Strange Little Collecting Project

I know what you’re thinking. “It’s mighty early in the school-year for an education rant.” (And if that’s not what you were thinking, it is now). But I just can’t help it. It’s not that I’m trying to be negative and pessimistic. It’s not that I want to be a Debbie-Downer. But as a pragmatist, North Carolina’s “balanced” budget really gets under my skin. And it itches. And yes, I know. When something itches, you’re not supposed to scratch it because in the long run that just makes it itch more. But sometimes scratching it just feels so good, even if it’s just for a minute or two. And it’s especially hard to ignore the itch when you have nothing to distract you from it. Usually my students draw the attention away from that bureaucratic crawl that gets under my skin every year, but teacher workdays don’t give you much distraction. They actually fuel the fire with endless and copious meetings, followed by a meeting to discuss the previous meeting, in which you will plan a foll

I have a very strange love-hate relationship with Facebook. Mostly because I hate how much I love it. I know deep down that my life would probably be more enriched and balanced if I didn’t spend a little bit of time each day on the Facebook. I know deep down that by not deleting my account I am simply giving into some self-serving, egotistical need to spy on people and be spied on. But I also know I am not alone. And before you go and get yourself all upset and offended, I also know there are other reasons why I use Facebook. It’s the easiest way for me to stay in touch with my friends who live all over the place. I can keep up with everyone without really keeping up with anything except a password. But I’ve also noticed that keeping up with the Facebook has allowed me to observe certain linguistic trends. (Yeah, this is me making a super pretentious and scholarly observation about something that isn’t scholarly. Cut me some slack; I’m starting my masters this month and I need