Mar 21 2010
This week, I have not one, but two Catholic(ish) posts to submit, so I’ve created this post as a mini-index.
First was A Different Way to Give, in which BustedHalo directed me to give blood for the first time, so I did.
Second was To Settle or Stay Single?, in which I finish reading an old article from The Atlantic, seek a second opinion at Boundless, and make my final decision.
To see more entries from this week’s carnival, visit the host post at This That and the Other Thing.
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Jan 02 2010
—1—
I do not make New Year’s resolutions. I make resolutions whenever I feel like it. The last thing I resolved to do was start praying Night Prayer again, and I haven’t been doing badly at it.
—2—
I had a lovely time ringing in 2010. Becca and I went down to Nick and Mary’s house. We watched some classic Cosby Show (but then, they’re all classic!), played Mario Party on Becca’s new Wii, tried out Uno Spin, and toasted along with Dick Clark. When I was in my MTV phase, I enjoyed the nontraditional midnight cover song, but after Clark’s stroke, I converted back. You have to admire that tenacity.
—3—
Just as I did last year, I managed to drive my mom’s Equinox back home without incident; let myself in; shower; go to Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God; come back; and eat breakfast before I ran into my mom at all. Dad was lounging in the same recliner during that entire period, but he was enjoying a day off, so I can’t blame him. It was nice to feel productive and accomplished for once.
—4—
I cannot believe that the last full day of my break is tomorrow. They always go too fast, and I never manage to work or read enough. I did make up for an entire semester’s worth of TV watching with a two-week Degrassi: The Next Generation marathon, though.
—5—
Continuing my teen TV-fest, I watched Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging on Nickelodeon tonight. I read the first few Confessions of Georgia Nicolson books, but her writing style was very kitschy and unnervingly British, so I got tired early on.
—6—
I think I might have a legitimate problem with my work. I have lost my ability to focus, especially on school/work. I wasn’t always like this, and it’s true even for things I enjoy (prayer, pleasure reading, sometimes even TV). The question is, where am I going to find the time to sort this out?
—7—
I am trying to blog more. It’s the same mini-resolution I make every time I’m on a long break from school. Writing makes me happy, though, and it helps me empathize with the work I assign to my students. Let’s see how long I can persist this go-round.
Dec 30 2009
Confession time: I go to the movies with my family because I know we might have dinner before or after. Explanation: I do not go for the food, I go for the table. My ACE life has taught me the importance of gathering around the table to eat regularly. I always feel closer to my family when we eat together, which we only do when we’re out. Last weekend, I managed to see both Avatar in 3-D and Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes was so great; Avatar was so not.
My prejudice going into Avatar was that (a) I didn’t know what it was about, and (b) I had a bad experience with the last 3-D movie I attempted. Granted, it was Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, which was not a great movie in the first place. The main problem was that the DVD was only viewable in 3-D, and watching it through the cheap cardboard glasses made my eyes hurt. I tried watching it without them, but the pictures were so blurry that I was annoyed the whole time.
When my mom asked if I wanted to see Avatar, I was reluctant. She brought me a pair she had kept after another movie. I was surprised to see that they were much higher quality: like sunglasses with a dramatic blue-green tint. I was still wary of wasting the (as I later I found out) $13.50 ticket if watching the movie gave me a headache, but she suggested that I get a refund and see something else if it came down to that. I finally agreed.
When we finally got in to see the movie, I put on my 3-D glasses for the Despicable Me trailer. Lo and behold, I could (still) see! I had to take the glasses off a few times during the movie to rest my pinched nose (I already wear glasses, remember?), at which point I discovered that the alien language subtitles were also in 3-D (I couldn’t read them).
I must say that Avatar was one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. It was just gorgeous. The 3-D was impeccable, the scenes were expertly crafted, and I believed what I was seeing.
The plot was terrible. I could tell how it was going to end. It got awkwardly political about halfway through, having managed to avoid the politics during the earlier part of the film despite featuring multiple military characters. I see Avatar much like I did The Village: nice, but I’ve seen this story before.
Sherlock Holmes was a great movie. I love Jude Law largely for his accent, but I thought he acted well in The Holiday. Robert Downey, Jr. was a great Holmes, though he was entirely unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation. I thought all the acting was masterful. I love a good mystery. I was a little worried when the movie took a dramatic turn toward the occult, but the end left me entirely satisfied.
I think this is why I don’t usually write movie reviews. I am not very good at them, so I think I’ll stick to teaching English.
Sep 10 2009
While introducing my students to the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, I decided to assign them to write cinquains about themselves, then about the pilgrims, to learn about indirect characterization. To demonstrate, I whipped up this little number on the spot:
Miss W
quirky, passionate
reading, teaching, writing
You have no idea.
learner
This is the first (and therefore, only) time I have ever asked students to write me a poem. The end is my favorite. All my students said, “‘You have no idea’? What does that mean?” It explains itself.
Aug 15 2009
It’s no secret that I love Firefox. It’s not perfect; I use a few extensions that I cling to. When I first upgraded to version 3.5 and found that Tab Mix Plus (my favorite extension) hadn’t been upgraded to match it, I downgraded Firefox rather than go without it.
So you can imagine my delight when, after I tried to watch an episode of 10 Things I Hate About You (now a tv show, I found), and my computer froze, this is what Firefox gave me when the session manager kicked in:
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