Seen

Sunday evening as Jeff and I were watching "The King's Speech" (good film by the way), I glanced out our living room  window and saw a hawk perched on a cable across the street. We got out our binoculars to take a closer look; he was beautiful.

I first noticed a hawk on the roof of our condominium a few years ago. Our super said one did hang around here. I like to think it is the same bird returning each year, like the heron http://lynnecoll.blogspot.com/2011/06/seen-today.html I recently wrote about.

I saw the hawk again yesterday: this time on a wire high above Maple Street.

I'll keep my eyes open.

Certified

Got the word that I've been officially certified to teach the ACT college admission test.

I'm waiting for my written feedback but feedback from the first week was better than I expected so I feel really good. (I was rated "Rockstar" in eight of 10 categories. Yea me!)

I still have a lot of prep work to do: all the homework in the manual, four diagnostic tests and The Book of 1,296 ACT questions. Yes, I do the questions myself. I don't just copy the answer keys; that wouldn't help me help my students.

I'm looking forward to my first ACT tutorial.

Back Again

Today I went back to the gym after a week's absence. I had been proud of my routine for the previous three weeks, hitting the gym four times each week.Working out--especially lifting weights--makes me feel stronger and more comfortable in my own skin. Plus I enjoy feeling virtuous about something.

Today also marks a return to blogging after a week of not posting. Basically I've been pre-occupied with my ACT training. I had several hours of video training and reading to complete before live training last Friday night and all day Saturday.

It's not over yet. I've got another full day of live training next Saturday and more prep to do before then.

I wish I had something profound to say. But at least I'm back.

Finding Good Lines in Unexpected Places Part Two

Last week we watched the movie, "The Manster Half Man and Half Monster"  (1959.) I only heard of this movie from the book, The Golden Turkey Awards. It was nominated for The Worst Two-Headed Transplant Movie Ever Made but lost to the classic, "The Thing with Two Heads" starring Academy Award winning actor, Ray Milland.

Now I love good bad movies, such as "Plan 9 from Outer Space" so I had to record this film from TCM. Surprisingly I found some good things in this film.

First, the lead actor Peter Dyneley as Larry Stanford was charming and effective. I believed his brash reporter was ready to leave his globetrotting ways and go home to his wife.

The second thing I liked--the title to this post refers to a line by Larry when his wife Linda suggests that he might be ready to settle down (and after his transformation into the manster has started) "Settle down, like mud in a pool."

I loved that line. Like my first post with this title--it was definitely unexpected http://lynnecoll.blogspot.com/2010/07/finding-good-lines-in-unusual-places.html.

To post his complete speech:

"Settle down, that's a good way to put it. Settle down, like mud in a pool.
Bridge on Wednesday, cocktails on Thursday, PTA on Fridays."

What I've Been Reading

The Lady in the Tower The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345453212/aliwei-20

It took me a long time to finish this book. That's not criticism of the content or the style. Despite the book's narrow focus--Anne's last days--it goes into great detail with much of her work based on original sources. It also serves as a kind of review of literature and research about Anne. Alison credits some theories and disagrees with others. I found myself often flipping to the notes section which I rarely do.

Alison has written several historical biographies including Henry VIII: The King and His Court. I enjoyed her historical novel, Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey.

I'm sure I'll read her new novel about Mary Boleyn.