NPR

 I would very much like to get this shirt. 

Gold Coast

Finished the second of Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias Trilogy (my edition contains all three in one book): Gold Coast. The trilogy pictures three different alternate timelines of Orange County in the near future. The first story was post-nuclear. The second, Gold Coast shows the OC after decades of unfettered and out of control capitalism. Another book by KSR that I had to just sit still with after finishing to contemplate what I just read. I'll be contemplating Gold Coast for a while I'm sure. A great work. I liked Wild Shore (the first book) a bit more simply because I found the story more poignant. But Gold Coast was super good. Tragic but with a glimmer of hope near the end. I'm going to wait and read the final installment a bit down the road. I want to ponder things first. I'll start in on something else tomorrow.

Tsundoku

My current tsundoko, February 2026. 

Lunch at Rosa’s

 

CATan

 

Boyhood

An entertaining read for the most part. A memoir covering Muir’s childhood in Scotland, immigrating to America and ending with his last days of college. Kids had to work hard in the 19th century. But Muir’s giftedness was evident even in the mundane work of the farm. Fortunately his family allowed him to pursue his gifts at the University of Wisconsin. 

Open Road

 Debuted my new Open Road hat last night. 

Taco Tuesday

Yesterday was a work day at school. So we got to go out to lunch like adults. We went to Taco Loco. So good. 

20th Anniversary

 

Today is the Twentieth Anniversary of Dave's Internet Lounge.

Yeah, February 17, 2006 I threw up that photo above (Mexico, 1998) and started writing.

Everyone had a blog in those days. Now, the term blog sounds antiquated. 

I look back on much of what I wrote and so much of it is nonsense. Fortunately very few people actually read my posts. 

Even less read my posts today. My primary audience was made up of my Mom and Dad and Grandparents. Maybe a former student or a friend hopped on every once in awhile. Well, my grandparents and my Dad have all passed away. I'm not sure if my Mom still passes this way online or not. I might get a stray random eyeball occasionally. But honestly, I no longer write for an audience.

I post to maintain a routine. Posting forces me to stop for a moment and observe the world around me. This blog has become an online journal of sorts. So, if I'm the only reader of Dave's Internet Lounge, I think I would actually prefer that.   

20 years! Man, so much has changed. It's nice to see there are still some corners of the world or internet that are still here.  

Believer Sports

 Always a good day when The Believer comes in the mail. 

Taverna

 A nice Italian dinner last night. 

Love

 

Mentors

My old mentor stopped by the school today. He now lives overseas and doesn't visit America much. Good to see him. 

HBD!

 

Understanding

I was recently reminded of the scene in The Shawshank Redemption where Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) barricades himself in the warden's office and plays Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto, from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro over the prison PA system. Activity in the prison yard stops and Red (Morgan Freeman) says "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about...I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it."

To be clear: I'm directing this to all you people complaining you couldn't understand the words of the Super Bowl Halftime show because it was in Spanish.  

Religions

So a few months back the state of Texas passed a law stating that if someone donated posters of the Ten Commandments to a school district, then teachers were required to post them in their classrooms. 

Of course several school districts filed suit stating the obvious violation of separation of church and state. So a judge placed an injunction on districts that filed suit allowing them to pause putting these posters up until the matter was resolved in the courts. My school district was not one of these. 

Our local state representative, a man who has proven to be no friend of public education, donated Ten Commandment posters to our school district. Then, our district stated they were going to put the posters up without our input and after hours. 

This is wrong on so many levels. It's simply performative, a play to the ignorant MAGA base. Anyone who thinks a poster is actually going to change the behavior of students is ignorant at best. Shoving religion down someone's throat violates all what public education stands for. If you want a Christian education, go to a private school. If you can't afford it, use the private school vouchers this same rep voted for to pay for it. 

I have students of many religions, creeds and backgrounds. It is insulting to force one's views on them. Not only is it unethical it also doesn't even work! 

And to have this forced by a state Attorney General who violates many of the ten commandments on a regular basis is even more infuriating.

So, I was ready. I made posters that showed the basic tenets of the five major world religions. I also printed out the First Amendment of the Constitution. Then I surrounded the new poster, once maintenance put it up, with my religion posters. 

I have no problem with the Ten Commandments. I am a Christian. But this is public education for all. And if we're going to put up the tenets of one religion, I'm going to put up the tenet of all the major world religions.

The whole thing is so dumb. 
 

Halftime, Part Two

I did not watch the super bowl last night. But I did tune in for the halftime show. I may not have understood Bad Bunny's lyrics (even with a 400 day streak attained yesterday my Spanish still needs work!) I understood the message. Really a nice show. Surprisingly I enjoyed it. Many thoughtful touches. An interesting take I saw last night: the same people who needed a separate halftime show are the same type of people who once needed separate water fountains. 

No SB

 I’m not watching the Super Bowl today. 

Seven!

 Gotcha Day. Seven Years Ago! 

Olympic Fever Gone

 

One of the earliest posts on this blog was about the 2006 Winter Olympics. I used to really get into the Olympics, especially the Winter edition. But with the Games starting tonight I'm meh about the whole thing. I just don't have much interest. I'm sure there are many factors on my declining Olympic enthusiasm. But I honestly don't have the interest to spend time delving into it. Truly meh on an Olympic level. 
 

Halftime

TPUSA has announced they are presenting an alternate halftime show during the Super Bowl. Their headline performer is Kid Rock. 

They have said they want to present a family friendly show that presents American values. They have betrayed their true motives.

Some MAGAs decried having a non-citizen performing at the SB Halftime ignorant of the fact that Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States since the Spanish American War. Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Can you hear the dog whistles? They didn't seem to have a problem with Paul McCartney and Bono and many others performing at the Super Bowl.

Now, I have never heard a Bad Bunny song. I am not familiar with him as a performer. I have never seen any of his lyrics. For all I know his lyrics could be super "clean." They could also be obscene. I don't know.

But I have seen and heard Kid Rock songs. I have heard him sing songs glorifying and celebrating the pursuit of underage girls. I have heard him sing songs downplaying statutory laws that protect girls from predators. I have heard him use language that is far from "family friendly."

But Kid Rock is white. TPUSA has long revealed who they are. Remember, the Ku Kux Klan also claimed they were protecting Christian values. TPUSA believes in Christian values, as long they are white Christian values. And that is not Christian at all. 

My First Period Class

 

Populations

The map above is often startling to a lot of people. The little blue dot is the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Some estimates believe there are now eight million people living in DFW. This is twice the population of the entire state of Oklahoma. Wyoming's population is around 600,000. The eight states with the smallest populations have a smaller population combined than Dallas-Fort Worth.

This, of course, always calls into question the equability of our representative system of Democracy. Because each of those states have the same representation in the United States Senate as a metropolitan area far larger in population. Why does a senate vote from North Dakota, a state with a population of less than 800,000 carry the same weight as a vote from Texas with a population of nearly 30 million? We are seriously basing our democratic system on a compromise made in 1787 under circumstances much different than those today?

And yet, I'm not so sure I would want to abolish the U.S. Senate. It is usually (not always!) in the Senate that cooler heads prevail. This is because Senators have to represent an entire state and not a smaller district. It's in the House of Representatives where you find the more clownish of our politicians. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of clowns in the Senate (Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz to name a few) but the Senate usually is a much more stable body than the House. 

So, what's the solution? Surely there's a compromise, designed for modern times, out there that can bring equity to our representative system? I'm going to have to think on this. 

The Ocean

The sixth novella in Dave Egger's Forgetters Series. Short, compact and full of realistic feeling. The world always seems larger and better after reading one of these stories.

Dylan and Baez

This photo came across one of my socials the other day. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. 1964. Protesting conformity is as important today as it was then. 

Our Land

This book was better than I expected. Lotta heartbreak but also a lot of joyousness. Woody Guthrie of Okemah, Oklahoma always stood with the down and outers, the forgotten, the impoverished, and those outta luck. He fought against fascism of all types and told the story of the working class of America. He didn't only tell the story of the rough and tumble, he lived it. He had many a chance to live the high life but he always eschewed riches and stood true with the poor and huddled masses. We used to sing his most famous song every day in elementary school during announcements: This Land is Your Land, this Land is My Land…

 

Perspective

 

Isms

 Wise words from Woody Guthrie in his 1943 autobiography “Bound for Glory.” 

One More…

 One more day off from school today. Three in a row! 

Almost Over

Looks like the worst has passed. We are scheduled to return to school tomorrow. 

Shoveled

How to tell if someone who grew up in the Midwest lives in your Texas neighborhood during an ice storm. 

A Lament

 I often feel helpless and not sure what I can do when I see five year olds being detained coming home from school and Americans being executed in the streets of Minneapolis. But, as one of my favorite authors once wrote: 

“We are not helpless. We can sing the truth and name the liars.” 

Lord have mercy.

The Storm is Here

 

Sauron and the Ring

 Lord of the T-Shirts

Outta Here

You know the upcoming ice storm will be bad when Senator Cruz is seen heading to the beach! 

Get Back

 

Funeral

Attending a funeral for a former colleague today. Patti Fay. We worked together for over 20 years. She was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in November. Two months later it took her life at age 61. A real shock. Life is too short and cancer is a horrific thing. 

Migration

During the 2020 Pandemic M Ward released this amazing album called Migration Stories. It was one of those albums that helped divert my attention from the horrors of what was happening in the world. For Christmas I received the album on vinyl. Purchased from Guest Room Records in Norman, Oklahoma which has a fantastic selection of records. 

 

Amnesia

Bought on New Years Day at Good Records. The 20th anniversary double LP transparent white edition of M Ward's 2001 End of Amnesia. It was a good album to listen to before heading back to work after two weeks.

 

LOTR Returns

Peter Jackson introducing the Fellowship of the Ring to theaters for its 25th anniversary theater run. There were some dressed as elves last night at the theater. 

Sing the Truth

 

6-7

Yep, even a hundred years ago, John Muir was on the 6-7 bandwagon. 

Neighbors

 

New Old Tech

Added another piece of vintage tech to my classroom today. I inherited this projector from my Grandfather-in-Law a few years back. Finally brought it to the workplace today. 

This Isn't America

The murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent is horrifying. To add to the horror of this murder is the government's deliberate lying about the incident. As Orwell predicted, they are asking us to not believe what we are seeing with our very own eyes. This isn't America. 

Towers

| started 2025 reading Fellowship of the Ring. So I started 2026 with The Two Towers. The plan is to start 2027 with Return of the King. This is my second read-through of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They really are a fantastic read. They make the movies (which I enjoy greatly) seem like a hurried abridged version of a larger story. Sometimes you need to have a few minutes to escape the awfulness of what's happening in America at the moment. But in this story you see regular folks taking on great evil and are reminded that maybe we need to get up and do something about the evil we face in our current world.

Hoosiers

Indiana may indeed be unstoppable this year. Who da thunk it? At Texas Roadhouse last night the crowd erupted with cheers of shock when the Hoosiers pulled a pick six on the first play of the game. Most in the restaurant weren’t even watching that game. But that caught everyone’s attention. 

Training

I have been accused of training him from an early age. I denied it but evidence from nineteen years ago has been brought forth.

HBDJDW!

 Happy Birthday to this guy! 

75

Yesterday would have been my Dad’s 75th birthday. He was taken from us too soon. We always enjoyed sharing Mexican Cokes together. 

Good

 

On New Years Day, me and Ava went Good Records and bought a record. Also stopped in at the Half Price Books Mothership Store. 

One Year

 Well, yesterday I made it a full year on Duolingo. 

Back to Work Tomorrow