Seriously?

Here is the title of a Yahoo sports article by Dan Wetzel of today, March 28, 2012.

  

Augusta National’s conundrum: Should the golf club purposely not invite a woman?

Seriously? This is an issue?

Wetzel explains the two “conflicting traditions”: Augusta Nationals (that’s the golf masters tournament with the green jackets club) only allows men as members (still). It also always offers membership to the CEO of IBM. Finally, 1/1/2012, for the first time, CEO, finally, has a CEO who happens to be a woman (Ginni Rometty). So they either follow one tradition and invite her or follow the other and don’t.

Come on. This is a complete no brainer. The very fact that IBM (finally) has a CEO who is female should (finally) get the people of Augusta to get with the times. Wetzel tries to excuse the sexism by saying there are women at the club—people who are guests permitted to come and play and spouses. Really? Ridiculous.

Just invite her (and hopefully she will accept) the same way you invite everyone. I understand this is always done with little fanfare. It doesn’t have to be more than a blip of “it’s about time.” After all, if it is true what Wetzel says that it isn’t an all-men club in the fact that women are there, then really, what’s the big deal? And if it is a big deal, then please, join the 21^st century.

Unbelievable that this kind of thing is news. Times change, traditions are a sorry excuse for inappropriate behavior.

Eventually, approximately half of the CEOs who “must” be invited will be women. I’m sure when this thing started, they not only had to be male, but also white and probably belonging to a certain church and all sorts of other things. Archaic.

I’d say boycott and that I won’t support the Masters tournament anymore, but really how exactly do you boycott something that doesn’t want you? The only thing is not to broadcast their tournament anymore. Yeah, good luck with that.

Thanks

I don’t mean to ruin anything and I think it is great that several people who happen to be deaf are all excited about meeting the president. However, simply because the president signed, “thank you” to someone does not mean that he understood what they said or that he is fluent in sign language.

Over the years, I’ve learned a handful of signs. I never got very good and I’ve forgotten a lot, but I do remember a few, including how to say thank you. Picture it. You are greeting fans, you assume that most of the people lined up and struggling for the front “row” are supporters hoping for a closer look or a hand shake or maybe even to say hello or make eye contact. You figure (or hope) that anything they say will be positive. And suddenly, here is this person who signs. You take a moment watching the movements to realize that the person is not merely waving or making odd motions but is communicating, trying to tell you something. And so what do you do, you say thanks. And perhaps you happen to know the sign for it. So you sign, thanks, and go on your way. (or maybe you have a quick thinking bodyguard or advisor who knows the sign and quick whispers it in your ear—he’s gotta be wired, right).

The result? All of these excited people who are deaf who suddenly think that you understood what they were saying. I mean guess. They could have said we support you or you are great or keep it up or whatever. Actually the person said I am proud of you. Kind of a weird thing to say to someone you don’t know who is professionally superior. I mean you can’t get higher than president. But whatever. Saying thanks works for anything positive someone might be saying. But this person is blathering on (via text, posts, written stuff online) about how great it was that the president understood. What the president understood was the sentiment, was that it was sign language, was that the best response was to thank the person for his/her (don’t remember) support, and he just happened to know how to say thanks in sign language. Let’s not go overboard in reading too much into this. Maybe Obama does know sign language, but there is no evidence either way.

I know this whole thing is all positive spin. It still bothers me. Similar faulty logic can lead to the bad as well as the good. So let’s keep this into perspective just like we should do in general. Read the Phantom Tollbooth and don’t go jumping to conclusions.

Day Light Savings - Not a Bright Idea

It’s that time of year again: my semi-annual rant on people’s futile attempt to manipulate nature. There are a certain number of daylight hours in a day. Sure it changes each day from the shortest before Christmas (in the northern hemisphere) to the longest six months later (and it varies depending upon latitude). What time we say it is however is for convenience for coordination. It is arbitrary. Actually, since 12 noon is also supposed to be midday, then in theory the time from sunrise to noon and from noon to sunset should be equal. I’m not sure where this is the case. Are time zones designed so that smack in the middle of one (or at one and or the other) this really is true?

Anyway, I have to say that “daylight savings” was not one of Franklin’s brighter ideas. We are raised on the concept that changing the time saves electricity. Well, maybe it worked in Franklin’s time (um, electricity? Houses did not have electricity back then), but every time we reach the spring ahead or fall back day, we are bombarded with studies about how changing the time does NOT save electricity.

What does it do? It is all psychological. And personally, I hate it. First in the spring when we go on daylight savings, we “lose” an hour. We have a weekend that is actually one hour shorter. And what do we get for giving up this hour?

Well, let’s see, when our bodies think it is 5  AM, our clocks say 6 AM. Morning already? That’s a week of groggily getting up late and being sleep deprived. And that is not good for our health. I remember when Bush (W) made Daylight Savings start 3 weeks earlier one year. It literally took me those three weeks to get adjusted. I mean it was only one hour and I just couldn’t do it. (And why is the president in charge of setting the date?)

So, people are up an hour earlier, regardless of when you get up. Man, is it dark! We may not notice the change in daylight hours from one day to the next, but an hour change is very noticeable. We are sleepy and it is dark. Solution: turn on bright lights. In fact, I just saw something on Yahoo news about turning on a light by your bed instead of your snooze button to help wake up. So, with a country of sleepy people, that’s a lot of light.

In theory that is supposed to mean that we make up for it (or more than make up for it, or what is the point) by using less electricity when we get home. After all, now 5 PM is 6 PM and it is still light outside.

Oh, but I forgot, we are all on the road an hour earlier so the sun is in a different spot. Depending on the time and the direction you drive (like east), traffic is a mess for at least a week while people adjust to different lighting conditions or to suddenly having the sun blaring in their faces. I wonder if there are more accidents. That would offset savings wouldn’t it?

Same goes for driving home in the evening (especially west).

Psychologically, having it lighter longer in the afternoon, is that supposed to be a good thing? Does it make up for the darkness trying to get out of bed? I don’t think so.

Okay, so let’s fast forward six months. Up until last year, it seems to me that the time change was usually the week before Halloween. Now, I understand the thinking: Halloween is best celebrated in the dark so make it dark earlier. However, when you have little kids, you don’t want it dark. You want it to be late enough for most of the people in your neighborhood to be home but not so late that it is dark—easier to see kids walking across driveways and streets in the light. For some reason, in 2010, we went off Daylight Savings after Halloween.

I remember one time, years ago, when we actually stayed on Daylight Savings Time for a year and a half. Some grand experiment or something. Whatever the case, the bad idea is also badly named. It is impossible to save daylight.

And of course in the fall, you have the same driving issues all over again. Sure, maybe it’s easier to get up in the morning, but suddenly it is dark earlier. How is it that on one random day, making it lighter in the morning and darker in the evening saves money (going on standard time) and yet making darker in the morning and lighter in the evening also saves energy?

Anyway, I have two solutions. One, we set the time for noon as midday and leave it that way forever. You stay in a time zone, the time setting never changes. Or we can pick among the daylight savings time, the standard time or split the difference (change by 30 minutes) and be done with it.

Arizona and Hawaii stay on standard time all the time. Time for the rest of the states to do it too or for the country to stop doing it (and let states that want to continue it on their own).

Of course, this is all better than back in the USSR when the entire sprawling country was on Moscow time. I guess I should be grateful we have time zones at all.

Teaching to the Test

"Teaching to the test" has become this cliché catch phrase for part of what is wrong with education in America. Teachers are forced to teach to the test, oh my!


This drives me crazy.


Here is how teaching works. First, someone has determined what kids should know in a certain subject at a certain age (say, Ancient Greece in 6th grade). "Someone" means the committee that created the state standards. Next, publishing companies create textbooks to meet these requirements as closely as possible so that schools will select their materials. This includes an assessment (test) to determine if students learned "what they were supposed to" from the chapter/unit/etc.


When I teach a chapter, I look at the test. What is on it? This shows me what the publisher thinks students should take-away from the lesson. I compare that with state/district/school requirements for the unit as well as my own expectations. In some cases, I may add my own questions or replace some questions. I will also have other activities that are evaluated separately from the test. In any event, I have to know what I want students to learn before I can create lesson plans and teach them or provide them with learning opportunities to learn that information.


So in a sense, all teaching is teaching to a test. 


The catch phrase is short-hand for teaching to THE standardized test. And worse, to the inaccurate, unfair standardized test. Therein lies the problem. Not teaching to a test, per se, but that teachers focus (too much) time attempting to prepare students for tests that it seems educators or "the public" do not believe are a fair or accurate assessment of student ability. So by spending time on this, we are taking time away from other skills we could be teaching instead.


Teachers will always "teach to a test" part of the time. In most cases, they have some sort of control over the assessment to which they are teaching, creating it to make sure it evaluates students on the facts/skills/etc. that teachers want them to have learned and remembered from a given unit.

If you give a mouse a blue ray player…

Okay, so maybe you are not familiar with the book “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.” I think the success of this book and its sequels demonstrates how pervasive the snowball effect is. We are all aware, even kids, of these chain reactions. The mouse wants milk to go with the cookie and then a straw, etc.

Well, the other day, we got a new DVD player, okay, technically it is a Blue Ray player. You see my DVD player is really old. I’ve had trouble for awhile now getting it to read the disks I create on my computer. Since I video school performances and provide them for viewing in class the next day, I need to make sure the dvds work. But half the time they don’t, at least not on my player. I’ve hobbled along, but then two things happened that were the final “straws.” First, I indulged and bought the complete Firefly dvds—not Blue Ray, mind you. My player insisted there was no disk in it. Add to this the fact that Blue Ray seems to becoming standard (although that will be only until 3D is the new norm). I couldn’t get my kids the final Harry Potter movie including special features on dvd. Sure the set comes with a movie on regular old dvd, but the special features are only available on Blue Ray.

And so, we bought a new DVD/Blue Ray (but not 3D) player. What does this have to do with mice and cookies? Well, this thing is small—like the size of a thick iPad. I took out the DVD player and connected the new one. Suddenly, I had this table that I really didn’t need. Of course, if I got rid of the table, I would need somewhere to put the TV and player.

In the midst of all of this, I had been going through paperwork in the file drawers which were just too crammed to keep stuffing monthly statements in them, not to mention tax papers that already are arriving. With everything in disarray, and a tiny dvd player, it was time to empty out the closet, purge, reorganize, and rearrange the room.

As I type, I am surrounded by papers and piles, bags and boxes, cables and dust. I’ve been waiting for inspiration for posting something on my blog. I had started back on the 8^th so I would post every week. However, I decided it was ridiculous to post only for the sake of it since the ramblings I had from January 6 were boring, pointless, and devoid of humor or purpose. So, this seemed like something to post. After all, I have a feeling that most of us have experienced this chain reaction that buying a new dining room table leads to redoing your entire house, or taking the dog to the dogpark leads to a $50 grooming bill and flea treatment.

The only good thing is that this latest snowball has not led to additional expenditures, so far…

Resolve

In the spirit of the new year, I am making a resolution to post my observations, rants, and digressions on a more regular basis. In keeping with that, I figure I need to actually make people aware that I even have a blog. It’s hard to believe how long ago I set this up and I never told anyone.

Of course it was for my own protection. If no one comes to the site, it is because no one knows about it. After I tell people, and still no one is interested, well, where do I hide then? However, telling people and hoping you all will find some worth in reading my posts should motivate me to post more often. After all, even the most enthusiastic will lose interest and forget if there is never anything new to read.

My posts are random rants based on whatever sets me off and has me burning to spew and sputter lest the flame consume me. The file I write in is called “digressions.” Without intent, every one of my entries has them and even the phrase “but I digress” as a pathetic attempt to get me back on track.

So here I am, laying it on the line. I will post more often (wimp, can’t even commit to a weekly post). Studies show that people’s resolutions seldom make it to Valentine’s Day. Let’s see how long I last…

Red Thursday

With only eight (eke!) shopping days left until Christmas,  people may now be looking back on Black Friday and wondering why they didn’t shop earlier or maybe you are glad you got your shopping—or most of—finished.  How did we get here from there?

Travel back with me to the week of Thanksgiving (and the week before, I suppose). That’s when all the ads came out from stores about their Black Friday sales.

This year, the problem: stores were trying to outdo each other by starting Black Friday at midnight or even earlier, on Thanksgiving! So efforts for stores to get into the black on the day after Thanksgiving created what I called Red Thursday—double entendre intended.

First of all, if the day after is black Friday, then stores are still in the red on Thursday. So far in it that they need some extra help to get into the black by the end of business (midnight?) Friday. Then we have small business Saturday and cyber Monday. And now encroaching on people’s Thanksgiving had them seeing red with anger and hence Red Thursday.

So here’s how it went. There are some people (millions apparently) who just have to be the first one in the door for those sales. Maybe there is something that they really want or need and have been waiting for this sale and need to get it before the stores sell out. Maybe they just get caught up in bargain fever. So, these people are not happy that they are forced to leave their Thanksgiving celebration early or miss it altogether in order to sit in line outside some store (and baby, it’s cold outside).

Add to this their relatives—people who know that their family members behave this way. So the ripple effect is that it ruins everyone’s Thanksgiving celebration because some people leave early or don’t even show up. And of course, someone’s got to man the store so people who work these shifts or have to get the store ready miss out. And let’s not forget law enforcement or security guards—extra ones—to help prevent deaths, trampling, not to mention theft.

In a supposed backlash, people said they were going to boycott. I wonder what that meant exactly: not go to a store until after 6 AM Friday morning? Not shop at stores who were making their workers work through Thanksgiving? There are 24-hour businesses that have to deal with this every year from nurses and emergency workers to hotels and airports. Of course, there, you know people have to work holidays and things are scheduled and paid accordingly. I don’t know how much advanced notice people got for working these shifts at stores. And generally, they are offered to those with the most seniority first. So workers can choose to make some extra money (at holiday pay). It is their choice. I have no idea how many workers with the least seniority were forced into working (or lose their jobs) because no one else wanted to.

Whatever the case, reports after Black Friday were that it was the largest grossing Black Friday on record. Clearly people did not stay away from the stores. So they complained all week, but actions speak louder than words—or money talks (even the Supreme Court agrees –but I digress).

As for me personally, we actually ran into Black Friday traffic around 9 pm on Friday night on our way home from our Thanksgiving celebration. The freeway was jammed with people trying to get to the mall!

It’s been 29 days now since Black Friday. With all the hullabaloo about it forgotten, we move forward and onward and prepare to face the next best (worst) shopping day of the year: Boxing day.

I Yam What I Yam...

11/20/11

I Yam What I Yam…

…unless I’m a sweet potato

Seeing as Popeye ate spinach, I don’t think he cared much over the distinction but my curiosity was peaked and I am in quagmire.

Yesterday, I went shopping to get a turkey for our early Thanksgiving celebration on Tuesday (day after tomorrow). Good thing I didn’t wait until today because…oh wait, this rant is not about turkeys.

So I was at Sprouts and I figured I could pick up potatoes while I was there (we were out, but they did not have the 10 pounds bags like I get at Ralphs). However, they sell sweet potatoes for less. After failing with the potatoes, I went in search of sweet potatoes. A  few weeks back I happened to be there when the things were on sale for 69 cents per pound. I didn’t realize it was a special sales price and picked up a few. The next time I was in (I don’t go to Sprouts that often, generally—like maybe not even once a month) they were back to their usual 88 cents.

Well, this time, I searched in vain. Not a sweet potato in sight. However, all was not lost. I stumbled upon a giant container filled with something sweet potato-ish looking labeled red yams. Now, in the past, I have pondered the distinction between sweet potatoes and yams. One came from Africa, but I couldn’t remember. And if you put two side by side, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which much less remember which I liked better for making my baked sweet potato chips (for lack of a better word). I leave the skin on, btw. Is the skin even edible?

At any rate, I had never heard of a red yam before. I decided to look it up. Of course, I forgot all about it until later that day, when I went to Ralphs. Yes, I know two markets in one day, but I will be going again before the week is out. In the first place, you have to be careful with Sprouts. Some stuff if cheaper, or they have certain products (like organic celery—one of those things everyone says should be organic), but other things are more expensive. So when I went there it was knowing I was going basically for their turkey.

So…I went to Ralphs. We needed potatoes (those regular old white ones—Russet variety usually) because I know someone would be wanting French Fries before my planned trip to the market Monday for fresh produce and whatever else I still need for the party. There, I found my ten-pound bag of potatoes—usually around $4.50, sometimes on sale for under $4. Well, there they were 10 pounds for $0.99. I read the sign three times. Really. A dollar. I’d have bought two bags (I mean I am making potato cheese soup for Tuesday), but what am I going to do with 20 pounds of potatoes? I mean, how long do they last? I guess it depends how many I use for the soup. Maybe I will buy more…

Getting back to the point, after seeing a display with a large sign, “red yams,” I looked around and noticed there were no sweet potatoes. This got me wondering. First of all, are these red yams really a kind of yam or a misnomer for a type of sweet potato? And second, where are all the sweet potatoes (the kinds usually around and the others labeled simply yams.)?

Today, I finally opened Google and started searching. You know ordinarily, when you search for things, not only do you (um, I—how did I get into 2^nd person) tend to find the same info over and over, but it generally is identical—as in one person simply pasted the info from one person’s site to their own—and never giving any credit either.

Not this time. I found a site that gave the nutritional value of a red yam without saying oh, but it’s a sweet potato.

I found several sites saying that in USA, the two are synonymous, sort of. As in, everything for sale in a regular market is a sweet potato. The first popular sweet potato (which is not a type of potato at all—I already knew that) is kind of light or orange in color with lighter, yellowish flesh inside. Then (1930s) along came a darker variety—reddish skin with orange flesh (high in beta carotene, like carrots). They acquired the name yam because first, the things were different from the other sweet potatoes, so they needed a distinct (um, how about red sweet potato?). And second, slaves from Africa already called the darker ones them yams to differentiate them because they were similar to or reminded them of a variety of yams back home.

In this day of international plane travel with produce flown round the world, are my red yams a type of sweet potato or a yam? One site said that because of the confusion, US markets are supposed to label anything that they call yam but is a sweet potato as a sweet potato as well. This would mean being in the market and seeing it say both. Red yam sweet potatoes. Well, as near as I can remember, the signs only said red yams.

I found a site that was informative about types of both. The writer went to an Asian market and purchased a variety of sweet potatoes and yams. Okay, so you can get yams in the US, but do you have to go to a special store? Even the person doing this article ended up with one “yam” that she wasn’t certain whether it was a yam or sp. She did show ube and at least now I know that ubes are a type of yam. They are purple and you can get ube ice cream at Filipino markets and restaurants. Goldilocks (a Filipino bakery and restaurant) also uses ube in a bread loaf with it swirled for a beautiful purple effect.

As near as I can tell, the “red yams” might actually be garnet sweet potatoes. So why not label them as such. I mean I’d never heard of a red yam before. And as for Thanksgiving, people always talk about sweet potatoes (as in mashed and covered in marshmallows) or sweet potato pie. At Sprouts, I didn’t buy very many (considering the great price) just in case no one liked them.

I finally decided to search for a sweet potato association and found a council (sweetpotatousa.org). Surprisingly, there was nothing on their site about the yam/sweet potato confusion. I actually emailed them and even heard back. They were very helpful and I did determine that what I bought were sweet potatoes. I also figured out that my favorite ones are called jewel sweet potatoes. I also determined that the darker, softer flesh varieties do not make for crispy fries—the flesh gets mushy. And on my next visit to the market, the regular sweet potatoes were out; guess I was just there between shipments or stocking or something.

And now, for someone who really isn't much of a sweet potato fan, I know more than I ever wanted to about sweet potatoes. Just don't show me funny-looking root vegetable and ask me which one it is :)

Spouting Off

“Argghh! $%^&* teapot!” I yelled one cold morning. “Stupid teapot. I hate this thing. Never liked it!” There was no time to bother with the spilled water or the badly designed teakettle. As I had attempted to pour boiling water into my mug, I had to tip the kettle very far over. The lid had fallen out and steam poured onto my hand as it gripped the handle right above the opening.

I iced the burn right away, my temper cooling off as the ice chilled my skin. For the rest of the morning, I had to keep ice on it. Every time I stopped, the pain came back as if the skin were continuing to burn.

Once the blasted thing had cooled off, I took the teakettle and lid and threw them into the trash—not the one in the house, the outside trash container. I never wanted to see that misbegotten thing again. I mean really, who designs a kettle with the spout attached up near the top? You practically have to turn the thing upside down to get the water out. And then, why is the handle connected at the top on either side of the lid—a completely removable lid. Is there any safe way to pour all the water out?

 With my hand—the area below my thumb mostly—resting on ice, I began a search on the Internet for the perfect teakettle. I discovered some fascinating teapots—at equally fascinating prices, I might add. And for clarity’s sake, I should explain. A teapot is something you put your tealeaves into. Then you pour hot water into it. A kettle, on the other hand, is for actually putting on the stove to heat the water. That was what I needed.

It really didn’t matter that some teapots were designed with spouts attached at the bottom. I was looking for a kettle.

Every single teakettle I found was badly designed. I just don’t understand it. Are we a society that just puts up with these things, overfilling our kettles so that we never have to pour out the last of the water while it’s hot? I’m reminded of a scene from Kate and Leopold about toasters (once is too light; toast it twice and it burns). Can I help it if I put the exact amount of water I want into the thing? Why waste water, not to mention time and energy to heat up the extra?

You know the amazing thing: coffee pots are better designed. The spout is more often attached at the middle or bottom of the pot. Are coffee drinkers smarter? Why do we put teakettles on the stove and have to plug in coffee pots? (Why are teapot and teakettle one word?) Why are these things labeled coffee pots? They are for heating water, but you plug them in—electric coffee pots—not teapots, not kettles.

Ice still on my thumb, my anger flaring, I drove to a shopping center to see these things in person. I checked the aisles of Target, the ice slowly dripping away. No luck, at least nothing designed to be placed on the stove, filled with water, and then containing some sort of spout or some such for pouring the water out. I did find one thing that  came close: an electric coffee pot. The spout attached at the bottom. The handle attached from the bottom to top of the opposite side. The lid was on a hinge. The only thing “wrong” with it was that it was electric. I couldn’t put it on the stove. And it was shaped like a “coffee pot.” Why a long cylindrical shape is a coffee pot and a short pudgy one is for tea is beyond me. Maybe it comes from days of old when tealeaves sat loosely in the bottom and coffee was pressed from the top.

Running out of ice, I hustled over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Finding my way, and squeezing through the aisles that are blocked by the presence of half a person, I found the right spot, but no pots—none that fit my needs anyway. They all had spouts too close to the top and handles going right over the lid.

The ice gone, and the burning sensation coming back, I blasted my way back to Target. I’m sure people thought I was rude or crazed or wondered what was wrong with me. The pain in my thumb was becoming unbearable. I don’t know why it is, but it seems that pain from burns is more severe than other things—at least for me. I mean I turned down pain meds in the hospital after my appendectomy. But I’d have gladly taken something to deaden the pain from this burn.

I grabbed a box with an electric coffee pot in it—why isn’t it just called an electric water boiler or something? I mean it is meant only for water. You’re not supposed to ever put coffee in it.

The drive home was agony as I tried to find cold surfaces against which to press my burn. At home, I plunged my hand into a bowl of ice water and sat, breathing in a sigh of relief and staring at my new water-boiler.

I couldn’t help feeling disappointed, as my irrationality sank in. I realized that I had somehow equated buying a new teakettle with the elimination of the burn—or at least the pain. There I sat, in no need of hot water, wondering why I hadn’t just stayed home icing my thumb all morning instead of rushing around.

“What do you need a coffee pot for?” one of my kids asked.

“To boil water.”

They weren’t satisfied. “You could just use the microwave.” I admit that I couldn’t count the times we’ve heated water in the microwave. For a small amount, it somehow seemed quicker.

“Or just boil it in a pot. You’re good a pouring things without spilling.”

I really didn’t need them to be telling me how foolish an unnecessary this whole thing had been.

But I have to tell you, looking back now, I am glad I bought it. The thing works great and it is fast. In fact, it heats water faster than using either the microwave or our gas stove. The only problem I can see is if I want to boil water when there is a power failure and for that I can always use the stove.

So now, I can pour in the exact amount of water I want, grab the handle toward the bottom of the pot, and pour water over my teabag without getting burned.

It works great for making tea for myself, but when I need to make an entire pot—well, guess I’ll have to starting looking for that perfect teapot. Maybe it will be one meant for coffee.

Random Rants

            The idea for this blog was born one cold morning last May. I know it must have been cold or why else would I have been heating water to make tea. For more on that see “Spouting Off” (when I post it).

         That whole incident was like a big rant in my head, which I eventually wrote down (at least I thought I did, but I haven’t been able to find it, so I might just have to write it fresh and hope I get the details right).

         And so I thought it might be interesting to start a blog called Random Rants where I could post things monthly. Of course, with the word “random” in the title, I wouldn’t be forced to stick to a schedule but could post randomly as things occurred to me.

         Fast forward several months, I finally decided to look into different (free) blog options. In addition, I used Google to see what names were in use. Obviously, you’ve figured out that Random Rants is taken or that would be the name of my blog.

         Well, this sent me on my own cyber journey—an enlightening experience that verified that there is nothing new out there. Whatever we’ve thought of, someone else did too, and got there first—at least in my case. Even titles akin to “everythingelseistaken” were in use. Blogs using forms of “venting my spleen” abound.

         One day, I happened upon what I thought was a great and original idea for a blog—if completely non-descriptive. The Yodeling Yak. You see my older daughter was perusing an old alphabet book—probably saved because it was signed to her by the author. And there under “Y” it said something about yaks yodeling. Unfortunately, I was not the first to think that yodeling yak had a nice ring to it: it was taken—and not just by one person.

         “Ok,” I said to myself. “I need to come up with an original expression.” Afterall, as a writer attempting to avoid clichés, I put original expressions, metaphors, and similes in my characters’ mouths (and my narrators’). How hard could it be?

         As I thought about this, something else popped into my head—a phrase which I had invented (according to my parents) without even realizing it back when was a toddler. I must have already been familiar with empty-handed, not to mention right-handed and left-handed.

          Whenever my first use of the phrase “full-handed” occurred, it became a common expression in our family and something I use in writing—I think I’ve tried to stick it into every piece of middle-grade fiction so that whichever one gets published first, I’ll have that phrase in it.

         I really should stick it in my nonfiction as that’s the stuff that I am more successful at getting published. I wonder if Chicken Soup for the Soul would edit the phrase out. Hmmm.

         So, I searched for blogs called “full-handed” and came up empty-handed (lol). Thus, I decided to use that for the name of my blog. Unfortunately, the phrase has really nothing at all to do with the blog.

         I am not limiting myself to stories that include being full-handed. This blog is for sharing my opinion (I’m never at a loss for one of those) on common and maybe uncommon events we all encounter in daily lives.

         I hope that you will also submit your own perspectives for me to include (credited to you of course) as well.

         This is not intended for political posturing, slander, insulting particular people, etc. Of course, I might be breaking my own guidelines: “Spouting Off” could be an insult to teapot makers everywhere…

         So, welcome, take a look around, come back often, and let me know what you think.  :)

Winter Brake

It is that time of year again—the end of December. Schools are closed for 2 weeks. Well okay, some for longer than that, particularly colleges. My eldest has about 4 weeks off. And it literally is a break for her. She had finals before school go out and starts all new classes when school resumes. She couldn’t do homework if she wanted to.

            That’s what all this time off is supposed to be. Time to relax, rejuvenate, prevent burn out. I’m sure K-12 teachers look forward to that. Okay, some of them probably have grading to catch up on. But don’t they understand that kids need a break too?

            It really is true that 11^th grade is a brutal year. These kids are going to crash. And then I overheard some students talking about winter vacation. No, they were not sharing their anticipation of a wonderful week of skiing, or days on end sleeping in, lounging around, or using Facebook.

            No, that’s not what they were talking about. I couldn’t believe it as they listed all the assignments and projects their teachers expected them to complete in those two short weeks.

            Teachers need to apply winter brakes—and slow down all those assignments. And let’s not forget that in most K-12 schools, the semester ends in January. Sure it doesn’t matter for elementary school or probably even middle school. And I know that most classes are year-long so that even if finals or midterm exams happened in December, teachers could still give work over the break.

            But come on. Let’s rethink this. At the very least, how bout a moratorium on homework assignments over winter break. Let kids study (or not) and get caught up in preparation for finals. At best, how about starting school earlier so the semester can finish before break. Some schools even use the quarter system with exams before Christmas and Easter and then in June.

            We won’t improve education in America by dumping more and more work on kids and not recognizing that everyone needs some time to have a real vacation so they can return ready to focus and make it through until spring break.