Sweet Caffeine Infatuation
I listen to marvelous new music I’ve just been introduced to that is largely produced by Jack White’s label, Third Man Records, and find myself in this wonderful spot of bliss. I’m caught in the perfect place I feared I might never find only two or three years ago when I dropped out of Wichita State when I was starting my fourth year and finally getting into the thick of the classes truly relevant to creative writing but not having any clue how to harness the energies and ambitions racing through my mind. I was collapsing under a weight of perceived self-ruination. I didn’t know if I was gay or straight, truly bisexual, worthy of better things, of college, of a rewarding career and the best friends. One of those to whom I disclosed these fears I have not spoken to but once since not long after that minor breakdown, the other is near to moving back from Georgia though I always fear we have grown apart somehow, socially speaking. At the least, we will always have a deep mutual love and trust for one another.
I got my shit together and aimed for higher grades in school, having set my sights on a degree in secondary education of history and government I have found that, more than anything else, having a tangible and realistic goal has given me the mental spur I needed to do better for myself, academically speaking. I still need to improve my WSU GPA over the next couple semesters to get into the School of Education and to do so as soon as possible requires of me straight A’s for two solid semesters. I am historically a B/C student, ever content to impress in class discussion and do well on tests while procrastinating on the assignments that are the oft-times bland peas that round out a good, hearty meal. As a vegetarian, it seems that every pea helps. I am only one month into my first semester back at WSU and already find myself combating old habits and compelling myself to remain diligent and studious, to keep up with the readings and get the homework done at least a couple days ahead of time. So far, things are looking good. Steely resolve is the only thing that will keep me forging ahead, trudging out of the muck that I made out of my academic career. Short-term weariness will be outstripped by long-term success and happiness within another two years if I can keep this up.
Almost a month ago I met Joel. He’s a 23 year old middle school art teacher. He’s genuine, intelligent, relaxed, and easy to get along with. My sister loves him, my friends love him, and I do believe I love him. It almost seems to good to be true. It is taking a somewhat conscious effort to let my guard down around him and not slip into some comic tone or another when saying something affectionate to him. At the age of 25 and still barely halfway through my schooling, I remain self-conscious of our different pacing in life, recognizing that he is already on his career path and mine has yet to truly begin. I worry he may think less of me for it. Hopefully I am just being my own worst critic… The fear of disappointing him, my parents, my family, friends, and my colleagues is almost overwhelming sometimes. I think I am safe, though. He makes me feel famous. We sing together in the car and appreciate similar kinds of music. He can carry a tune and makes some beautiful art with vivid themes relating captivity of animals to human freedom. He has gorgeous eyes and an ornery smile that makes me feel light and happy as hell. He gives wonderfully compassionate hugs and even better kisses. His right ear is ticklish. He is fluent in Spanish, being Mexican in origin, and for that I may study Spanish before German so that I may better relate to him and his family and friends. He’s funny and witty, cleverly sarcastic and sweet, and has a rich, deep voice.
Good things.
Poetry and Ponder-Worthy Postings
I just wrote this and thought it was a neat beginning to a possibly awesome song:
Let’s get snowed in together
Let the snow pile up outside,
See if we’re really birds of a feather.
Forced to do more than fly South,
More than those fancy tricks with your mouth.
Let’s get snowed in together.
Also, there’s this neat link to a Christian’s analysis of a number of challenges to faith that I’m only half-done with but find quite compelling.
Rapture Me Now… Or Not.
An acquaintance of mine posted this on facebook and it made me sick to my stomach:
v-iet asked: Are you from DList?
I am! I clicked on that adorable exposed butt cheek picture you posted and it took me to yer Tumblr. On DList, I’m Windgrace but my name is Kyle.
Obama/Taxes; Republicans/Democrats to Blame?
Kyle Aldrich shared a link.
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Aj Pflumm likes this.
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Emily Aldrich this sounds like a good but a bad thing when you read through it…..7 hours ago · -
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Emily Aldrich Well really… it sounds like a good but a bad thing. He’s lowering tax rates for everyone… including the rich?6 hours ago ·
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Steven ByromFunky number playing. The article completely ignores the enormous loss of income in those tax brackets as well as the explosion in unemployment coupled with “non taxes” such as the healthcare overhaul. It also completely ignores the “expl…See More6 hours ago · -
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Steven Byrom Not even going to go into the whole “Congress hasnt passed a budget in 4 years which is a legal requirement” issue.6 hours ago ·
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Emily Aldrich All I can say is I better not see Mitt dumbshit Romney filling that seat, or Herman Cain…. or any of those retards I’ve been watching in the Republican primaries. Just a bunch of children in suits filling up our government.6 hours ago · ·
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Emily AldrichNo… I’m saying in general. I’ll still side with the democrats because what they’re talking about at least SEEMS like something I want… I think they’ve all got sticky fingers. And slashing previous elections still doesn’t deter from the …See More5 hours ago · · 1
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Steven ByromWhat is it you want exactly? Because if you’re that unsure I can assure you myself they are just as unsuited to your taste as any republican nominee. You just happen to be stuck in the “Political Religion” where no matter how much one side …See More4 hours ago ·
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Steven Byrom These are your beloved Democrats right alongside the Repubs http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/super-committee-negotiations-now-about-how-to-fail-gracefully.php
“The good news: the members of the so-called “super-committee” are finally talking with each other. The bad news: they’re talking about how to spin their failure”
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.comA top Democratic source says members of the Super Committee are now discussing how to end things with honor.4 hours ago · · -
Kyle AldrichIt really irks me when people say “they’re BOTH to blame!” That’s bullshit. The Republicans regularly pander to a base that rejects anything that has firm scientific backing and an audience that applauds death, boos a gay soldier, and think…See More4 hours ago · · 2 -
Kyle Aldrich This super committee business? Republicans not wanting to raise taxes or even allow the Bush Tax Cuts to expire. End of story. The wealthy used to pay more than triple what they do now in taxes and unless they accept a meager raise from the pitiful depths their ratio has gone, our government won’t be able to support itself. It’s not an “out of control” spending issue so much as it is a shit revenue issue.4 hours ago ·
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Steven Byrom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinders
en.wikipedia.orgBlinders, also known as blinkers or winkers, are a piece of horse tack that prev…See More4 hours ago · · -
Steven Byrom If things were so fantastic under Clinton with so much prosperity and a surplus… Why dont we go back to Clinton levels of spending?4 hours ago ·
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Steven Byrom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes
en.wikipedia.orgA stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of indivi…See More4 hours ago · · -
Kyle Aldrich Because this is a different decade, with different circumstances. I do not see the point or purpose in the definition links you have posted. I’m not stereotyping anyone, I’m calling it as it is.about an hour ago ·
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Argumentative
I’ve been told before that I am stubborn and that I am argumentative. Generally, I suppose that is true. I want to make sure that my thoughts are shared and that a free-flow of information, thought, and idea exchange can ensue. The box and labeling of various ideologies, the hyperbole of some arguments, the narrowness of consideration of many contribute to hampering this process. I think I’m going to start recording my discussions and debates (that usually transpire on facebook) on here. You’re welcome.
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5 people like this.
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Paul Lemke People who believe that there is not a bubble in gold believe in the government’s ability to avert financial disaster.21 hours ago · · 1 -
Paul Lemke Gold has only begun its climb because the government has only begun its stupidity in trying to solve the financial crisis.21 hours ago ·
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Adam McComb @ kyle, agreed. Just wait till the few trillion the Fed has printed but is sitting in corporate accounts starts sloshing around in the market.21 hours ago · · 1 -
Kyle Aldrich Bubble in American education, really? The obvious implication is that it’s on the verge of a collapse comparable to the economy and that’s just preposterous.20 hours ago · -
David Batson Kyle A, the fact that you (and everyone else) says it is preposterous is precisely what makes it a bubble. There is a bubble in the use of the word “bubble.” What it really means is when a given asset is given untouchable status on a broad, societal level and no price is considered too high. Examples are real estate in 2007, stocks in 2000…or gold in 1980…or stocks in 1966….and so on and so forth.19 hours ago · · 1 -
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Elizabeth Michiels@ Kyle Aldrich — Collapse of the mind and the spirit leads to destruction, absolutely, although at first, this isn’t always visible to people who are not observant. Walk into a public school: observe the teachers, observe the students, observe the content of the work, observe the walls, take it all in. Ask the kids what they are learning and why. What are the responses? This is important. Talk to kids working now a days at local shops and cafés. Tell me what you see. I have seen a lot. Ask a youngster a “thinking” question or one that requires effort (that he physically move to obtain something). What do you see?
Now I am not certain how or when the complete collapse in the totality of education will eventually occur, but it must at some point. I am certain that collapse is happening already, from the inside out not from doors closing on physical school buildings, but from the system inhibiting thought, first, on the part of the teachers to think for themselves, and then necessarily, this mentality is passed on to the students. Public educators are not free to ask themselves, “Is this what makes sense to me?” That question — nor the question, “What is the best use of my time and my skill sets?” is not welcome. (Someone else knows that answer better than you.) This equates to — “your independent thoughts and skills — are not welcome.” Extrapolate that….over hundreds of experiences for both thousands of educators and their students across the country far and wide. Logically, what then, is the eventual result? In a word, Resignation.10 hours ago · · 1 -
Paul LemkeThe real question un-answered is how is this system going to “collapse” or lead to a bust? What is the mechanism and why will it come crashing down? The fact that it is over valued is not in and of itself crash worthy is it? Obviously the defaults on student loans are a problem, e.g. student loans are taken by people who have no intention of paying them back or have no capability in earning enough to pay them back once finished with school but a lot of this debt is held by government and it can be sustained for a while? Does anyone know the primary mechanics by which colleges are subsidized or what sort of taxes are used? Who is going to get squeezed? What percentage of the market is private and public? Until these sorts of questions are answered how is one to see the bubble?
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/uploadedImages/News/Chicago/Images/Business/default2.jpg
@Elizabeth That has been true for a looooong time. Rand wrote about that in the 1970s and late 1960s right?7 hours ago · · 1 -
Chris Heasley A BC MBA in 2001 was $21k. Today it is $35k. We need to put a Sam Walton business model in American Education because the bureaucrats are the fat cats.5 hours ago · · 2 -
Elizabeth Michiels Paul, yes AR wrote of this. I was not speaking from anything I had read, however. Chris, I don’t believe that American Education (as such) is a valid business model (in other words, education should be left free from government).5 hours ago ·
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Kyle AldrichI WORK at an elementary school as a para and while the teachers are required to teach some things in ways they don’t entirely agree with, it’s nowhere near as bad as you’re making it out to be. So, what? We’ve “failed” to teach kids to think creatively or critically? Ultimately that’s something that each will recognize on his or her own. You can’t really “teach” those skills. We can only give them the foundational knowledge of fact or a system of structure to help them organize their thoughts. It’s not thought control, it’s not some big, scary machine of the state. You talk about a collapse of the totality of education and I say to you, that will not ever happen. You are not giving the teachers and students enough credit for being individuals with working minds. These children are bright and perceptive, they know what they’re learning and are able to learn by astonishing leaps and bounds. The way you are going on about this implies that they’re too stupid to know the difference or that they are helpless tools in the shed of a negligent laborer.
You would actually trust PRIVATE enterprise with the education of hundreds of millions of children? At least when there’s something wrong with public education, we can all see it and do something about it at a local level through school boards and what have you. Education is every bit the business of the government as in ensures our ability to create a competent population that is competitive with foreign ones. The state is not “brainwashing” students, or stupefying them and, while some private schools are generally better, you have to look at the status of the people putting their children into those schools. See how well they’d do with a school loaded with inner-city children. Suddenly you’d see the credibility of the private education model go right down the tubes. They can deal with a few lucky lotto winners here and there pretty well, but they’d be lost with what the public schools have had to deal with.4 hours ago · -
David Batson ”It’s confounding to think that most Americans would never accept the government taking over development of their I phones, but are perfectly content to drop their children off at the post office each morning.” Dr Yaron Brook (paraphrased)4 hours ago · · 1
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Jason Head@Kyle A, it’s quite disturbing how indignant public school teachers become when their (forced) customers express their opinion that public schools are doing a very bad job. I work for a private company; I wonder how long I would have clients if my response to their unhappiness was indignation and the equivalent of “you would be an idiot to go to another company for these services. You need me to tell you what is good for you.”
In answer to your question about trusting private enterprise with education: I trust private enterprise with my own education every single day. I learn much more that way and I pay much less for it, too. As an example, www.khanacademy.org, while a not-for-profit, is a private enterprise and I learned more calculus in one week with that resource than I did with two years of classes in public high school. I learned the history of the fall of the Roman Republic for free with Dan Carlin’s amazing 6-part podcast on the subject http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive. I learned guitar from a private instructor in high school. I learned about economics from endless free resources and books on the internet.
You say children are bright and perceptive, I wish you would extend the same sentiment to all people and let each individual decide what is the best education for his or her children.2 hours ago · · 1 -
Kyle AldrichAnyone can learn anything easily and cheaply enough if they want to learn it that way themselves or want to teach it to their children. I’m not referring to skill-specific education after grade school. Nor am I saying that public education is free from any fault. I AM saying that we have the tools we need to fix it if we care enough to exert the effort required to make them work, just as we have the tools we need to change our government if we care enough. Nowhere have I implied that I DON’T extend that same sentiment of brightness and perceptiveness to all people to determine what is best for their own children. Public education is necessary and ultimately more affordable and has the potential to be stellar and outstanding if enough people in a community care. Education is hardly comparable to a private business, education is NOT a business but it will pay for itself in the long run if we give it the resources it needs to ensure that each child is getting the attention they need and private enterprise is, in the long run, out to make a buck and is therefore untrustworthy. Big businesses consistently give us reasons not to trust them, they consistently shaft their lowest employees and the consumer if it saves them a few dollars. “Public” in public education equates to transparent, something we can all see and critique and do something about. We would lose that if it were privatized and education would become what, a privilege?
I’m on a caffeine high and my thoughts are scattered and disorganized at the moment… My apologies for the erratic composition of this message.2 hours ago · -
David Batson The only way that you can reliably incentivize people to “care enough” to give their best performance is to tie their livelihood to performance and le tabout an hour ago ·
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Elizabeth MichielsAt Kyle A- I do not assuming responsibility for hundreds of thousands of children; neither should you. Take care of your own, as I do. You say it’s ok to take my money to fund tax-payer schools, I say it is not. Also, do that experiment — ask any kid what he is learning and why. I’d love to hear the answers. Ask yourself as a teacher, or para, are your independent thoughts respected when you see a better way to accomplish a task? Ask yourself everyday: Is this the best use of my time and skills by my employer? And finally, ask me: Do I want my own money used for government schools? My answer is: No.about an hour ago ·
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Kyle Aldrich That’s a fair assessment but to carry that to an extreme is a recipe for ruin.about an hour ago ·
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Elizabeth Michiels FYI Kyle — I teacher children to speak. Thank God! Hopefully each one I assist speaks boldly and doesn’t need a big stick (or gun!) to obtain *my* resources for *their* goals.about an hour ago · · 3
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Kyle Sing http://www.good.is/post/could-apprenticeships-replace-the-college-degree?utm_campaign=daily_good2&utm_medium=email_daily_good2&utm_source=popular_post_link&utm_content=Fighting+Famine+with+Creativity%3A+Poster+Art+Raises+Funds+for+East+Africa
www.good.isPaid on-the-job training and academics—what’s not to love?about an hour ago · · 3 -
Kyle AldrichI feel that my opinion is respected in the school. I feel I have an impact on every child I teach and work with. The education of the youth of our nation is the responsibility of every citizen, seeing that they at least have the opportunity to learn. To be totally honest? I believe that education (and healthcare) should be completely socialized. Once the children of the people with money are in the same schools as everyone else, you’d see the quality of education sky-rocket. In the long term, we would all benefit. However, I recognize that it is completely unrealistic to expect that to ever happen and I recognize that it would be infringing upon the rights of individuals to see how their children are educated. The fact of the matter is, privatized and home education have the potential to do more brainwashing than any public school could ever pull off to a meaningful degree.about an hour ago ·
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Elizabeth Michiels Kyle A - I will not spend more time with you. Goodbye and good luck.about an hour ago ·
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David Batsonwell, thanks for being honest, Kyle A. That is unusual for a communist (socialism being communism served one cup at a time). bear in mind that by saying so, you are acknowledging your complicity in the intentional destruction of the minds of the children of this country. By the 1960s, John Dewey’s evil vision of education—based on the model Germany enacted in the 1800s to turn children into good factory workers—became the standard in this country. You see the results around you every day. I’ll leave you to your self-created hell.about an hour ago ·
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Kyle AldrichSee, you just took my view to an extreme. I just read The Communist Manifesto and that is not me. However, even if I WERE a communist, what would be keeping us from having a constructive conversation? I already acknowledged that my view is one I would never anticipate being actualized and that it would not be respectful of everyone’s rights.
The only thing I aim to do with a child’s mind is to teach it to question what it learns, challenge itself, and to be open to any possibility.
You are clearly being hyperbolic in your view. Extremes of any kind are generally unsavory. I do not agree with absolute socialism or communism; I do not agree with absolute capitalism. I do believe that they can coexist in harmony with both allowing for some concessions. If we want people to make themselves better, we must allow them the means to achieve as much should they so desire (free education). As advanced as our society and technology have become, we have an obligation to see to it that our citizens are taken care of in the event of catastrophe (free healthcare) so that it will not bankrupt them and ruin their lives. Social/economic/class mobility must be allowed. Businesses and corporations must be responsible to the safety of the environments in which their workers labor. They must be responsible for ensuring that their workers are making a living wage with which the worker can then invest in his own employer’s product or service. Everyone benefits from it.
A market that is too free enables those with the means to take advantage of and exploit those beneath them on the economic food chain and leads to a vast income gap and subsistence living. As regulation came into being beginning with Teddy Roosevelt’s trust-busting, the condition of every class improved and the economy flourished. The wealthiest have only ever seen their growth and income slow. Since Reagan came to power their income has drastically increased (as much as 400+% in some cases) while the income of everyone else has gone up less than 2% and we’ve endured a slew of recessions. The wealthiest do better with a smaller piece of a successful economy than a disproportionately enormous piece of a struggling economy.58 minutes ago · -
Elizabeth Michiels I see there are words here. I do not read you write anymore after you mentioned the we should be slaves. Bye now. I won’t write again. And I no longer read what you write. You lost me at slavery.54 minutes ago ·
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Kyle AldrichSlavery? Where did I ever say that we should be slaves? That anyone should be a slave? I’m totally open to discussion about these things and learning from your points of view. I see the merits of your arguments and I appreciate them, even where I disagree. The attitudes that you two (Elizabeth and David) are now exhibiting are real evidence as to why our government is all clogged up now. You refuse to even consider another argument without resorting to hyperbole. I could have done the same and said, “Your support of an absolutely free market is support of slavery of the labor force,” but did I? No. Because I know that is not where you would want or expect it to go. I recognize your intentions and, on a level, I agree. Accountability and responsibility are key to the success of any individual, business, or nation, and your views are only preoccupied with the individual and nation in this case and fail to recognize or accept that business has tendrils of power wrapped around the other two and is more responsible for the failure of those than they themselves are. Ultimately though, the voters and the apathetic masses are to blame.
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Polishin’ turds: I’m taking advantage of this No-Shave November business to grow as much facial hair as I possibly can while minimizing the chances of being perceived as a poser! So pathetic.
