I'm random, thanks for asking.

These questions were written by Florianschild. Play along at thefridayfive!

1) What is the oldest thing you own?
Either my grandparents' dresser, which I still use (age unknown) or my antique copies of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights from 1945.

2) What is the oldest home you've lived in?
Probably the house we lived in when I was born, which my parents moved into when my brother was little, which was the early 1970s. Exact age unknown.

3) What is the oldest book you've read?
Old as in when it was written or printed? The Bible? Whichever novel Jane Austen wrote first? Just remembered, I've read some Shakespeare, which is older than Austen. My oldest physical books are the ones mentioned above, but I have not read those copies.

4) What is the oldest electronic device that you still use?
I've got my boombox from 1994ish, but last time I tried to play a CD on it, it wasn't working well. So I'll have to go with my dvd player from approx. 2007. Or my alarm clock from 2005.

5) What is the oldest work of art/architecture that you've seen?
My guess would be the Roman Forum in Italy. In North America, probably the Walnut Canyon cliff dwellings or Wupatki structures near Flagstaff, AZ.

My dvds arrived in my mailbox. No idea what happened since Saturday.

The work thing I was all worked up over - turned out I didn't make the mistake I thought I had. I pulled up the claim and there was no symbol and no notes about changing if I had made the mistake.

Trying to change back to better eating habits. Also start running again.

Tomorrow is the first of the last new X-Files season. It's gonna be terrible, and that's okay.

I am going to make these tomorrow. Already drooling.

If Jane Austen wrote Star Wars

Watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi over the weekend, and started The Force Awakens last night.

My icon = relationship goals. Or something.

I'm spending the night at Natalie's tomorrow, because she lives 5 minutes from the airport and we have to be there by 6am. EEK! I'm going to England! Well, the UK...Cardiff, Wales, and Edinburgh, Scotland. And France! But mainly England. :D

I will try to post when I can, and I think I can post photos through the app.

Over the past 2 nights I watched Death Comes to Pemberley. It was far better than the book, and that's rare for me to say. Elizabeth actually had a role in the miniseries, and the plot was arranged in a better way. Way to make Colonel Fitzwilliam unlikable though! I woner if I missed that in the book, at least one certain aspect.

Watching that was my effort to keep working on my long Netflix queue. And yet, like last summer, I'm pretty much binging Once Upon a Time again. Not nearly at the same pace, however.

Let me try to post a photo using the app.

Comment on this post and I will choose six interests from your profile. You will then explain what they mean/why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.



Arizona
Hmm, trying to remember if there was more reason to listing this than the fact that I live here. No, I think the fact that I moved here is why I added it to my interests way back when. I lived in California all my life before coming here 8 years ago for a job. A friend I'd known since 8th grade was already a teacher here, and helped me get a job at her school. Just checked my archive, and yesterday marked 8 years since I arrived.

Jane Austen
Jane, oh Jane. How do I love thee, Ms. Austen? Let me count the ways: Pride and Prejudice, Darcy, all your books, your leading men, your scoundrels, your smart female characters, the way you parts of Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park make me wish I could reach into the pages and shake Fanny Dashwood, Mrs. Ferrars, and Aunt Norris...that's just a start to the list. Watching P&P (2005) at holbytla's insistence was my gateway into period literature and movies.

Lord of the Rings
This is another fandom I was quite late in entering. Somehow I made it until 2003 before discovering the books existed. ROTK was in theaters when one of my coworkers and my friend ewanspotter said I needed to watch the movies. I had no idea what they were talking about. Later on, I vaguely remembered seeing a poster for TTT. Coworker loaned me FOTR, extended edition I think; I watched it and wondered what the heck I had just seen. A day or 2 later I found myself at Blockbuster (and I rarely rent movies) getting TTT. I watched that on a dark and dreary day, and got more into it. By the end of the same week, I was at the theater immediately after work to see ROTK. By then, I was hooked. I saw ROTK 4 times total in theaters and read the books in 6 weeks. My coworker friend was more than happy to feed my addiction, watching the movies over and over, sharing her books and introducing me to the wonderful world of dvd bonus features. Haunting ewanspotter on here led me me to start my own LJ so I could fangirl to my heart's desire.

Phantom of the Opera
In 8th grade, we sang a medley of Phantom songs for chorus. I loved them. My chorus teacher read us what I think was an abridged version of Leroux's story. We also watched a made for TV miniseries that I would love to find again. I think it's this one. A year or so later, I got to see the show on stage in San Francisco. Our seats were terrible but I didn't care. What I remember most about that show was how sad the Phantom sounded, and how you could hear his wail travel around the theater as he mourned for Christine. I read the book that year as well, and loved the descriptions of the opera house and the world below it that the Phantom had build for himself. I didn't have much more to do with Phantom until the 2004 movie came out, which I saw twice. I'm not a huge theater-goer, and so for me to see a movie twice (and in 3 days even) at the theater is a big deal.

The movie soundtrack used to live in my car, and is quite good for singing along to, loudly. :D

Road Trips
I've never minded car rides. Well, unless I'm stuck in the backseat and get carsick. Even then, I love going places. Before I could drive, I liked going on random rides with my dad, taking back roads and seeing the sights. I love driving. I love going places, new or old. I love truck stops and convenience stores. I'll drive alone or with someone. Each December, I make the ~13-hour drive to my hometown for Christmas. In 2001, I did an epic, cross-country trip with my dad. Every once in a while, I get an itch and just have to go somewhere for the day. My camera is usually close by so I can document the journey.

Teaching
I am a teacher, so I probably should be interested in teaching. :) You get used to/better at it, but really, no 2 days are alike. Each day is a challenge. Classes can eat you alive, and that's happened to me. I start again in a few weeks, EEK. I could write a novel on this topic, but will spare y'all.

On this trip, I have:
baked brownies and strawberry cake
saw cousins I have not seen in many years
watched all 14 episodes of The Office U.K. (infinitely more Martin Freeman love now)
camped in Yosemite (but still haven't seen any bears)
NOT been to Target (gasp!)
only been to Peet's twice; 3 times if you count the Peet's/ice cream place in Yosemite
finished the book Emma and Knightly
Eaten dinner at Max's (yum) and Luna Loca (Mom likes it, I think it's ok)

Tonight, I ate pie and watched SYTYCD. Lots of good dancers this season.

Tomorrow, I will see Allison in Santa Rosa. Friday I will see some Sac friends.

Need to upload pictures from my camera, but it's 11pm. Later, later.

I couldn't convince Reena to go see Jane Eyre again since she would be coughing a lot. So, she came over instead to watch the 4 hour, 2006 version. We then watched some Whose Line is it Anyway on YouTube before she chose P&P 2005 for the final movie. Michelle came over with Keira for a little while, yay. Hooray for impromptu movie days. It makes the fact I have to write lesson plans tomorrow a little less painful.

Reena decided to remake P&P again. I told her she must wait a few more years as it's only been 6 years since the last one came out. So, we just started our casting choices. Her only Darcy suggestion was Hugh Jackman, who I deemed too old. So, she decided to just use Matthew Macfadyen again. She chose Hugh Dancy as Bingly, and that's as far as we got.

Reena and Michelle (and Loch) came over after a bunch of us went to breakfast yesterday. Once again, they were trying to convince me to watch or read the Twilight books.  Why does the word "twilight" suddenly look weird spelled out?  I mentioned reading Eclipse in 15 minutes which they think has prejudiced me against the movies.  Comparisons to Harry Potter were made, and wonder as to why I don't care for them either.  I said that I just never cared for HP, but Twilight I just find...goofy/laughable/mockable for some reason.  It's not even anything to do with vampires.  The plots and/or writing just seem LOL-worthy.   I did read a section of Breaking Dawn, by the way.  As I read, I was pretty incredulous as to what the appeal was.  Reena said I should at least give the book Twilight a try; she almost had me convinced.  Not reading them is sort of like a personal trophy for me, like how I've never smoked at all.  Well, oops, I did read that part of BD, dangit. 

We watched Persuasion 2007, then Reena chose Sense and Sensibility 2008.  Why are Austen men so awesome and yet can be such idiots?  Obviously some characters are exaggerated, but it's sad to think they were based on reality at the time.  Some rich people (Fanny Dashwood) were major snobs, some were complete idiots (Lucy Steele, Mary Musgrove), and the men run the full gamut.  

In other news: I just baked two batches of chocolate chip scones, my oven temperature is way off, I went swimming at Heidi's and got more tan/burned, and I have yet to start the books I bought yesterday.  One is a classroom management book, the other My Lobotomy which I've wanted to read for a long time.  I guess I should get off the computer and get some more chores accomplished. 

Why am I not watching the Olympics? Pairs figure skating is probably on, but I just don't want to turn on the tv.

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend. Friday night I picked Jayme from the airport, then she spent the night here. We went on a short hike on South Mountain Satuday morning with a few others. I ned to hike more, or at least be more physically active. Hmph. Later Reena and Michelle came over to watch Emma. We ate a ton of cheese fondue; I almost made myself sick again. Michelle brought Loch too, so we got to play with him. He's huge! Saturday night I crashed sort of early. Sunday was church, lunch with Jayme and friends, a few hours to get crap done, then new small group in the evening. After that I watched Northanger Abbey and attempted a little school work.

Today I met Jayme and Rebekah for coffee at 8 (gasp, on my day off!) then spent the rest of the day with Natalie. Hooray for driving around and not finding the place I thought I knew the location of. We wandered around Target, having a blast. Ran into a couple of cross dressing boys...one would have pulled it off until I heard his voice, and Natalie said he had chest hair showing above his tube top. Yeah, I don't get cross dressing.

Graded some at Natalie's, tossed a bunch of papers, got some work done at home. Been busy but still had fun. My floor is a mess and needs to be vacuumed, but Natalie still has my vacuum.

Oh yeah, yesterday was Valentine's Day. Enjoyed it despite being single. Someday I'll have someone to celebrate with.

Not exactly ready for tomorrow at school, but that's why I get there at 6 a.m.

-Shiny cookware is shiny! All 13 pieces are washed and dried. Now, to use it.
-When I want a Seattle's Best coffee ice cream shake, I should just get one. My 2 attempts at a substitute just didn't cut it.
-Why do I eat fast food like it's nothing, the read the ingredients on all the different ice creams to find the least scary brand? Shocker of the day: the generic Wal-Mart brand was the most natural, pretty much the same as Breyers, and it tastes way better.
-I have huge recycling piles and Goodwill piles. I hate carrying all that stuff out to the bins and my car.
-Why am I so enamored with cheap plastic storage bins?
-I'm weird about certain things (see above for examples) but I've decided that everyone is weird in their own ways.
-Cold and rain, I really do like you. You'll be fondly rememebered come July. Keep in mind that cold here = the 40s. Ha ha ha.
-Staying up the next three Sundays to watch Emma on Masterpiece Theater isn't really feasible; Luckily, I can watch it online! Or just wait for the dvd on 2/9.
-Teaching parts of speech all year long, and I still get asked what verbs, nouns and adjectives are.

Examples of things students do that make no sense (happens multiple times daily)
Me: Take out your reading books and read any story you want for a few minutes (or do XYZ).
Student: Can we read any story we want (or do we do XYZ)?
Me: Did you *really* just ask me that?
****
On the way back from lunch
Student: May I go to the bathroom?
Me: Yes, when we pass by.
Student: (as we pass the bathrooms) Can I go now?
Me: o_O
****
Math question: Which shows the fraction in order from greatest to least?
Student: Oh, I thought it said least to greatest!
Me: But it says greatest to least.
Student: Yeah, but I thought it said least to greatest.
Me: That's like you saying "My name is Bob" and I reply "Oh, I thought you said your name was George!"
****
Me: *gives directions*
Student(s): *doesn't listen to directions*
Student(s): (2 seconds later) What do we do?
-or-
During reading centers, at which time I work with one of the 4 groups.
Student: *walks over to me from group across the room, holding paper* What am I supposed to do?
Me: Did you read the directions?
Student: No.
Me: Read them.
Student: *reads* Ohhhhh! Ok I know what to do!
Me: You couldn't have read them to begin with, or, you know, asked someone IN YOUR GROUP?

Where does the time go?
It's 7:30 already! ACK!

I don't get some childfree people's attitudes.
A week or 2 ago, a conversation occured on the baristas community where a childfree person said people who want children of their own are selfish, and they are bad for not adopting needy children from overseas. o_O ??? What I'd like to ask the holder of this particular opinion is what they think of the parents oversees who have kids they don't want and/or can't afford, or those who give their kids up for adoption.

Work is crazy.
I'm surviving, and it's slowly getting better, but man, it should be easier than this!   I'm still not touching the bag of papers I brought home - just like last night. 

My new book, as if I need more to read.
The Secret Diary of Charlotte Bronte.  I think that's the title, but it's in the bag behind me and I don't feel like getting out of my chair.  It was in the fiction section but is supposedly based on Bronte's life.  The author also wrote a book about Jane Austen but it wasn't available.   I've been reading parts of Jane Eyre before bed recently.  Still love that book. 

Blah  :)