Oh my gosh. Alison and I were OBSESSED with this in high school. Michael Nesmith made this random movie called, "Elephant Parts," and Alison's cousin (the late, great Jeff Buckley) left it at her house over Christmas. This music video was a part of that movie. It's so funny, you almost can't even laugh because you can't believe what you're watching. Check it out:

Lucy and Ramona

I want this. I don't even know how it works, but you can use it to build ANYTHING. Check out this article and just read what the guy forecasts.

World's Tallest Man Saves Dolphins!

This is the best news story I've read in a long time: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061214-dolphin-photo.html

My students love this picture.

I can't stop thinking about these. They're little electric cars. Yeah. As in, how bad do I want to commute in one? You could just park it in a muffin tin. One person kept a diary of building one here. This is my favorite entry:

August 23-28, 2004
After work hours spent using pipe insulation and contact paper to create sprinkles.

I love it.

Someone had the best idea EVER! I want everything I see on that site. I can think of like, ten million other items I wish they would sell. Wait, I just remembered giant Oreos. They were as big as frisbees. Steve and I tried to eat one once, but about halfway through we both got a headache.

I do think everything is cooler if it's giant, but wait until you see the tiny stuff this guy creates. And you haven't seen small until you've seen this! . Or...if you want to get really small, you could always go here.

Inaugural (I-blog-ural?) Post

Check out this drawing of me, courtesy of one of my fourth-graders. Note the flattering diamond- shaped face and kind eyes. This kid obviously has a deep, abiding respect for his teacher. Not quite sure if it is some sort of llama or what, but either way, I like it!

Kids are so funny. I gave one second-grader an assignment where he had to compare and contrast something living and something nonliving. I turned around to help another student, and when I had turned back around, he had drawn a Venn Diagram with the words, "Buddy vs. Bluddy Mary" at the top. Buddy is his trusty dog and "Bluddy Mary" is the urban legend that has been terrrifying his best friend and him for months. They heard the story somewhere and I guess neither of them has been able to sleep for weeks. Poor little guys!

I told him not to be scared of that nonsense because it's not real and to try to think of perhaps something else to compare and contrast.


Him: Like a lizard?


Me: Good! Now compare it with something that's nonliving.


Him: Like a dragon.


Me: Well...close. Not exactly something imaginary, but more like something that's not alive.


Him: Like a dinosaur!


He finally settled on lizard vs. tree, which (while trees are living) was close enough for me since they get their energy so differently.


Incidentally, I kind of wanted to complete that Venn Diagram.