Monday, August 04, 2003
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life
Bob Monday, August 04, 2003
Sunday, June 29, 2003
I went to the Atheneum and did my Sesame Street Count thing.
Reality grabbed me by the head and forced me to spend only enough time
to look at June 1999 and June 2002. I am feeling a little silly about
only covering two years, but I learned a few things. the first was, as
always, that I know nothing.
1. The I&M always puts the go-carts and graduation on the cover,
unless there is a really large story to push it off.
2. During both the boom and bust years, the late June paper has about
74 pages. The paper before the fourth swells to 80+. 1999 had
slightly more pages overall and it also had one, inexplicable, 80 page
edition In 1999, the first July paper had 84 pages and the second had
94. No big deal there.
3. There are more Services Offered in 2003 than in the other two years,
but not by a lot. We had 67 this week, as opposed to 60 last year and
52 four years ago. Lots of tutors and housecleaners.
4. There are a lot less jobs. This week the paper lists 34, while last
year (at this time) there were 40 and four years ago, 74. However,
last year, the high water mark pre-season was about 70 jobs. (In 1999,
the high water mark in June was 120) This year, the high water mark is
45. Both 1999 and 2002 had a lot more dirty jeans jobs.
Also, the Nantucket peak for jobs this year came in the third week of
June. In 1999 and 2002, that peak came in the third week of May. I'm
sure weather has made people skittish about hiring, but I also think
that employers have been burned on the shoulder season since 2001. Our
summer season, at least from the spring, seems to be shrinking.
5. Summer Rentals are absolutely unremarkable. Even the same ads over
five years. If there is something there, it is that the summer rentals
have not dropped much. In late May there were 29 summer rentals,
roughly the same number as late June. In 1999 and 2002, the number
dipped by 10-15 rentals by July.
I so hoped that Summer Rentals would be a useful indicator from the
paper. I should ask why it isn't, but...
6. Year Round Rentals are also higher, although I don't know if the
number is particularly significant. In 1999, there were 2 (at 2500 a
month) and in 2002, there were 4. This year, we have 10. That ten
seem to made up of year round people with empty basements, but there
are only 10.
7. Cars and Boats. Cars are about the same over all three years,
although 2003 had a high of 31, which noone else gets close to. Every
year has about 25 cars for sale. Every year, someone tries to sell a
Land Rover for $35,000. Both last year and this year have featured a
lot of boats for sale, while there were only 10, tops, in 1999.
There you have it. In a nutshell, the classifieds seems to say that
this is a slightly tougher summer than last year. There are Fewer jobs
and more people looking for work, but the classifieds don't really show
and desperation.
> Pages: 72 (+6) Summer is here
> Services Offered: 67 (+9) Holy cats. I could get a slave. Really.
> Help Wanted: 34 (-6)
> Summer Rentals: 25 (-1)
> Year Round: 10 (+1) and 6 winter rentals. In June.
> Cars: 28 (+1)
> Boats: 27 (+4)
>
> The Atheneum is calling me again. I want to check out a few things.
> First, I bet that 72 pages is the shortest end of June paper in years.
> Second, 67 Services offered seems huge. And, of course, 34 Help
> Wanteds is paltry.
>
> In other news....
>
> BTW There is a yard sale on 13 Baxter Road. Barnett?
Nope, two lovely old ladies. I bought a Phish tape from them.
>
> Let's hear it for the Tuna. Golden Gloves stops meat theft. All sorts
> of inappropriate puns pop to mind.
Haven't seen him on the strip since.
>
> *******************************
>
> As for the editorials, I think Raskin is getting a little taste of the
> throw weight Grace and Flint have on Nantucket. This editorial, the
> article, the MV articles, and the past rudder articles. Sometime this
> weekend, the story should rise to the level of Globe and Boston News
> Outlets. I predict WCVB...Natalie pushes them to it. So, I think the
> communication issues is getting solved with the help of the airwaves.
> Maybe Geno can walk the camera through the Eagle in order to get some
> pretty pictures of graffitti.
>
> I wonder who the poor clerk was who treated the editorial writer
> rudely? Of course the editorial is correct, but I wonder why it pops
> up now, right before the Fourth. I suspect the editor is saying what
> we all fear: that the real season seems to be July 4 to August 15. But
> I am hoping for 10 weeks of beautiful weather followed by one
> hellacious, category 4 hurricane to make work for the winter.
>
I read an interesting editorial from the 6/24/99 paper. If anyone from
the Paper of Record reads this, maybe you should dig it up and put it
in front of the editorial writer? The editorial was a Top Ten list of
things to do this summer. #2 was not smoke cigars on the beach.
It would be worth updating for 2003. Much better than "Peace" or The
guidelines for submission.
B
> And what an odd quote. Praise for October? In June?
>
>
>
> Who is the picture of the day? Come to > href="http://www.barrsenglishclass.com">Class
>
I changed it yesterday to a picture of Tuckernuck. It's for you, Jim.
>
Bob Sunday, June 29, 2003
Rebecca Sayre has died.
I do not know the circumstances of her death, but I do remember the
circumstances of her life as a high school student. Becka was
energetic and confident, but shy. She was a gifted writer who enjoyed
developing and building metaphors and allusions into all of her
writing. She was very good at connecting all sorts of disparate ideas
and works together, and then bringing them into a new theme. In my old
recommendation, I noted that she was very sensitive to other people's
feelings and emotions. I remember her ripping into one of the many
mysoginists in my class that year and getting everyone's attention.
She and her sister were exceptionally close. When they were much
younger, they created a fantasy world on island called "Jewelweed
Castle." It was childish play, but it was her gift to be able to carry
that play into the "grown-up" world of adolescence. After high school,
she did not attend college, but travelled through Africa. She was
powerfully affected by what she saw.
No matter how she died, she is gone and we will all miss the person she
was going to be.
Bob Sunday, June 29, 2003
Note the last paragraph.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_82_2073981,00.html
Bob Sunday, June 29, 2003
Saturday, June 28, 2003
For most of my time on island, I forget that I am on an island. I
drive the triangle of death (Home-School-Stop and Shop) over and over
all winter, just as I would do if I lived in Hopkinton. The concretes
in my life, like food, electricity, medical care and the like seem
steady and dependable. The tunnel joke has its edge of seriousness at
this point; since we are pretty tightly tied into the American grid,
there could just as well be a tunnel.
Of course, there isn't. And we don't want one.
Travel to an from the island has become invisible to all of us. We
take it for granted, like telephone service, cable television, and
electricity. However, as I have written before, Nantucket is at the
end of the whip. If an economic butterfly beats its wings in
Washington or New York, we all get the gale. I think the wind is
picking up.
So, when I read that the SSA lost a million dollars already this year,
I got a little concerned. Traffic is down huge, with 10% less cars, 7%
less passengers, and 7% less trucks from last year's horrid showing.
In 1999, the SSA carried 38,000 trucks. That seems very unlikely this
year and probably didn't happen last year. So, there is less money
coming in.
I don't know the numbers precisely, but there is a new union contract
out there for the employees and I would bet that it includes pay
increases. If I remember correctly, the "overnights" clause was a
sticking point. The SSA crew would come over on the late boat and
stay, paid, on one of the islands. (I believe that the new Vineyard
schedule is designed to make this more efficient) Either way, the
labor cost for the SSA is going up.
I'm sure other costs are going up as well. Fuel prices have been
inching up, even with Iraqi oil returning to the market. Insurance
costs must be high for the SSA, as they are for just about everyone
else. Management ain't cheap, nor are bond costs, refitting, and all
the rest.
And let's not forget the valentine to New Bedford. Less than 5% of the
traffic that comes over the bridges goes to Nantucket or the Vineyard.
Most of that traffic comes from Boston or the Boston area. Why would
they drive further to go to New Beige? But it seems a good place for a
terminal.
Don't wait on help from the state. They have more than enough
problems. The feds gave us some Homeland Security money. That should
pay for some nice stickers and a couple of clipboards (and the guys to
carry them).
So, the SSA is in the financial weeds.
Now, this article
(http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2003/06/27/ssa_revenues_drop.php)
details steps the SSA is taking to decrease costs and increase
revenues. One of those steps is outright silly, They will now start
selling advertising on the big white boats in order to
raise....$25,000. Since there is a million dollar short fall in the
first five months, that would cut it to....$975,000. Let's charge for
the bathrooms next. That should raise a thousand or two. I suppose
strippers would help. We've already got the poles.
Advertising is Good Faith Codswallop. It's an argumentative set-up
designed to support a later argument for more substantive changes.
"We're doing everything we can...." Raskin would say "including
advertising, but we have to..." In the article, he claims that it is a
"big revenue producer" $25,000 is the revenue from 125 cars coming to
Nantucket. Less than two boats worth. Some "big revenue producer."
Kiki Roessel, the Vineyard Rep and a singular wit, really "applauds
this-I think we really need this." Strippers and Slots, here we come.
Where does the money to eat a 2 million annual deficit come from.
Well, on the Vineyard, it means tinkering with the wintertime schedule.
A couple more hours to wait between boats. Probably another fare
increase.
For Nantucket, at the end of the whip, there could be a lot more
substantive changes. The Eagle must be the most expensive boat the SSA
runs. More fuel, more staff, more maintenance, more annoyance.
Further. the Flying Clud has had an increase in ridership while the
Eagle sees more of a dip. The Clud charges double for a passenger than
the Beagle does.
So, if half-wit Barsanti is the manager looking at a 2 million dollar
hole, I would start thinking real hard about cutting down the Eagle
runs. An empty Eagle has got to be a Treasurers nightmare and the
current numbers, down even from last year's anemic figures, make that
case for me.
Next winter, could we be looking at one big boat a day? two?
Further, as we are at the end of the whip and can't do anything about
it, Raskin might as well raise freight rates. The freight boats have
got to be money makers.Those rates will go up, probably by a good,
healthy chunk. As long as we are out here, we have to eat and build
and do all of that good stuff.
I have other thoughts on this, but I need to take the boys yard-sailing.
B.
P.S. A version of this cost containment argument must be behind larger
planes.
P.P.S. The economics of this come from either Wall Street or the
Washington, depending on your political opinion.
P.P.P.S. Think of all of the SSA rates as an extra sales taxes you pay
for living here. Those taxes are going up.
Bob Saturday, June 28, 2003
For most of my time on island, I forget that I am on an island. I
drive the triangle of death (Home-School-Stop and Shop) over and over
all winter, just as I would do if I lived in Hopkinton. The concretes
in my life, like food, electricity, medical care and the like seem
steady and dependable. The tunnel joke has its edge of seriousness at
this point; since we are pretty tightly tied into the American grid,
there could just as well be a tunnel.
Of course, there isn't. And we don't want one.
Travel to an from the island has become invisible to all of us. We
take it for granted, like telephone service, cable television, and
electricity. However, as I have written before, Nantucket is at the
end of the whip. If an economic butterfly beats its wings in
Washington or New York, we all get the gale. I think the wind is
picking up.
So, when I read that the SSA lost a million dollars already this year,
I got a little concerned. Traffic is down huge, with 10% less cars, 7%
less passengers, and 7% less trucks from last year's horrid showing.
In 1999, the SSA carried 38,000 trucks. That seems very unlikely this
year and probably didn't happen last year. So, there is less money
coming in.
I don't know the numbers precisely, but there is a new union contract
out there for the employees and I would bet that it includes pay
increases. If I remember correctly, the "overnights" clause was a
sticking point. The SSA crew would come over on the late boat and
stay, paid, on one of the islands. (I believe that the new Vineyard
schedule is designed to make this more efficient) Either way, the
labor cost for the SSA is going up.
I'm sure other costs are going up as well. Fuel prices have been
inching up, even with Iraqi oil returning to the market. Insurance
costs must be high for the SSA, as they are for just about everyone
else. Management ain't cheap, nor are bond costs, refitting, and all
the rest.
And let's not forget the valentine to New Bedford. Less than 5% of the
traffic that comes over the bridges goes to Nantucket or the Vineyard.
Most of that traffic comes from Boston or the Boston area. Why would
they drive further to go to New Beige? But it seems a good place for a
terminal.
Don't wait on help from the state. They have more than enough
problems. The feds gave us some Homeland Security money. That should
pay for some nice stickers and a couple of clipboards (and the guys to
carry them).
So, the SSA is in the financial weeds.
Now, this article
(http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2003/06/27/ssa_revenues_drop.php)
details steps the SSA is taking to decrease costs and increase
revenues. One of those steps is outright silly, They will now start
selling advertising on the big white boats in order to
raise....$25,000. Since there is a million dollar short fall in the
first five months, that would cut it to....$975,000. Let's charge for
the bathrooms next. That should raise a thousand or two. I suppose
strippers would help. We've already got the poles.
Advertising is Good Faith Codswallop. It's an argumentative set-up
designed to support a later argument for more substantive changes.
"We're doing everything we can...." Raskin would say "including
advertising, but we have to..." In the article, he claims that it is a
"big revenue producer" $25,000 is the revenue from 125 cars coming to
Nantucket. Less than two boats worth. Some "big revenue producer."
Kiki Roessel, the Vineyard Rep and a singular wit, really "applauds
this-I think we really need this." Strippers and Slots, here we come.
Where does the money to eat a 2 million annual deficit come from.
Well, on the Vineyard, it means tinkering with the wintertime schedule.
A couple more hours to wait between boats. Probably another fare
increase.
For Nantucket, at the end of the whip, there could be a lot more
substantive changes. The Eagle must be the most expensive boat the SSA
runs. More fuel, more staff, more maintenance, more annoyance.
Further. the Flying Clud has had an increase in ridership while the
Eagle sees more of a dip. The Clud charges double for a passenger than
the Beagle does.
So, if half-wit Barsanti is the manager looking at a 2 million dollar
hole, I would start thinking real hard about cutting down the Eagle
runs. An empty Eagle has got to be a Treasurers nightmare and the
current numbers, down even from last year's anemic figures, make that
case for me.
Next winter, could we be looking at one big boat a day? two?
Further, as we are at the end of the whip and can't do anything about
it, Raskin might as well raise freight rates. The freight boats have
got to be money makers.Those rates will go up, probably by a good,
healthy chunk. As long as we are out here, we have to eat and build
and do all of that good stuff.
I have other thoughts on this, but I need to take the boys yard-sailing.
B.
P.S. A version of this cost containment argument must be behind larger
planes.
P.P.S. The economics of this come from either Wall Street or the
Washington, depending on your political opinion.
P.P.P.S. Think of all of the SSA rates as an extra sales taxes you pay
for living here. Those taxes are going up.
Bob Saturday, June 28, 2003
For most of my time on island, I forget that I am on an island. I
drive the triangle of death (Home-School-Stop and Shop) over and over
all winter, just as I would do if I lived in Hopkinton. The concretes
in my life, like food, electricity, medical care and the like seem
steady and dependable. The tunnel joke has its edge of seriousness at
this point; since we are pretty tightly tied into the American grid,
there could just as well be a tunnel.
Of course, there isn't. And we don't want one.
Travel to an from the island has become invisible to all of us. We
take it for granted, like telephone service, cable television, and
electricity. However, as I have written before, Nantucket is at the
end of the whip. If an economic butterfly beats its wings in
Washington or New York, we all get the gale. I think the wind is
picking up.
So, when I read that the SSA lost a million dollars already this year,
I got a little concerned. Traffic is down huge, with 10% less cars, 7%
less passengers, and 7% less trucks from last year's horrid showing.
In 1999, the SSA carried 38,000 trucks. That seems very unlikely this
year and probably didn't happen last year. So, there is less money
coming in.
I don't know the numbers precisely, but there is a new union contract
out there for the employees and I would bet that it includes pay
increases. If I remember correctly, the "overnights" clause was a
sticking point. The SSA crew would come over on the late boat and
stay, paid, on one of the islands. (I believe that the new Vineyard
schedule is designed to make this more efficient) Either way, the
labor cost for the SSA is going up.
I'm sure other costs are going up as well. Fuel prices have been
inching up, even with Iraqi oil returning to the market. Insurance
costs must be high for the SSA, as they are for just about everyone
else. Management ain't cheap, nor are bond costs, refitting, and all
the rest.
And let's not forget the valentine to New Bedford. Less than 5% of the
traffic that comes over the bridges goes to Nantucket or the Vineyard.
Most of that traffic comes from Boston or the Boston area. Why would
they drive further to go to New Beige? But it seems a good place for a
terminal.
Don't wait on help from the state. They have more than enough
problems. The feds gave us some Homeland Security money. That should
pay for some nice stickers and a couple of clipboards (and the guys to
carry them).
So, the SSA is in the financial weeds.
Now, this article
(http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2003/06/27/ssa_revenues_drop.php)
details steps the SSA is taking to decrease costs and increase
revenues. One of those steps is outright silly, They will now start
selling advertising on the big white boats in order to
raise....$25,000. Since there is a million dollar short fall in the
first five months, that would cut it to....$975,000. Let's charge for
the bathrooms next. That should raise a thousand or two. I suppose
strippers would help. We've already got the poles.
Advertising is Good Faith Codswallop. It's an argumentative set-up
designed to support a later argument for more substantive changes.
"We're doing everything we can...." Raskin would say "including
advertising, but we have to..." In the article, he claims that it is a
"big revenue producer" $25,000 is the revenue from 125 cars coming to
Nantucket. Less than two boats worth. Some "big revenue producer."
Kiki Roessel, the Vineyard Rep and a singular wit, really "applauds
this-I think we really need this." Strippers and Slots, here we come.
Where does the money to eat a 2 million annual deficit come from.
Well, on the Vineyard, it means tinkering with the wintertime schedule.
A couple more hours to wait between boats. Probably another fare
increase.
For Nantucket, at the end of the whip, there could be a lot more
substantive changes. The Eagle must be the most expensive boat the SSA
runs. More fuel, more staff, more maintenance, more annoyance.
Further. the Flying Clud has had an increase in ridership while the
Eagle sees more of a dip. The Clud charges double for a passenger than
the Beagle does.
So, if half-wit Barsanti is the manager looking at a 2 million dollar
hole, I would start thinking real hard about cutting down the Eagle
runs. An empty Eagle has got to be a Treasurers nightmare and the
current numbers, down even from last year's anemic figures, make that
case for me.
Next winter, could we be looking at one big boat a day? two?
Further, as we are at the end of the whip and can't do anything about
it, Raskin might as well raise freight rates. The freight boats have
got to be money makers.Those rates will go up, probably by a good,
healthy chunk. As long as we are out here, we have to eat and build
and do all of that good stuff.
I have other thoughts on this, but I need to take the boys yard-sailing.
B.
P.S. A version of this cost containment argument must be behind larger
planes.
P.P.S. The economics of this come from either Wall Street or the
Washington, depending on your political opinion.
P.P.P.S. Think of all of the SSA rates as an extra sales taxes you pay
for living here. Those taxes are going up.
Bob Saturday, June 28, 2003
For most of my time on island, I forget that I am on an island. I
drive the triangle of death (Home-School-Stop and Shop) over and over
all winter, just as I would do if I lived in Hopkinton. The concretes
in my life, like food, electricity, medical care and the like seem
steady and dependable. The tunnel joke has its edge of seriousness at
this point; since we are pretty tightly tied into the American grid,
there could just as well be a tunnel.
Of course, there isn't. And we don't want one.
Travel to an from the island has become invisible to all of us. We
take it for granted, like telephone service, cable television, and
electricity. However, as I have written before, Nantucket is at the
end of the whip. If an economic butterfly beats its wings in
Washington or New York, we all get the gale. I think the wind is
picking up.
So, when I read that the SSA lost a million dollars already this year,
I got a little concerned. Traffic is down huge, with 10% less cars, 7%
less passengers, and 7% less trucks from last year's horrid showing.
In 1999, the SSA carried 38,000 trucks. That seems very unlikely this
year and probably didn't happen last year. So, there is less money
coming in.
I don't know the numbers precisely, but there is a new union contract
out there for the employees and I would bet that it includes pay
increases. If I remember correctly, the "overnights" clause was a
sticking point. The SSA crew would come over on the late boat and
stay, paid, on one of the islands. (I believe that the new Vineyard
schedule is designed to make this more efficient) Either way, the
labor cost for the SSA is going up.
I'm sure other costs are going up as well. Fuel prices have been
inching up, even with Iraqi oil returning to the market. Insurance
costs must be high for the SSA, as they are for just about everyone
else. Management ain't cheap, nor are bond costs, refitting, and all
the rest.
And let's not forget the valentine to New Bedford. Less than 5% of the
traffic that comes over the bridges goes to Nantucket or the Vineyard.
Most of that traffic comes from Boston or the Boston area. Why would
they drive further to go to New Beige? But it seems a good place for a
terminal.
Don't wait on help from the state. They have more than enough
problems. The feds gave us some Homeland Security money. That should
pay for some nice stickers and a couple of clipboards (and the guys to
carry them).
So, the SSA is in the financial weeds.
Now, this article
(http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2003/06/27/ssa_revenues_drop.php)
details steps the SSA is taking to decrease costs and increase
revenues. One of those steps is outright silly, They will now start
selling advertising on the big white boats in order to
raise....$25,000. Since there is a million dollar short fall in the
first five months, that would cut it to....$975,000. Let's charge for
the bathrooms next. That should raise a thousand or two. I suppose
strippers would help. We've already got the poles.
Advertising is Good Faith Codswallop. It's an argumentative set-up
designed to support a later argument for more substantive changes.
"We're doing everything we can...." Raskin would say "including
advertising, but we have to..." In the article, he claims that it is a
"big revenue producer" $25,000 is the revenue from 125 cars coming to
Nantucket. Less than two boats worth. Some "big revenue producer."
Kiki Roessel, the Vineyard Rep and a singular wit, really "applauds
this-I think we really need this." Strippers and Slots, here we come.
Where does the money to eat a 2 million annual deficit come from.
Well, on the Vineyard, it means tinkering with the wintertime schedule.
A couple more hours to wait between boats. Probably another fare
increase.
For Nantucket, at the end of the whip, there could be a lot more
substantive changes. The Eagle must be the most expensive boat the SSA
runs. More fuel, more staff, more maintenance, more annoyance.
Further. the Flying Clud has had an increase in ridership while the
Eagle sees more of a dip. The Clud charges double for a passenger than
the Beagle does.
So, if half-wit Barsanti is the manager looking at a 2 million dollar
hole, I would start thinking real hard about cutting down the Eagle
runs. An empty Eagle has got to be a Treasurers nightmare and the
current numbers, down even from last year's anemic figures, make that
case for me.
Next winter, could we be looking at one big boat a day? two?
Further, as we are at the end of the whip and can't do anything about
it, Raskin might as well raise freight rates. The freight boats have
got to be money makers.Those rates will go up, probably by a good,
healthy chunk. As long as we are out here, we have to eat and build
and do all of that good stuff.
I have other thoughts on this, but I need to take the boys yard-sailing.
B.
P.S. A version of this cost containment argument must be behind larger
planes.
P.P.S. The economics of this come from either Wall Street or the
Washington, depending on your political opinion.
P.P.P.S. Think of all of the SSA rates as an extra sales taxes you pay
for living here. Those taxes are going up.
Bob Saturday, June 28, 2003
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Vacation Rental It's a tough summer now and it is just going to get tougher.
Bob Tuesday, June 24, 2003
John Edwards: I may have found a a new candidate. This is an unbelievably good speech.
Bob Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Poem
Bob Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Tranquility Bay
Bob Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Monday, June 16, 2003
Atwood on Orwell
Bob Monday, June 16, 2003
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Daddy Day Care
Bob Sunday, June 15, 2003
Week??
Bob Sunday, June 15, 2003
Unemployment
Bob Sunday, June 15, 2003
Friday, June 13, 2003
property
Bob Friday, June 13, 2003
education editorial
Bob Friday, June 13, 2003
jobs
Bob Friday, June 13, 2003
floirda schools
Bob Friday, June 13, 2003
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Sedaris
Bob Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Bankrupt
Bob Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Save our Schools
Bob Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Francese:
Bob Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
tastetribes
Bob Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Monday, June 09, 2003
free to travel
Bob Monday, June 09, 2003
free to travel
Bob Monday, June 09, 2003
Friday, June 06, 2003
Bill Lee Comes Clean
Bob Friday, June 06, 2003
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Midd
Bob Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Monday, June 02, 2003
Gitmo
Bob Monday, June 02, 2003
three little words:
Bob Monday, June 02, 2003
Friday, May 30, 2003
party planner
Bob Friday, May 30, 2003
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Chaplain:
Bob Thursday, May 29, 2003
Friday, May 23, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Friday, May 23, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Friday, May 23, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Friday, May 23, 2003
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Tuesday, May 20, 2003
kristof
Bob Tuesday, May 20, 2003
ebuffy
Bob Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Graduation Speech
Bob Sunday, May 18, 2003
Saturday, May 17, 2003
kennedy
Bob Saturday, May 17, 2003
girls in school
Bob Saturday, May 17, 2003
Friday, May 16, 2003
Jessica Lynch
Bob Friday, May 16, 2003
Monday, May 12, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Monday, May 12, 2003
Sunday, May 11, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Sunday, May 11, 2003
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Matrix
Bob Saturday, May 10, 2003
Bush
Bob Saturday, May 10, 2003
Newspeak
Bob Saturday, May 10, 2003
hoaxes:
Bob Saturday, May 10, 2003
soldiers story
Bob Saturday, May 10, 2003
Friday, May 09, 2003
cartoons
Bob Friday, May 09, 2003
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Pyle
Bob Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Sunday, April 27, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Sunday, April 27, 2003
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Dalai Lama
Bob Saturday, April 26, 2003
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
She's a flight risk
Bob Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Saturday, April 19, 2003
MS interviews
Bob Saturday, April 19, 2003
Friday, April 18, 2003
Rye
Bob Friday, April 18, 2003
War is Peace:
Bob Friday, April 18, 2003
Monday, April 14, 2003
riding the tank
Bob Monday, April 14, 2003
Sunday, April 13, 2003
classtime
Bob Sunday, April 13, 2003
Saturday, April 12, 2003
fisk
Bob Saturday, April 12, 2003
Ray Bradbury:
Bob Saturday, April 12, 2003
Friday, April 11, 2003
Bunn
Bob Friday, April 11, 2003
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
Keegan
Bob Tuesday, April 08, 2003
slaughter
Bob Tuesday, April 08, 2003
Monday, April 07, 2003
cult
Bob Monday, April 07, 2003
Sunday, April 06, 2003
Rules of War
Bob Sunday, April 06, 2003
times they are a changin
Bob Sunday, April 06, 2003
textbooks
Bob Sunday, April 06, 2003
Sunday, March 30, 2003
edit your blog:
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
Tomahawk:
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
David Poe
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
Human Shield
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
womans work
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
Dixie Chicks
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
David Barry
Bob Sunday, March 30, 2003
Monday, March 24, 2003
war speech
Bob Monday, March 24, 2003
Saturday, March 22, 2003
third wave
Bob Saturday, March 22, 2003
Thursday, March 20, 2003
lecarre
Bob Thursday, March 20, 2003
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
I am awake at three in the morning, ill, and sick of writing and thinking about the politics of school.
Instead, I am thinking of the post from last week that detailed the Builder?s Association meeting at the J.C. House. Apparently they laughed the Westmoor out of the room and the various BOS candidates followed the crowd. Now, the BA are a loud, boisterous, raucous group. Building is a high profile, lucrative business in the winter and, as such, they seem to have a lot of coffee shop influence. They certainly have a lot of sandwich shop influence.
But I don?t think they control a lot of votes. At town meeting or at the elections, I don?t know how many of them actually show up or pull the levers. The last vote I can remember the BA having a serious effect on was for the building cap. The BA has a lot of money and bravado, but I don?t think they get out the vote.
On the other hand, the realtors get out the vote. While the business of Nantucket may seem to be building, I believe it is truly in real estate. I think most Nantucketers, when they think with their wallets, think with houses and land in mind. They are concerned about the resale value of their house, the rental prospects of their property, and the prospects of buying more property. When we think money out here, we think land. And the realtors think long term while the builders are more worried about next month.
So, Finn and all the other Westmoor supporters, gird your loins and walk into a Realtors Association meeting. Get your best arguments out and the four color brochures and some serious forward looking ideas and sell them to the realtors. Convince them why this purchase will make property more valuable on Nantucket all around. Explain why it is a good deal for us. Walk them through the property (and bring Geno and his camera)
You probably won?t win. They won?t carry you out on their shoulders and sing huzzahs on the street. At best, you will win some new converts and some long term money thinking out of them. Hopefully, if the case is good enough, you will get them thinking and de-fang them. Their opposition will kill, but their neutrality may let the project live. Their support (unlikely) will carry the day.
But the arguments that might work for some of the realtors will work for most of the rest of the voters of the town. Employee housing, sheep farms, junior proms, central town square all sound good, but almost every voter at town meeting will be thinking with their wallets. And, on Nantucket, our wallets have shingles.
Next, visit the Saltmarsh Center and anywhere where the retired folks go. Use the same arguments on them as you use on the realtors, but make sure you have someone who can look back to the start of the land bank, missing the Wannacomet land, or the Miacomet Racetrack. Have cookies and listen. A lot. Be honest and ask for support. Use the past and the tradition of preservation.
From a look at those Census numbers, the island is skewed older. And from a quick view of voters at town meeting and during the elections, they voters are much older. The BA may not vote, but the Saltmarsh Center does. Work for those votes. Westmoor can win with support from older Nantucketers.
One last note. In the talk against Westmoor, I am surprised at the level of anger. I expected to read and hear comments more along the lines of ?it would be nice, but it costs too much?? Instead, I am hearing ?%$#@ No.? from certain quarters. Ask yourselves why these people are that angry. You won?t convince the ?%$#@ No.?crowd to support it, but if you can get them not to intimidate the fence-sitters, you may have a deal.
I think the anger comes from the fear that the town may actually go for the Westmoor. I think they, and others, see it as a close thing. It may not be in reality, but many people see it as a possibility.
As for the BOS candidates, ask them about their vision of the island for the next ten years. What overrides or cuts would they support? (Because we are going to have to have them.) Saying No is not enough. When do you say Yes?
P.S. I hope tonight?s SC meeting will be televised. If it is anything like the Budget Sub-committee meeting I walked past, it will be a doozy. Fellas, fingerpointing and name calling (?racist??) doesn?t help the cause right now. Get together and save the 7% increase. Now. The 2003-4 Budget is over and it isn?t in your hands anymore. You are now arguing about the 2004-5 budget. Really.
It?s time for someone to be a statesman.
Bob Tuesday, March 18, 2003
50 cent
Bob Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Monday, March 17, 2003
Blood:
Bob Monday, March 17, 2003
Friday, March 14, 2003
The Roof is on fire.
We are in a world of pain.
Let me get this straight. After a long series of meeting of the Budget Advisory Sub-Committee, several months of debate at the School Committee level over process, messages from the Fincom so subtle they found the front page of the paper, the schools bring the same numbers back to the Fincom and they reject it. So the only way we are going to get that 1.2 million will be to go to the floor of town meeting and fight for it.
And what a fight it will be. The CCSC will be there, pointing out the mystery that is the school budget. Phil Bartlett and the Fincom will line up against it. The Selectmen and Libby will line up against it. All of the usual Yahoos will oppose it. Starting tomorrow, a horde of annoyed and angry people will troop down to the Atheneum to check out the numbers. So the hordes will be well armed with numbers. Opposing them will be Tim Lepore, Robin Rowland, and lame duck Kim Horyn.
While the majority of three fight the Yahoos who will want to know why we keep the lights on during the day and why the elementary school isn?t fixed yet, the voting public will be sitting and listening.
But they will have been primed and pumped by a bruising school committee race, a Selectman?s race where the budget is already an issue and the ever contentious School Committee regular meetings-which will include the Superintendent?s evaluations. All of those food fights will be firing out ways to save money, not things to spend money on. I haven?t read any campaign ads screaming for increased money for textbooks or more sports at the middle school.
Even more importantly, money is tight. Real estate has slowed down, building is down, stock market is down, summer rentals are down (I?m guessing) and we will either be at war or have just finished one and will be busy ?rebuilding.?
So the voters will have been buttonholed by candidates, watched debates on TV and read six weeks worth of negative school news in ?The fish wrap? as my personal physician likes to say. And remember who my voter is: An older couple on Fairgrounds with an empty apartment and remarkable bills.
Into this mess will stand the oratorical skills of our only board licensed surgeon, arguing for another override. What will he say?
It better not be ?85% of our taxes are paid by summer people.? That argument is deader than nub scallops. All of those voters are looking, immediately, at the bills they have to pay. The fact that people worth 100 times more than they do will pay 6x as much in property taxes won?t wash. They don?t want to give up the extra $35, especially if it is to a mystery.
It also better not be ?Give us the override or we will cancel athletics and fill the pool with sand.? After last year, the voters just don?t trust the threats. And from what is happening on the rest of the Cape, they might be willing to push that. Anyone for a $200 bus ride and a $1300 full day kindergarten? Those threats only work if people know that it will happen. They need to believe. If the budget had been transparent all the way through (i.e. ?The third grade spends $400 in colored pencils?), then people could believe the threat. We could challenge them to cut the money themselves. But we have no transparency and therefore no trust that the cuts will be genuine.
And it better not be ?Let?s get the best for our kids.? Because we will hear all about the Community School and the $10,737 we spend per student now and Buildings and Grounds and all of the rest of it.
Tim would be on a Fool?s Errand. He would invite a huge personal rebuke that would make the cemetery road fiasco look mild. Whatever credibility he has with the town would crash. Let?s not forget the Christine pulled a few more voters than Tim did in the last election.
So, at the schools, we better have a Plan B and a Plan C.
Plan B would be to accept that we surrendered all budget making ability this year and gave it to Libby and Phil Bartlett. The School Committee botched the job the state gave it. It?s done. So, put out the 17.4 million dollar budget tomorrow, make some ?quiet? 1.2 million cuts and don?t do anything on Town Meeting floor. If anything, send the SC including the two new members, to put their shoulders to the wheel to get the other override passed. That is no slam dunk.
Plan C would be to figure out that the Town override isn?t going to fly, either. Then, we would need to make some very, very, very serious cuts around the place. I think Westmoor might have a better chance than the school or the town might get on the override.
It?s not use pointing fingers at Christine and David here. The budget has passed beyond them. It?s no use whining about the paper or the SC candidates. All of the stars are lined up against the schools right now. We are in a world of hurt and if jobs are to survive this spring, the Schools better come up with a real good plan.
And it can?t be Plan A. The doctor can?t save it.
B
P.S. I think the SC is in a legal morass anyway. If the budget needs to be reviewed and passed in the next few days, but we won?t know what the final numbers are going to be until April, aren?t we breaking the law? Christine, help me here.
Bob Friday, March 14, 2003
Bush nightmare
Bob Friday, March 14, 2003
HEdges on NOW:
Bob Friday, March 14, 2003
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Hydrogen
Bob Thursday, March 13, 2003
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Orchid Fever
Bob Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Saturday, March 08, 2003
Games for kids
Bob Saturday, March 08, 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
rate your date
Bob Thursday, February 20, 2003
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Dear Ms. Lo,
Thank you for your kind rejection letter.
You are in an interesting place in the history of this text. You are the only person to read it who is neither a very old family friend, nor one who sleeps beside me in the night. (You will be happy to know that my wife read the letter and immediately agreed with it. You must be right.) So, even though it was a rejection, it was a thoughtful rejection and it sent me back to Paul.
Right now, unfortunately, I am firmly caught in the nets of a school year. Grading, planning, laying out a webpage, and the real world of school politics occupying most of my scheming and dreaming world. It is hard to go back to Pidge and Paul with any sort of clarity or purpose since I don?t know how much time I can devote to them. This fall, while I was on leave, I could give them six hours and 4000 words a day. Now, I am lucky if I can do a journal entry.
Like a good cheesecake, ?Keeper? keeps coming out of cold storage for a little while, giving up a taste, and then slipping back in. As a result, there are parts of the story that I have rewritten and polished a dozen or so times, and there are parts that are almost first draft. They came out, dropped onto the keyboard and made it into the text. After I sent my copies out, I thought about little over-written paragraphs that just needed to get flushed and evicted from the text, but lived on. I keep a notebook for further changes to it, so maybe I will get around to finally sending some little bits of precious prose down the drain.
Your letter gave me a lot to think about. I had to decide whether the novel was perfect as it was, or needed so many structural changes that it should be scrapped or if it could be tweaked in another draft. My wife assured me that the novel was not perfect, so I couldn?t honestly pretend that. On the other hand, your comments weren?t all that horrible, so maybe there is life in the old dog yet. So, I am setting myself up for another draft and another attempt to understand Mr. Brody.
Paul is a stranger to me. He kept changing throughout the various drafts and then, just as I had him nailed down, Pidge came in and practically took over the story. When I first came up with the ideas for Keeper, Paul was a much nicer guy. He had morals and his own little code of beliefs. He was much more of an odd, eccentric little duck who was trying to make things better for his students. He kept trying to help out and getting stepped on. His final scene had Pidge abandoning him for his roommate, who was much more athletic and fun.
I had spent most of my adolescence and young adulthood reading Travis McGee, Spenser and Lew Archer stories, so I had that tarnished moral knight image in my head and I wanted to try that out. But, I didn?t like the fit so much because those authors always found themselves in some sort of moral quandary near the end of the story that required luck or the timely intervention of fire ants to solve the problem. Suddenly, Spenser was no murderer and everything fit into a neat gin and tonic story.
Paul kept seeing good moral things in the story and whispering ?Fuck this? to me in my ear, and finally I listened to him. So he got darker and more like Flashman and Lucas Davenport and less like prissy old Spenser. The current Paul is almost a sociopath. He messes people up because he senses a threat to his independence. He turns on Shaw purely because Shaw wants to investigate his past. Shaw wants to intimidate him a little and Paul, instead of walking away, blows him up.
Now, as I now know Paul, I see him conflicted between his better angels who want him to walk away from fights and his darker angels who want him to bring a gun. And he likes the darker angels so much. To shift metaphors, he?s addicted to it. Even when it threatens much of what he holds dear, his instinct is still to go evil.
He?s aware of this, of course, and it makes him hesitate with Pidge. He doesn?t know what to do with her love at all. He is so afraid of himself and of her. He is afraid of what his darker angels will do to her and what she will do to them. Will he have to give up his fix in order to keep her? Will he manipulate her into some nasty compromise? Why does she want to be with him anyway? What does she want? Up until the day I wrote the last chapter, I had no idea what would happen. My outline has her walking out on him, but I just couldn?t do it.
The Paul I know is motivated primarily by loneliness. On one hand, he hates it and its accompanying silences. Early in the novel, he races back to town in order to be with friends and to avoid the silence of his house. His passionate attack on Pidge at the Eliot hotel comes after a week of being alone. On the other hand, he prizes his control and his independence. Sitting on the back porch in the middle of the night is his spot where he can nudge the constellations back into their positions. I left a throwaway scene in the novel, about two kids lost in a Range Rover to underscore this loneliness. They at least have each other. Paul doesn?t even let them drive over his lawn.
So, now I will go back and reacquaint myself with Paul a little bit. He is still an intimate stranger. I tossed out some scenes from the early going that highlighted his loneliness and I killed a lot of his backstory because I hated the exposition at the opening. I like the idea of leaving Paul as a bit of a cipher. He is a character who requires a bit of work out of the reader, perhaps too much.
Once again, thanks for reading the story and for your kind letter.
Bob Barsanti
Who is the picture of the day? Come to Class
Bob Wednesday, February 19, 2003
I don?t have a lot of time right now to respond to this thread, but I must say that this is one of the most interesting threads out of this group.
I am actively wrestling with this question. How much time is reasonable to devote to the students?
I am in my sixteenth year of teaching out here on Nantucket Island. For most of my time out here, I taught five forty-five minute classes in a seven block day, along with a duty. In addition to that, I had the usual meetings, clubs, and coaching that would lead up to four or five in the afternoon. I refined my teaching technique in a world where you woke up early too finish grading, taught school, stayed after for help and bureaucratic busywork, then took the grading home in the darkness. All of the other, good, English teachers did this.
In addition, because we have high turnover or faculty and lousy administration over the years, we had no fixed curriculum, at the high school. We had no store of old handouts and exams, nor even a list of required books. I got a key to the book closet and a kick in the knickers.
Ten years later, we moved to the 4x4 semester model. Suddenly, school got a lot more bearable. 90 minute prep periods make a lot of things doable in school, as does 50 total students at a time. My classroom got manageable, as did my grading and my prep. I was only bringing home an hour or two of work a night. (I know all of the counter arguments. They have validity, too)
Then I got married.
Then I had a son.
Then I had another son.
In short, even with the better schedule (for me), school became this huge time eating monster again. I leave for school at 7:15 and return at 4:00 with at least an hour?s worth of work. Then, it?s parenting time until the kids go to sleep and couple time until the wife goes to sleep, when it becomes school time again. No workouts, no hobbies, no Quake Deathmatch or Grand Theft Auto III.
I don?t think my teaching life is all that unusual.
I am a project oriented, guide on the side.
I don?t waste a lot of time at the coffee machine.
I use rubrics to speed up the grading, as well as peer editing.
I fight less politically.
I gave up department head.
In short, I am fighting hard to make school workable for me. I am trying to teach the students to do (not ?to know? or ?to cover?) as best I can, while at the same time leaving weekends and evenings for the family and sleep. It is an ugly fight that leaves little time for on-line musing.
However, I do think that modern American society, as shone in TV shows, movies, graduate schools, Town meetings, list-servs and whatever, wants teachers to be more like Monks and Nuns. Think about all of the religious references that get laid on our profession. Martyrs, sacrifice, calling, and the like. We all need to think about our profession (as doctors need to think about theirs) and how we can practice it without tonsures, vows, and habits.
P.S. Think about all of the young teachers you have seen burn out of the job in two years or the great influx of professionals switching careers to also burn out of the job.
Yours In Christ
Bob Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Peace Rally
Bob Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Monday, February 17, 2003
Why Nerds are Unpopular Very high marks for this.
Bob Monday, February 17, 2003
gambling
Bob Monday, February 17, 2003
Sunday, February 16, 2003
So, the agent who sniffed at the Manuscript bounced it back to me. While I don?t have her comments right here in front of me, Paul didn?t connect with her. He needs more faults and more depth. My first instinct is to agree with her. I think that Paul starts off on a distant look and he does need some reason to start messing around with people?s heads. The scene at the liquor store and an early classroom scene with Karyn doesn?t really explain it. So, I can see the comment.
At the same time I think that she may have missed two things,. First, this is a mystery novel.
Spenser, Travis McGee, and Lucas Davenport don?t really give you a lot of internal faults and motivation. On the other hand, much of my style is to underwrite the story. I think she may have expected more transparency. Keeper of the Constellations is not a particularly easy book. I think she missed something.
So, the truth is in the middle. Her rejection had elastics attached. I am sure that if I were to rewrite, I could bring it back in. Unfortunately, that requires time. I don?t have time.
Great storm coming. Looking forward to it.
Bob Sunday, February 16, 2003
So this has been a slow week. Not really.
I have been in the classroom for almost every waking hour this week. I don?t think I remembered how much time I spent teaching this fall. Really, I spend almost every waking hour either reading, grading, teaching or organizing myself for school. All of the kid stuff or the writing stuff or even the ?bop around the island taking pictures with sleeping boys? stuff gets stuffed into the never-never bag. I liked that stuff.
Now, this is the week when reality set in on the school front. The day to day drudgery is going onward and all of the excitement of the fall has worn off. This week help parent?s night, professional development and other drudgeries that keep me in the building until 4:00. On top of that, we had no Leith.
No Leith means that the bride gets to be on full-time Mommy patrol, with all its blessings and its curses. Lots of clean?up in aisle 9.
And no writing.
Bob Sunday, February 16, 2003
Goodman:
Bob Sunday, February 16, 2003
Friday, February 14, 2003
Going Revsersible and waiting for a miracle
Bob Friday, February 14, 2003
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Ping Pong
Bob Thursday, February 13, 2003
Teach for America
Bob Thursday, February 13, 2003
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
loans
Bob Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Subs:
Bob Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Monday, February 10, 2003
Mike Jackson, Genius
Bob Monday, February 10, 2003
Sunday, February 09, 2003
Sick and wierd
Bob Sunday, February 09, 2003
Mickey's
Bob Sunday, February 09, 2003
Behold the juggler family
Bob Sunday, February 09, 2003
Saturday, February 08, 2003
<
It?s cold, I am tired and there is another storm inbound.
I think that the thing with teaching isn?t the difficulty of the work, it?s the volume. I am being pecked to death by ducks. Do 451, layout the next two weeks, do the challenges, comment on Paul?s letter, poll the e-mail and keep going on the textbook. Oh, and keep the kids in line.
Quack, quack, quack.
I need some reading for challenges, toot sweet.
Today was a big sledding day for the doodle. He and Syd were off with the dead quakers sledding down the hills. Much fun. Quick bath. Asleep in five minutes. Beck has been a sleeping fool recently. Apparently there is a growth spurt going on.
Bob Saturday, February 08, 2003
It?s cold, I am tired and there is another storm inbound.
I think that the thing with teaching isn?t the difficulty of the work, it?s the volume. I am being pecked to death by ducks. Do 451, layout the next two weeks, do the challenges, comment on Paul?s letter, poll the e-mail and keep going on the textbook. Oh, and keep the kids in line.
Quack, quack, quack.
I need some reading for challenges, toot sweet.
Today was a big sledding day for the doodle. He and Syd were off with the dead quakers sledding down the hills. Much fun. Quick bath. Asleep in five minutes. Beck has been a sleeping fool recently. Apparently there is a growth spurt going on.
Bob Saturday, February 08, 2003
Friday, February 07, 2003
Snow is inbound. If I were in Wakefield or Middlebury, I would calmly say that we will have school. I don?t think so here. Looks like about a foot. Lots of good kid pictures will soon be happening.
A few notes. I just joined Audible.com. I should get the money back very quickly.
I wore the cowboy boots yesterday. Made my life a little more colorful.
My response to the superintendent is done. Hopefully, that should end the whole sordid saga. Ridiculous.
Currently he has his own problems.
A great little story has sprouted up. I maintain a website that holds all of my old handouts and sheets. I figure that whoever wants to download them is welcome to them and can use them in class. I do hope that they give me credit. On Tuesday, I got an e-mail from a girl looking for answers to the Portrait of the Artist sheets. I figured she was a teacher and bought time, since I don?t have answer keys. A day later, she writes back and fesses up that she is a student. Seems that her teacher has been busy plagiarizing me in class and she figured this would fix her boat. Since I was feeling vindictive and had some time, I explained all of my motivations and encouraged her to go to the principal on this. She has.
Interesting stuff. I am a heel for ratting my colleague out, but she could read the book.
Bob Friday, February 07, 2003
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
I slept like a log last night and didn?t do some of the work that I need to do?.the textbook and answering Alan?s notes. I need to set up a work time along with some family time. Right now it is school and famly and maybe some workout time.
We have had two night in a row where Beck woke up before Rourke. Great stuff. The best part is that he is rested and ready for the day. He doesn?t whine through his morning. I think the answer may be the magic nightlight.
Snow predicted for Thrusday night. Get ready for rain and wind.
The ice is now starting to break up in the lower harbor (although we are back below freezing) We can do some snow shots.
Bob Wednesday, February 05, 2003
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Google your life:
Bob Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Well, now I have missed many days. I need to be better about that. Perhaps this prep period will do it for me.
Nothing really new in the world, unfortunately.
Well, Columbia disintergrated.
In my small world of Nantucket, there is nothing new. After a period of horrible illness, the boys are back in shape. Beck has decidced that he needs to test everything. Rourke is working on the potty training thing. Not very hard. I pulled him off of his dresser the other day. He filled his underwear, pee?d on the top, opened the window and dropped his poop on the floor. Nice. Good for you.
The school budget had been bounced back from the Fincom to the Superintendent. Shame, really.
Continue to hear nothing from the agents. I consider the silence a good thing. Nerve-racking, but a good thing.
Bob Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Monday, February 03, 2003
Dave Eggers
Bob Monday, February 03, 2003
plagiarism exercise
Bob Monday, February 03, 2003
Sunday, February 02, 2003
5..4..3..2...1...Shuttle
Bob Sunday, February 02, 2003
shoebomber:
Bob Sunday, February 02, 2003
Saturday, February 01, 2003
Cool Green Hills of Earth
Bob Saturday, February 01, 2003
school silliness
Bob Saturday, February 01, 2003
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Vonnegut It's always good to get in touch with the master of wierd. Anyone who invented Bokanaonism is okay with me.
Bob Thursday, January 30, 2003
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Dave Barry's Blog: Copycat
Bob Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Thank God for Phys Ed. If he wasn't a choir leader before hand, he is one now. Not a maneuver to try at home.
Bob Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Well, I missed a day. I find that I am now keeping two journals. One is for this public communication and the other is for ideas I might use for later writing. Musn?t let those out, now, shall I.
I am back in the classroom again, and the old shoes fit. Walk, chat, lecture, think, and teach. Got it down. So far, everyone has been very supportive, but I get the occaisional blasts from the first floor. Today involved a bunch of old accusations that I need to respond to. A few nasty glowers. But, on the whole, a good thing.
But, I do feel a little bored. After the fun of writing the novel this Fall, coming into school and writing out bathroom passes loses its appeal. I don?t know if I am bored or if the school year hasn?t really taken off yet. But I do feel that I am frittering away my hours at the school. Nice to have the novel done.
Rourke is sick like a dog. Throwing up, diarrhea, listlessness, the whole kit and kaboodle. One of the interesting aspects of this sickness is his sleep. The other night I found him asleep in ?the black hole? (our storage room). Last night, he slept in the bathroom.
This morning he seems to be better. If he continues, we may have to make the hospital call, but I think he will pull out.
Bob Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Monday, January 27, 2003
George Reagan Bush Okay, I'm interested although I may not have time to read it.
Bob Monday, January 27, 2003
The Waste Land the entire purpose of the WWW is revealed in this web site on Eliot's poem.
Bob Monday, January 27, 2003
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Now it is an odd night. A slight drizzle has been falling, melting the remains of the snow and the ice in the harbor, but a hard freeze is coming behind it and hopefully we can keep some funky weather around. Who knows? My weatherhound instinct wants worse and worse to hit, although I know that it won?t happen, not unless some blizzard gets created out of thin air and cold water. More great pictures litter the site.
I return to school tomorrow. I anticipated nervousness, regret, shame, and all the rest. But instead, it seems as if it will be business as usual. A lot of people happy to see me, some decidedly less pleased.
I had more to say, but it disappeared into the maw of the computer. Story about a son
Bob Sunday, January 26, 2003
The Warren Zevon Way of Death Somehow, I could never see him in a Grief and Grieving Workshop. A nice article about the only Christ we deserve. (NY Times)
Bob Sunday, January 26, 2003
Saturday, January 25, 2003
One of the reasons why I feel guilty about my love of foul weather is the utter passivity of my fandom. Weather watching is not a participatory sport. You just sit around all day and look at the sky. Or the web. Yawn. No updates. Let?s go look at the weather buoys. It is the intellectual equivalent of waiting for e-mail.
Which is not to say that there isn?t something interesting going on weather wise. It has been a coon?s age since the harbors froze up and they are likely to stay frozen for another week. It?s all interesting to look at and experience, but it doesn?t have the name of action or decision making. It?s just another way of watching the calendar change.
Now in news of the boys, we had a major milestone pass by the windows yesterday. Beck is out of his crib and is now transitioning (by way of the high walled Pack n Play) to a big boy bed. Sadness creeps in.
Rourke stayed in his crib for at least six months longer than he should have. I guarded him as he went to sleep, pushed him off the edge of the crib and tired him out so much that he eventually fell asleep. We only had one or two exciting falls but, by his second birthday, he had successfully managed to get out silently. One of his more dangerous tricks was to get out on the window side of the bed and then side step along the window sill. If you were outside, you saw all of a very happy, very mischievous boy framed entirely by the window.
Beck won?t get that chance. Instead, he showed his ability to escape from the bed by tumbling, slowly, out and onto our bed. He was so proud of himself. Two days later, with Leith downstairs, he escaped after his nap and met Mommy at the door. Another ?Hi Mommy? and a big smile.
He is still in our room, but that is more a function of our house than just of our laziness and unwillingness to cut the cord. We have three bedrooms, one for us, one now for Rourke and one for freezing meat. I may be able to warm that room up or, as it is on the north side of the house, I won?t. Our house faces west, into the teeth of the recent fifty knot days. Drafts are a way of life. Just like the weather or growing kids.
Bob Saturday, January 25, 2003
Friday, January 24, 2003
Just so you know, it is a cold, cruel world out here. I am about to put up my pictures of the day. It is ice. All ice. The harbor is iced over so heavy that everything above monomoy is four to five inches deep. The ferry runs once a day, with the help of an ice-breaker. The kids are locked inside and the wind howls just about every night. More snow is on the way.
On the north side of the island, the ice extends beyond the jetties and fills the outer harbor out to Eel point to the west and Coskata to the east. On the south side, ice floes and chunks are flowing by in the tide. Naturally, the beaches are frozen. I think the general attitude is to wait for the famous January thaw to warm it all up, but the ice is thick enough that it will take a few days of forty degree weather to get it all. More to the point, the harbor water is going to remain very, very cold for awhile. Heavy fog could be on the way for the spring.
I love wacky weather and this ice is doing the trick. Up to the point when they have to Fedex the milk over.
Bob Friday, January 24, 2003
Thursday, January 23, 2003
So now, the road is clear. I am on my way back to the land of wedgies and water balloons. A Wise person has asked why I am returning and i am not really sure. Part of it is ego, so I can go out on my own. Part of it is ego related. I know that I am a better teacher than whoever else comes in that door this January. So, after some a Hopi purification ritual, I returned to school for my meetings.
One of the things I have to do is become professional. I hate professional. It connotes everything that I hate about teaching. It makes you into some sort of Dungeon Master, instead of a traveler or a learner. Yet, complete with coat, tie, and underwear, I am in my superhero outfit. I may wave at my nemesis every day, just for fun.
Good to be back.
Bob Thursday, January 23, 2003
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
This does not make me feel hopeful. How much is 90 quid anyway?
Bob Wednesday, January 22, 2003
I lost a post. I should know this by now.
first rejection comes from the Victoria Sanders agency. Keeper of the Constellations has a lot of promise, but just isn't for us. Hmmm. One down, five to go.
I found out, by way of Google, that my sister did not make up the title. Instead, it came from the Dark Phoenix saga of the X-Men. She may not have remembered it, but she had read it. She sold my copy, even.
Bob Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Joe Millionaire Also on the challenge list. Nothing like a take down of trailer trash.
Bob Wednesday, January 22, 2003
They made me fat Fortune finds its way into next week's challenges by printing this indictment of the food industry. Looks a little sketchy, since Big Macs aren't as addictive as tobacco. However, the advertising is as deceptive. Why don't we lump the subway ads in at the same time?
Bob Wednesday, January 22, 2003
In another news, I have my new computer back from its brief exile in Cupertino. The poor Powerbook got Becked on afternoon on a table downstairs and its hinges broke. So, Applecare in hand, I sent it off to the little gremlins and, after a suitably long moment, it has returned. My new powerbook is a G4 titanium thing that is not brand spanking new, but new enough to amaze my friends and stun my enemies.
I am getting used to OSX. I don't like how hard I have to dig to get some applications. You almost have to put everything in the dock and hope for the best. However, putting pictures and movies into email is a snap. And after a week of using Explorer, Safari is a god send.
I don't know why I can't get Sherlock to search my hard drive. That was a great feature on 9.2
Bob Wednesday, January 22, 2003
After long delay, I return to blogging. Anyone who knows me, or is familiar with the events at school, knows some of the free speech issues that came up this fall. I have thought about that stuff, and I wondered about the efficacy of my continuing to blog. I think that I will, but I am aware that anything I write here can and could appear in the local paper.
Bob Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
SUV's
Bob Tuesday, January 21, 2003
/// ///
|
|
|