Globalization, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Everyone talks about how how small the world is becoming; I have electronics that were made in China, for crying out loud.

So why, oh why, is so much of American stuff still so regional?

Allow me to 'splain.

This may be the best soda ever.  However, you can't find it in a single grocery store here.  Thank goodness for Galco's.

I keep hoping that since Ralphs merged with Kroger, at least Kroger's house brand birch beer might make it to the west coast.  The slow appearance of other house brand items gave me brief hope but -- still, no birch beer.

Now, mind you, I didn't even know that the stuff existed until my early 20s, on a trip back to Pennsylvania (I think it was one that was just for a visit).  I knew of root beer, of course, but my mom remembered birch beer fondly and found some in a store.

Oh.  My.  God.

And it's not just beverages.

So, a couple of summers ago, I went over to the Wegmans (aaah, Wegmans, you wonderful, amazing, Costco-sized Whole Foods/Trader Joe's...why can't you migrate to the west coast?) for a few staples (Patrick never eats well on trips, so a stop somewhere for bread and peanut butter is par for the course) and fell so immediately in love.

If you like to cook...it's like heaven.  It's like walking into a Gelsons or a Whole Foods, with stuff of similar quality to either of them or a Trader Joe's, but it's the size of a Costco, and carries at least the variety of stuff you'd find at a grocery store.  It has...oh, it's beyond description.

Let's just say that I was terribly, terribly sorry that I had nothing really to cook with or on.

Plus, they had actual, real, red, non-molded strawberries.  From California.  In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Of better quality than the ones in Gelsons in California.

And Friendly's.

Oh, Friendly's.

Half Baskin Robbins, half...what?...Denny's, maybe, but with good food.  I have never in my life enjoyed fish, but their fish and chips was yummy.  And that's saying nothing of their absolutely wonderful blended Oreo...thing.  Thicker than, say, milk, but thinner than a shake...it's....

Pardon me, but I'm channeling my inner Homer....

(As it's made it as far as Arizona, we won't count Perkins -- a half-Denny's, half-Millie's clone with good food.)

This rant inspired by yet another Sonic commercial tormenting me with Sour Apple Slushes to numb my itchy throat that are at least an hour away.

Not cool, cable.  So not cool.

(Also?  What the heck is Ruby Tuesday, and why are you advertising their yummy-looking food on my cable right after the Sonic commercials?)

ETA:  Googling has told me that Ruby Tuesday exists in California only near Sacramento.  What the heck, cable?  Sonic is...if not local, at least...well, kinda local, if you're the drive-to-Disneyland types.  But...Sacramento?

Beyond the Rim of Starlight

RIP, Alexander Courage.

(How many of you actually knew the Star Trek theme song had lyrics -- from which I conveniently snitched the title?)

While not the subtlest of music, nor even the best (IMHO, Deep Space Nine's theme music is the prettiest), the original Trek theme song is iconic.  It's one of those things that, if you're a sci-fi fan, is just woven into your subconscious.

It's like the "Imperial March," or the Star Wars theme, or the swell of music as "The Lord of the Rings" (at 29 seconds into the linked video) showed on the screen.

It just is.  Throughout the series, there are better and more subtle pieces of music, but....

Yeah.

ETA:  Seriously, what is it with composers lately?  (I know Alexander Courage passed a few days ago, but it just appeared on Sci-Fi Wire today.)

A Bit Behind

So, summer school isn't all that far away, and I've been pondering what to do with the kids.

Oh, sure, there's the usual: we are far enough behind on News-2-You that between what's not done and the two that will be published during the summer in time for summer school, that'll all be taken care of.

Plus, I make journals really long during summer school -- the better to keep them busy. :-)

And, of course, there's the daily...ahem..."social skills" stuff that involves playing Memory, Zoofari (which is really Candy Land but has a neat jungle theme that doesn't look like it was made for very small children), Tic Tac Toe and dice games.

But at this point last year, I was working on journals, had News-2-You printed as far ahead as I could, and had already bought the book of poems we used for our second whole group activity each day.

(I like to do my whole group stuff after each major transition -- come to school, everyone does journals, come in from recess, everyone does our book, come in from PE, etc., everyone does News-2-You.  Helps me pull 'em back in.)

In any event, I've been pondering what to do this summer.  Ever since they cut summer school from five weeks to four, my go-to series for adapted novels (Edcon's, for what it's worth) is just not feasible.  They are cut into ten chapters, yes, but with nineteen days of summer school, you have to count in: one day for about the author and pre-reading activities, one day for a preview of the story, one day for a closing activity/book report, and one day for a movie.  That leaves 15 days to read a 10 chapter book, which means less than two days per chapter.

Nah.

Last year, we did American-themed poetry.  Each week, I took an era of American history and chose two poems to read -- they were adapted with picture support, and the kids had to do things like classifying (circle all the people), writing convention (highlight all the capital letters) and sight word identification (circle each "the" on the page).

This summer, after pondering it for some time (should I adapt my own book and smush it into seven chapters; should we do more poetry; should we work more in our social studies book), I decided to do Greek myths.

For one thing, this is tangentially related enough that I can let 'em watch the Disney version of Hercules.  For another, I can adapt the myths to as long (a week each?) or as short (two days each?) as I want.

Plus, they're a sixth grade standard.  Yay me.  :-)

However, I just now got around to ordering the book I'll be modifying.

(Not to mention, I'm still typing tomorrow's Matilda chapter, and I'm breaking my rule by almost three hours.)

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe

Some days are boring.

June 2, apparently, was very interesting.

Do I do the first president to get married in the White House?  Fun, interesting, will appeal to the girls.

Do I do US citizenship for Native Americans?  Ties into all the kids' social studies texts that we've been working on.

Do I do Lou Gehrig dying of ALS?  We've had journals about Lou Gehrig before, and several of the kids play baseball on weekends.

Do I do Queen Elizabeth II being crowned?  We've had other journals about her before, as well, plus, she's the current queen.  And, queens will appeal to the girls.

Or do I do the Mars Express probe?  With Phoenix in the news, they're all kind of into space, and we've been working on where you live: city, state, country, planet.  Yes, I'm teaching them that they live on Earth.

Dilemmas, dilemmas.

ETA:  Obviously, June 2's whole plan was to make June 3 so incredibly boring.

Phoenix Again

For the most part, I left my Babylon 5 days when the series ended (though my online moniker hearkens back to those days), but I have to say, this (closeup from a screen grab below) does my geeky heart good:

Not only was "Messages from Earth" one of my favorite episodes (the best of the series, IMHO, was the run between "Messages From Earth" through "War Without End"), but it boasted some of the best scoring in the series.

The DVD is a nifty idea, though I think the idea that future aliens could play one is...optimistic...at best.

Totally unrelated except that my quote brain got engaged thinking about "War Without End," but I must share two of the best quotes from that episode:

• Cannot run out of time.  There is infinite time.  You...are finite.  Zathras...is finite.  This...is wrong tool.

• Why do your people always ask if someone is ready right before you're going to do something massively unwise?

Meanwhile, another filk.  Someone, at some point, will probably ask me to take these down.  If so, so be it. Until then, "The Phoenix" from "Walkabout", because -- who knows?  Maybe Fred, Roger, or Gus is on Mars right now:

In a tower of flame in capsule twelve, I was there

I know not where they laid my bones; it could be anywhere

But when fire and smoke had faded, the darkness left my sight

And I found my soul in a spaceship's soul riding home on a trail of light

CHORUS:

And my wings are made of tungsten

My flesh of glass and steel

I am the joy of Terra for the power that I wield

Once upon a lifetime, I died a pioneer

Now I sing within a spaceship's heart

Does anybody hear?

Before each morning's launch, they know that I am there

To the soul that warms this vessel's hull, they say a silent prayer

I am father ship and spirit of the dream for which they strive

For I am man at the hands of man, see us rocket for the sky

CHORUS

My thunder rends the morning sky; yes, I am here

Though lost to flame when I was man, now I ride her without fear

For I am more than man now, and man built me with pride

I led the way, and I lead the way, of man's future in the sky

CHORUS

The Phoenix Has Landed

Without getting into a huge debate over the practicality of the space program (I, personally, think that we're soon going to have several billion folks who need to go somewhere), I just have to say kudos to NASA as Phoenix joins her sisters Spirit and Opportunity.

It hasn't always been easy, but it's been a nifty string of successes y'all have had lately.

As for the debate I don't want to get into:

Say to me, "No more Apollo"

Say to me, "The job is done"

And I say, "Your words are hollow

And our work has just begun"

Say to me, "We need the money

Just to feed the poor"

And I say, "Gee, that's funny

It's for them that we explore."

Say to me, "We should be fighting"

Say to me, "The world's at war"

And I say, "We are uniting

People tired of war and more"

Say to me, "There's too much danger

Say, "We could be lost"

And I say, "I am no stranger to danger

That's the cost"

Say to me, "The world is dying,

Ready for its last hurrah"

And I cry, "Keep on trying,

We must find our Shangri-La."

Say to me, "No more Apollo"

Say to me, "The job is done"

And I say, "Your words are hollow

And our work has just begun

And our work has just begun"

 -- "Apollo Lost," Cynthia McQuillin

Beyond Ridiculous

Y'all know I've had a...dramatic...class this year.  Bulldozer, Superhero, and PH have been the main contributors, with M thrown into the mix too.

I know there have been days when the rest of them would've cheerfully pitched Bulldozer into the dumpster, especially after another hour of endless wailing.

I know there have been days when Mr. Voice was scripting at 90 decibels, Superhero was giggling the bad giggle, and Bulldozer was howling like he'd had an arm amputated.

(I even had to buy and $8 knock-off of these for poor M.)

But this is just...digusting.  The poor kid.

(By the way -- I have had an epiphany about PH.  He can still be a royal pain in the butt, and there are frequently times that he can be...well, not the nicest person around.

But the other day, he was so upset about being ignored by his whack-job mom that he made her a card that said "I miss you."  To the mom he freaking lives with.

He still drives me nuts...but I finally found the hook that enables me to have more empathy for him.)

That's Disney For You

It amuses me beyond measure that the store opened before the ride.

Sad and Amusing

Please don't hate me because I find this blog very, very amusing.

Especially this one, since it's a formal thing from a school.  If she's still living (I got a Christmas card from her either this year or last year), Mrs. Sylwester is exploding steam out of her ears at this very moment.  If she's not, she is spinning in her grave.

And this one, 'cause it's freaking tatooed on your body forever.

Something Random

I could rant.

I won't.

(Although Program Specialist SBS got some of it, and was suitably shocked about M, Bulldozer, and Superhero all being taken off direct speech services.)

Instead, I'll say this:  a few weeks ago, I had lunch at uWink.  It is definitely for the techie crowd, but it's fun.  The food is pretty good too.  :-)  It's not, say, a special steak and eggs at Brent's, Knott's mashed potatoes, or a Red's salad, or even a Bear Pit sandwich.

In other words, it doesn't taste like one of those unique, local places, but it is good mainstream restaurant food.

And, yes, I eat at Knott's for the mashed potatoes and not the fried chicken.  So sue me.

Squee!

I am either very tired, or very weird, but I find this very, very amusing.

Done

Okay, so the only goal I'm not too sure about is the math one -- I'm worried that Superhero's mom will think it's a step back, but it's not, really -- it's a functional skill that our CAPA testing showed that he's totally missing (counting dollars to buy something -- he can count, but when asked to apply it, he so couldn't).

Also, still no speech goal.

Anyhow, it's times like this that you think back to when he started -- as much as there are drawbacks to having kids for three years (I think, as much as he wants attention in general, Superhero is done with elementary school), it makes times like this kinda fun.

Like, when I was writing that he's not only completing familiar tasks by himself (his first year's goal was to complete 1, and his last year's goal was to complete 5), he's asking to and preferring to try things himself.

I stop and think of the -- very, very cute -- little 9-year-old who thought that if he just stared at me with that adorable grin, I'd think he didn't know what he was doing and do his work for him.

I think of the first day he finished his -- then very simple -- journal by himself.  All he had to do was color a picture, circle the matching one, cut a rectangle, and glue it in...but it was his Everest.

He may have driven me crazy this year, and I know teachers aren't supposed to say it, but that guy's one of my favorites.  Much as I adore Elastigirl, Superhero's got a special place in my heart.

Something's Fishy

More on Superhero.

So, I'm a procrastinator.  I'm okay with that.  In fact, I work best to a deadline.  Superhero's IEP is tomorrow.

But adding to my foreboding that DFT is going to either attach herself to a goal of mine (which, by the way, would be fine, as what he needs to work on in speech is exactly the goal I wrote...except that she didn't ask) or try to put him on consult is...he has no speech goal.

How do I know this?

Well, it's 8:53 p.m. and she has not added her goal to his IEP.  (An interesting side benefit to this whole online IEP thing.)

(For the record, all I have left is the math goal, which I'm floundering about....)

3 Years

...for three years I warned you this day was coming....

Oops.  Shut up, quote brain.

I'm writing Superhero's last IEP (for me).  I'm strangely not freaked about it -- mostly 'cause Mr. Voice's tri is next Tuesday, wherein I'll be yelled at for another three hours, and I know that Superhero's mom likes me.

However, I am gleefully (bad Spoowriter) anticipating her reaction -- as a Regional Center Case Manager herself -- to what I suspect will be Speech Person's DFT's attempt to take her son off of speech.

Her son, who is currently having behavior challenges because he can't communicate efficiently enough to interact with people to get enough attention from them.

Yeah.

I should not be jazzed about that.

But I am.

Does that make me a bad person?

The Blood Test

From the wrist.

They took the blood from my freaking WRIST.

Courage

I think I've mentioned before that I have an intense fascination with World War II in general and the Holocaust in particular.

There are a few reasons for that.

One, I think, is morbid curiosity -- the feeling that if you watch one more special, read one more book, think just a little more psychologically, it'll actually make sense.  Of course, it never will.  You can rationalize it with the Treaty of Versailles, with the extreme depression in Germany -- it's common for people to point out it took a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bred.  Germans were a beaten-down people who were desperate to...yadda yadda yadda.

But 11 million people died...nothing could ever make that make sense.

Another is, more than likely, the fact that so many of my family members would have been among Hitler's victims.  It's not fair, really, to the victims of the Holocaust (of all persuasions) to say that it is of more interest because it's personal, but I think sometimes that the enormity of the whole thing is so incomprehensible (how do you conceive of 11 million people in any kind of concrete way?) that it's human nature to personalize it.

There's something haunting about the Holocaust -- a surreality to it that just never goes away.  Very little on TV has affected my like the dedication at the end of an episode of The Outer Limits:  "Dedicated to my father, who survived Auschwitz, and to his wife and son who did not."  The show was about time travel and sci-fi stuff, yes, but it was also about how the Holocaust continued to affect the main character's father -- and himself, born to the father's second wife in America.  I gather from Sam Egan's dedication that the character was at least partly autobiographical.

And then there's the stories themselves.  Sure, everyone has read The Diary of Anne Frank -- but I've always been fascinated by the story of Miep Gies, who -- along with her husband -- risked so much to try to save the Frank family.

Everybody has probably heard the cliche: all that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.

During the Holocaust, doing something could very well be fatal, and yet, there are many, many stories of heroes who risked everything to save who they could.

It was terribly dangerous, of course -- opposing a police state nearly always is.  But some people found the courage to do something, and it always makes me wonder: in that situation, would I have had the same courage?

I don't think anyone can truly answer that question until they are faced with the circumstance, for what it's worth.

A hero died today.

The only thing I can think of to say is, it makes me think of the end of Schindler's List, where the people Schindler saved (and their descendants) pass by and put stones on his grave -- she is responsible for saving the lives not only of the actual people she saved, but for all the generations that would come after.

TMI

Dear reproductive system,

Really?

I mean...really?

First, you run a week and a half late and yet now you're right smack dab to-the-hour on time?

Two and a half weeks, reproductive system.  I want more than two and a half weeks.

No love,

Me

Closer and Closer

A couple of weeks ago, I got dreadfully behind.  I was spending most weekends trying to catch up on enough work just to get the kids through next week.  I'm not complaining, really -- I'm proud that I offer my students age-appropriate and yet functional activities.  It just takes a lot of work to get there.

Each week, it's been something.  First, it was being sick.  Then, it was finding out about New Boy B (who's been at school once since last Wednesday).  Then, it was...I don't remember what it was last week.

This week, it was the training Primary Teacher M and I went to on Wednesday.  Mileage-wise, it's about an hour a day.  But rush hour on the 210 was not something I wanted to contemplate, so I stayed at a hotel in the area.

Which, of course, effectively knocked out one night of work.

Then, when the conference (at the hotel near the Pomona Fairplex) was over, I chatted with Teacher M a while about what I'd learned about creating visual schedules for students with autism at another training.

I'd already had vague notions of zipping down the 57 to go to Sonic for a slush, and at one point thought that having dinner by myself at Disneyland might be fun -- 'cause, you know, what kind of crowds could there be on a Wednesday afternoon?

Anyway, I'm driving down the 10 when I see the outbound traffic from either the 210 or the 57.  Yeesh.  Off to Anaheim I went.

Only to be presented with a parking structure that was 5 out of 6 floors full.  On a freaking Wednesday afternoon.

Okay, I think, more and more people have annual passes...who knows?

The number of school-aged kids in the park was staggering.  What was even more so was the number of people I heard marvelling over random things like they'd never been there before.  What the heck?

Anyway, I got a lot done -- rode Soarin', then went to Taste Pilots Grill for dinner (I wanted ribs, which I never order when I'm wish someone 'cause they're kinda expensive, but they were out), then caught some of the new Pixar Play Parade.  So I headed over to Disneyland, where I rode Buzz, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, saw the Tiki Room, and did Pirates.

Plus, waited in a godawful slow line for a Dole Whip Float only to have the Tiki Room start and have to get out of line with ONE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME (Patrick never wants to see the Tiki Room, and I figured since I was by myself....).  So afterwards, I got a churro and sat on the drawbridge for the castle for a fairly nice, though somewhat tree-obstructed, view of the Parade of Dreams.

My thinking, of course, was: if I'm not going to get home until 8:00 anyway 'cause I'll be sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, why not go do something fun for a few hours, and get home at 9:00?

But of course, I got nothing done that night.

To be fair, while I was at the hotel, I got the following accomplished:

*  News-2-You for next week

*  Page 1 of journals (today is, yesterday was, etc.)

*  Name/signature practice for journals (2 days a week)

*  Math pages for journals (2 days a week)

So the fact that I got everything else done tonight but homework and vocabulary practice for journals for next week is good, right?

Ewwww

Okay, so, I know that actors do not equal characters.  Really, I do.

But it's still squicky to be flipping channels (all 7 of 'em here at the hotel I'm staying at to go to a training tomorrow) and see someone who is firmly entrenched in my mind as M's mom, in the middle of a sex scene.

And He's a Better Writer, Too!

A while back, I tried to explain why I had misgivings about the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie.

Wil Wheaton -- yes, Wesley Crusher -- just explained it so much better than me.

I Have No Words

Seriously.  No words.

(Well, I suppose, "To each his own," but...yeah....)

Grammarian

I can once again claim my grammar nerd status by saying I got 'em all right.

Should I be scared?

Save Those Wrists

About a month in, Data and I are getting along perfectly, and, for the most part, Lore has been behaving himself.

However, I have been having trouble with my wrists using the bundled keyboard that came with Data.  I have been typing on a Microsoft Natural keyboard for years, after I started having tell-tale wrist pains -- in high school.  Being a touch-typist, the split design was never a problem for me, and it dramatically increased the amount of time I could type before fatigue and/or pain started in.

I have been eyeing the Kinesis keyboard for about the last nine months, as even typing on the MS Natural started to hurt, as the next step up from the MS Natural keyboard, figuring that if a $100 keyboard kept me away from the carpal tunnel doctors for 15 years or so, then hopefully a $300 keyboard would do the same.

(The step up from that would be the Maltron, which is even more, and approaches the price point of, "Oh, forget it, just go see the scary carpal tunnel doctor."  Unless my chicken tendencies kicked in and went for the -- apparently at least temporarily out of business -- DataHand keyboard.)

Anyhow, the problem is that I actually like typing on the Apple keyboard.  Many don't.  Many panned its design when it was essentially introduced on the MacBook.  Having played around with a MacBook and tried typing on it, I agree -- it's not comfortable on a laptop.  But as a desktop keyboard, I've really liked it -- the tactile feedback of the keys is very nice, and I like the clicking.  Call me old school.

But my wrist...my poor wrists....  While working to get Data set up the way I wanted, I even had to start wearing a wrist brace again, it hurt so much.

So I had a dilemma.  I have this keyboard that I really genuinely like -- and, what's more, doesn't take up two-thirds of my desk.

But as all this is going on, I began to notice something -- even moreso than when I was typing, it hurt to use the mouse.  I mean, as in, I probably could have shown you exactly which nerves attached to which muscles on the back of my arm.

So I did some research, and it turns out that for many, the mouse is a bigger problem than the keyboard, because not only are you turning your hand in an unnatural way, you're moving it around and such.

With some trepidation, then, I decided to take an $80 gamble that may save me $300 on the Kinesis keyboard (or, at the very least, postpone the leap for a while).  I found the Evoluent Vertical Mouse while browsing, ironically enough, the Kinesis website, and the documentation on their own website about the problems with mouse usage seemed somewhat convincing.

So far, I can say that, while it looks...well...weird, it is very comfortable.  It's taken some training to use the middle finger (there are three buttons on one side) to right click and to remember that the pinkie button is the switch-applications button (equivalent to Alt-Tab on a Windows computer) but that makes sense because the muscles in the pinkie are weaker and you'd use that one less.

My only problem is that the tracking speed is way, way too fast for my poor eye-hand coordination.  I have it set to the slowest it can go, and I still seem to have to expend additional mental effort to get the mouse where I want it to be.

Will this save my wrists?  I doubt it -- but like my original investment in the MS Natural keyboard, hopefully it'll delay more expensive dilemmas.

The Shocker of the Century

This is a can of peanuts. Apparently, it contains peanuts.

Good Versus BADD

I missed "Blogging Against Disablism" Day last year, but here goes...

I kept going back and forth as to whether this would be a "sister" post or a "teacher" post, and it's kind of become both.  It's also something I've briefly ranted about before, so pardon that.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was the first or second assembly of the year, during my second year of teaching.  I had a student who could be severely self-injurious (he would hit his head and chin until he bled), but he would be much less likely to injure himself if he had a string of beads to fidget with.

So, I take my motley crew to the assembly.  This particular student squeaked a few times and flicked his beads.  Scissor Girl probably vocalized some.  I wouldn't be surprised if Millionare Boy (the Who Wants to be a Millionaire fan) hadn't, at the least, laughed loudly at the wrong time once or twice.

Meanwhile, the two fourth grade classes (one of whom would become Sixth Grade Teacher JT's nightmare class of last year) were chattering with each other and needing redirections.  Ditto the fifth and sixth graders.

Who knows what the assembly was about?

That has been erased from my mind by what happened next:  Former Principal SW and Sixth Grade Teacher JT both approached me about the student and his beads, saying that they were disruptive and that maybe he shouldn't go to assemblies anymore.

His beads.  His string of costume jewelry beads.

The other kids were loud.

The other kids needed to be shushed.

The other kids were inattentive and difficult.

S did not hit himself.  S did not start crying/moaning as he would do during a panic attack.

S held a string of freaking beads and flicked them up by his right eye.

There's this ridiculous, horrible double standard when it comes to kids with disabilities.  If other kids misbehave at an assembly, they get a talking to -- perhaps even detention or something -- but no one says, "Well, no more assemblies for you."

And yet, if a child with autism, severe developmental disabilities, and an anxiety disorder WHO WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN BUSY GIVING HIMSELF A CONCUSSION flicks some beads to calm himself, he shouldn't come to assemblies anymore.

It's ridiculous and it's unfair.

And it points to something even more fundamental: people with disabilities are still expected to earn the right to be with others.  S had to earn the right to be at an assembly, and the only way he could do that was to sit at the assembly without any support or accommodations.

The thing is, S had the right to attend the assemblies.  S had the right to sit there with his beads and flick them to his heart's content (to be fair, in the interests of full disclosure, if he'd have had a panic attack, I'd have escorted him outside because that would have been too loud -- and, more to the point, his anxiety would have just increased until he was somewhere with less stimulation).

Let me say that again:  S had the right to be there at that assembly, even if he needed a 99% inconspicuous comfort object to maintain his composure during the assembly.  Would I have let him take something truly loud?  No, but that's my job as a teacher -- to find ways to help him cope that are as quiet and inconspicuous as possible.

For the record, our new principal, Principal SDF, has commented on how much she likes the fidgets bag I bring to assemblies.  And, yes, sometimes someone will put one of our vibrating thingies on the floor and make a little noise (at that point, it's replaced with a different fidget), but no one says anything about it.

But this is an attitude that is still way too prevalent.  It's not expected that kids (or adults) with disabilities are entitled to experiences like that.  It's still something they have to earn -- something others are given as a matter of course.

Disability is often an "accident of birth" -- and as Americans, we should be beyond assigning social categories because of accidents of birth.

See y'all at the next assembly.

Remakes, Reboots, and Re-Imaginings, Oh My!

I wasn't going to watch Battlestar Galactica (the miniseries) when it first aired.  I had a nostalgic affection for the original (not the abysmal Galactica 1980, mind) and it seemed...wrong...to take it in a new direction.

I remember all the hullabaloo -- OMG!  Starbuck is a girl!  OMG!  Apollo isn't really his name!  OMG!  Tigh isn't black!  And so on and so forth.  Original series star Richard Hatch was adamantly opposed to it (likely due in large measure to him working on a continuation/sequel of his own).

Eventually, I decided to TiVo it and see what I thought.

And, of course, was riveted, from the very beginning when Six walks into the space station with the poor ol' Colonial guy and asks him if he's alive, with the red strobe lights of the Centurions looking on.

But, you know, whether it's because of Ron Moore at the helm (I don't think it's a coincidence that Deep Space Nine was my favorite Star Trek series and the one that he co-executive produced), the cast (Edward James Olmos is awesome, as is -- especially in the first season's "Act of Contrition" -- Katee Sackhoff), the writing, the camera work, the additional drama of the human-form Cylons hiding amidst the fleet (witness the early destruction of that ship)...I don't know.

For every BSG, though, there's a Bionic Woman, Knight Rider...I could go on.

I don't know if it's because BSG dared to veer so far from the original canon (though the only thing Bionic Woman shared with the original, from the one episode I saw, was a lead character named Jaime Summers who was hurt in an accident and whose boyfriend talked people into bionicifying her) -- which allowed it to tell its own story -- or that it retained enough of the original to be interesting, or just that the stories it tells are so human- and character-driven that they can be in a similar universe and exploring totally different territory.

I am very, very, very leery of the forthcoming Star Trek movie, for a variety of reasons.

1.  It'd be Star Trek 11.  An odd number.

2.  The people involved in Enterprise did not give me much faith in the current crop of Star Trek's folks to do a prequel well (I mean, bumpy-headed Klingons?  C'mon.), at least until the fourth season when the Reeves-Stevenses came on board to help out.

(Ironically, I've never much liked their Trek novels.)

3.  No one -- and I mean no one -- will ever, ever be able to play Spock like Leonard Nimoy.

4.  (Not to mention, the current crop of Trek writers don't write Vulcans well at all -- at least, not in the form of Tuvok or T'Pol.)

5.  Seeing Eomer (actually, I never got past "Caesar, Julius Caesar") on the Enterprise is just....weird.

I might see it in theaters; I might not. But I'm not at all convinced this will be the second coming of The Wrath of Khan.

So, now, I read that Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards are going to have cameos in the re-imagining (reboot?  remake?) of Escape to Witch Mountain (one of my favorite movies as a child).

Most people don't remember this, but they already tried this once, in 1995, with a TV movie called (get this) Escape to Witch Mountain.

Now, neither movie bears much resemblance to the eponymous book (gee, a Disney movie stretched the canon it was based on...I'm shocked....) but the latter was....  Hm....  Let's just say...it was weird.

(Seriously.  Purple glowing crystals weird.)

Disney has a history of cameos like this.  In Lindsay Lohan's The Parent Trap, the girls' dad's fiancee's mother is played by the fiance in the original (along with borrowing the simpering, "Hello, Pet" from the original soon-to-be-step-grandmother).

And it might suggest that the remake is...semi-decent -- but, of course, the actors haven't exactly worked a lot, and you wonder if it's just about a job.

After all, Leonard Nimoy is in Star Trek, and I'm still iffy about that.

I don't want to sound like a fandom snob -- really, I don't.  I don't want to be one of those people who gets it in their head that things should be a certain way ("I'll boycott Babylon 5 if they don't get Claudia Christian back!" or "I'll never watch Stargate if Daniel Shanks isn't in it!").

Really, I don't.

But, I do wonder this:  why remake stuff?  Why not, in Star Trek's case, introduce another ship, another bad guy, something?  If you want it to be more mainstream, isn't that a good way to do it?

Or, in Witch Mountain's case, why not skip forward a few generations, or tell the story of the original exodus from their planet?  Something?

BSG proved it can be done well -- but BSG is a good show, whether or not it draws on the original's canon.

I dunno.

(This post was sparked by reading about the Witch Mountain thing, but I've been wanting to talk about the whole re-imagining thing for a while.)

In school news, I am so not popular again, for daring to suggest that maybe leaning on top of Bulldozer and moving his foot might have been why Aide J got hit.  ("But I was just moving The Boss's chair," she said.  Uh...yeah...from on top of Bulldozer.)

Also, New Boy started today.  And you thought The Boss was stubborn....

And So It Begins

So, I gave the first kids the CAPA today.

I started with Angel, 'cause oh-my-frelling-God is it hard, and she was my best shot at the "she got it right!" fuzzies.

Don't believe me?  Check out the level 3 and 4 sample tasks, and remember that this test is for kids on a functional skills curriculum.  Our language arts program would be happy if they learned to read fifteen words in a year...and that's the top level of participation -- others are considered successful if they can copy or match a word, or are exposed to it.

And you wonder why I have to supplement it (heavily) with News-2-You and adapted books?  They are being asked to listen to a story and answer, on their own (not even multiple choice) how and why questions.

How.  And.  Why.  Questions.

Now, I am completely, totally on board with providing access to grade level content.  We work out of the grade level social studies texts, for instance, but I supplement those with adapted texts and we do more functional things with the books like number matching (e.g. "open to page 14"), counting ("how many Native Americans are on this page?"), copying/handwriting ("copy the first red word on page 17") and so forth.

Plus, I try to supplement that with some of the books we read, like when we did Little House last year, and ended up talking a lot about westward movement, Native Americans, and so forth.

But...I am left spluttering in incoherent amazement.

Here's hoping with the introduction of the CMA for the kids who get advanced scores too much on the CAPA (Angel, Former 4th Grade Girl A who has moved on to another program, Mama's Boy R, Space Cadet J), they'll adjust CAPA back to what it was supposed to be.

However, the fun part?

I did do half of Bulldozer's test (the language arts portion), and that was an exercise in hilarity.  I spent half the time saying, "Bulldozer, hands down.  Bulldozer, wait.  Bulldozer, wait.  Bulldozer, for the love of all that's good and holy, PLEASE JUST WAIT!"  Okay, I didn't say the last, but I did think it.

(He actually scored very, very well -- but that's to be expected; his strength is by far reading and spelling...math will not go so well.)

But after the first six or seven questions, he was so done.  I kept going, "Bulldozer, hang on, just three more.  Bulldozer, come on...."

And, of course, it got to the point where it was, "Bulldozer, PLEASE hang on just for ONE MORE QUESTION!"

In honor of the post title, a quote (about midway through the page you will find a sound file) that sums up how I feel about the whole thing:  "The avalanche has already started.  It is too late for the pebbles to vote."

The Visit

So, New Boy B's dad is visiting tomorrow, and then I have to dash off to meet with Psychologist JW and Speech Person DFT (when did she invite herself?) to talk about Superhero, whose tri is coming up.

I could rant about Speech Person DFT writing another email behind my back and trying to stir up drama, but I won't.  Suffice it to say that I was...miffed.

In other news, while browsing Adobe's site to see if I could upgrade my old version of Photoshop CS to CS3 (I don't think so, because I bought an education version of it), I came upon Photoshop Express -- half web-based image editing, and half Flickr/Picasa.  Pretty nifty.

Further Proof

Of what, you might ask?

Why, that I'm a nerd, of course.

I have had this printed out and waiting for a few spare moments since Friday evening.

Marketing Gone Horribly Awry

I just got a catalog featuring clothes exclusively of sizes zero to three.

Because people who shop at Catherine's would really, really want those size two capris....

8-/

I Heart Adama

This is not so much of a spoiler as...well, okay, it's a tiny bit of a spoiler, but....

So, Adama has this book that he wants to read to Roslin.  (The how and why and all that are the spoilers, but never mind.)  She says she can't remember the ending.  He says he doesn't know the ending because he's never read it.

"But it's your favorite," she says.

He says something along the line of, "I like it so much, I don't want it to end, so I've never read the ending."

I seriously considered not watching the final episode of Deep Space Nine.  I never did watch the final episode of Babylon 5.  I did not watch the last episode of Voyager.

There's a whole slew of final episodes I've never watched -- for precisely that reason.

I'm rather surprised I actually read through to the end of Deathly Hallows, except that while I really enjoy Harry Potter, I was never all that emotionally invested in it besides enjoying the series and being curious as to whether I was right.

Anyway, I suddenly felt a sudden surge of affection for good ol' Bill.

(Also?  Can human-form Cylons age?  'Cause if they can, I have a very interesting theory about Ellen....)

D'oh!

I have the horrible feeling that Patrick will wheedle his way into a Disneyland trip this weekend as well.  I have a gazillion and five things to do (my grand plan of getting ahead was called off on Monday when I found out about New Boy B, and my semi-grand plan of getting at least caught up was called off on Tuesday when Lore refused to mount my Boardmaker CD for about half an hour and made me work until nearly 11:00 to finish up the stuff I needed to make for him) and really can't afford the time.

But...they're the monorails.  They're Patrick's thing.

Sigh.

If only it were winter when our passes were good on Fridays...we could go for dinner, hop on the monorail (who am I kidding; every Disney geek within 4 hours of the west coast will be doing the same thing...it'd be more like "wait in line until closing time for the monorail and then go have McDonalds because you missed dinner."  Oooh, or Sonic.  I love Sonic. I'd kill for a sour apple slush right now. I wish we had Sonic...all those commercials on Time Warner cable are so unfair.).

Remember the good ol' days when I was at least a week ahead of the game for homework and journals?  Or two weeks ahead on News-2-You?  Or -- get this -- a month ahead with Charlie?

Yeah, me too.

Bad News in a Good Way

Prince John:  I don't want to hear any bad news. So, what kind of news is it?

Sheriff of Rottingham: Well, to be perfectly frank, it's bad.

Prince John: [shouts] I knew it! I knew it would be bad news. Wait, I have an idea. Maybe if you tell me the *bad* news in a *good* way, it wouldn't sound so bad.

Sheriff of Rottingham: [thinking] The bad news in a good way. Yes, I can do that. The bad news in a good way. Well, here it goes.

[hysterically]
Sheriff of Rottingham: W-wait till you hear this! I just saw Robin of Locksley, he's back from the crusades. 

[laughs]
Sheriff of Rottingham: You know, he just beat the *crap* out of me and my men.

[laughs]
Sheriff of Rottingham: He hates you and he loves your brother, Richard!

[laughs]
Sheriff of Rottingham: And...

[laughs]
Sheriff of Rottingham: ... he wants to see you hanged!

[laughs] 

Sheriff of Rottingham: We, we're in a lot of trouble! 

[laughs and snorts loudly]

Prince John: [furious] What, are you crazy? Why are you laughing? This is terrible news!

So, let me give this a try....

Well, we're getting a temporary additional six hour aide!  Hooray!  How awesome for us!  Finally.

(in tiny, quiet voice)

We also get the kid who has several fall-to-the-floor seizures a day, who can't be outside if it's over 90 degrees (which royally screws up APE, which he gets), and who requires injections to stop some seizures that Nurse P won't train us to do, so we get to call an ambulance if he's seizing for more than 5 or 8 minutes (different documents say different things) and we can't get ahold of dad.

Yay us?

Delayed Reactions

Superhero is known for having delayed reactions to things.  Some big things take a couple of days.  Small stuff can take a few minutes to an hour.

Despite Aide J being out (again) and having no sub (again), Superhero handled the day fairly well, until after recess when Bulldozer hit him for no (apparent) reason.

It took 10 minutes for Superhero to realize what happened, so he turned and hit me.

Sigh.

I think I have everything done for New Boy B, though I still have lingering concerns over our ability to keep him safe and adequately supervised.  I doubt anything will be done about it, though I did mention to Principal S that if he does come, it'll be imperative that, if at all possible, someone covers any openings I have.  None of this "Oh, J is out and there's no sub" stuff.

Incidentally, she has missed 15 days of this past school year.  If she were a kid, she'd have gotten an excessive absences letter.

Know what's scary?

That's three weeks.

She has missed three weeks of work.

That's half of what Aide T missed after having surgery.

I have missed two days this year.

Pictures and Suspicions

This is my favorite of the bunch (darn the hazy sky, though).

At Seasons of the Vine, in CA Adventure.  Right now, I'm enamored of playing with the aperture in order to blur backgrounds and such.  It's also very much hit and miss right now, but using the zoom lens seems to be a quick shortcut.

Yes, Patrick, putting your hand up will stop the giant wave of water about to crash on your head.

The full album can be found here.

In other news, Aide T was out today.  We (or at least I) knew that.

So when Male Aide J walks in (the space cadet one) and says, "I'm here for Aide J," I stared at him for a minute.

"You're here for...who, now?"

"Aide J."

"No way.  Are you sure?"

"Uhh...."

So I call the office and they confirm that, yes, he's there for Aide J.

A few minutes later, who walks up to the door but Sub Aide C, who has the unfortunate tendency to annoy many students just by her very existence.

"I'm here for Aide T," she said.

Good, I thought, because if you said you were here for Aide S, I was gonna go home.

We actually...survived okay.  I plopped myself down with Elastigirl on one side and M on the other.  Aide S sat with M on one side and Superhero on the other.  Essentially, I had Elastigirl, she had Superhero, and we shared M.

Mr. Voice had a happy morning because he got breaks unless one of the two of us (who have been DT trained) was available to work with him.

Space Cadet I sat with Princess and Sleeping Beauty, because C tends to set off both of them, and after the Sleeping Beauty Incident on Friday, that was the last thing I wanted.

So I put C with Angel, PH, and Bulldozer.  It was...interesting.

But, we did make it, with some reshuffling of lunches (the last thing I could do was News-2-You, which tends to be a troublesome time anyway, without ANYbody who knew either the kids or how to do News-2-You).  Funnily enough, we began with the familiar refrain from last year:  "Aide S, do you want Elastigirl or everybody else?"

Today, she took Elastigirl.

Anyway, that's the fourth or fifth time that Aide J has managed to be absent on a day when someone else was going to be out too.  Hmph.

And yet, that's not even the...best part...of the day.  I'm getting another new boy -- this one has multiple disabilities (no worries), hemiplegia (also no worries), and seizures (some worries).

Why some worries?  Apparently, noise level can be a trigger for them.

Err...y'all who made this decision (namely, Program Specialist SBS)...have y'all heard Mr. Voice lately?

Then, I spent 20 minutes arguing with my printer for printing blank pages, when it was a teeeny, tiny Boardmaker margin error where it really thought there was another page that happened to be blank.

Happy Monday!

Busy Busy Busy

Eesh, that's what I get for sleeping away most of last week in a double-dose-of-Zyrtec-induced fog.  I just now finished the stuff that needed doing for the coming week.

Of course, this was the weekend that Patrick decided he wanted to go to Disneyland to ride his birthday rides by himself.  I should have protested more, except that after a very, very warm week, the temperature was pretty decent.

Plus...Food and Wine Festival.  :-)

I had a lobster lollipop -- and, coming from someone with huge texture issues with most seafood, I must say: yum!  (It could be that I will eat anything that's been fried and covered in panko, but who knows?)

But, knowing that I'd be stressed as the time ticked slowly by, I did something I haven't done in a really long time -- I rode absolutely no rides and just wandered around with my SLR, with 75-300 lens attached, and took lots and lots of pictures (which are very SLOOOOLY being transferred over to poor Data, because my old card reader does not fit with my new computer -- a situation I must remedy forthwith, because it already drained one battery...which is what I get for shooting about half the pictures in RAW because the stupid camera kept popping up the totally unnecessary flash).

Ahem.

Anyway, took lots and lots of pictures, some of which I will upload three months from now when the camera is done importing them.  I had so much fun, I'll probably go back in a few weeks with the kit lens (35 - 70ish, I think) attached to get some of the wider shots.

Sleeping Beauty

Primary teacher M has a staff member in her class, Aide A, that has the unfortunate tendency to cause people to get in trouble.  M has a system similar to mine (which, for the record, I stole from 4th Grade Teacher KC) where the kids are on color-coded sections of a chart and earn things for staying at the top.  Many kids, when they work with Aide A, end up having to change their card.

In my class, Sleeping Beauty and Angel are the only kids who have never had to change their card.  Or, rather, until today.

When she first started at our school last year, I commented that Sleeping Beauty could dig her heels in deeper than her little body would reach (she is of quite short stature; if it weren't that her facial features have matured to make her look like a very small sixth-grader, she'd look like a 2nd grader).

She's a bright, very happy, generally willing student, though she requires a lot of prompting to work -- especially in the mornings (she is not a morning person, hence the nickname).

So, we're doing News-2-You today.  I have a very small group due to Superhero having a mostly good day but being five seconds away from losing it, Mr. Voice having a difficult day, and PH  being about three seconds away from losing it.

Aide T put a few kids on the computer, and rotated with the rest.  M, Angel, and Sleeping Beauty were with Aide J.

Oops.

"Find 'baseball.'"

I heard that phrase probably a hundred and fifty times.  No encouragement, no 'let me show you the first one' no checking for understanding (which, to be fair, should not have been necessary), no nothing.

Brick wall, meet immovable force.

(Sleeping Beauty is, in fact, partly responsible for this because she was, of course, the immovable force.)

Eventually, Aide J took Sleeping Beauty's green card.

Except that Sleeping Beauty used to be known for planting herself in one spot and not budging.

Aide Mrs. B and Aide S had both come at that point.  Aide S stayed out of it (I think because she knew if she said anything, Sleeping Beauty would go right to it).  Aide Mrs. B tried to get Sleeping Beauty to walk over to her green cards, but when Sleeping Beauty plants her feet, she is going nowhere until she wants to.

Given that it's almost lunch time, I ask somebody to keep an eye on Superhero, who has simmered down quite nicely, and take Sleeping Beauty aside, telling everybody that I am going to explain to her in Spanish.

"What happened?" I asked (in Spanish).

"No se...trabajar," she said.  (I don't know work -- either 'I don't know how to work' or 'I don't know what happened with my work.')

Her lower lip is trembling.

"Are you sad?"

"Si, triste, trabajar," she says.  (Yes, sad, work.)

"You have to take off your green card, but you can earn it back if you listen at lunch."  (Like she wouldn't....)  "Should we walk together to take it off?"

She nods, but balks when I try to take her hand.  "Juntas?" I remind her ("together?").  She walks over and takes it off, and goes to put her jacket in her backpack.  She walks over to get in line and buries herself in Aide S's side.

So here's the problem, and it's come up with Teach M and her Aide A as well.  I couldn't just say, "Never mind, Sleeping Beauty can keep her green card."  And, in fact, Sleeping Beauty was partly at fault.

But here's the other thing.  A freaking adult -- with three teenaged and pre-teen daughters -- started it.  Poor Sleeping Beauty.  :-(

Meanwhile, both Bulldozer and The Boss (girl J) were way into everybody's business today.  Sooner or later, they're going to get in the face of the wrong kid, and they're gonna get smacked.

And -- speaking, of course, not at the teacher who would have to discipline both parties to this -- they would so freaking deserve it.  Le sigh.

Watch Your Language

I've talked about the R-word before, but read this anyway.

(Also?  The practice scripting in the car?  I totally do that.)

Pet Peeves

Language evolves; I know that.  So I know that what I am about to be grumpy about may be completely wrong five or ten years from now, but please indulge me.

Everyone is all of a sudden up in arms about Microsoft forcing computer manufacturers to stop selling computers with Windows XP pre-installed.  Vista has been out since...what...last Novemberish?

Believe it or not, I'm with Microsoft on this one -- and that from the person that just bought a fresh copy of Windows XP for Lore.

However.

Computer companies have limited resources.   Yes, even Microsoft.  There are only so many geeks who can write operating system code.  So when you work to develop a new OS, sooner or later, you have to shift your resources away from the old OS.

Anyway.

When you have lots of people chatting about computer things, you hear some interesting stuff, and it reminded me of a few pet peeves of mine.

1.  Downloading is taking something "down" (from a network) TO your computer.  The image is that the Internet is in the wires and the air floating above you and you are taking it out of the sky and putting it down onto your computer.

So, you download movies from iTunes to your computer.

You do NOT -- NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT -- download a program from a CD.  You install (see #3) a program from a CD.

2.  Uploading is when you take something from your computer and put it UP into that imaginary network in the sky.

So, you upload your video to blogger.

You do NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT upload a program to your computer from a CD (or ever, that I can think of).

3.  The following are all acceptable variants for putting software on your computer to use: install, load, putting XYZ on my computer.

Downloading software is NOT making it usable.  Downloading software is simply taking the file from the Internet and putting it on your computer.  Installing software is when you make it usable on your computer.

4.  You do not have "an iTunes."  It is a playlist or a library.  "Hallelujah" is in three or four playlists and is in my iTunes library.  It is NOT "in my iTunes."

5.  Windows XP is the operating system.  It is the stuff that is running on your computer ALL THE TIME.  Office XP/2004/etc. is an office suite.  It's a group of programs you use.  THE TWO ARE NOT THE SAME.

And finally...

6.  It drives me absolutely frelling bat**it insane when people say "I used my Word" or "I used my Works" or "I used my Outlook."  Yeah, you bought it...but you just don't say it that way. 

Testosterone and Pollen

Mix the two above, add in a dose of constipation, and possibly dad issues (the quote is "Dad go away" which either means "Dad, go away!" (I'm mad at Dad) or "Dad went away" (I miss dad)), and you have a not-very-happy Superhero.

Add in a double-dose of Zyrtec (one at 11:00 last night and another after waiting for the buses proved too much) for me, and you have one exhausted teacher.

Oh, yeah, and the middle school teachers from SMS came to observe Angel and Sleeping Beauty today....

Hmmm

Okay, I admit it -- I used to be a big fan of Mariah Carey, until her third album...so I sold out and watched all of American Idol tonight to see what would happen, and -- quality of singing aside -- something struck me.

I knew every single song, which means that everybody sang songs from her first albums -- including (yay me) one of my absolute favorites of hers (from her first album), "Vanishing."

But what does it say about her career that everybody chose her early songs?  I know she's released albums since Music Box.

(Googling has revealed that one of the songs was from the album that succeeded Music Box, Daydream.  My bad.)

But still...Daydream was 1995.  13 years ago.

No one could think of a Mariah Carey song they wanted to sing that was less than 13 years old?  Yikes.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

When I was about twelve, I rode my bike to our local Hughes Market for something.

(Hughes, sadly, is no more, but the same people founded How's, which was the only place other than Gelsons where you could buy Patrick's mandarin orange yogurt -- until they stopped making it, but I digress.)

As I was locking my bike up, a...voter registration guy (surely, there's a name for that, and I'm just having a retrieval problem, right?) stopped me and asked me if I was registered to vote.

Being 12, and not so much with the social skills, I have no idea what I said, but I remember being a bit flummoxed.

I only mention that because it provides a lovely contrast for what happened today.

Aide S is six months or so younger than Patrick, and has been working at our school since Novemberish of the year after she graduated high school.  Despite some rough patches here and there (like the beginning of the year, when she forgot what "attention-seeking  behavior" was) she has matured nicely and is someone I can really count on.

I mention this to put what I am going to say next into context.

Aide S used to go to the school where I teach.  Her name is on a mural painted on the side of the building where 4th Grade Teacher KC's room is.  Her sister's name is painted on the mural on the side of our wall.

So imagine my surprise when I was examining the school's all-students portrait thingie.  This is a picture that shows, from preschool to sixth grade, all of the students.  I was, of course, looking for my kiddos.  Somehow, I found the sixth graders first (Superhero and Sleeping Beauty were right next to each other because their names just fit that way alphabetically but it made it easier to find them for someone who can't see the trees for the forest -- there is a word for that, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is) and was working my way backwards.

Elastigirl...check.  Mr. Voice wasn't here yet.  Check.  Ms. Walking Exposed Nerve, check and check.

I'm working my way back into the fourth graders, when I stop.

There, amidst the other fourth graders, was Aide S's face.

I haven't stopped chuckling since.

Good Ol' Science

Apparently, Southern California will have a big earthquake someday!

Gee, thanks, scientists.  I live maybe 20 miles from the interchange they keep rebuilding in exactly the same way after the every-20-years-or-so earthquakes knock it down.

And I bet the people who did this study got a huge grant for it.

Eesh.

What a Difference Some Levels Make

Soooo, just like the other day, when I made my histogram discovery, I've been going through old photos and re-rating them in iPhoto '08.

And I've been correcting some of the ones I'd deemed uncorrectable in iPhoto '06.  While iPhoto '06 did have some rudimentary levels correction and some hack and slash brightness/contrast (I know better than to use those), so any images that needed real work needed the work to be done in Photoshop.

I do have Photoshop (CS), which means I can't fix some of the lens distortion in buildings (that came in CS2), but obviously its color correction abilities far surpassed iPhoto '06.

'08 still does not have curves, but it has a highlight/shadows correction, much more responsive levels sliders (that could be the much more powerful CPU, too, to be honest) and better color correction.

The result is that some images that I thought were beyond fixing are actually looking...okay.  Many of the skies are still blown-out messes (to correct them enough with the highlight/shadows command would make the rest of the image look ridiculous) but a lot of the dusk and early evening shots are looking much better, and, obviously, tweaking the black levels of the pictures shot with the point and shoot (versus the Rebel) makes them look much better.

At some point, when I'm done, I'll take down the Picasa Album as it exists now and re-upload the newly-minted 5 star images.  (There are so many 4 star ones now, it'd break the account if I uploaded them.)

Ow

I'm lucky (if you tilt your head and squint really hard and remind yourself that there is something about a tendency to migraines that is "lucky") in that I usually get an aura before a migraine -- I nearly always get photosensitivity, I frequently get sparklies in my field of vision, and once in a while, I get this weird echoy feeling to my hearing.

I'm also lucky in that if I catch a migraine early enough and either medicate it or sleep it off, it usually goes away without getting too excruciating, which makes the auras a useful thing indeed.

So having one come on full blast without an aura as I was getting agenda books ready for next week?

I am not amused.

After a nap, I feel good enough to be bored (hence this post), but I've got the laptop screen (Data's big beautiful bright screen, even dimmed to its lowest setting, would be torture) dimmed to one notch above "off" and it's still too bright, so g'night all.

So, It's NOT the Simple Things

So, apparently, I don't fail at measuring.  I fail at mind reading.

I went to exchange my capris today, and sheepishly told them that I'd like to try on a pair before I exchanged them.

I went and tried on the next size smaller.

Yeah, too big.

So I got the next size smaller yet.

A bit loose, but I like my clothes loose.  If I were the form-fitting type, I probably could have gone one more size smaller.

So I went to pay, and they asked what size I'd ended up with.  I told them, and they asked where I'd gotten measured -- at their Reseda store (which I didn't know existed) or at the Northridge store (which I hadn't known existed until I asked google for a closer place than Burbank to exchange them in the first place).

"I measured myself," I said.

"Oooh," the saleslady (who was...petite, shall we say, and not someone you generally see working at a plus-size clothing store -- which, of course, made discussing my larger size fun).  "See, when we measure people in the store, we tell them to buy two sizes smaller than what the measurements say."

Um.

** spoowriter raises hand **

If you consistently tell people to buy two sizes smaller...why not change your sizing chart?  Just sayin'.  I mean, what if I'd ordered them online?

Still -- very comfy, now that they fit.  They also look like capris, instead of just-a-bit-too-short pants, now that they fit.

ETA:  D'oh.  Apparently, I also fail at not-losing-Matilda.  So much for making homework tonight.  However, the kids are absolutely loving the book.

Not Bad for a Tuesday

Wow...it's a Tuesday and everything is taken care of for next week except agenda book stuff and homework.  Nifty.

Meanwhile, I'm going through my photos from the trip Patrick and I took to Disney World in January.  The goal for that trip was PACK LIGHT.  We shared one suitcase, one laptop case, and one camera (my point and shoot -- more on that later).

And I've discovered something interesting: nearly all of the uncorrected photos have no real blacks.  Observe:

Namely, the left side of the histogram; I've had to drag the black level over 5% or so on nearly all of the photos (it actually makes a huge difference in the overall appearance of the photo).

Now, what I think -- correct me if I'm wrong, someone -- this means is that the camera tends to overexpose, as I don't generally have the same drop-off on the white side of the histogram.

I have no idea if that's common with this camera or not -- it got decent reviews when I bought it, though the SD 900 had been released at that point.  In point of fact, the SD 900 was not much more expensive, but the 800 had a nice selling feature for me -- a slightly wider-angle lens.

Real wide-angle lenses for SLRs cost a bundle.  My dad had some, but of course not for Canon digital SLRs (digital photography was in its infancy in early 2000), so even if I could find an adapter, they wouldn't manually focus -- and with my eyesight, manual focus is difficult.

(Not impossible, mind you, but difficult.)

Anyhow, real wide-angle lenses cost an arm and a leg, but the point and shoot covered a bit more of the spectrum than either the kit lens that came with my Rebel (18 - 55 mm, I think) and, of course, the zoom lens (60ish - 200ish, I think).  So I figured that if I was ever in a "oh, I just need a bit more screen real estate" pinch, the P&S would help.

Anyway, I really don't want to have to manually correct every single image that comes out of the camera -- right now, I'm just correcting potential 4 and 5 star images. But I'm wondering if there isn't an exposure compensation trick I can figure out with the point and shoot.

(All of which is moot if I'm interpreting the histogram wrong, but it was a fun thought experiment.)

Oh Dear

Communicate: Symwriter rocks.

I mean, it ROCKS.

Importing pictures is painless.  You can also place pictures free on a page (useful for simple symbol-supported books).  It recognizes parts of speech, and symbolizes things like, "Can I have a drink?  Yes, you can drink a can of soda" with the "can as a question" for the first one and a picture of a drink for the first "drink," and then the second can is "can as a verb" and "drink is a verb," and...

...and it's all great.

Except that it says it can't run under VMWare.  So I booted into Windows directly, and then Windows wanted me to activate it...again...which VMWare said wouldn't happen if I installed VMTools as they asked during installation.

Plus, nearly $300.

But, oh, would it make life easy.....