Tee hee. Finished grading all my freshman research papers this morning. And, got over to school to work on my video production project. And, good news, got entire project strung together...just have to write the script and do some editing. The hard part is basically now over.

Trimester ends in two days.

Lovely.

You ever have those times in life where there's one thing looming over your head? Monkey on your back? Burden on your shoulders? Millstone around your neck? (What is it about stress and body parts?) One project or task that you can't stop thinking about, dreaming about, etc?

Being a teacher, this up-and-down cycle is nothing new. I mean, we always have busy times: assignments to grade, curriculum to plan. Then there are times when several days can pass without nary a single paper to look at. It's part of the job - no big deal.

OK. Stupidhead me was persuaded by principal-boss-man last summer to take this class at the local university with him and another faculty member. The class was titled "TV and Video Production," and since I work with some aspects of media production, my boss thought I'd be a good candidate for it. Well, I hardly turn down professional opportunities such as these...and to top it all off, some fancy-schmancy senior producer from Katie Couric's CBS Evening Show would be teaching the class. A chance to hobnob with cosmopolitan New Yorkers.

And now, six months later, it has become the bane of my existence.

Our final project, due in April, is to produce our own five-minute segment, something along the lines of "Dateline." Any topic we wanted. We would have to get interviews, video footage, write a script, and use this software to put together a movie.

Seems relatively simple. Except nobody showed us how to work a video camera, use the software, what exactly a TV script looks like, and so on. The class only met every five to six weeks, just enough time for everyone to forget everything. I was placed on the university-high school faculty team, which, to date, has had about three to four members drop the class, including my principal (whose idea it was in the first place).

Anyway, this thing has taken on Goliath-like proportions. It is becoming the Albatross From Hell. OK, not that bad, but it's about all I think about. And I hate that. I hate it when only one thing, job, task, whatever consumes my whole energy.

I have about a minute and a half of my movie produced. I've got all my interviews, all my b-roll footage, and now I'm just stringing it together and editing. But, I've got to send a script to Mr. Producer Pants by Tuesday. I'm going to be cranking that mother out.

Hellfire. Remind me not to do stupid crap like this again.

If all goes well here, none of the below post will be about today's holiday.

1. Except for this first bit. Brent and I decided not to purchase each other anything this year for V-Day. I know I always feel the stress of getting something decent for the man in my life...and I more often than not come up short (usually because I've put it off till the last minute). So it is all my fault, but I know Brent has troubles on this end as well.

Sooo...we decided to spend $$ on Iowa State Men's Basketball tickets and hang out in Ames for a weekend in March. Hotel with a pool, visiting a town we both love, catching a hoop contest at Hilton...a much better investment than some quickly-bought thing at Walmart.

2. Can't stop thinking about my vacations coming up this year. First of all, my parents and I are flying out to Phoenix to visit my brother and his new baby during Spring Break (mid-March). That was our Christmas present to my parents. The Greece trip is almost four months away. I'm hoping to lose about ten more pounds before then. We are also going to a waterpark with some friends later on this month. Also, Brent's youngest brother is getting married about an hour and half from here in May. Another hotel w/ pool stay.

4. We have declared this week a "No TV" week at our house. I guess I should clarify, this is just the weeknights. We will NOT turn on the TV or video games either before or after school. This is an effort/challenge on our part to find more "creative" things to do around the house.

5. Less than a week to go before the end of the trimester. We will then be in the final third of the year. Warm, sunny weather is coming soon.

Can I think of much else? Probably. But I'm done now.

One important fact: Final Draft Does Not Equal Really Nicely Typed Rough Draft

Now, this is the latest gem I am trying to force on my freshman students. Many of them seem to think that a "final copy" constitutes only a few spelling/grammatical changes noted on the rough draft. A "final copy" also is double-spaced (changed from the dramatically different single-spaced rough draft) and also has a nice, academic-looking font like...Helvetica.

This is the recurring theme as I am now halfway through grading freshmen research papers.

When I graded their rough drafts about three weeks ago, I used about three grading pens on writing questions about content and pointing out gaps and weaknesses in their writing. They must have thought I asked them to define and explain quantum physics...they just didn't get it.

Many of the finals I have read paid little heed to most of my suggestions. I'm so glad I collected the rough drafts as well, otherwise I'd have no evidence of this. Of course, ignorance could have been bliss, so naturally, I'm feeling a bit discouraged at the onslaught of "C" grades coming across my desk. Talk about fruitless...we've only just spend the last, I dunno, FOREVER on these research papers for "C" work.

Ah hell, I refuse to lose anymore sleep over it. I know they won't.

(INSERT LONG REFLECTIVE PAUSE)

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out to myself that I did the same damn thing when I was a freshman...and even well into my college years. So, Mrs. Nelson needs to just shut the hell up!

Anyway, writers: moral of the story - your rough drafts suck. Your final drafts probably will too.

OK, sorry, that last comment was written in a spirit of bitterness.

What I mean to say is: don't turn in your first copy as your final draft. Also, there is a crapload of difference between a first draft and final copy. A mega crapload.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The post simply rocks and that is only because this is my 32nd revision of this entry. So revise, revise, revise.

OK, in the space-time continuum of my world, the above is true. So there.

Update on my teeth.

I scheduled (and went to) an ortho appointment for last Thursday, because every single dentist I've ever had advises it. I can't say I'm too thrilled about more intensive work on my teeth, since I can barely withstand the cleaning, but, you know, whatever.

The ortho actually tells me that I do not have a dental emergency, which is kinda the opposite I expected to hear. Forever and ever, I've heard "you've got some crowding" or "did you know you still have one of your baby teeth?" or "you might want to think about jaw surgery and braces." I've known for a long time that I have a bad open bite (teeth don't meet in middle).

So, now, here's the guy that tells me he sees no abnormal wear and tear on my molars, which I assume would look like crap since they've done most of my chewing work for my adult life. He doesn't tell me that I absolutely must have dental work done...right now. Instead, he says, "It's up to you. I can't say you'll be fine for the rest of your life, but you might be. Your teeth might be fine until you die."

So, the ball's in my court. Do I want nice, straight, fully functional teeth? If so, am I really willing to endure two to three years of orthodontia and oral surgery? Ortho said I'd have 18 months of braces and then the surgery and recovery beyond that. Freaks me out a little to think about the surgery, but then again, so does the thought of my teeth rotting and falling (or being pulled) out. Also, should I just get it done now while I'm young enough to recover somewhat adequately or hope and pray that I'm not seventy-some years old when I gotta go have mouth surgery?

Ugh. Too many things to think about. My brain hurts already.

I just don't know. I never had braces as a kid, although I definitely needed them. My folks never had the money, and now that I do, I'm balking. I've lived with my teeth as is for the last couple of decades, and they've done their job. I certainly don't have one of those smiles where everyone cringes and wonders when I'm going to get my teeth fixed. But yet, I'd like to have straight teeth. I'd like to have my own teeth for as long as possible. The "worst case scenario" is still very cloudy...what's the worst that could happen if I do nothing?

Although, if I do this whole mouth-fixing rigamarole, maybe it'll stop my recurring teeth nightmares.

Sincerely. I'm not making that up. I have occasional nightmares where my teeth are being violently wrenched from my mouth. I never know who's doing it, but I always feel the tremendous pain, and see the blood. And I never fail to wake up in a sweat.



Yar. I just reread this and realized I sound like a rambling nitwit.