Trying to add a site feed - or, one that works. Right now, if you click the lil' RSS thingy in the URL field - it gives you nada. Same as if you click the Atom link in the sidebar.
I've checked the Blogger help page and all it seems to tell me is that I need this in my html:
I am just about 10 kinds of anxious right now. For various, whiny reasons. School reasons, work reasons, people reasons.
The main question I'm having today is, "am I cut out to be a teacher?"
Some days I feel good about this, some days I feel like crap about it. Sometimes I look out at them and it seems like I'm just blah-blah-blah-ing into a void and I know how much they love the teacher who teaches the prerequisite to this class and I can't help but feel that they're not getting what they want / need from me. Am I being clear enough? Can I articulate what they need to know? Do I even know what they need to know?
Yeah, that was pretty sweet. I wonder if he ate the cupcake afterwards?
So, that school thing. Wow.
It is, to put it mildly, kicking my ass.
But mostly in a good way.
The "bad" part is just the sheer amount of time that goes into this. But that's also the good part, if that makes sense. I enjoy the readng, the planning, the analyzing, the arranging of lesson plans. I don't really like straight-forward lectures but instead prefer the participation approach - which is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Not that the students aren't up to it - they are, they're very, very bright (Indeed, I suspect, they may generally be smarter than me with nothing but age and life experience giving me that teacherly edge). It's just that they're mostly quiet and aside from a few regulars, I have to work hard to draw them out. I'm hoping that as the semester goes on they'll start to feel more comfortable.
I just wish I had more time in the day, you know? Oh wait, grading papers - that's a veritable "bad" part. Very time-consuming and always fraught wtih the worry about being as fair and objective and clear as possible in the grading. Maybe I'm overworrying?
Also, I seem to be getting my first real kick-ass cold of the season - let the winter games begin!
I started teaching today. No, I didn't quit my day job. It's just one class - early in the morning, Monday and Wed. We'll see how it goes. They didn't look at me like I was a complete idiot - so far so good!
So the Gov. is visiting my place of employment today to talk policy and he just walked by my dept. Guesstimates have him at about 5'6" - not sure if there were heels or lifts involved, however.
Jossip has that Tom Cruise on Scientology video that the Church of Scientology keeps yanking from YouTube for "copyright infringement" reasons.
How about the real reason they're forcing it down is because TC is s-c-a-r-y. The video (but not the audio) occasionally blacks out but cue minute five for some maniacal laughing and something about the "confront, shatter and suppression" of the opposition.
Way to turn 38! Love the aches and creaks - especially the gut-wrenching back pain that left me doped up on muscle relaxers all day yesterday. So. Much. Fun. Can't wait to see what the rest of this "aging" thing brings me.
Oh, and that added touch of a few more gray hairs - clever!
Yours ever so truly (and sorely) Rachel
P.S. All kidding aside, when can I have my youth back? P.P.S. Should I throw out that mini-skirt? When I wear it, do the kids laugh at me like I laugh at the bleached blonde 40somethings who wear sweat pants emblazoned with "Juicy" on their asses? Be honest. I can take it.
I really only have one reason why I stopped posting in 2007.
My cat got a pacemaker.
That pretty much threw me off my game for all of July and August and then I - along with dear Sophie - spent the rest of the year recovering, emotionally speaking. Well, Sophie's recovery was more physical of course - she never lost her famous spirit. And, thanks for asking, she's doing just swimmingly now. Awesome, actually.
So, that said, I am very happy that we are about to embark upon a new year.
(True, I always feel that way on Dec. 31. This is not an unusual thing)
Some reasons why:
My battery-powered cat is doing great, as confirmed by a recent trip to the vet
Cory & I both still have jobs - no mean feat in this shrinking newspaper / record industry day-and-age
I'm going to start teaching at the end of January. I'm terrified but also excited
We just got a new computer. A pretty, fast new iMac. We can once again live without all those buggy crashes - at least for a few years.
You are all still my friends. I learned a lot about friends this year and, frankly, I think the ones I have are the best
