Just a few deeply sobering statistics: 1) An estimated one million children are forced to work in the global sex industry every year 2) The global sex slavery market generates a $39 billion profit annually 3) Selling young girls is more profitable than trafficking drugs or weapons To find out more about what you can do, check out the Not For Sale site, along with many other groups, sites, and campaigns as well. (For example, here’s a list Oprah compiled of ways you can help abolish modern-day female slavery.) This conversation will be continuing throughout this next year… Read more »
The Times, They Are A-Changin’
Yep, some things just aren’t what they used to be… Read more »
For All My ESL Students
I am very certain that all of the ESL students whom I’ve taught would wholeheartedly agree with this graphic. English can be really messed-up sometimes. Sheesh! : ) Enjoy~ Read more »
On Beloved Pets and Their Temporary Bouts of Insanity
We have a dog named Pugsley. We love Pugsley. Yes, we do. (I often needed to remind myself of that fact throughout this last week.) We recently moved, and our 10-year-old Beagle/Pug mix was simply beside himself. Since verbal articulation has never been his strong suit, we don’t know why he went into temporary insanity. Did he think he was going to lose his owners along with his home? Did he simply decide he wasn’t up for change? Since he’s a dog wildly given over to all textile comforts (he burrows into all pillows, blankets, soft furniture, clothing, and whatever [...] Read more »
On Chuck Norris
Yup. Just sayin’… : ) Read more »
On Prayers for Help
I came across this prayer recently, and I had to laugh. Yes. After all, the Christian tradition has given us thousands upon thousands of beautiful prayers: words of penitence, gratitude, joy, and sorrow covering every theme the human heart can articulate and many it cannot. The cries for guidance, help, and strength reverberate through the centuries and across the millennia in these prayers, reminding us that we are not so very different from one another after all. The prayer books and liturgical service guides for the various denominations often contain the very best of these. And yet none of these [...] Read more »
On Missing Important Dates
And you thought you were having a bad day. Life being what it is sometimes, I’ve had to miss a couple of events and meetings this week that I really wanted to be present for. But I had to laugh out loud at the scale of things here. The dinos below helped me put those missed events into perspective (well, mostly, anyway). As long as you and I aren’t watching an ark sail away, our missed meetings or appointments or rehearsals or life events are probably going to work out. Just saying… Read more »
Kindsighting
I love this. As a teacher, I have repeatedly observed that the ability to learn and grow from your mistakes can make all the difference in the world in having the ability to adapt and change as an individual. Figuring out what to do differently next time—and deciding how best to implement those step-by-step changes—is a whole lot more productive than helplessly flailing about beating yourself up. Keep this in mind the next time you have one of those “what was I THINKING???” moments. Instead, consider reflecting on what you were learning. And how will what you learned change your [...] Read more »
On Anthropomorphism and Pugsley
I live with a dog who thinks he’s a human. A pug/Beagle rescue-dog cross, Pugsley sprawls on the sofa like a couch potato, expects tasty people-food morsels on a constant basis, and swats at us until he’s been petted satisfactorily so he can fall drowsily into the 5th or 7th of his 11 customary, daily naps. If my husband and I need to be gone, his enraged shouting greets us upon our return. Crouching on all fours, he glares accusingly up at us as he howls unknown epithets in our direction. Not until he’s finished with his frenzied scolding (about [...] Read more »
Thank you, Emma Watson
I don’t often find pithy words to live by coming from the mouths of young film celebrities. I am pleased to say that Emma Watson has pleasantly surprised me with her remarks. As a very successful actress in an industry that feeds on narcissism, indiscreet and immodest personal behavior, and shock value, her words are counter-cultural. And very wise. Thank you, Emma, for reminding us that dignity, discretion, and self-possession are values worth having. Thanks for being a counter-cultural and healthy role model for young girls and their parents who’d rather be valued for something other than how much skin [...] Read more »
On educational rhetoric from a teacher’s perspective
Please read this op-ed: it was written by a parent who is also a teacher. Excellent points are asserted in this article about the differing standards that are applied to teachers as compared to other professions. Here’s a teaser: “{W}hat other profession is legally held to PERFECTION by 2014? Are police required to eliminate all crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate all fires? Are doctors required to cure all patients? Are lawyers required to win all cases? Are coaches required to win all games? Of course they aren’t…” “If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree [...] Read more »
Baroque Bach Mountain
I suspect many of you have been there. You know who you are. When that piece of music you really adored and on which you began earnest work gradually transforms—weeks or months down the road—into the sound of fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. Because dysfunctional relationships are not limited only to humans or to animal predators in the wild. Oh, no—I am here to tell you that dysfunctionality and eternal star-crossedness in relationships between the musician and the music can be quite common. It can depend on the piece of music, how much caffeine has or has not been consumed, [...] Read more »
With apologies to my football aficionado friends…
But Maxine and I share similar beliefs about the Super Bowl. It’s pretty simple for us, really: For those of you who view the Super Bowl differently than Maxine and me, happy Super Bowl preparations! : ) Read more »