Who is your favorite Botwin?

Who is your favorite Botwin? I love the whole Weed's cast.  Mary Louise Parker is an excellent actress. I mean who else could put their children in such danger and still be believable as a loving mother?  Uncle Andy is the eternal child.  He is so much fun and he is always falling for women that are kind of nuts.  He throws out his little gems of wisdom to the boys and yet he doesn't seem to be able to follow the path of wisdom for himself.  Shane is brooding,dark and super smart. He follows no moral code.  Silas is cute and a lot smarter than he thinks he is. Silas definitely knows right from wrong and tries to keep everyone from being arrested.  Little Stevie will probably get back into the family soon.  His crazy aunt has him for now-but you know that Nancy will get him back soon.  I guess my favorite is Andy- he is so lovable and yet a man-child.  He reminds me of someone I used to know that was always smoking pot and coming up with schemes to make money.  I am pretty sure that sucker is totally fried by now. That is the only unrealistic part of Andy's character. No one that smokes that much pot could possibly still be functioning at his age.

My Daughter and I watched the whole series again this past summer and laughed so much.  If you have never seen it you should give it a try. 

We are so hoping for a return of Conrad and Celia.  We also hope there are more episodes coming with Heylia.  She is one bad ass pot grower!

Emma Stone Shines!

I just saw "The Help" and it was really great. I loved the book and couldn't wait to see the movie.  I love Emma Stone.  She was great in "Easy A" and "Crazy, Stupid Love".  She has hit the big time in this movie.  She is the perfect actress to play Skeeter.  As a teacher- I wish that all of my students would see this movie.  I don't think very many kids have any idea what the south both pre and during the civil rights movement.  The little girl that plays May Mobley is just adorable.  Minnie and Abilene are show just the right mix of strength and obedience.  I highly recommend this movie.  I cried and laughed hysterically, while also being appalled at the hypocrisy of the aristocratic south.

who stole Brer Rabbit?

Today is a sad day in Eatonton, Georgia. Someone stole this statue of Brer Rabbit from the Uncle Remus museum.  I guess they thought they would melt it down and make some money on the scrap metal.  Guess what- it is made of iron and isn't worth anything.  The natives are very angry at the theft.  I kind of think it is about time to get rid of this remnant of the segregated south.  As a child this story always made me uncomfortable- so relax Eatontonians-maybe this loss is going to bring you out of the 50's and into the 60's and civil rights! 

Silence of the lambs

It is that time again. Yes, the dreaded back to school.  We teachers lead a truly schizophrenic existence.  You go,go, go on the treadmill throughout the school year only to settle in for 8-10 weeks of complete relaxation during the summer.

 By the way, kudos to Matt Damon for sticking up for his mom and other teachers recently during a Save our schools Rally at the white house.  If you want to understand the problems with education check out Waiting for Superman On Demand or Net Flicks.  There is no easy solution to the problems with failing schools.  But cutting the fat at the top of the ladder in the county office is the best place to start.  Other good ideas are getting very strict on discipline, getting rid of no child left behind, making parent involvement mandatory, starting ethics training in elementary school and making the firing of a poor teacher(the lemons) possible.

Good teachers spend almost as much time out of the classroom in preparation of lessons and grading papers as they do in the classroom.  Good teachers think of new and creative ways to deliver their subject matter, no matter how long they have been teaching.  There are so many hoops that the idiots in the county office want teachers to do -just to justify their own, higher paying job.  Why should you be paid more to work in the county office?  I mean you don't have any face time with students, you sit at a desk and think of crap to make teachers do that will supposedly enhance their teacher skills.  Guess what- you rarely learn  anything that is truly eye- opening.

Why do we sit at meeting after meeting during preplanning and do all the stupid exercises that are supposed to get us to delve into the minds of our students? We just sit there and take it. A faculty meeting should be a place where discussions take place and ideas are shared among the faculty.  As a lamb of the faculty you have to sit there and be quiet and wait for the the slaughter (or else).  One meeting I had this week actually had an activity that required some of us to "cross the river".  We were in a science lab room and were not allowed to touch the floor with our feet while going from the front to the back of the room.  I raised my hand and said- "I have an AARP card- do I really have to do this?"  Afterwards the idiot gym teacher, that got demoted for sexually harassing a parent, made fun of the women and how their titties and asses were hanging out all over the place while they were crawling over the tables.Why do we just sit there and take it?  There is such a culture in schools.  You are constantly treated like children and if you disagree you become the non- team member and therefore you learn to just close your mouth and go with the flow.  Isn't that what went wrong in Nazi Germany?  Think about it!

Happy Tail

I apologize for my angry rant yesterday. I have nothing against Jewish transvestites, I just was making a point about how ridiculous and particular some democrats are. You have to be so careful not to step on any one's toes that you can't gain anymore progress.  I just have a general disdain for most of our "law-makers".

On a happier note.  I just saw the film with the boater that came upon a humpback whale and got in the water with it because it was dying.  They realized that it was caught in a net and they freed it with a tiny knife over the course of an hour or two.  (somehow they had a camera filming this!) 

Anyway when the whale was free, it breached the surface at least 40 times.  The only possible explanation for this was sheer gratitude for the people that freed him from the net.  I have been to Alaska and followed some humpback whales. They typically don't breech very often- not alone 40 times within a short period of time.  Maybe humans aren't the only animals that can express their feelings.

I absolutely don't believe in the the right to human dominion over the earth. That is the the kind of thinking that will take us to the place where most of the organisms that have ever lived on this planet have gone- extinction!  I also am optimistic and I believe that we have the smarts to avoid this catastrophe.  The tail of a whale can teach us a very important lesson.  Humans can't survive on this big blue marble alone.  In fact- we can't even survive without bacteria. 

So dumb asses in congress- the next time you want to pass a bill that prevents the exposure of endangered species, attached to a "solution" to the "debt ceiling"- please think my of  humpback whale story!

WTF- Debt ceiling!

OK- we are approaching the deadline for the point at which all us regular people are going to suffer from another financial setback that is completely preventable but because of the stubborn assholes that run our government will probably cause our retirement funds to tank yet again.  I am so sick of this bullshit. I want to retire next year and do something else with my life but I will probably be forced into waiting it out a little longer to allow my money to come back from the brink.  Did anyone see the Too Big to Fail documentary?  Remember that happened during the last of Bush's reign when the Democrats controlled congress!

Why do these A- holes continue to waiver?  Because they all have money and can afford to sit on the fence pretending to have their stupid "principles".  And I am going to say it the truth is- there are people that look at Obama and can not make any concessions because they can not compromise with black man. Racism is the heart of all the bull shit going on the last 3 years. The tea party is one faction that will not commit to compromise.  They were elected by the same dumb asses that do not believe in evolution or global climate change.  Let me tell you pricks something- we have had debt for a very long time and wars are the biggest reason we are in debt. Yes there are intitlement programs that absorb a great deal of money and these programs do need reform. The only way that we will not be in debt is to tax the rich.  It just makes sense.

Don't get me wrong- the democrats are just as bad.  They spent years wasting time when they had both houses of congress and they didn't accomplish much. They are the biggest bunch of wimps I have ever seen.  I was watching Bill Maher two weeks ago and he had Marc Maron on and he basically called out the Dems because they are the biggest bunch of babies.  You can't do anything without including all factions.  "OMG- you forgot to include the Jewish transvestites in your last campaign raiser- apologize or the blue states won't elect you!"

I am so over this posturing.  We need a government that can govern in due time and compromise and make laws that are necessary to please the majority of the people.  Donald Trump is not the majority- but there are a lot of stupid idiots living in trailers that love him- Why?

I believe in my heart that our president is trying very diligently to bring us out of the mess we are in. I don't agree with everything he does-but I believe he has a good heart and he can feel the pain of the middle class and poor people.  I hate the lobbyists and the hold they have over our congress.

A-holes in congress, please listen to the "little people" and come up with a plan for our budget!  I personally have worked hard for almost 30 years and someday want to be able to actually have the money I saved in order to retire!



***PS- I do not harbor any angst against people that have trailer- homes.  Your personal income may force you to buy or rent a low- income dwelling but you really shouldn't admire people that are super wealthy and pay a much lower percentage of their earning in taxes- does that make sense to anyone out there?

Fathers

I was fortunate to have the greatest daddy.  He passed away on Christmas eve of 2007 and was in very bad health for six years before he passed away.  Yesterday I went to my best friend's dads funeral ( Mr. B).  He was buried on my dad's birthday and my dad passed away on Mr.B's birthday.  I was very impressed with all of Mr. B's accomplishments.  He was a wonderful father of four very accomplished children and also had  four terrific grandchildren.  He was a retired  career military officer.  He was very religious and instilled his core values with love instead of terror. 

My Dad was the same. He was very religious and he had a tough upbringing during the depression.  He really raise his mother and his mom and dad divorced in the 1930's- which was practically  unheard of at that time. His mom was an alcoholic and he and his sister learned early how to fend for themselves. He turned to sports and was a top high school athlete playing football, basketball and baseball.  He played football against George Blanda at a neighboring high school.  I believe George Bland holds the record for the oldest pro football player.  Those coal- miner kids came from very tough stock.

My dad turned 18 on July 27, 1945 and enlisted in the army.  He fortunately went through basic training and was about to be shipped off to Japan, when the war ended and he was among the first Americans to go to Hiroshima and witness the devastation caused by a hydrogen bomb. He served his 2 years and was about to reenlist to go to Korea and decided to come home and go to college.  That was a fortunate choice because all of his army buddies that went to Korea did not return.

He became a teacher and later a guidance counsellor.  He worked on developing schedules for a high school that had 600-700 students per class and before the computer he did all the schedules by hand.  His students loved him as did my sister and I.  He was a really loving parent. Just as he took care of his alcoholic mom, he also was charged with caring for a schizophrenic wife. He had a good heart and even though he could have left the dysfunction, he stuck it out. 

During the last six years of his life, I watched him deteriorate.  He maintained a positive attitude and I came to visit him as often as I could. I treasure the time I got to spend with him and I learned so much about his childhood and his inner thoughts.  We had fun together and I called him every day.  I miss his voice and a really miss that cheering greeting I got each day.  I have no one that I can call every single day, that wouldn't get sick of hearing my voice. He was the greatest and I was so lucky to have one parent that treasured my existence.

We threw him a party when he turned eighty and one of his former students came up to me and said- your dad saved my life.  He explained he was lost in high school and was about to enlist to go to Vietnam.  My dad looked at his grades and convinced him to go to college and he became a high schoolteacher and coach.  He said that none of the guys he knew that went to Vietnam came back.  My dad let him know he believed in him and also saved him.

Mr. B and my dad lived separate but similar lives.  Mr. B was black and had to overcome growing up in the south before civil rights.  His children harbor no grudges towards anyone for this.  My dad raised two accomplished girls that survived our childhood ordeals and also each raised daughters that are really terrific kids also. 

Bless you Pop-pop and Grandpa B!!!