Can You Really Define "Dirty"?

So Roonie tagged Sarah and now Sarah got to me. I have been tagged and now I must dutifully share my ten dirty secrets, though I stand by my opinion that my secrets are far more "nerdy" than dirty, don't judge me!


10. I didn't have a boyfriend until I was 21, and he was kind of crappy.

9. I want to send a card into PostSecret but I am afraid my card won't be as clever or artistic as everyone else.

8. I have always been jealous of one of my sisters. Though I have always been the driven and achieving one, she has always been the skinny and attractive one. I know that my life is accomplished and well rounded yet, I wish for just one day I could fit into her clothes and be the "hot" one.

7. I have only truly hated one person in my life, and she is married to my husband's brother. This makes for awkward Thanksgivings.

6. I got caught shop lifting at The Pharm when I was 12. It was the first and last time I tried and it was two stinking tubes of Revlon lipstick.

5. I used to be scared of Sarah and Michelle when I was on their softball team. I was like 11 or 12 but I thought they were so much cooler, and I think I always thought they were making fun of me. I am pretty sure they still make fun of me (it's cool), but now I know how unscarry and awesome they both are. Love ya!

4. I am afraid we will be poor forever. I feel like all I have been since I was first in college is poor. Now I have a good job and make decent money and my husband is in school. I just want to not worry about if we can afford groceries or not.

3. I am afraid I won't be a good mom.

2. I have been petrified of clowns for as long as I can remember. I can look at them now with out getting the chills, but I still avoid them like the plague.

1. In high school I always felt like Veronica from the movie Heathers. I was friends with everyone "popular" but I always felt on the outside and like I needed to expand my horizons (Roonie, I never wanted to kill anyone). I also always wanted to be a homecoming attendant. I never got why I wasn't worthy, but I always held my breath when the annoucements were read.


So, I am offically tagging Malissa.

Moved to Tears on Myspace

The new school year is in full swing and I have officially had 5 students ask me to be their myspace friend. I politely declined holding my teacher privacy dearly, but decided to snoop around their sites. What I found moved me to tears and made me call my mom to tell her I love her.

This past summer five students at my school were in a horrible car accident (still under investigation by the way). One of our students passed and another is paralyzed from the waist down. As one can imagine this has been horrible and worst yet, all five of the students are what I would call " really neat" kids. Charlie, who died, was an awesome baseball player, loving brother and all around sweet kid. Stevie is super amazing, extremely driven (she started school two months after the accident and is kicking ass in her AP classes) and full of love. Not to suggest that this loss is validated by there quality of being, but it just seems to have touched that many more people.

Anyhow, what I was moved by was the out pouring of love from gads of students. Pictures, poetry, blogs, songs, etc. all were dedicated to keeping Charlie's memory alive. Perhaps the most moving was the spaces created by Charlie's dad, mom, sister and brother. I was shocked that they have been so candid on there loss. I was drawn in.

This horrible tragedy happened the middle of June and it is still as raw as can be. All four pages are full of pictures of Charlie and blogs of grief, joy, remembrance and anger. His mother posted in the spot titled Who I would Like To Meet: "Charlie at the front door while he says it was all a dream mom". This is the point where I called my mom. This family is working out their personal grieving to the entire myspace community and the students of my high school are holding them the entire way.

There are hundreds of comments posted giving support, sharing memories, just asking why? It is the moments of great pain that truly draw out the beauty in humans. No one knows why a mother has to lose her son the summer before his senior year of high school or his dad will never hug him as he leaves for college. No one knows why a 17 year old girl will never "walk" down the aisle, or "dance" at her senior prom.

What is so hard for me to realize is that as a teacher I have 30 years to meet remarkable young people, but I have 30 years to witness tragedies like this one. I am not sure this is something most careers deal with and I often wonder how much of it I can take.

What I do know is that my students have reminded me that with all of the ugliness around us, things are going to be alright. Love really does keep memories alive and for all the years I see my students hurt there are so many more that I will see their joy. For this I am thankful.

Oh, Anna Nicole...

I have been busy lately so I have been a bit behind on the celebrity gossip. Last I heard Anna Nicole Smith suffered the tragic loss of her son. What I was completely unaware of was that he died in the hospital where she had just given birth to a baby girl?! When the hell was she pregnant and why is she STILL allowed to procreate?

Now, I feel for the woman for losing her son (who I think she had when she was like 12 because he was 20) but, there really should be some law against repopulating the world with her DNA. Yikes. Funny thing...did she and Brittany have their babies the same day? If so, that has to be some sort of intellectual epoch or something.

SNL Favorites

E! has been airing the 101 SNL moments. I have decided in the spirit of the show to ask all of you to list your favorites. I have so many I can't decide on a set list but here are a few...

"More Cowbell"
Will Farrell as Robert Goulet (or Neil Diamond)
Janet Reno's Dance Party
Delicious Dish
The nerds (old school with Bill Murray and Gilda Radner)
Celebrity Jeopardy
The Culps (the singing music teachers)
Matt Foley (motivational speaker)
The Gap Girls
Lazy Sunday (chronicles of Narnia rap)
Anytime Adam Sadler showed up on Weekend Update (Red Hooded Sweatshirt...etc.)
Landshark
Wake Up Wakefield

Leave a comment and share your favorite moments in SNL history

A Mario Lopez Renaissance?

I was watching Nip/Tuck on Tuesday and Mario Lopez made an appearance; a very revealing appearance. He was a fellow cosmetic surgeon that worked out at the same gym as Christian. None the less, he was shown in the shower bare- assed in all of his glory. And I must say, he is in much better shape since he graduated from Bayside. His tight Dancing with the Stars outfits do not do his 10 pack their well deserved justice.

Anyhow, he was pretty good and I was surprised that he is actually a much better actor than I remembered. It is as if cutting off his Jeri Curls and taking off the stone washed denim gave him super actor powers. I am not saying I am going to join the AC Slater fan club, but for a man haunted by type casting and prone to make bad career moves (didn't he host a dog show on Animal Planet?) this may be the rebirth of his fame.

So, as Mr. Lopez wooes American with his quick step and tight ass...I say "Good For You"! Like John Travolta in Pulp Fiction or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, every actor needs a renaissance...this may be your chance Mario don't blow it!

Mmmm, Candy Corn

Can I just say that I love candy corn. It is the first reminder that fall is here and my favorite holiday, Halloween, is just around the corner.

Talk About Catering to The Rich and Lazy

I love the style of William Sonoma. I also happen to be poor, so I usually go online or in the store and get ideas and then make them myself or find similar styles at cheeper stores (Target). I do this will Crate and Barrel and Potter Barn as well. Today, I found the pinnacle of catering to the needs of the rich, lazy and ungifted yuppie soccer mom....

Introducing the 3 for $24 dollar cookies with your kids name on it-plus shipping. What the hell is this about? I mean cook them yourself for like $2! At the very worst, go to Kroger buy the cookies for about $5 bucks and then put your kids name on them. Lazy.

Whats next premade handprints of newborns?

The Day After...

Well, I was honored to participate in The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure yesterday and a day later I am still reflecting on the power of the day. As I ran (43 rd out of 95 in my age group...not too shabby for one week of training and 25+ pounds heavier than the last time I ran race) I was brought to tears by the power of those who have survived and moved by the beautiful memorials for those who lost their battle.

As I looked around before the race I thought about the people wearing "in memory" signs on their backs. It occurred to me that I did not personally and intimately know a single woman ravaged by breast cancer. This was so amazing to me. At that moment I realized that I was running the race for those I loved who have not been touched and those loved by others already have.

The Susan G. Koman Foundation was founded by the sister of a woman who fell to the disease. The love of this sister has raised millions of dollars for the cause in the sake of her sister and as I ran yesterday with my own sister and felt closer to her than I have in months. I simply do not know what I would do if anything happened to either of my sisters.

Perhaps the most poignant part of my run was following a ten year old girl who simply had "my mommy" pinned to her back. I later was caught behind a woman in a pink shirt (these were worn by survivors) with over seventeen names pinned to her shirt and I reflected on how hard it must be to win the battle again breast cancer but then see so many of your friends fall as you heal. At the conclusion of the race over six hundred survivors formed a large ribbon on 5/3 field. Just a day after the Mud Hens won their second Governor's Cup a more important victory was celebrated in rightfully. There is hope. These strong women proved the perseverance of love and strength in humanity.

What a great weekend!

Leftovers?

My pal Sarah (TurtleParade) posted a great post about EW top 50 high school films. It was a great post and a great article, but I noticed a few omissions. So I feel the need to highlight a few forgotten favorites...

Remember the Titans
Never Been Kissed
10 Things I Hate About You
Never Been Kissed
Varsity Blues
Save the Last Dance
Footloose
Better Off Dead
Pump Up the Volume (pre-crack Christian Slater)
Valley Girl
School Ties
Some Kind of Wonderful
All The Right Moves
Vision Quest
Gleaming the Cube (more Christian Slater)
Encino Man (horrible movie, but still...in high school)

Not a Fan of the Winner, But This Show Still Rocks!

I am simply in awe at the showcase of talent found on RockStar:Supernova. The last few months has been full of amazing artists that showcased original work and performed covers that I think were better than the originals. I am sad the weird guy Lukas won,but my favorites Dilana and Toby were in the final three. I am seriously going to burn a "best of" CD. If you favor rock over sugary pop "Idol" stuff, this show was worth it. Can't wait until next season.

Creepy winner-Lukas


Dilana and Toby...either of these two should have won. The good thing is if this show is anything like American Idol their careers will be better than the actually winner.

Recommendation...

For all of you who have visited the amazing blog known as PostSecret,I just bought the first book. It is pretty cool. It is amazing to flip through a book and laugh hysterically five seconds after you have just gasped in disgust. The nice thing is you can refer back to the Secrets that inspire you. I really recommend it and I can't until the second volume is out.


Also, this secret made me laugh, is that wrong?

I Am Tremendously Amused by Ok Go.

I am pretty entertained by Ok Go and their videos crack me up, their website is full of random stuff. Check it out. Be sure to watch "Here it Goes", it brings an entire new use to tredmills.

What the Hell is Wrong with Parents?!

Check this out...a parent/coach of a Pop Warner (6th grade and under) football team charged the field when his son was hit late during an afternoon game. He proceeds to kick the player that made the late hit like it was no big deal.

Parents are the worst thing to happen to sports. Check out the full article.

I'll Stick With What I Have, Thank You

So, I was trying to look up baby names in order to post a comment for my new blog pal Mallissa when I came across a list of Celebrities real names. I have been laughing for the last twenty minutes at some of the last names parents punished their now famous children with. It is very interesting how many of the ethnic names were altered for Hollywood, sort of sad. Here are a few of my favorites...

Ralph Lauren =Ralph Lipschitz
Goldie Hawn = Goldie Jean Studlendgehawn
Gene Simmons = Chaim Witz
Freddy Prinze Jr. = Frederick Karl Pruetzel Jr.
Joan Rivers =Joan Sandra Molinsky

Michael Keaton =Michael Douglas (how funny is that?)
Tupac Shakur =Lesane Parish Crooks

Tiger Woods = Eldrick Woods

Gene Wilder = Jerome Silberman

Shania Twain =Eileen Regina Edwards
Nikki Sixx (Musician from the band Motley Crue) =Frank Farrano