I think I have discovered my super power. Apparently, I have mastered the art of invisiblity. First of all, at work I was sitting at a table with my children and several people walked in my classroom and couldn't find me. (Yeah, because I totally look like an 8th grader.)
Then, I was in line at Panera to get dinner today. This couple walked in, and the guy walked right in front of me and stood less than too inches away as if I wasn't even there!! His significant other that he was with, finally noticed and scolded him.
If that wasn't enough, I was swimming (and I use that term loosely), I got out of the pool and the life guard said "Oh, Hi Beth, I didn't see you there." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Wow, that's comforting, didn't see me in the pool. Great. Good thing I didn't drown.
Clearly, my super power is the gift of invisiblity...maybe I missed my calling, clearly I should have been a spy instead of an art teacher!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
People are Animals
Today in Chicago a cougar was shot by the Chicago Police Department. What the hell?!?!
Ok, sure it's completely bizaro that there was a frickin' cougar wandering the streets of Roscoe Village, but I really think that this situation could have been handled differently.
First of all, the cougar didn't need to be shot. It hadn't eaten anybody. And it's not as if cougars are over run in the forest preserves like deer! In fact, not one officer was harmed by the animal. Not necessary to kill the animal. There's school shootings left and right. Those murderers are entitled to a fair trial, and Illinois hasn't had an execution in years! I say soooo not fair for the big kitty. Even dogs that actually attacked people are euthanized much more humanely than being shot several times by a police issue glock.
Furthermore, do you really think the best thing to do is to chase the animal on foot? It's a WILD animal. If it's chased, don't you think the odds are high of pissing it off? Is it not common knowledge that if you corner an animal, it's apt to fight back? I don't think chasing it would solve much. I mean, it's a cat. Eventually it's going to just sit and chill until it feels the need to hunt. And for those of you who are screaming at me about the safety of the children, I'm confident that if the cougar really wanted a snack, one of those kids would have been eaten. And if you are screaming safety, think of all the stray bullets that didn't hit the cat. Much more lethal than one cougar. Why on earth wasn't animal control called? I believe it's called a TRANQUILIZER DART. Hell, it's Chicago. I'm sure someone could have gotten a big juicy steak (I know places where I could get a whole pig!) to occupy him until he could be sedated.
I think the Quizno's Coyote (which, btw, was right around this time last year) really got a better deal. He was trapped by animal control. Next he was taken to the suburbs to a wildlife refuge and then re-introduced to the wild.
What's a cat gotta do to get a break?
Ok, sure it's completely bizaro that there was a frickin' cougar wandering the streets of Roscoe Village, but I really think that this situation could have been handled differently.
First of all, the cougar didn't need to be shot. It hadn't eaten anybody. And it's not as if cougars are over run in the forest preserves like deer! In fact, not one officer was harmed by the animal. Not necessary to kill the animal. There's school shootings left and right. Those murderers are entitled to a fair trial, and Illinois hasn't had an execution in years! I say soooo not fair for the big kitty. Even dogs that actually attacked people are euthanized much more humanely than being shot several times by a police issue glock.
Furthermore, do you really think the best thing to do is to chase the animal on foot? It's a WILD animal. If it's chased, don't you think the odds are high of pissing it off? Is it not common knowledge that if you corner an animal, it's apt to fight back? I don't think chasing it would solve much. I mean, it's a cat. Eventually it's going to just sit and chill until it feels the need to hunt. And for those of you who are screaming at me about the safety of the children, I'm confident that if the cougar really wanted a snack, one of those kids would have been eaten. And if you are screaming safety, think of all the stray bullets that didn't hit the cat. Much more lethal than one cougar. Why on earth wasn't animal control called? I believe it's called a TRANQUILIZER DART. Hell, it's Chicago. I'm sure someone could have gotten a big juicy steak (I know places where I could get a whole pig!) to occupy him until he could be sedated.
I think the Quizno's Coyote (which, btw, was right around this time last year) really got a better deal. He was trapped by animal control. Next he was taken to the suburbs to a wildlife refuge and then re-introduced to the wild.
What's a cat gotta do to get a break?
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Morbid Curiosity
I was puttering around the Internet and I stumbled upon this site, Energy Fiend (Because, let's face it, I consider caffeine to be a food group!). On this site is a special section called Death by Caffeine. It will calculate how much of a food or drink, based on your weight, it would take to kill you due to caffeine consumption.
Simply choose your drug of choice from the pull down menu, enter your weight, press "Kill Me"(seriously, not making that up) and volia! How much of that substance it would take to kill you. Apparently, I'll be pushing up daisies after 536.69 cans of Diet A & W Cream Soda (Hold me back!). There are much more caffeinated things on the list besides creme soda, but I wonder, just what is "Howling Monkey"? They've got most of your main stream caffeinated foods and beverages.
So if you've always wondered how many Mountain Dew's or Jolt Cola's it would take to take you down...have fun figuring your LD of Caffeine!! As for me, I think my coffee cup needs a refill...and now I know I can have at least 75 more cups of joe before any lethal side effects occur!
Simply choose your drug of choice from the pull down menu, enter your weight, press "Kill Me"(seriously, not making that up) and volia! How much of that substance it would take to kill you. Apparently, I'll be pushing up daisies after 536.69 cans of Diet A & W Cream Soda (Hold me back!). There are much more caffeinated things on the list besides creme soda, but I wonder, just what is "Howling Monkey"? They've got most of your main stream caffeinated foods and beverages.
So if you've always wondered how many Mountain Dew's or Jolt Cola's it would take to take you down...have fun figuring your LD of Caffeine!! As for me, I think my coffee cup needs a refill...and now I know I can have at least 75 more cups of joe before any lethal side effects occur!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Last Lecture
Petra forwarded me this video clip. All I can say is WOW.
If you have the time, I Googled "Randy Pausch Last Lecture" and found the original lecture in its entirety. The original lecture is much longer than the 12 minute Oprah one, but it's definately worth your time.
It definately makes you think. I wish there were some way to make my students watch this, it would be worth it if it just got through to one of them...
If you have the time, I Googled "Randy Pausch Last Lecture" and found the original lecture in its entirety. The original lecture is much longer than the 12 minute Oprah one, but it's definately worth your time.
It definately makes you think. I wish there were some way to make my students watch this, it would be worth it if it just got through to one of them...
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
I've got a fever...
I saw a spot for Saturday's all new SNL...Hosted by Christopher Walken! You know what that means...
More Cowbell from mLink on Vimeo.
...MORE COWBELL!!!
More Cowbell from mLink on Vimeo.
...MORE COWBELL!!!
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