Trite 'n' Trivial

House Shopping on the Internets

2009-11-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

I did not get any sentences written on my main story, sorry. It turns out I started writing too soon and needed to go back and get some foundational shit done.

So this evening I spend two hours house- and job-shopping (kind of reminds you of last spring, huh?), and I got a lot of things figured out. Here are some of them, in no particular order:

Chanson, Colorado
Miles Tariq
Chanson High School, black/gold, Pioneers
10 miles outside of town
class conflict
solar farming

The solar farming part is especially brilliant because it is an incredible stroke of irony. You'll see. I am starting to see how things might turn out later, which is very, very good. I just have to get so excited by my plans that I can't wait to write the first draft, otherwise I'll spend the rest of my month planning and not writing (isn't that like 75% of a "real" novelist's work?).

Words Today: 0 (4 pages planning notes, though)
Total Words: same as yesterday
Sentence: sorry.
Brain Flashes Had: at least 11, maybe 12

I can do other things, too.

2009-11-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Damn, I cooked the shit out of stuff today. I promise to get at least one sentence written today so I can share it with you, but first:

Thanksgiving 2009

7 a.m.
Checked on pumpkin cheesecake made last night. Figured someone would notice if I had a piece for breakfast.
Rolled out and blind-baked pie dough from yesterday.

7:30 a.m.
Baked sweet potatoes in microwave.

8 a.m.
Mixed pie filling and baked.
Started grading papers.

9:30 a.m.
Put ham in oven.
More papers.

10:30 a.m
Didn't realize I needed more than a dozen eggs. Quick trip to the store.

11 a.m.
Made grits.
Started sweet potato casserole.

1:00 p.m.
Shit! I should have soaked the blackeyed peas overnight!
Found quick-soak method on internet.

1:30 p.m.
Put grits in oven.
Steamed squash in microwave.
Finished sweet potato casserole, set aside until marshmallow-melting time.

2:00 p.m.
Made corn fritter batter.
Put together squash casserole.

2:30 p.m.
Grits done.
Blanched greens.

2:50 p.m.
5-minute shower.

3 p.m.
Ham done.
Cooked onion and bacon for greens.
Sweet potatoes in oven.
Squash casserole in oven.
Fried corn fritters.

3:25 p.m.
Finished sauteing greens.
Put out vegetables.
Set table.
Poured drinks.

3:30 p.m.
Ate until cross-eyed.

4:30 p.m.
Made brown sugar-bourbon cream.
Ate sweet potato pie and cheesecake with a cup of coffee.

It's been a good day.

Today's Stats

2009-11-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

Before I post my word count, let me first say that 1) I did most of the actual writing in class while my students were working, 2) I spent lots of my writing time reading a book on novel writing, and 3) I worked on my story notes--to the tune of like 4 pages of character and plot stuff. Hopefully doing lots of planning up front will help get the draft written.

Words today: 255
Total word count: 1646
Sentence: Even when he brushed his teeth in the morning, Stephen seemed hardly to see his own reflection in the mirror. (You will understand why this is awesome when you know what's going on.)

Today's Stats

2009-11-24T21:07:00.001-07:00

Words: 877 (Paltry, I know, for someone who wants to be done by the end of the year, but everything I wrote I did in six-minute chunks while I made five pounds of home fries for the Honor Roll breakfast tomorrow.)

A sentence: Stephen debated for a moment between the right answer and the correct one.

Words and Sentences

2009-11-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

So. NaNoWriMo started November first, and, in typical fashion, I am getting around to it late.

Tyson and I can't in good conscience (or good credit) get each other the iPhones we were going to for Christmas, so we're going to write novels together. We figured we've got an extra hour or two in the evening that we might as well be using for something productive.

So I got an idea, and let me tell you--actually, I can't tell you. My idea is literally so good you will be unable to keep from stealing it and writing your own thing, or selling it to a producer of movies.

People who have writing to do sometimes need to find an activity that puts that writing off for just a little longer. One of the things these people do is join or keep a sentence a day blog where they post a daily word count and the best sentence they wrote for the day.

Here's yesterday's:
"All in all, Stephen looks as though he might have just emerged from the dryer."
Word Count: 514, plus 2 pages of notes
Total Words: 514

Pictures

2009-10-08T17:19:00.001-06:00

Way to Go, Arizona!

2009-09-30T11:36:00.000-06:00

Trent Franks is a fucktard.

See?

How much of this rhetoric do we need before we see our first assassination attempt from the nutjobs who buy into this shit, do you think?

Help!

2009-09-29T16:58:00.000-06:00

Via today's Daily Kos:

At the How To Take Back America Conference last weekend, conservative speaker Kitty Werthmann led a workshop called "How to recognize living under Nazis & Communists ..."

During her session, Werthmann went through a litany of examples of how President Obama is like Adolf Hitler. She noted that Hitler, who acted "like an American politician," was "elected in a 100% Christian nation." Although she failed to once mention Antisemitism or militarism, Werthmann explained how universal healthcare, an Equal Rights Amendment, and increased taxes were telltale signs of Nazism. Werthmann also warned the audience:

"If we had our guns, we would have fought a bloody battle. So, keep your guns, and buy more guns, and buy ammunition. [...] Take back America. Don’t let them take the country into Socialism. And I refer again, Hitler’s party was National Socialism. [...] And that’s what we are having here right now, which is bordering on Marxism."

The Menace of the Public Option

2009-09-25T16:31:00.000-06:00

From my librarian listserv today:

The Menace of the Public Option

M.C. Blakeman

This article appeared on page A - 11 of the San Francisco Chronicle Saturday, September 19, 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of all the current assaults on our noble republic, perhaps none is more dangerous than the public option - specifically, the public library option.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For far too long, this menace has undermined the very foundations of our economy. While companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble struggle valiantly each day to sell books, these communistic cabals known as libraries undercut the hard work of good corporate citizens by letting people read their books for free. How is the private sector supposed to compete with free? And just what does this public option give us? People can spend hours and hours in these dens of socialism without having to buy so much as a cappuccino. Furthermore, not only can anyone read books for free in the library, they can take them home, too. They get a simple card that can be used at any library in town. No checking on the previous condition of books they've read. No literacy test. Nothing.

Yet, do these libertines of literature let you choose any book you want, anytime you want it? No. Have you ever tried to get the latest best-seller at a public library? They put you on a waiting list for that, my friend. And if you do ask these government apparatchiks a question about a book, they start talking your ear off, and pretty soon they're telling you what to read.

Of course, if you break one of their petty rules and return a book late, you have to pay fines that mount grotesquely each day. Even if you die, your overdue fees keep piling up. Is that not a death tax? How long must the elderly live in fear of burdening their children with these unfair sanctions on their estates?

Don't be fooled for a minute. Somebody has to pay for these "free" libraries, and I'll tell you who it is, pal. Those good ol' suckers, the American taxpayers, that's who.

Have you ever wondered who's really behind this public library option? And don't you think it's fishy that they mask their nefarious activities with benign-sounding names, like Friends of the Library? What's their real agenda - and why do they have so many "volunteer" meetings, anyway?

No, my fellow Americans. We cannot wait until we're all goose-stepped into a massive book checkout line. This assault on capitalism and our very way of life has got to end. Be subversive ... burn your library card! Go out and buy a book!

M.C. Blakeman is the co-author of "Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods" (Nolo Press).

This article appeared on page A - 11 of the San Francisco Chronicle

It's Bacon!

2009-09-16T14:57:00.000-06:00

We went ahead and renamed it "guano-insane."

2009-09-08T21:24:00.000-06:00

Speaking of people brainwashing our school-aged children.....

(Oh, there's this, too.)

Updates

2009-09-04T14:34:00.000-06:00

I hadn't realized how long it had been since I last posted. If you haven't friended me on FB, you may not be aware of the following things going down:

1. I am teaching half-time at an alternative high school. I facilitate a credit-retrieval class and teach senior English to 15 kids and am done by 11:30.

2. I am in grad school what amounts to full-time (technically two-thirds time, but no summer off) getting a Masters of Library and Information Science. There is a lot of reading to do. Then I get to be a librarian and make other people read stuff.

3. I got an extra job as a "theme reader," which means English teachers call me when they have too many essays to grade and the district pays me an hourly rate to grade them.

4. I found out yesterday that I can probably take one or two free classes through the state and be a school librarian next year, a whole year earlier than I thought. Also, when job postings say "master's degree required," it's sometimes okay to just be working on one (you're cheaper that way, anyhow).

So, good, I guess? I'm really liking working half-time, but we'll see how much when I get my first paycheck. I am really liking coming home by noon-ish, changing into PJ pants, and taking a nap.

I don't even know what to say.

2009-09-04T14:22:00.000-06:00

Two polls going around FB today:

1. Do you think President Obama should be allowed to do a nationwide address to school children without their parents' consent?

2. Do you think President Obama should be allowed to address the nation's school children without a response from the opposition?

Right now, most respondents say "no" to both these questions.

Just who the hell ARE these people and what is wrong with them? The fucking PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (you know, the one the MAJORITY of Americans voted into office last November) wants to go on TV and tell the kids to study hard and do well in school and people just go batshit crazy? Really? Viral emails are flying around encouraging parents to keep their kids home, or call their principals, or give Republicans a chance to present OPPOSITION? TO STUDYING HARD??

It's a good thing it's a three-day weekend or I might actually be stressing out over this.

UPDATE: Here is an (unnecessarily apologetic) email I just got:

________ School District Parents:

As you may know, President Barack Obama has announced he will give a special "back to school" message to children across America on September 8, 2009 beginning at 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.

We have been informed by the U.S. Department of Education that the text of the President's speech will be released on Monday, September 7, 24 hours prior to the broadcast. You may find the text of the speech on Monday at the following web sites:

www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources

www.ed.gov

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the President will speak directly to the nation's children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The speech is expected to last 15-20 minutes and will air on CSPAN and online at www.whitehouse.gov/live/

If you would prefer your child(ren) not view the President's speech, you may contact your school to request your child(ren) opt-out of viewing the address. An appropriate alternative activity will be provided for your student until such time as the President's address concludes. You may opt-out by simply sending your school a note or email message.

Further information about the President's address may be found online at the following U.S. Department of Education web site:

www.edgov/print/admins/lead/academic/bts.html

Wow. Just...wow.

2009-08-14T09:09:00.000-06:00

"I say nothing of it's motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, & always well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty."

From a letter written by Thomas Jefferson concerning Shays' Rebellion (which nobody ever learns about in school).

My new health plan:

2009-08-07T17:51:00.001-06:00

Don't get sick or in a car accident.

When I added my husband and son to my insurance a few years ago, my premiums went from about $75 a month to about $250 a month. So when Tyson started filling out paperwork for his new job and went to add me and his son to his policy, he realized it was going to cost nearly $800.

EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH. That's nearly what we pay in rent. Shit. Just covering him and Nick is only going to run $140. So basically I'm out on my ass on this one. (Even if he had considered it, I would have asked for the $650 in cash every month instead and bought myself something nice.)

So today I've spent some time reviewing my other options for healthcare:

1. Go without, and hope for the best. I'm under thirty, in fairly good overall health. Odds are good I'll find a job with its own insurance in a few months. Tyson went without for like 30 years and still made it through okay. Plus, no insurance means I can go to the free clinic for my lady problems.
The major drawback to this plan is that pesky pre-existing conditions thing. Between the skin cancer, clinical depression, and history of frequent abnormal PAPs, I don't think I could get the care I needed when I got coverage again (and when I eventually need that hysterectomy, I don't want to be the one footing the bill).

2. COBRA. Because I voluntarily left my job, I don't qualify for reduced rates. Keeping my current level of benefits will cost about $650 a month, leaving us no better off than we were before. Or I can get an "at least I'm not fucked if I have to go to the hospital" plan with like a $3000 deductible for under a hundred bucks. Not really a lot of middle ground here.

3. Private short-term insurance. Depending on the deductible and co-payment involved (from 20% to a whopping SEVENTY PERCENT), I can get middling coverage for between $70 and $250 a month. Problem: The maximum length for this type of insurance is six months. I'm fairly confident of having an insurance-providing job by then, but the universe (and the economy) may have me waiting tables at Applebee's six months from now instead.

4. Private regular old insurance (AKA "Corporate Ass-Rape"). Basically for a lot of money I can have a shitty plan with a high deductible, with the option of continuing to pay the ridiculous premiums ad infinitum, if such is my desire.

I don't qualify for Medicare, I can't get insurance through my school, and, because I spent seven years as a liberal arts major, I have absolutely no skills that transfer to the non-school world, allowing me to get a good job in another field. Apparently, jobs in the field of sentence diagramming aren't required to provide benefits.

Being a grown-up sucks.

This is the kind of thing I miss when I go out of town:

2009-08-06T10:56:00.001-06:00

The Cupcake Collective is a charity cupcake party benefiting a kids' arts organization. Basically, you can pay $5 to make at least a dozen cupcakes and enter them in a category. Then you have to come to the party next Saturday and display them and be judged and everything. OR you can just show up empty-handed on Saturday and pay $5 to go eat other people's cupcakes.

As excited as I am to be starting my master's program, I am pretty bummed that it means missing a big cupcake party.

I just want to go on the record as saying...

2009-07-31T20:59:00.000-06:00

Insurance itself is a pretty socialist system. We all put money in a pool, and that pool is supposed to pay for others' injuries, property damage, or whatever, with the expectation that all the other premium payers help you when you need it. (After the Clinton "healthcare reform" in the 90s, though, it turned into just another big business.)

Medicare is a great example of a socialized medical system that delivers basic coverage and keeps costs down. If you don't agree with a public insurance option, write your congressman and tell him to oppose Medicare. That'll give his staff a giggle.

Veterans' care. See above.

How can you take seriously a congressman (congressperson?) who lobbies against a public insurance system when he himself is covered by such a system? I don't think any of them pull out their Aetna card when they go to their doctors. It bothers me that these people rely on a government-administered insurance plan can accept campaign money from insurance companies, then deny regular people even the option for such a plan.

Ugh. I'm writing this here because I'm tired of yelling it at my computer screen or people on the TV.

sigh

2009-07-31T19:42:00.000-06:00

From my news feed on Facebook:

four score and 200 years ago, are [sic] fathers set forth to build this country on Capitalisim [sic]. I'll be damned if I'll sit by and let them turn it into a Socialistic [sic] society. See your asses in Europe!

Who ARE these people?

Some Things

2009-07-21T10:34:00.000-06:00

Dog + unknown stuff in compost pile = ick.
Berries are much cheaper when they're not shipped 1000 miles in from the Northwest.
I am handy enough to make a closet into a pantry.
Self-service dog washing is cool--especially for 10 bucks.
A PVC sofa and chair may not have been the best choice for a house full of cats.
It takes approximately 18 hours after establishing new phone service for telemarketers to start calling you. It takes 3 minutes to register on the Do Not Call list.
Here, "clear across town" is 8 miles (3 freeway exits) away. Boise only has 5 exits.
You can compost dog poop with a big garbage can buried in the ground and septic tank starter.
Here, "It's SOOOOOOO hot" means it's 95 out. It's possible to be outside at any time during the day, not just from 10 pm to 10 am.
I have three tomatoes in my yard. As soon as the dogs figure out there is food growing out there, I will not have any.
I paid less than $2 for a gallon of milk.
Central air rules!
We've chatted more with strangers (the Starbucks girl, neighbors, the landlady, the cashier at Hastings) in the last week than in the last 9 years in Vegas.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies = AWESOME.
Movie tickets, even in the evening, are under 8 bucks.

Get a pen and paper ready.

2009-06-26T10:20:00.000-06:00

I am posting my new address and email in Boise for a few weeks so everybody can get it. I think my cell will stay the same for a while. All this information goes into effect on or about July 13th, and will only be posted here until August.

1033 E. Saratoga Dr.
Boise ID 83706
erinhdowney at gmail dot com
327-6054

How many people are blogging this today?

2009-06-25T20:44:00.000-06:00

I thought there was nothing else Michael Jackson could do to shock me. Funny how I'm unimpressed by all the weird things he did, but then he goes and does the most normal everyday thing that everybody eventually does, and that's what's weird.

The best website ever?

2009-06-21T22:41:00.000-06:00

I have frequently said that I should get a job giving people advice (without being responsible, of course, when things go horribly wrong as a result). Then I found EndMyQuarrel.com, a website where people air their grievances and everyone votes on what they should do. It is my new source of entertainment.

Ann Coulter is a cunt, in case you'd forgotten.

2009-06-04T18:37:00.000-06:00

"Why aren't liberals rushing to assure us this time that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"? Unlike Muslims, pro-lifers actually are peaceful."

I knew I shouldn't have clicked.

EDIT: Sorry, Mom, for the language. There's just nothing else in English to describe that malevolent hate-spewing harpy.

The Ducks in the Bathroom Are Not Mine

2009-06-03T17:58:00.000-06:00

Tyson has commented recently on the prevalence of crappy news lately, so here is something I hope you will find much more to your liking.

David replies:

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 10.16am
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

Thankyou for your letter concerning pets in my apartment. I understand that having dogs in the apartment is a violation of the agreement due to the comfort and wellbeing of my neighbours and I am currently soundproofing my apartment with egg cartons as I realise my dogs can cause quite a bit of noise. Especially during feeding time when I release live rabbits.

Regards, David.

From: Helen Bailey
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Pets in the building

Hello David

I have received your email and wish to remind you that the strata agreement states that no animals are allowed in the building regardless of if your apartment is soundproof. How many dogs do you have at the premises?

Helen

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 1.52pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Pets in the building

Dear Helen,

Currently I only have eight dogs but one is expecting puppies and I am very excited by this. I am hoping for a litter of at least ten as this is the number required to participate in dog sled racing. I have read every Jack London novel in preparation and have constructed my own sled from timber I borrowed from the construction site across the road during the night. I have devised a plan which I feel will ensure me taking first place in the next national dog sled championships. For the first year of the puppies life I intend to say the word mush then chase them violently around the apartment while yelling and hitting saucepan lids together. I have estimated that the soundproofing of my apartment should block out at least sixty percent of the noise and the dogs will learn to associate the word mush with great fear so when I yell it on race day, the panic and released adrenaline will spur them on to being winners. I am so confident of this being a foolproof plan that I intend to sell all my furniture the day before the race and bet the proceeds on coming first place.

Regards, David.

There is much more. Apartment complex rules are ridiculous (says the girl who can't find a rental that will allow pets for under $1500 in Eagle/Gypsum/Vail). I'm sure I'd think differently if there were eighteen dogs in the unit next door.

For more fucking-with-pencil-pushers fun, read his correspondence with a collection agency involving a seven-legged spider.

I'll pay attention to PETA as soon as we embrace "People for the Ethical Treatment of Other People".

2009-06-03T17:41:00.000-06:00

PETA thinks now is the appropriate time to post billboards in Wichita, Kansas, to capitalize on the aftermath of the George Tiller shooting. Nice touch, PETA. With all the talk about "murdering babies" and the actual murder of one of the good guys, we shouldn't lose sight of the senseless slaughter of countless food animals each day.

Ugh. Makes me want to take an animal-tested aspirin, put on leather shoes, and go get a steak.

More depressingly tragic news items....

2009-06-01T23:08:00.000-06:00

A Chicago man really, really loved his dog.

2009-05-31T13:19:00.000-06:00

This is seriously, seriously fucked-up.

Totally the Winner!

2009-05-24T19:42:00.000-06:00

This one totally wins the poster contest:

2009-05-23T17:19:00.001-06:00

My GIMP book came in a few days ago, and I am learning all sorts of stuff about things. This is Odysseus telling his story to King Whats-His-Name at the beginning of Book 9. It has SEVEN different layers!

Just to clarify things...

2009-05-18T22:13:00.001-06:00

We've gotten a few concerned emails and phone calls since my last post. We really are not just going to move off with no plan at all. If we have no teaching jobs by about mid-June, we'll find something--anything--that we can interview/apply for as soon as we get there. We've got enough savings (for about the first time ever) to make it a few months without jobs.

I love you guys mucho mucho, but seriously it is not my plan to live in a tent in a horse pasture until someone calls to offer me a job. Don't worry.

Here's to hoping things know how to take care of themselves!

2009-05-17T14:58:00.000-06:00

We've ended the lease on our house, and we still don't have jobs anywhere else yet. We started packing this weekend, and plan to go...somewhere...in July.

So far, we've had interest from Eagle, Colorado and Idaho Falls. But if nothing pans out, we're waffling between three cities we think we can just show up in and make things work out.

Missoula

Pros: We have friends there. Good friends. Friends who have offered us the bottom floor of their house or a pasture to pitch a tent camp in until we have jobs. Liberal. Full of hippies. U of Montana. Good, mild weather. Small.

Cons: Small. 70K population may be too small to find jobs (especially education jobs with insurance).

Idaho Falls

Pros: Pretty big. Cheap (4 bedroom house=$800-$1000/mo.). Farmy. A few hours from the Tetons. Summers hot, but not too hot.

Cons: Pretty vanilla. The San Antonio to Missoula's Austin. Close to mountains, but no actual, visible mountains to speak of. Cold winters.

Boise

Pros: Metro area about 600K people. Lubbock-like weather. Way cheap housing. Reputation for liberal politics. State capital=state jobs.

Cons: Never actually been there. Have heard it called "consumerist" (although we might not even notice, coming from Vegas). Pretty far from Rocky Mountains.

So we are still waffling about. Hopefully, something will come up. Tyson is going to Idaho Falls in two weeks for a promising-sounding interview, and maybe our path will be illuminated.

Windsor

2009-05-14T20:37:00.001-06:00

Another result of fooling around with GIMP. I loved doing this kind of work with charcoal and erasers when I was in college.

Polyphemus Eats Odysseus's Men (Book 9)

2009-05-14T20:31:00.000-06:00

Created with GIMP. I'm pretty sure it's capable of a little more than this, though. I've got a book coming from Amazon, so Tyson will stop hassling me about getting this convertible-tablet laptop.

News Briefs

2009-05-04T21:36:00.000-06:00

...or boxers, if you prefer.

I got rejection #2 today from a charter school in Nampa (next to Boise). I figured since I'd applied six weeks ago and hadn't heard anything that I didn't have the job.

I applied for a job as a research assistant in Eugene, Oregon, that sounds interesting. I am probably only just qualified, but if they read my cover letter and letters of recommendation, I should at least merit a phone call. I hope.

Boise finally posted their open positions--one in middle school English--that I was able to apply for with just a few clicks.

Helena doesn't have much going on in the way of high school jobs right now, but I'm hoping they just haven't posted yet. They just barely got elementary jobs up last Thursday.

Anyway, jobs for next year are about all I am thinking about just now, even though I should be making a power point for American Modernism.

So keep sending your positive vibes our way. I get the feeling this is going to be another seat-of-the-pants move.

It's a good thing I wasn't drinking anything while I checked my facebook...

2009-04-29T20:26:00.000-06:00

From my Facebook news feed:

________ took the What Does Jesus Think of You? quiz and the result is Jesus thinks you're a selfish bitch.

Jesus thinks you're a selfish bitch. All you do is shop, eat, and complain. Jesus is not asking you to join the Peace Corps or anything, He just thinks you should stop being such a twat and look out for your fellow man a bit.

This was seriously the funniest thing I have read in a long time, and I have been grading a lot of papers lately.

My Job is Sometimes Dumb...

2009-04-24T18:00:00.000-06:00

From an email posted by our principal today:

If you have ever wondered where our Federal dollars go here's one for the books.

Today I had a federal investigator from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Enforcement Bureau, Los Angeles Field Office, come to my office. A student filed an official complaint that Foothill HS has an illegal "jammer" in the 700 wing of the school. The investigator didn't find one on today but is keeping the case open and will be checking again. Believe it or not the student had in his complaint that he can't use his cell phone during tests because this is when the blocker is on.

Paula Deen on Wait Wait

2009-04-19T21:45:00.000-06:00

Paula Deen was on Wait, Wait this afternoon on NPR. It was hysterical.

Hooray for me!

2009-04-18T15:53:00.000-06:00

My big envelope came yesterday as an email, and I'm in! Hooray! I'm a grad student!

Thank GOD

2009-04-15T21:20:00.000-06:00

we don't live in Texas anymore.

Also this...

2009-04-15T17:09:00.000-06:00

Bonus points for whoever finds the rhetorical strategy going on here. Do come up with something a little more fancy-pants than "double entendre."

Because he is!

2009-04-15T16:42:00.000-06:00

Gak. And I actually liked tea, too. And coherent rhetorical techniques. (Did you know, for example, that "halle-fuckin'-lujah" is an example of tmesis? This really is the coolest website ever. Even the Venerable Bede does tmesis.)

In other news:

Today is the last day for U of A to accept applications for their fall cohort (that's graduate school for "class"). They only accept 40 students into the program each year, and they'll start picking in the next week or so.

I did my taxes in February.

I definitely did not get one job at a school just outside Missoula. No word yet on jobs I did get. Phone interview with Idaho Falls went well, I think. Fifteen people applied for the high school job in Troy (pop=1200).

My bosses will not fill my job here until I have a contract elsewhere, even though it may mean not having a choice who takes the job during the "involuntary transfer" period.

When we drove through Idaho Falls last Thursday, I saw 5 beavers sitting on the shoulder of the interstate.

I thought maybe I could live in Salt Lake, but it took an hour and a half to drive through the whole thing.

Montana is a very progressive state. It has a "banana belt."

The kittens are almost 9 weeks old and are able to get into all kinds of trouble.

Tyson's x-rays revealed a hairline fracture in his ankle, but he won't be able to see his written report for another 5 days because that's "standard procedure," even though they faxed it immediately to his doctor.

We are hoping to have a massive garage sale and get rid of about half of our stuff, Montana or no. Anyone interested in a good deal on an old leather couch? I hope we do not have to sell the fixtures and appliances in the back house.

[end]

Waiting for that big envelope...

2009-03-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

I got a tiny little envelope from the University of Alabama today, and I almost had several heart attacks before I saw that it wasn't a rejection letter, just a "WTF?!" from the financial aid office who received my FAFSA information and wondered why they were getting that stuff for a person who didn't even go there.

In other news, I have a job interview with the school distict in Idaho Falls next month! Okay, it's actually a scheduled time to appear at a hiring fair and be interviewed, but it is still cool. I am also applying for a job at a brand new charter school in Nampa, right next to Boise. The job description sounds a little intimidating--the requirements for dress and comportment seem pretty stringent--but the classical model on which they base their curricula sounds interesting.

Besides that, things are boring; that's why I took two weeks off from blogging. It looks like things are going to stay boring, at least until I get some big envelopes in the mail, so stop waiting at your computer pressing refresh every other minute to see if I've updated. Those are hours you can never get back.

Tasty!

2009-02-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

I spent the whole day today in the kitchen.

We bought a new smoker last weekend and about 12 pounds of meat to cook last night. We set up the brine bucket (when not in use for brine, it holds all my knitting stuff), and this morning I was up at 8 to rinse, dry, and put on dry rub. I put the pork shoulder on, wrapped the ribs in plastic to season, and started on the beans. Check this out:

Smoked Barbecue Beans

2 cans Bush's Maple beans

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup ketchup

1/2 T dry mustard

1 small can crushed pineapple

salt and pepper

1/2 onion

1 jalapeno

2 serranos

1/2 pound bacon

1. Cut bacon into 1/2" pieces and cook in a skillet until fat renders.

2. While bacon is cooking, dice onion and mince peppers. Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. When bacon is done, remove from pan with a slotted spoon and add to beans. Saute the onion and peppers in the bacon drippings until the onions are browned.

4. Remove onion and peppers with a slotted spoon and add to beans. Stir everything together, pour into a deep 9" disposable square pan, and put in the smoker, uncovered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove to a 350 degree oven until very hot, 30 minutes to one hour.

When those went into the smoker, I added the ribs and started making a grocery list for the rest of the week.

This afternoon, I made an apple-raspberry pie with a vodka crust that was truly the best and easiest to roll out ever. The vodka adds moisture without messing with gluten formation in the crust, so you can make a moister dough (read: easier to roll), and the crust still comes out flaky.

THEN I made a pot of braised collard greens with onions and bacon.

The only think I don't like about spending all day cooking is that by the time dinner is ready, I'm tired of food. Good thing there will still be pie for breakfast.

This is the job I want:

2009-01-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a job description for a Virtual Librarian in Boise. Too bad I’m not qualified—this is pretty much exactly what I want to do.

The IDLA Virtual Librarian is responsible for the researching, compiling, organizing and formatting of educational digital resources. This position will maintain and update a vast database of digital media resources in an efficient and organized manner that will be utilized by in-house and statewide stakeholders. The Virtual Librarian will also provide training, reference, and instruction on using and retrieving available resources.

Experience and Training
Required:
Bachelors Degree in Library Science or technology-related field
Minimum of 2 years experience as a librarian or related field

Preferred:
Masters Degree in Library Science from an ALA accredited institution
3+ years of experience as a librarian or equivalent
Additional training or certification relevant to position

This is so what I want to do after I go to librarian school. Did I mention this is in Boise? And that it STARTS at $50K?

The best phrase in the English language

2009-01-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

...has got to be "President Obama."

It keeps taking me by surprise--a moment where I realize the world really can be the place that, for the last 8 years, we could only imagine. I feel a little leap in my chest, like when you wake up at 4:30 in the morning and realize it's Saturday so the alarm won't be going off in an hour and you can roll over and go back to sleep.

What impresses me most is the sheer number of people who share this feeling and who are also willing to answer Obama's call to service. It feels like the trend toward apathy and inaction may be breaking down. Today, a local paint store donated paint and supplies to repaint an elementary school. Dozens of volunteers have signed up to help paint this weekend at USA Service, a site designed by the Obama team to connect volunteers with projects in their communities.

I think the Rude Pundit today put it best:

"If you think about it, this was what this America was poised to become after September 11, 2001, had the former administration decided to harness the power of unity. But, then again, it was never very good with alternative forms of energy."

This is exactly what we should have been doing after 9/11, and what were we asked to do instead? Shop. Go back to being good little consumers so we can keep playing this neverending game of money and politics.

I feel so much better now.

A different kind of patriotism

2009-01-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me would probably not use the word "patriotic" when asked to describe me. I don't say the pledge, or, if I do, it's just so my students will do it so I don't have to. I don't wear anything red, white, and blue--ever (it's tacky, no matter how much you love America). I don't have a flag, look forward to the fourth of July strictly for the blowing up of stuff, and only care about Veterans' Day because it means I don't have to go to work.

But lately I have been getting all sappy. First, the plane crash in the Hudson river last week made me all "Go America!" because we can sure do infrastructure. There may be problems with our government, but it is directly responsible for enacting the systems that keep us safe on a daily basis. It's like someone has child-proofed the entire country. I am still amazed that on September 11, only three-thousand-something people lost their lives, when places like Turkey or India can have earthquakes or mudslides that kill ten thousand. Then today, on the way to my test, NPR broadcast the entirety of Martin Luther King's speech on the national mall in 1963, pointing out how fitting it was that, the day after what would have been King's 80th birthday, Obama will take the oath of office.

(I still can't believe he's going to be president. It's like what I imagined democracy was supposed to be like back when I took government my senior year.)

Even better than my sappy feelings of goose-bumpiness and gushing, teeny-bopperish rhetoric about coming changes is seeing other people who are this excited, too.

In which I enumerate my awesomeness

2009-01-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

I took the GRE today, and I was really nervous because I needed a decent score for U of A (not to mention that I base 80% of my self-worth on standardized test scores). Not only have I not taken a high-stakes, thinking person's test in quite some time (about 10 years), I started to think that my brain is atrophying the longer I go without college (about 4 years). I especially loathed the math portion of the test because it made me realize that, except for balancing my checkbook and calculating grades (besides, the computer does most of both of these tasks) I just don't think in numbers anymore.

Am I missing out? Really, I nearly had a panic attack when I forgot how to find the perimeter of a circle, and then I had to multiply square roots of things and find the greatest common factor for 3 to the 100th power and 3 to the 97th power. It's not that I can't reason my way through these problems, most of the time, it's just that the foundation--all the geometric theorems, the formulas for finding out things, the rules for multiplying numbers with exponents--those things are all rusted and shoved into the very back of my brain where all the other stuff from my sophomore year of high school lives. But do I really need these things, except if I need to take another test sometime? Is my daily life really less for not knowing? Weigh in on this, readers, and I will start thinking about math again.

Anyway, I kicked so much ass on the verbal part of the test--700 out of a possible 800. I'm glad I looked through that section of my GRE guide because I was able to recognize some of the tricks and traps on the test. In math, I got a 660, which gives me a total score that is plenty good for an MLS program, but not good enough for engineering school. I think my essays were decent, too, but again, I'm just not writing like that anymore now that I am not in school. And the experimental portion of my test was a second essay (I was hoping for more vocabulary questions), so I had to write 3 total. My brain is exhausted.

Better, thanks

2009-01-18T14:42:00.001-07:00

I've been taking Wellbutrin for about ten days now, and I'm feeling a lot happier.

And, well...

...happier.

Suck on this, fucktards!

2009-01-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

Although the site says that 390% of the pages on the internet have swearing, so I'm not sure I trust the math whiz that cooked this one up.

GRE Jitters

2009-01-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

I sometimes really thrive on living life at the last minute. I am taking the GRE a week from today, and I have't taken a test that was both difficult and important in about 10 years. (I took the Praxis II, which was important since a non-passing score meant no teaching license, but it was not difficult in the least, except not being able to leave or read a book when I was done.)

I decided, for sure, about a week ago that I really did want a Master's, so I found a school I could afford, filled out the online application, requested information on financial aid, ordered transcripts from UNLV, and registered for the GRE. All in one night.

The next opportunity for taking the test on a non-school day would have been late February, way later than I wanted to do. I want my score as soon as possible so I can do a retake if I need to, or just walk around feeling good about my score for that much longer. Which means Monday.

I tell myself it's not a dumb decision to prepare in only 7 days. After all, even if I signed up 6 months in advance, I doubt I'd start working on test prep until about a week before. Example: I was engaged for a year and a half. I started trying on dresses 4 days before the wedding.

But I'm still nervous, and excited, and know this kind of pressure pushes me to do my best. It's been a long, long time since I've felt like this.

The Writing on the Wall

2009-01-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

It's starting to look as though it might be time to pull up the stakes here. Yesterday, our governor proposed cutting teachers' salaries by 6%. Combined with the 4% cost-of-living increase that won't be coming this year, that's an effective 10% salary cut next year. Hell, they're even talking about cutting salaries for THIS year. As in, the one we're having now. The one we signed a contract for in August.

Because, God forbid, we make it more costly for businesses to relocate to Nevada, or institute even a fraction of a percent state income tax, or require user fees to participate in competitive sports. Not to mention rewriting overtime rules for school district and other public employees.

I signed up for the GRE in two weeks. I'm applying for admission to the Masters of Library and Information Sciences program online at University of Alabama,where I can learn to say "shhhhhhhh" for only $275 a credit hour. Some of the programs I looked at, like Rutgers, cost for a semester what I'll pay for the whole degree, or just about the same amount as I'm paying on my student loans right now. It will be so exciting to pay cash for a semester of school! I don't think I have ever done that before.

I've been poking around shopping for jobs and houses. Barring amazing and astounding developments at Tyson's job (possibly involving a move to Florida for a few years--in which case I can be a Gator for $200 a credit hour), we basically have narrowed things down to:

Missoula, Montana. We have several friends, including a family with teenage kids (and horses!), that have moved there in the last year. U of Montana campus. Mountains.
Idaho Falls, Idaho. IF reminds me a little bit of home, if Lubbock were Mormon instead of Baptist and three hours from Yellowstone. Bonus=affordable houses made of brick and U of Idaho down the road in Pocatello.
Spokane, Washington. Forty-five minutes and $100,000 away from Coeurd'Alane. Cheap houses. Snow. According to the salary schedule I found at the school district website, I'd be making about $5000 more there, plus a $1400 stipend each November to employees with a Master's.

So my work is cut out for me the next few weeks: cramming for the test, tracking down transcripts, asking for letters of recommendation. In addition to regular work, coordinating and implementing a new program for next year (which I'll do regardless of my being here or no) and managing my seratonin levels like a diabetic watches his insulin. I can't very well get any of this done if it's hard getting out of bed in the morning.

Dead Computer

2009-01-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

The fan on my laptop stopped working, so the engine wouldn't even turn over. Sorry, Target card, I missed that payment. I couldn't get to my login information in time. It would be no problem at all to move all of my settings to Tyson's computer with the miracle of Transfer Wizard or whatever Vista calls it, but my hard drive has been turned into a slave drive and I can't install the program. And I didn't export my bookmarks before my computer died, so I'm having to find them again manually.

Ugh. I think I'm done for a while today.

Help!

2008-12-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am stuck in a parallel universe where the only interesting thing on TV is the Lifetime Movie Network. Tonight's fare is How I Married My High School Crush. (It has Katee Sackhoff in it, so I'm getting something of a fix to hold me over until BSG comes back.)

Tyson has graciously volunteered to go to the grocery store for me, because LMN has sapped my will to work, shop, eat, or even get off the couch.

Ugh. Only 5 more school days to go.

I hate things.

2008-12-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today, I hate things.

Yesterday, I hated things.

I think the day before that, everything was OK, except my computer hated everything so I couldn't blog about it.

This isn't the end of the world, I just keep getting stuck staring at my feet.

All Aboard the Bandwagon!

2008-11-21T17:02:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Yankee-Mex is not Tex-Mex, but is pretty okay nontheless.

2008-11-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Actually, it was flan and tres leches cake. Tasty!

Spartan vs. Athenian

2008-11-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

So I flew out to my sister's in Rochester, New York, on Saturday, and, as usual when I am confronted with anyone still in college, I just started feeling...soft. When was the last time I learned anything? Wrote anything of consequence? Had a pointless, purely intellectual discussion? Bought an article of clothing ironically? Chatted up people in a public park (or any public place, for that matter)? She had a rehearsal from 9-11 (pm!) and then invited me to a party, and even though it would feel more like 8 or so my time, I still opted out and went to bed early.

Which gave me time to practice living alone in an urban apartment building. The best part was the absence of crap everywhere--no boxes of clothes and toys set out three months ago for a trip to Goodwill that never happened, no inch-thick layer of dust on every flat surface (woo-hoo, humidity!), no closetful of boxes labelled "high school" or "art supplies" or any of the other things I've held on to because I've only had to move them twice and hey, they're already in their own box!, no as-seen-on-TV fitness equipment shoved into forgotten corners, no pile of bills on the desk--and the romantic, high-school appeal of throwing some clothes and the dogs into my car and just driving away was definitely strong (with or without Tyson, Nick, or cats, depending on the different permutations of the fantasy).

The problem is that I really like my stuff. This morning, my achy shoulders and back definitely miss my 1.5 acres of memory-foam-topped Sleep Number bed. I've finally amassed a small army of good-quality kitchen appliances. We have more books than we have shelf space, even with three walls of the third bedroom devoted to bookcases. I have not one, not two, but three motorized forms of transportation (and 4 kayaks, in case an escape over water is necessary).

Anyway, this is getting pointless, and I need to bundle up to brave the snow in order to get pastries for breakfast.

Mathematics + Politics

2008-11-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

= cartograms!

Morning in America

2008-11-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Cat and Girl.

My kind of fun!

2008-11-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

This will be my first election to come out a winner!

It's fun! Let's be sure to do this again!

2008-11-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Will you be watching election coverage on six different networks from your couch while also keeping an eye on the web? I will! This map will have real-time data on national and local races so you can feed your addiction to information practically intravenously.

Football?

2008-11-02T11:10:00.001-07:00

Apparently there was some kind of sporting-event-contest at my alma mater yesterday. (To my credit, I DO seem to remember something about how we hated UT.) In a strange outbreak of coincidence, a mysterious package arrived in the mail from my stepson's grandmother (ex-mother-in-law, once removed?) that had two Texas Tech t-shirts in it. I put one on, and we went to eat Thai food at a restaurant that had the game on.

I am going to wear them just for the inherent credibility of supporting a non-local college team, and also to clean the bathroom and wash dishes.

Plus, if they DO win that national championship, I can say I was a fan, like, way before.

Then that all will be out of the way and I can go back to thinking sports are silly.

This is why I'm voting Obama

2008-10-27T16:33:00.000-06:00

On watching Last of the Mohicans for the millionth time

2008-10-23T18:37:00.000-06:00

Daniel Day-Lewis is fucking SEXY.

You know this is true.

Sounds like throwing in the towel to me...

2008-10-23T17:06:00.000-06:00

So McCain "may" drop by his own election-night watch party at the Biltmore in Phoenix, but it looks instead as though he'll allow his campaign workers to contine busting their asses while they tally all those second-place votes while he addresses his elect on the front lawn.

A bit of a harsh goodbye to those who stood by him throughout the race.

Anyway, I have to go take an aspirin and break into a friend's house so their dogs can get fed and poop outside instead of on the kitchen floor.

I wonder how much they had to offer her to go on Hardball...

2008-10-22T18:41:00.000-06:00

I haven't taken Government since my senior year of high school. Granted, I may have been absent the day we learned about the executive branch, but I'm fairly sure the role of the Veep is not "to be in charge of the United States Senate."

Chris Matthews reduces Palin's spokesperson Nancy Photenhauer to a stammering mess in this clip:

Having finally finished with the Puritans, my AmLit class is moving on to the Enlightenment. I am making them read the introduction to The Assault on Reason by Al Gore and crossing my fingers that maybe one or two of them will get it. And no, it's not because I'm voting for Obama and want to use my position of power to feed my liberal agenda to the impressionable minds of today's youth, but because that section has everything to do with what the Founders had in mind when framing the Constitution: that it was necessary for a conscientious, informed public to use reasoned, rational thinking to enact the best policy decisions. The review from the NYT explains better than I could, and with quotes even:

Mr. Gore’s central argument is that “reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions” and that the country’s public discourse has become “less focused and clear, less reasoned.” This “assault on reason,” he suggests, is personified by the way the Bush White House operates. Echoing many reporters and former administration insiders, Mr. Gore says that the administration tends to ignore expert advice (be it on troop levels, global warming or the deficit), to circumvent the usual policy-making machinery of analysis and debate, and frequently to suppress or disdain the best evidence available on a given subject so it can promote predetermined, ideologically driven policies.

That's my rehash of recent politics. Go nuts, kids.

Tattoo

2008-10-16T20:45:00.000-06:00

I may just have to get the picture of T-Rex in the last panel permanently etched onto my body.

Then I could give myself the giggles whenever I felt shitty.

Divine!

2008-10-14T06:41:00.000-06:00

Sourdough toast with Nutella is perhaps the best breakfast food anywhere.

That's Infotainment!

2008-10-09T17:26:00.000-06:00

Sacrifice

2008-10-08T16:56:00.000-06:00

Several really, really great questions came up at the debates last night, but I want to talk about one in particular, in which the questioner reminded Obama that during wartime, presidents during the first half of the last century asked the American people for sacrifices, and what sacrifices might he ask for during these times.

That's something that's been bothering me throughout the Bush administration, and I was glad to hear Obama talk about this. I was disappointed that he didn't mention that no government in the history of the world has ever LOWERED taxes during wartime, but I guess on a scale of what people want to hear to what they don't, nobody really wants that little tidbit thrown back at them.

But I was glad to hear him say Bush had basically been a moron to respond to crisis by asking people to go out and shop. It's a resentment I'd been harboring since 2001, and it was good to hear it echoed by someone who actually stands to make a real difference, not just six English teachers around a lunch table.

Then I got to thinking:

While the little voice of rampant teenage idealism in my head tells me that we should all just stop being so materialistic and spending beyond our means, I know that no politician alive can say that because spending beyond our means is what drives our economy (into the ground, it turns out). But I decided last night that where our generation can make the kind of sacrifices that will make the biggest difference is in our time. Obama almost got there on this question last night, but I would love to see a widespread, grassroots effort to get people involved in service. First, I think THE REASON for the world being the fucked-up place that it is is that technological progress has done away with too many human interactions. Actually, I LIKE drive-through pharmacies and automated phone systems and having all my questions answered by the Internet instead of real people, but by and large, I think we're losing something important by limiting social interactions between strangers. Second, the more people are involved in helping members of their communities, the less the government is going to have to do to help people. And who knows better what the people in the community need than, say, other people in that community? While I think the government's prime responsibility is helping people, it usually takes twice as long and uses ten times as much money as the groups who are already doing that work.

So that being said, I am volunteering with the Pumpkin Triathlon in Boulder City next weekend, and offering extra credit to students who come and help.

Advice

2008-10-06T17:37:00.001-06:00

I have a test to write.

So of course I am playing on the internets instead.

I am a dork.

2008-10-05T17:09:00.000-06:00

Those of you who know me only by reputation (or from my blog) may see me as this hipster cool twentysomething living it up in Sin City, bypassing the mile-long lines at the ultralounges, calling in sick so I can go to Ditch Friday at the pool at the Hard Rock and chat it up with celebrities, but really, that's just the image I try to cultivate.

Because my secret identity as a sappy D&D dork must be protected at all costs.

Thanks to my friend-in-law, Kurt, I have been playing Neverwinter Nights for about five years now. (I have a very long attention span for games I like a lot and tend to play them over and over again. I'd like to say I take an analytical approach, playing them differently each time to get the most out of the game, but I don't.) This is easily the best D&D RPG game ever, although it's also the only one I've played (not counting a half-hour of WoW, in which I only barely mastered the controls). I've beaten it a bunch of times, created dozens of different characters, and probably spent more hours of my life devoted to hacking up bad guys than I would care to admit. When I first started playing, I had to make myself a schedule where I was limited to skipping only one class a week so I would not have to explain to the advisors in the education department why, exactly, I failed my freshman-level composition class.

Anyway, in this one expansion pack, one of the optional members of your party you can add is this fighter/weapon master tiefling, Valen, and if you are a female character and not a complete twat, he eventually harbors a massive hard-on for you.

I am not kidding.

This is a picture of Valen about to confess his passionate and undying love for me. We just got duped by a powerful demon and sent to Cania, one of the Seven Hells (the frozen one, I guess). Now we are on a quest to discover this demon's True Name so we can get out of here and go get all hitched or whatever. (He does not normally glow green, I am just holding the mouse over him. By far the best feature of the game is that, essentially, all you have to do to beat bad guys is click on them, and the badassery of your character does the rest. My Whirlwind Attack can take down four drow warriors at a time with just one click of the mouse--way easier than enrolling at that Kung Fu studio was going to be.)

The grown-up part of me understands that this is all just a video game, that neither Valen nor my patently made-up character who wields two +7 katanas with energy-draining, electrical-zapping powers and can run around all day with 533 pounds of stuff (thanks to my +24 strength!) and beat up all kinds of undead dragons and such are not actually real people, but I have to say I was looking forward to this chapter of the game since I started playing it again. Something about making a broody, angsty, ass-kicking boy go all weak-kneed and sappy is just so yummy.

And I think it's not quite as pathetic as reading romance novels?

Well, shit.

2008-10-04T16:26:00.000-06:00

I lost my only motorcycle key at work yesterday. It was in my pants pocket, then it wasn't.

Now we are trying to figure out the cheapest way to combine a blank key we can pick up from Yamaha, a locksmith, and a bike that won't go anywhere unless we sweet-talk someone with a trailer.

Ugh.

A cop-out of a blog entry

2008-09-30T16:23:00.001-06:00

Ain't this the truth.

I am tired.

2008-09-17T19:15:00.000-06:00

School has been in session nearly four weeks now, and I am pretty exhausted. I am usually there from 6 to 4, then I come home, usually with more school work in tow, and make dinner (sometimes), clean up (on some days), do laundry, or just sit on the couch and ignore everything until I go to bed sometime between 8:30 and 10. (I'm usually quite proud of myself if I make it into double digits in the evening.)

So for everyone bugging me about not posting, fuck off.

And for everyone else (especially parents and in-laws), kindly pardon my absence from cyberspace.

Posting just feels like too much work after everything else.

P.S. Deidre: Happy Birthday. Your phone must be broken, too.

T Minus 4 Days and Counting....

2008-08-21T07:20:00.000-06:00

I probably cannot organize thoughts this morning into any kind of coherent blog post, but let's try.

Start here: We were in the ER all day Tuesday as Tyson missed his second day of school with not-pneumonia and not-meningitis but something equally awful-feeling. Everything is going a little better now, thanks for asking, and he hasn't run a fever since Tuesday afternoon, but he'll post something on his blog about it, I'm sure. Especially the part where the nurse who didn't speak English tried to wheel him up to surgery.

But that's just the backstory. His real nurse, the one who coordinated the blood work and lumbar puncture and chest x-ray and put everything in the computer and got us out when we were ready to go, he was wonderful. The results are simply astounding when you see someone doing a job they really love. The best part was listening through the open door as he greeted new patients, joked with them about their conditions, and generally made people feel about as good as they could, considering their presence in an overcrowded ER. I remember feeling kind of jealous that he had found himself working a job that seemed to suit him so well.

Part 2: My work year officially started yesterday, even though I've been in about 30 times over the summer and have probably put in a few hundred hours of work since June, and what I realized at about 5:30 this morning on the treadmill at the gym was that I don't need to be jealous of the ER nurse because I am that guy. Everything seems to be just clicking into place at work, and I realized that was happening because of me. I made things work out. I've never really had a ton of confidence in my own expertise, assuming that I was just pretty average or OK, and I'm still not going to sit here and wax poetic about how brilliant I am, but for the first time I feel.....solid. Like it's not just by some miracle I'm not currently fucking everything up right now.

Example (included partially so I will remember when I get to campus today): My school banker convinced me yesterday there was a niche for spirit wear, and she happened to have a woman's number who could get me literally thousands of different items with custom logos embroidered on them--and on a pre-order basis, no less, so I don't have to worry about an inventory! This I was very excited about, and I started turning over in my head how best to get the word out. I was imagining posters and commercial spots on the morning news the school broadcast team puts out, but then I thought WAIT!!

I'm supposed to be asking myself "What would Steve Jobs do?" every time I go to put something else on my to-do list. My Company classes will have managers to take care of anything that comes up that is below my pay grade, so to speak, and Steve Jobs would never deign to get a sheet of posterboard and some markers and make ads for his new iPhone, and then I thought WAIT!!

As part of my English curriculum, I have to teach advertising strategies--bandwagon, appeal to emotion, false dilemma, and so on--and

[drumroll, please]

WHY DON'T I JUST MAKE STUDENTS WRITE COMMERCIALS OR DESIGN PRINT ADS?

Did I mention I think I am working the right job for me?

Update: For some reason, Blogger sucks today for line breaks showing up on "preview" but not on the internets. If for you that diminishes the impact of my post (it certainly does for me), I apologize, but Steve Jobs would probably brush his teeth and go to work rather than mess around any more on his blog this morning.

I guess I'll just go to bed early, then.

2008-08-16T23:05:00.000-06:00

The two most compelling programs on all my 800 channels of digital cable during the 10 p.m. PDT time slot this evening are:

1. EL INFIERNO: LLAMAS SOBRE BERLIN, which I think translates to "Hell: The Sober Llamas of Berlin," on Telemundo. I imagine it's the gripping tale of teetotaling camelids in 1920s Berlin who become ensnared in the ever-tightening noose of fascist persecution. Which sounds exciting, but really, my Spanish is pretty bad.

2. A documentary on the History Channel discussing the seven most likely scenarios for the annihilation of the human race that has the balls to place "black holes" and "artificial intelligence" among the more probable (and more solveable) "nuclear war" and "climate change."

Fuck the History Channel. There are so many more likely world-ending scenarios out there than black holes and AI:

1. Republicans.

2. The ideology of the nation-state.

3. Giant multinational corporations that dehumanize workers by making them robot slaves.

4. Free-market capitalism.

And so on.

Anyway, I'm almost 28 now, and I guess I'm too old to be thinking about staying up much past ten on a Saturday, anyways.

2008-08-08T17:27:00.000-06:00

The Birthday Fairy visits early this year!

2008-08-01T08:34:00.000-06:00

The best gifts (besides love and all that intangible crap that works great for Mothers' Day but doesn't cut it for birthdays or Christmas) are the ones you want, but for whatever reason won't buy for yourself. Ever stop to think about why twenty-dollar candles and baskets of bath stuff make such great last-minute, no-brainer gifts? 'Cause we walk by and want them, but sigh and buy that dollar bottle of Suave body wash instead.

I've been doing a lot of baking in the past few weeks--two kinds of pie, biscuits, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, and so on--and after watching me cut 2 tablespoons of butter into a half-cup of flour SIX TIMES in my teensy one-cup food processor for things like biscuits and pie crusts, and turning out three lenticular pancakes at a time in my biggest pan on the stove, and not only flipping but rearranging roasted potatoes on the baking sheet so some would be on the light part and some on the dark part (P.S. that's the baking sheet I caught on fire a few weeks ago on the grill, and I still haven't scrubbed off all the carbon-powder stuff yet), Tyson visited our brand new neighborhood Target and bought me a food processor, a Calphalon baking set, and an electric griddle.

Maybe he's just gunning for more pancakes?

\m/(><)\m/

Revolution #6

2008-07-28T17:18:00.000-06:00

Today I woke up and just couldn't take it any more.

I took a long look in the mirror, poked at a few blemishes cropping up under my jawline.

Made alternating "fat belly/skinny belly" poses.

Tried to get my hair to lay down with some water and hair gel.

Examined the freakishly large, colorless mole in my hairline.

Tried to determine if the "extra whitening" toothpaste I've been using is really working.

Leaned over the toilet bowl...

And shaved my head.

I haven't seen my natural color (except growing in at the bottom of another color) in more than 10 years. It's nicer than I remembered.

God Dammit!

2008-07-22T09:37:00.000-06:00

The Mountain Goats announced their fall tour schedule today. Apparently, it's more worth their time to play a Halloween gig in Lubbock than to come to Vegas. Ever.

Pie!

2008-07-21T16:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Tyson was hankering for something tasty to eat, so I made us a blueberry pie. No kidding, I did the whole cold-butter-cold-shortening-ice-water pie crust thing, then made a filling with blueberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and rice flour to put in between.

I think I will start keeping a batch of pie crust in the freezer for when fruit is on sale. I feel a lattice-topped peach pie coming on soon!

blink blink

2008-07-15T19:18:00.000-06:00

By far the most noticeable and sort of strange side effect of taking phentermine to get both my bootylicious curves and cholesterol under control is an incredible ability to focus my attention on tasks.

No kidding. When I very first started taking it, I was all aflutter with nervous energy for the first few hours until I levelled out, but lately I get this crazy focus along with it. I can get on a cardio machine at the gym and hammer out 40 minutes without really thinking about it. I'll start on a project and forget to eat, go to the bathroom, feed the dogs, or whatever, and before I know it, HOURS have gone by. Tyson's been gone this week, and I've been alternating between playing video games and reading blogs and stuff and working on materials for my class next year in about four-hour stretches at a time.

Today a contractor with a giant tile cutter pulled up in front of the neighbor's at 6 a.m. The dogs started barking so I got dressed, fed them, let the dogs out of the back house, ate some quick breakfast, took my meds, and sat down at the computer at about 8. I remember resurfacing at noon and thinking, "man, I'm hungry," preheating the oven for leftover pizza, and forgetting all about it for another hour. I did think to set a timer once I put the pizza in, or I may well have caught the whole house on fire.

Based on information from my browser history and jump drive, I have reconstructed what my day looked like, I think:

1. Read blogs.

2. Read comics.

3. Did crossword on yahoo.

4. Made a blog post.

5. Dicked around on Facebook. (This is about where my medicine would have kicked in. I remember feeling really thirsty about then, a sure sign of being hopped up on stimulants.)

6. Started working on school stuff. Typed up job descriptions for 6 management positions, training checklists for 4 of them, and evaluation sheets for all. Lots of it was straight off the hard copies I have in a folder, but I had to invent some things, too.

7. Made a long list of logs, calendars, and other organizational templates I still have to make. Decided not to get into an involved search for whether I could import XML files from my gradebook program into Word, or if I needed an Excel table instead. Made sketches of what some of the tables should look like, instead. Somewhere in here is where I ate leftover pizza (sort of--I kept forgetting I was supposed to be eating and kept working instead until it was cold).

8. Started searching for school and office supply wholesalers. Specifically, compared prices on cheapest 2" binders available. This is where my right hand started to ache and I had to switch to my left.

9. Shook head to clear the cobwebs. Realized my butt and right foot were asleep and I really had to pee.

10. Checked email.

11. Remembered I was supposed to check the status of my federal student loan consolidation application. (Hooray for 4.2% interest!!) Waded through online bureaucracy to find out my loan was in "preprocessing," meaning nobody's probably even looked at it yet.

12. Read increasingly desperate emails from local Kung Fu studio I expressed interest in. Followed links to some interesting videos on the different styles they teach.

13. Facebook again. After my students last year accessed my blog from my profile, I removed it, and now that I am back on I am driven by an intense need to know what's been going on in the lives of lots of people I don't really like in person all that much.

14. Blogs again. Nothing new since this morning. I need a bigger blogroll.

15. Realized I was very, very hungry and the dishes I started this morning are still sitting in cold, murky water in the sink. Ate ice cream and tried not to think about it.

And now it's, well, it's now. I purposely worked too hard at the gym yesterday (I'm sure there was a reason, but now I've forgotten it), and my mouse arm and shoulder are aching. I stayed up too late and woke up too early, but my brain is still just humming away. If I wasn't so sore, I'd be doing a few more things, like: looking online for a memory foam mattress topper, doing research on the AWESOME Christmas present I'm thinking of getting Tyson, looking up ab exercises, playing with Pandora radio, trying to learn how to use Excel, trying to figure out why dividing a portion of text in a long Word document into columns makes a new section start, therefore restarting page numbering and also how to fix it, looking for or designing a snazzy logo for my program's course expectations, making a list of school supplies we can sell to get the other stuff we want since our budget's all slashed to hell, looking for advice on how to write a small grant to get some DVDs from Boys Town Press, practicing importing XML files into other documents, reconciling my checking account in Quicken, plugging the AmLit reading list I made yesterday into a week-by-week planning chart for each quarter of next year, going back over the stuff I did today and making sure a few of the details are consistent with my 25-page expectations packet, figuring out how the code for my "Recent Comments" plug-in got broken and how to fix it, and pricing plane tickets to Rochester in November.

Whew. I am glad I have to go to the airport soon to pick up friends or I might never leave this chair.

UPDATE: This is possibly the stupidest post ever. Still, I seem to have expended an awful lot of energy getting it all down. Case in point?

Great Comic Today!

2008-07-15T11:45:00.001-06:00

From Cat and Girl.

in which I have a new hobby!

2008-07-10T20:44:00.000-06:00

This is even more fun than that "No Blood For Oil" graffiti debate in that bathroom stall in the English building!* It's "Missed Connections"** on Craigslist!

You: Astonishing young lady in "LOVE" t-shirt and "Death or Glory" sneakers. Brown eyes, and a penchant for bright minty-green colors.

Me: Tall blond guy in the row behind you, across the aisle

I noticed you at the Vegas airport, and thought you noticed me. I nearly sat by you on the plane but then got sidetracked across the aisle and a row back. I am not looking for anything interaction-wise, but I wanted you to know that you are probably the most attractive woman I have ever seen. Just perfect, really.

I noticed that you are a nervous flier. I used to be one, too, but reading the novel "Airframe" by Michael Crichton really helped me with that. You might try it.

Thanks for making the flight more pleasant.

*I used to check in every Thursday afternoon between American Lit and my creative writing workshop to see what someone had written. It must have been 2003, just before we got into the war and Tyson and I were like the only people on Earth who thought that was a bad idea, and I have to say reading that bizarre, vitriolic conversation scrawled on the bathroom stall was the most entertaining part of my week.

**Yes, I know I should have started following these after reading Ghost World. But it takes me awhile sometimes to get on the bandwagon. (It's quite a big decision.)

mmmmmmmmMeatloaf!

2008-07-07T18:53:00.000-06:00

I make this meatloaf dinner almost every week during the winter. People in the know (such as my moms and Deidre) will recognize this as a recipe from The New Best Recipe book, great as a cookbook and highly informational as well. It took some experimenting to get the potatoes ready before the meatloaf cools because they cook at a higher temperature, and turning up the oven with the meatloaf in it makes it ooze way too much. You'll probably have to buy a full pound of veal and of pork; just put the rest in a bag in the freezer for next time.

Mix in a small bowl and set aside:

1/2 c. ketchup

1/4 c. brown sugar

4 t. cider vinegar

Sautee in olive oil:

1 medium onion, diced

Whisk together in a large bowl:

2 eggs

1/2 t. dried thyme

1 t. salt

1/2 t. ground pepper

2 t. Dijon mustard

2 t. Worchestershire sauce

dash hot pepper sauce

1/2 c. milk

Add:

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 pound ground veal

16 crushed saltine crackers

sauteed onions

1. Mix thoroughly and shape into a 9"x5" loaf on a foil-covered pan. Your hands are all dirty already, so smear on about half of the ketchup glaze. Bake in a 350 degree oven until thermometer registers 160 degrees.

2. While the meatloaf cooks, cut 2 pounds of red potatoes into even pieces. Golf-ball-sized potatoes can be cut in half; cut larger potatoes into fourths or eighths. Put into a gallon-sized bag with 2T olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper and toss to coat. Pour potatoes onto a baking sheet and arrange in a single layer so that all potatoes have one cut side down. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil.

3. After 44-50 minutes of baking time, add the sheet of potatoes to the oven. When the meatloaf is done, carefully remove the foil with a potholder or tongs. No kidding, I've steam-burned myself here, and it's no good. Take the meatloaf out and cover it with the potato foil. Turn the oven up to 450 and cook the potatoes for 15 minutes.

4. Using a metal spatula, scrape the potatoes off the baking sheet and flip so that each potato has the other cut side down. Return to oven and cook 12-15 more minutes, or until skins are wrinkled.

5. To get everything done at once, use the oilve-oil bag to coat some asparagus spears. Put the asparagus on a baking sheet and add to the oven when you flip the potatoes. Depending on thickness, they will take 10-15 minutes to cook.

I hope you enjoy!

More dismal budget news...

2008-07-07T15:18:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, a message went out from my principal saying we'd hold off on ordering until August, when we were more sure what was going to happen with the budget. I tried not to sweat it too much, even though there's about $15K worth of furniture and facilities for my program in the order queue.

Today the news is worse: our anticipated budget of $490,000 has been cut to $185,000. That's for any new purchases for all of our clubs, organizations, programs, special ed, facilities and maintenance, athletics, and academic departments. EVERYTHING but utilities and payroll, essentially. So for now, no new books, no consumable supplies (looks like I'll be buying my own red pens and dry erase markers this year!), no nothing. No word yet on what it means for my program. It'll be a long year if I wind up with 4 sections of regular old English I and no compensation for the 150 or so hours of work I've done already.

My husband's boss makes more than that a year, and he DOESN'T have to run a school for 2200 kids out of his own pocket.

God Bless America

2008-07-04T09:18:00.000-06:00

I am halfway through reading Al Gore's recent book, The Assault on Reason, and you know what? It may well make a flag-wavin' American out of me yet. I'm glad to see someone with money and some degree of power and influence who thinks there is something fundamentally wrong with things, but that our society can be saved, and, in fact, is worthy of more than continuing to live in Backwards Land.

But besides making me feel smarmy and hopeful, he really lays out the egregious ass-fucking we've been receiving since, oh, January of 2001. That was the first presidential election I could vote in, and I was so, so excited to be involved. Then, when Bush became president, I adopted a "duck-and-cover" mentality when it came to news--I was like the paranoid depressive who knows everything is so bad, you might as well not leave the house so you can avoid seeing the specific ways in which everything is screwed up, and instead pulls the curtains and sits on the couch, clutching her knees and rocking back and forth under a ratty afghan. So I missed an awful lot of the Bush Legacy, apparently. The McCain Amendment, anyone? The fact that there are more than 100 prisoners at Gitmo that we actually tell people we don't want going free, but we have no intention of ever charging with a crime? I think I'm gearing up here for an extra-fancy blog post, complete with all sorts of hyperlinks and stuff, but I'm not going there right this second.

Another Video Copout Excuse for a Blog Entry

2008-07-04T09:09:00.000-06:00

This is Robert Moraine. Tyson has posted him before, but he was back on So You Think You Can Dance last night. Definitely made the million or so commercial breaks worth sitting through. Seriously, Fox, how many commercial breaks need to go in a single hour of television? Everybody knows the hipsters only buy stuff they see on the Internets these days.

"I didn't think it was going to be that bad!"

2008-07-03T13:34:00.000-06:00

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Update: Hooray for the Internet

2008-06-29T20:44:00.000-06:00

Marmots: They're sort of both. Males are territorial and have harems of multiple females and offspring, usually creating a family unit of less than 20 animals. We can split the 10 points.

Planets: Here are descriptions of where the planets are chillin' at over the course of this year. They are not always visible, but it was probably either Jupiter, which is at opposition right now (essentially we're seeing a "full Jupiter") or Saturn that we looked at with binoculars. One million points for me for general astronomical correctness; ten for Tyson for correctly differentiating between a star and a planet.

A Dirty Sanchez is either funny or gross, depending on the degree of seriousness with which it's suggested.

Brian Jones founded the Rolling Stones and is now dead. I still don't know how or why John Darnielle thinks he'd be like Brian Wilson. Maybe sort of old and sad, and trying to capitalize on their past success?

Dinu Lipatti was a Romanian pianist. I don't know why someone would need his bones.

Gas in Baker is an even $5.

Sand accumulates not because of static cling or anything like that, but primarily because of a process called saltation.

The lake that covered a big chunk of the intermountain west was Lake Lahontan. A summary of Nevada's brief history as a seafloor is here.

As for Mercury, that's going to take some digging, and I haven't downloaded Google Earth on this computer yet. If anything interesting turns up, I'll post it.

Video

2008-06-29T20:23:00.000-06:00

My trip to the ER in Mammoth reminded me of this video (by not being anything like this).

Arguments and Discussions that Require Internet Assistance, but Arose While Travelling Without Immediate Computer Access

2008-06-29T19:18:00.000-06:00

What is the deal with the town of Mercury? The sign says there are no services, and roads leading into town appear to be gated. Also: check Google Earth for satellite photos of the Nevada Test Site.

What are the social habits of yellow-bellied marmots? Are they social, like prairie dogs, or more territorial? (Ten points for me if they're social.)

Was that, in fact, Saturn we saw the other night? Can someone please find a way to explain to Tyson that Jupiter and Saturn are NOT visible every night, all the time? (Minus one million points for me if I'm wrong on that one, because I'm not.)

What are the physical properties related to the movement of sand dunes? How come all the sand in the Great Basin desert is all in one place? What keeps the sand together as it moves? (I say the size of the particles and their composition--lots of silica--does a static-cling maneuver and holds everything in place.

What parts of Nevada were, at one time, under water? When? How many times? Salty or fresh water? What about the lake that covered central Nevada all the way to Idaho and into Washington, and now survives as the Great Salt Lake in Utah?

What is a Dirty Sanchez?

What happened to Picaridin, a DEET alternative in bug repellent that keeps bugs off but DOESN'T melt plastic?

Who is Brian Jones, and why would he be like Brian Wilson?

Who is Dinu Lipatti?

If gas in Mammoth Lakes is $4.99 a gallon, what's it going for in Baker right now?

And it only took a week longer than expected!

2008-06-25T17:18:00.000-06:00

Our car is fixed! We are headed to the Sierra!

We dropped our car off at the dealership more than two weeks ago, and the engine has finally been put back together and it looks like we are just about ready to drive the hell out of it again. We were told it would be ready by last Wednesday or Thursday, and when it wasn't put back together by Saturday, they rented us a little Scion for cheap, but we are SO READY to have the Matrix back--and with a rebuilt, not used, engine like we wanted in it.

Tyson, naturally, has been packed and ready to go for the last two weeks, and we cleaned up the house and threw the rest of the stuff together this afternoon. We're going up to Rock Creek Lake and hiking up to a lake and a pass a couple of miles above North Lake. We will definitely have pics when we get back!

HTML is making me crazy

2008-06-24T12:15:00.000-06:00

I feel like hurting someone.

I inserted some nifty code recently so I could divide my posts like you see here. I thought it would be nice to put that whole long copy-pasted entry below the fold, so to speak, to make scrolling through the page easier. Unfortunately, my new code uses the "span" designation, which is also what Blogger defaults to whenever you, you know, DO ANYTHING, like hit enter or change the text color or anything else. It was really driving me crazy. That last post took me about an hour and a half of picking through all the damn tags that kept getting added every time I checked my work. Finally I just gave up. Does anyone (Brannon?) know if there is a way to bypass Blogger's HTML editor if I want to write all my own code once in a while?

On the bright side, this post was relatively straightforward.

Budget Cuts!

2008-06-24T10:46:00.000-06:00

I started the morning today with a somewhat dismaying message via school email from our superintendent RE: state budget cuts:

DATE: June 24, 2008
TO: All Employees
FROM: Walt Rulffes
SUBJECT: Status of State Budget Cuts

Many people have contacted me asking the status of how CCSD will handle the increasing State budget cuts. An answer I gave that was accurate last week needs to be revised this week as the picture continues to change. If you are observing media reports, then you are likely as current as I am regarding the amount of State reductions in revenue. The purpose of this memo is to bring you up to date regarding how CCSD is affected, which most likely will change as State conditions change.

The school district has no authority to unilaterally increase its revenue. Federal funds and bond funds are legally restricted in use and must be spent specifically as designated. The day-to-day operations of the school district are funded from its general fund, which is controlled by the State.

I won’t discuss herein the initial cuts that have already been made, as that information has been provided elsewhere and is not germane for this discussion. Of importance now is how does the district deal with more major reductions in its funding?

Here’s the gloomy background. The latest State projected additional revenue shortfall, after more than $900 million has already been cut, is identified below:
$250 million or more for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008; and $1.2 billion for the next biennium, which is the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years.

The big question is, “How much will CCSD’s share of the shortfall be?” I wish I knew, but since public education as a whole makes up half the State’s budget, it’s a fair assumption that CCSD’s hit could be as follows:
Another $50 to 70 million for 2008-2009 school year; and Another $135 million for the 2009-2010 school year.

Against this background, here’s my prognosis for how funding reductions will translate to CCSD.

Q: What about the 4% employee COLA the Legislature included in its original funding?

A: The District and Unions followed the provisions of collective bargaining and put the 4% COLA into contract agreements. The Support Staff Union contract was ratified by Support members and approved by the School Board. The CCEA and the CCASAPE contracts have been ratified by their respective members and are scheduled for School Board action on
June 26, 2008. My recommendation is to approve the contracts.

Q: What about all the talk of taking the COLA’s to offset the State shortfall?

A: Here’s why I am recommending to the Board to approve the contracts. First and foremost, you deserve it. I don't know how we can expect our employees to absorb the increased cost of living, e.g., gasoline, food, and in the case of teachers – health care. There are about 7,000 employees who are not eligible for a step-increase, and the 4% is their only improvement. The support staff contract has been signed, sealed, and delivered, as well as the employee contracts in most other school districts throughout the State. I do not see how school districts can legally breach contract agreements, and CCSD’s staff deserves equal treatment to that of other school districts in regard to the COLA.
There’s more. While this has not been widely recognized, if the District/CCEA contract agreement is not approved, the new program for the retired teacher health plan falls through the crack, leaving future teacher retirees without a reasonable medical plan.

Q: So what’s the consequence of the cuts?

A: Well, hopefully the State will minimize cuts to public education with other alternatives – to which I am not privy at this time. I know that there are legislators and others who are seeking options to avoid further cuts in essential State services. Examples include the proposed 3% room tax, Terry Lanni's proposal to add an increase in the payroll tax to the mix, and borrowing against future revenues such as the Tobacco fund.

Q: If further cuts are necessary, what’s at risk in CCSD?

A: This is the tough part. We will be forced to cut the central, regional, and school administrative services where we can, as well as support functions. The Budget Department has already told central administrators to submit 6% cuts in their budgets. Out-of-state travel requests, contract and consulting services, and capital purchases from the general fund will require approval of the Budget Department. The Human Resources Division (HR) has placed a hold on certain categories of hiring, not only because of the budget cuts that are looming, but also because enrollment growth has dramatically slowed. Expenditures from the SB 185 funds, which are the school improvement grants, have been put on hold. SB 185 funds will likely be withheld by the State. Also, remember the District is facing unfunded inflation (as in fuel) and added costs (as in 7 new school openings). Some relief could be possible if a fee is imposed for certain services, e.g. transportation and non-academic activities, but it will be very unpopular.
The big dollars will have to come from where big expenditures are occurring. HR is holding many classroom vacancies open until more is learned from the State because those vacancies will likely be needed to absorb teachers who are currently assigned to non-classroom functions. In an earlier message, it was estimated that the projected reduction in CCSD revenue is the equivalent of an estimated 2,000 positions. Nothing has changed to reduce that estimate.

Q: What’s the timing of all this?

A: Timing depends on the State. At the time of this writing, the Legislature is scheduled for a special session to begin on June 27, 2008. If that occurs, or if a resolution is worked out prior instead of having a special session, we should know before July 1, 2008, what the fiscal impact will be on the upcoming school year. At this point, the bulk of what I am hearing centers around "cuts" rather than finding new revenues to make up the difference.

Q: What's the prognosis for the budget we're submitting for the next biennium?

A: We have been directed by the Nevada Department of Education to submit $133 million in cuts for the next biennium in September of 2008, which takes effect for July 1, 2009, assuming it’s approved by the Legislature. While we are complying with this request, it is important to remember that the level of funding for education and the opportunity to provide new revenue sources will certainly be a major topic of the 2009 legislative session, and I hope you will join me in working to find alternatives to the devastation this level of cuts would produce.

God forbid our governor raise taxes on local folks to, you know, learn their kids to read. I'm really REALLY glad our weak excuse for a union (an "association," actually, as if that explains the inefficacy of most of their presence in Carson City) bundled the cost of living increase in with provisions for retiree health benefits. At this time last year, when it was unclear whether retirees after 2008 would, in fact, be eligible for insurance coverage, we were projecting something like 5000 people to retire this year, and I just don't think the state wants to have to deal with it's largest county's teachers not getting salary increases AND needing to hire 5000 more new teachers.

What I find most worrisome is that it looks like the area that'll be taking the biggest hit is research. Ruffles mentions curtailing expenses for "consultants" and SB 185 funds, and it's that money that A) brings new research into the district and B) disseminates it to teachers--new teachers in most cases. SB 185 money is designated "School Improvement" money--we all write a school improvement plan each year, and these funds help schools achieve their goals, generally in the area of subgroups passing the Big Tests. Schools with a pattern of not making AYP get extra help, such as mentors and money to pay teachers to go to conferences, and to pay other teachers to come to site-based trainings to hear what the other people learned at their conferences so that everybody can stay up on current research.

Yes, we could probably limit some of the "consultant" spending because I've seen some of the people and research the district brings in, and a lot of it is redundant and I'm sure some of it is pretty screwy. On the other hand, Harry Wong spoke at one of the new teacher conferences I went to, and all teachers got treated to a presentation by Ron Clark one staff development day last year, and I found both of those experiences valuable. And it was SB 185 funds that paid for the two full-time mentors I had at the middle school in Northtown, where I learned enough in a year and a half to be a project leader next year and my administrator's nominee for Teacher of the Year.

Maybe it's not all bad. Because our district is so huge (fifth largest in the nation), reducing the amount spent on research consultants means going back to tried and true practices and GIVING THEM TIME TO WORK before jumping straight onto the next bandwagon when we don't see immediate results. Cutting funds in these areas will allow our district to function reasonably well for next year, even two or three more years, but I don't want to be around here in another 10 when we're really feeling the effects of allowing our district's current research-based practices to stagnate. Once the state sees that we can do without this budget money, the odds of us getting it back are slim, and funding will probably never be back to the level it is now. I also think we'll see much lower retention rates for new teachers because it is primarily them that the SB 185 money helps. Most of our new hires are locked in to jobs veteran teachers don't want, and without a support system present, I can imagine many of them looking at their measly $34K salary and wondering if it's really worth it. And there's not much of an incentive for veteran teachers, especially those approaching retirement, to pass on their expertise or to continue to develop their own practices.

So anyway, we'll see how this goes. I've been fortunate this summer in that my principal is highly committed to my program and finding the money to get it off the ground. She submitted my entire list of facilities requests, about $18,000 total, to the banker without striking anything, quibbling about costs, or even questioning any of the items we asked for. Nothing can get paid for until the July 1, but so far, my stuff's first in line. It's not district budget problems that affect me, I just need to make sure I keep the same principal forever.

A sad little hip-hip-huzzah for irreverance

2008-06-23T16:08:00.001-06:00

If I were in charge of things around here...

2008-06-23T16:02:00.000-06:00

I was looking forward to this post over at Daily Kos, and I got to thinking about what other pie in the sky ideas might make America even better. Because I'm just coming off three days of late nights with friends who are in town, I can't exactly remember what my ideas were, exactly, but I had some.

What are your "so crazy they just might work" plans?

How did I miss this??

2008-06-19T14:32:00.000-06:00

Oh, man! Can anybody spot me, like, 400 bucks?

The Amaz!ng Meeting is in town this weekend, featuring 2 of my favorite internet boyfriends:

Yes, that's Adam Savage and PZ Myers.

For those of you who don't know, the James Randi Educational Foundation (sponsors) is the one offering the million-dollar prize for verifiable evidence of any paranormal or supernatural event. Thousands of hot, sexy rationalists are affiliated with the JREF, and they and their fans will be taking over the Flamingo for the weekend. I'm sure all the dealers in the casino are thrilled to have a bunch of intellectuals roaming around, scoffing at all the rubes who bet red because it's "due" or yell at the guy next to them at the blackjack table for "taking" their cards.

Locals Penn and Teller will be there too, but their show has been vitriolic and sucky lately ("Lesbians on a blind date prove the 0-60 on the Prius is awful; therefore, alternative fuel is a left-wing lie."), so I won't be sorry to miss them. [Interestingly enough, Penn used to visit my Starbucks pretty often. Don't ask me how I remember these things, but he used to get a venti iced coffee with vanilla and lots of room. And he is REALLY tall. And his daughter's middle name is Crimefighter, he said on NPR. Really, I am not a stalker, not even a fan (but I would still totally name my kid Moxie Crimefighter).]

As much as I really, REALLY want to go shamelessly throw myself at Adam from Mythbusters, registration is RIDICULOUS. I guess real rationalists are supposed to be smart enough not to have student loans or multiple high-interest credit cards.

That's What I Just Said!

2008-06-19T09:07:00.000-06:00

Some bigshot (I initially typed "bogshit"--twice!--how's that for a Freudian slip?) over at the Chicago Trib just had to add his two cents to my reminiscing about summertime and cheap(er) gas prices.

So fucking original, dude.