Great Performance and Good Teaching Moment

Tossing Diabolos. What a treat!

I saw a remarkable performance last night. A troupe of middle graders from Taiwan, the Taiwanese Youth Folk Sport Troupe from Keelung, Taiwan were putting on a show of dancing, top spinning, acrobatics, rope skipping and diabolo (1. A double conical Asian yo-yo) spinning.  Average age = 14. These were very athletic and graceful young people. Very high energy.

The things they did mostly worked out fine and the coordination required to jump multiple ropes at once, or throw a top onto a 3 inch disc or keep the diabolo or indeed multiple diabolos going at once is impressive. Mostly worked out. But a few drops or trips or missed tops did happen. And here is where the real professionalism came out. In every case when something went wrong, the kids made a correction and moved on without missing a beat. No frowns, no tantrums, no pause. In most cases many performers are involved, such as 5 girls twirling and throwing diabolos at once. Someone drops a yo-yo, picks it up and seamlessly gets back into the act.

As we all know, we learn a lot from our mistakes, if we have any sense at all, and we get better by getting back in the game after an error. These kids took the good and not-so-good completely in stride, at least publicly, and are to be applauded not only for their successes, but also for their mature response to glitches.

Unlike some professional athletes I could name.

1.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Diabolo_large_and_small.jpg

Image: http://www.taiwanembassy.org/public/MMO/Photo/15217213671.JPG

Bad News for Americans and Worse News for Women

Best economic news since the Bush meltdown. GNP up, unemployment lowest in 8 years, job openings up. All indicators bright green.

But somehow Obama has failed to get the economy going. Huh? Did I miss something? Bush handed off the worst economy since the Great Depression and it took a bunch of years to get things going again. But, the steady progress has led to a slow but very solid recovery. Until, that is, the Republicans get control again. Then you can look for wars, inflation, debt increase and tax cuts for the 1% who already pay too little. Then you can look to Fox News for the reasons. Then you can suck eggs.

Think very hard before you put Republicans back in charge. Think about reduced wage growth, reduced health care availability, reduced help for poor and starving Americans, reduced control by women of women’s reproductive processes, and more. What you will get is less taxes if you are rich, more spending on border security, more spending on prisons and prosecutions, more spending on congressional salaries and fringe benefits. Less spending on safety net programs that benefit the lower 99%, even though they are the ones who supply the money.

Talking to the wall, Woody. The assholes who are Republicans and conservatives will vote the greedy bastards into office and then wonder why they are not doing as well as they hoped. Sorry Woody, you will probably lose this one, and so will the country. Oh, and Woody, did you forget about all the judicial appointments that Obama will not get? A conservative Republican will probably fill those positions with ideologues and further decrease the rights of Americans in favor of corporate persons. And Woody, don’t forget that as soon as the conservatives get control, voting will be harder for poor and minority people, thus favoring the wealthy and mostly white people.

All in all, Woody, the future politically is not very bright. Unless the people get off their asses and VOTE.

Image: http://www.loyarburok.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/291765548_a917548e72-400x331.jpg

A friend of mine, JH, sent me an email piece about God finding out just what morons humans are by questioning St. Francis (Frank) about lawns. Think about it. We dig up what grows there, plant something that needs constant attention, and we pay for the privilege. The point extends to all aspects of the earth. Many of the religions of the world say man should/must live in harmony with the earth and critters thereon. The often repeated idea is good stewardship while harvesting what is needed.
Take the Bible (please) for example: Genesis gives mankind dominion (if the translation is right) over the world. Dominion means to rule as a king and it also means possession of the land that is thus ruled. So in many religions control and ownership is ceded to mankind by some deity or right.
The implication is pretty clear that good care, stewardship, will follow this most gracious gift. Because it seems that something given by a deity can be just as easily taken back. To my point, then.
Mankind for millions of years (if you are rational) lived in harmony with the earth. Neither taking too much or too little. Just right. Equilibrium. Carrying capacity. Then we learned how to exploit our vast home. And trash it in the process. We are way past the point of fouling our nest. And now it is nearly at a point of collapse. I can’t help but think that any deity that cared enough to give such a paradise to a species would be seriously pissed off at the outcome. Nothing but silence from the heavens. My conclusion: nobody home up there. Gone fish’n. Lost interest when we nuked each other, maybe, and moved on to somewhere else. Or just never was.
Anyway that is my take.
Image: www. stickerworldusa.com

surviving child abuse: one of the lucky ones

“Let This be Our Secret”: The Secret of the Abused Child

It came out of nowhere. An early morning, a basement, a cousin, name being called, mothers bedroom,questions,crying, shame, forgetting. The details buried.

Years later a sudden memory of murmured words "...it'll be fun...don't tell...pull down pajamas...be quiet..." Details return over the years. A cardboard fireplace stored in the basement, bright red bricks printed perfectly. In the corner. Perfect hiding place.

What happened? I still don't know for sure. Some details elude recall.

From early on a lingering sense of guilt about something recalled as a protective mother tried to get to the truth. She couldn't have known that the inquisition would be the first lasting memory. The session ended with "let this be our secret."

Well, it was. So far as I know, no one in the family ever knew that the cousin was an ---what?

And here the story pauses for a question. I have always been repulsed and revolted by the cousin. Had to be with him in many family gatherings. He never seemed to be different. Always playing, cutting up, joking with everyone, an all around goofy guy. He grew up to a hard life of failed work. Job after job. Wife after wife, more than a dozen kids all together and grandchildren by the score. The question is this: What exactly was/is he? Pedophile? Ordinary child abuser? Experimenting kid? Monster? Sick shit that should have been put down? You know, I really don't know because I know of no history except my own. I was 5 or 6 he was 12 or 13.

For years I didn't see him didn't want to see him didn't want to think about him. Then it happened. On a trip with my kids we stopped to see his mother. And he was there. Looming. And I realize that he was a sad, failed (for all his kids and grand kids who he loved and seemed to love him in return) human being. On the fringes of society moving from one menial job to another, unfocused. I couldn't hate him. I wanted to and told myself I would kill him when I saw him. But I couldn't hate him. And I didn't kill him. Instead we had dinner, a few beers and left. I kept a close eye on my boys.

Years later I think about him and what he did. How did that change me? I don't know that either. As Popeye is oft quoted "I yam who I yam" and "I yam what I yam". Me too. No point in dwelling, and I think the healing has long been underway. Forgiving is hard, but forgetting isn't going to happen. So I forgive him for his acts of long ago. Pax vobiscum.

One of the lucky ones? I think so. You see I knew something happened in that basement. I remembered something. Not all of it, but something. Many abused children suppress the abuse so deeply that they never know why they feel and act the way they do. They go through life damaged and guilt ridden and don't know why. One more effect of the assault. (see the July 28th 2009  post for another story on child abuse.)
Image: http://ylstc.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/4/1/10414578/6136082_orig.jpg