Kindness is the love in your heart being expressed out in the world. Having love in your heart is the best feeling in the world, and expressing it (through action, of course) increases the feeling of love in your heart. It begets itself, it reproduces in others like a virus, it is a great goodness. One person can infect a lot of others. Be your own little patient zero of a love epidemic by practicing maximum kindness!
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Friday, July 17, 2020
2020
Some cosmic Charlotte is weaving the words, "Some Year" into her web. Someone else is calling it the Anus Miserables (sic). And of course, comets are mythical harbingers of doom. Let's hope this one was just a little late rather than on time. And in my lifetime, this is the biggest and brightest comet. Because the events of biblical proportion are piling up. Plague. Locust (Africa and India). Flooding (China). Racial unrest. [The Killer Hornets weren't actually legit]. Sounds scary.
So, in our lives, we all have these crazy years where big things lead to major upheavals. And many of those have affected us individually more than this year has. A marriage and/or a first child, a life threatening disease or injury that takes us out of commission for an extended period of time. A religions epiphany that utterly upends things. Hitting bottom in an addiction and going through rehab and being sober. Lots of different ways our lives can be turned upside down. But collectively, this is "The Big One." Nothing has had this much of an impact in this little of a time on this many people, so that makes it unique. WWI and WW2, given the whole scope certainly rivals today, so far. As did, perhaps, the Great Depression. The pandemic of 1918-19? Not sure. But here we are, finding ourselves living through a historic moment. Enjoy it! Make it memorable! Deal with it! Embrace the suck, if in fact, your life is really sucking because of it (and many are, but many aren't). Mine, for example, is pretty chill, no major headaches so far, and I know that's a privilege and a gift.
So, in our lives, we all have these crazy years where big things lead to major upheavals. And many of those have affected us individually more than this year has. A marriage and/or a first child, a life threatening disease or injury that takes us out of commission for an extended period of time. A religions epiphany that utterly upends things. Hitting bottom in an addiction and going through rehab and being sober. Lots of different ways our lives can be turned upside down. But collectively, this is "The Big One." Nothing has had this much of an impact in this little of a time on this many people, so that makes it unique. WWI and WW2, given the whole scope certainly rivals today, so far. As did, perhaps, the Great Depression. The pandemic of 1918-19? Not sure. But here we are, finding ourselves living through a historic moment. Enjoy it! Make it memorable! Deal with it! Embrace the suck, if in fact, your life is really sucking because of it (and many are, but many aren't). Mine, for example, is pretty chill, no major headaches so far, and I know that's a privilege and a gift.
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Open Eyes, Change your World
It's not like I opened my eyes so much as you opened my eyes,
You kept them squinty in my younger days, reared in invisible homogeneity,
Maybe a little Charlie Pride and Jimmy in the background,
You gave me a brain that dug science, humans weren't that exciting then to me.
Out there in the middle up by Canada, with nothing but books and a little TV
And a movie or two to show me something different,
They didn't even let me watch Roots -- too young, doncha know
But for me, that little wasn't enough, I wasn't thoughtful enough about that stuff
Because I never had to be, it was all out there in a state far far away and long ago
Entertainment, ideas learned like a language that you don't use, faded fast,
In the few incidents I was forced to face it, that time in that bar in Mississippi
Or was it Alabama? Louisiana? It was easy to forget without skin in the game
Like a broken finger after it heals, no big deal and good enough after
You'd throw something a little spectacular now and again,
But erratic and sporadic wasn't enough to make me feel you, you know
Rodney King came and went, then you sent OJ and Trayvon, the others between,
The conversation would flow and ebb, as regular as a tide, rocking me to sleep?
Didn't really register long term because me and my life didn't have the bandwidth
No doubt at every moment I'd've answered the questions with the right answer,
But intellect is not emotive, and so it remained theoretical because privilege,
Which I didn't ask for or even know I had, intellectual empathy is a fallacy,
I brushed you off in favor of my favorite endeavors, education and science
I had no idea it was right there on the other side of a gossamer film until...
You were right there now, and with time and normal abrasion, it shredded,
I could see you right there, and still! it was like a slow boil and other things,
Always the distractions, albeit compelling ones like family, job, avocations.
But you maybe got impatient years later, and threw us all in a blender,
Tied me down with coronavirus with too much time on the laptop,
Grabbed my head, turned it left and said look at George Floyd now, motherfucker,
"See? Do you feel me now?"
And because Rona roughed us all up and pried me open a little, got vulner-able,
I felt it enough this time, with the time to sit with it at home not working so much,
And me, because you let me have some time with those people before,
Those people I love from my teaching days in high school in central San Diego
Knowing now that was another (reverse) privilege not everyone gets
But everyone of privilege deserves, just as every everyone deserves my privilege.
You finally opened my eyes and let it go into my head, and this time pass through
To the rest of me, the legs and arms, and that's why this time it's different for me,
Taking me fifty-odd years to see and feel what no one should have to feel and that
Thirteen point four percent of us grok by age ten, insofar as a ten year old (or less)
Can fathom four hundred years of oppression on a people
So easy to say, "400 years of oppression," but knowing it's made up of the daily,
Continual and inexorable moments of mistreatment, part of the air in America.
As much as I can see this part, it's beyond my ken, and what little I do,
Tells me this is my
You kept them squinty in my younger days, reared in invisible homogeneity,
Maybe a little Charlie Pride and Jimmy in the background,
You gave me a brain that dug science, humans weren't that exciting then to me.
Out there in the middle up by Canada, with nothing but books and a little TV
And a movie or two to show me something different,
They didn't even let me watch Roots -- too young, doncha know
But for me, that little wasn't enough, I wasn't thoughtful enough about that stuff
Because I never had to be, it was all out there in a state far far away and long ago
Entertainment, ideas learned like a language that you don't use, faded fast,
In the few incidents I was forced to face it, that time in that bar in Mississippi
Or was it Alabama? Louisiana? It was easy to forget without skin in the game
Like a broken finger after it heals, no big deal and good enough after
You'd throw something a little spectacular now and again,
But erratic and sporadic wasn't enough to make me feel you, you know
Rodney King came and went, then you sent OJ and Trayvon, the others between,
The conversation would flow and ebb, as regular as a tide, rocking me to sleep?
Didn't really register long term because me and my life didn't have the bandwidth
No doubt at every moment I'd've answered the questions with the right answer,
But intellect is not emotive, and so it remained theoretical because privilege,
Which I didn't ask for or even know I had, intellectual empathy is a fallacy,
I brushed you off in favor of my favorite endeavors, education and science
I had no idea it was right there on the other side of a gossamer film until...
You were right there now, and with time and normal abrasion, it shredded,
I could see you right there, and still! it was like a slow boil and other things,
Always the distractions, albeit compelling ones like family, job, avocations.
But you maybe got impatient years later, and threw us all in a blender,
Tied me down with coronavirus with too much time on the laptop,
Grabbed my head, turned it left and said look at George Floyd now, motherfucker,
"See? Do you feel me now?"
And because Rona roughed us all up and pried me open a little, got vulner-able,
I felt it enough this time, with the time to sit with it at home not working so much,
And me, because you let me have some time with those people before,
Those people I love from my teaching days in high school in central San Diego
Knowing now that was another (reverse) privilege not everyone gets
But everyone of privilege deserves, just as every everyone deserves my privilege.
You finally opened my eyes and let it go into my head, and this time pass through
To the rest of me, the legs and arms, and that's why this time it's different for me,
Taking me fifty-odd years to see and feel what no one should have to feel and that
Thirteen point four percent of us grok by age ten, insofar as a ten year old (or less)
Can fathom four hundred years of oppression on a people
So easy to say, "400 years of oppression," but knowing it's made up of the daily,
Continual and inexorable moments of mistreatment, part of the air in America.
As much as I can see this part, it's beyond my ken, and what little I do,
Tells me this is my
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Kid's Going to School
You remember that scene in the Titanic after it sank and the survivors (so far) are looking for a little flotsam to hang onto? It feels a little like that. And we're already tired. That's district and school staff trying to figure out how to open next year.
People who know kids best, and people who know what happened during the first stab at distance learning with their students' behavior, attitude and academic performance are going to try to figure out how best to have school this year.
They're teachers and school administrators and parents (teachers and administrators have their own kids in school, too, you know). And they know about running a school, although in the circumstances, they're just using their best judgment to navigate this newness. They also don't want to get sick with coronavirus. They don't want your kids to get it and take it home.
Based on that, and wanting to teach your kids the best they can, they're going to come up with some solutions (there are a million ways to do this). Most plans I've heard include more than one option for parents. If you think principals aren't stressed out of their minds and overwhelmed, guess again. We're ALL in over our heads, trying to find a lifeboat.
So, about that, chill out and do what you need to do for your family. Stay informed, your school/ district website for the latest. If your kid's (or kids') school(s) have a choice you can live with, take it. If you need to put your kid in a different school, or enroll them in a charter that matches your preferences, or home-school them, or or find a private school or something else that better suits their/your needs, then just do it and don't waste your time regretting or second-guessing yourself. There are no right answers here (just like life in general). There are just different choices. We all have different comfort levels for risk, and different situations at home. But, be thoughtful. You know your kids (ask them, listen to them, talk about it a lot) but you make the decision for the younger ones. Respect their struggles and needs and wants, but that doesn't mean you give in to unhealthy choices for them. Time to adult, again.
This won't be easy for anyone.
And if you change your mind when school starts, do what you can to change the your situation. How can you know now what it will actually be like when it starts? I don't. Here's what won't help: shrill anger, blaming, wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth, despair, worry, ignorance. Here's what will: forbearance, fortitude, flexibility, knowledge, understanding, tolerance, grace, informed conviction, self care for you and your family.
You can make your voice known, participate in the planning if you can, network, discuss it with other parents, teachers, others. Don't let someone make you feel bad about your choice, but keep your mind open to other possibilities as you learn more. And here's wishing you a dollop of good luck.
People who know kids best, and people who know what happened during the first stab at distance learning with their students' behavior, attitude and academic performance are going to try to figure out how best to have school this year.
They're teachers and school administrators and parents (teachers and administrators have their own kids in school, too, you know). And they know about running a school, although in the circumstances, they're just using their best judgment to navigate this newness. They also don't want to get sick with coronavirus. They don't want your kids to get it and take it home.
Based on that, and wanting to teach your kids the best they can, they're going to come up with some solutions (there are a million ways to do this). Most plans I've heard include more than one option for parents. If you think principals aren't stressed out of their minds and overwhelmed, guess again. We're ALL in over our heads, trying to find a lifeboat.
So, about that, chill out and do what you need to do for your family. Stay informed, your school/ district website for the latest. If your kid's (or kids') school(s) have a choice you can live with, take it. If you need to put your kid in a different school, or enroll them in a charter that matches your preferences, or home-school them, or or find a private school or something else that better suits their/your needs, then just do it and don't waste your time regretting or second-guessing yourself. There are no right answers here (just like life in general). There are just different choices. We all have different comfort levels for risk, and different situations at home. But, be thoughtful. You know your kids (ask them, listen to them, talk about it a lot) but you make the decision for the younger ones. Respect their struggles and needs and wants, but that doesn't mean you give in to unhealthy choices for them. Time to adult, again.
This won't be easy for anyone.
And if you change your mind when school starts, do what you can to change the your situation. How can you know now what it will actually be like when it starts? I don't. Here's what won't help: shrill anger, blaming, wringing your hands and gnashing your teeth, despair, worry, ignorance. Here's what will: forbearance, fortitude, flexibility, knowledge, understanding, tolerance, grace, informed conviction, self care for you and your family.
You can make your voice known, participate in the planning if you can, network, discuss it with other parents, teachers, others. Don't let someone make you feel bad about your choice, but keep your mind open to other possibilities as you learn more. And here's wishing you a dollop of good luck.
Friday, May 29, 2020
Joe Biden - Stop Talking. Start Walking.
Joe Biden, you want to be the President of the United States? Start acting like it. I heard your talk today. Talking is not enough. Convene your "commission to end racism and poverty" now. You don't need ------- permission to act; as an American, you can organization to do good. Just ------- do it. And if you don't become the President, continue leading your commission. Bring together all those leaders hungry for a leader, people who ------- care: the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, the Republicans for The Rule of Law, NAPO and IUPA, and more. They're doing their work in their areas, and it needs to continue. But you: bring them together, create the plan, execute the plan. The time for talking is past. The time for planning and acting is now. You want to be the President? Start acting like it. The one we have won't, and you're doing a lot of yakking. "Enough," you said. Why am I not hearing the news blabbing on about your outrageous moon-shot plan to end racism? Why am I not hearing the talking heads at Fox News mocking you for your Quixotic Manhattan Project effort to save the world? DO NOT WAIT until the election. The best election campaign is to stop wasting your breath and start doing something. You want to be the President and bring us together? Don't wait. Bring your party leaders together, reach across the ------- aisle and bring the Republicans to the table. Get Al Franken back in the game. Get Senators and Representatives of color in the room. How about your old friend from the White House back in the day? And the whites, too! Give me a call, I have some time on the weekends. Me and the kids can chip in. Break up into sub-committees of interest, create a ------------- action plan, and start acting! And don't give us ------- excuses about why you have to wait, don't tell us you're busy with a campaign and everything else.
Give people another reason to vote for you besides "you're not Trump."
And while you're at it, do the same thing for the #MeToo movement. I don't know if Tara Reade is a real thing, but if it WERE true, what would you do to make it better (because even if you really didn't do anything, that scenario is true way too often for way too many)? Do it. A person can have two projects. If you became President, you would have even more to do. Of course you can't solve it all in one fell swoop, but, ----- ------, start the first fell swoop. And make it fell. You can be a part of making America great in a way that we have never actually been (as a whole): how we treat the oppressed. (Is that the opposite of ball-cap MAGA?) LEAD NOW, ------------! ------------- COURAGE or sit down!
Give people another reason to vote for you besides "you're not Trump."
And while you're at it, do the same thing for the #MeToo movement. I don't know if Tara Reade is a real thing, but if it WERE true, what would you do to make it better (because even if you really didn't do anything, that scenario is true way too often for way too many)? Do it. A person can have two projects. If you became President, you would have even more to do. Of course you can't solve it all in one fell swoop, but, ----- ------, start the first fell swoop. And make it fell. You can be a part of making America great in a way that we have never actually been (as a whole): how we treat the oppressed. (Is that the opposite of ball-cap MAGA?) LEAD NOW, ------------! ------------- COURAGE or sit down!
Monday, May 11, 2020
Mental Disorders
Inspired from this article in Nature, posted by my friend, Randy.
In it, I came across the diagram below and it begs a few important questions that I'd need a medical health diagnostic expert to help me answer. First, having worked with a lot of autistic students over the years, and knowing that many experienced an elevated level of anxiety, why the very small linkage between those two disorders? Once someone was diagnosed with ASD, did they then attribute any anxiety to that disorder and so drop Anxiety? Same question with OCD? How are people with ASD not highly correlated with OCD which is prevalent among them?
Also, it makes sense that PTSD would not necessarily be closely related to any of the genetic dispositions since its root cause is mainly/primarily an event or situation that caused the trauma and was mostly causal, which would naturally not be a genetic marker.
In it, I came across the diagram below and it begs a few important questions that I'd need a medical health diagnostic expert to help me answer. First, having worked with a lot of autistic students over the years, and knowing that many experienced an elevated level of anxiety, why the very small linkage between those two disorders? Once someone was diagnosed with ASD, did they then attribute any anxiety to that disorder and so drop Anxiety? Same question with OCD? How are people with ASD not highly correlated with OCD which is prevalent among them?
Also, it makes sense that PTSD would not necessarily be closely related to any of the genetic dispositions since its root cause is mainly/primarily an event or situation that caused the trauma and was mostly causal, which would naturally not be a genetic marker.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Honey, Relax. We're all going to get it.
This virus will get to us all eventually. It's just who and when, which are both interesting questions. Say you're old and vulnerable. Do we lower your odds enough so you can live to the fullest (if your current living status counts as that for you) before it eventually gets you and does you in (or not). Or, do you infect yourself NOW while you're just young enough to fend it off, hopefully, and then live a nice long resistant life after that? At what age are we most likely not to come out of it healthy? Does that matter? If you're my age (coming up on mid-50s), I'd say I want to be infected now because there's a good chance with my history, that I can come out of it OK. Yes, there's a risk that it'd kill me and I don't know what that is yet, because we're not able to test everyone yet. (Let's get on that by the way, so we can. And while we're at it, let's figure out the post-infection immunity situation -- do I become immune when I recover or what? Come ON! Again, I know that's going to be a function of testing everyone). So threading that needle between those getting it, it's a crapshoot anyway. How long do you want to wait before you get sick? How much older? 1 year? 5 years? So far, it looks like we're not coming close in most areas to reaching anywhere near capacity in our ability to treat the disease with what we have or can get, should the situation escalate. How will the second wave look? Don't know. But will loosening (not removing) the quarantine put us on a better trajectory -- meaning more cases than we have not but still not enough to overtax our resources.
Second big picture: Why does not being able to do business (for small businesses) or work (for people) for 2 months totally blow the coop? Are we individually and are our institutions really that fragile that they cannot last 60 days of not working before they can't pay their bills? And what about the landlords. For those who are sucking off the juice of another, are they so overextended and living so far out of their means that they can't go 60 - 90 days without getting their rent from paying customers? What is going on in this country? What the hell?
Second big picture: Why does not being able to do business (for small businesses) or work (for people) for 2 months totally blow the coop? Are we individually and are our institutions really that fragile that they cannot last 60 days of not working before they can't pay their bills? And what about the landlords. For those who are sucking off the juice of another, are they so overextended and living so far out of their means that they can't go 60 - 90 days without getting their rent from paying customers? What is going on in this country? What the hell?
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