My Brain Droppings

yep more education and anti-evolution legislation, but...

Caudata — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:52:27 GMT

Take a gander at this: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080627-louisiana-passes-first-antievolution-academic-freedom-law.html The stance the bill basically takes is they are fostering critical thinking about scientific theories. Now this bill was specifically aimed at evolution etc. Now I haven't read the specific wording of the actual bill to see how everything was phrased, but I do believe that critical thinking and analytical skills is something severely lacking in education today. I have been a teaching assistant in college and was always amazed that those students were allowed out of high school. In the article it mentions evolution as one of the "suggestions" that teachers could look at. If the bill really does term it as a "suggestions" then it leaves a big open hole for a teacher to choose what material they may focus on. The real rub is teaching critical thinking in a manner that will offend no one, and that puts the teacher in a very awkward situation depending on their views and the political climate where they are at. That same flexibility the term "suggestions" implies unfortunately leaves it open to abuse and political manipulation. What needs to be done is to find a balance where the students can be taught critical thinking and analytical skills without the use of highly politically charged subjects. I believe they are very right that critical thinking skills must be taught and nurtured after the experience of teaching classes where all the students wanted was for me to give them the answer. I taught Biology labs to non-majors that in itself makes it difficult. When I taught I tried to help them understand that the ability to think critically and use the scientific method is not only applicable to this one lab, but to their entire life particularly at work. I wanted them to learn to think for themselves rather than become the mindless automatons that get taken advantage of by criminals, gov'ts, etc. This bill is a bad one in that it forces a teacher to make what is essentially a political decision about her teaching curriculum and open up the schools to all sorts of lawsuits. However even if misguided I do agree critical thinking and developing an analytical skill set is essential to our progress and should be taught in an unbiased way as much as possible. From my experience that skill set is not truly developed until you enter college, and to me this is truly wrong. I was lucky given the environment I was raised in and my extracurricular activities that involved science I had started developing that skill set early on. Yes teach critical thinking in the pre-college curriculum, but do so in as much of an unbiased manner as possible without touching on such politically charged topics as evolution. Even evolution is to be taught (which I truly believe it should) the try to keep the two topics as independent from one another as possible because if one gets axed you do not want the other taken down with it. If anyone was wondering I grew up in NC, and they did talk about both evolution and creationism in school and they did manage it fairly even-handedly. I won't start writing about it now, but it's amazing the crap that's written in textbooks today and from what I hear particularly history books. Even textbooks are so politically skewed anyone can find a textbooks supporting their own personal politically views and implement them into a school course which to me is very scary the wide ranging implications that could have for the growth and education of younger generations. That is all! -me

What does our government and a 3 year old have in common......

Caudata — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:42:05 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/washington/25epa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin All I can say is this has me really pissed off, that is all! -me

the amazing wandering Dale says it's that time again!

Caudata — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:50:21 GMT

Well folks it looks like I'll be moving in March to Fort Hood, TX for another job. I get to play with snakes and birds! I'll be back eventually, but I'll probably be spending the holidays with my family. I haven't been home in years. Anyhoo just letting y'all know.

I just got laid off errrrrrrrr!

Caudata — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:27:28 GMT

that is all!

In need of pie crust recipe!

Caudata — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:55:56 GMT

Ok I need a pie crust recipe. Anyone have some good pie crust recipes? I always make pies for thanksgiving, but I usually buy the crust. This year I'm thinking of making the crust. The pies are apple cranberry walnut pie and cherry pie.

ooh here we go

Caudata — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:08:01 GMT

1. Do you sleep in your bra? ALWAYS! 2. Have you kissed any one on your top list? I didn't know tribe had one, but sure at least one! 3. Are you happy with your looks? yes but still experimenting damn hair stop 'froing! 4. Do you enjoy drama? nope 5. Are you a girly girl? Why of course I am! 6. Who was the last person you hugged? geez uhh actually haha SHAY! 7. Small or large purses? Depends on what I'm trying to conceal! 8. Are you short? short but don't let it show 9. Do you like someone? duhh 10. What would you do if someone smacked your butt? Look decide ........ 11. Do you care if your socks are dirty? I can deal with it if they aren't but I do like nice clean warm socks 12. Do you think you’re conceited? There is no way on earth I could ever be conceited not some one like me no way I'm perfect! : P 13. Are you a bitch? it happens 13. Do you dress up on Halloween? I want to but it never works out 14. Are you double jointed? nahh 15. Where is the weirdest place you have slept? tree branch 16. Has anyone touched/smacked your butt in the past 24 hours? nope : ( 17. Is there any type of rumor going around about you? isn't there always 18. Do you call anybody by their last name? yes --------------------------------- 1. Where were you 3 hours ago? right here 2. Who are you in love with? no one 3. Have you ever eaten a crayon? man it came out all..... 4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? uhh not that I know of but then again I'm colorblind 5. When is the last time you went to the mall? Saturday 6. Are you wearing socks right now? no 7. Do you have a car worth over $2,000? yes 8. When was the last time you drove out of town? Saturday 9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? no 10. Are you hot? no no 11. What was the last thing you had to drink? water 12. What are you wearing right now? carrharts, Dethklok t-shirt, 13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it? mixed feelings 14. Last food that you ate? chili 15. Where were you last week at this time? studying 16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? what are these things you call clothes 17. When is the last time you ran? last week 18. What's the last sporting event you watched? what are dese tings you call sportz 19. What is your favorite animal? got to catch them all ahhh probably salamanders 20. Your dream vacation? if you are a smart beautiful single woman reading this than it would be anywhere with you ahahahahaha! 21. Last person's house you were in? Jimmy's 22. Worst injury you've ever had? a very steep slope with a sharp rock and a drop off onto a sandbar in a creek just use your imagination 23. Have you been in love? nope 24. Do you miss anyone right now? not particularly 25. Last play you saw? probably A Christmas Carol long as s time ago in the age before ipods 26. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? the power of science! 27. What are your plans for tonight? study for GREs 28. Who is the last person you sent a MySpace message or comment? crap if I know 29. Next trip you are going to take? we shall see what happens for xmas 30. Ever go to camp? yeah 31. Were you an honor roll student in school? of course 32. What do you want to know about the future? nothing I make my own 33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? nah that stuff stinks 34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit? always 35. Where is your best friend? not here 36. How is your best friend? stressed 37. Do you have a tan? they use me to keep ships away from shore need I say more 38. What are you listening to right now? Fizzy Lipton Drinks by Buckethead 39. Do you collect anything? apparently books ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know? Cat 41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? whenever I'm in AZ thanks Tom 42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? sure 43. What does your last text message say? my what? 44. Do you like hot sauce? yes 45. Last time you took a shower? Today 46. Do you need to do laundry? getting there 47. What is your heritage? Polish, Irish 48. Are you someone's best friend? how can I not be : ) 49. Are you rich? monetary wise know otherwise yes 50. What were you doing at 12AM saturday night? I believe the term is milkshake mmmmmm

New vehicle!

Caudata — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:00:50 GMT

I guess good things can come out of bad accidents. A picture of my freakin' awesome new to me 1998 Toyota 4runner! Makes me wonder why I ever bought american cars which is a sad thing to say.

oh it just keeps getting better

Caudata — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:45:27 GMT

Well looks like I've been deemed at fault for the accident, and they are going to total my vehicle. The insurance company will probably give me about $5000 for my jeep so yep I'm pretty much screwed hurray for me now lets see what can happen next.....................

Trying again!

Caudata — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:56:48 GMT

Ok this better work out! I will be at Northern Faire this weekend with most if not all of the associated reprobates. Roargathor and Tara are even coming from Las Vegas to be at faire this weekend! No gate listing as far as I know so we will be patrons, but we will be camping next door with the RVs etc.

there must be a conspiracy

Caudata — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:57:04 GMT

There appears to be some sort of conspiracy keeping me from going to faire. The first time the stupid idiots didn't tell me work on Saturday had been cancelled so I missed faire. Then this last weekend Ryan and I drove to faire from Sacramento on Saturday only to find it was cancelled due to flooding errrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Ok the plan now is to make it to faire on Oct. 6-7, and Grant and Tara will also be coming from Las Vegas for faire that weekend.

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Caudata — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:20:52 GMT

Looks like because the construction crew I am monitoring fucked up they will have to make up lost time on Saturday errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I don't know for certain, but most likely I won't be able to make it to faire Saturday.

Ok it's faire time!

Caudata — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:24:44 GMT

Ok kids the plan at the moment is for my ass to show up at Northern Faire this Saturday. As far as I know there are no plans for me working at any booth so I will probably only be there during regular hours. They better have root beer floats so say I! Who is going Saturday?

"rant" my landlady errrrrr

Caudata — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:21:16 GMT

Ok first the landlady has two properties one near yosemite and then the one I'm at in Antioch. She was widowed a few months ago and has older kids that moved away. Now she has rented rooms to me and my roommate Mark. She shows up once a week to got to work and apparently bitch. Evidently from the way she acts her husband must have handled everything for her. We are constantly getting knock knock uh can you help me with this stupid thing. We have jobs and we want our off time to be ours. The things she asks about are just stupid and things she could easily have done herself, or we know nothing about. I dropped my cell phone here can you fix it uh take it to the store there was no reason for you to wake me up at 7AM for this shit. If you have a question leave a note, but first ask yourself is this something you can do for yourself. Also, if you don't know how and you will have to do it in the future actually pay attention and learn how to do it instead of bugging us every time. She apparently has memory problems and blames us for shit she did like leaving lights on or doors unlocked. She acts like we are there to help her. We are tenants with our own lives and things to do. We rent rooms not the whole house. We are not her children so stay out of our business. The main thing is she just doesn't think or even try to do things for herself. She takes advantage of other peoples kindness. She needs the renters for the money to keep her house and yet with her attitude she is about to drive us off. We keep the place clean, but apparently not to her standards well she can do the extra work then. She's been highly insulting to my roommate saying shit like I know Dale wouldn't, but did you go through............ Oh yeah I'm sure if someone did go through someone's stuff they would admit it. The thing is yes someone did go through that stuff and it was HER and she totally forgot she had done it. Of course she still won't believe that she did either and then just casts a suspicious eye toward my roommate and he's a good guy. The only thing I can say is thankfully she hasn't tried to convert me yet the minute that happens goodbye! She bitches at my roommate about the yard. That's not our responsibility, and he now offered to do the work for $45/month to work on it twice a month on top of his 2 other jobs. That is cheap for this yard and he does a good job, and yet she bitches. She will have to learn her place as a landlady or just keep driving off tenants. I don't want to hurt her feelings, but as some know I'm not that subtle of a person and I have the feeling I'll have to set her straight. She has to learn she can't treat it like it's her family home and she's living there and we are her kids. She doesn't live there, none of her kids do, and we are not her kids. Ok end of the rant everyone have a good day!

uh sure.................

Caudata — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:35:21 GMT

Four names you go by Bud, Ralphie. Ernesto, Waldo Four Parts of Your Heritage Homo erectus, Australopithecus robustus, Piltdown Man, Homo habilis Four Things That Scare You geeks, sebaceous glands, enamel, and woolie bears Four of Your Everyday Essentials pitchfork, necronomicon, hoof flex, air conditioning Four Things You Are Wearing Right Now my camo underwear, my camo hat, camo socks, and camo leiderhosen Four of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists no can't someone might take it seriously hehe Four Things You Want in a Relationship (other than Real Love) ah truck, cadbury easter eggs, shotgun (for the weddin'), an alcohol Physical characteristics that appeal to you teef gotta havem, be livin', a nice occipital bun Four of Your Favorite Hobbies ghost riding the whip (www.youtube.com/watch mixing gasoline and styrofoam, finding out really what is at the center of a tootsie roll pop, the hokey pokey Four Things You want to do really badly right now got to the Spivey's Corner Hog Hollerin Contest, The Tryon International BBQ festival, play with hagfish, play with a snott otter Four Places You Want to go on Vacation Spivey's Corner, Lizard Lick, Djibouti, Texas Four Things You Want to Do/Be Before You Die Marcia, Jan, and Cindy, then Marcia agin Four best movies Rambo 1, Rambo 2, Rambo 3, and soon to be Rambo 4 (www.youtube.com/watch Four top video games Duck Hunt, Fish Tycoon, Deer Hunter 5, NRA Varmint Hunter Four Ways that you are stereotypically a guy I so have a stereo system in my car, livin room, computer, and in my bathroom Four Ways that you are NOT stereotypically a guy I already told you I have stereos

ahhh a bed/boredom

Caudata — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:12:13 GMT

Ok most of you know I move a lot from job to job and as a result I haven't had a bed etc for 4 or 5 years possibly more. Anyhoo my landlady gave me a bed and chair to use. All I can say is mmmm sleep I missed beds ! If you didn't know I'm now living in Antioch,CA and I'm bored what is there to do around here?

Ok it's now official

Caudata — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:36:01 GMT

I will be moving to Antioch, CA in late June for an environmental inspector position. Hopefully I'll be seeing a lot more of most of you now that I'll be in the same state again, later!

the good and the bad

Caudata — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:20:51 GMT

The good: I've been offered a 6 month job in Antioch as an environmental monitor The bad: starts in July the reason this is bad is my current crap ass job has kept me so poor I probably can't even afford to move. If they had started as originally planned the beginning to mid June sure things would be good, but no of course that wouldn't happen to me no of course not. I'm happy, but I'm still basically screwed. I point blank told them if they wait that long I probably can't even afford to move. Now we shall see what they come back with. They might make a big deal about hey you get per diem, but ha that doesn't help with moving only when I start. They've made no offer to help with moving expenses so we shall see if they do now.

never use H&R Block

Caudata — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:21:12 GMT

I had some complicated taxes this year involving W-2s from 3 different states and some contract work etc so I had to have someone prepare my taxes. I chose to go to H&R Block. I've had a multitude of problems with them and today was just one more great example. Today I went to mail in my state tax statements for refunds (which unfortunately I dearly need right now) and start putting my Mississippi statement in the addressed envelope they provided. As I put my statement in the envelope I look down at the address on the envelope and it's for MICHIGAN! Never ever use H&R Block I need that refund and had I sent it to the wrong address they provided that would have royally screwed me over. I would have been up shit creek without a paddle.

Happy St Patrick's Day!.........

Caudata — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:46:52 GMT

First, where do I get green root beer? I have mixed feelings about this holiday because I love being Irish. I get to wear kiss me I'm Irish stuff, though it never works out the way I want. The bad is St.Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland... the bastard! What good is a place without snakes?

aah those old favorite sesame street songs lol!

Caudata — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 21:16:23 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yNRw_TlGhM

marriedtothesea

Caudata — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:41:35 GMT

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marriedtothesea funny shit

Caudata — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:34:51 GMT

<a href="http://marriedtothesea.com/"><img src="http://marriedtothesea.com/031307/crisp-up.gif" border=0></a><br /><a href="http://marriedtothesea.com/">marriedtothesea.com</a>

funny stuff

Caudata — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:33:43 GMT

I can't make any claims as to how legit any of this is but some of it is damn funny! http://www.livescience.com/news/

Why salamanders rule!

Caudata — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:31:55 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/theworldsmostexplosivetongue

FYI- I have no text messaging

Caudata — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 07:21:00 GMT

Ok People thank you for sending me text messages but just to let you know I do not have text messaging as part of my account nor do I care to. So please do not text message me. Thank you whoever it was that texted me and asked if my back was better. Unfortunately my back is not better. Take care all! -Dale