10/29/2004 12:48:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I got to be a part of something very cool yesterday...the installation of a new bishop. One thing you have to give those Crazy Catholics, they sure know how to put on a show. ;) Whoever was in charge assembled an amazing choir and brass section. They sang several pieces before the procession began, ending with River in Judea, which I think is just beautiful. It really was a remarkable ceremony, starting the procession of all the priests of the diocese into the Cathedral (and holy CRAP are there a lot of them. Sadly, but not surprisingly, most of them are pretty old and crusty). I just checked the stats...250 active priests in the diocese. So that doesn't include the retired ones that I'm sure were part of the event. After the priests, the various bishops who came to participate in the ceremony processed in. Then there was a formal presentation of the new bishop to the crowd, kissing the crucifix, holy water, etc. More formal introductory stuff, then the new bishop is led to the bishop's chair. Representatives of the community, including the mayor, county executive, and representatives of other faith communities formally welcoming him. The Prayers of the Faithful were offered by members of various parishes with specific diverse ethnic ties. Each one was in a different language: English, Polish, Spanish, Vietnamese, Sudanese, Italian and Korean. I found this particularly moving. When the bishop performed the preparation of the gifts, ALL of the priests and bishops who were present recited the words with him. That was remarkable...over 300 of them, I'm sure, praying in unison: When supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise. Gave the cup to his disciples and said "Take this all of you and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me." I think I got a chill... I also very much like the new bishop. He's warm and friendly, and seems to have a good sense of humor. All in all, even though it was a LONG day, it was a great experience. I'm glad I got to be a part of it. I'm sure I'll get back to being annoyed with my job and the Church in general in a few days. ;)|W|P|109907217440585676|W|P|Holy, holy, holy|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/27/2004 04:27:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Our cable bill is way too high. When Jen and I moved in together, one of our thoughts was, "Hey, if we live together, we can afford cable!" Jen is addicted to CNN and all the other cable news channels. I love my Comedy Central. The cost of cable, however, has proven to be outrageous, especially considering how much we don't actually watch it. Evil Cable Provider has a "broadcast" option, for which you pay a minimal fee for your basic channels. Where we live, this fee is $11.45. Not so bad, except when you consider that R (in the suburbs) gets the SAME OPTION for $5 less per month. Evil. But, you know, whatever. I called today to pay our overdue bill, and asked the nice customer service representative about downgrading to the lower option. She quoted me the price, and then said, "There is a one-time fee of $25 to downgrade, because we have to send a technician to your house." A technician. Yeah. I'm SO sure that's necessary. I was sending an email in which I typed the name of the Evil Cable Provider. (Philadephia, minus "phil") Spell check picked it up as a spelling error, and what do you suppose it suggested I change it to? Adolph.|W|P|109890176416416905|W|P|Proof that the local Evil Cable Provider is a fascist organization|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/27/2004 03:50:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Back when we were in college, one of our friends (Alvord? Where are you??) was on the committee responsible for bringing entertainment to the college. She had a video of a bunch of acts, and we used to amuse ourselves for hours watching these guys: Corky and the Juice Pigs. They were a Canadian musical comedy troupe, and they were just side-splittingly funny. In "Eskimo," they tell the sad story of an Eskimo, who is the only gay member of his tribe. By far the best part of this song is the seal solo. Yes, I said seal solo. Anyway, last week, I was sending an email to R, and something I wrote reminded me of one of their songs. have you ever heard of a canadian comedy group called corky and the juice pigs? I typed. He responded: yes. in fact, i am very upset that my cassette copy of "buck a song" was stolen many years ago. i have their debut cd, which has pandas as well as that "only gay eskimo" song, among many others. No. Freaking. Way. I told Jen, and she replied, "it's a match made in bizarro heaven." ;)|W|P|109889950076199496|W|P|Don't put a pickle on my burger|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/27/2004 11:54:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Yes, I've fallen in love with another obscure artist, Jim Boggia. Check him out. He sings the most beautiful love songs, and the most heartbreaking sad songs. And my current favorite is the sweet, heartwarming Several Thousand: Every time I see you I'm exalted. I want to write you letters every day. That double rainbow ain't got nothing on you. My feet are shredded but I feel okay. Every time I think about you (several thousand times a day) I can feel this pull like a river toward the ocean. Tell me - do you feel this way? I've got myself caught in a situation. I tried to lock myself inside my room. That only made it sink in that much deeper. It only made me want to be with you. Every time I think about you (several thousand times a day) I can feel this pull like a river toward the ocean. Tell me - do you feel this way? You could say I'm not playing fair at all. I won't even try to argue that away. But where you're concerned my control has failed me. What else do I have to say? Every time I think about you (several thousand times a day) I can feel this pull like a river toward the ocean. Tell me that you feel the same. This song, I maintain, should be on the radio and should certainly be a hit. Oh, and R? It definitely should have been on that CD I made for you. ;)|W|P|109888532795698861|W|P|More music|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/26/2004 12:46:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|This morning, on my way to work, I caught a bit of the Edge music news on the Shredd & Ragan show. A Perfect Circle (a band that I have never listened to) has released a dark, slightly creepy cover of the song Imagine. My first reaction, of course, was WTF? It sounds...well...weird. Because, after all, the song is so pretty and nice. But I've actually considered the lyrics in a different way before. I was rereading Lois Lowry's novel The Giver, a novel set in a dystopic, futuristic world. At first, it would seem that the characters in the novel are living the perfect life of John Lennon's imagination. They are peaceful. No one is hungry. There's no such thing as war. But as you read further, you realize that there is more missing from this society. They have no concept of emotion. The word "love" is arcane and meaningless. These people know no pain, but they also know no joy. If I ever teach this novel, I'm going to use this song to open and close the unit. My point? Maybe A Perfect Circle is on to something. But it still sounds weird. Imagine (John Lennon) Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people living for today... Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, No religion too, Imagine all the people living life in peace... Imagine no possesions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer, but Im not the only one, I hope some day you'll join us, And the world will live as one.|W|P|109880210180617534|W|P|It's easy if you try...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/25/2004 10:20:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|No, I'm not talking about that new website... I'm talking about the fact that the 27 blog has had 74 hits today, all from searches for this, which apparently Comedy Central has removed from its site. Weird. And on an unrelated note, bills suck. :(|W|P|109875026322082697|W|P|Blog explosion?|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/25/2004 08:27:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|If you live in the Buffalo/Erie County area, please go over to my friend Brian's blog and read this post. Take a few minutes, and do what he asks. As a longtime lover of books and supporter of public libraries, this issue is near and dear to my heart. Thank you!|W|P|109874335220669376|W|P|On library funding|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/25/2004 01:25:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|You don't *talk* about erin-go-blog. Ha. Yep, I (finally) saw Fight Club this weekend. I hadn't seen it previously for a couple of reasons. Most notably: 1. I had no idea what it was about. I thought it was just a dumb guy movie about a bunch of guys beating the hell out of each other. 2. Brad Pitt. He never impressed me much (TM Shania Twain). On the other hand, though, I really do enjoy Edward Norton. So R convinced me that I would like the film, that it wasn't what I thought it was, and that it was very well written. And he was right. I thought it was brilliantly done, despite my having to shut my eyes a few times to block out the sight of the blood. I also (finally) saw Annie Hall. Another I can check off my list! I've very much enjoyed what I've seen of Woody Allen's films so far. On Saturday, R and I headed out to Holiday Hollow, where I met his friend and musical partner A. It was great fun. I got to see R have his fortune told by Madame Stromboli, meet the wise old wizard Blandalf the Beige (he led the Fellowship of the Ring Toss game. hee!), and have my caricature drawn by El Marko, the vigilante caricature artist. He pointed out that I (at least the caricature version of me) sort of looked like Velma from Scooby Doo...and R said that he always preferred Velma to Daphne anyway. ;) Finally caught Desperate Housewives last night, and Jen caught me up. I agree with all positive assessments of this show. Smart, funny, and quirky. Way to go, ABC. |W|P|109871802899663314|W|P|The first rule of erin-go-blog is...|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/24/2004 07:23:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Found through Jennifer:
You Are a Snarky Blogger!

You've got a razor sharp wit that bloggers are secretly scared of. And that's why they read your posts as often as they can!
|W|P|109866400165369405|W|P|This is fitting|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/22/2004 02:11:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Remember what I wrote yesterday, about the "NO ER" signs for John Wells? Not joking. I may make some myself and mail them. Not to knock ER. I went through periods of semi-regular viewing. It had its moments of compelling drama. But it was never appointment television for me. It was always a little too melodramatic, a little too soap-ish. As I was watching the season premiere of The West Wing last night, I found myself thinking, "Well, that's a little over-the-top." "That's kind of heavy-handed." "That's sort of manipulative." Not that Sorkin wasn't occasionally heavy-handed and manipulative, but I never *thought* it while I was watching. He had a way of doing it, even when he was preaching on his commie pinko soapbox, that made you want to laugh and cry and stand up and sing "God Bless America." Josh and Donna 'shippers were appeased with a few moments of sincere emotion, played beautifully by Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney. But other than that? I can't help but feel that the show's heart is gone. The humor has been sucked dry. The optimism, the idealism that I loved so much about it, is gone. The complexities, the nuances of the writing, are gone. The only thing that keeps me watching at all is the fact that this cast could stand in room and read the dictionary and I'd still want to watch. But I'm not entirely convinced that NBC shouldn't have just packed it in when Sorkin left and let us have had 4 very, very good years. But this show used to have heart, and that's what made it so good. I'm going to go watch my Season 1 DVDs and weep softly to myself.|W|P|109846164363676030|W|P|Ya gotta have heart|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/21/2004 01:06:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So here's a bit of what I've been reading/watching/listening to these days. Inspired by Jen, I read both Slaughterhouse Five and How to Be Good. I enjoyed them both. I didn't have quite the emotional response to SH5 that Jen did, but I am definitely inspired to read some more Vonnegut. In a subsequent conversation with R, I've come to realize that Stephen King was very likely heavily influenced by Vonnegut. Interesting. I also enjoyed How to Be Good. I wasn't overjoyed with the ending, and I thought it sort of lost steam in the last bit. But I found Hornby's writing entertaining and frequently insightful. (I didn't so much enjoy the book's rather bleak outlook of marriage. Depressing. Brrr.) I'm looking forward to checking out his other work. Speaking of SK, I just started the final Dark Tower book. It's big. Know what I hate about big books? I feel confined to one space for reading them. I'm not as likely to carry around a 1000- page hardcover as a 350-page paperback. Eh. Finally caught up on those episodes of Lost I had taped, and watched the new ep last night. I'm loving this. JJ Abrams is an evil genius. He has such power. He creates these compelling characters and sticks them in fantastic situations, hooking viewers in and making them jump, scream at the tv, and frequently during the course of an episode, ask (out loud), "the hell?" What's the thing in the woods? How can the bald guy (Terry O'Quinn? LOVE him) walk? What's the deal with Jack's father? What's the deal with the Korean couple? Oh, so many questions, which I know will just lead to more questions. Taped the season premiere of The West Wing last night, but haven't watched it yet. Shhh. Don't tell me. (Some of the recent buzz I've caught coming from John Wells does NOT make me optimistic about the future of this show. Someone needs to make him a big giant sign that says "ER" with one of those red circles with a line through it. Sigh.) Been listening to America: The Audiobook. Jon Stewart and the rest of the team at The Daily Show are pure genius. Watched a bunch of movies...finally saw Magnolia, and loved it. Was subsequently given a CD of Aimee Mann songs, which I'm looking forward to giving a good listen. Also watched Smoke Signals, one of R's favorite movies. I can see why...it was well written, well acted, and told a compelling, hearfelt story. (side note...noticed that R has his DVDs organized by director. heehee...classifying a film by its director is a new concept to me, but I'm learning.) Slowly catching up on those back issues of The New Yorker. (I am SO far behind...) What have you all been up to? :)|W|P|109837131219147200|W|P|Confessions of an entertainment whore|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/20/2004 12:15:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I'm getting ready for work this morning and I plug in my hair dryer. I turn it on, round brush in one hand, ready to go, and the thing starts shooting flames from the base. Flames. This has never, ever happened to me before. And I'd say I've been using a hair dryer since at least 1987. (Not this specific hair dryer, of course.) I scream a couple of times and try to get to the outlet to unplug it before realizing that, duh, I should turn the thing OFF first. I switch it off and drop it on the floor, then unplug it. Jen, whom I've of course woken up with my screaming, mumbles "are you okay?" "NO! My hair dryer is on fire." "Oh. I thought it was bee-related. You can use mine." I go back into my bedroom, where the stench of burnt electrical cord hovers like, um, something that hovers. side note, I asked R for suggestions to finish the sentence, and these are what I got: ...hovers like a vaccuum cleaner with a missing o. ...hovers like a star, twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge. (okay, that one was written by lord byron.) ...hovers like that fake ghost in the "fright night" episode of the brady bunch. hee! So now, I need to add "hair dryer" to the list of things I could have really done without spending money on this month. Gr.|W|P|109828182324740281|W|P|Flaming hair dryer|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/19/2004 11:31:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So at Paul and Trisha's wedding a couple of weeks ago, I remarked that I wouldn't want any inappropriate (ie sad) slow songs played at my wedding. R and I started a conversation about bad first dance songs. This prompted me to do a little bit of digging around on the internet. I came across a list of "suggested songs for your first dance," and among them were these little gems. I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston) If I should stay, I would only be in your way So I'll go, but I know I will think of you every step of the way... Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers) Oh my love, my darling I've hungered for your touch a long lonely time And time goes by so slowly and time can do so much Are you still mine? Against All Odds (Phil Collins) So take a look at me now, oh there�s just an empty space And there�s nothing left here to remind me, Just the memory of your face Ooh take a look at me now, well there�s just an empty space And you coming back to me is against all odds and that�s what I�ve got to face Crazy (Patsy Cline) Crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so lonely I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so blue I knew you'd love me as long as you wanted And then someday you'd leave me for somebody new Oh, just stab me with a pitchfork... Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack/The Fugees) Strumming my pain with his fingers, Singing my life with his words, Killing me softly with his song, Killing me softly with his song, Telling my whole life with his words, Killing me softly with his song ... My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion) Near, far, wherever you are I believe that the heart does go on Once more you open the door And you're here in my heart And my heart will go on and on Forget, just for a second, that it's Celine Dion...and just remember that it's the love theme from freakin' TITANIC. This is a song about tragedy, people. The Dance (Garth Brooks) Looking back on the memory of The dance we shared beneath the stars above For a moment all the world was right How could I have known you'd ever say goodbye Yep, more pain and tragedy. and the mother of all inappropriate wedding songs... Every Breath You Take (The Police) Every breath you take Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take I'll be watching you Every single day Every word you say Every game you play Every night you stay I'll be watching you O can't you see You belong to me How my poor heart aches with every step you take Every move you make Every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake I'll be watching you Since you've gone I been lost without a trace I dream at night I can only see your face I look around but it's you I can't replace I keep crying baby please Every move you make Every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake I'll be watching you Ummm...stalker, much? Now I personally cannot concieve of choosing a song so utterly lyrically inappropriate. I can't imagine sharing my first dance with my husband to a song that's about pain, about heartbreak, about tragedy. It reminds me of a friend who told a story about her sort of clueless sister saying that Better Man by Pearl Jam was her and her boyfriend's "song" because it was "so romantic." So this led to another conversation, which led me to wondering...those of you out there who are married, what song did you choose for your first dance? Why did you choose it? Did you choose it because it was lyrically significant to you in some way, or because it had some sort of special meaning to you? I'd love to hear what you all have to say!|W|P|109823783221718693|W|P|I'll be watching you|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/19/2004 10:30:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Well, I am in a much better mood today. Yay. I did the Bush v. Kerry quiz as seen on All Things Jen(nifer) and then on End of the World. Here are my results:
Kerry
You preferred Kerry's statements 67% of the time
You preferred Bush's statements 33% of the time

Voting purely on the issues you should vote Kerry

Who would you vote for if you voted on the issues?

Find out now!
So, there ya go.|W|P|109823241554666701|W|P|A better day|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/18/2004 03:14:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Feeling sorry for myself today. Everything sucks. No fair. Wah wah wah. I hate being in this kind of a mood. I tried so hard not to get my hopes up about the job, I really did...but it felt like things were going my way for a while there. Because I'm having trouble forming words, I'll borrow a few from Ron Hawkins: Where're the banners? Where're the headlines? Those future planners and hungry deadlines Those true believers and crazy Fridays Those sham deceivers, these can't be my days Ah, maybe next time... (Under the Carlaw Bridge)|W|P|109811971180388404|W|P|What the hell am I doing here?|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/18/2004 11:29:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Even though I felt it coming, I was still disappointed to receive a rejection letter from the rural school district. *sigh*|W|P|109810623252193307|W|P|Rejection |W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/15/2004 01:50:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So Erin, you're trying to teach English, and yet you did not major in English as an undergrad. Why not? I blame this book: The Remains of the Day As a sophomore, I took the intro survey course English 200. The course was set up so that in addition to reading your typical anthology works, students read one novel (selected by the instructor) and over the course of the semester wrote four papers from four different perspectives (psychological and feminist were two of them...I can't quite remember the other two) based on the reading of this novel. Long story short? I hated this book. Hated it. I'm not sure what inspired such loathing in me, as I've not picked the book up since. I got pitiful grades on the papers and ended up studying my ass off for the final to pull a C+ for the semester. A C+? In English? I felt like an utter failure. This, after all, was what I loved. My highest grades in high school were in English. I abandoned any inkling I had of majoring in English, left it as my minor, and majored in Communication Arts. I remember going to the bookstore to pick up my texts for this class. I noticed what some of the other sections of 200 were reading as their novel selection. The Shining? Ender's Game? That...that's not fair, I whimpered. I remain convinced that had I been in either of those other two classes, I'd have received an A or B in the course and gone on to major in English, thereby making my quest to be certified as a secondary English teacher much easier. Has anyone else ever had this kind of violent loathing of a critically acclaimed work? Every now and then, I think maybe I should pick up the book and give it another shot. Maybe the past 11 years have given me the maturity necessary to appreciate Ishiguro's work...who knows.|W|P|109785551997102379|W|P|English 101|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/15/2004 12:21:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Part of my quest to convince R that he really, really needs to see this movie. ;) (any fans out there? help me!)
You are Spaceballs! You have a strange obsession with odd furry
creatures and you need to pick your helmet up
when drinking coffee. You can go from suck to
blow in a matter of seconds, but you're really
just looking for a good time in a winnebago.

Which Mel Brooks Movie Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla Thanks, Stephanie! |W|P|109785018090616120|W|P|May the schwartz be with yooooooooouuuuuuuu....|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/13/2004 10:18:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I was looking in the mirror, fussing with my hair earlier today. "I need a haircut," I said. "Really?" R asked. "Why?" "It's getting on my nerves. It just needs trimmed." "Ah. You are from Pennsylvania." "Huh?" "You dropped the 'to be'. That's a Pennsylvania speech pattern." Oh. Yeah. That. "I know," I muttered. It's one that has been pointed out to me before, that I've tried to make a point of correcting. This got me to thinking about other peculiarities of the speech patterns/word usage of my area. Until very recently, I ran the sweeper instead of the vacuum. We drank pop, not soda. A college friend of mine, a girl from Pittsburgh, was very emphatic about this. "I worked at Dairy Queen. You order a soda, you get something with ice cream in it." My grandma used to ask me to 'rid up' (some say 'redd up'), or clean up the living room. We also commonly drop the Gs from verbs ending in -ing: swimmin', fishin', hikin', etc. "Hey, you goin' fishin' this weekend?" I am quite happy to say, though, that I have never uttered the Pittsburgh colloqualism "yuns", as in "Yuns wanna go dahntahn?" Since living in Western New York, I've picked up a few. My mom recently made fun of me when I said I had to take "the 90" to get somewhere. (We don't use the article in front of the highway name in PA.) So what about all of you? What are some local speech patterns you've been stuck with?|W|P|109771433145989495|W|P|Pick a little, talk a little|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/13/2004 03:15:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I know, you've all been dying to know what erin-go-blog has been listening to, right? No? Too bad, because I'm going to tell you anyway. ;) R has introduced me to some music I'd been previously unfamiliar with, and here are two bands I'm particularly enjoying: The Shins and Einstein's Sister Right now, all I have is a bunch of tracks he's burned on a CD for me, but I fully intend to buy both The Shins' "Chutes too Narrow" and Einstein's Sister's "Humble Creatures" as soon as I have a bit of spare cash. Unfortunately, it would appear that Einstein's Sister is no longer together. If you try clicking on the link to their website from the site I linked, you get something that is clearly not a band's website. Eh. I had the CD on in the car this morning, and I cannot get the Shins' song "Young Pilgrims" out of my head: And I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I know there is this side of me that wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just fly the whole mess into the sea... A couple of tracks of note from Einstein's Sister: Solar Circle Girl, a fun, mid-tempo ska track that I cannot hear without smiling, and Something True, a simply gorgeous acoustic ballad: All we need is to be for one another Now that we have one another let the madness through. Please believe in the fate that draws us closer knowing every stolen moment brings us something true I love being introduced to new music! :)|W|P|109768786364116320|W|P|Music|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/12/2004 12:12:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I got a call back for a second interview at the school where I interviewed on Friday. Yay! I'm very excited. The interview, with a committee comprised of the assistant principal and several English teachers, is tomorrow. I think I'm going to have to let my boss in on what's happening. I'm also going to have to spend a bit of time today preparing, anticipating questions, going over the NYS Standards, Regents exams, speaking to someone about the particularities of teaching sophomores, which is something the principal emphasized in my first interview. Also feeling somewhat underprepared for my class today. My mind just hasn't been on it. I guess we'll see how well I can fake it, eh? The weekend was a whirlwind of activity. We had Paul and Trisha's wedding Saturday, which was simply lovely. I adore you both, and wish you nothing but the best! Go to Jen's blog for a photo, more details, and links to even more photos. Beautiful. I then went home on Sunday, so I would have the chance to visit with my aunt and cousin who were home visiting from DC. Brandy...oh my goodness...to say this child is a handful is a gross understatement! I don't know how my aunt does it. I had an appointment to have my car aligned on Monday at the hometown shop where mom and dad always go...had to have my car there at 9 am, and it wasn't ready until nearly 4. Oh, and get this...I needed yet ANOTHER tire. The guy at the shop said there was a bulge in the right front tire, looked like I hit something, or something hit me. I'm trying to be thankful that I didn't have a blowout on the highway somewhere, but seriously...this is THREE tire problems in the past11 months. I think that's excessive. Work continues to be busy, and will be until the end of the month...actually, it'll be a little bit less busy next week while we do proofing and corrections for the November issue, but then the new Bishop's installation takes place on Oct. 28. That'll be a hectic couple of days. Then it'll be November, and we can breathe. Then again, if all goes well, I'll be breathing somewhere else...|W|P|109759054013984750|W|P|Post-Columbus Day wrapup|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/08/2004 03:30:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Per some conversations I've been having recently, I'm wondering...how do those of you out in blogworld refer to the person with whom you're in a mutually exclusive relationship? Once you get past a certain age, the terms "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" seem almost silly. On the other hand, though, there doesn't seem to be a viable alternative. Significant Other Okay, but almost overly PC. Also nearly always refers to a spouse. Partner This one carries with it a certain connotation...for example, if I referred to my "partner," I suspect that people might get the idea that Jen is more than just my roommate. "Friend" For one, it smacks of those distasteful Molson ads. And for another, one might look silly making those quote marks in the air all the time. Think Say Anything. Lover Really, can anyone say this without thinking of Will Ferrell on SNL and giggling? "My lov-ah." *snicker* (okay, reading those two in succession makes me want to break into song. "And I'll be your friend...and I'll be your luuuuuuuuhvah." Ah, Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson. Ahem.) And, as R's friend Debbie pointed out: My Main Squeeze "is more appropriate to a favourite accordion than a loved one." Heh. ;) After seeing Best in Show (yep, I've finally seen it...*loved* it. I don't know if I'm willing to pick a favorite, though.) I rather enjoyed the idea of using "euphemism."|W|P|109725669601514269|W|P|Semantics|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/08/2004 01:17:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I had my interview at the rural high school this morning. I think it went very well. This was just round 1; they'll be doing callbacks for a second round of committee interviews, then bringing finalists back to be observed teaching a lesson. BUT this is for an actual *job*. Not a long-term sub position. Someone is retiring. And it sounds fabulous. Some sections of sophomore English, one section of juniors, and two senior electives. One of them being...CREATIVE WRITING! I know. Too good to be true, right? I got along quite well with the principal. The interview went about 40 minutes, and he said that he hoped to be seeing me next week for the second round. I said, "Well, I hope so, too." (big smile) Before I left, I popped in to the superintendent's office to introduce myself. We talked for a few minutes about some of my old teachers, people that he knew. Small world, indeed. Don't want to get my hopes up too high yet, but I felt really, really good when I left.|W|P|109724871715075069|W|P|Could it be?|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/08/2004 01:37:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|So I'm up through episode 7 of season 1 of Six Feet Under, and still thoroughly enjoying it. I do have one question for any fans out there reading...are the Fishers supposed to be Catholic? Because I got that impression at first, but then some things didn't fit. Like the whole "committee interviewing the new priest" thing. I'm pretty sure that in all Catholic parishes, priests are appointed. The bishop says "go there" and you go. Period. Any clarification in this matter would be greatly appreciated. :) ETA: Thanks to R for letting me know that they are Episcopalians. Makes sense...good ol' Catholic-Lite. ;)|W|P|109716367618401786|W|P|SFU|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/07/2004 11:50:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Could not drag myself out of bed, despite the crying and clawing by the kitties outside my door...because, you know, they were starving. When I finally did get up, I found the garbage bag from the kitchen dragged into the dining room. I picked it up, walked over to the garbage can. It had been knocked over, and little tiny pieces of styrofoam were scattered about the kitchen. You see, I had meat last night. In fact, I had cut up the meat (a piece of sirloin) and momentarily walked out of the room. When I came back, Sasha was on the counter happily gnawing on a piece of meat. I shooed him off, and picked up two little pieces of meat that he had chewed up. So apparently, during the night, kitties ate the few little scraps I had trimmed off and then desperately chewed up the container and paper. Oh, and Sasha with the crying last night...I'd blame it on Jen being away, except that I know he's like this all the time, with the crying and meowing and wailing at the door. I don't understand, really. So after I cleaned all of that up, I got in the shower. Oh, crap. I forgot that the shower isn't draining properly. Nothing like starting your day ankle-deep in lukewarm soapy water. Note to self: buy Drano. Oh, and then I get in to work and discover that one of the documents I'd emailed myself, a rubric I created for scoring my class's essays, was all messed up in formatting. And my printer at home isn't working. Great. I have a whole bunch of work to do today. Blah. Thank goodness it's almost Friday.|W|P|109715707630891629|W|P|Ugh. What a morning|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/06/2004 03:02:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|God, I'm busy today. And wasting far too much time. :-P Here's what's news... Signed up for NaNoWriMo. Yep, I've committed. Eep! I'm going to have to put myself on a schedule, I think. I should also get practicing. Start doing some of those daily writing prompts over at TC. Didn't get the community relations job with the school district. I was more excited about it in theory...after all, what I really want is to be teaching. I actually had a moment of panic as I was calling the guy back, wondering what I would do if it was offered to me. Haven't heard yet about Monday's interview. Still hopeful. Have another interview scheduled for Friday morning. This is the one with the rural district where the guy from my hometown is superintendent. Whee!|W|P|109708225975562113|W|P|2 second update|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/05/2004 04:15:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|All right, who can I pay to keep me in a steady supply of Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut bars? No, you cannot buy them here. And no, it's not at all far to Fort Erie, but I think the border patrol might start looking at me funny. Jen and I hopped across the Peace Bridge over the weekend, mostly so I could browse the selection of OTC allergy medicines (the loratadine seemed to not be working for me. I like Allegra, but there's apparently no generic available yet), but also so I could get my hands on some of that heavenly Cadbury chocolate. And now my candy bar is gone. :( |W|P|109700027255375059|W|P|O Canada|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/05/2004 12:25:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Today is my anniversary. Today, it has been one year since the artist formerly known as assboy (I've taken, of late, to referring to him as "X". As in "the ex." While the title "assboy" has served me well and has been quite entertaining, it suggests a certain amount of hostility.) confessed his sins and changed everything. I remember one conversation we had in those first couple of weeks...he was wallowing. His level of self-loathing was almost unbearable. I don't know if he expected me to reassure him, say "no, no. X. It's okay. You're not a bad person," but I couldn't. I was in too much pain myself. He actually said to me, in the middle of one of these self-deprecating rants, "And now I've destroyed you." Whoa. Hold on. Back up there, my friend. "No, X. You destroyed us. You didn't destroy me." I still find it a little bit amazing that even in those horrible, dark, sad, self-pitying moments, I was able to recognize my own strength. I knew that even though I was hurting, even though I was angry and sad, and yes, scared of being alone again, that I would be fine. And I am. In fact, I'm more than fine. Happy anniversary to me.|W|P|109698642605564081|W|P|Happy anniversary|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/05/2004 12:06:00 AM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Who, in a recent conversation with me, referenced the line "hair the color of strained peaches"? Because I just realized what it was from: Albuquerque ETA: I just remembered that it was one of my students in class last week when we were talking about descriptions. How bizarre.|W|P|109694208100671007|W|P|Please help me|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/04/2004 11:45:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|The sheer idiocy amazes me. I just got spam trying to sell me anti-spam software.|W|P|109694080007805187|W|P|Spam!|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/04/2004 02:49:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|I got a rejection letter for the aide position that I didn't want anyway. See? Moot. :) (Incidentally, after talking to a couple of people in the field, I've determined that a paraprofessional position would be a good idea IF it was in a district where I'd like to get my foot in the door. This position? Not my ideal work environment anyway, so probably not where I'd want to be working.) I have an interview this afternoon for a high school long-term sub position. Wish me luck! The community college where I'm now teaching is advertising for a full-time job starting in January. Hmmm... Back when I was deciding to go back to school, I had been thinking that teaching at the college level was my ultimate goal. However, I knew that this would probably mean pursuing a doctorate at some point, which I am not quite prepared to do. Then I discovered that I do actually *like* teaching high school. This is to say that I'm at something of a crossroads right now. I could go either way. I feel fairly confident that I would be happy in either position, so if this opportunity in higher ed were to present itself to me, I would pursue it...I've always thought it was something I might want to do "someday" anyway. I'm feeling very confident about interviews in general lately. I used to take rejections personally, but more experience has changed that. I realize now that a rejection doesn't mean that I was bad, or that I performed poorly in the interview. More likely that they found someone who was, for whatever reason, a better fit for the position. I came out of two interviews last week feeling good...and so I know that if I don't get hired, it wasn't because they didn't like me. Let's hope this positive attitude stays with me!|W|P|109690862349986554|W|P|More job news|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/04/2004 12:45:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|He may be crazy. I heard this story on the radio this morning: Billy Joel marries 23-year-old fiance Interesting things I learned about this on the radio: Alexa Ray, Billy's 18-year-old daughter, was the maid-of-honor. (isn't that sweet? they're, like friends) Billy's new father-in-law is 6 years younger than he is. (He's 49. Billy is 55.) Said father-in-law has a 25-year-old girlfriend. Christie Brinkley was at the wedding. Must be true love, right? Ugh.|W|P|109690118361683650|W|P|You may be right... |W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com10/01/2004 12:29:00 PM|W|P|Erinna|W|P|Ack. It's been a busy week. I'm still behind on things I wanted to talk about LAST week. I'll do a quick summary. First off, I need some tips on how to deal with the attention spans of 7-year-olds. My cheerleading class at the Y is down to four girls...three 7-year-olds and a six-year-old. They're really not bad. Cute, eager. LOTS of energy. After about 45 minutes last Friday night, I let them run around, do cartwheels, bounce on the bouncy aerobics balls, basically just burn off some energy for about ten minutes before I brought them back together to review what we'd learned and stretch. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't figure out how to hold their attention any longer! I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with them tonight. I thought about looking for a silly little game, a team-building type thing. Two of the little girls are best friends and completely inseparable. One of them is sort of shy, and I think needs to be brought out of her shell a bit. Any ideas? Finished reading Neverwhere last weekend. I loved it. It was original, clever, very funny at times, very creepy at times, and I wasn't bored for a moment. Good stuff. Saturday night, R met a few more of my friends...we went to a little get-together at Rachel & Brian's place. Tim and Dayna were there too. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we had to eat and run so we could make it to the John & Mary show at Nietzche's. (John and Mary were with 10,000 Maniacs. Mary sang after Natalie Merchant went solo.) I enjoyed the show. After spending most of Saturday lounging around, getting R hooked on Sports Night (yay!), and R getting me hooked on Six Feet Under, I went to see Jackdaw at Sportsmen's Tavern. This was a good venue for them. It's small, but they sounded great. The only real complaint I had was the size of the stage. There's six guys in the band, so it was a little crowded. Poor George was stuffed into the back corner with his drums. This one ridiculously drunk guy kept coming up and "dancing" and almost running into people. At one point, I was kind of dancing, and he kept looking at me as if he was going to try and dance with me. I slowly inched away. David noticed this and laughed at me. Thanks, dude. Tuesday, R and I went to see Carbon Leaf, also at Nietzche's. Earlier in the day, I went to New World Record to see them play an acoustic set. It was at 3 p.m., so the "crowd" was pretty small. The guys were good natured about this and made jokes. "If you need to shop, don't let us stop you." ;) But by the end of their set, the random people who were in the store had stopped to listen, and a small crowd of people (including at least one employee) had made their way over from the adjoining Spot Coffee. They played all my favorite tunes from Indian Summer (except Raise the Roof) AND my favorite song from Echo Echo. Terry, one of the guitarists, kept noticing me singing along and smiling. At the end of the set, Barry, the lead singer, urged everyone to come over and say hi. He was talking to a couple of other die-hard fans when I left, but I smiled and said I would see them at the show that night. He remembered me at Nietzche's, so that was pretty cool... R very much enjoyed himself. He remarked that Terry looked about "35 percent too Nickelback" to be in the band. Hee. It's true...he doesn't have the same "look" as the rest of the guys. Bigger body type, long hair and a mustache. But he looks so darn happy when he's playing that you kind of forget. And he has such a *nice* voice when he sings. I was happy that R was impressed with my boy Carter...it sort of validates my fangirl-like worship. ;) It was a great show. The overly loud, drunk, enthusiastic college girls from Rochester were there, and I didn't have much patience for them. "Crazy traaaaaaaaaaain. Play Crazy traaaaaaaaaaain! We came all the way from ROCHESTER! EEEEEEEEEEEEE! We love you BARRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Do I have more to say? Probably...but I should actually, you know, work today. ;)|W|P|109664102718009642|W|P|Too much to say|W|P|27chronicles@gmail.com