Archive for category The Stuff

Date: April 10th, 2009
Cate: The Fluff, The Stuff
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Good Music, Bad Excuses, Good Article, Bad Networking, Good Ideas

I’m listening to Darshannon, from the Celtic Cross CD Hicksville. It’s incredible psytrance with a mixture of bluegrass and eastern sounds, if you can believe it. It works, which is brilliant.

I had dinner with my old principal last night. I was explaining to her why I’m not going into the doctorate program right now. The thing is, I like my house and life in general right now, and if I get my doctorate, there won’t be any more work in this town than there was before. And I can’t see moving for a university job that doesn’t pay all that much. As far as high school administration goes, well, yuk. And having a doctorate degree and remaining in my classroom would make me feel like a loser, which wouldn’t be true, but there you have it.

This morning, I read an article in the Independent called The Dark Side of Dubai. It’s worth a (somewhat lengthy) read. It says so much, and reading between the lines, the message isn’t only about Dubai.

I have an artist in my classroom who hates bookwork. I may get some really awesome drawings depicting the Industrial Revolution from different perspectives. I’m trying to be creative.

Date: January 1st, 2009
Cate: The Fluff, The Kids, The Stuff
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Happy New Year!

I’ve just been loving the vacation from school lately. Although, subconsciously I know I’m going back soon, since I woke up to a dream of my boss chewing me out and me quitting on the spot.

We had a blast in Houston–here are a few pics!

Here’s the life-sized floor sign indicating the floor we were on at the Hotel Derek. This caused us to ride the elevator to every floor to check out all of the other artwork on the other floors. It was cool. I loved staying there

This is Sage at the window in the hall. I like how it looks like he is playing cars.

Sage and Greg went ice skating at the Galleria. I could not get a decent photo–they kept getting past me!

This is the computer I bought at the Sony store in the Galleria. I’m loving it! I think that pink blog I write must be rubbing off on me!

We went to “Chinatown”, although it should rightfully be called “Asiantown” because many different nationalities are represented. (I’m not talking about the old Chinatown near downtown.) We ended up eating Pho twice–yum! I got my dad some sake and other goodies from the largest Asian market in Houston.

Here’s a pic of Sage and me. Is it apparent that Greg bought me a new camera for Christmas? 10 megapixels, 3 optical zoom at a decent price. It’s a huge improvement over the one that was stolen/lost. And it’s kinda pink, too. Like the iPod that Greg also got me.

So how weird is this? It was at Discovery Green. I have many more cool pics, but I don’t have my photo editing software installed yet–Sky has got to send it to me–and I don’t have the patience for Picnik right now.

That more or less sums up our trip to Houston. We were going to go and see the Nutcracker, but I waited too long to get tickets and they sold out. We were all happy, regardless. Apparently, I have found the magic amount of Ativan that enables me to NOT CARE that I am in the car in the middle of nowhere, other assorted stupid fears…I’ve stocked up so I can take more trips with this NOT CARING. I’m planning on going to Austin in two weeks. We’ll see! I’m so excited to actually be out doing stuff. The computer helps a lot as well. On the way to Houston, I worked on my app to grad school. It totally occupied my mind. As far as the data plan goes–well, that just didn’t pan out here in the boonies. Still, I have enough writing to do on my computer not to need it.

Sky came and went–I have photos but they are all turned the wrong way. It turns out that Sky is quite the artist. I would post his work here, but I’m worried about someone finding it and ripping it off. It is absolutely incredible art that could sell. I never knew. He never drew much growing up, but this stuff is all abstract, pattern-based stuff. He may have found his niche. He and Sage talked a lot, and when we went to the locally owned chicken fast food place, Sage said, “What a shame the government is putting places like this out of business.” Whaaat? He’s nine! I guess I just breed revolutionaries…

Date: December 11th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
1 msg

A/C in December

Today, we have a chance of snow. There was ice on my porch steps this morning. This is very unusual in Texas, at least the part where I live. Yesterday, it was in the 70′s and the
Air conditioning compressor in my car was doing its thing. One thing I dread is the air conditioning in the car going out. If it does, I have a good mechanic. I just have to bring him the parts. 1AirConditioning.com is a site that offers free shipping if you find yourself having to replace an A/C compressor. God forbid!

Date: December 10th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
1 msg

Go Speed Racer!

My students and I were talking about speed. Not the kind that is a drug, but the kind you get when you get a turbocharged car on a desolate East Texas highway. You can make just about any car turbo, for example, a
Volkswagen turbo charged car is not uncommon. I’m lusting after a convertible right now–perhaps a Miata, or even a Spyder. I think I would get over not liking to drive these country roads really quickly if it was FUN.

Of course I told my students not to drive over the speed limit. I am a hypocrite in that regard, I suppose. It is alarming, though, to imagine myself driving on the same road as my impulsive 16 year-old student who likes to get his dad’s truck up to 140. Somehow, though, a turbocharged convertible just seems romantic. If you want to give your car some extra “umph”, go to TurboChargerPros.com where they have toll free customer service and just about any part you could need.

Watch out. In a few months, I might be the female Speed Racer.

Date: December 7th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
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J&R Coupons, Here I Come

I know I should be thinking of Christmas and all that, but I have got to do something about the missing camera situation before Christmas! Otherwise I am going to lose out on a LOT of photo opps! Fortunately, I have already bought all of the Christmas presents I am going to buy. Probably. There is always that last minute stuff…

So, I should have the money to replace the digital camera next month. That is, if the car doesn’t start doing that icky not starting thing again. That had me worried, but it stopped, thank goodness.

I think this camera is a nice one. I found it at J&R, which has some nice stuff, although at the moment, this camera is a bit over my price range by about eight hundred dollars. Still. I can wish, right?

This one is a Nikon D80 SLR 10.2 Megapixel Digital Camera with a fancy zoom lens and all that. It would be soooo nice! Santa, are you listening? Probably not. Still, I’m going to check out
j&r coupons. Sometimes you can get a really good discount with those things. I never shop online without checking for coupons and promos first. Never.

At any rate, whenever I do buy my camera, it will almost certainly be online, because I don’t want to buy it from the big megastore in my town. When I do, I will be sure to find
free shipping coupons, because have you noticed that shipping is totally going up? Ick. I’ve gotten so that I will hardly buy anything online unless I can hunt down a free shipping promo. Oh well, thank goodness for online coupons! I’ve probably saved about $80 or so this Christmas season using them, seriously.

I need to let Greg know about them. He hasn’t even ordered my gifts yet!!

Date: December 2nd, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
1 msg

Be Both Intimidating and Smart for Eight Dollars!

I have 20/20 vision. This means that I always win at the Jeep game, which consists of seeing who in the car can call out “Jeep” first when one is spotted. Sage and I almost always win, because Greg hasn’t updated his glasses prescription in four years. His glasses are also scratched because of his work in the metal shop. He really needs to get a new pair, but they are usually so expensive!

I think it’s about time for a change, though. I’ve found some glasses on the Internet that are priced as low as eight bucks. I need to take him to the eye doctor–I say take him because he won’t make an appointment for himself–and get an updated prescription. Then, he can order as many pairs of
eyeglasses as he needs. I would like for him to have at least two pairs–one for work and one for home. It wouldn’t hurt for him to have a pair of safety glasses either, although strangely, no one in the shop wears them, including his dad. Weird.

Here’s the pair I think would look best on him:

Elegant, right? This pair is less than $13.00, which I find amazing. At that price, he could buy a new pair for work every month. There is a huge selection, so he could try different styles. You know, like the Buddy Holly look. Naw…

I could get a pair so that I could look smarter. Oh, and intimidating. I’ve always wanted to be able to pull my glasses down on my nose and stare at my students. The same thing goes for certain meetings. At these prices, I could definitely afford to buy both smart and intimidating.

If this sounds like a resource you could use, the company is called ZenniOptical.com.

Date: September 15th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
4 msgs

No Deboning Tomorrow

Just checking out what all is closed here in town while we repair the damage…

Tyson Foods – Center Processing Plant employee work schedule for Monday. 1st shift evisceration, cut-up & debone will not work. 1st shift blasting, labeling & shipping will work. All 2nd shift employees will work.

So does this mean they’re shipping out the chickens bones, guts and all? And what, exactly, is blasting? I don’t think I want to know.

The best thing on the list? School is out for two days! Yea!

Date: September 14th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
2 msgs

Rap Freestyle Translated into Proper English–HILARIOUS!!

Date: September 14th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
10 msgs

Have You Heard of the “Happy Electric Dance”?

After of day of Hurricane Ike, I can’t begin to describe how happy I was to see that the lights were on at my house as we drove up the street. I was singing and dancing…I was that happy. I really wasn’t looking forward to no electricity. We are some of the few lucky ones. I live a block from downtown, which is probably the reason. Apparently this location has some perks.

After the winds died down, around 5:00, we went driving around to see what havoc Ike had wrought. One of the neighborhoods in the hills got hit pretty hard. Trees were uprooted and snapped off everywhere.

All day, Sage and I sat in front of the windows and watched the trees in the park across the street lose limbs. Sometimes the sound of the limb popping off sounded like a sharp crack of thunder. I was worried about a tree on the left side of the house, so we stayed on the other side of the house all day. I am so thankful that it didn’t fall!

At around three o’clock, we went outside. Sage had a blast playing in the rain. He and a neighbor girl ran around the park and checked out the creek, which fortunately, never got to overflowing.

I didn’t have a shred of anxiety this time–as opposed to Hurricane Rita, which was one big, long, horrible panic attack. Greg helped out with that by suggesting that we go and volunteer at a shelter last night. I took some magazines, yarn and crochet needles with me. Once we were there, I got a lot of the women hooked up (hehe) with yarn and crochet needles, and taught a couple of people how to do it. It made me feel really good to have those interactions. Lots of the people spoke Spanish, so I got to practice.

When we got back home, I had totally forgotten how worried I was about the hurricane. It definitely got me “out of myself”.

We had FUN during this hurricane. I feel a little guilty about it, but it beat the hell out of being a nervous wreck.

Oh, and speaking of not being nervous–about a hour after a major limb went down, our neighbor was out there with a chainsaw cutting up the pecan wood for his barbecue pit! 70 mph winds and all! Watching him was inspiring, somehow.

Now, here’s to hoping that the school doesn’t get their electricity hooked back up for a few days…

Date: July 14th, 2008
Cate: The Stuff
11 msgs

And How Do YOU Influence Reality?

I just love this stuff. If you have the slightest bit of interest in quantum physics, then check this out! Be sure to watch it all the way to the end. (5 min.)

It really begs the question of how we, as observers, influence our own reality or reality in general. At least, that’s what I get out of it. You?

Singing the Skyand rockin’ tha house

Archive for category The Stuff