20 Random Things

[respectmyright]

Here's the "20 Random Things" meme, since I'm really bored and don't feel like editing course outlines.

1. The other day, I went to Home Outfitters looking for drawer organizers, and they did not have any. The only ones they had were flimsy plastic rectangle things and they cost $30 for two. I was kind of annoyed, since I'd gone out of my way to get to the store, so I bought an automatic ice cream maker instead!
   
   
2. While I love teaching to death, I sometimes suspect that I was meant to be a starving artist. Perhaps I am a teacher in my heart and an actor in my soul. Or maybe I am what I am, which is both. I've never not taught (or worked with da chirrun in some form), so I don't know if I would be happy without it, but I have not acted for long-ish periods of time, and I know that I feel like half a person when I haven't been on stage in awhile.
   
   
3. On the same note, maybe I was meant to be a children's theatre director? I know there are drama teachers who are all anti-performance and anti-stress and like to stress process, process, process in their classes, but I know that my proudest and happiest moments as a teacher have been spent standing in the lighting booth peering over my lighting director's head and clapping my hands off for my students on big performance nights. The moment I first felt like a real teacher came in the December of my first year teaching, when my Gr. 10 class performed the scenes they'd been working on for their winter exam and I realized while videotaping the performances that what I'd been trying to teach them was actually taking effect and that the class had finally come together as a unit. Ah, drama is love.
   
   
4. Right now I'm listening to Ryan Malcolm, and I AM NOT ASHAMED. Hahahaha! I still love poor Ry. I think he might still be my favourite Idol. I think annexw is the only person who's with me in keeping the RyLove alive. The Ryabilly musical of awesomeness is going to be hilarious. *Ryabilly gang sinez*
   
   
5. I'm kind of obsessed with children's books - everything from stuff that would actually qualify as "children's literature" to crappy series books from the 80s that I read by the hundreds. I'm also really nostalgic about books I used to read over and over as a kid, and the result of this is that I own upwards of 300 children's books. Probably more. Among these books is the entire works of L.M. Montgomery, the entire Lemony Snicket series so far, all the Artemis Fowl books, all the Harry Potter books, all the Little House on the Prairie books (including the prequel and sequel series about her great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter), a ton of Roald Dahl books, and many, many others both good and bad including way too many BSC and Sweet Valley books.
   
   
6. I'm also kind of obsessed with paper. I love paper goods, like journal books, stationery, stickers, folders, etc., and I also obsessively clip, file, and collect newspaper snippets on anything I like. I have bulging folders full of figure skating articles dating back to 1988. I'm also kind of anal about making sure my papers don't get smushed, folded or bent. Certain brej of mine have witnessed me ironing paper to get the creases out, and, um, that wasn't the first time I'd done such a thing, either.
   
   
7. Totoro is possibly the greatest thing ever. If you do not understand why Totoro is so great, I'm not sure we can continue to be brej. He's AWESOME, okay? He's crazy and magical. I highly recommend that you rent his movie if you haven't witnessed his magical awesomeness before.
   
   
8. On a similar note, The Last Unicorn is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen, but it is also really, really awesome. Apparently a live version of the movie is in the works now, with many of the same people who did the voices in the animated version reprising their roles, and this makes me ridiculously excited. The animated version also had a really, really bad hilarious genius soundtrack by horrible 70s rock band America.
   
   
9. I think Raffi is a genius. Seriously. He used to be LGB's hero when he was really little. People would ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he would solemnly reply, "Raffi." HAHAHA!
   
   
10. Speaking of LGB, I may as well take this opportunity to inform you that according to him, Paul Wall is the next big thing. He has "buzz from da street!" Also, Akon and Young Jeezy are gonna take it easy. *nods* If you don't understand that reference, I'm sorry, but you might be a wanksta.
    
    
11. I once almost poisoned _ravengirl with Super Lemon. Super Lemon has awesome powerz, y'all. (OMG there's Super Cola candies?! I WANT SOME NOW.)
    
    
12. I'm kind of obsessed with ironing. I iron everything - jeans, t-shirts, sweatpants, everything. Creases are not my brej.
    
    
13. I have no patience for the emo generation. Seriously, there is stuff that's really worthy of angsting over, and stuff that is not, and the majority of stuff emo people whine about goes into the latter category. Blech. I was known to angst-whine back in the day, and the good thing about the sudden onslaught of the emo generation is that they have cured me of any emo tendencies I once had.
    
    
14. I finished reading the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things a few weeks ago, and it's really, really weird. It was well-written, for sure, but I'm not entirely sure I liked it. It was strange.
    
    
15. My students keep bugging me to tell them what the big play is going to be this year, but in all honesty, I haven't decided yet. Right now I'm kind of debating between Emily of New Moon and The Secret Garden. Anyone have any other suggestions for a non-musical play that would appeal to 12-14 year-old girls? There doesn't actually have to be a script for it - I usually adapt/write the scripts myself.
    
    
16. We're doing Harry Potter: The Musical (written by me and first performed in Summer 2001, hee) with the junior school students I work with. It's gonna be a blast. Whee!
    
    
17. astormyhaze, old_tab and I went to see the touring production of Les Miz at the Princess of Wales theatre last week. The show was pretty good, but because the touring cast was American, their French accents were really bad. You could actually tell that some of the major characters had distinct American accents, which was both funny and distracting. The guy who played Valjean was good. Mel didn't like "the clowns" (a.k.a. the Thenardiers). This was the fifth time I've seen Les Miz.
    
    
18. The first story I can remember writing was called The Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake Go to Space and I won first prize in a Grade One story competition for it. My prize was getting the book typed and bound at the school library. I still have my copy. Hee.
    
    
19. For my brej who are strangely obsessed with STDs, I offer you a song (or rap? or something?) that actually has a lyric about "STD infections" in its chorus. The Grafenberg All-Stars REPRESENT!
    
    
20. My five favourite performances of CI3 were, in order, Melissa's "Holding out for a Hero", Melissa's "Alive" when she won, Daryl's "Tainted Love", Melissa's "When I Fall" and Casey's "I'll Stand By You" (which, when just listening and not watching, I really think was one of the strongest vocal performances of the entire season, haters be damned). Amber's "I Can't Make You Love Me" in the Top 32 comes in close behind, and the rest of the list is pretty much All Melissa, All the Time. I think CI4 is going to be painfully mediocre, and it may be time that a stupid person ends up winning, which would suck a lot. I mean, at least CI3 was redeemed with Melissa.

In other news, I just started a wicked new community! If you used to love (or be amused by) Kalan Porter and now think he is stupid, gross, soulless and DEAD ON THE INSIDE, join kalanhasnosoul!! I highly encourage everyone to join this comm. Right now it is kind of bare and nothing has been set up yet, but join and I promise you greatness. *nods*