Thursday, July 29, 2010

To whom it may concern:

I have received countless email forwards over the years. I probably get 5 -10 forwards a day and inevitably they end by telling me that if I do not forward these emails on to at least 10 more people that I am not Christian, not American, not human, the earth will fall of it's axis, I will contribute to global warming, I will have funded terrorist regimes, children in China will die, Barack Obama will kick me in the crotch, etc.

I have decided that for every email I receive that ends this way, I am not only not going to forward it on, as is my usual routine but I will be answering them all.

Effective immediately I will be giving my full scale opinion on the contents of every forwarded email received that concludes by somehow threatening or challenging my patriotism, Christianity, humanity, etc. Some of you have experienced this already.

You may of course continue to forward emails to me however this will be taken as a request on your behalf to hear whatever incoherent ramblings are rattling around in my head regarding the stated matter.

I do not mind a forwarded email that makes me laugh, invites me to think or is religious or political in nature. I often forward these on to selected individuals myself. It's the emails that end in threatening language that wear me out.

Signing off, this the 101st day since the Gulf oil crisis.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Kissing the skies with rock n roll eyes

I have some really talented friends. I wish I had some of their talent but I am content to admire them doing what they do best.

I know that several of you, like me, enjoy the folksy, singer songwriter music that seems to be pretty popular but somehow gets no radio play. I'm gonna turn you on to the next big thing. My friend Becki plays the violin and due to her excellency at this skill she consistently rocks the casbah with a young talent named Sarah Jaffe. After you listen to the videos below you can thank me for bettering your life with these sweet melancholy jams. Then you can buy the album and make Becki rich so she can quit her day job.

Seriously, check it out. It's very good









Saturday, July 24, 2010

Excellent Valedictorian Speech

Below is a speech given by a girl named Erica Goldson after being named valedictorian of her school in New York. A lot of you know that I have had my own issues with the way school is done in the United States. This speech touches on some of those points. I was really impressed she had the courage to give this in the setting that she did. It's worth the read.




Coxsackie-Athens Valedictorian Speech 2010

Here I Stand

Erica Goldson


There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." 
The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" 
Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not

      to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!




Monday, July 19, 2010

Memories for the Mama

This post is just for me. Lately I've been feeling like there are things I'm gonna forget if I don't hurry and get them down, so...

About a month ago, Addie figured out how to use her jammies as one huge pocket. She would go to the toy box and start shoving things down the legs. She quickly realized it wasn't that great of an idea. I know you have to have been there to find it as humorous as I do, but I thought it was really funny!


Yesterday, I was sweeping the kitchen. Jack wanted to help so I let him mop the bathroom. I walked by after I finished my stuff and I heard him singing..."wash a washin', wash a wash a wash a washin' He was singing to the tune of 'Holding Hands Around the World' which is a Primary song that he's been working on...and he loves it.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Sweet RP Video

The r3volution continues...




Thursday, July 8, 2010

Family Reunion

We had a reunion on the Aanerud side of the family. Everyone was able to make it, even with the plane delays and traffic problems, and it was so fun to have everybody here! Grandma's house was the hub, which was so fitting because she wouldn't have had it any other way. She loved all the chaos we all bring, and she loved to take care of everyone.

You probably won't be surprised when I tell you we have very few pictures to document all the fun. It seems that Eric and I both hate to stop and take pictures. Lots of people are able to really enjoy the activities while taking pictures, but I can't. Which leads to very few pics...sorry! I'm sure Danielle will have more pictures to post later, so watch for those if you're interested!

We had a pretty relaxing time. We went on lots of walks around Bear River and down town because the weather was pretty amazing! There was a hike up Bald Mountain, lunch and smores at Grandma's trailer, lots of delicious meals, lots of tantrums from my over tired children, much needed rests, fun conversations and catching up, and of course...more fireworks than necessary! I thought the fireworks were extra fun this year because we did our own show on Saturday night, and actually got to watch the city show on Sunday night. Usually we do both at the same time. Another reason fireworks were so fun for me this year is because right at the very beginning, Addie and Jack both fell asleep! How they slept through all the noise, I'll never know, but I loved it!!


The last of the family left yesterday, and we've all been feeling the let down. There's no one here to play with. We're sad it's over, but I guess it will be nice to get the kids back into their routines.