Christa Allan

Why we celebrate.
You know who’s NOT surprised by the volume of the fans in the Superdome? The FANS.
Forty years. Forty years.
The same number of years Moses wandered around the desert with a host of Jewish mothers. The same number of years Buddy Diliberto entertained hosts of ‘Aints’ fans. And neither Moses nor Buddy, after leading [...]

“You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” Psalm 139:15 NLT
When my children were young, we lived in an area with a community pool. The kids and I would schlep there, the car a container of wiggling bodies, pool toys, and [...]

Massive devastation in New Orleans. Katrina? No, if the Saints lose.
I’m not too proud to admit that I cried watching the Saints enter the Superdome the night of their first game there. Perhaps it was post-Katrina syndrome, allowing myself to cry for what I and we lost those days. For the ravaged city and people [...]

The following provided courtesy of Lake Superior State University, whose 2007 List of Banished Words I electronically stumbled upon during one of my web voyages—most of which, my husband would convince you, are made on the proverbial slow boat to China rather than a jet ski. The list amused me. My comments in italics. [...]

My Creative Writing students are taking their exam, one that I’ve used for probably ten years now thanks to one of the gurus, Skip Nicholson, on the English Language AP listserve. They’re writing a letter to themselves as the adults (I pray) they will be five years from now. I don’t read the letter nor [...]

It’s exam week. I’m going away for a few minutes to scream.
Okay, I’m back now
Why is it always the kids who couldn’t remember due dates if they were tattooed on their boy/girlfriends’ foreheads who are the first to ask, twenty-two seconds after handing in their tests, if I have their averages?
My next [...]

Great. Two Princeton economists have provided me yet another source of mommie guilt. According to Anne Case and Christina Paxson, the pre-natal care and first three years of my children’s lives determined the poundage of the proverbial bacon they’re frying up in the pan today. Case and Paxson believe proper early nutrition [...]

A school district near Dallas paid more than my annual salary to launch an investigation into charges that a principal gave preferential treatment to a group of cheerleaders, one of whom (here’s the shocker) happened to be the daughter of the principal.
It seems the girls were more interested in being cheeky than cheery. [...]

I suppose it was only a matter of time.
Pfizer announced that Slentrol, a new drug to control weight for dogs only, should be on the market this spring. The prescription drug also can produce some unfortunate side effects, including loose stools, diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy and loss of appetite. I find [...]

(back to blog-land after school. . . )
A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same, if it’s turned back-to-front. The names Bob, Eve, and Otto are all palindromes. So’s the name of the pop group Abba. Try to identify palindromic words from the following clues. Good luck!
Example: Part of the [...]

Back to the blog after school————–and now it’s after school——–Random musings today:
***Beyonce lost ten pounds in two weeks doing the Master Cleanse. I looked it up. If I could cleanse with low-fat vanilla lattes, I’m on it; otherwise, no thank you. Besides, my bladder’s already trained to follow the school bell schedule.
***Mid-term tests are [...]

Nick Saban and Alabama. At least we now understand the Saban M.O. Denial=Acceptance.  Amusing. He’s like some of us women who, when asked, “Is anything wrong, dear?” Answer, “No, of course not.” When we really mean, “You bet your pile of dirty socks on the floor and petrified toothpaste globs in the sink something’s wrong [...]

I am old—instead of Prufrock’s rolled trousers and peach-eating—I’m slouching in sweats eating calcium-fortified bran-enriched oatmeal—I’m reading the classifieds, and I no longer understand what companies are looking for—the job market has become incomprehensible—one company is looking for a Director for Capacity Building, another a Classification Society Surveyor; another asks if I like to [...]

The American College of Obs and Gyns is recommending that every pregnant woman be offered a test to screen for Down Syndrome and other chromosomal defects.
“About one in 800 babies has Down syndrome, a condition where having an extra chromosome causes mental retardation, a characteristic broad, flat face and small head and, often, [...]