Some random thoughts:

• Today is the ides of March. I wonder how many people even realize what the “ides” of March are? No, I’m not going to lecture you here; google it yourself if you’re interested. ☺

• I am not a televison watcher, but I scan the tv page of the newspaper every day, and I cannot help but wondering how many programs on the air are other than reality shows and spinoffs of CSI and Law and Order.

• Whatever happened to the great years of FM radio, when it was an alternative to AM top-forty radio and played a wide variety of music from all across the musical spectrum? Now AM seems to be primarily all talk and FM is narrowcasting at its most boring.

• Two authors I recommend highly are Andrea Barrett (who writes wonderfully about scientists) and Iain Pears (historical fiction).

• Am I mistaken, or does the state mandate that any students disruptive to the learning experience of others must be removed from a classroom? So why does a teacher need to compile such an extensive paper trail that it is almost impossible to remove even the most disruptive students until the school year is almost over and the class has basically been destroyed already? And don’t even consider getting a student out of a school entirely.

• With the state’s freezing aid to school districts the past few years, boards of education have been scrambling to hold budgets at manageable levels that their citizenry might consider passing. I wonder what the ratio of teaching funds cut compared to athletic funds cut is this year? Is anybody willing to bet against my belief that the ratio is definitely greater than 1?

• Two singers I recommend highly are Richard Thompson (guitar-oriented folk-rock) and John Hiatt (good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll).

• What has happened to the Democratic party? As Bush’s popularity rating sinks lower and lower as he antagonizes more and more groups of people, is there any “loyal opposition” anymore, or just a group of disorganized moderates running around like chickens with their heads cut off? There’s a reason why the Democrats have only elected one president since 1976, and that was Bill Clinton whose charisma and body language made him an anomaly among politicians anyway.