November 2009

A mood most foul.

November 30, 2009

Lessee… Clemson got caught looking ahead to next weekend’s ACC title game, and got worked by South Cackalacky 34-17. The bright side is that they’re still in that title game, and if they beat Georgia Tech they’re on to a BCS bowl. Worse, I’ve had November 25th marked on the calendar for months because it [...]

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On turning 33.

November 23, 2009

I’ve decided to start celebrating my birthday as a season, rather than as a single day. My birthseason shall begin on Halloween, is followed about a week-and-a-half later by a day off for Veterans’ Day (with the occasional Election Day thrown in-between), then what I like to call the “My Birthday-Thanksgiving Corridor” (November 22nd-28th), with [...]

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“Only in education,” redux, redux.

November 17, 2009

Once again I’ve been drafted to participate in what I call the “Not A Thing” seminar. It involves missing five days of school (today being the second) in the hopes of learning how to make the rest of the faculty (i.e., the part actually getting stuff accomplished because they’re at school instead of in the [...]

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On the Wall.

November 10, 2009

To mark the occasion, I wanted to write something really snarky like “Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall came down. No reason, just kinda happened. Just one of those things”–but I think the sarcasm would be lost on too many people. It still blows my mind that that stupid, ugly, evil wall was built in the [...]

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Mailbag: President Charlemagne.

November 8, 2009

An e-mail from a former student: Greetings, Mr. Viscariello. Do you know anything about the Presidents of the US all being related to English aristocracy, most of them descendants of Charlemagne and King Edward III? Do you think/know if this is just another conspiracy theory or factual information? I have done some research and looked at what is [...]

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My Hallowe’en costume.

November 2, 2009

Take the normal look, pop out the contacts, throw on the old glasses, add some spray-on white hair color, a walkie-talkie, and a wallet chain: I dressed as a particular co-worker whose full name resembles my last name. One day I’ll have to walk into his classroom like this. This may set or tie a [...]

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Infant Human 001.

November 1, 2009

Congratulations to frequent contributor and whipping-boy Dr. Hmnahmna and his saint-of-a-wife Mrs. Hmnahmna on the birth of their daughter, James Tiberius Hikaru Montgomery Leonard Pavel Hmnahmna! She popped out da womb at 7:28 PM, Halloween night. Until we get indisputable visual evidence of the baby and permission to post it, this’ll have to do: F. [...]

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They called him “Sweetness.”

November 1, 2009

I am ashamed to admit that I’d forgotten today was the tenth anniversary of Walter Payton’s death until I saw that the Bears honored him in a halftime ceremony. It’s hard to believe he died 10 years ago. It’s harder to believe he retired more than 20 years ago. Here’s a link to the Bears’ [...]

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