Kate Moss launches Clothing Line

Well, it has happened again! Another celebrity is launching a clothing line!

Iconic British supermodel Kate Moss is launching a new clothing line to join the latest number of celebrities who do more than just go to Hollywood parties and date Charlie Sheen.

Too bad that most of us will not be able to wear the clothes. They will most certainly be very expensive and probably very small.

As Robin Williams once said, they will be "like Ghandi jeans. They come in sizes one and below."

Finishing the Race

I went down to Tipton last evening for a track meet that some of my basketball players were participating in.

I had a great time and my players did very well. I was very proud.

Their perseverance is what impressed me the most. Even if they did not clear the high jump bar or stumbled on the hurdles, they picked themselves up and pressed on to finish.

Afterward, I thanked them for letting me know about the meet and that I had a wonderful time despite the fact that it was freezing outside.

I also told them that in life it is not important if a person falls down. The important thing is that a person gets back up and finishes the race.

With that in mind, here is a little video of one of my favorite movie speeches of all time that deals with that very thing. Enjoy!

Congratulations to Students of Turner County High

Even in 2007, we are still confronted with issues of race in this country. Turner County High School in Ashburn, Georgia, is no exception.

As reported by CNN, the students of Turner County High enjoyed their first integrated prom recently.

For years, according to CNN, parents have organized private, segregated dances but that all changed due to the efforts of the students who voted to have a school sponsored prom.

In the spirit of breaking old traditions, the theme of the prom was "Breakaway," and, from what I could gather from the article, the dance was an astounding success.

I think that it is a wonderful example of the true strength of the human spirit and I believe that these students should be commended for their great efforts.

With this in mind, I would like to wish a big Congratulations to the students of Turner County High School in Ashburn, Georgia!

You all should be proud of your accomplishment! Go Rebels!

Sick to my Stomach

I should be working on homework right now but I am inspired to blog at this late hour.

For my Health Psychology class, we were given an extra credit opportunity of watching the documentary Super Size Me and answering a few questions to help improve our grades.

I am only halfway through the movie but I am just about sick to my stomach. I have not felt this sick since I became very ill from eating food from a neighborhood Rally's almost two years ago. It was arguably the worst that I have ever felt in my entire life.

My friend Mike was definitely right when he once told me that this film will make me rethink the types of foods that I eat. Every time I hear the word "Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese," I become sick to my stomach; almost to the point of extreme nausea.

If you have not seen the documentary Super Size Me then you must watch it. It will change your attitudes about the types of foods that we eat everyday.

For now, I am going to go down into the kitchen and grab some water and an apple as I finish my extra credit assignment.

Protest comes to IUK

As many of my Indiana University Kokomo readers may have heard, a protest will being coming to our campus this Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. in the Quad.

What will this protest be about you may ask? Well, I am glad that you asked because the protest will not be about the Iraq War. The protest will not be about the genocide in Darfur. No, it will not even be about the treatment of all of our veterans.

The protest taking place will be over mandatory classroom attendance and a professor's right to implement it into the college classroom at my university.

For me, it is an unfortunate event simply because there are so many other things that are more important than having the right to skip class without be penalized for it.

Right now, we have young men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan who need people making their voices heard about how they get the shaft in benefits when they come home.

Right now, we have not had any major Education reform since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which has never been fully funded.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, these issues will not be discussed when protest comes to IUK on Tuesday.

Regret: My Greatest Fear

Anymore I feel as if I am talking to a brick wall.

I explain things to this wall and talk to it but for some reason it doesn't seem to respond or give me any kind of advice other than the typical, "Well, what are ya gonna do."

Even though it is a very popular phrase to use in conversation, I absolutely hate it. Basically, to me, it is saying, "Well, you have hit rock bottom. Tough luck. There is nothing that you can do to change it."

Maybe I feel this way because I am not listening as well as I used to, or maybe, just maybe, I have forgotten how to listen completely.

But, I have been listening my entire life. I get tired of always being the one to listen and then having to do the responsible thing. I am sick and tired of it.

In a previous post, I talked about choosing to do the responsible thing over the right thing. Instead of going to an important basketball game, I did the responsible thing of going to class where I could have lost a letter grade for my absence.

Once again, I am being forced to chose a class over a coaching position that I would enjoy and pays very well. Once again, choosing responsibility over right.

Back when I wrote the first "responsible decision post," I stated that my main fear was regretting my "responsible" decision. As I sit back in thought on both of these decisions, my greatest fear has indeed come true.

After all this time, I greatly regret my first responsible decision. I am sure that this second "responsible decision" will be no different.

Let Us Honor the Victims at Virginia Tech

God Bless Virginia Tech

May God Bless the Virginia Tech Community.
You are in our prayers.
Your strength is an inspiration to us all.

Leave Logic at the Door

What is logic? Most people would say that it is a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration or the science of the formal principles of reasoning.

At least, that's what it said on the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary website.

To me, it is that funny little word that so many people love to throw around when they are arguing with you. They use it in funny little phrases such as:

"Well, if you think about it logically," or, "But your logic does not make any sense, " or my personal favorite, "But if we look at the situation logically."

Any of these phrases ring a bell?

If they do then I definitely feel your pain as my entire time in college has been marked by this one little word.

If this is logic then you can count me out. It looks like third graders fighting over a football game at recess anymore.

It turns into a big fight where people are either hurt or disappointed. Sometimes, friendships are tossed down the drain. Also, after the event or argument occurs, some of us feel the need to explain why we feel the way we do in order to better the situation.

When did our personal beliefs have to be explained like a song on American Bandstand? Well, I like Galileo's philosophy because it has a good beat but you can't dance to it so I'll give it an 85.

Anymore, logic is starting to turn into the "endless bickering of college students who would rather argue to prove their point in person or online in hopes of putting off their homework just a little while longer."

Never be ashamed of who you are and how you feel because no matter how much more research one person has done than you they will never be able to experience what you have experienced in your life.

The things that we go through in life are what make us who we are today. There is no amount of "logic" that could ever change my mind on that.

I Miss Those Days

I am feeling a sense of frustration today. It seems as if the stuff that is important to me does not seem to matter to others at times. Nothing too much but just enough to "grind my gears" so to speak.

In a way, it is almost similar to how the top stories in the news concern Anna Nicole Smith and the corruption that exists yet again in the American Idol voting systems.

Seriously, if we can't get our government election systems to work then why would we expect anything different from FOX?

Also on a different topic, should we really be surprised that Don Imus made a racist and sexist remark? He's only been making them his whole career! This time, proper action was taken.

Mr. Imus' remarks were disgusting and despicable and he should have been fired long before this incident as his entire career has been built on these types of comments. Completely disgusting from my perspective.

Anyway, off my soap box for a moment, I really cannot go into too exact details but I am convinced that I am no different than when I was five years old. The truth is that I am a very impatient person when it comes to waiting on someone to do something.

Even as a kid, it would make me so angry that it would cause me to throw little temper tantrums which usually led to some form of discipline one way or another.

Now, I have grown up and learned to repress that little temper tantrum and keep it inside. On the outside, I look like a normal person but not on the inside.

On the inside, I am boiling. So much, in fact, that I am sure it has given me a few premature grey hairs before my time.

Sometimes, I miss being able to throw a little temper tantrum or pity party. Weren't those great? You could just sit in your room for hours and just sigh to yourself. No one got hurt and you got to think about your favorite subject - Yourself.

I miss those days. Oh well, nothing that a few Seinfeld episodes can't fix. Have a good one!

Thank you Mr. Orr!

I received a forward from a former teacher of mine today that I thought was pretty interesting. Normally, I do not pay too much attention to email forwards but this teacher is pretty special. Few educators allow you to watch classic films of the Marx Brothers in class.

Also, as part of his graduation gift to me he gave me some great advice by giving me a card with a picture of himself. Next to the picture, he wrote me a little note - "Make sure that you don't look like this when you get older." So, in honor of this great English teacher, here it is.

Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show? Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped into 3 Elementary school classrooms for 6 weeks.

Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school districts curriculum, and a class of 28 students.

Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D.,one gifted child, and two who speak limited English.

Three will be labeled with severe behavior problems. Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create materials accordingly.

They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences.

They must also supervise recess and monitor the hallways. In addition, they will complete drills for fire, tornadoes, terrorists and shooting attacks.

They must attend 100 hours of workshops, faculty meetings, union meetings, and curriculum development meetings.

They must also tutor those students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the ISTEP+ tests.

If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not let it show. Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into their program.

They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment at all times.

The business people will only have access to the golf course on the weekends, but on their new salary they will not be able to afford it anyway.

There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to 30 minutes.

On days when they do not have recess duty, the business people will be permitted to use the staff restroom as long as another survival candidate is supervising their class.

They will be provided with two, 40-minute planning periods per week while their students are at activity classes. If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials at this time.

The business people must continually advance their own education on their own time, and pay for this advanced training themselves.

This can be accomplished by moonlighting at a second job or marrying someone with money.

The winner will be allowed to return to his or her former job.

Thank you Mr. Orr!

Stop Yelling at me Mr. Sharpton!

I just finished listening to the Rev. Al Sharpton discuss the Imus Controversy on MSNBC.It seems like Mr. Sharpton yells every time he talks and nothing is ever accomplished.

I have decided to take refuge in my room for a while because every time I hear him talk I am suddenly reminded of our my goldfish died when I was a child.

The weather is starting to improve as the temperature was nice enough that I did not have to wear a jacket.

Well, this short post will end as I need to get to work on my lessons for tomorrow and Thursday. The end of my Western Practicum will be marked by teaching two lessons during the next two days.

I am a little nervous as it will be the first time that I will ever teach a lesson completely prepared by me. Wish me luck.

Listen First, Speak Second

Another day and another series of classes to attend. The end of the semester is rapidly approaching and it could not get here any quicker.

Frustration is starting to set in. Most notably in my friends and classmates. The amount of sighs that I have heard during my classes is starting to creep toward triple digits.

I know what you are thinking and the answer is, "Yes, I do keep track of the amount of moans and groans that occur in my classes." Because of this hobby, I chose to sit in the back of the room to get the full scope of every class that I take.

It is a personal hobby of mine that dates back to my sophomore year of high school when my English class took bets on how many times our teacher would say the phrase "in a sense" during a period. The count once made it up to 40! Roughly one "in a sense" every two minutes!

I have found that the best time to do this is during a class discussion/debate. It is especially fun when you have a few people who obviously do not know what they are talking about.

Myself, I usually do not participate in these types of discussions. For me, a discussion should be a sharing of different ideas and opinions. In reality, it usually turns into a shouting match that gets so out of control it makes the British House of Commons look like the United States House of Representatives.

But class debates are not the only thing that make things interesting. Just as Dane Cook once said, "There is one person in every group of friends that no one likes," there is one person in every class that nobody likes.

For whatever reason, whether their beliefs are radical, they have an unusual laugh, or they are just plain rude, this occurs in every college classroom. Granted, I do not condone disliking anyone simply because they are a little different, however, I find it very interesting to watch the reactions of my classmates whenever this person chooses to open their mouth.

Call it sociology. Call it intrigue. Maybe you could even call it nerdy in a way. I am a people watcher and observer instead of a talker in my classes.

I think it best to listen first and speak second as opposed to speaking first and listening second. I was given two ears and one mouth for a reason and I most certainly chose to use them accordingly.

Mr. Etherington's Room

I started working on my e-Portfolio for my education certification this evening. Basically, we have to find artifacts that illustrate the different meta-standards that the university wants us to meet by the time we are ready to enter the Teaching profession.

It was kinda funny because a couple of the meta-standards include community involvement and working with extra-curricular activities in a school. Needless to say, I highly doubt that I will have too much trouble finding material for those two sections.

It was also pretty interesting looking at some of my old reports and writings from the past few years. One of the reports that I found was a research paper on bullying within schools.

I wanted to write on that topic because for much of my elementary years, I got picked on quite a bit (shocking isn't it). I can vividly remember it getting so bad that I would come home from school in tears most evenings.

With the passage of time, I have gotten over what the bullies did to me, but in the words of President John F. Kennedy, I have not forgotten their names. I do, however, consider myself lucky because I never had to deal with the cyberbullying that many of today's kids have to deal with.

Honestly, getting picked on is one of the worst things that kids have to go through during the school day. What is even worse is when that bullying extends beyond the school into the child's home. Bullying at school is bad but I think that cyberbullying is just as bad if not worse. Bullying is such a gutless and cowardly way to treat someone.

Kids should feel safe when they go to school and they should feel just as safe when they chose to go online at home. No kid deserves to go through treatment like that.

It is true that we can't protect them from everything but I do know that teachers can do their best to stop that kind of behavior in their classrooms. I know that it will most certainly not be tolerated in Mr. Etherington's room.

Walls and Expectations

For the first time in a few weeks, my father and I took in a movie with some friends this afternoon. He has not been feeling well these past two weeks so it was very encouraging to see him up on his feet.

I think that has been the main cause of my frustration these past few weeks. Simply because there was really nothing that I could do to help him get better. Plus, a Friday just did not seem like a Friday without us going to a late night show at the movie theatre.

I'm glad that he is feeling at least somewhat better. However, next week will most definitely be a major test for him as school starts up again. Well, if he can put up with me for almost 23 years then I am pretty sure that he will be able to survive going back to school.

Speaking of school, my classes are turning out to be better than I thought. The truth is that I am actually learning a great deal in all of them. The exact opposite of my expectations at the start of this semester.

I do not know why I automatically put up walls with some of these classes like I did this semester. Maybe it's because I am just ready to get out. At least that's what I originally thought.

At the start of this semester, I thought that I had learned everything that I ever needed to learn. I felt as if I was ready to move on. Ready to finally leave college.

But, I soon found at that that was not the case and that I still had a great deal to learn. Unfortunately, instead of embracing this new knowledge, I tried to fight it by not "taking care of business" so to speak and slacking off.

The good thing now is that I have stopped fighting it. Also, I have stopped being so lazy about that kind of stuff which I truly believe was my main problem. Imagine that?!

Now, if I could only stop being that lazy about doing my laundry and keeping my room clean. The good lord can cause great things to happen but that indeed would be a miracle. Wouldn't it?

Who Were You In High School?

All American Kid

Popular but not plastic. Athletic but not a jock. Smart but not a brain. You were well rounded and well liked in school.

Who Were You In High School?

Enjoy the Ride

Before I begin, I need to place this excellent quote on here in honor of a great person. "You guys can work 18 hours plowing and farming in the field and we will wash the dishes and do the laundry." It is arguably the best quote that I have ever heard in a class.

In a way, my reaction to this quote is very much related to certain things that I have been thinking about as of late. Mostly, I started thinking about them after taking a walk and sharing a drink at Starbucks with a good friend. Not only did the talk help me but it made me feel really good about where I am going.

Lately, I've been having trouble with dealing with the prospects of getting older. Mostly, it has been having to hear what others think about the subject.

One of my favorites is, "We are getting so old." Myself, I don't feel any older. To me, this statement carries the belief that once you reach a specific age you aren't supposed to be a fun-loving human being anymore. It gives me a negative feeling that all at once we must look, talk, and act in a different way than what we have the past few years of our lives.

That is not even the worst of it. I feel as if I am constantly being reminded to act my age. Kinda like, "You are showing emotion and laughing! How dare you! You must act old! You must act dead inside! You must have no soul!"

Of course, I could just be delaying growing up. I am certain that many of my friends could provide plenty of evidence to support that claim. The very fact that I laughed hysterically at my friend's quote or bought the Special Collector's Edition DVD of Peter Pan on Sunday evening is a good start (the movie still rocks).

But in a way, I am glad because for me, growing older has such a negative connotation to it. Especially when I think about what I have heard from others.

I'm sure that there are those out there who will say, "Why don't you want to grow up? It isn't that bad. You should embrace it!" Usually these are the same kind of people who can't figure out why you don't want to be in an exclusive relationship after having just listened to them complain for an hour about how annoying or boring their significant other or relationship is.

If I am supposed to grow up, act my age, and not be afraid of these things then why does it make me sick to my stomach when I am confronted with people who constantly complain about the very thing that they want me to become?

We don't wake up one day and become "old." Just as we don't wake up one day staring at a job, a mortgage, and a family. Things happen to us. Events in our lives move us from one point to another until we finally reach our present state. But many times, I don't think some of us take the time to think about it in those terms.

I know that one day I will become "older." There is no denying it even though many people my age are hellbent on delaying that (can we say plastic surgery). But for me, I don't think that growing older can and is a sudden thing that changes you overnight. I think that we just forget to enjoy or even realize that life is a ride.

I believe that the ride makes us who we are and that so many people are so worried about getting to their destination that they forget to take the time to enjoy the ride. And when they finally reach that destination, the only thing that they can do is complain about how they didn't enjoy it.

It is true that I haven't exactly completed my course as planned and it is true that I still have not received a piece of paper that is becoming way too important to some people. But, the course I have taken has made me the person that I am today. These past five years, I believe that I have grown as a person so much more than most people do in a lifetime.

There is not one thing that I would change about the past five years. If I did, then you probably would not be reading about it.

Play Ball, Finally!

Baseball season is finally here! After months and months of waiting, the boys of summer are back.

I was not able to get to class as early as I thought I would today. I was in my car listening to Bob Shepard introduce the starting lineup for my Yankees.

I am convinced that no opening day would be complete without him behind the microphone at Yankee Stadium. I think Billy Crystal had a point when he once said that he wanted Bob Shepard to announce him into heaven if he was fortunate enough to make it there.

This year, my Yankees look good enough to win a World Series Championship. Their offense is as potent as ever with last year's addition of Bobby Abreu along with a healthy Hideki Matsui.

On defense, the Yanks have greatly improved with the reacquisition of the crafty veteran Andy Pettitte as well as having Mike Mussina and a healthy Carl Pavano. Lastly, let us not forget Mr. Mariano Rivera in the bullpen as well.

This year could be the year. At least, let's hope.

Lucky in that Regard

My house has been pretty difficult to live in the past week and a half. With the dog and dad both being under the weather, conditions within my home have been frustrating to put it mildly.

Mostly, I have been coming up with excuses to do one of two things. The first thing is leaving the house to hang out with friends or to go to school. The second thing has been staying up in my room for long periods of time.

It hasn't been all bad as I have gotten to begin reading a few new books, play my PS2, and watch the entire first season of How I Met Your Mother on DVD. I love that show. It's very much like my buddy Mike and I in how it is the story about two friends - one who is practically married and the other who is as single as they come. Granted, I'm not having a relationship with Cobie Smulders but a guy can dream can't he?

Fortunately, things have been going much better outside of the home. The elections at my school turned out the way that I wanted them to with many of my friends winning their individual races. To be honest, I think that I was more excited for them than they were when the final results were posted.

With the elections complete, school is quickly coming to a close with me. My grades are not troubling me either which is a good thing. Very soon, I will begin the last stages of my education certification as I only have to take two classes between now and my student teaching which begins in the Spring of 2008.

I am looking forward to my student teaching as I have already been assigned a host school and teacher. The ironic thing is that many of my classmates still have not gotten any word from any of their choices. I consider myself pretty lucky in that regard.