What I found while cleaning out my room, Part 2

I fondly remember teaching "school" when I was about... nine? I also wrote this when I was about the same age, in real school:

(...would do if I were an elementary school teacher.")

I set up school when we lived in a townhouse for a year, but when we moved to our new house, we had a white board and table in the (then) unfinished basement. Those were the good times :) I usually "taught" Sean, but I remember some of the neighborhood kids were involved sometimes. I really got a kick out of finding the notebook we used to use.

Oh, the irony (check out my comment on his work, to the left)

Art lesson - I had a way with words ("before you color stuff in"):

Sean was apparently extremely skilled in Phonics, Homework, and Writing...

Tee-hee. I was only preparing for what was to come, but then, it was sans red pen.

-Jess

The Voldemort Scream

I'm a little peeved right now - I had a whole post written out about this and it's gone. Just gone. I thought it saved a couple of days ago... but apparently not. :(

Anyway, since I'm a Harry Potter fan like many of you reading this, I'm gearing up for the premiere of the last movie. Usually I'm not a fan of spoilers, but when it gets down to a month or less, I'm pretty desperate and I don't even think about it anymore. For example, about three days before Deathly Hallows - the last book for any non-HP fans - came out, Mugglenet.com (my favorite source for HP information and news for about ten years) posted a possible leak of the first page. They warned that it might be real, but I looked at it anyway. When I opened the book three days later, it was the same text. I wasn't upset - if anything, after reading the spoiler, it made me more excited. In fact, after typing this, I'm going to watch new footage that was just released. Can't... wait....

The point is, I've been watching all the trailers that have been released. I only keep up with Mugglecast now when something big is happening - with all the Pottermore anticipation and the constant movie news, I've been listening. They didn't expect a SECOND Deathly Hallows 2 trailer to be released, but it was. So... excited.

The second trailer came out the night of Marisa's eighth grade graduation. I actually forgot about it that day, with everything that was going on. However, when we got home, we were eating cake, and I went on my phone's Facebook for just a minute. I kept seeing everyone posting the new trailer. By the time I got to the fifth person posting it, I got up from the table and put it on the desktop computer. I literally could not wait anymore.

I wasn't sure what to expect, because Warner Brothers has been infamous (according to the HP fandom) for putting out trailers with very few scene revelations. It's kind of infuriating but good, I guess, for the people who don't want to see that stuff until the movie. Well, I want to. This is my favorite book, and I want to see what it looks like, gosh darn it. I won't wait.

It was 2 minutes and 30 seconds of goodness - many, many shots we had never seen before. I hadn't been this excited since the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King trailer was released (which is still an epic trailer) (go ahead, Sean, watch it again, you know it's awesome). That was back when we had dial up and I remember sitting in the dining room waiting for every... single... shot... to... pop... up... it was agony! This was so easy!

Anyway - I was jumping so much I bet Mike was questioning for a moment whether he made the right choice ;) Just kidding, Mike. But I was ecstatic.

The MAIN point of this post is to point out how FUNNY Voldemort's scream is: "YEEEEEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

In the first trailer you can hear it a lot, but the second one is longer so there's more of them. Basically, Mugglecast pointed this out and Sean and I have been joking about it all week. Every time there's a scream in the trailer, it's the SAME ONE. And there's a LOT of screams. I haven't counted because I just keep laughing.

You have to watch the trailer now (below) if:

a) you haven't seen it yet and you are okay with seeing scenes in the movie

b) you are Marisa and you've finished the seventh book (as of 12:13 am on Saturday, June 25, this is not a fact)

c) you have seen it yet but you want to laugh/count the screams

They are especially in the last half to the end. Enjoy ;)

-Jess

How substitute teaching for 2 weeks changed and inspired me

Okay - serious post time. I've always wanted to be a teacher - from as far back as I can remember. I know there was a time where I not only wanted to be a teacher but a published, author, ballerina, and President of the USA, but I guess you can't have everything in life. ;)

Until I got to the college application process, I didn't have to think much about who or what I wanted to teach. English was my favorite subject because I loved to read, and I loved elementary school kids. But my AP US History class, junior year, sucked me into the wonderful world of history. It was clear that I was being called to teach social studies (or history instead).

Then came the difficult part. Elementary education, or secondary education? I knew I wanted to attend the college I applied early decision for (and got into) - but what should my second major be, next to history? I ended up choosing secondary and figured that if I wanted to, I could always get certified to teach elementary ed.

Three years of college went by... and I was happy as a clam in the middle and high schools, though I still had doubts about teaching in high school. However, as I subbed in the elementary school the past two weeks... I realized that I really want to get certified in elementary education. The kids are so respectful and fun, and I love being creative with them. My ideal situation would still be middle school... but now, I might just take all three tests.

If I pass, I'll be certified to teach elementary education (math [*shudder*]), science, reading, social studies, writing, etc.), middle school social studies, and high school history. Even though each test is 100 dollars +, do you think it's worth it to get all three? I feel like I shouldn't just skip high school, because technically that's what I'm trained in... any advice?

Anyway, last story for today. Some of you know this already, but I'll write it here anyway. Here's a visual to get started.

"We Heart America"

When I was in 6th grade, I drew this picture. I remember drawing it, but very vaguely. I know it took a long time. I guess it was for a project in social studies or something (also, I think the girl all the way on the left was supposed to be me?). Anyway, after I left 6th grade, a substitute teacher found it and gave it to the principal. I found out a few years ago that it was hanging in a frame in her office (my mom had gone in to speak with her). She told my mom then and there that she wanted to give it back to me when she retired.

On Friday, Marisa came home from school with the picture and a note:

"Thank you - I've enjoyed having this in my office - you should put this in your classroom!"

I can't wait to be a teacher :)

-Jess

What I found while cleaning out my room, Part 1

The summer after my Europe trip has been pretty relaxing so far. This is the first week where I have only two things planned, and that's on the weekend. It's nice to just sit in the big chair and hand quilt all day while watching The English Patient (speaking of, Ralph Fiennes looks remarkably like Voldemort most of the movie as a WWII burn victim - but it was nice to see that he wasn't Avada Kedavraing anyone and that he had a nose) (I was going to show comparison pictures but I can't find screen shots on Google or IMDB, so I guess you'll have to watch the movie - which is excellent - or just imagine):

(taken from here)

Colin Firth was in it, but he was still relatively unknown in 1996 I'm guessing because he wasn't even listed at the beginning of the movie! And Naveen Andrews, pre-Lost.

Well, anyway - this is what I want to do while I'm at school writing papers all day so I might as well enjoy it!

One thing that I forced myself to do yesterday was to continue cleaning out my room. My room... is a mess. I've only done my desk and the wall cabinet and already produced five garbage bags... of garbage. That means I still have the dresser, filing cabinet, and entire closet to do. Maybe I'll tackle the dresser tomorrow. Anyway, the point is, I was going through the bottom of my wall cabinet yesterday and found some gems that I think you'll enjoy.

Apparently a few years ago, my little sister made me this box. It's like one of those white boxes your clothes get packed in from Macy's. After laughing, we couldn't decide whether it was supposed to be me or her - but flailing paper arms and all, it's fantastic. It's also FULL of cards and drawings she made for me.

A plush "Little Engine That Could" storybook from Ris to me. Why? The answer remains hidden.

These are two drawings I found in my mother's old sketchbooks. There were several but I particularly liked these. The books were interspersed with crazy attempts to mirror her artistic talent, thanks to me around the age of 10.

A drawing I made in my freshman year agenda book - inspired by "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I always used to use the blank pages before the months of school started to draw and write lyrics.

And finally, my favorite, from 3rd grade (an unexpected delight):

Apparently, I liked emphasis. I may have been inspired by Hyperbole and a Half, or this shirt that Mike bought me recently.

I think I'm going to enjoy the rest of this cleaning... more to come.

-Jess

Well, that didn't last long. :)

Here I am! I said on my previous blog, 365 Days of Unexpected Delights (which technically ended May 15) that I probably wouldn't be blogging for a while. I needed a break. Blogging every day for 365 days straight tires you out - trust me. Plus I have a quilting blog, where I converse with lots of other sewers and quilters, but that is completely different. It's not about my personal life.

And then, a few days ago, I realized I missed blogging. Enough to start another blog.

It took about three days to come up with a good title. That is the first thing Blogger asks you for, and rightly so - "Title" and "URL." Well, great. At the Starbucks in Barnes and Noble, Julie (aka best friend from high school and future maid of honor) and I sat and contemplated. Should it be something serious, like "Teaching my Way" (looking towards my future one-year-away career) or something about the road less traveled, or should it be silly, like "The Quirky Wanderer" or "The Wandering Quirker?" (yes, that was one of my suggestions, which caused both of us to giggle profusely). Julie, after all, said one way she would describe me was "quirky." So I was playing around with that.

Then I had some other thoughts yesterday. Couldn't I name my blog after something from my two favorite book series - the Evenstar, or the silver doe? Nahhh. No way. What could it be?

The answer came while discussing this pressing issue with my lovable fiance, Mike. We discovered sometime while we were dating that we both watched the video "Disneyland Fun" as children and that we remembered most of the songs (and we even proceeded to watch it together a couple of years ago on VHS) (and we also decided we are buying the DVD for our kids one day, even though it was made in 1990). He suggested after 10 minutes of thought that I should name it after one of the songs. Then we got to "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" and he said, "what about 'what a wonderful day?'" And I said, " Nah, I think I would RATHER name it Zip-a-dee-doo-dah…" and that was it. The name stuck. It describes me. I wanted something simple that says a lot. You can see some of the lyrics on my right sidebar, even though you probably know them already. It's fun. It's upbeat. It's optimistic. And I love Disney to pieces (at least a quarter of my DVD collection is Disney films from the '90s). My life is pretty much like that right now, and I really try to think this way. And I know Marisa, my adorable little sister who is over the MOON about me having another blog (I'm flattered), will love making me banners. ;)

All in all, I plan for this blog to last a long time - much more than a year, though a lot is happening in my life over the next year. I'm writing my senior honors thesis on gender in Holocaust memorials, which has to be finished by December (I expect there will be a little whining on here about that but I won't overdo it, I promise), I'm living with one of my best friends, Kristina, in the fall again, which can only mean shenanigans, I'm moving back home to student teach in the spring, and then I'll graduate. THEN, I'll be looking for and hopefully getting a teaching job, and I'll be moving out and getting married. All by next November. Crazy? I think so. But it's bound to be an exciting year. And I plan to continue blogging for a long time… but not every day ;)

You can still find me posting over at Quilty Habit if you are interested in learning about what I'm currently crafting. I'll probably post brief bits about that on here sporadically because it's such an important part of my life.

I already have at least three posts in mind so keep checking back this week! You can also follow me by email - all you have to do is type your address in on my sidebar and you'll get my posts when I post them. I know some people might like that. Or, you can just look back whenever, or follow me on Google Friend Connect (also on my sidebar). Thanks for reading and I'm really looking forward to blogging again. :)

-Jess