Let't Think About This

Cookie cutter houses, cookie cutter clothes, cookie cutter lives, imagine each and every one of us the same.  We log onto Face-book, check out what's going on with the people we know.  Then we start texting; our mundane messages of going to work, to school, to the library, even to the bathroom.  Our need to feel connected in a world that is speeding out of control, and technology keeps us attuned to family and friends.  Did Ray Bradbury know over fifty years ago what some people are just realizing today?  Is technology replacing reading, writing, and critical thinking?  I think, with my brain engaged, that this is so.  Yet, I want to believe with my heart that the choice is still ours.
     Ray Bradbury's insight was phenomenal.  He envisioned: people not talking on porches, reality TV, Seashells in our ears (our iPods), over extending financially to have the next new item available, the media blab, blab, blabbing, and education floundering where a child is pushed through without the rudimentary tools.
     One can assume that with the technology of the Internet, smart phones, and Kindle, there is no need to read, or think critically.  The reality is that one is reading, whether it is information on the Internet, or personal messages on our phones.  But mostly, it is superficial.  There will always be people who sit passively and accept what is handed to them.  And there will always be people who try to listen, think things through, ask questions, and decide.
     Van den Haag argued that "...all mass media in the end alienate people from personal experience and through appearing of offset it, intensify their moral isolation from each other, from reality and from themselves."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_culture  He is correct. Though YouTube has its own community, it lacks face to face interpersonal relationships.
     Books are here to stay.  Books enable people to use their imaginations to see, in their mind's eye what the words produce for them.  it is up to us to instill the excitement of books to future generations.
     Bradbury writes of over population.  In his book, the government controls the population with holding everyone to the same restricted lifestyles.  Keep the people in a herd mentality.  Let them think they are happy.  Let them kill each other with high speed cars.  Let them die at their own hands from boredom.  The people must conform.  Conformity brings with it a controlled population.
     Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" was written soon after a policeman told Bradbury that he and his friend should not be walking down Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.  It was not the custom; Wilshire Boulevard was not pedestrian friendly.  His reaction was to write this book. (http://www.raybradbury.com/at_home_clips.html)
     Television, the Internet, and technology are not the cause of people not taking the time to read, write, and think critically.  Imagine, people can choose.

Because I Said So...That's Why, Revised

     Does anyone remember hearing those words?  Did you think to yourself, but why?  I think that most of my life I have been doing just that...Doing what others tell me to do without much thought as to how, when, where, or why, and what are the consequences of not doing what I was told.  Partly I believe I followed along because I was afraid to be wrong.  A person doing is not the same as a person being.  A person being in the moment and understanding is priceless.  So the question really is:  Should reasoning skills be taught in primary schools?  Let me belt out a cacophony of "Yes, yeah, affirmative, zippy-Skippy, and Yes, Yes, and more yeses!"

     Imagine children of six to eleven years of age that are allowed to ask questions.  Their questions enable them to understand the situation, to put their thoughts into prospective imagery.  It enables them to solve problems.  According to Peter Worley, "...conceptual thinking or reasoning...underlies how you read, how you write, how your speak.  Reasoning is the basis on which all those things stand."  http://www.teachers.tv/news/66551  Imagine growing a nation of children who are allowed to have the confidence to be wrong in order to learn and think for themselves.
     Teachers might argue that they don't have time.  There is already a burden to have their students prepare for standardized testing.  This testing is about federal funds.  A good education requires students to be able to ask questions.  One will not attempt to ask nor answer if they are afraid of being wrong.  Building confidence will inspire a student to not be afraid to ask questions.  A student will learn that being wrong gives the opportunity to learn what is right.
     Jean Piaget, studied the development of children's understanding.  His work was accepted as a force in educational theory.  Piaget proposed that until a child was eleven and older, that child could not "...think logically about the abstract propositions and test hypotheses systemically..."  (http://learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm).  Though I believe each student matures at different rates, the introduction of reasoning can be implemented at an early age.  His views in my opinion are somewhat outdated.
     Being taught how to learn cannot begin too early.  Being given the opportunity to think for yourself is priceless.  Teaching 'reasoning' at an early age can foster confidence in students, and does no harm.

How r u? Crash! Boom! Bang!

     The use of texting has brought about so much change in recent years.  There is up to the minute awareness of evrything you want to know.  It is quiet; it does not disturb people around you that a loud conversation might.  Texting is less invasive in that you can answer concisely or not at all.  But, how many of us are texting and driving?  How many of us are texting and walking?  Is that a problem for some of us, all of us?
     Okay, so probable cause of death:  stupid?  I cannot even imagine what a medical examiner could write for cause of death in a situation where a fatal accident was caused by someone either sending or receiving a text message as they are driving, or walking.
     Yet these accidents are occurring more frequently.  Dr. Frank Ryan, plastic surgeon to actress Heidi Montag was driving through the hills (and cliffs) of Malibu, California when he veered off the road while texting a Twitter message about his Border Collie, Jill.  In Arizona, an eighteen year old crosses the center line, collides with another vehicle, the other driver dies at the scene while the eighteen year old succumbs to her injuries the next day.  Investigators checked her cell phone for who to contact in case of an emergency and found the text message timed precisely at the same as the head on collision.  In Staten Island, New York, a fifteen year old who was concentrating on texting walked into an open manhole while workers were securing the area.  She was not seriously hurt but claimed it was painful.  Her mother plans to sue. 
     Though nineteen state, District of Columbia, and Guam have laws, Arizona does not have any laws banning texting.  Oprah Winfrey has a "No Phone Zone" campaign to help individuals get involved in contacting state governors to ask for bans on testing while driving, or the use of hands free equipment.
     While some will say there are positive aspects with texting, I could not agree more.  Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist in Oakland, California says texting "...is an enormous tool...offers companionship and the promise of connectedness."  For the many deaf people, texting has changed their lives.  They can communicate with cell phones; giving them the independence that was unheard of before.  These deaf people are now able to communicate with each other, and hearing people in the same fashion.
     Texting is a wonderful technological discovery.  It has many good uses.  And like most things it is powered by humans who can use it for good or for bad. 'Texting and driving' is the next "drinking and driving.'  In my opinion, they just don't mix well.

www.abcnews.go.com/entertainment/heidi-montag-plastic-surgeon-Frank-Ryan-texting-car/story?id=11427497
www.responsibilityproject.com/
www.azcentral.com/community/peoria/articles/0813gl-peofatal/0813.html.
www.healthnews.com/family-health/average-teen-output-eighty-text-messages-day-3194.html

Sammy's starts school tomorrow

My visit to New York affords me the privilege of seeing my granddaughter Sammy off to kindergarden.  These past few days have been a lot of fun.  We went to Boomers, an amusement park; the beach, and ate (and worn) a huge waffle ice cream cone.

Jake Augustin

On August 31st at 2:40pm I became the proud grandmother, called Mema, of a hefty 5 pound 4 ounce baby boy.  He is alert, and seems content is eat, sleep and poop.

Introduction: Loteki Blaze of Glory

He is better known as Blazer, we try to keep it informal.  Blazer is my seven and a half year old papillon,weighing in at a solid eight pounds.   This is my first time since 1990 to have an only child (dog).  He was born in Iowa, flew out to New York with me in 2003.  Then he lived in Santa Barbara, Ca. from January of 2006 until July of 2009 when we moved to Prescott, Az.  We are hoping to stay put except for visiting our kids (the human kind) and grandchildren.

My first post

Just trying to figure out if I can see this again.