In my quest to find a winter weekend getaway, I came across this awesome hotel about two hours west of here in Dodgeville, WI. I think my favorite is "Tranquility Base - Featuring a recreaion of a Gemini Space Capsule, "moon crate" whirlpool, VCR and CD player". Make sure you click on each room name and get the 360 degree tour - it seriously looks like they just paper mache'd half that stuff!

I just had an observation at the middle school to gather some info for my case study, and it was pretty intense bunch of 6th graders. There were three EBD kids in the class, and they're at this weird hormonal stage where, as Louis CK said on Friday night, "they're fucking everything in your house when you're not home". It seems like they just don't know what to do with themselves, and three boys were just antagonizing the poor teacher. When I tell people what I'm going to school for, they usually give me a look like "you really want to do that?", quickly realize they're making that face, and then act happy for me. It's strange when someone else's nightmare is exactly what you want to be doing. I really like my classes so far. The main difference I've noticed about grad school, and especially in this field, is that it involves so much more experience and research. It's fun, but frustrating because I'm not in the classroom full time, I still have to schedule observations and interviews along with work. Thankfully the district is really flexible about it.

I finally saw There Will Be Blood on Tuesday night (a heavy snow made for a perfect night of lone movie watching) and I think I've become a little obsessed with it. I keep going over it in my mind, and want to see it again as soon as possible. It was really affecting, but completely unlike most movies that stay on my mind this long. This and No Country For Old Men seem to have started a little controversy, mainly about their unconventional endings, but those appealed to me, and the performances, aesthetics, and themes alone are enough to make them wonderful. Also, Daniel Day-Lewis is still unbelieveably sexy. I think I need to see The Last of the Mohicans again.

The weather seems to have everyone down, so I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend before another foot of snow hits us on Sunday. A few links for a slow Friday morning...

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=t5wqrs9hpxt70zjz3bv348pqg1hcxz0r

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-02/ff_stasi?currentPage=all

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/13/dont_just_stand_there_think/

If I never have to see another local newscast with a guy standing outside demonstrating that it snowed (no shit), I'll be happy. I love the snow, but the coverage is ridiculous. I wasn't even aware that that tornadoes had killed 50+ in the south until I caught it on The Today Show this morning. Ugh. I should get cable. But it was nice to be snowed in, off work, and without obligations. We took a little walk to the store and it was fun to be frolicking in waist high snow.

Oh, and I caught a minute of Oprah and it just confirmed my Oprah hate. I mean, she does some good things, but she's clearly so removed from the real world that it makes it almost impossible to relate to anything she says. She had a show called "The Secret Behind The Secret" yesterday, and all these weirdo life coach ladies were giving their perspective on it. Now I completely believe in the power of positivity as a force in your life, but it works because it changes your actions, the way you treat others, your outlook, and how you live your life. This seems like common sense. I just believe that it comes from you, and you have to take action as opposed to sending out thoughts and hoping good things just happen to you.

But anyway, Oprah told a story about a recent experience with her magical thoughts. She was reflecting on a show she did about a professional bubble blower, and how much she wanted to blow bubbles herself. Yeah. At that moment, she walked into her foyer and found a bubble kit, complete with bubbles and a silver Tiffany bubble blower. Oprah asked her assistant where bubbles had come from, and her assistant said it was a birthday present she had given her a while ago. Oprah's reaction to this was "And I never knew it was there until I actively thought about bubbles!" or something to that effect.

So this story illustrated two things:

1) Oprah is an asshole who is unaware of a birthday gift from her assistant until it occurs to her that she wants it.

2) Oprah is an asshole who believes that her positive thoughts brought her a fucking Tiffany bubble blower.

I could name about 10 other instances off the top of my head that proves how out of touch she is, but it's too early in the morning to get annoyed.


One more day... :)