Have you noticed that the modern university libraries tend to grow in size, but not in substance? For instance, people read the books in the library, then they write their own book based on what they read.

So, like rising bread dough, the library expands with more books, but there is no more substance to it.

I CONSTANTLY marvel at the Internets and the Google. What used to take all freaking night in the library can be done online in just a few minutes. Hell, the Almighty Internets even does APA formatting for me. I honestly don't like that my curmudgeon gene has been activated, but honestly…these people are MORONS. And they have no idea they're morons.

You kids get off my damn lawn!

Seriously, it's really disturbing to see the average level of brain power at work in my classes. If it's not on a screen with rapidly changing light and noise patterns, they don't have any interest. On the bus I see people of a certain age reading. Books. You know. Printed on PAPER. People of another certain age don't read. They text. They're not putting anything new in, they're just regurgitating the same thoughts out, over and over. Frightening.

We're working our way toward more writing–the bio teacher gives essays as part of exams, and the math teacher makes the students keep journals (in which they explain verbally how to do math problems–they hate it SO MUCH). But kids who know to make flashcards for English vocab words seem shocked when I suggest that for Spanish or biology. What?!?

I'm procrastinating cause I should be grading finals, so back to that, I guess. Good thing I don't have Ed's job, or you'd all be in for a rant about WHAT IS SO FUCKING HARD ABOUT APOSTROPHES, GOD or similar. :(

Yesterday, I was with the missus at the Griffith Observatory, looking at the marvels of deep space. In one of the halls, they have a long band sprinkled with bling shaped as stars and planets, and various large posters to illustrate the large-scale evolution of the cosmos. About 9.7 billion years into its existence, the first (known) life-forms appear, little club-shaped micro-organisms in the lukewarm original soup of nutrients. All of this was in the caption attached to the poster showing the bacteria. A 5-year old kid accompanied by his dad passes by, and asks (he probably couldn't read): "Hey, dad, is that fish on an alien planet?" The incurious redneck glances for half a second at the poster, refuses to look closer, and mumbles, "Yeah, I guess."

If you don't nourish and indulge their curiosity while they have it, small wonder they get over it in school.

As for your kids who don't aren't seeing the big picture, do any of them take foreign languages? Once I made a single paper, with minor adjustments, satisfy assignments in French class, lit comp, and philosophy (thank you, Sartre!) But then, my high school also required that writing be a graded part of every class, This probably stopped when a jock got a bad grade in PE for poor spelling, but it did raise the water level for a while.