Today one of the 1st graders I work with asked if I had "the b word."
Last week during one of our sessions, I could hear him whispering to his friend and giggling. He was asking his friend to ask me a question. His friend refused, but he kept on laughing. By the time our session ended, he never got to asking me.
This week I came to pick them up from their class. As I stood at their classroom door waiting for them, he saw me, ran up and gave me a big hug. Then his classmate came along and they both started giggling. I could hear him whispering again and laughing. As we walked over to my office he finally asked.
"Do you have the 'b' word?"
"The 'b' word?"
"Yeah"
"What 'b' word?"
Laughs a bit more while walking to the office.
"A boyfriend *giggles""
"Why do you want to know Mr. Nosy man?"
"Because...!" *laughs again*
"Because why? Why do you want to know Mr. Nosy man?"
"Just because!"
"Well, I don't think it matters if I have one or not."
"But you need to tell us.
"Why?"
"Because, we're your parents!"
*laughs hysterically*
Later during the session, they see my shoes. I am wearing heals as part of my business casual attire.
"You are not allowed to wear those shoes"
"How come??"
"Your parents can't let you wear those shoes"
"Why would they not let me wear these shoes?"
"Because we say so and we're your parents!"
I didn't know little boys could be possessive by the age of 7.
Since we both had a free day on Friday, we decided to use that time to relax and do anything. That day I gained a good 5lbs from eating food that we had hoped would be healthier. Needless to say, we failed on that one. We went to Marina del Rey and stopped by C & O's Tratoria on Washington Blvd. I had some chicken ravioli and Art had Gnocci. We shared their house special salad. We sat outside and the day was really pretty. I was already stuffed with the garlic bread knots by the time the food came over. Nevertheless, the food was yummy and we ate close to everything. I definitely didn't feel very glamorous after eating such a huge meal. So, we walked on the beach for a good hour and almost reached Playa del Rey. Unfortunately there was no way to walk across to the other side, so we headed back.
In an effort to get back to Playa, Art (minus Tomtom) ended up passing it and going all the way to El Segundo and Manhattan Beach. I saw some really cute surfers getting ready to hit the waves, but there was no parking anywhere. We kept on driving and ended up at Hermosa. Since it was getting late and the sun was setting, we ended up staying there and walked on the pier. We finally got to see the sunset after several futile attempts. It set pretty quickly, but the weather was really nice. It was cold, but not too cold at all. There was a good number of people fishing and families on the pier and around the restaurants. I didn't start taking pictures until people kind of dwindled.
After the sun had set, we ended up driving to Westside Pavillion to see Slum Dog Millionaire. We didn't have any seats left for the 8:30pm showing so we took the 10pm showing instead. We had a good two hours to kill and it went by really quickly. In between that time we had lost our tickets (they were flimsy paper receipt ones), but luckily the concierge found them and we got them back :) I was suddenly getting bad vibes from Westside Pavillions since I got my bag stolen there a few weeks ago, but luckily there are still some good people left in the world.
The movie was pretty good and I liked it. **spoiler**Art and I both agreed that it was a bit too much of "happy" ending. I expected something a little bit more dramatic. I wasn't too surprised to find out that a white person directed it though with the way it turned out. Had it been a Korean director, I think it would have ended up as super dramatic :P. If I were to choose my favorite parts of the movie, it would be the begining where they showed the destitute slums of India. For any of you who have read the book to which this was based, please let me know if it is worth reading. Maybe the book was a lot better?
Slum Dog was definitely enjoyable, but don't expect it to be life altering as my roommate claimed it to be. From the previews, it had a lot of potential. Since I came in with little expectations, I was fairly satisfied. So for your independent and foreign film buffs, I recommend watching it at least as a rental or when the crowds die down. Slum Dog Millionaire could have been a really great and epic film, but some of it was lost in translation (please excuse the pun). I just think some of the evens ended up being too simplistic.
Amazing time lapse video/photography of the beautiful sky by Till Credner. Music by Hasta la Ortra Mexico. While I love living in Los Angeles, it saddens me to think that I haven't been able to see the stars in the night sky for a very long time. There is so much light pollution in the city that stars are difficult to come by. I guess that's why I really enjoyed going to the observatory and planetarium. I got to see some stars that night on the Hollywood Hills. One day I'll probably go back there or another quiet and rustic place away from all the noise and business of the city life. Yosimite perhaps or Yellowstone? The earth is so beautiful. I only wish I had more time to just sit back, breathe in, and watch it unfold before me. Maybe that's why I love the beach. It's the closest thing to nature you can get to without having to drive so far away from my home.
I am so sick of driving back and forth from LA to VC. I've been back and forth nearly every day these past two weeks. It's just ridiculous and I'm not even driving there half the time. I wish there was an easier way.
The main reason for my back and forth trips are due to my apartment search/move. I'm almost all settled into my new apartment (Thank GOD). I'm still a bit stressed though since I haven't really figured out where to put my stuff in the common areas, when I can get my copy of the lease, if I have a mail key, and what to do in terms of sharing groceries and costs of paper towels, toilet paper, water, and other things.
On top of that, I still need to clean, organize, and decorate my room. I need to finish painting and patching up the crappy wall on one end of the room and paint it clean. I don't like dirty walls and I don't like unfinished fixtures (bathroom needs finishing). I just can't wait till it's all over. I still have been putting off my two papers due in two weeks. I should get started with that. I also need to contact my school psych, so I guess I should begin with the emailing.
Also, what is pissing me off is this blasted jury duty that I had to postpone. I wonder what happens if I just don't show? I know being a goody-goody has really screwed me over a few times. You tend to get screwed more often than you are to get positive outcomes for following the rules. I don't know. I wouldn't mind if I didn't have school, but if they require me to serve beyond my one day, I won't be able to serve at all.
On other matters, the fact that I work at a private school in Marina del Rey really screws me over now that I live much farther than I used to. I barely got paid for it last time and now I am required to work one day this week. I never even received the effing email. Yes, it's still a few pennies in the bank and gas isn't as expensive as it used to be, but geez, all the driving is sucking my sanity dry. I might just end up staying in LA begining tomorrow and settle things, go to work and leave wed night just to come back Sat morning. UGH. I am hating this.
Lastly, I have a power point draft to turn in and some reasearch to do for my presentation in March. Our director wants a rough draft due by mid january and I haven't even blinked an eye at it since I did research back in Novemeber or October. With all the crap I had to deal with looking for a place and moving stuff out, I barely even had time to help my mom do anything around the house or even fully unpack let alone deal with school related issues. I mean seriously, I haven't even had time to watch tv for more than 5 mins.
