I am a dork. I just added an "I'm too pretty to do math" t-shirt to my list of stuff I want for Chanukah.

Yeah, I never understood in chem classes why it was OK if we were averaging like, 60%, and that was expected. Cause really, shouldn't we be focusing on actually LEARNING the shit? But nooooo....

I intend, as a teacher, if I can possibly pull it off, to plan my tests around a 50% goal average.

Yes: 50%. In high school.

Why? Because, based on experience, undertesting is much worse than overtesting. That is: if I plan a test so hard that 50% is average, I can get a good sense of not only who's really BAD at it (with acceptance for such variables as carelessness), but also who's really GOOD. So good they may know even more than I actually taught. Thus, the 50% goal. Nice in a math class.

Of course, the kids will be aware of this before they begin. And also that I'll be upping the scores as necessary: 50% will be whatever my school considers "average" (a B? a B-? a C? I think it depends on the school.)

I... am not sure why I just went off on that. I came here to say: Whoo! I am done with 2 of my 5 classes! Tomorrow I will finish a third (the easiest, though, so no big deal)! My hardest one is over on Monday, and I'm done completely in a week, but that's not stopping me from celebrating now!

Also, I am drunk.

I spell good for a drunk guy, huh?

Once, I had an entire conversation with my mother so blitzed that I didn't remember it (or, rather, the contents - I knew I had the conversation itself, luckily) the next day. I spelled everything right. When I read the log, I sounded sober even to myself. Except that I told her about my tongue piercing. Which, really, I needed to do anyway before I went home, so bravo drunk me!

I may have been more talkative than usual. Like... now.

Also, guys, I... am really, seriously, painfully in love. It kind of hurts, in that good way. I mean, I go out drinking when she's studying and, after an hour or so, it loses its luster. She's not there. What's the point? But I can watch her stress out over a final for hours, and never get bored. So. Weird. But good. I dunno.

Who knows a good fairly left-wing (for them) Orthodox Rabbi in NYC I could get in touch with, y'know?

I... am really, seriously, painfully in love. It kind of hurts, in that good way. I mean, I go out drinking when she's studying and, after an hour or so, it loses its luster. She's not there. What's the point? But I can watch her stress out over a final for hours, and never get bored. So. Weird. But good. I dunno.

Who knows a good fairly left-wing (for them) Orthodox Rabbi in NYC I could get in touch with, y'know?

I might. Well, I don't really know the rabbi, but there's an Orthodox synogogue that I know pretty well (my grandparents were founding members, and I've been going there for special occaisions and stuff my whole life) which seems fairly liberal, as Orthodox goes. I can figure out the rabbi's contact info, if you want.

I can figure out the rabbi's contact info, if you want.

Actually... that would be great. E-mail it to me? Or just the name of the synagogue, and I can almost certainly get it myself.

Don't know that I'll USE it anytime soon (that's a big, scary step) but it would be nice to have.

Got it. GG actually attends there. Small world.

GG actually attends there. Small world.

Neat.

That's actually one of the Orthodox synagoges where I feel most comfortable. Most of my issues with Orthodoxy are gender issues, and I feel like it actually tries to address them in a meaningful way, rather than the "Let me tell you all the reasons we're right and you're wrong" that I feel at a bunch of other ones. Also, they've got a Carlebach service, which always feels more "right" to me than a traditional one. (Carlebach services are a lot more singing, and more emphasis on finding a tune that emphasizes the meaning of the words.)

Theologically, if I were Jewish, I think I'd be right-wing Conservative or left-wing Orthodox. Not that I really have any idea what I'm talking about, but those seem more reasonable than most positions. I'm friends with an example of the former, and dating an example of the latter, and both have really smart, logical arguments that make lots of sense to me.