"Can't sing but I've got soul, the goal is elevation." ~u2

That song is one of my karaoke staples. It's pretty hilarious to watch.

Last night my roomies threw a party here. I didn't know anyone besides the two of them, but it was still fun. They made some really good food. They made this amazing lasagna, and we all took leftovers to work for lunch today. We have a lot of cake and beer left over.

My kids are driving me insane. The state ELA test is next week, and we've been doing nothing but test prep since the beginning of December. They're beyond sick of it (and so am I). By the end of the day today I was ready to throw someone out the window. I guess I can't blame them for getting frustrated after three hours of ELA test prep (including a listening passage, an essay, and a bunch of exercises) on a Friday, but still, I was pretty upset with them. I had a parent come in yesterday, and I felt terrible. We sat in the AP's office and the mother just sobbed. The kid was at the meeting and cried, too. The kid is C, whom I've written about before. I absolutely adore him, but he's tough. He's got a lot of stuff going on that makes him act up. I called one parent today and should have called more, but I just wasn't up for it. I hate talking to parents. I know it's necessary, but it's not easy. I can't wait for this test to be over. It lasts for three days, and it's a HUGE deal. I'm so stressed about it (the whole school is).

On a more exciting note, I cannot wait to see this. I saw U2 live three times on the Vertigo tour, and their live concerts are absolutely amazing, indescribable experiences. Bootlegs and videos don't do them justice. Hopefully the 3D movie will make viewers feel like they're there. They cut some really good songs out of the concert for this movie (no Zoo Station?!?!), which pisses me off, and it's not the best setlist, but it should still be really good (the reviews I've read so far are very positive).

"She lives alone on her private archipelago, with her palm trees and her seashells. She sits in the waves all day, she's scared of dying, she wants to keep it that way. She sends a boat out on the sea, with a little note for me, it says, "Why are the girls so hungry?" Well, lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala...lalala...Why are the girls so hungry? Said, why are the girls so hungry? Said, why are all the girls so hungry? Why the girls so hungry? I can't see nothing, nononono, can't see nothing, nononono, 'round here. Nono, said I'm lonely, without you. 'Cause I can't see nothing, nothing, 'round here." ~counting crows

Thanks to Elise for reminding me of that version of "Round Here." It's from Paris, 12/9/94, one of the best Counting Crows concerts ever. I love going back to that bootleg. It's absolutely amazing. The "Murder of One" performance from that show makes me cry almost every time I listen to it.

If you read this in time, watch The A Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight (Tuesday)! (He changed the title until the strike is over). I went to the taping. It was cool. It was his second night back since the strike, and he did just fine without writers. Best line: "My brain's not on strike!" (It was funnier when he said it in the context of the discussion). He mostly discussed the primaries, and he spent a lot of time ragging on Rudy Giuliani. His guest was David Frum, whom I had never heard of before, but my dad said he's pretty famous in the political world. Jon had a hilarious conversation with Stephen Colbert via video during one of the breaks, so that was interesting to watch.

"I don't have any questions, I don't think it's gonna rain. You were right about the end, it didn't make a difference. I'm here to take you now, out among the missing sons and daughters of the SoHo riots. Out among the missing sons and daughters of the SoHo riots, I'm here to take you now. How can anybody know how they got to be this way?" ~the national

As a teacher, I find pleasure in the smallest things. On Friday I did a social studies activity on the Chinese zodiac calendar. The kids worked in pairs, and each pair made a small poster about one of the animals from the calendar. I gave each pair a worksheet featuring a detailed explanation of their animal for them to use.

Necessary Sidebar: D is one of my most difficult students. She has a huge attitude problem. She talks constantly (seriously, you've never heard someone talk this much). Her mom has had to come in numerous times to talk to me. One of my biggest challenges is trying to balance my desire for D not to blow up at me and have a huge meltdown in the middle of class with my desire to be able to teach the class without having to yell over her.

Anyway, during this lesson D asked me if I could give her copies of the worksheets for all of the animals. I didn't have extras, so I offered her a worksheet with a shortened explanation of each animal. She said she wanted the longer ones, and wanted the pictures to go along with the writing. She wanted to take them home and show them to her mom. I told her I'd bring her a packet on Monday. I cannot tell you how excited I was. The girl who has a complaint about every single lesson I teach ("This is boring!" "Why should I care about this?" "I know this already," etc.) was actually interested for once. I didn't even care that a portion of the class spent the period wreaking havoc (throwing paper, running around), because at least one person (the most unlikely person) got something out of it. And she and her partner made a really good poster about their animal, the Dog. A bunch of the kids did like the activity, especially when they got to learn about their own animal. I am a Rat, and it was cool to read about that.

I went to a new church today. It's called the Journey Church and the services are in the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center (the site of the Hammerstein Ballroom). The congregation was made up almost entirely of young people (in their 20's). It was very casual; the pastor wore jeans and he goes by his first name. Today was the first message in a new series called Embracing My City. The sermon wasn't bad; it was very practical. The music was the best part, though. It's contemporary music. The band played Christian songs, but they also played Death Cab for Cutie's "Marching Bands of Manhattan" and Ryan Adams' "New York, New York." I was so excited when they began to play "Marching Bands of Manhattan." I love that song. Any church that plays Death Cab and Ryan Adams is awesome in my book. I know music shouldn't be what I focus on when I'm looking at a church, but good music inspires me.
Whenever I hear Ryan Adams' "New York, New York" I always think of the fourth of July, 2003. Ryan Adams performed in Battery Park for free, and of course he performed that song. It was pretty cool. That was before most people knew who he was.

My friend Gen posted a cool activity on her LJ, so I participated and I'll share it here. Feel free to try it yourself and post it to your blog/LJ/whatever or in the comments here.

Create an Album Cover
Follow these easy steps!
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result as a comment in this post or in your own journal.

My album cover (I know it's not the size of an album cover, but I was having too much trouble):

I like it. Maybe when I start a band, I'll use it. I'm not sure about the band name "List of Rugby League Incidents," though. I already have my band name picked out and, believe it or not, it is not "List of Rugby League Incidents." But the album artwork and title aren't bad.
And, because I felt like procrastinating, my second try:

"I know it doesn't seem that way, but maybe it's the perfect day. Even though the bills are piling, and maybe Lady Luck ain't smiling. But if we'd only open our eyes, we'd see the blessings in disguise. That all the rain clouds are fountains, though our troubles seem like mountains. There's gold in them hills. There's gold in them hills. So don't lose heart, give the day a chance to start." ~ron sexsmith

Oh. My. Goodness. Conan was back last night, without writers, and he was AWESOME. His guitar playing? Hilarious. Especially when he was playing Radiohead's "Creep" as the guys were trying to play Rock Band. And his Beastie Boys' impression was pretty amazing as well. Bob Saget was his first guest, and, as usual, he was very funny. It was such a good show. I'm afraid Conan won't be able to keep up his momentum very long without writers, though. It'll get harder and harder to find ways to fill all that time. Conan's brilliant, but that's got to be hard for anyone to do.
I love Conan. I've been to a few talk show tapings (Jay Leno, Craig Kilborn, Conan) and Conan was definitely my favorite. I'm going to a taping of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart next Tuesday and I'm excited about that.

It is FREEZING today. I don't like it. And all my kids were back today (plus one new one), back to being their wild selves. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday because it means the weekend is approaching, but Friday is my worst teaching day. I planned a social studies activity on the Chinese zodiac calendar that I hope they'll like.

Song of the day: Ron Sexsmith featuring Coldplay's Chris Martin singing "Gold in Them Hills"

"But someone, they could have warned you. When things start splitting at the seams and now, the whole thing's tumbling down. Things start splitting at the seams and now, if things start splitting at the seams and now, it's tumbling down hard." ~band of horses

When I made my list of the Best Albums of 2007, I omitted one that should have been there. Band of Horses' Cease to Begin totally deserved to be on that list. I looooove that album. I was reminded of it while watching DVDs of The O.C. season 4 (which my brother gave me for Christmas). Josh Schwartz used a couple of songs by Band of Horses on The O.C. He has also used their music on Chuck. I know I've written about it before, but he is such a musical genius. The O.C., Chuck, and Gossip Girl all have killer soundtracks. Anyway, I've started listening to the album Cease to Begin again and I love it.

I had a pretty good New Year's. As per tradition, I spent it at my friend Kim's house with our families as well as a couple of other families. We had a good time. Kim has a karaoke machine that we love to use. Matt and I performed a horrendous version of Baby Got Back, and I'm terrified that the video my brother took is going to pop up on YouTube or something.

Returning to school today wasn't so bad; a bunch of kids were absent, so it was less crazy than usual. I'm sure it'll be back to its usual state of pandemonium soon.

Quote of the day:
F, one of my students, to me: Ms. B, you're looking a little...fruity today.
Apparently my striped Gap sweater was a little too colorful for him.

Oh, how I missed my kids.

Here are a few of my favorite tracks by Band of Horses.