12:24am: Let's see...

Went to a BBQ today at my Uncle Jerry's house (he's also my godfather). Had a blast! Mom and I played doubles horshoes and we beat Linda and Shawna 23-19. My ringer clutched the win! And his new puppy is so adorable!


I'm still laid off and waiting for the fucking school district to stop playing games so I can be recalled. *sighs* The layoff doesn't officially take effect until August 28th though, so I'm trying not to worry. Only three more weeks of summer school though.


Thewlis Rox is running an official contest for Warner Bros for the new HP movie!! Check it out:

THEWLIS ROX'S HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE(TM) SWEEPSTAKES!

'Thewlis Rox' is giving away some fantastic prizes to celebrate the impending release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"™. Some of these items were custom made and will never to be sold in retail stores; they're sure to become collector items!

Just head over to the contest page and enter for a chance to win!

Speaking of Harry Potter, I'm going to a pre-screening for the film on the 12th. Plus if my contact at WB hooks me up, I'll be attending a press screening of it as well!


I'm really looking forward to my vacation next month. Everything in my life has been so stressful lately that I could use something fun to do. So I'll be in Los Angeles visiting Amanda, taking the Thewlis Rox members (the ones that attend) to Disney, going to Blizzcon, then a few more days with Amanda before flying home.


RPG wise, things are really slow right now. I'm hoping things pick up at Toujours because I enjoy the plot. But people just don't seem to be motivated to do anything. It's really frustrating. Phoenix and Snake might as well be dead because there's NO activity there. But for that one, I blame the mods and their complete lack of doing anything. They say it's player driven, but I don't even see them playing their own characters at all. Pretty sad.

I would LOVE to find an active HP game I could play in that doesn't feel cliquey and won't close in a matter of weeks. Anyone know one?

1:22pm: I found out some horrible news while at work today (which also happened to be the final day of regular school for the 2008-2009 year). The mother of one of my students (who participated in the book for David project last year) was murdered on Wednesday. I've known this family for about 6 years now, have taught three of her sons, and I know all the little ones too.

Their mother was shot in the head and police are still investigating. One of the saddest parts about this is that there was absolutely no mention of it in any of the newspapers, the tv news, etc. because "Detroit shootings happen all the time... it's not major news".

We only found out because the rest of my students knew about it (some had been in that neighborhood when the shooting happened) and a family relative called the school today to confirm it. Thankfully, none of the kids had been at home when the murder happened. The little girl in Kindergarten doesn't understand and is still waiting for mommy to come back home.

She was a fantastic mother who worked extremely hard to make sure all of her kids had a better life than her, and she was always very concerned with their education. There weren't enough mothers like her in this neighborhood, and now there's one less to help guide and protect the children.

R.I.P. Yolanda. You will be missed. :cry:

2:31am: I am alive, but I've been crazy busy and haven't posted here in forever.

If anyone's interested though, I have a Twitter now: Tannim13

12:04am: For you Watchmen fans, here's a chance to win free VIP screening passes and Posters:

http://43kix.com/wap/generic.php?item=966&subRefId=652845

11:24pm: So what have I been up to lately? Well, I've been horrible at updating my IJ and LJ.

So here's the short version:

1. The Indiana Trip:

Got to go the North American Premiere for "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" down in Indiana last month at the Heartland Film Fesival. I arranged Press passes for myself, Amanada, and Mandi. My full report can be read over at Thewlis Rox, so anyone who's curious. Long story short, we attended a cocktail reception, had dinner (and our table was only 2 away from David's), got to see the screening of the movie and the special Q&A session, and then went to the reception. But the reception was awesome because we spent nearly the entire thing just hanging out and chatting with David Thewlis.

As an added bonus, we got to attend an advanced Michigan screening of the film, compliments of Miramax and the Heartland Film Festival. And Miramax granted me access/membership to their Press archive where they post images and press packs for their current movies.

( Click for Picture )


2. Thewlis Rox
Amanda asked me to be her co-administrator! WOOT! I wasn't expecting it at all and I'm very flattered and honored that she asked me to help her run things. I recently upgraded the forums to a newer version of phpBB and sponsored my first contest. ^_^


3. Work:
UGH! MEAP testing, too damn many kids in my class (I'm supposed to have 25 or less, but instead I have 34!), children with SPECIAL needs, etc.

The first week of school, a parent lied and tried to claim I hit her kid with a book. The principal handled everything though and the woman freaked out when she was told by making a statement, she would be doing so under oath and could face criminal charges if it was determined she was lying. Long story short, she retracted her earlier accusation and the kid was moved out of my class.

I had a special Ed kid in my class who couldn't stop hurting the other kids. He threatened to shoot me with a gun, then threatened several other kids with the same threat over the course of the school year. He's Emotionally Impaired, but the Social Worker refuses to sign the paperwork saying so. After he threatened to shoot another boy, told a girl he was going to stab her in the neck with a pencil, and then assaulted 3 of his classmates, the principal transferred him out of my class. THANK GOD!


4. Jenny Jones:
The computer lab I purchased using the grant from Jenny Jones is AWESOME! THe kids love it and I'm teaching an after school computer class on Tuesday and Thursdays for them. If anyone wants to see pics of the lab or my students, go to my page on the Jenny's Heroes Website.


5. Twilight:
I ended up winning a pair of VIP reserved seats to go see and advanced screening of Twilight tonight, along with a swag pack. The movie was actually pretty good! When William and I arrived (Mandi was sick and couldn't go), there was a HUGE group of people all lined up and waiting. A theater employee said when she arrived for work at 4:30, there had already been about 25 people lined up.

Thankfully, I got to skip the entire line and we were escorted upstairs to the 3rd floor. Once there, they gave us stickers, rubber bracelets, a keychain, t-shirt, bookmarks, and a bunch of posters. Then we were taken into the theater, where our seats were already labelled and waiting for us.

There were TONS of annoying fangirls there, some wearing Team Edward or Team Jacob shirts. They were even having arguments over which was better. Cell phones and all electronic devices were confiscated and people were being wanded by security at the door (except for VIP's). Once all of the nonreserved seats were full, the rest of the people who had waited in line to try and see the screening were turned away. The theater was completely packed! Thankfully, the people sitting around us weren't psycho screaming idiots... all of those were WAY up in the top and were quickly made to settle down or they'd be removed.

Overall, the movie was a lot better than I expected it to be. I was worried that because of all the hype, it would turn out to be pretty bad or cheesy. I haven't even finished reading the first book yet, but I actually enjoyed the movie.

If anyone wants one of the posters or stickers, let me know. It's yours for free, if you don't mind paying the postage.


6. Being Sick:
So tired of it!!! Every time I get better, another sick kid(s) comes to school and infects me with something different. I finally went to my doctor and he gave me a Z-pack (antibiotics) to help me get better and fend off future things. I wish parents would keep their children home when they're ill. I haven't been to work yesterday or today because of it, but I go back tomorrow. I feel really bac because whenever the brats get me sick, sometimes Mandi ends up catching it too.


7. HP RPG's:
AFM pretty much died while I was on hiatus. There was almost nothing happening there. Katy ended up quitting, so I left too. Most of my character interaction was with her and Mandi (who also quit), so there really wasn't much left to keep me there. I feel bad because now Aimee doesn't have a Remus or Teddy to play with, but I have a feeling the game was going to be dead soon anyways.

But because we want to get our gaming fix on, the three of us have started a new game: Times and Trials. It's post DH, but Voldie is still alive and the war's not quite over. We're basically canon up until the Battle of Hogwarts, but that's where things change. So if anyone's looking for a game with active mods that won't just close up ad die within a month, check us out.

9:15pm: I know there's a bunch of Twilight fans on my friends list, so check out this link:

http://43kix.com/wap/generic.php?item=820&subRefId=385902

You can win free VIP tickets to an advanced screening of the film, along with a swag pack.

8:12pm: Why the fuck do people insist on starting problems where there previously weren't any???

What kind of a jackass says that there are OOC problems between two players that are causing IC problems, when there WERE NO OOC problems in the first place?


Well, congrats to whoever you are. Because I think you managed to single handedly start an OOC problem. I hope you're happy.

8:11pm: Here's 2 scans from my slimline HBP calendar. I don't think anyone else has posted these on the net before (at least not in this size) hence the watermarks.

( Click for Remus & Tonks Piccies )

6:09pm:
ROFL! David and I both have new articles about ourselves on the same page in the Detroit Free Press! My article is the "Jenny Jones" one. 

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080922/ENT07/809220308/1035/ENT

3:48pm:

I'm in the newspaper and on the internet!

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080920/METRO03/809200338/1412/METRO03

http://www.jennysheroes.com/index.shtml
http://www.jennysheroes.com/heroes_20080919_jenniferr.shtml

Feel free to spam the "Send am Email" link and post things. Jenny Jones told me to spread the link around to family, friends, etc so they can see lots of congratulations messages.

11:52pm: I am  officially home from vacation! Woot!  I'll post more about my adventures later.

11:11pm:

MANDI AND I GET TO SEE "BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT" ON THE 15TH BECAUSE I PARTICIPATED IN THE VIRAL GAMES! OMG!!

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!*

http://whysoserious.com/kickingandscreening/

3:23pm:

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Dropkick Murphys show last night was awesome!!! Mandi and I had front row tickets, which were the first row right behind the general admission pit. The Bosstones haven't been to the Detroit area for years, so I was thrilled to see them again. It's a really small tour too! Only 9 cities and we were stop #2.

I hate waiting for the San Diego Comic Con schedule to go up!!  But according to Wikipedia, they've got a listing of some of the confirmed guests so far:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic-Con_International

YAY FOR TORCHWOOD PEOPLE!

And apparently the main stars from Twilight and the author of the books will be there too (for anyone out there who's interested).

10:39pm: OMG!!! ROFLMAO!!! I know it's really sacrilegious, but I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Found it over here: http://loljesus.wordpress.com/

9:19am:

http://www.waterstoneswys.com/

( HP Prequel Story from the Auction )

12:42am:

CONGRATS RED WINGS!!!


2008 STANLEY CUP CHAMPS!

3:19am:

INDIANA JONES WAS AWESOME! *SQUEEEEEE!*

11:40am: 2008 Stanley Cup Finals!
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh -->

GO WINGS!

5:32pm: I'm so bad... the kids were reading a story during the after school program today called "The Hole in the Dike".

Best lines in the story:
"It's lucky that the dikes are high and strong."

"There's a leak in the dike!"

"All night long Peter kept his finger in the dike."

"Here I am at the bottom of the dike. There's a leak in the dike. Help! Help!"

"Send some men to repair the dike right away!"

"Peter had to stay with his finger in the dike."



ROFLMAO! I could barely keep a straight face as they listened to the tape!

7:43pm: 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round 3 Matchups
Eastern Conference:
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia --> Penguins Advance!

Western Conference:
Detroit vs. Dallas --> Red Wings Advance!

9:23am: For the new Batman movie that's coming out soon, they've been doing a lot of "viral marketing" and mini games. These include emails, phone calls, etc.

So yesterday, I got an email from James Gordon saying that it was my turn to help, and it gave me a link to here:
http://www.gpdmcu.com/operationslipknot/

Part of the site was a minigame where you call the Gotham Intercontinental Hotel. If you managed to get through to talk to a live person, you had to tell him your travel plans had changed, give him the Reference Code for the package you were trying to claim, and he would ask you where you needed the package resent to. When you're done, you're informed that the package will be delivered at 8am tomorrow morning.

Once all the packages were delivered, the website now said:
EXCELLENT WORK!

Good work. It looks like all of the packages have been intercepted.

Our informants should be receiving this critical evidence early tomorrow morning.

GPD needs the information in the packages to be uploaded AS SOON AS IT IS RECEIVED.

Time is of the essence. Do not let these suspects escape the long arm of Gotham City justice at the last minute. Upload the information immediately.


Well lucky me managed to get through and I claimed the last package of the game (30 possible). And sure enough, I received a package at 8am this morning.

My package contained:
In the package, there was:
Nokia Cell phone and charger (charged, 8 hrs. talk time prepaid)
$25k bearer bonds to Wayne Industries, Itinerary for Kinsly Travel, under the assumed name Ty Trumbauer, with his flight number.
Spanish phrase book, with a Joker card tucked inside
Note from Candoloro, addressed to Sgt. Breton
Gotham City drivers license for Ty Trumbauer.

I submitted my info to the GCPD site and Breton's status changed from "Package enroute" to "Moving to Apprehend".


The Note from Candoloro says:

Dear Sgt. Breton,
I hope you get this package before heading to the airport because it contains valuable resources that will help you on your "vacation". Enclosed, please find an itinerary, the necessary travel ID, 25 grand in bearer bonds and a Spanish dictionary.

REMEMBER: Stay out of sight until further notice. Who knows how long it will be before we can get Dent out of the picture and bring some order back to Gotham?

Regards,
Joseph Candoloro


Hehehe... this is so cool. ^_^

9:49am: 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round 2 Matchups
Eastern Conference:
Montreal vs. Philadelphia --> Flyers Advance!
Pittsburgh vs. New York --> Penguins Advance!

Western Conference:
Detroit vs. Colorado --> Red Wings Advance!
San Jose vs. Dallas --> Stars Advance!

10:01pm:

1:32am: ROFLMAO!!!

12:43pm: I've seen ____ of these 168 movies
Swiped from crazyteacher over on IJ.

( Movie Meme )