oscars!!!

the time has come once again! oh, i really do love the oscars. its my version of the super bowl. ever since i was young i have always looked forward to the oscars. it was the one night that my parents would let me stay up super late and watch till the very end (which in michigan's time zone is around 1:30 am!).
im really excited about them this year too, even though i have no reason to be. i havent actually seen a single movie thats nominated for the major awards. but hey, that doesnt matter, i can still have an opinion! i dont really have any real passion about who wins because i have not seen a single one of them, but i would be happy if anything from 'walk the line' won because johnny cash rules!
ps. dont try to call me sunday night, it will distract me from the show, and make me angry...

a bit of perspective

i read this really interesting article today by michael medved suggesting that the idea of the 'close-minded complaining christian' may becoming outdated. the comparisions between the christian culture in america and the muslim unrest about the danish cartoons is a very interesting one. i would certainly encourage you to read through it. you can find it here.

proof that im a nerd

this morning i was talking to one of my co-workers. she has a son who came home from college for a visit. she was telling me her sons name is kurt. after a second i put the first and last name together and realized his name is kurt wagenaar. this made me laugh quite a bit. (for those that arent putting it together, good for you. for those that did, then you are just as big a nerd as i am.)

mario would be proud!

right now i am in the middle of total chaos! and actually loving it!!! today at school we are having our third nintendo ds party. heres how it works: i have a nintendo ds, and i like to play it with other people. some of my students also have a ds, so i figured it would be fun to stay after school and play. that first time there were about eight of us. the second time i brought my gamecube for people who didnt have a ds. that time we had about twenty people hang out. today everyone wanted to play- there are 45 middle school students in my classroom hopped up on caffeine! we have about 20 people playing ds, and three gamecubes set up around the room- it is totally crazy! i better go and watch the kids before anything gets broken!

cold outside, colder inside

maybe this is payback for all the times i talk about how much i like the cold...
this weekend was a rough one for me to stay warm. it was one of the coldest weekends of the year around here- at one point it got down to about 5 degrees (at least thats what it said on the bank sign, and i dont know if that includes wind chill or not). i headed home to michigan on saturday and that morning the fan for the floor heat in my car stopped working. it was a very cold two hour drive. my hands and head were totally warm, but my feet were fridged.
the ride back here was super cold too. i was excited to get home and back into some warmth, but it didnt seem to work out quite that way. i walk into my place and it is freezing in there! i look at the temp and its 51 degrees inside my house! i was beside myself with anger. ive written before about how i have had many issues with my heater over the years, but this was just rediculous! i was surprised to find that my water pipes hadnt froze over while i was gone. i preceeded to fight my heater for the rest of the night (which consists of me turning up the heat, it turning on for about three minutes then shuting off, at which point i walk over and turn the heat back on again. repeat this process about 50 times). eventually it kicked in after about 3 hours, then it let the heat go all the way up to 65! it was a christmas miracle!!! but then of course when i woke up this morning it was back to about 54 degrees. i figured 'screw it!' so i packed up and left. its midday now, and i have been enjoying the heat in different stores all day just wandering around. i really should call somebody about this, huh?

ugh

im not a huge fan of valentines day. and no, its not just because im single. i dont like it because it raises undue expectations. there is an expectation that everything today will be romantic. and it never is.
although, i remember a valentines day my senior year of college that involved a cute girl and a late night... ive said too much already...

a strange dream

ive been having some pretty crazy dreams lately. last week i had a really wierd one. i dont really remember much of it, but i remember walking up to a booth with a sign over it. i couldnt make out what the sign said (ive never been able to read in my dreams- is that normal?) but it looked like it said 'fish turtle'. when i read this in my dream i started laughing hystarically for no good reason. when i woke up i thought about it again, 'fish turtle', and for some reason in made me laugh for real. i know its not even remotely funny, but i still get a kick out of it. i think i need to start using 'fish turtle' as a punchline for jokes...

kinda like bill and ted

i had a lot of fun this weekend. my best buddy aaron came down on friday. its been a long while since he came down by himself. we actually tried to remember the last time he came alone and neither one of us could remember.
we had a really great time. i think what i like so much about when he comes down together is just how comfortable it is to be around him. weve known each other since 3rd or 4th grade and have spent so much time hanging out over the years that its really easy to just chill and enjoy the time together. at one point this weekend we realized just how many places weve been together. (heres the short list: florida, tennessee, iowa, new york, utah, california, spain, netherlands, germany, italy... i could go on.)
friday night we went out to eat then we headed back to my place and just hung out and watched tv ('the office' rules!) and a movie (wedding crashers). saturday we headed downtown to chicago. i havent been there in a while- ive got to remember to go there more often! we spent about 4 hours at the virgin megastore, then we went to eat the world famous gino's east chicago style deep dish pizza. its always awesome to go there! we headed back in the evening and made it in time to catch the next showing of king kong at the theater (i know, im delinquent for taking so long to see it) after that we stopped off at bennigens and talked till closing time. sunday he headed off early back to michigan. all in all, a great weekend- i even got in a little sunday nap!
ive got to make sure it doesnt take so long for him to come down next time...

the greatest day of my life!

oh, i am so pumped for this weekend!!! finally, its the super bowl!!! i am so excited about the big game i am finding hard to control my excitement!!! all year i wait for this day in eager anticipation for the glory that is the super bowl!!!
... wow, trying to sound excited about it was alot harder than i thought it would be. so, who's playing in it this year? actually, dont anwer that. id prefer to remain clueless...

finally!

sorry for the dearth of posts lately, ive actually been having some problems signing on, and issues with my profile. ive got it taken care of, and now im ready to blog away again!

an invited guest

i had a fun weekend. a friend of mine came down from michigan on saturday. we hung out most of the day. actually, it was strange, a good strange, but strange none the less- she desprately wanted to play mario kart! (kinda rare for a girl, huh?) she wanted to play it on my ds though, so i was stuck stareing at the wall. not really, i played 'ssx on tour' on the gamecube while she DSed it. that was quite fun actually, we were both in our own little worlds, but we were both able to genuinely enjoy the fact that we could be together. even if we werent talking to each other.
after that we headed out to eat. when we got back we watched a few shows- i had an episode of 'the office' that i hadnt seen yet, and its a favorite of both mine and hers. after that we played a few games that she brought down with her. we played the movie trivia game 'shout about movies' or something like that, then we played the sequel pack for 'scene it', then we played 'trivial persuit snl edition' which totally sucked because it was way too hard.
by then it was really late so we called it a night. we were able to hang out a while on sunday too, then she was off! all in all a fun weekend was had by all.

my new theory

i have this theory. i call it the "back in my day..." theory (or the BIMD for short). here is my theory: each person has about 15 years of molding and then they are done. let me explain. we have a 15 year period of being molded by pop culture, and then after that time we step back. the age this molding starts is between 10 and 15. during this time we are open and receptive to anything the media puts out. think about it: almost every child in that age group likes every movie directed at them (how else could you explain the sucess of cheaper by the dozen 2?), is really into current music and thinks its actually good music.
thsi phase lasts between 10 and 15 years, on average. for some its longer, and for others its much shorter. at the end of this phase (aprox. 25-30 years old) there is a growing disinterest in pop culture and a cynicism that was never present before. one doesnt blindly accept all the movies directed at them, and starts to feel like current music is so much worse than what was around at the begining of their phase. (this is where the theory name comes from: 'back in my day...') at this point there is often a decision made to take a step back from pop culture. thus the phase of nostalgia is often entered. (an alternate phase is one ill have to explain later, but i call it the "who's that old creepy guy trying to be cool?" theory).
what do you think, am i on to something here?

internet humor ha ha

i cant exactly explain why, but this is probably the funniest thing i have read online ever. ever.

a real workout

today during my planning period i was chillin out talking to the gym teacher. he mentions that he's teaching badminton. oh, happy days are here again! if you know anything about me then you know that i dont care for sports in the slightest. any of them. except badminton. i always remember in high school looking forward to the weeks we would get to play.
when he told me he was teaching badminton i asked him 'when do we get to play a match?' 'lets go right now' was his response. and we did. wow, i was quicky reminded how out of shape i am! all things considered though, i think i did alright. the first game i had him 7 to 2 for a while, then he rallied and got me 15 to 7. so, i did what any man would do in this situation: 'best two out of three!'
the second game was closer than the first. as we were playing the students started coming in to head to their next class. for a few minutes we had a rather large crowd watching. most of the kids were rooting for me (because the gym teacher offered a free lunch to whoever beat him, and even if they didnt beat him, they wanted someone to get a free lunch...)
we both realized that we needed to go to our classes and teach, so we stopped and agreed that we would pick it up from there next time. fortunately for me, the score and this time was 8 to 10 in my favor. next time hes going down!

a glimmer of spring

what a lovely day outside! it would seem that winter has broke for a little while and allowed us a short glimse of that bright thingy in the sky... whats it called again? it has been many months since i have seen it i had thought it was only a myth- but behold- i see the ball of light over head! victory!!!
wow. sorry about that. i guess i got a little overly dramatic about that for a second. dont worry, im better now...

pigskin at the alma matter

cool. i just visited dordts website for the first time in many months and i saw that the school is starting up a football team! dang. i was never into sports when i was in college, but if they had had football when i was there i would have been all over that! in high school i actually thought about joining the football team. the reason i didnt was because it started in the middle of the summer and i didnt want to be at school in the middle of the summer. oh, and because i was really out of shape. and lazy.

you are getting sleepy...

i totally need a nap. i have no idea why, but today has been a really rough one. i got enough sleep over the weekend, go to sleep in a little extra on saturday and everything. i went to bed around 11 last night. nothing out of the ordinary. but for some reason i just cant get myself to snap out of this sleepy haze. sometimes the sleepiness will last till 10 or 11 on a work day, but today it never left! i have plans for tonight so i cant just crash when i get home. shoot. hopefully ill at least stay this tired around 10 tonight. i have a terrible habit of being tired all night until i actually get ready for bed then suddenly im wide eyed and ready for the world. thats annoying.
well, if i have any problems sleeping tonight ill just hypnotize myself. that usually seems to work.

vacation is over

... and the first week back comes to a close. alright, it was only a half week, but it was still rough. its always a bit of a wierd thing to come back to teaching after a long break. we had almost two full weeks off. alot can happen in two weeks. in fact, i can remember moments here and there during that time off where i actually forgot i had a job. well, you know, i didnt forget i work, its just that there were some times during the break where i didnt identify myself with it. i would have moments of just feeling like a college kid again on break and no responsibility.
its kind of tough to come back after that, to get my head back in the game. the first morning after a break always is a bit strange. it isnt usually until noon, or sometimes the next day that i feel like im back in top form. its even worse in the summer. as summer draws to an end i always get rather nervous for the year to start. at that point i havent taught in several months so i often have flashes of wondering if i still know how to do it. i always settle into the grove, but its often a bit of a bumpy landing.

christmas eve

saturday, dec 24: in the afternoon my sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids came over for the fun and festivities. we never wait until christmas morning to open gifts (well, to be honest, i never actually see christmas morning because i usually sleep till about noon!) we typically open gifts on christmas eve night.
anyway, they came over and we hung out for a while and then we had an early dinner. it was really great, my mom decided to personalize it and made each of us one of our favorite foods. my dad got that orange jello stuff he always likes, my sister got some kind of wierd salad she always likes, etc. it was a really nice dinner.
after dinner we got ready to go to the candle light service at my parents church. we got there and i soon realized it was going to be my responsability to watch my three year old nephew through out the service. yikes. he actually behaved himself fairly well. but the thing that i was struck by was how much he actually picks up on- that little guy is getting smart! i just kept watching him and laughing at the things he would do or say. he would love to watch the singers and band members while we sang and he would like to just look around during the sermon (or he would like to drop his toys and cause a racket...)
after church we headed back home and did the whole opening presents thing. it was a lot of fun. it was nice to get all that stuff, but the best part of the night was just hanging out with the family, cracking jokes, and remembering the old times.

christmas with the extended family

over break i didnt post much, so ill try and catch up. friday dec 23: i slept in (this was a recurring theme through out the whole vacation time) and finally got my but moving to drive up to michigan. arrived about 15 minutes before the big family get together, so i had to rush over and quick wrap the gift for my cousin. it went well. i always love getting together with that side of the family. although i usually feel a bit awkward or uncomfortable with them. im not entirely sure what it is. growing up my cousins and i were always able to get along great, we would often get together in the summers and go swimming, or ride bikes, or other things kids do when they go out and play. but for the past 8 or 9 years it has always felt strange to me.
well, heres the thing, almost all of my cousins (about 15 or so) never left. they finished high school, called it quits, and started working construction. or those that did go to college stayed close. but i didnt. i left, i went far away to iowa for college, and then i didnt come back to live. i guess i shouldnt really be too surprised that i dont feel like i really fit in. i often keep to myself during these get-togethers (which, if you know me, is quite unusual). over the past couple years ive been getting better at it. i figured this year would go well because i was going to challenge myself to make an effort to talk to everyone.
and it was better. except that it was worse. i noticed a change in my cousins that i didnt expect- they grew up. i realized that just about all my cousins are married now, most of them with children too. dang, when did this happen?!? i knew they were married and i remember the birth announcements, but i just hit me that night. i realized that they were moving on to that next step of life. thats what was so jarring that night, the discovery that my cousins, even the ones younger than me, have passed me by. im not saying that i envy them, i knew my life was going to be a bit different when i chose to leave for college and then move further away to start my career, but its just a bit shocking to see just how those decisions have changed who i am and where i am in my journey.