Sunday Morning Coming Down by Johnny Cash

Have you ever had a hangover?

If you’re not sure, then you haven’t had one. Waking up feeling unrested with a slight a headache is not hangover. Lying in a fetal position unable to move without having your head feel like it’s about to explode while you stomach does backflips and praying to deities that you never thought previously existed for relief is a hangover.

Leave it to Johnny Cash, country music’s bad boy to record a song about this feeling.



Kris Kristofferson, award winning actor and musician ended up working as a janitor at Columbia Records after earning a Masters degree at Oxford and becoming a captain in the US army because he wanted to be songwriter. After composing “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and recording a demo, he got his tape to Cash. Some stories of how this happened involved landing a helicopter on Cash’s lawn, but more likely Kris was simply persistent and eventually Kristofferson came up with a song that Cash fell in love with.

With a classic Johnny Cash rhythm guitar backing, this song begins simply enough describing waking up in the morning with simple but clever lyrics that immediately characterizes the protagonist.

Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.

Kristofferson paints a bleak picture of the internal logic of this man who man who drinks to get up in the morning and doesn’t have it together enough to have clean clothes around.

While the song continues, strings enter the musical background rising up like the sun filing up with musical landscape with light. At the same time Cash goes on to singing about gigging the night before and while this darkness is in the front of his mind, the world of Sunday morning reminds him of “something” he lost.

In the chorus Cash wants to escape from the realizations of what is missing in his life.

On a Sunday morning sidewalk,
I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cause there's something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothing short a' dying
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleeping city sidewalk
And Sunday morning coming down.

Cash wants to escape from this world because it shows him that there is something more meaningful in life than partying during the night. People aren’t out walking around on Sunday mornings, instead they are home with their families or singing in a church choir. Yes, moments of partying are fun, but who you are left with on the Sunday, the people who you share your life with after the partying is over is what brings true fullfillment.

There’s something about a hangover that reveals what you really have in your life. In this moment of physical trauma while your mind is swirling around you face your regrets, your hopes and what you have to live for.  It’s a stark reminder for some how little they have but for many of us how much we have to look forward to once the hangover has passed.

Year 2: Week 4 - The Choice

Sometimes you just have to suck it and choose to be extraordinary.

This was a challenging week as a teacher and it was completely my fault.

If I did the bare minimum that was asked of me, teach my classes and take care of my basic administrative duties things would work just fine. Work would be less stressful, I’d feel less pressure and I would be able to go home after an 8-hour day as opposed to a 14-hour day I worked on Tuesday.

As much as it would be nice to have a more scaled down work week, I got to a point Tuesday night where I just decided I’m just going to embrace all of these extra project, meetings and initiatives I’ve chosen to be a part of a and  be awesome.

It simply is a choice and it is this choice, which make great schools great.

The success of many children’s education is built on administrators and teachers going above and beyond their required duties. There’s getting to know other teachers, starting projects, contributing to teacher associations and presenting at conferences to name a few. All of these things are extra but in great schools you find people doing these things all of the time, with little to know compensation for their extra work.

I rarely work my contract hours of an 8-hour workday. There are many teachers who do but that just doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t work in my head, I can’t help it. To choose to slide buy, to not put in the extra work to contribute to the community is something that I can’t understand.

Now I’m not trying to make an argument that teachers should get paid more for all of these extra things that we do. I guess I’m just trying to figure out why I chose to take on so much more than is required and so many of teachers I work with do the same thing.

My school is not a workplace. It’s not somewhere that I just punch in and out of. It’s a home and a family. And yes, I get paid to serve that community, but it's my community, and I want to help make it better. I’m not doing these things to get a bonus or to climb up some of kind career ladder. In the same way that I try to make the home I share with my wife a great place to live, I want to make my school a great place to learn.

Maybe it’s my naivety that makes me believe I can make a positive impact on my school. Well, I also believe that I can make a positive impact on the world. Maybe that’s unrealistic or misguided, but I can’t help but be who I am.

Do we really a choice? Are some of the decisions in our lives such a reflection of who we are that we can’t really make a different choice? I don’t think I can just be mediocre. Working with young people have simply made me believe too much in their potential as well as my own.

Choosing to be extraordinary is tiring and stressful but sometimes that's the only choice you can make.

Series of Dream by Bob Dylan

I don't really have a great impression of 1980s Bob Dylan so I was pleasantly surprised by this song from 1989. 



Thoughtful and introspective, Dylan sings with a level of clarity that is sometimes lost with his gravely voice. The melody has these gentle peaks that draw you and open up in some beautfiul and unexpected ways.

No, I'm Not Great At Math & Why This Positive Stereotype Hurts

I have a quick question! I remember when you were at Neuqua, you didn't appreciate when students made generalizations and said that all Asians are skilled in math and science. For the Asian American Studies course I am taking, I'll be writing an essay analyzing this stereotype (among others). I was wondering if you have any other statements or opinions that you would be willing to share, about this stereotype or any experiences you have had regarding being of Asian descent and living in America. Thanks in advance if you do!
- One of my former students

How often are you reminded that you are a woman? How often are you reminded that you are a twenty-something? How often are you reminded that you are a brunette?

In the course of a day most of the time I don’t think about the fact that I’m an Asian American. While I am proud of my heritage, this isn’t something that sits in the front of my mind. I don’t wear my background like a badge and it’s not the first thing I tell people when they ask me about myself. Honestly, it’s one of the last things I talk about. I’m more likely to tell you about my wife, my life as a teacher and my dog.

I don’t look at pictures of my family and think, “wow, we’re all Asian.” I don’t walk down the street and see a Chinese restaurant and think about how it’s “my people’s food” and I don’t bring up in conversation my perspective as an “Asian American.” I simply don’t see my life through that filter.

So when is it that I am reminded about being Asian? There’s positive moments when I cook Chinese food or can understand someone walking down the street speaking Mandarin. Also there’s when people ask me about my background, which I’m happy to talk about. And while these moments do remind me about my heritage, I more think about the feeling of home then the label of being “Asian.”

If you really think about when you are reminded of the labels and categories that our society has constructed it’s when stereotypes get thrown in your face. A blond joke makes someone with fair hair feel bad, and a comment about a father not being as loving parent as a woman makes a person reconsider their masculinity.

What about the good stereotypes? What’s so bad about assuming that I’m good at math and science? Why don’t I take that as a compliment? Well, first, I’m not really good at math and science so then I end up appearing less intelligent then what someone thinks. More importantly, good or bad, a stereotype boils incredibly complex and meaningful aspect of who you are down to a single characteristic. This trivializes important parts of people’s personalities, judges entire groups of people and most of all simply hurts deep inside.

It hurts because expressing a stereotype is viewing me as a category first and a person second. Now, the whole colorblind approach to race-relations was a disaster, and I can get into that another time. So I’m not saying that we shouldn’t acknowledge other people’s races. Go ahead, if someone is African-American, you don’t have to pretend that you don’t see that. But to stop there and form ideas about that person based on stereotypes and not through interactions with the person is abhorrent, disrespectful and demonstrates the worst kind of ignorance.

Yes, there’s a grain of truth behind every stereotype. But just a grain. And behind every label, there’s a person who is so much more interesting and so much more beautiful then any preconceived stereotype could ever encapsulate.

Stereotypes effect everyone, including Caucasians. What is most insidious about stereotyping is not what is does to the people who are stereotype but what is does the people who are propagating these broad generalizations. 

I’m an advocate with my students against stereotyping not so they don’t hurt other people’s feelings but so that they don’t close their owns minds down to meaningless and inaccurate viewpoints of groups of people. I can get over someone thinking I’m bad at driving because I’m Asian, but I wonder how much that person is missing out because they don’t go deeper into the humanity that we all share.

Year 2: Week 3 - “We Need To Have A Talk”

Along with the excitement of a new school year comes the “talks.” I’m talking about those moments when you need to take a student aside and let them know why they need to adjust their behavior and the consequences of their actions. There’s a lot of different ways people refer to this but for this entry I’m just going to refer to them as “talks.”

It seems this year I’m having a lot of talks, sometimes multiple ones daily with different students. Sometimes these talks have to be given to an entire class. The tone of these talks are usually serious and while I haven’t made any kids cry this year from giving one of these talks in one instance I came close.

What does this look like? Well, earlier this week I caught a boy throwing a football in the hallway. I confiscated the football and when he asked me when he’d get it back I told him I’d think about it and let him know later.

About five minutes later, this fifth grader came up to me whining about me taking the football away and tried to convince me to give it back to him. Not once in our exchange did this student apologize or show any understanding of the legitimate reasons I had for taking the ball away. So I let him have it. I Playing ball in the halls is not allowed and he knows the consequences. I wasn’t joking around and I tried to impress on him that he needed to take responsibility for his actions.

Understanding the seriousness of my actions he left me alone. A couple minutes later one of his friends jokingly tried to convince me to give him the ball back. Talk #2: explaining how this was an issue that had to do his friend and not him and that his joking approach to me was inappropriate at this time.

Then there was the class that in the first part of music showed great responsibility and ability to follow directions setting up and participating in a drum circle. Every student carried the drums appropriately and I was really pleased with how closely they listened and attended.

After we cleaned up I asked them to sit-up on the carpet towards the front of the room to watch a film clip. Approximately 5 out of 18 students followed that set of directions.

I had kids lying across chairs, lying on the floor and sitting in the back of the room. So I gave them a group talk. They demonstrated they could follow directions clearly, and when I gave them a simple one, they just didn’t follow through.

I told them it was like turning on your television. When you press the on button four times and the television turns on and off you begin to expect that it can do that every time. So when you press the button the fifth time and it doesn’t work, you get annoyed. And I expressed to my class how annoying I was and a waste of time it was that they did follow through on a simple task.

What I was careful to express in both cases was that I was annoyed that this situation happened because I knew they could do better through actions they had demonstrated earlier. I wasn’t talking about them as people; I was talking about choices they were making. The more clear I am with directions and expectations the harder I feel I can come down on students.

I don’t get some evil glee out of having these talks but I feel satisfied knowing that I was able to have a talk with students appropriately.

I tell my students that I can’t help but be honest and if I see something that bugs me I have to point it out. Here’s the thing. It’s not about training students to be perfectly quiet all of the time. It’s about helping them understand the reasons things are done and are expected so that they can take ownership of their actions.

This is why I take the time to have talks and not just throw consequences at kids. Yes, getting a harsh talk from a teacher is a consequence in itself, but taking the time to really explain to student and get their impression of the event is what’s important.

The reason I refer to these encounters as “talks” is because I want them to talk to me about what happened and how they feel. I want to understand how I can best help them to make better choices in the future. This takes so much more time, but it’s worth it.

There’s nothing more valuable then taking the time to creating and developing relationships with students. That’s really at the core of what teaching is all about.

Progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Now that the military "Don't ask, don't tell" is no more, we have some inspiring stories like this soldier telling his dad that he is gay.



This video reminds us that the implications of homosexuals serving openly in the military go far beyond military tactics to the lives of the some of the most dedicated and honorable Americans.

While this is amazing news, the news of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year old in Williamsville, New York committing suicide also entered the public consciousness (click here for the news link).  A victim of bullying based on his sexuality, Jamey's suicide continues a heartbreaking trend of teenage suicides related to this type of bullying.

Jamey made an "it get's better" video last May, describing his bullying but also his hope for a better future.



But thing didn't get better and now Jamey is no longer with us.

We're making progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.  Gay marriage, homosexuality and all of the related issues are not topics of discussion for political posturing.  This isn't an issue about "left" or "right," this is an issue about our lives, our friend's lives and the right we all have to live free of prejudice.

Both of these videos make me cry but for very different reasons.  I am proud of the progress we have made as a country, but we're not even close to where we must be, not "in the future" but right now.  

What it means to be a Northwestern Football Fan

With the first loss of the season upon us, it's made me reflect on my experience as a Northwestern football fan and made me realize one reason I love my college the way I do. 

At my four years at Northwester University I performed as a member of the “Wildcat” marching band at every single home game and one away game a year. Through this experience I became connected with the tradition of Northwestern Football. I would probably never gone to a football game if I wasn’t part of the band, but I’m glad I did.

Northwestern University is not the kind of place that shuts down for a football game or a basketball game. If you went to the library during a football game you’d find people studying. During away games I would often be practicing in the music building and there would always be other people practicing as well and I love that about Northwestern.

Let me explain. 

This is a place where there is a wide diversity in the student experience in not only accepted but also is celebrated. If you are someone who never goes to a football game but is actively involved in other organizations, good for you. For every person who never goes to a football game, there are sports fans who never go to a concert at Pick-Staiger. Are both of these people missing out? Yeah, kind of, but is it something to get annoyed at? Of course not, people connect with Northwestern in different ways and the fact that this campus isn’t singularly focused on Northwestern sports throughout the year allows for this great diversity.

It’s a beautiful thing.

When I first got to Northwestern, there was a lot heard about the football team not being very good. This is the team that has the record for the longest losing streak in Division I history which was 34-games. I mean in 1981 season they were outscored 505 to 82 points. However after experiencing a 8-4 season and a trip to a bowl game I didn’t really know what people were talking about.

Then in the 2001 season in which we went 4-7, and in 2002, it got worse and we went 3-9. Many of these loses were heartbreaking. The team really earned the nickname the “cardiac cats.” It was in these two seasons that I started to understand older Northwestern fans. For generations, fans of this team saw them lose, so it meant that much more when they won. And I felt that the next year in 2004 when the ‘Cats went 6-6.

Since then Northwestern has had winning seasons except for 2006, but even with these wins, Northwestern hasn't one a bowl game since 1948 and hasn’t been the outright conference champion since 1995.

Northwestern University is not a school of die-hard football fans and it’s a not a team that is well-respected by people outside of the fandom because they don’t win championships. While some people may see these two things as negatives, I don’t.

If everyone on campus were rabid football fans I don’t think I would have ever really been able to get into the games. The fact that there was a range of casual fans allowed me to feel comfortable cheering on a game that I still barely understand.

People who are fans of Northwestern football aren’t doing it to be cool. They aren’t random followers who just want to hook on to a winning team. If you see a person cheering on Northwestern, it’s because they have a meaningful personal connection to the school.

Being a Northwestern football fan has taught me to not take good things for granted, to never give up and that winning is NOT a measure of success. You don’t give up on a team because they have a loosing season the same way you don’t give up on a friend that makes a mistake. Most of the time life isn’t winning game after winning game so you’ve got to know what it means when things don’t go your way.

One of my favorite Northwestern football memories is marching out of Iowa’s stadium after loosing 27-17 holding my head up high with pride as Iowa fans heckled us.

To me that’s what being a Northwestern football fan is really about.