Very much alive.

You thought I was dead, didn't you? You thought to yourself, "Oh, Lord, she actually did trip and fall and break her brain."

Don't worry. I didn't break my brain. And if you weren't worried, I'll know that you have a life and don't hang on my every word here. Jerk.

Today was a great day. You might not think so, but it truly was.

It was the first day of official work for me. I love my place of employ, I love my co-workers, I love my room. Is there any more that I could love? Sure, but I haven't gotten there yet, so I don't know if I love it yet! Judging by what I've encountered so far, I'm going to go ahead and guess that I'll love those things, too.

I also had dinner tonight with a very lovely couple here in town. They are actually my age, which is amazing, and they're super nice. And we have many mutual friends! People I went to high school with are great friends of theirs. And these aren't people from high school that I sort of knew and liked. These were people from high school that I loved and had fun with. That, my friends, is a serious gift from the Lord, and a confirmation that I can build relationships here.

In other news, I believe you would all like to see my room! Here you go:

This is what I call my Reading Nook. I made those letters from construction paper and had so much fun doing it! 

Hopefully I'll have more books for my students to check out as time goes on. 

The view of my desks from the doorway of the room.

My "turn in" table. 

This is a board with pictures that I love. This is sort of my way to show my students that I'm a "real person."

If you know me, you may notice that I don't have college pictures. I wanted to use high school pictures to remind me of that

time in my own life as well as connect more with my students. 

This corner of my room will slowly become my science fiction and fantasy area. 

I think it's appropriate that I've started with the first sci-fi film ever made and the best sci-fi film ever made. 

I have a huge glass sheet over my desk, so I can keep pictures of my family and important notes all over it. 

The back of the room. 

The inside of my supply cabinets. One side has all my artsy stuff and movies while the other side is for my forensics kids.

Look at all those plays! Jackpot! It took a long time to organize and alphabetize them. 

Assignment board! Color coordinated to keep my brain sane. 

My sets of class books. And the other piece of art in my room, Klimt's "The Kiss."

View from the door. 

View from the other corner of the classroom. As you can see in this picture, 

I have a ceiling-mounted projector. I plan on using this a lot!

Thanks for looking at the pictures of my room! I can't wait to get to work there!

Wherein I make a list of my day

A few notes from the day:

1. I only spent a few hours in my classroom today, but I did get my Star Wars poster up. Now it feels like home.

2. I suddenly felt nervous about teaching Creative Writing, even though it'll probably be my best class. At this very moment I can't even remember why I was nervous. I just remember a tight feeling in my jaw, thinking I was way in over my head, and then leaving. Quickly. Hence, the reason for #1.

3. I'm excited about Forensics now. I'll just stick with Speech (per my coach) and get the kids ready for that. Also, please do not forget that we're going to play improv games in this class. Especially these games. That I like to watch. As a pick-me-up, because . . .

4.  . . . well, I'll leave #4 blank. Not because nothing happened, but because I don't need to get into it. Suffice to say, it prompted my need for the previous post and for retreating into my head, which . . .

5. Should I be worried that my coping mechanism is a flourishing dream world where I imagine myself as a successful comic and writer in NY being discovered by chance and landing a coveted staff writing position at a very popular sketch comedy show? Because that makes me feel better. And I'd rather daydream about an imaginary relationship than start a real one since I've decided that the whole solo career thing is what I want to do for the next couple of years.

6. And a man who is my age said these exact words today: "Hey, I wanted to tell you, you should wear your hair like that [which, for your information, is me drying my bangs out of the shower and letting it do what it wants] every day. You look really pretty."

Why thank you cute guy. You made my day.

Oh, and the new Arcade Fire album is out and as soon as the motha' flippin' bank gives me my motha' flippin' debit card, I'm going to hit that, yo.

Again, I say things like this only to emphasize my whiteness.

Sorry for another post with him. But I felt the sudden need to release some anger and I'd already taken my bike ride for the evening. Plus, I'm in bed.

So. Here's what cheers me up. I mean, seriously. I dare you to watch this video and not laugh with them. Letterman hardly ever laughs like this at a guest.



Ah. A sigh of relief. Now I feel better.

Dear Lord, God please don't break my brain.

Today I did more work in my classroom. I can feel the weight of the time crunch beating down on me. Ugh.

AND I found out some lovely news today. I was under the impression the health care for teachers was covered. Always covered. Ha. Are you paying attention? It's not.

Basically, the school system will only pay for half of my monthly coverage, which, as it turns out, is really expensive. I'm all about a certain health insurance company that contains what Jesus died on, the acronym of a certain Marvel Comics law-enforcement agency (and yes, I'm using a comic books reference, deal with it), and the primary color that is not red or yellow.

Waiting . . .

. . . almost there . . .

. . . now you've got it.

Ok, so I'm all about that company. But not when I have to pay half of the lowest monthly option. Because that wonderful company knows it's wonderful. And what do people do when they know they're wonderful? Well, folks, they charge lots and lots of money.

Why do you think Julia Roberts makes so much money? Because she knows we all think she's wonderful. And she is a little wonderful, God love her. We'll just overlook the forthcoming Put-Things-In-Mouth-Then-Chew-Them-Then-Swallow-Them, Talk-to-Deity-of-Your-Choice, Strong-Feelings-That-Are-More-Than-Like.

Waiting . . .

. . . wondering why she chose to write the title that way . . .

. . . got it, albeit with a little bit of huh?

Anyway, with a $2,000 deductible (that's right, you heard me. I'll give you a second to pick your jaw up off the floor. Lord knows I needed more than a few to do the same thing . . . . . . . . ok, ready? And, we're back.), I better not get so much as a runny nose while I'm here in Ashland.

Oh, God.

Knock.

On.

Wood.

I just know when I finish writing this post I'm going to trip over my own feet, forget to catch myself with my hands, smash my face into the corner of my kitchen counter, and break my nose all the way up into my brain.

Yes.

Break my nose. Into my brain.

It's a real thing. I looked it up.

In other news, I love my classroom. I really mean it. Love, love, love. It's a comfortable place. It's big, it's sunny, and it's cleaner than most of the rooms in the building. I've been figuring out how to buy some movie posters for the room without spending a lot of money. So far I have a Star Wars poster. Nothing fancy, nothing official, but at least I'm representing (I like using the "g" at the end to emphasize my whiteness).

Love you all. Miss you.

Purging, but no binging.

I finally felt productive today.

I went to school and got into my classroom for the first time. I wasn't expecting much, to be honest. But I did end up getting more than I expected.

First of all, the woman I'm replacing clearly didn't possess organizational skills. AND she didn't even bother to go through any of the material that was left in the classroom from past teachers. I found things dumped in piles from the early 90s.

You know, there are pack rats, people who just let things sit, and purgers. I am a purger (and no, this is not one of those moments where I now need to go into bulimic rehab). I love to dig through old things, decide what is needed, and throw the unnecessary stuff out.

I went through some gems (a complete Holocaust unit, a play version of Alas, Babylon, and a massive number of plays) and some real stinkers (too many textbooks and old copies of student work). The stinkers actually made me just as happy as the gems because I got the pleasure of throwing them away. Something about the sound of stacks of junk hitting the bin puts a song in my heart.

The bookcases are in place. The tables are in place. My desk is in place. It's great.

One problem though: the room is filthy. Oh my Lord, I seriously felt a little ill just looking at it. Old crumbs everywhere, sticky tables, dirty class, cobwebs and dead bugs littering corners and various surfaces covered the room. Ick, ick, ick.

I know the custodian will be by to take care of a lot of those things, but I'm wondering to myself just how much I would insult him by bringing some of my cleaning things in tomorrow to take care of it.

For the last few minutes at school I just sat in my chair and gazed at the room. I think it will be a place that I find comfort and enjoy being.

I hope my students feel the same way.

I want to go to there

I'm falling more and more in love with New York each day.

Three years (I think that's what it'll end up being) feel like an awfully long time.

You'll never get me to stop.

My favorite pieces usually come from Weekend Update. So, since it's airing right now, here are two SNL clips featuring the man himself, demonstrating his range. 



James Carville is always funny. Cajun Gollum. I wish I had a baby so I could test it out.

Next up, Eliot Spitzer (who lost his position as governor after a prostitution scandal) demonstrates some cards he helped create for Valentine's Day. Don't say I didn't warn you . . .



I love Hader's Spitzer impression. You can see some more here, plus you get the added bonus of current governor David Paterson.

And I wasn't going to throw this in, but I might as well. Ralph Nader is just too easy a target.



Politics. So funny.