Verbal Cupcake - Latest Comments

Re: Imperfect Pitch: Men, Women, and the Art of Selling Ourselves

S13stanko — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:59:44 -0000

perhaps the problem is, all the men with deference are already taken, and have no need for a match.com profile :/ haha

Re: My Takeaways from the 2012 Digital Learning and Media Conference

Sarah Fidelibus — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:52:03 -0000

Hi, Jon-

Thanks for reading and commenting! I am definitely planning to attend DML2013, and am even hoping to pitch a panel!

The Q & A sounds interesting--can you tell me more about it? Is there a specific topic/focus to the discussion? And what format will it take?

Thanks for looking in!

Re: My Takeaways from the 2012 Digital Learning and Media Conference

Jon Barilone — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:02:21 -0000

First, thanks so much for attending DML2012! Also, thank you for sharing your reflections here. Glad to hear you found it so valuable and hopefully you'll join us in Chicago for DML2013.

Because you mentioned your interest in libraries above, I'm wondering if you'd like to be a part of a Q&A session with Buffy Hamilton (http://theunquietlibrarian.wor...) on March 29 at 10am PST?

Re: MTV’s Baby Mama Drama: 16 and Pregnant’s Second Season Is Thus Far a Labor of Loathe

Stigermiddleschool — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:56:33 -0000

you go girl

Re: MTV’s Baby Mama Drama: 16 and Pregnant’s Second Season Is Thus Far a Labor of Loathe

Stiglermiddleschool — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:55:37 -0000

your baby is so cute

Re: Is “everything we know about education” actually “wrong”?

Sarah Fidelibus — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:27:11 -0000

Thanks for commenting, JJ! I had the same reaction--people who work outside of education have a limited understanding of what has been going on in terms of ed reform for quite some time. Glad you enjoyed my post and added your thoughts!

Re: Is “everything we know about education” actually “wrong”?

JJ — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:33:47 -0000

Thank you for this post! I just love how SOME people are consistently given loads of money and "genius grants" to replicate research that has already been done before ad nauseum. Really? A school's "culture" is what makes it work? Not money or the fact that it's small or a charter? It really has to do with the (wait for it...) PEOPLE in the building and their vision, sense of purpose, moral leadership, values, beliefs, norms, and ideologies?? WHAT????? Just ask scholars like T. Sergiovanni, T.Sizer, S. Sarason...or any anthropologist of education (R. McDermott, M. Pollock, or pioneer G. Spindler) for that matter. I think what really sucks is how many of these people are making money off of the business of education, publishing drivel.

Re: ‘Free of other people’s inventions’–A case for diversity–not ‘objectivity’ in the newsroom

Jessica Binsch — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:52:29 -0000

Thanks so much for writing this! I think the example you cite is very telling: What reporters and their editors likely perceive as "objective" reporting is seen as very much not so by students. That alone shows that "objectivity" means something else to each person looking at a story -- you think of the story as objective that mirrors your own perceptions, and of that as biased that doesn't.

Re: Farm Envy – My Visit to Frog Hollow Farm

Stephanie Morimoto — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:29:20 -0000

I found your blog via the auto-post generator that Wordpress provides, as I just wrote a post about my solo visit to Frog Hollow Farm last week: http://togetherinfood.wordpres....

I enjoyed your post and peach blossom photos--beautiful.

Re: Schooled by the L.A. Times: The good, the bad, and the ugly of ‘Who’s teaching L.A.’s Kids?’

Shane — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:58:16 -0000

Well put. It is frustrating to see incompetent teachers slide by with no repercussions, but I do agree that simply judging effectiveness with test scores isn't enough. I'd say a combination of observation, portfolio of assignments/student work, and, when appropriate, test scores is better.

Re: About Verbal Cupcake

Scott Bloom — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:44:11 -0000

My pleasure. I have a blog too (obscure topic: auto racing) and sometimes I just cannot get back to it. Then suddenly you realize that a week has just passed. Creativity comes in bursts right? You have it and it's flowing, and then it's gone just as quickly. Enjoy the Appeal.

Re: About Verbal Cupcake

Sarah — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:40:04 -0000

Thanks, Scott! I've been behind in updating my blog; I appreciate your feedback. I should have a new post up by this evening. Thanks again for your comments.

Re: About Verbal Cupcake

Scott Bloom — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:50:46 -0000

I like your site. I've been reading your comments on sfappeal and just visited the site for the first time.

Re: ‘The Poetry of Nobody Home’: Craigslist’s Missed Connections

verbalcupcake — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:56:28 -0000

Thanks! Yes--good example, and I think that speaks to exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote this: that it's better for a MC message to go unanswered. Seymour gets his answered, but that woman is sooooooo wrong for him, and it's painful to watch them together. So the sad part isn't (for me) that he posted a MC, but that the person he hoped she was when he met her isn't who she actually is.

You will have to tell me what you think of _Mao II_; the same student who asked me about MC asked if I like _Mao II_ better than _White Noise_, and I finally was able to admit that I do. I did my thesis on both of those books, so choosing one over the other feels a little like someone deciding she likes one of her children more than the others, but _Mao II_ is satisfying in certain ways, artistically, that WN isn't. (But I still love, love, LOVE WN.)

Re: ‘The Poetry of Nobody Home’: Craigslist’s Missed Connections

Shane — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 05:32:09 -0000

Great post. Whenever I see or hear about Missed Connections, I think of Steve Buscemi in Ghost World, and it kind of bums me out.

I'm now even more excited to read Mao II! Delillo rules so hard.

Re: I refuse to see Alaska from my house.

sdreader — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:26:29 -0000

Yes, I love your idea for the new name ("Circus Sideshow").

In fact, I think all t.v. news channels should use some version of it. After the earthquake yesterday in Mexico (which we felt in San Diego), we turned on the t.v. (CNN) to see if there would be mention of it with details we were interested in.

Instead of talking to any professional person, they got some "Joe Schmoe" from Northpark on the line describing how he and his loved ones were just sitting down to Easter dinner when the earth started shakin'. Then, they pan to a view of the announcer's computer screen showing all the "comments" viewers were sending in complete with the viewers' pics (which may or may not be o.k. for t.v.)! UGH! It is just so hard to find quality programming these days . . .

Re: I refuse to see Alaska from my house.

verbalcupcake — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:30:53 -0000

"sdreader" (hee, hee):

TLC and Discovery are the same company--notice their website is "TLC.Discovery.com." So they aren't really ripping anything off so much as just repackaging their own "material" and selling it in another place.

As for the "Housewives"...well, that's a fair question. But in my defense: Bravo at least doesn't try to pretend that their programming is anything but trashy, so I forgive them. But to peddle trash and try to call yourself "The Learning Channel" is disingenuous at best and just downright dumb overall. What, pray tell, are we to learn from the virgin who used to be 650 lbs.?

Even grosser is how much TLC is fueling this weird multiple births obsession sweeping the land of late--just the other day when I was flipping channels, I came across a "special" they were having about a couple with three kids already and with quintuplets on the way. The couple was about to be in foreclosure with their house (Note to couple: you can barely afford the three kids you already have; are you sure you need to have five more?)...you could just see that they were on the show hoping to have their financial problems alleviated. I will not be surprised if their special becomes the series that replaces Jon and Kate. Is it any wonder that Octomom decided to pump out several more kids and then negotiate a deal for her own reality show?

If TLC changed their name to "The Circus Sideshow Channel," I could let all the aforementioned transgressions slide; but even with a name change for the network, I could not endorse the decision to give Sarah Palin yet another platform for her stupidity.

Re: I refuse to see Alaska from my house.

sdreader — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:13:15 -0000

LOL! Very funny and true! However, how can YOU, a "Housewives of . . ." fan be so down on TLC's shows??!!

The thing that irritates me the most about TLC is they often rip off what has been successful on other networks. For example, now they are doing an "Intervention"-type show (Discovery channel-I think) and the hoarders show is also a rip-off from the original one on Discovery.

Re: I refuse to see Alaska from my house.

Raquel — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:12:18 -0000

Happily boycotting TLC; but not an enormous sacrifice--wasn't watching any TLC anyway. My TV addictions lean firmly towards the fictional variety. Reality is too depressing/appalling!

Re: Farm Envy – My Visit to Frog Hollow Farm

Raquel — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:07:45 -0000

Sounds glorious! And I'm with Farmer Al -- I ♥ pluots! I wonder if there is a bumper sticker that says that...

Re: Reading My Fortune in the Tea Leaf Salad

Raquel — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:04:55 -0000

Sorry for the bad; keeping fingers crossed for the good. (And that salad sounds amazing!)

Re: My (Mostly) Unprocessed Life

verbalcupcake — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:52:06 -0000

I love making jam, Raquel, and I totally love the idea of us "jamming" together! I do make good strawberry jam, but haven't made any other kinds. I would like to make something similar to Frog Hollow Farms' products (they are the people I buy my peaches from)--all of their jams are more tart than sweet; you can really taste the flavor of the fruit, and they keep the fruit in large pieces, so the jam is nice and chunky. Now that I think of it, I guess what they make is more "preserves" than jam... I'm excited for summer and for spending more time in the kitchen with you!

Re: My (Mostly) Unprocessed Life

Raquel — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:25:30 -0000

Lovely post, Sarah. And though I am not ready to fully commit to the same goals (the amount of thought/planning required is daunting to me right now), I *do* know how to make jam and would happily jam with you this summer! I call my dad "the Fruit Man" because all summer he brings me bags full of apples, peaches, plums, and figs from the random assortment of trees that grow at my parents' house. I would love to share! :)

Re: My (Mostly) Unprocessed Life

Kendra Lifestyle — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:49:05 -0000

Cut back on soft drinks, introduce milk (especially low fat after age 2), and baked goods made with sugar. Kendra Lifestyle

Re: My (Mostly) Unprocessed Life

verbalcupcake — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:00:31 -0000

Thanks, Lauren! Yes, Food, Inc. is incredibly eye-opening! I agree that the movie makes one more "committed to the cause." (I'm so glad it's up for an Oscar.)

Actually, the cooking is not so onerous: it's the fact that I don't have a dishwasher that makes all the extensive food prep a little more time-consuming! I'm hoping to have one in my next apartment for sure...

Good luck to you, as well! I'm planning on posting some easy and fast recipes for in-season foods, so maybe we can trade ideas in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading!