One Last Message

I posted this on the Manilow UK Message Board:

Just to let my friends here know, I'm not planning on coming back to this message board. I've enjoyed cyber-meeting those of you who have been kind enough to include me as one of your friends. It's time for me to move on with my life, and letting go of some of the things that have kept me progressing this year.

My best wishes to everyone, including Barry and the Stiletto family.

Jessica DiCorleone aka Dawn Bushman

New Year's: Look Not behind Thee

Excellent story for our time!

One Voice

If you've heard the song, if you know the song, then you'll understand why I'm referring to it.

Munds Park Church Helps Stranded Motorists

Snow - In Phoenix?

Yep, snow flakes have been reported dropping around the Phoenix Metropolitan area.



Here's the link:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2010/12/30/20101230phoenix-area-residents-report-snow-falling-valley.html

Love Disney?

You'll love this photo taken back in November at Disneyland, Anaheim.

Here's the link: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/11/partners-in-the-morning-fog/

Customer Service

This is what one airline did for it's passengers traveling at Christmas.

100 Grandchildren

Between children, grand-children, great grand-children and 2nd great grand-children, this woman has at least 100 offspring. Hopefully they'll record her stories, I'm sure she has a lot to tell in her 98 years of life.

Christmas 2010

The last three Christmases have been somewhat depressing, so I wanted to do a little bit of cheer this year. I finally got the music corner set up over the summer with the faux vintage stereo box, so I figured out how to get it to play from my iPod, which I had a bunch of Christmas songs on.

I had the music playing in the background, and this display set up in my dining area. And before you ask, yes that is a bookshelf in my dining room. If you know me well, you know I'm a big reader, so I actually have shelves in almost every room on my home. The exceptions are the two bathrooms and the kitchen (they are all too small or there would be shelves in those as well).

It was a fun evening, Mom brought over the unprepared food and we baked and cooked in my kitchen. While we waited for the food, we sat in the livingroom and enjoyed the music and chatted for a little bit.

By the time we were ready to eat, I had told her about Barry singing in Oslo. Of course I had to bring out my laptop and show her. LOL. The first part of our meal was spent eating at the table watching Barry perform on my laptop. Once his performance was finished, I turned the Christmas music back on.

All in all, it was a really nice evening, and Mom seemed to enjoy herself quite a bit. Especially the part where she leaves and doesn't have to take dirty dishes home to clean them. :-)

We did exchange gifts, neither of us had time to make up cards, so we just handed our unwrapped gifts to each other. We laughed at how bad we've gotten over the years, compared with how big the Christmases were when I was a kid. Maybe one of these days I'll pull out the pictures and post them, we waited until Christmas Day and Robin and I would sneak to the tree before Mom and Dad got up to see if we could figure out what we had gotten from Santa.

My sister, Robin, and I had some laughs about that earlier in the day when I called her at her home in Oregon to wish her a Merry Christmas.

And to all of you, a very Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Barry

I doubt he reads my blog, but if Barry Manilow happens upon it, this one's for him.

Enjoy.

The Blessings of An Amish Christmas

I had never thought about it before, but how do the Amish celebrate Christmas?

Here's your answer.

The Blessings of An Amish Christmas

The Christmedley

This song woke me out of a sound sleep going through my head back in 1993. Last year I spent 3 days recording it. It's not perfect, but it's as close as I'll come in the near future to seeing it recorded. This performance, as well as the arrangement, I've kept in the public domain.

The full story of The Christmedley is here.

It is available for free download on iTunes here.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas to everyone.

Powered by Podbean.com

SNC - Christmas Can-Can

SNC= Straight No Chaser. If you're looking for something light and funny, this is great!

A Barry Merry Christmas

One of Barry's fans made this, I think it's very cute and well done. I know, I know, my Mother calls him Woodstock and my family thinks I'm nuts, but I just can't help melting from the baby blues he's got.

The Gap Widens Between The Rich and Middle Class

Given the economy, I wasn't surprised by this.

Wealth Gap

Mobile Christmas Orchestra

Congratulations - Updated

To Barry Manilow. Now that I'm on Winter Break, I'm finally catching up on a few things and saw some of the video from his performance in Oslo. He was invited to be a part of the festivities surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded in absence to Liu Xiaobo, who is imprisoned in China. I'm sure performing for this was a goose-bump moment for him, it would have been for me.

Here's the link to the video, it's not embed-friendly. UPDATE: I would like to update this with a new link. Just prior to Barry's performance, the two co-hosts read the words of Liu Xiaobo. To me, it gives an even deeper meaning to Barry's first song he performed, Could It Be Magic.

http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/241860/

Data To Sink Your Teeth Into

Well... not literally.

The numbers are in for the U.S. Census, showing that we have slowed in population growth, which is something that happens during recessions and depressions.

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

Here's what it means to Arizona:

Census Results: 1 More Congressional Seat

Now, for some economic data. It's not all bad for Arizona, however if you're in the public education sector (particularly K-12) then you are in for a world of hurt.

A Christmas Tradition To Remember

This was just too good; I had to post it here:

Mark Leyners Christmas Tradition

I Heard The Bells

This is from last year, it's called "Longfellow's Christmas".

Delicious

No, I'm not talking about food, I'm talking about a social bookmarking site. From the sounds of the article I'll be linking, it may get sold. Whether it remains free to use, however, will depend on the buyer. In the meantime, be sure to back up your bookmarks and tags, if you use it. I've already done so with mine.

There is an alternative popping up that is listed in the comments of the article. We'll see if it becomes anything promising.

Yahoo Isn't Killing Delicious

Amazing!

His name is Richard Elliott and he IS the organ king!

Christmas Caddyshack

I'm glad he seems to have a sense of humor, and isn't trying to kill the rabbit.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Wow, what a week it's been, full of highs and lows.

Let's see.

Monday: I left work and headed straight for Safeway. You see I needed a rotisserie chicken for Tuesday night. After a little bit more shopping, I went home and finished my homemade gift for the white elephant gift exchange, also to be on Tuesday.

Tuesday: I had a party to go to! It was the first of what was supposed to be four parties, but you'll find out what was next as you read along. The party was a graduation/Christmas party for the writing class I take on Tuesday nights. I love this group of ladies I'm with, and I feel comfortable sharing my work with them.

The evening was festive and wonderful. We had foods that had something to do with our writings, hence the rotisserie chicken. My story is a takeoff of Pride and Prejudice. Since I had been asked to bring a main dish, this was how meats were prepared in Jane Austen's day. We exchanged gifts and talked about our family traditions at Christmas.

Wednesday: I had a crazy day at work, so no time to make the present for the gift exchange for party #2 that evening. This party is for a group I am involved in called ANWA. It stands for American Night Writers Association, and is for LDS ladies who like to write, whether it be music, poetry or actual stories. Wednesday evening was wonderful as well, with everyone talking about all kinds of different things, including some fantastic news of one of the ladies' manuscripts was accepted by a small publisher!

The menu that evening called for snacks, so I went to Costco and found large, round pumpkin pies there, and a 3 pack of heavy whipped cream. Yum. The food was delicious, some of us read something from our writings, and while my white elephant gift was lacking somewhat, everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.

Thursday: Thursday was a "night off" of sorts, meaning I didn't have any parties to attend, however the nurse at my school and I had already signed up for the Friday treats at work the next morning, so I was back at Costco, picking up more food. Pumpkin pie #2 was picked up, among other things, as I still had two unused cans of the whipped cream left. I also picked up some really yummy looking cinnamon rolls from their bakery.

Leftovers from Tuesday night's dinner were used that night. :-) I received a phone call from a member of my Ward (Church) asking me to come to an impromptu dinner hosted by the Primary (children) from my Ward. I said I would try to make it, it sounded fun!

Friday: I got things inside the school from my car (most of the food and bottled water was left out in the car overnight) and set up in the staff lounge before I had to take care of business in the computer lab and then go outside for my hour of crossing guard work. The weather this week had been really mild in the mornings, kind of strange in December.

I came back in afterwards to grab some of the delicious egg and hash brown stuff that the nurse had made in a crock pot and brought in after I had already gotten to work. I heard there were some arguments over the cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pie. Oh dear.

I left work a little early (I actually had accrued more hours because of computer issues after school) and was able to go out to my Insurance Agent's office to bring over the signed paperwork for my new insurance policies. I changed companies when I bought a new car over Veteran's Day weekend (I'll post that some other time). I didn't realize they were a 30 minute drive, but that was okay.

I made it back to my neighborhood just in time to go to the impromptu party (three out of the now five parties I would be going to in a week) I got the call for Thursday. It was soooo darling! There were readings and piano solos before the children combined to make a nativity scene, complete with a young lamb.

After eating a delicious meal of chicken noodle soup and strawberry shortcake, I went home, unloaded the car, and crashed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday: I tried to sleep in, honest, but I was awake by 7:00. My Father's passing had been on my mind since Wednesday night's party, and it started to hit on Saturday. It was roughly the four year anniversary since we took my Father off of life support. This coming Monday will make four years since his passing. I was tired and depressed.

I managed to make it to my hair appointment to style my hair for the two parties I had that evening to attend. Yes, I said two. Both my work party and Ward Christmas party ended up on the same evening. I had already signed up to bring food for the Ward Christmas party, and I needed a white elephant gift for the work Christmas party. I told my stylist about the week I was having, and she could see I was already exhausted. She recommended that I purchase some professional product (shampoo and conditioner) that was on sale, so I went for it. I didn't have time nor energy to make the gift I had planned on.

After the hair appointment, I picked up some food for Rachel, before making yet another trek to Costco to get (yes) another pumpkin pie. I still had one more unused can of whipped cream left. Besides, from all accounts, the pies were a hit with everyone. I took a breather before putting on a nice blouse (silvery grey) and black skirt and black dress jacket. I used the Manilow purfume I had purchased last year in Las Vegas (at the HIlton) and put on some makeup.

I made it a little late to the Ward Christmas party (it started at 6:00) and the line for the food was wrapping around the cultural hall in the church building. There was no way I was going to get any food, but I did bring in the pumpkin pie and whipped cream to the table for people to get a slice. It looked like they were already running low on desserts, and I'm sure only one large pie didn't cover everyone, but at least it made a dent. I met and visited with friends (who liked my looks for the evening) before leaving for the work Christmas party (it started at 6:30, but I had already told them I would be late).

I went to the work Christmas party, which was held at Rosita's on Guadalupe and Dobson Roads. If you live in the Phoenix area, this is a GREAT restaurant. Yumm. We had the white elephant gift exchange while waiting for the food to be served. It turned out the product I bought and wrapped up was quite a hit with the other ladies (it was, after all, Biolage). It was one of the items stolen the maximum number of times. I was really glad I didn't wrap a puzzle and call it good.

A chicken chimichanga later and I was headed home (with leftovers) for a good night's sleep.

Today, I was in basket case mode, which had a few people worried, until I explained the upcoming anniversary of my Father's death. After the block I excused myself and left and went home.

One thing I will say. I do have some new found respect for the celebrities who go out all the time. I'm not much of a party person (I am a Virgo after all), so the energy it takes to prepare and attend a party generally wipes me out. Five parties in five days almost did me in. Almost. With a little planning and a lot of help from my friends, however, it turned out really well.

Happy holidays, and a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Traditions

Some traditions are just fun to keep. When I was a kid, my parents used to load my sister and I up in Dad's pickup truck (this was before seat belts and car seats) where I would be next to Mom, if not on her lap if I couldn't see. We'd go on these car rides, all over town, particularly around the desert area. I'd always try to stay awake, but usually would be asleep by the time we got home. I have later found out my parents did this on purpose, on those nights when we just wouldn't go to sleep.

Branching from that, at Christmas time, we started taking car rides around to see the Christmas lights. This is something I still do today. I love taking car rides around town to see the light displays. There used to be some really good ones in Gilbert, sadly with the tanked housing market, a lot of the homes that used to go all out at Christmas time are either cut back or not at all. I guess it's just a sign of the times we now live in.

This man, however, is retired and able to really put on a show:

What?

I like watching Jon Stewart. Yeah, I admit it. LOL.

I thought I'd watch a show from this last week, when one of the commercials caught my attention. It's for a musical called The Book of Mormon. The problem? It's written and created by the guys who created South Park. Irreverent would be a word for it.

http://www.bookofmormonbroadway.com/the-show

Their plot is this: They are taking two Salt Lake City boys who, at the age of 18, get sent off on a mission to Africa where they find themselves ill prepared for the poverty and hardships the African people deal with as a part of life.

There's just one problem with this: it's completely false. The even bigger problem than this: the men creating this obviously don't know that yet.

For starters, missionaries leave home when they are 19, not 18.

The writers also assume that life in Salt Lake City doesn't prepare you for what's out there. There are more non-Mormons in Salt Lake City than there are Mormons in Salt Lake City.

The writers also do not understand that while missionaries are never 100% prepared for where they serve (this includes the rest of the world, folks), that doesn't mean they can't handle what's going on. It's the work of God, not man. It also does not mean the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) are not going to be there to help them out.

In fact, speaking of serving missions in Africa, what these guys don't know that I do, is I have good friends (my former Stake President and his wife) are currently serving in Africa. In the Congo. Would you like to see their blog talking about it?

http://grammyandpapas.blogspot.com/

Another Favorite From Mannheim Steamroller

Los Peces en el Rio

Put A Little Love In Your Heart

It's that Scrooged time of the year. I love it.

New From Disneyland On Facebook

Christmas In The Aire

Nothing says Christmas like Mannheim Steamroller.

I've Dreamed of You

I love this song.

Christmas Songs On The iPod

Yes, I have a lot of digital music. So much so that it kills the hard drive on my computer. Because of this, I have the music split up in different libraries. One for school, one for Christmas, one for Halloween, you get the idea. There's a way I use to import back into my main iTunes library from these other libraries so I can synch them to my iPod. Yes, this includes Because It's Christmas from Barry, but it also includes some other favorites.





Someone took another favorite of mine - from Mannheim Steamroller - and added some Christmas lights. Enjoy.

Fun With Dolphins

Happy Thanksgiving

Artwork Copyright: Disney


Happy Thanksgiving!

Mine is done for the night, and boy, am I full from the great food.

Mom came over and we had dinner together, the two of us.

When I was little, Mom would make the turkey, and my sister and I would try to do our part to help. In the 1980's, Mom went back into the world of work, which meant that she was usually working on Thanksgiving Day. This meant a little bit of a change: Dad making the turkey, with some help from teenager Dawn. Needless to say, I learned how to make a turkey.

When my sister left, we kept up the turkey tradition, only we would try to find smaller and smaller turkeys, until we realized we could have a better and easier time cooking chicken instead. Since Dad passed away, we don't do turkey at all; Mom doesn't like the taste of it.

This year, I had Mom over to my place. We both have cats, but I have just the one, so there is less competition for the food. :-) With corn, cranberry sauce, stuffing and an apple pie with spices and raisins, it was a very filling dinner to have. I now have plenty of leftovers to keep me going for a good week.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. What are your plans for it? I may do some grocery shopping, maybe some craft shopping, but no gift shopping this year. I made another investment over Veterans Day weekend (I'll talk about that on another post), so I've spent as much as I can afford for Christmas. I'm thinking this year will be smaller with giving some homemade crafts instead.

For those traveling, please be careful in your travels.

And for all, a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

Because It's Christmas

Of all of the Christmas songs from the Christmas CD's Barry Manilow has done, this has always been my favorite song.



Incidentally, one of the long term subs at my school yesterday told me she would be going to Vegas in March and was hoping to see Barry perform while she's there. I had, in the past, shown her the picture of Barry and I from the Platinum I did last Christmas, so she's wanting to see him perform. I hope he's performing during the time she's there, I'm sure she'll enjoy his show.

Now About Those Pat Downs...

Too bad neither Fox nor Obama seem to be asking the questions others are, at least according to Fox News:

Obama Is Told There Is No Alternative To Pat Downs

Others are asking a smarter question: What do airports in the Middle East do for their screenings?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Traveling Over The Holidays?

Some helpful tips to get you through the TSA Screening.

Very cool!

Well, the dog will not be outrunning rabbits, but it will be walking and running. Technology put to great use.

The Other Side of Immigration

If you've seen my post on immigration reform from a while back, then you know there are more options to fixing the illegal immigration problems we have in the U.S., then just simply kicking people to the curb.

Here's a film that addresses it from a different angle.

It's That Time of The Year Again

Thanksgiving? No. Black Friday shopping? No. Christmas? No. Well, okay, yes to all three, however the point of this post is regarding the annual CNN Heroes Awards Ceremony. Where some unsung heroes and the causes they have created are publicly recognized.

Here's a video with more about it, a video I found to be very touching.

A Big Thank You

To Geneabloggers for the nice link to this blog!

Geneabloggers.com

Also a big welcome to anyone who shares my love for genealogy. As I've said before, it's addictive and you meet the nicest people while working in genealogy.

Thank you!

Watch This

You'll be glad you did.

If, by the way, you feel everyone in the U.S. has been duped after watching this, don't worry, you have.

Walt's Apartment

I saw this and couldn't resist.  Wow.  What history within those walls.

If you don't know, Walt had an apartment over the firehouse on Main St. in Disneyland (Anaheim).  Some people got to go in and see it, and posted the pictures online!

http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/145971-walts-apartment-rare-opportunity-private-tour-lots-pics.html

Genealogy

For those of you, my long time and new friends, who are into genealogy, there is only one word I can think of to describe it. Contagious! :-)

I was into locating my genealogy as a teenager, and became more heavily involved with it when Decker died back in 2000. Being a member of the Mormon faith, we are big on locating our ancestors, not just for the temple work involved, but also because of the stories and how their lives impact ours today.

There is a lot more to genealogy than just names and dates. As I just mentioned there are also the stories. Everyone has them, some are fun stories, some are downright depressing. Some, however, such as stories about incidents within the family and health related information, can actually help people know what medical issues they should be looking for that are genetically passed from one generation to the next. For example: I didn't know breast cancer was in my family (both Mom's side and Dad's side) until a few years ago when one of my aunts passed away from it. That's when it began to be discussed within my family.

As with many families, particularly ones where people didn't want to talk about the history of the family, this can be especially daunting, and sadly it takes a tragedy for things to come out. The good news is, once it does, the younger generation will at least have that information as part of their own history and they will hopefully pass it on.

Every family has their own sets of stories, and mine is no different.

I posted a few of the ones pertaining to deceased members of my family onto a web site I created as part of a Web Page Design class I took in 2001-2002. I need to update it, as several other family members (including my Father) have since passed away.

There are also a lot of online resources for people to locate stories as well as family members they didn't know existed. The social aspect of the internet has really propelled this ability to share this information with a lot of people, which has been quite a miracle in my eyes.

When Decker died back in 2000, I felt the pressure to finish the work he had tried to do, but was unable to finish at his unexpected death. He was the High Priest Group Leader in our Ward, and as such was responsible for getting the Family History (genealogy) work going in the Ward. While he was unable to get a class going, I got one going after his death.

Because of his encouragement that I take computer classes (he said my logical thinking was perfect for programming skills), I used those classes to create a program to tutor people on how to use the Church's software to submit located ancestors for temple work. This program was called Ascending The Temple Steps. At the time I was inspired by God to make it, the Church used the PAF program along with a new computer software called Temple Ready to get floppy disks ready with the names to be turned in to the Temple. This ground breaking software alone cut down the months long process of submitting paperwork to Salt Lake for approval into just a few minutes.

I first shared my little program on CD's to members of my Ward. Then the Stake leadership found out about it, and I began making CD's to the Stake. They told their friends and family about it, and before too long I was creating CD's and shipping them all over world, as far away as New Zealand. Because the program I made was HTML based and the tutorials were on PDF's, this allowed for an easier time for people worldwide to enjoy the contents of the CD. Pretty soon, though, I was spending hundreds of dollars on CD's and shipping charges, so I made the decision to post it onto the internet for easier location and ability to use.

Thankfully the Church now has a new secured system that has combined membership records with the genealogy records to give members a centralized location to locate, submit and collaborate with family on their genealogy and temple work.

I've left up the Ascending The Temple Steps web site though, it's a little more of a nostalgic look at how far things have come within the last 10 years (even more depending on how long you've been doing genealogy) with the technology.

http://members.cox.net/dawnbushman1/StartHere.html

The New Family Search web site for the Church:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

After the success of the Ascending The Temple Steps program, I was asked to be a part of a Stake Committee to create a Family History program to teach children via our Primary about Family History. The result of our work can be found on my web site, an internet version of the paper workbook and disk the committee made called Turn Your Hearts:

http://members.cox.net/deckerbushman1/turnyourhearts.html

These and other links can be found on a section of my personal web site called Genealogy Pages:

http://members.cox.net/dawnbushman1/genindex.html

Happy hunting!

A Little Post Halloween Fun

I love this movie and have bought it on DVD.  One of my favorite scenes is the class Halloween party at Frankie's school.  It brings back so many memories...

Can Large Companies Still Innovate?

Google On Innovation

This is an outstanding question to be asking when many jobs, particularly those in the tech field, rely on innovation.  It's also something the smaller companies should think about, in looking for ways that they can innovate in a way that provides more bang for their smaller bank accounts.

One Last Message Before Tomorrow's Vote

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/01/election.main/?hpt=T2

This isn't the only story coming out of Washington - from other news medias as well, so we cannot blame Democrat biases here - about the Republicans planning a gridlock in the Congress if they win back the majority, particularly in the Senate.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear to the elected officials in Washington, D.C.  You are being elected to get a job done, not to shoot your mouths off.  I can assure you that if, under your watch, Americans see more of the same pandering to the special interests, you too can find yourselves out of office.

The Republicans already messed things up under George W. Bush, if you mess up again with this new found "voice" you think you have, I think I can pretty much guarantee "We The People" will have the last word in the argument.  It is, after all "We The People"'s money you're spending.

Happy Halloween!

These are the images on Google's main page. :-)

Happy Halloween!

Hallelujah

For an English version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsuXbkrA_AQ

How Much Math Do We Really Need?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102205451.html

This article was an interesting one, given two things:

1. My work in public education
2. My love for math, science and technology

The author of this opinion is correct in that we are "selling" math to the masses like you do hair cream.

The author has also, however, asked the question of why do we need to shove more math down the throats of children, when we are producing Nobel laureates with or without pushing the math "hair cream"?

Not to be too obvious, but if more people, including our elected officials, understood math a little better, we might have been able to better avoid the recession we now live in. When the people monitoring the types of transactions that created this mess cannot handle the math to understand those transactions and what the consequences of those transactions are, what does that say about us?

The other reason why we need to teach the kids higher math (algebra, geometry, calculus)? Because, quite frankly, that is where the jobs are. Even if math is not used directly, the logic skills taught with learning math and science are also required for higher level jobs in the computer industry.

Now, that is not to say there is no value in teaching the liberal arts, including music, art, but also about history and storytelling. Why?

I've had on DVD, for some time now, an interview from the Charlie Rose program where he speaks with filmmaker George Lucas. George Lucas uses a lot of technology in making his movies, but understands the power of the story. At one point in the interview, George explains the importance of teaching the liberal arts in education. To paraphrase it:

Math and science can teach a child the how. Liberal arts, namely history, can teach the child why or why not.

The point is, if you want to teach a child how to build a weapon, that's the math and science. Liberal Arts teaches the child the reasons why they should or should not build the weapon. Understanding the consequences is a big segment of living as a part of society. We should also not lose that portion of education in order to chase the all important "Math in the U.S. vs. the World" statistic.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Still Enjoying Emma.

You Know I Like FarmVille on Facebook...

...just not THIS much.

http://www.femfarmville.com/?rid=44

I've also heard news reports that people are setting their alarm clocks to get up and harvest their crops.  While I enjoy the game so I can unwind from a long day, I don't allow it to rule my life.  Sorry.

Yeah, A Little Early

But I just found out about this artist.  Enjoying the music.

http://www.samstryke.com/

Gotta Love Dilbert

Burt Rutan

That Virgin Galactic Space Ship I've mentioned earlier is the brain child of Burt Rutan.

Spooky

Keep in mind David Carradine's body was found in a hotel closet.

Condoleezza Rice

This video can't be embedded,  but it is well worth watching.  I wonder if she'd ever stop by my school to share her story with the students?  I think it would give a lot of them reason to have some hope in their futures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j19dtVJTmzQ

This one you can embed:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Condoleezza Rice Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Condoleezza Rice Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Interesting Idea.

YouTube and Copyrights

I've wondered how YouTube has worked with copyright owners regarding people posting andio and/or video not owned by the submitter.

Are You Ready?

I have been waiting for a few years for when this was going to become a reality for everyone, not just those selected to be in a space program.  Congratulations to Sir Richard Branson, but most importantly, to Burt Rutan who came up with the design.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/10/15/space.tourism/index.html?hpt=C1

http://www.virgingalactic.com/

Here is the story of Space Ship One from Discovery:  Black Sky

http://store.discovery.com/detail.php?p=84777

Manilow.TV

If you've read my previous blog posts about Manilow.tv, you'll understand that this is a really nice service.

New On My iPod

I'm finally catching up on watching some of my DVD's over Fall Break and fell in love with this gem of a musical number.



Here is the scene where the music is used:



If you like Jane Austen, get this movie on DVD.  It's worth the price.

A Chameleon With Attitude

Gotta love it!

Thirty Three Reasons To Be Thankful

A Really Cool Idea For A Musician

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/12/matthew.west.new.album/index.html?hpt=T2

LDS Church Responds To HRC Petition

Let me make a few things clear.

For me, I agree completely with what has been said here. I believe, as does my Church that Marriage should only exist between a man and a woman. Marriage is ordained of God, not man.

I will also state that I agree that any bullying or harassment of an individual or group should not be tolerated.

I will further state this: that while, as a country, we believe in the rights of the individual, we should also remember that there are rights to worship. And, last I checked, the freedom to express your worship in however way you please should be not only individual, but also as a Church. People have no right in dictating to a Church what they should and should not believe because it is not "politically correct". In my personal opinion, God has made his judgements clear and has not ever changed his mind.

Any attempt to harass others because of their religious beliefs is also bullying.



That said, there are a number of articles and resources talking about bullying:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/studentnews/09/30/antibullying.resource/index.html

http://www.delicious.com/lairdleopard/internet_safety

Where Are His Parents?

And people wonder what is wrong with education...



Okay.  So you think this is your job?

What are the laws of what you can & cannot do with this "job"?

How are you tracking the money you make with this "job"?

How long do you foresee being able to do this "job" and what are you going to be doing with your life if this "job" falls through?

Oh, that's right.  You can't answer any of these questions.  Why?  Because you've been cutting your education while doing this "job".

What Today's Nobel Says About the US Unemployment Crisis

What Today's Nobel Says About the US Unemployment Crisis

This article points out why we need to extend higher education out to beyond the walls of the formal college campus, as I've pointed out in a previous blog post.

Decker Was Right

As was my grandmother. She died 11 years before I was born, but she used to tell my Mother when she was young to not go after the "pretty boys". They are too focused on themselves and will prove to be poor choices for husbands. I can honestly say, I chose VERY well with Decker. :-)

Now there is a study out that says our dream guy turns out to look much different than the fantasy.

Dream Lovers Can't Compare To Real Life Romeos

For all of my romance writer friends, you might want to take a look at this. :-)

Finally Some Answers

Where others just want to whine about our education system, here is someone with some ideas based on what is working in other countries.

Are You Surprised By This? I'm Not.

Unfriending On Facebook

I found this interesting.

Too Cute!

A Fantastic Way To Celebrate Metric Day

10/10/10 was known as "metric day" to students, however the landmark day was celebrated in some other special ways as well.

Many thanks to Robin Leach for sharing this wonderful event!

Donny Osmond Hosts 10/10/10 Proposals, Proposes To Wife

Thankful

to be living in the U.S.A.

Bloggers Detained And Sentenced

In Case You Missed It

http://www.manilowmusicproject.org/

Viktor Frankl

If you've read Man's Search For Meaning, you'll enjoy this.  Many thanks to my niece, Destiny, for posting this.

Get Ready...

Ah, Halloween.  I love Halloween.  There are all kinds of possibilities of who (or what) you can become for a day.  Martha Stewart & Co. always have creative ideas on how to get there.

http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/our-favorite-costume-ideas?xsc=eml_msl_2010_10_07#slide_7

Mummy Makeup

Stomp Out Bullying

If you didn't know, today was Stomp Out Bullying day.

Here's the link for more information:  http://www.stompoutbullying.org/

For My Writer Friends

The brief biography of Elif Shafak from Ted.com:  http://www.ted.com/speakers/elif_shafak.html

Experience Marketing

I just found this talk while going through some of the other TED Talks on their web site and found it quite interesting.  If you've read my blog for the last little while, you might remember my using Barry Manilow as an example for how experience marketing could help sell tickets to his show in Vegas:

http://genealotech.blogspot.com/2010/07/marketing-102.html

Turns out I might be closer to a solution to that problem than I realized.  :-)

The next question is:  If "experiences" are what sell in today's market, does "experience" education work?  Is this how schools and districts looking to attract students should be marketing themselves?  Of course, this means they are going to have to innovate in order to provide for these "experiences", which would mean a new model for teaching in the classroom.  The tuition based schools are already doing this, but how do you incorporate this in publicly funded schools?

Where Good Ideas Come From

This is another of the latest talks from the last TED Conference.

As many of you have noticed from my blog, or know about me personally, I think outside the box when it comes to ideas. I tend to view information like pieces in a jig saw puzzle and use those pieces when I'm solving a problem. But, what I hadn't thought about until I saw this, was the value social networks play in also coming up with these solutions.

Just this past week, a teacher came to me in the lab with a problem that they didn't know how to solve. When they told me what they wanted, I was able to show them a way, using their laptop, to solve the problem, and do so in a way that was easier than the solution the teacher had come up with.

I love the final story he gives at the end and how he ties everything all together.

New Show On ABC

I don't normally get to watch tv during the school year, as I usually have "homework" (meaning grading or lesson prep) or writing to do for my writing class. I did manage to catch this show Friday night. Sadly, it will be regularly aired on Tuesday nights, which means I probably will not get to watch it unless I see it replayed online.

ABC now has the pilot episode of this show for free on iTunes:

No Ordinary Family

Just Because... Again

I love this movie.  This is "Without You" from My Fair Lady.

Spooky Movies

It's that time of year again... Halloween.  I love holidays, each for different reasons.  Halloween is the one time you can become someone else, or have some spooky fun.

There are a lot of different movies I like during Halloween, but I think this is by far my favorite to watch:

Lady In White.

Many Thanks To My Friend

for sending me this.  It's too cute!

One Song, Two Crazy Videos

This is the latest addition to my iPod.  It's not a new song, and I had heard it before, but I like the dance beat.  Obviously someone else does too.  :-)

School Pics

We've all had them, the good, the bad and the ugly.  This one didn't turn out so bad!

Notes From Students

The most fun part of working in education comes in the form of notes, conversations and interactions with the students.

Last week, for my birthday I received colorful homemade cards of flowers and cakes from all four of our kindergarten classes, and one very thoughtful teacher even escorted five students from another teacher's class to my computer lab to serenade me a happy birthday.

That wasn't the only serenade, though, as all of the classes for that day, the second and third graders at my lunch duty as well as the sixth graders over speaker phone also sang happy birthday.

Today was another treat.  I was outside doing my crossing guard job when one of the students handed me a baggie with a cookie, a napkin and a note while saying thank you for keeping her alive.  She meant safe, but the way people drive through school zones these days, there's probably more truth to that than I'd care to admit to.

When I later had time to enjoy the cookie (homemade chocolate chip, the BEST), I read the note.  Keep in mind, this is from a second grader, they still don't have the proper word usage and grammar down yet.

Dear Mrs. Bushman
Thank you for the cross.  And for keeping us alive.


Your Friend,


(Student's Name)

Priceless.

Tony Danza, Teacher?

I loved this interview.  Welcome to the world of education, Tony.

For The Ladies

To add to your emergency supply kits:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/emergency-bra-ig-nobel-awards.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

The "Emergency Bra" is now available.

http://ebbra.com/