But that’s neither here nor there. So much has happened over the last week or so and I realized that I haven’t updated you out there so much on my school (which is not overly difficult, but that drive 4 days a week is killer!) or work (well that there just gets me upset) or engagement plans (don’t circle any dates on your planner just yet) or movies (don’t see THERE WILL BE BLOOD – trust me on this one) or, of course, the SUNS (you thought I forgot, huh?). Well all that is coming in the following paragraphs in all of its non-chronological goodness. I do hope you enjoy as always!
And away we go. . .
- So I’ll begin I suppose with the news that you all heard and immediately thought of me after: the SUNS, my beloved team, traded 4-time All-Star and SUNS-lifer Shawn Marion (we drafted him) along with our back-up left bench. . . I mean point guard. . . Marcus Banks (don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out!) to the Miami Heat for veteran center Shaquille O’Neal. I’ll let that simmer for a second. . . Ok, so now that I’ve begun to boil, here’s what I’m thinking about the whole thing. I am extremely skeptical. In fact, when I initially heard that we were even discussing such a trade, I got upset and claimed that I would cry if we made the trade out of anger and frustration. Shaq is old. Shaq is slow. Shaq is the anti-Sun! Why would we take on this giant (literally and figuratively) contract – 2 more years at $20 million each – for an aging big man that has a questionable amount of gas left in the tank?
The reason that I was not as worried as some was because I knew it would never happen. First year General Manager Steve Kerr would not begin his career as a man in charge of a team with a trade that made this little sense, right?
Wrong.
We made the trade and now this is a fact:
But I’m coming around. I’ll admit I was upset that first day. I felt that we had permanently given up a chance of winning a championship during the Age of Nash. But after Shaq’s press conference where he was introduced as a SUN
I began to feel different and now I am border-line excited. Not only will Shaq improve Amare Stoudemire as a player (he will actually benefit the most out of everyone) because he provides Amare the ability to leave the paint without fear of no one in there to rebound. Shaq himself called his time as a Sun as the “Amare Stoudemire Project” so I’m ready for it to begin. We’ll see. As a fan, I’m an eternal optimist, even amongst skepticism (of which, there is plenty), but I still feel we have a chance to do some damage once the playoffs begin. Only time will tell. . .
- The next logical place to go is work. Unfortunately, it is deathly slow at the MW. Our annual sale is over (not that was lucrative) and it is as slow as it has been for the last two months. Unfortunately, this job has not been as financially stable as promised. I say “promised” because it was practically shoved down my throat that I would be completely comfortable once I began to get rolling. However, in a severe twist of fate, I have not had a pay check that exceeded the amount I would be making at the FL in the last two months. That is just plain frustrating and there are no other words to describe it. It’s not the fault of the people who recruited me – it’s supposed to be busier than this. But the amount of people that walk through our doors on any given day is miniscule and a good percentage of those people are extremely cheap, making it that much more difficult to sell enough to make any money at all. You see, the better the sale, the better my commission. So when Joe Nosuit comes in and just buys a $250 suit with nothing else, I make about $7.50. Wow, thanks. Now everything is wonderful!
It’s just really difficult. I was optimistic that this was the type of job that I could have for several years as I move through college. And with what they “promised” me, it was not even an issue. But now it is. And I’m about 2-3 more puny checks away from e-mailing my District Manager (who recruited me) that something needs to change. Unfortunately again, I can’t make more per hour, since every Wardrobe Consultant makes the same. It’s all about my sales. And I’m not having any. . . So, again, that’s nothing but frustration and it leaves me sitting at work, typing away at a blog, describing my frustration. Kinda makes it more frustrating. . .
- Now school. My classes are pretty all over the place. My Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday classes start at 1620 and go til 1850 while my Wednesday class is from 1800 to 2045. I have one class each day. So I drive about two hours each day; about 110 miles round-trip. Times four. That’s a good almost 450 miles a week plus my in-town driving to work and such and I easily top 500 miles a week. I’ll put it to you this way: my new car is about a month old. It already has 2000 miles on it. . . But the classes themselves are mostly interesting, at-times extremely boring, and altogether just a bridge to my future in teaching. I’m getting more and more excited about the prospect of teaching at a high school and coaching the basketball team. That’s a good picture J But here’s a quick recap of each of my classes and what they entail, along with the return of the Justin Teaching Grade Scale (JTGS) , where I evaluate my professor on the really important things. You know, like entertainment qualities.
Family and Consumer Sciences 230: Life Development (Monday)
Taught by Professor Rigney-Hill, this class is a trip through the life of all of us, from conception to coffinization. It’s mostly lecture, with an emphasis on group activities and such, which never excites me, as I would usually prefer to just go to class, do my thing, and get on my way home. And this is even more obvious to me when I know no one in class and I don’t meet anyone in the first couple of weeks that is necessarily worth making them “single serving friend,” to steal a line from FIGHT CLUB. But it’s ok. The teacher is nice and I think she has made a pretty simple class that I should have no trouble getting an A in, but I could easily coast to a B if I chose that road instead (which I don’t plan on doing). She’s got a semi-strong New Jersey accent and is pleasant enough, even amongst all of the Power Point goodness. Overall, just an average class. JTGS: 5 out of 10
Family and Consumer Sciences 330: Child Development (Tuesday)
Taught by Professor Giordano, this class is all about the kids. Three classes in and we are just now on the actual childbirth process. Luckily in this one, there are three people that I could see myself chatting up throughout the semester. One girl named Casey I knew from a couple of my Journalism classes last semester so we started re-living those classes and stuff like that on the first day. I also met another girl named Denise who is pretty cool and actually from Lancaster, no less! So of course we have the evil commute to discuss among other things. The one thing about my three FCS classes is that I am one of only a handful of guys in each of them. So in this one, a guy and I started making life a little more enjoyable for ourselves amongst all of the class discussion about things like getting your weight down after having a baby, the types of foods that you crave during pregnancy and a phrase that I never thought I would ever hear: “Frankenstein Vagina.” For those who want to know what it means, it was in reference to a post-birth mother and the way that her husband might look at her. . . I stayed quiet and just doodled on my note paper! But our teacher is nice, young, and funny and she does make the class enjoyable, even though it’s not her specialty. Again, I could probably get an A, (and most likely will) but a B can be achieved with little to no effort on my part. Overall, it’s one of my better classes. JTGS: 7.5 out of 10
Sociology 452: Sociology of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People (Wednesday)
Here’s where the fun begins. Taught by Professor DeCrescenzo (spelling?) this class delves into the psyche of each of the communities listed above, as well as other similar types of individuals. No textbooks – only memoirs that have been written by members of these communities and the class time is taken up by discussion on the passages which we have to read each week going into class (on average about 75 pages – not a lot at all, especially since the memoirs are easier to read than text books). We are going to have guest speakers and we also have to lead a class discussion on any topic that we wish in relation, of course, to the topic of the class. Some might immediately ask why I would ever take a class such as this. That is actually the easiest of questions to answer. It would be naïve of Americans to believe that people with any of the above orientations have no effect on society and culture today. Having now been in the world of college for almost three years now, I can tell you that people identifying as gay or lesbian are quite common and quite influential. I have enjoyed many conversations with individuals like this and have learned a whole heck of a lot from them. And as far as I’m concerned, these are people. That may seem a bit obvious to some, but for others, I swear, it seems like anyone identifying as gay or lesbian are considered less than human. Again, until we discover that they are all chronic child molesters or are in fact robots, than they deserve the same respect as you want in return. Our teacher is brilliant, funny, and relatable, even to those of us in the class (I would say about half) who are straight. I look forward to the class each week and I’m excited to see my A go in the column at the end of the semester! JTGS: 9 out of 10
Family and Consumer Sciences 320: Family Resource Management (Thursday):
Taught by Professor Schlesinger, (again, I'm not sure about spelling - these teachers have difficult names!) this is my least favorite class. It's supposed to be about how to manage a family and the resources that comes with having one, I suppose. But instead, we have spent the first three weeks discussing, among other things, what values are. We are defining things that need not a definition, since we are all college students and not seven years-old. It's weird. Plus, her voice is literally grating to my ears. The only thing that gets me through the class is a former Desert Christian alumni, Hannah, who graduated in my class. Both her and her roommate are in the class and so we discuss how bored we are throughout the time we are there (which is the whole 2.5 hours - it's a doozy). It will be another easy B, but an almost assured A because of the simplicity with which the class is run. Overall, it will be a bit of a waste of time, but it will be an easy grade. JTGS: 3 out of 10.And that's really it for school. The drive is tough, but it works. It is something that has to be done and it will pay off eventually. I hope.
- On the movie front, I'm gonna make a couple quick recommendations and a couple "Stay Away" comments for some others. But quick is the optimum word. I promise. . .
GO SEE:
ONCE - the independent film from earlier this year that caught all the critics by surprise is just brilliant. A true musical, I don't need to say anything more than just do yourself a favor and go rent it. It's under 90 minutes long and if this gets you going, then you should absolutely go rent it immediately:
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN - I saw it again a couple weeks ago with my dad after we both completed the book and I tell you right now: this film is a damn-near masterpiece. The only issues I have with the movie are trivial and are mostly regarding the way the book is brought onto the screen, but overall, it is a perfect adaptation of an intensely strong novel. If you don't have to have hope at the end of a movie to enjoy it (I still love that you hate this movie, Heather!) then try to find it in your theater.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS:
THERE WILL BE BLOOD - My dad and I went to see this after we both thought it had the potential to be a GANGS OF NEW YORK-like film, seeing that Daniel Day-Lewis is in the starring role. A gritty, true historical tale, perhaps? How about a frustratingly tedious mishmash of confusion and absurdity instead. I'm sure it's art to many, and I can see how it is getting the accolades when it comes to cinematography and such, but I cannot see the quality that is supposedly so present throughout the movie. Sorry.
FOOL'S GOLD - No, I didn't see it. Just please don't go. Promise me. My Canadian friend Mike said it best.
- Beyond that, I don't have much more to recap right now. I'm working from 1100-1800 tomorrow so I'm planning on coming home and writing up my "Ass of the Week" then. So expect it up some time tomorrow night!
Thanks as always for reading and enjoy your weekend!!!
Until later,
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