Last year I had a student stay after class. He was the "metal band" t-shirt guy - long hair, probably smoked too much weed in high school and quiet, very, very quiet.
He waited until everyone was gone and approached me.
"What do you think about demons?; I like demons."
I tried to answer it as suavely as I could, but it wasn't easy.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Top Ten Things I Didn't Do
Things happen, but sometimes they don't. Off the top of my head and definitely not in any order of importance, here are things that didn't work out or that I never did.
1) Printed out a small book of poems to give to my parents and sister for Christmas back in 2005 but didn't give it to them on second thought.
2) I didn't ask out a girl in my Intermediate Spanish II class in college. I had a huge crush on this girl. We sat on opposite sides of the room and before I even spoke to her I had already created her personality - she was my dream girl. I mustered the courage and managed to talk to her a few times in the hallway before class, I think I made her laugh and felt really good about our small chit-chat. I plotted to ask her out after the final exam. This was the perfect plan - if she rejected me, I would never see her again in class thus lessening my humiliation. I laughed at my genius. When I took the final exam, I worked as fast as I could. I even managed to check my work but I was ready to dump the exam if the situation arose. After what seemed like forever, she finished her exam. I didn't want to make it obvious, so I patiently waited about 15-20 seconds after she got up. As fate would have it, the allotted time for the test was running out, so many students were up at the front of the room, turning their exam in as well. Because of the extra traffic, it took me longer than expected to turn the test in....but I wasn't panicking even though she was out the door sooner than I realized. My heart rate started racing as I picked up my backpack and headed out into the hallway. As I walk out the door I see a fellow classmate is already TALKING TO HER- he's not leaving her side as they continue to talk and walk right into the PARKING LOT - I slow my walking gait down but at this point I am in a near panic. My perfect plan was falling apart, I had no backup plan!! They just keep talking and I....well... keep walking....I felt like an idiot. I saw her a few months later at Blockbuster with some fat boyfriend, I had a near Woody Allen breakdown at that point.
3) I did not transfer to UT (instead I transferred to A&M). I was planning on majoring in advertising there. As crazy as that sounds to me now, I think I would have taken one class and changed my major. Life would have been different, that's for sure.
4) I did not teach in Japan. I almost applied to teach for JET after graduating in 2000, but got scared (although we did end up teaching in China in 2004).
5) I did not make the band. I tried out for a band in college as the lead singer. I tried to sing some Metallica song and it went badly. I think I knew I wasn't going to get the gig when I asked if they knew any Weezer songs.
6) I did not get everything that I wanted as a kid. I have vivid memories of begging my mom for a quarter or seventy-five cents for a comic book or a pack of baseball cards. Most of the time, she wouldn't budge. At the time, I thought it was because (in my kid's world) seventy-five cents was a lot of dough - I understood it. Now that I know even at the time, it was nothing. My mom did a good job of not spoiling me.
7) I wish I could tell you I never bought cowboy boots, but I would be lying.
8) I did not get a ticket for crazy driving as a teenager. It was harmless stuff by most standards, but one road rage incident was really, really, scary looking back on it (and yes, I was the one mad). I sometimes can't even recognize that young version of myself.
9) I never made the "Honor Roll". Not a once.
10) I never applied to teach anywhere else than where I work now. I applied part time and did not apply anywhere else, as I was a lazy. I got a call a week before classes, I was in. I interviewed for a full-time position twice (with one interview with the college president) before finally landing my full-time tenure track position the third time around.
1) Printed out a small book of poems to give to my parents and sister for Christmas back in 2005 but didn't give it to them on second thought.
2) I didn't ask out a girl in my Intermediate Spanish II class in college. I had a huge crush on this girl. We sat on opposite sides of the room and before I even spoke to her I had already created her personality - she was my dream girl. I mustered the courage and managed to talk to her a few times in the hallway before class, I think I made her laugh and felt really good about our small chit-chat. I plotted to ask her out after the final exam. This was the perfect plan - if she rejected me, I would never see her again in class thus lessening my humiliation. I laughed at my genius. When I took the final exam, I worked as fast as I could. I even managed to check my work but I was ready to dump the exam if the situation arose. After what seemed like forever, she finished her exam. I didn't want to make it obvious, so I patiently waited about 15-20 seconds after she got up. As fate would have it, the allotted time for the test was running out, so many students were up at the front of the room, turning their exam in as well. Because of the extra traffic, it took me longer than expected to turn the test in....but I wasn't panicking even though she was out the door sooner than I realized. My heart rate started racing as I picked up my backpack and headed out into the hallway. As I walk out the door I see a fellow classmate is already TALKING TO HER- he's not leaving her side as they continue to talk and walk right into the PARKING LOT - I slow my walking gait down but at this point I am in a near panic. My perfect plan was falling apart, I had no backup plan!! They just keep talking and I....well... keep walking....I felt like an idiot. I saw her a few months later at Blockbuster with some fat boyfriend, I had a near Woody Allen breakdown at that point.
3) I did not transfer to UT (instead I transferred to A&M). I was planning on majoring in advertising there. As crazy as that sounds to me now, I think I would have taken one class and changed my major. Life would have been different, that's for sure.
4) I did not teach in Japan. I almost applied to teach for JET after graduating in 2000, but got scared (although we did end up teaching in China in 2004).
5) I did not make the band. I tried out for a band in college as the lead singer. I tried to sing some Metallica song and it went badly. I think I knew I wasn't going to get the gig when I asked if they knew any Weezer songs.
6) I did not get everything that I wanted as a kid. I have vivid memories of begging my mom for a quarter or seventy-five cents for a comic book or a pack of baseball cards. Most of the time, she wouldn't budge. At the time, I thought it was because (in my kid's world) seventy-five cents was a lot of dough - I understood it. Now that I know even at the time, it was nothing. My mom did a good job of not spoiling me.
When my mom would go our local Handy-Andy I would go inside the Revco next door as they had a great comic rack and a better toy selection. When I was ten-years old I saw this comic and I just had to have it. I begged and pleaded with my mom to no avail. It was a hard sell - it was double-sized and $2.50! I did what I often did at Revco and hid it behind some magazines. I was able to hide this comic at least 3-4 times at least for a month - always being careful to remember which magazines I hid it behind. One day, to my dismay it was gone......(Well then, I just found it on Amazon and I am totally buying this for my Christmas present with my parent's money).
7) I wish I could tell you I never bought cowboy boots, but I would be lying.
8) I did not get a ticket for crazy driving as a teenager. It was harmless stuff by most standards, but one road rage incident was really, really, scary looking back on it (and yes, I was the one mad). I sometimes can't even recognize that young version of myself.
9) I never made the "Honor Roll". Not a once.
10) I never applied to teach anywhere else than where I work now. I applied part time and did not apply anywhere else, as I was a lazy. I got a call a week before classes, I was in. I interviewed for a full-time position twice (with one interview with the college president) before finally landing my full-time tenure track position the third time around.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Pic Dump # 2
Been saving the best from my web surfing and bringing it all home to you...a little "meme" heavy but...enjoy.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
10 Songs That If I Found Out I Would Never Hear Again, I Would Be Cool With It:
(Please note this doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad song, it's just that I never have a desire to hear it again)
"Rocket Man" - Elton John
"Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns N' Roses
Whatever that Titanic song by Celine Dion was called
"Sweet Home Alabama"
"We Will Rock You" - Queen
The Bodyguard song by Whitney Houston
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
Most Micheal Jackson Songs (especially "I'm Bad" however, major exceptions for "Billie Jean" and "Man in the Mirror" though)
Any Korn song - God Awful Rock Music. Should be forbidden.
"Wind Beneath my Wings" - Bette Milder - Maybe the song on this list I hate the most.
They actually played this at my wedding reception. . They actually freakin played this. I told them I wanted "classics" (Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, etc.) and this is what they played. I was so pissed. If I wasn't completely tied up during the song I would have told him to stop it during the song. I did go up to the DJ afterwards and explain what "classics" meant. Side note: My PC was crashing or something crazy, so I was only able to burn a CD of music that was about an hour long. So, there was some cool music played.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Fragments Here, There and Everywhere
Talking about Buddhism in class today, I was discussing "healthy" attachments and "unhealthy" attachments, which led me to a discussion on stalkers. I fell into my odd habit of taking the voice of point of view I am talking about, (in this case "I know she loves me, if only she can understand how much I love her", etc.) this led my students to laugh and made me remark that I might be performing my bit "a little too convincingly". I did note I thought every guy in the class had at least driven by someone's house after a breakup at least once. I said anyone who hasn't just "isn't romantic" - which someone said that that might be considered creepy, of which I replied the line between creepy and romantic is a very thin one.
Days like today remind me why I love teaching. I felt "on" like I haven't in a long time.
Thinking about why God created humans and thinking about why I had children...are there similarities?
Quickly read through two books the past week - The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross and the graphic novel, Persepolis. The first not too shabby - and in the context of evangelist Christian books - it's amazing. The author is a Arab Christian and he treats Islam with respect and dignity (that it deserves) while also having a distinct Christian point of view. Wasn't sure if I was going to learn something about Islam but I did.
Persepolis was great - couldn't put it down - I will have to check out part two soon. I was interested in assigning this in my Intro to Humanities class or a Eastern Cultures class but I don't think it has enough on Iran or on Islam in the book...but highly recommended for graphic novel folks.
Hunger Banquet tomorrow...need my beauty rest. G'night to all.
Days like today remind me why I love teaching. I felt "on" like I haven't in a long time.
Thinking about why God created humans and thinking about why I had children...are there similarities?
Quickly read through two books the past week - The Crescent Through the Eyes of the Cross and the graphic novel, Persepolis. The first not too shabby - and in the context of evangelist Christian books - it's amazing. The author is a Arab Christian and he treats Islam with respect and dignity (that it deserves) while also having a distinct Christian point of view. Wasn't sure if I was going to learn something about Islam but I did.
Persepolis was great - couldn't put it down - I will have to check out part two soon. I was interested in assigning this in my Intro to Humanities class or a Eastern Cultures class but I don't think it has enough on Iran or on Islam in the book...but highly recommended for graphic novel folks.
Hunger Banquet tomorrow...need my beauty rest. G'night to all.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thought of the Day
Why is it that as men age their interest in the weather increases with each passing year?
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Fragment Time
I feel like I need an art project soon. I have ideas, but they all suck.
I go through these reading stages where I can do prolonged reading of the most dense or boring material (or what others would call dense and boring) and then suddenly I have no desire to read anything above an 8th grade level (this is where comic books come in handy). I am going through the "comic book" period right now.
So I am in the middle of a Star Trek: Next Generation re-watch (or "watch" as I haven't seen most episodes) and I finally hit a rough patch - the start of season five. I have slowed down my rate and I fell asleep in the middle of an episode --three episodes in a row! Granted, I was on the bed and sleepy but still this hadn't happened but maybe once before. I usually fell asleep around the 15-25 minute mark and then would wake up with five minutes to go when the music got dramatic or something blew up. I am still counting the episodes. I was talking about it with someone later - and they nailed it - the color scheme and lighting (not too bright, hushed and pleasant colors) almost induces relaxation and sleepiness (with a little help from Picard's voice and the whooshing of the doors).
The damned Klingon shows always bore me. The are so predictable and are basically the same three characters every time. There's the back-stabbing Klingon (required one per Klingon episode), the older, more reliable Klingon (sometimes the character is the hidden "spy"), and then a bunch of no name tough guys. That's it. Damn, even Wharf bores me, it's always "Sir, I believe we should fire immediately". I understand he's head of security but still, predictable, annoyingly grim and predictable. Sidenote: spell check on Blogger has Klingon in the dictionary. Wow.
I like the fall. It makes the summer in South Texas almost worth it. Almost.
I also feel like I haven't written anything of substance in awhile. I have half finished blogs I should get to. It kinda bothers me. Almost.
The funny thing about teaching three classes in one day - I get a little loony the last time around. I am tired and at times-- I dread walking to that last class (at 3:30) to give the same discussion I have already had twice in the day. Then I get in there, open the door and the adrenaline kicks in and I am all ready to roll. Teaching is such a performance art. So, how about another list!
Things I like about Teaching College
You always get the last word.
You sometimes see light bulbs go off.
You get to be around inspiring young people.
Academic freedom
Making the class laugh
Asking hard, deep questions
Telling stories
Watching young people excited to live life on their own terms.
Trying to change people's minds
Drawing connections from an older class topic/reading/film
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