Day 19

More reasons to love 'Community':

• Naming the bio lab rat Fievel -- I laughed so hard at this!
• Joel McHale = awesome
  
• 'Offer them a sandwich.'
• Greene Daye
• Troy jumping onto the lab counter, screaming and petrified

In real-world news: The people with whom I most recently interviewed want to fly me out there! Looks like it'll be a really long day trip, but at least it's a non-stop flight. Renting a car and driving myself around an unfamiliar place, on the other hand, is not looking too appealing..

Day 18

I am currently working on this job application, and it's pretty intensive; it requires a cover letter and resume, three reference letters, transcripts, contact info for references, and 'documentation of superior teaching ability'. Not quite sure what that last one means, but it's optional anyway, so I'm hoping those references will speak for me. Anyway, I've been hammering away at this cover letter for a few days now, and I just don't want to work on it any more. Which is a shame, because it's not quite finished yet... still needs editing. I will (probably) get it done by tomorrow, because that's when the deadline is, but it's killing me right now. Just thought I'd share that with you all.

On a lighter note, did you ever wish you could turn your handwriting into a computer font? You can! It's actually really cool; I've managed to download my own font, but having a bit of trouble getting Word to recognize it.. planning to acquire Open Office so maybe that'll work. But a font made of your handwriting, how cool is that? Especially for you people who have cooler handwriting than I do. (read: not teacher handwriting)

Day 17

Shows You Need to Watch: 'Community'
Second in an occasional series

Oh, this show. This show has taken over the spot in my heart where 'The Office' used to be. It makes me laugh out loud, which very rarely happens with TV shows. Every one of the characters is funny. (except maybe Senor Chang, I find him obnoxious and over-the-top) I absolutely make time for it whenever it's on.

Let's break it down, shall we? As you may have gathered from my previous ramblings on 'Glee', I enjoy a program that has relatable characters, lets those characters play off of each other for a while, has quick and witty dialogue, and contains callback references for those loyal viewers. The checklist for 'Community' looks as follows:

1. Relatable characters: check. Everyone knows a Britta, Troy, Annie and/or (to a lesser extent) Jeff. Abed is unpredictably delightful; you never know what he's going to say or do, and it's always funny. Bonus: Abed sometimes provides meta commentary on the show, which I think is hilarious.
2. Characters playing off of each other: check. I think they've been paired up differently in each episode so far, and each combination has been great. Though the Troy/Abed closing tags win, in my opinion, especially the "Donde esta la Bibliothequa" rap.
3. Fast-paced dialogue: check. So many one-liners in this show! Sometimes I miss some, because I'm still laughing at the previous dialogue. Example: When the community college dean left the room in one scene, he cheerily called out, 'Dean you later!'
   
4. Callbacks: check. When this show makes a joke or a reference, even in passing, it follows through. Cases in point from last week: The men's basketball team, which is suspected to be gay ("Nice try, Bruce!"); the Greendale Human Being (which is creepily hilarious).

In conclusion, watch this show, Thursdays at 8. You will love it, and you will be my best friend by helping keep it on the air.

Day 16

This morning, I got ready to use the elliptical machine, as I often do. (or have been for the past month, at least) My iPod is being disagreeable, so I was reduced to listening to the radio, just like every day for the past few days. So I turned on the radio to the random 80's/90's/pretty crappy music station I happened to find, and it was during their commercial break. No surprise there. I started my workout and had just finished the warmup section, when they come back from commercial and start in with the music.

IT WAS CHRISTMAS MUSIC.

WTF, people? It's November 16. It is 50 degrees outside. People are raking leaves, not shoveling snow. The reason we have a Thanksgiving holiday is to delineate the post-Halloween weeks from the official 'holidays' period. I can forgive places like the UK or Germany for pushing the season a bit, but COME ON NOW.

Since I was already 'in the groove', so to speak, I didn't want to stop, get off, find a new station and restart my workout. This resulted in later getting to the hardest part of my routine, towards the end, when I could have used some driving music... and Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' came on the radio. I wanted to melt to the floor and die. It's a great song, but not at all suited for a high-energy cardio workout, just FYI. I am definitely finding new music tomorrow.

In case you're curious, the song that had the auspicious honor of unofficially kicking off the Christmas season was 'Frosty the Snowman' by the Beach Boys. It's November 16, and we're not off to a great start.

Day 15

I almost forgot to post today. Man, November is way too long.

Day 14

My friend and former German buddy Carolyn is in her second year of teaching English in Bulgaria, and she keeps a blog, which you can find here. Bulgaria being a former Communist state, Carolyn has an interesting perspective on the fall of the Berlin Wall and how people view the old communist state with nostalgia, real or imagined. Her last couple of entries have really gotten me thinking about life in East Germany, and the relationship between capitalism and communism -- for example, how symbols of the DDR are now marketed on t-shirts, coffee mugs and refrigerator magnets. (Life would be a much more boring place without the Ampelmaennchen, let me assure you.) Go read her blog if you are interested, and if you want to know my (random) thoughts, I posted a few comments on there. Also, Carolyn shared this photo essay via her Twitter feed, and it is phenomenal. Go look at it now, I'll wait.

The DDR was a weird, amazing place, eh? Now I'm the one who's nostalgic.

Day 13

Segueing a bit from yesterday's 'Glee' post.. Wednesday's particular episode also reminded me of a reason why I want to live in the US, rather than Germany or elsewhere: American schools try exceptionally hard to mainstream kids with disabilities. I'm sure viewers the other night didn't think twice about seeing a student with Down syndrome or a kid in a wheelchair. But in Germany, special ed students are completely segregated from their peers at an early age. Since kids are funneled into schools on different tracks (college prep, technical school, etc.) starting in fifth grade, I'd say segregation definitely is set by then, if not before. I mean, they have entire special ed schools so that these students aren't in the classrooms with their peers. During my two years working at college prep schools, I didn't even encounter anyone in a wheelchair, let alone students with other disabilities. The homogeneousness (?) was a bit frightening, actually. Americans may have other faults, but our treatment of kids with disabilities reflects our respect for all students and our commitment to treating people equally. If you don't teach that by example starting in elementary school, where do you expect kids to learn it?

In other news: Happy Friday the 13th! Don't walk under a ladder, cross a black cat's path, or break a mirror. Or perhaps do those things in pairs so they cancel each other out.

Addendum 2: I had a job interview today. It went pretty well, I think, though you can never tell with these things. The position is not specifically my interests but is in my field. The pay is pretty low, but some salary is better than no salary, I suppose!

Addendum 3: I am in love with NBC's Thursday night lineup. Expect a post on 'Community' sometime soon, it is brilliant.

Day 12

Shows You Need To Watch: "Glee"
First in an occasional series

Not to get all gushy, but OMG you guyz did you see glee last nite? it was totes awesome!!!!1!!one! It's been a long time since I was thoroughly enamored with a new TV show -- probably since 'The Office' came out -- but this is a show that I really look forward to watching, every single time. It can be hit or miss; sometimes too sappy, sometimes loose ends are wrapped up entirely too neatly, and the whole "Will's wife is a shrew and faking her pregnancy and overly possessive" plotline needs to end. But it's often funny (especially the callbacks!), occasionally touching (surprisingly -- take Sue's character development last night as an example), and contains musical numbers as an added bonus. I will admit to a soft spot for musicals, especially when they're done well. And the songs in this show are both well-chosen and incredibly well-performed. (Sometimes too much; can a high school glee club really be that polished?) Plus, the characters are relatable; they all have their quirks and flaws and it's interesting to see how they're going to bounce off each other from one episode to the next. I know they're eventually going to make it to finals, but I keep watching to see how they get there.

Anyway, enough parentheticals and asides -- go watch 'Glee', Wednesdays at 9. You may have to watch more than one episode to get hooked, but it'll happen, trust me.

Day 11

The internet has been down all day but has finally decided to start working, and I am watching 'Glee' right now, and I would much rather continue to do that rather than put together a blog post. So that's what I'm going to do. Don't be too disappointed.

Day 10

Nope, no Berlin Wall post here.

Instead, as I was working out (!) this morning, I heard classic 80s song "Take On Me" and was reminded of those literal interpretations of music videos. (Thanks to Müs for introducing me to those.) So enjoy:




There's also "Total Eclipse of the Heart":


And "We Built This City":


These seem to work best with 80s music videos, when the bands didn't seem to know what to do with the new genre and made crazy videos. Thanks, 80s bands!

Day 9

Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall came down. And I was hoping to write a nice reflective post on how my experiences abroad would have been completely different if the wall were still standing today. Maybe I wouldn't even have traveled to Germany at all, actually. But instead, I have spent far too much time today staring at a computer screen, writing a brand-new cover letter from scratch, which I believe is one of the nine circles of hell. (Check with Dante if you want to be sure.) And so I am rather phoning it in. Perhaps I'll be a bit more reflective tomorrow, but you never know around here.

Sidenote: What the hell is up with this weather?

Day 8

Things I saw on a walk today:

• Sunshine - for the first time in at least a week
  
• Massive piles of leaves at the curbs - these were very tempting!
• A pre-teen (tween?) girl on what seemed to be an electric mini Vespa - seriously, what the hell, suburbs? My parents wouldn't even let me get a Power Wheels when I was little.
• Bedraggled ghosts and scarecrows from Halloween
  
• Lonely pumpkins discarded in a cardboard box at the curb
• People putting up Christmas lights and decorations
• Leafblowers: 3, Rakers: 3 - I am cheered by this; I didn't think anyone raked their leaves anymore
• Neon stakes on either side of driveways in preparation for snowplow season
• A dead squirrel laying face-up on the sidewalk... directly underneath some power lines
  

Day 7

Following up on yesterday's 'Office' post, here's a very interesting article comparing four countries' versions of 'The Office'. It's a couple years old, but still pretty accurate, I think; the author describes how each country's version of the show reflects that nation's culture, sense of humor, and attitude towards work. Having seen three of the four shows (though when in Germany, I never realized 'Stromberg' was their version of TO and only saw it once or twice), I'd agree with the points made. It also helps me better articulate why I like the US version better than the UK version, though I like both for different reasons.

Day 6

I enjoyed Thursday night TV last night, and I've been torn about 'The Office' for a while now. So far, I would have to say the hierarchy of seasons goes:

2>3>1>5>4=6

I'm sort of torn about this season, though. I'm definitely not invested as much as I used to be, when I'd scour the interwebz from the UK to find the most recently-aired episode... and was often disappointed. (Thanks, writers' strike.) And last season was just sort of there; I haven't gone out and bought the season 5 DVDs yet because there aren't many moments that I'd like to be able to see again. This season, though... I don't know. At first it was painfully unlike the show I'd grown to love; the characters have turned into caricatures, arcs have been dropped completely (Do Jim and Pam want to leave Scranton or not? Does moving up in the Dunder Mifflin universe really constitute ambition?), and I'm just not invested in the characters anymore. They're becoming downright mean, and I just can't root for people like that. (Pam and Kelly, I'm looking at you.)

But last night was somehow returning to form. The lunch out was super-awkward and cringe-inducing, which was what the show goes for in the first place. Toby telling Pam how to throw a punch = awesome. And many people seem to dislike the Dwight-Andy politeness war, but I thought it was hilarious and a nice return to classic office shenanigans. The show's not all the way back yet, but maybe it can get partway there. And then it definitely needs to end at the end of this season.

What do you think? (Quotes also welcome.)

Day 5

Late night TV is a pretty sad state of affairs these days. Conan can be pretty good but seems sort of hit-or-miss, Letterman is basically phoning it in, and Jay Leno at 10pm makes me want to gouge my eyes out, it's so unfunny. (Fortunately, I opt for not watching it, instead of the more painful method.) Craig Ferguson, though, that guy's awesome. Sadly, I haven't seen a whole lot of him, since I tend not to stay up that late and prefer not to spend hours on YouTube, but what I have seen is thoroughly entertaining. For example, compare the monologues:

Letterman/Conan/Jay: 1. Joke setup 2. Punchline 3. Overenthusiastic audience laughter 4. Repeat, with an unrelated joke.

Craig: A monologue that actually builds on itself, segueing from one topic to the next.

Last week, the power went out on the set of the Craig Ferguson show, and he just kept going. And it was funny. Would the other late night shows do that? I'm not so sure.



Moral: Craig's show needs to be on earlier, when people (read: me) will actually watch it.

Day 4

Pumpkin-flavored foods that are delicious:

• Pie
• Coffee
• Doughnuts
• Yogurt
• Muffins
• Chocolate chip cookies
• Granola bars
• Bread/cake
• Scones
• Beer, of COURSE. (how could I forget?)
  

Pumpkin-flavored foods that are not delicious:

• Pumpkin
  

Day 3

It's Election Day, go vote! Or, if you're apathetic about local council races, battles for the sheriff's seat, and pointless referendums (referenda?) on the ballot, celebrate the end of those annoying political commercials. At least until January or so.

In voting news, it seems that we're getting rid of those old metal voting booths with the levers and phasing in a grown-up version of those Scantron tests that every former elementary school student fondly remembers. Apparently, there haven't been any problems so far, but this system seems rather sketchy to me. Last year, I learned from "The Hour" that New York state had the lowest percent of vote miscalculations, because we were the only state still using the old voting machines. (And I wish I could show you the chart here, but I googled to no avail.) So now we have to fill in little bubbles and scan them in.. I can think of any number of ways this could go awry. Let's just hope that no one trips over the power cord.

Hey, I'm sounding more crotchety by the day. Stay tuned for more positive updates, including videos and thoughts on current TV shows that you should be watching but might not have on your must-see list yet.

Day 2

Even though Halloween was two days ago, I feel some observations are in order (apologies to folks on Facebook, who got one of these rants from me already):

1. Has Halloween etiquette changed since the mid-90s? Since when is it appropriate to ask for a specific type of candy during trick-or-treating? This happened twice at our door; one girl wanted Almond Joy and another wanted SweeTarts. (They were in separate groups.) So.. if you ask for a candy and I don't have it, does that mean I don't have to give you anything? The kicker is that we always have awesome candy for Halloween -- results in better leftover candy to eat after it's over -- and let the kids choose at least two pieces. Last year, I even started giving them three because there weren't many kids around. If you can't find your favorite sweets among a selection of Kit Kats, Almond Snickers, a variety of Clark Bars, Reese's, and York Peppermint Patties, then (a) you are one picky child and (b) just be happy to not receive pennies, apples, or those horrible orange and black wrapped taffy things that nobody likes. Also, this phenomenon doesn't seem to be confined to my section of suburbia. What is going on, are kids becoming spoiled brats?! Get off my lawn.

2. Moving on from "what is wrong with kids these days", what is wrong with grown-ups these days? Halloween has become more and more sheltered, and it seems like adults are bent on sucking the fun out of it. While I do agree with some rules for school parties (for example, no weapons, toys/props or masks in school), many restrictions are just over the top. Does "no culturally insensitive costumes" mean no Indians? (There goes my 4th grade costume.) Why discourage scary monsters or horror movie costumes, instead asking kids to dress as their favorite historical figure or healthy snack? Hate to break it to you, but that is the making of the lamest Halloween ever. Also, crazy new-age parents who are anti-junk food and give out things like toothbrushes or books deserve to have one of their life's pleasures taken away. Not that I'm anti-children's books -- I'm extremely pro-book -- but Halloween is the one night of the year when kids can eat enough candy to send them into a frenzy and subsequently a sugar-crash-induced coma. They're pressured and badgered enough for the other 364 days, let them have some fun.

3. I was going to go on about the sluttifying of Halloween, but all that ranting wore me out. Go read this, and tell me that's not ridiculous.

That's right, I hate everyone. Now you know.

NaBloPoMo 2009

It's here! Now that idleness has practically driven this blog into the ground, NaBloPoMo is here to resurrect it. I'm going to give this blogging-every-day-for-a-month thing another shot, after last year's abject failure, but we'll see how it goes.

So. The main reason I haven't been updating is that nothing's really changed. When you're jobless and living with your parents in an area that you don't really like, there's not a whole lot to report. I did take a trip to London a few months back and plan on posting some photos soon, so watch for those. Also, being unemployed has given me hours upon hours of internet time, so I'll try to scrounge up interesting videos and links and so forth. We all need something internettily amusing to counterbalance those lame email forwards that your one friend insists on sending you, even though you're not 15 anymore and don't believe that forwarding them on to your closest 25 friends will bring you good luck.

Anyway, one exciting happening in my life is that I went to an Irish music session yesterday. I've been searching for these for a while now, and the ones that I've found have been cancelled due to lack of participation or conflicting football games (or perhaps a combination of the two). So I went downtown yesterday to hang out and listen, and remembered how much fun these are! Very laid-back, welcoming, and great music to boot. This week, I'll be warming those fiddling fingers again (they're in pretty bad shape at the moment) and next time, I'll bring my violin down and will hopefully feel brave enough to participate.

Watch this space

It's coming....



NaBloPoMo 2009. Brace yourself.