Only in horse shoes

A group of us were recently told that there is nothing quite so unappealing to young adults as a bunch of discouraged-looking old people. To which I replied in sotto voce, “There is nothing quite so discouraging as a group of young adults dependent on how we look to them.” Still, I get the point.…

Jesus was a quitter

An old friend of mine and I used to joke about levels of discouragement like they were circles in Dante’s Inferno. The absolute lowest level, we decided, was resignation, not despair. With despair, one still looks back at what is lost to us. Resignation even quits looking back. We will never have what we want,…

Sorry, Not Sorry

On Tuesday night people in Wisconsin and Michigan had opportunities to hear the art of obfuscation in the form of two State of the State addresses by Governors Walker and Snyder. Both had some heavy lifting to do related to their disastrous records in office. Though both of them created messes in office that will…

Another day of life

I just want to celebrate another day of living. I just want to celebrate another day of life. – Rare Earth, Peter Rivera Ronnie and Jazzy and Kofi and Rudy and Carlos and Everett and Anthony and Anthony and Mark and Mark and Mark and Dan and David and Ray and Jeff and Todd and…

Call me naive

The man who has no imagination has no wings. – Muhammad Ali The fact is, I was never too bright in school. I ain’t ashamed of it, though. I mean, how much do school principals make a month? – Muhammad Ali In June, it seems that gardening, graduation, marriage, and gay pride are what we are…

Wordless stories

Thus, in sharing stories, we have the potential for forging new relationships…. –  Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (1994). The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. This week I have been contemplating the mediating power of words as I blog about community building. This exercise…

With my Manolo Blahniks

First this: On Saturday evening, a beautifully coiffed woman outside the Seattle Repertory Theater clutched her phone in what looked like a last minute call just before curtain. She wore what appeared to be a darn good knock off or a real Channel suit, that kind with the short jacket, narrow shoulders, and tweedy weave…