Is that how you spell moccasin? I'm not sure. All I know is I am still freaked out by the Human Footprint.
We are watching the DVD in geography class because I was so deeply disturbed by it that I decided to diffuse my disturbance by making 120-some captive 13-year olds share it.
Of course they're like, "meh," and not disturbed, which I find even more disturbing.
The best part is that you can go to National Geographic's interactive consumption page and figure out how you compare to world averages.
And on that note, I will end with an apology for using one word, "disturbed" too much in this nightmarishly-hyperlinked post.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
October's 2nd weekend, 2011
I just finished watching The Company Men with Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and some other famous people.
My only regret is that I rented it instead of buying it outright. I knew it would be good, and I think I'm going to buy a round of copies for people for Christmas.
Other than that, I don't have much to say this week. I've been happy to see that Pastor Dana of Kaleidoscope Faith is making her way steadily home to Michigan. I'm following her progress via posts from the people she's staying with along the way.
Jeff Dick has landed safely in Australia and is settling in.
There you go: since nothing momentous has happened in my own life, I'll update you on my friends.
Which reminds me, Mizz Jodi is about to start her job at Ivy Tech soon, so good vibes to her as she starts that new adventure.
For myself, I'm having a heck of a time trying to find a natural resources map of the United States. I found a whole bunch of other thematic maps, including maps of frog coverage, time zones and farm values, but try finding the one you remember from grade school with the little carts of coal...no dice. National Geographic rarely disappoints, however, and while looking for one thing, we find another.
It is in that spirit that I will conclude this short post by attempting to embed one of my favorite thematic maps of all time. Let's see... Haha! Good old Wikipedia! Since Wikipedia is, as the name implies, a wiki, I figure its content is ripe for stealing. I'll paste the description below the image, too. Heheh.
"The image shows the urbanization of the world's cities through the use of the DMSP satellite system. This image of Earth's city lights was created with data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). Originally designed to view clouds by moonlight, the OLS is also used to map the locations of permanent lights on the Earth's surface. The brightest areas of the Earth are the most urbanized, but not necessarily the most populated. (Compare western Europe with China and India.) Cities tend to grow along coastlines and transportation networks. The United States interstate highway system appears as a lattice connecting the brighter dots of city centers. In Russia, the Trans-Siberian railroad is a thin line stretching from Moscow through the center of Asia to Vladivostok. The Nile River, from the Aswan Dam to the Mediterranean Sea, is another bright thread through an otherwise dark region. Even more than 100 years after the invention of the electric light, some regions remain thinly populated and unlit. Antarctica is entirely dark. The interior jungles of Africa and South America are mostly dark, but lights are beginning to appear there. Deserts in Africa, Arabia, Australia, Mongolia, and the United States are poorly lit as well (except along the coast), along with the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, and the great mountains of the Himalaya.
Date 21 October 2006 Source Imagery by NASA and/or the US Geological Survey.
Processed by Terra Prints Inc.
Author Data courtesy Marc Imhoff of NASA GSFC and Christopher Elvidge of NOAA NGDC.
Image by Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC."
Don't let the bedbugs bite. ;)
Other than that, I don't have much to say this week. I've been happy to see that Pastor Dana of Kaleidoscope Faith is making her way steadily home to Michigan. I'm following her progress via posts from the people she's staying with along the way.
Jeff Dick has landed safely in Australia and is settling in.
There you go: since nothing momentous has happened in my own life, I'll update you on my friends.
Which reminds me, Mizz Jodi is about to start her job at Ivy Tech soon, so good vibes to her as she starts that new adventure.
For myself, I'm having a heck of a time trying to find a natural resources map of the United States. I found a whole bunch of other thematic maps, including maps of frog coverage, time zones and farm values, but try finding the one you remember from grade school with the little carts of coal...no dice. National Geographic rarely disappoints, however, and while looking for one thing, we find another.
It is in that spirit that I will conclude this short post by attempting to embed one of my favorite thematic maps of all time. Let's see... Haha! Good old Wikipedia! Since Wikipedia is, as the name implies, a wiki, I figure its content is ripe for stealing. I'll paste the description below the image, too. Heheh.
"The image shows the urbanization of the world's cities through the use of the DMSP satellite system. This image of Earth's city lights was created with data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). Originally designed to view clouds by moonlight, the OLS is also used to map the locations of permanent lights on the Earth's surface. The brightest areas of the Earth are the most urbanized, but not necessarily the most populated. (Compare western Europe with China and India.) Cities tend to grow along coastlines and transportation networks. The United States interstate highway system appears as a lattice connecting the brighter dots of city centers. In Russia, the Trans-Siberian railroad is a thin line stretching from Moscow through the center of Asia to Vladivostok. The Nile River, from the Aswan Dam to the Mediterranean Sea, is another bright thread through an otherwise dark region. Even more than 100 years after the invention of the electric light, some regions remain thinly populated and unlit. Antarctica is entirely dark. The interior jungles of Africa and South America are mostly dark, but lights are beginning to appear there. Deserts in Africa, Arabia, Australia, Mongolia, and the United States are poorly lit as well (except along the coast), along with the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, and the great mountains of the Himalaya.
Date 21 October 2006 Source Imagery by NASA and/or the US Geological Survey.
Processed by Terra Prints Inc.
Author Data courtesy Marc Imhoff of NASA GSFC and Christopher Elvidge of NOAA NGDC.
Image by Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC."
Don't let the bedbugs bite. ;)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Meep Meep!
That's right, folks! On my way down the mountain for probably the last overnight until after the snows (which will begin falling this week) thaw in May, I saw a road runner (I think) for the first time (I think) in my life. That was yesterday, and clearly where the blog is concerned, I completely missed the weekend. I was busy grading papers, making money proctoring the SAT, and sleeping at McWilliams campground.
Today, something arguably better than spotting a road runner happened: it rained! It may in fact still be raining in some parts of town. Granted, it rained twice last month, but that was September. Today's rain is proof positive of the unrivaled greatness of October. It started raining about 10 minutes before school let out, and then kept raining for about 25 solid minutes, until I had arrived at the intersection of Nellis and Bonanza.
I had the most fun commute home from school ever. Unbeknownst to me, apparently my windshield is badly Rain-Xed. Adding insult to injury, when I turned on my wipers, I noticed that one of the wiper blades had dry rotted completely off. I remembered that I knew that, because I showed Miss Gokey my nonexistent wiper blade a few weeks ago. (These are the things you have to deal with when you live in a climate where there are 361 days of sunshine.) When I remembered that, I started laughing. And then I remembered the time that I accidentally turned on the wipers when I meant to turn on the cruise control, on Highway 58 (I think), and I laughed some more. Unfortunately, I passed the inevitable wreck, and pulled over for the inevitable ambulance, and stopped for at least one soaked crossing guard...
As I turned onto Nellis from Craig, I noticed two passenger aircrafts and two helicopters flying in the sky. I laughed again as I thought to myself, "the Air Force is out monitoring the "rain" situation!" Now that the cover of darkness is upon us, the lightning is better than a Cirque show. Thank you, Mother Nature! It's a good evening to watch a horror movie.
Two days ago, I watched a movie called Brotherhood. It was very dark, filled with violence, blood, death and painful bad choices, but it ended well and I enjoyed it very much.
The movie I'm watching right now is much more terrifying, IRL. It's a documentary called Tapped. It makes me feel like the main character in Brotherhood, a victim of my own bad choices regarding my water consumption. But, like Adam in the first movie, I have seen the error of my ways. In the meantime...what are "adverse reproductive effects?" What exactly is that supposed to mean? With apology to my 3 loyal readers, I must bastardize the John Muir quote and say horribly, "TV is calling and I must go."
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Ticky Tacky
Well, I hear that early birds get worms, and since I have a craving for some worms (but more realistically because I am headed up the mountain again tomorrow where I'll have no signal), I figure I'll post now.
Tonight I had the pleasure of going onto a military base for the first time in my little life. As we drove in, I was reminded of the theme song from WEEDS, thus the title of this post. I will admit it: I was creeped out. And I guess I expected to be creeped out. So I'm glad the ASL class that was the reason for my visit was in a part of the clubhouse that really could have been any old room in any other apartment complex on Earth.
It's good to know people with military IDs, or to know people who know people...etc.
Our first of 10 classes went over fingerspelling, numbers 1-10, a few emotions and the word for "homework." I think that all 9 of the students are teachers. 6 of us come from my school. This is a great opportunity for me for many reasons. Our school is a feeder to the high school that has the deaf program. Although I don't have any deaf students yet this semester, taking an ASL class will make it easier for me to communicate if I ever do. It also gets me back into studying a language, which is one of my favorite things to do, and it gets me further into the community of my new school.
It's intense. Our teacher is a deaf man, and we don't have an interpreter. So it's "immersion" ASL. But he's a really good teacher who knows how to scaffold his instruction so that nobody gets lost. And I mean nobody. Because there are 9 of us, he can take the time to make us all practice until our hands hurt, or until we get it right, whichever comes first. It's really cool.
Did I mention that it was intense? It's really difficult to be in a room for 2 hours with so little sound. Even though all of us (students) are hearing, it was a very quiet lesson. I can tell you that I have rarely sung along with the radio louder than I did on my way home from my first class! I'm looking forward to learning more.
Speaking of learning more, tomorrow is Grade Day. I have long been of the opinion that grades are not really a measure of learning, but I am required to assign them, and to religiously report them, so I do. The fact that it's already Grade Day proves that time is flying, and I am happy that my geography students' Five Themes Unit will be reflected in the grades.
I sent some student letters and photos of the project to our class's Vicarious Voyage partner, Nastasa. I'm hoping it'll inspire her to send us more photos and notes from her Semester at Sea trip. Now, it's time to add my hyperlinks and go update the school blog, and then to bed to rest my eyes after their long day of interpreting hand signals.
Tonight I had the pleasure of going onto a military base for the first time in my little life. As we drove in, I was reminded of the theme song from WEEDS, thus the title of this post. I will admit it: I was creeped out. And I guess I expected to be creeped out. So I'm glad the ASL class that was the reason for my visit was in a part of the clubhouse that really could have been any old room in any other apartment complex on Earth.
It's good to know people with military IDs, or to know people who know people...etc.
Our first of 10 classes went over fingerspelling, numbers 1-10, a few emotions and the word for "homework." I think that all 9 of the students are teachers. 6 of us come from my school. This is a great opportunity for me for many reasons. Our school is a feeder to the high school that has the deaf program. Although I don't have any deaf students yet this semester, taking an ASL class will make it easier for me to communicate if I ever do. It also gets me back into studying a language, which is one of my favorite things to do, and it gets me further into the community of my new school.
It's intense. Our teacher is a deaf man, and we don't have an interpreter. So it's "immersion" ASL. But he's a really good teacher who knows how to scaffold his instruction so that nobody gets lost. And I mean nobody. Because there are 9 of us, he can take the time to make us all practice until our hands hurt, or until we get it right, whichever comes first. It's really cool.
Did I mention that it was intense? It's really difficult to be in a room for 2 hours with so little sound. Even though all of us (students) are hearing, it was a very quiet lesson. I can tell you that I have rarely sung along with the radio louder than I did on my way home from my first class! I'm looking forward to learning more.
Speaking of learning more, tomorrow is Grade Day. I have long been of the opinion that grades are not really a measure of learning, but I am required to assign them, and to religiously report them, so I do. The fact that it's already Grade Day proves that time is flying, and I am happy that my geography students' Five Themes Unit will be reflected in the grades.
I sent some student letters and photos of the project to our class's Vicarious Voyage partner, Nastasa. I'm hoping it'll inspire her to send us more photos and notes from her Semester at Sea trip. Now, it's time to add my hyperlinks and go update the school blog, and then to bed to rest my eyes after their long day of interpreting hand signals.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Pie Iron
That's right. Or, otherwise stated, "Vanishing Pie Iron 2011," because when a year is assigned to something, it becomes a landmark event in life.
Last night I returned with Miss Gokey to the Old Mill camping ground in Lee Canyon at Mt. Charleston. We were excited to set up Miss Gokey's new orange tent, then to EAT a scrumptious camping feast which includes our own specialties: pie iron blintzes and pie iron pierogis. After cooking my frozen pierogis, I left the pie iron open in the fire while I ate the delicious thing.
I must say that I doubt Mrs. T is a true Eastern European: who ever heard of a cheddar-jalapeno pierogi? I returned to the fire to retrieve my iron, and lo and behold...half was intact, but the other half was just a pointy stick! I poked around in the fire and did not see the top of the pie iron. This morning again, I looked for my pie iron and did not find it.
Speaking of irons in the fire: I have finished my lesson plans for next week for geography! This means that the pizza's on its way and I'm about to watch disc 3 of season 3 of True Blood. YES, I'm that far behind in True Blood, but it will be a fitting reward for finishing my work.
I've also decided to ask donorschoose for a grant for a book Jodi told me about called Schooled. I've been looking for a school-appropriate read for my Explorations classes, and I think this is it.
I'm considering asking the students what they actually want to learn in explorations instead of foisting social studies on them. But I might ditch that idea, because social studies is, in my opinion, underappreciated, so it will do them good to hear about cultural diffusion and social contract theory NOW, before it matters to them. They'll recognize these terms and concepts LATER, when it matters very much so that they can graduate from high school.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance
The planet that I'm looking at right now is apparently JUPITER. Go Jupiter!
That's where the Understanding the Earth chapter comes in.
Well, I find this post a little boring, although my week wasn't boring at all.
I survived my 6th Parent Night with quite a bit of panache. I'm well into the book I am reading, Seeing and Being Seen: Tourism in the American West, as well as the book on my Kindle, which I read about on HydroJen's Book Envy blog. It's called All These Things I've Done and I've only just started it, but it seems promising.
I'm glad to be reading, since the principal gave the whole school the homework assignment to "read," making reading a habit like playing video games, ordering pizza or watching True Blood.
Hmm. Maybe it was boring, after all. But boring is awesome sometimes. Next week: my triumphant return, once again, to Old Mill. Last time I stayed at #12, this time #11. Next time? Remains to be seen. But I'll keep you posted, I'm sure.
Last night I returned with Miss Gokey to the Old Mill camping ground in Lee Canyon at Mt. Charleston. We were excited to set up Miss Gokey's new orange tent, then to EAT a scrumptious camping feast which includes our own specialties: pie iron blintzes and pie iron pierogis. After cooking my frozen pierogis, I left the pie iron open in the fire while I ate the delicious thing.
I must say that I doubt Mrs. T is a true Eastern European: who ever heard of a cheddar-jalapeno pierogi? I returned to the fire to retrieve my iron, and lo and behold...half was intact, but the other half was just a pointy stick! I poked around in the fire and did not see the top of the pie iron. This morning again, I looked for my pie iron and did not find it.
Speaking of irons in the fire: I have finished my lesson plans for next week for geography! This means that the pizza's on its way and I'm about to watch disc 3 of season 3 of True Blood. YES, I'm that far behind in True Blood, but it will be a fitting reward for finishing my work.
I've also decided to ask donorschoose for a grant for a book Jodi told me about called Schooled. I've been looking for a school-appropriate read for my Explorations classes, and I think this is it.
I'm considering asking the students what they actually want to learn in explorations instead of foisting social studies on them. But I might ditch that idea, because social studies is, in my opinion, underappreciated, so it will do them good to hear about cultural diffusion and social contract theory NOW, before it matters to them. They'll recognize these terms and concepts LATER, when it matters very much so that they can graduate from high school.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance
The planet that I'm looking at right now is apparently JUPITER. Go Jupiter!
That's where the Understanding the Earth chapter comes in.
Well, I find this post a little boring, although my week wasn't boring at all.
I survived my 6th Parent Night with quite a bit of panache. I'm well into the book I am reading, Seeing and Being Seen: Tourism in the American West, as well as the book on my Kindle, which I read about on HydroJen's Book Envy blog. It's called All These Things I've Done and I've only just started it, but it seems promising.
I'm glad to be reading, since the principal gave the whole school the homework assignment to "read," making reading a habit like playing video games, ordering pizza or watching True Blood.
Hmm. Maybe it was boring, after all. But boring is awesome sometimes. Next week: my triumphant return, once again, to Old Mill. Last time I stayed at #12, this time #11. Next time? Remains to be seen. But I'll keep you posted, I'm sure.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Two. Words:
Cowboy Astronomer!
But before I get to that, I have to say that keeping up with the comments on my school blog has prevented me from posting here in a timely manner! In previous years, the blog has died off after a month or two of school. But if I keep showing it to the students on the nifty LCD projector that dangles like a constellation from my classroom ceiling, perhaps I can keep them interested in it this year.
Speaking of constellations (yeah, that was a bit of an awkward transition), tonight I had the pleasure of attending the Cowboy Astronomer presentation at the CSN Planetarium. I'm actually hoping someone approaches me trying to sell me an Entertainment Book so that I can get the coupon to see more shows. It was awesome and hilarious and unsatisfying all at the same time.
First of all, the planetarium is tiny. Which is good, since including the three of us, there were 8 people who went to see the presentation. That's a shame. It starts with a little cartoon pickup truck driving into a dark landscape. Then a voice with a thick drawl starts telling the story of how the narrator became a Cowboy Astronomer. He points out the Big Dipper and Polaris, the only two stars I think I'll ever be able to positively identify. He talks about Orion and Sirius and mentions stories that various cultures throughout history have attributed to the Pleiades.
Somewhere near the end, before you hear the little blue door of the cartoon pickup slam shut and see it drive away, the Cowboy Astronomer advises: "Make friends with the Universe." Is there any better advice than that? I think not.
A wonderful time was had by all, which was necessary. And it never hurts to be reminded that, "all you have to do is go outside...and look up."
But before I get to that, I have to say that keeping up with the comments on my school blog has prevented me from posting here in a timely manner! In previous years, the blog has died off after a month or two of school. But if I keep showing it to the students on the nifty LCD projector that dangles like a constellation from my classroom ceiling, perhaps I can keep them interested in it this year.
Speaking of constellations (yeah, that was a bit of an awkward transition), tonight I had the pleasure of attending the Cowboy Astronomer presentation at the CSN Planetarium. I'm actually hoping someone approaches me trying to sell me an Entertainment Book so that I can get the coupon to see more shows. It was awesome and hilarious and unsatisfying all at the same time.
First of all, the planetarium is tiny. Which is good, since including the three of us, there were 8 people who went to see the presentation. That's a shame. It starts with a little cartoon pickup truck driving into a dark landscape. Then a voice with a thick drawl starts telling the story of how the narrator became a Cowboy Astronomer. He points out the Big Dipper and Polaris, the only two stars I think I'll ever be able to positively identify. He talks about Orion and Sirius and mentions stories that various cultures throughout history have attributed to the Pleiades.
Somewhere near the end, before you hear the little blue door of the cartoon pickup slam shut and see it drive away, the Cowboy Astronomer advises: "Make friends with the Universe." Is there any better advice than that? I think not.
A wonderful time was had by all, which was necessary. And it never hurts to be reminded that, "all you have to do is go outside...and look up."
Sunday, September 4, 2011
The First of the Great Long Weekends
On Thursday, I received a happy e-mail from the Spring Mountains NRA announcing a night hike in Lee Meadow on Friday night. I said to myself, quoting John Muir, "The mountains are calling and I must go."
I decided to pack my sleeping bag and tiny tent in the car on the off chance that there might be an open campsite on...Labor Day Weekend. Ha! Fat chance! Except...there was! At the Old Mill picnic area about a mile down the road from the rendezvous point for the hike. Therefore...
The tent was only slightly wobberjawed due to disuse.
The program was fabulous! Our guide, Elise, led 12 of us all together on about a mile walk from McWilliams campground to the meadow and back. When we arrived at the meadow, there were wild horses grazing.
At the 7pm start of the walk, it was twilight, but by the time we finished, all the gorgeous stars were out, and it was dark. She stopped us at times and had us explore our senses. One thing I love about the educational programs in the Spring Mountains is that the guides always make you do two things: stand still and quiet for at least a minute, and walk up and stick your nose on a Ponderosa pine to smell it!
When I returned to the Old Mill area after using my night vision for an hour, all I had with me to guide me back to Hotel Hendrix was the wind-up flashlight from Yosemite. Despite the little power trip that comes from generating your own light, the Yosemite flashlight has limited usefulness and consequently...I got lost. Twice. Finally I recognized my camping neighbors from the afternoon, and ended up in my camping chair, wrapped in a blanket staring up at the stars until my eyes closed on their own and I moved into the tent.
Because I was convinced that I actually wouldn't find a campsite, I had scant provisions with me. When I descended the mountain to meet with Miss Gokey for our day trip to Utah yesterday, I stopped at Walgreens and made a little "impromptu camping kit" including nail clippers, a comb, disposable flossers and other assorted travel toiletries to keep in my trunk organizer for future use. I have resolved to return to the Spring Mountains in two weeks. It's only an hour or so drive from North Las Vegas, which means I can get to my campsite as quickly as I can get home on a Friday afternoon.
Yesterday's trip was to Cedar Breaks National Monument, where we hiked above 10,000 feet for the second time in our lives, the first time being last Labor Day at Great Basin National Park. Our hike took us to a 1,600-year-old bristlecone pine:
and offered us spectacular views of Utah's unique and amazing rocks:
We agreed that it was pretty much a *perfect* Labor Day weekend all around, and we treated ourselves with dinner at the Cracker Barrel in St. George after our very full and very rewarding day.
Since there are two more days off, today begins "normal weekend" mode, wherein I grade papers, blog, facebook, text, and otherwise lay around in my pajamas.
I absolutely love long weekends.
I decided to pack my sleeping bag and tiny tent in the car on the off chance that there might be an open campsite on...Labor Day Weekend. Ha! Fat chance! Except...there was! At the Old Mill picnic area about a mile down the road from the rendezvous point for the hike. Therefore...
The tent was only slightly wobberjawed due to disuse.
The program was fabulous! Our guide, Elise, led 12 of us all together on about a mile walk from McWilliams campground to the meadow and back. When we arrived at the meadow, there were wild horses grazing.
At the 7pm start of the walk, it was twilight, but by the time we finished, all the gorgeous stars were out, and it was dark. She stopped us at times and had us explore our senses. One thing I love about the educational programs in the Spring Mountains is that the guides always make you do two things: stand still and quiet for at least a minute, and walk up and stick your nose on a Ponderosa pine to smell it!
When I returned to the Old Mill area after using my night vision for an hour, all I had with me to guide me back to Hotel Hendrix was the wind-up flashlight from Yosemite. Despite the little power trip that comes from generating your own light, the Yosemite flashlight has limited usefulness and consequently...I got lost. Twice. Finally I recognized my camping neighbors from the afternoon, and ended up in my camping chair, wrapped in a blanket staring up at the stars until my eyes closed on their own and I moved into the tent.
Because I was convinced that I actually wouldn't find a campsite, I had scant provisions with me. When I descended the mountain to meet with Miss Gokey for our day trip to Utah yesterday, I stopped at Walgreens and made a little "impromptu camping kit" including nail clippers, a comb, disposable flossers and other assorted travel toiletries to keep in my trunk organizer for future use. I have resolved to return to the Spring Mountains in two weeks. It's only an hour or so drive from North Las Vegas, which means I can get to my campsite as quickly as I can get home on a Friday afternoon.
Yesterday's trip was to Cedar Breaks National Monument, where we hiked above 10,000 feet for the second time in our lives, the first time being last Labor Day at Great Basin National Park. Our hike took us to a 1,600-year-old bristlecone pine:
and offered us spectacular views of Utah's unique and amazing rocks:
We agreed that it was pretty much a *perfect* Labor Day weekend all around, and we treated ourselves with dinner at the Cracker Barrel in St. George after our very full and very rewarding day.
Since there are two more days off, today begins "normal weekend" mode, wherein I grade papers, blog, facebook, text, and otherwise lay around in my pajamas.
I absolutely love long weekends.
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