This post comes fast upon the heels of my reading an article about Oxford addition of hundreds of pop culture related words such as the acronyms:LOL, LMAO,etc, to “muffin top”. Now as a connoisseur of the English language you might think that I am going to rant and rave about how it is Oxford’s duty to protect us from the bastardization of our precious vernacular. In fact, it is just the opposite. I praise Oxford for recognizing that language evolves. Discovering the entomology of words is a little hobby of mine. No, I would never scandalize such a progressive practice. No, I prefer to reserve my venom for the plethora of cheechakos(Look it up; it is a word.) who cannot contextualize the usage of said words. It seems to me that many people have decided to blur, if not obliterate the lines between the use of formal and colloquial language. The only thing worse than reading an essay littered with chat/text “isms” is reading a professional document/email that also commits such atrocities. It seems that in an attempt to make life more convenient people have chosen to ignore common sense writing in favour of “gettin er done”. Perhaps the next generation of world leaders will popularize such lingo in their public addresses. Hey, while we are at it, why don’t we revive Esperanto, or start inserting random chinese characters in the middle of our sentences…I guess what I am saying is that I welcome the evolution of language , but not the devolution of humanity. I do not want our language practices to become as “obese” as we are becoming as a society.
If you haven’t picked up on it this one is my two cents on the whole Charlie Sheen media frenzy. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Chuck, I really do…at least pre “tigerblood” and “winning” Charlie. Despite this, I find myself mildly annoyed every time I hear another story about his latest antics. I mean seriously, who hasn’t had their “Darkside”? I seem to remember mine occurring in my 20s. Now mind you, my shenanigans didn’t involve illicit drugs or porn stars but it had its moments. The difference is I was in my 20s…I wasn’t married, I didn’t have children and dammit I am not a public figure. It is pathetic that a man can go around touting what a megastar he is when his children have just been taken away from him. Truthfully, my annoyance doesn’t lie heavily with Sheen. Instead with the thousands of idiots that are now viewing this guy as a hero. Testimony comes from the million+ followers Sheen garners in his first foray into the Twittersphere. Truthfully, half of them are just there to watch the train wreck unfold. The other half are the 30+ males who see Sheen’s actions as a validation that permits them to behave like complete a$$holes. I have already read asinine rants from bloggers proclaiming media martyrdom for Sheen and touting them as their hero. When did dysfunction become the new normal? As I complete this entry Sheen has booked live shows across the U.S. Perhaps they should be self-help seminars entitled “How to lose your kids in 10 easy steps”. The only thing more pathetic than the sheep whocyber- idolize Sheen are the throngs of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who will show up to these events to bask in his stupidity. My only hope is that Charlie is really as illas he appears. Otherwise, how will he explain his decision to trade his beautiful children for his “Fraternity of Idiocy”???
P.S. Kudos to WB for firing his a$$but please…don’t ressurect the show it will never be as good.
When I consider the plethora of technological resources available to teachers and students…my head hurts. Not because I am overwhelmed or consider myself a Luddite, but instead by the immense reponsibility such access places on the end user. Whenever I attempt to engage my students with technology, inevitably, the conversation turns to technological integrity. That is, the responsibility we have as individuals to not be mindless drones that accept media at face value and to challange the validity of what we encounter. Ihave had students plagarize quite poorly from the internet who have little understanding of why it is wrong. Others who say well if I can read it on wikipedia doesn’t that mean its true, etc. In observing the wealth of ways that our students’ minds can be bombarded with, many choose the path of least effort with little concern for the authenticity of their work. In the face of this it becomes ever important to discuss the notion of intellectual property. Students don’t grasp that some of the end user agreements they blindly accept actually give the website rights to their original compositions. In the end, it isn’t just about technointegrit…it is also about technointelligence.
I teach a poem called Identity by Julio Polanco in which he uses the extended metaphor of flowers and weeds to connote social classes. I am going to borrow from him and instead use the metaphor to relate to students. Obviously one can make the connections of which represents students positive and negative connotations. I am prompted to make this entry because twice this week I have had students come after missing almost half the quarter (I teach quarter classes) and ask if they could get the work. In both cases the students had already been removed from the class. The query that I am pondering though is : How do these students think that they realistically have a chance at success? I try my best to give every student the opportunity for success but really?? Do the “weeds” really believe that so little occurred in three weeks that they can just “spring up” and go about their business. I do my best to cultivate the minds of my charges so that knowledge blooms there. But even the best botanist can’t grow a lily in the desert. Learning is a fragile process that requires that both teacher and learner are equally committed to the learner’s success(in whatever form that takes). At the beginning of each class when I am explaining the destination for the course I let students know that your journey ends when I am working harder that you for your success. That means that if my students don’t give me at least equal commitment to the process they need to reconsider their purpose in being there. After all, the most beautiful gardens are the result of the commitment of the gardener and a great deal of help from nature.
The song by Creed in the title of my latest post has always been a favourite of mine but never as much as when my wife and I started having children. Well once again I find myself bleary-eyed by the lyrics of the song as my beautiful little angel Megan Olivia has entered our lives. I never imagined that after witnessing the births of my son Andrew and my daughter Erica that I could have room in my heart to love another child with such intensity. And yet, here I find myself completelyswept away by my little Megan. I have a friend who is unable to father children for medical reasons. Having freshly witnessed Megan’s entrance into this hostile world I am easily reminded what a tragedy his situation really is. Despite the fact that I am in desperate want of sleep(even as I compose this), I would never trade this blessing in my life for anything. If you have never experienced the moment when you first look into the eyes of your newborn child, you have never truly lived. So, I welcome the sleepless nights that come with newborns and the sleepless nights that will come as they grow older and I will always do so “With Arms Wide Open”.
I tried to post part of this saga a few months ago but it all got erased and I was too pissed off to do it again. So, now for the abridged version…I finally spoke with Mr. Lepp(actually I spoke, he shouted at me.). After calming him down I finally got him to agree that the only way to resolve this problem was to order me a new console. A much more timid Mr. Lepp phoned me at home to say it would take six to eight weeks to come in. Well, that time passed and I received no news about the console. I called to find out that it actually had been in for two weeks. Another two weeks passed with no call before I had time to call to set up an appointment. Fastforward to today when finally my Sedona has the brand new console it deserves. I know it is new because I descreetly marked the other to ensure that they didn’t just clean the old one. Thank-you Kia of Saskatoon! But seriously folks, when did the provision of quality customer service become optional? I always dreamed as a younger man that when I finally was in a position to afford a brand new vehicle that the experience would be somewhat euphoric. Instead, I feel obliged to resort to trickery to get the best service possible. It used to be when you brought your vehicle in for service that the shop would clean it up for you…Not Kia of Saskatoon. In fact, if you remember, they were to lazy to even clean the console that they were trying to pass off as new:(. I am saddened by the fact that I, the proud new owner of a Sedona feel distrust every time I bring my vehicle for routine maintenance. Perhaps if they demonstrate that it was a one-time lapse in judgement, we can move beyond this whole fiasco. Incidentallly, the Sedona is a very nice van and the 2011 model has made some upgrades. I recommend the van, but you might want to consider your options for dealers. P.S. The Lepp family also owns Village Auto Sales…
Well, rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I have however returned with a contentious topic. I recently went to Kia of Saskatoon to become the proud (or so I thought) owner of a Kia Sedona minivan. My eyes were widely opened by this experience! I originally thought we were still in the days where the consumer dollar still held alot of weight. At Kia of Saskatoon this no longer seems to be the case… As their 2010 clearout offered 0% financing, I went Kia in search of the acclaimed Sedona in effort to meet the needs of my growing family. I also thought I would be getting a shrewdly negotiated price. As it turned out(despite what their website boasted), they no longer had any 2010s in stock. They could, however search the national database and see if there was a van at other dealerships that met my specifications. Voila, there was one in BC. However, with the importing of this lovely Cashmere Beige machine I exported any hopes of negotiating a fair price. Our salesman Michael had to ask the sales manager about everything…really the poor guy was little more than a go between. When it came time to discuss financing…the walls went up. There was no way they could go any lower I was told; the costs of importing this van (which I was paying) made it next to impossible….Then came the number crunching, where a phantom $232 dollars entered the mix(sidebar:the Kia Canada website posts significantly lower costs to suck you in…they cover their asses by saying it is only an estimate in the fine print. A practice that the poor sales manager says frustrates the dealers…yeah right.). When I suggested that if they couldn’t explain the cost I wasn’t paying it the sales manager Neil started raising his voice and saying he wasn’t willing to sell me the van at that cost. Michael’s eyes went wide and he attempted to diffuse the situation by pulling Neil aside. Enter Mr. Don Lepp GM of Kia Saskatoon…He was quickly able to decipher the nightmare and conveniently(for him) locate the missing costs. He seemed like a reasonable guy who pointed out to me that they only stood to make $500 on the van and couldn’t possible offer any extras because the National guys didn’t let them. Finally, I was able to get a monthly payment I could live with(though I could never regain the hours I spent getting it) and was the tired owner of a new Sedona…in one week well, actually, two weeks. When it finally arrived it had to be inspected(which I also paid for). Suprisingly, they missed the fact that it was missing the antenna and that the front console had huge gouges in it. No worries…Michael assured me that he could take a picture and they would order a new one. I got the antenna but two weeks later, no console. I asked the parts guys to check on it to which they declared it had never been ordered. I brought this to the attention of Michael who passed the buck to the service manager David Landa. ”No problem.” he said, “We’ll just take one out of our vans on the lot.” Great, problem solved… or was it??? I brought the van in to have the console replaced. When I went to pick it up the service advisor made a point of saying “Yep, we replaced it with a brand new console from a BRAND NEW van!” When I went out to my van I looked at my BRAND NEW console which was covered in coffee stains.WHAAAAT???????????? I went into the service department to suggest that if they were going to lie to me they should have at least cleaned the damn thing!!!! The service manager simply sat in his office and hid as I watched his face turn red. I promptly tried to contact Mr. Don Lepp…who has yet to return my call. So being a man of the digital age…I begin my campaign to spread the word… Wanna See Ya in a Kia…Do they…Really?
P.S. My greatest disappointment lies in the fact that I,
as a brand new Kia customer, cannot trust the people I am supposed to bring my vehicle to for warranty work.
