another post! dang, I'm good :)

Today I had a very short but informative course. I enjoyed the class but I never really know what to do with credit/no credit courses. I try and do as much work and put as much effort into it as possible, but in the back of my mind I know that the course is pass or fail. It helps to keep me honest to take courses like this one because I remind myself to do my best so I'm a better teacher, not so that I get a grade. I'm a bit sad that the class was only two short sessions because I liked the instructor and the material was relevant. I suppose this is the nature of one unit classes.

Tonight I have a book club to go to which I am interested in, but I definitely did not finish the book. It was Elizabeth I by Allison Weir, a non-fiction biography. I loved the material of that book but reading the sucker was like pulling teeth! I finished about half the book. I take some comfort knowing that my mom also didn't get very far through the book and is currently watching the Elizabeth movie with Helen Mirin.

This week I've been working on my knit octopus. I'm very close to finishing and I'll post pictures a soon as it's done. Hopefully in a day or two :). I do have pictures of the brain slug I knit last week. The little guy is so cute! :):

I was pretty tired already and the brain slug didn't help

He got us both!

Oh! I do have some in-progress pictures of the octopus, but now it has many more legs:
Knitting helps me to reflect on things that are happening throughout the day. It gives me a time to digest new information and consider how I'll handle new situations. When I was reading the book in class to day it put people who knit during meetings in the middle, fairly negative, category. I have to agree with this - you should not knit when someone is instructing you or you are attending an arranged meeting. I have no problem with knitting when other people are around or even when talking with another person. This is only appropriate, though, when you are casually conversing, not when someone is telling you a problem or you are discussing something that requires your full attention. I know a lot of knitters would disagree with this but this is my opinion based on observations and my attitudes on etiquette.

Musings about bands and lyrics

Gary at the FFAF concert in Orangevale 2.7.9

While driving home today from work I was listening to a most excellent band called Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Gary turned me on to this band. Gary is pretty good at recommending music as he knows what I will like (usually). RJA was a little hard to get used to, but I find that I love their tunes. They remind me of Funeral for a Friend (another Gary recommendation) but with lyrics I can understand.

RJA's music is catchy and upbeat, but with enough rock in it that I'm not totally bored. The weirdest thing about their music is that the lead singer enunciates his words so clearly that I can understand nearly every word he says. I find this to be most unusual as most music I've heard (save for Disney music) is impossible to decipher. They tend to be a bit cliche in their lyrics, but most bands fall into that trap from time to time. I appreciate that I can comprehend what their meaning and intent are; I'm not sure if I'm terrible at decoding metaphor or if other bands have way obscure lyrics.

Speaking of obscure lyrics... I put RJA and FFAF on an "on-the-go" play list on my iPod (hence the reflection and comparison of bands - that and I'm really digging both bands in general right now). This made me realize how obscure the words some people choose can be. I feel that FFAF sometimes falls into the category of "too obscure," but I'm placated by their amazing guitarist so I usually don't even think about it. They could, however, be more cut and dry than I know because I don't think I can ever understand a thing their saying (do they mumble? Is it their accent which I can't hear when they're singing anyway?). On one song Gary looked up the lyrics so he could see what they were saying. Then, he decided that maybe it was about a homeless person based on one line entirely ('tin can in hand, waiting for God to come around'). I agree that this is the most probable explanation. It's nice to know that the person who wrote many of the lyrics for the band said himself that they are, "fucking obscure" and I am somewhat comforted by this.

In all, I find that both bands are highly enjoyable for different reasons. I feel that the vocalist is the most amazing feature of RJA and the lead guitarist is for FFAF. Both bands have a great overall sound and nothing is bad in either, but those two things out of each band win for me. Hmmm... when I think about it I really do like the vocalist for FFAF. He has a great quality to his voice that makes it pleasant to listen to the music. I suppose I'm just irked that I can't ever understand what he's saying.

Cat Post

I keep forgetting about the blog! Oh well, I'm sure things will be fine. I suppose I talk so much anyway that putting it down here would be pretty redundant for most.

Ok, one thing I always want to do is look at cute pictures of kitties. Since I happen to have two cute kitties and many pictures of them I'm going to post their pictures. Here it is: A cat post:

Many of these photos are a study of Maximo on things... He likes to lay on top of things.

Right now I'm student teaching at an elementary school in a first grade class. It's very interesting to work with such little kids and I'm still getting used to it. They always have a funny story and it's hard for me to not just listen to what they say (there's never enough time to hear them all!).

I'm pretty busy with school and work and other things so hopefully I'll post soon, but I know my own track record and things probably don't look so good. Anyhoo... until next time :).