| |
e-rabbi's blog
30 August 2004
ah, the time of year when lockers can't be opened and a big mess in the hallway requires no urgent attention. the first day of school. only a half day, so i didn't get through all of my class policies. odd that i was able to last year. this year i didn't even get to the baby giraffe story. tomorrow is a full day and much to get done. students seem to be more optimistic this year than last. . .but maybe that is just my perception. dodgers on a 2 game win streak leading san diego by 5 games. more later. . . peace and java
e-rabbi @ 10:33 | comments(4) | link
28 August 2004
well, we survived teacher in-service, but i'm more tired than i have been in months. spent too much time and too many late nights trying to get certain projects completed before the start of school. better to prepare than to repair, but preparation is starting to kill me. usa men brought home the basketball bronze today. . .argentina takes home 2 gold (first time to get olympic gold, first time to get a medal in basketball). ginobili is the man. glad the spurs have him. many are talking about who is to blame for the usa men not getting gold. pretty simple to figure out (from my perspective). we don't send wwf wrestlers to the olympics, why do we send nba players? it is a different game. either we get an internation team to play together throughout the year, or we send an actual team. i think duke could've won the gold. . .and would've enjoyed the pursuit a lot more than the group we sent (notice i didn't say team we sent). warrior child continues to be enamored by toy story and his buzz and woody toys. i often quote lines from the movie and he will tell me who said them or who it is talking about. tonight i said "somebody poisoned the water hole" his reply: "mommy". this happened twice and i didn't put him up to it either time. frustration in life: when people call my cell and don't leave a message. this doesn't help me at all. i just have a notification that the person called. . .i don't know why or if i need to call back, so i don't. if they don't leave a message, they don't get a return call. . .usually. school starts on monday. . .ready or not. this should be a very interesting year. one 8th grader continues to tell me that she will treat the 7th graders with respect. . .but she may be the only one. some have already started showing 8th grade attitude of superiority, which is actually pretty funny when you think about it. . .unless you are in 8th grade. more later. . . peace and java
e-rabbi @ 21:23 | comments(2) | link
23 August 2004
i got this quote from a tech magazine. . .and have posted the page on the hutch in my office. this is truth and this truth is apparent in so many situations. as a parent i realize that my children do not always know what they need. in life, we often don't know what we need either. . .though we think we do. a recent illustration comes to mind. tonight i took my warrior child to the "blue man store" (best buy) to have the battery replaced in the wife's computer. while we were waiting in line for the geek squad to look at the machine, the son noticed balloons and one of the nice employees there gave him a choice green balloon (green is his favorite color). only seconds after receiving it, he wanted to "put it away". since i had already tied it to the cart, i tried to convince him we were allowed to keep it and take it home to mom. even after getting in the car, he continued to say "put it away". i was starting to get the idea that he really didn't have an interest in keeping the balloon. so i began to sell him on the idea of letting it go up to the clouds. he began repeating my excited mantra and when we arrived at the house, i let him let it go up to the clouds. we watched it with glee and cheered it's ascent. . .until he turned to me and said "get it back". as i broke reality to my son, he wept. . .hard. for the rest of the night, all joy would eventually crumble before tears and sobs of "my balloon in the cloiuds". from now on, no balloon shall ever be purposely sent to the clouds if i can help it. more later. . . peace and java
e-rabbi @ 19:34 | comments(5) | link
21 August 2004
the usa basketball team actually showed up today. . .for 3 quarters anyway. what we saw today is that they can actually play with the best team in the competition. should we see lithuania again, they actually have a chance to defeat them.
china gets crushed in international play. . .amazing. would've thought they would sweep their pool.
weaver needs to crush the braves today. . .keep the winning streak going against atlanta. today is the first day the warrior child cheared for the dodgers. only 3 teams does he chear for: 1) go bucks, 2) go america, and 3) go dodgers.
humorous quote of the day:
speaking of the warrior child, the wife was dealing with him earlier for saying "no" to her. then i hear her say to him, "landon, are you allowed to say 'no' to mommy?" my comment to her, "how is he supposed to answer that question?"
more later. . .
peace and java.
e-rabbi @ 14:51 | comments(6) | link
18 August 2004
so aiverson wore his headband the right way and the usa team defeated greece. . .barely. i don't think they have a chance against lithuania. . .but you know my sports predictions this year. went to the secret man shop today. thoroughly enjoyed my sandwich. . .only thing that would've made it better would be a little "extry" sauce. dodgers beat the fish yesterday. today is od perez on the mound for the bluemen. tonight is the big battle among some of the teachers. could be a long night. more later. . . peace and java
e-rabbi @ 17:17 | comments(22) | link
16 August 2004
i've got a stack of stuff to blog about. . .but probably will save some for tomorrow (or whenever i get another good opportunity to blog). recently noticed that sports illustrated has rated the osu buckeyes #8 this year and u of m wolverines #12. i don't know where they are getting their information, but i think it is sadly lacking this time. you would think that a quality, well-read magazine would have better sources than to rank the buckeyes and wolverines so high this year. in fact, though i don't relish this thought, i would put michigan ahead of osu and neither team would make it into the top 15. but what do i know? the only correct sports prediction i have made this year is that the usa basketball team would not get gold. . .oops. that hasn't been totally fulfilled yet. it will. just wait. speaking of which, puerto rico was not the better squad of athletes, but they played a smarter game all around. up till now, usa teams featuring nba players has never had to play smart. this year, if they don't play smart, they won't make it to the medal round. a co-worker mentioned to me today that shaq's presence would not have made a difference in yesterday's game. his comment was based on shaq's performance in the last olympics. i disagree. even though i am not a big fan of shaq, he is more of a slammer than duncan. duncan missed several easy scoring opportunities because he didn't attempt to slam the ball. though his finesse moves normally work in the nba, they weren't working yesterday. shaq on the other hand would have most likely made more points by via his thundering jams. co-worker believes shaq would get called for too many offensive fouls. this is entirely possible. feel free to comment on this. another dispute was over the absence of carmello anthony. not sure why he wasn't played. . .especially against a zone defense. co-worker didn't think he would've helped at all. too bad we didn't get arroyo on usa team. we might've won. i don't suppose reebok will sell too many replica jerseys this olympic year. . .but roots might just sell out of those berets. i wonder how many kids will wear them like allen iverson at the parade of nations. what a freak. . .even wears his headband upside down so the star points downward. i respect his game, but his personality and "style" leave much to be desired. sadly, many young people idolize him and try to look and act like him. yes, lack of style is a style, but not a positive one. unfortunately, it seems that few are looking for positive examples. . .and few want to be positive examples. the olympics have given me cause to reflect on the mentality in our nation regarding work ethic. as i watch these athletes compete, it is obvious that they are not just "puting in their time". they have worked overtime to be the best they can be. they don't merely clock-in and clock-out and bum around for the rest of the day. they are focused on getting a job done and doing it better than anyone else. sadly, this doesn't translate into the cultural fabric of our country (as it apparently has in other cultures). most would rather just do a mediocre job (if that) and expect to be rewarded. it is sad that many politicians would have us believe that all americans deserve the same benefits and privileges. why should someone who barely gets his job done get the same "perks" as someone doing twice as much work in the same amount of time?
we seem to understand this in the realm of professional sports. the players that achieve the greatest success usually have the highest paycheck. if everyone were rewarded the same regardless of effort, very little would get done. . .and everyone would eventually lose out. whereas, if everyone was striving to do the best, more would be accomplished. i see it as no strange coincidence that many companies have started hiring outside the usa. enough about that. dodgers basically in the same place they have been for a while. . .right on top. which is a nice change of pace for this time of year. funny to see them going against former teammates in florida. 3 players exchange potential earthquakes for real hurricanes. nice move. dodgers up 1 - 0 in the 3rd. need to keep lo duca under control. more later. . . peace and java
e-rabbi @ 21:19 | comments(5) | link
8 August 2004
games of the xxviii olympiad begin this week on friday the 13th, but none of the events actually occur until saturday.basketball competitions will occur every day except the last day (sunday, the 29th). it has long been predicted that this year's usa team will not win gold. . .i'm starting to wonder if they will even win silver or bronze. apparently a lot of nba stars were too worried about the threat of terrorism to leave the states for the olympics. . .but this is a result of rational thinking, when terrorists are usually irrational in many ways. to my way of thinking, if the world is expecting an attack in athens and is "prepared" for it, wouldn't it make better sense for terrorists to attack elsewhere? perhaps in a less defended area. i'm not really sure how i got on this topic. . .but i am excited about the olympics. glad that school doesn't start until after they are over. oh yeah, school is starting soon. i should have a countdown to the school year. wait. . .here's one (http://www.daveandnic.com/rabbi/countdown/index.html). currently we are down to about 21 and a half days. . .but the teachers go back a week earlier. . .so students have nothing to complain about. anyway, back to the olympics. i'm starting to agree with people who say that the olympics should be closed to professional athletes, or at least, the usa should only send collegiate basketball players (yes i know there is a big difference between those statements, but they show the boundaries of the statements i have heard). i doubt allen iverson really cares whether or not he gets a gold medal, but a lot of college players would play their hearts out to make it to the top of the medal platform. i also think more people would watch (since more people seem to enjoy collegiate sports than professional) and it might be more exciting. i've been working on the school year-in-review video recently. fun to look back at events from past year and allow the memories to pour forth. pictures are good for this, videos are better (in my opinion). dodgers are back to winning after losing a tough 11-inning game to the phils. has anyone ever considered that my children's initials are L.A. - no this wasn't an accident. only thing better would be to have tommy as a middle name for the warrior child. more later. . . peace and java.
e-rabbi @ 15:18 | comments(17) | link
5 August 2004
chief used to teach me the little caesar's principle. basically quoting ecclesiastes 1:9, but taking it from a different angle "there is nothing new under the sun". any deal that little caesar's came up with (or recipe) was something taken from someone else. in the design world, this principle indicates that we shouldn't spend an enormous amount of time attempting to create something that has never been created before. . .since it will usually end up being a copy of something already done anyway. but i've learned, and have been reminded recently, that all the difficulties we face are not original. i talked yesterday with a guy in a position similar to one that i was in a couple years ago. he is going through almost every one of the frustrations that i had. . .and he is working through them all, just as i had to do. even in situations where life seems to be throwing something so hard at you that you are sure it has never been experienced before, be assured it has. Christ, as our High Priest, was also touched with the same difficulties and temptations that we face (hebrews 4:10). blondedude decided to blog about the overnight event (read it here). his rendition of the evening is definitely more comical than mine. for those who have no idea what i'm talking about, skip to the next paragraph. the pulling of the goalie was a beautiful moment. even better is after they put their goalie back in (ours was still out), we still score and they say it is because we have a 6th man on the ice. too much fun. another great moment is when they tried to do the warm water trick, but didn't do it right. bible study was great as well. . .though everyone was probably too tired to really think about what we were discussing. those who were there need to review the 1 corinthians and philippians references and give them some more thought. personal annoyance: when someone gives me unfinished content for a project and doesn't have it proofed until the design is done. this has happened all too often. i'm sure i'm not the only person that this happens to ("nothing new under the sun") yet it grieves me deeply. chief is claiming the dodgers these days. no big surprise since they are winning, but he is leaving room for himself by bashing their recent trades. i have to say i'm with him on this one. i think trading lo duca will hurt all the way around. . .but what do i know? if we win it all this year, i will not be upset about this trade. if we get swept in the playoffs, depodesta goes to the top of my "list". . .and melvinists everywhere should know what that means. chief is also a rottweiler. . .hmmm. would've though pitbull, but i guess if you put a mets shirt on a pit, he looks like a rott. maybe. tonight had a media event with some of the teachers. let's just say i won 3 times solo and once on a team. nuf said. more later. . . peace and java.
e-rabbi @ 00:35 | comments(3) | link
1 August 2004
welcome to august. school is less than a month away. had a great time at the overnight event. satisfaction poll showed high favorability. some got more sleep than others. great moment of the night: when holland lost the football tournament on his own machine to mr. byers on the last play. what made the moment so great, was that the officials called the completion in the end zone out of bounds and holland told byers that he could challenge the call. . .which was ruled a completion after the challenge. amazing.
too much junk food. . .the candidate most likely put the 3 pounds back that he lost over the first part of the week. the wife did a great job with the garage sale she and some of her friends held the past few days. it is official, i need to stay away from bestbuy for a while. i went 3 days in a row last week. fortunately i saved money the last 2 days i went. . .but that's a long story. the warrior child is definitely in the talented twos. today while trying to throw the football to me, he knocked over my diet coke. what is amazing about this is that i was trying to block the can with my hands and he banked the football off the wall and knocked the can over anyway. more later. . . peace and java
e-rabbi @ 14:32 | comments(4) | link
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
print design
brochures, stationery, business cards, invitations and more.
more information
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
