Which book would you love to see adapted into a film?
I'm not really into the whole book gone movie thing because if it's meant as a book half the time the movies don't do them justice. Take Harry Potter for example... these are amazing books and I was so excited when they were being turned into movies but they just aren't any good. The movie people should have waited for the entire series to be written before hoping on the Harry Potter Bandwagon because the movies have left out some critical pieces of the books that are important later on and in the mean time it makes the movies hard t follow if you haven't read the books. Not the mention Harry Potter 5 was the longest book of the series and so far the shortest movie... figure that one out.
I guess I would ike to see Harry Potter redone as a movie series haha. I mean the Lord of the Rings triology were great books (so I heard) and great movies because the writers and directors took the time and money to make it that way. Harry Potter could be the same way now that the entire series is written. Other then that I think most my books are already movies...Maybe a few of Nicholas Spark's books because those never let you down. I wish I had more time to read :(
So today was an interesting day.... I started the day off in front of the TV praying like a little kid that Remsen would have a snow day so that I could go back to bed instead of head off to work. However, after about 10mins of waiting and actually listening to the weather reports it didn't seem like I was going to have much luck so I headed off up the hill to go to work. Now I didn't give myself any extra time for the weather because I can't if I ever want to catch the snowday before leaving the house and the mom understands this, so I was already running alittle late. Now as I passed the Holland Patent Schools I notice that they are oddly quiet... there wasn't anyone at the bus garage and normally at this hour people are beginning to arive. However, the roads didn't really seem that bad so I kept going up all of the hills taking my time because things were alittle slick. Now when I crossed Fuller Rd onto Sixty Rd (for those of you who know the area) I noticed that the road as beginning to get rather nasty. It was beginning to drift in and it kept pulling my jeep all over the road. And it is a giant hill so you can't go slow if you want to make it up the hill. I figured that this was normal because generally I meet the plow on it's way down sixty rd so I always have to deal with the mess. Well I reached the intersection and crossed onto Starr Hill Rd where the family lives and still no plow.
The roads were still not horrible so I thought nothing of it and continued on my way. I went around the sharp 90 degree corner on the road and started climbing the last hill which is also rather steep. At the middle of the hill when you get out of the woods there was a horrible whiteout that was occurring. And then I it got BAD. As soon as I went through the whiteout and could see again it was like I entered another world. The ENTIRE road was covered in about a 4ft snow drift with the exception off this narrow path that cut through the left side of the road next to the snowbank. And I'm not exagerating when I say 4ft... it was cut to the windows on my jeep! Now thinking that I have a jeep and I am only like 2mins away from their house I decide to attempt to make it down the narrow path. Now you couldn't go very fast to gain speed because it was still pulling my Jeep and I didn't want to hit the snowbank... so about halfway up my jeep slowly comes to a stop... I was stuck in the road which had become one giant snowbank!
Luckily I was so close to work so I phoned the family and explained my problem and the father was sent out with his tractor plow to come dig me out. He was however, already out plowing since he is contracted out to a few government places on Starr Hill and it took him about 20mins to get to me. While I waited I recieved a text message from news channel 2 informing me of the cancellation of the Remsen schools... they were mocking me! I didn't need to be at work let alone stuck in the middle of the WORST snow drift in history of snow drifts. I was not a happy camper. So after the father came and set me free I went to work because what else could I do get stuck again heading home? So I go inside and inform the mother that school was closed because she hasn't heard it yet. She asked me if I wanted to still stay and help her get the girls up since they were awake and I told her that I couldn't go home until a plow went by so either way she was stuck with me. When I called into work it asked me for my intercase driving time because I get paid if I am going between people's houses.... I wonder if the time I spent stuck in the snow bank counts?
I don't like being mocked...
So for more hours for my community class I went to go watch Wheelchair curling today at the Whitesboro curling club which is home to Team USA's Curling Team... they go all over the country and then world competing in games and even the paraolympics. Now I thought that I would just get to sit back and observe because that's what Ryan from the year ahead of me said we did. However, he was wrong. I got there and first Marc the guy in charge of all of these adaptive sport things started explaining the rules to us... and let me tell you. Even after being slowly walked through the sport of curling by someone who fully understands it I still don't really get it. Apparently there is this big grey stone thing and someone pushes it down the ice and other people "sweep" the ice in front of it to melt it and attempt to make it into this circle thing... or to leave it in front of the circle thing as a guard so that the other team can't get their stones into the circle thing or knock the opponents stones out of the circle... apparently there is alot of strategy involved. And from actually being on the playing surface I do understand the "sweeper" role because the ise isn't smooth like most surfaces it is rather bumpy.
Well anyways... in wheelchair curling everything is the same ecxept that there isn't any "sweeper" person so it is kind of like bumper bowling. After watching a couple members of Team USA practice we actually got to try a few shots and then play a game. That was rather amusing. Those stones are REALLY heavy about 42ish pounds which makes it very difficult to push or whatever the technical term is for sliding it down the ice into the circle thing. Well after a few practice shots we get to the game. Now one person from your team stands down in the circle to give you a focal point and a place to aim for... but I really didn't know how to aim. It was funny when one of the curlers who was behind me kept saying "Oh that was a good shot!" like I intended for it to go that way and all that stuff... I really don't know who won because no one informed me and I still don't understand the rules. It was fun but I still prefer wheelchair basketball.
So last night I got home from work at like 12:30am and immediately went to bed since I need to be back at work at 8AM this morning. Around 1:30am we are all rudely awoken by a strange pounding on our window... the cat is at the end of the bed looking completely pissed off and George jumps out of bed screaming (he can have such a commanding voice). When George opens the shade he sees a lady banging on our window screaming "Billy! Billy! You have my keys!" When George yelled at her she preceded to argue with him that he was Billy and once she accpeted that he wasn't if Billy lived there. Then she wanted to know where Billy Slyvester lived.... Eventually she stumbled off. Stupid drunks!! I want to move! It took at least an hour to fall back asleep after that...
Lets see here... things have been absolutely nuts what with the family issues with the in-laws that have been going on. I'm a little stressed to say the least. Here is a quick update on my life with a hopefully more in depth update coming soon...
School is absolutely crazy... My research group met today without me (since we didn't have class and I worked ALL day) and basically got most of this semesters stuff done. Now don't get me wrong it is awesome and there is definitely still a lot more to go but I feel horrible. I don't want them to think I'm not pulling my weight or anything. I apologized to all of them and they all understand but seeing as I hate group projects in the first place I just feel bad not being involved. What else... I have officially been elected SOTA Treasurer which is exciting but I did run unopposed so it really doesn't mean much....Homework is slowly killing me but what else is new. I have stayed on top of things far too long already.
Fieldwork isn't looking good anymore. I called Heritage today and talked to them about my summer internship and they have nothing about me but a letter saying I'm coming. They didn't know when, for how long or any amount of hours I am required to complete. Apparently the contact person for the school is no longer employed there so they have nothing. She also must have left with all my health work because they don't have that either... this could be really bad but I won't jump to conclusions until I talk with Cora at school and see if she can just send everything again. This could also be good because they may not really know my requirements or have alot of students so hopefully they won't pile me with a crapload of work while I'm there.
As for fieldwork next year, Cora did a lottery system for our placement choices since their is a limited number of children places in the Utica/CNY area but luckily I am number 4 and number 5 for both fieldwork placements. I am the first number for my site on the 2 week and the 2nd for the 12week but that is UCP so I have a 95% chance of getting my early intervention with UCP next summer. I am so excited!! On the other hand... my 2 week one could turn out very bad. Cora called me last week to ask me if I wanted to go to my 2nd choice of the New Hartford schools since they responded before my first choice which was Rome City Schools and I am first for both sites. I actually turned it down though because all I have heard is horriable things for that placement and you really need to be an outgoing person which I'm not. Haha. This could be bad because if Rome doesn't want students I'm stuck either picking new choices or going to the House of good Shepard which really doesn't interest me at all but I needed 3 choices... hopefully Rome wants me :(
I have played wheelchair basketball for my community class and let me just mention that it is awesome! The guys who play are so nice and it is just so much fun! Not to mention an awesome work out. I get to go participate in curling on sunday which should be interesting because I don't even know anything about regular curling... I do know that in wheelchair curling they don't have a person that sweeps the ice in front of the curling thing... so is it sorta like bowling? I dunno haha... I'll keep you posted.
Work is also crazy. My weekend family (The crazy gerbal lady) is driving me crazy again. She had switched jobs and then decided she needed me on sundays but I am curling so I can't... I also plan to leave Sundays for my remsen family so that I can go help out with bowling (I'm all over these adaptive sports) and then just when I was about ready to find a new Saturday family she tells me she has switched back to her old job and now needs me every saturday instead of every other saturday!! AHHH!!! And then... I worked for the father today and he told me he still had Hockey with his son Saturday night so he will be picking him up early on saturdays... not what the mom said. WHY CAN"T THEY COMMUNICATE!!! Grr....
As for my family issues that is not a good thing to discuss here in a public blog so if you are really interested then you can ask but things are going alright there... I still wish that there was a way to get my nephew back to where he belongs. I don't understand how someone can take being a mom so lightly and decide to love and care about their kid when it is convienant for them. I don't understand it... Sigh...
Haha... and this was a brief update too...imagine if it had been long
So I went to work yesterday with the kid and his pet gerbal and his mom walks up to me immediatly after I walk through the door and says "So I killed his gerbal...." Let me tell you I have never been happier then when I heard that sentence because that thing was driving me nuts! I was either jumping up at my coat trying to chew it or the kid was chasing it around the apartment trying to rearrange the furniture so that he could see him. So I had a problem hiding my joy at this piece of news and then she preceeds to tell me "I didn't mean too... I was walking through the kitchen and I heard a crunch and figured I stepped on some chips... then I looked down and saw the blood and other ooze" Haha! But apparently she is having problems explaining to her son what happened and instead of telling him that the gerbal has died she told him that the gerbal was sick and she is taking him to the hamster doctor where he might need to stay for a couple of days. Now this kid is 6 and is old enough in my mind to be introduced to death. I mean he already has when his dad's good friend died so the gerbal should be a piece of cake just omit the part about his mom stepping on it. But nooo... the mom appears to be chicken.
So then the mom went to work and everything was fine but immediately once she got home the kid runs to her and asks how his gerbal is doing. She tells him that the doctor needs to keep him for a few days and the kid replies with "But I miss him..." I couldn't keep a straight face so I left the room as I hear the mom try and explain that the doctor is taking care of him and all that stuff. When she calmed him she came into the room I was in and I asked about what she is going to tell him in two days when the gerbal doesn't come back and she isn't sure. But he won't forget because autistic kids don't forget ANYTHING! Haha... so now this could either be a happy ending to the stupid gerbal torment... or she is going to feel so guilty that she killed the gerbal that she is going to buy an identical one and let it roam free again... she would too. :/
So I know that I have made mention to this already in here but let me tell you that I absolutely love my group! We went out to Upstate Medical Center today to browse their library. This was Matt's idea and the rest of us were rather spectically because you can get anything Upstate has through the UC library it just takes about a week to two weeks for processing but the trip was definetly amusing and while it didn't produce alot of research it definetly bonded us as a group which is important since we are stuck with each other for the next year and a half.
Now this library is for Med students and I have always gotten the impression that Med students are stressed out college students who really don't have a whole lot of time for fun but that isn't what I saw. Me and Sam were happily working away on one of the computers doing research when I look over to see the guy next to us playing some type of Dungean and Dragon type cartoon game on the internet... the guy across from him was playing an air guitar in the middle of the library... Interesting site. So me and Sam chuckled about this but was for the most part able to concentrate on our work. Then the wanna-a-be band member starts telling the wierd guy what he is you-tubing... which includes Yoda and Wierd Al. This was almost too much for us but we were able to carry on researching. Next thing I know Sam is repeatedly saying "What is on his finger, what is on his finger" So curiosity overtakes me and I look over and he has this metal thing on his hand which is really decorated and does allow for his finger to still move and on the end of it, it had some type of a claw thing which he was typing with. Now this was WAY too much and we both started dying laughing.... We wanted to get a picture of it but had no way to take his picture with my phone and not be noticed and the claw looked rather dangerous so we decided it was time to rejoin the rest of the group and leave the table of wierdo's.
After we finished our researching away from the crazy people we pile back into the car... 5 of us in this time vehicle of Matt's and head back to Utica. Now we are all starving and share some interesting converstations as we drive back to Utica. We decide that we need to stop and get some food before heading back to our class at three so we decide to go to Uno's. Now this was just hilarous as Matt was doing impressions of various people in our class and we were just having a ball. My favorite was when the waiter had to number us so that we could have seperate checks and Sam asked to be the last number since you save the best for last and he said that "no Matt is the best" and then immediately follows with "I'm not gay!" It was amusing. When we left there Matt was driving and you know those Liberty tax places with those people who dress up as the statue of liberty? Well there was one at the end of the road and Matt not being from here has never seen one before so he replies with "Do you guys see the dancing statue of liberty or is it just me?" He was completely freaked out by the whole situation.
Overall it was much more fun of a day then I had anticipated.
What's your musical horoscope? (Put your music player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.)
Why not give this a try... I should be doing homework but what the heck!
1. We've Got it Going On- Backstreet Boys (Backstreets Back)
2. Find Your Way Back- Michelle Branch (Hotel Paper)
3. I Can't Win- Default (One Thing Remains)
4. Girls & Boys- Good Charlotte (The Young and the Hopeless)
5. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays- N'Sync (Home for Christmas)
6. Falls on Me- Fuel
7. Complicated- Avril Lavinge (Let Go)
8. Slipped Away- Avril Lavinge (Under the Skin)
9. Kiss Me at Midnight- N'Sync (Home for Christmas)
10. Someday- Nickelback (The Long Road)
Now that is one crappy display of my music taste because I only listen to 4 of those 10 songs haha... I'm just too lazy to delete them. I mainly listen to Lifehouse right now because my love for them has turned into an obession... oh well :)
Are you watching the Super Bowl today? Who are you watching it with, and which team do you want to win?
No I am not watching it... I hate football the rest of the season so I really don't see how I should enjoy the Superbowl. I don't get people who do watch it even though they don't watch or even follow football any other time. It makes no sense to me. I am however, hoping the Patroits win so they can be undefeated just because it is cool.
So I just got home from my weekend getaway to New Jersey with George, Jules (who lives there) and
Vanderwood. Overall, it was a really fun weekend and I really didn't want to leave there to come back to new york. I see now why Jules is having such a hard time deciding where to live when she graduates in May. First of all as soon as your cross into New Jersey (while it lacks Welcome signs) you know you are in a different state when you see these gas prices...(too the right) my favorite part of the trip as well. When you get into Jersey a ways the price goes down to $2.79 so needless to say we filled up once we got there because we needed it and then at the border again because it was cheap. You also could tell you were in Jersey and out of New York because the sun appeared and the tempertures were around 48 degrees for the weekend. And I saw grass!!! I was rather exciting. But anyways, we got to Jule's parents house where we were staying for the evening and unloaded our stuff and then had some dinner and relaxation before heading out to Newark for the New Jersey Devils Game. Now Newark is really close to the city as we kept seeing signs for the JFK Turnpike (or something to that nature) and the Holland Tunnel which brings you right there. You could also see the city from across the water which I was most excited about but it was foggy so I was unable to get a picture. Jule's did point out the light on top of the empire state building though.
Now driving in Jersey is unreal. We have always wondered why Jules is such a ...well... scary driver but we learned why this weekend. We let Jule's drive from her house to Newark for the game because of the "Jersey driving" as we call it and because there are alot of lane changes and quick turns and all the fun stuff that makes it really hard when you don't know where you are going. Early we learned that Jule's refers to Jersey driving as "strategic" driving because we were trying to pull out of a gas station and there were no openings so you do need to cut people off to get out. Well anyways, on the way to Newark I learned that people in Jersey are nuts! Now in NY we have the occasional three lane roads where the right lane is for slow traffic and the left lanes are for faster cars but not in Jersey. Any lane goes and ever driver will cut in and out of each lane going 80 during the course of the trip. and if you don't go 80 you are a hazard to the road which is scary. They also merge on to traffic from both sides of the road and perform what Jule's calls the "Jersey Swerve" where you cut around someone really quickly and then cut them off again... alot of that going on. Basically it is just nuts. We were also rather amused by all of the road signs used to constantly remind them to slow down...You have the spped limit posted every mile it seems whether it changes or not. Then you have these every mile as well "Bridges freeze before road surfaces"... and then my favorite "Give us a slow down... Brake" Haha. There are also rumple strips around the exit ramps to some of the interstates reminding them that the corner is sharp and they need to slow down. We saw the brake sign while we were on back roads as well.
The game itself was pretty good. We got there and like most pro games I'm guessing they search you with those hand held metal detectors. Well you take out your keys, phones and cameras and they run the detector around your pockets and then let you enter. It went off on George and he pulled out his big pocket knife with a respose of "Probably can't have this can I?" The guy did find humor in the situation when George told him that he was a country boy but needless to say he took the knife and we didn't get it back. We hard decent seats right behind one of the nets but the seats were so steap that you didn't have a problem seeing over the people in front of you. During one of the intermissions they played music chairs with blow up chairs on the ice which was hilarous. I have a video of that but I haven't uploaded my camera yet for those pictures so maybe if I don't get bogged down with homework I can post that. But anyways... the Devils were playing the Los Angeles Kings and NJ won so that was pretty cool. Apparently though, NJ has a huge rivialary going on with the NY Rangers since NYC is so close to Newark. During NJ, Ranger games the fans are about equal between the two teams so it is a good game. Anyways, at the game we went to against LA you would hear this whistle start going and at the end of it the crowd would chant "Rangers Suck" even though that wasn't who they were playing. This happened multiple times which was rather amusing... Jules told me that it occurs at every home game the devils have regardless of who they are playing.
After the game we headed back to Jule's house where she asked George to borrow his knife to open a DVD (cruel reminder of what he had lost haha) and we went to sleep. In the morning George and I woke up like are usual early selfs and decided to do some exploring. Jule's and Vanderwood rarely wake up before noon so we figured we had some time to kill so we set out on our own (with Vanderwood's GPS in the glovebox for when we got lost). We were mainly looking for a car wash since it was so springlike there and my car was covered in dirt and salt. We drove around for about an hour in one direction on 94S so we didn't get lost and we drove to a town called Newton (but no relation to Fig Newtons). There we wandered around Walmart for a bit because it was open and then we noticed that no one in Jersey has an old beat up car... they have some pretty bad houses but no one has a old car. Jules later informed me that there aren't even any used car dealers in Jersey because everyone keeps buying them new... interesting. But anyways... George and I went sightseeing and made it to Blairsville were we went through the town...or township and turned a corner to see a sign for NYC.... we decided at that point it was time to turn around. Apparently whatever direction you go in you end up in NYC. We really weren't close to NYC but the sign was enough to scare us into turning around. It was a fun adventure but we realized that the majority of Jersey has nothing to offer tourists... and they also don't appreciate you driving the speed limit since none of them do.
The rest of the trip was pretty standard. I did learn some interesting tips about New Jersey though... it is illegal to pump your own gas. Every gas station is a full service but not labeled so we got out to pump our gas and the guy thought we were nuts. Next I learned that they have alot of funny names... like townships and boro's for names of places and a town called Mawhah.... I want to live there. They also have ALOT of cops but still drive like idiots... apparently though the cops hide in the same places so the drivers know where to slow down... again stratigic driving. They have weird speedlimits... they don't have a 55mph but they have a 50mph. They double speeding tickets in a 65mph zone... again another reminder to slow down! Banks are open for 2hours on sundays... random, and there aren't any national branches like HSBC and Bank of America. Once you cross back into NY everyone, regardless of if they are doing the speed limit or not, seem to be moving really slow compared to back in Jersey. And then immediatly after you cross back into NY the gas returns to $3.30 a gal, the sun disappears, the temperture drops 10 degrees and the snow appears again. *sigh* to be home...
