Bike Commuting

I've now done this about 5 times. 16 miles to work and 16 miles back to where I parked my car. I honestly love it. It seems like such an easy way to workout. I mean, I have to go to work anyway, why not ride my bike?

There is a multi-use trail that goes right by where I work. So I drive to the trailhead, get my bike out and ride. I have to go to work anyway, right?

Usually I ride on the roads, and riding on the trail just feels so luxurious. There are no cars to contend with, and the pavement is much smoother than the road. Also, most of the trail bypasses major intersections and it is a greenbelt, so it's scenic too. It is just a pleasure.

Except for the squirrels.

I've decided that squirrels are suicidal. In the morning, they're sleeping but when I'm coming back in the afternoon, they are sitting there by the side of the path, trying to look casual. As I ride by them, and, in fact, I am past them, they will suddenly decide that the OTHER side of the path is where they need to be. Right Now. And, they must get there in front of my bike. So, as I'm peacefully riding along a kamikaze squirrel will race me diagonally and then dive in front of my wheel, while uttering a squirrel yell of Death Before Dishonor.

So far everyone has survived, but how long can this go on? I ask you.

Technology and High School

Technology: The scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective.

We use it everywhere. Gas stations, grocery stores, the local flea market, in the office. And yet, our school system doesn't really utilize it. Why is anyone surprised that our students aren't prepared to take the jobs that are available when they get out of school?

The high school I teach in got new mathematics textbooks. And not just the textbook. The system contains full powerpoint presentations for the text as well as CD and online access. The computer version of the text has very cool movies and interactivity sections that allow the student to explore the mathematical principle without having to write it all down on paper. When I saw all this stuff, I thought, finally I will be able to teach my classes, the way that I taught when I was in the corporate environment.

However, it's not as easy as that to use technology in our schools. I have a macintosh computer in my classroom. There is only one LCD projector that can be used with the mac at our school. I'm going to check it out and see if all I need is an adaptor so that I can use any LCD projector. I really do feel it's important to expose the students to technology as it's used in a business environment, not just as a computer game. I seriously want to make it part of my classroom.

You can also load your classes online and track them. Give them a name and a password, and they can access the text online and not only that, each student can take online interactive quizzes which are instantly scored, so you can see immediately how your class is doing without having to do all of that painful by hand grading.

I've tried communicating this to the other math teachers. You would have thought I was offering poison.

"The kids are having a hard enough time already, just finding the page number."

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! I don't think I'll do that."

Does anyone else find this very sad and frustrating? Shouldn't we (as teachers) be using all of the tools that we have in order to better prepare our students to be productive members of society, and not incidentally, to be able to make a decent living?

Practice

Failure: The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends.

I was reminded last night that just because I've done something perfectly in the past doesn't mean that I will be able to repeat that experience.

Specifically, I cooked dinner last night with some help from my kids. We were going to have chicken and dumplings. We also made banana bread. Now. Both of these items are things that I have made many, many times. However, I haven't really cooked or baked for some months. At least, not serious things like an actual dinner.

Both items needed to cook for a bit, so I left the kitchen.

Maybe you can guess what happened next. Yeah, that's right. They both got burnt to a crisp.

I'm redeeming myself this morning with coffee cake for breakfast. And, you're right. I wouldn't have been making it if I hadn't failed so spectacularly last night.

Rain Running

Visceral: Obtained through intuition rather than from reasoning or observation.

I went running in the rain yesterday. Nothing can beat the experience of being outside and experiencing the visceral feel of all your senses informing you of the world. Being outside, is a way for me to connect to myself, to meditate, to smooth out the rough edges. There's something about movement that allows this to happen. As I see the world this way, up close and personal, and with no barriers between me and the experience, I am always struck by moments of complete awe.

It makes me feel sad for all those people, working out in the gym, running endlessly to nowhere, eyes glued to a television screen. They're missing out on so much.

Rainfall

Thunderstorm: A transient, sometimes violent storm of thunder and lightning, often accompanied by rain and sometimes hail.

It started raining today for the first time in months. The first sign that summer is officially over and fall is now here. The smell of the rain hitting the hot, baked fields only comes once a year. We even had thunder and lightening which is so unusual for the Bay Area. It reminded me of where I grew up and the summer thunderstorms. Watching the lightening track across the sky and then counting the seconds afterwards to figure out how far away it was.

I remember once, when I was about 15, awakening in the middle of the night to the sound of continous rolling thunder. I could see the lightening flashes through my window. It was almost constant. A parade of lightening marching across the earth.

I got up and went downstairs so I could watch through the big picture window in the kitchen. As I entered the dark kitchen, I found most of my family already there. No one spoke. We just gathered in silence to view the storm. One by one the rest of the family members joined us.

I don't know how long it lasted. Forever and just a blink of the eye. The dark moonless night, constantly split in two by the bright blue-white zigzag of the lightening. Then, almost immediately, the crack of the thunder. So loud, that the windows on house rattled.

Finally, the storm moved off, walking across the sky on legs of thunder. The house returned to stillness. Without speaking, holding the experience within ourselves, we returned to our beds and to peaceful slumber.

Growing Up

Adult: One that has arrived at full development or maturity especially in size, strength, or intellectual capacity.

I only see my kids every other weekend (they chose to go live with the ex), and I didn't see them at all for the month of August, as that was the ex's summer month. This weekend was the first time I've seen them since July 31.

My son is taller than I am.

Now, my daughter has been taller than me for quite some time, but suddenly standing next to my son and realizing that I have to look up to meet his eyes was somewhat of a shock. I knew this moment was coming though, as we were exactly the same height in July, and he has been on a huge growth spurt ever since last September. This whole last year, every time I saw him, I could swear he'd grown an inch.

But.

This was the first time I've had to look UP at him.

It made me sad because I realized that they are both growing up and while I will always think of them as my little kids, that is not who they are anymore.

On the other hand, they have both turned into very cool people in their own right, and I am so proud that they are my kids.

Renaissance Faire

Fantasy: The creative imagination; unrestrained fancy.

We've gone to the Renaissance Faire for the last few years, every year. We go and watch the same shows and enjoy the conversations that different people at the Faire will strike up with you. What you get out of it, is definitely up to you. You can enjoy and participate, or think it's silly and look at it with a jaundiced eye.

As a side note, what always amazes me about the women at the Faire is the amount of cleavage on display. Frankly, if someone walked down the street like that, they'd be arrested for indecent exposure. And, What Is It with various and sundry objects stuck down the cleavage? A dagger, a softball?!?, a rose, a giant pickle?

The first year we went, we hardly noticed anything else as the vast amounts of bosom took up all our attention. As we've gone for other years though, we have started to notice the men. Have you ever heard of codpieces? If you haven't, shortly you will know. Basically, it's padding in a certain area of a man's anatomy to "enhance" his natural virtues. Of course, on the websites for the RenFaire, while they show women's cleavage in loving detail, they don't really focus on the codpiece. I don't know why. Of the two, while the cleavage is more flashy, the codpiece is definitely the more memorable.

The other thing that the men do, more so than the women, is to have weapons. Now, a sword and a dagger, ok, that seems to be reasonable. But when someone walks by who is quite literally staggering from the weight of steel and there is not one inch of costume that does not have a sharp object attached to it, you have to wonder.

I'm finally figuring out what it's really about though. It's about the fantasy of living a different life. Of choosing a type of character that you've always wanted to try and being able, if only for a day, to be that person.

A queen, a fairy, a sorceror, a warrior maid, a pirate, a gallant gentleman, a gypsy. You can be anything you want at the Faire.