"Manly" Men and Girlfriends

Ever heard of Nick Kasa? Before yesterday, I had no clue who he was. If you weren't an avid Colorado football fan or fanatical NFL Scouting Combine-watcher, you probably didn't either. This is him:

During Q&A time at the combine, Kasa was asked such questions as: "Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married? Do you like girls?

Dog "Kiddo" in Need and Faith in Humanity

Almost anyone with a truly beloved pet knows the human agony when our "kids" ail. If we don't have human children, these furry or feathered companions contribute something just as meaningful to our lives. For those with children, I've been told and read that one's pet is considered another of their kiddos. In short, something deep within our humanity indelibly bonds us to our pets.

This week, my partner and I are gravely concerned about one of our own dog "kids."

Lifesaving Surgery for Copper

Moment of DOH: Special Educator Needs "Special" Attention

Before sitting down to write this blog, I took a couple of days to watch the fireworks. Granted, jumping into the fray immediately makes for good "breaking news," but running off half-cocked to express my views on Diana Medley, et al seemed as wrong as they are. Hopefully, this will be a timely piece.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, watch this before moving forward, as I am not going to rehash the whole story.

First to the special "educator" in question, what the .....?
                                                                       Remind you of anyone?

PERSONAL: Coming Out... Again

Centuries ago, Marcus Aurelius wrote,

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.

 The concepts and ideals of god - omnipotent, everlasting, triune, one, many, pleasing god, loving god, finding favor with god, listening to god's call, et cetera ad nauseam  - influence the vast majority of human kind. I dare say a single human being lives and dies without facing the concept of an eternal, almighty creator, mostly not of their own free will, so to speak. Multitudinous variables exist as to the essence of god, and if taken at their bedrock claims discriminate widely between what may or may not be held as truth by the faithful coherent.

But as I often tell my students, we must go slow in order to go fast. Thus, in order to ensure the consistency of this post, I am taking a backward step.

Whatever You Want to Be... A Trouble and a Hope

Reflect on the aphorisms brought forward in your mind by this post's title. For the recent high school graduate, it emotes a sense of welcome into a newly opened world. For the successful professional, this symbolizes the fulfillment of hard work and hard-won luck; epitomizing in commonsense language the "American Dream," which deserves a few words of its own.

The "American Dream" received only that moniker from James Truslow Adams' 1931 work,  The Epic of America. (For as Carlin puts it, you have to be asleep to believe it.) For several centuries, explorers looked across the ocean, dreaming of opportunity and freedom in lands less bound by kings and kingdoms, more open to the free will of man. Eventually, a French-made monument beckoned the world to the shores of America. As this rising tide of nationalism swelled, Truslow Adams and others ignorantly judged as boundless the magical lives which supposedly came with treading American soil, already forgetting the fate of Native Americans.

Yet, simply put, the above idea of the American Dream purports an untruth.