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Crap, now my secret is out! I hate my life; the only way I have any social interaction is on this message board. Please don’t kick me out, because then I’d have to go back to talking to my cats, guinea pigs, and Danny Elfman shrine on the wall…I like them, I really do, it’s just that they don’t talk back! Yes, I am a bitter, lonely, single teacher who has nothing better to do than to listen to Elfman soundtracks and throw flowers petals while preaching love and tolerance to people I’ve never actually met. *Sob* What am I going to do now?!?! God, I’m off to attempt to hang myself with a rope of Twizzlers for the second time – and I can’t even do that right…
*Grins* I had to put that in there for my own amusement. Alrighty, I get the point: I’ll stay out of the “arguments” with my annoyingly pacifist views. Yes, even my friends (yes, I do have them, amazingly enough…I’ve employed them for so long that they’ve even reduced their rates!) get tired of my “love everyone” soapbox schtick while throwing flower petals in the air. (No, I don’t really throw flower petals in the air, just well…nothing, really…because I’m too poor to waste flowers like that). That said, let the arguing begin
Yes, Sante Erika has given you all permission to fight like cats and dogs. Have at it, kids!Dobbs – I”m not single (and no, I’m not referring to my small rodent farm that lives in my apartment). But, hey baby, you’re the first person I’ll call when Eric leaves town next week…
The Twizzler suicide attempt didn’t work…I got a little hungry
Heh…cmon Erika, life can’t be THAT bad. Then again, reading your laundry list of companions…it’s all subjective, i suppose. It’s actually rather nice to see a lady — don’t take that the wrong way — who enjoys his music. In my town, there are none ,so it just pleases me to see it. And as far as social interaction is concerned, don’t feel too bad — you’re not the only one! I deal with office politics and little “high school cliques” all day long, filled with BS galore — to the point of insanity and a distrust in everyone. Being antisocial used to be a choice, until now…So there you go. It’s nice to make friends in here…At least the people in here have something distinctly in common, which for some people, can also be pretty valuable, given the context.
Dobbs-
Hm, I take it you’re involved in a high school in some capacity? Teaching? As for myself, as you may have noticed from other posts, I’m a high school literature/composition teacher (how I wish the administration would let me implement my Russian Studies program – it was my emphasis in college – but this IS Nebraska, where they still think “the Russians are going to pulverize us in our sleep tonight” – had to borrow a line from Danny there). Sometimes, I think my colleagues are just as closed-minded as my students, which isn’t saying much! I don’t hang out with very many females, as I guess I’m just not “happy” enough for them. I pride myself on calling everything just as I see it, so I guess that hasn’t made me too terribly popular with the rest of the staff at my place of employment. Truthfully, I”ve always gotten along much better with men – hey, at least you guys are honest when it comes to your opinions. I”m taking some graduate courses, and have found a small niche with fellow students and profs in there, so that is nice as well. I guess I’ve just been sort of disillusioned with the whole going-to-college-for-a-Bachelor’s experience…it just wasn’t my bag.
High school cliques – oh god, if I could change one thing in my school, that would be it. Truthfully, I’d love to see all the geeks – as I was in high school – just get up the courage to verbally berate some of those twerps! I shouldn’t be this bitter, considering that some of those twerps are my students, but the “syrupy niceness” of the cheerleaders is just too much…I literally have to go unwind after 7th period, because the entire class is filled with students like those who made my high school experience a living hell, and I still have a lot of issues that I’ve been trying to work on.
But really, I do like my job…if only for those few who do get excited about reading Nabokov, or writing stories. That’s what matters, and that’s why I’m sticking with it, at least until I’m well into my doctoral dissertation.
No women where you live are interested in Elfman’s music?! Hm…not even Boingo? Well…I guess I could see that happening. I mean, I”m the only person I know of that 1) enjoys film scores – not just Danny’s and 2) has even heard of Boingo, much less is fervently praying to the gods for a Boingo reunion tour
Yes, like you, I also thought that being antisocial was a choice. However, when all my good friends from college moved to Europe and Brazil, I realized that in order to find good people here, I’d have to put in a lot more effort than I was willing to do. Consequently, I hang out with a lot of my former professors. Weirdness en masse
Later…PS: I decided to try bungee cords this time…at least they won’t be edible
Erika:
now THATS hardcore. Bungee cords and licorice…where do you come up with this stuff? Hahahah.Actually, believe it or not, these high schoolesque shenanigans happen in the office of a government contracted agency, no less! Imagine that! Business casual they take far past the limit, and whatever you see on shows like Melrose Place or Ally McBeal you can pretty much assume in my scenario. It goes against the grain of office-grounded politics…and over time it can get grating and can lead to serious issues if left unchecked or taken out of context, but i stay away from that as best i can.
Nah, what i do is certainly not as varied and colorful as what you do over in Nebraska…that’s for SURE. At this point i’d find it rather enlightening to be hanging around professors, instead of 25 year olds who just came out of college and act like they rule the planet, no pun intended…Youd be surprised at all the hypocrisy. I’ve NEVER in my 10 years working around town, seen ANYTHING as horrendous as what i see at my job…But that’s life, and i’m not a class warrior, so i just deal with it, you know?
I live in MIAMI, Erika..Everyone here listens to Salsa and Hip Hop and Rap…Nebraska, to me, seems like high heaven in comparison to this place, since i havent fit in since i’ve been here for the last 15 years. If anything, Elfman’s stuff helps me cope with life…gives me more inspiration than i can handle, and i’m sure lots of other people can relate..even you! Thanks for the write back, by the by. Your’e cool in my book, lady.Tuesday was my last day in high school. While everybody else was crying and exchanging addresses, I was dancing the mambo! To hell with high school.
Randy – I dearly hope, for your sake, that you found someone – teacher, student, librarian, janitor, whomever – to connect with in high school. I spent the entirety of my high school career with nobody. Yeah, what I did on my Friday nights and weekends? Stayed home. That’s about it. Not to bore you with pathetic details, but if high school sucked, leave it behind. College, working, wherever you go after this, forget about the crap and move on – you’ll enjoy it a lot more…I know I did!
Dobbs – hardcore, huh? Yeah, it’s all stuff that I come up with in my little apartment…you oughta see some of the stuff I’ve got packed in here. I think the freakiest thing is probably the old ripped up dentist’s chair – novocaine, anyone?! hahaha
Nebraska ain’t all it’s cracked up to be…and that’s not much! Nope, we’ve got a lot of livestock here – I live close to a llama farm, now that’s hardcore! No, the main stations here are country, country, and more country – and the more toned-down version of hip hop and rap. Ooh…25 year olds wanting to rule the planet – I dearly hope that’ll never happen! Trust me, I hate Nebraska. I’m a definite freak in a land of staunch conformists…I don’t know about Miami, but living with a bunch of closed-minded, fundamentalist cowboys is almost too much for me to handle. But then, like you said, there’s always Elfman Cheers…
I’m twenty-five, single, $15,000 dollars in debt (thanks to U.D.!), have a stupid job I can’t stand, and make $200 bucks a week. You do the Math (you know I suck at numbers!), whose life sucks more now? Huh? Huh? Yeah, that’s what I thought!
Of course, I am assuming you actually like kids, on account of you being a teacher and all (although I technically could be a teacher, if I got certified and such–but I’d just rather sit in the firey depths of hell sticking needles in my eyes, if you get what I mean!) And if you don’t like kids, then I feel for ya. Oh yes, I feel for you so incredibly much!
I hated high school as well–hell, who didn’t? But I’ve basically adapted to this format in life: f— them. No one likes what you do, think, or say, screw ’em, you know? And I’ve found that I’m much happier now.
Destitute, but happy!
Dead –
Correction: I like any kid over the age of 10. They must be able to string words together into a coherent sentence for me to be interested in talking to them. Simply put, I’m not a toddler-and-baby-person.
Yes, “F*** them” is a good attitude when in high school – or out of high school, like myself. Basically, I”m doing it for the nerds, like myself, so that they have a slightly better high school experience than I did. Yes, I am the “geek counselor” of the school, and that’s okay. These kids need SOMEONE they can trust. There are lots of really stupid teachers – most of my colleagues – (think all those that most of us hated in high school) that are only doing it to relive their HS glory daze and to BE FRIENDS with their students. How messed up is that?! Nope, not me. I’m there to actually get kids to learn something. Lots of kids don’t like to take my classes, because I’m notoriously a difficult grader…not because I want to see them writhe in agony when they get their papers back, but because I want to see that they’ve 1) learned the material and 2) put TIME and EFFORT into their work – two values that are vastly underrated in today’s society. A lot of these kids don’t go to college, so I’m trying to pack as much knowledge in their heads as is humanly possible during high school. Yeah, at times I can be a real hard-ass, but it is not for my own personal gratification. If the kids think I actually LIKE grading 200+ 10-page essays centering on “Lolita” on the weekends, they’ve got another thing coming
I’m the proverbial eccentric teacher: spiky hair, nose piercing, and a few small, though still visible, tattoos – not to mention being fanatical about film scores and Russian lit…which doesn’t make for too many friends in a school run by uber-conservatives. (Yes, the parents would like me to “tone down” my appearance into a more “traditional feminine look,” so as to not give their kids the impression that I”m anything but the typical white-bread American).
It’s the last day of school, and the group of jocks and cheerleaders have TAKEN my Film Score Monthly autographed by Elfman out of my desk. Fortunately for me, that one was a photocopy – I keep the real thing in my apartment. They also took my entire collection of film scores and shattered the CDs, strewing them about the floor with the words “Die you-can-probably-guess-which-expletive” scrawled on the board. Also, fortunately for me, those CDs were all copies – again, the real articles are in my apartment. Today, I hate my job; most days, though, it’s fairly decent. And yes, I still like teenagers in general – just the little snotheads like those who destroyed my personal property that I have issues with
Holy hell…that’s pretty screwed up. If it was me, i’d a kicked ass..but then again, those are copies. You must have some real enemies there…
Okay–so you actually like your job. Then it’s official: my life sucks more!
Actually, if I could stand to be around any kid (their age really doesn’t matter to me) for more than five seconds, it wouldn’t be bad to be a teacher. But, five seconds seems to be my all-time record, so I know teaching’s not for me!
I’m glad someone likes their job, though–you know someone’s gotta do it!
And I’d just like to mention I had some pretty snazzy teachers along the way (mostly in college, but a few in high school, and a couple before then)–granted I had some really horrible teachers, too, but that just made the good ones all the more appreciated, you know?
Hi Erika!! I live in Milan, Italy…Idon’t like italy and Italian people..I’d like to live in north europe : denmark , netherland…there , peolpe are very open-mind…you can do all you wnnt, and people don’t mind… you can go in the park , smoking joints and see old woman with dogs or children don’t mind to you, or maybe smiling…
I’ don’t know many russian author, but i love : Master and Margherita. I knew it with an elfman interview.Do you know Jiddu Krishnamurti? he’s an indian master..dead in the 80’s.. his book have changed my life.. it’s a sort of taoism but more free. with no rules…
he was the favourite writer (orator) of bruce lee..
good luck !
Students vandalised a teacher’s personal property on school grounds, scrawled threatening obscenities on a school blackboard, and were not disciplined for their misdeeds?! Either act is probably illegal as well as contrary to school regulations; did you call the police? (“Johnny was bad, even as a lad, everybody could tell…”)
BTW/OT – maybe not OT if the topic is High School Hell – I recommend the TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, which is about as Burtonesque/Elfmanesque as anything can get with neither Danny nor Tim involved in its production.
Machs Pfennig-
Oh, trust me, they were disciplined all right. Through a very small amount of detective work, I found out the culprits. (A small posse of jocks and cheerleaders…they’re the darlings of most teachers here…they’re the kind of kids that are syrupy-nice to teachers, expecting to get an A for brown-nosing, and then when they don’t, turn around and vandalize whatever they can get their hands on). Ah, the joys of grading!
I actually didn’t bother reporting my findings to the superintendent, because he would’ve lent even less support than my fellow teachers. I went straight to the students’ parents, and asked the kids to not bother writing me an apology letter, but instead, to each perform 60 hours of community service this summer, on pain of being reported to the superintendent. Then, each week, the students involved, and I, meet for coffee to discuss what they’re getting out of their community service experience.
I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not. They just seem to be very angry, still, but what teenager isn’t?
-E
PS: Buffy’s great! Nice Boingo reference, btw…
Machs Pfennig-
Oh, trust me, they were disciplined all right. Through a very small amount of detective work, I found out the culprits. (A small posse of jocks and cheerleaders…they’re the darlings of most teachers here…they’re the kind of kids that are syrupy-nice to teachers, expecting to get an A for brown-nosing, and then when they don’t, turn around and vandalize whatever they can get their hands on). Ah, the joys of grading!
I actually didn’t bother reporting my findings to the superintendent, because he would’ve lent even less support than my fellow teachers. I went straight to the students’ parents, and asked the kids to not bother writing me an apology letter, but instead, to each perform 60 hours of community service this summer, on pain of being reported to the superintendent. Then, each week, the students involved, and I, meet for coffee to discuss what they’re getting out of their community service experience.
I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not. They just seem to be very angry, still, but what teenager isn’t?
-E
PS: Buffy’s great! Nice Boingo reference, btw…
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