Rocco Maiolo's Ramblings and Musings

Quite the book. I liked it, but a lot of people out there disagree with me. Here are some quotes from reviews and plain old reader responses: This allegorical dichotomy teaches us nothing new about the Holocaust, nor gives us useful tools for deciphering and understanding its complex socio-historic causes. (wow -- harsh!) I literally just finished Yann Martel's new book Beatrice and Virgil... about 10 minutes ago. I am shaken with rage as the book is one of the most hateful and ghastly jumble of horrors I have ever finished. At least it is mercifully short. (again: harsh. And "literally" just finished? As opposed to what? "Figuratively finished?) a sophomoric piece of Beckett-lite [work] (ouch! And does the write mean "lite" or "like"?) First of all, I wonder what people would be saying if this wasn't a Yann Marlel book. You've gotta think that it's being judged against the success of The Life of Pi . Also, okay, it's aut...

Should I get one? I’m not a luddite — far from it, so I’m not opposed to having one because I like the feel of a book and I like turning pages (although I do like all of the above). Here’s the thing: I get almsost all the books I need from the library. I rareley buy books, so I don’t need a Kindle or a Kobo or a Sony Reader — not really, but since when do these things have anything to do with need. Okay, here’s some justification for having one: 1) it’s green! No paper 2) I can use it at the library 3) When you go on vacation and you can’t decide what book to take and you take six books and you only end up reading one and the other five just take up space… PROBLEM SOLVED 4) They look cool

Every summer I go to the school library where I work and loot it for summer reads. I make out like a bandit. Last year, I brought home Les Miserable and Love in the Time of Cholera — among 10 other titles — neither of which I read. This summer I once again scooped Love in a Time of Cholera, which I’m determined to read and a bunch of Kenneth Oppel books. That’s quite the contrast, huh? Currently I’m reading Conan Doyle’s Sing of Four and I’m going to pick up Yann Martel’s latest, Beatrice and Virgil. I think I’ll also go to chapters and do the buy 3 get the 4th free sale. Oh and then there’s the book depot sale! Crazy.

from http://www.pmptoday.com/2009/04/26/iphone-sad-scale-app-will-assess-your-depression/ “Are you feeling kind of depressed lately or know someone who does? Here is a nifty little iPhone app that could be useful in your situation. The Sad Scale iPhone app from the Deep Pocket Series is a handy tool in assessing your present emotional state and is now available at the App Store. By answering a series of standardized questions, thisiPhone app will then score your present state of mind giving you an initial assessment of what your condition is.” From the sublime to the ridiculous: there’s also an iFart app for your phone. Oh, and let’s not forgot the iRack Youtube.

... but she's there now. Emily here. Writing to you from the Amsterdam Airport. Wow, what a memorable day it’s been already! First off, it’s Amanda’s birthday! I’m pretty sure it’s one she won’t forget. 5 airports in 3 days is quite a feat! :) We had a few little issues with our itinerary, but we were prepared to be unprepared, so it’s all good. :) In the Toronto airport we found out that my Visa was missing some things... but they decided to let me go along after all! I’m pretty happy about that. Our flight was delayed too, so we missed the connecting flight from Amsterdam to Paris. The new itinerary that they worked out for us takes us from here to London, London to Nairobi (Kenya!), and Kenya to Kinshasa. Which means we get there Sunday morning instead of tonight. Jean-Baptiste (the pastor who’s sort of co-ordinating everything we do in Congo) said that there would be no problems. Something along the lines of ‘Church is 4 hours, I’ll take you straight there and you’ll only miss ...

A couple of summers ago, Doris, my wife, and I were invited to a change-leadership conference for Ontario principals (neither of us are principals). We attended with 2 principals and 2 other teachers from the school where I teach. Something the two Harvard professors who were leading the conference said has stuck with me. They said that radical change only happens when there's an urgent need for it. They showed us a clip from the 1995 Ron Howard directed film Apollo 13 . Something had just seriously malfunctioned on the mission's return trip to earth. The clip shows the astronauts and Houston doing some serious outside the box problem solving. There is a definite urgent need for change and, if you've seen the movie, you know they get the job done. I've reflected on this in light of my experiences with organizations -- for the lack of a better word -- that have needed change. I teach at a highly academic school. If I had been teaching at my previous school, I think the ...

(check out their blog: http://confessionsfromcongo.blogspot.com/ ) Sounds kind of romantic doesn't it? To her mother... not so much. She's kind of worried. I'm not really so much worried as I am unsorted (best adjective I could come up with) with thoughts of this 20-yr-old kid -- my kid -- who's been to 3 airports, I think, in a day or so and she's still not done. She's in Amsterdam as we speak. That's not why I'm unsorted in my head and in my heart. I keep having these pictures of a little kid (my kid) in my mind. One of them is of a 3-yr-old sitting in a car-seat in our '86 Jetta asking me some pretty interesting questions like: "Do you have a girl-friend?" ME: "Ya, Mommy's my girl-friend." EMILY: No, Mommy's your wife. Do you have a girl-friend?" ME: "Mommy's my wife and my girl-friend." EMILY: "Daddy..." ME: "What?" EMILY: "Put your seat-belt on." ME: "Oka...