Thursday, 8/27/09: How I like to prepare for an interview is to not only organize my thoughts on my own experience and skills, but to also research the company, position, and people with whom I’m interviewing. That being said, I had two interviews on the 28th that I was preparing for.

Also, that morning, I went to a substitute teacher orientation and training. I learned some pretty good techniques in dealing with both elementary and secondary students. What struck me the most was how it was often iterated that a sub follow a teacher’s plan for the day to the tee. I’m not saying that it’s a terrible rule to follow, but I would prefer being a regular teacher and coming up with my own lesson plan and ways of teaching rather than to follow another person’s. There was also a video on blood-borne pathogens that I need not repeat for y’all to understand, I hope. It’s important to understand, but I’d rather forget the vivid imagery and only hope that I never have to encounter such a bloody situation.

Friday, 8/28/09: During my web meeting, I found out about Obama’s stimulus plan for small businesses and entrepreneurs, which’ll help make it easier to get better loans. The help you get depends mostly on your business plan or idea. To read more about it, go here.

Today, 8/29/09: I’m excited about HTML 5, but I do admit to being a little hesitant in using it until it’s completely refined. Until then, read up on it so that when the time comes to revamp the code, you won’t be in for a surprise. It’s simple and intuitive, though, so there shouldn’t be many headaches unless you’re recoding a mega site. Here’s an HTML 5 cheat sheet from Smashing Magazine, which lists all currently supported tags since HTML 5 is speculated to not be widely adopted by most browsers until 2012, or 2022 as it has been recommended.

Sunday: I discovered something about myself (and others, too, perhaps?) that I never really noticed before, and it’s not something I like, so I’m not going to share. Ha!

Today: Take travel photos like a pro! I’m in a library right now, so as soon as I get the chance, I’ll test this out. I definitely need to improve my [limited] photography skills and pretend that I’m a tourist. No one needs to know…

Today, right after midnight, most of the cousins gathered together for one of their birthdays, and we all came to [another] realization that we really don’t give each other enough credit, so we spent some time giving our appreciation to one another. I do agree that we should go on a trip together. Thinking back on it, our parents were very fortunate in that they went on all these crazy, road-trip adventures together, and we’ve done none of that. Aren’t we supposed to be the crazier generation, or have we become so mellow because of the internet?

Whatever preconceived notions you have of someone, and whatever the circumstances of the past are, there is such a thing as new beginnings. Things will not be the same as they were before, for better or for worse, but it’s never too late to start fresh with people. :) Sometimes all it takes is to give them a chance; you might just be surprised.