a busy holiday, but not like you might expect...

thanksgiving is now behind us. wow, what a crazy holiday that was! i didnt do anything even remotely close to a traditional thanksgiving. my family actually came down here this year. my brother-in-law found a great piece of carpet, so they decided to come down and lay it in my living room. score. my carpet was pathetic to say the least. i figured if im emptying to room, i might as well repaint while im at it. so i did. the walls are a kind of brown/khaki/pumpkin color. sounds strange, but it looks cool! the trim is all white, and the carpet is a short white-ish color. i even found a new couch that fits so i could pitch out my nasty smelly old couch. it all matches quite well, and looks amazing! ill try and get a picture and put it on the PIWaS image gallery soon.
i had a very unthanksgivingy thanksgiving dinner. i ate frozen pizza and gatorade. fruit punch, in case you were wondering...

a tough deadline

im not really a fan of painting walls. i have to do it alot. each year i loose a renter i have to totally repaint the other apartment. ive also been slowly repainting each room of my place. i started with the bathroom (the smallest, so i figured id start easy) and it went well, but i forgot to paint the ceiling, so i have to do it over again sometime (which is ok, because the color i picked really sucks) then i repainted the kitchen. i went for a grayish purple, which i still like, and it looks good.
this weekend my brother-in-law is coming over to replace the carpet (thats what he does for a living, and he found a big piece of carpet for me for totally cheap) and for some reason i said i would repaint the walls in the living room before they come on thursday. that was stupid.
ive cleared out the room of all my junk (a huge job in itself...) and tonight i have to paint the ceiling and trim. yikes, its going to be a long night. im hoping that i will be able to get two layers of paint on the walls tomorrow and it will be dry by the time the family comes. we will see...

if i won the lotto...

last night i was talking to a friend of mine and we decided that i need to win the lotto. i decided that if i won i would spend the money on making a movie. it would be a movie about my life. it would be kind of boring, you know, right up until the point where i win the lotto. i would want part of the movie to be about us making the movie. try and get all that cool postmodern hyper real stuff. the movie would be about making the movie while we try and make a movie about making the movie. i would totally need Charlie Kaufman to write the script because hes really good at that post-postmodern stuff like adaptation and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.
in order to keep up that 'artistic film' feel i would want it to be in a foreign language. id really like to have lots of kung fu in the film so i think it would be best to have the film spoken in mandarin chinese.
my friend suggested that brad pitt play me, she said i totally look like him. i guess i agree, but i have larger wrists, so he would need to wear prosthetic forearms. but other than that, it would probably a perfect fit.
i would want to get leonard nemoy involved too. not for the star trek stuff, more for his great narrations in that nova show on pbs. id want him to narrate. but then james earl jones would start to narrate, and the two of them would start to fight and there would be a narration battle between the two of them.
i havent quite figured out how it would end, but im fairly sure i would end up getting the girl.

technical difficulties

its going to be a little while before i can update this regularly again. my computer is totally on the fritz. it hasnt been working reliably all week, and i dont expect it to get fixed until the weekend. oh well, im sure you can busy yourself with the archives. dont forget to check out the PIWaS movie and critique sites listed over there --->

a friendly reminder

i had forgotten. it took last night to remind me how fun it is to meet new people. i have always known, heck, ive moved around so much that meeting new people used to be a full time hobby! but its been a while. ive been comfortable with where i am and who i hang out with. last night i got the chance to meet a few new people.
it was cool to be able to start fresh again with people, i dont mean reinventing myself or anything, but its kind of fun being able to share your story again in a new way and include all the parts that are important now and skip over the things that are no longer important. also, it can provide new opportunities to make connections and learn about new things that others are interested in. and its always fun to hear different perpectives on topics from new people.

good days

today was a nice day at school. last year we, the teachers, decided that we should celebrate thanksgiving together. this is fairly difficult because we have to stay in our rooms during lunch and watch the kids. so, we actually plan an hour lunch for ourselves (score!) and have moms come in and watch the kids during this time. so today we got a great big old thanksgiving dinner with the turkey, the stuffing, everything! plus we got an hour long break from the kids. it doesnt get much better than that, now does it?
also, the high school only had a half day today because of parent/teacher conferences, so a bunch of 8th graders from last year came by to visit. it was really fun to see them again. i really enjoyed the class last year, they had a whole lot of personality (in a good way.)
and tonight i am going out to chilis for some fun with friends.
all in all, a pretty good day.

to be inspired

i think one of the most important things that can happen to you during the course of a day or week is to be inspired. it doesnt have to be some sort of earth shattering ground breaking "eureka!" sort of moment, but just a small moment in the day where you are inspired. it can be something as simple as working on a tough problem and finding a solution, or it can be as big as a life changed.
its so easy to fall into the habit of the ordinary, the mundane. but ive started to realize that is exactly what it is: a trap to fall into. we dont have to be bored by the repetition, we can see it as a challenge to find that spark of inspiration. i dont always know where to find it, and to be honest, i dont find it everyday. but the days that i do find it are the ones that i remember for a while.

ninjas vs. pirates

this is an age old question. which is cooler: ninjas or pirates? recently there has been a strong upturn in people who would claim that pirates are cooler, but i think this may just reflect the current rise in popularity due to the film pirates of the caribbean. in my opinion the obvious choice is ninjas.
sure, the life of a pirate has some great elements: a life of no responsibility, the promise of adventure, cool pets like talking birds and monkeys, tons of treasure hunting and the like, and an excuse to say "arrrrr" anytime you want. but the downside vastly outweights these positives: most pirates have a limb or two missing, they are often betrayed by their best friends, can get really sea sick, and dont even get me started on the scurvy...
ninjas on the other hand have a lot going for them as well, such as: cool costumes, tons of weapons like throwing stars and katana blades, the ability to lurk around in the shadows unseen, and a strong sense of honor among peers. even with all that great suff, there is still a downside: that whole honor thing also means you might be killed by the brother of someone you kill (or vice versa), and it is a fairly solitary life.
but i think all in all, the life of a ninja is totally cooler.

field trip

today we went on a trip to the local high school to see the students put on a play. the one this year was a midsummer night's dream. ive seen the play before and seen the movie, but i had forgotten a lot of it. what was the best part was the creativity of the director. they took this shakespear play about the craziness of love and wanted to show how being crazy in love is universal and is just as true today as it was when he wrote it. so, the cool twist was this: it was set in the 80's. sounds strange, but it was done quite well. the main characters were more the yuppie/preppie types, and the faries and puck were portrayed as punk rockers. really fun! it was also cool becouse a few of the actors are students that i taught last year. it was fun to get to see them again and to see them finding a place in high school. and i got a two hour break from the kids- score!

random entry

i have a really sensitive gag reflex. i almost up chucked this morning just from brushing my teeth.

i really enjoy the number 5.

i set my alarm clock 16 minutes fast to trick myself into getting up earlier. sometimes it works.

i dont like tomatoes, but i love ketchup.

my favorite nintendo nes game is super off road.

i really dont like mowing the lawn.

ive been to florida a couple times and california a couple times, but ive never set foot in the ocean.

im a pack rat.

all these years later, i still find myself amazed and mezmorized by my birthmark.

i have red facial hair.

sometimes i pretend to, but i dont actually like coffee.

i got an F in seventh grade spelling, but in eighth grade i was one of the final five in our school's spelling bee.

halloween

is it just me, or did halloween stink this year? the weather was kind of crappy around here, but that shouldnt be much of a surprise. it seems like every year it rains on halloween. every memory i have of going out and trick or treating includes a rainy night. maybe its just God's way of saying "quit it." but last night i was prepared for the kids to stop by. ive only had a real front door for the past couple years of my life, so still fun for me to have kids come for candy. i had my light on, my bowl of candy, and my happy face on. but alas, no kids. over the course of about 3 hours i only had about 12 kids come up. well, actually two groups of five, and one group of two. sad. is this normal? i dont remember it being this poorly attended last year. are the kids just too 'cool' now for it or something? its fairly disappointing to see.
i have a lot of really great memories growing up of my friends and i spending the week before talking about what we should wear and how much fun we were going to have. then the night of halloween actually going to the corner drug store and getting the costume because what we had spend so much time making turned out so bad. then, grab the pillow case of the bed, and off we went in search of sugery loot! the night was always a success, no matter who's house we started from because it was that one night a year when we were allowed to be a bit crazy and out-of-sorts. checking out the crazy decorations. always falling for the 'dummy' in the lawn chair that was actually a guy- boo! thinking up great ways we could scare the smaller kids. promising how this year we would go and t p someones house, but never actually doing it. never believing that the big kids would actually come and steal our candy, but keeping a watchful eye, just in case...
dang, halloween was fun!

the problems with email

i remember when emailing first showed up. it was so new and exciting! the problem was that the only people i knew were my friends i went to school with. and i always figured "why bother going through the hastle of turning on the computer, making sure my sister wasnt on the phone, try a dozen times to sign on to aol (and still fail) just so i could peck away at the keys of a keyboard all just to send a small message to a friend?" i just figured it was easier to call them on the phone, and a whole lot more fun.
i still kind of have that same feeling. sure, emails are great for short little messages or reminders, or sending info or pictures, but other than that, i would rather just talk on the phone for a while and catch up that way. i guess im just not very good at the one way conversation.

a brief look back

ive had this blog for about a month now. when i first started this i figured id try it for a month, and if i enjoyed it i would keep up on it, but if i got bored and didnt update it regularly i would just delete it. so, how have things been going? really good so far. its a whole lot more fun than i thought it would be. when i first heard about blogs i figured it was a stupid fad that would go away quickly. sure, it might be, but its been alot of fun so far. ive never been the journaling type, ive tried before but i get bored after about 3 days. its been cool taking time and organizing my thoughts (or lack there of) and share whats on my mind.
anyway, i think im addicted now. so, until they start making me pay for this stuff, i think ill keep plugging away at it!

i just had the craziest dream...

for some reason i cant figure out ive been having some really lucid dreams lately. usually i can remember dreams for a little bit after i wake up, maybe for 10 or 15 minutes. but the dreams are usually forgotten my the time im out of the shower. lately though, ive had some really crazy ones that just linger in my mind. the one this morning involved my brother and i going to some strange rome/pompii fantasy place to visit my dad. while we are there we meet up with my brothers friends, and we stay at a house owned by parents from my school. standard craziness so far. then it gets worse- the house is being robbed by gay roman ganstas who want all the silverware. we try and escape on a three seated unicycle (there are four of us, so one of us has to sit on another's shoulders) but end up getting really dizzy and fall over into a sandwich. i have no clue what its supposed to mean, but im just glad there werent any giant crabs wearing loafers... (extra points if you catch the reference)

the white sox suck

ok, let me explain that title. i dont really dislike the white sox, i dislike their fans. i live in a warzone area where the two warring sides are willing to kill for their opinions. white sox fans want to kill cubs fans, and cubs fans want to kill white sox fans. now, dont get me wrong, i hate cubs fans just as much as white sox fans. i dont care for any team at all. heck, i dont even like the game. all of these crazed fans care WAY too much about a boring game that is fun to play, but really boring to watch. but heres the thing that really gets me: most of the people who are these crazed fans only care about the teams because daddy does. if dad is a diehard fan then the children will follow suit. ah, its like a psychology lesson come to life. stupid.

(not) feeling groovy

this week is a short one, but that doesnt really make it any easier. tomorrow there wont be any kids, but its actually worse: we have to go to a teacher convention. suck. then on friday we have to come hear and spend the day working on files for accreditation. double suck. oh well, at least i have my health. oh wait, ive been sick all week and last night i had a fever. so, never mind about that 'having my health' thing. triple suck.

just wondering...

have you ever coughed so hard that you see blinky white spots for a couple minutes afterward? because i just did.

zoned out

it has been so hard to concentrate today. i am feeling really crappy. sinus, cough, throat stuff. i was feeling bad on sunday, but then it cleared up totally that afternoon and didnt show up at all yesterday, but then this morning- blammo! so today ive been taking it a little easier and trying to talk as little as possible so i dont end up in coughing fits. being sick totally sucks.

friends and family traditions

this weekend i went home to see my brother again (he heads back to germany tomorrow). we had a lot of fun. friday was nice and laid back. meat on the grill, chillin with the fam, chattin it up. later we got talking about movies (big surprise...) and my dad said 'hey, i would really like to see that kingdom of heaven movie.' so i headed to the video store and my dad and i were joined by my brother and we just hung out and watched and chatted (usually the chatting would make me angry during a movie, but i had already seen it before, so it was ok...)
on saturday we did one of my favorite family traditions: we went to the apple orchard! hurrah! i hadnt gone in a while because i havent been around when the family went. but this year it was special because my brother was around this time and we could go as a while family. i dont know, its just one of those things that is a lot of fun. we dont really do anything special, and we are usually gone in under an hour, but its comfortable in some strange 'i love my family' way.

saturday afternoon was when the friends took over. i was finally able to connect with dusty and just chill with him. we ended up going out for dinner, but he had something to do at 8, so i headed over to aarons. we chilled there all night. i must say, i am so much better informed on my fashion do and donts. this will help my life so much. the most valuable fashion lesson i could ever learn: i should not put my hair in a ponytail on the side of my head. critical stuff. thank you e network, you just saved my life. dusty came over later as well as rex. it was great. the best part was definitely the ridiculous visit to steak and shake at 2 in the morning...

the root of all that kills

last night i was busy cleaning up the ol place and i finally got a chance to try and balance my checkbooks. dang. i didnt realize it had been almost three weeks since i had done it last. oops. i got things taken care of and came (fairly) close to making all the numbers fit together. and then i realized something: money sucks. i dont mean that in philosphical 'oh, i think we should do away with possessions and just love everyone and junk', i mean the fact that i am not good at having any. so, i guess it would be more accurate to say this: i suck at money. yah, that sounds right. i can do ok with earning it, but im not so good at that whole 'not spending it' thing. there is so much crap i need (ok fine, want) to do with my house that i will never be able to make much headway. argh. i want a shed, i want a/c, i want new carpet, i want a dishwasher, i want i want i want. but i suck at money, so i probably wont get any of that. actually, i was right the first time- money does suck.