It's Cookie Dough Fundraiser time at Kenny's school! Buckets come in all sorts of flavors, and are $9 each or 3 for $25. If you want to support the Kent State Child Development Center and get some tasty buckets of cookie dough- GO SOME WERE ELSE! I can even give you the contact info for another parent that is selling the junk. Kenny and I, however, will not be doing that. Instead, we're having a dough party- our version of the Boston Tea Party.
Don't get me wrong, I love his school. If I didn't, I wouldn't be spending more on his early childhood education than I'll probably some day spend on his college education. The fundraiser goes to a great cause, the Center Family Connection (our version of the PTA). The CFC hosts Free Family Fun nights every semester, topical parent meetings to help educate parents, provides spectacular supplies for the students both indoors and outdoors, as well as functions in the community through the Haymaker Farmers' Market Kids at the Market and other venues. I am 100% geeked about his school and what they do.
Except this fundraiser. I understand that it has a decent return on time/effort investment- 40% of all proceeds go to the school. At the same time, we've hosted multiple events discussing the importance of childhood nutrition. We have a school vegetable garden. The kids' snacks are healthful. They have a strict snack policy for parties and events. Then we sell this junk. Great!
If you would like to stand up with me and support Kenny's school while not teaching that hypocrisy is fine, then feel free to contact me. Kenny and I will still be taking donations for his school, and if you want tasty treats as well, we'll happily bake a dozen cookies for you- to your specs. Your flavor, your dietary restrictions, whatever. Heck, I'll even bake cookies for some else if you want to gift them to some one or an organization. Just help us raise money for Ken's school (specifically, the outdoor environmental education center that we're working on funding) while at the same time sending a message that kids deserve better. Kids deserve authenticity. Am I being a kill-joy? Absolutely. But I'm a principled kill-joy.
"Be the change you wish to see in the [playground]." Mahatma Ghandi
Showing posts with label Annoyances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Annoyances. Show all posts
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Jesus is Dead
No, not the be-sandalled prophet of 2000 years ago, the Touchdown Jesus of I-75 in Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. Also known as King of Kings, Butter Jesus, Swamp Jesus and other names (he of many names, remember?). One really can't make up this sort of hilarity, really.
The response has been varied, to say the least. Everything from peals of laughter to cries that the end times are a'coming. Bob and Tom even had someone write and sing a song for the occasion.
Personally, I'm a bit saddened. Not because of the loss of great art or anything of the sort, just because it's such an icon around my home. Everyone knows it, even if they don't care one whit about the religion behind it. It's a piece of shared history and culture, like a favored but bad hometown restaurant.
At the same time that I feel loss at this natural disaster (or act of god, however you prefer to see it), I feel a bigger loss at the idea that it will be rebuilt. This thing made of styrofoam and fiberglass was almost universally recognized as an oddity. It was an oddity that, according to insurance replacement estimates, cost $300,000 to build. Especially during this time of serious economic hardship, couldn't that 300K be spent on something more, well, Christian? Food for the poor? Help with daycare? Homeless shelters? Medical care for the uninsured? Really, anything?
Instead, the creators of Touchdown Jesus have decided that it's better to spend money building false idols than to actually help people that need it. Nice. Good work, once again, followers of the Nazarene. Proselytizing and converting heathens really is just that important to you, eh? More important than following those crazy commandment things or the golden rule, huh? Here, let me help give you a pat on the back. With a cat o'nine tails.
The response has been varied, to say the least. Everything from peals of laughter to cries that the end times are a'coming. Bob and Tom even had someone write and sing a song for the occasion.
Personally, I'm a bit saddened. Not because of the loss of great art or anything of the sort, just because it's such an icon around my home. Everyone knows it, even if they don't care one whit about the religion behind it. It's a piece of shared history and culture, like a favored but bad hometown restaurant.
At the same time that I feel loss at this natural disaster (or act of god, however you prefer to see it), I feel a bigger loss at the idea that it will be rebuilt. This thing made of styrofoam and fiberglass was almost universally recognized as an oddity. It was an oddity that, according to insurance replacement estimates, cost $300,000 to build. Especially during this time of serious economic hardship, couldn't that 300K be spent on something more, well, Christian? Food for the poor? Help with daycare? Homeless shelters? Medical care for the uninsured? Really, anything?
Instead, the creators of Touchdown Jesus have decided that it's better to spend money building false idols than to actually help people that need it. Nice. Good work, once again, followers of the Nazarene. Proselytizing and converting heathens really is just that important to you, eh? More important than following those crazy commandment things or the golden rule, huh? Here, let me help give you a pat on the back. With a cat o'nine tails.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Bugs and Germs
Germs really bug me. I have to say it. Not themselves, mind you, but more people's reactions to germs. Like this year, with the H1N1 scare on top of the usual seasonal bug issues. Germophobia is running rampant, and it's getting out of control.
According to the CDC, as of November 14th 2009 there were between 7,070 and 13,930 deaths from H1N1 in the 7 months since it started showing up. Nothing to sneeze at, granted, but in a similar time frame over 70,000 deaths due to a stroke occur (from the CDC also). My point is, there are bigger issues to be worried about than novel H1N1.
And yet, it's become a perfectly good reason to act rude and treat humans as walking germs. This week especially, I've had the wonderful experience of having some customer service person see me waiting, look me in the eye, stop, incessantly slather their hands in Purell, and then finally address me. Because, yes, I am obviously a walking, talking, culture of H1N1 or some other bug du jour. Thanks. There's cleanliness and hygiene, but for freaking sake there's also courtesy. I am not sneezing. I am not coughing. I do not have oozing pustules. My eyes are not watering, red, puffy, blood-shot or anything out of the ordinary. I even bathed today. So can everyone please stop acting like they're going to die if they touch anything I've had in contact with me.
I think we have to fear this current fanaticism of physical seclusion far more than any influenza.
Oh, and a belated blessed Solstice! May the new solar year bring many great things!
According to the CDC, as of November 14th 2009 there were between 7,070 and 13,930 deaths from H1N1 in the 7 months since it started showing up. Nothing to sneeze at, granted, but in a similar time frame over 70,000 deaths due to a stroke occur (from the CDC also). My point is, there are bigger issues to be worried about than novel H1N1.
And yet, it's become a perfectly good reason to act rude and treat humans as walking germs. This week especially, I've had the wonderful experience of having some customer service person see me waiting, look me in the eye, stop, incessantly slather their hands in Purell, and then finally address me. Because, yes, I am obviously a walking, talking, culture of H1N1 or some other bug du jour. Thanks. There's cleanliness and hygiene, but for freaking sake there's also courtesy. I am not sneezing. I am not coughing. I do not have oozing pustules. My eyes are not watering, red, puffy, blood-shot or anything out of the ordinary. I even bathed today. So can everyone please stop acting like they're going to die if they touch anything I've had in contact with me.
I think we have to fear this current fanaticism of physical seclusion far more than any influenza.
Oh, and a belated blessed Solstice! May the new solar year bring many great things!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Past Few Weeks' Absence
The last few weeks have kept me busy and away from blogs, both as a writer and a reader. I've said my apologies for that. Now I owe you an explanation, and I owe myself a moment to reflect.
Professionally, I've been busy with school- grading papers, readying for exams, counseling students and helping them study, not to mention trying to ready my own research for the winter. That means animal care and use proposals, grant proposals, collecting the last of the samples for the year, setting up a behavior room, ordering supplies and finishing my prospectus. I had thought I was done with my prospectus. PROSPECTUS! not dissertation. Just saying what I want to do. Don't get excited, I've still got a year or two before I graduate. Then my advisor decided that I need to rearrange the whole thing. Fun.
In my outreach, I've been busy with some new endeavors, and truly those are what have kept me going, although they have been a source of stress as well. I birthed my first creative publications in a long time- Ken's school newsletter and my departmental calendar. They turned out OK, but not great. I also began serving on the Portage County Solid Waste District Advisory Board. That was a large source of stress. We're looking at possibilities for the future of the SWD, and no one's happy about it. The public meeting was essentially a lynching by the neighbors, with their questions for which we have no answers. It's too early in the process to have the answers they want, and they don't get it. I understand people are afraid of change, but wait until we have some clue of what the possible change is before damning those involved, will you? Yeesh.
Personally, it's been a trying time as well. A friend lost her young child, another became a very young grandmother, another lost her husband, my aunt lost her partner of many years, another friend's grandparents suffered a horrible tragedy, and a one-time lover long-time friend lost his life. Much sorrow is in the air, yet I'm not sure if I'm in the eye of the storm or watching from afar. And Dan, our room mate, adds his share of stress as well. I know I can't solve everything. I know I can't save the world. But I want to try, daggummit. I'm scared by all the death in part because it causes pain to those I love, but in part because it scares me. I'm scared because my father in law will eventually put me in a similar situation. He won't take care of himself, despite multiple chronic health conditions ranging from obesity to diabetes to long term depression. He won't live within his means, so that he frequently goes on and off medication because he's out of money for a month. He won't admit he needs help, and he's technically mentally competent- just makes terrible decisions. His house keeping is atrocious, his apartment manager had to put a Febreeze-sprayer-thingy right beside his door because of the smell. I might need one of those heading upstairs, if I weren't sensitive to perfumes. I love my father in law, really I do, but I'm not looking forward to the time when I have to deal with his death and funeral arrangements, or his long term care situation. But I know that day is coming, sooner or later, and I know it'll be Dwight and I to sort that mess out when it comes.
So how have you been?
Professionally, I've been busy with school- grading papers, readying for exams, counseling students and helping them study, not to mention trying to ready my own research for the winter. That means animal care and use proposals, grant proposals, collecting the last of the samples for the year, setting up a behavior room, ordering supplies and finishing my prospectus. I had thought I was done with my prospectus. PROSPECTUS! not dissertation. Just saying what I want to do. Don't get excited, I've still got a year or two before I graduate. Then my advisor decided that I need to rearrange the whole thing. Fun.
In my outreach, I've been busy with some new endeavors, and truly those are what have kept me going, although they have been a source of stress as well. I birthed my first creative publications in a long time- Ken's school newsletter and my departmental calendar. They turned out OK, but not great. I also began serving on the Portage County Solid Waste District Advisory Board. That was a large source of stress. We're looking at possibilities for the future of the SWD, and no one's happy about it. The public meeting was essentially a lynching by the neighbors, with their questions for which we have no answers. It's too early in the process to have the answers they want, and they don't get it. I understand people are afraid of change, but wait until we have some clue of what the possible change is before damning those involved, will you? Yeesh.
Personally, it's been a trying time as well. A friend lost her young child, another became a very young grandmother, another lost her husband, my aunt lost her partner of many years, another friend's grandparents suffered a horrible tragedy, and a one-time lover long-time friend lost his life. Much sorrow is in the air, yet I'm not sure if I'm in the eye of the storm or watching from afar. And Dan, our room mate, adds his share of stress as well. I know I can't solve everything. I know I can't save the world. But I want to try, daggummit. I'm scared by all the death in part because it causes pain to those I love, but in part because it scares me. I'm scared because my father in law will eventually put me in a similar situation. He won't take care of himself, despite multiple chronic health conditions ranging from obesity to diabetes to long term depression. He won't live within his means, so that he frequently goes on and off medication because he's out of money for a month. He won't admit he needs help, and he's technically mentally competent- just makes terrible decisions. His house keeping is atrocious, his apartment manager had to put a Febreeze-sprayer-thingy right beside his door because of the smell. I might need one of those heading upstairs, if I weren't sensitive to perfumes. I love my father in law, really I do, but I'm not looking forward to the time when I have to deal with his death and funeral arrangements, or his long term care situation. But I know that day is coming, sooner or later, and I know it'll be Dwight and I to sort that mess out when it comes.
So how have you been?
Friday, August 21, 2009
On Sovereignty
I feel compelled to put down a few thoughts on the compassionate release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison. There has been quite an uproar against the release of this man, the only convicted perpetrator of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. Al-Megrahi was released because Scotland has a clause which allows the release of an inmate when they are shown to be in the last months of their lives, so that they can spend their dying time with family in their home. This release of a terrorist has sparked great debate, some people even going so far as to claim al-Megrahi may become a suicide bomber once he is back in Lybia. The few pictures I have seen of al-Megrahi do not appear to be someone who would be capable of any terrorist act in his current condition. He is suffering late stages of prostate cancer, and is estimated to have three months to live. The issue was even important enough for President Obama to speak out against this action by the Scottish legal system.
The upset is not at all the issue of where one should spend their last months of life. The latest number that I have heard is around 70% of Americans want to die at home with family (what this compassionate release allows for), although only about 25% actually do. In theory, we don't have a problem with dieing at home, although functionally it seems we don't know how to make this wish a reality. But let's save that conundrum for another occasion, shall we?
The inconsistency I want to talk about today, as the title suggests, is that of sovereignty. In the last few years especially, the US has exercised our right to sovereignty many times. Wiretapping of questionable legality? It's our sovereign right. "Secret" interrogation sites in various countries? Our sovereign right. Holding individuals without charge and possibly outside Geneva conventions? Our sovereign right. Aggressive interrogation methods, the same as those for which we have charged other countries with war crimes in the past? Our sovereign right. Preemptive strike? Our sovereign right. See a pattern here?
However, when we look at the US's interactions with other countries just in the past few weeks, the picture is very different. The ability to exercise one's own laws without interference from another country? Not a sovereign right. The current administration has "expressed repeatedly...that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland" and Secretary of State Clinton and the White House have both been putting pressure on Scotland not to abide by Scotland's own laws on this matter. There's also the recent Swiss banking to-do which basically gets UBS to disregard Swiss laws in favor of helping the US collect names of Americans who have funds at the Swiss bank UBS. Of course, we can't forget the incursion on Iraq's sovereignty in 2003 as well. Apparently, only the US has sovereign rights that deserve protection from outside influence. I had hoped that our method of relating to out nations would change after the election of Obama, but that hope is starting to wear thin.
The upset is not at all the issue of where one should spend their last months of life. The latest number that I have heard is around 70% of Americans want to die at home with family (what this compassionate release allows for), although only about 25% actually do. In theory, we don't have a problem with dieing at home, although functionally it seems we don't know how to make this wish a reality. But let's save that conundrum for another occasion, shall we?
The inconsistency I want to talk about today, as the title suggests, is that of sovereignty. In the last few years especially, the US has exercised our right to sovereignty many times. Wiretapping of questionable legality? It's our sovereign right. "Secret" interrogation sites in various countries? Our sovereign right. Holding individuals without charge and possibly outside Geneva conventions? Our sovereign right. Aggressive interrogation methods, the same as those for which we have charged other countries with war crimes in the past? Our sovereign right. Preemptive strike? Our sovereign right. See a pattern here?
However, when we look at the US's interactions with other countries just in the past few weeks, the picture is very different. The ability to exercise one's own laws without interference from another country? Not a sovereign right. The current administration has "expressed repeatedly...that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland" and Secretary of State Clinton and the White House have both been putting pressure on Scotland not to abide by Scotland's own laws on this matter. There's also the recent Swiss banking to-do which basically gets UBS to disregard Swiss laws in favor of helping the US collect names of Americans who have funds at the Swiss bank UBS. Of course, we can't forget the incursion on Iraq's sovereignty in 2003 as well. Apparently, only the US has sovereign rights that deserve protection from outside influence. I had hoped that our method of relating to out nations would change after the election of Obama, but that hope is starting to wear thin.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Society in Motion
Can I just say that I hate motion sensor activated devices and their over-prevalence? There is a place for motion sensors, I'll be the first to admit. Security lights, for example. But motion sensor toilets?! When did flushing become too much work? Back from our less than 24 hour trip, I am happy to be outside the grip of motion activated faucets, toilets, soap dispensers, towel dispensers, doors and lights. Argh!
When I go to the bathroom, I don't want to have to do a freaking dance just to avoid being stuck in the dark. Or spend a half an hour trying to find the spot that makes the faucet turn on, only for it to run five times longer than I actually need water. Or to end up with ten feet of towel because Ken decides that he wants to stand under the towel thing. How is this at all good for conservation?
And then there's the not motion activated, but still astoundingly lazy things that eat up resources and energy unnecessarily. Escalators that go constantly. Elevators used by everyone and their brother to go to the second floor. Revolving doors that never stop. Conveyor belts that just steal my groceries before I can get them all on the counter.
Why? Why does everything have to move constantly? Can't we just move things (with our own power) when they need moved? How many kilowatt hours could we save by not having everything running away from us like this? More importantly, how many pounds of CO2 could this spare, if we just got off our butts and did things for ourselves, or didn't have machines running 24/7? Not to mention the step away from the obesity epidemic this would make. Not huge in and of itself, but breaking the paradigm of laziness above all else would be a step forward.
When I go to the bathroom, I don't want to have to do a freaking dance just to avoid being stuck in the dark. Or spend a half an hour trying to find the spot that makes the faucet turn on, only for it to run five times longer than I actually need water. Or to end up with ten feet of towel because Ken decides that he wants to stand under the towel thing. How is this at all good for conservation?
And then there's the not motion activated, but still astoundingly lazy things that eat up resources and energy unnecessarily. Escalators that go constantly. Elevators used by everyone and their brother to go to the second floor. Revolving doors that never stop. Conveyor belts that just steal my groceries before I can get them all on the counter.
Why? Why does everything have to move constantly? Can't we just move things (with our own power) when they need moved? How many kilowatt hours could we save by not having everything running away from us like this? More importantly, how many pounds of CO2 could this spare, if we just got off our butts and did things for ourselves, or didn't have machines running 24/7? Not to mention the step away from the obesity epidemic this would make. Not huge in and of itself, but breaking the paradigm of laziness above all else would be a step forward.
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