I found these pictures of various locations of earth from one of my "interesting" blogs. The images were taken by satellites and then false color was added. The one I feature definitely reminds me of Van Gogh's "Starry Night". The green patches are phosphorescent plankton. I love the swirls of the ocean compared with the green and brown of the land. It's a beautiful contrast. Seeing an entire island this small, I feel like a speck on the earth. And really I am. I am one of ~6 billion people on the earth. One of ~300 million in the United States. One of ~6 million in Indiana. One of ~300,000 in Allen county. I am small compared to those giant numbers, but I love these photos. They give me a tangible perspective. I am really enjoying the beauty depicted. And after the day I had today, I need something beautiful. So enjoy!
Highlight of the Week -- Firefly Conversations and HP!
Usually I pick one highlight of the week, but this week I just couldn't choose. So I'm choosing two highlights of the week!
Firefly Conversations
I spend most days at Firefly, a local coffee shop. I'm there so often, I've officially become a regular. The baristas know me by sight if not by name. I've had conversations with many of the other regular patrons. The owner even stops to chat a minute almost every time I see her. Overall, it's a great homey spot. I love the decor, the coffee's good, the music's usually good (except last week's classic lite rock debacle), and the conversations are always great.
Some days it's just me. Others the bf joins to work on his real job. And then there are those days when a good "mom" friend and the bff join. Those are the days that get out of control, but are always awesome. This past week was no different.
On Wednesday, the bf, bff, and "mom" friend all joined at the Firefly. We chatted about this and that, but then our conversation turned very weird. I was looking through ThinkGeek.com for Christmas Present ideas, when I ran across the most amazing shirt ever. In medieval looking script it said, "Huge tracts of land." For those of you not up on your Monty Python, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail there's a great scene of a dad and his son. The son has been betrothed, but "just wants to dance." The dad is trying to sell the son on the marriage. In describing the betrothed, he comments that she has "huge tracts of land." He is referring to her land, but says it by pantomiming large breasts. It is priceless. The skit goes on for a few minutes like that.
Of course, the bff, "mom" friend, and I are huge fans of Monty Python and immediately started laughing. The "mom" friend commented that her husband would love that shirt as she has "huge tracts of land." The bff looked chestward sadly and commented, "I don't have 'huge tracts' so can mine say 'Medium tracts of land.' Or how about '.567 acres assessed?' And add 'a spacious backyard.'" I was laughing so hard, I could hardly catch my breath. Even the guy sitting at the next table, was laughing with us. Or was it at us? At any rate, we had a great laugh. For the rest of the time there, we kept sliding the comments back into casual conversation. I was laughing for the rest of my time at the coffeehouse.
It's days like Wednesday that make me realize how much I appreciate my friends. They are there for me in good times and bad. They make me laugh to the point of almost peeing my pants. But most importantly, they "get" me, weirdness and all.
*I must get that shirt now! It's too good not to.
Harry Potter
I have been waiting for the first part of the finale for months. Of course I had to go to the midnight showing. And of course, I loved it!
Midnight showings are a tradition. Starting last school year, some of my students and I and sometimes some other teachers would attend midnight premieres of movies. We always arrive sometime around 9 and then... wait for 3 hours. We could just go see the movie on Friday night, but where's the fun in that? Sometimes we have four people attend, sometimes we have ten people. Whatever the attendance, it's always a good time. We stock up on candy and drinks, sometimes get popcorn, and make sure to throw a deck of cards into our purse before leaving.
Last night was no different. I had an array of candy and drinks, the bf bought popcorn, and we had UNO to entertain until the movie. Usually they let the audience into the theater sometime around 11:30, but because the crowd was large, we were let in at 10. So we moved into the theater, grabbed our regular seats (row behind the railing), and then... waited. We joked around, saw people we knew, and act a ridiculous amount of snacks. Finally it was 10 minutes before midnight. Cue the pre-movie pee to make sure our bladders are empty for no interruptions during the movie.
The previews began: A great one for Tron, one for The Green Hornet, another for The Green Lantern, and one or two that I can't remember. I plan definitely to see those three movies.
And then the actual movie started: Awesome! Slower movie, but remember this is part 1 of the finale. In many ways it was setting up for the big battles. I loved the quiet moments; in between times of reflection or conversations. The characters have definitely grown over the short break between the stories. I see them developing into who they will be after. I loved the action sequences. The scene in Godric's Hollow was creepy on-screen. I even think I jumped a bit, even though I knew what was coming. The sets were on an epic scale. It was great! I loved every minute of it. It didn't drag at all. I was awake and paid attention the entire time.
I can not wait until July!!!! I smell another midnight premiere on the schedule.
Frankenstein Apple
While randomly browsing through the internet, I ran across this photo. Interesting, weird, slightly disturbing, beautiful... Are those contradictory? No, I think not. Those words describe this photo perfectly.
Apple OP by wolkentanzer
Phrases that come to mind: A juxtaposition. Opposites attract. A monster. A mash-up of sorts.
Thoughts after viewing: This is a perfect visual representation of my life right now. I feel like I have these two sides that I'm trying to stick together. But they don't connect naturally. They may even in fact be polar opposites. The flimsy staples are a an attempt to connect two very different pieces.
I have recently started a new job. After three years of teaching high school social studies, my school closed. I now have a part-time job doing marketing for a Facebook application company. You might be thinking "Okay just a career change." But here's the thing, I've always wanted to be a teacher. And the three years I was getting paid (very little, but that's another story), I absolutely loved it. I love teaching (and teaching high schoolers to boot). As a child, I would play "school" with my stuffed animals and dolls. I think I was destined to be a teacher. But my school closed and then I was going to move to another state to attend law school. But then that plan had to be put on hold indefinitely. So, then I needed a job. And guess what? The local school systems are in the process of cutting the budget and that means cutting jobs. Bottom line: no teaching jobs available in the immediate area.
I went on unemployment and started applying for anything and everything that would make about the same salary. (Hey! I have two kids to try and support and need a livable income.) Surprise surprise, nothing really out there. Oh there are tons of job listings on Careebuilder and Monster and the like, but none of those companies really seem to be hiring. For example, the local hospital was hiring patient registrars. I worked for an orthopedic surgeon off and on for the past 6 years. Guess what I did? Check patients in and out, schedule. answer phones. And this hospital told me that I wasn't qualified for the position. Phooey!
About two weeks ago I was offered a job as a Marketing Intern for this new company. What do I know about marketing? Nothing really. I'm making this up as a I go along. I've checked out books from the library. I've read people's blogs. So far, so good...
But this isn't my dream job. I don't want to be doing this for the next five years. I want to get back into teaching or go to law school and be a student.
Right now my life really feels like this Frankenstein Apple.
http://wolkentanzer.deviantart.com/
Highlight of the Week
It's always good to reflect on our lives. What's gone well? What's gone bad? What was absolutely ridiculous? So what was my highlight of the week? The best thing/activity/conversation/etc.? The best of the best... This week's best -- Karaoke on Friday!
Friday night I went to dinner with some friends, moved to Firefly for some good acoustic music, and then arrived at the bar. My bff went on and on all week about doing karaoke this weekend. We finally decided to do it. And I have to say, it was awesome.
When we arrived the bar was half full of crooners over 65 singing country and Sinatra. Interesting crowd! Then we come in with some very unrelated music. Of course we had to first prepare ourselves for the experience. I am definitely not the fearless one of the group, so we all needed a little encouragement. After two gin and tonics, we were ready to go. Now what songs to choose?
We had to start with our standard "Build Me Up Buttercup" and then moved to "Knock Three Times." Of course to get to our songs, we had to wait probably 30 minutes and endure some very off-key country songs (think Alan Jackson without half his teeth).
And then we discussed our next songs: do we go with country, try a real song with real notes, or move to the ridiculous? The bff decided to go the ridiculous route, but I found out later that she hid the slip in her bra! Ugh! Woman! What you doing? Anyway, the bff's sister decided we had to do Joan Jett's "I Love Rock n Roll." Always an amazing choice. But then she left before our slip came up. Ugh! But that's okay, the bff redeemed herself and sang with me.
Awesome karaoke fun!
*The bf spent most of the night doing crossword puzzles on the iPad and/or laughing at our singing. One of these days, he will embarrass himself like us. That day would definitely make the highlight of the week!
These are a few of my favorite things...
Taking a cue from my friend Catharine's blog, I present a list of my favorite things:
Hot tea on a cold night
Random humming
Pumpkin Chai Lattes
Signage mistakes
Giggles
Greek Pasta Salad
Purple
Red Shiny Stiletto Boots
Blank Composition Books
Freshly sharpened pencils
Warm breezes
Ridiculous Karaoke
Bar Bingo
Wall murals
Colorful pens
Plaid
Cell ringtones
Furniture shopping
Paper lanterns
Little boy imaginations
New haircuts
Stick figures
Music (any music really)
http://caites-whispertothewind.blogspot.com/
What are your favorite things?
Wading in to another blog
I've started another blog. This one is for me... a place for me to collect my thoughts, share some ideas, be a record of me. The two other blogs that I write for are very specific. And while I enjoy writing for them... they are just so darn specific. If I want to wonder about the weather or share my thoughts on a non-education or tech book I just read, I can't. So, this one will be my personal outlet. If anyone gets around to reading this... enjoy! Just remember, most days I am fairly scatter brained and random. Prepare to get ridiculous!