Sunday, January 08, 2006

Headlines

I haven't done a survey of the news in a while (too busy, too lazy, too preoccupied, whatever...), so here goes.

Health Department Threatens to Shut Down Bathroom

Okay, they didn't, really, but when it gets to the point where I'm telling my parents, "Avoid using my bathroom, unless you really want to be grossed out," you know it's time to drag out the Clorox. And that's just what I did this morning. I bleached, scrubbed, mopped and spit-shined that bathroom back to an acceptable level of clean. I even got around to replacing the hand towel. Normally I do this every 2-3 days, but somehow I let it slide this week (gross!).

While I was fired up, I also gave my bedroom some love. I have a cabinet that the TV sets on, and it was such a mess inside. The cabinet is home to myriad things--my DVDs, my jewelry, my handbag and umbrella, recent credit/debit/bank receipts, etc. It often becomes a bit of a catch-all for messes I don't want to be visible. Today it got organized. Life is good.

Bush Proposes Broader Language Training

Nice thought, for sure. Except that most of our students can barely read, write or speak English. I've lost count of the times kids stop me to ask what I mean with the language I use (they don't read like I did and do). Let's brush up on the English, encourage an extra language, and stop the silly comments like the following:

"In order to convince people we care about them, we've got to understand their culture and show them we care about their culture," Mr. Bush said. "You know, when somebody comes to me and speaks Texan, I know they appreciate the Texas culture. When somebody takes time to figure out how to speak Arabic, it means they're interested in somebody else's culture."

And hey, I've never gone wrong in my foreign travels. I find that a phrase book, a sheepish smile and a genuine attempt to speak the language gets me everywhere.

Besides, yo hablo espanol...un poco.

Remind Me Not to Swim in Australia

Good grief. This is horrible. The poor woman. More than one shark? God knows I'm not an ocean swimmer in the first place (undertows and lack of strong swimming abilities) but this will definitely keep me in the knee-deep part of the water.

Say It Isn't So!

I thought he was waiting for me!! Of course, this little blurb has a very tabloid feel about it, and it was the only headline about it on Google News.

In other juicy celebrity gossip, Kevin "Oh-My-God-He's-Soooo-Sexy" Spacey (the one I got a chuckle out of? Yeah, that one!) has been "outed." Again.

Yes, folks, I know that most people think the man is gay as a maypole but that doesn't stop him from being sexy, or my favorite actor. And the bottom line is that I admire him whether he's gay, straight, bi, asexual, whatever. He's absolutely amazing to watch, in any format--live, silver screen, TV--and he ain't so bad on the eyes, either!

Walk the Line

Mom and I went to see this on Friday and we both enjoyed it very much. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were fantastic, and the film was very well-done. I especially love "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line."

And it turns out that Phoenix has now been to my very own home town.

For those of you who haven't heard this anecdote, I could see the lights of Folsom Prison from my bedroom window--until, of course, Mom and Dad moved to the smaller house that most of you who've been there are familiar with.

Need Underwear? Socks? Towels? A New Shirt?

There aren't a lot of headlines I find particularly interesting today so I thought I'd insert a commercial break for my employers.

Hey, we carry quality stuff.

Something Good and Fun

I thought about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure recently. Mom and I walked in the Sacramento race in May 2004 and we really, really enjoyed ourselves. It is such an uplifting experience and well worth the time and money to participate.

Just looked it up and turns out that the Seattle race is on June 17. If you've never participated in this amazing event, check out the site and think about going. It's a good workout and a wonderful cause. I challenge you--if women who are still recovering from chemotherapy can do it, you can, too!

And I also challenge you to keep a dry eye while reading the history of how the foundation was started.

Speaking of Charity...

This one is another great one.

Most of you humor me and my obsessive devotion to watching NASCAR ("Hey, I can't go out on Sunday--there's a race on!"). But there is more to it than cars going round and round in circles and Southern drawls.

The Victory Junction Gang was founded by Kyle and Patty Petty in memory of their son Adam, a promising racecar driver who died tragically young in a racing accident. It is a camp for critically ill children, and it is affiliated with Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang camps.

This is one of my favorite charities--Kyle Petty, son of the famous Richard "The King" Petty, while not the most successful driver out there, is certainly one of the biggest-hearted guys in the sport.

Lesson Plans

What's my second most-common excuse for not leaving the house on Sundays? Yep. Lesson planning. I try to get it all done on Sundays, yet often find myself at mid-week, back at the computer, pulling my hair out and trying to get something done. I have found that when I plan for a week, Monday goes terribly awry (there's a fire drill or the kids won't settle down or I go off on some different tangent with them) that I have to reconfigure everything later.

I'm hoping that tomorrow's lesson will go really well. I'm going to introduce my kids to the Blues. It's not hard to make up a song in the 12-bar Blues pattern, so they're going to be treated to the "Silly Kids Blues."

That Said...

I think it's time for me to wrap this up and finish the plan for tomorrow. Then I'm going to make Mudslides for myself and Mom. I have to finish watching "Sense and Sensibility" and there's a new Cold Case on at 8:00.

I love Sundays!

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