Wednesday, December 20, 2006

That is Crazy

One of my students informed me that when I search the name Mario Landeros my blog comes up second on Google results. This relates to a previous diatribe I made about Google searching my name. That is some crazy stuff, I am just saying. Mr. Purtill if you played any role in this thanks.

New Look, New Year

I am starting my New Year's resolutions early!!!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

I HATE BEING SICK

I REALLY HATE BEING SICK. I am in the pre-sick stage right now, by tomorrow I will be completely sick. Friday I will sleep 18 hours. Saturday I will get a kick back in my step. Sunday I will be my usual self. Monday I start the work week with the focus that I only have one week and then I have Winter Break. I will see if my plan happens the way I want it to happen.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

R.I.P. Jose Uribe


My heart sunk today when I found out that Jose Uribe died in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic. Jose is so entrenched in my child memories. I can remember walking to breezy Candlestick Park with my brother and dad, going up the escalator, and watching one of the greatest double play tandems ever. It seems silly but it is the inexplicaly important details that you remember from your childhood. Case in point like the Giants' shortsop in the 80's. Read the story to find out more.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Something That Is Bothering Me Right Now

It seems like this comes up way too much. The words “gay” and/or “homo” in my opinion are two blaring signs that one is ignorant and inconsiderate. Being ignorant and inconsiderate are probably to of my biggest pet peeves. Unfortunately for the age group I teach the word “gay” is engrained in there vernacular.
When I hear somebody say “My computer is acting gay right now” I usually ask two questions “What does that mean?” and “How can a non-living object be gay?” The first problem with this word or any pejorative (N-word, Wetback, and any other term for that matter) is that it is offensive. Even if it is not offensive to me it is offensive to somebody in the room and for that you should be considerate.
I am not gay but people I love very much are, when you say words like “homo” or even stronger you are making a judgment about those people I love. If you want to see me mad then make a judgment about my family and others I care about. I don’t think it would be appreciated of I questioned and critique your faith or ethnicity.
The last point I will make about this is how people just sound ignorant. Why would you say a word that carries no meaning for what you are trying to say? Printers, ties, smells, food are all gay and I just can’t understand why. When I see students acting ignorant it is more disenchanting then anything. It is hard for me to believe that in 2006 we still have people like this. It has nothing do with validating anyone’s lifestyle choice but more respecting them as a human being. Imagine that respecting someone as a human being not for their color of their skin, the way they talk, or their sexual preference. My basic point about this is that you should treat people the way you would like to be treated. I know that sounds warm and fuzzy but it shouldn’t.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Solzhenitsyn Quotes

I did not know a whole lot about Alexander Solzhenitsyn before reading his book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. By reading his book I have been engaged with the type of person and writer he is. He truly is one of the great writers of the 21st century. Here are some quotes that qet me thinking.

"Man has set for himself the goal of conquering the world but in the
processes loses his soul."


"If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being? "


"History has in different questions laid out some tremendous turnabouts and
curves."


"Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying
as his principle."


"There are a lot of clear thinkers everywhere."

Friday, December 01, 2006

Ivan Denisovich Quote Analysis

For this Assignment you will need to analyze five quotes from One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. In your anaylsis you should tell me the context (what is going in the story at the time), meaning (what you think the quote means or is trying to say) & theme (how does this quote relate to one of the themes)

Here are some quotes:

Quote 1: "Here, men, we live by the law of the taiga. But even here people manage to live. The ones that don't make it are those who lick other men's leftovers, those who count on the doctors to pull them through, and those who squeal on their buddies." pg. 4

Quote 2: "Work was like a stick. It had two ends. When you worked for the knowing you gave them quality; when you worked for a fool you simply gave him eyewash. Otherwise, everybody would have croaked long ago. They all knew that." pg. 12

Quote 3: "Apart from sleep, the only time a prisoner lives for himself is ten minutes in the morning at breakfast, five minutes over dinner, and five at supper." pg. 14

Quote 4: "How can you expect a man who's warm to understand a man who's cold? The cold stung. A murky fog wrapped itself around Shukhov and made him cough painfully. The temperature out there was -17; Shukov's temperature was 99. The fight was on." pg. 19

Quote 5: "Every nerve in his body was taut, all his longing was concentrated in that cigarette butt--which meant more to him now, it seemed, than freedom itself--but he would never lower himself like that Fetiukov, he would never look at a man's mouth." pg. 24-25

Quote 6: "Alyosha , who was standing next to Shukov, gazed at the sun and looked happy, a smile on his lips. What had he to be happy about? His cheeks were sunken, he lived strictly on his rations, he earned nothing. He spent all his Sundays muttering with the other Baptists. They shed hardships of camp life like water off a duck's back." pg. 36

Quote 7: "In camp the squad leader is everything: a good one will give you a second life; a bad one will put you in your coffin." pg. 36

Quote 8: "There was truth in that. Better to growl and submit. If you were stubborn they broke you." pg. 41

Quote 9: "Shukov looked up at the sky and gasped--the sun had climbed almost to the dinner hour. Wonder of wonders! How time flew when you were working! That was something he'd often noticed. The days rolled by in the camp--they were over before you could say knife. But the years, they never rolled by; they never moved by a second." pg. 53

Quote 10: "He was a newcomer. He was unused to the hard life of the zeks. Though he didn't know it, moments like this were particularly important to him, for they were transforming him from an eager, confident naval officer with a ringing voice into an inert, though wary, zek. And only in that inertness lay the chance of surviving the twenty-five years of imprisonment he'd been sentenced to." pg.

Quote 11: "But Shukov wasn't made that way--eight years in a camp couldn't change his nature. He worried about anything he could make use of, about every scrap of work he could do--nothing must be wasted without good reason." pg. 88

Quote 12: "Why can't you understand? The stars fall down now and then. The gaps have to be filled." pg. 90-91

Quote 13: "Who's the zek's main enemy? Another zek. If only they weren't at odds with one another--ah, what a difference that'd make!" pg. 101

Quote 14: "He had less and less cause to remember Temgenovo and his home there. Life in camp wore him out from reveille to bedtime, with not a second for idle reflections." pg. 107

Quote 15: "And now Shukov complained about nothing: neither about the length of his stretch, nor about the length of the day, nor about their swiping another Sunday. This was all he thought about now: we'll survive. We'll stick it out, God willing, till it's over." pg. 117

Quote 16: "D'you mean to say you think Old Whiskers will take pity on you? Why, he wouldn't trust his own brother. You haven't a chance, you ass." pg. 122

Quote 17: "When you thought about it, you couldn't help feeling sorry for him. He wouldn't live to see the end of his stretch. His attitude was all wrong." pg. 125

Quote 18: "Ten days. Ten days hard in the cells--if you sat them out to the end, your health would be ruined for the rest of your life. T.B. and nothing but hospital for you till you kicked the bucket. As for those who got fifteen days hard and sat them out--they went straight into a hole in the cold earth. As long as you're in the barracks--praise the Lord and sit tight." pg. 129

Quote 19: "You should rejoice that you're in prison. Here you have time to think about your soul." pg. 136

Quote 20: "they hadn't put him in the cells; they hadn't sent his squad to the settlement; he'd swiped a bowl of kasha at dinner; the squad leader had fixed the rates well; he'd built a wall and enjoyed doing it; he'd smuggled that bit of hacksaw blade through; he'd earned a favor from Tsezar that evening; he'd bought that tobacco. And he hadn't fallen ill. He got over it." pg. 139

Quote 21: "A day without a dark cloud. Almost a happy day. There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang of the rail. Three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days. The three extra days were for leap years." pg. 139