Get your FLU shots

We had a lecture on the flu this last week. I guess it was to scare us, and it worked for me. Do any of you know about the FLU of 1918. If not, I suggest that you look it up. We have a similar thing today, commonly called the bird flu in Asia. It could do the same if it mutates enough human strains. There are 4 known deaths so far. It is called the H5N1 virus. I suggest that you look it up. Thanks for listening blog world. Here is a video that we watch in class from the CDC.

Week in Review

I am glad that this week finally came to an end. It was a long one. Here are some of the highlights:

• On Monday we had a meeting with our Superintendant to tell us no one is losing there job yet and we are going to try to ride out the remainder of this school year without too many "cuts." The bad news is that we all need to brace ourselves for next year.
• Wednesday my mom invited me to go with her to the radio-style production of "The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial." It starred Ed Asner and John Heard. It was a good production, but an odd audience. Plus, Charles Darwin himself was there. My mom took a picture on her cell. Maybe she can post it some time.
• Last night I volunteered to take tickets at the Murray v. Olympus basketball games and my mom's uncle Blaine showed up. His knee is great! He is great! And, he loved the snack bar pizza! He told me he follows the Olympus Girls basketball team. It was nice to see him. He gets around pretty well for an 80 year old.
• Sean Green, of the Utah Men's Basketball team, also came to the game. I told him, "Good game this week." (See post below.) He grinned and said, "Thanks."
• There were 2 high school students (plus one adult) who came to the game with definite smells of alcohol. There wasn't really anything I could do about it, though. I couldn't leave my ticket post and I knew there was no way I could have picked them out of a crowd later on. Oh well.
• Today I found out that Pyrex definitely breaks. It is also highly intelligent and capable of jumping off the top of the stove when no one is near it. It is also capable of shattering into millions of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. (At least is was just a plain dish and not the cool "Binggeli" one my aunt gave us for a wedding gift.)
• Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. Ross is excited since his team, the Cardinals, are in it. I am excited for . . . well actually I could care less about the Super Bowl.
• Tomorrow is baby Hyrum's blessing. Grandma would have been excited to go, but will probably be there with us somehow. I miss her.
• And in other news, Annie and Ross have selected a name for their new child, but are hesitant to share it with others, so I would like to do it now: Vladimir Periwinkle Howden

Nothing Sweeter than beating a Cougar!

All I can say is . . . IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

They're scrappy. They're ugly. They turn the ball over wayyyyy too much. They shouldn't be doing this, but YES! Sweet victory. Way to go Utes!!!

By the way . . .

• Cummard is good, but he has got to be on the top of the ugliest-basketball-players-of-all-time list (not that Cool Hand Luke is much better looking.)


• Fred's daughter . . . I mean Fredette . . . is a major whiner. What kind of a name is Jimmer anyway?


• And Miles . . . totally invisible. Plus, don't think we've forgotten that cheap shot kick in the back to Andrew Bogut.

And in other news . . . Willie made the Hunter Junior High Basketball Team. After being cut last year, it's been a stressful week of tryouts, but he found out this morning that he made it. Good job, boy!

Obama - What do I think?

Until now, I have held off expressing my opinions about the events of this week.

I watched the inauguration with my students on Tuesday. I, as well as most all of the teachers in my building, felt that the events in Washington superseded any curriculum (including geometry) that could have been learned in the classroom during that time. So what do I think?

Well, I talked with each class about the significance of the events. I downplayed the obvious facts about race and the presidency (my students knew that) and tried to emphasize that on days like Tuesday, we can better understand and appreciate our great country. We were witnesses to a day when political opinions are set aside and a peaceful transition occurs by a democratic process. As boring as that sounds, I tried to emphasize how all over the world there are power struggles that go on daily with violence and bloodshed. We live in a country where that doesn't have to happen. And whether you like Obama or not, you have to appreciate and be grateful for the process.

What do I really think? What are the opinions I refrain from sharing in the classroom? I think that President Obama's speech was exceptional! He has a presence about him that is, well . . . . presidential. He is polished, classy, and a talented orator. I am motivated by his rhetoric. Some say it is merely rhetoric with no substance. But, I feel it is the best rhetoric we have heard in a long time and if even some of it can come to fruition and make "change," I'm all for it! I see every day, mainly through my students, how people in our nation are apathetic to just about everything. If there is someone out there - Obama - who can get people excited and willing to work towards a common good, I want to be on THAT bandwagon. Plus, the stakes are high for this guy, but really, the only place to go is up!

My favorite lines from the inaugural speech:

" . . . that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works . . ."

" . . . we can no longer afford indifference . . . "

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy birthday.  You're 2!

Happy Birthday, Little Nephew Elliott!

Happy Birthday to you!!

Here is a video.  It's a little bit old.  The grass was green and the air was clear.  Your vocabulary has definitely improved since this video.

From Elliott Video