Oh my gosh, you guys...there's SNOW in Las Vegas!

To quote the cheesy holiday anthem, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.


According to the weather channel, we here in Vegas are under a severe winter weather warning until 6:00 tomorrow morning. It started dumping snow pretty heavily around 1:00 today, and it hasn't let up yet. Those of you from places that actually get snow, this may not sound like much, and it's not. But for lots of people here, especially my students, this is the first time they've even seen snow.
As a result, people are of course driving like morons, going at most 15 mph on the freeway, for example, when the roads aren't even frozen. It's a case of the overly-cautious causing dangerous conditions.
Add to that parents with overly dramatic attitudes to the tiniest of changes in the daily routine, and you've got what looks like our school's very first snow day. In Las Vegas.
Weird, I know. But also very pretty.



For a person who grew up in the mountains like I did, there's nothing like tons of heavy white snow coating everything to trigger memories of Christmas fun as a child. It really brings back vivid memories of building forts, hiding behind stop signs and then grabbing the bumpers of unsuspecting cars and letting them drag you over the icy streets, and playing the latest Atari 2600 games, like Pitfall or Adventure.

The Christians and the Pagans

OK ok ok.

Here's a helpful quiz I've developed to clear up any spiritual confusion out there. Are you, in general, a happy person or a dour one? Do you live in harmony, or discord?

Take my handy "Christian or Pagan" holiday song challenge to find out!

First, the Pagans:



Now, the Christians:





Now think about the lyrics and decide, which song does a better job of representing what I think?
And don't forget to focus on what you THINK, not what you think you're supposed to BELIEVE.

Now before any of you Christians blather on about how this guy is not representative of mainstream Christianity, I ask you to REALLY look beyond the awful music to the ideas he espouses. I think you'll see he pretty well sums up the Jesus-thing.

OK then. Hopefully that will have helped everyone who was in doubt to decide once and for all if they have chosen their belief system correctly. No need to thank me.

Mazel tov,

Tyson

a purple wand and hairy sack of magic

I heard a joke today. Here goes...

I booked into a hotel and said to the receptionist, "I hope the porn channel in my room is disabled."

"No," she says, "it's regular porn, you sick bastard."

In my opinion, the greatest comedian ever was Bill Hicks. This joke reminded me of a bit done by Bill Hicks on the hairy bobbin' man-ass one used to see on TV's in hotels in the 80's and 90's.
If you've never heard of Hicks, it's probably because he's dead.
He was a visionary; if you listen to his shows, you'd think they were made in the last 5 years, not 20 years ago. His political humor was transcendent, his religious humor merciless, and his sexual humor just plain hysterical.
Here's one of my favorite bits. It's sheer genius.

(WARNING: Please don't watch this mom)

Composition 9-6-77

If I could be any vegetable, I would probably be a stalk of corn. Corn is a tall, superior vegetable over the others in a garden. Corn reigns tall and high like the king of the vegetables. (Pardon the printing, I forgot!)
All the vegetables would look up to me. I would be like the army commander over the crop. "Okay tomatoes and lettuce, at ease!," I would say. Yes, corn would see the sunrise and sunset long before the carrots and onions. Yessiree! The plant I would like to be is corn, King of the crop!

{End of composition}

Yeah, that's right. VIP, Beyotch!

This was quite a fun weekend for us.
Through the generosity of a few student's parents, and some lucky good timing, we were able to have what amounted to an eight hundred dollar evening last night, and all it cost us was the tip at dinner time.
We started out by going to the Bellagio to pick up some VIP tickets to go and see "O." The show wasn't until 7:30, but we had to pick up the tickets by 6:00, so we arrived there at around 5:40. The will call line was about a block long, but after a brief trip to the Bellagio's VIP office, we returned to the ticket booth for the theater where we got to completely skip the line everyone else was in by standing in the VIP line. We literally had no one in front of us, though we had to wait for about five minutes. All in all, it was not a bad trade.
Now, normally I hate all things labeled VIP, and the VIP label is a total tourist scam here in Vegas, where it means nothing more than paying extra for no benefit whatsoever. This concept is so asenine that I won't even get into it here. Seriously, read this article about how one couple got scammed, and you'll at first feel sorry for them, but will then say screw 'em for trying to be elitist in the first place.
That said, there IS a real VIP world where people don't wait in lines and where you really do get treated well, and where you don't pay up front. And let me tell you, it's a nice place to visit!
To continue, for those of you who don't know, "O" is the flagship of Cirque du Soliel shows. It's the most expensive, the most intricate, and the longest of the Vegas Cirque shows, and it really is the best. We picked up our 6th row front-and-center seats, the best in the house, and then headed to dinner.
Dinner was at Joe's Stone Crab in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. Between Nick, Erin and me, we had quite a feast. We started with some Pellegrino, and for appetizers we had 6 stone crab claws, fried tomatoes covered in spinach and cheese, and the Best oysters Rockafeller EVER!
The stone crab claws came pre-cracked, so all we had to do was pick away at the shells. Erin was non-plussed though, as she thinks crab is too bland. I thought it was great, and I love the story behind the stone crabs. The short version is that they harvest the crabs in the Gulf of Mexico by cutting off their claws (which grow back) and then tossing them back in the sea, presumably to regrow their claws so they can be harvested again.



This appeals to both my sense of sustainability as well as my sense of pity; I can just imagine some crab being grateful to escape with his life, who, after the umpteenth time of being plucked from the water to have his claw YET AGAIN striped away by some pesky bipeds, is about fed up with the whole situation. It was amusing to ponder the moral dilemma between sustaining a natural resource and being generally opposed to animal cruelty.
After the appetizers, we had our entrees. Erin had Dover Sole prepared God-only-knows how; Nick had Seafood Marinara with lobster, crab, shrip and mussels; and I had a $55 dollar bone-in NY strip steak, which, I'm happy to say, is the first steak I have had in many, many years which was so good it required no doctoring.
For dessert we had coffee and shared a sweet potato pecan pie, which was better than the sum of it's parts, and which Erin is obsessed with finding a recipe to duplicate. According to Nick, "Dinner's so good I'd be happy even if we didn't get to see the show," which of course a moot point, as we were going to see it in approximately 10 minutes!
We left our waiter a hefty tip (since the food was free) and made our way from Caesars to the Bellagio with a few minutes to spare. We got to our seats, and enjoyed the most engaging show I've ever seen.

As far as "O" goes, it's something you just have to see.



I'm a huge Cirque fan, and Mystere has for years been my favorite show, but I really think "O" topped it. It was just plain outstanding. After the show, we came home and just sort of basked in the afterglow of an evening WAY beyond our pay grade. It was fun.
Last night, as we were enjoying a few of the finer things Vegas has to offer, my thoughts kept drifting to my dad. He was a truly talented cook, and he took great pleasure in great food. My dad was also a huge Cirque fan, and I had planned to take him and Nancy (my step-mother) to see "O" when they visited, but sadly my dad died a week before their trip was scheduled. I kept thinking last night while watching the show how much he would have enjoyed it, and it was comforting to know that in spite of our differences, he and I shared at least a few things, including a love of great food and an appreciation of the wonderful thing that is the human body when the creativity of the human spirit is expressed through it, as it so magnificently is in Cirque performances.
So though our night as rock-stars is over, the memory lingers, and in some strange way, last night has made it a little easier to think about my dad, which I haven't yet been able to do at any length.

Terrifica, Fantastico and The Wet Blanket!

I was poking around online, looking for pics of the super-villain The Wet Blanket. He's a character from the Graphic novel series Empowered. Empowered (Emp for short) is a "D" list super-chica with a fat ass and self esteem issues, whose super-powers come from a latex-like skin tight suit. The only problem? When her fragile suit gets torn, she loses her powers and often winds up in bondage, waiting for her fellow super-homeys to come rescue her.
Anyway, among the cast of characters we have on the hero side Ninjette, Thug-Boy (a former witless minion) and the alliterative Caged Demonwolf. On the villian side, among others,we have the Wet Blanket, whose power is to render others powerless when in his presence (kind of like the black guy on"Heroes.")
I couldn't find any pictures of him, so here's one I took w/ my camera:




So as I was looking for this guy I got distracted when I came across the true-life caped heroine "Terrifica!" and her arch Nemesis "Fantastico." Rather than tell you about them, you can click here to read their story, or just do a google search; the two are quite famous.

From there, I got caught up in the phenomenon of real life superheroes. Yes, they do exist. From the generic, to the boring, to the just-plain-sad, they run the gamut of stereotypes. However, one man stands among them, a TRUE hero, dedicated with single-minded purpose to his cause and living out his code. And that man is the enigmatically named Angle-grinder man!



This guy is a true hero, fighting the good fight, using the tools of Justice to rage against the machine of a cruel and unforgiving Big Brother. You go, Angle-grinder Man! Go go go !!!

Is Patience is a Virtue When you're Waiting on Vice?

The author of my all-time favorite piece of fiction is George RR Martin. Aside from the fact that he is in a class by himself when it comes to the craft of storytelling, one of the reasons I like him so much is that on his blog, THIS video was posted,



with a comment on how very, very different advertising tactics have become in the last 38 years.
Also on his blog is a story of how his house was recently burgled (oK, burglarized) and that the only thing of consequence that was taken was a cool sword a fan had given him. I like a guy whose real treasure is, well... treasure. AND he had the presence of mind enough to mention to we, his faithful readers, that the manuscript for his next book is safe and sound. However, it's a bit late, and in my next post, I'll tell you about the tragedy of catching on to a great series at the wrong time in its publishing cycle.

I'm just going to sexually anthropomorphize the holidays

I know that Erin and I are HUGE cheerleaders when it comes to Ryan North and his totally bitchen Dinosaur Comics, But I can't help it. Again today it made me laugh outloud and so I give kudos to him. It's a good thing for me he lives in Canada because his way with words has given Erin a little more than just an internet crush on the guy. The best part of today's comic is of course the mouse-over, so visit this link right here and see for yourself.
Friggin' Zeitgeists indeed.

Hotter than Georgia asphalt

I just re-watched Wild At Heart tonight on IFC. I haven't seen the move since somewhere 'round 1991, and I had forgotten how much I like it then. Laura Dern was just too super-sexy in that movie, and Nicholas Cage was actually an actor I liked back then. It's sad to see him reduced to things like Ghost Rider and Bankok Dangerous. Anyway, as good as they were, the best scene in the movie involves one of the creepiest bad-guys in all cinema history as far as I'm concerned. Warning for those of you who haven't seen it: spoiler ahead.
Willem Defoe's portrayal as Bobby Perdue is just plain amazing. I can't even think of an adjective to describe him adequately in the scene when he sexually assaults Lulu. Think slimey and then tag an exponent to it; it was sheer brilliance.
Anyway, E's away for the week visiting her sister, and Nick and I are being bachelors for the week. Not much else interesting happening.
Oh, and I thought I'd mention that you sorry lot out there have left exactly 1 comment on my last 5 posts. Am I boring you all to death, or what?
I intend to find some way of getting people to acknowledge my existence again, even if it means resorting to something extreme, like posting soft-core pictures of myself in the mirror with my cellphone cam all Myspace style, or maybe reviving Audience Participation Mondays.

Thanks to Popo

My friend Michael rips off a lot of good posts. In his latest acquisition, there is a link to the ironically titled American Thinker.
Aside from the broad definition of thinking as simply brain activity, this site and especially its commentators, are severely lacking in what could be considered reasoned thought.
As I was browsing the comments and shaking my head, I decided I had to have some merchandise from this site, like a shirt or a hat. What I found instead is perhaps the greatest example of dramatic irony ever demonstrated on accident.
Sure, dramatic irony's a common literary device, but to find it unintentionally is a treat for those of us who like such things. Therefore, if you're interested, first read the post and comments, then check out the bumperstickers this guy peddles...just scroll down about half-way; it's nothing less than pure gold!

Hallah-FRIGGIN'-Lujah!

And AMEN!!

Um, maybe he needs professional help?

Wow.
In doing my civic duty (which involves the tedious looking-up of the candidates running for judge in several districts (22 to be exact!)who are all listed as non-partisan, I came across this video of a judge, who by all accounts is conservative leaning. I was impressed, though, by her dedication to the defendant, and have decided to give her my vote, because it is all too rare a thing to see someone stick to what is difficult and right in the face of doing what is easy or politically expedient.

Giddy

I am looking forward with great anticipation to casting my 5th presidential vote tomorrow. As much as politics can be exacerbating, depressing and/or annoying, our political process is really a wonderful and beautiful thing. And no matter who wins, it will be a step forward toward repairing the damage George Bush has done to our country and the cause of democracy in the last 8 years.
Here's to a brighter future for ALL of us!

It's too late! But...

... this video is awesome anyway. Again, shout-outs to my moms- in-law for sending it my way!

You mean besides the health issues?

I'm awesome. It's true. I know I can sometimes come across as an arrogant prick to some people, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm really good at my job and that I know how things ought to be done. Lemme just give y'all the run-down on my awesomeness so far this year, which I've managed to engage in between the endless friggin' doctors appointments and bouts of fatigue...
We are working on shifting our curriculum toward the IB (which stands for International Baccalureate) structure, as it really is a better standard than AP. What that means in a practical sense is that the organization of our curriculum needs to become more enmeshed, with less homework, more cross-curricular activities and assessment, and a driving base of social conscience at its heart. This is exactly the kind of work as a teacher that I love, and thanks to my circumstances being what they are this year, I've basically been given free reign to shape exactly what that means for our fifth grade. And I am really, really good at it. Here, in a nutshell, is the curriculum plan I've developed for this year:
Our theme for fifth grade is The Emerging American Identity. Or focus across all subjects is going to be on what it means to be an American, and how that meaning has changed over time as various minority groups have struggled against oppression. In history, we are beginning our study with the Civil War. We will be studying from then to present day, focusing on the political and social changes that have occurred, focusing on the struggle for equality of a variety of minority groups and the cause and effect relationships those struggles have had on one another. Beginning with the struggles of African-Americans immediately after the civil war, we will look at the meaning of American identity as it relates to the struggles of groups (focusing primarily on women, Indians, immigrants, and African-Americans) within our society to achieve greater equality, not just under the letter of the law but in the practice of daily living.
Paralleling our history studies are our reading texts. We have five core novels that we're reading as a class this year, each coinciding with the timeline we're following in History, and each dealing with the struggles of discrimination.
We started with The House of Dies Drear, which takes place in the 1960's but is set in a house famous for its role in the Underground Railroad.
Next is My Last Skirt, based on the true story of Albert Cashier (really Jennie Hodges) an Irish immigrant girl who lived her life pretending to be a man so she could earn her way fairly through life and so she could fight for her country during the Civil War.
Next is Hattie Big Sky, a story set at the turn of the 20th century, that exemplifies issues of both women and Indians at that time.
Following that is Dave at Night, a story of a Jewish immigrant in NY in the 1920's.
Finally, is A Year Down Yonder, set in the Depression era.

In addition, I created a book list of 35 or so books, all of which deal with American history and/or issues of the social ramifications of oppression and prejudice. I've read most the books on the list, and those I haven't read are all award winners and are on the list of best books for middle school put out by the American Library Association. And students are allowed to read any book not on the list, so long as they can compellingly justify why it fits our theme. They are required to read a minimum of three independent books each quarter in addition to our group books, and they must do a project on each.
I created a list of 30 projects which they may choose from. There are five categories of projects, which are Artistic, Written, Oratory, Technology, and Synthesis. Each category focuses on a different presentaion style, and students may choose any project for any book, so long as they complete one from each group by the end of the semester. From orally presented biographies, to written comics, to powerpoint presentations to presenting lessons to the class, my students have a wide range of assessments that they get to choose from, and which thoroughly cover multiple learning styles as well as basic literary elements.
So far the projects have been amazing. The students have chosen some interesting books not on the list, and I am enjoying the few on the list that I am reading for the first time. Of course, you can imagine my chagrin when I just tonight discovered that the currently most-popular book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, has several pages devoted to confessions of masturbation, and sports such phrases as "Hey chief, did you know indians were made when niggers fucked buffalo?"
I am seriously hoping that the kids will be too embarrassed to tell their parents, but if I get any flack, I'll just fall back on that old first amendment thingy, as well as the fact that the book has won so many awards and so much praise the the jacket can't contain it all. There is noe explicit sex, and really, the book is just so blatantly honest and good that it's easy to move past the things that are prone to make 5th grader shocked and giggly.
Moving on...
In English, we're spending 2 days a week doing grammar, and two focused on writing. On the fifth day we apply those communication skills to Touchpoints, which is the program I was sent to Mexico to help develop, right before school started.
Touchpoints is an ongoing collaboration via technology, which culminates in two live video conferencing sessions between partner classes. Our partner class is in Monterrey, Mexico, and our topic this year is poverty.
Our course of action this year in Touchpoints goes right along with our overarchingl theme, as poverty is an issue deeply connected to issues of inequity and prejudice. To start us out I created a wiki page, and both classes (mine and my partner in Mexico's) introduced themselves and their communities via powerpoint presentations that they created in the computer lab. Next, we did some reflexive writing on poverty, to determine our own views, and then we compared our views with our partner class's views, to look for similarities and differences.
We will be using the wiki as our primary contact point, and students will work in small groups to investigate different aspects of poverty from a top-down approach. Starting with world poverty, then moving to country, state and city, each group will focus on a different aspect of poverty at each level. The aspects will be demographics, the response of government to the impoverished, community based action, and enduring problems.
At the two big video conference meetings, the two groups with the same topic (one from each school) will present their findings for their peers in some type of interactive lesson or activity.
So, that's what I've been up to.

One week and counting

My first shoulder surgery is next Friday. I'm not really nervous, except for the possibility that it may wind up doing nothing to improve things.
This week I finally had a CT scan and an EMG done, both of which are meant to help diagnose the problems in my neck, and hopefully within a few days I'll know more. The not knowing doesn't help things.
The Monday before last, something weird happened. I woke up, and had an almost completely pain-free day. It was incredible! I've been seeing a therapist for a month or so, and it happened to be on that day, and she remarked about how balanced I seemed. I didn't really expect the pain to be gone forever, so I just sort of enjoyed the reprieve, and fantasized about how productive I could possibly be once I get past these nerve issues.
Unfortunately (though not surprisingly) the next day the pain and tingling and numbness were back, and since then, things have returned to the status quo.
I almost wish that that Monday had never happened, but on the other hand, it at least gives me some hope that things can get back to normal. I am beginning to think that stress is playing a much larger role in my ills than I previously realized, and I keep entertaining fantasies of quitting my job and finding a new life where I can fish, and play poker, and write (and I won't have to force myself to do it!) whenever I want, and I'll want to do all those things and more, because I won't have to worry about being a good parent, or a loving husband, or a good friend, because I'll just naturally be those things already, once I'm free from the burdens of adulthood.
I wish.
What it really boils down to though, is that I'm just kind of melancholy at the moment for having to grow old, and nostalgic for those times in my youth where I really didn't have any stress, and where there was plenty of time in the future to worry about things like work, or my family, or my health, or whatever. I miss those days.
But in reality I'd never really just up and quit my job. I like my job. I'd even do it for free (or at least most of it) if I had the financial means not to need it. It's just that sometimes it gets overwhelming, and sometimes you ask yourself the question, "Is the impact I'm having worth the personal sacrifices it costs?"

Please don't read this one, mom...

Or if you do, don't mention it when we see you!

I run an after-school comics club on Mondays. We spend our time either reading, writing or drawing comics, and I have lots of fun with it. Today, we worked on poetry comics, which is where you take a poem and try to use the imagery to make a coherent comic. Shell Silverstein comics are a particularly good place to start, as the poems are very visual and often funny. I will post some of my students' comics in the near future, when they are done.
As most of you know, I am a huge fan of graphic novels and of comics in general. However, I am realizing that the selection of my favorite comics I can share with my club is narrower than I first imagined. Just too many of my favorites too are "R" rated in content to share with 5th and 6th graders. This is unfortunate, because among my favorites are some excellent examples of genre bending, which I'd just love to share with someone besides Erin. Ideally, I could do comics club with the High School or even college aged students, who would be mature enough to deal with the content and educated enough to examine them more as Art or Social Commentary.
Anyway, One of my favorite web comics, Questionable Content, led me to the following comic, which was terribly funny. For those Palin-McCain fans out there (I hear you're out there somewhere!) maybe you ought to stop here.

Making comics is fun!

She spent all day in the sock drawer

Our cat, Calamity, just jumped up into Erin's lap. She's been sleeping on my socks and underwear in the top drawer of our dresser since 10 this morning.
It's got to be nice to be a cat.

more political stuff

For the record,
I didn't write the bulk of my last post; I'm not really capable of that kind of creativity this early in the school year. BUT...
I agree with it, so that's that.
Here's another interesting thing I came across, concerning the latest bail-out plans... Do the math yourself, and you'll see it IS accurate. Kinda blows your mind, huh?

Oh, and Tammy... you didn't leave a link to the specific post you wanted me to respond to, so send it please. :)

So, the following post is a few weeks old. Considering that the bailout is no longer 85 billion, but 700 billion, you can multiply the projected disbursements to citizens by NINE... JESUS, it's CRAZY!



OK.....here's a plan I could live with.

Hi Pals, I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S.

Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child.

So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.



Of course, it would NOT be tax free.



So let's assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.



That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.



A husband and wife team has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?



Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.



Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads Put away money for college - it'll be there Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.



Buy a new car - create jobs Invest in the market - capital drives growth Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And, of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ("vote buy") economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President. If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+! As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General.



Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work." But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.



And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.



Kindest personal regards, Birk T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

Let's get political, political...

think Olivia Newton John, and pronounce it 'plitical' as you read he title...)

OK.
In case you didn't know, I happen NOT to be a Republican (I prefer my thinking to reflect the complexities of reality, and my reasoning to be littered with facts, not emotions) and as a result the only reason I'm excited about Palin being on the Republican ticket is because I'm holding on to the hope that, as misguided as most Republicans are, even they aren't flat-out ignorant enough to want this woman a step away from the presidency.
Naturally, her now-vocal supporters have a slew of justifications for their support, in spite of Palin's many deficiencies in exactly the areas the Republicans attacked Obama for. I've been mulling this over for a few weeks now, and then my Moms-in-law sent Erin and I the following message. It sums up Palin hysteria in that it explains symptoms of the afflicition and their root cause...
Let me see if I have this straight…..

• If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'

• Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you are a quintessential American story.

• If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

• Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

• Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

• Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

• If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

• If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

• If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

• If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

• If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

• If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

• If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

• If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their f ... in' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot s..t" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a
great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that
reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of
school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no
foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you
must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological
principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for r ejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often
the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden. And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is20very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

feeling guilty

... but not really.
More mundane to bad news, so I haven't been posting much. At least I have moved along a little in the resolution department. It turns out I need surgery on BOTH shoulders. I have a torn rotator cuff and a bone spur on the left shoulder (surgery in October) and a torn levator scapulae in the right (surgery in December) as well as arthritis and nerve impingement in my c-spine, with as-yet-undetermined treatment somewhere down the road. So in addition to beginning of the year stress, I've been a wee bit anxious over all this.
ON the bright side, I've been kicking ass at work in spite of the many Dr. appointments and the pains and fatigue that I've been experiencing. The project that I went to Mexico for a month ago is working out pretty well so far, and I am miles ahead of, oh, everybody (more than 20 schools and hundreds of teachers are participating!)
We're studying poverty, and using technology to collaborate, so what I am doing is using a wiki page (please don't leave comments if you check it out) to collaborate with our partner class in Monterrey Mexico. We've only posted our introductions so far, but I'm tying it in to our writing curriculum, as well as into our social studies curriculum, and it is just plain awesome. We're examining cultural relativism, economics, and reflexive writing as a doorway to personal growth, and so far it's been working perfectly. I'll go into the details of HOW and WHY it is awesome at some future date, but trust me, what I'm doing is just plain good, and sooner or later it's going to get me the recognition I deserve for making vision into reality. I know I probably sound conceited, but I'm just being honest.
I'm also kicking off a comics club tomorrow, where we will be studying the comic as a form of literature and art, and we will be creating comics (hopefully) by mid-year to sell to support our student council.
Anyway, it's past my bedtime. 'Nite.

T

More for Mom

These are pictures of My mom and Bob's house in Mexico... We all miss it!
(Again, mom, just click on the pictures for larger versions, then you can save the larger versions to your computer; call me if you need help!)

For my mom

So I haven't posted anything for awhile because I'm pretty much tired of complaining, and things haven't gotten better yet. The short version:

I got really sick last week, and thought it was a reaction to my neck injections
My spine doctor said it could be meningitis, and I needed to go to the ER, ASAP
I went to to the ER and got a spinal tap, X-rays, etc.
I DON'T have meningitis, thank god
No one knows what I had, probably was a virus
I missed the first week of school
I still have problems, but am no longer feverish and feeling like I want to die
So all in all, there's nothing I can do but what I'm doing, and who wants to hear the same list of unpleasant things over and over?

Anyway, I talked to my mom tonight (Hi mom!) and am posting a variety of pictures for her, and you guys. Here they are.
By the way mom, you can see larger versions of each picture by clicking on them. Love you! :)

In response to Elaine's latest posts...

So this is how it is:
We came back to work this week. I've had my old room on my old campus packed and ready to move for most of the summer.. The problem is, the new campus hasn't had a room for me. I'd intended to work on curriculum and lesson plans, and setting up my room, etc. all summer, but it wasn't meant to be. I was finally given my room on Friday, and was able to move in on Sunday. Monday of this week, after nearly the whole day spent in meetings and presentations, I was finally able to get to work on my room. I spent 5 or so hours arranging desks and getting set up; In addition, I had to move all 200 or so textbooks from random closets (I had to hunt for them) on the bottom floor to my room on the second floor, since they decided over the summer to move all the classes from the bottom floor to the top (though they didn't actually move anything; that was left for us teachers to do). Fortunately, Erin and Nick helped, and we just borrowed a huge cart from a hallway and moved them all at once.
So I set out all my books, and then I went to get my computer from our computer tech (which had been transferred from my old system on my old campus in June, and which has all my curriculum maps, resources, etc.) He couldn't find it. I explained that I was going to Mexico in just three days, and thus really needed my computer, so I could set up my grade book, do lessons, etc. He said he'd give it to me by the next day.
Well, as of today (Wed. at 7:02p.m.) I haven't received my computer. Also, someone moved all the things in my room Monday night to clean carpets, so I had to rearrange it Tuesday (with Erin's help.)
As of today, our supply room is still empty (so I have no folders, no paper, no pencil sharpeners, no nada) and I haven't had the chance to even start lesson planning.
Oh, and did I mention that we were told yesterday that we have to create a year-long syllabus and accompanying rubrics that follow IB (International Bacculaureate)standards, which no one knows anything about, short of a 45 minute introduction earlier in the week?
When is it due, you ask? Why, Monday of course. (Did I mention I'll be at a conference in Mexico from 3:00 tomorrow until late Sunday evening?)
Anyhow, my neck's been really killing me (stress maybe?) so I am getting my neck injections tomorrow (thank god, they moved up the date!) at 7:45 a.m. Then at 3:00 I'm on a plane to Mexico for a conference. I return at about 8:00 p.m. on Sunday. Then, Monday morning all my students show up at 7:45 to start the school year...
AND they won't give me a key to come in Sunday night!
All I can say is that it's a god-damned good thing I work my best under extreme pressure, and that I am not prone to panic.
In fact, I'm not really worried about it. I think this situation might just kill (or emotionally scar) a normal person, but if there's anything I'm good at, it's changing horses in mid-stream. :)
And truthfully, it's worse than it sounds. Well, ok, maybe it IS as bad as it sounds, but it's a good opportunity for me to demonstrate my inginuity, and I really do happen to thrive in situations which most people see as chaotic. I have little doubt I'll get a few day extension on the syllabus, and as far as lessons go, well... I'm pretty good at making things up as I go along. AND nearly all my students and parents are from last year, so I have a good support system.
I guess my point is it's all a matter of perspective. I can make this seem like the shittiest experience ever... or I can make it seem at least not bad.
Despite the shakey start, I'm really looking forward to this year, but I'll save why for another post.

new heights

I just had to post this.
Behold, the pinnacle of child-targeted American consumerism!

Bleh

I have had more Dr. appts. in the last 2 months than in the 25 years previous... I am going in for a sleep study tonight, another MRI on Wednesday, a follow-up for the sleep study sometime next week, blahblahblah.
Until I have something ELSE to talk about, I don't think I'll be posting. My PT says that alot of my neck problems are made worse by spending so much time on the computer anyway.
I have to go to Mexico for a work conference on Aug. 14th though, so I'll post about that, if it's interesting.
Wish me luck.

I should have done this years ago

I feel so old these last few days. Since Friday I have had an MRI, been to 3 doctors and seen a physical therapist. I haven't slept more than a few hours in the last three days, and I've honestly never felt so helpless before. It sucks.
On Friday I had an MRI of my C-spine, and on Monday I saw an Orthopedic surgeon about the problem with my shoulders. He ordered another MRI (of my shoulders) which I will get in a few weeks. It looks like the compulsive rocking I've been doing in my sleep for oh, my entire life, has caused so damage there, which is a separate issue from the c-spine stuff. I also have a long-needed sleep study scheduled for this coming Monday. I have the feeling that the insomnia and the accompanying compulsive rock-n-rolling I do while sleeping are responsible for most of my current problems.
So anyway, the MRI on friday shows nerve compression in three spots in my cervical spine, c 4,5, and 7. In the MRI it looks just like a little hourglass where the discs are herniated.
Anyway, I have been seriously obsessing over the lack of sleep and the pain for the last three days, which really isn't normal for me. I NEVER lose complete perspective, but I think I did these last few days. Hopeless is a heavy word, but it fits how I was feeling last night and this morning.
I saw my primary this morning, and he prescribed me Xanax to help with the anxiety (to help me sleep) and though I've always been opposed to taking benzodiazepines because of their addictive quality, I am so desperately in need of a few hours of sleep that I really have no choice. I'm a bit nervous about it, but I've taken narcotics as prescribed before, so things should be ok.
After him, I saw a spine specialist, who is going to do a nerve block by giving me some steroid shots in the neck. They have to knock you out for that, which I hate, but not as much as I hate feeling like I do. Hopefully things will mellow out between now and then. He gave me a shot in the ass of a drug called toradol, which is a heavy-duty NSAID painkiller (non-narcotic) which has helped things alot. It is supposed to last for around 5 days, and I think if I can just get some sleep things will improve greatly. I'm not sure I could make it a whole month (I can't get the nerve block until August 23rd) if every day is as bad as the last 3 have been, but I'm hopeful that they won't.
So there you have it. I HATE feeling like a whiner, and I hate going to the doctor, but not so much as I hate the way I've been feeling for the last few weeks. My reluctance to see doctors and to accept the possibility of any kind of debilitating medical problems when I was younger is kind of biting me in the ass. I mean, I've known for 9 years now that I needed to see a sleep specialist and that the lack of sleep was taking a toll on my health, but I always made excuses, like no insurance, then shitty insurance, then scheduling or other more pressing issues, etc.
But hopefully it's not too late. I honestly can't even imagine how things might be without some sort of pain or fatigue on a daily basis.

I guess Erin's not so bad after all

So I wasn't looking forward to the long drive up here to Summit county, considering how messed up my shoulders and neck had been. I only drove 6 hours Tuesday, which really isn't much for me, and I stopped in Green River, Utah at a cheap motel called the Robber's Roost. It was 15 dollars cheaper than the Motel 6, and bigger and nicer as well. I went to sleep about 2, and got a decent night's sleep, all things considered.
Well, the next day (yesterday) was just awful. I got a breakfast burito and a mocha on the way out of town, and within about 15 minutes, I started to feel sick. Food poisoning sick. I managed to drive the 90 or so miles to Fruita, Co. where I had to pull over and puke my guts out on the side of the road. Lovely.
On top of the nausea, I still had about 3 hours of driving to do, and I was feeling the way everyone feels when they can't hold anything down. I tried drinking water, but puked that up too.
So I stopped for a nap under a tree near Rifle, Colorado. After nearly an hour I decided that I had to continue on. I still felt like shit, but since I'd given up on eating or drinking anything, I figured the best thing to do was drive on, as the longer I waited, the worse and more dehydrated I'd feel.
I made it without incident to the top of Vail pass, which is about 2o miles from my sis's house, and there on the side of the road were two perfect little lakes, with fish rising. I pulled over, intending to fish for only a few minutes, but as soon as I stepped out of the car, I got so dizzy I gave up on the idea. You know I'm really sick when I can't stop to fish in a spot like that. It sucked.
Anyway, I got to Nicole's, and fell asleep from 4 til about 8:30. I felt much better, though still very weak. Nicole had gotten me some pedialite (which is gross, but does the job) and some chicken noodle soup. I ate, drank, watched So you think you can dance, and went back to sleep at 11.
This morning, I woke up feeling much better than I have in days. I ate a bagel for breakfast (I didn't want to over-do it in case the sickness was lingering) and I went fishing.
Well, I don't know if it's the bug passing, or the mountain air, or just the act of fishing, but I feel great. I caught 3 trout, and long distance released (that's lost to you non-fishers out there) 4 others, and it was just great. My biggest fish of the day came when I was walking back to the car. I called Erin to check in and say hi, and while we were talking I just kind of absent-mindedly flicked my fly behind a rock one-handed, and this healthy trout just swam up and ate it. I was like "Oh my gosh! I caught a fish!" and Erin was like, "What?" and I told her I had to go so I could play and land him. all I had on me was my phone, but I managed 3 pics of the fish, a nice fat rainbow trout of probably 15 inches or so. I tried to text-message the pics to Erin, but she doesn't get multimedia on her phone, so the pics will have to wait til I get home and can download them from my phone to my laptop.
So in the end, I'll credit Erin for that last one. In spite of her hook fiasco in the Sierras a few weeks ago, I never woulld have caught this fish if I hadn't stopped in that spot to call her, so it all worked out. :)

Nerves making me nervous

I've been having issues with my neck and shoulders for a few years now. Unfortunately, I tend to ignore minor pains and aches, because when I was younger it was easier to do so, and at the time I didn't have any insurance, so there was no point worrying about it.
About 3 years ago I got a small tear in my ulnar nerve. Long story short, after 10 months of hoop-jumping, I had a surgery in which they moved my nerve from around the elbow to lay under the muscle; this was supposed to alleviate the problem.


For the most part it worked.
However, during the 10 months I was hoop jumping, there were occasions when I would tweak the nerve by moving my head a certain way, and it would send a jolt down my arm or up my neck. Sometimes these jolts were so strong that they literally made my black out; kind of like when you get punched in the face.
Anyway, for the last few months I've been dealing with tight neck and shoulders, with the tightness and pain sometimes radiating into my arms. I've seen 2 physical therapists, and though they haven't been unpleasant, they haven't done anything to alleviate the actual problem.
So these last few days have been pretty bad. I am not usually one to complain, and I've always had a bias against younger people who constantly complain. This attitude no doubt came from all the AA people I saw over the years who went on disability, or who constantly took painkillers, or meds, or whatever... and who, in my mind, simply didn't want to work; I took their complaints as excuses fabricated because they didn't have it in them to get their shit together. They exemplified a culture of victimhood, and I silently judged.
Now, I know not everyone was doing this; some people did (and still do) have legit ailments. But most were not as bad off as the claimed.
Now, I am in the unenviable position of basically feeling like shit nearly all the time.
I have been trying to get things taken care of now that I have some decent insurance, but nothing so far has addressed the real issue, whatever it may be.
I am getting a sleep study done at the end of the month. I have had serious insomnia for over 10 years now ( and I mean clinical insomnia; I rarely sleep more than 6 hours at a stretch, and can remember only three nights since we moved to Vegas where I slept an unbroken 7 hours; once in San Jose, once in Switzerland, and once a few months ago. EVERY other night for a decade or more I've slept in fits and starts, usually to the tune of about 5 hours a night. It sucks.)
About a month ago I finally got a lift (my right leg is shorter than my left, and the doc thought that may be contributing to my neck and shoulder issues), but I'm wondering if it may be the reason for my current neck problems. In the last month or so, my neck and shoulder stiffness has gotten noticeably worse.
So that brings me to today. I was laying on the bed this morning, on my stomach, and when I stretched my arms above my head I felt a sharp burning pain right next to my armpit. As far as I can tell, it's exactly in the sheath-thing that covers the main nerve into the arm. It really hurt, but I kept stretching, hoping that doing to would loosen things up. Well, a little later I took the bike to a coffee shop to do some work. As I was typing, the numb-tingles associated with my original ulnar nerve damage crept up, only this time it wasn't just in my fingers. I've got numbness and tingles in all of my left hand, as well as sporadic feelings of stuff crawling up and down my arm. The tingling is also wandering up to my neck. It has me pretty worried, and I am so not a worrier.
So tomorrow I have an appointment with my doc. Hopefully he'll refer me to a neurologist. I've done some poking around, and all the symptoms indicate an impinged nerve, but they checked for that when I first went in a few years ago, and said that wasn't the case. They took X-rays, but not an MRI or CAT scan, so hopefully they will do one of them and find out what's wrong.
I just hope that they can get to the bottom of the problem. I am beginning to forget what it feels like to not ache, and it's starting to really get to me.
I honestly can't imagine what I could accomplish in my life if I actually could get a full night's sleep and could wake up and go through the day without hurting. I hope someday I can find out the answer to that question.
OK, enough complaints from me; I'll post more after my doc appt. tomorrow.

breakfast restaurants, and crazy menu selections.

Finding a good breakfast restaurant isn't easy. Most of them (most restaurants really) are quite mediocre. But today, while poking around for places to get breakfast in Vegas, we came across the Hash House A Go Go. I'm not sure if their food is good, because we haven't eaten there, but their menu is great.
Especially their O'hare of the Dog. What is it, you ask?
Well, it's a 24 oz. Budweiser. With a side of bacon.
So far, that's the funniest breakfast menu item I've seen. Can anyone top that?

chicken sadly decontextualized.

Linguistics is fun.

A trip down memory lane via cereal boxes

I don't know why I go off on these little internet missions, but I just spent the last 2 hours looking at vintage Starwars toys. Specifically, I was looking for a little hand-held movie camera thing which I shoplifted from a K-mart when I was 7. How I wound up in a K-mart by myself late in the evening at age 7 is an interesting story, but one for another time. Anyway, the toy in question had little cartridge things which, when inserted and cranked with a handle on the side, presented actual movie-sequences through the viewfinder. It was a cool toy.
So anyway, I didn't find it, but as I was occasionally reminded of various Starwars toys from my youth, I told Erin about a landspeeder string-glider I once got from a box of cereal. It was hella cool. And then, of course, I found a picture of the exact cereal box it came from.
Friggin' internets.... it's constantly amazing. I don't know where this guy finds the time, but his comprehensive list of cereal boxes with Starwars related themes reminded me how much I used to covet things which no longer exist, like Crazy Cow cereal. Crazy Cow: you can't get much more 1970's.
Now I'm off to find pics of the Guns of Navarone mountain playset I used to use as a battlestation in opposition to my Death Star.

Car woes, and excessive heat warning

I've been sitting for the last 3 1/2 hours at the dealership where they just rebuilt our engine last week. Our check engine light came on yesterday, and I guess that it's not a big deal, but they had to update our car's software, and for some reason, it's taking a really long time.
Fortunately, the dealer has free wifi, so I've been able to get some school work done, and now I have time for a blog post.
Yesterday evening, the weatherman announced that the NWS has issued an excessive heat warning for today. Officially, our high is supposed to be 112, which means in reality that on the street it will be close to 120 this afternoon. That, combined with high ozone and the smoke drifting into the Vegas valley from fires in Cali means that we should not go outside today, if we can help it.
I for one, had planned on spending as little time outside as possible when it gets its hottest, but this unplanned nearly 4 hour detour to Toyota has mussed up my plans, and I will be stuck driving around more than I had intended.
This, of course, has made me a bit grouchy, but since my one actual planned trip out today is to the physical therapist to get my stiff neck and shoulders worked on, it's not all bad.
Since I have nothing else to do, here's a few random pics I've meant to post in te last several weeks. You can figure them out.

The 90's

So we just finished watching VH1's top 100 songs of the 90's, and it did 3 things:

1. Reminded me of this video.
2. Reminded me how totally hot I am for Liz Phair (listen to Flower... I mean GOD!)
3. Made me wish I could remember my own life more vividly, more often

Man, it just amazes me how music can bring back memories like nothing else:

Into The Great Wide Open playing as B and I raced down the Texas highway, to go climbing in Mineral Wells

Under the Bridge as I went to get my motorcycle registered with a yuppie republican girl from my scholarship program named Allison... I remember she used to come to class with a "Texans for Bush" bumpersticker pasted across her crotch (that was Bush Sr. for you kiddies!)

The first time I heard Smells Like Teen Spirit... B came over to my hovel on 35th street with a cassette tape of Nevermind; we listened to the whole thing, amazed and thoroughly amused by the sheer balls of the song Polly.

I could go on and on, but I won't. I'm just glad for the music, because I have forgotten (or at least put out of mind) most of my short existence in this life, and sometimes music brings it back, if only for short moments.

How Erin ruined my vacation, part 1

So we're at the beautiful Rock Creek lake, and we'd just found the coolest little hike-in camping spot, and I'd FINALLY caught a little brook trout after months of anticipation, when we decided to move to the lake to fish. Here it is:

So I set Erin up with a spincast rod and a rooster tail, because they are the easiest and most likely combination to help her catch a fish. As I was just settling in and had my eyes on a roaming rout, I hear "Um, honey. I hooked my leg. Can you come get it out?"
Well, I figured sure, it'd be no problem. Wrong again. She'd lodged TWO of the tines on the treble hook firmly in her leg. I didn't have a knife or a razor, so we got the camp host to clip off the rest of the lure from the hook. It looked like this:
Anyway, we made an unexpected trip to the ER in Mammoth, where we had the quickest ER visit EVER, though they looked at Erin like she was a dope for coming in to get a hook out, until they realized it was two tines. Then the doctor tied string around both parts, gave a yank, and the hook was removed. The best thing (besides the quick turn-around) was that it cost us nothing at all... Hooray for E's bitchen insurance!
Here she is finishing the admittance paperwork. Notice the hook still in her leg.


We made it back to camp in under 3 hours, got a decent night's sleep, and were up and fishing at 7:15. I caught 5 fish this morning, and Erin hasn't maimed herself yet, so I guess all is well and I can forgive her for the lost hours of fishing last night. She even tried her hand at fly-fishing again this morning, though she promptly got tangled in a tree immediately following this photo:


We had to make a run to town (hence this blog-post) but now we're headed back to camp, and more fish. This morning was good, and though the five I caught were from 8 to 14 inches, I nearly fell in when a bruiser of a brown trout (he was at least 20 inches and 3 lbs.) swam right by my feet as I was casting to a pod of risers. I have needs to make said fish my bitch, and barring any catastrophe, will give it my best shot.
And by the way, you better not fall in, hook yourself, get bitten by the giant coyote roaming camp, contract rabies from a marmot or whatever else might interfere with my pursuit of fish Erin! :)

Gaaahhh!

Some people have too much time on their hands. I'm one of those people, at least for the next month or so. I'd like to be one of the ones who knows how to use their free time to do something creative, or constructive, or social, or whatever, but Elaine pretty much nailed it when she said "look around, say 'fuck it,' and go sit on the couch and look for more cool things on the internet" in response to my post a few days back.
We have had friends visiting from Cali for the last few days, which has been great, as it's gotten us out of the house. However, Toyota still hasn't finished our car yet, but they at least gave us a rental with AC so we can now leave the house without having to put up with extreme discomfort. I had to drive the van across town yesterday at 4:00, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was at least 120 degrees in my car, because it was about 112 outside and my van was much, much hotter. By the time I got home, I was hot to the point of nearly tearing up, and I was practically delirious. But then Erin showed up in a scion with excellent AC, and I was so happy we just drove around the block a few times to recapture the feeling of driving without being miserable.
So anyway, we were out with our friends, hanging out by the pool after dark, and, to my horror, Erin was wondering "who the fat guy with our friend was," when she realized it was me.
Fucking ouch!
But it is true. My spare tire has expanded in the last months or so up toward my shoulders, and my thighs brush against each other when I walk, which is really, really annoying.
I don't look like a blimp or anything, but goddamn it if I haven't always assumed I'd be skinny as a rail without ever having to worry about it. And now I'm not.
I eat pretty healthy, but have done dick for exercise for the last few months, and it's starting to show.
So we went to the gym today, but I'm not very hopeful at the moment. I've been doing the gym thing on and off for several years, and I'm obviously not doing something right. Although to be fair, I've never really gained significant weight or changed pant or shirt sizes until the last few months. This simply will not do.
OK, enough complaining and enough whining. I'll post something more cheerful someday, maybe.

another reason why I LOVE Texas... The Texas GOP!

Ok, ok...

I really only am fond of Texas for its geography and the few of you that still live there.
BUT...
I am amused (in the same way you can be amused by the senile old uncle who's so brain damaged that he gets away with racial slurs and blatant sexism) of the shamelessly racist, anti-feminist, and otherwise bigoted way that the Texas GOP handles itself.

At least in Texas, they don't secretly pretend not to be racist while cracking nigger jokes and wetback jokes under their breath, no sir. They proudly hock things like this at their state republican convention.

Who says Texas aint great?

Trying to find something constructive to do

So since I'm not going to Switzerland, we don't have a trip to Tetons/Yellowstone in the works, and I'm not teaching summer school, and I just finished my second 6 hour doctoral class by writing a 24 page paper (with sappy accolades from the professor and a high "A" ), not to mention the fact that our only car with A/C needs a new engine (and it's been hitting the 100-teens in town the last few days), I find myself for the first time facing a summer break with no plans, no transportation, and no money (the car's only going to be about $2200 instead of $4000, but still). So I'm trying to find cheap, constructive things to occupy my time. Erin and I will go camping once the car is fixed, but in the mean time, I'm not sure what to do with myself, so I made a list, and here it is:

make a trailer for my bicycle

pack up my old classroom

fix things around the house, including but not limited to a broken window, loose faucet, roof leak, and broken tile in the bathroom

do some routine maintenance on the motorcycle

clean up yard

I fully anticipate having these things completed by this coming Sunday. The only hitch is all the outside things will need to be done early, because it's just too hot to sit in the driveway, for example, any time after about 10:00 a.m.
So anyway, while I was trying to find the link to the plans for the bicycle trailer, I found this site which is full of great DIY projects... Check it out.

Jesus Christ, did you see that?!

OK,
For what it is worth, I have sooo felt like Tammy before, wishing on the one hand that I had it in me to just give in to the fairytale of the prevalent Christian faith, for no other reason than to feel connected, both to others and to the big scary unknown, and on the other hand, being afraid of that happening to me against my will.
I've known too many good people over the years who, after not having seen them for awhile, have suddenly found Jesus, and become less than they were. I'm sure they would see it just the opposite, but I'm speaking selfishly here. When people I've known go all Jesus-y, they invariably become more shallow in every conceivable way as far as my interactions with them are concerned. Period. I NEVER want to do that. And I don't care to enter into any type of theological debate here either. I'm just saying that in my experience, every person I've known who has found Jesus has suffered a tangible loss that affects me directly. And it isn't just my bias against religion that makes me see it. I've noticed the change in certain friends before they revealed their new-found faith. It's nothing I want, and while I can understand their belief in the benefit of their new faith, I just don't believe it to be anything more than a giving -up, or a settling-for.
Death, God, what happens next.... all of it is so uncertain, and I as much as anyone else yearn for the truth... but not so much so that I am willing to accept anyone's belief structure because parts of it seem to ring true. I am constantly struggling with reconciling my belief that there is a God and the uncertainty of ever knowing. One thing I know IS certain is that life is short, very short, and it is all we know we have, and that the only consequences that I am concerned about relate to this life. I struggle not with the what-if's of what comes after, but with the choices I make with the limited time I have.
I'm not a person who needs a great deal of comfort, and I guess that is both a blessing and a curse.
My father's dying made me realize that I squandered a lot of time, and I wish I had worked harder at setting things right with him. But now that he's gone, I'm not concerned with ever seeing him again. What I have left of him that he left behind is nothing tangible, but it's enough... it has to be. There's nothing else.
But that's OK.
I used to be afraid of turning into my father. And there are parts of him, big parts, that I see in myself that I am still afraid of and that I don't want. But his passing has revealed to me the good parts he's left in me, and they are good things.
I believe in the divine nature of the human spirit. And I don't mean spirit in the sense of some entity that goes on after our bodies perish. And I don't mean divine in the sense of some omnipotent power. I mean spirit in the sense of a human willingness to step into the unknown boldly and joyfully, embracing the fear and uncertainty that comes along with doing so, just to see what is possible. And I mean divine in the sense of brushing against something larger than just one life. Whether that's an idea, or a force of nature, or some collective subconscious or whatever, it is connecting to something bigger than just our own limited experience.
Though my dad made his way back to church in his later years, that is not what he left me that I value. He left me something greater than that.
His appreciation of performance art and music verged on awe, and this perception is something we share. It is a huge part of what gives me comfort. It is the way I see the divine, and it doesn't come from an outside source; it is purely human.
It's in the amazing stories of people exceeding the limits of what came before, whether in art or science or politics... in all the thousands and thousands of ways people do it every day, that I find comfort and hope and connectedness. And most importantly, inspiration to join in and participate in the unique gift of being human.
To illustrate my point, I offer these few things; they are just examples of some of the amazing things people can do that happened to come my way today.

Read about how scientists are combining viruses and nanotechnology to be beneficial.

Read here to check out one of my favorite poems by on of my favorite poets.

Now watch these videos. I mean, DAMN...