I like my mom’s dog, but he’s lucky he’s cute because he’s not very bright. My dog is pretty intelligent. Have you ever played with your dog and thrown a toy but not where the dog thinks? We have a two story apartment and I like to throw his toys upstairs and he thinks I’m throwing them into the dining room. He used to run when I threw them, but now he’s learned to watch where the toy lands before he starts running. It’s a little frustrating because sometimes I would throw his toys so he would look for them for a while so he would leave me alone. He also knows sit, lay down, roll over, and crawl.

The most impressive thing is that when we say “cage,” he goes right into his cage. We didn’t even try to teach him that. One day we were talking about his cage and he went in it. Now, he can tell when we’re getting ready to leave and just goes in on his own without us telling him. If only he would stop getting into the trash…

I was surfing YouTube this evening, avoiding homework, when I came across this video. This guy has an amazing voice. Actually, he has two amazing voices. Watch with your sound on. You’ll see…or I guess you’ll hear what I mean.

The left lane is for passing, or turning if need be. That is all. Have a joyous day!

-G

I am a band geek. Specifically, I become obsessed with Indiana marching band every fall. From September through the beginning of November, I watch videos and look at scores and analyze things that no seemingly normal person would ever think about. What’s more, I’m not even the geekiest band geek that I know. There’s an entire world out there that few people know about. When most people think of marching band, they probably think of people walking around football field wearing funny hats and playing crappy music. That’s not the kind of marching band I’m talking about. I’m referring to competitive marching band. I’m also talking about something called Drum Corps during the summer, which isn’t marching band at all. It’s something that takes a lot of hard work. In fact, most people wouldn’t be able to do it because of the physical toll it takes on your body. I did it for five years and certainly couldn’t do it now. Watch this, from ESPN: (it’s only 3.5 minutes)

You should also watch this, at least for a minute or two, just to get an idea of what a competitive show looks like:

You try doing that while playing an instrument and remembering the exact spot you’re supposed to be on a field, making sure you’re exactly in line, in tune, in time, with your horn pointed exactly where it’s supposed to be and not to the left or right, too far up or down, that you are on step (using your left foot when everyone else is), etc. etc. etc. It’s tough! Plus, in the modern area of marching arts, you combine playing an instrument, running a 10 minute sprint, and doing modern dance and ballet.

I’ll leave you with a song that I enjoy listening to when I’m in a band (or corps) mood.

I hate public restrooms.

There. I said it. I’ll say it again. I hate public restrooms. I suppose that doesn’t really convey what I mean. I hate it when I need to use public restrooms. Especially at school. It’s bad enough that I’m spending hours and hours every day with my classmates. We eat together, study together, worry, plan, and sometimes swear we’re going to fail together. We listen to the things that come out of each other’s mouths. We shouldn’t also have to deal with things that come out of other places. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible.

We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of something and you feel that tugging in your stomach. Maybe a gurgle or two and you realize…”crap” (pun intended). If you’re in a room full of other people, you worry that they will judge you because of how long you’re gone. You feel every person stare at you as you walk out of the room and into the bathroom. While you’re there, you worry that someone will recognize your shoes or your bag or, even worse, will know who you are and comment about your choice of underwear because the stalls don’t go down to the floor. Perhaps you even worry that your phone will ring and people will recognize your ringtone. Should you reach into your pocket and turn your ringer off? What if someone sees you and thinks you’re playing on your phone while dropping the kids off at the pool. You’re not disgusting, you swear! In the meantime, you wonder why it seems like people aren’t washing their hands as you sit there, frozen, hoping no one will realize you’re even there.

Flexing your cheeks is, evidently, a very stressful act when it takes place in a public restroom. I suppose it could be worse. My middle school did not have doors on the stalls. That’s an entirely different story, and I don’t have time to talk about it right now. I need to close my laptop and flush.

More later.

-G

P.S. I’m not really in the bathroom right now. I swear. Stop judging me!

I’m in my LRW class today and our professor is freaking us out by having us fill out a weekly calendar by scheduling all of our classes, when we will work on our outlines of our classes, when we will prepare for our classes, when we will work on our papers, when we will go grocery shopping, etc. etc. etc. During the exercise, I comment that “I have a wife.” Unfortunately, I made the mistake of making this comment right after the professor finished saying, “write down when you will go grocery shopping.” Of course, the entire class seemed to take my comment as “my wife is a woman and therefore does the grocery shopping,” which is entirely not true. I think Taryn will admit that, because I recognize her very demanding schedule as a first-year teacher, I try to do most of the grocery shopping.

What I meant by “I have a wife” is that I also need to include some time for her in my schedule. Aside from the 15 hours of class, 45 hours of reading/writing/outlining, 7.5 hours of commuting, and 42 hours of sleeping per week, I would like to set aside some time to spend with my wife. Please don’t assume I’m trying to be chauvinistic. I’m not a pig - I just have bad timing.

Taryn and I went to the mall today because we had to get a gift for her God-Daughter. On the way home we began talking about some of the state’s educational goals. She’s a high school math teacher and just administered some statewide tests, so the conversation was a timely one for our family. Apparently, the government is trying to get our educational system to the point that 75% of our kids are getting scores of 80% or better. This eventually turned into a conversation about how each and every child is unique in that they are better suited to certain things than others.

Indiana’s leading political commentator seems to agree with me. On his blog, Indiana Barrister, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz discusses the effects of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ meeting with the Educational Roundtable where he handed out copies of “Real Education” by Charles Murray. I hope Abdul won’t mind that I’ve taken the liberty to copy it here because I think he raises some valid points. Please comment here or on Abdul’s blog and let us know what your thoughts are.

My good friend and occasional political counterpart Thomas Cook is opining about some recent recommended reading by Governor Mitch Daniels. At the last meeting of the Education Roundtable, Daniels handed out a copy of “Real Education” by Charles Murray.

According to a review at Amazon.com, the book stresses four major themes…

1.Children have different abilities.
2.Half of all children are below average.
3.Too many children go to college.
4.America’s future depends on the gifted.
Murray also states, according to Amazon,

“…there are only a limited number of academically gifted people and these are America’s future leaders, that only this elite can enjoy college productively and that the non-gifted shouldn’t be channeled by their high school counselors into training for that college chimera, which wouldn’t make them happy anyway”

My good friends on the left say this smacks of educational elitism. I say it’s just telling the honest truth. Let’s be frank, not everyone was made for a four year degree, but everyone needs post-secondary education. I have taught too long and seen too many students that a traditional four-year education was not in the cards and they would better served going another route.

And another unpleasant truth is that some people (kids included) really are just plain stupid and nothing is going to change that so give them a broom and point them in the direction they need to go. Now before the lot of you get your Calvin Klein boxer briefs in a bunch, really think about this.

The world has always been structured so that a handful of people really run the show. Think about any organization you belong to or have been a member of in the past. How many people really did all the work and how many people just showed up for fun?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not everyone was put on this Earth to achieve, they were just put here. And the scary part is in your heart, you know I’m right.

I want to tell you about something called felony-murder. This is something that you can be charged with if you’re committing a felony and someone dies. For example, if you steal someone’s car and accidentally hit someone with it while leaving, and that person dies, you will be charged with murder, even though it was an accident.

There was a case that I recently studied where two men broke into a house. The police were called and Person A was chased down by the police, handcuffed, and placed in the back of the police car. Another cop was chasing Person B. Person B shot at the cop, and the cop returned fire and killed Person B. Person A was charged with Person B’s murder because it was the result of their felony. Do you think this was right? It went to the Kansas Supreme Court where it was decided that Person A was not guilty of felony-murder, but a lot of people seem to think this was a bad decision. How do you feel?

I made chili last night. I’d never made it before, but I was craving it and my dad was six hours away. I also needed to clean out my fridge, so I decided to combine the activities. What resulted was a great recipe!

Ingredients:

1. Make 1 can of Campbell’s Original Tomato Soup. Eat two-thirds of it.
2. Make some seafood penne with your mother-in-law’s amazing marinara. Save about 15 pieces of penne.
3. Buy an onion for another recipe and forget about it for about two weeks.
4. Remember you have ten pieces of leftover jumbo shrimp in the freezer. Thaw them out by running cold water over it.
5. Decide to use a couple few tablespoons of mustard, just because you think it might be interesting.
6. Use chili powder from a packet that you bought when you were living three states away.
7. Add some chives because you think the chili needs something green. Don’t buy fresh. Just use the dried up things in your spice rack.
8. Also add some celery salt. Again, I don’t know why, but I’ve heard people use celery salt and I don’t know why. This seems as good of a time as any.
9. Use cayenne pepper. It’s chili, and it’s supposed to be hot. Make sure you take your Prilosec.
10. Garlic. Your wife is Italian and so you put garlic in everything.
11. One pound of hamburger. You’re making chili. You need a pound of hamburger. Duh.
12. Two cups of shredded sharp cheddar because you must put cheese on everything

Directions:
Brown the hamburger with a quarter of the onion finely chopped and a few shakes of the minced garlic container. Mix in the chili powder packet. Add the leftover tomato soup and the penne. Put the used dishes in the dishwasher so they don’t take up room in your tiny kitchen. Add celery salt, cayenne pepper, and chives. Squeeze the mustard bottle for about five seconds, directly into the pot. Stir it up. Remember your wife doesn’t like mustard and hope for the best. Sprinkle in one cup of the cheese and stir it until it’s all melted. Take two bowls. Place five pieces of the jumbo shrimp (it’s already cooked) in the bottom of each bowl. Then, take them back out and remove the tails. Then put them back in the bowls. Don’t cheat and give yourself six and your spouse four. That would be mean. Pour the chili over the top. Add more cheese on the top and some crackers if you want. Eat!

I was driving to school today and I saw a cop had a truck pulled over. The truck was hauling a port-o-potty. I couldn’t help but wonder if the cop had to go to the bathroom. A little random, but I’ve been thinking about it all day. Have you ever seen something random while driving and it kind of stuck with you?