31.12.05

Tagged

SEVEN via Ktrion

Seven things I plan to do before I kick the can:

1. Buy an I Book
2. Get a Ph.D.
3. Get an M.F.A. in Creative Writing
4. Write and successfully publish a book
5. Buy a casita
6. Visit every continent at least once
7. Not live pay check to pay check

Seven things I can do:

1. Make Thanksgiving dinner
2. Write a decent story
3. Bake
4. Create interesting lessons
5. Listen
6. Duplicate some of my mom’s recipes
7. Tune up a car

Seven things I can't do:

1. Run
2. Get out of a ticket
3. Avoid procrastinating
4. Drive in silence
5. Go to Grad school (at least right now)
6. Leave El Paso without crying
7. Avoid getting nervous when speaking in front of my peers

Seven things that attract me to another person:

1. Friendship
2. Humor
3. Lack of Machi-machismo
4. Intelligence
5. Someone who’s taller than me
6. A non-Republican
7. Someone who can be my partner

Seven things I say most often:

1. Eso me encanta
2. Eso no me encanta
3. Ah que la chingada
4. You are not a CHRISTIAN! (The word Christian is replaced with other words sometimes)
5. Bandit!
6. Quiet!
7. Stop running!

Seven people to do this little blogger game:
3. EMC
Despues les cuento como me fue en El Chuco. For now, I gotta get ready to go celebrate el año nuevo. I hope 2006 brings us all many great things. ¡Salud!

22.12.05

If anything,This Online Driver’s Ed Class Is Allowing Me to Use Driving As a Metaphor


Sometimes, people cut you off without knowing it. They do it because they’re in a hurry. Maybe they’re having an emergency and need to be somewhere. Perhaps their kid fell off a tree and shattered her radius or ulna. Sometimes, people cut you off because you’re getting on their nerves. You’re following the two second rule and they don’t realize that the car in front of you is going just as slow because they’re one of those people that don’t speed. Or maybe while you went over the last hill, they didn’t notice the sea of brake lights up ahead and think you’re being a jerk because they’re tailgating you. Other times, they’re just plain jerks. In any case, these are the kind of people you need to keep away from.

21.12.05

The First Time I was Charlie

Franklin
You are Franklin!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Thanks to Ktrion for the link

It Feels Good to Type or I Don't Really Have a Title & This Entry is Very Random


Friday afternoon, I walked out of SJ Intermediate with a bag full of books, a box full of plants, and a heart full of joy.

I was surprised by the amount of gifts I received from my students. There was the used stuffed Dalmatian that appeared on my desk when I went to go talk to my mentor. It was later discovered who it was from when one of my early morning pupils found the notebook paper stuck to the dog’s side. Then there was the brown box of treasure that a student candidly delivered to me seconds before she had to be down the hall in her Social Studies hall. Actually, it was a box with Ferrero Rocher chocolates, but the way she presented it to me felt like she was giving me a tiny treasure. There was the Frosty cup filled with caramel Kisses and a tiny dog I shall name Herman. Also, there was the kid who delivered the perfect gift for a Language Arts teacher: a book. Then there was the kid in homeroom who presented me with my very own perfumed powder stick. She made me open it in front of her and wear some. Then of course, there were all the stockings the kids decorated for me in Math class. Finally, there was the candy cane a homemade card from the kid that always says, “This class is so boring.” I hope she knows that this totally goes against her, “I really hate your class” attitude and just proves my, “this is really hard and I really need your help” theory I have about her.

This upcoming Friday, I’m heading to El Chuco via I-10 West. I’ve charged up the Gameboy and have the Tetris ready for the long, long drive. I haven’t seen some of my family members in about a year. There’s so much family drama going on right now, but I need to see the kiddos and the mom. Besides, it’ll be interesting to see how the city has changed or stayed the same.

Bookstores

Yesterday, I visited a brand new Borders Bookstore. I never walk into those stores intending to buy anything, and I very rarely buy anything. Most of my books come from the Half Price bookstore because well, I’m on a budget. Anyway, I always scour the bookshelves in the young adult, fiction, biography/memoir, culture & gender studies, and magazine section. Yesterday while poking around in the gender studies section, I was appalled to find Desert Blood on the bookshelf that said “Lesbians.” Yes, the book does talk about a lesbian relationship and the author happens to be a lesbian herself, but so what? Why don’t they put the David Sedaris books on a “Gay” bookshelf? It’s not like that’s the first thing the Library of Congress categorized it as, it’s actually number six on the list. It’s just so interesting that that’s what these big chain bookstores decide to focus on. I took the book and placed it in the fiction section and told the lady that was working in the section about their mistake. I doubt it’ll be there the next time I go back.

In other news, I was ecstatic a couple months ago to see an Arte Público Press title on one of the tables at Barnes and Noble. Also, recently, I found out that the same book is actually in the Accelerated Reader program the kids use.

Finally, a couple days ago, I got the news that the anthology I was asked to submit to was accepted at my ex-employer. I’m guess that means that my stories were accepted by them because they were part of the initial manuscript. At least I think they were, it remains to be seen if my stories will remain in the manuscript.

3.12.05

How Dare You!


The day of my PDAS, I designed a lesson that would allow the kiddos to get their little paws on the keyboards. Since I only have three functioning student computers and four groups of kids, I figured it’d be okay to let one group use my computer. I tend to share a lot of my things with the kids, so really it’s no problem. I’m the kind of teacher that will let them rummage through my desk looking for a pencil.

Anyway, by the time the group of all boys got done with their research, the only computer left was mine. So I herded them over to my desk and told them to get to work.

Next to my computer, I have a picture of Dan the Man and I in a red dollar-find picture frame from Target. The handsome young man, as my sis called him when she visited my class, picked up the picture frame and said, “Ms. who is this?”

There was a lot of talking and somehow it came out that the guy in the picture was my fiancé. When he heard that he was appalled. He walked over to me with the picture and said, “Ms. is that true? Is he your fiancé?”

When I said yes, he said, “Why? I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!”

I smiled at him and told him to get back to work. Nearing the end of class, he came up to my desk and said, “Ms. Why didn’t you tell us? When is your marriage? Are you going to invite me?”

Rewind a day. During homeroom, I told the kids that I’d be gone fourth period and gave them that whole spiel about being on their best behavior for my sub and blah, blah, blah. One kid shouts out with a scowl on his face, “Why can’t you be here? Why don’t you take care of your stuff some other time?”

“I’m going over to neighbor teacher’s class.”

“Why can’t she take care of her own class and leave you alone?”

Their reactions make me laugh. You know, the kind of laugh that makes you throw back your head and show all those cavities to the world. It feels good to hear them say things like that. It also encourages me to try harder because they have expectations of me too.