What pisses me off?

A wise person once said that a personal website is a very self-involved place. I guess that is true. I mean how arrogant of me to think that there are people who will flock here everyday to see what lil' ol' me has to say.

But, at the same time, since this is my website, I figured I would give a little more perspective on me.

Here it is.

Things That Piss Me Offa list by Mike Carron
1. Jazz music - I don't know why, but I don't even believe that this can be catagorized as "music". I know some people love it, and that is their perogative. I just find that it gives me a headache. the squeeling and the syncopated rhythms just grate my spine like tinfoil on my teeth.

2. Politically Correct Idiots -
Retarded
I mean, what a way to ruin a perfectly good song or movie or TV show. Take, for example, the Black Eyed Peas song "Let's Get Retarded." What a great song that is. From the first time I heard it, I couldn't get the chorus out of my head. Then, one day, one black cold day, I was watching Much Music and the video for "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas. "Strange," I thought, "Why would they have two very similar titles off of the same album?" Then I heard the song and thought, "hmmm, maybe I have been singing it wrong all this time." Then I realized (with anger) that they had changed the lyics to a more PC/acceptable phrase. But let me ask you: What's wrong with saying "Let's get retarded in here"? I think it is great imagery. If I go to a party and someone says "Dude, this party is gettin' retarded." I know he means that there is just a whole lotta Rump Shakin' Booty Bouncin' Wall Bangin'Head Tossin' Bass Thumpin'. When I hear that song I think of a party so "off the hook" that the neighbors are calling the police every fifteen minutes.

I don't picture a bunch of people with disabilities and lower than normal brain function running around. And I am sure that's not what the group intended either. Although, it would be great if they did.

Gay
I'm so choked that this is a taboo word. I think that gay should be brought back as a descriptive adjective. I know it is the label of an alternative lifestyle and that's fine. But to properly describe some things this is the only word that fits.

Take, for example, the movie Titanic. It has to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I could go on for hours and hours about what was wrong technically and artistically with it. But to save you the time and headache I will just say this: It's gay.

If I ask a friend what they think about something, and they tell me it's gay. Then I know what they mean. I don't need an explanation. That one word sums it all up for me.

3. George Lucas
That's right. I hate George Freakin' Lucas. I think he is a pompus ass. Why can't he leave well enough alone. First he had to digitally remaster them. Which if you look close means you can see the fact that the ships are cels being pulled across a star field. Then he had to add new footage that was distracting and unnecessary. THEN, he had to create JarJarBinks. Then he had to say that he wouldn't put them out on DVD. Now that he is putting it out on DVD he has to change even more of the films. The movies that I'm talking about are, of course, Star Wars Eps. I II III. Why did he have to have Greedo shoot first? Why did he have to change the actors to match those in the new trilogy? Does he honestly think this matters?

What if every director starts doing this? are we going to start seeing remasters and changes of "Forbidden Planet" and such classics as "Reefer Madness"? I sure as hell hope not.

Alright that's enough bitching for today. See you later.

Chemical Warfare

Alright this is gonna be a lot:

My Definition

An Open Letter to the Editors of The Oxford English Dictionary.
To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to suggest the addition of a new definition to a word that is in abundant use. The word that I am refering to is:
Idiot
n.
1. A foolish or stupid person.
2. A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive

I believe that in today's society this word has taken on a new meaning:

3. Anyone in front of the subject.

For example:
While driving cars many people will hit their steering wheel and exclaim, "What does this idiot think he's doing? Driving Miss Daisy?"

While at the airport check-in counter: "What is taking this idiot so long? How hard is it to answer five questions about baggage and pick up a ticket?"

In line at McDonald's: "Oh My God! Has this idiot never been to McDonald's before? Why are they taking ten minutes to order McNuggets?"

While talking to someone behind a counter: "What doesn't this idiot understand? I booked the reservation over the phone and this is my confirmation number? What's taking this idiot so long to find my room?"

There are many other everyday examples where this term is used in this fashion. Personally I use it in this manner at least 3-4 times a day.

This definition can be placed under many different entries:
Moron
Jackass
Retard
Little Pissant
Bastard
Shithead
etc.

Cleaning & Killing

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was going to be cleaning up parts of my apartment. It started with organizing my landlord's stuff. She stores things in my apartment and keeps the rent low. I'm not gonna complain about this too loudly.

I shuffled around some of the stuff in the storage room and moved on to my front entryway. The way my apartment is set up is I have my main door wich opens into a closed-in balcony and to enter my apt. there is a sliding door. Since I moved in here three years ago we have left some of my landlord's things there and never really paid attention to them. But, it was time to get the area cleaned out and organized. It was all going smoothly and everything had been moved and stored. There's a place for everything and everything was in its place. Except for one thing. A cockroach. I found it wandering around and grabbed the raid. you may or may not know this but I am terrified of cockroaches. Scared shitless actually. I grabbed my fresh scent Raid and sprayed the little bugger.

Now, I hate raoches more than Bush Jr. hates truth, but what I saw next made me feel a tad remorseful. After spraying the pest, it jiggled around on the ground, flipped over and moved its legs in pain. That's when I heard the sound. A low, hardly noticeable sizzle. It was coming from the roach. Then, upon further inspection, I saw tiny bubbles coming out of the roaches "abdomen." Like I said, I hate roaches, but Christ! It was sick. Absolutely sick.

workworkworkworkwork . . . bah

The new semester has started at Yu Da (pronounced like a drunk man pointing to his best friend and yelling "You Da man"), and it has not been without its ups and downs. And it has been a heck of a lot more downs than ups. I've taught there 3 days a week since September 3rd. There has only been one day where something hasn't gone wrong, or there hasn't been an "issue" of some sort.

Let me list the various issues and complaints:
1. No textbooks were ordered for half my classes.
2. For the classes with texts, no audio CDs or teacher's guides were ordered.
3. None of the students were assigned proper student numbers, so they couldn't be split up properly.
4. My first year students have the lowest level of English that I have seen at the high school level in three years.
5. My second year students are all the bad kids I had last semester. All of the good students were split into the other class.
6. Every time I punish a class or student, I get in trouble from 3-4 different people. They tell me that I cannot discipline my students in the manner that I do. To give you an idea of my "unacceptable" punishments I will tell you two stories.
(A)
I had to send a student to the other teacher's classroom to deliver a message. I asked my class leader to do it and she stood up to leave. The girl sitting beside her stood up to go with her. I said that she couldn't go. She kept walking towards the door. I said "No, no. no. no You can't go." She looked at me and walked out. So, when she returned to my class I asked her to stay outside. I wanted to explain to her that when I say No, it means no. I wasn't going to yell or get too mad, just, explain. As she was standing outside, 2 teachers walked by. After the class 3 people told me that I cannot have a student stand in the hallway.
(B)
I was reviewing conversation questions with a class and to make a long story short, my students kept talking when I was asking them to be quiet. I told them that if they couldn't keep quiet while I, or anyone else, was talking, then I wouldn't teach them. Immediately after that I tried to explain an activity and these two boys (whom I had previously told to be quiet 3 times) started talking and laughing. So, I made everyone sit quietly and wait for the bell. Later that afternoon 4 different people told me that if I have class problems I should just tell their homeroom teacher.

These two incidents make me wonder: If I don't punish my students and just run and tell their homeroom teacher, will I have any respect or authority in the class?

David's on the other hand has been ok. I have a huge break from teahcing there though. My classes ended their term and I don't teach a real class until October 4th. It will be a nice mental break, but financially it is not welcome.

Personal Info
Not to end on a downer, but I have some unfortunate news. On September 7th Louise's father passed away. He will be missed and the family is doing ok. My last memeory of him is a good one, and I am thankful for that. About one week before he came to Louise's mom's restaurant while we were there and put his hand on my shoulder and spoke to me. I didn't understand what he'd said, but Louise later told me he asked me to take care of her and look after her. I will do my best to do as he says at all times.

My name, don't wear it out