May Sky

The science classes made water rockets out of 2-liter bottles and we fired them out on the baseball diamond yesterday and today.  Only three out of about 50 rockets really had nice flights, but the kids enjoy watching the unbalanced ones just as much since they spin around unpredictably, spraying water and sending kids running [...]

Vacation Monday Notes

I’m very excited for Captain E and MK3 with their new house.  They’ve been in there for a little over a month, but today is the first day they had a real cookout in the backyard.  It was a tiny thing, just those two, Evan and Roberta, Captain E’s brother Bryan and myself.  Hot links [...]

Junior High Talent Show

I wonder if I’m becoming a curmudgeon in the span of a single week.  I’m disappointed about the school schedule this week, with a major field trip that claimed 70% of my students on Monday, classes starting at 10:10am on Wednesday, an assembly day today and shortened classes on Friday just to satisfy district minute [...]

Race Retire

I messed up this year’s Bay To Breakers.  Didn’t pick up my registration packet or timing chip, didn’t bring a camera.  I showed up 20 minutes after the start thinking I would avoid the serious runners but the crush was actually from the costumed and imbibing runners — 60,000 people!!  It was a festive and [...]

Some Guy’s WNBA Western Conference Preview

Before anything, let me say that it’s disappointing that Sebnem Kimyacioglu isn’t the league this year!
I don’t have any business writing a WNBA preview post because I’m only a casual fan of the league. Honestly, though, that makes me more of a fan than most people paying attention to basketball. The ads for [...]

Awake and Typing

I’m setting myself up for a tiring day at work tomorrow by staying up so late.  But, all of a sudden, it’s blazing hot here and I took a nap in the afternoon followed by an exhilarating jog and a drive to the grocery store in the cool night air.  Case in point, I’m not [...]

Cruisin’ On In

While in the dentist’s chair Thursday morning I asked the nurse “What do you suppose the doctor is doing right now?”  It was that situation where the nurse gets you all set up, took the blood pressure, gave he medicine, hooked up the oxygen…it was for a four wisdom tooth extraction, hence all of the [...]

Whining

Without a doubt, I have the urge to return to graduate school. I said as much once I graduated because I was really green back then; a kid in a new city with no job experience, working alongside scores of longtime educators. I know I could do a much better job. I [...]