First, recently I am finding myself, as a new dad, speaking baby-speak to Eli a lot. I often find myself in the middle of a "hooshie-booshie-hooshie-boo" and think to myself "What on Earth am I doing??? This doesn't make any sense to either of us!" Also, I call him "buddy" all the time. Also, I make this weird throat noise that seems to make him laugh. Its not so bad when its just me and Eli, but recently I have caught myself doing the same things in public. I have made the same weird throat noise when someone says something that I think is funny. And I have been calling everyone "buddy" more often than should be allowed. So, if I come up and "hooshie-booshie" you or call you buddy, I apologize. Blame Eli.
Second, I have to confess something. It has been burdening me for a long time now, and if I do not confess this then I will never be able to move on. I am a blog-stalker. I read people's blogs who I don't know. I read people's blogs who I only know second or third hand. I read people's blogs without them knowing. I like to read people's blogs. Please don't judge me. Whew! I feel better! Now that I have admitted that I have a blog-stalking problem I can now move to the next step which is seeking help. Maybe I can find a good therapist's blog.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Life Updates and Random Thoughts
- I just finished forty hours of classroom observation. I feel like I still have a lot to learn about how the classroom and how a school works, but I feel like I have a lot better grasp on how to run a classroom when it comes time for me to teach (hopefully next year). Also, I have discovered that high schoolers now dress a lot differently than they did even when I was in high school. Especially the girls! Some of them look like they are going on a job interview with Heff.
- Speaking of high school, my 10 year high school reunion is this year. I cant believe its been 10 years! So far, there is no plan coming from the alumni association. I really hope they so something. It would be fun to see where people are ten years after high school.
- I love being a dad! I get about 2.5 hours alone with Eli after work and they are the best hours! I love hanging out as a family, but there is nothing like hanging out, just the two of us. I feel like I've bonded with Eli a lot more since Michelle has gone back to work. Suddenly he realizes that he has 2 parents instead of a mom and some guy who shows up for half the day.
- I love living in OC and am not likely to move, but I still have such strong ties to Simi. It took me a while to feel like OC was home, just because I live in Simi for so long. What has made it feel like home is connecting with the place that I live. Sometimes it has just been finding a store, like a palce to buy guitar strings or a trustworthy mechanic. But within the last couple months, I have been connecting with the city of Tustin and it really feels like my permantent home now. This observation class that I am taking has required me to get really involved in the city schools, and therefore involved in the city. I have visited the local schools, attended school board meetings, and have connected with local politics. I definitely want to get more involved with local stuff, and this class has made me really feel like Tustin is my home.
- I am starting to send out my resume for a teaching position next school year. I did it last year and didnt find a job, but this year I have a lot more experience and I am a lot more employable than I was last year, but there is still the whole issue with the state's economy. I hope I can find something because I really want to get out of the mortgage sector.
- How amazing is Lost this season??? That's all I have to say about that.
- I was looking through some old pictures of Eli last night and it makes me kind of sad about how fast he is growing. He was so tiny and he is so big now. I know time is going to fly, but I was hoping it would go a little slower than this.
- I am writing a paper this semester that is going to be a chapter of my thesis. I am writing about medieval travel narratives. Its really interesing so far. I am writing about the how some were reliable and others were not and why they weren't and why the unreliable ones were the most popular.
- Speaking of high school, my 10 year high school reunion is this year. I cant believe its been 10 years! So far, there is no plan coming from the alumni association. I really hope they so something. It would be fun to see where people are ten years after high school.
- I love being a dad! I get about 2.5 hours alone with Eli after work and they are the best hours! I love hanging out as a family, but there is nothing like hanging out, just the two of us. I feel like I've bonded with Eli a lot more since Michelle has gone back to work. Suddenly he realizes that he has 2 parents instead of a mom and some guy who shows up for half the day.
- I love living in OC and am not likely to move, but I still have such strong ties to Simi. It took me a while to feel like OC was home, just because I live in Simi for so long. What has made it feel like home is connecting with the place that I live. Sometimes it has just been finding a store, like a palce to buy guitar strings or a trustworthy mechanic. But within the last couple months, I have been connecting with the city of Tustin and it really feels like my permantent home now. This observation class that I am taking has required me to get really involved in the city schools, and therefore involved in the city. I have visited the local schools, attended school board meetings, and have connected with local politics. I definitely want to get more involved with local stuff, and this class has made me really feel like Tustin is my home.
- I am starting to send out my resume for a teaching position next school year. I did it last year and didnt find a job, but this year I have a lot more experience and I am a lot more employable than I was last year, but there is still the whole issue with the state's economy. I hope I can find something because I really want to get out of the mortgage sector.
- How amazing is Lost this season??? That's all I have to say about that.
- I was looking through some old pictures of Eli last night and it makes me kind of sad about how fast he is growing. He was so tiny and he is so big now. I know time is going to fly, but I was hoping it would go a little slower than this.
- I am writing a paper this semester that is going to be a chapter of my thesis. I am writing about medieval travel narratives. Its really interesing so far. I am writing about the how some were reliable and others were not and why they weren't and why the unreliable ones were the most popular.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Madoff Scandal
In case you were a little confused about Bernie Madoff and the scandal surrounding him, I found this helpful video that explains it all in simple terms. I hope this helps anyone who is still confused about the scandal.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Eli also wants to wish everyone a happy St. Patrick's Day!
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, Eli would like to show you his dance moves. His favorite dance is the sprinkler.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
Here are some fun facts care of London's Telegraph
1. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, although he was born in Britain, around 385AD. His parents Calpurnius and Conchessa were Roman citizens living in either Scotland or Wales, according to different versions of his story.
2. As a boy of 14 he was captured and taken to Ireland where he spent six years in slavery herding sheep. He returned to Ireland in his 30s as a missionary among the Celtic pagans.
3. Legend has it that he used the native shamrock as a symbol of the holy trinity when preaching and brought the Latin alphabet to Ireland.
4. Miracles attributed to him include the driving of serpents out of Ireland. However, evidence suggests post-glacial Ireland never had any snakes in the first place.
5. Wearing green, eating green food and even drinking green beer, is said to commemorate St Patrick's use of the shamrock - although blue was the original colour of his vestments.
6. St Patrick was said to have proclaimed that everyone should have a drop of the "hard stuff" on his feast day after chastising an innkeeper who served a short measure of whiskey. In the custom known as "drowning the shamrock", the shamrock that has been worn on a lapel or hat is put in the last drink of the evening.
7. Popular Irish toasts on St Patrick's Day, include: may the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out.
8. St. Patrick's Day was first celebrated in America in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737. Around 34 million modern Americans claim Irish ancestry.
9. It is believed that St Patrick died on March 17 in 461AD. It is a national holiday in Ireland, and on the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, which was founded by Irish refugees. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland.
10. Dublin has a parade that attracts hundreds of thousands of people, while in Chicago the river is dyed green for a few hours. The biggest parade is normally held in New York, while the largest celebration in the southern hemisphere is in Sydney, Australia.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Are you racist?
I had to take this test for a class that I am taking on methods for teaching diverse students in secondary schools. It was created by psychologists at Harvard and is supposed to measure implicit attitudes towards other races. It only takes about 5-10 minutes and you should take the test. Click here to go to the test. Then click on 'Demonstration' then 'Go to the Demonstration Tests' then 'I wish to proceed'. I think that its pretty accurate and revealing about subconscious racial biases.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Ashley Madison
I was listening to the radio this morning, and I heard a commercial for Ashley Madison. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I had to look it up. Have you ever heard of this? This is the worst thing that I have heard in a long time. It is a dating service for married people. It caters to people who are married and want to have an affair but don't want to leave their spouse. Their motto is "Life is short. Have an affair." They're big enough to get ad space on KLOS, and according to this article they have some tv commercials. Here is part of the LA Times article:
"One television spot shows a glamorous couple in the throes of passion. A title card reads, "This couple is married ... but not to each other." In another ad, a man retreats to the sofa to escape his obese, snoring wife while a voice-over declares, "Most of us can recover from a one-night stand with the wrong woman, but not when it's every night for the rest of our lives.""
A quick Google search provides headlines like these:
- Ashley Madison provides that romantic rendezvous for attached adults who don't want to leave their spouses, they just want a little sex on the side.
- Bored with life? Have an Affair.
- Married Dating, Affairs, Married Women, Extramarital Affair. Ashley Madison is the online personals & dating destination for casual encounters.
In an interview you can read here, the CEO of Ashley Madison, Noel Biderman, was asked if he would be ok if his wife used the service. He said, "No. If my wife were using my service, or any dating service, or if I even found her on Facebook chatting with former boyfriends and not telling me about it, I would be emotionally hurt beyond belief, and would feel that our relationship had severe problems."
I try not to soapbox on this blog, but I'm outraged by this. I can't believe the creator's casualness about how he is facilitating marital infidelity and his hypocritical reaction to how he would feel if his wife used his service. If you search just a little bit online, you can find tragic stories about people who just discovered that their spouse signed up for this service and they don't know what to do now. This is tragic! What makes this even more tragic is its popularity. The service claims it has 3.2 million members, and LA is its biggest market. Unbelievable!
"One television spot shows a glamorous couple in the throes of passion. A title card reads, "This couple is married ... but not to each other." In another ad, a man retreats to the sofa to escape his obese, snoring wife while a voice-over declares, "Most of us can recover from a one-night stand with the wrong woman, but not when it's every night for the rest of our lives.""
A quick Google search provides headlines like these:
- Ashley Madison provides that romantic rendezvous for attached adults who don't want to leave their spouses, they just want a little sex on the side.
- Bored with life? Have an Affair.
- Married Dating, Affairs, Married Women, Extramarital Affair. Ashley Madison is the online personals & dating destination for casual encounters.
In an interview you can read here, the CEO of Ashley Madison, Noel Biderman, was asked if he would be ok if his wife used the service. He said, "No. If my wife were using my service, or any dating service, or if I even found her on Facebook chatting with former boyfriends and not telling me about it, I would be emotionally hurt beyond belief, and would feel that our relationship had severe problems."
I try not to soapbox on this blog, but I'm outraged by this. I can't believe the creator's casualness about how he is facilitating marital infidelity and his hypocritical reaction to how he would feel if his wife used his service. If you search just a little bit online, you can find tragic stories about people who just discovered that their spouse signed up for this service and they don't know what to do now. This is tragic! What makes this even more tragic is its popularity. The service claims it has 3.2 million members, and LA is its biggest market. Unbelievable!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Congratulations Michelle!
Michelle wins the Best Mom of the year prize for taking a mouth full of spit-up. Warm, yummy, thick, curdled spit-up....right in the mouth. We were getting ready to run an errand last night and Michelle was playing with Eli and getting him ready to go and she picked him up over her head and he turned his head and (with seemingly intentional aim) spit up right into Michelle's mouth. She has definitely won one of these. So, congratualations babe! Thanks for taking one for the team.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Happy Square Root Day
What are you doing to celebrate square root day? I haven't decided what Michelle and I are going to do yet. We're probably just going to keep it low-key this year.
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