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(4 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) I have seen Transformers Animated.... [09 Jul 2009|08:54pm] [ mood | fan-girly ] And it is good. Well. Okay. So I'm skipping the whole meltdown I had in the beginning, but in the end? I am 'tolerating', with an inkling of heading towards 'like'. At first I was all like, 'DOOD, what did they do to OPTIMUS? He's like, I dunno - Sam Winchester robotocized, or something.' You know, all scholarly and history-buff-like, and that gentle little voice. No. NO. And Prowl - what. The. HELL? Prowl is a stick in the mud, cop-bot who is married to Jazz, yes he IS, SHUT UP is known for being steadfast, loyal, and logical. He is NOT the reincarnation of Spiderman 2099 with the new and improved ninja add-ons. He is Prime's right hand man-err, BOT, and he does NOT backtalk to Optimus. You get a huge, 18-wheeler tread to the head when you do that. So you don't do that. But he did, and I smacked the monitor for showing me these things. Bad monitor. Bumblebee. *opens mouth to rant and rave and then gives up* Is ridiculously cute. You know all those Trans-fans claiming that Bee is everyone's little brother? Well, now he IS. That's all I got. Ratchet - is old, and crotchety, and snarky, and threatens - and well, hell, he's just like the '84 series. And on permanent, mechanical PMS. If one can envision such a thing. Yes. And no remake of a classical childhood favorite is complete without the appearance of a brand new character or twenty. Bulkhead is a dumbed-down bastardized version of Ironhide, or maybe Huffer. No, Huffer was an annoying little SOB. I don't like him. He reminds me of the big guy from Mummies Alive. Mixed with Huffer. Yeah, there we go.  And Black Arachnia, well, I still say robots don't have genders and even if they did, why does a mechanical being require breasts when they do not give birth to their young? But no one listens to me, carry on. Starscream is love as always. I don't care how he is drawn, portrayed, or advertised - I love my scheming, lying, betraying widdle F-14. Decepticons are cool. They FLY. Jets are always going to be cooler than cars. ....unless the series later on introduces Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and then my loyalties are switching back to the Autobots. Speaking of twins, I finally saw Transformers 2: Return of the Fallen. So many things I liked, but I will - for ONCE - agree with the masses: I hate those stupid, sorry-excuses for substitute twins they used. Sideswipe was PERFECTLY portrayed (for the like, three seconds he got to shine in his on light) - why couldn't they bring in Sunny and keep the Lambos a team?? Why on earth did the writers feel the need to create new bots when there are so many awesome - and as of yet, unused - characters still remaining? And such STUPID bots as well.  I have hope for movie three still - maybe Sunny will be brought in. And Hound. And oh my god, if they put Tracks on the big screen, accent and all, I think I will be able to die happy. Lastly, I had to cheer when I saw the opening scene taking place in Shanghai. I watched the battle taking place by the Oriental Pearl Tower and went, 'DUDE! They're on Lujiazui road!!!' PS - Devastator sucked, pun not intended. I want purple and green Constructicons plz, thx.

(18 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) In the wilds of the Seaway Mall... [03 Jul 2009|05:31pm] I hunted. I stalked. I was attacked. And I was tortured. But I emerged the victor. It was horrible - horrible I say!  I moved into the territory like the predator I thought I was - but soon became prey. The ruler of their domain, they came at me from all sides, wielding their tape measures like nunchucks and giving me evil smirks full of gleaming sharp teeth, roaring their battle cry - "Can I help you?" There was no escape. I was lassoed by a tape measure, and then dragged towards the beasts lair. Restraints of all shapes and sizes were flung at me, and then they stuffed me into a small box and told me not to come out until I'd tried all their torture devices. I was scratched by rough fabric,  squeezed and choked into submission. Evil cackles came from outside my cage - "How does it fit?" they shouted gleefully. "We have other colors too!" I called out for help but my friend australia_rulz was at their mercy. "Try this," she sobbed, tossing more restraints over the walls of my cage. In her mind, she was helping me, but really, she was assistnig my tormentors. Red marks were appearing on my arms, my shoulders. It was getting hard to breathe. I thougth I'd never escape. I fought free of the cage, fended off the predators by throwing wads of cash at them. I grabbed Jaime's arm and pulled her free of another predator's clutches who shrieked in fury, angered at the loss of her prey, and she bounded after us, screaming, "But they're all 35% off right now!" We broke free of their territory and escaped into the sunlight. It was a close call. But we made it. The scars will heal. The memories will fade. Dude, I HATE bra shopping. :D

(7 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Made it one piece! [30 Jun 2009|10:47am] Sorry for taking so long to report that the flight was completely uneventful. Jet lag? For those of you fortunate enough to never experience it? Sucks. Completely and totally. Made it through South Korea to Toronto and spent an hour in baggage claim panicking that they'd forgotten my bags. Finally the call went up that the last of the bags had gone through and I started to freak because mine wasn't there. An attendant came over and said they had a bag near the back wall - it was mine. Apparently someone took it off the conveyer belt thinking it was theirs, and then after realizing their mistake, put it ON THE GROUND instead of back on the belt. What the hell?? Anyway, my aunt and uncle came to pick me up again - it's become something of a tradition, and since this is really the only time get to see them, its a tradition I like. :D I'll be in Welland this Thursday/Friday and I'll be flying to Ottawa at some point - just need to check a few more airlines to make sure I'm saving as much as I possibly can. Yes, I'm cheap when it comes to certain things. Can't wait to see the Niagara region peoples. :D

(10 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) So I learned a few things today, [26 Jun 2009|02:19pm] [ mood | annoyed ] 1. If you start to cook something, REMEMBER you are cooking it. 2. Steamed dumplings very easily turn into cooked dumplings. 3. The wooden bamboo steamer CAN burn, despite the water. 4. And will continue to burn after you turn the heat off. 5. A pot that has boiled dry  STINKS. And won't come clean. 6. My apartment has no smoke detector. 7. I should have bought a 2nd pot earlier. Now I have no pot. *is sad* But I still have a wok! *perks up*

(13 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Grade 4 [26 Jun 2009|10:56am] [ mood | amused ] ( Not as image heavy as the 5's but lots of stories! )

(Wield a chopstick!) Ze yearly departure check list! [25 Jun 2009|11:26am] [ mood | busy ] This has become a habit over the past few years. So here we go again! As I complete each task over the next 48-72 hours, I will check it off here, in an effort to stay organized and keep myself on track: - finish decluttering living room - dust tables, tv and desk - sweep floors - wash floors - wash dog blankets - wash couch blankets - clean toilet - clean shower - wash towels - scrub kitchen cupboards - clean stovetop - do dishes' - empty fridge - pack ruthie's things - pack hermione's things - drop off Hermione at Emma's - drop off Ruthie at office - last minute meeting re: summer camp

(7 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) VINDICATION!!!!!! [25 Jun 2009|08:38am] [ mood | ecstatic ] Ten years. OVER TEN YEARS. I and a large group of loyal fans have been swearing up, down, left and right Rictor and Shatterstar, of X-Force fame, were a couple. So many hints dropped over the years (hell, I even did a writeup for them over at ship_manifesto) and then the books dropped the whole angle. Shatterstar disappeared and Rictor.. well, he went through a whole lotta hell in a handbasket. But then last month 'Star made his return, and over at ricstar , guesses went up over what this could signify, what would happen to old dropped storylines etcm etc, and then the wonderful, fabulous zully posted this page scan from (V2) X-Force #45: ( OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!! ) !!!!!! (am still not a fan of the artist 'cause he makes everyone look ugly, but WHO CARES?!?!?) Because I'm on a proxy system, I'm having a hell of a time posting links from proxied sites like LJ, so all credit for the scan goes to zully, who has made the day of all ricstar fangirls. :D Ten freaking years we've been saying it, almost 12 really, when you think about it.... I am so hoping this revitalizes the fandom and we see a new crop of fanficcers get out there and DOCUMENT THIS! :D I have other things to post, I know, but I just had to do this first. :D

(22 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Final class on the final day of my final year at my school. [21 Jun 2009|01:26pm] [ mood | mellow ] Grade 5 pics and stories: ( Image heavy, memory-laden SAP under the cut.... ) Grade 4's and 3's to be posted eventually.

(1 stab | Wield a chopstick!) Idle thoughts... [19 Jun 2009|09:21pm] [ mood | tired ] I still haven't quite wrapped my brain around the fact that my classes are finished. Partly because I still have my Qingpu class tomorrow, the KE classes on Sunday, and a business meeting/trip to Hangzhou on Monday (office called and told me about it today). But my actual classes, my 'bread-and-butter' so to speak, are finished. Kaput. DONE. I've had those kids for 5 years. They're MINE and now they're gone. Some of them I'll see again on Saturday mornings next year, but not all of them. I've watched them grow from teeny tiny grade 1's and now they're almost teenagers and dude, see, I don't need to have kids 'cause I've already gone through the parenting experience vicariously through my job. ^_^ They're different too. They're not shy, or timid, like other Chinese students. They don't nod blindly when told something - they question and push for more answers. They're sarcastic in a country that doesn't know what sarcasm IS, and I know that all of this is due to having me around every week day for the last 5 years. Of the 20 I had, at least 14 of them are going to go on to do great things. They're too sharp not to. But at the same time I see how much like me they are in attitude, it's little things like what happened today that reminds me that they are still different, still Chinese at heart. Things like eating the cupcakes I baked and gave out today. All of them loved them, and all of them looked wide-eyed at me and asked 'how could you make these things?' I said I baked them, and the light still didn't go off in their heads. Happy explained that to them, someone who makes cupcakes, or cookies, is someone who has gone to school for it (a baker or chef) or is working at a restaurant. As I am their teacher, I am obviously not a restaurant worker, and so they were completely astounded that I could do these things. It's different from cooking. Cooking, they get. but baking - actual baked goods that we grow up around, is something foreign in concept and in practice. No one here grows up sneaking cookie dough from under mom's watchful eye; no one squabbles with siblings over who gets to lick the stir spoons, or who gets to scrape the last bits out of the bowl. They've never mixed food coloring into icing, trying to see if it really will turn black if you mix all the colors together, and they've never put sprinkles on sugar cookies. I gave them all the recipe because they asked, but only 3 of them have small counter-top ovens in their homes, so they won't really be able to try it out. I can't even imagine my childhood without these things. Still, they were happy to know the process, and of course, even happier to eat the end result, so it all works out. :D I had a few cryers, a few snifflers, but it was all in all a very quiet finish. I received lots of small gifts from my students that I hauled home with half my classroom stuff (need to go back tomorrow after Qingpu for the rest) and on June 28th I fly to Canada for a month of vacation. Then it's back here to get ready for my job I start on the 17th, as the Supervisor of all the foreign teachers. It's official - H even called me today to verify my information for the business cards the office is having made for me. J has mentioned working on an office for me. I am officially in charge. Freaking scary thoughts, no? :D My fiend Dawn - <lj user="silentmyriad"> was here from Hawaii for a few days (she rejoined her group Wednesday afternoon and is now off to Yellow Mountain and then to Beijing) and I have pics to post from her time here, but I'll do that later. I need to finish lesson planning for tomrorow's classes and then go to bed. ^__^

(21 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Stupid evil people are STUPID and EVIL. [11 Jun 2009|09:40pm] [ mood | angry ] You know, I had to actually stop myself from writing this earlier. 'Cause anything I wrote was gonna be tinged with an angry red haze, and well, my language kinda hits the gutter and keeps going down when I'm less than happy with the general world. Yesterday's demo? Went off without a hitch. Which, in my mind, is some kind of goddamned miracle considering it took an hour and a half to coax my terrified kids into coming along. Were they scared of performing in front of 200 people? Well, if I go by their enthusiastic response from the day before, then no. They've done these kinds of demos a thousand times. They've done them on TV, in front of crowds OVER 200, in front of photographers, family members, government officials and foreigners from all over the world. They were terrified of their teacher. Specifically, their Chinese home-room teacher. We were supposed to leave at 1:00. I was outside waiting, they weren't. I got a call from  H at 1:15 and she told me there was a problem and she was coming down to discuss it. When she arrived, she told me that the demo was still on, but now the kids didn't want to go to it. Frankly, I was stunned. These kids LOVE to perform. "Mandy," J added, looking troubled. "Kitty and Happy were crying." Okay. I stormed past them and headed upstairs with my entourage of office people/ The kids were brought out and we went into another room to discuss what was going on. Apparently, their Chinese teacher had THREATENED and INTIMIDATED them into saying they didn't want to go. The Chinese staff from the office went first and talked to them calmly. Kitty was sitting off to the side, tears pouring down her face. She was dead white from fear. I told her to come sit with me and she grabbed my hand like it was a freaking lifeline. what the hell happened? Apparently the teacher had yelled at them, threatened them with negative marks or comments on their end of the year reports, all because they were going to miss her class for the day. And for what? Because MY classes are nothing, because this demo was all about making money for the company, and apparently nothing at all to do with the fact that they are our star students and their PARENTS were THRILLED to have their kids go along. I was livid. And the office person wasn't helping - using a gentler approach but essentially still guilt-tripping them - "We really hope you can come, we planned this for you, we need you," etc, etc. I cut her of and told everyone to get out. The kids were discussing it amongst themselves, and we - the office - were going to talk to the Headmaster again(who apparently had no idea what was going on) and we offered a private tutor for them to make up the classes they would miss (using my class time tomorrow and on Monday). I almost left too but  the kids asked me to stay and talk to them. They were scared - absolutely terrified that their teacher would take it out on them if they chose to go. Apparently she said that if they went, they would not be welcome in her class anymore. Emotional blackmail for the fucking win, y/n? Long story short, there was more tears, many comforting hugs offered, reassurances given, and my personal assurances that nothing they chose to do would ever make me upset. If they decided not to go because of their teacher, then they would stay behind with my full support and blessing. To hell with the company and everyone else. These kids are under intense pressure and this was just one more thing added to the pile and I could just THROTTLE their homeroom teacher. The parents had given the trip the green light. The headmaster had originally said yes when we told him about it 3 weeks ago. The kids wanted to go. The office wanted it. Everyone was in full support except her, and she punished THEM for it. The kids had nothing to do with it. WE were the ones who arranged the whole thing. If the homeroom teacher was 'so concerned' for her students as she claimed, she should have made her complaints to ME or the company, or the headmaster. You. Do. NOT. Emotionally blackmail CHILDREN for something over which they have little to no control. Only VERY STUPID PEOPLE do this. And if you are exceptionally stupid, well then, you do it in front of ME. The kids talked it out together  - a brainstorming session that astonished the people there (H told me later she was stunned at the way they were talking it out together and working out a solution they could all live with. She said she could definitely see bits of ME in their speech (Chinese, but still) and that usually Chinese kids just do as their told, not negotiating like they were) and mutually decided to do the demo, have the catchup sessions with the tutor, and basically stand together against her. In LinAn they had a good time, they beat the high school students in their verbal tennis match, and their debate was a tie, which made me very happy. I didn't see them today, but I will tomorrow, and I intend to make sure that their teacher hasn't done anything to them. I can't get over how pathetically SAD this situation is. I had a few teachers I didn't particularly like in high school (especially the one that made the snide comment about me apparently having no life because I like to read history books), but never EVER did I fear any of them - especially at the level I saw yesterday. Teachers were always at the back of my head as a safe haven - if you needed help as a last resort, or even as a first resort if you were so lacking. What I saw yesterday both enraged me and broke my heart. But you know, as much as I want to drop kick Miss Pang off the side of the school building, a very small part of me wishes to thank her. After what I saw, I solemnly vow I will never, EVER put my students into a situation like that. I will strive not to guilt-trip or blackmail them and will encourage them to always do what they think is best for themselves first. And I will NEVER hold it against them if they are pressured by others to do something negative to what I say or do - at the very LEAST, i want to be someone they can confide in, and make sure they know there is at least one teacher who is always on their side.  I will be seeing most of these kids in my Saturday advanced class next year, but even those I don't have, DO have my email address. What is common for us in North America - being able to go to an authority figure for help - is something very lacking here. Parents exact huge amounts of pressure for their kids to be the best. Teachers threaten them. The police don't give a damn.  I didn't think much of Kitty coming to me and grabbing my arm as hard as she could - I was upset at the sight of her trying not to bawl in front of the group - but again, apparently students just don't do that in China, and the fact that my kids felt so comfortable with me that they were able to let down their guard (even with strangers there) was just unheard of. Which explains why teenage suicide rates are still so high here. I think I still have a lot of work to do here.

(22 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) [illustrations] for work. [07 Jun 2009|11:34pm] [ mood | tired ] So my life is hectic and crazy enough right? Nope. Let's add in some additional work. Office: "So we want you to illustrate the new textbooks. We'll pay you XXX amount." Stormy: "Uhhh... I'm already doing this, that and the other thing." Office: "What about XXXX amount?" Stormy: "When do you want them?" Turns out they need 28 specific sketches by Tuesday. Around meetings, lesson prep, teaching (every day, yes, including Saturday AND Sunday)  AND getting ready for the demo/show this Wednesday, I've been doing sketches for them and yes, I'm posting them here for some feedback about whether or not you can recognize what each picture represents easily. If you can't, neither will the kids. ^^ ( Pics under the cut. )

(4 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Videos! [30 May 2009|02:50pm] [ mood | amused ] Finally started getting some more videos uploaded to Facebook. ;D Shaoxing: Videos taken during the time of the Demo from Hell (TM). Video 1 - we're in the car, the kids are insane, and Hallen tries desperately to convince us she's actually going to do better than last place in her video game. Which, for the record, has never, and will never happen. :D Video 2 - on the pedicab with Happy! Happy is always fun to chat with, especially when you're being cycled around town. ( More video under the cut. )

(8 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Shaoxing Demo, May 22, 2009 [27 May 2009|08:07pm] [ mood | busy ] The demo may have been from hell, but the kids are always fun. :D Am having trouble with the lj-cut. Forgive me. ( Read more... )</div> The end. :D</div>

(12 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Okay, gotta rant. [25 May 2009|08:35am] [ mood | bitchy ] This past Friday, we had another teacher-training demo in Shaoxing, a very old city about three hours south west of Shanghai. This was the second demo P and I were to do, so one would think it would be even more of a success than our first one. Yeah. Right. How these demo's work, is P explains the theories of why and how to teach something (don't even get me started on present-continuous what-EVERS) and then I demo games that make it easy and interesting to teach these concepts. Back and forth, that's how it went during the first one, and we had a great time, with a great response. It was fun, the teachers got involved, my kids were awesome, and we got lots of great feedback. Cut to this past Friday. For starters, my students and I could have stayed freaking HOME for the first hour. P took over the whole thing, talking for almost the entire time, and only asking me to demo a few sentences - not games, just have my kids stand up and repeat back a few questions and answers. It was POINTLESS. Then, for the last twenty minutes, he turned it over to me saying *I* was going to explain the last few things, and then basically sat back and stared out the window (he didn't even pretend to pay attention - I had to say his name to get his attention TWICE). Excuse me? I have no problem explaining things, but you have to tell me IN ADVANCE. There is a huge difference in explaining teaching techniques to foreigners who speak the same language, and Chinese English teachers - most of whom had never even MET a foreigner in real life before, much less listened to one lecture them. It takes precise, clear and structured formatting - none of which I had ready. I *know* i heard a few in the back going 'xi miensa' (bad pingyin, going phoentically) which means 'What's the meaning' or 'what the hell is this lady talking about?' And my kids? Did pretty much nothing. it was BORING for EVERYONE. But let's not stop there. We had planned this to be a day trip. The kids - Happy, Hallen, Kitty and Jerry - had been disappointed that they couldn't see more of Lin'an when we were there last month, so this month, we decided they would get to do a bit of sight-seeing before we headed back to Shanghai. This was planned weeks ago, and we were all in agreement this was a good thing. The idea was to head back to Shanghai at 7pm. P tried joking about it as soon as we were done lunch - "If you guys (being H, who was in charge)  wanna cancel the site-seeing, I'm sure no one will complain." Um, I would. So would the kids, and I told him that. So he sulked the entire time we were biked around the ancient city on these little pedi-cabs, grumping and basically ignoring us the whole time. Jerry had sit with him in the pedicab and apparently P wouldn't talk to him. Can we say immature? And P is in his early 60's! But the final straw? It was about 6:35 when we got back to where the van was. The kids wanted to make one last trip to the little stores nearby. so H and I took them. Then, at about 6:45, we were heading back, when H and I both realized we'd better hit the restrooms before getting into the van for a 3 hour drive. We turned to head back to the restaurant, and that's when P braced himself against the guardrail along the river and screamed at us: "SO WILL WE BE GOING BACK TO SHANGHAI ANYTIME TODAY OR WHAT? LET'S GO!" The kids froze, thinking it was their fault. I was PISSED and yelled back, 'We're going to the frigging bathroom P. You really think I'm gonna ask your permission for that? Just. Freaking .WAIT.' Well, needless to say he was pissed off even more, and refused to speak to any of us for the 3 hour ride home. Big surprise. Look, I get that he has a 3 month old he's anxious to get back to. I realize he has to work the next morning. But damnit, so did I - in fact, I had it worse than him 'cause I had to be up by 6 to be out the door for 6:45 to get to my Qingpu class. And H had to work at 9am too, so it's not like he was the only one who would have a rough day. AND HE *KNEW* we were doing sight-seeing. HE *KNEW* we'd leave at 7pm. This was NOT sprung on him. In fact, it was supposed to be a 2-day trip and we cut it back to one because he complained. To shout at us like that was like treating all of us as children. Don't you DARE do that to me. I don't give a DAMN if you're old enough to be my father - I am your CO-WORKER, and you WILL treat me with respect. Usually my conscience gives me a twinge when I shout back at people, but I refuse to feel guilty. He obviously had problems about being rude and obnoxious - I refuse to feel guilty about being rude in return. In fact, we have a meeting tonight about a new demo, and I ain't doing it unless we get a couple of things straight about proper behaviour, how you address issues you have with the itinerary (i.e, discuss it like an adult instead of screaming like a fucking two year old having a temper tantrum), and going over in detail HOW we are going to do this damn thing. I am so sick of his attitude. (and while I hate to throw my weight around, if it came down to it, it ain't me who'll be let go due to problems working with each other. You've got LOTS of complaints against you P - some of which I even defended you against, which you don't know. Not anymore asshole.)

(12 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Rice Krispie Squares [21 May 2009|01:12pm] [ mood | amused ] 'Splain please.  I made Rice Krispie Squares for my Grade 4 class (yes, the class giving me mental fits at the moment with all the added prep I need to do) and had to go to the official site for the recipe. I mean, I know the ingredients, I just wanted to be sure of amounts. The number of people on the site commenting about having problems making this was STAGGERING. "It sticks to everything!" "It got all over the kitchen!" Ummm.. it's made of MARSHMALLOW. Of COURSE it's going to be sticky! *smacks idiots repeatedly* i can't believe people are afraid of letting ME near their kitchens. At least I can understand common sense things that SHOULD NOT NEED TO BE EXPLAINED. And why do people think they need to stick their hands in the bowl to make this? One lady mentioned buttering EVERYTHING, including the pots, the spoons, the trays - and her ARMS up to her ELBOWS WTF - and she still complained it made a giant mess. Okay, 4 cups'a mini-mallows inna pot. Two big spoons'a butter. Melt, while continuously stirring (I used a chopstick). 6 cups'a cereal inna 'nudder bowl. Pour mallow mix into the cereal. Use a big spoon and stir the heck out of it until all the 'Krispies are coated. Dip spoon in cold water, spoon inna greased pan, flatten with back'a da spoon (dip in more water as it gets sticky) and shove it into the tiny space in the fridge you managed to clear for it. Allow to set. Refrain from eating all of it right away. Give up as lost cause and eat entire tray. Repent at leisure. THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE PEOPLE.

(2 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Busy, busy, busy.... [20 May 2009|10:03pm] [ mood | busy ] wash the dishes finish the laundry mop the floors (desperately needed) de-clutter kitchen table and the floor finish review lesson plan for tests this week conduct 80 oral tests finish marking those damn report cards (80 of 120 due this week  I got a reprive! Not due until June 14th!!!) live demo in Shaoxing w/Paddy and the kids this Friday finish lesson plan for next Sunday's writing classes (2) (9:15 to 11:15) finish lesson plan for Saturday's classes (Qingpu, 7am-2pm) pick up more pots and soil (reimbursed) for class pick up copy of 'Sister Act 2' to show kids samples of pop/gospel music Just spent an hour putting together a pc presentation for tomorrow's grade 4 class. We're learning about the world and the people in it, so they get to try new ethnic foods, and play games that come from other countries. They fill info in on a chart, like the name of the countries, the continent it's on, the languages they speak, what the people are called, draw a pic of their flag, point it out on a map, and for food, they describe the taste, the appearance etc. They love it because it's such a hands-on, tactile lesson, but it means double the work for me. >.< Especially since tomorrow they get to sample rice krispie squares. Which means I have to make them. I thought about doing it tonight but In no longer care about it. I'll do it in the morning - I don't teach until 2:00, and RKS's set in less than 30 minutes. ;D I doodled this in between classes the other day as a thank you for eliyes and colored it/posted it last night on the ricstar comm. She wrote me Teddy Bear fic for my Rictor pic 'Apology.' You can check out the pic and read the story here.] But as I was saing, here is the pic I did in return: She wanted Tabitha, by crikey, she shall HAVE Tabitha. :D  I'd feel sorry for Sunspot, but I never did like Roberto. Live demo this Friday. Hallen called me last night and said she couldn't go because of a meeting her teacher wanted her to attend on Friday. She wanted to know if we could reschedule. Yes, we're going to cancel a demo planned two weeks ago, reschedule all the teachers who booked Friday off to attend, and shuffle our schedules around just for you. I love this kid, really, but the world does not revolve around her, no matter HOW good her English is, and I told her flat out if she couldn't go, I was gonna bring Kitty. She was aghast at the thought of being replaced. and said she'd check with her mom and her teacher. She confirmed today she can go. I knew she would. Brat. My head aches from two hours of mind-numbing research for theg G4's and trying to reformat the mangled mess that is the oral test J sent me in .rar format  - which my computer grinned gleefully at, gulped it down and threw it up at me filled with binary code and weird symbols I don't recognize.  .doc, office, .DOC. THIS is what my computer can read. Away from me with .rar files! I managed to get two more pics outlined - one of our classes today was rescheduled, meaning YAY, 35 MINUTE BREAK. I doodled. I do this a lot.  They shall be posted on my dreamwidth fanfic/fanart account located here, on the off-chance anyone is interested. :D  And on ricstar too, of course. Am full from dinner. Mmmm, gnocchies. They are my new favorite food now.  Early bed, I think. :D

(10 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) Another (failed) rescue attempt. [18 May 2009|10:32pm] [ mood | pensive ] After bringing home a pair of foster kitties from the vet, two of our foster parents accidentally dropped the cage they were in when they were getting out of the taxi. It shattered, they scattered, and BOOM - instant calling of all SCAA people's to come and join a search party. Since it was 7:30 at night, that meant it was pitch black, so we were all armed with flashlights and tins of smelly cat treats. We also wound up crawling through vents and 5 of us, myself included, wound up climbing over several fences following Dexter (one of the 2). We saw both of them but couldn't catch them, so Lee-anne baited her humane catch-and-release cage. We set it up and locked it to the bike shed - the foster parents are gonna check it every two hours over the night ad climbed out to the applause of a dozen amused local residents who were utterly confounded at the number of laowais worried about lost cats. Poor babies. They must be so scared and confused. Anyway, meme time. And HELLS YES: </form> Your Transformer Sue by ravenclaw_devi User name You are a... Triple-changer Your color scheme black as night Your optics twin ruby flames Your special power time-travel Your attitude superbitch Your love interest Prowl Your weakness Weakness? What weakness? You will... Make Optimus forget Elita I ain't changing a thing, dude. Except maybe Prowl 'cause Jazz would get SO jealous, but I'll risk it if I can keep everything else. Black paint job! Bad ass! TIME TRAVELING TRIPLE CHANGER!!!! HELL YEAH! I am SO saving Screamer's life! *nodsnodsnods*

(14 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) [fan art] PoT and WK chibis [17 May 2009|05:08pm] [ mood | hungry ] Checklist time. Things I need to accomplish this week. Yay: wash the dishes finish the laundry mop the floors (desperately needed) de-clutter kitchen table finish review lesson plan for tests this week conduct 80 oral tests finish marking those damn report cards (80 of 120 due this week) live demo in Shaoxing w/Paddy and the kids this Friday finish lesson plan for next Sunday's writing classes (2) (9:15 to 11:15) finish lesson plan for Saturday's classes (Qingpu, 7am-2pm) pick up more pots and soil (reimbursed) for class pick up copy of 'Sister Act 2' to show kids samples of pop/gospel music I'm making the most of the rest of my Sunday. I got home at 1pm after my creative writing classes this morning, and I have been watching Simpsons, sketching, and reading fanfics for the last 4 hours. :D ( Kamio says, 'You MUST look under the cut. You MUST.' ) I'm thinking pasta for dinner tonight. ^___^

(3 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) [fan art] Rictor/Shatterstar (X-Force) - Yes, AGAIN. Shut UP. :D [16 May 2009|09:43pm] [ mood | tired ] I think I may have mentioned this once or twice before, but I totally blame twbasketcase for my obsession with all things RicStar. I mean, she wrote all those fics, and then she put a website together starring my boys that I CANNOT STAY AWAY FROM, so yes, these stupid little comics are ALL HER FAULT.  And like everyone else, she is not repentant. At ALL. Shatterstar does not know how to share (or play nicely with others, for that matter). But as I detest Rahne (post-Excalibur Rahne, that is), I encourage his violence: ( Jealousy part the First. ) And then on the other hand, Rictor is just as bad. :D   ( Jealousy part the Second. ) Crappy sketching (five mins tops) and equally crappy coloring, but fun to do. I have another one nearly finished but I'm going to bed now. I'll finish it in the morning.

(9 stabs | Wield a chopstick!) [fan art] Shawn/Diesel and Ric/Star [14 May 2009|09:30pm] [ mood | amused ] twbasketcase requested Ric touching Shatterstar's hair. I don't think this was what she expected, but it was the first thing that came to my mind. :D ( Well, technically there IS touching of hair.... ) Sketch time: 5 minutes. Color time: 10 minutes.  Crappy but quick. ;D Then wispykitty BROKE my BRAIN with bad Shawn/Diesel fic (which can be seen in the comments under my entry entitled 'fanwork updates' - about 4 posts down, I believe). As a result, she challenged me to draw a pocky picture (which she DOESN'T DESERVE because she BROKE my BRAIN). ( What's this about strawberry pocky? ) Sketch time: 5 minutes.  Color time: 10 minutes. As crappy as the one above it, but I don't care. :D What do you expect for 5 minutes with no reference pics?

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