Looking for Lilies: Politcs, Media and Role models
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 11/07/2007 - 07:16I must admit that Glamour is not one of the magazines I regularly read. I dislike the role of being a thin sexy shopper that it seems to promote. It might be that there is something useful between the covers, but It isn’t a place I normally look for inspiration.
However, it is a place that many people look, and last night, I received an email about their Women of the Year.
The article starts off with a quote from Sheryl Crow,
“When I think of strength and grace, I think of Elizabeth’s undefeatable spirit. She is simply one of the most honest, most deeply inspiring people I have ever met.”
It ends with a wonderful quote from Elizabeth,
It’s not only her children whom Elizabeth inspires. “Life is rarely what we expect it might be,” she says, “but we need to look for the lilies. We need to do what brings us joy and what gives us a sense of purpose.” As the whole world watches Elizabeth Edwards doing just that, she’s showing us all nothing less than how life should be lived.
It is great to see joy and purpose brought to the political stage. It is great to see fighting bravely against cancer as glamorous. It is great to see standing up for what you believe as glamorous. It gives me hope that our media and our country isn't as completely screwed up as I sometimes thing.
(Cross posted at DailyKos)
Also, I added a comment there, which I'll add to the body here:
I have a six-year old daughter, Fiona. Those of you who have followed various campaigns may have seen her on the trail.
We are constantly looking for positive female role models for her. We have a list of movies we like to watch, like Bend it like Beckham, Whale Rider, Gracie, and so on.
So, what tips do you have for good role models for young girls?
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 21:00
Tinkering with pedagogical interests
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 16:34On November 1st, approximately 35 students at Morton West High School in Berwyn, IL staged a sit-in in the school cafeteria. Reports are that around 25 of the students locked arms and refused to move when they were ask to.
As I read stories about this, I can only wonder what Avery Doninger would have to say. Over the past several months, she has learned a lot about what sort of speech is allowed to students, in what locations, and under what conditions.
An article in the Chicago Suburban News uses the word ‘disrupt’ in one form or another half a dozen times to describe the protest. “Officials say their actions disrupted the educational process” the article reports.
The event took place in the school cafeteria, where so many important lessons are learned. The administrations reaction to the protest was to lock down the school and call in the police. One has to wonder if it was the students actions that were disrupting the educational process, or an over reaction by the administration that disrupted the educational process.
The article quotes Rita Maniotis, head of the PTO and parent of one of the protesters as saying, “We don’t want this to come to a lawsuit, but we don’t think it’s appropriate that these children be expelled.”
The article refers to a statement by Superintendent Nowakowski which says,
“Not only do students have a right to express themselves on matters of conscience but we encourage them to do so. In this instance, it is critical to note that the Morton administration did not say that the students could not protest. Rather, we asked that the students simply move their protest to an area of the school that would not disrupt the ability of the other 3,400 students at Morton West to proceed with their normal school day.”
Yet trying to make sure that students can proceed with their normal school day is substantially different with the standards about students’ freedom of speech concerning a substantial disruption of pedagogical intent and this will likely become a key part of this case as it proceeds to court.
Instead, the message that Superintendent Nowakowski seems to be promoting is that of ‘Freedom of Speech Zones”. Yes, students have the right to free speech, and he seems suggest that free speech shouldn’t circumscribed by whether it substantially disrupts the pedagogical intent, but whether or not it is convenient. It is a dangerous trend, runs counter to our history of embracing freedom of speech.
I do hope that Superintendent Nowakowski handles this case better than Superintendent Schwartz has handled Avery Doninger’s case. I look forward to visiting the Second Circuit of Appeals on Avery’s case, but I don’t think I can justify flights out to Chicago.
Getting Help
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 14:10It is day six of National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWriMo). If I write 1,667 words a day, which will put me at 50,000 words by the end of the month, I need to be break 10,000 words today. In reality, I’m closing in on 17,000 words, so I’m in pretty good shape.
My biggest concerns are running out of storyline before I hit the 50,000 mark, as well as how compelling and realistic the story is. So, I’ve started casually asking around for help. My wife has read everything I’ve written so far and tells me it is compelling. She has offered help in areas that I’m not well versed in, such as describing the preparations for a date that a twenty-year-old woman might do. She also gave me the idea for a small scene that I’ve added which I think works quite nicely, and I thank her for that.
One of the heroes in my story reluctantly gets dragged to a therapist. I’m on a mailing list of group psychotherapists, so I sent a request to the list, asking if any of them would be interested in reading my story and offering comments about the story, and especially about the one therapy scene that I’ve written so far.
I received a few replies. The readers found the story compelling and the therapist plausible. I’m starting to dig deeper, because I hope to introduce some interesting ethical issues and would love to add real depth to the therapy sessions.
Today, I received one email that made me stop and think. The writer said, “I got to the therapist, and had to stop reading, because I was shook up by the quick decision of dismissal by the Doc.” It was an incredibly valuable comment.
Let me give you the context. A seventeen-year-old boy has been hanging out in Second Life. Something bad has happened there. Depending on your perspective, he enabled or permitted this bad thing to happen. There are other people who are particularly upset about this and are threatening the boy. The boy is scared. He reluctantly talks about this with a therapist and the therapist doesn’t take this as seriously as he ought to.
On the one hand, I want my characters to be as realistic as possible. Is the therapist’s too quick dismissal of the danger the boy is in unrealistic? Would that happen in real life? Does it reflect a real concern about people dismissing online events as not being all that important?
As I pondered these questions, it struck me that this is really an important theme in the book, not only concerning the therapist, but also concerning everyone. Are some people taking events in Second Life too seriously? Are some people not taking events in Second Life seriously enough? We will have to see how the novel turns out.
Until that time, I thank the folks who have read portions of my first write through and offered such helpful comments. If you are writing a novel this month, how are you doing research for your novel? Who are you asking for help? What sort of help are you asking for? How are you asking for it? Is it working?
For All the Saints
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 11/05/2007 - 20:44Yesterday, we went to church. The first reading of the day was from Ecclesiasticus. It is that wonderful section that begins, “Let us now sing the praises of famous men.” It talks about the great variety of famous men, leaders, musicians, writers, and others of home there is no memory. It is a great reading for the Sunday after All Saints Day; a reminder that we are all in this together, the rich and the forgotten.
It is also provided the title for James Agee and Walker Evans monumental book, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”. That book was written about poverty in the south during the Great Depression. Now, over seventy years later, we have others to now praise famous men.
John Edwards, as part of his “American Heroes Week” spent last Saturday with a bunch of supporters helping rebuild home in New Orleans. We still have poverty in our country, and Hurricane Katrina briefly blew away the façade that had been hiding it.
