Juicy Couture and Hitler

As a child, my Bapo taped The Sound of Music for us from the TV. He stopped the recording at the Von Trapp's wedding because he thought the part about the Nazi's was too intense. I lived a long time thinking everything was just singing and leiderhosen for the Von Trapps.

I was watching Away We Go this week, and the following dialogue really captured a great attitude about parenting:

A: Hey, so, the movie ends when
the von Trapps go to sleep?


B: (SOFTLY) Yeah, we sort of skipped it.


A: You skipped the Nazis?


B: We kind of figured,
"What's the point?"


A: It is just that we think they could
live a few more happy years before, you know,
Juicy Couture and Hitler.

Bitter much?

I just unfriended a college acquaintance on Facebook because she is pregnant, and I don't want to hear about it. Bitter much?

The silence

Oh dear and lovely blog,

I have been silent for what seems like forever. Life can sometimes kick you in the teeth, and if it were all about me, I would fill you in. Wisehubby, well, he's not ready for full disclosure. So, until then, deal. My life is a partnership, and I have to respect that.

Love,
Wiselady

Book Spine Poetry - Chipper Girl

Chipper girl in the cage

Escape the mask

Living with depression

Ever after ever
----------------------------

The above poem was written by searching for books in the library and stacking their titles. It's a little depressing, but I liked it.

Since I am the suck...

I am the suck. Seriously, I haven't posted in three weeks. I am a complete and utter blogging bum. You should not read my pathetic excuse for honesty and ass kicking.

Since I am the suck, I would like to provide you with some funny things that I've learned from my students:
(1) Do not eat out your pudding cup. This will give you a pudding goatee.
(2) If you threaten to vomit or you cry, most teachers will let you postpone your quiz. (Since I am on to this scam, I just give them a trash can or kleenex accordingly.)
(3) The shadow on the dude with just one sock in Liberty Leading the People is the guy's junk. You ought not obsess over it.
(4) Glee is inappropriate viewing for sixth graders, but eighth graders watch Tosh.O and read Stephen King.
(5) You! should! use! an! exclamation! mark! whenever! you! feel! so! moved! It! is! fun! to! feel! like! you! are! being! shouted! at!!!
(6) If you give sixth graders a potted flower as a class pet, they will take very good care of it since it clearly has a personality.
(7) "50 Nifty United States" continues to rock the hizzy.

The difference between 6th, 7th, and 8th graders

The difference between 6th, 7th, and 8th graders was illustrated today during my College Week discussions with my students. The topic du jour was "discuss what clubs, sports, or organizations you participated in at college." I briefly explained to my students that I was in marching band, basketball band, concert band, and Tau Beta Sigma.

To this, the sixth graders asked if I could show them what marching looks like.

The seventh graders asked about other clubs or organizations, and whether or not they existed in college. One asked, is there a robotics club? My answer? Yes, it's called being an engineering major.

Finally, the eighth graders asked if I got hazed and what clubs had hazing. Did I know of anyone made to bathe in barf or drink disgusting things?

That, my readers, illustrates the differences between kids at the middle grades.

Books I put down

I read for plot. Seriously, if I get within about 100 pages of the end of a novel, I generally can't sleep until I know what happens to the characters. So, if I can't get through an entire book, there must be something terribly wrong with it!

To save you all some time, here are a few books that I put down and a few words on why:

Band of Angels by Julia Gregson
This historical fiction novel follows Catherine from her carefree childhood in Wales to her time as a nurse during the Crimean War. I put it down for several reasons:
(1) There wasn't enough romance. I understand that she couldn't stick with her childhood sweetheart, Deio, for the whole novel, but there needed to be some sort of letter writing or pining.
(2) It became clear to me that Catherine was going to get raped. I just didn't have the heart for this one.
(3) It was awfully graphic, but not terribly interesting. I don't mind some interesting nasty-ness, but just plain, boring nasty-ness is unacceptable.



Cocktails for Three by Madeline Wickham
According to Ventress Memorial Library, this book is about the following:
"At the first of every month, when the office has reached its pinnacle of hysteria, Maggie, Roxanne, and Candice meet at London's swankiest bar for an evening of cocktails and gossip. Here, they chat about what's new at The Londoner, the glossy fashion magazine where they all work, and everything else that's going on in their lives. Or almost everything. Beneath the girl talk and the laughter, each of the three has a secret. And when a chance encounter at the cocktail bar sets in motion an extraordinary chain of events, each one will find their biggest secret revealed."
I think I put this book down because I got through two chapters and just did not care. That's it. It just wasn't at all interesting.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire
My one of my favorite musicals, Wicked, was based off of this popular novel by Gregory Maguire. I generally like fantasy novels, so I thought I'd give this best seller a try. I wish I hadn't. I have a hard time pinning down why I didn't like it, but here are a few reasons:
(1) The fluency was awfully choppy. Awkward sentences are really awkward.
(2) It was dark. I understand that it is meant to be the darker sister to the Wizard of Oz series, but it was mostly depressing.
(3) The details were confusing. As I taught my sixth graders today, exposition is very important in the fantasy genre. This is because you need to provide plenty of details so that your readers can construct your alternative reality in their mind. I spent about 150 pages wondering when I would figure out what was going on.
I ended up putting it down for good after trying to read this novel for three months. It was by far my most disappointing put-down to date.