Desperate times calls for McGyver!

Well, after a bit of trying to study and do all my homework in bed (not good for the back and neck), I decided it was time to find myself a new place to put down roots (AKA laptop power cords). My old study room had been commandeered so no longer usable. The kitchen was too noisy. The only other place was the basement with the rabbits. Buried somewhere in that no-mans-land was a desk, but to dig it out would have meant a lot of time and energy, both of which were already in short supply. So, I did what any child of the 80's would have done. I pulled a McGyver. I found a spot that looked easy to clear, put down 2 bar stools, piled some old books on. This was topped by my old wardrobe door. Tada! Desk! I thumb tacked a piece of bright fabric on the wall to hide the dark wood panelling, and perched my namahage hanging close by to watch over me in case I started to slack off. It's not exactly an Ikea layout, but at least I have a place to study. And with my kotatsu heater tucked underneath, the basement doesn't feel quite so cold.

When did this happen?

I decided to take a break from studying (before I got to the point where I actually start a bonfire with my books), and watch a little Zettai Kareshi. It's a J-drama (based on a manga, of course)about a girl who reluctantly ends up with a robot boyfriend, but ends up falling in love with him. To make things complicated, at the same time, an actual human takes interest in her. I BAWLED my eyes out (Nightooooo!). Then, as I'm blowing my nose, I couldn't help but wonder...When did I become such a big softie? When did I become a chick flick girl? At least I haven't gotten to the point where I'm actually watching them at the movie theater.
Oh well, maybe the crying will help me sleep tonight. Was tossing and turning all night because I couldn't get lesson plans out of my head!

well, no where to go but up....

First day actually at an elementary school today. The tour was fine. It's an interesting school. There's a specialized athletics programme, and even one specifically for basketball. The floor of the gym was actually done by the guys who did the floors for the a lot of the US college teams. There's also a weight room, and staff that are certified as personal trainers. My first thought, I wish my Omonogawa boys could be here, they would love it. I could just imagine if Nobu and Mr. K were here, they would be in heaven.
The class I watched was a review class, probably so my mentor teacher (MT) could go through stuff with me. It was a bit strange being in class today, different yet oddly familiar. The smartboard was definitely new. And apparently, I write "7" the same way as my MT, where we cross them. So, once the kids started working, I just started to go up and down, the way I normally do. They're doing math, and of course, one kid asks me to help with one of the questions. For the life of me, my brain just couldn't process the the darn thing. And I could tell the kid was not impressed...at least I got the other questions. Not even my first day, and I've already had a brain fart.

Security! Who invited him?

They say some guys can't keep it in their pants. In Kanye West's case, he can't keep it in his head. What is it with this guy that he has to constantly make a fool of himself at award shows? At least the previous times it was just him being a big baby. This time, he actually ruined someone's moment. For those of you who haven't heard (not saying anything, I didn't even know the VMAs were happening till I heard the bru-ha-ha from this), here are the Coles notes. West jumped on stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the VMAs for best female video, grabbed the mic and basically said that Beyonce should have won. Class all the way this one. She's what? 17? Her first VMAs. Why don't you ask her out to the prom then stand her up while you're at it. If you're going to crush a young girl, might as well do a thorough job of it.
I also enjoyed the shot of Beyonce as this was happening. If I was her, I would have been praying for one of those disclaimers they always show in TV, "the opinions expressed by the crass man on stage do not necessarily reflect those of the network or celebrity he thinks should have won". I will give her props (this time, I have other issues with Ms. Knowles) for pulling Taylor back on stage when she won herself.
Kanye my boy, you need to learn yourself some manners. Or people might stop asking you to go out and play. Clearly social skills are are something we need to work on here.

What would you do?

I was picking up some groceries the other day in Toronto when an interesting situation arose. Imagine if you would, you are pushing your shopping cart and you accidentally bump into a display of sunglasses, causing about about 10 pairs to fall. What would you do? (I'll give you a second to think)

This happened about 3 meters from where I was checking out. A woman bumped into the sunglasses, and I know she knew what she did. Normally, I would go and help her pick them up, but I had just given my credit card to the clerk so I wasn't comfortable with leaving. Now, what did she do? First, she made a face. You know the face you make when you accidentally do something, that grimace where you move your shoulders up in a cringe. Then, she looked at the sunglasses, looked around and started moving towards them to pick them up. BUT, for some reason she stopped....stepped back towards her cart and started to move away. That's when ANOTHER woman (random shopper) walked pass her and started to pick up the sunglasses. Now, I turned to the clerk and said, "Now, here's an interesting social experiment. What will she do now?" (I had to explain to her in detail a bit later)

Much to my amusement, the first woman, looked at the woman picking up the glasses, considered for a bit (too long, if you ask me) with a "dang it" type of pained look on her face, before finally joining to pick up the mess she had made. I have to say, (especially since I was tired at that point in the day..therefore my temper is on a long leash) if the first woman hadn't returned to clean up, I would have said something to her, as she was making her way towards me during her attempted getaway.

Too bad Jon Quinones wasn't around!

That's my town!!!

It was after lunch today, when dad and I were channel surfing, trying to avoid doing the dishes and mowing the lawn (the lawn was bad...took the rabbit outside, all you could see were his ears). We stopped at a movie, The Good Witch" because we recoginized the familiar face of the lead actress, Catherine Bell, or "the girl from JAG". Much to my shagrin, it also starred Chris Potter, from Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues. I had the biggest crush on him as a kid. *giggle*
It was a cute little addictive movie (even dad got into it), but what really caught my attention were the garbage cans...because they looked oddly familiar. After watching for a few more minutes, I realized that they had filmed the movie in my hometown!! The featured tha main street of town, as well our old town hall. But, I'm pretty sure that her house was a museum in the next city over.

So it beings...back to school＿|￣|○

Well, it's been a long time, but I'm back in school. It's been about 5 years since I've been a student. The first few days have been difficult, and I'm very tired. I've been living like a vampire for for the past year, so getting up at the crack of dawn hasn't been the easiest thing. And I also need to start packing lunches again. There have been moments where I've wondered if perhaps I should take a nap before attempting to drive home. I'm so tired my face is doing that weird twitching thing. (yes, I know, world's smallest violin)
So far, everyone seems very nice. I'm a little bit worried because it feels like we have a lot to do in a very short amount of time. While we don't have classes everyday, the days with classes are very long. Usually an 8am start and ending after 6pm. There was even a class on children's literature that looked very interesting, but it was an additional 2 hours on the end of a very long day. But, glad to report that it seems to be one of those classes that invigorates you, rather than puts you to sleep.
The best part is the small class sizes. That was one thing I hated about university, you ended up being just a number. Here, they actually call you by your name (cue "Cheers" theme song).