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Tag Archives: people scare me

Education and arguments: BC and the ongoing strike

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by Khali in Journal

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argh, British Columbia Teachers' Federation, economy, education, facepalm, first world problems, holy balls batman, human nature, kids, learning curve, nescience, people scare me, politics, rant, Teacher, things that make me angry, things that make you go hrm, voting

9yes_it_isI am the first to admit that I have an imperfect understanding of the world and this is one reason I read so much. I have a voracious appetite for learning – as is evidenced by my bookshelf, my bookmark list on Firefox and my brain full of random facts. (I have a bookmark list and search history typical of a writer, I fear – everything from mythology and history to how to build a bomb from household items and how long it takes a body to decompose in given conditions. I can only imagine my name’s on some list somewhere.)

So I know and understand many things, but one thing I’m still working on is how human beings work in groups. Specifically, as a country, or state or province. It seems like when there are too many people in a given group that ‘the common good’ becomes a matter of debate to the point where no one an agree on anything. At some point there comes a division into ‘us’ and ‘them’.

You see, I’ve been thinking about this ongoing teacher strike here in BC. To me, it’s barbaric. We are cheating our most valuable resource of the one thing they need to be truly valuable as an asset to their society/community/civilization: an education. Granted at this point it’s only a few weeks of actual school time that they have denied the students, but they have marred preparation time for our teachers, which is just as detrimental, if not more so. Our teachers are not respected as teachers. It’s like they’re just the dispensers of curriculum or coaches for standardized tests and that also is kind of gross. (It used to be that teachers were often religious people who devoted their entire lives to learning and in light of the fact that young people can teach now may have some psychological bearing on this attitude, but that may be another rant.)

I took some education classes in University. I had full intentions of being a teacher – for about a year. What I learned in that year made me so angry and frustrated that I decided instead to become a tutor and/or a librarian. I have not met the library goal yet, (if ever) but the tutoring – while not consistent or full time, has been an interesting learning experience. What made me angry was that everything was geared towards fitting all the pegs – be they square, rectangular or star shaped – into uniform round holes. In one class a teacher spoke of ‘diversity’ in the classroom as a challenge, rather than an asset. Of course he was speaking about those who learned at a slower pace and how the system was no longer allowed to hold students back a year because of the ‘psychological damage’ that would cause. He did not take kindly to my argument that there would be more psychological damage if said child always felt like they were behind when they got pushed forward – especially if they were unable to access extra help – the way I felt in math class, say. I managed to pull a passing grade every year, but I never grasped the concepts to the point of confidence and I cannot imagine what that would feel like to be that way with everything. I felt that was a failure in the system and spent that evening in angry tears. I spoke to other professors about the situation and even though they agreed with me, they didn’t seem to think here was a need to go above and beyond when the system seemed to produce enough competent people for the general well being of the work force. The only ones who agreed with me were teachers I’d had in High School – the ones who had gone above and beyond the demands of curriculum even at their own expense: spending their own money to provide resources an field trips to better educate their students.

When we have a huge number of people to service; be it in education, health care or social assistance – whatever aspect of group welfare or dynamics you care to name – a bare minimum needs to be established so that all our most basic needs are met. Sounds good in theory, doesn’t it? Not so much. There will always be someone who doesn’t fit into that category. Someone who requires a little bit more, or a little bit less – be it attention, help, or resources and it throws off the efficiency – and the cost – of the system.

This is where capitalism fails us. In Canada, it seems like we’re not so bad off as our southern neighbours, but I can see how money drives our economy and therefore our social programs. The government doesn’t want to spend money on education because there are other things they’d rather spend money on; it seems their own wages and/or oil pipelines and lately the military. Yes, money makes the world go ’round, but educated people are the ones who make the money go ’round. Us, or them. You see where I am going with this?

Human beings are basically selfish and it’s hard to focus on the good of the community as a whole when you don’t have a personal interest in it. That seems to be human nature in a nutshell and this also seems to be the root of a lot of issues. (This is why some people don’t vote either – they just don’t see how the ‘other’ – that being the government – affects them. This is a deficiency in our education system perhaps, or one in our value system. Perhaps both.) The bottom line is, each person is only on this earth for a shot period of time: this is an argument both for and against being selfish. If you’re only here so long then why not live it for yourself? But on the other hand, if you’re only here so long, why not make the world that much better for those who come after?

We want our community to thrive. (I was going to write profit – you can see how capitalist language sneaks in here!) In order for it to do so we need people to live in it and contribute to it. Uneducated people are vulnerable even if they do have ‘street smarts’ because they do not have the tools to further their careers beyond a certain point. The more people our education system fails means that many more people are not contributing their significant power to the growth of our economy and are merely subsisting within it. This may seem a little elitist at first, but I’m not saying that all uneducated people end up on welfare (though some do). What I’m saying is that when the system fails a person, that person then fails the system because they haven’t got the leg up the system was supposed to give them in the first place. Options become limited and that is precisely what they are not supposed to be in what we deem to be a first world country.

Let’s have a look at Sweden. Sweden has been in the news lately for any number of things: progressive views in gender politics, exceptional environmental policies and recently education reform. Their students are outperforming students from around the world on a (yes, standardized) test after reforms that seem to value the diversity of students. What gets me most though, is that they really do value their teachers. Sweden has decided that children are their greatest resource. In Japan they also seem to have this idea, but have taken another path than Sweden; starting children in school earlier and keeping them longer hours – so much so that stress related illnesses among students is common. There doesn’t seem to be, yet, a perfect solution, but I think it’s time we looked at our system in BC and gave it a good overhaul – or at least kicked the policy-makers into giving the funding required to make an overhaul possible.

Ideally, education should be a federal issue. All teachers should be paid fairly and given enough resources to educate all our children from the age of 5 to 18 and even beyond (how I’d love post secondary education to be provided a la Sweden or other countries…). This is all well and good, and yes I believe a minimum standard is a necessary evil for the simple fact that we human beings require order to thrive, but what if we broke it down? What if each community was responsible for the education of it’s children? I said before that one problem was that there were too many people with different agendas clashing over this issue. What if it was merely a concern of each municipality? I don’t know enough about how the money would work, but I imagine that if it were the responsibility of a community, where you knew the people and were invested in the outcomes, that you’d be more willing to contribute to a solution. It would be personal and people respond better when a situation has a personal impact because no one is completely altruistic – they can’t really afford to be in all honesty. Perhaps I’m altruistic and naive, but I’m not entirely wrong either, am I?

I don’t have children yet, but I for one am willing to put my money into an education system rather than an oil pipeline. My tax dollars are spent how the government decides, but we as a people decide on our government. Perhaps we also need an overhaul on how we choose our government, or how much actual say we get on all these sociopolitical reforms and debacles. We need either more input from ‘we the people’ or smaller self-governing communities to help eliminate this ‘us’ and ‘them’ dichotomy.

In the short term I just want the BC government and teachers to all to get their heads out of their asses and focus on the real issue at hand here: educating our children. I doubt the teacher demands are all that unreasonable(in fact I know it) and I am certain there is no reason for either side to treat the other with anything but respect (which they haven’t been as evidenced by the mediator walking out) or for our government to lie about it’s intentions (which it may well have done.) I suppose it will all come out in the wash eventually, I just wish it didn’t have to do so at the expense of our kids.

I’m just thinking out loud here, feel free to weigh in.

Listening to: Deadmau5 – Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff
Reading: Confucius – Analects
Drinking: Raspberry Iced Tea
Feeling: thoughtful

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Susan Snarks: The Power of Etymology

03 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by Khali in Grammar Gripes

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"homosexual agenda", assholery, critical thinking, etymology, fear-mongering, homophobia, Homophone, ignorance, people scare me, things that make me angry, things that make you go hrm, Tim Torkildson, Utah, words, words have power, wtf

12109-nothing-in-the-world-is-more-dangerous-than-sincere-ignoranceI don’t know if you’ve come across that news story where a Utah teacher and blogger, Tim Torkildson was fired because his blog post about homophones was considered part of a “gay agenda”, but it has given me enough of a head shake to write this post. (I first saw the story on The Huffington Post and it’s been written about in several places as well). It probably shouldn’t be shocking that this happened in Utah, or at all, but I have to just put this out there: the English language is tricky.

This man’s boss, is ignorant, plain and simple, and I will explain why with the power of etymology. That’s etymology, not entomology, which is the study of insects. Bugs have no place here unless they are infesting someone’s brain. (Which is not something I can disprove, come to think of it.) Etymology on the other hand is the study of words and word origins. Seems a little nerdy, eh? But very useful when teaching about why some words in our language are spelled the way they are, or mean what they mean.

The word homophone derives from the Greek homo- (ὁμο-), “same”, and phōnḗ (φωνή), “voice, utterance”. The word incidentally, refers to a group of words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Examples of homophones are words like ‘to’, ‘too’, and ‘two’ or ‘bear’ and ‘bare’. You get the idea and you probably also get why an ESL teacher would be talking about them on a blog.

The prefix, ‘homo-‘ can be attached to everything from milk (homogenized – where the fat globules are reduced in size and dispersed uniformly through the rest of the milk) to math (homomorphism: a function that preserves the algebraic operations between two algebraic systems). There are many words that use this Greek prefix that have nothing at all to do with a gay lifestyle: homocentric, homogamy, homograph, homogeny, homogenesis, homogenous, homologous, homograph, homonym, homophyly, homoplastic, homopolar, homosporous, homotaxis…. (if you don’t know what these words mean, I will link a dictionary for your reading pleasure. It’s riveting, I assure you!) you get the picture. So of course, homo- when it gets attached to ‘sexual’ means what? Right!

Now just to clear up a little more confusion about the word Homo. This is a Latin word, rather than a Greek prefix and means ‘human’ thus our scientific naming of Homo Sapiens and our ancestors like Homo Habilus, and Homo Erectus who always causes some sniggers in the back of the class, I’m sure. As such, this term also has little to do with a homosexual agenda – if one even exists.

In spite of these facts, there seems to be a pervasive and horrid logic that posits every word that begins with homo- is attached to some fabled conspiracy to make the world gay. This is something that I can blame a little on our heavy reliance on slang and an aversion to dictionary use or this thing called ‘reading’. “Homo” has become a derogatory term for a homosexual person and this has created confusion in those who are unable or unwilling to use critical thinking skills to avoid looking like a complete idiot. Er, I mean those who are unwilling or unable to use critical thinking skills to prevent some serious conclusion-jumping and unnecessarily embarrassing situations. (Better?) If Clarke Woodger had just pulled his dictionary out from where it was propping the door open he might have avoiding firing a decent educator.

Now, let me just finish with a small note: I am all about equal rights. I believe that everyone has the right to live their lives in a manner that makes them feel comfortable and happy. If they are gay, they are gay, if they are ignorant, they are ignorant, that is their right so long as they don’t try and inflict their lifestyles or ideals on others who do not feel the same way. [Of course, the inherent difference being that people don’t choose to be gay. Ignorance on the other hand, while debate-ably a choice, can be changed.]

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Laundry Leprechauns

24 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Khali in Journal

≈ 1 Comment

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damn dailies, laundry leprechaun, people scare me, wtf

omg_garfieldSo I was doing my laundry this Sunday because Sunday is laundry day. Or Saturday, or… Well whenever we can get a washer free, really. Oh the joys of apartment life and paying to fight with other people over a limited number of machines.

Anyway, I get my laundry into the washer and I set my time for three more minutes than the digital read out on the front of the washer because I know that the damn machine takes that much longer on the spin cycle. However when I enter the laundry room later to switch my dryables into the dryer someone has already put EVERYTHING into a dryer and turned it on.

Ok, on the one hand,  thanks for using your own money to help me out but NO! I have a system for my clothes. One washer for darks, one for lights. Half of each load tends to get hung to dry because my tops are mostly cotton and shrink. I’m fat and I can’t afford shrinkage. The remainder is enough for a single dryer. Easy. Obviously the laundry leprechaun didn’t know this. So I had to fish out my delicates and restart the dryer. I set my timer to come back a little early to put more time on since I have no idea what setting the leprechaun used. When I come back, all my laundry is folded in my hamper and the leprechaun has ALL the machines going; that’s two washers and two dryers. Best part? It’s still damp.

Now, am I just being anal retentive, or is it a little WEIRD that she did this? I mean, I can understand wanting to get someone else’s stuff out of your way so that you can do your own laundry, but there is a limit to what I consider polite in this situation. When someone’s laundry is done and I need the machine, I put their clothes into their basket and put that basket on top of the dryer. This seems to be common practice and totally acceptable – YOU don’t know what portions of their laundry do or do not get dried and you sure as hell don’t know whether they use dryer sheets or are deathly allergic to the overpowering scents like someone in my immediate vicinity. So why would you assume that doing someone else’s laundry is ok?

Ugh, I kind of feel like that odd little bird who left me a pissed off note at one of our old apartments because I had taken the eight pairs of lacy panties out of the washer so that I could wash my sheets. However I will not stoop to leaving horribly spelled rants taped to the top of the machine. I’m just going to have to sit with my laundry so that the laundry obsessed leprechaun doesn’t shrink all my work clothes.

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so where’s Superman?

27 Saturday Sep 2008

Posted by Khali in Journal

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curiouser and curiouser, nescience, people scare me, politics, wank wank wank

I saw Batman walking along the inner harbour this week. Little Miss Redhead screeched at The Peon and I so we came rushing to the front to see this dude, in full Adam West Batman gear walking down the street. She started freaking out and I turn to her and say:

“This would be weird if we didn’t have Darth Vader playing the violin on the corner every day.”

“What?!” she screeches (she seldom does anything quietly) “You’re kidding me!”

Nope. So not.

I live in the best city evar.

In other news, there ought to be a bylaw about aggressive sidewalks. They really should not leap up and bite people. Seriously!

*Sigh* I have been wading in politics this morning (between bouts of editing and ‘oh crap people are home’) because it’s nearing voting time. And I must say I’m rather sick of the whole “so and so is a wanker, vote for me instead” crap that seems to be a large part of the process. Seriously folks, get a grip and no, it really does not make me like you any more than I like your opponents.

I am the first to say that I am pretty naïve when it comes to the machinations of nations. I say this because I got into a fairly heated debate yesterday about the appropriate action, or rather, reaction, to terrorism. Granted, if I were in a position where I, or people I cared about, were the victim of a random act of violence I can’t say that retaliation would not be my immediate response – retaliation in the sense that one would hope to prevent further random acts of violence. And short of turning everyone into enlightened and transcendent beings, well, that might be the only viable course of action. But at the same time, I can’t shake the ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ attitude. I’d like to think that there would be, could be, alternative solutions. (This is part of the reason I shied from journalism – there is a bias, no matter the intention to be otherwise.) Problem being: both sides believe that they’re in the right and that the other is in the wrong. Both sides believe so passionately in their respective causes that reason is not an option. Neither side trusts the other to hold with their treaties and contracts because they are so alien in their belief systems and behaviours that talk is merely that. Talk. So with these parties all convinced that they’re right and everyone else is wrong, they take more and more extreme measures to achieve their goals. And that, my friends is some scary shit.

I still don’t condone war. I still don’t think that it is any one country’s responsibility to police others, that was what the UN was originally formed for: i.e. in order to prevent a conflict as horrific as the last World War. I suppose that’s where my naiveté shows through the most: that I think things should work as they were meant to. I’d like to believe that the basic human nature is one of compassion and that it merely gets twisted by circumstance and thoughtlessness. I cling to these ideas because to do otherwise would suck. Read: I’d be more of a cynic than I already am. (And no, I don’t mean Cynic.)

Regardless, I’m nescient of the subject as a whole and this bothers me. And because of that I’m going to do some more reading. Be careful folks, I just may pick your brains on the subject too. (Insert evil laugh here.)

listening to: Punk – Ferry Corsten (if you follow the link, be sure to check out the policeman video too.. seriously, who thinks this shit up?)
eating: perogies, Canadian style
drinking: Pepsi
reading: World of Wonders – Robertson Davies (no more political sites, that’s for sure – at least for now!)
word of the day: nescient
craving: let’s say chocolate – though some crazy dancing, a few shots and a good snog might be the ticket – or not. I blame the music. (Ha!)
feeling: a little more rested, but not caught up
headspace: dystopia

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Bus stops are good for more than just the bus – apparently

30 Saturday Aug 2008

Posted by Khali in Journal

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curiouser and curiouser, full moon freaks, people scare me, random, wtf

I had to go back to work last night to do the month end stuff that I usually end up having to do, and so, accordingly, I hoofed it down to the bus stop to catch the more frequent number six.

Because I’d been home and had showered I was wearing jeans and a funky tank top and my hair looked almost party-good, if it hadn’t been for the wind. (seriously, add some heavy eye-liner, a leather jacket, excessive black and silver jewelry and one might have considered me an aspiring rocker chick of some sort.) J asked me who I was going on a date with, which made the kiddo giggle. I told him it was none of his business, but he had a lot of money, which made her laugh even more.

When I arrived at the stop I noted that there was a couple waiting near the schedule sign, so I smiled at them as I leaned over to see when the next one was coming.

“It’s late,” the guy said and I looked up at him. He was smiling as he said it, so I smiled back and thanked him. The girl smiled at me too and I nodded. He was fair-haired and pleasant to look at, she was slight and dark, with large eyes.

“It’s always late,” I say. It doesn’t really matter though because it comes so frequently. It was cold and windy, so I paced a little, more to keep warm than anything. On my way back towards where the couple is standing he waves his cell phone at me.

“Hey,” he says. “We’re getting a cab, do you want to split it?”

“Thanks, but no. I haven’t got any cash on me.”

“We’re going the same way anyway. That’s not a problem,” he says, waving the cell phone dismissively.

“I appreciate the offer,” I say. “But I’ll be alright.” In all honesty I like the wind and had been thinking about walking downtown to enjoy it.

“We’d really like it if you’d come with us,” he says.

Did I hear him right? I look at their faces and yes. Yes I did. He’s smiling, this sort of half-pleading look in his eyes and she, well, she looks like she could eat me alive. The cab pulls up then and I smile back.

“Maybe another time,” I hear myself say as the cab pulls up. He nods, but winks at me anyway as they climb into the car.

“You bet,” he says.

***

In other news: I wrote! And am writing still! That, at least, feels good.

The Kid is registered for High School and things are, well, they are.

listening to: Arcane Voices – Amethystium
reading: The Other Boleyn Girl – Phillipa Gregory
word count: 1481 (considering that the goal was 500… woot!)
eating: pasta salad
feeling: amused
headspace: cluttered

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How To Annoy A Forex Teller: Part I

26 Monday May 2008

Posted by Khali in Journal

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full moon freaks, people scare me

Arrive first thing in the morning and wait outside for the teller to open the door. Barge in when she does so and then loudly ask for some assistance. When the teller comes to the window and smiles at you, refuse to smile back. Ask her if she takes coins. When she says, hesitantly that yes, she does, and asks you what kind, sneer and say ‘Canadian ones’ as though you heard her swearing. When the teller says yes, rummage in your backpack for two full minutes and then dump out the plastic bag, where you’ve been keeping all the Canadian coins you’ve found over the last seven years, into her tray. Tap your fingers and huff while she counts them.

yeah.

Forty freaking bucks in freaking quarters dimes and nickels. Just the sort of thing I wanted to start my day with thankyouveryfreakingmuch.

Last week was asshole week at work and this week I fear that it’s going to be brainless twat week. Maybe that’s the PMS talking but for crying out loud it’s not a holiday all over the world today, and no i do not speak French. Sorry.

Hehe, I did have a scary-funny one in today though. Imagine a mid-western accent:

“You ever look a chicken right in the eye?”
“Yes,” I said, since my first pet was none other than Sweet Pea the chicken.
“That’s Bush right there. Exactly like ‘im. Nothing upstairs. I tell you his Dad’s still pullin the strings!”

The conversation continues and this man tells us that he has “enough guns to protect [his] family from anyone!” especially since there was going to be a revolutionary war soon in the states. Really now? And what makes him think that? “Oh, I can smell it, can’t you? We don’t have any control over the government anymore, and that’s the only way it’s going to go if things don’t turn soon.” The Whirlwind then asks what he thinks of the election, because you know: gun-toting loony, this might be fun! “Oh,” he says. “There’s no one in the top spots now fit for office, they don’t care about the things that most people care about! Only one’s good for the White House is John Paul. Now he’s the one got his head on straight. Only beef anyone has with him is the pro-life stuff, but other than that he’s got the right ideas.”

First off, the idea that guns are the only thing he can use to protect his family just makes me shake my head. How very typical it seems. I just had a vision of this big square man in his wife-beater and an ammo vest perched on the roof of his house with a case of beer, a couple of shotguns and/or a rifle of some kind, scanning the road with his binoculars, looking for a reason to shoot someone. And this talk of a revolutionary war? He’s talking an armed overthrow of the government here ladies and germs. Given the mass paranoia involved with the ‘war on terror’ and such, something like that would have to be an inside job. Does he know something we don’t or is that wishful thinking on his part? *ponders* Now… John Paul? Much funnier to me to think he meant the pope, but I’m pretty sure he meant this guy. But the kicker?

“I just love it up here. I think if things turn ugly, which they will, mark me, I’m going to bring my family here!”

Oh goody. Come gun-toting loonies, we’d love to have you in our back yards!

listening to: Amethystium – Ad Astra
eating: thing with noodles and red pasta sauce…. spaghetti, that’s it.
reading: Flesh and Spirit – Carol Berg
feeling: bloated, tired, crampy, hot, cold, grr…
headspace: Palus Somnii
word of the day: daft

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and this one time….

21 Wednesday May 2008

Posted by Khali in Journal

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people scare me

I promised I’d share a funny customer story:

This young couple with a baby changed some US dollars into Canadian. So Miss E. counts out the Canadian amount and when they nod she pushes it through to them where they poke at it and move it about as though they’re not quite sure what to do with it when the man asks:

“Do you have a list?”
“A list?” Miss E. asks.
“A list, yeah,” he says.
“What kind of list?”
“Well with what these are worth on it,”
“You mean the Canadian?”
“Yeah, so you know how much each bill is,”
“You mean how much they’re worth in US?”
“Yeah, so that when you pay for stuff you can figure out how much to give” he says. Miss. E. is looking pretty confused by now, and to be honest so am I. Then I clue in.
“Well, you know all the prices are marked in Canadian here,” I said and I saw the light go on in his head.
“Oh!” he says
“Yeah, so if it says five dollars you use the one that has the five on it. No need for a list at all. Easy,” I say.
“Oooh, ok. That is easy, thanks!” and they gather up their money and leave.

listening to: sirens… again
eating: corn on the cob
reading: dust bunnies
feeling: tired
headspace: I’ll show you dust bunnies

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Jessy Travels

@jessy_travels

Salt of Portugal

all that is glorious about Portugal

Fat Heffalump

Living with Fattitude

S.D. Gates

Discover

A daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.

Storyshucker

A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.

Thought Catalog

Thought Catalog is a digital youth culture magazine dedicated to your stories and ideas.

Extra Dry Martini

Straight up, with a twist.

List of X

This Blog Is Not Recommended By WordPress

Donalyn Miller

The Tusk

Drunk on truth to stupid baby power.

A Leaf in Springtime

"Be a dew to the soil of the human heart."

A Trick of Light

and the rest is rust and stardust

Travel Far, Travel Fast

One adventure at a time.

MOON IN GEMINI

voices in our heads

musing on the never ending barrage

Tutus And Tiny Hats

I am large, I contain multitudes.

Jim Caffrey Images Photo Blog

photography from the ground up

Dart-Throwing Chimp

Thoughtful analysis or bloviation? Your call.

girls like giants

thinking big: feminism, media, and pop culture

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