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Day 27 - The Glass Is...

2/24/2012

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:120224: ...twice as big as it needs to be.

I was sentenced to a bit of time this week sitting in on a few middle school classes with which I soon will be working. As I listened to them discuss complex topics of monumental importance, impressed all the while by their eloquence and compassion, I was reminded of a moment in that very classroom two years ago that blew me away (names have been changed).

Each morning that year, the students spent a period of time writing. Students took turns bringing in a topic or a bit of inspiration (frequently a song or poem that they found particularly meaningful), and the class would set to work writing silently in the mood-lit classroom. After a time (there was no signal, just a feeling that enough time had lapsed), the student who had brought the inspiration for the day would begin reading their piece of writing aloud.

Others subsequently took turns, in no particular order and without raising their hands or waiting to be recognized in any way, reading their piece of writing whenever they were ready. Not every student shared their writing every day. Some wrote a lot, some very little, some only shared a sentence or two of their larger whole. Some students, too shy to share their piece, would pass their notebook to a neighbor to read aloud in their stead. Frequently, students were moved to tears by their own writing, or by listening to the words of their classmates.

On one particular day the inspiration piece included a reference to a glass half-full, or half-empty, I can't remember which. Many of the students' compositions followed that theme of optimism versus pessimism. One particular student, Carissa, began to share her piece.
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Carissa was confident in her writing, and unafraid to share. Her thoughts were organized well enough for a twelve-year-old, but right in the middle of her soliloquy came this:
The glass is not half-empty or half-full;
it is exactly enough water for one life,
and I'm going to drink it slowly.
Her teacher and I exchanged glances across the room. He mouthed "Oh my god!" We both knew immediately that such a powerful statement—such a powerful idea—was one not easily understood by very many adults, let alone humans as young as Carissa.

Her teacher informed me later that part of Carissa's academic history included an IEP, or "Individualized Education Program," specifically for writing. Such programs are tailored to meet the academic needs of a student who struggles in a particular area for a variety of reasons.

It's hard to say when Carissa went from struggling with writing to eloquently expressing such powerful ideas, but a safe, respectful environment in which to share her writing aloud was probably a large part of it. If you ask Carissa, she'd say she wants to be a writer when she grows up.

Never underestimate the capacity of a child to think and express in profound ways. Never underestimate the power of a respectful and encouraging community to let individuals shine.

... makes me want to sit down with a nice cool glass of water. Or maybe half a glass ...
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Day 24 - As Luck Would Have It

1/21/2012

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:120121: Sometimes, a stint in the exercise yard is pleasant. There was a moment, this fall, when the figurative planets aligned. The end of October was going to bring with it the much anticipated Halloween celebration. Halloween always means much planning, preparation, and time. Time is something we have precious little of.

The biggest time sucker is, of course, the Haunted House. In order to make it deliciously creepy, we needed English Ivy and dried leaves aplenty. But fall happens very quickly. By fall, I mean the actual "fall"—that day, once a year, when all the leaves decide to relinquish their grasp on the trees. It seems as though one day there are only one or two leaves on the ground, and the next day there are only one or two leaves on the trees.

So, in this planet-aligning fall leaf timing scenario, here's what happened: I realized, all of a sudden, that today was Fall; all the leaves had hit the ground. They were also, miraculously, still dry. If you are familiar with the Pacific Northwest in fall (spring, summer, winter), you know that a dry day when you need a dry day is far from a guarantee (outdoor weddings with umbrellas can be charming). In fact, on this particular fall day, it was sunny. So there were all the leaves, just sitting there, still dry and crunchy and crinkly, and perfect for the haunted house still 3 weeks away.
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Ordinarily, this would cause me to pause just long enough to think to myself, "we should really collect some of those leaves while they're still dry," before rushing off to my next task. But on this particular sunny-dry-fall day, I had an entire half hour free. This is unheard-of. Free time is not a thing that happens.

I also realized there were some of our high school volunteers nearby, on "homework time." I knew that not all of them would be taking advantage of that time for its intended purpose, but these high school students are far from lazy. Inspiring Our Next Generation, these Irrationally Benevolent individuals are an Outstanding Volunteer Group. These folks are up for doing anything that benefits the program they love. We enjoy being brutally honest with them when requesting help for something unpleasant: "Who wants to help me carry something heavy and awkward uphill through some mud?" There are always more volunteers up for the task than the task requires.

Put all this together: Dry Fall Leaves. Sunny Day. Half Hour Free. Several Enthusiastic Helpers.

In 20 minutes, we had 10 huge garbage bags full of leaves for haunted house ambiance, stored under a building until they would be needed in three weeks.

I tried editing this photograph, because it has such interesting colors, but I wasn't able to do anything to it that I liked better than the original, straight out of the camera. Love that Acer.
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Day 22 - 9 Weeks Away

5/28/2011

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:110528: I escaped, for a few weeks. I didn't go very far, but everything is different there. It is physically, emotionally, and intellectually demanding, but my soul is at peace.

This time more than any other, I experienced pleasant week after pleasant week, with my peers consistently giving me and each other exactly what was needed at precisely the correct time.

And I laughed. Harder and longer than I have in a while. Every day.

I am exhausted; I am rejuvenated.
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Day 21 - The Catfish Knows

3/11/2011

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:110311: Even if I'm a good swimmer, my captors still make me follow all boat safety protocols.
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I spent nine months teaching (among other things) a Lake Study class to students from the Chicago area. Part of the class involved taking the students out on this pontoon boat, tooling around the lake for a bit, and doing some water quality tests through the trap door in the boat's floor.

Some students resisted the need for a personal flotation device, citing the hundreds of times they'd gone boating with their families when they weren't forced to wear one. My favorite incident featured the opposite reaction.

These boats were a bit finicky, and on this particular day, there was a crystal clear blue sky. The sun was shining, but it wasn't hot; it was a warm pleasant temperature. It seemed as though everyone in the area were out on the lake with their boats. I started up the pontoon boat with no problems, and handed off a radio to one of the employees scheduled to be on the dock that day, in case of emergencies.

As we pulled away from the dock a bit, I watched as the guy with my radio walked into the boat house and left the radio inside. He hadn't understood that I wanted him to carry it with him until we got back 45 minutes later. Oh well, we were out of earshot now.

In the middle of the lake, I cut the engine and we did our water tests. When I went to start the engine back up again, it wouldn't start. No problem, we had been trained for this. I tried everything. One of the parts of the engine that's supposed to, you know, move just wouldn't budge. It was completely stuck. I had no tools. 

But, here's the thing: worst case scenario is we sit on a boat in the middle of a huge gorgeous lake with a pleasantly warm sun beating down on us, and in an hour or so someone will realize we haven't come back yet and come get us. That was the absolute worst possible thing that could happen to us at that moment.

And yet, the students took this opportunity to freak out. They screamed at the top of their lungs repeatedly, "We're gonna die!" There was nothing I could do to console them. They insisted on screaming and waving their arms frantically at every boat that came marginally near us, hoping to be rescued from their predicament of having been stuck on a boat for 15 minutes. Finally, another boat came close enough to hear and towed us to shore.

I was really looking forward to my mini-vacation in the middle of the lake. Sadly, we made it back to the dock before anyone had noticed we were late. I hope those students were happy that they made it to their next class on time with no legitimate excuse to be late for it...
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Day 17 - Stuck to the Glass

2/23/2011

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:110223: When I was a young captive, I thought this would be the best job: cleaning the insides of the giant tanks at an aquarium, and holding yourself in place with a little suction-cup handle. I'm not sure what about it appealed to me so much...
For a while there, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Maybe it had something to do with that, although cleaning tanks is only obliquely related to marine biology. Maybe it was the free-floating aspect of it - the little suction-cup handle made it clear that without it, you'd have no leverage for cleaning the window and you'd float away. Maybe it was the appeal of being inside a photograph - the exotic colored fish in the impossibly green water wasn't real on this side of the glass, it was more like watching a movie. But on the other side of the glass, you were really there.

I can tell you now what doesn't appeal to me about that job. I don't really like the idea of not being completely surrounded by breathable air (which is why I'll never be an astronaut). I don't really like to have lots of people looking at me; performance gives me hives. I know I wouldn't be putting on a show or anything, but I also know that as an aquarium visitor, I'm much more interested in the window-washer than the fish. I don't really like to swim, nor do I like wearing the things you need to wear in order to swim—they're uncomfortable to wear, uncomfortable to put on, even more uncomfortable to take off when they're wet, and then putting on dry clothes afterward is uncomfortable, too.

Oh, and fish are creepy.

Good think I never became a marine biologist, eh?
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Day 15 - A Place to Put His Keys

2/15/2011

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:110215: My captors were looking at the newspaper today, and they noticed an interesting headline on the front page. "Hey, check this out! Pretty cool, huh?"

I looked at the picture where they were pointing. "Yeah! I made that!"

"What?"

"I made that. The vest, the shirt, the pants..."

Turns out, they were pointing to the article next to the picture, which made my comments not make any sense at all. The article they were referring to was also incredibly cool, and you should read that one, too.
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But what I saw was this:

My dear friend Loren Hoskins has gone and followed his dreams. He has been a professional pirate for quite some time now as "Captain Bogg" in the Portland-based (of course) pirate rock band, Captain Bogg and Salty. Every once in a while, he calls upon my garment-copying and modification skills to enhance his piratical wardrobe.

Recently, (OK, a while ago, but we're all just now finding out about it...) he and band-mate Kevin Hendrickson began writing music for the new Disney Channel series, Jake and the Never Land Pirates. The two fellas have such charisma and stage presence, that they became animated and live action characters in the series. How many people do you know who are Disney cartoons?

Anyway, Loren's live-action wardrobe matched his cartoon persona, but didn't look like it was going to withstand too many live performances. Loren commissioned me to craft some replacements out of sturdier materials, with lots of double stitching, and based on past costume pieces I already knew would fit Loren pretty well (like this vest, of which I have made several copies. Oh, and you can't see the vest or pants that well, but this is my all-time favorite Pirate Rock Star photo of Loren).

Also: pockets. I mean, this is Peter Pan after all; I can be Wendy and sew pockets for my Lost Boy. A live-action cartoon Disney pirate rock star's gotta have a place to put his keys, you know?

If you have the Disney Channel and a young toddler at home, watch Jake and the Never Land Pirates for the everything. If you have just the Disney Channel, watch it for the music, music videos, and endlessly entertaining performances of Loren and Kevin.

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Day 4 - Priorities

1/23/2006

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:060123: My captors just offered me a job. With benefits. I had no problem turning them down. Even with debt staring me in the face, and the prospect of paid vacations and inexpensive dentistry, I know where my priorities lie. My co-workers are nice people, and I probably wouldn't even have to interview, but sheesh... it's basically glorified data entry. This is kinda what the conversation sounded like:

Julie - "Do you want to do accounts payable for good?"
Me - "November through March?"
Julie - "No, all year."
Renée - "She's offering you a job."
Me - "My other job pays me more, I get to be outside, they feed me..."
Julie - "We'll pay you more. We'll give you benefits."
Renée - "Vacations, you can take vacations!"
Me - "I like to be outside."
Renée - "We can put your desk near the door, that's almost like outside."
Me - "It's not the same."
Renée - "You could go outside whenever you wanted."
Me - "That's a parking lot. I like having a job that requires me to hike 4 hours a day."
Renée - "We could get a treadmill."
Me - "It's not the exercise, it's the forest."
Julie - "We could take turns walking her."
Renée - "Whose turn is it to walk Lafcadio?"

They didn't really get it. It's not just the being outside, it's working for a company that doesn't do anything. It's retail. They don't help people grow, they don't conserve the planet, they aren't even for any sort of political cause. They just sell things. I might be able to justify a boring office job consisting of mundane tasks if I at least believed in what the company was doing with my services.

Staring at a spreadsheet, with no end in sight, for a retail store, wouldn't be worth all the benefits in the world. Not a bad temp job, though. Very temp. I did it for about 3 hours today. That should hold me for a while. Too bad those 3 hours didn't come with more pay and an eye exam.
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    "A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something sepa- rated from the rest—a kind of optical delu- sion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widen- ing our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
                                                         - Albert Einstein


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    Day 32 - Olympic Design
    Day 31 - Just a Little Shak
    Day 30 - Neil DeGrasse Tys
    Day 29 - State of Design
    Day 28 - No Human Being I
    Day 27 - The Glass Is...
    Day 26 - Apparently I'm An
    Day 25 - You Know You Sh
    Day 24 - As Luck Would Ha
    Day 23 - Hassle Free Holid
    Day 22 - 9 Weeks Away
    Day 21 - The Catfish Know
    Day 20 - Divided by Two
    Day 19 - Catch Rays on the
    Day 18 - The Power of the
    Day 17 - Stuck to the Glass
    Day 16 - Stay for the Georg
    Day 15 - A Place to Put His
    Day 14 - The View From Be
    Day 13 - Color Geek
    Day 12 - Minor Celebrity
    Day 11 - We've Been Waiti
    Day 10 - Obtuseness Abou
    Day 9 - From the List
    Day 8 - Wearing the Right
    Day 7 - I Heart the Olympic
    Day 6 - Back When
    Day 5 - Natural Selection a
    Day 4 - Priorities
    Day 3 - Epilogue
    Day 2 - Freefall
    Day 1 - Secret Treasure
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