*TOTALLY GO TO THE ARTICLE*
So this guy took pictures of tons of people's faces from specific countries and meshed them together to create the average face of people in the country. Go to the link, and see some of them:) it's really interesting.
http://www.mediadump.com/hosted-id167-average-faces-from-around-the-world.html#ixzz1cI1OsP9G
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Consciousness at the Edible Schoolyard
At one of my service learning days at the Edible Schoolyard this semester, I helped paint signs to put around the garden. The signs told the children what can and cannot be composted, labeled the butterfly garden, told them to take a deep breath, encouraged them to “go green,”etc. These signs are put around the garden to explicitly awaken the consciousness of the students at Samuel L. Green Charter School. These students have such a unique privilege that has been provided to them through the Edible Schoolyard. They are engaging in holistic learning. The garden functions as a classroom for these kids. They take lessons from the garden in a variety of ways. They study social studies, math science, history, etc. in the garden. There are so many lessons to be learned from the earth. The logistics about how it thrives from science, the history of how humans have lived in certain environments in humanities, the inspiration that has come from the power of the earth in English, and so on. These signs are just another way these kids are encouraged to learn from the garden. They are constantly and explicitly reminded of the lessons they are to be taking form this garden. They are lucky to be able to have that kind of access to holistic learning environment, especially in a city where so many children are deprived of a decent education.
Black Rain
My boyfriend who works for a contracting company at a chemical plant was let off of work early today after some black "liquid" rained out of the flare tower. I thought this event was fishy and unsafe to workers and I will share what happened as he told me.
When he arrived to work, the power was out and the contracting crew were notified of the power outages and there were talks that something may occur, but it was not clear what might happen. After the power kicked back on some black liquid rained out of the flare tower.Some of the liquid got in to people's mouths. The liquid contaminated many workers' clothing and they were asked to give their work shirts to the plant and I believe everyone complied. The plant promised to replace all workers' shirts. The contractors did not know what the black liquid was and the plant operators acted like they did not know either. The contracting company wanted their crew to continue working, but the plant wanted to "find out" what the liquid was. Eventually the contracting crew was let off early because it may take all day to figure out what the chemical was. The plant operator asked if anyone was harmed, if so they needed to speak up now, because they will not be able to make any claims after they leave.
It is obvious that the plant was trying to avoid any liability. They took the workmen's clothes away, acted like they didn't know what the chemicals were, and they wanted the contracting company to get out of there. I hope no health issues come of this...
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The Truth
Listening
to Herzog’s views on other documentaries today, I was a little confused about
his ideas of truth. While he was discussing his ideas about what is true and what’s
not, I couldn’t help but thinking back to a scene from Encounters at the End of the World, the scene where he is interviewing
a scientist who studies penguins. In this scene, we hear Herzog asking the man
some questions about penguin behavior like: are there gay penguins? Is this Herzog looking for the truth? It
seems to me that he is digging, trying to create a truth that fits with the film;
while we might not know the “truth” about penguins, it seems to me that pure
scientific unbiased observations are at least more in touch with reality. They
are simply what we have observed, they’re not just what we want to see
P.S found these on youtube Happy Holidays
Tom
Grounding
Being home in the Northeast always helps to reawaken my consciousness of my surroundings. For some reason, the cold of home makes me feel warm. The bare winter trees make me feel alive. And the fallen amber leaves make me feel a part of the earth’s cycle. In Louisiana, we don’t have much of a fall. It gets colder, and some leaves fall, but you don’t get the theatrical change in seasons like you do in the northeast. When I go home and see the change that has taken place since my last visit, I am reminded that the earth is ever changing. It is in a constant cyclical motion. I made sure to take a nice long walk in my favorite park before I left. The sun was low, the air was crisp, and the trees were bare, ready for the coming winter snow. I walked through the tall grasses, listening to the rustling that came from the wind and my disturbance of he patch. I watched my neighbors enjoy the open fields and beautiful landscape. Going to this park always makes me feel home. It is important for me to pay a visit there to remember the earth that I am innately connected to. I grew up in this town, in this environment. I now occupy a new environment in New Orleans, Louisiana. While I explore Louisiana and get to know it’s landscape, I must keep my connection to the patch of earth that I inhabited for 17 years and that shaped my view of the environment.
Delving Into the Twilight Zone
One of my favorite series of all time is the original CBS broadcasted series known as The Twilight Zone. I knew I had to write a blog on an episode, simply because every episode leaves the viewer the responsibility of using his imagination and understanding the greater moral of the story. For those who are also Twilight Zone enthusiasts, I'm sorry to tell you that I will not be blogging about the following popular episodes: "The Eye of the Beholder," "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," or "Number 12 Looks Just Like You." Don't get me wrong, all of the mentioned episodes are some of the most analytical and stirring of the lot, and they deserve their praise-- "The Eye of the Beholder" exemplifies that a person's attractiveness is truly subjective; "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" reveals the prejudice and bestiality lurking within the human race; "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" accompanies George Orwell's horrific visions in his book Nineteen-Eighty Four in an overly eerie fashion. The problem is that everyone has seen these episodes (and if you haven't then I highly recommend that you do!). My goal, instead, is to analyze a much less popular episode and relate it in some fashion to our environment.
The episode I chose for this blog is "Twenty-Two," which was based on a scary short story called "The Bus-Conductor," by E. F. Benson. I will only talk about the episode because it is a mirror-image of the short story, except that the short story takes place at a much earlier date and the characters are different.
In "Twenty-Two" a young professional dancer by the name of Liz Powell is admitted to a hospital as a result of being overworked and having developed fatigue, due to being constantly nervous. Powell has an extremely vivid and reoccurring nightmare in which she experiences a false-awaking. In her dream, Powell wakes up in the middle of the night to the loudness of her bedside clock, then knocks over her glass of water due to shock. After the water glass breaks, loud footsteps down the hospital hallway are always destined to be heard by Powell. As a result of an eerie curiosity, Powell gets up and peeks out of her hospital room-- she sees a nurse facing her direction, standing in an open elevator. Despite the light in the elevator, Powell, as well as the viewer, cannot distinguish the visage of the nurse-- there is a looming shadow covering the whole of her face. Observing the elevator doors as they close, as well as the lighted floor panel levels which tell where the elevator is going, Powell cannot help but get the next lift down via the elevator. Arriving at the basement and stepping out of the elevator, Powell notices a set of swinging doors, above which reads the number "22." The viewer also notices that the pair of swinging doors read "Morgue" on them. Just as Powell attempts to push the doors open, the same nurse from before comes out, except this time we see her beautiful face. Upon confronting Powell, the nurse smiles creepily and says "room for one more, honey." After this, Powell becomes hysterical, screaming all the way back to the elevator.
The same nightmare occurs over and over again for a couple of nights. The doctor tries reassuring Powell that no such nurse works in the morgue, but is befuddled that Powell knows that the morgue is room number "22," because she's never set foot on the basement floor.
Eventually Powell is declared cured of her fatigue and is discharged from the hospital. In the airport Powell receives her ticket that will take her to Miami Beach-- she cannot help but notice that her flight is number "22." At first Powell thinks nothing of this coincidence, but then reality starts mimicking her reoccurring dreams-- she hears a loud ticking noise from the clock on the airport wall, she accidentally bumps into a woman who carries a vase, which shatters on the floor, and finally, she hears loud footsteps. Climbing the stairs of the airplane, Powell notices a stewardess welcoming passengers on board. Once it is Powell's turn to be welcomed, she is shocked to see that the stewardess is identical to the beautiful nurse from her nightmares. The stewardess relays to Powell a familiar message: "room for one more, honey." Once again screaming hysterically, Powell runs down the airplane stairs and back into the airport. The airport staff then show their concern for the horrified young woman by attempting to reassure and comfort her. While this is going on, the viewer, as well as Powell observe as flight "22" ascends into the air. Not even two minutes after becoming airborne, the plane explodes.
Creepy huh? Ok, well most of y'all will say "but Sam, how does this relate to the environment?" First of all I will answer by retorting "well, I'm glad you asked." You see, I believe that in life I, as well as all of you reading this blog post, have numerous signs all around us that we must learn to interpret. In telling Liz Powell's story I was not trying to get across that the nurse was evil, far from it, instead the nurse, as well as every other aspect of Powell's dream, served as a sign that ultimately saved her life. I believe that our dreams and our realities are an environment of symbols, signs, and messages. I believe that when you and I have those eerie moments of Déjà Vu there is a reason for it. Of course certain messages are more important than others, so we cannot interpret all of the messages we are subjected to, but if we can decode the relevant ones, then I think we're doing pretty well. I do believe that these messages apply to everyone, including Atheists-- when I refer to signs and messages, I do not mean signs and messages from God or a god, I am referring to signs and messages bred and produced by life and held within life. Do I believe that these messages in life can be interpreted in the wrong fashion and result in hurtful actions? Well, sure I do. But signs can also save a person's life, and pro-create peace and positivity. Do not ask me how signs are to be interpreted, because I never claimed, and will never claim that I know. The one thing I DO know about signs is that they ARE there.
The episode I chose for this blog is "Twenty-Two," which was based on a scary short story called "The Bus-Conductor," by E. F. Benson. I will only talk about the episode because it is a mirror-image of the short story, except that the short story takes place at a much earlier date and the characters are different.
In "Twenty-Two" a young professional dancer by the name of Liz Powell is admitted to a hospital as a result of being overworked and having developed fatigue, due to being constantly nervous. Powell has an extremely vivid and reoccurring nightmare in which she experiences a false-awaking. In her dream, Powell wakes up in the middle of the night to the loudness of her bedside clock, then knocks over her glass of water due to shock. After the water glass breaks, loud footsteps down the hospital hallway are always destined to be heard by Powell. As a result of an eerie curiosity, Powell gets up and peeks out of her hospital room-- she sees a nurse facing her direction, standing in an open elevator. Despite the light in the elevator, Powell, as well as the viewer, cannot distinguish the visage of the nurse-- there is a looming shadow covering the whole of her face. Observing the elevator doors as they close, as well as the lighted floor panel levels which tell where the elevator is going, Powell cannot help but get the next lift down via the elevator. Arriving at the basement and stepping out of the elevator, Powell notices a set of swinging doors, above which reads the number "22." The viewer also notices that the pair of swinging doors read "Morgue" on them. Just as Powell attempts to push the doors open, the same nurse from before comes out, except this time we see her beautiful face. Upon confronting Powell, the nurse smiles creepily and says "room for one more, honey." After this, Powell becomes hysterical, screaming all the way back to the elevator.
The same nightmare occurs over and over again for a couple of nights. The doctor tries reassuring Powell that no such nurse works in the morgue, but is befuddled that Powell knows that the morgue is room number "22," because she's never set foot on the basement floor.
Eventually Powell is declared cured of her fatigue and is discharged from the hospital. In the airport Powell receives her ticket that will take her to Miami Beach-- she cannot help but notice that her flight is number "22." At first Powell thinks nothing of this coincidence, but then reality starts mimicking her reoccurring dreams-- she hears a loud ticking noise from the clock on the airport wall, she accidentally bumps into a woman who carries a vase, which shatters on the floor, and finally, she hears loud footsteps. Climbing the stairs of the airplane, Powell notices a stewardess welcoming passengers on board. Once it is Powell's turn to be welcomed, she is shocked to see that the stewardess is identical to the beautiful nurse from her nightmares. The stewardess relays to Powell a familiar message: "room for one more, honey." Once again screaming hysterically, Powell runs down the airplane stairs and back into the airport. The airport staff then show their concern for the horrified young woman by attempting to reassure and comfort her. While this is going on, the viewer, as well as Powell observe as flight "22" ascends into the air. Not even two minutes after becoming airborne, the plane explodes.
Creepy huh? Ok, well most of y'all will say "but Sam, how does this relate to the environment?" First of all I will answer by retorting "well, I'm glad you asked." You see, I believe that in life I, as well as all of you reading this blog post, have numerous signs all around us that we must learn to interpret. In telling Liz Powell's story I was not trying to get across that the nurse was evil, far from it, instead the nurse, as well as every other aspect of Powell's dream, served as a sign that ultimately saved her life. I believe that our dreams and our realities are an environment of symbols, signs, and messages. I believe that when you and I have those eerie moments of Déjà Vu there is a reason for it. Of course certain messages are more important than others, so we cannot interpret all of the messages we are subjected to, but if we can decode the relevant ones, then I think we're doing pretty well. I do believe that these messages apply to everyone, including Atheists-- when I refer to signs and messages, I do not mean signs and messages from God or a god, I am referring to signs and messages bred and produced by life and held within life. Do I believe that these messages in life can be interpreted in the wrong fashion and result in hurtful actions? Well, sure I do. But signs can also save a person's life, and pro-create peace and positivity. Do not ask me how signs are to be interpreted, because I never claimed, and will never claim that I know. The one thing I DO know about signs is that they ARE there.
Health and Running.
Calories and Food intake: Running could be the key to staying healthy. Jogging for about 30 minutes will burn about 400 calories. That's just a jog. I'm thinking 10 minute miles. Running can burn about 600 in 30 minutes. Multiply your body weight times about 13, and the answer is approximately how many calories you should eat in a day. I'm 145 lbs, so when I multiply that out it comes out to 1,885 calories. I was shocked when I discovered how much I should be eating in a day. Then I realized running 6-8 miles a day must take away at least 700 calories. If you plan on running that much without getting the right amount of calories, your body will begin to shut down. You might start hallucinating when you're running, or straight up pass out.
Mentality: The hardest part of running is dealing with your mind. Don't do treadmills. They're the devil. Don't do the indoor track. They're also the devil. Surprisingly, there's a lot less of a chance to get hurt if you're running on St.Charles unless you run into the traffic. If you're clumsy, there's probably no hope for you in the running world. I'm really clumsy. I've fallen in the middle of the street on St. Charles countless time, but since it's all mental, I decided to be a badasshoneybadger and not give a shit about falling. I just get back up and continue. It takes a minute to get back into the zone though.
What is the zone?
-The zone is another dimension that some people, such as myself, go into while running where they really don't pay attention to any of their surroundings. They just keep looking straight, or keep looking down and go into critical thought. It's like you get to explore the files that are only just acquainted with your mind. The ones that hide past the things that you're always thinking of. I've written whole essays in my head while running, because I recollect all of these ideas and things that I've learned throughout my 18 years that I've gathered about the topic and piece it all together. When I'm finished my run, I've got a great guideline for my paper. This is why it usually only takes me 2 hours for even the longest papers. I take thirty minutes to go for a run, 15 minutes for a shower, then all of the information just spouts out. I highly recommend going for a run when you've got a paper due or a test the next day. The week of finals, oh man, I'll be doing some running.
***Besides for "the zone" I really think that running is a good way to clear your mind. If you've got a problem, or if you've been upset, don't take drastic measures. Go out for a run; you'll feel free from everything. Indestructible.
More about mentality: Once you hit a certain point while running, you can run as long as you want. For me, after I run 6 miles, I'm good to run 12 miles. However, miles 1-3 are hell. I hate those because that's when you are like "ugh, do I really want to run?" After that, I'm usually good to go. Everyone is different though, but most people are capable of achieving the "runner's high." It's one of the best feelings I've ever had. I also recommend trying to see if you can get to this level.
I'll have more for you guys in my final project blog post.
~Adios
Mentality: The hardest part of running is dealing with your mind. Don't do treadmills. They're the devil. Don't do the indoor track. They're also the devil. Surprisingly, there's a lot less of a chance to get hurt if you're running on St.Charles unless you run into the traffic. If you're clumsy, there's probably no hope for you in the running world. I'm really clumsy. I've fallen in the middle of the street on St. Charles countless time, but since it's all mental, I decided to be a badasshoneybadger and not give a shit about falling. I just get back up and continue. It takes a minute to get back into the zone though.
What is the zone?
-The zone is another dimension that some people, such as myself, go into while running where they really don't pay attention to any of their surroundings. They just keep looking straight, or keep looking down and go into critical thought. It's like you get to explore the files that are only just acquainted with your mind. The ones that hide past the things that you're always thinking of. I've written whole essays in my head while running, because I recollect all of these ideas and things that I've learned throughout my 18 years that I've gathered about the topic and piece it all together. When I'm finished my run, I've got a great guideline for my paper. This is why it usually only takes me 2 hours for even the longest papers. I take thirty minutes to go for a run, 15 minutes for a shower, then all of the information just spouts out. I highly recommend going for a run when you've got a paper due or a test the next day. The week of finals, oh man, I'll be doing some running.
***Besides for "the zone" I really think that running is a good way to clear your mind. If you've got a problem, or if you've been upset, don't take drastic measures. Go out for a run; you'll feel free from everything. Indestructible.
More about mentality: Once you hit a certain point while running, you can run as long as you want. For me, after I run 6 miles, I'm good to run 12 miles. However, miles 1-3 are hell. I hate those because that's when you are like "ugh, do I really want to run?" After that, I'm usually good to go. Everyone is different though, but most people are capable of achieving the "runner's high." It's one of the best feelings I've ever had. I also recommend trying to see if you can get to this level.
I'll have more for you guys in my final project blog post.
~Adios
Monday, November 28, 2011
Let's talk about cicadas
I was just reading the blog posts about Black Friday which got me depressed which made me think about drastic changes which made me think about cicadas and how cool they are.
At the end of the summer last year I was at my mom's house when I passed her car and happened to see a cicada shedding its skin. I've often found the remaining skins attached to trees, bikes, and fences, but I had never seen the process. I took these pictures with my phone, so I apologize for the quality and lighting.
So now thinking about cicadas again I decided to learn a few things:
- Cicadas are not related to locusts. Locusts are a kind of grasshopper
- There are over 3,000 cicada species
- Only males make noise
- Some can live up to 17 years
- They feed off of xylem (a tissue in plants that conducts water and dissolved nutrient upwards from the root) from tree roots and plant sap
- They are often eaten in China, Malaysia, and Latin America
Fun Fact: I once ate a live cicada for $50... the only word I would use to describe it is juicy.
Cicadas are cool!
A toast to the earth!
This past weekend, I was home in Connecticut for thanksgiving. I got to thinking about the meaning of Thanksgiving. What I concluded is that Iit is a completely environmentally concerned holiday. The pilgrims came over to this “new” world in search of, among other things, freedom, resources, and perhaps adventure. They stepped into a completely new environment and desperately needed to learn its functions in order to survive in it. So, they did what any traveler would do, they consulted the locals. The Native Americans thus taught the Pilgrims the ways of their new environment and how to prosper in this foreign landscape. Unfortunately, the altruism was short lived when the Native Americans were pretty much wiped out in the subsequent centuries. However, every Thanksgiving, we give thanks to these Native Americans who provided our European ancestors with the vital information they needed to settle in this land. Thanksgiving is all about harmony amongst people and earth, generosity, and most importantly I would argue, environment. Not only should be thankful for the legacy of our European ancestors and Native American ancestors, we should be thankful for the balance of our environment that enables us to exist in our terrestrial ecosystem. So this Thanksgiving, I dedicate my toast to the earth. Cheers!
Embarassing Story
So I thought I would share an embarrassing story that has to relevance to this blog what so ever but it does relate to the class.
So stupid me thinks we have a screening of Lessons of Darkness tonight and walks in the cold from Cabra to the library for 730. When I get there I walk into MM2 only to find a frat meeting. Well those boys got a great laugh out of my confused expression as I shut the door embarrassingly.
The moral of the story is: read the syllabus because today is not November 29th.
So stupid me thinks we have a screening of Lessons of Darkness tonight and walks in the cold from Cabra to the library for 730. When I get there I walk into MM2 only to find a frat meeting. Well those boys got a great laugh out of my confused expression as I shut the door embarrassingly.
The moral of the story is: read the syllabus because today is not November 29th.
Reggio Was Right-- Koyaanisqatsi
My father went to school at Bard College in New York state, about two hours from New York City. After graduating college he worked as a bartender in NYC for about a year. When I was about 12-years-old, I asked him about his adventures as a bartender. He told me of his hilarious friends who shared an apartment with him, and of his gradual honing of his street smart knowledge (i.e. after working a long night at the bar he would wear some raggedy clothes, as to not attract muggers and such). The one thing that he said that resonated with me the most was when he told me that, despite the huge population in NYC, the city could be one of the loneliest places in the world.
I know what my father meant now, and I knew what he meant then, yet it is still hard for me to get my head around his statement. Obviously if you did not know someone in a city of a huge populace, then it could be extremely lonely, but one question remains-- why? Why did I feel so alone today in the North Carolina airport as I went through security to board my flight to New Orleans? Why did people in the airport only communicate with strangers to say "sorry," or "excuse me," if they had bumped into each other by accident.
Everyone seemed so robotic in that security line today-- just like the people crossing the street and riding the escalators in an emotionless manner in the film Koyaanisqatsi. Let me add that I'm not trying to put myself up on a pedestal, I realize that I'm human too. I also realize that in that security line I was just as robotic as anyone else. And that scares me. What also scares me are the clone-like neighborhoods that I saw from the airplane window as my flight left Charlotte. I say "clone-like" because each house looked exactly the same, sure the neighborhoods were arranged slightly differently, but does that really matter? The landscapes, the cities, the houses in rows-- they all were too similar to the horrendous computer chip-to-city comparisons in Koyaanisqatsi.
I'm trying to piece this puzzle together. The first piece of the puzzle is the false perception of individuality and freedom in the U.S.-- how can we be individually free if we are mental slaves? The corporations who run America also run our news networks. Did you know that Disney owns ABC News? Did you know that Time Warner owns CNN? Did you know that General Electric owns a part of both NBC and MSNBC? If we watch any of these news channels, hell, if we watch any news channel, then we only know what that individual corporation wants us to know.
Now look, I'm no genius, so I don't know how to even begin to solve the problems mentioned in this blog. I'm aware that I'm damn lucky that I live in the U.S., and I do mean DAMN lucky. I could be living in a third world country like Haiti, and that's not what I want. I just want people to wake up. And maybe the first step to waking up is forcing oneself out of that drone state that I saw in people at the airport. A good goal to maintain is to avoid complacency. Complacency is what our government wants, and it's definitely what the major corporations that own our government want.
The more mechanical-esque we become, the less we'll be able to connect with one another. The less we're able to connect with one another, the less freedom we'll have. That's how I see it, but please feel free to comment on this blog-- I'm not trying to preach to anyone, rather just for someone to hear me. If you disagree or agree with me, then tell me why. I'm sure that many of you have better insights in regards to this subject than I do.
I know what my father meant now, and I knew what he meant then, yet it is still hard for me to get my head around his statement. Obviously if you did not know someone in a city of a huge populace, then it could be extremely lonely, but one question remains-- why? Why did I feel so alone today in the North Carolina airport as I went through security to board my flight to New Orleans? Why did people in the airport only communicate with strangers to say "sorry," or "excuse me," if they had bumped into each other by accident.
Everyone seemed so robotic in that security line today-- just like the people crossing the street and riding the escalators in an emotionless manner in the film Koyaanisqatsi. Let me add that I'm not trying to put myself up on a pedestal, I realize that I'm human too. I also realize that in that security line I was just as robotic as anyone else. And that scares me. What also scares me are the clone-like neighborhoods that I saw from the airplane window as my flight left Charlotte. I say "clone-like" because each house looked exactly the same, sure the neighborhoods were arranged slightly differently, but does that really matter? The landscapes, the cities, the houses in rows-- they all were too similar to the horrendous computer chip-to-city comparisons in Koyaanisqatsi.
I'm trying to piece this puzzle together. The first piece of the puzzle is the false perception of individuality and freedom in the U.S.-- how can we be individually free if we are mental slaves? The corporations who run America also run our news networks. Did you know that Disney owns ABC News? Did you know that Time Warner owns CNN? Did you know that General Electric owns a part of both NBC and MSNBC? If we watch any of these news channels, hell, if we watch any news channel, then we only know what that individual corporation wants us to know.
Now look, I'm no genius, so I don't know how to even begin to solve the problems mentioned in this blog. I'm aware that I'm damn lucky that I live in the U.S., and I do mean DAMN lucky. I could be living in a third world country like Haiti, and that's not what I want. I just want people to wake up. And maybe the first step to waking up is forcing oneself out of that drone state that I saw in people at the airport. A good goal to maintain is to avoid complacency. Complacency is what our government wants, and it's definitely what the major corporations that own our government want.
The more mechanical-esque we become, the less we'll be able to connect with one another. The less we're able to connect with one another, the less freedom we'll have. That's how I see it, but please feel free to comment on this blog-- I'm not trying to preach to anyone, rather just for someone to hear me. If you disagree or agree with me, then tell me why. I'm sure that many of you have better insights in regards to this subject than I do.
Black Friday Ruins Thanksgiving
Today in work study my boss and I were discussing the problems with Black Friday. To us, Thanksgiving is the biggest family holiday of the year. Black Friday is beginning to encroach on Thanksgiving because the stores are opening earlier and earlier. Families start lining up early Thanksgiving day and even the day before.
As said before, I work at a movie theater that shares a parking garage with Target and these fools were lined up since Wednesday. Bringing the family to Target doesn't make Thanksgiving a family holiday. It was fun to wake up at 5 AM to get to department stores for 6 AM but now the stores open at 3AM and some even at midnight.
Also children have no place dealing with the insanity of Black Friday sales. Leave them at home, asleep. Then to hear of a woman using mace on people who get in her way of shopping is ridiculous. Children do not need to be in that kind of environment.
Is this the environment that we created for Christmas? Angry woman harming others to buy a flat screen TV for half off? Really? Honestly I would rather get a card with a hand written note in it than a PS3 that my mom had to beat up some dude to get.
As said before, I work at a movie theater that shares a parking garage with Target and these fools were lined up since Wednesday. Bringing the family to Target doesn't make Thanksgiving a family holiday. It was fun to wake up at 5 AM to get to department stores for 6 AM but now the stores open at 3AM and some even at midnight.
Also children have no place dealing with the insanity of Black Friday sales. Leave them at home, asleep. Then to hear of a woman using mace on people who get in her way of shopping is ridiculous. Children do not need to be in that kind of environment.
Is this the environment that we created for Christmas? Angry woman harming others to buy a flat screen TV for half off? Really? Honestly I would rather get a card with a hand written note in it than a PS3 that my mom had to beat up some dude to get.
Mechanical Pencils at Service Learning.
It has been brought to my attention recently that mechanical pencils are a big deal. In grammar school, everyone would use mechanical pencils for math and science because they were refillable and came in a variety of colors. I never thought that using them was a luxury or more costly than other writing utensils.
I tutor 6th grade math and I was under the assumption that one should use a pencil when doing math problems. It came to me as a shock when these kids were doing math with red pens, green pens, blue pens and nub-like pencils. So I took out my mechanical pencil to show one kid how to do a problem and he grabbed it out of my hand and started playing with it. He said it was a "fancy pen" and asked me if he could have it. So I gave it to him and soon after everyone wanted one. The next time I went to service learning I brought a pack and gave them each one.
They all bring their purple and green mechanical pencils to tutoring now and are so amazed by them. I never realized that certain school supplies are a luxury to use than others. Something as simple as a pencil can be overlooked. I'm thankful that I never had to do math in red pen and more importantly I'm thankful that the kids are so grateful for little things in life.
I tutor 6th grade math and I was under the assumption that one should use a pencil when doing math problems. It came to me as a shock when these kids were doing math with red pens, green pens, blue pens and nub-like pencils. So I took out my mechanical pencil to show one kid how to do a problem and he grabbed it out of my hand and started playing with it. He said it was a "fancy pen" and asked me if he could have it. So I gave it to him and soon after everyone wanted one. The next time I went to service learning I brought a pack and gave them each one.
They all bring their purple and green mechanical pencils to tutoring now and are so amazed by them. I never realized that certain school supplies are a luxury to use than others. Something as simple as a pencil can be overlooked. I'm thankful that I never had to do math in red pen and more importantly I'm thankful that the kids are so grateful for little things in life.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Eco-Beautician
The other week at service learning at the Edible Schoolyard and Samuel L. Green Charter School, I spent my time trimming baby arugula. The arugula was growing in nice and thick and needed to be trimmed down to allow more room for the roots to spread and breath in a healthy fashion. I felt like I was giving the earth an expensive, thorough haircut. I spent an hour or two meticulously snipping away to give the arugula an even comb through. And I must say, this patch of earth looked quite dashing after I was done with it. It got me thinking about how the earth cares for humans, and how humans care for the earth. I was giving this arugula a trim to help it thrive. Once the arugula thrives to its full potential, it will then be consumed by humans, who will further thrive from its nutrients and deliciousness. It’s a circle of support and love that a gardener and a garden rely upon. The more care a gardener shows towards his or her garden, the more benevolence they will receive from the bounties of the garden. In this sense, gardening is a beautiful way to get to know your earth in a contained sort of way.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
NOLA Green Roots
NOLA Green Roots has been a fascinating case study for this class, and one of the most effective service learning experiences I’ve had thus far. Based on observations about management I have to say I’m somewhat surprised that the organization has grown so fast and been so successful, I have to credit this to the quality of the idea that it’s based upon and the dedication of the people who believe in it. As a relatively new non-profit (begun in 2008) they are still working out some kinks with organizing their members and clearly defining their mission and how to pursue it. I think that the popularity of the project may have overwhelmed them at first but now with the help of dedicated new staff and utilization of volunteers, I have high hopes that they might actually succeed. Already their project has grown from one garden to three and they are constantly expanding.
The most recent expansion resulted in a lot being set up for large scale composting to accommodate pre-consumer waste gathered from the Loyola University Orleans Room. I think this will be a definitive relationship for NOLA Green Roots and has already gained them publicity and motivated change within the organization to accommodate the expansion. The members of NOLA Green Roots take a very active role in its running and contribute a lot of time and labor to ensure that the gardens grow.
After completing my service I decided to become a member for the month of November. This means that I paid $35 for the month and I work at least an hour a week in the garden. For this I receive a basket of vegetables every two weeks. Last week I received my first basket and have been drowning in veggies ever since. Some of them were wholly unfamiliar to me including mustard greens and some sort of small orange citrus that I still can’t identify. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of trying to work around what’s in my basket and learning to prepare new fresh local foods. Although it looks like I may not be able to take on the challenge and eat through my basket, I think it’s important that the opportunity to try has been afforded to this city. In a city so immersed in food culture it’s great to be able to follow the food process from the roots (forgive the pun).
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