I love my job: reason #136

We are wrapping up our study of demand this week (when prices go up, demand goes down...earth-shattering, I know) and I planned a project for my honors students to get their juices flowing. These kids need to be creatively engaged to stay interested, and I thought it would be fun to expand upon our study of what other factors influence demand besides just price. Following a class analysis and discussion of ads for things like cigarettes and diamonds (you know, the bare necessities), they were assigned the task of designing a campaign (in print or commercial form) that would increase demand "in these tough times" for a seemingly ordinary product. Gold stars, happy faces, and kudos to Jean-Luc (you MUST say this as though you are aboard the Starship Enterprise), Brandon, Brian, and Ryan. Freakin' hilarious.

PS-Many other student campaigns used the "sex sells" tactic; interesting final products are proudly displayed upon my classroom walls.

2. Hmmm...

I read Ender's Game based on the recommendation of some of my male students, and I just don't think the sci-fi genre is for me. The author did an excellent job of revealing some aspects of human nature, though, such as how to lead/manipulate the masses (if we hadn't all learned from the whole Obama debacle) and how to best use our emotions-one of my favorite quotes: "Ender's anger was cold, and he could use it. Bonzo's was hot, and so it used him"-let that one sink in. Ooooh...nice.

Okay, that whole last sentence is so screwed up in terms of punctuation that I'm not even going to mess with it. AnyStarWars, overall an enjoyable read; I'm just not the target demographic. It's good to expand my horizons every now and then, though, but only in terms of literature. :)

1. Boo-yah.

I finished the first of this year's fifty books, and I am already thoroughly enjoying the endeavour. It was lengthy (and not Harry Potter font-size 18 pretend lengthy), but never a dull moment. I am sure Margaret Mitchell will roll over in her grave, but I am thinking that Britney Spears is a modern-day Scarlett O'Hara. The resilience, the multiple marriages, Southern roots, always being judged, baby daddy drama, secretly pining for Ashley/Justin Timberlake, the cliffhanger ending (will she get him back/will she get her career and abs back?), etc. And the whole time I was reading I kept thinking that Clark Gable was MADE to play Rhett.

PS-I think I am going to hell for feeling sympathy for the post-Civil War Southerners, actually breathing a sigh of relief when Reconstruction came to an end. Crap.

Happy wedding, sister!

50.

Over the course of the holiday break I have had the time to read quite a few new books, some of which I loved (e.g. The Black Dahlia and The Other Boelyn Girl). I realized that I have gotten into the habit of rereading the same books over and over, and have decided that one of my goals for 2009 is to read 50 books I have never experienced. I originally thought 100 would be a fun number, but then quickly realized that would be one book every 3.6 days (I know, I am dazzling you all with my math skills) and that might take the fun out of the whole thing. My first selection is Gone with the Wind and, while it is a bit weighty and some of the slave language (is that okay to say? Who cares...) is dificult to understand, a la Jim in Huck Finn, I am thoroughly enjoying this classic.