My Car’s Name is Helen

August 14, 2008 in Darndest Things
Tags: anything, boss, boyfriend, break, car, case, coming, communication, down, embarrassing, girlfriend, helen, job, loose, manual, my car named helen, overheated, point, reader, receptive, respond, see, today, trouble, work, worst

Helen and I aren’t getting along well these days. I wish we were.

I didn’t think she’d ever act like she did today. I thought I knew her every little foible. See, we’ve been together going on two years, and I always thought that we’d be together indefinitely.

Maybe I know that it’s not meant to last, and maybe I’ll switch to a newer model in a couple of years, but I always thought we’d do just fine, if only we’d live in the moment. Of course, the trouble with living in the moment is that you never see anything coming.

Case in point: Today was a bad day for us. I was tired, I was frustrated and we were on our way home from a long day at work. Helen, for some reason, decides that this is the perfect time to break down and fall apart.

Things got pretty heated, she more than I, though I still managed to say some things I shouldn’t have. She wouldn’t budge. I had no choice. I pulled over to the side of the road, and I tried to get things sorted out.

It didn’t work. She wasn’t receptive, and I didn’t have any new ideas. I wasn’t about to go push her buttons, because in her overheated state, I didn’t know what damage she’d manage to achieve. For a time, we sat there and said nothing.

She hadn’t even cooled off yet when, at the worst possible moment, the boss of my boss pulled over to see if I was okay. Embarrassed, I got it together enough to make it back home.

She still doesn’t speak to me, though I’d bet that she’s acting up because I’m not treating her right. I’m not treating her the way she wants me to; I’m not treating her the way she needs me to. Thing is, I know that were I to ask, she wouldn’t respond.

For crying out loud, who does she think I am? Some kind of manual reader?

Delicious, Delicious Pork and Beans

June 19, 2008 in Reading Response
Tags: astley, beans, down, give, induction, internet, let, music, never, pharaoh, pork, rick, rickroll, roll, set, star, up, video, you, youtube

Short entry today, in part because I’ve been wasting my time on some old, familiar edutainment. I’d forgotten how freakin’ hard of a game Pharaoh was.

In any case, Weezer made themselves a music video, and it’s probably my favorite music video from a musical act without a prominent member named Yankovic. There’s at least one other, older music video I like, but mostly because I like to mock it sadistically.

There’s nothing trainwreck-of-poor-taste about Pork and Beans. Something tells me that Weezer meant to include nearly every star of the Internet.

Glorious.

Be sure to check out another great video by the same group; I think you might like it. I’ll leave the explanation to someone else.

Idle brainstorm: Find and download a representative sample of all of the videos shown or referenced in Pork and Beans, saving them to show one’s students.

At the beginning of each class session, show one of these clips. Skip Cris Crocker and other those few other school inappropriate clips, and be sure to avoid telling the students what all of the clips have in common.

On the very last day of class, show the Pork and Beans music video.

Do this at the beginning of class, because everybody’s heads will have exploded. You’ll need time to clean up.