"I'm so angry, anger makes me a modern girl. I took my money, I couldn't buy nothin', I'm sick of this brave new world." ~sleater-kinney

In this job I have to find things that make me laugh or else I'll go crazy. Actually, I often laugh at things I shouldn't. Sometimes if I weren't laughing I would have to cry instead, and that's not nearly as fun. So here's what made me laugh today. I have this student, D. You can't even imagine what I have to put up with because of him. He says the rudest, most vile things to me, things so inappropriate that I refuse to repeat. He fights with other kids. If he weren't so awful I would feel sorry for him due to certain reasons I won't go into, but he makes it impossible to feel any sympathy towards him. Today he was sitting on the bookshelf next to the window, with the bottom half of the window open. I have to tell him at least once a day that he's not allowed to sit on the bookshelf, and I also have to tell him at least once a day not to open the bottom window (we only open the top window because when the bottom window is open people throw things out of it). He was also playing with this mini-skateboard toy that all the boys have now (and are so incredibly annoying). And he was not doing his work. So there's four things he was doing wrong all at once, and all this was after I told him multiple times what he should have been doing.
As he was playing with his skateboard, he pushed it too hard by mistake and it flew out the window. I just tilted my head back and laughed, and I didn't try to stop myself. He was not happy. I told him it was karma. He planned on going outside and getting the skateboard after school, but I went out during lunch and took it. When he looked for it out the window after lunch and didn't see it, I pretended I had no idea what happened to it. He's never getting it back. The incident probably shouldn't have made me laugh as hard as it did, but his skateboard flying out the window was a perfect punishment for everything he was doing wrong, and I didn't even have to do anything.

"I don't want to feel so different, but I don't want to be insignificant, and I don't know how to see the same things different now. Oh, could you see me? I'm one is a million. I am Icarus falling out of the sun. Could you see me fall in the light of spotlights and jackknife through night as black as a bedroom and white as a lie?" ~counting crows

Here's something funny I wanted to mention about the two albums I posted yesterday: I think it's interesting that they're both in digipak cases instead of the traditional plastic jewel cases. Someone on the official CCMB complained about the digipak case, and Adam responded to the complaint in his funniest voicemail ever. He said that they're more environmentally friendly, they look more like record cases, and the band actually had to pay extra (30 cents per album) to make those cases. I think it's great that he actually reads and responds to what we write. He calls us very unpleasant people very often, but I suspect he secretly likes the fact that we're just as unpleasant as he is because it gives him something to complain about. Here's an excerpt from his voicemail:

"So fuck off!!! It didn't save us money, you schmucks, it cost us money! God! You're the most hysterical group of fans ever. I fucking love you. No other band has fans as loyal or as looney as ours. I swear to God, it's unbelievable. I gotta go, I gotta go to bed. I'm just punchy. That was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. Do you know how angry I was that they made me pay those, they made me pay the 30 cents? I was so angry and I sucked it up...and you want a jewel case? Who the hell wants a jewel case?!?"

He was definitely punchy that night. And he had to wake up in less than 4 hours to do Good Morning America.

Last week Nic and I went to a screening of Young @ Heart. A long time ago, after I had seen a trailer for it, I mentioned it to Nic but couldn't remember the title, so I said, "You know, the movie with the old people..." and she immediately knew what I was talking about. I thought that was funny. Anyway, the movie was wonderful. It was funny and sad and touching. It has a 100% on rottentomatoes right now, which doesn't surprise me at all. If you haven't heard about it, it's a documentary about a chorus of elderly people who sing rock 'n' roll songs. I highly recommend seeing it when it comes out.

I've spent this weekend grading journals and papers. It takes so much time. If I spend 15 minutes per student, it takes about 6 hours total. That's a long time. And it gets so tedious that I'll grade 3 or 4 and then have to stop and take a break. Ugh.

"I'm okay. It's alright. Hey, look who's on TV tonight." ~counting crows

I felt like I had a lot to write about, but I can't think of anything really important right now. Fridays just drain me. Nicole asked me to go see The Princess Bride at the Loews Jersey with her tonight, but I'm way too exhausted. I think I'll put on a movie and relax. I also decided to take some random pictures.
Here is my bag that I brought home from school today, filled with some of my kids' journals. This is my weekend project: grading. The marking period ends on Monday, and I have an unbearably large amount of work to go through.

This is the stack of magazines that my grandmother just sent me (she sends them to me all the time) that I will probably never read. The box was so heavy I could hardly pick it up.

These are the two most recent albums I've bought and that I highly recommend you buy as well.

The first is Counting Crows' Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. It is one of the best new albums I've heard in a long time. In case you haven't picked up on it yet (from my tattoo, all the recent concerts and front row spots, Letterman, etc.), I am obsessed with Counting Crows. They are my favorite band in the world.
The second album is the debut from She & Him (Zooey Deschanel & M Ward). I was a huge fan of each of them before they teamed up, and this pairing is just beautiful. Deschanel's voice is gorgeous. She is the most talented actor-turned-singer I can think of right now.

I got a ticket to the opening of Boeing-Boeing on Broadway, and I cannot wait. The prospect of Bradley Whitford (!!!), Kathryn Hahn, Christine Baranski, Mary McCormack, and Mark Rylance all on the same stage is so incredibly exciting that I'm already counting down the days (and it's not until May 4th). The week before, I get to see Laura Linney onstage.

In case you missed me on Letterman on Monday, see if you can spot me in this screenshot.

"So if you think you need to go, if you wanted to be free, there's just one thing you need to know, and that's that you can't count on me. No, you can't count on me." ~counting crows

Letterman Taping Report:
Today I went to the best talk show live taping I've ever been to. I've been trying to get tickets to Letterman for ages and it's impossible; this has been the one show I've been dying to add to my list of tapings. Counting Crows played this particular show, and the band always gets a few tickets for their guests. The CCMB hosted a contest to give away two pairs of tickets. I lost, but one of the winners made his own contest to give away his one extra ticket. It was a limerick contest and I won! This guy was incredibly nice to give away his ticket like that. So I met him, the girl who won the other pair of tickets, and her guest at the Ed Sullivan Theatre this afternoon. I already knew the two people who won, because it is a small community of hardcore CC fans. It was cool to hang out with them. We were VIPs (we even had cool tickets saying "Guest of Talent" so we felt very special). We were in the front of the VIP line and were given the best seats in the theatre. The show was so much fun. Dave's monologue was hilarious. Demi Moore was the first guest, and she was good. She rambled on about leeches for awhile. Counting Crows were awesome. Of course they did "You Can't Count On Me." It was a great performance; they were definitely "on" and Adam was jumping around a lot. Immy saw us in the audience and gave us a grin and a nod as he was playing, which was exciting. We were getting really into it, but it was hard to restrain ourselves from standing up and singing along! We had to be satisfied with moving around in our seats and mouthing the words. Of course we knew all the words even though the album hasn't come out yet; I think that's how Immy spotted us, because I'm sure no one else in the audience was participating like we were. Adam dressed up slightly and traded his usual t-shirt in for a zip-up sweater. The bad part of the day was that I got a picture with Adam but my battery died as the picture was being taken so it didn't come out. I'm really bummed. But overall it was a very cool experience.
So here's my updated list of tapings I've been to:

The Late Show with David Letterman
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (twice)
The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live

"I may take a holiday in Spain, leave my wings behind me. Flush my worries down the drain, and fly away to somewhere new." ~counting crows

So I realize I've said this after the last two Counting Crows concerts I've been to, but last night's concert was really the best concert I've ever been to. Words cannot describe how fantastic it was. First of all, I got a prime spot standing in the center of the front row (I didn't think I could get a better spot than last time, but I did). Adam was spitting on me and I loved it. I love being able to make eye contact with the band as they're playing; it makes me feel connected to them and like I'm a part of the magical experience that's going on. I was fortunate enough to get my fab spot because I met up with people who got there to line up at 1:00pm (the concert started at 9:30pm). So the first fabulous thing was my spot.

The second fabulous thing was the setlist. It was so freakin' amazing. They opened with Goodnight L.A., which was a great surprise. They played what some of us have determined is the longest version of Goodnight Elisabeth ever played. Seriously. It must have been 15 minutes long. How many bands play 15-minute songs?! (ETA: I have the recording now and it was actually 17 minutes long, not even including the intro). AD just kept going into different alternates and I kept expecting him to segue back into Goodnight Elisabeth but then he'd pull in another song. During Goodnight Elisabeth they played alternate lyrics from I Guess it's Christmas Coming Down, Pale Blue Eyes(!!!), and It's Alright. I couldn't get enough of it; I didn't want the song to end (I LOVE GNE). They played a great version of Round Here with Have You Seen Me Lately alternates AND Radiation Vibe alternates. They played Anna Begins. They played acoustic Miami. They played A Long December (with my fave "I am feathered" A Murder of One alternates, including the great line "I have wings" thrown in there). They played all my favorite songs from the new album (1492, Los Angeles, When I Dream of Michelangelo, Washington Square). And they closed with my favorite song, Holiday in Spain. It was nearly perfect. I could not believe it. Oh, and I got one of Dan's guitar pics, which was exciting!
They played for over 2.5 hours; it didn't end until after midnight. Adam was drinking and was definitely drunk by the end of the concert, but he was still at the top of his game. The band has had such a high level of intensity and energy at the New York shows they've played in the past few months, and I am so fortunate to have seen that (and in such small, intimate venues). I know I am so incredibly lucky.

I got three hours of sleep last night, so I'm pretty exhausted. Tonight Nic and I went to an Irish bar to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but we went early and didn't stay for more than a couple of hours because I really need to get to bed. So now I need to get a few things ready for tomorrow, take a shower, and then collapse. This is going to be a difficult week, but luckily I have Friday off.

My pictures from the concert (videos to come later this week).