Blah, Blah, yakkity schmack...

As some of you may have noticed, I try to stay moderately positive on this blog. It would be incredibly easy for this blog to end up a huge, festering pit, filled to the brim with Missy complaints. I have a relatively worry-free life and the last thing people want to hear is how a suburban teacher didn't get a lunch break on March 26nd, 2006. HOWEVER, I'm only human and I assure you this is the first and last post focused solely on a negative subject. This list will be constructed with one restriction only: politics. 'Cause politics is a whole other list on its own, and I'm not about to unleash that monster amongst my loyal and friendly readers. So, here we are, let the negativity begin:

*5 Things I'm Sick of*

1. Forensic Crime Solving Shows - I'll admit, I really liked one or two of them when they first came out. But now the craze has caught on, multiplied, and grown tiresome. I've seen enough autopsy scenes to last me a lifetime.

2. Jennifer Love Hewitt - What sick, evil force is helping maintain this woman's career in entertainment? Just when I think she's disappeared from my life, she'll come out with a painful new album, or a horrible new TV show. A few years ago, I was simply indifferent toward her. But as soon as I found out that she portrayed Miss Audrey Hepburn (my favorite actress of all-time) in a made-for-tv movie, she shot straight to #1 on Missy's Poo List. My favorite actress being played by my least favorite actress; *sigh*...what a cruel joke.

3. Target - I have a feeling I'm about to get a whole lotta crap for this one, as I have many friends who are major Target enthusiasts. But hear me out, people. Just ONCE I'd like to buy a gallon of milk or a bottle of mouthwash without getting suckered into buying 10 other things! If I have one or two items in my hand, and I'm standing next to a glorious display of Milano cookies by the register, you'd better believe I'm buying those cookies. If it's Missy vs. Milano cookies, the cookies are going to win every time.

4. Cheese - I'm normally a huge cheese fiend. And I never thought I'd find myself saying, "I've had enough cheese, for now". But I guess everyone's got their breaking point, and I guess I've reached mine. It's not that I'm going to completely cut cheese out of my daily diet, I'm just not going to place it atop of EVERYTHING that enters my belly.

5. My CD collection - I've been listening to the same CD's/Mp3's for the past two years, and while I'm still in love with several of these albums, I'm so very ready for some new music in my life. Music and DVD's are my one spending weakness, but I'm trying to save money right now so I don't see any new music in my immediate future.

Well, have a great rest-of-the-week everyone, and keep the comments coming!!

Writing/beef taco

I enjoy writing. I may not be all that good at it, but I enjoy it. However, this remains true only if I'm allowed to write sporadically and without deadline. I've always hated creative writing teachers who made me write everyday. I have a sort of, "if you can't do it well, don't do it", stubborness to my character. So if I feel that I'm going to write crap that particular day, I just avoid writing altogether. I realize this is not a healthy philosophy; I just can't help it.

Today, for example, is a day that I feel I have nothing interesting to share with my fellow human beings. Since it's summer break and I'm no longer teaching, I have more time on my hands, however I have less to write about. Honestly, do you all want to hear me drone on about the beef taco I had for lunch? Or are you all just dying to read paragraphs and paragraphs on how I couldn't, for the life of me, remember how to spell the word, "sporatically"? Not so much.

Conflict is what creates a story. Reality TV producers know this a little too well, which is why you'll never see a calm, rational person on, "The Apprentice: Season 9". However, if I were a cracker-jack writer, and if reality TV producers had one quarter of an average sized-brain, conflict would no longer be an issue. If I were Shakespeare, the consumption of my beef taco would have equal dramatic pull to... say,... the apocalypse: "For I ne'er tasted true beauty 'til this night!"

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I guess I'm just forcing myself to write in a time when the creativity gods are not smiling down on me. The Conan O'Brien show is now over, the Carson Daly show has just started and I've been too preoccupied to change the channel. Alas, a ray of optimism has just struck me. Whenever I feel particularly mediocre and creatively bankrupt, all I have to do to lift my spirits is remind myself: "Atleast I'm not Carson Daly, atleast I'm not Carson Daly...".

Quacky, quacky!

So as the school year comes to an end, it occurs to me more and more how much I'm really going to miss a lot of these kids. And something that happened in class yesterday inspired Number One on this list.
Note: this is not a top 5 all time, just a few that came to mind after the initial inspiration.

5 Great Sounds

1. A big group of 1st grade kids laughing.
It sounds a lot like a bunch of baby ducks quacking. I can't help but laugh with them.

2. Cello
It's such a melancholy sound.

3. The sound of someone (anyone) reading Dr. Seuss
Smart things being said through nonsense words. Plus it takes me back. Great stuff.

4. John Lennon's voice
It's not technically impressive by any means, and it's not soothing or terribly unique. But whenever I hear it I know it's a voice that spoke/sang long before I was born, and will be heard long after I'm dead. Pretty amazing.

5. The clapping of a hard-cover book being closed
I dunno, I just like it.