you are now being redirected...

So, I don't know if anybody looks at this anymore or not and I'm quite certain that precious few ever venture over to shacknotes.com and even if they do, there's not anything new to see.

So, I've been thinking about canceling my host for shacknotes.com and moving all of my web-site and this blog over to wordpress. Shacknotes is in desperate need of a redesign and I'm too lazy and not quite good enough and cheap enough that I'm not willing to pay somebody else to redesign that in 6 months will be old news again.

I'm still tinkering with it and not quite ready to set shacknotes.com to redirect, but I'm going to move the blog to wordpress and see how I get along with it for awhile.

So, in order to see the shiny new blog, head on over to shacknotes.wordpress.com and all 3 or 4 of you might need to update your bookmarks...

By for now, blogger.

wootoff!

Woot : One Day, One Deal (SM)

more bullets...saphire bullets....

• Found out that I'm not going to be teaching English to 7th graders this year. I like english, but I'm not sure I'm very good at teaching it. And it's hard to teach and it's hard to grade. And I was not looking forward to living in Searcy, AR for 3 days this week at a Literacy Workshop. The workshop seemed interesting, but I just wanted a little more summer before it starts ramping up again. Also, if I ever found myself behind on grading last year, it was invariably because I was procrastinating grading 7th grade english essays. Not fun.
• So, what will I be teaching? 7th grade math, 8th grade math, and one class of Social Studies. 7th grade math I actually have experience now and I found out that our 7th grade benchmark scores were crazy good. 8th grade math will be new, but my room happens to be right next to he 8th grade math teacher, so it shouldn't be too rough. The Social Studies class will just mean that I'll actually have a common subject with my Mentor teacher and I think it will be interesting.
• I've been actually reading Sherlock Holmes stories. I absorbed a lot of knowledge about Sherlock Holmes from my dad who was a big fan and watched the PBS episodes regularly. However, I was always a little too antsy to sit and watch, and I definitely never waded through reading one. They're still a little dry, but I'm kind of liking it. More than anything, I'm shocked and appalled when 7th graders tell me they've never heard of Sherlock Holmes.
• I've been doing a lot of research looking into moving my web-site from my current, long-time web-host to something cheaper. The fact is that I'm doing much more with (and that's still not much) blogging than I am doing anything to update my actual web-site. I'm not sure anybody's even reading the blog, let alone visiting shacknotes.com, so I don't really need to be paying so much to keep it where it is. So, just be ready, everything might be changing soon.
• Spent most of today, writing/recording my first radio jingle with my colleague, jmiller. As the day has gone on, I've found that J and I could actually do this and make money at it. However, I've also become more and more concerned with the business aspect of this particular venture. I'm trying to tell myself that if we get completely stiffed with this particular project, if it gets used and people like it, it might open opportunities later and we'll be more prepared to deal with financial matters. It could make a nice side-job for sure.
• Still haven't seen the Dark Knight. Soon...
  

Hurry! You only have until Sunday at midnight!

'Bigger than Jesus? The Beatles were a Christian band' - Telegraph

'Bigger than Jesus? The Beatles were a Christian band' - Telegraph

Just found this article and found it very interesting. I have a number of friends that i think will be interested as well.

two nappy haired blondes that keep me in love with music

Sam Phillips

Unless I can plead Sam to make it closer to the midwest than New Jersey, I may never get to see her in person. You'll have to follow the link to see an in-studio concert for NPR.

Aimee Mann


H and I went to see Aimee at Cain's Ballroom a couple of weeks ago. There were only about 120-150 people there, so we had a great time. Whenever I think of Aimee, especially when I think about how she seems as a real person, it's my best opportunity to use the adjective droll.

quotes

When I used to carry around my palm pilot all the time, I had a little memo where I archived quotes or phrases that I heard/read that I liked. Sometimes these morphed into songs. ("For my part, I know nothing with any certainty. But the sight of the stars makes me dream..."-Vincent Van Goh found on a card at Barnes and Noble. Word-for-word the bridge of World Around Me.) Other times I just look at them and enjoy them again.

Tonight I re-installed my palm software and copied a bunch of song ideas/lines into my songwriting software. I also found my little list of quotes and thought I'd share some.

• Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...it has no survival value; rather, it is one of those things that gives value to survival. -C.S. Lewis
• I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe ever I deserved my friends. -Walt Whitman
• Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats. -Howard Aiken
• The truth should have no occasion to shout. -unknown

I think about that first C.S. Lewis quote all time in reference to all sorts of things.

All of this to say that my biggest goal for my first 3 weeks of summer was to write songs. I'm currently 3 songs behind... But I did come up with something promising tonight.

My sister will be proud that I'm currently reading Rendezvous with Rama. I also found Everything Must Change by McLaren at the library and have been reading it in tiny chunks during my daily , (ahem), constitutional. I'm finding myself much more interested than I've yet to be about his last book, The Secret Message of Jesus.

glorious summer and my to-do list

Ok, I'm two days into summer vacation and it's wonderful. What I'm experiencing right now may be all the reason necessary to teach. (take note, crazybilly) Even though this summer will be significantly truncated due to 1) 3 weeks of NTL modules (8-3 everyday) and 2) 3 days in glorious Searcy, AR for Literacy Lab, those things are 3 weeks away and I'm too happy happy to think about those things right now.

However, I'm trying to make myself be productive. Here's my current to-do list:
-Turn in all my re-application materials for NTL. They're due no later than June 15th
-Not wait till the last minute to work on my Portfolio Checkpoint that is due the first day of NTL modules on June 23rd. I don't need to be up until 4:30 am again.
-find out about a new battery for the electric lawn mower my mom gave us.


I'm also setting goals of writing a new song once a week. I'm also hoping to submit at least 2 songs a month to taxi. If that happens, that also means I'll be posting said songs somewhere for my adoring fans to at least be able to hear them.

Finally, I need to exercise. My friend, Justin, is trying to get me to commit to doing P90x with him. I'm afraid that might kill me. However, it would be awesome to show up at school totally buffed out. We'll see.

The Future of Christian Music: "Riffing" by Charlie Peacock

I have always thought that Charlie Peacock was a smart guy. He proves it again.

I don't really have anything to add. Just go read it.

...4 more days...

who will survive?
who will lose it and go "scholastic"?

• Saw Indiana Jones...disappointment abounds and I am unsure why it keeps getting good reviews. It wasn't horrible, but it was a big let down to me.
• Am trying to figure out what to do with these last 4 days. I'm wanting to show "Stand By Me" to my English classes, but can't get the TV guardian to work and am a little nervous about it. It's a great movie, and I don't think the profanity is unrealistic for 4 12 year old boys left to their own devices. However, I also don't want to be lectured to by some irate parents in the last 4 days of school.
• Am planning to go see the Old 97's and Aimee Mann in June. Am excited about both although it's hard to compete with the simple prospect of not going to school starting next Monday...
• Finished The Duma Key. Pretty good Stephen King. As usual, I feel like he does a great job telling a story, but not the greatest job ending it.
• 4 more days...
  

saphire bullets...bullets of pure love....

• Two thumbs up for Iron Man the movie even though I've never been a fan of the comic.
• Two thumbs up for Lars and the Real Girl. Tried to tell my co-workers about it, but lost them on the premise. Don't let the premise throw you. It's a really sweet movie.
• First movie season I've looked forward to in a number of years. Indiana Jones, Batman, Shyamalan. In that order. Teach 7th grade english and am relishing writing in sentence fragments right now. At least I know they're fragments.
  
• Half way through The Duma Key by Stephen King. Am frustrated that I can't just sit down and read it because I keep getting interrupted by things like teaching 7th graders and stuff. Yet another reason I'm looking forward to summer. I'm enjoying the book, by the way.
• Am wanting to read Stephen King's "The Body" to my 7th graders in an attempt to get them interested in reading. Feel like that's a lost cause, but want to read it to them anyway. Having a hard time finding time. It's also sometimes difficult to edit the language as I read.
• Played my first gig since last summer on Saturday. Went surprisingly well in spite of tornadoes, running sound for the whole affair and never quite getting the chance to do any practicing. Luckily it was a songwriters' circle and I only had/got to play 6 songs.
• Ivy is two. Unbelievable. I love her so much it hurts. She came to the concert. Charmed everyone. I look at her and so don't miss the singer/songwriter/penniless/vagabond lifestyle as to almost disdain it. Still pretty penniless, though.
• Am itching to write some new songs, though. Maybe record a new CD's worth. Planning to make myself be productive in that area in about 13-15 days. Jonathan Coulton is my hero. I'm thinking his "Thing-A-Week" is a great goal for my summer. That and to lose some weight and to get stronger.
  
• Netflix, especially "instant" rocks.
• 100,000,000,000,000 points (redeemable only on this blog) to the commenter to reference this posts' title and trace its correlation to the post itself.
  

adieu.

13 days and counting...

7th grade girl: "No offense, Mr. Shacklett, but I can't wait to get out of here."

Me: "No offense, N_____, but neither can I."

FIELD TRIP!

Day after tomorrow, I and 120 7th graders (oh and some other teachers/sponser) will spend 4+ hours on busses going to Little Rock.

They don't know it yet, but those 7th graders are going to have to endure my creamy white skinny calves. I also plan to take an mp3 player and a book.

Hopefully, nobody will expire or be left behind.

Another feline escape...

Before I blog what I'm getting ready to blog, I need to say that I LOVE my co-teachers. Just about every day I am thankful to have spent my first year teaching on a team of people who obviously love and care about their students. They have all been so helpful and encouraging to me all along the way and so patient with my cluelessness. If I were to consider trying to find another position at another school, leaving my team would be the number one con. Not only that, but they are funny and fun and I like hanging out with them and I have no problem thinking that we could/would be friends outside of the confines of this mutual employment.

However...

Today, we were all together when the discussion came up about Obama's recent comments that have been getting so much media attention lately. In the past few months, I've sat quietly while the lunch room discussion has regularly scoffed or openly ridiculed O's statements and or campaign. I'm really fine with that and am quite content to keep my own council. I sometimes wonder if it's just that I don't really get off on "mixing it up", especially when I'm obviously in the minority or if I just don't have the balls to take a stand...but that's probably another blog.

Anyway, so two of these favorite people of mine started to paraphrase O's comments in exactly the way that I feel like what he actually said has been pulled out of context, woven and spun into some horrific statement declaring that O thinks he's better than small town folk.

My take on those comments: 1) All I've seen or heard has been a very short sound bite. I've not read or seen the entire speech or even the statements surrounding "THE SENTENCE". How could I begin to think that I can draw accurate conclusions without any sense of context?

2) Maybe he didn't express what he meant very well. So what? The guy is human. Are you telling me that there's no way that what he said couldn't be mis-interpreted? At least in intent? Especially by an apt opponent that is grasping at anything to discredit him in any way? To my knowledge, he's yet to "mis-remember" time when he was under sniper fire...

3) Whipping this little statement into a huge mole-hill of controversy is exactly the kind of political bs that I'm sick to death.

4) I am quite certain that O doesn't think he's any better than any one else any more than Hillary or McCain or even GW. I'd never think that I was the cock-eyed optimist, but even if I completely disagree with political decisions that are made, I've never thought that GW, or Bill C or Hillary or McCain or Nader or Edwards or Giuliani or anybody trying to be the President could be a complete idiot or even evil. The enormity of the responsibility seems to prohibit it in my mind. The president is not a Monarch or Dictator who have unmitigated power that could easily corrupt. One of the things I remember from Constitution class is that there are checks and balances all along the way. It just seems to me that who ever is president or trying to be president, is doing the best that they can and they truly believe that what they are doing is best for our country. Obviously, that person is not always going to be able to please everybody or have everybody agree with him/her. That's part of the job.

Anyway, back to the story:

So, when my beloved co-teachers were espousing a paraphrase characterizing the sentiment that it seems HC and a lot of media seem to want us to hear, I simply said, "I don't think he actually said it like that..."
Another co-teacher said, "Why? Are you closet Obama fan?"
"Yeah."
Another teacher: "Are you really?"
"Yep."
short silence that could have become really uncomfortable except that all of our attention was immediately drawn back to the task of corralling students.

That was it. I wonder what lunch topic of conversation will be like tomorrow...

...and then...

So, I've been planning to blog for weeks now, but I just didn't have anything profound on the brain to share. Still don't. This may be boring.

-Enjoyed my first real Spring Break. It came just in time. Didn't do much of anything. I bought some shoes, but I already blogged about that.

-I have exactly 8 weeks left of school. Woohoo! Summer vacation cannot be overstated enough as a perk of being a school teacher.

-When I was in about 7th grade, I discovered a comic book/graphic novel that, much like Battlestar Galactica now, signifies the singularity of my own geekdom existence: Elfquest. It claims to be the longest running independent comic book in existence. I just re-read the original 4 Graphic Novels (which tell the story of the original quest) last week. It holds up. With a large cast of 3 dimensional characters and a sweeping epic of a story, I really can't believe that more people don't talk about it like Lord of the Rings. I'm even more amazed that it hasn't been tapped for a movie franchise. The visuals/storyboards are already there. The characters/conflicts/lovestory/sex are already there. And to some extent, the rabid, albeit maybe more sparse fan base is already there. It is a comic book, but that's what all the movie execs are looking for, right? And the big difference is that there's a lot more female characters to work with and to entice female audience than just about any superhero movie. I don't know.

-I also re-read Ender's Game. It's right up there with A Prayer for Owen Meany in the all time favorite books. I just wish I could find something else that came close to it. Any ideas on good "soft" Scifi?

-Benchmarks start in one week. I'm not really looking forward to it. I don't think I'm a bad teacher, but I don't know what else to do to motivate these students and I'm afraid of how those scores are going to look. I still think they're too coddled.

-I should have mowed this weekend, but the lawn mower wouldn't start, so that was enough of an excuse for me.

-I finally ordered a new computer last week. Dell had a good deal I couldn't pass up. I don't spend any money easily and purchases more than about $20 cause me to vacillate incessantly. (incidentally, the last two words of the last sentence would make my 7th graders brains explode...but so would "incidentally".) I also get nervous about buying a mass marketed computer because of the recording applications I use it for. However, I've not really recorded much of anything for quite some time, so why does that matter? why indeed...

-I need to get to writing. I've had some ideas and just haven't sat down and done anything. Again, just because I have a job and I don't have to worry about music providing a living, that doesn't mean that I have any more self-motivation or discipline.

-I have a gig in 5 weeks. I need to figure out how to get some people there and I'd really like to debut at least a couple of new songs. Of course, that means I need to write them. I also need to start playing more so that I have at least a little bit of callouses.

I told you. This was going to be boring.

In search of shoes...

The weird thing is that I would seldom wear shoes given the freedom. From early spring to as late fall as I can manage, you're most likely to find me wearing either Birkenstocks or Teva's or I finally bought a pair of Chacos.

In spite of this, I still harbor a bit of a fetish for shoes (and jackets...but that's another blog). Add into this the fact that I'm pretty cheap, and you'll realize this is a pretty big deal. Holly loves to tell the story of the time I took her to the mall in Kansas. I tried on the shoes I wanted. Stood in the store for awhile. Took them off and thought about it. Left and ran around the mall for awhile working up the gumption to lay down the money for like an hour and half. And finally went back and bought the exact shoes that I looked at when I first got there.

So, I have two pair of Merrell's (dark color and light color) that have been my main classroom shoes for the winter, but I've been thinking that standing and teaching in them all day was going to limit their longevity. And even though they're very comfortable, I find that I have to alternate wearing them different days, otherwise my feet get sore. So, I've been sort of shopping for some new casual shoes that could be worn in my classroom that would give good support and not make my feet sore when teaching in them all day.

Anyway, the girls and I spent awhile in a shoe store last week. There were some Born, some cool Doc Martens, some Merrell's and some Tsubo's that got my attention. The salesman did a great job and I actually felt bad for him when I said that I wasn't ready to buy anything that day. The Docs were the most comfortable and I could see them really being durable. And even though they were on sale for $80, they weren't really my favorite color. I might spend $40 or $50 for a pair of shoes that are comfortable and relatively cool even if they're not in the perfect color that I want, but $80?

Yesterday, we stopped at Sam's and there are a really cool pair Clarks. They look awesome and were on sale for $39. Unfortunately, they just weren't at comfy as say the Docs or the Merrells so ultimately, they had plenty in my size and I figure I've got all week to come back to Sam's if I decided I could handle the comfort level for the price.

Today, we went to the mall to take family pics. (this is another blog, but let me just say this: I have very little patience with posing for pics and suffice to say, I think the girl feels the same way...) With that mission accomplished, the girl was tired and obviously hungry and we decided to eat in the food court. While H was finishing up the transaction at the pic place, I and the girl were walking to the food court when I noticed (in my opinion) the coolest shoe store was having a sale and no shoes were more than $59.

So, after we ate, we stopped in. I found the coolest pair of Keen shoes that I'd seen that were in my size, super comfortable and durable, and on sale for $39!!!!

Sometimes...once in awhile...it pays off to be a cheapskate.

U2 3D: The First Live-Action 3D Concert Movie, Featuring U2 -- National Geographic

I haven't blogged about this because I don't know what to say. Do whatever you have to do to see this as soon as possible. The wife and I found a wonderful friend willing to sit at our house while the girl was asleep so we could go Sunday night.

It's a fraction of the cost and hassle of actually going to a concert. You don't have to worry about not being able to see around the 6'11" tall imbecile standing in front of you (although you may find yourself actually trying to see around people...the 3D is INSANE) that keeps farting because he knows nobody can hear him. You don't have to worry about your 5' tall wife being trampled by idiots who were in kindergarten when The Joshua Tree came out and have never even heard Unforgettable Fire. You don't have to deal with the traffic or $10 bottles of water.

I don't know if I'm ever going to actually see U2 in concert, but all of these things make me really question whether or not I want to. Besides avoiding all these downsides to an actual concert experience, you get to pretend like you can fly all over the stage.

The only downside to the movie is that you really want to stand up and scream and blow out your vocal cords singing along with Bono and wave your arms and clap and and dance and cry and exalt in the glorious spectacle of it all but you can't. You're sitting in a movie theater.

(Actually, you can cry. In fact, the 3D glasses you have to wear afford no peripheral vision, so you don't even have to worry about the people you're sitting with seeing you weep...)

cat out of the bag...

I wanted to name this entry "randomnity" again, but thought it my make my plethora of readers confused and just see the title and not read anymore. But just because I didn't name the entry that, doesn't mean that I'm not going to be random.

-On Valentine's Day, H & I and I stayed home and ate and watched Seinfeld. Then we loaded up and took I to the new Coldstone, came home, played with I and put her to bed. Then H & I settled in to watch Chocolate which would lead to regular V day activities for married people. About half way through the movie, H says, "I don't feel very good..." This was proven to be more than just a clever deterrent for my amorous advances when she woke up at 3:30 am puking up all that expensive ice cream. She was in pretty bad shape. I got up and went to school and felt ok until I started driving home and then I started feeling not so good. I didn't have the issues she did, I just felt gross all of friday evening and most of today. I haven't eaten hardly anything just because I don't feel like it. I don't know if we just caught some little stomach bug or what, but I'm ready to be done with it. We're just hoping that I. doesn't get it.

-Speaking of intestinal issues of the little shack: something is going on. She's not acted out of sorts, but she's had the grossest diapers all week. The smell, consistency, volume, and plethora (hey, i got plethora in twice in one post!) would have us worried if she didn't seem in such high spirits.

-So, it's not like I've really kept it a secret all this time, but for some reason, a number of the students at PG middle school have just figured out that I am a musician. I will admit that I've not talked about it much, and when asked directly, I usually answer honestly and then say something like, "do you have your homework done?" But, suddenly I'm being bombarded by questions by a number of students, many of which i don't even know or have in class. Here are just a couple of my favorites, including a variety that are part of the reason why I didn't really want to make a big deal out of it to the students:

"Are you famous?"
"Mr. Shacklett, do you lead a double life?"
"What kind of music do you play?"
"Where can I buy your CD?"
"If you're a singer, how come you're teaching us geometry?"

I've finally landed on my regular response being: "If you're really curious, get on itunes and download my cd for yourself. And get all of your friends to download it too."

Anyway, students have found my web-site which means that they may be finding their way to this blog, too. That has me a little worried, although most would never take the time to actually read this much, so we'll see how transparent I'll be able to remain.

-currently reading "In Dubious War" by Steinbeck. Just found it in the library and since I'd not read it, I thought I'd give it a go. It's kind of weird in that it's about striking apple pickers in there 30's. I am still often amazed at how clueless I am. I really didn't connect unions and striking with socialism. At least I didn't realize that around that time, anybody trying to organize for better wages/working conditions etc. was labeled "red". I figure there's a lot of history out there to know, I'm just not sure how I got by with learning so little.

-forgot to mention that I finally got to see "There Will Be Blood". WOW! very dark and a little disturbing but incredible. It's really not that enjoyable to watch, and I felt kind of wore out by the time it was over. But, it really sticks and rolls around in my head and I kind of want to see it again.

-Speaking of movies. I LOVE my co-teachers. They are some of the best people and I can't believe how fortunate I am to have landed on this team and surrounded by the teachers around me. That being said, I can't believe how different our tastes in movies. I won't even mention the movies they talk about going to see and being excited to go that I don't even want to accidentally be in the room when they come on dvd (or usa channel weekend movie which is where they're destined to wind up). And the movies that I'm excited about, they go running the other way. It's just weird.

-James told me that U23D is supposed to be at the new Razorback starting last Friday. I'm excited and have read a couple of reviews that have me even more excited. But when I checked the listings, the only 3D movie at that theater right now is "Hannah Montana 3D". This does not bode well...

-Still want to see Juno.

what the ?

"...too many people are brainwashed by his message of hope..."

I heard this quote on tv today.

Does anybody else think that this statement is insane? Wouldn't we want to be hopeful about an election year? Could it be that I, of all people, am landing on the side of the line that is wanting to be optimistic? (...fuze....blown...)

I also read an op-ed piece today that talked about the elephant in the room being "could a black man actually be elected president of the U.S."? Through some short/trivial conversations today and Hillary's victory of AR, I guess that's still a pretty big issue.

It's interesting to me to find out that O won the Dem vote in Kansas by a huge margin. It makes me think that 1)my background might have made me even more color-blind than I was aware 2)that inherent color-blindness has engendered my own naiveté.

Basically, I am REALLY NOT southern and I am reminded of it.

...continued...

So, you'd think that I would have continued those thoughts right away because since I went to bed the other night, I woke up and have spent 2 snow days at home. But no: that would be way too industrious...

-Indigo Girls: Great concert, great seats, I'm very glad I went although I'm sad that Holly was feeling so horrible. Throughout the concert, however, I was struck by how arbitrarily fame, fortune and recognition is distributed. Brandi Carlisle opened for the IGirls and sang on a number of songs during their set. She has a great voice and had some good songs and seemed proficient enough on guitar. But, the truth of the matter is that I've heard just as good a voice with just as good of songs numerous times from people that you will never hear about. By some stroke of fortune, she's hooked up with the Indigo Girls and she's set. She's working hard and all she has to do is keep doing what she's doing. Good for her. I think I just keep trying to figure out "yea, but why her?" when there probably isn't any reason.

-So, the total geek in me got excited today when I figured out how to sync my phone's calendar with my google calendar. Since bare-bonesing my computer about a month ago, I haven't re-installed my Palm desktop 1) Because I've not really been using my Palm 2) I did install Outlook and had grand designs to use it and then sync it with my phone. However, I've not spent much time on Outlook because whenever I look at the "month" view, it starts all the weeks on Monday and puts Sat and Sun together at the end of the week. I HATE this! Every time I started the program I'd spend way too much time trying to get it to show me a regular calendar and then when I couldn't get it to show it the way I wanted it, I'd quit. argh! Anyway, I've now got my google calendar syncing with my phone via Goosync. Which means, I don't have to mess around with Outlook at all, and I can start really using my google calendar and still have it instantly mobile.

-Spent a bunch of time trying to decide to buy a new Dell last night because I had a $250 off coupon that expired at midnight. Decided things are running fine for now.

-Can I just say that Snow Days are yet another reason that teaching is pretty cool? Granted, it's a two-edged luxury. My school has zero snow days built into the schedule, so every school day we take gets added to the end of the year. That will suck. However, it's been a lot of fun being home with the girls for two days. I'm even proud of myself that I did some grading yesterday.

I know there were other things I was going to blog about, but that's it for now.

randomnity in '08 #2

I know it's a made up word. But I kind of like it and it seems to fit.

-Finished To Kill a Mockingbird. Good book. I enjoyed it. I know it's supposed to be a great masterpiece of American literature and all but Owen Meany still beats it hands down for me.

-"There Will Be Blood" is finally in NW Arkansas, but it's at the theater that would require my taking the WORST exit in all of NWAR. That combined with Nuffy being sick last weekend and not being able to go and me just not really having the time, I've still not seen it.

-Not last Friday, but the Friday before, I stayed up until 4:30am Saturday finishing an assignment for my Licensure program that was due at 8am. I then had to sit through an extremely boring and nearly pointless class from 8am until about 3pm that day. Let me just tell you: I am WAY too old to be pulling all nighters of anything, let alone homework. It was horrible. It has crossed my mind that I'm constantly trying to motivate my 7th graders to get their homework done that they shouldn't waste all the time I give them in class to finish things which is basically me telling them they shouldn't procrastinate. Would this prove no one's disbelief that I am a hypocrite? No, because there's one big difference between me doing that assignment and my 7th graders: I actually did it and turned it in.

-I'm still contemplating buying a new computer. However, I haven't been contemplating since the last time I blogged and I only started contemplating again because the promotion that gets me an extra $150 off a shiny new Dell ends tomorrow. I'm afraid that my computer is still running well and that I can't make a $1000 decision in the time I have left. Froogle? Tight-wad? Incessant waffler? You be can decide for yourself.

-Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to go see my friends Ezra and Keith play a house concert with their original band, Wheatfield. Experienced incredible musicians, some great songs and impressive performances in an intimate setting with another good friend, Justin, that I'd not been able to hang with for awhile. It was so good to see Ezra and Keith and I'm so glad I found out about it and decided to go on short notice.

-Last night, I spent twice as much on a ticket (4 times as much if you count that I paid for Holly's ticket too) to go see the Indigo Girls.

Well, I just got a phone call and ran out of time to finish those thoughts. Will try to revisit this soon.

randomnity

-Great holiday break. I had two full weeks. Made treks to parents on both sides. Love and good fortune abounds. Sister came for 5 whole days, and even though she made me help her work on her record, it was still fun because that's almost the longest she's ever stayed with us.

-Was ready to get back to school last Sunday. I had a great attitude and felt rested and prepared. WRONG! last week may have been the most difficult in spite of the fact that nearly all of my problem students have transferred out of my class or moved. All I can think is that I've had a lot of congestion and didn't sleep well last week.

-Friday night, I watched the movie Jesus Camp. It was overwhelmingly depressing/horrifying/frustrating. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to deal with this. Can't stop thinking about it.

-I ordered the book, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" through interlibrary loan. I've seen the movie, and there's not a whole lot more there. But it's interesting to me that Cameron Crowe actually went back to high school undercover as a 22 year old and then wrote this book. It's even more interesting that this book is out of print and that if you ever even find a beat up old paperback copy of it, you'll probably pay $50 or more.

-I'm reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the first time. Don't know why I haven't read it other than it seems weird that I wasn't required to read it in school at some point. I've never seen the movie either even though I've checked it out from the library a couple of times. I'm glad I've not seen the movie. I have a feeling it might end up being pretty high on my favorites list.

-Sent off two co-writes to TAXI for country listings. Neither got forwarded, but got some good feedback. I think we're going to try to fix one of them. More than anything, it's good that I've done something, even if it has been all because the co-writer keeps pushing.

-I just realized how inexpensively I could get into a PS2. That's tempting. 1)I would like to get guitar hero, 2)I could get tomb raider for even cheaper.

-Been contemplating a new computer purchase. However, I had to barebones my current machine before my sister got here, and it's been running better than it has for awhile. Can't decide if now's the time or not. Also having hard time deciding between desktop and laptop.

-I can't believe how big and growing NWA is and there still aren't any theatres playing "There Will Be Blood". This is a college town. Why in the world is there not an art theatre?

-Watch Bourne Ultimatum the other night. Those are pretty good flicks. Holly and I watched Waking Up in Reno again last night. That is a great movie. I know you've not heard of it. It's worth seeking out.

Favorites from 2007

So, I've seen a lot of people making their "best-of" lists for 2007. I started trying to think of things, but realized I don't have much. So, here are some lists. They aren't in any order, and they weren't even necessarily released in 2007. It's just what I can remember that I've been into this past year.

Music: More than anything, it feels like I have to view this year as the year I got old. I look at the big 2007 lists from the critics and I just don't get 90% of it. So many people like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, but man: it just sounds like crap to me. stupid crap.

-Josh Rouse- Just discovered him this year and particularly got into the projects Nashville & Subtitulo. He's very pop/folk with a smidge of some jazz chords here and there.

-William Fitzsimmon, Goodnight. I typically don't like buying music from itunes, but I found this online and the only way I could actually get a CD would be to order it. After going back and forth on it for about a month, (more than enough time it would have taken for a CD to arrive in the mail), I downloaded it from itunes. The best I can describe this CD would be Iron & Wine vocals, folk instrumentation with the addition of trippy beats and loops as unto The Postal Service. The difference between this and Iron and Wine is that for some reason, it doesn't strike me as so precious and the melodies are more interesting to me. Besides just the gentle finger-picky guitar, he does have a lot of keyboards/piano on this thing. One of the reasons I may like it so much may be because his keyboards sound a lot like the way I play. This is definitely MELLOW, so don't be thinking you'll rock out to it.

-Ingrid Michaelson- Girls & Boys. Folky/poppy New York chick. Somewhere between Lisa Loeb, newer Norah Jones, and Coldplay/Keene (but again NY, not UK). Honestly, I can't stop listening to this CD. She's got a real effortless, 'real-world' kind of voice that I like. One interesting thing that I realized listening to one particular song: It starts out with a nice staccato guitar figure that hangs pretty well (again, it reminds me of something that I might do) and at the end of the 1st verse this 16th note hi-hat comes in. When I first noticed it, it felt so good, just because, in the studio, it's so rare to hear a drummer come in like that and play it so perfectly in time. I'm starting to think that my producing/recording experience may have left permanent scars...

-Suzanne Vega- Beauty & Crime. It didn't capture me like Ingrid did, but I've listened to it quite a bit. I've never been a Vega fan, but I like this CD and she's kind of taken Jonatha Brooke's place in my heart, because I couldn't really get anything out of her new record, Careful What You Wish For.

-Bruce Springsteen- Magic. I can't say that I'm in love with it. I LOVE The Rising and there's a lot that I like about Devils & Dust. However, I keep popping it in to listen to it some more, so that seems to say something to me.

Looking forward to the new Sam Phillips CD that's supposed to be coming out in February.

Movies:

Boy this category is dismal. 1)I've not seen many movies this year but 2)There really haven't been many movies worth watching.

I did love Pan's Labyrinth and regret not getting to see it in the theatre.

The only movie I can think of seeing in the theatre has been No Country for Old Men. Although that movie was really good and probably the best movie I've seen in the theatre of late, it's VERY dark and VERY bleak, and I don't know if I could put it as a favorite. I do love a lot of the Coen Brothers and Fargo is high on my favorite movies. More than a couple of times, I've described No Country as sort of Fargo set in TX but without any of the fun. Did you hear that peeps? It's DARK with a capital D.

Again, I don't know if this would be a favorite, but I saw my very first theatrical 3D movie about a month ago when I saw Beowulf 3D at the new Razorback theatre. The U2 3D trailer at the beginning about made me wet my pants and I will figure out a way to see it, but of all 3D movies I could see, Beowulf was pretty great to see that way.

Books:

-Crazy for God by Frank Schaeffer. I've wrote enough about this book. Go back and read previous blogs if you want.

-I've read a lot adolescent fiction since I've spent almost all of my mentoring money on books for my classroom library. I've not really hit any that I really love, but maybe I can't really love them anyway. I'm proud that I turned at least one student on to a book called "Touching Spirit Bear" that is pretty good.

That's all I can think of right now.