willie

my poor mentee... up to her neck in work, overwhelmed and already not feeling sucessful. all them behaviorally challenged kids, two suspensions to re-admit already, the one this Friday will be a challenge. we've been working too late together, she's been near tears a few teimes, and her daughter wrote about not seeing her enough.... i outta do something to give her a boost soon...
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....just got back from an open house put on by one of my student's family. as a veggie, i think they were bummed i didn't partake in the mountain of pork chops, chicken breasts & legs, and steak I was seated directly in front of. i did my part by eating extra desert, thank you very much! when the family doesn't speak a lick of...
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feet hurt... brain hurts...
new kids are cool, the co-teacher's cool, just not enough time to get together to collaborate....
need sleep.

...don't know if i'm quite qualified to officially mentor a newly hired, first-year colleague....kinda weird.
...one day into the year and i'm already dealing with lawyers....me no like-ie.
...coolest damn desk in the building, me thinks.
...not enough time...

i spent a day with a friend from back home who lives in beaverton with her husband and 14 month old son. such a relaxing and enjoyable time; the airshow was happening, so there were planes/jets flying overhead, we watched the UFC 87 fights and a little Olympics, but mostly I spent a vast majority of the day entertained by their son Ethan. he's in...
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i watched the Diving Bell and the Butterfly today..... what a gorgeous, touching film... takes me to a place that have been in the back of my mind for years while working with the individuals i have... folks at the camp friendship, the group homes, and my classrooms.... balancing empathy, sympathy, respect, and dignity with just the anguish of what individuals go through and 99%...
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i realized how few dvd's i've rented this summer.... must be the GTA4 additction throughout the month of july...
watched Tarnation on a long-ago suggestion from a co-worker (about a kid growing up in screwy situation with a mother who's brain is fried/damaged from shock and mental illness; documentary, with all sorts of photos and home movies throughout his life)... pretty powerful and sad. Same...
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i love me some Oregon Public Broadcasting....
i could watch hours of Charlie Rose, Bill Moyers, and all sorts of stuff like Frontline...
I watched American Masters: Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built. What a phenomenal look at a man who helped bring so much exceptional music to the masses, and in a way that according to this program was not as cut-throat, manipulative,...
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....curse you, Call of Duty 4. I cannot put you down.

work laptop's hard drive crashed yesterday morning..... i'm doomed it appears to try to make up shit-loads of work-in-progress lost.... i am an idiot for not backing stuff up regularly. after erasing my flash drive this summer, getting a virus on my laptop #2, and leaving laptop #1 on the train, you'd think i'd have learned a fucking lesson by now.... idiot, idiot, idiot....

what the hell am i still doing awake?
end of spring break and i soooo easily slipped into vampire mode. a few excellent shows (Knife World and Nadja, among others), a trip to a casino (out $80), a good book (The Road by Cormac McCarthy), lunches out with sister, absolutely no work done, a b-boy/80's show, Ace Combat 4, 3:10 to Yuma, No Country for...
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i went to a funeral service/viewing for a student i worked with for the last two years. i hadn't seen her since i changed districts in june, but didn't think the next time i saw her would be like this....
she was dressed up like a princess, tiara, pink dress, the works. another student, who became her boyfriend this year, wrote and read a tear-jerker...
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