Coming back soon.

I'm going to get back to updating this, starting after the holidays. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Current music: Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett).

Really?

Girl: I'm a real princess.

Boy: Well, I'm a real pig.

[You kind of had to be there, but the boy's delivery was priceless.]

Currently listening to: Built to Spill's "There Is No Enemy"

=

Girl 1: "Boys can only marry girls."

Girl 2 (3 and 1/2 years old): "You're wrong. My mommy said that boys can marry boys and girls can marry girls. And boys and girls can marry each other too."

I adored hearing this.

Life, uh, finds a way.

This brought back memories of my own childhood...

"Get over here now! We found dinosaur bones! Real dinosaur bones! It's definitely, definitely a T-Rex... because T-Rex was the coolest."

- courtesy of some of my budding paleontologists

Plus...

"Do you know how many girlfriends I have? Really, do you? Cuz it's a lot."

- courtesy of a budding Casanova

On the iTunes: Radiohead live recordings

In a while, crocodile.

"Bye, alligator... See you tomorrow, crocodile." [Translation: "See ya later, alligator."]

- courtesy of a 5 year old boy

"My dad was in a really bad mood this morning, but don't tell him I told you that."

- courtesy of the same 5 year old boy

Loving: The xx

In case of fire.

"Do you know where fire comes from? I do. It comes from sticks and wood, and this stuff called coal. You pile lots of it together and get fire."

- courtesy of a future Boy Scout

"Looks like it's just you and me." [followed by a wink]

- courtesy of my last boy waiting to be picked up after school

Now playing: "Vapours" by Islands

Mouse tales, pt. 2.

3 year old: You'll never believe what I'm about to tell you...  really, you're not going to believe it.

Me: What's up?

Her: I'm getting my own pet mouse.  Like, it's going to live in my room.

Me: Have you thought of a name for the mouse?

Her: Obviously Ariel, like the mermaid.

Me: What color is your mouse?

Her: Green.

Ahoy.

While reading a Magic Treehouse book about pirates, we come across the word booty, as in pirate treasure...

"Booty - you mean like a butt?!" [giggles abound]

After I told a boy that we were having "Back to School Night" that evening...

"Oh man, I hope mom doesn't wear one of her funky dresses.  And dad better not tell dumb jokes."

Current music: "Reunion Tour" by the Weakerthans.

Mouse tales.

"This morning I saw a mouse outside my window.  But it's dead.  But I decided I want to keep it... even though it's dead."

- courtesy of a 4 year old girl

Currently listening to: "Night Windows" by The Weakerthans.

Smooth criminal.

A 5 year old boy, wearing sunglasses, comes up to me and says:

"What's cookin', good lookin'?"

Following that line...

"Do these look like Michael Jackson sunglasses, cuz I really wish they looked like Michael Jackson sunglasses."

[I'm not quite sure what Michael Jackson sunglasses are.]

Music of the moment: A Silver Mt. Zion's "Hang on to Each Other"

Master of karate?

Today, one boy in particular provided me with endless amusement.  Among other things, he:

• Sat on a little picnic table (outside in the playground area), closed his eyes, and "meditated."
• Excitedly unwrapped and devoured an entire Five Guys cheeseburger at lunch time (yes, he had a Five Guys burger packed in his lunchbox).
• Told me that his dream would be to have a "huge dance party" at school.
• Showed me "the coolest karate move ever."

Music of the day, just because: "xx" by The xx

Pumpkin orange.

"My shirt isn't just orange!  It's pumpkin orange, like Halloween, and like my birthday because it's the day after Halloween."

- courtesy of "Radar bunny" boy (see previous entries)

"Can birds eat cats?"

- courtesy of a 5 1/2 year old boy

Today also involved the mermaid-loving girl serenading me with "Part of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid."  She absolutely sang the entire song - without missing a beat.  

Under the Sea.

Me (to a 3 year old girl): Want to look at some animal picture cards with me?  You could choose fish, mammals, reptiles...

Girl: How about mermaids?  Do you have any mermaids?

Me: No mermaids, but I have fish.  

Girl: Ok, fish.  They live with mermaids.

[She then proceeded to express her love for Disney's Ariel, explaining how much better Ariel is as a mermaid than as a human.]

Gone fishing.

While labeling pictures of various types of fish...

"Porkfish... I don't know if I like porkfish.  But I know that I love pork!  Mmmm, bacon!"

- courtesy of the same (almost) 5 year old boy with the bunny named Radar

Made my day.

"You know, I was so excited to come back to school today. You know why? I really, really like you."

- 5 year old girl

It has begun.

I'm back.

Back to school, that is. And I'll celebrate that with my favorite quote from the first day:

"I had a bunny once. His name was Radar. RADAR! Isn't that a perfect name for a rabbit?"

- (almost) 5 year old boy

Yes, I think it is.

More to come, possibly on a daily basis, because as the old saying goes: "Kids say the darnedest things."

It's love, not Santa Claus.

[Again, not a teaching-related post.  Again, a movie-related post.  Perhaps I named the blog incorrectly.]

I had some reservations about seeing "(500) Days of Summer."  I wondered if it would be the new "Garden State" or "Juno" - a movie that tried ridiculously hard to look like it's not trying at all.  Sure, "Summer" had some of that, particularly in the uber-hip styling of its two principle stars and in the meticulously chosen indie rock soundtrack.  Somehow, though, it didn't really bother me.  

There was something about the character of Tom, with his quest for love and his hot pursuit of Summer, that was quite relatable.  A synopsis of the movie (from the Moviefone web site, I believe) likened Tom to a modern Don Quixote, charging at Summer/love like Cervantes' hero charged at the windmills.  Strangely, Don Quixote has come up a lot for me lately - from watching Terry Gilliam's struggles in "Lost in La Mancha" to discovering through casual party talk that not everyone is familiar with the classic character.  "Summer" came at the right time, when I had Quixote on the brain.  

I don't really know where I'm going with this - "Summer," Don Quixote, etc.  I think it's just that I think everyone, even the most rational, logical of us, is susceptible to the Quixote moment - charging at the figurative windmills, thinking that something that isn't there, really is.  And I think that "(500) Days of Summer" painted a picture of that, also showing that you can come out alright on the other side.

Plus, it did have a pretty solid soundtrack.

Totes.

Since there is currently no teaching happening (thank you, summer), there are no new "adventures in teaching" to report. However, there's a decent amount of movie-watching going on; I guess this is obvious, as I started this blog as a result of said activity.

Last night, while assisting in the construction of an Ikea bed, I watched "I Love You, Man," which was just as funny on my "vintage" miniature college dorm room tv as it was on the big screen. Even though I don't call people "Jobin" or use the phrase "totes ma goats" in conversation, I find myself relating to the character of Peter Klavin. He's a guy without male friends, and I find myself as a girl, in all honesty, without many female friends. At one point, Peter asks his brother: "How do you meet friends? It's such a weird concept." So, so true.

Peter eventually develops a wonderful bromance, which allows him to rock out to Rush, walk a puggle around Venice Beach, and go hiking in the woods. All the while, the women have "girls night" and talk about guys. The movie shows two different worlds - the guy world and the girl world. I wonder why women always seem to be shown as a variation of "Sex and the City," a show which I more than despise. I'll take the bromance, please.

First post.

I have a feeling that the internet is presently becoming inundated with people like myself - people who happened to go see "Julie and Julia" and, after viewing, felt the desire to either master the art of French cooking OR enter the blogosphere. Not wanting to bone a duck or make a gelatin-like concoction out of beef parts, I've decided to do the latter.

I've been saying that I'd like to do this for a while - write about the random, funny life events that keep things interesting. As a teacher of children ages 3-6, the randomness and funniness are everyday occurrences, and I thought this might be a good way to preserve them.

But since life is not all about work, I'd like to record other thoughts, as I see fit. I mean, I do have a pug who is a constant source of amusement.

We'll see how this all goes, and whether this was all just a movie-induced idea or if it'll actually stick.