Sunday News #5

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.
Feeling

I’m feeling happy and excited for a few reasons. Reason #1: remember the math test I talked about last week? My math teacher gives points for showing our work on our tests. He saw that I knew what I was doing. He also noticed that I made stupid mistakes when I put the answer down. Instead of giving me zero points so I’d get 75% on my test, he only took points off on the last part. My final score was a 91.7%.

Reason #2: my computer programming teacher was bombarded by most of the class complaining about the same things I complained about. That’s why he didn’t get back to me and I’m glad it wasn’t just me. He gave us more time. He also helped us figure out the auto grader. Hopefully, it won’t be as pedantic for future projects. I still have some reservations about the auto grader and at least I now know my teacher’s reasonable and willing to help me out if I need it.

Reason #3: check out what I watched this week.

Blogging

I continue to be amazed by this awesome community each week. I love that we all come from different walks of life and get to know each other through our posts and comments on each other’s blogs. I’m really glad I decided to resurrect my blog at the beginning of the year. Everyone has been so nice and the camaraderie has helped my extroverted self navigate being more isolated than normal thanks to omicron.

This week on the blog:

Reading

I read BROKEN (IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY) by Jenny Lawson. I’ll be posting my review this week sometime. I’m starting ROCK PAPER SCISSORS by Alice Feeney today. So far so good at trying to get to my mound of library books before they’re due. 3 down and 3 to go.

Listening

This week, I’ve been listening to something kind of fun, at least fun for me. My favorite classical song is “Für Elise” because it’s basically my name–Jennifer Elyse–just not Germanized. It was also the first classical song I learned to play on the piano. Anyway, I came across this version of “Für Elise” when I was listening to another one of my favorite songs by The Piano Guys. I’ll have to share that song next week, maybe. What do you think of this version of “Für Elise”?

Watching

This week I had the fantastic experience of watching my cousin, Andrew Blaser, perform in the Winter Olympics. He was on the US Skeleton team. I’ve been following his progress on Facebook and Instagram for years and I was so excited when I found out he made the US team. It was so awesome to watch you do your thing, Andy! Go, Team USA!

(P.S. “Blaser” is pronounced BLAH-zer not BLAY-zer like the announcers have been incorrectly saying during the coverage.)

Loving

I’m loving Hulu so much right now because THEY’RE BRINGING BACK FUTURAMA! Hulu said Futurama’s one of the most watched shows on their network. Damn straight! We fans know what we love and we were never going to give up our campaign to bring it back. Again. #goodnewseveryone

P.S. If John DiMaggio doesn’t return as Bender, then this whole section will turn to HATING.

Wanting

Now that I know Futurama’s coming back, I want to know if John DiMaggio’s returning. There are some actors that Futurama can return without, John DiMaggio isn’t one of them. Futurama must return with Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom, and Tress McNeille. Everyone else is extra.

Needing

I need to spend more time on my DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) homework during the week. I love DBT and what I’ve learned from it in the last ten months. It has helped me learn to navigate some tough emotional situations. I’ve learned to act opposite of my emotional urges (including suicidal ideation). Because of this, sometimes I don’t feel depressed anymore. The problem is I feel like I’m regressing a little and I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s because I’m feeling overwhelmed by everything–school, therapy, home life, blog, reading, etc. Or, if it’s just that I’m having trouble balancing some of my values (activities that help me build a life worth living). I guess another thing I need to do is talk to Doug, my therapist about it. Good thing I like him.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

About Jenni Elyse


Hi, I'm Jenni. I’m an eclectic reader. I mostly read fiction and I favor fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, mystery, thrillers, and romance. The more kissing in a book the better!
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26 replies
  1. Harve
    Harve says:

    I don’t normallyr read sci fi but I enjoyed The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd and am reading her other book, The Book of M. Quite unusual plots.

    Rocki, Paper, Scissors in on my table to be read also, a library borrow. Hope we enjoy reading it! Happy reading week!

    Reply
  2. Wendy
    Wendy says:

    I’m so happy for you that your teachers are being reasonable with you. It should be all about learning and not necessarily having perfect results. And how EXCITING to have your cousin competing in the Olympics. The Skeleton is one of my favorite sports at the Winter Olympics.

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      Thank you! I agree completely about school. I wish more teachers realized that. That’s my end goal–to become a math teacher, myself. I plan to make sure learning is the emphasis.

      I really enjoy watching the Skeleton too. I love it along with the Luge and Bobsledding. Every time I watch someone do the run, I always think, “That looks like so much fun. I want to do it.” I know it’s way harder than it looks as I know Andy has worked so hard just to get to the Olympics.

      Reply
  3. Greg
    Greg says:

    Yay for the test! And I agree about the community.

    That is so cool about your cousin! I haven’t seen any Skeleton yet but I’m going to go look on the streaming and see if I can see his run. 🙂

    That’s exciting about Hulu too! I’ve only ever seen a few episodes of Futurama but I liked it.

    Reply
  4. Katherine
    Katherine says:

    Such a relief that both teachers were reasonable and you weren’t the only one having the issue with the auto-grader. Fingers crossed that everyone you want to come back to Futurama comes back. That would definitely be frustrating if they bring it back but don’t do it right. Good luck working with your therapist. I think checking in with him sounds like a smart idea to get things rebalanced. Have a wonderful week.

    Reply
  5. Jen at Introverted Reader
    Jen at Introverted Reader says:

    One of my friends is taking her second class toward her master’s degree. Her teacher told them after the first week that every grade from here on out is a group grade. She’s irrevocably tied to 4 random strangers for the rest of her grades. I’ve heard a LOT about how unhappy she is, but I can’t blame her. At least your teacher is being reasonable. I don’t think hers is bending at all.

    How awesome that your cousin is competing in the Olympics! And how annoying that everyone says his name wrong. You would think announcers would find out ahead of time so they don’t screw it up.

    My sister loves The Piano Guys so we went to one of their concerts together a few years. It was a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing their version of Für Elise.

    Enjoy your week!

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      That’s awful! I’d be unhappy too if I were in her shoes. I hate group work, especially when it’s tied to my grades. I feel for your friend!

      Lol. Yeah, everyone pronounces our last name wrong. It’s just the way it is. We were hoping they’d get it right on national TV, but I think we expected too much from the press. Oh well.

      That’s neat that you got to see The Piano Guys in concert. My brother-in-law is a musician and he’s worked with them before, which is kind of cool.

      Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I probably won’t read the second or third book in the series. I’m glad I read the first book, though. I loved the movie and I actually liked it better than the book, lol.

      Reply
  6. Literary Feline
    Literary Feline says:

    I am so glad your math teacher grades the way he does. It really does seem more fair–making sure you are learning and understanding the how and not necessarily only coming up with the right answer. That is also good news about your computer programing class!

    That is so awesome that your cousin is competing in the Olympics. What an honor! I really admire the athletes skill, hard work and dedication.

    I hope you have a good week, Jenni Elyse!

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I completely agree with you on the grading for the math class. It definitely incentivises students to show their work and not just write down their answers.

      I really admire the athletes skill, hard work, and dedication too.

      I hope you have a good week as well. 🙂

      Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      Thank you! DBT has helped me with my communication. I probably would’ve just wallowed in my misery and passively aggressively hated my teachers if it hadn’t been for what I’ve learned in DBT.

      If you get a chance to watch Skeleton, let me know if you see my cousin. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
    Deb Nance at Readerbuzz says:

    It helps so much when teachers are able to act in ways that encourage student learning. I’m glad that in both situations your teachers worked with you.

    The book blogging community is supportive and kind, I think. It’s a gentle and safe environment for me.

    I just reread a book that was helpful for me called The Joy Plan. The author talks about a lot of ways to bring more joy into one’s life. I think of some of these ideas—more nature, more physical activity, social connections, spiritual connections—when I feel like joy is slipping from me a bit.

    Reply
  8. Karen
    Karen says:

    Glad your teacher is at least reasonable and willing to listen (& that others pointed out the same issues). I’m sure that’s a relief. And way to go on your test!!

    I used to watch Futurama and still catch it on FX a lot now.

    I’ve been feeling the same way about my CBT lately. I have next level anxiety right now for no (known) reason and I need to get back to my journaling (challenging my thoughts) again. It helps snap me out of my spiral. You said something on my blog where I posted my WORD for the year (This) about radical acceptance and boy did that stick with me and I keep coming back to it when things get tough so thank you for that!

    Karen @For What It’s Worth

    Reply
    • Jenni Elyse
      Jenni Elyse says:

      I’m glad that my comment helped you so much. 🙂 Sometimes I feel like what I say to someone when it comes to mental health is the wrong thing. I’m glad in this instance, it was good. I hope that you can get a hold of your anxiety and start feeling better soon again.

      Also, yay for Futurama! 😀

      Reply

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