2011, Brave New Dystopia?

Maureen pointed me to this article by Chris Hedges about our two most famous dystopias, Brave New World and 1984. The gist of the article is that our society is moving from the Brave New World of hedonistic pleasing thyself to the brutal fear and hollow compliance of 1984.

One of the methods used to slide us in that direction is the reliance upon technology and the "new" that numbs us until we don't care what happens as long as we're entertained in the process. As a teacher I am frightened by the number of students that haven't read a book, but are connected to their iPhone constantly, a computer that keeps them up-to-date with national and world facts through Facebook and Youtube, and their movie watching that keeps the local corporate cineplex in the black. The students seem numbed to any voice other than what they are electronically fed. They remind me of Odysseus' companions after Circe is finished with them. Except there is no magic potion of herbs, just technology. And once that transformation begins, then what?

Once the techno-induced entertainment transforms us into the numb followers, then the corporations can complete their takeover. Do you think politicians and government are really concerned about its citizens? They have the power and they want more for the sake of having the power, not to help the populace. Think through the latest tax credits and legal machinations of our bureaucracies. Think of who really has profited from the housing debacle. Does the middle class really benefit from what has happened? Forget benefiting, do they even survive?

Two articles in today's Visalia Times-Delta illustrate the difference in how people think. In a recent AP-GfK poll 2 out of 3 (60% to 31%) Baby Boomers believe that they will outlive the Medicare health system they pay to support. The other article outlines how top executives in the University of California system, those making over $245,000 a year, are threatening to sue the the UC if their pension is not increased 5%. "The university estimates that agreeing to the hike would add $5.5 million yearly to its already $21.6 billion unfunded pension liability." (AP) On top of this is a "$51 million one time fee to make the increases retroactive to 2007."(AP)

Who do you think our leaders are thinking of?

Just a Reminder

Where to properly put things.

Rain, Rain, Stay Some More

It's raining in sunny California as I type. We had 4" of rain from last Friday to Monday yesterday. Historically the same amount that fell in 1955 over a similar time period that created the floods that led to Terminus Dam and Kaweah Lake being built.

Seattle did have a few inches more than we did, but not many. People around this desert of Tulare County aren't used to rain. Highway 198 was closed for a few hours Sunday afternoon and night because of rain runoff that flowed into the new sunken section of the highway, just as it was designed to do.

I have tried not to let the rain hinder my activities, but I have been awake inside my house more than usual. With the chillin' home it hasn't been a bad thing. When I do get out I wear a hat. For those that wear glasses you know the reason. For those that don't rain is a dripping pain on our glasses, leading to constantly wiping the glasses. The hat I wear around the suburban plot is the palmetto or palm leaf hat that is great sun protection as well as rain blocker. I bought it at a local western wear store as it's the latest cowboy hat craze. One of the palmetto's qualities is the leaf's ability to absorb water and swell helping it to be water repellent. The water absorption also aids in shaping it. Which I did shortly after purchase to make it less cowboy and more Franciscan friar. Not that I am intending to be such, just wanted a flat brim hat to keep the sun off my dome.

Which all leads me to the discovery today of mold growing on my hat from the damp weather. Maybe this global warming change is making Exeter into a Seattle weatherwise.

The D Street Gang Is Home!

'Tis the season and this chap is pleased that the family is under one roof. Most of the time. The D Street Garvers are "in the house" from points North and East. Those that never left, but wanted to, are here as well. And those that left, but came back, are here and in near wedded bliss.

What more does a person deserve?

Two to Think About

From the wonderful Susan Issacs.

Two More Days

And we will be finished with the first term of this school year. It has been quite a year with the schedule change leading the pack. Add to this multiple changes in teachers and students that don't like the change, and the pot is frothing. Some of the ensuing adjustments with the change don't appear to have been thought through fully. But que sera, sera.

I am looking forward to the Christmas break. Wilson is home and Sam will be here in a week. Brad is happy working and engaged. Having all of the D Street Garvers home will be good for the soul. Though Wilson has been home a sum of about 6 hours total in the last three days he's been here in Cali.

I am looking forward to some rest and reading and wood cutting for the fire that should blaze all break.

Oh, yeah. I'm going back to my "default schedule" in January, 2 ELD and 1 PE class. Fourth change in my teaching schedule this year. I will enjoy Christmas.

Are We Soft?

"Men sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

George Orwell

I've used this quote before, but I've been thinking of Sam lately and it seems more apropos now. He is half way through the following, except it is three weeks long now.

New Directions

Another week has come and gone. It's funny how as a teacher the time gets chunked into weeks. I used to think, before I became a teacher, that teachers existed only at school. No thought to what they did on the weekend, or what they were outside of the school grounds. I now realize school is not the only element in my life. I did learn just like a small child playing peek-a-boo by covering their face, I do have a life on weekends.

The fries shown above were grown, prepared and cooked by Maureen. They were monsters out of the ground and I/We at the 'Zoo have come to like sweet potato fries.


They grow stealthily in the parkway, then plop onto plates after some effort by Maureen, and satisfy a not too greasy craving.

I grew up in a house that didn't eat sweet potatoes, at least not like this. It's one of the life changers that has come out of our suburban sharecropping project. There are many things we do differently, and I guess it's just a natural progression from our thoughts of how to adapt to the changing community around us. The Corolla adaptation, if I go through with it, is another example.

Along those lines I'd like to take up fishing. What I did in my younger days doesn't really count much. I can gut and clean a fish, but what I'm talking about is going to Kaweah Lake on a fairly regular basis and catching fish, hopefully trout, for food. Doesn't a grilled trout taco sound great? The key is to remember the joy of fishing is no greater than the joy of eating. Hunting is another avocation I'd like to pursue. But I've come across a new twist to these activities and others.

Maybe my filters are set higher than before, but every endeavor has new technological advances that one must possess to accomplish the task at hand. This doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for. There is a blinding array of choices that one has to wade through to find what is needed. Even then one is not sure we've made the right choice because of the myriad of different options available. I know I'm a dinosaur in many ways, but how about a simple metal edged ski with some sidecut, 3 pin bindings and some leather boots? Why do fishing poles come in so many lengths? Do I really need to have four or five different poles and reel set ups? I just want to fill my taco with some meat.

In looking at these enterprises I get the feeling I'm being sold a lifestyle instead of tool that helps me live better. I need to remember to use the tool, not become a tool of a company.