deedlebee

At the job fair I recently attended, I was impressed with some of the information they gave out. They were one of the few districts that seemed to market academic achievement. You'd think everyone would, but no. Most of the slogans were things like "Respect, Diversity, Honor" .. or some variation. HISD (Houston, not Humble or Huffman) at the job fair was downright rude. I honestly don't even know why they were there. They wasted my time. They wouldn't accept a resume until you had created a user account on their website and submitted an application. Who wants to work for an impersonal entity? I was apparently talking to some marketing guy, not a teacher or principal, or even an administrative type. They'll be the last people I ever consider. Thanks so much for asking those teachers :> I really do appreciate all the information. It's nice to know that my impressions weren't unique. (If anyone has anything else to add, I'd love to hear it!)

Sometime within the next month or two, I'm hoping to interview with several of the school districts around town. I recently attended a job fair and talked to about 20 different districts. Other than brief conversations, the marketing packet they hand out, and the myriad of websites for each district, I have very little "real" information about the various districts. The state's rating system is not helpful, since it can widely misrepresent a district. Humble ISD was recently ranked unacceptable because the district failed to record their dropout rate correctly. Additionally, the rating system seems to have low academic standards anyway. Specifically, I'm wondering if the Houston crowd would help me out and give me their personal impressions of any school districts they've lived in or done business with. If available, I would like to learn about any impressions you have had with teachers or administration with regard to academic responsibility, teaching philosophies, general impression within the community, etc.

For five star dining I highly recommend Chez Nous in Humble. It's tucked away in a very small suburb of the old town and if it weren't for the cars parked all over the place, you wouldn't even think it's a restaurant. Excellent menu of French and American cuisine. While it has a weird name, they have the most fabulous chocolate mousse dessert called "Chocolate in a Bag". As for downtown (re: birthday) dining, I'm always open to cuisine when it comes to fine dining. I've never found myself suddenly finicky in such a restaurant. So really, I'm curious about a great restaurant (evening apparel) with a really great view. And while The Aquarium was interesting, I was quite underwhelmed by the food. Any suggestions, downtown or otherwise?

Magnificent! I'll have to take a leisure ride out there soon. Speaking of great views, I'm preparing to make arrangements for my birthday and I'd like to have dinner downtown. A while back (well over ten years ago) I remember having a very nice meal several stories up inside One Shell Plaza. Does anyone have any dining recommendations downtown that are in the high rises? (Maybe this should be a new post?)

I'm curious about this comment. Perhaps it is different for males and females so I won't attempt to generalize that far. However, if an explicit conversation were to take place about lacking values and the person actually changed to the required effect, would this really make you (anyone willing to post) more interested in the other person? Or perhaps would it cause you to think that this is a person who didn't achieve important values on their own and is still not worthy? I guess I'm curious if anyone really would be "re-interested" in a person who managed to change some undesirable aspect of his/herself or if the old feelings of undesirability are too difficult to overcome, at which point love becomes either somewhat forced, or just unlikely.

Nice. Each day I commute from Kingwood to Clear Lake/League City. It's two hours of my day, round-trip, so to keep myself from going nuts, I like to switch my route every now and then. Occasionally I'll go over 610 through Pasadena or over the Sam Houston toll bridge. I have to admit that going over the industrial parks at night is one of my favorite parts to the otherwise monotonous drives. (Seeing the sunsets behind downtown is another.)

Pachebel's Canon in D was my first favorite. Bach's Cello Suite no. 1 (prelude) was currently featured in Master and Commander. Love it! Strauss's "Emperor's Waltz" always makes me dance. Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C Major is lively and upbeat. Respighi's "Pines of Rome" is wonderfully majestic. Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" is a very quick and light piece. Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" paints a wonderful story. Stravinsky's Firebird suite is also a favorite of mine. And the possibly-authored-by Jeremiah Clarke, "Trumpet Voluntary" is positively regal and still quite cheery. Also cello suites (my favorite instrument followed closely by brass) and just about everything by Bach that's not exclusively on the organ (the Brandenburg Concerto's (no. 3 esp) come to mind)

My family moved to Houston when I was 2 and a half years old. I do not remember anything before that time and my time spent at college has been shared between Lubbock and Clear Lake. I'll be 29 in December, so, I'd like to think I qualify for that bumper sticker, "I wasn't born here but I got here as fast as I could". As for houses, Kingwood (all the older communities at least) was masterplanned so that no two houses would look identical next to one another. So in the older neighborhoods there is a wonderful mix of house styles. One house on our street has a French estate look to it with a decorative front fence, another has Spanish tiles, and yet another has a pair of lions at the front walk. Definitely not a cookie cutter neighborhood But also, this is pretty much the norm for a large part of the community. As far as suburbs go, I'd like to think this is a nice one.

Hello I'm up in Kingwood, about 30-35 minutes north of the downtown area. I've lived here almost my entire life and while I rather like the people, I don't care for the summer weather With that, happy fall to ya'll!

OismForever, I don't want to sound rude but your post irks a little of trolling. Are you suggesting that anyone who likes horror movies is automatically irrational? The implication that people who want to be viewed as rational by others (since you have offered a quote against another) should only seek out entertainment that they know ahead of time to be consistent with their view of life, seems to be an over-generalized condemnation of the ability to make judgments across all sorts of ideas and genres. A person who likes horror films may have several reasons. He may enjoy cinematic special effects, he may enjoy the thrill ride of fear, he may enjoy plots that deal with confrontation of the unnatural, or maybe he just likes to see monsters. (This list is not exhaustive.) The movie discussed in this thread deals explicitly between the belief in the supernatural and provable science. Other horror films (like The Ring) forego science all together, and some horror films deal with more metaphysical topics such as "what is horror?" (like Frankenstein). However, until one actually sees the movie, it is not always immediately evident (from reviews and trailers) where a movie might end up. After all, hunterrose didn't say, "I am a huge horror movie fan because I enjoy irrational things." Cheers.

I'm guessing the list isn't finished yet... I'm from Texas

Yes. When I was very young, perhaps between the ages of 8 and 11 I woke up one evening and began thinking about "not being around anymore" and was filled with dread. A young child's normal contemplation on life. I do not still experience such an overwhelming separation. The idea (as explained below) is still upsetting to me, but not in such a way that it hinders my life in any way. This does not match up with my thoughts and subsequent fears of death. When I was very young, I became quite upset about death for two reasons. 1) I would no longer be myself. I did not like the idea of "disappearing from time". I did not like the idea of becoming nothing. 2) I would be unable to see what happens to the human race. My reaction was the exact opposite of the scenario you describe. I was upset that I could not stay around and continue learning. I knew I didn't have enough time. As I grew, these thoughts became more complex and eventually landed on a saddening sensation from the realization that I'm currently living in a very young civilization. It upset me that I would probably never get to travel through space, much less have time to explore the entire world. I suppose you could say that I'm very optimistic about human potential, and the realization that I wouldn't be around to see the future was extraordinarily frustrating.

One of my favorite female characters is Kaname Chidori from Full Metal Panic. I was delighted to see a strong willed female lead that's still quite realistically human. How she approaches situations is a very nice blend between heroine and attractive lead. There are other female characters (and male) around her that fit more snugly into the traditional stereotypes. (The little synopsis on the website posted is a tad too short to reveal her wonderful character development across 24 episodes.) If you want to go completely off the handle for interesting females, check out Golden Boy. I guarantee they'll leave a distinct impression Very "well-rounded".

I realize it's a tad past fall, but would it be possible to request a specific thread/post be deleted? My reasons are as follows: 1) There were no responses. 2) I am the original author. 3) The post contains an unabridged copy of an academic paper (written by me) and I would like to ensure it is not plagarized at a later date. 4) The post is about 9 months old. If so, I would greatly appreciate the removal. http://forum.ObjectivismOnline.com/index.php?showtopic=2708

No one has mentioned it yet but I highly recommend one to everyone. The anime that had me hooked for life was the first OAV I ever saw: Gunbuster It was made by Gainax and is, in some ways, the granddaddy of shows like FLCL (Not just because they're both made by Gainax, but because they represent a "blowing off of animation steam" by the creators). Gainax originally wanted to make a series that made fun of all the stereotypes being pumped out, but eventually the project took on a bigger scope. The result is a six movie set that begins somewhat light-heartedly and ends with an astoundingly emotional finale. If you like comedy, sci-fi, great animation, a heart-wrenching plot, lots of techy details... you must see this OAV. To respond directly to The Tortured One, the mecha in this movie actually does make military sense. The plot premise is that Earth is under attack by aliens that are much *much* larger than most human built ships, and thus, something very large is needed. Two special side notes about Gunbuster. It hosts the *largest* mecha ever featured in any anime. It is also the originator of the "Gainax bounce". (You know, that thing girls do all the time? ;p) If you're tired of the Shinji types [coward] (Evangelion) and the Yuki [unemotional] types (Fruits Basket), or even the Kamui types [angsty] ("X" by Clamp), I'd suggest going back to the 70's. Series that have become watered down because of lame stereotypes sometimes have earlier incarnations with strong characters. A noteable example of this is the Gundam series. I was first introduced to Gundam Wing, which is too close to watching a boy band with mechas. At some point later, Toonami showed Mobile Suit Gundam 0080. Much to my surprise, the main characters are all over the age of 20 and seem to have their head together. It was entirely refreshing. Purple titles are those not previously listed in this thread. More modern series that I have enjoyed include: Vandread (Space battle of the sexes with bonus aliens) Full Metal Panic! (Secret organization becomes bodyguard for school girl) Read or Die (The movie/OAV, not the series - Bookworm saves the world) Favorite quote from the fansub version (it came out differently in the dub) "I think true love (i.e. real life) is much more wonderful (than the stories in books). Although there may be painful things, no matter what kind of love it is, you can be the heroine." Readman Yomiko GITS:SAC (Already mentioned, but was very engrossing after the first two or so episodes. Animation is somewhat lacking.) Earlier series of note: InuYasha (Gotta love the tension between Kagome and InuYasha! Still, I'm more curious to see what will happen between Sashomarou and Rin) Kodomo no Omocha (Extremely hyper animation, very happy people) Golden Boy (Not for kids but totally hilarious! - College dropout finds random work) Ranma 1/2 (Very old and only good subtitled, but sweet story like InuYasha) Movies I enjoyed: Princess Mononoke (The soundtrack is fantastic too!) Spirited Away New Dominion Tank Police (not the series - movie is hilarious, wonderfully animated) Vampire Hunter D (Both old and new versions and the (finally) translated novels) Escaflowne (Although the story is ridiculously condensed to the point of a few things not making sense to the uninitiated, I really liked the animation and music.) End of Evangelion (The series left me hating Shinji but the "end" movie was fascinating to watch. As one observer put it, when told of a possible live-action version for this movie, it would be incredibly difficult to show the true-to-story pathos of so many deaths [i'll leave further details out for spoilers reasons])