Labor Day Weekend - It's About Labor

I have a lot of things I want to do this weekend.

1. I want to copy all my CDs onto my computer so that I can get rid of the CDs. They take up too much space, and I never use them...except maybe my Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack.
2. I want to work on hat-making and start Molly's blanket.
3. I want to bake my giant zucchini into a tasty cake.
4. I want to make a peach pie.

I already sliced and froze a bunch of peaches, and I've started copying CDs. I think, though, that I should take a break to play puzzle pirates with my sister.

Cheers!

Buffy! and now Angel

I have officially finished watching all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After watching all 7 seasons, I am an invested fan.

Spike is absolutely my favorite character. I'm also a big fan of Anya. The ending, though not entirely happy was perfect. They win, but it's not a neat ribbon ending. The suspense was perfect. The interplay of characters was real and complicated in the sense that characters weren't all good or bad and their interactions with eachother were messy. I like that.

Now I'm watching Angel. I had seen at least the first few episodes, so I am remembering things so far, but it should be good. I hope I get to see some of my favorite characters from Buffy.

Fashion Pick-Me-Up

I live in a place I hate; I don't really have any friends here, and the one person I talk to most (who is actually like 14 hours away) is clearly changing into someone I don't really know. Yay transition phases in life?

This is not a poor me rant though. I'm just going through the standard desire for shopping and a change in hair that often comes with moving on and letting go.

I dunno what I want to do with my hair. I'd like it to be edgier, but I'd also like it to be longer. Edge is easier with short, and I have a long ways to go before it's long. I also don't know if I want to let it go natural color again or do something weird. I've been thinking a dark chocolate brown with a streak of a crazy color. Either or blue or orange. I wonder if Molly would give me permission to do so for her wedding. Mom would freak.

I've also been doing some window shopping online. I've been taking more and more to bohemian fashion, but it's hard because a lot of options in that range work best on skinny legged girls, and I have thick legs and a skinny top. Complicates the wardrobe options.

I can't buy anything, but I am window shopping. Here are some things I like (or hate):

• Same coat, two color options. I think I like the black, surprisingly.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Outerwear/Coats/-Amber-Road-Coat-in-Black
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Outerwear/Coats/-Amber-Road-Coat-in-Cream
• For humor...the ugliest retro swimsuit ever.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Tops/Sleeveless/-Rubix-n-Match-Onesie
• Wish I had found this for my sister's wedding (actually it's more of a financial barrier).
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Dresses/-Licorice-Cordial-Dress
• Tis nerdy, but I think every future librarian nerds a cardigan with flowery stuff.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Tops/Sweaters/-In-the-Back-Yarn-Cardigan
• With a cardigan I could so be chic nerd bohemian in this
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Dresses/-Sash-urated-in-Fashion-Dress
• It's flowy, but the tie would make it work for curvy me.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Tops/Sweaters/-The-Moor-You-Know-Cardigan
• I love this! Good color and image. I have turned into the t-shirt plus cardigan queen. I think it is my fashion of choice.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Tops/T+Shirts/-Nature-Ride-Tee
• I think my twin sister needs this. She let her edge die a little since she became a teacher.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Tops/Sweaters/-Betsey-Johnson-Wink-and-a-Style-Cardigan
• She looks curvy enough. I could do this with some leggings maybe?
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Dresses/-It-s-Cowl-Good-Dress
• Me thinks my sister needs this...or maybe I do.
• http://www.modcloth.com/Modcloth/Womens/Tops/Sweaters/-Nights-in-North-Beach-Top

I should stop giving free advertising to modcloth.com, but I love their stuff. I also hate some of their stuff, but usually enough of the hated clothes are funny enough to get a good laugh. It's a fun site to browse. They have shoes and neat home decor stuff too. Lots of kitschy knick-knacks--best salt and pepper shakers ever.

Pondering MPG

So, here in the States, we calculate the efficiency of our car by miles per gallon. The more ground we cover per gallon, the happier we are. Naturally this means we get the best of our car on long road trips where acceleration isn't necessary and we can maintain a speed.

This means that city driving, which involves a great deal of time idling, is viewed as inefficient driving. I got to wondering yesterday if we would look at the whole situation differently if we changed the unit miles into minutes.

I could be like, "Oh yeah, my car gets 30 minutes to a gallon" (if my math is right, this is decent fuel efficiency--the increments don't seem to be too far off mileage).

It might even the fuel efficiency playing field--it might not. Measuring fuel efficiency in minutes would eliminate the view that idling time is wasted gas, but all the acceleration of city drivers would still impact the amount of time they get out of their gas tank. I just wonder. I might have to start tracking the time I spend in my car and evaluating my minutes per gallon.

In truth, I think my car gets about 27 minutes per gallon (right about the same mileage it gets). My daily commute is in town, but I drive at least one 500 mile road trip each month. Instead of averaging it all together, I should track a period of time that is in town only and then track highway time. 'Twould be interesting.

Creating Graphic Resumes

I started working on a graphic resume to have handy for the impending job hunt I will be on. Here is a tiny jpeg version of it. Tis pretty nifty. I'm making more for my friends Rachelle and Adriane too. With individualized color and layout. I need to get working on my website. Blergh.  

Oh...I made if with Adobe InDesign if you're wondering. It's a pricy piece of software, but I LOVE it! I do not know what I would do without my Adobe Creative Suite. Paired with that collection of software, I am an unstoppable force. It's the best investment I ever made. Too bad I cannot afford an upgrade. I'd also like Framemaker for the next jump in my professional life. Need more money!

Tutoring Days 2-4

So I've tutored 3 more times, and I love these ladies, but I'm worried I'm losing them because I hadn't quite figured out their old system, and they have 2 years of this and a previous tutor that they loved. I think I'm flopping in comparison because I don't know what the expectations are.

After reading a million blogs and things from ESL tutors, I decided to go with 1984 for a book to read. The ladies weren't giving me a lot of direction. It's a HUGE leap for them. Maybe too much. M seems like it might be crossing the line into frustrating read. C seems to be excited about it. I don't know about D. She wasn't there on Thursday.

I do have a better plan to make this work. C, now that I finally met her, was able to answer questions about how things worked before so that I have a better idea of what is a reasonable expectation for what to cover in a class.

Game on. Don't let me screw this up. Failing at this sort of throws a kink in my librarian plans. Although, I think I could very effectively be a coordinator of these sort of things. I'm organized, smart, and efficient. I could be the force behind the tutors. That would be great, but how would I ever get such a job without acting as tutor? Blergh.

Tutoring Day 1

So communication about tutoring yesterday (Tuesday) was a flop. The previous tutor called the group and let them know we'd be meeting, but I forgot to send a reminder, and then when I did, I think I sent it to the wrong numbers (I have 2 sets). End result--no one showed up.

D forgot her book, and she lives far away, so she didn't make it. I still haven't heard from C. M remembered after I sent a text, so she showed up late, and then we had an awesome time.

Of the three, M's English is the poorest, although I think it's still good. She has no problem just taking off in Spanish, and it was fun because even though I missed most of what she was saying, I caught an enjoyable amount with the help of the limited Spanish knowledge I have and with my French. She's hilarious and I like her a lot. It will be a good opportunity for me to build my Spanish while I help others with English.

I feel a lot better about this tutoring thing having met M. She's outgoing and out-spoken, and it's good for me because I can be a bit shy. D is also shy, so I think between the two of us, tutoring wouldn't be that productive without M to draw us out. She's just awesome.

We have a textbook and workbooks to go through, and they're helpful for building vocabularly and practicing elements of grammar, but I kind of think this group is ready to step up. I might ask them if they want to do the textbook one day a week and the other day we can work our way through a novel and talk about it. D wants to work on her writing, and M told me she likes to write as a hobby, so we could write responses, and perhaps do some creative writing too.

I'm excited.