What's So Great About Them? (Part 2)

Names: Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham
Show: Fringe
Quote: Real is just a matter of perception. I am here, and I'm a part of you that you have to hold on to. You can't forget who you are, Olivia. You can't forget where you're from. You can't forget this.
What's So Great About Them? If you've ever seen Fringe, then you know it's a completely insane show. There is nothing normal about that show. Impossible does not exist. And yet, two of the main characters in the show act like all of this is completely normal... like it's just another day at the office. Olivia is always cool, calm and collected, while Peter is always up for a sarcastic or rather dry remark about whatever current situation they're in. And in the three seasons the show's been on air, these two characters have grown so much, eventually coming to trust each other. It's yet another story of an interesting partnership that, all things considered, really shouldn't work, but does anyway.

Ummmm.... Duh!

I love my mom. Seriously, I do. She's completely amazing... has helped me through some of the toughest situations ever. And she's an incredible role model... had 2 kids, went back to school, became a RN... seriously, I'm convinced she's Wonder Woman in disguise. I guess all superheroes have their forgetful moments, though, as I discovered earlier this week while I was talking to her on the phone.

See, my brother's doing a lifeguard certification course soon. And I'd already been though it (same company, same class, just a different instructor), so she decided to ask me what he needed to bring with him to the class. I gave her the usual list... you know, a bag lunch, pens/pencils, a highlighter, a sharpie (to write his name on his CPR mask and the CPR mask case), a couple of beach towels, and a pair of goggles ("So he can see while he's swimming his 300," I told her). She then proceeds to ask me if he'd need to wear a bathing suit to the certification course.

I nearly fell off my bed laughing.

See, I figured it'd be pretty obvious that a lifeguard certification course would require a bathing suit, seeing as you're in the pool a majority of the day. I even mentioned that he'd be swimming a 300 on the first day. Obviously, none of that registered with my mom (who has actually spent a summer working as a lifeguard as well).

*sighs, then chuckles*

Yes, Mom, he will need a bathing suit.

Dear HIST395 Paper...

Dear History 395 Paper,

I wish you would write yourself. Please learn how to read and analyze books, and write a decent twenty-page paper within the next 48 hours. It would make my life a lot easier.

Thanks so much!

Sincerely,
A Stressed College Student

Still In Awe...

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'" -Dan Rather

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Teachers Of Promise Institute. It was a rather interesting two days, filled with laughter, smiles, inspiration, and occasionally, tears. I guess I should first begin by explaining what this event was. Throughout history, we see various teachers get recognized for what they do. One of the foundations that does this is the Milken Foundation. Well, a group of these teachers, along with other nationally, state, regionally and locally recognized teachers in Virginia decided to begin recognizing the education students they believed were going to be the next great teachers.

Personally, I'm still amazed that I was chosen for this event. Let me put this in perspective for you- most of these students were juniors, seniors and Master's students. They had experience in the classroom and were positive that teaching what was what they wanted to do. I am a sophomore. I have only fully taken one class on Education, and have very little classroom experience. In fact, my classroom experience technically isn't classroom experience because all I've done is tutor two students. That's not classroom experience... not compared to these people.

It's been over 24 hours since the event ended, and my head is still spinning from everything that went on. In less then 24 hours, I met several nationally recognized educators. I "rubbed elbows" with some of the best teachers out there. I was recognized for being a great potential educator (and I'm not even half-way through school!). I learned more about education and how to manage a classroom than I ever expected to. I listened to amazing speeches. And I rubbed the worst blisters ever on my feet (Note to self- buy a pair of good heels).

I'm still attempting to soak everything in. Seriously, my head is spinning, and has been since Friday. How can they expect such high things of me, when I'm not even out of school? Why do they have such faith in me when they barely know me? Do they know something about me that I don't know? What makes them so confident in my skills as a teacher?

I don't know what they see in me. I wish I did. All I know is that I've been though an amazing weekend. And I hope I can live up to their expectations.

"To teach is to touch the heart and impel it to action." -Louis Sullivan

So Tired I Could Cry

Warning: This post is being written purely for cathartic reasons. A massive rant is about to commence. If you are faint of heart, easily scared, or just don't care, then I suggest you look away... Now.

It is currently 02:40 AM EST. And I am still awake. I still have history work to do, poli sci to study, and a GKIN100 fitness log to bs. And I am nowhere near done with my work. In less than four hours, I have to wake up to make it to my hellacious 8 AM, where I will do absolutely nothing aside from bust my ass as I walk to class because my college is too fucking stupid to put a delay on classes. And as I'm walking to class, I'm going to be freezing my ass off because it hasn't gotten above freezing here for the past week. Yes, the past week. I am finding that no matter how diligent I am about managing my time, there is still not enough time in the day for me to get everything done. Thus, I feel like I am constantly playing a game of catch-up, trying to keep up with everything as my studies slowly slip away.

Did I mention that I'm so tired I could cry? Yeah, I'm mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. There is nothing I want to do more than taking a coma, waking up, and doing something completely and totally unhealthy and self-indulgent. But, I can't. My friends need me, and my stupid big heart won't allow myself one second of me-time. My suitemate has even pointed out that I attempt to please everyone (not in a sycophant sort of way, mind you), and I don't allow myself a chance to decompress. Due to everything that's going on, I've lost all patience with humanity (not to mention all hope) and I'm pretty sure m mental state is close to breaking point... worse than it was last semester even. No wonder I feel like a bitch all the time.

Now, you may argue that I can take some time to relax this weekend. Wrong. I can't do that because of a fucking HIST395 midterm that I have due next Tuesday. Seriously, the History Department wasn't kidding when they made the shirts say, "I Survived History 395." And, as I watch my friends with their respective majors, I can't help but to wonder if I'm some sick sort of masochist for putting myself through this hell.

Seriously, I feel like a puff of air could shatter my very being. I really want to turn to my parents... ask for something like a little care package or some advice, but to do that would mean appearing weak, and I can't appear weak. I WILL NOT appear weak. So, I have to keep all complaints and problems to myself. Besides, they've got enough to deal with as it is. They don't need my shit added to that.

My friends can't really help either. They'll probably tell me their own sob stories, try to convince me that I really don't have it that bad. They'll probably tell me to suck it up and deal. Thing is, I've been doing that for so long... days, weeks, months... hell, I feel like I've been doing it for years. But hey, how much damage can one more day of sucking it up and dealing possibly do? After all, it's not like I can really do anything else.

So, this is me, shoving all my problems to the back of my mind. This is me pretending that everything is hunky-dory. See that smile? Yeah, it's fake as shit. But who cares, so long as a complaint doesn't pass from my lips. It's Ok. Ignore me. I'll be fine. See, really, I'm fine.

...

I swear, if I survive this semester, it'll be a miracle.

Dear Mother Nature...

Dear Mother Nature,

Enough is enough. Lemme be the first to tell you the East Coast has had it with you and your blizzards. One every winter is cool. We can handle that. But two in a week? And four over the course of winter? Have you lost your mind?!?! Sweet Saint Patrick, you must be attempting to freeze us away!

What you fail to realize is that for us, snow sucks. We do not have enough resources for your wintery wrath, nor do we have the patience. People are tired of snow, tired of not being able to go anywhere, tired of winter.

I'm sick of slipping on sidewalks as I walk to class. I'm sick of bitter cold winds and soaked jeans hems. I'm sick of waiting with baited breath to find out if classes are cancelled. And I'm sick of snow. Holy Merlin, I'm sick of snow. You fail to realize that my college campus has been under at least 2 inches of snow for the past week. Now we're at two feet. Sure, I should thank you for getting me out of two days of classes, but you got me out of my easy days.

Weathermen are saying we're going to get more snow on President's Day. Please, Mother Nature, I'm begging you- let this be the last snowfall this year. No more. All I want is to be able to go more than a week-and-a-half without seeing a single snowflake.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Someone Who Is Snowver the Snowpocalypse

In Review: Super Bowl 2010

It's an American tradition... the culmination of a year's hard work... the end of football season. Yes, I'm talking about the Super Bowl.

Usually, I don't pay much attention to NFL football. I prefer to watch college ball... there's just something about it that I like better. But I always make a point to watch the Super Bowl, just 'cause it's almost blasphemy to be an American and not watch it. Anyway, I found this year's Super Bowl very interesting, not because of who won, but instead by who did the music.

I didn't watch much of the pre-game show, but I did see the 30 minutes before the game. The first musical performance I saw wasn't really a performance, but a video. It was Jay-Z and Rihanna in "Run This Town/Posthumus Zone." I love "Run This Town" and I love "Posthumus Zone" (By E.S. Posthumus for those of you who don't know), so I thought this little remix was great! I loved everything about it, and in fact, I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to download it somehow.

Next to perform was Queen Latifah. Oh my goodness... I'm wondering how she made it as a recording artist. See, she didn't sound that good to begin with, and on top of that, she sounded nervous. Her voice was all sorts of pitchy, and it was just rough to listen to. Even my roommate said she sounded bad, and that's really saying something.

Carrie Underwood sang the National Anthem, and I couldn't have been happier. She did it just the way I think it should be sung- plain and simple, with little embellishment. Yeah, she sounded a bit strained on a couple of spots, but otherwise, I thought she did great. Bravo, Kari, bravo.

Finally, there was the halftime show. I called my family after watching this, and they agreed with me- it was BAD! It was like I told my brother and dad- when the fan's sound better than the actual singers, you've got major issues. The Who just sounded like they weren't up for this... they seemed out of breath and tired. I mean, it just wasn't pleasant to listen to. I was actually really glad that I missed part of the performance when I went to go put my laundry in.

So, in regards to the music for this Super Bowl, I give them a C-. Yeah, there were some good spots, but overall, it just wasn't that good.

Now, on to the game. I personally was pulling for the Saints, so naturally, I was a little nervous when the Colts opened up strong. The field goal at the end of the 1st half helped assuage my fears a bit, though. It's never good when a team goes in the locker room and are behind by over 6 points. But the second half? Holy crap! Where did that stuff come from?! I was blown away at how the Saints came back. My favorite play by far was the interception in the 3rd quarter where Manning threw one of his favorite passes and it was picked off by a linebacker (or was it a lineman?). Seeing that white jersey come bursting out of a sea of blue made me whoop for joy. I mean... damn, for a defensive player, that guy was fast! It totally came out of nowhere. I think it did a lot psychologically to both teams as well, by shaking the Colts' confidence and giving the Saints that little boost they needed.

In the end, the Saints won (31-17) and I was very pleased. This year's Super Bowl was probably one of the better games I've seen, and I was very happy to see the "underdog" take the Lombardi Trophy home with them.

Holy Weather, Batman!

So, if you've spent any time in the state of Virginia, then naturally, you'll know that it has bipolar weather. During the summer, it can be 95 degrees and sunny one minute, and then 75 degrees and storming the next. Or, in the case of winter, it's sunny and 65 degrees one day, and 20 degrees and snowing the next. My initial reaction to all of this weather?

What. The. Hell?

I mean, I've lived in VA all my life, and I'm still befuddled by our weather. And I've never heard of anywhere else having such crazy weather either.

Another typical trait of VA weather is snow. We don't get a lot of snow, but when we do get any, it practically shuts the entire state down. 3 inches of snow = 1 week off of school, which is great... so long as you don't go to college. In my opinion, snow sucks. It's cold, it gets everywhere and makes everything wet, and if you're a college kid (like me) it means your eating options are limited, and you have to brave the outdoors to go get something aside from Ramen to eat. Not to mention, snow causes all kinds of traffic problems (have you ever tried to drive a Kia Spectra in the snow? Not fun... or easy) and leads to the accident-prone having more accidents. I do believe it's safe to say that snow in general just isn't a good thing.

All of this leads me to wonder what the hell is going on with our weather this winter. We've already had 2 major snowstorms (within roughly a month of each other) and 2 minor ones. And the forecasters are saying another system is supposed to move through this weekend. 2 snowstorms in a weak?! Jesus Christ and everything holy and unholy! The end of the world really must be coming soon!

I guess the only thing that can be done, though, is to just suck it up and deal. After all, I can't affect the weather at all, nor can anyone else.

That said, bundle up, don't slip, and look out for snowballs!

Haiti

Earlier today, there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter about 10 miles outside of Port Au Prince, Haiti. It is said to be one of the strongest earthquakes to ever hit the small island nation.

My cousin is over there. He just started a several-month-long mission trip there. Thankfully, he, his friends, and the orphanage they are at is Ok. However, there are still thousands of people who are injured, displaced, missing, or worse, dead.

I know that there is not much that we can do right now; the country is still reeling from the event, and it is probably too soon for foreign aide to be organized. Despite that, I would like to ask a favor of you guys. Please please please pray, meditate, think or just take a moment of silence for these people. It may not seem like much, but it may help.

Thank you.

Happy New Year

Yes, indeed, it's that time again. New Year's Day has come and gone, and now many people are looking at their New Year's Resolutions and trying to figure out how the heck they're going to manage to pull those off. I too have made some resolutions and am now currently doing the same thing.

Resolution #1: Eat healthier.
Now, I don't know about you, but I happen to go to the college with the 4th best food in the state (or is it the nation?). D-Hall is God, and I've been known to eat too much there. However, my school also has a lot of choices in regards to food. Ergo, I have a feeling that with a little self-control, I can complete this resolution. All I've gotta do is stop snacking while writing papers.

Resolution #2: Exercise More.
This will be easy this semester. After all, I'm taking a swimming class. It's the rest of the year I'm worried about. Generally speaking, a full-time lifeguard/asst. manager who works 40+ hours a week doesn't get much personal time. More often than not, I'm up at 07:45 AM (Earlier this year, if I have to fight for the bathroom with my brother), at the pool by 10:00 AM, and leaving the pool anytime between 07:00-10:00 PM, depending on the day. That said, I don't have a lot of free time. I guess I'll have to work something in between shifts. Swimming laps while on duty? Perhaps...

Resolution #3: Stop Procrastinating.
This is a big one for me. I am queen of procrastination. It is a way of life I've perfected over the past several years. Heck, I was procrastinating on school projects when I was in second grade. And now I'm a college student. Who am I kidding? It'll take one huge miracle for me to pull this one off.

So, those are my resolutions. Will I achieve any of them? Who knows. I guess the new year will tell.