Working with Ed again today. After shopping on the weekend, I have to earn back the money I spent on the weekend. For the first time this weekend, I saw people standing in the store display pretending to be mannequins.

Judging by the lack of public lamentation Nic Cage must be alive.

Is Nic Cage dead?

The Mall

Went to the mall today. Fun.

Sometimes it is important to be male in the company of men.

Tonight was such a night. I got out, hung out, and even saw Adaptation. It was crazy and funny, but I was a little disappointed in the end. I kept waiting for the really crazy thing to happen to cinch the whole movie, to finish the buildup he was working towards. Nothing happened. It was a letdown. Mild, but a letdown never the less. What was weird about it though, is that Being John Malkovich was being shot during the movie and in one scene you actually see John Cusack joining Catherine Keener and Mary Kay Place to shoot a scene of the movie. It makes you realize that he really did have this problem adapting the book and while much of the movie is fabricated (John LaRouche is alive, and I doubt that Susan Orlean ever snorted ground orchid extract.) it did happen - sort of. The ending is disappointing because he ran out of time got frustrated and gave up.
He paints an unflattering portrait of every character in the movie. Even if his personality is a middle point between the onscreen Charlie Kaufman and his fictional twin brother Donald, he would still be a pathetic character. It would be cool if Susan Orlean really did look like Meryl Streep, but she doesn't. She is a pale thin shadow of her onscreen alter-ego. Meryl Streep (and most good Hollywood actresses her age) is just too much woman, too much muscular femininity to really be anyone else. She'll play a character onscreen and do a good job of it, but it will always be Meryl Streep shining through. People will think that the real life woman was an interesting, complex person, only to be dissappointed in the prosaic reality.

America's Army - the best recruiting tool that money can buy. You know the other Armed Forces have to be thinking about getting the act. Worse, if you are a competing game company, cost isn't much of an obstacle. These are the same people who pay $10 million for one missile. $7 million to make every kid in America want to join up and go kick some terrorist butt? That is a bargain.

In an effort to develop "sick hops" and bigger calves I have now added jumping to my workout routine. It look silly but it's also how Michael Jordan is purported to have achieved his ability to soar. All I want is 6 inches on my vertical and better looking calves. As the weather warms, I am going to add some soccer drills and sprinting. If I keep it up everday I should be nothing short of a whirlwind on the soccer field. I think if I was fit and worked on skills everyday I'd be good. As it stands now, I am good, bad and average. When I am good, I am very, very good. When I am bad I am awful. And when I am tired and out of shape from not playing in a long time I am just average. I'd almost prefer being awful because usually I follow that up quickly with good. A coach at UTD told me I was good in "flashes" they wanted consistency.

Turns out, he's also a blog of note on Blogger.com.

This guy doesn't link me and I have no idea who he is, but I am linking him because he's hilarious. He showed up as a referrer in my traffic log but really, Wander-Lust linked some lucky web-surfer to me and not the owner of the hilarious website known as ph8.

110 MPH that's fast not slow, 110 MPH in my Mom's Volvo

Did I ever tell you that I love my Mom's car? I was supposed to pick up somebody for Christmas dinner and went on a wild goose chase looking for him. I did however flip the turbo switch in the Volvo from "ECON" to "SPORT". That sick feeling you get in the pit of your stomach accellerating off of a ramp into a turn is delicious.

There are certain people in my life whom I count as friends who no longer have time for me. To be honest, I have been pathetic, jobless, and more than a little whiny so I wouldn't have time for me either. The result is though that I have decided that I don't have time for people who don't have time for me, so we speak no more than 30 seconds now - disappointing in the extreme.

What I got for Christmas

• A Remington electric razor - this baby is so smooth I think the hair just disappears magically.
  
• Barishnikov Sport Cologne - impossible to find and smells great. I bought it like 3 or 4 years ago an loved it only to find out it had been discontinued.
  
• A Cell Phone - You can't have a social life without a cell phone!
  
• Green Wash clothes - My little brother even got me something.
  

What did you get? No seriously, email me and tell me. I want to know.

Merry Christmas everybody! Umm I need to go do some holiday sweating now.

PETA gets a does of it's own medicine. Repeat after me: Never push radical activism on teenagers; never push radical activism on teenagers...

Why every woman should go and get implants! Or not... Maybe if you live in an area with lots of gunfire.


Note. I am actually very much against breast augmentation. I would never tell any woman that she should get implants.

I am excited about some of the things I have planned for PublicCopyright.org. I can't say what yet because I feel like it just isn't wise to advertise things that you plan to do but haven't done, or really haven't even started doing yet. I will say that I am putting my money where my mouth is.

Good grades in school are less important than who you get to know in school and thus where you go to school. However, the best way to improve your chances of meeting the right people and going to the right school is through good scholarship. Well, being born to rich and powerful parents is the best way but you can't control that.

I have an article I am going to write that I have been mulling for a while, about how misguided the American legal system has gotten. Before I say a few of the things I want to say I need to do a little research. Specifically, I think that the reliance on precedent can lead to problems, especially now that lawyers have become activists. Lawyers "shop" for judges and jurors till they find someone sympathetic to their position. This results in competing rulings and differing positions in State and Federal law. Activism has no place in the courtroom. I also need to write a mission statement for PublicCopyright.org and file for non-profit status with the IRS. I also need to do research for work I plan to do with database programming. I also need to work as much as possible at the jobs I already have to maximize cash flow. I also need to sleep. You see my dillemma.

I realized that West Village (In Dallas' Uptown neighborhood, just north of downtown) was a really expensive place to shop after I noted that almost all of the men working there seemed to be gay. That seems to be rule #1 for retail - effeminate men lend an air of class to the service of a retail establishment. To a man, every one of these guys seemed to be people who all have Oaklawn addresses. (Dallas' gay neighborhood) Not that there is anything wrong with it. The way I see the situation, gay men leave a larger crop of eligible women for me to chose from. Gay people have to work somewhere you know.

Over the course of about an hour I sucessfully dispatched my holiday merchandise consumption duties. I did my duty as an American consumer to support the economy of the world. No I am anxiously awaiting Christmas day, so I can get my gifts, and return them on the 26th.

Daddy's Got a Brand New Bag.

My new attitude of being more aggressive and less deferential has taken hold a little, my personality has shown a little change, but only in my family. :( I scream and yell like a madman at home but with strangers I am quiet and meek. My brother complains that it seems that I am always trying to prove a point, and I am. I feel like every moment I breathe I have something to prove. I feel like noone else believes in me, but I do. I feel like everybody laughs at me secretly; well I want to give them reason to laugh - nervously, right before they soil their pants. If I annoy someone or put them off, in the big scheme of things what does it matter? I can't afford to shy away from confrontation anymore. I have got to stand up and take responsibilty and deliver. Before I chose not to talk the talk but attempted to let my walking do my talking. Now I am going to strut. I am not your whipping boy, your dust rag, your door mat, or your toilet paper. In fact, you should take care that you don't become mine. I just thought that I'd let everybody know.

I need to do a dramatic overhaul of my resume. I complain about Intuit wasting my time, but the problem in every area of my life is self-doubt. I believe that I will be a success, someday. Not today, I need to finish my three year self improvement program. If I don't believe in myself now why should anybody else? I am selling myself short.

I saw the Terminator 3 Trailer, and I am disappointed. Once again, John Conner (Connor? How do you spell that?) is confronted by a killer cyborg from the future sent back to kill him in the present. Again, he is protected by "AHHHNULD" the original Terminator. The very least I would expect is that Vin Diesel would be the new Terminator; but no, they have some anonymous chick playing the new Terminator. Where is Diesel!! Worst of all is the tired plot that the screenwriters have forced upon the public. Please can we come up with a new storyline other than cyborgs from the future come to kill us in the present? This brings me back to one of my most persistent laments - someone paid these people millions of dollars to make a movie that is a wretched pile of stinking, bovine excrement.

I saw Tyler, Texas today, the Rose capital of Texas. I installed exit signs in a bank, Interesting work if you can get it. I also discovered that the laws for electrician's licences in Texas are just as jacked up as all the other laws.

Terrorists arrested less than 10 miles from where I live.

We're going to war.

Trent Lott's recent troubles are really just the tip of the iceberg of a big problem in the Republican party. There are a large number of racists who support Republican policies. Southern Republicans are often guilty of courting these votes. I'd like to believe that these men aren't racists, but I don't know. What I'd like is for Republicans to tell these people that they don't want their votes. The real reason blacks are not voting Republican is that they don't want to vote for the same person that the Klan did.

This is a great thing, the Baby Bells can go sod themselves for all I care, but what if your Broadband internet service comes from DSL? Which for the most part can only come from your local Baby Bell? The Baby Bells are here to stay because any new internet technologies will be forced to piggy back on the Baby Bell's last mile.

The ugliest car on the planet.

Interview with Intuit again today. I am getting ready by lifting weights. I doubt weightlifting will do much for my mental preparedness, but pumping iron makes me feel good. I have also decided to not wear a suit this time. I am beginning to think that wearing a suit made me look stiff; Intuit is a casual work environment. Oh well, I am going back to the weights.

One of the things I like most about Equilibrium, is that the filmmaker was unafraid of making the audience feel the pain of loss. Usually storytellers use outlandish circumstances to rescue people in the story that the audience will care about but Equilibrium does not. You end up feeling the same way as Christian Bale's character.

The number one requirement for making a big time action movie is a legion of anonymous henchmen who will die spectacularly, cinematically at the hands of the protagonist and the villain. (not necessarily different people) This is one of the hidden requirements for all action movies. Drama's can get by with casts of less than 10 people but you need extras for a good action flick.

Drop whatever you are doing right now, and go see Equilibrium. It's as if somebody had consulted me on how to make a movie. Who to cast, plot elements, dialogue, visual style, everything seemed tailored to please me. WOW WOW WOW.

Blah.... Employers must feel that the current state of the job market gives them carte blanche to toy with potential job seekers. I am about to return to Intuit for my third interview. I have also gone twice for testing. Blah...

More search engine wizardy from the folks at google is in the pipe. It's called froogle and it's a new shopping search engine in addition to their catalog search. God I love the web!

More good stuff from the happy liberal people at Slate.com. The USA Track and Field organization has a new mascot and is running a naming competition. My favorite name thus far is "Craig Masback, You Are an Idiot—Look at This Friggin' Thing.". I personally suggested "We Stole it from basketball!"

Man, am I humgry. On the job today I strung Christmas lights all day. I also learned the arcane art of Christmas light repair. I can even rebuild damaged bulbs instead of throwing them away!
In other news, there has been a baby boom at my church. No less than five couples are expecting children, including a 35 year old women whose daugher is engaged to be married.
Again, I am struggling with that feeling of having something to say and not being able to remember what it was. :(

I would post something, but I am in the middle of a workout and there doesn't seem to be a lot of oxygen in my brain. I can't think straight enough to type.

I should amend my Christmas wish list to include some books. I like books. Getting Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do would be cool. I still have this crazy idea that I want to program games so this book would be nice too. I like to read novels for fun when I am not plotting to take over the world and get rich doing it, and I have heard so many good things about Dave Egger's books - You Shall Know Our Velocity and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It's not just crass materialism folks, it's intelligent, crass materialism.

The answer to the question I asked in my last post is Jun Fan. Isn't life on the web wonderful?

Bruce Lee developed a new martial art before he died, called Jeet Kune Do. The problem being that it wasn't a real martial art as much as a way of thinking about martial arts. He also developed an actual martial art that encompassed everything he had learned and was teaching up to that point. What is the name of the actual martial art?

Weekend in Lubbock

Don't expect me to use titles every time. I am quite lazy really and using titles is just me sampling the flavor of the week.
That said, I spent last weekend in Lubbock, Texas scoping out the campus of Texas Tech University. It was the worst planned trip I have ever taken. We went at least an hour out of the way, got lost in town once we arrived, didn't pick a hotel till 1 AM, and drove around aimlessly 70% of the time we were there. It was also fun in a hare-brained kind of way. Texas Tech has a very nice campus, surrounded by a town that leaves much to be desired. The water is alkaline leaving a nasty aftertaste and the landscape is bleak and uninspiring. The situation has been engineered to keep the students on campus. From what I hear, there is plenty to do on campus and you don't miss city life. ('Tech's a party school!) My friends main concern with the campus life was the quanity and quality of the women on campus. He was not displeased, although a Sunday on a miserable day in December before finals week is probably not the best time to make such decisions. Texas Tech has a good law school and a decent academic reputation overall. (it balances out the party school reputation.)
I am tired. I am also done.

Horrible Macho Guy Schemes

For all the lonely geeks out there, here's a scheme for getting a woman's attention: You advertise in the student newspaper of your local liberal arts (more girls there) as a math and science tutor. You invite the girls to your home for a "private session" and tell any men calling that they have the wrong number.

Contingencies

You Don't Know Anything About Science and Math!

Be sure to serve wine or some other alcoholic beverage. After she has started with alcohol slowly introduce other mind altering substances in the guise of special medication to aid in "learning". Hope that after some alcohol and vigorous "tutoring" she won't remember what she came for.

The Girl is Ugly!

You have several options:

• Feign sudden and violent illness. (works every time!)
  
• Tell the girl she has the wrong address. (be sure to disguise your voice when answering the door.)
  
• Hand the girl a paper bag and instruct her to wear it. Tell her that it is a special technique for preparing the mind to learn by suppressing the identity. (Ugly is better than what you have at the moment which is nothing.)
  

This Scheme is Illegal!

Don't let doubt, fear, and a little thing like the law stand in your way. You have no women! You must go and get you some!

On the discovery channel over the weekend, I saw the story of a guy who got a branch lodged in his anus while cutting a tree limb. I immediately made a solemn vow to always pay somebody else to trim my trees.

I had a friend who I took physics with who always joked about dropping out of college and selling drugs.It was funny till I had a friend get busted in the parking lot of his college for selling drugs.

Yeah Baby! Yeah! I love a good fight and Glenn Reynolds and Nick Denton are having a minor throwdown. I have to say I agree with Mr. Reynolds on this one. Europe is in BIG trouble.

"My business is sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll..."
- Whitney Houston

Good Stuff from the happy liberal people at Slate.com.

It is also interesting to note that the "anti-abortion" clinic's best weapon against abortion is its ultrasound machine. As soon as the women see what is in their belly, it isn't a fetus; it becomes a baby. Never fails.

I worked in an anti-abortion clinic today. It was interesting. It's located next door to an actual abortion clinic and the staff stands in front of the other clinic to provide free "counseling" to the women going inside. I am relatively sure there is no violence involved since I don't hear anything in the local news about angry abortion protesters beating doctors in Dallas as they scurry to their cars after working at the clinic. Granted, I don't watch the news.
The interesting thing about the whole abortion debate is, that while I am ideologically on the pro-life side, I find that I'd rather associate with the pro-choice people. I mean, an abortion clinic is a terrific place to meet loose women! Seriously, pro-life people tend to be white, and less "cosmopolitan". (Ok, I think they're white trash...)
The Catholic Church and Evangelical Christians are the driving force behind the pro-life movement and I don't much agree with either group. I don't like the Catholic Church, because, well it's the Catholic Church. Organizations that slaughter dissenters, torture and extort its members, and incite countries to violence against other countries are called terrorist organizations now. The Catholic Church says it has reformed now, but it is still home to rampant corruption. Catholicism seems to me to be an empty religion. I have nothing but respect for devout people who practice the religion and are faithful to what they believe, I just truly believe they are mistaken - like I think Democrats are mistaken. Evangelical Christians, as represented by the groups who are a part of the national pro-life movement, are nearly as bad as far as I am concerned. Most religions are so far in practice from what they originally claimed to believe that I find their claim to righteousness laughable. (Not that I am much better :-p)
The other side of the coin, the pro-choice organizations - Planned Parenthood, NOW, Democrats, etc. - are just as mistaken. My stance against abortion is this: Most reasonable people will agree that aborting a viable 7 month old baby in the womb is wrong. (NOW doesn't, taking the stance that if they lose on that issue the next attack will be on first and second term abortions. This is unreasonable. It's murder, pure and simple.) The reason that reasonable people agree that aborting a baby in the 7th month is wrong is that he can live outside the womb. If his mother gave birth to him, chances are good that he would survive. You can use this argument against abortion in the thrid trimester, but supposedly not for any earlier term babies because these babies are still dependent on their mothers; but what if a baby could be independent of his mother after 3 months, or 2, or maybe even immediately after conception? The reason that babies can't survive earlier births now is medical technology. As soon as we have the ability to support them sooner will abortion suddenly be wrong then? I think if abortion is not wrong it should be fine at any time during the pregnancy - right up to the final delivery of the baby. The mother should be able to decide "No I don't want the baby, dump it now!" If you believe a woman has right to do that, than someone should confiscate your sexual organs. We don't need people like you to reproduce.

I am thinking about going into the foreclosure business. I'd find soon to be foreclosed houses and dispatch thugs to beat the occupants senseless for not paying their bills. Wait a second, wrong scheme...

UTD appears in the December 2002 edition of ESPN The Magazine! Ok UTD makes an appearance because we are the college champions of chess, but hey that's something.
I am beginning to think that perhaps college is less valuable for the things you learn then for the people you meet while learning. A smart individual could just as easily learn everything he needs on his own with the help of books and the internet. College is the only place where mulitudes of smart people gather within walking distance of each other. College also has the side benefit of being a great place to pick up a date.

My Christmas list

I don't expect to actually get anything from this list but this is my fantasy so indulge me.

• A Mini Cooper, a Dodge Neon SRT4, or a Subura Impreza WRX
  
• An Armani Suit or even a Dolce and Gabbanna suit, or actually just about any suit from Bluefly.com would do.
  
• I like cashmere. This hat, this sweater, this sweater, and this overcoat.
  
• I like Banana Republic. This T-Shirt, this cap, these pants, this sweater, these jeans, these loafers, these loafers too, these trousers, this shirt, and this tie.
  
• I like Jcrew. These chinos, this sweater, this sweater, this sweater, these jeans, and these jeans.
  
• I like Levi's. I like them low. I like them low and loose. I like them low and not loose. I even like them engineered.
  
• I like shoes. I want running shoes. I want dress shoes I want casual shoes. I want Skechers.
  
• I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch. I like Abercrombie & Fitch.
  
• I like Armani Exchange.
  
• I like the Gap. I like the sweaters; I like the jackets; I like the jeans. I even like the bogus 1969 denim collection.
  
• I want things other than clothes too. A cell phone for instance. An XBox would be nice. A tablet PC would be better.
  

So, yeah I am a greedy materialistic media blinded consumer. I admit it. But if you want to buy me anything, here are my sizes:

• Suit: 44R
  
• Waist: 32"
  
• Inseam 32"
  
• Shoe size: 11-12" depends on style of shoe
  
• Neck 15 1/2"
  
• Chest: 39 1/2"
  

I'd give you a shipping address but I am sure I'd be getting packages from DogDoo.com. All I want for Christmas is everything.

I wonder if I had any professors who didn't know my name? I was riding the bus today to go play soccer and I met my freshman history professor. He was awful by all accounts - I don't think he was so bad but he was a terrible dresser; the man had no taste. He remembered me right away, even with the shaved head. When I go back to school it might do to be a little more anonymous, or not.
I discovered recently that my chest seems to have grown an inch. That is the wonderful thing about being a man, exercise can increase the size of your chest. I still don't look good in that Versace muscle shirt. I doubt that will ever happen though, at least not without the use of chemical enhancement.
This looks like fun! I won't watch though. I never do.
Have any girls in the audience ever met a guy who looks great but his personality grates on your nerves like nails on a chalk board? I don't look all that great but my personality can have that unfortunate effect.

I think I am in love. Between that car and an Impreza I am not sure which I would take.

I just cut off all my hair. I could use one of these

I hate boxers. How anyone makes these satanic torture devices stay in place is beyond me. I went for a jog wearing my Joe Boxers (along with my normal running gear mind you) and by the time I covered a block the waistband had ridden up to my belly button and the crotch had ... well lets put it this way - I HAD to stop before I lost feeling. Trying to do something even remotely athletic - like bending over to tie your shoe - is impossible in boxers. And to think, I used to see guys on the soccer team with their boxers peeking out from underneath their soccer shorts.

The twists in my hair are gone. Mommy didn't like them much.

Why wait for doors to open when you can just kick them down?

THe Cowboys won and the Mavericks lost. A reverse of recent trends but whatever they were both due, and the Redskins are in town. If another team were more snakebit then the Cowboys it would have to be the Redskins even though they have a better record. The only reason Spurrier won't get fired next year is that he makes too much money and Dan Snyder made too much noise about hiring him.
Face Off could now be a reality! Kind of trippy huh? I think it proves that scientists spend an inordinate amount of time watching movies and television.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Yeah I am late (ten minutes before thanksgiving is over) but I said it so there.

Are you ready for some football! I am, only I want to play with a round ball. I need some cardio.

My new hairdo.



Of course I took the pictures in my bathroom because that is the part of my house that has the best lighting.
No more school till Monday! Woohoo! My two week teaching assignment ended today and I must admit that I am very relieved. I did manage after all to buy pizza for my second period after all. Some of the kids brought a little money but the cost wasn't as bad as I expected. A good experience over all.

There has never been a time I opened my mouth around my Mom and Dad that I was not punished for it. No amount of care can prevent it from happening. Sigh...

The DISD saw fit to send my paltry earnings in the mail today. Of course it wasn't nearly enough and of course they shorted me of a quarter of the money I was due again. I won't be able to collect on this money till December but I suppose I can treat it like a Christmas bonus. I will be able to move forward with my copyright project though and do my hair so all isn't too bad. I had hoped to pay off a large debt but that would have been nearly my entire paycheck. I would have been broke all month again. I have a scheme though. I intend to land some sort of other job this month and stop taking substituting jobs for awhile. I hope to land a job that pays more than once a month so then I could receive two checks in December and use one to catch up and improve my transportation situation. It's a plan anyway.

I am grading papers and entering grades into the the grade sheet. All teachers hate grading, and this one especially. Jeez. When is DISD gonna send my money? :(

I am not in school anymore but for all the people that still are, this is a great website. You'll never do your own bibliography again.

I was just glancing at the search engine queries that bring up the blog and "Levi Skinner Jeans" is still the number one search term for my website. Searching for abercrombie and fitch models also seems to be a reliable way to bring up this website too. No end of entertainment to be had from looking at search engine queries. I'll have to be sure to talk about nudity and Christina Aguilera and other women as much as possible as that brings up this website too.

I just made the lives of some adolescent boys miserable and I don't regret it a bit. I teach them in a class at school and they torture me everyday for 45 minutes a piece so it isn't uncharitable for me to spread the love a little is it? All was done in the name of reducing chaos in the classroom.
Deep down I believe that almost every single child in the special education classes that I am teaching is capable of doing more work. Their behavior prevents me from finding out. So, I intend to crackdown on their rowdy behavior with the help of the dean of instruction. I am hoping he can make a guest appearance and do a little intimidation for me. Evidently, the kids don't find me very intimidating.
I think the DISD isn't going to send me my thin little bundle of joy till Monday! I am liking this idea of being payed once a month less and less. Maybe if I made more money... A job at Inutuit is looking better and better. Especially with a sizeable check on its way from the DISD in December. It would be like a Christmas bonus, only I slaved for every penny! I might want to get out of the education business before I begin saying aloud what I am beginning to feel about the children. I do love them. I just want to wring their necks.

Waiting for that paycheck to get here.
The beautiful weather continues. Can you believe it? I spend the best part of the day inside, but I get paid for it. (Not enough and very infrequently, but I do get paid)
I am having trouble getting enough sleep. I have taken to sleeping all evening and waking up in the middle of the night. \
How did I miss out on the leftovers from chicken my mom cooked yesterday?

I hate sitting around waiting for things to happen.

Major processing muscle here.

I am fighting back against the hordes of chaos. I phoned several children's parents and they promised immediate action against their ill-behaved offspring. Who said that parents don't care?
I am going to be teaching these kids at least until Thanksgiving. That means I have to grade papers... UGHHH!

When I am walking in the morning to the bus or from the bus to the school, I am often struck by the beauty of these fall mornings. I often wish I had a camera with me to photograph what I see - ducks in the creek, brilliant red leaves, bright green grass, and sunny blue skies. I just wish sometimes I were seeing it from the seat of a car.

I need a car so bad that while selling my right arm is still too much, I have a left arm I’d trade for a low mileage Honda Civic.

What posesses middle school children to thrust each other's heads at their crotches while making slurping noises? What posessed me to laugh?

I am a little weary of teaching this group of kids and it is only Monday! I have a long week ahead of me.
I am going to fight back a little by working out instead of sleeping as soon as I get home. I need to run too but my excuse for that is that I don't have great cold weather workout gear.

People can't be depended on to articulate their needs to you in a way that is commerically exploitable. You can observe these people acting on their needs to get clues on how to meet their needs and line your pockets.

Linux less secure than Microsoft!

I had a long chat with the leader of Special Education at T.C. Marsh and I feel like I better understand the situation and have more sympathy for Special Education teachers. I like the system less. A Special Education teacher explained to me that 20% of all children in the United States where in Special Education. Special Education teachers are well aware of how wrong-headed and self-defeating certain aspects of the system are. There also isn't much to be done to change the system. Schools like Special Education because it funnels money into the school. Parents like Special Education because:

• Kids pass and progress from grade to grade.
  
• They stay eligible for sports.
  
• The parents often receive money for their child's disability.
  

Teachers all know how sad and disgusting some aspects of Special Education can be. They also know that a third of kids who start Special Education will not graduate and that almost none of these kids will go to college. Kids hate Special Education and learn to hate school quickly once in the program. The kids in the program often have behavioral problems because of their frustration with school. They feel powerless to help themselves and act out by being disruptive, violent, and or disobedient. As they fall further behind they get worse. Teachers are often harried and so stressed out that they send troublesome students to Special Education rather than deal with the child's behavioral problems. It is easier to make the child disappear from your class than it is to repair years of frustration and unlearned school work.
Should your child ever be put in a special education program, he is doomed. The immediate goal should be to get him out immediately. However a lot of the damage is already done by the time the kid gets out of the third grade. Teachers can tell you who will do well in life and who will not by that point in the child's school career. What I learned is that there are children on whom and education is wasted. These children will most likely grow up to be the person who mows your yard, cleans your house, bags your groceries, serves you food or builds your machines. These kids are screwed.

The teacher I am substituting for is coming back early! I am elated. I feel a little guilty, but I see my current teaching position as a bit oif a trap for teachers and students. The DISD Special Education program is a catch-all program designed to be a repository for students performing well below grade level. For the most part these children are bright and have no apparent mental defects that keep them from performing well (I have no access to their grades and IQ scores so even the brightest and sharpest looking students could possible severely deficient according to the recorded evidence). They do have significant behavioral defects. When scattered among relatively well-behaved students they are innocuous and easily managed. When gathered together with other students with similar problems, keeping them in line is a major feat of classroom management.
I failed miserably at classroom management today. Nearly every student in my third period class was out of my control and most of the boys received referrals for playing a schoolyard game called "Licks" at the back of the class. (Combatants in "Licks" roll up their sleeves and take turns pounding each other's upper arms. The winner is the one who can still move his arms when the game is finished.) The rest were lucky to have been seated when an exasperated teacher walked in on the classroom. I could only look on, helpless to control them. The teacher visited again to demand another referral for a young girl in my fourth period. I hate writing referrals and especially for these kids because they exist on the very fringes of educabilty (I have no idea whether "educability" is actually a word or not but I like it). New referrals for many of these kids put them in alternative schools and if alternative school is anything like Special Ed then they are doomed. The only glimmer of hope I see for college success for any of these children is that they are relatively far away from college. They have five or six years to change their ways. The problem is they are operating on fourth grade learning levels and are in the seventh and eigth grade. How they are to recover from that I don't know. Even with extremely intelligent children (and I know these kids are smart), I don't see how there would be enough time to learn all the things they are missing by not being in regular classrooms.
My mistake today was in not keeping them busy enough. Busy students don't act up and the ones who give me the least trouble are the ones who work through the period. Paradoxically, these are also the least remarkable kids. They struggle to finish the assignments in the time alloted but work steadily to get all the work done. The other kids who breezes through the work or just refuse to do the work are the more troublesome ones, even though they usually seem to have the most mental potential.
My mental block with classroom discipline is that threats don't seem to have any effects on these kids. They respond to action, drastic action. In past assignments I have responded to this by randomly choosing a sacrifical lamb from the many offenders so that the others would beware. I felt this was unjust and a deterrent born from anger - an uncharitable emotion that I don't like to give in to around the kids. However, It does yield fewer referrals overall. Tomorrow I am giving a test and I'll attempt to keep the kids busy for the rest of the class period. Maybe I'll avoid handing out referrals tomorrow. I hate Special Ed.

Why can't I make you laugh? Other people do...

I could really use one of these. Anyone who has seen my scraggly beard will tell you.

I had a really sad situation in class today. I was hearing reports of a student in my class who certainly looked male enough being called a girl. Convinced that it was a simple case of schoolhouse bullying, I called the student to my desk and demanded to know who were the perpetrators. THe student promptly broke down in tears under my questioning and refused to tell who the tormentors were. The student refused to go to the next period class so I offered to walk the student to class. A female teacher immediately recognized the student and asked what the matter was. I explained and the student wept again. THe teacher immediately moved to comfort the child and said she would handle it. When she came back, I asked what the matter was and she explained. The child was a girl and was dressed as a boy and had a shaved head. The parents had recently decided that she should live as a boy and had begun dressing her as a boy and demanding that the school change its documentation to reflect their choice. The school adamantly refused insisting that the child remain a girl. So my student is stuck in the middle left to the tender mercies of her gleeful classmates.

I used to think that Manute Bol was a cheap shameless self-promoter, but a paragraph in this article made it all clear to me. He is a freedom fighter. Really...

I was thinking about this the earlie and I have something to say. Democrats lost and will continue to lose until they unlearn their contempt for George Bush as evidenced by pieces like this. Michael Kinsley and his liberal brethren think so little of George Bush that they find it inconceivable that the public should like and respect the man, and that he would be able to engineer their defeat at the polls. Yet he did. Regardless of whether he is run by his advisers or not, I would hate to deride an opponent as stupid endlessly and then be defeated by said opponent. What would that make me? When you underestimate people you allow them to take advantage of your lowered expectations and you and not they end up looking the fool.
Democrats didn't get it during this past election and still don't get it. They are allowing their vision to be clouded by one man the same way Republicans allowed Bill Clinton to occupy their every waking moment for eight years. George Bush is shaping up to be the Republican version of Bill Clinton. He and Clinton are almost polar opposites, which is appropriate since Bush is a Republican and Clinton a Democrat. Their main similarity is that each is a polarizing figure. Neither one won their first elections by large margins and both had to deal with a fair amount of controversy. Bill Clinton defeated a weak opponent his second term and George Bush appears to be faced with several weak Democratic candidates going into 2004, although it is still to early to speculate about who will run and be nominated yet. The main thrust of my argument is that the Democrats are allowing themselves to be distracted by one man just like the Republicans did. The Democrats still have the opportunity to not become obsessed with defeating Bush. If it ever gets to that point they will lose and lose badly.

This is a great idea...

I thought this was funny. Some Democrats are running a "switch" campaign simialr to Apple's urging three liberal Republican Senators to switch or become and independent and vote with the Democratic caucus. I thought it would be even funnier if I turned it on it's head. This is the text of the email that I sent in place of the drivel they had in the form:

Dear Senator X:

I am writing to urge you to not join Senator Jeffords by becoming an
independent and voting with the Democratic caucus in the Senate. You did
not run for office by promising to drill in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, to support extremist judges to lifetime appointments, or
restrict reproductive choice but switching now would only make you a spoil
sport. I realize that Trent Lott can be an arrogant brute, but if you
consider moving, others will consider joining you - you would be
defeating the will of the people. Do you think it is an accident that the
American public has reversed their normal pattern of dividing the
government by putting the Senate and Congress in Republican hands? I think not!

Please let me know what you intend to do on this urgent matter. Time is
short and the stakes are very high.

Sincerely,
Idahosa Edokpayi
10011 Woodlake Dr.
Dallas, TX 75243
stealth_ninja.geo@yahoo.com

I forgot to mention the story I heard yesterday in the Special Education Department meeting. One of the teachers knew a special education teacher with cerebral palsy. Special ed students tend to be older and larger and he was small and weak in his limbs so the students had a clear strength advantage. Every so often, his large and mischievous students would stuff the hapless Mr. Winkler in the dryer or the oven. The guidance counselor could often be heard ordering the students to "Get Mr. Winkler out of the dryer right now!".

To start my dayt today I had a little footrace with a DART bus. We called it a tie when I boarded the bus. Nothing like a full out sprint in a tie and dress shoes with a messenger bag bouncing on your buttocks to ensure complete alertness in the morning.
I started a two week assignment teaching a special education math class for two weeks yesterday. I had a lot of apprehension going into about teaching kids who were "slow". My fears were unfounded. The kids are bright, alert and intelligent. In fact, I think that very few of them really belong in "special ed". Somehow they've fallen behind and gotten themselves into serious acadamic trouble, but there is nothing wrong with them mentally. What is wrong is the attitude of the teachers toward the kids. The condescension is so thick you could slice it with a butter knife. The teachers seem to truly believe that almost every child in the class is damaged. I can handle two weeks of the kids, but two weeks of the teachers talking about the kids might be too much for me.
In other news, how about those Mavericks? The Mavs have dominated every team they've played right out of the gate. I am waiting for the national sports news to start showing some real respect.

I am very frustrated about not going out. Staying home keeps peace with the folks, but I am bored out of my mind.

I love this man's wit and prose. I also like the fact that he's a Brit who recognizes that British disdain for Yank culture is misguided.
I taught Home Economics again today. THe kids were a little rambunctious today - they smeared themselves and me with hand lotion, threw butter packets, and one kid smacked me in the forehead with a piece of paper he shot from a rubber band. I broke down toward the end of the day. I got tired of yelling at the kids and making them do homework so I let my seventh period class watch Osmosis Jones, a kid-friendly gross-out movie starring Bill Murray's immune system.
I am a little surprised. I got turned down for a job today. I was pretty certain I would get the job and was already making plans. I'd been to two testing sessions and one interview and everything had gone so well that I just took it for granted that I would get the job. Oh well...

Cool...

I taught Home Economics today! Apparently, kids do more than bake cakes in Home Ec; although, I am told one boy has a killer recipe for 7-UP cake. Later in the year the students tell me they will take home a life-like baby doll that eats, wets its diapers, cries at night, and reports on the quality of its care. Boys take the class in large numbers now.
I was teaching at Marsh Middle School (probably for the last time at least till January) so many of the kids remember me and teachers request me by name. It's a wonderful relationship. I even see the kids after school at the I-Can't-Believe-It's-Yogurt at the shopping center behind the school. I stopped in for a double dip pecan pralines in a waffle cone. It was so good I fail to see how an orgasm could be better. Several of the kids I have taught at Marsh were there and we played the what's-my-name-game; the kids love to test my ability to remember their names. They also told me the story of how one of their buddies urinated into a bottle during lunch at the table with other people their and got away with it. Kids these days man...
I was talking to somebody on the bus ride home today describing what I do for a living and realized I didn't really do anything for a living. I am almost like the Pretender. I can show up at almost any job doing anything at any time. A jack of all trades. It's kind of cool. (mostly becuase it's been my secret desire to be a pretender)

A cool website everybody should visit!

Visit these fine bloggers from my home state, Texas: Greg Wythe, and Jennifer . (Forgive the familiarity, I can't seem to locate her last name.)

Didn't post yesterday. I repaid my sleep debt instead. Big stuff in the works today. Job interview, proposal to submit, and website to buy hosting for and a domain name.

Bad news in Democrat land! If Republicans are so evil and George Bush is so dumb how did this happen? Democrats tried to embarass the president in Florida by defeating his brother. They failed. They tried to beat him in Texas by taking the governorship and a Senate seat. They failed. Why didn't anyone see this coming?

Any attractive women who want to do this I offer to pay the two bucks. Shoot, I'll pay 50 more on top.

Come rain, come snow, come shine I am registering the domain and purchasing hosting for my non-profit tomorrow. I think I'll have the money. Otherwise I'll just borrow it. Is there something special about tomorrow? I was just down at the mall in fye and they said the new Dave Matthews CD would be out tomorrow along with several other big releases.

A story near and dear to Computer Science grad students everywhere, an Indian professor has developed an algorithm for proving that a number is prime. Had he discovered a method of finding prime factors the entire internet security business would have come to a crashing halt. This link was ripped shamelessly from Shacknews.com.

It turns out that last link was actually a joke. I was prepared to believe it. :-P

The RIAA thinks CDRW drives are equally as dangerous as guns. These people never stop.

BMX XXX being downgraded to a PG-13. Stole the link from Shacknews. Akklaim sould havestuckto their guns. Any damage that has been done has already taken place. In fact, people will probably be disappointed when they play and don't see anything over the top.

China Telecome is having an IPO and this guy thinks you should stay away. I tend to agree.
The last post wasn't great writing and parts of it seem ill-considered now. I am leaving the rant up though. College athletics do suck.

I am awake now and I am furious. (I remember being vaguely angry at something over the weekend but now it is clear.) The politics of America's parents are kiling young people. The political parties have geared their issues to appeal to people 40 and older and are in a constant tug of war over seniors. This last election has been the worst - the democratic party even had geriatric candidates step in at the last minute to replace dead and disgraced candidates.
I can't help but look at the issues and feel like both parties are scamming me. Social Security at best is a legalized pyramid scheme. At worst it's a joke, and I'll never see a dime. My problem with Social Security is that it's a half measure and a step toward socialism.Very few people can live on what they receive from Social Security alone. I want to know why we are paying people dollar amounts that have nothing to do with their actual contribution to the system. The money we pay is not invested or even held in a bank. It is doubtful that inflation is taken into account at all. Instead the government relies on today's Social Security taxes to pay for yesterday's workers. As with any pyramid scheme, this cannot go on forever. Am I trying to scare seniors? YES. To make matters worse both parties delight in dipping into Social Security revenues to fund partisan largess. It makes me sick.
Another way that political parties scam young people, is the discrepancy between voting age and drinking age. Children become legal adults at the age of eighteen yet they cannot purchase alcohol or enter houses of ill repute till 21. I am not suggesting either are healthy practices or that either are things that young people should be doing. But there is no reason for the discrepancy in ages. Eighteen year olds can fight wars, be prosecuted as adults, have sex with other consenting adults, sign legal documents, and vote but they can't buy beer. Either eighteen yr. olds are adults or they are not. The same reasons a kid shouldn't be allowed to purchase alcohol are the same reasons they shouldn't vote, have sex with adults, sign legal documents, be prosecuted as an adult, and go to war. Young people need to be given full responsibility.
The quality of education in High Schools and the application of law to education is a mess. Teacher's unions step in with self-serving protests anytime substantive changes are suggested for improving schools. Cost of education keeps rising while at the same time the quality is continually diluted. It seems anytime politicians tinker with education disaster results. The worst of it all is college athletics. College athletic departments are sacrificing smaller men's programs to their hungry football teams, excusing the act because football teams are revenue generators. I have no beef with women's athletics and inclusion of women in sports. Women should be allowed to play. What should not be allowed is wholesale destruction of other men's athletic programs. Perhaps, money generating programs should be allowed to "buy" the right to unequal scholarships. A revenue generating football team or basketball team shouldn't count against the overall total.
What is worse though, is that athletes in money generating sports and programs are exploited in my opinion. People complain that male athletes fail to graduate, cheat, womanize, and party. They have no incentive to behave in any other way. Many athletes come from underperforming schools and teachers have inflated their grades to maintain their eligibility. They go to school with very little money of their own and no academic preparation. So what's a poor college student to do for cash when he isn't allowed to work (several programs ban student athletes from taking jobs) or he simply doesn't have time to? Simple, accept money from boosters. What is worse colleges use money and lavish parties to attract high school recruits. It is not unheard of for current students to take high school kids with them to on campus parties. Colleges earn millions of dollars from athletes yet claim no responsibility at all for the well being of the athlete when he is not performing. Is this a political issue? No. Should it be? Yes.

It's Monday morning and I feel sluggish and stupid. Everybody read this blog. It'll be good for you.

College athletics are sick. The measure proposed will not help.

Microsoft has weblogging software!

I am trying to figure out where I developed the unfortunate habit of disgusting my family and closet friends. Oh well.

Now that Google has decided that my site is worthy of being searched I have looked at the search queries that bring up my site. Thus far most of them have been about jeans - Levi Jeans. Also, one person was looking for "Howard Fineman Strip". I am going to assume that the person meant comic strip. Or maybe Howard Fineman has some really devoted fans.

Somebody tried to kidnap Victoria Beckham.
Another sex related blog. I suppose sex has a way of being infiltrating every online phenomenon. (I came thisclose to using the unfortunate phrase "penetrating every online phenomenon")
I haven't read the book and have no intention to now really but this review from Robert H. Bork (yes that Bork) is a delicious read - if you are not a left-wing idealogue. Sorry, I couldn't resist making a snide remark.
Notre Dame goes down.

My statistics service is down. :( Can't check traffic obsessively.

Still looking... Check this sweater out, and this suit, another sweater, a blazer, this sweater, and this suit. (The problem being that any suit I buy at Bluefly is most likely not going to fit. These are all clearance items and canot be customized. I wear size 44 jackets but not size 44 pants. Usually at Menswear stores I end up choosing "athletic fit" suits with wide shoulders and narrow pants.)
Sorry for the out of control materialism. Up next: expensive cars I would like to have!

I am always in the mood for extravagantly expensive clothes. I can't afford them and most likely will not be able to or a long time. But until then I can browse websites like Ben Silver. Yum.

This blog shows up in Google now! Try it!
Another really cool feature Google has added recently that I just noticed was mail order catalog searching. I am going to be a very happy shopper this holiday season.

Interesting link about an SDK (Software Development Kit) for developing a program to respond to chat messages. A very interesting idea indeed. I could see this being an interesting marketing tool.

My Mob nickname: The Butcher, Baker and Candlemaker. Courtesy of the Sopranos Mob Name Generator.
I know I just engaged in some stereotypical blogger behavior. I could be disingenuous and disavow such behavior (top ten lists, AIM conversations, bad poetry, endless moaning about my love life, etc) but I am not. I am going to tell you flat out that most people who promise to avoid such behavior are lying.
President Bush is out fighting the forces of darkness -- as represented by Bill Clinton and Walter Mondale, anyway. Democratic Senators need to learn to stay off small planes before Election Day. One thing that particularly interests me about this election is the continuing trend of late race replacements of Democratic Senators. Last Senate election, there was only one replacement, this year there were two. I see this as likely to get worse before it gets better, just by the law of averages - more senators will either be exposed for corruption or die than have before. I have no objections to Jean Carnahan running in her husband's place nor to Walter Mondale replacing Paul Wellstone, but Robert Torricelli's replacement by Frank Lautenberg sets a precedent. I can't say whether it is a good thing for poorly performing candidates to be replaced by new ones. I do know that the Democratic Party will soon be out of septugenarian former Senators willing to run for political office. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the Republicans to gain an advantage through replacement of a candidate. On the other hand this could just be karmic retribution for the Supreme Court handing Goerge Bush a victory last election.

Not a mac fan but this is funny. The problem is that one could find 100 different PC related sites that are equally as good.

90% of the people visiting this website are using Internet Explorer. Granted 13% visit from my computer. :-P

Reading this, makes me a little uncomfortable. Bush means well, but if this guy is right, Bush is setting a dangerous precedent. Or the author could be paranoid and I am feeling uneasy for no reason. Ask me about it again in ten years.

Being a compulsive reader, I had to sit down and read the novel I linked earlier. I have read five chapters, and while I am not a literary critic, I'll say that it's an unfinished work. The author could use an editor as a few minor typos have slipped through, but worse books are in libraries today. This book deserves a wider audience.
The man who placed the lucky bets in the Breeder's Cup Pick Six just might be dirty after all. It seems he had a buddy with access to the data system and the ability to change bets. I was hoping he was just lucky.
Microsoft has finally settled with the Justice Department. I get the feeling that had Democrats been running the Justice Department the legal action might have been prosecuted with more vigor.

An interesting concept. The author is self publishing an entire novel online from his blog. The idea is to attract publisher interest. The novel itself is interesting if not exactly my taste in prose. (I tend to prefer more flash, and textual fireworks.)

I just checked, and this blog set a traffic record yesterday - Ten Visitors!. Woohoo!

A blog to watch for soccer fans: Soccerfever.org. It will be interesting to see if this site ever becomes anything. It already has a pagerank better than mine.

I am awake now. :(
I need to thank my good friend, Lynn, for giving me a cold dose of reality. Where I go from there I am not sure.

There should be a special place in Hell reserved for people who make phone calls at 2 am and hang up.
I actually don't mind receiving phone calls that late, but people who merely want to wake you up are petulant, mischievous children.

This is a public service announcement.

Lest it seem that the rating of the blog has slipped to R from PG-13, let me point out that while Christina Aguilera was naked, and I did post her picture naked, she did have the R rated portions covered with a guitar which she keeps handy for this purpose. (I mean who doesn't stroll around the house in the natural state holding a guitar so stray photograhers can't take pictures of their "naughty bits"?) This was in no way gratuitous use of nudity to attract traffic. Also, the last post was again not designed to improve the chances of people finding this blog. The names listed in no way have anything to do with any fantasy involving Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Naomi Campbell, Janet Jackson, Halle Berry, a video camera, and no clothing - in no way, shape, fashion, or form. Really...

I think I could get more hits if I used the word "naked" more often. "Nude" would help too. Especially in conjunction with names like "Britney Spears", "Christina Aguilera", "Gwen Stefani", "Jennifer Lopez", "Naomi Campbell", "Janet Jackson", and "Halle Berry". Maybe if I even put pictures... nah...

I was just looking at the traffic statistics and 13% of the visits to this site are from me. Sad but true. :-/

I don't know what any of it means but pretty pictures are always fun.

By the way the sweaters are Armani Exchange... my taste is moving up from the Gap, Banana Republic , and Ambercrombie and Fitch to Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, and Kenneth Cole. Unfortunately, my pocket book still likes Target and Walmart.

More clothes lust. Sweaters this time.


I need to stay away from this place till after Christmas. 56 shopping days left till Christmas.

A nice Halloween link for the kiddies.

I just realized what I want in a relationship. I want that feeling of closeness.I don't want sex, can't have sex (I am a virgin and I am waiting). I do want to cuddle. I realized this yesterday while staring at the Yahoo personals ad campaign that Yahoo has insinuated into my mail account. The couple in the pictures looks so happy holding each other that I can't help but feel jealous. I know they are only models and probably don't even really know each other, but I can't help feeling that Yahoo is taunting me. It happens every time I log on too. I am not going to slit my throat over it, but I might club a baby seal.

Christina Aguilera is naked on the cover of Rolling Stone.
I am not a huge fan of the "Dirty" look. However, I cannot argue much with this picture.

I just don't like the clothes she wears. Her wardrobe should consists of guitars only. :)
They ask who should be naked on the cover next. I keep looking for Britney Spears' name. Oh well, Gwen Stefani will have to do.

Check it out! This guy knows a band with my name!
I was having a discussion with a friend about economics and I thought ya'll (all four of you!) might be interested. My economics ideals might be mistaken for Communism if not closely examined. I want to see a society where every citizen is more explicitly a producer as well a consumer. Everyone who works is a producer of some kind. The problem is that many people are very far removed from their eventual product. I want everyone to be in business for himself selling a product to whoever will pay the most. Right now, most people sign contracts to sell their labor to large corporations at unnecessarily low prices. However, most people cannot realistically sell their labor on their own. My solution is to lower the price of the tools of production so that private individuals can compete with large companies. Not only is there a free market solution for this problem; it is already being solved. The tech revolution has cheapened technology and people are already taking advantage. What I feel is important is that large companies not be allowed to stand in the way of innovation and the empowerment of the people. My copyright idea is part of a framework to do that.

I feel this guy's pain. To all the other young men in the world - when a girl asks what you are planning next, say: "Whatever you want me to do!" "I dunno, what do you wanna do?", is good too.

I think my brother may have identified the reason for my recent habit of not spacing my words: a defective space bar! He had the problem too, and noted that only emphatic punching on the spacebar resulted in the desired space. We need a new keyboard!
I also realized (well I already know this but I need to explain this to other people) something about myself. I am an all-or-nothing type of person. My life is informed by my binary view of success. There are no partial successes, only total failures. I take risks and shoot for the home run. My view is that if you are good and prepared that you can make a good living this way. The failure is disheartening, but the success when it comes is an intoxicating drug. Men kill (literally) to taste of that type of success.

Everyonce in a while I browse through old posts and check up on blogs I have linked. I ate the poor once again and the taste frightened me a little. I hope she gets better.

How does the "10 fresh blogs" feature on Blogger work? I was always disappointed before that I didn't see my blog in that latest blog updated list. Now I have seen it 3 times in two days. Does everybody get the same list? How often is the list updated? I get a significant percentage of my hits from being a fresh blog though. Not a lot but enough that it matters.

Who are these guys? Can anyone think of a more bizzare name?

Does anybody know how to figure out what search queries bring up your website? I know it can be done with google fairly easily but how about yahoo, msn, metacrawler, or Alltheweb?

As a joke just now, I wrote Saddam an email:

to: press@uruklink.net
subject: Hi!

Dear Saddam,
I know someone has hacked your email account and that it is likely that you don’t actually read email. However, I would like to go on record as denouncing you as one of Satan’s children and a monster. Your depravations have earned you a special place in Hell, which I am hoping that you will soon visit. I hope that President Bush gets his way soon and blows you to tiny little pieces. I hope that each piece hurts. I don’t dislike you really. I hate you with the intensity of a million hell fires. Please die soon in the most painful way imaginable. You are a blight on humanity, a cancer. Your removal from existence will be a day of rejoicing for all humanity. I have temporarily exhausted my list of pejoratives, so I will stop here.

Respectfully yours,
Idahosa Edokpayi

More information about blogger being hacked. The wonderful thing about blogging is that news filters through to everybody virally, and fast. Blogger seems to be fine now however. We return to your normal programming.

I am positive I have numerous friends who would love to apply for this position. The link is from Womanchild. She's a weird but intriguing character. Read her every once in a while.
Blogger has been hacked apparently. Spread the Word.

Send Saddam email! May I suggest a subject line that begins with 'F' and ends with 'U'?

Heartbreaking diary from Slate.
I just paid off a credit card. I am estatic! I am also worn out from all the work I have been doing lately. If my life were a line graph, the line would be climbing up on the chart.

Last night was a little cryptic. Sorry...
I am tired. I slept in church. I am working hard, staying up late, and still lifting weights. I am gonna do squats tonight. Pray!
I have yet to buy the domain name. :( DOH! I should just do it, but something prevents me.
I am definitely gonna get that wild and crazy hairstyle I have been contemplating forever soon, maybe next week, maybe the week after next. I dunno.
I need sleep.
Go Giants!

Are men fools for loving? Do we care?

This is an odd announcement, but I think I have found my calling in life. I want to be copyright lawyer. Note to Walt. I am not imitating you.

Normally I wouldn't link to porn, but this is a special case. This is the first time I have run into pornographic material on a blog on blogspot. In fact, I haven't really seen porn any blogs at all. I was thinking that porn would violate the blogspot user agreement. I guess not. I wonder what his PageRank is?

I wanted to say something about the guys they arrested for the sniper murders. They're BLACK! I keep looking at their pictures looking for white skin.

I just realized why people don't visit my site. PageRank! My PageRank is zero!

This is a bad idea. I would credit Espn.com, but they don't really seem to have a real website. The final url that you end up with is just too ugly for my taste.

I just read this editorial from Michael Kinsley. The contempt for President Bush he feels is palpable in this piece. I don't think Michael Kinsley is capable of writing about President Bush in an objective manner. Kinsley tries to soften the blow and make his conspiracy mongering more respectable towards the end, but his words are insecere. That he subtly invokes his own Jewishness to shield himself, makes his arguments even more repugnant to me.
I am forced to admit thatthe charge that oil is a concern is most likely right. I see nothing wrong with this though. I do take offense at Mr. Kinsley's implicit charges of conspiracy. I wish I could tell him directly. I don't know why I am so angry. He doesn't claim to be objective.

So what's the plan? I'll proceed on two fronts, working in gaming and starting this oganization. First the games:

1. Revise resume
   
2. Compile list of Dallas area game companies that interest me.
   
3. Write individual letters to each one expressing interest in an unpaid internship.
   
4. Code technology demo to demonstrate skills
   
5. Begin compiling portfolio of work.
   

For the non-profit organization I will proceed like so:

1. Check availability of domain names.
   
2. Consult Lawyer.
   
3. Register as a non-profit organization.
   
4. Purchase Domain.
   
5. Build organization website. (includes finding hosting)
   
6. Write promotoional literature.
   
7. Solicit donations.
   
8. Build database of copyrighted material.
   

So which one do I do first? Look for domain names. it's easiest.

Here's a little something I wrote in my notebook about my nonprofit organization idea:

PublicCopyright.org is a non-profit repostory of expired copyrights and a purchaser of of copyrights for redistribution at cost or free to the public.
For Profit companies may buy nonexclusive access to copyrighted material .
PublicCopyright.org's primary mission will be maintenance will be maintenance of a searchable database for public use for free at least at a low cost. In addition, PublicCopyright.org will provide copyright material in a physical form on request at cost, low price, or free. Private for-profit companies will be able to acquire non-exclusive access to copyrights for a fee.

My idea is to manage copyrights for the public good. Extension of the time that copyrights maybe held has the effect of keeping information out of the public domain. Extending copyrights benefits Hollywood and the record industry and a few private individuals but for the most part no one else. I am afraid that many lesser known works will slide into oblivion because the original copyright holders will die or slip into obscurity, depriving the public of work that would normally have been in the public domain. I intend to purchase older copyrights, solicit donation of copyrights, and provide cheap access to the public. The organization will allow any non-commercial use of the copyrights for free. Commerical use will require special agreements. Once a copyright is purchased, it will not be resold. The organization may retain the rights to the copyright until it lapses into the public domain. The organization may also charge fees to recoup the cost of purchasing the copyright and maintenance of the database.

Quick highlights from my life between posts.

1. First Paycheck from DISD!
   
2. Taught at Thomas Marsh Middle School Wednesday
   
3. Saw a dude on the bus with staples in his head
   

My life needs more excitement...
I have two ideas I am going to pursue:

1. Unpaid internships in the gaming industry.
   
2. A non profit copyright management organization
   

Funny quote from Slate magazine's messageboard

Since when did Conservative Christian Corporate America (Coors surely falls within that realm) start sponsoring incestuous group sex, or at least the heavy suggestion of it? I mean, I'm not going to say it's necessarily a bad thing, but it does seem like a radical departure …

The post...

I just found out that a friend's daughter has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I am not much for prayer, and I don't know what you believe, but it seems that prayer would be appropriate right now. She's 13.

Clarification, I don't like giving women relationship advice. I don't want to be anybody's gay boyfriend. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
The problem is that, I am finding that I have been tempted lately tell the girls to just dump their deadbeat boyfriends and just hang out with me. Not in so many words, but...

I have been worried about a quality dropoff in my writing for the blog for a while due to boredom and involvement in outside activities, but I have decided that it's ok. I am going to be gleefully mediocre.
One thing I have learned in my short life about relationships is that you must be happy by yourself before you can be happy in a relationship. The other thing I have learned is that I don't like giving advice. I want to be the person causing someone else to seek advice. I don't want to ask for it and I don't want to be anyone's shoulder to cry on. Well at least till I have made somebody cry. (That sounds perfectly awful I know)

Fighting writer's block. :( More tomorrow after the Cowboys game. Maybe if I keep working on different things I'll get through it. I think I need to quit copping out and just try to work through my writers block.

A snippet from another script I am writing:

“EMMY’S ADVENTURES IN PADRE”



A screenplay by

Idahosa I. O. Edokpayi

















O2Cool Games Software FIRST DRAFT
11311 Idontlivehere Dr. August 9, 2002
Dallas, TX, 75217


"EMMY’S ADVENTURES IN PADRE"
FADE IN:
EXT. SUBURBAN DALLAS NEIGHBORHOOD – NIGHT
We’re in front of a nice house in a Lake Highlands. Not as nice as Highland Park but well to do just the same. Many cars line the street in front of one house in particular. The lights are on and we can see shadows of people moving through the windows. One window in particular draws our attention and we move closer till…
INT. WILD PARTY IN HOUSE – NIGHT
BOOM! We’re inside and we’re in your parent’s worse nightmare. Mom and Dad are gone and the kids are living la vida loca. There are decorations on the wall, a Christmas tree, lights, a DJ, and astounding quantities of alcohol. College students stumble around drunkenly, dancing or at last attempting to, all to the DJ’s deafening beats. People are making out and one couple in particular is getting increasingly intense in their affections. They get crazy, find a bedroom, and close the door.
INT. WILD PARTY BEDROOM – NIGHT
The couple continues to make out sidestepping slowly till they hit a bed. The bed trips them and they fall sideways into the bed. The girl rolls over on top and props herself up on her hands and knees. She drops her head as if to kiss him again but stops.
KELLY
Are we about to have sex?
EMMY
I sure hope so!
Kelly leans into him brushing her lips over his as she leans closer to his ear.
KELLY
(whispering)
Only in your dreams…
INT. SAME HOUSE LIVING ROOM LATE FEBURARY – DAY
Emmy lounges on the couch watching television during the day when he should be in class. The phone rings and he answers. It’s Kelly!
EMMY
Hi.
INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT DAY
Kelly’s lying on her couch in a college logo t-shirt, short-shorts, and ankle socks – typical dorm room wear. Her feet are up on the arm rest and she’s cradling the phone in the crook of her neck. She’s twirling a finger in her hair. A huge poster adorns the wall behind her.
KELLY
Hi.
INT. SAME HOUSE LIVING ROOM LATE FEBURARY – DAY
Emmy is up now, striding to his bedroom.
EMMY
(Gruffly)
Whatcha want?
INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT DAY
KELLY
(tenatively)
Well I was wondering… I am going to Padre Island for Spring Break and I was wondering if you wanted to go?
INT. SAME HOUSE LIVING ROOM LATE FEBURARY – DAY
Emmy’s reached his room and he picks up a miniature soccer ball.
EMMY
So you can leave me with a hard-on every night for a week instead of just at Christmas parties once a year?
INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT - DAY
KELLY
(frowns)
No, because we’re renting a beach house and had some people back out.
INT. SAME HOUSE LIVING ROOM LATE FEBURARY – DAY
Now Emmy’s in the den and he’s juggling the soccer ball. The ball bounces off his thighs, his feet, and his head all with the phone clamped to his ear.
EMMY
(concentrating)
Who’s we?
INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT – DAY
KELLY
(bites her lip)
Me and some of my sorority sisters.
INT. SAME HOUSE LIVING ROOM LATE FEBURARY – DAY
Emmy still has the ball in the air, but now’s he sweating a little.
EMMY
How many are going?
INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT - DAY
KELLY
(Crossing her fingers)
13, all from the sorority.
INT. SAME HOUSE LIVING ROOM LATE FEBURARY – DAY
Emmy drops the ball.
EMMY
(incredulously)
Is this some kind of joke?
MONTAGE – ROAD TRIP SEQUENCE
A) A tiny car drives over a map of Texas tracing a path toward Padre Island.
B) downtown Dallas
C) state capitol in Austin
D) Highway sign indicating San Antonio
E) Highway sign indicating Kingsville
F) Highway sign indicating Harlingen
G) Highway sign indicating Port Isabel
EXT. ROAD AN HOUR OUTSIDE OF PORT ISABEL
Emmy’s driving and is clearly tired. Everybody else is asleep and the car is cramped. His eyes droop and he begins to slump and falls asleep at the wheel. The car begins to drift into the opposite lane and into the path of a huge semi bearing down on Emmy’s car fast. The trailer blasts its horn and Emmy is jolted awake. He reacts quickly and the car swerves away from the semi but towards a heavy wooden gate. Emmy throws his hands up over his face and screams…
INT. INSIDE THE CAR
Emmy is covering his face and his mouth is frozen in a ring of horror. He isn’t dead however. He lowers his arms and looks to see Kelly in the Driver’s seat smiling at him.
KELLY
That was a long nap. Have any good dreams.
Emmy
(mumbling)
Something like that.

The money train gets rolling Wednesday. When it arrives I am not sure. I am officially down to my last dollar. The problem is that several people have laid claim to the next few hundred dollars. I am going to dig through my files and find something else old that I've written to post after I get up.

This is the type of thing that makes you do a double take. Scored the link from the Shack.

I have an idea for my employment. I work three days a week as a substitute teacher, say Monday, Thursday and Friday. I work as a waiter or some retail job on Saturday and maybe even Sunday. Tuesday and Wednesday I work for free as an intern at a company in an industry I'd like to be in. Sound good? It does sound like I'll be very tired all the time.

A kid at Kimball High told me an interesting story today about a girl who went into the boys lockerroom. She had sex with 15 boys one after the other. Somehow, I don't think any of the other teachers have heard that story. The girl got caught too. The other girls ratted her out, probably for sleeping with their boyfriends.

I couldn't resist posting this link and this quote:

A young woman raised her hand. "Professor Pinker?" Yes? I said. "I'd rather be a happy pig." Other hands shot up. "Me too!" "Same here!" "Pig!" "Pig!" "Pig!"

From the happy liberal folks at Slate.

The Blogger software wasn't functioning well yesterday so I didn't publish yesterday's post or make any new posts. If I don't update for a day you might try checking the Blogger status page.
I taught at Justin F. Kimball High today. Once again thank God for teachers with no first period classes. God has no such largess for me two days in a row though, so I'll be forced to be on time. I was a "floater" today. Meaning that I didn't have a classroom. Menaing that I wandered the classroom with my schedule and a stack of books swimming upstream against the rushing stream of students going to class between periods. By the way, any direction in a hall way in a high school between periods is upstream.
My parents retrieved the piece of junk today! Now I shall sell the ugly object of torment to the first sucker who comes along. The stupid thing cost $350 to retrieve. The proceeds of the sale will go to benefit the "Buy Idaho a New Ride Foundation". I am accepting doantions and I will soon post a Paypal link for those who wish to donate.
The pipeline of previous work will dry up temporarily (a day) because I don't feel like readying any of my ol stuff for human consumption. No links either, my laziness abounds.

This is the text of a movie script I wrote for fun one day


“OG KILLER JOHNSON IN SENSELESS VIOLENCE”



A screenplay by

Idahosa I. O. Edokpayi

















O2Cool Games Software FIRST DRAFT
10011 NotMyStreet Dr. October 15, 2002
Dallas, Texas, 75243
(972) 844-0000




" OG KILLER JOHNSON IN SENSELESS VIOLENCE "
FADE IN:
INT: LIVING ROOM IN SOUTH DALLAS HOME AT NOON SUMMER TIME
11 men are gathered in a cramped room around one man whispering into a cell phone. The man hangs up and sits stricken for a moment.
JOHNNY
Well how bad is it? Are we in trouble? Does he want his money? What does he want?
CELL PHONE GUY
He’s sending OG Killer Jackson!
This is obviously the worst possible thing you could ever hear. The men scatter, running to the doors leaving as quickly as possible. 6 men hold their ground drawing weapons. One man is trembling visibly.
EXT: 30 SECONDS LATER OUTSIDE THE HOUSE
A scary looking dude in a long coat and sun glasses is striding through the Texas sun on an incredibly hot day. He walks up to the door of the house and reaches inside his coat with both hands.
INT: LIVING ROOM
The men are still fumbling around the house looking for ammunition. The doorbell rings and everybody pauses, looking at each other in consternation.
EXT: 1 MINUTE LATER…
After a hailstorm of gunfire punctuated by anguished screams and bloodcurdling yells, the scary dude – OG Killer Jackson – stands at the back door of the house with identical silver 45’s in each hand with smoke still coming out of the barrels. He’s looking down at the blood flecks on his shoes. He walks methodically to a waiting car in the alley, leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints, and roars away with a screech of the tires.
INT: 24 HOURS LATER… APARTMENT IN DALLAS AREA
Johnny is holed up in a dirty apartment with two other friends. They’re gathered around a low coffee table sitting on a cheap couch. Money is strewn all over the table, there are a couple of handguns and a suspicious white powder covers everything on the table like dust. The men sit slumped couch drinking (beer? soda? Does it matter?) and laughing. The door burst open and police swarm in like a cloud of blue bees. Johnny’s two friends sit frozen like deer in the headlights. Johnny bolts to the back running as if his life depended on it. (it does) He streaks to the patio of his first floor apartment and inexplicably there is no one there.
EXT: OUTSIDE APARTMENT
Johnny runs out the patio door and clambers over the fence. (A body lays partially hidden in the bushes next to the patio) Johnny runs away stopping only when he has reached his car. He pauses, gasping for breath by the trunk of his car. A gloved hand reaches from behind him and covers his mouth. A terrific but silent struggle ensues. Finally Johnny loses and pays dearly for it. OG Killer Jackson stands over Johnny’s body wiping the dust from his jacket. He strides over to a waiting vehicle and screeches off.

INT: 15 MINUTES LATER… LIVING ROOM IN HOUSE IN DALLAS
Cell Phone Guy sits glumly staring at his blank television screen. The phone rings but he ignores it. A suitcase full of bills sits open next to him and he glances at it idly. He holds a can in one hand drinking from it and an unopened one in the other. Somehow OG Killer Jackson is inside and walking up behind him. Cell Phone Guy doesn’t notice until he sees his reflection in the black screen of his TV.
CELL PHONE GUY
Do you want a beer?
OG Killer Jackson whips out a silver 45 but Cell Phone Guy punches up and behind him knocking the weapon away. A Jackie Chan film breaks out. Household objects take flight, dollar bills fly, fists and feet slice the air, all the while with nary a word spoken save for a few grunts. A clever screenwriter finishes off this story and we get a funny but macabre ending. Idaho goes to bed and Andrew reads it and thinks “Cool…”

Lord preserve us from those who love us so much. I saw this while browsing my favorite neo-liberal webzine, Slate.com.

I am going to be posting some other random things that I have written before.I am only doing this because the last thing I posted was such an unqualified success and traffic improved so much that two fo the four people who visit the webpage everyday stopped coming!