Similes better to describe the LAUSD cuts.

California just failed at passing 6 measures that could have helped to save the budget crisis. Today on the coverage, many lawmakers (our governor included) described this as the people haven spoken (less than 25% of the people but you know). What are the people saying? Apparently that "People don't cut their food during these times, they cut their HBO" or "While people are selling their motorcycles, boats and second homes, California needs to do the same." As an employee of the hardest hit area in this budget crisis- education- I feel like I could make some better comparisons for the budget cuts coming.
1. These budget cuts will be like trying to feed a family of 1000 with food for 10.
2. These budget cuts are like having to make the choice between medicine to live or food to live.
3. The California budget is down to cutting all meat and dairy from the budget. Luckily produce grows year round here or it would be a long winter.
4. California has as much money as it has water.
5. California's education system will look like a jail by the time the new cuts come in- overcrowded and useless.
6. This round of cuts is like cutting the crotch out of your shorts.

Yeah, stop thinking that money is boundless California and realize you've truly screwed yourselves over.

Highlights from proms

A list of the highlights of every prom I went to:
1. My mom and I made my dress Junior year. It was beautiful. Some of my favorite memories of that year actually come from trying to make that dress.
2. I got a date Junior year- I was completely caught off guard.
3. Senior year prom ended. Yup that was the best thing about it.
4. I had the most elegant decorations for last night's prom even if the other decorations were tacky.
5. Prom Court was full of amazing students, all of whom could have won and been well deserving.
6. Hanging out as a "chaperon" is boring but I had good people to hang out with.

So much to blog about

There are some things I could be blogging about BUT I have reasons that none of them are happening. Here is a list of what I could have blogged about:
1. Things that were annoying/upsetting/maddening about the meeting I went to today.
2. My journey through the stages of grief over my job.
3. The heroes my students are going to be writing research papers about (Anyone real or imaginary that they know or not from 1950 or later)
4. Potential job sites in my very near future
5. Best forms of chocolate to be found in CA.
6. List of graduates I have to celebrate next weekend.

Instead you just get a list of my thoughts.

People who have visited my classroom while I've been teaching.

1. My friend Kate, from Texas.
2. A group of people from the state trying to determine whether our school is following the plan they agreed to three years ago.
3. Superintendent Cortinez, who came today, just wandering into my classroom. I resisted the urge to tell him that he fired me but I think he figured that out when he asked me how long I'd been teaching.

I love most people who love Shakespeare.

I love Shakespeare and I've been lucky to have some amazing teachers who love Shakespeare to interact with. I was very excited to stumble upon a whole program (Shakespeare Festival LA) focused on education and Shakespeare and even more thrilled to see they offered a two day teacher workshop to assist me in teaching it in the classroom (And even more thrilled to see it was about romeo and juliet, a book I teach, but by far not my favorite so I have a hard time getting into it.) As I was listening to one of the presentations I realized how much I like a certain type of Shakespeare lover. Here is what the person must have:
1. They recognize that what Shakespeare is awesome at is word-smithing rather than amazing plot lines.
2. They have a child-like fascination with the English language that is fueled by the green light to discuss even letter choices within a Shakespearean text.
3. They are fascinated by the hegemony inherent in the plot rather than the "oh no, Romeo killed himself!"
4. While they may be able to quote some Shakespeare, they can't quote it all (unless they were in the play) and they only quote it if they have to. Mostly they just read it from the text.
5. They have an appreciation for adaptations and purity, falling prey to neither extreme.
6. It's not about Shakespeare being the end all be all writer. It's just about him being really good.
7. They understand that Shakespeare is meant to be ACTed. Reading it is just something we came up with.
8. They are willing to call Shakespeare on the bullshit that he does putting women down or the colonized down without having to apologize.

I miss having a University affiliation to get my scholar fix, but today I got it from the best kind of Shakespeare lover.

All of the good things about UCLA

Here is a list of ALL of the good things about UCLA:
1. There is a stretch of Sunset that you have to drive on to get there from here with no stop lights and curves that are big enough you don't really have to slow down. It may be my favorite part to drive in all of LA.

I've failed at writing this...

Here's a list of reasons I've failed lately:
1. I got the layoff notice.
2. Simon came to visit.
3. I've been sick the last few days
4. When my friends post, I forget that I haven't.
5. Some days, when you finish at school, you just need to relax. There was a big fiasco surrounding a conference we were supposed to go to this weekend and then it was off and then on and back and forth SO because I'm still under the weather, and I already have sub plans AND a sub, I'm taking a day off that will hopefully get me back mentally.