hello, my name is michele. that's right, michele with only one l. in june i got my b.a. in english at uci and recently started a hellish 15 month masters/teaching credential program that's keeping me in irvine a bit longer. i don't really have too many passionate interests, but the few i can claim are for british literature, music, and classic films [esp. from the golden '80s and before]. on a more superficial level, my likes include lemonade, brownies, foreign accents, hot showers, cat naps, splashing in puddles, and sexy male voices. some of my favorites belong to jarvis cocker, fred astaire [though his dancing is even better], billy corgan, david bowie, thom yorke and of course elvis costello. some things i detest are headaches, lack of cell phone reception, tripping over my own feet and encountering spiders in the shower. enjoy my blog. ps: check out some of my favorite links: an english scholar's best friend, my favorite musician, william p. corgan shares his thoughts, all you ever wanted to know about david bowie, and myspace
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Apr 5, 2006
nate believes in me, and i believe in mr. sketch
i'm so glad i'm done teaching
today. all the anticipation leading up to my filming nearly
killed me. while my film debut wasn't perfect, i'm happy enough
with it. one of the highlights was my best students getting high
off mr. sketch scented markers. they were definitely engaged in
the learning task, little scamps. my voice does sound very
mannish in the recording though. i'm thinking of taking it home
and having michael doctor it for me with his mad audio editing skillz.  clap nate, clap and i'll clap along. each clap brings me closer to sweet sweet spring break. 
Posted at 03:45 pm by waveawhiteflag
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Mar 26, 2006
i officially loath sundays.
saturdays aren't too bad because i can tell myself i deserve a day off,
but sunday i feel terribly guilty if i'm not being productive.
that and if i'm not productive i won't be ready for the busy week
ahead. bah.
actually yesterday i had a
productive moment filing taxes. my taxes were way simpler this
year since i only worked one job, and only worked that job for about 6
months out of the year. unfortunately that also means i'm getting
less back than i was hoping for. apparently the logic works
something like this: i made less money so i paid less in taxes so i
have less to get back. at least i don't owe $5 to the state like
i did last year. that was really lame.
after working through those fun
numbers with my dad, i took my brothers on a veritable shopping voyage
to viejas and parkway plaza. i got really really tired walking
around those places, but at least i found a shirt that i bought.
too often lately, shopping trips with my brothers have been mostly
fruitless. i know, i'm a whiner.
this morning pops woke me up from a
strange dream (i think i was grading these weird projects i haven't
even actually assigned) with the announcement that michael and his girl
would be arriving shortly and i should get my lazy ass out of bed and
get dressed. actually he said it nicer than that. he used
to really piss me off by waking me up on weekends by shaking my
bed. anywho, after a couple hours of anticipation (thanks dad),
during which my mom bustled around the house trying to "clean," our
special guest arrived. she seems nice, i was just glad she wasn't
afraid of the dogs like the last one. she giggled a lot, but i
know i tend to do that myself so i can't criticize. better to be
cheery than bitchy i suppose. these days i've been far too
bitchy. i need to get over that. mostly though, i need to
re-read act 1 of othello for next week. look at the pretty
picture i found!
 iago is such a conniving stud. is it wrong of me to prefer him to othello?
Posted at 04:09 pm by waveawhiteflag
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Mar 15, 2006
with all your good intentions you could pave the road to hell
this afternoon i'm playing this
fun game where i like to put off grading essays. for awhile i was
contemplating what i want for dinner. now i'm trying to decide
what i smell like. for some reason my smell seems stronger than
usual. it's not like i'm sweating or anything, i'm just sitting
here on my ass procrastinating.
my
week has been ok so far after the weekend's depressing job fair.
i also went to the zoo, yet again, this time in the rain so there were
less pesky kids underfoot. there was also NO LINE for the pandas
and i was able to get my first glance at them. sadly, they were
very dirty looking from all the mud in their enclosure, and the baby
just looked like a motionless ball of fluff perched on a tree
branch. i still felt compelled to give it a giant hug. get
it, GIANT! woo, i'm scaring myself. but yes, due to the
rain, i wasn't brave enough to bring my still newish camera, and good
thing too since it hailed for awhile.
yesterday
i had a remarkably fulfilling trip to target. i got a new bag
that is a "mini me" version of a bigger bag i got there a couple months
ago, as well as even more exciting stuff like dishwashing soap and
sponges. my most exciting purchase, however, was howl's moving
castle. i can't decide if i should save it til i can watch it
with fellow fans john/stephen or watch it now while i grade. in
any case, i need to start grading.
Posted at 04:58 pm by waveawhiteflag
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Mar 8, 2006
we've traded in our snapshots
it's only wednesday, but my brain
is itchy. so are my legs, but that's because my skin is
dry. my brain is itchy because the drama just doesn't end.
i'm behind in my work again and starting to stress about the job fair
this weekend. aaaaaaaah, i'm not ready to be interviewed. i
am, however, ready to start getting paid for all this work.
i'm also ready for the (non job fair portion of my) weekend
already. last weekend i got to hang out with all my favorite boys
(aka johnny and my brothers) at the wild aminal park.  stephen has a few inches to grow in the arms before he quite matches up to a gorilla.  john enjoyed petting what appeared to be a heavily sedated deer. some of my favorites were the meerkitties:  the giraffes:  (shown staring down the safari caravan except for that one with his head permanently in the feeder) and of course the majestic lion:  roar.
Posted at 08:15 pm by waveawhiteflag
Permalink
Mar 2, 2006
i've been pretty foolish in the meantime
yeah, it's been awhile. life
hasn't been so sweet lately and i've been getting pissy, which i
realize is not my most attractive state. besides having icky
headaches, i felt like i was getting hopelessly behind in my work and i
hate feeling not in control like that. finally yesterday i worked
hours and hours and hours and eventually got to a place where i feel
better. on certain things i'm even ahead, which hadn't happened
in ages.
one thing i'm still not too thrilled about is being forced to become a
morning person. i'm hoping that once the mornings get a bit
lighter and the weather a bit warmer the mornings won't be so tough for
me. seriously, right now i feel like i'm walking around in a daze
when i first get to school. zombie ms. mather can only be so good
of a teacher i'm afraid. today i tried thinking about all the
progress i've made and that did make me feel better too. teaching
absurdism hasn't helped. it's rather depressing shit for a
usually cheery girl like me.
tonight, out of sheer laziness, i'm thinking of experimenting with
cheese-rice for dinner. this weekend i need to work on my resume
and maybe, just maybe, taxes. in with the good air, out with the
bad air. rinse and repeat.
Posted at 07:43 pm by waveawhiteflag
Permalink
Feb 21, 2006
boot the grime of this world in the crotch dear
despite serious misgivings, i
managed to get through today. yesterday i was a bundle of
nerves. hell, this morning i was a bundle of nerves, frantically
tripping my way through the copy room before 7am. i was early
enough to be as prepared as i could be and it went more smoothly than i
could have hoped for.
until yesterday, my weekend was much more fun. saturday i had a
deliciously lazy, lay in bed all day falling asleep to the
olympics. well, i did make a brief sojourn to the zoo an hour
before they closed to check out the reptiles. of course reptiles
don't exactly make good subjects for photographs what with their hiding
behind leaves and all, but i made up for lost time at disneyland on
sunday. here are my brothers looking "emo" at our favorite
italian-esque pinocchio eatery: 
as you can see, pinocchio polkas behind stephen's right shoulder.
then in the same locale, here's michael looking like something out of a
clothing advertisement:  being more of a nerd, i posed in front of "airlock 4" in the space mt waiting area:  stephen was classiest of all and saddled up to the pimpmaster mr. toad: 
oh and my back up photographer came through with some disney concert
hall pictures from when i left my camera in my car. actually, as you
can see, his camera/photography skills far exceed mine.  how lovely is that tree?  love those skyscrapers.
i'm hoping to finish grading essays tonight. i don't know how i'm
going to survive having more than two classes, other than booting the
grime of my classes in the crotch.
Posted at 06:07 pm by waveawhiteflag
Permalink
Feb 12, 2006
finally, after wanting to go for
ages, yesterday i went to the getty. the trip started off rather
painful in that i had to endure the slow tram ride with a very very
full bladder. silly me, i didn't notice that there were bathrooms
in the parking structure until the way out. after a very nice
trip to the bathroom, i felt much more comfortable wandering
around. the grounds were way more extensive than i was expecting
and i mostly took photos of the garden and fountains and all.
thus my new header. then here i am with kind of a funny look on
my face
 but i was having fun, really. after seeing more fountains  , going through countless exhibitions, and meandering through the cool garden  , i felt rather like this guy  isn't that the best? actually, my favorite was probably this one: 
but i was afraid of running out of memory and didn't take a picture of
it. ah well, that's why the internet is so beautiful.
the main reason i was trying to hold back to save memory is that i
wanted to go by the disney concert hall and some other fun buildings
downtown. sadly, the traffic was horrendous and looking for
parking put me in a mood, so by the time we got there, i was an idiot
and left not only my camera, but also my map in the car. without
my map, i wasn't much of a tour guide and there was just a frenzied
walk to pershing square in hopes that i could somehow see the bradbury
building from afar. no such luck of course, but the disney
concert hall was still gorgeous, first with the sun setting, then being
lit up as it started getting darker. if i was homeless, i would
live in one of its nooks and crannies. hmm, except i have a
feeling security around there is pretty tight. maybe if i wore a
metallic outfit to blend in...
Posted at 11:29 am by waveawhiteflag
Permalink
Feb 6, 2006
ok, so i know it's the rubicon, but
i'm working on rubrics. icky icky rubrics. the kids are
writing essay outlines on friday and i figure i had better have a
sample outline complete with rubric ready for block. icky icky
block. i'm not sure how i'm going to handle being in charge for
more than the usual 55 minutes. on the upside, we're getting
through the metamorphosis right on schedule. tomorrow we're going
freudian and it should be pretty sweet.
i also have to meet my advisor
tomorrow, which might not be so sweet. i'm hoping the other
student teachers will be there too so i'm not facing him alone.
yes, i'm a wimp. the sad part is that it's only monday and i'm so
ready for the weekend already. tonight in class a girl was
gushing about how much she loves her ua and never wants to leave her
classroom. i was a tad repelled. i mean i like my ua and
most of my students and all, but i'm very ready to go home once three
o'clock rolls around. i love them, but i guess you could say i
miss my personal time. these days, even when i do get home, i
have to lesson plan, work on handouts, outlines, RUBRICS, homework,
etc, and it's a bit too much. but it'll only get easier from here
right?
Posted at 08:18 pm by waveawhiteflag
Permalink
Feb 1, 2006
and today he was the first student
to bring me coffee. yay, i feel loved. i'm just having a
great day. the students were way more engaged than i thought
they'd be and i was actually social with other student teachers during
lunch and then after school in the "verano alley" [aka the parking lot
by the dumpsters]. thanks
to the extra caffeine, i had enough energy to edit and upload photos
from the weekend. here's at least a number of my relatives at my
grandpa's birthday party:  then the view of the pirate battle out the window:  i
rather fancy that one. not bad for out a window anyways.
lastly, here are some great bright orange birds from the zoo:
unfortunately, all that caffeine means i probably won't be able to take
a nap and i'll get really sleepy later. i really shouldn't
complain. tomorrow i'm turning marxist.
Posted at 04:26 pm by waveawhiteflag
Permalink
Jan 30, 2006
tomorrow it begins. my anxiety
level has definitely risen over the past few days. my ua tried
comforting me on friday, but wasn't so helpful by insinuating that she
expected me to have a terribly stressful weekend. it probably
wasn't as bad as she thought, but it still wasn't a picnic.
saturday i spent pretty much the
entire day celebrating my grandpa's 80th birthday. to stay positive,
the food was good and i played an interesting game of balderdash with
my cousins. i have photos in my camera but i'm too lazy to put
them on my computer. that's mostly because yesterday, due to a
lack of caffeine and the screeching of small children at the zoo, i got
one of my horrendous headaches. the pounding got so bad that i
got nauseated, felt seriously ill and had to go to bed super early.
i had strange dreams since i spent a
good hour or two in the wee hours half asleep, half awake. still,
they weren't as terrifying as on saturday night when i dreamt that one
of my students shot me. that was a fun one. in my dream i
was shopping when i randomly saw three of my students committing a
robbery. when they saw that i recognized them, one of them ran up
and shot me with his rifle. the good news was that they weren't
actual students of mine, but made up dream students. well i hope
anyways, six of the kids are going to be new to the class this
semester. if i recognize any of them from my dream i'll probably
have a heart attack.
i'm hoping for more calm slumbers
tonight. the intended to be kind words tonight from my advisor,
like those of my ua, were more anxiety inspiring than anything else,
but it's good to know my english croonies are rooting for me. and
i'm rooting for me damn it.
Posted at 09:47 pm by waveawhiteflag
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