The cold weather has promted us to use the ol' furnace these days.. The downside, however, is that the air is very, VERY dry! So, while meandering down the aisles of the semi-local Wal-Mart, I saw a cool little humidifier shaped and designed like a baseball... :-) Of course, I snatched it right up... After filling it up, I plugged it in and let it run.... And then, it REALLY ran... or dripped is more accurate... All over the floor... Evidently, the little O-Ring seal didn't seal, and thus water found its way into the cooling holes in the bottom of the humidifier, onto the stool which upon it unit rested, and flowed forth onto the floor, first visiting Emily's CD boombox along the way... UGH! Well, that puppy is going back! :-)
Are you familiar with the old expression, "Rude, Crude, and Socially Unacceptable?" Chances are, if you happen to be a 20-something, you have no idea what I'm talking about... Why not? Let's look at a few recent events... I'd like you to think about these, and then tell me when these became 'acceptable...' Let's start with Lindsay Lohan's inability to keep her shirt on.. or at least covering enough of her body... I mean, you cannot tell me it was an 'accident' that she wore a 'shirt' to an auto show in which her bralessness was shown to the world... Of course, there was also her 'accidental' exposure as she 'avoided' photographers... Again, braless, showing everything for the world to see... Then, we have Exhibit(ionist) B - as in Britney... Spears, that is... During a 'night on the town' with Paris Hilton and Miss Lohan herself, Spears reportedly hiked up her dress in order to expose herself as she got out of the vehicle... Apparently, there were other photos in which gawkers complained that she was WEARING underwear... So, she figured she would give her stalkers, er uh gawkers, what they wanted.... For the record, I have only seen the censored versions of these pictures as shown on TV shows like "The Soup..." There is enough chatter on enough blogs and boards to know what shows....
Explain to me how these events spark no backlash that I have heard, and yet Mel Gibson and Michael Richards are hung (no pun intended) out to dry for their racial slurs... So, it's okay to show the world your private parts, but don't you dare say anything about someone who is not the same color, creed, religion, etc... I was wondering, though, did anyone happen to capture what the two guys were saying that prompted Richards to say what he did? You know, we always see the 'after,' but rarely do we see what actually led up to it.. I am not excusing it by any stretch! I'm just curious.... Manipulation of the media and the public at it's best/worst I'm sure... And, yes, I know what'm talking about.. I studied media, propaganda, manipulation, etc in my pursuit of my Master's... I may be a shmuck, but I'm a pretty dang-ed educated one, thank you.
How does any of this behavior make any sense? For me, this goes back to my post about the T-Shirt.... Whatever happened to 'rude, crude, and socially unacceptable?'
Have no fears from this poster... No racial slurs, and certainly no 'exposed' photographs will come from this end of the keyboard!
Dec 3, 2006
Christmas Pictures and Sprucing Up
We took the kiddos for their annual Christmas pictures today! They did great, but the photographer was not anywhere near as animated and "into it" as ones form the past... In truth, we have had only a few that we really, really liked... And, for a while, we got the same one each time. That was cool because she really knew how to capture the kids... Not this time... But, the pictures are very cute! Well, I think so, anyway... :-)
I decided not to post ALL the kids pictures... Figured I'd spare ya... :-)
If you look around my blog page a bit, you may notice a few changes, additions, and what-nots... I'm breaking out of the mold, and trying a few things... The one thing I really want to work (Showing Comments) isn't working yet, but I'm working with the creators of the script(s) to figure it out... :-) Have fun looking around, and feel free to let me know what you think and/or what else you'd like to see included...
I am supposed to be working on a Christmas list of what I want for Christmas this year... Hmm... I'll have to give that some thought. Of course, when I'm not asked to make a list, I have about a zillion things running around in my head, but as soon as someone says to write them down, I forget them all... Maybe I'll just end up with coal in my stocking....
Have you seen the new Dodge Megacab 4-door dually short bed? I saw a red one today. It is a weird looking beast... Like someone chopped the back off of it... Anyone remember the Cadillac Deville they did that to? This is a big, honkin' HUGE truck with a little bitty baby bed.... Why would you do that? Oh well, I saw one person who thought it was cool.... Something to think about......
I decided not to post ALL the kids pictures... Figured I'd spare ya... :-)
If you look around my blog page a bit, you may notice a few changes, additions, and what-nots... I'm breaking out of the mold, and trying a few things... The one thing I really want to work (Showing Comments) isn't working yet, but I'm working with the creators of the script(s) to figure it out... :-) Have fun looking around, and feel free to let me know what you think and/or what else you'd like to see included...
I am supposed to be working on a Christmas list of what I want for Christmas this year... Hmm... I'll have to give that some thought. Of course, when I'm not asked to make a list, I have about a zillion things running around in my head, but as soon as someone says to write them down, I forget them all... Maybe I'll just end up with coal in my stocking....
Have you seen the new Dodge Megacab 4-door dually short bed? I saw a red one today. It is a weird looking beast... Like someone chopped the back off of it... Anyone remember the Cadillac Deville they did that to? This is a big, honkin' HUGE truck with a little bitty baby bed.... Why would you do that? Oh well, I saw one person who thought it was cool.... Something to think about......
Dec 2, 2006
Number One Lunchfighter!
Hey! I just fought my way to the number one spot on lunchfight! :-) I'm sure I won't be there long, so I am posting a screenshot, for posterity... :-)
FIRST PLACE!! YAY!!
Yes, I know, it's silly... But, hey, we can all use a little "silly" in our lives from time to time...especially on days like today.. :-)
FIRST PLACE!! YAY!!
Yes, I know, it's silly... But, hey, we can all use a little "silly" in our lives from time to time...especially on days like today.. :-)
An Adventure Begins and a season ends...
Today, my Dad embarked on his adventure... First to Houston, then to Kuwait, and finally on to Iraq. The day started as usual (for us anyway - not sure how it started for Mom and Dad) - woke up, hung around for a bit, then started cleaning the house... Around 10 o'clock, I called Mom to see what time we were heading out, and we decided to head out at 11 so that we could go somewhere and have something to eat before heading to the airport... We loaded up the van with Dad's suitcases and headed for Little Rock... Emily was pretty excited about the whole thing because she got to sit "all the way in the back!" :-) Dad rode up front with me, and Mom and Shan rode in the middle. We talked about all kinds of different things, reliving some precious memories (things like the time I had been talking on the phone with Shan and I was playing with the garage door opener, not fully paying attention to the fact that I was raising and lowering the door about a hundred times.... It was very late at night and everyone else was in bed... Well, at least until Dad came busting out of his and mom's bedroom, au naturale, and flew down the steps to the garage... I, of course, was in the kitchen and was shocked to see Dad racing downstairs! My brother was close behind, knowing HE wasn't the one in trouble - this time anyway...)
We ate at Cracker Barrel, shopeed a bit, browsed a bit... Then headed for the airport... How about this one - NO parking security check... We just drove up, grabbed a ticket, and parked... After checking in, the TSA inspector instructed us to "Stand over there by the window." Evidently, if you lock you luggage, you are subjected to a different kind of inspection... Well, after about 10-15 minutes, Mom finally asked the TSA person about the bags, to which the person replied, "Oh, yeah, those went through a while ago." Mom was pretty ticked, wondering why no one had bothered to tell us to go ahead, since they were so adamant about us waiting there....
We waited upstairs as Dad went through the line and we watched and waved until we couldn't see him anymore.... Noticing we were visably upset, an airport helper told us about the observation deck upstairs... Now, I have been to the Little Rock airport a zillion times, and I had never known there was an observation deck! We waited and watched Dad's plane... And we waited and watched, and waited and watched... I say this because at least 15 minutes after his scheduled departure time, the plane was still sitting at the gate... Finally, it rolled out and pulled around to taxi... And we waited and watched, watched and waited... Other planes came and went, but Dad's just sat there... 20 minutes... 30 minutes... I finally went to the help desk and asked why his plane had not left the tarmac... I was told that it had left, according to the computer... I then went to the ticket counter, and the man there told me that it had left the gate a while ago. I said, "I know it did because right now it is sitting on the tarmac." Looking at me like I had surely been smoking something other than cigars lately, he said, "No, it already left." I said, "You might want to take a look outside..." I left, heading back to the observation deck...
After another 15 minutes or so, Mom decided she had been there long enough.. And of course, the plan began moving and we watched as Dad and his plane headed for Houston... Some pictures are posted below.... Emily and Tyler also used her video camera to take pictures and movies, so we'll see how those turn out... :-)
Mom, Tyler and Emily
Dad, Tyler, and Emily
Saying Goodbye....
Mom and Emily watch Dad's Plane Together
Taking off...
Heading For Houston...
The Prescott Curley Wolves WON on Friday night! They were down 18-0 at half... Then at the end of the third quarter, the score was 12-18... In the last 30 seconds, they scored and won the game 19-18!!! Next week, the Wolves go to Little Rock to play for the State Championship in our division!! HO-LY COW!! :-) Way to go Wolves!!!
The Razorbacks, however, are done for their season... They chocked this week again, losing in a great game against Florida... No SEC Championship for us this year.... But, we still had a great season, in my opinion... :-)
We ate at Cracker Barrel, shopeed a bit, browsed a bit... Then headed for the airport... How about this one - NO parking security check... We just drove up, grabbed a ticket, and parked... After checking in, the TSA inspector instructed us to "Stand over there by the window." Evidently, if you lock you luggage, you are subjected to a different kind of inspection... Well, after about 10-15 minutes, Mom finally asked the TSA person about the bags, to which the person replied, "Oh, yeah, those went through a while ago." Mom was pretty ticked, wondering why no one had bothered to tell us to go ahead, since they were so adamant about us waiting there....
We waited upstairs as Dad went through the line and we watched and waved until we couldn't see him anymore.... Noticing we were visably upset, an airport helper told us about the observation deck upstairs... Now, I have been to the Little Rock airport a zillion times, and I had never known there was an observation deck! We waited and watched Dad's plane... And we waited and watched, and waited and watched... I say this because at least 15 minutes after his scheduled departure time, the plane was still sitting at the gate... Finally, it rolled out and pulled around to taxi... And we waited and watched, watched and waited... Other planes came and went, but Dad's just sat there... 20 minutes... 30 minutes... I finally went to the help desk and asked why his plane had not left the tarmac... I was told that it had left, according to the computer... I then went to the ticket counter, and the man there told me that it had left the gate a while ago. I said, "I know it did because right now it is sitting on the tarmac." Looking at me like I had surely been smoking something other than cigars lately, he said, "No, it already left." I said, "You might want to take a look outside..." I left, heading back to the observation deck...
After another 15 minutes or so, Mom decided she had been there long enough.. And of course, the plan began moving and we watched as Dad and his plane headed for Houston... Some pictures are posted below.... Emily and Tyler also used her video camera to take pictures and movies, so we'll see how those turn out... :-)
Mom, Tyler and Emily
Dad, Tyler, and Emily
Saying Goodbye....
Mom and Emily watch Dad's Plane Together
Taking off...
Heading For Houston...
The Prescott Curley Wolves WON on Friday night! They were down 18-0 at half... Then at the end of the third quarter, the score was 12-18... In the last 30 seconds, they scored and won the game 19-18!!! Next week, the Wolves go to Little Rock to play for the State Championship in our division!! HO-LY COW!! :-) Way to go Wolves!!!
The Razorbacks, however, are done for their season... They chocked this week again, losing in a great game against Florida... No SEC Championship for us this year.... But, we still had a great season, in my opinion... :-)
Dec 1, 2006
Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow...
The first "real" winter weather of the year came blasting through last night. High winds, lots of rain, sleet, and yes, even some snow flurries! Tyler was excited, sure that there would be no school and that he would get to play in the snow all day today... Well, much to his dismay, everything pretty much got a very thin layer of ice only... By "thin layer," I mean just enough to seal the doors on the vehicles shut and make one horse I know very, very ornery at this morning's feeding... :-)
So, I've been playing LUNCHFIGHT online off and on for a while now... I try to play at lunch every day or after I get to the house, but some days I don't get on there at all for whatever different reasons.. Well, as of Friday morning, I hit 5th place on the scoreboard rankings! Very cool.. :-) Check it out! (Though by the time you read this, I may been knocked down from my post....)
Oh, if you're interested, the quote used for the title of this post comes from the Postal Service motto, but did you know the origins of that quote? Well, I didn't, so I checked it out, and you can read about it, but you'll have to scroll down to the section that starts, "TTT: That Post Office Motto."
Have you heard of "UNSchooling?" This is some ploy by certain people who claim to be "homeschooling" their children but in reality, they are not schooling them at all... The children learn what they want when they want, eat what they want when they want, get up and go to bed when they want... What part of REAL LIFE will these children grow up to fit in?? How many businesses do you know that let their employees come and go as they choose, select (or not) the projects/assignments they 'feel' like doing? What are these kids going to do when they get to college age and decide they want to go to college? Okay, let's say they don't bother with college... What employer is going to hire some undisciplined slacker? According to unschoolradical.org, this is a student-led learning situation... "If they have an interest in hockey- you read about hockey- make a hockey stick, figure out how a Zamboni works, etc. Job as “teacher” is more to facilitate learning (read: chauffeur). To suggest and expose and then run with something if they are eager to pursue or learn more."
While I agree with the premise of having student-led education at certain ages/grade levels/etc, this 'unschooling' idea is totally ridiculous... I can't wait to see parents teaching their children algebra, foreign language, etc to these 'students.' In a classroom environment, maybe... At home where they can simply say, "I don’t want to do that!" I hope someone is watching these kids and will do a study of them in about 5 years, 10 years, 15 years....
And, I guess while I'm on the education kick, I might as well throw all my ducks in the air and wait for the shotgun blasts here.... I think we are way over-testing kids... I don't mean subject-specific testing.. I mean "benchmark" testing... You know, I would go insane if I was given a test every 4 weeks or so on my job... Of course, part of the problem is testing Special Ed kids, too... Shan had a great example... I can't remember it specifically, but it would be like giving me a test on the internal workings of a combustion engine, simply because of my age or my 'grade level.' That is, "You have a Master's Degree, so you will take this test on Complex Eigenvalues/Eigenvectors of real and complex matricies." (Okay, for the record, I don't even know what that means - I 'borrowed' it from a web site....)
Of course, for me, the real issue is the fact we are testing these students TO DEATH! No wonder the stress level of students, even in elementary school, is through the roof! I'd be walking on eggshells, pins and needles if every time I turned around, there was another test being thrown in my face!
Next on the chopping block, I'll throw out the fact that when I was in Kindergarten, my biggest accomplishment that I recall was learning how to tie my shoes and recite my ABC's... Now, kids have to know all of that and much more before they even get INTO Kindergarten... My argument is this: I turned out just fine... I went to college, got married, work in a technology-related field, had kids, got my Master's, changed jobs a couple times, etc... So what? Other people I know graduated High School, went to work, had kids, etc... What exactly are our children gaining by having to know much more at earlier stages? And some things are only making education more stressful... Some kids are just not ready for certain skills... Would you give the keys to the car to a 6 year-old? No. Why not? They are not developmentally ready - not just physically, but mentally as well... Same is true for some of the things we are trying to cram into our children's heads.... We spend more time trying to 'catch up' the ones 'behind' than if they just would have waited or if they weren't pushed into things they are not ready for.. Am I saying to coddle them? No... Of course, this brings up another thought... What if we could get rid of the whole "You must graduate in xx years!"
I had this discussion the other day... School could be/should be just like college... You take courses and you earn hours. As you earn hours, you are moved into more and more challenging courses, but nothing that is beyond your capabilities at that time... Instead of "4th grade, 5th grade, etc" based on age or whatever the heck its based on, children progress by PASSING the courses and earning hours.. After XX hours, you move to the next level (even if we continue to call them grades), but it is NOT based primarily on the students' ages... If a student takes two years to move from 4th to 5th because he/she needed more hours or had to repeat a course or courses to get those hours, then that's fine.
It didn't matter how "old" I was when I earned my Bachelor's degree, or my Master's for that matter... I earned HOURS, CREDITS... In some cases, I had to repeat courses... No one cared how old I was and that I was taking "Intro to Programming." Same should be true for school-aged children... In my opinion, we would have some children progressing easily through some 'levels' and maybe getting a little bogged down in others... Then again, you would also have students who excelled through all the levels and who walked away with a diploma at 14 or 15... What is wrong with that? Others would work until they got it, and they would graduate with a diploma at 20 or 21, but you know what? They FINISHED.......
I'm done for now... I'll let you chew on that, and feel free to rip me a new one - after all, this *IS* America... :-)
So, I've been playing LUNCHFIGHT online off and on for a while now... I try to play at lunch every day or after I get to the house, but some days I don't get on there at all for whatever different reasons.. Well, as of Friday morning, I hit 5th place on the scoreboard rankings! Very cool.. :-) Check it out! (Though by the time you read this, I may been knocked down from my post....)
Oh, if you're interested, the quote used for the title of this post comes from the Postal Service motto, but did you know the origins of that quote? Well, I didn't, so I checked it out, and you can read about it, but you'll have to scroll down to the section that starts, "TTT: That Post Office Motto."
Have you heard of "UNSchooling?" This is some ploy by certain people who claim to be "homeschooling" their children but in reality, they are not schooling them at all... The children learn what they want when they want, eat what they want when they want, get up and go to bed when they want... What part of REAL LIFE will these children grow up to fit in?? How many businesses do you know that let their employees come and go as they choose, select (or not) the projects/assignments they 'feel' like doing? What are these kids going to do when they get to college age and decide they want to go to college? Okay, let's say they don't bother with college... What employer is going to hire some undisciplined slacker? According to unschoolradical.org, this is a student-led learning situation... "If they have an interest in hockey- you read about hockey- make a hockey stick, figure out how a Zamboni works, etc. Job as “teacher” is more to facilitate learning (read: chauffeur). To suggest and expose and then run with something if they are eager to pursue or learn more."
While I agree with the premise of having student-led education at certain ages/grade levels/etc, this 'unschooling' idea is totally ridiculous... I can't wait to see parents teaching their children algebra, foreign language, etc to these 'students.' In a classroom environment, maybe... At home where they can simply say, "I don’t want to do that!" I hope someone is watching these kids and will do a study of them in about 5 years, 10 years, 15 years....
And, I guess while I'm on the education kick, I might as well throw all my ducks in the air and wait for the shotgun blasts here.... I think we are way over-testing kids... I don't mean subject-specific testing.. I mean "benchmark" testing... You know, I would go insane if I was given a test every 4 weeks or so on my job... Of course, part of the problem is testing Special Ed kids, too... Shan had a great example... I can't remember it specifically, but it would be like giving me a test on the internal workings of a combustion engine, simply because of my age or my 'grade level.' That is, "You have a Master's Degree, so you will take this test on Complex Eigenvalues/Eigenvectors of real and complex matricies." (Okay, for the record, I don't even know what that means - I 'borrowed' it from a web site....)
Of course, for me, the real issue is the fact we are testing these students TO DEATH! No wonder the stress level of students, even in elementary school, is through the roof! I'd be walking on eggshells, pins and needles if every time I turned around, there was another test being thrown in my face!
Next on the chopping block, I'll throw out the fact that when I was in Kindergarten, my biggest accomplishment that I recall was learning how to tie my shoes and recite my ABC's... Now, kids have to know all of that and much more before they even get INTO Kindergarten... My argument is this: I turned out just fine... I went to college, got married, work in a technology-related field, had kids, got my Master's, changed jobs a couple times, etc... So what? Other people I know graduated High School, went to work, had kids, etc... What exactly are our children gaining by having to know much more at earlier stages? And some things are only making education more stressful... Some kids are just not ready for certain skills... Would you give the keys to the car to a 6 year-old? No. Why not? They are not developmentally ready - not just physically, but mentally as well... Same is true for some of the things we are trying to cram into our children's heads.... We spend more time trying to 'catch up' the ones 'behind' than if they just would have waited or if they weren't pushed into things they are not ready for.. Am I saying to coddle them? No... Of course, this brings up another thought... What if we could get rid of the whole "You must graduate in xx years!"
I had this discussion the other day... School could be/should be just like college... You take courses and you earn hours. As you earn hours, you are moved into more and more challenging courses, but nothing that is beyond your capabilities at that time... Instead of "4th grade, 5th grade, etc" based on age or whatever the heck its based on, children progress by PASSING the courses and earning hours.. After XX hours, you move to the next level (even if we continue to call them grades), but it is NOT based primarily on the students' ages... If a student takes two years to move from 4th to 5th because he/she needed more hours or had to repeat a course or courses to get those hours, then that's fine.
It didn't matter how "old" I was when I earned my Bachelor's degree, or my Master's for that matter... I earned HOURS, CREDITS... In some cases, I had to repeat courses... No one cared how old I was and that I was taking "Intro to Programming." Same should be true for school-aged children... In my opinion, we would have some children progressing easily through some 'levels' and maybe getting a little bogged down in others... Then again, you would also have students who excelled through all the levels and who walked away with a diploma at 14 or 15... What is wrong with that? Others would work until they got it, and they would graduate with a diploma at 20 or 21, but you know what? They FINISHED.......
I'm done for now... I'll let you chew on that, and feel free to rip me a new one - after all, this *IS* America... :-)
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