Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Congraduations
This past weekend was a flurry of parties, celebrations and activities that were all designed to honor people besides me. It was quite fun, but also somewhat tiring to be around so many people. On Friday night, there was a party in honor of Shane Ross at the home of his fiancée, Jessica. Earlier that day, Shane had officially received his PhD from Caltech in Control and Dynamic Systems. Honestly, I have no idea what that means. I even once attended a lecture in which he presented his work. While I cam away with a rudimentary understanding of what that all means, I'm not entirely sure that I could do it justice. As near as I can figure, he wants to build giant tunnels in outer space to enable us to drive to other planets or something.
The graduation party was quite a success. We were served some form of beef that Shane had spent most of the previous day preparing, and the turn out was pretty impressive.
As if one party in honor of Shane wasn't enough, the next day was his and Jessica's engagement party at the home of Jessica's brother in Whittier. There were many of the same people at that party, but there were also several of Jessica's college friends, and family. Most of Shane's friends spent the day huddled over in one area of the yard. In a somewhat out-of-character move, however, I did quite a bit of mingling with Jessica's side of the yard. Normally, I don't talk to people I don't know, and do my best to avoid situations in which I have to make small talk. Fortunately, the conversation flowed somewhat naturally and I was not subjected to the kinds of questions that so often go along with small talk: "So, what do you do?" "Where do you live?"...you know- the kind of questions people ask when they don't really care.
The engagement party was even more fun than the graduation party from the night before, as we were provided with a somewhat violent piñata that spun around quite a bit and actually fought back. It took us a while to get it open but, once we did, I ran around the yard grabbing as many tootsie rolls as I possibly could without pushing any of the children down.
After I left the party, I drove down to Vista and stopped by Shane and Erika Bonham's house, hoping that Shane would have forgotten that he was mad at me. When I arrived, I discovered that they were not home. On a whim, I drove over to Erika's parent's house, where I found Shane and Erika just leaving to go home.
We went back to their house, where Shane and I had to beg and plead with Erika to play Simpson's Clue with us. She finally agreed, and we played a rousing game in which Shane discovered that the crime had been committed by Waylon Smithers in Barney's Bowl-o-Rama with the Saxophone. Which is exactly what I was going to guess on my next turn. Once again, my losing record at every game I play remains strong.
On Sunday, I drove over to Fallbrook to celebrate the birthday party of my niece, Emilia Lucille Stahl, who turned one on June 10. The party was somewhat small, mostly family. All of the kids, including my other niece, Alyson, and my nephew, Sawyer, went swimming while I spent the time talking with my brother.
I left Fallbrook at about 6:00 and drove up to San Clemente, where I met Rick and Jessica Baldwin for dinner at a local pizza restaurant. They live in Las Vegas, but are currently on vacation here in California. During the course of dinner, I was continually entertained by the antics of their daughter, Violet, who is four years old.
I left San Clemente at about 10:00 and, after witnessing a one-car accident from which the driver fled on foot, arrived home at around 11:30, where I promptly went to sleep so that I be ready to substitute at the middle school the next morning.
All in all, that was a pretty good weekend, filled with family and friends. Tomorrow, I will be boarding a plane and heading back to Kosovo for the third time. As usual, I have left everything that must be done until the last possible minute. I need to do some laundry, but the water in my apartment building is inexplicably turned off. I'm pretty annoyed about it, as there was no warning at all, and I've got a trip to pack for. After all, I can't go visit a war-torn Third World nation with dirty clothes.
This past weekend was a flurry of parties, celebrations and activities that were all designed to honor people besides me. It was quite fun, but also somewhat tiring to be around so many people. On Friday night, there was a party in honor of Shane Ross at the home of his fiancée, Jessica. Earlier that day, Shane had officially received his PhD from Caltech in Control and Dynamic Systems. Honestly, I have no idea what that means. I even once attended a lecture in which he presented his work. While I cam away with a rudimentary understanding of what that all means, I'm not entirely sure that I could do it justice. As near as I can figure, he wants to build giant tunnels in outer space to enable us to drive to other planets or something.
The graduation party was quite a success. We were served some form of beef that Shane had spent most of the previous day preparing, and the turn out was pretty impressive.
As if one party in honor of Shane wasn't enough, the next day was his and Jessica's engagement party at the home of Jessica's brother in Whittier. There were many of the same people at that party, but there were also several of Jessica's college friends, and family. Most of Shane's friends spent the day huddled over in one area of the yard. In a somewhat out-of-character move, however, I did quite a bit of mingling with Jessica's side of the yard. Normally, I don't talk to people I don't know, and do my best to avoid situations in which I have to make small talk. Fortunately, the conversation flowed somewhat naturally and I was not subjected to the kinds of questions that so often go along with small talk: "So, what do you do?" "Where do you live?"...you know- the kind of questions people ask when they don't really care.
The engagement party was even more fun than the graduation party from the night before, as we were provided with a somewhat violent piñata that spun around quite a bit and actually fought back. It took us a while to get it open but, once we did, I ran around the yard grabbing as many tootsie rolls as I possibly could without pushing any of the children down.
After I left the party, I drove down to Vista and stopped by Shane and Erika Bonham's house, hoping that Shane would have forgotten that he was mad at me. When I arrived, I discovered that they were not home. On a whim, I drove over to Erika's parent's house, where I found Shane and Erika just leaving to go home.
We went back to their house, where Shane and I had to beg and plead with Erika to play Simpson's Clue with us. She finally agreed, and we played a rousing game in which Shane discovered that the crime had been committed by Waylon Smithers in Barney's Bowl-o-Rama with the Saxophone. Which is exactly what I was going to guess on my next turn. Once again, my losing record at every game I play remains strong.
On Sunday, I drove over to Fallbrook to celebrate the birthday party of my niece, Emilia Lucille Stahl, who turned one on June 10. The party was somewhat small, mostly family. All of the kids, including my other niece, Alyson, and my nephew, Sawyer, went swimming while I spent the time talking with my brother.
I left Fallbrook at about 6:00 and drove up to San Clemente, where I met Rick and Jessica Baldwin for dinner at a local pizza restaurant. They live in Las Vegas, but are currently on vacation here in California. During the course of dinner, I was continually entertained by the antics of their daughter, Violet, who is four years old.
I left San Clemente at about 10:00 and, after witnessing a one-car accident from which the driver fled on foot, arrived home at around 11:30, where I promptly went to sleep so that I be ready to substitute at the middle school the next morning.
All in all, that was a pretty good weekend, filled with family and friends. Tomorrow, I will be boarding a plane and heading back to Kosovo for the third time. As usual, I have left everything that must be done until the last possible minute. I need to do some laundry, but the water in my apartment building is inexplicably turned off. I'm pretty annoyed about it, as there was no warning at all, and I've got a trip to pack for. After all, I can't go visit a war-torn Third World nation with dirty clothes.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Tell Me, Have You Seen Her?
On Match.com, they have this physical attraction test which supposedly scientifically identifies the features that you find most attractive in members of the opposite sex, and then provides you with a picture of the type of person you might find attractive. Several months ago, out of curiosity, I decided to give their little test a try to see how accurately they could predict what kind of person might "float my boat" so to speak. I was, admittedly, somewhat skeptical, until I saw the results.
Compiling their data, they determined that I would most likely be interested in women who look similar to one of these people.
I must say that this is quite accurate as I find all three of these women to be incredibly beautiful- particularly the one on the left. (Although I am curious as to why all three of them are wearing the exact same blue shirt. Perhaps they are part of some religious cult?)
Realizing, of course, that there is more to a woman than her physical appearance, I began to think about the other qualities that I would find most important in a woman. I had an online conversation regarding this matter with a good friend of mine named Shannon, who is completing her PhD in psychology or something at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. I walked away from this conversation realizing that she is incredibly gifted in this field. I have provided excerpts of the conversation, which were conveniently stored in my msn message history.
Me: Well, it's not necessarily that important to me that I be on the same page with somebody politically. I realize I have some rather extreme ideas in some areas and it would be hard to find somebody who shared them, unless I started attending Libertarian Party social functions. And it's not like I would instantly rule somebody out because they didn't have dark hair or whatever.
Shannon: Ok, well i'm waiting to hear the important parts! I know you're repulsed by "rah-rah christians"...how do you phrase that?
Me: Yeah...the kind of people who, when you ask them how they're doing they respond with something like, "Oh, God is AWESOME!" I hate that.
Shannon: So, maybe somebody with a mature faith that has actually lived through tragedy or disappointment. Maybe a critical thinker who is willing to look at faith issues honestly instead of relying on pat answers.
Me: Yeah, that's the ticket!
Shannon: You may have somewhat better chances of finding someone like that if they have studied theology at the graduate level. Sunday school answers get blown out of the water when you really have to examine the text holistically, in context, and dialogue with criticisms. It also seems like it's important for you to find someone who is not scared of secular culture, but willing to engage with it with an open mind.
Me: Dang, you're good.
(At this point, the conversation was pretty much one-sided, as she accurately described what I was looking for, while I sat there with my jaw dropped wide-open.)
Shannon: I'm guessing you'd want a critical thinker in general--someone not willing to eat up the news or popular opinions automatically. Like an NPR listener would be good.
Me: I was once talking to a girl in whom I had some level of interest. During the conversation, I started making fun of those annoying Christian voter guides that get handed out at churches around election time. You know...the mentality that if you're a Christian then you must automatically be opposed to Indian Gaming Casinos and absolutely must vote for George W. Bush. She mentioned that she finds those guides quite helpful. That got under my skin.
Shannon: As well it should...Perhaps if you signed up for eHarmony or something with all those stipulations in mind, you might have some luck.
Me: Yeah...I'm not sure if I'm eHarmony material. Those people all have jobs and stuff.
There isn't much beyond that. So, if you happen to be at the store, or the beach, or Disneyland or whatever and happen to see a woman who looks similar to those pictured above, and who happens to possess the qualities described in the preceding conversation do me a favor and give her my number, ok?
On Match.com, they have this physical attraction test which supposedly scientifically identifies the features that you find most attractive in members of the opposite sex, and then provides you with a picture of the type of person you might find attractive. Several months ago, out of curiosity, I decided to give their little test a try to see how accurately they could predict what kind of person might "float my boat" so to speak. I was, admittedly, somewhat skeptical, until I saw the results.
Compiling their data, they determined that I would most likely be interested in women who look similar to one of these people.
I must say that this is quite accurate as I find all three of these women to be incredibly beautiful- particularly the one on the left. (Although I am curious as to why all three of them are wearing the exact same blue shirt. Perhaps they are part of some religious cult?)
Realizing, of course, that there is more to a woman than her physical appearance, I began to think about the other qualities that I would find most important in a woman. I had an online conversation regarding this matter with a good friend of mine named Shannon, who is completing her PhD in psychology or something at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. I walked away from this conversation realizing that she is incredibly gifted in this field. I have provided excerpts of the conversation, which were conveniently stored in my msn message history.
Me: Well, it's not necessarily that important to me that I be on the same page with somebody politically. I realize I have some rather extreme ideas in some areas and it would be hard to find somebody who shared them, unless I started attending Libertarian Party social functions. And it's not like I would instantly rule somebody out because they didn't have dark hair or whatever.
Shannon: Ok, well i'm waiting to hear the important parts! I know you're repulsed by "rah-rah christians"...how do you phrase that?
Me: Yeah...the kind of people who, when you ask them how they're doing they respond with something like, "Oh, God is AWESOME!" I hate that.
Shannon: So, maybe somebody with a mature faith that has actually lived through tragedy or disappointment. Maybe a critical thinker who is willing to look at faith issues honestly instead of relying on pat answers.
Me: Yeah, that's the ticket!
Shannon: You may have somewhat better chances of finding someone like that if they have studied theology at the graduate level. Sunday school answers get blown out of the water when you really have to examine the text holistically, in context, and dialogue with criticisms. It also seems like it's important for you to find someone who is not scared of secular culture, but willing to engage with it with an open mind.
Me: Dang, you're good.
(At this point, the conversation was pretty much one-sided, as she accurately described what I was looking for, while I sat there with my jaw dropped wide-open.)
Shannon: I'm guessing you'd want a critical thinker in general--someone not willing to eat up the news or popular opinions automatically. Like an NPR listener would be good.
Me: I was once talking to a girl in whom I had some level of interest. During the conversation, I started making fun of those annoying Christian voter guides that get handed out at churches around election time. You know...the mentality that if you're a Christian then you must automatically be opposed to Indian Gaming Casinos and absolutely must vote for George W. Bush. She mentioned that she finds those guides quite helpful. That got under my skin.
Shannon: As well it should...Perhaps if you signed up for eHarmony or something with all those stipulations in mind, you might have some luck.
Me: Yeah...I'm not sure if I'm eHarmony material. Those people all have jobs and stuff.
There isn't much beyond that. So, if you happen to be at the store, or the beach, or Disneyland or whatever and happen to see a woman who looks similar to those pictured above, and who happens to possess the qualities described in the preceding conversation do me a favor and give her my number, ok?
Thursday, June 03, 2004
The Back of the Bus
Not content to simply spend the entire evening sitting around at home on Wednesday, I sent an e-mail to Angie Ochoa after leaving work. Initially, my plan was just to get her to have a late lunch with me. Since she still works at the Shoah Foundation, she can pretty much eat anytime she wants, so I am often able to get her to immediately abandon her faithful cataloguing of man's inhumanity to man and eat Thai food with me. Today, however, she was not able to meet me for lunch but told me that she would be able to have dinner.
So, we agreed to meet at her place at 8:00. I left my house at about 6:00 and did some other errands, eventually arriving at her house at 7:50. As usual, she was late. I occupied my time by going through her mail, balancing on the curb and throwing rocks at the tree across the street. I rang the doorbell once to see if her sister was home, but there was no answer. That's probably a good thing, because I don't really know her sister all that well, and we would be put in the terrible situation of having to make awkward small talk.
Angie eventually showed up at 8:15, returning home from shoe shopping on Melrose with another friend of ours, Mischal, who was unable to join us for dinner. After dropping Mischal off, we drove to this little Italian restaurant on Melrose called La Buca, which was a little more pricey than either of us expected. Still, the food looked good, and it seemed like a nice place, so we decided to stick around.
While we were there, a party broke out around us. Seems the Italian guy sitting next to us was celebrating a birthday. He was provided with a cake from the owner, as well as a bottle of champagne. The birthday celebrant began pouring champagne into several glasses and handing them out to different patrons around the restaurant. Angie and I were sitting there, anxiously awaiting our own glasses of champagne. Much to our dismay, however, we were the only two people in the establishment who were not given any. We were quite confused by it and couldn't figure out why. At first, we thought that it might have been because Angie is Mexican- that perhaps the Italians in the restaurant did not take kindly to her coming 'round there.
As the rest of the restaurant toasted the birthday boy, we sat there with sullen looks on our faces, silently eating our calamari. Throughout dinner we contemplated whether we ought to contact the ACLU, or have Jesse Jackson stage some sort of sit-in at the restaurant.
When we finished our meal, however, we were surprised to find that we were given a piece of the man's birthday cake, which we ate with tears of joy streaming down our faces. We were worthy of eating their cake.
It was at that point that we decided that the reason we were not given champagne was not because her skin is brown but rather, more than likely, it was her diminutive stature. See, the thing about Angie is that, if she wanted to, she could probably pass for a twelve year old. If she were to take full advantage of her appearance, she could get into all movies for a discounted price, order from the children's menu at restaurants, and get arrested for truancy if she were walking around in public during the middle of the day.
We ended up talking with the owner for quite some time after we finished eating. He moved from his home in Italy to Los Angeles about three years ago and opened up the restaurant about seven months ago. He was quite the friendly sort and, if the restaurant wasn't so expensive, it's the kind of place at which I'd like to be a regular.
Anyway, as predicted, the AP Biology students have been quite easy to deal with. The high school, like the middle school, is on block schedule, so the periods are 100 minutes long. Since the students have already taken the AP test, they don't really have much to do these days. Today, they were watching the movie Gattaca, so I got to watch that twice today.
The weather is starting to get hotter here in Southern California (although it's probably nothing compared to those of you from Arizona and/or Nevada.) But it is decidedly uncomfortable when one is still a little bit sick but can't really afford to take another day off to get better.
Not content to simply spend the entire evening sitting around at home on Wednesday, I sent an e-mail to Angie Ochoa after leaving work. Initially, my plan was just to get her to have a late lunch with me. Since she still works at the Shoah Foundation, she can pretty much eat anytime she wants, so I am often able to get her to immediately abandon her faithful cataloguing of man's inhumanity to man and eat Thai food with me. Today, however, she was not able to meet me for lunch but told me that she would be able to have dinner.
So, we agreed to meet at her place at 8:00. I left my house at about 6:00 and did some other errands, eventually arriving at her house at 7:50. As usual, she was late. I occupied my time by going through her mail, balancing on the curb and throwing rocks at the tree across the street. I rang the doorbell once to see if her sister was home, but there was no answer. That's probably a good thing, because I don't really know her sister all that well, and we would be put in the terrible situation of having to make awkward small talk.
Angie eventually showed up at 8:15, returning home from shoe shopping on Melrose with another friend of ours, Mischal, who was unable to join us for dinner. After dropping Mischal off, we drove to this little Italian restaurant on Melrose called La Buca, which was a little more pricey than either of us expected. Still, the food looked good, and it seemed like a nice place, so we decided to stick around.
While we were there, a party broke out around us. Seems the Italian guy sitting next to us was celebrating a birthday. He was provided with a cake from the owner, as well as a bottle of champagne. The birthday celebrant began pouring champagne into several glasses and handing them out to different patrons around the restaurant. Angie and I were sitting there, anxiously awaiting our own glasses of champagne. Much to our dismay, however, we were the only two people in the establishment who were not given any. We were quite confused by it and couldn't figure out why. At first, we thought that it might have been because Angie is Mexican- that perhaps the Italians in the restaurant did not take kindly to her coming 'round there.
As the rest of the restaurant toasted the birthday boy, we sat there with sullen looks on our faces, silently eating our calamari. Throughout dinner we contemplated whether we ought to contact the ACLU, or have Jesse Jackson stage some sort of sit-in at the restaurant.
When we finished our meal, however, we were surprised to find that we were given a piece of the man's birthday cake, which we ate with tears of joy streaming down our faces. We were worthy of eating their cake.
It was at that point that we decided that the reason we were not given champagne was not because her skin is brown but rather, more than likely, it was her diminutive stature. See, the thing about Angie is that, if she wanted to, she could probably pass for a twelve year old. If she were to take full advantage of her appearance, she could get into all movies for a discounted price, order from the children's menu at restaurants, and get arrested for truancy if she were walking around in public during the middle of the day.
We ended up talking with the owner for quite some time after we finished eating. He moved from his home in Italy to Los Angeles about three years ago and opened up the restaurant about seven months ago. He was quite the friendly sort and, if the restaurant wasn't so expensive, it's the kind of place at which I'd like to be a regular.
Anyway, as predicted, the AP Biology students have been quite easy to deal with. The high school, like the middle school, is on block schedule, so the periods are 100 minutes long. Since the students have already taken the AP test, they don't really have much to do these days. Today, they were watching the movie Gattaca, so I got to watch that twice today.
The weather is starting to get hotter here in Southern California (although it's probably nothing compared to those of you from Arizona and/or Nevada.) But it is decidedly uncomfortable when one is still a little bit sick but can't really afford to take another day off to get better.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
A Post Hardly Worth Reading
I have spent approximately 17 of the last 24 hours either asleep or laying on the couch watching Law & Order. It wasn't how I originally planned on spending my Memorial Day, but I was struck with a strange illness sometime on Sunday afternoon. It's either the flu or some mild strain of the ebola virus...I'm not sure which. I have a sore throat, a slight fever, coughing, fatigue, and that dull ache all over. I'm not bleeding from the eyes, however, so that leads me to believe it is just the flu.
I am still not one hundred percent better. At this point, my ears are all clogged up and I can't hear a thing. Fortunately, South Pasadena schools are not in session today, so I can take another day to try to get better.
I already have a sub assignment for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so that is good for me- hopefully I'll be well enough to do it.
I'm going to be covering for the AP Biology teacher at the High School. Those are the kind of gigs that are really sweet. The students do exactly what they're supposed to and you don't have to constantly sit on them to get them to do their work.
Unlike last week, when I was covering for a sixth grade social studies class at the middle school.
South Pasadena Middle School is on a block schedule, which means the periods are 97 minutes long. Trying to keep complete control of a class of junior highers for 97 minutes as a substitute is quite challenging. While block scheduling has been demonstrated to improve overall test scores, and allows regular teachers the opportunity to cover topics in more depth, for a substitute, however, it can be hell.
The students normally spend the first ten minutes of the period testing you to see what you will let them get away with. If you don't crack down during that time, you might as well just lay down and let them stomp on your head. It can be subtle at first. A whisper here, a note passed there...and before you know it there are desks flying across the room, the trash can is on fire, and the class nerd is hanging from the ceiling by his belt buckle- all in the brief amount of time in which you were looking for the chalk to write your name on the board.
So, as I said, this week I am going to be living the good life subbing for the AP Biology students. I could probably even bring a little mattress with me and sleep under the desk or something. It would be all the same to them.
I've been trying to land a job for the fall without having to complete my final semester of student teaching but, as of yet, have had no luck. With budget cutbacks, the unfortunate No Child Left Behind Act, and the surplus of fully credentialed social studies teachers, it appears that plan is not going to pan out, so I might have to just suck it up and finish the credential the old-fashioned way in the fall.
I have spent approximately 17 of the last 24 hours either asleep or laying on the couch watching Law & Order. It wasn't how I originally planned on spending my Memorial Day, but I was struck with a strange illness sometime on Sunday afternoon. It's either the flu or some mild strain of the ebola virus...I'm not sure which. I have a sore throat, a slight fever, coughing, fatigue, and that dull ache all over. I'm not bleeding from the eyes, however, so that leads me to believe it is just the flu.
I am still not one hundred percent better. At this point, my ears are all clogged up and I can't hear a thing. Fortunately, South Pasadena schools are not in session today, so I can take another day to try to get better.
I already have a sub assignment for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so that is good for me- hopefully I'll be well enough to do it.
I'm going to be covering for the AP Biology teacher at the High School. Those are the kind of gigs that are really sweet. The students do exactly what they're supposed to and you don't have to constantly sit on them to get them to do their work.
Unlike last week, when I was covering for a sixth grade social studies class at the middle school.
South Pasadena Middle School is on a block schedule, which means the periods are 97 minutes long. Trying to keep complete control of a class of junior highers for 97 minutes as a substitute is quite challenging. While block scheduling has been demonstrated to improve overall test scores, and allows regular teachers the opportunity to cover topics in more depth, for a substitute, however, it can be hell.
The students normally spend the first ten minutes of the period testing you to see what you will let them get away with. If you don't crack down during that time, you might as well just lay down and let them stomp on your head. It can be subtle at first. A whisper here, a note passed there...and before you know it there are desks flying across the room, the trash can is on fire, and the class nerd is hanging from the ceiling by his belt buckle- all in the brief amount of time in which you were looking for the chalk to write your name on the board.
So, as I said, this week I am going to be living the good life subbing for the AP Biology students. I could probably even bring a little mattress with me and sleep under the desk or something. It would be all the same to them.
I've been trying to land a job for the fall without having to complete my final semester of student teaching but, as of yet, have had no luck. With budget cutbacks, the unfortunate No Child Left Behind Act, and the surplus of fully credentialed social studies teachers, it appears that plan is not going to pan out, so I might have to just suck it up and finish the credential the old-fashioned way in the fall.
