Before: tasty frosted beverage
After: BRAIN FREEZE!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Send in the clowns..er, 2010.
Winding down 2009, which has been a year of great transformation, challenges, some new opportunities, and new friendships. I've renewed my interest (read: obsession) with the work of Rod Serling, returned to my roots in sci fi writing, and forged a new partnership with my husband. It has also held the deepest sorrow I could ever have imagined, with a Momazoo-shaped hole in my life. One thing is for certain; I am ready to say good-bye to 2009, but I choose to usher it out with a smile and a hearty "thank you" for the many and myriad opportunities to practice Dharma.
I welcome 2010, the first year of the second decade of the 21st century, with a child-like enthusiasm, a feeling of humble dedication towards making the most out of every opportunity that comes my way. In that spirit, I'm doing away with lists of intentions or resolutions. There is only this one: To celebrate and make the most of every moment of this precious human birth. No wasted time, no wasted opportunities, no matter how small. Every moment to be lived with intention, no matter what the intention, rather than passively letting time and life flow past. This means making choices in all things, from what script to develop, to what to wear to work, to how I eat, to how much time is spent in front of the TV, to what time to get up in the morning, to meditating at my shrine, to what ways I can make City on the Edge of Forever work for me, instead of allowing myself to be depressed and defeated by it.
I wish everyone a healthy new year with plenty of opportunity and intentions of your own. Thank you for reading my burblings on Fred In The Can. Be safe tonight, all you partiers.
I welcome 2010, the first year of the second decade of the 21st century, with a child-like enthusiasm, a feeling of humble dedication towards making the most out of every opportunity that comes my way. In that spirit, I'm doing away with lists of intentions or resolutions. There is only this one: To celebrate and make the most of every moment of this precious human birth. No wasted time, no wasted opportunities, no matter how small. Every moment to be lived with intention, no matter what the intention, rather than passively letting time and life flow past. This means making choices in all things, from what script to develop, to what to wear to work, to how I eat, to how much time is spent in front of the TV, to what time to get up in the morning, to meditating at my shrine, to what ways I can make City on the Edge of Forever work for me, instead of allowing myself to be depressed and defeated by it.
I wish everyone a healthy new year with plenty of opportunity and intentions of your own. Thank you for reading my burblings on Fred In The Can. Be safe tonight, all you partiers.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Went a little crazy with the post-Christmas consumption of commercial goods, but nothing I purchased today is wasteful. A new valise to carry around my work and not look like a grad student. A new power cord to the ole' MacBook Pro so that I can have dual work stations at home (and incidentally, so I can work here in Cleveland even though I left the power cord at home). A car charger for my iPod (at Marshals for $8!). Two games at 40% and 50% off - Hang Four (a surfing doggeh card game) and The Big Kahuna (Tiki guys galore). A wipey cloth for my laptop. Bizarro bought me a pair of earrings on clearance for belly dancing (they're rather big and flashy, not for work). I also treated myself to a quickie manicure (at a cheap price) - lavender, of course.
Best of all, we had a few minutes by the lake in the mid-afternoon sunshine. Photos soon to come. The best part of the day was free!
I've done well with the level of food intake; my healthy, filling breakfast of yogurt and oatmeal is leaving me full until 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and I've been eating a sammich and one side dish for lunch. Dinner is whatever Mom and Dad Bizarro make, but as with tonight's dinner of (fried) lumpia, I only had a few, and instead had two bowls of soup and a largeish salad. And only a few spoonfuls of rice. As long as they see me eating a little of everything, they leave me alone. Hee. Of course, I've had more than my fair share of Christmas cookies, but still within normal range.
And now the exciting stuff: I've been "hired" to proof read for a small press that is publishing original novels of Space: 1999. I've been email pals with one of the writers, who eventually took over the role of editor when the actual editor had to manage some personal crises that prevented him from doing the work of publishing books that had already been written. At this point we're gonna get all the books out in 2010 that were supposed to have come out earlier this year. I say "hired" in quotation marks because although he's cut me in on this, I won't see money for awhile. However, I will see money, and let's face it, I can put this on my C.V. That alone is worth the time I'm taking.
Now, I've also been working with the writer-cum-editor on some ideas for a TV pilot pitch. That's right - if Battlestar Galactica with their disco capes and King Tut-style space helmets can be reimagined - and hell, if Star Trek can be messed with - then Space: 1999 needs a jolt of its own. At present I don't know if I want to go the route of alt history or create a different title set another 1000 years in the future. It's a primordial work in progress at the moment, but it's very exciting, especially with my writing retreat coming up.
And so, 2009 is winding down with some great possibilities lined up in 2010. New job as a permanent writing tutor, new manager interested in my scripts, new side job as a proof reader, and many new ideas ready to break out into the world. Made a couple new friends this year, and I'm looking forward to nurturing those relationships in the new year, as well. 2010 feels like it's going to be a great year!
Right now, though, it's time to catch the Doctor Who Christmas Special on BBC America! Time to say good bye to David Tennant. He's my personal iconic Doctor, and always will be.
Best of all, we had a few minutes by the lake in the mid-afternoon sunshine. Photos soon to come. The best part of the day was free!
I've done well with the level of food intake; my healthy, filling breakfast of yogurt and oatmeal is leaving me full until 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and I've been eating a sammich and one side dish for lunch. Dinner is whatever Mom and Dad Bizarro make, but as with tonight's dinner of (fried) lumpia, I only had a few, and instead had two bowls of soup and a largeish salad. And only a few spoonfuls of rice. As long as they see me eating a little of everything, they leave me alone. Hee. Of course, I've had more than my fair share of Christmas cookies, but still within normal range.
And now the exciting stuff: I've been "hired" to proof read for a small press that is publishing original novels of Space: 1999. I've been email pals with one of the writers, who eventually took over the role of editor when the actual editor had to manage some personal crises that prevented him from doing the work of publishing books that had already been written. At this point we're gonna get all the books out in 2010 that were supposed to have come out earlier this year. I say "hired" in quotation marks because although he's cut me in on this, I won't see money for awhile. However, I will see money, and let's face it, I can put this on my C.V. That alone is worth the time I'm taking.
Now, I've also been working with the writer-cum-editor on some ideas for a TV pilot pitch. That's right - if Battlestar Galactica with their disco capes and King Tut-style space helmets can be reimagined - and hell, if Star Trek can be messed with - then Space: 1999 needs a jolt of its own. At present I don't know if I want to go the route of alt history or create a different title set another 1000 years in the future. It's a primordial work in progress at the moment, but it's very exciting, especially with my writing retreat coming up.
And so, 2009 is winding down with some great possibilities lined up in 2010. New job as a permanent writing tutor, new manager interested in my scripts, new side job as a proof reader, and many new ideas ready to break out into the world. Made a couple new friends this year, and I'm looking forward to nurturing those relationships in the new year, as well. 2010 feels like it's going to be a great year!
Right now, though, it's time to catch the Doctor Who Christmas Special on BBC America! Time to say good bye to David Tennant. He's my personal iconic Doctor, and always will be.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Happy Birthday, Rod Serling
RS was a fan of the Christmas spirit, despite the fact that he was Jewish. He once described himself as a Christmas present delivered unwrapped (born on Dec. 25, 1924).
It's late in the afternoon on Christmas day, and Bizarro is lying beside me taking a nap. The lasagna will come out of the oven very soon, and I believe dinner will be set shortly. It's been a good couple of days here at the Bizarro household in Cleveland, though I will feely admit that I really wanted to be with my family gathered at Pat & Beckie's last night. They passed the phone around when I called so I could briefly chat with everyone - even Owen! I went into a bit of a funk after watching "White Christmas," that being Mom's favorite Christmas movies. I perked up later on, though, and then of course was the midnight unwrapping of gifts and eating a petit meal around 1:00 am. Needless to say, I slept in today.
Yesterday we hit a couple stores, including my favorite Italian grocery this side of the North End - Alesci's. It was like heaven; I could've spent the entire day in that place. I fully intend to return tomorrow and buy some home-baked bread, and more capicola (and I didn't have to pronounce it "cappa-cola" for the guys at the meat counter!). The smells and sights really bring back a lot of sense memories from childhood.
Also had a glorious trip to Half-Priced Books with a gift card from the in-laws, and came home with a few prizes, including the director's cut of Blade Runner, and a Twilight Zone-themed collection of short stories edited by Carol Serling (RS has one story in there which I haven't read). The fluffy purchase was a tarot card set with Egyptian iconography and supposed hieroglyphs.
The days have started to meld together as they often do here, with all the sitting/lying around that goes on, so I have made a point to do yoga and journal and DO things as often as possible. It's so tempting to fall into that spaced-out state that this house seems to encourage. I'm doing my best to keep myself pulled together in that respect, if for no other reason than not to gain 5 lbs before I get home.
And speaking of which, it's time to take the lasagna out of the oven. Happy Christmas, all !
It's late in the afternoon on Christmas day, and Bizarro is lying beside me taking a nap. The lasagna will come out of the oven very soon, and I believe dinner will be set shortly. It's been a good couple of days here at the Bizarro household in Cleveland, though I will feely admit that I really wanted to be with my family gathered at Pat & Beckie's last night. They passed the phone around when I called so I could briefly chat with everyone - even Owen! I went into a bit of a funk after watching "White Christmas," that being Mom's favorite Christmas movies. I perked up later on, though, and then of course was the midnight unwrapping of gifts and eating a petit meal around 1:00 am. Needless to say, I slept in today.
Yesterday we hit a couple stores, including my favorite Italian grocery this side of the North End - Alesci's. It was like heaven; I could've spent the entire day in that place. I fully intend to return tomorrow and buy some home-baked bread, and more capicola (and I didn't have to pronounce it "cappa-cola" for the guys at the meat counter!). The smells and sights really bring back a lot of sense memories from childhood.
Also had a glorious trip to Half-Priced Books with a gift card from the in-laws, and came home with a few prizes, including the director's cut of Blade Runner, and a Twilight Zone-themed collection of short stories edited by Carol Serling (RS has one story in there which I haven't read). The fluffy purchase was a tarot card set with Egyptian iconography and supposed hieroglyphs.
The days have started to meld together as they often do here, with all the sitting/lying around that goes on, so I have made a point to do yoga and journal and DO things as often as possible. It's so tempting to fall into that spaced-out state that this house seems to encourage. I'm doing my best to keep myself pulled together in that respect, if for no other reason than not to gain 5 lbs before I get home.
And speaking of which, it's time to take the lasagna out of the oven. Happy Christmas, all !
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Christmas Time Is Near
This was my very first record as a child. The next one was, I believe, the soundtrack to Star Wars.
I rather identify with Alvin, especially "Let's do it again! Whaddya mean, 'over do it'?"
Tomorrow we drive to Cleveland, so yesterday and today have been filled with preparations, shopping, house cleaning (cause I despise coming home to a dirty apartment) and an attempt at detoxing before the onslaught of greasy meat, fried everything, and sugar bombs. I am going to eat small portions and avoid rice, and we're bringing our favorite Brown Cow chocolate yogurt and oatmeal. At least I can have a decent breakfast (although Bizarro will eat every scrap of the fried eggs, bacon, sausage and rice that his dad fixes for breakfast EVERY DAY). If this week-long trip doesn't give him a blocked artery, it'll be a miracle.
Then of course on the way back to New York next week, we're stopping over at our beloved Splash Lagoon. I had to pick up a pair of flip flops for the occasion, since I did away with all mine after I was told that they were hurting my ankles (after spraining them both last year). The Splash Lagoon and hotel pool will get me started on a good exercise program for the winter. I plan on using the pool where I work this break.
Soon I'll be posting my Best/Worst of 2009 (that'll be a doozey) and my Bliss List for 2010, so keep an eye out.
Meantime, I'm sending warm Christmas and New Year wishes. Yesterday was Yule, so from now on the days will get a little longer, the nights a little shorter. Here's to the coming of the Sun!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
She got belly
I went back to belly dance class a couple weeks ago, after over a year off, and it was both fun and nerve-wracking. Clearly, even with the Yoga, I'm out of shape. The other night I showed up for class, but no one else did, so I ended up having a private lesson. It was wonderful; my teacher and I went through a few things that I needed help with, and we also identified a few things that I need to avoid to keep my knee and lower back safe. It was really inspiring - I looked in the mirror and didn't have that body-loathing that so often accompanies a full-length mirror with tight-fitting or skimpy clothing on. I found myself really able to relax with the music and the moves, and didn't worry so much about doing it "right" as doing it "well," if that makes any sense.
This whole "doing it right" thing stems from my childhood, living with a perfectionist (a couple of them, actually). It's taken its toll on my creativity and my motivation, and I am constantly finding ways to unravel it. Belly dance, it would seem, is one such way that both embraces life and movement, and encourages the fire of creativity. My creative volcano (oblique Hawaii reference there)!
Here's a belly dancer who really inspires me with her grace, charm, joie de vivre, and the fact that she looks like a woman, not a stick-figure in a coin bra and fringe. I love Aziza!
This whole "doing it right" thing stems from my childhood, living with a perfectionist (a couple of them, actually). It's taken its toll on my creativity and my motivation, and I am constantly finding ways to unravel it. Belly dance, it would seem, is one such way that both embraces life and movement, and encourages the fire of creativity. My creative volcano (oblique Hawaii reference there)!
Here's a belly dancer who really inspires me with her grace, charm, joie de vivre, and the fact that she looks like a woman, not a stick-figure in a coin bra and fringe. I love Aziza!
Friday, December 11, 2009
I'll Be Home For Christmas...
Just created my Pandora holiday music station - classics like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and of course my guy, Perry Como. There's also Dean Martin, Sinatra, Burl Ives, Johnny Mathis.
Classes are done for 2009. By this time next week I will be completely done with finals and grading. I have already started getting into the Christmas Spirit, which by the way is completely possible for a non-Christian. 'Cause guess what? We're all about the same thing: peace on Earth, good will to all. That's what it's all about, folks. This year is very special - my first Christmas without both parents, but again I keep feeling this inescapable RELIEF, as if my Mom and Dad are telling me to go ahead and enjoy myself in full, at long last. I intend to!
It'll be great to see my in-laws for the holiday, and to soak up the Cleveland holiday spirit (leg lamp, anyone?). Meantime, I've decked out our apartment in lights and some very special decorations that came from Mom's - and in the case of the "Jingle Bells" - from my childhood. The Jingle Bells is an ancient (older than me) door ornament, a huge bell-shaped affair with a music box that plays... you know. It's hanging right next to our door and I love it. I can see it and pull the string from my desk for a quick shot of Christmas Spirit any time.
I want to know your favorite Christmas songs! Leave a comment and let me know!
My Top5 6 Christmas Songs
1. Home For the Holidays, by Perry Como
2. Jingle Bells, by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
3. Mele Kalikimaka, by Bing Crosby
4. Happy Christmas (War Is Over), John Lennon & Yoko Ono
5. Wonderful Christmastime, Paul McCartney
6. Adeste Fideles, by Nat King Cole
Classes are done for 2009. By this time next week I will be completely done with finals and grading. I have already started getting into the Christmas Spirit, which by the way is completely possible for a non-Christian. 'Cause guess what? We're all about the same thing: peace on Earth, good will to all. That's what it's all about, folks. This year is very special - my first Christmas without both parents, but again I keep feeling this inescapable RELIEF, as if my Mom and Dad are telling me to go ahead and enjoy myself in full, at long last. I intend to!
It'll be great to see my in-laws for the holiday, and to soak up the Cleveland holiday spirit (leg lamp, anyone?). Meantime, I've decked out our apartment in lights and some very special decorations that came from Mom's - and in the case of the "Jingle Bells" - from my childhood. The Jingle Bells is an ancient (older than me) door ornament, a huge bell-shaped affair with a music box that plays... you know. It's hanging right next to our door and I love it. I can see it and pull the string from my desk for a quick shot of Christmas Spirit any time.
I want to know your favorite Christmas songs! Leave a comment and let me know!
My Top
1. Home For the Holidays, by Perry Como
2. Jingle Bells, by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
3. Mele Kalikimaka, by Bing Crosby
4. Happy Christmas (War Is Over), John Lennon & Yoko Ono
5. Wonderful Christmastime, Paul McCartney
6. Adeste Fideles, by Nat King Cole
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Ed! to the rescue
So as you know, I was feeling down and out today. I got on ye olde Facebooke and had a chat with my dear Dharma friend Ed! in Columbus. He tipped me off to a very cool thing: my constant illnesses, one after the other, may well be a ripening of karma. Now, this isn't to say that I shouldn't keep striving for a healthier immune system, etc. but somehow this puts a spin on things that helps me to relax. "The Rinpoches," he wrote, "would tell you to get all Tonglen-y with it." Tonglen is a beautiful practice of dedicating the merit of your own suffering to the elimination of the suffering of others (in a nutshell). It takes the emphasis off your own pain, and puts it into a much larger context. And on a karmic level, it helps to purify that negative icky stuff.
Now for those of my tiny readership that don't buy into the laws of karma or Dharma, hey that's cool. If nothing else, getting the focus off the "me" is never a bad thing; it produces a more compassionate person.
So hey, it's hep to have a runny nose! It's cool to sneeze all over the place! Out with the mucus already! Sore throats make the world go 'round! Sinuses are the chambers of goodness and universal harmony! Cold sores are, well those are kinda nasty, but harbingers of good things to come nonetheless!
Now for those of my tiny readership that don't buy into the laws of karma or Dharma, hey that's cool. If nothing else, getting the focus off the "me" is never a bad thing; it produces a more compassionate person.
So hey, it's hep to have a runny nose! It's cool to sneeze all over the place! Out with the mucus already! Sore throats make the world go 'round! Sinuses are the chambers of goodness and universal harmony! Cold sores are, well those are kinda nasty, but harbingers of good things to come nonetheless!
Keeping my face screwed on
I've been floundering lately. And I don't mean fishing for flounder. Okay that was dumb. Point is, I've been feeling pretty bad about things of late. I tend to get bound up in all the particulars of "ways in which I am not happy" and I made a very erroneous assumption: that things will always be this way. I lose sight of the fact that a) I'm pulling out of a long, sad, awful period of my life, and it's going to take time to get back on an even keel, b) I really do have some great opportunities to teach and get some good experience under my belt, c) I have time to write, d) I only have to stick it out in City on the Edge of Forever until Bizarro gets his degree; at that point we will decide what is next, and there is nothing that ties us down here (unless we choose to stay).
I'm forever feeling FORCED into the situation, or TRAPPED into something that is mediocre, at best, depressing at worst. I see there are lot of ways my life is not what I'd like, and knowing that I turn 42 in three months doesn't help my feeling of being behind schedule, and just overall feeling like shit about my situation. Still working part time teaching jobs, living in an apartment, driving a car that's slowly falling apart, gaining weight every year, meanwhile the gray hairs keep coming in and I stare at the web-cam of my beach at Nantasket every day, wishing I was by the ocean.
So I have to remind myself every now and again that all that is truly temporary. I've traveled many paths in the first few decades of my life, including the humbling road of being my mother's caretaker and champion, and thus it's taking me a little longer to get where I want to be. But truly I'm a better person for the places I've been. At least I like to hope so.
I am feeling confident that the experience I'll have as an adjunct writing tutor will help me to get a full time job when we are ready to move. I have to believe this, or else it's just another job with no future, like so many I've held before it.
Perhaps that's really what's bothered me - feeling like I don't really have a future. Like I'm just throwing band-aids on top of band-aids. I need to believe that I'm working towards something, with my teaching and writing. I'm not just floundering. Keeping it real, but keeping the dream alive.
I'm forever feeling FORCED into the situation, or TRAPPED into something that is mediocre, at best, depressing at worst. I see there are lot of ways my life is not what I'd like, and knowing that I turn 42 in three months doesn't help my feeling of being behind schedule, and just overall feeling like shit about my situation. Still working part time teaching jobs, living in an apartment, driving a car that's slowly falling apart, gaining weight every year, meanwhile the gray hairs keep coming in and I stare at the web-cam of my beach at Nantasket every day, wishing I was by the ocean.
So I have to remind myself every now and again that all that is truly temporary. I've traveled many paths in the first few decades of my life, including the humbling road of being my mother's caretaker and champion, and thus it's taking me a little longer to get where I want to be. But truly I'm a better person for the places I've been. At least I like to hope so.
I am feeling confident that the experience I'll have as an adjunct writing tutor will help me to get a full time job when we are ready to move. I have to believe this, or else it's just another job with no future, like so many I've held before it.
Perhaps that's really what's bothered me - feeling like I don't really have a future. Like I'm just throwing band-aids on top of band-aids. I need to believe that I'm working towards something, with my teaching and writing. I'm not just floundering. Keeping it real, but keeping the dream alive.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Here we go...
I am really quite peeved that I've caught another virus (cold). WTF? I'm doing everything right, I'm getting acupuncture to strengthen my immune system, and STILL I get sick. I've about had it with this body. I'm ready to trade it in for a better model. Sleeker, stronger, less weepy, and with working joints.
This is the last week of classes at both colleges, so I can't be out again. It's final script reading and grammar review time, respectively, and I need to be here for this work. I just need to make it through another week (with finals) and then I'll be on break.
Ahh winter break, that wonderful time where I get to catch up on sleep and writing, in which I don't get paid for a month. There will be no Xmas presents this year. There will be no sending out 50 xmas cards, either. My immediate family gets cards, and that's it. I'd rather call the people who are far away that I think about at the holidays.
I don't know how people with kids do it. I can barely keep myself running; I couldn't imagine having to be in charge of small human beings keeping their shit together as well. Especially in this day and age.
Okay, here's my list of things I want to do/see/eat in Cleveland approximately two weeks from now (in no particular order)
+ Cleveland Museum of Art
+ Caribou Coffee (to hang out and write)
+ Alesci's Italian Grocery and Deli - Capicola and sausage! (And can I just say I'm so fucking sick of the yokel-locals around here insisting on calling it "cappa-cola." Plebes.)
+ Christmas lights downtown
+ Visit my friend Pat H., one of the teachers from my trip to China in '04. That woman can DRINK!
+ Play Scrabble with my sister-in-law, so that the Moning (Tagalog for kitteh) can sit herself in the middle of the board and mess up the tiles.
+ Make lasagna for my Filipino family.
+ Go to one of the swanky bars on 6th and sing that Cleveland tourism video song "It's the perfect place if you're a douchebag."
+ Drive around the Flats and sing that other Cleveland tourism video song "The Flats look like a Scooby Doo ghost-town."
This is the last week of classes at both colleges, so I can't be out again. It's final script reading and grammar review time, respectively, and I need to be here for this work. I just need to make it through another week (with finals) and then I'll be on break.
Ahh winter break, that wonderful time where I get to catch up on sleep and writing, in which I don't get paid for a month. There will be no Xmas presents this year. There will be no sending out 50 xmas cards, either. My immediate family gets cards, and that's it. I'd rather call the people who are far away that I think about at the holidays.
I don't know how people with kids do it. I can barely keep myself running; I couldn't imagine having to be in charge of small human beings keeping their shit together as well. Especially in this day and age.
Okay, here's my list of things I want to do/see/eat in Cleveland approximately two weeks from now (in no particular order)
+ Cleveland Museum of Art
+ Caribou Coffee (to hang out and write)
+ Alesci's Italian Grocery and Deli - Capicola and sausage! (And can I just say I'm so fucking sick of the yokel-locals around here insisting on calling it "cappa-cola." Plebes.)
+ Christmas lights downtown
+ Visit my friend Pat H., one of the teachers from my trip to China in '04. That woman can DRINK!
+ Play Scrabble with my sister-in-law, so that the Moning (Tagalog for kitteh) can sit herself in the middle of the board and mess up the tiles.
+ Make lasagna for my Filipino family.
+ Go to one of the swanky bars on 6th and sing that Cleveland tourism video song "It's the perfect place if you're a douchebag."
+ Drive around the Flats and sing that other Cleveland tourism video song "The Flats look like a Scooby Doo ghost-town."
Monday, December 07, 2009
More holiday cheer from Plan59.com
Blogger's photo uploader stopped working, so I had to wait until later to post these:
That's a chilly house they have there. I guess walls were too expensive in the '50s.
Her husband's floozy - stored in the freezer for future, um, snow balling.
I'll have what she's having...
OH NO THEY DIN'T!
That's a chilly house they have there. I guess walls were too expensive in the '50s.
Her husband's floozy - stored in the freezer for future, um, snow balling.
I'll have what she's having...
OH NO THEY DIN'T!
Holiday Cheer...Mid-Century Modern Style!
Of course, when you're the woman of the house STUCK IN THE KITCHEN ALL DAY MAKING A HUGE-ASS CHRISTMAS DINNER, it's handy to be able to chat on the phone while you smoke a pack of cigs and nip the cooking sherry. Ahhhh the good old days.
Speaking of that pack of cigs...
Did you know that in the '50s, they played with toy trains in their underwear? By themselves? In the attic?
(All images from Plan 59.)
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Let it snow, let it snow, come on baby, light my fire.
It's snowing. Which means the sky has been gray since before the sun came up (or did it?), and I woke up with a distinct lack of zip this morning. This is what happens, people. This is what happens to Ms. Bizarro when winter sets in, the sun doesn't shine, and the outside walls of the apartment are approximately the temperature of a penguin's tittie.
I look around me as I sit at my desk - my Wild Republic monkey watching sightlessly with his endless winter ennui, my palm tree magnets mocking me on the white board, the very last month of 2009 on the calendar reminding me that Hawaii is made of lava, the Barrel Man gazing out the window as appalled as I am, and of course, my Rod Serling Foundation card proclaiming my membership-in-good standing - and I am reminded that I have a lot of writing to do (as well as grading, of course, it being end of the semester). I know that I really shouldn't watch those last 3 episodes of TikiBar TV. I know that I need to take charge of my winter blues and also do some laundry because I am down to the little white socks I only wear in the summer with sneakers.
And so, on December 5, the birthday of my grand-niece Erin Dorothy, and my close, personal friend Racheeee Schmiff, winter has finally begun. I feel the cold, clammy weight of it, and I say, it's time to light a fire in the fireplace (as opposed to the futon) and drink a hot toddy out of a Tiki Mug.
I look around me as I sit at my desk - my Wild Republic monkey watching sightlessly with his endless winter ennui, my palm tree magnets mocking me on the white board, the very last month of 2009 on the calendar reminding me that Hawaii is made of lava, the Barrel Man gazing out the window as appalled as I am, and of course, my Rod Serling Foundation card proclaiming my membership-in-good standing - and I am reminded that I have a lot of writing to do (as well as grading, of course, it being end of the semester). I know that I really shouldn't watch those last 3 episodes of TikiBar TV. I know that I need to take charge of my winter blues and also do some laundry because I am down to the little white socks I only wear in the summer with sneakers.
And so, on December 5, the birthday of my grand-niece Erin Dorothy, and my close, personal friend Racheeee Schmiff, winter has finally begun. I feel the cold, clammy weight of it, and I say, it's time to light a fire in the fireplace (as opposed to the futon) and drink a hot toddy out of a Tiki Mug.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Because sometimes one is better than too many
Sitting here in my office at work, enjoying the easy listening sounds of Walter Wanderley, Wes Montgomery and their ilk over Pandora. Today students are handing in their final screenplay projects. Tomorrow I get a stack of essays from the remedial writing students. I plan to plow through all of these in as timely a fashion as possible, so that I can focus on planning for next semester and get everything ready before the holiday and my writing retreat.
Hm, well except that there's the final exam I have to give on the 14th and then GROUP GRADE that same night from 6 p.m. until god knows when. Group grading, in case you're wondering, is a Communist form of evaluating student work and I despise it. Here's what we were told to do in an email this week:
I am exhausted just thinking about this. Know what's even worse? I have to be in the classroom at 7:30 the next morning for a "final exam" that I don't even have. We have to meet during final exam times, even if we don't give final exams!
Hm, well except that there's the final exam I have to give on the 14th and then GROUP GRADE that same night from 6 p.m. until god knows when. Group grading, in case you're wondering, is a Communist form of evaluating student work and I despise it. Here's what we were told to do in an email this week:
After the exam, we will meet to group grade the paragraphs. We’ll meet in ### at 6:00pm. Let me know if this will create a problem for you. We divide into grading teams of three. Two other instructors grade your exams Pass or Fail before you make the final decision. In the borderline situations, there will be enough people around to give a few extra reads. Also, this is where your grammar exam can help us make a clear decision. Students who do poorly on grammar on both the paragraph and the grammar test show that they didn’t just fail to edit enough before handing in the paragraph. They do not have a solid grasp of basic grammar and will not be best served by moving on to English 100. On the other hand, students who do extremely well on the grammar test can be given the benefit of the doubt.
I am exhausted just thinking about this. Know what's even worse? I have to be in the classroom at 7:30 the next morning for a "final exam" that I don't even have. We have to meet during final exam times, even if we don't give final exams!
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