Smart boy

Sometimes I just want to smack him.

Connor brought home his TAKS scores in Reading and his Stanford Test Scores. You can click on the images to make them larger, but the breakdown is in TAKS, he missed 3 and got a commended performance. This is notable because on 3 of his report cards, the child had an F in reading. It should also be noted that he reads constantly. IN TWO LANGUAGES. Ass.

The Stanford was a banner test for Connor again. There are 16 sections. In 11 of them, he scored PHS (Post High School) in spelling he is on a 10.7 level (10th grade is 10) and in thinking skills he scored 11.1. total mathematics he got 8.0 (two subsets were 7.9 and 8.5)So... his worst subject he is on level.

The boy had 3 f's on his progress report. We do everything we can. We are on top of him. We communicate with the teachers, we use positive and negative reinforcement, he gets his medication, we get him the reasonable accommodations allowed by law for ADHD. We are running out of ideas. He is just going to have to start making better choices. I cannot go to school and make him make the right choices. He will have to.

These are the test scores of a boy that is in danger of not passing the 8th grade.








Not quite sure what to do. This is the same problem my parents had with me, and nothing they did worked either.

Jose Gonzalez

Found the next albums I want to buy. Vaneer and In Our Nature by Jose Gonzalez. He reminds me of Elliot Smith, but his guitar is romantic.


I also love the video for his song "Killing for Love" as much as the song. It is based on the story "Manhog Beyond The Face" by Jim Woodring, as is the video for his song "Down the Line" (so now I need to read that story)

---

Here is he performing his cover of The Knife's Heartbeat

---

I have never heard a cover sound less like the original than his cover of "Love will Tear US Apart" (one of my all time favorite songs) but I still really enjoy it.

 

Stroke of Insight

This was fascinating.

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

She describes a Nirvana experience during her stroke.