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Don’t compliment students. One kid’s compliment is another kid’s insult. Restaurant staffers also take note.

As a teacher, I abide by a simple and unusual rule in my classroom: No compliments based on physical appearance. I do not comment on a student’s wardrobe, hairstyle, shoes, or anything related to their image, even if they ask. Student: Mr. Dicks! What do you think of my new haircut? Me: I think your…

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Promoting sexism? Maybe. But will anyone care?

Boys Are Dogs is the YA title that garnered some attention when it was published for reportedly being sexist. Amazon’s product description is this: “Middle-school boys act like wild animals. That’s what Annabelle discovers on her first day in her brand-new life. Birchwood Middle School is totally different from her old all-girls elementary. In fact, lots…

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Strange days

A friend suggested that I post this, which I wrote a couple of years ago. He thought it might be a good way for readers to get to know me better. I have edited the original piece slightly to reflect changes in my life since I first wrote it. ____________________________________ Here are some strange things…

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Free

I find myself with over a hundred books I’d like to eliminate from my life. They are excellent books, classics, bestsellers, collections of essays, etc. I don’t have any reason to keep them in my house anymore. There are too many books that I have not yet read ever to imagine going back and rereading…

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Where have all the rebels gone?

Blogger Jason Kottke recently wrote about the differing approaches to “being an adult.” In his post, he establishes two kinds of adults: A: Those who have set aside their childish ways B: Those who rebel against the lack of freedom of childhood. “Basically opposite approaches,” he writes. “Responsible adulthood and irresponsible adulthood.” Kottke continues: The…

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Wash, rinse, dry, repeat

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are together again in the film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, a book that I found to be utterly unreadable. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland… Haven’t they made this movie at least once already? And perhaps twice if you count the animated version of the film?…

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Worst million dollars ever

The now-defunct USFL Gamblers sponsored a contest in 1982 that gave away one million dollars to one of their fans.  The terms of the deal: $50,000, paid out over twenty years, beginning twenty years later, in 2002. Unbelievable.

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Stupid name

So, my Yankees will play against the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series starting on Wednesday. I don’t want to sound mean-spirited, but what kind of stupid name is the Phillies? The franchise’s original name was the Philadelphia Philadelphias, which is quite ridiculous and even worse when said aloud, but is the Phillies any better?…

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