Halloween party

Last night I went to a Halloween party a friend invited me to at his friends’ house. The furniture was moved out to make room for the stage in the living room where a live band played their own stuff and then covered Monster Mash.

The lead singer was a zombie.  I went as a math teacher. (I am a science teacher in real life, so this means I wore my own clothes with 3D glasses with the lenses popped out and the Real D logo Sharpied over. Also, I carried a meter stick.) There was a blonde kid in there with a homemade Ryan Gosling Drive scorpion jacket, and a girl dressed as the girl in Ghost World that isn’t Scarlett Johansson.

There was a keg and punch with dry ice in it, vegan cookies and jello that looked like a brain, and a bonfire in the back. The playlist that was going on inside between bands included “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” and Kanye’s “Monster.”

It was the coolest party I have ever been to.

[reid]

@GOOD question!

kaybeesays kelly baker

@reidagan !! RT @GOOD: Q: If you could have a beer with one superhero, who would it be and why? #GOODasks with @buzzfeed

4 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Great question from kb on Twitter this morning, but one FAR too complex to answer in a tweet.

Here are my lightning-round answers to this question, my thoughts as they are coming!

Everyone would expect me to say Batman here. But as cool as Batman is, he’s a little antisocial and not a drinker.  Next your mind goes to Wolverine, but he’s even less social than Bats and drinks with EVERYBODY he meets so it wouldn’t be that special.

As cool as having a beer with Black Widow or Black Canary or Huntress or Power Girl or Starfire or Catwoman or Zatanna or hey even Batwoman would be just for the social aspect, it would be just for the social aspect.

I would have to say I’d want to hang out with a human hero, like Batman, but if there was a happy Batman.  Oh yeah, this guy!:

Robin all grown up!

Dick Grayson as Nightwing would definitely be the coolest superhero to grab a beer with.  He’s young, cool, HAS BEEN BATMAN, and knows every girl I mentioned above who’s ever been to Gotham.  And he’s DEFINITELY getting the best costume update in the upcoming DC relaunch.

[reid]

I DO NOT TALK

I wrote this rap today over 11 sticky notes while my students were testing.  Been listening to Kanye’s AMAZING newest album a lot lately, as well as the Drake songs that come up on my Kid Cudi Pandora station, and most recently, over the past couple days, Childish Gambino’s FREAKS AND GEEKS video on Vimeo.  So that’s my musical inspiration.  Oh and I guess I’m copying Weezy too with these puns.

 

I’m in a death race– no winners– comin’ round the track

I’m in a neck brace– no mirrors– I ain’t lookin’ back

Because you know that I was chosen, nothin’ matters anymore

I see the finish line CLEARLY, taste the win, hear monsters roar

Feel the heat on my back, smell the beast’s hot breath

But I’m Buffy– vampire slayin’– roaring louder, make ‘em deaf

There ain’t no Edward/Jacob here, everybody’s TEAM REID

Living in these different worlds– Elliot, E.T.

I don’t wanna be different, I just know that I am

Stupid risks- should be home- but I think I’m Priam.

Walking enemy camps for the thrill, not for honor

Actin’ reckless in this war. Not a king, HURT LOCKER.

Yeah I want a son too, I wanna live this life

I want a daughter- make it two- and I guess I want a wife

But that’s all too far, that’s the future– John Connor

Until then I’m Terminating, ‘ready know that I’m a goner.

 

[reid]

Family Reunion!

Yesterday I got to spend the day in Bertram with all my Montgomery family!  Levi moved his family back to Texas after several years in Montana/Colorado and it was his daughter Brenn’a birthday, I got to meet Cole’s fiancee Ashlyn for the first time, and Lance and Kayla were there too!  I got there too late for the Oatmeal Festival but had a great unofficial family reunion with everybody!

me and my cousins and you and your cousins

In age order L-R: Levi, Brooke, Lance, Cole, Me

Spouses, fiancee, and children getting in place...

...and the parents!

we're getting too old for this trick

no homo

with grandparents

and Agan family!

Oh yeah, and check out this funny Oklahoma Christian marketing video, starring Cole Montgomery himself!  http://vimeo.com/14673363 Well done! 

[reid]

Stars (Canadian band)

Literally every time this band comes up on my Pandora channel (http://bit.ly/czi4zZ) I think, “Wow, this is so good, who is this?” and I look and it is Stars.  I even saw them live once (this past June in Houston), yet with all this I still don’t own an album of theirs.  So here I am at the brink, ready to make a commitment and have them on demand for the first time but I need feedback as to which album to buy:

The Five Ghosts by Stars http://amzn.com/B003REX5VC

• don’t know any of these songs but @patricia_lynn_ tweeted that “Wasted Daylight” is good
• 11 tracks for $5
• 2010

Set Yourself On Fire by Stars http://amzn.com/B000QZQYG8

• I know I love “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” from Pandora
• 13 tracks for $8
• 2005

Heart by Stars http://amzn.com/B000QZW5UW

• I know I love “Elevator Love Letter” from Pandora
• 11 tracks for $8
• 2003

What do you think? Any Stars fans out there who can pick a favorite? Am I missing an even better option?

(And for the record, I’m not at all trying to act like I found this band (they’ve been around), I think that credit goes to @melia1015 back in the day.)

Good to be back! Leave a comment or tweet at me!

[reid]

Monday Morning Man vs. Cephalopod Moment

Spotted this coloring book in the checkout line at the grocery store last week and hastily snapped an iPhone photo to share with you, dear readers.

Had a few moments to flip through its contents before it was my turn to pay, and man if I had kids this would have definitely been among my purchases.  Despite some ludicrous plot points (it’s Aquaman who summons the League to help him fight the octopus?  WHAT CAN HE DO IF NOT FIGHT ONE OCTOPUS?), there were some awesomely simple pages that redeemed the whole thing.  Example: John Stewart flying through the air with a caption that read something like “Green Lantern can create anything he imagines with his power ring”.  That’s basics, people, and I’m glad our children can learn these things from an early age.  I’ll be teaching this stuff right along with “The cow says, ‘MOO!’”

My favorite page was the typical Batman-cloaking-himself-with-his-cape-and-looking-grim-and-brooding-on-top-of-a-skyscraper shot that worked even though it was this Batman with the action-figure limbs (they all look like they’re wearing Hulk Hands™) and smiling(!) face.  It read “Batman is also called the Dark Knight.”  BOOM. Fun and educational.  Great job DC SUPER FRIENDS!

[reid]

I like girls, I promise

So, I was just laying in bed thinking about Twilight (you know, typical Monday night) and I think I realized something that could blow the lid off this whole Edward-is-so-noble-for-not-wanting-to-turn-Bella thing.  I haven’t read the books, so I know I’m not getting the full picture, but I don’t think Edward cares about Bella’s soul at all, no matter how much he claims that as his motive.  (Theologically I have had a problem with that since I saw New Moon, because I don’t see why Jesus’ grace couldn’t extend to a repentant sufferer of vampirism… but that’s another discussion.  Vampire scripture reference, anybody? Is it in the Apocrypha?)

Edward himself has admitted that Bella’s scent is like “his own personal brand of heroin”.  I’m no expert on vampire biology, but I always assumed that scent was tied to her blood, because when she bleeds every vampire within a hundred yards loses it like so many sharks around chum.  Therefore, were Edward to drain her, she would lose any and all of her appeal.  As sites like this (thanks, Lance) point out, he just can’t actually be interested in her.

Edward Cullen, ladies and gentlemen, is.  a.  JUNKIE.  There, I said it.  He is not willing to make Bella a vampire TO SAVE HER LIFE just because he doesn’t want to, nay, CAN’T, give up her scent aka the smack.

Furthermore, I think the only reason he proposes at the end of New Moon (oh, umm spoiler alert?) is because now he wants to turn his ADDICTION into some sick sexual fetish butapparentlyhe’sreligiousforsomereason (and believes he has no soul or suicide will damn him or something) so he can’t have sex outside of marriage.

I can’t believe I didn’t see this when I was watching selected scenes (read: the ones with Taylor Lautner) on my bootleg copy the other day.  I feel so used.

Eclipse June 30th y’all!

so I’ve been reading this 13-year-old girl’s diary

Dear Kitty,

The last week of January I got to substitute a couple days for an English teacher whose two different classes were reading either Othello and The Diary of a Young Girl.  I never read Anne Frank’s book when I was a student so I ended up taking a copy  home and was reading it in my free time- which ended abruptly (though pleasantly) on Wednesday!

It is crazy to think how quickly life changes. This time last week I was worried about getting enough hours at work because of a decision my principal made that would limit the tutors’ subbing opportunities, and now I’m more worried about having time to do anything besides working at the school!  Let me fill you in on all that has changed in the last few days.

I found out on Tuesday that one of our English teachers was leaving to take a job with better hours at another school and that her last day would be Thursday.  On Wednesday I mentioned to my assistant principal that I had minored in English at school, and by the time I left at noon that day (because my 20 hours of tutoring for the week were up) I had looked over my transcript with the principal and discovered that I had 9 upper-level credit hours in English, 3 short of being considered “highly qualified” by the state to teach ELA.  The other way to be highly qualified is to pass a TExES test, which I didn’t think would be a problem at all, so I went home and began to research the quickest way to get the skills to take my first real teaching position.

After talking to my ACP (alternative certification program) I found out the next TExES test isn’t until April 17th- bad news for me.  While the science test I originally passed was offered online at a number of sites and I only had to wait a week, the ELA test is only administered on paper and offered every few months.

I called my principal and he said he could justify having me as a long-term sub if I was working to get qualified, but not beyond mid-March, so this test would be too late.  I began to explore option #2 and found an online college course that ends on March 15th.  Doesn’t get more “mid-March” than that.  After getting the approval from my principal, ACP counselor, and admissions counselor about the late enrollment, I pulled the trigger on Thursday and registered for ENG 492 American Lit since 1860, which starts on Tuesday.  Friday I co-subbed in my new class and come Monday I will be in there teaching by myself (with a flash drive full of lesson plans the previous teacher left behind- SO grateful for that!)

What a blessing!  I have gone from being a Science certified teacher working as a Math tutor and substitute to a long-term sub teaching English 3 and 4, and, God-willing, the teacher of record by the end of the semester.  I’m also officially a college student again, but it’s University of Phoenix online so I’m not counting that.  Life is about to get extremely busy- teaching from 7am-5pm (6:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and doing my own schoolwork after all that… but I am excited.  Lord, give me the strength to succeed throughout this and actually teach these kids something!

Yours,

[reid]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Christmastime means many things to many people.  It is a time to reflect on the year past, a time to worship and look forward to the year coming, a time to eat good food and catch up with friends and family.  It is all these things to my family, and even more to me and my dad: it is a time to sit in a freezing plywood box in the Texas panhandle and shoot as many animals as we can.

Our annual hunting trip is something I always look forward to. It was the way I started my winter break after finals for four years of college, and played more than a small part in my decision to pursue a career in education- I need that time out in nature every year or I get a little anxious.

We roll out tomorrow at 7 AM in order to make it to Shamrock in time to hunt tomorrow evening.  The hunting is always fun, whether it is deer or quail or turkey or coyote or bobcat (this year we expect to see wild hogs), but it is the people we encounter that really make the memories.  There is the generous ex-military man interested in wildlife management who uses terms like “fish condominiums” and “quality table-fare”, and the kind old alcoholic who missed about 3 years of fishing trips because of a little run-in with the law who just showed back up one spring morning by the boat trailers as if he were never gone.  The biggest character we get to spend time with, however, is my dad’s cousin at whose home we stay when we are in Wheeler County.  I present to you, unedited and in its entirety, an email my dad got from him the last time I was home that I had him forward to me.  I almost forgot about it until now that we are preparing to trek northward in the morning.  Almost.  Can’t even say it seems that out of the ordinary once you know the dude.

From: B.J. Clay
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 2:51 PM
To: John Agan; Jim Agan
Subject: accident

Just thought i would let ya`ll know I was transferring my rifle from my pickup to another vehicle and it went off and i shot the end of my big toe off.They operated on it Friday afternoon.I am sore and will be off my feet for a couple of weeks but should be OK but with a shorter toe.My new boots will fit better now.JAY

Wish us luck!

[reid]

“Batman” as an adjective.

I am a sucker for a good team up comic, and Jim Starlin and Mike Mignola’s 1988 space-opera Cosmic Odyssey is a great one.  Really.  Just finished it tonight and saw great character moments, awesome fights, and one of the best uses of the eclectic DC character roster I’ve ever witnessed. Mignola runs away with Starlin’s script, and I really like his character designs, from rotund Darkseid to tall, slender Starfire.  Also, has one of the coolest depictions of Superman’s heat vision I’ve come across:

Look how it is igniting the air around it as he destroys this doomsday device. Cool.

Also, since I am watching SNL while I write this, I should mention that I finally got around to buying and reading the Amazing Spider-Man one-shot The Short Halloween by Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Kevin Maguire in the last few months, and it is GREAT.  Hilarious dialogue and great story from first time writers and an old favorite artist.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go re-watch Hank teach Dean the Mystery Method because he is so Batman and then cry because there is only one more Venture Bros. episode left in this brilliant season.

Thank you.

[reid]