Heading to Hollywood Studios for extra magic hours... Well, that was the plan, anyway. This bus only took half an hour to arrive, which I suppose is an improvement from yesterday.

However, despite a somewhat rocky start, we had an awesome day yesterday! We got fastpasses for the Aerosmith rollercoaster (the Hunk's fave ride) and then watched some of the character shows. The line for the revamped Star Tours was a little long, but not so bad we'd want to skip it. Also about half of the wait is indoors! Then we went to use our fast passes and we saw that the single rider line was also open, so we used that a couple of times.

It started to rain pretty heavily and we realized that our reservations for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show would probably be cancelled since it's partly outdoors. So we took a boat over to Epcot and were able to get reservations at Biergarten, which was cool because we hadn't eaten there before. We got to listen to the Voices of Liberty (always a fave) but the Mo'Rockin show was called because of the rain. But fortunately Mariachi Cobre was able to go into the marketplace area to perform. We didn't stay for all of it, though, because we weren't sure how to get our Spirit of Aloha tickets refunded so we needed to get to the Polynesian resort to find out. Well, when we left the building in Mexico, the rain had cleared! So we got to see the show, which had been updated with different dances and a slightly-altered storyline since we were there last. The hostess said they change it every year or two so I think I'll hafta go back! :) The food was good and it was just tons of fun.

Then we took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom (of course) and got fast passes for Space Mountain - late but still usable. I burned a bunch of calories at the character dance party and then cried my way through "Wishes," the nightly fireworks show (I always do). We rode Space Mountain and by that point we were both zonked. I had hoped to use some of the evening magic hours but we were so tired we didn't even stay until the regular closing.

We're at the Indiana Jones how so I'm gonna post this & watch the show!

It poured yesterday. And so we left the Magic Kingdom to dry off and rest. I went back later (the rain had slowed to a drizzle) to use up our fastpasses. Unfortunately, Space Mountain was closed :( We haven't had a lot of luck with it. Anyway, dinner at the Crystal Palace was awesome. The flan was particularly good, especially for a buffet. Le Cellier had fantastic steak, but the dessert was just good rather than amazing.

Today we're headed for Hollywood Studios. Unfortunately we had to wait for almost an hour for the bus. :P But it's kind of nice not to have to worry about anything.

woooo! I'm at Disney & it's almost time for Wishes. We've had an awesome time already & we only got here @ 4:15. I got to see the Dans, the banjo trio, Mack-n-Jack, the band... Oo, it's starting!

Eat Your Broccoli; It's Good For You

I still don't want to write, but I want to improve as a teacher, so here goes another entry. BLEAUGH. I guess I'll go for one per day. I may not have internet access every day, though, so you might go a few days with no updates & then see several of them go through, with all but one backdated. Anyway.

Before we left for Florida, I did some quick google-searching for journal prompts, copy-pasted them into an Open Office document, and printed it out. The one I'm going to use for today's entry is: Do you believe honesty is the best policy?

GOD, I don't want to do this. I hate writing. This just seems so stupid and pointless. I mean, honestly? Does anyone seriously care? Because I already know what I think, and I really don't know why it would matter to anyone else. Well, whatever. Right now I'm just trying to fill space.

Honesty - by itself - is NOT the best policy. I'm more in line with "Speak the truth in love." There's this idea that in order to be TRULY honest, we have to be willing to say things that are mean. Which is bullshit. We DO have to be willing to say things that are unpleasant, but we can do so compassionately, providing support and encouragement. And it's not like those around us need to know every thought we have; only someone who is unbelievably arrogant would even consider such an idea.

I also find that when I'm confronted by a question with a possibly-uncomfortable answer, sometimes the best response is another question.

Blah de blah.

I'll also say that while it's possible to mislead someone with statements that are technically true, doing so does not count as being honest. There are some shades of grey, here, though; it's possible to mislead others accidentally if one is careless with language. This is why precision is also important to me.

I’m at over 300 words. Can I stop now? :P

Without Books

CBethM, over at Encourage Me to Write, asks "What would the world be like without books?"

The short answer is, I don't know.

Human nature is what it is, with or without a written record. Isn't that what we learn from literature? People would still love and hope, will always lie, cheat, and compete. Communication would be different. Could we have achieved, say, the industrial revolution without easily-replicated text? I don't know.

Overall, though, I doubt much would change. We will always find a way to communicate, and we'll always use our communication to tell stories.

Getting back into the swing of things

There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything that I'd like to get done. There's school, laundry, dishes, fixing meals (I hesitate to call what I do "cooking"), exercise, reading & commenting on the ECN, keeping up with what's going on in the lives of friends & family through SMS, Facebook, Twitter, reading my library books and attempting to return them without TOO huge of a fine, watching TV shows or movies or playing WoW, blogging, updating and responding on Goodreads, church, game night, doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, paying bills, and oh yeah, let's not forget eating, showering, and sleeping!

It's no wonder that I haven't updated this site in months. *sigh*

I've started exercising again. There are Zumba classes in my parents' neighborhood, and I actually enjoy it, which is really nice, because on the whole I haaate exercising. It's unpleasant and uncomfortable and usually boring. Zumba at least isn't boring. It still feels like work, and it's quite challenging, and I feel very self-conscious about my coordination, but I like dancing and music so it's not too bad. Plus I'm kind of middle-of-the-pack in how good I am at learning & performing the choreographies, so I don't feel TOO clumsy, or like I'm showing off.

The down side is that I haven't lost ANY WEIGHT. And it doesn't seem like it's affected my size at all, either, which I know is not supposed to be as important, but hey, that's what I care about. Weight is just a number. I have noticed that I can do more before I wear out than I could when I started. But I'd really like to be able to wear my favorite outfits again and there's been ZERO progress in that area, and it's been almost a month. It's quite discouraging.

I've started bellydance classes again as well - I quit going for a few sessions because I was spending, like, ALL MY TIME trying to get the stupid yearbook finished. *glower* We're starting a new fanveils choreography that looks pretty darn awesome if I do say so myself.

Ok, gonna post this now cuz I has food & it's time to EET! :D

Children's Classics

Author Mitali Perkins has asked, "When it comes to race, ethnicity, gender, and class, what stands the test of time?"

I did not get to read the first book in the series, Emily of Deep Valley, until just this week. The library had a copy of the original printing from 1950 in storage. Kind of distressing, because I really enjoyed it. I hope they get a new copy, because I do think this is a timeless classic.

And this is coming from someone who has tried the Betsy-Tacy books and not particularly enjoyed them. I mean, they weren't throw-the-book-across-the-room bad or anything. I can appreciate them; I think they're well-crafted. But I started at least two or three of them and didn't finish any. I just lost interest.

So.

Race - Tangent: I actually spoke to one of my students about this today. I heard a group of them talking about a fight (don't they always?) and one of them referred to "that black kid." And I'm just like... no. Not cool. So I called that student over and quietly said, "David, I'd like to ask you not to refer to people by their race. It makes me very uncomfortable, and I don't like it." So of course he tries to explain to me why it's NOT racist, and how none of his black friends have complained about it. And I said, "I'm not talking about them - I'm talking about ME. I know that I would be unhappy if people always referred to me as 'that white teacher.' It makes ME uncomfortable, so I'm asking you to stop." And (hurray!) I have a good relationship with this student he was okay with that.

Now, I know this student wasn't being ugly in what he said. But I know that it's easy to confuse not-intentionally-racist with just-not-thinking. And that it's important to think before speaking. Anyway.

One thing I noticed was Deep Valley's lack of racial diversity, aside from the Syrians. I wondered - a little - if race as well as nationality made them targets; I don't think so. The sticking points seemed to be their non-standard English and accents, and their foreign names & customs. But at the same time, LOOKING so different kind of makes it that much more obvious.

Ethnicity - this, I felt, was more the issue. One thing I haven't seen anyone mention in the reviews Ms. Perkins linked was how smoothly and seamlessly Kalil becomes Charley. That caught me off guard.

Gender - I thought this book had a LOT to say about gender. There was the grandfather's complete obliviousness to the possibility of post-secondary education for women. I believe it's written particularly well, because it's understandable even though I think - I hope - it's completely foreign.

I really appreciated the exploration of different types of romantic love. I liked that while Emily had multiple love interests - first of all, she isn't demonized for it - and second, they're not presented to the reader as competing. I'm putting this badly, because in one way they were competing with each other; it's the "Team Edward/Team Jacob" thing I find tiresome.

Emily has a LOT of agency. I really appreciated that. She has her own problems, she faces them, and she DOES something about them. I liked that a whole bunch.

Of course, she also does a lot of waiting-around-for-the-boy. There's still some of that around - goodness knows I see it with my students - but I don't think it's so pervasive.

And finally - I did not see class as a significant theme in this book. I would love to hear others' thoughts on the matter.

I did enjoy the specific details - the "new-fangled" fountain pen, for example - but I wondered how much of that was because the book was published in 1950. I don't remember quite the same level of detail in books by Montgomery or Alcott.