It's Elmo's World

Last week I reached the end of my 30 Rock queue on Netflix (the horror!). Casting around for something else I watched the documentary titled "Being Elmo" which as I'm sure you can deduce is about the creater/actor/muppeteer that gave the world the little, red, furry monster Elmo.

(Is anyone else surprised that the person responsible for such a lovable child-like character is a tall, handsome, big hearted black man. I may have a type...)

The documentary was charming. Its no secret that I love the Muppets. And you'd have to have a real stone cold heart to not feel a little warm and soft inside when you see Elmo hug a sick child and tell him "Elmo loves you" followed by that adorable giggle.

Fast forward to this week. My classes are currently learning about the things of historical importance in the early 20th century. We've been learning about radios and radio plays. Next week they will create and produce their own radio plays. In preparation we covered a bit on sound effects. I found myself searching through videos of a voice actor named Fred Newman who was a sound effect guy on A Prairie Home Companion and Between the Lions. He also, apparently was a frequent visitor on everyone's favorite Street. The one Elmo lives on.

I showed the kids this video of Fred visiting Elmo and demonstrating some mouth noises. It was incredible to see their reaction. Elmo had their complete attention. They were smiling and laughing and more than a few, without any self-consciousness or prompt followed along with Fred's "popping" demonstration. These are teenagers. Responding to Sesame Street . Delightful.

Maybe my lessons would be more engaging if I used a sock puppet from now on.

(I showed the kids clip from A Prairie Home Companion before the Sesame Street one and upon seeing Fred Newman, one of the kids (an African refugee no less) yelled, "That guy is on Sesame Street!" Cute.)

Scene from a friendship

Jill got a laptop this month. The following is our gchat from our respective rooms last night.

This is how we talk now:

10:28 PM Jill: can you make a word out of these letters? ENPPELIZ

10:29 PM me: Penile? Who are you playing? That's not very appropriate

haha

Jill: haha no you have to use all of the letters

it's that drawing game...

me: zepplin

zipline

10:30 PM zeppelin is it

Jill: What the crap is that?

me: a blimp

10:31 PM Jill: I was going to say that he drew a blimp...

is that another word for a blimp? weird!

10:32 PM me: blimps and zeppelins aren't actually the same thing but its the closest thing to compare it to

a blimp is what you see floating above a baseball game advertising good year

a zeppelin was used as a form of air travel before planes became really popular

10:33 PM zeppelin's turned out to be a bad idea because they were filled with hydrogen which is highly flammable

pretty dangerous way to travel

Jill: well I'm happy to say that I've learned something new today.

me: so glad you have a computer now so we can really talk to each other.

10:34 PM Jill: are you copying this from a website?

me: no

I'm a history teacher

Jill: you so smat

me: was that on purpose?

Jill: yes

me: whatev

I promise we're still not gay.

Is there a better reason?

"Hey Jill, what are you making?"

"Chocolate chip cookies."

"How come?"

"I'm on my period."

I have no problem with that.

Hilarious Snow Day!

Its snowing today for the first time since...October? (We're having a bad year) And snow falling outside makes me want to do two things 1. Go skiing and 2. If I can't go skiing then I want to curl up and do nothing but wear fuzzy socks and consume media and warm drinks (not hot drinks, that's the devil's temperature).

So to help you enjoy your snow day, wherever you are, here's some links to some awesome viral videos:

1. I wish I had this much fun when I worked out.

2. "And it starts right now...."

3. This is how you make the day (year?) of a hundred sassy teenage girls. (It takes a minute for the surprise to come. Be patient and enjoy the dancing)

4. So wait...does she work at Ebay or Jamba Juice?

5. This one is 6 minutes long but you get the point after 1.

6. I'm sure you've seen this one but its so adorable I wanted to give you a chance to watch it again. Someday she's going to whistle.

7. Who knew the tiny Olsen twins were racist? Also WTH??

8. The panic in this woman's face is hilarious!

Enjoy! I wish I was skiing.

Top 10 of 2011

Here's a shortlist of pop culture items I loved in 2011:

1. Best TV (most important things first): This show. I watched a little bit of its first season and didn't care for it much. I felt it was trying too hard to be the Office. But when I moved in September we didn't have Internet or cable for a few weeks so I borrowed season two from the library and really enjoyed it. Its clever, the characters are fully fleshed out, developed and one of the most unique things about it is its kind. I feel like so much of humor on TV is mean spirited. This show is really sweet and its still really funny. Ron Swanson is THE man. In a culture where man children are the norm and there's a perceived crisis of masculinity its refreshing to see a character on TV that is manly to his core.

2. My favorite album this year was this one. I think one of things I like about Coldplay (and what other people like too) is how reliable they are. Its not thought provoking, its not confrontational, its not political its just enjoyable. Their songs are vaguely revolutionary. They build and build and are really about nothing but they somehow make you feel like you belong to something greater. It makes me feel good to be human. So it may not have challenged or changed anything but it sure was enjoyable to listen to.

3. My favorite song I couldn't listen to was this one. I don't think Adele got enough radio play this year. Would someone play that girl's songs? People should really be hearing them. (wink)

4. I'm sad to say that most of my reading this year happened online. But the books I enjoyed the most this year was a young adult series known as the Flavia de Luce Mysteries. They're about a precocious 11 year old girl in 1950 England who has a passion for chemistry and solving mysteries. The author is in his seventies and had a background in engineering before he retired and tried his hand at writing novels. The writing is witty. The characters are colorful. They are a delight.

5. One of my favorite movies was this one. It was charming. Rachel Mccadams was so obnoxiously American (West Coast snob to get more specific). Hemmingway was so hilariously dramatic and literal. The Fitzgerald's were fun and Owen Wilson's baffled enjoyment was well played.

6. I love the Muppets. And I loved the movie. I thought it was a great reincarnation for them. Jason Segel and Amy Adams are probably the most muppety actors working today. I thought the song writing by Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Concord's) was clever and cute. I just smiled through the whole show. I wish Hollywood put out more movies that weren't mean, violent, sexual or sad and that were just clever and fun. Movies made for the lovers, the dreamers and me.

7. I came a little late to the Netflix game but I would not be honestly chronicling my year if I didn't include it. Instead of reading in bed I've been watching Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Sherlock Holmes, Downtown Abbey and really nerdy documentaries. My brain is probably rotting. Kids these days.

8. Although I would never let it get me kicked off a plane I do like Words with Friends. I've been playing Scrabble online for a few years now. And while I still prefer the traditional Scrabble apps on Facebook and my mobile device (iPod) I'm glad that Words with Friends has hit the big time and I now have many opponents. If you'd like me to kick you trash, please, start a game with me.

9. Spotify hasn't changed my life by any means but I'm really glad that I can see what friends are listening to and check new music out without paying for it. It feels like legal piracy. Which feels pretty good. Its probably really great for new artists. Probably bad news for the music industry at large.

10. I watched Downton Abbey when it originally aired (in January or February?)for the first time here in the states on Masterpiece Theater on PBS. I loved it and thought it was great. I didn't talk about it much because I thought it was one of those nerdy things that only I like and other people think are weird (i.e. dog shows). So I didn't really talk it up. Once it hit Netflix though all my friends were talking about it and I'm glad I could join in the conversation. It was a great miniseries. I'm really excited for the second season this month!

So there are my top 10 favorite pop culture items for 2011. It was a good year. Here's to a great 2012.

Resolution (no not that kind)

So the resolution to the situation from my previous post (which was two months ago, oy) Came last night.

To summarize: Went out with a guy in August. He texted me to death through September. Quit texting me until November. I finally told him I would love to talk to him and that he should call me sometime. He never did. On December 25, 2011 he wished me a Merry Christmas. Last night he sent me a long text explaining to me that he had a girlfriend and that's why he never asked me out again. (Let me remind you that we went out ONCE in AUGUST)

I responded by deleting his contact information.

I'm tired.

Do I want to know?

Friends,

I need your honest opinions.

The last date I went on was at the end of August (and it took an inordinate amount of work on my part to happen). The date was fine. He's a nice guy. There weren't really sparks but I left feeling like I would go again if he asked.

He proceeded to text me on a daily basis. Which got a little annoying. But what really bugged is there was never any mention of going out again. The fact that he was texting indicated he was interested so why not follow up with another date, I wondered? So I asked him if he was going to ask me out again. He said he was waiting for the right time. Apparently it never came because after about a month (no joke) of texting it slowly petered out and stopped.

Whatevs, I thought.

Until yesterday. When he texted me again. He asked how I was, what was new, how was teaching etc. etc. This was all during the work day and my answers were admittedly clipped (I was working after all). This evening he rather pertinently asked if I wanted to know how he was doing. I haven't replied because I don't know if I want to know.

The part of me that sounds most like my mom says "Don't judge him you don't know what he's been through. And maybe he could be The One if only you would be more open minded and less picky"

The romantic part of me hopes that The One would never treat me this way.

The desperate part of me is just happy for some attention (remember this is the last date I went on in AUGUST. And no one has even looked at me since then).

The arrogant part of me thinks that he must not know a good thing when he sees it. And if he had any idea what he was missing he'd be breaking down my door this minute.

The spiteful part of me is super mad I don't have a handsome, six figure making boyfriend by now to shove in his face.

The bored part of me wants to let it play out.

The self-respecting part of me knows that I would not tolerate this kind of treatment from a friend. Let alone a boyfriend.

So friends, what do you think? Am I going to ask him how he is? Do I care? I guess it depends what part of me you're asking.

Update: Without me saying anything he just let me know that he was good and that he just bought a new car.