Warning: Sweatpants

It is a well known scientific fact that sweatpants will cause any individual to become fat. And by well known I mean made up. But consider this. When wearing sweats for long periods of time, say weeks or months. One does not take notice of their ever expanding waistline. The traditional non elastic waistband reminds victims of the gain they are experiencing as the buttons scream under the mounting strain. But each day of the sweats is like a day with no means of measurement. the response is "they are so comfy" which is true and they continue to become more comfortable as individuals are less and less capable of fitting in their old pants. When it is all said and done tragedy has struck, and figures have been destroyed.

Save yourself and your friends! Friends don't let friends wear sweats.

Skill vs. Specialized knowledge

There was plenty of down time in class today. There was a test last class and therefore our teacher was attempting to give tests back and dive into new material, we only got half our tests back and the material we covered in class was from the section we were just tested on. I took this time to jot down a few notes on something I had been thinking about, and to doodle extensively.

The idea was thus, something like teaching is unique. Impressive so far! There are really two elements to this uniqueness. Teaching is first a skill but also requires amounts of what I will call specialized knowledge. I want to talk a bit about both.

Exceptional teaching is not often encountered. It is a skill, an art, and possibly a science. No matter what the subject matter a good teacher is a good teacher. They all have in common a profound ability to convey knowledge. They are able to pass on knowledge with seeming ease and inspire their pupils. Taking raw information and funneling it into orderly decipherable brain food. It goes further when their student continues to be reminded of their teachers lessons on subjects or life. They calm the nerves and bring out the best. But it does not matter what the subject is, the best share this trait. It is hard learned.

The second part is specialized knowledge. This is the subject matter of any teacher. It is what most people would consider makes them smart and other people dumb. Which is frankly a false assumption. Doctors and fishermen both have this, and switch the fields on them and they will both seem as though they are imbeciles. It is why real fans of baseball get excited when it seems that no one has even gotten on base all game, there isn't even a score in the eighth inning but they jump all over the room and shout at the screen! It doesn't actually mark intelligence but only familiarity with a given subject. This is however the broad base of knowledge that teachers decipher from to inform their eager students.

This may seem obvious to some, but how obvious is it really? This past spring I substitute taught two history classes for the remainder of the year, I even wrote their exams! But what are my qualifications? Well… I have taught Sunday School for a number of years, I also have received my AASI level II certification, and I have taken many history classes which I generally ace. But no Associates or Bachelors in either discipline! Yet it seems that we dove deeply into the material and opened discussions, encouraged the use of critical thinking, and have had a somewhat lasting impression on the students. I am not trying to pat myself on the back, I am just trying to express a love of teaching and also to dash the idea of superior 'smarts' based on ones extensive 'studying' of any particular subject.

Bad taste

I have realized after some testing that I have terrible taste. Maybe it isn't terrible, but it is very tolerable. Except for Lima beans, I hate those. I have a few things this week that will make most sensible people scrunch up their noses.

Just now I went into the pantry and grabbed a bag of tortilla chips for my queso dip. I also grabbed a giant Marshmellow. I looked at it and decided it would be delicious covered in cheese sauce. I was not wrong. But I was certainly not right either. It was not delicious but it wasn't repulsive either. I tried olives yesterday, that was not much better.

I may have the strange cravings of a pregnant women, but unless this is that movie with Arnold I don't think I can be.

What's new?

Not much is happening. Which is the problem.

I've had a wonderful winter. Qualified for nationals in boardercross and got my level 2 as well as took a few trips north. It was good and I trained hard. My quads are still reaping the benefits of my hard work. They are like rocks still!

Work has not worked out since the end of my favorite time of year.

Did some white water guide training and it was fun but I just can't get up there. I wanna take some classes this summer but they start awfully soon and I barely have any money. Doing a lot of planning for camp this summer. I need something to do. I've had a few job offers that haven't panned out and a few that are unappetizing.

I am however not pulling my hair out at all! I feel like this situation would breakdown other folk. I got just enough. I got mana and thats it.

...

Life is good with friends.

Early morning musing.

As I flick the ladybug off the counter I've been thinking about the winter. It's a great time for me. Something I'd like to do more of. Perhaps even all year. But as I've been trying to pursue a gig in New Zealand and getting more and more info. I get more and more freaked out by it. 1. not much money 2. no housing. That tends to freak me out. I'm at the tipping point right now. Should I go or should I stay. If I don't I'll regret it forever.

Antsy in my Pantsy

I'm feeling all shook up. Like a bottle of soda ready to pop, and spray everyone with High Fructose Corn Syrup goodness. Or at least to slingshot myself around the world. I love Mass but I wanna see what people are like in other parts.

I've been in Vegas and when I look out my window I see 6000' of Mountains. It dwarfs WaWa, but the people there are undeniably good. I think I just wanna see what else is out there so I can go back to WaWa and be pleased with what I've got.

We walked all over Vegas yesterday and now I got a sweet blister on my foot that is totally gonna impede me walking. So i'll either limp or pop it. Either way I gotta keep that foot clean.