Sunday, March 20, 2011
Moving my politics to a new home
I've realized that I need to move my political posts to a new home. An occasional rant is okay, but the way America is going, I'm going to have much more than an occasional political post. I will stick to knitting on this blog from now on. Political stuff can be found at A Teacher's Reflection from now on.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Follow-Up to My Last Post
I am both apalled and outraged by the cowardly action of the Wisconsin Republican Senators and their ringleader, Scott Walker. Using an unethical, and probably illegal, method, they passed their discriminatory anti-union bill without having a single Democratic vote. The 14 Democratic Senators are still out of state, and they weren't even advised of the vote, much less present for it.
Their actions are completely un-American. I can't believe anyone growing up in America, with all the benefits that confers on us, would participate in what is clearly a power grab by an arrogant Republican, who seems ready to use any methods to consolidate all power in his hands, and use that power to destroy the middle class, their state constitution, the environment, and turn Wisconsin into a Corporate State. Portions of that law give Walker the right to sell, without any oversight from anyone, any energy plant he wants, to allow the use of public land for any purpose he desires. It strips every public employee, except the police and firemen (whose unions support(hopefully that is past tense, now) Republican candidates, of any union benefits.
Republicans made sure that the Wall St. companies honored their contracts to give employees enormous bonuses, saying we had to allow them to do that so that they could continue to entice the "best and brightest" people to work for them. What a crock. Their "best and brightest" already managed to crash the US economy. The Republicans wanted to make sure they paid those villains millions of dollars so they can do it again? But teachers, nurses, health care workers, custodians ~ Republicans don't think they're worth honoring. Cut their pay, take away their unions, fire them for any reason whatsoever ~ like demonstrating against this sickening display of arrogance? ~ it's okay to do that. They're only the middle class. Republicans don't have any interest in them. Middle class people aren't rich enough to be considered, I guess.
I am just sick over this. No matter what party you belong to, I hope you realize what this means to America. It's the end of the middle class, if we allow this attack to succeed. Remember that old saying, "First they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish so I didn't protest. Then they came for the Catholics, and I wasn't Catholic, so.... And then they came for me, but there was no one left to protest."
Their actions are completely un-American. I can't believe anyone growing up in America, with all the benefits that confers on us, would participate in what is clearly a power grab by an arrogant Republican, who seems ready to use any methods to consolidate all power in his hands, and use that power to destroy the middle class, their state constitution, the environment, and turn Wisconsin into a Corporate State. Portions of that law give Walker the right to sell, without any oversight from anyone, any energy plant he wants, to allow the use of public land for any purpose he desires. It strips every public employee, except the police and firemen (whose unions support(hopefully that is past tense, now) Republican candidates, of any union benefits.
Republicans made sure that the Wall St. companies honored their contracts to give employees enormous bonuses, saying we had to allow them to do that so that they could continue to entice the "best and brightest" people to work for them. What a crock. Their "best and brightest" already managed to crash the US economy. The Republicans wanted to make sure they paid those villains millions of dollars so they can do it again? But teachers, nurses, health care workers, custodians ~ Republicans don't think they're worth honoring. Cut their pay, take away their unions, fire them for any reason whatsoever ~ like demonstrating against this sickening display of arrogance? ~ it's okay to do that. They're only the middle class. Republicans don't have any interest in them. Middle class people aren't rich enough to be considered, I guess.
I am just sick over this. No matter what party you belong to, I hope you realize what this means to America. It's the end of the middle class, if we allow this attack to succeed. Remember that old saying, "First they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish so I didn't protest. Then they came for the Catholics, and I wasn't Catholic, so.... And then they came for me, but there was no one left to protest."
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Political Post, so you may want to avert your eyes
Well, hopefully you won't, but who knows? I think anyone who reads my blog knows I lean liberal, politically. I voted for Obama, and I'll likely vote for him again. I support the Health Care Reform he got passed. I think he's too careful, and too in love with the "bipartisan" bit, but I still support him.
And given what's happening in Wisconsin, I hope many, many more people will begin to support him, as well. The national media isn't really covering it, but Gov. Scott Walker is busy creating his own fiefdom in Wisconsin. He has pushed through, with the connivance of the Republicans in their legislature, laws that give the governor unprecedented power. Suddenly, he gets to make all the rules for the departments that carry out the laws passed by the legislature. The legislature doesn't get to approve those rules until after the governor has approved them. The elected heads of the departments of Justice and Education are now subject to having their rules approved by the governor. Medicaid has been turned over to a Walker appointee who has publically stated many times that Medicaid should be abolished. The heads of the state assembly, state senate, and state police are members of the same family, and Walker just made the "daddy Fitzgerald" the top cop in the state. Walker gave himself the power to sell off power plants at will, in no-bid sales, without review by anyone. Same with public lands. Walker has closed access to the Wisconsin capitol, in direct violation of a court order, then "reopened" it with draconian police presence (not the local police, who refuse to become "palace guards" ~a direct quote from the head of the Dale County police), subjected people who want to enter the building - not an office or the voting chambers, just come in - to pat downs, metal detectors, police escorts, no freedom to move about without that escort. Talk about intimidating! Talk about unconstitutional! Even the state constitution states unequivocably that access to the capitol building must never be limited in any way.
So, my question is, why aren't the national media covering this? They've paid some attention to the protests over the union-busting attack by Walker, but the rest of his power grab seems to be under the national radar.
For some Republicans, their gains in the midterms have been overblown to become a mandate for them to gut government programs, to change the rules to give them more power, to do away with regulations that protect the public in favor of businesses with no incentive to ensure clean air, clean water, environmentallly sound practices. I doubt that many of the voters were actually approving most of that. The last election was about anger, anger at the recession, anger at the goverment which didn't seem able to make the recession go away. I understand that. I felt that anger for more than 8 years as I watched the last president create that recession, with unjustified wars, with cronyism in energy policies and even in conducting the war. I was very, very angry. The Bush administration trampled the Constitution into the ground, and with its pro-business, anti-public bent, allowed businesses to do what businesses always do when they aren't held responsible ~ they wrecked the economy. Just in time to give that wreck to a Democrat, who they promptly blamed for it. Just as a reminder ~ the Recession began in 2008, Obama took office in 2009. And every step that Obama took to repair the damage was opposed by the Republicans. Regulate Wall St.? Regulations are bad! cry the Republicans. Spend some money to create jobs, keep schools open, prevent people from losing their homes and jobs and futures? Spending money is bad, especially if it goes to middle class or poor people! cry the Republicans. But wait! Let's give tax breaks to people, let them keep more money themselves. One catch ~ tax breaks only go to people earning more than a million dollars. The Republicans loved that. One problem, however. Those tax breaks balloon the deficit, which is the new 'watchword' of the Republican party. The deficit is BAD! We have to cut spending right now! We have to decimate programs that provide food for the poor, that provide nutrition counselling for pregnant women and newborn babies. We have to cut all funding for the EPA, for Planned Parenthood, for education, for regulatory agencies that might hamper businesses from doing what they want to do. That tax break for millionaires was okay, but feeding poor people isn't. Letting women have access to health care isn't.
If you care about democracy, if you care about the ability of the middle class to continue, if you care about decent jobs that respect the workers, about clean water, clean air, access to National Parks, access to your government representatives, then it is time to step up and speak out. The "Republican" agenda is disastrous for anyone not a CEO or a millionaire. Don't be taken in by the words of senators or representatives that insist that their actions are all about taking care of you. Their actions are all about taking care of themselves and their wealthy friends. Don't let America become a third world nation, led by an insular elite for their benefit. It's never too late to stand up and say, "Wait! We don't do that in America!"
And given what's happening in Wisconsin, I hope many, many more people will begin to support him, as well. The national media isn't really covering it, but Gov. Scott Walker is busy creating his own fiefdom in Wisconsin. He has pushed through, with the connivance of the Republicans in their legislature, laws that give the governor unprecedented power. Suddenly, he gets to make all the rules for the departments that carry out the laws passed by the legislature. The legislature doesn't get to approve those rules until after the governor has approved them. The elected heads of the departments of Justice and Education are now subject to having their rules approved by the governor. Medicaid has been turned over to a Walker appointee who has publically stated many times that Medicaid should be abolished. The heads of the state assembly, state senate, and state police are members of the same family, and Walker just made the "daddy Fitzgerald" the top cop in the state. Walker gave himself the power to sell off power plants at will, in no-bid sales, without review by anyone. Same with public lands. Walker has closed access to the Wisconsin capitol, in direct violation of a court order, then "reopened" it with draconian police presence (not the local police, who refuse to become "palace guards" ~a direct quote from the head of the Dale County police), subjected people who want to enter the building - not an office or the voting chambers, just come in - to pat downs, metal detectors, police escorts, no freedom to move about without that escort. Talk about intimidating! Talk about unconstitutional! Even the state constitution states unequivocably that access to the capitol building must never be limited in any way.
So, my question is, why aren't the national media covering this? They've paid some attention to the protests over the union-busting attack by Walker, but the rest of his power grab seems to be under the national radar.
For some Republicans, their gains in the midterms have been overblown to become a mandate for them to gut government programs, to change the rules to give them more power, to do away with regulations that protect the public in favor of businesses with no incentive to ensure clean air, clean water, environmentallly sound practices. I doubt that many of the voters were actually approving most of that. The last election was about anger, anger at the recession, anger at the goverment which didn't seem able to make the recession go away. I understand that. I felt that anger for more than 8 years as I watched the last president create that recession, with unjustified wars, with cronyism in energy policies and even in conducting the war. I was very, very angry. The Bush administration trampled the Constitution into the ground, and with its pro-business, anti-public bent, allowed businesses to do what businesses always do when they aren't held responsible ~ they wrecked the economy. Just in time to give that wreck to a Democrat, who they promptly blamed for it. Just as a reminder ~ the Recession began in 2008, Obama took office in 2009. And every step that Obama took to repair the damage was opposed by the Republicans. Regulate Wall St.? Regulations are bad! cry the Republicans. Spend some money to create jobs, keep schools open, prevent people from losing their homes and jobs and futures? Spending money is bad, especially if it goes to middle class or poor people! cry the Republicans. But wait! Let's give tax breaks to people, let them keep more money themselves. One catch ~ tax breaks only go to people earning more than a million dollars. The Republicans loved that. One problem, however. Those tax breaks balloon the deficit, which is the new 'watchword' of the Republican party. The deficit is BAD! We have to cut spending right now! We have to decimate programs that provide food for the poor, that provide nutrition counselling for pregnant women and newborn babies. We have to cut all funding for the EPA, for Planned Parenthood, for education, for regulatory agencies that might hamper businesses from doing what they want to do. That tax break for millionaires was okay, but feeding poor people isn't. Letting women have access to health care isn't.
If you care about democracy, if you care about the ability of the middle class to continue, if you care about decent jobs that respect the workers, about clean water, clean air, access to National Parks, access to your government representatives, then it is time to step up and speak out. The "Republican" agenda is disastrous for anyone not a CEO or a millionaire. Don't be taken in by the words of senators or representatives that insist that their actions are all about taking care of you. Their actions are all about taking care of themselves and their wealthy friends. Don't let America become a third world nation, led by an insular elite for their benefit. It's never too late to stand up and say, "Wait! We don't do that in America!"
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Knitting content
I'm still slogging away at that beautiful pullover on 3s, but it's going slowly since my mind cramps after more than an hour of working on those small needles. I've been reading lots of knitting books and magazines, lately, and I've found several patterns that I adore. I ordered yarn for two of them on Webs, and I'm just waiting for it to arrive. (I was hard pressed to stop at only two yarns, and I did slip in one skein of a yarn I want to try, but I was tough and checked out with only two sweaters worth of yarn and that one single skein.)
The single skein I bought is a Rowan yarn, and the yarn specified for one of the patterns I've bookmarked, called Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky. Expensive yarn, but beautiful. I've also found it on Ebay, at a slightly lower price (well, $3 cheaper per skein), but before I spend a fortune on it, I decided to try it out on my needles. It's a very wooly looking yarn, and I think it makes the sweater, but again, I do live in SoCal. It's been cold here, lately ~ nights in the high 30s to low 40s, afternoons in the 60s. We almost made 70 yesterday! These temps aren't likely to last, however, and wooly yarn and hot days don't make a good marriage. So, I'm going to get one skein and decide if I love it enough to knit it knowing it won't get much use here.
Many of the knitting magazines are already focusing on spring/summer projects. To me, those are year-round projects for the most part. Hats, mittens, scarves aren't really needed here, and winter issues seem to be filled with those items. What I wouldn't give for a knitting magazine that published spring/summer patterns year round.
Having said that about hats, I have to admit I'm going to be casting on for one or two in the next week. I was reading Knitorious today, and she mentioned a hat-knitting project with political meaning. Check it out. I love this idea!
As a result of reading all those magazines, my project list is growing a lot larger. I need to find a way to organize all the patterns I want to make. And please, don't tell me Ravelry. I don't want to just list them on a website. I want a way to physically organize them, so they're all in the same place, with the pattern and any supplies I've got for the project. And considering how large my yarn collection is, possibly with the yarn for that project as well.
I thnk I need to take a month off work and spend it all organizing my knitting life. And having two months in the summer isn't really helpful, since it's generally so very hot that even handling yarn becomes unbearable at times. March or April would be ideal, but that's not possible, sadly. Maybe I'll have to work out a schedule devoting one night a week to organizing. Of course, first I'll need to find a place to organize it all into. Or maybe I'll just think about organizing it all until I finally move out of this apartment, which is too small for me. (Heh, 2 1/2 bedrooms for just me, and it's too small!) I seriously need to move, but I also seriously need to downsize my many collections (books, yarn, fabric, cooking tools, magazines, school-related materials, . . . . ) Maybe what I really need is to just stop buying things. Well, except for food, of course. But everything else that is part of any existing or possible future collection. Just say no!
So, as I sit here eagerly anticipating the delivery of my Webs order, I'll start working up a budget for myself that severely restricts my spending. Wish me luck!
The single skein I bought is a Rowan yarn, and the yarn specified for one of the patterns I've bookmarked, called Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky. Expensive yarn, but beautiful. I've also found it on Ebay, at a slightly lower price (well, $3 cheaper per skein), but before I spend a fortune on it, I decided to try it out on my needles. It's a very wooly looking yarn, and I think it makes the sweater, but again, I do live in SoCal. It's been cold here, lately ~ nights in the high 30s to low 40s, afternoons in the 60s. We almost made 70 yesterday! These temps aren't likely to last, however, and wooly yarn and hot days don't make a good marriage. So, I'm going to get one skein and decide if I love it enough to knit it knowing it won't get much use here.
Many of the knitting magazines are already focusing on spring/summer projects. To me, those are year-round projects for the most part. Hats, mittens, scarves aren't really needed here, and winter issues seem to be filled with those items. What I wouldn't give for a knitting magazine that published spring/summer patterns year round.
Having said that about hats, I have to admit I'm going to be casting on for one or two in the next week. I was reading Knitorious today, and she mentioned a hat-knitting project with political meaning. Check it out. I love this idea!
As a result of reading all those magazines, my project list is growing a lot larger. I need to find a way to organize all the patterns I want to make. And please, don't tell me Ravelry. I don't want to just list them on a website. I want a way to physically organize them, so they're all in the same place, with the pattern and any supplies I've got for the project. And considering how large my yarn collection is, possibly with the yarn for that project as well.
I thnk I need to take a month off work and spend it all organizing my knitting life. And having two months in the summer isn't really helpful, since it's generally so very hot that even handling yarn becomes unbearable at times. March or April would be ideal, but that's not possible, sadly. Maybe I'll have to work out a schedule devoting one night a week to organizing. Of course, first I'll need to find a place to organize it all into. Or maybe I'll just think about organizing it all until I finally move out of this apartment, which is too small for me. (Heh, 2 1/2 bedrooms for just me, and it's too small!) I seriously need to move, but I also seriously need to downsize my many collections (books, yarn, fabric, cooking tools, magazines, school-related materials, . . . . ) Maybe what I really need is to just stop buying things. Well, except for food, of course. But everything else that is part of any existing or possible future collection. Just say no!
So, as I sit here eagerly anticipating the delivery of my Webs order, I'll start working up a budget for myself that severely restricts my spending. Wish me luck!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A New Year, A New Perspective
"Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail." That's the quotation on my blog today. I admit, I'm a quotation junkie ~ I get an email every day with one (related to education), I own a Bartlett's, as well as several other books of quotations, and I have a growing Word document filled with random quotations I've found. I make small posters of some of them to post in my classroom.
This one, the one on my blog today, spoke to me. I've been feeling, to be honest, too much like that "world's my jail" lately. I've been letting the outside, or at least part of it, determine my inside, and I have to stop doing that.
It's easy to succumb to that. I mean, there's a lot going on in the world that intrudes in some way on my consciousness. Bad news is always available. Gloom lurks. Despair is gearing up for a banner year. It's a precarious year for a thinking, feeling person. The shootings in Tucson. The level of hate used in communicating almost anything these days. The continuing attacks on public education, on teachers, on teacher unions, on all unions. Our seeming inability to rein in the easy access to guns ~ any gun, anybody, anytime is not a slogan I think the world needs, or can survive. Arizona decides that transplants are a luxury, so patients on death watch, waiting for a transplant, formerly covered by Medicaid, are turned out, told they have to pay for it with their own money (like someone receiving Medicaid has money. Duh!) And now they are dying, waiting for sanity to intervene. And other states are getting ready to follow suit. States with Republican governors and assemblies. Who screamed about "death panels" in the (Democratic) Health Care Act. Who knew they thought death panels were a good thing? Even the news, in the NYTimes today, that greed has come to microlenders ~ those "banks" that lend to the very, very poor have suddenly decided that they can make a profit from that by raising the interest rates and going public. Never mind that the poor can't manage the new interest rates and have begun to default on the loans. Dollar signs are blinding the lenders, again. I mean, really, what is wrong with us? Why do we do these things to ourselves?
I've decided, though, to invest my time and energy in the creation and use of several mental filters. To change my perspective. To escape from that "jail" I've let the world create. Instead, only the things I do, personally, determine my "palace". This is, obviously, a work in progress. My heart still aches for Christina Green and the other 5 who died a week ago. I'm pulling for Gabby Giffords' recovery. I'm still funding Kiva loans. I'm still political, in speech and action. I'm still teaching in a public school, and spending my own money to supplement the decreasing dollars available to the school to educate other people's kids. I'm just changing the way I look at the world, the way I let it impact me. I think I'm developing a much healthier, more sustainable perspective. Only time will tell.
This one, the one on my blog today, spoke to me. I've been feeling, to be honest, too much like that "world's my jail" lately. I've been letting the outside, or at least part of it, determine my inside, and I have to stop doing that.
It's easy to succumb to that. I mean, there's a lot going on in the world that intrudes in some way on my consciousness. Bad news is always available. Gloom lurks. Despair is gearing up for a banner year. It's a precarious year for a thinking, feeling person. The shootings in Tucson. The level of hate used in communicating almost anything these days. The continuing attacks on public education, on teachers, on teacher unions, on all unions. Our seeming inability to rein in the easy access to guns ~ any gun, anybody, anytime is not a slogan I think the world needs, or can survive. Arizona decides that transplants are a luxury, so patients on death watch, waiting for a transplant, formerly covered by Medicaid, are turned out, told they have to pay for it with their own money (like someone receiving Medicaid has money. Duh!) And now they are dying, waiting for sanity to intervene. And other states are getting ready to follow suit. States with Republican governors and assemblies. Who screamed about "death panels" in the (Democratic) Health Care Act. Who knew they thought death panels were a good thing? Even the news, in the NYTimes today, that greed has come to microlenders ~ those "banks" that lend to the very, very poor have suddenly decided that they can make a profit from that by raising the interest rates and going public. Never mind that the poor can't manage the new interest rates and have begun to default on the loans. Dollar signs are blinding the lenders, again. I mean, really, what is wrong with us? Why do we do these things to ourselves?
I've decided, though, to invest my time and energy in the creation and use of several mental filters. To change my perspective. To escape from that "jail" I've let the world create. Instead, only the things I do, personally, determine my "palace". This is, obviously, a work in progress. My heart still aches for Christina Green and the other 5 who died a week ago. I'm pulling for Gabby Giffords' recovery. I'm still funding Kiva loans. I'm still political, in speech and action. I'm still teaching in a public school, and spending my own money to supplement the decreasing dollars available to the school to educate other people's kids. I'm just changing the way I look at the world, the way I let it impact me. I think I'm developing a much healthier, more sustainable perspective. Only time will tell.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Good bye to 2010
It's officially the last day of 2010, albeit very early on that day. I can't say I'm going to miss this year very much. While no major catastrophe happened, in all this just wasn't my year. I didn't knit very much, although I bought enough yarn to knit every day for years, all of which just got added to my collection. (Remember, I'm not calling it a stash anymore.) Money was tight, but not really tight. It's a struggle saving nearly a thousand dollars a month just to cover my "summers off" (read unpaid planning time for those two months, in reality). I still don't understand why my district won't go to a 12-month cycle, instead of a 10-month one.
My health was lousy this year. February saw the start of my knee problems, which continue to this day. I got only one nasty case of whatever was decimating my class, although they went through 3 cycles of it. And of course, just before Thanksgiving, I fell in my classroom, badly spraining my left foot, which put me in bed during the week off for Thanksgiving. Then, I fell going down the stairs at my apartment on Christmas day, carrying packages to my car. My own fault, couldn't see where I was going, and missed a step. I prided myself on not damaging a single package, and not landing on my left knee or foot. However, I spent a miserable Christmas night, worried that I'd sprained or broken my right foot. I wrapped it firmly in an ace bandage, and had to sleep with my right leg bent at the knee, with my foot flat on the bed (not a good position for sleeping, I can now verify), but come morning, it was much better, and it hasn't caused me any trouble since. The only reminder of it are the scabs on my right foot, where I scraped all the skin off it in the fall. Not pretty, but not particularly painfull.
I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted or needed to this year. I seriously need to get my life more organized. My apartment is overflowing in books, knitting magazines, yarn, and school-related items. I need more closet space for my clothing. I need more cupboard space for my kitchen items. I need to get everything organized and put away in its place. (Once I figure out what those places are.) I think I actually need to find a new place to live. One with more room, on the ground floor. The thought of packing up, though, makes me nauseous. I think I'm going to channel a little Scarlett O'Hara and just think about that tomorrow, though.
Politically, this wasn't the year I'd hoped it would be. Obama accomplished a lot, but not enough, and he certainly hasn't found his defining idea yet. He's too concerned with bipartisanship, and not concerned enough with getting his goals accomplished. And the coming year isn't going to be any easier. Harder, in fact, with the "Just Say No" Republican party taking over the House. His compromises make the nay-sayers look better. It's time he stood his ground, and let the Republican party be seen for what it is, these days. All that screaming about the deficit, and how it was killing America, and what do the Republicans demand? Tax cuts for millionaires. Tax cuts for the wealthy inheritors of million-dollar estates. Which of course added billions to the deficit. But you don't hear any Republicans talking about that, now. Gingrich did this "just say no" bit back in the 80s. Shut down the government, even. But his "Contract with America" didn't turn out well for him, since Clinton ended up looking much better, and the Republicans looking very bad, indeed. Obama should stand his ground, and let the Republicans show the American public exactly what they're after. Anybody paying attention to what's coming out of the Republican leaders knows that America isn't synched up to it. And most of us realize that, unfortunately, raising taxes is going to be necessary to save ourselves from ourselves.
California, thankfully, elected the right governor, although I don't envy Jerry the state our state is in. We honestly need to scrap the state constitution and write a new one. And if we have any sense, we'll omit that part that says anyone at all can put a measure on the state ballot that casts certain revenues or expenditures in stone, and removes the Assembly's ability to manipulate funding to match need. Or that tries to amend the state constitution to discriminate against one group of citizens. The initiative process has made governing California nearly impossible, between tying up funds, raising voting numbers for passing any sort of revenue-generating process, and spending millions on lawsuits fighting initiatives that are flat out wrong. (And no, it isn't just the latest gay-bashing initiative that we've paid out for. There was that lovely little initiative not too many years ago that tried to turn priests, pastors, teachers, etc, into immigration agents. Imagine anyone telling me I have to turn in the names of my students to immigration, if I'm not sure their parents are here legally. Not in this lifetime! That was one law that I fully intended not to obey. Fortunately, the courts ruled it illegal for a variety of reasons, so I didn't get to go to jail for civil disobedience.) California schools can't take any more budget cuts, folks. We need a new, sane, state constitution.
So, all in all, this wasn't a year I'm going to look back fondly on. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good, either. I don't do resolutions, and I'm not betting on anything, either. But, I am hoping that 2011 is a better year. We need one.
My health was lousy this year. February saw the start of my knee problems, which continue to this day. I got only one nasty case of whatever was decimating my class, although they went through 3 cycles of it. And of course, just before Thanksgiving, I fell in my classroom, badly spraining my left foot, which put me in bed during the week off for Thanksgiving. Then, I fell going down the stairs at my apartment on Christmas day, carrying packages to my car. My own fault, couldn't see where I was going, and missed a step. I prided myself on not damaging a single package, and not landing on my left knee or foot. However, I spent a miserable Christmas night, worried that I'd sprained or broken my right foot. I wrapped it firmly in an ace bandage, and had to sleep with my right leg bent at the knee, with my foot flat on the bed (not a good position for sleeping, I can now verify), but come morning, it was much better, and it hasn't caused me any trouble since. The only reminder of it are the scabs on my right foot, where I scraped all the skin off it in the fall. Not pretty, but not particularly painfull.
I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted or needed to this year. I seriously need to get my life more organized. My apartment is overflowing in books, knitting magazines, yarn, and school-related items. I need more closet space for my clothing. I need more cupboard space for my kitchen items. I need to get everything organized and put away in its place. (Once I figure out what those places are.) I think I actually need to find a new place to live. One with more room, on the ground floor. The thought of packing up, though, makes me nauseous. I think I'm going to channel a little Scarlett O'Hara and just think about that tomorrow, though.
Politically, this wasn't the year I'd hoped it would be. Obama accomplished a lot, but not enough, and he certainly hasn't found his defining idea yet. He's too concerned with bipartisanship, and not concerned enough with getting his goals accomplished. And the coming year isn't going to be any easier. Harder, in fact, with the "Just Say No" Republican party taking over the House. His compromises make the nay-sayers look better. It's time he stood his ground, and let the Republican party be seen for what it is, these days. All that screaming about the deficit, and how it was killing America, and what do the Republicans demand? Tax cuts for millionaires. Tax cuts for the wealthy inheritors of million-dollar estates. Which of course added billions to the deficit. But you don't hear any Republicans talking about that, now. Gingrich did this "just say no" bit back in the 80s. Shut down the government, even. But his "Contract with America" didn't turn out well for him, since Clinton ended up looking much better, and the Republicans looking very bad, indeed. Obama should stand his ground, and let the Republicans show the American public exactly what they're after. Anybody paying attention to what's coming out of the Republican leaders knows that America isn't synched up to it. And most of us realize that, unfortunately, raising taxes is going to be necessary to save ourselves from ourselves.
California, thankfully, elected the right governor, although I don't envy Jerry the state our state is in. We honestly need to scrap the state constitution and write a new one. And if we have any sense, we'll omit that part that says anyone at all can put a measure on the state ballot that casts certain revenues or expenditures in stone, and removes the Assembly's ability to manipulate funding to match need. Or that tries to amend the state constitution to discriminate against one group of citizens. The initiative process has made governing California nearly impossible, between tying up funds, raising voting numbers for passing any sort of revenue-generating process, and spending millions on lawsuits fighting initiatives that are flat out wrong. (And no, it isn't just the latest gay-bashing initiative that we've paid out for. There was that lovely little initiative not too many years ago that tried to turn priests, pastors, teachers, etc, into immigration agents. Imagine anyone telling me I have to turn in the names of my students to immigration, if I'm not sure their parents are here legally. Not in this lifetime! That was one law that I fully intended not to obey. Fortunately, the courts ruled it illegal for a variety of reasons, so I didn't get to go to jail for civil disobedience.) California schools can't take any more budget cuts, folks. We need a new, sane, state constitution.
So, all in all, this wasn't a year I'm going to look back fondly on. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good, either. I don't do resolutions, and I'm not betting on anything, either. But, I am hoping that 2011 is a better year. We need one.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
The Holidays
I am officially done with Christmas shopping. I still have wrapping to do, and in my niece's present's case, some cutting and tying (yes, I opted for the hand-tied fleece throw), but I don't have to leave home to do any of those things. I was able to order the Lego kit my sister-in-law wanted online, and it should be arriving this week. But my nephew isn't getting cooking lessons. His mom called me at 6:30 Thursday morning, hoping I hadn't gotten the lessons confirmed (I hadn't), because her son was begging for a particular Lego kit, which they hadn't gotten for him. I tired to order that online, as well, but it was backordered, and wouldn't ship for 30 days. And I didn't want to put a picture of it in a box, along with a note saying it was coming soon. So, I called the nearest Lego store, and bought one over the phone, to pick up. This is how much I love my nephew ~ the Lego store is inside the Ontario Mills Mall, a nightmare mall, to me. It's got 8 entrances, and it's sort of circular, but with random angles, and there are stores along the outside wall, and stores forming an inside circle. The first time I ever set foot inside this mall was with a group of friends who thought it would be fun. Heh. We got so completely lost we had to get security to help us find our way out of the mall and back to our car. I'm so not a mall kind of person.
So, I called my sister-in-law and told her she would have to go with me to get her son's desired gift. She's as much into Legos as he is, and I knew she'd know exactly where the store was, and what entrance to use, etc. And she did. We were in and out in no time!
I have tutoring two days this coming week, and my kids and I are performing Thursday night at the school's Christmas program. (It was the upper grades' turn to do the Christmas program) We're singing three songs, no religious ones, just fun ones. "Nothing Says Christmas Like a Pair of Socks", "We Need a Little Christmas", and "Deck the Halls". My kids really wanted the Deck the Halls song for some reason. Turns out some of my kids have decided that they really, really like We Need A Little Christmas, though. I got to hear them humming it all day on Friday while they worked on other things.
So, I've got 3 days of practice, two days of tutoring, two performances (one at night for parents, one on Friday morning for the school), one party, and then, at last, two weeks off! I still have Christmas cards to write for my colleagues, and two presents to wrap up for two of the teachers I'm really close to before the end of this week, but I'm putting off any wrapping, cutting, or tying for the family until this week is over. My students, like all students, are totally wired by now, and so ready to be on vacation. It's a struggle to get them to sit still even for 5 minutes. While this is understandable, and cute, even, it still makes this last week a very stressful one, especially with the added pressure of performing in the Christmas show. I'll be off early on Friday (it's a minimum day for both students and staff), and right now I'm planning on coming straight home and going to bed.
In other news, I had to take an early afternoon at work right after Thanksgiving to get down to my local courthouse to apologize for failing to show up for Jury duty. With the sprained ankle and all, I completely forgot to call and postpone it, and further forgot that I was supposed to report bright an early the Monday after Thanksgiving. I was on my way to the car at 4:30 Monday when it hit me that I'd just blown it off. They take jury duty very seriously here, and when you don't show up, they will often come out and arrest you for failure to appear. (We had a few years where it was hard to make up a jury because of a lack of jurors, so they got really deadly serious about it.) They also don't accept most excuses for getting out of it anymore, either. Self-employed? Tough. Going to graduate school? Tough. Have small children at home? Tough. I think the only folks who get excused are military, police, and lawyers. The rest of us have to serve. And I don't really mind it that much, to be honest. (Although I do hate the fact that I can't take my knitting into the jury waiting room. Like I'd mess up my needles and yarn to stab someone with one of the needles!) Anyway, I got down to the courthouse, and they were very understanding. They rescheduled me for early April, during my spring break, and even gave me the paperwork to get a refund on the parking fee I'd paid to get into the courthouse. I guess it didn't hurt that I was very apologetic and willing to serve.
The only thing not going well for me right now is my sprained ankle. It should be fine by now, but it isn't. It still swells up from time to time, and it goes from pretty much pain free to nearly cripplingly painful in 2 seconds flat. I guess I'm going to have to go see my doctor about it.
I actually had some pictures to post with this blog, but for some reason, when I click the Insert Picture icon I get a URL not found message, and I can't figure out how to get around that. Oh, well. That's Blogger for you.
So, I called my sister-in-law and told her she would have to go with me to get her son's desired gift. She's as much into Legos as he is, and I knew she'd know exactly where the store was, and what entrance to use, etc. And she did. We were in and out in no time!
I have tutoring two days this coming week, and my kids and I are performing Thursday night at the school's Christmas program. (It was the upper grades' turn to do the Christmas program) We're singing three songs, no religious ones, just fun ones. "Nothing Says Christmas Like a Pair of Socks", "We Need a Little Christmas", and "Deck the Halls". My kids really wanted the Deck the Halls song for some reason. Turns out some of my kids have decided that they really, really like We Need A Little Christmas, though. I got to hear them humming it all day on Friday while they worked on other things.
So, I've got 3 days of practice, two days of tutoring, two performances (one at night for parents, one on Friday morning for the school), one party, and then, at last, two weeks off! I still have Christmas cards to write for my colleagues, and two presents to wrap up for two of the teachers I'm really close to before the end of this week, but I'm putting off any wrapping, cutting, or tying for the family until this week is over. My students, like all students, are totally wired by now, and so ready to be on vacation. It's a struggle to get them to sit still even for 5 minutes. While this is understandable, and cute, even, it still makes this last week a very stressful one, especially with the added pressure of performing in the Christmas show. I'll be off early on Friday (it's a minimum day for both students and staff), and right now I'm planning on coming straight home and going to bed.
In other news, I had to take an early afternoon at work right after Thanksgiving to get down to my local courthouse to apologize for failing to show up for Jury duty. With the sprained ankle and all, I completely forgot to call and postpone it, and further forgot that I was supposed to report bright an early the Monday after Thanksgiving. I was on my way to the car at 4:30 Monday when it hit me that I'd just blown it off. They take jury duty very seriously here, and when you don't show up, they will often come out and arrest you for failure to appear. (We had a few years where it was hard to make up a jury because of a lack of jurors, so they got really deadly serious about it.) They also don't accept most excuses for getting out of it anymore, either. Self-employed? Tough. Going to graduate school? Tough. Have small children at home? Tough. I think the only folks who get excused are military, police, and lawyers. The rest of us have to serve. And I don't really mind it that much, to be honest. (Although I do hate the fact that I can't take my knitting into the jury waiting room. Like I'd mess up my needles and yarn to stab someone with one of the needles!) Anyway, I got down to the courthouse, and they were very understanding. They rescheduled me for early April, during my spring break, and even gave me the paperwork to get a refund on the parking fee I'd paid to get into the courthouse. I guess it didn't hurt that I was very apologetic and willing to serve.
The only thing not going well for me right now is my sprained ankle. It should be fine by now, but it isn't. It still swells up from time to time, and it goes from pretty much pain free to nearly cripplingly painful in 2 seconds flat. I guess I'm going to have to go see my doctor about it.
I actually had some pictures to post with this blog, but for some reason, when I click the Insert Picture icon I get a URL not found message, and I can't figure out how to get around that. Oh, well. That's Blogger for you.
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