They said I'd have an hour for choir next year. Half an hour is barely sufficient and now my time with them has been reduced to 25 minutes every other day.

That's crap.

The pink cushioned chairs in my classroom harbor the dust and dead skin cells of L/OCS students who attended years before I began teaching here. They clutter my classroom and I when I see the cloud of allergens emerge and dissipate as a student drops his book on the seat, I want to throw them out my paned glass window of a wall that faces North Austin.

Other than that, I think I'm going to enjoy my second year here.

No wonder kids hate reading -- the junk they collect for them to read is about as stimulating as a potato. Up with good writers. CS Lewis. Donne. Jonson. Shakespeare. Let's get back to moving kids and making them WANT to come to school. It's been my philosophy in music long before I became a teacher - and it will hold true in my English teaching career as well.

Oh, Rafe Esquith, where art thou?

I now believe I have a plan:

-Teach English/Music/Piano and grad T/\KS tests for as long as I can
-Take the GRE this summer
-Save. Save. Save. and Budget. Budget. Budget.
-Apply to graduate school in 2007
-Have house by 30th birthday

Oh, Lordy. The lady I sit for is 30 and she doesn't look that great.

-Sunscreen. Sunscreen. Sunscreen.

And I think that's it for right now. Oh, yes. And then there is that bit about convincing myself that the boundaries I set are reasonable and fair when it comes to maternal issues.

Great. TGIF.

...and spew out brain vomit. startiiiiiiing now!

-spent nice solitary evening hunting at Bookstop
-David Sedaris: funny though highly overrated. purchased audio book (ensuring that David does readings) to serve as thought-provoking humor while revamping my lovely East Austin apartment.
-caved and bought Central Market glycerin soap
-cleaning is therapeutic!
-exercised great restraint and refrained from any Rhodes playing
-first salaried gig as English teacher and school music teacher in fall!!! Already did 1 year as a music teacher/choir director. Will speak and write in complete sentences when in class.
-students getting much better.
-must take GRE this summer. opening doors to study in Europe...now!
-rudy needs to get snipped :( and then perhaps rudy can have a friend
-Pear/son, here we come!
-Andy's volvos are my favorite.

By now, I've been dead to livejournal for so long that this entry is more for me than anyone.


Band starting with Andy. Thoughts on sxsw 2008 don't seem ridiculous anymore! His sister (who bears a striking resemblance to Jessica Simpson -- in looks, not mental faculty) is shipping a drumset from Georgia to Texas that she received from an ex boyfriend with too much cash on his hands. Thanks, Lani's ex! I'm thinking...we could record the drums...then he can play bass live while I do the organ loving thing...mmmm...yes...

Teaching is great! Kids are great! They are so musical and crack me up constantly.

Me: Who knows what a hymn is

[hands shoot up into the air]

Me: Madeline?

Madeline: A hymn is a kind of chicken -- the girl chicken I think.

Me: [trying not to crack up] That's close, sweetie. That's an h-e-n hen.


Next year will be crazy if I stay here. They want me to teach music, English and ... Spanish?!? Si, espanol. Who knew.

My private piano and guitar kids are great too. They are paying for my dream vacation to europe and my radiator, essentially. But I'm so proud of them! Tiny little fingers on such big keys and such a big sound on the Steinways.

-August 2005. Became a music teacher to my favorite 120 kids in South Austin. My last name apparently has too many syllables, so I was then dubbed "Ms. A"

-December 15, 2005. Had all students, ages 4-14, up onstage singing and acting in French, German, Spanish, and yes, English. O Tannenbaum! Vie trusen deine blatter!

-December 2, 2005. Found Millie mewing under a set of stairs. Later discovered she was a he and renamed him Rudy. Joyce fans will understand.

-December 3, 2005. Andy's birthday and soccer!

-December 15, 2005. Got a binful of gifts from my first set of students.

----
-Andy caught a baseball at the RR game.
-Roadtrip to Georgia, met his great-great grandma and talked with her on her 99th birthday, had a run in with ignorant folks in the Florida panhandle.
-Went to our first concert, Metric.
-Moved out. I have a door to my room!

How did they know???

i just feel so lucky
i've got good friends
my boyfriend is incredible


my dad gave me my graduation gift a month early -
the laptop with which i type these very words!
i'm very grateful


and i will soon install
a car stereo that will -
are you ready for this? -
play burned CDs!!! amazing.


---

school's going to get a little hectic
but there's no use in stressing too much...
it'll all get done one way or another,
you know?

i'm really looking forward to being out
just for a bit
i don't think i'm leaving school for good
i just need a little time to recharge
before round two


---

amy sedaris is hilarious
i, too, once knew the agony and joy
of dating an imaginary boyfriend

i've gone three whole weeks now
without a cell phone
and, you know
i kind of like it

i used to drive for hours
alone
in the middle of the dark
forrested trails
without thinking twice
no phone, no pager

i suppose it'll be fun tomorrow
when i have a new toy to play with
and now i can get back to
making all those long distance
love calls to my italian stalion
from georgia

ha ha jk
it's late
'nite

mmm...the weather's finally chilled out a bit.
then again, it's almost 4 in the morning so it's
bound to be a bit nipply ;)

window shopped this morning
got a cd at best buy
had a grande soy toffee nut latte
(dee-licious!)
cooked adobo (a scrumptious filipino dish)
made some rice
and some yummy beef stir fry with bok choy
and shared it all (except the latte)
with mr.a

then i went to work where i helped
record delfeayo marsalis
(the reportedly "nice" marsalis bro)
who was
AMAZING
lemme tell you, this boy can play a mean, mean
trombone
and i was soooo happy because they played
all blues, a well-known, good feeling miles song
and they did an encore of
c jam blues which i just LOVE and enjoyed every second of

(sometimes i wish i had more jazz training
but then i realize i have a great time
listening to greater musicians
and i like my own thing, what i've got going)

anyway, i got done with all that around 11:30pm
got some coffee. you know, standard.
then i went to the midnight showing of

i <3 huckabees

a must see!
i wish i had my own existential detective...

...

on another note, i'm a huge dork
(not that this should be surprising to anyone
who has interacted, even for a few minutes, with me)
and will be participating in austin's city wide
spelling bee along with my equally dorky boyfriend

the top 50 orthographers get called back the next night
and the winner gets

a year's supply of beer!
i guess they figure if you're that much of a nerd
it's the least they can do to help you drown out
all your nerdy insecurites

mmm, i think my bed is calling me

such a productive saturday!
i worked, got a work out,
and my recording project is in the works.

had a great day chillin with my boy andy.
we watched hero, rekindling my love for kung fu
and before the show, we wandered around borders.

there, i sipped my yummy americano while my italiano
perused the cds...


sorry for being all navel-gazey :)
(it's past my bedtime)