Dear teachers of the world,

Please, please stop having sex with your students.

I'm not sure why this is such a difficult concept to grasp.  It's not as if there's a gray area here; there is a very clear line.  On one side of that line, you're just up, teaching your class, maybe coaching some after-school sport, thinking about getting grades done and ( Read more... )

The power went out last night around 9:45.  I cursed a little, checked to make sure it was the whole neighborhood (and not just our circuit breakers), read a little by candlelight, and was asleep by 10:30.  It was so nice and dark, and the twelve-year-old's birthday sleepover next door got really quiet all of a sudden.

And then, around 2:15, my mom ( Read more... )

So most of the time, I like tutoring.  I set my own hours, the money is good, I like my kids, and I actually kinda enjoy the SAT ( Read more... )

Things best left out of an online dating profile:

• the claim that you are "career-orientated"
• an in-depth discussion of your love for ghost hunting
• the "I believe in the small of a woman's back" speech from "Bull Durham"

Spotted a couple days ago: a license plate reading PROTEIN.  And in Burbank, right near the Warner Brothers studio, Dara saw IMDB ME.  Fitting on something called a vanity plate.  

So I read Twilight, and I am not ashamed.

And then I went and saw the movie tonight, and...yeah, am slightly embarrassed.

Here's the thing about the book: the writing is terrible, but it's shockingly addictive.  I read the whole thing in two and a half hours, and when I was done, I had two strong and conflicting reactions:

1. I hate my friends for ( Read more... )

Favorite headline of the day, thanks to the LA Times ( Read more... )

When you can't sleep - as a little kid - you can go upstairs and wake up your parents. Make them read to you. Make them sing a third (and maybe fourth!) lullaby. Make them fetch yet another glass of water. Past the age of around five, though, awakening a slumbering mom or dad is ill-advised. It isn't marginally endearing, as it might have once ( Read more... )

In 1995, when the O.J. verdict was read, they thought we were going to riot. I don't really know who "they" and "we" were, but I remember how tense the school felt in the minutes leading up to the announcement. I'm sure that it was hot on October 3, and I'm sure that, along with the other 25 tiny ninth graders in Mr. Corcos's class, I was wearing ( Read more... )

I watched the debate and yelled a lot.

I watched the baseball game and yelled a lot.

And I drank a lot of wine.

Success!