03-26-2011

It’s Saturday morning again and I’m trying to think of what happened the past week that I can share.  Let’s see, I overheard one of my 10-year-old students quoting Al Pacino in Scarface.  Another of my students declined the option of taking a bathroom break prior to recess.  Once he hit the cold, he quickly changed his mind and began searching for a place to relieve himself.  Out in the tundra, there are limited options for finding privacy.  After walking a distance away from the playground, he settled on an acceptable distance and did what needed to be done.  He had a problem, took action, and solved it.   This is what every teacher wants to see from his/her students.  Unfortunately, I doubt we will be seeing this question on our upcoming state standardized test.  I will submit it to the board for next year.

Stephen Wright said, “Hermits have no peer pressure”.  They also have no company.  Living up here is similar to a hermit life style in that there are few chances you’ll have visitors.  I do enjoy the solitary existence that living up here offers.  There are no Wal-Mart trips to anger me.  No Costco crowds to deal with.  I’ve never had a Jehovah’s Witness knock on my door since I’ve been here.  Regrettably, they will now pay me a visit.  I’ve heard that they scan blogs on the Internet to find people they may have missed.  This differs from the old fashion way of only stalking people door-to-door. 

Having time on my hands allows me to watch more TV.  Well, when it is working.  Last weekend I missed the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, so I was able to do homework.  This morning I have a nice signal, so I was able to watch two hours of Man vs. Food.  I love that show.  It is also educational, because I’ve learned that the terms “meat sweats” and “pirate healthy” are perfectly fine to use in our everyday vernacular.  An example of how to use one term correctly would be: “Your Honor, the reason I should be excused from this jury is because I have the meat sweats.”  You could also use this as an excuse so you will never be asked to show up to an event you don’t want to go to.  Meat sweats will frighten some people. 

Another reason I love this show is because of their obsession with bacon.  Almost every food challenge involves bacon somehow.  And lots of meat.  You will never see Adam have to eat a bucket of Brussels sprouts to fulfill his challenge.  But you will see him try eating a 6-pound steak with 2 pounds of fries and a quart of cream to wash it down.  I know some of the after effects of these challenges can be frightening, but I would hate to see what happens to a person after a Brussels sprout chow down.  That would be for an episode of Dirty Jobs.

Since I was successful in spending my time wisely this morning, I probably should do some homework.  Anthropology is a very interesting discipline, but I’m not going to make a career change.  If I did pursue anthropology more, I could write my master’s thesis on the dietary traditions of pirates.  Probably less bacon and more parrots.