Happy Birthday to me

I got some cool birthday gifts. I'm looking forward to getting to use them. Thank you, everybody. I really like my gifts. I got a black forest cake at Sam's Club and it was a big hit with my fellow teachers and staff and Shel got me Baskin & Robbins Ice Cream, so I'm a happy camper. It's been a good birthday.

Vegan Lunch Box

Vegan Lunch Box I already knew that Stumble Upon was way cool, but it hardly ever brings me blogs I like.

I do like this one though.

My homepage is dead. Long live my homepage!

As I have complained before, the class website is inaccessible from the school. (This is because it is hosted by Google as a free, personal website.) I have finally gotten an account with which to establish a web page hosted by the district.
I'm going to look a little more carefully at HTML coding, and particularly at CSS, javascript, and flash and then put together a website somewhat less elegant than the existing page, but accessible from all the right locations (i.e. school).

At some point, I will likely phase out the old site, or convert it to a personal website for something else.

(I should hope that it is clear from the dizzying frequency with which I post here that I have plenty of time to maintain multiple websites with completely different interfaces.)

Attractors

This flash game is undoubtedly the coolest thing I've found online in ages. Say goodbye to your free time. This game will eat it and leave you with only a state of zen and a feeling like you should have been doing more - like learning to use Macromedia flash MX

Wonky formatting requires extra post

My recent post on unneeded celebrity nose jobs was a little goofily formatted to begin with - I'm not always crazy about the interface here at blogspot and might prefer something a little more wsiwyg - but after subsequent posts shoved it down a little further, it only got wonkier, at least on Firefox.

This post, then, is just to shove the entries down one further so I don't have to watch Michael Jackson and two Tom Cruises layered over Katie Holmes. That's just too wierd.

Spring has Sprung

If my students' behavior were not enough proof, my mother's daffodils should be evidence that the seasons have changed. Enjoy the cooler temperature's while you can. Summer will soon renew its assault.

Online Hmong Cookbook

I just discovered an online Hmong cookbook. I just wish it was more extensive than three recipes, which is all that it appears to have right now.

Site Updates

As I was updating my website this afternoon, I had to wonder: "Do any of my students actually check the site?" I have been trying to keep the 7th grade year plan page up to date as assignments are given and been adding new content for the 8th graders on our current unit. Today, I added links to Dr. Grammar and Love is Respect, hoping that my students might find some help, both academic and social.

I just worry that my effort is for naught.

Progress Reports

Grades are due this week for progress reports, meaning that they'll go out this week or next. I'll make sure everybody gets a grade check this week.

I have a thick (3 inches) stack of papers that got no grade because they were not titled, missing either the name, the date, or the period number, and I probably have another 24 inches of papers left to grade tonight.

Office Romance

Never date someone you work with. And Never get caught with rubber tubing.

Proto Indo European and her daughters

I'm just so stoked that I found this image. For the uninitiated, the circle at the center of the diagram represents the language spoken by a group of people who lived in Europe about 7000 years ago. The radial arms represent the languages derived from that early language. The longest arms are languages still spoken today.

Note: this diagram does not include borrowings, so French and Spanish don't appear to be root languages of English, because, well, they aren't. We just use a bunch of their words.

Japanese uses a bunch of English words, too, but it's not represented here because it doesn't derive from Indo-European.

Rhinoplasty and the American Obsession with Adherence to Narrow External Standards of Beauty

People are beautiful.

People have a wide variety of appearances.

These two statements are not contradictory.

I am annoyed that we, as a society seem to feel that beauty must be standardized. Today, I'm going to focus on noses.

Michael Jackson was a handsome young man. Now, he's freaky looking. I will admit, though, that Michael is an exception. He has demonstrated time and again, and in numerous ways, that there must be some question about his psychological well-being. Besides, according to Michael, he's never had a nose job.

So let's look at the hot item of ten minutes ago: TomKat


Katie went from cute as a button to just ordinary.

Finally, the clincher was the first one I ever really noticed: Jennifer Grey she was distinctive and she was beautiful. Now, I don't recognize her photos unless they're labeled with her name. She's beautiful, but ordinary.

If I rant about this again, I'll look at teeth. Look out, Affleck

Kingdom of Heaven

I had avoided this film for some time. It looked interesting - I like Ridley Scott - but we're chronically behind on watching new DVDs and buying more just makes that worse. I borrowed a copy from one of my fellow teachers on her recommendation, though, and wanted to get it back from her promptly, so Shel and I watched this last night and I was very impressed. The film is very long, and sometimes convoluted, and I have some questions about historical authenticity that I will have to ask my colleague, but I cannot say enough about how visually stunning this film is. Perhaps I had forgotten that that is exactly why I like Ridley Scott's films so much. He knows how to make them look great.

Good acting. Good action. Interesting story. Too long. Visually stunning. 3/5 stars.

I'm excited and impatient

Now, I have to decide how many copies we need initially, buy a gift certificate for the total, and preorder the finale.

I'm really going to miss this series when it's gone.

A webthing

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person. However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways. You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order. You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?