Dropping some Truth

I ran into this video this morning:


And honestly, it made me angry.

Why can't we treat teachers more like this?   Why can't we give them the resources that they need AND a decent salary?

And can we stop with the hanging everything on test scores.  You know what?  MANY of the under performing schools are from schools with students living in poverty.  Sadly, the test scores won't go up until the poverty issue is solved.  

And then I thought about some other truths that we tend to ignore.

(Disclaimer:  None of these are sourced....  I will see if I can.  Also, there is a rather large sprinkling of my opinions in here)

• The science vs. religion debate.  Y'all know they are two different things.  Right?  At times it seems like in America you have to chose between the two.  But the science will still be there.  Science doesn't care what church you go to.  It's based on research, data and facts.
• And can we PLEASE get the Christianity out of law?  These lawmakers want the country to have law based on Christian religion.  You know what that is?  Sharia law!!!  If the Muslims can't do it, you can't either.  And the "religious freedom" that many Christians are fighting for is nothing more than making sure that their religion is the ONLY religion in this country.  the First Amendment.  Look it up.
• And while I'm on the subject:  Marriage is a legal contract.  You don't need a church or minister to get married.  It's LEGAL.  And because it's legal, get your damn religion out of it!!!  
• Republicans tend to look back to the post war era as a time they'd like to get back to.  You know what they did back then?  They taxed corporations and the wealthy.  And with that they built roads and made this country great.  So I agree.  Let's get back to that before the Denbeigh bridge over the interstate collapses!
• Creationism shouldn't be taught in Public Schools.  It's religion.  If religion is taught in schools you should tax churches.
• Let's have the same lawmakers that DEMAND that we send the military to do this and that ALSO pay for the VA.  It's embarrassing.
• You know what else is embarrassing?  The fact that we have people dying in this country because of the lack of affordable healthcare.  Most other developed nations don't have this issue.  Could we also throw in some sick leave, a living wage and paid maternity leave?
• The OVERWHELMING majority of Islamic people aren't terrorists.  You know, it's around the same percentage as the Christians that belong to the Westboro Baptist Church.
• Also, Sikhs wear turbans.  They aren't Islamic.
• And not all women in headscarves are Islamic either.  It's their CHOICE and it's not hurting you.

For too long we have been rewarding people for being absolutely mean.  Donald Trump, a candidate for President has been to rally after rally where he has mocked the disabled, called Mexicans rapists and drug smugglers, along with being not so pleasant to woman or Islamic people.

And people want him for President.

He's just the biggest example.  We reward professional sports people with million dollar contracts, but the PE teacher that taught them are using their own pocket change to buy balls.

Can we start rewarding intelligence and kindness?  Can we make the Golden Rule (You know the Do Unto others one.. the one that Jesus was all about) the standard for behavior?

I facepalm at the uninformed comments and unintelligent rhetoric so often that I have a bruise.  

I can't chance any of this.  All I can do is try to treat others with kindness, and try to correct misinformation there I can.

And drink wine.  Wine solves many things....

Oh for the love of Pete!!

NBC and Fox have been doing live musicals for a few years.  Whenh NBC aired the Sound of Music they were very careful to state that this film would be of the stage version, not a remake of the movie.  Grease's producers were on the record that they took the best parts from the stage musical and the movie to make their script.

Then Fox decided to remake the Rocky Horror Show (Or the Rocky Horror Picture Show).

And my Facebook friend's feed went CRAZY with nay-sayers!

So, of course, me being miss "let's wait and see" had to inform them that the BBC had aired the recorded stage version last year.  And that yes, it WAS a stage musical before they filmed it.

But of course the moaning continued!

They are messing with perfection!

They are ruining everything!!

I refuse to acknowledge it's existence!!

I have always maintained that while not everything SHOULD be remade.... the Rocky Horror Show is a musical.  A stage musical.  It's been revival-ed.  A lot.  And that maybe, just maybe they were doing like they did with Grease, a combo of the movie and the stage show.

From this, it looks as if they are going with the Grease approach.

And you know what?  I'm going to watch it.  I'm going to be objective.

It's been a long summer....

Right before the start of the new school year I stepped on a scale.

Ouch.

I'd gained 6 pounds.

I was officially heavier than when I started working here.

Ouch!

The Spousal Equivalent also remarked that he could stand to lose a few pounds too.

So I formulated a plan!

1.) Workouts.  I work out every day, but I need to up my game.  I want to throw in a 30 minute walk with the puppy every day.  (Or our Tuesday.Thursday run)

That is the face of a puppy that wants to go walkies!

2.) Changing eating habits.  By taking my breakfast to work (baked oatmeal and yogurt) I dramatically cut down on the morning munchies.  I may not be eating salad for lunch every day, but I am dramatically increasing my veggie intake.

Seriously.... I could totally murder a loaf of good warm bread right about now!

3.) Changing my shopping habits.  Y'all.. WalMart Grocer pick up is a revelation!  I make a plan for the week, pick out what I need, then pick it up!  No going to the store and picking up ice cream because you were hungry for it!

4.) Actually giving a shit about my health.  You know what helps me remain upright and moving forward?  Chiropractic care, deep tissue massages and enough sleep.  And you know what?  I'm going to find the money to do the first two, and the time to do the last one.  Also, when I'm not feeling well I might actually take a sick day!  (Horror of horrors!)

Today I actually didn't work out.  I wasn't feeling all that hot.  Instead I slept in a tad and then took the dog out for a walk.  

The other thing that got TOTALLY out of control this summer is the clutter in my house!

I've got a storage room that you can't walk around in.  Sadly, it's been 90 degrees all summer long!  I'm hoping that as the days cool I'll be able to get in there and start getting rid of thing that I don't need and box up the things that I want to keep but don't use often and donate the shoes, bags and clothes that I seem to can't get rid of but don't wear (and won't ever wear again)

I've also done things like putting my spice rack on the wall instead of keeping spices in a drawer, so I won't keep buying spices again and again because I couldn't find them in the damn drawer...

 You know... trying to use the vertical space in the house...

(I'm next tackling the mess that is my nightstand...)

The only other thing that I need to SERIOUSLY work on is breaking up my weekend cleaning frenzy into bite sized weekday pieces.  You know.. so I don't spend ALL of Sunday cleaning (Or saying that I'm going to clean...)

Well folks... let's hope that some of these back-to-school resolutions stick...

I've got the Power! (or not... in this case...)

Yet again, we're experiencing a heatwave.  It's actually rather nasty!  It rained suddenly yesterday and after it stopped I opened the door.  It was like getting slapped in the face with a hot, wet towel!

We lost power overnight the other day.  it was the first time in FOREVER that something like this had happened.

Well today halfway thought my workout it happened again.  I was on a roll with my morning workout (Focus T 25, cardio!) and all of a sudden, everything blinked off.

The power came back, and I went out to walk Misty.  

But by the time we came back, it was all off again.  Apparently we weren't the only ones!

So I showered in the dark.  I got dressed in the dark.  I tried to apply make up by the light of my iPhone flashlight...  (Hey Spousal Equivalent, I think it's time to get fresh batteries in the camping lantern!)  I opened the fridge door for the briefest of moments to get my lunch and off I went.

This must be the secret of getting me to work early.  Cut off my power!

It's actually a bit of a bummer.  I was on a roll!

I weighed in last week and it was AWFUL!  Like a number so high that I nearly burst into tears.  And I did this to myself.  I know I've been slacked!  What did I do?  I wanted to go home and eat 6 cupcakes, but where would that have gotten me?

I made that day Day One of my new food and exercise plan!

Right now I have a healthy, well portioned lunch.  Tonight I have a plan (provided that we have power).

Hell, I ever have gotten my kiddy portion plates down!  I'll use them, damnit!

Tomorrow, provided I have power, it's running and another date with Shaun T!

Suicide Squad (here thar be spoilers)

Seriously, there's spoilers here!

I left the movie with thoughts..

1. I liked the movie.  It's not stupendous.  But for a DC movie, it's not too bad.
2. It's got the DC weakness of trying to cram 4 hours on movie in a 2 hour movie.
3. Because of the MASSIVE amount of characters, some of them got the shaft.  (Captain Boomerang wasn't a character, he was a caricature.  )

   

   via wall.alphacoders.com

4. The 1 native dude was killed in like 10 minutes.  RIP Slipknot, we hardly knew ya.  (Doing research, the comic book character look not to be Native... but they did cast Adam Beach...)
5. Bravo with Will Smith playing Deadshot!!  I actually think that was a more fully realized character than Harley Quinn.  Also I don't believe the original character was African American.  It goes to show that you can cast roles like this with the best actor for the job, regardless of the color of their skin.

   

   via cinemablend.com

6. Nice double-cross on the audience!  We were all thinking that Enchantress was part of the team.  No!!  She's the antagonist!!
7. But we all know the REAL villain of the movie was Amanda Waller.  
8. Masterful use of music... rather Guardians of the Galaxy-esque!
9. Diablo!!!  I LOVED his character!  He was a complete character.  We saw the growth.  We understood his motivation!  We saw him seek his redemption!!  Then he died.  I get that it had to happen that way.... but still.  LOVED this guy!!
10. Margot Robbie was AMAZING as Harley Quinn!!  Like seriously amazing!!

    

    via youtube.com

It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Now, let's all start praying that the studio doesn't

f*ck up Wonder Woman!!

The role of Tuesday will be played today by Monday

I got to work, all set to face a 6 (yes 6) hour meeting.  I ran into my office, grabbed my note sheet and ran downstairs.

And there was a moving truck there.

Yes, moving and storage showed up and I wasn't warned about it.  So back upstairs I ran, pointed out the things that needed to be hauled away and ran out.

I went to my meeting, which consisted of a series me figuring everything in out in five minutes, then spending 25 minutes waiting for us to move on.

Then I ran back to the office to (unsuccessfully) try to print something out.  We figured out that a professor might have moved with a school computer..

Then I see a big. metal. bookcase.  IN THE HALLWAY!  I had JUST sent items in for surplus!  You can't just take your junk out of your office and leave it in the hallway!!

I inform Gail of this and leave... I have things to do!

Off to Walmart, where I tried to yet again tell them that it wasn't necessary to order me the item that I cancelled.  But their computers were down and I couldn't get my money back today.

Then I sent to Target Optical.  I had an appointment for today at 5pm.

But it's not today.

it's tomorrow.

When my chiropractor appointment is.

I seriously went to my car, shut the door and cussed to loudly that people jumped.

Thankfully the Spousal Equivalent bought dinner.... pizza.  I dropped a piece on my shirt.

I'll be hiding under the bed if you need me.  Apparently Monday is out to get me.

Happy Birthday Harry Potter (This post is Gif-licious)

Sunday is Harry Potter's birthday.

Why should a 41 year old woman care?

Because I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan.  And I'll publicly admit it!!

My story started when I was in grad school.  My mother was working in an elementary school library when the first three books came out (they came out all at once, or in quick succession here, if I remember).  I tried in vain to get the books from the public library.  Once day my mother's boss, the lovely librarian, asked her how fast I could read the new Harry Potter books she had just received.  The first three books.  I was all over that!

Two days.  It only took 2 days!

I remember standing in line with my friends for the midnight to pick up the Order of the Phoenix.  When then went to a Denny's, sat in a booth and read.  Grown Women.  In our 20's.  Reading at a Denny's at 2am.

Why do I love Harry Potter?

Harry Potter exists in a world that isn't perfect.  

I mean... there was a mass murderer...  That terrorized society not once, but twice.  And the second time, the news was kept from the people and hushed up in the press.

And then there was the evil that wore a face of respectability and order.  The evil that we all know.  The evil that touches ordinary lives.

(That bitch is scary!  Even more so, because we all know people like her!)

But even in all of this, there is light.  There is spells that feed on hope and happiness that conquer the darkness.

This is a world where travelling happens in a thought.  Where magic can help with housework, travel, cooking and every day tasks.  Where a game like Quiddich can exist!

Where money transactions happen in coins.  There a Rubber Duck is a mystery.  It's a place that by now is so familiar that it feels like home, but it's so different that it's like a foreign that it's like a vacation.

I know that other adults think that I'm crazy.  They think that it's just a book.  That in the scheme of things that it's not important.

And they are right.  There are other issues in the world.  There is war, racism, poverty.

But there's evidence that Harry Potter can teach tolerance and empathy to children.  By looking at the race purity and the corrupt leaders, children can use that to analyze and processes prejudices in their own lives.  

But the most important thing about Harry Potter is that it's a world that's there when the pressures of this one become too much to handle.  It's my refuge, and as things in the media and on the news get more and more grim, the world of Harry Potter will always be there.

So this Sunday Harry Potter will be 36 years old.

Happy birthday to The Boy Who Lived.