August 2, 2008 by Tiffany.

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated the blog with the useless goings on of my summer vacation, but there are a few things to share.

For starters, Jason and I paid a visit to the Orange County Fair, which is actually the only time I’ve ever been to a county fair that isn’t in Fresno.  Needless to say, a lot of things are the same, but some things were different.  Both have plenty of access to ridiculous foods such as fried Snickers and Krispy Kreme fried chicken sandwiches.  Admittedly, Jason and I ate our way through the fair, feasting on corn dogs, tri-tip sandiwches, Slurpees, cheese bread and mini donuts with bavarian creme.  Totally absurd but it sure was tasty!  The Fresno and OC fairs have some noticeable differences, however.  The OC fairgrounds, being on the cusp of Newport and only a few miles from the beach, attracted a noticeably different demographic than I’m used to at the Fresno Fair, which takes place in a much older and less desireable part of town.  That’s not to slam the fair-goers of Fresno, mind you, but only to say that considering it was a night-time visit to the fair, (as a disclaimer, I always limit Fresno Fair visits to daylight hours),  I wasn’t afraid of being shot, mugged or stabbed.  There wasn’t even a metal detector check at the front entrance.  However, the OC Fair was sorely lacking in the Livestock section, where Fresno and the local 4H clubs rule.  I always looks forward to walking through the manure-laden stalls and seeing all of the livestock that will soon be sold to slaughterhouses, (my tone is snarky, but I’m not being sarcastic), and the OC fair’s animal selection was limited to perhaps three pigs and four cows total.  There were a couple of goats involved as well.  Simply pathetic.

Last week, my mom visited me here in SoCal from Monday through Friday.  We had a blast, and it was great to see her.  We visited Newport and other various OC coastal towns, saw the Body Worlds 3 exhibit at the California Science Center, (yes, I admit, I think it’s fascinating.  Anyone should go, despite the obvious creep factor of seeing skinned dead bodies).  We also shopped in Chinatown and were able to eat some great meals in between.  Mom traveled via Amtrakon this trip, (you may recall my previous Amtrak experience a couple of weeks ago), and made it to and from in one piece.  She was initially terrified but found that it was easy, and hopefully will further utilize the train for more visits.

Last night we went bowling at Lucky Strike and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Really nothing to report about that, other than I took pictures and thought I’d post a few of them here.

We played two games and I sucked both times.  I actually almost won the last game, (in the last round I came in third but previously had been winning), which says less about my actual bowling skills and more about the people I was bowling with.

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July 13, 2008 by Tiffany.

Since Jason was working hideous hours this weekend at the E3 conference at the convention center, I made my way to the Lotus Festival in Echo Park.   The festival has always been designed to coincide with the blooming of the lotus flowers in the park, but unfortunately, not so this year.  Not a bloom in sight, but still some excellent food, merchandise, entertainment and weather.

I ate some delicious pad thai noodles, (the festival celebrates Asian culture, and as such, only Asian food is available), and green tea boba.  I watched some hula dancers and bought a money tree which hopefully, as the name suggests, will bring good fortune.  If that comes in the form of money, all the better. Here’s a video for your viewing pleasure.  It’s nice that in spite of the negative things that often happen in the community, some positive things happen as well.

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July 8, 2008 by Tiffany.

The last week has been hectic, yet fun.  For the fourth of July Jason and I headed up to Bass Lake for the day to visit my parents, grandma and other miscellaneous family friends, and the next day took a trip up to Sonora to visit Jason’s folks.  Sadly, I don’t have pictures from any of these adventures.  All good times, but a LOT of driving.  Thank goodness for Jason’s Mini!  Speaking of driving, we all know that Jason enjoys himself a nice ride, but he sure had the treat of a lifetime on Monday in this sweet automobile:

As you can tell, he sure enjoyed the heck out of himself.  Personally, I think he looks damn good behind the wheel.

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July 1, 2008 by Tiffany.

Vacation has been sweet indeed.  The first thing I did with my eight weeks of leisure was to spend a half day with my cousin, or I suppose second cousin, Dino, for his third birthday / first trip to Disneyland.  I really never go to Disneyland with children, much less kids who have never been before.  It was a trip, and very fun.  He especially loved Toon Town with its fake houses and cars.  We spent a good chunk of the time there just so he could explore everything.

We also went on Peter Pan, which he dug entirely.  Of course, my aunt, uncle and cousin have more of the stories since they were there two full days with him, as opposed to my measly three or four hours.  Still, good times.  For anyone who’s interested, I’ve posted a video online as well.  It was great to see my family, and a nice way to kick off my first official day of summer.

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June 26, 2008 by Tiffany.

Those who know me have probably heard about me complain about my school, Belmont, on several occasions.  It’s true that Belmont is a tough school to work at.  It was overcrowded, I have to change classrooms and move everything two times each year, (if I’m lucky enough to have  a classroom), and since it’s horribly under-performing, we constantly have to jump through hoops of fire to appease various state and federal agencies.  I have worked there five years, but have been around six if I include the year I was student teaching.  I have cursed the school, hated the school, wanted to quit about 700 times, and I can’t even count the mornings I have woken up at 5:30 a.m. thinking, my God, I can’t believe I have to go to Belmont today.  Or BLEmont, as Jason likes to call it.

However, tomorrow is the last day I will ever work at Belmont High School.  At summer’s end I will be moving to The School for the Visual Arts and Humanities at the Roybal Learning Center, just down the street.   The good-bye is admittedly bittersweet, for as much as I’ve complained, I’ll actually miss the place.  Belmont has shaped me in more ways than I can count.  I have had the privelege of working with some incredibly dedicated people, some of whom I may never see again after tomorrow, and working with the Belmont students has affected me greatly.  Sometimes I feel that I’ve learned more in the last six years than I have in all of my days.  I ramble about the different things I’ve experienced, and I’m sure a lot of this comes from my sentimental sensibilities.  Still.  It’s hard to look at the last six years of my life, which have undeniably been the toughest to date, and not appreciate, for better and for worse, all the ways in which it has made me grown as a person.  Tomorrow, as I walk through the graffiti-ridden hallways one last time, I can only say thanks to the institution that professionally, and personally, has made me who I am.

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June 25, 2008 by Tiffany.

After Friday, I’ll have an entire eight weeks off to spend at my discretion.  Obviously, I can’t wait, but unfortunately I’ll have some work to do over the summer for the opening of the new school.  Still, I can’t be too sad about having to attend some meetings over the summer.  I could have a crappy summer job like this:

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June 21, 2008 by Tiffany.

Last night my academy, (Belmont High School is split into several small learning communities called academies), Visual Arts and Humanities, had its graduation celebration for the seniors, some of whom aren’t actually graduating.  Well, you know, Belmont isn’t exactly known for pumping out the graduates; over half never make it to senior year.  That being said, this was an occassion to celebrate, even though it meant a 14 hour work day, (and several previous long workdays getting ready and rehearsing). It was long, but worth it.  More pictures can be seen at my school website.  Next year should be more meaningful on a personal level since I will know a lot more of those students.

Only one week left of school!  I am sooo excited for summer, but admittedly, it’s bittersweet.  More into that later.

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June 13, 2008 by Tiffany.

We recently studied the Beat Generation in my American Literature class, and as a culminating activity I asked students to write their own anger, angst-ridden poems.  Needless to say, I was rather shocked at some of the results.  As extra credit, I uploaded some of the poems online, for your listening pleasure.  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a teen today, or if you’re simply bored, here’s a disturbing window into the psyche of a 17 year old.  And a sample of what I deal with daily.

Teen Angst Poems

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June 9, 2008 by Tiffany.

Have you ever heard this term before?   I hadn’t, until I heard it mentioned in relation to my job.  Apparently it’s a mandatory unpaid leave of absence.  It’s one possible solution to deal with the budget shortfall.  Sounds like a lot of fun.  Good thing my car is a mere few days away from being paid off!

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June 5, 2008 by Tiffany.

Tomorrow the local teacher’s union has decided on a one hour “job action” where teachers will not sign in for the first sixty minutes of the school day and instead stand outside and protest Governor Schwarzenegger’s cuts on education in California.  Now, it’s not that I don’t support the message.  I, for one, think my job is tough enough without $4 billion dollars less, which will lead to less resources, job losses and higher class sizes.  However, I’m just not sure that the best way to say “cuts hurt kids” is to leave the kids roaming around the school, not learning a darn thing, while we are on the streets protesting.  Couldn’t this wait until after school?  Or perhaps have a minimum day where we could protest the budget cuts without skipping out on part of the school day?  It’s now my task to decide whether or not I should participate.  On the whole, I’m not really into radical union politics, but who wants to cross a picket line with all of my colleagues and friends?  Not I.  This is definitely one I’ll have to sleep on.

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