Dirty Laundry

I recall a trip to a friend's house once in which he was reluctant to let us near a certain part of his home, but we had to pass this area to get to the room he was putting us up in. I could not help but peek, of course, into the "forbidden territory." It was a laundry room that was at least knee deep in dirty clothes. I feared for the worst, thought they were divorcing. Who could keep house like that, I wondered, unless they'd given up entirely and were about to move away?

Now I have seen what can happen, even in my own home. Though to me it is near the height of chaos and disorder, a strong indicator of resignation and lack of self-worth, I have known this filth myself: dirty laundry. (The Eagles even had a song about it.) To have to live from laundry baskets and piles, to compose a load of wash out of urgency--it's all so alien to me and so repulsive. The way I was raised, our dirty clothes were hidden in a hamper, collected in a sorter behind closed doors (in the laundry room). Clothes were washed on a schedule that was strictly adhered to. We never "went without."

Having written that, even I know it was a bit extreme, perhaps, a little bit OCD.


It's only clothes, I know, and they are only a form of shelter, after all. I don't spend a fortune on clothes, and I don't really have much fashion sense, etc. My kids don't give a rip one way or the other, generally, unless they want that special cowboy shirt to go with boots for a trip to the zoo or something.

So why do I take it as such a personal affront that my wife and I cannot manage the laundry? Why is it such a crisis for me to have to sort socks at 5am? What's the big deal about having to use loose bedding to sleep in rather than a fitted and flat sheet set (matching, pressed)?

I guess it's just part of the compounded problem of chaos and litter and clutter that plagues our home. I tried all last year to cope with it, and yet I have not ever really come to terms with it, never accepted it, never been able to find contentment. A clean house is so much a part of what seems to me to be a stable environment, a place to be proud of, a "home."

SNOW DAY

My back yard beckons me (and the boys) to go out and romp around. I cannot wait for it to warm up, for it's not going to. I'm going to force them to hold out for after lunch, anyway, for then we can play in the snow and cold, then take warm showers, and (if I have it my way) take a NAP. (Life is good on a snow day.)

We were wise enough to stock up on food. We have lots of DVD's to watch. Of course, our house is full of games and toys, so there will be no lack of amusement...however, I'm out of novels to read--how could I be caught short handed on that!

This shot is of my little wood shed and tractor shed. To the left (out of range) is my pirate ship project. It will look odd to have a pirate ship under snow (next winter).

THIS brings it all together!

In this video, the Rev. Billy Talen preaches on localizing our lifestyles in his campaign for mayor of NYC. He is interviewed by "The Resident" aka Lori Harfenist. I've followed Rev. Billy's career for some time now, as I've also watched Harfenist's vlog off and on for years. This was the best six minutes I have spent today, absorbing the message the Rev. shares on anti-consumerism, on big-box monopolies and manipulations, and on the concept of retooling our economy. Hang Obama's 90 minute applause fest out to dry and invest your ears in this instead. His Church of Stop Shopping has some great songs/messages, and their website is great!

For my bandwith, one cannot go wrong listening to Harenfist (and she's easy on the eyes, too). I am going to recommend her to my classes, for she brings up some great controversies, and my students are to be entertaining controversial issues in Comp II.

For example, she has a segment on:

sin taxes, particularly one proposed on pop

climate change

calling this country "America"

Why people hate the USA (dated)

She's....stimulating, if nothing else. There are many commentators with more depth and content, but I think her vlog would be a good onramp for students to check out the behind-the-scenes medium of the Internet. (I'm collecting similar sites to share w/students, so fire some to me!)

Sometimes I wonder...

...what my students really think of class. Today, for example, we did traditional lecture, review, etc. and then I had them participate in "academic speed dating." This is not my original idea--it's something forwarded to me that I've had great success with (I think).

I have them sit in a long row, 1/2 on each side of the room-length table. I have them reach across to a partner and shake hands, exchange pleasantries, and then address a question I have for them on screen. After a few minutes, we reflect as a group, report back a few insights (and names) then rotate to new partners. It's a tool I use for review, obviously, but also to break the ice, so they can get to know at least 1/2 the class on just the second day of class.

...but it's weird. It's non-traditional. It's disruptive and messy. Do they really benefit? Does it actually help folks get familiar, or is it just busy hoop-jumping junk? I would like to think it's productive, that people have fun and learn a little something along the way, but it's hard to know...to REALLY know.

Thus, I am in a quandary. Do I keep experimenting and mixing it up, or do I throw back to staid, tried-and-true lecture? (Could I even do that?) I hope I find a good balance, that it's all in the best interest and best meeting the students' needs.

Sometimes I have doubts, that's all...

RUSTED ROOT RETURNS (well, returnED some time ago)

I am always the last to know anything! My favorite band released a new album LAST MARCH. People are always asking me what I like to listen to, and while I like lots of music, I thrive on this band, and you will, too.

Check out their myspace page...give ear to some of their music, like a incredible cover of Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" or go to their website and check out everything!

Why are they the best? They have a very dynamic sound, lots of complicated and moving percussion, intriguing lyrics, curiously engaging vocals--such texture I cannot describe it! Go there! Buy their stuff! See them on tour! I was fortunate enough to catch them some years back in Lawrence, KS. What I wouldn't give to see them again, now that they are back on tour.

Fostering Creativity

I'll likely be teaching Creative Writing online for my college next year, for I've been given the green light to design the course for that environment. I used to teach said course for rival institutions both on ground and online. I like teaching the course for one main reason: it meant so much to me.

Why? I guess it was the course that endorsed my creativity more than any other, save actual art classes. I always enjoyed having that element of my person appreciated. You could tell me I was smart or analytical or witty--and it would not really matter...but if I were told I was creative, well then, that was the highest complement, the fuel that launched me down a dozen paths.

I am still creative in writing and in building things. Sometimes its the smallest thing around the house, like mounting jars creatively with my wife. Other times the creative outlet is a much larger scale like my pirate ship project or the haunted houses I used to design.

I find that fostering creativity in others is perhaps the very most rewarding aspect of my job. I mentioned previously that I like to boost student self-confidence and expression in their writing. Igniting creativity takes that to another level, in my opinion.

The most important contribution I might be able to make might be to foster creativity in my own children. In that one small way, I think I'm succeeding well as a father. My kids are very, very creative. I know, every parent thinks such things and brags accordingly, but trust me, my children are off the charts. Maybe in another entry I will elaborate on that!

If I could do it all again...

...I would:

• teach speech, not composition.
• never let my body get so out of shape.
• work harder at retaining details (names, authors, dates...)
• be published.
• have told my dad how I loved him.
• save more money.
• record the stories I tell my kids nightly.
• learn a language a year.
• retire by now.
• read with Intention.
• live with Intention.
• take school seriously the first time.
• compare and commit to a religion, conscientiously.
• take more people under my wing.
• take more people into my confidence.
• take more naps (hard to imagine, eh?).
• swim and play tennis as my lifetime sports (rather than croquet).
• travel more.
• dance more.
• drink more water.
• be a better (fill in the blank: father, son, spouse, teacher...)
• not let friendships go fallow.
• master all-things farming.
• be self-sustaining.
• invent something significant (and lucrative).

This is a good exercise, for I am learning most of the items here are ones that I CAN STILL DO, if I just get up and go at it!

Arrrrrhhhhh!

So, last fall I started building a playground for my kids. It's to be modeled after a pirate ship. I've been documenting progress on that project at another blog: http://www.pirateshipplayground.blogspot.com

I often sit at the window, wishing it were better weather. These days, I've been out in the elements every chance I can get. We've made tremendous progress lately. I can now begin to see my project coming into its own. I have a target date of Spring Break for the christening of the pirate ship.

It is not without concerns that I build this beastie. I know that every playground is dangerous. Every time my kids monkey around on one, I worry. It's another issue, however, when the very playground I build somehow leads to an injury. That's creeping me out. To compensate, I've been collecting wood chips (now about 10 truck loads) which I will layer at least a foot deep all around the ship to cushion the boys' landings. Even so, I've got to attend to ways they might hang themselves in the rigging, how they might catch their heads between the rail posts, how they might find some inventive way to jump ship at some height I would not like. Worry, worry, worry!

On the other hand, the ship gives me something constructive to do. I can exhaust my creative energies on that project for a good long while. I've yet to design the gunwales, the anchor, the bow, the rigging, etc. I've ideas of the ship's exterior, but I don't know if I can really make it look like I imagine it might. I've got to create a captain's quarters, a ship's wheel, and various other nautical marvels, too. The boys want me to start on sea creatures next, to surround or perhaps accost the ship. I'll make those of concrete, somehow, I suppose...or better yet, let them make something of their own imagination!

Good times!

A Knight's Tale

I've been thinking of what film to show my classes this term...one that is a personal favorite is A Knight's Tale. I know it's not high-brow educational viewing, but it has merits and offers a good deal to discuss. I think students could digest this film well-enough and come to see the value and presence of subtle elements (lighting, costuming) as well as the film's more obviously employed novelties like a rock music soundtrack in a medieval setting.

The movie is a great popcorn piece, if nothing else, entertaining from beginning to end. I like the starkly contrasted good/evil (even though it's a little too stark for many reviewers). I love the main characters, one and all, and the performances by Ledger and others really work for me.

My kids watch this movie regularly. Even my in-laws watched and appreciated it. I think it has some appeal for all ages and demographics. It's also not too vulgar for classroom viewing and offers a number of points of departure for class discussion.

It's on my short list for the movie review unit, for sure!

Fog

What's with this fog? My son tells me fog is clouds on the ground, the result of high moisture content in the air and some peculiar pressure thing--but I'll have to ask my buddy Matt, who's a student of meteorology, for the skinny.

Today on the radio they reported the fog was the worst it has been all year, that visibility is about 100 ft. I was out driving in it and can attest that it should be slow going. I could not see from one utility pole to the next. How would anyone have the nerve to attempt to pass in these conditions? (I was passed twice in a 8 mile run; I was doing the speed limit.)

I have been in worse fog. Picture this, a frazzled me, six students and no map (before the days of the Tom Tom and cell phone). We were lost, off schedule, after driving around the clock, finding ourselves in Pennsylvania. Fog was so very bad at times one could not see 30 ft. Truth. We finally gave in and slept in the parking lot of a motel (too poor for a room) until the sun came up to burn off the fog.

Fog is good for...nothing. It doesn't provide any particular moisture for crops. It's not especially pretty like snow.

Fog...du-duh....UGH....what is it good for? Aaaaabsolutely nothin' ...say it again!

Untapped potential

Being useful.
Not just taking up space.
Serving a purpose.
Maximized.

I've already signed my organ donor card, but it just isn't enough. What about all those idle hours of sleep? I can join my PC to a network of others, allowing NASA or whomever to use my computer's processing power overnight or over other hours it is not otherwise in use. Why can't something like that be done with ME?

Maybe during idle time (or while I'm blogging or grading) I could give blood or sell plasma.

Maybe as I sleep my body heat could thaw out tomorrow's food or incubate baby chicks.

Surely someone can configure a USB port to the back of my head and draw something from my wetware, no?

Right now, as I sit here typing, what of my legs? Perfectly good muscles and limbs going to waste...maybe we all need generators under our desks, ones we pedal like an old fashioned sewing machine.

22 feet of intestines? Surely not all of that is optimized. Maybe a few yards could be used in a nice soup or for sausage casings? Think of all this skin--can't I wear a wet suit and just have skin on my face and hands?

I know many would agree with me on this: I put out enough hot air and wind to power greater Wichita. Why can't we tap that?

Toy War

My war with toys.

I am begging for your ideas, readers...here I am with a house that will likely be completely over-run with toys in 2012 should the exponential growth of the toy collection continue and the world not end as predicted.

The glut of possessions, of things, of consumerism gone wild--it's so overwhelming around my home. It's a small house to begin with, and there are 9 of us living here, but without clutter, we'd all have elbow room to spare.

I hauled off about a pickup load of excess over Winter Break. I gave away that much or more on Craig's List late last semester...but you would not know it looking around here. I am going to attack the garage on a nice day again and weed out more junk, maybe even the Christmas baubles. I am being more and more hard on myself so that I can then hold my kids accountable.

They have never practiced good stewardship of their things....I would argue it's because they simply have far too many things (like the rest of us in the house). I know that people like buying kids toys, for then they get that woo-hoo reaction from the tykes. However, as a parent now on the backside of gift-giving, let me attest to the complications. With three boys and a girl, one magnifies the toy collection quickly every holiday. We just survived Christmas and two recent birthdays, and for all of these we pleaded for reduced toys. I hauled about 60 gallons (based on trash bag capacity) of toys to the garage in November, but now the toy room is literally knee deep in new toys. Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

The kids were fascinated with the toys I rediscovered with them during my last purge. They fell in love all over again with Elmo, with puzzles, with legos, etc. Add to this that my oldest son knows and names every character, every little tiny plastic soldier, every stuffed animal...even the broken ones are valuable to him for they are wounded in battle or maimed from a shark attack or whatever the backstory.

According to Jax, these "Joes" must face off against the snake and the castle. In this picture, one can see Duke and his army, namely Double Snake Eyes, Crouch, Captain Fire, Agent Black, Army Green, Captain Twin, Private Goggles, Captain Vest, Captain Tiger Stripes, Contact, Ice Sculpture, Twin Eye (the one girl in the crowd), Bionauc Eye, Jack Erwin, Crash, and in front again with the white pants, Duke.

Everyone has a backstory in the toy room, if you talk a while with my son. His sense of ownership, then, is very powerful. He just can't let go. He takes pictures of his toys, knowing that some will end up lost in the shuffle for a while, buried, stored in the garage (and sometimes his ruthless mom actually GIVES AWAY or SELLS some things).

There you have it. Now, what can I do about it? I have tried sharing images, video, etc. of kids in need. I've tried appealing to their profit motive, urging them to sell things at a garage sale. I've tried rotating toys in/out of storage (successful, but it does not reduce the number of toys overall, and eventually my storage area will still be overwhelmed).

I know, I'm the parent. I can just set a cap on toy ownership and be an ogre. These are their things, however, and I don't want to pitch that ever-so-valuable one-eyed stuffed bear which was so meaningful. I don't want to scar my kids for life.

SO...what is to be done?

Wish list: Fordson Snow Tractor

Not that we ever have this much snow (global warming?), but I would really like to own one of these babies. I wonder if it ever made it to production? I marvel that ingenious inventions like this so often stay at the concept level and don't make it out of the shop. Anyway, it's too cool not to post.

Almost Over....sigh

Now THIS is a topic is one I revisit after every semester. I've been wondering why, so I thought I'd speculate...but first, the topic: I always feel such great regret at the end of a break. I get all bummed out, realizing that the time has past, that it cannot be redeemed ever again. It's gone. This sentiment makes me really value freedom, but as with too many things, I tend to only truly appreciate the value of things only when they're gone.

So why does this get so hyper-inflated at the end of breaks? Likely because I realize every break how very lucky I am to even have breaks. I know my friends in other career paths have paid vacations (that sounds nice!) and that they scrimp and save their days off to preserve such time. I am granted a month in the winter, potentially three months in the summer, and a full week for spring break. That's a great deal of time that I get which most others do not get. That makes it a treasure, and thus, I need to respect this gift of time and make the most of it.

Do I? No. I make impressive to-do lists, I attempt to invest quality time into family and friends, to do a little something for myself along the way...but I never really get everything done. I never take exotic world tours, island hop, or take a train around Europe.

I do, however, invest a lot of time into the kids and the property, and during these nasty cold breaks, into the interior of the house. I still see clutter around every corner, and I still cannot count the number of projects yet to do, but I have made a dent in it all this winter break, and I'm pretty content, overall.

I have 4 days left, and I think I'm going to take the boys to Pump it Up once, eat out a time or two, and generally poop off the time having fun.

....since 2006!

Four solid years of blogging. I started Jan 6 of '06. That's hard to believe. I just did a little fishing through the archives and was amazed that I'd written some of those entries so very long ago (seemed like this year). Time is so very relative, so fleeting.

I discovered in my review that I likely haven't said much of importance, and that I've likely said much the same over and over. In that regard, it would be best to hang up my keyboard and do something else with my time.

However, it does help me to articulate thoughts and to document my life and times. It does help me to reflect, overall, and to appreciate where I've been and where I see myself (and others) going.

In 2009 I kept the challenge of adding at least one entry to my blog per monthly total; that was respectable. In 2010, I am not sure what to do or what to expect of myself. I think, maybe, I really should grow this or blow this off. I might take on the task of rolling out this URL to more potential readers, haunting and lurking on other sites to further push traffic here. I don't know. It's not like I need a big audience or anything.

Perhaps a better goal is to become more transparent. For many years I've been reserved in my blog and not revealed too much about family, home, etc. Maybe this is the year for that, regardless of what critics and doomsayers may offer. Maybe it's time to let my digital hair down.

I think, in all fairness to my students, I should at least write 3 entries weekly, as I require of them.