Do not quarrel with a goat

Or he will spit at you.  This one and a half minute clip is pure glory, and I trust that no goats were harmed during the making of this gift: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzctPPkUPkk&sns=em

Coming soon to a basketball arena near you, a dunking otter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJTRCtwf_X0&feature=youtu.be

Wanna see Michelle Obama dougie with Jimmy Fallon?  You do:  http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2013/02/evolution-of-mom-dancing-w-jimmy-fallon-michelle-obama/

***do not read further if you are offended by the crude term for cow manure and/or you have youngsters nearby***

I succeeded  mostly succeeded in refraining from Peppermint Patty Laughing at this image a student showed me - outside of school hours - that was saved in her iPad camera roll:  

I heartily encouraged her to never open that gem at school.  Ever.  Again.

For my friends interested in United States public education (like how I popped this in here, eh?), which I direly hope is ALL of you, this testimony by an educator is worth all 7 minutes, and a smidgen, of your time.  It's a textbook example of  why our country's immigration system demands the overhauling that the overwhelming majority of citizens and non-citizens demand, albeit for varied reasons.  No matter the political or social label you may have assigned yourself, I'm gonna hazard a guess that rare is the one of us who supports the cow manure logic notion that a child brought to our country under the wing of his parent(s) - who are 99% likely to be doing so in hopes of cultivating a better home and future for their children - should be educated, as is compulsorily required and rightly offered to children in the US, and then tossed back to a country they've never 'known' as a result of a stiffer consequence that some of the most degenerative criminals do not even face.  I'm no economic oracle of expertise, but I'm going to traipse delicately onto a flimsy limb here and suspect that this is not a sound return on our taxpayer <and social> investment.  Creating a legal reasonable pathway for children educated in our country, to become citizens and enable them the opportunity to contribute to society, is, plain vanilla, simply the right thing to do:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o7Jc7dZzio&feature=em-subs_digest

A legal and reasonable pathway to citizenship for US educated children not your cup of iced tea?  Contact your federal representative.  I hear they make lots of important things happen up there.  <snort>

The non-fire fire drill

Riddle me this.  Can 1000 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders assume silence for more than 1.5 seconds?  Allow me to revise that query.  Can 1000 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders assume silence, simultaneously, in a confined space - say, on a football field, for more than 1.5 seconds?  

While I realize with great confidence that people of all ages will - by virtue of the most basic human desire to succeed - live up to the expectations placed before them, no matter the great height of the challenge, this does not apply in the scenario described above.  If you say 'it does too' (probably in a high pitched, whiny, argumentative voice), I say:  "You're so adorable."

Our campus has a pint-sized staff of capable and hard working custodians, but even they are human.  Insert a misstep of some type or, a defective, indoor fire sprinkler (which would have no relation to whether our superhuman custodians are indeed human, after all).  Couple that misstep or defective sprinkler with a remaining 50 minutes of school day on a Thursday afternoon and you have, my friends, the equivalent of herding cats who have just sniffed their first taste of cat-nip after being sequestered all day with 999 other cats inside a school campus.  

Flash forward, and aforementioned 1000 middle school students with their frazzled teachers are moved, en masse**, to the campus football field.  Mind you, none of us, even the adults, knew precisely what's precipitated (PUNTASTIC) this evacuation, and we knew not of a scheduled fire drill.  Roughly 30 minutes later - insert your most far fetched mental image of emotional torture - we discover the cause:  busted sprinkler + intense campus flooding + fire department summons = evacuation and (this is the piece de resistance) a restriction on students returning to the building to collect their lives*** that same afternoon, until the muck had been sucked from the hallways, a process not expected to conclude until the evening or 
overnight hours.  ***I meant to say, backpacks, cell phones, money (perhaps), house keys (likely in many cases), Chapstick, love letters, hate letters, and - gasp, say it ain't so - school supplies.  It was a wise decision made with student safety at the forefront.  But, was it merely my imagination, or was this the facial expression on student faces when they were notified of their afternoon fate?  I think not.  I've seen enough horror movies to recognize danger when presented before me:

Before you're alarmed, our students do not wear loin cloths.  It's not considered uniform dress on our campus.  But this does remind me that I've yet to read or see Lord of the Flies.

**Why do I feel compelled to use the 'e' after that term?  Does anyone know?

Hunker down!

No, don't.  Many of you know my feelings toward that phrase.  Bunker down, people!  Bundle up, stay warm and safe; particularly Charley's east coast family and my cousin E along with her to-be-betrothed.

Despite my appreciation for said cousin's professional acumen, this - as all things Jimmy Fallon - Jimmy Fallon Friday Thank You Note bit elicited a Peppermint Patty Laugh:

Admit it, you feel it, too.

Ever roll up to the crib, and the most recent song playing in the AM/FM Universe sticks in your head like Velcro?  So you bust on in the house singing it loud and proud?  Surprised when nobody in the house can hear the same tune you hear?  Fortunately, for me, it's par for course that the poorly trilled tunes of my cranial soundtrack are good-naturedly received by the unwitting household recipients.  Today, this tune (Just click here, you won't regret it) was my grand entrance theme song - but ain't a soul was in the domicile to benefit from it aside from two furry, four-legged babes, who just wanted their dang dry meal dinners.

Bless you, Charley (Brown), you're a good man.