musings

. . .


ABBA, Gold: Greatest Hits

Go get a copy of Chuck Klosterman's Eating the Dinosaur, because once you get past his amazingly annoying pretensions & his "I-am-smarter-than-you-but-will-pretend-(poorly)-that-I-am-not" veneer, you will find a pretty interesting essay about ABBA, that Swedish band we love to joke about that was never "disco" or even "kitschy," & rather a very interesting musical dynamic.

Also:

. . . college football rules, except for the fact that the NCAA is a corrupt organization that puts the value of the dollar above the value of the human being.

. . . but I ain't gonna get political here; I am going to muse on a few topics.

sooooo . . .

 . . . the Beloved 'Noles look like they may be back, for the 1st time since last year, & every year since they started not to rule, at the beginning of this century.

. . . my kids rule this world, as well as any potential other world. Also, I realize that I say this only because they are "my" kids, & if somebody else's kids ruled anywhere near as much, I would not recognize said ruling.

. . . think about it.

. . . "Jumping Jacks" is super-awesome for kids much, much younger than I, as well as my wife. Yes, she partook of many jumping- & sliding-based inflatable fun at Isaac's party last night.

. . . "Isaac" above is the progeny of Ms. Lambert & Mr, Olson, by the way.

. . . the new Domino's recipe > than the old.

. . . that is, much, MUCH >

. . . the coolest part of the evening was the fact that somebody spelled his name "Izek."

. . . seriously, that is cool.

. . . the Nike Pro Combat uniforms look pretty cool, but only in the "once-a-year" idea of cool.

. . . if teams wore them every week, it'd be like a sad futuristic sci-fi film from the '70s.

. . . see: Rollerball

. . . "Talbot" is a really cool English teacher as well as a now-dead vampire on True Blood

. . . oops: "spoiler alert."

. . . I am completely aware that Ms. Beeley is much more awesome than I could ever be, & I respect that. & envy it a tad, but I look at it as inspiration, not competition.

. . . that's because I hung out w/ her again last night, & realized her awesomeness again.

. . . "standardized testing" is a horribly flawed system that takes into no consideration anything except the mood & performance of students on a few days in April, but it's the system in which we work, & we can "succeed" at the tests just as we succeed in the classroom.

. . . see: "Fridays, Forward."

. . . as long as you muster the effort, you will succeed in room 57.

. . . paraphrase time, because the book is not here:  in How to Read a Book, Mortimer J. Adler & Carl Van Doren maintain that teaching may not avail unless there exists a reciprocal act of being taught.

. . . so, let's get taught (!!!)

. . . also, let's teach & learn from each other.

. . . the "FitQuest 2000" changed my life.

. . . this is starting to read like a parody of Larry King, which is inherently ironic since Larry King himself reads like a parody of Larry King, so a parody-squared may just lead back to a sense of reality.

. . . JUNIORS: "parody" & "satire" are different--Gulliver's Travels is satire, & that's why we will study it. Also, Jonathan Swift practically started that inherently "British" high-&-low-brow comedy mixture.The Frankenstein seminars you all conducted showed us the value of thought in the curriculum of public education. Levels 2 & 3 > level 1.

. . . yes, mathematically that is obvious, but intellectually, not necessarily.

. . . SOPHOMORES: the 1st of many "Forward Fridays" brought unmitigated success. We will learn, engage, & "beat" the tests we are going to take. You will understand the what, why, & how of standardized testing & the what, why, & how of true "language arts."

. . . because in the end, it is all about the art.

. . . enjoy your long weekend.

. . . at some point, take a moment to reflect on the veterans who made it possible for us to get together & learn in a relatively free environment.

. . . be cool.