Gayle Force Press

One Thing I Really Like Is...

 

Being the parent of a teenager who still wants to watch Rudolph and the Grinch every year. 

 

Merry Christmas. 

 

FDO

 

Christmas Crossing

I haven't written a better Christmas poem yet. So I'll keep celebrating with this one. Merry Christmas.

 

Christmas Crossing

 

It’s Christmas Eve and my wife is napping

At the other end of the couch

Dreaming in a Santa hat

 

Tonight when she wakes

And after tomorrow’s presents

I’ll try my best to remind her

That my life is more complete

Better and more real

Than I could have imagined for myself

 

Her presence animates my life

Not in a slavish sense of duty

But through the constant commitment of love

Densely defined and elaborate

Telling as the Rubicon, broad as the Nile

I have fully crossed over

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2006

 

 

Losing Weight

 

This is the first time in my life when I’ve used a scale on a regular basis. It’s become a tangible measure of success and failure for me. I can already begin seeing why some folks become obsessed with weighing. Every day you get a chance to win something! (Or lose something but I’m a half-full person so I pay much more attention to the victories than the defeats.)

 

I weigh less now than I have at any time since my first term in college. It’s hard to believe now but during the stretch from about Labor Day to Thanksgiving that year I gained 40+ lbs. My whole life seemed to change in those 12 weeks including this radical physical shift. I went from a thin person to a chubby person in one autumn. (I just wrote ‘chubby’. What an odd word. Chubby.) 

 

While I’ve lost weight recently, I haven’t exactly gone from chubby to thin. In the past few months I’ve lost around 25# and it’s peculiar to notice how perceptions of me have changed so quickly. Look, I’m a big guy so it’s not as though I appear sick, drugged or destitute. Still, there’s no question that things are different.

 

Sometimes the differences are about other people- I get more smiles; people flirt with me more often; people seem to think I’m taller than I am (I’m just above 6’ but I’ve had a couple tell me that they thought I was 6’ 3“ in the past few weeks. Weird.) and I’ve had a couple clerks express surprise at my age when they see my photo ID.

 

Other times, the differences are about me- I actually do feel better physically with less knee and back pain; I spend less money and time at restaurants and I don’t have as high a tolerance for alcohol. I suppose those changes are all positive but I wonder what it means that I’m writing this only after having lost some weight. If I gain weight, will I spend this time and energy writing about it? If so, would I make that writing available for anyone to see?  

 

I started writing this post in early November and held off from finishing and posting it because I wondered if the holiday season and cold weather would become my excuses for eating more and exercising less. So far, that hasn’t been the case.  I’d also been worried that I’d begin obsessing over the scale. I think I’ve satisfied myself that the scale is a tool only. My refusal to give it any more power feels like a very good choice.

 

 

FDO

 

PS- Since I started on this post, I’ve had a great new weight loss connection. I am no longer a diabetic! That’s a clinical distinction based on long term blood sugar levels and it doesn't mean I'm planning to change my diet or exercise habits.  I am fortunate enough to have responded well to medicine and I can afford spending the time and money to give myself a better chance at healthfulness. Ultimately, weight loss is not the only important factor in this shift away from diabetes but it is an important one.

 

And a happy one. 

 

 

One Thing I Really Like Is... Serendipity (Part 2)

 

I wrote about serendipity a couple days ago and had another wonderful experience of it today. I stopped at a brewery to sample a few beers and made the acquaintance of two gentlemen who are old friends, Dave and Michal. These two guys happened to have a little space at a table and were friendly when I asked if I could join them.

 

Both men seem like great people and Michal will likely be a helpful professional contact. I have been considering what new textbook to use for US History classes and Michal is almost certainly to be of great assistance in that endeavor.  There's a real possibility that my future students will have a more beneficial classroom experience because of this chance meeting. All just a few steps removed from my choice to pick one table instead of any other. 

 

I really like serendipity. 

 

 

FDO

 

 

One Thing I Really Like Is...Replacement Names

 

NBA Nicknames that Replace Given Names

Here’s the corollary to the original post about nicknames.

The NBA has had a vast number of players whose given names have been virtually replaced by their nicknames. Replaced to the point it would seem more peculiar to use their given name. These are the ones I can think of right now although there are probably many others. I’m not even counting the guys who often have their nicknames used but not always. That means there’s no Bones Barry, no Cat Mobley and no Clyde Frazier here. Even without them, this is an awesome list.

 

Magic Johnson

Pearl Washington

Tree Rollins

Tiny Archibald

Moochie Norris

Bimbo Coles

Muggsy Bogues

Doc Rivers

Spud Webb

Boobie Gibson

Slick Watts

Buck Williams

Mookie Blaylock

Pooh Richardson

Sleepy Floyd

Fat Lever

Cornbread Maxwell

Flip Murray

Rip Hamilton

Speedy Claxton

Truck Robinson

 

Yep, this is quite a list. I repeat myself. I love nicknames.

 

FDO

 

Late Additions:

Fly Williams

Smush Parker

 

One Thing I Really Like Is... Nicknames

 

Nicknames.

 

I love ‘em. It’s probably because I like both pro basketball and pro wrestling but I’m not sure. Nicknames are just fun to me. I have had lots in my own life and there a couple I still hang on to.

I also enjoy giving people nicknames. Now, I’m not like George W. ‘Shrub’ Bush who apparently gives nicknames to everybody. To me, that cheapens the gift. Nicknames are reserved for people I love or at least love spending time with. Nicknames like ‘Nuprin’, ‘Mijo’, ‘Big Daddy’ Kane, ‘Duchess’ and ‘Mr. Incredible’ need to come from a place of love.

 

It’s great when nicknames become so commonly used that they virtually replace given names. Magic Johnson is the most famous example but the NBA is chock full of this phenomenon. This deserves a separate post actually.  

 

Some nicknames are funny even when there’s no context. I mean, I know why Darryl Dawkins is called ‘Chocolate Thunder’ but realistically does it even matter? Isn’t ‘Chocolate Thunder’ always gonna be funny? That could be the name of a movie, breakfast cereal, band, video game or bodily function and it’s still gonna work. Perfect.

 

There are also lots of nicknames that aren’t in common use that really should be. My friend, ABC, calls Eli Manning ‘Baby E’ and it’s perfect. Just look at him. The Anaheim Angels’ Torii Hunter should obviously be nicknamed ‘Big Game’. Obviously!

 

If Mitt Romney wins the GOP Presidential nomination I certainly expect folks on the left to start calling him ‘Glove’. Why wouldn’t they?  

 

Boston Celtics coach Glenn ‘Doc’ Rivers’ son, Austin is a perfect candidate to be ‘Baby Doc’ but no one’s willing to go there. C’mon, they don’t look Haitian so it’s ok, right? 

 

Right?!?

 

FDO

 

 

 

One Thing I Really Like Is...

 

Serendipity. 

 

Sometimes it’s a person; sometimes it’s an unanticipated gift; sometimes it’s just the difference between my blindness and my sight. 

 

 

FDO

 

 

Thoughts on Writing- Nikki Giovanni's Resignation

 

Resignation 

by Nikki Giovanni

 

I love you

because the Earth turns round the sun

because the North wind blows north

sometimes

because the Pope is Catholic

and most Rabbis Jewish

because winters flow into springs

and the air clears after a storm

because only my love for you

despite the charms of gravity

keeps me from falling off this Earth

into another dimension

I love you

because it is the natural order of things

 

 

This is the first stanza of a poem I anticipate loving forever. My wife and I used this for a reading at our wedding and several years later, I like the poem even more than I did then. Giovanni is not generally perceived as a romantic poet but she has a deep vein of passion within her work that does, at times, take on a specifically romantic form.

Part of what I like so much about Resignation is that Giovanni reminds her reader that being in love should feel absolutely, perfectly normal.

 

I know many folks who don’t buy into Giovanni’s premise. Instead, they feel most comfortable with problematic, difficult and contentious romantic relationships. To an extreme, I know someone who ended a relationship because it wasn’t challenging enough. Things were too smooth for her liking. That’s an almost unbelievable concept to me. If you’re in love with someone, shouldn’t your standard experience with that person be pleasant and enjoyable? Shouldn’t trouble between you be the exception to the rule?

 

In Resignation, Giovanni defines love as the organizing principle of life in an amorous relationship. In the world she creates in this poem, love is the backdrop to how we live and who we are. Perhaps it’s only because I’m a hopeful romantic but I’m convinced that she’s on the right track. Whatever the reason, I’ll go with it. Joyfully.

 

I love you

because it is the natural order of things

 

Indeed.

 

FDO

 

 

One Thing I Don't Like Is...

 

When I type ‘E’, my computer doesn’t go to ESPN.com automatically. This is not a good sign. Let me explain. 

 

I love sports. I enjoy reading, thinking, watching and even writing about sports. Yet, my computer’s default for ‘E’ is Edline, a Website that I use to update grades, share resources and provide assignments for my students. What the computer is trying to tell me is simply that I use Edline more than I use ESPN. <smh> I repeat: This is not a good sign. 

 

It’ll be great to have Winter Break arrive so I can give ESPN the place of prominence it deserves!

 

 

FDO

 

 

One Thing I Don't Like Is...

 

Green Bay’s coach Mike McCarthy took a few seconds on ESPN’s Mike and Mike show Thursday to consider what his team needs to improve upon in the remainder of the season.

His answer: forcing more fumbles. 

In this worst of all possible years to be both a Colts and Vikings fan, I was tempted to vomit. 

 

 

FDO

 

 

Average Obama

 

I liked President Obama’s Osawatomie speech and recognize the obvious resonances it has with Teddy Roosevelt’s  New Nationalism  speech. That connection has been made in multiple places and is well worth reading and reading about. I think Obama's speech was the start of something else too. Something with great potential for Obama’s re-election campaign against Mitt Romney in 2012*. I mean the re-branding of the President as “Barack Obama, regular American.”

 

I believe that in this campaign Obama will try to present himself as a typical American with a very American story. Even though he has often been defined as an outsider, I don’t think that Obama has ever believed that to be true. Obama considers himself to be quintessentially American. That belief will be easier to spread to the public at large if Obama is running against Willard Mitt Romney.

(Much in the way that Obama’s middle name became a campaign issue, I’m convinced that Romney’s first name will be tossed about and made the subject of jokes. I assume the story about Mitt being named after George Romney’s best friend Willard Marriott is true. That’s not gonna be helpful.)

 

Obama’s campaign will work hard to present Romney as the embodiment of America’s elite. Romney is, after all, the son of a governor and was born into a highly affluent family. His own professional career has placed him squarely in the 1% as defined by Occupy Wall Street. In 2000, those would have been helpful characteristics but in the midst of our Great Recession, economic privilege is no longer perceived as indicative of inherent merit. Instead, his extraordinary level of privilege is probably a major detriment to Romney’s candidacy.

 

Obama’s own American story is well known and his recent speech cleverly emphasized his rootedness via his family of regular folks from Kansas. His single mom spent time on public assistance rolls and Obama only became an elite himself through educational attainment. He legitimately is a contemporary Horatio Alger. Even as an adult, his South Side of Chicago bona fides are clearly intact. Describing his career as working for the people of his community as opposed to having the people work for him will be a winning presentation.

 

And while folks often describe Obama’s rise to national prominence as meteoric, he will be able to define himself as a political plugger compared to Romney. Obama’s political career began in the Illinois State Senate before moving on to the US Senate and then the White House. He has been an elected official since 1997. Obama can reasonably describe himself as having climbed the political ladder, albeit with tremendous speed. Romney’s sole electoral victory was his one term as Massachusetts governor. In just those four years, Romney made many choices he has since disavowed. While I personally believe Romney’s Olympic experience is very impressive, I doubt that he’ll be able to use that time as a proxy for holding office.

 

There will likely be one other interesting area in which Obama can define himself as average and Romney as exceptional: religion. Obama’s Chicago church experience was a problem for him in 2008 but in 2012 it’ll be a big advantage. Jeremiah Wright is old news and the President has so comfortably and consistently invoked God that his religiosity seems safe, normal and generically American. Romney’s Mormonism makes him suspect in the eyes of many and makes him an outsider in the eyes of many more.  I don’t want to link to some of the vicious portrayals of Mormonism in the world of mainstream punditry but it’s very easy to find scary talk about Romney’s church. The ham handed “I’m a Mormon” campaign might have helped had it begun several years ago but in the short term it will likely make Romney (and Jon Huntsman) seem even more suspicious to non-Mormon conservative Christians.

 

In terms of family, work and faith, Obama can claim common cause with ‘the American people’ in ways that Romney simply can’t. It’s a strange world wherein the half-Black guy with the Arabic name can present himself as more authentically American than the White guy who looks like middle age Superman but I think that’s what we will begin to see in the next few months. Perhaps even more strangely, I think it’s gonna work.

 

 

FDO

 

*- I've been asked if any of this applies to the President if Newt Gingrich were the GOP nominee.

2 responses- 1- If Newt's the guy, Obama won't have much to worry about anyway. 2- Yes! Obama's team will paint a picture of the President, First Lady and their two young daughters compared to Newt's 3 marriages, adulterous affairs, Clinton era sexual hypocrisy, the cancer-ridden wife divorce story and late in life conversion to Catholicism. That's a lotta grist for the campaign mill.

 

Combine that with the difference between making lots of money by writing books about your family and making lots of money by using your government contacts to (almost) lobby for corporations and it's game over. 

 

 

 

One Thing I Really Like Is...

 

The chance to remind students that every day they can choose to better themselves.

 

I don’t expect them to be perfect but I do expect them to get (and be) better. The truly awesome part comes when they decide they want to be better for their own reasons, not mine. Yep, that's awesome. 

 

 

FDO

 

 

One Thing I Don't Like Is...

 

How much I miss the NBA! 

 

Watching a high school basketball game tonight, I realized I was psychoanalyzing one of the players based on her free throw shooting. I got it bad, folks. C'mon, December 25, c'mon! 

 

FDO

 

 

Driving with Blinders

 

A few days ago I had an interesting reminder of how economically privileged I am. See, I couldn’t quite figure out the gas pump.

 

 

I drive lots of miles and buy gas at least twice a week. What I usually do is simply swipe my credit or debit card, pump my gas and leave.  Well, on this particular Saturday, I wanted to buy a couple extra items inside the store connected to the gas station.  So, I thought to myself, how about I pay for my gas along with the other purchases?

 

 

That was my trouble; I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I pressed the button to pay inside but the machine wanted me to pay inside then come back out and pump the gas. But how would I know how much the gas would cost?

 

 

I wasn’t interested enough to see if there were some other option so I just paid at the pump then went inside and bought the other items separately.

 

 

It was only then that I realized how long it’s been since I’ve had to decide to buy gas based on how much it was going to cost instead of how much I needed for my car.  There’s a big difference between those two thought processes.

 

 

I look for the lowest priced gas and when I find it, I simply fill up the tank. Until I finished grad school I always bought gas based on how much I was able to spend.  Often that $5 or $10 but sometimes it was $3.50 or even $2 on a couple occasions. Now that’s never the way I make decisions about gas. Really, I don’t even think about what I’m doing enough to describe it as decision making.

 

 

Many of the folks I saw in line Saturday had a very specific amount of money to spend on gas and make decisions based on that reality.  I had to have a reminder that there are even those decisions to be made.

 

 

How fortunate am I?

 

 

 

FDO

 

 

One Thing I Don’t Like Is…

 

When I walk into a public restroom to the sound of a splashdown.

<PLOP!> is not a welcoming sound. 

 

 

FDO

 

Discovering Rambo

 

“They drew first blood, not me.”  -John Rambo  

 

Tonight I’m watching First Blood for the first time. Even though I grew up in the 80s, I never watched this or any other Rambo flick. Rocky yes, Rambo no. At some point, I’m sure I knew a few things about Rambo but nearly 30 years on, I have no idea what those things were.

 

Rambo is a Vietnam vet who walks to find his last remaining friend. A loooong walk it seems clear. The friend died the previous summer which is news to Rambo. Whoops. What a great way to indicate how disconnected this guy is.

 

David Caruso? Ok. So peculiar to see him here. Especially since he’s so young and innocent in this role. Verrrry Howdy Doody.  

 

The sheriff’s car tumbles down an embankment and flips, landing top down. The sheriff gathers himself then pushes his way out of the door, stumbling out. This is 1982. Had it been 1987, the car would have immediately exploded into a massive fireball.

 

So, Rambo is an innocent until the sheriff gives him unwarranted grief. The belligerence of Rambo combined with the callow brutality of two police officers sparks a frightening combination of chase and escape. Okay. After 20 minutes of exposition, let the fireworks begin!

 

Except that there aren’t fireworks… I thought these were high body count movies but apparently that comes later. Update: He gets a gun then throws it down. He doesn’t keep a gun until the very end of the movie.

 

Early on there is some amazing scenery and stunt work. It’s hard to imagine superstars doing stunts like this. Wow. Cliff dives onto giant trees. Nice.

 

He spares the life of the sheriff who precipitated the whole situation. Rambo~Batman?

 

“Don’t push it or I’ll give you a war you won’t believe. Let it go. Let it go.” 

 

Richard Crenna’s Col. Trautman character is hilarious to me. He’s basically Yoda with a stack of joke books.

 

A rocket launcher!?!  Well, at least the yokels that use it are appropriately impressed by it. Is it sad that I immediately thought about the S-A-M that took down the Rwandan Presidential plane in 1994, sparking the genocide in that country? (Yes. Yes it is.)

 

The unfolding of the tale is thoughtful and well done. We get some nice revelations as the movie proceeds.

 

There’s a second violent car crash. Rambo puts a police car (they’re shooting at him) into a parked car. The parked car explodes but the cops’ doesn’t and they’re presumably fine. He doesn’t kill them. It takes a very deliberate action to set the commandeered Army vehicle on fire.

 

What a weird movie?!? This is really not the ‘shoot em up’ movie I expected. Rambo blows up lots of stuff but not people. The only guy Rambo tries to kill is Sheriff Teasle (the clear villain) and even he gets spared.

 

The soliloquy at the end is incredibly powerful. I can only imagine what it might have been like to watch that as someone who lived through Vietnam. Wow.

 

John Rambo is a compelling character in part because I knew so little about him at the start of the movie. Like everyone watching in the theatre! Smartly done.

 

This is a 90 minute movie. It’s very tightly made. There’s basically nothing extraneous. I can absolutely understand why sequels were made to this. So many possibilities for next steps. Hmm.

 

Although I’m guessing the sequels lose most of the important psychological elements and political subtexts in exchange for massive firepower. Hey, lightning rarely strikes the same movie franchise twice.

 

I’ll have to think about the Batman parallels too. There’s probably a deeper connection between the two than I initially noticed. Good stuff.

 

 

FDO

 

Names Without Frontiers

 

I’m very confused about naming. Parents choose names for their children and usually there’s some reason for it. Sometimes the reason is family or friend related, sometimes it’s trendy or celebrity driven and sometimes a name even indicates aspiration. What about names that just seem weird? What encourages a parent to choose a name that will automatically draw laughs, gasps or disbelief?

 

Some researchers think this trend is largely about narcissism in an increasingly individualistic culture. While that’s probably true to some extent, shouldn’t parental narcissism lead to bold, heroic, fabulous, august names for kids? Instead, everyone seems to know someone with a name that feels problematic. I would love to receive some insight on this phenomenon. I just don’t understand.

 

 

FDO

 

The First Fires

 

There were massive thunderstorms last night in the Indianapolis area. This morning there were multiple houses on fire and the common response seems to have been shock. It's almost as though we forgot that lightning can generate fire. I suppose that's okay. After all, in modern America, we are dramatically unaccustomed to being subject to the whims of nature.

 

The storm and aftermath made me wonder again about the initial human relationship to fire. I have lots of questions but no answers…

 

How many times have people discovered fire?

What was the first source of ‘controlled’ fire? Was it lightning; was it lava?

Was it an accident?

How long ago did it happen?

Were the people who found it hailed or cursed?

Did those individuals become powerful as a result?

Did it happen multiple times in the same place or in different places?

Have other animals ever ‘controlled’ fire?

If not, when will it happen?

 

Lots of questions but no answers.

 

 

FDO

The Presidents of Black America

I'm thinking about the notion of Barack Obama as the first Black President. Another interesting thing to me is that there have been lots of Presidents of Black America. So far, here's my list. I wonder what will happen in a post-Obama world when he'll be the icon but no longer the US President. Hmmm.

 

Past Presidents of Black America

Frederick Douglass

Abraham Lincoln

Booker T. Washington

W. E. B. DuBois

Marcus Garvey

Franklin Roosevelt

Martin Luther King

Malcolm X

Martin Luther King (again)

Jesse Jackson

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama

 

And no, I don't think Minister Farrakhan or Reverend Sharpton belong.

 

FDO

 

That's Not Thunder

 

No, it's not thunder but I do feel stirrings and rumblings. I'm convinced that the next few weeks will see a torrent of blogging from me. (I know, I know...) I have multiple pieces that are almost finished and lots of other fragments that I'll try to piece together soon. Summer break is almost here and my brain is already relaxing out of HyperTeach mode. Good stuff is brewing!

 

FDO

 

 

Basketball Hall of Fame (kinda)

 

 

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame needs to consistently expand and develop an NBA focus or be augmented by a separate NBA sponsored Professional Basketball Hall of Fame.

  

I have generally felt this way for several years but the elections this year cement that position for me. 2005, 2007 and now 2011 have all been awful. (Mercifully, 2009 was so obvious it couldn’t be screwed up with Jordan, Robinson and Stockton all getting in.) Part of the problem seems to be the attempt to use HoF voting as a method for separating the immortals of the game from the merely worthy. Baseball thinks having an ultra-exclusive Hall translates to more majesty for it. For that sports HoF to be a staid, limiting, judgmental institution is somewhat appropriate for a game that illustrates those same qualities to an unhelpful degree.

 

 

But basketball is dramatically different. Basketball is about art, passion, creativity, expanding, redefining and breaking limits while erasing barriers. Lots of people do basketball in incredibly different ways; that’s part of why basketball has become the American sport that clearly translates best to the rest of the world. Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade can dominate a game just as surely as Yao Ming and Dwight Howard do. The variety of skills and talents that can lead to success in basketball should be mirrored in its HoF.

 

 

There is a clear hierarchy in the world of basketball and the NBA is unquestionably at the top. The best players, coaches and executives in the world aim for the League. Consider that Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski is consistently asked if he will leave his top level college job for an NBA job. I have never heard anyone suggest that Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson might leave his top level NBA job for a college job. Never. Former NBA All-Stars Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson have recently played outside the US and everyone feels sorry for them because they have fallen so far. Meanwhile, players like Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Manu Ginobili continue to leave their countries to play in the NBA because they want the chance to play with the best in the world. I don’t believe the HoF should eliminate the number of contributors, coaches, women and international players. What it should do is recognize the hierarchy everyone else does and give more credit to the players at the highest level. That seems natural and fair.

 

 

Lots of individuals would benefit from this expansion but current and future fans will benefit more. There will be more people to celebrate, more accomplishments to note and more exceptions to the rules. Isn’t that what we want from sports? And what we often get from basketball?

 

 

This year’s elections of Artis Gilmore and Dennis Rodman fix two glaring oversights but there are probably a dozen other players that should be in the Hall but aren’t. Every time I start making a list it saddens me. Maybe I’ll do that later.

  

 

FDO

 

The Happiest Movie Ever Made?

 

In my kitchen there is a Wizard of Oz promotional calendar. The month of April describes the film as ‘The Happiest Movie Ever Made!’

 

WTF?!? Are you kidding me? The Wizard of Oz is a great movie to be sure. I love almost everything about it from the singing to the dancing to the innovative visuals to the intelligence of the movie to its important cultural impacts. But The Happiest Movie Ever Made? What a rotten, mean joke! The movie features a false god, political corruption, malevolent witches, terrorist attacks, family dysfunction, murder, kidnapping, natural disaster, drug use and abuse of power. And topping it all off, at the end of the movie, Dorothy decides she wants to stay in Kansas!

 

I realize childhood didn’t mean the same thing in 1939 as it does today but can you imagine seeing billboards saying ‘The Happiest Movie Ever Made!’ and walking into the theatre to see The Wizard of Oz? As Flavor Flav would say, “Don’t believe the hype!”

 

 

FDO

  

 

 

 

 

Bad MVP voting. Again.

 

Wow. I feel good and bad about sharing this publicly. I wrote this post Monday and Tuesday then read the Hollinger article here Thursday evening at halftime of the Spurs-Celtics game. (It’s ESPN Insider only, sorry.) I’ve been trying to write more frequently so I will have enough to post between 3 and 5 times a week. That often means writing something then holding it for a few days. Unfortunately, what I wrote now pales in comparison to what the professional ESPN writer shared AND covers some of the same ground. Such is life. Enjoy anyway! And hey, mine is shorter!

 

Derrick Rose is being anointed the MVP of the NBA and it’s a bit amusing because it’s clear Rose is not the best player in the league. There’s a very good chance he won’t even make first team All-NBA this year. With around ten games left, I’d have Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade at guard.

 

There seems to be a widespread media narrative indicating the D Rose should be the MVP and nothing has changed that narrative since the All-Star Break. Particularly considering how much statistical analysis is impacting the NBA, I have a strong feeling that in a couple years, the D Rose MVP will feel like the Steve Nash back to back MVPs of the last decade. Everyone will wonder what mass psychosis led to that decision making. We’re seeing lots of parallels between the two situations I think. Unexpected team success, a player’s rapid jump from the fringe All-Star to All-NBA levels and no signature performance from a competitor. (The Iverson MVP and Kidd runner-up seasons follow similar patterns.)

 

Rose has been a superb player for the Bulls this year and, seemingly, everything has worked out well for the Bulls. They are clearly ahead of schedule and have their own Big 3 with Rose, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, all of whom complement each other well and for whom there is a defined pecking order. The Bulls are the anti-Heat in some important respects. This all helps Rose’s candidacy, as does the substantial failings of the post-Jordan Bulls franchise.  Everyone wants Chicago to be a title contender again.

 

Overall, Rose has clearly been the best story in the NBA this year. Does that mean he’s been the best player or the most important? Well, if I were Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki or Kobe Bryant, I might not feel that way.

 

My guess is that in 2014, most folks won’t feel that way either.

 

FDO

 

From Mitch Mitchell to Sting

 

 

In the past few months I’ve spent a little time listening to Foo Fighters. They have a great number of songs I like and several I love. I’d basically missed them until recently, largely because I was never a fan of Nirvana and just presumed FF to be a spin-off band. I am so stupid.

 

Dave Grohl has had a virtually unique career.  He’s the only person I can think of who has gone from being a Mitch Mitchell (well-known but clearly a background member of a popular group) to being a Sting (the frontman and primary songwriter of a popular group) in different groups. Typically, musicians are cast in specific roles early on and are unable to shift positions later. That’s just not part of the pattern.

 

Actors often expect to move from supporting to leading roles but for musicians being a backup guy almost always means you’re going to stay a backup guy. Fans don’t typically accept that change any more than record companies do. Dave Grohl was part of the biggest band in the world but when that ended, he ultimately created a fabulous new entity that reflects his voice. Pretty impressive.

 

Also, are there any suggestions for folks who’ve had parallel career trajectories? Michael McDonald doesn’t count because nobody knew who he was in Steely Dan. Phil Collins stayed in the same band so I don’t think he works either. Maybe Eric Clapton? I dunno how popular the Yardbirds actually were then. They remind me of Buffalo Springfield in that they seem more important in hindsight.  Any thoughts?

 

 

FDO

  

 

 

Life as a Vegetable (Eater)

 

A friend and I have been thinking and talking about our status as vegetarians. We’re part of a friendship group that eats together frequently and we sometimes plan around our eating choices. Of course, I've also thought about this subject before but don't remember the marvelous way I'd formulated it. Dang.

 

I think a big difference between me and most vegetarians is that I don't personalize what I’m eating. Maybe personify is the word to describe what I don’t do.  It’s kinda boring and maybe weird but I just don't have a relationship with the animal I’m not eating. Helpfully, I don’t personify the food as having a relationship with me either. If I were to bite into a veggie spring roll and discover that I’d been tricked, hoodwinked, bamboozled and led astray (or just grabbed from the wrong plate) into eating a chicken spring roll instead, I’d spit out the bite, rinse my mouth and never think about it again. I guess that for me, 'being a vegetarian' doesn't mean much about who I am. Instead, I'm just somebody who chooses not to eat meat.

 

In fact, I still cook meat for my family on occasion even though I don't have any desire to eat it myself. (Every few months, lamb korma sounds great but that’s about it) I know they enjoy meat and I believe my son needs meat in his diet so I just cook it and then I'm kinda done thinking about it. I don't know that there's any deeper meaning for me.

 

Because it’s not normative, my guess is that if you asked most vegetarians to list 20 things about themselves to give a stranger an idea who they are, being a vegetarian would be high on the list. There’s a chance that it would show up on my list, but probably only if I knew there would be meal at the end of the exercise.

 

 

FDO

Changing the Lenses

 

Much has been made about the super large moon we've seen lately. While Megamoon is beautiful to look at, I am also struck that our perception changes so much, so quickly. Spending a night watching the Moon race across the sky feels wonderful in part because we can see some of the fundamental processes of our universe at work in just a few hours. Really, at moonrise or moonset, we can notice those processes in a matter of minutes.

 

In astronomical terms, it's stunning that an object so close in size as our Moon is to Earth is also so close to us. The Moon is a quarter of the size of the Earth. However, the Moon and Earth are incredibly far from each other in our terms. The distance between the two objects is something like 250 000 miles. Going a quarter million miles in a car means you talk to your friends about how great your car is and how many years it took you to go that far. In the late 60s it took 3 days for Apollo 8 to travel that distance. 3 day! Is that incredibly fast or incredibly slow?

 

I recently had a conversation prompted by something I read on Wikipedia about Sedna, the most distant sizable member of our solar system. I acknowledged that I was overwhelmed by how far away Sedna is from the Sun. Sedna is now about 3 times as far from the Sun as Neptune, but at times, it is 32 times as far! At that distance, how could the Earth and Moon be viewed as anything but a singularity?

 

Close. Near. Fast. Slow. These two celestial relationships (Moon-Earth, Sedna-Sun) make me think concretely about how much our view depends upon the lens we choose to use at any given moment. My guess is that changing lenses impacts our view of our own universes in similar ways. That's maybe even harder to understand.

 

 

FDO

 

 

Unpierced

 

…the words here deployed are equivalent to blanks in a loaded gun: they make the same sound but do not pierce us in any way.

 

-Alyssa Pelish

 

 

I have begun feeling this way about my poetry. The only folks who seem pierced by my poems are the ones who hear them from my lips or, lacking proximity, in the voice their minds’ ears have labeled as mine. Either way, it’s about connection. Connection with me, not the words themselves. Knowing me and believing they understand the genesis of those poems allows the words to matter.

 

Maybe this just means my words are not the right ones. Perhaps it means that most of us only allow people to pierce us; we don’t allow ideas to do the same.

 

 

FDO

 

Obama as a Bridge- Always.

 

It seems interesting and sad that President Obama has so few ardent supporters left. The reality of his eroding support does not seem congruent with his level of accomplishment in the White House. Things have been tough for him during the first couple years of his Presidency, but he has made some pretty remarkable things happen. I suggested six weeks ago that the principal problem may be that his administration fails to tell its story well. There are not enough efforts to get his message out. I also believe the country has developed a sense of collective amnesia as we have run away from remembering that George W. Bush was our President for 8 years. Even the Republican Party has thoroughly distanced itself from him. Obama suffers from the lack of comparison now, as he benefitted from the constant comparisons in 2007 and 2008.

 

One thing I’ve begun to recognize about the prospect of creating new kinds of messages about the President is that there is no single message to trumpet. This is Barack Obama does not exist on a fixed point. There’s nothing immutable about him. He moves as he needs to move. Always.

 

I’m sure a psychologist could have a field day with this interpretation. Just consider the rough outline of Obama’s story. Half White, half Black. Born in the part of America that feels least like the rest of America. Living as an outsider in virtually every moment of his childhood. Being broke while in the Ivy League. And now, being young, inexperienced and Black in the Oval Office. He moves as he needs to move because he has always needed to do so.

 

That strength may be part of the reason President Obama seems such a natural mediator. In most contexts, that’s a tremendously valuable skill! I believe that he always wants to manage situations so that everyone feels a sense of victory. Just consider who his Secretary of State is!

 

Unfortunately, all those compromises and efforts at conciliation make it hard for him to lead. And, personally, Obama’s approach makes it hard for me to understand what matters most to the President. I don’t remember the last time he resolved to do (or not do) something because he cared about it enough NOT to compromise about it. Even though I think he’s made some fantastic successes, I imagine there’s not much he has done in office to inspire continuing faith in many people. There’s nothing to be counted on just because it exists at his core. There doesn’t seem to be a core.

 

 

FDO

 

Bush's Book Part 2

 

Where are the articles comparing Karl Rove’s book to George W. Bush’s book?

Since Rove seems to have fictionalized some of his account, does Bush correct the story? Are the trouble spots, uh, I mean, decision points, critical ones? Have we already decided that we just don’t care anymore? Never mind. I shouldn’t ask the question if I can’t accept the answer…

 

FDO

 

World AIDS Day- A Whimper, Not a Bang

 

The lack of attention generated in America by World AIDS Day this week was astonishing. It’s a great sign and a horrible indicator all at once. I suggested a couple months ago that Americans don’t have the same level of fear about acquiring HIV since it no longer feels like the death sentence it once was. That’s just fantastic but HIV rates in the US are still MUCH higher than they need to be. While America has done a phenomenal job of reducing mother-to-child transmissions, virtually every other infection route is still clearly common. What I haven’t figured out is why there’s so little effort being made on this front.

 

There is an estimate that around 20% of people in the US living with HIV don’t even know it yet! More than a million Americans are likely HIV+ and we just seem kinda fine with that. This is a preventable disease! Somehow though, there’s not much public space for outrage, worry or even conversation.

 

FDO

 

PS- I was forwarded this post about celebs attempting to raise money for World AIDS Day. The effort was a disaster.

Hurting Nemo

 

My son is 13 and we've decided that after Thanksgiving we'll make him begin using an alarm clock to wake himself. I tried to remember why we've waited so long and then figured out that the problem earlier was the tool. Here's a flashback from a few years ago.

FDO

 

 

My kid has a Finding Nemo alarm clock and the tone is legitimately painful! Whatthehell!?!? Why on earth would someone choose to mass produce a children's alarm clock that hurts the ears of everyone in its presence?

Is the intention for people to throw their pillows at it?

Do you think it was designed to annoy parents enough that they’ll stay out of their kids’ rooms? Ish.

 

Falling Up

 

In the last decade or so, I’ve been consistently amazed that so many Americans seem to succeed… by failing.

 

It’s not always clear failure but, often at least, people get rewarded without rising to the level we would expect to be required. Sometimes it’s about taking advantage of personal relationships while other times, it’s about public perception. Consider that attending (and re-attending) rehab has been the spark plug for dozens of careers in the entertainment industry even though addiction is often a career killer for average people.

 

Rod Blagojevich was a virtual nobody until he was caught trying to sell a Senate seat. Now he’s cashed in tremendously and has the kind of name recognition that most governors only dream of obtaining. Amazingly, Blago is not only getting rich but he’s still famous, not infamous. Whatthehell?

 

Harriet Miers almost joined the Supreme Court solely because she was George W. Bush’s close friend and counsel. She was widely viewed as incompetent and it was only the uniformity of this view that kept her from rising to a lifetime appointment interpreting America’s laws. Scary stuff.

 

Conan O’Brien seems the best current example of this phenomenon. Maybe he’s actually the ultimate late night talk show host and I just haven’t noticed… This week he’s been at the top of the media world having been rewarded with a brand new TBS show, overwhelming public affection and a second giant contract. All this, even though he was booted from his dream job to make way for Jay Leno’s return. NBC would never have made that move if Conan’s audience were as big as Jay’s so in the most direct sense, Conan’s show failed. What is it that could possibly have built so much buzz that Conan is now bigger than he’s ever been?

 

It seems as though we not only accept failure, we often reward it. Now, if I can only convince someone with clout that my career as a poet has been a disaster…

 

FDO

 

Language Is Odd

 

I love that people still talk about ‘reading the paper’ even when all their news sources are electronic.

 

FDO

 

Bush's Book

 

I’m not that interested in reading what President George W. Bush has to say about the topics he’s interested in discussing. Today is the release date for his book but I have a very different list of things I want to know. Namely, what were his immediate reactions to some of the events that happened while he was in office.

 

These aren’t the most important things, just important things Bush wouldn’t necessarily have known about it in advance. First responses are always telling. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Here’s my list:

 

The first American has died in Afghanistan

Daniel Pearl is killed

Pat Tillman

Columbia disaster

Saddam Hussein’s capture

Re-election is confirmed (Remember that in the 2004 Election Bush almost lost in a similar fashion to the 2000 Election he won. That year, Ohio could have disrupted the popular vote/Electoral College relationship.)

Colin Powell’s resignation

Fidel Castro’s resignation

Sarah Palin as John McCain’s VP choice

Barack Obama winning Nobel Peace Prize

 

 

FDO

 

Governing First, Elections Second

 

Will Saletan wrote:

Politicians have tried and failed for decades to enact universal health care. This time, they succeeded. In 2008, Democrats won the presidency and both houses of Congress, and by the thinnest of margins, they rammed a bill through. They weren't going to get another opportunity for a very long time. It cost them their majority, and it was worth it.

And that's not counting financial regulation, economic stimulus, college lending reform, and all the other bills that became law under Pelosi. So spare me the tears and gloating about her so-called failure. If John Boehner is speaker of the House for the next 20 years, he'll be lucky to match her achievements.

 

 

While I disagree with Saletan on the merits of health care reform, I think his points here are underreported and extremely important. Modern American politics now seems to be more about elections than about governing. Certainly, it’s more about elections than Big Picture governing. (Of course, when one party consistently claims that government is inherently problematic, I suppose that makes perfect sense.)

 

The transformative legislation that has been passed in the last two years will create long term changes in the US. While some of those changes are currently controversial, how many folks will argue in, say 2015, that they want to get rid of the laundry list of projects, programs and developments embedded in that legislation? Well, how many people want us to get rid of Social Security? Or Medicare? Or the federal interstate system? People may say they hate big government but they sure do like what it provides.

 

Ultimately, producing valuable results is what people want most from our government and the Obama era has already moved us in that direction. So yes, there is a real chance that Obama will be a one term President. There is also a real chance that in 50 years, he’ll be perceived as the best one term President. Not the trade he’d suggest, but certainly a good one.

 

 

FDO

 

BTW- I think Obama has an excellent chance at winning re-election in 2012. He has a great combination of skills for campaigning. He’ll also have an improved economy, the incumbency edge and a long list of sound bite worthy successes. I also believe there will be ‘hate fatigue’ in which many folks will be turned off by the constant barrage of vitriol thrown his way. One of the important lessons of John Kerry’s 2004 race is that the independents who vote in Presidential elections, but not mid-term elections, will be much more likely to vote for someone as opposed to against someone.

 

 

Justified Use of Force (for Oscar Grant)

 

 

Every year there’s a new one

A Diallou, King or me

Clamoring loudly

Faces on TV

We ask so many questions

But no one’s forced to answer

 

With sympathy’s short half-life

Soon most are hoping for the noise to stop

And the questions to disappear once again

Just like us

In our lives

And our deaths

 

 

 

 © Gayle Force Press 2003

 

RIP Oscar Grant

 

Once again, Black folks in California are publicly distressed about a police shooting. This time, the victim was Oscar Grant, a 22 year old Black man who was shot and killed by a White police officer in a subway at the beginning of 2009. The officer was convicted of the shooting (involuntary manslaughter) and given a 2 year sentence. The frighteningly short sentence is the source of the protests. The officer, Johannes Mehserle, will probably be out of jail by Memorial Day 2011. 

The CNN article linked above is indicative of the attention that's been/being paid to the entire situation. Grant's name does not appear until the 11th paragraph. 10 paragraphs before this dead person is even acknowledged by name. 

 

The basic outline of the shooting is tragically familiar. White officer kills unarmed Black man. Momentary outrage. Down the memory hole. Wait a little while. Repeat. 

 

A few years ago, I wrote about this cycle of police violence but I wasn't bold enough to follow it to the ultimate conclusion for so many young Black men, death. Instead, I wrote about the violence that wounds, heals and scars. Today, that doesn't feel like quite enough. It's not quite enough for me. It's not quite enough for Oscar Grant. But it's all I can give him now. 

 

 

FDO

Ta-Nehisi Coates on a Culture of Poverty

 

<Sigh>

 

I immediately related in many ways to Ta-Nehisi Coates' recent post about almost beating someone up at a professional gathering. In the super short version, TNC was accosted by a stranger. TNC and the stranger had an interaction that got heated and then got superheated. When TNC tried to physically leave the situation, the stranger followed him and refused to end the exchange until TNC made it clear he was willing to move from verbal to physical. The guy left. (Hey, I can admit that I still have the occasional dayflash about beating the hell outta someone.)

 

 

Fortunately, I think, I never wore the tough pose very well either. That lack of fit made it much easier to take off when I needed. The notion of code shifting is very important because those of us who do it well simply have more choices than those who don't. It sounds to me that the conversation TNC had at the party shifted into being a confrontation and his default response to confrontation is radically different than his default response to conversation. He shifted codes subconsciously.

 

 

This gets to the broader notion of poverty's culture in that TNC had lots of teachers for both the 'street' and 'elite' codes he now knows well. Most kids who grow up poor only get one set. That's one of the core reasons why I believe many elite institutions hold more value for non-elites than for elites. My poor students, Black and White, get much more out of our program than the rich kids do. The poor kids learn academics and culture. The rich kids just learn academics. That's largely because my school replicates many of the norms and themes of elite life. One area where I think we push some rich kids to code shift is our emphasis on social justice. They don't get those kinds of messages from the rest of their culture and the leaps many of them have to make to embrace social justice as a value often mirror the leaps poor kids here make to personal restraint (which I argue is an elite value).

 

 

The kind of restraint TNC wishes he'd demonstrated in the story he relates fits perfectly in The Atlantic but would be laughable if he were telling the story to his friends at the domino table. My guess is that he would feel pressure to alter the ending in that setting. In the new telling he'd probably make sure his friends knew a) how serious he was in his threat b) how well the threat worked and c) how much he wishes he'd been able to act out the threat.

 

 

But maybe I'm just projecting.

 

 

FDO

 

Say It Loud!

 

These kinds of stories (this one is about Kokomo, IN) demonsrate the short term impact of the stimulus bill and who knows how vast the long term impacts will be. The biggest problem with the Obama administration is the typical liberal concept that good works are sufficient. Good works are rarely sufficient! Broadcasting successes, loudly and frequently, should be standard operating procedure. Everyone seems to agree that bad news travels fast but good news often stays put.

 

I have begun thinking that I need to put this idea into practice in my own life. I try so hard to be thoughtful and considerate that I don’t do a good job of letting, or even allowing, people to know when I have important successes. Being afraid to appear arrogant or self-aggrandizing sounds nice but where do nice guys finish?

 

Okay, I don’t actually believe nice guys finish last. But do you know where they do finish? I don’t. That’s because they’ve never told me. They were looking out for my feelings instead.

 

 

FDO

 

Me and Kim Novak

 

 

If you’re not current, you don’t count.

 

I don’t want this to be the way of the world in 21^st century America but I think it is. I saw the name Kim Novak at the top of a Yahoo search list and instantly assumed Kim Novak has recently died. My thinking was pretty simple. Why would Kim Novak be a hot topic right now? She must be dead.

 

Kim Novak has almost no meaning for me. I think she is (was?) an actress in Hitchcock movies and that makes me think she’s (she was?) blonde. I’m putting together some impressions I have of her but that’s all I got. It’s possible that Kim Novak is a) not at all who I am thinking, as in, an entirely different person b) the same person but famous for a totally different reason c) doing something that warrants an uptick in interest but I didn’t get to choices a-c until actively pausing to consider other options besides dead. Sad but true.

 

If you’re not current, you don’t count.

 

 

FDO

Teaching and Stretching

 

In exploring another school this week, on an accreditation visit, I am learning much more about my own. Specifically, I’m learning about the relationship between education and expectation.

 

I teach in the ways that make the most sense to me, for my students as I perceive them. I am already beginning to wonder if I should invoke a more aspirational model. What that would mean for me is steadily moving toward higher expectations for all my students. Some of my students feel as though my classes are already (too) difficult but they really aren’t tough. The genuine issue is that most of the kids at my school are unaccustomed to working without a teacher holding their hand, making sure they don’t stumble. Oh yeah, they are also unaccustomed to working hard.

 

Curse you, Professional Development!

 

FDO

 

HIV and Gay Marriage Rights

Last week someone showed me the first poll to indicate a narrow majority of Americans support gay marriage.  For the past few months, I have been talking and thinking a lot about our perceptions of HIV/AIDS. I teach US History and cover the 1980s including HIV, gay liberation efforts and the Reagan administration's reluctance to discuss AIDS or fund research efforts. In class, I read an excerpt from ‘And the Band Played On’ and the kids consistently flip out because they (incorrectly) assume their government would have been highly interested in, y'know, trying to stop a dread, communicable disease. It is always heartening to me that these young people almost uniformly reject anti-gay policies and prejudices, even retroactively. They are the ones who will consistently support laws, initiatives and politicians who advocate marriage rights for everyone.

 

In discerning the base level meaning of marriage, I think it is clear that for many people, the institution of marriage provides license for two people to have sex. This poll reveals significant change in attitudes concerning gay marriage and I am wondering if part of the reason more straight people are willing to support the public sanction of gay sex via marriage has occurred because our collective fear of gay sex has diminished tremendously since the gay people profiled in ‘And the Band…’ were just about the only people who knew anything at all about AIDS.

 

When Magic Johnson announced he was HIV+, I thought there was a good chance that my generation (I was 17, in college and LOTS of us were sexually active) had a new JFK moment. I was totally wrong though (it's still Challenger). Instead, Magic is so healthy, active, rich and visible that I know some people have (temporarily?) forgotten he has HIV. That's a little scary actually. AIDS is now the leading killer of Black women between 25 and 34. The most horrifying elements of that statistic, for me, is that these women have still not been educated enough to know that they are a) susceptible to HIV, b) perfectly capable of preventing their infection in almost every case and c) consistently late to receiving diagnosis and attendant care.

 

Our increasingly cavalier attitude towards HIV is another reminder that we have an amazing level of privilege in the U.S. In so many countries, HIV almost always becomes AIDS and almost always equals a death sentence. Now, early detecting Americans are likely to stay healthy for a very long time. Some of them, like Magic, will always carry HIV but never develop AIDS. The transition in our country from a) AIDS=Death to b) HIV= chronic, massive health concern gives me increased hope that some of the fears our society has long harbored about gay sexuality will continue to fade. The likely repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is another step in that direction. (Baby steps to full equality, baby steps to full equality.)

 

While judicial decisions are critical stepping stones, it is ultimately the support of the American people that generates the permanent force of change. That change is occurring. Most people I suggest this to think I’m crazy but I believe that gay marriage will be legal in half the states by 2020. That's my hope and my prediction. We're on the way, people. Slowly but surely. We're on the way.

 

 

FDO

 

All I Wanna Say Is That...

... they don't really care about us. Here's the prison version of the video.

A friend of mine is in a wheelchair and as we were talking last week I noticed that the name of the company that made the chair is Invacare. I gasped a little because I immediately thought of ‘invalid care’. Isn’t that what I am supposed to think? Isn’t that problematic?

 

The word invalid strikes me as immediately negative. I mean, it’s ‘in valid’. There’s nothing helpful about using that word, especially since the people using their products are the ones indicated by it. Isn’t this simple?

 

 

FDO

 

 

 

 

I Need Some 'splainin'

Thursday, I saw two kids skateboarding in the parking lot of a funeral home. There was pretty clearly a funeral happening at the time and who knows, maybe skateboarding is great grief therapy. To my crotchety eyes, the sight was disgustingly disrespectful. Maybe I should spend some dedicated time and attention to American funeral practices before feeling so bothered. Maybe this is part of a long standing ritual. Right?

Right?

 

FDO

Be Very Very Quiet, It’s a Police Car

On the way to the store I was stopped at the one traffic light on my route. At the front of the line, 2 cars ahead of me, was a police cruiser. When the light changed to green, nothing happened. Really nothing happened. Nothing happened for so long that a car opposite us at the light turned left.  It was several, maybe 10 seconds. I honked the horn and the police car began moving. I live in a part of town that has grown dramatically in the last few years. People are consistently impatient drivers and I often hear honking within the first half second of a changed light. Sometimes, folks honk simply because the lead car is not going fast enough out of the chute. I began wondering if the fact that it was a police car is what kept everyone (else) from using their horn. Do people fear the police enough that they believe they will have a negative consequence from blowing a horn at a police car?

 

 

FDO

Albert’s Mansion

This weekend I spent several hours at, in and around one of the largest houses I’ve ever been visited; it was palatial. It featured the kinds of staircases and rooms with multiple doors that immediately made me think of a Scooby-Doo mansion. At the same time, it is ultra modern including the kind of home theatre I’ve only seen on television. The owner of the house, I’ll call him Albert, seemed like a geuninely nice man who loves his family and has many similar priorities to mine. (This is based on less than 10 minutes of conversation but watching him interact with others during the course of these several hours.)

 

I had so many questions for Albert. What sacrifices have you made to reach this point in your life? Do you enjoy your job? Is your workweek stress level overwhelming? Do you interact with your family as much and in the ways you’d like?

 

I enjoy my job greatly and it provides many of the things work ideally would provide. Yet money is a constant concern. Even though I don’t want a house like Albert’s (and I might argue that no one needs one), I do want more. At least, the ability to do more. For myself and for many others. I would like to bring my wife’s grandmother to live with us but that’s just not feasible with our house. I’d like to feel confident that my son can make his college choice without finances being a determining factor, or at least, without having to bear a crippling student loan burden like the one I have.

 

So, I guess, I’m still wondering how much more like Albert I want to become. Or even can?

 

FDO

Presentation Struggles...

I’m presenting at an education conference next week. While I’m expecting to enjoy it, I’ve discovered an interesting challenge. My dual topics are the utility of horrific images and the value of exploring controversial issues.

 

In my upper level elective classes, we often watch very disturbing movies, look at disquieting pictures, read challenging articles, discuss uncomfortable propaganda and ask unanswerable questions. My brain understands the connections involved and the value of using material that sparks discomfort. During the course of a semester, my students understand what we’re accomplishing. They get it. Most of them give strong feedback and feel as though the grow from the way class is organized.

 

Even though I’ll be using some material from classes to demonstrate what I try to do and why we use material others shy away from, it’s going to be hard to translate a semester’s worth of resources, relationships and experiences into a half hour presentation. Challenge!

 

FDO

Suds Ahoy!

I'm just finished with an interesting documentary about the history of beer brewing in the US. I know many of the broad outlines but lots of the specific details are fascinating. For instance, it wasn't until the 1970s that beer was consumed at pre-Prohibition levels. It took 40 years!

Hmmm, I think all this new information means I need to head to Oaken Barrel sometime soon.

FDO

Ease on Down the Road

This morning a student told me that I featured in a recent dream she had. In the dream an old woman stole her purse and she didn't know what to do so she found me and I went and retrieved her purse. Not exactly the heroism I imagined for myself back in the day but considering my knee I think old ladies are about my speed!

 

FDO