List of Animals and Descriptions Contained in 1 Packet Yam Yam - Choco Cream

Mole - In a Hole

Cat - Say Meow

Rabbit - Eat More Carrots

Mouse - Do Not Be Timid

Seal - Loves to Sun Tan

Whale - Biggesy Mammal

Zebra - Herbivore

Stag Beetle - Love It

Panda - Go For More

Driving to Austin in T Minus...

Just waiting for the pod to charge.

Doodle doodle dooo.

The apartment hunt is looking up, maybe.

Did I mention it snowed yesterday?

I've been so WOWed this week I am ready for things to get bland again.

Ok, here goes...

Hell Freezeth Over

Sorry ladies, I think you have to go to school tomorrow.

Film Review in Middle School

"I cannot believe how much that movie sucked."

Like, totally, kid.

Movie download

Son of Rambow - yes
Milk - yesss
Grizzly Man - eurgh?
White Diamond - yes yes

Do not go gently into that 24 hour Walgreens

Maybe you should call it a night, instead.

Uuuugggggggh my head.

And also

Fresh off of yesterday's post:

Bill and Melinda Gates go back to school

It's Not Too Late

I had basically sworn off ever getting a master's degree in education, but this might be interesting:

Lesley University School of Education: Master of education in curriculum and instruction: Out-of-School Time

Ignore the part about being a teaching fellow.

Lesley University is a school I have never heard of that, of which my Harvard School of Ed. educated buddy thinks highly. Do not get excited: I am not moving to Boston.

The benefit for me: a more robust understanding of after-school time as an under-utilized opportunity to raise student achievement.

Still not as important as business school for what I do, but I think I need at least a master's degree for any job with a large foundation.

Should we talk about the fact that, when it comes to education, I am basically a Republican? Sorry, mom. It took me many years to realize this; that and pussyfooting around the question: "What do you think of NCLB?" I used to say--blah blah, underfunded--but my new answer is: YES, it's a start. Yes we MUST measure student achievement and hold teachers accountable for moving children forward under their care. We must STOP saying "it's the parents, stupid," because all parents want the best for their children and to operate under any other belief is bigotry.

Interesting movement on this front in Houston:

HISD taps Acronym leader as HR chief

HISD board member takes on union's Leader

As a purely selfish aside: Because I know these people, it makes me feel EXTRA IMPORTANT and also all tingly.

And, while I am trying to operate with a spirit of generosity, a certain ANTI-ACRONYM person is at the tippy-top of the Secretary of Ed short list, which I warned you people about (on facebook) months ago:

NYT Op-Ed: Who Will He Choose?

Respectfully submitted, yours,

Can We Ride With You?

"Did you drive, or did you have a driver?" demanded Richard Shelby (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate banking committee, which questioned the lowly threesome. "Did you drive a little and ride a little? And secondly, I guess, are you going to drive back? And, if so, if some of us wanted a ride to Detroit, could we ride with you?"

Muffin

I call the cat Muffin sometimes, too. All sweet things become "muffin."

Dec. 4 Out of the Way Early

I really, really love outdoor fires.

Even better with a guitar.

Even better with foil dinners.

Even if you can't have either of the above.... wow. Fire. Total Magic.

Get This Done In Four Minutes

Happy birthday, Stacy.

Later, let's talk about shopping vs. saving; the obscure sacrifices we need to make in this "new economy" (which I have not felt yet, knock on wood).

Surely, it must be more than "turn the water off when you brush your teeth" which I learned in 3rd grade.

I Had a Good Thing Going Here

It is not hard to pinpoint when the bloggy break started. It started when I discovered google alerts and started tracking certain keywords to aid me in my work. And then I discovered things from those alerts that I surely was not meant to see -- college livejournals stressing over an upcoming acronym interview; somebody trashing a bad interning experience.

And then I got all paranoid about little nothing small-audience blogs like this one thrust quite unknowingly and unwillingly into inboxes everywhere, because of a keyword. Someone inadvertently reading about the ONE TIME I was dissatisfied with a job, a co-worker, a volunteer.

And it turns out that if you don't have anything nice to say, usually you don't have much to say at all. Gofiggure.

I am trying to change that. ANONYMOUSLY.

Tonight Will Be Fine

I am trying to do this thing where I blog every day regardless of whether I have anything worth saying. This is because a certain relative of mine is showing me up in the blogging department and, well, we can't have that. Also: it is hard to judge if things are worth saying if one is not generally saying anything at all. Therefore, MUSIC VIDEOS!

Here's this wonderful cover song from a Leonard Cohen documentary (with Spanish subtitles?):



And here's another guy featured on that same Leonard Cohen documentary singing a Leonard Cohen song (but not the song he sang in the documentary):



And because you are probably sick of Leonard Cohen now but still appreciative of the rule of threes, here is a song I heard covered this weekend and was like, "whoa -- I know all the words to this song -- because my parents played the crap out of that record when I was growing up." It is a video of two happy looking people on their honeymoon. She looks about my age. I bet her parents played this record to death, also.

Doggonit

So apparantly people still celebrate these things called "holidays" during this season we call "winter" and would you believe they happen annually and yet every year I find myself thoroughly unprepared. Could someone please give me a HEADS UP next year and I will try to pay attention. Gosh.

It is nice to latch onto a project to distract onesself from all the non-holiday drudgery, but difficult when said project is not instantly gratifying. What's more, I am tired of apologizing to potential landlords for the dog. The dog is very sweet, she does not bark or chew, she lives with us and she is not going away. I know, I know, no sane apartment-seeking person is going to say "yeah, I have a dog; she's a holy terror" but the fact is that PEOPLE HAVE DOGS and IT IS NORMAL and so why must the realtor insist on acting all squirrelly like "wellll... could the dog pass for 45 pounds?" No, Weirdo, the dog weighs 58 pounds. She is all muscle and legs. She is a skinny-assed greyhound and she can run circles around you for approximately 5 minutes and then she will be on the COUCH eating popcorn and watching cable.

Find me a landlord who appreciates this and let's make a deal.