I’m a writer….

Since this is my blog and I’m a writer, I occasionally find some stuff I wrote in the past.   Sometimes those mental doodles are in a notebook, sometimes on a stray piece of write-upon.  This is from a piece of cardboard from about 2004.  It’s a mental noodle, so feel free to by pass and go on to something else.

 

We are heritage-less and culture-less, these things having been bread and trained out of most of us of white European descent.  Over generations of pot-melting we have become something else.  What has emerged seems to be the “American” culture of hypocrisy.

We are at our fattest yet attend physical fitness classes and regimes like no other country.  We dote on our children yet cut their school budgets incessantly and feed them mental and physical garbage.  We praise the family and exclude extended family members from under our roofs and put them away someplace else.

Sadly, our culture has developed into a monster of lies and greed and hypocrisy and excess on a scale so very American; large.

We seem to have forgotten our friends, and family members and children in our rush to work and the million other activities.  We are barbarians ona 24/7 schedule.  If the American dream is to live a life of rushing mediocrity, that is not satisfactory to me.

I do see some alternatives, though.  I can leave the US.  Not an altogether unattractive idea, except that the people I love most are all here.  I could die, but I’ve already tried that and I saw that wasn’t all that attractive, either.  I can sit by and watch it fo on past, letting it sweep me along in its own current.

In this I think I will be unsatisfied.

The last idea is to begin to change.  To find my target, aim for it, and begin to walk t hat path.  That path is a re-definition of culture; most specifically mine.

Oddly enough, the path begins at my own feet, so maybe I should get to know myself again.  I hear i’m a good person.  Once again, into the breech of self reflection.  I hope I’m strong en ought to see myself without being too subjective or punitive.

I still seem to think I deserve the pain I get or give to myself.  Although, I know this to be wrong, these thoughts will come to the surface and I will let the cut bleed until I think maybe it has washed some of my own badness away.

It’s not about guns and laws, folks. It’s about humans and emotions.

I’ve been noticing lots of new information about laws, protests, guns, mental health, and all the normal rigamarole, but I am not seeing much action or even much change.  It really seems like we are walking around in small circles dressed like Roman soldiers in a Mel Brooks movie.

Enter stage right lots of community based grass-roots programs.  What I see these programs doing is clearly identifying and addressing small extremely local needs.  Communities are different in different places and I think it’s time to do the most American thing we can do: start at home and in our neighbourhoods to foment the kind of change necessary.

I even have a plan and it doesn’t require you to give me, or anyone else, money.  I know, it’s pretty strange to see someone not pleading in a quavery Sally Struthers voice for just a few pennies a day to solve a problem.  See, now, the problem with that is when you give to these programs, you don’t own it.  You toss coins at it like a wishing well hoping you can do something good.

In my plan, you can do something good AND you get to keep your money.  Pretty amazing, dontcha think?

1. Stop being greedy for anything.
2. Be thankful for what you have.
3. Spend time with your family doing interesting things.
4. Stop and help right now.
5. Go for a walk.
6. Change yourself.

Although, if you really felt the need to give me money, you can.  You should know, though, any money you do give me will likely be spent on books or experiences for my students.  Possibly also spent on gas and car repairs picking up parents and families for Parent Nights, PTA, and carnival nights or other school parties. I might enrich myself by buying into a CSA and then getting solar panels for the house.

What are you going to do?

 

I really wanted to comment, but….

I really wanted to comment of some of the things Betsy DeVos was talking about, but I had a really good day at school today with Joni Oeltjenbruns talking about being an author and illustrator then drawing with my middle school students.  Turns out I can do more teaching and enabling in a poor public charter than DeStupid can just by sitting on my duff drawing with kids and chatting.  Granted I have the vocabulary of an adult, so it’s really not fair.

Actually, I am beginning to think my middle school ELL students have a better grasp of English than our Minister of non-Education and Prime Minister of Madness Mr. Babyhands.

I really wanted to comment on Cheetolini’s latest bout of global embarrassment activities, but I thought I might want to take some time and get a massage to help with pain reduction due to damage and arthritis.  It is far more expensive than the drugs that are available to help manage the inflammation and pain, but at least I get to keep my liver.  As it turns out, much of the planet just mostly ignores us and the general stupidity of its leadership that, BTW, isn’t corrupt.  I heard that too, today.  I did blow tea out my nose at that one.

I kept thinking he was like one of those dads that’s chronically embarrassing: comb over hair style, clip on sun glasses, PJ style shorts and button down, black socks, white deck shoes, spray on tan, gold chains ala 1976, saggy butt, and the belief he looks good.  I think I saw this image on a old fart birthday card in 1988, but I could be wrong.

Since this is a blog of action, how are you going to manage your stress over our Fearless Leaders and the general Song of Stupid coming out of DC?

How many deaths? Apparently 33,000 annually here in the States.

Gun violence is the hottest topic right now.  I think we should take away the gun part and look at the violence part.

I did some digging and found this cool interactive graphic about gun deaths in America.  Dug around some more and found this one.  Then this one.  Again.  Actually, pretty much every site I checked out had the Centers for Disease Control as one of their resources.

That made me think a bit.  Gun violence and killing as a disease.  If it’s a disease, how do you contract it?  How do you get rid of it?  Is it like syphilis and hangs around the rest of your life, slowly eating your brain and ultimately leading you to insanity and a horrible death?  Maybe it’s like Hepatitis and begins to destroy your brain instead of your liver.

I wonder, do humans contract this disease through contact with guns?  Is it the guns that are causing this situation?  I wonder if I put a gun and a box of ammunition on the deck of my house if anyone would die just be being in the vicinity of a gun.  I live in a townhouse in a crowded townhouse village of 400 units in a Twin Cities metro area suburb.

Would a gun and ammo pouch left in the woods infect the wildlife or the plants?  Would they pick up the gun and start killing their fellows or even outside of their species?  I think the CDC should try these two experiments just to see if it’s the guns that are the problem.  It would be interesting to see if this disease can cross species lines.

So if we take away the gun part, we are left with 33,000 yearly deaths.  This appears to be three times the amount of gun killings in any other rich country.  Huh.  So that leads me to think it’s something that is pretty much just an American thing.  Although, it might be worthwhile to attempt these same two experiments around the world in comparable countries and cities just to rule other factors out.  SCIENCE!

Now if we would replace the word “gun” with the word, say, “hammer”.  I do believe hammers would be outlawed.  Replace that word “gun” with any other tool name and they would be banned tut-suite.  Replace the word “gun” with any health issue related to men and legislation would be off and running to solve that heinous problem.

By the way, just in case you wanted to know, about 3 women die daily in domestic violence.  Oddly enough, the CDC didn’t report that one, Huffpost   and other news related sources did.

Although, when you look at the data, it’s mostly male-on-male gun violence.  We could just allow the men to keep killing themselves since it’s them that seem to prevail within the data.  I mean, that works for black-on-black or gang violence, right?  Let them kill each other is a good plan?  Or, better yet, the  whole idea that AIDS was a gay person destroyer, so let them die.  Yeh, that worked out really well.

So what am I going to do?  I am going to make sure we get to keep our Second Amendment, but we don’t have to be crazy about it.  We should have hunting and sporting pieces.  I am not so sure about guns that are designed to kill humans, though. I am going to make sure I know how to use a gun to hunt.  I am going to take some gun safety classes and I might even go to the range and do some target practicing.  Shooting holes in paper targets is apparently good therapy.

I am also going to talk about this rationally with others including my students, should they ask.  I don’t think completely disarming us is the thing to do.  We had some problems with that just before the revolution.

What are you going to do?

 

If you haven’t read this, you should.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13001274-the-woman-who-died-a-lot

 

This book is a SCREAM!  It’s a bit confusing at first, but just keep reading.  I guarantee it’s worth it.  So very entertaining: militant librarians!  Woooooot!!!!!!

Fire extinguishers: a multi-use tool

When you think of a fire extinguisher, you think of PASS and other fire related things.  But what about when a human freak pancake comes into your school/night club/post office/place of work/ home and tries some gun related shenanigans?  Yes, by all means, run and hide and get the others out of the way.  Yes, let the professionals with appropriate gear deal with said freak.  When the time comes for you to protect yourself or others, grab that fire extinguisher and pull the pin.

In the wake of yet another mass shooting, it’s time to start having conversations about exit and protection strategies. I should probably preface this by saying I am a coward.  However, if you threaten someone who can’t or won’t protect themselves, I do go a little bats.  In the past, I have started screaming and throwing things with fairly decent accuracy.  You shouldn’t, however, bring rocks to a gunfight.

So I did some digging and found some pretty good videos on the topic:

 

Now I’m not saying you should weaponise anything in grabbing range and go all gung-ho and start thinking you are Rambo.  As the adult in the room, you might think it necessary to actually do something.  Keeping a fire extinguisher handy is a good idea.

Also, you know, maybe have a school/building plan for when the crazies arrive.

So here’s my plan; know where all the fire extinguishers are where ever I go.  Probably know where the exits and bathrooms are, too.  Maybe know the building plan for this eventuality.

What are you going to do?

Really.

via Really.

Really.

17

What, that’s what you got????  This is some seriously whacked poo.

Broken.  The education system is broken.  Our system is in pieces on the floor and we keep trying to put it back together with  the cheapest crappy band aids and then get all ticked off and freaked out when it fails.  Again.  Again. Again. Again.

This isn’t about gun control.   Not like this.  If you want a gun, it’s easy to get because of or in spite of the law.

Here’s what IS about:

• parenting
• education
• social norms
• media diet
• MENTAL HEALTH

Our babies are killing each other out of desperation, fear, sadness, and hopelessness.  I was one of those youth, but instead of turning to drugs, guns, extremist religions, or other weird crap, I tried suicide and then went into cutting myself.  I turned on myself instead of others.

These kids are sick of being bullied and possessed by everyone and everything around them.  They are sick of looking around them and not seeing hope for improvement.  They have turned to the establishment for  help in trying to figure things out and they didn’t get what they needed.  So they found another way.

It’s what humans do.  We learn.  The big question is, what are we teaching our children?

Our leaders are saying it’s OK to be selective in who we like and dislike; and those we dislike or get in our way will be crushed in violent and bloody ways.  Those we like are cushioned from trouble and harm until they are no longer on our “like” list.  At which time they will be on the crushed list.

Our leaders no longer really compromise on things; they just seem to make the other side pay.  It also seems that when the other side doesn’t want to pay or play, they are then slandered and the flying feces show begins.

Our leaders remind me of the parable of the Farmer and the Snake.     You could substitute something like “fast food and the health problem”.  “Greed and the filling landfills.”  “Avarice and the lost environment.”  “Shooter and the mental health desert.”

My grand parents said it “garbage in, garbage out.”

Our education system is based on mass production like toasters, cars, and bags of flash frozen broccoli.  We keep saying we have to invest in our future, yet we still feed our children heaps of offal for the “enrichment” of body-mind-soul.  That’s too expensive.  The payment  plan really sucks rocks; the body and blood of our children.

I’m not saying we should have a nation of doormat flower children singing songs by the fire instead of solving problems.  I’m saying we should be much more careful of what we consume BODY-MIND-SOUL.  We can’t afford to have the child/adult standard of life.  That’s like saying Diznee/porn-star standard of life.  Where does the degradation end?  Where does the greed and jealousy end?  Where does the idea of “I’m better because…….therefore…” end?

How do we stop destroying ourselves?

For my part, I have a list:

• Keep teaching reading.  Those babies need to be able to find information to figure things out.
• Keep participating in the system, even a broken one.  With perseverance and diligence, I hope to make a difference.
• Keep questioning my leaders on their choices. It’s my right and duty to call them on it.
• Keep contacting my leaders and tell them what I think.  We do still have that right and duty.

There is no “magic bullet” to solve this problem.  There is nothing that will be faster than the speed of generations.  No magic wand, or potion, or plan, or anything except for our choice to live how we keep saying we want to live; stop being avaricious and entitled. Walk the walk of peace and dignity.

What are you doing?

Makin’ Magazines

Man o man, writing a magazine is hard work!  Interviewing, sorting information, reading websites and printed materials, THINKING….  Ugh.  It’s hard.

But I love it!  I love making the school magazine!  I love working with students to write articles, take photos, and draw some cartoons!  I love finding new information to share with students and stakeholders!  I think what I love most of all, though, is student faces as they see their first by-line.  That starry-eyed amazement of seeing their work in print is a priceless gift.

What did you make today?

Cheetah Tracks vol 1 issue 3 Feb 2018