The Amazing Shirt

I had coffee with Crau today at Starbucks & she showed up in this fabulous shirt that I wanted to take right off of her. But I didn't have anything to cover her up with, so I didn't take it. However, it was a black shirt with a martini glass that had a rhinestone olive in it & a phrase that went something along the lines of "I like my drinks stiff and dirty". Again~~something to that effect. The "dirty" was in rhinestones, too, as was a red heart on the back. So cute! I have some pretty amazing shirts but would have loved to have added this to the collection!

Briefly onto other things: Had coffee with MIU Thursday night. Stayed out WAY too late talking & catching up...always good to see him. Then spent my ENTIRE FRIDAY afternoon at work until after 6:00............UGH. Then I have graded papers all weekend because it is the end of the semester & all of the work is coming in by the tremendous pile. Life has taken an odd turn & made me boring rather quickly, wouldn't you all agree? Back to living it up by next weekend!

Tid Bits of Late

I have been busy popping in and out of things. I hung out a lot with KDP last weekend. Always a good time with her. Went to dinner a couple of times, drinks a couple more, & even a trip to Coldstone in there with my coupon. She has signed up with Match.com and received responses rather quickly. Her first date was this past Sunday & it was with a doctor. Oh~~my dream has come true. Well, I'll have to live it vicariously through her, but still.

Crau & I have a business venture in the works.....very exciting. She's been doing a alot of poetry readings & is becoming quite popular from what it seems. Good for her. I just hope she remembers to tahnk all of the little people when she is some poet laureate or something. And, Crau, the "little people" comment was not aimed at you directly. Heeheehee.

Anyway, I am going out for coffee with the MIU tonight. Always a good time with him but we see eachother like twice a year. Sad but true.

I am avoiding the last stack of papers that I have to grade for 3:30. I know. Not good. But this is how I work.

And my harrassment issue is now the "example of how not to communicate & get things wrong". So basically it comes down to we are doing nothing with this kid because of people not knowing how to do their jobs & I have been told that he may be dismissed due to grades anyway. No--he should be dismissed because of behavior. I don't care about his grades. But I have been told to be understanding with all of this. Isn't that amazing how I have to be understanding but nobody else does?

I Want To Be A "Kept Woman"

I don't mean the mistress/high end call-girl type. I mean I want a guy who wants to put me up in my own condo, pay the utilities, and give me an allowance. I want to be taken care of for awhile. I don't even need to see him. He can take me out to dinner & a show or movie once a week & that would suffice.

I am tired of taking care of myself. I am tired of listening to the never-ending whining of people in my life (& that includes the whordes of students I have found buzzing around me lately). I am whining but I am tired. And cranky. And cannot look at another poetry research paper & deal with Frost or Plath yet again.

Sorry--I want the semester to be over. That's all

Can It Be...?

You know it's the end of the semester when masses of stupidity pile up in your mailbox & comments are just so -- out there -- that you don't know what to do with them all. One of my classes had a project due today. They have known about it since January 18th. They were told to get moving with it ages ago. The project was simple to submit: type three pages, double-spaced, size 12, and have a cover page with a picture of them doing the new activity they attempted over the last three & a half months. Four people came in today at the beginning of the class to ask for an extension. ??? The semester is over next Wednesday. To what date do you need an extension when the last 14 weeks weren't enough for you to complete said project? Another came and pointed out that she failed to include a picture of herself attemtping the activity & that she only realized this on the way to class today when she looked at the role of film she had & none of the pictures were from the roll she recently used to take the necessary pictures needed. That role was now at the 1-hour developing center & she was going to leave the picture in my mailbox. I said no. She said that was the only way the picture would be included. I pointed out that she would have to attach it to the paper herself. She pointed out that her project would then be late. I pointed out that it was incomplete anyway. Well, at 3:30 today there were four...not one but four...pictures of the student in my mailbox waiting for me to select the best one (I guess) and attach it for her. Yeah, that's not happening.

Then, the last class of the day had only 7 of 15 prepared & the other 8 just sitting there watching the clock tick time away. I pointed out that they are wasting time...their's and mine...and must have the essay in on Wednesday. No excuses. One asked me if he has to do the essay. I said that assignments are really not a "pick and choose combo plate" and that all are necessary in order to do well in the class. He said he has better things to do over the next two days. I said fine. It's not my grade on the line. Can you believe the nerve some of them have? Why do I do this? Why do I bother?

OH! Remember the thug-student who harrassed me & was to serve one week suspension and never did? The powers-that-be decided to ban him from taking summer classes & he has to serve 80 hours community service between now and September 5th. What does this have to do with harrassment? How does this rectify the situation? It doesn't. And I am not letting it go.

HELP!
Signed Desperate in Bethpage

A Birthday Wish

It's Cowboy's Birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him!

Wish I was there to celebrate. I miss him.

Like A Bad Penny

NYU is back. I have not heard from him in awhile. I had received that email that said "How's it going?" a couple of weeks ago. I never responded to it because I am not used to such lack of interest/treatment from a guy. I figured that was the end of him. Nope. I got an email yesterday that said "Hi. How's it going? I wanted to know if you'd like to get together some time." So I wrote back a simple thank you but no email. I get a lengthier one asking why & if it has anything to do with him not corresponding sooner. I wanted to tell him that it was because I did not find him attractive & I was turned off when he ate 1/3 of the nachos & ALL of the sour cream. But I didn't. I did write that I expect more immediate action than waiting over a month for some kind of invitation. I then get the whole "I was busy & thought you were too" email. So I sent it back that even when one is busy, if they are truly intersted they find 5 minutes for a phone call. And, please, he works in the IT sector for Education. He has access to a comp. all day. You don't have a 10 minute break to email me? Not once in a month? In five weeks I received three emails. Each one was one line in length. None had my name at the top or in them anywhere. And only the most recent one asked if I'd like to get together. We met way back in early March. He's got nothing.

Mr. NYU's luck has run out. I feel bad but at 35 one should know how to let a woman know that he is intersted. I am not into playing games & that is why I did respond in such a manner.

Ein Zwei Drei Soufla!

I realized on my trip to Munich that the only german I know relates to drinking. I'm not sure how this has happened, since I do not know anything about drinking in general. But, I digress.

Munich was AMAZING! I cannot stress that enough. I will begin with the flight on Lufthansa. Crau & I were not seated together..........sucky........and I was seated with a couple who had a 14 month old that was still being fed "the natural way". Yeah, lady, thanks a lot. To top off this 8+ hour flight, the seat I was sitting in was the first in the section, which had access to the wall infront of it that accommodated layets for babies. Well, there was another little one (same age) a few rows back & they decided to move the mother & little tyke next to me. So now I had 2 babies, one mother feeding her child constantly (please don't make me say it---I hate anything to do with the topic), and no Crau to be all excited with. Long flight.

But we landed in Germany & all those issues were left on the plane. We were in Munich--land of the Munchens! (last time I say that...promise.) We had no problem geting our luggage or through customs, but when it came time to get out of the airport & on our way.....we had issues. We could not figure out how to buy the train tickets that would whisk us to our hotel & start our touring day. But, the munchens are so nice & try to help......whether they speak English or not. A gentleman tried to help us, but it was no use. He told us what we needed but we didn't understand. However, Crau figured it out & we finally bought said tickets & hopped on a train that took us directly to the city center.

We get off at our stop--Marienplatz--and take an escalator up (thank goodness for modernized citites......if you care to ask one day I will tell you about the Paris fiascos) and find ourselves right infront of the famous Glockenspiel. Stunning. We look at a map & see that our hotel is literally 2 blocks away from this center. Fantastic! So we struggle with luggage to the hotel & check in. Sort of. The room isn't ready so we...me especially...do a quick switch of things so that we can go off to see the sights & not have to lug all of our crap with us.

Our first stop was the Hard Rock Cafe. We have found that this works nicely for us. It's a famous & popular site in every city & we can guarantee a menu in English for our first real meal in a day. What was even better is that it was around the corner from the hotel. And what was right across the street from that? The infamous Hofbrau Haus! The great beer hall of Germany was across the street from the back of our hotel. This seemed great---until 2 am. I'll get to that in a minute.

After lunch we hopped a train & went to the Kartoffel Museum. That's a potato museum if you didn't know. If you know me at all, you know I'd be the type of person to go to such a place. Very cute, I must say. We even took each other's pictures with the potato people.

We spent time wandering the city & got dinner. We actually ate pizza that night. It seems weird but Crau & I have had nachos & pizza in every city we have travelled to so far. It's tradition now.

It would seem that one would be able to fall asleep with ease for not having slept in over a day & yet sleep avoided me. Maybe I was overtired. Maybe it was being in a strange city. Or maybe it was the singing that came from outside the Hofbrau all night. Oh yes. So, we were up every night because these Germans know how to party!

I will sum up the rest of the trip in brief comments. We went to the Hofbrau at 11:30 the next morning. We drank HUGE radlers (beer + lemonade...sounds weird but was actually good) and then went on to Dachau. We had a ball until Saturday night. It is also tradition to wander around the city at night & see it all light up. While walking around, I mentioned that I had a sore throat. I thought it was from being in all of these smoke-filled areas. As much as the Germans drink, they smoke even more. It's nuts. Well, Crau said the same thing at almost the same moment. By Sunday morning, it was not from the smoke. We were sick. Congested, achy, stuffy, sore throat sick. Horrible. We went--in the rain--to a museum Sunday morning. We wandered through it....sick as we were...and ended up in a room that was completely enpty. Just as I get to the center of this small room, a voice (quite booming) comes over the PA system. Crau & I froze in motion. We didn't know what it was saying because it was in German. But it soudned like "I am the great and powerful Oz...." I giggled the whole time because that is what I do. We scurried out of the room & finally found our way out of the museum. In was still raining & we stopped at a coffee shop to wallow in our hot tea about being sick. We went back to the hotel & Crau napped. I decided to go to the BMW museum. It was great. I saw so many awesome cars.

We went to a potato restaurant that night & then on to Starbucks. It seemed like our colds might pass us by & this was cause for excitement because the next day we were on our way to rent a car & drive on the Autobahn.

No such luck. The rain continued & my cold worsened. We went to pick up the rental car & I was beyond disappointed. Here we are in the auto-making capitol of the world & what do they give us? A chevy. We drove about an hour & a half out of the city to some remote area to see Neuschwanstein Castle. So worth it. We wanted to go on to a few other attractions, but didn't have it in us. I felt lousy. And it was still raining. So we drove back to the city & collapsed. Tuesday we were to drive to the Steiff Museum & Legoland, but I just couldn't do it. So we hung around and went to random sights ..............IN THE SNOW. Uh-huh. It snowed. I wanted to go home so badly, but had no choice in the matter. We were in this until Wednesday.

Thank goodness when Wednesday arrived. We packed our bags, went shopping, and then hopped a train back to the airport. In the rain. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was in London.

I will say this: Munich is great. The people are very nice. So many of them speak English. The city is so pretty. And they know how to eat (& drink). I can't wait to go back & actually do all of the things I didn't get to & re-do some of the things I did because I did not appreciate them as much as I would have liked.

A Quick Note

Hi All~

I'm back! I am beyond tired......jet-lagged.......ill.....and will fill you all in on the trip later on. It was good. We survived (barely). We will be going back.

Crazy Days & Off to Munchen Land

I packed in too many things for this week. Today I had to drive out, in the rain, to another school for which I teach. I set up an appt. with the chair of the ed. dept. about writing issues in the program. She suggested we go to lunch. Oh I don't trust this woman walking down the hall, let alone driving. I offered to drive, but she insisted. She drives 20 miles below the speed limit. She doesn't look around her at all. She just goes. Oh no, get us there safe. She circled around a few looking for a nonexistent italian restaurant. The drive was that awkward silence. Like a first date where you have no idea what to talk about. We had to find another place to eat seeing as we circled in silence and she had no idea where she was going. While we ate, I loaded her up with poorly written essays & suggestions on what needs to be done with the program. She didn't say much. I talked. A lot. I usually do not feel the need to fill awkward silence. Today I did. When we made it safely back (shocked) to the school, it was snowing. Not light, pretty little flakes, but driving snow & rain. Great. I have to get on the LIE with this? Drat. I made it back in time to run a few errands for my trip tomorrow (yikes), catch The Travel Channel's Passport to Europe which was for Bavaria...called Peof Crau about this.....and then ran back up to teach my 3:50 class & grade 20 essays.

I am so tired. I have so many little things to do before I levae tomorrow. Oh, did I mention we are going to Munich? The land of fairy tales, beer, and leider-hosen. I am excited, but nervous at the same time. I don't know why. I have to grade some papers for the online group before I leave & set up their lesson for next week. I have to set up my hybird lit. class as well. I have to find a suitcase & pack. I have to call Farm. to change the appt. for setting up the business. I hope I get this all done.

I will raise a glass on behalf of all of you & say "prost!" Wish us safe travels.

Some People Never Learn

I got an email from Peof Crau yesterday that said "Don't freak out" Thanks. Now I am going to freak out. Power of suggestion, you know? In the email she writes of how Mr. Thug-loser (I am trying to be nice) was spotted in the cafeteria yesterday. Now, orders were that he was suspended until April 17th. He was specifically told that if he set foot into the building, he would be expelled. Well, the powers-that-be had better follow through. I went into the office of Mr. NC & mentioned that I had heard of this incident. His reply: "PC claims she saw him." What? She claims? So you believe she is making this up? Idiot. I asked him "What is going to be done?" He said he spoke to the man-in-charge & that the student should be expelled. I went to two other offices to let those powers in on it. They both plan to follow up on this & see that something is done. How can one be so determined to be head-strong & do what he would rather do than help himself out for a better future? And, does one really believe that he can win this issue? Come on. I will not let this rest. Promise.

Martini Lunches

Oh I am one step closer to becoming my character-fusion dream. I have been saying forever (to myself but now out loud) that I am tired of my way of living life & I want to spice it up a bit. My dream character combo that I aspire to be is Nina Van Horn from "Just Shoot Me" and Suzanne Sugarbaker from "Designing Women". Gorgeous, arrogant, self-centered & absorbed, and buzzed. This would be great. I know I wouldn't last a week like this, but I think it would be fun.

The Cheesecake Man gave my family a coupon for 50% off the entire bill(including alcohol) at the establishment and it was only good until Tuesday. My mom & I decided to go there for lunch & indulged in a couple of appetizers & martinis. I had a Tropical Martini & it was fabulous as always. However, we are not very strong drinkers & were both beyond exhausted when lunch was over. We headed home, after walking around The Source a bit, and proceeded to each land on a couch & fall asleep. I did wake up just in time to RUN out the door & make it to class on time. So lucky.

Then, I get a call from little brother because he got a call from Mr. Cheesecake who had an extra coupon & wanted us to use it. So, back to the Factory I went at 9:30 last night. We had to wait for 45 minutes to get a table (on a Tuesday night???) and were going to order just dessert. Uh huh. Until we saw the food going by. While we were sitting on a bench waiting, a woman knelt down next to me and, ever so softly, asked "Excuse me. I have this extra coupon for a discount. You two seem like such a nice couple. You are a couple, aren't you?" I smiled & told her "No, we're siblings. And we too have a coupon. But thank you so much for your generous offer." She giggled "Oh my! Now that I am looking into your eyes, I see they are the same. How nice! You just looked like such nice people. I'd be too nervous to offer this to anyone else. They don't look nice or approachable." We thanked her & giggled and then watched her go back to her table & tell her family how the conversation went & they all giggled that we aren't a couple & that we are siblings. I leaned over to her table and said "Our mom would be so proud to know that we look like we are nice." They all laughed & then they had to order their meals. And our pager finally went off! Okay, okay, we were good. We split an order of yummy nachos & each got iced teas. However, it took SO LONG for our waiter to do his job & we didn't get to eat dessert there. We ended up having to take it home because this waiter only finished up with us at 11:10 pm. I got home at 11:30 &, once again, fell into bed.

Life is so good right now. Two visits to the Cheesecake Factory in one day? Who does that? Oops! I do.

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe that it's been awhile since I last posted. Let's see, where did I leave off? Friday was a trip to RVC to hear Peof Crau read. It took me an hour & 10 minutes to travel what should have been 25 minutes. Darn that Southern State! It gets me every time I drive west! I got there while she was reading & thought I had missed the Poetic Goddess. However, she has come down with a case of strep, so this was a feature presentation of Crau's work. Peof's parents were there....too cute....and a few familiar faces. Heeheehee....and JG who has, what Scojen & I believe to be, a BIG crush on Crau. He even brought her pink tulips. So pretty!

The reading took a turn for the worse when the Open Read began. EVERYONE who was not affiliated with us got up to read. And they were not very good. Don't get me wrong, some were interesting & I especially liked the woman who read her "flower garden" series. She reminded me a lot of myself. She prefaced her read with an anecdote of how she had taken a writing course & they were instructed to write an erotic poem. She said that she had blushed and that her idea of erotica was the "thought of things to happen", not them actually happening. The idea that anything less than a turtleneck sweater was "too revealing". That's me if I ever heard it.

We were then off to Croaxley's Arms....some little bar in the area. It was still early so it was pretty quiet. We had a drink & sad to say....we are too old! We left there around 10:30....maybe closer to 11 pm and I was home & in bed by 11:30. Granted, it had been a long day, but this is ridiculous.

The weekend was good. It was Mom's birthday & we ate VERY well. Knowing my family, did you expect anything less? We had brunch at the Cheesecake Factory. SO GOOD! After we finished, we saw Mr. Cheesecake himself setting up in the lower level. He is still refusing me a lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. He has done so much for my family & all I want to do is take him out as a thank you. He won't go. I even told him my brother (they are good friends for like 10 years now) could come. He still says no. Very insulting. I mean--he is definite marriage material for the sole fact that he comes with cheesecake. But, he has been with the family too long for that & he is little brother's friend.....and well....he's just Mr. Cheesecake. But he is ticking me off how he can do nice things for others but refuses to allow anyone else to do them. I want to clarify that I am not intersted in him, but any man who has unlimited pastries is right up my alley.

My mom & I ran up to Roosevelt Field to do a bit of shopping because I need a pair of jeans for my upcoming trip. I hate shopping for jeans. I did find a pair, but I am not thrilled with them. I had to get makeup from Estee as well. All I did was ask for a shade & the woman told me that is not the shade for me. I've been using it for eight years & now it's not the right shade? Are you kidding? She immedialtey takes off my foundation--right there in the middle of Macy's where guaranteed some of my students are walking by & I will have to hear it later on. UGH~~~DON'T TOUCH ME! I can't stand it when people I do not know touch me. I especially begin to freak out when they touch my face! I looked like a trapped animal....I know I did. FIne. She did what she needed to do & now I am using some new stuff. Whatver. I would just like to forget the whole experience.

And, now? I am trying to do too many things all at once. I have two business ventures in the works & a book Crau & I are trying to get published. I am also working on LOTS of grades so that I can wrap up the spring semester on time this year. It ends May 5th for one school & May 12 for the other two. There are too many essays & projects to begin counting & meetings galore. I mean I have three this week but can't get to two of them because two overlap & one is when I am away.

Oh, did I mention Crau & I are leaving for Munich on Thursday and I have yet to pack? All I have is my passport. That's it. And a new pair of jeans that I am not satisfied with. And it's 45 degrees & raining there. Fabulous.

Want to know what happened to Mr. NYU? Oh yeah, he emailed me yesterday. For a man who has 30 credits of his English PhD & works for NYU, he is socially inept. I have not heard from him ina week and a half. What does the email say? There's no greeting....my name is not in there..........it just says "How's it going?" NYU.

That's all. Oh no. I am not even going to respond. Why? He is 35 & supposedly smart & well travelled & all that and can't figure out how to write an email? Get out of here. I can't waste my time. Besides, not to sound shallow, I go for better-looking guys. And I shouldn't say I "go" for them. They go for me.....and practicaly have to hit me over the head for me to know that they are interested. Weird, I know. But so true. Just ask them. Men. They disappoint me. My standards may be a bit high, but at least I have them!