getting the hang of things

grad school is nothing like my old college days. it is harder to go to school when you have a full time job, a husband, a house to keep, and pets to feed. there are no more all-nighters, at least not fun ones. you know, the ones where you and your friends would make a food run at midnight to whatever greasy gross restaurant was open, watch a few movies, pull few pranks in the halls of the dorm, and then eventually do a little work before you either sleep for 30 minutes or go to class only to return to your dorm room to sleep for the remainder of the day. no, those days are long gone. now it is squeezing in class work between grading painful 6th grade essays, washing dishes, and only getting sleep every now and then. i am not as young as i used to be.

but i must also tell you that i believe that i am finally getting the hang of it. although i have probably just jinxed myself by saying that. (for those of you who don't know, i am currently working on my masters of library science. i am doing it 100% online, which means class in my pajamas, much like my undergraduate days! this makes me happy.) my design and media production class this semester is fun and also HARD!! it involves a lot of reading and a lot of thechnology work with music, pictures, and video. all of which are fun, but also extremely time consuming. i type all of this to let you know that i think i have finally caught up on my reading, blog posting, and video work for the class. all it took was a 4 day weekend with almost non-stop work.

i may be out of practice, but with a little work i am getting back on the bike and will ride like i used to. except if my memory serves, i was never a great bike rider. i did hit that parked car once. well, anyway, i will make it through whether on the bike or not. i am a good walker as well.

now that am i caught up, i hope that i can stay that way and keep frustration away!!

frustration . . .

thy name is GRAD SCHOOL!!! i am so overwhelmed at the moment, i may cry. will i ever catch up? will i ever get ahead? i don't know. stay tuned to find out!!!

share the love!

a fellow teacher friend at school shared this with me, and it is too funny not to pass on. i am not sure who in my marriage needs more training, matt or myself, but i know we could both use some. i believe you can teach a young, middle aged, or old dog new tricks, you just have to have the right treats!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/fashion/25love.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&en=e434837ef9e0950f&ex=1184130000&excamp=mkt_at1

how dare they!

they have ruined one of my favorite books of all time, and in the name of what? cgi! bridge to terabithia is one of my favorite books, and disney has taken it upon itself to ruin it. where did the giants and creatures and fighting come in? i don't remember it. i will now have to re-read the book just to make sure, but i am fairly sure at no point in time is there a giant or the need for the boy to have an armor arm to fight. they have missed the point of the book and have replaced its meaning with meaningless creatures and fighting.

it is a story of friendship and relationships, boys and girls being friends, different families and different backgrounds. terabithia is a magical land created by a boy and girl who are so different that it is those differences that help them create a new world. it is a book about differences making something together that alone would not exist.

i am incensed by the look of the new movie coming out. the whole world cgi'd to life. there does not seem to be one piece of the book in the movie except for the fact that it is a boy and girl and they imagine a world called terabithia. that is where it seems, to me anyway, the similarities end. what has happened to our imaginations? have we so lost them that hollywood has spell everything out for us, or has hollywood been spelling it out to us for so long now that we have lost our ability to use it.

terabithia showed me how to imagine and create, and that my vision wasn't the only one worth looking at. it showed me that others could contribute to make my worlds better and more alive. it spoke to me of friendships between boys and girls and how families are different but love is the same.

i probably will not see the movie, but for other reasons than i am appalled with the look of it. i also am not happy with movie prices. when it comes out on dvd, who knows? i just do not like when they take wonderful books and make not so great movies out of them. there is a reason people love the books and i see no reason for movies to change them.