I’m on a Tim Minchin kick. He’s my new mentor, even though he doesn’t know it. I shoulda stuck this in two posts ago but what the heck. I really like the brain verse.
Oh, yeah, and he signs….
My New Mentor
December 21, 2009 at 10:51 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Tim Minchin, my brain is perfect, sign language
This Week’s Life Lessons
December 21, 2009 at 10:47 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Giller prize, I'm feeling better thanks, I'm in charge so get used to it, life lessons, Northrop Frye
In no particular order:
Writers become famous when they let go of their inhibitions and start writing about interesting things. Readers are interested in the things we can’t do every day; they want to read about the taboo. Look at the Giller list: not one of them is writing about being a nice person. Northrop Frye may have had something when he went on for pages about the universal human event. (This is the only time I will ever admit Frye said anything useful.)
My family runs as a democracy as long as everyone is being democratic. The minute someone becomes autocratic, I get to take over as the autocrat. No, this is not a form of dictatorship. No, you cannot impeach me, regardless of your high grades in Canadian Law class.
Raising my children would have been a whole lot easier if I knew everything I now know. I had my small niece and nephew over on the weekend; what I wouldn’t give to homeschool them. They’re both brilliant.
Students aren’t learning anything when you force them to study something they aren’t interested in. I have proof.
Holidays begin a week before the holiday begins.
One man’s insecurities is the ending of another man’s story. Thank you – you know who you are.
That “do unto others” rule is universal and timeless, and I’m not sure why we bother making a whole lot of other rules.
A germ shared is not a germ halved. You may be very dear to me, but your germs are messing with my brain and making it hard for me to think.
Sports for Artists
October 14, 2009 at 6:09 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Montreal Mystique, Montreal Canadiens, Skydome, Homme de Sept-Iles, I'll never like sports
My exposure to sports has been rather limited. I used to watch hockey with my dad, cheering whenever the Montreal Canadiens got a goal… and then I learned to get out of my infant seat and I didn’t have to watch anymore. My best friend and her son are into sports, so I’ll sometimes bring my knitting and sit on the sidelines to watch my pseudo-nephew run up and down a soccer field like a crazed bug; I like to make mental images of my friend clinging to the edge of her seat and muttering scatological obscenities when a bunch of pre-adolescent boys miss a chance at a goal, and then I describe the images to her later over a large glass of wine. Other than that, I try to avoid sports. They smell bad.
If I must do sports, I’ve found a way to enjoy them. Montreal Mystique has this great little page called “Musings“. Read at first out of obligation but now voluntarily, the sports parts are okay (really like the one-liners) but I live for the “intermissions”. Being a good mother, I once took my kids to a baseball game at the Skydome (yes, it was still “the Skydome”) and we all agreed that intermission was the most entertaining part. If Homme de Sept-Iles would just write about intermission all the time, I could honestly say “I like sports”.
China’s National Day
October 1, 2009 at 2:55 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Canada Day, National Day, People's Republic of China, racism
Today is National Day in China. It’s the 60th anniversary of the PRC. Naturally, I’ve been talking about it with the students who live in China (none of the students who live in Canada have brought it up). In the discussions, we’ve mostly been working on vocabulary: The People’s Republic of China, fireworks, parade, and the mangled English pronunciation of Chairman Mao.
I was not inclined to ask how anyone felt about National Day.
No one insisted on telling me how they felt about National Day.
We talked about the things that happened today. We talked about some of the history. We talked about the fireworks that were so loud we had a hard time talking over Skype. To my students, it was just another holiday to be celebrated. There was no more patriotic pride than usual. No one lorded their culture over mine.
CBC had the guts to put up this site for/about Chinese Canadians on National Day. I like the guy with the French name who talks about the food, and I like the anonymous poster who points out that no one government is perfect. There seems to be a lot of finger-pointing over this year’s National Day celebration (but no other year; is a country only bad on its 60th anniversary?) and discussion about the various things the Chinese government is doing.
So, does that mean Canada Day is all about our government? Nothing about the people, the land, the culture? Statistics Canada estimates the Canadian population to be 33 796 948 people. Take out the million people or so who constitute our various governments, and that leaves about 32 796 948 people who do not deserve to be celebrated on July 1st?
Oh.
And how is this any different than any other form of racism?
Petra, the Crashing Vampire Bat
August 21, 2009 at 10:41 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: T.Dot Writers, vampire bats
The latest assignment from my writers’ group involved writing a letter from a fictional character to its creator. There were several letters to God, and (amazingly) only one letter from Elizabeth Bennet to Jane Austen. There was also a letter from Sleeping Beauty to A.N. Roquelaure – a.k.a. Anne Rice; was never inclined to read those books, and certainly am not now.
When my children were about 7 and 9 years old, they wrote a story about a small vampire bat who can’t eat properly because she keeps crashing into the animals instead of sneaking up on them. Vampire bats pee while they eat, so they don’t have to carry the extra weight. This is a letter from the bat to my kids:
From the desk of
Petra
The Crashing Vampire Bat
Dear Peter and Helen,
How are you? I am fine.
I peed! I peed! It was, like, so much fun! There is nothing better than licking blood and peeing; so much better than munching on furry cat butts.
I think my brother should be more proud of me, and not make so many comments about brain damage. After all, he was born first, so he got Mum and Dad to teach him everything. It’s not my fault I was born second, and that I get everything “second” – second hand, second rate, etc., etc. I’m just a victim of circumstance, like Helen. But now that Dad taught me how to hunt, I’m as good as anyone else. ‘Cepting, I wouldn’t have thought walking was so difficult. To be quite honest, I prefer crashing into my food to sneaking up on it. The cloak-and-dagger stuff is okay if you’re Dracula, but I prefer to make an entrance.
So, now we have to, like, talk about changing the title of the story ‘cause, as you say at the end, I don’t crash unless I’m playing football. Maybe we could have Petra the Formerly Crashing Vampire Bat, or… no, wait… better yet: Petra the Paragon Vampire Bat. Yeah, I like that one. Petra the Paragon Vampire Bat: a Study of the World’s Consummate Vampire. Okay, there we go. Now I’m happy. I can’t wait to show it to my brother. He’s going to FREAK!
I haz qweschun fer u. You didn’t show this story to anyone, didja? I’m, like, kinda concerned that PETA is going to get hold of me. You gotta admit, I was pretty rough on all those animals I was crashing into. I mean, the owl we can pass off as self-defence but what about that cow? And the cat? Then, if they find out about the biting and the blood-sucking, well… I’m not gonna end up with a whole lot of naked chicks on my lawn, am I? (Although, if you can make sure they’re of the poultry variety, I might reconsider ‘cause they’re really scrumptious.) It’s kinda hard to talk to some people about that whole nature-vs.-nurture thing. So, if you can keep a lid on it, I’d appreciate it.
Right, so, now that you two have written the World’s Best Story, you won’t need to write anymore, so don’t even consider writing a story about my stupid brother.
So long, dudes, and thanks for all the blood,
Petra
The Third Teacher
August 19, 2009 at 2:36 pm (education)
Tags: Reggio Emilia, learning environments, crazies in Toronto
Reggio Emilia is a learning theory which considers the environment to be the third teacher. I’ve liked this concept since I first heard it. It seems so logical; it’s brilliant.
Like cognitive learning, learning from the environment is something I was exploring without knowing the name for it. To a less effective degree, I was also attempting to create a learning environment for my students: books, posters, reading material, etc.
I’m not sure how I feel about artificially-created environments. When I was “improving” my room at the tutoring centre, it felt a little like applying a band-aid. Yes, it made the room a little more appealing, but it did not make the room a “learning environment”; nothing was healed or made whole.
Perhaps the onus is on the learner; each person is responsible for learning what they can from the environment they’re in. My children currently have an interest in hanging around Toronto; my son likes Yonge Street, and my daughter likes Kensington Market. What interests me is that I would have assumed the opposite: my son is a hippie, and my daughter is considerably more modern and obsessed with fashion. So, then, why are they each interested in an environment which is different from what they already know? What are they learning from these environments? Are they complementing the knowledge they have, or are they deliberately venturing into the unknown?
Now, I wanna watch people in different environments. Toronto’s a good place, ’cause if you stare at people for a long time they just assume you’re crazy. Now, can I get my students out of their houses and into Kensington…?
Connections
June 1, 2009 at 5:05 pm (education)
Tags: 2xcreative, connections, David Berger, Eco-leadership, Kyle Cassidy, my grandfathers' bones were fine, Where I Write, zero owns the world
When I took David Berger’s Eco-Leadership workshop, we were instructed to look for the connections in all things.
I’ve been looking.
I’ve found a lot of connections.
The Earth, of course, is the (organic) base of all things. From there, we connect everything to humans. Humans must communicate. Communication involves all things: written languages, oral languages, sign language, body language, 5 senses, a 6th sense, pheromones, and all sorts of other things we don’t even know about.
I deal with written and oral English, but I can’t discount any other languages, nor the other means of communication. English, in particular, is made up of so many bits and pieces, and is spoken in such obscure corners of the world, that I am surprised we can deem it all the same language. Finding the all connections in English would take more than a lifetime; I believe people have tried….
When I teach English, I prefer to do it in a useable context. History cannot be separated from language, nor can Science, nor Phys. Ed., not Math (shudder). I take it upon myself to teach my students how to translate the exasperation they feel towards writing into writing itself. I like to show them words like “furrowed brow” and “emanating repugnance”.
The process of making connections is not one which is really being taught in the schools at the moment. The focus seems to be on absorbing information. Information is, naturally, essential to making connections, but I want my students to be able to make connections which go beyond the perimeter of the textbook. I want them to be able to connect their grandfather’s weak bones to the diet of a European during WWII. I want them to be able to connect evil and goodness. I want them to be able to connect the existence of modern society to the invention of the zero.
Kyle Cassidy is, I think, the god of connections. Not just for his 2xcreative project (brilliant, isn’t it?), but for his word/images connections; his live journal is one of my favourite things to read. His Where I Write project connects images to atmosphere to creativity to words to people…
I’ve pretty much decided how I want to teach. (Now, if I could just find someone who would pay me loads of money to do it.) I’ve pretty much decided the sorts of things I want to write. (Ditto.) So many more connections to make.
Senseless is dull
May 20, 2009 at 6:56 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Yann Martel, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, Nick Bantock, 5 senses, 6th sense. The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company
*swoon*
Yann Martel’s The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios; better than chocolate; so absolutely perfect.
I could go on about it, but I’m sure there are plenty of reviews, given I’m about 16 years behind in my reading…
I couldn’t choose a favourite story from the book; each one is its own little truffle, unwrapped, laying itself bare for sensual enjoyment. However, the last story, The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company; Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come, really got me. Yep, I cried. I also drooled (not literally).
The story is physically brilliant. On one side of the page is the grandmother’s monologue, and on the other are the narrator’s thoughts. Two veins of dialogue at the same time; impossible to handle in any form other than print.
It got me thinking about sensory input. I really like Nick Bantock’s books; when his writing sucks, one can concentrate on the illustrations, and vice versa. I like music with lyrics. I like to have music or the television on while I eat. It’s good to have two things going at once.
In the real world (not the one in my head), it almost never happens that there is only one sense being used at a time. People get upset if they lose a sense, and people who have lost one are considered abnormal. Tasting food doesn’t happen if we don’t smell it. Perfect romance comes with candlelight, music, good food, and physical touch. Indoors and out, there are always things to see, to hear, to touch, to smell.
Books should be that way, too. Books should look good, smell good, sound good, feel good.
Learning should be that way; all senses need to be involved if the experience is going to be pleasurable, memorable.
Now, I want to find the books which make me use my sixth sense, as well.
Seriously sidetracked
April 23, 2009 at 4:16 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: angst, bread recipes, Erisian Review, happy-go-lucky
One of my older Chinese students found this blog, and directed me to it because she needed help with some of the language. After we discussed the language, she wanted to talk about the philosophy behind it.
In North America, we expect the adolescents to be angst-ridden, traumatised, dark; in China, that’s considered a bad thing. My student is fairly happy-go-lucky, but she also has a sense of fairness; she is often angry with her school for lying to the government about the amount of homework the teachers give (the government’s limit is 2 hours per day, while the school actually gives 5 hours per day). My student really liked the line,
But with integrity, honesty, compassion and hope.
I guess I’m more adolescent than I thought, because I really like this line:
We do what we can with the blunt instruments meted out to us.
I like almost all the rest of Erisian Review’s writing, too. I want to try her bread recipe.
Getting sidetracked
April 23, 2009 at 3:27 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: John Denver, Massy, rhyme or reason, sidetracked, verb form use
I’m supposed to be writing about verb form use, not blogging.
I keep getting sidetracked. This morning, one of my students was asking about the phrase, “rhyme or reason”. That got the John Denver song in my head (but I found a better version). A little more sidetracking led me here.
Why am I writing about verb form use? Is that really what I want to use my language for? Are there not more important things to be teaching the world?
