Teaching Introduction to Journalism

We are looking at columns this week, and I realized that columns, in many ways, are a lot like blogs. Or do I mean blogs are like columns. So I started reading this to the kids in the class. They thought it was good. They don't realize that I am just ranting about things.
School is plodding along. I tend to be more concerned about the future than the present. I'm forcing the class to write a column. They are trying come up with topics.

Sara Gilbert got engaged. This is a headline. To a female rocker. So this is news. And it dawned on me that because we have instant access to all the news all the time, we need to have something to fill the news all the time. So Sara Gilbert got engaged. A headline.
Sara Gilbert appeared on Rosanne at least a decade ago. But this is a headline. I guess in the ironic world I live in, the fact that I am sitting here creating a blog entry about Sara Gilbert is equally silly as who cares about what I write, an English teacher in central Pennsylvania, about what is news.
Today was the day I receive a paper paper. The Patriot News is now published three times a week. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. I pay dearly for it. After this year, probably not. Anyway, someone, don't recall her name, is a blogger about family things, raising kids, etc. That's listed under her bio. A blogger. What the heck. I'm a blogger. I'm sitting here blogging. But I wouldn't tell anyone I'm a blogger.
If people don't pay to read this, it's simply random rantings from a bored not so middle aged cynic. I'm not a blogger.

I haven't posted in quite some time. Well over a year and a half. So much has changed since I last posted. I've become a grandfather twice. I am that much close to retirement. It's funny. I often refer to my retirement as graduation. Like I'll finally graduate from high school. I'm actually working on a new computer. Read. It's the greated thing.

new school year

the beginning of the a school year is always hard. i don't get too worked up about it or anything, but there always seems to be a lot going on. that is compounded by the fact that i also coach golf, and that is time consuming. it's raining today. i don't think we'll have practice. but that's another story for later in the day.

Dehydration

I was clipping coupons this morning, yes, I do that occasionally, and an ad for bottled water, bottled water is a whole other topic, said that 64% of kids go to school dehydrated. Ok, now I have to ask, how do they know this. Seriously, where in the world does that statistic some from? I am from a generation of dehydrated people. If you stopped playing something to get a drink, you were considered a wimp. We didn't get drinks. I just don't understand all this dehydration talk. The brain needs water to think. Sure it does, but I don't ever remember drinking water when I was a kids. We drank milk, soda (occasionally) and ice tea. But really, we mostly drank milk, yet we weren't the obese generation. You would think that we would have been dropping like flies...
that's my vent for today.
Oh, and by the way, don't drink that water in plastic bottles. It's such a waste. Tap water or filtered water is just fine.

I put the link to this on my facebook page. Perhaps it will lead to more readers, but then again, perhaps it won't. I have to ask myself, who cares what I post? The dog is barking at pretty much nothing. I'm headed to church.

July,
Seems school just finished for the year, and here we are nearing the middle of July. Lots of interesting changes, but the most interesting change is that my wife is now at Hershey Medical Center. She works 12 hours days.

We leave for WDW tomorrow.

Final Days of School.

I'm often critical of people who start blogs and then don't keep them updated, so I guess it's time to be critical of myself. Blog you idiot.

We are down to single digits. School days that is. My wife, Stephanie, is leaving the school to take another job at Hershey Medical Center. I think she'll be happy there. I hope so. She'll be working some interesting hours.

I, on the other hand, am still here. I'll be here next year and the next and the next and the next. I think that might be it barring some extreme change in circumstances.

I've come out of retirement to play softball for the church. I am not what I used to be or what I once was. Does that say the same thing. I recall writing about cooper. Cooper turned two this week. We didn't have any celebration. Nothing really could be done, because truly, the term "dog's life" applies to him. What does he do? He lies around all day. He eats and drinks whenever he wants. He has no responsibilities other than lifting our spirits at the end of a long day, licking our faces, making us feel loved, but he does that without effort.

I have to give this year a C+. I wish it would be higher, but during the middle of the year, I took over for Ms. Hamilton, who left to go home to Cape May, NJ, and teach at her old high school. There was some shifting of classes and I didn't really get to know my seniors. By the time I got them, the AP kids that is, they seemed to be suffering from a severe case of senioritis. As of this moment, that is an incurable disease. Anyway, the girl who replaced her, Mrs. Voshell, is wonderful, and I'm pleased to note that she has been given the job permanently. My big decision now is whether or not I want to switch rooms.

The talent show is today.

Wow

I thought of this the other day. I haven't blogged in like forever and here it is, more than a half a year later. Let's catch up. Both kids are now married. Cooper is still cool. I'm still here. I'm teaching AP again because Ms. Hamilton went home to Cape May.

June is busting out all over.

That's a song. I think it's from Oklahoma.

Another year is nearly over. Things have a way of going quickly into the future.

We are watching The Glass Menagerie.

I believe all the characters are supposed to be annoying. I think if I were married to the mom, I'd probably head long distance too. It's truly unfortunate, but I do believe there are quite a lot of people who are like this woman. They live in the past, their past laurels, like the former basketball stars, the former homecoming queens, the former first chair saxophone players, and they fail to recognize that those times are well past, and they neglect living in the present. Who we are isn't and shouldn't be based on what we have done or what we have accomplished in the past, but rather who we are today, today. I believe a lot of our own frustration stems from the idea the we are consumed with things that aren't within our grasp. How hard is it to be content?

Laura was content playing with her glass figures. But is that enough?

It's hot today. It's quite dry. We need rain. We've done some planting, and each night I must water to keep the plants from drying out. I try to water my students to keep them from drying out.

Catching Up

It's been quite a while since I last added anything to this blog. My son is now getting married on August 28. We have been to Costa Rica and back with the Spanish Club. Mr. Wallace is absent today, and I went to the dentist and had a full set of x-rays taken. My head is now fully radiated. The seniors are anxious to graduate. I am anxious for them to graduate and that's no reflection on my feelings for them. I know and they know that their hearts aren't into school all that much anymore. It is supposed to hit 80 today and perhaps 90 tomorrow, the first day of May. I'm sure we'll have some cooler weather before summer, but this is a bit of an appetizer. I still have my two personal days to take, and I don't know exactly when would be a good time. I should probably just watch the weather and use them to play golf. I was thinking about using them to take a quick trip to the condo in Florida, but I suspect that won't happen. I finally traded the 95 Accord on a 05 Nissan Frontier. I love the truck but the gas mileage leaves something to be desired. Currently, I'm only getting about 16 mpg. Thats' not all that good.

Jordan Pesta

Jordan Pesta is sitting watching me type this. He's just discovered my blog.

Spit on

I was reading another teacher's website. He was talking about being spit on by a student and you know, I have seen stuff like that. It's sad. It's sad that I know that.

Snow Days and other stuff.

Snow days. Not much you can do about snow days. Some people had school yesterday to make up one of the snow days from last week. We had an additional snow day because the roads were impassable. So we used all three of our snow make up days. I have had to change my personal days because they won't work out the way I intended. I don't know when I will take them. I certainly like to use them in conjunction with a trip to Florida. When it snows, I miss Florida.

American Chopper.
American Chopper has broadcast its last episode. A family is in ruins. What started out as a father and son working together on custom designed motorcycles is now a father and three sons not speaking to each other, all living in huge homes and driving expensive cars, but none happier for it. I look at the Gosselins, Jon and Kate, now divorced as we watched their marriage fall apart before our very eyes, week after week. Why do people want fame and fortune so much that they are willing to sacrifice everything? Sadly, I fear they live to the level of their income while they have it, but once it's gone, they can't afford the lifestyle they have while the show is popular. so they have their momentary fame and fortune but when it's gone, it's gone.

And sadly, the last show had the old man talking about how he overcame alcohol abuse and went to AA meetings and all that stuff, but it's 25 years and it's done. It seemed sad that he had to tell these guys who are on the payroll, his payroll, about how great he was for having beaten his addiction. What are they going to say? He signs their paychecks, so they're going to tell him what a great accomplishment it is.

Drug Test Kids

If a kid isn't lucid, how can we possibly teach him. I really think that drug testing kids should be considered.

Good Looking People

Good looking people get away with a lot more than ugly people. I watch this over and over. Good looking people, especially women, are given a pass when it comes to bad behavior. I watch girls flirt with guys, old, young, and get away with stuff that other people wouldn't. The down side of that is that I also feel that good looking girls aren't taken seriously for their intellect. But that's another observation.

Cooper is okay. I'm really surprised at how good he has been. He's been leaving his scab alone. My fear was that we'd come home to a bloody mess, but that wasn't the case at all.

There are frogs in Costa Rica that are poisonous. They are pretty but if you touch them you will die. The natives used to use their venom to load their spears to kill their enemies.

I noticed today that a lot of kids are going retro. Some kid had on high moccasins and I was taken back to my days as a young hippie and wore moccasins to school. Isn't it weird how things come back.

I want to get a truck. I don't want a new truck. I just want a truck. A nice truck that will serve a bit as a car. That makes perfect sense to me. I'm afraid for my car. I think it's on it's last legs. Or should I say it's on its last wheels. How about that. I used it's and its in the same sentence and I used them both correctly because I'm an English teacher. That was a song in a musical. I think Music Man.

More Random Thoughts

I wonder what dogs think.

I wonder what cats think.

I think a deer pooped in my back yard. It looks like deer poop though my family is arguing with me. I looked up deer droppings on the internet and it looked like what's in my back yard. It could be deer. There's no fence. The deer could be headed to Walmart or Dairy Queen.

School is half over.

Ok, if we cured all disease, wouldn't that contribute to overpopulation? If someone dies of old age, does that make it a disease.

My wife and I are playing facebook scrabble. We sit in two different rooms of the house and play. Isn't that silly! We own two scrabble games and we play on line in two different rooms of the house.

I hope Cooper is ok. We left him home alone today and he may lick at his scab. I have scratched scabs but I have never had the desire to lick one. Not even a little bit.

Leno, Letterman and Conan O'Brien. Tehy are all mediocre compared to Johnnie Carson. He was truly the king of late night.

Random Thoughts

I watch little Cooper and think about him going under the knife and it bothers me.

I hear things from kids about things kids do. I don't always know what to do with that information. If it's semi harmless, I let it go. If it's important, I deal with it the best way I know how.

I didn't watch It's a Wonderful Life over Christmas vacation. I need to.

I have essays to correct.

Reading student essays may just be the least favorite part of my job.

The mid winter blahs have set in. And it's not even mid winter.

Love is in the air.

wii is fun. I bowled three games last night, played 18 holes, played frisbee with my imaginary dog, jet skied, played ping pong, and shot three point shots. All in an hour and a half.

Happy Birthday Stephanie

Today is my wife's birthday. If you are following this, and I can't imagine anyone with so little to do who would be, you probably realize that my wife had my daughter two days before her own birthday. My wife was still in the hospital on her birthday the year my daughter was born. I, being the loving husband that I am, took a cake in to her to celebrate her birthday. I, being the insensitive lout that I am, didn't realize that she was not wishing to eat cake since she had just shed a ton of weight, 8 lbs, 1 oz. of that was my daughter. The rest was, well, if you had health class, you know what that was. I won't describe.

The other day my wife whipped me in bowling on the wii.

Are we busy? For years, we have developed tools to allow us to have more free time, and so we invented dishwashers and clothes washers and dryers and we don't hunt, we buy food at the supermarket, and we work more and seem to have less money, and we might truly be busier than ever. Isn't that ironic? All of this technology should have made our lives easier, but instead, as it made our lives harder?

Someone let me know the answer. I'm too busy to figure it out.