Apt. 11D

Keeping Up With the Jones' Schools

Last Friday night, I deposited the kids at my folks' house and drove into the city to meet my husband and some friends at the Landmark Tavern. It was a splendid evening. I caught up with Andrew and Eliza whom I haven't seen in far too long. We all met on the Jacob Javitts playground in Washington Heights when our oldest kids were just toddling around the slides. Some of my favorite people in the world I met at that playground, and I still miss those days.

Sadly, nearly all those friends moved away from the old 'hood in search of better schools for our kids. Andrew and Eliza moved out to Ridgew--. After several months of a fruitless search for an affordable shack in Ridgew--, we ended up in a nearby town with a reputation for good schools and a good commute into Manhattan. The population was more working class and the homes were more modest than Ridgew--, but all assured me that the schools were fine.

At the bar, I talked with Andrew and his new friends. We compared notes about our kids' new interests, how big they had grown, the color of their hair, and what they were doing in school. Andrew's kids were getting much more than mine were. His third grader had nightly writing assignments. The parents were regularly invited into the classroom to work with the kids. My kid can't even get his teacher to check his homework. He has no writing assignments.

I left the bar a little sick. The next day, I set up a meeting with the school principal to discuss curriculum. Steve and I also discussed whether we should sign up Jonah for enrichment classes and whether we should move.

On the one hand, we really like having regular people for neighbors. I like that my kid isn't growing up thinking that all parents are doctors or lawyers. He doesn't have the entitlement and the arrogance of the kids that I grew up with. There are such high expectations for kids in those schools that a number of my high school classmates lost their marbles in college. Every once in a while, I get one of the kids from Andrew's town in my college classes, and they think that they are better than they are. On the other hand, it would nice if my kid learned how to write a proper essay.

I'm going to meet with the principal on Thursday. She's a smart woman, so I'm curious what she'll say.

Obama v. McCain

There's a great Obama v. McCain discussion going on in my comments section. Let's make a new post and continue the discussion.

Most of the opinion articles this weekend were devoted to telling Clinton to drop out of the race. Dowd writes "Surrender Already, Dorothy." Even if Clinton hasn't officially dropped out, yet, I think it's time to start thinking about the next step -- The Obama-McCain race.

Ya gotta give McCain props for doing so well in the polls. He's a hair above Obama in the polling. A few months ago, I would have said that any Republican had zero chance in November, but I guess I was wrong. Despite getting us into a hugely unpopular war, people are still willing to vote for a Republican. There are people who buy their children cereal straws, too, so my opinion of human nature is rather low right now.

However, I am not yet ready to put too much weight on this early polling data. Candidates always get a bump in their numbers after the nomination. McCain's numbers are artificially high. If things are still neck and neck after Hillary drops out, then I'll worry.

A Thomas Puzzle

What's Grosser?

This morning, we were all happily eating our cereal together, reading the paper, and talking about gross things. First there's this picture:

Ian saw an ad for these cereal straw on the back of his cereal box -- Fruit Loops curtesy of Grandma. Ian wants them. We told him that they would immediately lower his IQ by 20 points. Later, Uncle Chris said that these cereal straws were just a short step from the La-Z-Boys in Idiocracy that featured a built-in crapper.

Spreadin' Love

The MOTHERS newsletter is a great resource. Their latest newsletter congratulates Gov. Palin of Alaska for announcing her pregnancy with her fifth child. "And as we welcome the baby, we note that Alaska has no paid maternity leave policy - not even for the 44-year-old governor".

Stephen Carter and other discuss Bonfire of the Vanities. My favorite line from the book was his description of the reporter's hangover. His head felt like a broken egg.

On young people and new media and politics. "According to interviews and recent surveys, younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well — sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks."

Ian Reads Dr. Suess

Ian couldn't talk a couple of years ago. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me now.

Are They Taking Notes?

My students are increasingly bringing their laptops to class to take notes. I'm cool with that. Occasionally, I'll forget a number or a name, and a student will quickly google it for me. They say that they can take notes faster and search for key words in their notes.

However, I do get a bit suspicious when I see twenty or so kids with their faces glued to their monitors, instead of gazing at the wonder that is me. I can't see what's on their screens. Are they really taking notes or are they looking at porn?

Spreadin' Love

Eric Alterman writes about the decline of the newspaper industry and how the Internet, specifically blogs, are pushing them out.

5 signs you are watching a Wes Anderson movie.

From Hobo Stripper, I learned that "the difference between a five dollar coke whore and a thousand dollar an hour stripper is a rhinestone necklace and a good vocabulary". (Thanks to Amy)

Three posts on the media and China. Sam contrasts Western and Chinese media coverage of Tibet. The Monkey Cage discusses a new study that finds that the Chinese media are increasingly covering bad events. James Fallows looks at Chinese papers and finds very little related to Tibet.

Midweek Journal

It was a tough morning. I had already gotten cross with Jonah for forgetting to do his spelling homework, but when I saw him wearing Ian's size 5 pants on the school bus line, I really lost it on him. He wears a size 8 slim. So, Ian's pants fit him in the waist, but the pants ended half way up his shin. I was trying to drag him home to change and he kept saying that it didn't matter that he was wearing Ian's pants. Then the bus came around the corner. Jonah walked onto the bus in tears.

News of the Weird

On Wednesdays, I teach a three hour class on state and local government. Tuesdays are spent preparing for the class, so that's why I disappear for a couple of days a week.

Teaching State and Local Government requires a deft hand. It can so very easily turn boring -- a recitation of   some really dull studies and memorization of trivial pursuit.

What saves this class is the news of the weird. There are the lovely corruption stories. There are wackjob legislators introducing bizarro legislation. In February, Mississippi legislators introduced a bill to bar fat people from restaurants. Throw that stuff into a lecture and you'll wake them enough to discuss the four ways to amend a state constitution.

We were talking about state courts yesterday and some recent decisions.

The states are having trouble figuring out how to kill their prisoners. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. They have no problem killing their prisoners; they just don't like shaving a guy's head, slapping on an electric helmet, and jolting his body with 2000 volts of juice. Go figure. But they won't switch to lethal injection because the US Supreme Court may rule that  Kentucky's lethal injection program cases undue pain.

So, the states don't know how to kill their prisoners. Now, I'm again capital punishment, but if pressed, I think I could come up with lots of painless way to kill people. There's the Heath Ledger drug cocktail. Defenestration - I am not sure if it is painless, but it is such a great word that I think we ought to consider it again. the guillotine was very efficient. I just think that there are alternatives out there that should be considered.