Friday, October 26, 2007

First frost

32 degrees this morning, and so amazingly crystal clear. Wow.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

New link over there on the side

I've added a new link, that one to my registry at DonorsChoose. On their general site, you can search for teachers and classrooms by any topic/area, and make donations online to fund their projects. I've got a list started. The Fast Food Nation one is at the middle school (now reorganized) where I did my student teaching. It's in a high-crime, poverty-and-drug area of East Oakland. They need this teacher and that lesson.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2008

Jon Carroll is right. Why anybody in their right mind would want to be President of this country right now is quite beyond my understanding. There's a right mess to be cleaned up, and we know going in that whatever man, woman, or beast is President, he/she/it is destined to really screw up because what's broken is really broken.

I would rather that person be a Republican than anyone else. Is that dreadfully petty of me?

I'm also really bummed that Newt isn't running for Prez, because I would like to see a candidate up there who would say whatever he damned well pleased, and screw your opinions on it. Contract on America and all that.

So, I'm out of the closet now. I'd vote for Newt in 2008 and Al, Jr. in 2012.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Hotel a la Swing

Roughly one half of our household is down with the stomach/intestinal flu. Well, NTS is not exactly down, he's just puking about once a day and nursing a whole lot. I'm the one who is more affected by it. Went in to work yesterday anyway, just to grade tests and get my progress reports done, and when I came home the House Bean was about to put on an Astaire/Rogers movie, Swing Time, for NOD. That fit in perfectly with my idea of how to spend a sick, flu-buggy afternoon, so I settled down, draped in children, to watch as well.

Afterwards, we did a bit of exploring on the DVD. They've included, on the DVD, a cartoon and a short feature, the other things you'd be expecting to see if you actually attended the theatre in the 1930's (there's no newsreel, unfortunately). The short feature was Hotel a la Swing, which had some cute musical numbers in it. There's this weirdly-conceived dance number called "Holiday in Hades" which starts out with a bunch of dancer-starlet types in cheesy satin "devil" outfits dancing around with pitchforks...who then give way to some guy in what looks like bondage gear doing a modern dance with this Frank-n-Furter-looking woman (hair and eye makeup!) in this really flowy too-long dress. That modern dance interlude featured some amazing moves, and was really a highlight to the whole thing. But then the starlets crowd in again, and finish the tap-dance finale to "Holiday in Hades" while the two modern dancers pose in the background. Very strange.


NTS wishes to add this: v c

Thursday, October 04, 2007

zen mind

"I have this, like, E.D.D. when I'm talking to E-- [the priest at the Zendo]. He's talking, and I'm nodding, and I get it, and then he stops talking and I'm like, ummmm, what did he just say?"

"Hmmmm, I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"But I'll have absolutely no idea what he was just saying, not just not understanding, I can't even remember the topic. I told him this today during our meeting."

"What did he say about it?"

"He said something. I DON'T KNOW!"


[Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra, courtesy of Great Vow Zen Monastery]

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

What's in a name?

"Charlie, say daddy!"

"Daddy!"

"Charlie, say mommy!"

"Mommy!"

"Say Ruthie!"

"Eeeee!"

"Hey, Ruthie, did you hear that? You're 'Eeeee!'"

"Yeah, mommy, and you're 'Efffff!'"