the Black and White cookie

It was hardly a “black and white cookie” moment when Michael Richards (the K-Man) responded to an audience member as N.  He didn’t just do it once either, he kept going back to that word.  Some comedians use that word routinely in their routines - I am watching Dave Chapelle as I type - but when it is used to demeane versus in some (perverse) brotherhood it shows no taste . . . .

I do not use that word.  Partially because I am white. I feel if I use it I will be viewed as racist; I would feel racist.  I have read books outloud to students and just say the letter “N.”  I thikn there is no problem letting students read about the use of that word in good children’s literature because it can illustrate the dangers that can accompany that vile word.

I have no idea how Michael Richards really feels.  The mantra of those caught in this unkind limelight often chime in “I’m not a racist. That’s what’s so insane about this,” as he stated on Letterman later that week.  He really didn’t attempt to apologize until it became a big stink though.  And Hey!  Isn’t just using that word in hate racist?

K-man, no black and white cookie for you!

Thirteen Things I will eat for Thanksgiving Dinner 1. turkey 2. ham 3. riesling 4. corn 5. rolls 6. glazed carrots 7. sticky bottoms 8. sweet potato souffle’ 9. stuffing/dressing 10. a variety of soft cheeses, the best you ask? Rosenborg’s Bleu Cheese w/ Cranberry 11. coconut cake 12. apple pie 13. pumpkin pie The average American Thanksgiving meal consists of over 3,000 calories. Don’t hurt yourself! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Top Thirteen Favorite Lyrics1. “I think you;re blind to the fact that the hand you hold is the hand that holds you down” Everything to Everyone, Everclear 2. “I will be sitting on top when the sky falls down and it all goes wrong again” When It All Goes Wrong Again, Everclear 3. “You know I live for the day when you say “baby let’s just run away” Learning How to Smile, Everclear 4. “Our hopes and dreams are out there somewhere, won’t let time pass us by, we’ll just fly” Fly Away From Here, Aerosmith 5. “It’s amazing, that when the moment arrives you know you’ll be alright, it’s amazing” Amazing, Aerosmith 6. “And then she asks me, do I look alright? And I say yes, you look wonderful tonight” Wonderful Tonight, Eric CLapton 7. “I don’t wanna meet your friend and I don’t wanna start over again. I just want my life to be the same just like it used to be” Wonderful, Everclear 8. “I see friends shaking hands…..sayin’.. how do you do, they’re really sayin’……I love you. I hear babies cry…… I watch them grow, they’ll learn much more…..than I’ll never know. And I think to myself …..what a wonderful world” What A Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong 9. “If you pay the price, she’ll let you deep inside. But there’s a secret garden she hides” Secret Garden, Bruce Springsteen not the Madonna version 10. “The past lives on inside your brain. I don’t think you need those memories hangin’ round, yeah, good-bye, kiss your past good-bye” Kiss Your Past Good-Bye, Aerosmith 11. “What good is a man who won’t take a stand? What good is a cynic with no better plan?” Better Way, Ben Harper 12. “Like an old man sitting alone at a lunch counter, never leave lonely alone… ” Never Leave Lonely Alone, Ben Harper 13. “Where do all the porn stars go when the lights go down? I wonder where all the porn stars go ’cause when you need one, they are never around. I think they moved out to the suburbs and now they’re blonde, bland, middle-class Republican wives. They all have blonde, bland, middle-class Republican children. Blonde, bland, middle-class Republican lives.” Volvo Driving Soccer Mom, Everclear Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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JERRY: You faked it? ELAINE: I faked it. JERRY: That whole thing, the whole production, it was all an act? ELAINE: Not bad huh? JERRY: What about the breathing, the panting, the moaning, the screaming? ELAINE: Fake, fake, fake, fake.

Thirteen Things I Have FAKED 1. Interest in any meeting after twenty minutes 2. My way through many a song on the radio 3. My way out of ONE HS English paper - and I have felt guilty ever since 4. Speeches - the key to pretend you mean every word you say - even the ones you make up 5. Substitute plans, but I always felt this was an art form….. 6. Excuses on why the utility company should turn my electricity/gas/phone back on, but not for years now 7. I have faked my way through book discussions for education classes, at least I usually read them in the end 8. I have used bibliographies to find other sources for college papers 9. …that I ‘have just moved to the area” when I get pulled over or (still) have to ask for directions 10. that “I haven’t seen this Law & Order” so DH does change the channel 11. my way through some HTML when I am feeling very brave and have a lot of time 12. Concern over phony baloney parents’ excuses on how they can’t be expected to help their own kids 13. I wouldn’t get fake boobs, but I would get them realigned

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ELAINE: All right, let’s go, I give you half an hour. JERRY: What? ELAINE: Come on! JERRY: Are you serious? ELAINE: Look, Jerry, we have to have sex to save the friendship. JERRY: Sex… to save the friendship. Well, if we have to…

Thirteen Things pieces of China I still need… for the first Thanksgiving at my place.1. Four more place settings, (the most expensive part!) I have my eye on an EBay auction. 2. Large Platter 3. Small Platter 4. Glasses: water/ tumbler, six 5. Vegetable Bowl, Large 6. Soup/Cereal Bowls, six 7. Accent Plate, six 8. mathcing table cloth, linens 9. Silver and ivory (cheap accent plates) 10. Pasta Bowl, six 11. Sugar Bowl & Lid 12. Gravy Boat 13. Salt & Pepper Shakers [IMG]http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h91/pen63/CourtyardPlatinumLENOXChina.jpg[/IMG] Good thing I live by a Lenox outlet!

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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6th grade science  - - - we are studying soil and I introduced two days ago (outloud, honest) that microbes and worms are at work in the topsoil and they benefit the plants in the topsoil.

I asked a question today and this is the answer:
STDT: “The micro-bees…..”
*this is me NOT laughing*
TCHR: “Microbes.”
*this is me keeping it together, barely*
STDT: “Yeah, the microbes…..”

Ah, original content, that almost makes the whole gig worthwhile!

1. My Husband
   He is so much like me, but with some stellar qualities I do not want to posses.  He can fix anything, just ask him.  He is brave beyond what I think I capable of being.
2. My Dad
   I loved that he would yell so loud at every meet I ever had.  If he missed one or two I hardly noticed, because I knew he was cheering for me anyway.  He had high standards for me and was not embarrassed at appearing ‘hypocritical,’ he was busy being a parent & wanted better for me.  I loved him first & I love him still.
3. Uncle Lonnie
   (AKA my kindred spirit) Talking to him is like reading a reading motivational book.  He can talk things through with me and is not threatened by my differing ideas.  He always has something to talk about that I am interested in, I just like talking to him every chance I get.
4. Coach Phelps
   He was better than a great coach, he was there for me when my family couldn’t be, he modeled a great attitude for life and I love his willingness to grow and change.  He was an excellent just-in-time role model.
5. Grandma Bailey
   She does not talk about people.  I mean it, at all.  Who does that anymore?  She is someone I would never want to disappoint…ever.  I think that much of her, I love her so much for not giving me everything I wanted or putting up with crap when I was a kid.  I knew she loved me as much as anyone who might have been tempted to do such things, but she made the right call not to try & solve my childhood with things/money.  I love her.

Thirteen Thirteen Books You Should Read Friday Night Lights, (of course the book is better than the movie…God help us now with the TV show!) This is such a vivid description of what it must be like to be a part of a team that is an empire. Favorite Quote? “…the words of a father with a son who had gone to Permian and had later become a world class sprinter in track. He saw the irresistible allure of High School sports but he also saw the inevitable danger in adult’s living vicariously through their young. And he knew of no candle that burned out more quickly than that of the High School athlete. ‘Athletics lasts for such a short period of time. It ends for people. But while it lasts, it creates this make believe world where normal rules don’t apply. We build this false sense atmosphere. When it;s over and the harsh reality sets in, that;s the real joke we play on people….’ Everybody wants to experience that superlative moment and being an athlete can give you that. It’s Camelot for them. But there’s even life after it.” That resonates with me everytime I read it. My Losing Season This book shows the power of a good coach, the importance and what happens to a team that does not have a good coach…. It reminds me of a quote from another Pat Conroy book, Prince of Tides:”A coach occupies a high place in a boy’s life. If they are lucky, good coaches can become the perfect, unobtainable fathers that young boys dream about and rarely find in their own homes.” The Water is Wide It is all about this first year teacher (in Georgia) and how he learns to deal with crap….see my favorite quote. Failure is Not an Option Remember watching the Tom Hanks Apollo XIII movie? This is by the guy in the white vest & it is EXCELLENT! Remember the scene from the movie where they “have to fit a square peg in a round hole“? Well, the WHOLE BOOK is riddled with those goosebump moments…..from Mercury to Apollo. Longitude; The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Wow, this combines old world Europe and science in the old country…….fab read! Undaunted Courage Stephen Ambrose is an all time fav, true, but the story itself! Jefferson dreamed such a big dream and Lewis & Clark carried out the seemingly impossible. All the scientific details of “undiscovered” flora and fauna - - - amazing! The Giver This book is set in a utopia and will blow your mind. Drop me a line when you read about the apple. All Harry Potter books - Don’t make me explain that they are not evil, they are well written and have gotten MANY children to turn MANY pages. 1776 This gave me a new appreciation for the fragility of the American Revolution from a military point of view - - and it drew me straight into the recent The Revolution Sunday evening episodes on the History Channel. This is only a history of that one year, but includes details I did not retain from American History. The DaVinci Code Okay, I do love a good controversy - it involves The Church too as a bonus! Seriously, you set in Europe, invoke centuries past, and write a good narrative on top of it and I will buy it. The Poisonwood Bible Yes, I found it through Oprah. This combines a few interesting themes for me: missionaries and colonial Africa…… a good historically based fiction read. Anything by Jane Austen (start with Pride & Prejudice, end with Emma); all young girls shoudl read this during middle school and beyond…….. I love Mr. Darcy! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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The Yankees lost a pitcher in Cory Lidle today in a freak accident involving a plane and a hig rise building in New York City today.

And, yes, everyone else DID have the same reaction you did when they first heard about it…..”was it terrorism?”

It does not look like an intentional incident (I will insert a reference to the Detroit Tigers HERE after this initial solemn feeling wears off), but what is most interesting to me is that five years afer 9-11 we are still waiting for the next, seemingly ineviable attack.   Collectively we do not seem stronger, safer or more secure color coded advisories or not. 

If every time something happens that used to be just a tragedy we not have the knee jerk reaction that it coudl be terrorism, isn’t it a type of terrorism already?

Caroline Langston - NPR’s All Things Considered - had a very interesting audio article about how she had shifted her political views over the course of growing wise (AKA ‘older).  I agree with a good bit of what she has to say, save the obvs. . .

So, she got me thinking about how I shifted myself into the positions I find myself defending lately…..Here are the top things that have pushed me toward the liberal spot I find myself in nowadays…

Thirteen Things about YOUR NAME My husband was in the military and I teach in a public school. The bumper sticker says it all: “…when schools have all the money they need, and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber…” People are trying to overturn Roe vs. Wade; *checking my calendar* what decade is this? I have had government cheese and powdered milk. I watched my younger brother & sister sit on a Santa’s lap at the union hall one Christmas and get ‘decent’ gifts. My mother & father would always vote just to “cancel each other out.” Education in a liberal arts college opened my eyes to new types of people I hadn’t even read about in books. I read a lot of good books, and believe it or not, watched a lot of good television. I voted yes on a union confidence vote when I was anything but confident striking was best for my budget, but felt that solidarity and knew it was right for my conscience. My father and mother worked countless part time jobs for things like health benefits. I believe in opportunities, for everyone. I know that life is fragile and it is our charge to protect the weakest among us, because we are all going to be weak at some time in this life. I built houses, boiled water to use, ate whatever they offered me and could squat & hit a dime in a third world country. My father made $19,xxx the year that I filled out my financial aid forms for a college that cost just about that much per year. I was accepted & the government paid for it. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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