I'm halfway through my holidays. So far I have marked this many essays/ workbooks: None. I have planned this many units for next term: None.
However...
I have seen this many movies at the cinema: Three
I have watched this many movies on DVD: Four
I have seen this many comedy shows: Four
I have been out to this many meals in restaurants: Three
I have been out for coffee/ cake this many times: Four
I have seen my mentee for this many hours: Eleven
I have had this many meals at someone else's house: Two
I have borrowed this many books from my local library: Three
I have been on this many picnics: One
I have eaten this many hotcross buns: Eight
I have eaten this much chocolate: Incalculable
Cinema
Oh my god, Paul Thomas Anderson is annoying. He makes me swear. A lot. Absolutely loved 'There will be blood' until the final scene. Then I swore non stop for approximately three days. In better cinematic news, saw 'Grindhouse' at the Astor as Tarantino intended; the whole double feature complete with shlocky previews and fake ads. I have not laughed so much in years. See it while The Astor is still showing it. With a group of friends. Who like horror. And 70s kitsch. Awesome.
DVDs
I have now seen the following: Waitress (Awesome, hilarious, quirky. Go you Felicity chick, and you Captain from Serenity); Bra Boys (like my VCAL boys, plus surf); Brokeback Mountain (wow, THAT was way more full on than I was expecting); Capote (how annoying that ALL of my local libraries are out of the novel 'In Cold Blood'. I really want to read it now); the first two episodes of Spaced (someone I know used the word 'Hilarious'. I'm waiting for that to kick in, cos right now, I'm not seeing it).
Comedy
Gotta love a night when you pay for one comedy show (Daniel Kitson, The Ballad of Roger and Grace. Very cute and amusing) and get a three for one ticket to another show (Geraldine Hickey, oh my god she is funny. Wrong, and bogan, but so so funny), a completely free show (Jimmy James Eaton in Eaton Alive, utterley hilarious. He really shouldn't have to bribe an audience in just because he's getting reviewed. Folks should be fighting for those tickets), and then get dropped another free ticket on your way out (The Great Myspace Emigration of 07. One word- meh. Glad I didn't pay for that!!!). Am also hoping to catch Andrew McClelland teaching people to be gentleman, Bec Hill discussing superhero-ly stuff, and Fiona O'Loughlin just being damned funny. But we'll see. Cash is somewhat restricted.
Foodie delights
Discovered (after it had had three writeups in The Age) an awesome coffee shop, Liar Liar in Hawthorn, which uses an unusual coffee making process to uncap distinct scents and flavours within the coffee. Served in a snifter, and delivering a lighter coloured brew with a long caffeine hit, the changing flavours emerge as the coffee cools. Also very excited to try a new churros bar on Brunswick St, Juanita's. Churros very good, although the chocolate is a bit sweet. South American style, rather than Spanish. Excellent chorizo empanada. Check it out.
Eating in
Yay Helen for hosting our communal candlit dinner for Earth Hour. Gorgeous vego food, good wine, great company followed by a pleasant stroll through the darkened city. The stroll back featured my VCAL boys. How amusing.
Books
Am currently reading: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy- I WILL finish this eventually; The Whisper of the Blade, I forget the author, about various revolutions throughout history; River of Gods by Ian McDonald- awesome sci fi writer, read all of his books, now. Am currently resisting: The curious incident of the dog in the night time; a couple of young adult fiction books I borrowed from the library. Have just finished: Wicked.
Easter
My favourite celebration of the year. Why do fruit buns taste so much better with a cross on them? Yum. And thank you to those who have accepted that I really WOULD rather have one expensive chocolate item rather than lots of cheap chocolate. Yum again.
Plans in black and white (to encourage me to achieve them)
- Give blood. Booked in tomorrow. This should happen.
- Don't complain when the service my car is booked in for turns up lots of faults; they are probably all genuine, and I should just hand over my Visa now. Smilingly.
- Make sure I actually get to the Indonesian grocers to try my hand at making rendang from scratch. I am quietly confident.
- Cross my fingers that either my brother picks up his kitten tomorrow, or that the kitten is willing to sleep in a cupboard throughout upcoming house inspection.
- Oh yeah. Marking, planning. Whatever.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Bubble bursts
I had a crack-it-moment today. It came on the back of an emotional afternoon, in which My Awesome Mentor told her VCAL boys she's leaving at the end of term, so I was already a tad brittle. Then there was a staff meeting at which it kind of hammered home to me that, even if I stuck out this incredibly hard year, with the boys being super-ratty, it is EXTREMELY likely I won't have a job. And then I cried at work. Ugh.
Here's the thing. Because the school was 'under threat', I could onl;y be offered a short term contract. They needed me, they wanted me to commit for the whole year, but they couldn't offer me ongoing status due to lack of enrolments (Apparently they could offer other people ongoing contracts, but that's another story). And now, despite knowingly and willingly re-entering the school during a really tough transition phase, I'm being told that the school can offer me the following in support: zilch. Because I am not an ongoing staff member.
I've known all along there were no guarantees. But to hear that at best the new school will be able to accomodate all the ongoing teachers (and it's highly unlikely we'll achieve such a 'best' outcome), and to realise that all the rhetoric about supporting each other is essentially a blast of hot, meaningless air... well that's pretty sucky, really.
So tonight I applied for a job, and expressed interest in some others. And I may or may not leave my school, even though I have made great friends there, and I really do like my feral boys and it would KILL me to leave them in the lurch. And if nothing comes through and I'm still at this school at the end of the year and fighting tooth and nail for a job somewhere, well, it's not like it's the first time I've joined the rat race. I just didn't really want to :(
Here's the thing. Because the school was 'under threat', I could onl;y be offered a short term contract. They needed me, they wanted me to commit for the whole year, but they couldn't offer me ongoing status due to lack of enrolments (Apparently they could offer other people ongoing contracts, but that's another story). And now, despite knowingly and willingly re-entering the school during a really tough transition phase, I'm being told that the school can offer me the following in support: zilch. Because I am not an ongoing staff member.
I've known all along there were no guarantees. But to hear that at best the new school will be able to accomodate all the ongoing teachers (and it's highly unlikely we'll achieve such a 'best' outcome), and to realise that all the rhetoric about supporting each other is essentially a blast of hot, meaningless air... well that's pretty sucky, really.
So tonight I applied for a job, and expressed interest in some others. And I may or may not leave my school, even though I have made great friends there, and I really do like my feral boys and it would KILL me to leave them in the lurch. And if nothing comes through and I'm still at this school at the end of the year and fighting tooth and nail for a job somewhere, well, it's not like it's the first time I've joined the rat race. I just didn't really want to :(
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hot or Not
So I had a bit of a shock moment yesterday. Out of nowhere, I have become a Hot Teacher. I’m used to being a Nice Teacher, or being told I am a Cool Teacher, but Hot??? This is NOT a good thing.
I don’t know, maybe it was the outfit: Nothing short, Nothing cleavage-y; shirt dress, belt, boots, scarf in hair. Other teachers thought I looked nice; I had a whole heap of compliments on my outfit. All good. But then I got comments from my students.
The first was a throwaway line about my boots being made for walking. Yeah, that’s still ok. Then I got told I looked very nice, especially my hair. All of that was a bit weird, but still fine. But it was the LOOKS.
At previous schools, I have had boys with crushes on me. I even had a kid ask repeatedly if I’d marry him (I had to decline). But I have never felt like I was being Checked Out. Yesterday went up several levels from what I'm used to. Yesterday involved leering. Ugh.
There are days when teaching at a boys’ school feels like working in a zoo. On days like yesterday, it feels like a construction site, stopping just short of wolf whistles.
It may be completely unrelated that another student decided to try out a pick up line on me at recess. Apparently heaven is missing an angel. Sigh.
I don’t know, maybe it was the outfit: Nothing short, Nothing cleavage-y; shirt dress, belt, boots, scarf in hair. Other teachers thought I looked nice; I had a whole heap of compliments on my outfit. All good. But then I got comments from my students.
The first was a throwaway line about my boots being made for walking. Yeah, that’s still ok. Then I got told I looked very nice, especially my hair. All of that was a bit weird, but still fine. But it was the LOOKS.
At previous schools, I have had boys with crushes on me. I even had a kid ask repeatedly if I’d marry him (I had to decline). But I have never felt like I was being Checked Out. Yesterday went up several levels from what I'm used to. Yesterday involved leering. Ugh.
There are days when teaching at a boys’ school feels like working in a zoo. On days like yesterday, it feels like a construction site, stopping just short of wolf whistles.
It may be completely unrelated that another student decided to try out a pick up line on me at recess. Apparently heaven is missing an angel. Sigh.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Patron Saint of the Lost
My (extremely expensive prescription) sunglasses have been missing for days. So long that I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn them, only the moment I looked in my glasses case and discovered their absence. This was Friday night, and after a thorough home search I convinced myself they were on my desk at school.
Only they weren't. Nor, once I emailed the staff, had they been seen by anyone at school(although I received about twenty emails reminding me that the principal had found a pair after a meeting. They were not mine, nor anywhere in their league/ price range).
I started to panic. I searched the house again. I searched my car. I rang family I'd visited asking if they'd seen them. And then I despaired.
I remembered how I'd lost my next most expensive item, my i-pod, on the flight back from Sydney. I wondered if, now that I had a full time job, but a tight budget, the universe was taunting me, testing whether I'd break my budget to replace them.
At last came the sad moment that I decided to remove the empty, useless sunglass case from my handbag. In a desperately hopeful gesture, I left the case open, in case my glasses found their way home...
They did. In less than a minute, I spotted them on a shelf, hidden under a toy horse (don't ask). A colleague suggested leaving the glasses-case open was a silent prayer to St Anthony, the patron saint of the lost. I don't know about that; I'm just wondering if I should leave my i-pod box open somewhere and wait for its return...
Only they weren't. Nor, once I emailed the staff, had they been seen by anyone at school(although I received about twenty emails reminding me that the principal had found a pair after a meeting. They were not mine, nor anywhere in their league/ price range).
I started to panic. I searched the house again. I searched my car. I rang family I'd visited asking if they'd seen them. And then I despaired.
I remembered how I'd lost my next most expensive item, my i-pod, on the flight back from Sydney. I wondered if, now that I had a full time job, but a tight budget, the universe was taunting me, testing whether I'd break my budget to replace them.
At last came the sad moment that I decided to remove the empty, useless sunglass case from my handbag. In a desperately hopeful gesture, I left the case open, in case my glasses found their way home...
They did. In less than a minute, I spotted them on a shelf, hidden under a toy horse (don't ask). A colleague suggested leaving the glasses-case open was a silent prayer to St Anthony, the patron saint of the lost. I don't know about that; I'm just wondering if I should leave my i-pod box open somewhere and wait for its return...
Saturday, February 09, 2008
What? Where? Wait!
How does time go so fast? I seem to be doing so much, and yet so little. I both aim for more time to relax, and yet to be doing more new things. I think somehwre wsomething's gotta give, but I sure haven't worked out what it is yet.
Last post I started (although completed today it is dated the date intentioned for publishing!), I was working at Department of Human Services over the xmas break when beyondblue closed down.
I have started my new job teaching, back at Samaritan. Sadly it looks to be the final year of Samaritan, as we've been deemed too small to be viable and are being acquired as a campus of a laregr school. Totally dulls the sheen of a new year. We're coping and trying to keep focussed on the job at hand, but it's made difficult by the threat of teachers and staff moving to other schools, the general uncertainty of what will actually happen, and the constant undercurrent of unhappiness and tension.
This year I am Primary Breadwinner; Nick is studying full time for the next two years at VCA then RMIT which is awesome, but adds a whole new element to the relationship with this shared finance thing. But it's all good, I think, and completely awesome that Nick's at uni! Yay him.
Also Yay Nick for winning us a trip to Sydney last year. We finally enjoyed our prize, three nights at the very lush Taj Blue in Wooloomooloo. Upsides: all the frees; room, flights, limo ride, breakfast, cocktails at the bar; the service; the size of the room (enormous, apartment sized!); the chance to wander around Sydney with no agenda; the opportunity to hang our with Phillip; seeing 'Juno'; the yummy cocktails, which were awesome; a large bath in the room; joining a wine club at the airport. Downsides: the constant rain, which restricted our activites and soaked Nick's shoes through, so he had to buy new ones; not seeing Bon Jovi, even though he was eating at our hotel; me leaving my ipod on the plane. Stupid! But overall a great fun trip and a fantastic chance to relax before jumping into the school year.
Anyway, that reminds me of preparation I have to do. The most INSANE timetable (six days out of ten I have no breaks at all during the day) means I need to be super prepared ove rhte weekends. But hopefully once I get into the swing of it I'll also get back into the habit of blogging. Or not, if the 80 meals blog is any indication... we'll see.
Last post I started (although completed today it is dated the date intentioned for publishing!), I was working at Department of Human Services over the xmas break when beyondblue closed down.
I have started my new job teaching, back at Samaritan. Sadly it looks to be the final year of Samaritan, as we've been deemed too small to be viable and are being acquired as a campus of a laregr school. Totally dulls the sheen of a new year. We're coping and trying to keep focussed on the job at hand, but it's made difficult by the threat of teachers and staff moving to other schools, the general uncertainty of what will actually happen, and the constant undercurrent of unhappiness and tension.
This year I am Primary Breadwinner; Nick is studying full time for the next two years at VCA then RMIT which is awesome, but adds a whole new element to the relationship with this shared finance thing. But it's all good, I think, and completely awesome that Nick's at uni! Yay him.
Also Yay Nick for winning us a trip to Sydney last year. We finally enjoyed our prize, three nights at the very lush Taj Blue in Wooloomooloo. Upsides: all the frees; room, flights, limo ride, breakfast, cocktails at the bar; the service; the size of the room (enormous, apartment sized!); the chance to wander around Sydney with no agenda; the opportunity to hang our with Phillip; seeing 'Juno'; the yummy cocktails, which were awesome; a large bath in the room; joining a wine club at the airport. Downsides: the constant rain, which restricted our activites and soaked Nick's shoes through, so he had to buy new ones; not seeing Bon Jovi, even though he was eating at our hotel; me leaving my ipod on the plane. Stupid! But overall a great fun trip and a fantastic chance to relax before jumping into the school year.
Anyway, that reminds me of preparation I have to do. The most INSANE timetable (six days out of ten I have no breaks at all during the day) means I need to be super prepared ove rhte weekends. But hopefully once I get into the swing of it I'll also get back into the habit of blogging. Or not, if the 80 meals blog is any indication... we'll see.
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