Wanted: Firsthand Knowledge

 I have a bit of a bad conscious this morning. One of the teachers I worked with over the last years asked me to become a part of a parent, teacher, and student work group. The topic of the group is “use of private media in the school”. Initially, I said yes to participate in the group. Now I’ve decided not to get involved.

It is not because the topic isn’t worthy of thoughtful consideration. It is not that it isn’t one dear to my heart. Also there is an immediate need to figure out how to deal with earnest infringements of current policies. My reticence has to do with the dynamics of the situation in general.

There has been a boycott in using mobile phones during school hours for a few years now. The students are allowed to use other forms of media (e.g. iPods). Now with the occurrence of smart phones there is no distinction between mobile phones and other media. The teachers want further restrictions into media use. The students want leniency. 

It is an age-old challenge. How can a younger generation be heard?  So, on the surface of the matter, it would seem all we need is constructive debate, collective aims, and mutual respect for the different parties’ positions.

If I have learned anything in the last ten years of working with new media (can we still call it new media if it is twenty years old?), talk will resolve little. The students will resist being shoved into one box. The adults will site actual misconduct to promote the necessity for more restrictions. Everyone is avoiding the one elephant in the porcelain shop. That is, how to find an acceptable solution when those in a position of authority, teachers and parents, know next to nothing firsthand about what they are talking about.

It is as if Mennonite teachers and parents were asked to be leaders in teaching their students and children about modern farming practices.

It just will not happen. It is not that their skills and experiences in teaching that are obsolete. Nor is it that traditional education is wrong. Admittedly, there are many uncertainties in adopting modern methods and technologies. I am not disputing any of these things.

My only dispute is that I think the misuse of media by children and teens on the school grounds or in their homes is, in part, a result of our inability to act upon our responsibility to lead them in it proper use in classroom learning and social situations. If parents and teachers don’t know through their own personal experiences how media is best practiced, then it is questionable whether they are in a position to qualitatively offer assistance in restricting its misuse.

The Opposite of Poverty is Justice

It has been awhile since I sat at the edge of my seat and shivered with anticipation listening to someone speak. Bryan Stevenson tells a good solid story about the saddening injustices of the US justice system.

Please spread the word.

Spoof and Food for Thought

You have to ask the question, where in the video did you finally realise that this is a spoof? Right from the first moment on? Or, scary-ingly, a few seconds afterwards... Very clever and food for thought.

Sunny Sunday

An old couple walk hand-in-hand,
Wearing woolen hats of similar burgundy,
Sturdy, but slow steps they take
This sunny cold winter day.

I look out the window
Watch them pass by.
A day dream, a film,
Wistful thinking of me and mine
In another curving in time.

Commitment towards Change

Do you remember when the whole notion of change from bottom-up and not top-down began to resonate in the public and individual consciousness? When did it happen for you?

When Egyptians rose up and claimed change of regime?
When Mr. Obama became president and asked us to help make change?
The ending of apartheid in South Africa?
The fall of the Berlin Wall?

Or was it something less historically significant? Whenever or whatever it was that gave you serious pause for thought, wasn't it exciting to think of the enormous possibilities we all have to participate in creative and constructive change?

Where are you today? Does the fire still burn inside?

Video from KarmaTube

There are so people working with spirit to create long term change. I recently discovered the KarmaTube. Try browsing through the different videos and choosing one or two as a picker upper... it is bound to make you smile. 

Today, life is good. It is easy for me to believe in the power of small victories and quiet diligence bringing about the changes we need We just need to keep putting one foot forward...

Pearls of Wisdom

I love the internet. It has probably been one of the major change factors in my life in the last twenty years.
(That is, of course, second place, farfar behind, the immense joy and challenge of raising our delightful children.)

Since I was there right from the beginning (of the internet), and consider myself an "early adopter" in most things, there are only the rare moments when I discover something old, but fabulous.

This is what happened this week, when I stumbled over the blog, Letters of Note. What a fantastic site to while the days away on. What a learning opportunity for students and teachers alike.

Today's letter is from Groucho Marx. Wouldn't you love to it if he could have written a letter to some bank CEO today...

Other pearls of wisdom I discovered were,

• This I Believe
• This American Life
• The Poetry Archive
• Alys Fowler
• ... an many more

This evening I went to see this lovely film,

Do try and take a look. The film leaves you with a warm feeling of having seen something well done.

Crickety Cricket

I've been to my fair shares of cricket matches over the years. Even so, I've never quite "got" why people play the game, or how it is played.

The best cricket games were the Sunday afternoon community matches played in Grenada. Lots of adults and children and smart comments from the sidelines. Lots of laughter mixed in with absolute seriousness of the game.

Even though many a good man has tried to teach me the finer points of the game, what goes through my mind resembles the moves in the above video.

I wonder whether it is as much fun to watch if you actually do know the game. Can any cricket fan comment?

That Summer

It is impossible for me to watch this video and hear the music without being transported back decades to That Summer, when...
All the days were bright hot and languid/
My friend's beat-up convertible was trés chic/
The music we played edgy, seductively low keyed/
We seemingly didn't have to eat or sleep,
but chose instead to drive long distances
on any excuse whatsoever/
... into the hot glare of the afternoon, or
through the night into early morning tenderness/
Never knowing what were driving into/
Blissfully, tragically, unconcerned.

Doing Small Things Well

The wonders of doing something well. Whether it is a freshly ironed shirt,



Or making a good cup of cappuccino,



It is delight seeing these two people doing something with elegance and care. Don't you think?

A living worth scraping

“If I can only scrape a living, at least it will be a living worth scraping.” Mickey Smith

A while ago, I posted this video of Mickey Smith called, Dark Side of the Lens. The photography, music, and text are all done by this extraordinary man, who obviously/obsessively loves the wilds of nature.


Dark Side of the Lens from Astray Films on Vimeo

Today I stumbled upon his talk at Do Lectures. The Dark Side of the Lens is also presented during his talk. It is interesting to hear him tell of his childhood on the Cornish coast. Hearing how these experiences and the inquiring of his sister made him do the film, somehow makes the film even more brilliant than before.



He mentions at one point in his presentation how he lived one year by the flip of the coin. It was a strange year with a lot of adventures.

Even though I don't think I would ever be crazy/reckless/spontaneous enough to live like this, it really would be fun to do so on the occasion. What do you think, would you give it ago?

I am putting it on my to-do list of this year.

Do Lectures is a fine site to while away your time on. If you do so and find a presentation that is especially inspiring, please tell me.

Fotoshop by Adobé

About 15 years ago, I decided to try my hand at photo editing. Like any person setting out in this field, I went out and bought myself a version of Photoshop.

It's odd, but to this day, Photoshop rules and has done so for the past 20 years or so. Not many programs can say the same. It is not only a product name but a verb (to be photoshopped).

I love the video above. It parodies our societies ridiculous obsession for perfection. It also touches on the various bells and whistles of this brilliant software program. For someone who has spent probably hundreds, if not thousands, of hours using the program, the video is a real lark.

Sleeping in trains

Today I held a seminar in a place quite a few hours away. I had to get up a 4:30 am to be there by 9:00. Taxi, train, another train, street car, and then taxi... this is the sequence of transportation I had to take to get there (and then again coming back).

I was sitting in the taxi or train anywhere from 5 minutes to 50 minutes at a time. As you can imagine, this was not enough time to unpack a picnic or dive into a new book. Instead, I dosed away the hours in-and-out of sleep, watched the various commuters get on and off the train every few stations, and listened to bits and pieces of my current audio book.

I was going to write a post about this book, The Once and Future King, but since I probably will not get around to it, here are the absolute highlights:

•  it is 33 hours and 3 minutes long
• the reader, Neville Jason has a very soothing voice (especially for those of us who suffer from insomnia)
• the story is delightful and entertaining, even though I know what is going to happen
• I am very nostalgic about this book since a dear friend of mine and I discovered about 30 years ago that there where numerous version of this book. We went about reading every edition we could find
• it is just a walloping good tale

I loved the whole experience of traveling far (for German standards) just to give a few hours' seminar. Not necessarily something I would do all the time, but it was a fun experience nevertheless.

The Big Picture

Please take a look at last year's National Geographic Photography Contest winners!

Source the Boston Post, The Big Picture blog.

Zero Inbox

Years ago, I watched this video of Merlin Martin explaining his method of Zero Inbox. I was intrigued with the idea of making instant, quick, possibly radical, decisions daily about how to handle the constant flow of information arriving in my inbox. So, for a while, I followed his methods (more or less).

Then like most practices stemming from good intentions, I digressed and even regressed into bad behaviour. Things went from bad to worse, when I tried embracing a new idea, "only touch once". This idea states you should only handle a piece of information once. Read, think, respond, act. No previewing. No hesitation.

If you get an email or phone message on your voice mail and you know that you are not in the position to act upon the information given, don't open it. Do so when you can complete the task. If you only partially read an email and have to go back later to look at it, you are wasting time that first glance (previewing).

"Touch on once" does make sense on many levels. Yet, it also means that I amassed nearly 100 unread emails in the last six months.

Today was my day allocated to reading my nearly 100 "unread mails" and zeroing my inbox. Mission Accomplished!

Sending Heartfelt Wishes Your Way

To all my family and friends, I send you warm heartfelt wishes your way. May the New Year be a year where some of your dreams come true and instill your heart with young optimism and lead you to discover new dreams to follow.

Being Alone

I left home to boarding school at 14, went alone to live in France at 16, and proceeded to choreograph a life of my own, on my own until I was 32 and my son entered my life. Nearly 20 years were spent figuring out the different hues of solitude, alone, and lonely.

Once you are on your own, no matter if you are alone or sharing a space with others temporarily, you are both the choreographer and dancer of your days.

There were times of sharing apartments with friends and strangers alike. Some friends stayed friends. Some strangers became friends. Some of both just disappeared into the dusty archive of "chalk it up to experience".

Most of all though, over those 20 years, I woke up alone and wandered out into the day.

I stumbled across Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman video poem a while ago and then again today. It speaks volumes of wisdom from someone who possesses equal portions of lion-heart and frightening vulnerability.

The poem is wonderful reminder of all those moments and years of finding the right rhythm within myself.

Divine Storytelling

The powerful words, the tonality of your deep voice, your inward journey escaping silent restraints... dupiously blessed by experiences that eventually find their way into divine storytelling.

If you wish for more...

Almost Like Santa's Workshop

Did you ever wonder what a bird's eye view of Santa's workshop would look like? Here is something not quite as magical,

but, still rather enchanting, don't you think?

Such Richness of Sound

"This September 2011, Hassan Wargui (Imanaren) from south Morocco met the group Nettle from New York City in Tangiers. A week of collaborative songwriting and recording led up to a concert outside the Cinematheque de Tanger in the medina. This is "L'Avion", one of the songs they wrote during this time."

A Tea Party

Yesterday, I met with some people I have got to know over this last year. It is fun making new friends. We chatted about our work, but also about philosophical ideas... just a really enjoyable experience.