well i can't quite say that i've made it. i can, however, say that i've almost made it. today begins my last week with NYSP (the name of the program i'm working). i have done some calculations based on data i've collected from previous weeks of working.
this week will go one of two ways:
1) it will go by extremely quickly.
2) it will go by excruciatingly slowly.
which one do i want to happen? honestly, at this point it doesn't even matter. i am kinda itching to get back to dallas, if not for anything else, to play volleyball again. i looked on websites for places around to play, and there are some that aren't too far away. they don't have regular times for play, however, and some can't be relied upon to have enough people to have good play. foiled again. but as far as getting back goes, i've come up with a rudimentary plan of action (which is a lot more than i put together when i came out here in the first place...on a whim).
i plan on driving back on the "hypotenuse" trail. let me explain that. i drove from dallas to atlanta, which was the longer side of what will soon become a right triangle. from there, i went upwards to north carolina, and then here (chevy chase, MD...which we might as well just call washington, DC). this is the shortest side of the aforementioned right triangle. these two trips, when put together and drawn on a map (in a crude line), make a right angle (sort of). going back to dallas, i plan to go directly from here, not cutting back through any places i've previously been. that will be the longest part/side of the triangle, effectively making it the hypotenuse. look it up in a math book. it's real.
meanwhile, i'm already starting to get a little sad about leaving here. there are so many things i can mention, from my roommate chris (AKA the dwarf the dwarf...so good we named him twice), who is a constant and almost infinite source of comedy, to tyrone (call him), who claims to be able to sing, but for reasons unknown, won't do it. i'm starting to think that he can't do it at all, and because i know he'll probably read this (because i told him i'd mention him), give up the fake humming/pretending you're such a good singer that all you need to do is hum to get your point across. i'm finally on to you, "marvin fake" (hilarious play on words for marvin gaye), or should you be called "foul green" (hilarious play on words for al green)? but i wish you the best in your future endeavors. i'll be sure to mention more people, but it's almost time for me to go to this meeting to begin the last week.
by the by, i've decided to wish people the best. no more of this hating thing, which i tried and did not like. instead of publicly hating on people, i just smile, nod my head, and wish them the best. the audience in my head is going to love it. you know i live my life like a sitcom. i imagine a studio audience is watching everything that unfolds around me. i'm so tired; my thoughts are running all across the internet.
readyyyyyyyyyy...stop.
-w
08 August 2010
01 August 2010
everybody hates going back...
well, i'm back again, after having missed a good month and a half of blawging that should have been done. trust me, i sat down every nite and thought of about 9K worth of stuff about which to blawg, but then decided it was better to just take my arse to sleep. oh well, mayhaps one day i will be so damn inspired that i'll just sit down and write an omnibus that goes back over everything that has happened to me, (yes) including the now somewhat infamous metro incident.
so, i have arrived in chevy chase, MD (which thankfully is not named for the actor). i actually got in yesterday, after picking up a fellow co-worker (asamoah) from the airport. this place is like a junior college for young people. it's a 4H center, but when we got here, it looked more like an HBCU campus, and if you're familiar with prairie view...
apparently we're not the only group here. there is a slightly older group of kids who are actually related to our group (they're the next step up), but there is also a "church group" here. this "church group" is what makes this place seem so rowdy. it looks like a community center somewhere on MLK avenue. trust me, there is an MLK ave/dr/blvd/pl/tr/cir/st/etc in every single city, and...somehow...they're all in shady neighborhoods. i'm sure he would be so proud.
these kids are, i would say, maybe in their mid-teens maximum. they are crunk as hell. tyrone (call him) and i went out to CVS and mcdonald's last nite to get some stuff, and when we came back (it was past 10.0p) they were all out in the lobby and the halls, partying, even though they had just had a banquet and are probably supposed to be at church this morning. we all know how that goes...party hard saturday nite, then repent hard sunday morning... of course, i'm sure if any of them have a blawg it would detail how much fun they had last nite and how these old geezers tried to ruin their fun. oh well, to each his own.
meanwhile, i'm in my room. i decided to not request a roommate and leave it up to fate. everybody thought that james and i would be roommates because of the whole "bromance" thing, but i was actually paired with chris "the jones" jones. his new nickname: the dwarf the dwarf. so good we named him twice. he's cool though, very short, a little...well...little. we're boondocks buddies. i mean, c'mon, it's a great show. more short jokes on chris to come later, but for now i gotta get ready to get ready. the kids...i mean, "scholars" are coming today, and i am completely unprepared for what's to come. the "umbilical cord" has been cut. james and i are no longer co-facilitating; i have to be on my own. the higher ups are cackling hard about it, like the whole thing was planned. i'll show them, i'll show them all...
mayhaps i will begin work on an omnibus, because the public deserves to know about life above the mason-dixon line, and around it, and below it for that matter.
deuces,
-w
so, i have arrived in chevy chase, MD (which thankfully is not named for the actor). i actually got in yesterday, after picking up a fellow co-worker (asamoah) from the airport. this place is like a junior college for young people. it's a 4H center, but when we got here, it looked more like an HBCU campus, and if you're familiar with prairie view...
apparently we're not the only group here. there is a slightly older group of kids who are actually related to our group (they're the next step up), but there is also a "church group" here. this "church group" is what makes this place seem so rowdy. it looks like a community center somewhere on MLK avenue. trust me, there is an MLK ave/dr/blvd/pl/tr/cir/st/etc in every single city, and...somehow...they're all in shady neighborhoods. i'm sure he would be so proud.
these kids are, i would say, maybe in their mid-teens maximum. they are crunk as hell. tyrone (call him) and i went out to CVS and mcdonald's last nite to get some stuff, and when we came back (it was past 10.0p) they were all out in the lobby and the halls, partying, even though they had just had a banquet and are probably supposed to be at church this morning. we all know how that goes...party hard saturday nite, then repent hard sunday morning... of course, i'm sure if any of them have a blawg it would detail how much fun they had last nite and how these old geezers tried to ruin their fun. oh well, to each his own.
meanwhile, i'm in my room. i decided to not request a roommate and leave it up to fate. everybody thought that james and i would be roommates because of the whole "bromance" thing, but i was actually paired with chris "the jones" jones. his new nickname: the dwarf the dwarf. so good we named him twice. he's cool though, very short, a little...well...little. we're boondocks buddies. i mean, c'mon, it's a great show. more short jokes on chris to come later, but for now i gotta get ready to get ready. the kids...i mean, "scholars" are coming today, and i am completely unprepared for what's to come. the "umbilical cord" has been cut. james and i are no longer co-facilitating; i have to be on my own. the higher ups are cackling hard about it, like the whole thing was planned. i'll show them, i'll show them all...
mayhaps i will begin work on an omnibus, because the public deserves to know about life above the mason-dixon line, and around it, and below it for that matter.
deuces,
-w
27 June 2010
everybody hates opening day...
hello, north carolina. blah blah blah. my blawgs will be random from now until the end of this thing. a lot has happened and i have long hours, so by the time i get time to do this, i've forgotten more than half of what i wanted to mention. oh well...let's just start here...
well, training is finally over. it was a week long, and long hours on top of that (7.5a - 8.0p). it was not, however, not enjoyable. of course there were parts where i wanted to shoot myself in the neck, like child safety training and stuff like that, but all in all, not bad. by the by, i finally figured out what it is that i'm going to be doing. my official role is faculty advisor, and i work with a group of 16 kids on a particular strand of learning (there are 4 strands; mine is "creative construction") and we go through the program as if we were architects charged with building a museum. it's way detailed. we have to learn about scale, blueprints, floor plans, various building structures, the whole nine. meanwhile, ask me how much i know about architecture and designing buildings...
...i can't even put legos together...
the shock in all of this...the kids are as opposite from what i am used to than i could ever have imagined. compared to what i have to deal with at my school in dallas, these kids...i mean...there are no words i can think of to describe how much better they are here. my ears are inundated with constant "thank you"s and "i'm sorry"s and "excuse me, sir"s and lions and tigers and bears and hot damn. i was "warned" by a colleague who also works here that the kids were going to be like this. it's one thing to hear about it, but quite another to actually see it. damn these kids need to be in my classroom.
that's not to say they're not without their faults. by the way, today was the first day to see them. we've been preparing all week for their arrival. literally every minute of the day is planned out; there is no time to be piddlin' around. is it bad, then, that i've already got my group running on CP time??? anyhoo...this one girl (let's just call her cindy lou) is 10 years old, of the caucasian persuasion (which reminds me, i have become an overnite fan of "the boondocks"...more on that later), and knows how to not say the best thing. i was taking my group of kids, "scholars" as we call them, from the meeting place to our first team activity place. we're at wake forest university (shout out to the deacon devils out there) which is a nicely sized campus. it's hard to remember where everything is, especially if you have not had a lot of time to familiarize yourself with the campus layout. keeping that in mind, i got a little turned around finding greene hall.
forgive me for being human.
after the team time/leadership, we went to the auditorium, which was in another building, where we were going to see a magician (who was the most hilarious one to date). someone asked where we were going as we were walking. before i could even open my mouth, this heifer said, "i hope you don't get us lost...again." being a professional educator, i cut her an ugly stare, then laughed it off, saying that we were going the right way this time. in my head though...
so we're just outside the auditorium and my co-facilitator, james, was making small talk with a lot of the kids. we're all new to each other, we're looking for things about which to talk. this heifer, cindy lou, does it again:
james: ...and he's a great superhero.
heifer cindy lou: (as she's fiddling with some bracelet she made earlier) hey, do you have any duct tape?
james: (pulling out a water bottle with duct tape on it) actually, i do. what do you need it for?
heifer cindy lou: uh...your mouth.
pause. let's pretend for a second i'm james. here is what could potentially have happened:
me-james: what did you just say?
heifer cindy lou: i said, for your mouth.
me-james: let me stop you right there, you raggedy, no friend-having, face all pimply, anti-cute, annoying, disrespectful, stuck up...pity white girl. you don't disrespect me like that. you just met me 3 hours ago. now, i don't want this to get uglier than you have already made it...on second thought, yeah, c'mon, let's do this.
(i take my belt off, turn into pootie tang, and dive at her as the cartoon white fighting cloud appears)
but that did not happen...this did:
real james: oooh, good one! let's get ready to go inside, everybody.
there's a slight difference between the two scenes, huh? well, i probably would have done something similar to james, but in my head the first scene played out very clearly. meanwhile, i had a 12 hour day, and am getting ready for bed. i'll be posting some pictures from training and talking about some good times, like when asamoah's and my cinderella story in spades against jeremy and tikisha, who had that game won but lost horribly. the official score sheet? best believe i've got it.
peas out,
-w
well, training is finally over. it was a week long, and long hours on top of that (7.5a - 8.0p). it was not, however, not enjoyable. of course there were parts where i wanted to shoot myself in the neck, like child safety training and stuff like that, but all in all, not bad. by the by, i finally figured out what it is that i'm going to be doing. my official role is faculty advisor, and i work with a group of 16 kids on a particular strand of learning (there are 4 strands; mine is "creative construction") and we go through the program as if we were architects charged with building a museum. it's way detailed. we have to learn about scale, blueprints, floor plans, various building structures, the whole nine. meanwhile, ask me how much i know about architecture and designing buildings...
...i can't even put legos together...
the shock in all of this...the kids are as opposite from what i am used to than i could ever have imagined. compared to what i have to deal with at my school in dallas, these kids...i mean...there are no words i can think of to describe how much better they are here. my ears are inundated with constant "thank you"s and "i'm sorry"s and "excuse me, sir"s and lions and tigers and bears and hot damn. i was "warned" by a colleague who also works here that the kids were going to be like this. it's one thing to hear about it, but quite another to actually see it. damn these kids need to be in my classroom.
that's not to say they're not without their faults. by the way, today was the first day to see them. we've been preparing all week for their arrival. literally every minute of the day is planned out; there is no time to be piddlin' around. is it bad, then, that i've already got my group running on CP time??? anyhoo...this one girl (let's just call her cindy lou) is 10 years old, of the caucasian persuasion (which reminds me, i have become an overnite fan of "the boondocks"...more on that later), and knows how to not say the best thing. i was taking my group of kids, "scholars" as we call them, from the meeting place to our first team activity place. we're at wake forest university (shout out to the deacon devils out there) which is a nicely sized campus. it's hard to remember where everything is, especially if you have not had a lot of time to familiarize yourself with the campus layout. keeping that in mind, i got a little turned around finding greene hall.
forgive me for being human.
after the team time/leadership, we went to the auditorium, which was in another building, where we were going to see a magician (who was the most hilarious one to date). someone asked where we were going as we were walking. before i could even open my mouth, this heifer said, "i hope you don't get us lost...again." being a professional educator, i cut her an ugly stare, then laughed it off, saying that we were going the right way this time. in my head though...
so we're just outside the auditorium and my co-facilitator, james, was making small talk with a lot of the kids. we're all new to each other, we're looking for things about which to talk. this heifer, cindy lou, does it again:
james: ...and he's a great superhero.
heifer cindy lou: (as she's fiddling with some bracelet she made earlier) hey, do you have any duct tape?
james: (pulling out a water bottle with duct tape on it) actually, i do. what do you need it for?
heifer cindy lou: uh...your mouth.
pause. let's pretend for a second i'm james. here is what could potentially have happened:
me-james: what did you just say?
heifer cindy lou: i said, for your mouth.
me-james: let me stop you right there, you raggedy, no friend-having, face all pimply, anti-cute, annoying, disrespectful, stuck up...pity white girl. you don't disrespect me like that. you just met me 3 hours ago. now, i don't want this to get uglier than you have already made it...on second thought, yeah, c'mon, let's do this.
(i take my belt off, turn into pootie tang, and dive at her as the cartoon white fighting cloud appears)
but that did not happen...this did:
real james: oooh, good one! let's get ready to go inside, everybody.
there's a slight difference between the two scenes, huh? well, i probably would have done something similar to james, but in my head the first scene played out very clearly. meanwhile, i had a 12 hour day, and am getting ready for bed. i'll be posting some pictures from training and talking about some good times, like when asamoah's and my cinderella story in spades against jeremy and tikisha, who had that game won but lost horribly. the official score sheet? best believe i've got it.
peas out,
-w
15 June 2010
everybody hates packing...
well, here i am again, prompted once more by the goblin of gainful employment. actually, i'm taking procrastination to its extreme. resurrecting this blawg after so many weeks/months/years is just...well, it's almost sad. but what is done must be what is done.
i'm bringing this thing back to document my experiences on this newest of adventures in my life, which will be explained at a later date when i am more sane and competent. if you so choose, you may follow along and live vicariously through my grandiose life, but as usual, do so at your own risk. my life is full of garbage and things that you cannot imagine existed.
but i digress. i am moving to north carolina and maryland for a while, and i plan on leaving (driving) in about...five hours from now. i have not packed one sock. i guess i've got some work to do. packing is terrible because no matter how carefully you plan, you will always forget something. even if you don't, you'll spend the better part of the next day going over a mental checklist time and time and time again until you get a headache and somehow convince yourself that you have forgotten something. as long as i have my basic three (wallet, keys, cell phone) i should be good.
oh well, i'm gonna try and pack not (that was a typo, i meant "now"...or did i?) and get at least a couple hours of sleep before setting off for atlanta, where i shall spend a few days before my new job begins. oh, i'm so excited to go back to the atl, the place where i matured in college. i'm most excited about seeing my bestest best friend titi. we've been through a LOT together, which is saying something, because i try not to go through too much with too many people.
blah, procrastinating again. i'll hit this again from atlanta.
-w
i'm bringing this thing back to document my experiences on this newest of adventures in my life, which will be explained at a later date when i am more sane and competent. if you so choose, you may follow along and live vicariously through my grandiose life, but as usual, do so at your own risk. my life is full of garbage and things that you cannot imagine existed.
but i digress. i am moving to north carolina and maryland for a while, and i plan on leaving (driving) in about...five hours from now. i have not packed one sock. i guess i've got some work to do. packing is terrible because no matter how carefully you plan, you will always forget something. even if you don't, you'll spend the better part of the next day going over a mental checklist time and time and time again until you get a headache and somehow convince yourself that you have forgotten something. as long as i have my basic three (wallet, keys, cell phone) i should be good.
oh well, i'm gonna try and pack not (that was a typo, i meant "now"...or did i?) and get at least a couple hours of sleep before setting off for atlanta, where i shall spend a few days before my new job begins. oh, i'm so excited to go back to the atl, the place where i matured in college. i'm most excited about seeing my bestest best friend titi. we've been through a LOT together, which is saying something, because i try not to go through too much with too many people.
blah, procrastinating again. i'll hit this again from atlanta.
-w
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