Heroes

With all the bad news coming out of the catastrophe inTexas, there are so many positive stories like this one being told. These are the kind of stories that restore your faith in humanity and remind you that many Americans, despite coming from many different backgrounds, do care about each other and helping strangers. 

GOT Season 7 Finale - No Spoilers

Game of Thrones! I actually left trivia early so we could watch the season finale last night (an incredibly rare thing I would not usually do), and we are actually going to watch it again tonight with some friends to kind of think about it a little more and just talk about our reactions.  

I have to say, there were some scenes that were very satisfying to watch. There were certain characters that you had wanted to see interact for the first time in a long time. Perhaps what was so satisfying was that just about every character acted true to their nature, flaws and strengths. There also weren't ravens that flew at hundreds of miles per hour, or any timeline ridiculousness in this one.

Anyway, I guess we'll be on tenterhooks for the next two or so years, while they film the epic last season.

Don't Mess with Texas

Like everyone else, I'm watching the news coverage of the Texas hurricane/flooding, hoping that as many people can be saved as possible. Like many, I am also questioning why Houston wasn't at least given the option to evacuate (rather than a mandatory evacuation). I imagine a lot of people weren't prepared because they thought, "Well, if it's going to be really bad, they'll tell me to leave", and never got that message. The governor said he didn't want the roads choked, but they knew well in advance this was going to be a very bad storm and the city is prone to flooding. Obviously, the more people that could have left, the less people that would be left to rescue now. They knew it was going to be bad, but this was obviously much worse than they thought could happen.

I just hope that cities around the country and the federal government learn big lessons from this disaster, so that they can respond better in the future when these kinds of events do happen, because they certainly will. I hope they learn that it's not an option to cut the funding for the government programs that are necessary to save people during and after times of crisis, and to really prevent some of these crises to begin with using better city planning. I don't want lots of people to have to die so that other people can learn a lesson that they really should have learned after Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. 

Thinking of you, Texas and Louisiana, and hoping the best for everyone out there!

Alien: Covenant

Yesterday I watched Alien: Covenant. It was mostly what I expected, and of course not as good as Aliens, the best one from the series. I grew up watching these movies, particularly the first three. Anyway, the thing that struck me watching this one was, "This looks familiar. I have been there before". Then I looked it up online and realized I had been to where it was filmed: Milford Sound in New Zealand. It was nice to see the landscape because it's beautiful, but it did take away some of the movie magic about the fact that I'm supposed to be looking at the terrain of some mysterious planet. In fact, there were a lot of articles I found about forgetting all the actors who are in the film, "Milford Sound is the star", haha. 

I'm sure there are lots of other things I could say, critiquing the movie. The one I will mention is this - there were a lot of unnecessary character relationships in the movie. Half of the characters were married to or dating each other, which was just kind of unnecessary to the plot. I guess they did it so you would feel extra bad for the survivors when their partner dies or something, but I didn't. The first three Alien movies didn't have on unnecessary romances and they were more interesting. 

I give it a C for effort.

This is how we roll

If you are somewhat athletic then you probably know about the wonders of foam rollers, and other kinds of balls and doodads that can help you massage your own sore/tight muscles. I recently discovered my new favorite kind - the Celsius roller ball. 

...And it comes in purple. Michael was at the store getting one of the little spiky balls, and I tried one of these on my neck and shoulders and it's pretty amazing. 

After buying said massage balls, we then went to the movies (we were planning to anyway, and happened to stop in the store), and then all during the movie we were using the rollers. I highly recommend bringing small rollers to movies. 

Running Errands

Yesterday, Michael went climbing with some of our friends while I worked out and ran some errands. He told me our friend, Louise, has the impression of me that I am "always running errands". This is accurate. 

Avoid like the Plague

Even though I'm a sub teacher, I don't actually end up covering for that many sick teachers these days. Most of my days I'm relieving teachers who are perfectly well, they are just on planning time, at trainings, or who have an appointment or meeting.

Today, I got to work with my favorite class at my school. This would ordinarily be good, however, the teacher was out sick because literally everyone in the class was sick first, and they all got her sick. All 15 first-graders were coughing and sniffling, some had come back from being home for a day or a few, and seven were still out sick. 

This does not bode well for me.

I am optimistic, though. I suppose we'll see how I fare in the next day or two. I've had my flu shot. I was extra cautious with hand-washing and sanitizing. I even gave the occasional kid a sticker when I saw them covering their mouth when they coughed, as bribery. This kind of backfired, though, because then other kids would see and start coughing more on purpose, half-heartedly covering it to try to get stickers. I may have broken even in that that some covered their mouths who wouldn't have, but several ended up coughing more than they would have. 

All I know is, I'm no hero. If I get sick, I'm staying home. If I don't get sick, I will count every last one of my blessings.

"You know nothing... "

In case you've been living under a rock, Game of Thrones is pretty big these days. Despite some of the ridiculous plot points in recent episodes, and some sketchy timing issues (how could a raven possibly have sent a message that fast?!), it's still an incredibly enjoyable show and the cinematography is movie-quality. Most of the remaining characters have interesting and complicated depth, there are quite a few who are easy on the eyes, and they often have clever and humorous dialogue. 

I say all this about the show, as someone who was never particularly into the fantasy genre before. There's enough to like, whether you're into fantasy or not. The biggest problem with the show is that it's on for just a few episodes, and then takes these ridiculously long hiatuses for what feels like years. I guess that's what you have to do when every episode is like a movie, though. 

Anyway, I just wanted to show a little love for the show. I love that everyone is getting all hyped and excited for these last seasons. It's a spectacle and it's fun to get carried away sometimes. It's fun when you can't decide if you should root for the dragons or the people trying to kill the dragons. 

I imagine, when they're not dealing with harsh elements, that it's actually pretty fun to visit their set too...

I Won't Let You Down

I think I've mentioned my love for the genius of OK GO on here before. After watching their TED talk a few weeks ago, I discovered a few more of their music videos I hadn't seen before. One of the ones I keep going back to and watching is "I Won't Let You Down". It's worth watching until the very end. It is real, shot in a Japanese mall parking lot with a drone.

Coding for Kids

I was working at a different school than my usual one yesterday, and they had a coding competition for kindergartners and first graders and it was kind of awesome. They had these little guys called Bee-Bots that they use to teach kids problem-solving and basic coding skills. The kids had to quickly program the Bee-Bots to follow a series of commands, rolling around on an actual physical map mat, getting from point A to B to C. Whichever class' team completed the task the fastest was the winner. Up until now, I had only seen coding taught to young kids with ScratchJr, but I like these Bee-Bots better for younger grades.

While I'm one of those people that really thinks kids under five should have limited access to swipe devices because they can affect their brain development, I love the idea of the Bee-Bots and similar physical toys that kids can use to the develop problem-solving skills; they will become the basis of building coding skills in the future. There's nothing passive about using the bots, and they're not on a screen. They're real objects that the kids can program with simple buttons and commands to then physically do things, which can be empowering and exciting. The kids learned how to code that day, and I learned something about teaching them how to code. Win win.

Classic Onion

I've talked about my love of The Onion before. Here is just a list of just some of their funniest articles. There are so many good ones I can think of that aren't on this list, but I haven't had the time to collate them, so this'll have to do for now. Thank you, The Onion, for always reminding us how how ridiculous our world is!

Round and Round and Round in the Circle Game

I probably overuse this phrase, but it's the end of an era. Over the weekend, I ran our frisbee club's annual meeting and I've stepped down as Secretary after a two year tenure. I had a good run, working with a team of my friends, but I've decided it's time to move over and let some fresh legs come in and do some stuff. Some of the old board has stayed on in new roles, and some other dependable people have stepped up. I will still be involved to some extent, helping them run the youth camp and other events here and there. But, it's nice to be free from some of the responsibility.

Despite frisbee showing on ESPN2 for the first time recently, the sport is still mostly a grassroots effort. It's a great community to be a part of, and it was nice to give back and do some of the behind the scenes stuff for a while. 

Oh My!

Just one of the many reasons I love George Takei...

Sic Sempre Tyrannis

It bothers and angers me that the actions of white nationalist terrorists in my home commonwealth are making the news today. Some of the local leaders have made good statements declaring that hate is not welcome in Virginia, and I wish some of the national leaders could do the same. 

Instead, the supposed leader of the country makes vague statements about condemning violence and hatred from "many sides". In this particular case, there are not many sides. There is one side spouting hate, and another side that saying they won't tolerate hate. Not tolerating hate is not the same thing making hate and violence from a different side. Also, this is literally a day after #45 was just suggesting violence as a solution against another country, and not really just suggesting it but threatening to use violence, so I'm not really buying the idea that he's against it. But, I digress. 

A lot of the white nationalists in Virginia are making a big stink about preserving history, and that's why they claim we need to keep around these confederate hate symbol statues. I doubt all these guys are really history buffs that spend all their time reading historical literature and having serious discussions about history and government philosophy, but I admit that's an assumption on my part. 

If they know so much about local history, they would also know that Virginia's state motto, "Sic sempre tyrannis" was introduced in 1776, long before the civil war, and that it is short for, "Sic sempre evello mortem tyrannis", which means "Thus always I bring death to tyrants". A tyrant is defined as cruel and oppressive ruler. Virginia is a commonwealth that was founded on the idea that oppressing people is wrong. This was a little hypocritical since slavery was considered legal at the time, but that's a whole other discussion.

Some of these alt right people are claiming they feel like they're being oppressed and that they're just standing up for their own rights. In this way, I guess I could see that they are trying to make the point that the tolerant people are oppressing them, by not tolerating their intolerance, and so that makes the tolerant people the tyrants. It's total hogwash, but I guess I could see how they might take that lame argument. As a white nationalist, you're just not going to convince many women, LGBTQI folks, African Americans, Native Americans, or immigrants from any other countries that you have it hard, in comparison, to anyone else. They've literally never had any of their basic rights taken away in the history of the country they live in, and literally all other groups have at some point. 

My favorite thing to come out of all this is the internet's fantastic mocking of the white nationalists with their polo shirts and tiki torches. Not only do I love this because it's funny, but it takes away any "power" the white nationalists feel like they have. If we don't take them seriously, we can't be afraid of them and they have no power over us.  

As a native Virginian, I know and love that Virginia is a diverse place that thrives from being a melting pot of cultures. Charlottesville is a city that is home to a great educational institution, and it has a welcoming, community atmosphere. The vast majority of of Virginia does not have the same values as these alt right nutjobs, and it's too bad that they decided to gather there and tarnish a great place. 

Someone should remind them, Virginia is for lovers, not haters. 

30 Rock, revisited

I've been re-watching some of the best episodes of 30 Rock this week, which it turns out, are about 10 years old now. There were some fantastic cameos, incredibly funny scenarios, and brilliant social and political commentary. It's gotten me all nostalgic. 

Lazy Weekend

It has been a quiet weekend of hanging out with friends, brunching, wandering the weekend market, and re-watching Stranger Things. Sunday afternoon is for tossing the frisbee in the park and then homemade tacos for dinner. 

Drumroll Please

...And the award for disappointing corporation of the week goes to: United Airlines. I know, I know, everyone already knew they were terrible when they dragged a doctor off the flight that they overbooked. 

They get the award from me this week for upgrading us to business class on an upcoming flight and then demoting us back down a week later because they decided after the fact that the upgrade wasn't valid. It's stupid because I would have been happy with our original booking if none of this had ever happened. But now, I am unhappy with the service I originally paid for, because they deceptively acted like they were showering us with gifts and giving us something extra, and then they took it away. Here's a tip, United, fix your computer system so it doesn't give people upgrades you aren't willing to honor, or honor those upgrades when you make the mistake.

I know, I know, it is far from the end of the world to have to sit in economy or economy plus when you have to fly for 24 hours. We are lucky to be able to afford to fly back once a year to see our family. We are lucky to call two great countries our homes. We are lucky for lots of reasons, and after I have my mild tantrum, our lives will go on. 

But today, United, you are on my excrement list. This isn't helping your already damaged customer service reputation.

Permanent Residency

I can't believe I neglected to mention that Michael and I finally received permanent residency status in Australia. This means we have access to government services, and we are one step closer to becoming dual citizens if we end up staying long enough. 

When we first moved here, I didn't imagine that we would stay this long or attain residency status. Add that to a long list of things, I suppose. Anyway, it has been a pleasant turn life has taken, and it's one that seems to happen to many people who get the chance when they come here temporarily. 

This doesn't change our plan to eventually move back to the states, it just means we will have more choices in the future. Michael still has at least a two year contract to here, and then after that we will see if we head home, or stay the remaining amount of time we need to attain citizenship (two more years after that), and then go back. 

Whatever happens, we are happy to currently have two countries we can call home.