Friday, March 25, 2005
Website Update
I've been a busy beaver tonight. I've added two (1 and 2) stories to my website. Both are Lord of the Rings stories...sort of halfway between movie- and book-verse.
Semi-Late Pictures
I just posted 11 photos from our Disneyland trip last weekend on flickr. I still can't believe Patrick is 18....
Life, or Something Like It
As a teacher of students with moderate, severe, and/or profound disabilities, I've been watching the Terri Shiavo thing with deeply mixed feelings.
As the one person, who had apparently expressed a wish not to be kept alive by "extraordinary means," then I think she has the right for her wishes to be fulfilled, if indeed she had expressed that wish.
And, more to the point, if she is truly in a persistent vegetative state, which is probably what she was referring to if and when she expressed that wish.
I don't think that a feeding tube, in and of itself, is a truly extraordinary measure -- though I've heard commentators during this case who talk only of that...of the fact that she "can't even eat on her own." As if that, in and of itself, is indicative of the extent of the damage to her brain.
The thing is -- swallowing is a complex task. I've known three students that were fed via a G-tube. All had severe developmental disabilities -- but they were far from nonresponsive. One walked, explored his environment, and learned to recognize his name in print. One showed her recognition of people she liked with a wide smile and by lifting her head up so she could see them better. The other laughed, grinned, and rhythmically banged her feet against the feet rests on her wheelchair when people joked with her.
So as someone who has known kids with severe disabilities -- what worries me about the Terri Shiavo case is two things.
First -- I don't know that anyone could know for sure that the smiles and eye movements that she shows on videos are reflexes and nothing more. I think to know that for sure, people should be exposing her to cause and effect devices to see if she is doing these things intentionally. If she is, or can be taught to, that changes the dynamics of the case.
It's certain that she has severe to profound disabilities...but that is not the same as being "a vegetable" or having no quality of life. I don't know that she could be taught to speak again, as some have claimed, but if she truly does recognize people, even sometimes, then rehabilitiation should have been at least attempted, and the people that claim her husband was neglectful have something of a case.
Second -- the attitude behind this concerns me deeply. The attitude that the life with a severe disability is not worth living worries me not only because I have seen, first hand, children and young adults with severe disabilities enjoying life. They are not miserable because of the challenges they face. As long as they are surrounded by people dedicated to giving them as much appropriate support and autonomy as possible, to empower them and to allow them control over their own lives, their lives aren't the misery people perceive them as.
I've known students with severe physical disabilities, severe cognitive disabilities, and students with both physical and cognitive challenges.
All of them laughed, smiled, cared for people around them, and in general lived the same lives you and I do -- with differences, with challenges, sure, but fulfilling lives nonetheless.
It was not too long ago that people would have looked at my brother, whose cognitive challenges are far less than many students I have known, and claimed that he would be best institutionalized because he would have no quality of life anyway.
The world has changed -- but not enough yet, I don't think. It's like people that no longer pity people with paraplegia but still felt like it was best that Christopher Reeve died, because life with quadriplegia surely wouldn't be worth living.
This is the danger, I think, of the Terri Shiavo case, and why I'm so torn about it.
There is the part of me that absolutely believes that this is her decision, and so be it.
But there's the nascent activist in me, who still sees every day people who think my kids' education isn't inherently as important as other kids' education, who sees people who can't imagine what they'd do if they had a child like A., who sees my kids' lives as somehow less enjoyable than their own simply because they don't read, or don't understand math, or are learning to communicate -- that part of me hates the spectacle that is being made about a life that other people see as not worth living.
If you want to know what life is really like for people with disabilites -- just get to know some people who happen to have disabilities. Voluneer with the Special Olympics, or contact Best Buddies.
The funny thing is -- I bet you'll get even more out of it than the people you get to know.
As the one person, who had apparently expressed a wish not to be kept alive by "extraordinary means," then I think she has the right for her wishes to be fulfilled, if indeed she had expressed that wish.
And, more to the point, if she is truly in a persistent vegetative state, which is probably what she was referring to if and when she expressed that wish.
I don't think that a feeding tube, in and of itself, is a truly extraordinary measure -- though I've heard commentators during this case who talk only of that...of the fact that she "can't even eat on her own." As if that, in and of itself, is indicative of the extent of the damage to her brain.
The thing is -- swallowing is a complex task. I've known three students that were fed via a G-tube. All had severe developmental disabilities -- but they were far from nonresponsive. One walked, explored his environment, and learned to recognize his name in print. One showed her recognition of people she liked with a wide smile and by lifting her head up so she could see them better. The other laughed, grinned, and rhythmically banged her feet against the feet rests on her wheelchair when people joked with her.
So as someone who has known kids with severe disabilities -- what worries me about the Terri Shiavo case is two things.
First -- I don't know that anyone could know for sure that the smiles and eye movements that she shows on videos are reflexes and nothing more. I think to know that for sure, people should be exposing her to cause and effect devices to see if she is doing these things intentionally. If she is, or can be taught to, that changes the dynamics of the case.
It's certain that she has severe to profound disabilities...but that is not the same as being "a vegetable" or having no quality of life. I don't know that she could be taught to speak again, as some have claimed, but if she truly does recognize people, even sometimes, then rehabilitiation should have been at least attempted, and the people that claim her husband was neglectful have something of a case.
Second -- the attitude behind this concerns me deeply. The attitude that the life with a severe disability is not worth living worries me not only because I have seen, first hand, children and young adults with severe disabilities enjoying life. They are not miserable because of the challenges they face. As long as they are surrounded by people dedicated to giving them as much appropriate support and autonomy as possible, to empower them and to allow them control over their own lives, their lives aren't the misery people perceive them as.
I've known students with severe physical disabilities, severe cognitive disabilities, and students with both physical and cognitive challenges.
All of them laughed, smiled, cared for people around them, and in general lived the same lives you and I do -- with differences, with challenges, sure, but fulfilling lives nonetheless.
It was not too long ago that people would have looked at my brother, whose cognitive challenges are far less than many students I have known, and claimed that he would be best institutionalized because he would have no quality of life anyway.
The world has changed -- but not enough yet, I don't think. It's like people that no longer pity people with paraplegia but still felt like it was best that Christopher Reeve died, because life with quadriplegia surely wouldn't be worth living.
This is the danger, I think, of the Terri Shiavo case, and why I'm so torn about it.
There is the part of me that absolutely believes that this is her decision, and so be it.
But there's the nascent activist in me, who still sees every day people who think my kids' education isn't inherently as important as other kids' education, who sees people who can't imagine what they'd do if they had a child like A., who sees my kids' lives as somehow less enjoyable than their own simply because they don't read, or don't understand math, or are learning to communicate -- that part of me hates the spectacle that is being made about a life that other people see as not worth living.
If you want to know what life is really like for people with disabilites -- just get to know some people who happen to have disabilities. Voluneer with the Special Olympics, or contact Best Buddies.
The funny thing is -- I bet you'll get even more out of it than the people you get to know.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Is This a Good Thing?
As someone who really enjoyed Ender's Game from a sociological/psychological standpoint (not to mention wondering if you could really, in a few generations, selectively breed kids that gifted), and also having not seen Troy...
...Is this a good thing?
So, spring break is almost here. All the kids' report cards are done, and I just need to survive the next two days (we have Friday off) then I can relax a bit.
It's weird. The second year of teaching is supposed to be less stressful, but really, it's not. Sure, you know more about The Game, and where to get this form or that form -- but you start looking more at other things and being more critical of yourself. You're not in Survival Mode anymore, and that's not necessarily a good thing.
But, on the other hand, most people seem to think I know what I'm doing. I'm getting kids from other people's classes when they have meltdowns -- not a good thing, really, except that it says that the general perception is that I'm good at my job.
Today's brainteaser: when the heck did I break my toe again? This time, I don't even remember hitting anything...though last time, all it took was a gentle tap in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Never thought I'd be hoping for warm weather, but at least then I could get away with wearing decent looking sandals instead of hobbling around in shoes....
...Is this a good thing?
So, spring break is almost here. All the kids' report cards are done, and I just need to survive the next two days (we have Friday off) then I can relax a bit.
It's weird. The second year of teaching is supposed to be less stressful, but really, it's not. Sure, you know more about The Game, and where to get this form or that form -- but you start looking more at other things and being more critical of yourself. You're not in Survival Mode anymore, and that's not necessarily a good thing.
But, on the other hand, most people seem to think I know what I'm doing. I'm getting kids from other people's classes when they have meltdowns -- not a good thing, really, except that it says that the general perception is that I'm good at my job.
Today's brainteaser: when the heck did I break my toe again? This time, I don't even remember hitting anything...though last time, all it took was a gentle tap in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Never thought I'd be hoping for warm weather, but at least then I could get away with wearing decent looking sandals instead of hobbling around in shoes....
Sunday, March 20, 2005
By the Way
For those of you who visit Disneyland a lot, you will know exactly what the following two facts say about the expected attendance levels for the day:
- both Columbia and the Mark Twain were sailing
- they were actually running the facing-forward trains.
Buzz Lightyear
Wow, was it crowded! Of course, it probably will be the rest of the year, as the 50th anniversary festivities continue.
Patrick had fun, even though the Disney Gallery was closed, so he couldn't get his poster. But, instead, one of the stores on Main Street had a lot of old souvenirs that they are re-issuing (and stuff that is made to look like old souvenirs). He got a monorail game originally released in 1960, and was completely ecstatic.
The first thing we did, after I paid $20 to get a new annual pass (mine got lost), was go on the new Buzz Lightyear ride. It is obviously modeled after the attraction at Disneyworld -- you can tell by the queue line, and the style of boarding, which is very fast (like the Haunted House). Many attractions at the Magic Kingdom, and most of the ones at EPCOT, when I was there last, board thusly, with most of the line inside, to protect people from the climate.
The ride itself is very cool. It moves slowly, like a one of the funhouses (think Snow White, Peter Pan, etc.), but you are in a car that spins (like Roger Rabbit) using a joystick (you have much more control than on Roger Rabbit), and you have laster video game guns and a score tally at each seat.
As you ride, you see all these Z (Emperor Zurg) targets all over the place. Some are on Zurgs, and some are on their own. The goal is to hit as many of these as you can, and to get as many points as you can.
(I got 8800, which, given that I used to play Duck Hunt on my original Nintendo about 2 inches from the screen and still miss things, isn't too darned bad. It did seem to me that you had to aim a bit lower than you would think to hit things, though.)
By the time we left (the lines were too long, Patrick was dehydrated, and I was getting a migraine) the line was much longer, but at 9:30 or so this morning, 1 1/2 hours after the park opened, it was only 25 minutes or so.
Very fun. :-)
Patrick had fun, even though the Disney Gallery was closed, so he couldn't get his poster. But, instead, one of the stores on Main Street had a lot of old souvenirs that they are re-issuing (and stuff that is made to look like old souvenirs). He got a monorail game originally released in 1960, and was completely ecstatic.
The first thing we did, after I paid $20 to get a new annual pass (mine got lost), was go on the new Buzz Lightyear ride. It is obviously modeled after the attraction at Disneyworld -- you can tell by the queue line, and the style of boarding, which is very fast (like the Haunted House). Many attractions at the Magic Kingdom, and most of the ones at EPCOT, when I was there last, board thusly, with most of the line inside, to protect people from the climate.
The ride itself is very cool. It moves slowly, like a one of the funhouses (think Snow White, Peter Pan, etc.), but you are in a car that spins (like Roger Rabbit) using a joystick (you have much more control than on Roger Rabbit), and you have laster video game guns and a score tally at each seat.
As you ride, you see all these Z (Emperor Zurg) targets all over the place. Some are on Zurgs, and some are on their own. The goal is to hit as many of these as you can, and to get as many points as you can.
(I got 8800, which, given that I used to play Duck Hunt on my original Nintendo about 2 inches from the screen and still miss things, isn't too darned bad. It did seem to me that you had to aim a bit lower than you would think to hit things, though.)
By the time we left (the lines were too long, Patrick was dehydrated, and I was getting a migraine) the line was much longer, but at 9:30 or so this morning, 1 1/2 hours after the park opened, it was only 25 minutes or so.
Very fun. :-)
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Hello From Buena Park
Howdy from my fold-out couch at the Hampton Inn & Suites on Orangethorpe.
Tomorrow, my mom, brother, and I are going to Disneyland to celebrate Patrick's birthday. What my mom didn't know until after she'd come up with this brilliant idea for a birthday surprise was that the Buzz Lightyear ride opened Friday.
Oh, and, the rain, which might have kept crowds down, is over.
It is going to be flippin' packed.
I wouldn't mind too much, really, except that I have to go to work Monday since our spring break doesn't start until Friday (Thursday afternoon, when we could have left early, our speech therapist invited the assistive tech. people to come and talk to us from 1 to 3...).
If we happen to luck out and happen to get to ride it, I'll post about it.
Otherwise, happy Sunday to everyone.
Meanwhile, I'm going to finish watching Matilda on TBS.
Oh -- and I got my ftp access working. There's a new story at my website.
Tomorrow, my mom, brother, and I are going to Disneyland to celebrate Patrick's birthday. What my mom didn't know until after she'd come up with this brilliant idea for a birthday surprise was that the Buzz Lightyear ride opened Friday.
Oh, and, the rain, which might have kept crowds down, is over.
It is going to be flippin' packed.
I wouldn't mind too much, really, except that I have to go to work Monday since our spring break doesn't start until Friday (Thursday afternoon, when we could have left early, our speech therapist invited the assistive tech. people to come and talk to us from 1 to 3...).
If we happen to luck out and happen to get to ride it, I'll post about it.
Otherwise, happy Sunday to everyone.
Meanwhile, I'm going to finish watching Matilda on TBS.
Oh -- and I got my ftp access working. There's a new story at my website.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Ickiness
Well.
We haven't had a day like that since the beginning of the year. Eesh.
Of course, the fact that I slept wrong and could barely move my head exacerbated it, along with the popped blister on my ring finger, which is making typing interesting (and therefore making this a short post).
And, in the oh-my-God category, it is now 3 days until Patrick's 18th birthday.
Good grief.
We haven't had a day like that since the beginning of the year. Eesh.
Of course, the fact that I slept wrong and could barely move my head exacerbated it, along with the popped blister on my ring finger, which is making typing interesting (and therefore making this a short post).
And, in the oh-my-God category, it is now 3 days until Patrick's 18th birthday.
Good grief.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Brief Musings
So, the other day, Sci-Fi showed its...answer to the 50s campy sci-fi (at least, I hope it was intended to be that).
On one night, it showed Battlestar Galactica and both Stargates.
Then, Mansquito.
Yup. I assume it was about a guy who turned into a mosquito...y'know, like The Fly.
See, it's things like that that get rolled eyes when I mention liking science fiction.
But to me, any compelling movie/TV show/book, etc. can't just rest on its setting. You can't have the most exciting setting in the world (2000 years in the future, in a parallel universe where etc. etc.) without compelling characters and an interesting story.
People who've never read Clarke's 2001 (which, honest to goodness, makes the movie make lots more sense); people who've never seen contemplative, speculative fiction like Contact; people who dismissed Buffy and a campy teeny-bopper show never saw the masterful "The Body"; these people have missed out on lots of gosh-darned good storytelling because of the associations they've made with the term "sci-fi."
And that's a shame.
On one night, it showed Battlestar Galactica and both Stargates.
Then, Mansquito.
Yup. I assume it was about a guy who turned into a mosquito...y'know, like The Fly.
See, it's things like that that get rolled eyes when I mention liking science fiction.
But to me, any compelling movie/TV show/book, etc. can't just rest on its setting. You can't have the most exciting setting in the world (2000 years in the future, in a parallel universe where etc. etc.) without compelling characters and an interesting story.
People who've never read Clarke's 2001 (which, honest to goodness, makes the movie make lots more sense); people who've never seen contemplative, speculative fiction like Contact; people who dismissed Buffy and a campy teeny-bopper show never saw the masterful "The Body"; these people have missed out on lots of gosh-darned good storytelling because of the associations they've made with the term "sci-fi."
And that's a shame.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
I Am Such a Nerd
So, I'm watching South Park -- the first fourth grade one -- and these two nerd guys are arguing about how many original Star Trek episodes there were. Nerd 1 argues for 72. Nerd 2 argues for 73. All the SP kids think they're pathetic.
And my first thought?
Uh, guys, there were seventy-nine.
{sigh}
And it got worse...they were then showing how nerdy Butters was 'cause he was saying how "The Menagerie" being two parts only counted as one because it was the original pilot, and later was split up?
Nuh-uh. The original pilot was "The Cage," which was spliced into the two-parter "The Menagerie" later....
Let's all sing the "I'm a nerd" song....
And my first thought?
Uh, guys, there were seventy-nine.
{sigh}
And it got worse...they were then showing how nerdy Butters was 'cause he was saying how "The Menagerie" being two parts only counted as one because it was the original pilot, and later was split up?
Nuh-uh. The original pilot was "The Cage," which was spliced into the two-parter "The Menagerie" later....
Let's all sing the "I'm a nerd" song....
Sunday, March 06, 2005
You're Kidding Me, Right?
It's now an act of terrorism to write a short story about zombies -- zombies, for cryin' out loud -- taking over a high school.
Now, being extremely generous, I can see that the fact that the kid who wrote it is a student there might -- maybe -- make it a little more suspicious.
However.
You tell people to write about what they know.
I know that if you look through my old writings...I set stories in high schools when I was in high school; in college when I was in college, and so forth.
So, if your writing bent happens towards the zombies, and you're in high school, you will probably write a story about zombies at a high school.
Ridiculous....
In nerd news, former Screen Savers guy Dan Huard has joined with Roger Chang (of Call For Help and The Screensavers) has started a technology website called Scopetech. Yay.
In other nerd news, thanks to ffmpegX, I am currently ripping some of my DVDs to my laptop's hard drive to take along when I go with my mom and Patrick to Disneyland for the weekend in 2 weeks for Patrick's 18th (gulp!) birthday.
It's something of an experiment; if it results in longer battery life (since it won't be spinning the actual DVD, it should take less battery power to play an avi file than the DVD) I will probably rip most of them so that my DVD case can stay safely home when travelling, since my whole DVD collection (mostly) fits in there.
In more nerd news, since this is from an English/Irish online store, I wonder if thinkgeek has one of these?
Finally, since my grandpa now has a lot of time on his hands, he wants to buy a computer. This is a scary prospect. He wants broadband, but doesn't know what spyware, viruses, or popups are, let alone that they're bad and that they happen a lot with broadband.
So I'm advocating a Mac.
My cousin keeps saying that the differences in user interface (?!) will confuse him, but as far as I'm concerned, the main differences are the one-button mouse (so we'll buy him a two-button mouse, so he can learn about right-clicking) and having option and command keys instead of Alt and Command, but he won't be using those anyway. When you come down to it, File | Save is the same in both OSs.
And, if he does have trouble translating the computer skills to the computers at work, he can buy Virtual PC to install whatever he needs to install, and run it when not connected to the Internet.
Meanwhile my Pepsi/iTunes winning streak seems to be over...but since I won about 6 in a row over last week, a few "please play agains" will not bug me too much.
Now to find my Annual Pass so I can get to Disneyland and buy Patrick's birthday present next weekend....
Now, being extremely generous, I can see that the fact that the kid who wrote it is a student there might -- maybe -- make it a little more suspicious.
However.
You tell people to write about what they know.
I know that if you look through my old writings...I set stories in high schools when I was in high school; in college when I was in college, and so forth.
So, if your writing bent happens towards the zombies, and you're in high school, you will probably write a story about zombies at a high school.
Ridiculous....
In nerd news, former Screen Savers guy Dan Huard has joined with Roger Chang (of Call For Help and The Screensavers) has started a technology website called Scopetech. Yay.
In other nerd news, thanks to ffmpegX, I am currently ripping some of my DVDs to my laptop's hard drive to take along when I go with my mom and Patrick to Disneyland for the weekend in 2 weeks for Patrick's 18th (gulp!) birthday.
It's something of an experiment; if it results in longer battery life (since it won't be spinning the actual DVD, it should take less battery power to play an avi file than the DVD) I will probably rip most of them so that my DVD case can stay safely home when travelling, since my whole DVD collection (mostly) fits in there.
In more nerd news, since this is from an English/Irish online store, I wonder if thinkgeek has one of these?
Finally, since my grandpa now has a lot of time on his hands, he wants to buy a computer. This is a scary prospect. He wants broadband, but doesn't know what spyware, viruses, or popups are, let alone that they're bad and that they happen a lot with broadband.
So I'm advocating a Mac.
My cousin keeps saying that the differences in user interface (?!) will confuse him, but as far as I'm concerned, the main differences are the one-button mouse (so we'll buy him a two-button mouse, so he can learn about right-clicking) and having option and command keys instead of Alt and Command, but he won't be using those anyway. When you come down to it, File | Save is the same in both OSs.
And, if he does have trouble translating the computer skills to the computers at work, he can buy Virtual PC to install whatever he needs to install, and run it when not connected to the Internet.
Meanwhile my Pepsi/iTunes winning streak seems to be over...but since I won about 6 in a row over last week, a few "please play agains" will not bug me too much.
Now to find my Annual Pass so I can get to Disneyland and buy Patrick's birthday present next weekend....
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Science
It's a science night...I just finished creating 2 modified versions of the 5th graders' science test...the first, for A., involves reading short paragraphs about 3 popular molecules and answering questions, and the second, for R.L., involves matching words & pictures for popular molecules (officially -- water, salt, and oxygen).
See, they're mainstreamed into a science class that studied chemistry, but they have a horribly uninteresting substitute, so I figured the important thing for them to know about chemistry was a little bit about some things they'll run into life.
Meanwhile, as I'm typing up the last of A's paragraphs (about salt), Alton Brown is explaining emulsifiers on Good Eats...seriously, Stace, tape this show and use it for your chemistry class...at least, the parts with the styrofoam balls and push pins. ;-)
Murphy's Law moment of the day: I pick Patrick up from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because he has an afterschool work experience/class thing. I sat there today for about 25 minutes, and finally called my mom (rather than him, so he wouldn't get in trouble if he had his cell phone on) and asked if she knew why his class was running late.
"Oooooh!" she says. "It's Thursday! Oh, he stayed home from school today."
Sigh.
See, they're mainstreamed into a science class that studied chemistry, but they have a horribly uninteresting substitute, so I figured the important thing for them to know about chemistry was a little bit about some things they'll run into life.
Meanwhile, as I'm typing up the last of A's paragraphs (about salt), Alton Brown is explaining emulsifiers on Good Eats...seriously, Stace, tape this show and use it for your chemistry class...at least, the parts with the styrofoam balls and push pins. ;-)
Murphy's Law moment of the day: I pick Patrick up from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because he has an afterschool work experience/class thing. I sat there today for about 25 minutes, and finally called my mom (rather than him, so he wouldn't get in trouble if he had his cell phone on) and asked if she knew why his class was running late.
"Oooooh!" she says. "It's Thursday! Oh, he stayed home from school today."
Sigh.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Oops
Okay, so the FTP server is down. The site's updated on my hard drive anyway. Others will just have to wait to read the newest masterpiece (not). :-)
Always Trust the Ears
First off -- by the time y'all read this, I should have uploaded a few updates to my temporary website, including updates to one story and a whole new story. ;-)
This is pointless, really, but it always amuses me how I can recognize voices, even behind alien makeup and all that -- because when it comes to music, I am pretty much tone deaf. Although I love to sing, I only do so alone 'cause I know I'm no good at it.
Anyhow, Sci-Fi is showing The Clan of the Cave Bear, the movie made of Jean M. Auel's book -- the only one of the series I really enjoyed, though I read the first three.
So, I've seen it a few times, and the voice of the narrator always nagged at me, because I knew it from somewhere.
Then, tonight, it hit me. It's the Female Changeling! Well, at least, to Deep Space Nine fans. :-) It's actually Salome Jens, who has appeared in quite a lot of TV (including much sci-fi) and several movies. Am I good, or what? :-)
Incidentally -- the movie is a good, but not great, adaptation of the book. By necessity, it must leave out much of the Neandertals' biology, customs, psychology, and the other anthropological stuff that made the book so fascination (and which was absent from the sequels).
After suffering through a day and a half of my hot-and-freezing-cold mood swings that I get when I have a fever, I am finally feeling somewhat alive...which is good. Turns out there's something of an epidemic of a weird strain of strep throat that involves some additional weird infection thingie going around the Moorpark/Simi area.
So, it's back to the daily grind I go, while I begin to count down the days until spring break. :-)
This is pointless, really, but it always amuses me how I can recognize voices, even behind alien makeup and all that -- because when it comes to music, I am pretty much tone deaf. Although I love to sing, I only do so alone 'cause I know I'm no good at it.
Anyhow, Sci-Fi is showing The Clan of the Cave Bear, the movie made of Jean M. Auel's book -- the only one of the series I really enjoyed, though I read the first three.
So, I've seen it a few times, and the voice of the narrator always nagged at me, because I knew it from somewhere.
Then, tonight, it hit me. It's the Female Changeling! Well, at least, to Deep Space Nine fans. :-) It's actually Salome Jens, who has appeared in quite a lot of TV (including much sci-fi) and several movies. Am I good, or what? :-)
Incidentally -- the movie is a good, but not great, adaptation of the book. By necessity, it must leave out much of the Neandertals' biology, customs, psychology, and the other anthropological stuff that made the book so fascination (and which was absent from the sequels).
After suffering through a day and a half of my hot-and-freezing-cold mood swings that I get when I have a fever, I am finally feeling somewhat alive...which is good. Turns out there's something of an epidemic of a weird strain of strep throat that involves some additional weird infection thingie going around the Moorpark/Simi area.
So, it's back to the daily grind I go, while I begin to count down the days until spring break. :-)
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Stuff
So, it's been a while. I'm still working on the eloquent thing, and I decided I shouldn't wait until I could come up with something.
This is gonna be very random, so bear with me.
The last couple of weeks have been very hectic. My grandpa and aunt both ended up with pneumonia -- grandpa the day before grandma's internment, and my aunt the day after. She had blue nailbeds by the time she got off the plane. Both are okay now, although grandpa won't go to get rechecked.
I, of course, managed to catch the cold that both of them had before they had pneumonia, thus adding to the Year of Unending Illness that is traditionally your first year of teaching...but when have I ever been traditional, eh?
Meanwhile, I've had another IEP...this one was hurried, 'cause the mom needed ot pick up the girl's sister, but it went okay. It's always nice to say, "Your child met and exceeded all of her goals."
Patrick's IEP was the week of grandma's internment...that Tuesday, I think. Of course, I couldn't ask for a personal day, with what all went on with grandma. Somehow, the OT that did his assessment came to the conclusion that he has limited upper body strength, despite the fact that he can literally pick up his 6-foot-tall cousin. But whatever.
We have Drama going on at school, but that's a whole 'nother thing. People with martyr complexes are very hard to deal with...but fortunately, I have a couple of really good aides that take the pressure off a bit.
My cats are on a canned food kick, which they haven't been for a while. And, of course, being cats, they think that every time I go into the kitchen, it is necessarily for their benefit. :-)
I've been really enjoying Battlestar Galactica, in its reincarnated version. Kara (Starbuck) is a fascinating character; I'd like to see more of what makes Adama tick, but I think the fact that we haven't is deliberate. Meanwhile, my interest in both Stargate and Atlantis has been waning...but when Enterprise (which is finally watchable, of course) goes off the air, it's the only sci-fi on the air that's caught my eye, so I guess I'll have to do.
I've been wanting to go see a movie lately (very odd for me, since they give me headaches that verge on migraines) but there's nothing I really want to see. Later in the year, of course, there will be Star Wars, War of the Worlds, the next Harry Potter and a few others that I've watched trailers for with iTunes, but....
Speaking of -- I think I've won about 8 songs now. Definitely beats last year. :-)
I think there was more, but I have officially lost my train of thought.
This is gonna be very random, so bear with me.
The last couple of weeks have been very hectic. My grandpa and aunt both ended up with pneumonia -- grandpa the day before grandma's internment, and my aunt the day after. She had blue nailbeds by the time she got off the plane. Both are okay now, although grandpa won't go to get rechecked.
I, of course, managed to catch the cold that both of them had before they had pneumonia, thus adding to the Year of Unending Illness that is traditionally your first year of teaching...but when have I ever been traditional, eh?
Meanwhile, I've had another IEP...this one was hurried, 'cause the mom needed ot pick up the girl's sister, but it went okay. It's always nice to say, "Your child met and exceeded all of her goals."
Patrick's IEP was the week of grandma's internment...that Tuesday, I think. Of course, I couldn't ask for a personal day, with what all went on with grandma. Somehow, the OT that did his assessment came to the conclusion that he has limited upper body strength, despite the fact that he can literally pick up his 6-foot-tall cousin. But whatever.
We have Drama going on at school, but that's a whole 'nother thing. People with martyr complexes are very hard to deal with...but fortunately, I have a couple of really good aides that take the pressure off a bit.
My cats are on a canned food kick, which they haven't been for a while. And, of course, being cats, they think that every time I go into the kitchen, it is necessarily for their benefit. :-)
I've been really enjoying Battlestar Galactica, in its reincarnated version. Kara (Starbuck) is a fascinating character; I'd like to see more of what makes Adama tick, but I think the fact that we haven't is deliberate. Meanwhile, my interest in both Stargate and Atlantis has been waning...but when Enterprise (which is finally watchable, of course) goes off the air, it's the only sci-fi on the air that's caught my eye, so I guess I'll have to do.
I've been wanting to go see a movie lately (very odd for me, since they give me headaches that verge on migraines) but there's nothing I really want to see. Later in the year, of course, there will be Star Wars, War of the Worlds, the next Harry Potter and a few others that I've watched trailers for with iTunes, but....
Speaking of -- I think I've won about 8 songs now. Definitely beats last year. :-)
I think there was more, but I have officially lost my train of thought.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Random Musings
I keep having these half-eloquent thoughts about last week...this week...Thursday, etc...but they keep coming and going. I seem to be having trouble hanging on to thoughts, which I assume has something to do with exhaustion and stress. Maybe it'll come to me. Good Monday to everyone.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
When It Rains...
Since Thursday morning (see previous post), the following things have also happened:
- my DishNetwork receiver quit working
- my car had a flat tire
- my patched-tire blew out on the 405
- my grandfather ignored everyone telling him he was sick, and he is now at Kaiser, probably with pneumonia
Thursday, February 10, 2005
1:30 A.M.
From the now-defunct studiesinwords.de.
Shot of Buffy and Tara sitting on the sofa next to each other. They look at each other, then away.Rest in peace, grandma.
BUFFY: (softly, speaking to the floor) I'm sorry...you have to go through all of this.
TARA: You don't have to worry about me.
BUFFY: Everybody wants to help. (Tara looks at her) I don't even know if I'm...here. (Tara looks away) I don't know what's going on. Never done this. (pauses) That's just an amazingly dumb thing to say. Obviously...I've never done this before.
Beat.
TARA: (softly) I have.
Buffy looks over at her.
TARA: My mother died when I was seventeen.
(cut some stuff)
Buffy looks back up at Tara.
BUFFY: Was it sudden?
TARA: What?
BUFFY: Your mother.
TARA: No. (thinks) And…yes. (pauses) It's always sudden.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Maturity
So, I'm driving Patrick back to the house after visiting grandma last night. My mom stayed there because grandpa was really freaked out (it's looking like it'll be sometime this week), so I took Patrick to dinner. He was really upset, saying he didn't want grandma to "go" -- she had been talking about how she was ready before she went to sleep.
We drove through McDonald's, and as we were turning up towards the house, out of the blue, he says, "Grandma was right."
"About what?" I asked. There's a strange resignation in his tone.
"I don't like seeing her like this. She should go." Now, he's sad and choked up when he says it, but he's utterly serious. He doesn't want her to suffer, and he is ready to let her go so that she doesn't have to.
This is my brother, ladies and gentlemen. Disabilities or not, let no one say he doesn't understand what's really important in life.
We drove through McDonald's, and as we were turning up towards the house, out of the blue, he says, "Grandma was right."
"About what?" I asked. There's a strange resignation in his tone.
"I don't like seeing her like this. She should go." Now, he's sad and choked up when he says it, but he's utterly serious. He doesn't want her to suffer, and he is ready to let her go so that she doesn't have to.
This is my brother, ladies and gentlemen. Disabilities or not, let no one say he doesn't understand what's really important in life.
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