Thursday, July 29, 2010

in my class

there is a guy in my class
and he has the most fantastic laugh.
it's youthful, invigorating, ringing, clear and genuinely amused and happy.

there is a girl in my class
and she's the kind of girl that you feel like you've known.
she has the most kiddish, smile, an awkward, comfortable, slightly haphazard demeanor
a free spirit with sense, exuberance, and passion for kids.

there is a woman in my class
who holds a strong sense of identity in her roots
and you can tell she has experience and knows how to love
she calls me cutie and compliments me like my mom would.

there is a girl in my class
and her features are so bold and slightly neurotic
she's so intense and slightly ditzy; she's fun.

there is a guy in my class
and he has a great speaking voice and a great presence
he makes you feel like anything he says is right, in a laid back, "i'm sure you understand," intelligently knowledgeable sort of way.

there is a man in my class
with red hair, and a slightly chauvinistic, tough-dad demeanor
i think it's cool he's an english teacher

he has a buddy that he always sits with
who is even more of an old-school father, who sports his ring proudly
and finishes his essays on time or early or in the morning.

there is a woman in my class
and she is the mother of boys with mexican names
and she is tough, and is always smiling, and is quick to laugh.

there is a girl in my class
and she has vivid blue eyes, and curly blond hair
and a mole above her chin that looks like a lip ring.
i love to look at her when i can.

there is another girl in my class
and she has a frightened, timid look; like a mouse
she's not though; i like her hesitant smiles.

there is a girl in my class
and she has great posture, loves literature, and tries hard
she probably gets straight As, crosses her tees and dots her eyes.
i enjoy and appreciate her effort; she must be a great teacher.

there is a girl in my class
and i think she's already graying because i can see her roots
and the wrinkles behind her makeup.
she has a soft demeanor and a young-girly voice.

there is a woman in my class
and she rocks a pregnant tummy
has a high almost furry voice
and has dark brown eyes, thick brown lashes, and long brown hair.
(she's going to have a son, and she says she has no clue about boys: grew up in a family of all girls, went to an all-girls school all her life, joined a sorority, and married her high school sweetheart)

there was a lady in my class
who audited because she already took the classes
she is older, blonde, and sports an older-lady-sexy look (with her deep freckled, sun-leathered cleavage). semiyuck, semi-fascinating.
i liked talking to her because she thought i was amazing.

there is a girl in my class
who looks like syndicated Cathy
and talks in that matter-of-fact way that girls like her do.
it's amazing how many of these kinds of people i run in to.
anything she says sounds nonchalantly sensible

there is a girl in my class
who is a romanian version of Cher
who is very serious about literature, but her intensity disappears when she accidentally flashes an embarrassed smile




there are others.
but these people stick to me the most.



Sometimes during undergrad, when i got bored, or felt sleepy, i would look at all my classmates and imagine what they would look like in the 1800s. (or other eras of choice)


i need to get back to work.

a gchat status post that quickly turned uncharacteristically somber

i have a lot to do. instead i watched the premiere of Master Chef and cried with all the emotional chefs that got an apron. this either means i have a passion for cooking or i have a penchant for being dissatisfied with my current lot in life. it's probably the latter. :-( must repent.

Monday, July 26, 2010

disturbed by a commercial

story idea:
look up seasonique commercial

dystopia where women don't have to have periods.


HOW IS THIS EVEN NATURAL?
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWw


"Who says?"

NATURE

GOD!
HELLO!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

america's got talent

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2010/07/americas_got_talent_recap_one.html

i'm glad nick pike is back
and yeah, why are some people put through and not others?
oh wellz
that's all
i hate hulu. in taiwan it didn't work. i was so much more productive.
paper cranking time!

(but i liiike it~! Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear! is FUN)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

"The ones who walked away from Omelas"


By Ursula Le Guin


With a clamor of bells that set the swallows soaring, the Festival of Summer came to the city Omelas, bright-towered by the sea. The rigging of the boats in harbor sparkled with flags. In the streets between houses with red roofs and painted s nothing they can do. If the child were brought up into the sunlight out of that vile place, if it were cleaned and fed and comforted that would be a good thing, indeed; but if it were done, in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed. Those are the terms. To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed.


The terms are strict and absolute; there may not even be a kind word spoken to the child.


Often the young people go home in tears, or in a tearless rage, when they have seen the child and faced this terrible paradox. They may brood over it for weeks or years. But as time goes on they begin to realize that even if the child could be released, it would not get much good of its freedom: a little vague pleasure of warmth and food, no doubt, but little more. It is too degraded and imbecile to know any real joy. It has been afraid too long ever to be free of fear. Its habits are too uncouth for it to respond to humane treatment. Indeed, after so long it would probably be wretched without walls about it to protect it, and darkness for its eyes, and its own excrement to sit in. Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it. Yet it is their tears and anger, the trying of their generosity and the acceptance of their helplessness, which are perhaps the true source of the splendor of their lives. Theirs is no vapid, irresponsible happiness. They know that they, like the child, are not free. They know compassion. It is the existence of the child, and their knowledge of its existence, that makes possible the nobility of their architecture, the poignancy of their music, the profundity of their science. It is because of the child that they are so gentle with children. They know that if the wretched one were not there sniveling in the dark, the other one, the flute-player, could make no joyful music as the young riders line up in their beauty for the race in the sunlight of the first morning of summer.


Now do you believe in them? Are they not more credible? But there is one more thing to tell and this is quiet incredible.


At times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact, go home at all. Sometimes also a man or woman much older falls silent for a day or two, and then leaves home. These people go out into the street, and walk down the street alone. They keep walking and walk straight out of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates. They keep walking across the farmlands of Omelas. Each one goes alone, youth or girl, man or woman. Night falls; the traveler must pass down village streets, between the houses with yellow-lit windows, and on out into the darkness of the fields. Each alone, they go west or north, towards the mountains. They go on. They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.


I read this story in my English class during my freshman year of high school… 8 years ago.  Funny how it still sticks with me.  I remembered “Omelas.”  I vaguely remember discussing this, and at times, pondering the idea of utopia, of fairness, of whether or not it is fair to sacrifice one for all.  I think about Christ, I think of about pathetic things, and how we’re so fallen.  I also think about how I admire stories like these.

Friday, July 23, 2010

edward lear :)

The Owl and the
Pussycat



I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'



II
Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.




III
'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

america's got talent

i keep on watching this clip over and over again. it gets me every time. i THINK about it at random times. Her cute face, excitement, talent!

i'm GLAD she didn't go through though, because kids get messed up in the adult world of entertainment.

i'd like to think that's why Sharon said no.

anyway, looking forward to seeing her in the future. (she seems like she'll break through sooner or later; she's all up in the media apparently...according to various youtube clips i found haha)

PS, hopefully she'll come back withOUT that awkward dance crew.. -_-

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Amazon Customer Service HAS IMPROVED A LOT!!!

Do you remember those days when there was no phone call or email button on Amazon.com?  If you had a problem, you had a problem and you had to deal with it?  I remember even reading an article about it, and curious, I went to look for a way to contact their customer service... sure enough, it was a crazy maze-y ordeal.

Today, I ordered three books through Amazon Prime... and lo and behold, realized i had sent it to my HOME address instead of my current one... I panicked.  I needed those books ASAP in Irvine... and yet I couldn't change it.. it was "Shipping Soon" (which on a-whole-nother note, impressed me that they're really that quick).

I quickly scoured the confirmation email to see if I could contact anyone and there was a link on the bottom.  Rather than going to the FAQs, I clicked a convenient, yellow "contact us" button, and after delineating my specific problem, opted to call them rather than e-mail them.  I typed in my phone number and in two seconds, I got a phone call from amazon where I waited roughly a minute, and the customer service was so nice, personable, and genuinely seemed to be figuring out what to do (she was sort of "hmm"ing since it *is* amazon prime and that goes faster).  She put me on hold after asking a few questions and even asked me, "well, if I *can* change it, which address should I send it to?"  .. and then she got back to me with it fixed!  Woo!

It was great and yes, I'm a satisfied customer.

Here's the customer service link!  https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Today was a good day for NPR

As i drove down to So Cal, I was listening to NPR and MAN the topics today were spot on.

First there was a discussion about the need for blacks to not let the messenger get in the way of the message (in regards to the Tea Party etc) based on an article written by a republican black woman, Sophia Nelson.  Interested in looking her up.  Good dialogue

THEN there was a discussion about CHEATING in schools.  AGH I actually got off the freeway, pulled over, and spent a good five minutes trying to call in and give my two cents.  Maybe one day I'll write about cheating....
basically how I grew up not cheating but ignoring when others cheated until a certain boy in my high school class whom eVERYone knew cheated got into Stanford..
I didn't cheat in college either... and when I began TEACHING I was really hard on cheating until I went to GCA.
I think I changed my philosophy a little, being lenient on the first one, trying to vary my tests and projects so that kids CAN'T viably cheat, and of course, if they cheat, just give them another assignment for a maximum grade of a C.  Easy peasy..

It was interesting how a lot of students unfortunately aren't prepared to write college-level (works cited, research intensive) work in high school.  ... America and education.  ..::sigh::..

I thought about starting an interactive blog where each post would be something that would be useful to students
like how to cite a book
how to start an intro paragraph

under the idea that we must "first learn the rules in order to throw them out." (yea yea JM!)

it got staticky.

THEN
in LA i listened to a story of an American family that lives off of welfare.  I thought about health a lot.. :-/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128618224


Other discussions of note:
Debate over high-risk abortion public funding
Republicans blocking extension of unemployment benefits
Army + don't ask don't tell
auto-dealership bailout vs non-bailout / closing dealerships critique


There were random stuff too
like Lilith concert, a probe on Mars (pretty cool tho), human beings evolutionary development in terms of running,... yeah


ANyway, today was especially interesting... http://www.npr.org

I got into the habit of listening and absorbing information that way during my sophomore year when I worked a mind-numbing job and had an ipod.  At first, I couldn't focus, but now, I'm glad I can!

UM, I watched 24:Redemption last night.. and wow, 24 is kind of cool. and I just wish I had more international awareness............

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Let me try to explain why Poetry is wonderful.

When you're little, you're given five blanks.  "Fill this in with your name, your favorite color, a hobby, and a synonym that describes you," they say.  And that was poetry.  (It was fun.  You might still have it; albeit with the corner ripped off from the magnet on your refrigerator)

When you're a little older, they give you five verses.  "Memorize this by October.  Use emotion," they say.  And that was poetry.  (Of course, though, that boy right before you did it with much more feeling, and you were deathly afraid to recite it in front of everyone).

When you're in middle school, they give you a poem, some vocabulary, movies, and a worksheet.  "Why can nothing gold stay?" they say.  And that was poetry.  (I don't know, I'm not ponyboy).

When you're in high school, they load you with poems.  And some are wonderful, you daresay.  and some are confusing.  They're oodles of ballads, haikus, sonnets, free verse, lyrics, modernists, and you're overwhelmed.  "What is poetry?" they say.  And that was poetry.  (In all its grandeur: feverishly scribbling rhyme schemes, wracking your head to recite what your teacher said five minutes before while everyone nods in bewilderment.  You somehow walk into the library, sit through five hours, throwing out catch phrases and vocabulary words with robotic, memorized responses [paja].  You get the whole five points of the star... even in a different language!)

When you're in college, they give you poets, biographies, criticisms, approaches.  And some are wonderful, you daresay.  and most are confusing.  More organized in presentation, maybe. "Why is poetry?" they say.  And that was poetry.  (And you wrack your brains trying to say something deep, while everyone nods in disagreement.  Nothing can be wrong when explaining poetry.  And then you get mad when you get your deserved B- for effort but fluff.  [paja]).

Sometime during that time, if you take the plunge, you realize poetry talks to each other and it talks to people.  You could throw the poet out the window, you could push in any allusion you want, but there's a REASON.  Poetry isn't just what some poet threw off the top of his head.  It was intelligently thought-through!  I never thought of that.  But when you realize that it too, like prose, like an essay, had thought, revisions, thought, thought, and reason, it makes so much more sense.  And the ability to express with language is amazing.  You try it yourself.  I just did.


Let me try to explain why Poetry is wonderful. [a prose poem*]


*it's only fitting

Sunday, July 11, 2010

spoiler

so... it was basically all lynn's fault.  and no it wasn't your fault b/c you let "a younger chef take the lead".. it was your fault b/c you didn't listen to HIM telling YOU to cook the pasta earlier.. hence it was undercooked and ruined your whole dish.

sorry arnold; I was actually warming up to you... ... bon appetit!

Monday, July 5, 2010

education stuffz

http://www.khanacademy.org/
http://win.classwish.org/
http://vittana.org/howitworks
http://www.sloclassicalacademy.com/
http://tae.tusd.ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1219971117957
http://www.ascd.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/education/10524288.stm

Sunday, July 4, 2010

top chef 7 kick off .. stream of consciousness.

they're already on episode 3.. i'm on epi 1.

i thought it was "OC" not "DC" :-/ got a lil overexcited

dude, men of color are REPRESENTING
women aren't.

everyone that fails says "I'm pissed." haha

Kenny's an animal; he's SUPER fast; i love that. obviously he've been cooking a LONG time; not just some winkydinky school.

let's see how it tastes...

sucks that Angelo won.. he's cocky.. and hello Kenny, did EveRYthInG the fastest.

kenny i'm with you - Angelo's no threat, he's an obstacle.


the asian guy's super flamey.. and probably an embarrassment.. :-/


what's the hippie doing there? wHO is he? they don't even like.. talk about his background.. he's hecka weird. hahahahahah AHAHHAHAHAHA


smoked bacon froth: sounds nasty, angelo


AHAHAHAHA JOHN IS SO FuNNY HIppie crazy.. he's like.. a white, male carla. AHAHHAA the way he flares his eyes!

ok and that fat girl is really creepy; her smoky "ha ha ha ha" is weird....

AHHAHAHA JOHN IS SO FUNNY "apparently, i set the temperature for the upper oven for the lower oven.... hahahahahahhahahha

dude, Padma's got HIPS now; maybe b/c she had a baby?


why did Angelo win? argh........... he's SO annoying. DISLIKE!


awwww gooood bye John!!!!!!!! awwwww


and everyone's "awwwwww" sounds SO fake.


awwww poor John, poor John. John!


he's soo cracked out. LOL


Epi 2

DUDE that biig girl is SOO creepy

Tracy.


GReat
Angelo and Tracy .. soOoo .. yagggyy

nooooooo Don't throw Kenny under the bus!!!
i hate the throwing each other under the bus stage...

dude Angelo's a JERK. wOw.. he's whistling?? he's.. soOooo baaddd.. how could he do that?


i also dislike Kelly - she's kind of annoying. her only merit is that she reminds me of that actress from Miss Congeniality.


please don't send home kenny.. please.
i appreciate that you're a good sport.


whew glad Jacqueline went home..(and not Kenny)

and now that Kenny's back................... GO KICK BUTT.. KICK ANGELO'S BUTT!!!!

Angelo's ... soo.... dramatic.. and so.. weird.. and so ... weird.. AND WRONG.


ewww Johnny Iuzzini is like.. an elvis impersonator.


I LIKE tiffany and Tamesha too.

Kelly = boo .. she IS two-faced. i bet her husband's super whipped..

hahah the way Angelo talks is .. weird. hahahaha..the way he talks. hhahaAHhaha like WHERE did he come from?

timothy is like this mellow, chill, guy.. he's like.. the voice of a bedtime story. niice. hehe


dude Amanda's an alky.


"I think pies are like unicorns, they just appear magically somehow." - Arnold


whoa, where did Alex come from... hahahaha he's like a bald, mad scientist.

whoa Tracy and Angelo are like friends?

Tracy .... is weird.. crazy.. start fresh? she didn't measure ingredients?

wow what's up with ppl putting CURRY in their pie?


OHH Amanda got TOLD. hahahaha

... wow, snobby much? "is there any egg in here?... so it's more like a quiche."

wow, Tracy's weird.

Kelly . boo.

KENNY WINSS WHAHHOOOOO YAY KENNY YAY KENNY FINALMENTE.. IMMUNITY!!

haha stephen's funny. but not gonna. i don't think.

yah kenny get into your groovE!



"I'm not a grill guy, it'll clog the pores way too fast" - Arnold.
WOW arnold.
you don't HAVE to be flamey.


where did Kevin come from? I didn't even know he existed.

Tracy's freaky.

Ooooh grill challenge = i wonder what I would do. A tritip would talk too long.

Tracy's like talking to herself... she's crazy.

Stephen is like the commentator..

Tracy talks like an old man....

an old man with lung problems. she's so crazy!


whoa Timothy is so cool.hehehe.. like "coooool" as a cucumber.

Angelo. is.. weird.

Ed is kinda.. crazy. way too much stuff all the time.. but he's so chill. haha i like the way he conducts himself.

... he's wrapping sea bass with bacon? :-(

Amanda's like... freaky. haha i liiike Tiffany; tiffany's so chill too.

Angelo talks funny. hahah Angelo is really.. funny, not purposely.. which makes it so funny.

ohhh Tracy. hahahah DUDE i LOOOVE the chill southern black guys here. they're SO chill.. and down to earth. unlike last season's freaky super-stressed, pinched, professional dudes.

Timothy's "the rub" (with the wink) hahahahahaha

dude they are soo cool. hahah "Show time"

ahahahhaha ED! "Had to be slap happy Ed' AHAHHAHA. he's gonna go home sooner or later, but i enjoy him.

Pork butt.. oh Alex.. oh.. your puns.. oh you're weird.

Arnold, good job. you're still weird/annoying.

Amanda basically did what Timothy did except.. not as much.

Dude Tracy - go home.

who's Andrea? i tried glazing with root beer before.. failed. i guess she didn't.

okay if Tracy can't figure out anything bad.. and her jokes are weird.. and the "hahahaha" is no good...

and now she tells people she's psychic.. great.

Tim? aiyO! you're So CoOl tho.... just send Tracy home.

gooodbye Tracy. ... i don't think i'd go to your restaurant... but she sees it as fair. i guess.. aww.


dude, i never wanna go on top chef.




K my mom came in and told me this is not a good way to spend the last 30 minutes of my day. touche mom, touche. signout.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Delusions of Grandeur

saw Wicked for the third time.
because i got great seats for a reasonable price.
because it was a birthday present for my (ungrateful, cold-fished, irritable, hard to gauge) sister.

SAT NEXT TO VALERIE CHAN! (crazy!)
Met her family and RECOGNIZED HER BROTHER-IN-LAW (he was my old youth pastor's old student who came with his church group to do a missions presentation.. i remember he shared something or preached something... he was planning on becoming a pastor then.. and.... they are moving to Kentucky THIs SUMMEr.. dO i haVe CrAzy MeMorY oR WhAT?!)

Gotta say, this third time was MUCH better than the 2nd time I saw it.

Elphaba: I think she was the weakest one i saw, which was a little disappointing, but she was still good.

Galinda: She delivered her lines uniquely.. it was funny; she was a great singer too! She was fun!

Fiyero: Seriously, my first Fiyero was played by a black dude who had a great voice, great moves, a great look.. the second Fiyero was slightly balding and a little nasal; the third Fiyero had a modern, pop, good voice.. sounded and looked like the typical pretty boy.. attractive, but, seriously, no one can compare to the first Fiyero.

Dr. Dillamond: He sort of.. didn't NaiL the 'Glinda/Galinda' thing at the start, so it didn't make sense. (people who watched Wicked might understand).

Madame Morrible: She was not as horrible and scary as the first 2.


As usual, Orpheum theater's acoustics are a little iffy in the sense that some harmonies got drowned out. Everyone was GREAT at singing.. and it was fun to watch. I loved it.. and it's been a while, so I forgot a few things. I love how things fit.. I love yeah.. in the past, I'd feel emotionally stirred at different things; this time, definitely "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" killed me. Unfortunately, the second act felt hurried, and a little lacking in passion and emotion. I was sort of "eh!" about it.. but the FIRST act was amazing.

Honestly, the FIRST time I saw it, "Defying Gravity" was AMAZING. I feel like, after that, nothing could compare. That Elphaba was AMAZING.. but granted that a lot of the surprise factor was mixed for me, this viewing was really fun.. perhaps maybe my standards/expectations dropped a little since the Second viewing, where it was really sort of meh for me.


Wicked is fun!


finding parking in SF is not.



I realized to be a thespian star, you need to act, sing AND dance. I guess i'll never be able to hit the stage. no delusions of grandeur for me. heh

unconditional.

when i'm with my sister, i don't understand why the father didn't tell his prodigal son "suck it and go live in my pigsty a while" and how he stopped himself from slapping the older brother over the head. i don't.

and trying to understand makes my head hurt, my eyes well, and my throat close.

harrypotter..

so when harry potter first came out, i was so meh about it.
i didn't even read it until book 3 came out.
then during a summer break at Cerritos at my cousins' place, I began reading books 1-3.
I was hooked.
Book 4 came out that summer and I checked it out from the library.
Then before book 5 came out, i reread books 1-4
Then before book 6 came out (my fav) i reread books 1-5
Then before book 7 came out (in COLLEGE) I reread books 1-6.

book 7 was slightly disappointing for me.

Anywhooz,
with the movies, with Movie 1, I went with my small group girls in high school and LOVED the quidditch.
For Movie 2, I watched it with my friend Ali Apple and her boyfriend and our little brothers.. we dressed up in capes and brought our own little animals (I an owl, she a cat).

but after Movie 3, I was over it.. the movies didn't compare to the books, I disliked the guy that played Harry, I was sad watching the movies and not seeing what I thought in my head.


BUT

I just saw the trailer for book 7.. WOW how time flew.

and I began literally squealing.

So, this summer I'm going to re-watch movies 1-6... (b/c I didn't even see 4-6) and perhaps reread/skim thru Books 1-7... and PREPARE!! AHAHAHAHA








...........suddenly I'm thinking of "Don't Waste Your Life."

Okay, maybe I won't go crazy with the books b/c I don't have time, but definitely, one day, I want to do a movie marathon.