Drive-Bys

I'm putting this on Mr. Monkey Toes' birthday list this year:
That's just too cute for words, and I'm sure his daddy will approve!
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What's wrong with education in Chicago?

Our school day in Chicago is so short that by the time a kid graduates from high school, she will have been in the classroom four years less than her counterpart in Houston. As I heard Rahm Emanuel put it, a kid in Houston essentially has an extra entire high school education when compared to our kids. Four more years of education!

The statistic is equal parts sad and telling, and makes me realize why NASA is headquartered in Houston and not Illinois.

I don't care how advanced a curriculum is, there is no way a kid can compete with a four-year disparity. And that is just compared to Houston. I shudder to think how students in Japan are eating our kids' lunch, as there the school year is about 240 days, not a measly 180 days like ours.

It reminds me that instead of having high-brow debates about the best way to educate our kids, we should instead be doing something extremely low-brow. My wise mother simply called it "tush in seats." That is, we need more tushes, in more seats, for more hours. Only once that happens should we turn to other curriculum debates.

Who will fight this effort the most? The teachers union, of course.
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If you have a pet, whether cat, dog, ferret, bird or turtle, print this article and tape it inside a kitchen cabinet or medicine chest. You may thank me for that one day.
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Not getting enough sleep these days? Put the tech toys down at least an hour before you go to bed. (Unless, of course, you have a Kindle or Nook or any other e-reader with e-ink.)
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Not so popular with the kids?

The White House is ramping up an effort to promote a nationwide competition to decide which high school wins a commencement speech by President Obama.

An internal White House memo indicates that the White House is facing a shortage of applications less than a week before the deadline.

The competition was extended from the February 25 deadline until Friday, March 11 after few schools met the original application deadline. CBS News has learned a White House Communications Office internal memo dated February 22 noted "a major issue with the Commencement Challenge."

"As of yesterday we had received 14 applications and the deadline is Friday," the memo said. The memo also urged recipients to, "please keep the application number close hold."

A follow-up memo on February 28 reported receipt of 68 applications. Noting the competition among more than 1,000 schools last year, the memo said, "Something isn't working."

Ya think? That's just a sad state of affairs.
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Every photo on this page is breathtakingly beautiful. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
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I have a good friend in her mid-40's who just had her second heart attack. As she says, when it comes to smoking, not quitting is "not an option" any more.

I sent her my list of things that worked for me.

If you or anyone you know is thinking of quitting, please pass it on.
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Ear Worm of the Day:



What the heck -- let's have another:


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Giggle of the Day:


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One more thing:


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And one more, for my Meezer Boys:

Drive-Bys

The brilliant (and bent) mind behind @MayorEmanuel is finally revealed:

For weeks, journalists and insiders have urged the person behind @MayorEmanuel to reveal himself, but he (or she) demurred. Until now. After a protracted email negotiation, the author has outed himself to The Atlantic. He's receiving no compensation.

The genius behind @MayorEmanuel is Dan Sinker, who has a heart made out of Chicago and balls of punk rock.

Read the whole beautiful thing.

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I don't know why anyone would pay full price for a meal in Chicago, what with Groupon, YouSwoop, LivingSocial, kgbDeals, Open Table and Village Vines offering wonderful deals. And now there's a new and innovative entry into the market -- gDine.com:

Bargain-hunters, there's another discount-dining game in town.

gDine.com launched in the Chicago market today with about 20 participating restaurants, and owner Rakeesh Thakkar says he'll have 100 restaurants within two months.

"It's Opentable meets Orbitz meets Restaurant Week," Thakkar says.

Positioned as an alternative to couponing, the site lists restaurants and their deals, generally a set menu (with choices) for a given price. Diners select a day and time, pay up front and arrive to dine with the big unknown -- the check -- already paid.

Thakkar says the format is especially helpful to larger parties. Individuals can pay their share up front and enjoy dinner with no "who-ordered-what" issues at meal's end.

Sounds good!

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Have any of my readers tried this Provent doohicky?

Looks to me like it would beat the hell out of a CPAP machine or any of the dental devices available on any number of levels -- less invasive, more mobility in bed (YOU try turning over with a hose attached to your head without strangling yourself and/or yanking the machine off the nightstand), and certainly more portability.

I'm seriously thinking about getting the free trial sets, but would be interested to know if any of you have tried this product and how it did or did not work for you.

P.S. -- Given that my dreams, which are once again lasting all night long, have recently featured little pop-up ads in the lower right-hand corner of my dreams, just like the ones at Pajamas Media, anything that would improve my quality of sleep at this point would be welcomed.

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Note to self: Pay attention to the weather report and carry a damned umbrella if rain or sleet is in the forecast. You'll pay the price if you don't.

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Sunday Schedule

Quote of the Day:

" I think the best gift to a woman is a man who listens."

I think I just fell in love... with Common.

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Coming to Chicago any time soon? If so, bookmark this fabulous listing of loads of places to find dinner for two for under $20.

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Also, pump up your Chicago trivia knowledge by noodling around here. Lots of cool info that most of us who live here don't even know!

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Love Chicago style hot dogs? And a great love story? The Superdawg story has it all!

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With work sheets laid out on the tables, the 11 high school students looked ready to dive into their group projects.

But this exercise wasn't about trigonometry problems or physics theories. Instead, the teens were being tested on their financial smarts in a lesson called "good debt vs. bad debt."

The teachers who concocted the exercise were two financial planners who stood front and center in a personal-finance class.

This is developing not just personal finance knowledge, but also critical thinking skills. More, please!

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Hmmmm....

More than ever, consumer electronics -- particularly laptops, smartphones and Apple's new iPad -- are shining bright light into our eyes until just moments before we doze off.

Now there's growing concern that these glowing gadgets may actually fool our brains into thinking it's daytime. Exposure can disturb sleep patterns and exacerbate insomnia, some sleep researchers said in interviews.

This actually makes sense to me, as I fall asleep much faster if I read on my Kindle for half an hour or so before laying down than if I just switch off the laptop and try going to sleep.

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Here's a love story that'll break your heart... unless you've got no heart at all:

A cassette tape is waiting for me. It sits in a small bubble mailer on my night table. It stares at me when I walk in the room; it beckons to me as I walk out. But still it sits there and waits. It is the last thing. The last thing he sent to me from "over there."

There is no note inside, just a regular old-school cassette tape. The outside of the envelope is addressed in his handwriting. "Love, Poppa Bear" is written on the back. I've opened it to look inside, but I haven't yet drawn up the courage to listen.

And here's the follow-up:

Yesterday was pretty emotional. I had talked to some people in the morning and I realized that I needed to sit down and have a discussion with my husband. I talk to him all the time, but I think I let him know too often how angry I still am at the situation. So I sat and I talked with him. I really opened up my heart and reminded him how much I do love him and that no matter what, that will never, ever change. I laid on the floor and just talked and talked, and it felt so good to be openly communicating the way we once did. I then needed some music so I put on the playlist I had made for him and recorded on to a tape to send him to Afghanistan. I found that I needed more of him, I wanted to hear him too, so I did it... I listened to the tape. It was difficult, I cried through much of it. He talked about being so excited to come home and hold us and hearing those things after the fact is so hard. I had somehow forgotten how funny he was and found myself laughing through my tears. It was great hearing his voice, as emotional and difficult as it was, I enjoyed it. I am so thankful my mom had that idea to send tapes and we have this (albeit, old) piece of technology to keep him, and his voice, alive.

Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto - "Bringing Him Home" from DiamondFilms on Vimeo.

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