apple_pathways | Do I have it in me for a proper entry?

Do I have it in me for a proper entry?

Not quite, so here are some random entry-ideas that I couldn't quite flesh out into a coherent narrative:

Job-related

I never know what to say to parents who are unwilling to accept Bs from their children. Especially when the child is working their ass off to get that B.
An unofficial part of my job appears to be giving people the brush off over the phone. It isn't really surprising that the task often falls to me: Howard is bad at saying 'no', and Kathy is...crazy. I'm still trying to figure out how I can list this very important job skill on my resume.
It's May, which means that it's time for all the parents whose children are about to fail their math class to call us in a desperate attempt to save their child's grade. They had the entire year to fail, and you're giving us 4 weeks to fix it? Yeah, no pressure.

Family-related

Uncles are weird. (Or at least all of mine are...)
We had my only living grandparent, my father's mother, over on Sunday for a Mother's Day BBQ. Several members of my dad's family came to visit. My cousin Scott invited me to "shotgun" a beer with him. I used to change his diapers.

Gardening-related

I've been scouring the net for plans to build trellises for my pumpkins and melons. EXCITING!
This Sunday is Flower Day at Eastern Market in Detroit, so my mom and I will be going up Saturday. I ♥ Eastern Market, and I can't wait to see what fun herb varieties I can find this year.
Friday we'll be making a trip to Block's, a flower nursery with the cheapest prices and best selection on flats of annuals and vegetables. Again: I AM EXCITE!
I've spent the last few mornings weeding and getting the perennial beds cleaned up. God, I missed dirt!

Life-related

MUST PLAN GRADUATION BBQ FOR FRIEND! *slaps wrist* GET ON IT, AMY!
Bell X1 in June!
Also in June: Shakespeare in the Arb! They're doing 'A Winter's Tale'. I can't wait!
Still have no Meaningful Job. ARRGHGHHH! *fist shake of existential life-angst*

Ok. So. What's new with everybody else?

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I think a lot of parents assume that their children are cyborgs. Apparently (…apparently I didn't even do that on purpose someone shoot me) they haven't reasoned out that they would have had to have engineered some pretty complex AI for this to be possible.

Clearly you "took on/shouldered/undertook challenges in customer-facing capacities for which others were unqualified." Although I guess you probably shouldn't bash anybody in your résumé no matter how much they may deserve it.

I once brought a math grade up from a D+ to an A- in a semester, but that was, like, February to June. Fucking conic sections seriously. And I was self-motivated, with bonus inferiority complexes and lack of a life.

My cousin Scott invited me to "shotgun" a beer with him. I used to change his diapers.
I'm pretty sure we should just outlaw children growing up. Scares the living hell out of me, ngl.

Yaaaaaay for new gardening stuff! :D

…I thought "meaningful job" was an oxymoron. I should get with the times.

D+ to A- is awesome! Last year, I helped a student bring his Algebra II grade up from a D to a B+, but again, that was about 3 months of tutoring. I also helped another student not fail, but we're talking E to D in about 4 weeks.

I hate my resume. I've too damn many jobs in too damn many fields. Hospital, museum, math center, cash office, department store, daycare center, bus driver... Yeah, it's a weird-ass resume.

I'm pretty sure we should just outlaw children growing up.

SERIOUSLY! It freaks me out that all of my little cousins are now legal adults.

…I thought "meaningful job" was an oxymoron.

I'm pretty sure they're a myth, like unicorns and straight men who want to date me... :P

I knew I would be sacrificed to the "You could have been valedictorian" gods. Okay, no, I just refused to get anything less than an A in high school, back when I cared. XD

If you throw in "mortician," you have a perfect author's résumé, from what I've seen in back covers. Trufax!

I guess I shouldn't talk – I have a habit of freaking people out when I tell them I'm of the legal drinking age. XD But still, my baby sister is sixteen, omgwtf?!

You just need to be employed by a heterosexual unicorn as a professional World-Saver. I'm pretty sure it involves spreading fairy dust and skipping through meadows, although I'll have to check the job description and get back to you…

Oh, I've also been a camp counselor! And I spent one holiday season assembling artificial Christmas trees for a craft store...

Anyway.

OMG, you were SO MOTIVATED! I can't believe you got all As. I was lazy as fuck in high school. And for a good portion of college, too...

I can skip like a MOTHER F'ER! I am all over this job, as soon as there's an opening!

I am EAGERLY awaiting your "About the Author" blurb.

It was nice for getting into… well, actually, I didn't get into my top choice college anyway, so I guess it was SORT of nice for that. XD I did pretty well in college, but I should have done better, except that I am (a) lazy, (b) shitty at anything that has "MCB" in the name.

YOU AND I ARE GONNA BE FAIRY-DUST SPREADING PARTNERS. PINKY SWEAR.

OMG I DOUBLE PINKY SWEAR!!!! Oh Jeez, thank GOD! For a second there, I was worried about what I was going to do with the rest of my life! :P

I'm going to practice at home with glitter.

And probably get stabbed with a chef's cleaver, but I'll be PREPARED.

Yesterday was my birthday! Yaaay! Boyfriend did it up right: took me to a fancy restaurant and bought me beautiful earrings and expensive liquor.

Everything else new is just drama llamas.

HEEEEEYYYY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! That's super cool. :D Glad it was a lovely time.

:D Thank you, gorgeous. I meant to do a birthday "All my LJ friends rock" post, but scotch and cake put me into too much of a stupor to do anything last night.

(Also he got me shiny new icon space. I am really enjoying it!)

Aww now you're just making me blush.

In other news, where are you getting all your fantastic Season 5 Who icons? I don't have nearly enough Amy in my life.

I believe they're all credited; unless I made it, then there's no credit by it.

Whenever I go to the

doctorwho comm, I come away with about ten new icons. People post links to their icons there all the time!

I need to get or make some new Series 6 icons. I'm getting bored with my old ones! I have glasses!Rory and Canton, but I need some new Amy icons.

I will definitely have to watch that one... your fandom icons make me grin. Glasses!Rory especially. So awesome!

And thank you for the gift! My town wasn't as badly affected as some others but we did lose several local stores and homes, so it is especially appropriate because it helps out my area.

Amy as bumblebee = MAJOR WIN! Love it. ♥

You MUST watch Doctor Who! This season is a bit cracktastic, but that only makes it more delicious!

Things are scary right now! I'm going to have to make a bigger donation when I get paid. Glad to hear you're fairing fairly well!

You know, 'missing dirt' might be worthy of a card line. Could so see Hallmark picking up something with cute worms in dirt and catchy phrases that only gardening people would get. Uhm... like having your own card line leads to pay dirt. Actually I've been told pay is dirt cheap in that business so never mind. That's not a viable job either. Boo!

Parents who make their children feel like failures even when they're giving it their all, should not be allowed to parent. It's a god-awful position to be in when you're young, not to mention soul-destroying. Glad you're there for them.

We will not discuss how all my little cousins have babies, like their second and third child now and I feel ancient by comparison, insomuch, that I don't feel like I've aged and am playing pretend at this grownup game and wondering how come they all cottoned on to it and I haven't.

Edited 2011-05-11 05:37 (UTC)

I'm rather fond of "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt." Said to justify...eating it. (Or at least eating things which fall on the ground. For me, it's less of a "five second rule" and more of a "however long it takes me to locate the food and pick it back up" rule.)

These parents are STOO-PID. The little girl in question was getting Ds when she came to us, and is now getting mostly Bs and the occasional A. She just got a C on her last test--no major problems, she just couldn't quite get the hang of placing the decimal when multiplying decimal numbers. Her multiplication is awesome; all it will take is a little practice for her to get the hang of it. But her mother is OMG UPSET and she needs to spend the next week cramming for this test she has coming up.

The girl is 11. *rolls eyes* I told Emily not to worry, we'd do a little extra practice, and she'll be fine. Which she will.

I don't feel like I've aged and am playing pretend at this grownup game and wondering how come they all cottoned on to it and I haven't.

OMG, I know, right??? It still amazes me that I'm considered an adult. When people ask me if I'm married or have kids, I still have the same response I did when my parents white trash friends asked me that question at 18: "OMG no, are you kidding me??!?" But yeah...I have friends who are younger than I am who own houses, have kids...my friend Kelly (who is my age) has a 20 year-old stepson. WHAT? It's crazy.

Anyway. You seem rather adultish, but also fun and cool to me. :D Have fun in Cali with

tierfal!!! Throw some glitter at her for me. ;)

Parents are incapable of understanding that a C is average and nothing to be ashamed of. It's a fact of the universe. The idea that their kid is not cut out to be a rocket scientist is incomprehensible and fairly offensive, too. (This wouldn't be terrible if it lead to productively helping their kid instead of pushing them with no knowledge of what they're actually supposed to be achieving.)

What would qualify as meaningful? Do you want to save orphans, or work in a chocolate factory? Maybe save orphans in a chocolate factory? That would basically be ideal, huh?

The more I think about letter grades, the more it irritates me: especially when most of the "All A Students" seem to be the ones whose parents are willing to pay the most for the grades. And you're right: not every kid is exceptional and deserving of an A, and that is fine. Especially when the child is trying their hardest.

I'm just impressed that these kids try at all! I was a major slacker as a student.

'Meaningful' would be, at this moment, a job in my field. (Social Work.) I would love for it to be full time, and it would be aces if I could get medical insurance. But I'm not aiming too high!

Some sort of Wonka-esque orphan refuge would be ideal! I feel like it's a difficult field to get into, though. :P

Ha! I love your random thoughts.

I don't know what your Uncle did, but a friend of mine told me last night that her FATHER-IN-LAW gave her a thong for Mother's Day. Can we say, EWWWWW ....

My 6 year old just asked me to explain letter grades to her, because a friend of hers (much older) just got a puppy for getting straight A+'s. So my daughter was asking whether she could get a puppy for getting A+'s. I said yes (I'm good at promises for unspecified dates.) Then she started asking what happens if she can only get an A. And I'll be totally honest, I said that if she can get an A, then there really is no reason she can't get an A+. I'm sorry, but it's true! I'm looking at the comments and I'm cracking up because I am definitely the Tiger Mom bitch here. (OF COURSE if she's busting her ass to get to whatever grade she can get, be it a C or a B, I'm not going to harsh on her. We're strictly discussing the A to A+ leap ;-)

I've had several uncle interactions in the last week, and they're just...yeah, weird. :P One of my very sarcastic uncles was over last night, and spent a good 20 minutes teasing me about various things. (Like my use of the 'F' word, which: please. Have you met our family?) I like him, he's a good guy, but...strange!

You don't even want to know my thoughts on that Tiger Mother trend that's going on! And kids who get straight A+s. If a child is exceptional and hard-working enough to earn straight A+s, then that's fantastic. But what is an A+, really? I have students who get all As at their fancy prep schools who are far less gifted (and less hard-working) than other students who are getting Bs at a public school. It all depends on the school, the teachers, the grading system, etc.

There's this one fancy school in the area for "gifted" children. I tutor several children from there, and while they're all great kids, not a one of them is what I'd call "gifted". Rather, it's more a school for children whose parents are willing to pay to have them labelled "gifted".

Anyway. Your daughter is 6, and if she's anything like her mother, I'm sure she's a bright young thing. As long as she has your guidance and encouragement, I'm sure she'll be brilliant. :D

I like thoughts in bulletin form instead of paragraph-narrative form! Makes it much easier to comprehend pre-coffee.

Okay, now I have got to ask: what have your uncles been doing?

P.S. Congrats on the whole running the Sherlockmas and writing thing. I haven't been following too carefully, because I am seriously unSherlocked, but all that work impresses me mightily. Planning your friend's party sounds easy by comparison, for sure!

Okay, now I have got to ask: what have your uncles been doing?

Nothing especially weird lately, actually: they've been up to much odder antics in the past.

My (nominally) uncle, Steve, is a douchebag, and on Sunday, when we had the family over, I found myself in the rather uncomfortable position of having him agree with me. Um, blech!

My Uncle Dave was over the night I wrote the entry, and he is incredibly sarcastic and loves to tease me. So there was a lot of that going on, followed by him acting all shocked when I used the 'F' word, which I found amusing/irritating.

Thanks for the kudos! It was a really fun fest to run. Now I find myself in the curious position of having absolutely zero fic commitments for the first time in a long, long time! Meaning I can write whatever I want! ...as soon as I decide what that is!

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Do I have it in me for a proper entry?

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