Yay for Christmas break a day early!

Whew. Let me tell you, as a teacher the week before Christmas break is only rivaled by the week before summer vacation. In fact, I think the week before Christmas is worse because at least before summer vacation the students have exams to be panicked about. Before Christmas break all they think about is presents, two weeks off and the possibilities of snow days. The teachers are thinking that too, I promise you.

We got an early present though. Christmas break came a day early because of the 6-7 inches of snow that got dumped on southeast Michigan over night. Our first snow day! Even yesterday everyone was talking as if we wouldn't have school today. The forecasters were predicting up to 10 inches, we only had a half day planned anyways and it was the last day before break. Even better? We got the call that school was canceled last night. Sure, I'd have been more than happy to have gotten the call at 5:30 am this morning, but going to bed knowing that I don't have to get up for school the next day was even better.

Now that school is out for two weeks, I can start thinking and enjoying the fact that Christmas is around the corner. The cookie baking-a-thon happens tomorrow, J and I are going to the school's Christmas Play tonight, I can start listening to Christmas music without feeling guilty and, best of all, I can read all the not-for-school stuff I want. Woo!

Wife posted this on their blog the other day and I just got enough of a kick out of it that I had to post it too. I like the reindeer solo best.

Exhausted and a bit overwhelmed

I'm not sure I'm going to make it to December 19. I have to keep telling myself there are only 7 days of school left before break but I think I'm hitting the breaking point.

I'm exhausted. I feel like I never stop running around. On the one hand I'm looking forward to the social agenda for this weekend but on the other it makes me want to crawl under my covers and not come out. I'm tired just thinking about it.

I'm not looking forward to the 41 Great Gatsby papers I will get on Monday that have to be corrected by Friday in order to get them back to my students so they can have their final draft in when we get back from break. I am not looking forward to how nuts the kids will be all next week since it's the week before winter break and "we shouldn't have to do anything!"

I'm not looking forward to the department meeting I have to run after school tomorrow. I don't want to talk about our 1-3-5 year plans for teaching reading. I don't want to talk about the budget changes that have been made and I definitely don't want to talk about what we should "Drop, Add or Keep!" from the curriculum. I want to tell everyone to go piss off and leave me alone.

I'm irritated that my mom sort of started the whole bitchiness about the holidays again. I don't want to be in the middle of it. I'm not interested.

I want someone to wait on me. To give me a back rub and tell me how I'll make it through the next few days. I don't want all this responsibility right now. I want someone else to do it all. I don't want it. I want to be on a warm, sandy beach with the ocean lapping at my feet and a drink in a coconut right beside me. I want a stack of thrilling novels at my side, the smell of the ocean in my nose and sunglasses perched on my face. That's what I want right now.

Grump, grump, grump.

Hawthorne Heights Interview

Two weeks ago I got to do an in-person interview with two of the guys from Hawthorne Heights and that was pretty exciting. Most of the interviews I've done have had to be email interviews and, although I get pretty nervous, there's something much more exciting about doing a live interview. Especially when the band is pretty well-known. So, after having to wait outside in the freezing cold for about 45 minutes due to some delays at The Shelter, I got to sit down and chat with Eron Bucciarelli and Micah Carli from Hawthorne Heights. If you're interested in reading the story, check it out at Revolt. The show review and some photos I shot will go up in about two weeks. I think getting to meet them was especially exciting because I felt a little like things had come in a circle (well, maybe a spiral would be a more appropriate analogy) because they were the very first band I got to photograph from the photo pit at a show and one of my very favorite photos of all time was a picture I shot of Micah Carli at that show. I didn't have a photo pass (another photographer and I started chatting and he sort of snuck me into the pit) and I was just using my Canon point and shoot, but it was a thrilling experience. So, to actually meet them and sit down to talk was really a thrill. :)

What's with all the blogging?

I'm not sure. Sorry it isn't more interesting :)

Today is the last day of school till next Monday. That is SO exciting. The kids were pretty crazy yesterday, even my normally good classes. I was in a good mood though, so I didn't really mind. They'll be worse today, I'm sure of it. My only hope is that so many of them will miss/skip school today that it lowers the craziness factor.

Oh, and I'm reading a really cool book right now. It's called "Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution." It's this fascinating look at how she used fashion in a political manner because she really had no other political power, at least early on in her reign. The other nice thing is that even though it's a "history" book (as opposed to historical fiction) it's very easy to read, especially for us non history majors.

Ok, time to go face the cat herding.

Two more days!

Two days of school and then a glorious 5 days off. I can't wait. These next two days can't go fast enough and they'll be a total joke since the kids will be bananas and impossible to deal with for the most part. I've got the planning done, all the Crucible essays graded and now it's just to keep them as in line as possible for the next 48 hours. It'll be a bit like herding cats I think. This is the first real break we've had since school started in the middle of August, so it's very exciting.

I think things finally got sorted in terms of Thanksgiving dinner, who will be where, when etc. It was pretty stressful for a bit though and I got sick of being stuck in the middle running messages between my mom and brother. I finally told him I wasn't going to try and guess what she was thinking and he had to speak directly with her. I think that worked.

Not too much else of interest going on really. Jon and I met for brunch at Aut Bar which was fun. Definitely a different atmosphere than when we went at Halloween. I covered the Hawthorne Heights show on Thursday night (a bit of an adventure, but I'll tell it another time). I'm mostly posting because I heard through the grapevine that Sarah, who is off in Nepal being a real anthropologist (go Sarah!) enjoys reading about our mundane little lives over here :) So, Hi Sarah! We miss you! Sorry I can never IM you because everything is firewalled at school!

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you all survive the first round of the holidays :)

PS-I've been watching the AMAs tonight and have to say that I find it relatively uninspiring. I was interested to see Taylor Swift's performance because everyone has gone so ga-ga over her but her performance was pretty lackluster. I don't know if there was a sound mixing problem or what, but her voice sounded thin and was drowned out by all the other instruments. I also have a guilty confession. I kinda like that song Pink performed. Does that make me a bad person? :)

Oooh, winter

As most of you Michigan-based people will have noticed if you surfaced at all this weekend, we got our first real snow. The type that starts to stick. The type that begins to accumulate. The type that I love, love, love at least until January 2 when I've had it with winter.

So, I woke up this morning and looked out the window trying to decide if I wanted to get up then or sleep horribly late. It wasn't doing anything. Maybe raining a little, but a pretty uninspiring day from the looks of it. I stayed in bed. When I woke up again, maybe an hour later, it was snowing. Those HUGE fat gigantic flakes that sort of drift down and make it look like a cartoon snowstorm or something outside. I loved it. I probably just watched it snow for a good 10 minutes.

Now, normally I'd decide that the snow was a perfect excuse to stay all snuggly and warm in my bed and I'm sure that the next time this happens (or if it's still happening tomorrow morning) I will ignore the beauty of it and roll over to go back to sleep. However, today it was still novel. Today it was still pretty and the cold, crisp, snow-smelling air made me want to get up and go out in it. So, I did. I used the "excuse" of needing to go grade papers which I always do at ERC since I get nothing done at home and went out to enjoy the snow. I even snagged a seat by the windows which, sadly, was really cold since it's drafty, BUT I got to watch people go by all bundled up as the flakes drifted down. And they keep coming too. It's snowed all day and is STILL going strong. I think the ground is too warm for it to really stick, but it's so pretty, at least for now.

Yeah, I'll be sick of it soon enough, but even at this point in my life there's something still wonderful about the first real snow of the season.

:)

Adventures in Journalism

Well, I had a new experience last night. One that I hope not to repeat, but it was kind of interesting (and a little funny) now that I'm roughly 24 hours away from it. Let me explain:

Last night I was covering the Kings of Leon show. Openers were The Whigs and We Are Scientists (WAS were the ones I was most excited to see, I missed seeing them two years ago and was psyched to finally see them live.) I had a photo pass and ticket. I got to the State (er, Fillmore) Theater with no trouble, found parking right away and even was able to skip the long line of people waiting in the cold because my ticket was printed by Live Nation and not Ticketmaster (beats me why that matters, but, whatever). So, I mosey my way to the front of the theater and meet up with a security guard that almost always works at the State/Fillmore and actually remembered me. He was very nice, friendly and, to be honest, gives me some preferential treatment (he's the guy that managed to get me to the front of the crazy crowd at the 89x Christmas show two years ago and let me photograph Fall Out Boy from basically the photo pit even though I didn't have a photo pass that night). No problems photographing The Whigs.

Then come WAS. I'd gotten talking to one of the other photographers and we discovered a problem. According to this Big Scary Bald Australian or British guy that worked there, his photo pass was only good for Kings of Leon and he was not to photograph We Are Scientists. Now, I've run into this sort of thing before but usually you get permission to shoot one of the openers and not the headliner, so this seemed a bit weird. I looked at my pass and it seemed to be good only for We Are Scientists, but I didn't advertise this to anyone and didn't think anyone would ask. No problems shooting WAS and they played a fun set. My security guard friend even let me stay up in the photo pit (to the side) to take notes during the rest of the set (I didn't have my camera out).

Then came time to get ready to shoot Kings of Leon. I'm standing in the pit and Big Scary Bald Australian/Brit comes up and looks at my pass. He says I shouldn't be up there, my pass was no good. I feel that I HAVE to get some photos of the headliner and figured I'd just stay to the side (cameras were allowed in the show which is a bit unusual) and get some pictures that way. Security guard (SG) guy pulls me up to the front.

Ok, let me take a moment here and say that what I SHOULD have done was fess up and tell SG that Big Scary Bald Australian/Brit said my pass wasn't good for the headliner and sucked it up. I didn't. Ok, that's totally my fault but I guess I thought that if I stayed to the side and only got a few photos, and kept out of peoples way no one would care. Er, wrong.

So, Big Scary Bald Australian/Brit somehow saw me (I thought he was backstage) and I am physically removed from the pit. At first I thought they were going to kick me out of the show entirely. Nope, hauled up to the production office where Big Scary Bald Australian/Brit made me delete the card in my camera. Luckily not all of my photos from the night were on there and I'd swapped cards so I may have lost a few photos of WAS and all of the Kings of Leon pictures, but I still had photos of The Whigs and WAS on a separate card. He then told me to put my camera in my car.

I was able to finish watching the show but, needless to say, the fun of the night was gone. At first I thought that he'd gotten ALL my We Are Scientists photos but then remembered as I was driving home that I'd swapped cards before Kings of Leon went on. I was really worried that Sherri (my editor) would be super pissed, I'd be blacklisted from shows, etc. etc. and maybe that blacklisting thing will still happen, who knows. Sherri, however, was pissed that he made me delete my photos and thinks it's idiotic that they give passes for everyone but the headliner. I mean, come on, unless you're the Rolling Stones or something, get over yourselves! I mean really!

Yeah, so, it was quite a night. I'd prefer not to repeat it. Maybe this makes me a "real" journalist/photographer now that I've pissed someone off. I guess in the old days he'd have taken the film, eh? I accept my responsiblity for the whole thing, but he was a bit of a douche too. (But some of the WAS photos are really cool, I'm glad I didn't lose them all, AND the WAS bassist gave me a big smile right as they were starting, so that was kind of cool).

I'm not sure how to react to this.

I just got word that one of the girls I'd gone to FGR with committed suicide on Friday. She and I had lost contact after we graduated, but were relatively close while in high school. We were on the tennis team together, in drama productions together and were part of the same group of friends. She transferred in at the same time I did (the beginning of junior year) and I think us "newbies" bonded together somewhat based on that. I heard that she'd had a lot of difficulties lately and some tragic events of her own to deal with, but I don't know many of the details. Nonetheless, this news has shaken me pretty badly. I've never been in this situation before and am not sure what to think of the whole thing in some ways. It seems so unreal to me that someone my age, someone I knew and went to school with (and we were a very small school, so everyone knew everyone) killed herself. To feel that hopeless and that alone...it's so sad. I guess you just don't think that someone you know/knew would be in that situation.

It's so sad. She must have been hurting so much. Her family must be in such pain right now. I can't even begin to imagine.

Number 4

So, here it is, tattoo number 4. I have to say, I think this one hurt the most of all, going over the ribs is killer. The other tough part is that I had to lay in this somewhat awkward position on my side (but rolled just a bit towards my back) and keep both my arms over my head. Needless to say, my arms started to fall asleep and I was tensing up so much that I couldn't keep my legs from shaking. Nonetheless, it came out really well and I think it looks great with the others. Not a terribly high quality photo here and I'm still a bit puffy since it was only three hours old or so, but you get the idea :)

Another cover...

I believe this is the third time Sherri has featured one of my photos on the Revolt "cover." It's still a bit of a thrill! Read the story and see more photos here. It was a tough show to shoot since the people at St. Andy's had the barrier shoved almost all the way up to the stage, effectively eliminating the photo pit entirely. I had to do all my shooting from the right side of the stage, which made things a bit tough.

In other fun, writing/photography related news, I'm also going to be covering the Kings of Leon/We Are Scientists show in November as well as the Hawthorne Heights show. What makes the HH show especially cool is that I also get to do an in-person interview with the band before the show! It's funny, it feels a little like coming full-circle or something since it was at a Hawthorne Heights show two years ago that I managed to get into the photo pit for the first time. I had never touched a digital SLR, much less owned one, and now I've photographed lots and lots of shows, not only held but purchased a lovely digital SLR and had some experiences I never thought I would in a million years. Wow :)

Tomorrow is the big day, tattoo number four. I'm at the nervous but excited stage. Tomorrow I'll probably be mostly nervous until it actually starts, then I'll be wincing but excited and then sore but happy. It's all part of the process I guess. How much things have changed in some ways since moving back to MI in 2005.

I guess I'm just in a reflective mood right now. It's in a good way though :)

I can't believe it's almost over

Summer has officially come to an end, at least for me (and other teachers). We went back on Monday for teacher prep week and have been cursed with a week full of meetings, teaching jargon, buzzwords and touchy-feely crap up the wazoo. If I hear "it was a beautiful process" one more time, I'll punch someone in the throat. Seriously. We at least (finally) got to sign our contracts today which might not seem like a big deal but when you consider we *should* have signed them back in June...the disorganization of that place boggles my mind sometimes. I mean, it's amazing that the school functions at all sometimes. However, despite all the stupid meetings this week, I do feel pretty on top of classroom stuff. My syllabi (syllabuses?) are ready for Monday, students have been reminded multiple times what I expect them to have for class that day and I have three weeks of lessons planned for my AP class. I feel pretty good about that. I probably won't mind classes starting since it means they can't keep us in stupid things like Critical Friends Groups and Professional Learning Communities all day (vomit).

However, I'm also sad that the summer is over. It feels like it goes faster every year. It didn't start off too great and definitely had some sucky moments, but I feel like I did a lot and still managed to relax.

On my summer vacation I:
-Volunteered with 826 Michigan for writing workshops and art fair
-Went to Wisconsin with Jon's family
-Went to DC with Paul, Kathleen and Shannon
-Had lunch with friends lots of times (Jon, Kelly Jean, Ben, Jessica, Sarah, etc.)
-Cooked a lot
-helped host a dinner party that was all Indian food (mmm, chicken tikka masala, aloo gobi, beef vindaloo...)
-Went to Warped tour and didn't get scorched
-Saw and photographed Alkaline Trio
-Got to be an extra for Whip It directed by Drew Barrymore
-Went to Dominick's (mmm, sangria)
-Got as much of a tan as I'll ever get
-Read over 8,000 pages and finally finished the Harry Potter series
-Went to at Tigers game
-Saw the new Batman and Sex and the City movies
-Played Rock Band
-Did karaoke at a biker bar for Sarah's going away party (she's going to Nepal for a year)
-Wrote articles for Revolt every week

Phew. When I look at it like that, I guess I did a lot this summer. I guess I'm ready for school to start. We'll see how I feel on Monday ;) Oh and the back to school tattoo? That happens on the 5th. :)

Back from DC

It was a whirlwind trip and I'm kinda exhausted from it, but it was well worth it. Here's the breakdown of our weekend:

Thursday:
Paul, Kathleen and I headed to the airport around 5 pm for our flight. No problems at the airport (other than security being sure Kathleen had something hidden in her flip-flops and sweater which were scanned at least three times) and our flight was short and uneventful. From Regan we grabbed a cab to Dupont Circle where we were staying and our route took us past the Jefferrson Memorial, Lincoln memorial, Kennedy Center etc which was pretty cool since they were all lit up and it was getting dark. I thought it was a neat way for Kathleen to get her first glimpse of the city. The B & B is very cute and just as I'd remembered it from the other times I'd stayed there. Shannon had just gotten to the hotel (her flight was cancelled, delayed and delayed again) and we decided to head out for a drink. We walked down to the Circle and ended up at Buffalo Billiards where we sat and chatted for quite a while until Paul looked like he was ready to fall asleep in his beer (he'd worked all day while us three slackers/teachers didn't). So, we hiked back up the tremendous hill along Connecticut Ave to the hotel and promptly hit the sack.

Friday:
Kathleen had gotten us tickets to tour the Capitol through Senator Levin's office so after breakfast at the B & B she, Paul and I headed to the Russell Senate Building. Kathleen extolled the virtues of public transportation as she took her first Metro ride and I felt a twinge of missing DC. We made it to Carl Levin's office and two of his interns took us and some other visitors on an extensive tour of the Capitol. We even got to ride the little underground tram that runs from the Senate building to the Capitol and *just* missed seeing Hilary Clinton. It's funny, I lived in DC for two years but never did a lot of this stuff, I guess when you live there you just don't have time in the midst of your daily life. I think I might have been to the Capitol when my class took a trip to DC in 8th grade, but that was aeons ago and I don't remember a whole lot of the trip. Anyways, from the Capitol we then headed to lunch at Union Station (kinda a neat building architecturally) and then over to the Library of Congress for a tour. I'd done research in one of the LOC buildings when I was down in school there, (and didn't have the fondest memories of the LOC) but the tour was really interesting and our guide was great. We got to see a draft of the Declaration of Independence, complete with notes from editors such as Ben Franklin, and that was really cool. We also got to see Thomas Jefferson's personal collection which was very impressive. After the LOC we went to the Folger Shakespeare Library which I love (Still wish I could have done research there). After that I took Paul and Kathleen to see Chinatown and then she and I did some shopping at H & M at Metro Center while Paul went in search of coffee and a bookstore. By then it was nearing 7pm so we headed back to the Metro since we had 7pm dinner reservations at Thaiphoon (one of my favorite restaurants in DC). The food was great (mmm, pad thai) and Paul and Kathleen seemed to really enjoy it. Shannon had dinner plans with some former co-workers and I was a bit surprised that she wasn't at the hotel when we got back. I was happy to watch lousy tv (got sucked into watching the E True Hollywood story of Britney Spears), put my feet up for a bit and give Jon a quick call. However, it wasn't long before my cell rings and it's Shannon trying to get me to come to Georgetown with her so she can meet up with a guy she'd met in Boston a few weeks ago. I was tired but caved so she came back to the hotel, I changed and we got a cab to Georgetown. The Rhino Bar kinda sucked, I'd been there before but not during a major baseball game (the Red Sox were playing the Yankees) and the place was packed to the gills with rabid sports fans. We got a few beers and Shannon texted the guy she was trying to meet up with. Turns out, he and his friends decided not to go there and were at the Sign of the Whale in Dupont instead. Since Shannon still wanted to meet up with him, we got a cab to go back to Dupont where the other bar is. The place was INSANE. It's a small bar but was packed and there were people even trying to dance despite the lack of space to do so. We ended up talking to a few guys who all decided that I wasn't the fun one (I'm not, I'm ok with that) since I didn't want to dance (it was also totally not the kind of music I like) but it was a bit entertaining nonetheless. Shannon finally met up with her guy and I was totally unimpressed with him (he was drunk, lacked any kind of ability to converse and wasn't stunningly attractive to make up for his monosyllabic conversation). He too deemed me the un-fun one since I wasn't drinking at that point (too full from wonderful thai food). Eventually he and his friends disappeared which was no big tragedy to me but Shannon was kinda bummed by it (he wasn't worth it) and I was extremely grateful for not having to put up with meeting idiots at the bar at this point. We got a cab and headed home around 1am.

Saturday:
Tired from the late night but also looking forward to the plans on tap for the day, Paul, Kathleen and I headed to the Spy Museum to try and get tickets right away. Unfortunately, their morning tickets were sold out so we reserved tickets for the afternoon and went over to the National Gallery instead. We made the 10:30 am tour and got to see the highlights of the collection which included some beautiful paintings by Monet, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Renoir, Rembrandt and Degas. I think my very favorites were the Vermeers and getting to see the Little Dancer statue by Degas. From there I took Paul and Kathleen to my very favorite restaurant in Chinatown and had a great lunch even if we had to rush a bit to make it back to the Spy Museum by 1pm. I'd been to the Spy Museum before, but it was still really cool to see again even if it was really long (there's so much to see). We were pretty tired after that and decided a sit down and some ice cream would help with the fatigue and heat (it was in the 90s and humid all weekend, ah the joys of building a city on a swamp). We came to the conclusion that heading back to the hotel for a bit of a rest would be a good idea since we had plans for the evening and it would probably be a late night. Around 7pm the four of us walked over to Lauriol Plaza for some of the best Mexican food ever and wonderful frozen sangria/margarita swirls. The restaurant is enormous but it was still packed. Luckily we only had to wait about 15 minutes or so for a table. Dinner was fantastic (Paul tried quail) and we had a great time chatting about school, students, co-workers, bachelorette parties and people watching. From there Paul and Kathleen headed to the National Mall to take pictures of the monuments at night and Shannon and I went to U Street to grab some drinks. We ended up at Stetsons and got to sit on the back patio which was really nice. It was really good to catch up with her and I wish we could manage to hang out more than once or twice a year. Paul and Kathleen had said they might try to meet up with us but I didn't hear from them so I'd assumed they'd gone back to the hotel. Shannon wanted to meet up with another friend of hers and I was tired, so I grabbed a cab back to Dupont and was shocked when I got a text from Kathleen that she and Paul were just leaving the mall (it was after midnight). If I were them, I'd have taken a cab but they took the metro which took them forever since there were so few trains running at that hour. I don't think they got home till after 1am.

Sunday:
Again, a tired morning but there was still a lot to do. After bidding Shannon farewell, Paul, Kathleen and I headed to the Washington Monument since Kathleen had gotten us tickets to go to the top (again, something else I'd never done before). Unfortunately, it was the hottest day of the weekend and the humidity was through the roof. Luckily the monument is air conditioned (to my surprise) and they let us go up earlier than our ticket said. It was really cool seeing everything from that high up and i could even see Catholic U from there which was neat. After that we hiked over to the Air and Space museum and Paul was in his element (though even he laughed when I said that the reason some plane's engine made the sound it did was because it was full of bees). We then went back to the National Gallery to go to the gift shop which we hadn't gotten to the day before (I got some really cool stuff with Mucha prints, he was an awesome art nouveau artist) and as we we were leaving, it was starting to sprinkle. We walked to the Archives-Navy Memorial metro stop so we could go to lunch at Gallery Place (only one stop, but we were hot and it was gross out) and in the time it took to go one stop the weather changed tremendously. We got to street level at Gallery Place and it was pouring, not just a bit, but thunder, lightning and torrential downpour. Luckily, that metro stop has a canopy so we were able to wait for it to let up a bit which only took 10 or 15 minutes. From there we ran to Gordon Biersch (another of my favs in DC) for lunch. Despite eating too much and the three of us being in a bit of a food coma haze, we went back to the Mall area to see the Newseum which I'd never been to. It was SO cool, all about journalism and media and such. We got to see huge panels from the Berlin Wall, the flak vest Bob Woodruff had been wearing when he got hit in Iraq, an antenna from the top of one of the World Trade Center Towers, and historic newspapers going all the way back to the beginning of journalism in the US. I wish we'd had more time there but the museum closed at 5 and we had to get back to Dupont to get our bags and head to the airport. Although we'd originally talked about taking the train to the airport all of us were exhausted enough at that point to say to hell with it and take a cab which was much more easy. No problems at the airport and before we knew it, we were back in Detroit.

It was a fun trip but, as you can see, exhausting. I'd totally do it again though and I'm glad Paul and Kathleen had a fun time. It was neat seeing Kathleen's reaction to all these things since she'd never been to DC before. I also really liked getting to take them to some of my favorite restaurants in the city and the only places I didn't get to show them that I wished we'd had time for were where I used to live (although Paul has seen it) and Adams Morgan. Oh well, maybe next time we go:)

A little trip to Wisconsin

So, last Friday Jon and I packed up the car, got the dog in the backseat and headed to Wisconsin bright and early. We managed to leave pretty much at the time we'd hoped (7am) but the first three hours of the trip were, well, interesting. Fina is usually really quite good in the car but, for whatever reason, was all over the place on Friday morning. Maybe it was because she'd just gotten up. Maybe it was because she needed a pit-stop. Either way, it was rather nightmarish, particularly whenever we hit rumble-strips (construction induced lane shifts) she went nuts and tried to climb in the front seat. Let me tell you, 90 lbs of German Shepherd trying to climb in the front seat is on the distracting side. We finally stopped and let her out for a bit and then when we got back on the road, she was fine and slept a good portion of the rest of the way there. The time at the cottage was a lot of fun. We went tubing almost as soon as we got there on Friday and did a lot of hanging out with Jon's family. After dinner, numerous rounds of Blokus (very fun, kinda like the board game version of tetris) were played and I did decently until I tried developing a strategy and then got my butt kicked. Huge thunderstorm on Friday night but by morning the sun was out and the weather beautiful. That's sort of how much of the weekend went, dips in the lake, rides in the boat, boardgames, chatting, reading and being lazy. Jon and I cooked Moroccan Braised Beef for everyone on Saturday (it seemed to go over well) and two more of his brothers arrived on Saturday to add to the fun. I still think the highlight of the weekend was watching Jon and Josh do "sweet flips" off the dock. It was ridiculous. The ride home was much less eventful Fina-wise than the way out. Unfortunately we hit rush hour traffic coming through Chicago, but it didn't slow us down too much. It was a great trip though, nice and relaxing and just what I'd needed. I hope we get to go again next year:)

Things are good!

It's been a good few days and it looks like much of July will be fun (it's getting booked FAST). Monday Jon and I made homemade chili (awesome) and last night was Moroccan Braised Beef (excellent as well). Watched lots of Arrested Development too which I'm finding very funny. Yesterday Kelly Jean and I met up for lunch and camera shopping and I had a great time. Getting out of A2, even for a few hours, and having some "girl time" was much needed (and getting to see Telly didn't hurt either...eeee! she's so funny!)

And coming up on the agenda?
1. The usual yoga and guitar lessons
2. Possibly meeting Ben and Jessica for lunch on Friday, possibly seeing Benita sometime this weekend?
3. 4th of July bbq of some sort?
4. Indian dinner party on Saturday
5. Covering Alkaline Trio show on Tuesday (yay!)
6. Pun workshop with 826 Michigan on Thursday
7. Leave for Wisconsin with Jon on Friday
8. Art Fair (woo!) and working at the 826 Michigan booth on Art Fair Thursday
9. Warped Tour
10. Sarah's going away party

Whew. Packed, but I'm looking forward to all of it...and then there's also the trip to DC that Paul, Kathleen and I are going on later in July. That'll be so fun, I love DC. I can't wait to take them to all sorts of fun places and such. It'll be hot as hell there this time of year, but we'll manage. I love DC, I mean, I definitely don't think I'd want to live there again, but it's so fun to visit. Makes me miss it a bit. Looks like I'll be keeping busy and shouldn't have too much time to get bored, which is the way I like it. :)

Everyone else is doing it...

Seriously, everyone else (that counts) is better at blogging than me. I have to step this up. So, to make up for the fact all I ever post are surveys, a "real" blog.

Summer has been pretty 'eh' so far. In fact, I've even found myself doing stuff for school. I think I'm getting bored already, which is kinda scary. I mean, it isn't even the end of June. However, there have been a few fun things:

-I got my copy of Rock Band, discovered I suck at playing the drums, but have fun doing it even though my brother and parents find the whole concept bizarre.
-I'm reading like a fiend for the contest. So far, I'm in the neighborhood of 2,500 pages already. I must keep up this pace.
-I got to do an interview with Less Than Jake and my feature is up on www.revolt-media.com. There is at least one really fun quote in there, see if you can find it.
-Looks like Jon and I are heading to WI to his family's cottage for a few days. I hope I survive ;)
-Brian hosted a super-fun party on Monday and it was good to see everyone.
-I think we're doing the Indian dinner on July 5? If you're around and want naan, chicken tikka masala and other yummy Indian goodies, let me know...
-Kathleen told me about 826 Michigan which is this super-cool writing center in Ann Arbor (but they have them all over the country). We went to the volunteer orientation which took place in the Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair shop (a front) and I really like the whole idea. I've volunteered to help with a few things there this summer which should be fun.

Bummers of the summer so far:
-I'm getting stir crazy
-The weather is gross and we lost power last night, but the good news was it was back on this morning.
-No jobs coming from the DFP. In fact, I haven't heard much from them since before school was over. Kinda a bummer since I have all this free time and I really want to get back to photographing live shows.

Meh, just kinda blah right now really. Maybe the summer will get better.

Wow, two posts in two days!

So, big news. I had my end-of-the-year evaluation today. I thought it would just be with my VP, but my principal was there too. I wasn't exactly sure why, but it became pretty clear rather quickly. They asked me to be department head for next year. It wasn't exactly one of those things i could really say no to. I mean, I suppose I could have, but the options were either I do it, or my VP does it for another year. As I think he tends to kowtow to the parents, I guess I'd rather do it. Of course that may also be the end of my teaching career. I mean, I'm flattered that they asked me and want me to do it, it'll be nice to get a bit of a raise, but I'm also worried I'll be the scapegoat if next year is anything like this year is. Who knows. Worth a shot I guess. I'm excited but scared about it at the same time. However, now that I'm department head, a back to school tattoo is most definitely in order;)

In other news, three days of school left! Whoooooooooooooooooo! I'm looking forward to girly time on Wednesday and then the summer off. Maybe it's just as well that my job at plastics has fallen through this summer, I think next year will be nuts, so the time off may be necessary. I might also have a bit of a tutoring gig this summer for a little extra cash, so that may be ok.

There was an article in the A2 news about the Detroit Derby Girls. I've known about them for a while now and always thought it seemed kinda cool. Turns out, they're having tryouts in July and I'm thinking about giving it a go. Sure, I haven't roller skated in ages, but I figure skated for over 10 years and can at least do all the skills they're looking for on ice skates. Maybe roller skates aren't too different (I know a fair number of girls who went from competitive ice skating to competitive roller or the other way around with little difficulty). The tryouts aren't till July, so I have a little time to think about it. Doesn't it look fun though? www.detroitrollerderby.com.

Rock band comes out for the Wii on June 22. It's expensive, but I really, really want to get it. Maybe that's what this most recent freelancing check will go towards...and Jon said he'd go halvsies on it. Now, we'd just need to figure out how custody will work... ;)

Wow, two real blog posts in two days. What is the world coming to??

Wow, it isn't a survey!

School is almost over!

And that means maybe I'll actually do "real" blog posts and not just surveys... A few things: 1. There are only four more days of school, and only one of those is with students. I'm caught up in grading my exams (for once!) and have managed to already throw out a whole load of junk from my classroom. Yay me. I can't wait for school to be over for the year. 2. However, with school being over, we had to say goodbye to a few retirees. One of them, the Captain, I will miss tremendously. He was my chemistry and physics teacher when I went to FGR. He still scares me a bit, but I admire him tremendously. I mean, come on, if an ex-commander of a nuclear submarine isn't somewhat intimidating, who is?? It won't be the same without him. I may not remember much from chemistry or physics, but I'll never forget him. 3. I am, however, ready to be done with the politics and backbiting for a few months. I have my end-of-the-year evaluation tomorrow with my vice-principal/interm department head and I'm (as usual) a bit nervous. I hate these things. However, I'm hoping that we sign contracts and I can find out what my salary is for next year...I mean, if I'm here for another year, I hope to make a bit more. 4. With being at FGR for another year, I'm already considering what my back-to-school tattoo might be. No design or placement ideas yet, but I am 99% sure I'm going to do this. 5. I was hoping to be working this summer, but at the same time, the idea of having 2 months off has its attractiveness. Things I'd like to do this summer: -more yoga or possibly try getting into running again -read like a fiend and hopefully kick some ass at the summer reading contest -see some more live music -get more organized for next school year -purchase and play too much rock band -throw and do half the cooking for an Indian party (mmm, naan...) -add to the family cookbook -practice the guitar -go to the cottage in WI with Jon -do some SERIOUS cleaning -freelance as much as I can Yeah, the money of from extra work this summer would be nice, but I think I can keep myself occupied if I have to. Four more days.

Note: do NOT click the "back" button on your browser.

Do You Ever Wonder...

In a feeling sorry for myself, depresso moment, I got thinking...do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you'd done something differently either as a kid or in college or something like that? What if life really was like one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? I mean, think about it, all those things that could have made a huge difference in some way (maybe for the better, maybe for the worse). Things like:

• Paying more attention in math/science/history class
• Not majoring in English
• Majoring in something that actually pays well/is respected
  
• Going out of state for undergrad instead of staying here
• Going to grad school for something more respected than english lit
• Not dating someone you dated
• Dating someone you didn't date
• Going abroad
• Not going abroad
• Being more outgoing
• Not being afraid of what other people think
• Participating in something new/out of the comfort zone
• Being happier just with the way things are
• Realizing a dream when you actually were young enough to do something about it
• Dropping negative people from your life sooner
• Realizing those people were negative influences
• Working out more
• Eating better
• Not letting yourself be walked on
• Following through with something instead of quitting
• Moving
• Not moving
• Saying what you really think instead of letting it fester

Obviously the list could go on and on. I dunno what prompted me on that thought path but it just sort of struck me. I mean, there are so many things that could have changed where we all are right now...I guess some people have a knack for picking better than others.

Photos from Ben Sims

My first set of photos for the DFP is up.

http://www.detroitfashionpages.com/you_been_shot.asp

First row, far right column. A little slideshow thingy will pop up. They aren't the most interesting photos (IMO) but at least they liked them enough to put them up.

There are a bunch along with Ashley's story too...
http://www.detroitfashionpages.com/music/music-469.asp

and a nice fat photo credit for me!

Things I learned this weekend & a quick summary

I have learned the following this weekend:
1. I loathe the smell of pot and don't appreciate coming home reeking of it.
2. Being stuck at an electronic music show till 2:30 am is my on personal hell.
3. If I ever suggest to anyone that I might consider going to another of those, you have my permission to slap me silly.
4. DJs are boring to photograph.
5. Give me a show full of screaming emo kids and punks with tattoos and piercings. I get them. I don't get ravers.

Yeah, it was "interesting". I don't think I'd volunteer for another one of those things anytime soon.

However, LAST weekend kicked ass. Karaoke was a blast and I'd definitely do it again. If the photos are anything to go by, I think everyone had a good time. The stars of the show were almost definitely Rodger and Kyle and memories of Rodger belly-dancing to KJ's rendition of "Oops I did it again" will give me warm fuzzies for a long time to come:) Thanks to everyone that came out and helped me celebrate, it was one of the best birthday's ever. Seriously.

So glad it's almost Friday...

Whew, maybe it's because I'm now 30 (yikes!) or maybe it's just been one of those weeks. In any event, I'm SO glad tomorrow is Friday. It's been a pretty good week though:) I had a great birthday with flowers from Jon and some from my parents as well. I got loads of sweet emails/ecards and messages on myspace and facebook from friends and family. Jon and I cooked a tasty dinner of shrimp fra diavolo, drank wine and had a great night. I'm really excited for my party on Saturday and though the karaoke still makes me a little nervous, the excitement definitely is outweighing the nerves.

Too bad the rest of the week was a little blah. Nothing bad but nothing terribly exciting (other than an episode of Buffy that was quite distressing, don't ask). I'm cursed *cough*, er, "blessed" with a meeting about whether to keep The Good Earth in the curriculum tomorrow after school (postponed from last Friday because of the snow day). Honestly? If I'm out of the meeting before 5:30, I'll consider myself lucky. I dread it.

Oh, actually, there was some fun news yesterday. I got my first assignment for the Detroit Fashion Pages. Weirdly enough, it's a pure photo job, no writing. I'm shooting this event at the 555 Gallery & Studio in Detroit, a big DJ party type thing with this guy Ben Sims who is a DJ and producer from London. It's pretty exciting, finally getting paid for my work and all! Woot!

Ok, I guess since I have to go to work tomorrow I probably should DO some work. Blech.


Listening to: (Husband's fav) The Killers, Sam's Town

Death of a friendship

I suppose this was one of those things I should have seen coming sooner, and really, I've known that it's been happening, I guess I was just in denial or hoping that it could be prevented.

However, it IS definitely true that you need both people invested in a friendship for it to work. It was made perfectly clear to me today that my former-friend, now-acquaintance, Elana is no longer interested in maintaining our friendship.

I've known her since my junior year of college, so for almost exactly 10 years. We met while working together at the Dentistry library where we bonded over laughing at the stressed-out dental students, socially-inept full-time staff and the School of Education. Yes, we were both on the track to become teachers, she, an elementary school teacher and me, high school. Perhaps that should have indicated our vast differences to me early on, but she seemed to be so much that I felt I wasn't. She had a large circle of friends, she went out with boys, she partied. I was (and still am) a nerd who didn't have many close friends, was having trouble with my roommate at the time, hadn't really dated anyone seriously since high school and spent most of my time at the ice rick with the figure skating team, of which I was vice-president. Needless to say, we were pretty different.

Somehow we became friends, despite these differences, and were very close for the first five years or so. We'd regularly hang out on Friday nights, hit the bar, gripe about guys and so forth. However, it became increasingly clear to me that we weren't looking for the same things in a friendship when I moved to DC. I'd call her to be rebuffed and told that "American Idol is on in 10 minutes, so I'm only going to talk that long," or to not have calls returned at all. In fact, it became such that the only times she did call/return my calls was if she'd either broken up with her on-again, off-again boyfriend or they'd gotten back together. Sure, we'd hang out when I was back home for breaks and such, but we were definitely growing apart.

What was getting clearer became even more obvious in the last two years. Since I moved back to Michigan, she and I have hung out on very few occasions. I've made efforts to plan get-togethers only to have her a)not even call back, b) cancel at the last minute or c) we'd hang out and she'd spend the entire time talking about herself and how great her life is. It got tiring. I'd host parties and she wouldn't even rsvp to say she couldn't make it (or didn't want to).

I think today was the death-knell. I invited her to my 30th birthday shindig next weekend. I noticed a voice mail on my cell and caller id said it was her. She was calling to say that she not only can't make it, but she's going to someone else's party "whose birthday is actually that day." She mentioned the girl's name. I know for a fact they have NOT known each other for 10 years. I was honestly a little surprised that she even bothered to let me know she wasn't coming. She hasn't done that for the last three parties I've thrown.

It's sad. I suppose it was sort of inevitable and I know people grow apart, but I'd hoped that we'd be able to work things out. I've tried. I've made the effort and extended the invitations, but I guess it's time to give that up (a hint should have been when she only called me at Thanksgiving to get a ride to the airport, not to catch up or suggest getting a cup of coffee or something). I feel like a bitch, but I guess this would only work if she wanted to be part of this friendship too, and she clearly doesn't.

This is what I want for my birthday...

Can I puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzze have one? OMFG, this is the cutest thing ever. I laugh like an idiot every time I look at the picture. I want one. I mean, it's so cute it makes you just want to punch something.

Yup, so the big 30 is on Monday. I have to admit, it's a little surreal to think I'm turning 30. I've enlisted a bunch of friends to help me make the plunge and we're all heading out of karaoke on Saturday night. Now, I'm not a huge karaoke person (I like the idea of it but I'm not a huge fan of public humiliation) but I'm going to give it a try. I figure, at least it's just humiliation in front of friends and family instead of a whole bar of strangers. A few shots of something and I'll be fine:)

Can someone get me a pom for my birthday though? :D (j/k, sort of)

I know, I'm the worst blogger ever.

Well, maybe not ever, but it's pretty bad when I mostly just post myspace surveys instead of real blogs. Here's the rundown:

-Two weeks ago we had semester exams at school. In that week I graded 44 AP English Great Gatsby essays, 44 sets of AP homework questions, 12 English II Count of Monte Cristo projects and movies, 44 sets of AP exam short answers, 44 AP exam essays, 50 sets of English II short answers, 50 English II essays and 21 journalism exams consisting of matching, stories written on deadline and InDesign layouts. Then I still had to get 2nd quarter, exam and 1st semester grades into the office without screwing it up like I did last year.

-That weekend Jon and I were invited to a biker wake at a Moose Lodge in Dearborn. It was one of the weirdest nights of my life. Fun until the drive home where I got totally turned around and a 30 minute drive took an hour and a half and ended with me and Jon getting pissed off at each other. Things are fine now, but I'm not jumping in line for any more biker wakes in the immediate future.

-Monday was a day off. Jon and I went ice skating (my first time in 2 years), ate enchilada leftovers, watched The Devil Wears Prada and hit Conor's for some trivia. Brian joined us and that was a lot of fun.

-The rest of the week at school was semi-madness with the start of the 2nd semester. My 7th hour basic English II was a nightmare the first day since I had 32 kids in the class (apparently, down from 37!) I freaked out, told the guidance office that this was NOT acceptable (you want me to teach public school sized classes, you pay me a public school sized salary) and they've managed to get it down to 28 which I will happily take over 32.

-Last night was a lot of fun too. Jon, Martin, Greg, Chrysta and I headed to Red Sea for some Etheopian food and then over to Tower for some beer and conversation. 'Twas a good, easy, laid back night which is good, since this week is going to be mad. Tuesday I have an interview with The Detroit Fashion pages (a paying writing job!) for one of their music positions. How cool would that be? Wednesday night I've got my first yoga class (yay), Thursday is guitar night and Friday after school I have to go to a meeting about whether or not we should keep one of the books in our curriculum (who the hell has such a meeting after school on a FRIDAY?) Oh well.

Wish me luck on the interview...i hope i get this!