another reason why new orleans might not be rebuilt
THIS IS A SERIOUS BLOG. I WILL BREAK FROM MY AFOREMENTIONED ACERBIC E.E. CUMMINGS LEANINGS AND ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW SOME SEMBLANCE OF GRAMMATICAL POSTURING.
I just got a rejection letter from Tulane University’s Upward Bound Program.
It reads:
> Good Morning,
> We have had an opportunity to review all applicant
> materials,credentials, education, and levels of professional
> expertise in secondary education over the past four days.
> We are very impressed with the high level of academic and
> professional experience you have to offer our students. As a
> results oriented program, we at this time however we have identified
> the candidates who’s experiences and expertise in high school college
> preparatory instruction best meet the needs of the students in our program.
> Thank you again for your interest and we wish you the best in your
> search to make a difference this summer.
My response:
Thanks for your time and consideration. By the
way, one of the main problems on the ACT is pronoun
use. “Who’s experiences” should be “whose
experiences.” Touche?
p.h. fred
“getting best results on test prep for over a decade”
====================================
AN AFTERTHOUGHT:
Perhaps I should have mentioned the run-on sentences, the lack of both commas and semicolons, and the misplaced modifiers (my expertise in the past four days?). Then again, perhaps I didn’t get the job because I was (and still am) an overqualified ***** **** applying for a job in a federally funded program. Call me paranoid? Welcome to McNawlins… can I take your order please?
NOW BLOG THIS!
p.h. fred (phfred@notthat.com)
May 28th, 2008 at 7:27 am
I hope the writer of that letter is never allowed in the classroom in a teaching capacity.
Further food for thought - career politicians (in all parties) want to keep the “average voter” as ignorant as possible, and as dependent upon politicians (i.e., the government) as possible. If they succeed in that goal, they will be re-elected as often as they run, because the people will not be able to comprehend the calamitous decisions being made “on their behalf,” and they will just vote for whoever makes the best “feel-good” argument, even if it’s wholly insubstantial, and even if it consists of nothing but a series of platitudes on a completely irrelevant issue with no bearing on daily life.
The career politicians play on the innate selfishness and laziness of their constituents - always offering the immediate easy out while glossing over the true costs to society, which, of course, generally are not felt until said career politicians have retired and been replaced by a new lot claiming to offer new ideas, but they are always just more of the same, except more audacious, less respectful, and more corrupt.
It’s not even 8:30 in the morning, and I feel like I need a stiff drink. A really stiff drink, like half a bottle of Chartreuse, would make the day more bearable. Thanks for the early a.m. depressing dose of the reality we’re allowing to come into being.
May 28th, 2008 at 9:03 am
idontknowwhytheybotherusingpunctationatallanymoreseeingashowtheinternethasbeenslowlyerodingtheenglishlanguageforthepastdecadeorsoandbesideswhoeverheardofthingslikerunonsentences
May 28th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Hmm. That didn’t work quite right. Or did it?
May 28th, 2008 at 9:28 am
ADDENDUM AND DUMBER
as i headrd to bed to sleep on (and off) my rejection, i couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by “we wish you the best in your search to make a difference this summer.” It’s like, “Hello, McFly! I was trying to make a difference BUT you went and rained on my parade.” Then again it’s new orleans, and we can always reschedule. My search to make a difference? It’s as if he’s talking about camelot and the quest for the holy grail. “You can come on the crusade… it will be a splendid, marvelous, fantastic, awe-inspiring adventure… it will be for the greater glory of god and country… a spiritual and emotional joy. hallelujah, hallelujah, viva la bam! yada yada yabba dabba do! OOPS… just a second, sorry everybody but you. Yes, you - the one with qualifications. The name’s Galahad… right … Mr. Galahad, oh i mean Sir Galahad… you can sit this one out this one time. We’ve decided to take ‘couldn’t find a grail if it bit him on the ass man’ instead. Meanwhile good luck with your search to make a difference. tata! cheerio! don’t forget to water the plants and feed the fish in the moat.”
May 28th, 2008 at 10:00 am
You should have Red Penciled the letter and returned it to the person that interviewed you, the high muckity muck of the Program, Cowen, the Alumni and the Hullabaloo. At least it would interesting to see if there was any response. Pah! So much for higher education. But it’s all about keeping yourself amused - so much to the point that once I took the front section of the ever suffering Times-Pic and proofed with a violent green and red - then mailed it to the editor, I’m guessing they were not amused as I never received a response or a job offer…
May 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
More reasons education needs a vast overhaul:
http://humidcity.com/2008/05/22/dounpour/
Stop by http://g-bitch.com for a lot of great content about the educational system here.
I agree with JAUG, red pen it and then send copies around.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
thanks for the advise…
at first i thought i was blowing things out of proportion… but as i stew (or is that gumbo?), the madder i get. a year ago i got turned down by teachnola because i had too much teaching experience. i guess they planned to teach newbies how NOT to teach.
it’s rough trying to part of the solution when THE PROBLEM is still in charge. too bad we’re not living in the late 1700’s or early 1800’s. revolution was a reality, not just the speed of a piece of vinyl (it hadn’t been invented yet). it makes me smirk at the fact that so-called ron paul revolution wasn’t a revolution at all, rather a marketing ploy that had less tenacity than hillary’s war room machine. revolutions of thought or action take more than a news cycle or 15+ minutes of fame. nowadays even che has an agent and a t-shirt. or is that tou-CHE?
May 28th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
(disclaimer: the “you” referred to herein is generic - it’s not directed at any individual on this blog or elsewhere)
We’ve become too complacent and too lazy (intellectually and physically) to foment revolution. Revolution takes dedication, tenacity, and willingness to sacrifice your own life and the lives of all you love. Fundamental change does not happen easily. A witty catchphrase won’t do it. Pointing out every example of hypocrisy won’t do it. Talking and writing about the problems won’t do it. Screaming and marching in the street won’t do it - eventually, voices are lost, feet are blistered, and the ranks thin and die before change actually happens.
How many people among us are willing to fight and die for what they believe? We can talk and petition and gripe and vent and lambast - but the people who most need to hear just tune out the voices that don’t agree with them. Do you really think that presenting the truth will change the mind of someone who thinks they are right and you are stupid and insignificant? The most beautifully presented argument using the highest principles of rhetoric and based entirely in objective truth (if such exists) will not change the mind of someone who is unwilling to listen and who does not want to hear.
Change is not readily accepted by society. Even most people who recognize the glaring problems would prefer to go with the flow than to risk the unknown consequences of change, hoping that change will be gradual and positive, and won’t require a bit of effort on their parts.
We are lazy and complacent. I’m lazy and complacent - sure, I’ll write about my disgust with politics and politicians, but do I do anything substantial? Nope. I’m sitting here at a desk writing, probably secretly hoping someone else will actually do something to make life better for all of us - implementation of true symbiosis between employers, employees, producers, and consumers; true meritocracy but with a place for everyone, and with special attention paid to the fact that everyone has SOMETHING to offer, and we as a society should help people recognize their strengths and encourage them to use them; and a partridge in a pear tree?
May 28th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
i concur….
in the immortal words of me… “THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE BLOGGED!”
May 28th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
actually neither immortal nor just mine
search engine phrase “THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE BLOGGED” and you’ll find lots of info and commentary on this topic
May 28th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Words can achieve an immortality we who use them only dream to experience. They grow stronger with repetition, even as their significance subtly shifts each time they are read or spoken by or to ones other than their authors.
On that note, I’m off in search of that drink I’ve been craving since early this morning!
May 28th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
words can also achieve immorality… then again so can that drink!
bottoms up?
May 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Wasn’t it Jefferson who said that no revolution was ever started by comfortable people? (MDE, check me on that)
We are, overall, too well fed and glued to the television to have a revolution. Change what you can in your immediate vicinity and pray for the ripple effect.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
wow.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am
i don’t know how first said it…but
“wow upside done spells mom”
and if i may bold enough to quote myself:
“does anyone care to be suckled on the teet of revolution?”
May 30th, 2008 at 8:52 am
then again…
“who wants to be suckled on the teet of revolution
when the formula for complacency comes in a can?”
maybe that’s why it’s called a boob tube?
May 30th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Oh come on, ATL, you’ve got more to say than that. I know you do. Good to see you joining in, why don’t you drag ATR and the Pelican into the conversation…..