What's in a Name?

I woke up with my right eye throbbing, so I decided to forgo eyeshadow and mascara and wear glasses today instead of contact lenses. (I hope I'm not getting a stye!)

Little did I know the uproar this would cause in my students.

"Ohmigod, Miss, you got glasses?!"

"Wow, hot for teacher!"

"Ohmigod, Miss, you wear glasses?!"

These are a few of the choice statements I got from my classes today. And here's an informal survey: Did you call your teacher "Miss" when you were in school? I've never heard of this phenomenon before. I always called my teachers by their full, respectful name. It was always Mr. Lesperance, never "Mister." Always "Miss Flutie," never "Miss."

Maybe it's a generational thing. I don't know. All I know is I try to make my students call me by my full name. It's only fair -- they've only got 8 teachers while I teach 168 students. If I can remember their names, then they can remember mine.

Ow, my eye hurts. At least I have a planning period now in last block and don't have to hear "Ohmigod, Miss!" again until tomorrow.

LOLcat Picture of the Week

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Dueling Pianos and Bachelorettes

I had a lot of fun last night at Sheri's bachelorette party! We hung out in the West Palm Beach area, catching dinner at City Cellar, then hitting up some bars in the downtown area. My favorite part of the night was the last bar we went to, Roxy's, that featured a dueling piano show upstairs. I'd never been to a dueling piano show! It's a lot of fun, and I was very happy when one of the "duelers" played my request, "Brown-eyed Girl" by Van Morrison.

Even though I missed hanging out with the boyf, I did have a lot of fun. Girl-bonding is necessary every now and again. :)

If you're my friend on Facebook, you can check out my photos from last night here. Here's one of the pictures we took early in the night, showing off our "bachelorette" goodies.

Guess which one is the blushing bride? ;)

No Reservations: When Food Goes Bad (as in naughty...)

This week's No Reservations has a most, um, interesting title: "Food Porn." (I didn't write the full title in the header for this post because I didn't want to attract the wrong kind of reader!) Here's what Ingrid has to say about this episode:

Get ready for a treat this week with Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Food Porn. Tony is joined by some of the world's most renowned chefs, such as Eric Ripert, Alan Wong, Martin Picard and more. This episode is for hardcore viewers only!

Bourdain is well aware of the body's similar chemical and physical responses to food and sex. After traveling across the globe for years, and sampling some of the world's greatest gastronomic pleasures, he is ready to share some of his favorite examples of what he likes to call…food porn. In this special episode, Tony presents a XXX selection of all that's lip-smacking and luscious in the food world.

Dishes featured on the show range from crispy pork skin tacos, steaming pho, hot, drippy cheese based dishes, serious chocolate and of course, a pig feast. As Tony says, it's 'just filthy'. Just as in porn, not everything in food is glamorous or appetizing. Be it still-squirming octopus tentacles, the dirty 'business end' of a warthog, codfish sperm, or the bitterly juicy eyeball of a freshly-killed seal, there are some dishes around the world that provide disgust for some, yet immense gratification for others. But whatever it is that tickles your fancy, it can't be denied that food and pleasure go hand-in-hand.

Bourdain also updated his blog last night with a post on this episode entitled "The Money." Here's a snippet of that:

FOOD PORN is a revenge of sorts -- for everything that ever ended up on the cutting room floor. The filthiest, nastiest hour of television we could get away with. And yet -- utterly wholesome! We ain't doing nothin' that Giada, Rachael and Sandra ain't been doin' for years, officer!

It's also, honestly, a chronicle of the most outrageously over-the-top dishes we've ever seen or tasted. For the tiny fragment of our audience who are concerned with such details, look for ZPZ graphics genius Adam Lupsha playing the Boogie Nights-style horny soundman and executive producer Chris Collins as infamous director, "Tad Chanko." Maybe you know him from such films as "Butt Masters 7," "Lumberjack Facials 2" and "Norwegian Wood?" Okay. Maybe not.

Tune in Monday, February 9th at 10pm EST for Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Food Porn.

Here's a sneak peek. Warning: not for the faint of heart. ;)

Girls' Night Out

Last Saturday, the boyf went out to a bachelor party to celebrate our friend T's upcoming wedding. I had a good time puttering around the house in my pajamas with my cat, watching TV, writing, doing nothing at all.

But tonight, it's the girls' turn! I'm going to the bachelorette party for S. We will have drinks and dinner while our boys stay at T's house playing video games and drinking beer, or whatever it is boys do when left behind.

I have no idea what to wear, though... I'm going to go rummage in my closet now in the hopes that I find something.

Last night, the boyf and I went to see "Coraline." It was breathtaking, just beautiful and perfectly adapted from the book. We had the choice of seeing it 3-D or not, and we opted for the former. It was so worth it!!! Even though the plastic glasses left a funny mark on the bridge of my nose that lasted an hour, it was worth it.

Enjoy your weekend! :)

(Picture by Marguerite Sauvage)

These are a few of my (current) favorite things...

crème brulée
If you've never had this dish, you don't know what you're missing! It's my very favorite dessert despite the fact that it has absolutely no chocolate in it, which is saying something because I am a Class-A Chocoholic. It's a custard topped with a layer of burnt sugar that is ever-so-fun to crack with your spoon, as portrayed in the French film Amelie. Every time I go to my favorite restaurant, Les Halles, I order it. Try it, you won't be disappointed. Trust me.

A Fine Frenzy
I discovered this singer on Amazon, thanks to the recommendations they do on that website now. I was looking for a song by another artist and when they suggested I give A Fine Frenzy a listen, I said all right.

I wound up buying the album that same day! Her voice is honey-dripping sweet and her lyrics are profound. Here's my favorite song of hers:

Come On, Come Out - A Fine Frenzy

The Bird and the Bee
Yet another musical act I recently discovered (what can I say, it's been a musical month thus far). I first heard about this band from the crazy, crazy show "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job." No, I'm not making that name up. It plays on Adult Swim, and it's the most bizarre, disgusting, hilarious show I've ever seen.

As for the band, they are really trippy and sound like they just stepped out of the sixties. I love their beats and this band really knows how to harmonize. If you like Radiohead and Imogen Heap, you'll like The Bird and the Bee. This song is one of their best:

Polite Dance Song - the bird and the bee

Ojon
I have to wash my hair at least every two days, as it gets quite greasy and I wind up resembling a drowned rat if I don't. Not pretty. Unfortunately, my hair is not of the wash-and-go variety. If I don't style it, I wind up looking like an electrified poodle, which is waaaaaaay scarier-looking than a drowned rat, believe you me. So I go through the blow-dry and straightening iron ritual at least twice a week. Quite a work-out! As a result, the ends of my hair can get a wee bit scraggly and prone to knots. This deep conditioning treatment by Ojon is a must for girls with "artificially straight" hair. It leaves your hair silky smooth, and ever since I started using it once a month, I've noticed that my hair no longer frizzes as much. A must-buy!


Do you twitter? I do. It's heaps of fun. I don't know what makes it so addictive, but I love finding out what my friends are up to and letting them know what I am up to. Plus, you can find the twitter feeds of famous people if you look hard enough, like Neil Gaiman and Kristen Stewart and countless others. I'm not nearly as famous or cool as those two, but you can follow me, if you like. :)

Filmtastic

I cannot wait for the following movies to come out...