Remember, if you don’t take the trouble to find out what’s going on and what people are saying about it, you won’t KNOW what’s going on.  Not to keep updated is to choose ignorance.  Choosing ignorance is one of the most horrible things a person can do, no matter what the topic.  Education is what separates the sheep from the goats, because not to understand that everything is connected to everything else, and that nothing exists in isolation, and how to connect these dots to form ideas and understanding, is to actively choose ignorance.  We can’t help being ignorant about things we’ve never been exposed to, but to choose non-exposure is to choose ignorance.  Oh, and those people who take great pride in refusing to learn?  They are ignorance, personified.  Harsh?  I don’t really think so.  In fact, I have not even begun to express my disgust for people who are able, yet actively choose to be ignorant.  We are all ignorant of many things, but if we continue to learn, to be less ignorant daily, we’re on our way.

Oh, and please don’t forget that ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing.  Not the same thing at all, at all.

Parents, professional educators, and all inhabitants of the planet, simply must keep learning.  If we stop learning, “they” might as well bury us, because such people are as good as dead. Worse, even, because dead people don’t bring others down.  Ignorant people do.

CONSTANT VIGILANCE, as Alastair Moody would say.  To choose ignorance is to choose a kind of death.

P.S.  When I took my beautiful daughter to her college dorm and went back home without her, itself a traumatic thing, “Less ignorant every day” became our rallying cry for her college education.  We still quote it, laughing, when we learn new things and share them.  Why don’t y’all use it, too?

Less ignorant daily.  Bring it on, universe.

My son’s fair skin made summer band camp eventually impossible.  He sweated through even the heartiest sunscreen and there wasn’t always time to reapply.

He hated band camp, so I guess it all evens out.  I wasn’t a Mommy who usually let her children quit something once they’d signed up and people were counting on them, but I did let him quit band camp before he got so crispy he might as well have slathered barbecue sauce on himself instead of Bullfrog.

Except for my daughter, who always has a lovely tan in the summer, none of us has much pigment; we’re all pale and pasty, and when we go out into the sun, we turn into Grillface.  (language warning)

In case you’re wondering, this is NOT a paid post. I done it outta sheer love for all involved.

I don’t mind reading paid posts, as long as I’m told it was done for money right up front.  Otherwise, I feel deceived.

Also?  I’m counting down ’till BlogHer.  Can’t WAIT.

Note to self:  must    buy     decent      shoes

Check out Mrs. Bluebird’s post, y’all. And if you’d comment both here AND there, we’d both appreciate it very much.

Honestly, I’ve still got goose bumps at the very thought of such an excellent parent.  I’m not being sarcastic, either.  This mother KNOWS.

Mrs. Bluebird, I think you should submit this post to the Carnival of Education every week.  I really, really do.

Welcome to the Carnival of Education, where parents and instructors and good citizens find out what’s actually going on in the world of education by actively participating in the sharing of ideas, information, and suggestions. Remember, if you don’t keep up on what’s happening, you won’t KNOW what’s happening.  And if you don’t find out what’s happening, you forfeit all whining rights.  Yes, ALL of them.

Steve Spangler has posted the results of his fantastic and generous Teacher Appreciation Award Winners - thank you, Steve, for recognizing and acknowledging the excellent teachers in our nation. Don’t forget to register for Science in the Rockies!  It’s July 8-12, and all the information is right HERE.

Mrs D presents Things I’m doing well: Grammar and Punctuation posted at Footsteps of Aristotle. What did she learn from this lesson?  Many things, among which are the fact that  . . . grammar and punctuation can be fun. Students can learn it and not need to be constantly retaught it. 

Over at The Education Optimists,  Sara Goldrick-Rab presents Sorting, Selection, and Success. Access does not equate with success, and partly as a result, U.S. higher education is perpetuating a lot of inequality.  What do we do about this?

Joanne Jacobs wants to know if an additional year of schooling is really going to make a difference in the lives and futures of our students at Compulsory schooling to age 19? posted at Joanne Jacobs. Robert Pondiscio, at the Core Knowledge Blog, is wondering the same thing at  The Core Knowledge Blog.

Nui Loa still loves children’s music and thinks you might, too, if you check out Our Five Favorite Kids’ CDs for Grownups posted at Boston Children’s Music.

Religion, which ought to be bringing us all together, is instead tearing us apart in many areas and aspects of our lives. Perhaps if we learned more about each other, we’d be able to understand each other. Sarah Scrafford, at Related Colleges, thinks so.

Are your students twittering during class? Why not learn to use it to your advantage?

You really don’t want to get me started on how our gifted students are shafted every day, but blogger Sarah Robbins of Parenting the Gifted has some great ideas on how to bypass some of the ridiculous barriers against advancement in our schools.

Tom DeRosa posts about skills for the new millennium at What 21st Century Skills Should Mean over  at I Want to Teach Forever.

I’m just wondering if Mister Teacher, who is one of my favorite educational bloggers, is even CLEAN today! Read all about it at School’s out for summer, is hot water in my future? posted at Learn Me Good.

Mary Ann Zehr presents a two-part post about tracking at The Problem of Tracking in Middle Schools posted at Curriculum Matters and again here.

I will have to agree 100% with Nancy Flanagan, for I’m in full support of our musical students; it is my opinion, based on experience, that they are some of the most superior kids in any school. Nancy Flanagan tells us about a curmudgeonly letter to the editor criticizing the band at My Small (Minded) Town posted at Teacher in a Strange Land.

I usually skim off any submissions that are just trying to sell us something, but I’ve read Visiting Volcanoes with a Scientist and loved it. So, since I’m hosting this week, I’m including this submission: Kim tells us all about Nonfiction Monday: Visiting Volcanoes With A Scientist posted at Wild About Nature.

Is it true that many administrators are afraid to have meetings wherein ideas are exchanged openly because they don’t want to be blamed for anything? Kimberly Moritz was wondering, too, as she sends us to read about Why Do We Do It This Way? posted at LeaderTalk.

Want to learn some cool stuff for free? Alvina Lopez presents 100 Excellent Lectures to Improve Your New Media Literacy posted at Clear View Education Blog. Alvina also shares some facts about high school.

Under Assault presents The NY Teacher and agita posted at Under Assault: Teaching in NYC. I read a lot of blogs by NY teachers, and things in that state seem to be out of control and getting worse.

I will have to agree with Carol Richtsmeier at Bellringers when she says that there is never really a last day of school for teachers! Read her post at Rock Stars, Dr. Seuss & Why The Chicken and I Belong posted at Bellringers.

Charles H. Green’s post is to be trusted. Really. Read it at Can Trust Be Taught? posted at Trust Matters.

There is always that small group of teachers who refuse to learn new things, particularly when it comes to software. Next time they start to whine about how you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, etc, refer them to How to learn new software posted at The Wise Curve.

oldandrew was eventually told that the school was on fire. Oh, and that he stinks. Read all about it at The School’s on Fire « Scenes From The Battleground posted at Scenes From The Battleground.

Rick Sincere honors his Latin teacher and shares a dirty joke with us over at ‘Ave, Greenwald’: MUHS Latin Teacher Retires posted at Rick Sincere News and Thoughts.

Dr. Bernard Bull posts a list of textbook alternatives, many of which our students are already using, at Five Technologies / Movements that Will Turn Textbooks into Antiques posted at Etale – Life in the Digital World.

Pinyo shares with us how scary it is that so many young teens can’t wait to get a credit card so they’ll be “financially free!” Check out his concerns at A Credit Card Is Not Your Ticket To Financial Freedom posted at Moolanomy Personal Finance.

Want to learn to speak Spanish? For free? Check out Elburi’s videos at Introducing “la rana video blogs”.Learn Spanish vocabulary through our Videoblogs. – Spanish conversation CLUB posted at El buri.

If you are looking for some fun games to help your students learn sight words, check out Denise Bossard’s post at Top Ten Sight Word Games posted at sight word games. (I’m a firm believer in phonics, but I do know that some words are used so often, we know them by sight.)

Larry Ferlazzo wonders why more teachers don’t ask their students to evaluate them, at Results From Student Evaluation Of My Class And Me posted at Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day….

siobhan curious asks the very important question, What’s To Like About School?, and gets some answers at what’s to like about school? posted at siobhan curious: classroom as microcosm.
And yes, I do believe that a poor teacher can make a fascinating subject boring. I also believe that administration can require a good teacher to dumb down the fascination to the point that every single spark is gone.

Is what you get out of college really worth all the money you pour into it? Jim has some thoughts on this topic at Is College Worth the Cost of Tuition? Yes. posted at Bargaineering.

Mathew Needleman understands that social networking is here to stay, and that an educator who doesn’t learn how to navigate it is well on his/her way to becoming a dinosaur in the system. Check out his post Navigating Social Networks: You Can Pick Your Friends posted at Creating Lifelong Learners.

Does your child need tutoring? Before you get out your wallet, check out some of the great free tutoring suggestions from Erin at Note from the Teacher: Free Tutoring posted at Note from the Teacher.

Tweenteacher is now a veteran teacher, for she has hit her “memory wall” at last. How about you? Check it out on The New Definition of Veteran Teacher posted at tweenteacher.com.

Liam Goldrick tells us to stop whining over at Whining Vouchers posted at The Education Optimists.

Mamacita (Jane Goodwin) at Scheiss Weekly (hello, I’m your host!) is always ranting about something, it seems, and since many schools have just had their graduation ceremonies, what better time than to bring out her annual whine about school systems that select the valedictorian and salutarian after the seventh semester, instead of waiting until the last minute.

Guusjem, who is a school librarian in Texas, asks whether or not a librarian can be a 21st Century Teacher.

Pastor Jeff posts about talking with our children – and ourselves – about unjust laws. We all know they exist; why don’t we do anything about them?

Over at Polski3’s View From Here, they’re using interactive notebooks. Why are we out of glue already?

3σ → Left has an attendance issue that beats anything I’ve ever heard of. 

NYC Educator asks the question:  The Para or the Teacher? Go check it out.

Over at A Shrewdness of Apes, Ms. Cornelius tells us about her latest experience with cheaters.  Personally, I’ve always loathed cheaters.  They’re just petty criminals with braces on their teeth.  Or “adults” who want the acme but without the climb.   The pay without the work.  The trophy without the run.  You get the picture.  Lazy gits who can’t be arsed to lift a finger themselves, but who feel entitled to the glitter.  I’ve obviously been watching too many British movies lately.

That’s it for this week’s Carnival of Education.  I hope I haven’t left anyone out, except for the free essay people and the salespeople and that idiot who submits his political views every week.  I also didn’t include any posts that did not accept comments, because the Carnival of Education is about interaction, not lecturing.  If anyone would like to duke it out over any of these factors, bring it on.  If I have omitted a perfectly good post, however, please let me know immediately, for it was not my intention to leave out anyone who actually had something relevant to say.

I’m very tired.  I’m actually too tired to use my good manners.  My apologies for the bluntness.  And for the choppy sentences.  And fragments.  Cheaters suck, and so do free essay dealers.

I know that many people feel that the state of education in our nation is beyond repair, but I do not agree.  I do believe, however, that unless intelligent, knowledgeable, and caring people get up off their keisters and start doing something about it, and DEMANDING that something be done about it, then we’re screwed.  Keeping quiet and hoping things will change next year just ain’t been working.  It seems as if the more we put up with things that should not be happening, the more such things happen.  We then get so used to them being ‘that way’ that we forget that we, the people, have always had the power to make changes in this country.  Somehow, we’re forgotten that, in the case of our schools.  We must all remember that the public schools belong to the public, and that WE ARE THAT PUBLIC.  I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of MY SCHOOLS being overrun with hoods, criminals, selfish elitist pigs, dangerous crackheads, bullies, rapists, people who can’t keep their hands off other people, and sexist pigs, and that’s just at the administrative level.  It’s even worse in the classrooms.  Public, we must take back our schools.

I don’t know who’s hosting the Carnival of Education next week, but you can send your submissions here.

Thank you all for stopping by!

The newest Carnival of Education is up; click on over and catch up on what your kids’ teachers and other kids’ parents are saying about the state of education these days. You can’t have a viable opinion if you don’t keep up! (This applies to everything, by the way.)  If you would like to submit a post to the Carnival of Education, you can!  And it’s EASY!

I wish I knew why I am so dog-tired all the time these days.  I know it can’t have anything to do with the fact that I stay up all night and try to go to work anyway.  I’ve done this pretty much all my life, except for when I lived with my parents, and it’s only been lately that it all seems to be catching up with me.  It can’t be old age – that only affects OTHER people – you know, the old ones. . . . so it’s got to be something else.  Maybe leprosy.  Or Tropicana Fever.  (brought about by too much longing for an island and an excess of orange juice to pretend you’re on one.  An island, that is.)  It’s to the point that I can’t listen to music while driving any more;  if it’s early in the morning and I’m going to the city to teach, it makes me sleepier.  Yes, even the really LOUD STUFF.  Too rhythmic, I suppose.   I had to start listening to Audio Books to stay awake, and you know what, my beautiful DIQ (daughter in question) was right – they’re cool!

Once I’m at the college, I’m wide awake.  It might be forced, but it’s real.  I love my job, and my college, so much!   Nice, nice people, my students.  I try to be as interesting as possible, and so far even the narcoleptic student has managed to stay awake.  He sleeps soundly until the very last minute, but that’s all right.  He’s not MINE until the stroke of 9:30.  They can all show up with pillows and warm milk and teddy bears if they want, and sleep all over the floor, as long as they’re alert at 9:30.  I don’t bother them until it’s time.

We do have all new faucets, toilets, and paper towel dispensers this semester: a wonderful thing indeed.  Gone are the days when people had to flush, turn handles, and “pull down” manually.  The new fixtures are all motion activated, but the motion has to be extreme or it’s not noticed.  What IS noticed, however, would be the row of adults, all gesturing frantically, begging the water to come on, or turn off, and waving dripping wet hands in the air in supplication, hoping for an inch of towel to peep forth.  It’s like a band of St. Vitus Dance victims at a revival.  Or a tour of Dutch windmill country during a hefty breeze.

I always feel guilty about leaving the stall before the thing flushes.  It always does, but what about the times when there’s a long line, and someone enters the stall before it flushes after the previous pooper?  Sometimes, that thing doesn’t flush for a minute or more.   Ick.  I have this THING about pooping on top of a stranger’s poop.  Color me goofy.

Dancing for the bathroom fixtures.  As if life didn’t come with enough indignities. . . .

At Christmas time I believe the things that children do.I believe with English children that holly placed in windows will protect our homes from evil.

I believe with Swiss children that the touch of edelweiss will charm a person with love.

I believe with Italian children that La Befana is not an ugly doll but a good fairy who will gladden the heart of all.

I believe with Greek children that coins concealed in freshly baked loaves of bread will bring good luck to anyone who finds them.

I believe with German children that the sight of a Christmas tree will lessen hostility among adults.

I believe with French children that lentils soaked and planted in a bowl will rekindle life in people who have lost hope.

I believe with Dutch children that the horse Sleipner will fly through the sky and fill the earth with joy.

I believe with Swedish children that Jultomte will come and deliver gifts to the poor as well as to the rich.

I believe with Finnish children that parties held on St.Stephen’s Day will erase sorrow.

I believe with Danish children that the music of a band playing from a church tower will strengthen humankind.

I believe with Bulgarian children that sparks from a Christmas log will create warmth in human souls.

I believe with American children that the sending of Christmas cards will build friendships.

I believe with all children that there will be peace on earth.

–by Daniel Roselle

P.S.  The newest Carnival of Education is up, over at Steve Spangler’s Blog.

Welcome to the 201st Edition of the Carnival of Education!

December has come to represent a plethora of holidays, and each one has lovely things to offer us all. Picture December as a huge pile of glowing, glittering, good-smelling gifts. Inside each of those gifts is a fantastic idea, example, hint, or rant that will make us all better educators and parents. That’s a pretty nice gift, isn’t it! So light the menorah, put the star on the top of the tree, practice one of the Five Pillars, get out the La Posadas pinata, spin that dreidel, get out the kinara, hang your stockings, and let’s learn from each other!

Dave Johnston presents Admiral Brewer gets torpedoed posted at Friends of Dave.

Over on Steve Spangler’s Blog, we find out where Steve learned to insert a little magic into every science experiment.  There just might be something to this “heredity” business after all!

William Schimmel presents Teach for America (and Journalism in General) posted at No Cynics Allowed.

Rachel Rambach presents Red and Green are the Colors of the Season posted at Listen and Learn.

Clix presents WHO ARE YOU?? and Poems posted at Epic Adventures Are Often Uncomfortable.

College Degrees presents An Online Degree Education in Real Life Lessons: Second Life posted at Degree Talk Blog.

bookfundas presents FREE DOWNLOAD: Maya 8 Character Modeling: A Practical Approach to the Art of Professional Character Modeling posted at BookFundas.com.

Dave Saba presents Student Success Strategy posted at DoE- Dave on Ed.

Robert Pondiscio presents Poverty Matters vs. No Excuses at The Core Knowledge Blog posted at The Core Knowledge Blog.

Darren presents Patriotism and Two Interesting Sections of California Education Code posted at Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher.

eduwonkette presents Are Racial Achievement Gaps Closing in Chicago? posted at eduwonkette.

Edmund Harriss presents Responsibility of Mathematicians posted at Maxwell’s Demon.

Jim McGuire presents The Age of Screenagers posted at The Reading Workshop.

Heather Johnson presents 100 Best Lifehack Lists for Recent College Grads | OEDb posted at OEDb: Online Education Database.

A. Lee presents The Importance of Visual Arts in Schools posted at e Art Fair .com.

Mrs. Bluebird presents Slice ‘em and Dice ‘em posted at Bluebird’s Classroom.

Casey Lankow presents Do we always have to blame the media? posted at My Perspective….

djoe331 presents Education of Security and Anonymity posted at Anonymity Online.

Erin presents The Benefits of an Inclusion Classroom posted at School Psychologist Blog Files.

woodlass presents Building blocks posted at Under Assault: Teaching in NYC.

Don presents Student Loan Options For Graduate Students posted at Student Loan Advice.

Becky presents Making it Up As We Go Along posted at The Life Without School Community Blog.

Britannica Blog presents Education Reporting of Research: Buyer Beware posted at Britannica Blog.

Amy Smith presents Why Boys Struggle in School: The Trouble With Boys posted at Kids Love Learning.

GrrlScientist presents Welcome to the World posted at Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted).

Bellringers (Carol Richtsmeier) presents Mood Swings, Dodgeball & Gift Giving posted at Bellringers.

Mathew Needleman presents Peforming Arts Help Students Write Sensory Details posted at Creating Lifelong Learners.

Scott McLeod presents World-class potty training? posted at Dangerously Irrelevant.

Rogue Teacher presents Education Debate posted at Edification.

desertjim presents Are unions really the bogeyman? – Teaching Excellence Network posted at Teaching Excellence Network.

Shen-Li presents Signing Time Promotes Earlier Speech Development | Babylicious posted at Babylicious.

Barry Wright III presents Developing Reading Systems posted at 3stylelife.

pennyryder presents Enthusiastic Teachers posted at Teaching Challenges.

Savings Toolbox presents Save Up For College with FreshmanFund’s 529 College Savings Plan Gift Registry posted at Savings Toolbox.

Jane Goodwin (Mamacita, of Scheiss Weekly) hates what we’ve turned into.

brigid presents Brain Fitness | New York Public Library posted at New York Public Library.

mister teacher presents Does dark have a short a? posted at Learn Me Good.

Mark Graybill presents Preparing for Programming (with Greenfoot) posted at An Infinite Number of Cats on Keyboards.

gil presents Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl posted at gilocafe.

siobhan curious presents when you are uncool posted at Siobhan Curious.

Peter Kimmich presents Online Degrees and Employers: Ponyboy or Donnie Brasco? posted at Ace Online Schools.

Tom DeRosa presents Seven Great Gifts for Teachers (and Three to Avoid) posted at I Want to Teach Forever.

Brain Blogger presents Are Boys Really More Hard-Wired for Math than Girls? posted at Brain Blogger.

Mark Montgomery presents Elements of a Good College Fit, Part One: Academics posted at Great College Advice.

Nancy Miller presents Time’s Are A Changin’… Global Warming Incorporated Into Educational Curriculum posted at Top Online Engineering Degree.

Lorri presents Woman denied teaching degree because of MySpace photo-are teachers expected to be saints? posted at New York City Education Examiner.

Thomas J. West presents But It’s Too Hard! The Myth of Difficulty posted at Thomas J. West Music.

avoiceinthewilderness presents Would you encourage your child to be a teacher? posted at The Chancellor’s New Clothes.

Mark presents Online Education Recession-Proof? posted at Ace Online Schools.

desertjim presents How valuable are high school community service hours? – Teaching Excellence Network posted at Teaching Excellence Network.

Larry Ferlazzo presents The Best Sites For Learning About New Year Celebrations posted at Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day….

Alvaro Fernandez presents Torkel Klingberg helps with Overflowing Brain & Information Overload posted at Sharp Brains.

The Little Professor gifts us with Star Trek XII: The Wrath of the Search for the Voyage of Finals Week. What’s not to love?

Jose Vilson tells us about The Mouth and the Giggler.

Joanne Jacobs blogs about re-enactments that go too far.

Mr. McNamar of The Daily Grind would like to know how to encourage students to volunteer.

Pissed Off Teacher’s students have come a long way, baby!

According to Hobo Teacher, the students aren’t the only ones who are flushing the “wrong things” down the toilet.

I want to apologize for not making this Carnival a more fanciful one.  The truth is, this is Finals Week and I’m exhausted.  I hope there is a nice soft pillow in one of those wrapped gifts.  I need one for when it’s finally Nap Time.  If I put three of those little orange mats together, that should work, right?  Move over, Billy.  Sorry about that, Susie.  And would one of you little munchkins please tell the principal to stop snoring?

Next week, the Carnival of Education will be hosted by none other than the magical, fantastical Steve Spangler, he who teaches us all that the best learning is the learning that gets our hands dirty and makes us say “Ooooohhh!!!!”

Next week, the Carnival is hosted right here at Scheiss Weekly, so start submitting your posts. Already, I’m putting the Carnival together!

I can’t seem to shake the exhaustion.  Driving home from Bloomington last night, I actually pulled over to the shoulder for a few minutes to try and wake up more thoroughly; thankfully, I did make it home without driving off a cliff.  It’s just a few minutes past ten thirty as I type here, but I can hardly hold my eyes open and I can’t think of a thing to say that anybody would be interested in.  My apologies.  I need to go to Sleepy Town for a while.

Sleepy Town and Shamey Town:  two places I frequented as a child, and which my own children know well, too.

Perhaps if more parents were not afraid to send their children to Shamey Town, the world would be safer, cleaner, and a lot more fun. Part of our problem these days is that too few parents teach their children that there are some things we are SUPPOSED to be ashamed of.  Possibly this is because so many parents don’t feel shame for anything they do, either.

Sleepy Town, now, we all visit regularly.  I think perhaps visiting it even more often would be good for me.

I have an Etsy shop.  I only sell one thing, but it’s a really cool thing.  And, if you want a custom one, just ask me!  If you’re one of my readers, I’ll cater to your every whim!  Um, Etsy-style, that is.  What am I talking about?  Please, go check me it out!

Every home needs a place for a genie to live, don’t you think so?  I raised my children in a world of fantasy, and I’m overjoyed to say that they still know how to dwell there.  Please check out my daughter’s Etsy shop; she makes beautiful genie habitats.  I’ve watched her make these; every single teeny-tiny bead is placed by hand, individually.  Her pictures are lovely, but none can really capture the beauty of these creations. When the light catches one of her genie habitats, it’s truly gorgeous.

Also?  Blue SweeTarts are nasty.  The purple and orange ones, on the other hand, are FANTASTIC.  I wish I could find a package of SweeTarts with ONLY purple and orange ones.

Yes, that’s a petty wish.  I don’t care.  I love SweeTarts, but I don’t like the blue ones!  The raspberry/cherry (can’t really tell!) ones are pretty gross, too.  Green and yellow SweeTarts?  Meh.  No opinion.    But those yummy purple and orange SweeTarts?  Those are mine.  You can have all those OTHER ones.  Let’s flush the blue ones down the toilet.

I also love the purple and orange Pixie Stix, but I won’t go into detail because there is something vaguely unsettling about a woman my age sucking down a huge thick tube of tart powdery goodness.

Those little Pixy Stix straws just aren’t worth all the effort.  Besides, the end always gets soaked from the sucking, and you have to keep biting cutting the tip off to get all of the “stuff” out.

It’s nice to have candy that can’t be shared, though.  REALLY nice.

Besides, candy made by Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp can’t be anything but grand.  (If you don’t understand that reference, why, there must be something WRONG with you!!!!)

FreeCycle is a great thing, but some of the people on there?  Unbelievable.  Besides which, matching shirts?  ME?  It is to laugh.

“Wanted: pickup truck.  Must run well and get good mileage.”

“Wanted:  working computer.”

“Wanted:  working iPod.”

“Wanted:  cell phone.”

What in the blue blazes?  These people are greedy idiots!

I’ve been giving things away like mad on FreeCycle, though, as I’m tired of living with clutter.

My Other Sister is a breast cancer survivor, so this particular cause is one that I am happy to help support, when I’m able.  After I win the lottery, I plan to give most of it away to causes like this.

I love the gift I bought for my sweet niece’s baby shower.  If she doesn’t like it, I’ll bring it back home and use it myself!

One of my favorite “things to do” involves making lists of people I love and thinking of a cool Christmas gift for them.  Then I try to find it as inexpensively as possible, which usually means I buy it online.  Sorry, actual stores, but you charge too much.

I found a movie I’d been wanting for years in a Big Lots bargain bin today, for three bucks.  On eBay, I’ve bid up to twenty several times, only to be outbid by someone who wanted it even more than I did.  Now I’m glad I never won it, because, well, THREE BUCKS!  I had it on VHS and now I have it on DVD.  For three dollars.

Do you like free things?  I know I do.  Get over to the Texas Pepper Jelly blog and follow the directions.  Free stuff!!!

The latest Carnival of Education is up.  Please read it.  It’s important to stay on top of things whenever we possibly can, and if you read the Carnival, you’ll know what’s going on in the world of education.

My daughter has an Etsy shop. So do I.

My Honda had a 4:00 appointment to have the oil changed.  Estimate:  $20.00.  Apparently, it was also time for the 105,000 – mile checkup.  Actual price:  $300.00.  I’m no mathematician, but isn’t that a bit of a jump?

Yes, my car has almost 105,000 miles on it.  But it’s a Honda, so it still runs like a new car.

After the car’s appointment, I drove over to the college and graded some essays, and basically killed a few hours until MY appointment, which was at 8:30.  My appointment was to pick up Belle from her graduate class and take her home, where I helped her clean out her closet.  My reward was a big hug and one of her indescribable smiles, and a huge sack of clothing.  I love hanging out with my daughter; she’s so FUN.  And she gives me clothes!

It’s almost 3:30 a.m. and I’m still not tired.  Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

And isn’t the word “plethora” cool?  I do love the world of words.