Okay, so where were we....
I have been meaning to write a life update for a while now, but keep forgetting. At first it was because I was really, really busy, but then it was because I just didn't feel up to it. So where did I leave off?
This may be a bit fragmented, and not the best thing I have ever composed ever, but there's a lot I want to say, and I'm not going to edit it all, so if it's all stream-of-consciousness-like, I'm sorry.
[+/-/+] Work and Lack There Of
The last month or so of the regular school year (not the college school year which is significantly shorter), the Language Arts teacher at the School From Hell fell down the stairs at hit her head. She's okay now, but she was out of commission for a while, then had to take physical therapy, so they needed someone to take over her class for the rest of the year. At first, they didn't know how long they'd need someone, so they asked me to come in for a week. I wanted to say 'HELL NO!!", but I said yes anyways because I needed the money and it was just the middle school. Then it became clear that they needed someone to stay for the rest of the year, and dropped hints that they wanted me to stay.
I at first was very against the idea. I have a Bachelors in English, so yes, I could legally stay, but this was the School From Hell. Plus, I am not a trained teacher. Eventually, though, they wore me down and I agreed after I told them that I would need a lot of help because I wasn't a trained teacher and had no idea what I was doing in the long run. They still said I was the best they had (as the other good sub they had was already a long-term sub for the Intervention Specialist), and so I eventually agreed. When the Principal himself asks you to do something, saying that you're the only one who can, you say yes. Plus, he has pretty blue eyes.
Everything turned out for the best, though, because with my tax refund (which was much, much larger than I was expecting (like over twice as much)), it turned out I had enough money for the entire summer. So, I have the summer off, which is nice. I'm going to try and do some freelance work to get some extra cash, but I really don't need to, which is awesome.
It was horrible, but rewarding the month or so that I was there. Almost a month and a half, I would say. There were terrible days, but there were really good days, too. It was nice getting to know the class, how they worked, but it was exhausting. The drive there in the morning is an hour long, the drive home an hour and a half because of traffic, so when I'd get home, I could just lay down and watch TV most of the time. I was kind of sad for it to be over on the second to last day, I would miss the kids, and everything. But then, my last day was "field day". These kids aren't good normally, what do you expect happened the last day? Mayhem. I shouldn't have even been there, all the other regular teachers were at a breakfast (so the teacher I subbed for would have been there and not at field day). I didn't necessarily want to go to that either, but I definitely didn't want to drive all the way out there for a half a day of just chaos.
But in the end, it was more good than bad. I really did like most of the students, and it got me enough money to be sitting in my pajamas now thinking about how I'm going to spend my week. So, yay for summer vacation!!
[+] Eyeshield 21
I got into Eyeshield 21 a long, long time ago, but I haven't read most of it. Well, I read up to the Bando Spiders match, but then after that, I would just skim the chapters every once and a while. Thus, I decided I would finally read it from beginning to end, and OhMyGod, I remembered why I loved it so much. It got me through a great deal of the hard days at the School From Hell (I'd read it during my planning period and lunch sometimes), and I swear, I cry more reading this series than any shoujo manga... make that any manga I have ever read, just because of the pure awesomeness it contains!! I'm not going to go into any spoilers, but I would always really, really get into the matches. It becomes a bit formulaic at the end, but that never detracted anything from it. I would seriously want to get up and cheer whenever they score a hard earned point, and towards the end I loved every single Devilbat. I still haven't read the last three volumes, because they feel a bit tacked on to me. I will read them eventually, but I needed a break because of... just awesome. JUST AWESOME!! It seemed a good place to stop after BIG SPOILER OF SPOILERDOM. And I really, really want a sequel darnit! I mean, Captain Tsubasa has at least two... COME ON, EYESHIELD SEQUEL!! It's not like the creators are doing much. I don't think...
[+] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I love Netflix. So very, very much. I don't know if I mentioned this, and I'm too lazy to go check, but (as you know), they have this very neat streaming feature that will stream select movies and television shows to your gaming system of choice. I use my PS3 because the only other option for me is the 360, and you have to have a gold membership for that to work. So it was between completely free PS3 or not-so-free 360. I chose free.
Anyways, a while back I found out that all of Buffy and Angel (as well as some other shows I wanted to watch) were available to stream, and so I decided to finally watch Buffy from beginning to end. And actually watch Angel. I watched Buffy when it was first on, somewhat religiously, which is amazing for me. I watched it every week for the first three or so seasons. Then my interest tapered, I got distracted. Came back for the end half of season five (cried my eyes out). Watched the start of six, then wandered away again. I never really watched Angel. I only watched the one episode where he becomes human and Sarah Michelle Gellar guest starred. And maybe one other, I can't remember.
But anyways, I started watching it again when I was cleaning, not thinking I'd be able to devote my whole attention to it at the start, having seen those episodes so many times, but then it sucked me in and I remembered why I loved it so much. I began watching the episodes, and not just having it on in the background, and by the middle of season two, it took the place of Shinkenger as what I watch as I lay down to go to bed. That may not seem like an honor, but it really is, because those are the things that I completely focus on. If I watch something at any other time of the day, I'm always doing something else. Drawing, writing, cleaning, because my brain tends to not be able to just watch things most of the time. So yeah.
I'm on Season Four now, and these episodes are new to me, so it's nice.
I've always loved Buffy as a character, and I still think she's awesome. She's strong and vulnerable at the same time, and I just love her. I love her in all of her relationships, and not just her romantic ones. I love her friendship with Willow, and her father/daughter relationship with Giles. And I'm rather fond of all her main guys: Angel, Riley, and Spike. I'm not as OMGANGELBUFFY as I used to be in high school (HEY, I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL), but I still really like their relationship. I was sobbing once again at the end of season two. Riley, so far, seems pretty all right, though out of the three main guys Buffy's had, he's my least favorite. Spike and Angel are probably tied, there are reasons one should be in front of the other, but then there are detractions for both, so they end up being rather even.
I like Willow a lot more this time around, and really like her relationship with Oz (I just watched the episode where he left last night, and I cried. It was made of sad). I never could really get into the whole Willow and Tara thing (I'm sorry!) because I was always rather partial to Oz. I mean, he was just so sweet, and he loved Willow so much. So yeah. I don't know.
Other than that, Spike is made of awesome, and I can't help adoring him, even though he is such a jackass.
And it's amazing, reading through the trivia, how many characters were supposed to die but were kept around. Jenny was supposed to be killed sooner than she was. Spike, Oz, and Wesley were all supposed to die but didn't. I can't remember anyone else, but I'm probably missing some people. Anyways... that's all I have to say for now about that.
[+] Jane Austen
Another goal of my for this summer is to finish the Complete Works of Jane Austen. I've read Pride & Prejudice, like, three times. I almost finished Mansfield Park... wait, I think I did. And I got through most of Emma and Sense & Sensibility. I like her work, but I just get distracted sometimes. And so I've finally decided to just finish all of it. I have most of the books separately, but I also have this big edition of all of them, so I decided to go through that in order. So I'm one-fourth through Sense & Sensibility. I'm enjoying it more this time than the first time I read it. I still have to reread passages a few times every once and a while because AUSTEN USES A BUNCH OF WERDS! But I'm doing pretty well. So lets see how this goes. I love Colonel Brandon, though, because I keep remembering the sexy of Alan Rickman in the movie. The one time I honestly think he's full of sexy.
[+] Other Than That
Things have been good. I've been oddly social for the past few months, which is different and nice. We got a new big screen tv of awesome, so I've been playing Dragon Age again on it. Um... Indy is still the cutest dog ever. There are a few other things I'm not up to talking about yet. Nothing bad, just need to have them worked out before I say anything about them. So... yeah... how are you?
This may be a bit fragmented, and not the best thing I have ever composed ever, but there's a lot I want to say, and I'm not going to edit it all, so if it's all stream-of-consciousness-like, I'm sorry.
[+/-/+] Work and Lack There Of
The last month or so of the regular school year (not the college school year which is significantly shorter), the Language Arts teacher at the School From Hell fell down the stairs at hit her head. She's okay now, but she was out of commission for a while, then had to take physical therapy, so they needed someone to take over her class for the rest of the year. At first, they didn't know how long they'd need someone, so they asked me to come in for a week. I wanted to say 'HELL NO!!", but I said yes anyways because I needed the money and it was just the middle school. Then it became clear that they needed someone to stay for the rest of the year, and dropped hints that they wanted me to stay.
I at first was very against the idea. I have a Bachelors in English, so yes, I could legally stay, but this was the School From Hell. Plus, I am not a trained teacher. Eventually, though, they wore me down and I agreed after I told them that I would need a lot of help because I wasn't a trained teacher and had no idea what I was doing in the long run. They still said I was the best they had (as the other good sub they had was already a long-term sub for the Intervention Specialist), and so I eventually agreed. When the Principal himself asks you to do something, saying that you're the only one who can, you say yes. Plus, he has pretty blue eyes.
Everything turned out for the best, though, because with my tax refund (which was much, much larger than I was expecting (like over twice as much)), it turned out I had enough money for the entire summer. So, I have the summer off, which is nice. I'm going to try and do some freelance work to get some extra cash, but I really don't need to, which is awesome.
It was horrible, but rewarding the month or so that I was there. Almost a month and a half, I would say. There were terrible days, but there were really good days, too. It was nice getting to know the class, how they worked, but it was exhausting. The drive there in the morning is an hour long, the drive home an hour and a half because of traffic, so when I'd get home, I could just lay down and watch TV most of the time. I was kind of sad for it to be over on the second to last day, I would miss the kids, and everything. But then, my last day was "field day". These kids aren't good normally, what do you expect happened the last day? Mayhem. I shouldn't have even been there, all the other regular teachers were at a breakfast (so the teacher I subbed for would have been there and not at field day). I didn't necessarily want to go to that either, but I definitely didn't want to drive all the way out there for a half a day of just chaos.
But in the end, it was more good than bad. I really did like most of the students, and it got me enough money to be sitting in my pajamas now thinking about how I'm going to spend my week. So, yay for summer vacation!!
[+] Eyeshield 21
I got into Eyeshield 21 a long, long time ago, but I haven't read most of it. Well, I read up to the Bando Spiders match, but then after that, I would just skim the chapters every once and a while. Thus, I decided I would finally read it from beginning to end, and OhMyGod, I remembered why I loved it so much. It got me through a great deal of the hard days at the School From Hell (I'd read it during my planning period and lunch sometimes), and I swear, I cry more reading this series than any shoujo manga... make that any manga I have ever read, just because of the pure awesomeness it contains!! I'm not going to go into any spoilers, but I would always really, really get into the matches. It becomes a bit formulaic at the end, but that never detracted anything from it. I would seriously want to get up and cheer whenever they score a hard earned point, and towards the end I loved every single Devilbat. I still haven't read the last three volumes, because they feel a bit tacked on to me. I will read them eventually, but I needed a break because of... just awesome. JUST AWESOME!! It seemed a good place to stop after BIG SPOILER OF SPOILERDOM. And I really, really want a sequel darnit! I mean, Captain Tsubasa has at least two... COME ON, EYESHIELD SEQUEL!! It's not like the creators are doing much. I don't think...
[+] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I love Netflix. So very, very much. I don't know if I mentioned this, and I'm too lazy to go check, but (as you know), they have this very neat streaming feature that will stream select movies and television shows to your gaming system of choice. I use my PS3 because the only other option for me is the 360, and you have to have a gold membership for that to work. So it was between completely free PS3 or not-so-free 360. I chose free.
Anyways, a while back I found out that all of Buffy and Angel (as well as some other shows I wanted to watch) were available to stream, and so I decided to finally watch Buffy from beginning to end. And actually watch Angel. I watched Buffy when it was first on, somewhat religiously, which is amazing for me. I watched it every week for the first three or so seasons. Then my interest tapered, I got distracted. Came back for the end half of season five (cried my eyes out). Watched the start of six, then wandered away again. I never really watched Angel. I only watched the one episode where he becomes human and Sarah Michelle Gellar guest starred. And maybe one other, I can't remember.
But anyways, I started watching it again when I was cleaning, not thinking I'd be able to devote my whole attention to it at the start, having seen those episodes so many times, but then it sucked me in and I remembered why I loved it so much. I began watching the episodes, and not just having it on in the background, and by the middle of season two, it took the place of Shinkenger as what I watch as I lay down to go to bed. That may not seem like an honor, but it really is, because those are the things that I completely focus on. If I watch something at any other time of the day, I'm always doing something else. Drawing, writing, cleaning, because my brain tends to not be able to just watch things most of the time. So yeah.
I'm on Season Four now, and these episodes are new to me, so it's nice.
I've always loved Buffy as a character, and I still think she's awesome. She's strong and vulnerable at the same time, and I just love her. I love her in all of her relationships, and not just her romantic ones. I love her friendship with Willow, and her father/daughter relationship with Giles. And I'm rather fond of all her main guys: Angel, Riley, and Spike. I'm not as OMGANGELBUFFY as I used to be in high school (HEY, I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL), but I still really like their relationship. I was sobbing once again at the end of season two. Riley, so far, seems pretty all right, though out of the three main guys Buffy's had, he's my least favorite. Spike and Angel are probably tied, there are reasons one should be in front of the other, but then there are detractions for both, so they end up being rather even.
I like Willow a lot more this time around, and really like her relationship with Oz (I just watched the episode where he left last night, and I cried. It was made of sad). I never could really get into the whole Willow and Tara thing (I'm sorry!) because I was always rather partial to Oz. I mean, he was just so sweet, and he loved Willow so much. So yeah. I don't know.
Other than that, Spike is made of awesome, and I can't help adoring him, even though he is such a jackass.
And it's amazing, reading through the trivia, how many characters were supposed to die but were kept around. Jenny was supposed to be killed sooner than she was. Spike, Oz, and Wesley were all supposed to die but didn't. I can't remember anyone else, but I'm probably missing some people. Anyways... that's all I have to say for now about that.
[+] Jane Austen
Another goal of my for this summer is to finish the Complete Works of Jane Austen. I've read Pride & Prejudice, like, three times. I almost finished Mansfield Park... wait, I think I did. And I got through most of Emma and Sense & Sensibility. I like her work, but I just get distracted sometimes. And so I've finally decided to just finish all of it. I have most of the books separately, but I also have this big edition of all of them, so I decided to go through that in order. So I'm one-fourth through Sense & Sensibility. I'm enjoying it more this time than the first time I read it. I still have to reread passages a few times every once and a while because AUSTEN USES A BUNCH OF WERDS! But I'm doing pretty well. So lets see how this goes. I love Colonel Brandon, though, because I keep remembering the sexy of Alan Rickman in the movie. The one time I honestly think he's full of sexy.
[+] Other Than That
Things have been good. I've been oddly social for the past few months, which is different and nice. We got a new big screen tv of awesome, so I've been playing Dragon Age again on it. Um... Indy is still the cutest dog ever. There are a few other things I'm not up to talking about yet. Nothing bad, just need to have them worked out before I say anything about them. So... yeah... how are you?