tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350115752012-01-27T06:29:27.667-08:00"Come for the rants; stay for the grammar!"fillyjonknoreply@blogger.comBlogger14231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-91833896004507037582012-01-27T06:29:00.000-08:002012-01-27T06:29:27.677-08:00

Things flit through my head, I think of posting on them, but meh. They all add up to one thing: We're kind of screwed right now. If I, with no degree in economics or Political Science or any of that shizz can see that we're going to have to cut federal spending, and damn soon....why can't the people we elected find the backbone to SAY that to people? (That's a rhetorical question; I know the

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-50852421611856775792012-01-24T06:43:00.000-08:002012-01-24T06:43:16.986-08:00

Even though it looks like I have one person with a lot of problems that I will be having to deal with (this is also someone who doesn't seem to follow either written or spoken directions well), I do have a lot of good students. Now, by "good," I mean something a little different from some faculty. Some of my "good" students earn good grades, but some of them are C/B students. Not the top of the

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-67840530475030252322012-01-20T11:18:00.000-08:002012-01-20T12:55:05.832-08:00

I have a research project in one of my classes. To maximize the chances of student success, I require (first) a paragraph or so giving the hypothesis/question they want to use, and then, after I approve that, I have them write a proposal with methods, etc. It's a giant pile of work for me but I think it's valuable, at least for some of the students. Well, the ideas were due today. And one dude

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-63325292833507586782012-01-18T07:58:00.000-08:002012-01-18T07:58:31.495-08:00

One interesting thing about this whole crappy situation: This is one of the few times in the past few years I've seen people who leaned left and people who leaned right united in their opposition to something. (Apparently politicians and some Hollywood types are the main supporters of this. Or so it seems.). This is one of those things...this just shows the overreach of the government. This is

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-42166803620253606222012-01-17T07:10:00.000-08:002012-01-17T07:10:52.161-08:00

I have to admit, I think these things are genius. I love the look of tealight or votive candles in my house, but I rarely used them for two reasons: 1. I'm very paranoid about open flames. Even though I keep the candles in a holder (and usually one that's taller than the candle, like tealights down in a glass), I worry if I get called to the phone or something. And you can't light them and

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-14705226011551483752012-01-13T13:38:00.000-08:002012-01-13T13:38:06.960-08:00

Apparently the Southern cook Paula Deen has been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. I'm seeing all kinds of snark and "color me surprised" comments and the like. I realize that fat people are one of the last bastions of people it's OK to make fun of, but this just seems needlessly mean to me. Type II diabetes can be a deadly disease; it's not something to make light of. I don't know, but

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-91651862071962815072012-01-13T07:18:00.000-08:002012-01-13T07:18:15.402-08:00

I know, I know - how can I be an "informed voter" if I don't watch them. But meh. One thing I will say: I'm really off of Gingrich for now after hearing how he's reacted to stuff. The last thing we need in the White House is some petty, hair-trigger-temper guy who takes stuff personally and gets in a snit over things and claims that people are "playing dirty" so now he's gonna "play dirty" too.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-25676684501806826452012-01-09T11:26:00.000-08:002012-01-09T11:26:31.914-08:00

The brilliant, blinding hatred some people seem to have for Tim Tebow. Yeah, yeah, he's a Christian, and yeah, yeah, he shows it off. And yeah, he's an argument against abortion (as I've heard, his mom was told he'd be severely mentally disabled and it would be preferable to abort. She chose not to, he was born healthy...I suspect that happens more often than doctors like to admit; the daughter

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-42754911367459220862012-01-08T12:22:00.000-08:002012-01-08T12:22:18.978-08:00

I can't tell if Stephen Bloom's commentary on Iowa (That's not the original, but it's a writeup of it, quoting him) is really satire, as he claimed it to be. It sounds pretty pointed and unpleasant to me. ("The elderly waiting to die"? Really?) I read about this little tempest in a teacup when I was up visiting my folks - I think Investor's Business Daily had a bit on it? And my first reaction

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-92186018804249614582011-12-15T13:51:00.000-08:002011-12-15T13:51:00.370-08:00

Heading out on break after this. It's funny how I get really excited for break during the last few days of the semester and then exam week...and then once it's all over, I almost get a little melancholy. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and will be tremendously happy to see them, it's just...I don't like leaving my house unattended for long periods of time. And I miss my routine a little.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-90583741083960278192011-12-13T15:21:00.000-08:002011-12-13T15:21:00.644-08:00

My cable system recently went through a bit of changes, and they adopted a few new channels. Some - there's one called YouToo? - I don't have much use for (It's apparently a channel devoted to people who want to get themselves on television. Meh.) But now I get something called gmc, which a little Googling tells me is the Gospel Music Channel. Their tagline is "Uplifting Entertainment." They

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-81052958610073281552011-12-10T18:36:00.000-08:002011-12-10T18:36:00.627-08:00

This is something I've probably "known" for a while, but the events of today made me explicitly realize it: There is a point at which I have reached my limit of tolerance of being crowded in with other people, and I just need to go off and be alone. Today was graduation. They always tell us "be present at 9:30 to line up," which I interpret as "You need to be there at 9:20" - I was always

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-58251252096510498242011-12-09T15:29:00.000-08:002011-12-09T15:29:42.674-08:00

Though probably none of you reading this need it. But maybe you could pass it on to college-bound students of your acquaintance? The question, "Is there anything I can do to improve my grade?" is not a bad question. If it is asked in, say, the third or fourth week of the semester, after the first exam turned out to be harder than expected, or the student earned a grade lower than what they had

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-74853483648200074882011-12-09T08:44:00.000-08:002011-12-09T08:44:12.345-08:00

I was brushing my hair this morning, gearing up to come over campus. My hair has gotten a little bit long and shaggy, but since it's so close (like, just over a week) before I go visit my family for Christmas, I'm just going to have the woman who cuts my mom's hair do it for me - she's good, she charges a reasonable price, and it will be easier to do it when I'm on break than it will be now. And

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-75542089312978551712011-12-08T11:43:00.000-08:002011-12-08T11:43:43.051-08:00

Okay, I admit it. After hearing that Rod Blagojevich was being sent to prison for 14 years, my first reaction was to say (to the image of him on the television), "Watch out for yer cornhole, bud" like Lawrence in "Office Space." This makes how many former Illinois governors in prison? Two that I know of....

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-12768643842096482011-12-05T13:10:00.000-08:002011-12-05T13:10:53.421-08:00

One of my favorite Christmas specials when I was a kid was "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Part of it was that I just liked the whole "animagic" stop-motion way of doing things (more recent updates - there's one of the Heat Miser and Cold Miser - that are CGI or some computer technique - don't have the same "homemade" feel and the same heart to them, I think). And yeah, if you think of it,

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-1506473160030536992011-12-02T06:19:00.000-08:002011-12-02T06:19:14.941-08:00

Once in a while, you read a book, and there's a character who just gets on your last nerve. Either they're poorly-written (the author's fault, in that case), or the characterization the author has given them makes them SO annoying. Right now I'm reading Bleak House. I'm probably 2/3 of the way through. But I get slowed down because I keep running into that damned Harold Skimpole. He's the guy

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-63474013382316759672011-12-01T05:48:00.000-08:002011-12-01T05:48:33.448-08:00

A long time back, I wrote about strong leaders (willing to stand behind decisions but also willing to admit when they were wrong) and weak leaders (want to push the blame onto others). I also think there are the "promotion" type of leaders and the "director" type of leaders. (This is based on something I heard being discussed on the radio early this morning.) Some political leaders (sadly,

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-47727857803326070362011-11-30T12:50:00.000-08:002011-11-30T12:50:17.470-08:00

I really liked Adventure Time (the cartoon) when it first started up. But lately, there have been a few things about it that I find...unsettling. The most recent one is the "Jake's Croak Dream" episode: Jake has a dream in which he dies, and decides that it's his destiny to fulfill that dream in real life. Which just struck me as very dark and very sad. (And ends with Fin deciding that he can

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-37364302005866225202011-11-28T06:05:00.000-08:002011-11-28T06:05:50.819-08:00

I'm not a fan of the Black Friday hype. I think it's an idea whose time has gone - back in the days (days that maybe never existed), when people shopped for Christmas only after Thanksgiving - when stores like the Woolworth's and the downtown department stores opened their toy departments the day after Thanksgiving, when Christmas windows were revealed that day....it made sense. Now, it's mainly

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-77820255529080140432011-11-18T12:11:00.000-08:002011-11-18T12:11:37.482-08:00

Something I've noticed with a lot of my students is that they don't seem to have a lot of mental flexibility (for lack of a better term). For example, in one of my classes, I was teaching a dihybrid Mendelian cross. This is where you have two unlinked traits, you have to be able to figure out the combinations of offspring two parents could have. The most complex situation of this is

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-75732256667250750022011-11-14T09:54:00.000-08:002011-11-14T09:54:14.163-08:00

I have this one student. Let's call her Ophelia. Ophelia has spent the ENTIRE semester pissing and moaning about how HARD everything is, how much WORK everything is. She's VERY vocal and uses a tone of voice I interpret as borderline rude. Well, she stops me before I start class today: "I don't understand the calculations from lab! I can't do the lab!" So I sigh. And I say, okay, let me finish

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-15767651056769875112011-11-14T05:54:00.000-08:002011-11-14T05:54:22.785-08:00

I got to thinking about this, after hearing about some of the legislation that's being considered in various California cities: banning pet stores, to protect against "puppy mills" and large numbers of unwanted dogs and cats; banning the sale of fur clothing; the various 'dietary' measures (like banning trans fats). And something struck me: If, like me, you believe in God, you also most likely

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-21604173927226479792011-11-10T07:30:00.001-08:002011-11-10T07:32:06.317-08:00

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you woke up in bearded-Spock world? Here's the latest news story that made me go, "WTH, humanity, WTH?" Parents buying chicken-pox-contaminated lollipops to avoid vaccinating their child. Okay. I'm of the generation that dealt with chicken pox the old-fashioned way (my brother brought it home from kindergarten and I caught it - and yes, because I

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-47491465200934762732011-11-10T05:31:00.000-08:002011-11-10T05:31:46.458-08:00

Okay. So, it looks like one of the assistant coaches at Penn State was caught molesting kids he was supposed to be helping (through a charity he set up). Someone sees it, goes to Joe Paterno. Paterno doesn't call the cops. The administrators who find out don't call the cops. When the stuff hits the fan (This, kids, is another reason to tell the truth and do what's right: if you try to cover crap

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-65133577712521157682011-11-03T13:04:00.001-07:002011-11-03T13:04:15.513-07:00

Have you ever wanted to drag a student aside after class and say, "If you hate this subject so much, if you find all the exercises so tedious and boring, why are you majoring in this subject?" I have someone like that this semester. EVERYTHING is awful, EVERYTHING is an effort. The person does not *seem* depressed (I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt). They try to con other people

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-71726264308024211302011-11-03T08:23:00.000-07:002011-11-03T08:23:15.067-07:00

The Memebase site (one of the I Can Has Cheezburger sites, and yes, I love many of those sites dearly), has a running gag about "Terrible Teacher" (It's actually more aimed at grade-school teachers, and actually, yes, I had teachers who did a few of those things...) Anyway, I was thinking that "Snotty Student" could be the reverse side of this. Just a few ideas: "Shows up to class 20 minutes

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-57967580111277397232011-11-01T12:55:00.000-07:002011-11-01T12:55:11.620-07:00

I think the continued poor economy is affecting people badly. It seems lately I've seen more rude, awful, pushy and even dangerous behavior - both in stores and on the road. I had to run to the grocery store this afternoon for some supplies for feeding my women's group this week. The store had marked down all the leftover halloween candy and had it set out in carts near the checkout line.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-56860875333474613012011-10-25T12:10:00.000-07:002011-10-25T12:10:38.695-07:00

Apparently this is something some of the OWS protestors are asking for. I have a couple of problems with the concept; one is a practical problem, the other is a more philosophical problem. I don't deny that college has become expensive. And for a lot of jobs where you once could be hired with a high-school diploma, you now need a B.A., or even in some cases, an M.A. And that's a problem. I've

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-10600891259668647042011-10-23T11:28:00.000-07:002011-10-23T11:28:00.807-07:00

One of the kids' tv networks (The Hub) has given Warren Buffett his own cartoon. You read that right. Warren Buffett as a cartoon character. The show is apparently one of those overtly-educational cartoons, aimed at teaching kids about earning money. (My immediate reaction: Mr. Buffett, are you also going to teach them about taxes, that anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 what they earn will go to the

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-54402197538105665922011-10-19T14:36:00.000-07:002011-10-19T14:36:02.173-07:00

I do a tree-identification lab with one of my classes. We did it today. What I plan for the lab is this: I get out herbarium sheets (dried, mounted specimens of leaves and twigs), set them out, give the students some guidelines of characteristics to look for. After they've spent a while examining and drawing and writing descriptions of the specimens, I take them out on campus and show them what

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-87343652488106199912011-10-18T07:42:00.000-07:002011-10-18T07:42:53.427-07:00

The SOP when something goes wrong with classroom technology is to report it to our chair, and then ask the secretary (who has the real power) to call whoever-it-is- who is to fix it. Well, one of our projectors started going wonky. I told the chair, she groaned and said, "That probably means the bulb is starting to go. Have J. call computer services, but it seems like they order one bulb at a

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-6610406138305535602011-10-14T14:50:00.001-07:002011-10-14T14:50:35.148-07:00

This just shows me how broken people can be, and how envy/selfishness can destroy the lives of innocent bystanders. I'm talking about the news story about that man in California. He was engaged in an ugly custody battle over his son with his ex-wife. So he went to the salon where his wife worked and killed her. And a bunch of other people. And so now there's not just one family grieving, but

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-73767830142582443802011-10-12T08:05:00.001-07:002011-10-12T08:05:45.085-07:00

Just because envy is currently more fashionable/more acceptable than greed, doesn't make it any less ugly than greed.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-27961007123754388242011-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:002011-10-11T11:01:00.540-07:00

I gave an exam in one of my classes this week. One of the students - this is the person I talked about before who shut down when they couldn't quickly find the lab in the lab manual and accused me of not putting it in - claimed that she didn't like my exams because they were "too hard." That led to a little eruption of griping - I needed to give more detailed review guides (oh, my children. Let

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-46156145845318613102011-10-09T18:03:00.000-07:002011-10-09T18:03:33.486-07:00

A friend of mine is having problems with her son being bullied. He's mildly ADHD, so he's a "weird" kid in the eyes of a lot of of the other kids. And he gets set off really easily - she's working with him on his temper, but it's slow going. The aggravating thing is that the school is blaming him. "If he just didn't get upset, if he didn't push back, those other kids wouldn't bully him." While

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-13286097190469789252011-10-08T07:45:00.000-07:002011-10-08T07:45:37.253-07:00

I can't read any more/listen to any more on the "Occupy Whereever" movement. It makes me too sad. And frankly, too scared: There are people (a small number, I am sure, but still) calling for things like "kill the rich." It's all fine the people who are laughing at the clueless 20 year olds in the crowd who are protesting mainly because they think it's cool - but I think we make too much fun of

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-58332884125308643972011-10-05T07:53:00.000-07:002011-10-05T08:04:21.726-07:00

Michael Moore: "The rich are kleptomaniacs and sociopaths." Takes one to know one, I guess. He's calling for caps on Wall Street salaries and the salaries of rich businessmen. Why not also cap salaries of entertainers, while we're at it? What I totally don't get is why is a wealthy businessperson - who probably creates meaningful jobs for a lot of people - is evil, but some entertainer making

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-24195076364055400012011-10-03T05:22:00.000-07:002011-10-03T05:22:06.325-07:00

I have to admit, I'm sure part of this is filtered through my own feelings/experience. But I'm frustrated at the protestors and the news coverage of them. Granted, I'm the kind of person who, if I see something I think is wrong and unjust, I'm more likely to say to myself, "Okay, what can I do to work towards fixing this" rather than "Gee, I should go and complain about it to someone." For

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-26185927411932041412011-10-01T07:58:00.000-07:002011-10-01T07:58:19.886-07:00

I've been fairly quiet on the teaching-discussion front this fall. I've been crazy busy (new preps are a lot of work, and the stats class I teach can be intellectually exhausting), but things have been pretty good. Dare I say it, lest I jinx myself? But I seem to be having a special-snowflake-free semester. And a couple good things have happened. I got an e-mail from a former student who is now

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-49268534962748719042011-09-29T10:14:00.000-07:002011-09-29T10:14:02.301-07:00

Or at least, that's what I wish. I was busy working on something last night. The local news ended and the network (CBS, I think) news came on. And they were talking about how some California school districts were having to consolidate, and how Everyone Is Sad About That. They interviewed a teacher who expressed fear that students would "fall through the cracks" in her class, now that she was

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-32511111685908934242011-09-22T05:28:00.000-07:002011-09-22T05:28:01.659-07:00

There's just so much news out there that makes me so tired. (Politics makes me want to throw up right now). But sometimes I can still find some amusement. You've doubtless seen the now famous photo of Obama, where he got tired of waiting or something (and on that, I can sympathize with him: I hate having my picture taken, especially group shots where the photographer is all, "Oh, let me take

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-13223221376920991802011-09-20T08:32:00.000-07:002011-09-20T08:32:02.347-07:00

This is an idea that's been discussed a lot, because of the article "What if the secret to success is failure" in the NYTimes. Prof Mondo discusses it The concept that there's a difference between failure and defeat is important. And I admit, it was something I struggled with as a kid - I was good at a lot of stuff, I earned good grades. Then I got to college and I had a few hard lessons: one

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-15043005868945665232011-09-19T05:33:00.000-07:002011-09-19T05:33:10.110-07:00

I'm sure you've all heard of Warren Buffett's comment about how it wasn't fair he was paying less of a percentage of his income in taxes than his secretary did. While I don't necessarily dispute the unfairness of that situation, I'd solve it in a different way than what Obama has chosen to propose (apparently with Buffett's blessing). From everything I've read, this new higher tax rate will

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-42351813963994168742011-09-16T06:04:00.000-07:002011-09-16T06:04:32.657-07:00

Ugh. This semester is a lot more work than I thought it would be. That's why the infrequent postings here. But here's something that annoys me: Why do some people feel the need to crap all over someone else's enjoyment of something? I mean, there are myriad television shows out there that I think are awful and dumb, but if someone talks about how they love the show and stuff, I just kind of

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-5961798439848938792011-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:002011-09-06T10:00:44.549-07:00

Apparently the USPS is in some financial trouble. (So what else is new?) What's interesting to me is how two different news reports on it went. First: a CBS national report (but funneled through the local TV affiliate's news): "Could the USPS be nearly at a shutdown? Would the U.S. be paralyzed by a mail stoppage?" Second, this morning, on the (ABC, I think) affiliate radio station I listen to

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-11030539119222935322011-09-06T07:37:00.000-07:002011-09-06T07:37:04.608-07:00

Next week is the big anniversary - the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. At times, it feels really long ago...but at others it seems amazing that it happened that long ago. I don't know what to make of the day. On one hand, I think it's important to remember that in this world, there are people who would kill every one of us Westerners if they could. That there are people who hate us because

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-56617078823175931662011-09-01T05:32:00.000-07:002011-09-01T05:32:38.126-07:00

This is the kind of thing that frustrates me. First example: I was announcing in class what lab the students were doing this week. One women pipes up: "I CAN'T find the LAB in the LAB BOOK. You DIDN'T put that lab in the LAB BOOK." Very snarky, very nasty. Now, granted, maybe she was having a bad day - I don't know her well, yet. But the tone of voice and the accusation that I had screwed up put

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-16662859491070362532011-08-31T05:30:00.000-07:002011-08-31T05:30:07.896-07:00

It occurs to me that if someone wanted to take over the U.S. government in a coup, they would do well to wait for the next time a hurricane is headed for the east coast. (And if there's some big celebrity news as well - a death, someone winding up in rehab, some outrageous comment - all the better). Yes, I know Irene was a big threat. Yes, it's tragic that people died, and it's unfortunate that

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-7616723138641236162011-08-30T12:51:00.000-07:002011-08-30T12:51:00.121-07:00

This is something I've heard is happening, especially in some rural districts...schools are shifting to longer days for four days of the week, and then not having school on the fifth day (typically, Friday). The stated reason is to save the districts money on things like transportation, heating, cooling, and electricity. (However, I wonder about those last three - from what I've read, teachers

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-74229049063862850132011-08-24T08:54:00.001-07:002011-08-24T08:54:03.489-07:00

1. I've already had several of my stats students asking me why the homeworks aren't available/designed to be submitted via BlackBoard. Because I'm a dinosaur who likes seeing your calculations done out on paper, that's why. The answers aren't what's important here - the work is. Knowing that you can apply the tests correctly. 2. I had a would-be employer call me because a student put me down as

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-84919215868249602582011-08-24T05:42:00.000-07:002011-08-24T05:42:19.968-07:00

- Still enjoying my classes but still crazy busy. I forgot how much time and mental energy a from-scratch new prep (as opposed to a "reviewing and updating existing material") takes. - It's still hot here, which affects my energy level, my tolerance of fellow humans (Seriously: I've wanted to punch at least one person in the nose every time I've gone to the grocery store lately), and my energy

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-35198523337286657582011-08-18T07:43:00.001-07:002011-08-18T07:43:48.015-07:00

The class that meets after mine is an upper-division class most of the pre-meds take. As I was picking up my stuff and preparing to leave, a couple of the women in that next class walked in, talking. One of them said to the other: "I tell you: No going out the first couple weeks of class! You need to keep your mind on your studies, at least early on. You can wait to go drinking." hahahahaha.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-38121284770784645452011-08-18T07:26:00.000-07:002011-08-18T07:26:33.653-07:00

For the first time ever here, I'm teaching the bio-majors introductory class. (Normally I teach the non-majors intro class, but because of the clustermuck with the instructor last year, and our inability to find someone willing to teach for chump change (at an adjunct level), I wound up teaching it). I don't have any non-majors classes this semester. I'm blown away by my intro majors. They're

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-57127457181418961132011-08-17T06:37:00.001-07:002011-08-17T06:37:29.800-07:00

The new classes (so far) look fine. I'm not teaching non-majors this fall and it looks like that will be a big relief...I had forgotten how the non-majors could kind of suck a person's soul from them. However, in my personal life, I'm dealing with a couple people who, partly because of thin-skinned-ness, up and dropped a bunch of responsibilities they were carrying (essentially, the "I'm taking

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-49687569918215897382011-08-13T07:53:00.000-07:002011-08-13T07:53:28.176-07:00

One of the newspaper stories I read when I was up visiting my parents discussed cursive writing. (They still have a viable newspaper in their town, I don't, really - I let my subscription lapse because I was sick of it not showing up/showing up when I requested a "vacation hold"/finding it was six pages long with four of those pages being local sports/not having any of the Sunday sections any

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-54633804055295279212011-08-11T10:52:00.000-07:002011-08-11T10:52:37.372-07:00

I got to thinking about that again over this break: how incredibly, unbelievably fortunate I am to have the parents I do. To be born to and raised by the people I was. I got to thinking about this because I went to church with them while I was visiting over break. The "new" assistant minister (he's also the Music Minister and has been so for a while, but he was recently promoted and got the pay

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-65938686502767295922011-07-28T07:51:00.000-07:002011-07-28T07:51:01.038-07:00

One last post before vacation. I got to thinking about this based on two blogposts. First, at Joanne Jacobs: Teaching Empathy to the 'me' generation (Huh. I thought the Baby Boomers where the "me" generation. Apparently the Millennials or whatever we're calling them are the New Me generation, or maybe the Me-Me generation.) Then, over at Prof. Mondo's: Whited Sepulchres on a Sunday. I think

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-84997608535568376762011-07-27T05:58:00.000-07:002011-07-27T05:58:27.037-07:00

I was half-listening to radio news this morning and they mentioned something about some businesses choosing to have "child-free" times, or to be entirely "child-free." I know there's a restaurant in Pennsylvania that was much in the news because the owner decided he didn't want people bringing children younger than 6 to his restaurant. But on this radio report, they also said that some Whole

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-80540904857054779642011-07-26T09:30:00.001-07:002011-07-26T09:30:37.217-07:00

I go tomorrow to spend some time traveling around and visiting family. I'm in today trying to wrap stuff up (including grading a paper that fulfills an incomplete...the person handed it in with ONE DAY TO GO before the incomplete became an F. They had a whole year to complete the paper.) But wow, am I ever unmotivated. I want to be on vacation so badly, I want to be away from this hot, sweaty,

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-32362678795082529702011-07-25T15:02:00.000-07:002011-07-25T15:02:40.192-07:00

Fall classes start in a couple of weeks. By and large, I'll be happy to be back teaching again - I miss the interaction with students, I miss the feeling of having a daily purpose (rather than the nebulous long-term goal of "get research done"). But one thing I won't miss will be dealing with student problems. I was talking with a colleague about this the other day. Students tend to fall into

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-11611705051452110522011-07-23T08:56:00.001-07:002011-07-23T08:56:37.753-07:00

Because at this point, humans would be extinct. And I'd be starting over with the owls or the skinks or something else as being the next "intelligent life" on Earth. So, so, so, so fed up with my species right now.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-4905165864527468892011-07-23T08:17:00.000-07:002011-07-23T08:17:32.907-07:00

Allow me to be among the first Christians to decry and distance from the actions of the Oslo bomber. Apparently he was a "fundamentalist Christian." Great. I'm spitting nails here. Whatever he espouses, that is NOT Christianity. Christianity does NOT believe in killing innocent people... in fact, many branches of it won't even send their young men to be soldiers, because they believe all killing

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-22543489000048143542011-07-22T07:54:00.000-07:002011-07-22T07:54:46.191-07:00

Explosions in Oslo. Very, very likely linked to terrorism. Possibly retaliation for terror charges being filed against a Muslim cleric. This is ugly. I hope there is minimal loss of life and injury. There were explosions in India a few days ago but I think they thing those are Maoist terrorists doing those. There is evil in the world. I hope they catch the people who did these bombings (or

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-86349242610214905242011-07-21T08:24:00.000-07:002011-07-21T08:24:48.028-07:00

It's been brutally hot here. Oh, I know, a lot of the rest of y'all are getting it now, and it's worse on you Northerners because many of you don't have air conditioning. But we've been putting up with heat indexes greater than 100 F since, I don't know, June 10 or something. I'm ready for it to be DONE. I'm also continually dismayed by what I hear in the news: - We probably won't get any kind

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-66937984677750226092011-07-19T06:54:00.000-07:002011-07-19T06:54:25.868-07:00

I realize that parents can and probably will disagree with me on this. And I admit I can see some of the arguments against it. But, sometimes I wonder if maybe having some "use fees" in public schools might not solve some of the budgetary problems. There was a woman talking on the radio news I was listening to this morning (she was not from my district, she was from another district in a

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-7191716101938894252011-07-18T07:27:00.000-07:002011-07-18T07:27:04.791-07:00

I don't know if I've addressed this before on here...I kind of think I wrote a post about it some months ago. But anyway, there's a new book out on what I think might be part of the problem. I see several issues affecting college costs: 1. Simple inflation 2. Administrative expansion; similarly, expansion in "non-teaching" faculty on some campuses. 3. Parents and students demanding all the "

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-16849619397081986072011-07-16T07:50:00.000-07:002011-07-16T07:50:19.083-07:00

So, a couple little girls in Georgia decided they wanted to go to a water park. Rather than going to their parents and whining until the parents caved in, they decided (either on their own, or from mom's suggestion...I don't know which), to run a lemonade stand to raise the money. Except, apparently, unlicensed lemonade stands are dangerous. So the cops shut them down - unless they coughed up

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-6345963873495219832011-07-14T16:11:00.000-07:002011-07-14T16:14:10.124-07:00

I suspect most of us do this from time to time. Even when we're trying to be frugal, even when we're all "the economy is going to keep tanking, inflation is going to keep going up, I may regret not having held onto this money when dry beans are $8 a bag" But there comes a point where you also go: "Yeah, and I could get hit by a bus tomorrow." My comfort spending is never all THAT ruinous; I

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-47227576866606140322011-07-13T06:09:00.000-07:002011-07-13T06:09:42.954-07:00

I'm trying not to really watch/listen to news very much these days. Because I get increasingly convinced of the brokenness of our society and the current brokenness of the government. (Thomas Jefferson, were he resurrected from the dead, would vomit. That is, if resurrected-from-the-dead guys can vomit). First off: the whole budget/debt limit mess. The thing that frustrated me today was hearing

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-87421619829331141702011-07-06T05:42:00.000-07:002011-07-06T05:42:11.199-07:00

Some months back I wrote about two family friends, both of them doctors (one a retired surgeon) who had developed fairly advanced cancer. Well, I saw D. (the retired surgeon) over my last visit with my parents. He LOOKED a lot better than he had, and he told my dad that he felt a great deal better, that he could eat normally again, and that he was gaining back the weight he lost during the first

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-70715831706651015852011-07-04T07:45:00.000-07:002011-07-04T07:45:59.082-07:00

To the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To never again being so under the thumb of a monarchy (or a would-be monarchy) that we lose our voices. To always being able to speak our minds, worship as we see fit (or not worship at all, if that is what we see fit), to be free to assemble. To be free to bear arms. To be free from unreasonable searches, from having to quarter

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-76583235653103573562011-07-03T17:02:00.000-07:002011-07-03T17:02:01.004-07:00

You know, I think eventually there's going to be a mass "shrug" in the American public. Maybe not the kind Ayn Rand wrote of, so much, but a "shrug" on the part of the people who are responsible, who do what they say they will, who are "always there" and wind up picking up the slack for everyone else. I'm tired. I spent most of the weekend involved with various volunteer projects. I baked

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-88233254840446268742011-07-01T08:10:00.000-07:002011-07-01T08:10:11.836-07:00

Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn? The guy who was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid? It now seems entirely possible the maid lied. This kind of thing makes me furious. For one thing, a person (granted, a person I may not like very much, but a person all the same) has had his reputation tarnished. I live in a small town. There are some people here, I do not know why, who seem to live

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-69485386622573240602011-06-30T13:22:00.000-07:002011-06-30T13:22:10.274-07:00

This kind of think makes me positively crazy: Man boards plane without boarding pass (and now they're saying, without identification. Especially in light of the fact that a woman dying of leukemia was asked to remove her adult diaper so she could be screened better. (I wonder: what about a woman who is having a very heavy menstrual period and is wearing a large pad - would they be pulled aside

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-87267224379057459692011-06-25T18:41:00.000-07:002011-06-25T18:41:17.258-07:00

1. The Casey Anthony trial. Look, it's horrible, it's unfortunate, it's sad. If she killed her daughter she should go away for a long, long time. BUT I DO NOT NEED TO HEAR UPDATES EVERY FIFTEEN FRICKING MINUTES. This is like the dang OJ trial all over again. I don't know why the news takes something like this and pleasures themselves over it for so much time, when there are real actual problems

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-79964029753100558712011-06-25T10:38:00.000-07:002011-06-25T10:38:00.228-07:00

People often ask me why I don't go out more, why I don't do all kinds of stuff with close friends - or why I don't seek out more friends than I do. Well, people mostly make me nuts. I have a few good friends but many of them live far away from me now (one of the closest ones is about 4 hours away and she and I do try to meet up in person a couple times a year to catch up and hang out). But I've

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-78891087126017472562011-06-18T06:32:00.000-07:002011-06-18T06:32:26.772-07:00

I have tried, of late, to avoid peevey posts on here. But you know, there are some things I just hate about grocery shopping. In my town, there are essentially two grocery stores: a small, family-run one, which is nice, but lacks some of the items I regularly buy, and then there is the wal-mart. I try to patronize the family-run place, both because I want to see them succeed, and also

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-89943717646759671442011-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:002011-06-17T08:03:00.714-07:00

The meeting I was so freaked out about, where I speculated that I had done something "wrong" in the eyes of the dean without my fully realizing it? It was actually a meeting to find out who I'd nominate as the next department chair. The dean is meeting with everyone in my department. However, my last name is near the front of the alphabet so I was the first person called in. Yeah. Duh. But I'm

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-32535371774700267722011-06-13T13:46:00.000-07:002011-06-13T13:46:46.458-07:00

It's interesting how a place works on you when you live there a while. When I moved here, some ten years ago, it was during a drought, mid-summer. It was hot, the cicadas sang endlessly, there were no clouds in the metallic-looking sky. I was miserable. And it wasn't just the weather. I was far, far away from family. Far from friends. I knew almost no one, outside of the colleagues in my

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-64270370685995939832011-06-11T18:01:00.000-07:002011-06-11T18:43:55.865-07:00

Depending on some little news I get next week, this blog may or may not be going away. I've been invited to a meeting with a higher-up and while it's almost certainly nothing related to my online activity, still, now, I'm worried. I don't expect a cease-and-desist, but one never knows. I tried to anonymize as much as possible and be positive as much as possible. I really hope my keeping this blog

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-43437169142102152402011-06-10T07:40:00.000-07:002011-06-10T07:40:00.589-07:00

The first full week of summer research has concluded. (I told the students we weren't going to work today - I need to take care of some stuff, and also, I'm really, really tired.) And I'm dealing with yet another difficult person. This is someone who is happy to tell me what is wrong with everyone else around them. At first, I thought, wow, this person is just really lousy at choosing co-workers

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-45826665976765832752011-06-06T14:15:00.000-07:002011-06-06T14:15:40.216-07:00

(What I have seen of late, has mostly been the Anthony trial. I don't know. I have no interest in it. It's sad, if the woman killed her kid she should be put away for it, but I don't want to hear the details). I had heard a little about the Weiner affair. I don't know, I reserved judgment, not knowing the details and having known people whose e-mail accounts got hacked. But my mom called me -

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-90170440014220868402011-06-04T10:31:00.000-07:002011-06-04T10:31:00.169-07:00

Not teaching this summer, I mean. I've taught every year I've been employed up to now. I decided to take the summer off because I have a large research project (well, two, really, but one is already underway) that I want to work on. If things go well I should be able to complete the data collection this summer. But it's strange not to be worrying about the academic calendar. Not having to have

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-46345551514458492402011-05-31T08:38:00.000-07:002011-05-31T08:38:49.104-07:00

...Finally.. The prosecutors are going to request the death penalty, and apparently in Massachusetts, they're going to try to bring her to trial for the death of her brother. (The defense is going to try for the insanity defense). I have to admit that that incident was something that really shook me. I think it's because it happened in a setting not unlike the one where I work: a Southern

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-35111254404970110822011-05-30T06:39:00.000-07:002011-05-30T06:39:02.799-07:00

I wonder how the observance of Memorial Day has changed over the years. I don't really have a good "handle" on it, because my main early memories of it were as a child growing up in a relatively-small and history-obsessed town. We had parades (One year, I think it must have been the Bicentennial year, my Brownie troop got to march in the parade. I remember it though I would have only been 7 or so

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-30329188013476798572011-05-16T06:21:00.001-07:002011-05-16T06:21:31.202-07:00

One last thing before I go on break: see more Memebase and check out our Troll Face lols! The sad thing is, there are also many current members of Congress that this would equally apply to....

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-22072339312191946232011-05-15T09:16:00.000-07:002011-05-15T09:16:00.058-07:00

I'm glad the semester was over. This was less tough than many semesters, but still tiring. (And of course, at the end, there was some craziness - a student who was getting an I from me for some reason thought she had to go and request it personally from the dean, which apparently upset the dean, because the dean is very into chain-of-command and doesn't seem to like random people coming into her

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-51340332442122847242011-05-10T15:33:00.001-07:002011-05-10T15:33:54.911-07:00

Well, the inevitable finally happened. My friend - I think I asked for prayers for her family over a year ago - finally lost her mom. In a way, it was a blessing - she was so far advanced with Alzheimer's that she no longer recognized anyone - no longer spoke, for that matter. I know my friend was being run ragged going to the nursing home to help feed her and to watch over her. (Most people

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-7841659669158635292011-05-10T08:15:00.000-07:002011-05-10T08:15:38.551-07:00

"10 Commandments" for successful students (could also be called The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Students). I saw that over at Joanne Jacobs' place. It makes a lot of sense: Take responsibility for your actions, take notes, learn good time management, don't act bored (because actions can become thoughts/beliefs)....In general, the whole idea of being ACTIVE in your education and taking

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-2455883665317210802011-05-09T07:28:00.000-07:002011-05-09T07:28:33.591-07:00

A person here on campus may have done a VERY passive-aggressive thing that will screw over several of our abilities to get grades in in a timely fashion. Which, of course, hurts the students as well. I'm really put out with this person. I can't tell if it's phoning it in because they're a short-timer, or if it's specifically engineered to make it difficult for the rest of us - again, because

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-10802095102338146822011-05-04T06:10:00.000-07:002011-05-04T08:14:52.215-07:00

I've had the experience, fairly recently, of listening to the sour grapes ranting of someone whose contract is not being renewed. Apparently this person has decided not just to burn their bridges, but to throw gasoline on them, and then urinate on the burned remains when they're done. The problem is, my office is near this person's office. Near enough that I can HEAR everything they say. Yes,

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-4729498442167555452011-05-02T06:02:00.000-07:002011-05-02T06:02:56.175-07:00

That's pretty much my main reaction to the news that Osama has been killed. Well done, gentlemen. Otherwise, I admit, the news leaves me kind of...flat. While it's taking out someone who was (probably) still a threat, and while it was maybe slightly avenging what happened on 9/11...still, I don't see this putting an end to the risk of extremist Islamic terrorism. And I don't see them easing up

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-64621334765675468022011-04-28T11:53:00.001-07:002011-04-28T11:53:34.199-07:00

Wow, the tornadoes in Alabama...I hadn't seen too much coverage but it looks brutal and horrible. My prayers are with those affected. (I live in tornado alley myself, so I always shudder when I hear about a tornado outbreak...it is truly a scary thing). The one bit of good news? When I went to call in a donation to the Salvation Army (I'm broker than a skunk right now, but I figured I could

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-85997601585882008382011-04-25T08:36:00.000-07:002011-04-25T08:36:45.022-07:00

I gave an exam in class today. I just received a rambling, ungrammatical e-mail from a student apologizing for missing class and wanting to know what we did and what he could do to make it up - no glimmer, apparently, that we had an exam today. I think I figured out what frustrates me with some of the students (predominantly, but not exclusively, Millennials): they are so used to people

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-30969597839513408172011-04-25T05:36:00.001-07:002011-04-25T05:37:57.142-07:00

Hah! I like it.

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-11661962350215608682011-04-22T09:36:00.000-07:002011-04-22T09:36:04.788-07:00

For those of you unaware, my background is Protestant. We do Holy Week a little differently from the Catholics. I think actually a lot of Protestant churches play down Holy Thursday and Good Friday. I think it's because there is some...turning away, maybe? From the violence of the image of Christ on the Cross. (Most Protestant churches, for example, have an empty cross - symbolizing the

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-71833182626791261382011-04-19T08:09:00.000-07:002011-04-19T08:09:00.935-07:00

Before coming over to campus this morning, I watched a bit of a program on forgiveness. The thing that pulled me in was a woman who had - along with her college roommate - been brutally attacked while they were camping. The man who did it, even though (apparently) some of the townspeople identified him, knew who he was, got off scot-free, because the statute of limitations expired. But I kept

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-92194789638573914062011-04-17T20:28:00.000-07:002011-04-17T20:28:00.751-07:00

This has been a difficult spring. I don't exactly know why; I can't pinpoint any one thing. I think part of it is that we've had a major administrative change in the past few years where I work, and the people who used to be pretty much content to leave departments that were working well alone have been replaced with people with a love of micromanaging. (We got an e-mail the other day claiming

fillyjonknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35011575.post-26013313013226685522011-04-11T05:31:00.000-07:002011-04-11T05:31:56.452-07:00

So, the Boston mayor is deciding to nanny his citizens by banning soft drink sales on city property. Here's the quote that makes me irritated: “I want to make this a healthier choice, the easier choice in people’s daily lives, whether it’s the schools, the work sites or other places in the community,” Dude: it's not a CHOICE if people are FORCED to do it. The last time I went to a baseball

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