teaching, movies, silliness

back to work this week, and about time too. i have a small group of only 6 students, and i am teaching them basics about data management, word, internet and perhaps a little excel; they are not taking any exams. so far things are going fine.

this is a short weekend, because i am attending a seminar tomorrow (sat) from 10 to 5, about using cartoons in english lessons. i look forward to speaking english for a few hours, and hopefully will come away with some useful ideas.

i managed to see two films on wednesday, "a good woman" (based on an oscar wilde play, lady windermere's fan) with helen hunt and scarlett johansson among others, and then "match point", woody allen's latest, this one also featuring scarlett johansson, alongside jonathan rhys-meyers and emily mortimer (whom i recognised from her minor part in "notting hill" where she played that perfect girl introduced to the hugh grant character by matchmaking friends). good stuff. i liked the twist near the end.

have not seen much of the australian open due to the time difference - they are ten hours ahead of us, so most of it is on tv during the night and until about lunchtime, just when i cannot watch. carlos moya went out in the first round, james blake lost in the third. rachael is doing her annual sebastien-cheerleading in melbourne and making me jealous with her emails!

i am slowly starting to write again. i feel like i often do before poems are coming; it's like words are buzzing around my brain, bumping into one another, sparking associations and short lines, but i am not really able to catch them and write them down yet. soon, i hope. no news re submissions, and i will have to inquire about a few next week.

i received dave ruslander's book "voices in my head" but have not had time to read much yet. but i do like what i read so far. picked up my copy of szymborska's "view with a grain of sand" today to reread a few poems. she is a wonderful poet. i'm reading "the shipping news" and finding passages very poetic.

song of the day: tremble (goes the night) by the walkabouts. i am getting into them more and more.

and here's something i came across, something fun. do follow the links, and do try it out yourself.

ten top trivia trips about michaela gabriel
oh right, old cleo, she never could get over the fact that i was more popular with the romans ... but i did take that particular quirk as a compliment.
re #3 ... ah yes, and it bloody hurt too!
re #10 and i had every reason to be doing that, believe me. no idea how to treat a lady, i tell you, that hades and his buddy charon!

ten top trivia tips about michi
i LOVE #4, #6 and #9! :) and i'll leave you wondering whether they're true ...

ten top trivia tips about george w bush
ah well ...
re #1 i wish he did!
re #2 i guess so ...
re #4 sad but i think that's actually true.
re #5 just goes to show, eh? and
re #6 i wonder what they are using him for! ;)