okay, I'm so over the bachelor

since reality steve let it be known that vienna wins.

BLEGH. She's horrid. Really Jake? What were you thinking?

So over it.

Okay, I'm taking Meg's suggestions for a new show to be obsessed with. Any others?

parking ticket g-chats

evs: "Just pay the parking ticket. Don't be so outraged. You're not a freedom fighter in the civil rights movement. You double parked."

woodbrook: the internet is where productivity goes to die.

k8: job interview in wenatchee!

barnes: can i please move to the Italian alps and do this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8466333.stm

gretzky: dear reality steve, will you marry me? love, gretzky

taft: just found out the wedding caterer's commercial kitchen burned down last week

i was trying not to be addicted to caffeine, but i've been kinda like hoops and yoyo recently....

don't punch a shark in the nose, just in case

you find yourself in dangerous waters. Also more excellent survival tips here.

"I can't believe that was Colin Farrell" - k8

"Where'd all those songs come from?" - Jeannie

"Life, unfortunately." - Bad



I liked this movie. It's hopeful. And real. And has one of my favorite songs of all time. If you can guess it, you get uber points.

don't play what's there. play what's not there. - miles davis

sleeping wallace

wallace was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired from the dog park but he still manages to wag his tail when I say hey.

i smell a rat - patty griffin

You should go to the NPR First Listen until the 26th and hear Patty Griffin's new album, which is AWESOME.

Also, so is this rendition of Mary she does with Natalie Maines:

um, my boss got me addicted, I swear

Because I do not know how to take a break, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to watch 2 hours of television a week.

For real. And I figured a stupid reality show might be good, because I can watch it and think

1) There are some really bizarre people in the world
2) Life is so much less dramatic than fake TV
3) My life is pretty good, let's be honest

My boss talked me into this one because she needed somebody to talk about it with.

So far I think he's pretty dumb (really, a rose for Roslyn? what was he thinking?), there's a couple good women but mostly not so interesting ones, and I really don't know if I can stand any more squealing women throwing themselves at Jake.

So I might not be really addicted and have to switch shows.

Here's a poll: Which dumb reality show should I watch?

"Those are snazzy pants." - Pete

"Thanks." - Gretzky

"No, I mean it. Those are great." - Pete

"Thanks-I've-gotta-go-to-work-now-but-it-was-nice-seeing-you-and-Mollie-hope-the-rest-of-the-day-is-great-Bye!" - Gretzky

"Okay, bye, those are great pants!" - Pete, as he walks back to his house.

Um, I was about to go inside my house, wearing my favorite pair of teacher pants, orangey tweed trousers with a crease down the middle from an Ann Taylor clearance rack 6 years ago for $15.99, and Pete crossed the street from his house with his dog Mollie to say that they were snazzy. It was kind of awkward.

"income levels should not inhibit the ability to attain higher levels of education."

- from Economic Policy Institute Snapshot, 10/12/2005.

to what extent does gender bias play in liberal arts college admissions?

The US Commission on Civil Rights is looking into it....

i don't believe in tracking

thanks to Jeannie Oakes and Aspen Institute. I mean, I didn't really believe in it before I read these things, but now any kids I might have of my own are screwed for sure, because I'm pretty sure the entire education system needs to be revamped.

I'm just saying.

I know people will think, oh, that Gretzky, she's crazy, but I really mean it:

I do not believe in tracking.

In practice, what this means:

I do not believe in AP classes, honors classes, Special Ed specific classrooms, or Bilingual ed specific classrooms.

I think every single kid in every single school in the country can achieve, and I believe they do it better when we don't classify them as "honors" kids, "ESL" kids, or most harmfully, "those" kids. I believe the way we track kids is leftover as a legacy of setting up institutions unfairly, and I believe it's wrong.

In a country where every kid is entitled to a free education, I believe there should be no private schools. I think it's criminal that one kid, because their parents can pay for it, can access an excellent education, while another kid, whose parents cannot afford it, is stuck in a neighborhood school that will not prepare them successfully for work or life.

I used to believe in these things. I used to think they were good for my kids, the kids I taught. I thought that these things might help one or two of my kids succeed, go to college, have a future.

I've changed my mind. I think I was trying to convince myself that there were ways for my kids to work the system, that they too could do anything and be anybody, and now I'm at the point of just saying, fuck the system, it's not working out well for anybody.

Should you disagree with me, and I have no doubt many will, I recommend addional reading before you give me your opinion:

Jonathan Kozol
Karen Chenowith
George Theoharris
Lisa Delpit
Herbert Kohl

"When the song of the angels is stilled,

when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace...to make music in the heart."

- Howard Thurman, American author, civil rights leader, and theologian, 1899 - 1981, via K8

"match.com pays for itself in a month." - Ringo

"I was thinking about doing match just for free dinners." - Cowboy

"A girl's got to eat." - k8


I know, I know, I said I was done.

I lied. I mean, this kind of stuff doesn't exactly work on the toj blog, which is supposed to be holy and spiritual and all that jazz.

But don't expect something every day, okay? Let's go with the 2009 motto of no expectations here.

Happy New Year peeps!