Short anecdotes of odd happenings recently in my life.

Once upon a time, I was working at the video store. A customer came out of the back room, and, chuckling, says to me, "I could get lost in here, it's like a candy store."
Maybe I'm wrong, but that's just a little odd. Certainly not the oddest thing, or even close to the creepiest thing that's ever been said to me at work, but odd nonetheless.

I was driving down the street in Burlington, down Shelburne Road. In the middle of the afternoon, amidst quite heavy traffic, and between two lights (and hence between two crosswalks) three women stepped out into the road. Well, as much as I recognize that's a dumb idea, they clearly had plans to go ahead and cross four lanes of busy traffic without so much as a second thought about it. Naturally, my own survival instincts kicked in, aka, I didn't need a lawsuit for running over a jay-walker, and so I slowed down my car. Then, the strangest thing happened, one of the women stopped, dead center in my lane and just stared at me for a few seconds. So I gestured, somewhat impatiently for her to hurry up and get the hell out of the way. When she finally did, she screamed at me as I drove past her. I replied in a louder-than-normal voice, "Well don't stop in the middle of the road." To which she responded by throwing her coffee at my car. Normally, I get very irritated by such things, but at this point, an interesting thing happened, I realized two very important and highly amusing things. 1. No matter how angry I get, she's still going to enter the Darwin competition day after day. 2. Though she may have gotten her aggression out a bit, she is still without coffee. Oh, and for the hell of it, 3. It was going to rain that night, so I didn't even have to worry about cleaning it off my car.
Poor stupid woman.

And also, I hope my ficus is recovering... I trimmed off some branches that just couldn't seem to grow more leaves. And I gave it another shower. So, hopefully it's all good. You see what happened was that it got thrips. So I used some pesticide to kill them, but I had to let the tree dry before I could bring it inside so that the cats wouldn't get poisoned.
But, I left it on the porch to dry, and while I was at work, the temperature dropped. So I think it got a bit of temperature shock. So... hopefully, it's recovering. It looked really happy after the shower, so... And my viney thing... I think I need to re-pot that. I think I'll do that Tuesday. I'll just pull them all out, wash off the whole vines that are still healthy, and put it in new sanitary soil. I'm pretty sure it has spider mites, so...

Anyhow, there you have it. Odd happenings. I posted more than once this month.
You're welcome!

Hello there

Is there anything more pleasing than the sound of crisp leaves racing across the pavement? There is something so unique about that sound. It is made possible by us, by the human race. Without us, across what similar surface could leaves scuttle? They might blow over a rock outcropping now and again, but really, it's not the same.
I love the country, and I love Vermont. I really really do. Driving up the road today, the mountains were finally coloring. The trees have been changing for a little while now, but even when they first start, the mountains still look green, overshadowed by the conifers that refuse to change. As the season progresses, though, there becomes a point when the horizon just bursts into color. The mountains come alive!
Alright, sure, it's cheesy. But if you live here, you know what I mean, and whether or not you'll admit it, you feel the same way.
It's a time for fuzzy sweaters and scarves, hats and gloves. It's the time of the year where you more and more often find yourself saying, "I have got to remember to start my car in the morning. Brr." Or, at least if you're out the door by 8:00, you're saying that.
But the city has it's own draw, doesn't it? Even at the crack of dawn. There is a mystery about the city. You don't know what lies ahead because your view is obstructed. The city, it forces you to look more closely in front of your face, both physically and metaphorically.
While the country inspires us, reminds us to stand in awe of nature in all her majesty, it is the city that reminds us to stand in awe of ourselves. And our cities are becoming ever more sustainable. With increased awareness of our own carbon footprints, we are taking steps to bring a little bit of country into the city. First we thought up green roofs, which help insulate a building while also providing a nice landscape. Then we thought of rooftop gardening. Now we can keep ourselves warm and put dinner (or a contribution thereto) on the table. Standing on a quiet street corner in the foggy evening, the only thing you can see in the city is what's right in front of you. The only concern to which you can attend is yourself, and the magnificent creations of man that surround you. And if you're lucky, you are smart enough to appreciate that.

Good Golly, I've done it again!

Not a very good blogger, me. Well, tons of exciting things have been going on.

Which one?

Huzzah!

Oh, I am so excited about this psychology bit. I had considered psychology as a child as a possible career choice, but I dismissed it because I just didn't think it was what I would want to do. I want to teach. I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and a lot of work. But I have been advised by the lovely Diane Hermann-Artim that it would not be that much more to take psychology as a second major instead of just a course concentration. So that is what I have decided to do. I don't really know why it never crossed my mind before, but now I am just thrilled. I mean, listen to some of the super awesome courses I get to take:
Biological Psychology
Philosophical Psychology** (intellectual orgasm?)
Psychology of Gender
Psychology of Religion
Psychology of Addiction
Controversial Issues in Psychology
Sexuality and Intimacy
Culture & Personality
Ok, I don't get to take them all. I want to, and I will likely beg and plead with the advisor to let me, but seriously, I love psychology. I also love philosophy. And education. (I always laugh at the thought of loving philosophy. Philosophy being a love of knowledge by definition, it just seems redundant. I love loving knowledge... hmm. Well, I do..)
ANYWAY....
On the education side there are some really exciting classes too...
Besides all the great classes I've already taken, I get to take...
Rhetorical Expression, though I can test out..
Literacy Instruction
Educational Psychology (look, there it is again, that psychology. Love it!)
Methods in Health and Physical Education for Elementary School Teachers
Elementary Student Teaching** so excited for this one!!!! Hooray practical experience!
Social and Natural Science Methods
Methods and Materials

But yeah...
Ok, I know whatever, you all aren't so excited for my classes, but you took time to read my note, so you should at least be excited for me. Seriously, though.. hmm.. the possibilities. Who knows, maybe I'll move on to a Master's in both studies. Maybe even a doctorate in psychology. That would actually be kind of awesome.
Someday, I'm going to have my own theory. It will be published, and years down the road, it will be included in textbooks. Yes! Ah a renewed outlook on my future. How refreshing.
G'day.

Oops

It's kind of been a while, and you've all been so patient. Truly, I appreciate it.
I have nothing to rant about these days. I mean, I'm in school, except now it's out for the summer, and life is good. I hate bad drivers, and poor grammar is infuriating.
But, I guess if those are the biggest complaints in my life, what the hell right?
Yeah, I don't have a very interesting blog, I'm afraid. Someday when I have nothing better to do than blog I will write more insightful posts. But for now, well, whatever. Have a nice day.

I was just thinking...

I was reading about this Philip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist Killer....
And I was thinking that if I was a hooker, I would take a picture of my client to SMS to my pimp every time, at the onset of every encounter. It might kill business a little bit, but if anyone ever killed me, it would be a good way to catch them right off.
I don't know, I think a guy would think twice before killing a hooker who already sent out his picture...

16PF

Cattell's 16 Factor Test Results Warmth |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78% Intellect ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Emotional Stability ||||||||||||||| 46% Aggressiveness ||||||||||||||| 46% Liveliness ||||||||||||||| 46% Dutifulness ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% Social Assertiveness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78% Sensitivity |||||||||||||||||| 58% Paranoia ||||||||||||||| 42% Abstractness |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 86% Introversion ||| 10% Anxiety ||||||||||||||| 42% Openmindedness |||||||||||||||||| 58% Independence |||||||||||| 38% Perfectionism ||||||||||||||| 50% Tension ||||||||| 26%

Take Cattell 16 Factor Test (similar to 16pf)
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The Big 5

I'm a O84-C13-E70-A63-N27 Big Five!!

Well, this is fun

So I am taking this class, Foundations of Education. We are learning pretty much everything I have to dread about becoming a teacher. Financing, policy and bureaucracy, curriculum work, basically, just how tough it is going to be.
My brain is fried just thinking about it, honestly. But I also don't have a class full of kids to cheer me up right now, just my textbooks and my computer screen.
I am, however, really enjoying my other classes.
Also, I'm too tired to even write this post.
Goodnight.

Coming Distractions for February 10, 2009

Here's What You'll Find on Our Shelves This Tuesday, they are new, and will have not been there before, so come and check them out.



Also, thank you all so much for keeping us in business during these lean times. We really appreciate you.

Nights in Rodanthe


My Name is Bruce

Gospel Hill

The Romance of Astrea and Celadon


The Best of Wholphin

The Times of Harvey Milk

W.


Soul Men

Miracle At St. Anna

Frozen River


Blindness

For the kids we have
Madagascar Escape 2 Africa

and finally on DVD we have
Our Man in Havana

So, come on in and rent them. What are you waiting for?!?!
Oh, Tuesday, right.
Well, come in Tuesday then.

I've got no blog to blog...

Today, I haven' much to say that I would make so public. But for you, my adoring fan, I thought I should at least poke my head in and say something.
I was out at a friend's party last night, and what a wonderful time it was. My host, quite inebriated, began waxing philosophic on change. We all change, and there is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes we grow together, other times we grow apart. But the mistake that you should not make, which is commonly made, he said, is to view who you were before the change as a bad or immature thing. You were just different.
Now, that is paraphrased, of course, I was not, between shrimp and white wine, jotting down notes in a steno...
But an interesting thought, nonetheless, and one that I feel we should all come to terms with sooner or later.
I have changed quite a bit in the past few years, and I never cease to amaze myself. I constantly disappoint myself also, but I try to overlook all that.
So, there it is, I have written down someone else's thoughts for the day, and hopefully you will find them inspiring.
~Katie May

On Life

I was having a thought the other day about a particular style of writing in which you cover the majority of the span of a persons life by focusing in on very important moments, and kind of summarizing the in between parts. I was thinking to myself, why is it that our lives can't actually go by like this. Then I remembered that for the most part they do.
Think back over your life, what do you remember? Do you remember that you took a bath instead of a shower on June 2 1992? Probably not, don't ask me how I know.
More likely you remember the important parts, your first kiss, a great date, your first day at a new school, when you aced that science project on which you had worked so hard...
But in the meantime, we still have to live the everyday time, most of which we generally spend looking forward to the moments we anticipate remembering. Most of them we forget.
I recently found an old diary from when I was about fourteen/fifteen years old. Need I say more? But I will. I found in those pages the undue sense of drama characteristic of early adolescence. Everything was a big deal. He smiled at me, I know it means true love. Ha! Take that teenage self.
And what will I think of myself in another decade when I look back on my twenties? Will I admire my courage, facing life for the first time? Will I denounce my optimism as naivety? Will I grow nostalgic for the simpler time that I can only assume this will seem to have been? Will I mock my open heart, my frivolity, my presumed adulthood? Time will tell.
For now, I look impatiently forward to the next memorable moment of my life.
Katie May

It's my generation...

What's with kids these days, huh? Don't they understand that the world is a scary place. People I know just meet each other and trust each other for no reason. How many people have I known to just go home, or worse, camping with a complete stranger? Sure, nothing bad has happened to any of them... yet.
But what is the world coming to when people just meet over the internet on places like couchsurfing.com and craigslist and they just trust one another. How naive can you be to just let some stranger come and stay at your house? Or to go and stay at the house of someone you have only met online? I mean, sure there are ratings, blogs from people who know them and have stayed with them before, and sure the worst thing to happen so far off of couchsurfing was a money scheme, that was mostly due to stupidity on the part of the host who got took, but still.
Kids these days just put it all out there. Pictures, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, what town they live in, where they work...
With all that goes on in the world, wars and terrorism and kidnappings and killings, with all of that, how can these kids be so foolish.
What kind of world are we living in where trust and kindness are freely given? What kind of world is this that kids value life experiences and meeting new people over the slight chance that one of these days, they might meet a crazy person and never be found?

People buy and sell stuff from strangers thousands of miles away. People form relationships with people they have never met, and then agree to actually meet them in person. People publish content that was once locked away in a diary on blogs for the world to see. Where did all the trust come from?

That's my generation.
Katie May

Well, this proves it...

Your result for The Ultimate TRUE IRISH Test...

Finn MacCool

You scored 91 Common Sense, 69 Irish Facts, and 90 Irish Soul!

I am honored to be in your presence. You know your stuff. You are Irish in your heart. You probably talk like an Irish person after a few pints. You sing the rebel songs. You drink, and probably bleed Guinness. You may have even been interned in British Prisions. You impress (or annoy) all your friends with your vast Irish knowledge. If you are a female, I am in love. If you are a male, we are brothers. We should have a pint.

Please don't forget to rate my test...

Take The Ultimate TRUE IRISH Test at HelloQuizzy