09/20/2000-10/31/2000

10/24/2002:
Yesterday I watched the first half of Perfect Harmony five times, and today I watched the second half of Perfect Harmony five times. I have a love/hate relationship with subbing jobs where I just show a video. It does make it easy, but it is so damn boring watching the same video over and over and over and over and over.
Hopefully this is my last week of being totally broke. I’ve still got another month or two of living hand to mouth, but I won’t be totally broke anymore...I hope.

10/13/2002:
I went to my Saturday training, but the morning session ended up being canceled, because the presenter had accidentally double-booked himself. I still got paid, so I’m not complaining. The afternoon session on nonviolent crisis intervention was really informative. I’ve really got to work on my nonverbal communication, because I’m pretty sure that I often send out hostile signals without meaning to.
After the training I headed down to San Antonio to visit my mom and Pete. Pete made a tasty taco soup, and my mom and I watched Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was actually entertaining. I went to bed early and slept in late. My mom cooked a great pancake and eggs breakfast, and then she played a trick on me. She wanted to find out what size shirt and jacket I wear, so we went to a mall to find out and figure out what styles I liked. It was just supposed to be an information-gathering mission. Instead, my mom ended up buying me two shirts, a tie and a sports coat. She’s too good to me! After we finished shopping we ate at a nice Cajun restaurant. Again, my mom’s too good to me!
After lunch, I headed back to Austin and started doing laundry and did laundry all night. I also finally filled out the online application for the Region XIII Alternative Certification Program. It’s kind of scary, because this means that this time next year I could be a real teacher with a real teacher’s responsibilities.

10/10/2002:
Man, I am tired. I had to get up at 5:30 AM this morning in order to get to work on time, but the day went well, and some of the students were pretty cool. I actually got to do a little teaching, which is always nice. I’ve got the same classes tomorrow, and I worked really hard at learning all the kids’ names, so that will be nice. It’s a good feeling, when I walk into a classroom and know what to expect.
Now that I’m home, I’m finding it hard to do anything but stare into space. I worked out, so now I’m exhausted. I’m trying to read, but I’m nodding off.
The worst thing is that I’m working on Saturday, so I don’t even have the weekend to look forward to. It could be worse, though.

10/06/2002:
I’ve almost finished Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, and it has been a damn chore. His writing style is really sloppy, and his arguments are mostly anecdotal. My copy of the book also has an abridged version of Machiavelli’s Discourses Upon the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, which contradicts many of the controversial sections of The Prince, such as unabashedly using deceit, which is advocated in The Prince.
Also, subfinder has been acting weird all day and I haven’t been able to get a job for tomorrow. I’ve got to work every day this week, so I can finally have some spending money in November (which is still so far away...sigh).

10/03/2002:
Am I really that old? Today I said, “Those shoes are dope,” and my students told me that no one says dope anymore.

09/29/2002:
I’m finally feeling better. I think I’m well enough to work tomorrow, which is good, because I need the money.
Yesterday Somer and I watched the new Woody Allen movie, Hollywood Ending. His previous two films, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Small Time Crooks, had disappointed me somewhat, because, although the stories were good, the jokes fell flat. Hollywood Ending has the opposite problem: the jokes were great, but the premise couldn’t sustain a whole movie. Maybe his next movie will find that perfect balance that most of his movies have.

09/26/2002:
After being sick on and off for two weeks, I finally went to a clinic and got some stuff to kick my sinus infection’s ass. I’m glad I went, but it cost me $150, and I’m broke, so it kind of sucks, too.

09/22/2002:
I can’t believe the weekend is already over. Lame!

09/17/2002:
Work is going pretty well, but I still don’t feel very well. I’m thinking about taking tomorrow off and staying home to rest, but I also want to work, so I can get that cash money.

09/15/2002:
I slept all day.

09/14/2002:
It turns out it wasn’t allergies that were plaguing me, but a cold, which I’m hopefully almost over.

09/12/2002:
My allergies are acting up. Last night I was having trouble sleeping, ‘cause it was hard to swallow from all the snot draining down my throat. Yum, yum!
I’ve been having a pretty interesting workweek. I worked the same job for three days, which is nice, ‘cause I start to get to know the kids. It’s been a mixed bag though, ‘cause some of the students are cra-zy! One guy got mad and started throwing chairs around. Sheesh!

09/09/2002:
Today I worked for the first time in over three months. It felt good to get back to the substitute teaching gig. I think I got into a rut last April and May. I tried to lock horns with some of the kids, but today I took it easy and coaxed some kids into learning who would’ve just turned into discipline problems if I’d tried to order them around or threaten them. It sounds obvious, but it's tough when you're in the middle of it and you’ve got 33 high school students who’d rather be anywhere else...or maybe I just suck.
I’m about to go to bed, but first I’m going to listen to some Black Sabbath. Geezer kicks my ass.

09/07/2002:
I'm reading Bukowski's Tales of Ordinary Madness. This guy is a laugh riot! Also I've been sleeping a lot, but not as much as Somer. This girl is a sleep riot!

09/06/2002:
I finally got my ID badge for work, so I will start subbing again on Monday. Kick ass!

09/02/2002:
I didn’t do much today, much like any other day recently. I started Andre Dubus’ Dancing After Hours, and I am enjoying it, but so far it seems a little slight.

09/01/2002:
Happy birthday, dad!