Aidan was the "star" of the Christmas tree decorating in our house this year. He put the star on top. (With a little help from Dad)


Christmas Tree Topper 2008 from fordee on Vimeo.

Barack Obama needs to fix the economy. He needs to do a lot of things in his first 100 days. But, what I need him to do is personal. I need him to fix college football. (tongue firmly in cheek) You may think, is he kidding? Check the video:

Here on 60 Minutes:


And here on ESPN:


So what can be done? First determine that any team that wants to play for the National Championship has to be in a conference (sorry Notre Dame, join the Big East or Big10 and get it over with). Then have each of the conference winners play until someone wins it all. It's that simple.

This is why I left my job in technology and computers:



Notice how many humans he spoke with each day? Ouch.

boys day fun

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Thanksgiving 2008 from fordee on Vimeo.

happy turkey day!

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A colleague and friend at work emailed me this morning to ask about Rush Limbaugh's real story of Thanksgiving. He wanted to know if it was historically accurate. I think. Anyway this was my reply:

There is no doubt that Thanksgiving can get people fired up because of what it has become. It is a national secular day of Thanks, but it does have religious roots. But, when you get right down to it (being from PA I understand this a little better), it is a harvest festival. You have more food for the winter in November than you have in January. Before the bitter cold and snow come and the cupboard is bare, people have a big and great feast to celebrate all the hard work they did from spring to fall. In the winter there really isn't as much work to be done on a farm. You enjoy the fruits of your labor (literally).

The first recorded Thanksgiving took place (not by the 1621 Pilgrims) by Spaniards on Sept, 8, 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. El Paso, Texas also had a "Thanksgiving" on April 30, 1598. In 1619 the Virginia colony celebrated Thanksgiving. Captain John Woodleaf said this, "We ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."

George Washington, leader of the revolutionary forces in the American Revolutionary War, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga. That was before the Rush Limbaugh 1789 proclamation. Interestingly Thanksgiving was proclaimed sporadically by Presidents after that. TJefferson didn't even proclaim it once. Madison made 2 proclamations in one year and they were not in the fall.

It was Lincoln that "created" the holiday though. During the civil war he declared that it should be Thanksgiving and since 1863 it has been observed ever since. FDR really got things going, in the spirit of the economy, and made it the third Thursday - to give people more time to shop before Christmas. :) Some called this "Franksgiving." Many could not figure out what to do for Franklin's holiday. Some states celebrated the old day, some the new and TEXAS made both Thursday's state holidays. :) Way to make it bigger.

In 1941 Congress split the difference and went with the 4th Thursday (sometimes there are 5 Thursdays in Nov) and it has been that way ever since. Since 1947 the National Turkey Federation has been giving a live Turkey to the White House. The first to "pardon" the turkey was George H. W. Bush in 1989. Today it is a tradition (even Sarah Palin pardoned a Turkey in Alaska, as they slaughtered a live one on television behind her!). W pardoned two this year! Guess he was in a giving mood? He said, "Justin' case."

Since 1970 Native Americans have held a national day of mourning on Thanksgiving in the name of social equality and political prisoners. It is held at Plymouth Rock every year.

And in talk radio land... The Rush Limbaugh Show has a tradition known as "The Real Story of Thanksgiving," in which Limbaugh argues (based upon texts such as Of Plymouth Plantation) that the early Puritans were proto-Communists who, upon near starvation in the winter of 1621, switched to a free enterprise system and prospered.

It is a good story. Who knows how much truth there is to it.

For me, it is a day of three "Fs" -- Family, Feasting, and Football. There are 4 games on today! :)

Have a good one.
DD
sources:
Wikipedia.org - Thanksgiving US

haircuts have their rewards.

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he was very well b'haved

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all done. mom is relieved. looks good.

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haircut time

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Fun game to watch today because the Browns played so badly that the game was never really in question. Quite a relief to finally win a road game after 8 tries.

The Texans have 2 pro bowl players: Mario Williams (best defensive end I've seen this year - he is relentless) and Andre Johnson (leads the NFL in receiving yardage). But, no playoffs this year. I would love to see them go on a run though and get some momentum for next year. They are close, but they need a little more depth and help in the defensive backfield.


Mario was awesome again today.


Big time grab on the first drive for a TD by Walter.

I am loving DirecTV so far. Great reception. Super options for recording shows, huge hard drive for HD recording, and I have TONS of channels. I am loving NFL Network HD, NHL Network HD, Versus HD, ESPNNews HD, Big Ten Network HD. I didn't have any of them before and it makes sports so much more fun to watch. And I am only scratching the surface on what it has to offer.

I did have to tweak my HD system a bit. The installer did not set it up optimally. I had to go in and setup the receiver to use native format (740p, 1080i or 1080p) and display it on my tv. Luckily my TV can receive and show all formats. But, the DirecTV box was not setup to do that. So the quality of the picture looked crappy and all stretched out. Plus, I hate standard def tv that is stretched across the screen. I want to see it in the highest quality possible. So I got that setup with the black bars on the side (my TV does not leave shadow marks so I am cool there).

Super happy with the purchase. Could not be any more pleased at this point. :)

Nokia N96 - Bruce Lee Ping Pong from Ramalho Blog on Vimeo.

Just got my DirecTV installed. HD in the living room and standard in the beddroom. Very happy so far. Ton more channels for about the same cost as our old cable. :)

I'll let you know what I think of it after I check out the options and watch the Penn State win the Big Ten Championship. :)

Tomorrow we are going to be doing our first Socratic Seminar of the year in AVID. We are going to use our tutors to facilitate the discussion in small tutoring groups. The text I have chosen is a column by Anna Quinlen of Newsweek Magazine. It is about her old dog Beau. It is a touching article that dives into the meaning of what it is all about to live life to it's fullest and then realize life has a way of wearing us all down.

I am hoping the article can pose a few questions about all of our humanity and make us realize that life is to be lived to the fullest.

Anna Quinlen's "Good Boy, Beau. Stay."
Put a pork roast in the oven, and the guy still breathes as audibly as an obscene caller. The eyes and ears are gone, but the nose is eternal.
By Anna Quindlen | Newsweek Web Exclusive

excerpt: I once had an editor who hated dead-dog columns. (I did one anyway.) This is a live-dog column. It's a shame that obituaries and eulogies come only after people are gone and unable to appreciate them. How many times after a memorial service have you said of the deceased, "She would have loved it"? Rumor has it that certain celebs, knowing The New York Times writes important obits well in advance, have tried to get a peek at their own. The expressed rationale is fact-checking, but I suspect it has more to do with self-esteem. Beau, of course, will have no idea what is said about him. But he does seem to know that a laptop in its case near the front door means a trip to the country, which even now, gimpy as he is, sends him into a fandango.

The life of a good dog is like the life of a good person, only shorter, more compressed. Beau started off wild and crazy. My most enduring memory of his youth is of him galloping around the yard, purloined needlepoint yarn streaming from his mouth. One summer he was skunked three times and spent weeks studded with spines after indulging his taste for advanced decomposition by rolling on a dead porcupine. He did not learn to swim until he realized it was the only way to keep geese off the pond.

But he also ran with his master every morning, posed in front of the fireplace in winter in a recumbent position like an insurance ad, and suffered the addition of a female yellow Lab to the household six years ago. He stayed off the furniture and did not jump on guests. People admired his self-control, on the street and at dinner parties, although one New Year's Eve he was discovered with his muzzle buried to the ears in a bowl of chocolate truffles.

This is part of the reason that I love teaching. It is a creative and sharing endeavor. I read this piece last spring and loved it. Cried when I read it. So I hope it evokes the same feelings in my students. It will be fun to walk around the room and out into our "flex" area and visit each group and see how the conversations are going.

Socratic Seminars are all about raising questions about what we have read. Hopefully the tutors will be able to maintain this through their own questions. We are going to read the article and make marks on the text as a full group first, then split up into 4 groups. The tutors will grade their performance in the Socratic Seminar just as they would do in a regular Socratic Tutoring session (10-20-30 points for participation, 30 points for notating the text and taking notes to the side, 30 points for their written reflection at the end and 10 points for raising a question during the session - or writing a solid (level 3) question on their sheet). I am hoping this goes well. I would like to continue it often. It is this type of discussion that can develop inquisitive and solid thinkers in students.

This week I have a student teacher who is going to do lessons on Wednesday and Thursday. I've never had anyone do this before and giving up my classroom to another person is going to be an odd experience for me. I love helping people and I love aiding a new person to the profession of teaching... but... will I be able to keep my mouth shut and just let him go?

Hopefully he will do very well and I won't have to say anything. We'll see. It is coming at a good time. My throat is killing me and my voice is iffy at best. Tomorrow we are reviewing for our test on Rome, testing Tuesday and then he's teaching Wed/Thu - so I should be golden as far as getting to feeling better. Another benefit is that this will give me some time to organize things this week and get all ready for the end of the semester.

Being sick as a teacher is so much worse than when I worked in technology. First of all I would hardly ever get sick while working in technology because I sat at a desk for 8 hours a day and although there was a lot of stress, it was all manageable. As a teacher you are surrounded by germs all day long. These kids are walking, talking, sneezing and coughing germ machines. My first 3 years back to the profession just about had me hospitalized. I saw nose and throat experts and did just about everything I could think of to get better.

This year hasn't been too bad. But, this little cold that I have been on top of during the last week has finally caught up with me. I haven't left the house since Saturday afternoon. Naps, lots of fluids and couch potatoin' has helped. Watching football hasn't worked out real well just yet. My Texans lost AGAIN and the Cowboys just took the lead tonight. ARGH!

Tomorrow is the start of another week. Soon Thanksgiving will be upon us. Can't wait!

This has been sweeping the nation - "Puppy Cam":
Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV

I know the election is over, but this video is so well done. Really amazing. Unbelievable what motivated and talented people can do to communicate on the internet:


Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

My thoughts exactly (saw this on Andrew Sullivan's blog):

I finally got to watch the documentary Body of War tonight. It really left me sad and angry. The movie was very well done. Amazingly poignant and precise in their message. I highly recommend it.

One of the real tough things for me was watching all those Senators stand up in Congress and march out talking point after talking point about why we should go to Iraq. Just chilling.

The person that jumped up out of the documentary and was a real star (other than the obvious veteran Thomas Young) was West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. It is a touching scene when the elder Senator meets with Thomas in his office at the end of the documentary and they recount the list of 23 "Immortals" (as Byrd describes them) who voted against the war in the Senate.

LA Times Review of Body of War:

What's striking about the footage of the march up to war -- and who'd have thought you could ever call C-SPAN footage striking -- is the rushed, hollow, echoed tone the rhetoric takes and how quickly and inexorably the resolution to authorize the use of force in Iraq is passed despite the measured, impassioned objections of 23 people, including Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). Donahue and Spiro methodically contrast the rushed and cursory decision with the lifelong consequences people like Young face, and slightly heavy-handed as it is, it couldn't make for a more damning before and after.

Washington Post Review of Body of War:

Where "Body of War" goes right is in its passion and power and the way its various arteries eventually converge in a meeting at Byrd's office between the senator and Young. "The immortal 23" is how the elderly senator describes his colleagues who voted against the war. Byrd reads all the names, and they're listed, too, in the film's end credits, along with their compatriots in the House. Moviegoers should be so advised, in case they want to bring a pen and paper.

Special Comment by Keith Olbermann on Prop 8 and gay marriage in California:

"They want what you want, the chance to be a little less alone in the world."

Today I put up the posters of our World Religion Project in World History PRE-AP class. The kids did a great job on the posters and essays.

Below is just a small sample of the great posters that they did.



You can find out more about the project here:
World Religion Project Informational Powerpoint

Tuesday night is the debut of the documentary Body of War. It airs on Sundance Channel @ 7PM eastern time.

Here is Eddie Vedder's music video that is on the soundtrack. It's called "No More."

Aidan and I are getting ready for a Texans win over the Ravens today.

heading to madagascar2

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Dear Mr. President-elect,

I am writing this (post) letter to say thanks. What you have done is organize my party. You have given all of us Democrats (and I do also say Americans) a direction. You send me more text messages than anyone else that I know (although I'm a 38 year-old non-texting kind of guy, I admit).

Back on February 12th, 2007 I posted this: Obama '08 I felt the emotion as you stood on the steps of the old Illinois state capital. It was real.

I posted Leaning 08Bama on July 25th, 2007. I said this:

I have to say that I am leaning towards supporting and voting for Barack Obama. He is raising the most money. (Not that it matters, just remember what happened to Howard Dean) He is doing the best in the debates. (Not that it matters, just remember what happened to Al Gore v. W in debates in 2000) What I like more than any other thing about him (and there is a lot of other things to like) is that he is and WAS opposed to this war.

And I'll never forget the excitement of Iowa in January of this year. What an amazing night Inspiration beats experience (Obama over Clinton in Iowa).

You even inspired me here in my hometown of Houston on February 19th, 2008: Thank You Houston I Love You and that's saying something down here in the conservative bible belt home of "W" himself.



This election has given me so much HOPE. I am energized and spirited. When I teach my history class and we discuss the election I have to hold back my enthusiasm, spirit, and ambition because I try to be even handed and let both sides show for my students. I want them to be good decision makers and not be handed an ideology, but rather develop one for their own. But, you made that REALLY hard to do. Thank you for challenging me in that way.

Thank you Mr. Obama (Mr. President-elect Obama, I love how that sounds) for giving me a wonderful moment with my four year-old son today. "Hey Aidan, who is the President of the United States of America?" He answered, "Barack Obama!" (with a big huge smile) February 18th, 2008: Aidan's Endorsement

I know this country is in good hands. But, more than that, I know this country is motivated to help, get involved, take our government back and start to solve the problems that challenge us. Tonight I really don't want to think about Wall Street, Mortgages, Bank Loans, Global Warming and our Educational System. I just want to smile for one night and say, "Whew, We Did It!"

Thanks for giving me this day. A day that I was able to say to my son, my students and my friends, "Anything is possible in America!"

norma's O pumpkin. carving you can believe in.

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Norma and I voted last week. We are relieved that we will not have to wait in long lines today and that our vote is cast, done and over with. It takes a lot of the pressure off of the day. Aidan is sick today so I am home with him. That's the kind of reason that early voting works. It is great to be able to do it at a more convenient time and avoid surprises like 102 degree fevers from your four year old.

Luckily Aidan is feeling a lot better today. So today should be a good day. I will actually be trying to get a lot of correcting finished while he plays. :) Our end of the six week's period is on Friday, so it has been really hard to miss the last couple of days (I missed yesterday because of a field trip to Sam Houston State University for AVID).

I was really, really sad to hear that Barack Obama's grandmother passed away the day before the election. So sad to see that she did not get to see him elected as our 44th President.


This morning Obama got a good omen... Small New Hampshire Towns go to Obama in Landslide

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This is just unreal...


Do you think this is going to be big news this weekend? Wonder if SNL will do something on this tonight?

eatin chuy texmex

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Happy Halloween everyone. Hope it was fun!



Don't touch my candy... or I'll go "Rhino Ranger on you!"

Last night was fun. We went around our block (which is really a mile long circle. We probably hit 30 houses. Many did not have their lights on but more did than last year. The weather was great. We probably hit twice as many homes as last year. He was just bigger and could walk further, but we did basically carry the little guy home. He was exhausted.

It was pretty cute to see him with the older people who kept calling him back to the door, "Lemme see that great costume!" Aidan woke up this morning and said, "Can I have some candy?" That answer was NO! He needed to have some breakfast first. :)

Wow, I have a lot of candy... Mmmmmm.

Aidan from Halloween's past: