"Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of ( Read more... )

It is hard to have a southern overseer; it is worse to have a northern one; but worst of all when you are the slave driver of yourself......Public opinion is a weak tyrant when compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.-Thoreau

Sometimes, we need to lose the very things that have brought us a taste of the Romance in order for our heart to move toward the real thing. Otherwise they become a false transcendence. The most unredemptive kind of remembering is what many people call "nostalgia". How sad to visit elderly friends and relatives to find them sitting around ( Read more... )

I finally got in as a substitute and I had my first day at Mountain Pointe subbing for an English teacher. The first 3 classes were yearbook, a study hall and creative writing so I felt like little more than a baby-sitter. The last class of the day was a journalism class and the kids had to pick out a research question on a debate topic. The topics ( Read more... )

I could ( Read more... )

It seems that I've finally been able to make things right and bury the past... Last week I tried sending a message to Casey just to smooth things over and level with her. Unfortunately in trying to do so I said things like "what if we never talked after you broke up with me" and I pointed out that things were always civilized and friendly between ( Read more... )

So I've been reading the book "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. Its a pretty famous book that I've heard referenced several times so I thought I'd give it a shot. Although most of the recommendations and lessons seem pretty straightforward or predictable its surprisingly practical and relevant, even though its about 70 ( Read more... )

After months of watching debates, researching positions and hearing the ads we'll finally get to vote tomorrow and this will all be over. In the last election I remember looking down at my ballot and thinking "if only I could vote for John McCain instead of Bush". Ironically now that John McCain will be on the ballot I dont think I'll be voting for ( Read more... )

So I have a bit of a dilemma right now...I need a job for nights and weekends so that I can make extra money on top of substitute teaching (which I haven't started yet). I've been working at Starbucks but honestly I'm still getting less than $10 an hour after more than 2 years there. I've worked 40 hours or close to it the past 4 weeks and I still ( Read more... )

Our new apartment is coming along pretty well. I just finished loading up the last of my stuff in my truck and I'm taking it over this afternoon. The last item for us to move is gonna be this enormous, 300 pound (or so) tv that my sister bought on craigslist for $30. It'll probably take 3 guys to move so we haven't done it yet and I"m not really ( Read more... )