What a Wonderful World
While sitting in the teacher’s cafeteria Friday, nibbling happily on my meatloaf and mashed potatoes, a conversation at one end of the table caught my ear. One of the language arts teachers was relating an event in her classroom that warmed her heart. Apparently, she showed one of her classes a short video of her son wrestling another boy at a meet. Near the end of the video, one of the children asked, “which one is your son?”
Now, this is no big deal. Kids ask questions like that all the time. I gave you a black and white synopsis of the event though. Let me paint the picture for you. Read more…
Thoughts on another Holiday…
Yep, it’s MLK Day, and I’m sitting at the house looking out the back window at the naked trees and snow. Days off are nice. I guess.
I’m still the one holdout in the community that isn’t sure if I like MLK Day or not. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great man, did great things and put a topic on the table more than 50 years ago that we’re STILL discussing. I just wonder what he would think about being the focus of a “holiday”.
I remember when the campaign to have him honored was being fought in Washington. Our local representative was a friend of the family and would bounce thoughts off our father all the time, which meant he’d end up bouncing thoughts off us during dinner most nights. My voice was the lone dissension. I argued that he didn’t want to be lifted up this way and the entire idea of having a day off to celebrate Martin kinda went again everything he’d worked so hard for: you know, right to vote, right to have a decent job and wage, civil rights that worked for EVERYONE. I, of course, was poo poo’d and told to eat my spinach.
So, here I sit on MLK Day, staring out the window at the naked trees and snow. Read more…
I Don’t Wanna Grow Up!!
Its 7:20am on a Sunday Morning. I awoke thinking about all the “stuff” I have to get done today and I’m groaning and as indicated by this need to write in my blog, procrastinating.
I’ve waited all my life to be a grown up and I now, officially, hate it. There’s way too much to do and hardly any time to do any of it!
Consider what needs to be done today:
- I’m uploading photos of my students to my Walgreens photo account as I type this. They’ll need to be picked up.
- I have a test to write on Meteorology for the Science Olympiad Invitational in 4 weeks. Climate anyone?
- I have a lesson to record for class this week. Yes, I’ve started my Flipping pilot. (God help me)
- It might be a good idea if I clean my house… one day.
- I still need to figure out why my domain for the jewelry store site isn’t loaded in the correct place. (that will probably take an hour of meaningful discussion with some IT geek)
- Dinner. right.
- Get some fresh air (I intentionally vegged out yesterday, watching the Matrix Trilogy so that I could FINALLY figure out the analogies. I need to watch it all again next Saturday, I’m still confused)
- I should probably get some groceries while I’m out getting that fresh air.
- I should find an hour to read one of these books so I can actually get as close to reading 100 books this year as humanly possible.
- I DID say I was going to edit the novel this month, didn’t I?
*sigh* Read more…
New Year, New Plan
I just finished reading Brainwashed, by Tom Burrell. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. As part of my goal setting for 2012, I found his discussion on Black Inferiority Complex (BI) interesting and thought provoking. As I wrote my Kwanzaa affirmations last week, I considered some of what I’d learned about “us” as found in Mr. Burrell’s book. I want to make a change that is lasting in its acidic affect on BI.
As Tom says in his book, its not just us that suffer from BI; everyone in our country, and even, to some extent, the world, does. However, it is us, that take that suffering to a new level as the complex has been so ingrained in our psyche that we find ways to be inferior. It needs to stop. There needs to be a plan to break the chains of mental self loathing that weigh us down and keep our heads just above the water line, struggling not to drown.
Every one of us has a way to make this work. I’m going to use education. I”m going to open some doors and expose some truths and realities. I’m going to give children, and in the process, their parents, a reason to break those chains. Read more…
Kwanzaa – Day 7
Day 7
Imani – Faith
“To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”
Faith: confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another’s ability.
Resolve in the new year to put your trust in yourself and the members of your community so that you can become all that you are meant to be in this world.
Related articles
- The Relevance of Kwanzaa ? (blabbinoutloud.wordpress.com)
- Kwanzaa 2010 – Imani (thesynergisticpen.com)
- Imani – Faith (living4bliss.wordpress.com)
- Habari Gani? IMANI! (Faith) (wtpdiaries.wordpress.com)
2011 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. I thought you’d like to see it. Trust me, I haven’t worked very hard up to this point to gather a following, but it appears, I AM gathering… this is a good thing. I thank you for giving a damn… I appreciate you!
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.
Kwanzaa – Day 6
Day 6
Kuumba – Creativity
“To do always, as much as we can, in the way we can, to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.”
Creativity: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.
Resolve in the new year to use your gifts to add meaning, enlightenment, and substance to your life and the lives of those around you.
Related articles
- Habari Gani? KUUMBA! (Creativity) (wtpdiaries.wordpress.com)
- Kuumba – Creativity (living4bliss.wordpress.com)
- Kwanzaa: Day 6: Kuumba means creativity or turn off that television! (examiner.com)
- Kwanzaa 2010 – Kuumba (thesynergisticpen.com)
2012 Reading Challenge
