I know. That doesn't seem to be a very interesting topic to blog on, but stay with me.
I need socks. So on this Saturday I planned on getting socks. Sounds pretty logical, right? Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice & men. I don't know how mice's plans got involved in this, but our plans go fucking awry!
What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Socks. So socks were on my list of things to do today. First, I had to meet some students at the Pacific Whale Foundation. One of them is interviewing a Sea Turtle expert for our upcoming cable access show. So I popped over to school to pick up equipment and do some little things, then I drove over to the PWF. Two kids showed up with their parents. We met the interviewee, Stephanie. She's...uh...well, let's just say that I wouldn't kick her out of bed for saving Sea Turtles. OK, that doesn't make sense, but you know what I mean. While I really had no reason to, I gave her my card. (the Green Party organizer card...Flapjacking, baby!)
So the interview finishes and I'm going to the car, daydreaming about my new Sea Turtle Goddess. As I get to the car I hear a female voice, "Excuse me."
I look up and it's this other woman, who I wouldn't kick out of my bed for...uh...alright, I don't know what she would be doing, but I wouldn't kick her out of my bed for doing it, OK?
"Um, which way would you be going?"
Now, I really didn't know. Remember, I need socks. And I was either going to get socks or I was going to another Save Makena protest. They were hoping I would bring the school video camera, which I had with me...but damn it, I really need those socks.
[Warning: Maui references ahead]
"I...uh...I think I'm going to Kahului." That's where the socks are. "Why, where do you need to go?"
"Kihei"
Damn. I wouldn't kick her out of my car, either. And going to Kihei would be on my way if I were going to the protest. I'm sure you can figure out what's next...
So, on the way to Kihei...I find out her name is Sharon. She's only been on the island for a month. Already has a boyfriend who she met a couple days after being here. From San Francisco, she was doing some corporate crap, got fed up and just left for Maui. Now she's doing part-time stuff until she can figure out what she wants to do here. She missed the bus to go to her job in Kihei at Cafe Ole (an awesome restaurant - too expensive for dinner, but great for lunch).
We get to Cafe Ole and I stop to get something to drink at the store next door. But first I give her my card. (Insert Sade's Smooth Operator here.)
OK...I'm not even NEAR any place that sells socks now and I'm 2 minutes away from this damn protest. Fine...I'll go to the stupid protest. I did and it was fairly lame. I tried to get some pictures, but it just wasn't working. But I did take video which I'll be messing with over the next week. Stay tuned.
With about an hour left (!) these three Hawaiian guys showed up to join the protest, bringing the total to about 8 people. They were cool. They held signs and laughed their asses off the whole time. They laughed at the stupid tourists who looked at us like we were from another planet. They laughed with the other Hawaiians who drove by...and everyone who wasn't me would "Woo!" I felt a little inadequate, as if I had gone to a nude beach.
Now, I've been involved in protests in the sun, rain, wind, snow, day, night...but I've never been in one where the main obstacle was mosquitoes. The Hawaiian guys laughed at them, too...as they were getting their asses bit up. But it was getting to the point that when you looked at your legs you couldn't tell which were the mosquitoes you already killed and which were the still alive ones you needed to kill. There was mosquito juice all over my hands. I'm talking a lot of freakin mosquitoes.
Eventually a few people straggled away. I realized that for the last 45 minutes it was just me and a bunch of Hawaiians. It was fine and I didn't feel out of place, but I have to admit, it was one of those "How the hell did I get HERE?" moments. We finished, everyone hugged / shook homie hands and left. In the car, I realized just how inept I am at the homie handshake. I'm always a few inches off, I just can't get a clean clasp. I'm very white, you know.
So now I'm home, doing a little cleaning, but it's still early. I think I may go up to Paia...there's a benefit for Mana'o Radio at Charley's. I figure, if today's going to be a day of meeting people, I may as well take advantage of it. But I don't think I'll stay out too late...
I have to go shopping for socks tomorrow.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
The Good: The day after Halloween is pretty much a bust for eductation. The elementary schools of Maui have decided to use it as a professional day - the kids don't have school. Pretty smart. We decided that instead of doing anything classroom-related, we're going to have a book fair instead. So Peggy contacted the Scholastic Book people (You remember them from your school days, right? Well, they're still around) and we're all set. Some of the parents have been really helping out.
Well, yesterday, Mark told me that a pretty popular radio station on Maui agreed to put a PSA on the air about it if we'd make it. That's all I needed to hear. I ran home, got my recording gear, got back to school, pulled a script out of my...uh...ear, grabbed a couple of kids and this is what we came up with:
KCS Bookfair PSA (mp3)
Not too bad considering they've never done anything like it before and I had to get a lot of info crammed into 29 seconds.
The Bad: We still keep having problems with this group of 12 or so kids. Our group discipline policy is having no effect on them and it's really holding us back as a program. Their parents are making things worse (duh). So it was decided that we're going to start dealing with them differently. Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my teaching career I have assigned a student to write XYZ 20 times for homework. Yep. I've entered a time machine and have gone back to 1953.
The Ugly: I was recently invited to go to Little Beach. What's so ugly about that? Uh...yeah...it's Maui's only clothing-optional beach. I took a pass on that one. They haven't invented enough sunscreen for me to go to a nude beach. People, I try to shower in the dark because I get burned by the bathroom light. Oh, I'd go...at night.
It's not an embarrassment thing. Have you seen actual nudist beaches? There really isn't a lot of studs & hotties there. Kind of like an actual orgy that isn't being filmed (or so I'm told). I'd fit right in.
Well, yesterday, Mark told me that a pretty popular radio station on Maui agreed to put a PSA on the air about it if we'd make it. That's all I needed to hear. I ran home, got my recording gear, got back to school, pulled a script out of my...uh...ear, grabbed a couple of kids and this is what we came up with:
KCS Bookfair PSA (mp3)
Not too bad considering they've never done anything like it before and I had to get a lot of info crammed into 29 seconds.
The Bad: We still keep having problems with this group of 12 or so kids. Our group discipline policy is having no effect on them and it's really holding us back as a program. Their parents are making things worse (duh). So it was decided that we're going to start dealing with them differently. Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my teaching career I have assigned a student to write XYZ 20 times for homework. Yep. I've entered a time machine and have gone back to 1953.
The Ugly: I was recently invited to go to Little Beach. What's so ugly about that? Uh...yeah...it's Maui's only clothing-optional beach. I took a pass on that one. They haven't invented enough sunscreen for me to go to a nude beach. People, I try to shower in the dark because I get burned by the bathroom light. Oh, I'd go...at night.
It's not an embarrassment thing. Have you seen actual nudist beaches? There really isn't a lot of studs & hotties there. Kind of like an actual orgy that isn't being filmed (or so I'm told). I'd fit right in.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A Tale of Two States
No, not geographic states. Let's call them states of mind. Now, it's going to seem like a lot of my text is negative. But I ask that you wait until the end - my conclusion - to decide if I really am looking at this with a half-empty perspective.
So, this week's been pretty brutal at school. In general, the kids have been raving lunatics. The kind I don't like - mean and disrespectful. Be apathetic, but don't be an asshole. Anyway, I got a rare chance to go out into the field today. Actually to the same wetland I was talking about a few weeks ago. But this time we weren't going to pick up trash on the beach. This time we were going to literally, cut out an invasive species of plant life from the wetland so that the folks who are trying to restore it can replace it with indigenous plants. Of course in my van, the kids were complaining, teasing, ignoring my directions, hitting...my kids back at Hillside behaved better. I'm serious. We get there and they're still whining. Of course I gave them the speech (again) about how freakin lucky they are for THIS to be their school. A couple of kids I literally told to get away from me because I was tired of hearing them complain. Then, we got down to business. Here's some pictures...
Just for the record. It's not like the kids show up for school, we stick 'em in a van and make them do manual labor. Before we went out we studied the issue of invasive species, development, etc. But then we get to the hard labor. Actually, I got tired of taking pictures and "supervising". Someone left a set of clippers laying around so for the last hour I was a clipping fool. I have cuts from the branches all over my arms and neck. It was pretty cool.
So, we get back to school and the kids are still whining and being little brats. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know people say that it's an "age" thing, but I'm starting to disagree with that. First of all, not all the kids are like that. They don't have the personalities to behave that way. They're not manipulative, rude and mean. Second...well...I'll show you the second reason...
Tonight, we had a parents' meeting. The first quarter was ridiculous. There are a lot of kids who really aren't buying into this program. They don't belong here. This isn't a special ed school or a day treatment facility. By our charter, we're supposed to be focusing on high-level science, math, engineering and technology. Thus the name STEM. And legally, we can't turn kids away. It's a "school of choice". But some of the parents are choosing this school because their kids couldn't make it in other public schools. And some of them were homeschooled up until now. I don't have a problem with homeschooling per se, but they were homeschooled shittily (OK, that may be a made up word, but you know what I mean).
So we had our parents' meeting to tell them about the changes we're implementing - grading, discipline, etc. Jeez! They started going off on us. Well, no. The parents of the kids who are assholes did. It was a simple case of apples not falling far from the tree. And not a single parent said that maybe their kid wasn't doing what he/she was supposed to do. They actually had our math teacher ready to just give up and start teaching from a textbook (which we don't do at this school).
Basically, we ended up taking their crap for the whole meeting and when they left we decided to do what we intend to do and as a "school of choice" they can choose to put their whining, little brats elsewhere. We do have a waiting list of over 24 kids who want to be in this school.
I can see this school working - for the 25 or so who get what we're trying to do. The problem is there are another 20+ kids who should be in therapy and away from their clueless parents. But that's my humble non-professional opinion. And it really feels like I've been here forever already, but it's only been 3 months. I know it's going to take time and I've always had high expectations of others anyway (which probably explains why I'm on 2 blood pressure medications).
So, yes, being around this group of kids hasn't made me swear off getting a vasectomy, but I look forward to weeding out the kids who don't belong (or the parents who don't belong is probably more accurate) and kicking some academic ass. And when I get to go to the County meeting (last week) or to physically work on environmental stuff that before I only wrote & protested about - I'm pretty down with the gig.
So, this week's been pretty brutal at school. In general, the kids have been raving lunatics. The kind I don't like - mean and disrespectful. Be apathetic, but don't be an asshole. Anyway, I got a rare chance to go out into the field today. Actually to the same wetland I was talking about a few weeks ago. But this time we weren't going to pick up trash on the beach. This time we were going to literally, cut out an invasive species of plant life from the wetland so that the folks who are trying to restore it can replace it with indigenous plants. Of course in my van, the kids were complaining, teasing, ignoring my directions, hitting...my kids back at Hillside behaved better. I'm serious. We get there and they're still whining. Of course I gave them the speech (again) about how freakin lucky they are for THIS to be their school. A couple of kids I literally told to get away from me because I was tired of hearing them complain. Then, we got down to business. Here's some pictures...
Just for the record. It's not like the kids show up for school, we stick 'em in a van and make them do manual labor. Before we went out we studied the issue of invasive species, development, etc. But then we get to the hard labor. Actually, I got tired of taking pictures and "supervising". Someone left a set of clippers laying around so for the last hour I was a clipping fool. I have cuts from the branches all over my arms and neck. It was pretty cool.
So, we get back to school and the kids are still whining and being little brats. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know people say that it's an "age" thing, but I'm starting to disagree with that. First of all, not all the kids are like that. They don't have the personalities to behave that way. They're not manipulative, rude and mean. Second...well...I'll show you the second reason...
Tonight, we had a parents' meeting. The first quarter was ridiculous. There are a lot of kids who really aren't buying into this program. They don't belong here. This isn't a special ed school or a day treatment facility. By our charter, we're supposed to be focusing on high-level science, math, engineering and technology. Thus the name STEM. And legally, we can't turn kids away. It's a "school of choice". But some of the parents are choosing this school because their kids couldn't make it in other public schools. And some of them were homeschooled up until now. I don't have a problem with homeschooling per se, but they were homeschooled shittily (OK, that may be a made up word, but you know what I mean).
So we had our parents' meeting to tell them about the changes we're implementing - grading, discipline, etc. Jeez! They started going off on us. Well, no. The parents of the kids who are assholes did. It was a simple case of apples not falling far from the tree. And not a single parent said that maybe their kid wasn't doing what he/she was supposed to do. They actually had our math teacher ready to just give up and start teaching from a textbook (which we don't do at this school).
Basically, we ended up taking their crap for the whole meeting and when they left we decided to do what we intend to do and as a "school of choice" they can choose to put their whining, little brats elsewhere. We do have a waiting list of over 24 kids who want to be in this school.
I can see this school working - for the 25 or so who get what we're trying to do. The problem is there are another 20+ kids who should be in therapy and away from their clueless parents. But that's my humble non-professional opinion. And it really feels like I've been here forever already, but it's only been 3 months. I know it's going to take time and I've always had high expectations of others anyway (which probably explains why I'm on 2 blood pressure medications).
So, yes, being around this group of kids hasn't made me swear off getting a vasectomy, but I look forward to weeding out the kids who don't belong (or the parents who don't belong is probably more accurate) and kicking some academic ass. And when I get to go to the County meeting (last week) or to physically work on environmental stuff that before I only wrote & protested about - I'm pretty down with the gig.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Oops, I Did it Again
No, I didn't get into my car without wearing any underwear. Not that I haven't been tempted.
I've been getting back into the political thing, I guess some habits are hard to shake:
http://www.mauinews.com/letters/2007/10/23/06Curr1023.html
I was actually at the radio station last week and the newspaper was there. I read this horrific article containing quotes from the governor...just incredibly lame. The letter just flowed. And the Maui News didn't edit it...I was mildly impressed.
I've been getting back into the political thing, I guess some habits are hard to shake:
http://www.mauinews.com/letters/2007/10/23/06Curr1023.html
I was actually at the radio station last week and the newspaper was there. I read this horrific article containing quotes from the governor...just incredibly lame. The letter just flowed. And the Maui News didn't edit it...I was mildly impressed.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Four Stages
Here are the four stages of trying to mop your floor when you live in a desert:
1. Denial - This floor isn't too bad, just go over it quick with the mop and it'll be fine.
2. Depression - Ohhhhh, it's not coming off. What am I going to do?
3. Anger - This fucking stuff won't come off the floor!!!!
4. Acceptance - Fuck it. I wonder if the game's on yet.
1. Denial - This floor isn't too bad, just go over it quick with the mop and it'll be fine.
2. Depression - Ohhhhh, it's not coming off. What am I going to do?
3. Anger - This fucking stuff won't come off the floor!!!!
4. Acceptance - Fuck it. I wonder if the game's on yet.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Yeah, I know it's October, but there's already stuff in the stores here. How can a place that generally doesn't get snow (I hear there's snow on one of the mountains on another island) be so into Christmas? Actually, I know the answer. Christianity is f-ing huge here. It's been ingrained as it was the missionaries that originally screwed the Hawaiians. It took the US government a while to figure out the good thing the "Christians" had going here before they took over. Once again, I digress.
(insert cheesy music here)
I'll be home for Christmas. Yep. A few things went down where I decided that I needed to come home. A couple of phone conversations, some e-mails and a family situation pretty much made it a done deal. So, here are the details:
I'll be in the morning of Friday, December 21st. I grabbed a room at the Clarion downtown for the first weekend. I figured if I was going to do anything debauched (I think that's a word) then I shouldn't be trying to sneak into my parent's house. We're all a bit old for that. Yes...I will be at the Sports Page that Friday afternoon. The more things change the more they stay the same. I'll be staying with the parents (I assume they know this) from that Monday through...uh...probably the 29th. I guess I'll have to sneak in those nights. Then I'm driving to Annapolis to hang with Keziah for New Year's. [Brad, can you handle me for a night? I was thinking of a stop in NJ on the 29th]
I'll be back in Rochester sneaking into my parent's house on Wednesday, Jan 2nd and I'm leaving Saturday morning (Jan 5th). I'm going to beat that rental car like a rented mule.
Oh, and I'm brining my recording gear...so the original Stuart Bedasso Show will be back together again!
You know, in Maui I'm doing just about everything I want. I'm teaching (relatively) the way I want to in a place that appreciates me, I'm back on the air and I'm still working to change the world. I'm glad I'm here. But I miss you guys and it'll be great to see you again. It feels like it's been forever even though it's just been a few months.
Aloha!
(insert cheesy music here)
I'll be home for Christmas. Yep. A few things went down where I decided that I needed to come home. A couple of phone conversations, some e-mails and a family situation pretty much made it a done deal. So, here are the details:
I'll be in the morning of Friday, December 21st. I grabbed a room at the Clarion downtown for the first weekend. I figured if I was going to do anything debauched (I think that's a word) then I shouldn't be trying to sneak into my parent's house. We're all a bit old for that. Yes...I will be at the Sports Page that Friday afternoon. The more things change the more they stay the same. I'll be staying with the parents (I assume they know this) from that Monday through...uh...probably the 29th. I guess I'll have to sneak in those nights. Then I'm driving to Annapolis to hang with Keziah for New Year's. [Brad, can you handle me for a night? I was thinking of a stop in NJ on the 29th]
I'll be back in Rochester sneaking into my parent's house on Wednesday, Jan 2nd and I'm leaving Saturday morning (Jan 5th). I'm going to beat that rental car like a rented mule.
Oh, and I'm brining my recording gear...so the original Stuart Bedasso Show will be back together again!
You know, in Maui I'm doing just about everything I want. I'm teaching (relatively) the way I want to in a place that appreciates me, I'm back on the air and I'm still working to change the world. I'm glad I'm here. But I miss you guys and it'll be great to see you again. It feels like it's been forever even though it's just been a few months.
Aloha!
Friday, October 19, 2007
A Week
It's been a long, strange week and it kept me from posting much so I thought I'd just go through my last 7 days and you can judge for yourself.
Last Friday I participated in my first official protest in Hawaii. Maui's version of Tom Galisano is getting ready to trash some ancient forrest land that has endangered species of plants and insects for homes worth 5-20 million dollars right on the beach. So the folks at savemakena.org had a sign waving event during rush hour at a road that leads to Makena. Pictures below. (As an aside, Makena has Maui's only unofficial nude beach. If we protest there, I'll be the one wearing the huge sandwich board.)
Sunday, Jill & I taped the podcast. Included in this is some audio of interviews I did with some of the protesters from Friday. We also played a song by this bagpipe guy who found us on MySpace.
We had a half day of school on Monday, all week in fact, because we were supposed to be testing the kids back to the Stone Age this week. One problem. The state didn't send the tests. Another passive-aggressive move from the state Department of Education to remind us how much they hate Charter Schools. So we scramble to come up with stuff to do each day because we have no idea when the tests will show up.
Tuesday brought me a bizarre e-mail on MySpace. The bagpipe guy took offense to something we said on the show and refused to let us use his music any more. I think this guy's been blowing his pipes too hard, but whatever. I took the links off, but I'm not going to take down the show. Musicians are such tempermental folk.
Thursday (yesterday) was my big day. I've been slowly working with a group of 13 kids on our first cable access TV show. We've had a 2 week vacation slow our momentum, but yesterday there was a hearing at the County Council about development in the Makena / Wailea area - that's the issue I've been working on AND one of the stories the kids picked to report on. So I loaded up a van with 13 kids and 2 video cameras and we went into town to record the meeting, interview people and even speak ourselves.
Folks...this is why I became a teacher. I couldn't have planned this whole thing better. The kids were awesome, two of them spoke in front of the council, they worked together, they took academic risks, they made the school look freakin amazing. I was so proud of them that I let them listen to their shitty music in the van on the way back.
On a personal note, this meeting was my "coming out" in Maui. Not THAT coming out...I mean as an activist. You sign up to speak when you get to the meeting, so I did. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to say. What I didn't realize, that unlike in Rochester they expect you to stay when you're done speaking and answer questions. So I did my schpiel (sic?) and they went at me pretty hard. Like the cheesy politicians they are, they asked me questions not only about what I said, but about what other people said. They were trying to get their points in without confronting the people who were actually arguing with them.
The problem for them was they assumed I was just some dumb teacher. Every question they threw at me were like softballs (including the ridiculous one about if I thought they should legislate to ban swimming pools in order to save water). I got laughs, applause and nods from everyone in the room. So when I was done, I had people on both sides of the issue giving me their cards, etc. I also wouldn't be surprised if since then there's been some party hacks checking into my background.
I guess I'll stay chronological here.
I got home from school last night about 5pm and proceded to fall asleep by 5:30. A good thing, too, because at 3:30am my phone rings. I let it go to voicemail. It's Hillside! They want to know if I'd be interested in a special ed teaching position. I start to go back to sleep. At 5:30am my phone rings again. This time, I don't even recognize the area code.
A couple of months ago, I threw an ad up on Craigslist. No, not for that! If anyone on the island needed a sign language interpreter - I am available. That was a while ago and I heard nothing from it. So the message is from some guy who is talking too fast for me to get his name or number, but he says that he's calling about sign language interpreting...in Washington DC. What the???
So now I'm up so I start getting ready for school. I check my e-mail and there's a comment on this blog from Jammaster James (you can read it below) that says the Democrat & Chronicle did not endorse anyone for the school board race this year...quoting:
You can see my response below as well.
I get ready for school, and stop at Safeway for something to eat. I'm in LaLa Land as I'm walking through the parking lot and this truck pulls up to me, the guy rolls down his window. I'm thinking he's going to ask ME for directions. Good luck.
"Hey! I just wanted to tell you that it was a great thing you did bringing those kids to the meeting yesterday. Kaitlen really enjoyed it. I hope you're going to do that more often."
I...uh...huh...wha...sure...yeah.
"OK. See ya." And the guy drove off. It took me a minute to realize that the guy was a parent of one of my students. I can see the conversation at dinner tonight:
"Honey, I really like that school you go to, but your teacher's a real retard."
Oh well.
So yesterday was my triumph as an educator. Now I reallize that once you reach the pinnacle there really is nowhere to go but down, but I wasn't expecting the total opposite. So what did we do with the kids today? Yep. Standardized testing. Talk about getting hit upside the head with the Reality Stick.
Well, I have two events to go to at the same time tonight (peace activists or cable access). Looks like things are back to normal.
Last Friday I participated in my first official protest in Hawaii. Maui's version of Tom Galisano is getting ready to trash some ancient forrest land that has endangered species of plants and insects for homes worth 5-20 million dollars right on the beach. So the folks at savemakena.org had a sign waving event during rush hour at a road that leads to Makena. Pictures below. (As an aside, Makena has Maui's only unofficial nude beach. If we protest there, I'll be the one wearing the huge sandwich board.)
Sunday, Jill & I taped the podcast. Included in this is some audio of interviews I did with some of the protesters from Friday. We also played a song by this bagpipe guy who found us on MySpace.
We had a half day of school on Monday, all week in fact, because we were supposed to be testing the kids back to the Stone Age this week. One problem. The state didn't send the tests. Another passive-aggressive move from the state Department of Education to remind us how much they hate Charter Schools. So we scramble to come up with stuff to do each day because we have no idea when the tests will show up.
Tuesday brought me a bizarre e-mail on MySpace. The bagpipe guy took offense to something we said on the show and refused to let us use his music any more. I think this guy's been blowing his pipes too hard, but whatever. I took the links off, but I'm not going to take down the show. Musicians are such tempermental folk.
Thursday (yesterday) was my big day. I've been slowly working with a group of 13 kids on our first cable access TV show. We've had a 2 week vacation slow our momentum, but yesterday there was a hearing at the County Council about development in the Makena / Wailea area - that's the issue I've been working on AND one of the stories the kids picked to report on. So I loaded up a van with 13 kids and 2 video cameras and we went into town to record the meeting, interview people and even speak ourselves.
Folks...this is why I became a teacher. I couldn't have planned this whole thing better. The kids were awesome, two of them spoke in front of the council, they worked together, they took academic risks, they made the school look freakin amazing. I was so proud of them that I let them listen to their shitty music in the van on the way back.
On a personal note, this meeting was my "coming out" in Maui. Not THAT coming out...I mean as an activist. You sign up to speak when you get to the meeting, so I did. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to say. What I didn't realize, that unlike in Rochester they expect you to stay when you're done speaking and answer questions. So I did my schpiel (sic?) and they went at me pretty hard. Like the cheesy politicians they are, they asked me questions not only about what I said, but about what other people said. They were trying to get their points in without confronting the people who were actually arguing with them.
The problem for them was they assumed I was just some dumb teacher. Every question they threw at me were like softballs (including the ridiculous one about if I thought they should legislate to ban swimming pools in order to save water). I got laughs, applause and nods from everyone in the room. So when I was done, I had people on both sides of the issue giving me their cards, etc. I also wouldn't be surprised if since then there's been some party hacks checking into my background.
I guess I'll stay chronological here.
I got home from school last night about 5pm and proceded to fall asleep by 5:30. A good thing, too, because at 3:30am my phone rings. I let it go to voicemail. It's Hillside! They want to know if I'd be interested in a special ed teaching position. I start to go back to sleep. At 5:30am my phone rings again. This time, I don't even recognize the area code.
A couple of months ago, I threw an ad up on Craigslist. No, not for that! If anyone on the island needed a sign language interpreter - I am available. That was a while ago and I heard nothing from it. So the message is from some guy who is talking too fast for me to get his name or number, but he says that he's calling about sign language interpreting...in Washington DC. What the???
So now I'm up so I start getting ready for school. I check my e-mail and there's a comment on this blog from Jammaster James (you can read it below) that says the Democrat & Chronicle did not endorse anyone for the school board race this year...quoting:
The logical answer is to turn to the Republican or third-party challengers, but none has offered hope for positive change. Endorsing in this race would be to endorse an unsatisfactory status quo — or worse.
You can see my response below as well.
I get ready for school, and stop at Safeway for something to eat. I'm in LaLa Land as I'm walking through the parking lot and this truck pulls up to me, the guy rolls down his window. I'm thinking he's going to ask ME for directions. Good luck.
"Hey! I just wanted to tell you that it was a great thing you did bringing those kids to the meeting yesterday. Kaitlen really enjoyed it. I hope you're going to do that more often."
I...uh...huh...wha...sure...yeah.
"OK. See ya." And the guy drove off. It took me a minute to realize that the guy was a parent of one of my students. I can see the conversation at dinner tonight:
"Honey, I really like that school you go to, but your teacher's a real retard."
Oh well.
So yesterday was my triumph as an educator. Now I reallize that once you reach the pinnacle there really is nowhere to go but down, but I wasn't expecting the total opposite. So what did we do with the kids today? Yep. Standardized testing. Talk about getting hit upside the head with the Reality Stick.
Well, I have two events to go to at the same time tonight (peace activists or cable access). Looks like things are back to normal.
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