Rambling ranting & raving…

A sampling of the stuff that’s floating around my brain right now:
- There’s a huge amount of fuss and bother in the media right now about the upcoming swine flu pandemic that’s apparently going to destroy the universe or something, and I’m sure there’s good reason for concern.  Not panic, not even major worry, but [...]

Point to ponder.

Earlier this summer, I told you about the experience I had reading and digesting the book Three Cups of Tea,which is about a lot of things but mainly about a man who had a life-changing experience and who went on to try and improve the lives of other people.  All summer long, the folks at [...]

“Dance Party Erupts During Quaker Meeting for Worship.”

Probably NOT my Meeting this morning, but wev…

(H/t Stasa.)

Dear Glenn Beck:

Hi.  I know you’re probably having a little bit of a rough patch right now, but I just wanted to help you out a little bit with something that’s been bugging me for a while.
I actually listened to your radio train wreck show yesterday.  Don’t ask me why.  I was running errands and it was [...]

This isn’t a football blog, but…

So, Michael Vick has been reinstated by the National Football League.  Meaning he’s clear to play if some team will have him.
We heard this on the network news the other night, and Mrs. Agitator, who usually ignores most of the news broadcast, turned to me and asked, “What team in the league would risk signing [...]

This isn’t a baseball blog, but…

Hmmmm…
Can an asterisk save baseball’s Hall of Fame?
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y (USA Today) July 27 – Reggie Jackson and other Baseball Hall of Famers were elated with Hank Aaron’s pronouncement that he would accept players linked to performance-enhancing drugs into the Hall of Fame only if there is an asterisk on their plaque.
“I’m thrilled that Henry spoke,” [...]

Say the words.

Now spread the word.

“Mr. to Miss, now teacher is resigning.”

Sad.
Mr. to Miss, now teacher is resigning
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Philadelphia Inquirer July 23 – When word got out that Mr. McBeth, a popular substitute teacher at two South Jersey school districts was about to come back to class as Miss McBeth, it caused an uproar.
William McBeth had undergone sex reassignment surgery [...]

I love Emma Thompson.

If you know me, you know I have these… dreams.
They frequently involve Emma Thompson.
I’m not quite sure entirely as to why that is.
Maybe stories about her like this one are part of the reason…
(MailOnline) July 23 – Six years ago she saved him from a life of unimaginable hardship, as a child soldier in [...]

Missing the wonder.

Today is the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Geez, FORTY YEARS?  Earlier this summer, I was just feeling middled-aged.  Now I just feel old.
If you’re around my age or older, you remember this moment.  It’s one of the defining historical moments of our generation.  It’s one of those “I remember where I was [...]

Why I find it hard to take The Huffington Post seriously these days…

Today’s “headlines” at HuffPost:
“Jon Gosselini’s Girlfriend in Party Pictures (PHOTOS)” Whose what?
“Michelle Obama’s Outfits Abroad: Which Did She Wear Best?” C’mon now.
“Jared Kushner, Ivanka Tump Engaged.” WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE???
“WATCH: UFO Flies Off Wind Turbine – What the Heck Is It?” Well, it wasn’t a flying saucer, that’s for sure, if that was where you [...]

In memoriam.

Allow me to vent.
They’re burying Michael Jackson today, and they’re throwing him a big send-off in Los Angeles, and that “service” is being paid for with taxpayers’ money and that bugs me.  That’s millions in taxpayers’ money that the state of California apparently did not have when it shut down schools and laid off thousands [...]

What could have been.

I should be blogging today about President Obama’s (excellent) pick for the Supreme Court yesterday.  Or I could be blogging about The Zombie Veep Who Wouldn’t Die (Dick Cheney).  Or about North Korea and their new toys.  Or about the obscenity that was the more decision by California’s Supreme Court on Tuesday.   Or maybe even [...]

Cue the Keg Partiers!

In case you haven’t noticed, as in many other places, we here in the Garden State have MAJOR money problems.  We’re running a humongous deficit.  Businesses are leaving the state in droves.  Services are being cut and jobs are being lost.  State workers are being furloughed. Pensions are being raided.  It’s a giant sucking chest [...]

What I thought about at Meeting yesterday.

Today is the tenth anniversary of the infamous massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
Yesterday was the fourteenth anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Like you, I remember both of these days very clearly.  I remember first the feelings of bewilderment and confusion, then sadness, then anger, then total [...]

Slow down… and live.

Today we bury our friend and colleague, Amy, who died last Wednesday.   Amy was on her way to work at our school that morning when she pulled into an intersection after her light had turned green, and her car was plowed into by a large pick-up truck which was speeding through the red light.  The car [...]

Party down.

This morning, I had to endure the every-other-year torture ritual known here in The Garden State as “motor vehicle inspection.”  Mrs. Agitator’s motor vehicle’s time had come due and off I went down the highway, so I could have the honor of waiting in line for more than an hour as I watched some nice [...]

A death in the family.

A very young, very, sweet, very dedicated, very enthusiastic, very wonderful colleague of mine was killed early this morning in a horrific  accident just a mile or so from our school.  She was on her way to work.  She entered an intersection after her light turned green and was hit by another car that was speeding [...]

Blasphemy.

What follows is wrong on so many levels…
Hollywood is planning on remaking The Three Stooges.
(Hollywood Reporter) March 25 – Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.
MGM and the Farrelly brothers are finally slapping together their high-profile cast for “The Three Stooges,” a comedy project the filmmakers have been developing for years. Sean Penn is set to play Larry, and Jim Carrey [...]

The blizzard of aught-nine.

Outside my front door.

The view up the street.

Out the back window.
Not very artsy-fartsy, but there it is.