This weekend

This next week I am staying at Gavin and Jen's house to house and puppy-sit for them. It should be fun having two dogs for a week instead of one. In other plans, on Sunday, a friend and I have been invited down to the house of one a couple members of the sailing club. They live on a bay about 20 minutes south of my apartment, and they have two Sunfish (which is like a really tiny, one person sailboat), which they are going to entrust to my friend and I *both complete novice sailors* to play with. It should be fun!

My Random Thoughts on Texas

I was listening to the radio today, and learned that tonight is the night of the Houston Texans (our new pro-football team, since the Oilers left us to become the Tennessee Titans) first scrimmage. The tickets for this scrimmage (which is basically 6 people on each side and only 10 plays) sold out almost immediately after they went on sale. A scrimmage!! The people on the radio said that tailgate parties were already started at the field. Ah, how Texans love their football.

This made me think of one of my Texas high school aerospace scholars. He said, while making the argument that we should go to Moon before Mars, "Its like all our high schools. You know how our football teams all have a practice field to practice in. Then they play the real games in the other 'real' field." And he said this like everyone on the team would completely relate to a high school that had TWO football fields! The truth is, everyone on the team, being from Texas high schools, actually could relate. I had never heard of such a thing until I moved to Houston. I mean, we had one field in my high school, the bleachers were never filled, AND even if they did fill, they might hold 1,000 people, max. Looking at the League City (Clear Creek) High School, the practice field has about bleachers that size. The real field could probably seat 5,000 + people. Its crazy.

Actually, if I had kids in school I could quite possibly find this whole thing appalling, as the Texas education system is clearly screwed up. Most high schools here are extremely small (despite the size of the football field) and according to my TASP students and teacher, support almost no extracurricular activities not associated with football. Maybe my next rant will be about the achievement tests (TAKS) that all the kids have to take to advance at certain grade levels. The obsession with scores on this test have lead to entire grades in school being consumed with test preparation and teaching to the test, rather than actually teaching.

But since I have no kids in school, I can just laugh at the ridiculousness of Texas and its football.

Sickness

Thank you, I am feel much better today. I decided the reason I was so sick was because I did not actually have an eccenacia tea, which was always supplied by Karen in my previous living arrangement, and it always made me feel good and comforted -- kind of the same effect as ginger ale, grilled cheese sandwhiches, chicken noodle soup, and toast.

Song lyrics

I know, my song lyric posting hasn't been as good as it used to be, but here's a flashback for y'all (name song and title -- this one i for our 'rents generation):

Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...



Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...



You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one



Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world...



You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will live as one