Waiting for Superman - comments on state-run education

I watched this wonderful documentary about the failures of state-run education in the US. Maybe "wonderful" isn't the right word. It was heartbreaking, highly disturbing and raises great questions about, the real lack of opportunity in the US, the dangers of bureaucracy and the idea of American exceptionalism even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary - everything American is the best! Best education system, best healthcare system etc

This particular film is even more thought-provoking for me because I am now a graduate calculus TA at a large state university. The film speaks mostly to high-school education, but I get to see what that system spits out. Let me tell you this... the kids are not prepared and I don't think I can possibly help them. Not only because they are so far behind, but because I shouldn't be their calc TA. The university pours the little money they have into the math grad programme in order to attract more grad students, so they can serve as cheap TA's and basic math instructors, because tenured professors are so much more expensive. Then, we were explicitly told to put our calc teaching behind our other grad school work ... we are , after all, PhD students first.

Putting this all together, even if I were the best Calc TA in the world (and believe me, I'm not) I would still be doing them a disservice because I cannot, at the core of it, be wholly invested in my kids' education. This is a big dilemma

Worse Things - That trashy girl from grease

Excerpt from a song from Grease... I am so guilty

"but there are worse things I could do I could flirtwith all the guys, smile
at them and bat my eyes.Press against them when we dance, make them think they
stand a chanceand then refuse to see it through,that's the thing I'd never do. I
can stay home every nightWait around for Mr. Right, take cold showers everyday,
and throw my life away, on a dream that won't come true"

Cool Runnings

So, every Jamaican who has ever left the island has had to encounter the world's obsession with certain Jamaican things. They play Bob Marley in McLeod Ganj - a small Northern Indian city near the Tibetan border, home of the Dalai Lama. They fake Jerk Chicken in Williamstown - a small one street town in the bushes of Massachussets. But everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY has watched and LOVED Cool Runnings.

Yeah it's a heart warming story. Sure, I'll give you that. And those fake Jamaican accents are so cute and charming. But really... can the world get over it please? The actors werent even Jamaican! Did you know that they show Finnish children the movie and have them send money for the Jamaican bob-sled team.

Either way, I came face to face with this odd phenomenon yesterday when my co-workers insisted that we have a bonding cool-runnings party. They did it in good faith and in good taste. Maybe I'll play along this time...


Today I retire today's confession : I am lazy. Instead let's confess something else: I don't know how to manage money. I spend too much. Where did I get these expectations for the kind of life I want to live? Perhaps I have illusions about who I am.

Welcome to Jamorock

In case you were wondering, that show that I went to in Kingston, with Damian and Stephen Marley, was fabulous, and Damian is kind of hot in a strange skinny rastaman sort of way.

On a related note, I am Legend, starring Will Smith, is a good movie for goosebumps. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I don't think I could bear to watch it again.