Ah, Ben. My family knows most of these notorious stories. For your reading pleasure, the things my family has been laughing and scratching their head over for about ten years now.
I first met Ben when I was 8th grade after changing schools. I was still looking for a niche. I mean... everyone at this school was a nerd. I'd have to NOT be a nerd to not fit in. So there was no way to bond over a "us vs. them" mentality as with Brian. In fact, the way I met Ben was through his girlfriend. At the time, she wasn't his girlfriend though. In fact, Ben started dating the girl that I liked in 8th grade, and I very much wanted to dislike him for it. But he was just such a cool guy. I started hanging out with him to get close to her, then when they broke up before 8th grade was over, I had a decision to make: keep a friend or pursue a girl who at that time I really wasn't that into anymore. Nah. Went with the Bro Code on that one. After all its not everyday you find a friend (or group of friends) that you can sing Alice in Chains songs with during Washington DC tours ("I'm the maaaaaaaaan in the box!")
We had joked through 8th grade about starting a band with our friend Zach, and I became the arbitrary bassist. They needed one. I was there. Except lucky for them, I really WANTED to play bass. So when I got my Yamaha in 8th grade (with money I had saved up for over a year and a half: $350 dollars), I became the bassist for Ben's as yet unnamed band. We went through several names. "Ben G. and the Chocolate Russels." "The Chocolate Russels." "The Sweet Potatoes." Many names between that which I can't remember.
We played a few Crosby, Stills, and Nash songs, some Bush (which we later discarded as being too easy), some Alice in Chains, R.E.M., U2, and of course: the Counting Crows. Our heroes of depressing music. Because being depressed in the 90's was cool.
Despite getting rid of all non-Christian music in 8th and 9th grade, and becoming very active in my church, I still hung out with Ben, and I still played Counting Crows songs with them. This was a bit of a conflict, but of all the friends I had Ben was the one who was always willing to listen to me no matter what I was saying (which I couldn't say for all my friends). Ben and I talked about religion, spirituality, dreams, music, books, history, economics, alternative history (what if this and this happened instead?), our friends, what-have-you.
Ben was the best guy I knew to bounce ideas off of. When I was young in my faith and very talkative about it, he was one of the few friends who pateintly sat through everything I said. A few people stopped talking to me because they were sick of hearing about it. Ben never stopped. He also never stopped questioning me on it and challenging me. When I started having serious doubts in high school, he was as critical of that as when I was supposedly so confident in my religion. Ironically as some one who didn't share my faith (at least not a faith in something so specific) he was more instrumental at getting me to believe again as any of my Christian friends who would blow off the doubts that I had (though I must also say I had a few very good Christian friends who like Ben would entertain any and all doubts, and talked about it at length, never wavering in their own belief). He also knew when I was "piling it to the ceiling" and when I was serious.
Seems a trivial note now: but Ben was there when I bought my first non-Christian CD in two years. "Live Across A Wire" by the Counting Crows.
As far as high school shenanigans? Oh, plenty. We would drive out to Memorial Drive with his souped up VW bug (by souped-up I mean he had a better stereo system installed to drawn out the engine noises), drive up next to all the Union kids in pick-ups playing Limp Bizkit or Travis Tritt, and we would blair the tape of our own recordings. Oh yeah. We were bad. We had one "big" concert at Ben's Unitarian church, where we opened for a much more popular high school band at the time. We played one or two of Ben's originals, and then some Crows' covers. I actually had two guys come up to me a week after and say, "Hey, weren't you the guys who sounded like the Counting Crows?" This was a huge compliment for me, but coming from a Freshmen (I was a sophmore), I didn't put too much stock in it. Anything sounds cool to Freshmen. Joy and Emily joined the band later on when Joy and I met while we were in the school musical "Damn Yankees!" Ben was shocked that I actually had the ability to go up to a girl, start talking, and then suddenly get her to join a band with two guys she hardly knew. Joy's dad at first was suspiscious of us, but later on he realized we were okay. He's a cool guy. Joy also brought in our new lead singer Emily, and "the Sweet Potatoes" name was thought up by Joy's mom. Our band had solidified for its high school golden years. We had one more concert that we put together above the garage, which a friend of ours opened for with his DJing. It's easy, but not as cool to jump off of amps that are only a foot high. Hey... we rocked out though. Oh yeah. For Ben's birthday one year he got studio time and we actually recorded a CD. We sold four copies to Japanese exchange students, so we can always say that we're "Big in Japan."
Ben would make moonshine in his closet for fun during junior and senior year, and one night we walked around my neighborhood drinking hooch and discussing politics. He partook in the cigarettes that I stole from my sister's "victory pack" that she bought when she turned 18. And that was just in high school. When I nearly coughed up a lung on the first (and last cigarette) I ever tried, his relentless teasing about what a whimp I was kept me from ever trying a cigarette again. We witnessed the stray beer bottle that decked Ed Roland at Edge-Fest (as well as several red-neck fights), and we wrote songs about sandwhiches and tire irons. My choices when I was around Ben were probably not the wisests, but if I had to make these mistakes, I'm glad I made them with some I trusted like Ben. I was a bit of a sneak and a rebel when I was a kid, that's for sure.
In college he went in-state and I went out-of-state. We'd meet up during the summers to jam, sit on the porch and talk economics/history/girls/what-have-you. I got a few post cards from his trip to Russia, and got to hear all about the shenanigans of his St. Petersburg trip over cold gin and tonic during warm weather on his porch. His parents, I hope, have kept those comfy rocking chairs that are out there.
Ben visits Topeka every now and then to see his current girlfriend and will drop by for a drink and some good old fashioned conversation. One of the times he was over we actually pulled out the instruments and were surprised to find that we actually remember how to play some of our songs. "Tire Iron" was of course easily memorable for me (heck, I wrote it), "All Except the End", and "Something in the Air" (which is in no way related to the much better Tom Petty song). And of course the song that my parents remember. I can't remember the title. All I remember is Emily and Ben screaming "YEEEEAAAAAH YEAAAAAH" as loud as they could and as off-key as possible.
So now you know most of the story behind Ben, my Hippy friend. Who's next?
How about Jeffy-poo?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Yes, I actually have friends (1)
So I was thinking this morning about some of the more interesting friends I've had over the years, and wondering how it was I met a few of them. So to fulfill my self-absorbed blogging tendencies, I present to you a series a stories (to be updated whenever I feel like it) of how I met the most interesting people in my life. Family members not included of course (hey when you're born knowing people, you tend to know those stories).
Chronologically speaking, let's start with some one I met back in middle school and still know today.
Brian.
So its hard to remember how I first met Brian. There are two big introductions. The first I believe was when my mother, picking up from school, suddenly stopped in the middle of traffic and began chanting some strange, mystical, chant to the effect of "ROOOOOOCK CHAAAAAALK..." at another woman picking up her son. I remember seeing what was probably the same confused and scared look on the other Jayhawk-Son's face that was on mine. It didn't help that they were holding up traffic in front of every other kid in the school. But I guess the ties that behind Jayhawks are stronger than an elementary school mothers' shame. This other boy, was Brian.
Later on that year, I met Brian through a mutual friend we had, and we immediately hated each other: as young boys sometimes do. We then threatened to beat each other up (very mature words that I'm sure we picked up from Bruce Willis movies were exchanged), and set a time and a place after school. We both of course promptly forgot about it, but one of the parents heard the exchange and reported it to the school counsellor. We were both called out of class about a week and a half later and told to "Shake hands, and respect each other." We soon bonded over our mutual disrespect for the counsellor (the enemy of my enemy?), and the fact that we were into the same nerdy stuff. X-Files, Aliens mvoies, Predator movies, Sci-Fi books, comics... nothing brings elementary age kids together like cheap sci-fi and horror.
Our mutual friend drifted away from us in middle school, and we were pretty much in our own little tight-knit clique of nerds in a middle-class white protestant christian private school. Brian and I always seemed to be more on the same wavelength than our friends. One of our friends was the kid who got made fun of for being very into science, and very defensive (succesffuly too) of evolution in science classes (he carried around what was disparagingly referred to as the "big black atheist book"- a very exhaustive and well writtne science book on astronomy, the big bang, physics, and chemistry. Very little on evolution actually, but that doesn't stop kids from taunting people who are different). The other friend we had was a huge Three Stooges fan, and basically included that in everything he talked about. Have to admit, he even creeped me out sometimes, but he was a good guy, and I can put up with 20 "Moe-Impressions" a day. Later on a few more joined our geek-posse with different nerd-pop obsessions (video game, Star Trek, Star Wars, what-have-you). Brian and I were pretty much the TV show, book, and comic book junkies/experts. Needless to say, we were the weirdos of a our school. Whether us getting picked on and singled out was an inflated perception of the usual elementary/middle school crap that every kid goes through, or if we really were shunned, we forged a strong friendship through the feeling of "us vs. them". (To note, Brian did say that school got better -socially- after I left. People just started leaving each other alone more, I suppose).
Brian and I hung out for most of middle school until I changed schools in 8th grade. We kept in touch through the Methodist church, and then later the Charismatic church we went to. I left the charismatic church around my junior year of high school, and kept somewhat in contact through phone and e-mail up through most of my college years.
He started playing bass a little before I did, and was instrumental in me choosing my first bass to buy. A nice, cheap, Yamaha which I still have today (and which still works, even with a slight crack in the wood). He was more dedicated to it than I was though, branching out before I did into jazz and other more technique-demanding styles. I just enjoyed playing the straight rock patterns, until getting into jazz in high school, and what little classical I could keep up with in college. He is still today a much more dedicated player than I am.
We met up again in Dallas while I was getting my Master's, and I moved in with him for most of my second year. At the time he was working as a freelance photographer and at a web page design firm. He introduced me to the wonders of "red-neck karaoke" and cigars while in Dallas. Always good to have a friend who introduces you to the healthy and hygenic pleasure of life. Also, never sing karaoke to songs you're not quite sure what the lyrics are about. Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" is probably not the best thing to sing in front of your friend's church group. Or a bunch of drunken Arlington residents. They found it funny though. They shouldn't laugh though. They were the ones' in kilts. We found that we were both still nerds, but about different things. Music, books, comic books. Wait... no. They were the same things.
Due to Katrina, and the flood of New Orleans artists that moved to Dallas afterwards he lost work as a freelance, and the web page design firm gig wasn't working out as well as he'd thought. So he moved back up to Tulsa, and I moved into a smaller place. We still keep in touch through phone calls.
Next up: Ben. Those of you who want dirt on me should probably stay tuned for this one.
Chronologically speaking, let's start with some one I met back in middle school and still know today.
Brian.
So its hard to remember how I first met Brian. There are two big introductions. The first I believe was when my mother, picking up from school, suddenly stopped in the middle of traffic and began chanting some strange, mystical, chant to the effect of "ROOOOOOCK CHAAAAAALK..." at another woman picking up her son. I remember seeing what was probably the same confused and scared look on the other Jayhawk-Son's face that was on mine. It didn't help that they were holding up traffic in front of every other kid in the school. But I guess the ties that behind Jayhawks are stronger than an elementary school mothers' shame. This other boy, was Brian.
Later on that year, I met Brian through a mutual friend we had, and we immediately hated each other: as young boys sometimes do. We then threatened to beat each other up (very mature words that I'm sure we picked up from Bruce Willis movies were exchanged), and set a time and a place after school. We both of course promptly forgot about it, but one of the parents heard the exchange and reported it to the school counsellor. We were both called out of class about a week and a half later and told to "Shake hands, and respect each other." We soon bonded over our mutual disrespect for the counsellor (the enemy of my enemy?), and the fact that we were into the same nerdy stuff. X-Files, Aliens mvoies, Predator movies, Sci-Fi books, comics... nothing brings elementary age kids together like cheap sci-fi and horror.
Our mutual friend drifted away from us in middle school, and we were pretty much in our own little tight-knit clique of nerds in a middle-class white protestant christian private school. Brian and I always seemed to be more on the same wavelength than our friends. One of our friends was the kid who got made fun of for being very into science, and very defensive (succesffuly too) of evolution in science classes (he carried around what was disparagingly referred to as the "big black atheist book"- a very exhaustive and well writtne science book on astronomy, the big bang, physics, and chemistry. Very little on evolution actually, but that doesn't stop kids from taunting people who are different). The other friend we had was a huge Three Stooges fan, and basically included that in everything he talked about. Have to admit, he even creeped me out sometimes, but he was a good guy, and I can put up with 20 "Moe-Impressions" a day. Later on a few more joined our geek-posse with different nerd-pop obsessions (video game, Star Trek, Star Wars, what-have-you). Brian and I were pretty much the TV show, book, and comic book junkies/experts. Needless to say, we were the weirdos of a our school. Whether us getting picked on and singled out was an inflated perception of the usual elementary/middle school crap that every kid goes through, or if we really were shunned, we forged a strong friendship through the feeling of "us vs. them". (To note, Brian did say that school got better -socially- after I left. People just started leaving each other alone more, I suppose).
Brian and I hung out for most of middle school until I changed schools in 8th grade. We kept in touch through the Methodist church, and then later the Charismatic church we went to. I left the charismatic church around my junior year of high school, and kept somewhat in contact through phone and e-mail up through most of my college years.
He started playing bass a little before I did, and was instrumental in me choosing my first bass to buy. A nice, cheap, Yamaha which I still have today (and which still works, even with a slight crack in the wood). He was more dedicated to it than I was though, branching out before I did into jazz and other more technique-demanding styles. I just enjoyed playing the straight rock patterns, until getting into jazz in high school, and what little classical I could keep up with in college. He is still today a much more dedicated player than I am.
We met up again in Dallas while I was getting my Master's, and I moved in with him for most of my second year. At the time he was working as a freelance photographer and at a web page design firm. He introduced me to the wonders of "red-neck karaoke" and cigars while in Dallas. Always good to have a friend who introduces you to the healthy and hygenic pleasure of life. Also, never sing karaoke to songs you're not quite sure what the lyrics are about. Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" is probably not the best thing to sing in front of your friend's church group. Or a bunch of drunken Arlington residents. They found it funny though. They shouldn't laugh though. They were the ones' in kilts. We found that we were both still nerds, but about different things. Music, books, comic books. Wait... no. They were the same things.
Due to Katrina, and the flood of New Orleans artists that moved to Dallas afterwards he lost work as a freelance, and the web page design firm gig wasn't working out as well as he'd thought. So he moved back up to Tulsa, and I moved into a smaller place. We still keep in touch through phone calls.
Next up: Ben. Those of you who want dirt on me should probably stay tuned for this one.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Floods, Corn, and Food Prices
By now, everyone has heard of the floods in Iowa. What the press is now tilting to is the impact on the corn crop and the larger impact this will have on the economy.
So it seems that finally US consumers will feel the effect of Ethanol on food prices just as much as our international consumers are. There will be price increases not only on corn itself, but everything dependent on corn. The obvious list being meats (poultry and cattle are fed with corn), dairy (cattle again), and eggs (chickens chickens chickens). What else is dependent on corn? Our sad excuse for chocolate. High fructose corn syrup is found in all sorts of candies, drinks, sweeteners, what-have-you. Mainly because its a cheap substitute for the already overly priced domestic sugar that we produce. Dr. Pepper fans: get ready to pay higher prices to the good doctor.
Add to this the farmers strike in Argentina* (which surprise surprise, I support. Taxing exports neither helps the domestic, nor the international economy. It only helps government payroll), and the blooming demand for all staple goods from India and China, and it all spells out a pretty bleak picture. There's a phrase that a certain lewd robot makes in "Futurama" that aptly describes the situation. A cookie to anyone who can guess it.
How do we stop the impending food crisis of 2009, when our destroyed crop will start having a real effect on the economy, as opposed to the speculation that's going to be rampant in the next month on food prices?
We can start by repealing the ludicrous sugar tariffs. Cheap sugar imported would be a boon to our neighbors' agricultural economies, as well as allow us to produce GOOD chocolate with REAL sugar (as opposed to second rate corn syrup). It would also take pressure off of the corn ethanol business (if we have to live with this idiocy let's at least spread the love to other crops), since ethanol producers could simply use the cheaper sugar instead of the corn. There are related costs to this, but I've been over that before.
We can also go back to the recent farm bill, and actually use common sense. By that I mean gutting the corn ethanol subsidies to give farmers incentive to sell corn back into the food market. That "cheapening" would be reflected in the market. Farmers would suffer from lower corn prices on the market, yes. But they're less than 2% of our population. Consumers make up 100%. Do the "heartless economic math". Would you prefer millions to suffer hunger in our own country, or thousands of farmers (who coincidentally can still apply for benefits from the government). I understand we've already tolerated millions of other countries populations to suffer due to our prices, but the government only listens to American voters. But after all we do give them "foreign aid" right?**
We could subsidize research into other ethanol production that doesn't require staple crops. Switchgrass, jatropha, heck I've even heard of some one in Mexico farming algae for ethanol.
So. What to do about it individually? I dunno. Eat more pasta and bread (or other wheat based staples). Drink less soda (or no soda preferably). Eat more oatmeal and less cereal. Find a milk substitute. Drink more OJ. As a capitalist, I would just say check the prices and let the market decide. Corn products will go up in price relative to other staples. Just do what you do. Pinch those pennies to get the most you can out of your grocer. It's not the end of the world or civilization as we know it, or even the end of US economic prosperity. Just don't expect things to get better at the supermarket for a while. Although, I'm predicting Wal-Mart and CostCo to do REALLY well in the next year. Don't expect local stores to do well, especially if they rely on corn products of some kind.
*This seems to mostly affect the soy crop, wheat, and beef.
**Let me know if you want to hear about my... less than positive opinion on US foreign aid. Not as great as you'd think. Although I think most of you should already know about that. :P
So it seems that finally US consumers will feel the effect of Ethanol on food prices just as much as our international consumers are. There will be price increases not only on corn itself, but everything dependent on corn. The obvious list being meats (poultry and cattle are fed with corn), dairy (cattle again), and eggs (chickens chickens chickens). What else is dependent on corn? Our sad excuse for chocolate. High fructose corn syrup is found in all sorts of candies, drinks, sweeteners, what-have-you. Mainly because its a cheap substitute for the already overly priced domestic sugar that we produce. Dr. Pepper fans: get ready to pay higher prices to the good doctor.
Add to this the farmers strike in Argentina* (which surprise surprise, I support. Taxing exports neither helps the domestic, nor the international economy. It only helps government payroll), and the blooming demand for all staple goods from India and China, and it all spells out a pretty bleak picture. There's a phrase that a certain lewd robot makes in "Futurama" that aptly describes the situation. A cookie to anyone who can guess it.
How do we stop the impending food crisis of 2009, when our destroyed crop will start having a real effect on the economy, as opposed to the speculation that's going to be rampant in the next month on food prices?
We can start by repealing the ludicrous sugar tariffs. Cheap sugar imported would be a boon to our neighbors' agricultural economies, as well as allow us to produce GOOD chocolate with REAL sugar (as opposed to second rate corn syrup). It would also take pressure off of the corn ethanol business (if we have to live with this idiocy let's at least spread the love to other crops), since ethanol producers could simply use the cheaper sugar instead of the corn. There are related costs to this, but I've been over that before.
We can also go back to the recent farm bill, and actually use common sense. By that I mean gutting the corn ethanol subsidies to give farmers incentive to sell corn back into the food market. That "cheapening" would be reflected in the market. Farmers would suffer from lower corn prices on the market, yes. But they're less than 2% of our population. Consumers make up 100%. Do the "heartless economic math". Would you prefer millions to suffer hunger in our own country, or thousands of farmers (who coincidentally can still apply for benefits from the government). I understand we've already tolerated millions of other countries populations to suffer due to our prices, but the government only listens to American voters. But after all we do give them "foreign aid" right?**
We could subsidize research into other ethanol production that doesn't require staple crops. Switchgrass, jatropha, heck I've even heard of some one in Mexico farming algae for ethanol.
So. What to do about it individually? I dunno. Eat more pasta and bread (or other wheat based staples). Drink less soda (or no soda preferably). Eat more oatmeal and less cereal. Find a milk substitute. Drink more OJ. As a capitalist, I would just say check the prices and let the market decide. Corn products will go up in price relative to other staples. Just do what you do. Pinch those pennies to get the most you can out of your grocer. It's not the end of the world or civilization as we know it, or even the end of US economic prosperity. Just don't expect things to get better at the supermarket for a while. Although, I'm predicting Wal-Mart and CostCo to do REALLY well in the next year. Don't expect local stores to do well, especially if they rely on corn products of some kind.
*This seems to mostly affect the soy crop, wheat, and beef.
**Let me know if you want to hear about my... less than positive opinion on US foreign aid. Not as great as you'd think. Although I think most of you should already know about that. :P
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Back from the East
La Ardilla graduated from Harvard last week :) Congrats, sweety!
Her parents came up through Providence, and we got see this nice... sculpture... performance... ritual thing on the canal. They lit a bunch of torches on the water as the sun set. It was pretty cool. We have pictures.
Once we got her parents back and settled, we had to wait for her friend to come up from Houston. Although is plane was delayed. And delayed... and delayed. He got in at two in the morning, and a very kind gentleman dropped him off in Milton so we wouldn't have to drive out to the airport. There are good Samaritans out there.
We then had to wake up at 4 AM to find parking (illegal parking at that, but no ticket!), and get in line for the Commencement, which we had forged tickets too the day before. They didn't even look at the forgeries. Oh those crazy Bostonians. So much effort with no appreciation.
After the procession through, we sat through a few speeches, and then headed over to get lunch with the other Divinity grads. Ardilla got her fancy diploma all in Latin too. Very nice. Too bad none of us could read it.
After that we sat through the Harvard President chastise the state of Massachusetts in a speech to the alumni association for even the thought of taxing the Harvard endowment (a ludicrous idea for sure, but she's preaching to the choir). FINALLY she yields, and we got to hear a very lovely speech by JK Rowling for the "Graduates" still in the audience. Which really it was a bunch of young kids with their parents. Which made the prior "endowment soap box" speech a bit... well... even more out of place.
Then we had dinner... then we had to get up early again to drive her parents back to Providence to catch their plane.
So let me just say at this point that in three days, Ardilla and I had about 8 hours of sleep. Nice. On top of that, her friend's plane back was delayed. So we got another day hanging out with him which was good. We got lost in traffic. Ardilla figured out that my secret "horrible frustration" point is sitting in the passenger seat. I am a horrible side-seat driver. Don't ask me why. In the back seat I'm fine. Maybe its because I can see things better :P Or in the back seat I can at least see any cars about to slam into us from behind (as my brother I"m sure remembers happened back on Memorial that day after he just got his car out of the shop).
But she did great with the graduation. She rented a car, she figured out where to go, she did some GREAT driving in Boston. I was very proud of her, and she should be very proud of herself. She's graduated, she's done, she's home.
Now we just have to get through the wedding ;)
Te amo mucho, sweety. Feliz cumple a tu mama.
Her parents came up through Providence, and we got see this nice... sculpture... performance... ritual thing on the canal. They lit a bunch of torches on the water as the sun set. It was pretty cool. We have pictures.
Once we got her parents back and settled, we had to wait for her friend to come up from Houston. Although is plane was delayed. And delayed... and delayed. He got in at two in the morning, and a very kind gentleman dropped him off in Milton so we wouldn't have to drive out to the airport. There are good Samaritans out there.
We then had to wake up at 4 AM to find parking (illegal parking at that, but no ticket!), and get in line for the Commencement, which we had forged tickets too the day before. They didn't even look at the forgeries. Oh those crazy Bostonians. So much effort with no appreciation.
After the procession through, we sat through a few speeches, and then headed over to get lunch with the other Divinity grads. Ardilla got her fancy diploma all in Latin too. Very nice. Too bad none of us could read it.
After that we sat through the Harvard President chastise the state of Massachusetts in a speech to the alumni association for even the thought of taxing the Harvard endowment (a ludicrous idea for sure, but she's preaching to the choir). FINALLY she yields, and we got to hear a very lovely speech by JK Rowling for the "Graduates" still in the audience. Which really it was a bunch of young kids with their parents. Which made the prior "endowment soap box" speech a bit... well... even more out of place.
Then we had dinner... then we had to get up early again to drive her parents back to Providence to catch their plane.
So let me just say at this point that in three days, Ardilla and I had about 8 hours of sleep. Nice. On top of that, her friend's plane back was delayed. So we got another day hanging out with him which was good. We got lost in traffic. Ardilla figured out that my secret "horrible frustration" point is sitting in the passenger seat. I am a horrible side-seat driver. Don't ask me why. In the back seat I'm fine. Maybe its because I can see things better :P Or in the back seat I can at least see any cars about to slam into us from behind (as my brother I"m sure remembers happened back on Memorial that day after he just got his car out of the shop).
But she did great with the graduation. She rented a car, she figured out where to go, she did some GREAT driving in Boston. I was very proud of her, and she should be very proud of herself. She's graduated, she's done, she's home.
Now we just have to get through the wedding ;)
Te amo mucho, sweety. Feliz cumple a tu mama.
Call and Response
Gotta love evaluation time. The cream of the crop of my student evaluations, and my response:
Under "Things the instructor did well":
"Teach!"
Uhm... okay.
"I appreciate his 'soap box moments'."
Some one got an earful of my corn rant.
"Enthusiastic. Clear. Humurous."
Kind of sounds like a fragrance commercial. Eau de nerd...
"Related examples to fit the students."
Yes. Unemployment does affect you when you get out on the job market and realize there aren't any jobs.
"Very organized and dependable."
Some one wasn't paying attention in class.
"This is Econ, not theater, you're a great teacher."
Uhm.... okay.
"The small discussion groups helped out a lot and saved my grade!"
Keep this one in mind for the next section.
Under "Suggested Improvements":
"No more group discussions. They lasted too long and we learned little."
Contradiction thy name is student.
"Quit abbreviating everything."
Very well. On all my graphs I will write out to the bitter end: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP), Consumption (C), Investment (I), Capital (K), Consumer Price Index (CPI). It is rather confusing.
"Crack a smile. Don't be so serious."
Same class as Mr. "Humorous" from above. No kidding. Maybe my jokes just aren't appreciated.
"E85 is good."
Some one did not get enough of an earful of my corn rant. Get it? Earful? Corn? Ear? Yeah... I guess this all goes back to appreciation of my jokes.
"Actually give the answer to a question instead of giving part of it."
I guess I can't expect them to think about things and try to solve it for themselves.
"Economics is not easily understood by many. Have a little compassion."
No. I am an evil, evil man and I will smite you with my godlike GTA powers. When I'm not in office hours, going over homeworks, reviewing with students for quizzes... yeah. Having no compassion is an awful thing.
"Nix the substitute girl, she sounds like an NPR telethon."
Okay... seriously: what substitute girl??? My Ukrainian friend subbed for me one Friday but he is neither a girl nor does he sound like anyone on NPR. Unless he wore a dress and a wig and did his best Ira Glass voice.
"More examples that students can relate to would increase class participation."
Yeah, see the "related examples" comment above. Funny story, both the "relate examples to students" comments were from the same class.
"Lecture preparation could be better." Some one WAS paying attention in class!
Under "Things the instructor did well":
"Teach!"
Uhm... okay.
"I appreciate his 'soap box moments'."
Some one got an earful of my corn rant.
"Enthusiastic. Clear. Humurous."
Kind of sounds like a fragrance commercial. Eau de nerd...
"Related examples to fit the students."
Yes. Unemployment does affect you when you get out on the job market and realize there aren't any jobs.
"Very organized and dependable."
Some one wasn't paying attention in class.
"This is Econ, not theater, you're a great teacher."
Uhm.... okay.
"The small discussion groups helped out a lot and saved my grade!"
Keep this one in mind for the next section.
Under "Suggested Improvements":
"No more group discussions. They lasted too long and we learned little."
Contradiction thy name is student.
"Quit abbreviating everything."
Very well. On all my graphs I will write out to the bitter end: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP), Consumption (C), Investment (I), Capital (K), Consumer Price Index (CPI). It is rather confusing.
"Crack a smile. Don't be so serious."
Same class as Mr. "Humorous" from above. No kidding. Maybe my jokes just aren't appreciated.
"E85 is good."
Some one did not get enough of an earful of my corn rant. Get it? Earful? Corn? Ear? Yeah... I guess this all goes back to appreciation of my jokes.
"Actually give the answer to a question instead of giving part of it."
I guess I can't expect them to think about things and try to solve it for themselves.
"Economics is not easily understood by many. Have a little compassion."
No. I am an evil, evil man and I will smite you with my godlike GTA powers. When I'm not in office hours, going over homeworks, reviewing with students for quizzes... yeah. Having no compassion is an awful thing.
"Nix the substitute girl, she sounds like an NPR telethon."
Okay... seriously: what substitute girl??? My Ukrainian friend subbed for me one Friday but he is neither a girl nor does he sound like anyone on NPR. Unless he wore a dress and a wig and did his best Ira Glass voice.
"More examples that students can relate to would increase class participation."
Yeah, see the "related examples" comment above. Funny story, both the "relate examples to students" comments were from the same class.
"Lecture preparation could be better." Some one WAS paying attention in class!
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