Last Weekend's Conference

I was in Pasadena, CA, last weekend for an ESL-teaching conference. It was much better than the one I attended in Sacramento last year. That conference dealt with too much political theater. I like sessions that tell me what works in the classroom, why it works, and how to do it. I got a lot of that, indeed.

I also won in the raffle--four things, including a DVD set of MRS. DOUBTFIRE and a DVD teaching tool for it in the classroom and a nice book on grammar from Cambridge UP. It's good to be a winner.

A good conference motivates its participants, and when I returned to the classroom on Monday, I felt tired but energized to teach my beginning ESL class about the past tense.

iPod Essentials #68: "Digging Your Scene"--The Blow Monkeys

Another 80's gem from a one-hit wonder. The pop song is catchy and brings back many memories of the semester between my last year in college and before I returned to school for my master's degree. I felt a void, but a hopeful one. And hope is something we all need during these troubled times.

My New Laptop

First, I will never call laptops "notebooks." It's a silly name for them. Laptop, the term stays.

I spent some of my tax refund on a new laptop since my old one was starting to act strangly, freezing and corrupting files.

It's a nice Dell Inspiron 1545, complete with webcam, Photoshop, Premiere Elements, and lots of memory. Yesterday I had wireless service installed at my house, and boy, I should have done it years ago. I can take my laptop all over the house and still have Internet service. Instead of my computer chair, I can sit on the couch and surf or e-mail as much as I want.

Ahhh, technology. Now, if I could get a computer that cleans houses...

iPod Essentials #67: "The Ghost in You"--Psychedelic Furs

Yes, I'm still on an 80's kick. The times were simpler than they are now. I maintain that this song deals with gaining personal strength, something we all need. Richard Butler's vocals haunt the song and give it depth to its synthesized beat.

I remember hearing this tune for the first time while doing an aerobics videos. It got me through the challenging workout; I visualized myself in the future, feeling strong and confident.

"Ashes to Ashes"--BBC America's Great New Show

If you are a crime drama and nostalgia fan, you have to be watching this show! It features a modern-day female British detective who is shot and transported back to July 1981. As she struggles to stay alive and return to her life and her daughter, she works cases and fights an attraction to her sexist chief-inspector boss. Alex is a tough but strong and sympathetic character.

And if you're an 80's nostalgia buff, like I am, then you will love the attitude, fashions, and music featured throughout the show. The music operates as a Greek chorus and works very well. In fact, I've downloaded a few forgetten gems to my iPod.

P.S. There's an endearing creepy clown. Nice homage to the great Bowie video of the same name.

iPod Essentials #66: "Ashes to Ashes"--David Bowie

In honor of the great BBC America show of the same name. (Love that clown!)

One thing about early Bowie music (pre-1982, before he went commercial), it was spacey and out there and experimental. He sung freely about confusion, alienation, and to some, drug use. Check out You Tube for the some of his great videos.