pseudo re-tweet

via taylor swift's twitter...i really, REALLY like this quote.

"I kind of like it when the guy has the upper hand. I have so many upper hands in my life... If you're a strong female, it can get old. You get to the point where you don't want to wear the pants. I just want to wear a really nice dress." - Katy Perry

forgettable 4th grade?

last week, minjue and i were in the car talking about going to the museum of tolerance on MLK monday. somehow, we got on the topic of her time in germany when her dad was a visiting professor. she mentioned that they'd learned about the holocaust in school, which led me to ask her what grade she was in during those six months. she said she was in 2nd grade, her younger brother wasn't yet old enough for school, and her older brother was in 4th grade. she also said that they didn't like school so their parents let them stay at home for the time they were there. minjue said that she didn't miss much in terms of education and i agreed because 2nd grade is basically 1st grade redone with more words and slightly bigger numbers.

as for her older brother, this is what she had to say:

mj: what do you learn in 4th grade? nothing!
me: uh...you know i teach 4th grade, right?
mj: ack!!! (she continued to freak out...)
me: ahahahaha

i don't know what 4th grade is like in virginia, but californian 4th graders have to learn a lot. (i must justify my job somehow...) they learn algebra in the form of linear equations (y=mx+b). they learn all about california history (with a social justice agenda where we de-emphasize the "cool" factor of missions and focus on the atrocities done to the native peoples). they learn to write expository research reports, persuasive letters, literary analysis, and narratives. they learn to analyze literature (themes, symbolism, foreshadowing, etc) and SAT vocabulary. ok, they don't actually learn SAT vocabulary, but i use it to expose them to more vocabulary. darn it, my kids learn a lot...i think... to be fair, i think kids today are expected to learn more much sooner than when i was in school.

procrastination update

it's 11:26pm and tomorrow begins a week of parent conferences that i don't feel ready/prepared for and so instead, i've decided to procrastinate and update the blog! anything to put off grading their science notebooks. grading = BOO.

since the economy is on the downward spiral, i have been doing my part, as a responsible and caring citizen, to stimulate the economy. as j.yee would say, lord and behold:

while at costco, the box wouldn't fit upright into the back of gilbert's 4runner. i was seriously sad when we walked back towards the return line. later, i was deliriously happy when the costco guys said it was okay to transport it on its side, glass facing up. that deserves a w00t.


i showed AMAZING restraint and waited until black friday deals were released, on the off chance that a better deal might surface and save me some money, but there was nothing worth venturing out at the butt-crack of dawn for. (can i end with preposition there? oh well, moving on...) the kwon clan (grace & joe + babies javier and eduardo - still in the belly) came over yesterday and set it up for me. i did nothing except drool over the TV. joe did 99.9% of the work. handy friends. yay.


also in honor of stimulating the economy, i went to target today to return some things and get lots of closet organizer and storage things. i spent hours re-organizing my closet and giving my room a good cleaning. anyone who's seen it in the last year knows it was NOT GOOD. i no longer have to be ashamed - i can leave the door to my room open. yay!!! now i just have to maintain it. boo.

next on my list is to take time to update photos from the last 12+ months. whoops.

summer vacation

i've been on summer break for...6 weeks now. i still have a month left. i need to update my photos over the last year.

right now, i'm in seattle. it was a little dreary the last couple of days, but forecasts say it's sunny and 80s all week long. awesome.

memorial day weekend

i didn't go out of town, but somehow i managed to keep busy.

friday - as soon as school let out, well, as soon as i could get out of school on friday, heidi (my 4th grade buddy teacher) and i went to disneyland to meet up with some other people. it was super fun, as disneyland always is.

saturday - moonie is in town so we met up for lunch along with some other folks in hollywood. i remember now why i dislike going to hollywood - way too many people and cars. i think it took 30 minutes to go from sunset & vine to hollywood & highland. boo. i went running/walking with jeff and then we went to minjue's to have beef stew from a crockpot. it was yummy. then it was lots of wii fun at grace and joe's - wii fitness exploring and lots of mariokart. i suck using the stupid wheel.

sunday - i drove out to pasadena to meet up with one of wendy & josh's adoptees, joe, to have lunch and then drive him to john wayne airport. i can now say that i've been to all the major airports in southern california (i think...). in between, i got to meet a couple of new people - totally hilarious - and go to scoops ice cream in west hollywood. delicious homemade gelato/ice cream. i had raspberry jasmine and a scoop of chocolate guinness. it was very, very good. after i got home from the airport drive, i wanted to rest, but ended up going with susan to her friend's birthday bonfire at dockweiler, where i think i almost froze to death and caught a cold. it was fun though. i haven't roasted a hot dog on a skewer in a long time. after that, we caught a late showing of indiana jones at the arclight in sherman oaks with grace and joe. seriously...so not as good as the previous three. utterly disappointing. and then i passed out as soon as i got home.

monday - since i caught a cold, i woke up at 9 and stayed in bed watching k-dramas until 1. i know...very unproductive, but oh so fun. plus, i'm kinda sick. then, i drove up to grace and joe's and we went walking around balboa park, which is like a poor man's greenlake, but with a WAY better kid's playground area. it was AWESOME. if there hadn't been kids around, i'm pretty sure i could've spent a couple of hours there. as it was, it would have been awkward fighting small children for the swings. i finally got to see the fuss about topanga mall. it's ginormous and nice. i feel that if it has a neiman marcus coming, it's pretty upscale. i think we only made it through half of the mall. i did run into the lees there, so that was a nice bonus. as was the chocolate croissant (chococro as they call it) at st. marc's cafe. and, i finally watched an episode of "so you think you can dance?" - how have i missed this show for the past 3 (or is it 4?) seasons?!? it's now on the tivo list.

and now, the weekend is over. 18 teaching days left and it's summer vacation. so excited.

home happenings

mom

i just talked to my mom and caught up on all the random ongoings at what susan likes to call the "insert last name-pound." my mom has finally mastered the dragging and clicking of the mouse. she's on her way to becoming computer savvy for the sake of instant access to k-dramas. my brother has bookmarked specific sites for her and she's loving it. she's also learning just now addictive internet access can be.

years ago, she tried using a mouse to watch k-dramas, but it was a no-go. as a solution, she made andy find the site and start the episode for her. but after an episode ended, she'd wake him up to click the next one for her. hahaha...he was cranky about that.

i discovered that she has the k-drama that heidi recommended at home on dvd. i like that my love of tv has created a commonality for us. tv bridges gaps.


dad

my dad has played basketball weekly for as long as i can remember. i think in the last few years, it's gone to twice a week. months ago, somebody, maybe my brother or wendy, somebody, told me that my dad got in a scuffle with another middle-aged dude. i think it ended in my dad kicking the guy. kicking! he's 55! he's kicking people! i guess the other dude fouls excessively and does not call his own fouls and he just plays all sorts of bad - i guess he doesn't really know organized basketball. so anyway, i guess my dad had had it.

fast forward to this last tuesday. my brothers were at the lakers-blazers game at the rose garden (courtside! i saw them on tv on the LA broadcast) and were not witness to the on-court craziness. i guess home-dude had been committing bad fouls all evening and also on my brother's friend (also my dad's friend/neighbor's nephew) - possibly one too many times. i guess dad decided to say something, words were then exchanged, which somehow led to the other guy hitting my dad's face. i don't know if it was a punch or slap or something else, but either way, it didn't sit well with him. so, i guess his rage-o-meter spiked and was about to take a retaliatory shot when he was restrained by the same friend/neighbor. while he was held back, the other guy took a second cheap shot! so...my resourceful and angry father used his head - literally. he head-butted the guy! other dude's head started bleeding.

my stinkin' dad is 55 years old. i do not condone his behavior, but i still want him to kick the other guy's ass if he does find himself in a fight - is that wrong? and, i'm not above using the story as blog fodder.

blog roll call

i've abandoned former favorite celebrity news blogs in favor of sports and blazer-related blogs. some of my faves:

true hoop - total blazer fan

blazers edge

rip city rising - showcasing a nifty comic supporting lamarcus aldridge as most improved player

ball don't lie

garbage time all-stars