Good Riddens W

TANKS IN MY MEMORY - Bye, George
Best. Video. Ever.

Hope

A picture, or painting in this case, speaks volumes. After 8 years of mis-leadership, countless scandals, extreme partisanship, reckless spending, and vulgar abuse of power America is going to be graced with Hope.

When I look at the utter mess this country is in, I realize just how insanely self-serving and utterly disgusting Republicans, in particular the ones in charge, can be. But it's not soley Bush & ilk's fault America is in this state, I lay most of the blame at the feet of the fools - there I said it - who re-elected the Bush Administration for a second term. The ones with the real power in this country, the American voters, were the ones who ultimately gave this clusterfuck of power hungry assholes another term, and they gave it to them on a silver platter along with a blank check. All I can say to those who cast a vote for W in 2004 is that you brought the hard times on yourself. And for the rest of us, well, we just have to deal with the fallout from your mistake.

So is there Hope for the future of this country? It sure seems that way. Hope that the troops in Iraq will finally be coming back home where they belong. Hope that the poor and the middle class in this country will be offered decent health care, education, and equal rights. Hope that eventually this country will once again prosper and gain back the respect lost as a result of the greedy, arrogant Bush Administration. It feels good to be optimistic about the future of this country. More importantly it feels good just knowing that in 3 days, 1 hour, and 55 minutes (but who's counting?) that Hope will be official.

The length of a man's ring finger may predict his...

...success as a financial trader. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England report that men with longer ring fingers, compared to their index fingers, tended to be more successful in the frantic high-frequency trading in the London financial district. This according to a Yahoo News article on a study from PNAS: http://www.pnas.org/.

Forgive me if I'm wrong (inherently wrong in this case) but isn't it supposed to be that the length of a man's fingers was indicative (giggles) of the size of his penis? Is there a correlation between the two that a man with long fingers can pick winning stocks and is hung? So how exactly does this apply to me? I can tell you, I happen to have rather long fingers and for a while my account was up about 30%. Today, however, if you were privy to my Scottrade IRA account you'd see that the account has shrunk -- considerably dammit. But the last time I checked, like a few seconds ago, Pookie Jr. was still the same - no shrinkage detected. And, it's cold as all get out this morning. Enough said.

Fugly china, pink sharks, over zealous professors. Oh my.

This pisses me off. Call me crazy, but the last time I checked this country was in a recession and we were supposed to be cutting back on frivolities. So why the need for almost half a million dollars worth of butt-ugly china for the White House? Yea, I know it's "donated" by the White House Historical Association but get real, there is a time and place for everything. Blatant excess during a time of national crisis is almost as vulgar as the current occupants them selves. And OMG... the Magnolia-Blossom "every day" china is just plain awful. Has Laura Bush no taste at all and did she even check Macy's Cellar for a far more attractive and much less expensive option? I did and I'm not a president's wife (thank God) - So there.



As the proud owner of almost 2,000 s.f of laminate flooring (I chose laminate over wood because of the dog) I feel it only fair to give props to one of the best new gadgets to hit the market. I introduce the Euro Pro Shark Steam Mop in Gayest Pink. Being a poor, struggling student, this Christmas was all about being practical. That and I have more shit than I know what to do with so I didn't need or want anything to wash, iron, or dust. I was telling T that I saw a commercial for this little beauty and how the lady mopping her wood floors made it look so easy. She was all smiles and giggles and shit as she pumped her steamer and set about the daunting task of cleaning her floors. Well, I am a sucker for cleaning gadgets so I dashed to the local Target to see what the fuss was all about. As soon as I saw it was OK for wood, tile , and laminate floors, I was sold. Let me tell you that this is the single best $79 I have spent in a long time. It is really simple to use and it cleans like nothing I have ever seen. This poor students floors haven't been so shiny since the day they were installed and it's safe for them. I highly recommend the Pink Shark. It works great on laminate as well as porous and smooth tile - and it is perfectly gay in color and design.

My first online class in my new Master's program is officially opened. I got the textbooks last week - saved over $225 by ordering from Amazon thank you very much - and for once had even read ahead for the class. Seeing as I've changed majors from counseling to instructional leadership I had no clue what to expect. So the class opened on Friday and much to my dismay I found out that the professor - who refers to himself as Dr. and "facilitator" which was a clue this was not going to be pretty - I spent literally 3 hours reading and re-reading this guy's version of a syllabus. Let me be the first to congradulate Dr. Facilitator X on his recent Phd , he earned it. But like so many other recent Phd's has has the ego to go with it. Why is it that a tenured professor is typically laid back and tries to make the outline of a course simple, while the adjunct professor, or Dr. Facilitator in this case, has to make everything as difficult to understand as possible? Like I said, I am real proud for you that you have your Phd and your credentials are most impressive, but your bedside manner, if you will, for this class leaves to be desired. Nothing makes sense at all.

There are lecture notes in the first module which pick up in one six weeks later and then direct you back to the original week only to send you to module three for a paragraph. Give me a fucking break already. Just copy/paste all the information and put it in one location. The expectations of the class are equally as ambiguous. Granted proficiency in APA writing is a given - this is grad school afterall - but why the need to inform your students on how proficient you are, Dr. Facilitator X? Just tell your class what is expected and then grade the damn work! K? I've a feeling that this is going to be a very long seven week course.

I suppose this will be all for this update. I've got another chapter to read and then a 2,500 word mini-essay due by 5:00 tomorrow. The story of my life for the past two years - research and write. And why did I want to blog again - because I don't write enough??????

Bounce, squeal, bounce, squeal

What kind of parent buys their kids a personal inflatable jump house? The kind that lives directly behind my house. apparently We woke up Christmas morning to see a similar-looking monstrosity leering over the fence and hoped it was a rental. Oh but hell no. I'm afraid this thing is here to stay. It blows up in a few minutes and it stays up ALL DAY LONG. EVERY DAY.

I wonder how long before a kid grows tired of such a thing. A month?

Procrastination is like masturbation. At first it feels good, but in the end you're only screwing yourself. ~Author Unknown

I put it off for far too long - a year now, but over the winter break I made the decision to change majors from Psychology/Counseling to Education. While this may seem like a drastic leap from one extreme to another, it really isn't because in either regard I will be helping someone - something I've always longed to do. All it really took was a few advanced courses and several hundred pages of research to show me that I would find little reward in marital counseling or God-forbid career counseling. I far prefer the reward that comes from looking into a students eyes when they "get it" - be it reading or mathematics.

Quite honestly, I have come to accept that I have more patience coaching a six year old to accept learn something new than I ever would with an adult. A child genuinely wants to better them self, while many adults spend their entire lives avoiding change.

All this said, I look forward to Monday morning to getting back into the classroom and seeing my class of 18 kids. I've missed their smiles and their emerging personalities and on some scale I've even missed their fearless attitudes and all of the drama that goes along with first grade. There is never a boring day in elementary school - the same cannot be said for adulthood.

Resurrection

I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything, do not be fooled by what I am saying. Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying. ~Charles C. Finn

It has been almost two years since I've posted on this blog and looking back I'm not really sure why I stopped. Perhaps it was just time. Even though I've not updated it, I've visited it several times a week - along with those blogs I link to but as a lurker. It seems as if the time has come to revisit why I ever started inherently wrong to begin with and why, at this stage in my life, I feel compelled to re-enter the world of blogging. One possible reason is that over Thanksgiving, through the six degrees of separation, I found out that I had a real-life connection to one of my all time favorite bloggers, Fightin' Mad Mary. As it turns out, my step-niece is married to a former co-worker of Mary. Talk about a small world. Anyway, this newly discovered connection planted the seed in my mind that I should thinking about blogging again.

So a lot has changed in my life over the past two years. I've cheated death, gone back to school and gotten a 2nd degree, and am currently working towards my third. One day, when - if - I grow up, I will be doing something rewarding for very little pay. Time will tell. For now I will just relish in my life as a middle-aged, struggling student. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy New Year to us all.