w e l l ~ B L O G ~ t o ~ y o u ~ t o o !

30 July 2004
Welsh expert discovers why the Vikings were so mad  
A rather amusing find. So that Viking ship that was all slimmed down for speed in the water and had that funky spoiler on the back. It really was compensation.

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 09:13 (0) scribes commenting

29 July 2004
Getting on my political bandwagon...  
There was something I heard on NPR : Morning Edition for Thursday, July 29, 2004. There was a call to reform the "No Child Left Behind" Act. Seems that there is a good percentage of schools across the country that are failing. Of course, that could be due to the fact that there are 40 odd ways to fail, but only one way to succeed.

Of course, it wasn't surprising that the Act failed, or at least there are many schools considered failing by the terms of the Act. See, the No Child Left Behind Act was designed to improve inner-city schools, going on the whole urban vs. suburban debate. Guess what? There is another category of school out there that was going to fail with what Bush proposed and enacted: Rural schools.

I wager many of the failing schools come from rural districts like the one I went to school in. I'm talking about very-small town America: the towns that aren't even large enough for a McDonalds or a Starbucks.

Mr. President, the school I graduated from was one of the larger school districts in New York State--geographically. The school district was in four different counties, and made up of five different rural villages several miles apart. The closest private school was a half hour to 45 minutes away--longer in different reaches of my school district. There was only the one non-religious private school. Oh, and only one religious private school as well.

Your vouchers wouldn't work well there, Mr. President. There's just the problem of getting kids where they need to go. There aren't busses to bring them back and forth, here, there, and everywhere. It's not like city school districts, Mr. President.

Rural public schools are a completely different ball of wax than inner-city schools. There are no suburbs to take refuge in. There are no hosts of private schools to bring vouchers to. There is only one option. What happens when the only school within an hour of your house gets a failing grade? What happens then, Mr. President?

Those are the Children Left Behind. The children in schools where the art teacher can only be paid half-time, or teaches art for all twelve grade. The children in schools where there is no budget for 'special education' or 'gifted and talented' programs. The children in schools where teachers and administrators wear different hats every day just trying to play catch-up to get the kids bussed to where they needed to go!

These are the Children Left Behind, Mr. President. They are the children who have no other option other than the regional public school. Your Act made no considerations for school districts that have 'THE elementary school', 'THE High school' or even someplaces 'THE school' for mulitple towns, not just named for the streets they're on.

Those people who don't know how to reform the education act? Well, look at the rural schools. If you can find a way to give them more money. They're the schools who barely have enough money to educate the kids in the first place. They scrimp and save every penny to try to wring the best education possible with what resources they have. It's not like they're being wasteful--it's the simple truth that they can't afford to buy new books or new supplies. It's just not in the budget allotted them. So when they fail, they get less and less money.

Think about that when you think about No Child Left Behind, because, Mr. President: you are leaving children behind.

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 09:46 (0) scribes commenting

26 July 2004
Silly bagger in Wegmans  
Silly bagger in Wegmans put each of my four gallon jugs of water in its own separate bag. What a waste of plastic!

Not to mention, I was going to buy sports bras on Friday after work for Pennsic and the people at JCPenney wouldn't cash me out. So I went to Kauffman's so I could put it on credit and pay for it after Pennsic. That was good as I found some cute ones that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 14:28 (0) scribes commenting

23 July 2004
Pennsic  
Pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic

Marshal! Marshal!

Pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic

Marshal! Marshal!

Pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic pennsic

A stake! A stake! Ooooh, it's a stake!

~*~

Yes, I know I'm wierd, but someone else thought it up first. Just incredibly giddy!

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 12:00 (0) scribes commenting

20 July 2004
Can't think of what to post  
Just some thoughts.

I really want a digital camera, so I can take pictures of things and post them here and have it be all amusing, instead of having to take the time to get film developed then scanned. *sigh* But I'll do it the old-fashioned way for now, because there are other things that I need to get before I get a digital camera. I'm talking home-repair. *curls lip* I need to get someone to fix the stucco and the basement window that has no window, just a board over it. There should be a window or something there so I don't hemmorage heat in the winter.

I've been doing some sewing, and it looks like I'll have enough clothes for Pennsic. Well, when I get them made. My To Do list is getting pretty long. *sigh* Hemming here and there, adding elastic, taking in elastic, more hemming, actual sewing, making more fitted garmets, little vesty-bits that'll pass for Pennsic even if it won't pass for anyplace else.

But I'm pre-reged, so I'll be able to get in, just figure out how much cash I'm going to need. I've got a little Pennsic fund stash started. Must get my little tent all set up and waterproofed before August 6. I'm running out of weekends!

That's about it. Something new here for difference's sake.

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 10:22 (0) scribes commenting

15 July 2004
And the Rain Rain Rain came Down Down Down  
Sing with me people, all of those who know the song! You guessed it. It rained yesterday. A lot. And I had a meeting halfway across campus. I was soaked from about the bust-line down. Yeah, it rained that hard. That was WITH the golf umbrella!

So I changed before my picnic and wore the Cave of the Winds tour sandals... the ones designed to be soaking wet. Well, I wore other clothes too. Anyway, those of us that showed up got to go home early so I got to work on garb, and in the process, put a needle through my finger. Yes, all the way through. It was the fleshy part by the nail, so no bone, just meat. Didn't hurt until I guided the needle back out. I actually had the conscious thought "I just put the needle through my finger."

Got that bandaged up.

Then later that evening, I was walking down a stairway that wasn't in good repair, and a stair broke and I ended up slipping down, half of me going under the stair below and half of me not. But I've got lots of padding (yay!) so I wasn't that injured.

Yeah, it was the day of calamity. But Kate came over after she was finished with work and we plotted evilly and it was evil and fun. Cannot wait for the 5th thursday in July. BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 11:00 (0) scribes commenting

01 July 2004
Philosophical junk...  
Laughing makes you happy. It does. Even evil laughter makes one happy. There's just something about laughter that makes you happy. It's why we like court jesters and comics and whatnot, it's why we like people that amuse us. Yet, why is it that in all the stories and mass-media junk, the 'fool' isn't the one who gets the girl (though in Van Helsing, it was Carl, the comedic relief who was the only one who got laid!)? That should be different. Laughter is such an important part of a relationship.

I see someone in pain and I want to help them. It's hard when you see a friend who is going through a bad time and there's no way to help them out. Depression is a hard place to leave. I know... I've been there. I've been to the black dark places, and it took a heck of a lot out of me to get out... It took the most courageous step I've ever taken, risking rejection to find a group of people that have turned out to be the best thing that's happened to me. It took a change in mindset... It took forcing myself to let go of the pain.

And I want to help other people do the same, but you can't force someone to change their mind. It has to be a step that they want to take. And I know that in depression, you don't want to take that step. It's a hard one to take.

And yet, I see people who are and I just want to hug them or try to help them other ways. And I feel bad that there are people out there who know when someone's not feeling well and will proverbially spit on them further.

I guess there's nothing to be done and that frustrates me. *sigh*

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 10:45 (0) scribes commenting