Scottsville Cemetery

angelcolumns
Originally uploaded by EZDuzzit.

About an hour and a half from where we live is a tiny old cemetery. My husband first heard about it through a ghost-hunters group. We didn't find any evidence of paranormal activity, but large, elaborate monuments like this beautiful angel were all over the place. The cemetery is very old (for US/Texas standards) and full of interesting dates and literary quotations.

Diet and Exercise Key to Good Health? No WAY!

This has got to be the biggest "Duh!" in the news these days:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6816952/

The tragedy is that people still don't get it.

I was glued to every episode of "The Biggest Loser" this season. What I think made "The Biggest Loser" a better reality show than the others is that it actually did something good for each of the contestants. They all walked away healthier and happier. Some of us viewers benefitted, too. I wonder how many people watching the series were motivated to work out a little harder after watching Big Moe run two miles without stopping. I sure was.

The fact that our nation is so fat that we need a $250,000 prize to motivate people to get in shape is pathetic. It's true, diet and exercise suck. But they work. We've known it all along, we've just been in denial.

Here's a great little site for helping to keep track of your diet and exercise progress: http://www.fitday.com

Bret Michaels Gone Country?

This is a train wreck: http://www.bretmichaels.com/mainhub.htm

In the video for "All I Ever Needed," not only is the music mediocre, but Bret kind of resembles an out-of-drag transvestite. I wonder if the black eyeliner is permanently tattooed, or if he applied it just for the video?

Another question: In the height of big hair band popularity, when my thug-loving girlfriends and I had sleepovers to watch "Friday Night Videos," were Bret Michaels and the other hair band "musicians" as lame as they seem to be today? Did we finally just grow up and realize that spandex is no more flattering to a skinny rock star's bulge than it is to a fat girl's ass? When did we begin to recognize that guys who somewhat resemble women aren't even half as hot as the real thing? Or, did Bret, Jani, Stephen, Sebastian, and their other candy-rock cohorts all go downhill after reaching their musical and professional pinnacles? Either way, I think Bret and the others should remain content to live in the minds of today's educators, accountants, executives, and housewives as the wild and sexy rebels that we thought they were without tainting our sweet teenage memories with today's reality.

Fair Warning

My husband says that bloggers just want attention. I dunno, he may be on to something there, but that's really not why I'm writing. There are a couple of reasons, actually. First off, I teach writing, and I'm constantly telling my students that in order to get better at writing, they have to write often. And when was the last time I sat down to write just because? Yeah. So, here's my little journal where I'll jot the thoughts that are fit to share.

I'm also a chronic lurker of message boards. I like to observe other people's dialogues because I'm weird like that. Sometimes I'll post, but most times I'll keep my thoughts to myself. Every now and again, something will come up that I'll want to respond to, so I'll write a reply and then promptly delete it. I'll never assume that anyone really gives a flying fricassee about what I think. But from now on, those rants/epiphanies/random thoughts will go right here. Consider yourself warned: If you're reading, I'm assuming.

So, yeah.

Today was the first day back to "real" work in over two weeks. And I think my body is in shock, because I know for damned sure my mind is. All in all, it wasn't too terribly bad. My school is insanely old, and I was just positive we would come in yesterday (the first official day of work, but there were no students, so it doesn't qualify as real work...got it?) to the stench of dead rats that had succumbed to death in the sticky traps left by our fearless pest guy over the holiday. But thankfully, there was none of that, just the regular smell of an old, old school. Those rats, I tell you, they're pretty smart. Must be all the education they're getting.

So, my students got the big talk about how their Big Writing Test is only 7 weeks away and if they performed on the real thing like they did on the practice test before the holidays, they were dust. Nothing like a little optimism to motivate the kiddoes.

And seriously, something is UP with my body. I've got this strange fluidy swelling on my neck...no lump, no hardness, just puffy. I got the school nurse to take a look, and she hadn't a clue, of course. The husband is teetering between fascination and repulsion by the thing, and I'm wondering what the holy hell is going on. This happened once before, about five years ago when I was visiting people in Virginia (no, the location isn't important, but that's how I remember when it was). Just disappeared over night. Let's see what happens this time.