also on Friday I fell on my butt in front of my whole class. I just simply missed the chair. I cracked up and laaaafffed. They were somewhat horrified.

just received this email:

"SEX! Glorious, amazing, breath-taking, heart-stopping sex -- how i miss you! My vajayjay is going to dry up and hibernate."

travel bug

Next year, I will be teaching Ancient History to sixth graders, and I am supremely excited. It's been hard not to drop everything and start project planning on Ancient China. So instead, I've been researching the Wonders of the World. The new ones, that is. I've been to two of the chosen sites: Machu Picchu and Petra.

I've been to eight out of the top seventy seven nominations for best natural wonder of the world. Not bad? It seems paltry to me.

(12) Ein Gedi Oasis, Israel
(15) Colca Canyon, Peru
(17) Big Sur Beach, California
(22) Lake Titicaca, Peru
(24) Machu Picchu Ecological Reserve, Peru
(29) Dead Sea, Israel
(50) Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
(66) Phang Nga Bay, Thailand

new music on the cheap

Kottke.org is a wonderful website, one that I would be all over if I sat at a desk and had internet access at work. This not being the case, I read Kottke mostly on the weekends and always end up forwarding dozens of links to friends. (Like this recipe for "wiener soup.")

Today I found this fantastic elecronic mashup of Alice in Wonderland sound effects. It's basically a song made entirely from samples from the movie. It's quite lovely and will put you in a cozy trance. The artist's name is Pogo, aka Nick Berke, and he's a nineteen year old kid from Australia. I can't find a website for him, but I did find a page with his music and immediately downloaded everything I could find.

Thunderstorms in May? Say it aint so. The weather here is being truly bizarre.

member of the tribe

I was just daydreaming about this boy in my choir, how he's German and his name is Christian, so he's kind of off limits. But what if we were talking and he claimed he was Jewish anyways, and I got to thinking, what is the best way to prove you are Jewish? And I decided that the absolute ultimate is if he suddenly broke out in Adom Olam, the marching band version, complete with hand movements and sound effects.

dark is calming

I bet you're totally jealous that you're not in my class. Today after lunch, I turned off all the lights. Then we read a book about a knight taking revenge on his brother by faking his death and usurping control of his castle. After that, we practiced cursive capital letters K, L, M, and N. Finally, we all did centers activities with the lights still off and Argentinian techno tango music playing.

I won't lie; it was a little like a nightclub.

dripping blood all over the carpet

I brought my laptop to the Beverly Hills Public Library because they have air conditioning. Upon entering the building, I scratched my elbow against a glass case. I've asked several employees for a band-aid and not one of them could help me. There are no first aid boxes in the whole building, apparently. I was instructed to walk across the street to the police department for help. I mean, really?!?! How about purchase a box of one hundred from the ninety nine cents store.

walk it out

I saw this on buzzfeed via kottke. Frickin awesome.

not so into writing right now

On Friday night I went to a Dag Nachash concert and am newly in love with the DJ. DJ Guy Mar, to be exact. I can't really explain it, but it was mostly his ponytail.

Tomorrow in class we are going to start reading Babe: The Gallant Pig. I am so excited, it's ridiculous. This has to be one of my favorite books since fifth grade. The word "stupid" features prominently in the text, but I've decided that by nine years old these children should be able to handle it. (Famous last words.)

The huge news is that I got a new teaching job for next year. I'm totally psyched and will begin planning (paid!) over the summer. This transition, along with tutoring, BTSA, and an unhealthy addiction to the Drudge Report, has been taking up all my free time lately.

One more thing-- My school just blessed me with two thousand dollars with which to purchase instructional materials. This money was supposed to come last year, at the beginning of my teaching career, but that's just the way LAUSD is run. (Part of the reason I'm glad to get out.) Regardless, two thousand dollars is two thousand dollars, and free money is free money. I have chosen to purchase twenty CDs of music from around the world, a digital camera, a new compact stereo, four boxes of plastic sheet protectors, and the entire collection of hardback Eyewitness books.

The truth: He's not all that good for me, anyways.

So I've been boning this dude for over a year now. I'm totally into him, but he doesn't want a relationship. It sucks. He makes me feel all kinds of awesome when I'm with him, but he's got a thousand pounds of baggage and commitment issues or maybe just doesn't like me all that much, who knows. Every weekend I think he's changing, but I'm usually proved wrong by Tuesday. I'm crossing my fingers again.