Fiction Friday - The Pecking Order

Chapter 1

The Things You Overhear While Staying at a Cheap Motel

Stranger things have happened in motel rooms.

The lock on the door click-clacked and soon the room was exposed to the torrent weather as Will dragged Jaime inside. It was exhaustion or relief motivating Will to let the almost-dead weight of Jamie slip off and onto the saxony motel carpet.

"AARGH! What the hell?" The Impact was enough to waken Jaime.

"Don't! scream!" Will suggested.

"I'm NOT screaming! Not yet! And no one could hear me scream over the thunder!" Jaime wasn't in a good mood. It might have been the sleep derivation or the fatigue of traveling long distances. Or it could've been the poorly treated bullet wound. It was probably a combination of the three.

"It doesn't matter. It's better to be safe than sorry, now stop bleeding all over the carpet and get into the bathroom." Will was ready to properly treat the wound using an assortment of tools from a 24 hour pharmacy: cooking tongs, a pocket knife, cheap whiskey, the proper assortment of bandages and cotton balls.

Looking at the operating equipment laid out on the cheap linoleum bathroom floor, Jaime's bad mood continued to escalate. "I really don't want you touching me with any of that again.", he said.

"You don't have much of an option. Quit crying and-"

"I'm NOT crying!" Jaime cried.

"Whatever! Just get in here and let's get this over with!" Will coaxed.

"For the record, you have to promise to never shoot me again!"

"It was an accident!" Will insisted. Walking across the cheap motel room, he started pulling Jaime into the temporary operating room.

"Just quit having accidents with bullets pointed in my direction. Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." Will promised. "But, hey, we did get away mostly intact, right?"

"Yeah, I gu-" Jaime replied as Will entered his thigh with the tongs.

Stranger sounds have come out of motel rooms.

Thursday Thoughts - Stupid Things We Do in the name of Love

I call this video "Another Stupid Thing We Do in the Name of Love but with Cats!"

I hope we're successful potty training these beasts. I'm sick of cleaning litter. Seriously, all these cats do is vomit, defecate and sleep! What's the appeal?

Alas, they come with the complete package. How long is the average cat's lifespan anyway?

Wednesdays are for Wine!

I know most of the country is celebrating today for other reasons, but nothing can really top a good bottle of wine. My fiancée doesn't drink but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying a bottle. She sometimes gets to go to the wine store and pick out a bottle for me based on the pictures on the label. Recently she chose this Arrogant Frog brand. I think because the cartoon frog represents two of her favorite characteristics: 1. Arrogance and 2. being French. It worked because i enjoyed the wine a lot! It's one of my top choices next to Sparks winery.

I've never had a mixed wine and regret missing out on all the fun. This is a combination of Merlot and Cabernet.

So I enjoyed my Arrogant Frog with a healthy wrap from Jason's Deli while having a difficult time working on COD: Black Ops. I'm doing a lot of CTF games right now because I want to earn Marathon Pro. I was enjoying the combination so much that I felt it should be shared. I shared my experience on Twitter (@MisterFlores).

I assume you think I'm ranting now. I could easily had stated "Hey, check out the Arrogant Frog wines! They rule!", but the climax is next.

This morning I had a Twitter update and the Arrogant Frog's Twitter had Re-Tweeted my Tweet!

Cool, huh?

When I first set out to create this project and share this story, my mother was the main focus as she typically is for inspiring me to become an educator. In the end, it really comes off as a story about my father's influence. Further reflecting on my childhood, I realize my dad was the person that taught me the importance of self-reflection. This skill allowed me to gain insight from childhood experiences and observations. Since my dad traveled a great deal, I had a lot of experiences and observations take place in my mother’s classroom. This was balanced out with time spent riding to McDonalds to buy French fries for ducks and of course, reflecting on experiences and the lessons that can be gained.

My mom provided reactive and impulsive parenting while my dad balanced us with introspection. This is the best way I can relate to my current mindset with education. The best lesson plans I’ve had were the perfect balance of impulsive reaction and introspection.

Even in her classroom, my mom was always able to set students loose to rampant, active learning with technology or without. When the time came for them to regroup and compose themselves to their desks, she had command of this type of classroom management, too.

I purposely do not want to teach in the same school district as my mother for this reason. She casts a large shadow to work under and I want to create a name for myself. I could easily get a job with the many connections she’s developed from teaching elementary school, summer school, Saturday school and night school. I don’t want to develop my rock star status this way because it seems too easy. I’m confident I can work my way up in whichever school gives me my next opportunity because I’ve grown up with the greatest teaching models.

The accompanying video was done for my college class. The project was to creatively show how we balance life with teaching. I followed up the video with a PowerPoint presentation in the Pecha-Kucha style, but didn't include it here because it contained pictures of me in the classroom.

Click Here for the Video: How I Didn't Become a Ninja

Wanted: 1 Time Machine, Used

It's one of those days when your aspirations don't quite fit with the time frame given.

Regardless, I did accomplish figuring out how to record a Skype conversation using a program called Call Graph. Too bad i didn't figure this out until after I finished a great conversation with El Lobo. I was busy messing around with Audacity, which kept crashing, and only recorded the sound of my own voice. Nothing interesting in that. Hopefully, someone will find some time to Skype again with me and get this party started.

El Lobo and I discussed his book club which just so happens to be reading To Kill a Mockingbird - an example of the perfect novel. It was strange because I received a message from one of the X-Students complaining about the same novel! I stood up for Harper Lee's work but she made very valid points as to why it was being ruined for her. I'm going to ask permission to post the conversation later. El Lobo and I remember reading it in elementary school and are perplexed at it being introduced as Sophomore level material.

Alternatively, El Lobo and I discussed bachelor party planning. My ideal would be an overnight camping, inebriated, all-day, all-night paint ball session. Strippers are overrated.

A Josh of all Trades

The greatest compliment my fiancée has ever given me is to refer to me as a "Renaissance Man". I can't even spell it without the help of a Google search and she is a Harvard grad with a Masters degree so I take it as a great compliment. Now I want to live up to her title. I'm naturally curious about life and its journey, but never thought of a correct medium for recording what I've learned from different experiences. Whether or not anyone else can take what I'm learning and apply it to there own life, I feel it would be a waste to not record my personal growth. Twitter and Facebook updates simply aren't enough.

(First Draft - Consider Editing & Revising?)