No big deal, 'cept it's his nephew, Ziggy, whose signature graces it. Very cool.

That would be the MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL RECORD SETTING BRAD ZIEGLIER!!!1!

I had to watch a really terrible movie about a cricket today. It made my head hurt. A lot. Luckily, there was a happy show about a very haunted honky tonk (like 18 ghosts, totally awesome) at lunch that almost made up for it. Especially when it turned out that one of the ghosts had a ghostly diary hidden in the floorboards that was conveniently labeled "The Diary of Johanna." And Johanna was very frank about her dead fiance and the father she killed because she suspected he might have killed her fiance. Totally charming.

I sort of wish I could've introduced Johanna to the cricket movie.

Now I'm doing organizing paper work. The problem with dealing with large groups: you're not all going to be perfectly happy. Sorry?

But this weekend I look forward to more paperwork, an oil change, some light bulb changing, and possibly going shopping for some more exercise gear. My stuff is pretty limited.

And I'm totally happy with my boobs. I think I lucked out, and they're nicely transitional where they're a convenient size, but I can dress them up when necessary. I have problems with my butt. Many strangers have felt free to tell me that they really admire how large it is. And it gets groped fairly often. 100% of the times I take public transportation, for instance. Which is one of the many reasons I avoid public transportation. I did smack a guy in the face who did that on the school bus though. And he got in a lot of trouble. And I got a lot of satisfaction, since his face was very, very red. Mostly because I'm much stronger than I look. And then I deliberately took to braiding my hair right before I got on the bus, so if he so much as came near me, I would turn around really quick, and he'd get whipped in the face with a long braid. Which was also satisfying, and also left a mark. I think he eventually put it together that I wasn't without ways of defending myself, and I was much smarter than he was, since I was much more effective and never got in trouble for what I would do, and he got into tons.

Ah hah! Found the article that I was actually thinking of, about a high school student from Senegal whose team got to the finals of a robot-building contest, and who got accepted to college in NY, but he might be deported because he's in the country illegally. (His mother left him here when he was in middle school.) [link]

Hil, THANK YOU. That is exactly the kind of thing I need. I will be using that article some time next week.

If anyone else can think of a particularly good article about recent immigration, biased perception of US history, or the current economic situation most Americans are struggling with right now, PLEASE post them or send me links. I would be eternally grateful.

Reading level can be relatively advanced, but since I have a pretty wide range (from students who really struggle to students who dropped AP Lit because of their schedules), accessible would be a plus. They also tend to react best to stories with some narrative they can connect to.

What I really want to avoid is the pity parade. It's not enough for them to know that many people across the world flee to the US, or try to; I want them to understand that most immigrants have pride and purpose and work their asses off. They may be in need of help, but not pity.

There's always Lopez Lomong, as a sample story to lead into the whole "lost boys" phenomenon.

Since we're talking schools - have you guys heard about what's going on with the backdrop for McCain's speech the other night?

It appeared to be a large mansion (um?) with a big green lawn but actually turns out to be a middle school in LA. Which middle school? Walter Reed. Which kind of begs the question - which Walter Reed do you suppose they intended to have displayed behind McCain?

Seriously idiotic.

Kristin, that class sounds fascinating. Maybe you could do an online version? (Kidding!)

David, that just sucks. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

That would be the MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL RECORD SETTING BRAD ZIEGLIER!!!1!

Damned straight.

Pix, I've got some articles bookmarked at home from when I was helping my cousin with her thesis research (her topic was immigration, with an emphasis on the LA area).

My CEO brought me over a signed baseball today. No big deal, 'cept it's his nephew, Ziggy, whose signature graces it. Very cool.

VERY COOL!!!! Just a wee bit jealous here. SO COOL.

VERY COOL!!!! Just a wee bit jealous here. SO COOL.

There's this kid I know, who just moved to Colorado, who could score this ball by not having any more principal-calls to his mom for the remainder of the year.