the life and times of Heather Miranda

I am going to Washington, D.C. for Fall break!!!!

Ben is helping out a couple of friends by doing ground crew on a skydiving demo for an NHRA race in Richmond Virginia. He was going to be flying out on 10/11/08, staying overnight then returning home on Sunday (10/12/08). 

We were talking about him being gone during my Fall Break and how disappointed I was.

THEN….

We realized DC is only 98 miles from Richmond, VA!!!!!! So, Ben’s plane ticket is free, and he’s getting paid, so we asked the guy to book 2 flights and use Ben’s pay to cover my ticket and he will pay the difference!!! So, we’re going to DC and pretty much only paying for hotel, gas and food! We will leave on the 11th and do the demo on the 12th and then have the 13th -16th to explore DC and go to the coast in VA. We will fly home on the 17th, just in time to go see =w= on the 18th!!!!

I have soooo many things I can’t wait to see, and take pictures of. Every time I think about going I literally jump up and down with 5-year-old excitement.

I just watched an hourlong TV show that if I remember right, was originally created for teen viewers. I used to watch it years ago. I only rediscovered it recently while Ben was on the river, I was bored, and the TV helped kill some time in between grading papers. All of the characters in the show are no longer in high school, but have moved on to other facets within the community and the school. ( you might have guessed the show by now… hint: it’s not on one of the 5 major networks) 

Tonight’s episode revolved around the death of one of the fictional teenage characters. The show is really well written and the cinematography is amazing. Ten minutes into the show I was balling. I always cry easily at movies and sad TV shows. I just assumed that’s why I was full on crying sitting here by myself on the couch. 

Then I realized it was something totally different. I realized I wasn’t crying for the fictional character on the show. I was crying for Nana and Dad, and all of the people I’ve loved who are dead. I was crying because any reference to death makes all of the grieving I’ve done boil right back up to the surface. 

So, now I’m going to put my headphones in my ears, listen to some Dylan, and try to heal all over again. 

There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.

                                                                             ~ George Eliot

 

I dream…

of weird things, people from my past, people from my present, people I’ve never met and places I’ve never been. 

my dreams have been so vivid and odd lately. and I only remember them for a short time after waking. sometimes I start where i left off days later. it’s like i’m reading a really weird book off and on when I have spare time. picking it up for 5 minutes at a time, or an hour here or there. I guess i might get another glimpse tonight! 

sweet dreams

You have to check these guys out. They are using their tough exterior to help animals, and crack down on the assholes who abuse them. Love it!

Here’s the slide show

and here’s the article from the NYTimes

this is sooooo what my life needs to be like in 10 years! But with more dogs!

Ever since the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan today at work, I can’t stop thinking about the movie Empire Records. I know, you’re probably thinking “stupid teen angst movie”, but the message at the heart of this movie is fighting for what you believe in. The parts of the movie that keep ringing in my head today are the ones where the characters say “Damn the man”. They are on a quest to save their independent record store from being taken over by a big conglomerate in a buy-out. In their case “the man”  is the conglomerate. In my case “the man” is the school district who is NOT making decisions based on WHAT SHOULD BE THE ONE GUIDING QUESTION: What is best for our students?

I am really getting to the point that I feel like I must stand up for what is right, or I’m just part of the problem. I can’t tackle this by myself, but I have to if I want to keep my job. It’s messy, and will be stressful, but I just can’t sit by and let it all go to hell. so……..

DAMN THE MAN!

My crusade begins tomorrow. 

I have never really explained the story of how Ben and I came to live with an amazing greyhound named Elliott. While playing around on flickr tonight, I searched ‘greyhound’ and came upon this image

http://www.flickr.com/photos/azgreyhoundrescue/2264988805/

 This is the newspaper article about the seizure of dogs from a Tucson kennel. This story is Elliott’s story. He is one of the approximately 25 dogs that were medically sound enough to be saved OUT OF 100!!

Here are the links to the online articles:

www.azstarnet.com/sn/related/83736

www.azstarnet.com/sn/metro/85554.php

Ben and I were with our other greyhound Mallory at an event put on by the rescue group we adopted her from ( www.fastdogs.org ). We heard them announce a sign-up sheet to foster 5 of the dogs(not all at once) from the Tucson kennel. It was an emergency call for help, and as much as Ben probably disapproved, he agreed we could sign up. A couple short weeks later, the group called and we were asked to come pick up Elliott, who was painfully shy. Debbie ,one of the 2 founders of the group, said she picked Elliott for us because Mallory was so social and friendly with people she would make a great friend and teacher for Elliott. She was so right.

It took Elliott days to trust that we were not going to hit him. It took him weeks to trust that we were not going to hit him as soon as he tried to eat his food. It took him months to let us pet him. Now he pushes past the other two dogs to get attention. I think we helped him heal. He smiles a lot now.

It took us seconds to fall in love with this amazing creature. Obviously, after about 2 days we decided we would keep him forever. After all of the amazing progress he has made over the past few years, I cannot imagine what life would be like had we not attended that event, and signed that form. And I don’t want to. 

YAY!

I downloaded my pre-ordered deluxe copy of weezer’s new album this morning before I went to a training for work.

I heard it was going to sound a lot more like their earlier stuff ie. Blue album and Pinkerton (my top faves).

AND IT DOES! or at least quite a few songs do. Plus, it’s not just Rivers singing on all the songs, which is pretty darn cool. I don’t have a favorite song yet, geez people I’ve only listened to the whole album twice today! 

In case you haven’t seen the video for their first single (Pork and Beans) here it is:

let me know what you think of the album!

Although I somehow lived through the last day of regular classes before finals, I did not do it without saying some bad words under my breath. However, this slam poem by Taylor Mali explains why I do what I do. 

I put some new stuff up on flickr. go ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skweekee/

here’s a glimpse of what you will find….