-reaffirmed by love of holy marie combs. she’s an amazing actress. truly fantastic. she was always my favorite character. still is.

-i knew the episode was coming – shannon doherty’s last. and i hated it just the same. i applaud that they were able to go on five more seasons – but it just wasn’t the same without prue.

-rose mcgowan was so awkward as an actress. and her character got to comfy with the whole situation much too quickly for my taste.

i know. not much to go on. been dealing with a lot lately.

however, there came a time when i no longer had television, and could no longer watch it. thus, i plan to finally finish watching it now. but, just as i tend to read books over and over because i forget things, i’ve decided to watch them from the start.

and since i need noise when i work, it gives me something to do while i’ve got something to do.

the other goal i’m working on is getting some free rice donated at freerice.com

have created a binder for one of my five courses. and it is the brand new one, so the rest shall be a breeze. am still created the online versions of two of my courses, so those will probably take the longest.

i’ve also been working on teaching myself to play guitar. technically, i started this before aug 23, but it is a continual process, so i still count it as a goal. thus far, i’ve learned a scale, and four chords. i’ve also got tabs for the song more than words by extreme (something from my youth that means a lot to me), and have been trying to figure that out. i’ve got the opening…but i’m terribly slow at it. one of liz’s staff members is an amazing guitarist, and has been showing me some practice exercises to help with dexterity and speed. i’ve also been enjoying listening to him play. one day, i’ll get to say i knew him when.

as for the piano class – that officially started aug 26, after some drama that involved the class getting cancelled and the students all begging the dean to not cancel it. i’ve spent some time on the assigned pages…but i get bored with scales, and i already know how to read music. which led to me finding sheet music for a few songs i want to learn – such as hey bulldog and yesterday by the beatles. i’m working on hard on getting yesterday down pat – almost there. then just gotta practice enough to get up to speed.

as for now – i’m off to freerice.com to help fight hunger.

so, i can’t remember the last time i read a book for pleasure. my job takes up so much time. and then what free time i do have i use in an effort to be a good partner and pet owner, as well as a good friend. but this weekend, as we have an extra day “off,” i decided i was going to spend it reading for fun. so, i finally finished reading animal farm, which i borrowed from a friend forever ago, and have been on page 84 for almost as long. once i turned the last page, i picked up the other book i had borrowed from this same friend. the title – the year of living biblically: one man’s humble quest to follow the bible as literally as possible.

i figure, as a not so devout (or even practicing) catholic, i’m probably in for some laughs. i also figured i’d learn some interesting things about the bible, without having to read it word for word myself. (which i plan on doing someday. that day just isn’t today.)

part of the reason i have some issues with the bible is that it was written so long ago that it is hard to make it apply to things we do today. i also love shellfish, and refuse to give it up just because the bible tells me to. some aspects just seem so backwards to me. even so, i can accept the logical reasons behind them. for example, jews being kosher in what they eat – not eating bacon and shrimp, the bottom feeders, which are unclean. gotcha. (too bad it is so damn tasty.)

the thing i didn’t know: “you are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother – exodus 23:19″ when taken literally, it leads to scratching of the head and uttering, “huh?” rabbis interpret this to mean that meat and dairy cannot touch. apparently jews can’t each cheeseburgers… um, what? i bring this up to liz, who is on the couch reading for one of her classes. she says she knew this, given the many conversations she had with her jewish friend from the army. this friend, though she has never had bacon, loves the smell…and the bible says nothing about smelling it.

this book i’m reading does not give the rationale behind the whole meat and dairy touching faux pas , so i’m a bit confused. especially when it goes on to explain that there are rules about how long you have to wait to eat (or drink) dairy after eating meat – one to six hours depending on the local tradition. some of the more strict traditions also call for you to wash your dairy utensils separate from the meat utensils in the dishwasher.

ok, now, i thought catholics were a bit crazy. (and again, i mean no disrespect. just that some of the traditions associated with the religion just are a bit far out there for me.) but you can’t even put cheese on your burger?? why eat the thing? you can’t even wash it down with a nice ice-cold glass of milk! (as I’m vegetarian – or at least a close cousin – i wonder if they can eat burgers with soy cheese…)

as if the above didn’t confuse me enough, i come upon this passage: “The strictest Sabbath keepers today are probably the Orthodox Jews. In postbiblical times, the rabbis wrote down a complete list of forbidden behavior. It’s got thirty-nine types of work, including cooking, combing, and washing. You can’t plant, so gardening is off-limits. You can’t tear anything, so toilet paper must be pre-ripped earlier in the week. You can’t make words, so Scrabble is often considered off-limites (though at least one rabbi allows Deluxe Scrabble, since the squares have ridges, which provides enough separation between letters so that they don’t actually form words).”

i get that you are supposed to live in God’s image, and even he rested on the seventh day…but do you really believe that God pre-ripped his toilet paper in preparation for sunday? or perhaps threw a party and invited some of his closest word loving friends for a rousing game of scrabble? and again, i mean no disrespect – i am legitimately asking – what is the logic/rationale behind these rules? because i just don’t see it.

one bit from the bible that i can totally get down with: ”Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress – Proverbs 31:6.”

again, i mean no disrespect to any religion. but i’ve always been the kid that asks “why” after everything. which is perhaps why i didn’t so well with organized religion, because you’re not supposed to ask why. you are just supposed to take it on faith that that is what god wants.

I went to tcf the other day to officially end my relationship with them. I had in my hand a typed list of all the reasons I wanted to break things off. it was long, I won’t get into it. i arrived at the tcf branch, and got into line behind a young man. there were two tellers, both occupied. one by a lady with what seemed like twelve different deposits. the other by an older gentleman…at least old enough to be my grandfather… talking the teller’s ear off. well, ranting would probably be more of an appropriate word. at first I thought he was just rambling about whatever while the teller worked, but it seems he was instead berating the young guy for something that wasn’t his fault. now, I had a letter in hand of all the reasons why I was not pleased with the service tcf had given me over the last year, but I also know that it isn’t the fault of whatever teller happened to be open when I walked up the counter. this guy -he didn’t seem to get that. so he talked and talked and talked. there was issues about his social security check that spurred him on further.

the woman next to me…because for some reason when she got in line, she didn’t feel like she should stand behind me, but rather at my side…mumbles to me, “this is taking forever.” now, I had been thinking the same thing, but I also knew that it had only been a few moments, and it wasn’t like we had been waiting here ALL DAY LONG. I mean, come on, lady. I may have half smiled and shifted my weight to stand a little further away from her. I do not feel any need to talk to complete strangers while in line.

the young teller was doing his best to get the job done as quickly as possible, trying to jump in when he could to ask questions. when he was finished fixing what needed to be fixed, the man still sat there and rambled. the woman next to me kept sighing and shaking her head. now, I’ve been in customer service long enough to understand that sometimes people just need rant. yes, it frustrating to be standing in line watching, but I always take the time to remember what it was like to be the one behind the counter. suddenly makes waiting not seem so bad.

after another minute or so, the young teller shot an apologetic look our way, and this set the guy off again. he ranted that he would take as long as he needed to in order to say what he had to say, because he had served our country and it was his right! when he began to walk away, still ranting, he walked right by us standing in line, and muttered, “next time let them draft somebody else!”

now, I understand the risk people take to serve their country. many lose their lives, and I most definitely support the troops (thought not the war). but I don’t feel like the reason you serve your country is so that you can berate unsuspecting tellers who have done nothing wrong other than their jobs, and who fixed the problem you came in to get fixed. threaten all you want to take your business elsewhere. you don’t like it there, then go somewhere else.

I did.

if you are interested, you should check out their website and make your own list. i’m creating a page for my list, which will be updated with dates about completion of goals. i will comment on them within this same blog.

class began today.

byebye summer.

now granted, it is only one course, but it is accelerated. so i, like my students, will have to get the same amount of work done in half the time. not a biggie. but summer is definitely over. man…i remember when june signified the beginning of summer…

we have been spending a ridiculous amount of time watching netflix via streaming over our wii. may have watch the entire series of buffy. may almost be done with the first season of angel (throws me a bit because the shows lined up, and i have to remind myself that most of the stuff on buffy hasn’t happened yet.) we’re also watching arrested development. interesting show. i wasn’t that enthused the first couple of episodes, but like most things, i tend to get drawn in by characters and seeing how they develop. makes sense, as my stories are always character/relationship driven, as opposed to plot driven. (my thesis advisor likened me to dorothy allison – best day ever.)

liz got a new game for the wii –  a hunting game. she has been killing things left and right…and though they are cartoons, i still can’t watch.

ash trea and brad were here for a couple days last week. they had left home a few weeks before that, hitting up all the fam and friends on their way here. we were their last stop on their way out of the midwest. and i already miss them. though i have been enjoying the text message updates and the blog updates. they went to the rock and roll hall of fame, and the pic they posted was of a george harrison likeness on a guitar – made my day. i need to go see that guitar.

i need a roadtrip.

i had told them about the angel oak tree in south carolina, something i saw on my freshman habitat collegiate challenge trip freshman year of college. ash trea being a fan of trees (never woulda guessed it from her nickname, eh?) was game for it – so they went. seems like it is a tad too hot for them, so they are venturing up the coast. and i am jealous. but excited. and living viacriously.

liz and i want to take some time and go along route 66 and check out all the awesome outsider art. someday. soon i hope.

students are definitely getting to that whole grade-freak-out. ie they are getting on my nerves.

had a few students not turn in their essays. had a few students not show up to their midterms. this whole throwing away large chunks of a grade still baffles, and, yes, surprises me.

had a student show up to the exam this morning – one that has been my smart alec all semester long – who saw “there should be nothing on your desk” written across the board (the exam is online), took out a pen, and slammed it down (if you can slam down a pen) onto the desk top. then he turned and looked at me defiantly. really?

he a good one for me:

a student came to him with a (onbviously forged) note that said: please excuse [student] from PE for a gynocological appointment.

the student was male.