penn

Stolen from Facebook

"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly." ~Bertrand Russell

Heathers and more

Last night, I watched the movie Heathers with a friend. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but a dark comedy was not it. Heathers is a super dark comedy about the popular girls in school and what happens when a popular girl and her new boyfriend decide to get even. There is more violence than I expected.

Of course, this movie about school violence got me wondering about other incidences of school violence. The boyfriend in the movie wore a long black trench-like coat, just like the two students at Columbine. We couldn't remember when Columbine happened, so we checked out the wikipedia page (1999, for the record). When I was at that page, there was some information on other deadly incidences in schools.

Imagine my shock to learn about the Bath School Disaster. In 1927, a bomber at a school killed 38 school kids and a handful of adults (teachers and rescue workers). He was apparently upset by taxes levied for the school that "caused" his farm to go into foreclosure. It is interesting to hear that taxes, foreclosures, and the like are absolutely nothing new. This man did quite a bit of planning over a number of months, including smuggling explosives into the school slowly over time. There is further intrigue in this story on the long wikipedia article (linked above) if you're interested in further reading.

As someone going into the teaching business, this whole business of bullying and school violence has been on my mind a lot recently. So has school funding. I have been doing some good classroom management reading. In one piece, the author cited a statistic that 50% of kids report having been bullied at least once or twice in a 6 month period. This is significantly higher than the incidences of overt misbehavior in a classroom. While bullying wasn't the issue in the Bath School Disaster, it was in Heathers and may have been in Columbine and other school shootings. And the Bath School Disaster still involved taxes and disagreements similar to what we're seeing today in our political discourse. In all of this (bullying, taxes, schools), my main plea is for civility and understanding. I intend to be the kind of teacher that encourages conversation and does not allow boorish behavior. In my eyes, all of us standing up for reason, conversation, understanding, and patience is the only way to forge ahead and make a stronger future in all senses.

Reading

Perhaps I sound like a broken record, but I am still quite inspired by decluttering posts. I especially love this post about giving up your fantasy life. It is okay to keep things you use. But if you don't use it, perhaps giving it up is for the best. I especially love the example of the author's own life. She always dreamed of being a princess and collected antiques, fancy tea sets, beaded dresses, and other fineries. But it was only once she let go of these items that she had the freedom to truly move to England and pursue her life.

I'm still contemplating my dream life. But while I work at "finding myself," I can still let go of some things. For example, I am making a future with a physics teacher. We will always have physics books around. I really don't have to save the physics notes. It was hard to let them go, but I know it is for the better.

*****

Another set of great reading I've been doing concerns raising kids as a community. It is the responsibility of all of us to take care of children and be responsible for their growth. Part of this is being intentional in our actions. I don't think people intentionally mean to skew children, but even out best intended actions might not come across as we mean them to.

The first article is called How to Talk to Little Girls. The author focuses on encouraging girls in reading or other pursuits rather than always focusing on appearance. It can be hard to do; it is simple to compliment young ladies on how they look. But always emphasizing the physical aspects can teach girls that looks are all that matter. Definitely worth a read.

The other great blog post comes from Mighty Girl, entitled Here We Go. In the post is a video Maggie did with other moms that covers how they talk (or don't talk) to their kids about sexual abuse. The real gem, in my opinion, is what Maggie says wasn't covered by the article. She, and many of the commenters, write thoughtfully about how to honor your kids' space and autonomy. If you click over, read through all the comments for a great discussion.

*****

Overall, I'm keeping quite busy here. I am hoping to get pictures from this summer up one of these days (and finish my recounting of our trip!). We had an amazing time visiting Oregon and seeing my parents and friends. We came back running and have been catching up with friends and enjoying the area. This is the first year in a decade that neither Matt nor I have to move in the summer. In the past ten years, I have lived in 14 different places! Maybe someday I'll do a roundup of all these homes.

If Only

The Thing Is by Ellen Bass

via Mighty Girl

The Thing Is

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

(From Mules of Love, via The Writer’s Almanac.)

In support

I (almost) always love Keith Olbermann's commentaries. This one is especially good. In it, he defends the right to build an Islamic community center in Manhattan. He also goes a few more by explaining just what this would be (not a mosque), just where it would be (several blocks from ground zero), and what it would bring to the area (community involvement in an impoverished neighborhood).

In truth, the community center sounds awesome. Plans include a basketball court, a cooking school, and a worship space. If this were any other community center, I'm sure people would be all for it. However, it seems like many in America have developed a knee-jerk reaction to all things Muslim. I find this a shame, as the Islamic culture is rich and varied. So many different cultures are encompassed in Islam, and they're all interesting. I'm particularly a fan of Iranian food and Moorish design.

Further, I am saddened by the strong reaction against this community center. One of the things that bothers me most about conservatives is the double-faced "we fight for freedom" combined with "morals are important and do as we say!" Seems to me that if you've fought for the right of people to make their own decisions, you need to let those people make their own decisions, even if you don't agree with them.

A few good links

A note: I will never, ever, ever own a mouse with a "back" button on it (I'm on lunch at work). This marks the third time I have accidentally hit the back button and had to rewrite all or part of this post. Thankfully, I remembered to save one draft!

All is well in Leah-land, but it is busy and stressful. Work continues to be fulfilling, what with spending lots of time in nature with young kids. But it's also stressful, since I take over other people's jobs when they leave on vacation (and two people are out this week). I'm also just trying to find time to enjoy the beautiful summer weather.

***

Did you know that drowning doesn't look like "drowning"? This excellent article describes how to spot someone who is drowning, and I was surprised to find out that it's not at all like we expect. One of the best tips I picked up from the article is that drowning people are typically quiet. As they say, kids in the water make noise; if they're not making noise anymore, something is up. Definitely give it a read. I'd never heard any of this before, and I have worked with kids in and around water.

***

Vampire energy is the term for electricity that is used by plugged in equipment even when that equipment isn't on. This takes up a surprising amount of energy each year. When I signed up for renewable energy for a 101 things goal (near the end of the post), I also worked diligently at reducing power consumption. We did so by using power strips for all our electronics and turning off the strips when our microwave, TV, etc weren't in use. We managed to get out bill down to $15-20 per month for a two bedroom apartment, which was pretty awesome in my view. I must admit that it was a pain to constantly reach behind things to turn off power strips, but it did pay off.

Imagine my happiness in discovering that there are now remote-control operated power strips! There's an excellent review over at LA Green Girl about the Pratecol power strip. There's remote control power strips and power strips with foot pedal turn-offs. I am so buying a few of these when we redo our living room soon. Matt and I don't currently pay electric where we live, but we still like to conserve.

***

A new-twist on an old subject: 7 tips for dealing with a sweetheart who is crabby all the time. These tips focus on how you can adjust behavior, since you're the only one you can change. I really love the focus here, because it acknowledges that there are two sides to every situation. I must admit that I am sometimes (maybe often?) crabby at the end of a long workday, mostly because of the frustrating hour-long commute I do. Matt has been a gem, and I think he already does several of these tips. Recently, he's been cooking dinner for me, and it makes a ton of difference in how I feel. In return, I've started washing more dishes, and I even empty the dish drainer before leaving for work in the morning so that he has a clean kitchen to cook in.

***

Finally, a lovely excerpt from a "Happiness Interview" at The Happiness Project:

What’s something you know now about happiness that you didn’t know when you were younger?

What I know now is that life is long -- you don't have to do everything at the same time. When I turned 30 I entered a ridiculously productive period -- I published five books in five years and had two children. Then I gave birth to my third son, and it all went to hell in a hand-basket (or, more accurately, a diaper pail). It was a number of years -- eight, to be exact -- before I published another novel. But during that period I learned a lot about life and love and other important things, and my writing -- and my life in general -- are better for it.

Turtles

I'm teaching a day camp on turtles this week. Today, my 4-6 year olds got to touch turtles, make their own turtle shells (out of tissue paper and paper plates), and got some turtle clues from old turtle.

While looking up something about turtle anatomy for the class, I stumbled upon this humorous passage. It's not quite appropriate for the age group in my class, so I thought I'd share it with all of you:

The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks Which practically conceal its sex I think it clever of the turtle In such a fix to be so fertile. -Ogden Nash

It's egg laying season for turtles right now. Turtles leave their ponds to go lay eggs in dirt/rocks/sand, and this often requires crossing roads. Please remember to watch the road as you drive around!

On Love

I Corinthians 13 has always been one of my favorite bible verses. (As a kid, I was frequently teased by ministers about this: "oh, planning on getting married soon?" I suppose I didn't realize it was a cliched wedding verse.) However, one part of the chapter has always bugged me. In verse 11, it says "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."

I'm an adult now, but I don't think that I've grown up. I still have plenty of fun. Matt might kill me for writing this (good thing he doesn't read my blog), but today we went hiking and sang a song together using "meep"s instead of words. I like to be goofy and silly, and some of my greatest pleasures are coloring books, video games, board games, puzzles, and reading children's literature. Sometimes I'm embarrassed about my tastes. But most of the time, I take my dad's teachings to heart. I distinctly remember one sermon he gave where he talked about the importance of not being embarrassed to do things you like. Sing in front of the whole church, even if you're not a great soloist. Go play sports, even if you're not a pro athlete. Dance, read, be creative, grow things: follow your passions. You are you, and you can't apologize for that.

Imagine seeing a similar lesson in my current read. I'm working my way through The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (a partner to her excellent blog, also called The Happiness Project). In her May chapter, "Be Serious about Play," she writes about starting a reading group for adults to discuss children's literature. Brilliant! And in the first email she sent to her group, she included the following CS Lewis quote from his essay "On Three Ways of Writing for Children":

When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

How lovely!

I Corinthians 13, while a beautiful verse, misses the mark on the topic of being an adult. In order to love truly, and to be faithful to ourselves, we must embrace our childlike side. In childhood, we can have absolute trust and faith in goodness, in truth, and in love. The greatest stories of true love that I can recall are written for children. It seems that as we grow into adulthood, we become jaded and clouded. To fully experience and embrace love, Paul should have written his flock to remember the wonder, joy, and beauty of being a child captivated by even the simplest parts of daily life.

101 things: months 21 and 22

Time for my December and January report. The new year rolled on in, and this is my last year for the 101 things. I'm making some progress, and I am hoping to knock a few of these goals out soon.

7. Join a dance class for at least a month

For the last month, Thursday night is my belly-dancing night. So much learning! I can do all sorts of hip circles, shimmies, and cool stuff now. I've still got four weeks left in the class, so I will be learning a lot more.

31. Organize “my documents” folder in order to easily find all documents

I organized, purged, moved around, and thoroughly combed through all my documents. I deleted old stuff that's no longer important and came up with a good system that should work for quite a long time to come. Finally glad to have that huge task done. We'll see how long it takes me to get a similar job done on my photos, as I have lots more photos than documents.

33. Do 5 video posts on my blog

With the bari posts I've been doing, I'll call this one done! Don't worry; I'll still keep video posting from time to time. I have too much fun with it to stop!

44. Donate (or attempt to donate) blood three times

I tried to donate blood again, but my iron level was still too low to donate. It's fine -- I'm not anemic -- but not good enough. I'm now taking daily iron pills, and I will try one more time in about a month.

49. Implement three household changes to be more eco-friendly

Matt and I have made a second change: we now clean almost exclusively with vinegar and water. I mean, we use dish soap (biodegradable), but we've phased out most commercial cleaners. The most awesome part is that Matt is completely on board with this, though finances might be a major factor in that. Still, it makes me feel good about our household.

64. Bowl over 100

close enough! I've spent several bowling trips working on this. Slowly but steady, getting better.

Oh, and Matt normally does much better. In our first game, he scored 126 and I had something in the 70s. We both like bowling, so we're hoping to go more often and ultimately improve.

82. write 4 posts reviewing peer-reviewed biological literature

I posted about coffee and reviewed some literature about coffee growing. It's a nice little start for me. I really miss reading biological literature.

101. learn three songs on guitar

Guitar, baritone uke? I call the bari uke close enough, and these are my goals. Glad I've been learning. I enjoy music, and I'm glad it's a larger part of my life now.

the tally:
-1 / +1 more in progress for 7 total in progress
5 more completed for 51 total completed (over halfway!)