Last Saturday

My Spring Break was too short. I realized how behind I was in my Policy Development class so if I wasn't cleaning, at soccer practice, or running errands, I've been working on that. Today's the last push--I've been watching Outfoxed, then I have a class to watch, then a crap ton more reading. Since we have practice at 8AM tomorrow (don't even ask) then Easter with Chris's family, I've got to get as much done today as I can. Which is, logically, why I'm blogging as I watch Outfoxed streaming online. No worries, I had a triple cappuccino, so yeah, I'm good.

Chris and the League of Dorks (TM Sports Gal) have their fake draft today for their fake baseball teams. You cannot believe the level of preparation Chris has put into today. He has a leather legal folder full of various highlighted and chicken-scratched lists and printouts that he shuffles about endlessly. He's done at least six fake fake drafts. Yes, he does fake practice drafts to get ready for the real fake draft. Each one takes at least an hour. For the last week, he's had the folder by our bedside. When he can't sleep (possibly due to anxiety about the fake draft) he reviews his fake "research" until he falls asleep. Today, we had to make a special trip to Walgreens so he could get new highlighters for the fake draft. A friend called today while we were on the way to the fake draft (I dropped him off, obviously vaginas aren't allowed into the Fake Draft Batcave) looking for these "lists" because he didn't have a printer. After Chris got off the phone with him, he said, "I can't let him look of my lists. Then he'll know my strategy." I dropped him off at 11:30. As of 6:20, the League of Dorks are still pouring over their fake draft magazines and fake research and making their fake picks for their fake teams. Actually, by now, they may be debating their new fake teams and thinking about possible fake trades. Who knows?

I was stupid enough to try to go to the mall. It was one of those days when you have to drive around to find any parking spot, let alone a close one. Too many people stress me out, for reals. I was looking for a dress for a wedding next weekend. Found something cute, cheap, and made of organic cotton at H&M, but I've got to dress it up for the wedding.

Oh, the best part of today was that my laptop died. Well, it won't go past a gray screen with an icon of a file with a queston mark. Mac.com says that is no good. Bye bye, hard drive. Didn't back up recently, either, so I could be totally screwed. Luckily, it's not my computer. Sorry, school tech department. Hope you can fix it.

Thanks, Stat Counter!

A perv in Switzerland found my blog by searching for "sweet asshole", leading him to this post. Gross. Where's Chris Hanson when you need him?

Weekend Update

Whew. It feels good to be on Spring Break, even though I am keeping very busy catching up on school, cleaning my stank-nasty house, and going to soccer practice. I was so stressed, depressed, and tired of the cheeldren that I thought I would burst before 3:15 on Thursday. We drove up to Des Moines on Thursday night and then drove the rest of the way to Minneapolis on Friday.

We were staying in downtown Minneapolis because my school is downtown. On Friday, we planned to check in early, watch the streaming episode of Lost we missed Thursday, then I had a meeting with a professor. We stepped into the lobby of the hotel only to be assaulted by the familiar squees, cell phone rings, and interrogative tone of hundreds of teenagers. It would be my luck that a statewide DECA conference was wrapping up that weekend. Son of a bitch. Teenagers everywhere. I almost had a panic attack while waiting in line to check in. Through clenched teeth, behind mirrored sunglasses, I politely inquired as to the nature of mass of tightly-bundled hormones. The saintly-patient woman behind the counter smiled reassuringly and said, "They're leaving tomorrow." They would, however, thwart my timetable for events. After watching Lost, I left our 18th-floor room to go to my meeting with the professor and made my way to the elevator. When one finally arrived, naturally packed with teens, every single floor button was pushed. I immediately stepped out and waited for another elevator. Again, every single floor button was lit up. These motherfuckers. This totally karma coming back to me from all those soccer tournaments where my friends and I disturbed shit in hotels. By the time I got to my meeting, I was frazzled, flustered, sweaty, and my nose started running uncontrollably, which is undesirable when meeting with a professor about a paper. The worst part was that I was sweating profusely, and I was wearing my cool new "Bitches Get Shit Done" t-shirt under a lightweight bamboo sweater. I desperately wanted to take the sweater off and air out the jacuzzi under my arms, but I didn't really know the professor that well and how he would respond to two expletives in one t-shirt. So, I literally sweat it out.

The same thing would happen the next day when, after sleeping in past class starting time due to the age-old predicament of setting one's alarm to PM instead of AM, I didn't even attempt the elevator when I saw, no joke, at least 25 kids and their luggage waiting for the elevator the next morning. I took 18 flights down at breakneck speed, only to come into class 30 minutes late, sweaty, hair a hot tranny mess. I spent a lot of the weekend flustered, but mad props to the downtown Hyatt in Minneapolis. They handled the teen drama, and the other guests who had to deal with said drama, with class and hospitality. I'd recommend it.

Class was good, though, and Chris and I really enjoyed the time together in the car and hotel room. I particularly enjoyed our trip to IKEA on the way home, where we procured, unexpectedly, quite reasonably-priced new dressers, essentially doubling my clothing storage space, which is much more awesome than I imagined. We totally moved around our bedroom, and it seems much bigger even though we have more furniture in the room. Sucked putting together twelve drawers on Sunday night, but the results have been great. I totally love IKEA, and, after putting together both dressers, I really believe the quality of their stuff has increased over the past few years.

Anyway, I'm spending this week catching up on my Policy class, which includes watching Outfoxxed, cleaning and making minor home improvements, and hopefully drinking some beers, although not before soccer practice. That would be irresponsible.

Question

What do y'all think of Obama's speech on race? Discuss.

Sadness

Sometimes I need to use this blog just to get some feelings out, and this is one of those times.

I'm leaving my job. I was considering leaving since last school year, but then my district eliminated my position due to budget cuts (expected) and did not offer me a position in my building, they offered me my old crappy job at the alternative school (unexpected) even though I should have been offered a job in my building with my kids (which does exist). Basically, they made me an offer I couldn't accept, and that made my decision for me. I was very sad and hurt because I know that the reasoning behind this was personal. I offended a higher up because I stood up for something I believed in, and that put me on the short list of people that rock the boat and therefore must be eliminated. I have no bad observations in my file and I've done a million things for the district. My resume speaks for itself. But I am expendable.

In reality, I'm very happy about leaving and I know I'll be happier when I'm gone. One, I'm disillusioned with teachers' roles in the education system as it exists, and I don't feel like I'm doing as much as I want to be doing in terms of really, truly making social change. Two, there are just things going on here that I can't support, namely the treatment of teachers. I'd rehash it, but I just analyzed it in my paper and it took 10 pages just for the economic and political sections and I'm frankly so sick of it that I won't even get into it. Long story short, it's a toxic place to be right now and I'm glad to be done with it.

But, there's rumblings around school about me leaving which lets me know it's time to tell my kids. That's the part that sucks. Because I teach a large group of kids who have been left or abandoned by multiple people in their lives. And it sucks that I am going to be another one of those people. It sucks that the girls whom I've coached for the last three years, the girls who turned our program from never having a .500 season in school history to going undefeated in conference last season, that I'm not going to be there for their senior season. I'm sad that they might think that I'm leaving them, because that's not it. For me and my own sanity, I've got to go.

And I'm sad because for most of my adult life, a large part of my identity is as a teacher. I've been entrenched in this community and the work I've done with these kids. To walk away from that, from the relationships I have built with my kids, and from that atmosphere, is difficult. I'm having a little crisis right now because I don't think I can go into the classroom. I always swore that if I found myself getting bitter, I'd get out of the classroom, and right now, I'm bitter and my heart isn't in it. I look at the amazing teachers that I work with, the most intelligent, skilled, deliberate educators I've ever met. Sometimes I meet teachers from other places and am pretty aghast that they're in a classroom, because they just seem like amateurs compared to our staff. I'll be sad that they're not my colleagues any more, and I'll be sad that I won't be a teacher.

Mmmmm Veruca.

I basically finished my paper, so that's cool. Told y'all I'd get it done. I've got an update on the Scared Straight! story after I talk to Chris about it. Things got interesting there, I'll tell you what. But save that for later.

My weekend was mostly spent writing aforementioned paper, reading stuff about policy, and catching up on watching my video classes. I did sneak a trip in to Left Bank Books, where I picked up this, this, this, and this. I actually wanted to get the latest issue of Believer, but alas, they did not have it, which was a disappointment.

I also got down to Veruca Bakeshop, which is down on Sidney Street right next to the fabulous Niche restaurant. Niche pastry chef Mathew Rice is baking up a storm down there with some right fine pastries. I met Mathew when I went in Saturday morning (he recognized my name from a local online food forum), and he's a very nice guy who happens to make mean treats along with a mean Tahitian vanilla latte. I think his cupcakes are better than the ones from those fancy-pants cupcake bakeries around town who have yet to impress me. I'm also a big fan of the lemon bars and the better-than-Hostess snack cakes. If you get a chance, head down there and check out his goods. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Sunday Reminscing

I knew it would be like this. You knew it would be like this. Paper due tomorrow, yet here I am, just getting it popping at 1:19 PM, and we've got soccer practice at 3:00. Why oh why am I blogging? What can I say? I'm committed to you.

But no worries! I will prevail; make no mistake, I will prevail. I've already got lots of the background work done, which is why I'm taking a little blogging break. I'm just chilling over at this place, drinking some fair-trade coffee and taking a trip down memory lane by listening to The Lemonheads seminal album It's A Shame About Ray. I've been looking through a pile of old CDs as I rebuild my iPod library (again! but I got the new 80GB Classic and it has quickly become MY PRECIOUS) and started uploading stuff such as Evan Dando, Juliana Hatfield, and the other dudes in the band. (Interesting sidenote: a colleague is cousins-in-law with this dude, so I heard). This takes me back to my old Sassy-reading days . Sassy once had an article about how Evan Dando just went to prom with some fangirl back in the day. They had the formal photo of him in a tux and everything. That's beside the point. The carthartic wash of adolescence just poured over me as I listened to this disc. Remember that cover of "Mrs. Robinson"? Ain't shit compared to "Rockin' Stroll", "Bit Part In Your Life", and "Buddy". I feel like I should just pop this on a playlist with Toad the Wet Sprocket, Buffalo Tom, and Blind Melon, pretend I'm Angela Chase, and call it a day.

Well, I have to work. Interrupt me if you feel so inclined.

TGIF

I'm exhausted. The worst part of being tired, the kind of tired that you can't stop thinking about, is how your eyeballs feels. Sure, there's the bone-tired body-tired where your limbs just sigh when you finally lay down to rest, but I'm talking about the I-didn't-get-enough-sleep-and-it's-catching-up-to-me tired where your eyeballs get itchy and, well, tired. Is there a more desperate everyday-life situation than craving sleep and knowing full well there's no relief in sight.

AND it's Friday. As in, I have social life stuff to do because hi! a girl needs a beer now and again. After Chris and I chill together and go visit this place under the false pretense that I have time to read for fun, I'll be heading up to Lemmons for the Dudes Mag Ish 11 (aka Snake Eyes) release party. Basically, the Dudes on my kickball team make a magazine. $5 cover, Celebrity Autopsy, Hot Atomics, and Devlin's Kids (yes, some Dudes have a band called Devlin's Kids) will be rawking. You should come if you're into irony, zines, rawk, beer, shuffleboard, or shit-talking.

I will then be spending the weekend writing a paper and watching class videos that I'm behind on.

Oh, snap. One of our most ridonkulous students just said, in front of his teacher, that he was just going to make up his works cited page for his persuasive essay. Said teacher said, "Hello, I'm sitting right here."
Student replies, "Oh, I though Mr. (Student Teacher) was our teacher."
Teacher, "Yeah, but I'm still your real teacher. Obviously if you cheat, I am going to tell Mr. (Student Teacher)."
Student, "That's gay." Said it all serious, no hint of offense or knowledge of wrongdoing or deception.

We're straight doomed.

Big Ups To My Home State

Iowa ain't no backwater farm state..err, maybe it is, but we love the cheeldren.

New Blog

I've been writing for GreenOptions since its launch over a year ago, and it's grown by leaps and bounds. We just launched a new food-themed blog, EatDrinkBetter, focusing on sustainable foods. I posted on Rachael Ray today, if you're so inclined. Despite the fact that she annoys the crap out of me and you can't escape her (seen her mug in the cracker aisle? Too much), her message that anyone can cook real food is empowering. I'm not ashamed to admit that there are some downright tasty 30 Minute Meals.

Snow Day. Psych.

Really, truly, and honestly, my school district is the only district in the entire St Louis city/county area that is in school right now. Right now, as fat flakes of snow fall and cover everything in a beautiful blanket, our teachers are trying to figure out what to do today while other teachers (including Chris) are snug in their beds. I had a great new project to start on in Creative Writing--we're working on personal narratives and other types of creative non-fiction, and we're going to have our own StoryCorps, with the kids interviewing each other about a significant event in their lives and recording them into podcasts. However, only ten kids showed up today. I'm not about to start something new and then have to explain the whole thing all over again tomorrow. So we just had catch-up time today.

The kids in my first class were freaking out about having to be in school, particularly as the snow fell harder and harder. I tried to assure them that they were safe and we'd probably let out early, but they were convinced that it was about to go Donner Party up in this bitch. One girl actually said, "I dare someone to try and steal my kidney."

More later. Things are pretty low-key around here with only about 50% of kids in attendance and the rest getting out early because their parents are worried about them.

Awesome Student Quote

"Martin Luther King, Jr is a beast."--drama student in my friend KD's class.

Babies With Babies

Feministing posted an interesting story about a Colorado state rep made a comment in public about how teen moms are "sluts" and his subsequent visit to a high school for parenting teen women. The comments following the article are probably even more interesting. I really like how some assholes want to have abstinence-only education in schools so students don't learn about contraception, then, when teens get pregnant, they don't want them to have access to abortions, but when the teens who choose to raise their children want to have a public education and/or services so they can better themselves and provide for their children, they are dismissed as "freeloaders" or "slut" or "wastes of taxpayers money".

Where's the public derision for the male "sluts" who participating in making said babies? Oh, wait, there aren't terms specifically tied to male promiscuity. My bad.

People: if you want to break the cycle of poverty among people who have only known generational poverty all their lives, we've got to figure out a system that empowers young people to gain social capital to do so--not welfare, but programs that help them figure out how to better themselves. I would much rather my tax dollars go to programs that help teen parents than to fund this bullshit war. When will the need to act punitively towards those teens (TEENS, i.e. still lacking frontal lobe development)who made mistakes quit superceding the progress we could make by giving people who have never gotten a break in life tools to make their own breaks?

I have known, over the course of my career, many parenting teens. They all have different stories, backgrounds, and circumstances that led to their current station in life. The commonality between them is that they need help. Some may grow up and abuse the system--I don't think we'll ever escape that. But most of them desperately want to escape poverty and need help to figure out how to do that. We're too busy lambasting "sluts" for getting pregnant so they could get on the dole that we can't see that breaking the cycle of poverty is possible.

Here's an example: one of my kids explained to me, in great detail, how to manipulate an interview with a social worker in order to become eligible for disability checks more quickly. She knew this because she learned from her mother. That same student had no idea what a FAFSA was or how to fill it out. Do we punish the mother's manipulation of the system by refusing to help her daughter figure out how to help herself? Because if we do that, we'll be paying for her daughter's disability checks soon enough.

Sidenote: If Juno was black, would the movie have been nominated for an Oscar? Would it even have been a comedy? Discuss.

Honestly, if we could just give Depo shots in the lunchline, we could alleviate this whole problem.

Who Do You Hate?

I may have mentioned before that Sleater Kinney's Carrie Brownstein has a music blog on NPR.org called Monitor Mix that is really a great read to add to you RSS reader. One of her latest posts, "A Plea for Banishment" talks about how a certain group of people really hate the Doors. This leads to roughly 100 comments about popular bands that people really hate, including ones I too hate, such as Nickelback, Kid Rock, Jimmy Buffet, U2 (don't hate, actually like The Joshua Tree, but just never really understood the popularity and never resonated with me), & Steeley Dan. There were other ones that I do love, including some I know I should not love, including Dave Matthews Band, Phish, and any other jam band, the entire genre of alt-country (?), Journey, REO Speedwagon, etc. Have these people no sense of irony?

My favorite quote from the comments was this:

The only thing in music that I've ever wanted to kill (rather than just not listen to) is Fine Young Cannibal's "She Drives Me Crazy" and that's so specific it's hardly worth mentioning in this context.

Agreed, but I do like "Good Thing."

What other artists do I just really loathe that other people celebrate? Let's set three ground rules: don't bother mentioning pop artists like Britney, or one-hit wonders, or pop country. They're all givens.

Me personally, besides Nickelback, I really can't stand anything emo or teeny-bopper punk pop that my cousins would listen to such as Hellogoodbye, Yellowcard (I guess anything else with a "ello" in it), Fallout Boy, Good Charlotte, ICP, Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, Korn, and I really don't like the Beach Boys.

Your thoughts?

Snaked.

Damn. Of course someone with more time beat me to it.

Bitch is the New Black

Anyone see the return of SNL? Although I don't support Clinton, I don't irrationally hate her with the fire of a thousand suns like some folks. I liked guest host Tina Fey's endorsement of Clinton on Weekend Update...

Tina Fey: I want to say something about those calling Hillary a bitch...yeah, well she is...So am I, so is she (pointing at Weekend Update news host Amy Poehler.) Deal with it.

Bitches get shit done.

She goes on to proclaim, "Bitch is the new black."

I also enjoyed Huckabee's stint on Weekend Update. He seemed very willing to poke fun of himself. Damnit if he's not a likable guy. So's the devil, though.

Also, if you don't read Jessica Valenti and crew's Feministing, you should, because they keep it real over there. The comments section gives me hope that not everyone is still down with bullshit gender concepts designed to keep the woman down. Rise up with fists, y'all. You can see Tina Fey's SNL speech there.

Monday Thoughts of Little Consequence

Well, I'm probably going to go into blog hibernation for a few. Today is the first legal day of practice for spring sports in Missouri, so girls soccer is in full swing as of 3:15 today. This means that I will be busy after school every day from now until the middle of May, making girls run until they puke. For those of you who don't know me other than through my blog, I used to coach boys and girls soccer at our (tiny) high school, but I gave up boys this year because I started my doctoral work. Not that I don't love the boys, but the girls is another deal, and I wanted to see how my schedule worked out in the fall before I committed to girls. I decided that I wanted to coach spring and that we needed the money. Unfortunately, I'm really busy with school right now, too, so my schedule is basically work, soccer, school from here until May. Bummer. You'll know I'm procrastinating if I post.

Also discovered that my iPod was stolen, again, from work, sometime last week, but I'm not sure when. My fault, since I shouldn't have had it at school after the first theft, but I really was using it for some podcasts for Creative Writing. There are some straight thieves up in this bitch. Luckily, I have almost all of my newer music on my laptop, but I'll be starting over again whenever I get a new iPod, which is so soul-suckingly depressing that I can't even think about it. Good thing I'm getting a tax refund right quick. Why buy the new oven you need when you can buy a new iPod to replace the one stolen from you by the kids you are trying to help? Accepting cash donations. I'm about the pass the hat right in the hallway.

But, I can't complain, seeing as I worked 2 1/2 days last week and I'm going to Drive By Truckers on Friday night.

Snow Half Day

Oh yeah. Early release day! Can this weather continue until approximately 7AM tomorrow?

Awesome Student Quote

"Karate's weak."

--Student's contribution to discussion on muay-thai boxing.

Newslinks

Thanks to Feministing for the heads up on this article about how us cracker Westerners aren't birthin' 'nuff babies to preserve our righteous heritage. Damnit, we need more people on this planet. Can't y'all be more like the Duggars?

The Nation has a brief article on debunking the myth of the "cult of Obama", the media-induced notion that all of us Obama supporters have drank the Kool-Aid.

The Sunday Times "A Night Out With" featured Brian K. Vaughan, writer of Y: The Last Man (probably my all-time favorite comics not drawn by Dan Zettwoch) who is also a co-producer of Lost, as he toasts the last issue of Y: The Last Man. Better get down to Star Clipper this weekend and finish the series.

Have y'all seen the press for this: Rothbury, a "music festival revolution" taking place over the 4th in Michigan. I'd be totally down for this sustainability-focused event with a great lineup of artists and events, but the 4th is my mom's 50th birthday, my parents' 30th wedding anniversary, and possibly my ten-year reunion. Plus the sweet Americana/early morning sanctioned drinking of the Urbandale 4th of July parade.

Sweet Asshole Encounter

So after Chris and I went to see Persepolis, we stopped off at Racanelli's to pick up a pizza. As we waited for the pizza, we drank a beer, talked about the movie, and people watched. There was a family of four with two kids, probably 3 and 7 or so, whose pizza was delivered while we were waiting. After a few minutes, the mom waved the young employee over who delivered the pizza and said, really snottily.

"My kids really love cheese, and there's a big bubble here on this piece with no cheese. Can you put more cheese on it and put it back in the oven?"

It wasn't like the kids were sharing a little pizza and this perfectly-normal pizza-dough bubble was bogarting half of the surface area of said pizza. They had a fat large pizza. If you can't ease your kids into the indignities of life by giving them the fucking bubble piece of pizza and telling them to get over and be thankful that they have pizza to eat at all as opposed to a fly living on their mouth, then I sincerely hope I never have to teach your kids.

Disgusting Discoveries Via StatCounter

StatCounter, as many bloggers know, is super fun spy time. You can see who and what is reading your blog--not exactly who, but you can get a general idea. You can also see what paths people take to get to your blog--what Google searches yield your blog, what blogrolls are sending people your way, etc.

So gag me with a spoon when I found that someone found this post from my blog when doing a google search for "tight child c*** pics". Dirty perv in Rugby, England. Shouldn't there be a way to report stuff like this? Shouldn't your computer automatically freeze up if you do a search like this?

Weekend

It's hard coming back to reality after a four-day weekend. I took Friday (which was a development day) off to go to Minneapolis. Because of the previously-mentioned ridiculosity (TM me) of American Airlines, over two days, I was in four different airports flying three different carriers. Good times. Between Delta, American, and Northwest, Delta treated me least like cattle. They still give out peanuts and their seats are comfier. The Atlanta airport is horrible. I will never fly through there if I can help it. I also spent an inordinate amount of time perusing SkyMall, which, if you have never looked at it, contains possibly the largest collection of completely useless stuff in the developed world. I am actually going to do a post on it so you can see what rich folk spend their money on. In any event, I breathed enough stale air (and fart-laden air on one flight) to last me for at least another month, hopefully two.

School was really good--looking at analyzing problems using economic and political lenses and talking about political constructions. My cohort class really meshes well with my other class, Policy Development, so it's pretty cool to further understand how public policy works and how that may influence or even create problems. I may get to go to Washington this summer for a week-long policy class that meets on Capitol Hill, depending on how work schedules play out.

I got home around 10 on Saturday and hung out with Chris for the rest of the weekend, just relaxing around our house. We went and saw Persepolis, which I thought was awesome. I would highly recommend you go see it or at least read the graphic novels. It's funny and sad and gives a unique voice to the social history of contemporary Iranians. We also saw 3:10 To Yuma, which was good if you like westerns, so-so if you're just meh about them like us.

Last night on a whim, Chris and I committed to watching network television despite the fact that we don't actively watch any of the shows that are on Mondays. I seriously think I am dumber for that. The choices (I'm just guesstimating the titles): American Gladiators, My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, Paradise Hotel 2 (?), Two and a Half Men, Carrie vs. Bruno: Dance Wars, Knight Rider the remake, Gossip Girl, the new season of that Pussycat Dolls show, & Prison Break. That is some unremarkable shit right there. Seriously, those shows make The Biggest Loser look like Masterpiece Theatre.

SOLVED Mystery

A colleague and I were just reminiscing on Saved By the Bell (he took the quiz while home sick yesterday) and how if you were an adolescent in the late 80s/early 90s, you could watch four episodes back to back on TBS and TNT (?) after school (then California Dreams, if you were so inclined), although there was the weird five minute delay for TBS shows. Remember that? When TBS started shows at five past the hour or 35 past the hour? Why did they do that? Can anyone solve this Unsolved Mystery now that Robert Stack has passed on (R.I.P)?

update: MYSTERY SOLVED!
Lazer e-mailed me this:

On June 29, 1981, TBS began to use "Turner Time"[5]. While other television offerings generally began at the top and bottom of each hour, TBS decided to begin airing programs five minutes later, at :05 and :35.
By using "Turner Time," TBS programs were listed under their own time entry in TV Guide, thus providing more exposure to the channel's programming. It also encouraged channel surfers who couldn't find anything interesting to watch at the top of the hour, to still be able to watch a TBS program without missing the first few minutes. Most importantly, since shows ended five minutes later than normal, it usually encouraged viewers to continue watching TBS rather than flip to watch another program already in progress.
TBS started to cut back Turner Time in 1997 from and scrapped it completely by 2000. TBS now schedules programs at the top and bottom of the hour (excluding Seinfeld on Tuesday evenings which airs at 9:15 and 9:45 p.m.; this is due to Sex and the City's length and the fact that commercials didn't air on its original network HBO).

Thanks, Lazer!

Awesome Student Quote

"I bought (former student who is pregnant) some Baby Einstein videos. That kid needs all the help it can get."

Sad, but true.

If I Can Hand It In Tomorrow It Will Be All Right.

Here's a link to a pretty awesome Saved By the Bell quiz. This ain't for amateurs. You needed something to occupy this morning when you should be home in bed, didn't you?

Then, vote for your favorite SBTB character. The winning character gets Valentine's Dinner at the Max.

A Cossssby Sweater

Swear I'm working on the Punxytawney post. I've been crazy busy: paper due today, buttloads (yes, BUTTLOADS) of reading to do, grading, and other miscellaneous prep for Minneapolis this weekend. Can I vent about that? What up with American Airlines, with whom I have flown faithfully all through this long-distance venture, tripling their prices from St Louis to Minneapolis this weekend? I can't fly direct for less than a grand. I ain't got that kind of scrilla, for real. So I'm going to traipsing around the country trying to connect to Minneapolis and still paying out the ass, knowing damn well that my normal return flight only has five people in it. GRRRR.

Spent a nice weekend mostly with Chris. Went out to eat with our friends Christine and Joe at Off the Vine on Hampton on Saturday, a very spur-of-the-moment, very expensive venture. The food was spectacular, the service, not so much. Try it for lunch before you commit to dinner. Also spent too much money at Euclid Records, where we purchased the new Jack Johnson and Gary Louris on vinyl and the new Drive By Truckers on CD. I could spend an entire paycheck in that joint as it totally reminds me of the record shop in High Fidelity.

Also, saw The Namesake and Art School Confidential this weekend. Yes, it was the weekend of 2006 movies. So what if we're behind? We loved the former and were just kind of meh about the latter. The plot was pretty obvious without being developed in any way. Also saw Paris Je T'aime, which was great and I would highly recommend. I might even use it in my classroom to show how microfiction works.

Sorry, I'm boring today, because I've got a lot to do. Which I am procrastinating doing by writing this.

Just One More Hit...

I swear this is the last Heidi Montag post I write about at least until Hills Season 4 premieres. Why would Heidi do an interview with Television Without Pity? Let us not question. Let us give thanks.

Awesome Student Quote

"All I'm saying is that if I had grown up in an house that wasn't just about alcohol, cigarettes, and Law & Order, I would have done better on the ACT."

Small Town Thoughts

Yesterday, I had an eye appointment at Hampton Village at 2. My Thursday schedule worked out that I just took the afternoon off. Chris had conferences, so I had planned on taking two buses to get to the eye doctor. For those of you that don't know, I sold my car in August because we really didn't need it and I hated the hassle of having it. I don't mind taking the bus. The only pain in the ass is they really don't run on schedule, so you can wait up to a half hour.

Anyway, I left school after Advisory and was waiting for the bus, when out of nowhere, two friends of mine whip around the corner of Big Bend and Manchester and pick me up. We went and ate chili at one's house and then the other took me to my appointment. After my brief appointment, I thought about taking two buses home, but decided to walk the mile and a half/two miles, because it was perfectly nice walking weather and I had This American Life podcasts to listen to. I walk about half a mile down Hampton before Chris's cousin whips into a parking lot and picks me up.

I thought about this when I got home, and what struck me, other than my incredibly good fortune to have my transportation needs taken care of, was that how much of a small town St Louis really is. Everyone knows everybody, and if you don't know someone, chances are you know someone who knows said person. And while it can get lame answering the "Where'd you go to high school" question with, "I'm from Iowa," I like that you can connect with people through an extensive network of friends.

Ironically, that same thought came to me as I watched the reports on the shooting in Kirkwood. The same friend who gave me a ride to the eye doctor is from Kirkwood, and I knew from her family's involvement with local politics, that there was almost no way she wouldn't know the shooter and the victims. An e-mail from her this morning confirmed what I had suspected: she knew all of the victims and the shooter. Her parents have lost their friends and are devastated. I can't imagine how citizens of Kirkwood feel right now. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Somebody Stop This Train

I'm a blogging fiend today. I couldn't let the day go by without linking to this unintentionally hilarious interview with Heidi from the Hills, full of such gems as this:

How would you describe the sound of the record so far?
You can’t really describe it. It’s like its own genre of music. A little bit of it is hip-hop, some of it’s very…the best way to say it is that all of the songs make you want to dance. It’s all so amazing, and each song is totally different. Every one is like a genre of its own.

God bless you, Trent, for bringing this to my attention today.

My advice: watch the video I linked to earlier, read the article. Laugh hysterically. Make parody video. Post on YouTube. Become famous.

Super Tuesday

I'm working on a Groundhog post and a rant about some other stuff, so I don't have time to say much about Super Tuesday as of now. I did cast a proud vote for Obama this morning, and you can read Jaelithe's blog, as she pretty succinctly articulates why she and I both support him. VOTE OR DIE, BITCHES!

Monday Mornings and the Groundhog

Well, I have returned from Punxsutawney, and boy do I have stories to tell. That would involve me uploading pictures and processing the surrealness that was Groundhog Day. While I work on that, and, you know, stuff for my real job, go ahead and check out the shiteousness that is Heidi Montag's (from The Hills, like, duh) "music" video. This cannot be for real, can it? It was on Yahoo! Entertainment.

Stuff

My friend Sandra e-mailed me this link. You should totally watch it.

Student Quote

From a student's "persuasive" paper on why people should have cell phones:

"My brother talks to all of his lady friends that he met on MySpace with his cell phone."

Teacher Quote

From my lovely coworker Nancy, who keeps me going most days:

"Whatever happened to the serendipitousness of a snow day?"

--when discussing district procedures for determining whether in fact we will close school due to inclement weather.

What I'm Reading/Watching/Listening To

Music
I've been listening to a ton of Belle & Sebastian lately, mostly their B-sides compilation, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds. They also have a great free NPR:Live Concerts podcast of a show they did in DC (if you haven't check out NPR: Live Concerts, you totally, totally should). Chris also found an eerily Jeff Buckley-esque singer/songwriter named Matthew Santos. Same dude who did the hook on Lupe Fiasco's Superstar, and he's well worth checking out if you are a Buckley fan. Although not in the past few days, I've been listening to Okkervil River's The Stage Names, one of '07's best. If you are in STL, they're playing an as-of-yet unpublicized show at the Bluebird in March, which should be a good time despite my experience there with State Radio. Seeing a band you really love in a small venue is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Books
I haven't really had time to read books for fun until the past few days since I was crazily cramming in all my school readings, but after class, I was able to pick up the latest issue of The Believer. It's done by the folks at McSweeney's, and is worth the cost just to read Nick Hornby's monthly column "What I'm Reading". I also finished The Golden Compass and am now and atheist. The latest Ready Made came yesterday all about organizing your life. Nice effort, but I'm sure I'm still going to be the slob I've been for 27 years. Sometimes I wish I could just do projects from that magazine and have that be my life. Unfortunately, I gots to pay the bills, I don't live near an IKEA, and my aesthetic isn't really modern, or at least it doesn't come naturally.

Screens
Saw two great documentaries that you should definitely check out. Taken For A Ride is awesome on two levels: information and awesome late-80s styles. This film outlines the calculated demise of streetcars, spearheaded by GM, who needed a way to increase sales of personal automobiles. Our entire car culture was basically a construct of GMs business strategy. Think about how that's changed our entire country, and you'll realize why this is important.
Also saw This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which is all about the MPAA ratings system and how arbitrary and biased it is. For example, female orgasm or homosexual sex is almost guaranteed an NC-17 rating, or at least put your right on the border of R & NC-17. They also showed how violence is perfectly acceptable, but sex is taboo, which is basically the opposite of the European way of thought. The filmmaker hires private investigators to find out who exactly is on the MPAA ratings board (since it's not really public information). Of course, the movie itself got an NC-17 rating, so the filmmaker released it as NR. Really gives you insight into the film industry. Warning: total nudity. Lots of boobies, partially for irony, partially to demonstrate how what's totally R in one movie can be NC-17 in another.

We've also started watching Battlestar Galactica Season Two and Oz Season One. If you're into anal rape, shivs, cylons, or Edward James Olmos, check those out.

Off to Punxsutawney this weekend. Bing!

Live Notes from the State of the Union

51 weeks. 51 weeks. We can do it, guys.

Sigh. Is he really our president? Really? Two terms? Sweet Jesus, we get what we deserve, I swear.

*Cheney is a smug son of a bitch. This would be ten times more entertaining if Pelosi had a "I'm with stupid" shirt on or busted out laughing every once and a while. Bunny ears? It's your only chance, Nance. Come on; throw us a bone!

*How much more awesome would the State of the Union be if reactions other than a) clapping with a smirk or b) not clapping with a bored look, were allowed. Even just a "can you believe this asshole" point with a withering look or a knowing shake of the head. Right now, the most subversive behavior allowed is to read the program like you aren't listening.

*Cut to Obama pensively thinking with a fist to his mouth, thinking, "How can I liven this shit up a bit?" I'll tell you what: when Obama is president, all he needs to do is stand up there, hold his hands up and look around with a grin on his face as if to say, "What now, motherfuckers?" and it would be infinitely more awesome than this awful display of constructed reality. Actually, he could stand up there and say, "Give it up for my man Rrrrrandy Watson-ah." and it would be infinitely more awesome that this.

*NCLB is a bipartisan achievement? Achievement is not the word most people who are professional educators would use.

*Do you have anyone who doesn't work for a non-renewable energy company in your cabinet or in the EPA? Carbon sequestering is NOT the answer. The majority of coal is NOT clean. Keep talking like you made huge strides with emissions reductions. We're the only developed country to NOT ratify Kyoto and we were BOOED in Bali. The idea that we're "leading the way" when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is laughable at best, a bald-faced lie if we're being honest.

*I ask congress to ban the buying, selling, patenting or cloning of human life. But we can patent non-human lives with no qualms. There goes my eBay kidney business.

*Cheney only stands up when Bush mentions warmongering or the military.

*Has he read 1984? Do you think he understands the term Orwellian? I highly, highly doubt it. War=peace, right?

*Okay,okay I would stand up for the armed forces. I would, and I support veterans benefits and extended benefits to military families. And I do not support genocide. Why isn't everyone standing up for that statement. Aren't we all against genocide?

*I'd love to see the margin notes scribbled between Democrat congresspeople and senators. Do you think they're about the ridiculousness of the speech, or more along the lines of my marginal notes from class this weekend that said, "All I can think about is a burrito."

*Aaaaannnnndd, cut to The Office. Where at least the wildly foolish man in charge is fictional.

God bless America.

P.S. CBS post-speech coverage:
Katie Couric: Can you predict what people will say about him after his presidency?
Some dude: It doesn't look good.

Would You Like Some Pancakes?

If you answered yes, you should read my friend Alice's article in the Suburban Journal. She's a serious nutrition student who once went to Rooster and had the balls to order oatmeal with pureed pumpkin and cinnamon.

I'm heading up to the arctic tundra of Minnesota for my first class of the semester. Should be a good time if I read 100 pages tonight. Likely. Or I could just watch the Battlestar Galactica Season Two DVD I got from Netflix today. Like I tell my kids every Friday, make good choices.

Don't forget to e-mail me at kbestoliver at yahoo dot com if you want a zine. They are super duper.

HumpDay Playlist

These days, work is sucking my soul dry and I'm yearning for weather warm enough to sit on my front porch with a beer and a book (one I'm reading for pleasure, please). Music is getting me by. What's poppin' today as I write curriculum and lesson plans, corral kids, and try to read for school? How about a little playlist to feel empowered and happy?

Another Sunny Day--Belle and Sebastian
Breakin' Up--Rilo Kiley
Young Folks--Peter Bjorn and John
All the Young Dudes--Mott the Hoople
Brass In Pocket--The Pretenders
Shiver--Coldplay
Cut Your Hair--Pavement
Race for the Prize--The Flaming Lips
My Name Is Jonas--Weezer
Trying Gets You Nowhere--Goodnight Ghost
A Better Son/Daughter--Rilo Kiley
Take Me To The Riot--Stars
Good To Know--Stephen Brodsky
We Do Not Fuck Around--Viva Voce
What's Mine Is Yours--Sleater Kinney

Zine-tastic. Get your very own.

Big, big ups to Dr. King. I can't say anything that hasn't already been said, but I echo sentiments that recognize how far our society has come, yet acknowledge how far we have yet to go.

Chris and I spent the weekend chilling and having an all out relaxing time, something much needed. That extra day is crucial to relaxation, particularly since my trips to Minneapolis start up again this coming weekend, and I heard its like -72 there or something. And I have to read this whole book on Adam Smith between now and Friday, plus supplementary readings on Marx.

We also spent a large portion of our weekend working on a new project that we came up with because we were feeling like we wanted to make something and we were both struggling with some writer's block.

We set a goal to create and produce a zine in 24 hours. Everything had to be written and laid out in that span of time, and we copied and stapled today. Anyhow, we produced 25 copies, and we're offering them free to the first 25 people who either comment on this post or Chris's blog or e-mail me. I will mail one to you, free of charge, or give one to you next time I see you, your choice. We are not visual artists, but I like how it turned out. It's a mix of sociopolitical rants and fun stuff. Delurk and request a copy fo' free, y'all.

Buellerizing My Life

Sweet Jesus, the thought of a three day weekend is exhilarating. Thank you, Dr. King. Couple that with me going to Minnesota next Friday, translating into a three-day work week next week, THEN going to Punxytawny the following weekend, and, well, I'm just not really going to work very much, now, am I? Guess it's time to start Twittering.

Morning Person

I ask you, is there a worse feeling than waking up in the darkness and realizing your alarm is going off in two minutes? I think not. Which is why when I woke up, squinting at Chris's alarm clock this morning, I was fully prepared to be disappointed and exhausted, again. I ain't been sleeping very well lately. But I squinted harder, looking like my mom used to look when we'd wake her up at 2:15AM to open presents from Santa, and realized yes...dare I hope...YES! there was a 4, not a 6, on the hour side. I still had two hours to sleep. Then, Chris got up and took care of the pets this morning instead of doing our usual, "It's your turn" tango and let me sleep a little bit extra.

I've been going through some drama lately, which I will post about at a later date when it is more appropriate. Don't worry, I'm not trying to pop out a shorty or anything, although I thought I was going to for a minute. THAT really threw things into a tizzy 'round here. But I'm good now. That's a Bob Schneider song.

I've also been very busy trying to get all my reading done for school. We have seven books for my cohort class to read before January 25, and then we have to read them all over again over the course of the semester. There are four non-fiction and three fiction texts. I've got two fiction done, one non-fiction done, and two other started. The course is about critical issues and the social, political, and economic contexts, and, from the fictional texts, we're really going to be looking at the effects of colonialism on African nations. If you haven't, you should really read Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible
as it is easily one of the best books I have ever read AND a book that everyone should read.

The other class I'm in, History of Critical Ed (yeah! my first official critical pedagogy course) has three books and a ton of supplementary stuff, and I'm anxious to get into it once I finish my cohort class work. Awesomely, the first non-fiction text I read was all about ritual, myth, and symbolism in world cultures, and it was all difficult to read, but the last chapter is all about WWF as myth and symbolism. So it was pretty sweet to open up this academic book and see a picture of Sergeant Slaughter and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake coupled with an in-depth analysis of the overarching patriotic symbolism of a typical WWF episode in the 80s. Totally bitch.

Polticky-ness

Hmmm. Elections. Somethings in the air, and I like it, I think.

Let me say, I like what seems like a real involved effort for participation on the part of America. But more on that later. First, let me address what I don't like. I really don't like how the media is shaping our news in general, specifically the elections. I preface this rant by admitting that I'm reading a book on that very topic for school right now, called Constructing the Political Spectacle by Murray Edelman. It's totally hilarious how last week, OMG Obama with the upset! Nobody saw it coming! (even though a lot of real people actually did) Lily-white Iowa voted for a brown person! Then, last night, OMG Clinton with the upset! Nobody saw it coming! People with penises voted for a woman! That is so 1984-ish I can't even believe it. Does the media think that people have so little brain capacity that they can't remember one week ago? Edelman talks about how there's no way media can be fair and balanced (ha!) because there is subjectivity in the selection of what "facts" (and he uses the term loosely) are included, highlighted, even obsessed about via a 24-hour feed with scrolling tickers. What's totally fascinating is that he wrote this book in the 80s, before them thar internets exponentially increased the exposure to information that the average American has on the daily. They want to increase the real!life!drama because people will watch if it is entertaining. If it isn't, and there isn't some kind of narrative storyline, then they won't. And they are in the business of selling that narrative storyline, so it is in their best interest. People in general really aren't interested in the news unless they perceive that it has a direct correlation to their lives. Why do you think local news stations are milking the Hwy 40 shit for all it is worth? They know people will watch because that directly affects their lives. I'd say more and draw more parallels, but as I am a master procrastinator (see prior post), I am only on Chapter Three.


Damn, y'all. This thing ain't even close to being over. Do you realize how close it really? How close Iowa really was? After two tiny states with a largely rural population of white people. I mean, you know I rep the DMI, but they are hardly indicative of the wishes of the American public in general. The percentage difference in votes was relatively large, but the number of delegates between Edwards, Clinton,and Obama was two, total. There are still 48 states to go, with many, many more delegates to pledge.

What's awesome about it? Um, did you ever think four years ago (or even two years ago) that the biggest fight for president, the two legitimate contenders for the democratic nomination, would be a woman and a Black man? Seriously? Yeah, it's no big. Or, damn, a MORMON. Like, thank Big Love for that (I KID! I know LDS and FLDS are completely totally different things. Don't e-mail me.) Seriously, I think it is actually really fascinating that when they would first interview people about the "freakshow" that is Clinton/Obama/Romney and people say, "Well, I don't know if a woman/Black man/Mormon is ready to be president," or "You know, I don't know if the country is ready for a woman/Black man/Mormon as president." For reals? Only old WASPs have the moxie or merit to be president? We haven't evolved past the patriarchy? Stone fucking Ages, man. Of COURSE we're ready for it. We're desperate for it, craving it, wishing someone or something different would happen. And here it is. I'll give Bush credit for one thing, and that's making it abundantly clear to the public in general that being pasty and having twig and berries and some family money is clearly not enough to lead this country. That's why people are responding so well to Obama's speeches. Sheesh, don't we deserve an intelligent president that can stir a nation with his or her words, inspire hope that we don't have to live in a country completely dominated by assholes, and sure as shit doesn't say shit like this:

"I got a lot of Ph.D.-types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, 'Mr. President, here's what's on my mind.' And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device, I decide, you know, I say, 'This is what we're going to do.'" --George W. Bush, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007.

Okay, I've got to calm down. I've got myself all in a flush. And, even though he is a white male, I love me some John Edwards, too. Can we have an Obama/Edwards ticket?

Procrastination

All I ever do is put off doing other things. Like right now, I'm putting off planning one of my classes tomorrow, finishing this curriculum that I've been putting off since, oh, June, and reading Constructing the Political Spectacle by Murray Edelman. Why would I do those things when I can upload pictures to my laptop and post them here? Like of my new tattoo. Right forearm, by Luke at AllStar Tattoo in U City.

Brief Note

If you want to feel good, listen to Golden Smog's cover of The Kinks "Strangers" on their disc Another Fine Day featuring the sweet, sweet vocal harmonies of Jeff Tweedy and Gary Louris. You heard The Kinks version on The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack. So good, I got up and went across the room to replay the song on vinyl. Oh, wait, you can listen to it (and the rest of this kickass album) streaming online here.

P.S. If you don't know Gary Louris from the awesome band The Jayhawks, you should, at least, if you like alt-country. If you don't know who Jeff Tweedy is, then you are dead to me.

Happy Monday/Thursday

It's a Monday/Thursday--a Thursday, but the first day back with the kids at school so it feels like a Monday. I don't feel like Monday, actually, I feel like a pile of poo that desperately needs a full night of sleep without dreaming of replicant clone robots, but whatever.

If you are like me and shudder when you recall having to sit through the painful, painful trailer for the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, gasping when you saw your beloved Jason Lee as Dave, poured one out for the Brodie-Man's career, then said, "Oh fuck no" and thought art is dead when you saw that David Cross was also in it, you should read Cross's justification of why he did this god-awful piece of shit movie. It's entertaining.

Also, just FYI, in my first hour class of the day, Creative Writing, I shit you not, I had a kid say, to the entire class, that he was highly intelligent, had a narcissistic complex, and was a "very skilled writer". Seriously. He said all these things about himself as the entire class simultaneously rolled their eyes. This is the same kid who came in the Writing Center last year and said that Coldplay was "good music to chief to." Who says "chief" as a thinly-veiled euphemism for smoking pot in 2007? In front of a teacher? Who does he think he is, Slater from Dazed and Confused?

Addendum

At Chris's request, I took down a picture of him and Asher because "you are projecting an image of, fucking, I mean, it's not a real thing, man. The picture creates more than you create, man."

2007 Year in Review

I thought I'd have hella time to blog over this break, but it was actually a fairly stressful break, what with eight thousand different family things in two different states. I'm taking some time today while Chris is grading 40 more shitty 10th grade research papers. Here's three lists about 2007, because apparently lists are all anyone can muster at the end of the year.

7 Awesome Events of 2007 (in no particular order)

Friends moving to STL--Good pals Banter and his Ball & Chain moved back to St Louis after an alleged stint in law school, and K-Vav moved back to the 'Lou after lighting up the lives of Bay City rollers. River City didn't even see it coming.


Starting school again--Starting the Leadership program at UST has been totally enlightening and I love being back working out my gray matter. The fat stack of books I have to read in the next month is daunting and exciting all at the same time, and the relationships I'm building within my cohort have been invaluable.


New writing opportunities--Green Options has gotten me back in the swing of regular writing, meeting deadlines, and a little extra income. Plus some clippings. I am a big timer, I guess. Just kidding. This little blog right here is my outlet and venting space and I thank all three of you for faithfully reading.

Concerts, concerts, concerts--We saw Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, John Butler Trio, State Radio, Lucero, The Decemberists, The Shins, The Flaming Lips, and Guster. We also went to Wakarusa and saw Ben Harper, John Butler Trio, Widespread Panic, Son Volt, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, among others. Which reminds me, I need to write my concert manners manifesto, cause some of you fools are out of your damn mind at shows.


Backpacking trip to the Appalachian Trail--Well, the first five days or so, before it got hot, insanely rainy, and buggy.

Good times with good friends--Trip to Chicago for the World Series of Pop Culture, Team Awesome (during the non-dysfunctional times), going to Minnesota with Molly Markham and Abby, various jaunts to South City holes to drink lots of beer and sing 80s hits.

Going to the Iowa State Fair--fried cheese curds, cold beer mullets, farmers, political candidates, and hog balls bigger than your head. Good times, good times.

7 Things I'm Thankful For Right This Minute

Grandma's Kringla--you know, those cakey, pretzel-shaped things my grandma (Hi, Grandma!) makes and I give you, if you are lucky, around Thanksgiving and Christmas because we can't eat them all. She makes like 120 dozen every year. No joke. Seriously, the lady can bake a mean Norwegian pastry.

This cookbook, which is allowing me to make orange pudding cupcakes that currently smell delicious as they cool and will go to Meghan and Paul's Second Annual New Year's Eve bash tonight.

Left Bank Books (the one in STL, although I've been to the unrelated one in Seattle, which is also fucking rules. I could spend hours and hours and thousands and thousands perusing their shelves and expanding our home library.

My new Holga camera. Pictures to follow after I get them developed at Ye Olde Creve Couer Camera. Remember the days before the instant gratification of digital?

This totally awesome Golden Smog album

Dexter and Friday Night Lights, both totally awesome shows whose Season Ones I'm about to finish. Damn! Y'all should watch both, because they are totally well-written and entertaining and feature decent acting. Also, I'm sure you'll get an outstanding recommendation from Chris's 8-year-old cousin, who informed us at Christmas that he loves Dexter. Me-"You mean Dexter's Laboratory?" Him-"No, Dexter the serial killer."

These guys:
***PICTURE REMOVED AT WOLVERINE'S REQUEST*


So, that's my end of year list. You do not suck at all.

Mash Up

Here's an interesting website with several mashups of different artists. I particularly like the "Let's Get It On" mixed with "Northern Sky".

Foiled!

I have to read a chemistry test to a kid. D'oh.

Happy Thursday

I'm enjoying a finals-week Thursday with no finals! Nothing to do all day except Advisory. Right now, I'm reading the paper, drinking some coffee and Naked juice (not together) and listening to the 20 best covers of the year, according to Silly Pipe Dreams. Right now, I'm listening to Beth Ditto and Gossip belt out a local favorite, "Careless Whispers". Not as good as a certain money-grubbing karaoke star, but a good way to start the morning. Oooh, now it's Lily Allen covering "Don't Get Me Wrong" by the Pretenders. Check out the list, which I found via my shining pop culture star, Whitney at Pop Candy

I know you're as anxious for the weekend (and holidays) to get here as I am and you have no interest in doing any real work. So why not follow my blogging all day from your cube? That way, you'll have a reason to refresh.

Lush, Oh Lush

Dear God, I love Lush.

I am not a fragrance type of person. I wore Clinique Happy in high school for about six seconds. Get grossed out when my students spray any type of body spray, particularly Axe, anywhere at any time. The smell of CKone reminds me of ninth grade, and not in a good way. My favorite body fragrances are soap and fabric softener.

But when I lived in Germany, Caroline and I visited a Lush store, and I fell in love with Potion Lotion which smells like spicy carnations. I bought more in Venice, then persuaded my mom to buy me more online from Lush's only US store in Seattle.

I go to the mall maybe two, three times a year if I can help it. But last year, Chris and I happened to be at the Galleria and I saw the Holy Grail: COMING SOON: LUSH. Uncharacteristically, I literally let out a squeal of joy (much like when Chris bought me TiVo and I knew he was the one) and hurried back soon after it opened, only to find that Potion Lotion had been discontinued. I used a few of their other products sporadically, but because I hate going to the mall, I quit, disappointed with the too-soon demise of my favorite skin elixer.

Chris and I went to the Galleria this weekend to see the Golden Compass, and visited Lush for gifts. I fell in love all over again, because they reintroduced Potion as a solid fragrance, a tiny pot of wax to rub on my wrists and then sniff uncontrollably throughout the day. What's even better about Lush is that they are super eco. All of their paper products (catalogs, paper bags, and cardboard boxes) are made from recycled paper. The plastic bags they use to package many of their products are biodegradable, and many of their products are unwrapped, which saves fuel on shipping. All of their products are handmade and vegetarian, many are vegan, they use fair trade products whenever possible, never test on animals and all smell like heaven. Chris even bought me Charity Pot, a pot of lovely-smelling lotion. 100% of the cost of Charity Pot goes to a number of charities, many environmental.

Although they are pricey (be prepared), Lush provides a luxurious ethical choice and I will heart it forever. Go there and make your lady friend's heart swoon.

Seriously?

1) Why is this an article?

2) Why is it on the front page of Yahoo?

Anyone who disagrees that we're devolving seriously underestimates the stupidity of contemporary American society.

Question

When Jeopardy returns from commercial break and Trebek interviews the contestants, do you think the producers ask the contestants to come up with the most mundane, boring, irrelevant story about themselves? That, or Jeopardy only allows contestants with painfully trivial lives. No pun intended. Trebek just interviewed someone about how they ate a spoonful of salt for a dollar. That was the best you could come up with?

Of Note

You may have a case of the Mondays when you're dreaming all night of hearing your landline ring in the wee hours of the morning, hoping to pick up and hear the slight pause of the automated message and then the voice telling you that school has indeed been canceled due to the ice storm, but no such luck, yet you still manage to completely bust your ass on the icy front steps, sending your belongings flying willy-nilly and giving you what can only be a fat fucking bruise on your right butt cheek.

I went to Minneapolis this weekend, which was good, except my flight home was delayed almost three hours and I didn't get home until after midnight, when my flight normally gets in around 9:30. There was some mechanical delay that hurt the three flights before us. So I'm in the dead-as-hell Minneapolis-St Paul airport with the seven other people taking the flight to St Louis, two of whom are priests. One priest, no joke, slept the entire time we were at the gate, sitting up, snoring harder than my Grandma Best (seriously, lady could saw some logs). I can hear it even while listening to This American Life on my iPod. So we finally have our flight, full of turbulence to the point where I think we might crash, but land safely in St Louis. I'm waiting just off the plane where the airline people bring your valet bags (carryons that won't fit in the overhead compartment). Some dude is waiting there. When the priests get off, he grabs their bags, says, "Hello, Friar. Hello, Archbishop. Welcome back to St Louis." Then they walk off the gangway right onto the tarmac, get into a chauffered SUV, and take off, right from the tarmac. Freakin' Burke was the snoring priest!

Reverend Emily says I should have asked him what he thought of the Golden Compass.

Notice

For those of you at Meghan's on Saturday night who thought I made up the Christmas movie I was talking about, you can suck it.

Very Awesome Conversation

Here is a verbatim conversation I had with a student today in Creative Writing.

Me, "Student, you got a job?"

Student, "Yeah, I work as a night janitor at a laundromat."

Me, "Sounds like there might be some interesting writing to come out of that."

Student, "Yeah, actually it's pretty boring. Nothing happens, except one time I found a douchebag behind a toilet."

T-Day WrapUp

We had a whirlwind tour of the Midwest over the past week, which meant that our vacation wasn't really a vacation: we were in the car most of the time and tired when we weren't in the car.

The holiday started with a long trip to KC to see one of my favorite bands, the John Butler Trio, play at Harrah's. Despite the facts that:

1) Kansas City sucks,
2) Kansas City suburbs have to suck harder,
3) Casinos are pathetic and depressing,

it was well worth the trip. We went with our friends the Keeters, who stayed with family, and Chris and I got a nondescript hotel room by Worlds of Fun. We ended up eating "Mexican" food at a restaurant that Mr. Keeter found via Yahoo. One would think that Mexican food would mean the ubiquitous white cheese dip/combo platter with rice and beans and that this was a risk-free choice of dining establishment. Um, no. One, Cheez Whiz. No joke. Bright orange slathered all over the Ponderosa-style plates (wood tray with metal insert). Beer served in cans. Hostess with arm hair that would rival Chewbacca's. Waitress that sounded (and laughed obnoxiously) like the Nanny. Interior decor reminiscent of a late 70s/early 80s roadside diner. Disgusting. We had a good laugh, figuring it was a fitting prequel to a casino concert. The show, however, was well worth the trip. We were in the front row. We actually were in the front row when we saw JBT at Wakarusa, but the front row there was separated from the stage by the VIP section and the press area. We were like five feet from John Butler. The venue was really nice. It'd be a good place to see a show that you were merely curious about, not fanatic about, because there were several lounge-like areas that looked . Setlist was awesome. One pleasant surprise was the concert t-shirts. While still the overpriced $25, the shirt were organic cotton Alternative Apparel with the perfect amount of stretchiness. So if you see me wearing a JBT t-shirt everywhere I go, shut up, because it's a damn fine shirt.
Watch John Butler playing "Ocean", the song that first turned me on to the band here
.

We then drove from KC to North English, Iowa to see my grandma and have Thanksgiving dinner, then drove back to Des Moines, where I hung out with my family until Saturday morning. I had a good time with my family. I ate Tasty Tacos, which is like the food of my youth. I've been eating there since I was in 7th grade. There was one a block away from my middle school on East Euclid, and we had this friend, Jenny Chung, whose parents owned a Chinese restaurant and always had pocket money and bought us food. I've been eating a corn taco, chili and chips, and a buenelo for fifteen fucking years. When I moved, we used to eat there when we had block lunch in high school, at the one on Douglas. When I was in college, they finally opened one in Urbandale, which is where I went on Friday with my parents and Chris. I think you've got to be born and raised in Des Moines to know what I am talking about, but this shit is from the gods. Nada es imposible, even for a gringa like me.

I had a good time hanging out with my brothers and their friends on Friday night, where vehement discussion of both religion and politics took place, as always, but the night ended in very chill fashion and I got to meet my brother's awesome new girlfriend. All in all, a very good trip to Des Moines, even if my boys weren't in town (Love ya! Mean it! Call me!)

Shout Out

Weeds fans know the Season 3 finale just aired, and it was really awesome--great writing, great acting, and great music. I was so pumped to hear our faves State Radio playing one of my favorite songs of theirs, "Keepsake", during a climactic scene near the end. If I do say so myself, it was pretty perfect for the scene.

Here's video of Chad and the boys playing "Keepsake" live:


And, just for fun, Dispatch performing "Elias" live at Madison Square Gardens at the concert for Zimbabwe this summer. It makes me thankful.


Off to John Butler Trio in KC and then home to Iowa to see my family. Eat Tofurky! Or Quorn Roast.

Student Quotes

Two doozies today.

One, from a recent graduate who is now a cadet at the Citadel:

"I joined the Republican Club, so I could, you know, improve appearances."

Two, overheard in my AM1 class:

"Master P better not come out with another CD. If he tries, I'm going to send him an e-mail and tell him he's expired."

Wolfman's Got Nads

Here's an awesome interview with Jason Schwartzman about movies he loves. Dude drops Monster Squad and The Peanut Butter Solution in one conversation.

Cheap or Free Ways to Go Green

To counter those who think that we're going to buy our way into oil independence or energy efficiency (think $5000 eco couches or $300 organic cotton sweaters), I give you 35 low-cost ways to green up your life.

On being PC.

I've avoided writing about a certain popular local blog for a long time, mainly because I'm conflicted about my feelings on the author herself. On one hand, the author's writing voice is very similar to mine, she knows a lot about pop culture, has good taste in music, and is quite articulate and engaging. On the other hand, we have completely opposite viewpoints when it comes to most politics and social issues, and the more radicalized I become, the more I see how this author embodies how white middle-class citizens are perpetuating many of the problems with our country by their scathing rejection of anything that isn't the status quo. Plus, a zillion people read her blog and five people read my blog, and one is my grandma in Ames, Iowa (Hi, Grandma!). The writer in question made a passing stereotypical remark implying that Jews are cheap, and when a person on her boards called her on it, she (and other readers of her board) were up in arms about the PC Nazis. This prompted her to articulate her disdain for political correctness. This, in turn, got me thinking about why being politically correct is important.

Let me preface what I'm about to say with an acknowledgment of the value of freedom of speech. We, as Americans, have the freedom to say and write whatever we want. I do have a problem when those words begin to be hate speech urging hate action, but I will vigorously defend your right to disagree with me. The minute that is gone, we've devolved. In fact, I wish more people would exercise said right.

That being said, there are groups of people who have been marginalized, who have been denied their freedoms and opportunities because of a group they belong to, whether that be based on class, gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual identification. Those groups have specific derogatory stereotypes attached to them. When those people who are members of the majority use stereotyping language in reference to marginalized groups, it categorizes people and facilitates a community where marginalized members are not seen as individuals.

By voicing objection to stereotyping language, I am trying make people think about how they describe others and how they think about people who are not like themselves. When you have to refer to people based on their own individual merit rather than their membership in a group, it's a lot harder to discriminate against said person. It's a lot easier to hate "them" as opposed to "you".

So, when I say that I want to base my opinions of people on their own actions, rather than their membership in a certain group, that includes not using stereotyping language. And if I don't voice my concern when I see people using derogatory stereotypes, to me, that indicates that I am fine with their perpetuation of marginalization, which I am not. I encounter this all the time with my kids, who can't seem to go a day without saying, "That's so gay," when they really mean "stupid", or "frustrating", or "unreasonable", not "men who are attracted to other men", and I call them on it. Every. Single. Time. To me, it's the equivalent of lazy writing. Describe what you mean. Don't rely on ignorant stereotypes to do it for you.

People have every right to not be PC. But it makes them sound awfully ignorant. What harm comes from being sensitive to the struggles of groups to be recognized as individuals? What harm comes from acknowledging people as individuals whose individual traits come from who they are as a person and not demographic groups to which they belong? I know black people who don't like chicken. I know women who could knock the shit out of any man. I know strong men who cry. I know hoosiers from the city and sophisticates from the country. I know gay conservatives and churchgoing members Allies. They're just people. And I know that the tiny bit of effort that it takes to be considerate of how I refer to people is one demonstration of my own attempt to perpetuate compassion and inclusion and show my refusal to perpetuate the status quo of exclusion and discrimination that plagues our world to this day. I don't want to live in a world like that. I don't want my kids (biological or students) to live in a world like that.

So yes, I nitpick when it comes to offensive language, because it's something I firmly believe in. I ain't on some liberal bandwagon. Bitch, I drive the liberal bandwagon. Don't get me started on NBC's "Green Week".

Nothing like some light banter on a Friday afternoon, eh?

Charter Schools in St Louis

Mayor Slay announced that he wants to revitalize schools in the city by adding new charters schools at the rate of 2-3 per year. He says that the city is really changing, and the last piece of the puzzle keeping people from staying in the city is having high-quality public schools. But he wants those schools to be charter schools.

I'm conflicted about this. We're committed to city living and we would love to be able to send our kids to a high-quality, diverse neighborhood public school. I also think there are examples of highly successful charter schools out there--Minnesota was the first state to have a charter school and they've had success with many different niche schools and models. They do provide an alternative to failing schools for people who want their kids in public school. They also allow for specialized focuses, such as languages, math & science, entrepreneurship, that might not be offered at traditional public schools.

But I worry that this is the right thing for St Louis. With the mayor himself advocating for a complete alternative to the SLPS, which Slay himself has had a hand in driving into the ground, I wonder if other city leaders have completely abandoned SLPS and any hope for the future. It seems that if the mayor is putting his efforts in education in a completely different directions, he won't really be focused on revitalizing SLPS. To me, it's a copout and it's completely irresponsible, and those students who have no choice but to go to SLPS will receive an even poorer education. Even Rick Sullivan, the Blunt-appointed CEO of the SLPS transitional school board, does not agree with Slay. Is Slay upset that the candidates he backed for school board completely screwed things up? I also see this as potentially marginalizing for those students who won't be accepted at charter schools. I would hate for the city of St Louis to condemn children to a poor education because of the mistakes of their parents, or because they haven't had success in the shitty school they've had to attend their whole lives.

On the other hand, charter schools aren't taking money away from SLPS, but they might be taking away other resources. And I don't really agree with public schools being operated by for-profit corporations. I think a socially-just way to create charter schools, and help improve the SLPS, would be to create charter schools targeted at the hardest-to-reach students, those who need the most help. That way, they'd be getting the high-quality, committed educators that Slay referenced in his interview with the Post Dispatch, they'd be getting the extra attention, and SLPS could focus on using the resources they have to teach their students who already have experienced success in the classroom. If you take the students with behavioral problems out of the classroom, teachers have more time to teach and don't have to focus on classroom management. If you take the kids with serious academic issues out of the traditional classroom and give them more individual attention, they will have a better chance of catching up and graduating.

That's What She Said

This is an actual quote about organizational (read: business) leadership and decision-making from the book I have to read for class.

"A more fully developed decision-making perspective would balance and integrate left and right brain capacities. Simon himself has taken important steps in this direction, recognizing how left and right brain capacities are intertwined, rather than being polar opposites, and how much of what passes as nonlogical, intuitive judgement can be understood as the result of complex information processing skills based on patter recognition rather than formal logic and analysis. The theory is that intuitive managers learn to recognize clusters or chunks of information and act accordingly. While their behavior often seems nonrational, in that the managers concerned are unable to give formal accounts or justification of why a particular decision has been made, implicit analytical processes are involved."

This is why people like Michael Scott do actually exist and succeed in the business world.

From Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan.

Thursday Sucks.

You needed this to get you through the day.