moving so soon?

sorry to shout "blog!" and run but my computer finally arrived and for the past two days (and nights) i've been going a little nuts trying to get my blog back together. insane might be a more descriptive word. however, after pulling an all nighter i've managed to come up with my new site. hope you'll check it out, i plan to do a lot of shouting from there.

trying to unfurl

soon come! i thought to be online already from home but my new old apple g3 hasn't arrived yet. fed ex isn't giving me the love.

soon! come!

nyc theatre and film

I've been with child for the past 12 years, so forgive me if this is old news.

Surely everyone has heard of the Nuyorican Poetry Slam but did you know there is a Manhattan Monologue Slam? There's one coming up this Monday, April 4th. Judges are casting agents; $$ to the winner and gig in LA for the 4/6 show.

The Queer Experimental Film/Media Fest is also happening April 7-12 at the Maya Deren Theater, Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue at 2nd Street (1st floor).

oh happy day!

i just found out that i won a bid on ebay for a computer. nothing fancy, pretty cheap actually, but it should ::fingers crossed:: allow me to get on the internet at home.

it probably doesn't sound like that big a deal, but i've been coping without a working computer for almost half a year now and it's been hard. going to the library to get email, check on the blogosphere. even having a blog has been painful.

i still have to get it, hook it up and have it run. but hey! i'm happy and hopeful and ready to be online!

way dumbed down

I've been tutoring out of my house in order to pay my bills while continuing to homeschool my daughter. It's also a way to contribute something to the neighborhood. Hey, it feels good to spend my time on something that's useful, needed, you know.

Doing this work is making it obvious to me that the public school system in New York City is continuing to educate with the "expect less" curriculum in the poorer school districts.

The children I'm working with aren't being educated in the normal way. For instance, when a fourth grader has difficulty with multiplying two-digit numbers, instead of giving them more help they're taught an "easier" method. Strangely, lots of time is spent on teaching this dumbed down version of multiplication.

My students haven't had any real problems learning the standard technique, given the extra time to get use to it. Their main problem stems from not having memorized the multiplication tables!

So my question to educators out there is - why are schools dumbing it down?

momma wars

i feel like i'm a little old for this, but here i am battling with my mom. the fight started last month because of my birthday. i've been a vegan since the summer and was feeling overdue for going to a restaurant where i could have everything on the menu. so when my mom asked me where i wanted to go i told her of a vegan restaurant in the city (new york) that is only delicious!

i'm not quite sure why my being a vegan is a problem for my mom. maybe it has something to do with not being able to make my favorite meals anymore? i don't know. but it's an issue for her and instead of agreeing to my choice of venue for my birthday, she demanded that i pick a place where she could have what she wanted.

ok, i know i'm an only child and therefore more spoiled than most. i know that wanting my way is evidence of my bratdom. but it was my birthday damnit! i've sat in uncounted restaurants eating french fries or bagels without complaint and i just didn't (and don't) feel that wanting to eat vegan one fucking day out of the year was asking too much.

apparently it was. fight ensues. phones stop ringing. to her credit, my mom offered the first olive branch. i didn't take it. i'm still pissed. i guess it's bringing up issues for me cause i'm asking myself - when did my mother become selfish? i don't remember her that way. but i'm reexamining her past behavior and starting to wonder.

i know i've got to let it go, but for some reason, that's difficult right now.

love your local library

hope you do cause my local library sucks! it's one of the most obvious manifestations of how segregated america truly is. a poor neighborhood doesn't get the financial benefits of a well to do one. also, it seems, the poor will put up with the unfair treatment.

my library is a case in point. there are hardly any books in it! the few stacks that exist in the adult section are barely half full. the children's section fares better and the staff is trying but there's no push from the neighborhood or the politicians to make things better.

my local school is in the same shape. i think i've got more books in my house than they have in the school library! i kid you not. there's one computer in each classroom and the kids never get on it.

segregation in this country has shifted from black and white to rich and poor. classism is an old predator that back on the prowl.

pilgrams fail to progress

Amazingly, the puritanical nature of our society's relation to sex still holds sway. Worse still, it continues to try to work it's way into law. Here's the latest effort by those willing to take their fear out on our and our children's rights.

There seems to be a cut-off switch that prevents some people from acknowledging that teens are sexual. (You'd think the fact that menstruation is starting at 12 and younger would be a hint.)

When I first started homeschooling a woman clarified the whole issue for me. In response to my concern about what my daughter was learning she said,

"Children are wired to learn. From birth to puberty, you can't stop them. From puberty on, they're wired to mate."

Oh....

poverty bites

seems kinda obvious but i've been living it for the last half a year so i feel like i can testify. i'm just coming out of it, cash flow is once again flowing but i still wake up in the morning and notice if that knot of tension is or isn't there.

do you know the knot i'm talkin about? it's the one that's waiting for someone to knock on your door so they can turn off your gas and it's only 15 degrees outside. it's the knot the tightens every time the phone rings, cause someone's hunting you down for money. it's that damn squeeze when your kid wants to buy something any kids entitled to and you have to say no and hesitate to tell the real "ain't got no money in my pocket" reason.

i got to a point in my life where i really placed a lot of faith in the goddess. i'd let go of my fear and trust that somehow i'd get what i needed. little miracles kept happening. little intakes of cash and currancy. until one day my neighbor asked if i would tutor her child and there it was! a way to continue to homeschool my daughter and earn a living.

such gentle grace. the goddess. she's good.