Bearshorty's musings

My students turned in Paper 4 today. This time I will try to do a little every day so that I could avoid marathon sessions. As usual, the discussion of the new theme and a new reading went much better in the first class. They will be reading Michael Kamber’s article “Toil and Temptation” about an 18 years old illegal immigrant from Mexico and his community in the Bronx. The article was originally published in the Village Voice and in my second class not one students knew what Village Voice is. This article is actually part of a series that I just found online and read the first two.

During lunch I read National Geographic: “Great Migrations” article and fold out. The article itself was ok, nothing too special. They did define migration – it is not the distance, it is the purpose. The pictures were gorgeous, though. I particularly liked the monarch butterflies that take a few generation to travel to Mexico to a certain type of tree. I did really like the fold out that came with the November issue. There was a map that showed migration patterns of 18 species. The map also gave fascinating details missing in the articles. For examples, many animals and birds migrate by using magnetic pole sensors in their nose.

( butterflies )

We had a fire in our neighborhood again – stupid high reeds close to the beach area where we live and teenagers who probably think it is fun to smoke there and set things on fire. Luckily, it was contained quickly. Not having internet or cable while that was going on was weird. I need my internet! I really hate those automated call centers that want to you speak into the phone – those are so irritating. I wanted to throw the phone at something. Good thing, they fixed it all within the hour.

( Community )

( Burn Notice S4E13 )

Some invite codes for anyone who wants them (I had them since Aug 19, I hope they still work):
HV4BCRDKQBYYAAAAJXCU
G2SGFPX2QTATDAAAJXCV
GK2BPBAP8H9XFAAAJXCW

I got up at 6:20 this morning to make breakfast for my Dad who just had to bitch about the thickness of his oatmeal later. Next time, I’ll just sleep in.

I had Work Orientation today, so I had to go up to campus. There is no new book this year, like we were promised. But I’m so tired of the articles I taught in the last few years, so I’m going to pick new stuff anyway. It might be more work for me to come up with new assignments but I really need something new. It was nice to see many familiar faces but I got a bit melancholy too. Work friends are very different from normal friends, it is sad sometimes.

I went to the library to pick up Stephen Fry’s “Moab is My Washpot.” It has been waiting on hold for me. The prose sounds just like him. It is really funny. I’m actually really happy to be reading a real book and not just stuff on the internet. Lately few books were exciting, so I’m happy to be reading again.

Highlander “Till Death” This episode is hysterical. I saw it before, when I was in Season 2 and now I get to watch it in context. Valicourts and their kinky sex games with swords and rape fantasies. Methos and Duncan living together and acting very married themselves. Fitz and Duncan both trying to win over Gina and being very silly. I had a grin on through the whole episode, I just adore it.

“Burn Notice” summer finale. These last two episodes felt like a filler for a pretty good season until now. The balance between main and episodic storylines felt off. I really like the addition of Jesse to the team this season, so that part is good. But the Main Bad Guy doesn’t seem that bad, plus he is dead pretty quickly. Michael getting shot is not much of a cliffhanger since we all know he will live. He is a main character after all. New episodes will return in November – so it is a pretty short break. Michael asking the client’s dad to get a submarine was really funny. Still, this episode would have been better if they focused more on ongoing storyline and not on episode-job story. Fi and Michael talking like grown-ups is always welcome on TV. She tells him about the stake-out kiss with Jesse and they talk it out reasonably. I appreciate it.

I like waking up in the morning and just reading whatever book is currently on my bedside table. (Right now it is a biography of Catherine the Great). Before my day starts I can just lounge a bit. I also started the July issue of "National Geographic".

I watched the latest episode of ‘Burn Notice” with breakfast. I love having onDemand and the ability to watch an episode whenever I want. I do like the new addition to the team and the story arc this season doesn’t grate. Perfect summer offering.

I also looked at some things online before Bear came over. Here is a link I found interesting: some of our decisions are unconsciously made , like holding a warm cup of coffee makes us friendlier to a person we are talking to.

Bear and I had a terrific day together. We went to see “Toy Story 3” in the movie theater. (I can’t believe the price of the movie ticket now – it is definitely a treat now to go to movies.) The movie itself was wonderful and amazing. I cried at the end, that was one effective ending. I think, this movie is my favorite of the trilogy. The escape scenes were intense, and very creative. At one point, I wasn’t even sure where the story was going with characters in such peril. They created fabulous suspense there. But they also did signal what will happen, they just distracted the audience to forget about it. Pixar doesn’t disappoint as usual. Now, they just need a movie with the main female character.

After the movie, we went to the Indian restaurant that we like and had a delicious dinner. I got chicken tikka masala today. They have a buffet on weekends and I keep forgetting about it.

After dinner, we briefly stopped by the comic book store where I checked on the new Wonder Woman issue that is getting such press for changing the costume and story. I actually like the new costume, but it is not like I’m attached to the character or anything.

Bear and I capped our date with fireworks. A lot of places are having fireworks today, on July 3, instead of tomorrow, since tomorrow are the main New York fireworks that many want to see. We drove about fifteen minutes to a park where there was a concert (US army band) and fireworks. It took us a while to find parking and walk to the lawn where all this was taking place but then we settled down on the grass and waited for the fireworks to start. There were lots and lots of people. First, we saw some displays across the water (probably in New Jersey) and then we got our own show, set to some fairly patriotic songs. The fireworks were very pretty with lots of colors. My favorite fell down like golden ivy. They went on for a while too. I like the ephemeral nature of fireworks – they are only there for a moment and it is only really impressive live and not on TV.

We got turned around walking out of the park, since it was pretty dark, so we had to walk with a crowd for a while before orienting ourselves of where the car was. So we walked more to get to the car. But it was a very nice night and extra walking was actually a bonus. I did walk by some poison ivy so I was worried that I got some on my leg. I washed my leg at home and it looks like nothing really happened there. But other than that, the whole day was rather wonderful.

My hat is here! I now have an official US Olympic team hat! And it is very, very warm and it fits my big head (actually it is a bit big but not too big). I love it. I wore it today when I went for a walk in the evening. Snow actually prevented me from leaving our community to walk on my usual streets but I just walked around our circle for about an hour. The hat is definitely worth it. It is made of wool and Alpaca (although Alpaca is also wool but I guess they need to special label it). My parent also got me two red tops as well on a big Ralph Lauren sale. Both cost as much as my hat.

SNL skit “What is “Burn Notice?” made me laugh since if one doesn’t watch the show there is no way to tell it is a show about a former spy. The skit even showed a promo that is pretty much all about Miami and girls in bikinis. The skit made me like watching a new episode of the show in the evening even more. They are bringing in a lot of amusing HoYay with the new evil spy adversary.