Is George Bush Too Texan?

So, I'm sitting here, it's about 4 am Monday morning and I'm grading papers.

CNN is running a story about western forest fires. One of the problems, it seems, is that old Smokey Bear was wrong. That kind of makes me sad, because I love Smokey Bear. In fact, he's even got his own website. I mean, come on! He's been around 50 years! A bear that old must be doing something right!

Well, the problem, it seems with forest fires is that we HAVE been preventing fires, and that is just plain unnatural. Here's why: Too much understory. I don't like that term. It means what I used to call underbrush, as an English student, understory sounds like some subliminal text in a narrative. Anyway, it is kindling whatever you call it. Of course, this is very flammable, and without natural fires, which used to occur before Smokey went to work, the understory was limited. Now, we have become too successful with wildfire control, and the flammable mess accumulates and leads to hotter fires. Like polio, our success in preventing unwanted dangers has actually made us more susceptible to disasters.

Well, back to the main point about Bush. CNN showed a clip of him telling reporters about the problems of understory, and why it is actually better for the forests for us to chop them down. Remember, Ronnie Reagan said that those damn trees caused pollution. In his defense, Bush is correct on this one. Thinning would help solve the problem, somewhat.

So, there is Shrub, speaking off the cuff as he often does, and I was thinking, "He’s more redneck than Lyndon Johnson!" If you know anything about LBJ, he did his best to try to conceal his Texas drawl. He spoke slowly and measured on TV so he wouldn’t sound too “country.” Kennedy’s “best and brightest” called LBJ, “Uncle Cornpone.” They were Bright, but not above regional biases. Since LBJ was from backwoods Texas, he wasn’t supposed to be as sophisticated as the Harvard boys in JFK’s cabinet. Although he resented them and their attitude, he did his best to overcome his dialect.

Not Bush. In fact, he seems to think that his down-home Texan charm makes him more identifiable to the people. Maybe so. I think he comes across as too relaxed, and unprepared. He doesn’t think best on his feet, yet that’s the impression he conveys.

Then again, maybe it’s just because I like LBJ, and don’t feel the same way about Bush.

Ups and (More Importantly) the Downs of Interviews

Ok, I'm typing this with mixed emotions, and it may all change in a couple of days.

Here goes. Went for the intervew Tuesday. They said they would notify Wednesday. The phone didn't ring. Not even bill collectors (the bane of the unemployed). NO CALLS PERIOD!!!

Depression set in....."Maybe they'll call tomorrow, Thursday," I said to myself.

The phone didn't ring. Not even bill collectors.

More depression....."Maybe they'll call tomorrow, Friday," I said to myself.

The phone didn't ring. Not even bill collectors.

Are you getting the picture. I practiced wrapping a noose, but I've never been good at tying knots. I tried turning on the motor of the car in the garage, but was out of gas. Weeping...Weeping.

Saturday I had to go to an adjunct meeting for the Fall Semester at CyFair. They needed an adjunct representative on the curriculum planning committee. Mari suggested that I should do that, but I was busy sulking.

I finally perked-up when I found out they want anyone with any ideas about offering a class on service-teaching to come forward. I’ve got a couple of fantastic (I think) ideas. One is to do an oral history project with Vets. There is a national program going on and that would fulfill a service-teaching requirement. The second idea I have is for colleges to work with local museums on a limited budget to plan educational material, graphic design, and exhibit planning. PUBLIC HISTORY, my friend, PUBLIC HISTORY.

Then, my real objective was to talk to Susan Edwards, our history chair at CyFair. She used to be the chair at HCC. She was very encouraging, saying that just because they didn’t call doesn’t mean anything since they are notoriously slow. And it’s her old job they’re trying to fill. And she’s been gone for over a year. She also suggested I contact the secretary, and mention that she told me to call.

So there is still hope. At least I’ll make it through the weekend. Next week I must contact Texas Southern. I believe I will be able to teach a few courses there, hopefully Texas history!

I’ll keep you posted.

Ozzfest 2003 !

This is actually an OLD event, but I wanted to add it. It's dated June 30, 2003:

I did something this weekend I don't normally do. I went to my first rock
concert. I haven't sent any mail recently, so I thought I would share.

I went to Ozzfest in San Antonio. I'm not a great big Ozzy fan, but I like
the TV show, so feel like I have a personal connection. Anyway, liked
Marilyn Manson's show...thought Disturbed was good, and thought Korn had a
good light show. Ozzy was over the top, of course, and he shouldn't have
done ALL the drugs when he was younger, because it really shows, but it was
a cool experience. Of course there were some fights, some people taken away
sick, and lots of dope smoking. Since when have girls started going topless
and painting their chests?? Weird. Eeek..I guess that shows my age.

It was interesting, especially since that really isn't my type of music.
But Mari wanted to go. So, it was my husbandly duty. It really wasn't bad
at all. And, I really liked Marilyn Manson's show. Very theatrical! I'm
familiar with the music because Mari listens to it all the time. Aside from
the bad language, it could be very mainstream. But his show was really
good. He had props and everything. The coolest was a giant inflatable bust
of Marilyn wearing mouse ears...pretty funny. He's actually funny. Ozzy
was funny, too. He apparently likes to spray water on the crowd. Now, keep
in mind Ozzfest began at 9:30am. There were small shows on the small stage
that lasted until 5:00, then on the main stage Chevelle began playing. We
got there Saturday at 3 pm, and didn't pay any attention to the little stage
shows. We went through the midway looking at food, drinks, and merchandise.
From 3ish to 5 we waited in the sun. About 95 degrees..mighty hot. Then
the clouds (God bless 'em) came. It made the rest of the afternoon
tolerable. Thankfully we brought some bottled water, grabbed a couple of
snowcones, and split a Diet Coke. That got us through without sunstroking
out.

Now, some people weren't so smart...or rather let me say partied out too
early. Drinking beer that early in the day in the sun is just plain stupid.
So there were a few people that passed out. There were also some fights.
This happened during the Manson show. It took him a long time to set
up....when you let drunk crowds get bored, remember: Idle hands are the
Devil's workshop..or something like that. Chevelle played on the mainstage,
first, as I mentioned earlier. Then came Disturbed. I only know one of
their songs..where the lead singer goes "Wak-ka-ka-ka!" They really whipped
up the crowd. Then Manson. Then Korn, and finally The OZZ MAN!

There is some need for some people to start a mosh pit. They walk around in
circles and get others to do the same, then run into each other. Like
blocking practice at football practice, except no pads, no coach, no sense.
There was an angry little man....smaller than me...who was walking around
singing to himself and acting like he was fighting....he should have been on
stage because he was putting on quite a show, although I've seen some people
do the same thing who were in special education classes, too. He tried to
get others to join his pit, but to no avail. His friends even tried to help
him go find a pit, but again, their efforts were futile. But he was
involved in a real fight. There was a guy who I think knew the woman in the
group he was in, I'm really not sure. Anyway, he spent most of the early
evening passed out on the grass. Mari thought it was a shame that he wasted
the best part of the shows knocked out. Little did anyone know this was
actually for his own good. When he got up, he apparently was mouthing off to
the little angry man and the little one's big thug pal. Somewhere in the
course of the argument, the drunk said something untoward to the thuggish
fellow. I turned around to watch the argument just as the big fellow put his
fist, and his entire weight, into the drunk's face. We were on a slope,
which may have added to the effect, but the drunk flew backwards just like
in an action movie! Then he finally got back up and kept on talking smack
to these guys. The police finally came and hauled the drunk off.
Ironically enough the little angry man did not fight.

I hope you enjoy my little story. Sorry it was so long, but it was an
event.

Big Job Interview

Today the big news is I had a job interview........yea!!!!

NO, I really mean YEA!

Houston Community College called me a couple of weeks ago. The chair sounded really interested, said I had a lot of experience (That was nice, and unexpected), and said he would call for an interview.

So I finally got the call, and he scheduled the interview for Aug. 12, one day after my 37th birthday. So it was kind of like a birthday present. I've been out of a job now for a month.

Got to the campus at 10:45 for the 11 am appointment. Waited until 11:30 for the interview, as the interview process got delayed.

While waiting, I chatted with the secretary....a really nice person. She told me that I was one of the last of the seven interviews they were conducting. Which is really great since the job begins on the 25th!

Finally, the chairman whisked me into a classroom across the hall, and the process began.

Now, I've been preparing for this interview for about a week. I went out and bought a on getting an educational job, Inside Secrets of Finding a Teaching Job. This is really a good book, and I recommend it. I prepared for an interview, going over strenghts and weaknesses, why I want to teach, my teaching philosophy. I also prepared a presentation....powerpoint lecture, handouts, etc.

Well, the Powerpoint didn't happen, because I would have had to bring my own computer...so I was a little overtechnified! Luckily, I prepared for this and had printed all the powerpoints, had lecture note handouts, and the lecture went great..I think.

They seemed a little overawed that I had put all my lectures on Powerpoint and had prepared a studyguide for every chapter of the book. They also seemed to think gave students a lot of tests or work or something. So, I don't know what they thought.

I'm supposed to find out tomorrow, today actually (Wednesday) if I get a callback. I've got my fingers crossed, and may say a rosary just for added prayer.