apparnetly a biography of welles is to come out next spring which includes information about his planning to do a batman movie - discussions starting in 1944. apparently he decided not to do it due to squabbles over casting. as long as he was svelt, i'd think he'd make a good bruce wayne.

i went up to the cap city to meet some folks and watch some movies. (i didn't have a ticket to the game, and ppv wasn't an option.)

i saw lost in translation in the afternoon and then went and saw the rundown at night. (i originally was going to see secondhand lions, but i wanted to see something dumber and with hot chick. once upon a time in mexico was considered - it fit the requirements - but i haven't seen both of the prior movies.

i thoroughly enjoyed lost in translation. both leads were exceedingly believable and had excellent chemistry. any awards received would be well-deserved. as to the direction, i found coppola's use of colors and sounds of the city to create an exotic wonderland quite well-done, but what i found to be the biggest risk which paid off was the pace of the film. i almost hate to mention it to people who haven't seen the film, but the pace is just right. overall i'd give it an 8.5-9 / 10.

as to the rundown - my guess they changed the name from "helldorado" in order to make sequels. i'm not sure this is a particularly wise idea. the characters are barely developed, but the rock has the chops to play an action star. a highlight was a cameo early on in the film. rosario dawson will be good in whatever she does, but is barely used here. sean william scott isn't bad but isn't memorable. christopher walken had the audience laughing - at him, but laughing nonetheless. it was what it was. 6-6.5 / 10.

i knew of signal flags, but i'd never heard the term semaphore used in conjunction with flags. mom didn't know how to spell it; but she did know the term. not to assume others don't know the term because i didn't, but i figured with all the trivia fans who read this i wanted to spread the knowledge. (i'm counting this as a lesson plan.)

my brother wins for most interesting/bizarre story. his soccer team was traveling down i-95 to an away game. they were travelling in three different vehicles. up ahead a tractor trailer carrying nesquik chocolate milk (shake things up!) turned over and stopped traffic for like 3 hours. while they're stopped in traffic, the driver told him and two other guys to get out and run across the road to a gas station to buy a map to find an alternate route.

on the way back to the van, a guy in a convertible called out to them and asked him about the team. he was wearing a william & mary lacrosse tshirt, and they were all wearing their soccer shorts. they said they were on a soccer team. he responds "my son played soccer before he was murdered. that's why i'm driving this car." my brother really wasn't listening to the guy, but they didn't know how to respond. they asked him if they knew who did it. the guy says yes - but the prosecutor blamed his other son and he was convicted of the murder and that his son was murdered because he was jewish and a talented soccer player.

they really don't know if they should believe him or what. he asks them how old they are. bro was closest to the car and the man handed him a lamentated picture. he then made him turn it over to see some writing - he thinks it said september 8. about then there was a break in the traffic going the other direction, so they ran off back to the van.

bro is telling the story to mom, and i'm just overhearing it. i state he was just trying to get a rise out of some teenage boys. he then says - "i think he said his name was ron whitman. as i was at the computer, i start googling. first search. i look at the second result. i start reading. i soon just turn and look at him. he sees the look on my face and asks what's up. i just point to the screen. [more articles]

i needed gas and had made a promise to have candy tomorrow so i needed to make a run. (i was also provided with a grocery list) so i decided to go where all three needs could be met - kroger. i get there and spend way too much time going up and down the aisles looking for the eggs. i see a big sign for the milk, dairy, meat, etc, but nothing for eggs. i ask some guy. he's like - right over there (by the milk). i thank him and go back over there only to pace the floor some more. i eventually go way down to the other end and out of the corner of my eye spy a six pack of eggs. they were not against a wall but in a small open refrigerator down by the beer. there were like 3 one-dozen egg cartons and probably 20 half-dozen cartons. that was it.

i get everything else i need except for beef broth/consume and head for an actual worker this time. i figure checkout would be a good place to look for someone. i was wrong. i stood there for like three minutes before someone came. the guy had an odd look as he came. i first thought he was mentally retarded, and then i thought maybe just a wacko. anyway, he sent me to the aisle i'd been searching for the last 10 minutes.

i just used my cell phone to ask moms where i'd find it. i get it and head back to checkout. he's already ringing up someone. i pull in behind and unload my few items. as he starts on my items, i realize he's a wacko. on his kroger nametag, he's got a pin with the head of che guevara. i just wondered what che would think of an employee of a big grocery chain wearing a pin that someone bought him.

i gesture towards it and say "oh, a counter-revolutionary i see." he doesn't get the joke and procedes to tell me how che was actually not an authoritarian and how he finds the social democracy of sweeden to be the best government. i hope he gets the joke eventually.

mom turned to the miss america pageant. one contestant stood out from the rest. she makes me sick...but not in a bad way. she was classy, talented, and a freakin 22 year old doctor!

wisconsin just became much more interesting.

update: despite my newly formed personal views, i would be derelict if i didn't point others to adam's take on miss wisconsin, medicine woman.

• dude, wake up. - actually something exciting to see for those bored blaine observers. no it didn't involve blaine.
• i confess. - here's a ride for pinky. via venom.
• now that they're gone, i can finally have some fun - the beat els plan to release a reworked version of let it be entitled let it be...naked on nov 17. rumor has it that christina aguilera will be featured on a new video targeted for mtv and dirty old men.
• pincamera from heaven - nasa took images of the I from space and have filtered the color to make it photorealistic. sept 18 and sept 17.

this week will be fun. ignoring "the I" bearing down, the first grading period ends wednesday. grades are to be in friday. i was promised by the substitute that she'd have graded the work she assigned before i started a few weeks ago. i wish she'd done so. (she did some funky stuff mostly to kill time thinking they'd have someone in a day or two.) she also told me she'd do progress reports. i just found out from the students this wasn't done.

so this week i'm giving some tests/major quizes/learning the grading program/entering grades/urging students to makeup work/etc. it's going to be a very long week.

i want a hurricane party.

i've started another blog - assigned seat. (there's nothing there. no need to check it out.) i think i'm going to move all my teaching stuff there and maybe make it more education focused. if you know of good websites, blogs by teachers, etc - comment away. (also let me know what you think about the whole move stuff there/post stories there instead idea.)

does anyone else see gifts from past relationships as like recurring pleasant surprises? like... i know the relationship went quite bad and ruined a terrific friendship and i'm not sure if i've regained my whole original sense of self - but this tie goes great with my blue shirt!

does anyone else think there is an iq maximum for guests on this show? maybe it's the pressure or something, but it exceedingly rare that a guest will impress me. on a similar vein, jeopardy's "new rule" that lets champions return until they lose just seems to smack of quiz show.

no i didn't. it was but a snicker. i'm off to the big city to pretend i'm still a midtwenties fella. woohoo!

i'm not sure how this post will develop. like many of americans - and especially my peers, the events of september 11th made me wish i could do something to help in response. there were fund-raisers and community events, but many of us had a deep desire to serve our country - specifically militarily. however this option didn't seem available to me. (i received an rotc scholarship in high school, but they revoked it over my vision. maybe i'll tell that story sometime.) i kept thinking of other options. i've investigated americorps and peace corps on way too many late nights. (i still think peace corps could be an option in a few years.)

so now, two years after that rude awakening, i find myself as a teacher. i can't say sept 11 is wholly responsible for this. i found out after high school that a teacher stayed two years past when he wanted to quit because my mother mentioned to him that i was looking forward to having him as a teacher. when i found out, i felt like i had a debt to repay. being a teacher is a way for me to try to do so. (i need to contact/thank him sometime.) i also needed employment.

please don't be confused; i don't feel being a teacher is an equivalent level of sacrifice as military service. it's just something i can do. last year at this time i felt i had made little positive impact in the past year. this morning i sat at the wonderful computers in the back of the room and went to nytimes.com. i read coverage of memorials and other related stories. i know i'm no hero, and i often question my effectiveness - but it's good to feel like i'm not a drain on the country.

thanks google. blogger will now have many more features for cheapskates (or teachers). i'm looking forward to having syndication (still to come). it also now has a title field - should help remind me to think of a title. i might go back and add titles to posts; don't expect it anytime soon though.

i intended to post something about what being a teacher means to me on this day of remembrance. instead i need to get back to writing discipline referrals. i also need to figure out how to report the theft of my camel hair blazer.

so i could post some stuff about tues/today, but i've graded papers for a couple of hours and i'm tired. i will say that absenteeism sucks. i'll assign homework but half of them won't be there when i assign it and only half of those that were there when i gave an assignment will be there the next day. makeup work is a big headache.

at least amazon has found a way to lessen the pain...

i thank god for truancy. in my first class, only one-third shows up. i go over the syllabus. i give back the tests to allow them to work out problems they've missed. (they need to describe their error and rework the problem correctly in order to receive half credit back.) all students in attendance have taken the test. this works out well. it's quiet. i assign homework. they don't have books assigned yet since there aren't enough for each student to have one. so instead i have to make copies of the page. they're to come back to pick up a copy.

class two. only half show up. review syllabus. i have a worksheet for workbook student to do. while ringleader is there, it's nowhere near friday. i also give them the option to correct problems for half credit. they put their heads down. i keep urging them to help themselves and reminding them of the class participation portion of the grade which was just mentioned in the syllabus. one student asks what it would take to correct a question. i explain it thoroughly. surprised response. "oh. that's all?" and then he put his head back down. "i'll keep my fifty." i then reemphasize how much tests count. no one is interested.

i help workbook student and explain how to set up several problems on the worksheet. she seems quite pleased to have instruction. i'm pleased to have an interested student. after she starts progressing, i start teaching the other as well. it's 2 chapters previous. i'm now teaching out of the same chapter as i am for a class which is a prerequisite. eventually there's some interaction. lunch.

lunch. i quickly make the copies for the other class. good ole chocolate milk. on our way back, rl is messing around with a scale. he doesn't know how to use it. i explain it and show him. we go back to class. i then explain to everyone how the scale works and talk about mechanical advantage, levers, etc. there was some interest. i figure any chance to teach something.

last class. i have a worksheet. it's completed near the end of class. class asleep. i start cleaning the whiteboard. i have no cleaner. i step out to check in with a teacher next door if they're not teaching for some. i return no later than 1 minute later. i see rl coming out of my room. he's carrying a bag of candy. i ask him what he was doing in the room. he said he was going to mess with a student but she was sleeping. he's carrying a bag of candy.

bell rings. student wakes up. she digs in her bookback. she asks who's been in the room. i say rl. she said that he'd taken her candy that she was going to give to her sister. i go after rl. he vehemently denies it and runs off to the buses. that's just crap.

at the dinner table, i recounted a discussion i had today with a teacher who started the week before i did. i mention that i thought he was late twenties/early thirties, but at lunch i asked him about where he lived in new jersey. he said he went to seton hall, then worked in industry for 19 or 20 years, but also set up his own tutorial center. mom responds normally: "19 or 20?"
me: yeah. i guess he's not late twenties.
dad: "so he's not a real teacher either."

mom and i just laugh. he repeatedly asks us to explain what was so funny.

i figure it's time to post at least a few things about the last several days.

friday:
i blame friday for my lack of posting. one of those...if i don't think about it, it didn't happen kind of days. i arrived early as i the plan was to give a test in two periods/classes. i wasn't going to just be copying tests from teacher materials however. i'd planned what i wanted to give, but hadn't made them out yet. i decide to type up the questions that i was going to print out, cut to fit the rest of the questions, and then make copies. i load microsoft "works" and start typing my questions. i soon realize that i'm going to have to print at some point but the dot matrix printer (i'm not kidding) was out of paper. i check the teacher's lounge, but that computer doesn't have a printer attached. i'm now starting to wonder if i'm going to have everything ready in time.

i continue on to the main office. i try printing from the secretary's computer (running winxp and connected to an hp laser printer), but i can't log in to groupwise for some reason. the secretary says there is paper available in a storage area. i'm really starting to worry now. i hope she says she'll get it in a few minutes and she'll let me know (not like i could ask her as we don't have phones in the rooms and the excessively loud intercom is controlled in the office). instead she beckons me to follow her...slowly...down a hall...down another hall...through a tunnel...past the guards... i enter a decent sized classroom full of chairs and supplies and boxes - all boxes are used boxes with brightly decorated yams on them. all boxes i've seen in the entire school are yam boxes. [make your own ralph ellison comment.] "oh, but they were here." i keep looking, increasingly irritated that i have to find track feed paper in order to use the dot matrix printer. i find in a corner a box with a small about ~ 150 pages. that's plenty for me yet i had to convince her that it'd be fine for now. (despite my anxieties, the secretary is cool and a good resource.) i rush back to my room.

i connect the paper. i print. it's extremely faint. i print again. same thing. crap. oh well. only like 30 minutes until class. i run downstairs to the copier (no there isn't a copier upstairs). i set it for quite dark (just light enough to keep it from adding lines) and run a few copies. back to the room. i cut, arrange, tape. 10 mins left. back downstairs. the lounge copier sucks - no coallating, stapling, etc. luckily no one is using the one in the office. i'm the man with a copier. copy. copy. booyow. head back upstairs. i am putting my key into the doorknob as the bell rings. oh yeah.

the first period, everything went relatively smoothly. students take it pretty seriously; and while they don't seem to be too stressed if they don't know an answer, they at least put effort into it. i am pretty liberal with giving help (i always am), but despite my urging, they didn't seem to check over their work too well. oh well. i'm still feeling pretty good. i have tests. they are complete. it went smoothly. next class.

[string of curses] this is not going so well. students are not in their seats. they are laughing at the idea of a test. (i guess the review and reminders every day that week didn't sink in.) two students refuse to take it. one because she says she's missed all week. i'm too involved trying to get people in seats and working. it's in two parts as lunch is in the middle of the class. (yep. right in the middle of teaching/testing it's pizza time.) students announce they are just going to work together. i state this is obviously unacceptable. this is ineffective. students just ask each other questions and pass papers around. by this point i realize "all week" means the day before. the student refuses to take the test despite having no real excuse at this point. i give her a piece of paper that says "i chose not to take the test." for her to sign. she signs another student's name. i continue monitoring the cheating...uh testing. one student (the main ringleader) asks a question while i'm walking by right next to him. i ask him if he had a question. he says yeah, but not you. i ask who he was talking to - either me or another student - if me, i'd help; if another student, it was cheating. he said another student. great.

the sad part is that while they're cheating and all working together, it's clear they're not doing well. this is particularly disappointing since it was quite a bit of work making out the test and making it significantly easier.

eventually one student asks me for help. (she was the only one with that test.) i give some hints. it's not enough apparently as she gets up and asks fellow students for more help since i'm a failure of a teacher and won't help when a student asks (nevermind that i wasn't done helping, i just told her to think about it for a bit.) i tell her this is unacceptable and she needs to return to her seat. she's quite rude and balls her paper up into a ball and throws it across the room. ringleader is now out of control. as the principal had told me that anytime that a student needed to be removed immediately he could be sent to the counselor. i tell him he needs to leave and he demands a referral. the principal told me they could be filled out later, but he demands it. i figured why not. he leaves. paperballer now queries whether i'm writing her up. i told her i would be as she'd been tardy four times that week and i was instructed to write students up after three. she now really loses it and continues to rant about my teaching and lack of helping her. i wonder how my "lack of help" is relevant to her tardiness as it came afterwards. she tells me that they'll tell her mom but she doesn't live with her mom. but she then adds "i don't give a fuck - and you can tell my mom that."

ringleader returns - it's only been like 5 minutes. he says the counselor said she'd see him after lunch. everyone in the main class is "done" with the first half. the student in one of the other classes is mostly done. i collect the first half as it's time for lunch.

lunch. - i'm feeling pretty much a loser at this point. i ended up getting a free chocolate milk though.

back to the jungle. i give out the second half. more of the same. yet they're now more wound up. ringleader is now constantly walking around the room, sitting on desks, opening blinds, changing the thermostat, etc. so much for that counselor option. eventually everyone is done copying, and i collect the test. the bitch session begins. for the last fifteen minutes i get to hear how much i suck. the interesting thing is that i required them to speak one at a time and i could respond if i wanted to. while tearing into me, i simultaneously received the most respect i'd gotten all week.

next class. small class. first time everyone was there. they're getting tired of the work books. i don't blame them. looks like i'll be writing some worksheets. ugh.

school day over. amen. i want a pitcher of guinness, a quiet bar, and my own corner. instead, i head to the principal's office. i've submitted quite a few discipline referrals which seem to have little to no effect on a certain class. we talk for the next hour and a half. it's interesting. she basically tells me that she doesn't think they've got great instruction while i wasn't there, they were allowed free range, and that they're still adjusting. she kept saying "they like you, really" and that they'd call her if they didn't. both of these i found odd. she tells me about her first teaching position. it sounds rather similar. she quit - her principal eventually got her back after taking over for several weeks and making life harsh for the students. hmm...sounds good. she doesn't volunteer. she does mention that there have been a recent string of teachers and that they may feel like they're being rejected. also found out that i have a group of students who are concerns for all their teachers as well as some background about students which i won't post but it does make me wonder if those comments were really "idle." i ask what to do about all the discipline forms i am about to fill out. she says to hold off if i can. yeah. i'm sure it was a one day thing. she also advises to go back even earlier to find out where they have a mastery of the material. i'm not sure how much earlier i can go. i figure they'are about 40% behind already. i question if doing so would remove any chance of them learning enough to pass the end of course exam. she says that if they get to a point where they're confident, they'll speed right up and it'll be fine. we'll see.

i realize i have 15 minutes to get downtown to pay for my lateral entry application. however i don't have my checkbook. oops. i cash a check and run up to the office right at 4:59. locked. check next door. someone comes out to let me in. alas, the guy i need to pay has left, and they won't take cash. i'll try again monday.

i go home. i try to do something friday and saturday. i do nothing. i sleep. i recover. i grade papers. maybe i won't get sick as i thought i would.

i got home from day three. i checked ups.com for an update on the status of my alarm clock of the gods. it said it was delivered. i found this puzzling. (i blame the sleep.) i had already convinced myself it'd be friday at the earliest. i open the front door...booyow.

you know you got one heck of an alarm clock when it comes with a manual as well as an instruction reference card.

second day. i'm tired and won't post all of today's experiences or expound upon them right now.

• saw my first young adult white male. he was a computer technician making my groupwise account work. i swear he gave a triple take when he walked in the classroom to set it up and saw me teaching it.
• implemented the seating chart. sorta.
• i found discipline referral forms. i now have a stack of them.
• "we're black. we don't do homework."
• these kids must go to bed after i do. they seem to sleep all day.

first day. well rr's troubles affected me yesterday (makes sense) - so i'm going to post what comes to mind today.

7:30 am. i arrive and sign in. of course my name isn't on the sheet. i'm carrying at least 2 feet of books/notebooks/binders/etc. it's hot. i'm wearing a suit (my black one - without the vest - for those that know). i'm hot. i go to the second floor to my room. considerably warmer on the second floor. the door is locked. having just read school policies the night before (great bedtime reading) and not knowing how long it'd take until the door was unlocked, i wasn't going to leave the stuff outside the door. i head back down. i'm sweating. i go back to the office. secretary calls maintenance guy (i think) to unlock the door. i carry my armfull back upstairs. warmer still. door still locked. increasingly perturbed. i return. she calls over the intercom again to the guy. she then gives me her keys to get into my room. why she called for the guy if she was going to give me her keys, i don't know. it's even warmer upstairs. i get into my room....air conditioning is good stuff. i am quite pleased to put down my burden and take off my jacket.

i am now on a mission, a mission for an overhead projector. i lock the door and return the keys. i overhear the principal remarking to the secretary that the toilet had been running all day saturday and the maintenance guys didn't come. (i believe she realized it was still running sometime sunday.) i am given my own key. woohoo! i go to the "media center." (i think it's called that since it doesn't have enough books to be called a library. other than several different newspapers, i didn't see any other types of media. ) locked. i head back to the office where i'm told to go to the media center. after several misses i finally find it unlocked but deserted. i find three projectors but none with the little device to wheel a roll of film. alas. eventually the median (centerian ?) returns, and i now officially have an overhead projector and cart. too bad it's on the first floor and there are no elevators.

i lug it up the stairs and push it to my room. it's unlocked. the custodian got around to it. i set up my new toy. everything's good to go except it won't turn on. there's only one outlet in the front of the room. the overhead works in the other two outlets (back left and back right of the room). i have never tried the outlet before. i don't know if it normally works. i ask other teachers if the outlet in the same position in their room works. theirs did not. we turn to the infamous breaker box. fellow teacher tries several breakers to no avail. i'm now rather perturbed. i eventually find the problem - it was a breaker afterall (#20). now i have power and an overhead - just nothing to write on. i return to the office.

there i am led to a storeroom where i grab some dry erase markers, overhead film, and overhead markers. i repeat my request for another whiteboard for the room - preferably not two whiteboards with a wooden divider about 3 inches thick (how stupid.) when she realizes i have one whiteboard already, the request is met with a questioning look. i'm told i'll have to fill out some extra form and try to explain why this would be needed. principal seems to have my back though. back to the hangout.

i have planning first period. it's a good thing right now at least. the substitute who's been "teaching" wasn't even there last friday. i'm not exactly sure where they are in the book. after doing some weekend planning, i'd think those in algebra 1a should be at least finishing chapter 2 - more preferably - into chapter 3. rifiling through some more papers, it seems they've yet to finish chapter 1. i try to figure out what i'm to be doing and make some guidelines on an overhead. this is good since before i know it...

it's time for my first class. the students come in and notice the room has been cleaned and rearranged. i overhear one student remark "it's like a real classroom in here." despite the arranged desks, the students all head to the back of the room where there are chairs arranged around a table. with considerable effort, i manage to get everyone into desks. here goes.

i introduce myself. (no ms. _____ won't be back.) i mention some brief expectations - pretty much effort. i mention there will be a seating chart. i then pass back packets that review most of chapter 1 and put some problems on the board. class was quiet and productive. if it wasn't complete, it was due wed for hw. (at this point, 180 mins of classtime had been spent on this packet.) there is one student who is not in the same class as everyone else. i don't feel like he's being adequately served.

next class - 3rd period. planned a similar class. didn't get it. more of a struggle getting students in the seats. it's clear there are are some strong personalities in this period. there are also 3 different classes. as i try to teach, i'm interrupted and interrogated. i'm not sure when it was commonplace for students to ask their teacher if he drank. several have their heads down and react angrily or are unresponsive when i attempt to rouse them. then things get fun. in the middle of the period lunch is served. really. 20 mins in the middle of a class, they have lunch. i'm not sure how this works when there's a test. i'm thinking i'll give two parts. one due before lunch, one due after.

there was a reception for new teachers in the media center held during the lunch periods. lots of good food. i get a plateful and then get a piece of cake. the lunchroom is very sparse during this lunch period. (i guess they realized dividing up a class period is not a good idea.) when it's time for class to begin again, the other teachers don't move. i eventually take my uneaten piece of cake and return to the classroom. i thought it best to get there early and unlock the door. i covered the piece of cake wiht a napkin and put it in a small little footlocker contraption. students do not arrive. about 15 minutes later, the most "active" student arrives all proud that he's found a way to show up late. it was fun watching his reaction when he realized he was the first student in the classroom. most of the girls are all in the bathroom; several others are elsewhere. i believe smoking in an empty room or something.

eventually, i get a few students to return to the classroom. this is where my hardheadedness becomes an asset. i teach hardcore for rest of the period. it's not like were actually learning, but i think they at least realized i wasn't going anywhere. one student kept saying if i wanted to know what they knew, i should just look at some quiz they'd taken. blah blah. i told them they'd have a quiz and made packets due wednesday (same with previous class, they'd now had 180 mins of classtime.) eventually that class was over.

i felt like i needed a cutman. the next period i'm to have 3 students in what was described to me as a largely self-directed class (actually 2 classes). i had one student. she expected to sleep. however, it seemed she did like working once i got her to work problems at the board, etc. i figure if i can't get one student motivated when she's got no one to distract her, i really should do something else.

after school, i worked on trying to get things ready for wed. i also tried to get my groupwise account set up. here i got to have my first known run-in with school politics. as the account was being setup, i was asked for my email address. i was told it was for things like if someone signs up for a workshop. i said "that's poor." i mean c'mon. that's the whole purpose of groupwise. the lady seemed stunned. i knew i'd emailed principals (one out of two worked) and received several business cards with email addresses at the bottom. she said that they allowed email for the principals. i knew they used to have email addresses. she said that it started costing money to provide them. she said the county school policy was for teachers to sign up for yahoo accounts. i once again stressed that it was rather unprofessional and that i guess i was used to wake county. she responds with obvious vitirol about how they have many things that wake doesn't have. i'm thinking...yeah, windows 95 on all the computers. she then said something about her sister being involved with it for the county and that she'd have to leave since she was getting upset. i can control my voice, and i chose my words carefully. i found this rather childish. (no i didn't express such.) she then said something about contacting some head it guy if i had any questions. i said i would since i had some questions about the website. she seemed absolutely shocked. i mentioned that i wondered when the new one would go live. (i'd discovered what appears to be a partially completed site on the intranet.). i also was wondering about if school sites would now have the same template as the main site. she starts talking about how i'm totally wrong and she's in charge of the school's page and that all schools do their own and it's totally separate and that she hasn't done the one for the school since she was waiting for all the teachers, etc but that when she's done she'll send over the disk with the website. she talks about how it's been a low priority and that they're moving the schools over to frontpage from netscape gold. i asked her if they had ftp access. she didn't respond - was clear she didn't know what i was talking about. i then show her the one on the intranet. it does seem that the schools will now have the same template. "well they haven't told us anything about that." no kidding. also she never got my groupwise account working. oh well.

i threw out my now ant-covered slice of cake. went home. crashed on the couch. wrote up a certain quiz. worked on some lesson plans. eventually went to sleep around 2.

a couple of articles before i lose em.

• yes i like symphonic concerts. (every so often i get a big desire to attend one - luckily we know some folks with season tickets and can't always attend. booyow.) yes i do get sleepy sometimes there. (i blame it on not learning a stringed instrument unlike my siblings.) however, you may have something in the near future to distract you when you're getting sleep or want to know what the piece is about. i think it should also let you order glasses of wine and the like. (be able to choose the vintage and have delivered during the intermission if you're in the cheap seats. if you're in a box, well...)
• i don't want to buy a maxi-pad - wake county has emergency kits for each classroom teacher. i don't believe there's anything similar in my classroom. i'm considering making one.

oh and i went ahead and ordered the hammacher schlemmer alarm clock. i'm so excited. i'm so excited. i'm so...scared.

i'm not a morning person. i've never been one. i now have to be at work at 7:30 every morn looking presentable. this isn't a good combination. i've been trying to make myself get up earlier to prepare. it's not working too well. i have no windows in my bedroom. i think this is partially responsible. i'm now looking for an alarm clock that turns on a light progressively brighter to aid in waking me up. i found many clocks which use them, but i am not interested in waking up to a strobe light and have not linked to them.

i've found a couple. if you know of others/better. comment away.

• cheap coffee - no not thrown in my face. surprisingly to me hammacher schlemmer has the cheapest alarm clock i've found. it also has an aromatherapy feature which lets you wake up or fall asleep to different aromas - like coffee. it's still not cheap at $50 plus shipping. (along with the must have popup hotdog cooker, they also have all-terrain skis on sale!)
• not so sad - these folks have lots of products to let the sunshine in. all quite expensive.
• another common clock - this one uses your own tablelamp to provide lighting. still not cheap.
• awake. check. worship ra. check - these folks sell a more eye catching clock. don't miss the fake windows below on the same page! i think i'd have to choose hawaii. maybe kate could send some digital pics of some other vistas.
• good price - well not really a good price, but one of the best i've found for the ever-popular glowslug clock.
• under a franklin - here's a glowdome alarm clock just under a $100.