2ndclepunkbuddha

I was given my assignment for Practicum, a middle school in Northeast Ohio (whose name and location I will not reveal because I AIN'T CRAZY!).  A language arts class with 7th graders.  It's been rather stressful, but I did not expect this to be easy.  One cannot expect 7th graders to be easy, as their hormones are raging and their brains are still developing and their synaptic pruning processes are still going on (or whatever they told us in adolescent psych).  But still, when I was asked as to why it is that I wanted to be with this age group, I think it was because I am concerned about their emotional growth as well as their academic.  This is where we begin as adults, because it was where I began as an adult.  Challenging?  Of course it is.  But, if you don't want to accept certain challenges in life, then you may as well just give up completely.  I cannot help but think of a very depressing conversation I had with someone years ago who wa...

Today I returned to CSU for their Practicum orientation.  My name did not appear on the registration forms.  Every time I tried calling the Office of Field Services, I got a snarky response from the receptionist or was forwarded to a voice mail message that no one returned.  But I wrote my name by hand on the attendance forms.  I was going to be informed of the assignment via email, but I never got that in my regular email.  When I checked my CSU email (that I get general information, like about parking and the opening of the new coffee shops on campus), I had not received a new one since 2010.  Even in the future nothing works.  Ha ha ha ... The purpose of today was two fold: to get the assignment (wherever that may be), and to go through some safety lectures.  My assignment was given to me (but I will not reveal the location publicly here, I will simply refer to it as Middle School A) and the grades I will be with (6th, 7th and 8th graders, bo...

In continuation with the previous blog posts on a new outlook and attitude, they are many adjustments that need to be made.  There seem to be two types of people in the world : those who are allowed to do and say whatever they want and expect others to bow down before them, and those who are not allowed to do said things.  Which category am I in?  The first, not the second.  The reason that I am in the first is that when I talk to people (either face to face or on the phone), I am perceived as having an above average intelligence.  Is that the only factor?  Yes, it is.  Once another senses that they are talking to an intelligent being, they believe that you are not allowed to do and say what you want.  They even like to abuse you because they think that they can get away with abusing a person who has intelligence, verbally or physically.  Hence if you fall into the second category, the one who is allowed to do and say anything they want, you ...

As many of you who I am personally acquainted with on any level, I have spent the last few years once again in academia.  After the last insult in the old career, I have decided to make a drastic change, acquire a new degree and certification, and begin a new career in the education world.  That is, I am becoming a teacher.  What kind will remain to be seen, as I will not get into that now.  However, from this moment forward, there are going to be some major changes with Facebook as well as a few outlooks on life.  One may also read this as a How To guide as to having more success in the world.  I thank my dear friend M for lending me a book that I now consider The Bible.  This book is Office Politics : The Woman's Guide to Beat the System and Gain Financial Success by R. Don Steel.  I did not believe it once, but the older I get the more I see this rings true.  I would also like to thank Larry King, author of How to Talk to Anyone, Anywhere ...

The other day I posted on Facebook a clip from a long forgotten movie from my youth, Teen Wolf.  For the sake of redundancy or those who have not seen this cinematic gem that has drifted off into the midst of time, the movie stars Michael J. Fox when he was nearing the peak of his popularity and career success.  He is an average guy, living in an average town, attending high school.  Lately he's been noticing some oddities about himself, thinking it has something to do with going through pubescent changes.  He wants very badly to be more than he is, and especially to have this obnoxious bitch like him.  He then discovers, much to his chagrin, that he is, in fact a werewolf.  Having transformed into this beast, he opens the bathroom door to find his father standing outside, also completely transformed thanks to the presence of a full moon that night.  When he asked why he wasn't told about this sooner, the father gives a weak excuse like he had hoped he...

I refrain from talking politics with others.  I tend to encounter two very extreme types in the world : the bleeding heart liberals and the adament conservatives, they jump down your throat at every given moment.  Just the other day, I happened to mention the name of Mitt Romney to someone.  I said I wondered if the name "Mitt" is actually his name or if it's a nickname, and if it is in fact his birth name that is a rather odd name.  Although that observation was/is a rather harmless one, the person in question (whose name I will not name because I AIN'T CRAZY) proclaimed me to be a Republican before all before them.  To this I was rather taken aback.  But, we are bent on labling people and proclaiming ourselves to know more than others around us do.  But I digress ... As we saw today, Obamacare passed in Congress.  To this, I felt rather ... Taken aback.  Having been on the inside of the healthcare industry and having seen one atrocity aft...

Last weekend I went to a pool party at someone's house who I didn't know.  When asked how or why I was going, I admit I had little true explanation.  In the past several weeks I have been going out quite a bit to MeetUp groups, found on their website MeetUp.com.  Type in your zip code and interests (tennis, biking, swimming, etc.) and you will given a myriad of things to do in your region.  As I have decided that I am going to extend my network even further than it already is (if possible), I have been going to a lot of these get togethers.  Some people host parties at their houses (for games aired on television and regular party parties), opening up their dwelling to people they don't know.  Why?  I guess now that we are in the digital age, one just has to depend on the kindness of strangers and think to themselves "a stranger's just a friend you haven't met".  Dangerous?  I guess so, but that's another blog. When I arrived, I was a little...