The power of advertising

I had my favorite kind of Friday… good friends, good beer, and good conversation. One of my friends was talking about these new belt buckles that have scrolling screens on them. I have to be honest, I have never heard of these belts and quite frankly, I think it sounds kind of silly! What could you possibly need a scrolling screen on you pants for?! During our conversation of this new fad, we somehow came around to the idea that this would be the new frontier for the personal add. Think about it! What better way to promote yourself and to tell the world what you are looking for in a significant other then to let it scroll across your belt buckle. On Monday afternoons I have 4 high school boys in a social group, and for the adolescent male there is no more important of a venue for communication then with girls. One of my students talked about how he meets girls on my space, another told us that he doesn’t even have to talk to a girl, they just walk up to him and give them their numbers. The story that topped it all though, was my student who got a number from a girl and when he called her, he got some kind of rejection hotline…ouch!!! This all spawned a very interesting discussion about how meeting people online is tricky because a person can…umm… “embellish” the truth! One of the other teachers, who overheard our conversation, illuded to an incident when he thought he met a woman online…however, she turned out to be a he. Seriously, this is a scary proposition… I mean it’s one thing to round your weight down about 10 lbs or paste a picture of your face on a super model’s body, but to lie about your gender!! That is truly a mystery. I have to say this about my job… it’s never a dull moment!!

everything I know, I learned from kindergarteners

I would have to say that my favorite ages are 4-7. At these ages, kids are old enough to do most things independently and you don't have to watch them every second and you can talk with them about things, but they are not yet old enough to figure out that you are old, out of touch, and not cool (this happens around the 4th or 5th grade). Another advantage of this age group is that they are not under the influence of dangerous, mind altering hormones!! 4-7 year olds have not yet learned about the concept of the "inner monologue". Therefore, anything that pops into their young brains will ultimately come out. At this time I would like to present a few scenarios of experiences I have had with my students. For privacy reasons (and so I don't lose my job)the names of my kids have been changed.

1. Scene: walking with "bob" through the library at school to get the other little boy in his speech group. It is book sale day and so there are a lot of books that wouldn't normaly be in an elementary school. We pass a stack of Dr. Phil marriage counseling books. Oh, I should mention that "bob" is in speech therapy because he says 't' for 'k' and 'd' for 'g'... so that would mean the word "cany" would sound like "tandy". To get the full effect of why this is a problem that needs to be addressed I want you say "kitty cat", but substitute any 'k' sounds for 't' sounds. So, as we pass these books, "bob" says, "Miss Bater (remember, 't' for 'k'), it's Dr. Phil...my mommy and daddy have that book!" Wow, this is information that I didn't need to know about his parents!

2. I am playing a game with some 2nd graders where you land on a category and you have to name an item in the category. "steve" land on the category body parts.
Miss Baker: Ok Steve, name a body part.
Steve: My uterus!
Miss Baker: says nothing, but looks like a dear in the headlights
Steve: What is a uterus anyways??
Miss Baker: that's a good question for your mom!

3. Scene: playing UNO with a client, he is 4 years old. My cell phone rings, so I pull it out of my purse to turn it off.
"Bill": Who was that?
Miss Baker: My friend.
"Bill": What is their name?
Miss Baker: my friend John.
"Bill": My dad is called John!
Miss Baker: That's great Bill? What is your mom's name?
Bill: Umm...my mom is called...Honey, that's right! My mom's name is Honey!

Don't take it out on the tree frog

New episode last night! What did you all think? Persoanlly, I didn't think it was the greatest episode. It was interesting, but I don't feel like I really found out any great, new information. I did come to a few conclusions after last night's episode. 1. Sawyer, as good looking as he is, is a jerk. 2. I really don't like Anna Lucia. 3. Syaid is still in the "anger" stage of the grieving process. 4. Since there is no Starbuck's on the island to make them feel better, they all need therapy (good thing there is a clinical psychologist on the island)! 5. There is only one tree frog on the island, and it is really loud! 6. We can say with great certainty that Sawyer was/is not a member of PETA. Did you all notice that the American Soldier that captured Sayid was Kate's dad?! When they were in the truck, the man asked Sayid if he had a wife or children and they showed him looking at a picure... the picture was Kate! So, here are my questions for the week...

1. Is Henry telling the truth about himself or is he an "other"?

2. When the clock hit '0', it flipped through some wierd hyroglyphic looking picutres, what do you think about that?

3. Did the clock re-set itself, or did Locke get the numbers in on time?

4. What was the significance of the whole Sawyer/Hurly tree frog storyline?

Hmmm... deep thoughts!

Where has global warming gone?

So, generally speaking I am a fan of protecting the environment,but I have to admit that deep down I have a secret love of global warming. I know that there are all kinds of possible negative repercussions such as the polar ice caps melting and flooding Canada, but I prefer to focus on the positive! January in Ohio is usually brutal... freezing, gray, and windy. It's the kind of weather that makes someone seriously consider selling all of their possessions and moving to Hawaii. As my mom once said, "it's better to have nothing in Hawaii then a lot of stuff in Ohio." This January however, wass quite pleasent! There were actually some days that required only a light jacket! God bless global warming! Well, all good things must come to an end. Februrary has so far been cold, gray, and windy. Where has my global warming gone?! Perhaps it's giving another unfortuante part of the world respite from the bleak winter. I can feel the winter blahs setting in. I know for my roommate Jessi, the spring can't come fast enough! Perhaps global warming will come back and visit our corner of the world again before the winter is over. Until then, my advice is to get a killer coat... if you have to wear one, you might as well look cute!!

Lost in "Lost"

Ok, so as many of you know, Lost it my favorite show... ever!! I watch the show every week with some of my good friends, we get together for dinner, watch the show, and talk about what we think might be going on! I love reading the message boards to see what crazy theories people come up with and the obscure details that only people with DVR and TIVO can find. So, I though it would be fun to try to post each wednesday on something Lost related!! My questions for this week are
1. What exactly is the black smoke?
2. Are the black smoke and the monster the same?
3. What is it about Locke and Eko that allows them to have such a unique experience with the smoke/monster?

Hmm...things to think about!! Happy "Losting" my friends!