Ah! I'm at work!

Yep. I'm posting from work. At the moment, I'm in an empty classroom with all the students desk and chairs lined up in sloppy rows. The lights are off because I want them and because I'm choosing to use the natural sunlight coming through the windows.

The last song off From Autumn to Ashes swan song record, Holding a Wolf by the Ears just ended.

Regents grading will resume in 20 minutes for the day. The entire second part needs to be graded by the end of the day or else...muahahahaha.

New semester next week... no schedule yet.

Dix Hills tomorrow night for Milhouse's birthday.

Very lame post but it needed to be done.

Procrastination Nation

Saw someone on the A train reading The Savage Detectives. It was a dude so I didn't talk to him. Even if it had been a chick I doubt I would have spoken to her. Blah. Good book but it should be read in groups so people can discuss and break it down after reading. 

Picked up some CDs today at the old high school haunt of Bleeker Street Records. The Misfits' Static Age, Screeching Weasel's Weasel Mania, and The Clash's second record, Give 'Em Enough Rope. 

I'm listening to AFI instead of my new purchases. I'm a fool. 

I bought a stack of essays to grade and so far I have only 60 left to grade. If I can grade half of what's left tomorrow then it's a success. I left 30 essays at work and by the end of first period on Monday I'll have another 30 essays. Argh! I also have the English Regents to grade this coming week. Crap fucking crap. 

I feel the sudden urge for some breakfast foods. It's 9:45 PM. Beer will be drunk soon. I need to get back into the groove of exercising. It's not good to slack off on that aspect. 

I need to creatively write more. Fo' real. 

Two A Days

Finished Attack of the Theater People. There might be a sequel coming in a few years. The ending is so wide open it would be silly and insane for Marc Acito not to write a third book featuring protagonist  Edward Zanni. 

Tomorrow on the morning train ride to work I'll be tackling Chuck Klosterman's IV. Should be good since I've enjoyed two of his other books, Fargo Rock City and Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. 

A fairly fun weekend recap.

Let's do this in order. 

Friday; I stayed at work to do some grading and hanging out with Shenkman and Dwyer while Shenkman showed Glory to some of his kids after school. After the movie ended around 4:45 or so we went and watched the second half of the boy's basketball game. They won and the three of us went in search of a bar around the school neighborhood to drink at. Found one and it was fun. Good times. Hope it leads to more. 

Saturday; bussed up to New Paltz and met up with B. Gold and some of his friends from Albany. A bottle of Svedka and an 18 pack later and we headed to the bars. The bars were fairly dead but enjoyable. It was a good night of drink and experimentation of some sorts (I'll leave it at that). 

Today, Monday, I have off. Not planning on doing much. I need to workout and stick to it despite the amounts of work to get done at work. 

I really need to start writing again. 

I'm reading Attack of the Theater People. I have about a third to go. It's a quick read and a welcome respite after The Savage Detectives, which was a brutal, intense read. 

The semester has 5 days left to go. Four this week and one next week. Changes need and will be brought around for the spring. 

Hoo-ahh!

Finished reading The Savage Detectives. It was an exhausting read but a good read. The narratives describe a "romantic" nomadic lifestyle that reminded me of why On The Road is a great book and why I fell in love with the movie Y Tu Mama Tambien. Wonderful stuff I aspire to. 

A week and 3 days before the semester ends for my kids. A week and 3 days before the January English Regents. Time to go crazy. 

I should be grading 4 pairs of essays. Don't want to though. Celebrated Dad's birthday and now I'm full and tired. I'll grade them tomorrow morning before period 1. 

Crazy Town is a guilty pleasure source of bad rap-rock tunes. 

This is the current listen at the moment (Soundtracks usually suck but when done well they are rad and boss.): 

Teacher Spending

Not that this is a real complaint but, about an hour ago, I spent 30 bucks on making copies of rubrics and sample essays for my students. This "camelbacks" into my complaint of how a NYC teacher's "Teacher's Choice" stipend was reduced from $250 to $150. 

Bastards! I hate the people in NYC office that govern something like this. Do more with less... such crap. 

I firmly believe that schools will be successfully run and governed when it is a council of actual teachers, who spend their days in the classroom trenches. It's the only way. We're headed for change or so we're told. Let's revamp the education system of NYC and this country altogether. Siempre pa' adelante! 

Guilty

Wow, I just downloaded a few tracks from Crazy Town's debut. You know the guys that did that song, "Butterfly." 

I feel dirty and ashamed of doing this but the songs I chose to download are sort of catchy in bizarre way. I can't deny the fact that this band managed to write some catchy songs. I'm still disgusted with myself though. 

::Shivers in disgust::

The Sleeveless Hoodie

Why does it exist? What was the purpose when the sleeveless hoodie was created? I never got the point to it. Come on, it also looks ridiculous. Even if one wears it while working out at the gym (which I should be doing at this moment) it still looks ridiculous. It's a lousy article of clothing simply because the purpose of the hoodie is too keep warm when a jacket is too much or too cumbersome. So by deleting the sleeves off of the hoodie the hoodie's purpose is eliminated. It just doesn't work. This is why we have vests to wear.

Ironically, a vest is usually worn over a hoodie to provide the warmth of a jacket without the cumbersomeness of a jacket. Ha! 

"I'm cold enough to have to wear a hoodie to stay warm but I don't need the sleeves because my arms don't get cold." 

Why?! It just doesn't make sense. 

New Beginnings

13 days of sleeping in late, lounging like a lazy bum and doing a majority of absolutely nothing are coming to a close. The days are shifting back to 5:30 am alarms, 6:34 trains, working till 2:30, tutoring sessions and the state of feeling there is not enough time in a day. 

Yes, I know started the first sentence above with a number. 

The Gaslight Anthem is the greatest band I have heard in such a long, long time. It's unbelievable how good their music is. It's also weird, I feel, that my ears have gone from enjoying the harsh sounds of metal to the slightly, slightly more mellow sound of punk and bluesy rock. It's so weird. I need to write more about this later. Hopefully I won't forget. 

Still reading The Savage Detectives. I saw a young lady, probably 'round my age with a copy of it on the train on Saturday night. She had a softcover copy. My copy is hardcover. What does that mean? Who knows. 

Back to work tomorrow. Here's to a new year that will for once in my life bring some serious changes and progress. Time will tell.