tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90608132024-03-23T13:01:34.592-05:00Smooth VerbiageSeppuku for people who can't be bothered to do itMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.comBlogger184125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-41617746343118021012009-04-23T17:15:00.002-05:002009-04-23T17:17:52.510-05:00CripplesBlind people on the subway are really fucking annoying. They should just stay home with their fucking dogs. Maybe train some monkeys to do their shopping.Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-78450899227693823822009-04-09T10:09:00.002-05:002009-04-09T10:27:21.014-05:00Things that can go fuck themselvesTVYouTubeThe OnionEsquire MagazineAstrologyWomen between the ages of 18 and 25DreamWorks EntertainmentThe Decembrists, Arcade Fire, and all similar whiney shitRecyclingThe MTAThe Obama administrationMy dishesChinese foodSex columnistsSUVs and minivans, but not semis and RVsSleepOwning a catFailure to signal a turn while drivingWinterCouponsBank of AmericaDeal 3 SolitaireMotorcyclists under the Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-32505399206483788452009-03-16T16:27:00.003-05:002009-03-16T17:20:53.080-05:00You enjoy my twitterI hate Facebook and MySpace, but, even though it's still evil social networking, I am so far enjoying Twitter. Username = Mu sta pha Mon d. (sans spaces. can you believe I'm getting spam on that shit?)Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-84443597699932524252009-03-14T12:33:00.002-05:002009-03-14T13:06:45.258-05:00You know why I don't want to date her?Because she's got thin lips. She's clever. Witty, even. Her lips say fun things. And she is otherwise pretty. So how unfair is it to give her these thin, non-inviting lips? My lips would like totally smother her lips. Her lips just aren't competitive in the juicy kissing arena. It's unfair. But it's also my biological imperative to seek out fuller and fleshier playgrounds.Thus I am stalking the Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-64232592919300698582009-03-14T12:17:00.004-05:002009-03-14T12:33:33.257-05:00The TeachingPeople have said, Say something about the teaching! In response, I have so far said nothing about the teaching. It is a mixed bag, the teaching, and I don't want to talk about it, except to say that it is consuming my brain since grades are due Friday and I have procrastinated so much on them that the anxiety of facing the mountain of papers that must be read has become a nearly physical barrier Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-68561906777367022792008-06-15T21:30:00.003-05:002008-06-15T21:32:52.727-05:00The Shit 4 Grains Vegan Cafe...is the name of the business I would start if I were vegan or in the food industry.Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-89383262533824675592008-06-15T20:21:00.002-05:002008-06-15T21:10:01.164-05:00The D&DI forget who, but someone pointed me to meetup.com, which is a cool place for finding groups of people in the city to, uh, meetup with and do stuff. So today I met up with some peeps doing a demo of the new D&D 4E rules. The meetup was held at this cool store in Brooklyn called King Games. The place runs on a clever business plan: provide a huge space full of tables for D&D and MtG and other nerdMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-90330179832122472212008-06-09T13:48:00.002-05:002008-06-09T14:01:49.352-05:00If I were an art teacher...I'd use these two sites in a lesson: (1) Classics in LEGO ; (2) Far Side made real.Since I'm not an art teacher, I can't offer a sound pedagogical justification for why I'd use those in a lesson except to say that I think "imitation by variation" is a great way to start learning stuff. I guess you can think of it as the equivalent of an English lesson where students rip off Holden Caulfield's Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-78713709168700502312008-04-06T15:17:00.003-05:002008-04-06T15:46:32.823-05:00Badass at the Bar: The Rules (and Suggestions)Arrive alone. Do not make eye contact with anyone except the bartender. If the bartender is female, smile at her, but never smile at anybody else. Order whiskey. But do not order "whiskey" -- order by name. For example, say to the bartender, "Maker's Mark." Order it neat. No water on the side. No soda within five feet of you. Do not answer your cell phone. The ringer should be off. Do not check Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-24986123229322995072008-03-30T11:50:00.002-05:002008-03-30T12:22:41.812-05:00Lazy SundayWhat to do with my lazy day? I have not showered and I have not been out of the apartment yet today. I'm also low on food, so at least one of those two things is likely to change before long. School Report:Last week was my first week at the Middle School. My cooperating teacher has only 7th graders. They're awesome. They don't hate everything yet, and they still do goofy shit (like sneaking Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-48253398658953201532008-03-19T21:08:00.002-05:002008-03-19T21:56:32.082-05:00Long long long long long long overdue updateFive minutes ago I finished commenting on the last of the papers for my half-semester of student teaching at a high school. Ninth graders. What a fucking nightmare. I now know what it's like to teach in a school where the teachers and administrators have no idea how to handle the students. No rules are enforced and there are no consequences for anything. Everything is punishment oriented, and theMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-82930474009835054872008-01-02T16:33:00.000-05:002008-01-02T16:51:40.415-05:00Moves & DebtI am planning to do my student teaching in the city. The paperwork is filled out, I've been accepted to the SUNY Urban Teacher Education Center (SUTEC) program, and all I have left to do is find an apartment. It's the apartment that's killing me. Because I don't live in the city, and because I have shit to do and can't travel into the city every day, I can't successfully do the Craig's List thingMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-75941920690771093282007-11-16T14:07:00.000-05:002007-11-16T14:10:34.090-05:00Favorite Person AwardI was picking up my Little Brother from his group home the other day, and one of the other kids came up to me and said, "You're a good Big Brother, Nick never stops talking about you." I said, "That's great to hear." And then one of the staff who runs the group home said, "You're definitely Nick's favorite person." And it's not even Christmas yet!Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-9214167189225028252007-11-13T20:28:00.000-05:002007-11-13T20:39:40.322-05:00School RebellionI'm not sure what the deal is, but I'm annoyed with school this semester. Maybe it's from doing so much of it so quickly. I've been drowning in assignments, getting sick every ten seconds, and half-assing my work. My GPA is taking a pounding. I don't think I'll wind up with anything below a B+, put my GPA until now has been 4.0. It would have been nice to keep it up there, but I'm completely Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-69802458711560347912007-10-25T20:55:00.001-05:002007-10-25T21:03:49.940-05:00The Love Song of ./ Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is one of my favorite poems. But it's not the kind of favorite poem that I really want to tell people is my favorite poem. As favorite poems go, it's unremarkable. So many English teachers assign Prufrock to so many students, so many of whom learn to love Prufrock and then go on to become English teachers assigning Prufrock to their students who become PrufrockMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-89062046662099444962007-10-20T16:07:00.000-05:002007-10-20T16:20:46.006-05:005K O.K.!Ran my first 5K this morning. It was pretty awesome. I placed 165 of 303(ish -- I forget the exact number already), with a time of 27:30 (just under a 9 minute mile), 11th place (probably last) for my age group (30-34). Many of the people there were Serious Runners, coming in with times 10 minutes or more faster than me. Still, I'm pleased with my performance. In fact, I think I could have shavedMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-1621411522583486882007-08-31T09:51:00.000-05:002007-08-31T10:02:33.163-05:00Breaking up is getting easier to doI am planning to break up with the current woman. I am going to wait until a little bit after her birthday (on Monday, the 4th), and then that's going to be it. Reasons for the breakup essentially come down to her cooling off on me way too fast (though things in the beginning were unexpectedly hot, so clichés about candles apply)--she's become non-expressive in terms of both affection and Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-83347838783486913422007-08-30T20:37:00.000-05:002007-08-30T20:46:44.627-05:00MucusPresently, I have a cold. It's an annoying cold because it's not bad enough to keep me drugged up and bedridden, and not tame enough that I can go about my day feeling only minor inconvenience. Instead, it's lingering in this middle zone of distracting illness. Every time I move, my nose runs. If I stand up, my sinuses drain and it runs worse. If I sit down, my sinuses clog and I can't breathe. Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-55876596275193779142007-08-26T06:54:00.000-05:002007-08-26T07:07:09.667-05:00The OfficeI'm almost finished with the first disc of the first season of The Office. The show trades a little too heavily on people being stupid, which is what I dislike about Seinfeld. (I blame Seinfeld for all the sins of our current administration. Americans, apparently, love to watch people be mean and idiotic, so no wonder we get 8 years of Dubya -- one year shy of the full Seinfeld run.) Slowly, but Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-82782169988013746342007-08-20T16:33:00.000-05:002007-08-20T16:58:25.549-05:00The Invasion (of My Car)Last night I saw The Invasion, which is supposed to be an update of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I saw Body Snatchers when I was a kid, and I found it freaky, creepy, and scary. The Invasion, however, was none of those things. It was dull. No suspense; not even a good "Boo!" It was also a bizarre vehicle for a right-wing political message. See, what's happening in The Invasion, is that Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-31958548118111291512007-08-10T10:59:00.000-05:002007-08-10T11:00:41.504-05:00FrabjousDid you know this was a word? I did not. It is an awesome, awesome word.Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-6252955331425665472007-07-25T20:57:00.000-05:002007-07-25T21:11:56.775-05:00PotterNow for the obligatory Harry Potter review. In a nutshell, I was unimpressed, borderline unsatisfied. I don't feel like ranting on too long about it, and I don't want to give away any spoilers for those still reading. Basically, I think the first 500+ pages are boring and largely unnecessary. The last 250 or so are where the good stuff is, where the things we've been waiting to have addressed Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-47001468724652241202007-07-18T15:19:00.000-05:002007-07-18T15:27:56.061-05:00The 215 barrierToday I weigh 215 pounds. This is not the first time I've achieved this weight. In fact, I think I've been lighter. But, for the most part, this is where I usually start to eat a lot of junk food and go back up to around 218. I yo-yo three to five pounds pretty consistently. However, I have gained a lot of muscle, so I'm betting my actual body fat percentage is significantly down from, oh, let's Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-57761363877386807402007-06-06T12:12:00.000-05:002007-06-06T13:08:04.297-05:00Summer Bonus Package! One long post about assorted stuff, divided up for you to read comfortably and easily over several days.On Saturday (the 9th) I am going going back back to Cali Cali, this time to the north instead of the south. The trip to the south (Palm Springs, Lake Arrowhead, and some other places), was fantastic. I stayed in some incredible houses (courtesy of friends of friends), met a lot of great people (said friends of friends) ate a ton of fattening food (re: friends of friends and the occasional MexicanMustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060813.post-74261018011698997462007-05-17T14:32:00.000-05:002007-05-17T15:02:54.133-05:00The LASTFor those who don't know, the LAST is the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test, which is something all wanna-be NY teachers have to pass in order to get certified. I took it in January and got my scores today: 267 out of 300, which is passing (minimum passing score is 220). The test is composed roughly of five sections: Science/Math/Tech, History/Social Science, Art/Humanities, Communication/Research. Mustapha Mondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03763165524438673266noreply@blogger.com2