July 14th

Well time flies when you are busy doing nothing, I guess. This summer has mostly been teaching, reading, stitching and relaxing. I'm teaching two classes during the summer, and have been subbing a lot, so teaching seems to take the lions share of my time. I really like summer school, and, of course, my students are the most insightful and brilliant. All due to my teaching (ahem!) no doubt.

I haven't been travelling much this summer, but I want to make a trip to Iowa (when it dries out) and I need to plan another trip to New Mexico around Thanksgiving. I want to get to Detroit one weekend, but my Sis who lives there is off on vacation right now in Wisconsin, so there's not much point.

The new kitten got neutered last week, and he came home with fleas. DH was picking them off with tweezers and we ended up giving both cats a bath. That was quite an adventure. It was only the kitten's second bath ever. I just wash the cats in the bathroom sink, and DH was trying to help. Well, the bathroom is very small, hot, and not really big enough for two people and a wet howling kitten. DH got scratched just watching! I was fine. I'm tough and can hold a cat with one hand and wash with the other. Big Sister cat didn't make a peep when she got her bath. She's my kitty, and is much better behaved. Little Brother cat--- well, he's a terrorist dressed in fur.

Completely different topic- why do people talk on their cell phone about personal things in public places in LOUD voices? I'm sitting here in my office and down the hall about 50 feet is a lobby where students can hang out between classes. I can hear every word about this woman's divorce settlement, because she's talking to her soon to be Ex, complaining about how their original agreement won't work now because she's $1000 a month short on bills, and it's his fault she's behind on her bills, and she borrowed $1500 from her parents for her lawyer (which I guess he's supposed to pay) and ..... She's practically yelling into her phone. Now I've heard many, many phone conversations from students in the hall, and most of them start with "What are you doing?" "I'm waiting for class to start." "Well call me back later." you know- earth shattering intense, totally mind numbing conversations.

But about once a day I'm treated to a breakup (The best was the woman who said "You let that STANKY thing in my bed when I was at work!" to her EX who apparently was seeing someone else in his free time- someone "stanky"- and she yelled at him for about 15 minutes before she yelled "What do you mean we never talk! We are talking NOW!") or a make up (gag! "You know I love you snookums!") or a hookup ("I got your number from Steve at the bar. I think you are so hot!") Bathroom conversations are the worst. I'm sorry, but sitting in there, minding my own business and in the next stall you hear "so how's it going?" and you wonder- do I answer? Why should they care how I'm doing in here? Then they continue their conversation on the phone, and you are so glad you didn't answer because even in a stall, you don't want to look like an idiot. Then you have to do the timing thing to either wait until they are gone, or try to beat them done and get out before they appear, so they might know there was an idiot, but they won't know which idiot.

On another topic- movies:
I watched "Shopgirl" last night with Steve Martin. What crap! First of all there's Steve doing voice overs because obviously we (the viewers) are too stupid to figure stuff out. ("She decided that *this guy* gave her what she most needed, real love, while I never would." or some such bull. Okay- I can figure out her motivations- they were these- She didn't stay with the rich guy (who paid off her $36,000 student loan for her, but said he didn't love her and didn't want a serious relationship) because not only did he cheat on her with some old friend of his (who seduced him with a nasty line about how he could just lay there and do nothing during sex, "just like in Thailand" where apparently he had had the same experience with a professional) but he wrote her a letter about the cheating incident and then sat there next to her while she read it. That makes him 1- a coward, 2- a self centered bastard and 3-so out of touch with her that he didn't care. Why tell her about a one night stand unless he wanted to trash the whole non-relationship thing they had going (he said he wanted something casual but then called her all the time, flew three hours in a private jet just to see her, bought her expensive gifts, and then there's the whole student loan thing) or deliberately hurt her because if he was really sorry, he would have bought her a nice bit of jewelry, never told her and NEVER done it again. (guys- we don't want to know about these things. We want you to learn from it, and suffer in silence about the filthy horrid thing you did.) All together this move was a waste of time, and I'm glad I Netflixed it because if I had paid to see this in a theater, I'd have been extremely pissed.