Sunday, July 26, 2009

Who Is Working On That?

It is such an obvious maddening conspiracy. Does anyone really think we are not capable of making roads that stay smooth through the Minnesota winter? I mean really, we can make a hand held device that can do almost anything but we can't make a road? Yes we can. We just choose not to. Because when we have to replace roads every couple of years we help people make money. Dumb rich people making money. Now it is obvious this is true because it is the same model that the nylon people are using. Seriously, no one knows how to make nylons that don't run? As if! We can fly a man to the moon. We can make bacteria that kill viruses in people. We can do SKYPE for god's sake! We can certainly make nylons that don't run and roads that don't crack. We just choose not to so we have to keep making the things and paying for them and making people rich. I've had it! Figure it out people. Let's take this to the streets... oh wait, we can't because of the road construction.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Cover the Crack


No one likes to look at butt cracks. I'm just wondering why we see them so much. In the past 24 hours I have seen three butt cracks. One 60 year-old man, one 30-something woman, and one 13-year-old girl. Can they not feel that their cracks are showing? Do they think crack showing is appropriate? Maybe they think it is just a minor offense, sort of like spinach in the teeth. It's gross. It's crass.

People - pull up the pants. Cover the crack!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It Happened To Me


This week a Harvard Professor was arrested at his home for breaking into it - he couldn't open the door so he had to break into his own house. Most people have had some reason to break into their house, right? I have. Living with two teens means keys are lost and I am often locked out. That's life. Once when I went to my husband's house, I had no key so I sort of broke in. The security alarm went off and the police came. I simply said I was sorry for their bother and they left. They did not check my ID or ask me any questions. If the cops had checked my ID they would have noticed that my name was different than my husband's name and the address on my ID was from a different state. I would have looked guilty of breaking in. I was worried, but clearly, didn't need to be. I am a white woman, after all.

Professor Henry Louis Gates is black. He was arrested at his home. He showed his ID that showed his address as being the same as the house he was supposedly breaking into. I know these are just two examples and there are hundreds that may or may not be fair. Who knows. But at the very least, the dumbo cop should apologize. Be courageous. Say you made a mistake and then make sure you bring your keys.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Summer

You wonder why anything I have to say would be of use for anyone, but it is useful to me. Did you watch the NAACP Obama speech? If not, please do. It's amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv6EAaoFNno.

Here's what's great about our president:

He takes no crap from anyone.
He says difficult things ("you're not all going to be 'Lil Wayne or LeBron") and he is funny.
He makes mistakes and admits them.
He works hard and then keeps working harder.

I don't really like how he wears his pants though. He's got a little of the mom-jean thing going. Maybe he is trying hard to do the opposite of the butt- showing jean thing, but come on. Be cool.

I've been in school this summer, teaching and learning. Teaching in the day, schooling in the night. I love it. I was trying to figure out what's so great about going to school and it is the process of learning. It is as if I can feel my brain getting smarter. I'm a good student. I ask questions, I press for understanding, I take notes, I do my homework (usually on time) and I help my classmates. Why? Because I care about the content and I care about learning.

How do I get this same thing going on in my class?

I mean really, why should they care about linear functions and probability? It's more fun to talk to boys and giggle and be cute. Really?