observations

Back from San Antonio. It was a really good conference. National Council of Teachers of English. I like to say it was akin to a teacher's equivalent of a combo crack house/chucky cheese/casino. I was surrounded by books, a lot of free stuff, and not many windows, and I am the dork who LOVES that kind of thing. A few observations:

1. I didn't see much of the city, but of what I did see, I can say that it didn't look like there was much more there than water, birds, and wind. A LOT of birds that just sat in huge numbers in the trees and stared at you.

2. I don't think my hearing is very good. I was taking a bunch of free books up to a teacher friend's hotel room so I wouldn't have to carry them to dinner, and she handed me her key and told me her room number. I went up, put the books down, and used the restroom. Guess what? It wasn't her room. When spoken aloud, the numbers 1750 and 1715 sound exactly alike. I was in 1750, hers was 1715. Key worked in both. What if the person habitating that room had walked in when I was using their toilet?

I have a new nickname now: Goldilocks.

3. How can gum advertise "that just brushed feeling" when the flavor is watermelon mango?

4. I caved and started reading the first Twilight book by Stephanie Meyer. Against my will, mind you. I have a goal to read a certain number of books in the adolescent literary genre in the name of being able to put the right books in the right kids' hands to get them to read (Really, I miss The Baby Sitters Club). Since no one can stop talking about Twilight, including my students, I decided I should know what it's about. The idea of reading a vampire love story does NOT appeal to me, though. But, here goes. Since it appeals to ages 13-50, I figure it can't be a total waste of time.

5. I recently ate at Denny's for the first time. My friends Miranda and Jon, now married with a child, went there on their first date in high school. I couldn't stop thinking about them when I was there :) I ordered pancakes for dinner off the senior citizen menu, and they were excellent.

6. Did anyone see the 24 movie that came on TV?

7. Did anyone else hear on Rick & Bubba last week that the new word voted into the Webster's Dictionary is "meh?" Who, exactly, votes on these things? And how can I be a part of it?

tagged

msk(s) tagged me with this blogger award, and I have to share 6 interesting things about myself and then tag 6 people to do the same.

1. I have chronic and violent allergies, evidently to everything. This is not interesting except for the fact that never in my life have I had any kind of allergic reaction to anything. The closest I ever got was drinking a whole carton of grape juice as a child, throwing it up, and assuming I was allergic to grape juice. I believed that for years. Wasn't true. But ever since I moved to Birmingham, I haven't been able to get it under control without constant medication advised by a doctor upon several visits. Hailey, I think you were right - I have black mold growing in my lungs.

2. I've never been to New York City. I still claim it as my favorite US city, because I'm 99% sure it will be if I ever go. I have wanted to go to New York my whole life, preferably in the winter. Maybe next year.

3. I LOVE an efficiently loaded dishwasher. And I love to LOAD the dishwasher efficiently. It's a little like putting together a puzzle. In my opinion, a perfectly loaded dishwasher could not hold another single item, though it is not so stuffed that the dishes won't come out clean. It's kind of like a puzzle. I realize this is odd. Also, I don't understand why people wipe or sponge up excess water from dishes with a dishtowel. It's only water, and it will dry in the cabinet.

4. I have always had a hypnotic effect on animals. Hamsters, dogs, cats, they all turn to noodles and mush when I hold them/pet them. They really do go completely limp, and I could roll them around or hold them upside down and they're not fazed. Maybe it's the way I smell?

5. I love cheap, and what most of you would consider disgusting, candy. Now, I don't ever eat it in my adult life, but mind you - I do love it. Circus peanuts, cowtales, Necco wafers, the cheap jellybeans and gumdrops, those chalk-like candy cigarrettes, I love them all. I DID eat circus peanuts for breakfast on my 27th birthday. Thanks, yaya.

6. For the majority of my life, I have wanted to be in movies. I am still trying to swallow the fact that my train to stardom has most likely passed, unless I have a Barbara Streisand future ahead of me. In which case I decline.

That's it, and most of you who read this already knew all that anyway. My apologies for wasting your time :)

I have lofty aspirations of picking up the blogging pace here pretty soon, but I'm off to San Antonio in the morning for a conference, so it'll be a few.

Mere, you sure you don't want to take a jog out there to have coffee with me?

Oh - I almost forgot! For the Kreativ (do we have to spell it that way?) Blogger Award, I tag:

1. Krystal
2. Marty Party
3. Sally Ray
4. Meaghan Gordon
5. Hailey
6. Anna Duggan

You're it!

NOT ME Monday!

I found this really fun idea on this woman's blog whom I DO NOT know, but keep up with faithfully. It's called "Not Me! Mondays." "MckMama" made this up, and I love it. It's a lot sarcastic and a little therapeutic. You should join me!

Here's mine for this week:

1. I did NOT swallow a Lysine amino acid supplement this morning and almost call 911 because I couldn't breathe. All in the name of getting rid of a fever blister. I hear amino acids help with that. Anyway, at least I DID NOT forget how to swallow a pill this morning.

2. I DID not eat the following combination for dinner: tortilla chips/cheese dip and a biscuit. Puhlease. I would never do that. But, hey, at least my roommate DID NOT eat THIS combo for dinner: crushed up boiled eggs, broccoli, GOAT CHEESE, and soy sauce. It COULD be worse.

3. I DEFINITELY did NOT decide to light a candle in my classroom and, when I couldn't get the lighter to work, ask my class (of 14 year olds), "who's good with a lighter? I need your help." Nope. NOT ME.

4. I did not just decide what all of my children's names will be. NOR did I just decide the genders, origins, and nationalities of my children. (two boys, two girls. two biological, two adopted. want to know the nationalities and names? stay tuned.)

That's really all I have for this Monday.

I don't have school tomorrow!

she has a name...

Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Hardin.

I can't, in good faith, name her anything else. She loves to climb things (everything) and has unusual kitten strength. She was living alone and making her own rules when I found her, much like P. Longstalking. Just a few minutes ago, she climbed the full height of the fireplace screen (pooping all the way up, which we'll overlook. Litterbox schmitter box.)

So really, is there any other name for her? I don't think so.

i'd like you to meet...

kitty from the block.

she's exactly 6 weeks old, weighing in at a whopping one whole pound.

she doesn't have a name yet, but i'm working on it. my principal found her yesterday afternoon wandering around outside our school. at least one litter of kittens and one momma cat live underneath the school building. this one got separated from her brothers and sisters, and got passed all around the school, yet no one would take her. there was no way i could leave her there - she would have been a pancake within the hour.

and so begins our journey, me and this street kitty. we went to the vet, got a worm pill, flea medicine, food, and a good brushin. she's slowly getting acclimated to domestic life, though her favorite thing to do so far when i hold her is to put one paw on either side of my mouth and scream in my face. on a sweeter note, she also likes to crawl up to my neck and wrap her little body around it, lay down, and purr.

i need suggestions for names. i guess once i took her to the vet, she became mine.

here's what i came up with:

1. alice (ali for short, kind of for alley cat - thanks yaya)
2. lily
3. charlotte
4. lucy
5. pippi
6. millicent (milli)



Here's a picture of her meeting my roommate abby's cat, lemons. he is NOT happy about his new sister. sorry for the legshot.

I'm still trying to learn her personality. she wiggles her booty when she walks, yet keeps her tail perfectly straight and stiff. and since she's used to living under a building, she walks hunched down really low to the ground. she kind of slinks around as though she's up to something.
i think we were destined to find each other.

Putnam's Handbook of Expressions

I love old books. LOVE them. There is something so charming about a vintage book - the worn pages, the faded cover, the cracked spine, and the smell -- mmmmmm. For my birthday, I got a JEWEL of an old book - copyright 1915, to be exact - called Putnam's Handbook of Expressions: For the Enrichment of Conversation, Writing, and Public Speaking.

It's a gem, I tell you. It is filled with phrases of all sorts to be memorized and used in writing and speaking, with categories like "dissent," "tactful response," "commendatory of persons," "manliness," "suspicion," and "prefatory." I could really spend hours thumbing through this delightful book. It's hilarious, and yes, I am incorporating these phrases into my speech and writing.

I love it so much that I've decided to start sharing some favorite phrases with you on Sundays. The "Putnam Series," if you will. So without further ado, I give you the inaugural installment of Putnam's Expressions:

Phrases for Conversation: Complimentary of Things

1. A sentiment worthy of emulation

2. Altogether a fine thing

3. I call it a delightful spectacle

4. There is an unfailing charm in it

5. How delightfully cozy

6. I like it prodigiously

7. It bears the stamp of excellence

8. A capital idea

9. It is a beautiful piece of industrial accomplishment

10. It is an amiable habit by no means to be discouraged

See how many you can toss out there in conversation this week....:)

tom brokaw's upper lip

The debate just started, but I wanted to stop real quick and ask you one question: has anyone else noticed that Tom Brokaw's upper lip doesn't move when he speaks?