i love words addendum

"My addiction to diction has me itching for the quickest of prescriptions for vivid depictions of the most intimate visions. Only the most descriptive of scriptures that allows me to picture an image solely based on the inscription of scribblers is my intention."
- a really good poet (#postedwithoutpermission, #dontsueme)


the flow of your diction caresses the shores of my mind. loquacious lips carry prolix kisses delivered by divine tradition. stories and verbal inventions drawing fact from fiction. love, comedy and affliction in a smooth, warm mixture of words turned picture become permanent fixture in my mind's eye.
-me

i love words

i had the same conversation two days in a row with different (awesome) people about how i (and they) love words.  in one of my favorite books-- Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker-- she says that humans aren't superior because they have language but rather that they need language because they are so prone to screwing things up that they need to be able to explain themselves.  however you want to look at it we have a plethora of beautiful words to be played with, swallowed, tied up in, poured over and appreciated.  i write down the words i don't know when i am reading a book and look them up later.  today i learned the word inimical.

in·im·i·cal 

Pronunciation: \i-ˈni-mi-kəl\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Late Latin inimicalis, from Latin inimicus enemy — more atenemy

Date: 1573

1 : being adverse often by reason of hostility or malevolence 
2 a : having the disposition of an enemy : hostile  b :reflecting or indicating hostility : unfriendly 

— in·im·i·cal·ly  \-mi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Here is how Steinbeck used it in the book I was reading today,  East of Eden: "The emotion of nonviolence was building in him until it became a prejudice like any other thought-stultifying prejudice.  To inflice any hurt on anything for any purpose became inimical to him."  

anyone else get chills?

[big, loser sigh]

P.S.: 

stul·ti·fy 

Pronunciation: \ˈstəl-tə-ˌfī\

Function: transitive verb

Inflected Form(s): stul·ti·fied; stul·ti·fy·ing

Etymology: Late Latin stultificare to make foolish, from Latin stultusfoolish; akin to Latin stolidus stolid

Date: 1737

1 archaic : to allege or prove to be of unsound mind and hence not responsible
2 : to cause to appear or be stupid, foolish, or absurdly illogical
3 a : to impair, invalidate, or make ineffective : negate b : to have a dulling or inhibiting effect on

— stul·ti·fi·ca·tion  \ˌstəl-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən\ noun

Let's Journey to a Rainbow

Please Stay the Night by Chuck Mangione

This song simultaneously matches the cloudy day and brightens it... and if you asked me like this i'd probably say, "what's for breakfast?" what can i say? i have a weakness for horn players and that jazz flute (and french toast :-D). enjoy.

"real" school reform

some days i wake up and read the paper and i want to go marching around the capital with a sign and a list of demands; some days i'm too tired for all that because i'm actually doing my job (novel idea for some teachers).  in Education Week James Farwell wrote this article called "What Would Real School Reform Look Like? usually i'm not one for reform debates because i get so frustrated that i want to bulldoze right through the DOE and start fresh (rev·o·lu·tion: an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.). emphasis added by yours truly because, as stated by Mr. Einstein: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
so in the article Farwell presents his  idea for what real school reform would have to look like. after dismissing current reform attempts as ineffective he makes some good points. Here are some favs:

"We need to view our children as the unique and special people that they are. Our schools need to become the “neighborhoods,” to use the late Fred Rogers’ term, that create the means for each child’s uniqueness and potential to be realized.
One qualification for anyone who works in schools should be a love and respect for children. Anyone lacking in these two areas should be asked to seek employment elsewhere.
We need to approach each child as a whole person, as someone who has physical, emotional, social, intellectual, artistic, and spiritual needs. Children are more than just brains to be filled and candidates for the job market.
We need to realize that not all children are developmentally ready for learning basic skills at the same time, nor do they learn in the same way. Moreover, they cannot show what they have learned by using only one means for measuring learning success."

Basically that's all the lovey dovey, soft stuff, he goes into some hard facts and ideas about how to equally share the financial burden of a quality education in a "village" model and while that interests me/is important what good teaching and good schooling really boils down to (and i have held this opinion since i began working with kids) is KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS. period. that's all. not even close to rocket science.  just know them. know where they're from, what they like, who they are, how many siblings, who they live with, why they don't like bananas, what kind of music they like, how they learn best, whether they have difficulty in social interactions, why and it goes on and on but this is the only way to ensure that you can best teach them.  and love them.  love them love them until your heart is full and teaching/giving them a little of what you know is all that can make it bigger and make more space for what they have to teach you.  they are people, not statistics and even when all odds are against you and it seems like those talking heads on capitol hill (and down the hall in the principal's office) will never get it together, fight the good fight in your own classroom with weapons of knowledge and love.

- a 20-something hopeful....and i'm not changing for nobody.