Whatever Flips Your Waffle (192)
There’s a great scene in an episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza is at a gathering and dips a chip, takes a bite, then dips it again. Another character confronts George about it and says, “It’s like putting your whole mouth in the dip!”
Most people’s first reaction is, “Gross! What a way to spread germs!” Hopefully, none of us would ever double-dip a chip.
The spreading of germs is a double-edged sword. We don’t want all those bad germs infecting our bodies and making us sick. However, there are good germs and there is also something good about building up a good immune system over time through exposure to all kinds of germs.
We’ve had quite a spate of illness in school lately, with over 80 kids gone some days in K-12. I walked into my first hour class one day to find eight students absent just in that one section. There have been cases of stomach flu, high fevers, and influenza. The school has been encouraging parents to keep kids home in these instances until they’re fully recovered. I’ve seen multiple cases of kids returning too quickly and going right back home.
I can always appreciate a desire to get back to school or work. It’s always tough as a parent to know for sure when your child is healthy enough to return. Even with Anton, who had a high fever, he seemed back to normal, running a regular temp and feeling good, only to have a relapse on his way to school the next day.
We all dislike being sick. You always wonder just when you might feel anything close to 100% again. I had something run through my system where I didn’t feel quite right for a week. It wasn’t a fever or anything that knocked me out, but I felt like I was swimming upstream that whole time. Chances are, especially if you live around here, you’ve felt the tug of sickness at some point in the past couple of weeks.
My dad will argue that we’ve done this to ourselves. It seems like there are more sicknesses and nastier bugs out there, and he will tell you it’s because we’re too clean. All this antibacterial soap and disinfectant is causing germs to evolve at a rapid rate. Dad will tell you that we need to not be so anal about germs.
I think he has a point. When I was young, I know I didn’t always wash my hands thoroughly when I came in from playing outside. I certainly wasn’t singing the ABC song or whatever kids today use to know how long they should wash. I’ve been pretty fortunate and haven’t gotten sick too often in my life. I didn’t miss a day of high school due to illness, and I’ve built up a large number of sick days at work. Maybe that early exposure to germs helped me long term?
I sanitize my classroom every so often. I wash my hands when I should. But there are still some things that baffle me. I’ve always thought that when we distribute wine for communion in church that it should be individualized. We’ve been assured over and over that germs can’t spread with the alcohol. It’s not the wine I’m worried about, it’s the shared cup. I’ve been a Eucharistic minister and had to try to wipe off the lipstick and spittle.
I’ve heard different arguments as to why the Catholic Church won’t follow the lead of some other denominations and give out cups. The bottom line is that we’re reprimanded when we don’t consume, but you’ll never get a majority until the shared cup goes away. I’m not afraid of the germs so much (we sit near the front of church), but I know I’m a carrier of germs, being so exposed to kids, and I don’t want to risk spreading those to others.
At the end of the day, we all have to do what’s best to stay healthy. The scary event with the girl from Owatonna dying of influenza brings things too close to home. As her father said, any medical cost is worth the peace of mind.
I’d like to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas! Please stay safe and healthy and enjoy the time you have with your families! One of the best gifts I have gotten the past couple of years has been your comments on my writing – thank you so much for reading!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is oneiric, which means relating to a dream, as in, “The young girl wasn’t sure if she was in an oneiric state, or if she actually heard reindeer on her roof.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
The most misquoted movie quote of all time comes from The Empire Strikes Back, the greatest of all Star Wars films. You might hear people utter, “Luke, I am your father,” referring to the surprising scene where Darth Vader reveals Luke Skywalker’s parentage. However, that’s not the actual line. The real movie line is, “No, I am your father” (with emphasis on the “I”). It’s generally easier for people to say the misquoted line than recite the entire scene, which gives more context to what was going on.
Still, the idea here is that there are certain pop culture references which are well known to a majority of people, even if those people have never seen the movie. Following is a list of some of those references; see how many you know immediately!
“I’ll be back.” Likely, if you recognize this quote, you did it in an accent. That’s right, it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator. And he was back in the sequel. And then the next one…and the next one…
“My momma always said life was like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.” Another quote that you can most likely read just as it was performed on the big screen. It’s Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, talking to a lady at a bus stop as he tells his life story to an ever-changing crowd of interested people.
“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion... It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!” Ah, there are so many great quotes from Caddyshack, but this one from Bill Murray playing Carl Spackler, the slightly touched groundskeeper at the golf course, is recognized by golf fans everywhere!
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” Another accent needed! This is from the classic movie The Princess Bride. This movie is one that I feel like I can quote whole segments. There are so many funny parts, and if you’ve enjoyed the movie, you absolutely have to read the even-better book!
“He slimed me.” It’s been 30 years, but after Bill Murray (him again!) meets Slimer in Ghostbusters, nothing was ever the same. I think every kid wanted to get some green goo after that and slime people.
“If you build it, he will come.” You have to say this one in a whisper, don’t you? It’s what Kevin Costner hears in Field of Dreams, and he proceeds to build one of the greatest baseball fields ever put together, a simple thing of beauty.
“To infinity and beyond!” No matter how old you are, this line from Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story is memorable, and kids everywhere ran around quoting it after the movie came out. That trilogy of films is so amazing and so full of scenes that can be quoted all the way through, that it ranks as some of Pixar’s best work.
“Yo, Adrian!” I’m not a big boxing fan, but I absolutely love the first three Rocky movies. This one’s from the original, and Sylvester Stallone does his best job as an actor, by far.
“Just a flesh wound.” I guess I can forgive you if you don’t recognize this great quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It does take a unique sense of humor to appreciate this send-up of medieval times. The funny part is that the character who says this has just had his arms and legs cut off…
“My precious.” Another voice you have to hear in your head when you think of this line from Gollum in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The way Andy Serkis reads this role is creepily dead on for how I always imagined it while reading The Hobbit. It gives me shivers!
Okay, a conversation quote: “Surely you can’t be serious.” “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.” This is one of many great back and forth scenes from Airplane. Considering it came out in 1980, it’s still very funny today.
Here’s a gimmee, just in case you haven’t gotten any correct so far: “E.T. phone home.” Another weird voice, another movie that everyone should see!
Let’s end with this one: “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Wise words for everyone from the lips of Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. As the holidays approach, we can all take that advice. Maybe it’s a good time to slow down and catch a movie!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is refection, which means a light meal, as in, “The couple only had a refection, knowing they’d also have popcorn at the movie theater.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
Every year my sisters and I, along with our significant others, exchange names for Christmas. I usually put the latest super hero movies and some books on my list. Sometimes I think we’d be better off just getting what we wanted ourselves since there is no surprise anyway.
What would really be a pleasant surprise would be if Santa would bring me the items on my list that you can’t buy in a store. These aren’t items that would fit in my stocking or even under my tree.
1. A peaceful society. It seems impossible to find true peace around the world. But let’s at least start at home. When you see people rioting over court cases, it makes you wonder what’s going through their heads. What are you solving through violence? Let’s all get along! We don’t have to agree with everything, and we certainly have the right to disagree with things and become angry. But to take it to such an extreme? Santa, can you do something about that please?
2. An end to suffering. I’ve mentioned this before, but wouldn’t it be nice for people to avoid prolonged, painful illnesses? Listen, we’re all going to die at some point. But sometimes I think that if I’m going to end up with something horrific like cancer, give me a month to wrap things up, say my goodbyes, and die peacefully, without dealing with all the pain that so many people suffer from. Maybe I’m a coward here, but I’ve seen too many people’s quality of life drop off so far that it seems like a battle that’s not fair, when you already know the outcome. If you’ve got a chance to beat it, great; if not, I don’t think I would want to put off the inevitable too long, for the sake of everyone involved.
3. Parents who care about their kids more than themselves. I continue to be amazed at the selfishness of so many adults. There are too many (and by too many, I mean more than zero) who drink and smoke away their money, leaving their kids to wear the same clothes to school day after day, often unwashed. I see people with fancy phones and vehicles and everything else, but their kids can’t have friends over because of embarrassment over the state of their living quarters.
Some kids are limited in their opportunities because their separated parents can’t figure out a plan to get the kids where they would like to be. Even the parents that are together sometimes say no without exploring options. There does come a point where the amount going on is just too much, but I’ve found in my experiences around here that we have many amazing people who are willing to help out others. (That number, by the way, is much higher than the number I’m asking Santa for help with!)
It just draws my ire to see more and more kids come to school with such a poor outlook on everything. Between watching the adults in their lives kick away opportunity for the children and seeing constant yelling and screaming and trying to find enough to eat, too many (again, more than zero) come in behind the eight ball. It’s no wonder we need a mental health professional at school; some of these parents are wrecking their kids’ chances to have a better life.
4. On the flip side, the last thing I might like from the jolly man in red is the ability to stop making excuses for every child who strays from the light side. There have been outside forces affecting kids forever, but now we label everything. That kid’s dad does drugs, that one’s mom has a new boyfriend every month, this child switches from one parent to the next every week, this one has to live with other family members because the parents are unfit. Hey, I’ve got sympathy for those situations, I really do. However, I have to hear more and more about cutting this kid some slack and giving that kid endless strikes before consequence that I start to feel that we’re exacerbating the situations by not just getting these kids to buck up a little in school; after all, they’re away from that bad setting, so why not try to make a better life for yourself so you can escape some day? I’ve seen some kids accomplish that, which always gives me hope.
I may sound like I’m on my high horse here. I know I’ve not had to deal with such difficult statuses in my own life, but sometimes I just feel like shaking people and asking, “Really? Seriously?” And I know that there are some difficult scenarios out there that limit potential at times, but let’s all work together for the kids!
Okay, Santa, how does that work for you? I can forego the Mark Twain book I’d like and the Marvel movies if even one of those things on my list arrived for the holidays. I’ve been a pretty good boy this year…so maybe?
Word of the Week: This week’s word is brummagem, which means cheap and showy, as in, “Instead of the normal brummagem jewelry she was used to, her man finally bought her the real deal.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
I recently had a two-week free trial to Sirius XM radio. Jayna asked me why they gave me that. After I told her it was to attempt to get me to buy it all the time, she responded with, “Well, that’s not going to happen, is it?”
Probably not. However, I have enjoyed listening to commercial-free radio with the song styles of my choosing. The two channels I listened to the most were Classic Rewind, with the best rock music of the 70s and 80s, and 80s on 8, with all the pop music that was on the charts throughout that decade.
Yes, the 80s, my formative years. When 1980 hit, featuring Queen singing “Another One Bites the Dust,” I was six, going on seven. Those next ten years went by in a flash, but more and more I can see just how totally excellent they were.
Everybody is partial to the particular time they grew up, but there was so much about the 80s to love. Since I mentioned the music, let’s go there. Just listen to the leaps and bounds made in rock and pop music. From Bruce Springsteen to Van Halen, from Madonna to Prince, from Michael Jackson to Bon Jovi, from Guns ‘n’ Roses to AC/DC, the range of music is exceptional and still recognizable to all ages today. I had no problem listening to those songs non-stop while in the car.
Think about TV in the 1980s. When Jayna was looking for some shows to watch, Michelle and I, half-jokingly, mentioned such hits as Full House and The Cosby Show. Now she watches them all the time. They still hold up as funny shows and, even more importantly, clean family fun. There aren’t many shows on now that can say that. Too many have so many references and innuendos. While I’m not one to hide my children from the world, it is nice to have culture that can just be fun.
Of course, there were other great hits from that time that I still can watch and enjoy. Cheers and The Dukes of Hazzard are two of my all-time favorite television shows. Add in The Wonder Years, The Greatest American Hero, Family Ties, and ALF, and how can you go wrong? Okay, maybe not ALF…
Movies were in a heyday too. Again, there are so many that are cultural icons, that it’s hard to imagine a better time to be a kid. The decade started with the greatest of the Star Wars films when The Empire Strikes Back debuted in 1980. The decade ended with The Little Mermaid in 1989, a touchstone in Disney films. (Funny, how now Disney has bought out Star Wars…) In between those monuments were movies that are still quoted and referenced often. From the Indiana Jones movies to Ghostbusters to The Karate Kid, there was action galore. Is there a better movie about teenagers than The Breakfast Club? Not that I can think of.
And how about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Find me another movie that was good on so many levels and that people still remember. Plus, there are movies that had such a lasting impact that they are at the top of many people’s list of views. That would include E.T., a movie so popular that my entire school went to see it! And what about A Christmas Story or Caddyshack? One of my all-time favorites is Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. It may not be near the top for many people, but I’ve always wanted to visit the Alamo since watching that flick.
Here’s the real deal. There are so many things from the 1980s that have been redone today that you can’t help but recognize the greatness of that time! Transformers and G.I. Joe both started then, and they’ve been redone for a modern generation. Star Wars has made a tremendous comeback after being dormant following Return of the Jedi in 1983. There have been remakes of some of those movies and TV shows I mentioned. Plus, Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi are still rocking all these years later.
If you’re around my age, you probably remember those years fondly. If you didn’t have such great memories, take a stroll down memory lane and watch some of those items listed or flip through some of the music. You might rather be gagged with a spoon instead of remember the big hairdos and big glasses, the mullets on guys and shoulder pads in women’s shirts. Instead, think about the great things, such as the Rubik’s Cube, Pac Man, and Mario Brothers, which are essential parts of the lasting legacy of my favorite decade of pop culture!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is plutomania, which means an obsession with wealth or money, as in, “The plutomania of the movie producers led them to mine hits from the 1980s to remake instead of spending resources on original ideas.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
If you’ve ever met me or even just read my column over the past couple of years, it’s easy to recognize my love and passion when it comes to basketball. There’s something about that orange sphere that fires me up and can get me talking even more than usual.
I’ll still put baseball on the top of the list of my favorite sports. I can sit down to watch any baseball game at any level and become deeply immersed in what’s going on and thoroughly enjoy all the elements that go into America’s pastime. The same can’t be said about every level of basketball; the NBA is not something I spend a lot of time on anymore due to what I look at as a devolving of the game through too much one-on-one and not enough defense.
I grew up during a great age of the NBA though. While there were usually only games on TV on weekends, I could count on seeing Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, or some combination of them. And when Michael Jordan hit the scene, it got even better. I’d spend hours at my basketball hoop, pretending to hit that game-winning shot for the Boston Celtics or dropping a hook shot for the Los Angeles Lakers.
My school had an elementary basketball program called Super Hoopers, which we started when we were in third grade. I don’t think we learned how to run an offensive play that entire first year, but really drilled on fundamentals. By fifth and sixth grade, we were playing games and tournaments, and I really learned to love the game.
One of the strengths I’ve had as a coach over all these years is that I played every spot on the floor at some point in my career. I was the tallest kid in my class in middle school, so I was a post. When I stopped growing in 8th grade, I had to learn to play at a wing and better my ball-handling to even work at point guard for a while. Even when I sat on the bench most of the time on varsity, my enjoyment of the game didn’t diminish.
What makes basketball such a great game? To me, it’s all about the team aspect. The five people on the court, when working together, create such a precision machine that it’s amazing to watch. Instead of just focusing on the ball, I try to see all ten players and how their movements play off each other. There’s nothing better than watching a team run a complex play to perfection and scoring or seeing help defense rotate around to deny a pass and get a steal.
While baseball is so symmetrical in its measurements, basketball has some odd lengths. The court is 94 feet long in the NBA, but only 84 feet in high school, and that’s not even throwing in an international court at 91.86 feet (darn metric system). A three-pointer in high school is shot from 19.75 feet. In the NBA it’s 23.75 feet except in the corners where it’s only 22 feet. College basketball has the line at 20.75 feet. Go watch a high school game on a college or NBA court and the lines can get dizzying! But maybe this is a good thing. While high school pitchers throw from the same distance as MLB players, basketball has clearly defined a need for improvement as you progress to a new level.
While my playing skills (what there was to begin with) have certainly diminished, I’ve found plenty of ways to stay involved with this game I love. I’m in my 20th season of coaching. I’ve officiated from elementary up to JV for almost as long. And I’ve grasped the microphone for announcing games. Unfortunately, the MSHSL has issued guidelines for all PA announcers at high school events, limiting what and how we can announce. So if you come to a game this year and I don’t sound as excited, there’s a reason.
And you should come to some games! I’m on record as thinking this could be one of the best all-around seasons when you take boys and girls both into account. While a state championship will be much more difficult, I think both squads have a legitimate chance to play in a section final this year. The girls have experience, though it will be interesting to watch the dynamics change. The boys had their best season in years and have all their starters back to make a deep run. Please, if you love basketball like I do, come on out and have some fun at the gym!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is luftmensch, which means an impractical dreamer, as in, “Many called the prognosticator a luftmensch for his unrealistic expectations for the local teams, but he was proved right in March.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
When I was young, I couldn’t handle the sight of blood. It didn’t matter if it was a movie, TV show, or in real life, I got woozy when the red stuff would appear. Mom and Dad used to joke that there went my chances of being a doctor, despite my stereotypically horrible handwriting.
While taking my coaching classes in college, I discovered something – that nausea was gone! You learn pretty quickly when you watch a video of a knee scope whether or not you can handle some of that. In addition, I encountered some pretty bloody scenes in my first aid class and knew I had gotten over the blood problem.
As a coach for 20 years now, I’ve had to deal with blood, sprains, breaks, concussions, and other medical difficulties. I always find myself in a state of calm, counting on my training to handle the situation the correct way. I even helped a young man who passed out at a Twins game a few years ago and face-planted into the seats. It was a mess, but, along with another man, we stabilized him until help could come.
However, I’ve discovered that my nausea does return in particular situations, those involving my family. Any time the kids are really sick, I struggle mentally to see them hurting. When Jayna broke her arm, I panicked and didn’t go through my normal routine that I would, forgetting even to put ice on it to reduce the swelling. When Anton had severe stomach pain, it was a long, long time to wait at home with Jayna while Michelle brought him in to the emergency room late at night.
It gets even worse when something is wrong with Michelle. I sat and thought about why it’s even worse with my wife compared to my kids. The only thing I can think of is that we are such a team and so compatible, that it’s like a part of myself is hurt if she is. When she underwent an emergency c-section to birth Anton, I was ready to tip over at any moment, but had to stand there at her side and try to stay strong.
A number of years back, she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I was a mess. She handled it much better than I did. The wave of euphoria when we saw a neurologist who told us it was a mistake was immeasurable. I looked back and was ashamed at how weak I had been.
And now we face another medical problem, one which has put me on my pins again, even if Michelle is handling it like a pro. We were trimming up the landscaping, and while squatting down and shifting to another plant, she felt a snap in her knee and was immediately in excruciating pain. After a prolonged medical process, we found out she tore her lateral meniscus and will need surgery. Meanwhile, she’s been relegated to the couch most of the time because of the pain and inability to put any weight on that leg.
Again, when it first happened, I couldn’t sink into that calm that I can with others. Heck, I can even enter that stage with myself. In college, I broke my elbow while playing basketball and took all the right steps to deal with it. No sooner did I finish recovery than I severely sprained my ankle playing basketball (You’d think I might have stayed off a court longer!) and knew exactly what to do. But when it comes to Michelle, I lose my mind.
This is all part of my wedding vows. The “in sickness and in health” part seems like an easy vow to say, but it’s not easy to see anybody you love in that much pain. I think of friends I know in our area dealing with much more severe medical issues than what we have and hope I have the same strength that I know they all do if we ever face some of those. God willing, we won’t, but if they come up, perhaps these incidents over the past years are a way of building up my ability to deal.
I know one thing: I will not run away when the going gets tough. Michelle and I have had some amazing years together, and we get stronger every hour of every day. When you have a strong relationship, even a severe knee injury is but a twinge in the big picture.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is pisher, which means a young, inexperienced person, as in, “He felt like such a pisher when all his medical training disappeared at the first sign of a problem.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
I found myself in the midst of a bizarre scene at parent-teacher conferences for Anton this past week. I stood outside his classroom with Michelle, two teachers, and another parent. I was the only one who was NOT a graduate of the local school system.
I’m sure many school districts have plenty of alumni that come back to or remain in the area. Still, I’ve always found that if you graduated from NRHEG or NR-H or E-G, there seems a good chance you’re around here. In so many ways, this stands to be a positive for our towns.
First off, I can say that as an outsider, I was welcomed right away when I moved here. Some towns can’t claim that. My hometown of New Ulm, at least in the past, was sometimes known as being wary of people not of German descent; maybe that was because of how strongly German New Ulm’s culture has always been steeped.
I got lots of advice from veteran teachers when I started. Part of that was starting to meet and understand some of the families that spread their roots deeply through the area. Many of these families form such a solid base in our towns that it only helps keep our communities firm.
I always find it fun to read the history parts of our local paper, both to see the pictures and to read about what happened 25 or more years ago. It’s interesting to see names of people who are still here and what they accomplished all those years back.
I used to think it would be a very long time before I worried about teaching children of former students. However, the fact that I taught seniors at the beginning of my career before becoming full time in the middle school led to that timeframe being moved up. This is my fourth year of having at least one child of a former student. Mr. Cyr would probably say that’s not so much of an accomplishment as it is a sign of longevity.
It was a tad bizarre my first year of realizing I was in that stage of my career. It’s hard not to remember back on the parent in my classroom. Naturally, the child wants to know about the parent’s performance in my class; luckily, I still have all my gradebooks from over the years! I used to wonder why I kept those – now I know!
Every child dreads to hear, “You’re just like your mother/father!” They don’t even want to hear it if it’s said in a positive vein! While we all inevitably become at least somewhat like our parents, teenagers try to put it off as long as they can. But just like teachers can often start to see things better after meeting a parent and understanding why the child is the way he or she is (again, positively or negatively), there’s a built-in advantage to having spent that much time teaching the parent!
Another aspect of this longevity is just how many alumni work at our schools. I’m sure I’d miss some if I tried to list them all, but there are some notable former students of mine that I’m peers with now. Mr. Berg and I have taught together for a decade after having him in senior English way back in the day. It was a little strange to start, since that was my first real teaching experience with a former star.
My son had the possibility of having Mrs. Holland as a teacher as he went through early elementary, and that would have been a very intriguing situation. I had Erin as both a student and a basketball player, and it would have been a different sort of parent-teacher conference indeed if my former student had taught my child! It didn’t work out that way, but I know it’s good to have her in our district.
And now I’m at another of those “never would have thunk it” moments. I’ve rejoined the junior high basketball coaching ranks after some years away. As part of this, I’m under the direction of our new varsity coach, Onika Peterson. Onika also was a student and basketball player for me, and now she’s my boss! I guess they’re right when they say that you should be nice to everyone since you never know who might be in charge of you some day!
Gary Nordlie told me once that when grandchildren of students you had start rolling into your classroom that it’s time to retire. I hope it doesn’t get to that point, but based on how many people stay here, knowing it’s a great set of communities, it’s always a possibility. I can hear it now: “You’re just like your grandma/grandpa!”
Word of the Week: This week’s word is Bohemian, which means leading a wandering lifestyle, as in, “He started his twenties with a Bohemian life before returning home to his roots to start a family.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
Every year, Mrs. Dahle brings her pre-schoolers through my classroom before Halloween to show off their costumes and recite a Halloween poem to us. It’s amazingly adorable, and it’s always fun to see what the “hip” costumes might be this year. My favorites are always the super hero costumes; these parents are clearly doing something right by introducing their children to the wonders of comic book heroes at a young age!
This year Iron Man and Batman’s sidekick Robin made an appearance. I also had Star-Lord come to my door, along with a Clone Trooper. There weren’t quite the number of super heroes as in years past, but I would wager that with an Avengers sequel movie arriving next year, Captain America and Thor might make appearances in 2015.
It’s cool to be a geek these days. This is welcome news for old-school geeks like me, who have flaunted our nerdiness for years now. (Funny side note: My computer underlined nerdiness as being misspelled. Suggested word? Neediness…hmm…) I’ve written before about my love of comic books. I enjoyed Spider-Man and Superman long before it was news that they’d be producing movies that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Back then it wasn’t really cool to like comics.
Comic book movies are a huge business. To date, five of the top ten grossing movies of 2014 are comic book related: Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, Transformers, X-Men, and Amazing Spider-Man are all there, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just outside at #11. Even more impressive is the scope with which movie companies are competing and planning out movies for the future related to the four-color features. There have been races over who gets what dates for releases!
Here’s the docket through 2020 (!) for super hero movies: three in 2015, seven in 2016, nine in 2017, six in 2018, three in 2019, and two in 2020. So far. Are you kidding me?
I grew up in a time where Christopher Reeve as Superman was considered top of the line awesomeness for a movie. After recent efforts to revive Superman, I still consider Reeve the pre-eminent Man of Steel. Next up is Superman and Batman together in a movie. Will it be any good? I don’t know, but I’m sure I’ll be there to fulfill my inner geek.
I grew up in a time where my friends and I would speculate on IF we’d ever see a Spider-Man movie or why the studios couldn’t make a good Captain America movie. We never dreamed of putting the X-Men or Avengers on the screen. Now we’ve got not only excellent versions of those heroes, but even little-known comics like the aforementioned GOTG breaking records.
I wasn’t a huge Batman fan when Michael Keaton’s rendition hit the screens in 1989, but I thought it was pretty cool. That franchise went quickly downhill, but Christian Bale’s version this past decade was so well done that it’s scary to think of anyone (Ben Affleck, cough) else doing the Caped Crusader justice.
Think about the billions of dollars these movies have made, especially since Iron Man hit the screen in 2008. Marvel built a movie universe by linking all its movies together. DC Comics is trying to follow suit. It’s clearly working since there are many more than just comic book fans attending these movies. I talk to people who have never read a comic book speak with glee about these movies.
Is it bringing more people into comic book shops? I’m not sure. Sales numbers are not super high like they were in the 1990s, but there are also digital comics now, which I would guess would be a more likely route for some of these movie fans. I know that comic conventions have increasing numbers though, since there are often appearances of these movie stars and sneak peeks at whatever comic book feature is next to hit the silver screen.
I’m so happy that my son loves these comics and movies as much as I do. We talk often about what’s coming next. We are even reading old comics of Ant Man since he has a movie next year. Hey, maybe with the shortness of Mrs. Dahle’s stars, that would be a perfect costume for next year!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is rounceval, which means someone that is large, as in, “Bruce Banner became a rounceval when he got angry and changed into the Hulk.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
Most of the time, when I walk the hallways of NRHEG, or even out in our communities, I get called Mr. D. That’s just fine with me; it’s easier to say than Domeier, and easier to spell too, which I suspect is why it gets used so often!
So you would imagine that Mrs. D would refer to my lovely bride, Michelle. But you would be wrong. Mrs. D is one of our unsung heroes around here, Georgia Dinneen.
Georgia and I were both hired at NRHEG in 1996, part of a group of 13 new teachers. We were thrown on a bus and given a tour of the district as part of our new teacher workshop. Of course, Georgia is from here, so it was all old hat to her.
Mrs. Dinneen and I shared a common trait those first few years, even though I taught English, while she was in the business department. We both (along with Mrs. Schoenrock) started our days in New Richland and traveled over to Ellendale for the afternoon. We often commented that we enjoyed that break in our day, used to collect our thoughts and prepare for teaching a vastly different group of students in the junior high.
Our traveling days are long behind us, but it always brings smiles to our faces when we remember getting to Ellendale in time to have lunch with the office ladies. I garnered quite an education as a young man fresh out of college from those women. In fact, if you ask her, I’m sure Georgia will share with you why May 1 is the most important day of the year, one of many things I learned under her tutelage.
Mrs. D is an outstanding educator. She teaches such an array of classes, including junior high keyboarding and accounting. Plus, she helps plan the Washington, D.C., trips with Mr. Churchill and stays involved in so many aspects of the school. You can often spot Georgia and her husband Denny at sporting events and other extracurriculars.
One of the most important things Georgia does at NRHEG is organize the Veterans Day program. It is so important that our students have an awareness of what these men and women have sacrificed for our country, and every year is testimony to the amount of time and effort it takes to put this plan together. In recent years, we’ve had the privilege of listening to Tim Walz and Al Franken at NRHEG. These are not easy people to get on Veterans Day, but Georgia has been diligent in keeping after them to make an appearance. The students at NRHEG are better for these experiences, and I know they respect our veterans more, thanks in large part to Georgia’s work.
Georgia is so active in our community as well, especially as a cancer survivor, and helping to lead efforts to eradicate that enemy which takes too many people from us. I can only imagine that when Mrs. D is out and about, she has that same infectious smile for others that I see constantly around our classrooms. She epitomizes so much of our Panther Pride motto with her positivity and respect. While she’ll certainly let you know if something is nagging at her, she does it with a smile and quickly is refocused on positive ideas.
And of course, Georgia is a HUGE Minnesota Twins fan. I know she’s definitely had better seats at Target Field than I ever have, and I’m justifiably jealous! She’s stuck by them through thick and thin and has been nice enough to bring back Homer Hankies during playoff seasons for those of us not able to attend those playoff games. One can only hope her Doug (Mientkiewicz, former first baseman) might get a shot at perhaps being a bench coach this next season!
While not all 13 teachers that started in 1996 are still here (by last count, I think there are still six of us), we carry on from a good group of educators. I know Georgia is nearing a time when she can start thinking about retirement, but when she does decide to hang it up, I know I’ll miss the smile and nod that goes along with our greetings in the hall. Me: “Mrs. D.” Her: “Mr. D.”
I also know that Georgia would want to join me in encouraging everyone to get out and vote on November 4. It’s a very important year nationally, statewide, and locally. We’re voting on senators, representatives, a governor, and school board members. If you read this before 7 p.m. on October 30, stop by the NR school for our Meet the Candidates forum. Our school district is an important part of our communities, and the people who want to lead it will be sharing their views.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is ganef, which means a thief or rascal, as in, “The voters had to sniff out the ganefs in order to keep them out of public office.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
When Michelle and I moved from our apartment in New Richland to our house in Ellendale all those years ago, we were amazed at how much stuff we had accumulated after being married less than a year. We had been thinking we’d have lots of room in our new house after living in a two-bedroom apartment – not so.
If we moved now, I’d really be frightened. Our stuff has grown exponentially. That is somewhat natural with two children and a cat along the way. There are plenty of old toys the kids have outgrown, as well as clothes and other items we’ve failed to rid ourselves of at various garage sales over the years.
Michelle and I have talked about downsizing and really going through all this stuff and making the tough decisions on what we really need to keep. She always rolls her eyes when I clean through my closet; the number of T-shirts I have is astronomical, somewhat of a by-product of having successful sports teams and buying all those conference/state shirts!
My sister Angie has been discovering this lately as well. She and her family are waiting for the finishing touches on their new house. Meanwhile, they’ve been living in an apartment with the bare minimum; it’s not as easy to go from a house to an apartment as the other way around. She’s realized just what they can get by on, and that attitude could carry over when they move in the new house next month. Or maybe not.
We tend to fill the space we have. We throw things out as they get old or donate gently-used items to make way for new items over the years, but could we clean out enough to have an empty room in our house?
I wrote earlier this year about my grandma moving from her house into a senior apartment complex. This past week, she had an auction to get rid of much of the stuff that had been in her house, garage, shed, etc. When asked if she’d miss any of the items, many of which belonged to my grandpa who died 25 years ago, she said, “I took what I wanted to my apartment.” What a refreshing thought! So many times we get nostalgic over items that we’ll place in a box and not look at again for years. That doesn’t seem to make much sense in many cases.
Grandma was worried that nobody would show up for a Thursday afternoon auction, but 107 bidders were there to vie for the many tools, antiques, and various other items, including appliances and furniture. Grandma was constantly amazed when people would pay large amounts for things she didn’t think much of (a Schell’s beer baseball player-shaped keychain brought $30), but barely anything for big things like chairs and tables (some of which went for $1).
I told her it’s all about what somebody cares to add to his or her stuff. Ultimately, I would bet that much of the stuff from Grandma’s auction will end up on somebody else’s auction someday! What else would you eventually do with a hardcover guide to how to fix old TV sets? If you paid $25 for it, you’re not going to recycle it!
Pardon an aside here: Auctions are fascinating social events. People prowl around the hayracks for a couple hours prior to the auction, looking not only at the things for sale, but also at the competition. The auction started at 3, but I was outside about 1:30, keeping an eye on things and people watching. I wasn’t bored for one minute!
It’s fun watching people getting caught up in bidding wars and paying much more than the actual value of something just so they can win. And only at an auction would you watch two people related to one another bid against each other for an ashtray with an old family business name on it!
Anyway, my eyes were opened more than ever after Grandma’s auction. She didn’t seem to have problems parting with all this stuff. Hopefully my parents and my own family can follow suit. Auctions can be fun, but wouldn’t it be better to not have so much stuff to worry about in the first place?
Word of the Week: This week’s word is accouterment, which means personal clothing or accessories, as in, “The columnist realized how boring the word stuff was and found a good synonym for it in accouterment.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
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Over recent months, I’ve pondered some questions. I’m not sure if the answers I’ve come up with are agreeable to everyone; I’m not even sure I have answers to all of them. Let’s take a look and see, shall we?
Is “reply all” a default on some people’s phones and email programs? I don’t think that’s even a default option for me. If I want to reply to everyone on a particular text or email, I need to consciously think about that and go through a process. Still, it seems like some people use it all the time when it’s not necessary. If my child is invited to a party, I’m not really interested in how many other kids are RSVPing and don’t need my phone buzzing incessantly as those responses pour in. If a co-worker sends out an email to start a discussion, that’s a different story, as all involved in the email need to know what everyone else is thinking.
Is it possible to not be a distracted driver? I’m thinking no on this one. Obviously, we should avoid texting while driving or talking on our phone the entire trip. But don’t you get distracted by the radio? If I’m listening to KFAN, I might be distracted by a conversation on there. If I’m listening to Power 96, I might sing along to classic rock. If I’m listening to a book on CD, I’m certainly paying attention to the story. If there’s someone else in the car, I’m probably having a conversation, perhaps even mixed with one of the above items. Sometimes I find that I really need to concentrate on the road since those distractions can be pervasive.
Will we ever have “normal” weather patterns again? This seems doubtful. It’s not often we have a nice soaking rain overnight anymore; usually there are thunderstorms or five inches in one day or else we go a month with no precipitation. The snowfall amounts seem more akin to what it seemed they were when I was a kid, but after a blizzard in May, I’ll never feel comfortable that winter’s over until Memorial Day again!
Can there be any more TV shows that I enjoy playing on the same night? Wednesdays tax my DVR to the limit and beyond. I can only record two shows at once; thus, I have to make decisions since Survivor and Arrow start at 7, The Goldbergs at 7:30, and Modern Family at 8. Ugh! There are other times that you can mix in what my kids like to watch, and it makes things tough. Sundays are about to become that way since The Walking Dead is starting up again, mixed with The World Series of Poker and some Disney show Jayna enjoys. Netflix may have to be in my future.
Does every generation think the next group of kids is going to cause the apocalypse? When I started teaching, I remember a veteran teacher saying there was no way she’d start teaching anymore, which really put us rookies in a bind. We didn’t think the kids were so bad. However, as the years have elapsed, I’ve found it more difficult to deal with attitudes and laziness. Is this just me becoming older and more jaded? Are kids really the same or is there some disease slowly seeping into society? Certainly, times change: technology is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was, parenting styles have changed due to both necessity and a constantly changing family structure, and there are many more opportunities to make bad choices. Somehow, I’m guessing the adults when I was a kid thought the same things I do now.
What in the world did Michelle see in me all those years ago that made her want to spend the rest of her life with me? The reasons I was attracted to her are easy: she’s intelligent, beautiful, articulate, and has a sense of humor that matches mine. Sometimes I wonder how I outkicked my coverage on this one. According to some, I’m a self-absorbed, egotistical maniac. I know I’m pretty lucky to have found my lobster when so many other people seem to struggle to get it right the first time. We just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary, and I know things are going well when she barely bats an eyelash at me spending our anniversary announcing a football game!
Are we more enlightened now? Probably not, but what is life without questions to fire up a conversation (or a column)?
Word of the Week: This week’s word is kibitzer, which means a person who offers unwanted advice or criticism, as in, “The kibitzer spent an entire column giving out answers to questions nobody wanted answered.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
I love the novel The Hobbit. I used to teach it in 8th grade, and I’m sure many of my former stars fondly remember my Gollum voice (or not). We used to have great fun with that book, even watching the horrid cartoon version of the movie that came out prior to the excellent current movies.
However, one year I asked myself, “Why am I teaching this? Is there something of true value to the students or is it just because it’s one of my favorite books?” I tried to rationalize that exposing students to a genre that they might not normally read, fantasy, was valuable. However, the latter reason was, sadly, much more true.
I miss teaching that book, but I’ve found other books that are excellent and that my students enjoy. (We’re currently finishing True Shoes, by Doug Wilhelm, an outstanding novel about the positive and negative aspects of texting and social media in middle school. Check it out!) There are times that we just need to face up to new ideas, and sometimes we find that they’re beneficial in the long run.
I’ve written before about change in education and the difficulty embracing it. As you read this, the NRHEG Secondary School will have finished the first round of a big change, the first of its kind since I’ve been here: an adjustment to parent-teacher conferences.
When a group sat down last year to hammer out this year’s calendar, changing conferences became a talking point. For years, both the Ellendale and New Richland buildings have had two sessions of conferences at the end of first quarter and midway through third quarter. While those work nicely in an elementary setting, the first set seemed too late for the secondary building. After all, first quarter is done, and nothing can be done to save struggling grades.
Thus, we took a look at putting one night of conferences per quarter, right around mid-term. That way parents would have a chance to visit with teachers and figure out a plan to turn around any struggles. That right there is one big change, and I was all for it.
Then I got to thinking about it. I actually like parent-teacher conferences. That eight hours of time twice a year gave me a chance to meet more parents and establish relationships with people that I might see a lot over the years. There wasn’t much time to do that, as I limit conferences to five minutes per student so as to see as many people as possible.
That will be more difficult now. In reality, these mid-term conferences are really aimed at those people whose children are struggling. There may be a number of people who decide not to come since they won’t have much chance to see all the teachers in a four-hour time frame. I’ll miss that.
But, much like with The Hobbit, I had to really ask myself if the potential benefit to students and parents outweighed my enjoyment of socializing. That was pretty easy. As a professional educator, the answer is a resounding yes.
This leads to a further question. At a secondary level, do we even need to set aside time for parent-teacher conferences anymore? Honestly, most of the people I’ve seen over the years are not the people I REALLY need to see. Like I said, it’s nice to meet parents and discuss the progress of children, but conferences feel like they’re becoming outdated, at least at our level.
Most parents have Internet access and constant accessibility to the grades in every class. Our online program even allows parents to set up email alerts when a child doesn’t turn in an assignment or falls below a certain percentage in classes. I get frequent emails or phone calls when this happens, which is wonderful. Why not work on the problem the instant it starts instead of waiting?
I get the feeling some parents show up at conferences because they feel it’s expected of them, even if their student is doing very well. Maybe, like so many other things that are changing in education, it’s time to look at the true value of parent-teacher conferences. Perhaps our change to mid-term conferences will be the right step, or it might even be the first move toward eliminating something else that continues because it’s always been that way.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is a fortiori, which means for an even greater reason, as in, “Conferences were used as a means of communication and a fortiori for socialization.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
number of times over my teaching career I’ve heard a parent tell me, “You have no idea what it’s like to have a teenager!” Oh, really? So the fact that I see them from 8-3 every day doesn’t qualify me for knowing what that’s like? I probably see teenagers more than the average parent!
And now I can add to that since Jayna has entered that magical age. Of course, she’s been calling herself a “pre-teen” for a couple years now, a term I’m convinced was created by clothing manufacturers to get kids to buy clothing that even 13-year-olds shouldn’t wear. She’s been very excited to get to this age, as are all kids, er, pre-teens.
We told Jayna when she turned 13, we’d talk about a cell phone. (We caved and got her one.) We said she could probably have Facebook, but only if she friended Mom and Dad first.
Oh, we knew this day was coming for quite some time. I think it’s been about four or five months that we’ve been hearing, “Well, I’m almost 13.” (My opinion is you have to be within a month of your birthday to say you’re “almost” an age.)
So now what do we do? I’ve had a running bit over the years where I tell parents that their child will start to become evil as they near the teenage years. It doesn’t matter how good that child might be overall, bad vibes will overcome at some point. This begins to ebb when the lure of a driver’s license appears on the horizon, and good dealings with parents might be the only way to get some car keys.
Parents with their first child have a look of horror on their face. It either translates as, “What? Not my Susie!” or, “You mean it gets worse?” Veteran parents simply nod, knowingly.
Evil has different degrees, of course. Jayna has been a very good child, but she’s begun to test the boundaries the past year. The deep sigh from her mouth is a sure sign that Mom and Dad don’t have a clue. She hasn’t done anything really overtly terrible (yet), and I can’t imagine living in a house where it’s constant arguing with the know-it-all teenager.
I’ve heard the horror stories from parents about that type of teenager. Yikes! Wait – was I one of those? We all heard our parents say they hoped we’d get a child just like us someday. I always thought that would be a good thing.
I think I was decent at that age. Not some outstanding, headed for sainthood kind of good, mind you, but okay. I remember a few yelling matches with my parents, usually about curfews or dating or some such trivial item. I’m sure there will be a few of those, most likely when a boy comes around, looking for an evening with my daughter.
I often tell students that they will grow to become like their parents in many ways. The requisite denial occurs, but I thought the same. In fact, I remember telling my parents that when I had kids I would do things differently.
Nope.
I know I’ve entered that state of no return when I find myself uttering, often, “When I was your age…” I can hear that deep sigh from Jayna as I even type the words!
This age of evil that I joke about is really here. Now Michelle and I get to deal with it. But it’s an important step in kids finding their places in the world and developing the ability to think for themselves. They need to become more than little clones of Mommy and Daddy.
Of course, this age may also be the evolutionary equivalent of helping to cut the apron strings so it’s easier to send them packing after graduation! I’ll let you know in six years…
Word of the Week: This week’s word is promulgate, which means to make a rule public, as in, “The parents promulgated the new curfew rules loudly enough that their daughter’s date heard them loud and clear.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!
This is my 19th year in education. This will also be my 19th year of teaching Tom Sawyer. One part of this classic that always gets the students’ attention is when Tom arrives late at school…again. After admitting that he had been lollygagging with Huck Finn, the teacher proceeds to give him a beating with a switch, not the last time that happens to Tom in the book.
A number of years ago, my in-laws gave me a list of rules from a schoolhouse in the 1840s, about the same time frame as the novel’s setting. The rules include how many lashes one would get for each offense. Out of curiosity, I read off the list, and the kids figure out how many lashes they might have gotten in a typical day; some end up over 100!
These same kids admit that knowledge of such a punishment would probably keep them from doing many of those actions, at least most of the time. In fact, I had a student many years ago who shared that, as a junior in the Texas school system, he was spanked for being tardy too many times. There was a dean of students who had a paddle, and this man was in charge of all punishment. The student said it wasn’t so much the pain as the humiliation that kept him from ever being tardy again.
Many of my readers were probably spanked as children; I was on the occasion that I did something really bad. I know that kept the thought of repeating that action out of my head for a good long time. I don’t bear any emotional scars; I think my parents did a fine job of raising us kids. They were stern, but caring. I knew if I got a spanking or my mouth washed out with soap that I had done something very out of hand.
Even my teachers used some of that. Our first grade teacher used a fly swatter as a mini-paddle on naughty kids; my fourth grade teacher had a bar of Ivory soap in her desk when needed.
But times have changed, especially as shown by the actions of Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and the reaction to his punishment of his son. If you’ve paid even a scant amount of attention, you know that Peterson has admitted to using a switch on his four-year-old son, leaving contusions and bleeding on the child. He faces charges in Texas and, as of this writing, looks to be done as a Viking.
I’m sad about this, not just as a Vikings fan, but as a father. I’ve argued for years that a quick swat to gain your child’s attention when that child needs disciplining, using an open palm, is okay. I’ve even sometimes wished for the return of corporal punishment in schools, similar to what my former star went through in Texas. Kids today look at you with a “What are you going to do about it?” attitude at times because they know they have nothing to fear.
But it’s a slippery slope in today’s society. What is acceptable and what is going too far? In schools that employ this type of punishment, there is usually an administrator in charge of it so emotion does not play a role. Spanking a child while upset is what often leads to the extremes which Peterson allegedly used on his son.
Peterson has said, and I’ve seen many others say, that’s how he was raised. “It worked for me,” seems to be a refrain, and I can concur from my vantage point. However, how many people were spanked by parents who may have taken it too far? How many people today still have emotional issues because of it?
I don’t know the answers to those questions. I know the topic is in the forefront again because of an NFL star being involved. I also know our discussion when we read Tom Sawyer might be very interesting this year!
I want to wish a very happy birthday to my daughter, Jayna! I meant to write a column about becoming the parent of a teenager this week, but the AP news seemed worthy as a topic, so I’ll save that bit for next week…if I’ve survived my first week in that regard!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is loblolly, which means a mire or mudhole, as in, “The Vikings found themselves in a metaphorical loblolly, trying to deal with the Adrian Peterson fiasco.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!