Mark O’Meara: the blog

Just last week we finished season two of Arrested Development on DVD which I really enjoyed. I had it in mind that there were only two seasons so I was a little sad to get to the end.

However I noticed an episode in the tv guide for this week which turns out to be from season three. That’s right readers, there is a third season and it’s all free and on the telly and stuff.

C’mmon!

Midnight Channel Seven on Monday night for what it’s worth.

Lesson for the day - I dont watch a heap of telly but I like what I like.

Yesterday we picked up a copy of Super Size Me dirt cheap since it is one of those things we’ve been meaning to watch. I have heard people say that it made them feel sick but I wasn’t all that surprised by it really. Actually what did surprise me was just how massive the super size serves are in the States. I had naively assumed they were the same as here which is large rather than obscenely massive.

Still the flick is well worth a watch and will probably result in me eating less fast food for a few weeks at least.

On that cheery topic I managed to walk Indiana a couple of times last week and felt a little bit better for the exercise. I even wondered, in that same wildly optimistic corner of my mind that regards me as possibly attractive, if I might actually be losing weight again.

However I resisted standing on the scales until Saturday. By the time I actually weighed myself it was after breakfast which never gives the best result. All the same I came in at 81.5 which is down a kilo from last week.

Perhaps watching Super Size Me just made me think thin thoughts.

Lesson for the day - a little lighter is much more encouraging than a little heavier.

At all the schools I went to you called the teachers by their surnames, Mr O’Meara and so forth. I knew that at some schools you called teachers Sir and Miss but that seemed like it was from another century.

However here and now the kids, quite probably with their iPod strapped on, call me and all the other men Sir and the women are called Miss. When the teachers speak to each other in front of kids we call each other Sir and Miss.

It has taken most of the week for me to not just find that freaky.

I have been told that now and then you’ll ask a kid who their English teacher and they won’t know because they just think of and call them Sir.

Lesson for the day - this entry was from Sir with just a little love.

I was talking to the year eights about knights of old, In particular I was trying to get them to think about why they are meaningful icons nearly a thousand years later. What I really wanted was for them to realise was that they were, by and large, big damn heros sir.

But I couldn’t say that.

Lesson for the day - it would help generally if there as more serenity in year seven.

Today I took my second proper lesson and things went pretty. I can’t say they were super-interested and I probably lost my momentum a couple of times which happens. But in total it went just fine.

The other thing that is really encouaging is that I have gotten heaps of help from Bob. Not that Bob is his real name, that’s just the code name for my supervising teacher to respect his privacy. His real name is Bert.

Anyhow he’s been really helpful in providing me with direction in terms of topic and resources. That might not sound like much to you but to me it’s making a massive difference.

So here I am at the end of the first week and so far I am a happy camper. Which aint nothing.

Lesson for the day - t’s ok to count chickens when they are all nicely hatched.

These days Nicky, bless her cotton socks and all her other lovely parts, does almost all of work that this house needs to keep us all running and I just worry about study, school experience and the small amount of work I do at after school care.

My point, aside from her being both industrious and wonderful, is that while I do have things to do I am far from frantic. Given this I would like to actually write things here. Perhaps wry things, perhaps thought provoking things, or perhaps just snippets that might raise a minor smile or warm your little reading hearts.

But I feel utterly spent. Sorry about that.

Lesson for the day - some do much and write much - just not me.

This morning I did my first lesson with a high school class and it went quite well. So surprisingly well actually that I have pretty much nothing interesting to say about it. No moaning or complaining from me, and no-one is more shocked than me.

Being that the world is of swings and roundabouts of course the next lesson went pear shaped. Luckily it was the emergency teacher taking it rather than me so I survived that with all limbs intact.

Lesson for the day - hoorah for a running start.

Two days down and so far things are going pretty well.

There is a lot to like about being in a high school mainly that it is more of a grown up environment. I might be more vocal about the downside tomorrow as I am teaching my first class.

But for now I have very little intelligent to say. Hopefully this will be different tomorrow also.

Lesson for the day - there is less of a need for a countdown when things are going well.

All of my podcasts are done pretty quickly but this one is quick and dirty even by my standards. I wasn’t going to do one today but decided that something was better than nothing. I hope you’ll take this same view.

In it I briefly complain about my day and play the two requested songs being With My Dog and April Fool.

Nine minutes and 3.2 MB.

Listen

I figured it would be nice to have my laptop talking to the school systems for the five weeks I am on rounds. I could have just lived on a memory stick and a long list of favours but I am just not that charming.

The only fly in the ointment was that my laptop runs Windows XP Home and to talk to the school systems it needs to be the Professional version. Not a big deal, with my student price the software upgrade was inexpensive.

If only that were the issue.

I did the upgrade which they recommend rather than a fresh install. They might recommend that but afterwards the system ran so slowly as to be basically unusable. The short version is that I have spent much of the day installing software from word one and then an hour or so preparing some lessons.

I am not a happy camper.

Lesson for the day - there is a world of difference between possible and pleasant.