The Life and Opinions of Sparky

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T20:29:14Z

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

esquire20 @ 2009-11-27T07:51:00

2009-11-27T13:56:02Z

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday

2009-07-24T02:14:05Z

So far, 32 feels a lot like 31 did, but older.

R.I.P. Walter Cronkite

2009-07-18T01:48:14Z

Although I never knew him, I know I'll miss him.

esquire20 @ 2009-06-02T09:28:00

2009-06-02T14:37:07Z

School is officially out for the summer and I just got a call from my principal and it looks like we made safe harbor on our test scores this year. Awesome!

Dom Deluise 1933-2009

2009-05-06T00:57:22Z

Dom Deluise died today. It's not that I knew him personally or saw him everyday, but the world was a little better because you knew someone like Dom Deluise was in it. The man had an incredible passion for life. He wasn't the kind of guy who became resentful about not being a leading man, but enjoyed being the comic relief. Every film he was in was elevated by his performance. A very kind fellow who loved the people around him, I'm sure he will be sorely missed in the hollywood community. The voice of Jeremy the Crow is dead and with him dies Tiger the Cat, Itchy the Dog, and the flamboyantly gay Musical director from Blazing Saddles. I think it's amazing that one guy can be so many loveable characters. Rest in Peace, sir.

esquire20 @ 2009-04-03T21:12:00

2009-04-04T02:20:43Z

Quiz Bowl State tournament is tomorrow in Fort Smith. My kids came in third in our region, so we made it to state! They are very excited. We drew the worst possible bracket in this tournament, but I think we've got a shot. They've worked hard and I'm very proud of all they've accomplished this year. Wish us luck.

Spring Break

2009-03-29T14:03:10Z

Alas, spring break comes to an end. However, this has been one of the more restful spring breaks in recent memory. We went to the cabin in Clarksville for a couple of days last weekend. It rained, but we still had a lot of fun. I managed to get nothing done on the lawn because of said rain, but I certainly don't mind putting that off a week. I graded a buttload of research papers, which doesn't sound like fun, but it is great to get that off my desk. I don't think I'll have anything that lengthy to grade for the rest of the year. I finished reading that series I've been working on since September. I'm anxious to start something new now. I might reread Ender's Game. I never read the entire Ender's cycle, so it might be good to start that again. We're a month and a half away from the AP exam. If I can get some serious prep work in in that time, we might be okay. Once that's over, I'm out of major work stress until next fall. Our deal with UCA for concurrent credit is about to change, so I'm anxious to see what kind of class is going to be required once the dust has settled. We might pick up and do our concurrent credit through UALR. They offer less oversight, but less support, as well. Whatever. I think it'll be fine either way. Xander finally started poopooing in the potty, but we've had additional trouble this week keeping his diaper dry. We almost had that beat before the poopoo event. Everyone keeps telling me that when he's completely ready he'll just start doing it. That would be awesome. We're talking about trying for another baby this summer, so it would be great to have him completely out of diapers before the next one comes along. Anyway, that should catch up anyone who cares up to the present. Hope all is well with you.

esquire20 @ 2009-03-15T18:03:00

2009-03-15T23:11:34Z

Just returned from Newport, Arkansas. I got to do some AP consulting with the students there. They were pretty decent kids. It was almost a two hour drive, though. It's been a long time since I've been in that part of the state. I stopped and ate in Beebe on the way back and got gas. I used to go to Beebe almost every week and I'll bet today was the first time I've been in the city in over five years. It's weird how things change. Anyway, I hope everyone is well.

esquire20 @ 2009-03-12T17:18:00

2009-03-12T22:25:02Z

State Testing is over. Thank you for your thoughts and concerns. The kids seem very confident that it went very well.

esquire20 @ 2009-03-08T19:27:00

2009-03-09T00:34:34Z

The State Literacy tests for High School Juniors are this week. If you pray...I would appreciate the prayer for my kids. Thanks.

Harold Pinter

2008-12-25T17:39:42Z

Wow. Harold Pinter passed away. Holy crap. I now live in a world with no Harold Pinter.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T03:59:31Z

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Iced in

2008-12-17T03:58:48Z

Well, it looks like I'll be iced into my house for two solid days. I normally don't mind a little icing in, as long as I have groceries, but these are the two most inconvenient days to not be at work of the whole year. We had to reset the entire testing schedule and the new schedule isn't nearly as accomodating as the former schedule. Oh well, what are you gonna do? Everyone be careful out there if you're in bad weather.

The Holidays are upon us once more

2008-11-25T03:50:07Z

I know I don't update this thing nearly often enough, but I have some time off this week, so I thought I would throw something up. As far as I can tell, everything is very good at my house. Work is good. I've had a chance to do some consulting work on the side that has generated a little extra income, so that's been nice. Xander has been going to preschool one day a week for four hours. It's just a small two-year-old program and he seems to like it. He's really into dinosaurs right now, so that's been fun. We've worked on potty training a little bit and he likes going in the potty, but he doesn't mind going anywhere else, either. Oh well, one step at a time. Amanda's mom has been living with us for the last couple of months while she gets back on her feet. She's found a new job and she's going to stay with my sister-in-law for a while starting this weekend. I'm hoping this job will work out and she finds her own place before she ends up coming back here. Only time will tell. Anyway, that's about it. Nothing exciting. I've come to realize, though, that a good solid life isn't really all that exciting. Exciting marriages involve affairs and crap like that. Exciting parenting involves stints in rehab and jail. Exciting jobs involve getting shot at, blown up, or some other high stress bullshit. I have come to really appreciate my nice little boring life here with my beautiful wife and son. Yep...boring...that's the way to go.

esquire20 @ 2008-07-07T15:24:00

2008-07-07T20:29:21Z

Well, today I became the facilitator of the APEX Credit Recovery program at Greenbrier High School. It sounds pretty interesting. We're going to do this in leiu of summer school this year. It'll be for an hour after school everyday. I'll also get access to new AP prep software, as well. That'll be cool. Good stuff. It's more money and a chance to work with kids from every part of the spectrum. I'll have advanced kids and kids who need the most help, too. Neato.

Just because

2008-07-04T03:42:36Z

I realize I never post anything here anymore. I assure you it's just from lack of time, not because I don't care. Life is good. Job is good. Family is good. Xander is two now. He talks a lot. We're working on potty training with some success. I'll be thirty-one at the end of this month. So far I like my thirties a lot more than I liked my twenties. My twenties were drama filled. These days I'm enjoying quieter times. One of my best friends from high school is marrying my sister-in-law in October. That's pretty cool. We all went to the Buffalo River last weekend for a float with the kids. Matt mentioned that he always knew we would be brothers, but he didn't know how. It was very touching. I was a little worried at first to take Xander on the river, but he did great. He sat in my lap most of the time and looked at the trees and fish. He would swim when we stopped and then he took a nap for about an hour in the boat as we rowed along. Very cool. Anyway, I just felt like posting...so I did. If anyone here is on Facebook and would like to befriend me, that's fine. Just search my email address: esquire20@hotmail.com. Have a great holiday weekend, folks.

Heath Ledger found dead at 28

2008-01-22T23:32:45Z

Dude, they just found Heath Ledger dead in his apartment. He was lying naked in bed next to several sleeping pills, aparently waiting on a massage he had scheduled that afternoon. He was two years younger than I am. I am so glad I'm not rich. That stuff messes you up.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T02:32:59Z

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

Lord Have Mercy on my next thirty years.

2007-07-29T01:17:11Z

I think Ill take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now its time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years Im gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things Ive done
Maybe now Ive conquered all my adolescent fears
And Ill do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years Im gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what Im doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, Im gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe Ill remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years

EOC

2007-07-05T17:18:24Z

I just got back from the High School...went to check on my stuff and my test scores from last year. My AP scores weren't in yet and my principal told me that he wasn't allowed to tell me exact scores or anything, but he did tell me that my scores were the highest in the building! I quizzed him just a little and asked if my kids did better than 60% proficient...I felt pretty confident of 60%, so anything over that would be bonus...and he did say that it was better than 60%!!! Rock out!!! If my AP scores are at least decent, I'm going to consider last year's teaching a success. Just wanted to share my joy.

Papaw

2007-06-29T20:23:05Z

I've been at a workshop all week and I was the only male in my class. So, when the ladies all went off to do their...ladies things...I had a lot of time to myself to think. For some reason, I thought about my grandfather a lot today. He passed away seven years ago of lung cancer. That was really the first event of a long, dark period of my life. He was a very good man. Life hadn't thrown him many opportunities, but he made the best out of everything he did have. He always tried to do what was right and had a very fierce devotion to family. He also always stressed how family was more than just blood. There were a lot of blood relations he wouldn't claim as family, but others who were not that he would be glad to fight for. A friend of the family who was with us at the hospital when he died made a statement in those last hours that really summed up his life: "He was always good to me." It wasn't until I became a father myself that I realized just how much I missed him. I hate that he didn't get to see my children. He would have really enjoyed playing with Xander. It's funny how things like that will occur to someone just out of the blue. UALR has a really nice campus. I think this is the most time I've ever spent there and I was very comfortable. The food was a lot better than I expected. I learned a lot in my session. Our presenter had a lot of material and free books and software that I think will really help plan my classes for next year. Anyway, I hope everyone else is doing well. Here's a recent picture of Xander from his birthday party, just in case you were interested.

Happy Father's Day!!

2007-06-18T15:05:17Z

I just finished up my second Father's Day as a father. It was pretty good. A lot of lounging around the house watching HBO shows and we went to dinner with my parents. Good stuff. I really love being a daddy. I love my little boy so much. We're heading to Branson in the morning to visit with friends for a few days...seems like fun. Anyway, Happy Father's day! I hope you are all well.

Xander's a celebrity!!

2007-04-17T21:51:44Z

I got home from work yesterday and Amanda told me that one of Xander's video's on her Myspace became one of the featured videos yesterday because he was playing with tax forms. It was kinda cool at first, but suddenly all of his videos were viewed 35,000 times and 800 comments were left on each of them. Most of them were nice people who were just saying how cute Xander was, but some asshole from Massachusettes kept leaving comments like, "Why are you using up video space with your ugly, ass baby...this is boring." So, we blocked him and I'm considering making her myspace private. I don't understand why someone goes to someone elses page, insults them, says the videos are boring when he can just as easily find something more interesting to watch. Anyway, weird. Hope everyone is doing well.

esquire20 @ 2007-04-06T10:15:00

2007-04-06T15:21:42Z

It's been a while and I've got the day off, so I thought I would post something. Things are going really well. My AP syllabus was approved by the Collegeboard for the AP Audit. That's a load off my mind. Xander took his first steps last week and now he can walk across the living room, if he can find something he wants on the other side of the room. Almost done with this school year. The kids are getting restless, but I have to admit I'm feeling it, myself. Anyway, I hope everyone is good.