Am I supposed to know?

Am I supposed to know exactly what I want to do with my life right now? I feel like everyone I know is so self-assured and on a "path," and I feel like I have eight different paths going eight different directions, possibly with eight different dead-ends. Does anyone else feel like this? Sometimes I think I am the only one who feels like this, but I know (at least, I hope) that that's not true. All I know is that I'm 25 years old, and while that sounds like it means "adult" when I say it out loud and looks like the word "adult" when I write it down on paper, it's really just two numbers, joined together out of necessity of the passage of time, that have no connection to the word "adult."

Life was so much easier when I was (technically) a kid.

Bleh

The thought of life right now and everything about it at this very moment makes me want to puke.

WALL-E watches

Yesterday, I was reaching behind the passenger seat of my car to get something, when I stumbled across not one, but two, plastic blue WALL-E watches in their original cellophane packaging.

I have absolutely no idea where they came from, who they belong to, or why they were under the seat in my car. They look like Happy Meal toys or prizes from a cereal box...

If you or anyone you know has any information about the WALL-E watches, please contact me. In the meantime, I am the proud new owner of WALL-E watches, featuring blue plastic wristbands and a digital time display.

Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match!

It's all about Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo. If you haven't watched this show yet, you've gotta check it out. The show is a snapshot into the day-to-day operations of the Millionaire's Club, a matchmaking business run by snarky, matriarchal CEO Patty (who looks like a genetic hybrid of former WWF wrestler Chyna and Lucy Lawless's Xena). The Millionaire's Club caters to fulfilling the romantic whims of spoiled, ridiculously rich men who are allegedly searching for their soul mates. Patty's job is to "fix" the men's flaws and increase their "datability" through life coaching (a process individually tailored to meet the needs of each client) while simultaneously assembling a bevy of beautiful women to introduce to her millionaires in hopes of forming the perfect pair. The most fascinating part of the show is not just the hopelessly self-indulgent men that Patty takes on as clients, but her uncanny observations and insights into the subtle chemistry of coupling.

It ain't easy, folks

People can say what they want about teachers, but becoming one is not nearly as easy as some claim it is. Granted, requirements vary from state to state, but the process of updating my placement file, writing cover letters, asking for letters of recommendation, and endlessly tweaking my resume is not only completely exhausting, but really goes to show that there is a lot involved in this process. And all of this doesn't even include the fact that I still have to go through the motions of actually applying for jobs, waiting to hear back, interviewing if I'm lucky, and then waiting to hear back again. But luckily I have been in hyper-focused super-ambitious mode lately, so even though the process is exhausting, I'm willing to work hard.

It's a "turdition"

I was working with one of my students today, helping her revise a long research paper that she is working on. She spelled "tradition" t-u-r-d-i-t-i-o-n. Yes, that's right. Turd-ition. I managed to keep a straight face, but all the while was suppressing my laughter.

St. Pat's Day Dash

I'm officially registered! I haven't run a race since the half-marathon, which was way back in May, so I'll probably be a little rusty. This race is 3.75 miles-- a little longer than a traditional 5K, but not nearly as long as the half. One of my New Year's resolutions for '09 is to run a new race, so this will cover that goal. Though I'm really excited for the race, the problem is that I haven't been running much lately. So basically, I'm going to have to cram for this race over the next three weeks. You might not think it's possible to cram for a race, but I read an article about a guy who "crammed" for a marathon (or maybe it was a half-marathon) only a week before the race and ended up doing decent. Granted, I'm pretty sure you can only "cram" for a race when you already have a solid running foundation but just haven't been running a lot lately. Anyway, that is my current plan: cram for the St. Patrick's Day Dash, and see if I can achieve my goal time, which is 37 minutes. I will post my progress on here to hold me more accountable. And then hopefully after the race I will be able to determine how effective cramming really is.

Teaching in the classroom

So I've decided that I do in fact want to be a teacher after all (leave it to me to make this decision in the midst of a seriously crappy economy). Needless to say, I'm in for a challenge. But I'm optimistic. Education is a pretty stable field, so at the very least I should be able to sub next year. Why the change of heart? Well, I guess it's not a complete change of heart, because it's not like I'm moving to another field. Mainly I want to actually use the degree that I paid (am paying) $30,000 for. And there are a few other factors. Like not having benefits, having to pay quarterly taxes, and a growing feeling of restlessness that tutoring just isn't challenging enough. And it's hard working off-hours when all of your friends and boyfriend work regular hours (though I do love being able to sleep in). There are lots of great things about my job now, but basically I want to have my own classroom and work more hours and make more money and have summers off and go on long, extravagant vacations when I'm not teaching and write my book. Is that too much to ask for? I think not.

Ridiculous

This is the degree of cuteness that I am forced
to deal with on a daily basis.

Blog revamping

I've decided my blog needed a new look, so I'm in the process of revamping it. There will be a few new features along the side, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, Marisa's back in the blogosphere, so I will be more consistently posting again.

25!

I officially hit the quarter-century mark today!

Scandalous Suprise

When I got home from work today, I discovered a pair of green floral underpants lying on the floor, a few steps away from my apartment door. I'm pretty sure that they just fell out of someone's laundry hamper, since the laundry room is right next door to me, but it was still pretty awkward. I kind of wanted to kick them further away from my door so people wouldn't think that they belonged to me, but I decided that would be kind of rude.

Hello Greece, here I come!

In less than two weeks, I will be in Greece. It's still so surreal. I can't believe I'm going to walk on the same ground that the ancient Greeks did nearly three thousand years ago. I have been busy researching and planning our trip like crazy, and I think C and I have got a pretty good itinerary going. Highlights include visiting the Acropolis, home of the revered Parthenon, an all-day excursion to Delphi, site of the ancient oracle of Apollo, a tour of Athens by night, and a day trip to the island of Hydra, where there are only donkeys for transportation. Coincidentally enough, some of my students are currently reading the Odyssey, so I've had ancient Greece on the brain for the past month or so. This is one of those trips that I'm so excited for I feel like I might literally burst...but thank goodness work has been busy enough to keep me preoccupied for the time being.

Pinnacle of my career

Well, I have finally reached the pinnacle of my career as a professional tutor: one of my students called me "mommy."

And the funniest part is, I'm technically not even old enough to be his mom (unless I gave birth to him at the age of 11 1/2, which may actually be technically possible, although highly improbable).

It's been awhile...

I know, I know-- I've neglected my blog for over a month now. And I'm actually legitimately bummed because I've had several anecdotes that would have been fun to share...from being made fun of by an Apu lookalike for driving a U-Haul to being serenaded outside on my lunch break with a really awkward rendition of Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls."

Unfortunately, in the world of blogging, too much time has elapsed for me to write about these stories and give them the proper credit they deserve.

So what have I been up to this past month? In a nutshell, moving, unpacking, getting settled, spending exorbitant amounts of money at Target on apartment decor, and visiting my familia at their new Houston hideaway.

Sadly, amidst all of the chaos associated with moving, I have barely been running. I can't believe I ran a half-marathon three and a half months ago, and now I've probably run that total distance over the course of a month. Now that school has started up again, I'm transitioning from my "normal" summer work hours back to my "weird" afternoon/evening hours, so hopefully I'll get my butt in gear and start running again. There's a race called the Pumpkin Push that's held in October, and I'm thinking about doing it because, (1) I need a goal, (2) I love pumpkins, and (3) the last time I ran at the park where it was held was at a cross-country meet in high school...which was 10 years ago (scary, I know). All this talk about running means I should probably go run now before it's too late...

A thank you note

Dear Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny,

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I DO NOT want it that way!

Last night I drifted off into a peaceful slumber around 12:30am. 45 minutes later, somewhere in between stages two and three of sleep, I was awakened by the sound of music emanating from directly below my bedroom window. The fog slowly dissipated from my head and I was able to make out the song as the melancholy lyrics rattled my windowpanes: "I Want it that Way" by the Backstreet Boys. A man was belting it out at the top of his lungs in a truly heartfelt performance. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good BSB rendition as much as the next nostalgic 24-year-old, but being awakened at one in the morning on a work night because some dude has an unrequited crush on Nick Carter? Not cool. (But definitely funny).

Exhausted

So I have been working more hours lately, which is a good thing because I need moolah. The bad thing is that I have been absolutely exhausted. I forgot what it was like to work full-time (or closer to it, as is my case) and to come home and feel like all you wanna do is go to bed. After I get home, I make dinner, sit on the couch and eat it, watch TV or play Dr. Mario with the fan blowing directly on me, get up and get a snack, and then repeat the process a seemingly infinite number of times until I eventually drag myself off the couch to take out my contacts and brush my teeth and collapse into bed. And then the entire process is repeated the next day. But I have to admit, despite my extreme exhaustion, it's felt good working more. I think I'm a happier person in general when I'm busier (but not too busy!) because then I have less time to brood. And I brood a lot in my spare time.

Crazy Town

I know it's been, like, an eternity since I've posted on my blog, but things have been ridiculously crazy-busy these past couple months, primarily for the following three reasons:

1) My family moved.
2) I'm moving at the end of the month.
3) I'm working a lot more hours.
*I've been playing insane amounts of Dr. Mario. (I put an asterisk for this one because I didn't want to move the cursor up to the top of the page to change "three reasons" to "four reasons." And yes-- I am that lazy.)

So anyway, aside from having almost 500 wins online in Dr. Mario and cracking the top 900 players in the world (not that I'm bragging or anything), I have been busy stressing out over money, work, and my living situation. Things are starting to come together, though (finally!). I signed a lease today, so I have officially secured a dwelling for another year... as long as I can continue to cough up the rent. I can't wait until I publish a book and don't have to worry about money or a traditional job. I've been writing a lot more lately, and my goal is to finish the story that I'm working on by the end of '08. And then I will probably ask everybody I know to read it so I can get feedback and revise it until I think it's good enough to show to a literary agent. Does that sound ridiculous? Sometimes I worry that I sound like a little kid with some over-ambitious dream that will never be realized. The problem/good thing about me is that for some strange reason, I really, really believe in myself. Like almost too much. Like I'm so certain that I will publish a book--nay, multiple books--and that I will sell tons of copies. And it's not in an arrogant way, because I don't think I'm the most talented writer in the world or anything even close to that. It's just that I don't give up easily. We'll see, I guess. Hopefully these crazy schemes of mine will pay off eventually, and my dream will come true.

Couldn't've said it better myself

This quote from Entertainment Weekly pretty much sums up my thoughts on the latest Incredible Hulk movie:

"Five years ago, Universal spent $137 million on Ang Lee's Hulk movie and it grossed $132 million...Am I missing something? No one wanted to see the Hulk the first time around. And I'll play Jimmy the Greek here and predict that no one will want to see this one, either, regardless of how much capital-A acting Edward Norton brings to it."