It Was a Simpler Time

I am in a nostalgic mood. The other day I was driving to school, and as I listened to my iPod on shuffle, AM Radio by Everclear came on. I've always like this song, and usually it puts me in a really good mood, but maybe it was too early in the morning this time... all it did was make me get all weepy about how many things have changed since I was a kid. Technology has done so many wonderful things, but I think it took a little of the magic in life's small things with it, when it came rushing in with all the information we could ever possibly want.

We've all had those moments when we're watching a movie or tv show, and we recognize one of the people, and it's just killing us, because we can't think of their name or what we saw them in. It was always so great when, some time later, I finally saw another movie with them in it, and I had that "aha!" moment. I don't get many of those lately, because now I can just type in whatever I'm watching into the IMDB website. When I was in the 8th grade, I remember recording "Waterfalls" by TLC onto a cassette tape, and I rewound and replayed that thing until I knew every single word to the song (yes, even Left-Eye's special rap part in the middle). I did this with Crossroads by Bone Thugs 'n' Harmony and a lot of other songs. I was kind of a nerd. Plus, lyrics have always been important to me. Now I can just go to Google, type in a couple of the lyrics in quotes, and it pops right up. I know it's easier now, but seriously, it was so satisfying to work that hard and really be glad that I finally knew the words! When I had a new favorite song, it was so exciting to hear it on the radio. I can remember being a kid, driving with my mom, and praying to God that a song I knew (I maybe knew 3 songs when I was 8 years old) would come on instead of her crazy Janis Joplin/Creedence Clearwater Revival hits. When one of the ones I knew came on, it seemed like such a miracle! These days, it doesn't mean all that much, because for a price cheaper than a 20 oz. soda, I can go and download it onto my own computer, and in my opinion, it's just not the same when I am in control over when and how often I hear my favorite song.

These are 2 sections of AM Radio that initiated most of the deep thoughts found in this blog :-)

The vcr and the dvd
There wasn't none of that crap back in 1970
We didnt know about a world wide web
It was a whole different game being played back when I was a kid

I'd be in bed with the radio on
I would listen to it all night long
Just to hear my favorite song
You'd have to wait, but you could hear it on the am radio



Just a little food for thought, to get us all thinking of the days of our generation's childhood, when the most exciting technology was Oregon Trail and Tetris (still the best game ever), and where each of us had at least one friend whose mom had a wood panel station wagon. Those were really the days.

No More TV!

It's Monday, and I'm still not better. And there's more -- I've lost the will to watch television. After visiting the doctor yesterday, I was told that I should be able to go back to school this Thursday. That will make it a full 2 weeks that I was out with these wretched pox. My school has been very gracious, thankfully. As for television, there is just nothing on. It's all I've been doing for 12 days in a row. That's enough to make somebody crazy. Please remind me that I felt this way once I'm teaching again with barely any free time.

In the midst of being stuck inside my house for 12 days, my roommates and I watched Britney Spears perform on the VMA awards. Since I have so much time on my hands, today I paused it on some of the audience member's faces and took pictures, just so you all could see the bewilderment and confusion as to why Britney was performing like she just woke up and decided to maybe walk/sort of dance while lip-synching.

Rihanna and P. Diddy show a bit of amusement at watching Britney......

However, the performance is best summed up by 50 cent's expressions:

That says it all.
I think I'll be doing a lot of reading in the next 2 days as I wait to go back to school....

Wikipedia - My New Best Friend

It's been one week since I was sent home from school with the pox, and I have watched plenty of movies and television since then. I watched the entire first season of Ugly Betty, and now I'm hooked. The Office (season 3) is now on DVD, so Kristin picked that up for me. If there ever was a great week to get the chicken pox, this is it. That said, I don't actually think there's ever a good time to get them after you are 12. I'm supposed to be going back to school next Monday. The doctor will tell me on Sunday if I'm still contagious, or if I have to wait longer to go back. For my students' sake (and my own boredom), I hope I'm ready to go back to teach on Monday. From everything I've heard, my class is doing really well for having had a different substitute almost every day since the third day of school. I'm very thankful for that. I'm feeling so much better now. The only problem is the scabs. I just want to pick them off, and I have done that a few times. As soon as I do it, I'm like, "NO! Don't do that ever again Alicia!" I hear that the more you pick, the more you scab. And still, it's like that idea doesn't enter my mind until right after I pick it all the way off. Gross. This topic is less than desirable. On to something else.

There is a tv show on right now that is ridiculous. It's called The Pick Up Artist. It's a bunch of guys who don't do so well with "the ladies." They are videotaped talking to all these girls to see if they can get their numbers, and these three guys watch them in some secret van somewhere (creepy), and they critique their "lady getting abilities." In my not-so-important opinion, the guys who run the show have no room for judging the other guys' ability to be cool and have "game." There are more reasons I do not like this show. The guys cry. And I don't mean they "get misty-eyed." I mean they sit there and cry like little girls when they are told that they are safe from elimination, or when they are told what they are doing wrong. If these guys want to get more dates, maybe they should start with not sitting around and crying like the women that they want to get. Clarification: there is nothing wrong with men crying. It can be endearing, and possibly a sign of true humility. But when you are on a reality show where the sole purpose is to learn how to get "the ladies," and you're afraid you will be sent home next, maybe that's not the time. Pick your battles, guys. Is it really worth a cry?

I've also been researching a lot of things on Wikipedia. That's the new IMDB for me. Anytime I watch a new show or movie (which has been often this past week), I love finding out more about the actors and actresses, like what else they've played in, or where they were born. Thanks to these internet sites, you never again have to play that awful mind game where you ask yourself for days on end, "Where have I seen that guy before??" Now with just a few clicks and some typing, you can know almost instantly. Now that I am done with promoting these great sites, onto the topics I have researched. I am a semi-expert on some of these topics now.

1 - Leona Helmsley's Dog, Trouble
2 - Princess Diana and her troubled marriage to Prince Charles
3 - Kenneth Ellen Parcell from 30 Rock
4 - All things related to chicken pox and shingles
5 - Idina Menzel (Elphaba in Wicked/Maureen in Rent) and other Broadway stars
6 - Jenna Fischer's (Pam from the Office) separation from her husband
7 - Where my kidney and liver are (I probably should have already known that)
8 - The Flight of the Conchords. Here are two of their youtube videos.
Albi the Racist Dragon
Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

With 3 more long days ahead of me, I'm sure there will be more interesting things to blog about. Please let me know if there is anything interesting that I should research. For today, I'm done.