sleeveless shirts and such

i teach an online course...and in our discussion board they were attempting to explain where their attitudes developed about gun control. it always turns into a forum of pro-gun...but a student posted this comment this morning.

"Though I generally agree with the 2nd amendment, I think some people lose the right to bare arms."

ha. so, apparently the 2nd amendment didn't speak to times of war, but rather to tank tops and sleeveless shirts. and by the way, i agree, some people do lose the right to have bare arms.

Adventures in Real Estate and Other Things...

yes, i admit it. i'm a sucker for reality cooking shows. i discovered i like shows where the participant is responsible for producing something- even with a side of drama. so, i find myself watching top chef, hell's kitchen, project runway. i don't really like shows where a tangible product is not produced (i.e. american idol, so you think you can dance, bachelor/ette). regardless, i found it interesting on the finale of top chef last week the way that the judges responded to a comment made by finalist, richard (pictured above).

richard remarked that he felt he had f-ed up his final challenge. he made these comments at the moment where the judges had asked all contestants to make their last plea for why they should stay. he was honest. right as the contestants left the room, the judges started discussing how they couldn't believe richard just said that. and i paused and thought, "really?"

it seems that failure or mediocrity is not to be mentioned. if you feel like you have not created/produced up to par, you should pretend that you excelled. you should LIE. you should get in the judges' face and in faux-confidence inform them you are the best chef in the world, even though you didn't put any seasoning on the porkbelly. perhaps that was part of your plan. and even if it wasn't, you should act like it was.

maybe it is just me, but i think it takes more strength and confidence for someone to admit when they really feel like they screwed up. if a chef can't tell when they've made a mistake- wouldn't this make them horrible? shouldn't you know good from bad? i suppose my academic training has taught me there is nothing wrong with admitting fault. when you conduct research, one of the most important and final things you do in your paper/presentation is to tell the entire academic community where you went wrong. my method was not good. my sample too small. i should have used a different data set....see, for knowledge to be produced- it is ultimately important to see the weaknesses and strengths. to point them out, but to also pave the way for others. and you know what, it makes the research stronger, as well as the members of that community. apparently in the world of top chef, you should pretend you don't know the difference.

i wish that reality television was the only thing going on in my life right now. i'm currently teaching 3 summer classes. i'm trying to figure out how to move to nashville. and i'm trying to figure out where to move to nashville. a couple of months ago, i decided to buy a house. when i realized that i've given the landlord at my current apartment about 20K over the last few years, i realized what keeps me from rising into the middle class- real estate.

buying a house isn't as easy as i thought. you need loads of paperwork and loads of money. so, i've recently encountered a setback- namely, a job. so, now i'm grappling with finding a place to live in nashville for 2 months, so i can buy a house and then move twice- while starting my first few months of a doctoral program. what fun.

seeing as how i'm living from ebay sale to ebay sale (instead of paycheck to paycheck), i've been looking for all types of ways to cut costs. in case you aren't aware, there is a major price difference for spices in your grocery store. go to the regular spice aisle- generally where you can find sugar, flour, and other cooking/baking ingredients. pick up a jar of bay leaves. when i checked the other day, bay leaves in a jar cost around 6 bucks. but then venture a couple of aisles over...to the hispanic section (which by the way, does anyone else find it odd that this aisle is named "mexican" even though there is usually a more diverse hispanic population in the area?)...anyways, go to this ethnic aisle and you'll find spices for much, much cheaper. i found bay leaves (more than what you get in the bottle) for .79 cents. and it doesn't stop there...pretty much all the spices are much cheaper. the brand is badia. so go save some money.