dizzymusik's Xanga

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:14:58 GMT

blogger was down so i couldn't update on my site and i wanted to get this up...

school is kicking my butt right now. i don't really have that much work, it's just we're in class from 8:30 to 3:30 2 days a week, and at a school from 7:45 to 3:45 every day, i don't have me time anymore. when i got home today i started firing off e-mails about cec stuff . i'm also apparently "mr. technology" in the cohort, so i get stuck with compiling a list of websites and descriptions for our technology class which is proving more difficult than i thought it would. at this point i've sent 30 e-mails just tonight. ho well, enough about that.

blue and i went running today. i used the headcollar that i got him and it's amazing. the chain choke collar wasn't doing any good anymore but the headcollar works great as long as he doesn't slip out of it. i think it's a little big. he did really well with it, but after running about a mile and a half got sick of it and refused to sit down to let me put it back on. he was stubborn about it for 5 minutes or so, but i stayed there until he did it. never give in. i can't wait for my behavior management class, i feel like i already know so much after working with kids with autism and taking applied behavior analysis as a psychology course last spring. and i'm back to talking about school...

jessica brought her dog hudson to school today. he's a gorgeous great dane, with these tiger stripes. i asked if i could take his picture sometime and she said yeah. i might even be able to talk her into letting me take her picture. we'll have to wait and see. blue and hudson are going to play together tomorrow when jessica and i get out of our placements. that should be entertaining. scooby doo and and scrappy too!

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Wed, 10 Nov 2004 15:45:51 GMT

don't get sad, but i probably won't be using xanga any more. like when i left livejournal, i've found a better place to open my brain. i discovered the wonderful tool that is blogger.com and use it to run things on my own website now. my main reason for doing it is it makes it easier to share my music and photos along with my ramblings. so be sure to check it out.

www.jasondean.net

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 21:27:38 GMT

lauren came over for breakfast today because i haven't seen her since last spring. i attempted to fatten her up with bacon and french toast, but sadly, she ate like a bird. i watched high fidelity before she got here, so i was in a list making mood. here goes nothing. (the rule is i have to own it. and lists are always subject to change.)

Top 5 Albums (All Time)
(they have to change my life)
1. Counting Crows - August and Everything After
2. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
3. Caedmon's Call - 40 Acres
4. Oleander - February Son
5. Lifehouse - No Name Face

Top 5 Ablums (Current)
(they're in high rotation)
1. The Killers - Hot Fuss
2. Mindy Smith - One Moment More
3. Jamie Cullum - Twentysomething
4. Jason Mraz - Tonight Not Again (Live)
5. George Straight - 50 Number Ones

Top 5 Movies
(life changing, laugh 'til you cry, make you say "hmmm")
1. Swingers
2. Good Will Hunting
3. Memento
4. Shrek
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Top 5 Love Songs
(these were the hardest to find, i listen to a lot of sad music)
1. Jimmy Buffett - Come Monday
2. Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle
3. Dashboard Confessional - Hands Down
4. Dave Matthews Band - Recently
5. John Mayer - St. Patrick's Day

Top 5 Breakup Songs
(i narrowed this down from about 15... maybe i shouldn't break up so much)
1. Vertical Horizon - Sunrays and Saturdays
2. Incubus - I Miss You
3. Dave Matthews Band - #41
4. Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over
5. Brad Paisley - I Wish You'd Stay

Top 5 Most Personally Relatable Songs
(when i listen to it i go, "that's so me")
1. Bebo Norman - Where the Angels Sleep
2. Oleander - How Could I?
3. Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over
4. Barenaked Ladies - Break Your Heart
5. Jamie Cullum - All at Sea

want more lists? just ask. shoot, lemme know yours!

"here comes a cold / break out the winter clothes / and find a love to call your own" -john mayer

Friday, November 05, 2004

Fri, 05 Nov 2004 20:43:19 GMT

lately i've felt overwhelmed. it's not really a bad feeling, just the realization that there is so much out there that i don't know about disabilities and teaching in general. i want to learn it all... now. i like to be good at things, and i used to be pretty cocky about working with kids, but i don't know the slightest thing that there is to know about teaching itself. how am i supposed to take over as president of the state cec (council for exceptional children, the professional org. for special ed. teachers) in january? i like to go into things confident, knowing i can handle whatever is thrown at me, but at this point i'm not confident at all. so far i'm doing my best to not let it stress me out. i'm making it a point to try to cheer folks up and lift their spirits in the cohort. i've been a jerk and a know-it-all too long. i've noticed the more i try to make others happy, the happier i am. i think that's in the Bible somewhere...

had my second date with katie last night. (yes, another girl named katie. yes, another special ed major. this one's in milledgeville though. she's in the senior cohort.) it was a lot of fun and laid back. i cooked dinner, and we played with blue and watched a movie. no pressure, just getting to know each other. in true teacher fashion, she went home at about 10:30 because it was past both of our bedtimes.

i've never seen the oc, but it's got a killer soundtrack... and the killers are on it. i so didn't mean to do that. i have such a way with words.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 02:00:29 GMT

If Kerry wins I’ll be happy because:

The deficit will be cut drastically.
Taxes will be raised like they need to be to put the balance back into the economy.
Environmental issues will be fixed, like rejoining the global warming treaty, reinstating the constraints on industrial pollution, and so much more.
No Child Left Behind will be revised if not thrown out, given more local control to education, the way it’s established in the Constitution. Maybe they’ll even give a little attention to special education and not hold all but 1% of students accountable to grade level standards. Children learn differently and have different abilities. All the research proves it, why write a law that goes against that and tries to do the impossible? Oh, and I'd like to be considered "highly qualified" after this crazy intense program that I'm going through.
There’s a chance that we can regain some international credibility that will hopefully come with a fresh face in the White House.
Welfare programs and health care will be reformed. It’s not about the dead-beat adults. It’s about the kids. I say it again: it’s about the kids. You tell a child they can’t get the things they need because their parents don’t make enough money or have the job that provides the insurance they need.
National security. Bombing countries might do some good in slowing terrorist networks, but it also stirs up a swarm. We’ve got to have tighter borders to prevent problems, and Bush has done nothing towards that.

If Bush wins I’ll be happy because:

It’s likely that at least one Supreme Court Justice will be replaced very soon, perhaps making it possible to overturn the abortion precedents.
Homosexual marriage won’t happen, and laws might be passed against it. (Please be laws and not constitutional amendments.)
We might quit losing money to Social Security that we’ll never see anyway.

I predict Bush wins Ohio. Kerry wins Florida. Overall? We’ll just have to wait and see…

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 03:54:27 GMT

2 interceptions and 1 touchdown in our victory tonight. not too shabby.

I don't care who you vote for, just vote. I'm so independent it's ridiculous, and I picked who I think was the lesser of two evils but all I really hope for is a clearer decision than four years ago. Can you handle that Florida? Ohio? Pennsylvania?

"Don't want to be an American idiot..."

Monday, November 01, 2004

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 00:35:11 GMT

Ray is an insanely good movie. And it’s really long (153 mins.). Which is great, because it took me that long to relax. I don’t know why I was so nervous, but I was. And it was hot, so I was sweating a lot. But the conversation at dinner was great (I think we could have talked all night) so as I walked her to her door I let her know that I had a terrible time and she agreed that she had hated every minute of it as well. As I walked away I said I’d never call her again, and she said, “Well then I guess I’ll have to call you.”

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Wed, 27 Oct 2004 13:16:56 GMT

if you ever buy a dog, get the laziest one you can find. you don't want a frisbee dog. you don't want an agility dog. you don't want a champion herder bloodline.

i've got this song called "mad world" (originally by tears for fears, great cover by gary jules) in my head, but it's way too strong to reflect my emotions right now. the part i've been singing in my head goes "i find it kind of funny, i find it kind of sad..." i looked it up and turns out the next lyric is "the dreams i have of dying are the best i ever had."

i'm too moody lately. i wrote this, hopefully it will mellow me out. just typical i'm-24-and-birthdays-aren't-supposed-to-be-special-anymore stuff.

i set me up to fall down
most of these dreams will never leave the ground
blinded by faith i walk along
knowing one day this will all be gone

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Sun, 24 Oct 2004 11:34:13 GMT

Blue's changing a lot. His posture is changing and he's starting to look like an adult, longer face, butt up in the air, head down. They call it "herding position" or something. He hiked his leg to mark his bathroom spot for the first time yesterday. And along with all of this he's got an attitude. It's like puberty has hit him and he's a rebellious teenager who knows everything. I guess that's what I get with getting a dog that needs a lot of exercise and getting the dominant one of the litter. I run at least 2 miles a day with him, and my neighbor Kim takes him on walks with her. But it's like the more exercise he gets, the more he needs. Oh well, I knew what I was getting into. And he is still the "prettiest dog [a lot of folks] have ever seen." If he wasn't scared of my new digital camera, I'd get an updated pic up...

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 23:05:56 GMT

my first day at putnam elementary was a lot of fun. total culture shock after being at the poorest county in georgia. they just got this new literacy grant that paid a million bucks, so they've got more resources that you could imagine. the regular ed teacher that my host teacher co-teaches with said it best when she said "all this stuff is great, but we don't have time for the things that we have now." she seems like a great teacher, and her class is very well behaved. she can't be much older than me because she's only been teaching 3 years. oh, and get this, leah, my friend in athens was her host teacher a few years ago. it's gonna be a fun rest of the semester.

i'm still wet from a little run i just had. running in the rain is fun. you don't get hot, the rain falling in the street lights is gorgeous... oh, and the idiots driving the rice rockets who don't budge and run you off the road are real swell.

now it's homework and baseball.