I spent my morning at PS 270 with a group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who signed up for the Photography Explorers enrichment class. I don’t know all the details of how the program started, I just signed up through New York Cares’ website for the project. I arrived, without a camera of course, early and awaited Francine the coordinator.
When Francine arrived, she briefly explained what was going to happen – take the kids outside with cameras, let them do their thing, then come back inside to print out a single photo. During the explanation, kids and additional volunteers began to filter in. By ten after ten, we were outside on the playground taking photos of kids on the swings, on the playground gear, pretty much anywhere.
I worked with Crystal. She led me around and took photos of me doing silly stuff on the monkey bars. I, in turn, tried to get her to take photos of flowers or photos of people at interesting angles. She wasn’t interested. She got some great shots and I got some great shots.
Just before we headed in, I showed her the fountain. I hit the on button to release a small stream of water. I told her to take a photo. She missed the stream a few times, so I showed her how to time it. A couple other people came over to have fun with the fountain, too.
The girl, Mioshi, said she really enjoyed taking photos. She thought she was going to be a photographer when she grew up. When she printed out her photo, it was of a woman pushing a shopping cart on the sidewalk. She snapped the shot while the woman was unaware, so it was a very honest expression on the woman’s face – determination and tiredness.
Mioshi titled her photo album page with “Mioshi Documents Brooklyn”. I don’t think of 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders using a word like document, but she did. I was impressed. She went on to describe the woman and where she met her.
The last time I volunteered with kids, I was trying to read to kids in a domestic violence shelter. Not the best first experience. I haven’t really wanted to work with kids since then. After this morning, I have at least one positive experience to balance the reading experience..
The Pakistan army readied a major assault to rid the main town in the Swat Valley of entrenched Taliban militants, who the military said Friday were shaving their beards in order to mingle undetected with fleeing civilians.
How beautiful these deeply held beliefs are that can be tossed aside to save one’s skin, if this truly is what’s happening. Or perhaps, it’s another tactic to get close to the Pakistani army before self immolating.
Well, I finished my exams last week on Thursday. Classes in general are DONE! I turned in my last paper late Monday night. To celebrate on Tuesday, I worked on El Pueblo’s website. Yeah!
Actually, I didn’t turn in the paper. Beth, a group member on the Afghanistan Project, submitted the final document to the Professors. You want to read the paper? Well, it lives on the Afghanistan site I set up for class. You can read the final paper here.
We scrambled to finish and compile the Afghanistan paper over the weekend – it pretty much consumed Friday morning through Monday night – but I’m very happy with the final product. I think we have a well thought out set of ideas based on a broad survey of historical and current readings. Because Afghanistan policy and activity unfolded while we did our research, we were able to capture sources from about a week ago. One article about opium addiction published on May 6, 2009, formed the basis for our concluding thoughts and remarks.
Now, I just wait for the grades to roll in. The Financial Management exam was tough but fair. I know I made careless and not so careless errors, but I was happy my balance sheet, activities statement, and cash flow statement all balanced the way they ought to. Even if the answers were wrong, they were at least consistent!
I thought the microeconomics exam was tougher than previous practice exams and was tougher than I was expecting. I struggled through a couple problems, but I think I arrived a solid solutions and conclusions for each.
All grades will be posted by the 18th. More news on academics then.
I have often wondered about our measure of well being – the Gross Domestic Product. We hear it all the time. We know that this indicator is important, but it doesn’t really account for the value of nature or personal well being. In the 70′s, Bhutan came up with the Gross National Happiness. Today, the NY Times had a small feature on the Minister of Happiness and the process of reevaluating the indicator.
If the rest of the world cannot get it right in these unhappy times, this tiny Buddhist kingdom high in the Himalayan mountains says it is working on an answer.
Michael Diamond is a political scientist and lawyer who write about the domestic violence clause in the US Constitution. I haven’t read through this website yet, but my professor (Mary McBride) told me about this guy’s thoughts on how to fix the environmental crisis we face today by simply using what’s written in the Constitution.
I’m using this blog post as a place holder for that website and to spur me to read his book that outlines the case.
I started this blog entry a couple weeks ago when Spring really was arriving. It has come and gone. I was struck, more than once, by the tiny buds that appeared on the branches of trees one day, then exploded into beautiful white or pink blossoms the next.
Park Slope is a beautiful place. But the winter turns it into a rather barren landscape. The approach of warmer weather has caused 5th Avenue to transform their nakedness into a lively ensemble of delicate blooms that entice everyone to come out to enjoy their beauty.
From the kitchen window, the ivy has been dormant since late October. In the period of five days, it went from no leaves to fully covered. I tried keeping track of the transformation each day, but I didn’t do a great job. I have a few photos of a barren wall, then a photo with it fully covered. Oh well. Perhaps next year.
The Spring has also brought the rains. There have been a few gorgeous days, a few hot days, and many rainy drizzly, slightly dreary days. I do enjoy the rains, though. I love to here the tires of the incessant traffic roll through puddles and along the slick road. I love to hear the rain hit the roof, the windows, and see the occasional raindrops come down the chimney.
I saw this a while ago on The Big Picture, but I lost it until a friend asked me about the sub-prime crisis. I think it’s a great description and depiction of the crisis. Enjoy!
