http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php Randomly Ranting en 2010-03-12T06:02:15 tonykresl@hotmail.com hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=39&c=1 2005-01-30T17:45:18 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) General Well, kids, it's time to build the better mousetrap. My new ebjournal is up and running here I bid the spam, and the confusion, adieu. here I bid the spam, and the confusion, adieu.

]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=38&c=1 2005-01-27T12:44:37 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) School Daze What did I have to greet me at my classroom door today at about 7:15 this morning? Two teachers, who shall remain anonymous, borrowed two of the nice tricycles from the early childhood classrooms, and peddled their way for about 50 yards to my room. They then proceeded to ...
]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=37&c=1 2005-01-26T08:00:30 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) Unfortunately Serious (This is not happy or overly funny--- you've been warned.) There is a pair of socks that sits in my drawer. At work, I'm not a snappy dresser-- my fashion is dictated by what's comfortable and what I can sit on the floor with. So rarely do I wear ...
There is a pair of socks that sits in my drawer. At work, I'm not a snappy dresser-- my fashion is dictated by what's comfortable and what I can sit on the floor with. So rarely do I wear real dress socks, or suit pants. Even at conferences I usually wear a tie, but don't wear dress socks (they make my feet smell). My dress socks sit either at the bottom of the laundry basket, or tucked away neatly in my garment bag from the last time I used them, or in the back of my socks drawer, lost and forgotten. On Sunday, I happened to fold them because the lovely and engaging Mrs. K had relegated me to sock purgatory. As I found two pairs of black socks, I realized that I had probably only worn these socks for two events last year-- weddings and funerals. I folded them up, and promptly put them where they belonged-- in the back of the sock drawer.

Monday afternoon, I get a call from the wifey. One of her great uncles had died, not one she was particularly close to, but all the same, family is family. As she told me about the details of the arrangements, my brain flashes back to what I'll have to wear. I thought immediately of the socks I just folded, and realized that in my mind forevermore, they will be known as funeral socks.

I wish these were happier times that we lived in, but here comes the mortality speech. We never know how our lives are going to be changed at any given moment. Does that mean we should live life to the fullest? We should not be timid, that I know for sure; I've learned that the hard way. The other condition is honesty. It's not worth hiding and being miserable. I've tried hard to be as honest as I can in the various facets of my life. If I had been more honest with myself, perhaps I wouldn't have been in certain situations.

The point is this: I want all of you to be honest with me. I've been lied to enough in the past year by enough people that it's making me lose my faith in humanity. I can feel the "be careful what you wish for" echoing in my head, but the paranoia sucks a lot more than the truth, trust me. I've lost friends that I don't want back, and I've lost friends that I would like back, but because people are afraid to confront themselves, (I'm guilty as well) they can't deal with other people. I've tried to be loyal to my friends, and if you think I haven't, you should talk to me about it. What does it say in this world when I can name the people I trust on less than two hands?

Funerals bring out funeral socks, and the age old questions of "What does it all mean?", and "What do I want out of life?"

I want to be able to trust again.

You've put on your regular socks, but today I've put on my funeral socks.]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=36&c=1 2005-01-24T21:57:12 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) General No phone No phone I just want to be alone today No phone no phone Ringing stinging Jerking like a nervous bird Rattling up against his cage Calls to me thoughout the day See the feathers fly No phone No phone I just want to be alone today No phone No phone No phone no phone I just want ... No phone no phone
Ringing stinging
Jerking like a nervous bird
Rattling up against his cage
Calls to me thoughout the day
See the feathers fly
No phone No phone I just want to be alone today
No phone No phone
No phone no phone I just want to be alone today
Rhyming chiming got me working all the time
Gives me such a worried mind
Now I don't want to seem unkind
But god (it's such a crime)
No phone No phone I just want to be alone today
No phone no phone
No phone No phone I just want to be alone today
No phone no phone
Shaking quaking
Waking me when I'm asleep
Never lets me go too deep
Summons me with just one beep

The price we pay is steep
I've been on fire
And yet I've still stayed frozen
So deep in the night
My smooth contemplations will always be broken
My deepest concerns will stay buried and unspoken
No I don't have any change but here's a few subway tokens
No phone No phone I just want to be alone today
No phone No phone
No phone no phone I just want to be alone today
No phone no phone
No phone No phone I just want to be alone today
No phone No phone


Copyright Cake, 2004.
]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=35&c=1 2005-01-21T19:22:27 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) Techie, but not geekie. I need to figure out my firewall. I've been getting a lot of requests for permissions, and I'm not sure why I should allow. But, when I don't allow, even if I've read documentation that says I don't have to allow it, it's starting to screw with my ... http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=34&c=1 2005-01-21T08:51:17 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) General According to brain research, there are at least five good pathways to memory, or retaining things on a permanent basis. Some researchers have referred to these pathways as lanes. The first lane is semantic memory-- it's for remembering words, facts, and lists. It's also the hardest one ... The first lane is semantic memory-- it's for remembering words, facts, and lists. It's also the hardest one to retrieve and remember, because the information goes into working (short-term) memory.

Somehow, we have to bridge lanes to make semantic memory more powerful. Episodic memory is one way to do this. It's all about the real estate-- location, location, location. The episodic lane connects information to where and how you learned it, and some of our most powerful memories are episodic-- and sometimes putting yourself back in that location helps you remember things. (This is why we retrace our steps when we lose our keys!)

Procedural memory is the third lane. This is for muscle memory-- driving a car, riding a bike, making your free throws, writing your name.

Automatic memory is the fourth lane. This is the lane of conditioned responses (Shave and a haircut....)

Finally, we have emotional memory. These are the moments of our life that stick out in our heads easily-- for me, hearing about the Challenger explosion in '86.

There are two reasons I bring this up today. The first one is because this is the stuff I'm studying in a book club at school. By learning to incorporate these modalities of memory into the school day, or a particular unit of study, I should be able to have students recall information, processes, and skills better, while at the same time helping them create flexibility in our brain. The other reason I bring this up is purely part of my braggadocio:

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a taping of a TV show. It's a fairly mundane show called "8 Simple Rules"--- it used to have John Ritter on it, but after he died, they added David Spade, and James Garner. I wish I could say that my laughs for the laugh track were entirely real. During the breaks of the taping, they have this audience host that keeps the crowd focused and into the show. One of the ways the host did this was through his portable MP3 player. He had a bunch (probably about 60 or so) of TV theme songs from the last 50 years. Two contestants came down to the front of the audience and took alternating turns to see who could identify the theme song. If you were correct, you stayed up front and got a point. (Sidebar: This audience had two high schools attending, which A) makes me understand why people actually laughed at the show, and B) made the competition terrible because they hadn't been born until 1986 or '87.) After a few rounds, no one seemed to be dominating the contest. People kept missing easy TV songs (Will and Grace) and harder ones (Beverly Hillbillies). So after a few rounds, even though I didn't *really* want to play against a bunch of high school kids, no one knew the Mr. Belvediere theme song. So, naturally, I get called on and tell them all. Oh yeah. Take that, sixteen year olds.
Now, I'm up there, and of course the host is all chatty, wanting to know about everyone's life, etc. Of course I mention the lovely and engaging Mrs. K(more on her later), and that I'm a teacher. This of course, prompts the host to wonder if I throw keggers in the classroom. Har, har, har. I'm cool and collected on the outside (according to MomCa) but on the inside I'm a little shaky. This isn't as easy as it looks. So now I have to defend my position, and I have one point. The person with the most points so far is five. My competitor gets "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and then there's the obligatory sing-along, led by yours truly. A sad, sad day, that is thankfully not on tape.
So now I'm up. Since this is getting to be a long-winded entry, I won't give you the blow by blow account. Here are some of the songs that I got correct before my inevitable loss:
Mr. Belvediere
The Simpsons (only needed the "ahhhhhhhhhhh")
Knight Rider (I was thinking of you, Kenny)
Gimme a Break. (I got that one early too, bless you, Nell Carter)
Hawaii Five-0
Super Chicken
Night Court
Friends
(and a few others that I can't remember now)

This is where the memory talk comes into play-- conditioned responses, and episodic memory. Before I could respond to each song, I had to remember where I had heard the theme song before--- was it when I was a kid, or adult? Did I like the show? About a billion things went through my head each time. I was really happy for the musical impression that these songs put in my brain, and the repetition I had to endure to be able to instantly recall them.

And then, I lost on the Rockford Files (which I had never seen nor heard, and James Garner was on, and he was there, and I got chastised by the host for not knowing). I totaled eleven points. I had a comfortable lead, and, in a stroke of genius, I told the host that my wife knew the answer, so V got to "come on down" She got three points, winning on Rockford Files, Murder She Wrote (another one I would have missed) and Full House, before losing to Blossom. Silly Mayim Bialik. By this time, taping was just about done. After all was said and done, I had won. My prize? An autographed cast picture of 8 Simple Rules, and an 8 Simple Rules T-shirt (large). Whee.

I sincerely hope that wasn't my fifteen minutes of fame. But, I don't think I'll ever forget it.]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=33&c=1 2005-01-18T12:29:44 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) School Daze So I was out of school Friday, and had a substitute. I work hard to leave good sub notes so that we're not running out of things to do, or are bored with the work. (Since it was a full day, it ran about 4 pages, single spaced.) Though ...
YOU be the judge.

{sidenote : Upcoming: My Brain has way too much USELESS information, movie reviews (I saw three this weekend!) and the State of the Tony.}]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=32&c=1 2005-01-10T15:55:37 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) General Well, faithful readers, changes are still a-comin', because they didn't happen this weekend. I spent most of Saturday destroying my desktop by trying to overlay Win2K Pro on top of Win 98 Crap. Then I formatted the hard drive and did a clean install, after I had backed ... http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=31&c=1 2005-01-07T07:15:12 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) General I wanna be one of the cool kids! This weekend I plan on refreshing, revising, revamping, and re-not-sucking this site and ebjournal. Yes, I know what you are thinking, faithful reader(s?), "Tony is a swell guy, but deadlines are not really his thing" While this is undeniably ... "Tony is a swell guy, but deadlines are not really his thing" While this is undeniably true, there are contributing factors to the possibility that I may actually mean it this time. 1. I have a mostly free Saturday. 2. I like computers. 3. Josh, Eric, and Kenny have updated theirs, so when in Rome, follow those guys. So, cross your fingers that I'm not crossing my fingers when I say "Changes are a-comin'..."

In intra- and inter-personal news, I miss Thursday nights.]]> http://www.tony.rightquick.org/ebjournal/index.php?p=30&c=1 2005-01-06T07:21:31 tony (mailto:bonemuse2004@yahoo.com) General As I was sledding my way home yesterday on I-290, I noticed an IDOT plow truck merging into traffic. I, being the considerate driver that I am, moved to the middle lane so that nice truck could work. As I passed the truck, it was cheerfully spewing salt ... "OH NO!" is what you must be thinking "Salt plus car door plus water equals RUST!" Fear not, faithful readers, for I have a Saturn, and I am PLASTIC! The salt cheerfully pinged off my passenger doors and on to the road, where the salt was meant to be.Take THAT, Mr. IDOT!. And thank you for working so hard to make the roads a better place.

Commute home last night wasn't too bad. Commute in this morning was about twice as long as usual. No Snowday for me or the lovely and engaging Mrs. K.]]>