Thoughts from Ann Arbor

In no particular order:

"There is a lot of neon along I-94."
"This grocery store has so many preservatives."
"Since when did girls wear tube dresses to Charley's? In my day we saved 'dressing up' for Rick's."
"Do I pick up a Michigan accent when I'm back here?"
"I'm glad I went to college in the era when dressing up meant black pants and a tank top."
"Is that a typo or is beer really that cheap?"
"Since when did Really Hot Guy From High School become Super Hot Guy From Wharton?"
"There are a lot of white people here."
"French fries and ranch: a trend that should spread west."
"No, really. I can count 26 people from where I'm standing and three are not white."
"Conor O'Neils: still undeserving of its prime spot on Main Street."
"NYPD pizza: still amazing."
"If I had to guess, I'd predict that NYPD chicken rolls are less delicious prior to 3am. Good thing I will probably never find out."
"Michiganders really do drive better than Californians."
"Was 30 degrees always this cold?"
"I miss mile marker signs on the freeways."

"So many people in crew neck sweatshirts, mom jeans and sneakers. Male and female."
"So many strip malls."
"Pizza and ranch: also worth spreading."
"Freeways here are dark. And have very few lanes."
"I picked good friends in high school and college. Still blows me away."
"There are a lot of billboards on I-94 for injury lawyers,"

Hashtag

I've gotten into the habit of ending every test/quiz with the question "What do you want your teacher to know about how you're feeling right now?" It brings out some good responses that I think kids might be willing to say out loud or approach me with in person.

Yesterday a girl concluded her response to this question with "#justsaying." I hope this means she's tweeting about geometry class. I hope it doesn't mean she's trying to do every math problem in under 140 characters.

Election Wisdom

Today at lunch, one of my students was trying to convince me to vote for Romney.

N.'s reasoning: "He has such a cool name! I mean 'President Romney'? Doesn't that sound cool?"
Me: "You mean 'President Obama' doesn't sound cool?
N: "And look at his hair. Romney has such good hair."
Me: "I don't think good hair is an indication that someone will be a good president."
N: "All the good presidents have had good hair and all have been Republican. Well, except Abraham Lincoln. His hair was scraggly. But look at Reagan! Look at George Washington! He had that weird ponytail thing."
Me: "Washington wasn't a Republican."
N: "All I'm saying is that Romney would be a good president because good hair makes you a good president."
H (another student who has been silently shaking his head in the corner): "Good hair doesn't make you a good president. Good hair just makes you a Republican."

The real question is: how many registered voters will be casting their ballots for the exact same reasons N. gave me?