Vacation Land

    It's Tuesday again, so you know what that means!  Another boring blog.  It's school vacation week around here, which means no visitation/observation hours at schools and no work substituting.  I haven't even had class since last Wednesday.  I've also been really sick, so that's been no fun at all...especially since I've been a snot zombie and can't feel my face from all the congestion.  The good news is that I have at least one fun thing planned for this week, which I am excited about: tubing!  Maybe I'll remember to take pictures this time when I leave the house so I have proof that it actually happened...

    Operation Employment has been stagnant of late since the botched interview last week.  I'm still hopeful and I have at least four or five other jobs lined up, so we'll see what happens.  I've caved and applied to some retail stores, seeing as that seems to be all I'm good for, so maybe I'll hear back from someone this week.  Maybe not...  Who knows?
    As I currently have no steady job with any way to make payments on anything consecutively, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will probably not be getting a new car this year:(  I was holding out for it and very excited, but since getting fired put a damper on my funds I really don't have the means to purchase even a newer used car right now.  This couldn't have come at a worse time, and the savings I had up until this point would've been great towards a down payment, but I've had to use it to live off of, so it's slowly dwindling down to nothing again.  Maybe someday I'll be able to get myself a new car so that the Red Baron can finally retire, but it is not this day.

    Let's have some good vibes now!  So far, my two big TV reviews are for The Bachelor and for The Amazing Race, which premiered this past Sunday, (unbeknownst to me, but my father called and let me know we missed it so I could watch it yesterday).  Unbelievable, (for both shows).  SPOILER ALERT!!...  I can't believe Renee got eliminated!  And yet I can, because she was really the only normal person left besides Andi and he obviously wasn't giving her enough attention.  That being said, he probably should've let her go a little earlier, considering he ended up meeting her son for no apparent reason.  I don't know how I feel about that, and the fact that Nikki has already met Camila.  Does that mean he likes her the most?  Meeting someone's child should be a big deal, in my mind, and Renee tore down a lot of walls to make that happen with JP and Ben, but to no avail.  It's really sad, but at least they won't be burdened later on with the fantasy suite fiasco set up to happen.  I'm still rooting for Andi, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Nikki won.

    The Amazing Race started off with a huge disappointment!  Of course Mark and Bopper were one of my favorite teams to come back and race for the all-stars, but they couldn't let me have that.  Poor Bopper, all ready to go, then BOOM, inflamed pancreas, (or whatever).  Poor Mark too, since he's stuck to that Mallory from now on.  Despite this obvious set back, (and set up), I will be supporting Joey and Meaghan for this race, seeing as they're the only people I really know.  That's a little sad to say, isn't it?  Claiming you "really know" someone from YouTube.  But it is possible I think.  We'll see what this race holds for everyone, but there are already people in this one I don't like so I'm not sure.  That's all I have for TV right now.  I don't think all of my shows are back just yet, but they should be by next week.  Also, Vikings is back on Thursday and I couldn't be more excited!  I should have a review of that by next Tuesday, so if you're into that, be on the lookout!

    For Thursday I think I'm going to be talking about the book I'm currently reading called Born Digital, which focuses on understanding our generation of young people as they master new technologies.  Even for someone like me, born in the beginning of the growing digital age, there are still some things I don't understand about today's technological advances and how kids know how to use them.  It should be interesting and I'm reading the first six chapters, so I will do an overview of that with a book review to follow after I finish in a few weeks.  I want to start getting back into doing educational or English-related blog posts on one of my blogging days, so let me know what you think about that and any topics you'd like for me to discuss.  I will be updating and monitoring my Good Reads account a little better to let everyone know what I'm reading right now and what I plan to read in the near future.  Now that I have a lot of downtime, I'm hoping to at least start a new book, but I have to decide which one first.  Until then, homework awaits!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

The Luck of the Irish

   Hey everyone!  This week has been hectic, to say the least, and I've had a lot going on.  Early mornings, observations at various middle schools and job hunting have all surrounded my school work in a never-ending vortex of misery that is unavoidable.  I'm hoping the next month goes by quickly because I'd love to feel a sense of relief.
    I have good news and bad news surrounding the job hunt.  The bad news is that my interview this morning, although I feel it went well, revealed that I was not who they were looking for in terms of availability.  It didn't feel as bad as I thought it would, partially because of the good news.  The woman conducting the interview mentioned that she loved English majors and that she would pass on my resume to another department looking to fill a different position with more flexibility.  I'm hoping this works in my favor and if all goes well I'll have another interview next week.

    While I was waiting to go into my interview I had a lot of time to think about things, about what I wanted and about how desperately I need a job, (I'm starting to feel sad just sitting at home by myself all the time...).  Then I thought about God and asking Him to help me, which I've done before.  I apologize for anyone who reads this who is very religious, but I swear my views are only my own and not meant to hurt anybody's feelings.  I've prayed before to God for help, for answers and for life and I don't think it's ever worked for me.  This may be my fault for not getting accustomed to my original faith of Catholicism, but I don't think God has ever heard me in a way that we both understand each other.  I don't doubt His existence, nor do I condone it.  I've never been an overly religious person, but I've learned about religion for various kinds of people, including Judaism, Protestant, Mormonism, etc.  There are aspects of other religions that I agree with and can see as probable, at least in my eyes.  That is to say I do think there's a higher power with some divine control over what happens around us, but I can't explain it further than that I'm afraid.

    Back to my original thought, as I was sitting there, waiting to go into the interview, I clutched my lucky clover bracelet and asked my grandmother for help.  I don't know why because she probably wouldn't be able to help me get a job even if she were still alive, but I miss her wisdom.  I would always ask her advice to get to know situations from another perspective besides my own and I can't do that anymore.  I think what I'm saying is that I'd rather pray to my own family than to someone I don't know because I know my family will hear me and listen.  I do believe that they can see us from where ever they are and they are watching over us.  I'm so unsure of myself sometimes it's amazing I'm still a functioning human being, but I was nervous and didn't know what else to do, so I called out to her, (not vocally, but internally so the other people in the lobby wouldn't think I was crazy...).  I guess I felt like I needed a little bit of extra luck today, but obviously I didn't get it.  Us Irish girls put a lot on luck and I think sometimes we treat it as an alternative form of religion, but it doesn't always work for us.  I don't blame them for not offering me the job because my availability wouldn't work for them but I was still disappointed in myself for getting my hopes up.  Some things are non-negotiable and you have to just run with it.  I'm hopeful that I will find a job soon, I just don't know where at this point.
    Sorry that was sort-of deep and somewhat off-topic, but let's skip to something more fun now!  I have two pop-culture-related things to talk about, number one being The Bachelor, (SPOILERS if you haven't already guessed yet).  With this episode in Miami, I'm not sure what's going to happen now.  My dad's vision may come to light because at this point, especially with the previous for next week's two-day home town visit, I don't know if he'll actually end up with anyone.  He must be quite a dumb pervert to mess this up: having over 25 women at your disposal and ruining it at the last second.  We'll see what happens, but I'm still routing for Renee and Andi as my top two girls.  I'm on the fence about Nikki now, but I think her attitude may have an explanation just because of Claire and her bat shit crazy ways of manipulation working against Nikki's rejection of this alternative reality.  Again, we'll see.
    The second thing is the new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer has premiered on Jimmy Kimmel the other night and OH MY GOD it is amazing!  The video is posted below for your viewing pleasure.  I'm not sure how authentic to the comic it will be, (judging by my husband's gripes about certain character's origin stories, there's bound to be some confusion and outrage among comic fans).  But the trailer proves that it will at least be a kick-ass action film, so I am excited nonetheless.  Please join me in my enthusiasm!  I'M HOOKED ON A FEELIN'!!!

    That's all I have for this week.  If you want something interesting to look into, I posted a neat article in my ENGL 889 tab this week about "Twitch Plays Pokemon" and his continuous game play project.  There are links to the live video stream, an article that gives a great explanation of what's going on, and a link to the Google document with all the goals and achievements to date that have been tracked by the participants.  It's really cool stuff if you're interested in affinity spaces, gaming or just Pokemon Red/Blue.  Next week is school vacation week, so I'm hoping to focus more on my job hunt while my internship and observation hours are put on hold for the time being.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Digital Chats and The Final Countdown

          This week marks the last week of my vacation.  Sadly I didn’t accomplish much of anything, but I’m hoping to be more productive in the coming weeks, partially due to the fact that I should have more actual work to do.  I’m excited to start my final two courses: Special Topics in English Teaching and Teaching Writing in the 21^st Century.  I’m excited partially because one of my classes is taught by the same professor I took Digital Literacies with.  Should be a good last hurrah before I start my internship next fall.

            In other news, I got new glasses yesterday!  I have had the same red pair since 2006, with no change in prescription, so I thought it was finally time to change it up.  Plus I’ve been squinting even with my glasses on lately, so for my own sake I didn’t want to have any more headaches from strain.  It was difficult to choose a pair of glasses because I’ve been so used to my old pair and we’ve been through a lot together, so I was a little unwilling to change at first.  But with a little help from the nice eye guy and my wonderful husband’s opinion, I decided on a completely different style and I love them!  I will miss my signature red, but hopefully these will be just as good, seeing as I stuck with the pop of color.  Here’s to new beginnings and a new style!

            This week I will also be attempting my first online chat sessions.  The New England Bloggers Network will be hosting a blog chat tomorrow night through Twitter which I will be participating in.  Also through Twitter, there will be a “Digital Learning” chat from the National Council of Teachers of English, (NCTE), this Sunday night at 8pm if any of my teacher friends want to join me in that one.  This is my first attempt to participate in one of these digital chats, so wish me luck.  Hopefully it will help me better understand that type of community in the event I’d like to participate more openly in the future.

            For my TV menu this week Castle returns as well as How I Met Your Mother, so I’m looking forward to getting caught up with those episodes which aired yesterday, (as some of you already know, I do not have cable, so I watch everything the day after through Hulu and Netflix through my Roku box).  Also, premiering tonight is the new season of Face-Off, which is a show on the SyFy network about make-up and special effects artists competing for a contract and cash prize.  They are already in their 6^th season and it’s extremely interesting to see what they come up with for various themes and characters.

            Keeping with my Victorian Era kick, I’ve been thoroughly invested in The Tudors series on Netflix, (I’m already on season four…after about a week, maybe?).  Even though you know what’s going to happen to some extent, it’s still a very well done series, so I’m interested to see how they ended it.  Since I’ve been watching Reign as well, this story line ties directly into it, being that Mary, Queen of Scots is related to the Tudors line of succession, (Margaret Tudor, sister to King Henry VIII is her grandmother).  I was thinking about starting The Borgias series after I finish with The Tudors, so let me know what you think in the comments.

            That’s it for this week!  I can’t post a review of The Bachelor from this week yet because I haven’t seen it, but I will Thursday, (maybe), if it still seems relevant.  As for the rest of this week, it’s pretty much wide open.  My sister-in-law’s due date is this coming Saturday, so I could be an aunt as early as this weekend!  Fingers crossedJ I’m hoping we can visit, but we’ll see what happens.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Winter Vacation: First Snow Day of 2014

    Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had fun gorging themselves on Chinese food and binge drinking with friends.  Now that the holiday season is officially over, we can now move our focus to the wonderful aspects of winter vacation.  Usually this means nothing to adults, but to those select few who do still appreciate winter there are still fun times to be had.

    I know I speak for a lot of people when I say snow SUCKS sometimes.  For those who haven't had the pleasure of living in a cold-weather climate, driving in it can be extremely dangerous, especially for those people who think they're invincible with four-wheel drive.  Schools close, kids emerge and begin construction on their various snow homes and winter weaponry.  You can usually see adults shoveling, or more likely snow-blowing their way out of their driveways.  As a kid, I was always enlisted to aid my father in shoveling the driveway in order to learn how to do it properly.  My sister and I had tiny shovels and we'd start a path from the porch to the driveway and go on from there, (usually in no particular direction).  It's a fond memory I have of winter and I plan on teaching my children the same way, (or rather Tom will, seeing as I'm awful at shoveling nowadays and can't seem to stay outside for longer than ten consecutive minutes...).

    I have something called "Raynaud's Phenomenon,"in which my extremities lose circulation rapidly in the colder weather.  Because of this, my hands and feet will feel a burning sensation whenever it gets too cold outside.  This prevents me from grabbing my steering wheel, shoveling, cleaning off my car, etc.  Basically just going outside hurts and it's very inconvenient, but I've managed for this long.  I'm hoping that, in the future, I will find some gloves that will work to keep my hands warm, but so far, no luck.  I'm lucky enough to have a husband who will selflessly clear snow after a hard day's work.
    Needless to say winter hasn't always been my favorite time of year due to my medical problems.  However, I do enjoy sledding/tubing, skiing and ice skating.  My dad used to take us sledding in certain places, as I supposed a lot of people have done.  In fact, I think my dad is the reason I enjoy all of these things, seeing as he took us outside the most.  I owe him a lot for my love of winter sports and for teaching me to not be afraid or hindered by my medical issues.  I love him more for that.

    As for now, I enjoy staying indoors, curled up on the couch in my sweatpants with a movie or a good book.  Speaking of that, I am officially starting my reading for the month of January.  I will only be reading one book seeing as I have less than a month and I need to stop once my spring semester starts up again.  I will be reading Divergent by Veronica Roth to start that series.  Eventually I would like to read all of them, but until I have the time I will start with the first installment.  As I have stated before, on Thursdays I will be talking about my progress in the book as well as my feelings and inferences as well.  I am excited to start reading again for leisure:)
    Enjoy your snow days if you have them.  I will be hanging out in my apartment for the next 48 hours avoiding the outside world as best I can.  I see a nice mug of hot cocoa and some home made mac and cheese in my near future, so I will leave you to your various engagements in winter merriment.  Tell me about your favorite parts of winter in the comments below!  I will be continuing my Harry Potter Marathon.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.