Somewhat Daily Whenever I Get Around to it Blog
If you're new here, the posts are in reverse chronological order, so it will make a lot more sense if you start from the bottom and work your way up. You're welcome.
Tuesday, May 23
I'm back. I sort of stopped with the whole blog thing about halfway through due to a combination of extenuating circumstances, lack of motivation, and limited repercussions (see Average, Grade Point). Suffice to say I didn't write up until the middle of tPOL prep, aka now. The reason for this return is simple: I don't want a post about gargantuan reptilian candy to be at the top of my blog. With this in mind, the post ends now.
Incidentally, I ate all but 5 of the little critters. I gave the rest to my host family, since I don't know the TSA's policy on gelatin.
I'm back. I sort of stopped with the whole blog thing about halfway through due to a combination of extenuating circumstances, lack of motivation, and limited repercussions (see Average, Grade Point). Suffice to say I didn't write up until the middle of tPOL prep, aka now. The reason for this return is simple: I don't want a post about gargantuan reptilian candy to be at the top of my blog. With this in mind, the post ends now.
Incidentally, I ate all but 5 of the little critters. I gave the rest to my host family, since I don't know the TSA's policy on gelatin.
Wednesday, May 10
I ate a giant gummy lizard today. That brings their numbers to 8. Soon, I shall outnumber them.
I ate a giant gummy lizard today. That brings their numbers to 8. Soon, I shall outnumber them.
Tuesday, May 9
My weekend was fairly uneventful, consisting largely of me watching baseball and procrastinating writing this blog. My daily activities at school have become consistently less and less interesting, and leaving me with very little subject material with which to write about. In the past week, I have been to exactly three different locations: the house I am staying at (daily), the school (likewise), and the country club (once). Why did I go to the country club, you might ask? To engage in stereotypical privileged male Caucasian activities, of course. Not really. I went for an auction. A school auction. No, this unfortunately does not refer to the auctioning of the school to the highest bidder, but in reality consists of numerous parents halfheartedly bidding on "eccentric" items (such as a bucket of wood) at exorbitant prices to provide funding for the school. It's exactly what it sounds like. My uncle, God bless him, tried valiantly to persuade the attendees to purchase these items as the auctioneer, but to mixed results. The highlight of this event was when one sophomore, in an attempt to garner support for a set of wooden chairs, described them as "made of wood". Now yes, you could say that about every wooden chair ever made in the history of God's green earth, but you can't say he's wrong.
My weekend was fairly uneventful, consisting largely of me watching baseball and procrastinating writing this blog. My daily activities at school have become consistently less and less interesting, and leaving me with very little subject material with which to write about. In the past week, I have been to exactly three different locations: the house I am staying at (daily), the school (likewise), and the country club (once). Why did I go to the country club, you might ask? To engage in stereotypical privileged male Caucasian activities, of course. Not really. I went for an auction. A school auction. No, this unfortunately does not refer to the auctioning of the school to the highest bidder, but in reality consists of numerous parents halfheartedly bidding on "eccentric" items (such as a bucket of wood) at exorbitant prices to provide funding for the school. It's exactly what it sounds like. My uncle, God bless him, tried valiantly to persuade the attendees to purchase these items as the auctioneer, but to mixed results. The highlight of this event was when one sophomore, in an attempt to garner support for a set of wooden chairs, described them as "made of wood". Now yes, you could say that about every wooden chair ever made in the history of God's green earth, but you can't say he's wrong.
Saturday, May 6
I do not have a Giant Gummy Lizard. I have twelve. Well, I had twelve. I now have ten. I've eaten two of them. They're essentially just really big gummy worms. Just thought everyone should know. I don't know why I needed these, but since I have them, I may as well chronicle their brief existence. Also this week I have been helping the school outside of my uncle's Humanities class. I have also been helping other teachers, primarily the 7th grade science teacher, Mr. Beard, with his bottle rocket project. My duty in this project have been the simple task of what boils down to crowd control, although I also took the liberty of recording the bottle rocket launches for posterity. These I compiled and set to what I believe to be an appropriate tune, given the physics behind said launches. You can view it below if you so desire.
I do not have a Giant Gummy Lizard. I have twelve. Well, I had twelve. I now have ten. I've eaten two of them. They're essentially just really big gummy worms. Just thought everyone should know. I don't know why I needed these, but since I have them, I may as well chronicle their brief existence. Also this week I have been helping the school outside of my uncle's Humanities class. I have also been helping other teachers, primarily the 7th grade science teacher, Mr. Beard, with his bottle rocket project. My duty in this project have been the simple task of what boils down to crowd control, although I also took the liberty of recording the bottle rocket launches for posterity. These I compiled and set to what I believe to be an appropriate tune, given the physics behind said launches. You can view it below if you so desire.
Thursday, May 4
In the past 24 hours since I last wrote in this blog, I have accomplished a great many things, including (chronologically) reading the entirety of Fahrenheit 451, winning $100, and acquiring a Giant Gummy Lizard. Let's explain further here. The reading of classic literature was due to the duty I was assigned yesterday, namely, recording the quantity of books in the classroom. These titles included The Hobbit, Around the World in 80 Days, To Kill a Mockingbird, and, of course, Fahrenheit 451. This led to my reading of the book, since at that moment in time I was otherwise unoccupied (aka I was bored out of my mind). This was the most noteworthy occurrence at work yesterday. The next event on my list took place during dinner. My host family (and real family) and I went out to eat a bar/restaurant/Steamworks place in Tacoma for dinner, however there was an ulterior motive: to become filthy rich, or at least as rich as you can get at your typical eatery. Wednesday night is Trivia Night as this establishment, with 2 rounds, with first place in both rounds earning the winner one hundred big ones. Naturally, my family and I set out to compete. The hosts of the Trivia Night inquired as to King Arthur's family name (Pendragon), the first wide receiver to win Super Bowl MVP (Lynn Swann), and the significance of the Weyland/Yutani Corporation in cinema (Alien). We answered all these and more, earning the right to call ourselves Trivia Night Champions, and more importantly, to bathe in our newly-acquired cash a la Scrooge McDuck. The last piece in this puzzle is the Giant Gummy Lizard. I actually don't know if it's a Giant Gummy Lizard yet. It could be anything. But I do have a hunch. Oh yeah, it's my birthday today. Kinda forgot about that one. I haven't opened the gift yet, but thanks for the heads-up Mom.
|
Wednesday, May 3
Yesterday I wrote about subjects that for the most part have nothing to do with my actual internship. Well, I'm going to change that today. If on the off chance that you, the reader, have never visited Federal Way Public Academy, you're probably asking, "Will, what does it look like?" Well, it is a very modern school, built very recently and visually compares very favorably to a college campus. Its beauty doesn't come across very well in words, so I'll adhere to the old adage and post a picture.
Yesterday I wrote about subjects that for the most part have nothing to do with my actual internship. Well, I'm going to change that today. If on the off chance that you, the reader, have never visited Federal Way Public Academy, you're probably asking, "Will, what does it look like?" Well, it is a very modern school, built very recently and visually compares very favorably to a college campus. Its beauty doesn't come across very well in words, so I'll adhere to the old adage and post a picture.
Yeah nah, it's an old warehouse. Also visible in the picture is Tacoma's distinctive blue sky and sunny climate that has given the area a thriving beach culture. Ok, the look of the school isn't the nicest, but coming from Animas, I can hardly complain. A warehouse is nicer than a trailer park, so I should count my blessings. The weather, though, is a great example of a stereotype that is true in every sense of the word. I've seen the sun once since getting here, and that was on a Raisin Bran box. The locals keep up a cheery attitude, however. As I write this, the PA system morning DJ/person is playing Bobby McFarrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy" over the aforementioned PA system. I'll give them a point for optimism, but it seems pretty misguided from my point of view.
Tuesday, May 2
I've been in Tacoma for a couple days now, but I hadn't gotten around to actually writing here because 1) it's not actually required, and 2) I was too busy enjoying being out of school and didn't much feel like it. In those days, I have travelled across the country via the most entertaining method to write about (Quill article coming soon) and explored the surrounding area. When I say explored, what I mean is shuttled around by my cousin wherever she wants to see while she is visiting here. To clarify: while I am staying with my uncle and he is my mentor, I am not referring to his daughter, who is also my cousin, but she is not relevant in this particular situation. Anyway, my other cousin (who is doing the shuttling) is an adult, meaning that the person who rented her the car we were in couldn't legally prevent said rental from taking place. One thing I was not prepared for in the Seattle/Tacoma area is the traffic. I had in mind your regular everyday large city traffic, but what I encountered was your inner-city hood rat type of traffic, which is to say, it sucks. By my approximation, it took in the ballpark of 3 days to get from SeaTac Airport to my uncle's residence, which is a quarter-mile away. But we persevered, and arrived just in time to leave for work Monday morning. Work has been enjoyable, for lack of a better word. It's amazing how much more fun school is when you're on the other side of the desk. I have already begun my LINK project (more on this later), which consists of planning a project and a rubric for the little scallywags. All teachers, behind their pupils' backs, refer to them affectionately as scallywags. This is only one piece of useful information I have garnered in just one and a half days on the job (I am writing this at lunch on day 2), and I'm sure to learn more soon! Whoops! There's the bell! I'd best be going!
Just kidding. It's still lunch. No one actually talks like that. It's stupid. Besides, the school doesn't even have a bell. Anyway, back to the blog. My largest struggle thus far has been using Microsoft Paint. No, seriously. Stop laughing. Let me explain. At Animas, we use a program called Photoshop. You may have heard of it. It's extremely useful for (among other things) creating banners for projects (see above), which coincidentally happens to be exactly what we are doing. But here at FWPA (pronounced, fwapa, seriously) we are stuck with lowly Microsoft Paint. Which I have never had the need to use. Why would I, if I have Photoshop at my disposal? Now I am being mocked by a bunch of seventh graders who are more or less proficient in the program, while I stumble along like a bloodhound with a bad sense of smell. But I got the little buggers back by creating an absolute masterpiece of a banner in Photoshop mere minutes ago, which looks ten times better than their pitiful attempts. Take that, tiny children!
I've been in Tacoma for a couple days now, but I hadn't gotten around to actually writing here because 1) it's not actually required, and 2) I was too busy enjoying being out of school and didn't much feel like it. In those days, I have travelled across the country via the most entertaining method to write about (Quill article coming soon) and explored the surrounding area. When I say explored, what I mean is shuttled around by my cousin wherever she wants to see while she is visiting here. To clarify: while I am staying with my uncle and he is my mentor, I am not referring to his daughter, who is also my cousin, but she is not relevant in this particular situation. Anyway, my other cousin (who is doing the shuttling) is an adult, meaning that the person who rented her the car we were in couldn't legally prevent said rental from taking place. One thing I was not prepared for in the Seattle/Tacoma area is the traffic. I had in mind your regular everyday large city traffic, but what I encountered was your inner-city hood rat type of traffic, which is to say, it sucks. By my approximation, it took in the ballpark of 3 days to get from SeaTac Airport to my uncle's residence, which is a quarter-mile away. But we persevered, and arrived just in time to leave for work Monday morning. Work has been enjoyable, for lack of a better word. It's amazing how much more fun school is when you're on the other side of the desk. I have already begun my LINK project (more on this later), which consists of planning a project and a rubric for the little scallywags. All teachers, behind their pupils' backs, refer to them affectionately as scallywags. This is only one piece of useful information I have garnered in just one and a half days on the job (I am writing this at lunch on day 2), and I'm sure to learn more soon! Whoops! There's the bell! I'd best be going!
Just kidding. It's still lunch. No one actually talks like that. It's stupid. Besides, the school doesn't even have a bell. Anyway, back to the blog. My largest struggle thus far has been using Microsoft Paint. No, seriously. Stop laughing. Let me explain. At Animas, we use a program called Photoshop. You may have heard of it. It's extremely useful for (among other things) creating banners for projects (see above), which coincidentally happens to be exactly what we are doing. But here at FWPA (pronounced, fwapa, seriously) we are stuck with lowly Microsoft Paint. Which I have never had the need to use. Why would I, if I have Photoshop at my disposal? Now I am being mocked by a bunch of seventh graders who are more or less proficient in the program, while I stumble along like a bloodhound with a bad sense of smell. But I got the little buggers back by creating an absolute masterpiece of a banner in Photoshop mere minutes ago, which looks ten times better than their pitiful attempts. Take that, tiny children!