tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238550262024-03-23T14:15:59.540-04:00SWAMBO This is a blog about love and loss. I used to write about politics, but no more. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger581125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-46467080478021956122012-11-23T07:35:00.005-05:002012-11-23T07:35:51.904-05:00Happy Birthday Karen Beth Hunter, wherever you are!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-19779995598743139402012-11-23T07:35:00.003-05:002012-11-23T07:35:40.589-05:00Happy Birthday Karen Beth Hunter, wherever you are!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-78835452714761882142012-11-23T07:35:00.001-05:002012-11-23T07:35:35.435-05:00Happy Birthday Karen Beth Hunter, wherever you are!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-89888561089546222732012-09-02T12:04:00.001-04:002012-09-02T12:04:22.322-04:00It's weird and terribly lonely to be writing on this blog today, the seventh anniversary of the death of my friend Karen Beth Hunter. Part of me wants to go out, part of me cannot go out. Over the years, my friends have forgotten. It's not their fault. Amazing though One waited until close to midnight to call me a few years ago. I have friends who can't stand Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-51479198216516066282012-07-18T00:20:00.001-04:002012-07-18T00:20:10.706-04:00In honor of HenryIn honor of the anniversary of losing Henry, Larry ran around like a maniac chasing a feather and then started lifting the toy on his own and Bernie went after it.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-542488906040952642012-07-16T23:12:00.002-04:002012-07-18T21:01:26.394-04:00FloodlightsIn the compressed, florescent light of the ambulance, Manuel thought the green bottle looked just like a toy lighter he had tried to purchase for 25 cents in a vending machine. The green plastic enticed him, itself a reminder of the bottom of the kitchen glasses which broke easily when he knocked them off the table when he was 2 and 3 years old. He squished the bottle and almost cracked it. “Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-6462511910835997962012-07-05T06:37:00.001-04:002012-07-18T20:47:54.443-04:00Voluntary RedundancyAs I was reading The Guardian this morning, I noticed reference to a very curious phrase called, "Voluntary Redundancy." This roughly translates to a buyout by a company of select workers -- with a generous severance pay offer. After a little research, I found The Guardian, had done a longer piece on the fact that companies were likely to offer many workers this option, given job projections in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-77664352984685803052012-05-20T19:56:00.001-04:002012-05-20T19:56:19.540-04:00Larry will be writing more in the summerLarry wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for not keeping up with his part of the blog. He's been busy, but is quite well and eager to write. He's been doing a lot of important caring for the Bernster, me and others. Plus, he got his teeth cleaned and he's been turning down toothpaste commercials, left and right.
Soon...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-4646445288183629142012-05-20T19:52:00.001-04:002012-05-20T21:51:48.269-04:00What we talk about when we talk about the UFTForgive me, it's been a long time since I have posted, and I have to be brief.
It's popular for blogs written by and for teachers to be anti-UFT. Recently, some blogs even picked up on the heinous story by the NY Post about UFT president Michael Mulgrew's alleged affair. In doing this, all we are doing is picking up the public's gauntlet and using it to beat ourselves. This is exactly what Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-91513998302109886732012-02-22T01:53:00.003-05:002012-02-22T01:56:16.526-05:00Unchained MemoryNovember 23 went by and I forgot it was your birthday. I probably had no idea it was November 23rd. On Dec 1, I took a month leave to deal with my health. All I could do was find out what was wrong and it was time to go back. I'm trying to address things now. Karen, I miss you and I am more shaped by your loss than I want to be. I want to be shaped by what I found in you, not to seem trite Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-48750315508457703382012-01-22T22:55:00.003-05:002012-01-22T22:58:06.559-05:00The End of the Aspie TeacherWhen I originally published this, I altered facts to protect my identity. I don't want to change it and it doesn't make a difference in the end. Will there ever be more Aspie Teachers?November 5, 2011Teaching: A vanishing safe haven for people with Asperger’s Syndrome.When I was emerging into what has passed for my adulthood, at the age of 25, I took a job as a teacher. To my friends, I said itUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-33019424091047109032011-12-28T22:05:00.003-05:002011-12-28T22:31:49.756-05:00The Death of the Liberal ClassIt's a funny thing - to find yourself writing in oblivion and then being acknowledged as part of a larger...oblivion. In The Death of the Liberal Class, Chris Hedges asserts that, because there is no real voice for dissent in this country, intellectuals have receded into their own veritable caves, with their own Platonic ideals as comfort. For a long time, I have wondered if the world would Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-37524002410366578612011-12-25T22:47:00.008-05:002011-12-30T22:20:55.717-05:00Refugees from SantaLast night, Christmas eve, at about 8:30 EST, a group of about 50 people ranging in ages of 35-50, huddled in a kind of "L" shape across from the row of restaurants at the heart of the East Village's Little India. Certainly they were not waiting to enter one of the many establishments which are decorated in gold and silver tinsel lit with all patterns of hanging lights, in colors ranging from Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-61308769339252550462011-12-24T03:45:00.004-05:002011-12-24T03:51:25.450-05:00Happy Holidays and New Year from Bernie and Larry (It was Bernie's birthday month, after all.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-25557943060472944352011-12-16T20:30:00.000-05:002011-12-16T20:31:25.868-05:0086th Street WeekendUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-15733509424907799122011-11-30T21:56:00.005-05:002011-11-30T22:08:09.818-05:00Bernie turns FIVE on December 1And I couldn't be prouder of him. He has proven to be one of the most loving, caring, sensitive, playful, adorable, handsome, kind and warm creatures on the planet. As you can see, Larry feels the same way. They are often found cuddled around each other, sometimes with Larry all scrunched up against Bernie or Bernie stretched out along Larry. Or like they are now, taking in how lucky they are Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-68747748731037327702011-11-22T20:18:00.006-05:002011-11-22T20:58:03.210-05:00Happy Birthday, Karen Beth Hunter, wherever you are!Karen loved birthday parties in the true childhood sense. She also often said she felt like Gumby, both for his innocence and for the feeling of being stretched and stretchable. So, I've posted the Gumby video "Balloonacy" in her honor, below. Her birthday is tomorrow. She would be 60.I'll try to be silly, tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-87564535876071401012011-11-22T20:17:00.000-05:002011-11-22T20:17:49.678-05:00Gumby Adventures - BalloonacyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-21761760242956367132011-11-05T13:13:00.003-04:002011-11-05T13:14:57.928-04:00Goodbye, Mr. GellerI didn't have you as a teacher. I remember how many of my fellow students liked you, and pronounced your name with awe. Here's a link to an article about Richard Geller, who taught Math at Stuyvesant for 29 years. 29 is a prime number, as he points out.http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/11/02/stuyvesant-students-mourn-a-math-teacher-who-was-no-1/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-20887649619926956462011-09-01T16:28:00.008-04:002011-09-10T06:21:50.111-04:00The Sixth Anniversary of Losing Karen B. HunterEvery Sept 2, I have little truthfully to bring to the day but regret. I have good memories, certainly. All "they can't take away." But my life hasn't grown, except in the ways it always does -- the relationships with my cats. This year I have some stronger human friendships, some strong internet friendships and some new live friendships. I have wizened a bit to the ways of friends she had Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-70475564212962598982011-08-05T08:59:00.004-04:002012-07-01T01:40:54.965-04:00THE PLOT TO KILL SUSAN BOYLETHE PLOT TO KILL SUSAN BOYLE! I didn't see her Cinderella-like debut the night it happened, but learned about it during a peremptory class trip given to select members of the senior class at one of those large, historic high schools which was subsequently closed in Brooklyn, New York. About 30 members of that school's last graduating class had been volunteered the day before, to teach lessons Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-22012970618183523652011-07-16T03:47:00.005-04:002011-07-16T03:58:51.450-04:00We still miss you HenryWe lost Larry's twin brother, the Hennybee, July 17, but were lucky that the Bernilius came to comfort us that same year and be Larry's little brother. But life would never have been the same had we not been graced by a fleetfooted creature with pink ears, a white body and a mark of god on his back. We loved him so.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-58541962743565499322011-06-30T05:01:00.002-04:002011-06-30T05:03:32.389-04:00Waiting for Superman TRUTH: The documentaryPlace this link in your browser and see the real storyhttp://www.waitingforsupermantruth.org/?page_id=316Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-24659888534367707902011-06-24T12:18:00.006-04:002011-06-25T18:48:08.249-04:00Old, familiar facesIn 2008, Brooklyn Comprehensive Night High School closed. It is 2011 and the same dignitaries from what is now called the Department of Education arrived at my current school's graduation. They said the same words at this graduation as they said at BCNHS' graduations. This graduating class has "heart." For, at least, twelve years, BCNHS' June ceremony was one dignitary's "favorite graduation,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23855026.post-16005209196860141172011-06-23T20:12:00.014-04:002011-06-25T05:15:28.483-04:00The Communists are Coming!I got a text message on the bus on the way home. My eyes were on my phone because I left my e-reader at home. Consequently, I cradled my elephantine, non-smart phone in my lap,looking at it so as to dodge eye contact. The screen went white and I clicked the round "OK" button in order to read the new message from a colleague. "My doctor was shocked that teachers are allowed to grade Regents Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0