seagulls on the radio?

For years ... as in since the 8th grade ... one of my radio presets has been set to 107.7 KSYZ. Back when I started listening, it was called "Sunny 108" and played hits from the 70's, 80's, and 90's (and maybe 60's ... I can't remember anymore). Shortly after I started listening, the "Sunny 108" moniker disappeared, and it just became known as 107.7 KSYZ. Also, at some point--maybe around the turn of the century?--the 70's music disappeared, and the station played music from "the 80's, 90's, and today."

On Monday morning, I flipped over to KSYZ while driving in to work. Instead of Matt & Julia on the morning show, I heard ... waves and seagulls??? I didn't give it too much thought beyond "that's odd ...", and I changed the station. The next day, I heard a voiceover between songs that said "107.7--The Island." I thought it was a stupid name for a radio station in Nebraska, though I get that it's playing off of Grand Island. Then tonight I learned that they fired Matt & Julia! Evidently, the station is changing formats, and it's now going to be geared toward older women. That's fine by me, as I've been enjoying the music, but did they really have to can Matt & Julia??? (And did they have to do it last Friday? That's cold.)

cinematic survey

I recently came to the realization that I have too many movies. If I watched one of my movies every night, it would take me more than five months to get through them all! So I decided to try an experiment: I'm going to watch each of my movies in alphabetical order, jot down my reactions, and then decide whether to keep or sell the movie. I began a couple weeks ago and have made it through the numbers and partway through the A's. I've started a blog to track my progress: cinematicsurvey.blogspot.com. Feel free to check it out, but be sure to keep checking this blog, too!

habla ingles?

I realized last night that I haven't talked about tutoring in a while. The girl I had been tutoring had to quit because of her schedule, so then I was matched with Walter. We've met nine times now, and I can see a definite improvement in his English. It's fun to work with him because he wants to become fluent in English, not just learn enough to get by. He brings questions, does his homework, and works really hard to understand the concepts I'm teaching. His goals are to get his GED and become an American citizen, and I think he's got the drive to do it!

going on a voyage?

This has me scared. My favorite Narnia book is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I loved the BBC adaptation. As for the Hollywood movies, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was bearable, but Prince Caspian showed little resemblance to the story, and I'm nervous about what they'll do to Voyage. Go here to read my thoughts on Prince Caspian after I saw it the first--and only--time.

today i . . .

• got up earlier than I have in months. Thanks, school.
• drank delicious French Vanilla coffee sent to us by Val's roommates.
• drank delicious Vietnamese coffee brought in by the principal.
• met with our new yearbook rep. He introduced me to an online design program that could make my life a whole lot simpler.
  
• googled a phrase I thought was from a Bible verse. Nope! It was from a song we sang at CCC!
• went to a Student Council meeting. Yup, the girl who never had any interest whatsoever in student government is now the StuCo sponsor!
• taught my first with-a-textbook reading lesson of the year. Drove one poor student over the edge--he couldn't understand the story at all!
• watched a really funny Reba episode. Seriously, if you need a laugh, find Reba!
• ate a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. Not as awesome as I'd hoped.
• went back to school for the annual back-to-school night where parents walk through their students' schedules.
• absolutely roasted in the gym. Decided to be thankful I only had to spend 20 minutes there instead of an entire volleyball practice.
• had a very awkward session with the parents of my 6th hour yearbook students. I went through my little spiel, answered a couple questions, then just stood there for four minutes while everyone looked through copies of last year's yearbook.
  
• came home to an unbearably humid apartment. Immediately turned on the air conditioning.
• finally, after putting up with the chorus of "Who Can Compare" running through my head all day, decided to buy the cd. Found it online--I thought I'd have to order it from the church--and downloaded it immediately.
• realized how much I miss CCC and decided that Val and I need to plan a trip to Winona Lake.
• looked at the clock, did the math for how much sleep I could get if I went to bed immediately, and proceeded to go on facebook.
  

i'm a bookworm

I love reading, but I don't do it nearly enough. It's just too easy to sit down and flip on the television. I usually plan to do more reading than I actually end up doing. Case in point, our recent road trip. I packed quite ambitiously--I had at least 10 books crammed into my bag. In two weeks, I read a grand total of . . . ONE. (Take Two by Karen Kingsbury) I don't regret not reading more--either the view was too beautiful to ignore, or I was the one driving.

When I got home, I hit the ground running. (Insert Keith Urban's voice here: "I'd hit the ground, I'd hit the ground running . . .") When I wasn't working, I was doing things like, oh, having a What I Like About You marathon with Val, messing around on my new computer, and helping Steph with her college class.

That all changed last Tuesday night. I had just received my latest book review blogger book, and I started reading it at midnight. At 1:45, I had to force myself to put it down! I finished it right after work. A few days later, I started in on the next book, and it's been like that for a week--one book after another!

I've just finished my fourth book since that one, and I'm starting on my fifth. I can't remember the last time I read this voraciously, and I'm loving it!

Reading list:

• A Man of His Word (you know by now that I loved it!)
  
• Nothing but Trouble (another enjoyable Susan May Warren book. It surprised me by not wrapping everything up neatly, but then I realized it's the first in a series.)
  
• Shadows of Lancaster County (very interesting, if not utterly captivating)
  
• Letters from the Enemy (one of Susan May Warren's earlier efforts. The writing isn't as engaging as her more recent books, but her incredibly clear presentation of the gospel--without being overly "preachy"--makes it worth the read)
  
• The Convenient Groom (oh, my. I bought this book for one reason--it has a story line I've always been partial to. They marry and then fall in love. Sort of. Some twists I wasn't expecting, but I loved every minute I spent reading it.)
  
• The Time Traveler's Wife (I decided I needed to read the book before seeing the movie. Since it deals with time, I fully expect to enjoy it.)
  
  
  

dear netflix,

I've been a customer for two years now. You sucked me in with that free two-week trial, and I've never looked back. I love the "watch now" feature (though back before you made that deal with Starz, the choices were pretty sparse), and I've discovered some great TV shows that I wouldn't otherwise have seen (Jericho, The Monarch of the Glen).

I've always been happy with your service. Yeah, it bugs me that it takes two days for you to get a movie back from me, even though it only takes one day for me to get it from you, but that's probably more the USPS's fault than yours. Recently, however, something big did happen . . . your customer service blew me away! See, back in May, I moved Valkyrie to the top of my queue, and for a month, it wasn't available. Then, out of the blue, I got an email from you saying that since the movie wasn't available from my nearest shipping facility, you were sending it from another facility . . . and in the meantime, you'd send me the next movie in my queue. So for a few days, I had two movies even though I'm on the one-at-a-time plan. (Ironically, both were WWII movies--the other was Swing Kids.)

Last week, it happened again. I'd been wanting to see Taken for months, and after the Valkyrie incident, I decided to move Taken to the top of the queue to see what would happen. Sure enough, after being at the top and unavailable for a month, you sent it to me, along with another movie (which is perhaps too embarrassing to name here). But here's the thing--I was on vacation for two weeks, and I took my current movie with me, so it's not like you were shipping me movies for most of the time that Taken was at the top!

You've just announced that deal with ABC/Disney which adds to the value of your service, I love the convenience of both the instant viewing and the untimed rentals, and then with this type of customer service, well, let's just say I won't be canceling my membership anytime soon!

Love,
Becky

***I wrote this a few weeks ago but decided it made me sound too nerdy, so I didn't post it. But Jen recently asked why I love Netflix, so here it is!