Jane! Help, Jane!

Another guilt entry...maybe I need some kind of medication or something! Anyway, I just had a stimulating conversation with a student who's term project is on multi-lingual education. She shared results of studies that reinforce what we all know: kids learn very well when very young, then gradually have a harder time of it. Her project recommends teaching kids langages from birth. (A friend of mine taught her sons simple sign language, and they were communicating a year before they could articulate in words.)

Results of that study are compounded for me, right now, by a book I'm reading, Possessing Genius: The True Account of the Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain.

(It's a very fascinating account, btw, of not only the travels of his post-mortem brain, but also of the brain's development, etc...and I only paid a buck for it! Get yours at the Chisolm Trail bookstore, where all books are going for a buck as they are closing!!)

Back to guilt. I currently have two boys, ages 1 and (as of Friday) 4 years old. We do something of an above-average job of exposing them to good stuff, nurturing them, etc...however, we could do more. The window of opportunity for loading their potent little brains is already closing! Birth to 3 is the era of greatest development and learning for life. My oldest is already getting too old! It really gives me a sense of urgency.

So here I go: I think our world is topsy-turvy. I've finally developed priorities and principles, in my 40's, and this life does not reflect them. Okay, I suppose I value education, communication, critical thinking, an informed electorate, and thus, my job is not inconsistent with the above. However, none of that is a high priority.

At the top of my list, being a person of spirit, would be to have something of a spiritually driven life. Alas, it ain't there. Like eating right and getting enough sleep, somehow I must just figure the spirit can wait.

Next is my family, and sure, I get to spend more time with them than most folk I know; however, it's not enough and it's not high-octane. There should never even be a question of my love/loyalty, never a doubt, but when I'm not there, or when I hush someone so I can hear a news broadcast (or worse, a gag in a sitcom or some cruicial 'fact' in a crime drama)...when I act like that, where's my priority then? eh?

Somewhere high on my priority list is the well-being of my boys, and I do so very little to make'em smart.

Our culture does not prioritize these things. I've figured out why: you can't make money from it. Also, you can't manipulate people who live by principle, so 'best to keep them running. Ralph Ellison (just to get all literary for a second), in "The Invisible Man" as I recall, had an administrator passing word to a subsequent administrator regarding the main character. The note said (quoting, not to step on anyone's sensitivities here): "Keep that Nigger boy running." This is exactly what we are all doing to this day. We are so busily running on the treadmill or hamster wheel, we do not take time to live right, think right, be right. (This is to say nothing of 'righteous' btw, just plain right.)

I used to think, when I took the time, that this was some sinister, corporate plot. I'm not so inclined to believe it is, anymore. Like water, I think we all have a tendency to take the path of least resistance. We go with the flow. Sure, consumerism in America would suffer if we slowed down, but I really don't know that there is any (published or otherwise) plan/agenda to keep us fleet-of-feet.

Like George Jetson, sometimes I find myself screaming, "Jane! Help! Jane, get me off of this thing!"

Stop the bus, I want to get off.

If our culture really lived by values, 'family values' if you must, then wouldn't we, say, work like dogs for 20 years before having kids, saving all our money, then just clock out for 20 years, to be there for them as they grew? If not 20 years, some variation on the theme? In some parts of Europe, both parents get leave of up to three years when a child is born. Why not here? (Why didn't I plan for that? Because until I had kids, I didn't get it and I was selfish.)

I am not a single parent in school working two jobs. Nonetheless, like them, I feel my lifestyle is robbing me of my life, of being there and doing the best by my kids. I love my job, but I so wish I could do it from home, or somehow find a way to minimize my time away from the fam. This is all a cultural creation; one could clearly track its origins to the industrial revolution. Knowing that (and more) does not make the situation any more palatable. Not at all.

I'm going to cook something up on this. I'm going to beat the system. I just hope I can get it figured out before my boys have their own children!

A Peek at Peak Oil

Adjust your sphincter for this one!
Here I've been forewarning of the problems of prosperity, of profiteering, of media manipulation...and all along, it would seem, I've been fearful of trivial pursuits, rather than a bigger issue: peak oil.

I suggest you google or Utube the topic. Don't take my word for it.

Sources have long predicted that our oil supply is in peril. I can actually remember this from back in the 1970's. What I did not recall was a particularly chilling date range for the decline of our reserves. Some are now predicting it will dry up w/n the next 40 years. Now, maybe I didn't care back in the 70's (for a variety of reasons, not limited to youthful indestructability), but I care now. Though I may not be alive in 40 years, I bet my boys will be.

The sad thing, to me, is that this issue seems much like global warming, politics in general, etc...how is an individual to address it? I can no sooner stop global warming by recycling than I can make the political system honest with my vote tomorrow. I'd guess I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the doom/gloom and the microscopic difference I might make.

Lately, however, I've been talking w/my wife about living by principles. If a person were to truly do that (an aware, enlightened person), then it wouldn't matter if that individual's impact would really affect the big picture. It would matter solely to him/her. That noted, perhaps I need to begin living by principle (see Prosperity entry) and not by denial.

There are respectable movements afoot, including relocalizing, which I find admirable if not a little hard to practice. I've spoken with like-minded friends for twenty years about some kind of alternative community. Last year I was on a kick of Tiny Houses, and I still am entertaining that (even as we are trying to build on to our current home to better accommodate 3 kids and a scrapbooking hobby). All of this seems better than simply wringing one's hands.

...and that's just the beginning. I know full-well that smoking is killing me, yet I do it, even aware that it supports a giant, heartless corporate empire all-the-while. I also eat fast food and prepared food packed with nastiness. Even when I eat well, I eat like an American, packing it in and moving to the living room television altar all-too-soon. I should, instead, be living the SlowFood lifestyle, and I know it!

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It all goes back to me being rather too black/white, an absolutist. It drives family and friends crazy. I am seeking informed advice on how to cope with reality from you, gentle reader. What is one to DO in light of all the doom and gloom? How is one to sleep at night, feeling as if one's principles are intact? I seem never to be able to simply settle on 'good enough,' and that leaves me (when I allow myself to slow down and entertain ideas) very disappointed in myself. How can I feel I lead a good model for my kids, after all?

Your thoughts are coveted.

Umph...missed that holiday.

Halloween has been a favorite holiday of mine since I was a young'un. This year, however, I was out sick. Didn't get to dress up. Didn't get to attend a single haunt. Didn't pass out candy. Didn't get to trick/treat w/my kids. *Sigh*

Like most celebrations, events, etc. in our culture, Halloween has become big business. I'm not going to cite facts here, but trust me, it's worth your investigation. I was part of the 'haunt industry' for a couple of years, 'was even swapping email and online chat jabber with some of the biggest names in the fright business. It is a fascinating field, and what's most fascinating about it to me now is that behind most large commercial haunted houses stands...not some geeky creep who wears face paint year'round...but a business man/woman. It takes a business minded individual to keep the turnstile turning, the cost-per-scare reasonable, and the promotional dollars balanced with the gallons of fake blood. (That, of course, would be a factor in why Toxic Terror, my haunted enterprise, is no-more. Actually, there's a lot to why Toxic Terror had a meltdown, not the least, the fact that I left for western kansas.) A haunt manager must also have a characteristic that makes them distinctly different from other entrepreneurs: sadism. At least some degree of a haunt manager's thinking must always be on how to freak out the customers in new and gruesome ways. (There again, I have a degree of wickedness, but I just don't think I ever had the constitution to creep people out as they would need.)

I digress. Actually, I don't know what I was writing about here, except a general lamentation that I missed Halloween.

Prosperity

A potpourri of points of interest have recently congealed for me, to wit:

Most news aficionados realize that October 17th, 7:46 a.m. EDT marked the birth of the 300 millionth US citizen. What few attend to, however, is that we are well past that mark, already. According to the US Census bureau, allowing for births, immigrants, and deaths, our population grows by one every eleven seconds. At the time of this writing, the population is already twenty-thousand people larger.

Approximately 30 million Americans have below basic literacy skills, claims the National Center for Family literacy. That’s ten percent of the population. Having been a literacy tutor, and through conducting Labauch Literacy trainings, I’ve come to realize how vital literacy skills can be. One out of ten people you rub elbows with may not be able to read their prescription dosages or a simple map.

This is especially astonishing when considering how very much media we encounter through our every waking moment. I have just completed a media literacy unit in my composition courses, citing facts such as, “Four hours of television programming contain around 100 advertisements.” In our country, we are constantly pushed information from every media, yet some people cannot even read it.

All the while, in some remote parts of our world 30 or more children must circulate and share a single textbook. Some philanthropic organizations are doing their dead-level best to recycle books that otherwise end up in our landfills. [Check out www.betterworldbooks.com for example.] In some places, paper is at a premium, but here, it is not respected.

This week, my students chose to read Ursula LeGuin’s dystopic parable, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” The piece poses a difficult question to the reader: what wrong would you allow/tolerate to sustain a utopia? In the piece, one child is abused, tormented, and kept in a cellar; in exchange, everyone in Omelas lives an idyllic life, even though they are aware of the atrocity. Though written in the early 1970’s, the social commentary is fitting even today. How can the most wealthy, formidable nation on earth still have illiterate, impoverished citizens? How can its 300 million people deny the needs of the rest of the planet?

I have had a brush with altruism, having led an extensive program for college volunteers. Through that endeavor, I was able to try on many volunteer hats myself, addressing issues of poor housing, poverty, literacy, etc. I was able to sleep at night, knowing I had a hand in fielding thousands of volunteers to address these issues and more. Still, I was realistic, and like Ayn Rand, posed the question to myself and my students: “Is altruism truly possible?” In doing good for someone, are we not always reaping reward ourselves?

Oskar Shindler, a Czech born businessman profiteered from the German war machine during the Second World War by exploiting cheap Jewish labor. Through his exposure to the plight of those he abused, he ended up penniless, having saved over 1000 Polish Jews from almost certain death during the holocaust. Near the end of 1993 film, Schindler’s List, his character had a moment of regret, for he felt he could have done more. In an exchange with Itzhak Stern:
Oskar Schindler: I didn't do enough!
Itzhak Stern: You did so much.
[Schindler looks at his car] Oskar Schindler: This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people. [removing Nazi pin from lapel] This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. [sobbing] I could have gotten one more person... and I didn't! And I... I didn't!

The passage above haunts me. Like Schindler, I feel that I have not done enough. Being responsible starts with being aware. Being accountable follows responsibility. I am fully accountable for the plight of the world. I am totally immersed in the dilemma of the American conscience. Still, I do little about it. Like Schindler, I feel I could do more. I think we all could do more. Prosperity comes at a great price every individual must weigh for himself.

Nerd, Geek, Dork Test

As I am an advisor of an esteemed academic honorary, I thought the following was fitting:

Outcast Genius 78 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 52% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in all three, earning you the title of: Outcast Genius. Outcast geniuses usually are bright enough to understand what society wants of them, and they just don't care! They are highly intelligent and passionate about the things they know are *truly* important in the world. Typically, this does not include sports, cars or make-up, but it can on occassion (and if it does then they know more than all of their friends combined in that subject). Outcast geniuses can be very lonely, due to their being outcast from most normal groups and too smart for the room among many other types of dorks and geeks, but they can also be the types to eventually rule the world, ala Bill Gates, the prototypical Outcast Genius. Congratulations! America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

>

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test

Big block of unverified (but interesting) "history"

I apologize for the formatting--I'm lazy. Someone forwarded this to me, and in my quest to learn history, (see last entry), I figured it was a good start. Be enlightened!

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the1500s: Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bathin May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they werestarting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the bodyodor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of thehouse had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sonsand men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all thebabies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water.. Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so allthe cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip andfall off the roof. Hence the saying . It's raining cats and dogs. There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppingscould mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy bedscame into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that wouldget slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) onfloor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence thesaying a thresh hold. (Getting quite an education, aren't you?) In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and addedthings to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat.They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to getcold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had foodin it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peasporridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quitespecial. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. Theywould cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around andchew the fat.. Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acidcontent caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing leadpoisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottomof the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust. Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someonewalking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see ifthey would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake. England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would takethe bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell orwas considered a ..dead ringer. And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring! Educate someone.

Greed, God and a Glimpse for me...

First, I'm a Phi Theta Kappa advisor, and we have a series of seminars on this year's honors study topic: Power. The full title is "Gold, Gods, and Glory: the study of global power" or something like that. I'm too busy to look it up.

MY take on things is changing. I'm like someone who's risen from kryo and I'm just now starting to "get it." Somehow, in my artful course dodging and slacking in school, I've managed to not pay attention to some very important stuff. Seems like the more I pay attention now, the more shocked I am at my ignorance.

This weekend, for example, I toured a nice little museum at Fort Leavenworth, featuring a historical perspective of that fort in the westward expansion. Within the exhibit, a display was offered, titled "Beyond Lewis and Clark."

At virtually every station of every exhibit, I remarked to my brother, "Hmmm, I didn't know that!" Of course, if I don't write it down immediately, I tend to forget again, for my brain has not been wired for detail and history. I do recall some of the bigger surprises, however. I won't share most, for these revelations make me seem really, really stupid. Here's just one to give you a flavor of my lack of historical enlightenment: I thought Lewis and Clark just went on the road alone together. I did not realize they had 46 in their expedition, that they were armed, that it was a very diverse group, etc. *blushing at my ignorance*

In addition to everything else I'm supposedly working on for myself, I think I may need to investigate taking a history course every now and again, now that I'm a "grown up" and would care to learn the content.

The most important general insight I gained from the exhibit is again something many historically hip people already know: our fair country has always had greed as a motivator. Lately here in this blog and elsewhere, I've been fuming about consumerism, affluenza, media literacy, etc...but you know what? It's nothing new. In fact, if anything, it may be a bit less powerful than in 1804 when L & C (and many other soldier-explorers) were charged by GOD and country to head west and take it all in. At least current consumerism and empire building has less to do with god's divine drive; it's more honestly all about the Benjamins.

The second insight I'm coming away with: The United States of America has been one brash, ball-sy, and downright fortunate country. Things happened very fast from the signing of the declaration to the exploration and development of the landscape--especially if you think of all the limitations (no phones, no cars, no swimming pools) in transportation, navigation and so on. Wow, those people were very aggressive and working very hard in just that 25 or so years. Again, this epiphany, that the US was developing so fast, is not news to anyone but me. In history class, I always bumbled through dates, never realizing anything about how it interconnected. Now, I'm starting (just getting a glimpse) to see how things fit together. Also, when I was young, 25 years seemed like forever, I'm sure.

Ah, thanks for reading. I just needed a place to confess my ignorance and document my new perspective on what I've ranted about so much: greed.

Charge!

So, this Foley guy is making all the news for his indiscretions lately. Yes, he held an important public office. Yes, anyone practicing such behavior needs to be held accountable...

...but for my money, I have issues with the fickle American media and consuming public. Soon, unfortunately, the Foley scandal, like others before it, will be yesterday's news and will likely be swept under the rug.

And, shouldn't we hold all our elected representatives accountable for more than their sexual follies and perversions? Why is it that we aren't all much more attuned to every elected official's participation in PAC's, lobbying tom-foolery, and their every-day voting on every issue? Why is it that C-SPAN has such dismal ratings (and why do the meetings have such low attendance ?)?

We get in an uproar when an occasional individual gets caught with his digital pants down (or someone takes an extra dip in the cookie jar) but sometimes, it seems to me, we should be equally passionate about less morally-charged indiscretions which are much more likely to affect our every-day lives.

I am the worst offender. I don't know who's who or what their up to, presently. However, I did have a good discussion with a former state representative last weekend, and I'm about to embark on citizenship! He suggested (for us in Kansas) to start with the League of Women Voters as an unbiased, informative site. I've got it bookmarked, and I'm going to gather a headful of knowledge. With that, I hope to be able to vote intelligently.

Join me, won't you?

Your SuperPower: Infallibility?

Infallibility would be something, wouldn't it? For those following the news, the Pope was hard pressed to explain himself recently when he "enraged Muslims in a speech a week ago in Germany quoting 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything the Prophet Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Not to parse doctrine, (why would an infallible Pope have to soft-peddle or apologize?) I can't help but wrestle with infallibility for myself.

To be truly infallible a person would be incapable of failure or err. Wow, what I wouldn't give for that. To never make a mistake? Geez. It would seem, on the surface, a charmed life, eh? (Imagine a politician or [other] salesman who might be infallible--potent stuff!) Talk about someone to be trusted. "I'm putting my nest egg where Bob the Infallible banks, his investments are infallible." What a spouse an infallible person might make.

Then again, being infallible would be a tough role. It would be challenging to bite my tongue and resist saying, "I told you so" all the time. It would be frustrating when people ignored my advice or did not follow-through on my recommendations. It would just flat be tough being right all the time.

I guess I'm a person who revels in my mistakes. I learn from them. They're what make me...well, human. How could I learn anything if I were incapable of making mistakes to learn from? What a conundrum.

And while it might be nice to lean on an infallible person sometimes, I think they'd get to be tiresome company. I like a good hearty debate with friends. I wallow in the gray matter between the black and white of things. An infallible person would not see any grayscale, would they? They'd see (and say) it like it is, and that would be that. (Come to think of it, I've known too many people who must imagine themselves to be infallible...hmmm.)

I guess I don't envy the Pope, or anyone else who's burdened with the expectation of infallibility. Sure, a fella could hedge, maybe, and say, "Well, I'm only infallible in matters of X," but would that really buy you any slack? (I have my doubts, but when it comes to some definitions and labels, I'm something of an absolutist.) If I had to carve out my niche of infallibility, what could it be in? What would I want it to be in? Absolute certainty is attractive to some people, but...really...why? Where's the fun in that?

My greatest challenge is parenting, but I sure would not want to be an infallible parent, unless I could be a secretively infallible parent. Pity the child who had to live within the shadow of a know-it-all parent.

So I guess I should take more stock in being less-than-perfect, for not necessarily knowing everything. There's something to be said for being a work in progress. Those days when I wish I had all the answers, when I'm floundering over indecisions, I should just reckon with being human, after all.

Sensei Fumio Demura visited my farm this weekend, as part of the Valley Center Rec Commission Dojo's weekend of workshops. He is my father-in-law's sensei, and my father in law has been involved in karate for over 25 years.

I've met him and been on the outskirts of his visits and trainings for most of ten years, and I've noted something remarkable about him. I think it's characteristic of all truly great people: humility.

Here's a man who's given his life to his art, who travels the world on a never-ending whirlwind of training seminars, honors, etc... (they probably don't even allow him to use frequent flyer points, but if they did, he'd have millions of 'em). He has trained celebrities, movie stars, etc... The word is etc!

Still, when he's not out there training on the ring or mat or whatever, he's like Jesus was reported to be. He takes time to sit with children. He makes small talk with everyone. He once made me an oragami boat after I'd folded a frog for him--I still have the boat.

This is a man who could literally kill with a flick of his wrist, but he is kind, gentle, down-to-earth. There is much to be learned of true greatness, and I'm learning it seems to be infused with sincerity and humility. I may not have the patience for karate, but I'd like to think of the sensei's (is it plural?) as role models.

I've got issues

Currently, I'm wading through students' bids for research topics, controversial issues for argumentative/persuasive writing. I'm surprised at the duplication, especially when I warned folks that no two students would have the same issue approved. I find this bizarre, for it seems to me that everything has its controversy.

Lately, I've been exposed (via NPR, check it out) to several issues related to food and fuel. For example, we acknowledge being petroelum dependent, yet we do little/nothing to alter our lifestyles (still drive SUV's, still not supporting alternative energies, still shun public transportation, etc...). AND, more importantly, we seldom reckon with underlying uses of energy...I heard that 20% of our nation's energy needs are spent in the transportation of food products. The source suggested analyzing our own cupboards and refrigerators. They cited Iowa as an example: more than half of the average consumer's food was brought 1500 miles or more in order to show up on the table in Iowa. That is exceptionally silly, since all of the food products could (in season) be readily available locally, for Iowa is , of course, a fertile and productive region.

So what gives in Iowa? What grows in Iowa? Corn. Not ears of corn ending up as 'corn on the cob,' either. Most of the corn produced in Iowa is processed into....drumroll please...high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Runner up for corn usage? Feeder cattle. Both HFCS and feeder cattle are horrificly wasteful, in terms of the amount of corn needed to get results. The ratio is something like 10 bushels of grain to yield 1 pound of meat. (That, in itself, is another issue--the way western diets are so meat-centered and thusly wasteful.) Those Iowa corn farmers are not often the hayseed, overall wearin' individualists we once knew. They are becoming large corporate enterprises with names seldom demonized: ADM, Monsanto, etc.

I operate a billing service for natural gas used in irrigation. I know quite well that it takes a good deal of natural gas (ie petro-resources) to water the corn that is then squandered when produced. It is not uncommon for a farmer who has only 1-2 circles of corn to use--get this--$100,000 in natural gas in a SINGLE MONTH. That figure is not even considered above, when I cited 20% of energy usage going to food transportation.

...so, what I'm saying here (in a fashion not to be modelled by my student readers) is that we are wasteful, of course, but more importantly, we are not mindful of our waste (in either petrofuels or food value). The media has our attention fixed on pump price, but there is much, much more to consider. Once one cocks a suspicious brow at the reflection, it is both painful and difficult to accept. "Oh, it's those rich oil barons." is much more simple than, "Oh my, it's me!"

Peppy Song Quest--Chip in!

Okay, since my phone can play mp3's, I want to hop it up with some fun/peppy tunes. The problem is, my playlist is terribly short. Here's the sort of stuff I consider appropriate, but obviously I need help (on so very many levels):
Blind Melon's 'No Rain'
Rusted Root's 'Food & Creative Love'
Men @ Work's two hits
Lou Bega's 'Mambo #5'
ELO's 'El Dorado Overture prelude'

...Honestly, I've not given this much thought, but I hope both of my readers :) will.

Contribute. Save my ears.

Though it may not fit this mix, I also really enjoy the old school, true cowboy songs of the ol' west. Problem is, I've only had a passing interest and don't even know an artist of this ilk.

Drive Time

Why did the chicken cross the road, anyway?

Why don't we think things are just good enough in our own back yards?

I'm just filling space to get around this picture.

Ah, now...recently I moved to a homestead north of Wichita. It's quite a drive for someone around here, but I grew up in Western Kansas. Back home, we would drive 90 miles for a current movie release. It was also typically that far to get any kind of fast food (which was a treat when I was a kid--now I despise it, but eat it when life demands [another blog on fast food]. I lived in the country as a kid, and I wanted that for my children, so I sought after just the right place for, honestly, decades. Of course, re$ource$ kept me from buying the farm, until now.

This place of mine needs a name. [another blog, another time]

I have a commute of 20 minutes in the early morning, a bit longer when radars and traffic inhibit me in the afternoon. The national average commute was 24.4 minutes in 2002 (most reliable current data I could find via a US Census piece. I guess, once again, I'm average.

Those reading in the Wichita area have an average commute of 16.5 minutes, FYI.

This is the first week I've made the drive daily. Altogether over 200 miles. It will cost me over $2,000 in fuel alone this school year, given my big 4x4 Chevy truck and my driving style. I'm in the market for something economical.

Usually a nice commute gives me time to get my game on (early am) and then leave work at work (pm). Lately, however, drive time thoughts have been collecting in my head. I seem most moody when behind the wheel (especially Saturdays, when I get road rage while garage sailing). I've been thinking things like:

gotta get a cheaper ride (guilt)

i'm spending almost an hour a day driving...I need to multi-task behind the wheel

(early morning) wonder when the next deer will spring out?

gotta get a cheaper ride

*#$*@ petrolarchy we live in

this would take most of the day to travel 100 years ago

books on tape...books on tape...

sometimes, I even miss the semester I taught 5 classes online

So, anyway, there are other, less publishable things collecting in my head as I roll on down the road. I think I'll surf the net and find others to commiserate with on the subject of commuting.

I've been FEZed

Some mysterious stranger (likely a student-reader of this blog) has altered the course of my life. Last May I wrote about a Fez, and Tuesday morning, upon entering my office--there it was, the stuff of dreams. I now have in my possession an incredible Fez. (Thanks! Is it mine to keep?)

Other ramblings and updates...or...what else does a 40-something guy do in the middle of the night when sleep evades him...

School is ON and I am frankly so into it I am not sleeping much. I don't know why. Monday I woke up at 3:3o. Tuesday I was at my desk at 5am. And now, early Wednesday morning, I'm awake and eager to get back at it.

I bought a new cell phone. I'd like to think it was not prompted by cell phone envy. (James Bond would envy some of the phones my students take for granted.) Mine was from 2002 and was unreliable at best. The new one sports more bells and whistles than I'll ever use, but it has an mp3 player that is promising, even if it gets used for little else.

My beagle wheezes. (I just like the sound of that sentence, not particularly the sound of Roger's chronic lung problem.) You'd think it would inspire me to, say, quit smoking or something. At night he grunts around, something like a pot-bellied pig.

Parenting is such a great purpose and joy in life--if only I'd known, I would have made many more kids, back in the day. Herding toddlers in my 40's is...well, challenging, enlightening, rewarding, tiring, etc.

The Blue Man Group is going to be in Oklahoma this semester. I will be there.

I am a lifetime honorary member and current advisor of Phi Theta Kappa, the academic honorary of community colleges--but I graduated at the middle of my high school class, tanked on the ACT, and frittered away years and fortunes in college. Nonetheless, PTK is cool [another blog, another day].

Tonight in the tub my 3 yr old was fascinated with his manhood. Female readers of this blog are likely thinking, 'some things about men never change.'

Steven Wright is one of the world's greatest comedians. (Look him up.)

My homestead is overgrown with weeds. At first, I had no equipment to manage the problem (that was a good excuse!). Now my Super C Farmall runs like a top and my newly-revamped ZTR Hustler mower can run circles around--well, around anything. Travel was always in the way, for I was out of town/state every two weeks this summer. Now, I'm rooted, back at work, going no where for 3 to 4 weeks at a stretch. My latest excuse won't last much longer--that it's too hot or humid or wet out. The weeds are grateful. My conscience is heavy-laden with guilt...BUT, I rationalize and theorize until I can live with it.
Here's my latest (and in some ways viable) excuse: I want this place to be 'environmentally responsible' and I want to live in harmony with nature instead of constantly kill and mow and spray everything. (Maybe that one will carry me until it snows!)

Writing blogs is a practice in vulnerability and exposure as well as expression. Reading blogs is a practice of voyeurism and enlightenment. I don't know what anyone gets from reading my blog, really, but I've been dormant for three months, so I gave you a break.

I read that over 8 million people are blogging weekly.

I think I'll go do some laundry.

It's foggy outside.

This blog is getting foggy, too.

Adieu.

PS: 'adieu' would be a terrible word for Wheel of Fortune, Hangman, etc.

Recent Rant

Here's an editorial I wrote recently, to be published in a local paper:

‘Tis the season of new beginnings for many engaged in academics. We look forward to this time as an opportunity to meet people, learn a little something, and, in general advance. As a teacher, I strive to deliver my material more effectively every semester. For me, it’s another chance to do better. Many students also approach a new term with the same optimism and enthusiasm.

For those readers outside the halls of learning, however, it’s just late summer. Those folks may bemoan increased traffic, the return of lumbering yellow busses, and pesky pedestrians at school crossings. Parents may be gnashing their teeth and pinching pennies as they pony up for supplies and tuition. I imagine some people far removed from academics simply do not ‘get it.’

I contributed a biographical tidbit for a class reunion write-up once. In it, I stated, “After suffering a lengthy bout of academia, Mark is now settling into a new job.” I did not attend the reunion, but a close friend did. He reported many concerned people inquiring of my health, “you know, after he had that…sickness or whatever.” My former classmates didn’t get it. They were so far removed from education, they thought I had actually been ill, when in fact, I had simply been caught up in a decade of college.

From my vantage point, the potential for distance between citizens and education seems to be an issue on both sides of the school yard. If education is happening inside hallowed institutions in some hermetically sealed environment, I question its value. When learning and teaching have become practices and professions isolated from the surrounding world, the ‘real’ world, what is really going on? Likewise, if parents or members of a community hold learning at arm’s length, it not only sends mixed signals to students, it also suggests that school lacks validity. Primary and secondary schools must be no more than holding pens, and post-secondary schools must simply be diploma mills and money pits

Why wouldn’t everyone care what happens in the classroom? The United States has mandatory school attendance for children, tuition assistance for college, and millions in tax dollars funding schools for one simple reason: education offers hope. Requiring and supporting schools, so the theory goes, has a payoff—an investment in the future.

I am one of those Ed-u-ma-cators who has always been in school. I’ve now spent almost 30 years involved in post-secondary, higher education. I am throwing that in, just in case you are a new reader. The rest of my readership is likely already braced for the rest. I realize as I punch this out on the keyboard that we all want to be validated in our lives and work, that we all hope what we do is relevant. In my field, particularly the Humanities, that’s not always the way it feels. We have all heard critics of education and can cite any number of examples of its failings. I’m worried what may happen to my children once they start school. Who hasn’t endured (or paid for) what seemed to be a worthless course?

Maybe that is the crux of the matter. If all of education were relevant, applied, and engaged in reality, maybe then it would be more appreciated. That kind of education would have an influx of private dollars, for corporations and philanthropists and every-day folk would all chip in. That school would have an open atmosphere of ‘educators’ of all walks of life coming in…and also an outpouring of direct benefits to the surrounding community. Students would be equipped in the classroom and in the field, and they would contribute substantively to their environs.

Such a symbiotic system of learning has been proposed and addressed by a variety of theorists and academics. Variations on the theme have been given flattering names, been campaigned for and against, and absorbed more than a little of our tax dollars.

I am a proponent of one of those theories, myself. It has a fancy name, and in many situations it’s federally supported. I know enough to know it is not the end-all, the panacea, but…try this on for size: service-learning.

This pedagogy claims that students can do altruistic acts in their community and learn from it. In other words, kids of all ages can volunteer and contribute, and their actions enhance their education. Likewise, their education can amplify their effects on the community. It teaches students to give back, it encourages relevance in the classroom, and it minimizes this distance between school and the real world. Chances are, it’s already being practiced to some degree in virtually every school. I hope service learning and similar strategies can bring people together over all these issues of academics.

Put all the tax woes, lofty theories, and issues aside this month. Do yourself and your school a favor. Check it out. Don’t haunt the playground, for someone will scream ‘pedophile.’ Don’t bolt right into the building unannounced—you could be considered a terrorist. (Isn’t it a troubled time we live in!) I recently visited a grade school and just the smells…floor wax, plastic aprons for painting, crayons…brought it all back for me. Attend a school function. Ask a student, “Say, what’s it like in there?”

The answers are pleasantly surprising.

Little LIAR

Some folks don't like reading "kid entries" but I find them a good springboard to related, sometimes deeper thoughts.

My three (3) year old is a liar. Mark this date--well, about a month or two back--he told his first lie. Sure, it wasn't very convincing, but it was a milestone. I've been pondering this ever-since...how did he come about this business of lying? (Certainly not honestly!) I guess, maybe, it has been modeled by television characters, relatives...maybe even by me(?) but how could such a wee one pick up such a devious craft by observation?

My wife had a good theory: self-preservation. In order to avoid pain, he fabricates. He's been telling stories and using his imagination since he could utter, and she thinks he is simply applying story-telling to avoidance.

I take a darker view.

His innocence is gone. Vaporized in a few short, twisted, untruths. No longer is he the pure little innocent who would fess up to anything. Now he has joined the ranks of the enlightened. In this little way, he is matured. I wish he would always have been honest. I did not know how attractive that quality was until I experienced it through him. (I've not known anyone else who's purely honest, ever!) Now, another little bit of him is...gone.

It's as if he's taken from the tree of knowledge, and he's learned deception is the order of the day. Now he will begin half-stepping and half-truthing his way through so many perils, complicating his life by having to build lie on top of lie. His world will now be eggshells. He will be ensnared in lies. He will be tripped up by lies. He will, if he has not already, be injured by someone else's lies.

At first I was amused. "Did you poop your pants, son?"/"No, Roger [our beagle] did it."

Now, I find little humor in even his most inventive lies. I see them for what they are: grown up.

Moving

Spent the morning moving, rather than grading. I tell everyone it's my last move. I'd even like to be buried on this place, back in the trees, maybe turned into mulch/fertilizer for the garden some day.

Whenever I move, I am amazed at the accumulation of stuff. I wrote about stuff a few weeks ago. Anyway, the most interesting things resurface during a move. I'm finding some of my most prized possessions. I am an admitted packrat, and I've got boxes with nothing but trinkets and memories--for example: my grandfather's old shaving brush, a tap dance heel from Lana the dance teacher (fashioned into a key chain fob), a dozen scrapbook pages my son made when he was 2-3...and that's not all, I've also gathered up a lot of other people's old stuff. It's like pseudo-memories...things they should have found memorable but put in garage/estate sales. I've had my eye on a fez for some time at an antique store, for instance. Why would anyone need a fez, you (and my wife) ask?

Who wouldn't want one of these babies?

Anyway, I know I should have a garage sale, but now I have outbuildings and 11 acres to fill, so I don't see myself ever, ever having another sale. Let the kids sort it all out in a few decades, I say! Meanwhile, I'll just keep accumulating stuff that might have some interest value or function some day...and hope I never have to move again!

The Day After

Well, as anticipated, I survived my concert. I had an extra hour to practice my little ditty on the vibes before the show, thinking that I would nail it in concert--well, that didn't happen, but I did feel comfortable that I did my best. We had a reasonably-good-sized crowd, under 100 but somewhere over 60-ish; about 25 of those were my family and students. I could not believe, on the way home, just how relaxed and calm I felt. Today is the same. "I feel good," as the Godfather of Soul (or is it Funk) James Brown, would say!

I think the title of this entry is good in itself, reflecting my survival of the thermonuclear terrors of the TMU concert; however, when I typed the title, it reminded me of The Day After (1983) (TV) , which I vividly recall after seeing it telecast in the '80's. (We all watched it at Kansas State together, eager to see KU vaporized--which I now realize is maybe a bit callous.) I find it strange that nuclear obliteration is not given much attention these days. Sure we hear of the up-coming threat of a "nuclear Iran," but from my (admittedly limited) knowledge, we're surely well-armed globally to still toast the planet. [Read some Jonathan Schell...The Fate of the Earth scared the pee-waddin' out of me 20 years ago.]

For now, however, instead of looking to the skies for falling missles, I think I'll go home and play with my kids. Like everyone else, I guess there's no point getting all worried about it right now, eh?

Heebie Jeebies

I wonder about the origins of the phrase "Heebie Jeebies," don't you? Regardless, I've got 'em in aces today, for tonight is another TMU concert and I've got to play a vibraphone (like a xylophone that echoes). Otherwise, I'm not that uptight, not more than for any other show.

You'd think I could control my anxiety; after all, I'm a seasoned speaker and veteran teacher. I'm over 40 for cryin' out loud. Nonetheless, I'm as nervous as a turkey at Thanksgiving (it's the best I could come up with right now, sorry). I'm documenting these fears here, for hereafter, I'm sure I'll look back on the moment and laugh.

For now, however, I feel like I'm going to be revealing my privates for a very discriminating audience. I feel like I did when I took my MA exams. I am more tense than I can ever recall.

The piece in question calls on me not only to pick out two notes at a time on an instrument I do not know (me, who can't read music), but also to follow a script, to recite my lines, to even throw jelly beans at the crowd. We're to be mic'd, a la Janet Jackson (headset mic's), so all my counting and cursing would be broadcast over the auditorium. We're not anticipating a big crowd, but I have sent press information to four newspapers, a dozen radio stations, several online media, etc...so who knows? Maybe it's a slow night in the entertainment world, and we'll pack the house. (?) Our early concerts were usually about balanced between crowd and band members. Last December, however, we had over 100 in the crowd.

For some reason, I'm most concerned about letting down our fearless leader, for this is a piece of his own creation. I want us to give it a good debut. He's confessed that we're less polished than for any concert he's led us into previously, which does nothing to build my confidence. He's usually good at providing members feedback, but Tuesday nothing was said to me, not even "That was excrement, Jarvis." I take this as a very bad sign, as if he's given up on me or just letting me ride. The result, for me, is redoubled effort to do my part well...but I have absolutely no confidence.

A week or so back, I wrote another entry on this experience (when I was not so mortified) at our band blog Open Source Composition. You can access it here, if ever you would want to.

Today, at any rate, I'm just trying to keep the faith. I've been at work since 430am, and our show's at 730pm...hope I can be fresh and alive for that, when the moment arrives.

Meanwhile, I'll fret and smoke and fritter and stew--wow, there are a lot of words for my condition!

May Day! May Day!

Yes, it is the first of May, that is, May Day. Hooray. I learned more about May Day at Wiki and other sites. It was on this day in history that Elvis married Priscilla. "Citizen Kane" first had a debut.

I am reminded, vaguely, of war movies, where anguished and anxious airmen screamed, "May Day! May Day!" (I don't know why they didn't just scream: "Oh $%^&_()^*%, we're getting hit!" or something...Curious still as to the reasoning behind "May Day" being some kind of alert?)

"May Day!"
Personally, the scheduled marches, etc. for the rights of Mexican workers in the US have me on alert. Yes, there have already been some demonstrations, but today's walk-outs, boycotts, and marches (should they come to the head they are anticipated to) really give me cause for alarm. Things may not escalate as I imagine; I doubt there will be thousands of cars torched as in France last summer. I don't suppose the nation will be crippled by a "Day without Mexicans," as they, themselves, described this day. I'll still be able to work away at my desk, slavishly grading essays...

...however, I do belive that "Times, They Are A Changin'"
When I was a child, growing up in the Midwest, rural, agricultural setting of SW Kansas, I knew of today's "undocumented workers" as (pardon me for trampling your sensitivities)...wetbacks. When I heard the term "illegal aliens," I looked to the skies, wondering how many aliens lived among us legally. When the border patrol wagons hauled off all our "migrant workers" and my father for interrogation, I was alarmed, for I did not even know it was wrong to hire people who wanted to work. All the euphemization of the issue clearly points out, at least to me, that it truly IS an issue. Public venacular is veneered by political and media connotating the heck out of things with euphemisms.

Thus, to use the now-out-of-vogue term "illegal aliens," I have to say: "You had me at illegal." This will cast me as a rabid republican, I'm sure (though I am not)...but to my mind, if these folks, these 11 million people, are here illegally, well then...treat them like felons. Clean up the situation. Or change the law and the status and (as is already happening) the language.

This is my blog's first toe-dip into political issues, but friends, we need to be wary. According to the 2000 census, "12.5 percent of respondents to the 2000 Census identified themselves as Hispanic, up from 9.0 percent in 1990, making them one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States. The Hispanic ethnicity category on the Census includes Mexicans (7.3 percent of the total U.S. population in 2000), Puerto Ricans (1.2 percent), Cubans (0.4 percent) and a host of other Latin and South American ethnicities." If an additional 11 million people are illegal aliens (that is, likely NOT part of the census)...and if that demographic keeps growing as it has...

People, "you'd better start swimmin' / or you'll sink like a stone," as Dylan warned. It seems to me that our nation moves at the speed of lag. I am the same way, if one were to personify a nation...when something is bothering me, but I don't feel up to coping with it, I put it off, bury it a while, look the other way. It was thus with the grass growing up through my driveway, and it is now with the papers I should be grading. Likewise, it seems our leadership (and generally, our citizenry) has feigned ignorance and apathy about as long as possible. Now we're in a maelstrom, a tight spot, a real pickle...and things are getting turbulent, uncomfortable, and sour.

Political pundits will variously report that the other party refuses to act on this for their own party's self interest. (That sentence is about as convoluted as I see the whole situation.) It does, indeed, seem we are at a legislative stand-off. Obviously, nothing is going to come from the Executive branch, and it's too early for the Judicial bunch to accomplish much...

...that leaves the people. Right now, it seems to me, the only people taking much action are those out protesting today.

We'd better wise up, embrace our fellow man, and move on.