We are potential striving for perfection.

[jackshoegazer]

I haven't trimmed my beard in weeks.  This is, I think, the longest it has ever been.  I'm going to see how long I can go before it drives me nuts or I start to look like someone who should be hiding in a shack writing a manifesto.

I must find an internetted hangout tomorrow.  I have been informed that there will be electrical work done and my whole neighborhood is going to be without power from 9am to 2pm.  Remind me that should I invent time travel, I do not want to get accidentally stuck in the pre-electric past.

My sale of custom photomosaic posters created using ICONOMICON! icons has not gone well.  A few people expressed interest but no one has ordered anything.  I think I may stick some of my photography up somewhere and maybe start selling my sockmonkeys on Etsy.  Anybody want a sock monkey?

On Thursday, Ethan will have his first public acting performance.  He apparently got the highest grade in his drama class and his group will be performing the first skit at the Overture Center.  I am super proud of him and even better, he seems to be very proud of himself.  Between this and going joining track, I'm very happy to see Ethan excited about school-related things. (And not just Mass Effect 2, which looks "boss" as the kids are saying.)

On Monday, I drove a gentleman to the airport and we talked a lot about education and purpose and potential.  We talked a lot about school and teachers that inspired us.  We talked about changes in education, and I specifically mentioned how sad I find it that so many states are standardizing education because 1) not all kids learn the same way and thus can't be expected to perform the same, and 2) standardization tends to bend toward the lowest common denominator.

For instance, in my high school, I had a huge number of Engligh classes to choose from.  The Novel, Modern Lit, European Lit, African-American Lit, Creative Writing - I even took a Science Fiction class.  The year after I graduated, they dropped the entire English department and replaced all that variety with English 9, English 10, English 11, and English 12.

It turns out that the gentleman in my taxi works for a company in New York that helps schools implement programs to better education.  He was very excited and said he was really happy to hear my thoughts on education and thanked me for the great conversation.  It was a good
feeling.

I think my last glass of cranberry green tea limeaid is wearing off.

Comments

[the-wondering-1.livejournal.com]

I'd be highly disappointed if my school took away the variety of English classes. We have a ton to choose from too, and I'm taking pretty much all of them except for Sports Writing / Sports literature within the next two years. I'm really excited for them. We also have the standard English 9, English 10, English 11, and English 12 that you have to take in order to graduate. If my school got rid of the extra classes though I'd be really upset.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

We had to take English 9, but everything else was a choice. We just had to have a certain number of credits to graduate.

I read a great article today about how American education is too practical, vocational, and narrow. That it may teach us to be good little worker drones but it doesn't teach us anything about life. And the trend is not reversing, but getting worse.

[ohsochewy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, West has those electives, and I would have hated getting stuck in there with everyone in the same class.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

I feel kinda bad when I read your taxi posts, because whenever I've driven in one, I've always been quiet and not talked to the driver.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Don't feel bad - some drivers don't want to talk. Trust me - if they did, you couldn't stop them. Some drivers won't shut up :P

I tend to be pretty intuitive about it. Some people want to talk and I'll talk to them, some just want to sit in silence and I'm cool with that. The tricky ones are the people who want to talk but who don't want to start the conversation.

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

I haven't trimmed my beard in YEARS.

I still can't believe nobody bought a mosaic. I guess since they won't pay for them online they won't pay for them IRL either. Still, that's surprising.

I'm glad Ethan is doing so well. Hopefully this kind of thing will continue to bouy him through high school relatively unscathed.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Your beard has been rearranged so that its r comes much earlier and is now bread.

I'll make a reminder when I post my next icon batch, but apparently the idea sucks or the poster costs too much. I wish I could find a cheaper printer :P

[zm-dawg.livejournal.com]

Kids in the States are saying "boss" now? Haha. That's a real Liverpudlian term. I guess it caught on. Soon they'll be saying things are "mint" and "tidy" and "lush" too.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

If kids here in Wisconsin are saying it, it must have hit the coasts at least a year ago. These things tend to travel inland pretty slow. Though, some never get anywhere :P

[explodingalice.livejournal.com]

Had I any cash to spare, I would totally buy a sock monkey from you. :) And possible some of your photography as well.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

That's okay - when you're eventually running the entire state, you can make it up :)

[explodingalice.livejournal.com]

Mwahahaha. And, when I'm the boss of the whole state, I'll be able to buy sock monkeys for *everyone* - that'll help you raise some dough.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

SOCIALIST sock-monkeys! The GOVERNMENT owns the means of production! Police, schools, roads, military, health care, and sockmonkeys for all!