Among my favorites from Mr. Pogue’s list:

• GGNUDP — gotta go, no unlimited data plan
• 12OF — twelve-o’clock flasher (refers to someone less than competent with technology, to the extent that every appliance in the house flashes “12:00″)
• CTTC — can’t talk, teacher’s coming
• SPLETS — send pics later; Edge too slow
• CRRE — conversation required; remove earbuds

During the course of the week, all of us — administrative staff included — did the required “butt-time” during mandatory district inservices. While I’m not sure exactly who was really being “serviced” by all of this, I have compiled the list below in an attempt to move us beyond the cheesy (but well-intentioned), gimmicky quasi-motivational items that we seem to see year after year after year. I hope that folks will take this in the spirit it’s intended (it’s Friday and I need to de-stress a bit!) and feel free to add any that I’ve missed.

Here we go – starting with the one that makes me the most nauseous…

A Lesson from Geese

That Apple Teacher Video from 6 Years Ago

Uploaded with Skitch!

Maurice Cheeks and Natalie Gilbert Singing the National Anthem

That “Shift Happens” Video

Kidding on the last one, of course. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. I actually still like the reaction from people who are seeing it for the first time, but I think I’ve seen it almost as many times as I’ve seen the original Star Wars trilogy…

As you can see, I have rather eclectic musical tastes. Hey – it’s Saturday!

The rules:

• List 8 random facts about yourself
• At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them
• Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged

And away we go. Eight things about me you won’t find on my “About” page…

1. I have an obsession with all things gadget-related.
2. I love sushi. In Florida that made me normal. In Colorado that makes me some kind of sideshow attraction along the lines of, “Look! He’s actually going to eat that stuff!”
3. I play guitar, saxophone, clarinet, and tuba.
4. I’m learning to fly fish.
5. I was the drum major of my high school marching band for three years.
6. I have an obsession with bags. I may own more bags than my wife, though I’ve not (yet!) started to carry a “man bag.” Computer bags, briefcases, messenger bags, daypacks for hiking – I need an intervention. And a second job.
7. I am a huge fan of Seinfeld and Friends and I still TiVo re-runs of both.
8. I put myself through college working as a “cracker stacker” for Nabisco. All the free Oreos and Chips Ahoy you could eat made me extremely popular in the dorms at UCF.

As far as passing along the meme, it seems like most everyone I know has already been tagged! Let’s start with Mike, Jeff, and Geir.

Image: “8 ball” by Jeff Kubina

I was a slacker in high school. Well – that may be a little unfair. Perhaps “underachiever” would be a better word. I always took honors and AP classes, I was always respectful to my teachers and administrators, and I was very involved in extra-curricular activities. In terms of my academics, however, I was very comfortably “above average.”

Truth be told, I’m pretty sure that had I really applied myself, I could have been at or near the top of my class. But for some reason, I was content to turn in half of my homework, skip the whole “studying” thing, and exert the minimum amount of effort required to earn a “B” in class (C’s were verboten in my house growing up). This must have irritated my mother to no end (she’s a teacher!), but to her credit, aside from the “No C’s” thing, she pretty much stayed off my case about it.

I’m not proud of this at all. In fact, I’m actually a little embarrassed. As karmic payback, I ended up teaching at the school where I graduated and had to work with some of the teachers whose classes I coasted through. While I’m sure they barely even remembered my middling performance in their classes, I could never quite shake the feeling that some of them would look at me and think, “This guy was the biggest underachiever I ever had – and now he’s a teacher?”

I’ve been obsessing a bit about this lately as my son recently turned three. He’ll be starting preschool in August and I’ve been reflecting a lot on my slackerness trying to determine when it actually started, what (if anything) contributed to it, and how to keep my son from doing the same things.

I’m sure I’m being a little melodramatic here. I mean, I got into the colleges I wanted to attend, and even scored a Florida Undergraduate Scholarship, but something has always bugged me about why I was never motivated to “give it my all” in class.

I don’t blame my parents for not caring, my teachers for not having better lessons, my friends for being “bad influences,” or anyone else for that matter. But to this day, I wonder what it would have taken for me to stop being so lazy in high school.

If there’s a silver lining (or, at the very least, a point) to all of this it’s that I seem to have turned out OK. I’m a high school administrator with a wonderful family. If nothing else, all of my slackerness has given me a unique lens through which to view student apathy and school reform.

Photo: “Windsurfing Upriver” by bigdadventures.

Click the image to see it in its full-sized glory. Enjoy!

[Source: Apple Evolution at the Portfolio of Edwin Tofslie]

Maybe they should have considered 10.4.95 or 10.4.9.1. I’m sure this is commonly done with version numbers, but anything would have been better (and more mathematically correct!) than going from 10.4.9 to 10.4.10.

I don’t think this will detract from the iPhone hype today, but it sure feels good to get that out of my system.

Since I started this blog in January, my post on education and GTD has consistently been one of the most viewed. I’ve taken some time to update the information from that post and to make it a “Page” for ease of linking and future updates. It’s now a part of my Resources so enjoy:

Using GTD in Education

I am a bit of a ‘joiner’ and feel left out not being involved in this whole phenomenon. Of course, when you sign up for a social network and it’s just – you know – you, it feels a little empty. Luckily, this time I may have joined one that actually has some people I “know” involved so I’m hoping to stick with it. It seems a bit like “MySpace for grown-ups” if you ask me.

Enough of my insecurity issues… If you’re reading this, do you social network? If so, what’s your platform of choice?