It bums me out that Apple lost a lot of the educational market during the 90s. I'm not one to call Bill Gates a really bad guy or envy the man for having lots of pocket change; he's good at what he does. (Though I always had the sneaking suspicion that something was fishy with Windows--like stealing your identity).

Hi! I just lowered my cholesterol...really. From 233 => 185 in 4 weeks.

Funny how you really never pay attention to certain commercials until it affects you, and for a 4-week stretch I _absorbed_ cereal ads.

My secret: Eat lots of oatmeal, cut the sugar stuff and the fried stuff and especially lay off of the Mountain Dew.

Because I can't teach if my numbers are not acceptable!

Real Heroes

Two memories have cycled through my mind when I watched the coverage of the space shuttle explosion: the first "test drive" of the space shuttle design on top of that 747 in the 70s and white branching of Challenger's breakup in the last NASA "disaster."

I remember camping out all day to watch the coverage of this new reusable space vehicle christened Enterprise (named after the "boldly-go" ship of Star Trek). I think even Leonard Nimoy was on a hand for the launch. Explanations were given on why this was such a difficult test and what could go wrong (much like the commentary when Evil Knievel's attempt to jump across the Grand Canyon except a different result). The Enterprise flight was flawless for us the viewer and I with others were giddy--that same satisfied smile you have when that Estes model rocket actually went up, the parachute worked and you even used a yard stick, a protractor and a weighted string with a dash of higher math to figured out how high the thing went with the biggest "D" engine you could buy.

I loved the idea of space travel and really thought that things like I saw in Star Wars and Star Trek were not too far off. I dreamed of space travel when I revisited my Viking Mars landing picture issue of Scientific American. I flew through the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy with my own model of the Enterprise.

Another memory was the news we received during a cafeteria lunch on a snowy day in Grand Rapids, MI. Someone asked me told me first and wondered if I'd make the announcement and lead in prayer. I opted another person and Eric became the journalist and pastor. The hall gasped and prayed and I still regret not having the guts for being the messenger. We crowded around the one television upstairs in the lounge and watched in silence. I remembered that there was a teacher on board along with those who were trained to fly in the shuttle.

My wife asked me if our pastor had mentioned the Columbia explosion yesterday in his sermon. I paused and it dawned on me that there was no reference to the tragedy in either service. In a place where the result of a basketball game would be joked about, where a reference to Survivor may be used, where a guy who ran from God and ended up in Big Fish, I felt like we had missed the chance to acknowledge and pray for some pretty courageous folk.

But I can't blame the church or the media or society or even our parents on this one. This is who we are. As I talk with my students today, I can't really change their values--the values that prompts my students to evaluate everything as consumers: their teachers, schools, bodies, music, and cars.

In my mind I know I can't change that thinking, but in my heart I take a cue from a dear colleague who is ready to die from a 10-month battle with cancer. He still thinks that we can "save the world" by the little actions of humanity and love. And that's the teacher's heart that stirred us in 1986 and in 9/11/2001 and now on 2/2/2003.

Bad things about NEA

I have been a member of the NEA (the teacher's union, not the artist group) since teaching in a public school. And, I have been told that one reason not to like my union is that the NEA likes abortion and is an advocate for pro-choice.

I'm not pro-choice per se, but I've always wondered where my conservative friends got their information. Looking at their webpage, the NEA doesn't have a link to "Abortions: YES!"

So, for the next few days, I'd like to find out what my union is all about and see for myself if it is a Democratic lobbier (which also I am told) and what they really do for me at the local level.

Again, my conservative collegues would lead me to believe that all things Democratic is all things bad and morally void and just plain stupid.

Wasn't McCarthy a Republican?

Football vs. Chess

Sunday was a big day for sports: Super Bowl XXXVII and Kasparov vs. Deep Junior. Both were played in the United States and both brought a lot of media attention. The Superbowl was a romp and so was the chess game.

At least Garry came through for me.

The Oakland Raiders' training camp was in my hometown in Santa Rosa, CA. We heard of how tough and mean those guys were (mid to late 1970s if you remember). And now that they've come back to Oakland, I have a soft spot in my heart for the Silver and Black...I was a little sad for the game and the commericals.

Garry Kasparov taking on another computer (last time he publically lost and everyone went into a tizzy). Kasparov did what he was supposed to do and won overwhelmly.
Humans rejoice! (thought the folks that put the program together did a nice job, too!)

Wouldn't it be cool to hear in the classroom: I want to be a GrandMaster Chess player after college. It sure beats the aspirations of going into professional sports...delusional as it sounds.

No wonder the USA isn't listed in the top 10, 20 of Chess players. In fact the highest ranking USA chess player is  Alexander Onischuk (#35) and he wasn't born here (please, I know he's a US citizen and has all the rights of a citizen). But who amoung us, who went through the US public school system (or any US school system) is smart enough to play the game well?

I wonder if we should shift our priorities around in school.

Inuksuk in front of our house.