nobody likes me, everybody hates me.......

and from what i heard there is a movie coming out sometime in the future about how to eat fried worms...could be good?

and i saw on the preview channel last night that there most definitely is going to be a movie about crossword puzzles...and i will be at that one for sure!

well, back to worms:

last summer, i was so very curious about all the worms that i would see on the sidewalks...what happened to them? do they just get tired, and before they know, uh oh, i'm dead? i just didn't get it...

i asked a friend of mine who is sort of a biology-ish major...she didn't know

well, i apparently forgot about it or didn't know how to adequately ask the question on yahoo.com

but this summer, my interest was sparked (is that the correct terminology?) once again...and yesterday, i did something about it.

george was caught on a beach pretending to be a marine biologist..."is anyone here a marine biologist?"

well, yesterday, i asked in my class of 10 people....is anyone here a science teacher? (it's an education class, we got teachers in there)

and nick spoke up...he teaches 6th grade general science...and so i said, "nick, i got a question for you"

and i asked him about the worms and why there were so many of them dead on the sidewalks.

he said that worms come out because they're drowning...could be from the rain or from a sprinkler system...so they come out for some survival....then, they may find themselves on the sidewalks...see what happens is, when their skin gets dried out they can no longer move...so i guess they're inching along and getting skin-dehydrated at the same time, and then suddenly they just can't move any more...and then, when that happens they suffocate....SAD! start the day out drowning and then leave it suffocating....

so, i asked nick....if they're all on the sidewalks...wouldn't you think that they would see their buddies and think, "wow, hot day...guess i better try to stay in the grass" or something like that....and then nick told me...they can't see! so, they can't even tell that their friends have already succumb to the heat, i guess unless they ran into one, but at that point, it may be too late....

in case you were wondering...it is still possible to learn some valuable things in the classroom...i'm glad that wasn't hands-on (no boat-a-thon) education...but i have a new sympathy for the worms out there~

now i'm remembering God and readin too much it's so nice

this weekend...well, it was much like any other weekend in Alabama...i guess? I mean, it was hot?

i went home this weekend and while i should have been studying for the test that i have in four hours (who am i kidding, I should be studying now for the test i have in four hours)...i decided that i would do a little reading and movie watching

the books:

(a) the devil wears prada
(b) blue like jazz
(c) dispatches from th eedge: a memoir of war, disasters, and survival
(d) gods in alabama (i'm only on chapter 2 on this one)

the movies:

(a) the chronicles of narnia: the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe
(b) old school

starting with the movies: old school...i don't really care for it that much, it was just on, and i haven't seen it, thought i might better keep up with the culture and watch it....BUT, the chronicles of narnia was absolutely wonderful. i've read the book...i've read all the books (finally finished!)...i wanted to make sure that my images of the characters weren't clouded by hollywood...i think i made the correct decision. The film's got power, i think...

the books...i gave up seeing the magical mailbox movie this weekend by being at home...but i got some good reading done, so it's okay...but i will be conquering the magical mailbox movie soon...i'm sure

the devil wears prada is coming out in movie formation in a couple weeks...i want to see it, but i'm almost a big believer in reading the book first (that is, when i know it is a book)...and it was a fast read...it was good...and i'm sure there is a lesson in there somewhere, but i'm not sure where it is exactly. Perhaps it is that we all have to pay our dues (a million girls would want that job)...but in the end, we can't be letting go of all our happiness just for our careers...nonetheless, through all of that, the girl did learn about feeding the homeless and ordering starbucks...and i beieve in both of those things.

blue like jazz--well, it's pretty good. it has some good lessons in it as well...how much are we focused on ourselves how much of the time, and how is that hindering our relationships? but then again...going back to the devil wears prada...don't we have to look out for ourselves to some extent? we might be trying to save the world, one fashion magazine at a time, but in an effort to be doing doing doing for others (one other) we might be actually rendering ourselves less effective.

dispatches from the edge: a memoir of war, disasters, and survival...let's be honest...it's by anderson cooper, and why wouldn't you want to own a book with his face on the cover? well, i intend on giving the book away...not because i didn't enjoy it...but because someone else needs to enjoy it...this man: wow...there's some lessons in this book as well...this man has been around the world (and i i i i) covering disasters and war...he's seen a bunch...and has he become immune to emotion? i'm not sure...do you have to be to cover war? One of the most eye-catching sentences to me in this book comes from a chapter where cooper is talking about children and starvation...he is in a make-shift hospital describing how the doctors take care of some of these little lives. he says about the mothers: "they don't want your sympathy. they want you to do your job." what is our job, exactly? just a question...and how does that relate to blue like jazz and the devil wears prada.

finally, gods in alabama...i heard a dramatic interpretation of part of this book done by a girl on the forensics team...and it was great (one should also read the short story "a shell game with organs"...it's very good, i also heard it done at forensics tournament)...well, i bought the book...i read the first chapter, i'm sure there will be some lessons in that one as well...

i also continue to read mere christianity...it's very good thus far...very deep and i'm reading every page about four times...

and i suggest, if anyone wants a book to read, it's also deep, but makes some good rationale sense, if that's what you're looking for: the phenomenology of the social world

I know I'll often stop and think of them. But in my life I loved you more.

This summer is so far going oh so very productively! Let me tell you how.

(a) i have finished The Da Vinci code, and i finished The Silver Chair, and i am on The Last Battle...add Blue Like Jazz to the list of books that i am going to finish this summer. I have started Mere Christianity---i have not been disappointed yet with any of these books.

(b) i have watched the crow and the graduate (and the finals of the spelling bee, you know that was intense). i also have watched the omen (the original), and i'm going to watch the new one tonight. I saw x men three, and i saw the break up...and then i'm looking forward to the devil wears prada (add that to the book list as well)

(c) the summer of doing stuff that i've never done continues...i guess it's the year of doing stuff that i haven't done...cause i hadn't caught the staph until february....but, this summer, is the summer of "never have i ever, but now i really have"

(c.5) i have not learned how to use my coffee maker, but i did make tea the other day, and i made my bed (and slept in it), and painted a bulliten board....and there's other stuff, too!

(d) for example: i drove through a car wash for the first time last weekend. it was horrible! and my intention is to never do that again...those big red things come down on top of the windshield and it was frightening, all the while the yellow things that twist are twisting and whirling on the side of the car, and the one thing you absolutely cannot do, but want to the most is to just ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW!!!! but that would create problems as well, so you're just stuck....stuck inside this little space that seems to be getting smaller and smaller...clinging onto the hope that five dollars will only purchase about 2 minutes (and hopefully no more) terrifying excitement.

(e) i am going to ride a horse. or at least get in a little cart that is pulled by a horse, says my friend anna. you see, i've never ridden a horse, those mothers are HUGE! they look ferocious. i get nervous....but i feel like, just as all americans should be able to list all fifty states (i usually get about 47 on the first try, and i should be learning soon that i always forget vermont) and all the presidents (i can't do this one yet, see, i don't even know how many there are, but i got 31 on my last attempt)...i think probably all americans should have ridden a horse....my friend anna has a horse named peanut, who can shake hands and give kisses...i am going to visit him (i hope) tomorrow!

(g) i started school this week. i have taken summer school classes 6 out of the seven summers i have been in school. i am a pro at summer school...i have taken 67 credit hours during all my summers of summer school....PRO! so, this summer, like most others, i am taking a class. i waltzed into my class on Tuesday...why? because all summer school classes i have ever taken during a split term have began on Tuesday. Well, i sat down, my friends Reginald, Michael, and Daniel are in the class... i know the teacher....well, then teach started talking about the first day of class....wasn't tuesday the first day of class? well, apparently not. apparently in the college of education, summer split term classes start on mondays and are over in four weeks...i'm not complaining. test one is on monday, 61 multiple choice questions (how undergrad!--ha!) and then after monday's class, we only will have 10 more class periods...yeah, i'm down with that!

(f) now, i know that i have cool friends who are going all over the world this summer...jennifer is spending some of her summer in london and then some in colorado; graham is spending his summer in ukraine...my friend wesley is spending his summer in decatur-where-it's-greater...and ummmm, heidi's in washington, carmen's in florida...and i'm in tuscaloosa....BUT I ASK YOU ALL cool people...yeah, who has already watched those movies, read those books, and driven through the car wash this summer! i may be in tuscaloosa....BUT....