Friday, March 31, 2006
non-technical support
Borrowing his title, I'd like to refer you to Dustbury's March 19th post musing on mine of the same day which was wondering about how one might gracefully and somewhat contentedly endure and perhaps conquer aloneness and sometime sense of meaninglessness. I find his title and thoughts quite meaningful, actually, therefore not non-support and though not really a solution still somehow and somewhat satisfying. Brother. I guess I'm getting older in my older age.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:10 AM

Thursday, March 30, 2006
schooling: un- or home-
Could/would someone explain to me what the difference is between unschooling and letting a kid do whatever he or she wants? There was a brief report on the news about unschooling the other night, and a friend of mine has been talking about it in relation to her daughter, but I'm confused. I get that both homeschooling and unschooling are focused on keeping a kid's psyche as clear as possible of [what they perceive as] the mistakes (at minimum) or dangers (most likely) and/or horrors (in some cases) of classroom schooling. And that homeschooling puts students in a non-classroom and less didactic setting. But does unschooling mainly disband the entire process without putting much in its place? Or am I misunderstanding? I'm concerned about where education comes in. What if a student has absolutely no interest in math or literature? Or refuses to write the essay you request on the scientific principle. Or has no interest in learning the history or geography of anything. Wouldn't it be really easy for an unschooled person to grow up to be . . . uh, wait, I'm searching for the right word . . . um, I've almost got it . . . er . . . aha! . . . uneducated?

Seriously, I really am curious, if skeptical, and I want to undertand unschooling better, especially since some smart and good people are so enthusiastic about it.

Update - Many thanks to Mom of All Seasons for her time in writing a helpful, long explication (in comments). I have to digest and think about what she wrote. Would love to hear others' thoughts on all this.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 3:49 PM

Wednesday, March 29, 2006
nuts, or what?
The NYTimes this morning mentioned that New Orleans school buses - yes, the very same 259 buses that DIDN'T pick up stranded people because none of the hapless officials in the City or at the school department thought about it in time - are up for sale on eBay. By the way, they hope to get millions for the buses which, please note, are all entirely ruined due to having been flooded as they sat in the water altogether when - did I mention this - NOT picking up anyone at all in the flooded City. So those ever so clever and efficient and organized New Orleans officials think they can make money and help their City recover by selling buses made unusable by bureaucratic and organizational idiocy. Showing almost a year later that . . . oh, never mind, it's just too ridiculous and sad.

Labels: , ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:43 AM

Tuesday, March 28, 2006
interesting debate
Here's some reading for you, then you can ponder a while, and then I'd love to know what you think if you'd like to share it. Here are the reading "assignments":
1. Democratic Realism - a Charles Krauthammer essay from a year or two ago
2. Betsy's Page's post from this morning (yikes she's up and at that keyboard early!) which is what drew me into this
3. (proving that I really do believe in fair play) the review of Fukuyama's new book from Sunday's NYTimes book review which I've copied - as Mark Steyn does - for those who don't want to sign up for the NYT website. (The Fukuyama book is what's given rise to the current flurried discussion.)
4. Charles Krauthammer's column at Townhall today, called Fukuyama's fabrication, which is something of a hint.
Anyway, it's a highly verbal and interesting way to consider some issues being bandied about (the Iraq war and conservatism and liberalism, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera). And if you care to weigh in, I'd love to hear what you think.

And finally, read the apt aphorism of the day from Dr. Weevil.

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:58 AM

Monday, March 27, 2006
really?!
Thanks to the "events of the day" script on my very own front page, I see that today is the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Washington DC Metro. I am amazed. I had no idea it was so young. No wonder it seems so new - it is so new! I'm a little surprised that the Washington Post doesn't have a word about it on the front page today. It's a lovely subway system, especially the whoosh that you hear when it starts. Happy anniversary!!

Labels: , ,

Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 5:16 PM

Friday, March 24, 2006
regular posting
I know I'm as remiss as the next guy, but I hate when bloggers I love haven't posted since the last time I went to their site. Everyone I like should be prolific. And utterly tolerant when I'm not. Got it?

Labels:

Permalink | 3 comment(s) | posted by jau at 12:51 PM

Thursday, March 23, 2006
goody
And in keeping with the South Park excitement, today turns out to be the 11th anniversary of Howard Stern's run for governor of New York on the libertarian ticket. I wasn't aware of that momentous event at the time.

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:41 PM

Wednesday, March 22, 2006
poking fun
Maybe South Park is just a cartoon show like all the others about sweet silly kids running around and doing sweet silly things. In which case I was wrong to think that those adorable primary-colored cartoon kids were being used to make ironic and other kinds of fun of anything they could their stubby little arms around. Gee, it seemed like such fun, and really clever. I guess I could have been projecting all this time. How creative of me.

The broohaha began when Isaac Hayes, he of the astonishingly double-bass voice, objected to what he called South Park's disrespectfulness of religious beliefs. As one might say, no shit sherlock. Hayes has been Chef's voice for years and never objected to religious intolerance before now. And I'm confused about something else, too. If decency and religion concern him so much, how come he didn't mind intoning, in his #one 1999 hit, "suck on my chocolate, salty balls; put em in your mouth and suck em"? Huh, how come? Oh, but hold on! This shocked-and-stunned-ness arose just moments after an episode about scientology was scheduled to show in the U.S. Hey, do you think there might be a connection? Do you think there's an agenda? I mean, all this time it's apparently been okay enough when episodes made fun of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc. But now, as The London Times points out - and it's not known for its light-hearted or teasing approach to anything - scientology is about to get the SP whammy and it's just what they need, according to the Times, which adds that "a religion founded by a science-fiction writer in the 1950s which invites its followers to believe in an inter-galactic tyrant called Xenu and offers them the chance to control time itself by becoming 'Operating Thetans' deserves nothing less." What else can I say except to urge us all to watch the episode (10 pm est, tonight).

Labels: , ,

Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 8:42 PM

taking risks
Continuing on about swings - well, about what they're about - please read Dadvocate's terrific post from yesterday. It is a point worth considering that influential people - the adventurers, the discoverers (physical and intellectual), the explorers, even the business entrepreneurs - are risk takers. A friend of mine on the train this morning, who works with 'middle aged' children, pointed out also that kids are programmed to push the envelope. That's what they're about. That's how they learn that they're separate from their parents and that there are fabulous things to try and do - and also, of course, that there are limitations. We cannot actually successfully fly or spin swings 360 degrees around or land a dead man's drop from a jungle gym (you know who you are!) without causing serious damage to ourselves. On the other hand, maybe we won't learn that we can do fabulous and exciting and wonderful things unless we try to do risky things when we're kids. George Washington and Marie Curie were not timid children. If we try to make the world completely safe, I suspect kids will try even crazier things, because it's their mission to push and push, to see where the physical and emotional edges are. Not to mention that we can't make the world completely safe. And, apparently, not to mention that we probably shouldn't make the world completely safe. I think that it's in testing and challenging ourselves that we learn we can triumph. Take precautions - anchor the swingsets well, as dadvocate says, and wear helmets and knee pads - but don't outlaw the stuff altogether. Sometimes we'll get hurt and sometimes we'll fail, but that's the only way we can come close.

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:03 AM

Tuesday, March 21, 2006
swinging
Okay, I'll grant you that they can be dangerous. The first accident I remember was pumping way way too high and then panicking and stopping so fast that I fell off and cut my face on the side support, and needed a few stitches. But crickey, get rid of swingsets and jungle gyms?! Isn't there a better way to deal with it? On some level, I even wonder if we're inviting worse things to befall our kids if we remove the relatively simple ways of getting into trouble. Along the lines of the idea that kids actually want to tempt fate (safety) so they'll just have to do something even more dangerous. Hadn't we better outlaw football, softball, competitive diving, ice hockey, etc., etc., and not let them drive cars, ever? Life has risks, many of which are awful, but I'm pretty sure that making a cushioned semi-unreal world for little kids as a way to make things safer will actually prepare them badly for the fairly dangerous world that big people live in and which cannot be padded.

Labels: , ,

Permalink | 3 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:39 AM

Sunday, March 19, 2006
being alone
I watched a (pretty bad) movie this morning that made me think about something kind of important about people even though it's sad and serious. We humans need to feel valuable and worthwhile, that seems evident. One reason I like my work, for example, is that my manager and colleagues convey their respect and appreciation vocally and often. On a personal level, being loved by partners, friends and children is so important and yet it's difficult for people who live alone or have no partners or intimate friends because no one asks after them on a regular basis. It must be easy to feel as if no one cares what they do or how they are. And that must make it hard to stay interested in eating well or staying fit or anything much. If we live a long time, many of us will be there, so I wonder what would work well to keep from feeling sad or meaningless?

Labels: , , ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 12:19 PM

Saturday, March 18, 2006
backing up, etc.
In light of the near disaster that hit Betsy's Page and Viking Pundit and a few others the last few days (read about it here (Betsy's post), here, here and here), I decided to put myself through the backup process that Blogger outlines. Backing up the template is just a matter of copying so that's peachy but backing up the posts is a lot less slick. The good news is that the posts backup works, in the sense that all the text is now preserved. The bad news is that it's preserved in a plain old text file so it would have to be copied it back post-by-post. Ugh. On the other hand, the basic good news is that the posts do exist separately from the blog now.

According to Viking Pundit, he was eventually informed that "[his] blog was automatically deleted by Blogger as part of the “automated spam prevention system. How I fell into this category, I have no idea since I have no blogads, backtracks or other things beyond text and some picture links." Brother! I mean, granting that Blogger is free, I still have to believe that Google makes money from it somehow or they wouldn't leave it out here for millions of us to use and keep using, especially considering that they actually stopped providing a fee-based version. Anyway, Blogger really needs to come up with a way to provide full backups if they're really needed. And to be more human-being responsive.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 8:44 AM

Friday, March 17, 2006
keith and carolyn maupin
There is a dinner dance being held in Batavia, Ohio on April 9th that will commemorate the life of Army Specialist Keith "Matt" Maupin, who was captured and almost certainly killed in Iraq in 2004. Because he is the only U.S. soldier in Iraq who is unaccounted for, there is an entry about him in Wikipedia. Matt's grieving and sad parents have nonetheless set up a scholarship fund that raises money for schools attended by soldiers serving in Iraq. The festivities next month at the Oasis Country Club near Loveland, Ohio, will raise money for the April 9th Scholarship Fund. Those of us/you who are interested in the dance or adding to the Fund can do so at Fifth Third Bank or by calling (513) 752-4310 which is the number for the Yellow Ribbon Support Center. The national media is unbelievably remiss and should be loudly recognizing, honoring and publicizing
the dignified, honorable actions of a couple still able to give and share with others despite their personal tragedy.
(Quotation from, and hat tip and effusive thanks to, dadvocate.) By the way, the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, also founded by the Maupins, collects and sends non-perishable and personal items as well as 'care packages' to military personnel serving abroad. Take a moment to think about the Maupin's strength, courage, energy and willingness to support others - they are amazing and inspiring, and deserve our support and respect.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:08 AM

Thursday, March 16, 2006
uh-oh
I hate to admit it, but I think this is a very very cool site: ThinkGeek. Buy me anything!
Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:55 AM

Wednesday, March 15, 2006
idol5 chatter
As a neophyte American Idol viewer this year, I'm dying to know what other people think about the contestants but no one I know wants to dish the dirt or even talk about it - unlike what they did the last few years when I wasn't interested (silly me, in retrospect). I want to know if other people find Bucky's aw-shucks thing as grab-the-mute as me (not to mention that insane hairdo). I want to know why anyone finds Kellie's mink and spider routines cute since they seem fake, not to mention dumb, to me. Do other people also find Katharine so smug they want to smack her? Is anyone else tired of 'adorable little Kevin' (gag) and his self-satisfied remarks? It's hard for me even to imagine how the eight I really enjoy listening to will ever get winnowed down to anything even close to only one, in the end.

Labels: , ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 2:14 PM

Tuesday, March 14, 2006
cool
I know it doesn't really mean anything but I like having had over 17,000 visitors to just muttering. Thanks, welcome, and onward. . . .

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:27 PM

cheers
Via seablogger, yet another interesting blog, Quid Nomen Illius?. I can't resist the combination of a Latin title and a recent post that refers to Chaucer and Charlemagne, balanced (although that may not be entirely the right word) by two two-year-old posts, one about Mr. Holland's Opus and one about taxes. Cheers to the internet and blogs and seablogger and QNI and . . . .

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:55 AM

Sunday, March 12, 2006
weaving
Met the weaving instructor at the Cornwall Yarn Shop on the west side of the Hudson in Cornwall, NY. Peg teaches something called "expressive weaving" which emerged partly from her three decades of her own weaving as well as Saori looms and techniques. Some of her and her students' work is fabulous. And her teaching approach seems to go along with the color and artistry of the results. Neat.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 6:13 PM

Saturday, March 11, 2006
photos
Andrea at A Crafty Madness has begun posting photos fairly regularly and they're terrific. She's inspiring me, although New York State lacks the wild greenery she has nearby. I also frequently check out Jeff Lawson's wonderful images.

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:06 PM

Friday, March 10, 2006
e is for . . .
Part 2
Yes, indeed, yesterday I quoted the "eeny, meeny, miney, mo" rhyme because of what "tiger" used to be. Thank goodness it was changed, years and years ago. The point is that things change all the time. Words' meanings change, driven by changing social or popular forces. Even hallowed grammatical rules change sometimes (compare older and newer entries in Fowler about split infinitives). Some changes are very much for the better and some are just what they are, and some are silly. Changing "black sheep" to "rainbow sheep" manages to be both silly and dumb because sheep have black wool which carries no negative or positive connotation at all - it's just the color of the wool, like the color of leaves. I suppose we're all silly and dumb now and then, but I'd like to think that educators temper each other's impulses with intelligence, especially British educators. I like "going with the flow" as things change and often find my thoughts stretching in ways I like and didn't expect when I try to understand something I resist at first. But when I conclude something is really just goofy, I'm afraid I find it hard to just sigh with exasperation and then let the foolishness go. How about you?

Part 1
Eeney, meeny, miney, mo,
Catch a tiger by the toe,
If he hollers, let him go,
Out goes y - o - u . . .
Who knows why I'm quoting that? Details in Part 2.

Labels:

Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 8:51 AM

Wednesday, March 8, 2006
sheesh
Apparently "Baa Baa Black Sheep" has been rewritten in some British schools, reported by the ever so reliable London Times. (HT: Joanne Jacobs) The word "black" has been removed so as not to cause offense. They replaced "black" with "rainbow" which upsets me from the point of view that the two words don't scan even remotely alike. Oh, and Humpty Dumpty is being given a new ending lest anyone get upset at his eggshell's demise. Has anyone read the Brothers Grimm lately? Talk about doomed, if this is what's happening to the sheep and the egg. Besides, it's puzzling about the sheep thing since some sheep actually are black (are sheep racist?) and in the rhyme they're simply asked if they have any wool and they respond that they do - for their master, their master's dame and for a little boy who lives down the lane. But wait: do all three live down the lane together or do they live separately? Is the master's "dame" his woman, a euphomism for something less proper? Could the little boy be their illegitimate offspring? Oh dear, oh dear. Perhaps it would be best to ban the rhyme altogether.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:18 AM

Tuesday, March 7, 2006
how? why?
I feel very sad. I just read that Dana Reeve died yesterday of lung cancer (CNN's story here). I cannot imagine what her family and especially her child must be going through. At first glance, Christopher Reeve and she had an idyllic life - fame, money, good looks, lovely homes, good careers, etc., etc. And then boom. Now they are both gone. She seemed so cheerful and kind, never impatient. She and her husband brightened so many people's lives. Now they are gone and their just-teenage son must go through so many years without them. The gods must have been absent the week that playing nice with others was taught.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:57 AM

Monday, March 6, 2006
oscars
Well, of course I'm sad that David Strathairn didn't win the Best Actor award tonight - but didn't he look wonderful on the red carpet?! Winner Capote Philip Seymour Hoffman hit the proverbial nail on the head when he said that the whole group of nominated men was astounding. David looked terrific, and right at home, sitting there in the front row with George Clooney. What a wonderful night for him. (With Meryl Streep in the next row it felt like Hudson Valley night.) I was sorry that Dan Futterman didn't win because I enjoyed him as (judging) Amy's brother and I love it that he's an accomplished writer, not a failed one like his character, but he's young enough that there will certainly be Oscars in his future. I thought the short and full-length animated films looked wonderful and I look forward to seeing them. And by the way, were more thanks paid to mothers and grandmothers than usual or did I just notice it more?

So go rent one or more of David's movies and have yourself a great time.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:05 PM

Sunday, March 5, 2006
what do you think?
My friends and I went to dinner at a nice restaurant last night (terra cotta decor, pleasant and knowledgeable waitstaff, unusual and delicious accompaniments to main dishes, perfectly cooked food, etc. ). At one point, a party of three adults and seven children between 7 and 9 years old were seated at a nearby table. A few minutes after they got settled and ordered drinks, the adults set out two personal dvd players at either end of the table and the two groups of kids focused on the movies instead of continuing to talk with each other.

Here's the thing. I wonder about the merits of using movies to keep children quiet during an evening out. Why go to the trouble of taking kids to dinner with friends and then maintain calm and control by shutting them down? I realize that unexpected and/or possibly annoying chatter was prevented this way, but the dvd's also pretty much prevented conversations or exchanges of thoughts and ideas with the other kids or adults. But am I reacting from habit and convention and not moving along with the times? I'd love to know what other people think.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 3 comment(s) | posted by jau at 12:22 AM

Saturday, March 4, 2006
a day worth noting
March 4th is one of those days that resonates for me as soon as I wake up. It shows how old I am, I suppose, or maybe just how much I've read, that I always have a moment of thinking "today is inauguration day" and then remember that everything's different and now it all happens in January right after elections the previous November. But Thomas Jefferson, among others, became U.S. President on a March 4th.

Today is also the 77th anniversary of the birth of TTCGITW's grandfather. So all around, it's definitely a day worth celebrating.

Labels: , , ,

Permalink | 2 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:07 AM

Friday, March 3, 2006
robert parker
I have to mention how much I enjoy reading books by Robert Parker, he of the 32 (!) Spenser novels and a cool 20 others, the newest of which is Sea Change. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to learn that he went to Colby College and has a Ph.D. in English from Boston U. He writes such popular books that academicians and highbrow critics might ignore him or be disdainful but he is literate and creates real humdingers of characters. Within two seconds of meeting people in his books and despite few descriptive cues, you know what they look like, how they sound and almost certainly what they like to read and eat. Anyway, his stories are gifts and I am again thrilled to read a book of his for the first time.

Labels: ,

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 1:32 PM

Wednesday, March 1, 2006
d is for david
Ok, this is slightly cheating because a person isn't a piece of knitting (although others have used people as their letters too). David has absolutely nothing to do with knitting (that I know of) but I'm overdue for D in the ABC Along and he's a terrific person and he's nominated for Best Actor and it would be so cool if he won. He's always the one you can't take your eyes off, when he's on screen. So Sunday night, be there or be square. (BTW, the photo is from when I was extolling the virtues of some cellphone cameras and just happened to get this shot.) Good luck and good luck, David!!

Labels:

Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 12:01 PM