Jimmy Neutron Meets Macbeth

Doesn't that just figure. One week after school gets out the Macbeth episode of Jimmy Neutron comes out on iTunes. Darn the luck. The episode cracks me up. Jimmy wants the lead role so that he can kiss Lady Macbeth. Hehehe. This works on so many levels.

Semper Fi

It's Memorial Day 2008. The day when we honor those who serve our country, especially the ones we've lost.

My husband recently returned from an 18-month tour of duty. It was rough, but we are a military family. Military families choose to make sacrifices that others don't understand.

It's always fun when I'm at the university listening to the twenty somethings talk about the uselessness of the military. I wonder how many of those loudtalkers are philosophy majors. I don't argue back much. I made a decision long ago to let reality handle those who know not what they say.

The Self Licking Ice Cream Cone

Allow me to introduce you to the concept of the self licking ice cream cone--a person, persons, committee, organization etc. that exists solely to perpetuate itself. Hmmm.

If you see one of these sinister creatures, run for your life. Have a purpose; don't be a cone!

3rd Annual Power Lunch

It's the Power Lunch today. I love this initiative. It makes me sad that it's likely going away.

A Bully is...

A bully is an insecure person.
A bully tries to rule by fear because she has nothing else.
A bully makes everything personal.
A bully can't handle a mirror.
A bully is not respected.
A bully is the master of her own undoing.

The Know Everythings

One of the conflicts that Huck Finn had trouble reconciling was the hypocrisy of those in charge. For instance, the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons had nice houses, wore nice clothing and even went to church where they listened to sermons on the importance of brotherly love. Nonetheless, the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons still owned slaves and shot each other to bits at any given moment. At one point, Huck even hid in a tree and watched his friend Buck get gunned down.

As Huck floats his way down the Mighty Misssissippi he becomes more and more disgusted by the behavior of the adults who put their own agendas before all else. The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons wanted things their own way as did the Duke, the Dauphin, Pap and others. By the end of the story, Huck knows that headin' for the territories is his only path away from the hypocrite world of the adults who pretend they know what's best.

Learning from a Fly

OK. So, I'm talking to my sophomores today about Sir William Golding's Lord of the Flies, and we got onto the topic of how Ralph smashed that pig skull. My students, who are awesome, were able to surmise that smashing the skull symbolized the hope that good can still rise up in the face of outrageous evil. So true. Evil, in any of its many forms, will never overtake the human spirit. Tut tut, pig-head, you won't win!

The Puritan Work Ethic

The New York school year is long. We won't be completely out of the building until 6/26. With a little more than four school weeks left I am in a constant state of being clenched. My beloved seniors are in the process of going on their mock interviews. I want them to do well, but I'm always worried about any unforeseen complications.

I've seen how these interviews can transform students. All of them deserve this experience.

Today one of my students came to see me before he went on his interview. I like talking to the students before they leave. They are excited, nervous. They look so nice all dressed up. The student who came to see me today told me that he borrowed clothes for the interview. I smiled and told him that he looked great.

I don't think he realizes it, but he made me very proud in that moment. He had a commitment, and he made good on it. He didn't complain. He didn't tell me that he couldn't do it. He just did it. He found a way to make things happen. He's a good boy with a good work ethic, and I know that he will have success in his life. Well done.

Jealousy the Motivator

So I'm walking down the hallway last week and I stumble upon two pockets of crying whispering girls. After a teeny amount of investigation I discovered that somebody said something to someone who didn't like having people say things about her. I did some quick calculating and realized that somebody was jealous of somebody else.

In teenager land, jealousy often leads to mean acts and hurt feelings. In adult land, jealousy is a powerful motivator that leads those afflicted to commit acts that damage more than just the intended target. Great authors remind us of this human shortcoming in some of our greatest novels and dramas. Gene Forester jounced Finny from the tree and ruined his Olympic dreams; Jack Meridew took his hunters away from the tribe and turned into a ruthless tyrant; Abigail Williams set into motion a chain of events that sent the man she loved to the gallows.

If literature teaches us one thing it's that jealousy fuels the weak and the insecure. It also shows us that those who strike out because of jealousy don't possess the self awareness that causes a normal person to take responsibility for his or her own actions. Instead, these sad souls simmer in their self righteous stew and plug on not realizing that the good guy, in reality or in spirit, always wins.

Holden was right; the world is full of phonies.

Punishing Success

One of my favorite students of all time told me recently that his college housing aid was cut because of a scholarship that he won. His mom is doing everything in her power to get the aid re-instated. I hope that she is successful. I've never understood the institutional practice of punishing success. People who work hard, do well, and otherwise positively impact the world deserve the benefits that their success brings.

Psycho Girls

Don't you just love power hungry females with their own takes on what the truth is? Hmmm. A few too many of those roaming the streets and buildings.

Sy

It's a Sy weekend at the Krieger house. He's having a WII tournament tonight. Boys are so easy to entertain. I should have asked Liza to make an extra batch of brownies; I guess I'll have to make some myself. Liza is a sweet brownie maker.

We're proud of Sy. He got accepted to every college where he applied: Cornell, Boston University, UVA, UCLA and USC. He's going to USC. He's worked so hard for so many years. He deserves his rewards now.

Saturday Night Fever

I wish I could dance like John Travolta.

Super Cool Guy

After Davidson made it into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, Stephen Curry, their amazing superstar player, got 18,000 friend requests on Facebook. OMG! I love this story.

By the way, my sophomores were featured on the WBNG broadcast on Friday night 3/28/08. It made me happy. I'm going to send them all sorts of stuff now.

YouNews TV

I am going to start uploading pictures and stories from the classroom onto YouNews TV. If you're shy, let me know. I think it will be fun; I wonder if they'll feature any of our stuff on their news broadcasts. I posted my first story this morning--it's my soophomores killing Caesar.

Smartboards

I was at a meeting last night and a suggestion was made that all classrooms at U-E should have a Smartboard. I wonder if this would be a good thing. I wonder if all teachers would use the boards. I wonder if the boards are necessary. Would it make our schools like the Jetsons? Hmmm.

Hillary and Barack

It's funny to watch Hillary and Barack pick at each other. They're like crabby 13-year-old girls spreading rumors about each other. They are certainly making things easy for McCain. In case you haven't been watching the news, Barack's longtime pastor has a problem with white people and Hillary has been mis-remembering (aka lying about) her trip to Bosnia.

Power Rangers

I watched an episode of Power Rangers recently. I didn't like it. I long for the old days with Jason, Kimberly, Zach, Trini, Billy and evil Tommy. Pudgy the Pig and Guitardo were the best villains. The original episodes have a campy quality that reminds me of old Godzilla movies. I love the blatant symbolism too. A giant pig consuming things; Green representing evil and anger; A mystical disembodied entity (Zordon) guiding children. Good stuff.

Freaky Japanese Movies

I saw Shutter yesterday afternoon. Possible morals: what goes around comes around, or don't date crazy people. I love this type of movie, not sure why. I also love zombie movies. I think I'll rent that one where all those people are stuck in a mall and the zombies are roaming around outside.

The Vestal Apocalypse

The power went out across Vestal yesterday afternoon and chaos ensued. Stores shut down; movies stopped; traffic snarled. People also got stupid. I was about to exit the Vestal Plaza when suddenly the two cars in front of me stopped. A woman got out of the first car and decided to chat with the person in the second car. As a result, the rest of us couldn't get out. People, honestly, deal with it. A little stress and all common sense goes out the window.