Me Likey YouTube

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but it's cool, and I took it by accident, so it has double cool points.

So I've just spend the last hour or so surfing the finest online free site EVER: YouTube.com. On this site you can search and view videos submitted by users from all over on various subjects. So far, I've seen boocoodle amounts of great and forgotten '80s videos, and recently, say the last hour, watching some fantabulous buffy videos made by other users, seen some outakes, and even an SNL skit with Sarah Michelle Gellar spoofing Christina Aguilera's "Dirty" video. Priceless. So, I'm a fan. I think this is the greatest invention since the ballpoint pen. I'm in love with you...Tube!

In other news, I've just finished my first full week of teaching 250 and it's going well; I feel rushed though, and I think that's just b/c it's a summer course with only 5 weeks (just barely). I only have 9 students, and I wish I had more. Some of the women aren't talkers, like me, and damnit, we need to get angry, shout from the rooftops, burn our bras!

We have been discussing the 1st wave of the women's movement and have seen clips from the movie "Iron Jawed Angels" about women achieving the right to vote. If you haven't seen it, HIGHLY recommended with a good cast: Hilary Swank and others who are equally famous. Fabulous fabulous. It's not stuffy like some films about historical events. This is actually GOOD.

I saw MI3 last weekend, and I have to say hats off to JJ Abrams; finally they humanized the character of Ethan Hunt. He had personality, an actual human side; he wasn't just a human machine of awesome fightingness. He had like, flaws. I love flaws. Flaws make you real. JJ Abrams is my 2nd fav director, other than Joss Whedon. He, of course, is number one.

Tomorrow night Partner and I will be venturing out to be some of the first of millions to catch the final installment of "XMEN 3." It's sure to be great entertainment. I love comics.

Anyhoo, there, of course, is more to blog about, but I'm tired and my eyes hurt from watching super awesome homemade Buffy videos and montages. Love it. Love it. I don't have to work tomorrow, but plan on working out, walking Holly (whom I'm falling in love with more each day; my heart will break when I have to give her back. Seriously.), getting movie tickets, working on my paper, and other stuff. Hopefully some reading time will sneak in there too. Oh, and I've got to go take care of PsychoCat, also known as Cello. Meow.

In Memory of Pongo...

So today I got some bad news, but before I divulge it, let me first begin at the beginning. When I was 16, I got my first job at Blimpie's Subs and Salads; 2 days after my 16th birthday, I totaled my parents car (a 4 door mercury) in a 3 car accident: I was trying to make a left turn and needless to say, didn't make it. It was one of the scariest moments in my life. But I needed to get a job to pay the insurance and to help my parents afford the damages, as we were not wealthy and this was our only car for a family of 4. So, I met my friend Chris, and then a few months later, my best friend Stella and her then husband Mike. They had 3 dogs: Pongo, a dalmation, Snickers, a small dog that was very hyper, and Pepsi, a mut that they found sniffing garbage and decided to keep. These dogs were their life, and when Mike and Stella parted ways, Stella obviously took Pongo. He was her baby. That was ten years ago this year, and today, Pongo has passed away.

Last night he had been acting funny and Stella took him to the emergency vet. He wouldn't eat, had a fever, etc. He seemed he had something in his stomach that was making him sick. Did he eat something? We didn't know. X-rays soon foretold that his intestines were cramped to one side and surgery later confirmed it, in addition to finding numerous tumors in his stomach and digestive system in which one of the tumors had burst, poisoning him. There was nothing they could do, and so Pongo will be put to sleep and I am sad.

I was his auntie for a long while, doggy sat him, played with him, loved him. And he's gone. The hardest thing about loving something is that you know that in the end they will leave and you will be left. I suppose the question is: what are you going to do then?

Hmmmnnn. Rest in Peace Pongo. You were one of a kind, a good friend, and a loyal companion. I will miss him.

Dead Poets Society meets Romy and Michelle

Or at least that's how I would describe my class today; good discussion, really great women in the course (all women) and an all around nice bunch.

What course is this you say? Why, it's Women's and Gender Studies 250, the summer course I happen to be teaching which began today. And it was great. I was so on! I slipped right into teacher mode, despite my very cloggy lungs and throat, which made me sound like Kathleen Turner or a phone sex operater, whatever. My voice was sore, but my heart was full, as I could not wait to meet again tomorrow and have a roundtable discussion on what it means to be a woman, and how both women and men are portrayed in media; then we're going to go full circle into talking about the beginning, the middle, and then the present, or in other words, 1st wave, 2nd wave, 3rd wave.

Today was also my first day of doggy-sitting, and I have to say, Holly is the most well behaved dog I have ever met. Like ever. Seriously. Even the cats haven't gone bonkers. I might want to steal her. She's that adorable. ( like me!)

Anyhoo. Peace out G's!

Did you miss me?

So it's been quite awhile since I posted, mainly because I was in such a crappy mood it could've been dubbed "Crapapolooza." But I'm back, if not 100% my normal, perky self, at least 85%. And by perky, I mean obnoxiously loud, opinionated, and well, noticeable. I hope that's in a mostly good way, as I've been told that I have oodles and boodles of energy. I just made up that word "boodles" by the way. I'm that special.
Well, as you'll notice to my right, there is a totally bitchin' drumhead with the name of a totally rad and freaking awesome '80s cover band called "The Breakfast Club" that I saw with a good friend on Saturday night. Let me just say, they were scrumdiliumptious. They were fab. They were wicked cool. I love the '80s, and I think they did a bitchin' job at covering some of the classics. And just so you know, I am such an '80s nerd that I knew EVERY SINGLE SONG WORD FOR WORD. Every single one. Yep. I'm so cool. It was super fun, but on Sunday, I pretty much crashed, slept, and was, well, sore from the dancing, jumping up and down and the all around fun I had on Saturday. Good times Good times.
But let's digress, b/c I haven't blogged in awhile. So let's see. Oh, my crapapolooza week? Well, let's just say that it was warranted for several reasons, many of which I will bullet here:

• A complete ignoranus (code for stupid asshole) basically said that exotic dancers were just hookers that are less than human. *slap slap, kick kick, and a big 'ole right hook*. 'Nuff said. Anyone who knows me knows my response to THAT statement.
  
• An instructor gave me extra time to work on a paper: much thanks to the extra time, but much diss to the delivery of said information. Needless to say, I was one bummed chickee. It sucked my twat, and not in a good way.
  
• I am sick. AGAIN. I swear it's my immune system being all kerplooey from the whole allergies, stress, and well, all around crap I've got to do 24/7. But let's not become confused: I LIKE having a lot to do. When I don't, I become all idle handsey. That's not good.
  
• Today I spoke to the head of the English dept. at good 'ole UNCG about having Rhonda Wilcox, a UNCG alum, come to campus to speak on Buffy. We're trying to get this in the works, and I'm TOTALLY doing a Buffy series on campus next year. I'm more than pumped. I'm inflated. Whoo hoo.
  
• Oh. My grades have BEEN in, and the silly student who plagarized SO blatantly failed my class (justice is served) and I'm gearing up to teach WGS 250: Intro to Women's and Gender Studies. More seniors than I would've guessed, so we'll see how it goes. I hope I don't crash and burn. More like soar and shine.
  
• I'm planning on going home (finally) the week of July 4, (actually earlier; probably the weekend of June 23) but should be back in time for my 26th birthday. Yep. The 'ole 26th. I will be closer to 30 than to 20, and that, my friends, is more than a scary thought. It's downright maddening. Freakishly weird. Gargantuanly insane. But I hope my birthday is a bash, as I'm hoping there will be much karaoke and friends involved. Whoo and hoo. But while I am home, I plan on spending a luxurious week in my favortiest place on earth: Anna Maria Island with my favorite person in the world, my bro (also holds the title for funniest person alive, like, ever. Seriously. Humourous doesn't even BEGIN to cover it. He makes my sides split). And my mom, whom I havent' seen in awhile and feel this very protective, parental need to protect her. How did that happen? Anyway, I hope for a very breezy week lying on the beach all day every day, drinking beer, margaritas, daiquiris and eating a lot of fish. That's it. That's all I want to do. Oh, and read voraciously. Skin cancer here I come. Oh yeah.
  
• Hmmmnnn....what else? I ordered a book from B&N and am waiting for that to come in, and like a retard (no offense to any real handicapped) I agreed to doggysit a dog, which is great, cause I love dogs, but it's also a lot of work. AND I'm teaching daily, so yeah. But I have Fridays off. So hopefully that will relieve some stress.
  

Well, it's thundering and lightening magnificently right now, and in an effort NOT to lose this fantabulous post, I'm going to end here and bid you adiu. Love it when it pours, b/c it's like home: Florida. Sigh. I heart Florida.

Current mood: nostalgic
Current music: Motley Crue (love the '80s hair bands, oh yeah)
Current activity: Going to get instruction on doggy care and love.

In Peace and Peony! (Doesn't that sound like Pee on me? Yep. It does. Don't deny it. This makes absolutely no sense, but then again, sense isn't really that much fun now is it?)

Not Craparama, Crapapolooza!

This is a sad picture, and it represents a sad me. I am sad. Blah. Wounded. Hurt. Bummed. Whatever. I have had the crappiest week in a long time, and there's no other word to describe me other than crap. It's all encompassing; you can use it replace "shit" or the actual "shit" that comes from eating too many beans, or "fuck" or "damn" or whatever, and it's not even considered a real cuss word, so there. Boo. In any case, things have made me sad and I hate having a pity party. Why don't I just put on "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to?" and sit around eating buckets and buckets of sugar stocked mint chocolate ice cream? Well, maybe I will. But I hate that kind of person, so I'm trying not to stoop to being that kind of person. I'm the kind of person that takes it, deals with it, moves on. But I'm just so exhausted, so I don't feel like dealing. I feel like wallowing. So I'm going to wallow. I hate this feeling. It paralyzes me and I just can't shake it off. But enough of my boo hoo on me. Let's move on.

So I'm done with grading, I'm semi-done with school; I'll be teaching WGS 250 in a week or so, so hopefully that'll be fun. I've got plans to work on my yard, etc. But I'm also working in the WGS office, so who knows if I'll actually have time off. Whatever. Oh, and I'm supposed to doggy sit soon, so here comes the stress boat.

That's enough for now. I don't feel like writing anymore. I feel like Eeyore (so annoying!) or that really sad kid on Charlie Brown. Whatever. Go ahead and make fun of this stupid post; cause it is stupid!

A Crappy Day or Craparama

This is a cool picture, and perhaps representative of my Craparama day. Let's just recap, shall we? Umkay. Today, my kids took an English test for the English Dept., at my school, and while commenting on some drafts I found a big time plagarizer whose response was "I swear I didn't...." whatever. She used several sites, word for word, from the internet. I'm so annoyed. I take it personally and it really really burns my buns b/c I bend over backwards for these kids to make sure they're successful and they stab me in the back. THEN I had to go to the WGS luncheon that was okay, but we had to put up the chairs, tables, etc. I got a gift certificate that will buy me something; I haven't decided what I want yet: shoes, books, a shirt. I want to buy me some shoes or a shirt, but the bookstore is calling my name. It always does.

Doesn't seem like such a crappy day but you know when your day begins in a crappy place and everything else that happens afterwards seems just as crappy? Yep. That's the kind of day it was. And also, when you feel crappy, you become paranoid and think everyone is mad at you? That's how I've felt all day, and I've just been sensitive and all around pissy. It's an all around pissy day. I hate these days; I get 'em every so often. Ugh. I suppose since it began so badly that it has just trickled down and ruined my mood. It just really really gets to me personally when a student lies to me, plagiarizes, and tries to do the absolute minimum just to get by; perhaps they're so used to doing the bare minimum just to get by it transfers into the things that shouldn't be just "gotten by." I don't know. I don't want to make excuses for these kids; it hurts me to the core. Ugh. This is the downside to teaching. Good thing it only happens every now and then. Comment and cheer me up!

The Birth of Partner or, why he is the greatest man to me

Today is May 2, my partner's 21st B-day! I'm no longer a cradle robber! Whoo hoo! The pic is of us at my friend Stella's wedding last May (a year ago) and well, even though I'm never really a fan of how I look in photos, it was the nicest one of the bunch. In any case, here we are.

I thought I'd take some blog space and talk about why Partner is good for me.
He makes me waffles for breakfast.
He dances for me.
He always puts me first.
He's concerned about how I'm feeling.
He feels the same way I do in politics, religion, movies, tv, books, etc. We have a lot in common.
He's more empathetic than I am.
He loves the environment.
He is never jealous.
He has taught me how to be a better me through him.
He lets me be my own person.
He lets me have guy friends even though I cringe at his "girl" friends.
He cares about everyone equally.
He is fair and just (so there! O'Reilly)
He's got a cute neck and smile.
He's got eyes that I get lost in.
He's cute when he's sick.
He drops his socks in FRONT of the laundry basket.
He strips down to his underwear after a hard day at work.
He always considers my feelings.
He talks about me to his girlfriends.
He puts up with my unpleasant habits.
He mellows me out when I'm in freak out mode.
He lets me be a control freak.
He inspires me.
He makes the world a better place.
He laughs at my silly jokes.
He lets me talk to him in baby voice.
He stood by me through MANY difficult times and never flinched ONCE.
He is a much better human being than me.
He means well all of the time.
He makes dirty jokes seem great.
We laugh at the same stupid movies.
We look at naked people together and laugh.
He doesn't make me feel insecure.
He wants to save the world, like me.
He's an idealist.
He's got the CUTEST belly EVER. He lets me rub my face in it.
He lets me get emotional without making me feel stupid.
He cries at movies.
He gives good hugs.

I could go on and on....but here's a small glimpse as to how such a guy lassoed (sp?) my heart. Happy Birthday Platnium Baby.

May Day! May Day! International Workers Day, Immigrants, and SOS, finally!

Today is May Day, International Workers Day. We should all set time today to appreciate the workers of this country who are truly the backbone of our civilization, and without workers, these money-hungry corporations wouldn't have a cent to their name. As far as I'm concerned, they should bend over and kiss our asses, b/c if it weren't for the minimum wage, middle class workers this country just wouldn't exist. Which leads me to my comments on this new immigration reform; today is the day (rightly so, since it's May Day) that all immigrant workers are going to boycott their schools, jobs, etc., in protest of this ludicrous bill introduced to make being an illegal alien a felony. It's also been brought to my attention that the bill would exclude all illegal aliens in receiving medical help if needed, and they would not be able to continue with the life that they built. *SLAP* *SLAP*

Here's my two cents worth to that: if _regular_ U.S. citizens would put as much effort into working and caring enough about this country as immigrants, then perhaps we wouldn't be in the proverbial shithole we're in; if AMERICANS cared as much as immigrants, the United States really WOULD be the greatest country in the world, but sadly, it's not. I say, if immigrants want to work THAT hard for LITTLE money, then all the power to them; I'm not going to rank human beings based on their nationality; because who is to say that I'm worth more than someone else just because I had the privilege to be born here; I had nothing to do with that decision. It just is. But these immigrants, these people, have fought persecution, dictatorships, hardships, poverty, things most of us couldn't even imagine, and they did it all to survive, and not only that, but they made it here, and hell, if they make it here and establish a life for themselves and their families they deserve what they have and more. I'll tell you what they don't deserve and that's to be punished for seeking out a better life, for working their asses off when we sit on ours, to have what they've worked SO hard for taken away because we're feeling a little threatened. What the hell? Did I fall asleep that day in history class or was it the United States that was called "the melting pot" of the world? Was that a bunch of hoopla, b/c apparently, we are NOT a melting pot, but rather a white bred, christian, middle to upper class nation. Since when did America stop welcoming those who seek shelter? Who seek solace? Comfort? We police the entire world and dictate what can and cannot be done, why can't we be hospitable and take in the people whom we say we protect? What about truth, justice and the American Way? Apparently, it's been paved over with lies, hypocracy, and the Fascist Way.
Welcome to the neighborhood.


In other news, there is an immigration rally downtown today in Greesnboro from 4-7 and if you'd like to go and show you're support for those who deserve every right to be here just as we do, then show your support, if not at the rally, then in other ways. These people are people. Not cattle. Not commodities to be stripped of their rights. Show support for what makes this country great.

ps: I FINALLY downloaded SOS by Rhianna off iTunes. Whew. I was aching from some SOS. Thanks K!