Hip Old Lady

  Today, a 19 year old boy made my day, but not the way that you're imagining. 

  There's nothing like going back to college to make you feel old and out of touch. I find this to be especially true in my gen-ed classes at Palomar, where I feel I am surrounded by unlined faces of kids just out of high school. They are usually trying to look bored and cool, with haircuts and clothes I don't understand: their hair is so giant it seems to be leaping off their head, while their clothes cling to their bodies.

  I'm in a speech class with a boyfriend/girlfriend pair of these hipster kids, and even though I've got to be almost a decade older than they are, I'm always sort of hoping that I'm cool enough that they won't notice how old I am. Today, I walked into the classroom, with my giant backpack advertising my nerdiness, and the hipster boy asked me where I got my jeans.  I hesitated for a moment, thinking it might be a trap...was I wearing bell bottoms, or jeans so high-waisted they gave me a "mom butt"? 

  "At the Levi's store in downtown San Diego," I replied suspiciously.

  "I've been looking everywhere for those skinny Levi's," he told me, smiling. "I see the straight-legged ones everywhere, but it's hard to find the skinny ones."

  "Yeah," I answered lamely. "The Levi's store is pretty awesome."

  So, I spent the rest of the day, strutting around in my skinny jeans, feeling young and stylish. Now I'm considering a pointy haircut and some dark eye makeup. But my boyfriend just scoffed, "since when do hipsters have pointy haircuts?" He says I'm describing goths! I guess I'll just stick to the subculture I know: Nerd.

How I Accidentally Signed Up for Acting Class

  Recently, I met with an advisor who noticed that I had a lot of English credits, even though I'm not an English major. This is convenient, since I would like to teach English/Language Arts. However, NCLB says I need a few more credits than I've already earned, plus a drama and speech class...sigh...

  So, I set out to meet the requirements and signed up for some extra classes this semester, including speech, and a class that was listed as "Theatre and Social Justice."  From the description in Palomar's catalog, I gathered that this particular theatre class would be a lecture class, and I wouldn't have to attempt to act, as I have NO experience in the theatre.  Unfortunately, I was mistaken: "Theatre and Social Justice" is also cross-listed as "Intensive Actor Training." You heard right: INTENSE training! I learned this when I arrived in class today.  As I looked around the room at the drama nerds, I wondered whether I was up to the intensity of this challenge? And would anyone in this class care that I had no acting experience? The instructor said he didn't, and that was good enough for me, though he might live to regret his decision to let me in the class.

  Our first acting exercise today was to create a montage in a small group. The montage was to consist of five mini-scenes (I'm sure the theatre people call them something fancier), each which would convey the feeling of personal loss to the audience. The only actors were the other two in our small group, and the only props available were what we had in the room.

  Everyone else seemed to get right to work, drawing storyboards and telling their fellow theatre-dork classmates where to stand and what to do. I watched them boss each other around while I struggled with the idea of conveying a meaningful, personal emotion with little or no dialogue and two flamboyant "actors". Finally, I decided to tell the story of Fluffy.

  Fluffy was a blue parakeet with black "trim" who lived at my grandma's house.  I was about six years old, and decided I that Fluffy needed a bath.  So, I set up a bird bath in the back yard, and brought Fluffy out. It was summertime, and I assumed that Fluffy would be grateful and delighted to splash in the cool birdbath.  However, as we walked outside, and I tried to put Fluffy in her bath, she made a run for it!!! She flew up and over the trees, and I never saw her again, though my grandma assured me that Fluffy was living happily in the wild.

  I had one actor portray Fluffy, and one portray my young, innocent self. The guy playing fluffy was at least 6 feet tall, and the guy playing me was bald and had a goatee.  Still, they did a wonderful job, and it was fun to watch the tall guy pretending to be a bird and peck bird seed out of the bald guy's palm.  

   I was a little concerned, however, that the audience sat quietly for most of the montages, but actually laughed at mine.  Perhaps I should have cast the shorter, bald guy as Fluffy, though I thought he played a wonderful six-year-old-Beth. Perhaps I should have followed other's examples, and created a montage about the death of a loved one, or a failed relationship.

  Then, as I was leaving class, one of my fellow "Intense Actors" approached me, and said, "Your story about the bird just broke my heart." I chose to take this as a compliment, but was it really?.  

Into Letter--Do We Post This Here?

   After reading some other blogs created by people in our class, I decided that maybe I was supposed to post my intro letter here, instead of just submitting it on Web CT.  Way to follow instructions, eh?

    I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I attended Highland High School, which is the same school that Beavis and Butthead attended (seriously, Mike Judge is also from Albuquerque). After making a half-assed effort at completing my gen-eds at the University of New Mexico, I moved to Columbia, Missouri.  In Columbia, I attended Stephens College and majored in Equestrian Business Management.  This eventually led me to California, where I currently work training horses and teaching people to ride them in Valley Center. 

    My experience with technology has been minimal.  It mostly goes like this: I try to tell the computer to do something, the computer gets confused, and I get Yosemite-Sam-style-angry.  I've spent more time avoiding technology than I have trying to cooperate with it, until I met the Mac, which is slowly changing my negative opinion of computers.  According to my computer, I use Microsoft Office 2004--is this vintage?

    The missions statement at CSUSM did not directly influence my decision to attend CSUSM.  However, the more time I spend at school, the more I find that the instructors really model the idea that "thoughtful educators" can "collaboratively reform public education."  I truly believe that individual teachers can have a far-reaching impact in their student's lives, their schools and the entire educational system when they share a passion for education.

My Almost-Makeover

I have a friend who is a hairdresser.  She's pretty awesome, but definitely has a more edgy style than I do.  Today, we planned to color my hair, and things got a little out of control, in my opinion.  However, my friend and my 22 year-old sister both share the perspective that my hair is "really hip."  Still, I'm not sure that I can keep up with my own hair, now that it is so cool.  It's like I went on "What Not to Wear," but Stacey, Clinton and Carmindy were out sick, so only my hair got a makeover.