Totally Random Goodness (with Pictures!!!)

Now that I’m done with the teaching part of student teaching, I actually have some free time here and there. Here are some of the things that have been going on.

First of all, I got raped. Multiple times, from multiple sources. Apparently, when you graduate, people think “Hey, you’ve been coasting by on that student status for long enough. Welcome to the real world. Credit cards and cash only, please. No checks.” I was horrified at how much I had to spend on my graduation crap at school (announcements, cap & gown, honors medal, etc.) Then, I had to pay for career services to keep my placement file in their system. This is a requirement, mind you. If any jobs actually open up, I won’t be able to get one without the official placement file. The guy over career services flat-out told us yesterday that he will NOT be doing any work for us. All of the work has to be done by ourselves, just using their website. Lame. I almost swore a few times because I was so mad. Also, I found out today that I have to pay another hefty fee to get my license when I officially graduate. By the way, I’ve already paid my fee for applying to graduate. That’s right – after going to school for years, I have to pay a fee to APPLY for graduation. I’m fully expecting a cover charge at the doors for my commencement/convocation. If you plan to come (May 1), make sure you have cash on you…

A while ago, based on a blog by my friend, Lori, I came up with an idea of what I would do if I ever had my kids question body hair. I actually got to use it last week with a piano student. I have a student who is always saying weird things that crack me up, and at his lesson a few weeks ago, I noticed him staring at my arms. I looked at him funny, and he said “I can see your arms are getting quite hairy.” I laughed and said that they really weren’t that hairy. He more firmly stated that they were, indeed, quite hairy. So, I said “That’s because I’m a werewolf. Did you see the full moon last night?” He laughed nervously and then said “You’re joking, right?” I looked at him and very seriously said “Would I ever joke with you about something serious like werewolves?” He looked at my arms again, and said “Yes. It’s just your man hair.” I about died laughing.

A couple weeks ago, Trash’s lover was having a concert, so I trekked up to Midvale to be a supportive friend. You HAVE to be a supportive friend to sit through approximately 67.3 Barry Manilow songs, right? Because of that, I shall now refer to Trash’s lover as Shames on my blog. After the concert, I went to pay a surprise visit to Melinda and Lindsay. Matt was there watching Brothers and Sisters with Melinda, and he knew I was coming. The girls had no idea, though.

When I showed up, I pounded on the door and rang the doorbell. When Lindsay opened the door (FINALLY!), she started to say “Can I help you?” and mid-sentence, she realized who I was and screamed. Seriously. Screamed. She grabbed me, and I thought she was going to start crying. Then she stole my cool fedora that I was wearing and led me upstairs to Melinda. Melinda was shocked, but not as much as Lindsay. I had a good time hanging out with them that night. It was the first time I’d seen them since our Christmas get-together.

Why has nobody ever sat me down and actually introduced me to Missy Higgins? John Mayer? Sara Bareilles? SHAME ON YOU ALL. Except Pandora, who truly loves me and introduced them all to me. And I suppose Matt is off the hook, since he did bring Missy over for me to rip to my computer and promptly forget about several months ago. I bought Room for Squares and Little Voice recently, and I love them both. I also bought Taylor Hicks’ new album recently. Ick. A couple good songs, and the rest is CRAP.

Little kids are fun. I’ve gotten to see more of them recently. This week, I saw my nephews, Zach, Nick, and Owen for the first time in over a month. We watched Scooby-Doo together, and I may or may not have been so tired that I got a little emotional when Fred lets Velma get some credit at the end. When the movie was over, and they went home, I fell asleep for a two hour nap. You be the judge…

I’ve also gotten to see Teri and Bristol more often lately. In addition to celebratory Carl’s, Jr. lunches and watching Bolt on Blu-Ray, sometimes they just come over to watch dumb reality shows and stuff. And sometimes Bristol falls asleep in positions that make me laugh.

I’m having fun working on As You Like It. I arranged all the music so fast and furiously this weekend that even Vin Diesel would have been proud. I had to arrange several short pieces for a violin and cello. WEIRD combination. The viola in the middle would have made things much easier. Oh, well. They sound great with my virtual strings on Sibelius, so hopefully they’ll turn out well when I try them with the actual strings tomorrow night. Oh, and I actually wrote a couple songs, too! Both from lyrics that Shakespeare wrote. One is a jig about a dead deer. You KNOW you want to see the show now…

Last week, I got to watch my niece and nephew, Annika and Caleb. I introduced them to Wallace and Gromit, which Annika loved. On the way home, we listened to my 80s playlist. They didn’t dig most of the music, so I’d have to skip tracks after 15-20 seconds of each song. When Van Halen’s “Jump” came on, Annika got REALLY excited and told me to leave it on. Caleb, on the other hand FLIPPED out. He started yelling “Turn it off!” and covered his ears. So, of course, I had to reach my camera behind me and get a picture. Texting is illegal, but I haven’t heard of a law against taking pictures with a cameraphone while driving.

Oh, and last, but not least, for anyone who’s been keeping tabs on my internet crushes: Internet Crush #2 is giving #1 a run for her money. She’s been making more of an effort to talk to me, and after previous dating efforts, it’s nice to see a girl taking initiative. Neither one of these is likely to go somewhere, but it’s fun to act like I’m in junior high again – only this time with the added bonus of the Internet!

Told you it was random!

Thanks to Shames for showing me this video today. Now back off, dude. Seriously. :)