Happy Holidays...

I am not bringing the laptop to Thailand tomorrow. So I hope everyone has a great holiday season. Be safe and have fun fruitcakes! Take us away Big O...


See you next year,
Santa G.

Feature Presentation...

Being projector whiz (in a jaded former life), I grabbed the one from my school for Movie Night! I actually helped pick the projector out from a local electronics store. They are quite cheap and I went with a Toshiba over an Epson - very impressed with the brightness and functionability for about 8 hundy! Chris - let me know if you want me to scoop some up for the bangin' basement multimedia room.

I projected the film onto a large wall in my living room, Amanda grabbed the popcorn, and we watched American Gangster. Denzel being Denzel, great direction by Ridley Scott, and super soundtrack.

Other quick notes:

I...
-have definitely been affected by the downright frigid temps here recently. The 90s of Thailand will be quite different.
-started packing for the trip, going work some magic to make it fit into one duffel! Hey if all those trust fund kids can take a month off to find themselves with only their Patagonia bag, I can do it!
-am disapointed the Phils couldn't hold onto Rowand, but it's all about the Benjamins (and the Camerons!)
-just checked on sirius.com for a teasing listen to Howard - man I miss it...
-crushed the Pringles from home.
-hear new bars I’ve never heard before everytime I peep “Enter the 36 Chambers”.
-need to make a trip to Alabama when I get home.
-can’t wait till the Hawks start A-10 play, bring on UMASS.
-swear this country has what seems like a dozen “Independence Days” and fireworks are always in the air.
-received a cute Christmas gift from one of my students a minature yurt, a very sweet gesture, but I don't fit into it.
-am fed up with KZ cashiers always asking for exact change. Some will even refuse your purchase if you don’t have correct change. Even though it is the vain of my existence, can you imagine making a $18 purchase at Walmart and the cashier turning you away ‘cause you only have a $20 bill?
-am NEVER buying clothes that aren't "Wrinkle-Fee" for the rest of my life.
-have noticed that garland is not just for trees here. People wear it. Yep, “garland boas”. Hotness.

I'm ghost like Swayze...

From Boring Photos to...

...Amandasterpieces! Had some randoms that I messed with. They turned out--- interesting. Enjoy!

"Skellohuette"


"Special Delivery"


"Beeline"

Instant Holiday Classic!

I had English Club on Saturday, so I was sure to drop this jewel in the powerpoint. Basically spoke for 1.5 hrs on Christmas and all things "hap-hap-happiest since Bing Crosby tapdanced with Danny Kaye" - man Vacation is a great flick. Yes, that is lil' Joey on the big man's lap crying his head off. I swear, the jolly jerk was pinching me....

Care Package.....

Sweet U.S. Postal Service!!! I received an absolutely wonderful piece of cardboard from my parents yesterday. It was JAM full of great stuff & I am a very, very, very happy boy. The package was sent on November 26th & I received it yesterday, December 10th. Basically, a small piece of paper is delivered to you (to my school) saying you have to go to the corresponding post office to pick up your package (after signing a bunch of forms, showing passport, etc.) Despite the heavy snow and heavier package, I gleefully walked home and waited until after dinner to open it. The contents (yes I am listing everything) were as follows - in alphabetical order!

10 dollars in Delaware State Quarters
2008 TruValue Calendar
4-Cheese mashed potatoes
Alfredo pasta
Assorted pens and markers
Baby red mashed potatoes
Betty Crocker Au Gratin potatoes
Betty Crocker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip & Regular Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bisquick cheese & garlic biscuits
Burberry Brit for Men Cologne & Aftershave
CDs from Chris – WTF?, Blackish, White Random, Hip Hop Random, CKY, Rage, Gza
Cheddar cheese Combos
Cheerios Snack Mix
Cheese-um Pringles, snack size
Chicken Noodle soup
Chicken pasta side
Chili Pepper Dishtowel
Chocolate pudding
Chocolate US Dollars
Christmas cards (Thank you Grandmom!)
Christmas CD – Stars of Christmas
Creamy garlic shells
Deerhead Hot Dog sticker
Degree Deodorant
Dialog article on J.B.
Dish Scrubber Towel
Dream Whip
DVDs - Knocked Up, Fatal Instinct, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Simpsons Movie, American Gangster
Flipz Chocolate Covered pretzels
Freshwater Cucumber hand soap
Ghirardelli Caramel Turtle brownies
Gillete Fusion Razor Blades
Gnocchi
Hand towel
Hard & Soft Taco Dinner kit
Hershey kisses (x-mas style)
Invisible tape
Jiffy Cornbread mix
Jiffy Raspberry Muffin mix
Kissables, snack size
McCormick’s Vanilla Extract
Mini Chips Ahoy
Mini Golden Oreos
Mini-flashlight
My personal CDs, lots of Wu Tang, Redman and Hendrix
Original chili mix
Parma Rosa sauce mix
Pasta Server
Peanut-butter Tandy Cakes – homemade (mushy but edible) in a useful Tupperware
Pink notepad
Red beans & rice
Sauce Server
Shake & Pour Bisquick Pancake mix
Shells & Cheddar
Silicon 9x9 baking pan
Socks for Amanda
Spark Newspaper
Stovetop Cornbread
Strawberry Jell-O
Strawberry/Blueberry split Pop-tarts
Tan and Blue dishtowel
Tspoons & Tblspoons
Twists & Cheddar
Two Ring-pops
Various Fish stickers
Vegetable mix
Wine opener set
And a big old cardboard box from USofA....

All the contents are very much appreciated and will get me through the cold winter. I couldn't pick a favorite, Amanda's favorite was the Cheese n' Garlic Biscuit mix. Most useful would have to be the Fusion razor blades. Most creative has to be the Delaware quarters - I will hand them out to students, etc. We immediately popped in the X-mas CD. And followed it with Chris' interesting (with some killer classics) shuffle of songs. I am a lucky boy indeed.

Good lookin' out.

What's Happening!

No rest for the weary. After a long week of work, most people exclaim T.G.I.P. - - Thank God It’s Pyatnista (Friday). Here’s the "everybody's working for the weekend" recap:

FRIDAY
I taught until 8:00PM. No TV here, so I couldn’t chillax with Danny Tanner & the gang. Instead, Amanda & I cooked up a late dinner – burgers. Then I worked on a presentation for my English Club. Unfortunately, English Club has been a solo effort. I met with a crony at work earlier in the week to brainstorm themes. She told me in her broken English accent, ‘we will discuss ‘Rumis.’ I asked who the heck is that (apparently it’s some old-head artist). I got her to compromise and make the theme the broad topic - ART. I wanted to do something fun like travel or karaoke, but I gave in this time. Next time, it’s Joe Joe’s show. Turns out, she didn't even come on Saturday anyway – so I was stuck presenting by myself. Fortunately, I had Amanda to help with the group activities. Back to Friday evening… I did prep work (a 64 page power point & a bunch of activities to get these peeps to speak English) that I think was more interesting (at least to me) than Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, & Raphael. “HEROES IN A HALFSHELL!” Sorry, couldn’t resist. I even did a special section on graffiti & the beautiful wall murals in Philadelphia. I sprinkled in this photo of handsome Van Gogh Joe (back in art school - the drawing of the teal old-school Chucks is mine) and Amanda & I (mostly A-Fair) created this abstract cake (under the maybe not-so appetizing icing, there is a wonderfully moist ShopRite marble cake - we have to adjust our baking due to altitude) to share with everyone (Jackson Pollack, eat your no-talent heart out!):


SATURDAY
Greeted with a dusting of snow. Oh, and no real working hot water this weekend. Apparently, they are doing roadwork nearby & that has been the culprit of my cold showers. We sallied over to school, set up the room, snacks, power point for English Club. Small group due to snow – but we all had fun & thought it was, well, a piece of art! Next one is Dec 15th & it’s X-mas themed (executive decision by me!) We then went to Amanda’s school to scope out a student play. We managed to score tix & had time to kill so we got busy on Thailand logistics. We managed to secure flights to travel within T-land (and avoid 10-14 hour bus rides). Relatively cheap – about 400$ for two round trippers each (during the peak X-mas/New Years season) so that is good. Next up is reserving a handful of rooms for the many different areas we plan to visit. The school play started at 7PM – it was in English & was called “In Search of David’s Heart”. I kept my eyes open for most of it – so that’s an accomplishment in itself. Afterwards, we finalized our flights until pretty late – 11PM. (Note: Amanda’s school is the only place I really am able to get on-line, so internet time is precious & I don’t get to visit jollydwarf.com too much). Starvin' like Marvin, we stopped at a restaurant on the icy walk home. Chicken Cordon Bleu for me; some chicken curry veggie dish for Amanda. This $35 meal was actually quite cheap for steep Almaty. Amanda somehow had the energy to pop in the less than magnificent movie “Honey”. I tried to stay awake, but I prefer to dream about rather than watch the gifted acting prowess of “Lil' Romeo”:

SUNDAY
Walked over to the nearby Central State Museum. They were holding a craft show – lots of less than impressive wares, carpets, jewelry all at high prices - New Castle Co. Farmer's Market this was not. Managed to look at some of the exhibits before getting out of there. Went for a nice long walk further into the city (we kept warm by alternating Christmas tunes). I dropped such dimes as “Christmas In Hollis Queens”, “Dominic the Christmas Donkey”, & “Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas”. People walking the street must have thought I was crazy with holiday cheer. We stopped in a grocery store, picked up a few items including “Superbad” on DVD. Finally, back to my crib where we had “Power Hour” – working out bi’s & tri’s with my wide collection of professional weights (Pringle cans filled with sand, 2 Liter Sprite bottles filled with water, & anything else that is heavy). Dinner was buffalo chicken cheesesteaks w/ a sprinkling of blue cheese on top. No buffaloes were harmed in the making of these snacks. Amanda went back up to her house – I threw in 2 loads of laundry & got ready for a busy week:

I hope everyone is doing their thing this December. Good wins by the Hawks, bad loss(es) for the Skins & Taylor family, & hopefully everyone is vibin’ & survivin’!

Holler. Miss you like a bullseye on a dartboard.