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Why didn’t someone show me before I went to college?

Based upon yearly income, elementary school teacher is the worst paying of all college degrees. While I believe that teachers are underpaid, I am also quick to remind colleagues that teachers work about 185 days a year, whereas most professionals (and perhaps all other professionals) work 240-250 days a year. If an elementary school teacher…

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You say yes. I say no. But do I really mean no?

When deciding upon the next novel to write, I solicited the counsel of several friends, and one of them is dead set against one of my ideas. After reading the first two chapters of this proposed novel, she has outlined in great detail why this would not make a good story. Her husband, upon hearing…

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No silly exercises from this life coach

As a life coach, I’ve only had three clients (and only one paying client), so my experience in the field is admittedly limited, but exercises like this strike me as more style than substance. From the Mommy Beta blog: Take a few minutes and fill out The Wheel of Life (below). The eight sections of…

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The enemy within

Figures released by the armed services last week showed that for the second year in a row, the U.S. military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would seem that if we are interested in saving soldiers’ lives, we may want to invest more in mental…

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Overslept

My wife woke up and looked over at me. “I’ve never been in bed with you when it’s light outside.” She’s right.  I climbed out of bed at 5:30 this morning, but upon realizing that I had somehow developed a sore throat and headache overnight, I went back to bed in hopes of staving off…

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It does not stand for quintessential

How have I managed to get through life without questioning what the Q in Q-tips stands for? It shocks me that I managed to get through life without discovering that the Q stands for quality, which is completely stupid. Quality tip? Even so, it’s better than the original name of the product: Baby Gays. I…

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I want my $25,000 back, damn it.

In 1992 I was arrested, tried and eventually found not guilty of a crime that I did not commit. I’ve written about some of the details of the case before if you are interested. In hopes of writing a memoir someday, I tried to obtain the transcript of my arraignment and trial from the Massachusetts…

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Intelligentsia

Yesterday a friend texted me this message: What is epistemological theory? I gave a brief definition via text while waiting for a haircut. It was the most intellectual series of text messages I have ever had. This morning Elysha told me that she dreamt about the epigraph of The Great Gatsby, which she has memorized…

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A joyous response to the misery of others

A study released by Stanford University shows that Facebook users often perceive their friends as having more fulfilling social and emotional lives. As a result, people end up feeling more lonely, isolated and depressed. My reaction to Facebook has always been the opposite. Given the propensity to complain or allude to vague personal problems (with…

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Bicycle?

My wife sent me some photos of Clara today.  The title of the email containing the images was “Eating a bicycle.” I was a little concerned about what was going on at home until I opened the email and took a look at them.       

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