Muse & Watchmen

Great music set to what looks to be a spectacular movie.

Phases in life

The transition to Canada has been really difficult to say the least. My Summer of Sam left me pumped with so much dopamine and endorphins that when reality set in when I moved to Canada, the hang over left me feeling incredibly numb and at times terrifyingly lonely. So I do what I know best, return to the glory days of summer's past: The days where I found my niche, had my friends, lived in comfort and created fuzzy memories. Five trips in four months to be exact. Leaving things behind is often difficult for me, I'm a sentimental sap when it comes to things like that. It's a work in progress, but my outlook made a huge step forward when I saw and heard this yesterday.

Damn you ice cream

For those of you who know me well, you know my favorite food is ice cream. Vanilla, of all lame flavors is my favorite, followed closely by cookie dough. Ice cream is $6.99 for a pint of Häagan-Dazs in Canada, so I really have make my ice cream go a long way and for most of the past year, I've been cycling between vanilla, cookie dough and Bailey's Irish Creme. I know what Bailey's Irish Creme is. I know it is a delicious alcoholic beverage that is usually mixed into a variety of beverages, desserts and ice cream. Why it never occurred to me that this ice cream would contain alcohol is beyond me. Whatever, I can't wait until I get to heaven, where they'll have alcohol and they'll have this ice cream.

Forgive me, I'm a sinner.

Students and Blogs

Today in class I was kind of frustrated at my students about forgetting textbooks, their half-assed efforts, etc. And one student said, "Are you going to go home and blog about this on your blog?" Shocked, I said, "What makes you think I have a blog?" And he said, "You just seem like the kind of person that blogs about things that really bug you." Oh my gosh, they're on to me. It's only a matter of time before they find this. That student then elaborated about his blog posting on me. My students blog about me, and I'm going to be discovered soon.

P.S. - I'm not going home to blog about it. I'm staying right here in school. AND I DON'T JUST BLOG ABOUT MY FRUSTRATIONS DAMMIT :)

Two Passports

I now have my two passports, one from Canada and now one from the USA. I can't wait to travel.

The Audacity of Government

This hits a little close to home on several fronts. I'm glad I made it through. You'll need an hour; listen at work, listen while you commute. It will outrage you.

Students = Teachers

One thing I have learned as a teacher is that I enjoy everything students enjoy. Weekends, short days, assemblies, lunch break, recess, nap time...blah blah blah. I also hate everything students hate. I hate tests, assignments, grading, discipline, early mornings, and on and on.

I ALSO HATE GRADING THESE CURSED FINANCE PAPERS!!!

T-Shirts I want but would never wear

Most of these are from Busted Tees, The Onion or of course, Cecil Is My Homeboy. I think these shirts are hilarious.

T-shirts I want and actually would wear:

On being American

Most people think it's great that I'm a newly made American.  It's great to hear the congratulations that I hear from friends and peers alike, and I feel their acknowledgement is more of a reflection upon their attitude toward the United States than merely a kudos to me.  There are the occasional few who wonder why it is such a big deal.  What does it matter that I'm a citizen now?  Consider this:  Imagine living in a home but it's not your home.  Try living in a country your whole life and not have the legal ability to work there.  Live in a country your whole life and then feeling like a vagabond or a tourist, merely a visitor.  Then when you are in a country that you're an alien in, try participating in the local system and know that you can only voice your opinion and actually not make that voice known through a ballot.  And know that the very establishment of the land allows you to even voice your opinion, a privilege not granted elsewhere.

Even though these scenarios technically didn't apply to me, it was however very close to becoming a reality if I wasn't an American citizen now.  My permanent residency would be revoked; I would be merely a visitor, a tourist of the United States without the ability to vote, work, or live.  And if I wished to do these, I would have wait years to go through the bureaucracy that works to keep America resilient and safe.

America has given me and my family the opportunities for success.  It's brought me to where I am now.  Am I a hypocrite for being in Canada?  Not anymore than US manufacturers and companies that outsource their jobs to foreign countries.  My bottom line will end up in the United States.  

I am proud I am American.  I'm proud of her ideals.  And I believe that you can be patriotic and still believe that she has much to improve.  

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.  

~ Abraham Lincoln

A New Year

I asked someone out for the first time since...Mel, when did I ask you out and you were dating Logan?  Yeah, since then.  Tomorrow, I'm going out for the first time since...Kenji, when did we go on that group date and all we did was shoot guns?  Yeah, that's right.  

Don't worry, I don't wonder why I'm single still.

Timelines

I have a great friend that calls me out on things I do all the time.  It's really quite refreshing and I wish more people would do it.  This time around she called me out on timelines I set for myself: timelines to take a break from dating (2 months turned into a year...), timelines to recover from infectious diseases (Dec 2010), ten-year plans (2001-2011), five-year plans (2008-2013), timelines to get used to byu (2008), timelines to get used to Canada (2010).  

Is this a bad thing?  Seriously, it can't be all that bad.

Pain

Progress's constant companion is nostalgia for things that used to be.

- Ira Glass

And it hurts like hell.

Goodbye Great 2008

2008 presented itself with some of the greatest memories I know I will have. The whole year has been surreal in the adventures that I've experienced and the great friendships I have made. I am not even going to attempt to top my year that was 2008. It is not meant to be topped. 2008, you will be cherished forever.