Rubber Rooms

A few months ago This American Life did a feature on the practice of using Rubber Rooms for New York public school teachers. You can find the episode here. The story on the radio show does not go into detail about why they have the rubber rooms in the first place, just what the experience is like once the teachers get in there. And that story is a quite interesting one. I actually remember that I was doing my nine mile run the day I was listening to this story and screaming out in my head that the reason why they exist in the first place is because of the power of the teacher's union.

I guess I should explain what the rubber room is - here is a recent story from the Associated Press about it, with this excerpt:

Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that's what they want to do.

Because their union contract makes it extremely difficult to fire them, the teachers have been banished by the school system to its "rubber rooms" — off-campus office space where they wait months, even years, for their disciplinary hearings.

Here is some additional explanation about why they get sent there:

Because the teachers collect their full salaries of $70,000 or more, the city Department of Education estimates the practice costs the taxpayers $65 million a year. The department blames union rules.

"It is extremely difficult to fire a tenured teacher because of the protections afforded to them in their contract," spokeswoman Ann Forte said.

City officials said that they make teachers report to a rubber room instead of sending they home because the union contract requires that they be allowed to continue in their jobs in some fashion while their cases are being heard. The contract does not permit them to be given other work.

My guy Jay Nordlinger brought up this story in his most recent Impromptu's column. He mentioned this:

Okay, want to take a walk down Memory Lane. When I was growing up, teachers were exalted as maybe the best and most important members of society. And many were! Their union, in turn, was held up as a noble organization. Whenever there was any dispute between the teachers and administration, the teachers were the good guys, wearing the white hats, and the administrators were the bad guys, wearing the black. Opposing teachers was akin to opposing saints.

As I got older, however, I started to change my mind: because it seemed to me that the union was making unreasonable demands, and that the teachers, sometimes, were less interested in education than in their own perks and unfirability. Which is understandable, of course. My point is, as I matured, I began to see more gray, and less black and white. This happened in my late teens, I would say.

I thought of this when reading (the story I just linked and took an excerpt from) from two days ago. The headline is “700 NYC teachers are paid to do nothing.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t care whether you’re liberal or conservative, libertarian or Rastafarian: That’s a lousy way to run a railroad — a lousy way to run a school system — don’t you think?

So is anyone else seeing a problem with labor unions? The balance of power has tilted too much in favor of the unions. The UAW is wrecking the US auto industry and teachers unions all over the country seem to do little to help improve education. There is a lot of gray in these matters, but the black and white seems to indicate that if there's any kind of take home message, there should be at least some recognition as to the problem with power distribution between unions and administrators.

I was just realizing, that if I were a real thinker, I would now present my own solution to the problem here. My problem, however, is that I'm a novice when it comes to a lot of these political things, even though I'm still reading about stuff all the time, and have been following all of this for the last several years. How do you tackle the problem of unions v. government/business? I have gut reactions to some of these things, which I'd like to think are well informed, but I'm not always right, or well thought out enough. I'm working on it though. Let me get back to you.

And adieu.

Okay USA!

Over the past week and a half eight soccer teams have been playing in the Confederations Cup, which is a tournament gathering of previous regional tournament winners. We drew an especially difficult group with Brazil, Italy, and Egypt. Previous to this tournament the US team had been dismantled by Costa Rica.

Our first two games against Italy and Brazil saw us lose both games by a combined 6-1 margin, which is pretty big for soccer. I had meant to try and catch the final game on Sunday against Egypt even though there was almost no chance of our being able to advance past the pool round in the tournament. There was a tiny chance that we could advance even with two losses: Italy had to lose by a margin of three goals and the US had to win by the same margin. It seemed so unlikely because not only had we been playing so poorly, but how is the previous World Cup winner going to lose 3-0?

Later that day while fumbling around in my kitchen looking for food, I thought of the game that I had missed and lamented to myself that it seems like US soccer never gets the big upset. They almost never get the signature victory, and it seemed like the national team had really taken some major steps backwards in the past year or so.

And then I found out that the improbable had occurred. Italy lost 3-0, US won 3-0 over Egypt and they were going to advance to the semi-final of the Confederations Cup. The semi-final game was this afternoon against FIFA ranked #1 team Spain, who had a 35 game unbeaten streak dating back to November of 2006 and a 15 game winning streak currently rolling. Last summer they won the Euro Cup to qualify for this tournament.

And then again, the improbable occurred. While I was supposed to be working on my thesis, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the game because the US actually was staying in contention throughout. I couldn't believe it. They weren't perfect, but they were really solid. Spain never really had a solid shot on goal, though there were some pretty good opportunities, but the US defenders and keeper Tim Howard were Johnny on the Spot every time.

Jozy Altidore scored in the 24th minute, completely out-muscling the Spanish defender to get free in the 18 yd box. Later in the game, hometown hero Benny Feilhaber of Irvine, Ca created the opportunity that would lead to Clint Dempsey's game-clinching goal in the 74th minute. Maybe the Spaniards were just letting counterattacks go because they were desperate for another girl, but the US team looked really different out there with Benny in the midfield than they did with Clint playing back.

Although Charlie Davies and Altidore can be explosive, they really seem pretty lazy playing up top. I wish there were a little more like Rooney and Tevez hunting down that ball. Bradly seems to control the midfield well, but he seems to be looking to hit a lot of home runs with his passes up top. It would be nice if he played the conventional ball a little more frequently. The defense was stellar. Onyewu, DeMerit, and Spector were always in the right spots throughout the whole game, although Torres totally smoked Onyewu in the second half. Landon Donovan played probably the best game I've ever seen him play. The guy was everywhere from front to back the entire game, defending attacks and creating opportunities up front. And Tim Howard made some great saves and gave up no second chance opportunities. The Bradley red card was total BS in the second half. It's weird that the US has received so many red cards during this tournament.

In any case, it was quite a huge victory for the US squad. The final is this Sunday against the winner of the Brazil-South Africa game tomorrow. You know where I'm going to be.

Sad Day

I have had this persistent cough for like two weeks. Last Wednesday I was playing soccer and I decided to just start playing, no stretching or warming up. Towards the end I ended up straining my hamstring. I didn't run or anything in the last week. Today arrives and I decide that I am well enough that I can try and pick up running so I can get moving on my marathon training. The first 2 miles are fine when out of nowhere I feel my hamstring twitch again. I walk for a few minutes before trying it again. It doesn't strain again, but I can tell that is is really tender. I walk home. I have never had to bail out on a run like that. I still have 16 weeks until marathon day, but I'm getting anxious to start putting on the miles. More than anything, I just want to be able to run just for the sake of being able to run. Instead I'm left feeling like this picture.

...well not quite, but I'm still disappointed.

Marriage As It Is

Recently Senator John Ensign from Nevada admitted to an affair with one of his employees. Kathryn Jean Lopez of NRO writes about the affair here. I love this point that she makes in the article:

The left-wing blogosphere went mad over the fact that Ensign was on record expressing a desire to protect the institution of marriage. He had written, “Marriage recognizes the ideal of a father and mother living together to raise their children,” in a statement in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment. He continued, “Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded,” a sacred institution predating our Constitution and our government.

A politician’s failings do not render the beliefs to which he subscribes morally impotent. Facts remain. Marriage is a cornerstone. Under a bastardized and unfortunately widespread understanding of hypocrisy, it is “hypocritical” for someone who is not a perfect person to ever make a statement grounded in conscience, morality, or natural law. Presumably, then, all Christians should throw out their Book. The Bible is and always has been directed to sinners. And, save for the star of the show, the preaching comes from sinners, too. Christ warned Peter in Gethsemane, “Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” In Romans, Paul said: “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.” Men (and women) believing something and falling short has a long history.

This was a common argument from some people I knew about same sex marriage - how can marriage be so sacred when heterosexual couples have so many failings? I remember seeing What Happens In Vegas in the theaters and the judge, played by Dennis Miller, said that it's not homosexual couples who are ruining marriage, but people like the couple in the film, to which many people in the theater yelled out in approval.

Nobody is pretending that marriage itself is a cure-all for societies ills, but when taken seriously by decent people who really try and make it work, the institution provides the best opportunity for success. It is by no means a guarantee, however. It requires a lot of sacrifice, patience, submission, and determination. Unfortunately, those virtues seem to be in short supply these days. It is because of that reason that marriages often fail, not because marriage as defined between one man and one woman is not the correct principle.

Reality TV Goodness

This was the first dance of the good part of the season. First, I'm really impressed with the video quality of this one - perfect cut, high resolution, probably one of the best quality videos I've seen on YouTube. Anyway, the dance is great. However, what I really wanted to post about is one of the virtues of this show being a reality TV show, which is how authentic some of the reactions are as they happen on screen.

Last week in the results show they played a clip of Ryan (Evan Kazprzak's brother), who was cut this season in favor of his brother, trying out for Season 6 that is going to premier in the fall.

*Sidenote* I'm actually a little nervous about the show playing in the fall to be honest. I'm not sure that it will play very well to the wider audience and having to go up against the Fall TV lineup. I also kind of like having it being the only show that I look forward to in the summer. Seriously, there is no other regular TV programming that I follow all summer long. There are already so many other shows that I watch during the normal TV season that I think it's going to take less of a priority for a lot of people, including myself. But mostly what it comes down to is this idea: have you ever had a song that you were out of your mind in love with and you didn't have a copy of the song yet, but went crazy whenever you heard it on the radio? My example would be Offspring's song All I Want. Loved, loved, loved that song and I would even schedule time around the Furious 5 at 9 on KROQ to listen to it because I always knew that I could hear it there. I ended up buying the cd just for the song, but hearing it at any time that I wanted to didn't elicit the same kind of jubilation that it did when I could only hear it through great scheduling efforts, or by chance on the radio. It was like hearing that song on the radio meant that the radio gods were smiling upon me and I could do my harvest celebration dance because fortune smiled upon me and it was as excited as I could be. When control became all my own for listening to the song, it always lost some of its glamor. So I think in a similar way, while I don't think there are many people who love this show more than I do, it might be a little bit of overkill to have it playing consecutive seasons. It's like waiting all year for all of other TV to end so that I could finally get a fresh drink of refreshing SYTYCD water in the desert of summer programming that makes it so amazing. But having it immersed now in the sea of other great television is not going to allow it to stand out in the fall TV season as it does in the summer. Does that make any sense? That is the longest aside ever....

Anyway, back to Ryan's try-out. I so wish that I could find the clip of his try-out because it's just so real. And this is my point - reality TV, kind of like sports, has the ability to provide such an authentic quality - real human emotion. Ryan's try-out was so artistic, and I felt fully caught up in what he performed, but in addition to that, I just loved Cat's reaction to the whole thing. Laura, if you're here, I really think that if you don't love Cat by now then you are the Grinch. Her reaction to watching that video was just so genuine and sweet, and then to see his brother Evan's reaction to seeing the clip and reading his partner Randi's question about whether or not he knew that was all going to happen was just so refreshing. It was just priceless.

From here on out there will probably be more SYTYCD posts this summer. I'm sure that at some point this summer I'm going to get tickets. If anyone is interested in attending with me since my friends at home mostly have real lives now, leave me a comment and I'll keep you posted when they become available.

The great thing so far about this season is that while I don't have any particular attachments to any dancers on the show yet (which is actually half the fun), there have been consistently strong performances from the dancers. They always say that "this is the best season yet," but in this case it might actually be true. The dancers are really top notch. Another great thing is the return of Wade Robson and Shane Sparks to choreographing dances for the show. I don't always love Mia's stuff, which I know is sacrilege to a lot of the show's fans, but her opening ensemble piece from last Thursday was really cool. All good stuff.

Stay Tuned!

Must See Concerts

A little while back, Kent posted some of his thoughts about concerts that he'd like to go to, which post was prompted by Michael Jackson going back on tour to get some extra spending cash. Incidentally, I actually have a friend who is going to London just for the purpose of going to see him perform.

I have been to a number of shows including:

• Just about every punk band you can imagine - NOFX, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Strung Out, Unwritten Law, MxPx, AFI, Social Distortion, No Use For A Name, Rufio, Yellowcard, Angels and Airwaves, etc. Most of those multiple times, and a couple of them more than a dozen times.
  
• Jack Johnson - I thought he was kind of boring actually. His stuff sounded exactly like his studio recordings, which I thought was more boring than cool. I kind of feel like all his stuff sounds exactly the same. Thanks to Brushfire Fairytales, I have every album of his I'll ever need.
  
• Mason Jennings - so chill, but way entertaining. Zach Gill opened for him and he was awesome.
  
• Norah Jones - sweetest person ever. Like I want to marry her kind of sweet.
  
• Incubus - just a cool feel to their show. Played most everything I wanted to hear, which actually covers a lot of their albums.
  
• Muse - maybe the best show I've ever seen.
  
• Kelly Clarkson - see last week.
  
• Martina McBride at a country music festival last summer. So fun because of how unique the atmosphere is. There could not be a group of people more pro-America than country music lovers.
  
• Huey Lewis - only me and a bunch of old people knew all the words.
  
• MC Hammer, En Vogue, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Naughty By Nature - yay Run Hit Remix! I guess I have been to a rap show before.
  
• And many more! What's crazy is that all these really come in only the last few years.
  

In his post, Kent posed two questions:

1. What concert would you want to go to more than anything? and

2. How much would you spend on that concert before you even questioned the purchase?

His list goes like this: Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, Paul Mccartney, and U2. In that order. Mine would begin in the same place, but end up a little bit different. There are a couple of different lists about best live bands. This one is from Spin, and this one from AskMen, and they both seem pretty fair. The first is a little more rock oriented and modern. The other seems to be a kind of all time list.

I'd have to agree with AskMen for #1 - nobody could beat Freddie Mercury and Queen live. The guy has the best voice ever and understands theatrics. Watch any of their live performances. They would have been awesome. However, given that Freddie has long since passed away, I can't even consider them. Initially, I wanted to argue against U2, but after thinking about what it would be like to hear Where The Streets Have No Name live, that would be pretty mind-blowing. Until I saw these lists, I didn't even consider Kiss, but come to think of it, that would be really fun too. Kent, you'll be happy to know that the Spin top 25 had Arcade Fire at #3. I'm not a huge fan, but that kind of praise makes me want to see what I'm missing.

If you don't really know me, then some of this might surprise you, but my list would go something like this:

• Michael Jackson
• Justin Timberlake
• Prince
• U2
• Muse (yes, again...and again...)
• Bon Jovi
• Jay Z
• Radiohead
  

I think Michael is an obvious choice. You can really see MJ's influence on Justin when it comes to his dancing. My boss went to JT's show last year and said what was really amazing was that the guy was downing hard liquor for 2 hours solid hours and it never showed in his performance. His music is cool, but this guy gets the performance side of it. I saw his FutureSex/LoveSounds tour on HBO and it was pretty amazing.

Prince. Let me tell you a little bit about Prince. The guy is one of the world's most amazing guitar players. He's the first guy to ever do the whole, "Produced, Arranged, Written, and Performed by Prince." I read somewhere that on one of his albums that there were more than 25 instruments and he played every single one of them. He mixes all of his own music and writes everything himself. I also heard that the guy just loves to perform. It's not uncommon for him to finish playing one show, and then stop at a nearby club and play the rest of the night. The guy just loves to play, and he's amazing at it. If you don't believe me, watch him step on and perform with these other all-stars of music and whip their a**es at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in this video. He comes on at about 3:30:

Everything about him just screams cool. You might think when he falls backwards into the crowd while still on his solo is contrived, but it is SO different when you see something like that live and how awesome it is. For instance, I saw Muse almost two years ago and Matt Bellamy is jamming to Hysteria and kicked over his guitar amp, and knelt on top of it while still continuing to play. I actually thought to myself, "I thought that sort of thing would feel so fake, but that might have been the coolest effing thing I've ever seen in my life." He was even wearing this same red suit.

Anyway...back to Prince. I guess the kid playing next to Tom Petty is George Harrison's son. At the 4:51 mark when Prince falls back you can even see the kid start smiling at how utterly cool that move was. And for good measure, when he finishes he just throws his guitar up in the air and walks off stage. You have no idea where it even goes. So awesome.

The top 5 I'd pay hundreds of dollars for. Maybe up to $300-400 before I really started to flinch (and these are for good seats, mind you). The next three I think would be cool. You can't underestimate how much more fun a show is when you know every song that the band is playing, and there are few songs more fun to sing to than Bon Jovi songs. I think Jay Z would be cool just because he's probably the best rapper of all time. I'm not a huge Radiohead fan, but I've heard they are pretty amazing live. I've been aching to see 311 live, and I blew three opportunities to see them in the last month because I didn't know anyone else who felt like forking out $50 for them. Lame.

Well there you have it. Who are you dying to see?

So I Love Seeing Just About Anything Live, Right?

While avoiding this final paper of mine, I've been scouring the interwebs for any interesting upcoming live performances. This is where more money would be nice. But there are a bunch of things coming up that I'd like to see including:

• The Wailers - Bob Marley's old band. They're going to be performing the entire album Exodus on July 30th in Anaheim. Reggae is always fun to listen to live. Good music to move to.
  
• Asher Roth in LA on July 26th...which is a Sunday. Boo. But in Utah on the 22nd, and Vegas the 23rd. Does anyone else know who he is? I need to go to a rap concert to round out my concert going experience. I like this song of his:
  
  
• There is a number of 80s greats playing at the OC Fair. Does anyone else get excited about these bands like I do? Heart?? Rick Springfield! Duran Duran??? The problem is that I'd only really want to hear a couple of songs from each of these bands. But maybe it's worth $30 or whatever it is just to hear Whitesnake sing Hear I Go Again On My Own live. Maybe?
  
• Def Lepard, Poison, and Cheap Trick in August. Come on! How awesome would it be to see the one-armed drummer??? You'd be surprised how many songs you'd be familiar with from all those guys.
  
• And I have a confession. I kind of like Papa Roach. It might be one of those bands that I really like singing out loud to in my car. Simple lyrics and power chords resonate with me, what can I say? They're coming in August too. Quick story - in my last area in the mission when we'd come at home, the kid who lived in the apartment across from us would BLAST that song Last Resort. You know the one. It starts out, "cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort." The great thing is that music in English in Chile doesn't get edited at all, so we got the full brunt of f-words and the like. I didn't love that, but I secretly loved hearing worldly music. One of my first comps kept a list of songs in his journal that he wanted to listen to as soon as he got home. Maybe I did the same thing. Maybe music was one of the easiest things for me to adjust to when I got home because I missed it so much. And maybe I'd like to get some tats, dye my hair black, and go scream at a Papa Roach show. Maybe.

You know what I did this morning? I bought tickets to Brian Regan for when he comes out to Utah. In March! But they're pretty damn good tickets, and they didn't cost too much.

That's it for now, but I have another concert post brewing in me. This one is inspired by Kent. Stay tuned.

Strung Out @ The Hard Rock In Vegas

If you've followed this blog for more than the past six months, then you know that Strung Out is kind of my band. I was home teaching some guys on Sunday and telling them about the show, and they remarked that there really are no casual Strung Out fans. If you're in, you're in 100%. It's true, and you really feel it when you go to one of their shows. Everyone in the audience either has Strung Out attire, tatoos, or knows every word to every song. And it's not just the people in the pit, it's even those in the back of the audience.

I went down with Mike Reid last Friday for an overnighter in Las Vegas last Friday June 12th to catch them playing at the Hard Rock Hotel because I won't be able to catch them in California and they're not traveling up here any time soon. The venue was small. I actually kind of hated it. There was hardly any room, they didn't allow for any moshing (when did I become a mosher, by the way? It started out for me only during Matchbook at the end of the show, and now it's any song that I like), and the sound quality was terrible. The doors opened at 8:30pm, but the first band didn't even get on until about 10pm, which meant that the second one got on at about 11pm, and Strung Out graced the stage after midnight. The show lasted until two in the morning. It would have been fine had I been prepared for that.

I didn't care for either of the first two bands. They were way too heavy on the distortion, and their songs all sounded the same. You also can't say enough about stage presence and for the artist's ability to engage the audience. Neither of those bands had it to any degree. Jason Cruz, however, has it. The actual stage was small, but with the bar immediately adjacent, close enough that he decided he could walk over on the bar and reach some of the fans not directly in front. Usually they play a good smattering of songs from all of their albums, but they didn't play anything from Element of Sonic Defiance, and not as much as I would have liked from Twisted By Design or even their most recent album, Blackhawks Over Los Angeles. To be honest, the set felt a little short and maybe that was because they had gotten on so late to begin with.

You know what's so great about punk shows? They rarely cost more than $20, and you can get close enough that Jason's sweat can actually drip on you. I was close enough to sing into his microphone on a couple songs, and this band is great because they'll always stick around after their set to glad hand and take photos. They always always always stick around. You know what else is awesome? I'm never going to run into a person at a punk show who gets upset because I'm standing. If I fall in the pit, there will be 3 or 4 people right there to pick me up. I've high-fived strangers at these shows and had a dude I didn't know put his arm around me and sing a song together. It's a weird kind of aggressive camaraderie that exists at these things.

Part of what makes me love these guys so much is not just how great they are live, but how consistent they are in producing albums and going on tour. I have seen them at least five times in the past two years, and more than 15 times in my life.

It wasn't the best I've seen them, but it was still definitely worth the trip. This song has become one of my favorites to hear live. I love the "huahs" and the way those guitars sing at the end. Awesome.

Couple Things You Might Not Know

I think this movie is one of the funniest movies ever:

I just love that they're two grown men acting like this, and Pee Wee is just SO weird. He's such an iconic character. The whole thing is just so silly...and hilarious. If you've seen it recently, you also realize just how Tim Burton this movie really is. When you're a kid and watching this, you don't even think about any of that stuff. It's genius.

Plus...it's official. I'm registered for the Long Beach Marathon on October 11th. The course is nice and flat, and October in California is pretty wonderful. It won't be the event that Chicago was last year, but it should still be pretty awesome. Anyone else interested?...of course not. Looks like it's time for some new running shoes.

My Life Would Suck Without...Kelly

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to see Kelly Clarkson perform at the UVU baseball stadium in Orem. I have been to a good amount of different kinds of concerts, but I don't think I've ever been to a pop concert before so this experience was a little new for me. Expecting to see a slew of teenage girls, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was among a good number of grown men in the audience. I thought I'd see maybe 10 guys, so you can imagine my surprise when there were about 100...out of several thousand. Although some rain fell during the show, Kelly made sure that nothing would dampen our spirits.

She was really entertaining, and really she is super sweet and feels really down to earth. A friend of mine who actually works events at the stadium was telling me today that she was supposed to perform for 90 minutes instead of the one hour show she ended up doing, but I think it felt like just the right amount of time. She played all of her big hits and several songs off of her new album. I was surprised at how much extra weight she had put on. I saw a live clip of her doing the song above which was only three months ago, but it seemed like she had put on at least extra 15-20 lbs since that time. I'm not saying it's good or bad, so don't jump all over me. I'm just saying. Still adorable though.

The stage was set in the outfield and it was general admission seating throughout the field. You know who really bug me? Mormons. It seemed like people thought that patches of grass could be reserved like church pews for stake conference just by setting down their blankets and then walking away. I went with a group and we had approached as near the stage as we could, found a little patch of grass, and stood there until she came on. After about twenty minutes of being there, a woman appearing to be in her late 30s approached our grouping of people. We were standing near the fence that was as close as we could get to the stage, and there were several groups of people standing there. She started talking, but didn't seem to have an intended target, so I engaged her in conversation which went something like this:

Lady: Are you guys planning on standing the whole time? Because we got here early to put down our blankets and with you guys standing there we can't see anything.
Me: Well these are general admission tickets so anyone can have a seat anywhere they like.
Lady: Yeah, but we got here first blah blah blah I'm going to start being a moron to a complete stranger...
Me: Okay, well if you want to go ahead and ask everyone else that's standing around here, and also the people that are standing in front of us to sit down, then maybe we'll go ahead and sit down too.
Lady: Blah blah blah you better sit your asses down blah blah blah (leave in a huff).

I just couldn't believe that she really thought that she was going to be able to sit down for the entire concert. It's festival seating, which really means no seating unless you're going to go to the back. It's a pop concert! Come on, lady! And although people are more likely to be rude to a stranger than to someone that they know, it still surprises me when it happens.

I kind of live for concerts and live events, so that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. Plus, I dare you not to like this song:

Stop! Hammertime!

This warms my heart.

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to do when I grow up. You'd think that going to graduate school for the second time around would mean that I have that part figured out, but I don't really. Sometimes it weighs heavily on me, and other times I kind of shrug it off and think to myself that I still have three more years in my program. What's really crazy is that I am only one course away from completing the course requirements for my masters degree, and that I'm actually almost halfway through the requirements for the PhD. The hard part isn't the coursework, however, it's the thesis and dissertation. But I'm not too worried about it.

Back to the lecture at hand...Right now I'm enrolled in a teaching course that my program requires before allowing us to mold young undergraduate minds. It also happens to be one of my favorite courses that I have ever taken.

If there is anything that I'd like to do, I hope it involves some form of teaching. If I'm not going to get the direct human component that a typical psychology graduate degree offers through therapy, then I would at least like to incorporate the human element through teaching. What makes this particular course so great is the professor.

As an undergraduate student in the psych program, I had always heard good things about Dr. Slife, but he didn't teach any of the courses that I was interested in so our paths never crossed. Now, after seeing the way he interacts, I just love the guy. He's the only non-member among all of the psychology faculty, but he's also the one who wears his religion most visibly on his sleeve. He's unapologetic about his Christianity, but not in an abrasive or overbearing kind of way. He's one of the most authentic people I have ever met. He swears on occasion, which for whatever reason, I find endearing as long as it's not overdone. He asks incredibly insightful questions. But my favorite part about him is that he challenges your assumptions without putting you on the defensive. I have never been in a classroom setting where it has felt so inviting to explore and discuss topics of conversation. He's just amazing. He's everything I want to be as a teacher.

What's been great about the class is that it's been very validating for me in this role. In the class, I have had some opportunities to lecture to get criticism and praise, and my reviews have been really great. And outside of the classroom I have had some lecture opportunities as well and those evaluations have been excellent. I guess it's just really nice to hear that in this setting, because while it's nice to hear from people in church that I taught a great lesson, I tend to write off all of those compliments because sometimes as members there is just a pathological niceness about us that I'd rather just overlook in those instances. In the class and in my evaluations, they're supposed to be critical, and generally, I've done quite well.

Here's the thing about teaching - I just love explaining. I love asking probing questions, and I love seeing connections being made. I love helping a person engage in understanding, even if it's boring stuff like analysis of variance or the reasoning behind repeated design experiments. Have you ever asked me about advice for the GRE? Or want my advice on marathon training? I just love feeling like I have something of value to offer someone and helping them learn from my experience. I just eat that crap up for whatever reason.

These last couple weeks have been really cool because I don't think I've felt more motivated since being in this program. I've been getting stuff done early. I'm emailing all these different professors looking for opportunities to do research. I came up with a plan last week for the sequencing of the courses that I'll be taking and which ones I'd like to aim for through my completion of the program. I'm currently putting together a map for the ideal experience I'd like to have here at BYU, what experiences that would include, the classes I'd like to teach, and the skills I'd like to gain. And then I recently had evaluations from my committee chair and the professor I TA for, and I was expecting mediocre reviews, but they turned out to be great. Although I don't necessarily have the clearest idea about where all this is headed, I feel like I'm putting myself in a good position to be successful with whatever direction I do eventually settle on, and that's pretty satisfying.

Shipping Notice

This is funny. Click to enlarge.

To Act, And Not Be Acted Upon

Today we had a lesson on this in Elder's Quorum and wanted to carry out the thought a little bit more. 2 Nephi 2:13-16:

And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.

And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.

So what is the difference? It has everything to do with the difference between being agents unto ourselves and giving up our agency.

An example: I had a roommate that it turns out that I kind of really appreciate now. He is a decent guy, but he just really struggled in some areas of his life. In the past year he had started drinking, was fighting a pornography addiction, and had a girlfriend with whom I don't think he was making the best choices with, so to speak. In his own right, I think he was actually a good guy. I think we shared a similar sense of humor, we liked the same sports teams, and just had a bunch of other odds and ends in common. At a different time, I think we could have been really good friends. But at the time of his life when I encountered him, things just always seemed to go wrong and this culminated in his getting arrested in the airport because he had forgotten that he was wearing a knife belt-buckle, which turned out to be a huge ordeal. After telling me his whole story, I couldn't help but think to myself how that kind of thing just never happens to me. In a short period for him, that kind of thing was always happening, and I think it has everything to do with his relinquishing control over his own life.

When we allow ourselves to be acted upon by outside forces it's because of what Nephi mentions in 2 Nephi 2:27:

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

When we give up our agency because of sin, we become beholden to friends, relationships, debts, addictions, appetites, and consequences that quite literally are chains (or in the scriptures they are also called flaxen cords) that hold us captive. Sometimes the result is accumulating debt from poor financial choices. Sometimes we are trapped by associations that promote sin. Sometimes we develop attachments to people that continually make us feel hopeless and out of control. Unfortunately, I think I have felt the effects of each of these to some extent, and have been acted upon rather than been the actor. For my old roommate, it was so much that he felt that he had to move back home so that he could start over.

The purpose of being acted upon is simple - it is to exact the demands of the law on us and hopefully get us back to being agents again. It can come in simple ways too. Maybe not reading our scriptures in the morning can lead to a loss of the fulness of the spirit in our lives which leaves us feeling irritable or somewhat empty. Or maybe failing to apologize and make amends with someone leaves a relationship strained and difficult. What is interesting is that while our reactions might be to respond in anger or to become bitter, the consequences are there to help us reassert ourselves in a righteous way. Fortunately, too, sometimes those consequences come to bear quickly to restore us to that path. When we begin to right our ship, we also begin to see how eager our Heavenly Father is to reward our efforts (Alma 34:31):

Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

Lately I have been formulating a ideal plan for the rest of my graduate experience here at BYU, and I was thinking a lot about how lucky I am that nowadays I don't feel beholden to anything, that my opportunities are many and in all kinds of different ways. I'm choosing between playing soccer more days a week or training for another marathon or taking up swimming; I am deciding to work towards either the business side of psychology or the human/health side; I have been considering lately (although not terribly seriously) the merits between medical school or law school further down the road; I am choosing between good and great friends. I am so richly blessed with people and opportunity right now, and I am grateful for it, and hope to have my eyes open enough to realize those choices that might force myself to acquiesce to be acted upon rather than being the one doing the acting.

Be Still, My Soul

Church hymns have a way of bringing the spirit like nothing else does. Following a breakup a few years ago, I felt heartache to an extent that I did not even know was possible. Although it was a harrowing experience, I am grateful for it. I kind of think everyone should know that kind of pain at some point in their lives. The nights felt the worst because I would say prayers and lie awake thinking about all the things that had not worked as I had hoped they would. To combat the feelings of sadness, longing, and loneliness that I felt, I'd sing a few hymns to myself to help ease the pain - Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide, Abide With Me, and Be Still, My Soul.

When I'd read the words and sing them to myself, those feelings never went away entirely, but I felt like they were manageable. It was like before going over the hymns I thought I was going to die because I couldn't bear living with the pain in my heart, but those words and their tune helped me to feel that if my heart continued to ache so, then I could learn how to live without it.

Today in church we sang Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide and Be Still, My Soul and the memories of singing by the soft yellow light next to my bed during those melancholy nights returned after having rested in the storage containers of my mind for the last several years. They did not arrive with the same sense of destitution from what would not come to pass, but with the feeling of accompaniment that I could find in the Lord in spite of my pain.

Abide With Me

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

Even when the trials are not removed completely from our lives, it is such a comfort to know that he abides with us still. He is the help of the helpless.

Sense of Inevitability

These are some of the headlines in local LA newspapers regarding last night's Lakers' game.

Magic One And Done?

Lakers' Bryant A Lock For Finals MVP

Lakers Not Too Excited Yet But Magic Should Be Worried

And then the content is even better. In the first quarter, things were pretty tight and the game really looked like it would go back and forth for the entire contest. Then with some of the bench players on the floor, the Lakers took it up another level and started pulling away from the Magic. All of a sudden the defense started swarming Howard and closing out on jumpshots. The Lakers hadn't played with that much energy the entire postseason. You know what else? Instead of dedicating himself entirely to pass-first options, Bryant attacked, and attacked, and attacked all night long.

Sometimes in sports you get a sense of inevitability from certain teams. Here are a couple of examples:

• 2005 MLB playoffs - In the ALCS, the Angels went up 1-0 on the White Sox and looked poised to take a 2-0 lead when AJ Pierzynski took first as the Angels ran off the field on what should have been a strikeout. From that point on, the White Sox rotation locked down and the Angels were doomed and so were the Astros. You just knew that once they got going against the Angels, they were going to sweep the 'Stros.
  
• 2007 MLB playoffs - With Cleveland up 3-1 on the Red Sox, the Sox started to mount a comeback and destroyed the Indians the last three games of the series. I mean crushed, pounded, humiliated, everything. They won the last three games by a combined score of 30-5. After that, you just knew they were going to handle the Rockies, and they did, sweeping them in four.
• 2008 NBA Finals - Although it didn't really seem like it with getting extended to seven games in each of their first three series, once Boston won Game 1 in LA last year, it just kind of felt like they sealed their destiny, didn't it? When Paul Pierce went down things seemed to be in the Lakers favor, but once he came back you just kind of new they would take that game and then the series. Kobe never looked comfortable, and then they killed the Lakers in Game 6 to claim the title.
  

Yeah, it's only one game, but Kobe was dominant in a way that he's never been in the playoffs before. Although they were close to beating Phoenix in 2005, you just knew he couldn't carry them the entire series by himself, similar to what just happened to Lebron James in the Eastern Conference Finals last week. But last night felt different. I don't know if they're going to sweep, but these Lakers feel strong. It doesn't like like Kobe can be denied.

Who Is With Me?

So You Think You Can Dance started up again a couple weeks ago, and the Top 20 gets finalized tonight. It is so ridiculous how much I love this show. A couple of my early favorites are already gone - the popper with the red hair, and Natalie who was cut just before the top 20 last year. Is anyone else really surprised that they just cut her outright but let Gabby dance for her life when she sucked in everything besides her solo? Weird.

You know what else is funny? I become such a critic when I'm watching the show - oh, she's off beat; he's not extending his hands; she has beautiful lines. Can I be any more gay?

Yes. I'm signed up for tickets again, but I have no idea who would be able to go when I do get them. Any takers? Anyway, here is the best dance from last year. I still get chills when I see this one....so gay.

Enjoy!

Diversity at the Expense of Unity

Much has been made by conservatives about the line muttered by Judge Sotomayor. If you want to look at the speech in context, then you can visit this link here. She gives the speech at UC Berkeley, speaking about the need for more Latino representation in the judicial system. When you hear the quote, it's hard to imagine a context in which it doesn't sound at least a little bit racist or sexist. In this part of the speech she's talking about how judges can't help but allow their rulings to be affected by their backgrounds. Here's an excerpt that includes the quote:

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O'Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown.

However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Other simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.

After reading the speech, particularly this section, it seems that the problem has more to do with the fact that those prior justices who perpetuated discriminatory decisions allowed for their experiences and prejudices to influence them. If a white male judge is going to discriminate against minorities and women because it may take time and effort that he is not willing to expend, then by the same reasoning why wouldn't a female latina judge discriminate against white males. And indeed, it seems that this is the case with Judge Sotomayor as Charles Krauthammer points out in this article:

Ricci is a New Haven firefighter stationed seven blocks from where Sotomayor went to law school (Yale). Raised in blue-collar Wallingford, Conn., Ricci struggled as a C and D student in public schools ill-prepared to address his serious learning disabilities. Nonetheless he persevered, becoming a junior firefighter and Connecticut's youngest certified EMT.

After studying fire science at a community college, he became a New Haven "truckie," the guy who puts up ladders and breaks holes in burning buildings. When his department announced exams for promotions, he spent $1,000 on books, quit his second job so he could study eight to 13 hours a day and, because of his dyslexia, hired someone to read him the material.

He placed sixth on the lieutenant's exam, which qualified him for promotion. Except that the exams were thrown out by the city, and all promotions denied, because no blacks had scored high enough to be promoted.

Ricci (with 19 others) sued.

That's where these two American stories intersect. Sotomayor was a member of the three-member circuit court panel that upheld the dismissal of his case, thus denying Ricci his promotion.

This summary ruling deeply disturbed fellow members of Sotomayor's court, including Judge José Cabranes (a fellow Clinton appointee), who, writing for five others, criticized the unusual, initially unpublished, single-paragraph dismissal for ignoring the serious constitutional issues at stake.

Two things are sure to happen this summer: The Supreme Court will overturn Sotomayor's panel's ruling. And, barring some huge hidden scandal, Sotomayor will be elevated to that same Supreme Court.

Thomas Sowell goes into more depth about this quote that has been taken out of context, and the implications of such a line of thinking. You can read the article in its entirety here. Another excerpt:

The clearly racist comments made by Judge Sonia Sotomayor on the Berkeley campus in 2001 have forced the spinmasters to resort to their last-ditch excuse, that it was "taken out of context."If that line is used during Judge Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings, someone should ask her to explain just what those words mean when taken in context.

What could such statements possibly mean-- in any context-- other than the new and fashionable racism of our time, rather than the old-fashioned racism of earlier times? Racism has never done this country any good, and it needs to be fought against, not put under new management for different groups.

Looked at in the context of Judge Sotomayor's voting to dismiss the appeal of white firefighters who were denied the promotions they had earned by passing an exam, because not enough minorities passed that exam to create "diversity," her words in Berkeley seem to match her actions on the judicial bench in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals all too well.

The Supreme Court of the United States thought that case was important enough to hear it, even though the three-judge panel on which Judge Sotomayor served gave it short shrift in less than a page. Apparently the famous "empathy" that President Obama says a judge should have does not apply to white males in Judge Sotomayor's court.

The very idea that a judge's "life experiences" should influence judicial decisions is as absurd as it is dangerous.

The underlying problem to all of this, however, is that too often in today's culture we value diversity at the expense of unity. When my dad brought my family over to the United States one of the biggest things he emphasized to my mom and brother was assimilation into the American culture. He probably didn't have to go about it in such an extreme fashion, and it came with some obvious drawbacks - my brother and I do not speak Portugeuse and we have little knowledge of the country of my parent's birth - but the greatest benefit, I think, is that my brother and I revere this country and have benefited from every advantage that this country has to offer. My immigrant parents run successful small businesses that have sustained them for the last 30 years. My brother served as a Marine reserve, was trained and educated to be a civil engineer, and now has a family in an affluent part of Orange County. And I don't have much to boast of yet, but I'm in the process of receiving an advanced degree from a major university and at least I don't have a criminal record. Although ethnically I am both Latin and Asian, I have not had to worry about the supposedly disadvantaged background of my family's past because I am too occupied with the benefits of living as a privileged American.

My man, Jay Nordlinger, touches on this point in a recent Impromptus column:

The news is drenched with Sotomayor now, and also drenched with the word “Hispanic”: She’s Hispanic, you know. She would be the first to tell you (though maybe she would say “Latina”).

An interesting word, and concept, “Hispanic.” I have many Cuban-American friends, in South Florida and elsewhere. They rarely call themselves Hispanic, and they, in turn, are rarely called Hispanic. Why? Well, it’s kind of a political term, isn’t it? It relates to the grievance culture, to affirmative action, to apartness. “Hispanic” is not so much E pluribus unum as “diversity” and “multiculturalism.” “Hispanic” is for those who don’t want to melt into the pot.

Some years ago, I did a piece on Indian Americans — not Cherokees and the like, but those with roots in India. My theme was the Republicanization of Indian Americans. There are some of their number — just a few — who want to be known as “Asians,” and who want to be part of the grievance culture. They want to grouse about The Man and so on. Other Indian Americans just think of themselves as Americans, or people.

All of this relates to another interesting word: “minority.” Funny what groups are called “minorities” and what groups are not. I never hear Jews spoken of as a minority, or Japanese Americans, or Chinese Americans (or Indian Americans). Sometimes, you even get women thrown in — as in the phrase “minorities and women.” What kind of women are those? The kind like Ellie Smeal, I would say, rather than the kind like — oh, Laura Bush.

And that reminds me of a bumper sticker, seen in the ’08 campaign: “She’s Not a Woman, She’s a Republican.” The “she” in question was Gov. Sarah Palin.

And you remember that delicious fact from the Michigan Law School affirmative-action case? The question arose, in the school’s admissions office, whether Cubans were Hispanic. And one official said, “But they vote Republican, don’t they?”

Some on the left like to say that “race is a social construct.” I think that, to a large degree, they’re right on that. Some other things are social constructs too. And wouldn’t it be nice if people thought of themselves as people, or — in certain circumstances — Americans? Especially when they’re going to serve on the Supreme Court?

To hell with “wise Latinas.” Our simple requirement is wise people. Justice is supposed to be blind, including colorblind. Not in today’s America, it isn’t — and so many people are proud of that.

Dear Kent

Francisco Rodriguez has 14 saves in 14 opportunities with an ERA of 0.73 for the New York Mets. But this one hurts more...

Mark Texeira started off poorly, like he always does, batting .200 in April with 3 home runs and 10 RBIs, but in May he hit .330, with 13 home runs and 34 RBIs. Still think he's not a first rate player?

In all fairness, I actually wasn't keen on re-signing Frankie either, and Fuentes was about half as cheap, and has only blown 3 saves. His ERA is a ginormous 5.30, but that's exaggerated because he has so few innings to work with. And we were never going to be able to sign Tex...but that guy is good. He's gonna finish the season batting over .320, 30+ home runs, and 120+ RBIs, and win a Gold-Glove. I guarantee it.

Moab In 24 Hours

It's amazing to me that I went through my entire undergraduate education and didn't once go camping in any of the beautiful terrain that Utah has to offer. Luckily, this last weekend, my ward went down and we spent about a day in Moab, which isn't enough, but still worth the trip.

There was a good group of people who went. We all arrived Friday night, camped near the house of one of our members, and then everyone kind of went their separate ways in the morning. People went mountain biking, jeeping, mountain climbing, and hiking. I went with a group that climbed up to this Cable Arch, aptly named because it features a cable and an arch. And while at the top, we happened to capture this (my) favorite pic of the trip:


Later in the day, a group of us hiked down Mill Creek and found this little watering hole that features a nice pool to jump into. There was a turned ankle and some bruised feet, but I managed to avoid any injury. It never looks that big until you get up there and jump off, and then you feel that tendency to roll down the windows. It was pretty awesome.
I was really struck by how beautiful the landscape was. The last time and only other time I went to Moab was when I was 14 years old, so I couldn't remember much about the scenery. Being that money will be a little tight this summer, but still having the itch to go out and see, hopefully I'll be able to get some more opportunities for camping and exploring the American Southwest.

My favorite thing about my ward is that even with 50 or so different people that showed up Friday night, I can't think of one person that I wouldn't have enjoyed sitting down and getting to know. Everyone here is so great - down to earth and just easy to get along with. I may not become best friends with all of them, but very rarely have I felt so comfortable with so many different kinds of personalities.

Well...except for one guy. But I didn't run into him at all. He just kind of weirds me out. I'm excited for my next road trip - June 12th to see Strung Out at the Hard Rock in Vegas. Woo!