My blog is the first result in a search for "my teacher darling"

Why would you want to search for "my teacher darling" you ask? Well, I don't know for sure, but someone in Turkey does. That's right, Turkey!

StatCounter: one of the many items on my top ten fascinating things list that I would not know about if it were not for my amazing partner in crime, Chris. He somehow set my account up(I've tried to set it up with a project at work. 6 weeks later and it still isn't registering views) and now whenever someone looks at my blog, I get to stalk them! Sort of. I don't actually know who they are. But i can see how they found me, where they are from, how often they're coming back, etc.

Here's the breakdown of where you all are:

	65	Iowa	United States
	62	New York	United States
	62	Illinois	United States
	32	Washington	United States
	20	-	-	-
	16	California	United States
	13	Missouri	United States
	12	Ohio	United States
	10	Florida	United States
	7	Kentucky	United States
	6	Maryland	United States
	4	Wisconsin	United States
	3	Texas	United States
	3	Buenos Aires	Argentina
	3	Ontario	Canada
	2	Berlin	Germany
	2	Tel Aviv	Israel
	2	Nebraska	United States
	1	Colorado	United States
	1	Quebec	Canada
	1	Sao Paulo	Brazil
	1	District Of Columbia	United States
	1	Louisiana	United States
	1	Connecticut	United States
	1	Arizona	United States
	1	England	United Kingdom
	1	Emilia-romagna	Italy
	1	Minnesota	United States
	1	Gauteng	South Africa
	1	North Carolina	United States

From what I understand, the numbers represent pageloads, or views. Kind of. i think. but not individuals, at any rate.

I'm also on the first page of a google search for the phrases "raj patel sex ed" "what i am in your life"(which was just part of a sentence when I said it, but taken out of context, is sort of poetic) and "darling doggie" . This is probably not interesting to anyone except me. This blog is also on the 10th page for a search of "iowa teen pregnancy prevention programs" (someone in Ankeny was very determined...if you are still looking, let me know, I have connections!) It looks like people have found this blog while searching for information on breastfeeding teachers, sex with teachers, weekend sex, composting sex and "'psyche myself out' sex". there were a few looking for a combination of "homemade" "teachers" and "sex" (is homemade teacher porn really this popular?) and a few looking for breastfeeding support, especially for teen moms(La Leche League!)

Someone in Seattle looked at the blog 32 times between June and September. Thanks, whoever you are!!

For the most part, though, there were no referring links. People found me through Facebook, emails or the blogs of other amazing people(namely Christofer, Erin and Josh).

Anyway, now that I've consumed most of my evening by obsessively pouring over StatCounter entries(and writing about it as though it were fascinating) I should move on to other things. like cleaning my kitchen.

ER

I watched ER last night(thanks Becky...) and there was an interesting situation going on with one of the characters. Dr. Gates has an adopted daughter around 14 years old who gets a tongue piercing. Throughout the episode Dr. Gates co-worker and girlfriend Sam is encouraging him to talk with Sarah, (after an intern explained that girls get tongue studs to "pleasure the boys.") Dr. Gates finally corners his daughter, who admits that her friends bet her to get the tongue piercing and says that she isn't having sex. He replies that he is 'here for her' and if she ever wants to talk about sex, she should come to him.

I kept muttering "he's doing it wrong, he's doing it wrong..." during the scene. Although I applaud ER for addressing teen sex and showing a parent who is willing to talk to their child, you don't put the ball in their court! You don't make it the child's job to open up this horribly awkward and scary conversation! That's why we call them the child and you the parent! It's your job to absorb all that weirdness and discomfort so that your child can feel safe enough to actually talk. Grr, television.

Survival

Today was the first meat and potatoes day at my co-ed group of eighth graders. we are meeting weekly this year, but still during a twenty minute advisory period. Last week was canceled and the week before i wound up yelling at the kids because two of the new ones got into it(he called me fat, she told me to shut up, none of you should be talking! i was talking! i will turn this car around without ice cream!) So i went in with minimal expectations...and so they were greatly exceeded! The first half was paperwork catch up and the last ten minutes were "sexuality review." Which basically amounted to a rousing discussion of the changes experienced in puberty. One young lady responded "its when boys start wetting the bed again!" To which I replied "that's not exactly what happens. That is called a wet dream...anyone know what a wet dream is?" a young man, we'll call him Sam, replied "its when a guy ejaculates in his sleep." This may not seem like much to you, but you have to understand that Sam has been suspended 4 times this year(that I know of) and just looks like a baby bad ass. The other boys were doing things like yelling "CUM!" (though i will admit, it was usually yelled as a reasonable response to a question) or making volcanic hand gestures. Or both at the same time. To the point where I got up and closed the door(and apologized to the 6th grader at her locker outside). So when Sam gave this matter of fact answer using accurate terminology, I turned to him, gave him a high five and said "Wow Sam, you could totally run this class!" It was hilarious. And just what i needed. I usually feel pretty freaked out heading to this school because sessions rarely go well(mostly due to the limited time). We're going on a field trip in a couple of weeks, so I needed a boost before taking them out in the community.

Announcement: Human Trafficking Conference

Fifth Annual Social and Economic Justice Conference
"Global and Local Perspectives on Human Trafficking"
Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008
Rogalski Center on the St. Ambrose University campus

Human trafficking is a human rights crisis that reflects the dark side of globalization. Participants in this conference will explore global and local perspectives on trafficking in order to seek gender-responsive solutions that focus on empowering the survivors and prosecuting the traffickers. The conference goals are to: educate participants on global and local perspectives on human trafficking; assist service providers and others interested in human rights to recognize human trafficking, empower survivors, and refer them to appropriate agencies; and, to continue the dialogue with policy makers to strengthen Iowa's laws on human trafficking and to support international statutes against trafficking to ensure that traffickers are prosecuted.

Conference Schedule

1:30 p.m.
Welcome

1:45 pm
Panel Presentations http://web.sau.edu/socialjustice/awsjspeakers.htm

3:15 p.m.
Break

3:30 p.m.
"Cargo: Innocence Lost" Film Presentation
<http://web.sau.edu/socialjustice/film.htm> or
"How Can Our Community Help Meet the Social, Economic, and Legal Needs of Victims of Human Trafficking?" Workshop Session <http://web.sau.edu/socialjustice/workshop.htm>

5:30 p.m.
Dinner ($15 charge)
or
"Cargo: Innocence Lost" Film Presentation <http://web.sau.edu/socialjustice/film.htm> (second showing)

7:30 p.m.
Keynote Lecture delivered by Ninotchka Rosca <http://web.sau.edu/socialjustice/awsjspeakers.htm>


We would especially like to invite youth to a Student Activist Networking dessert that will be part of the conference from 6-7pm in one of the breakout rooms of the Rogalski Center ballroom.
This will be a great opportunity for young activists to network with other youth in the area about an extremely important human rights issue! For more information, or to register, please contact:

Katy A. Strzepek
Director of Women's Studies
St. Ambrose University
518 W. Locust St.
Davenport, IA 52803
563-333-6113
StrzepekKatyA@sau.edu

Interactive Activity Time

This made me giggle. Anyone know why?

Oh the tangled webs we weave

When creating public policy, even the best intentions often have dire consequences for those we are trying to serve. Here is a great example of the difficulty we have in predicting the outcomes of our actions.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/01/3/gr010305.html


So what do you think? If I have a young girl confide in me that her partner is dramatically older than her, or a teen mom reports that the baby's father is 30, how do I proceed? While a break in trust with me may not prevent these young ladies from receiving reproductive health services, it may help them become a little more distrustful of professional service providers, it may make them a little more ashamed of their relationships and eat away at their self-esteem. If I were to make a report and it were acted on, it will certainly destroy the relationship I have with the victim, who will probably not come to me with confidences in the future. This dilemma is a recurring one in social work, especially for the borderline situations. When do you go to the parents? When do you call someone out on destructive behavior? Where is the line between friend and social worker, listener and teacher?

Hello again

Well its been awhile. I haven't written in quite a while and, more to the point, I haven't done much introspection in a while. This summer has been a strange thing. I've been less busy and felt more frantic. I've once again realized that my mental well being is tied closely to my level of "accomplishment" and when I let myself get behind on things, it has a massive impact on how I deal with life. I have a line by George Bernard Shaw taped up in my cubicle at work "A man learns to skate by staggering about making a fool of himself. Indeed, he progresses in all things by making a fool of himself" I try and try to remember that its ok to be imperfect, but it sure is hard. And more to the point, that realizing I'm imperfect should be a catalyst for working harder, not giving up and taking a nap.

So anyway, now that the school year is starting up, I'll be posting more and going back to write some previously posts that I started but didn't complete. Good luck to me.