Of This, and That - Tuesday Edition

1. Anybody else ready to just kidnap Jenny and not tell anyone where she is? In other words, can we make a decision - preferably whichever one will resort in the least amount of hand-wringing and squawking - and do it already. 2. If you can't beat them, throw them off the ballot. 3. Gordon Keith, do you really Twitter? 4. Good news! I may soon be able to pack heat at school (if I become a teacher), and at any national park (regardless of my profession). My aim is substantially better than this guy's, though. 5. OK, lemme get this straight. Some people pay extra to live someplace, and get told what they can park in their yards? And they like this? And it's in the suburbs, not Potemkin Village? 6. Dear Canton: A 59-mile commute is not what I would consider acceptable if I wanted to work in the "Metroplex." Also, Metroplex is stupid. Quit using it, or someone will mistake you for a Potemkin Village. However, Metroplex the Transformer is one kick-arse robot.

What I Do When I'm Really, Really Bored, or "Lordy, She's a Test Nerd!"

I bet you thought it was going to be blog, right? But no. I started taking the TAKS the first year they provided a sample test - I took the paper version then - for a story on how hard/not hard the 11th grade TAKS is. Now, when I get bored, I go to the TEA Web site and take the test sections online, just to see if I can beat my last best score. It's also kind of an eye-opener if you've never actually tried to find out what everyone is stressing over. I think anyone who is going to open their piehole about teachers, schools, etc., should try to pass all the sections of the TAKS. You can play around with the online versions here, and downlowd pdf versions of the real thing, and an answer key to check those answers, here.