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Impetuous
Article posted January 29, 2010 at 05:11 AM GMT0 •
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I am a fraidy cat with an impetuous streak. I will spend weeks, months, even years contemplating something before I actually try it out. For instance, when the suffocation of a small town life quickly closed in upon me, I applied for a job in Yellowstone National Park. Sure, it wasn’t the big city, but one rash decision to alter what proved to me a mundane summer proved to be the best time of my life. I met people from all over the world. I also met my husband. I saw so many natural wonders. I felt alive every day of my life. Now fast forward to the times when I have felt less than alive. Those are the times when I talk myself about of doing new things.
That impetuous streak extends to the monotony of all aspects of my daily life. I work, I teach because it's what I've chosen to do, but not a day, an hour, or on some days, even a minute goes by that I don't yearn a little bit to have the guts and ambition to try to truly be a writer. Alas, fraidy cat status sets in. The balance is always so precarious.
One thing I do know for sure (to borrow some phrasing from Dorothy Allison) is that my mind is my greatest treasure and my greatest enemy. I spend so much of my life thinking about life that sometimes I forget to live it. Again, these phases come and go.
The flaws we find in ourselves come from how others react to us. How many times has someone pointed out that I don't talk a lot? My inward response is that I probably don't just have anything worth saying. So many people just prattle on. I can prattle on paper and in typing, but am so impatient with talking. Thoughts and ideas just seem more real when on the page.
But back to that impetuous streak... I have so many anecdotes that don't match-up with others' perceptions. So be it. Within all of us resides many versions of the self.
Perhaps my greatest weakness of all is that I reign in that impetuous streak. I sabotage my own happiness. We all do to a degree, but awareness is half the battle.
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Article posted January 29, 2010 at 05:11 AM GMT0 •
comment • Reads 241
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Who Decides?
Article posted October 9, 2009 at 04:11 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 1458
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I am purposely not detailing what happened in the movie, as that is your task as a student. I am using this blog to provide additional tid-bits of information in case someone needs a blog to respond to.
It’s hard to believe that “legal” government-sanctioned practices could take Australia’s aboriginal children away to re-education camps in the 1930s. Alas, the history of the human race is that of one group always wanting power over another. Denying groups of people civil rights seems to make the world go round. Of course, most of us are more familiar with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s where schools became integrated and Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of the bus.
What do these issues have to do with the modern age? Put yourself in the shoes of someone (man, woman, or child) who comes to our country and is told by some that they must learn English now. That they must become Americanized now. That they must abandon their culture and become part of the American melting pot now. The English Only movement on many levels is a misunderstanding what constitutes cultural identity. Learning a language is an involved process that takes years. Saying that foreigners are lazy does not look the full picture. Another side to the coin is the fear that motivates those who want everyone to speak and act American.
Rather than waste energy being against each other and vying to make one group more like the one in power, why not learn to appreciate differences. Yes, the world has come a long way. I am thankful to be living at the dawn of the 21st century—a time when humanity is starting to get a few things right. Rather than look down upon someone who is outside the status quo, isn’t it time to extend our hands in unity?
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Article posted October 9, 2009 at 04:11 AM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 1458
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Flying Fish
Article posted September 13, 2009 at 10:30 PM GMT0 •
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I stared into the yellow ceramic bowl in utter disbelief. Did one of the cats somehow pluck the red beta fish from its temporary abode? Unlikely. Troxel is declawed and Luka is too fat to leap directly onto the kitchen counter where the bowls sat. The blue beta still floated languidly in his bowl, probably gleeful that its nemesis had magically disappeared. Peering around, I saw no fish body hidden behind the coffee maker or tucked beneath the coils of the front burner on the electric stove. So without knowing what else to do, I stared back into the empty bowl.
That is when Matt announced, “There it is.” We both stopped to stare at the crusty body of the beta, which was lying on the linoleum, directly in front of the AC vent, but mercifully free from the throw-rug, which would have zapped even more precious moisture from its body. “It’s a goner. Look at it.”
“No, pick it up.” And so Matt did. Immediately upon hitting the water, the red beta sprung into motion. I knew they were hardy fish, and after a stint googling info about betas, I found out they breathe from the surface, so as long as they don’t totally dry out, they can be out of water for quite a few hours. Granted, the fish listlessly dwelled on the bottom of its fish tank for a week and a half after its escape, but now he’s as good as new.
Not a claw mark or tooth mark marred its body. So how did the fish manage such a leap? He was a good four of five feet from the bowl when he found him on the floor. What went through his little fishy brain at the moment he decided to leap? Did he weigh out the pros and cons? No, he just leapt to free himself from the cramped cereal bowl. Leapt into freedom and the formidable unknown.
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Article posted September 13, 2009 at 10:30 PM GMT0 •
comment (2) • Reads 534
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I teach Creative Writing, English 9, and English 10 at Melba High School.
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