I’ve been having a bit of a freak out recently as to my future. I’m coming up on the second semester of my junior year, so that means that if all goes according to plan I will (hopefully) have my own classroom full of some tiny children in just a year and a half.
That’s frightening.
What grade am I going to teach? Will I even have that much of a choice? Where am I going to get the money to decorate and stock my classroom? Where am I going to teach?
Just some of the thoughts that have been going through my head.
A year and a half is still really quite a bit of time, I guess. I’ve got at least a semester and a summer before I feel like I should really buckle down and figure out the answers to some of these questions.
Lately I have been looking into teaching overseas at American International Schools. Everyone in the school has to speak English to attend, so I wouldn’t have to learn a new language to teach. To get around outside of the school is probably a different story, so I’ve really only limited my research about that to the UK and Ireland. I’m starting to think that a lot of people who are researching the idea are doing the same, so maybe I’ll branch out soon.
Other than that, well, new semester starts on Tuesday, but I’m starting early spending 15 lovely hours at MCC between tonight and tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes.
1.14.2011
1.10.2011
Words
I love writing. I like writing poems of any kind, or short stories, or really just putting ink on a page. Now, I don’t think anything I’ve ever written is particularly wonderful. But, I cannot draw. I can play an instrument, but it’s the clarinet and it does not allow for as much creative outlet as a guitar, say.
But writing down words is something that I am halfway decent at. Not too many words though; I start to loose steam in a story after about 600 or so. I think my longest one is still a couple hundred words short of 2,000.
Another think I love is structure. What do you get when you combine the two? Certain types of poems! Haikus have a very specific structure syllable wise. Limericks have a specific structure rhyming wise. Sonnets have very specific syllable and rhyme structure!
In the past 22 hours I’ve written down 45 haikus, 1 limerick, 1 sonnet and 1 page long “character study” about my friend Lyndsi’s walls; they’re very interesting walls you see.
I like the structure because… well, I actually wrote I haiku about that earlier on. Lets have a look:
I use borders to
See what magical things I
Can create in them
I love the bit of a challenge restriction brings. I’m forced to use new or different words, sometimes to use contractions like “e’re” and “o’re” that we don’t often use. For sonnets, for example, the whole direction of your poem can change depending upon the word you sick at the end of a line. I love quickly exploring the different paths before blindly choosing one and thundering on ahead.
Words are powerful. If you are good enough with them, the right string of words you can make people feel almost any emotion you choose. That is a potent tool.
But writing down words is something that I am halfway decent at. Not too many words though; I start to loose steam in a story after about 600 or so. I think my longest one is still a couple hundred words short of 2,000.
Another think I love is structure. What do you get when you combine the two? Certain types of poems! Haikus have a very specific structure syllable wise. Limericks have a specific structure rhyming wise. Sonnets have very specific syllable and rhyme structure!
In the past 22 hours I’ve written down 45 haikus, 1 limerick, 1 sonnet and 1 page long “character study” about my friend Lyndsi’s walls; they’re very interesting walls you see.
I like the structure because… well, I actually wrote I haiku about that earlier on. Lets have a look:
I use borders to
See what magical things I
Can create in them
I love the bit of a challenge restriction brings. I’m forced to use new or different words, sometimes to use contractions like “e’re” and “o’re” that we don’t often use. For sonnets, for example, the whole direction of your poem can change depending upon the word you sick at the end of a line. I love quickly exploring the different paths before blindly choosing one and thundering on ahead.
Words are powerful. If you are good enough with them, the right string of words you can make people feel almost any emotion you choose. That is a potent tool.
1.09.2011
Awesome-A-Day
I went to Barns and Noble yesterday and got a journal. I had been looking for one for a while, and I finally settled on one. It’s nothing special really, but it was one that I could actually see myself writing in day after day.
Anyway, everyday I’m going to write down one awesome thing about that day. Even if it’s just something as simple as “the weather is perfect”. I’m hoping that this will help me be a bit more positive throughout the semester, as I do tend to get a little “oh my goodness eff this day!!” a few weeks in.
Note that I did not say try to write something everyday, because honestly there is no good reason for me to not have the time to write down at least one sentence. With as much as I procrastinate, there should be plenty of time for me to write at least one thing.
If I can keep at this until the end of May, which is when my birthday is, I’m going to ask for one of those fancy-shmancy journals that are like $40 and bound in leather and stuff and continue on my way. I was going to say that I was going to save it until I filled up this first one, but this way I wont have to shell out my own money for the fancyness.
What was awesome about yesterday, when I started this?
I bought Lyndsi a awesome looking sketch book, so she’s going to do a sketch a day with my entry a day.
 |
| Man… look at those flowers. So majestic. |
Note that I did not say try to write something everyday, because honestly there is no good reason for me to not have the time to write down at least one sentence. With as much as I procrastinate, there should be plenty of time for me to write at least one thing.
If I can keep at this until the end of May, which is when my birthday is, I’m going to ask for one of those fancy-shmancy journals that are like $40 and bound in leather and stuff and continue on my way. I was going to say that I was going to save it until I filled up this first one, but this way I wont have to shell out my own money for the fancyness.
What was awesome about yesterday, when I started this?
 |
| That's right. Goats...IN SPACE. |
1.06.2011
Yogurt Tops
So, a week or two ago, I got in a… well, let’s call it a ‘friendly debate’, with two of my oldest and dearest friends, Nikki and Lyndsi. I can’t remember what on earth drove our conversation to this topic, but I started talking about an exhibit that I saw at the MoMA in New York last January. That exhibit was four yogurt tops stuck to four walls.
No, really. And they basically all looked like this:
So, I was talking about how stupid it was, and how that shouldn’t be in a museum of art. They came to the yogurt tops defense, and did so vigorously. I was surprised because any other time I had brought this up to anyone, albeit that happened very few times, everyone readily agreed that it was stupid.
They were talking about how I didn’t know what the artist’s intent was, so I couldn’t judge it as stupid. I told them that I admitted that I was being cynical. I didn’t imagine someone thinking that they were doing something great, or even someone really enjoying what they were doing themselves and actually getting something out of it. I imagined someone doing this to do it and laughing at the outcome and the people that were going to see it. They said I didn’t know and thus couldn’t prove it, and I said the same thing of their opinion, and we all chased out tails in giant circles.
I thought about it for a few days, and I came to a conclusion. Everyone most likely has a ‘yogurt top’. The ‘yogurt top’ being something that you will defend no matter what other people think of it and no matter what they say about you for liking it.
My ‘yogurt top’ is a music piece I learned about four years ago when I was doing my junior research project about what makes us human. Because I didn’t really know what else to say, I said music. From the interviews I had to conduct, I learned about a music piece called 4’33”by John Cage. It’s four minutes and thirty-three seconds long and done in 3 movements. The whole piece is composed of rests or silence.
This will be something I defend for all of the forever’s for several reasons: I think it’s brilliant, it made me think, and it gave me over two pages of things to talk about in that paper four years ago.
While you sit and listen to 4’33” in supposed silence, you realize there is no such thing as true silence. Even if you’re in a dark, locked room you will still hear your breath and your pulse. Now, if you’re in an orchestra hall full of people being forced to sit in a possibly awkward silence for over four and a half minutes you will hear a lot of things. Masses of people breathing, shuffling their feat, coughing, shifting, doing whatever people do.
Where there is life, there is noise. Where there is noise, there is no silence. Humans can seem to find music in anything. We’ve all done it, probably. Hitting a beat out on the steering wheel while the blinker is going, or something like that. Basically, I ranted on like that for two pages and I got a rather good grade. But I digress.
I still think that the yogurt tops in the MoMA are stupid.
No, really. And they basically all looked like this:
So, I was talking about how stupid it was, and how that shouldn’t be in a museum of art. They came to the yogurt tops defense, and did so vigorously. I was surprised because any other time I had brought this up to anyone, albeit that happened very few times, everyone readily agreed that it was stupid.
They were talking about how I didn’t know what the artist’s intent was, so I couldn’t judge it as stupid. I told them that I admitted that I was being cynical. I didn’t imagine someone thinking that they were doing something great, or even someone really enjoying what they were doing themselves and actually getting something out of it. I imagined someone doing this to do it and laughing at the outcome and the people that were going to see it. They said I didn’t know and thus couldn’t prove it, and I said the same thing of their opinion, and we all chased out tails in giant circles.
I thought about it for a few days, and I came to a conclusion. Everyone most likely has a ‘yogurt top’. The ‘yogurt top’ being something that you will defend no matter what other people think of it and no matter what they say about you for liking it.
My ‘yogurt top’ is a music piece I learned about four years ago when I was doing my junior research project about what makes us human. Because I didn’t really know what else to say, I said music. From the interviews I had to conduct, I learned about a music piece called 4’33”by John Cage. It’s four minutes and thirty-three seconds long and done in 3 movements. The whole piece is composed of rests or silence.
This will be something I defend for all of the forever’s for several reasons: I think it’s brilliant, it made me think, and it gave me over two pages of things to talk about in that paper four years ago.
While you sit and listen to 4’33” in supposed silence, you realize there is no such thing as true silence. Even if you’re in a dark, locked room you will still hear your breath and your pulse. Now, if you’re in an orchestra hall full of people being forced to sit in a possibly awkward silence for over four and a half minutes you will hear a lot of things. Masses of people breathing, shuffling their feat, coughing, shifting, doing whatever people do.
Where there is life, there is noise. Where there is noise, there is no silence. Humans can seem to find music in anything. We’ve all done it, probably. Hitting a beat out on the steering wheel while the blinker is going, or something like that. Basically, I ranted on like that for two pages and I got a rather good grade. But I digress.
I still think that the yogurt tops in the MoMA are stupid.
1.02.2011
BBC TV
Look at how well I’m doing already. Man I’m awesome.
Well, holidays were pretty all right. Family was visited, and good times were had. Something that I got, was the first season of the BBC show Merlin.
I love this show. No ifs ands or buts. It combines some of my favorite things! Mythology, magic, history, awesomeness, etc.
And I mean Anthony Head? I’ve been an avid Buffy fan for over half my life, and thus have to love basically everything he’s in. It’s basically the law.
Of course some episodes are slow, boring and a bit dull, but that’s true of every show.
I would highly recommend it to anyone, and it’s available on Netflix insta watch thingy!
Another awesome Christmas present that I got from the BBC was the Dr Who Christmas Special… on time! Usually the US is about two weeks behind on Dr. Who goodness, but not this year. I can only hope that the same is true in the spring when it’s finally time for more Who goodness.
Really, you should probably just watch Dr. Who too. Dr. Who and Merlin, its really all you need =)
Well, holidays were pretty all right. Family was visited, and good times were had. Something that I got, was the first season of the BBC show Merlin.
Of course some episodes are slow, boring and a bit dull, but that’s true of every show.
I would highly recommend it to anyone, and it’s available on Netflix insta watch thingy!
Another awesome Christmas present that I got from the BBC was the Dr Who Christmas Special… on time! Usually the US is about two weeks behind on Dr. Who goodness, but not this year. I can only hope that the same is true in the spring when it’s finally time for more Who goodness.
Really, you should probably just watch Dr. Who too. Dr. Who and Merlin, its really all you need =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)