How long could you go?

My dad sent me an article (at bottom) awhile ago that has had me thinking and there was a question it asked at the end:

1. How long could you go without being wired (or wireless) with your cell phone or PC? One week? One day? One hour?

I honestly believe that I could go a long time without my phone. There are days when I accidentally leave it at home and not once have I ever felt a panic when doing so. I like to have it on me in case of an emergency or when I am bored but I certainly don't need it. I have a hearing problem so the phone's not my favorite thing. Sometimes I can barely hear people on it.


Computers are altogether a different story. I could go (and have gone) a weekend without being connected but not much longer. I love being attached to the internet. You could call it an addiction. I like to see what other people are doing and I use the internet as my medium for most things other people do like watching tv (Netflix) and playing games (draw something). I make videos and upload pictures. I hate when people tell me to get offline and go do something because ummm rarely will you find me at a computer - it's usually just checking in on my phone. And I do lots of things... more things than most people and still manage to "do stuff". I am very good at multitasking. And I am very quick (with quality) at things so something that might take someone else 10 minutes to do, takes me 1 and something that would take someone else an hour to do takes me 5. 

Like for my honeymoon, I uploaded pictures every day. Know how long it took me? Thirty seconds to click "all" and hit a button. And some people were saying, "you're in Hawaii - get offline" but I wasn't really online. I wasn't sitting at a computer in my hotel. I was out learning to stand up surf, taking a helicopter ride around a volcano, watching the sunrise at Mr. Haleakala, learning to hula and watching a hula show, going to the beach, reading a book, spending time with my new husband, going parasailing, jet-skiing the Pacific Ocean, tasting wine at a vineyard, traveling to Haleakala during the day, jumping off the black rock, get Professional Honeymoon Pictures taken, driving the road to Hana and hiking in different spots, hiking Ioa Valley State Park, snorkeling around an extinct crater (and seeing a shark), and eating breakfast, lunch & dinner out every day. Not to mention the internet time was like 3a when I couldn't sleep. My point is not to brag about how much I did but rather point out that I was able to do alllll of those things AND be on the internet. And every vacation I go on is JUST like that. We do a LOT and I am able to do both. 


People who are bad at multitasking and/or doing things quick but efficiently don't get it... because they can't do it (or they would) so they see it as me wasting time online. 


Take these blogs I write, since I write fast, take like 5 minutes... It's not a waste of time to get thoughts down.

But I realize that I couldn't live life without the internet... probably. I guess we can do anything in dire situations. For me, I don't see it as a draw back.

Are you a techno-hermit?

Technology is everywhere these days. Can you remember a time before personal computers, cell phones and the Internet?

"Telephone Party Lines" connect friends

When I was very young, I can recall our family having a "party line." No, not that kind of "party line." A "party line" back then meant there was more than one household in town with the same phone number. There was a unique ring on our phone so that we knew the call was for us. Some might have called that early social networking.

"Slide Rules" replace the abacus

When I was in high school, being "high tech" was using a slide rule. Yes, I actually owned two slide rules. That was back in the "dark ages" before calculators.

"Community Telephones" enhance social networking

When I was a freshman in college, the only telephones were in the dorm lobby. The lobby became the gathering spot in the evenings to socialize. The next year telephones were installed in each room. After that, the lobby was empty at night.

"Pink Message Slips" remind us of what we missed

Some of you may even remember the pink "While You Were Out" message slips that we used in the office. Some of you will remember those notes with messages such as who called, who wanted to see you, and who returned a call. Voice mail - what was that?

"E-mails" speak without sound

When e-mail arrived, it was a revolution. We could leave messages by typing. No need to actually talk. I remember a day when an office mate sent me an email while sitting six feet away. He said it was more productive than talking.

Have "Smart Phones" Made Us Dumb?

Today, we have "smart phones" that have more computing power than the mainframe computers of the '60s and '70s. Everyone has a cell phone, including our children. While you and I may have multiple telephone numbers (office, home and cell), our children have just one - the one associated with their cell phones. But for them, the telephone is less about talking and more about texting.

Just the other day one of my friends recounted an interesting story. It seems his young 10-year-old daughter sent him a text message from her iPhone. (Yes, 10-year-olds have iPhones!) The text message directed my friend to open an e-mail on his computer. Upon doing so, my friend discovered a video of him and his wife. The video had been filmed moments before his daughter sent the text message.

So, "smart phones" and PCs have enabled us to stay in contact without seeing or speaking to others. And they call this innovation!

Pushing the Edge of Your Thinking  

• How long could you go without being wired (or wireless) with your cell phone or PC? One week? One day? One hour?
•  Do you prefer to send an email or a text message in lieu of having an actual conversation? Why or why not? 
• What communication skills are our children in danger of losing with so much techno-communication going on? What can we do to counteract this?

 

Bible update

I just finished I Kings 11 which means I am on track for my Bible reading. Most of the time I use a real Bible to read (have one on me at all times) but sometimes I use the internet.

Some parts of the Bible are beyond painful. And I gotta say, some of their responses are weird. For example, II Samuel 21:

³ David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the LORD’s inheritance?”
 ⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
   “What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.
 ⁵ They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, ⁶ let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the LORD’s chosen one.”

Didn't they just say that they had no right to put anyone in Israel to death? And then they ask to kill seven people? Not to mention there are some interesting translations/idioms that to us, 2,000-4,000 years later, make no sense.

But I am doing it :) as painful as it is sometimes. But there are other times when it's enjoyable and I just keep reading and get a couple days ahead. 

National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar

At the end of February I learned about a program called the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar where you can get graduate credit. It was really exclusive and required you to apply, write an essay and get recommendations. Only 40 people in the U.S. were chosen for this but if you get in, you get graduate credit and a $1200 stipend to use for travel. You're only allowed to apply for 2 (out of 20-ish trips). I picked Lowell, MA because I figured I could pocket the money and commute each day. And I picked Sante Fe, NM because the title sounded interesting and let's face it - I am in love with the SouthWest.

 In early April, I found out I was selected for Sante Fe (and wait listed for Lowell)! I just booked my flight so now it really feels like it's real. So from June 17-23 I will be in Santa Fe learning about
Landmarks of American History and Culture: Contested Homeland: Knowledge, History and Culture of Historic Santa Fe.

So not only will I get getting the credits that I desperately need but it'll essentially be free. And I get to go to my favorite area in the country and learn. I am beyond words excited for this!

If you remember, I need 12 credits by 2016 to keep my license or 30 by then to get a significant raise and keep my license so I am probably gonna go for the 30. I took a graduate history course as an undergrad so I already have 3 credits. I lucked out finding an organization that does cheap grad classes through Framingham State because of a grant and I have 2 credits under my belt from them and getting a 3rd in May and three more in June. Then I have the Santa Fe 3 which equal 12. The only thing I am waiting on is a class I registered for that I am PRAYING I get called Boston Immigration: Then & Now and it is free and is 3 graduate history credits to equal 15. So basically this summer is no time off for me.

TV

I know this might scare some of you but I know, by far, many of you will agree with this... 
Sometimes when I am feeling a little lonely and/or nostalgic, just popping on an old Friends episode or an older How I met Your Mother episode can help. As pathetic as it might be, I think it's because they are familiar to me and make me feel like they are my friends. Not in a crazy schizo way but in a very tangential way. There are some interesting studies to back this up surprisingly.

Here is one: http://www.cm-life.com/2009/04/22/studyshowsviewersdeveloprelationshipwithtvcharacters/

And here is another: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=imaginary-friends

I 100% agree with these articles. It literally makes me feel better to watch these shows. Watching them, does not, however, mean I am feeling lonely. 

Just an interesting thought for the day... 

Doing free things

In an effort to live frugally, I ventured to Walden Pond today for the first time.

I was utterly underwhelmed. Maybe it's because I've never read anything by Thoreau. So I picked up his "Walden or, life in the woods" from my library. The librarian told me she had to read it in college and hated it so the rave review helps... Also it smells like an old book which is, by, far, the worst smell on the planet. Though I have yet to smell burning flesh. Knock on wood it stays that way. 


While it's true I am a world traveler. - the things I haven't done in my own backyard is pathetic. So for the rest of this year I am going to search out local (read: New England) things to do that I've never done before. The list is pretty long.


 Up next: watching a reenactment of a battle from the Revolutionary War and go to Hampton Beach for the sand castle festival. 

Why care about any place that isn't America?

While telling my students about the Invisible Children sometimes I get comments like, "there are people who need help in America why are we helping Africans"? I get it. We do have a lot of issues in America but I don't think that means that we can't help people who need help. I don't mean through wars,  by the way. Those are a waste of time, money, energy and lives.

Sometimes I think about the concept of borders - they're fictional lines that can not be seen anywhere but on a map. And those fictional lines determine your language and culture. But millions of years ago the planet probably looked similar to this:

We were all part of one giant country at some point. Would that make us all one country? Probably not considering every continents can't keep it all together. But we make up these laws and rules that if you pop out of your mom between one place's fictional borders that you are automatically that country's nationality. Congratulations - you win the jackpot... or in some cases, not. We all had an equal chance to be born in the USA, Canada, Iraq or Uganda. It's not your doing that you were born here. And if you were born somewhere else and being ritually abused with an ineffective government, wouldn't you want help? And wouldn't it piss you off if people said, "that's Africa, it's not my problem". I get it. It's not our problem. But I just don't believe that it should work like that.

If you want to argue that adults should be able to take care of their own problems - fine. The Joesph Kony thing involves innocent kids who do not know any better and don't know how to chance things or get help. There are too many problems in the world to fix all of them like little girls being killed en masse in China or the mistreatment of women in the middle east. You gotta pick something to care about. The foreign aid budget is only 1% of our budget. 

I am not saying we should get in everybody's business but some guy kidnapping and thousands of kids maybe needs to be dealt with. And my personal experience with people who say the above things is that they're just talking... and very rarely do anything to help anyone be it in America or elsewhere. 

The Holocaust

Every year I teach about the Holocaust for 2 - 3 weeks using lectures, movies, documentaries, comic books, primary sources, and discussions. I realize more gruesome events have happened through history but kids seem really stuck on this being the most terrible so they are most interested in it.


It drains me. I got home everyday feeling beat. It's just so sad. I mean I have kids cry during these classes - not my favorite thing ever. The day where I spend 55 minutes lecturing is the worst. I am not used to speaking for that long and my throat is shot at the end of the day. 

This year we are doing something called The Butterfly Project where the kids make a butterfly that represents a child who was killed in the Holocaust. The Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. is sponsoring it and will put all of the 1.5 million butterflies on display in its museum in Spring of 2014. I'd love to go see the display. I got 80+ kids to do it and the rest of the department is doing it as well.

 

Do something: Kony 2012

So April is partly my volunteer month. Four years ago a group of girls approached the social studies department to advise an Amnesty International club. No one really wanted to do it. I know I sure didn't. I had no idea what Amnesty International was. So we told the girls to come back at the beginning of next year. Over the summer I researched what the heck it was and thought it would be interested so when they approached us again I took it on. It turned into the largest club in the school with 120+ members largely in part because the girls gave me a movie, Invisible Children. My entire department showed the movie to our kids and told them about what kinds of things we'd do in the club. We were swarmed with members. So we raised a ton of money for the organization (and others). 


When the Kony 2012 thing hit the internet a few months ago, I was inundated with emails from former students and had kids stopping by asking me if I heard about it. I hadn't. I did some research but it didn't go anywhere until my friend, Stephanie, posted something on facebook about going to meet with John Kerry's office about it and if anyone wanted to sign up. I told her I was on board.


We went today. We met at 2:00 to discuss who was going to say what and write some letters. Then we headed over to the office and met with one of his staffers, Amy. We discussed the issue and asked why Kerry hadn't signed the 2012 resolution yet and it turns out that he can't. Since he is the chairman of the foreign relations committee, it's policy for him not to sign resolutions but he's 100% behind it and has been working on it for years. It was an interesting meeting. We even had a former child soldier with us who told his story. I also got to tell my story. And we had a few of the Invisible Children roadies with us.

I had no idea that the senators' offices weren't in the State House...

 

Death

I wrote this on March 4 but didn't publish it until now because I wanted to think about it for awhile.  Except for the part in red - that was written on April 4. 

For the past few days, I've noticed that something was caught in the back of my throat on my tonsil. It was very annoying - almost like I had a popcorn kernel stuck back there. I tried everything from chewing gum to gargling to get it out. Strangely, I never looked inside my mouth. It felt like it was in a place I couldn't see. Today while I was driving home it was driving me CRAZY so I pulled over and opened up and saw something like this... actually never mind, the online pictures are disgusting. But it was, like a small white, painless dot on my right tonsil. It was close to the size of a small pea. I immediately freaked out and assumed the worst: cancer. I googled "painless white spot on tonsil" and got this answer.  It wasn't a definite but perhaps a little hope. The entire drive home I spent thinking about if it was cancer and how quickly my life would change. I can be a bit of a drama queen when it comes to my health. The instant I got home, I ran upstairs and gargled some salt water and mouthwash (at different times) and brushed my teeth to no avail. Not good for someone who suffers from anxiety. So I took a pair of tweezers and tried to grab it and it came off after a couple of attempts. It was a tonsilolith - from the above article. It was gross but the good news - it wasn't cancer. Yikes. What a scary feeling for about 20 minutes. March was all about contemplating the heavens - apparently March didn't get the memo that I should've gotten this tonsil thing in March. Duh. Now onto what I did write in March.

Someday I will die.

Someday my mom will die.

Someday my dad will die.

Everyone I have ever known will die. 

Everyone who has ever lived has or will die. 

I hope my husband, children and brother outlive me because I don't think I could handle that kind of loss. True, it is what matters that you do in life and so death should not be focused on but I just can't imagine that there will come a day when I can't call them and hear about them or tell them about my day or visit or hug them.

When I began having panic attacks in the summer of 2004, for some reason my mind refused to focus on much else other than the thought of my parents dying, which until that point had never crossed my mind. Not once.  Not for an instant. I had also never had a panic attack before. I don't know why it has all of a sudden become such a trauma for me. If I talk about it for even 20 seconds, I will tear up and I am not the "crying" type. I guess I realized how important they are to me as guides and as friends and I can not fathom life without them. But it will come. Someday. I hope in at least 25 years or more and not a moment less. My mom's dad died at 56 of pancreatic failure. My dad's mom at around 56 from breast cancer. My dad's dad from Alzheimer's at 81. My 75 year old maternal grandma is still alive and kicking as are all of my 3 blood uncles and 5 blood aunts (I am only counting them for genetic reasons) and all of their children. There have been no tragedies. Thank God. But there will be someday. I am blessed.

It's a horrible thing to think about - would you rather someone die instantly/in their sleep or over a long period of time so you can say goodbye? I am selfish. I think, I would rather it be a long thing so I can have sufficient time to say goodbye to them. That's unfair that they'd have to go through pain and time but I am just being selfish. It's not like I can control this anyways. It's just thoughts. This is going to sound horrible but I sometimes am jealous of the families who have had to deal with a trauma like this because by the end of it they just want it to be over and want their loved ones to no longer be suffering. As opposed to having a loved one ripped from them. Again, I know this is horribly selfish and I wouldn't wish it on anyone I love. Just a thought. I think being blind sided makes it worse. But I've never lost anyone really close so how would I know?

I too one day will die. I wonder what death feels like. I wonder what not existing here feels like. I've read a few stories about people who have died and come back to life and their stories comfort me because all signs point to there being something after here. What purpose would lying bring them? If they died and lied about there being something, what good would that bring them or anyone else? I don't think those people are lying. If I died and came back to life and there was nothing, I would proclaim it through out the word so that people might live differently. But I wouldn't see a purpose to lying. Death is scary. If there was no bright light, I'd say so.

S.A.D.

I don't mean to make light of a disorder that I likely don't have and won't bother getting tested for but I think it's possible that I may have seasonal affective disorder. I can't help but feel so much more alive and wanting to do things when it's warmer out. When it's cold, I just don't want to do anything or go anywhere. The only reason I live in New England is because my family is here. I hate the weather here so much that I tried to move away from here in college but got too homesick. I love the southwest. I love the weather and that it's nice year round. Out of all the possible symptoms, I don't have loss of interest in work or unhappiness. But everything else, definitely:
Symptoms usually build up slowly in the late autumn and winter months. Symptoms are usually the same as with depression:

• Increased appetite with weight gain (weight loss is more common with other forms of depression)
• Increased sleep and daytime sleepiness (too little sleep is more common with other forms of depression)
• Less energy and ability to concentrate in the afternoon
• Loss of interest in work or other activities
• Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement
• Social withdrawal
• Unhappiness and irritability   

It sucks when you know you may have a problem but know there is no good way for you to treat it :( 

Know your limits

I found another secret to adulthood this weekend after the 5k - know your own limits. There is no reason to push yourself beyond a certain point. Pushing yourself is good but there is a line and we must be careful not to cross it. 

The Lottery

I follow the mantra that the lottery is a tax on those who do not understand probability (thanks dad!). I've never really been into it but I did buy a 5 lottery tickets this past weekend because someone's gotta win. Why not me?

And because winning the lottery would make this month's goal null - there is soooo much I could/would do if I won the lottery. I'd start by paying off all of our debt and all of our good friends and family's debt. Then I'd buy a house and get a personal trainer and nutritionist and let's be honest - I'd get some lipo and a tummy tuck. I'd probably take a leave of absence at work and travel the globe for a couple of years with Scott. Then we'd come back to our lives and I'd go back into teaching. I'd probably take a TON of college classes because I love to learn - it's just so darn expensive. And of course I'd give tons of money away to charity.


It's nice to dream. I don't do it often. I mean, I have goals. Attainable goals. But if something's not realistic I really don't let myself think about it. What's the point? God, I'd love to win the lottery. So much would be solved. People who say money doesn't buy you happiness need to be punched. LOL I mean, of course, it won't buy you happiness if there is a foundation that isn't there. But God I'd love to win it! I bet it WOULD make me happy. AT least in part.

One day without shoes

One of my "things to do in April" is so volunteer, I went to a conference on Monday where the women who spoke told us about this project called 2012 hours against hate where you pledge your time to stop hate—to do something for someone who doesn’t look like you, pray like you, or live like you. It's a campaign to stop bigotry and promote pluralism and respect.

A student asked me a month ago if we could do the Day Without Shoes on April 10. I don't know if for safety reasons we can do this but I did bring it up with my principal. I'd like to do this regardless so this will probably be one thing I do this month to volunteer effort into raising awareness about someone who doesn't live like me.

April

April - Live frugally. Scott & I have had 3 wonderful but extremely expensive years together and now is the time to pull back... a lot. So we can pay off debts and buy a house... in that order. So I am going to try to do free/cheap things and volunteer. I chose this month because it's one of the few that doesn't have a holiday or many birthdays in it so it could be easy to spend less.

There isn't a chapter in her book about this - I chose something my life needs. Scott and I have been doing a really good job doing this (compared to our lives together so far) since December. So I read some blogs and got some advice. 

The first thing I did was make the checklist of things to focus on:

That blog above is ridiculous. The man has a wife and 6 kids and both of them have jobs and they own 1 car on purpose (not because they can't afford it). That's just crazy. Using cash is big because with a debit card it's hard to see how much money is leaving and how much you have left. I have become a slave to the debit card. The 10 day list is modified from the blog above where the guy uses a 30 day list. Basically, if you want something (as opposed to needing something (food, etc...)) like clothes or other items you write it down and put a date next to it. If you no longer want it after 10 days, you don't buy it. It stops impulse buying. I haven't had a sip of soda since December 31, 2011 (which is tough because I LOVE soda even though I rarely drink it) so I think I can cut back on alcohol. I am of the "if it's broken, buy a new one" generation so I will maintain things instead of buying new things.I am the queen of driving all around the world at a moment's notice but rarely do I see it as wasting gas. So I am going to stop that. The rest is self explanatory.

And the second thing was to read about a lot of fun and free things to do. I liked this article in Cosmo the best. 

Should be an interesting month...