Extraordinary Machine profile picture

Extraordinary Machine

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

I'm an 8th grade special educator who loves to laugh. I love and hate my job all the time. I could people-watch for hours. I love the sound of fast raindrops on a tin roof. I enjoy walking in summer rainstorms. Outside always smells better after a storm. I love those rare out-of-place warm days that force their way into late fall and winter months. Those days are like early Christmas presents. I like it when a person smells like soap instead of cologne or perfume. It's a nice change of pace, you know? I'm indecisive (I think). I don't think that staying up until 3am to watch an entire lunar eclipse or a meteor shower is a waste of time. I enjoy trying to get the "honey" out of honeysuckles. I think I would just die without coffee. It has been said that I have a dirty mouth (sorry Mom, I know you raised me better than that...). I've been training for months at the gym for the big arm-wrestling contest at the end of this school year. I should be able to easily break those 14-year-olds, but they're stronger than they look. ..

My Interests

photography (with a real camera - not that digital stuff), singing, dancing (tap and modern), playing bad oldies covers on my guitar, writing poetry, drawing, painting, listening to music, teaching, archaeology, mentoring, eating Big Mac Extra Value Meals, drinking coffee, traveling

I'd like to meet:

I'd like to meet people who possess open minds. They usually have the most interesting things to say. I'd like to meet other teachers, too, so that when I want to vent about administrators, paperwork, and No Child Left Behind, I'll have an understanding audience. I want to meet the current owner of my 1979 Toyota Corolla. I still love that car and I want to buy it back from you. I'll pay you double the price you paid for it. (Who wouldn't like to have an extra $600?) I'd also like to meet Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel because they rule.

Music:

OLDIES!!!, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Simon and Garfunkel, Mamas and the Papas, The Beatles, Cream, Bjork, Portishead, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot, Fiona Apple, Tom Waits, Air (NOT Air Supply), Cake, Digable Planets, Indigo Girls, Nirvana, Glenn Miller Band, Thelonious Monk, Tori Amos, Radiohead, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS One, Beastie Boys, Eazy E, Johhny Cash, Timothy Bracken, Poe, George Clinton / P-Funk, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lauren Hill, Belly, Suzuki Ton, Ween, The Dead Milkmen, Morcheeba, Motion City Soundtrack (of course!)

Movies:

Some of the movies I like are Run Lola Run, Requiem for a Dream, American Psycho, Passion of the Christ, Goonies, The Christmas Story, Children of the Corn (all of them), The Exorcist, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Napoleon Dynamite, Fame, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, Memento, Il Postino, Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, C.H.U.D., Undertow, A Dirty Shame (thanks, Timmy!)

Television:

CSI (all of them), The Simpsons, Cold Case, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Law and Order (all of them), 24, Without a Trace, SHARK WEEK!!!, whatever is on the Discovery Channel, Deadwood, Unsolved Mysteries (Robert Stack RULES), Medium, Absolutely Fabulous, Curb Your Enthusiasm, $40 a Day (kidding - I really want to kill that chick!)

Books:

A Clockwork Orange, Tuesdays with Morrie, Bridge to Terebithia, Farenheight 451, The Inferno, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Heroes:

My mom is my hero. She came here from Italy and despite having endured a lot of prejudice and other bullshit, she has always come out on top. Although we've had our differences, I still look up to her because she's my model of strength and integrity. She found out August of '05 that she had stage 4 lung cancer, and she handled this ordeal with grace and class. She should have been the one freaking out, but while everyone went crazy she remained calm and strong. She passed away January 5, 2006, and I miss her very much. I know she's watching over me, though.My other hero is Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver) because he ROCKED that mullet and he could make a bomb out of bubble gum, a paper clip, and a piece of floss.

My Blog

Make like Wilson and Pickett

I have never understood the mentality that equates invisibility with driving in one's car.  The logic behind this idea is similar to the logic behind an ostrich hiding its head in the sand. ...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Tue, 22 Aug 2006 09:07:00 PST

Happiness for $12.00???

Yes, it's true.  After a long day of cleaning, waiting in traffic to go to the bank, waiting at the bank, waiting in more traffic to go to the store, waiting in line at the store (realizing that ...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Wed, 16 Aug 2006 07:40:00 PST

Why I love Flying J's...

Some of you may not know about Flying J's.  It's a gas station / truck stop off of exit 104 on I-95.  It's HUGE, and everyone who works there is super nice (I'm talking about the whole south...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Sun, 29 Jan 2006 06:28:00 PST

Fairfax County, why have you forsaken me?

After months and months of being able to view myspace from the comfort of my desk, I attempted to log in this morning and was greeted by a blaring "Access Denied".  Myspace has been blocked from ...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Thu, 12 Jan 2006 06:25:00 PST

Goodbye, Mom.

I wrote this inside of a book (Dear Mom - Thank You for Everything by:  Bradley Trevor Greive) that I gave to my mom a while back.  I grabbed it from the shelf and reread it to her last nigh...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Fri, 06 Jan 2006 06:57:00 PST

You know what's funny (and sad at the same time)?

I landed a 4 hour job on December 17 making $30/hour. That's more than I get paid to teach children. All I have to do is dress up in a rockettes style santa dress (provided) and some high heels and se...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:44:00 PST

Frozen CO2 never hurt anybody (except for the whole "no gloves = frost bite" thing).

It's amazing how attentive kids can be (even the ones with ADD) when you throw a block of dry ice into a bowl of orange Hi-C.  The Halloween science lesson was "sublime" this past Monday.  M...
Posted by Extraordinary Machine on Wed, 02 Nov 2005 07:01:00 PST