Sigh. I'm reading about elementary school math programs. (Long story -- started out as looking up the program that a girl I might be tutoring uses, then started getting interested and reading about others.) One of the ones that gets a lot of press is Saxon Math -- it's a much more traditional approach than a lot of the others currently popular. And the word problems tend to be kind of fanciful things -- like, if there are five gnomes in the vegetable garden, and six gnomes in the rose garden, how many gnomes are there altogether? Anyway, I just found a page with someone objecting to this program because some of the word problems around the upper elementary and middle school levels involve medieval weaponry, and that's clearly a scheme to bring kids into playing D&D, which is just a front for devil worship.

(I remember in fourth grade, we'd keep a count of how many names from each ethnicity turned up in word problems in each chapter. It was exactly the same count in each chapter. Even at age nine, we thought this was incredibly condescending, that they thought we'd all be racists if we didn't have a perfectly balanced math book. I'm not sure that was the reasoning, but that was how we all interpreted it.)

automatic weapons don't lead to devil worship

I knew Batman was gay (hello! Boy Wonder!!) But Superman!?! OMG!

I think Supes goes both ways.

Really really fast.

So if Superman can travel so fast that he goes back in time, he could travel back in time and have sex with himself....

Just so I could watch.

(Particularly if it were Welling/Reeves)

o god, what have I started?

hey, random question. Is CSI/Police not allowed to turn on the lights? Seems they use flashlights an awful lot. (can you guess what I'm watching right now?)

automatic weapons don't lead to devil worship

no, they lead to Doom, and Devil pwnership.

hey, random question. Is CSI/Police not allowed to turn on the lights? Seems they use flashlights an awful lot. (can you guess what I'm watching right now?)

My wank on that is that the flashlights in with dim ambient lighting help them find odd bits and pieces of shiny things that they might not otherwise see. Like if you drop your contact lens you turn out the light and use a flashlight.

Fay! Have I taught you nothing? I'm wearing (among other things) black glittery shoes and a top hat with pink and black roses. AND perfume that smells like chocolate and cupcakes. Dress to entertain yourself and the six year olds.

nods

I am reassured. Also, as I decided to go ahead and wear the Medieaval Von Trapp ensemble to school today, I am very reassured that quite a lot of parents and colleagues have come up to me and complimented the dress. 'Course, you can't always believe people, but I think that my Extremely Gay Line Manager would definitely have made it clear if he didn't like it. And he very much liked it.

Yay!

(Plus, it's very comfortable & has lovely Big Pockets, which I really should try to incorporate into more of my outfits.)

JZ - kick ass!

Em slays me with the Supes/Batman. Bless! SO Buffista.

Omnis - oh, my dear, you do need to watch Smallville. For it is the Big Doomed Romeo/Juliet love story of how Clark Kent's gorgeousness and consistent lying bastardliness in the face of Lex's trust and friendship eventually turned Lex to the dark side of the force.

Clark/Lex. OMG. Epic, heartbreaking, and gay gay gay gay gay. (Also pretty like a fucking pretty thing.)

stops self before this becomes a full-blown essay in praise of Clex - still the only portmanteau term I can use without flinching.

Very interesting, all these insights into different people's experiences at school, btw.

Oh! IcecreamGuy just asked me if I'd fancy going to see The Tempest tonight. And I'd bloody love to - only it's a colleague's birthday bash, and she's a lovely woman, and has been v. kind to me, and she's very alone at the moment (well, in a with-her-2-kids-but-her-husband's-living-back-in-the-UK-and-only -coming-over-to-visit-when-he-can kind of way. Not that they're divorced or separated, just geographically challenged) and, you know, I don't want to blow her off.

Still - excellent idea, IcecreamGuy! Housepoint!

...I do hope that we get on. I mean, we don't need to fancy each other or whatever, but I'd like to make a new friend at least. Fancying optional.

Is CSI/Police not allowed to turn on the lights? Seems they use flashlights an awful lot. (can you guess what I'm watching right now?)

you know, I thought that exact same thing when I was watching it tonight. Like when Nick was in the dorm room?