Soxy

I saw Milk last night and I thought it was really well done. Sean Penn was very, very, very good. Sad and poignant movie definitely worth seeing.

Smooth peanut butter only. No jelly.

Dansko clogs. /thread

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 02:02 AM) I'm thinking we should go see a movie after dinner, any suggestions? You need to go see a really sad movie--to show her your sensitive. I suggest opening the conversation by saying "Wasn't Schindler's list a brilliant film?" And then take her to see whatever Holocaust fare is playing near you. Make sure you cry very loudly during the movie--you want her to see how sensitive you are and how open with your emotions. It would also really impress her if you ate a box of Milk Duds during the movie--remember chewing loudly just lets girls now about your oral prowess!

QUOTE (onedude @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 11:19 PM) Koala Not actually a bear.

QUOTE (onedude @ Feb 1, 2009 -> 09:26 PM) any "remedies" to a puppy that bites too much? Yelp like you are in pain every time it bites. Stopped my puppy from biting in less than an hour.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 04:43 PM) If you graduate HS or have a GED you can get into most community colleges. Getting INTO a college based on merit is a whole different thing. Obviously, not anyone can get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford etc... but that wasnt the point. Thats like arguing not everyone can make their HS varsity team. If there is not a single college willing to accept you than it's probably because you dont have the raw intelligence to make it in college anyways, or you f***ed up in HS, which is your own fault 99% of the time Or you go to a school district so bad that no college will touch you. And good for your family for making sacrifices to attend college (and I mean that very sincerely). But I think that for many people college is simply too unaffordable--or children are needed to contribute to a family's income immediately and can't go to college because of that.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 10:08 AM) They need to get their butts moving and find other jobs or work part time. Rich people do not pay taxes. They pass along their extra cost to the masses. I work three jobs and cleared less than 20k last year. I paid income tax (I will get a small refund, but it is in no way the full amount of federal taxes I paid throughout the year), sales tax, school tax, property tax.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 30, 2009 -> 08:45 AM) Talking to a couple psychologists in the family, the common diagnosis is Narcissism. Apaprently, one can be clinically narcissistic. He is completely oblivious to any reality which doesn't make him loved by everyone. It's a personality disorder--Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Typical characteristics: exaggerated sense of self-importance, exploitative attitude, lack of empathy, excessive need for attention and admiration, a strong sense of entitlement, arrogance, and difficulty in accepting personal criticism.

I just got back from Frost/Nixon. I really enjoyed it, an engrossing film. I think the performances were pretty top notch. The script was quite good. And the story was really compelling--admittedly I didn't know about these interviews before I saw the previous, so it was new to me. Just a good film. The movie sort of is like Macbeth except if Macbeth didn't get killed and spent the rest of his life alone with his ambition in a SoCal paradise.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 27, 2009 -> 02:10 PM) Are you a hitwoman? Do you really want to know?

I crack my knuckles. A lot.

1. Liberal Quakers (100%) 2. Unitarian Universalism (90%) 3. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (89%) 4. Reform Judaism (83%) 5. Theravada Buddhism (78%) 6. Mahayana Buddhism (77%) 7. Baha'i Faith (75%) 8. Neo-Pagan (74%) 9. New Age (72%) 10. Orthodox Quaker (69%) 11. Taoism (68%) 12. New Thought (64%) 13. Secular Humanism (62%) 14. Jainism (58%) 15. Scientology (58%) 16. Sikhism (58%) 17. Orthodox Judaism (49%) 18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (47%) 19. Islam (43%) 20. Hinduism (42%) 21. Seventh Day Adventist (37%) 22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (34%) 23. Nontheist (32%) 24. Eastern Orthodox (30%) 25. Roman Catholic (30%) 26. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (23%) 27. Jehovah's Witness (11%) Sounds about right. I've actually gone to several Quaker meetings--but I missed the traditional service. Which is how I ended up Anglican. So, it all works. Glad Scientology didn't crack the top 10. . .

I thought this was an interesting story from the NYT. It deals with immigrant students in NYC public schools--some of whom have never had any formal education.

QUOTE (onedude @ Jan 24, 2009 -> 02:46 PM) Speaking of dogs....got a new border collie puppy yesterday. It's a boy. Names so far are Domino, or Bandit...family trying to decide. I like Both... Awwwww! My parents have border collies--those dogs are too smart for my taste. But they are the cutest dogs. . .

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 02:31 PM) Music-wise I hate U2 and Dave Matthews. Oh my gosh yes. I hate, hate, hate U2.

I don't like the taste of alcohol (with a very few exceptions). I think basketball is painfully dull. I don't think Brad Pitt is attractive. I never liked the tv show Friends. Milk. It's cow breast milk. Ew. All condiments save malt vinegar. Nickelback. Awful, just awful.

Happy happy birthday to everyone's favorite Geologist!

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) In a CNN article about Obama's first day as President, I found this: I would LOVE to know the contents of that note. It was actually two notes in an envelop. The first one says, when the first major thing goes wrong, blame it one me. If something else awful happens open the second note. The second note says, sit down and write two notes.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 02:25 PM) How so? My education at Oswego rocked. I was lucky to be taught by well-paid teachers that liked their jobs, had a ton of choices of AP classes, and really just got a good education. For a while I was not so convinced of that, because I went to college with some kids that went to top notch private schools who were head and shoulders above the rest of us. Districts that can afford to pay top salaries are going to be getting the best teachers. And god bless Teach for America, but the neediest kids are getting people with the least qualifications. And that sucks. QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 02:27 PM) With larger high schools, its getting more popular to divide classes up by difficulty level in some fashion. Things like the scholar program you mention, or the IB program, etc. My high school had 5 different levels that a class may be assigned to - level 1 for remedial and special, levels 2 and 3 for most students, level 4 for high achievers (relative), and level 5 for AP classes. I think that can work very well, if you have enough students for that to work. Smaller schools, particularly in rural areas, won't have that luxury. Did you go to New Trier? Oswego had a similar ranking stuff. Remedial, regular, honors, AP. It was a good program. But it requires additional funding, so I think size alone isn't going to get you all the levels. McNair is actually a college program. You can nominate minority or first generation college students for additional mentoring scholarly opportunities. It's a cool opportunity.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 02:14 PM) A big part of that goes back to the new requirements put on to school systems. When you have a low achieving system, their primary concern isn't to give the kids the skills they need to move on in life, it is to get them to pass the test. We actually had a school in our system that had a very heated debate on whether or not junior high kids should be doing homework. It blew my mind because not only is homework important for the knowledge that is covered, but it teaches a couple of very basic study skills, most importantly the abilities to work by oneself, and to prioritize a time schedule. One faction didn't see homework as important, because it was taking up valuable time that could be used to help kids pass the ISTEPs. That is a great look into what happens when your primary concern isn't the welfare of the students. We end up moving students along to higher levels, when they haven't mastered the lower level skills. Then when they get to high school, or college for some, they don't have the ability to meet hightened expectations. They have never been taught to be able to interpret data independantly, prioritize it, and to know what to study, because they teachers give them study guides for high school classes, so that they learn what they are required to learn. Those same kids walk into their first college class and are completely lost when a professor thinks they should be able to do it themselves. In systems that are higher achieving, you don't have these kind of issues, (because kids are passing the test) so teachers are able to open up and teach more skills to go along with the knowledge they give. Absolutely. I absolutely agree. Those students (that make it to college) are the worst as an instructor. They try hard, are clearly smart, but just can't do the work because they lack the foundation. That breaks my heart. There have been a couple of notable successes that I've seen. But those students require SO MUCH TIME. As an instructor it's drainign to teach 20 kids, but when one kid is in your office 3 hours a week struggling with the basics, it's just hard. I will say that I have a TON of faith in programs like the McNair Scholars and TRiO (I think that is what they are called), because they provide a ton of one on one with kids that have the intellectual ability but little else. But those programs are expensive. It's just hard. It's hard to watch as an instructor. You really feel those kids' frustration. AGH.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 02:03 PM) Yeah. Funny how similar Oswego and that Aurora/Naperville stretch on Ogden look now. Same with Plainfield. But compared to Neuqua, North and Central, Waubonsie was often referred to as second-rate. (because we were in a marginally poorer part of town) Yeah, they all look the same. It's sad. I didn't know that about Waubonsie. But, after teaching kids that went to the NYC public schools, well, I have a different perspective on suburban education.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 01:58 PM) I agree. I was surprised how poorly some of my friends who went to good public schools (kirkwood missouri, Bennet (lisle?)) have done along side me in Missouri. These were kids who did well in high school. And it really does come down to effort. For as much as Waubonsie was s*** on when I was in naperville, I'm forever grateful that our administration gave us a curriculum that focused on writing and essays more than tests. It really set us up well. And considering how well my friends from high school are doing, I think its a testament to that education as well. You went to Waubonsie HS? I went to Oswego.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 01:31 PM) Okay, I agree, I was speaking more to the fact that I enjoy that American curriculum is very broad education. one thing I learned in a public policy course: Universities found that raising their tuition raised attendance. Higher tuition was seen as more prestigious. I quite agree with you, soxy, I think these US news college rankings are such a load of crap. Things like flat screen tvs come into effect. Its a reason that I previously have argued that to I don't believe there is a difference in education in most colleges, Despite the 20 grand difference in tuition, I don't think University of Wisconsin students got a 20,000 dollar better education than me. I didn't really care for the book but an interesting part to Malcom Gladwell's Outliers book was talking about being smart enough, and pointed to where the last 20 nobel prize winners for different categories, and pointed to all the different colleges, sure some Ivy league or MIT. But he explained how at some point people are just "smart enough" and the difference between 120 and 180 isn't that different in terms of how much success is to be obtained. Kind of a rah rah anyone can do it thing. Gladwell's book sounds interesting. I'm not trying to criticize a liberal arts education. I had one and going that route was the best choice of my life. But we need to really encourage other options. I think the smart option is also a red herring--the people that have quit graduate school before their PhD (or take forever to get one) are often the smartest. Smart only gets you so far. We teach kids that they're smart, so the world is theirs and that is bulls***. You have to sacrifice and work hard. Smart in and of itself is worthless.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 01:41 PM) Not only good students, but poorer students who REALLY need the education to break the cycle of poverty. Yep. But, a lot of those students do get tons of scholarship money. However, they're screwed if they get to college because they can't keep up with the coursework due to an inferior education background. So, these kids are getting in and failing out. Which is doubly tragic because they were top of their class in their high schools. But when held to actual academic standards they can't do it. So, you get kids crying to you that they were in the top 10% of their school, and that they're trying so hard. But I can't pass you for effort. So, you have a poor school system f***ing them over because it doesn't support the type of basic education that is needed for an advanced degree. And you have teachers f***ing them over because they want to pass them. It's just a huge mess.