meh - PART II

Okay! I had twenty minutes of silence. That was a relief. Now the music is back. BRIAN ADAMS is being played. I wish we could call the police to report bad taste in music down here in Brazil. Gee, this is getting ridiculous.

meh

What goes on in a person's mind when it is Sunday morning and you are awake and your neighbor too, but your neighbor, instead of being quiet, making his breakfast, or cleaning his house, he decides to play loud music. LOOOOUD. And the songs range from the crappiest ones ("Love is in the air", Flashdance soundtrack, and Celine Dion hits) to those ridiculous classical music hits such as ("Haleluia" and "Nuptial March"). What in heavens have I done to deserve this? Oh Lord, help me.

in my life i have learned that it is so much easier being depressed because happiness is just far too shocking, people would be completely content being down-trodden and sticking that out. happiness tricks you up because you feel like you don’t deserve it. it takes work. it’s a skill, actually. this is just a little side note that i have recently discovered. do what you have to do to be happy, genuinely, disgustingly happy, and do not question it or turn it over and over again until it makes sense because you will spoil it. accept it and carry on.
anyway, i seem to collect sad people, i feel like the saddest one of them all and i do a fair enough job hiding it as best i can so much so the general population doesn’t know it, ‘cept for the rest of the sad guys, they know it. you can sense it very easily. sometimes i sense it so profoundly (i swear i’m not baked right now) emanating off some stranger or other and i have to either leave the room or say something to them about it

by Raymi

Pet Peeves about my sleeping disorder

I often fall asleep with my computer on on my lap. The thing is that it has been cold like hell (oh well, hell must be hot, but who knows really?) and because of that I kinda prefer to type and navigate under blankets in bed. Then I usually wake up by the sound of something dropping on the floor. I am glad that HP makes tough laptops.

Walls

To see a wall in your dream, signifies limitations. obstacles and boundaries. There is a barrier obstructing your progress. You may be too accustomed to your old habits and way of thinking.

To dream that you are building a wall, signifies a bad relationship or some childhood trauma. It also suggests that you have accepted your limitations.

"I don't like doing anything
without your Mother,"
I tell my daughter
who's feeling guilty
as a Salem witch trial judge
about not wanting to go out for dinner
and drinks with her old
sorority sisters leaving her husband
home alone watching the baby on
a Friday night.
My wife stares almost indignant
at me from across the room,
responding immediately
to be sure there are no misunderstandings,
"But I like going out
with my girlfriends."
I'm glad she's not pleased or flattered
that after all these years
I still like being with her so much.
I'm embarrassed when I realize,
when it is pointed out to me
so clearly that more than anything,
like having to wear a cast
on a skiing trip
I'm more of a burden
to her than anything else.

by Donna

and that's how it goes...

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Snake

To see a snake or be bitten by one in your dream, signifies hidden fears and worries that are threatening you. Your dream may be alerting you to something in your waking life that you are not aware of or that has not yet surfaced. Alternatively, the snake may be seen as phallic and thus symbolize temptation, dangerous and forbidden sexuality. If you are afraid of the snake, then it signifies your fears of sex, intimacy or commitment. The snake may also refer to a person around you who is callous, ruthless, and can't be trusted. As a positive symbol, snakes represent healing, transformation, knowledge and wisdom. It is indicative of self-renewal and positive changes.

Water

To see water in your dream, symbolizes your unconscious and your emotional state of mind. Water is the living essence of the psyche and the flow of life energy. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. To dream that water is boiling, suggests that you are expressing some emotional turmoil. It also may mean that feelings from your unconscious are surfacing and ready to be acknowledged. You need to let out some steam.

To see calm, clear water in your dream, signifies that you are in tune with your spirituality. It denotes serenity, peace of mind, and rejuvenation.

Been missing my long old hair

I had been having long hair for a quite while before I had it cut really short. It was long when I decided to move down to the South of Brazil. My hair was long when I left the USA. It was long when I went to NYC in September 2001, a week prior the attack. My hair was long when I fell in love with that magestic city. I have been missing Manhattan.

PREDATOR concert: a local death metal band...

... playing in town last year on December 21st. I liked that night but not as much as this night I have in mind - September 6th, 1991. On this day, something really important happened. There was this thing that started eighteen years ago: Roberto and I started dating.


It has been 18 years of relationship. Roberto and I are celebrating eighteen years of love and mess today. On September 6th, 1991, we both headed for a party and there, we kissed for the first time. I was 15 and he was 16. We were drinking Bloody Mary and listening to Sepultura at that place. It was the beginning of the 90's, and Brazilian MTV had recently started its broadcasting down here. Music was the major excuse to have met him two weeks prior that party. I had pretended that I needed to tape a vinyl album at a friend's place. The thing is that coincidently, he was going to be at my friend's house studying math. And the only free time I had to go to her house was exactly at the time they were studying in the dining room of her place. Pure teenage stuff. The record I had bought, just to have an honest excuse to go to my friend's house and record it on a cassete tape, was ARISE, by SEPULTURA. That is why I still wear the same T-shirt of this band as a tribute to our history. I did get there. I did record the tape. They could not keep studying math as the noise of Sepultura record was way a little too loud, so Roberto was kinda "forced" to go to the living room, where I was sitting on the sofa, and there he striked up a conversation with me. After a few words about sharing the same taste on music, we came up with an idea of plannning a party at that friend's house. The party took place two weeks later. There, we found ourselves listening to punk and heavy metal bands and having as a drink BLOODY MARY. On September 6th, minutes to September 7th, we kissed, and kissed... The rest of this story has been continued since 1991...

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day:

This is so cool:

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=554368

It was about time: UPDATES

I have been losing kilos (or pounds) since I spent almost a month in Europe, and that was in December/08 and January/09. I started the trip with 71kg and now I've got 62kg and my goal is to reach 57 which is how much I weighed when I was 15. I am 33 now btw. After that trip, we had a great new year beginning at our business and Roberto and I had firmly made up our minds towards moving out of the school and getting our own real place to live in. This is where I am right now. Sitting on my funky bed, in my yet-to-decorate bedroom looking through my window and observing a heavy cloudy sky. It is 3C and this winter has been this way. We even got -6C which is quite unusual down here. The ironic thing is that it never gets to snow down here and that is a quite bummer. I started working out this year. Unfortunately I get to go to the gym only once a week, but it has helped me in a way. I believe that moving out from the building of the school and finally having my own place has taught me how important it is to take care of myself in the sense of body and mind. I also started therapy and that has been going on for about a month or so, and my therapist has showed me that my personal problems aren't simple but totally easy to get over. Hubby found out about his DIABETES and that was a huge shock to all of us although nobody in our families has been informed about it except for his brothers and his sister-in-law who happens to be a doctor and she told him the precautions he must take and he has been strictly following them. He's been guided by a nutritionist and he has nailed her instructions especially everytime he checks his blood in that meter thing and he knows he is getting the right thing. This disease came to our lives as a blessing (how ironic it is to say such a thing... but what am I to say?) He started taking care of his diet and we even started watching for what we eat and drink. And all that thanks to his high sugar blood level. I've been experiencing a whole total new phase in my life which is bringing me forward although there are still some issues left to deal with. My therapist keeps telling me that I am not supposed to harm me or blame me for not being able to be the best teacher, the best wife, the best entrepreneur, the best cook, the best maid, the best blogger... etc. We could just be happy for the fact of BEING. But this is so so so hard... And yesterday, I had to look for another health professional. It was a last-minute call for having broken a tooth. My dentist had to see me at 8:00 pm on a Saturday. Poor him. As my therapist likes to say: "And this is the story of my life. Oh well, I just know that I am making hummus tonight."

From Twitter: What are you doing?

...watching youtube videos

Need a new camera urgently...

Hints on Using a Digital Camera in the Classroom

These ideas can be modified for your specific grade level & student/teacher abilities. The BEST way to get the most out of ideas such as these is to let students do as much hands on as they are able. With good modeling by the teacher, repetitive instruction on the do's & don'ts of handling cameras, and encouraging observations by the teacher, even Kindergarten students should be able to take their own pictures to use in their projects!
1.Have kids dress up as "what they want to be when they grow up" to illustrate career reports.

2.Take a series of pictures (1st step, 2nd step, etc) showing how to do something (how to add 2 numbers, how to conduct a science experiment, how to draw a picture in Kid Pix, etc.).

3.Record pattern block constructions, story maps, inventions, etc.

4. Use the 5 second movie option to record each student saying how they've used Math today, or what their favorite season is & why, or their definition of Science, etc. Assemble into a slideshow (Powerpoint or Kid Pix).

5. Take pictures of students in September, January, & February to watch them grow.

6. Assign pairs of students to go on a walk through the school to find examples of geometric shapes (circles, triangles, parallel lines, obtuse angles, etc).

7. Create a virtual tour of your classroom. Have each student select an area to photograph and describe to create one page in a slideshow. Expand to create "tours" of your school and/or community.

8. Document the growth of a school project: planting & growing of a class garden, any school construction project, the tree outside your classroom window throughout the seasons, etc.

9. Create a "School Rules" or "Class Rules" book complete with illustrations of acceptable behaviors (with your students posing "caught" in appropriate activities).

10. Have teams of students take pictures of everyday things & put into Kid Pix /Powerpoint with English & Spanish/French vocabulary. Print out for a classroom "Pictionary".

11. Take pictures around town of easily recognizable signs (the McDonald's arches, the Big Boy, etc). Assemble into a book titled "I Can Read". Great to inspire confidence in K and 1st Grade beginning readers.

12.Assign a new "Class Photographer" each week. This student should have easy access to the digital camera. The assignment: to capture at least 1 photo of "learning in action" to be used in that week's newsletter home. Of course, s/he would also be responsible for 1 -2 sentences describing what's happening in the photo.

13.Record a series of student pictures as they act out a story they've read or that another student has written. Use as illustrations for the story or as a means for telling what happened first, etc.

14.Use photos of students to illustrate an "All About the Author" page for student published books.

15.Print out full-body photos of students in "poses". Cut out their picture from the background and glue into art projects ("This is me in Fall", "Me on the Ocean Floor", etc.).

16.Import student photos into Kid Pix. Use the Eraser Tool to erase the background. Use the Drawing tools to create pictures of the student in their Halloween costume, as their favorite Fairy Tale character, as Santa Claus ("What I would give to the World as a Present"), etc.

17.Fall introductions: Set up a template for a Classroom Trading Card. Each card should include the student's picture, their full name, and important facts about that student. Print out on card stock and have students had them out to each other so each student has a full class set. Post a set on a bulletin board, use as drawing cards to decide groups, who's next on the computer, etc.

18.Insert a digital picture of you on your "Welcome to my classroom" card that you send out before school starts.

19.Take a class picture and print on special iron-on paper for Class T shirts. Great to wear on Field Trips, for Field Day, etc.

20. Use student photos for "Student of the Week" displays, special certificates and awards.

21.Take lots of pictures when your class is on a field trip. Back in the classroom, each student can choose 1 picture to label with a short description of what was happening or why this was important or some tidbit they learned. Print a copy for all.

22.Take pictures of students with their families during open house. Make sure you label, so you will recognize parents at conferences later in the year.

23.Insert photos of each student into a word document (size them small enough so your whole class fits on one page). Label each picture with the student's name. Helpful for subs, parent helpers, and non-readers.

24.Use the page of student photos to help students take surveys. Insert the page into a plastic sheet, hand one student a vis a vis pen, and pair him/her up with another student who has a survey question on a clipboard. Once they've surveyed a fellow student, they can X out that student's picture to keep track of who hasn't been asked yet. I include my picture at the end so I know when the survey is officially over and they are ready to tally their results.

25.Have to disconnect cables to move your computer? Take several pictures of where the cables go so it's easier to reassemble. Do the same with bulletin boards that really worked for you.

26.Record pictures of bulky art projects to put into a student portfolio.


Got this from http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/

Been missing London

My place

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