Drew needs to find a different job, because the furniture installation business is too erratic (which is the same reason why Zach left it and found something else). Yesterday morning Zach must've been thinking about that as he and Drew stood in the kitchen drinking coffee, because he said, "Have you made any money lately?"
"Yeah," Drew answered. "Yesterday I busked with my guitar at the park."
"People paid you?"
"Well, I wasn't actually doing it to be paid. I was just making music with Brady, my friend from school, but there was a group of people who stopped and gave me all the money they had."
"How much?"
"Eight dollars.”
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Friday, March 30, 2018
Friday
Today Baylee had to write a short story for school, but she didn't really want to. "Can't I just write about that time I gave Drew a Cory in the House poster, and he hated it and took it off his wall?" she asked.
"Well, it's not supposed to be true. The point is it's creative writing," I answered.
"I don't have much of an imagination, though."
"Whatever you write will be fine."
"Okay, you're right. I mean, I guess I am pretty great at poems, so this should be fine, too."
She meant that as a joke, and I did chuckle, because everyone in our family, including her, knows that poetry writing is not her forte. Last month she had to write one, and she literally used it to torture Drew by following him around and reading it to him while he cringed.
Here it is:
My home is like a robin's nest,
cozy and warm and full of rest.
With lots of windows, lots of trees,
lots of people on their knees.
This house is what I grew to know,
through summer, spring, fall, and snow.
My room was always my quiet, safe space.
A great spot to lay my face.
Hopefully, years later, I can come back,
and go to the kitchen and grab a snack.
For always this place will be my home,
not just some weird garden gnome.
Mike goes into work so early that's it's still night for all intents and purposes, which means a lot of times I'm barely awake and kind of out of it when he kisses me goodbye. This morning, though, I outdid myself. I started to talk to him about Captain America, and when he said that he didn't understand, I insisted that he rewind. I hadn’t quite come all the way out of my dream yet.
Yesterday my mom sent me this beautiful, handmade table runner for my birthday. I love it. It's almost too nice to actually use.
"Well, it's not supposed to be true. The point is it's creative writing," I answered.
"I don't have much of an imagination, though."
"Whatever you write will be fine."
"Okay, you're right. I mean, I guess I am pretty great at poems, so this should be fine, too."
She meant that as a joke, and I did chuckle, because everyone in our family, including her, knows that poetry writing is not her forte. Last month she had to write one, and she literally used it to torture Drew by following him around and reading it to him while he cringed.
Here it is:
My home is like a robin's nest,
cozy and warm and full of rest.
With lots of windows, lots of trees,
lots of people on their knees.
This house is what I grew to know,
through summer, spring, fall, and snow.
My room was always my quiet, safe space.
A great spot to lay my face.
Hopefully, years later, I can come back,
and go to the kitchen and grab a snack.
For always this place will be my home,
not just some weird garden gnome.
Mike goes into work so early that's it's still night for all intents and purposes, which means a lot of times I'm barely awake and kind of out of it when he kisses me goodbye. This morning, though, I outdid myself. I started to talk to him about Captain America, and when he said that he didn't understand, I insisted that he rewind. I hadn’t quite come all the way out of my dream yet.
Yesterday my mom sent me this beautiful, handmade table runner for my birthday. I love it. It's almost too nice to actually use.
PS: Baylee's short story turned out to be pretty darn good!
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Thursday
I saw this in my Instagram feed yesterday and it made me laugh.
It reminded me of a time when I was in college, and I showed up to a Bible professor’s class wearing jeans with big holes in the knees. Dr. DeWitt was normally the low-key sort, but that particular day when I walked into his classroom he told me that my ripped jeans showed a lack of respect. He went on about it for awhile, too. There was a dress code, and I was probably breaking it, so he had a point. Also, I happened to be eating a handful of bacon out of a napkin at the time (because the class was right after breakfast), and that didn't help the situation at all. It just made me look even more like a ne'er-do-well. lol Needless to say, I wore nicer pants after that, and I didn't eat any more bacon in there, either.
I took this yesterday. Cooper is old and demanding now, but that's okay. We love him.
Okay, I've settled on what I believe are the perfect captioning jobs in terms of how much time it takes me and how much money I make: college lectures. I've done three of them now, and I'm going to try to do more. The thing that's great about them is that there's usually only one speaker, and there are never any atmospherics, music, or post-production text that I have to watch out for. They're easy! And, bonus, I always learn something.
Tonight I'm going out for Thai food with a couple friends. I'm looking forward to it.
It reminded me of a time when I was in college, and I showed up to a Bible professor’s class wearing jeans with big holes in the knees. Dr. DeWitt was normally the low-key sort, but that particular day when I walked into his classroom he told me that my ripped jeans showed a lack of respect. He went on about it for awhile, too. There was a dress code, and I was probably breaking it, so he had a point. Also, I happened to be eating a handful of bacon out of a napkin at the time (because the class was right after breakfast), and that didn't help the situation at all. It just made me look even more like a ne'er-do-well. lol Needless to say, I wore nicer pants after that, and I didn't eat any more bacon in there, either.
I took this yesterday. Cooper is old and demanding now, but that's okay. We love him.
Okay, I've settled on what I believe are the perfect captioning jobs in terms of how much time it takes me and how much money I make: college lectures. I've done three of them now, and I'm going to try to do more. The thing that's great about them is that there's usually only one speaker, and there are never any atmospherics, music, or post-production text that I have to watch out for. They're easy! And, bonus, I always learn something.
Tonight I'm going out for Thai food with a couple friends. I'm looking forward to it.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Wednesday
Baylee has worked so hard in the last couple months that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this school year already. She's done with every subject except Algebra 2 and American Lit, and she's working to finish American Lit by the end of next week. She decided to drop Latin 2, and I reluctantly allowed it, because she doesn't need it. She's already had 3 years of a foreign language: French 1 (8th grade), French 2 (9th grade), and Latin 1 (10th grade). The truth is she's been a bit too busy and worn out between school, her job, and the band, and something had to give.
She has two extra things to accomplish that go along with her English class this year. She has to read Lord of the Flies, which she's doing right now, and she has to write a term paper on the topic of her choice. Last night she texted me, "Dang, these boys are in chaos. The only person who has a clue what's going on is Piggy." (That's the character in LOTF that everyone picks on.) She hasn't seen anything yet. LOTF is one of those books that everyone should read, but that isn't necessarily an enjoyable experience. And as far as her paper, she's thinking about choosing a conspiracy theory to write on. I'm fine with that. It's much better than her original idea, which was to research the life of Britney Spears. (I think Baylee may be Britney's only fan under the age of about 35.)
It doesn't happen very often, because Cooper is an indoor/outdoor cat and can take care of business outside, but every once in awhile I'll walk in on him using the litter box in the laundry room. What's weird is that he always seems sort of embarrassed by it. What's even weirder is that I'm embarrassed, too. My first instinct is to apologize and quickly back out. (I don’t.)
PS: The other thing (besides Latin 2) that Baylee decided to let go of was her time at the SoR. She hasn't been in their performance program for awhile now, ever since she joined TMA, but she has been taking private lessons there once a week from her teacher, Michael Knight. Lately, though, since she started working at Taco Bell, she just hasn't taken the time to practice like she should. To some extent she has reason. She really is stretched to her limits in a lot of ways. On the other hand, people make time for what's important to them, and because of that Michael "tore her a new one," as Baylee put it, last time she went in. (That's the thing about SoR instructors. They don't mess around, and they have no problem yelling at or giving consequences to a student.) Baylee came home from that lesson mad, and so she decided to quit. Also, she realized deep down that she was wasting his time and our money. (And the wasting our money part is the reason we were okay with her quitting under those circumstances. In fact, before Michael handled it, it was already in the back of my mind that her lack of practice/commitment would have to be dealt with.) Long story short, our family's time at the SoR is finally, after all these years, coming to a complete close. I'll miss it in a way.
PPS: Baylee has one last lesson coming up, and she told me last night that she's going to use that time to apologize to Michael and tell him how much he's meant to her and taught her.
She has two extra things to accomplish that go along with her English class this year. She has to read Lord of the Flies, which she's doing right now, and she has to write a term paper on the topic of her choice. Last night she texted me, "Dang, these boys are in chaos. The only person who has a clue what's going on is Piggy." (That's the character in LOTF that everyone picks on.) She hasn't seen anything yet. LOTF is one of those books that everyone should read, but that isn't necessarily an enjoyable experience. And as far as her paper, she's thinking about choosing a conspiracy theory to write on. I'm fine with that. It's much better than her original idea, which was to research the life of Britney Spears. (I think Baylee may be Britney's only fan under the age of about 35.)
It doesn't happen very often, because Cooper is an indoor/outdoor cat and can take care of business outside, but every once in awhile I'll walk in on him using the litter box in the laundry room. What's weird is that he always seems sort of embarrassed by it. What's even weirder is that I'm embarrassed, too. My first instinct is to apologize and quickly back out. (I don’t.)
PS: The other thing (besides Latin 2) that Baylee decided to let go of was her time at the SoR. She hasn't been in their performance program for awhile now, ever since she joined TMA, but she has been taking private lessons there once a week from her teacher, Michael Knight. Lately, though, since she started working at Taco Bell, she just hasn't taken the time to practice like she should. To some extent she has reason. She really is stretched to her limits in a lot of ways. On the other hand, people make time for what's important to them, and because of that Michael "tore her a new one," as Baylee put it, last time she went in. (That's the thing about SoR instructors. They don't mess around, and they have no problem yelling at or giving consequences to a student.) Baylee came home from that lesson mad, and so she decided to quit. Also, she realized deep down that she was wasting his time and our money. (And the wasting our money part is the reason we were okay with her quitting under those circumstances. In fact, before Michael handled it, it was already in the back of my mind that her lack of practice/commitment would have to be dealt with.) Long story short, our family's time at the SoR is finally, after all these years, coming to a complete close. I'll miss it in a way.
PPS: Baylee has one last lesson coming up, and she told me last night that she's going to use that time to apologize to Michael and tell him how much he's meant to her and taught her.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Tuesday
I've always been the type of person who can't handle scary movies. Part of me wants to like them, so every once in awhile I try to watch one again, but I always either give up or fast forward through the scary parts. I once watched The Grudge in, like, ten minutes flat. Last night I finally, after months, got around to finishing an episode of Black List where Liz is trapped in a remote cabin in the woods with a bunch of killers during a raging blizzard. It was horrible, and I barely made it to the end. In fact, the only reason I kept going was that Mike, who had already seen it, kept saying, "It gets really good! Keep watching!" I kept wondering when the good part was coming. (It never did.)
This morning Baylee's English class used the life of Fanny Crosby to teach about coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs. I told her that when I was in college I played Fanny Crosby in a play called Songs in the Night, but she didn't seem to care that much. lol Whatever. I had some fun being in that play.
Like I said, I played Fanny, and she was blind. My husband in the play was blind, too. There was one scene where we had just moved into a new apartment together, and we had to act like we were so excited that we burst into a spontaneous game of blind tag.
Mike was in the play, too. He played the administrator of the blind school where I worked.
Conversation Drew and I had last night:
Me: So you're taking Yoga 2 this upcoming quarter. Is that really different than Yoga 1?
Him: Nah, they're the same class, but people in Yoga 2 have to get up in front at the end of the quarter and talk about what yoga has done for them.
Me: You mean they have to give a speech?
Him: Nothing formal. Like we don't have to give a PowerPoint presentation or anything. I'll just get up there and talk for a little while about how yoga has taken away my back pain.
Me: Oh my gosh, please give a PowerPoint presentation. I will pay you twenty bucks in cold, hard cash if you involve PowerPoint. You can use stick figures to illustrate your before and after!
He refused. Tsk.
This morning Baylee's English class used the life of Fanny Crosby to teach about coordinating, correlative, and subordinating conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs. I told her that when I was in college I played Fanny Crosby in a play called Songs in the Night, but she didn't seem to care that much. lol Whatever. I had some fun being in that play.
Like I said, I played Fanny, and she was blind. My husband in the play was blind, too. There was one scene where we had just moved into a new apartment together, and we had to act like we were so excited that we burst into a spontaneous game of blind tag.
Mike was in the play, too. He played the administrator of the blind school where I worked.
Conversation Drew and I had last night:
Me: So you're taking Yoga 2 this upcoming quarter. Is that really different than Yoga 1?
Him: Nah, they're the same class, but people in Yoga 2 have to get up in front at the end of the quarter and talk about what yoga has done for them.
Me: You mean they have to give a speech?
Him: Nothing formal. Like we don't have to give a PowerPoint presentation or anything. I'll just get up there and talk for a little while about how yoga has taken away my back pain.
Me: Oh my gosh, please give a PowerPoint presentation. I will pay you twenty bucks in cold, hard cash if you involve PowerPoint. You can use stick figures to illustrate your before and after!
He refused. Tsk.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Sunday
Today Mike was complaining about how our silverware seems to always disappear, because either people have it in their rooms or they take it to work or school and leave it there. Anyway, I started to tease him about it. "You know," I said, "at about age forty every dad becomes the exact same guy. It's like you're all pressed through a cookie cutter, and you come out the other side saying things like 'Turn off the lights!' and 'Why are there so many cereal boxes open?'"
He laughed and replied, "Yeah, well, moms are the same way."
He's right; we are. Only we say different sorts of things, like "I'm not one of your little friends!" and "Would it kill you to brush your hair before you leave the house?"
He laughed and replied, "Yeah, well, moms are the same way."
He's right; we are. Only we say different sorts of things, like "I'm not one of your little friends!" and "Would it kill you to brush your hair before you leave the house?"
Friday, March 23, 2018
Friday
One of the things I've noticed on the forum for my job is that there are regular people like me, and then there are people who have a weird, almost misplaced love for the company we all work for. I mean, it's nice to appreciate your job, but these people go overboard with it.
I'll give you a perfect example. The other day some hapless newbie asked a question about pay. She said that she doesn't think she gets paid enough for the amount of hours it takes her to do a transcription job, and she wondered if anyone else has ever felt that way. Most of the folks who’ve been doing the work for awhile assured her that it would get better. They said that over time she'd get faster, and she'd also be more able to discern the type of projects that are best to take on. There was one woman, however, who said, and I exactly quote, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out of here. What did you expect? That you'd make millions?" I mean, sheesh! Simmer down, lady. It's a job, not a religion.
It reminds me of when I was in college and I worked part-time as a cashier at a grocery store called D&W. Every once in awhile every employee in the entire store from management down to the bag boys would have to attend a pep rally type meeting at a nearby auditorium. Most of us put up with it only because we had to, but there were always random oddballs who cheered and carried on like it was actually something exciting. I always wondered if we worked at the same place.
On a totally different note, Baylee told me a story yesterday that warmed my heart. She said that every once in awhile a special needs man comes into Taco Bell and orders a large diet Pepsi. He always orders that (and only that), and he never has any money to pay for it. Over time the people who work there figured out that this guy only knows how to walk to one place from his house, and it's Taco Bell, so whenever he comes in now they give him his diet Pepsi for free, then they say to him, "Does your dad know where you are?"
"No," he always answers.
So they call his dad, and he comes and picks up his son.
Guess what! Mike surprised me with a laptop for my new job! He did that so that I’m not stuck in the back of the house, using the desk computer that’s right by the very drafty French doors. Sometimes my fingers get so cold they’re stiff. (I’ve said this before, but we’re gifted at walking into a house, sensing the coldest, most godforsaken spot, and then setting up our computer there. It’s like we’re water diviners, but with drafts.) Anyway, it’s my very first laptop, and I’m excited about it and thankful for it.
I'll give you a perfect example. The other day some hapless newbie asked a question about pay. She said that she doesn't think she gets paid enough for the amount of hours it takes her to do a transcription job, and she wondered if anyone else has ever felt that way. Most of the folks who’ve been doing the work for awhile assured her that it would get better. They said that over time she'd get faster, and she'd also be more able to discern the type of projects that are best to take on. There was one woman, however, who said, and I exactly quote, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out of here. What did you expect? That you'd make millions?" I mean, sheesh! Simmer down, lady. It's a job, not a religion.
It reminds me of when I was in college and I worked part-time as a cashier at a grocery store called D&W. Every once in awhile every employee in the entire store from management down to the bag boys would have to attend a pep rally type meeting at a nearby auditorium. Most of us put up with it only because we had to, but there were always random oddballs who cheered and carried on like it was actually something exciting. I always wondered if we worked at the same place.
On a totally different note, Baylee told me a story yesterday that warmed my heart. She said that every once in awhile a special needs man comes into Taco Bell and orders a large diet Pepsi. He always orders that (and only that), and he never has any money to pay for it. Over time the people who work there figured out that this guy only knows how to walk to one place from his house, and it's Taco Bell, so whenever he comes in now they give him his diet Pepsi for free, then they say to him, "Does your dad know where you are?"
"No," he always answers.
So they call his dad, and he comes and picks up his son.
Guess what! Mike surprised me with a laptop for my new job! He did that so that I’m not stuck in the back of the house, using the desk computer that’s right by the very drafty French doors. Sometimes my fingers get so cold they’re stiff. (I’ve said this before, but we’re gifted at walking into a house, sensing the coldest, most godforsaken spot, and then setting up our computer there. It’s like we’re water diviners, but with drafts.) Anyway, it’s my very first laptop, and I’m excited about it and thankful for it.
PS: In case you're curious, transcriptionists and captioners at the company I work for get paid anywhere from 55 to 90 cents per file minute. I'm not sure how that's all determined, but I've noticed that captioning usually pays a little better than transcription. Understand, though, that a file minute is not a regular minute. A job might be 30 file minutes, but take me between two and three hours to complete. So the advice the old hands gave that newbie is correct. Her pay depends on her accurate typing speed and her ability to choose jobs that won't bog her down.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Thursday
I've always really liked it when bands incorporate brass instruments. For instance, when I was in high school I absolutely loved the album Chicago's Greatest Hits 1982-1989, and Chicago's a band that makes use of horns. Little aside: Mike thinks it's ridiculous that I loved that particular album so much, because, as he says, it's not even their best work. What can I say, though? There's no accounting for musical tastes, especially mine. (Case in point: There was a time in my life when I couldn't get enough Celine Dion. Shoot, I still kinda like her, and by kinda I mean totally.)
Within the past few years I've discovered ska, which is like rock meets big band. Here's an awesome ska song that you really, really, REALLY should listen to. And turn it way up. It's got lots of horns!
Finally, last week Baylee showed me these guys. It's two saxophone players and a drummer, and they are quite possibly the coolest thing to ever happen to trios. They're amazing...and this is even live! Turn this up, too.
Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about my admittedly weird love of symphonic metal bands.
Within the past few years I've discovered ska, which is like rock meets big band. Here's an awesome ska song that you really, really, REALLY should listen to. And turn it way up. It's got lots of horns!
Finally, last week Baylee showed me these guys. It's two saxophone players and a drummer, and they are quite possibly the coolest thing to ever happen to trios. They're amazing...and this is even live! Turn this up, too.
Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about my admittedly weird love of symphonic metal bands.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Wednesday
One of the things that's been really neat about being the mom of a girl drummer is seeing people's reaction when they hear her play for the first time. I know what they're expecting when they see a skinny, blonde teenaged girl sitting behind the drumset: not much. That's why it makes me smile to be in the audience and see strangers pointing to her, and it's fun to see them go up to her afterward. A couple nights ago Barboza's sound guy, a big, bearded, heavy metal dude, went up to TMA after their set and said, "That f***ing drumming!" I know Baylee fights a stereotype, so it's cool when stuff like that happens (despite the swearing).
Last night I went out for coffee with my friend Beth, and they had to kick us out of Starbucks after 2 1/2 hours, because they wanted to close. Beth is one of those friends that I can go weeks without seeing or talking to, but then when we get together it's still completely comfortable. She and her family are moving to Texas soon, and I'm going to miss her a lot.
My favorite Beth story: Years ago, when we weren't really friends yet but just acquaintances, she said to me, "You look different. Did you get new jeans?"
I had been dieting and at that point I think I'd lost about 20 pounds, so I said, "Oh, it's probably because I've lost quite a bit of weight recently."
"No," she answered. "It's the pants."
LOL! That's so Beth. She's honest to a fault, and that's a big part of her charm.
Just now I used the search function on my blog to see if I'd ever told that story before, and I couldn't find it, but I did find (because of the word "pants") a completely different post I wrote five years ago, but never actually published. It was still a draft. I'll share it now:
You know how when you've been married for a long time you have code words or sayings that only you and your spouse get? Today I casually used one of our words, and then it struck me how odd it would sound to anybody outside of Mike and me. This was our little conversation...
Him: Hey, today's going to be pretty casual at work, so I'm just going wear these pants.
Me: Are you sure they're not duffel?
Him: No, they're fine.
See, when we were in college we knew a guy who made duffel bags. He also made a lot of his own clothes, including pants. The problem was when he made the pants he didn't allow for any spare space. It's like he measured his body and then made the pants to those exact specifications, which meant they were very, very tight in all the wrong places. So to this day the word "duffel" means "Your pants are too tight."
Last night I went out for coffee with my friend Beth, and they had to kick us out of Starbucks after 2 1/2 hours, because they wanted to close. Beth is one of those friends that I can go weeks without seeing or talking to, but then when we get together it's still completely comfortable. She and her family are moving to Texas soon, and I'm going to miss her a lot.
My favorite Beth story: Years ago, when we weren't really friends yet but just acquaintances, she said to me, "You look different. Did you get new jeans?"
I had been dieting and at that point I think I'd lost about 20 pounds, so I said, "Oh, it's probably because I've lost quite a bit of weight recently."
"No," she answered. "It's the pants."
LOL! That's so Beth. She's honest to a fault, and that's a big part of her charm.
Just now I used the search function on my blog to see if I'd ever told that story before, and I couldn't find it, but I did find (because of the word "pants") a completely different post I wrote five years ago, but never actually published. It was still a draft. I'll share it now:
You know how when you've been married for a long time you have code words or sayings that only you and your spouse get? Today I casually used one of our words, and then it struck me how odd it would sound to anybody outside of Mike and me. This was our little conversation...
Him: Hey, today's going to be pretty casual at work, so I'm just going wear these pants.
Me: Are you sure they're not duffel?
Him: No, they're fine.
See, when we were in college we knew a guy who made duffel bags. He also made a lot of his own clothes, including pants. The problem was when he made the pants he didn't allow for any spare space. It's like he measured his body and then made the pants to those exact specifications, which meant they were very, very tight in all the wrong places. So to this day the word "duffel" means "Your pants are too tight."
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Tuesday
Last night we went to see a TMA gig here in Seattle at a place called Barboza. Not gonna lie, both Mike and I started out the night tired and kinda snappy with each other, but the band did an amazing job, and it totally pulled us out of our cranky moods. By the time we got out of there it must've been around 10 or 10:30, but we went out for pizza anyway, because there's a place called Sizzle Pie right by the music venue. Little aside: Every time I'm out late like that I'm surprised all over again that there's such a lively night life going on in my city, when my normal evening activity includes pajamas and a good book.
The stage lighting made any pictures that were taken pretty terrible. In fact, there was an actual photographer there (You can see him in quite a bit of the video I took), but even he said he couldn't get anything good. I took some pictures anyway, because Baylee was "going ham" last night, as the kids say these days. She's really coming into her own with stage presence.
The band talking together before the set.
Powerful girl!
At Sizzle Pie.
They opened with my favorite song of theirs and did a great job. It's called "Great American Insecurity." The whole thing is good, but the most fun, exciting part happens at about the 3:20 mark.
The stage lighting made any pictures that were taken pretty terrible. In fact, there was an actual photographer there (You can see him in quite a bit of the video I took), but even he said he couldn't get anything good. I took some pictures anyway, because Baylee was "going ham" last night, as the kids say these days. She's really coming into her own with stage presence.
The band talking together before the set.
Powerful girl!
They opened with my favorite song of theirs and did a great job. It's called "Great American Insecurity." The whole thing is good, but the most fun, exciting part happens at about the 3:20 mark.
When we got home after being gone for hours I knocked on Zach's bedroom door and then opened it to find him playing a video game with friends online. "Hey, we're home," I said.
His response: "You guys left?"
lol Facepalm.
Actually, Drew, who was also home, had no idea we left or came back, either. He got home from his last day of winter quarter yesterday, puttered around for a bit, ate something, and then went to bed for a nap. He didn't wake up until this morning. I remember doing that exact same thing after final weeks when I was in college, too.
Friday, March 16, 2018
Friday, Part 2
I've got great news! I got an email this morning telling me that they're letting me graduate from rookie captioner status early! That means now I get regular pay for my captioning jobs, way better selection, and only occasional scoring. I'm so excited!
Friday
There's an interesting part of captioning that I haven't talked about yet: atmospherics. Atmospherics are unspoken things that happen onscreen that a viewer should know about, like laughter, applause, a gunshot, knocking, a scream, music, etc. There are some rules for atmospherics. For instance, they have to be lowercase and in parentheses, and they have to be in the present tense, like (audience clapping). Another rule is that dialogue always takes precedence.
The thing I was most scared of before I started was music atmospherics. I even said to Mike, "What if I can't figure out what kind of music it is? What am I supposed to say then???" Since then, though, I've dealt with music atmospherics a bunch of times, and now I know the secret: It almost never makes any difference what genre of music it is. What matters is the feeling of the music. So if there's a break in dialogue of a couple seconds or more, and music is filling that space, then you listen to it and decide how it makes you feel. It might be (bright music) or (serene music) or (powerful music) or whatever. There's even a website called Musical Adjectives that the company showed us. I've used it several times.
And speaking of music, I took this picture of Drew's piano yesterday.
He's learning the 3rd movement of "Moonlight Sonata," and it's so beautiful to listen to. So far he has about 5 pages out of 18 down.
The thing I was most scared of before I started was music atmospherics. I even said to Mike, "What if I can't figure out what kind of music it is? What am I supposed to say then???" Since then, though, I've dealt with music atmospherics a bunch of times, and now I know the secret: It almost never makes any difference what genre of music it is. What matters is the feeling of the music. So if there's a break in dialogue of a couple seconds or more, and music is filling that space, then you listen to it and decide how it makes you feel. It might be (bright music) or (serene music) or (powerful music) or whatever. There's even a website called Musical Adjectives that the company showed us. I've used it several times.
And speaking of music, I took this picture of Drew's piano yesterday.
He's learning the 3rd movement of "Moonlight Sonata," and it's so beautiful to listen to. So far he has about 5 pages out of 18 down.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Thursday
Yesterday I asked Drew if the students at his school participated in the national walk-out, and he said, "Heck no. College students are like, 'My ass is staying right here. I paid for this class!'"
We had a really nice dinner out at The Keg for Mike's birthday last night.
Spring is here! These are growing in our front yard right now.
Baylee is finishing off subjects of school. So far she's finished Typing and Chemistry, and she's only one chapter away from finishing New Testament Survey and American history. It's pretty dang great! She's working her head off and flying along. Unfortunately, the rest of her subjects (American Lit, Latin 2, and Algebra 2) aren't going to be quite as easy to move through quickly. English wouldn't be too bad by itself, but on top of her regular assignments she has to read and do work related to Lord of the Flies, and she has to write a big term paper on the topic of her choice. Latin and algebra are just plain difficult and slow going.
PS: I know Lord of the Flies isn't actually American literature, but I hate the book her English program wants her read. I made poor Zach suffer through it, and I vowed afterward that I'd have the other two read something better.
We had a really nice dinner out at The Keg for Mike's birthday last night.
Spring is here! These are growing in our front yard right now.
Baylee is finishing off subjects of school. So far she's finished Typing and Chemistry, and she's only one chapter away from finishing New Testament Survey and American history. It's pretty dang great! She's working her head off and flying along. Unfortunately, the rest of her subjects (American Lit, Latin 2, and Algebra 2) aren't going to be quite as easy to move through quickly. English wouldn't be too bad by itself, but on top of her regular assignments she has to read and do work related to Lord of the Flies, and she has to write a big term paper on the topic of her choice. Latin and algebra are just plain difficult and slow going.
PS: I know Lord of the Flies isn't actually American literature, but I hate the book her English program wants her read. I made poor Zach suffer through it, and I vowed afterward that I'd have the other two read something better.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Wednesday
It's Mike's birthday! He turned 46 today, and we're going to celebrate by going out to dinner as a family. He still has to decide where he wants to go, but I'm guessing it'll be somewhere he can get a steak.
I was discouraged and grouchy about a low formatting score on a captioning job for about 24 hours, but then a couple things happened. 1) I did three more captioning jobs and got perfect scores on all of them, which brought my formatting average back up into the good range. 2) I read on the forum (There's a forum where you can talk with other captioners about issues having to do with the job.) that low formatting scores for rookies are common. (I didn't ask about it. Someone else did.) That made me feel better, because it gave me some perspective. I haven't actually heard back from the company about my disputed score yet, but at this point, whatever they decide, I'll be okay with it.
Baylee has horrible allergies, and it's making teaching her a pain in the butt. Either she hasn't had medicine, in which case her eyes are itchy and she's sneezing and miserable, or she has taken medicine, in which case she's tired and irritable. I'm looking forward to the weekend.
In other family news Zach got that job he interviewed for! He's happy about that, and, of course, we're happy for him. He's been doing so well, honestly. His grades in college have been really good, and he's realizing things about himself that bring me joy. He's figuring out, for example, that he's a really good writer and pretty good at math, too. If you know him, you know that he struggled with school growing up, and that caused him to have a low self-esteem about it. Succeeding in this way has been a healing balm for him.
Yesterday we had the most beautiful sunrise. I took a picture out the front door, but it doesn't do it justice.
I was discouraged and grouchy about a low formatting score on a captioning job for about 24 hours, but then a couple things happened. 1) I did three more captioning jobs and got perfect scores on all of them, which brought my formatting average back up into the good range. 2) I read on the forum (There's a forum where you can talk with other captioners about issues having to do with the job.) that low formatting scores for rookies are common. (I didn't ask about it. Someone else did.) That made me feel better, because it gave me some perspective. I haven't actually heard back from the company about my disputed score yet, but at this point, whatever they decide, I'll be okay with it.
Baylee has horrible allergies, and it's making teaching her a pain in the butt. Either she hasn't had medicine, in which case her eyes are itchy and she's sneezing and miserable, or she has taken medicine, in which case she's tired and irritable. I'm looking forward to the weekend.
In other family news Zach got that job he interviewed for! He's happy about that, and, of course, we're happy for him. He's been doing so well, honestly. His grades in college have been really good, and he's realizing things about himself that bring me joy. He's figuring out, for example, that he's a really good writer and pretty good at math, too. If you know him, you know that he struggled with school growing up, and that caused him to have a low self-esteem about it. Succeeding in this way has been a healing balm for him.
Yesterday we had the most beautiful sunrise. I took a picture out the front door, but it doesn't do it justice.
Monday, March 12, 2018
Monday
Recent Conversation...
Baylee: Getting a job was the best thing I've ever done for myself.
Me: Really? Why do you say that?
Baylee: Because it forced me to be responsible. It also forced me to make sacrifices. Like I'm sacrificing some of my free time...and my dignity.
Me: [laughing] What do you mean your dignity?
Baylee: Well, I work at Taco Bell, and I admit it.
Baylee: Getting a job was the best thing I've ever done for myself.
Me: Really? Why do you say that?
Baylee: Because it forced me to be responsible. It also forced me to make sacrifices. Like I'm sacrificing some of my free time...and my dignity.
Me: [laughing] What do you mean your dignity?
Baylee: Well, I work at Taco Bell, and I admit it.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Sunday
Well, I did my first real captioning job. They want new captioners to start small and get a feel for it, so they offer us the stuff under a half hour. I chose a 10-minute YouTube video made by someone fairly well-known.
Anyway, I did it and realized it's very finicky work and seemed to take forever. I still finished before my deadline, but it was nerve-wracking, and by the time I was done I'd convinced myself my scores would be terrible. I was walking around the house going, "I'm sticking to transcribing! I hate captioning!" Then I got my scores back and they were good, so I guess I'll caption some more. lol
PS: That video I did is already up on YouTube with my captioning job. Watching it felt kinda weird!
Anyway, I did it and realized it's very finicky work and seemed to take forever. I still finished before my deadline, but it was nerve-wracking, and by the time I was done I'd convinced myself my scores would be terrible. I was walking around the house going, "I'm sticking to transcribing! I hate captioning!" Then I got my scores back and they were good, so I guess I'll caption some more. lol
PS: That video I did is already up on YouTube with my captioning job. Watching it felt kinda weird!
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Good News
I've got big news! I'm a captioner for TV and movies now! Yesterday I started the application and testing process (It's considered a completely different branch of the same company that I already work for as a transcriptionist, so they make you reapply and retest like a newbie.), and I finally finished it this morning. Not gonna lie, it was difficult and stressful. Let's see...
Edited to Add: Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to tell you what's involved in captioning. Basically, you have to go through every TV show or movie at least two times. The first time is so that you can type everything that's said into "captioning blocks," which can be up to 60 characters long. Ideally they're between 30 and 60, including spaces. (This isn't as grueling as it sounds. The thing that we type into changes colors as we add words. It turns green when your block is at a good length, it turns yellow when you're okay but pushing it, and it turns red when you're over 60. You don't have to sit there and count anything yourself.) Then you have to go through the whole show or movie a second time in order to sync your blocks to the people speaking on the screen. You want a block to appear exactly when the person starts to say the words. After this you're technically done, but, realistically, you go through it all a third time to just watch it and make sure it looks right. You can edit anything...the typing, the block size, the timing...at any point in there. Finally, you hit submit and turn it in.
- I had to take another grammar test.
- I had to give them a sample of my writing. They gave me a topic, and I had to write on it.
- I had to study a 36-page captioning style guide. There was so much info there that I took notes.
- Finally, I took a captioning test (in other words, a small captioning job), using everything I had learned. Then I waited. After a few hours I got an email telling me I had potential, and that I would be allowed to move on in the testing process. I was pretty wrung out by that point, though, so I waited until this morning to continue.
- I got up today, had some breakfast, and dove back into it. There were two more captioning tests (jobs) for me to do. I did them, and then I waited again. A couple hours later I heard back from them, and they said I got the job! This is gonna sound totally braggy, but I'll tell you anyway, because it was so hard and because I'm proud of myself: They said, "We accept less than 10% of applicants. Congrats!"
Edited to Add: Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to tell you what's involved in captioning. Basically, you have to go through every TV show or movie at least two times. The first time is so that you can type everything that's said into "captioning blocks," which can be up to 60 characters long. Ideally they're between 30 and 60, including spaces. (This isn't as grueling as it sounds. The thing that we type into changes colors as we add words. It turns green when your block is at a good length, it turns yellow when you're okay but pushing it, and it turns red when you're over 60. You don't have to sit there and count anything yourself.) Then you have to go through the whole show or movie a second time in order to sync your blocks to the people speaking on the screen. You want a block to appear exactly when the person starts to say the words. After this you're technically done, but, realistically, you go through it all a third time to just watch it and make sure it looks right. You can edit anything...the typing, the block size, the timing...at any point in there. Finally, you hit submit and turn it in.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Wednesday
Isn't it weird how you can have kids that are raised in the same home, by the same parents, but they turn out completely different? Along those lines, this morning I was taking Drew to school, and we got into a conversation about how he's been struggling with organizing himself when it comes to schoolwork lately. I said something like, "Well, let's get real; it's not just lately. Don't you remember when you were in Mrs. Cottingham's class in third grade, and she was constantly upset with you, because you'd never turn in your homework? You'd do the homework and take it to school, but then it would never come out of your backpack."
Drew laughed. "Somebody should've helped me with that. You should've helped me with that, Mom."
"What are you talking about? I did everything I could! I made sure you did the work, and I made sure you took it to school. What else could I do?"
"Well, then, Mrs. Cottingham should've worked with me a little bit to develop the habit."
"She probably should've, but she figured you were eight years old, which was old enough to remember to turn your stuff in when you walked into the classroom."
We drove five more minutes or so, until we were literally pulling into the driveway of his college, when suddenly he said, "Oh no! I left my theory homework at home!"
[facepalm]
That's so Drew. It's like he's a tiny bit out-of-sync with reality. I don't mean he's crazy or anything. I just mean he lives partly in this world, partly in his own world, and they don't perfectly overlap. He's in his own head a lot. It's a good thing, because I believe it's the reason he's able to throw himself into music, but it's a bad thing, because he's scatter-brained.
Zach and Baylee, on the other hand, are very organized. Zach stays on top of things by keeping detailed notes, and Baylee...well...she runs her life like she's the CEO of a company. She always knows exactly what's going on and when and where.
Drew laughed. "Somebody should've helped me with that. You should've helped me with that, Mom."
"What are you talking about? I did everything I could! I made sure you did the work, and I made sure you took it to school. What else could I do?"
"Well, then, Mrs. Cottingham should've worked with me a little bit to develop the habit."
"She probably should've, but she figured you were eight years old, which was old enough to remember to turn your stuff in when you walked into the classroom."
We drove five more minutes or so, until we were literally pulling into the driveway of his college, when suddenly he said, "Oh no! I left my theory homework at home!"
[facepalm]
That's so Drew. It's like he's a tiny bit out-of-sync with reality. I don't mean he's crazy or anything. I just mean he lives partly in this world, partly in his own world, and they don't perfectly overlap. He's in his own head a lot. It's a good thing, because I believe it's the reason he's able to throw himself into music, but it's a bad thing, because he's scatter-brained.
Zach and Baylee, on the other hand, are very organized. Zach stays on top of things by keeping detailed notes, and Baylee...well...she runs her life like she's the CEO of a company. She always knows exactly what's going on and when and where.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Mostly Job-Related Stuff
Last night Drew did something cool. He took a bus and then a train to a jazz club here in Seattle called The Royal Room. He wanted to check it out and get a feel for it, because on certain nights the house band there lets people come up on stage and join them for one song of the person's choice. He said it looked really fun, and he plans to go back again with his guitar and give it a shot.
Zach is in the process of applying for a new part-time job. (He's tired of the furniture installation business for a couple reasons. For one thing it's kind of seasonal, and for another he never knows where he'll be working from one day to the next.) Anyway, for this new job Zach had to first have an interview with the owners, then take a personality test, then discuss the personality test with/have a second interview with the tester. He says he thinks it all went well, and he'll find out within a week if he's hired.
Baylee said that within the last few days 7 people have given their 2-week notice at Taco Bell, so I think it's safe to say the place has a high turn-over rate. LOL I guess it normally takes a few months before the managers start putting workers on drive-through duty, but Baylee's been there only a few weeks and she's already on it, simply because everybody's quitting and the pickin's are slim. She spent almost her whole shift yesterday on drive-through, and she said she loved it because it kept her really busy, so time went by fast.
Zach is in the process of applying for a new part-time job. (He's tired of the furniture installation business for a couple reasons. For one thing it's kind of seasonal, and for another he never knows where he'll be working from one day to the next.) Anyway, for this new job Zach had to first have an interview with the owners, then take a personality test, then discuss the personality test with/have a second interview with the tester. He says he thinks it all went well, and he'll find out within a week if he's hired.
Baylee said that within the last few days 7 people have given their 2-week notice at Taco Bell, so I think it's safe to say the place has a high turn-over rate. LOL I guess it normally takes a few months before the managers start putting workers on drive-through duty, but Baylee's been there only a few weeks and she's already on it, simply because everybody's quitting and the pickin's are slim. She spent almost her whole shift yesterday on drive-through, and she said she loved it because it kept her really busy, so time went by fast.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Thursday
I sent this to Baylee. She didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did.
She did tell me, though, that she's only had to do that particular job a few times, because after her first few shifts she got wise: A little bit before it's time to clean the bathrooms, she goes to the sink in the back of the restaurant and starts doing the huge pile of dishes. She said there's always enough pots and pans to keep her busy for an hour and a half, and during that time someone else ends up on bathroom duty.
She did tell me, though, that she's only had to do that particular job a few times, because after her first few shifts she got wise: A little bit before it's time to clean the bathrooms, she goes to the sink in the back of the restaurant and starts doing the huge pile of dishes. She said there's always enough pots and pans to keep her busy for an hour and a half, and during that time someone else ends up on bathroom duty.
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