Category: just thoughts

MN bridge tragedy

Here’s a poem about the MN bridge tragedy.

Ish.

This feels much worse than just thinking about a dozen or fewer hopefully people dying. Cancer, AIDS, homicide probably do that every hour and I think all those deaths are unfair too. Is it familiarity? Frailty? The idea that I drive over similar bridges and only notice the water, never the bridge?

I will continue to think about Minnesota, and am more likely to write MN friends, even the ones I just know from there not only the ones who are there. Too much impact but still I’m happy I care as much as I do. Even if I don’t understand the reasons behind it.

TP

Hurting Nemo


My kid has a Finding Nemo alarm clock. The tone is painful! Why on earth would someone choose to establish an alarm clock that hurts your ears. Is it designed for people to throw their pillows at it? Do you think it was designed to annoy parents enough that they’ll stay out of their kids’ rooms? Ish.

TP

Hating Black People

according to the San Francisco Chronicle

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/27/MNGTCOBI921.DTL

A San Francisco weekly newspaper that bills itself as “The Voice of Asian America” is facing harsh criticism from that very community for publishing a column Friday titled “Why I Hate Blacks.”

Yes, it’s true. There are race based haters in every segment of American society. This seems particularly sad to me because the writer of the original article is an ‘Asian supremacist’ in his early 20s. Ish.

TP

Harry in harms way

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/17/prince.harry.iraq/index.html

Is anyone else as shocked as I am? Prince Harry will be heading to Iraq soon. I can only imagine the hue and cry in the UK should he die there. It’s an astounding thing for him to do and I applaud him for following his beliefs so strongly. He obviously does not have to go but he apparently wants to. Stupid but honorable. Hopefully he will survive the experience and be able to push for non lethal interactions in the future. It’s probably a good thing all around. If he dies, the British will push even more for an end to the conflict. Should he live, he’ll be able to share his experience. More of us (me included) could use a better understanding of the daily brutalities of war.

God bless us. Everyone.

TP

FIRE!?!

For the Greeks it was Prometheus who provided fire to humanity and in the eyes of the other gods he deserved the barbaric punishment he was granted.

Fire has been one of the foundational elements of human society over the past 400, 000 years. Without that discovery would there be a lot separating us from other primate species? Who knows?

I am interested in the processes that surrounded fire:
How many times have people discovered fire? Did it happen multiple times in the same place or in different places? How long ago? Were the people who found it hailed or cursed? Did they become powerful? Was it an accident? Lightning, lava? Have other animals ever ‘controlled’ fire?

Will they?

TP

Euphemisms

Passed away, passed on, passed.

Ended, terminated, concluded.

The ‘N’ Word.

hoo hoo, coochee, wee wee, pee pee, doo doo, poo.

Why is it that so many of the most (and often least) important things in our lives are hidden or at least obscured by our almost pervasive use of obfuscating language? I consistently ask my students to use adult words to discuss adult realities but they seem to be almost congenitally incapable.

Except that it’s not about them at all. Or any of us individually. It’s a full fledged societal dilemma that probably concerns only me but c’mon, can we please start saying what we mean? I understand and appreciate political correctness as much as anyone but I don’t think our overwrought refusal to speak clearly is about fear of offense but fear of discomfort. The perception seems to be that if we only talk about uncomfortable things obtusely they will somehow be less uncomfortable.

Is that really even true? Should it make me more comfortable to talk about my mother’s death by saying she’s passed away? She’s just as dead, isn’t she?

And does my saying that raise your hackles? Just wondering.

Much more to come.

It’s true! Two weeks away from work/school for me. Lots of holidays, decent weather, extra family time and best of all, Rachel home for more than a week! Wow, what could be finer?!? (Except early retirement I guess.)

I hope everyone is/has been enjoying the holidays.

TP