Reader be warned: serious geekiness to follow.
I started summer classes this morning and, mind you, I'm exhausted, but it was fulfilling in a way. I started off the day with my Topics in Technology for Mathematics Teachers in which we are focusing specifically on calculators for two weeks. General calculator use in the classroom would have been nice, but we're focusing specifically on one calculator.
Anyone that has taken math classes or taught than recently knows that most schools have standardized the use of Texas Instrument scientific calculators, and so you'd expect that our class would be focusing on them. We are, instead, working with a very cool Casio. Its a Casio ClassPad 330, essentially a calculator that took a note from Palm and made a touch screen tool with a very nice interface.
instead of having many hidden functions, I think the menu system works more like computers, so that students that are coming back to school aren't necessarily learning two completely different technological interfaces. Granted, I also don't see Casio becoming the big name in education anytime soon, but its a really nice tool for teaching if nothing else.
I'm already looking for one to purchase. Perhaps Fry's carries them.
On a far more comprehensible note, I started observing a friend's class today. She had asked me to visit her course and I offered to take a more active role. So I am taking notes on her interactions with her students and the extent to which she allows students to lead the conversation (a really really hard thing for any teacher to do). Also, on Wednesday, she will be presenting an activity that she hopes to use for her research in the fall, and I am specifically looking for the ways in which she leads the activity.
I've made the decision to be a full time student in the fall. I don't know what this means for work, but I am in the process of finishing an application for a part time instructors position at a local community college. I don't have a back-up plan right now other than falling back to very very part time at the music school.
On Thursday I will be heading to Idaho with Alex and his father to meet up with the rest of his immediate and extended family for a wedding. Luckily I have managed to get the software for the Casio to install on my computer. For those that don't know (though you likely don't care), I am running Linux on my laptop now, as it is completely useless running windows or macintosh operating systems. If I can make this machine last another year or so, I'll be happy. To make a long story short, installing a program written for a windows operating system in a linux operating system took researching the translator for a .exe file, installing that, and then installing the program for the calculator.
Its really a very trivial thing for more technologically savvy people, but it made me feel good that I accomplished it in under a half an hour.
Alright, enough for now, I should get to some homework as long as I'm sitting here.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
"You guys are about as funny as a rubber crutch in a polio ward"
Alex and I have been planning a big bike ride since we saw the finish line of finals drawing near. A friend had ridden out to a destination known as Sauvie Island recently and we decided we needed to do this as well. The date was set for today, and we anxiously watched the weather reports starting on Thursday to be sure that our master plan would not be thwarted. Though dark clouds loomed all morning and a gentle mist could be felt on occassion, we managed to experience our ride unscathed.
Or, at least that's to say that the weather was not the culprit of said scathing. Alex recently (and by recently I mean last week) built up a geared road bike. For those that don't know, he's been riding a fixed gear bicycle which has one gear and no ability to coast. When the wheels turn, so do the pedals, and vise versa. Needless to say this is a big change for him, and I suppose we might have chosen a better introductory ride, but neither of us had any intentions of admitting defeat. But we paid for it with an hour.
15 minutes of this hour were spent tightening Alex's front break, which is chronically loose, and therefore of no use to him. He bought some lock-tight and if this doesn't cure the break, he will be returning it to the used parts shop for store credit and purchasing something else. The other 45 minutes were spent patching a flat with the last patch we had. This was noticed in the exact middle of the 12 mile loop around Sauvie Island, with our only access to public transportation 6 miles in either direction and across the bridge. We held our breath for the patch and luckily it held.
My legs however, didn't fair as well. After three hours on the road, we were back across the bridge and headed home, and of course, the bridge was followed by a series of small inclines. I must have hit my second wind at this point, because Alex swears that this was the fastest I had moved the entire ride, and yet it was uphill. Of course, what goes up, must come down, literally and figuratively. By the time we reached the train yards of North West, I wanted to die. My arms ached, my knee was throbbing, my back was sore, my helmet had been too tight and my forehead hurt, and quite frankly, I was tired. Alex somehow coerced me into finishing the ride, not that I had much choice, and we picked up speed again close to the Steel Bridge. I stopped just before the last climb to the apartment up from the river and then Alex attempted to see if he could beat me in his lowest gear. Oh, and did I mention that his bike has 30 gears. 30! What does a stud like Alex need 30 for if he's riding with a dumpy 12 speed? My lowest gear was doing just fine until the final incline, and then, of course, Alex's cliff climber kicked my ass.
We had left at 9am, and got home five hours later at 2pm. We had an event to be at by 4 that was 45 minutes away, and so we quickly got ready and picked up pizza toppings at the store before heading out. A friend of mine was having a graduation/birthday party and we were lucky enough to be included in the festivities.
The plan was pizza making for all with an outdoor fire brick pizza oven, of course! Alex became enamored with the art of getting the pizzas onto the paddle and into the oven and then turning them to that all the edges cooked. He spent almost the entire four hours we were there at this task, and was pulled away only by the giant trampoline. I somehow thought that I would hate this trampoline much less than all of my other experienced on trampolines, but I was mistaken and finally got Alex to let me crawl off of the edge after sitting in the middle with my hands over my face only able to say that I hated it. I don't know when I became such a wuss about trampolines, but these things happen.
All in all it was a good day, but I'm exhausted now. Might be time to read some more of the first Harry Potter book... and try to block out the idiots in the street that don't seem to understand "open container" laws and were recently told by a can collector:
"You guys are about as funny as a rubber crutch in a polio ward"
I think I'll use that one.
Have a happy week!
Or, at least that's to say that the weather was not the culprit of said scathing. Alex recently (and by recently I mean last week) built up a geared road bike. For those that don't know, he's been riding a fixed gear bicycle which has one gear and no ability to coast. When the wheels turn, so do the pedals, and vise versa. Needless to say this is a big change for him, and I suppose we might have chosen a better introductory ride, but neither of us had any intentions of admitting defeat. But we paid for it with an hour.
15 minutes of this hour were spent tightening Alex's front break, which is chronically loose, and therefore of no use to him. He bought some lock-tight and if this doesn't cure the break, he will be returning it to the used parts shop for store credit and purchasing something else. The other 45 minutes were spent patching a flat with the last patch we had. This was noticed in the exact middle of the 12 mile loop around Sauvie Island, with our only access to public transportation 6 miles in either direction and across the bridge. We held our breath for the patch and luckily it held.
My legs however, didn't fair as well. After three hours on the road, we were back across the bridge and headed home, and of course, the bridge was followed by a series of small inclines. I must have hit my second wind at this point, because Alex swears that this was the fastest I had moved the entire ride, and yet it was uphill. Of course, what goes up, must come down, literally and figuratively. By the time we reached the train yards of North West, I wanted to die. My arms ached, my knee was throbbing, my back was sore, my helmet had been too tight and my forehead hurt, and quite frankly, I was tired. Alex somehow coerced me into finishing the ride, not that I had much choice, and we picked up speed again close to the Steel Bridge. I stopped just before the last climb to the apartment up from the river and then Alex attempted to see if he could beat me in his lowest gear. Oh, and did I mention that his bike has 30 gears. 30! What does a stud like Alex need 30 for if he's riding with a dumpy 12 speed? My lowest gear was doing just fine until the final incline, and then, of course, Alex's cliff climber kicked my ass.
We had left at 9am, and got home five hours later at 2pm. We had an event to be at by 4 that was 45 minutes away, and so we quickly got ready and picked up pizza toppings at the store before heading out. A friend of mine was having a graduation/birthday party and we were lucky enough to be included in the festivities.
The plan was pizza making for all with an outdoor fire brick pizza oven, of course! Alex became enamored with the art of getting the pizzas onto the paddle and into the oven and then turning them to that all the edges cooked. He spent almost the entire four hours we were there at this task, and was pulled away only by the giant trampoline. I somehow thought that I would hate this trampoline much less than all of my other experienced on trampolines, but I was mistaken and finally got Alex to let me crawl off of the edge after sitting in the middle with my hands over my face only able to say that I hated it. I don't know when I became such a wuss about trampolines, but these things happen.
All in all it was a good day, but I'm exhausted now. Might be time to read some more of the first Harry Potter book... and try to block out the idiots in the street that don't seem to understand "open container" laws and were recently told by a can collector:
"You guys are about as funny as a rubber crutch in a polio ward"
I think I'll use that one.
Have a happy week!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Rental Cars and Tattoos
Finally a quiet morning to finish this thing.
Don't ask me what age I was when I decided that I desperately wanted a tattoo. I don't remember, but my parents probably do. Rather, my father probably does, I doubt it was memorable for my mother. The desire for a tattoo followed rather unsurprisingly from a long string of requests for extra piercings starting in about 8th grade. Of course, all of them were turned down including the tattoo. There was a difference though when I asked to put permanent doodles on my body, it wasn't the outright no I was used to.
My father did turn down my request, of course, but as the requests persisted, his refusal slowly changed to a provisional refusal; age provisional. He told me that I could get a tattoo when I turned 25 and explained that by then my feelings might change. Despite the fact that I could have disregarded this rule years ago, I decided to test my father's theory. I was probably trying to prove him wrong, really, and with Sunday being my 25th birthday, I must admit, I still think tattoos are cool... but I can't say I still want one myself. You win again masked man, I mean, dad.
From a fashion perspective, having a tattoo is like being forced to where the same jewelry each and every day. And you might wonder, well why not just get it somewhere that no one can see it. First of all, most of those places are subject to skin stretching which is a very real likelihood for me, and second of all, why should a I get a cool tattoo that no one can see?
I'm still toying with the idea. My other concern has been that over the years the design I've dreamed of has significantly changed. In the last year alone I've gone from one design of tree to another. I suppose the fact that I stayed in the same genre is a little less disconcerting.
Even though I didn't get any ink for my birthday, I have to say that I had quite the fabulous time. I had been pondering what to do for my birthday for weeks, when one day I was sitting on Sam's floor and suddenly it hit us: roller skating. And no, I don't mean inline skates, those things are way too easy to use. I mean real roller skates that make you a good 4 inches taller and make falling a serious fear in your heart.
Though our party package nachos were late, and they tried to give us cotton candy instead of ice cream, we had an all around great time. Sam and her boyfriend had gotten me balloons, lots of them. I guess Sam had been aiming for a dozen when her boyfriend pointed out that the way to go was a package of 40 and a helium tank. I put them in the trunk of my car after the party.... needless to say they're still there.
Most of us did really well skating, regardless of when we had last put on a pair of mega skates. Unfortunately, my good luck with skating ran out right at the end of the night. As I was rolling off the rink, I straightened my legs too much and lost my balance. My skates rolled out from under me and I fell hard, nearly knocking the wind out of me. I suppose if nothing else, it was good for a laugh.
We went over to Ground Control for a little bit, which is a bar with a retro arcade complete with an entire floor of pinball machines. After bubble bobble, jounst, pinball, and some driving games, everyone was done for the evening and Alex and I headed home to meet up with Sam and the boyfriend. We went to a bar nearby that we could walk to, my shin throbbing from when I fell (I apparently kicked my right shin with my left skate). After a round of drinks there, we decided that home was where it was at, and though the boys went down to the crepe cart for a midnight snack, Sam and I sat around and moaned about how tired we were until they got back and finished eating.
We all went out for brunch, which quickly turned into lunch, the next day. Sunday breakfast, brunch, lunch, etc always packs every restaurant in town (or at least all the ones worth going to). So we waited for an hour at Bar Carlo, but lukcily they had an original nintendo set up in the bar part of the restaurant and so we were satisfied to play super mario 2 and zelda while we waited.
It was off to work then, but not for too long. When I was coming back home I got a call from my friend Ashlee and she wanted a break from homework to get a margarita, so I swung by the apartment to pick up Alex and off we went again. Our friends Nessa and Oliver joined us and after everyone had eaten enough, Alex and I went to see Land of the Lost with Nessa and Oliver (Ashlee had to finish up her homework). The movie was okay, but it was great to see friends.
All in all, great birthday! Thanks to everyone for the gifts, well wishes, cards, and everything. 25 seems more monumental than just being able to rent a car. In fact, as I was driving out to get a margarita on Sunday, it suddenly hit me that I was 15 ten years ago. I guess 15 seems so much more memorable than 14, because I know I wasn't think freaked out last year when I came to that realization. Ten years! Its been ten years since I turned 15. You have to admit, that's creepy.
If 25 feels this old, I think I'll just stay this age forever.
:)
Don't ask me what age I was when I decided that I desperately wanted a tattoo. I don't remember, but my parents probably do. Rather, my father probably does, I doubt it was memorable for my mother. The desire for a tattoo followed rather unsurprisingly from a long string of requests for extra piercings starting in about 8th grade. Of course, all of them were turned down including the tattoo. There was a difference though when I asked to put permanent doodles on my body, it wasn't the outright no I was used to.
My father did turn down my request, of course, but as the requests persisted, his refusal slowly changed to a provisional refusal; age provisional. He told me that I could get a tattoo when I turned 25 and explained that by then my feelings might change. Despite the fact that I could have disregarded this rule years ago, I decided to test my father's theory. I was probably trying to prove him wrong, really, and with Sunday being my 25th birthday, I must admit, I still think tattoos are cool... but I can't say I still want one myself. You win again masked man, I mean, dad.
From a fashion perspective, having a tattoo is like being forced to where the same jewelry each and every day. And you might wonder, well why not just get it somewhere that no one can see it. First of all, most of those places are subject to skin stretching which is a very real likelihood for me, and second of all, why should a I get a cool tattoo that no one can see?
I'm still toying with the idea. My other concern has been that over the years the design I've dreamed of has significantly changed. In the last year alone I've gone from one design of tree to another. I suppose the fact that I stayed in the same genre is a little less disconcerting.
Even though I didn't get any ink for my birthday, I have to say that I had quite the fabulous time. I had been pondering what to do for my birthday for weeks, when one day I was sitting on Sam's floor and suddenly it hit us: roller skating. And no, I don't mean inline skates, those things are way too easy to use. I mean real roller skates that make you a good 4 inches taller and make falling a serious fear in your heart.
Though our party package nachos were late, and they tried to give us cotton candy instead of ice cream, we had an all around great time. Sam and her boyfriend had gotten me balloons, lots of them. I guess Sam had been aiming for a dozen when her boyfriend pointed out that the way to go was a package of 40 and a helium tank. I put them in the trunk of my car after the party.... needless to say they're still there.
Most of us did really well skating, regardless of when we had last put on a pair of mega skates. Unfortunately, my good luck with skating ran out right at the end of the night. As I was rolling off the rink, I straightened my legs too much and lost my balance. My skates rolled out from under me and I fell hard, nearly knocking the wind out of me. I suppose if nothing else, it was good for a laugh.
We went over to Ground Control for a little bit, which is a bar with a retro arcade complete with an entire floor of pinball machines. After bubble bobble, jounst, pinball, and some driving games, everyone was done for the evening and Alex and I headed home to meet up with Sam and the boyfriend. We went to a bar nearby that we could walk to, my shin throbbing from when I fell (I apparently kicked my right shin with my left skate). After a round of drinks there, we decided that home was where it was at, and though the boys went down to the crepe cart for a midnight snack, Sam and I sat around and moaned about how tired we were until they got back and finished eating.
We all went out for brunch, which quickly turned into lunch, the next day. Sunday breakfast, brunch, lunch, etc always packs every restaurant in town (or at least all the ones worth going to). So we waited for an hour at Bar Carlo, but lukcily they had an original nintendo set up in the bar part of the restaurant and so we were satisfied to play super mario 2 and zelda while we waited.
It was off to work then, but not for too long. When I was coming back home I got a call from my friend Ashlee and she wanted a break from homework to get a margarita, so I swung by the apartment to pick up Alex and off we went again. Our friends Nessa and Oliver joined us and after everyone had eaten enough, Alex and I went to see Land of the Lost with Nessa and Oliver (Ashlee had to finish up her homework). The movie was okay, but it was great to see friends.
All in all, great birthday! Thanks to everyone for the gifts, well wishes, cards, and everything. 25 seems more monumental than just being able to rent a car. In fact, as I was driving out to get a margarita on Sunday, it suddenly hit me that I was 15 ten years ago. I guess 15 seems so much more memorable than 14, because I know I wasn't think freaked out last year when I came to that realization. Ten years! Its been ten years since I turned 15. You have to admit, that's creepy.
If 25 feels this old, I think I'll just stay this age forever.
:)
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