Today--as on most days--I listened to NPR. Of course, there is my usual assortment of shows (Market Place, This American Life, Talk of the Nation, etc), but today, I listened to Talk of the City, because I drove to work 30 minutes early.
I was particularly (and surprisingly) delighted by one of the Talk of the City guests, who was promoting his new book. Sandra Tsing Loh's segment was also hilariously droll--an oxymoronic achievement that is an accomplishment in itself. Below I have reproduced excerpts of both commentaries. If you enjoy them, "you're welcome". If not, it could be that they're not as funny visually as aurally, or we carry very different sensibilities about what is humorous, and I'm deeply sorry that you may never truly know what funny is.
David Rakoff, on why he think Jai Rodriguez, the culture expert on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, has the worst job in the world: How many times can you tell somebody, "You know something, you should really rent All about Eve and go to Lincoln Center"? [In one show] he was advising someone to go and buy coffee. How do you not take a blow torch to your own face with the self-loathing that must come from that job?
Sandra Tsing Loh, on having a husband and two daughters under 5: Last weekend we spent literally hours playing Strawberry Shortcake Rummy. The Rules change constantly, people burst into tears, the cards are sticky with jam, the boredom is so intense it could be a human rights violation.
I enjoy the banter on NPR because of (what, in my effete pretensions I consider, is) its similitude to my own humor. A provocative thought then dawned on me: How can my humor grow if I only appreciate what comedy that is like mine? Answer: it probably won't happen, but there's hardly any danger in a stagnate sense of humor. But then, the pernicious sister-corollary to this question popped into my head: How will my perpective and understanding broaden if I only listen to opinions that are like mine?
The answer to this latter question is, of course, still "it probably won't happen", but in this instance it seems that much more is at stake. I had a whole tirade against "intellectual incest", the phenomenon of the same ideas and opinions being circulated among a group of like-minded individuals, but I'm too tired for all that now.
Sufficient to say, the "group think" which infilltrated the White House has been dangerous and sometimes baneful to the US and other countries. Woe betide us when the Right watch Fox news at the exclusion of all other journalist sources. That is not to say that CNN-inclined liberals are not equally at fault. How many times have democrats rolled their eyes at the mention of "W.", then dismissed whatever policy came next, without weighing the idea on its true merits and weaknesses? (As one of the two dozen people in this country who do not either doggedly support or fervently abhore the current administration, I feel somewhat justified in making this pronouncment over the other 300 million Americans.)
This post is bound to make some of my readership unhappy...
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Meeting of the Minds (GREAT and small)
Meeting of the Minds (GREAT and small)
Yesterday evening, as per our regiment, Alvin and I were perfecting our bodies, making ourselves into 21st century Adonises--he is more in the "filling out" phase, whereas I am focusing on maintenance. As usual, the time between our sets was well seasoned with fascinating interlocution. Among the topics we graced with discussion was the "ultimate fighting championship". [If you're too lazy to click the link and read, ultimate fighting championship is basically a theoretical winner-take-all deathmatch type competition between our friends. We speculate about who would kill whom based on physical strength, hand-to-hand combat skills, aggression, and sheer murderous intent.]
So, this got me thinking of other, similar competitions we might have. One of the more interesting ones could have been titled "ultimate Weakest Link"--basically a general knowledge and trivia match. Having scored rather low in the ultimate fighting championship, I don't want to incur the wrath of my more barbarous friends by insulting their respective levels of intelligence. To forestall retribution from them, I thus make the disclaimer that the following appraisals of knowledge are Alvin's not mine. Moreover, I have organized our friends into groups, rather than using a straight ranking system (hopefully these "groups" will be more acceptable than rankings, since the former are more general and therefore harder to contest.)
Weakest Links (in alphabetical order)
Alvin
David
Linda
Fair to Middling Links (again, alphabetized)
Eddie
Sharad [I inserted him here]
Shui
Watch out, Stephen Hawkings!
Ben
Chula
JT
Pam
Although assigning people to groups was, admittedly, a very inexact science, I feel compelled to offer some explanation on the criteria Alvin used to generate these lists. (After all, we can't very well consign some people to the netherregions of stupidity, while bequeathing intellectual glory onto others without some explanation). Breadth of knowledge was a major factor, i.e. knowing alittle about diverse topics was considered better than knowing much about a few subjects. However, depth of knowledge was also taken into account. I should note that it was a close race, and some of the "fair to middling"ers could have easilly been switched with the Mensa members at the top of the chain.
If you're on the lists, please note that it was only a simple excercise designed to fill time during our workout. Fellow geniuses, continue to reach for more, and don't get complacent. If you're dissatisfied with your placement, you may contest it. Learn a foreign language, or read thru the encyclopedia, and recite your newfound knowledge to Alvin. :)
Speaking of idiodyssey [yes, I think I coined this term], I have another story from work.
I was helping my student with a reading comprehension question, and she really seemed unable to answer it. I asked increasingly easy questions to guide her to the answer, yet she resisted my best efforts. Finally I resorted to "Look at lines 22-24 again. The sentence says that the scientific experiments proved the old theory was wrong. So was the former theory right, or wrong?"
Student: "Right?"
:( Few things cause teachers unmitigated sorrow as situations such as this...
Yesterday evening, as per our regiment, Alvin and I were perfecting our bodies, making ourselves into 21st century Adonises--he is more in the "filling out" phase, whereas I am focusing on maintenance. As usual, the time between our sets was well seasoned with fascinating interlocution. Among the topics we graced with discussion was the "ultimate fighting championship". [If you're too lazy to click the link and read, ultimate fighting championship is basically a theoretical winner-take-all deathmatch type competition between our friends. We speculate about who would kill whom based on physical strength, hand-to-hand combat skills, aggression, and sheer murderous intent.]
So, this got me thinking of other, similar competitions we might have. One of the more interesting ones could have been titled "ultimate Weakest Link"--basically a general knowledge and trivia match. Having scored rather low in the ultimate fighting championship, I don't want to incur the wrath of my more barbarous friends by insulting their respective levels of intelligence. To forestall retribution from them, I thus make the disclaimer that the following appraisals of knowledge are Alvin's not mine. Moreover, I have organized our friends into groups, rather than using a straight ranking system (hopefully these "groups" will be more acceptable than rankings, since the former are more general and therefore harder to contest.)
Weakest Links (in alphabetical order)
Alvin
David
Linda
Fair to Middling Links (again, alphabetized)
Eddie
Sharad [I inserted him here]
Shui
Watch out, Stephen Hawkings!
Ben
Chula
JT
Pam
Although assigning people to groups was, admittedly, a very inexact science, I feel compelled to offer some explanation on the criteria Alvin used to generate these lists. (After all, we can't very well consign some people to the netherregions of stupidity, while bequeathing intellectual glory onto others without some explanation). Breadth of knowledge was a major factor, i.e. knowing alittle about diverse topics was considered better than knowing much about a few subjects. However, depth of knowledge was also taken into account. I should note that it was a close race, and some of the "fair to middling"ers could have easilly been switched with the Mensa members at the top of the chain.
If you're on the lists, please note that it was only a simple excercise designed to fill time during our workout. Fellow geniuses, continue to reach for more, and don't get complacent. If you're dissatisfied with your placement, you may contest it. Learn a foreign language, or read thru the encyclopedia, and recite your newfound knowledge to Alvin. :)
Speaking of idiodyssey [yes, I think I coined this term], I have another story from work.
I was helping my student with a reading comprehension question, and she really seemed unable to answer it. I asked increasingly easy questions to guide her to the answer, yet she resisted my best efforts. Finally I resorted to "Look at lines 22-24 again. The sentence says that the scientific experiments proved the old theory was wrong. So was the former theory right, or wrong?"
Student: "Right?"
:( Few things cause teachers unmitigated sorrow as situations such as this...
Monday, September 26, 2005
Devil's Advocate
Many of you who know me are aware that I have taken a position working for (whom I have affectionately named) Satan. Yes, that's right: my boss is the Prince of Darkeness.
Satan received this appellation because of her hiring process. First she told me she could only offer me a pitiful $17/hr. She raised it to $18/hr when I told her I had a better offer at another school. Then this third compnay hired me for $25...I called Satan, and said I was accepting this other position because it paid better and was closer to home. She wavered, called her supervisor, then called me back. She said "Oh, because you're very qualified, and the class you teach is so important to us, we can match your other offer. Will you come work for us?" I acquiesced, because Satan was able to offer more hours then the other, closer-to-home company.
Actually, I was a little irked, because I could have been spared running the gauntlet of several interviews and looking for a more lucrative offer. If I'm worth $25-30/hr, then that's what I should be offered, right? Other people told me this is a standard interviewing/hiring procedure...but I find it rather degrading.
When I teach, I do the best job I can. I don't do a mediocre job, then try a little harder if the students threaten to attend another academy. I don't offer as little knowledge as possible to my students, and wait to see if they're satisfied with that. I think the aforementioned "standard procedure" is an unacceptable model for business of any sort. That asinine mentality is why--for decades--the quality Japanese goods has surpassed that of American products (and, incidentally, why our products are superior to those from China).
Let's conclude with a light-hearted anecdote from work today:
Student A: Only-children are usually spoiled.
Student B: I'm an only child!
Student A: So are you spoiled?
Student B [Said in a very matter-of-fact, resigned tone.]: No, I'm not smart. I'm stupid.
Student A: No, are you spoiled?
Student B: Oh, I'm not spoiled. Just stupid.
Satan received this appellation because of her hiring process. First she told me she could only offer me a pitiful $17/hr. She raised it to $18/hr when I told her I had a better offer at another school. Then this third compnay hired me for $25...I called Satan, and said I was accepting this other position because it paid better and was closer to home. She wavered, called her supervisor, then called me back. She said "Oh, because you're very qualified, and the class you teach is so important to us, we can match your other offer. Will you come work for us?" I acquiesced, because Satan was able to offer more hours then the other, closer-to-home company.
Actually, I was a little irked, because I could have been spared running the gauntlet of several interviews and looking for a more lucrative offer. If I'm worth $25-30/hr, then that's what I should be offered, right? Other people told me this is a standard interviewing/hiring procedure...but I find it rather degrading.
When I teach, I do the best job I can. I don't do a mediocre job, then try a little harder if the students threaten to attend another academy. I don't offer as little knowledge as possible to my students, and wait to see if they're satisfied with that. I think the aforementioned "standard procedure" is an unacceptable model for business of any sort. That asinine mentality is why--for decades--the quality Japanese goods has surpassed that of American products (and, incidentally, why our products are superior to those from China).
Let's conclude with a light-hearted anecdote from work today:
Student A: Only-children are usually spoiled.
Student B: I'm an only child!
Student A: So are you spoiled?
Student B [Said in a very matter-of-fact, resigned tone.]: No, I'm not smart. I'm stupid.
Student A: No, are you spoiled?
Student B: Oh, I'm not spoiled. Just stupid.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
IPO--Initial Public Offering
Here it is: my foyer into the world of online journals.
After months (and many months more) of vacilation between "to have...or not to have" a blog, I finally settled on the former. Then came the arduous task of choosing a site: blogger vs. xanga. While xanga seems more popular, they also seem to lack the aesthetic qualities of blogger--plus blogger (so I'm told) offers the capacity to post pictures at no extra cost.
"So why the reluctance to blog?" you might be wondering. As I shared with Pam in a recent email, I find it somewhat arrogant to assume that people might want to know the inner workings of my mind beyond the banquet of totally unsoliticed thoughts that I spew out daily. Maybe if I were a slightly more ingenious genious I could expect others to be interested...
That you're reading this lays to rest my apprehensions about being accused of egotism. And I suppose the hundreds of thousands of other bloggers can't all be egomaniacs.
My other reservation was that I couldn't share all my thoughts (especially some of the really funny ones) and without offending people, knowingly or otherwise. I suspect that this is essentially true of all blogs. Maybe there's a feature that allows me to restrict certain entries... [Please inform me if you know how to activate said feature.]
Today I picked up my sister from her running retreat. She's a senior at UCI, but still helps our high school cross country team. So there she was, amid about a score of young, sprightly, agile teens who all run between 3-10 miles daily. Though I excercise five times a week, I (regretfully) lack the vigor, energy and enthusiasm of my yesteryears. (Sigh...don't we all?)
This scene reminded of what I will refer to as "my youth", though I have by no means actually escaped that period of my life. [Incidentally, I think one's 20s have become something of a life-stage limbo: not really a kid, but not really settled into a career path or family.] Oh-so-pernicious nostalgia began knocking at the door, but I resisted the urge. For fortification, I reminded myself of the many blessings I now enjoy that I did not have access to in "my youth". Although things seemed simpler then (please excuse the cliche--my eyes, too, rolled when I typed it), it seems wiser to enjoy today rather than lament yesterday's passing.
Oh! And I had dinner with Alvin at Life Plaza. Notwithstanding his arriving an hour late (a feat from last week that he apparently thought was worth repeating), we had a very good dinner: Shanghai ribs, spinich, and overly seasoned chicken nuggets (plus strawberry smoothes, buy one, get one free!) Our culinary bliss was accompanied by animated conversation, and followed by good times in the nearby arcade.
Oh yeah...I was also shamefully ill-prepared to teach SAT II biology class today. Hopefully my guilt will compel me (for the sake of my job and my students' learning) to be ubber-prepared next week, when we delve into photosynthesis and anatomy.
After months (and many months more) of vacilation between "to have...or not to have" a blog, I finally settled on the former. Then came the arduous task of choosing a site: blogger vs. xanga. While xanga seems more popular, they also seem to lack the aesthetic qualities of blogger--plus blogger (so I'm told) offers the capacity to post pictures at no extra cost.
"So why the reluctance to blog?" you might be wondering. As I shared with Pam in a recent email, I find it somewhat arrogant to assume that people might want to know the inner workings of my mind beyond the banquet of totally unsoliticed thoughts that I spew out daily. Maybe if I were a slightly more ingenious genious I could expect others to be interested...
That you're reading this lays to rest my apprehensions about being accused of egotism. And I suppose the hundreds of thousands of other bloggers can't all be egomaniacs.
My other reservation was that I couldn't share all my thoughts (especially some of the really funny ones) and without offending people, knowingly or otherwise. I suspect that this is essentially true of all blogs. Maybe there's a feature that allows me to restrict certain entries... [Please inform me if you know how to activate said feature.]
Today I picked up my sister from her running retreat. She's a senior at UCI, but still helps our high school cross country team. So there she was, amid about a score of young, sprightly, agile teens who all run between 3-10 miles daily. Though I excercise five times a week, I (regretfully) lack the vigor, energy and enthusiasm of my yesteryears. (Sigh...don't we all?)
This scene reminded of what I will refer to as "my youth", though I have by no means actually escaped that period of my life. [Incidentally, I think one's 20s have become something of a life-stage limbo: not really a kid, but not really settled into a career path or family.] Oh-so-pernicious nostalgia began knocking at the door, but I resisted the urge. For fortification, I reminded myself of the many blessings I now enjoy that I did not have access to in "my youth". Although things seemed simpler then (please excuse the cliche--my eyes, too, rolled when I typed it), it seems wiser to enjoy today rather than lament yesterday's passing.
Oh! And I had dinner with Alvin at Life Plaza. Notwithstanding his arriving an hour late (a feat from last week that he apparently thought was worth repeating), we had a very good dinner: Shanghai ribs, spinich, and overly seasoned chicken nuggets (plus strawberry smoothes, buy one, get one free!) Our culinary bliss was accompanied by animated conversation, and followed by good times in the nearby arcade.
Oh yeah...I was also shamefully ill-prepared to teach SAT II biology class today. Hopefully my guilt will compel me (for the sake of my job and my students' learning) to be ubber-prepared next week, when we delve into photosynthesis and anatomy.
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