Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

Sleep Schedule

3/17/2018

I have been staying up entirely too late this break. Here, we are approaching midnight and I still haven't written this post. Part of this is due to Janelle's later schedule. Her shift has moved from mids to closing, meaning that she often isn't getting home until around ten. However, a larger part is that I've just allowed myself to waste time.

Wasting time is exactly the correct phrase. I have not put the extra time into doing my school work, let alone anything creative. Sure, I've made all of my class deadlines, but with almost no motivation. I feel like I've been going through the steps mechanically rather than with any sort of purpose.

Meanwhile, I haven't been catching up on the sleep that I miss out on during a normal work week. Thus my sleep debt remains largely unchanged (although I have been getting a little more sleep than normal). I fear that I have established some poor patterns that will need to be broken in just another day.

Oh well, I suppose I should at least head to bed now.

Melting Snow

3/16/2018

With two days of temperatures in the 40s, the piles of snow on our house and in our yard as started to melt. This leads to some challenges.

The first is that driving gets more interesting on our road and driveway. Although the main highway is starting to dry up (with some areas of exception which are wet during the day and icy at night), our road and driveway are starting to turn into a slippery, sloppy, slushy mess. This is the time of year where navigating through the slush and mud can start to get tricky.

The second is that the accumulated snow from the metal roofs of our buildings has been sliding off. In fact, I just listened to a large pile slide over my head and pelt the ground. This scares our dogs, making it so we have to cajole or intimidate them to go outside. The real problem, however, is the southwest facing side of the garage which dumps its snow into the direction of the cabin. The subsequent pile is about four solid feet of snow, and it blocks the exhaust vent for the cabin's heater. I happened to actually see the snow fall off today and was able to get out there with a shovel right away to clear the vent.

The third is that the melting snow overloads our leach field. This means we have to be more cautious washing cloths, dishes, and ourselves to give it time to absorb the extra water. By far, this is the most frustrating.

Still, as much as I like snow, I feel that it's time for it to melt. After all, spring is just next week.

A Good Day

3/15/2018

Despite how much I like the Firefly series, I am continually surprised at how much I enjoy watching the shows. I expect them to generally be good, yet they are even better than I expect when I watch them. It helped that this was my first time watching them off of Blu Ray discs. Normally, I don't really notice a difference between DVD and Blu Ray, but the quality really seemed to stand out this time.

I also had one of the best turnouts for a marathon. While only Trevor stuck with me for the entire run, there were only three or four episodes when it was only the two of us. People came and went throughout the day, and a couple of groups missed each other entirely, but it worked out almost perfectly so that at no point did I feel overwhelmed.

The only downside is that I'm going to bed late while I still need to get up early for a car appointment tomorrow. It's been a good day.

Ready

3/14/2018

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Firefly marathon.

The house is clean(-ish). I even washed the glass on the main door--only to have Starbuck paw at it in terror a little later, at which point I washed it again--and the main dining room window. We cleaned up a several of the side tables that had been accumulating stuff of all sorts.

I picked up sandwich fixings. Among these include three pounds of black forest ham, two pounds of mesquite roasted turkey, a pound and a half of roast beef, two pounds of smoked gouda cheese, twelve croissants, eight hoagie-ish rolls, and eight wheat dinner rolls. I just realized that I didn't get the sliced dill pickles--I hope we still have a few.

I also finished my homework for both today and tomorrow. I have the schedule printed and the DVDs ready to go. I even set my alarm and picked out my clothes (Hawaiian shirt in honor of Wash) for tomorrow.

The shows start at eight.

Some Old Favorites

3/13/2018

Last week, I introduced the boys to The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid II (I refuse to acknowledge the existence of III and have never seen The New Karate Kid). Today, we watched the original Ghostbusters. The boys have been asking to watch these movies for a little while. The Karate Kids have been requested due to the song by No More Kings called "Sweep the Leg." Meanwhile, they have been asking to watch the original Ghostbusters since they saw the reboot (which I actually like).

For me, watching these movies is certainly a nostalgia trip. It had been decades since I saw The Karate Kid II, and while it shows its age, it certainly reminded me of why I was so fascinated with Japan (even if the movie was shot in Hawaii--young me didn't know that). Connor kept referring to the grainy Columbia Pictures logos as "old graphics," but otherwise the boys seemed to enjoy them. certainly, there was a lot of crane kick practicing in my house for a while.

I plan on still subjecting the boys to Ghostbusters II. To me, it is almost a textbook case of how sequels tended to run in the 80s. That said, there were still come enjoyable parts in it (okay, maybe only a few). We will see if they still trust my judgement after that.

Day Off

3/12/2018

I intentionally took a full break from class work today. I didn't have anything due today, but I also didn't work at getting ahead--which I will need to do a bit before Thursday. I should also spend some time this week preparing for the assignment that's due in two weeks since I have the time now, and I won't have as much of it then.

Still, I was nice to have a day with limited responsibilities. I did have choir practice, and I picked up Connor from his overnight stay as well as a movie (Big Hero 6) that I had reserved at the library. Other than that, the day was largely obligation free.

I will get back into the grind tomorrow, as far as my coursework is concerned that is. However, I want to make certain that I use this week to recharge as well. After all, I want to be able to say that I enjoyed my spring break.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent

3/11/2018

Today's readings and sermon were about praising God. There is a paradox to the idea of praise. There's no amount of praising God that will bring a person to heaven. Yet we lift up our voices in praise for our salvation into heaven. This might lead more self-centered people to ask something like: If no amount of praise can get a person into heaven, why spend time praising God at all? The answer is that we praise God because He has purchased our place in heaven for us.

This isn't some sort of monetary transaction. It defies the rules of economics: the price does not go up because of the demand. Rather, this is about the generosity of the spirit and being forgiven debts that we can never repay. Wouldn't we try to thank someone who paid for our meal? Hopefully, our thanks comes not out of obligation, but out of genuine gratitude and love.

More so, hopefully our thankful attitude moves us to generosity and forgiveness towards others.

Springing Forward

3/10/2018

Arrrrrrgggghhhh! The only thing somewhat positive about this year's jump into Daylight Savings Time is that I have an entire week to recover from this horrendous wrenching to my biological clock. I suppose that it also gives me the opportunity to take down and dust off my wall clocks again.

Otherwise, this is one of those areas where I disagree with Benjamin Franklin. Especially in Alaska, Daylight Savings Time is simply a waste of resources with health risks added in. That said, as long as most of the country is following this archaic practice, I would prefer that Alaska continue to do so as well. Otherwise, we'd find ourselves 5 hours different from the Eastern time zone and my Walden would be due at 9 PM instead of the already bothersome 10 pm.

Well, I suppose I should head to bed soon. I have an early day tomorrow.

Staff Day

3/9/2018

While I have not "finalized" my grades for 3rd quarter, I finished grading the massive pile of work that was turned in to me on Wednesday and Thursday. There were a few gems to be found, but there was a lot of roughage to wade through as well. To expedite the grading, I limited my already limited comments on the essays and projects turned in. I also managed to plan out the week that we get back (in some cases two weeks) and make copies for the Monday we return from break.

We spent the first half of the day in professional development with topics ranging from our upcoming block schedule, to classroom management techniques, to active shooter drills. On the later topic, our assigned officer (I don't know his correct title) talked about school shootings in general, our district's policies, suggested changes based on the latest shooting, and the reasoning behind our practices. Much of the information was in line with what I already knew in bits and pieces, but he did a great job of connecting everything into a more coherent picture and answering staff questions.

Anyway, after lunch, I decided that I wouldn't leave the school building until I was done or Janelle's shift at Freddy's was over (at 6pm)--whichever happened first. I managed to finish entering the last grades of my 7th period class just fifteen minutes before six. I walked out of the school to find Mera loyally waiting in an absolutely abandoned parking lot. I'd say that I rode her into the sunset, but I was going in the opposite direction.

Let "spring" break begin!

End of Quarter 3 - 2018

3/8/2018

I found myself quite short-tempered today as students handed me late work, complained about not having enough time, and made the predictable promises that they will do better next quarter. I actually yelled at one class after the umpteenth student said something to the effect of "Aren't you happy I'm turning all of this in?"

No! I would have been happy if you had turned it in on time, or even early. I would have been happy if it didn't look like you rushed through your work. I would have been happy it didn't take the threat of you failing (or not getting the grade you want) to get you to learn what I am trying to teach. Meanwhile, you get to take a deep breath of relief at the start of your break, but I now have a massive pile of grading to try and get done on top of planning for next quarter and my own homework that I have to get done.

So, don't act like you are doing me a favor by turning in your work at the last minute. I am doing YOU a favor by still accepting it and taking time out of my break to evaluate it.

... Like I said, short-tempered.

Tomorrow, the students stay home while we go in for our teacher inservice, which should include time to grade and plan. I will need more time than will be provided. Hopefully, I will be able to get most or all of it done before heading home, shovelling again, doing more homework, and getting the cabin ready for the renters coming this weekend. Once that is done, then perhaps I will relax a bit.

Such a Geek

3/7/2018

Yep, I totally referenced Breath of the Wild (the newest Legend of Zelda game) in today's online discussion post. In fact, I went into depth about some of the game's features as a point of comparison. I often found myself chuckling at the analogies that I was drawing and while imagining what my fellow students, let alone my professor, was going to make of my post.

Meanwhile, I am also getting hyped up for next week's Firefly marathon (which is now set for Thursday). I'm even wondering which of my Hawaiian shirts looks the most like Wash's. And by "wondering" I mean looking up on the Internet and discovering not only his pagoda -themed one but a variety of shirts that are Firefly themed that I now want.

AND Janelle just brought home Thor: Ragnarok! We are going to have to wait a couple of days before we have time to see it, but I think it's a great way to start off break!

I just have to finish both the homework that I have to do for my courses I take and the homework that I have to grade from the courses I teach.

Disney Music

3/6/2018

We just returned from the high school music concert whose entire theme was Disney music. The concert was quite entertaining ... to the point that I wanted to sing along with the songs. I realized that it has been quite a while since I've seen some of the movies from the nineties that I love so much. In fact, on our ride home, Janelle pointed out that none of our boys really recognized any of the songs (except for the one from Moana).

As she told me, it seems that we have left a gap in their education--one that we need to fill. At one point in time, we had all of those films (and most of the made for TV sequels). Unfortunately, they were almost all on VHS and were left behind on our move up to Soldotna. More unfortunately, Disney keeps the prices on its movies high, and that is if you are lucky enough to find the one you want.

Still, I think that this might be worth the reinvestment ... well, for the theatrical releases at least. Honestly, after hearing the music tonight, I'm in the mood to watch several of the movies right now--and they didn't even play music from two of my favorites: Mulan and Aladdin. I look forward to sharing this piece of culture with my sons.

President Pence [controversial]

3/5/2018

First, why am I only now realizing that both our president and vice president have names which are associated with money? Isn't a pence the English equivalent of the American penny? Is this an indication of America's obsession with wealth?

Anyway, I wanted to put my unoriginal prediction out there before it become reality. When Trump was first elected president, I immediately thought that he would not last a year. A part of this is because I think he was as surprised as most of America about his election (or nomination for that matter). At the time, I figured that this was a brilliant political move by the Republican party as Trump gets elected, steps down for "health" reasons, and suddenly Mike Pence (a more traditional party-liner) is leading the country with a Republican Congress and a Democratic party who is at least happy that he's "not Trump." I really figured that the true rigors of the job would wear Trump down--I had not anticipated the amount of time he would spend outside of the White House and on the golf course.

Now it looks like Trump might have to step down for legal reasons as the Russia scandal is peeling back like an onion (sorry, Clinton haters, but the Russia scandal is not the one you think it is). I see the result as being quite similar. Trump pulls a Nixon, and Pence immediately pulls a Ford. The Republicans use the rallying momentum of Trump support (despite the evidence) and the shadow of gun confiscation to keep their hold on Congress, and we have President Pence (whom people are less likely to hate) with a Republican Congress (whom people still rate below cockroaches on surveys of likeability). How else was he going to become president?

Now, my predictions are rarely right, but I think Trump will be as relieved as nearly everyone else on the day he wakes up no longer president.

The Third Sunday in Lent

3/4/2018

Jesus defended the poor. Nearly all of His ministry was directed towards the needy and downtrodden. He addressed the need to help the poor in many of His sermons. Even today's Gospel about Jesus attacking the money-changers and vendors at the temple was directed towards the poor.

Too many things in this world have wealth as a barrier. In His day, even entering the temple required money; the poor were often turned away because they could not afford the sacrifice expected of them. Yet God is supposed to be accessible to all of us.

Our pastor said that this is the reason Jesus made it clear that our bodies are our temples. Wherever we go, God is with us. No one can deny us access to Him.

Yet I still find myself judging those who do not dress up for church, whose appearance is disheveled, who do not "act" like they belong. When these thoughts enter my mind, I try to remember that I do not belong, but God loves me anyway. In fact, by judging others, I bring judgment down upon myself. This does not mean that I should ignore or accept truly disrespectful behavior. However, I do need to realign what I count as disrespectful, as there are often reasons for a person's behavior and appearance that I would shudder to know.