APUSH

Francis Manuel, an APUSH 06-08 survivor, boldly stated recently that,"You will never be as good as last year's class".
Can he be proven wrong?

Congratulations!!

I randomly checked the blog today and realized my devoted bloggers are still checking in once in a while. So, I will do one more post for the APUSH 06-08 group.
First and foremost, congrats on your AP exams. You all did a great job and I am very proud of you.
Secondly, Happy Late Birthday America! I hope you had a very patriotic 4th and thought of all of the great ones- Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, etc. Speaking of birthdays, Alex Trebek is 68!!! Wow. Still looks a dashing forty-something to me.
Very sad about Estelle Getty. May she always live in on in our Golden Girls memories.
Hope you are all having a great summer. I finished summer school and took a trip to Chicago. Very cool city. No real remanent of the gangster past but I did find an exciting historical connection while we were out walking one night. My friends called me a big history nerd but I took the picture anyway. First person to tell me the reference of this picture gets an ice cream on me at Reds!
Take care,
Ms. Major
P.S. The other pictures are also from my trip to Chicago. Got to love the SoPo Grill! Plus, they were using Idaho potatoes!! I am actually headed out to Idaho next week. Can't wait!

More Peaks!!!

APUSH loves Peaks!!!!

(Are you so proud of me that I figured out how to put my pictures from my camera onto my computer? It took me like five hours to figure it out but I did it!)

Peaks!!!!

I had such a ball today and I hope that you did too. We pushed through the bad weather and really enjoyed our lawn game olympics. You were so great at the museum too!!! So, in honor of Peaks, what were your top 5 favorite activities/events of the day? It doesn't have to be a top 5 but thought I could stick with our Top 5 theme.
So...here are mine:
1. MY CAMERA!!!!! (Of course! Thanks again you guys.)
2. Starting our day on the beach doing a good group shot.
3. Seeing you guys interact with Liz. (She had a great time by the way)
4. Watching you guys play sports with competitiveness but also with laughter.
5. MY CAMERA!!!!!!
P.S.Worst part of the trip...NO JOE JONES!

Fears

So, sorry I slacked last week with the blog. I think the three day weekend threw me off for the whole rest of the week. Anyway, time for another list. This one isn't as happy but still interesting I think. What are your top 5 fears? Or what scares you? I know those are two different items but let's try it out.

Here are mine:
1. Being trapped in an elevator
2. Bridges
3. Hurting/disappointing the people in my life
4. The Boogie Man (I often check behind the shower curtain, under my bed, in my closest, etc. making sure no one is hiding, ready to attack me)
5. Boring my students so much they begin to hate history

Here Wii Go!

Wii have a lot of fun afterschool during a fast-paced-all-are-welcome Wii sesh. Ryan, Joe, a bunch of froshies and my favorite student, Francis, came by and wii had lots of fun. Jealous? Come next time.

Happy Birthday Kirsten!

I am such a big jerk. Today was Kirsten's birthday and we didn't sing to her!! Please wish her well if you see her or talk to her on-line! We will have to make up for it on Thursday but until then I hope you had a good one Kirsten.
Happy Birthday to you!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!
~Ms.Major

Doing My Head In

It's that time again....another top 5 list. This time I would love to hear about your pet peeves. Now, again, please be appropriate and no comments that might hurt someone's feelings. For example,I would probably start crying if I read, "Ms. Major's spelling mistakes".
So, what drives you batty? What "does your head in"? (Doing my head in is an English term and my mom uses it way too much!)
~Major

I am a bit OCD so I have a lot of pet peeves but I think these are my big ones.
Major's Top 5:
1. People who don't use their blinkers and then come to a complete stop before making a turn. Oh man...that really gets my road rage going.
2. People who interrupt me in mid-sentence as I am speaking.
3. People who not only answer but also talk on their cellphone while at the movie theater. (Any kind of noise at the movie theaters drives me batty)
4. People who litter. I used to get so mad at my friends in high school for littering so I told them to give their trash to me. I would come home with all kinds of junk in my pockets. Hey, I was green even before it became cool!
5. People who mess up my alphabetized cd and movie collections.

In college my pet peeve would be the guys who when I introduced myself as Major would respond, "So...what's your major, Major?" and then laugh really hard. Yeah, good one. Never heard that one before!!!

P.S. Again-remember to be appropriate! I have the power of delete and as you have seen, I will use it.

Top 5 Songs

It was suggested that I put out more of the "TOP 5" lists so here goes. What are your 5 favorite songs. Not bands, singers, etc, but songs. I think we can easily do favorite bands but songs are little different because you have to think about not only the sound but also lyrics.
Here are mine:
1. Never Let Me Down Again-Depeche Mode. Yep, this is actually my favorite song of all time. It is a total 80s New Wave song and I loved Depeche Mode when I was in junior high.
2. Two Step-Dave Matthews Band. You all know I love Dave Matthews Band and this is probably my favorite song of theirs. It has one of my favorite lines in a song, "Celebrate we will because life is short but sweet for certain". It is about making it through this world and relying on others love and support to get you through it.
3. Clocks-Coldplay. My other favorite is Coldplay and this is the song that really got me interested in them. The use of the piano throughout the song is so powerful. I can listen to this song over and over.
4. You Better Go Now-Billie Holiday. One of my other favorite movies is called Rocket Gibraltar and all the songs in the film are Billie Holiday. When I watched this movie it was the first time I had heard Billie Holiday and I fell right in love with her voice.
5. Out of Control (State of Emotion)-Kenna. This is a song that I just discovered this year and I love it. It is about how sometimes you have so much going on in your life you feel like you head is going to explode. I think we all have those moments.

Honorable Mention-Idaho by Josh Ritter. This is my friend from high school and he is amazing. Plus the song is about how great Idaho is and needing to get home to Idaho so of course I love it.

So, your turn. Oh, and you don't have to explain them like I did. I just thought I would give you some insight.
See you on Tuesday!

The Misadventures of APUSH

I hope everyone is having a good weekend and you enjoyed the nice weather we had this morning. I went to the driving range and hit some golf balls. It was awesome!
So, Francis, Ryan, Mark, Jake, and Sunshine tried to come harass me at the J.Crew on Saturday only to discover that they (my bosses) had sent me home two hours early. I don't think that deterred them from having a good time and raising havoc in Freeport. Later they met up with their pal Joe Jones at the local pick up joint, Friendly's. Then from there I think they headed to my favorite place-Target. That's all I got of the story. I am sure you boys have lots of tales and I can't wait to hear about them.
~Major
P.S. Did you buy anything at J.Crew?

Kind of lame

So, I am trying to think of a new blog posting and I am having a hard time. Thanks to Sunshine for helping me create a profile picture. (I like your profile picture by the way)This is a picture from last May when I made my very own bookcase! Yep, I made it from scratch. I had a lot of help from a friend but I am still pretty proud.
Nice collage of not so nice pictures of me Sean. Not so sure anyone really wants to wear a shirt with those scary photos but we will see.
So, I have decided to dedicate this blog to Shel Silverstein, the poet. I always loved him as a kid and his crazy poems. Here are a few of my favories.

Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
From one little did.

The Voice

There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
"I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong."
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What's right for you-just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.

Do you have any of your own favorites?

Shout out to Blue

So Liz took the kittens today to see the vet so they could have a check up. They got shots and what not but bad news is Blue might have to lose an eye. His infection is so bad his left eye might be lost for good. So sad. But he is a fighter and you would never know he can only see out of one eye. We are going to try one last possibility with some crazy ointment but if it doesn't work I think we will have to change his name to One Eyed Willy. (That is a shout out to one of my favorite movies-Goonies. In case you didn't get it)
Think happy thoughts for Blue!
Major
P.S. Blue is the dark grey one in the picture. And no, that is not Liz. That is our old roommate Ziegler.

APUSH Study Sessions

Hey! Hey!
So I dropped off my most recent roll of film and to my surprise there were a lot of APUSH study session pictures. I won't share them all but here are a few highlights. A shout out again to Elisabeth, Leah, Jake, Kevin and Joe Jones. The only folks to make it to every unit offered. You guys rock!
See you on Friday!
Major
P.S. Can you tell which pictures were taken when Joe Jones stole my camera.

Please do not try this at home

Check out this guy who actually TATTOOED APUSH on his arm. Wow! Now that is dedication!!! Unbelievable.

Top 5

I got on the subject of movies today while talking to APUSH superstars notorious j.o.e. and Ry-dawg. (Yes, I am not cool enough to use nicknames but I have to pretend) Anyway, it got me thinking about what movies would be in my top 5 of all time. So, here is my list. First let me stipulate that these are not necessarily the best films that have ever been made. They either just make me smile, remind me of happy events in my life, or are movies I could watch over and over and over.
So here goes:
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Good Will Hunting
4. The Goonies
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's

So what are yours???

APUSH Across the Country

So as I was looking for some pictures for the last blog, I found some interesting images from other APUSH classes across the country. Check out the t-shirt one class even made up. Wouldn't you want a t-shirt with my crazy mug on it? I think we should look into it.
~Major Pain

Yahoo!!!!

Congratulations to all of my wonderful APUSHers. I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments and hard work these past two years. You are all amazing young adults and I am so thankful I had the opportunity to work with you.
So, now that the big, bad test is over, let's have some fun on the blog. Today's topic: Nicholas Cage and why he is the man. Discuss

Alright, we are back!

Sorry for the hiatus of the APUSH blog. I was being a blogging slob but it is back and in full affect! Hope you are all enjoying the current unit and you aren't getting too depressed. It is a time period that will try the nation but also bring families and communities closer together. As we end this unit, I would like you to look at one more important cultural "leader" from the time period, Woody Guthrie. Do some "googling" and figure out what this man was all about. What was his profession? Political beliefs? Topics he wrote about? If he were the final Jeopardy question, what would you need to know about him to win? Once you have done your research, post your interesting stories, random trivia, and other tidbits found about this man under the comment section. Let's see what you can dig up! Bragging rights, APUSH glory, and Student of the Week are at stake.
Good luck!
~Ms. Major
P.S. Here is a song of his to get you going. Read to find out what happened to his gal. Poor guy!

Dust Bowl Blues by Woody Guthrie
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues,
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues,
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again.
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues,
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues,
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see the sky.

I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing,
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing,
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your water off.

I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down,
I've seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down,
Buried my tractor six feet underground.

Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand,
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand.

I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl,
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl,
When you get that dust pneumony, boy, it's time to go.

I had a gal, and she was young and sweet,
I had a gal, and she was young and sweet,
But a dust storm buried her sixteen hundred feet.

She was a good gal, long, tall and stout,
Yes, she was a good gal, long, tall and stout,
I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darlin' out.

These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know,
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know,
Buried head over heels in the black old dust, I had to pack up and go.
An' I just blowed in, an' I'll soon blow out again.