HEY! more shit. check it:

friend of ours had a cornfield, so we went to pick some.

when dad was a bachelor, he only had condiments in his fridge. now that he’s married, he only has condiments in his fridge.

burned out car at the end of my street. no idea how it happened.

you’ve seen the stephanie/ned portraits, these are katy’s and mine. they’re.. just terrible.

mom and katy outside a restaurant.

waiting for the rest of my friends to show up at bar trivia night.

gretchen, my cousin, gwyn’s sister (probably a picture or two of her in the archive somewhere)

a massive two story fire at joe’s, this doesn’t do it justice.

my dad’s weird ass cat, george. this dude sleeps/sits/hides in the sink, has no problem getting wet, and as you can see, toilets are fair game.

and finally..

paul shaved down to a moustache for his chicago job. he looks EXACTLY LIKE HIS DAD.

and here’s paul in all the shit he has to wear for the job - the fact that the moustache sticks out on either side is fucking hilarious.

my head hurts, it’s 4am, and i’ve spent 400 bucks on presents over the past 14 days. i’m going to bed.

Prefuse 73 is like music catered to people with ADD/ADHD.

shit, i haven’t written here in ages, have i? i think it’s mostly because nobody reads it anymore. and no, this isn’t a fish for comments or consolation. it’s just that i have nothing to talk about. as life becomes more mundane and acceptable, what’s there to bitch or write about?

i’ve been working at chacha, which most of you already know, playing games, sleeping, doing things day to day like always.

rockstar games did send me this for getting 100% in GTA4:

so that was pretty nice.

but.. yeah. nothin’ big, just day to day.

I can’t fucking wait for November. All my friends are pushy democrat faggots who apparently think I’m a fucking HEATHEN for not liking Obama (truth be told, I don’t like McCain either, I’m gonna be disappointed either way) and feel that they need to educate me on the wonders of the democratic party when I just want them to shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT THE FUCK UP.

GOD.

I’ve tried to write this as.. non-vulgar as I can, but it simply cannot be done. That’s your warning.

You know, it’s pretty pathetic that we reward our teachers with the wonderful present of depression come September. Even the FACT that a quote such as “Those who can’t, teach.” exists is repulsive. In a country that holds education so high, we really fuck our lower education schools and teachers.

Here are our problems:

1. Administration.
a) Young teachers do not stay. This is a fact of life. 20-30 year-olds in a teaching position in a public school simply have more opportunity in other places, in other schools, shit, in other fields completely, so why should they stay? The administration fawns over them to keep them. They want career teachers, when they have them already. Older teachers get shit on. It’s almost as if their 10-30 year career opinion is worth less than the young teacher who has been there for 2.
b) School boards. How much do you think they get paid? You’d think less, right? Or about equal to what a teacher would get? Yeah, you wish. I’ve heard of cases where the administration above teachers get double what a teacher gets. Now, I’m curious as to how these people think that’s anywhere near fair. Are you busting your ass daily to cram as much knowledge into these kids’ heads before the end-of-grade? Nope. So why do you get more? What makes you so much better than the people who guide our fucking kids through the first years of their life?
c) Turnover. I touched on this above, but it works for administration too. When there is a principal that quits or is moved up, or transferred. When that happens, a vacuum of power is created, and it sucks up the next in line: the vice principal, or a principal in another school. These people are the worst thing to happen to a school, just above the school board. Imagine the most controlling, egotistical, superiority-complex-having person you can think of, and you might come close to a principal. Everything they see is their domain, and under their control. And change, they change everything. a new principal changes every system the teachers are used to. Some require daily meetings that last hours on end, some require lesson plans for each day, every hour of every day at the beginning of the week, leaving no flexibility for teachers in the least. Some principals show blatant favorites. The vice-principal you loved the day before, could be the principal you cannot stand the next day.

2. The Kids.

a) The kids themselves. There are always problem children. There will always be problem children. This is simply a fact of life, and must be dealt with by the teachers. Some offer incentives to behave, some simply retrain the child into acting decent, and some just cannot be reached. You know who actually gives a shit about education? The Latinos. I’m dead freaking serious, they send their kids in there and they’re the best performers throughout the school year. Not that it matters, in many states there is literally no way to fail a grade. Especially if there is no funding/option for summer school. No summer school, no failing. Just go on through! Isn’t that convenient? Why even bother?

b) Punishment/incentive. At this point, many states are going to the pay-students-for-good-grades bullshit. And that’s what it is, it’s grade-A bullshit. I’m sorry, you don’t get paid to go to school. And with no failing, there is no incentive to act decent, or try to excel. Teachers can’t touch a kid. Period, end of story. Unless they’re in places like Texas, where paddling is still acceptable, and I applaud those places, I really do. I wish it was everywhere, because parents don’t do it anymore. How many people do you know that spank their kids? Either you love or hate the idea. There is no in-between. I am a product of spanking parents. If and when I have kids, I will spank them. That’s it. It’s a quick, easy punishment for kids to learn that they’re out of line. Did it suck as a kid? Sure it did, but did I do what I got spanked for again? Nope. Trying to explain to a 3-year-old why throwing a baseball through a window is a bad idea is not going to work. They’re fucking three years old. They don’t get it yet. Why, do you think, there are so many shows now about kids acting out and a superwoman coming in to save the day from the parents who have no course of action? Because no one spanks anymore, and kids aren’t getting it. Which brings me to:

c) Parents. There are a few parents that care, don’t get me wrong. But the majority couldn’t give a flying fuck about how their kids do before, during, or after the school year. For many of these kids, they are simply paychecks for their parents. I’ve heard kids call their ADHD/ADD/mental disability checks they get from the government (when they are absolutely not) - “crazy checks” that they then spend on shoes, clothes, and other crap rather than the medication or doctor visits. In a classroom with 20+ kids, how many parents would you assume would show up at a pre-school-year conference where the parents can meet the school faculty? A good majority, right? Yeah, I think last year it was maybe.. 1 pair of parents. One. ONE.

3. Government.

a) Funding. This is something that’s good in some states, horrible in others. Here, where I am, they have the education lottery, which is a double-edged sword. People complain that the poor are the only ones that play the lottery, but the proceeds go to education - that’s a whole different article (and I’ve yet to see anyone I know actually win anything more than 5 dollars from it). Funding has always been a problem for schools. It’s not that they don’t get enough (which they don’t), it’s simply that it’s spend on frivolous things. Take a look at this. This is a Smart board, how I have to ask you: what possible use could an elementary school be doing with this? I will admit, the projector they supply is nice, but I have personally set up many of these systems, and they go unused. Some don’t even use the projector, but when they are used, they’re used for videos and/or referencing pictures on the internet. And these systems cost THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. It’s not that the teachers don’t know how to use them, it is simply that there is no practical use for them when a twenty-dollar whiteboard can accomplish the exact same thing. Redirect these funds into things that are USEFUL, like textbooks that aren’t 10 years old, or more library books, or shit, give them to the teachers themselves to spend as they see fit.

b) No Child Left Behind. This is the worst idea on the face of human history, you know.. in its scale. Auschwitz was a pretty bad idea. You know what I mean. This is actually what spawned the no-way-to-fail thing I mentioned before. States have grades to live up to, and NCLB pushes them to either dumb down their curriculum altogether to cater to the weakest link, or simply pass them without them knowing anything. It’s usually the former. There is simply nothing good about the NCLB program. Nothing.

So you wonder about my rage. You wonder about my worry, this is why. And this is probably only half of it. I’m not privy to the real politics or struggles that go on in schools each day, this is an outside, slightly-biased view. I see teachers crying before the school year. Not one. Plural. Teachers, because they know what they face this year.

And it’s the same as every other year.

you know what, i don’t give a fuck who you are, you don’t talk about someone behind his back to his DAD to make YOU look better.

learned my lesson. i was giving stephanie the benefit of the doubt, being nice, trying to see her in a better light, but fuck that.

fuck.

that.

i ask her about pouring out the old gas in the tank, if she REALLY wants me to pour it on the ground, she said yes, just do what your dad wanted you to. i proceed to go work outside a bit, i come in and i certainly wasn’t quiet about entering, but i hear her talking upstairs, to dad. basically making me out to be a whiny bitch about pouring the gas out, telling him my reply to her earlier: “i don’t want to.” (because i didn’t really feel like polluting, killing the grass, just being a danger hazard) she said it like i was being bitchy ‘cos i didn’t want to do it in the first place, like a kid not eating his vegetables. the conversation went on painting me in a not-so-great light, so i just fucked off, did the rest of the work, went home.

dad asked why i sounded so stressed when he called, i said it wasn’t really anything i could talk about. he pressed the issue, saying is it me, your mom, katy, friends.. didn’t mention stephanie. heh. so i didn’t feel like getting into that whole bullshit, so i said no, it’s fine. i’m fine.

haha. trusting people is stupid. fucking bitch.

and if you somehow read this in the future, which i highly doubt you will, this is a journal, only public. i’ve said plenty of things that have caused shit to rain down on me before with friends and family, so i’ve learned not to care if someone reacts badly. tough shit. either leave a comment, don’t read it, or don’t get mad. those are your choices.

man, i should do more of these, i watch a shitload of movies.

—

you don’t mess with the zohan: funny. well, half funny. adam sandler’s getting very formulaic now: funny movie, rob schneider in it in some fashion (he is an awful actor, stop fucking giving him work.), cutesy ending where everything is a-okay. the first half was actually really good, pretty funny. i was laughing. but then the plot actually came back into it and it turned into a huge “ugh god just end the movie already.” festival. i wasn’t expecting punch drunk love, but shit, enough with the same old crap.

5/10 - half of a good score for half of a good movie.

—

harold and kumar escape from guantanamo bay: neil patrick harris makes this movie. i couldn’t give a flying fuck about the other two. it’s funny to see the situations they get into, but they were going after some girls that, again, i couldn’t give a fuck about. this is a turn your brain off movie, i know, and maybe if i smoked pot i’d get it. i’ve done my share, but maybe you have to be on it to really laugh.

3/10 - i’d go out with neil patrick harris, no shit. all three points are for him.

—

king of california: now this is the kind of movie you’d expect me to watch. michael douglas pulls off batshit insane perfectly. really fits in the dramedy kind of field, as it has its funny parts, it’s also that awkward funny. not as bad as curb your enthusiasm or anything, just barely. i’m torn between really wanting to have a resolution at the ending and leaving it up to my own brain to dwell on as to what really happened. i like resolution, and this just barely gave me enough to go on.

8/10 - i’m gonna go dig under sam’s club for shits and giggles.

—

in bruges: another ‘my’ kind of movie like the above. and another dramedy. god, i hate that word. from now on it’s drama/comedy. anyway. this was a tough movie to watch, especially near the end. it’s the kind of grit-your-teeth ending. not an action movie, though. also, midgets are hilarious. there goes my credibility as a real reviewer.

7/10 - ralph fiennes is still dreamy. also, “back off, shorty!”

—

the onion movie: holy shit, this was AWESOME. a bit late in its delivery of most of its ‘current event’ jokes, but blame that on the studio that held it back, then sent it direct to video. in any case, knowing the real outcome of the situations that spawned these jokes really only help to further the comedy. the fact that steven seagal can poke fun at himself makes it even more enjoyable. it’s not perfect, far from it, but it was funny, and while it may not be as dry and witty as the onion usually is, i’m sure they had to dumb it down to appeal to (what they thought was) a movie theater audience.

8.5/10 - “i don’t think you’ve got the BALLS.”

—

these reviews were pretty weak. they probably all are. but it’s writing, and i love doing that.

turn, turn, turn.

sorry bermuda. better you than me.

My feet are burned. What the crap. I was out for, what, two or three hours on Tuesday and they’re burned? Christ, I need to get out more. Granted, I didn’t put sunscreen on them, but still. Who the hell burns their feet?

Now after the second day, my shoulders and back of my neck are burned. I figure I’m just working on burning each body part a day at a time, and when I go home, I’ll be the color of a tomato.