didionville

the tourney has been totally nutty. period. not a whole lot else to say, except where we stand going into the sweet 16 …

g-pa jer … 10 of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 35 of 48 (73%))

me … 10 of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 32 of 48 (67%))

mommy … 11* of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 32 of 48 (67%))

daddy … 10 of 16 intact … (overall wins to date: 28 of 48 (58%))

*mommy would have 12 of 16 IF she hadn’t listened to g-pa jer and daddy about west virginia and duke … grrrrrr …

also, mommy’s elite eight is completely intact going into the sweet 16. g-pa jer, daddy, and i each have 6 of 8. all of us have complete final fours, etc., so there is a faint hope at least one of us can salvage some dignity outta the craziness of this year’s tourney.

holy cow! have i had one heckuva crazy adventure! i haven’t been posting the last couple of days because i have been whoopin’ it up in NEW YORK CITY!

mommy and daddy took me down there on easter sunday, and we stayed until today (tuesday). auntie loretta is in the city this week for spring break, and BONUS: auntie lisa was in town, too, for an education conference. we stayed at the w hotel at 39th and lexington. it was a pretty nice hotel. mommy was very happy with the service, and daddy really liked the king-size bed.

i travel really, really well. mommy and daddy asked quite a bit of me, and i came through like a superhero. a new feeding schedule … a new sleeping schedule … new environs all around … nothing fazes me. BRING IT ON!

we got into town on sunday afternoon. auntie loretta and her super-cool friend, michael, met us at our hotel. we all hung out for awhile, largely because i needed to take a nap. then we packed up and cruised down the street to an amazing kosher vegetarian indian restaurant (yes, THAT MANY adjectives). the restaurant, pongal, is on lex between 27th and 28th. it was really crowded, and i was still kinda tired, so i sorta had a meltdown. not to worry, though; we got the food to go and hoofed it back to the hotel where loretta and michael set up a buffet on the ironing board. apparently, the food was really good because mommy and daddy are still talking about it. the big hit was the masala cashew nut appetizer … super savory, spicy cashews … mommy also really loved the vegetable kurma. (that is going to be her next project on the indian-cooking front.) i definitely was a lot more comfortable rolling around on the bed than i was at the restaurant.

on monday, we met loretta, michael, and michael’s friend, zeb (visiting from london) at the american museum of natural history. (we took the subway, and since the trains are really loud, mommy and daddy made sure i wore my special noise-reduction earmuffs.)

what an amazing, glorious place the museum is! elephants, tigers, and dinosaurs! oh, my, indeed! we went everywhere in the museum. mommy and daddy told me about rain forests and evolution and the environment and biology. daddy took pictures of us looking at fossils and skeletons and dioramas. it was the coolest place ever!

we saw lots of dinosaurs …

and a tiger …

a dodo bird …

elephants …

an opa …

and a BLUE WHALE!!!

auntie loretta peppered me with kisses here and there …

and we visited where mommy and daddy’s adventure officially began …

then we went to rockefeller center and saw prometheus and the new sculpture (the electric fountain) …

actually, mommy and daddy and loretta saw this stuff. i checked out for awhile …

we parted company with loretta and headed back to the hotel because we were meeting auntie lisa and her boyfriend, valentin, for dinner at this tasty midtown restaurant, remi, on 53rd between 6th and 7th. mommy was really happy with the food, and she was ESPECIALLY happy with the service. they seated us in a large corner banquette just so i would have room to stretch out and sleep while everyone else ate. and, boy, did they eat! it was a long, lovely, relaxed dinner with some terrific company! auntie lisa is super-fabulous, of course, and val is, too! mommy and daddy couldn’t stop talking about how great dinner was and how awesome it was to see lisa!

but i was out for the count …

it was a really cool trip, but i am also super happy to be home. i think mommy and daddy are glad to be home, too, but, boy, did they have fun!

so we all played it safe yesterday with only one upset that MOMMY talked everyone into … and what happens?!?!?! almost EVERY GAME goes the other way … oh, and that second upset that only g-pa jer picked … it happened. western kentucky beat drake in overtime. mommy is very irritated by that game … and by most of the other 15 yesterday.

here’s how we look …

grandpa jer: 25 of 32 (78%)

me: 22 of 32 (69%)

mommy: 21 of 32 (66%)

daddy: 19 of 32 (59%)

luckily, with the exception of drake and clemson (?!?!) , mommy’s and my sweet 16s are intact. g-pa jer has lost clemson, usc, and uconn. daddy has lost vandy, usc, and uconn.

now if the second round can just go our way, please!

more later, but hopefully not more of yesterday’s disasters (disasters for us, that is! bully for all the teams that delivered when so many — like us — doubted!!!)

after the second eight games last night …

grandpa jer: 15 of 16 (94%)

me: 13 of 16 (81%)

mommy: 13 of 16 (81%)

daddy: 11 of 16 (69%)

we all ate it on usc. g-pa jer and daddy are in trouble with them in later rounds … they have usc going to the sweet 16. g-pa jer also is on shaky ground with duke, having them getting knocked off in the elite eight. mommy, daddy, and i have duke going to the sweet 16. mommy’s concerned because she let g-pa jer and daddy talk her out of following west virginia. she hates having to root for duke anyway, and if last night’s game against belmont is any indication of things to come, she probably should’ve stuck with her gut. the four of us have one upset today: st. mary’s over miami. she still thinks this isn’t going to be a problem. (g-pa jer has a second upset: western kentucky over drake … hmmmmm …)

after this afternoon’s first seven games, here’s where we stand …

grandpa jer: 7 of 7 (100%)

me: 6 of 7 (86%)

mommy: 6 of 7 (86%)

daddy: 5 of 7 (71%)

more later …

UPDATE … they didn’t televise the 8th game (kentucky vs. stanford) … stanford won, and we all picked them … so g-pa jer is still 8 of 8 (100%) … mommy and i are 7 of 8 (81%) … daddy is 6 of 8 (75%) …

yesterday, i got a special package in the mail from grandma linda and grandpa chuck. it was filled with all sorts of neat stuff; some of it for easter (like this super-cute bunny), and some of it — i suspect — was sent just because i am such an awesome grandkid.

with some strategic drooling, i quickly initiated the little stuffed bunny into my inner circle of advisers and confidants, which includes the bee rattle, my stuffed pony, and the remote control.

i also got some squirt toys for when i take baths. frankly, mommy can’t wait to break them in. i used to be such a stinkpot when i had to take a bath, but now i am cool. hopefully, i will continue to be so when mommy squirts me next go-round.

the book they sent is really sweet. it’s called i love you through and through. mommy says it is absolutely true, but she had to stop reading it to me about halfway through because she got choked up. she’s really mushy.

we also got some candy that mommy made quick work of, and daddy opened a card with some funny green paper in it. i dunno what it was, but daddy’s eyes sure did light up. he said something about dinner in the city when we go down there in a few days to see aunties loretta and lisa.

all i wanna say is, “THANKS GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!” i love you oodles!

The federal No Child Left Behind act is based on the Texas version, so Rice University (w00t! go Owls!) studied the “success” of the Texas program. Extrapolate what you will. Here are a few excerpts (Of course, you might as well read the whole thing, as much as I have excerpted):

***

“No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), directly contributes to lower graduation rates.”

“60 percent of African-American students, 75 percent of Latino students and 80 percent of ESL students did not graduate within five years.”

“The study shows as schools came under the accountability system, which uses student test scores to rate schools and reward or discipline principals, massive numbers of students left the school system. The exit of low-achieving students created the appearance of rising test scores and of a narrowing of the achievement gap between white and minority students, thus increasing the schools’ ratings.”

“The higher the stakes and the longer such an accountability system governs schools, the more school personnel view students not as children to educate but as potential liabilities or assets for their school’s performance indicators, their own careers or their school’s funding.”

“The study shows a strong relationship between the increasing number of dropouts and school’s rising accountability ratings.”

“The discrepancy between the official dropout rates, in the 2 to 3 percent range, and the actual rates can be attributed to the state’s method of counting, which does not include students who drop out of school for reasons such as pregnancy or incarceration or declare intent to take the GED sometime in the future.”

***

Wow. Kind of speaks for itself. Taking this to absurd conclusions, the goal of NCLB might as well be “one high-performing white kid per school with the rest of the ’students’ at home prepping for the GED.”

(Recently, the White House agreed to lessen some of the punitive measures of NCLB. Who knows to what end.)

i realize it’s been a few days since i posted any photos. we have new material, but my staff hasn’t had a chance to upload and edit and do all the other stuff they (actually, SHE) do to keep you, my beloved fans, entertained and informed …

in the meantime, here is a pic … it’s from late january … new stuff is coming soon!

so daddy went to the doctor yesterday for a cholesterol test, and he totally kicked major butt!

the doctor already had the results this morning, and daddy lowered his cholesterol by about 15% … 32 points, to be exact … how did he do it?! well, those endless admonishments to eat low-fat, high-fiber, non-processed foods are apparently right … mommy and daddy have pretty much eliminated the crap (especially the eating out). they have cut down on their meat intake, and as they have written in past posts … mommy has stopped cooking with butter and bacon fat … daddy also dutifully takes omega-3 and nature made’s cholest-off, both of which — mommy is choosing to believe — have helped him.

so what did mommy and daddy do to celebrate daddy’s recently vetted healthiness? they had greasy, cheesy pizza with pepperoni and peppers, of course!

ahhhh, the irony.

p.s. mommy is ridiculously lucky … her cholesterol has always been low, even with all she has ingested in her life … and she has fabulously high HDL … AND she has been taking omega-3 supplements since she found out she was preggo with yours truly and while she was nursing me … omega-3 is supposed to help me be smart!

today wasn’t a good day. it wasn’t a bad day, either … just kinda blah.

mommy’s feeling very peevish … the economy is a mess … we are getting another rainy, sleety storm tomorrow … she keeps seeing stories about tibet and clashes between buddhist monks and the chinese military … and then there are the old standbys for generating angst and grumpiness: afghanistan and iraq …

BUT there were some high points today … mommy finished two more pairs of booties, so now i have THREE pairs to choose from … i am quite the well-shod modern man …

AND mommy and i caught the last half or so of david paterson’s swearing-in speech … he’s our new governor, and mommy was particularly impressed with the way he delivered his speech … his tone sounded sincere. his words were clear and concise. he emanated understanding and compassion. he dropped a couple of very funny jokes with a warm delivery. mommy is feeling very hopeful … what a change from the vitriol and frenetic bickering that has characterized politics, not just in albany, but also in dutchess county and even in the piddling poughkeepsie city government …

it was a real pleasure to listen to paterson speak.

mommy couldn’t find a transcript of his speech; admittedly, she didn’t look very hard, but here is an article about him (that she hasn’t yet read) in the new york times.

tomorrow morning we will go for our walk … the rain isn’t supposed to get here until mid afternoon … i should probably start thinking about which pair of booties i want to wear tomorrow … an embarrassment of riches, i tell you!