Creativity and our education system

Here’s a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk by Sir Ken Robinson, entitled “Do schools kill creativity?”  Poignant and wonderfully delivered; a must-see for parents and teachers.  It’s 20-minutes long, but worth every second.

Bail-out: make the fiscally responsible pay for irresponsible behaviors

I’m so frustrated.

No matter how much we save, how responsible we are about our finances (no debt except mortgage), and how disciplined we are with our monies (limit spending, because we can only increase income in so many ways), we can’t seem to get ahead.

Meanwhile, those who drive his Hummer and her BMW, ride their jetski and ATV, live in their million dollar (or more) loan-money mansion, and spend Xmas at their winter cottage in Switzerland, are now getting my tax-dollars to pay for their excesses.

I’m not asking for a hand-out.  I’m not asking for a Hummer or a jetski or a mansion or a Swiss cottage.  I just want a simple home in an area with a better school district.  A school district my hard-earned tax-dollar was supposed to pay for.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for what we have.  We have some savings, a little bit of equity in our house, and we have our pride, dignity, and integrity intact.  With some luck, we may even be able to ride out this recession relatively unscathed.

I don’t understand, however, why I have to pay for other people’s excesses.  I don’t understand why no matter how responsible our family is, and how much that school-district property has dropped in price, it’s still out of our reach.

How I wish, all those millions and billions and trillions that our government is spending to bail out blatantly irresponsible behavior are instead spent on those who have been living within our means, who have been working and saving toward that dream of a better life, who don’t owe back-taxes or are behind in our mortgage payments.

Even if we take the smaller amount of $700 billion, and assume that every single American has been responsible enough to qualify for a chunk of those billions, it’s still $700B / 250M = $2,800 per head.  If we assume $1 trillion total bail-out budget and only 50% Americans have been living within their means and saving responsibly, then we have $1T / 125M = $8,000 per head.

At the above rate my family would qualify for 4 x $8K = $32K.  We could’ve added that to the equity we now have in our current house, to the money we’ve saved for a downpayment for that school-district house, or simply to pay for another year of two of private schooling which we now pay.

Middle-class is usually screwed as it is.  We’re not poor enough for much of the breaks and aids available, and not rich enough to easily afford expenses such as health coverage, summer vacations, and private tuition.

I take this bail-out as a personal insult to those of us who have been “behaving” ourselves financially.  What version of free market is this if we end up having to pay $700B for it?

If I sound like I’m whining, forgive me.  I’m just frustrated and exasperated.

Palin vs McCain

I have to give it to the Republican strategists for knowing their market well.

At a glance it seems that McCain has little in common with Palin.  Other than our gender, I have almost nothing in common with Palin.

But The Hockey Mom has a lot in common with the rest of America.  Except that she actually has a passport; which makes her qualified to deal with Sudan, China, Russia, and the Middle East lot.

Uhm, America is the only super power in the world right now anyway, so why not put a pitbull with lipstick in the arena.  She can always learn the ropes in between her hunting trips and her other “conservative-family” activities.

Funny, I considered mine a conservative family with a liberal bent (what’s life without balance!).  These days, however, I don’t know anymore what constitutes “conservative.”

Rottweilers should be banned

At the very least they belong to zoos, like tigers, lions, and other wild animals.

Rottweiler owners are supposed to train them because by default, they’re vicious creatures.  This propensity coupled with their size and strength make them formidable beasts once they lose control.

Many owners don’t understand this, so letting them own Rottweilers is akin to letting any ignorant Tom, Dick, and Jane own guns.  Or worse.

My 5-year old was recently attacked by two Rottweilers.  In defending her, I ended up with most of the bites.  It felt like I was being eaten alive.

Thank goodness my hubby was there to save us.  I knew he would’ve been the one crazy enough to jump in to rescue us.  I don’t think I would’ve physically lasted another minute because they would’ve gotten my artery by then.  And I consider myself strong.

My daughter’s injuries hit her skull.  Luckily x-ray showed that there was no fracture.  My arm was torn all the way to the bone, and I got stitches on my head, back, hand, and arm.  We both ended up needing general anesthesia.

We’re fine now, just working on my daughter’s trauma.

Gotta love Bali

We spent almost three weeks in Bali this summer, most of the time staying at Grace’s Villa.  I must say, it was great.  The owner has all the local insight so we were able to get local price on lots of things.  The weather was perfect, and all six of us (parents-in-law joined us there) didn’t want to leave the place.

My son even asked that I arranged with the other moms so that two of his best friends can come with him next year.

Son, your naivete is adorable.  Unlike our airfare, it’s priceless!

Will vote according to who’s running

I seriously can’t understand how anyone can be a devout Republican or a Democrat (or any party, really).  I’m talking about those who will vote for their party’s candidate regardless of who’s running that time.

Can anyone help me understand?

Carnivore princess

At bedtime I asked my daughter if she was an herbivore. She confirmed what “herbivore” means and replied in the negative.

So I asked if she was a carnivore. She thought for a moment and confidently said, “Yes, I think so because I like Spam!”

Favorite stores

Some time last year my boss asked all the teachers to fill out a questionnaire for fun. It’s about all our favorite things, like favorite book, favorite food, etc. One of the questions was ‘favorite store’. I wrote: Trader Joe’s and Costco.

When I submitted my answers to her, she read that and looked at me with this bewildered look on her face like she was seeing the weirdest creature on earth, and that she wasn’t sure if she was amused, amazed, concerned, scared, or disgusted.

And she asked in disbelief: “Trader Joe’s and Costco???”

The longest war in my son’s lifetime

Last Friday my 7-year old asked if Iraq war is one of the longest wars we’ve been involved in. He then cited how long the civil war was and how many casualties there were.

I said that it definitely is, but I quickly qualified this with how I don’t consider Iraq a “war” but an invasion instead.

He wanted to know what I meant and why I thought so.

I explained the WMD lie to him, which caused him to question the U.S.’ true motive.

I told him that I don’t know, but that Iraq had invaded Kuwait in the past, during which time the U.S. helped defend Kuwait. This led Iraq’s president Saddam Hussein to attempt to assassinate the then U.S. president, who happened to be George Bush Sr.

In turn this caused Bush Jr. to hate Hussein, and the war is probably Bush’s way to get even.

I’m excited that he’s curious about world events. He even asked which countries were on the U.S. side during that Gulf War.

Yes, my explanations are oversimplified and biased. But I have my reasons and I did stress to him that those are my theories. Since this “war” is based on lies, my thoughts are just as valid as the Administration’s stories.

At the current rate, not only will this war be the longest, but most likely the most expensive one in world history as well, if it’s not already.

George Bush’s deal with the Devil

Got this through email.

George Bush has a heart attack and dies. He goes to Hell where the Devil is waiting for him.

“I don’t know what to do,” says the Devil. “You’re on my list but I have no room for you. But you definitely have to stay here, so I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ve got three people here who weren’t quite as bad as you. I’ll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I’ll even let YOU decide who leaves.”

George thought that sounded pretty good so he agreed.

The Devil opened the first room. In it was Richard Nixon and a large pool of water. He kept diving in and surfacing empty handed over and over and over, such was his fate in Hell.

“No!” George said. “I don’t think so. I’m not a good swimmer and I don’t think I could do that all day long.”

The Devil led him to the next room. In it was Tony Blair with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time after time after time.

“No! I’ve got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day!” commented George.

The Devil opened a third door. In it, George saw Bill Clinton lying naked on the floor with his arms staked over his head and his legs staked in spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.

Bush looked at this in disbelief for a while and finally said, “Yeah, I can handle this.”

The Devil smiled and said, “You’re free to go, Monica!”

I wanna know now

The other day my 7-year old son got into our car after school all upset. When I asked what happened, he only said that he didn’t want to talk about it yet.

I told him that that’s fine, but my 4-year old daughter kept pestering him to tell.

I asked my daughter to give him space, and to be patient, because he will tell us when he’s ready.

Her response: “No, I wanna know now. I don’t want to wait because then I’ll get old and I’ll die.”

What to do with $600 million of public money

Why does this article make me think of third world countries? It’s so maddeningly embarrassing I can hardly say anything.

What a sham, what a shame.

Why I’m smarter than a 5th grader

Because I read so much.

I love reading. Reading is so educational.

This is the latest eye-opening material. Read it yourself.

It taught me everything from geography, anthropology, theology, and biology.

What more could I ask for?

The end. (Now you’re smarter than a 5th grader, too!).

Sorry, I laughed so hard when I read the story that I couldn’t help mess with it. Hope you have as much fun!

Miley Cyrus – Annie Leibovitz controversy

I’m a fan of Annie, so a friend brought up the controversy of late, noting that I “should see the picture [myself], and bear in mind that the girl is only 15.”

Well, I just did, and the big deal is completely lost in me. It’s a beautiful photograph worthy of Annie’s other famous shots. It reminds me of cherubs from the Baroque period; no bedroom scene like some people claim.

A few years from now, when we’re free from this groupthink brouhaha, we’ll hopefully recognize the artwork for what it is: another ahead-of-its-time masterpiece. Just like how it happened with Annie’s other once-upon-a-time scandalous magazine covers.

Best and Brightest, but Not the Nicest

What a wonderfully written insight by Amelia Rawls, published in Thursday’s Washington Post. It’s given me hope about the future generation and compelled me to look the writer up.

I hope she continues her service to humanity, at the very least by writing more such illuminating and thoughtful pieces.

Finally!

I’ve wanted to have my own blog for a while. I looked up a whole bunch of IDs on both Blogger and WordPress about a year ago, but my favorite ones had been taken, even if they weren’t being used.

I finally made the jump when my 4-year old daughter called me “forgetty pants.”

She was upset because I kept forgetting to get her milk, so with her trademark pout on, she mumbled the magic name, and this blog was born.