The Water is Wide- Pat Conroy

I finished reading “The Water is Wide” by Pat Conroy. Set in a recently de-segragated in a semi-fictional South Carolina, “Water” is a semi-autobiographical tale of an optomistic-to-the-point-of-foolish teacher who goes to teach on an island that is decidedly uneducated. I would hesitate to agree with any reviews that call the book heart rending or anything of that nature. I approached the book very much how I approached Walden II, it was interesting to observe a culture (through the medium of the story) that is so far removed from what I know. And Yes, I think everyone should sing James Brown.

Frugal Friday: Saving Money at Aldi’s

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I just saved a ton of money at Aldi’s.  One opened in my home town about ten years ago; I never shopped there.  What I discovered today was grocery shopping with none of the frills, and therefore, none of the prices that come with the extras.  In short, Aldi’s is a lot like a Costco or Sam’s Club, but you don’t have to buy 90 lbs of rice or a membership.

Some things that Aldi’s “doesn’t do”
-Grocery Bags
-Bag Boys Bagging Personnel
-Elaborate displays
-Name Brands (there are some)
-wide range of options

For lack of all of this, Aldi’s is cheap.  I got the same thrill saving money as I do when I walk around the Fresh Market just to look and drool.

I also thought the buggy system was interesting.  In order to use a buggy you must remove it from the corral by inserting a quarter which you get back when you return your buggy.  No buggy herders, fewer stolen buggies = Save money.

If you want to spend less, try Aldi’s.

Mark Zuckerberg Open Letter

It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online.

To make this possible, we have focused on giving you the tools you need to share and control your information. Starting with the very first version of Facebook five years ago, we’ve built tools that help you control what you share with which individuals and groups of people. Our work to improve privacy continues today.

Facebook’s current privacy model revolves around “networks” — communities for your school, your company or your region. This worked well when Facebook was mostly used by students, since it made sense that a student might want to share content with their fellow students.

Over time people also asked us to add networks for companies and regions as well. Today we even have networks for some entire countries, like India and China.

However, as Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we’ve concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy. Almost 50 percent of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information.

The plan we’ve come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.

We’re adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we’ll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.

Since this update will remove regional networks and create some new settings, in the next couple of weeks we’ll ask you to review and update your privacy settings. You’ll see a message that will explain the changes and take you to a page where you can update your settings. When you’re finished, we’ll show you a confirmation page so you can make sure you chose the right settings for you. As always, once you’re done you’ll still be able to change your settings whenever you want.

We’ve worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone’s needs are different. We’ll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you’re sharing with online.

Thanks for being a part of making Facebook what it is today, and for helping to make the world more open and connected.

Mark Zuckerberg

Cyber Monday

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Yesterday, all of the advertisements were flashing “Cyber Monday Blah Blah Blah”.  In case anyone was wondering Cyber Monday is a marketing term devised by www.shop.org based on the fact that 77% of online retailers report an increase in sales on the first Monday after Thanksgiving.  This phenomenon was first observed in 2004 and brought to light in 2005 when the New York Times reported that Americans were returning to work and the high-speed Internet connections.

I’m more inclined to think that consumers are sheep.  If you give a day a name, and tell people what other people are “doing” then that person is likely to join in.

Here’s an interesting movie that talks about consumption.

Tips for Substitute Teachers

Substitute teacher.  The words strike joy into the ears of children in schools everywhere- an easy target- a free day. 

With those preconcieved notions firmly entrenched into children”Sub’s” have hard job. 

The life of a vagabond public educator is not without perks: You only work when you want to.  You don’t have to do lesson plans or grade papers- your work stays at work.

Here’s some observations I have made:

Getting the Call: Find out the teachers name, what school, and what subject.

Arrival: Get there early! Get to your job a few minutes earlier than you are required to.  If something can go wrong- It will.

Attire: Dress how you want to be treated.  I wear a tie.

Lesson Plan: Follow the teacher’s plans.  They know things you don’t know.

Discipline: Start off firm- you can always soften up.  Be consistent.  If you say you are going to do something- Do it.

Update on Google Documents

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I would begin writing my blogs in Google Documents. I am.  I don’t like Google Documents.

But, how can I argue with being able to access my documents anywhere I have the internet.  And, thumb drives aren’t my thing.  The ability to Archive is a good thing.

Basically what I want is Google Documents to be better.  I don’t have any specific insight here- I dislike it aesthetically.

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There’s gotta be a better way.

I know a lot of people like drop box and I might look into that…but I really just want Google Documents to magically become perfect.

Bing Search- Now with 40% More “Pointless Babble”

Microsoft’s answer to Google, Bing, is adding Twitter to its search results.  If I recall correctly (and since I looked it up- I do) that Pear Analytics said that forty percent of things said on Twitter are “pointless babble”.  I would like to inform the presumably well informed folks at Bing that this also means that Bing will now be sorting through 100% of Twitter posts…many of which are useless.

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I use Twitter, it took me a long time (several months) to follow people that were interesting.  I see Twitter as kind of a word based ant farm- I’m not expecting anything super cool, but if it happens then I’m thrilled.

Here’s a link that will allow you to run a parallel search of Google and Bing.

An Open Letter to Auto Manufacturers

Dear Car Maker,

I love hybrid vehicles.  I wish I could fit in them.  So, Make me one that is big-ish and has a natural “car” noise to it.

The New York Times reports that automotive manufacturers have decided hybrid cars are “too” quiet.  So, now these hybrid cars are being built to make artificial noises.  One car sounds like “a cross between a starship and a Formula One car.”  This has the potential to get silly quick.

Personally, I don’t like ring tones on cell phones.  It’s hard to go everywhere without hearing today’s top 40 hits as blared through someones cell phone.  In the same band wagon are ring back tones that play in your phone when you are trying to reach a friend.

Car Maker/The Man/ Powers at Be- Do us all a favor and program cars with a “real-car”(perhaps that of a Corvette…) sound and at the very least don’t let customers mess with the sound.  The minute the you hear a car winding up to “MMMbop“…  Anyway you’ve been warned.

Concerning Writing

One of this blog’s main functions is the help me find and maintain a writing voice.  I often feel hindered by the journalistic style that was ingrained in me during college.  Granted, I went to school to be a journalist, but I want to be able to write with my voice, not just the voice of a faceless provider of factual information.  Journalistic writing isn’t all bad-  I can take a whole page of information and summarize it accurately in a paragraph. 

 

I’ve always felt that school teaches you the rules, and life teaches you to break them.  I can follow rules of basic grammar, but I want to be able to break the rules as well.  Strunk and White are great, but there’s so much more out there and I intend to find it.  I will be diverting some of the limited energy I put into blogging and reading the news into a writing project.  Maybe it will pan-out, maybe it won’t.  I’ve got some stories in me, I’d like to figure out how to get them onto paper.

 

 

Blood Kin by Mark Powell

I am currently re-reading the brilliant southern novel Blood Kin.  Mark Powell, who was raised in South Carolina, tells this haunting and beautiful tale in incredible detail.  The first time I read it, I hurried through it.  Now, I am able to pay attention to the detail and depth of the characters.

 

I had the oppurtunity to meet Powell when he spoke to a Southern Literature class I took part in at USC.  If I recall correctly Powell said that he started Blood Kin with the image of a ragged man wearing Keds with duct tape on them walking up a dusty drive way up to a porch and then went back and wrote about how the characters came to be there.  Hearing about this thought process has changed the way I think about writing.  Something about this book has stuck with me.  Since reading it, I have not been able to drive through the upstate without thinking a little bit differently.

 

In conclusion:  Read Blood Kin and other books by authors that will be giving talks in your area.

Blood Kin is available from The University of Tennessee Press and Amazon.com