I knew I went to high school with a lot of Asians, but is it just me or does that number look ridiculous?

Ethnic/Racial (Number of Students Included in 2006 API)

African American (not of Hispanic origin) (62)
American Indian or Alaska Native (5)
Asian (1220)
Filipino (118)
Hispanic or Latino (125)
Pacific Islander (6)
White (not of Hispanic origin) (303)
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged (717)
English Learners (180)
Students with Disabilities (61)


Lowell School Report

I have a really hard time making small talk at work. Especially if I'm talking to someone higher up. The director is a nice, but very awkward man. He likes to come by and check up on me, see how I'm handling the work. He likes to say they were successful in stealing me away. When you think about it, it's very nice. The fact that he thinks I'm worth stealing.

But you have one awkward person asking the questions, and one really awkward person (me) answering. This morning's exchange went something like this:

Director: I saw one of your friends yesterday. He was asking about you. (Former co-worker from my previous department).

Chris: Oh, that's nice of him.

Director: The auditors have been asking about you too. Wondering if you're still with the company.

Chris: Well, I'm still here...

Well, DUH! He can obviously see that I'm still here. Luckily he was on his way to a meeting, but I was shaking my head after he left.

I know you guys are probably shaking your heads as well. Thinking of at least a hundred different things you can say to make the situation less awkward, but also just to make small talk - build up a camaraderie. I really suck at this. Back to my spreadsheets...

I need help. I somehow turned on some kind of creepy guy magnet, and I don't know how to turn it off. This is seriously getting ridiculous.

Anyone willing to hire themselves out as my pretend boyfriend? My only requirement is that you're big and intimidating. No real work involved. I'll just request a picture and personal appearances on occasion.

E-mail me if you'd like to help a sister out.

Some friends and I got together on Saturday evening for dinner. While we hung out trying to figure out exactly what we were going to have for dinner, B and I decided to test T's baseball knowledge, which, by the way, is amazing.

After asking about the longest game, shortest player, longest home run, etc, B asked about baseball superstitions. T replied that Moises Alou peed on his hands before every game... somehow it helps his grip? Anyway, so I told them a similar story back from my childhood and I didn't expect it to be such a hit. But that's what I get when I hang out with a bunch of boys.

When I was about 10, we were hanging out at this elder's house after church on Sunday. They used to live up in Novato and had a house with a huge backyard. The kids were out there playing when a bee stung me on my hand. So of course, being the kid that I am, I ran to my mom crying. She said that pee would help make the swelling go down.

So she rallied up 3 of the boys and made them take turns peeing into a bucket. Then she grabbed my hand, held it over the toilet, and poured it over my hand. I was screaming and squirming, begging her to let me wash my hands, but she said it needed time to work its magic. So she grabbed a plastic bag and tied it around my hand, to prevent dripping.

So I sat there in front of the tv, holding out my pee-covered hand, wrapped in a plastic bag. Of course, all the kids sat as far away from me as possible.

Last I heard, pee is good when you're stung by a jellyfish. I can assure you it doesn't help you when you're stung by a bee. My hand still swelled up to 3 times its size.

We all concluded that it was probably more traumatizing than funny... but pretty dang funny nonetheless.