Road Trip Reading

Changes

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:31:00 +0000

The five people who so who actually follow this blog may have noticed that's it has been rather quiet lately. This is partly due to the fact that I've been incredibly busy, but mostly due to the fact that over the last 18 months or so, I've been contemplating some big changes. Those of you who know me personally know that I'm currently working on a a PhD in English Studies with an emphasis in...

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Lessons from Our President

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:27:00 +0000

I originally published this here because it started out as a post about buying Al Capone new books. It got picked up in a trending topic on Twitter last night and I got a couple hundred hits in ten minutes, 3 pieces of hate mail (two were really nasty, but my favorite was "You call me ignorant for keeping my child home and you named your kid Al Capone."), lots of positive comments, and probably...

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Identity, Holden Caulfield, and Flavor Flav

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:08:00 +0000

I think I might just create an Eng 101 assignment around this video.

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No YouTube, I'm Screwed!

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:11:00 +0000

I think I might finally be outed as the teacher who does lesson plans on the way to class and puts everything off until the last minute. So far I've managed to fool people up until this point, but I think I may be in trouble this semester. I just got an email that informed me that one of my students this fall is hard of hearing. It was a very nice email explaining that they are notifying me...

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Things I Can't Say

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:39:00 +0000

So in the interest of keeping the peace, I have to keep my mouth shut this weekend. I've realized this is slightly easier with a baby because I can hide in a back room while pretending to nurse, rock, or just "check on" said baby. Here are some of the things I've thought but couldn't say in the last 24 hours. Clearly being retired is so much more work than being a grad student with a baby. ...

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Twilight Irony

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:43:00 +0000

When I went to buy the second book in the Twilight series for my book group, this is what I found on the display. Leave it to a "lost" book to explain the meaning of vampire metaphors.

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Patron Saint Cake

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:39:00 +0000

I may have to name all of my children after saints who also have their own brand of liquor. Al Capone* is being Christened this weekend and we are having a party. Every good party needs desert. Enter St. Brendan's Irish Creme Cake. We discussed using the bottle as a baloon weight, but decided that might be a little much. Our first child will grow up with a Patron Saint Cake. 1 (18.255...

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Confessions

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:05:00 +0000

I never realized how anti-censorship I was until I realized how much age (in)appropriate material we give our own child. Here's this week's list: I read Harry Potter 1 and 4 aloud to him last week.Last Friday, we had a prolonged discussion (okay more of a lecture) about road trip metaphors. Rakicy read Once a Runner to him. New words include: bastard, shit, etc. I told Rakicy to turn on the...

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Paradox

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:49:00 +0000

I'm toying with the idea of taking my blogs down for a while. Theoretically, I could just not publish anything, but I'm actually thinking that I might just move them all to password protection and not give anyone the password. I started blogging with the idea that among other things it would also give me a place to express my feelings. This was more true with the baby blog than this blog, but...

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Not my Hero...

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Last night was our last childbirth class, and the last hour was supposed to be devoted to teaching relaxation techniques. I'm actually a fan of relaxation, but last night wasn't exactly what I would call relaxing. Here's why... Having very pregnant women lay on a concrete floor (okay, I realize this can't exactly be helped) is never really the pinnacle of relaxation. To make it a little more...

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FAQ

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Q: Do I need a works cited for my (insert assignment here)? A: Yes, if you are asking this question, then the answer is probably yes. Clearly you have some item that you think might go on such a document, so you should probably have a works cited page. If you don't know what you would put on the works cited page, then you probably wouldn't be asking this question. I promise you that you will...

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Boots

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:32:00 +0000

Another reason it shouldn't snow in April...I'm stuck wearing my snow boots. It was icy this morning and it seemed like a really good idea to just wear my snow boots for extra traction. Um, I can't get my snow boots off now. So I sit on the couch grading watching tv and wearing my red snow boots. I forgot that I had be able to pull my boots off at the end of the day and that that would...

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Child Actors: Terrorized or Talented

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:03:00 +0000

The Today Show did a story this morning about a recent controversy over a NYC public service announcement about smoking. The controversy, according to the article, isn't about the message of the psa as much as it is about whether or not the boy in the ad is really acting or whether producers actually made him cry. Here's the full psa. I really wish this had happened back at the beginning of...

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Banned for Doping

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:37:00 +0000

According to Google, I am currently ineligible to participate in the Olympics (or any other professional sport) because of doping. I'd admittedly really bad at "staying off my feet" and since I don't watch soap operas, I tend to only manage to follow these instructions if I can surf the internet.* Yesterday, I got put on Terbutaline to stop my contractions and when I was googling this drug, I...

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Superheros

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:17:00 +0000

I'm a little disturbed that this guy just happened to have a Spiderman costume on hand, but this is a very cool story.

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Earth Hour Paradox

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:22:00 +0000

We try to be ecologically conscious, so while I applaud the idea of Earth Hour, I'm also a little frustrated by the whole "turn off the lights for an hour and save the world" message. Really I'd rather people try something (for more than an hour) that they can incorporate into their everyday lives (recycling for example). Anyway, all that said, we (unconsciously) participated in an Earth Hour...

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Keys

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:21:00 +0000

I'm really glad that no one measures fitness to be a parent by the ability to keep track of one's car keys and/or not lock one's self out of the house/car/office/all of the above.* This morning I lost my car keys, then found my car keys, then 15 minutes later walked out the back door and shut the door (which was locked) with my keys in their new "safe" spot. B was on her way to come get me,...

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Baby Disrupts Student Learning

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:45:00 +0000

I get lots of weird student email that I find amusing, but I may have to print this one out for the baby book. Dear Mrs. XXX, I wanted to know if it would be okay if I switched seats in your Eng XXX class. I know it's really late in the semester and everyone sits in the same place every day, but I'm having trouble paying attention. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that your baby really moves...

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A Canned Response

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:37:00 +0000

I cannot help you determine if your article was peed reviewed, peet reviewed, or pier reviewed, but if you are trying to determine if your article was peer reviewed please see the assignment sheet. Thanks!

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Blog Help

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:48:00 +0000

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the phantom "bubble" behind the "links to this post" in my post footer? I can't seem to find the problem in the code.

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Spring Break Guilt

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Monday I told myself that I was going to spend the day working on comps and/or grading papers. I stayed in my pjs and played on the internet. Tuesday, I told myself that I deserved a day off and I could just get started on Monday's plans and not feel guilty about it. I got a hair cut, went shopping, and played around with new blog templates. This morning I woke up and felt incredibly guilty...

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Google This

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:56:00 +0000

My post about beer pong and herpes generated more web traffic in one day than I have ever had before. When I checked my Analytics this morning, the keywords really amused me. Here's some of the funnier things people googled to find yesterday's post. getting herpes at collegedirty fudge herpesgetting herpes on spring breakherpes in MexicoDo I have herpes herpes on road tripherpes from foxbeer...

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Fox Spreads Herpes

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:22:00 +0000

I'm not a huge fan of the Colbert Report, but last night I was waiting to take my next dose of cough medicine and watched part of an episode. I probably would have changed the channel, but Colbert was doing a story on how herpes was being spread quickly on college campuses due to the prevalence of playing beer pong. Colbert's "report" was actually not about herpes or beer pong, but really about...

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FSOT

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:27:00 +0000

For Sale or Trade: One set of seriously defunct sinuses and lungs. Introductory supply of Tylenol, Sudafed, Robitussen, and Kleenex provided at no additional charge.

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Are Adults the Problem?

noreply@blogger.com (G) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:45:00 +0000

This morning on the Today Show, I caught the last part of a story about British parents objecting to a new kids television host who has a physical disability. The disability--Cerrie Burnell was born with an incomplete right arm. The accusation--Burnell would scare children and shouldn't be a children's television host.* One father claimed that the host gave his child nightmares and another...

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