My iPod has travelled the world...

This weekend (Saturday) I ordered my iPod. It has traveled a lot. It began in Shanghai, China, made it to Anchorage, Alaska, finally got released as an international shipment, then ventured to Oakland, California, got flown to Seattle, and this morning it got sorted in Tacoma, WA. It's nice to know that my iPod is in the same city as me. It's supposedly on a truck for delivery. This makes me happy. VERY happy.

Work has been a drama this week. More drama than the nearly-minimum-wage job is worth, methinks. I won't quit (I'm not like that), and I should hope I won't get fired. I've done a few things to CYA, but in the bigger scheme of things, I'm probably blacklisted post Zoolights. This annoys me. I really have liked working there.

Women bonding...

Probably one of the most vivid rainbows I've ever seen in my life (the color spectrum almost repeats itself!), amidst the chaos that was last night (Zoolights opening), I managed to snap this pic with the digital camera. Simply amazing. Sigh. Thought you folks might enjoy it also...

I survived day two, barely entact. Jane and Big Al hooked me up with some after work cookie dough, and we had good conversation. I always feel like I do too much of the talking with those two.

Per normal, I found myself driving home and doing some deep thinking. Namely, I was thinking about the bonds amongst women. As women we can share certain empathies: empathy on menstruation and pregnancy, empathy on body image and appearance, empathy on rape or sexual abuse by men, empathy on breast or ovarian cancers. These are certainly deeply emotional issues, things that shoot directly into our emotional cores. These issues keep us uniquely feminine, bonded in solidarity with other women, and able to laugh (but more often cry) together when these issues touch us on a regular basis. That's a very intense sense of sisterhood, sense of connectedness, and a major bond amongst us that I think we frequently take advantage of -- often overlooking how blessed we are to have this bond. And I also think that this bond manifests itself in the way women interact -- often feeling only understood by other women who have been through similar trials and struggle. I may have more to say on this ... but for tonight, when my mind is on overload from the day of zoo work, I'm spent.

I did, however, manage to read Nobody Left to Hate. Wasn't a bad book -- and the solutions posed by the author (for ending school violence specifically in high schools) seemed to align quite nicely with program themes and teachings so far. Plus, the social psychologist who wrote the book refers to many well known psychological studies which were fun to revisit!!

The Day After Tday...

We ate our bird (not the same bird as the one that stalked me in the zoo parking lot the other day, but close...). My mom fixed hella good things to eat. The relatives who came over were kind enough to let us take naps after we ate. We played Apples to Apples.

Then we had our habitual yearly family argument over Christmas presents. Usually this argument occurs on Christmas day itself... we got it out of the way early. Nice. My parents never cease to amaze.

This morning, I ordered my new iPod. Yes, I've succumbed to cultural pressures and will soon have my very own. I am super-duper excited about this. I've even caught myself using the FedEx tracking number. As far as other shopping, my mom and I tried to brave the crowds, but really, we just wussed out. However, I did manage to purchase a digital camera memory card -- my digital camera leapt in capability (from 14 pictures to 392). Will try to find me some deals another, less crowded day!

First night of Zoolights. Mildly chaotic. New people seem better than expected -- although -- most people are on their best behavior on their first day of work. Day seemed to go by quickly, possibly because the routine isn't mundane yet.

I read Totem Poles: An Illustrated Guide yesterday. Definitely informative.

BIG props!

BIG props to Jane's dad, L. Johnston, for cleaning the dog poo off of my shoe tonight. What an amazing guy! I walked thru Jane's grass this evening, and managed to step in a big pile of poo. I told Jane about it, Mr. J overheard, and in the dark he undertook steps to hose off my shoe AND remove the poo from the grass so that no one else fell victim. For a Thanksgiving Eve, this was sure nice of him. Big props!!

Moment of terror today at work, when all of a sudden the computers turned off and the surge protector alarms went off. The lights in the office remained on, membership's computers were working just fine across the way, so we were certain it was NOT a widespread power problem. It occurred to us that perhaps the computers had finally melted down. Laurianne and I frantically paced back and forth, truly uncertain as to what to do next. I ran to the phone and called the finance department. No one answered. We panicked further. Then it dawned on me that an electrician might be in our back area, working on Zoolights stuff. Sure enough, there was a guy! I asked him to restore our power and he was more than willing to flip the breaker back on. Laurianne and I proceeded to sit/stand around debriefing and calming back down for another five minutes. What a scare!

Bunch o randoms

So the other night, I drive away from the gym. I realize my gas tank is heinously low and I'm probably barely running by on fumes. I roll into my favorite gas station, and out of sheer desperation and laziness (I'd just been to the gym after all!), I shelled out $2.45 for premium gasoline because ALL the regular gasoline pumps said "out of order" because they were getting a new shipment of regular at the time. I ended up paying $.12/gallon more than I should have, half out of my laziness, half out of the dumb luck I had managing to go to my fave gas station at this specific refueling moment. GAH!!

Harry Potter, boy wizard. Wizardy = popular in England, possibly in a more magical less technologically advanced time (i.e. you don't see Ron, Hermione, and Harry dancing about Hogwarts with their i-pods). However, in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I did notice that Harry is sporting different trendy track jackets in like five different scenes. This bothered me greatly. What up, media influence!? I'm sure J.K. Rowling will include Harry's wardrobe arsenal of track jackets in her next installment. Certainly that's what was in my mental picture when I read about the tri-wizard tournament...

Tonight, Hope and I went to Jazzbones for comedy night. No big thang. I ordered a Mirror Pond, and the waitress demanded I give her my ID or a credit card before she'd bring me my drink. I asked her how much it would cost, and she wouldn't tell me. I tried to give her cash and she wouldn't take it. Kept insisting that she needed my ID or a credit card. If I'm going to pay in cash, there's no way in hell I'm going to give a club my credit card. If I'm only going to order one drink and I know it, plus, I'm likely to leave my ID, why can't you just take my cash? The fact I even had to argue this with the waitress kinda made me question the integrity of the place. Weird.....

Two tidbits before I sign off for the night: 1. Jarhead was a good movie. I like Sam Mendes' work with American Beauty, so this film of his was good in many of the same respects: thoughtfully placed music, simple details, lots of in-your-face moments, and choice camera angles and backgrounds. The anti-war message was strong, poignant -- yet also clear on the sacrifice of soldiers who are dealin' with the shit in the world our government thinks is important, even if the rest of us aren't as willing. Good stuff. 2. Never know who you might run into. Saw a zoo co-worker at comedy night tonight. Random.

How them values have changed...

Driving home tonight, from the movies (more on this in a sec), my radio picked up the sounds of Nine Inch Nails' infamous song, "Closer." You know, the song that's lyrics include the repeated line, "I want to #@$% you like an animal?" I can remember hearing that song when I was a kid -- in the car with my buddies -- and all of us gasping in horror over the word #@$%. Little did I know this explitive would habitually slip from my lips on regular basis in my non-work, non-professional, often-after-a-few-beers-only-with-close-trusted-friends own time.

So tonight Hope and I went and saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I (of course) read the book, so the plot wasn't too surprising. I found myself mildly irritated by the fact the images were so dark, violent, and unlike the movie I'd had in my head while reading (yes, please insert your "books are better than movies" quip here). Plus, the movie was a long one. It's funny that this movie bothered me because it was dark, violent, and supposed to based on a children's novel. Like I said, how them values certainly have changed... from being in a state of shock and awe over the word #@$% as a child, to finding a "kids" movie dark andviolent. My head definitely is in a different place.

In other news...

I think my SUV-buying fixation has ended (at least until I really do have a teaching contract). The quaint little misguided theory that I could purchase one this spring is .... err... welll... misguided.

I finished reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants today. GOOD BOOK. Ok, allow me to qualify that statement -- good, youthful, Ya-Ya-esque, girl-ish book. That's not to say my book recommendation is riddled with gender bias, more, the book's main characters are four females and they have a "bond of sisterhood" and therefore I'd reckon girls might be more drawn to the book than boys HOWEVER the themes surely could be appreciated by either gender. So there. You should read it.

I'm pondering how I want to spend my New Years. Foggy, coldish weather for some reason brought this on.

Truly the holidays again?

Thanksgiving is in less than a week. Craziness.

I finished Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula today at the gym. Basically the book is a quick history of the various tribes that inhabit the Olympic Peninsula and a quick snippet of where those tribes are at today. This book served as a solid reminder of how capitalist, greedy white dudes hoodwinked the Native Americans out of their land. It also reminded me that the area I live in has some pretty valuable, important Native American history that should be naturally intriguing and easily accesible for students. Kickass.

I'm finding that life without being busy is a little -- er -- mundane. I learned how to iron with starch today, ordered new contacts, mailed a package, cooked dinner, went to the gym, and checked the balance of my bank account. Like I said... not the pinnacle of excitement... minus the reading...

I ain't a liar!

Last post I said I'd post every time I finished a book (lookout, folks! lots of posts to be had in the next few weeks)...

I finished How can one sell the air? Cheif Seattle's speech in a little book form--I enjoyed it immensely. Native American culture is actually one that fascinates me a great deal, and I am very excited for this aspect of the upcoming winter quarter. Reading this book also made me inclined to spend further time in the outdoors--truly appreciating the NW's beauty. Newest goal is to get up to the mountains--for some snowboarding, but also for some romping and playing in the snow. Must do it!

Time off does the soul some good...

What-up, peeps!

Time off is definitely doing my soul good. Something certainly should be said for the mental break my mind is dancing around about--the fact school doesn't occupy 110% of my being like it did when I took my job as student teacher as seriously as it should have been taken...

So I'm back to working at the zoo as my primary use of time. I'd missed the quirks, the computer system that regularly crashes, the crankies who come on Tacoma Free Day (although today's biggest crankie was the re-appearance of the famed "hat lady" who causes big scenes--I thought she might hit me with a bus guide!), Carol working on yet another schedule (tirelessly so), and those tasty (yet overpriced) fries from food service. While I won't promise to surviving the holidays at the zoo just yet, I'm glad it's my current focus.

Sidenote: Did I mention my graduate program is requiring us to take YOGA classes once a week?

Continuing on, also high on the priority list during this down time: READING (both for fun, and for next quarter). Gosh it's been good to read. From now on, I think I'll try to post whenever I finish a book. Today's book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Finally finished it! Ending wasn't as sad as everyone made it seem, although it certainly was a loss of a fine character.

Contrast of Nine Weeks

"Student teaching is PRACTICE teaching"--Vavrus (2005). I'm glad I get to practice more again in the fall. I definitely need more practice. Definitely.

Today was my final day of solo teaching. It was a slight nightmare/disaster. Late start, gifted kids missing the math test due to gifted class, culmination of short Halloween week, kids writing notes about how much they hate me in the bathroom, my cooperating teacher having to step in to help me get my students quiet enough so that nearby classes could function, most students celebrating that today was my last day of teaching, students not following my directions even during the fire drill, and feeling exhausted at the conclusion of yet another day. For every step forward I made on the classroom management front this week, today (and yesterday afternoon) was like fifteen steps back.

I came into this student teaching ready to take on the world, totally stoked on teaching and loving every aspect of it. I was pretty jazzed, confident, and keen on the idea that I'd do an amazing job. I adored my mentor teacher (actually, still do...), and I was convinced I could have fun and enjoy being a teacher. I'd picked the right profession, and I was going to have one kickass time of student teaching.

Now, nine weeks later, I drove home hungry, weary, and feeling like a failure at teaching. This has been a theme of the last few days in particular. The contrast from where I was at the beginning and where I'm at now is astounding. My confidence is lacking, I am completely humbled and scared to death at the same time. Messing up at this job is huge--and since the job requires so much in order to do the job well--I really find myself questioning if I'm going to make it as a teacher. I see so many flaws, so many things that desperately need fixing--yet I'm not even certain where to begin or how to go about doing so. My mentor teacher gives thoughtful suggestions, but recently has struggled to prescribe any sure-fire solutions for the management piece (which is glaringly my worst area). I even say what she says, yet I get different results without fail--students know I have very little authority and are more than happy to exploit this weakness. I could go on and on about this... but the fact is...

It's all over now and I'm left with this unfinished failure feeling. It's probably a good thing we get the second chance in the spring. I may need that amount of time to re-group, re-analyze, and develop my next plan of attack. I'm not a quitter.
(Photo taken at my house, by me, I think it's kinda rad and I wanted to stick something I was proud of on here...)