by Jay on September 8, 2011
What do you remember?
I think that most of us over the age of 30 will never forget where we were when we heard the fateful news of what happened on September 11. I still can remember who told me what was happening and how I felt. I can imagine the look on my face was when I was told the news.
I was teaching Spanish in a very rural area of Ohio. It was a beautiful fall day. But out in this area of Ohio, the school had no cable television, and there was a computer in your classroom, if it functioned.
My first true realization of the devastation was upon returning home and turning on the news. I know that I watched for hours and thought about my friends and the family that I stayed with in Mexico and emailed them to let them know what little information was actually known, but that we were safe in other parts of the country.
It is important to remember!
As an educator, I think that it is of paramount importance that we teacher our young ones what happened that day with an unbiased account. I also find it highly appropriate to promote patriotism on that day. Some “poo poo” patriotism, but what is wrong with being proud of your country?
From the minds of our youth
The other day I thought to ask one of my students if she lived in New York during September 11. She did. In fact, she lived in the Bronx. I asked her what she remembered from that day and she told me that she remembers her mom being upset. But that was it.
These currently high school students were between the ages of 3-8 when it happened. Most of them don’t have first-hand accounts of their own.
What are your thoughts or recollections after ten years?
by Jay on August 24, 2011
Columbus is lucky to offer its citizens a wide variety of opportunities to escape from their comfort zones. Often, too many of us that live in the suburbs of any city tend to stick to that area. Why is that a problem? Think of everything we are missing!
With growing Latino and African populations within the Columbus area, our residents have more opportunities than ever to get out there and try something new.
One place that I like to frequent is called La Michoacana. While I tend to go to the location on Morse Rd., there are approximately 7 locations throughout the area.
La Michoacana sells a wide variety of products that one might find in a Latin American tienda. They offer produce, a butcher, food, drinks, and other products at very good prices.
My favorite part is the restaurant inside. While it is relatively small, I have never had any trouble getting a table. Service is always quick. Food is always fantastic. And the waitresses do know enough English to deal with their non-Spanish-speaking customers.
I highly suggest that you give it a try sometime. I’d like to explore some of the African cuisine that CBUS offers in the near future. What about you?
by Jay on August 10, 2011
Believe it or not, I think about blogging everyday. You’d never know that from my lack of posts as of late. I think the problem f0r me is that I have way too many things going on in my brain. Rather than sitting down and actually writing, I’m constantly googling different topics and reading about new ideas. In short, I’m constantly looking for my muse.
According to the dicionary a muse is:
the goddess or the powerregarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like.
So basically instead of sitting down writing, I scour the internet for inspiration and tell myself that I will get to that next great blog post “tomorrow.” I think it all relates back to the fact that I have lots of interests and have trouble narrowing myself down into one niche.
So what makes Jay run? Here is a short list of things that very much interest me:
- Learning to become a better person, which includes professionally, as a friend, and as a son/brother/uncle/grandchild, etc.
- My largest interest these days relates to animals. As you probably already know, I have two dogs and three cats. Do I live in an animal farm? Yes. Do I love vacuuming and cleaning up after them everyday? Of course not. Do I wish that I could take off and leave for Mexico for a month at a time in the summer? Everyday. But the love that my animals give me more than makes up for any headaches that they occasionally cause. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Becoming a better divorcee. I think I am slowly accomplishing this. I don’t at all miss being married. It was a mistake. I learned a lot and I have changed my outlook on many things. I’d never say that I regret being married. Life is all about learning experiences.
- My job is a big motivator. After having gone through a divorce recently, emotionally I was not in a good place last year. Although my students did extremely well on their advanced testing exams, better that they have every done, I always felt like I should have been doing more. Apparently it worked out well and I shouldn’t have been so hard on myself. They truly kicked ass on those tests and many will be receiving lots of college credit for Spanish courses as they begin their freshman year. Not just testing out, but earning actual college credits that will save a nice chunk of change for mom and dad this fall. I don’t take the credit for this. It is definitely a two way street. I must teach and they must work hard to learn and progress through their language acquisition process.
My list of goals for the new academic school year are many but I want to list a few out here in public and develop a manner in which I am able to measure my progress.
- Continue developing my craft so that more student not only do well in my Spanish courses, but also find that passion for the language and culture that made me fall in love with it all
- Higher test scores…its inevitable. I want my students to kick ass on their exams and feel confident in their abilities.
- Continue to to develop more interactive activities using various web 2.0 tools to reach students in ways and on platforms that they are familiar with and use on a regular basis.
- Keep writing. I really do love to blog and to write. I get a great sense of satisfaction from finishing a post. I’ve let my blog readership die to an extent and my goal is to definetely increase this yet again.
So my question to you is a simple one. Have you discovered your muse? What is it that keeps you motivated? I’d love to hear all about it.
We can’t save the world as individuals, so should we even try? If you are like me, then you probably spend a lot of your free time browsing the web looking at all of the dogs out there that have one simple thing in common. They need a home. Statistics are alarming and I could cite to you how many dogs are euthanized each and everyday simply because one of us that surfed a site like petfinder saw one of these precious animals, but didn’t act.
Maybe we had a lunch date with a friend, thought that perhaps we would get to it tomorrow, or simply concluded that the problem is so big that it really won’t change. I’m here to tell you that, we have all felt that way and we are all guilty of not doing enough.
Not everyone is an animal lover. For some, having pet hair around the house is not endearing. Maybe you already have a dog and that is all that you can handle. That’s OK. That doesn’t make you a bad person. It doesn’t even make you selfish.
But what is the “animal-friendly” or “animal-neutral” person to do? There is still so much that you can do.
- If you do have room in your heart, but don’t want a pet, you certainly can foster. There are many animals out there that need a second chance and a temporary house until they find their forever homes.
- You can donate time to an animal shelter or animal rescue group. This doesn’t mean that you must go and clean cages and perform all of the “dirty work.” You don’t even have to be an official volunteer. If you have some extra time each week, stop by your local shelter and just play with the dogs and cats. They crave attention. And you might just find that giving of yourself is more of a rewarding experience that you realized.
- Donate what you are able to a shelter or rescue group. No donation is too small and you might be shocked to find out how far your donation can go to helping an animal in need.
These are just a few ways that you can help make a difference in a problem that many times feels overwhelming. Its alright to look at the dogs and cats out there that need homes, even if you are not able to adopt each and every one of them. But just don’t forget to do what you can and don’t turn a blind eye to the problem.
There are many great organizations that would benefit greatly from your time and/or money. You can find a list of animal shelters by state by clicking here. If you would like to help a specific breed of dog, you can find that information on the AKC website. If you happen to live in the Franklin County, Ohio area, you should check out an organization called Friends of the Shelter that I have recently begun working with that provides medical care for dogs in the Franklin County Dog Shelter. If nothing else, do a quick google search to find a group close to you.
With very little time and/or money, you can make a huge difference in the lives of so many animals. But don’t wait…start today!
The end of the world might be coming for many women, and some men, that are glued to Oprah’s every word. Think of all the extra time they will have on their hands after May 25…but they will also have to begin thinking for themselves and making decisions without their leader.
Actually, I am just being facetious. Although she can come across as pompous and arrogant to many, there is no questioning the fact that she has done much good with her celebrity and status.
She has touched the lives of many and is riding off into the sunset having changed many things for the better.
But what prompted this post was a humorous cartoon in the Columbus Dispatch today. Hope that you enjoy.
Many of us in 2011 are using at least one, if not many more, various types of social media. 
Be it twitter, facebook, or youtube, we seem to be learning the eccentricities of others. Perhaps eccentricities is not even the appropriate word. Maybe it is just the weirdness of our “friends.”
I posit that through the use of social media, we have come to the point where there is very little left to the imagination these days. In our twitter feed we often see the great news of others like a new work promotion, the cries for help of parents that seem not to be able to properly carry out their roll, or the mundane like seeing that someone is going to take a shower.
In too many cases we read these status updates of our online friends and think….this person has some major issues. And don’t tell me that you haven’t thought that very same thought.
Overall, I obviously believe that social media is a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with others, expressing yourself, and for networking, or I wouldn’t have my own twitter account, facebook page, or blog.
I also admit to the occasional post of something like going to take a shower now and then go have some lunch.
So my question is simple…Does social media leave anything up the imagination of those that “know us” and if not, is this a better state of affairs? I’d love to hear some of your opinions. As always, thanks for commenting!
by Jay on January 7, 2011
I’ve always believed that one of the worst jobs in our country would be an agent for the IRS. You never hear stories of people looking forward to an audit or of people being happy to receive correspondence from the Internal Revenue Service.
One can go all the way back to biblical times to read stories about these “evil people” and the problems that they cause.
When I noticed the article from the Associated Press titled, “Curses! Romania’s witches forced to pay income tax,” I had to click the link.
Everyone curses the tax man, but Romanian witches angry about having to pay up for the first time hurled poisonous mandrake into the Danube River on Thursday to cast spells on the president and government.
The funny point of the article states that:
But not every witch threatened fire and brimstone.
“This law is very good,” said Mihaela Minca, sister of Melissa. “It means that our magic gifts are recognized and I can open my own practice.”
I think this shows us that there are two sides to every story.
by Jay on December 16, 2010
The blogging prompt for today is an interesting one for me. The first thing that came to mind were some personal wishes, but those quickly subsided. That would be selfish and not productive.
So the best thing someone could say to me right now would be that they were going to the animal shelter to adopt an animal. There are so many potential pets that are stuck in cages all times of the year and have to endure suffering and a lack of love that is obviously not their fault.
My Christmas list is that as many people go to their local shelter, or visit PetFinder, and give a new start to a being that will bring you nothing but unconditional love. All they want is a home, and someone to love. What could be easier?
I know that at Christmas time, many people rush out and buy their loved ones pets from breeders, or worse, pet stores. Please consider giving another chance to a scared and lonely animal “living” in a shelter today.
by Jay on December 15, 2010
I have been looking all over the internet for inspiration for finding things to blog about on a more regular basis. My absolute favorite blog, Noisiest Passenger, is a blog about a Texas transplant and her daily adventures in New York City. Amanda Green is an incredible writer and I really love her snarky style of writing. I have a long-held dream of moving to Manhattan one day and finding a job that is fulfilling and living happily ever after. Amanda has done just that. She is participating in Reverb10 to reflect on things that have happened this year.
I didn’t want to copy, so I am trying the prompts at NaBloPoMo. Today’s prompt asks you “What’s the best novel you’ve read that was written before you were born?”
That is such a difficult question as I absolutely love to read. I love Latin American literature and the answer to that question might be Cien años de soledad. (One Hundred Years Of Solitude). It was written by Gabriel García Márquez in 1967.
It is a wonderfully written book that engages the reader in a fantastic world. For more information on the book, check out it’s Wikipedia site.
Do you have any book recommendations for me?
by Jay on November 23, 2010
I have had this question in my head a lot lately. I seem to try all of the new sites out there, and the not so new ones as well. I’ve got a facebook account, twitter, foursquare, yelp, geomium, loopt, and probably lots of others that I signed up for along the way.
That doesn’t include the accounts on social bookmark sites (or whatever the correct jargon is for those sites).
My question is simply this: when is enough, enough?
I enjoy twitter and its neat to see what people all over the country are doing. I follow Alyssa Milano. I have no delusions of ever meeting her, but I loved Charmed and find it interesting to see what she says about various topics.
But do I really need to know that Sally Joe is getting ready to take a shower after a big run? Maybe, I don’t know. Sometimes it seems like a lot of people that tweet are kinda neurotic, doesn’t it? I know mine are half the time.
Anyway, I guess I find Twitter more entertaining than facebook or the other sites. That might be due to the 140 word limit.
