Grading Gem

Not an exact quote - I changed it to protect the innocent incoherent:

The group which was led by Mr Man whose philosophies were based on the thoughts of Jesus Christ, that cut a swath of destruction throughout the entire region.

I think I get what Mr. student is getting at, but I just love the image of this maniacal 50 foot tall Jesus tearing through huge geographical areas.

While I'm on a mental hygiene break, I've got some good links, too.  I always forget to mark down where I got them, though.  Most probably Boing Boing, Kottke, or Stumbleupon:

(video) The trailer for the new reimagining of The Ten Commandments

(video) A talking head reveals a heroic mountain climber's disability

(video) Charleston dancers set to a new tune

The healing of a scar left by an old railroad line in San Francisco

umm...  ok, that's about it - I'll get back to work now :(

A Rabbi, A Priest and a Quiz Walk Into A Bar...

Should we all be happy that the one song that wasn't guessed last week was Could've Been by Tiffany? Probably so... I can't believe no one made any snarky comments about my 'Good girls don't quiz on the first date' title. I was so proud of myself for that one. Maybe I have to be more lewd :)

1.

Runnin' out of self-control
Gettin' close to an overload
Up against a no win situation
Shoulder to shoulder, push and shove

2.

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
and a freight train running through the
middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire

3.

Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

4.

There's a song on the air
with a love-you line
and a face in a glass
and it looks like mine

5.

Come on and dance, come on and dance
We may not get another chance
You know the night is fallin'
And the music's callin'

6.

I don't know why nobody told you
how to unfold you love
I don't know how someone controlled you
they bought and sold you

7.

We are stardust, we are golden,
we caught in the devil's bargain,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

8.

I don't wanna be your mother
I don't wanna be your sister either
I just wanna be your lover

9.

Hey pretty baby with the high heels on
You give me fever like I've never ever known

10.

Don't know what colour your eyes are, baby
But your hair is long and brown
Your legs are strong, and you're so, so long
And you don't come from this town

How Can You Not Appreciate Good Spam Poetry?

The email was entitled 'Your wealth., goat-horned'

Genius, no? I think I may use that for the title of my autobiography. There was the standard make a million in work at home scheme spiel. Ah, but then, then follows the muse-touched beauty:

faun-colored overflow bug kedani fever
cat-locks pressure governor candle paper
blink comparator peppermint stringbark crystal malt
well-behated mid-crowd ding-a-ling
sky-line pneumatico-hydraulic pseudo professor
gas-operated forward-bearing terror-breeding
pseudo marriage spring-raised wit-abused
pistol carbine muscle cell resonance wave coil

In all seriousness, there are some really interesting images in there. I really like 'gas-operated forward-bearing terror-breeding.' Such a powerful imagining of the industrial military world. Followed up with, 'pistol carbine muscle cell resonance wave coil,' which envisions the bullet from all weapons tearing through muscle and cells, and the ripple of impact waves through the body. And of course all this is started with the subtle danger hidden in natural beauty that has gone beyond nature - 'faun-colored overflow bug kedani fever'

Why yes, I should be grading and finishing my thesis, why do you ask?

Flash!

You know what'll wake you up quick-like?  How about getting up, getting dressed, showering, getting ready to TA your 8am section, and then picking up your watch that tells you it's 7:56am? 
I ran out the door and hopped on my bike.  The ride takes 15-20 minutes usually.  I was going to make record time. 
As I rode, I cursed and wailed about my taking too long in the shower heating my shoulder (still hurts! grrr).  Didn't I have plenty of time when I woke up? What would I say to the students waiting for me?  Surely some will have left already.  What should I do about this week's content?  I built a quiz for today, what do I do with that?

I made it to class in about ten minutes - Jogged up the stairs two at a time(third floor, natch).  No time to go to the office and print out my lesson plan, I'll just have to wing it.  Sweat pouring down my face, I swing open the door...

to silence.  darkness.  nothing. 

My watch was an hour fast.  I don't know why.  I don't know how.  It just was.  Anyway, I was 100%+  awake by then and had a nice 50 minutes to refine my lesson and come up with a good excuse for not having their papers graded yet. 

Woot!

New record for me!

8.23km - 38'16"

I earned that bag of Skittles I had with lunch! :)

Evil Library

Why, oh why do you have a book sale on the first floor that I much walk through to get to my 4th floor study pit?  Why must you taunt me with $1 HARDBACKS and $.50 paperbacks?  And why can't you provide shipping services to my home, because, let's face it, my backpack is already way too full.

We're So Dull

Why can't we have money that looks this cool any more?

That's Electricity in the center, with Jupiter on the left, Fame with the horn under Electricity and Peace over on the right. 

8.25km - 38'47"

Grrr.

Because the minutia of my life is of no doubt endlessly fascinating to you all, I slept on my shoulder wrong and it hurts like hell.

Sunday in the Park with Overread - Except It's Not in the Park. It's in the Library. But You Get the Picture.

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there!  I hope your day is full of happiness, quiet, love, chocolate, bubble baths, or whatever it is that you are in need of - Particularly if it's something made of butcher-paper and glitter, because we all know that's the bestest kind of gift for a mom, right?

Ok, anyway.  This is my blog so it's all about me me me me!  So, back to my whining about fears and inadequacy.

I sent off the biggest portion yet of the thesis to advisor in a foreign land.  I'm very very nervous.  I haven't showed much of it to anyone.  This is going to be a big turning point one way or the other. 

I've been told that if I don't get the thesis in on deadline, I can still probably teach this summer, but it'll require paperwork and begging.  Maybe roses and chocolate too.  That's at least a little comforting, but I want to finish this bad boy.  I want closure, damnit!

PS -  the drunk guy at the table next to mine (in the library) wants to make sure that everyone knows that it wasn't his mother he called, it was his stepmother.  So, I guess I figured that included you guys too.  Now you know.

PPS - Did I mention that in the middle of all this, I've just had ~50 papers to grade dumped on me?  No.  I don't think I have.  Do I have any motivation to grade them?  No.  I don't think I have.