Item 1: Lewis Black. Live. High-fucking-larious. The opener for this tour, Mitch Headburg, was funny too, in his self-depriciating way. We did have to sit through Dave Attel's penis-drug-alcohol joke set, which was fairly rote. But it was well worth it, for Black hit his stride and took the audience for a riotous ride through modern American idiocy. The forum was large, for they're performing mainly in concert-type halls, though Black through his skillful use of rage and sarcasm turned it into a one-on-one. Superb.

Item 2: My father is a math teacher, and unfortunately the Math Gene has skipped a generation, rendering me an idiot when it comes to formulas and functions. The calculus teacher that I am currently under is a poor one. Here's how I know: The other day in class, she makes the statement that our last set of homework papers were all "really poor. And I don't know why."

Well, there are two possibilities, ma'am. Either A, the entire class is stupid, or B, we're not being taught. And the fact that you stated your ignorance of our capabilities in front of us tends to make me think that it's the latter. The vast majority of my dad's students leave his class at the end of the semester with much improved grades and skills, year after year, because he teaches them. My instructor spouts jargon to us and scribbles on the blackboard, and can't understand why we don't get it.

I love the University of Anytown. I seem to be hitting about 50/50 with it's teachers, though, which might be a fair average but remains incredibly frustrating to someone who's a natural teacher.