Matt logged onto the company's website last Thursday night and saw that he finally got put on the schedule. It's been really nice having him home for over a month, but he was anxious to start working again. I dropped him off at the airport Saturday morning. He's been to Texas, then he flew his first flight from there to Maine and then on to Shannon, Ireland. He's flying to Kuwait tomorrow, then back to Ireland sometime this weekend. He'll probably be out another week after that.
The kids and I are doing well. It's taken a few days, but we've gotten into a bit of a groove. They're doing the summer program at the preschool, and I've been running errands and trying to do a little work for the upcoming school year.
Gonna cut this short. I've got the whole last season of Project Runway on the new DVR. Right now I'm watching Monday night's Daily Show. OMG, the hilarity!!! Jon's vagina shot! Getting Rick Rolled!
I know I've written about being fat before, but it all bears repeating. We have to work hard to change the cultural messages we're given daily. I've been thinking about it a lot lately again for various reasons. Response to the always lovely Coco's Fat Tuesday photo gave me a lot of food for thought. I especially liked Coco's response to a not-so-admiring commenter:
"My goal here is to provide counter speech and an alternative view of fat that is not awash in the shame that is brought upon ALL bodies not specifically coded for sexual consumption and other aspects of consumer culture. I am sorry that you felt so much shame towards your fat body. I am sorry that these horrible feelings about yourself still plague you to such a degree that you feel justified in insulting someone who displays characteristics you hate about yourself. But please don't make the mistake of thinking that your emotional turmoil is universal, or that it is shared by me. You can tell yourself whatever you need to in order to justify your own self-hatred - that of course I must feel the same way you did, and that the years of self-loathing were appropriate. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's all it is - justifications for time you wasted not loving yourself as you are. What you have said here only strengthens my resolve to encourage people of all sizes to choose self-love over the horror you so obviously carry with you."
And, please, watch this Fat Rant by Joy Nash. If you're fat, you'll love the validation and the points she makes about making excuses and not living. I also love her point about having a "built-in excuse" as well as her stats on diets and obesity, which I've heard/read elsewhere but they are worth hearing again. If you're not fat, watch it to unpack maybe just a little of your baggage, especially if you love someone who is fat.
Sorry I've been so MIA lately. Lots of summer fun is happening around here. We took a spontaneous camping trip this past week to Arkansas, and we're headed to Dallas today to help my mom celebrate her 60th. I'm also going to You!Me!Dancing! tonight with Kristen while Matt watches all of the kiddos. He's such a good sport. I think he just wants some free time to dork around on the computer, though. :) Tomorrow, we're headed back here to stay, for a while. I have some training coming up, the kids will be back in their summer program, Aidan will have more swim lessons, and my niece/nephew will take the train up to visit us. Also, my very good friend, Sara (from my California days), will be coming to Texas from Denmark for 2 weeks. We don't know the details yet, but I'm so incredibly excited at the prospect of seeing her and her kids again. Matt's being paid to just sit around and wait for a call for his first flight. While we are really enjoying our summer and all the time together, I think we're both feeling like July is going to tick by quickly, and that we still have a lot to do around here to get ready for The Change that's about to overtake our family. More on that later.
To the tune of "Beer, beer, beer, beer, beer."
Season 3 just came out on DVD! Matt and I were rolling off the couch on this latest episode, esp. the U-turn scenes. It's not long, so check it:
I wonder if the guy over at Stuff White People Like has an entry about Weeds??
It's been pretty good so far. We got out of the house early and headed to Ozzie's Diner, located on the runway of the Max Westheimer Airport here in Norman. The food is not that special, but it's 4.95 for all-you-can-eat breakfast, and the kids get to look out at the runway. The airport is located on an old Navy base. Some of the buildings and equipment are still around, so it's kind of creepy in the abandoned urban-exploration way that always fascinates me. After breakfast, we walked around and explored for a bit. We found this old merry-go-round, just sitting by itself in a field.
There was a series of old sidewalks, and we finally figured out that it was an old remote-controlled runway. Best of all, there was a newer-looking obstacle course with a series of tire-swings all hanging from a strong cable. If any of you are ever driving down I-35 through Norman and need to stop somewhere for the kids to let off steam, this place is perfect for that.
I was trying to get in some creative shots. This is the best I could do:
I should have recorded this on video so you could hear how cute Evan's constant giggling was.
Even with my undying obsession with all things nostalgic, there are songs that have fallen through the cracks. "Candy" by Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson (of the B-52s) is one of them. By "falling through the cracks" I mean that the song hasn't ever been on a nauseating loop of 80s/90s "hits" or that I haven't played it to death myself. Last night, in a rare move, Matt and I ventured up I-35 to see what we could find in OKC. We went out to a low-key Greek restaurant and then on to Electro Lounge, where an local old DJ I used to love spins every Friday night. The club was gritty and casual, but the place was kind of dead. After a while, when you find yourself at a place like that, you start to think that you could just be at home, listening to the same music on your own I-pod and drinking Guinness from your own fridge, all without having to pay $10 an hour to a babysitter. Or are we just getting old? For about an hour and a half, though, Matt and I just sat and soaked in the beer and the music, which did not disappoint. We had a great time with each other, too, and that's what really counts. I'll leave you with the cheese-flavored Candy video, which is quite fab. I want Iggy Pop's desert chair.
It's fun to think about what was going on 10 years ago. For some reason, I've been thinking about it a lot lately. What were you up to 10 years ago?
In the summer of 98, we lived in a small apartment in the Warrington Estates complex on MacArthur and 122nd in NW OKC. I had just finished my first year of teaching in the small town of Covington, OK. I took that job when we lived in Enid, but we had to move to OKC in February for Matt's job at Tinker. I was going to live during the week in Covington with another teacher and then go home to Matt on the weekends. However, this only lasted about a week, as I was extremely lonely and depressed in that small town. So, I decided to just live in OKC and commute an hour each way up Hwy 74. One time, I counted over 50 dead animals on the road. :)
By June, I had officially quit that job and was looking for another one, so I was going on lots of interviews. I ended up getting the job at Roosevelt Middle School in OKC. We needed some extra $$, so I took a temp job at the OKC Public Schools office downtown. OMG, seeing the beast from the inside was NOT a good idea that early on. I was in the accounting dept and got to see firsthand the depravity, incompetence, etc. that plagues inner-city schools.
I was also busy planning a big trip to Stratford-Upon- Avon (Shakespeare' s birthplace) in July to see New Order reunite at a big outdoor festival there. I was going to go on a free buddy pass with my friend, Chris, who worked for Delta. The concert was rescheduled, though, til after school started. That's why I have a 10 year old passport that's never been used.
What about you? If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged.
Last Thursday, Kristen and I went to see Datarock and Ladytron live at The Palladium Ballroom in Dallas. That venue is just awesome. Very clean and not a bad place to stand in the joint, sound-wise. My only complaint about this and other concert venues is the lack of beer selection. Makes it easier in a way, though. I drink less and save $$$. We were there so early, we actually stood in line for a while in the broad daylight, which I found highly amusing for some reason. I wish we had really hustled to get our way up to the front, though. We were in the 3rd "row" back from stage, but I really would have liked to have been on the rail, in retrospect. Still, Datarock put on an awesome show. It seemed that people didn't know them very well, and the crowd was pretty thin at that point, but I think the band worked hard to win them over. They interacted with us a lot and tried to get us to do various hand motions, dances, and sing-alongs. During "Computer Camp Love," the lead singer asked if anyone knew the words. In a Monica Gellar moment, I shouted "I do!" and raised my hand. He said something like, "Well, will you sing with us then?" For a split second, I thought he was going to invite me onstage, but, alas, it was not meant to be. I am their biggest fan, after all. At least in Norman.
What surprised me most about the band was how much they can rock live. Their recorded songs are very electronic, but they can really shred. They almost sounded punk at some points. The downside to that is that I couldn't hear some of the synth parts I really like from the recorded music. I couldn't find any uploaded video from this particular show, but here they are on Jimmy Kimmel.
After Datarock, we were a little worn out. People were starting to really push their way in to get to the front for Ladytron, so we bailed on our great center-stage position. TONS of people starting streaming in. I had no idea that they were this big in Dallas. To be honest, I had never even heard of them til I saw that they were headlining the Datarock show. I like them okay, but really it's just background dance music to me. They do it very well, though. Kristen pointed out that they remind her of Book of Love, which I thought was dead-on. We were so tired by a few songs in, we found a place to sit and people-watched a bit. We called it a night by 11.
I went to The Cure last Friday with Kristen and her new friend Stephanie. They played the "hunormous" (an Aidan word) American Airlines Center. I was a bit worried that I had gotten pretty spoiled with going to standing-room-only shows at small venues. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality at AAC, especially given that we were way up in the nosebleed seats. Plus, that place is just plain NICE. It's like walking around a hotel. The floors were so clean, I thought nothing of taking off my shoes for some pain-free dancing. Oh, the dancing. They played so many great songs, we just couldn't help ourselves. We kept moving around the empty sections to get the best dancing. Most of the people there looked our age or older, but we spotted a few young-uns. They played almost all of the favorites plus some deep cuts. One of the highlights of the night was "Pictures of You" (see above for video) during which I got extremely emotional. The song was just so beautiful, and I felt just a huge wave of nostalgia and a sinking feeling that I'm just getting old too fast. Luckily, that feeling went away with some of the funner songs, and I felt young again, which is one of the main reasons why I keep putting time, money, and effort into experiencing new and old bands. Plus, it was just so much FUN to see the old farts get down. People were just going nuts! White people were dancing! At a show! Overall, it was a great show, but they did seem a little, uh, tired toward the end. They were just a four-piece, so we couldn't hear a lot of the synth tracks that sometimes comprise a good part of the recorded songs we remember so well. For example, "Love Cats" sounded pretty hollow without that cabaret-like piano. I was disappointed that they didn't play "Hot Hot Hot," but, then again, I wouldn't want to hear it without a horn section. Oh, and as the night wore on, Robert Smith started unintentionally forgetting and rearranging lyrics, and his playing became a little erratic. I guess that's the joy and mystery of a live show. They're not robots, after all.
Afterward, I finally got to go see Fever at Fallout Lounge for myself, after reading the blog for a few months. It was in a TINY, too-well-lit, sweaty bar, but it was fun. In a pretty stark contrast to the concert, this place was filled with young-uns. For the second time in the same evening, I just felt OLD. These kids were hungry for some cheesy 80s music, too. Some of the cuts weren't deep enough for our taste, but we did some fun dancing to Los Campesinos! and Pulp. I'd go there again. The DJ seems so sweet, and he truly seemed over the moon at how much fun people were having. If it continues like that, they'll have to move to a bigger location. One with an actual dancefloor.
I went to the district office for a perfunctory interview with the Asst. Superintendent and signed my contract. I officially have a job now. My first day will be August 3rd, and my first paycheck will arrive around the end of August. I went to a workshop on Wednesday with many of the districts other middle school Lang. Arts teachers to receive the teaching materials for our new textbooks. I've never been one to really teach out of the textbooks. Hell, at the inner city school, we barely had a class set, and most of those were very well-Sharpied. However, I've also never been teaching at the beginning of a textbook adoption cycle, which is every seven years in Oklahoma. It's interesting and fitting that I've been out of the game for exactly one adoption cycle.
What amazed me about the teachers guides were the inclusion of methods that used to be considered "out there" like Literature Circles and Writing Workshop. Apparently, while I was away, the textbook publishers caught up a bit. Still, I have to be real and say that I'm already growing weary of hearing about how everything links to the state standards and how we're going to be spending an inordinate amount of time getting our 8th graders ready for their big tests next spring.
Oh, and I found out that we have to teach a big, hairy research paper. Ugh. I know that I had to do my first one in the 8th grade, but that was for an honors class. Oh, well. Up to this point, I was totally stoked about the 8th grade curriculum, which includes The Outsiders and a holocaust unit with Diary of Anne Frank and Night. I've actually never read Night before, but I read The Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time right before I taught them.
I'm going to finish now b/c the new editor at Typepad SUCKS ASS and won't do what I want it to. Excuse me. I'm off to sort through more of my teaching files in an attempt to tame that beast.
