Amazing Students!

I’ve been fortunate to have had some wonderful, inspiring students and I am grateful when they keep in touch.  I love hearing about their adventures, their accomplishments, and their dreams.  It always makes me happy to see my students make their goals and dreams become a reality.  But no matter where they are on their paths – if they are touching base for a recommendation letter, are needing an ear to listen to their struggles, or are just sharing their accomplishments – I am always happy to see or hear from them.

This week, I heard from quite a few students who I hadn’t heard from in quite some time.  One is going back to grad school, looking into vacating the Bay Area – maybe moving onto SDSU or Cornell.  Another student completed one of their Life List goals – bungee jumping – in Africa, no less.  Africa?  That’s amazing.  Another former student, whose passion was shopping, is now employed as a buyer.

Seriously, I have the best job. 

I thought I was daring but maybe not...

I've always considered myself a daring sort of person.  As a kid, I was often found playing on top of a fifth story building rooftop, climbing from one building to the next.  As an adult, I found safer ways to explore adventure: skydiving, cave rappelling, ziplining, mechanical bullriding, and whitewater rafting have been some of my more recent adventures. 

So, it's pretty obvious that I love adventure, right?  When the TV shows Survivor and Amazing Race came out, I always imagined what it would be like to get to try those crazy challenges in the rain or travel to exotic places.  I even considered trying out for the show...

Until they upped the ante!

It became more than the physical challenges that tests one's ability to face their fear of heights or one's strength and perseverance to pull a rickshaw; it became how much one could stomach, eating cow testicles or swallowing live baby octopus, while not throwing up.  After the Amazing Race episode where one dude had to drink his own puke because he vomited a bit back up in his bowl, I drew the line.


That's just gross.  I'm sorry, but no money or adventure is worth eating my own vomit.  That's completely disgusting.

Clearly, I'm not daring when it comes to food.  I'm far from adventurous when it comes to eating out-of-the-ordinary items.  In fact, I'm a little grossed out by the idea.  While my husband and daughter sit back on the couch and watch Bizarre Foods, I find myself in another room, either reading a book or playing on the computer.  I don't want to watch.  (This may be another reason I've stopped watching Amazing Race religiously.)

Anyhow, it's amazing what some people will try and these people are everywhere.  You don't have to look on TV to find them.  At the Jelly Belly Factory this past weekend, I saw people trying jellybeans in flavors, such as Baby Wipe, Rotten Egg, and Dog Food.  Further investigation of flavors resulted in learning about more off-the-wall offerings: Booger, Barf, Moldy Cheese, Pencil Shavings, and Skunk Spray.





W.T.F.

Who comes up with this stuff?

There's even a game called Bean Boozled.  If you're that kind of daring, check it out yourself and buy it online at the Jelly Belly Factory. Or not. HAHA.

Don't Cross That Line!

I'm all for people who are confident.  In fact, I love confident people; they believe in themselves, they persevere; they know they are capable of achieving their goals.

But there is a line between confidence and conceit.  

Need a specific example?  Look at Project Runway and compare Seth Aaron and Emilio Sosa.  Both are confident in their skills, are passionate about their work, and love what they do.  The difference between the two is a bit of humility.  Seth Aaron knows he is good; he is confident, but he also listens to other viewpoints and sees the value in others' work. In contrast, Emilio Sosa loves the sound of his voice; he loves his work and his work only; he thinks he is the very best, regardless of others' talents; and he can't seem to see past his own wonderful glory.

I realize that all contestants may have "trash-talked" one another at one time or another.   I know that some of what we saw was creative editing, making him out to be the bad guy...but let's be real.  Regardless of what they may have cut, they didn't add things in.  He still said it - OVER AND OVER AGAIN - he was the best; no one can do what he can; they cannot even touch him; he is the one with the showstoppers.  Blah. Blah. Blah.  I almost wanted to stop watching because he was simply, in a word, UNBEARABLE.

 Seth Aaron                   Emilio Sosa

I was so incredibly grateful that he did NOT win the fashion show.  While he definitely has talent and I loved a lot of his designs he showed this season, his pompous attitude and his overbearing arrogance was too much to take: "I will be the winner.  I am the best. No one else is near my caliber of designer."

Gah.  Shut up, already.

There is a difference between confidence and conceit.  Please, don't cross that line!  No one wants to hear you brag about yourself and your abilities ALL the freakin' time!

Time flies...and then they're big!

It's amazing how quickly time passes and how quickly the mind can block out things.  I still think of my son as my baby boy.  Nevermind the fact that he wears underwear, dresses himself (for the most part), puts his shoes on, gets himself water, and even sets the table sometimes.  Regardless of these facts, he always seems so little to me.  Maybe it is because he is on the small side. Maybe it's because he is our "baby" - our last child.  Or maybe it's because next to our 11-year-old daughter and her friends, he seems tiny.

Whatever the reason, after this weekend, I was jolted back into reality.

This weekend, we babysat our 13-months-old godson.  To be honest, I had forgotten how much a baby poops at that age.  I had also forgotten how tied to a schedule - two naps, meals, bottles, snacks, diaper changes - a parent gets with a young child.  It didn't seem that long ago that our son was so little, but after realizing that I had to do everything for my godson and not everything for my son, I realized how grown up my son actually is - and how much he can do on his own. 

Don't get me wrong.  I absolutely LOVED babysitting my godson and would do it again in a heartbeat (he's such an agreeable, happy kid), but I am perfectly happy with two children who I can take out without packing a bag filled with stuff.  (Snacks are in the car already, and usually so is an extra set of clothes, but that's it!)

My son turns 4 years old this summer. He tells me all the time that he is "a big boy" and shows this to me through all the things he can do by himself: go potty (even though I have to remind him...a lot), dress himself (sometimes he needs help with his shirts, though), put on his shoes, and set the table for dinner.

It's not rocket science...or am I expecting too much?

I realize that customer service is a lost art, but sometimes I wonder how businesses can operate at such a low level.  Shouldn't businesses (and people, for that matter) at least TRY to do better?  I have realized that maybe the salespeople have no idea where things are at Home Depot and I have accepted the fact that I will have to stand in line for days at Michael's.  Maybe it just takes too much time to learn where everything is and it costs too much money to hire the accurate amount of staff for Michael's, but some things should be common sense, like bagging items, right?

Bagging groceries is something everyone can do, right?  At some stores, it's even expected that the shopper bags his own groceries, so it's not like it's challenging.  It should be common sense.  So, when I come home after shopping with groceries in two plastic bags while three of my canvas bags were empty, I had to wonder what these people were thinking.  Did they think I decided to bring the canvas bags just for show but wanted to bring home ripped plastic bags?  Then, after finishing my unpacking and finding that my bread was put into a bag with cleaning chemicals and a large box of soap, I had to wonder, "Are these people stupid?"  Or maybe they just thought I *wanted* my bread to be morphed into a different shape since it was at the BOTTOM of the bag.

Seriously, it's not rocket science. 

Or maybe it's only common sense to me and I'm expecting too much.  Actually, I remember a past student of mine who told me that Safeway actually has a class on how to bag groceries.  If that's the case, maybe all the stores should start offering the same classes.  Or maybe I should start shopping at Safeway!

"Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" - Shawshank Redemption

The other day, my students and I engaged in a conversation about aging.  One of the students expressed his opinion that, every day, we all die a little bit more.  Meaning, the older a person is, the closer he or she is to death. While there were several different viewpoints - some arguing they didn't agree - it did make me think more about the idea.

Obviously, being in a room with a whole bunch of college students makes me the "closest" to actual death - based on numerical age, of course. But the thing is, I don't feel like I'm close to death at all.  Sure, my body can't recover as quickly as it once did.  And I'm definitely not in the shape I was in during my 20s, but I don't feel old. I feel out of shape and lazy.  But that's not necessarily age, just laziness, which is something for another blog entry entirely!

The conversation in class made me think of a scene from the movie, Shawshank Redemption, where Andy and Red talk about their dreams and their futures.  I think that people who don't follow their dreams, who live their lives in fear, and who are always worried about the past or the future, are the ones who are dying a little bit each day.  It doesn't matter what their actual ages are, but what they are doing with their lives.  So, the 20 year old who does things without any purpose (majoring in something she hates, just to get a degree and get out) is waiting to die moreso than the 60 year old woman who decides to finally take up an activity she has always wanted to try (against her kids' wishes).

I'm not saying throw away common sense, mind you, but I do think there is something to be said about doing something with one's life - making it meaningful - rather than just going through the motions to just get by.  If a person does things to "just get by," one day, his/her entire life will have passed by...

Because really, if you aren't out there living life, what exactly are you doing?

...wasting time until you die, I suppose.

So, it comes down to a simple choice: get busy living or get busy dying!

You just never know

In less than two weeks, my daughter and I will be promoting to yellow belts, maybe my son...but the instructor isn't quite sure if he's ready yet.  We started back in December and have been attending martial arts classes 2-3 times a week since then.

I never imagined that my kids would take martial arts.  Obviously, there's nothing wrong with it, but for some reason, it just wasn't one of those activities that came to my mind.  Maybe it's because I had a distorted view of martial arts: I got flashbacks of watching Kung Fu movies with my aunts and uncles - the ones with the men with long braids flying in the air while contorting their bodies into some weird angle.  And really, that's either completely unrealistic (think movies and cable wires) or dangerous (think Jackie Chan interviews and how often he was rushed to the hospital because he did his own stunts).  Or maybe it's because none of my friends ever took martial arts classes, so I was never really exposed to it.

Thus, I never really thought about it, nor did I think about exposing my kids to it.  But then, we were invited to a birthday party at a martial arts studio and my daughter took an interest in it.

I'm one of those parents who believe in child-led activities (at least for extracurricular ones).  There are too many areas where children don't have a choice: school, bedtime, chores, etc.  I believe that children should be allowed some choices.

When I was in elementary school, several of my friends were forced into certain activities, be it piano or some sports team, and they didn't really seem to enjoy it.  Fortunately, I didn't have that problem and I spent most of my days rollerskating or playing random games with friends after-school: tag, Chinese jumprope, hide and seek.  I did try my hand at the activities most of my friends did (Chinese school and piano), but after realizing it felt like more school, I quit.  And I am grateful my mom let me stop going.
I do admit that a small part of me regrets that decision - since I would love to be bilingual or be able to play the piano had I stuck it out - but a larger part is grateful that I got to spend my time rollerskating and playing after-school, rather than sitting in front of a piano wondering how much longer I had to try to make music (if you consider Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater songs music).

It is because of that - and probably my child development degree - that I allow my children to choose (within reason).  This is the first time that my daughter has really shown a passion for something (other than art, reading, and videogames).  She is excited to go to class and she even practices the taekwondo forms at home.  My son practices as well and is excited to see his friends and do "double jab, cross, hook, uppercut," but I think his favorite thing has to be the weapons.  HAHA.

I have to admit that even if the kids decided not to continue with martial arts later down the road, I think I'd still keep doing it.  So, you know what?  You just never know...until you try!

This is a photo from our Belt Promotion in February.

I only have myself to blame

On my facebook, I posted my status update to say that I had pulled an all-nighter, staying up until 7am working on grades.  And while people felt sorry for me or thought I was crazy, I really only have myself to blame.

Could I have done more grading earlier?  Sure. 

I know.  I did spend time with the kids and made sure to have my own "leisure" time, however, there were probably times I could have easily done more grading and less procrastinating.

How do I know?

Because in March alone, I read five books....for pleasure.  For real.

I only have myself to blame for this mad dash of grading presentations.  I should learn to be less "anal" about things, too.  Instead of just circling numbers and writing random comments by hand on their presentations, I transfer it from my writing to a typed feedback sheet.  Really?

I need to put some better systems in place.  I'll work on that for summer.

Thing is, for summer, I do much better...because it's only one class and I have ample time to grade with both kids in care.  (They are in full-time for a few weeks, so it's easier to get grading done.)

Bah.

Okay, enough procrastinating.  Back to grading I go.  hi ho hi ho...it's off to work I go.

EPIC FAIL

So, apparently I haven't been doing such a great job at blogging here, but here I am...yet again. I just keep forgetting I have a blog here.

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, so I keep logging back onto Xanga, hoping it will be as great (meaning fun) as it once was...


but it looks like that isn't going to happen...so I think I'm going to transfer all my "old" blogs here - at least some of them - and get started on blogger. 

We'll see how that goes. :)

Reality Bites...or my Reality TV does, that is.

My reality favorites took a hit this week.  I know. I know.  Reality TV?  Really?

Yes, really. 

Consider it one of my many vices.  And actually, this one isn't so bad.  Right now, I really only watch Survivor and Project Runway.  I was going to watch Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) because Shannen Doherty was on it, but since she got the boot, my TV viewing time just decreased.  Good thing, too.  I have too much piling on the DVR as it is. 

Yes, I'm a Shannen Doherty fan.  Gotta love her.  Something about her...just interests me. I loved to hate her in 90210.  I loved her in Charmed.  And to be honest - here is a little known fact - I've watched most of her Lifetime movies, with the exception of the creepy ones like Satan's School for Girls.  (I hate scary movies.  I can't watch them, not even for a celebrity favorite.) 

Anyhow, with her off the show, I'm done with my short-lived DWTS viewing.

And I just heard that "Boston Rob" also got his fire extinguished from Survivor.  To be honest, I haven't watched it in a couple weeks, though they are saved on my DVR.  I love Survivor, but they kicked off Rob?  C'MON!  Bah.  You may be wondering why, if I'm such a Survivor junkie, I haven't watched it yet.  Simple answer: I read the spoiler, learned "Boston Rob" was getting the boot and then lost interest in watching it.  Seriously.  Aside from the obvious eye candy value that the man gives (way better than Russell Hantz or Rupert - no offense, just telling it like it is), he totally deserves to be there.

I'm sure I'll get around to watching the recent Survivor episodes, but I just lost my enthusiasm.

At least I still have Project Runway.  My favorite to win?  Seth Aaron, of course.