I'm It!!

Molly Tagged me...http://whatsthecode.blogspot.com/ so I'm it!!

Life's to do list - Completed items are bolded

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (Ew!! I don't want to do this one!!)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped (who's in on this one?)
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen an eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces or all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving (I want to do this!!)
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love (not yet, I'm working on it though)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero (Here's the reason that Julia get's tagged!)
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (so close!)
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake Dead River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in aisles at Rocky Horror (I think Tracee needs to take me)
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced (soon....Barb or Kristi, when are we going?)
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (only by one)
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach (EW!! I don't wanna!)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146: Dyed your hair

147: Been a DJ

148: Shaved your head

149: Caused a car accident

150: Saved someone's life

Looks like I've got a lot of livin' left to do!

I tag, Bede, Julia and Dave (just so he'll blog again)!

Happy Blog-day!

Happy Blog Day!!

My blog is offically one year old today.

Thanks for reading so that I don't feel like I'm talking to myself!!

lost

Ya know that scene in the movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" where that guy gets his still beating heart ripped out of his chest and then it bursts into flame?

Yeah, that would be a step up right now.

I wish that it wasn't just my jaw that was numb.

Annoying

Today was annoying...

I showed up to work for a meeting that never happened. ( I was the only one who showed up, after I called yesterday to confirm that there was in fact a meeting). My mouth is still numb (see other post). I didn't feel like working out, so as a result I feel like a sloth... you know how it is...I'm just whining (but it is the reason I'm hiding out, playing on-line and blogging!)

Well, I decided cheep pizza is the answer to my woes. I stick a frozen pizza in the oven. Twenty minutes later, when I opened the oven...





WTF?!?!

Seriously? How is half the pizza burned and half a sea of raw mush?!?!?

I tried to cook it a little longer hoping that the raw side would be salvageable. No good, the burnt side just got more burned and set off my smoke alarm.

Forget this. I'm calling Little Caesar's. Wish me luck on the pick up!!

What do you think?

I was referred to this article on education. It ran in USA Today in the Editorial Section on Sunday. I don't get that paper, but the article was passed along, so I'm passing it on to you.

"Hold Students More Accountable for Their Own Education" by Walter J. Reinhart, Ph.D., Professor of Finance, Loyola College, Baltimore, Md. He feels (if you haven't figured it out from the title) that students should be responsible not only for academic successes but also their failures. It's an interesting opinion in a world with NCLB and where teachers are held accountable for students failures.

What do I think? Watch out!!

I have also encountered this situation. What? An Art Teacher has kids failing?!?! Yeah, I get that a fair amount. Many believe that the subject I teach is a fluffy subject (Don't get me started...that's a completely other blog). Irregardless of your opinions, a student will receive a grade for my class and that grade does count towards the overall G.P.A. I make it my personal mission to never fail a child in art for trying. That means, if a child completes the assignment to the best of his or her ability, that child will pass. There are criteria for every assignment, and certain elements and principles of design that can be done well no matter what the ability level. Therefore, no child who honestly tries, should ever fail art. However, I know that more than 30 students last year failed at least one quarter of art. Why? Because the student did not complete several assignments. I prefer to think of myself as a mirror that is reflective of what the student is capable. The grade reflects their ability. An "F" reflects that a child didn't do anything.

What happens when something like this happens? I get calls from parents (who have never taken the time to speak with me before the grade was issued), homeroom teachers and administrators. Something is apparently wrong with me for failing students in Art. My response is: "How can I issue a grade, when in 10 weeks, that student has done NOTHING in class?" (Generally, the failing students are the ones that, in many cases really didn't turn anything in or maybe one or two assignments--all quarter!!) It's frustrating that I am called a bad teacher for those students who refuse to be motivated (and if you have something that will work to motivate, I'd gladly take the suggestion), or for not contacting the parents (fortunately, my phone log shows when I've tried to call home and not gotten a response).

I understand, there are sometimes bad teachers. But this does not account for every child in America. Even if, a child does have a bad teacher, that does not excuse them from turning in assignments. Think about teachers that you thought were "bad", someone else could have loved their teaching style. I've had some "bad" teachers...teachers that were even fired mid-year for poor teaching. Did I fail the class? Nope. The sooner students learn to be accountable, the sooner they will learn other lessons in life and the farther these lessons will take them.

I know that children need a quality education. I didn't want to become a teacher because of good teachers that inspired me...no, that's how I got to where I am today. I wanted to become a teacher because I wanted to teach differently than the teachers that I didn't like. I don't teach to win a popularity contest. I teach so that kids can learn art. I can do everything in my power to give a child that knowledge, but the student has to put in something. We all know that what you get out of something is usually correlational to what you put in to it. Why isn't education viewed the same way?

Check out the article and tell me what you think!:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-08-20-letters-education_x.htm

The Nerve!!

It seems there have complications from my oral surgery last week. My tooth had gnarly roots that were curly (see previous post). Those roots curled around a nerve in my jaw. As mentioned, the possibility of that nerve being bruised has actually happened.

Now, don't fret. This doesn't hurt. The opposite is true, I'm numb and have no feeling from the middle of my lip, down to my chin, across my jaw and some in the lower cheek. I called the dentist the next morning, to let him know that I still felt like the novacane hasn't warn off yet. He told me not to worry and made an appointment for me to see him on Thursday.

I have to say, it doesn't hurt, but it is freakin' annoying!! I bite my lip or cheek and don't realize it until it starts to bleed. I drool and awful lot. I don't realize when there is food on my face. Putting on lipstick is a huge challenge (I can't feel the tube on my lip). And often, when I drink I don't realize my beverage is dribbling out of the corner of my mouth until it hits my chest. I feel like a stroke victim!! I'm worried that my lip looks fat and my mouth/smile is lopsided. I certainly don't want to be mistaken for Roger Ebert!

I'm not really sure what I can do about it. I guess it's just wait and see, but I'll keep you updated. I'm thinking about adding the Tooth Fairy to my hit list.

Where's the Tooth Fairy?

So, I haven't been around in a while. Basically, I've been trying to pretend that summer is not in fact coming to an end.

Today, however was particularly unpleasant. I had a wisdom tooth pulled (it was impacted). It was kinda gross. When he was pulling it the cracking sounded like bubble wrap. The only minor complication is that the root was actually growing around the nerve. The dentist stated that there is a possibility that the nerve was bruised and that the numbness may not go away for several weeks. Annoying, yes. But at least it won't hurt!

You can see my gnarly tooth...






Yeah, they let me keep it!

The good news is that it's been seven hours and the Novocain still hasn't worn off (although I do have a major lisp!) I've decided that I'm just going to lay around the house tonight with my ducky ice pack...

and watch the Bears game with my "nurse", Seamus. Who, as you can see is quite bored with me blogging!!

If the Bears aren't doing so well, I may venture out to Blockbuster and Dairy Queen! Don't worry, there's no pain. If there is, my Dentist, who is a very nice man, gave me a prescription for Vicodin. All I need to do is sit around and wait for the Tooth Fairy!

So HOT!!

Ok, not original, but it is FREAKIN' HOT!!
Too hot to blog...too hot to go to the gym (even though I should be there instead of procrastinating by blogging...) just too darn hot!!
But I did come across a refreshing recipie. I haven't tried it yet. It's been too hot to go get the cucumbers... but it sounds yummy. I stumbled across the recipie at Epicurious' website. http://www.epicurious.com/drinking/drink_views/views/235327

Here's the recipie:

ingredients:

2 large cucumbers (1 1/2 pounds total) 1/2 cup gin 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon sugar 1 cup ice cubes 4 lime slices

prep:

Slice four 1/4-inch-thick slices from 1 cucumber. Peel and coarsely chop remaining cucumbers; transfer to processor and purée until smooth. Pour through fine strainer set over large bowl, pressing on solids in strainer. Discard solids in strainer.Mix 1 cup cucumber juice, gin, lime juice, and sugar in pitcher; stir until sugar dissolves. Add ice; mix well. Immediately strain mixture into 4 small Martini glasses. Garnish with lime and cucumber slices and serve. Makes 4.

If you make it before I do...let me know how it tastes! Until then, stay cool!