So i have this teacher who used to struggle with our class a lot. He's cool now, but for awhile, I could see him struggling to connect with us, to just find a way to make us all stop being crazy, sex-crazed, loud, obnoxious, annoyingly-clever, sadistic, sarcastic, sardonic high school students. Here's the story I wrote for him:
Inhale Exhale (a.k.a: what I shouldn't be doing because I'm in math right now)
I could see it in his eyes; in the way he walkd, talked, shook his head in sheer frustration. I could see his mind reeling back to old, forgotten memories. They were never really forgotton were they? They were buried back in his sub-conscious and his chosen profession had just brought them back to life.
He must have been the second grader who the big kids picked on because his backpack was taller than he was, because his hair covered too much of his face and plastered to his sweaty forehead when he ran for PE; because he couldn't quite reach the doorknob and constantly forgot his lunch money.
"Where's your lunch money?" The teacher asked and he shrugged. Mom was away in Ohio and dad was cutting into decomposing bodies. The kind teacher pulled out her wallet, "you can buy lunch with this today," she offered.
He reached out to take it, a thought crossed his mind,
'rotting flesh and organs in shiny, clear jars.'
"I'll just have crackers." He retracts his hand back slowly and rns out forgetting the crackers all together. He was always picked last, he couldn't kick a ball, he couldn't jump and he couldn't run fast wihtout stopping to take a number of large breaths.
He inhales.
He's running from his own thoughts chasing him as he provides us with notorious directions.
He exhales.
His thoughts have caught up with him now and they're scolding and taunting him.
"Wouldn't you rather be somewhere else?"
He inhales.
"No." he looks at his students, eager to one day lead lives of their own. "No, I want to be here." He argues against himself.
He exhales.
He would rather be in a field reading a book.
He inhales
His mind, like his classroom, is slowly morphing into a battlefield and all the soldiers are taking this places.
He exhales.
His goals seemed to be rotting away with the old, mangled corpses labeld 'John Doe 67215.'
He inhales
Suddenly his studnets are looking down at him, laughing at him. They snicker and sneer and all of sudden he finds himself back at a familar place; a place where he stands in the outfield waiting for the ball. He hears the crack of the bat and he's running again -- faster than ever, but he's not going anywhere. He stops to breathe -- inhale, exhale, stop. He repeats the pattern.
Inhale, exhale, stop.
He looks at us with fear and vulnerability.
Inhale, exhale, stop...
He holds his breath.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Make Me Skinny
They say that Paris is finally embracing the reality of the world of diversity, but are they really? The argument over whether or not models should take on a little more shape has been in a contraversal state for quite sometime now. While people around the world are clearly realizing that body shapes vary, how much is the fashion world acknowledging it?
A lot of this contraversy was brought on by the pressure in young girls to be thin. Articles claim that there are even online sites that you can find that will give you advice on how to hid your eating-habits from your parents and those around you. In my opinion, this is wrong. There is no reason why these girls shouldn't accept their bodies! By bringing more shapely models to the runway, maybe the pressure to be thin will go down, but what about designers like Karl Lagerfeld who isn't so satisfied with this comprimise? Maybe they should just cope through this one, embrace the new and diverse.
Much of Europe and especially France pride themselves on fashion. A home to the houses of couture. Paris is a city of arts; more than in the sense of on a canvas, but the fabric and the textiles become the canvas and your design an artistic masterpiece. Perhaps they have a point, who tells an artist how big his/her canvas should be? Some may argue that high-fashion isn't meant to be worn on the street -- it is an art.
However, maybe it is a time for change. It is a good time for these artists/designers to bring new shapes onto the runway. Paris Fashion Week maybe a good time to begin; the runway this year occupied by women of many sizes. There is a chance that these new figures will provoke more inspiration, a new genre of the art, a new sight and a new perspective to the observers.
A lot of this contraversy was brought on by the pressure in young girls to be thin. Articles claim that there are even online sites that you can find that will give you advice on how to hid your eating-habits from your parents and those around you. In my opinion, this is wrong. There is no reason why these girls shouldn't accept their bodies! By bringing more shapely models to the runway, maybe the pressure to be thin will go down, but what about designers like Karl Lagerfeld who isn't so satisfied with this comprimise? Maybe they should just cope through this one, embrace the new and diverse.
Much of Europe and especially France pride themselves on fashion. A home to the houses of couture. Paris is a city of arts; more than in the sense of on a canvas, but the fabric and the textiles become the canvas and your design an artistic masterpiece. Perhaps they have a point, who tells an artist how big his/her canvas should be? Some may argue that high-fashion isn't meant to be worn on the street -- it is an art.
However, maybe it is a time for change. It is a good time for these artists/designers to bring new shapes onto the runway. Paris Fashion Week maybe a good time to begin; the runway this year occupied by women of many sizes. There is a chance that these new figures will provoke more inspiration, a new genre of the art, a new sight and a new perspective to the observers.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Gum
There are a lot of reasons to chew gum. For example...to cure bad breath, or (apparently it) helps you to think better in school. That's only two, but I'm sure I could list more, but here's the thing, there's probably a million reasons why you shouldn't chew gum as well.
For example, if you chew it unconsciously, sometimes you smack it loudly, it gets in your hair (I've had a friend fall alseep with gum in her hair), also it looks awful during interviews.
So your interviewer says: what makes you think you are qualified for this position?
and the interviewee will say: *smack* *smack* well, *bright green wad being tossed around mouth, smack* I think...
and the interviewer will look at you like this:
word of advice, just don't do it.
Another this is gum at school and in class. Okay, do teachers really, really, really care? (Maybe some language teachers do, it's incredibly hard to pronounce some things in russian and croatian or even french with that wad of gum stuck behind your gums!) Most likely, they don't. The only reason they do care, is because gum ends up all over the bottom of desks, and on the floor and like in other miscellaneous places. Students and teachers step on it, and when they're moving desks grab it and it's just plain gross.
NOBODY LIKES THAT.
So that's why they take away our gum chewing privlages. The real question is why can't the gum chewers just take their damn wads of gum and throw them out in the trashcan like civilized beings? It's hardly close to difficult. Honestly, by spitting your gum out on the floor or sticking it under your chair or your desk, on your chair or in the vent of the heater, you make it so that the rest of us can't chew gum in class.
For example, if you chew it unconsciously, sometimes you smack it loudly, it gets in your hair (I've had a friend fall alseep with gum in her hair), also it looks awful during interviews.
So your interviewer says: what makes you think you are qualified for this position?
and the interviewee will say: *smack* *smack* well, *bright green wad being tossed around mouth, smack* I think...
and the interviewer will look at you like this:
word of advice, just don't do it.
Another this is gum at school and in class. Okay, do teachers really, really, really care? (Maybe some language teachers do, it's incredibly hard to pronounce some things in russian and croatian or even french with that wad of gum stuck behind your gums!) Most likely, they don't. The only reason they do care, is because gum ends up all over the bottom of desks, and on the floor and like in other miscellaneous places. Students and teachers step on it, and when they're moving desks grab it and it's just plain gross.
NOBODY LIKES THAT.
So that's why they take away our gum chewing privlages. The real question is why can't the gum chewers just take their damn wads of gum and throw them out in the trashcan like civilized beings? It's hardly close to difficult. Honestly, by spitting your gum out on the floor or sticking it under your chair or your desk, on your chair or in the vent of the heater, you make it so that the rest of us can't chew gum in class.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Education Cuts in California
California needs to face reality. We like to look at ourselves as the way "education ought to be." California, according to statistics, ranks as number 48th for the amount of money spent on education. Incase you didn't know, there are 50 states in the U.S, #48 is not a number to boast about.
It is necessary for California to recognize the need to change. Our public universities ranked #1 in the world are now suffering from lack of funds, packed classes that people can not get into because they're full. Our elementrym middle and highschool's are suffering as well.
California must recognize the need for prison reform. Calfornia may be short on good schools but they certainly have no shortage of prisoners. California has legal policies that make us end up with an unecessary number of criminals in prisons and jails packed tight as clowns in a VW Bug. It is understandable that the state is trying to keep its citizens safe. However, is the state so sure that this is what is going to keep the state safe that they can not modify the prison laws at all? There is a rule, for example, that if one commits grand-theft (yes, I am aware that grand-theft is serious, but just wait) three times then one is sent to prison for life. Are you sure there is not an alternate solution for that?
Our classes are suffering; that is the truth. Highschool classrooms are loaded with students who don't want to be there, who don't want to learn the material and feel that school and education is forced upon them (by the way, this is not the problem). The difference with universities and colleges is that they're classrooms (save for a few) consist mostly of students who are there because they want to be. Cutting down on education funds reduces the number of classes availible in colleges and universities and fewer students intrested into attending.
Look at it this way; students are the future. We will be the people who start new buisnessess, the people who innovate and invent new technology, we are the ones who will continue to handle the global climate crisis, handle epidemics, research for cures to terminal illnessess -- don't send us out there (into the world) confused as where to begin.
Prison reform is needed. Education is a necessity.
It is necessary for California to recognize the need to change. Our public universities ranked #1 in the world are now suffering from lack of funds, packed classes that people can not get into because they're full. Our elementrym middle and highschool's are suffering as well.
California must recognize the need for prison reform. Calfornia may be short on good schools but they certainly have no shortage of prisoners. California has legal policies that make us end up with an unecessary number of criminals in prisons and jails packed tight as clowns in a VW Bug. It is understandable that the state is trying to keep its citizens safe. However, is the state so sure that this is what is going to keep the state safe that they can not modify the prison laws at all? There is a rule, for example, that if one commits grand-theft (yes, I am aware that grand-theft is serious, but just wait) three times then one is sent to prison for life. Are you sure there is not an alternate solution for that?
Our classes are suffering; that is the truth. Highschool classrooms are loaded with students who don't want to be there, who don't want to learn the material and feel that school and education is forced upon them (by the way, this is not the problem). The difference with universities and colleges is that they're classrooms (save for a few) consist mostly of students who are there because they want to be. Cutting down on education funds reduces the number of classes availible in colleges and universities and fewer students intrested into attending.
Look at it this way; students are the future. We will be the people who start new buisnessess, the people who innovate and invent new technology, we are the ones who will continue to handle the global climate crisis, handle epidemics, research for cures to terminal illnessess -- don't send us out there (into the world) confused as where to begin.
Prison reform is needed. Education is a necessity.
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