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Matt Nathanson ROCKS! [07 Mar 2004|07:12pm] OK, first starting out with the obligitory, "Haven't written for a long time, will do better in the future, blah, blah, BLAH" OK, with that out of the way, on to the real journal entry. WHAT I'M READING: The Informant by James Grippando. WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Lot of Gavin deGraw lately. WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: Last night, I went with Shawna to Slim's in San Francisco and saw Matt Nathanson. Oh my God, it was amazing...I am still high! Matt was incredible. Shawna was such a trooper, too. She didn't feel well, she doesn't like crowds, she's not into that type of music (although she does think Matt has a beautiful singing voice...it's not like she knows any of his songs or anything). Still she did it all for me. Because she loves me. :-) I have the best sister ever! She took a picture of me when we were waiting in line in front of Slim's. Keep in mind...I hadn't had the opportunity to do my hair and makeup in a while, so that's not how I would normally choose to look in a picture, but WHAT THE HELL! :-) We got inside, we waited for the show to start. We were pretty excited when the opening act started. That was short lived. HE SUCKED!!!! Oh my sweet lord, he sucked. His name was David Hopkins. This is his website: http://www.davidhopkinsmusic.com/ I only give you this information so that if you ever almost accidentally buy his stuff or go see him, you avoid that catastrophe because I helped you out. Dude comes out in a captain's hat, first of all. And by the end of his set, I was ready to snatch that motherfucker right off his head and beat him bloody with it. I don't know what was worst about him...but I think that, forced to choose, I'd have to go with his lyrics. He would just choose some inane phrase and then repeat it ad nauseum. Let me see if I can pull some examples off his website. BRB. OK, witness the following: "twirl for me baby twirl for me baby turn around, turn around, turn around and look up at me baby look up at me baby look at me, turn to me, come to me and sing for me baby, sing for me baby, sing for me baby these words I love I love I love ya always..... stop all your crying stop all your crying over me, over me, over me 'cause the day is coming the day is coming that i'm done, that I'm done, that I'm done and send for me baby, send for me baby, send for me baby these words I love I love I love ya always....." And I didn't even search for a particularly bad song, that's just the first fucking one on his website! Anyway....past the bad crap, on to the AWESOME SHIT!!!!!!! Matt comes out. There was cheering. There was yelling. Mostly by me, although the rest of the crowd was pretty excited as well. :-) I was so excited and just absorbing the experience that I can't begin to even think about posting something as mundane and detail-oriented as a setlist or what he talked about between songs. So, here are some randoms thoughts instead: * The armband story was funny. * The drummer added a lot of energy...he was great! * Matt sang every single song I had hoped to hear except Bare! And considering the mental list I had, that's pretty amazing. And, of course, Amazing Again...but apparently he won't do that live anymore, so it doesn't count. * At one point when people were yelling out requests, I yelled Church Clothes. He played Church Clothes. Although it was probably coincidence, I will continue to tell myself that he heard me...and I will continue to believe myself, too. :-) * I met a cool guy who was standing next to us and I conversed with him for a while. He was nice. I need more gay friends. * There were hilarious sing alongs. One of them was More Than Words, which was prefaced by a really funny story about the Extreme episode of Bands Reunited. I couldn't believe I still remembered all the words to that song. There are more things I can't think of now. I'll be updating again after I see Matt again tomorrow night. WooHoo! post comment

Forever....ForEEEver....FOREEEEVERRRR [26 Jan 2004|10:29pm] Love that movie. That is also how long it's been since I've written. :-) So, with much urgings from my beloved ShellyJanuary, here goes: WHAT I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO: Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt...and, oh yeah, more Matt. http://www.mattnathanson.com I got a hold of some of his live shows, and they have rekindled my Matty Lovin'. How is it possible that I have never seen him live? Why, now that I could finally manage to afford it, is he not touring back in California in the forseeable future? How is the Universe that unfair? Wow...these questions are really deep. I should be a Zen master. Seriously. BEST MOVIE I'VE SEEN RECENTLY: Lost in Translation. I saw it at the ArcLight in Hollywood. Only place I ever want to see a movie again ever, incidentally. Cool ass movie theater. ASSIGNED SEATING! Anyway...Lost in Translation kicks serious booty. I can't believe that Scarlett Johannson (sp? I don't know) was only 17 when it was filmed. Also, Giovanni Ribisi was so perfect...I can't even explain it. The movie was just so subtle...so few films are really subtle, and this one mastered that perfectly. I loved it. BEST COMIC IN THE (FUCKING) WORLD: Dane Cook. http://www.danecook.com Shawna and I listened to his CD on the way home from LA last weekend, and I seriously thought I was not going to be able to continue driving while listening to it, I was laughing so hard. He is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!! Did I mention that he's also hott? Not just hot. Double 't' hott. He is a hottie hott hott hottie. HOTT!!!!! As my other hottie crush, Matty N., would say: AAWWW.....SHIT! WHAT I'VE BEEN READING: OK, I've read a ton of crap since I've last posted, I'm not even gonna try to touch on it all. What I want to talk about is Backspin by Harlan Coben. It's a Myron Bolitar mystery, one of the early ones. What made it special, though, was you get some insight into Win...his mother's in the story, his uncle, cousins...and an incident from his childhood is revealed. It doesn't *explain* him by any means, but it offers a glimpse. And since Win is far and away my favorite character in the series...possibly in recent literature LOL...I was lovin' it. WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: Well, Zany Brainy filed for bankruptcy. Damn them. Well, it's FAO, Inc., technically. The parent company. No difference. My reaction is still: Bastards! I loved that job. Those girls were great. Oh, well, moving on with my life... Scott Bairstow from Party of Five...you remember, Neve Campbell's abusive boyfriend Ned? Turns out the motherfucker has been molesting/statutory raping a relative of his ex-wife's since she was 12 years old and he was in his late twenties. I always thought that guy played a psycho pervert too well. Seriously. Shawna and I used to talk about how he gave us the creeps for real. Something about his eyes...like when Tim Conway and Harvey Korman used to laugh for real, and you could tell it was different than acting-laughing? Well, like that, but with "psycho" instead of "laughter." I've been subbing while I've been off track. It's so much fun! New class every day, VERY little responsibility (compared to having my own room), I'm out when the kids are out, and although it doesn't pay as well as teaching, it's still pretty good pay. Damn. That's my new career goal...subbing. LOL I would love it, actually, if I could afford to just sub instead of teach. The reason I got into teaching was to spark kids' passion for learning, to share literature and learning that I'm passionate about with them as well...and I'm not allowed to do that anyway, so what's the point? Anyway, I am going to make a serious effort to post more often...even if I don't make a big production of it every time, if I just post some thoughts. I really want to aim for once a week consistency. That would be perfect. Check in with ya later! post comment

I'm Zany...and Brainy, apparently! [20 Nov 2003|10:47pm] WHAT I’M READING: Under Cover of Darkness by James Grippandi, Endangered Species by Nevada Barr, Four Blind Mice by James Patterson. WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Everything to Everyone by Barenaked Ladies, OF COURSE! Not going to miss the new release by my all time favorite band! Can I be a little disloyal, though, and say that I was a bit disappointed? Man, I feel like such a traitor even voicing that, and especially on such a public forum, but this is the first of their CD’s EVER that there isn’t even one song that I say, “GOD! I love that song!” And on ALL of their other CD’s there have been at least five or six of those. WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON: Well, I got a part-time job at Zany Brainy, which sells educational toys and other things like that. It should be pretty fun and interesting working there, hopefully, and I can make some extra moolah for paying off bills and saving up for the big move to LA. The sad thing is, if I’m working on Saturday nights, no more post-whoring with my MSM girls. Too bad. Evie is coming out to visit me this spring. She’s never been to Northern California before. I’m going to show her San Francisco, Napa and Lake Tahoe. My own personal Top 3. I’m such a nerd, I’m already planning everything out to the Nth degree…I’m practically planning it out by the minute!  There are so many special things. Cable cars, definitely, Ghiridelli (sp?) Square, Pier 39 (touristy, but still ). The Indonesia Restaurant. The Golden Gate, Golden Gate Park…oh man, it’s so exciting to be able to show someone all that for the first time! And then Napa, I definitely want to take her to Mondavi and take the tour…Situi, the museum, Domain Chandon, the cooking academy…everything! And Lake Tahoe…The Forest Room, driving around the lake, that art gallery by the marina, gambling and partying till late in the evening LOL. I might even take her to Virginia City, I doubt she’s ever been to anything like that…anything Gold Rush or “Old West”-ish. I’ve been SO into working out and going to the gym lately…I LOVE the gym. I love the feeling of industry there…everyone is there to do a job, and everyone is there to better themselves. Tanning and going in the spa also feel good, and I like the steam room. So I’m taking advantage of the pampering aspects of it, as well. I’ve also recently discovered the Grilled Chicken Salad at the Mexican Food restaurant in the Food 4 Less parking lot down the street from my school….aaaahhhh!!!! Heaven! Oh, man, it’s such a good salad! And Cost Plus has a decent little low carb section, too. Low carb chocolate…yum! So I’m feelin’ pretty good about my diet lately! LOL In San Ramon, there is a whole low carb STORE called Greenbeanz, but things in there are hella expensive, and I can’t afford to be shopping there all the time. Or ANY of the time, for that matter! Haha. Write more later! post comment

Story of my Hometown [29 Oct 2003|12:30am] WHAT I'VE BEEN READING: Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottoline. Damn, that girl is witty! WHAT I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO: Maroon 5. They rock. Good workout music. COOL WEBSITE: http://www.friendster.com At friendster, you create a profile and so do your friends, and you link to one another. Then you are able to view the profiles of your friends, your friends' friends, your friends' friends' friends...and so on and so on and so on. Like that shampoo commercial from the seventies. Look at the testimonial Evie left for me: "Melanie is the one girl in the world who can put up with me 24/7, and therefore not only the best roommate I have ever had, but also one of the best friends I could have ever hoped to wish for. She is caring, sweet, and wise, but all of that in addition to a wicked sense of humor. Melanie also has the most amazing, sparkling blue eyes and most infectious smile to be found in the state of California, if not the entire planet. She is someone who will never stop astounding you with some incredible facet of her personality." aaaaaawwwww........ :-) WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: I just got back from my friend Heather's Pampered Chef party. It was SSSOOO good to see her! She's been out on maternity leave and I have not seen her since the end of August. She and I were notorious for misbehaving during the Houghton Mifflin training. We wouldn't shut up! The trainer, Deirdre (DEAR-dray), was very irritated with us. She even used that old classroom management trick of using my name in a sentence to get my attention. Of course, it didn't actually snap me into line like it would have an eight-year-old...because I'M AN ADULT!!! Just for the future, though, here's a good idea to get me to pay attention: SAY SOMETHING USEFUL. What a novel concept. :-) Heather and I have a big common interest, though, and that is Homeless Education. One of the good things about the federal Leave No Child Behind legislation (On of the ONLY good things, IMO) is that it makes it illegal to discriminate against children on the basis of residence where enrollment is concerned. Which is all very nice...but in REALITY...try to register a child in a school with no utility bill or other proof of residence. You basically can't. This system makes it damn near impossible to send a child to school who happens to live in their car. The result? They probably won't learn to read. This is a very serious problem. Heather wrote to Oprah about it, but she never heard back. I think we should make a guerilla-style documentary. I think that would have punch. STORY ABOUT MY HOMETOWN: So, I was emailing with my friend Ryan, and he asked me for a humorous anecdote about Tracy (my hometown). I wrote him back with one, and then realized that it was so perfectly descriptive of Tracy, that I had to post it here. Enjoy: "This is a story that will tell you ALL you will ever need to know about what Tracy is like. Last summer was my ten year high school reunion. (I’m old. I know. Shut up.) It was $185 for some dinner and dancing at a hotel near here, which I think any reasonable person would agree is a little steep. The only real reason to go to a reunion, anyway, I think, is to catch up with people’s lives that you’ve lost track of. This being Tracy, however, the only people who I would be curious about, I already know about. Here goes: 1) Jeff Sparkman: Ex-boyfriend. He’s a humor columnist for my hometown newspaper. Therefore I catch up with his life weekly, in print. 2) Beth Wilson: Best friend from 8 years old to early twenties. Our friendship kinda fell apart when Jeff and I started dating, because the three of us had been friends before that and it made it weird. Of course, two years after I broke up with Jeff, he and Beth started dating. She dumped him, too. Poor guy. I catch up with her once every couple months on email. She works at a museum in Sacramento now. 3) Ken Colburn: My sixth-grade boyfriend. My first boyfriend, actually...hand holding and the occasional hug. HOT stuff, lemme tell ya. We were the envy of the other 11-year-olds. He could (and probably still can) ride a unicycle. Our song was “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin (we were big Top Gun fans, apparently). He was also, incidentally, Jeff’s high school best friend. And since his parents still live next door to my parents, his life is not exactly a mystery to me, either. So, even though I didn’t really care about the reunion, I was feeling sort of nostalgic and halfway wishing that I hadn’t missed it when I went into our local hip coffee house, Shots, a couple of weeks ago. Shots is like Starbucks but much cooler. Think Central Perk from Friends. I was talking with Justin Porter, the cool guy that owns the place...and who also graduated in my year at high school. (Also, incidentally, he’s friends with my sister’s boyfriend Tony. And Tony’s aunt Joanne was my nephew’s kindergarten teacher, and his other aunt Barbara was MY second grade teacher. Aaahhh...Tracy). The subject of the reunion came up in my conversation with Justin. I started getting sentimental about it, but he dismissed that with a short laugh. “Don’t even trip about missing it. You didn’t miss much. Only, like, thirty people showed up, and they basically just went out back all night and got baked. It was fun, but hell...they do that every Saturday night anyway for free.” And there you have it. From weekly Saturday night cowtipping to weekly Saturday night ganja fests in only ten short years. That’s my hometown, in a nutshell. I’m so proud!" post comment

Elliot Smith [22 Oct 2003|12:58am] Elliot Smith died. Apparently he committed suicide. I *just* found out and I feel like I'm in shock. This is so incredibly sad. What a loss! What a completely *pointless* loss to both music and the world. It makes no sense. Assholes who contribute nothing to society but pain and misery don't have the good sense to kill themselves, but a poet like Elliot Smith, who made the world more beautiful, feels that he has to take his own life. The world became a little bit uglier today. post comment

Rant [15 Oct 2003|12:12am] WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Matt Nathanson. Totally talented singer/songwriter guy…not to mention a complete cutie. He’s based out of San Francisco. He’s playing at Slim’s in the city next week. Damn. I’m broke. Sucks! (Every time I say the name “Slim’s”, I think of that line from Love Jones… “Come on, slim…f*ck your man, I ain’t worried about him.” Aaaahhh….Love Jones. Hey…If Jennifer Love Hewitt married somebody named Jones, her name would be Love Jones. Heh) WHAT I’M READING: Lake House by James Patterson COOL WEBSITE I’VE RECENTLY DISCOVERED: http://www.daretosing.com. It is freakin’ hilarious!!!! The concept of the site is that people who think they can sing (and a handful who actually can) upload mp3’s of themselves daring to sing (or daring to suck, as the case may be). Other people then download their attempts and are able to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 and provide comments. Oh….my…God. That’s comedy, people. An added bonus is that some of the people on there actually are talented. Jazzybagz is fantastic. Also, that site is how I originally discovered Ernie Halter (http://www.erniehalter.com), because he posted a Mayer cover which was discussed on mystupidmouth.com. But, the main function of the site, for me at least, is comic relief. WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON: Man, I realize that I had complete PMS the last time I wrote! The tone of almost everything on that post is complete irritation. LOL Well, I’m back to my old cheerful self. However, before I completely exit the kingdom of bitchiness I do have to lodge a complaint. Remember in my last blog, I told about how I had emailed Five O’Clock Shadow to see if they are really breaking up? I didn’t post the email here, but I will now: >To: focs@focs.com >Cc: >Subject: BREAKING UP???? NNNNOOOO!!!!! >Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 21:13:36 -0800 >Hi there! >You don't know me, but I am a big fan. I heard that you are breaking >up at the end of the year. Is this true? Is the person that I heard >it from crazy/on drugs? Joking. I realize those two things don't >have to be mutually exclusive :-) Anyway, this is so incredibly sad >if it's true. >I have to bribe my inner two-year-old to do unpleasant tasks (such as >paying bills, doing laundry and working out) and listening to your >music is one of the major carrots I dangle for her. :-) Trust me, if >y'all stop putting out new tunes, it's highly possible that I will >turn into an out-of-shape, dirty-clothes-wearing, >currently-in-bankruptcy-court former fan. :-) >Come now...I don't think any of us wants that! >Seriously, though, if you are breaking up, I am sad about that. You >guys have a truly unique and quality sound that will be missed by >many people, including myself. I only hope that you are pursuing >solo projects so that I can still manage to drop some coin on y'all's >behalf. Wow...I used two apostrophes in one word. Cool. >If you have a moment, feel free to write me back and end my misery of >uncertainty. :-) God knows I'd appreciate it! :-) >Thanks so much for your time! >Melanie >http://www.auntiemel.com I felt that was, if not my finest comedic writing of all time, at least worth a small chuckle. So, Oren tells Evie… “Yeah, one of your friends emailed me this week, and it was the most hilarious thing I’ve read all week. She said we satiated her inner two-year-old or something.” But the way she related his tone, it was more like he meant hilarious-psycho than hilarious-funny. Not to mention that the way he explained the "inner two-year-old" comment was completely out of the context of the email. I am very irritated by this. Not to mention the fact that he STILL HASN’T WRITTEN ME BACK! Way to keep in touch with the fans, man. Ridicule their emails behind their backs so they know you've read them, but don't bother to respond. So, listen...if you are reading this, dude, let me tell you something…it was MEANT TO BE FUNNY! It was not meant to be literal! My life is not actually going to fall apart if you guys break up. I was exaggerating for comic effect. But, it doesn’t really matter. I’m pretty much over you guys breaking up at this point. David Ryan Harris can "satiate" my inner two-year-old. 1 comment|post comment

All the updates that are fit to print... [07 Oct 2003|09:28pm] ...and some that aren't, really. WHAT I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO: Ernie Halter. Someone posted about him on a message board I go to, and I checked out his website. He is soooo cool! I downloaded some of his stuff, and I just can't stop listening. The CD I burned from the mp3's on his site is what is currently keeping me pumped up during my workouts. :-) http://www.erniehalter.com Check him out, why don't ya? WHAT I'VE BEEN READING: Manner of Death by Stephen White COOL MOVIE I'VE SEEN LATELY: The Fighting Temptations. The gospel music in the movie was not quite as authentic as I'd hoped....or maybe I should say, it wasn't the style I enjoy most. I like "choir" kinda gospel music, which I thought this would be. John P. Kee. Kirk Franklin. Fred Hammond. West Angeles COGIC. Basically any choir with the word "Mass" in it. You know what I'm talking about. This was more like hip hop, R&B-style gospel. For the young people. LOL. But still very cool...a sweet story. I liked the movie overall. COOL WEBSITE I'VE RECENTLY DISCOVERED: www.mystupidmouth.com - John Mayer message board. It's fun. It's a good way to get rid of some of that pesky disposable time we all hate so much. :-) Of course, if you're not a Mayer fan, it probably would not appeal to you as much. RANDOM RANT: Die, John Wells!!!!! Die, bastard!!!! You are not fit to derelict Aaron Sorkin's balls. DDDIIIIIEEEE!!!! (for more info on the reasons why I feel this way, expressed in a way that is much more clever than I have the time to come up with, see: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/story.cgi?show=4&story=5480&limit=&sort= ) WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: Well, the big news is that I got a new car...finally!!! YES!!! It's a 2003 Nissan Sentra, silver. Love it! Spending six weeks with no car was no fun. I spent an ungodly amount of time posting on various message boards and abandoning any pretense of leading a real, non-internet life. I have rekindled my interest in exercising, however, and have been doing my Power 90 tapes and going to the gym very regularly. YAY.....endorphines! WooHoo! Five O'Clock Shadow is breaking up!!! NNNOOOOO!!!!!!! Evie is friendly with one of the guys from the group and he told her. I don't think it's a secret, though, because someone alluded to it in their guestbook. I emailed them to ask if it's true...just in case for some odd reason Oren was messing with Evie's head or Evie was messing with mine. But I think both of those possibilities are slim like shady. I think they are history. :-( David Ryan Harris is playing this Saturday night in Santa Monica...WWWWWAAAAA!!!! Dang it, every damn thing goes down in LA. I always get excited when I see concert announcements for California...but is it ever up here??? NNNOOOO!!!! This would be one major reason why I am getting my ass back to SoCal as soon as humanly possible. I went out and voted in California's own little Saturday Night Live skit....er....um....I mean....Recall Election. Not telling you how I voted. The point is that I *did* vote. I replaced Eddie, who was broken. Those in the know, know. Those that don't, don't. My website broke 3000 unique visitors this week! YAY!!!!! I am currently subjecting my 2nd Graders to the non-abridged double CD version of The Phantom of the Opera while they do their seatwork under the pretense that it is appropriately creepy for the season...but really because I just want to listen to it. :-) They are BEGGING me to bring Chuck Mangione back. Heeheehee! They love Joe Satriani, but it gets them too riled up. I can only put it on at the end of the day when I'm about to send them out the door anyway. LOL I'm currently reading "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" aloud to them. I forgot how awesome that book is! LOVE it! Makes me cry, makes me laugh...makes the kids do those things, too, which is important. :-) They are having a little trouble getting used to the Realistic Fiction genre after I've just finished spoiling them with "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency," "Fat Men from Space," and "Jennifer Murdley's Toad." Heh. But they'll live. The only thing I regret about teaching second is that they are too young for me to share my favorite children's lit book, "A Wrinkle in Time," with. AWWW! **Note - If any spies from my school are reading this, I only read novels aloud to them for ten minutes a day and I DON'T count it as part of my sacred Houghton Mifflin minutes! God forbid I take precious time away from curriculum adoption workbook pages to share some actual literature...wouldn't dream of it, baby! :-) Have I mentioned on here how much I really hate the state of the educational system today????? Nothing personal against my particular school...it's the same all over. I'm just gonna go ahead and end on that downer note. I can't think of anything else to say! :-) Stay strong, power people! :-) post comment

Once a week....HAHAHAHA!!!!! [10 Sep 2003|09:34pm] Well, OK, I guess the once a week thing did not work out as I hoped....due mainly to circumstances which I will explain fully in the "What's Going On" section of this entry. So, without further ado, on with the show.... WHAT I'M READING: Or, more accurately, listening to on tape...Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I know it's been forever since it came out, and I actually bought it the day of release, but I just keep parceling it out to myself in tiny increments as rewards for good behavior...e.g. - working out. It's a fairly good system if you ignore the concept that I actually have to bribe my inner two-year-old to do things I should, as an adult, just suck it up and DO! But, hey, whatever works. :-) COOL MOVIE I'VE SEEN LATELY: Swimming Pool. The ending was a bit of a let-down, and I thought that they should have cut the whole "murder mystery" sub-plot and focused on the character development...but all in all, a worthwhile flick. B+. :-) WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Jason Mraz. I like him. Don't get me wrong, he's no Hottie John Mayer...but I like him :-). WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING LATELY: OK...first and foremost....I got in a car accident, which sucks IN THE EXTREME! My tire blew out on the freeway, across three lanes of busy traffic. My car hit the center divide, and now it is TOTALED! OK, that sucks so badly that I am finished talking about it...it's too depressing. In other news, I was going to go to the Jack Johnson/Ben Harper concert, but that did not happen due in equal parts to the car situation and a last minute change of venue which put it at 2 hours away from me instead of 1. I heard about the concert from my friend from work, Heather, and she ended up not going as well because she did not feel well. BUT...her husband, Nate, DID go to the concert, and he said it was quite good. I definitely want to catch one or both of them the next time they roll through town! My book-on-tape project (asking my friends to record picture books on tape for my listening library) is going well! I have gotten some returned, and my friend Janice even ordered books to be sent to me...AWWWW!!!!! She is the best!!!! I haven't even emailed her to say Thank You, come to think of it, I need to do that tomorrow. :-) Well...I will write more later....and I actually will, honest! LOL post comment

Garlic Girls [27 Jul 2003|11:39pm] Welcome to my new resolution of updating my web journal every week! Yah...we'll see how the hell that goes. :-) WHAT I'M READING: I'm re-reading "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner...it's such a fabulous book! I feel like it explains what it's like to be me...not an easy task LOL. WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Just discovered Lucy Kaplansky...God, this lady is amazing! She has a PhD in psych and left her practice and professorship to tour with her guitar. Neato! Her music is bomb, too. So far, I particularly love "Guinevere" and "Broken Things"...but I'm just getting started. She's playing at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz this September, so I need to order all her CD's immediately so I can be fully prepared come Sept. Also, I've never been to the KJC, but one of my friends said that it is a REALLY cool venue, so I'm pretty psyched about that, as well. I think the coolest venue I've ever been to was McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA. (Shout out to SoCal!) They have this cool room in the back that seats about 40 or 50, and it's painted all black...guitars are hanging by their necks from the walls...great venue. Saw the Bobs there, and DaVinci's Notebook made a surprise appearance. Great night, eh Evie! I've also been listening to a lot of Carole King lately, by virtue of the fact that I am teaching my Second Grade class "Alligators All Around", "Chicken Soup with Rice" and "Beautiful" right now. So those songs are terminally running through my head! (MELANIE'S CREATIVE TEACHING IDEA NUMBER 67: Singing is an excellent choral reading activity! Repitition of text is what moves words from decodable text to sight words, and singing makes the repitition fun! You can also expose kids to cool music they might not otherwise hear...blues, jazz, etc. I have a cool lesson I like to do where I read them the story "Lookin' for Bird in the Big City" and then we learn about and listen to Miles Davis and Charlie Parker music...screw Barney and crap! Kids are never too young for quality tunes! :-) WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: So, today Cat and I went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival. IT WAS SO FREAKING HOT!!!!! And I don't mean in the sense that it was a hip and happenin' place...it was HOT...as in, heatstroke hot. We are Food Network freaks, and Cat said that the Garlic Festival is a big deal on the Food Network. Last year, hottie Tyler Florence was there. He's so cute! Evie has a jones for him, too. I have this fantasy where I pretend I have a Food 911 emergency and once I have hottie Tyler Florence in my kitchen....well, that's a story for another time. :-) At any rate, the big culinary deal at the Garlic Festival is Garlic Ice Cream. Sounds disgusting, right? Well...it's interesting. For some reason which made sense to me at the time, I ordered Garlic-Chocolate ice cream served in a half-cantaloupe. I believe it had something to do with the cantaloupe only costing 50 cents more. And for some other reason which has at this point escaped me, I continued to eat it even after I started feeling nauseous. I think that reason had to do with a "I paid for it, damn it, I'm eating it!" philosophy which has been proved unwise. So, all in all, we spent about 35 minutes inside the gates of the Garlic Festival (there was 10 bucks well spent!), but the good thing is that now we can say that we have been to the thing...and that we consumed the famous (should be infamous!) Garlic Ice Cream. STORY FROM THE JOHN MAYER CONCERT I FORGOT TO TELL: So, okay, the one bummer about the John Mayer concert was that I was sitting in the designated fuddie duddie section, apparently. All the people were sitting down, quietly listening...no one was singing along...damn it, I can do that at home! I wanna dance! But I was too self-conscious to stand up (I was in the front row of my section). So, then, the three girls next to me stand up and start dancing...YIPPEE! Just as I am about to join them, this old guy from about six rows back yells, "Hey, sweetheart, I didn't pay a hundred and sixty bucks for these seats to look at your ass!" and she turns around and yells at him, "You paid a hundred and sixty? I usually charge twice that to look at my ass, you got off cheap," and continues to dance her heart out. In the spirit of sisterhood (and because I had already wanted to anyway :-), I had to join them. Now there were four of us dancing in the front row of the fuddie duddie section! Well, I would love to say that this began a wave of concert enthusiasm which spread throughout our section and inspired a lot more standing and boogie-ing like would happen in the movies, but actually, it just remained the four of us dancing throughout the concert and getting popcorn and crap thrown in our hair. BUT...the moral of the story is this: I had a much better time because I did what I wanted to without worrying about what other people thought, AND I met three really cool chicks. So, shout out to the sassy chicks I met last Saturday, should they by some miracle end up reading this! :-) Ciao, ragazzi! Ci vediamo. post comment

Much to share! [21 Jul 2003|12:48am] WHAT I'M READING: Easy Prey by John Sanford, Double Duece by Robert B. Parker, Motion to Strike by Perri O'Shaughnessy, Say it With Poison by Ann Granger, Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton and Icehouse by Minnette Walters. You may think it's not possible that I'm actually reading all these books at once, however, I actually am currently at different points at each of them. WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Room for Squares by John Mayer. (Listening to hottie John Mayer both on CD and...last night...LIVE, BABY! See below) MOVIES I'VE SEEN LATELY: OK...Karin....I'm going to say it...you know what I'm going to say....here I go...FINDING NEMO!!! WooHoo! COOL TELEVISION SHOW RECENTLY DISCOVERED: That would HAVE to be AMERICAN CHOPPER. This show is so classic! It's a reality show, which is always a plus :-), and it is about a father/son team that build motorcycles. If you are thinking, "Eh...motorcycles? Not my thing, babe." then I can completely relate! This is exactly what I thought before I started watching the thing! It is so great! The dynamic between the father and the son (Paul and Paul Jr. or Paulie) is so powerful and real. They clash almost daily, yet they really love each other, and both aspects of that relationship are explored. When it comes to the motorcycles themselves, Paul Jr. is an amazing talent, and even if you are not into motorcycles, you can't help but be overwhelmed by the pure artistry. Also...one last plus for the show...did I mention Paul Jr. is a major hottie? Because he is. He's a hottie. Major. Hottie. :-) Check it out! WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: My number one big event is the AMAZING concert that I just attended with my cousin Karin and my friend Cathy. John Mayer (did I mention John Mayer is a hottie? LOL Because he also is. Major Hottie) and Counting Crows. I left right after work on Friday and drove for eight and a half hours to get to Yucca Valley, where my cousin lives. The next day, she and I jumped in my car and drove for three hours to San Diego to meet Cathy and hit the concert. Concert ended at midnight, Karin and I drove back to Yucca, getting back at 4 in the morning. Then today, I made the eight and a half hour trip back home. Tomorrow morning, I return to work. :-) You might ask...was it worth a hundred-some-odd dollars and almost twenty hours driving crammed into a couple of days just to see John Mayer in concert with Karin and Cathy? And the answer is a resounding......HELL YES!!!!!!!!!! :-) Every penny and every minute. More on this and other various and sundry subjects later, thanks to all my faithful readers. :-) post comment

Major Updates! [11 May 2003|04:41pm] WHAT I'M READING: A Cold Heart by Jonathan Kellerman, No Second Chance by Harlan Coben, Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie and Until the Real Thing Comes Along by Elizabeth Berg. Ha! Take that! Four at once! WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: I just discovered Bowling for Soup and Arrogant Worms. They're cool! MOVIES I'VE SEEN LATELY: I saw "Max" when I was on vacation visiting Evie...probably the last really GOOD movie I've seen. COOL WEBSITE I'VE JUST DISCOVERED: http://www.chicklit.com A website devoted to chicks (which I am) and books (which I love)...how could it be anything but right up my alley? I love it! WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: So many things have happened since I last wrote! I was off-track for a month in March (meaning school was not in, so I was off from work) and so I took two trips. One short one was down to Southern California to visit my college buddy Amanda. I stayed with her in her apartment and we had a blast hanging with her friends and just generally goofing around together. I also saw my summer roomie, Tessa, and her fiance Dave, who are getting married in August. They are a cute couple! Then I went out and visited Evie, my roomie for Junior and Senior year of college, in Baltimore. That was the first time I have ever been on the east coast. It was cool! I saw Washington DC for the first time, and met some of Evie's family in Northern Virginia. I also got a chance to meet some of her friends, which was cool...to get a glimpse into her world. She hosted a dinner party while I was there where she made awesome paella that everyone loved. They also have amazing restaurants there, and Evie took me to this cool place that Amanda would love called Panera, all they have there is different kinds of bread. She also took me to a cool dessert place called Cosi where they bring a Sterno fire to your table, along with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate so you can (as I'm sure you've figured out by now) make S'mores at your table. Neato! A few weeks later, I went to San Diego to visit Chris and see his play. Not a fabulous play LOL, but Chris was awesome in it. :-) We also had a really good time on the visit, went to a cool Greek diner and the beach and played a rockin' game called Therapy. Good times, yeah, Therapy is fun. Yeah. LOL Well, that's about it for now. I vow to start posting more often, and provide a more detailed, anecdotal recitation of the events of my life. For my own benefit later in life, should no one else care to partake. LOL Later! post comment

Hey, look at me...2 posts in one week! [04 Feb 2003|10:17pm] WHAT I'M READING: Hanging Up by Delia Ephron / Assertive Discipline: Positive Classroom Management in Today's Classroom by Lee Canters. (I'm a sucker for variety!) WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Nellyville by Nelly (I forgot to fill this one in last time!) WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON: Happy Birthday, Auntie Anna! I went to Southern California this week for my Aunt's surprise birthday party, and it was a blast! My cousin Karin spent so much time and money making it incredibly special...it was awesome! I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time. Including my cousin Klint, who took me out after the party and got me pretty smashed...which, in turn, got me pretty sick! But it was still fun, and it was good catching up with him. Turns out, as a matter of fact, that he is going to be in Baltimore on business in a little while, and he is going to look up Evie. That will be a trip...two sections of my world colliding, it is so surreal when that happens! I got somewhat the same sensation when I took my Mom to the Pampered Chef party with all the people I know from work. Well, I suppose that is all for now! Bye! post comment

Haven't posted for two months...but I'm still alive! [30 Jan 2003|11:07pm] WHAT I'M READING: White Oleandar by Janet Fitch (don't be fooled by the movie-tie-in-Oprah's-Book-Club image...it's an amazing book! The language is so poetic that I find myself with tears in my eyes at the images the words evoke and the lovely, gentle way they evoke them) WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: COOL TELEVISION SHOW RECENTLY DISCOVERED: "The Surreal Life" on the WB. OK...I cannot explain how brilliant this show is! Seven has-been entertainment personalities are living in a house together for 10 days with no access to personal phones or personal vehicles, and the show documents how they interact. The (ex)celebs are MC Hammer, Emmanuel Lewis, Gabrielle Carteris, Jerri from Survivor, Vince Neil, Corey Feldman and a previous playboy bunny named Brande. It's classic interaction, and the exchanges are brilliant. Please, PLEASE start watching. And if you can't, at least read the www.televisionwithoutpity.com recaps. WHAT'S GOING ON: Well, I am busy teaching, of course, and the California state budget cuts have hit us hard, at least in the anticipation of cuts we need to make for next year. I am doing my darndest to just put it out of my mind until we know the extent of the damage. I am also busy getting my summer program grad school applications together and figuring out how I am going to swing that. If it's Hollins, the Children's Lit program, it starts while I'm still teaching, and I would need to figure out how I would handle that. Of course, if it's the Gifted kids program at the University of Conneticut, then it fits with my schedule. Of course because of the "downsizing/crossizing" situation in Weston Ranch, who knows where I'll even be next year? Loved the holidays...I sent out a group Christmas message on email with a picture of my class, and I got a really good response! I am now getting back in touch with people that I've been out of touch with for a long time and that feels really good! Well, it's so late that I think I'll call it a night...however, one of my fake New Year's Resolutions is to start keeping my diary more regularly (in addition to recording and releasing a best-selling CD, being chosen as the next Bachelorette, etc.) I figured it had about as much liklihood of happening as the others. Yet, here I am. Miracles do happen...hehe. Bye! post comment

American Pie 3, Dogs and Floods! [01 Dec 2002|01:03am] WHAT I'M READING: Educating Esme (by Esme Codell) (again!) WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: Come Away With Me by Norah Jones COOL WEBSITE RECENTLY DISCOVERED: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com Funny recaps of shows they find interesting, funny, and faintly (or not-so-faintly) ridiculous. WHAT'S GOING ON: Well, last weekend was extremely eventful! Cat told me about an open call last Saturday at Universal for American Pie 3, for the part of Michelle (the band geek's) little sister. Well, we knew Shawna had to try out! After making quick arrangements to cover her shift and make sure the kids were taken care of, she and I decided to head out on Friday as soon as I got off work at 3:30. Well, Friday was a Teacher Prep day for my track, so I figured that it would be easy enough to plan my day so that I could leave at 3:30. Wrong! A few minutes before the kids got out at 3:10, a message came over the intercom saying not to let the kids go, not to leave the classroom. Well, it was pretty nerve-wracking to sit there for the next 40 minutes wondering what the HECK was going on, and what kind of danger was going on, I'll tell you! I called Shawna and told her that I didn't know when I was getting out, and sat there and tried to get some more work done...fat chance! I was trying to keep my cool and concentrate, but the truth is, I was NERVOUS! Turns out that the danger was not a terrorist or a bomb threat...but, rather....a DOG! Catherine, I'm sure, would find that option by FAR the most threatening of the three! :-) The dog bit two adults, and they couldn't, of course, in good conscience let the kids go until Animal Control could get a hold of the dog. But, in the meantime, I (and I'm sure some other people as well) spent some pretty nervous moments. So, at 4:30 Shawna and I were finally on the road. We spent the 6-hour drive listening to some CD's that I had burned for us and discussing the outcome of The Bachelor...and, yes, we really could stretch out that particular conversation that long! Possibly, in an upcoming issue of this journal, I will include snippets of our thoughts. :-) We stayed with my Aunty Anna, and had a really nice talk before Shawna and I had to hit the sheets. One of the things mentioned during the conversation was that the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom was on the fritz. Well, we had to get up at 5:00 in the morning to make sure we got to Universal on time, and when we woke up, Shawna said she was going to take a shower downstairs because she didn't want to wake up Aunty Anna by using the one upstairs. I said, "Isn't the plumbing out down there?" and she replied, "No, I think that's just the toilet." Well, a half an inch of water on the downstairs bathroom floor says it wasn't just the toilet! And then poor Shawna had to go and wake up Aunty Anna anyway, which was what she was trying to avoid in the first place. Poor thing! But the upside of the story is that, in addition to her mad skills as a florist, my Aunty Anna is also a closet chemist, and was able to concoct a mixture of household chemicals that was able to clear up the drain issue. All's well that ends well! Well, signing off for now, talk to everybody later, Mel :-) post comment

My first Journal Entry...AKA Welcome to Melanie's Life [19 Nov 2002|01:05am] What I'm Reading: City of Bones by Michael Connelly, The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman and Sudden Prey by John Sanford. I'm such a multi-tasker! What's Going On: Well, I have been inspired by my college roomate Evie to begin keeping an online journal. I know that, most likely, the only reason she will be reading it is to see if she is mentioned, so I'll just start off there. Hi Evie! I'll start out by telling about myself...a little crash course in Melanie for the uninitiated. :-) I am a fourth grade teacher in Northern California. Click below to view my professional portfolio: http://www.melaniedejonge.com I have a niece Mya and a nephew Joey, thus my handle, auntiemel. That's what my nephew calls me, and it stuck as a nickname. My niece calls me Mimi. I went to Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. Life is rough! My favorite band is Barenaked Ladies, followed closely by Ben Folds Five (They broke up! ARRGGGHHH!). My favorite author is Caryl Rivers, followed closely by Elizabeth Berg. My favorite TV show is Trading Spaces. Largely because my favorite celebrity hottie is their carpenter, Ty Pennington. Check out my personal website, www.auntiemel.com, if you're panting to know more. :-) I spent a semester studying abroad in Florence, Italy. I also visited Egypt and Greece. I really want to go back to Europe. I plan on doing so as soon as I can pay off my student debt and get a little money together...considering the massive nature of my student debt, that could be YEARS from now, but hope springs eternal. As far as current events, I am "off track" right now, which means I'm on vacation from school. I teach at a year-round school, which means that rather than a traditional summer vacation, I get the months of November, March and July off. I do go back to work on Friday, though, so my idyllic month will be over. :-) I'm driving a new car...a Cranberry Saturn Coupe. I love it! I drove a used Infiniti during college that was a nice little car, but it had a LOT of miles on it. It was pretty nerve-wracking, wondering if it was going to work from day to day. I don't have to wonder any more. Woo Hoo! I think this is enough for my initial entry. More will be forthcoming. :-) Thanks for reading. post comment

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