Stylin' the Eighties

Chemistry. Tuesday, eighth period. 

The lesson plan for the day was for them to complete some surveys the district was requiring of all the high school students. Mr. U said that it should take the whole period, but teenagers rush through things, so many were finished with much time to spare. 

Mostly they were sophomores, and mostly sophomores know how to not make a nuisance of themselves when they've finished their work. Most have learned how to sneak onto video games. 

But not Jessie. No. Jessie first distinguished himself by taking 20 minutes in the restroom. In a building where the restroom was steps away from the classroom. Deep sigh. 

I'm not going to list all of Jessie's misdeeds, mostly because as I write this it's been four days since I covered the class and I've forgotten exactly what it was that made him stand out. Self preservation, I think. I can't keep all of the silly things they do at the forefront of my memory. 

Why Jessie made the blog has to do with the last thing he talked about, just before the final bell rang. 

He asked me if I wanted to cut it off. Cut what off? 

He reached around his neck and pulled out a long, narrow braid... 

A rat's tail?!?

Suddenly, I was a seventh grader again. I think that's the last time I saw one of those. They're back? Really? 

So, I said the first thing that popped into my head. 

"1983 called. They want their hairstyle back." 

But the bell rang at the same time, so Jessie did not hear me. 

I'm not upset. It was a rather weak joke. It's been made hundreds of times. Just not about rat's tails. 

Rat's tail. 

Wow. 

I did not expect to see that style return. 

One Burning Question

Last week there was one topic all over social media. The first time I saw anything about it, it was a post that sounded like this was an issue that had been known everywhere for weeks. But I got up to speed pretty quickly. 

I'm talking about the Cornell 7. 

And if you're unfamiliar, that link goes to Wikipedia. That's a pretty good summary if you're unfamiliar. I'm not going to delve into it here. 

But I do have one "hot take". Most of social media has hit most of the good talking points already, so there's no need for me to rehash. However, there is one thing I have not heard that I've been thinking. 

I've been thinking about the whole "but we can't ruin these young men's lives" people. I have one question for them: 

What terrible assault did you commit as a young man that you got away with? 

Because, seriously, if they're identifying with the perpetrators in this scenario, that does not bode well for their humanity. 

This is not really "resisting" content, though, so here's a "resisting" video. Warning: adult language. 

This video is from August, but he's been posting hot takes like this daily. 

In Process

Since sending off the raven, I haven't done much of anything. 

When I wrote last week's post, the tracking on the raven said it would arrive on Wednesday. Then, on Monday, the tracking updated to arriving on Monday, which it then did do. So, sister-in-law received her birthday present a day early instead of a day late. Woo-hoo!

But before that I managed to finish knitting the ugly slippers on camera. Proof: 

Is the video done? Of course not. 

I still have a couple bits to film. I have sent the good clips (read: I eliminated the bloopers) to my brother for editing. I won't have the opening to do any filming until next weekend, though. 

These slippers aren't entirely finished, though. I usually go around the edge there and add a crochet finishing touch. I thought I'd do a separate video about that. Not really whole video worthy, but I'm out of ideas. 

Which leads to today's question for you all. I know most of you aren't knitters or crocheters, but maybe you have an idea. What should I make next on camera? (My YouTube channel is here, so you can see what I've already done.) I haven't designed anything new in ages, and I have nothing I'm burning to make. 

Oh, and does anyone want a pair of ugly slippers? These fit my feet. (I wear size 10, double wide.) 

Still a Wanderer

I've been subbing too long. That's what this is. Because today's story has quite a bit of backstory. 

Wednesday. Senior government, special ed. Third period. 

It was day one of a three-day assignment for a teacher I did a long-term assignment for three years ago. So, I knew what the lesson plan would be going in. (And I was right.) 

As the class filed in, I greeted many students I already knew. They had been sophomores in that special ed world history class I covered in February/March of 2025. They had been a good group. A fun group. So, I wasn't too worried. 

Well, except for Ariyah. She's not a bad kid, but she had a wandering problem. 

We were to go to a launch event in the gym. California is doing a free community college thing, and there's a community college just down the street from this high school. That community college has partnered with the high school, and so personnel from the college spend the year getting the seniors all set up so they can slide right into college after graduation. 

(I ran into the end of the sequence last school year. This was the beginning.) 

I got roll taken (quickly, as I already knew most of the kiddos), and we headed out to the gym. 

Remembering the last time I was in this position, I made sure to keep an eye on Ariyah. Did she follow along to the gym? Of course not. She "had to use the restroom", which was code for meeting up with a friend. I walked on ahead to keep up with the rest of the class, but I did note when Ariyah did arrive in the gym. She took a seat in the bleachers. Whew. 

The group from the community college ran through their program. A lot of it would be new information for the seniors. 

I saw when Ariyah got up (with a friend) and walked out of the gym. Deep sigh. 

Did she return? Of course not.

But the program didn't take the whole period, so the kiddos went back to class. And Ariyah did actually return. 

So, I asked. She claimed that she had not left. I said I saw her leave. She said she had been outside with security. I could call and check. 

(Which security person? If I just call "security", I wouldn't get an answer.) 

Uh huh. Sure. But again, she's only hurting herself missing things that will be useful for her. 

Ms. M, the instructional assistant, said Mr. B gives her a long leash. So, I mentioned this in the note. The next time I had Ariyah in class, she only left for a reasonably timed restroom break. So, maybe not a major issue? I don't know for sure. Mr. B will take care of it.

Inappropriate Names?

Tuesday. Ninth grade integrated math 1A (special ed). Second period. 

Ms. G warned me that the class contained a core group of autistic boys. As I have of late found that I identify strongly with certain autistic traits (I have not been, nor will I seek to be, diagnosed as autistic), I figured we'd be just fine. 

I had met the boys before, in other classes. 

They had the usual math-type worksheet. They solved problems. Those problems had colors associated with them. If they got the correct answer, they used the correct color on the coloring sheet portion of the assignment. It's a quick way to visually see if they're doing the math right. 

The coloring sheet was of sea turtles. 

As the boys worked, they talked. And at some point, one of the boys suggested naming the turtles. 

The other boys objected. They couldn't name the turtles. I chimed in with the suggestion that there was nothing wrong with assigning names to the cartoon turtles on their papers. 

Then one of the boys commenced with the naming. "This one is Mr. T, this one is Ms. B, this one is..." 

He was using teacher names. I recognized all of them. They were all special ed teachers. Probably their current teachers, but maybe a couple from the previous year. 

Now, if the paper had been something weird, I might have objected. But they were sea turtles. It was a cute paper. I could detect no malice, nor was there any snarkiness. It was like the boy needed names he knew.

But the other boys objected strongly. "You can't name them that!" 

Again, I chimed in. "Those names are fine." 

Then the conversation went back and forth between whether they should name them that or not. 

Of course, that didn't last too long before they moved on to other topics. 

Often it is fun to be the fly on the wall, listening to their conversations. 

In Italian

Monday. Forensic science. Fifth period. 

The assignment: they were to watch the second half of a video on Amanda Knox. They had questions to answer that went along with it. 

And... I hate showing videos. The kiddos don't watch them. They talk. Do they do any of the writing they're supposed to do? Of course not. They had received the questions in the previous class period when the video was started. (I had extras if any student needed another paper.) 

So, it was the end of the period, and I was going around and collecting the work. One of the students who had spent the period ignoring the video and talking to her friend had nothing to turn in, naturally. When I pointed out that she should have been watching the video (I had repeatedly shushed her during it), she complained that she couldn't understand the video because it had been in Italian. 

Italian? Uh, no. 

I'm not going to rehash the whole Amanda Knox trial and such, but the whole ordeal took place in Italy. And, some of the people interviewed spoke in Italian. Not everyone, but yes, some of the video was in Italian. 

But the subtitles were on. The captioning was on. And when someone was speaking in Italian, on screen was the translation in English. (I watched the thing with them. No glitches. The subtitles were working.) 

I pointed out that the subtitles were on. Her reply: "I couldn't see the screen." 

Uh... So, all classrooms now have the big screen TVs that the teachers use for slide presentations as well as videos. The classroom is configured in such a way so that all the students can see the screen easily. If a student can't see the screen, they are generally moved to someplace where they can. 

Did this student say anything about having trouble seeing the screen? Nope. She just talked to her friend. 

If you want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse. This girl. All excuses. 

Those excuses won't help her grade, though. At least she'll have some excuses to explain to her parents as to why she doesn't have a good grade this early in the school year. 

11,000

Did you see the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt? 

Yeah, so in Minnesota, they put together a quilt of 11,000 squares to demonstrate how many people were kidnapped by ICE in the state. That's... that's a lot of people. Just going about their lives. And then they were ripped from them, horribly, and... 

It's all very horrible. And still going on. I wonder how big the quilt for California would be. Or how big one for the whole country would be. 

Just my weekly reminder that this regime is awful, and they need to be stopped. 

There's a bill that went through the California state legislature seeking to ban police and such taking side jobs with ICE. As of writing this, I hadn't heard if Gov. Newsom signed it. Or not.