Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The couple above got married here at the Foundation last Friday because he said that he would marry her if he could see again. And she (obviously happy with that idea) went on line and found out about the Foundation. I appreciate the video for many reasons - because I am happy for them (having found such happiness myself), because Mike and Perry do a good job of briefly describing the pain that I experience AND because you can see the "Eye Can See" quilt that I made in the background!
So - I go from here to the River House and hope to find some time using this blessing of sight that I have been granted to gaze into my lover's eyes - watch my son back flip off the dock and maybe even read a book.
How many ways can I say how lucky I am?
PS Mexico was too much to describe. I will not even try but will post a photo show later.
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Tuesday, May 06, 2008
This is Me:
"waa - waa - waa"
$4.00 each for gas / bread / milk / cereal
f*%!$ taxe$
bu$ted head ga$$ket
health in$urance
ba$ic need$ $tressed by finance$
Because I choose to live life without television or 24/7 radio, I go without the immediate and constant update feeds of news. I focus on my family and come to news more slowly unless I go specifically looking for it (American politics, financial news, home school education and the lesbian nation being a few examples of my daily news updates.) I see only the headlines and can pick and choose those stories that seem relevant to my life. It's my way of coping with global stress and war.
Even though the ruling government of 1989 changed the name of Burma to Myanmar - OUR government / press / average person on the street didn't really make that leap (either out of respect for the pro-democracy movement there or just ignorance). Of course I have followed the plight of the Burmese monks in their efforts to free political prisoners and have independent voices and freedom of religion. So when I saw the headline "Cyclone Hit Myanmar - 3,000 dead" I did not actually connect Burma to Myanmar. If I had, I would have guessed that the government was underestimating the damage. I would have guessed that the dense population of people living in rural coastal areas would have been devastated. So for those of you who are like me - here is the news. The question is - how shall we respond?
1/2 the population of the country is either dead, wounded, homeless or without basic supplies.
NY TIMES
(abbreviated - 5/6/08)
Click Here to Donate“Stories get worse by the hour,” one Yangon resident, who did not want to be identified for fear of government retribution..“No drinking water in many areas, still no power. Houses completely disappeared. Refugees scavenging for food in poorer areas. Roofing, building supplies, tools — all are scarce and prices skyrocketing on everything.”
Officials said they would open the doors of their closed and tightly controlled nation to international relief groups. So far, most foreigners and all foreign journalists have been barred from entering the country.
But witnesses and residents said the military had been slow to respond to the devastation of the cyclone....[me: it sounds so horribly familiar.]
Residents of the country, formerly known as Burma, said that... riot police officers had been patrolling the streets before the cyclone in a show of force that was more visible than their relief efforts afterward.
Nine months ago, security forces had fired into crowds, killing dozens of people, to disperse huge pro-democracy demonstrations led by monks, and in the months since, the government has carried out a campaign of arrests and intimidation.
State-owned television had reported early Monday that 3,934 people died in the cyclone, [and that] nearly 3,000 were missing, all of them from a single town, Bogale.
“What is clear..is that we are dealing with a major emergency situation, and the priority needs now are shelter and clean drinking water.”
A spokesman for the World Food Program (<--- this link goes to NY Times articles about the program) said the government of Myanmar, which severely restricts the movements and activities of foreign groups, had given the United Nations permission to send in emergency aid...
Exile groups said some residents had told them they were angry about the weak response of the military, which had seemed strong enough when the task was to crack down on citizens."
Dani and I each have a strong belief that the more we give, the better off we all are. In that same vein, if you know and want to help Brynna F. from fest - there is a current plea for help and you can contact me below. We give what we can where we can and try to juggle what is left here at home.
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So I have been in the studio (fi-nal-ly!!) after a long home schooling day. I just never know how things are going to go. I have a rough outline of what I plan to teach (and an awareness of what a fifth grader is "supposed to know" according to the "No Child Left Standing" hoops) but it often morphs.
...OK so today I was asking Pk what he wanted to learn and what he was, in fact, learning when he wasn't doing academics (because we are always learning, aren't we?) He told me about skateboarding videos that he watched on You Tube. As always, he would rather show me than explain in words. He brought the skateboard out and showed me an "ollie" (when the skateboard gets flicked with all four wheels off the ground) and then he showed me the same move except that when it landed, it was slightly forward. He called it an "ollie north". Well -
It was time for a history and civics lesson (including Mr. Iran/Contra himself) with a little bit of "how technology changed politics in the 80s" peppered in as I explained cable television and C-Span live coverage of Congressional hearings. Then we brought it back to You Tube and how, in a VERY similar way, You Tube videos are are changing the sport of skateboarding (and politics for that matter but I didn't mention it.) Kids can watch slow motion videos so that they can practice at home before hitting the I-gotta-be-cool skate parks. He was able to compare the two technological changes and how they might affect (for better or for worse) each generation.
We moved from history to the skill of "compare and contrast" in which he took his knowledge of an 11 year old on the phone in 1978 and put it up to an 11 year old communicating today - 30 years later. Interesting insights while gaining valuable skills.
Finding relevance is a tall order these days.
Math using the sports car + sales tax divided by 60 month loan with % interest was a hit last week. We'll see how his "Biography of 50 Cent" goes. I think we will all learn something on that one.
Umm. Holding pattern. Must call doctor's office AGAIN to reschedule the CT. Maybe I am not being clear or maybe there is a reason that I keep getting sent to the place I used to get the CTs done. I do not know.
I can still hear my breathing. Well - I could today anyway. And I could not keep up with my friends while walking yesterday. Blah. Other than that - I feel great.
Except for the blown head ga$ket. But that is another story. Maybe I should start skateboarding.
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