Delivery Fail but Plushie Win, so lets just call it even.

I ordered Big Bird off of Amazon.Com last week -- only it wasn't really Amazon.Com, it was more BabyAge.Com selling through Amazon.Com, which wasn't a problem cost wise because it was discounted significantly with free shipping. ($16 -- how could I pass up the 20" plushie? -- that usually sells for $40 mind you)

At anyrate, I had it shipped to my office and got a call today about it being in. -- The packaging had BabyAge.Com written all over it and I realized how bad it looked/what it seemed to imply.

But look at how awesome that is. Big Bird was totally worth the mailroom people thinking I'm having a baby.

By the way, Big Bird looks totally gangsta in a fedora.

What I did yesterday.

Oh the joys of getting work done early and being by a Toys "R" Us

For the "Harry Potter" version, click here.

Why I love my job

On an analysis of Sonnet 18:

Teacher: "So now, knowing that, can you re-read it from a different way?"
Boy: "Oh I knew it, I knew he was talking about a woman"
[Teacher Laughs]
...
Teacher: "...And summer, it's way too short, and you're longer than summer, alright? you're better than summer because summer's always too short"
Boy: I would compare, certain females I know, to winter.
Girl: Cold?
Boy: Yes
[Long awkward pause]
Teacher: I think I'm too young for this conversation
[Awkward pause]
Teacher: Stay in the poem Brandon, stay in the poem

---

After that I was laughing so hard I have no idea how I kept the camera steady.

I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Epic April Fools Win!

Our boss had a nice surprise when she came into the office yesterday.

Happy April Fools Day Boss!

To Freeze Time

The day read two months ago, the calender on which it was printed hanging unchanged since that day. It was as though the tiny apartment was making a futile attempt at freezing time.

6 weeks -- it had taken a whole 6 weeks, but finally they were done. It was an odd sensation -- combing through 40 years of someone's life -- it wasn't a particularly enjoyable one either, but an educational one none the less.

The boy remembered vividly the fateful day two months ago, the tangible tension that effortlessly filled the apartment as he entered, the foreboding aura emanating from the room at the far end of the tiny apartment, the nervous fidgeting of the boy's father; the old man's son.

Ultimately the boy could not bring himself to peer into the far room, allowing only small glances at the doorway, through which socked feet attached to the beginning of legs, to which the rest lay hidden under an aging bed sheet. The boy felt that that was enough -- any more and his mind wouldn't be able to hold it's shield of composure. Ultimately, none of it felt real, even if he knew it was, and that feeling was what he clung to, a feeling he knew would shatter if he stepped foot in that room.

In reality, the tactic the boy employed served no purpose. It did not rewind time nor did it change the outcome of the situation, but for then, it was what he needed. It was also what the apartment needed.

The calender hung stubbornly on the green age-stained wall. The room's attempt to stop time had ultimately been unsuccessful, as evidenced by the now otherwise bare walls and empty rooms; the world had once again triumphed in it's fight to keep turning. However, where the calender failed the apartment had managed, in some small part, to succeed; twice a week for 6 whole weeks it transported the boy back and forth through 40 years of time -- a journey that was rarely pleasant but one that will never be forgotten.

The Teachings of a Cup of Coffee

I don't think I'll ever understand your addiction to coffee. This morning I had my first cup in what must have been at least a year. I took it black because I feel like that's how you usually drank it. From my first sip I was immediately reminded why I don't often drink the stuff.

I find it interesting that someone with as large a sweet tooth as yourself could like a drink so bitter, though I suppose one could argue the bitterness made all those sweets you enjoyed taste that much better.

Perhaps that's one of the secrets all you coffee fiends shared amongst yourselves. Though I may be just missing the obvious reason of the energy kick it gives. I don't know, I wasn't a follower of yours in that regard.

Choice of beverage aside however, (I never got the Diet Coke thing either, but I'll concede that preference on behalf of your diabetes) you did instill in me the foundations for becoming a respectable adult. In that respect I was a follower of yours. This was a task you had striven to accomplish in most of your students, I'm sure. I'm also fairly certain you achieved that goal time and again. I would like to think, however, that I gave you more trouble than the average brat that walked through your classroom doors, which, of course, made the outcome all the more rewarding.

Through the 9½ years I've known you, I've come to understand a little more about you. Most of this can be summed up by simply saying "you never stopped changing,". With the courage to always try something new (we all uttered a collective gasp when we first witnessed your use of the common instant messaging shorthand "LOL") you continually planted and replanted yourself in the midsts of younger generations; building and maintaining a strong relationship with the mere seedlings so you could guide them as they sprouted, budded and eventually bloomed. Creating a relationship through mutual understanding, it was an action you performed seemingly instinctively and those lives whom you've touched because of it were introduced to its importance.

I still don't get the coffee.

F.A.N.G this Valentines Day

Here's a music video for Nyle Emerson that I produced with Jimy Shah, Richard Gianotti and Kent Hu. The director was Tahir Jetter and the Cinematographer was Fletcher Wolfe.