Cheese!

The eldest twin loves the new camera almost as much as I do. As soon as he sees it in someone's hands, he makes a rush for the shiny lens while squealing, "Cheese!" This has made for more than a few fun shots. Here he is saying "Cheese!"



Typically I am careful to put the camera down out of the reach of little hands, but I had just taken a few shots when my eldest son needed some homework help so I put the camera on the coffee table, confident that I would be right back to it. Minutes later I heard the eldest twin's sweet little voice calling out, "Cheese!" I was sure that I would turn around to the sight of my camera dragging along the floor with high priced pieces trailing behind it. Instead, my boy was busy composing a still life using my camera and his most priced possession, his cup. If he had known how to take off the lens cap, turn on the camera, and push the button, this is the shot he would have taken:


I took the shot for him and showed him the results. He was immensely proud of himself.



Here is a free shot of the twins. The writing on the wall is the product of the eldest twin; whenever he finds a pencil or crayon, he can be counted upon to sneak off and color something. The younger twin (the big one on the right) always brings me crayons and pencils when he finds them so that I can put them away.




Peace
..._

Mid-Week Miscellany: I Couldn't Give That

I teach at a school that attracts a predominantly white, upper-middle class student body. The school has, however, become a bit of a magnet for new Korean immigrants. I teach several of our Korean students, and their efforts to learn American English while trying to fit into a homogeneous and harsh social order has been alternately heart-breaking and humorous to observe. I try to help when I can and one of them in particular comes to me often with questions about the meaning of words and phrases. I have assured him that his eagerness to learn and willingness to ask questions will take him far. The other day he came up to me while I stood in a small crowd of students and asked, "Mr. Chintzibobs, sir, what does it mean to say 'I couldn't give a sh*t'?" It was, as they say, a teachable moment. It turns out he overheard it while listening to a group of teenage girls talking about some guy. I gave him a quick lesson on impolite words and advised him to avoid the gossip of teenage girls if he hoped to learn proper English and if he valued his sanity.


I also have a German foreign exchange student in my US history class. Should I be worried that it might be awkward to teach World War II with her in the room? Maybe I should just leave my Dr. Strangelove impression at home this year.


I don't think I ever updated my many readers concerning homecoming. The students selected as their theme:
A Night at the Oasis: Spend an exotic evening under the stars at a Bedouin campsite; warm yourself by the fire, relax in a Bedouin tent, or whirl like a dervish on the dance floor.

We spent countless hours and $4,800 on what turned out to be the best Bedouin themed homecoming ever! Here are some pictures. You can see many more over at my Flickr page.

We built four 10' x 10' tents out of 2x4's painted a lovely shade named, "cranberry zing."



The roofs were covered with gossamer purchased from Stumps.com.



Because we only expected about 200 guests, we created a small, cozy rectangle in the middle of the gym to create a more intimate space. The rectangle was created with black polyvinyl (again from Stumps.com) stapled to wooden uprights anchored in five gallon buckets filled with concrete. We then placed one tent in each corner.



A dramatic lighted entryway led from an exterior door to the center:


Each tent was decorated with unique imported Indian fabrics (purchased through E-bay), pillows (made from cloth napkins, table runners, and placemats that my wife found for a song), plants from Old Time Pottery, and rugs from Garden Ridge.



Each tent was also equipped with a faux fire (a Chauvet Bob purchased through Amazon.com).


From one tent to another:


Most of the pictures were taken with the lights on; the effect was much warmer when the gym lights went down. The black polyvinyl, which has the appearance in the full light of a massive trash bag day tends to transform into a black void when the lights go off. The night ended up a great success.

Peace
..._

First Picture With My New Camera

Peace
..._

Track Your Shipment: A Modern-Day Torture Device UPDATED

UPDATE: My camera has safely touched down in Atlanta:
November 7, 2008 12:01:00 PM ATLANTA GA US Arrival Scan
November 7, 2008 03:16:00 AM INDIANAPOLIS IN US Departure Scan
November 7, 2008 02:35:00 AM INDIANAPOLIS IN US Arrival Scan
November 6, 2008 09:51:00 PM HODGKINS IL US Departure Scan
November 6, 2008 05:17:00 PM HODGKINS IL US Arrival Scan
November 4, 2008 12:42:00 AM SPARKS NV US Departure Scan
November 3, 2008 09:04:33 PM US Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit
November 3, 2008 07:49:00 PM SPARKS NV US Shipment received by carrier

So, what is it?

Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Black)

I guessI deserve the cross-country tour for selecting free super-saver shipping. And yes, I do track my shipment on average about every two hours. Happy birthday to me.

Peace

..._

Wednesday Miscellany: George Washington is Dead

Yesterday:
Five year old girl to daddy: "Why do Aarrack Obama and John McCain want to be president?"

Daddy: "Well, that is a good question. I don't know. Hopefully, they want to serve the country well."

Five year old girl: "I think it is because George Washington died and someone has to take his place."


In car from church fall festival to Aunt's house for party on Halloween:
Daddy: "Wow! Look at all of the trick-or-treaters."

Seven year old boy: "Daddy, when will we get to go trick-or-treating?"

Daddy: "We'll see."

Seven year old boy: "I hope it is soon because I am ready to see some new faces."

Five year old girl on the ferris wheel with Daddy (both for their first time):




Notes:
The boy and girl did get to go trick-or-treating; they had a grand time. George Washington was one of the few presidents who never did want the job; William Howard Taft was another. Teddy Roosevelt reportedly offered to make him a Supreme Court justice or his chosen successor as president. Taft chose justice. Taft's wife chose president. Taft's wife won. His presidency was challenging and unsatisfactory. Years later he would live his dream as chief justice of the Supreme Court. It is not a typo: my daughter cannot say the "B" in Barack's name.

Peace
..._

Homecoming Themes

My life over the next eights weeks will be taken over by planning for Homecoming '08! The exclamation point is to let you know that I am supposed to be excited about this. As student government advisor, it is my job to supervise some twenty students in the planning and production of homecoming week. That includes homecoming week festivities, homecoming pep rally, court and queen presentation at halftime on Friday, and the homecoming dance on Saturday night. Last year's homecoming almost killed me and had me questioning and cursing every aspect of the American educational establishment. There is something deeply ironic about a man who has attended only one dance in is life (and that only because it was required by the school) having responsibility for planning a dance. Last year's dance ended up a huge success, and it was a great way for me to get to know the students at my new school. True, one almost killed me when a large chunk of two-by-four kicked up from his circular saw, just missing my head, and jammed into a wooden fence twenty feet away. The dent in the fence is a daily reminder my brush with death. Later, the same student gashed his hand with a knife and left a trail of blood across the gym floor. No stitches were needed, and no lawyers were called.

This year could be fun. It will certainly be less stressful. Today my students put together the final ballot of homecoming themes for distribution on Tuesday morning. Once the student body votes on the theme, the real work will begin. I am quite proud of the creativity of this set of students; they have a deep desire to avoid ordering dance-in-box from Stumps.com while creating a unique dance atmosphere. Here is the ballot (I have deleted the school name for the usual reasons):

Homecoming ‘08
1. A Night at the Oasis: Spend an exotic evening under the stars at a Bedouin campsite; warm yourself by the fire, relax in a Bedouin tent, or whirl like a dervish on the dance floor.
2. Winter Wonderland: Winter comes early this year as snow falls on [school name]; think Narnia without the creepy goat man.
3. Bright Lights/Big City: Experience a night downtown among the lights of the towering architectural wonders of New [school name] City.
4. In the Jungle: Jaguars frolic in the undergrowth as macaws and howler monkeys screech in the canopy above; Join Expedition [school name] as they celebrate the discovery of the headwaters of Bobs Creek.
5. Welcome to Area 51: The mysteries of Roswell, NM are revealed for the first time as a UFO crash site becomes the launching pad for the rockingest party this side of Sagittarius.

I am personally hoping for #1 or #5.

Peace

..._

Things They Don't Teach You in Teacher School: #7-10

7. Very little actual planning occurs during pre-planning. For the most part, pre-planning is designed to be such a rigorous, time-consuming week of meeting after meeting that it is a relief when the students finally show up for class.
8. Administrators will discover new and wonderful tasks for you to do each year to enhance the student experience. These tasks will be required and involve either paperwork or e-work. Administrators have all summer to think up these educational enhancements and only forty hours of pre-planning to explain them all.
9. Administrators will never discover that some tasks no longer need to be done anymore because it turns out that the tasks were wasteful and of little worth.
10. Pray for your administrator. There is a reason that there is a high rate of turnover in school administrators. They are required to juggle the competing demands of parents, teachers, the school board, and students. Teachers are typically the first ball to be dropped by administrators under pressure. Don't take it personally.

#1-3 of this list appear here.
#4-6 of this list appear here.

Peace
..._

I Love Herman Melville

Sentences like this one make Melville one of the most beloved of assigned high school readings:

"And the thews of Billy were hardly compatible with that sort of sensitive spiritual organization which in some cases instinctively conveys to ignorant innocence an admonition of the proximity of the malign."

--Billy Budd

My school begins tomorrow. I am teaching US history, AP US history and American literature. I am, in fact, excited about this year.


Also, there is a new edition of the Carnival of Georgia Bloggers here. Read and enjoy.

Peace
..._

Feline Feeling Fine=$170.00

The cat came home from the vet today and is doing just fine.

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany: A Childhood Down the Drain

Today we put our eldest two children on the bus to elementary school. Then my wife took the cat to the vet; the cat is still there. The vet has to have a urine sample before he can diagnose her problem; she has a shy bladder. I asked my wife exactly how one goes about getting a urine sample from a cat, but she could not enlighten me. Our fish, Goldie II, died just a couple of weeks ago, and we hope that the same fate is not in store for our dear Kitty.

The kids, however, did come home. Both of the children had good first days. P, our eldest, had a rough year in first grade so I was surprised and pleased when he told me that it was fun and that he liked second grade. It has been entertaining and somewhat disconcerting hearing the conversations that he has had with his younger sister over the past couple of months. She is starting kindergarten and has been insatiably curious. His answers were generally negative. Fortunately, his negativity had not had too much of an impact upon her, and he has tried to be genuinely helpful to her this week.

4boydad aptly described my more melancholy sentiments concerning the first day of school in the last two paragraphs of a post that hooks you with a very funny story then gaffs you in the gut with the knowledge that you too will one day long to return to the heady days of pulling your little one's precious possessions out of an unflushed toilet.


4boydad's story reminded me of another long-ago Lego lost-at-sea disaster story:
Stephen was one of my worst enemies during my elementary years. He lived directly across the street from me. We would sit on our respective driveways and yell insults at each other. I did it because he was different and everyone else treated him that way. He did it because that must have been the way he figured people talked to each other.

Eventually, at my mom's prompting, we became best of friends. Our friendship was not without its setbacks and conflicts. Early in our friendship I called him over to play in the sprinkler. Almost as soon as I set down the phone I saw him running down his driveway to our front yard where our sprinkler put up a valiant fight against the summer's heat. Strange, I thought, he is fully clothed. He began to undress. Perhaps, I thought, his swimsuit is under his clothes. As soon as it was clear that his swimsuit was not, in fact, under his clothers, he began to frolic in the sprinkling drops with nary a stitch of clothing on his body. My father and my sister looked up slack-jawed from the planting in which they were engaged; we three witnesses were struck mute. I stood back on the driveway, unsure how to handle this unexpected turn of events. We were saved when his mother frantically swooped down the driveway with a towel, scooped him and his clothes up, and returned him to his house. I grew up a little that day; I don't think I ever played in the sprinkler again.

I digress. It was, I think, Stephen who got me interested and then addicted to collecting and building with Lego Bricks and Toys. We became obsessed with categorizing our Lego Bricks as common, rare, or extremely rare. We bartered with each other and begged our parents for the latest set with the latest rare piece. Then came Timmy.

Timmy was the neighborhood Eddie Haskell. He was several years older than Stephen and I. He is the first person I remember meeting when we moved into our new house. He was the one that got me to kiss Sarah. Sarah was his younger sister, and she was my age. He liked to watch us kiss. He told us how the French kissed and suggested that the two us give it a try. He wanted to watch. Sitting on the camping trunk in my parent's garage, we tried it. Timmy was not present. I didn't kiss another girl for many years. Later, a kid named Paul gave me a bloody lip so Sarah slugged him.

I digress. Timmy came into possession of what was, he claimed, at the time, the rarest of rare Lego bricks: a 1x1 clear tile. He talked Stephen into trading several pounds of bricks for it. When Stephen told me about it, I told him that he got ripped off, but I was secretly jealous. He let me briefly look at it, but I don't remember if he let me hold it.

That night, when Stephen went for his evening bath, he did as was his wont: he gathered his favorite Lego bricks and took them into the bath with him. He took the 1x1 clear tile with him. It went down the drain and was never seen again.

When he told me about the tragedy the next day, I grew up a little more. Never again did I take my own Lego bricks into the bath without obsessively worrying about losing one. My paranoia became so acute that I soon gave up taking any Lego into the bath. After that, bathing became just another chore.

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany: Like a Cheap Cigar

Each generation is destined to rise up, challenge, and ultimately prevail over the generation that gave it life, nurtured it, and offered it the world as its inheritance. Each generation finds a new way of challenging the old. It has happened or will happen to many men of my generation in a uniquely humiliating fashion.

Men of my age went to school during the heady beginnings of the digital age. Sure, I took high school keyboarding on an IBM electric typewriter, but a new computer lab was just next door. How can I ever forget the moment when my dad hooked up Pong on a spare TV in the bonus room? When I got home from school I spent much of my time on my Intellivision, my friend's Atari, or, later, a Commodore-64. I took a computer to college. As an adult, I continued playing games, but not as often nor as obsessively as before since the demands of adult living rightfully took precedence over leveling up my Diablo character or building the perfect Sim City.

With delight I introduced the joys and mysteries of gaming to my eldest boy as soon as he was able to hold a PS1 controller. This process was gratifying and ego-building as I, the master, instructed my apprentice in the many ways of defeating a slippery AI or a quick-fingered human opponent.

Two weeks ago my son invited me to play a head t0 head arena battle of Hot Wheels: Beat That! on the PS2. I walked into the room and picked up a controller, wondering, in the interest of avoiding tears, how many time I would have to let him get me before I destroyed him. Thirty seconds later, with the smell of burning flesh and twisted metal rising from my virtual Hot Wheel and my mind still trying to catch up to how in the world he got me, my son informed me that he smoked me like a cheap cigar (had he really learned that from me?). And then came the dance. The victory dance.

Two arena battles later brought no better results. Indeed, after feeling the tell-tale vibration in my controller and seeing my Hot Wheel burst into flame for the fifteenth time, victory was becoming routine for my son. I congratulated him, told him that I was impressed with him, and left the room.

He hasn't said anything to me since then, but I think he knows how big of a moment he just had. Sure, I have let him win past contests, but those victories had always been tempered with the drubbings I gave him before and after his wins. On this day, he had tasted only victory and I, only defeat.

I apologize that I must cut this miscellany short at one item as the kids are in bed and I need to play a few rounds of Hot Wheels Beat That! to figure out how he got me.

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany: Made in China

I took the seven year old boy and the five year old girl camping last month. On the way to the campground we listened loudly to a children's CD by They Might Be Giants. One of the songs, titled "Where Do They Make Balloons?" runs through a catalog of origins for famous products/items and asks:

Marmalade's from Scotland
Rugs from Pakistan
Mexico has jumping beans
And cars are from Japan

Clowns are from the circus
Barking comes from dogs
Eggs come from a chicken
And log cabins come from logs
But where, where do they make balloons? (where)

My son looked over at his sister and said, "I think they are probably made in a factory in China."


My father, the incarnation of preparation and planning, taught me through his example to check your camping equipment before taking it camping. After last year's camping trip left our tent as a worthless pile of broken fiberglass and sodden canvas, he gave us his old one. Two days before we left, I carefully took out the tent and assembled it in the back yard to make sure that I could assembly it by myself and to seal the seams with seam sealer. The next day, I took it down, bagged it, and put it in my trunk, safe in the knowledge that the tent was in good shape, easily assembled, and relatively waterproof.

Once at the camp site, we began the process of setting up the tent only to find that the two fiberglass support members, without which the tent is merely an elaborate, zippered tarp, were still in the backyard, a hundred miles away. At this point a series of errors in judgement on my part resulted in an excursion to North Carolina, a drive down every road in Blairsville, Georgia, and the three of us sleeping in my Corolla.

The next morning my son vomited. We were home by noon.


Because no one signed up to take summer school for history, I have been watching the entire run of Arrested Development at Hulu and trying to keep the kids from killing each other. I have been more successful at the former than the latter.

Today, my five-year-old daughter lost another tooth. Tomorrow we register her for kindergarten. I don't know what to say about that.

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany on a Tuesday

The doorbell rang on Sunday afternoon. In many households, the sound of a ringing doorbell is a cause for joy or hope; perhaps a friend has dropped by unexpectedly or a neighbor wants to chat. In our household, the sound is an ominous death knell. The two "adults" of the house come up with any excuse to make the other adult answer the door: "Could you get it? I'm in the middle of changing the kitty litter." "Oh, I can't get it right now; I'm juggling a chainsaw, three eggs, a butcher knife, and a neutron bomb." "I'm changing a diaper" (this excuse has the added benefit of having a high probability of being true). "I can't come to the door; I'm deep frying a hot dog." This door answering reluctance most likely originates in the first few months after we purchased our "Handyman's Special" home when we were forced to conclude that our house had lived its previous life as a crack house. We came to this conclusion based upon the steady stream of seedy visitors to our front door, apparently unaware that CrackMart had relocated. That and the bag of tiny Ziploc baggies that I found in the attic over the garage, but that is a story for another day.

The doorbell rang on Sunday afternoon, and I, being slow in coming up with an excuse, was forced to greet the unexpected guest. Fulling expected to be handed a copy of the Watchtower, I took a deep breath and opened the door. Two of the neighborhood girls, with expectant and hopeful faces, held out a tray of wares for sale. It was clear they had rehearsed as one of them began, "Could we interest in you in the purchase of some rocks? They are good for display or collecting." I looked down at the tray of rocks. I was pretty sure I recognized some of the rocks that one of them had collected in my own back yard during my garden work. Most of the rocks appeared to be common quartz crusted with Georgia red clay. I stammered a bit before I finally got out, "Well, I don't think we can use any rocks right now, but I wish you the best of luck in your sale." Yes, I know...I am cold-hearted Scrooge and that kind of entrepreneurial pluck should be rewarded, but there would have been something not quite right about buying my own rocks.

Some quotes from my seniors:
Yesterday: "I don't see cheating as wrong; it is just a way to get ahead."
Today: "College is just about having fun."

From a junior US history test concerning Truman:
"He didn't get a lot done in civil rights, but he did demilitarize the army."


Peace
..._

Visit the Georgia Blog Carnival #32

The 32nd edition of the Carnival is up here. It is shorter than normal, but there are some great Spring photos.

Peace
..._

Midweek Miscellany: Four Trees, the Wrong Trousers, and a New Five

It seemed like such a good idea: Plant a tree for each child in our backyard. My seven-year-old son has a silver leaf maple that is now over twenty feet tall. My daughter has redbud that bloomed for the first time last year, but has not grown much lately because of the Georgia drought. I haven't decided which trees will be the twins'. I planted five trees last year, and we will probably wait before assigning trees. Two weeks ago my eldest informed his mom that we can't move until he has grown up and saved enough money to buy our house so he can have the tree. Last week was my Spring Break.

Since my seven-year-old son was not off, I helped get him ready for school each day and walked him to the bus stop. On Thursday I picked out his clothes for him. Something didn't look quite right with the jeans, but we were in a hurry. He came home having had a bad day (he got a red star). His Mom looked at him funny, examined his jeans, and laughed for fifteen minutes. The jeans belonged to his five-year-old sister. I feel like such a heel. I fear that my lack of child-wear savvy was somehow the cause for his red star.

In the true spirit of Miscellany: Some bits concerning my daughter. She has just turned five, which means that she is now in her third year of the terrible twos. She is a sensitive and opinionated child. She has asked me to teach her to read, and she is picking it up very quickly. The flashcards I made for her brother and that he didn't need because he already knew all of the words are coming in handy. A couple of weeks before her birthday, she was setting up her Barbies for a wedding when she realized that something was missing. She asked, "Daddy, are there boy-Barbies?" After telling her that there was such a thing, she asked for a "Wedding boy Barbie" for her birthday. Princess Bride has become one of her favorite movies. In spite of my fumbling attempt to properly raise a girl, she gives excellent and frequent hugs. I look forward each day to the enthusiasm with which she greets me when I return home.

I have shared before some of the unusual google searches that bring people to my blog. Some are slightly icky. Some are funny. Some are so suggestive of a story behind the search that I wish I could contact the person who made the search. Here are some of more interesting recent ones with my comments in italics (I was going to hyperlink each one to each post that it lead to, but I decided that I was much too lazy for something so time intensive):

"going commando school"
"name tag silver magnets"
"jury duty excuse note for teachers"
"changing a child's surname of pumkinhead"
"lego nomenclature"
"does your wife mow the lawn"
"marathon mowing"
"Spring Zephyr"
"how long does Publix keep security tapes"--I really want to know what this person did at Publix to make them so concerned
"letter with curses"
"stomach fat survival"
"goose or pope"--Interesting choice. I favor the pope.
"smartboard hyperbole"--I am probably guilty of a bit of this, but I love my SmartBoard!
"why did I marry a nerd"
"ice age theme of redemption"
"the wiggles get busted for drugs"
"kennesaw mt lord of the flies"--I wonder if the seeker ever found a connection?
"sergent york's achievements"
"what is truett cathy's favorite sport as a kid"
"American English supermarket deli conversation"
"leg braces crippled lover"--Should there be a comma after "braces" or did the braces, in fact, cripple the lover?
"a guy roasting marshmallows on a fire with a tornado"--My personal favorite; I don't know why
"poe, about monkeys"
"tofu grinder"

Peace
..._

The World Is Too Much With Me: A Visit to John's Mountain and Keown Falls

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
--William Wordsworth

Spring Break came early to my school this year. We were off last week, and I was ready for the break. Teaching is a wearying profession. I do not like to gripe about my chosen profession. I chose to teach and, considering the many benefits of the career, it seems disingenuous to gripe about my every little frustration. Too many teachers seem to have received certification in elementary complaining and secondary whining and can see nothing but the dark side of teaching. They poison the staff room and the blogosphere with bitterness, frustration, and anger. I have learned to avoid the AJC education blog and certain other blogs for this reason. At times I have had to avoid certain teachers for fear that I might become, as my former boss put it, "a disgruntled teacher."

Putting that gripe aside for now, the exhaustion that comes with teaching compounds itself with each pointless meeting, failed lesson plan, nasty e-mail. Every day is a five-hour performance and must be one of commanding a captive audience. A teacher can feel his normal happily gruntled self on the road to losing his gruntle. Students perceive this and a break is often the only thing that can stave off disgruntledness.

So I took one day of my Spring Break and went to the Northwest Georgia mountains. Preferring the Northeast Georgia mountains, I have never spent much time exploring Northwest Georgia. Suspecting that they must be feeling my neglect, and desiring to see something new, I conducted about five minutes of intensive internet research and headed up I-75.

Even when trying to get away from it all, I can't stop thinking about finding things for class so I first made a brief stop at a little antique mall in Calhoun (exit 315, turn right and it is immediately on the right). I purchased a Max Boot book, and headed northwest into the mountains.

I ended up parking at the top of John's Mountain. At the end of a long gravel road is the small parking lot, but I had no trouble finding a parking space as I had the only car there. The trailhead lacked any of the typical directions, mileage, trail information, or bear warnings. Instead there is a stunning overlook facing west, a trail that heads south down the ridgeline, and another trail that plunges down the east face of John's Mountain.

As I emerged from my car, I was nearly overwhelmed by the awesome silence. There was no breeze, and even if there had been one, there was not yet any foliage to rustle. I heard not the buzzing of an insect, nor the cry of a bird, nor the sound of far off people. It is at times like these that I am grateful that I do not possess an I-Pod to drown out the awful silence.





There is something that draws us to falling water, and I wanted to get to Keown Falls but was unsure which trail would lead me there. The online guides that I had read were of little help. I knew the falls are to the southeast of the parking lot; one trail heads east and the other aims south. My mountaineering instinct urged me to take the descending east trail, for falls must fall, but my curiosity wanted to follow the ridgeline so I headed south. The geography of John's Mountain reminds me of Kennesaw Mountain without the bloody history. It has the same mix of trees, lichen-covered outcroppings of gray rock, and openness. Eventually, I came upon the head of a stone lion emerging from the mountain. My wife assures me that I am not just seeing things.



The lion puts me in the mind of Wordsworth's The World is Too Much with Us:

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Eventually, the trail strikes east to an arm of John's Mountain, and then ambles roughly north while descending in some mild switchbacks and offering some stunning east-facing overlooks. I came to the conclusion that the trail forms a loop. After about an hour hike, I found Keown Falls. The falls do not carry much mass (and, I read, it tends to dry up in late summer), but the descent is dramatic and the viewing platform provides a nice view.





There is signage at the falls. The Pinhoti Trail passes by and another trail leads down the mountain to another parking area. The signs warn all comers of the mortal dangers of slippery rocks and also confirmed that the trail does indeed loop back to the John's Mountain overlook. Access behind the falls, however, is not lethal. The hike back is. The return loop of the trail ascends nearly straight up the mountain and, though shorter than the other arm of the loop, is much more strenuous.



One of the benefits of hiking on a Friday in early Spring: I saw only one other person on John's Mountain (a jogger) and a family at the falls that had hiked up from the valley. Days like these refresh the soul, clear the mind, and grant the body the true rest of the weary. I need more days like these to get restore my gruntle.

I left John's Mountain and drove south down Furnace Valley, discovered a lovely old CCC camp that is now a Forest Service campground called the Pocket, and a promising trout stream called John's Creek. I shall return again with family and a fishing pole.

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany: Pennies, Epics, and Partisan Teachers

I left school a little early on Friday so I could cash in the high school's Pennies for Patients coins. I fed coins into the CoinStar machine at Kroger for an hour. By the time I was done, my back was aching, my fingers were blackened from many filthy lucres, at least four other CoinStar customers had turned away upon seeing my haul, and $1,320 worth of coins had been donated to Pennies for Patients.

One day, after the 117th time of claiming to be bored, my eldest son was instructed to write a story by his mother. The story concerned an epic underwater battle between a chicken and a spidershark. The sentence construction of the second sentence made me laugh out loud. Here is the entire story for you enjoyment with original spelling and grammar preserved:

1 Day a chicken went under water and rose and sew a spidershark and aimd at the spidershark and hott [hit] the spidershark and the spidershark ate the speer! And back and forth it was. The SS [spidershark] shoot it from it's moth [mouth] soon the SS was dead chicken got a gold metel. The End.

When I first started teaching government I decided to teach the subject as neutrally as possible while attempting to challenge the beliefs of my students. I did not think it would be enlightening to merely parrot those students who agreed with me, nor did I think it would be fair to only attack the beliefs of those students with whom I disagreed. My stance on this generally drives my students crazy. They want to know. Earlier this year a student tried to draw me out by claiming, "You're a liberal. All teachers are liberal, right?" Certainly the most vocal of the teachers at my new school are strong partisan democrats, but I refused to fall into his trap. Early this semester a student asked me why so many people hate Hillary Clinton. I spent about twenty minutes discussing partisanship, politics in America, the history of the Clinton family, and the importance of judging people and issues for yourself. That night she left this comment on the class blog:

I just wanted to say that our discussion today in class gave me a whole new perspective on politicians. Thanks Mr. C!
Last spring, I enthusiastically supported Clinton for president (because I really wanted a woman president) however when I shared my enthusiasm with some of my fellow students and teachers, they showed an immense dislike and maybe even hatred towards the woman. Therefore, I began to falter and came to really dislike her too. I had no idea why I disliked her, but just because everyone seemed to, I did too. They said she was a witch and other bad stuff and so I thought so too, which is pretty shallow. But then again, I only supported her in the beginning because she was a woman.
But after today, I stopped 'conforming' and decided to actually think about some of my beliefs and decisions. Instead of listening to other people's opinions about the person, I've actually started to look into the different policies and beliefs the candidates supported and etc. Hmm, I kind of feel smarter now. :P
Thanks again~

Peace
..._

Fun with the US Senate!

Patiently waiting to be graded, the tests are in my briefcase by the front door. There are times I just want a unit to go on and on because of the simple fact that I despise grading tests and ending a unit means giving a test. My unit on the legislative branch finished up this week; in this case I didn't want the unit to end because it was so much fun.

We started with a screening of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I used to be nervous before showing Mr. Smith as there was no way to know how students would respond to it. One, it is old. Two, it is in black and white (every time I show it a student blurts out in the first ten seconds in a voice of painful despair, "Is this in black and white?"). Third, it is about the U.S. Senate. Fourth, it has moments of such unflinching patriotism as to seem propagandistic by today's standards (in fact, Frank Capra would go on to direct the Why We Fight series for the War Department during World War II). After a few showings, I now know how students will respond: the majority of the class always ends up liking it, some students end up loving it, a few are bored to tears, and the entire class is disappointed at the abrupt ending (according to IMDB, the ending was cut down after a test screening).

Now that the movie had inspired the students, we went to my week-long senate simulation. This was only the second time I used this simulation, but I was encouraged that a plurality of the students agreed when a student asked, "Why can't we just keep doing this?" In retrospect, I suppose that could have just been a implicit criticism of my lectures.

The last major activity of the unit involved exploring Thomas. Thomas is the searchable Library of Congress database of legislative activity. I found it by accident while exploring the official website of the US Senate. On a whim and utilizing my SmartBoard, I took my students to Thomas and searched for the legislative records of John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. My students found the results shocking.

Hillary Clinton has sponsored or cosponsored 152 pieces of legislation this term.
Barack Obama has sponsored or cosponsored 113 pieces of legislation this term.
John McCain has sponsored or cosponsored 37 pieces of legislation this term.
On the surface, my students concluded that it looks like Clinton is a serious legislator and McCain is a no-show. Then they read through the bill summaries.

My students concluded that:
Clinton is a legislative lightweight, sponsoring bills such as
S.CON.RES.10 : A concurrent resolution honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 98th anniversary.
S.CON.RES.26 : A concurrent resolution recognizing the 75th anniversary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and commending recipients of the Purple Heart for their courageous demonstrations of gallantry and heroism on behalf of the United States.
S.CON.RES.27 : A concurrent resolution supporting the goals and ideals of "National Purple Heart Recognition Day".
S.RES.20 : A resolution recognizing the uncommon valor of Wesley Autry of New York, New York.
S.RES.92 : A resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of soldiers of Israel held captive by Hamas and Hezbollah.
S.RES.176 : A resolution recognizing April 30, 2007, as "National Healthy Schools Day".
S.RES.222 : A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
Obviously, this is a stacked selection and most of these types of bills fall at the top of her list while later bills are much more serious.

My students concluded that Barack Obama was driven by one interest:
S.CON.RES.5 : A concurrent resolution honoring the life of Percy Lavon Julian, a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry and the first and only African-American chemist to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
S.CON.RES.25 : A concurrent resolution condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society.
S.CON.RES.44 : A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that a commemorative postage stamp should be issued honoring Rosa Louise McCauley Parks.
S.CON.RES.46 : A concurrent resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month.
S.RES.133 : A resolution celebrating the life of Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson.
S.RES.268 : A resolution designating July 12, 2007, as "National Summer Learning Day".
S.RES.383 : A resolution honoring and recognizing the achievements of Carl Stokes, the first African-American mayor of a major American city, in the 40th year since his election as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.
These are the first seven items on Obama's list. Like Clinton, he sponsored more serious legistation later in the term, but "National Summer Learning Day?" What?

Finally, my students concluded that despite McCain's relatively small sponsorship of bills, McCain is a serious legislator.
S.32 : A bill to reform the acquisition process of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes.
S.83 : A bill to provide increased rail transportation security.
S.84 : A bill to establish a United States Boxing Commission to administer the Act, and for other purposes.
S.85 : A bill to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to clarify that territories and Indian tribes are eligible to receive grants for confronting the use of methamphetamine.
S.86 : A bill to designate segments of Fossil Creek, a tributary to the Verde River in the State of Arizona, as wild and scenic rivers.
S.166 : A bill to restrict any State from imposing a new discriminatory tax on cell phone services.
S.192 : A bill providing greater transparency with respect to lobbying activities, and for other purposes.
S.327 : A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of sites associated with the life of Cesar Estrada Chavez and the farm labor movement.
According to my students, even serious legislators have to occasionally sponsor light legislation like S.327.

As we were wrapping up the discussion, I told my students that light legislation is the bulk of legislation proposed by our esteemed members of Congress. They were genuinely angry and disappointed that so much time is wasted on feel-good resolutions. I a fit of hyperbole I assured my students that I was sure that some Congressman had introduced a bill glorifying the chili dog. They challenged me so I turned to Thomas, confidant that something would turn up. No dog, but this bill on chili, reproduced in whole for your enjoyment:

101st CONGRESS
2d Session
H. J. RES. 465
To provide for the designation of chili as the official food of the United States of America.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 30, 1990
Mr. INHOFE introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
JOINT RESOLUTION
To provide for the designation of chili as the official food of the United States of America.
Whereas chili is an indigenous American cuisine that was created, refined, and approaches perfection only in the United States;

Whereas chili enjoys a universal popularity throughout the width and breadth of this great land that is unequalled by other American foods;

Whereas chili is a succulent, distinctive blending of meats and spices that has economically nourished countless millions of Americans since its historic inception in the nineteenth century;
Whereas chili's composition encompasses the best ingredients and hospitable traditions of the varied cultures that have been blended in the American melting pot experience;

Whereas chili's acclaim transcends America's regional and ethnic culinary favorites;

Whereas chili is a truly egalitarian cuisine whose vast popularity prevails with American people of every economic and social strata, unifying gastronomes and those with more proletarian palates as its devotees;

Whereas chili embraces the highly individualistic traits of America's heritage through its infinite varieties, highly personalized blending of ingredients, and many adaptive uses;

Whereas the state of the art of chili preparation has been signifcantly advanced in recent years through the phenomenal growth of a stimulus for culinary excellence known as chili cookoffs, which are unique, convivial festivals held in every State of the Union that often raise many thousands of dollars for deserving charities as an ancillary benefit;

Whereas chili is a definitive food whose hearty, committed character embodies the robust and indomitable American spirit; and

Whereas in view of the foregoing facts and of precedent whereby other appropriate national symbols of history, culture, and patriotism, such as the bald eagle, the rose, the Star-Spangled Banner anthem and the Stars and Stripes flag, have been declared official representatives of Americana: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That chili be designated as the official food of this great Nation and that the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to commemorate this designation with appropriate celebrations throughout our land.

Note: Congressman Inhofe spelled "siginifcantly" wrong, and Blogger doesn't know how to spell "Barack" or "Obama."
Peace
..._

The 30's and 40's in Color

I came across the Library of Congress's Flickr account today. I was already aware of their significant online collections, but I was astounded at the quality of pictures they have posted on Flickr. They have two collections: News in the 1910s and 1930s and 1940s in color. The color photographs are a beautiful melding of historical content, rich color, and the photographic arts. Color photography was fairly rare during that period, and these offer a stunning mirror of that lost time. The photographers appear to have been more than snapshot takers; many of the pictures rise to the level of art.


The below woman aircraft worker (1942) speaks for itself:

The above photograph is one of my favorites. It is At the Vermont State Fair1941 by Jack Delano. From the matching sets of dresses to the boy in the middle who seems to need to go the bathroom, it is a lovely vignette. I find it interesting that everyone in the family is looking in a different direction as though trying to figure out where to go first, or perhaps waiting for dad and no one notices the photographer. Is the lady in black pregnant with the eighth?


I encourage you to go there, but be warned that there are over 3,000 photographs and you may spend more time there than you intended.



Peace
..._

Snow Days

We had snow on Wednesday evening and Saturday. It was my daughter's first snow, and she had a grand time. My eldest son claims to remember making footprints in the snow when he was two; it's quite possible he does.

We:

Made a snowman

Had a snowball fight

Played orcs and kings (I was the king)

Caught snow on our tongues

Had a child fall on the sidewalk and acquire a bloody knuckle and a knot on his forehead (the youngest twin)

Had hot chocolate

Froliced until our faces were red and our fingers were numb

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany:

Is there any better time for teaching high school government than right now? I didn't think so.

On the first day back from the break I surveyed my honors and college prep government classes. Of the thirty students, five were planning on voting for Ron Paul. No other candidate received more than one commitment. Paul has had a surprising resonance with the young. Part of it has been powerful grass roots involvement of his supporters on the internet. I will not dare to speculate on other reasons for his followers among the young.

I have been busy working on a blog that I created for my honors government class. You can go and check it out here if you wish. It is the first time I have attempted a class blog; my previous school blocked any and all blogs and well as most of the rest of the internet. Now that I have access and a subject that lends itself to the immediacy of the internet, I couldn't help but give it a try. My students are required to read it weekly and to post a comment to any post that begins with "For Discussion." So far it has been a useful tool.

While working on my government blog, I looked up the term "blowback" to determine its exact etymology and connotation. I came across this definition at Dictionary.com (emphasis mine):
Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English
Main Entry: blowback
Part of Speech: n
Definition: an unintended adverse reaction or effect from an action or cause, especially political
Example: The blowback of Bush's ill-made decisions will last for many years.
Etymology: 1968
Usage: also written blow-back
Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

The example given by the editors at Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English provided my class with a nice example of the prevalence of bias. Whether accurate or not, the example is a politically charged one and has no place in dictionary.


During a lecture today on the Spanish-American War, I exclaimed, "Butcher Weyler didn't get sent to Cuba to sell rump-roasts to the locals; he came with a mandate to put the Cubans in line." I don't know why I said it, but I did. My students gave me hard time about it and were convinced that I spent some time thinking about and planning the line. I didn't, but I made a note of it for next year.


My eldest son turned seven this past weekend. Happy Birthday son. Here he is firing off the new Nerf-type Bazooka he got for Christmas.



Peace
..._