Surviving

Well, I'm surviving this whole long-term subbing thing but it is seriously kicking my ass. I thought I was busy before, now it's even worse. Hard to believe that one more hour of scheduled stuff makes life THAT much more insane.

BUT, the good news is, there's some fun stuff coming up. I got my first legit photo pass (not riding on Harry's this time) for the Senses Fail/Saosin/Bleeding Through/Drive By show on Friday which is sweet. On top of that, Harry called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to join him interviewing Drive By before the show and, apparently, the guys from Drive By were all about hanging out and maybe all even getting dinner together before the show. SWEET. And, above and beyond all that, Ben is being an absolute doll/saint/guardian angel and is letting me use his digial SLR to shoot the show. Amazing. I will be terrified of anything happening to it and will guard it with my life, but that is just so freaking cool!!!

And, though it initially seemed like a hairbrained idea, it's looking more and more like we're going to head out to Jersey for The Bamboozle! Harry has enough frequent flier miles that we can probably go first class (hardly necessary, but pretty damn cool) AND his contact at Virgin Records wants to take us out to lunch in Soho if we do go. How cool is that?? Sure, I'll end up using my two personal days and be a trainwreck the following week at school, but shit, for a rock and roll weekend in Jersey and NYC, I'll handle being a wreck! (and, by that time, I should have yearbook off my hands too, so that's good!)

Ok, a few photos from the Heavens show and I'm out.

Stressssssssss

Aargh. You'd think having five days off from school would have done something to eliminate my stress. Wrong. I found out on Friday that one of the teachers at school had her baby a few weeks early. Why does this matter? Because I am taking over one of her classes. Now, I knew I'd be doing this, but I thought it would be in two weeks. After I had time to talk to her about the class and such. Nope, I dive in first hour tomorrow morning. I have no idea what I'm doing, who is in the class or anything. Also, au revoir to one of my prep periods. Guess I need to get my shit together for once in my life.

I also think I went out too much this "weekend." Tuesday night I hung out/was out drinking with Jon, Thursday and Friday nights I hung out/went out with Jim. Saturday night I was out with Jon & his friends (more drinking). Today I woke up and was like "oh shit, I have so much stuff to do and I have to go back to school tomorrow!" Ugh. I really don't want to go back. I like this whole no school thing. I'm ready for Christmas break.

However, I AM going to the Senses Fail show on Friday which should be fun. Harry has gotten this idea to try and set me up with the guitarist from Drive By (who are also playing that night). Funny, but kinda flattering in a way:) I am psyched about the show anyways, Drive By rocks (saw them back in July or August and they were the best band of the night) and I'm excited to see them again. However, I am VERY sure that some of my students are going to be at this show. Must be on my best behavior...AND, in just a few weeks it'll be the MCR show! Woot! Still working on photo passes for that one...

And, as for hairbrained schemes, Harry and I are considering making the trek out to Jersey in May for Bamboozle. That would be SO FUCKING COOL. Seriously. It's like two days of Warped and, guess who is playing as the headliners on Saturday?? MCR! Woo hoo! Sure, I might need to use one of those personal days since we have school that Friday and Monday, but isn't that what personal days are for? It isn't like I'll use them otherwise. Shit, I probably won't even use any of my sick days unless I'm on my deathbed. I'm just like that, I NEVER call in. So, maybe I'll take a little trip to Jersey:) That would rock.

However, the rocker needs to chill b/c I should definitely be working right now, NOT blogging. Jury duty next week. Thrilling. Bummer that I have to drive to Chelsea for it. Whatever.

Ooh, check out our new bios that are up at Revolt. Fun, eh? Oh yeah, I was googling Drive By and it was so weird to see one of my reviews show up in the search results...It kinda threw me, but it's neat at the same time:)

Listening to: I Hate Every Day Without You Kid, Drive By

Pink is the new Party!

Ok, this just might be the longest post ever...much has been going on and I have been severely lax in blogging. Ok, onto the news:

Jim and I went to see Heavens at The Shelter last Thursday and the show fucking rocked. I lurrve Matt Skiba :) Mmm, boys with tattoos...er, yeah. So, the show was awesome, I got some good pics and my review and two of my photos is up at Revolt. Read it here. After Heavens was finished, my friend Harry got us into the New York Dolls show that was going on upstairs at St. Andrews. Talk about night and day...if downstairs was kids in black, lotsa tattoos and piercings, upstairs was, well, sort of trailer-park trash bleached blonde middle-aged women. The Dolls were cool though and Harry got me up front to get a few photos as well:) Fun night even if getting up for school (eek!) the next morning was rough. I'll post some photos from the show next time around, there are other photos that have priority right now...

Friday night I met Wife and we did MEGA shopping for the Pink party. I was totally frazzled though because I was supposed to meet her at Ikea but managed to leave the directions there in my classroom. Needless to say, I got lost on the way there and the traffic was horrible, so I was in a rotten mood. Luckily, a little time to calm down, some dinner and such helped eliminate the bad mood. While I should have gone home at that point, I ended up meeting Jon and Brandon for a few drinks in Ypsi. Because I really needed another late night.

Saturday was all about getting ready for the party. Amazingly, things were under control for the most part. Harry came over early and, luckily, most everything was done that could be done around then. We sat around and watched the U of M/OSU game (sniff, sniff) and then Husband and Wife came over. Once that happened, things went into fast-forward and before I knew it, guests were arriving. Everyone's costumes were awesome-we had Cate Blanchett, Christina Aguliera, Hunter Thompson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (sp?), Gillian Anderson's stunt double, Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, I was Amy Lee from Evanesence, we had Avril Lavigne and Bam Margera, and, perhaps the best costume duo of the night was Britney and K-Fed. Except our friend Aaron was Britney and Audrey was K-Fed. Awesome:) Ok, so a few photos from the night:







Can I just say I think this was the best party yet? Lots of food, drink and good people:) I think everyone had a good time, so, yay! Woot! However, I still think that it was a bit absurd that I had not one but TWO people who were AT the party text messaging me from across the room. Boys, you are ridiculous. You make my life very difficult.

Luckily for me it was only a two day week at school this week b/c I've been getting an average of four hours of sleep a night lately. Er, can we say burning the candle at both ends? Since Tuesday was Friday this week I ended up heading out to our usual place in Ypsi for drinks with Jon. Unfortunately, Brandon couldn't make it b/c the poor guy has to work three jobs...damn the teaching job situation here in Michigan!!

Some very good news yesterday...I PASSED MY COMPS! Woo hoo! If you recall, I was all stressed a few weeks ago about this horrible, awful 8 hour exam I had to fly down to DC to take. Well, I got my results yesterday and I passed and it is the BIGGEST relief ever. I wasn't at all sure if I passed that stupid test but now I can add yet another degree onto the pile:) Yay for that chapter being closed now.

Things still are complicated with a certain situation some of you know about. However, I had a lengthy conversation with Thomas last night and he offered me some pretty good advice as well as made me an offer I can't refuse. While on the one hand I think I'm an idiot for allowing him to make this situation a bit more complicated than it already is, I might also be stupid for not at least giving his idea a try. Yes, I'm being purposely vague. If you know what I'm talking about, good for you. If not, you probably aren't meant to know right now. Nonetheless, in typical Thomas fashion, he gave me an excellent quote that puts everything in perspective. We were talking about how sometimes it seems like situations can't get any worse, but actually they can, and here's how:

Life got you down? Seems like things can't get any worse? Just imagine your situation and something in it on FIRE. Pretty much anything on fire is worse:)

Words of wisdom to live by. Man, I love Thomas:) How profound!

Right, this has gone on long enough. Photos from Heavens to come. Until then, rock the fuck on and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Listening to: "Small Parts" The Oohlas!

Bloody alter ego...

She was out too damn late again last night and I feel like shit this morning...

Well, it's my own fault:) I went to The Shelter to see Heavens (Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio's new side project) and they were great! Really good show and, although it's quite ghetto, I love The Shelter. Then Jim and I met up with Harry and Mike (another photographer) and managed to get around the "system" a bit...

Much more to tell about the show, but I need to drag my tired, sorry ass to school and figure out what the hell I'm teaching today.

Party tomorrow! Woot!
~S

Eh

I am so tired I can't stand it. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed too...I have so much shit to get done and no time to do it because I'm either at work, driving to MSU, in class at MSU or doing other school-related things. I want to hang out with people but I don't even have time to do all the things that *need* to be done for work/school/writing much less hang out with anyone :( Jon posed this really interesting question to me this morning and I want to kick it around with him but I don't have any time, and that irritates me.

I'm having problems with the school newspaper and don't even have time to try and fix it.

I'm supposed to be hosting a party on Saturday and I don't have time to do anything for it until Friday, the day before.

Elana seems to be boycotting the party after our discussion on Sunday. I feel very weird about that whole situation.

My ex has been messaging me through mySpace and it weirds me out. I wish I could talk to someone about it who won't judge the whole situation.

I should be all excited about this show I'm seeing on Thursday night but I feel like I don't even have time to be excited about it. I'm just stressed about getting out of A2 on time to get to Detroit on time.

I can't wait for this MSU thing to be over.

I definitely shouldn't be blogging right now.

Usually I get stir-crazy if I don't have anything to do, but right now I wish I had an empty schedule.

I'm so glad next week is a two day week.

Meh :(

The weekend

Whew, what a weekend!

So, Shannon got into town on Friday afternoon. After I picked her up at the airport we just hung out and opened a bottle of wine while we caught up on things. Then we braved the cold and went downtown for dinner & drinks. We'd wanted to go to The Prickly Pear but couldn't get in, so we hit Palio's instead (SO good). Then we went to Bab's Underground where we had the weirdest people talking to us. From there we went to Alley Bar (as was to be expected), drank copious amounts and headed home.

Saturday I took her to Zingerman's for breakfast followed by a tour of downtown & campus and then a shopping expedition:) We did make it to Prickly Pear that night and then Husband, Wife, Thomas, Mindy and Jim met us at Conor's. From there we went over to Alley Bar again and Anthony & his girlfriend met us there as well. It was SO fun, all my friends made Shannon really welcome and I was happy that everyone got to meet her:) Shannon, Mindy and Wife all gave me lots of good advice on my guy "situation" and all approve of him. So that makes me happy, especially since Elana is acting very weird about it. Dunno about that... Anyways, after lots o' drinking at Alley, Jim, Thomas, Mindy, Anthony & his GF took off and Shannon, Husband, Wife and I all headed over to the Fleetwood. I think Shannon was a little horrified by the Fleetwood (she isn't really that "type") but we had fun nonetheless.

Today we kinda lazed around, had a laaaate breakfast and then wandered around downtown a bit more. We stopped by Elana's for a little bit and I was glad she & Shannon got to meet. Then, before I knew it, it was time to take Shannon back to the airport and actually figure out what the hell I'm doing this week :( It was a whirlwind but I had a blast and a lot of good things happened this weekend. So, I might be tired and crabby this week, but it was totally worth it. I think I'll probably end up going to visit Shannon in Boston in the Spring...I dunno if I could do a Boston winter again (did it once, it was WAY too cold for me).

Thursday I'm seeing Heavens and Darker My Love at The Shelter and then Harry, who is interviewing The New York Dolls upstairs that night at St. Andrews is going to meet up with me and I might get to meet the Dolls as well :) I think I'm also going to get to judge this big battle of the bands that's happening at the State in Detroit (this weekend I think?). Again, how much of a dichotomy can my life be? Alter-ego, here I come... Then the big Pink party is Saturday (woot!) and I still have to pull together the bits for my costume... Oh yeah, and of course I have work and MSU classes...I sometimes wonder if life could get any more busy.
Oh well, bedtime.

Listening to: The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses

So utterly tired...

You know, for a four day week, this week has felt never ending... Yay that tomorrow is Friday!

I had my first round of lunch duty yesterday and, honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. Sure, I wouldn't voluntarily sign up for it or anything, but it wasn't too awful. At one point, one of the other lunch supervisors pulled me aside and said "you should keep an eye on that table," and pointed towards one corner of the lunchroom. Who was sitting at that table? My journalism triumverate (sp?) as I call them and one of my sophomore English students. Yes, they're rambunctious. Yes, they're loud. Yes, they are the "alterna" kids as I like to call them. However, I can handle these guys. I think we have an understanding of sorts and, on top of that, they crack me up. I like these kids (one of them is the kid I wrote about in the parent-teacher confernece post). It was funny too because when they saw me in the lunchroom they were like, "MS. M!!!! ARE YOU ON LUNCH DUTY?? COME EAT WITH US!" I politely declined their offer, though they kept me at their table chatting for a good ten minutes. Sure, sometimes they don't know when to tone it down, but they're teenagers. Isn't sheer excess part of simply being a teenager? I feel like a lot of the other teachers have kind of written them off as screw-ups and they are so not. High school is clearly not their niche, but they shouldn't be written off. I am not their friend, I am their teacher, but I want them to understand that I believe in them even if some other teachers don't. I hope they realize that...

In other news, Shannon comes to A2 tomorrow! Woot! I can't wait to see her...I haven't seen her since I went out to DC last December. I think this will be a weekend of excess...I'm sure we'll go shopping and encourage each other to buy clothes we really don't need, will drink more than we should and stay out way past our bedtimes;) Knowing Shannon, there will be ridiculous stories to tell after the weekend is over. She has a habit of making up the most fantastic lies when we get talking to guys at the bar...we'll see how Michigan deals with her:) Man, I can't wait!

Heavens at the Shelter next week...Harry is shooting a show upstairs at St. Andrews and invited me to hang with him and meet the band and whatnot. Sounds fun:) I think I might get to help out with this battle of the bands thing he's judging in Detroit and possibly the All-American Rejects show in December. I'm really hoping he can hook me up with some sort of pass for the My Chem show in December too...I'm pretty sure he's going and I'd just about give an arm to get to shoot that concert!!

The Pink Party is nigh! I think it's gonna be a hoot...sounds like quite a few people should be able to make it. I can't wait to see who people dress up as...god, I need to figure out who I'm gonna be...

Right, better get some shit done before going to bed. I will be getting nothing done this weekend with Shannon here, so I *should* try to get ahead...
Peace out, starving nachos:)

Listening to: Strike Anywhere, Dead FM

Weird, weird, weird

Just when I think my life can't get any more bizarre, it does. Some of you know what I'm talking about, others do not. Lets just say that for most of you, if you don't know what I'm talking about, let's leave it at that. It's been a fucking weird week. I'm glad it's over.

So, I know the blogging has been kinda sparse lately, things have been nuts and I'm pretty happy that they're getting calmer (calm for me is not, I know, quite the same as for everyone else, but oh well). I got 16 albums in the mail to review and two MAJOR shows coming up. One of my best friends, Shannon, is coming in from Boston this weekend and I am PSYCHED. I totally need Shannon right now...she is quite possibly one of the few people that will understand the situation I'm in at the moment. Thank god she'll be here in four days.

Then, the week after that will FINALLY be the Pink Party! Woot! Wife and I have been talking about this party for months now and we finally set a date, planned a menu and sent out the evite. Now I just need to figure out who I'm going as, though Wife gave me a pretty damn good idea...

Going to see "The Queen" with Jim tomorrow night which I'm quite psyched about. I've got a list o' other movies I want to see (which is unusual) so at least I'll be able to cross one off my list.

Oh yeah, we had parent-teacher conferences on Thursday. It went just fine so I'm not quite sure why I was so anxious about the whole thing. At least two really nice things that came out of the night:
One parent told me that her daughter and a friend of hers (also a student of mine) don't stop talking about how great they think Ms. M is. I liked these girls before, they're smart, good writers and kinda alterna/punk/emo girls. Of course hearing that they don't stop talking about how much they like my class doesn't hurt things at all. Yay:)

Another parent of a boy in my journalism class told me that he talks about how much he likes the class and Ms. M all the time as well. Now, this kid cracks me up...I mean, seriously. I let him and his two friends get away with murder (as long as they get the work done) and I'm well aware of it. But, I also feel like he's the sort of kid that a lot of teachers don't like because they don't understand him, he's a live-wire and he's one of those punkish/emoish kids. However, I think what they don't see is that he's a good writer, has a good eye for photography and has a damn good sense of humor. So, when his mom told me that I have apparently connected with him in some way, it made me really happy. I really want to help him see that a) life DOES get better after high school, esp. once you're out of private school (trust me, I went to private school and definitely felt like I didn't fit in with most of the kids), b) there are things you can do with a love of music, writing and photography (three things he is very good at but I don't think he's gotten positive feedback from a teacher about it until me) and c) not all teachers are evil creatures out to make your life totally miserable (maybe a little miserable, but not completely).

So, I went away from conferences feeling pretty good. Then I went drinking with a bunch of other teachers which is a WHOLE other story. For another time. I'm going to bed, 5:30 comes early.
~s
Listening to: Escape the Fate, Dying is Your Latest Fashion

Oh bloody hell...

What a weird, weird 24 hours it has been. So, we didn't have school today and yesterday, as I was leaving the school's Halloween assembly, I made plans with two other teachers to go hoist a few later in the evening. We meet up, drink a great deal, rant about students, religion etc. and generally have a good time. After we get kicked out of the restaurant we decide it is an excellent idea to go buy more alcohol. One of the guys and I take a run to Meijers. Mind you, it is well after midnight but it still seems like a good idea. We get to Meijers and run into a group of not one, not two, but four students. Now, I don't know any of them and probably couldn't pick them out of a crowd but the other teacher actually has at least some of these guys, if not all of them. The other piece of this is, there will naturally be the assumption that something is going on between the other teacher and myself since, we all know, two people of the opposite can't possibly be friends. We, of course, must be dating.

I wonder how fast this is going to get around school. I know for a fact that at least one cell phone was pulled out to share the news that teachers were run into at Meijers after midnight while we were actually still in the store. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I suppose the only consolation was that we didn't have the beer in our hands yet.

To top off that bizarre experience was the fact that on the way back to the other teacher's place my dad calls. He is not happy. He wants to know where I am, when I'm coming home, "we need to have a talk about this" sort of stuff. So now I'm weirded out by the students, have been drinking and I'm upset by this phone call. What a buzzkill. I dropped the other teacher off, went home to a "discussion" that made me feel like I was 16 all over again and then became even more upset (not a good combo with alcohol) and proceeded to drunken text Shannon who emailed me today TOTALLY confused over what the hell was going on. Her answer to the problem? Move out. Yes, I know. It WILL happen. However, when one hasn't had a *real* job for a year and a half, it takes a bit of time to get back on your feet once you actually have a salary again. But yes, she's right. I have GOT to move out. I can't take this.

Man, tomorrow is gonna suck. Potential weirdness with students, rumors and then hours of parent-teacher conferences. Gaaa. Can I call in sick??

Listening to: Thursday, A City by the Light Divided