Some New Year's Resolutions

It has been a long time since I wrote on this blog. Probably the longest gap since I started the blog four years ago. But I'm back! And it's a new year. So, in honor of that, here are my resolutions for 2016.

1. I bet I say "sorry" at minimum 10 times a day. I'm sorry I'm bothering you with this question. I'm sorry I'm talking too much. I'm sorry that I don't have the right answer. I'm sorry I can't hang out with you today. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I will stop saying "sorry" so much. I am always apologizing for everything as if my mere existence was offensive to others. I need to stop thinking about every small inconvenience I might impose on others and be more sure of what I am doing and saying.

2. When I got back from winter break, one of my students asked me "Miss Siel, did you do something amazing over break?"
"Not really," I replied. "It was a really nice break, but nothing amazing."
He studied me for a few moments and then asked, "Well did you sleep a lot?"
"Yes, I sure did."
"That explains it," he said with certainty.
"Explains what?"
"Why you are so much nicer than you were at the end of last semester."

I laughed at the time. I was much kinder and engaged and helpful than the end of the first semester when I felt stressed and drained and frustrated. Kids sense that stress and frustration. And it makes for more chaotic classrooms. I want to be a positive spot in these young people's lives. I want to be present.

3. I will take time for myself. I will sleep instead of checking lesson plans at night. I will read a book even if I have a pile laundry to do. I will go get my hair cut without worrying incessantly about the money I'm spending. I will have a drink with a friend after work because the grades can be entered tomorrow. I will see a movie every once in a while.

4. I will make time for friends. I know I need me time, but I also want to make sure I take time for more social interactions. There were so many days last semester that I didn't talk to anyone outside or work. This in unacceptable. I have a phone. I live in Lincoln and can meet up with others. I will stop making excuses and do something on Friday evening.

5. I will continue to learn and improve. This is my yearly resolution. I always, always want to keep growing.

Roxie and Sarah's Guide to Horror Movies Part 3

Section 7: Jeepers Creepers

This movie needs its own category because it's in the Top 5 movies for both of us. We own the movie (because Sarah bought it for me for Christmas one year) and have both watched it many, many times. It is genuinely creepy and dark and has the music to match. We understand that not a ton of people agree with us (It has a 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes). I think some of the cheesy parts of it are the best though. It is a movie that makes fun of itself with lines like "You know the part in scary movies when somebody does something really stupid, and everybody hates them for it? This is it." It has the zombie aspect of a fear of being eaten. There is the utter terror in the underground tunnel made of humans. It has even has a scary old lady and a scarecrow. I even like the sibling rivalry and moments of humor intermittent. It's a wonderful mesh of horror movie paradigms and we are in love.

Section 8: Sarah's Section

It is no secret in our house that I, Roxie, am the pickier of the two of us. If I like a horror movie, Sarah is guaranteed to like it as well, but if Sarah likes it, I've only got a 50/50 shot of sharing the sentiment. So, for Sarah's portion of this guide, we would like to include the following movies to our list: The Conjuring, Insidious and Insidious 3 (but NOT #2), The Ring, and Sinister. I didn't hate any of those movies, but I didn't find them scary like Sarah did. She definitely recommends them all.

Section 9: Thrillers

There are many movies that are listed as horror/thriller, but we tend to lean toward the horror part of this combination. There are exceptions though. The two of us went to the movie You're Next at the theater a few years ago and loved it. This wasn't scary to either of us, but the action was awesome. We were cheering on the main character the whole time. It was smart and kept us guessing despite the lack of scares. I like that a lot.

This is all we have for now. Thank you to Linda for the new recommendations. We will be checking them out very soon. If anyone else wants to suggest something new for us, we would love to hear it.

Roxie and Sarah's Guide to Horror Movies Part 2

Section 4: The Twist Ending

If you have ever watched a scary movie with me, you know I always assume there will be a twist at the end. For whatever reason, I always believe I am being deceived when I watch the horror genre. I am sometimes right on and sometimes way off. There is something fascinating about an entire movie being laid out to trick an audience that is magical. The best ones that come to mind are obviously The Sixth Sense and probably The Others. There are many, many others but those are two that really got me. I remember watching The Sixth Sense on VHS and having to rewatch it right away.


Section 5: Movies From Our Adolescence

When you ask people what movie scared them the most, I would say generally people answer with a movie they saw when they were younger. The teenage years are times of great impression. I always remember my mom talking about watching When a Stranger Calls when she was in high school and being too afraid to babysit again. For Sarah and I, two movies that came out in middle school hold very big scare factors for us, even though they might not be the scariest movies around. They were some of the first though and the experience was scary enough. One that stands out to both of us is the remake of The Amityville Horror with Ryan Reynolds. Not a particularly amazing movie for any reason, but it was a blockbuster when we were about 13-14 and we were scared.

Another one from that time in our lives is The Grudge. This was, in fact, my very first horror movie in the theater. I went with my mom and was scared more than I had ever been in my life. I remember my mom kept telling me that it wasn't real, but I think she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was me. To this day, that is the one and only scary movie that gave me nightmares. Weirdly, it wasn't the girl that scared me, but the little boy that meowed. I kept imagining him crouched in a corner staring at me. It gives me the heebie jeebies even now. Sarah and I have rewatched the movie a few times and still find it pretty terrifying despite all the people who think it is lousy. I can't even put my hair in front of my face and breathe heavily without our friend Hillary freaking out.


Section 6: The Use of Technology

As cell phones became an everyday item, you would think that terrifying situations would be harder to come by, but we have found the the incorporation of technology into scary movies sometimes can make an even scarier experience. In Section 1 about the Paranormal movies from our first post, I mentioned that I liked the aspect of security cameras used in Paranormal 2. On Netflix recently, Sarah and I watched a movie called The Den. It used webcams to spy on victims and was a thrilling movie. This movie led us to watch the movie Unfriended, which ended up also being a winner. That entire movie is shot as if you were looking at the screen of the main character's computer. The effect was enthralling. We would definitely recommend either of them to any scary movie buffs.


We watch way too many scary movies, so stay tuned for Part 3.

Roxie and Sarah's Guide to Horror Movies Part 1

My roommate Sarah and I really love horror movies. We are constantly scouring Redbox or Netflix for a new flick. We want to be scared. We want to our heart rates to go way up. We want something original that terrifies us. It becomes very frustrating to do this sometimes though.  When choosing a new movie, we can't rely on online lists or ratings because everything we have found online is bogus. We understand that everyone has different preferences and fears, so there is no way to make an "ultimate" list, but we are tired of mediocre movies like The Poltergeist and Let Me In topping every chart. So we have created our own guide.


Section 1: The Paranormals

These movies have such mixed reviews. So many people vehemently hate them, but the two of us are generally fans. It's all about the silence in these movies. The anticipation without dramatic music is magical. And we love all those nights that nothing happens at all. False anticipation can be just as great as a big scare. We rate them in this order:

-Paranormal Activity 3:

• This one wasn't as original, but it's all about the moving camera. What will be there when it turns back around?!? Also the little cubby hole in the girls' room is horror in my own life. I hate small creepy places like that. We weren't too happy with the ending, but it didn't matter.

-Paranormal Activity 2:

• More scares than the original. Love the security cam footage. That was new for us. The kitchen scene almost make me pee my pants.

-Paranormal Activity:

• The original still holds a very special place in our hearts, though it isn't the end-all-beat-all that many swear it is. It was new and amazing at the time, but watching it again shows how slow it can be at times.

-Paranormal Activity 4:

• This was was enjoyable, but not memorable. As video game fans, we did like the Xbox technology, but the story line made little to no sense.

-Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones:

• We didn't even want to see this one. It looked so terrible in the previews. After the 4th movie and the delay on the release of this one, we didn't even see it in theaters like all the previous movies. But then we rented it later and didn't hate it all that much. Another enjoyable film.

-Paranormal Activity Ghost Dimension.

• Please don't waste your money on this one. We got free tickets to the premiere, but otherwise this would have been a waste. The 3D was not used to its potential and it was just stupid. If you want a scare, watch the trailer. It is far better than the actual movie.

Section 2: Spanish Movies

They really know their horror in Spain. Seriously. Some of the best random Netflix horror we have watched have been low-budget Spanish films. The subtitles don't even get in the way of the scares. We watched one that was part of "Films to Keep You Awake." It was called Baby's Room and it scared the crap out of us. It was all about seeing someone on the video baby monitor. We watched this one time over three years ago and we still talk about it to this day.

Another one that is available on Netflix now is The House at the End of Time. It is kind of trippy with all the time warp stuff, but we enjoyed it. It was original and, as I said before, that is key for us. After seeing so many, we predict stuff before it happens and that one kept up guessing.


Section 3: Horror/Comedy

This is a very recent trend where the genres of comedy and horror intertwine. The first one I saw was The Cabin in the Woods, and I wasn't sure if it was intentionally funny or not for about half the movie. Now I've watched it a few time and love it. It is humor that really appeals to horror movie buffs like us.

Very recently, the two of us went to the theater to see The Visit. My middle school students were raving about it and the Comedy Horror genre listed online for it intrigued me. We loved it. We were laughing aloud and a few minutes later crouched low in our seats. It was totally weird (written by M. Night Shylaman, so what do you expect) but unexpected and refreshing. I did predict the ending at the beginning and gave it away to Sarah, so it's surprising that we liked it so much, but we would both recommend it.


We have a lot more to say on this topic. To be continued...

When Did Trailers Become Entire Movies?

Movie trailers used to spark an interest. It would be 30 seconds of mystery with a few glimpses of an actor or actress you knew and you'd have to see the movie to find out the rest. The last time I went to a movie, I asked a friend to go. She asked me "What's it about?" And I was able to tell her the entire plot line without ever having seen the movie. Why were we even going to see it?

Trailers have started to become 3 whole minutes, the length of short films. The worst part about this trend is sometimes the trailers are better than the movies. A few weeks ago, my roommate and I saw the most recent Paranormal Activity movie and this is the second one in a row that had scenes in the trailer that weren't even in the movie (good scenes I might add!). Trailers now give away big reveals before the movie even starts and, in comedies, the biggest laughs become only chuckles because you've heard it 20 times on TV before going to the theater.

This is my rant of the day. I'm just sick of this trend. Leave some mystery in. Make me want to know more. In the words of my roommate, "Is that something that people really want?" Maybe it is. Maybe we can't take a gamble on a movie anymore. I'm guilty of looking up ratings beforehand instead of just judging for myself. Or maybe we aren't patient enough to wait for the movie. I'm not sure. But I want it to stop. Come on, Hollywood.

What's In a Name?

I remember when I was a kid, my mom had a book full of names and their definitions and origins. I used to flip through that book all the time, saying name aloud and writing them down. Even though I am awkward when meeting new people, I love learning new people's names. I like both incredibly unique names and soundly traditional ones. I love how some siblings have such similar names and how some are insanely different. I love nicknames. I almost never forget a name and knew all of my students' names by the end of the first week of school. On the flip side, I hate when someone spells or pronounces a name wrong. Of course, I understand if you don't know that person yet. But when it's your cousin or friend or student, a lack of knowledge for their name means you didn't care to really get to know them. I've seen people write "happy birthday" on Facebook walls and spell the name wrong. It's on the same page! It makes me cringe.

But I know some of you are rolling your eyes right now. "What does it matter?" "I don't care when someone spells my name wrong." So here's a story for you:

 There is a student at my school who has a lot of behavioral problems. He is sent to the office or our "strategy room" several times a week. He usually doesn't turn assignments in and often doesn't work in class. But, for some reason, about the 2nd week of school, he started coming into my class and giving me a high-five each day. He would actually work if I came over and asked him. One day, as he was heading to his next class, I thanked him for working hard that day and he turned to me and said, "Miss Siel...it's really cool that you call me KB." "Well, it's a really cool name," I replied. He laughed and walked away.

You see, KB is this student's initials. But that is the name he wrote on his folder the first day of school. It's the name his friends holler after him in the hallway. Although it isn't the name listed on the roster, I knew that was what he must prefer to be called, so I called him that. And that small thing must have showed him I cared about him as a person. Of course, this is not a miracle solution. I'm also not the only teacher who calls him by this name. I am sure, though, that it was the recognition of KB's "real" name that helped me gain his trust.

Some Poetry for Your Soul

In the summer of 2010, less than a month after graduating from high school, I met a man named Gary Dop in a Summer Honors Creative Writing class. He was only my teacher for 10 days, but he made a major impact on my life. He gave me assurance in both my writing ability and my leadership skills at a time when I wasn't sure about anything in my life. He made me laugh and less than a minute later made me think deeply. He reminded me of the beauty in words and revealed such honesty in his poetry. So it shouldn't be any surprise that this year, with only 91 pages, he has touched my life again.

Gary Dop published his first book of poetry called Father, Child, Water this year. This book was filled with moments of delightful humor, deep pulls at your heartstrings, and insightful moments of what it is to be human. Even if you are not normally a reader of poetry, I can assure you at least one of his poems will speak directly to you. Dop uses clear images and plain speech to illustrate much deeper fears and hopes. It really is quite incredible. Just like back in 2010, I am astounded by the honesty in his poems. I was particularly fond of the poems "Guys Like Me"  and "A Brief Argument" that burst through with bravery and wit to challenge standards of masculinity. Even the poem that is, as a whole, the opposite of honesty, a poem created purely from a moment of imagination titled "Amish Man in the Andy Warhol Museum" (which is my personal favorite poem in the book) hits you at the end with honest confession. "But I wanted a poem. My lying, line by line, began/ as he disappeared down the uncobbled street, my back/ to Warhol's head: great, terrible, and looking down." 

Dop has an amazing ability to take small moments like buying a bomb pop at an ice cream truck or a mowing lawns in order to buy Cool Ranch Doritos and paint them into something absolutely extraordinary. I can't say enough about this poetry collection. My own book is full of marks and tabs and sticky notes and each time I read a poem again, I am struck by something new. I haven't written anything in a long time except this blog, but Dop's poems have inspired an energy in me.