Fluffy hasn't been the same since...

Road trip!

I am going on a mini-vacation tomorrow. I'll be away from campus, and I probably won't have Internet access for most of the week. So, blogging and emailing will be sporadic, at best. I will have my cell phone, and will make an honest effort to keep it charged.

Nice work if you can get it...

From yesterday's Times Sports:

"Carl Pavano travels with the Yankees now... He throws in the bullpen (fastballs only) and works in the weight room. He munches on candy bars in the clubhouse and makes regular visits to the massage table. But Pavano, who signed for $39.95 million before last season, does not pitch."

Low-tech bliss

Wishful thinking

This was pretty much my fantasy all along. I am more realistic now, so I doubt that it will happen.

"Sources say Alfonso Soriano will be headed back to the Bronx as a free agent regardless of where he is traded this month."

Proof please.

This paper is due by August 14th. But I finished it now. I tried to get it out of the way mostly because I want to take the first week of August off (from school and work), but also because I have so much other stuff to do this month. It feels pretty good to have this done so early.

If anyone can help me proof-read this, that would be great. Please look for Freudian slips and just general errors in science and logic. For those of you who get off on academic buzzwords, I have a whole section on metacognition.

Web 2.0 to the rescue.

I am writing a case study about how social networking technologies (blogs, wikis) can help ESL middle school students improve their reading comprehension and writing skills.

Time out?

I'm sorry that I haven't written much lately. At least nothing creative or interesting. I just haven't been in the mood. I've been occupied with really important and interesting issues in school, and even though a lot of that stuff would make for great posts, I just haven't felt like writing about it. Also, the significance of everything seems to fade by comparison with all the terrible things that are happening in the world. This isn't writer's block (because I am not a writer). More like a loss of motivation, and a gain of perspective. I'll be out of it by the end of the week (hey, that's tomorrow!)

They just stop peeing!

A lot of people ask me when I am going to finish my doctorate. I think that all the pressure from family, friends, and professors is not as powerful as a bit of incentive from the devious people over at Blizzard Entertainment. So, the answer is, 2009. Or never.

Russia's big and so is China

And other equally profound comments from the leader of the free world. CNN has the video.

Ouch, Yay

I hurt my ankle last night when I ran into the next room to annouce that Beltran hit a grand slam. Well worth it, though. Two-thousand-six-World-Series-Champions-New-York-Mets.

Quick vote

What will make a bigger impact, "all your base are belong to us" or "the Internet is a series of tubes?"

I am thinking in the context of sociologists 200 years from now writing a dissertation on the cultural idiocy of the early Web generations.

We don't want victories anymore.

At this terrible time, I hope that everyone is safe, and together with their families.

Bye Jeff.

Bye Jeff. I'll miss you a lot. Of all the people who are now dead to me, you are the coolest (with the possible, albeit unlikely, exception of Anthony, Jason, and John, in that order). You are also the funniest, and wittiest, and you have the best blog. The reasons why I've been less dramatic about this departure, as compared to John's recent treachery, are multifold. (1) I didn't want to destroy office morale by breaking down into tears and begging you to stay. (2) The amount of work that I'll have to do will not increase as a result of your leaving. (3) I am looking forward to breaking my caffeine addiction now that I won't have anyone to take coffee breaks with. (4) I am optimistically entertaining the faint notion that we'll see each other more often than once a year.

So, good luck. I am confident that you'll do well, and make this world a better place.

Filler: Tuesday night linkage

I am quite swamped with work, so I don’t have much time to write (or phone back, sorry). All I can offer tonight is linkage. Here are two great editorials from the Times:

- Gary Kasparov writes a very thoughtful criticism of Putin, and the Bush administration’s relationship with Russia.

- Paul Lukas of Uniwatch is a man who values the importance of socks. That’s right. Go read his letter, and you’ll know the real reason why I like Soriano so much.

Forza Azuli

Here's my perspective of the 2006 World Cup final.

The game starts. France scores. Boo! A few minutes later Italy scores. Woo! Hey, this isn't so bad. Nothing happens for a while. Italy scores again. Somebody waves a flag, and the goal doesn't count. Daniel explains the rules of soccer in a deliberately meticulous manner. I still don't understand why the goal didn't count, and the score remains at 1-1. Nothing happens for a while. I comment that this might not be so bad if they could pick the ball up and throw it. Maybe a dodge-ball/soccer hybrid of some sort. This results in even more laborious explanations about the rules of soccer. Nothing happens for a while. Nothing continues to happen. I take a nap. The score is still 1-1. Can we watch baseball instead? Nothing happens. Overtime, and nothing continues to happen. I have a light snack, while nothing happens. Still 1-1. Is it over yet? Then comes the shoot-out. Italy scores, yay! Italy wins, yay! The party starts!

Having suffered through a terribly boring game, I felt that it was necessary to celebrate (if only for the fact that we won't have to go through this for another four years). So we headed out to 18th Avenue. This was an amazing party. They shut down about 10 blocks on the avenue. People were literally dancing in the streets. It was really fun and awesome. The honking and screaming and the fireworks lasted until about 2am. NY1 did a story, (and I'll flickr the pictures that I took later). Of course, this was really one of those "you had to be there" situations.

Even Tom Lehrer hates Nader.

Cubehouse posted a link to an interview with Tom Lehrer from 2000. I haven't heard this one before, so that was cool. It's the usual talking points, but in the end, when discussing the messy world of contemporary politics, Mr. Lehrer says something like "Ralph Nader was the bad guy." They end the interview after that, but I wish he had a chance to explain further. If super-cool people from blue-on-blue states (such as Tom Lehrer and Massachusetts, respectively) can't bring themselves to support a third party candidate, we might as well pack our bags now and move to New Zealand.

Who watches the watchmen?

Alan Moore's "The Watchmen" is the comic book equivalent of "War and Peace." It took me forever to get through it, but in the end, I was completely engrossed, and found it to be extremely satisfying. I was not a fan of the genre (nor do I consider myself a fan right now) but this is really high quality stuff. Of course, like most high quality stuff it will probably get made into a very low quality Hollywood movie very soon. I suggest that you pick up the book before that happens.

Rest-of-summer plans.

This month I am taking a class with Prof. Meier called "Technology and School Change." I am also finishing up my "Cognition and Learning" class. This makes for a busy month. Three case studies and a curriculum proposal.

In August there are no classes, so I'm going to try to make a lot of progress on my thesis. I'm also going to make a few long weekend trips to Boston, hopefully managing to see my friends and avoid my relatives. I will also spend a lot time studying Data Structures and Algorithms in Java. I am not kidding. This is going to be a concentrated effort, which will hopefully result in my knowing a great deal about Java before I have to take the class next semester. Maybe I'll even be able to make some general statements of dubious validity about the most effective way to teach programming.

On August 25th I'm attending a day long class taught by Edward Tufte. That will pretty much be the highlight of my entire summer (odd, I know). So, I have roughly two months to make myself smart enough to talk to Edward Tufte.

Gooooooooaaaaal!

Yesterday, at around 5:45pm, my grandfather left the following message on my phone: "Irina, whatever you do, don't go to 18th Avenue! Italy won the soccer match! Don't go to 18th Avenue!"

Of course, it was too late. I was already on 18th Avenue, caught up in a spontaneous celebration parade with shirtless guys and girls wearing red, white, and green bikini tops, all the while chanting "I-ta-li-a, I-ta-li-a." There were also people from the old country who didn't even speak English, and NYFD firemen who somehow managed to modify the siren of their truck to play "Come back to Sorrento." Cars were driving up and down 18th Avenue and 86th Street while enthusiastic passengers were waving giant flags out of the windows. Everyone was caught up in the fantastic cacophony of car horns and screaming girls (some would say, those represent Brooklyn's most notable attributes).

It was awesome! Soccer is so boring, but soccer fans are so fun.

Just so you know...

Considering the many terrible things that are happening in the world, I am questioning the sustainability of the happy-go-lucky attitude that makes most of you like this blog so much. I am just saying.

Need Books

I need the following three books for the class that I am taking this summer:

• Popham, J. (2001). The truth about testing. Alexandria, VA. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Wenglinsky, H. (2005). Using technology wisely: The keys to success in schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Wiske, M. (2005). Teaching for understanding with technology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  

If you have any of these, please get back to me by Friday, because I’m going to have readings to do over the weekend. My standard offer of lunch at the local establishment of your choice applies.

Not pretty

The Yankees front page editors have put up what could quite possibly be the most unflattering picture of Chien-Ming Wang imaginable. Any other candidates?

By the way, the Subway Series turned out Ok. The Mets could afford two losses, but the Yankees couldn’t. Still, last night was pretty brutal.