There have been a lot of things that have been really frustrating lately... All I can say is that I'm REALLY glad I'm a teacher. It's nice to know there's hope for the future.

1. I'm so sick of people telling me that South Central is "such a dangerous place to be." Instead of finding out for themselves, they avoid all of South LA completely. Get over it. It's not that bad. If my students can walk to and from school everyday by themselves, it's.not.that.bad. Stop telling me that I work in the "ghetto". Stop telling me to watch my back. Stop dissing on the area. Cuz you know what? I love it. I LOVE it. I walk around on Compton Ave. I drive my kids home. Yes, I'm careful. But in all honesty, I've never felt threatened. Ever.

2. I absolutely hate that people make so many damn generalizations about South LA. Case in point, the Tookie Williams case. First of all, if you don't know, you're ignorant. Secondly, if you are happy with the outcome, you're ignorant. I cannot believe all the people running their mouth about the issue when they live in the f.cking suburbs. You don't even know the half of it. You obviously don't even know what people in LA (and I mean real LA, not f.cking "OC") think about the murder. Yes, I called it a murder. Our pig-brained Terminator of a governor, in my opinion, used Tookie Williams as an example. With one crushing blow, he asserted his dominance and showed all Californians that he could do whatever he wanted and still get away with it... cuz, after all, he's in power. F.cking bastard. You wanna know why people have been referring to Tookie Williams as a martyr? It's cuz that's what people in LA REALLY think. If you don't believe me, ask around for yourself.

3. The death penalty. If my 6th graders can get this concept, the whole f.cking world should be able to. Forget the whole eye-for-an-eye bullsh.t This isn't Hammurabi's Code. This is the f.cking 21st century. Killing a murderer does not miraculously bring back all the people that he has killed. And no, it doesn't make things right. Keep the wrongdoer in jail for life. Trust me, it's a worse punishment than death. Yes, certain people probably do not deserve to live. Serial killers. Terrorists. Rapists. But, nothing justifies killing. (Don't use the "self-defense" argument on me. In that case, it's protection, not killing.)

4. Something that pisses me off to the nth degree: teachers that don't believe in their students. I have smart kids. Yes, my LAUSD kids ARE SMART. Dare I say it... but I KNOW my kids are smarter than most rich ass snobs. For one, my kids have heart. When they talk about changing the world, it's not some "beauty queen" answer about "making the world a better place." They talk about real issues. Cuz they're living it. My 6th graders KNOW about politics... at least more than most college graduates I know. My 6th graders can do a better job running the government than George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger put together. I know who I'm voting for in the future - my students.

5. Backtracking a little... let's review the word "ghetto." I've yet to hear the word uttered from the mouths of my students... you know, the people that actually live there. Which means, the ONLY people using that word are people that don't live there. Hmm... maybe people should stop talking sh.t??? Oh yeah, one last thing: Montebello is NOT the ghetto. Please refrain from using the word. You don't sound cool using it.

6. And last, but not least... "OCers", stop pretending you're from LA. You just make real LA people sound bad. Really... just stick to your little bubble of a world because LA would eat you alive. San Diego, you're also NOT LA.

Teaching on only half an hour of sleep is like hell on earth. I hope I never have to do it ever again.

Damn, I'm tired. It's a good tired... but still TIRED. I gotta stop hanging out with people in their mid-thirties. All they ever ask is when I'm going to get married and have kids.

Get over it. I'm 22. And no, I don't have kids.

This is what I want for Christmas! An ESPN Shot Blocker Basketball! How awesome. With play-by-play commentary by Dick Vitale. SWEEEEEET!

On my day off...

I'm writing a ridiculously bad paper. Don't blame me though... blame my dumb professor who couldn't even explain to us what the assignment was supposed to be about... or offer any suggestions on what we could write about. So I'm just going to write about how stupid the system is in labeling ESL students from ELD students. (All my LAUSD teachers that know about High Point or Language! feel me on this one.)

My mind is still running on delirium. I feel so sick and tired. I hope my kids aren't terrorizing the sub. They were so mad that I wouldn't be with them today. I vaguely remember them trying to give me a group hug on my way out the door after dropping off my lesson plans. Yeah, I don't remember much when my days start at 5am.

On again. Off again. On again. Off again. On again.

Last week was insanely tiring. I wanted to gouge my eyes out and keel over on Monday. MONDAY! It's really not a good thing when you're running on empty on a Monday... considering that there's still Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I promised my kids I would never do it, but I'm finding that I NEED to. I'm taking a day off tomorrow! (Woohoo!) I need a day to de-stress. I need a day devoted to ME. Plus, there's not much I can do if I'm confined to my bed... except send text messages and type away at my laptop.