters from Star Wars, LOTR, Potter, Star Trek, MIB, Babylon 5, Xmen, and my fav - Princess Bride. "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" and "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die."
Here are the Top Ten:
Galadriel 44,590
Aragorn 32,717
Yoda 25,734
James T. Kirk 22,340
Princess Leia 22,220
Wesley Crusher 21,650
Elrond 20,477
John Sheridan 19,332
Jean-Luc Picard 19,327
Luke Skywalker 15,363
Am I a sci-fi fantasy geek or what?
Big Chickens and Screenplays
SWOTD: pavo real - peacock, but literally it translates into "real turkey"... as if turkey wasn't real enough...
So we're working on an animal and "save the planet" unit this week. I've taken advantage of the many pictures from the picture files to grill them on the names of animals. These pictures are from 1982... so the clothing pics are atrocious... but animals haven't changed much.
So I showed a picture to a group and if they got the name right, they got the card and the group at the end with the most gets ten points. I got to the picture of a peacock and they were quite stumped. They called out "pavo real" in Spanish, but no. They gave up and got quiet. Then Noe, bless his heart, shouted out "Big Chicken!" I almost gave it to him for the correct use of an adjective. It's great fun to watch them try to figure out "seahorse." Caballo del mar in Spanish, they keep saying "horse ocean" and "horse water." Not quite.
Anyway... I've been busy working on my fictitious blog... now I just need someone to read it to tell me if it's entertaining... or just generally crap. I'm having fun with it... especially the drawing of little aliens in paint.
Now that I've fixed the links... hopefully someone will give me feedback... hint hint hint.
Read more screenplays from Project Greenlight. The top 1000 are announced on Thurs. I will be seriously heartbroken if at least one of my entries doesn't make it... especially after reviewing 16 screenplays... most of them written by utter hacks. I don't mean to be cruel, but I'm either seriously deluding myself, or I'm actually a better writer than at least 75% or 80% percent of them... judging conservatively. So far the worst one I've read was a utterly plotless Kung Fu action flick set in Bombay, and the best, a comedy set in Latvia. The rest are on a spectrum that is heavy on the lower end.
And a Final Thought: Did you know that okapis are the only animal that can clean its ears with its tongue?
So we're working on an animal and "save the planet" unit this week. I've taken advantage of the many pictures from the picture files to grill them on the names of animals. These pictures are from 1982... so the clothing pics are atrocious... but animals haven't changed much.
So I showed a picture to a group and if they got the name right, they got the card and the group at the end with the most gets ten points. I got to the picture of a peacock and they were quite stumped. They called out "pavo real" in Spanish, but no. They gave up and got quiet. Then Noe, bless his heart, shouted out "Big Chicken!" I almost gave it to him for the correct use of an adjective. It's great fun to watch them try to figure out "seahorse." Caballo del mar in Spanish, they keep saying "horse ocean" and "horse water." Not quite.
Anyway... I've been busy working on my fictitious blog... now I just need someone to read it to tell me if it's entertaining... or just generally crap. I'm having fun with it... especially the drawing of little aliens in paint.
Now that I've fixed the links... hopefully someone will give me feedback... hint hint hint.
Read more screenplays from Project Greenlight. The top 1000 are announced on Thurs. I will be seriously heartbroken if at least one of my entries doesn't make it... especially after reviewing 16 screenplays... most of them written by utter hacks. I don't mean to be cruel, but I'm either seriously deluding myself, or I'm actually a better writer than at least 75% or 80% percent of them... judging conservatively. So far the worst one I've read was a utterly plotless Kung Fu action flick set in Bombay, and the best, a comedy set in Latvia. The rest are on a spectrum that is heavy on the lower end.
And a Final Thought: Did you know that okapis are the only animal that can clean its ears with its tongue?
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