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[Nov. 19th, 2008|07:25 pm] |
so our wedding planning is going pretty well...(not going to jinx anything though ^_^) but I just got a surprise call from one of my good friends Jaeny (sadly, I still can't figure out how to embed links into LJ ^_^;;;) just called and asked me to be a part of her wedding--one of her four brothers, actually, as she doesn't have one of her own.
I'm so happy and honored to have been asked ^_^ |
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| Prop 8 rage! |
[Oct. 8th, 2008|08:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  infuriated | ] |
So, I've seen a couple of these pro Prop 8 commercials, and they're entirely full of lies, fabrications, and misleading statements:
1) "It protects our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage"
Entirely false. Children don't learn about marriage AT ALL in public schools (I know, I work in them) so why would we teach them about same-sex marriage?
2) "prevents other consequences to Californians who will be forced to not just be tolerant of gay lifestyles, but face mandatory compliance regardless of their personal beliefs."
Entirely false. We have hate crime laws to keep people from expressing their displeasure for people who are homosexual. Churches who don't want to marry two people of the same gender aren't forced to marry them now, and they still won't be forced to marry them if Prop 8 fails.
3) "Churches could lose their tax-exempt status"
Partially accurate. Churches COULD lose their tax-exempt status, ONLY IF they use their church to endorse Prop 8. Take some personal responsibility people! They're not losing their tax-exempt status because Prop 8 isn't passing, they're losing it because they're BREAKING THE LAW! Churches can't keep their tax-exempt status if they insist on trying to directly influence voter decisions. We have this thing, it's call the SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE! It's part of the FIRST AMENDMENT of our CONSTITUTION! And if the churches choose to break it, that's their fault, not the fault of the people who are just trying to get married.
ARGH! It makes me SO PISSED OFF! |
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| LGBT teen lit and Prop 8 (political rant warning) |
[Sep. 22nd, 2008|06:14 pm] |
so I've been on a long time search for good LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) fiction (I don't know why I never thought to ask the obvious people for recommendations--not one my brightest moments ^_^;;;) and I stumbled on Alex Sanchez about a year ago (Getting It, the God Box, and So Hard to Say would be my recommendations over his more well known Rainbow Boys trilogy) but over the weekend I finally got around to reading Anne On My Mind (by Nancy Garden) and it really spoke to me in a way that Alex Sanchez's books didn't -- probably because it was more about two people in love rather than confronting prejudice (though there's definitely that aspect in the book too) and then I started looking through the election summary book and ran across Prop 8. Now, I'd known about Prop 8 before (and was always planning on voting against it) but reading Anne On My Mind brought what was at stake for thousands of homosexual couples across California. Where do these pro-Prop 8 people get off interfering in the lives of people who just want to live out their lives married to the ones that they love? |
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| books made into movies |
[Aug. 17th, 2008|07:22 pm] |
so we went to see a couple of movies made into books:
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: sort of a mixed bag, definitely not as good as the original movie (which followed the first book fairly closely). This one picked a few stories from all over the other three books. Overall it was a cute, fun movie, though not one I'd watch in the theaters again. It did motivate us to start reading the books--considering we're going back to school, reading young adult novels may get us into the right mind set ^_^
Brideshead Revisited: I know it got a lot of good reviews, but it wasn't really all that interesting. At first it seemed like the main conflict was between the main character and his lover's controlling mother, but somehow it turns into a religious commentary on the comfort brought by religious faith. It would probably be better to read the book as watching the movie is probably like watching the Kiera Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice but it just wasn't interesting enough to invest the time. |
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| Woo hoo! Summer! |
[Jun. 24th, 2008|07:38 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  chipper | ] |
So it's summer and Allegra and I finally have more than 5 minutes of free time! Woo Hoo! So we got hooked on Arrested Development--I don't know if anyone else watches it, but it's hellza funny, more of a dry, straight-faced humor than the standard sitcom. We also got Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii--I wish I could say that I rock, but I don't (Allegra's pretty good though) and, embarrassingly, I get arm cramps from playing too much ^_^
Of course, now that summer's here we've also got more time to plan for our wedding ^_^ We've gotten a lot done already and even set up a website:
http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=8369364683762187
but there's still a whole lot more to get done (favors, invitations, decorations, etc.) but we've got six months to go so we're pretty sure we'll get all our stuff done on time ^_^ |
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| Tired and watching police videos |
[Nov. 7th, 2007|08:28 pm] |
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woke up early, went to school/work for way too long. It's parent conference time so lots of extra hours. tired. |
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| better news, good news |
[Oct. 29th, 2007|06:06 pm] |
as many of you already know (but some don't, due to a disturbing lack of phone numbers ^_^;;;) as of October 20, 2007 Allegra and I are officially engaged to be married on a date yet to be finalized (though June, 14 2008 is looking like a distinct possibility--though it may be the summer after that)
in other news, the annual Johnson-Woo pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner is on again this year, probably Sunday, Nov 19. Let us know if you're interested in attending. |
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| I'm really going to be better about updating this time, I swear! |
[Jun. 9th, 2007|10:13 pm] |
No, I'm probably not. But I can dream can't I ^_^
Random life bits:
I have a contract! Starting Aug 16, I will be officially gainfully employed by the Vacaville Unified School District as a Resource Specialist in Special Education for Hemlock Elementary School. ^_^ I'm really going to be a teacher! (Considering I started on this career path way back in 2002, with a number of starts, jolts, stops, and breakdowns, I'm extremely happy ^_^)
we got a Wii ^_^ For the first time in our lives we have an actual up-to-date game system ^_^ (we also got a PS2 way back in July and Kingdom Hearts consumed my free time for a while, now I'm on to KH2--damn you Diz! Couldn't you leave poor Roxas alone!)
and, sadly, that's just about it. Our lives are boring ^_^;;;
Random book cravings:
House War won't be out until 2008
Battle Magic is out of print
Cast by Courtlight isn't in trade paperback yet
(I'm feeling a serious craving for Michelle West books, can you tell? ^_^)
Harry Potter 7 doesn't come out until 7/21
It's going to be another year (or so) before Preserver (Cherryh's Foreigner series) comes out in paperback
ditto with Dzur (Brust's Taltos series) and Wintersmith (Terry Pratchett) |
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| cuz I really don't want to do HW ^_^ |
[Nov. 25th, 2006|10:50 pm] |
Wow, 10 months since my last LJ post...I definitely need to update more often ^_^;;;
Let's see...recentish news:
I'm currently gainfully employed as a substitute teacher in Dixon Unified School District (DUSD)(the same district where Allegra works), been doing a lot of Elementary School, though I occasionally get Middle School and High School. I must say that, for subs, Elementary kids are a lot easier to deal with since they don't have any of those teenager attitude or hormone problems.
I'm also working on my Special Education Credential at SacState (night classes from 4-7pm unless they're from 4-10pm) the hardest part about that is the drive and trying to find time to do the work (which I'm procrastinating on right now ^_^;;;) But it's fun and interesting, though as a side effect I've found myself speaking in educational jargon and acronyms which, while easier and faster, don't make my speech any more comprehensible ^_^;;; |
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| lack of update update |
[Jan. 26th, 2006|06:37 pm] |
and yet again my resolution to update more often has failed...but I've got a good excuse ^_^ no, I don't really...
been doing a lot of gaming online though, which is a poor excuse for the real thing, but it cuts down on my cravings ^_^
also been rereading the Michelle West books lately (does anyone know what happened to my copies of Hunter's Oath and Hunter's Death? I though maybe they were hidden in a box somewhere, but they're not ;_;) Been reading her short stories lately--good writing, though very dense. Most of the ones set in the Essaylien universe don't really fill in any critical gaps in our knowledge of the characters or setting, though they're a good read anyway (warning: The Black Ospreys and Huntbrother hold serious spoilers for anyone who hasn't finished reading The Sun Sword or Hunter's Death respectively) That being said, I didn't really like Huntbrother as much as I thought I would--the story was good (and it did fill in some of those critical gaps in information between the end of Hunter's Death and the vision on p763-765 of Sea of Sorrow--those of you who have read it know what I'm talking about) but the writing just wasn't up to the same level as her other works and didn't contain the same emotional impact. Perhaps I'm being too critical here ^_^;;;
Well, off to do some laundry ^_^
Ja |
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| need to update more often ^_^ |
[Dec. 8th, 2005|04:18 pm] |
well, as most of you know I'm gainfully employed, again ^_^ working as an teacher's aide isn't what I'd prefer to be doing with myself, but it's the next best thing to teaching--all of the extra work, less than half of the abysmally low pay--but at least it's work. ^_^
Saw Mirrormask last night with Kris and Jered (plus a surprise appearance by Demitri ^_^) The movie was awesome ^_^ the conversation was better though ^_^
Thinking of going back to school--again ^_^ I've decided that this time I want a Special Ed credential (possibly looking into getting a Reading Specialist Credential in the far far future, but that's a long time from now)
So, yes, I'm still alive ^_^ |
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| Random Tidbits |
[May. 17th, 2005|02:36 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "so long and thanks for all the fish" | ] |
I'm employed ^_^
Lindamoodbell--a supplemental educational group--hired me to work for them over the summer ^_^ http://www.lindamoodbell.com Before anyone congradulates me, they should know that in the job requirement description it was listed "batchelor's degree PREFERED" going into this thing I was so overqualified it's not even funny--I'm sure ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) stonewife1 will understand when I say that it's like being asked to teach middle school science when you've got a degree in Bio Sci. And then when I met the other applicants (all 20 of them) only one of them was even enrolled in a teaching credential program, and of the rest about a third of them didn't even have their batchelor's. Given those factors and the fact that they had ten open positions I was pretty confident that I'd make it. On the plus side I can pay bills now ^_^
On the not so plus side I won't be able to go on vacation with Allegra this summer :-(
that's sortof a downer, but being employed in something that involves teaching is pretty good so I'm not complaining too much ^_^;;;
this weekend I skipped Camp cuz I caught something minor and I didn't want to infect other people (just as a note to people who aren't into martial arts: if you're sick don't go to class, people who have to be in close physical contact with your body while you're sick will thank you) While I'm sorta sorry I missed it I got to visit with kelseid and fantasylite which more than makes up for everything else (and I got to eat good sushi--gotta love Jusco ^_^)
I am sorry I didn't get to go to nekotree's graduation and the BBQ afterwards, I hope everyone had a good time (congrats Tree ^_^) |
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| Wow, it's been forever... |
[May. 6th, 2005|11:50 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | content | ] |
It's been more than a month since I last posted to LJ...it's been a month since I last looked at LJ...wow, lots of stuff has happened in that time ^_^;;;
Let's see, bad news first:
-some of you have already heard, from me or through the grapevine, that Smedberg let me go. About a month ago actually--sorry about not letting more people know about that, I really should have, I was just a bit down about it. Considering that they already had someone hired and ready to go on my last day indicates to me that they weren't really serious about giving me a week to shape up--they just needed a warm body in the classroom. Intellectually I can understand their decision, cutting their losses, etc. As a normal human being, I was a bit hurt ^_^ but I'm better now ^_^ They offered me a chance to stay on as a day to day sub, but I declined--it's just a god awful commute, and I was just tired of it.
-Allegra and I are both sick, and have been for the past couple of weeks--I think it's a flu, but Allegra is denying being sick because she has no temperature--but we're recovering now ^_^
Good news (yay!):
-Allegra turned 24 last Tuesday ^_^ I barbecued some chicken and corn and we had a quiet evening at home ^_^
-I've applied to work as a day to day sub in Vacaville--it's a much better commute, and I don't have to worry about backstabbing parents ^_^
-my friends are getting married--you know who you are ^_^ YAY!!! (though they're probably really stressed about it ^_^)
-Camp Danzan Ryu is next weekend ^_^ http://www.alamedajujitsu.org/cdzr.html
-Life is pretty good ^_^ I've got a wonderful girlfriend who's very supportive--I don't know what I'd do without her--and a cute cat, who's currently sleeping on my freshly cleaned laundry and shedding ^_^ |
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| Vacation's end... |
[Apr. 1st, 2005|04:54 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | very satisfied | ] |
well, the vacation is over, but Allegra and I had a lot of fun ^_^
we started out on Tuesday with a drive to Auburn (it's a town close to the Celtic Music Festival fairgrounds--we try to go every year and it's really fun ^_^) and checked into our hotel. Afterwards we cruised around the town, but since we didn't get there until about 5pm and everything closes at around 5:30-6:00 the place was pretty dead. Basically for the first day we just settled in and slept...and watched TV (we don't have cable at home and Allegra has this thing for makover shows and home renovation shows...I've got to admit, they're kind of growing on me too, it's sort of a guilty pleasure ^_^)
Wednesday we drove up to the snow. We were headed for Truckee and it took a long time to get there cuz there was road construction and Allegra was nervous about driving around the snow. SNOW! I love the snow! We went to Donner State Park and Allegra cheated immediately by pelting me with a big fat snowball before I had a chance to put on my snow gear. We had agreed to wait and she cheated. But I made up for it with an ambush complete with illegal snowball headshots when she stepped out of the bathroom! We went for a walk in the snow but soon got distracted by another snowball fight. Allegra was like a wild snowcat, fierce and wild, lobbing frozen snow at her poor defenseless boyfriend....or something like that. She complains that she was the one with snow down her bra though--is it my fault that she didnt' want to wear her jacket? So anyway, we built a snow woman and then headed down to Truckee and walked around a bit. There were these beautiful glass egg shop. I don't know what I would do with a glass egg (and they cost over a hundred dollars, so no, we didn't buy one) but they were so pretty and shiny. I practically had to drag Allegra away after the third time in an hour that we visited that shop. We headed back for the night to our hotel in Auburn, pleasantly exhausted from the exhersions of the day but not too exhausted....
Thursday we headed back home, stopping in Roseville to play peewee golf (Bye SNOW!), air hockey, and racing games. Allegra always beat me. It felt good to get home and see the Merlindo's. I think the trip really did a lot to boost our spirits and it was very helpful at rejuvenating aspects of our relationship. |
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| romantic getaway ^_^ |
[Mar. 28th, 2005|12:17 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  naughty | ] |
YAY! Vacation at last! It's finally Allegra's Spring Break AND she's done with her Master's Thesis (96 pages of pure hell). No more parent conferences to deal with, no more Master's classes, and (hopefully) fewer teary, bleary, sleepless nights. We're off to see the SNOW!!! ^_^ I haven't seen the snow since I was a little kid (periodic Alameda hail storms don't count)! and we get to stay in a nice hotel room (I love hotel rooms!!! They're fun and exciting ^_^) For the first time in a long time Allegra and I have some no stress free time to spend with each other and I'm ECSTATIC ^_^ |
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| When it rains... |
[Mar. 6th, 2005|08:47 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  distressed | ] |
I think I'm with Allegra on this one, "fuck" is a really good way to describe this last week. Classroom management is no picnic and it's something that I've always had trouble with. And 7th graders are rather...irritating to say the least (flying paper wads, rubber bands, etc. are bothersome and just as bad are the students who just won't shut up) So I've been working on it by asking people for advice (Vice Principals, fellow teachers, etc.) and I feel like I'm making progress, but last Thursday, at the beginning of the day, the Principal tells me to come into her office at the end of the day (hey, no stress there, of course not) which made me VERY nervous. In that meeting I found out that there'd been a lot of parent complaint e-mails about my lack of classroom management and that I've got until April 8 to get things together. Now, that sounds like a long time (a whole month to get things together) but Smedberg is a year round school which means that every 3 months a fourth of their students go off track for a month and have no school. And my track just went off this past Friday and comes back on April 5. So really, I've got 4 days to get things back in order and 90 students coming off a month long vacation. Otherwise I'll be let go. And while most of the parents have been supportive of me, some of them, when I called to tell them that their child had been misbehaving in class responded with: "I'm sure if you asked him to stop, he would."
Ride 'em cowboy indeed. So all this has left me feeling stressed out. I wish I could say I'm taking it in stride, but I'm not. The stress has really gotten to me and shaken my confidence about my teaching abilities. Just when we thought that we were gonna get a handle on things and I'd have some sort of steady employment, this comes up. I've been really nervous about finances lately and my level of commitment with Allegra. Furthermore, it's started to affect my relationship with her (things are still good though). And I've become more irritable and snappish. And I don't really like that so I'm hoping this month to get more of a handle on things. And to top it all off, I'm not getting enough.
Fuck. |
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| Why do other people get to choose my retirement plan? |
[Mar. 5th, 2005|11:22 am] |
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So I was looking at the California State Teachers' Retirement System newletter (allegra's copy) and it said new legislation is going to save California millions by making teachers or their districts (yeah right the districts will pay it) for their retirement plan. Normally I wouldn't mind so much, that's inflation after all, but they're also changing the retirement system so that you cannot join CALSTRS, the current retirement system, that is our equivalent to Social Security since we can't qualify for that, which provided a lifetime retirement pension, benefits to family after your death, and provides a predictable income. Much like the new social security changes, the new program which they want to shift everyone into is based on you the employee investing your own retirement money. On top of having to pay more, you are not guareenteed any benefit, your benefit can run out, you have to stay working longer, and if you die, your family only gets what you have make in the stock market-which could be good or bad. Not being a gambling man myself, I can say honestly that this sucks. And, what's worse is that it's going to be put, not in the hands of the state employees it effects, but rather in the hands of the California public who put the Governator in charge. Yup, life sucks. |
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| now I'm just pissed off |
[Feb. 8th, 2005|03:45 pm] |
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so I have my accident, things are going poorly. Okay I can accept that. Damage to the vehicle, apparently exceeds its value before the mechanic can even open the hood. What's wrong with this picture. Vehicle is still operable. Not drivable at night, but that can be fixed. There's body and bumper damage. And the front door sticks a bit when you open it. And they say that the damage to the car will be almost $5000 so it's a total loss. What kind of set up is this? An almost totally intact vehicle is a total loss? The damage doesn't even look that bad. What the hell is wrong with these people? At least I know today rather than two weeks from now (which is how long the same people took the last time). Does anyone else get the feeling that this is some sort of racket? Damaged cars go in, pronounced total loss, fixed cars go out to used car lots. Only the owner is the loser. And I thought my day wasn't going to get any worse. |
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| Somebody upstairs hates me (or why car accidents aren't like in video games...again) |
[Feb. 8th, 2005|12:46 pm] |
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I think I have safely established that, though the Saint of Vehicular Accidents Without Serious Injury is looking out for my life whatever higher being that prevents motorvehicle accidents in the first place has turned a blind eye to my plight. So, I'm driving along 80 towards the Causeway to go sign that contract with Elk Grove so that I can work as a long term sub, I guess I'm too close to the shoulder or something because my tires start to slip from under me towards the center divide. Apparently I was supposed to take my foot off the brake and gently steer back onto the road. But that's not what I did. Instead, I slammed on my brakes and jerked the wheel to the right. Bad bad mistake, aparently. So the front end of my car hits the center divide and I go spinning out of control. Fortunately, my air bags went off (this time) and I didn't hit anyone else. So the only casualty in this mess was the front end of my car. And an extremely nice person pulled over on the side of the road to see if I was okay (thank you who ever you were, I still have your pen, sorry) and called the police for me. Initial estimates (from non-professionals) indicate that I might be able to get my car back, rather than replace it entirely (double yay!) and triple A was far more helpful this time and arranged for a rental car for me. So really I've got a lot to be thankful for, but I'd rather not have gone through any of this in the first place. |
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