Happy Year of the Unicorn!

I've decided to dub this year the Year of the Unicorn. I had a very unicorn Christmas and feel my New Year should correspond. Plus unicorns are symbols of good fortune. I was reading an column in LEO or Velocity discussing writing. The only part I remember was "Don't just talk about writing, just carry a journal and write." I'm guilty of the former, so I'm attempting to resolve it this year.

I had to work New Year's Eve which was kind of a bummer, especially since Dustin took my lunch that day. Still, I got to hang out with one of my favorite supervisors/co-workers, and we only had to work til 6 PM. After work, Dustin and I went to Oishii for sushi; business was hopping, but it wasn't impossible to find a table.

Following dinner, we headed over to my friend Bill's house; my friends Leslie (who is dating Bill) & Rachel took over his house to throw a New Year's Eve party. So many nerds and engineers in one place, it was hilarious. I had a couple drinks--didn't get too wild because I had to open the next day. Rachel and I drunk danced together. We spent quite a bit of time conversing about our boobs, and how the workers at Victoria's Secret keep trying to convince us to buy the bra that will make use go up TWO WHOLE CUP SIZES!

We turned on Dick Clark's New Year Special. Lo and behold the Backstreet Boys were the musical guest AND New Kids On The Block. All us girls started screaming and singing "I Want It That Way." We were pretty bad. Leslie and I were on the couch together and were both like "BRIAN AHHH!" Dustin moved far away. Rachel commented on how the NKOTB's harmonies were good and BSB's were not. We all agreed A.J.'s physical appearance was really bad and definitely reflected his previous alcoholism. We spent a lot of the evening yelling at the musical celebrities on TV and about everything. I got my first kiss with Dustin on New Year's Eve! I always had to kiss someone else, like Matt Tobbe, because Dustin was always working UPS.

New Year's Day I worked; it was vastly boring. I was surprised we weren't closed considering  my workplace is non-profit, and there were no shows going on. That evening we went to Bill's again for spaghetti made by Rachel. Rachel and I drank leftover Smirnoff's. We were like, "These are so delicious! They taste just like candy!" I said to Dustin, "We should buy a ton of these and drink them everyday!" To which Rachel responded, "That's called being an alcoholic." Then we ate Lindt and Hanukkah chocolate (which we didn't know why Bill had it because his family is Catholic) and watched Hot Tub Time Machine. Dustin and I cut out a little early, went home, and promptly fell into bed.

Today was my first day off in a week! I couldn't sleep past 9:30, and Lily was being a whiney brat. I piddled around on the internet for a good couple of hours. I took an uber long shower jamming to my fave 90s Celine Dion songs. I washed all the dishes in the sink and swept the very messy kitchen floor. I had a my oil changed at Sears and walked all around the mall. I was proud of my refusal to cave in and buy stuff super on sale. Afterward, I went home for a bit, then back out to the movie theatre to see Black Swan--which was the most beautiful film, I've seen in forever! The final dance scenes makes the entire movie worthwhile!

Lastly, went to dinner at a local Vietnamese restuarant La Que on Bardstown Rd. I loved being with a large group of my friends; somehow we always end up being the people who are really loud and laughing the most. I ate a super yummy, uber spicy green curry. Leslie and Bill were introduced to Vietnamese and Thai food (the restuarant serves three kinds of Asian food: Vietnamese, Thai, & Chinese).

Good times, good times. The year has started off great! This weekend was uber fun and friend filled! So sad, we all have to go back to our separate lives. Now that I have texting, it's somehow magically easier to keep in touch and make plans. It's amazing how fast people respond to text messages! EVERYONE I texted responded, unlike when I call and leave messages.

Teachers in Fiction

This summer I recently read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book focuses on a girl named Melinda who has been severely traumatized. As a result, she socially isolates herself, and rarely speaks, and whenever she does it's only small words or short sentences. She goes through a long process of self-growth and by the end of the book, she manages to come to terms with the trauma. Tonight, I saw the movie based on the book on Lifetime, and watched it with my fiance Dustin.

Dustin got really angry at the movie for the way it portrayed the adults--especially the teachers, since he's a teacher himself. They all appeared completely oblivious to Melinda's situation--the fact she is manically depressed and socially withdrawn. They attribute her failing grades and lack of class participation to an attitude problem. Then there is the situation of the horrible social studies teacher "Mr. Neck" who is a complete jerk to Melinda, changes the requirements of her make-up assignment at the last minute, and when she refuses to cooperate he sends her to the principal. The principal is hardly sympathetic, and blame kept being shifted between parents and teachers. Dustin said, "These teachers are always villanized. Why does the character have to undergo growth alone?! Why can't they grow through the help of their teachers? In real life, Mr. Neck would've gotten suspended. The principal and teachers would've known something was up with Melinda. I know when something is even slightly off with my students!"

I started thinking about it. There are a lot of awful teachers in fiction, particularly ones featuring dysfunctional or depressed teenagers. Is it just a feature of the genre? They don't always have bad teachers, there's always that one teacher that has an understanding. There are bad teachers in real life, but are there any as extreme as some of the ones we see in fiction? Why do the teachers not push the student(s) further when they know for certain there's a problem? Why are they made to seem so apathetic or oblivious to their students? I think this trope is also more prevalent in movies/TV than books. Specifically, I think of all those "inspirational" teaching films like Freedom Writers, Take the Lead, Stand and Deliver, etc. Many of these teachers in the films are awful or have given up on all these students. The principals are apathetic and also burned out. Then the teacher who is successful is one with unconventional methods and is automatically hated or resented by the rest of the teaching staff.

What do you make of this trend? Is it bothersome to you? Why aren't there as many positive and active teachers in TV/movies? If it's not irritating, do you just write it off as being part of the plot line--sort of like suspending your disbelief? Do you think the amount of "bad" teachers in film outweigh the "good"? What other ways are teachers stereotyped both negative and positive?

Glee...How Did I Get Along Without You?

I'm currently addicted to Fox's Glee. It's the perfect merging of High School Musical, every other high school teenage soap opera, and satire. I absolutely LOVE this show! It does fall into many stereotypes, but there's something unique that makes it better than any high school drama on TV. I'd say it's the choice in casting, the music, and partly the story. I also admit, I largely live vicariously through these characters in this show.

The characters are all really quirky and colorful despite all being stereotypes and undergoing little to no development. You love almost all of the characters from the start; you don't want them to change except to become more confident. They all make me laugh. My favorite characters are Kurt and Tina. Kurt is so earnest in his love for sparkles and theatre and performing. He's the guy I would want to hang out with in high school or any other time. Tina's got the super fun goth clothes complete with the blue streaks in her hair. She's awkward and shy, but pretty cool all around. Shame she doesn't get that much screen time or many solos; love her and Artie as a couple. The more of Rachel I watch, the more I realize she's the most like me. Smart, pretentious, ambitious, yet with a lot of anxieties and a deep seated desire to be popular even though she knows it's shallow and "wrong." My sister was the one who first pointed out our similarities. Now I can't get over how much I was like her in high school even down to the clothes; as Kurt said, she [read: I] dresses somewhere between a three year old and forty year old woman. She drives me crazy, and I have to wonder did I drive people just as crazy.

This show has plenty of awesome music. It mixes Broadway showtunes, with modern pop and r&b music, with 80s rock hits! I'm still squeeing over Heart's "Alone" performed in a duet by Kristen Chenoweth (she plays the role of a former high school student and Glee Club member) and Matthew Robinson (Mr. Schuester)! I adored the homage to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" music video. The Glee Club's rehearsal of "Don't Rock the Boat" had me in stitches. There's so much variety of music in the show. Furthermore, the music is so expertly arranged that you find yourself enjoying songs that you originally didn't, for example "Mercy" by Duffy.

The story isn't anything original; the usual underdogs rising to the top and dealing with the issues of being a high school teenager. I think the scenarios that come up and obstacles they have to face make the story different and interesting. I keep thinking the way Mr. Schuester made Finn join the Glee Club was pretty unusual, not to mention hilarious. One of the best things about the show is the bringing in of all the celebrities for different wacky, characters. Hello, IDINA MENZEL! I could wax forever about GLEE and why I love it, but I think I'll stop here.

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Come Dance the Night Away

Once more I am hooked on Dancing With the Stars. I'm not a huge reality TV show fan, but something that involves pretty, sparkly costumes and ballroom dancing is a surefire way to get me hooked. I was hardcore for the first couple of seasons. I tapered off, until  the season Jane Seymour became a contestant, then after she was eliminated from the competition I stopped watching. Randomly, I decide to watch the newest season on Hulu and was excited to see a whole lot of celebrities I knew. I became sucked in watching the dance routines again. I think for me, it helps that I know a lot of the celebrities and actually care about or like some of them.

My favorite contestants right now are: Shannon Doherty, Evan Lysaceck,  Neicey Nash and Nicole Scherzinger. Of the three my favorite performance was Evan's; it had the perfect song, romance, fluidity, grace, and made me sigh. I think the "wild card" contestant this season is Pamela Anderson. She's all sex appeal, and somehow managed to impress the judges with it during her Cha-Cha. The judges reactions this season are cracking me up to no end. Their reactions to Pamela's dancing was priceless; Bruno's definitely digging the sex appeal. The judges gave her much higher scores than I anticipated for being such a messy performance.

The Waltz dresses are simply beautiful and make me very envious. I think Shannon's white dress that faded into black with the like ripped ruffle looking bottom was simply gorgeous. The female Cha-Cha outfits look little more than fringe sewn together in layers. I really wish they would use original recordings of pop songs or find better singers. The covers of songs, especially Ke$ha's TikTok (which isn't a good song to begin with), are really bad.  I'm going to have to keep watching this season now, especially since I have some contestants to get behind.

Lan's GLEEful Day of Princesses, Musicals, Battling Beauties and Cupcakes!

I feel like today is a good day for blogging. I completed 4 out of three works for finals. One (and only) test down and one out of four papers done! I'm a little disgruntled about that. It still seems like a lot. I have one more than everybody else, most grad students take three classes. I decided to be academically suicidal and take four. At least I know I definitely passed my history exam with flying colors--or rather one color BLACK because it's on the Black Death and I also wrote in black pen---ahahaha.

I'm excitedly watching behind the scenes of The Princess and the Frog!!! We're gonna go see it as soon as my last final is done on the 15! :) I'm happy that Disney is taking a big step forward, and I'm not just talking about race. Tiana is a very forward thinking and acting princess! She works and has career goals. The actress Anika Rose is the first actress to both do the speaking AND singing voice of the princess. And she has a living and loving family! Though I don't know if she loses them or becomes estranged from them later. I really like that they're making her look like a real person, and "not just a darker colored version of one of the other princesses." Going to let my critical, feminist mind go and be fully optimistic!  Hoping when Baku and I go to Disney World in the summer, there'll be a Princess and the Frog display or show. :)

I think this ties in nicely since before this I was watching Disney's remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella starring Brandy--which I LOVE!!! I've seen the old version too with Lesley Ann Warren--I like it too. Both are a staple of my childhood.  

I've been all about the musicals lately. Glee has also been my obsession. Tonight was the last episode of the season I believe. And more than likely my sister and I will go halfsies on the first season dvd that will likely come at an extorsive priced. I love all the covers of 80s songs, current pop songs, and showtunes. It really feeds the theatre geek in me. As much as I hate to admit it, I live vicariously through one of the main characters, Rachel; she's such a mega diva with an attitude--she's getting better. My school didn't have a Glee club or theatre program, but I was very much an academic snob and thus a geek and on the lower end of the social tier. We did a couple "variety" shows (basically a smashing of scenes from movies and plays, and musical numbers), and I totally rocked those out!  The show's music is so infectious and great; I find myself liking songs I didn't like before--I can only listen to the GLEE cast version though. 

So now, I'm devoting the rest of my evening to the awesome battling beauty known as Utena Tenjou! I'm at episode 15 right now...it's an endurance run to get through the rest of the season and the movie...don't think it's going to happen. I can't possibly write on every episode anyway, my focus will be on specific ones, especially in the Student Council story arc--which I find really compelling moreso than the Black Rose. I'm really creeped out by the Souji and the way he creates the duelists. I'm still going to watch as much as I can, and read summaries of the episodes before and decide whether to watch or skip them. I know that's bad--I promise I'll watch them all later! I have to get this paper done by Friday, and its 15-20 pages. I'm hoping it turns out well and can be polished to journal article standards. :)

Lastly, Dustin and I discovered this new cupcake place. It's a small chain called Gigi's Cupcakes.  We saw a sign out front that said "Free Samples." So of course we went in. They have the most amazing gourmet cupcakes ever! Their menu changes everyday, with a set list of flavors and a daily special. I got the daily special which was a white cupcake with pistachio filling, and raspberry icing with chocolate sprinkles! It was AMAZING! Baku got a chocolate, banana cupcake. They're so rich and the icing is piled high--it's enough to induce diabetic shock I'm sure. 

I'm going to have a meltdown and crash when finals are done. I only have three days between my last final and when I go home to visit my family in South Carolina and North Carolina. I've also got to get Dustin a Christmas present too. Sheesh. Okay, now time to cram as much Utena as I can before my brain explodes. Read the four critical articles I'm going to use. Write a detailed outline, citing all the quotes from the queer theorists I'm using...OMG so much work!!!

FINALS! CRAZY ARHRHARAKKJDFHK TIME!

Feeling a little stifled and I have a paper due by 4 PM today, and I'm about three quarters of the way done. I'm just struggling this semester because I've got the burn out. I've been talking to other grad students and glad to know I'm not alone. It's so weird to feel this burning hatred and complete apathy because I've always loved school and learning and writing (both creatively and academically). Writing is always difficult for me because I have crazy perfectionist, editor mind. So I'm blogging to help relieve some of the stress and get the writing flow going.

Dustin - significant other/fellow grad student - I don't know how I got through finals before him! He is a wonderful support and source of encouragement! We have totally different writing and thinking styles. He helps me out when I get frustrated and start second guessing everything I write. He listens patiently and gives suggestions when I read the same paragraph for the fifth time. Plus, he keeps me company and has a lot of faith in me. He said he missed eating breakfast. He works at UPS third shift, so by the time he gets out he's exhausted, goes to bed and sleeps until 1 PM or later. So we vowed to stay up all night and go eat breakfast together. We did and went to McDonald's at 6 AM to get breakfast which was delicious! I really miss him right now even though he's in the next room. He's sleeping early because he has to get up to teach class in the morning.

Lily, my kitty, is my other company keeper. She's sleeping too, though thankfully not on my notes. Even when there's multiple books and piles of notes, she knows exactly which one I'm currently using and lays down on it. She looks so gosh dang cute, I hate moving her and feel guilty for pulling the notes/book out from under her.

Cafe World, this little flash game on facebook does wonders to keep me occupied and for some odd reason focused. I use it as a timing and motivational device. I can write and cook simultaneously. I have to wait a certain amount of time for a dish to be done, and if I don't remove it from the stove in time it will go bad. My writing coincides with the time, and it works better than saying, "I'll write for one hour and play for one hour" which never happens. This system works because I'm cooking/playing at the same time as I'm writing. It's like, "I'll set kabobs to cook. They take one hour to cook. In that one hour, I will write a page then serve the kabobs. Then I set another dish on the stove, say another hour long dish, and the same thing happens." I like to think I have really eccentric means of keeping time and getting through finals.

Music is a big thing to help me feel good and keep calm. I've been really dependent on Celtic Woman and songs from GLEE. I'm obsessed with the new songs from Celtic Woman's new but not yet released album Songs From the Heart. There are official clips of the DVD concert on YouTube. I also listen to GLEE songs on YouTube as well since I don't have all of them on Itunes. I think the songs I keep listening to over and over are, "The Call," "When You Believe," "Ding Dong Merrily on High," "True Colors," "Lean on Me," and "Defying Gravity."