ION, Sarah Vowell is my girlfriend.

Does she know about the Mars thing?

Nope.

I'll have to work my way up to that....

Lesson plans is hard.

Yep, Emily. Sometimes they are. That's why I opt not to use any.

Alas, I'ma get graded on this. And then, in a week, on another one.

Plus I'm trying to satisfy both classes' requirements in one lesson plan -- so backwards design, essential questions, and enduring understandings and catering to four different learning styles, multiple intelligences, and detailing possible accomodations/modifications. I mean, I think it'll be a good exercise and worthwhile, but... hard. Which makes me pouty.

SO Brad Pitt was not a big delicate flower of a babyman for going to the hospital with a touch of flu--he had viral meningitis.

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Some dicksmack here in town was feeding kittens to his pet alligator. He's in jail tonight on $72,000 bond after throwing the cat at animal control officers and for being a smart ass to the judge. He said he could do "anything he wanted, it's only a kitten."

He could feed it any meat to keep it alive. He's getting his kicks by watching a small cute animal suffer at the hands of his bad-ass pet. I think his intent goes a long way to determine what is "cruel" and what is "humane".

This. That's the part that bothers me. I mean, it would still be weird if he could go buy pre-dead, frozen kittens, because I think of cats as "pets" and cow as "food." But it's the idea of making the kittens suffer like that -- that's what really bothers me.

For me, I think it is (aside from the owner clearly doing this for kicks) an issue, like Cashmere said later, of the species being domesticated as pets, and treated like prey. Also, it's not like the gator happened to get a kitten that wandered into the yard. That's natural, and no different from the gator eating a steak. The man was feeding the kittens to them. I also think snake owners who buy live mice for their snakes are mean. If you think it is cool that Animal X is a predator, don't get one as a pet, and if you do, don't use a domesticated animal as prey.

Hivemind thoughts requested: how can I store my husband's bicycle safely and in a place that is better than its current location, which is leaning against the stove? We have no garage. We have front and back porches, but have a neighborhood crime problem and nothing metal to lock the bike to in either location. Our front door opens into the living room and our back door opens into the kitchen, neither of which has spare space for a bicycle. Creative ideas?

Creative ideas?

Hooks on the ceiling or wall?

Is there a wooden bannister on the back porch? Could you lock it to that? True, someone could saw through it, but the thief would have to come with the saw. Is there a basement?