Overheard & Wishing I Did Not Join

(overheard)
Student 1: I don't think he's Jewish.
Student 2: Of course, he's not Jewish! He doesn't have a big nose! Look!
Me: Girls, don't say things like that. That's racist.
S2: Say what? (to the other girl) See, he's not Jewish; he doesn't have a big nose.
Me: Don't say racist things like that.
S2: Racist? We're saying you don't have a big nose.
Me: I know. But when you make sweeping comments about a race of people that's racist.
S2: But Jewish people do have big noses.
Me: No they don't. Not all Jewish people.
S1: So, you're Jewish, but you don't have a big nose.
Me: No. I'm not Jewish, but that doesn't matter. (sigh) You can't say that all Jews have big noses, just like you can't say that all black people have big lips.
S1: You have small lips.
S2: Yeah, your lips are really small.
Me: I think my lips are very nice. They have a nice shape. Wait, we're supposed to be talking about quadratic equations.

Application

I just found out that the school I want to work at never received my job application. I received an application receipt! I hate online applications! They probably already filled the position. I can't stay in my current school for another year. I don't want to deal with (as many) riots next year. I need to grow. I need new experiences. Like bomb threats. And racial gangs.

Duck! Duck! Goose?

I ran my first half-marathon today! I know that many runners who blog (or bloggers who run) will write about their times (2:04:00) and their splits (9:27 /mile) and their training (all the time). I have thought about doing that myself because I'm also raising money for the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society and this blog would be a great promotional tool (See my web page! Help me reach my goal!). But, I didn't do that in the beginning of my training and now it just feels strange to write in medias res. This training is no epic, though it sometimes feels like it.

In the course of running long distances, I see many things on the trails - usually trash. I find most of it interesting, although I probably wouldn't think twice about the garbage if I were able to bring my iPod with me. (Curses to my funny-shaped ears that were not built for ear buds.) Sometimes I find dead animals. I've learned that I'm the only one on my training team that is interested in road kill. Nobody else seems to care. How can they not wonder how the animal died? Wild animals don't die of old age. There is always a story. And given that I'm not running on roads with street traffic, they're not dying by vehicular homicide either. I usually wonder aloud about the dead animals, and noone ever joins my conversation. So, it always ends up as a monologue about carcases. And then someone changes the subject to something more pleasant, like chaffing or nipple protection.

Today I found a second duck head! A second one! I'm not finding the decapitated bodies. I'm not finding the heads of other animals. What's going on?!? Obviously there's a duck serial killer loose in Milwaukee.

Throat

I had such a cool experience tonight, and I cannot convey it in words. I saw a concert of Tuvan throat singing. It was at a house - a cabin on an island of the Milwaukee river. It was a very small venue, free to get in, but you were supposed to bring food to the pot-luck dinner. It's a great place to see folk singers and blue-grass bands.

I had no idea what to expect from the throat singers. I had no idea what to expect from Tuvans. I had never even heard of Tuva, a country near Siberia. (Apparently neither has my spell check.) The music was incredible though. It is certainly different than the music I normally listen to. The throat-singers create several notes simulaneously, able to generate harmony and melody in the same body. The sounds have an eerie feeling, but also soothing and gentle. I think it helped that the band members were all about my age and I spent a good amount of time wondering how similar and different our lives were.