absolutwillie

Month: November 2008

  • the blessings keep rolling in!

    hold on to your hats! i’m flyin’ high on some good vibrations today :0)

    first i hear that i’m one of my student’s idol – and then i get a marie antoinette: a real person- a real award!

    thank you so much to Rod (kickin tina) for this surprise :0)
    what do you do when your hero hands you an award like this?

    smile and spread the love, baby.

    here are the rules for the award:

    1. please put the logo on your blog
    2. place a link to the person from whom you received the award (kickin tina)
    3. nominate at least 7 or more blogs
    4. put the links of those blogs on your blog
    5. leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

    i browse, read, enjoy and devour quite a number of blogs on a daily basis. choosing the top 7 isn’t easy and some of my choices are 100% biased – but i’d like to tip my hat to the following stars in my blogosphere:

    1) Life and Times of a Gay Man in Idaho
    2) Feisty Female
    3) Bipolar to Bipolar
    4) Jockohomo Datapanik
    5) PinkSheep’s spot
    6) The Mangina Monologues
    7) Defying Despondency

    (also – if you haven’t already – do yourself a favor and check out kickin tina)

  • i can be a hero, baby

    every week, i have to write in the communication books of my students at kindergarten. it’s quite a bit of work (we’re talking 4 classes here) – and it often feels like pouring water into a hole in the ground. my comments have to be translated into Chinese so the parents can understand it (which means i can’t use difficult words or elaborate grammar – who knows what that will translate to?), and i never get any feedback.

    make that past tense – i never got any feedback.

    i was surprised by the following little note:


    Loosely, I’m told this translates to:

    “Hi Willie:
    Hunter recently told me that he would like to go back to USA with Willie when he grows up. I used the chance to encourage him to study English harder for it. Willie, you are his idol. Thanks for teaching so well!”

    color me all warm an fuzzy :0)

    *note: Hunter is barely 3 years old. taken into consideration that i’m pale, tall, hairy and that i speak English – in his world, where else would I be from than the US?

  • drivel

    it’s been quite a while since i’ve attempted to write, well, anything. in fact – ive been staring at the blinking cursor now for… a heck, there i go again.

    blink
    blink
    blink
    blink

    i’m being over critical of what i write even before i think of writing it. it’s a nasty habit. one i only seem to excel at during winter. my personal “low tide” as it were. heck, i don’t know if that even makes sense. i probably shouldn’t care, right? this is, after all, my personal blog. so what if it all comes out horribly wrong?

    nah, that didn’t work. theres no conviction in that last sentence. i do care. and caring is a good thing – what with all the power in words and sentiments. caring is good. but for these last few weeks – it’s also been debilitating.

    still is, it seems. if it really is caring (or some form of concern) that is keeping the words hidden from me. am i scared of what i’ll say, if i do say something? there isn’t really anything that i feel a strong desire to comment on – so i should be safe. even the proposition 8 fiasco going down in the states leaves me cold. okay, maybe just a bit nippy – otherwise i wouldn’t have called it a fiasco, right?

    (note: i deleted and rewrote a follow-up sentence 5 times before deciding to just give up on it.)

    maybe it’s this cold i’m battling with? probably not – though it is a handy excuse.

    ugh… i need a hug.

  • Sights of Kaohsiung

    Kaohsiung city is one of my favorite cities in Taiwan. by grace and good fortune, it is also not that far from DongGang, where i live and work :0)

    it is safe to say that i pretty much love this city.

    imagine my great joy and surprise when i discovered the following video on MacMing’s page! treat yourself to a sneak peak at the wonder of KHH:

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viQqvnZFvKs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344]

  • MSNBC Keith Olbermann on Prop 8, Marriage and more!

  • new adventures in teaching II

    look at the jello men
    going wobble, wobble, wobble
    they’re in the kitchen now
    going gobble, gobble, gobble…


    i recently refilled my red marker – and overfilled it *grr*
    now, when my kids have to draw in their books – i encourage them by splattering red ink all over the white-board, and then (through adding and erasing) finding an image inside the chaos.

    probably not my best work ever – but these guys loved the new approach to the song ;0)

  • if only…

    from Geoff’s page:
     http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=int&vid=/video/us/2008/11/09/jaffey.wa.last.wish.komoEmbedded video from CNN Video

  • Counting Crows in my head

    Anna Begins

    My friend assures me its all or nothing
    I am not worried- I am not overly concerned
    My friend implores me for one time only,
    Make an exception. I am not not worried
    Wrap her up in a package of lies
    Send her off to a coconut island
    I am not worried – I am not overly concerned
    With the status of my emotions
    Oh, she says, were changing.
    But were always changing
    It does not bother me to say this isn’t love
    Because if you don’t want to talk about it then it isn’t love
    And I guess I’m going to have to live that
    But, I’m sure theres something in a shade of gray
    Or something in between
    And I can always change my name if thats what you mean
    My friend assures me its all or nothing`
    But I am not really worried
    I am not overly concerned
    You try to tell your self the things you try tell your self to make
    Yourself forget
    To make your self forget
    I am not worried
    If its love she said, then were gonna have to think about the
    Consequences
    She cant stop shaking and I can t stop touching her and…..
    This time when kindness falls like rain
    It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
    These seconds when I’m shaking leave me shuddering
    For days she says.
    And I’m not ready for this sort of thing
    But I’m not gonna break
    And I’m not going to worry about it anymore
    I’m not gonna bend. and I’m not gonna break and
    I’m not gonna worry about it anymore
    It seems like I should say as long as this is love…
    But its not all that easy so maybe I should just
    Snap her up in a butterfly net-
    Pin her down on a photograph album
    I am not worried
    Ive done this sort of thing before
    But then I start to think about the consequences
    Because I don’t get no sleep in a quiet room and…
    The time when kindness falls like rain
    It washes me away and Anna begins change my mind
    And every time she sneezes I believe its love
    And oh lord…. I’m not ready for this sort of thing
    She s talking in her sleep-it s keeping me awake
    And anna begins to toss and turn
    And every word is nonsense but I understand it and
    Oh lord. I m not ready for this sort of thing
    Her kindness bangs a gong
    Its moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
    It s chasing me away. she disappears, and oh lord I’m not ready for this sort of thing

  • Barack Roll

    http://youtube.com/v/65I0HNvTDH4

    we are a generation doomed to encounter Rick Astley around every corner… LOL

  • Life is a Cabaret!

    http://youtube.com/v/6e59iaroQZc

    this morning, especially for Geoff, a bit of Liza ;0)