Back to School

It's that time of the year and I will be starting classes again myself in October. I have Introduction to the Old Testament, an 8 week class, beginning that month and God and World, again 8 weeks long, which starts in November. I am excited to get back into the mix. I checked my records and I am officially a junior now; I have 66 credits. I'm hoping to add 33 more in the coming year. Slowly, but surely I'm getting there. The light at the end of the tunnel may be you...is just a freight train coming your way...is starting to appear.

I hope that doesn't mean I have to grow up. I don't think I want to do that. One of my favorite quotes is from C.S. Lewis. "When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

A Topic Close to My Heart

Time recently had a cover story on child geniuses and the problems they face in school. As one of those kids who never struggled in school, never felt challenged, and never felt like I fit in, I have a first-hand account of what life is like for people like this.

AS A CULTURE, WE FEEL DEEPLY ambiguous about genius. We venerate Einstein, but there is no more detested creature than the know-it-all. In one 1996 study from Gifted Education Press Quarterly, 3,514 high school students were asked whether they would rather be the best-looking, smartest or most athletic kids. A solid 54% wanted to be smartest (37% wanted to be most athletic, and 9% wanted to be best looking). But only 0.3% said the reason to be smartest was to gain popularity. We like athletic prodigies like Tiger Woods or young Academy Award winners like Anna Paquin. But the mercurial, aloof, annoying nerd has been a trope of our culture, from Bartleby the Scrivener to the dorky PC guy in the Apple ads. Intellectual precocity fascinates but repels.

I loved learning, but I hated school. I convinced my high school administrators to let me graduate a year early, but even that was a joke. I could have easily had a college degree by then if I had been given the chance. Interestingly, the article noted a study that showed that kids allowed to skip grades do not suffer socially as has long been thought. In fact, they turn out better than those who are not permitted to skip ahead.

Gael, a math teacher, began to research giftedness and found that high-IQ kids can become isolated adults. "They end up often as depressed adults ... who don't have friends or who find it difficult to function," she says. Actually, research shows that gifted kids given appropriately challenging environments--even when that means being placed in classes of much older students--usually turn out fine. At the University of New South Wales, Gross conducted a longitudinal study of 60 Australians who scored at least 160 on IQ tests beginning in the late '80s. Today most of the 33 students who were not allowed to skip grades have jaded views of education, and at least three are dropouts. "These young people find it very difficult to sustain friendships because, having been to a large extent socially isolated at school, they have had much less practice ... in developing and maintaining social relationships," Gross has written. "A number have had counseling. Two have been treated for severe depression." By contrast, the 17 kids who were able to skip at least three grades have mostly received Ph.D.s, and all have good friends.

The biggest problem our schools have is that they don't teach to individuals; they teach to the mass in the middle. No Child Left Behind only exacerbates this. What is needed, and what I envision in the school I want to open some day, is an individual curriculum based on each child's talents and desires. That is the only way to ensure each child can develop their full potential whether they are a genius or not.

UPDATE: Fixed formatting.

A Last Minute Stay

My brother, Shawn, has decided to hold off on selling the house for two years. I'm a bit shocked, I must say. While he has said a few times that the money is not his main reason for selling (it is the "burden" of owning it and Mom), he was just saying two days ago that he needed the money to make it in Missoula. The problem is that he really doesn't know what he needs. Love, or what he thinks is love, has clouded his mind and being with his girlfriend is all he can think about. I know exactly what he is thinking and feeling right now. I went through the same thing when I was younger. I just hope he learns more quickly than I did what is wrong with his current path.

I know my Mom is happy, but I can't help but feel that on a certain level this just prolongs the agony. Two years is not a long time and before you know it the time will be gone and once more my mother will faced with the soul-crushing experience of parting from a life-long dream. Perhaps something will change in two years. Who knows? I hope that whatever happens a decision can be reached that is not too painful for my mom.

In the meantime, it might get a little hairy making ends meet here. Shawn wants to be free of all responsibilities here including contributing to the house payment. Mom and I would be drained to the breaking point if we had to pay for everything on our own, so we are talking about finding someone who wants to rent a room. The obvious first choice would be one of my sisters, but I don't think that is feasible. Sheena, while deeply unhappy with her current boyfriend in many ways, in all likelihood does not have the strength of will or desire to leave him. Sharie is living here, but has not been subtle about her desire to leave as soon as possible. Shawna will not live here as long as Sharie is, but even after Sharie leaves, I don't think she would want to move back. Shawna is too antsy and she feels like a "loser" living with her mother.

That means Mom and I will have to look elsewhere and I can't say I'm excited about the idea. I'm not so worried about finding a decent person who pays the rent on time as I am having a stranger move in. I'm a fairly private person. The notion of a stranger living here, eating here, hanging out here is somewhat unnerving. We'll see, I suppose.

I am happy that Mom does not have to face moving out now. I hope everything works out down the road.

Recent Viewings

I have watched two fantastic movies in the last week, Pan's Labyrinth and The Fountain

Pan's Labyrinth is a Spanish movie from director Guillermo del Toro. A young girl visits a dark, fantasy kingdom to escape her tumultuous life as the step-daughter of a sadistic army captain battling rebels in 1940's Spain. Make no mistake, this is a fairy tale. It's not the Disney fairy tales we're used to these days, though. It is more akin to the older fairly tales, those that were dark and not always pleasant. And dark it is. There is a lot of graphic violence, but del Toro never makes it feel gratuitous. This is a story of good and evil and the evil is certainly very evil. Ofelia's journey to reclaim her birthright as the princess of a magical kingdom is heart-wrenching especially since del Toro leaves the reality of the kingdom ambiguous. Is Ofelia making it all up in her mind because her life is so disturbing or is it a real place? Bonus points for that, the rich cinematography (fantastic use of color), and for the beautiful, haunting score. Definitely one of the more enchanting movies I have seen in awhile. Highly recommended.

I also very much enjoyed The Fountain, though I can see why it was very divisive to critics and viewers. It is not a movie easily digested. Tom/Tomas/Tommy is a man unwilling to accept death and journeys through time searching for a "cure." Their are three time periods in the story - past, present, and future - and Aronofsky weaves them together in a non-linear fashion. The first half of the movie can be tricky to follow as you only feel like you have a partial grasp on the full extent of events. By the end, though, I was blown away at the power of the story. What begins as the story of a man battling the age-old villain of Death becomes...well, you'll just have to see it for yourself. Hugh Jackman does an incredible job; I feel he is one of the best actors working right now (see also The Prestige) and doesn't get enough recognition for it. Darren Aronofsky is also someone to watch. He has a very unique vision. I think that even if this is not a movie you like, Aronofsky deserves credit for making a movie quite unlike most churned out of Hollywood these days. I wish more movies aimed this high.

"...because it is right."

Hilary Bok (Hilzoy) has a post on The Daily Dish examining Obama's foreign policy views. It lays out clearly some of the reasons why I think Obama is the best candidate in the race right now.

Missing You

I took my daughters home last night. They had been staying with me since the 17th. I won't see them for two weeks because their mother is taking them on vacation to South Dakota and they won't be back until next Sunday. It's hard not being around them more. I miss them terribly, especially knowing how horrible their home life is. For those parents who do live with their children, count your blessings and don't take your moments with them for granted.

Weekly Secret

I chose a more amusing one this week than usual.



PostSecret

Bushville

It is increasingly obvious that Bush does not inhabit the universe the rest of his do. No, Bush along with his closest advisers and the devout neo-cons live in a parallel universe, one that is black and white, one in which Bush is the good king struggling against the forces of darkness, one in which Bush can do no wrong, one in which Bush can rewrite history. His speech yesterday is a blatant example of this. It's unbelievable that someone could claim that if we had stayed in Vietnam, we would have been better off because we would have prevented a lot of suffering and death and prevented a loss of "American credibility." It is almost universally understood that Vietnam was a major blunder of American foreign policy. For Bush to be giving a speech implying we should have "stayed the course" in Vietnam is one more sign of his residence in an alternate reality, one I've dubbed Bushville. Joe Klein's reaction is here and Andrew Sullivan responds here.

Because I Said I Would

My sister, Shawna, is very, ah, attentive to fashion and what people are wearing. I told her I would post a link to this article for her.

"What does that say about you?"

I met Katie Joy for ice cream Monday night after she got off work at 8:30. She works at the Bible Book Store, either location here in town. That night it was at the Heights store, so we met at Baskin Robbins which is in the same parking lot as the BBS. We "hung out" for two hours talking about all sorts of things. I had a good time. She's fun to talk to and makes me laugh. Funniest moment of the night - She's complaining about all of the mosquito bites she has and says she they seem to really flock to her. I say, "Maybe it says something about you that parasites and bloodsuckers are really attracted to you." She replies with, "What does that say about you?" Yeah, yeah. I walked, nay, ran right into that one. We both got a good laugh out of it.

My Mom Would Not Approve

Fundamentalism is primarily a reaction to modernity. There is nothing wrong with attempting to figure out how your religious beliefs demand you live in our ever-changing world. The problem with most strains of fundamentalism is that they answer the question with fear. Fear of change. Fear of new ideas. Since 9/11 our country has become very familiar with Islamic fundamentalism (well, we think we are familiar with it anyway. I dare say most people have little to no understanding of it, but I digress), but Christian fundamentalism is a powerful movement in our nation and in many ways makes a bigger impact on our lives than Islamic fundamentalism.

Check out this article. The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is now offering a degree in homemaking and even better, it is for women only. These women can take classes in cooking, sewing, and the "value of a child." No doubt they are also told to "graciously submit" to their husbands as the Southern Baptists have said they needed to in the past.

There is nothing wrong with classes for these kinds of subjects. They are valuable skills and I'm sure many people would like to take classes like this in college. But why are they limited to women? Because the fundamentalists are scared of our changing society, one in which women are empowered to join the workforce and be the equal of men. They see problems in society and assume that if we just did things "the way they used to be" then everything will be fixed and we'll live happily ever after. It's looking at the past through rose-colored glasses.

The fact of the matter is that gender roles have changed in Western society. The sharp divide has blurred and men can now be found staying at home raising the children and women can be CEOs. Do we have problems in our society with divorce and families? While there may be disagreement as to its extent, I'm not sure you would find many people who would say there is no problem at all. I don't think giving women degrees in homemaking is going to solve this.

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."

I've been doing a lot of reading lately with my spare time. I finished Song of Kali by Dan Simmons. The back of the book gave a lot of hype about how scary and terrifying it was. I've read lots of blurbs and rarely are they accurate. I've read a few books by Simmons and I've enjoyed them all, but I didn't expect to be scared by this book. I wasn't, in truth, but I was deeply disturbed by it. It is about an editor of a small, literary magazine who journeys to Calcutta to investigate the story of a poet who is releasing new poetry eight years after he was supposed to have died. Against the advice of his partner, he takes his wife and child, and what happens is beyond reckoning. The worst part of the book, what makes it so disturbing, is that there is no logic, no rationality, behind anything, not even thinly-veiled, barely plausible fiction logic. Many of the images have been seared in my mind and linger there haunting me. I intend to travel around the world some day, and I do want to visit Calcutta, but forever will I view it through the lens of Dan Simmons' Song.

The next book I picked up and just finished today was Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. It was also haunting, though in a different way. It was heart-breaking. I saw the movie once when it came out, but not since, so, while I remembered the broad strokes of the story, I had forgotten many of the details. It all came slamming back as I read this page turner. The three main characters were so vividly depicted that I could almost forget they were not real. Lehane does a fascinating job of peeling back the layers of the human psyche and leaving it exposed, raw and unflinching. The ending is depressing, but ambiguous and not at all easy. I've read two other books by Lehane, but this towers above them.

I finished another book today, the one I had been reading to my daughters, Watership Down by Richard Adams. I had read this before, but it has been a long time. As I mentioned before, a book about a warren of rabbits does not exciting sound, but this book is amazing. My daughters loved it and I have to admit I was a little choked up at the end. Like all good authors, Adams makes you connect with his characters and they become your friends and family before it is over. Anyone who enjoys a story dealing with love, hardship, friendship, adventure, and overwhelming odds should run to the bookstore and get a copy of this book.

I'm not sure what I am going to read next, but I have more than a few on my shelf that I haven't yet read, so I'll find something.

UPDATE: Fixed typo.

Vacation!

I am taking the rest of the week off from work. My daughters are spending the week with me. We don't have any big plans; we're just going to hang out. I'm looking forward to that and not having to deal with people at work who are special and need to remind me of that so that I treat them accordingly. I don't know how so many people get the entitlement mindset, but it is prevalent. To them I give the words of Tyler Durden: "You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else." In fact, I think that is the new Quote of the Week.

Dinner Date Cancelled

Well, dinner with Katie Joy's parents has been cancelled. She called me today and said she got stuck working tonight, so she would not be joining them for dinner. That saves me from having to answer questions like, "Do you like making the baby Jesus cry, Shane? Because that's what happens when you don't go to church every week." For now, anyway. Her family eats dinner together every Monday night, so I'm sure at some point I will be sucked back in.

We are going at for ice cream after she gets off work, though. I guess that's still safely in the realm of hanging out.

As an aside, the Blogger text editor tried to tell me that "cancelled" was misspelled and that it should be "canceled." I guess no one has told the Blogger people that we speak English in this country, not the foul Commie tongue.

Miracle of Birth Occurs for 89 Billionth Time

Congratulations to my friend Jeromy and his wife, Debbie. On Friday they added Matthew Macrae to their family. He was five weeks early and is still in the NICU, but is doing fine. I know Jeromy and Debbie are thrilled about the new addition to their family. They are great parents, nay, great people and I'm excited thinking about the wonderful family they are building.

Here is Matthew:



And here is Jeromy, holding his son, Elijah, in the NICU with Matthew:

Backwards People

I always knew there was something wrong with lefties. Dr. Sanjay Gupta had a post on his blog recently about some studies done on southpaws.

From Those Who Have Been There

The New York Times also has an article about the Iraq War written by seven NCOs who have done tours there. If only we had leaders willing to listen rather than attempt to force the world to conform to their narrow view.

Torture

Andrew Sullivan has been doing a fantastic job of chronicling our wonderful administration's attempts to justify torture and the ramifications of it. This chilling post about the mental condition of Jose Padilla should be enough to make any sane American outraged. If a Democratic president had done this, you can be sure a Republican Congress would have implemented impeachment proceedings.

Um...Err...

The New York Times has an article about an interesting new book which examines speaking and language gaffes. It, of course, mentions our fearless leader, Big Brother, so I'll also link to Slate's wonderful collection of Bush's verbal bunglings. It's great to read when you need a little pick me up.

Not Often Enough

I went out tonight with my brother, Shawn, and sister, Shawna. We played pool, listened to music, and had a few drinks - alcohol for them, a now rare Pepsi for me. It was nice. My siblings, myself included, have drifted apart over the years and these moments are too few and far between. I am just as guilty as they are and I need to do better at connecting with them.

It's funny how this can so easily happen to a family. There was no dramatic event that triggered this. It just happened. I don't want us to continue with the attitude so perfectly if inadvertently phrased by my sister, "Family's important, but..." I'm going to work harder at repairing these relationships; I hope my siblings will as well.