Where I ask for money

OK, here's the deal. As most of you know, I am a teacher. As most of you also know, I am a teacher in Los Angeles. As I'm guessing most of you know, LAUSD is going broke. Therefore, I have turned to an alternate source trying to get some resources for my classroom.

There is a website called "Donors Choose" where teachers can submit needs for school supplies and let donors from wherever donate towards the cause. Its a safe way to help out schools because you know exactly where your money is going.

Editor's note: I was given a matching grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for this request. If you give now, they will match your donation.

In any case, I am looking to get a class set of Thomas Friedman's book "Hot, Flat, and Crowded" to use for my Economics class. Not only is it a really good book, but it also gives outstanding examples of Economic concepts such as incentives, tradeoffs, costs/benefits, markets, demand & supply, etc. AND it talks a lot about globalization and the environment. If you follow this link, you can donate to the cause. Right now I only have $100 of the $978 I need to cover the cost of the books, shipping, etc. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. If I don't get all of the money by July 16th then you can give your money to someone else. (I know, its a kind of crappy system, but maybe I can get another smaller request up to donate towards).

Don't be afraid to e-mail me if you have a question. Thanks.

Green beer and gangrene

OK, so I'm not going to write about gangrene, but it fits the day better and you'll find that its not far off the actual topic.

First, Happy St. Patrick's Day. I will be enjoying a pint or two of Murphy's at home tonight waiting for my wife to come home from her final. And, yes, I prefer Murphy's to Guinness. I know that sounds blasphemous, but whatever.

Here's the green White House fountain:



Second, I read a really interesting article today about universal health care. The key quote is "No one should face financial ruin because of a mishap with a fork and an avocado" and it makes great sense to me.

addendum to previous post

Three things I wanted to add. First,

Best New (to me) restaurant experience: Fatty's. Its a vegetarian restaurant in Eagle Rock. We both had really good filling dinners that were reasonably priced along with the most ridiculous chocolate cake ever called the "fudgie." They also have a really cool and wallet friendly wine-list. Half-glasses, half bottles, full bottles, lots of organic and biodynamic wines. Highly recommended.

Overrated movie. The Reader. Intriguing story, good acting. However, it didn't leave me with that "wow" feeling that I expect from on Oscar movie. Slumdog did that. Kate Winslett was good, but not great in my view. Maybe the Oscar was more of a "you've been so good in so many films that you deserve this" type of thing. I'm not saying that she was bad, but just not mind-blowing. She did, however, spend a large part of the movie naked.

Craziest shit I ever saw: The guys in this video. I am afraid of some very lame things. They jump off of cliffs and fly around in wingsuits. I suck.


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.