Peace, Man!

Well, the Nerd War of 2008 has ended peacefully. It required a bit of a compromise. A Geneva Geek Conference, if you will. The professor came at us with everything in his arsenal but the Dean served as Switzerland and helped us reach an agreement.

It is a long story and typing it here would give me carpal tunnel syndrome. And why would you want me to get that? I just got back from the war! But basically...the professors had to agree to change some things on the exam and grade on a curve. We had to accept that some questions on the exam were simply not going to be changed. We were also given an extension on our final assignment to make it stellar for as many points as possible.

To be perfectly honest, I already had an A in the class. But there were some people who were between an A and a B and us nerds were not going to settle for a B! This was a battle of principle, not necessarily grades. Fortunately, it ended well and there is peace once again in Geektopia.

On a side note: I made a trip to San Francisco with my girl friend D. We saw Frida Kahlo's exhibit and I took 4 plane rides in one day to get home. I'll tell you more in my next post. Until then, keep the peace!

The Nerd War

So I'm in an all out war against my current professor. That dude does not know how to write exam questions. I'm in a class full of education professionals - we're trained on how to write questions. Poorly written questions on an exam just won't fly with us. And yet, this professor seems to think he's gonna let it get by. Twice! The mid-term and the final appear to have been written for some other class.

Here's the deal... his lecture notes say one thing while the state documentation says the opposite. Then the multiple choice question about that topic shows up on the test and the choices available are partly from his lecture and partly from the state docs. So which response is right?? Which would you choose? Would you side with the teacher's notes? Or stick with the state's documentation? So far, the answers are inconsistent. Sometimes the info from the lecture is listed as the correct response; sometimes the state docs are correct.

Needless to say, those inconsistencies have pissed us all off. There's nothing worse than a bunch of nerds with their panties in a bunch.

The Nerd War has stressed me out because I know we have a huge fight on our hands. The professor has refused to remove any questions from the exams because he claims they are all correct. The others in my class (about 200 people) are pissed and they are planning to fight. It's the first time I've ever had to do this and I hope our soldiers are as ready to fight as me.

To get my mind off the Nerd War, I decided to watch the MTV Video Music Awards. I got through about 50 minutes of it. The Jonas Brothers came on and were introduced as having this "historical performance." However, it looked and sounded like they were on Sesame Street - complete with guitars on the steps of a brownstone. Kermit and Elmo could have been singing it and I would not have noticed the difference. Or maybe that high pitched noise really was Kermit and Elmo!?

Wait a minute!!! Forget the VMA's. Mad Men is on tonight and I actually consume that instead of dinner. Yum!! Gotta go!

Seattle!! (Oh, and Canada)

Two of my college buddies, D and A, live in Seattle. Another one, L, lives in Amarillo. I decided it was time for a mini-reunion in Seattle and, luckily, sweet L was eager to visit Seattle. M also wanted to go. So… I flew to Seattle with L and M on June 26.

We got there, rented a little car and drove straight to D’s house. I saw him last year in Texas but it was great to be on his turf…where he has been living for almost 9 years. That first night he took us to eat French fries with foie gras. Positively decadent!

Our friend, A, was nice enough to let us crash at her house on Alki Beach. She has lived in Seattle for about 10 years. Seeing her again was like a breath a fresh air. That leggy blonde is fun and is guaranteed to make you smile just by looking at her.

On June 27 we decided to drive into Canada and spend the night in Vancouver. I’m not sure what to say about Vancouver. I will only say this: If you are interested in the smell of piss baking in the sun, strung out bums smoking dope in a public park and paying $15 for a six pack, then Vancouver is your city! Also, if you like seeing police officers, beautiful landscapes and general cleanliness then go to Stanley Park or the Capilano Bridge – those are Vancouver’s best assets. One more thing – it took 2 hours to get across the border back into the U.S. because there are only a few lanes to pass through. Nightmare!

We drove back to Seattle and made a pit stop in Whidbey Island. We took the ferry over to the island and enjoyed a beautiful, relaxing day there. The quant little shops, the corner bar and the gorgeous ocean views were amazing. The only thing that looked better was L’s haircut! Her friend lives there and hooked L up with a great do!

Once we got back into Seattle, we had a few days to do all kinds of things. The Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the Freemont troll, the Olympic Sculpture Park, the piers, Archie McPhee’s Toy Store, Uwajimaya in the International District and a fun Mariners game at Safeco Field. We happened to be in Seattle during Gay Pride Week and we watched the Pride Parade. I’m still not sure how some of their floats were legal on the street.

We had a lot of fun but two things really stood out to me. One was the amazing food. D is a chef and knows where to go and what to order. We would have a fantastic dinner and believe that nothing could top it. Then D would take us to another restaurant and completely wow us again. It was worth the few extra pounds.

The second favorite was the night we hung out at A’s house. She got out her guitar and casually strummed. Then she started to sing in that same familiar voice that used to come through my dorm room walls. It was like hearing a lovely song that you hadn’t heard in years.

My unbelievable time in Seattle was just what I needed. It allowed us to have some hang out time with each other – which we have not done since college. My only regret is that we only had 5 days together. And we blew one in Canada. Oh well. Live and learn.

My Tennessee Waltz

My family can tell you stories about the many road trips we took over the years. In the early 80s, we got a white Suburban and that thing drove us all over the U.S. for almost 20 years. Denver to visit my brother who was hospitalized there in his teens, my grandmother’s funeral in south Texas in 1994, and a spring break vacation to Las Vegas were just a few of our many destinations. Regardless of our ages or our destination, the one thing that remained constant on our road trips was the music.

My dad has a full-blown passion for music. He’s almost like a teenager who sees life without an iPod as punishment. His musical taste is extremely diverse but Johnny Cash, George Jones, Conway Twitty and Elvis are just a few of his favorites. Because dad played and sang those songs repetitively on our vacations over the years, they are now a symbol of my childhood. So it was with great excitement that I was able to visit Nashville, TN.

It was 39 degrees when my sister, C, and I landed in Nashville. Luckily, we packed coats, scarves and gloves. We got to our hotel and immediately felt as if we were in that horrible movie Bio-Dome. The Gaylord Opryland is an inexplicably large hotel and it was probably the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at in my life. And that does include the hotel we stayed at in Santa Fe, NM in 1990, which is now condemned. The Opryland hotel is loud, over-priced and the employees are trained to respond, “I don’t know,” to any question. It’s pretty on the surface but really ugly deep inside, just like Jessica Alba.

C and I had plenty of time to explore the city. We walked through the famous Ryman Auditorium which was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 – 1974. We attended a concert at the The Grand Ole Opry House which was built in 1974. At the concert we saw Martina McBride and Lee Greenwood sang, "I'm Proud To Be An American!" (That's him in the picture below.) We had a beer at the honky tonk bars with my old college buddy who lives in Nashville, we bought Johnny Cash prints in Ernest Tubb’s and we even stood in front of the famous Sun Recording Studios.

I admit I am not a huge fan of country music. The only country music I listen to is the old stuff – my dad’s stuff. But I have an appreciation for all music and Nashville is overflowing with musicians. The street corners are filled with singers and open guitar cases waiting for your loose change. The streets also have a scattering of bums. Many were shirtless or in shorts – even on the day it snowed!

Towards the end of our stay, it got warmer and the sun came out. It was fun to explore the city and not fuss with gloves and scarves. We toured the President Andrew Jackson exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum and bought the best pralines at a downtown candy store.

Throughout our visit, those old songs were buzzing in the stores, museums and honky tonks. It was almost like having our dad with us. My only regret is that he wasn’t able to go with us to Nashville. So, instead, I sang to him.

I'm Alive!

Whew! It's been a while. Sorry about that. The last few months have been swamped with all kinds of things. Vacations, a funeral, grad school, a wedding and a little illness my doctor jokingly called an "airplane infection." Don't ask.

The good news is that things are finally starting to get into place. I've gotten into a rhythm with my grad school schedule. I only have one more vacation this year (San Francisco in September to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit). And just one more wedding in December that I happen to be officiating!

Hopefully I can get better with the whole blog thing. I have a couple of vacation stories to tell so I'll try to post those this week. I'm trying to decide which pics will accompany the blog...so many to choose from!

Anyhoo...I miss you. Call me soon!

Who Doesn't Love a View-Master?

My friend J and I went to see Iron Man this weekend. To my delight, Robert Downey, Jr. proved to be a refreshing choice to play Iron Man. Unlike many comic book character movies (I'm looking at you, Spiderman franchise), Iron Man has actual dialog and even a few funny lines. It was great and I'm not surprised it has taken in over $200 million worldwide in five days. But there was one thing that caught my eye and had me feeling nostalgic throughout the movie. Iron Man/Tony Stark has a fancy light-uppy thing implanted in his chest. To me, it looks just like a View-Master disk. It made me wonder if I could flick Iron Man's thumb and see an image of Donald Duck in a bathtub coming from his chest. Another flick and there's Dumbo flying over the circus tent. Ah, memories.

I'm Not Kickin' It Old School

Well, I have to say sorry for taking so long to blog lately. As you know, my life has been consumed by a certain Professor Crawford. She is a lovely lady (though I've only seen her in online video lectures) but she was not kidding when she said the coursework for this degree would be rigorous.

Back in the day when I got my Master's from UNT, I had to go to class 2 nights a week and did a lot of my homework on the weekends. I met my friend S at UNT and we kicked it old school. She and I took all our classes together, studied together, graduated together and even found the perfect bathroom stall on the 3rd floor of Matthews Hall. For some reason, that one stall had its own window and the others had boring brick walls. Man, I miss that stall.

Anyway... this new degree plan is definitely new school. Lamar University took their old school Education Administration degree plan and adjusted it to become an online course. I'm reading a lot of journal articles and books, writing papers, watching online lectures and I have at least 4 assignments due a week. One class is just 5 weeks long so the mid-term and final exams are only one week apart.

The coursework takes a good chunk of my time every single day but I was still kinda feeling disconnected from the class and its members. The class members and the 2 professors who planned the class will never meet in person. We do have a private online discussion board but none of the people in my class are interested in discussing bathroom stalls.

During the first few weeks of class, it felt as if I was not even in grad school. My brain was telling me that I needed to sit in a classroom to validate the experience. That was until I took the first mid-term exam. Yowza! That sucker was killer but I aced it! Thank you, Saint Thomas Aquinas! (Incidentally, also the patron saint of pencil makers and lightning.)

That exam was enough to get me fully connected to the grad school life once more. I still may feel disconnected from the other class members, but I can learn to accept that. If I can accept the horrible fact that Daddy Yankee is Harvard's Latino of the Year, then anything is possible.