chrisleiker.com

Category: Uncategorized

  • When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

    Arthur C. Clarke, Hazards of Prophecy

    This is Clarke’s Law

    (via stoweboyd)

  • Tom Hank’s granddaughter first experience of Disneyland and Winnie the Pooh.

    Failing at Grandfathering, you are winning, Tom Hanks.

  • sublimemichael:

    Couch kitten

  • sesamestreet:

    You should probably follow Cookie Monster on Twitter. 

    http://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster

    How have I not been doing this?

  • When saying “Fuck it” and walking off is a good thing.

    What should you do when you come across something wrong? For some bright-eyed students out there the answer is to confront the issue. In Arvada Colorado newly elected school board members proposed they revamp their AP US History to “promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. Additionally, they should present positive aspects of the United States. The last line is the ultimate in projecting, insisting coverage of political and social movements should "present balanced and factual treatment” of the information.

    These students view this proposal as whitewashing of the ugly truth behind our country. Instead of grousing but still going to class, rolling their eyes and doing their damnedest to make the teacher miserable (guilty as charged) they choice to walk the fuck out and make their point. These students did something and by acting the school board is under greater scrutiny. Their opening salvo was a success.

  • coldswarkids:

    edwardspoonhands:

    thelegendofkungjew:

    doxian:

    d-dinosaur:

    rknjl:

    newvagabond:

    NO “TELEPHONES”. TALK TO EACH OTHER. FACE TO FACE ONLY. WRITE A LETTER. SEND A TELEGRAM TO YOUR MOM. PRETEND IT’S 1860. LIVE.

    NO ‘WRITING’… TALK TO EACH OTHER. THROW A ROCK AT YOUR MOM. PRETEND IT’S 10,000 BCE.  LIVE.

    URGGA. ROU GRAAURH. RUH.

    <SMACKS HANDS ON WALL WITH PAINT.>

    NO ‘HIGHER BRAIN FUNCTIONS’ …USE YOUR REPTILIAN BRAIN

    EAT YOUR MOM’S CORPSE SHE DIED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SUSTENANCE

    PRETEND YOU HAVE JUST AROSE FROM THE SEA

    SURVIVE

    NO “MULTICELLULAR TRAITS”….. USE YOUR SYMBIOTIC MITOCHONDRIA

    REPRODUCE ASEXUALLY, YOU’RE YOUR OWN PARENT

    PRETEND IT’S 2BYA

    EVOLVE

    NO “LIFE.” USE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL FORCES TO FORM SPHERICAL OBJECTS REVOLVING AROUND ONE ANOTHER IN SPACE. 

    FUSE HYDROGEN INTO HELIUM USING GRAVITATIONAL PRESSURE TO PRODUCE HEAT AND LIGHT. 

    PRETEND IT’S 4.5BYA.

    STABILIZE INTO EQUILIBRIA

    NO “MATTER”.  EXIST IN THE VOID WITHOUT PURPOSE OR MEANING.

    THERE IS NO “YOU”, ONLY THE VAST CONCEPT OF NOTHING.

    TIME DOES NOT EXIST.

    BE.

  • Hey John! I live right outside of Dallas and a few school districts in the area have been pressured to suspend books from the 10th grade curriculum (fortunately not my district). We were assigned an article to read about these suspensions for a class, and I was disappointed to see An Abundance of Katherines on the list of controversial books. I know you got some flip a few years ago for Looking for Alaska, but Katherines is a lot milder, making it all the more annoying… Any thoughts? Thanks.

    fishingboatproceeds:

    This case seems especially enlightening to me because there are so few “dirty” or “controversial” parts in An Abundance of Katherines. I mean, it’s a buddy novel about two best friends who literally use the word “fug” in lieu of the word “fuck,” and who when they curse, do so mostly in Arabic or German. Is the non-English cursing the issue? It it the book’s abundance of abstract mathematics? Its misplacement of the tomb of Archduke Franz Ferdinand? The fact that one of the central characters is a Muslim?

    I really don’t know. And it’s not clear to me that the school districts that have banned the book have a particularly good handle on the “why” of it either. 

    I’m sorry if I sound a little exasperated here, but I’m frustrated because we train and pay teachers to teach, and then we don’t trust them to teach. 

    Some parents seem to feel that public school exists solely for the benefit of their children and that everything in the curriculum must align with their value systems. But that’s ludicrous: Public schools exist for the benefit of the PUBLIC, so that we as a country might have a better educated population capable of critical thinking. We decided centuries ago that this was good—that education in childhood leads to more informed and engaged citizens, and that education also helps people to grow the economy through innovation and increased productivity. 

    So my frustration isn’t with Katherines or any other book. It’s about what schools should do: Should schools tell you only what your parents think they should tell you? Or should that stuff be decided by the educators who’ve been trained explicitly for that purpose?

    I wholeheartedly agree.

    Although I’m willing to bed the book was banned for the outdoor scene. I won’t be more specific lest I spoil it for someone out there.

  • rillawafers:

    bunnyfood:samxpoope