My friend Shirley is compiling a recipe book for our community theater group and says she’s short on salads.  Since I have to type this recipe into my computer to email it to her, thought I’d share it with you on my blog…  just in time for strawberries to go out of season.  Oh well, enjoy anyway!

Spinach and Strawberry Salad
makes 4 servings

1 – 5 or 7 oz. package of baby spinach or baby romaine
2 cups sliced strawberries
½ cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

Combine greens and strawberries, add balsamic vinaigrette dressing and toss gently to evenly coat.  Sprinkle each serving with cheese and nuts.  Here is a recipe to make your own balsamic vinaigrette dressing from scratch:

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
salt and black pepper

Whisk vinegar and olive oil in small bowl.  Add basil and season with salt and pepper.

Well…. not really chaos (unless you include Thor…. just kidding, but I was never 8-years-old). Opening weekend of The Nerd went very well. There were huge laughs, audiences for each of the three shows (although today’s performance was questionable… at 5pm Saturday, there were only 6-7 reservations of which 4 were my family members). The only major thing that I encountered was the absence of real deviled eggs.. sorry Carol.) Also to Chris for the absence… I would find it difficult to eat a hard-boiled egg and have that dry texture in my mouth. And the pop will be waiting for you at intermission from Thursday night onward (put it in my script: POP @ INTERMISSION 4 CHRIS!!!)

Let’s see… Saturday night the cast was to have an 80’s Night Party at the lounge across from the theatre. After about 10 minutes inside, a group of us decided to be a bunch of “godless party poopers” and held our own gathering elsewhere. The highlight of the party had to be the The Wonderful World of Disney Trivia in which 2 of the competitors knew more about the world of Disney than I and our ever so gracious hosts formed a team (thinking that two heads are better than one).  But all in all a truly successful opening… coming from someone who sees absolutely nothing of what is happening on stage.

Since my friend C is in the play called The Nerd (hopefully still is, considering his medical troubles as of late) I thought I would share something I embarrassingly have enjoyed watching on the internet.  Embarrassing because it’s not exactly family friendly.  In fact, if you have young ones around, do not watch any of these shows.  In fact, don’t even go to the link I am going to provide.  You have been warned.  What does this have to do with The Nerd?  Well, the one I write about is James Rolfe, otherwise known as the angry video game nerd.  He unfortunately reminds me a little about myself playing video games sometimes.  I can get really angry after playing a tough game for awhile.  This is probably one of the reasons I don’t play them much anymore, and when I do they are often easy ones made for kids.  Anyway, Rolfe plays really bad video games on purpose just to show us all how bad they are, and to have a little fun with it.  Unfortunately, his reviews are laced with profanity during the “angry” moments (just an act I’m sure) which is why I only grudgingly admit to watching them.  Besides reminding me a little bit about myself, I am entertained watching video games which is probably why I continue to watch them.  I download video game movies from World of Longplays, Speed Demos Archive, Recorded Amiga Games, TAS Videos, and more.  This form of voyeurism, watching others play games, comes from when I was a young teen.  I enjoyed arcades a little too much.  When I would run out of money, I would stay and just watch others play.  As far as I remember, I didn’t get much strategy tips from this, just enjoyment.

Well, back to AVGN.  Rolfe often has themes for the reviews he does.  When a popular movie comes out, he will do a series of games based on that movie.  Yep, he has recently done Indiana Jones and Batman games.  He also does some holiday themes, like halloween and Christmas.  From a technical standpoint, they are really pretty good.  I have watched nearly all of them (I skipped just one I think- a certain type of Atari game theme which makes his page pretty much not safe for family…).  This guy is quite popular too as he has had some knock-off reviewers.  One did I think just one video calling himself the Christian Video Game Nerd.  He just mimiced one of Rolfe’s videos substituting “nicer” words for profanity in places, but the “anger” is still there.  There is also a Happy Video Game Nerd, who reviews some of the better games.  He stole the AVGN theme song, substituting his own lyrics.  Anyway, if you haven’t done a search yet by now, the Angry Video Game Nerd site is at… Hmm.  I talked of one page, but it seems the page has moved.  The reviews are now categorized by year so they are not all family unsafe, but still be careful.  The site is at Cinemassacre.com.

Another review favorite of mine is a bit more family friendly.  Someone took it on himself to review all Nintendo (NES) games from day one of its Japanese release in the early eighties.  He calls his series Chrontendo (click for link).  He as also just started chronicling Sega’s SMS system from the same time.  I am in the process of downloading episode two of ChronSega right now.  If you have broadband, do yourself a favor and download the larger DIVX videos.  The quality is much better than the MP4 streams.

Anyway, that’s it for now for this look into the psyche of this substitute teacher.  I wonder if I should get a job with Comcast.  Still bad pay, but If I work eight hours daily I will start with what I am getting as a sub, plus I will have benefits and plenty of opportunity for overtime pay too…

And only day this week, partly thanks to my connection issues which are unfortunately still ongoing.  I had no internet at all for yesterday afternoon and evening, while today it’s been intermittent.  I wonder if the signal is now too powerful if that’s possible?  I mean, it was going through a cable that was chewed or worn to the center wire, so it’s possible that in the past they have had to increase it to compensate (the cable didn’t get that way overnight after all) and now that it’s fixed, the signal may be too strong.  Just throwing a guess out which is probably completely off.  The tech who was here was unable to measure it as his portable reader needed recharging.  Since the connection was up and I was getting nice speeds (around 19000kbps on speakeasy.net), he just let it go.

Still in special ed on Friday, but not due to meetings this time.  Apparently the teacher had a bad case of bronchitis on Thursday so he wisely opted to take Friday off.  It was actually a rather easy day.  Four classes (well, three really- one was a typical two-period-long language arts class) were team teaching, meaning that a sub just takes the role of a teaching assistant while the other teacher takes over the teaching part.  The other two classes were resource periods.  I just gave them a topic to write about in their journals and once finished they just worked on homework.  There was also a teaching assistant in these classes (a sub too, by the way) so as you can imagine it was a pretty light day.  Next Thursday and Friday I have a job lined up for ELL in another district.  This is a teacher I refused to work for last year or most of the year before.  I am hoping things have changed since most of the students from that problem class have gone on to high school.  I will let you know how it goes, hopefully with other stories throughout the week.

If you’ve seen friends you might remember the episode when Joey, a often unemployed and ridiculously bad actor, gets a review that reads “Not believable as a human being.”…  Well, today I am the received such acclaim.

I am in a local production of the Nerd and play the title character or Rick Steadman; the Nerd.

With such choice phrases used as “over the top” and “upstages the others” and “hard to believe he is a real person” it is indeed time to ask myself the question…  Am I as bad as Joey?

The good news is the show itself got a good review and so did some of my VERY WELL DESERVING castmates!!  🙂  🙂

Oh well.  I can only learn for next time.  I have always found myself a little better at dramatic roles; not a character actor am I.  For now I will have to live with “not being believable as a human being” — or at least “hard to believe he is a real person”.

Tonight was the first night that I have ever been the stage manager for any show. There are times when I really find it to be fun; but the idea of not being able to be part of either the on-stage activity or in the audience makes it difficult. I do enjoy the comradery you feel by being able to assist in getting the performers props, cues, etc or the challenge of making sure an 8-year old knows when to say his lines backstage or that he is not (unintentionally, of course) making a nuisance of himself; but in all honesty, I really think Alex is doing a fine job both with his character and learning what to do and (more importantly) what not to do when he is off-stage. A year ago he and two of my nieces were in School House Rock with me. The main difference was that the children’s chorus was on-stage the entire time. I can’t imagine dealing with 30 kids (some of whom were no older than 7) backstage.

The actress playing Titsy (or is it Tansy… so many names) payed me a huge compliment tonight by saying what a great backstage manager I am. Maybe with more experience I will come to enjoy it as much as I do being on-stage. But, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I am REAAAAALLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY antsy and NEEED to be on-stage. It has been almost 3 months. But this cast is such a ball to work with. One of my best friends plays the title role. Another good friend is producing. Yet another frequent party goer is assisting backstage. Of course, visiting with our resident groupie and whichever child happens to be with her at the time is cool, too. Our first time director is doing an awesome job. All the cast and crew has made the first of 7 performances highly enjoyable.

Following tonight’s opening, a bunch of frequent game nighters converged along with an infrequent groupie. While the guys were handily humbling our female counterparts, the telephone rang. I just had the strangest feeling that I knew whom it would be. I suppose I should have been a little bit more thoughtful by phoning ahead and telling Alex’s parents that we would be late, but there is next time… (shame on me).

Yet another email forward struck my fancy…  this one’s a personality test to determine which cartoon character you’re most like.  With 29 points, I am SpongeBob SquarePants, and my husband got 31 points, so he is also SpongeBob.  Not sure how truthful this is, but fun to take the little quiz.  I know, I should get a life…  but what about the person who sat and mapped out this whole personality test?
This is fun.
 
Everyone has a personality of a cartoon character. Have you ever asked yourself what cartoon character you most resemble?
A group of investigators got together and analyze the personalities of well known and modern cartoon characters. The information that was gathered was made into this test.
Answer all the questions (only 10) with what describes you best, add up all your points (which are next to the answer that you choose) at the end and look for your results.
Do not cheat by looking at the end of the e-mail before you are done .
Then forward this to all your friends (including the person who sent it to you) and change the subject of this message to what character is you.
1. Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
c) Painting in the park (5 pts)
d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
e) Going to the movies (3 pts.)
 
2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.)
b) Alternative (1 pt.)
c) Soft Rock (4 pts.)
d) Country (5 pts )
e)Pop (3 pts.)
 
3. What type of movies do you prefer?
a) Comedy (2 pts.)
b) Horror (1 pt.)
c) Musical (3 pts.)
d) Romance (4 pts.)
e) Documentary (5 pts.)
 
4. Which of these occupations would you choose if you only could pick one?
a) Waiter (4 pts.)
b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
c) Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
e) Cashier (1 pt.)
 
5. What do you do with your spare time?
a) Exercise (5 pts.)
b) Read (4 pts.)
c) Watch television (2 pts.)
d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
e) Sleep (3 pts.)
 
6. Which one of the following colors do you like best?
a) Yellow (1 pt.)
b) White (5 pts.)
c) Sky Blue (3 pts)
d) Dark Blue(2 pts.)
e) Red (4 pts.)
 
7. What do you prefer to eat?
a) Snow (3 pts.)
b) Pizza (2 pts.)
c) Sushi (1 pt.)
d) Pasta (4 pts.)
e) Salad (5 pts.)
 
8. What is your favorite holiday ?
a) Halloween (1 pt.)
b) Christmas (3 pts.)
c) New Year’s (2 pts.)
d) Valentine’s Day(4 pts.)
e) Thanksgiving (5 pts.)
 
9. If you could go to one of these places, which would it be?
a) Paris (4 pts.)
b) Spain (5 pts.)
c) Las Vegas (1 pt.)
d) Hawaii (4 pts.)
e) Hollywood (3 pts)
 
10. Which of the following people would you prefer to spend time with?
a) Someone smart (5 pts.)
b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
c) Someone who likes to Party (1 pt.)
d) Someone who always has fun (3 pts.)
e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts.)
 
 
Now add up your points and find the answer you have been waiting for! Put your cartoon character’s name in the subject line and forward it to your friends and back to the person that sent this to you.
 
 
 
(10-16 points) You are Garfield:
You are very comfortable, easy going , and you definitely know how to have fun but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know what you are doing and you are always in control of your life. Others may not see things as you do, but that doesn’t mean that you always have to do what is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or others.
(17-23 points) You are Snoopy:
You are fun; you are very cool and popular. You always know what’s in and you’re never out of style, you are good at knowing how to satisfy everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few days more than once, but you always come home with the family values that you learned. Being married and having children are important to you, but only after you have had your share of fun times.
(24-28 points) You are Elmo:
You have lots of friends and are popular, always willing to give advice and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic and always see the bright side of things. Some good advice: try not to be too much of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts in your life.
(29-35 points) You are Sponge Bob Square Pants. You are the classic person everyone loves. You are the best friend that anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never cause harm to anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a journey, it’s funny and calm for the most part. Stay away from traitors and jealous people and you will be stress free.
(36-43 points) You are Charlie Brown:
You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very serious about all relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few birthdays. Don’t let your passion confuse you with reality.
(44-50 points ) You are Dexter:
You are smart and definitely a thinker. Every situation is fronted with a plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family principles.You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad situation when it comes. Try to do less over thinking every once in a while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity.
 
Now don’t spoil it! Have some fun! Change the subject of the e-mail to the name of your cartoon character and send it on.

With all the storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean lately, I’ve been especially interested in hurricanes.  I’ve lived a lot of places, but since I’ve only resided in the midwest, I’ve never witnessed a hurricane firsthand.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  There was a hurricane a couple of years ago (I forgot its name unfortunately) that ventured up to our corner of Ohio.  By the time it got here, it had been over land for quite some time which had reduced it to nothing but rain, lots of rain.  It was really no different than any other rain we’ve gotten, except that I had been watching the radar, and I knew that it had been a hurricane in a past life – that made it special to me; I really enjoyed it.

Anyway, last night, the baby decided to wake up right as we were going to bed, so I was stuck watching tv while I fed him.  And it’s strange, because I really used to enjoy tv, but that’s changed for me recently.  Maybe it’s because we are so busy all the time so I got used to not watching tv…  I don’t know what it is.  All I know is that I used to be the kind of person who could be happy watching anything on tv –  I could find something that would entertain me at any time of the day or night.  Not so much anymore.  I still like tv, and I love watching my favorite shows (like The Office – almost time for new episodes!!!), but “junk tv” as I call it (reality shows, documentaries, etc.) isn’t so appealing anymore.  My point in detailing all of this is to explain how interesting I found some random documentary I caught last night on the History Channel while I was feeding my son.

The documentary was about giant snakes, specifically pythons, and how they are starting to become a threat to people in Florida.  What I found most fascinating about this is the fact that these snakes are not indigenous to the United States, but in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, many pet stores and homes that had kept these animals as pets were destroyed.  Baby pythons were released into the wild and because of Florida’s tropical climate, especially in the Everglades, these animals now have a wild population that is thriving.  On the show, they had pictures of one snake that had swallowed an adult human whole.  They weren’t sure if the pictures were real or a hoax, and unfortunatley I never found out because my son let me go to bed before the show was over.  They also had pictures of a snake that had swallowed a 6-foot-long alligator whole, but it had ruptured the snake, causing his death.  In the words of a snake expert on the show, “snakes can digest anything” – it’s just that the alligator probably clawed the snake open.  But you could see the outline of the alligator in the snake – it looked like an alligator colored like a snake – it was bizarre.

I may have to find this documentary again so I can watch it when I’m not half asleep.  But it’s really interesting to me that because of a hurricane, Florida now has another fearsome reptile lurking in the Everglades.  I’m sure that was the last thing on people’s minds after Hurricane Andrew wreaked its havoc 16 years ago – I bet this scenario didn’t cross anyone’s mind.  Who knows what unforseen side effects we’ll see from Hurricane Katrina in a couple of decades?  One can only imagine… 

For anyone out there who has been following our plight through my husband’s medical issues, we have good news!  Here is a copy of the email I sent to our friends and family:

Hi everyone,
Chris had his medical tests today and they went well.  They didn’t find anything horrible – just some inflammation in the stomach and esophagus.  The dr prescribed some medication that will hopefully take his pain away soon.  They did take a sample to send for biopsy looking for any cell abnormality, but we won’t find anything out from that for about 2 weeks; they don’t expect that they will find anything abnormal.  Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers and support while we were going through this – we really appreciate it and love all of you.  We can’t ask for better friends or family!  Thank you so much!
Love,
Lisa