can you believe i walked out of a NOW meeting in college and never looked back?

i try to avoid writing about politics here on the ol' blog for several reasons, one being (mainly) my fear of saying something stupid and then, of course, being ridiculed by people who are way smarter than me.  but, since the olympics are over and i don't get to stare at this guy anymore -

i now have the brain space to pay attention to politics again.  and what a week i chose to dust off my bejing '08 coma and watch some actual news.

so i might not be the passionate obama supporter that sat glued to the convention last week with tears streaming down my face every time "yes we can" got fired up, but i do have a couple of things to say about mccain and his new vp candidate, sarah (i wish i could like you just because you've got the coolest name ever and SPELL it the rigHt way!) palin.  and those things are ....

• do i kind of wish - as much as it hurts my heart to say this (as someone who totally respects hillary but was was ADAMANT in the fact that we need someone other than a clinton or bush in the white house next term) right now - that hillary had been the vp obama chose?  um.  not quite sure on this one, although i am bothered by one (quite sexist) point i heard made somewhere yesterday when someone pointed out that palin was a good choice, if for the only reason being biden couldn't be his normal rough and aggressive "bulldog" self in the debates because he would be going up against sweet, charming, been in vogue GIRL.  so if this was in anyway a possible part of the reasoning in mccain selecting palin, then BOO.  give the lady some credit.  from what i've seen of palin she seems like she could at least temperamentally hold her own with the boys, so here's hoping no one (joe, i'm talking to you) holds back.  but back to my original point . . . if hillary HAD been the nominee, then holy sweet pickles, those debates would have been something because yall know hillary (even those of you who don't care for her) ain't holdin' nothing back when it comes to fighting with words.  here's my prediction: you are going to see hillary A LOT more on the campaign trail over the next couple-a months.
  
• mccain may have had my vote if he had chosen kay bailey hutchinson to run with him.  (dude.  she was a former UT cheerleader!  how much of an AWESOME image is that to little girls?  "seriously girls, you can be anything you want . . . i was a cheerleader AND vice president, so be smart, stay in school.")  i'm crossing my fingers that she turned him down and is planning to mount the attack against rick perry.  the day she does will be historic . . . i will vote for a republican.  on purpose.
• the selection of a woman is OBVIOUS pandering.  (not that my dems have been innocent of this.  trust.  i know.  i'm objective, i.e. cynical.  really.)  so my hope is that all of us women voters (well not me, since i live in texas and my vote isn't going to really matter, but all of you women voters in new mexico, ohio, colorado, pennsylvania, missouri, wisconsin, florida, georgia?, etc.) USE OUR BRAINS.  if your brain leads you to put a mark next to the elephant on your ballot, then so be it.  BUT.  do think about this (as my mom and i were talking about yesterday) - how much of an insult could it be to women - especially hillary's supporters (lil' sis, i'm talkin' to you) - to think that we would vote for mccain JUST BECAUSE he selected a woman as his running mate?  is there something derogatory implied in his choice?  i guess this kind of thing always happens in politics.  it's like choosing a running mate of a certain religious leaning just to get those people to vote for you.  i've just never been the intended audience, so it makes me think a little harder.
• more than ever, i will miss tim russert when i skip church tomorrow to stay home and watch meet the press.
• whatever the outcome, there will be a first in the white house, which is almost as good as watching the phelps, et al, beat the french in the relay a few weeks ago.  almost.
• um.  palin is from alaska.  mccain is older than the state of alaska.  i'm sorry, but you have to laugh at that no matter what color you bleed - red OR blue.  so now, let's all get together and link arms and sing "we are the world."

 wow.  i've used my pretty little head a little bit too much more than i like to on a saturday morning.  i need something else to think about.

thanks, aaron.

things i won't

jannie sent me this website . . . check it out.  i made mine from an earlier post on here at HMP. 

creepy

yes, i should be cleaning my kitchen. yes, i should be doing laundry. yes, i should go to the grocery store. instead, i have been playing on yearbook yourself.  no, i don't know why.

but here you go.  me in 1978 . . . 

me in 1966 . . . 

and the kicker, and a somewhat creepy moment.  anyone want to guess why?  me in 1968 . . . 

and so it ends

welcome to the end of my most unproductive summer ever. i don't know if that is really the case or if i am just not sure how to deal with not moving to another apartment, not moving to another state, not starting a new job, not going on any kind of adventurous trip (sorry yall, but oklahoma, missouri, and kansas don't qualify, even if i did have a great time), not taking any kind of real classes to make me a better teacher or at least a better human, or not making any extra cash to justify the ridiculous amount of money i seem to spend during june and july.

tomorrow is friday, yet i must start back to school on a friday. now i know that complaining about going back to work after such an extended amount of time off is really quite tacky. i KNOW this. BUT, seriously? why a friday? it honestly makes it hard to have any kind of excitement or energy at all about returning to work.

oh. the point of this griping blog is to share the following video clip i just saw posted on que sera sera.  

and i know i'm not working for BIG BUSINESS, but, yeah.  still.  i related.  did you?

dear best buy

after researching digital cameras, i was excited to find that the product i decided i wanted to purchase was listed at a very good discounted price on your website.  i double-checked to make sure that the pricing would be valid at the store before i went to buy it.  nothing indicated that it was an internet only price.  however, once i did get to the store, the camera was not marked with the discounted price.  when i asked the sales associated about it, he pulled up the website and found the on sale price as well, so (as he should have) he sold me the camera with that price.  

i am concerned about this pricing discrepancy.  the difference was close to $70, which is significant.  i feel that such a price difference is quite dishonest to your customers.  if i had not looked at your website, i would not have known of the cheaper price because the camera did ring up at the full price at the register.  due to this dishonesty, i will avoid shopping at your store in the future.  i will also make sure all of my friends and family are aware of the pricing differences between your website and stores so that they will not be taken advantage of either.

thank you,

sarah

________________________

yeah.  this is a REAL letter.  i'm printing it and mailing it tomorrow.  (well, i'll probably edit a little bit and add some capital letters - ha!)  a SEVENTY dollar difference between online and the store is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous.  so yall.  double check before you go shopping there . . . who knows, other stores are probably doing this, too.  

BUT, i did get a new camera.  it was time.  below are three pictures taken last weekend, which are pretty good indicators of that.  i would like to point out that a different person took each of the pictures, so it wasn't just me and my lack of photographic ability. 

so yeah.  now i just have to find something other than lucy to take pictures of.  speaking of lucy - here is one of lucy and ella together last weekend.  (also a really good shot of my favorite pair of flip flops!)  i doubt the size difference will stay that way much longer.

in all seriousness, i'm a little stressed out.

earlier this summer i bragged about how good i am about getting things accomplished during my time off. if i were giving myself a score on a scale of 1-10 on productivity THIS summer, i think a 2.5 would be acceptable. technically, all i really need to do i can cram into four days next week and be ready to face reality on august 15th. or. i thought i could.

then i had the following conversation with my principal via telephone this afternoon.

principal: hey sarah. we need to cut an english class this year during 7th period.

me: okay.

principal: so i'm thinking of giving you an exploratory elective with the rotating 7th grade class.

me: okay.

principal: and i know you would love to teach creative writing, but ************* did it last year, so we are going to keep her teaching that.

me: okay.

principal: so. you can create your own class. whatever you want. i know you had wanted to do some community service stuff last year, so maybe a class involving that? but you don't have to.

me: okay.

principal: so let's meet sometime before school starts to see what ideas you've got.

me: okay.  (don't you think she is glad she has me teaching language arts?  my vocabulary alone is extraordinary!)

-click-

yall. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. seriously. i've been thinking since 1:30 (with the exception of my viewing of SYTYCD) and have now worked myself into a panic. here's the deal. the class is only 6 weeks long. that is NOT a lot of time to accomplish much. PLUS, there is quite a bit of pressure in the idea that i can do whatever i want because what if whatever i want doesn't work? that's public failure and i'm not so good at that. (remind me to tell you about the time i melted down at all-state tryouts my junior year.)

here are a few ideas so far . . . my sister came up with a few. which of these do you like or think would work?  any other suggestions? leave 'em in the comment section.  (sorry this is kind of like my brainstorming!)

• community service: this is DAUNTING because i don't really know how it would work with a) students who didn't necessarily volunteer for the class and b) 6 weeks does not sound like a lot of time to get much organized and accomplished.  could be cool because i would let the kids create the curriculum, which is something i have ALWAYS wanted to do.
  
• leadership: i don't really know what this would involve, other than all of the cool team-building games we played at church camp and stu-co things.
  
• humanities (music appreciation, art appreciation, performing art appreciation, etc.): resources would be a challenge here as would limited access to field trips.  but, this is something really lacking at my school and something important to me AND i could so do something on american music . . . 
  
• media awareness: this might be stepping on the toes of another class, so i'd have to see.
  
• careers: ditto the above.
• current events: this would be fun for ME because it would be different every single six weeks and God knows i can't do repetition.
• another creative writing class: because i am selfish.

AUGH.  so see.  the consequences of a 2.5 productivity rating are manifesting now . . . how am i going to get all of my other stuff done as well as plan a curriculum next week???

p.s.  SYTYCD???  ANYONE?  funky town is represented tonight!  :)

babies!

this is my little cousin lizzy.  go give her a high vote HERE.  there are lots of cute kids, but let's help lizzy develop the familial competitive gene she surely inherited from her mother.

maybe by this time tomorrow i will have a link to my newest little cousin, joey.  sending some good thoughts to the STL.