On watching Last of the Mohicans for the millionth time

Daniel Day-Lewis is fucking SEXY.

You know this is true.

It's Movie Night!

Even I can't stop narcissism!

Ok, admit it. You've made yourself into a Lego person, a construction-paper person, and now you can't wait to be a Simpson.

Go ahead.

In a cheap ploy to drum up even more hype about the upcoming movie, you can now make a yellow cartoon version of yourself, just in case you're one of those people who doesn't photograph well.

If you make one you like, but don't have a website to put it on, just mail it to me and I can put it up here.

Have fun!

In which I enumerate my awesomeness!

Today was a good, if outwardly inauspicious, day.

• I ate sushi.

It was of especial delight because a) I didn't have to share my Sue roll (tuna, shiitake, cucumber, and avocado--yum!), and b) there is probably no sushi in Versoix, so Tyson can be jealous of my doings, for once.

• I talked to strangers in a public place.

People who know me (and my antisocial proclivities) will know that, for me, this is cool. I talked to the sushi guy (he says "Hi," Tyson), and to the guy at the bar next to me. This was, in fact, way better than Tuesday night, in which I got all dressed up to meet a friend at an actual bar, and did not talk to people or have a good time.

• I got a new book, and read it.

It's called Into the Wild, and there's actually a movie coming out about it.

• I visited my old Starbucks.

Where everything is different. It's been remodeled, it's staffed by tattoo-showing people (that was not OK when I worked there; I always had to wear a watch), and they closed at 10. (I spent four years of Friday and Saturday nights there making frappuccinos until midnight.)

• I read Dinosaur Comics.

I am working my way through the archives. Today I got to May 2005.

• I replaced broken parts on my roof rack.

Soundly, and all by myself. That is the second car-thing I have fixed on my own this past week, and it was cool.

Tomorrow I am practicing my kayak tie-down skills by taking a sunset/moonlight paddle at Willow Beach. I will probably also do dishes, and vacuum.

I rescind my last post.

I just returned from the movie theatre, where I enjoyed another lovely afternoon all by myself watching Michael Moore's new film, Sicko. I agree with many of the reviews I read in that it seems like Moore has gotten away from a more journalistic style, but I think its effect was (or could be, or won't be, depending on your particular political bent) dramatic.

I am inches away from getting those packing boxes ready.

It would be so easy. Tyson's already in Switzerland, working. I could just eBay everything and come, too.

If Switzerland shared France's healthcare system, I would be there in a minute.

But, returning to Planet Earth, where I am in debt, have no passport, have 2 dogs, 2 cats, a bunny, a gecko, a tortoise, a turtle, and a snake to think about, not to mention an impending teenager, almost 3 more years on my lease, and no real concept of how one secures a job abroad, let alone completes permanent-residence status paperwork....and I begin to understand how the only people who can really afford the luxury of up and moving somewhere else are, well, people who can afford it, and people in their early 20s with no money, nothing to keep them in place, and without the sense to know any better.

Well, cheers to them. Maybe the rest of us can work on changing what we've got here.

And my that, I mean looking for jobs in Canada.

Elaine, I think I may have changed my mind...

Having read Stephen Pressman's engaging Gates of Fire, I watched 300 and couldn't help but make unfavorable comparisons (although I have no doubt the pictures in the original graphic novel are pretty). However, PZ may have changed my mind on this issue.

Apparently, what I saw as mindless, over-hyped doggerel, was actually a complex parody of the creation/evolution debate. I actually get a little thrill picturing PZ in tight spandexy underwear and a cape hidden beneath his white lab coat. Tammy and Elaine, maybe we can find some pictures like that and put them on our blogs.

Yes, yes, yes....

Whatever you're thinking, the answer is yes. Now isn't that a freeing idea? What I had in mind was something like "Am I a slacker?" or "Am I just writing tonight because Deidre did?" but really, why stop there. "Should I have ice cream for dinner?" "Why not skip laundry tonight?" or "Those dishes will still be there tomorrow, right?" all seem like perfectly acceptable questions for which the answer could conceivable be yes.

I don't have too much to say, but a couple of things came up that I thought I'd share before they got too stale.

First, for all of you who found the last week depressingly void of campaign ads, here's a link. Yeah, it's a week old today, and, given the AMAZING week we Dems (and Indies) have had, it seems like even longer. However, I know most of ya'll lead lives approximately as exciting as mine, so it's not like you don't have sixty seconds to check it out. Listen, don't read.

Second, I played soccer today for, like, the first time since fifth grade. The teachers played against the kids after school today (for Educator Appreciation Week--go figure). So I'm chasing the ball down the sideline and one of my seventh-graders mutters under his breath, "man, she's faster than me," and even though I was about to have a heart attack it was the best part of my day. Okay, we got beat 3-0, but, to be fair, the kids got to rotate out every five minutes until the last round, when 11 teachers had to defend against 25 kids. Plus, one of the deans accidentally kicked a kid in the crotch, which, because of my non-involvement in the situation, was quite hysterical (and satisfying).

Third, I saw Stranger than Fiction on Saturday, and I was super-impressed. Will Ferrell was strikingly believable in a straight role, and the existential factor never got too weird or self-conscious. Plus, Maggie Gyllenhaal was extra-cute as a liberal grassroots bakery owner (the bakery is called Uprising--get it?) with a great haircut and tattoos. Then there was Emma Thompson, looking an awful lot like Hugh Grant, and Queen Latifah. I don't care what ya'll say, Latifah is a great actress.

Fourth....hell, I don't remember what fourth was. I'm half-watching my giant projector TV, which, despite looking great and extending across six feet of my living room wall, is still filled with the same mediocre crap everyone else is watching on TV. I think it's making my brain melt.

Anyhow, my life is boring. Really, really boring. Link, soccer, movie, and you're pretty much caught up on everything since the last time I wrote.


Oh, wait. Deidre wanted to hear something domestic. I'm making white chili (chicken, white beans, and green chilies instead of the regular stuff), and it smells great.

Yes, yes, I know

what an incredible slacker I am. But, unlike Deidre, I have a "real job" and a "home life" and "papers to grade" and "hobbies" (including playing too much Sims2 while waiting for the release of Neverwinter Nights 2).
So I came to announce the winner of the poster contest, as well as to pass along a few news items. First, the moment you've been waiting for:

My mom is the winner of the poster contest. I'd like to say it was a difficult decision, but because of the shallow entry pool, I just tossed Deidre's and eeny-meeny-miny-moe'd the rest. Mom, I will be calling later today to offer my congratulations, and to ask for money for Thanksgiving plane tickets.

In other news, Tyson may have obligated us into another cat; we'll know tomorrow. It'll be a 12-week-old black and white kitten, and there will definitely be pictures.

Battlestar Galactica, the best show on TV since Six Feet Under, started its new season on Friday, so I have something to look forward to every week, besides a two-day break from the kiddos.

School is moving along nicely. There are 3 weeks left before a long weekend and the end of the quarter; after that November and December will go fast. I am going to the National Reading Conference in LA the week after Thanksgiving and school might even pay for it, which is way cool. I am also getting ready for a Halloween unit, where we'll watch some Twilight Zones and Nosferatu and write scary stories. I can only show G-rated movies, so my choices are a bit limited, but I think I will just substitute Wallace and Gromit for Monster House, and everything will be OK.

Besides those things, everything is very normal. Again, congratulations to Mom, winner of the poster contest.

Three down, 177 to go....

Whew! I made it through my first week of school! Well, there was a whole week of meetings and stuff beforehand, but the kids finally came back on Wednesday.
Things are looking good so far. Not too many kids spent the summer devising new and exciting ways to make trouble, so I haven't been driven to the edge yet. Although I will say that one of my afternoon classes has 27 boys and 6 girls in it, and I'm already worried about the testosterone bomb that will one day detonate.

Anyhow, I could tell you all sorts of news about our new school-wide discipline plan, or about the unit I'm starting next week, or how not being able to show PG-rated movies is going to put a serious crimp in my movie unit entitled "Introduction to Type Theory," I have a feeling most people's eyes would just glaze over. That's why I'm married to a teacher--so I don't bore my friends to death.

I had intended to check in last week to deliver a couple of movie reviews, but they no longer seem topical, so I'll just say that Snakes on a Plane and Little Miss Sunshine, while very different in style and substance, were both worth seeing, even at $9.50 a ticket. The difference is that Sunshine is worth seeing twice.

So that's it for a little while. I am still working on a little something to generate some audience participation around here. It's a long weekend; I'm sure I'll be back in tomorrow or Monday.