Nice to put some numbers to that which I am always complaining about. Paul Krugman, in “The Uneducated American”, about the United State’s continued trashing of the educational system:
Of those lost jobs, 29,000 were in state and local
education, bringing the total losses in that category
over the past five months to 143,000. That may not sound
like much, but education is one of those areas that
should, and normally does, keep growing even during a
recession. Markets may be troubled, but that’s no reason
to stop teaching our children. Yet that’s exactly what
we’re doing.
There are few problems where the road to the solution has been built and all is in place… all that is required is money. Educational decline is just that sort of problem. Write the check for education — it’s an investment with an almost immeasurable return.
You know it’s a bad day in lab when you go backwards. That is, when you leave, you actually have more to do than you did when you arrived. Wouldn’t it be better not to show up at all? I wish there was some sort of warning system with red flashing lights: CAUTION — YOURHANDSKILLSARELOOKINGSUCKYTODAY. AVOIDDOINGANYTHINGDIFFICULT.
I really want to sit down in front of a concert grand piano and play the melodies in my head. The only public piano I’ve found near Moos tower is in the hospital — its action is hopeless, and it’s stunningly out of tune. The practice rooms at the U are extremely well equipped… but essentially unavailable to non-music majors (and cost money to get time in, anyhow). There are a few slightly decrepit pianos in Coffman Union… but I just feel like a jackass playing in that type of airport terminal setting — just feels all sorts of wrong.
Other options… well, the range of musical expression obtainable from an electronic keyboard is dramatically reduced compared to the real thing — and it makes sense, since piano is largely a rhythm instrument.
But solo piano, well, requires a melody instrument with nuance in expression that electronic keyboards don’t provide. So I don’t know what to do. I want to push these ideas out of brain, down nerves, to finger tips. And who knows, maybe these melodies are awful — I won’t know until I give them a chance.
The immediacy and intimacy of social-networking sites
have focused young people’s Internet use on themselves
and their friends. The material they’re studying in
school (such as the Civil War or The Great Gatsby) seems
boring because it isn’t happening right this second and
isn’t about them. They’re using the Internet not as a
learning tool but as a communications tool: instant
messaging, e-mail, chat, blogs. And the language of
Internet communication, with its peculiar spelling,
grammar, and punctuation, actually encourages illiteracy
by making it socially acceptable.
I’ve always struggled with the abbreviations and slang of digital communication — on the one hand, I instinctively rebel against them because they strike me as a degeneration of the written word — a bastardization of convention. On the other hand, I understand the English language is constantly evolving and changing, and mutilation of existing words is a part of that. Despite this, I think of electronic abbreviations as more of a removal of nuance and etymology (“your” becomes “ur”) than a clever or useful evolution of existing words (e.g., neologisms from the 1940s: bikini, genocide, doublethink). It’s difficult to feel that we are moving forward.
Wikipedia has a List of English words of Yiddish origin. Quite useful, as these words are use far more often than you’d think. I think I’ll adopt nosh, a noun or verb meaning “snack”.
Incidentally, here’s one more: the word “schmeer” means to spread, as in cream cheese in a bagel. I think this has evolved to the English “smear”. Reading the word, I immediately thought of the “smear layer” in dentistry, which consists of plugs in dentinal tubules — when removed with a quick acid etch, restorative materials are able to reach into those tubules and hold on to the tooth far more effectively. Yiddish dentistry.
Mr. Yoder’s initiation to his new subject was
unceremonious. He showed up with a few cameras, and,
standing in the middle of the fray backstage at his first
show, suddenly realized he was in a room full of mostly
naked women. He panicked, thinking that he was in a lot
of trouble.
Despite (and perhaps due to) his tribulations at the outset of fashion show photography, Dave Yoder has produced some fine work. I find many of the pictures make the models look like cattle: herded there, prodded here, and so forth.
Despite this, the images seem empathetic toward the models — furthermore, I do not think Mr. Yoder’s candid ephemera intends to take down the rarified world of high fashion into the realm of the plebeian. And yet, the project is disinterested in the fact that these are beautiful people, focused instead on documenting the day to day slog that is working as a fashion model.
The power of imagination is such that, with a little willpower and a little practice, suddenly you’re floating out of lecture — onto a hot air balloon gently rising above Chambley, France… into the sunset.
But, be careful. You’ll fall straight out of your daydream into sleeping-in-class if you aren’t careful. So, save the daydreams for study breaks.
Upon entering the lab, I gave an enthusiastic “thumbs up” to a classmate of mine, Maria. She’s from Kyrgyzstan. Then, I got to thinking… isn’t that “the foulest of gesticular insults” in some countries? Hmm.
So I looked it up.
If you find yourself in these places in the world:
Parts of West Africa, South America, and Sardinia
Bangladesh
Iran
Iraq
Thailand
… you’ll want to go ahead and not use the thumbs up. Elsewhere (including Russia!) you should be ok.
One of the best trance build-ups this year is brought to you by Oceanlab and remixed by Daniel Kandi. (This video is from a radio show, and I’ve got that “record of the week” whispering voiceover stuck in my head.) You can start making fun of me… now.
BUT!
But but but.
I do have an antidote to the above. It’s the superb rock song (and perfect accompanying video) “She Is Beautiful” by Andrew W.K.
So.
If you didn’t enjoy Oceanlab, fine. But if you didn’t like Andrew W.K., I don’t know what I can do for you.
“The point is that after my unsuccessful murder I wasn’t unhappy for an entire year.” Turns out you can get stabbed in the throat and come very close to death; and still, despite your immense gratitude at being spared death, return to your baseline happiness in about 12 months. Not a cause for hopelessness, no — but an interesting anecdote to keep in mind.
