tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10428102118228297372024-02-21T06:21:23.220-08:00Elephant IdeasAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-33968799236797921392012-07-29T19:47:00.003-07:002012-07-29T20:05:41.509-07:00The Future (non)Classroom: An Educational Philosophy of Technology<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>D</b>ear Educational Administrator X,</div>
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<i>The following is my hypothetical response to your hypothetical interview questions. Please do not hesitate to contact me about any of my responses. Technology is a subject I meditate on frequently and I would love to share a conversation about it with you. -SJF.</i></div>
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<b> How do you believe technology* can be used most effectively to support and assess learning?</b></div>
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<br /> I suppose i'll tackle 'support' first. Technology can be used to support learning in many ways, but the most notable (and I think most effective) way is simply through the sheer volumes of data that the internet and computers have made readily available. This makes it a relatively simple task for any teacher or student to begin to explore alternative perspectives, new communities and cultures, and focus on interdisciplinary aspects of traditional subjects in a way that was simply not possible before the advent of the internet. In this way, technology can transform the old static classroom into a bustling information hub where students (with support and guidance) can begin their own journey through humanity's collective knowledge.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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Assessment is especially important in today's current educational systems. Teachers, schools, and students are all measured up to standards, a process that has serious economic implications for all of the aforementioned. Computers were originally developed for the purpose of basic computing: simple math and organization of large data sets. As technology has evolved, it has gotten very good at keeping track of extremely varied data sets. Tracking a student's performance used to be done entirely by hand, usually in a grade book, but now teachers have the ability to digitize their classroom records. With the proper tools, it's not difficult to apply statistical analysis to classroom data including grade levels, individual student performance, lesson efficacy, and subject interest. While the benefits of these tools is clear for teachers, they can also give students greater control over their education which subsequently improves motivation.</div>
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<b>What are the advantages and disadvantages of various technologies for particular types of learning?</b></div>
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I've already gone over some of the advantages technology offers when compared to your traditional classroom, so now i'll focus on the disadvantages technology may have when compared to other classroom tools.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>1. Technology breaks down:</i> If a teacher saves all of his or her classroom data on a laptop, and that laptop ceases to function, then that teacher may have quite a bit of difficulty recovering that data or completing necessary tasks like assessment. Traditional white boards rarely break down and pen and paper also perform very consistently. </div>
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<i>2. Technology is not always available:</i> Many students all over the world have difficulties acquiring food and shelter for basic survival, let alone personal computers. While a lot of technology used in classrooms today is still much more expensive than traditional materials such as textbooks and paper, this is rapidly changing. Soon, paper books will be obsolete and personal computing devices will be just as readily available. But for now, this remains a disadvantage for using certain types of technology in the classroom. </div>
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<i>3. Attention Span:</i> Many folks currently believe that the internet is responsible for shortening our attention spans and fundamentally altering the way out brains work. Usually people making these arguments also believe that this change is a negative one and that it prevents us from making deep thoughts and retaining important information. There is, however, quite a bit of controversy on the issue. While research certainly shows differences in brain activity between reading a book and viewing a website, it's not clear that the difference is bad, just different. Dr. Gary Small is a commonly cited source for this. An article outlining his arguments can be found <a href="http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/081015_gary-small-ibrain.aspx">here</a>. Even though Dr. Small's studies a slightly outdated, there still seems to be no firm consensus as to whether or not the biological changes humans experience from our increasing use of technology is affecting us in a positive or negative way. </div>
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<i>Here is a video interview with more information on how technology <b>may</b> be affecting our brains:</i></div>
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<b>What are some specifics for how you will use technology in your own classroom, including technologies to support diverse learners?</b></div>
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<br /> I plan to use technology in my classroom as much as possible. It will allow me to share information with students in a multitude of ways and give students the opportunity to explore their interests in much greater depth than would otherwise be possible. Instead of listening to a lecture, students might watch a video where I or another expert explains a concept and gives examples. Instead giving an oral presentation to the class, a student might participate in an online forum or chat room, sharing ideas with other classrooms across the world. Every learner is diverse, and technology has a way to empower all of them. Whether it's a change in the method of instruction, or an accommodation for a disability, technology makes it possible to reach and engage any kind of student.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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With so much raw data available to students online, it's imperative that they master the tools they need to navigate the digital world. Once that toolset is learned, there is nothing that can hold students back from achieving their wildest dreams. To this end, research techniques, copyright, plagiarism, and content analysis are essential topics I plan to cover in my classes. Most of us have heard the saying: "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime." I plan to teach my students how to fish. My students, using the powerful tools technology has afforded us, will leave my class being able to teach themselves anything they ever need to know. </div>
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<b>Is there anything else you consider important?</b></div>
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There are many other things I consider important, such as love, environmental sustainability, human rights, etc. In regards to the topic of technology, as I assume this prompt infers, there is one other thing I would like to mention. While <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore" s_law'="">Moore's Law</a> has seen the rapid exponential growth of technology over the last half-century, education systems are changing very slowly by comparison. There is a lack of motivation for many teachers, administrative staff, school districts, states, and governments to radically overhaul long-outdated education systems. It's an obvious fact that technology will define the future of our society, and I think it's high time we begin to focus on giving students the skills to use and analyze it. I'm not saying that schools should start ignoring standards or throw classical knowledge out the window, rather I propose that these should not be the <i><b>focus</b></i> that defines education. Instead, we should focus on preparing students for a future where they will be less dependent on institutionalized education and more dependent on their own ability to navigate a digital world.</div>
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*Please note that the term 'technology' is not used properly in the prompts or in my responses to them. 'Technology' in this post (and probably throughout most of my writings...) refers mainly to newer digital technologies such as personal computers, digital networks, and modern software. Just felt the need to clarify. :)</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-36668331776682743532012-07-09T19:50:00.001-07:002012-07-09T19:54:00.542-07:00WWU's EARTC and WordWeb 6 Reviews For this blog post I was tasked with visiting the EARTC [education and acronyms always seem to go hand in hand even though acronyms are often inaccessible to wide audiences, often making them detriments to communication and a hindrance in the classroom]. The EARTC is this educational technology center that seems to be intended for students of education rather than actual students. Much of the material in the center is very outdated and the room itself is tiny and cramped with just 5-10 people inside. My assignment was essentially to review “Writing Focus”, a piece of software by Granada Learning. When I got to the center, however, it was full of people; a lesson on the use of SMART boards was being taught to other college students who were taking up about half of the space. There additional students using some of the center’s computers [these were obviously hand-me-downs from other departments or deceased computer labs] and others perusing the shelves of odd learning/teaching tools sorted by subject and age.<br />
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When I finally got a chance to ask the single available staff person for help, he looked up the name of the software on a list, logged into a computer for me, and gave me a cd to install. After the initial install and the subsequent repair failed, I denied the staff person’s offer to switch to a computer with an older operating system and gave up on “Writing Focus.” Honestly, I don’t know who is in charge of the software that gets included in the EARTC’s library, but he or she is either daft or busy with other tasks. “Writing Focus” was created and sold in 2001 which means it probably runs on Windows 95 and/or Windows XP. These operating systems are all but obsolete, and preserving educational software that is 11 years old is pointless. “Writing Focus,” like many of the EARTC’s so-called ‘resources’ are just as horribly outdated as much of the education department’s curriculum. Considering the fact that Western Washington University was originally founded as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school">normal school</a>, I’m surprised at the lack of resources allocated for educational technology in a time where technology is completely redefining all aspects of education. Western’s education department, however, is already recognized as being fairly prestigious in Washington, and so WWU will make more money by building more classrooms and dorms [as they have been doing the last couple years] to increase attendance numbers rather than improving the quality of existing programs and departments.<br />
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All one has to do is type “educational software” as a search query and Google will grant you immediate access to more tools, resources, and information in 0.21 seconds than the EARTC has ever seen [134,000,000 results]. The 8th result of my Google search brought me to download.cnet.com, a trusted download site that has been around for quite a few years now. The site is especially good for providing fast and safe servers for free software and demos. The 2nd most popular educational software on cnet’s site is a small application called “WordWeb.” “WordWeb” is extremely handy, great for classroom and personal use, and it’s free. Here’s a quick review:<br />
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<b>WordWeb [ver. 6] – Reviewed 7/9/12 </b></div>
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WordWeb is a reference tool can assist students with reading comprehension and vocabulary. Most vocabulary-focused reference tools provide definitions, synonyms, and other information about a word or term from a single source. Other tools incorporate multiple sources but usually contain overlapping definitions or irrelevant information. WordWeb at first appears like a normal reference tool, until you realize that it queries WordWeb’s database, Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and an additional online database all at once. If you purchase the pro version, you can even customize these queries and add additional databases. This is how a modern student would look up and learn the definition of a word anyhow; by checking multiple online sources in additional to a dictionary and likely including an encyclopedia/wiki query as well. WordWeb just simplifies the process. WordWeb can be set up to run in the background and respond to a hotkey. The default hotkey is control + right click. I can use this hotkey on <b>any</b> word I see on the screen as long as it isn’t part of an image file. That means I can use WordWeb for word documents, pdfs, websites, etc.<br />
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Because it looks up standard definitions that are saved to your hard drive before querying websites, it’s blindingly fast. I haven’t ever used a reference tools that is this quick. Even the online resources are very speedy; taking you straight to the entry you are looking for, rather than requiring you to re-type the word in a search bar.<br />
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Students and teachers alike will find that this software makes difficult texts more accessible simply due to the speed at which one can find the relevant definition of a word, term, or idea. It also allows students to remain engaged in what they are doing. It’s a huge drag to have to pull out a dictionary or open up a web browser, navigate to a wiki page, and enter a query. And while the program may not directly allow for student expression, it does provide synonyms for not only words, but phrases as well. This can help students find that phrase or word they were looking for and allow them to better and more efficiently express themselves.<br />
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Every student who has the physical ability to use a computer and read can use this program. It supports different languages and could be very useful for a foreign language exchange program. With the pro version, one could set up an online translator as one of the queried databases [or even multiple translators for greater accuracy!!].<br />
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I don’t have any concerns or reservations about this program. It’s everything an educational tool should be: simple, fast, and effective. I will be using this program for my personal use from this day forward, and I will definitely install it on any computers I come across in my own future classrooms. It’s just a no-brainer.<br />
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CNET download is <a href="http://download.cnet.com/WordWeb/3000-2279_4-10003201.html?tag=pop">here</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-75502608203161732912012-06-20T11:24:00.001-07:002012-07-09T20:07:23.408-07:00IT 444 BloggingI've enrolled in IT 444 at Western Washington University for Summer quarter. While I'm not very thrilled about taking classes and working during summer, I am looking forward to spending more time thinking about the intimate relationship between technology and education.
For those of you who don't know me well, I am 23 years old and have a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Western Washington University. I am currently enrolled in Woodring, WWU's college of education, where I hope to complete my teaching certificate soon.
Technology is very important to me as it is responsible for my current livelihood and is also the main focus of my teaching philosophies, which will be responsible for my future livelihood.
This blog contains educational, academic, and personal posts! I hope you enjoy your visit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgmJMKCs-saYTfilf8BTx6ylPonUkfJyhaFxw_PEIkZ6mjHVHDH0xBB-g1vaKOqU1rQ-qV7eQ-7UYf5mwhmZM-IoFgM0q45xLl8BYdbEFwfnFBw11iPbl0doPWyrb8URkqxW18NA52KFQ/s1600/steve+and+kalen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgmJMKCs-saYTfilf8BTx6ylPonUkfJyhaFxw_PEIkZ6mjHVHDH0xBB-g1vaKOqU1rQ-qV7eQ-7UYf5mwhmZM-IoFgM0q45xLl8BYdbEFwfnFBw11iPbl0doPWyrb8URkqxW18NA52KFQ/s320/steve+and+kalen.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-35131158965260634612012-04-12T00:49:00.001-07:002012-07-09T20:15:27.929-07:00Summer Love Is So Easy<div style="text-align: center;">
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I made this playlist in anticipation of summer. Now that it is summer (this update is coming in early July) and the sun has finally come out in Bellingham, this playlist must undergo a test of its faculties... does it entertain, seduce, relax, excite? Can I blast it with the windows down heading towards a sunset on the interstate? </div>
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So far, so good. Please enjoy this, it took me many hours to compile! </div>
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:user:ravensong:playlist:3vNKmT5xhqFEHa1XTd4ULn" width="300"></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-46324164637764752242012-03-01T15:32:00.009-08:002012-07-09T20:15:58.695-07:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gc__GXZ_2hc/T1ALMV70bCI/AAAAAAAAAGE/Isv0OuyfeAU/s1600/capitalism-duck.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715080233807539234" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gc__GXZ_2hc/T1ALMV70bCI/AAAAAAAAAGE/Isv0OuyfeAU/s400/capitalism-duck.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 306px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">From an email to my Secondary Education class at Western Washington University:</span></div>
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"This message applies to all sections of SEC 411 and actually every human living on planet earth. <br />
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I have been asked to email this TED Talk to you all after referring to it in class. Before you watch the video, however, i'd like to share some of my thoughts on the topic that Paul Gilding covers so eloquently. See attached links at bottom for TED Talk, information on Capitalism and an article on sweatshops. <br />
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In a class I took several years ago at WWU, the professor showed us a video that was a cartoon explaining capitalism (i couldn't find a link, i looked!). The video explained capitalism in a way that has really stuck with me and helped inform my understanding of not only capitalism, but also consumerism. I will do my best to explain it here:<br />
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Currently, the way we Americans (and those of other developed nations) view capitalism is as a black box theory. You can Wikipedia this idea, but essentially it refers to a system that looks like this: input -----> black box -------> output. The input and output are completely visible, but the black box, the function, the process, is unseen. In capitalism, the input is money and demand. The output, then, is the product or service we pay for. The black box includes everything that goes into delivering that product into our hands (shipping, production, waste, labor, etc). <br />
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Blackbox.svg/320px-Blackbox.svg.png"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Blackbox.svg/320px-Blackbox.svg.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 56px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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So now you're thinking, "So what?" I put in money to the capitalism machine and products and service I want come out! That's awesome! There's a HUGE problem with this model, however. It's best illustrated by example:<br />
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Think about the last time you walked into a grocery or convenience store and purchased something. Let's say you bought an alarm clock for $3.00. If you look at the little sticker on the back, you see that it was made in China. Now think for a moment about the journey this cheap alarm clock has made to get to your hands. First of all, it had to be designed, then manufactured most likely using machine and human labor, then shipped by truck, then shipped by plane or boat, then shipped by another plane and/or truck to get to the store where it had to be put on display. Did I mention the value of the materials and the electronic components? <br />
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Clearly, even shipped in bulk, this alarm clock is worth more than $3.00. How does it become so cheap? This where the black box comes into play. Because the value of the input is LESS THAN the value of the output, the black box function represents NEGATIVE VALUE. In order for the alarm clock to have arrived at the store, someone or something received a negative market value for part or labor or some other process (this is the OPPOSITE of FAIR TRADE). <br />
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Here's what happened to our alarm clock in the example:<br />
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An American company decided it wanted to make alarm clocks. After some market research, they decided to make an low-end alarm clock in order to maximize their profits. They decided to set up a warehouse in China because the laws regarding fair wages, minimum wage, vacation hours, etc. are much more lenient there. Even with the cost of shipping, the company saves so much money by using labor from its sweat shop that it can easy compete with any company building alarm clocks in America (with much higher labor costs). <br />
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Do you see how the Chinese sweat shop workers are receiving the negative market value for their labor? <br />
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When the functions of the black box become exposed, the media and consumers are outraged. Just look at what happened with Kathy Lee handbags and Walmart... <br />
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This is still happening TODAY. RIGHT NOW. With just about any product you purchase. One of the main plants where IPhones are produced has had to install 'saftey nets' to prevent workers from committing suicide. <br />
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I think you all have heard enough about sustainability and carbon footprints to know that THE ENVIRONMENT IS ACCEPTING THIS NEGATIVE VALUE as well. Think about all the trucks and planes and boats it took for our alarm clock to travel around the world... Why not buy an alarm clock made in the United States? Because it costs more...<br />
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I hope this has explained to you how Capitalism (as it's being used today) is seriously broken. It's predicated on infinite growth and the idea that a free market will regulate itself (which is clearly not the case - ask a sweat shop worker who makes less than $20 a month). Humanity as a whole (not just America) has plundered the Earth far past the point of irreparable harm. OIL IS RUNNING OUT. Really quickly. Global warming IS being dangerously accelerated by human activity and pollution. If you believe that science is real, you cannot refute this. Our piles of trash are growing out of control (that's a black box process too, we export a lot of our toxic trash to poor countries by paying off their governments while the people suffer.)<br />
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Paul Gilding argues that humanity needs a crisis in order to create the fear that will allow us to solve this problem. It's like waking up and realizing you have a project due the next day and somehow finishing it on time. Humanity works well under extreme pressure. So in the meantime, plan for a sustainable future and look for ways to accelerate a crisis. Buy a Hummer. :)<br />
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I hope this has stimulated your brain! If you disagree or wish to provide a dissenting viewpoint, I'd be happy to set this up as a forum post in the Discussion Board on BlackBoard or in Western Forums. Just email me and I will stick it up for you to reply to. <br />
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-Steven Funcke<br />
Woodring Post-Bac Program Candidate @ WWU<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Links:</span><br />
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Paul Gilding TED Talk<br />
<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_gilding_the_earth_is_full.html">http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_gilding_the_earth_is_full.html</a><br />
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Inside a Chinese Sweatshop - BusinessWeek article about Kathy Lee handbags and sweat shops<br />
<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_40/b3701119.htm">www.businessweek.com/200/00_40/b3701119.htm</a><br />
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Khan Academy Dude on Capitalism vs. Socialism (He is biased towards Capitalism)<br />
<a href="http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities---other/history/v/when-capitalism-is-great-and-not-so-great">When Capitalism Is Great And Not So Great</a><br />
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Crises of Capitalism (awesome graphics along with a talk about Capitalism)<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0">RSA Animate - Crises of Capitalism</a>"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-36014958271707529842011-11-28T20:57:00.000-08:002012-07-09T20:16:09.695-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">SEUSS'S SUBLIMINAL</span></div>
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When I was a wee lad, my mother frequently satiated my appetite for reading with many award-winning children’s books and novels. The many whimsical short stories by Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, were among my favorites. The stories are so well known in America, that you can practically guarantee that every person has at least read one story or is familiar with some of Dr. Seuss’s characters. Because Dr. Seuss is such an historically popular author, and because his books are geared towards an arguably young, impressionable audience, I have decided to choose one to analyze through the lens of Education 310 at Western Washington University. I will include broad themes and specific examples that relate to the topics we’ve studied during the course.<br />
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In light of the educative focus on pedagogy, I’ve decided to style this project in a manner consistent with my personally preferred visual method of learning. I will begin my thoughts with an image from the book and then transmit those thoughts to you, the reader, via poetry and or prose.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m62MlszhSe8/TtRngJVAWKI/AAAAAAAAAD0/SH6gypRzjKU/s1600/seuss1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278831978535074" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m62MlszhSe8/TtRngJVAWKI/AAAAAAAAAD0/SH6gypRzjKU/s400/seuss1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 270px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ryJwUDG2mYA/TtRngXX24mI/AAAAAAAAAD8/YTdxJnGsNuE/s1600/seuss2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278835748594274" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ryJwUDG2mYA/TtRngXX24mI/AAAAAAAAAD8/YTdxJnGsNuE/s400/seuss2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 422px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 550px;" /></a><br />
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A young, white male walks briskly through suburbia… clean cut grass yards in squares, and white roads. This is clearly not a ghetto, but a nicer part of town. The narrator tells you, this is YOU, not someone else; so a second person points: you are white, suburban, male. <br />
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This is essentially the second page of the novel, and provides our first glimpse of a setting. If we read this book as an allegory about becoming an adult and separating from your parents (which is how it’s surely meant to be read), then we can conclude that the intended audience would be young white middle/upper-class males. You’ll notice there are very clear paths leading away from the buildings, which might suggest that the target audience is expected to physically remove themselves from their childhood homes and set out as an individual. This is a very American idea; the American dream has always been about the success of the individual, as opposed to the family or other group oriented values different cultures hold in higher esteem. In this way, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, silences cultures with different attitudes by presenting only one scenario as accepted and true. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TRA0VaM341U/TtRngbHyXxI/AAAAAAAAAEM/jy0RuPb8a5E/s1600/seuss3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278836754931474" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TRA0VaM341U/TtRngbHyXxI/AAAAAAAAAEM/jy0RuPb8a5E/s400/seuss3.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 418px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 550px;" /></a><br />
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A place of darkened windows and unmarked streets… We find ourselves in Dr. Seuss’s ghetto. You’ll notice here that the architecture does not resemble the goofy suburbia depicted earlier, but instead draws on foreign architectural concepts so that the building and archways here more closely resemble Indian architecture as opposed to Western. In the middle of the pages is a large black building that resembles a ‘leaning’ Taj Mahal. This image reinforces a notion that different cultures should be dealt with cautiously, and at the same time seems to paint ghettos as a problem better ignored; the character runs through, avoiding this area completely. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SrINvfRNNPo/TtRng5CK9KI/AAAAAAAAAEY/l2ZHfwPn0jw/s1600/seuss4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278844784440482" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SrINvfRNNPo/TtRng5CK9KI/AAAAAAAAAEY/l2ZHfwPn0jw/s400/seuss4.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 368px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
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You break your shell and unfurl wings, shake dry, squeal, cry, take two steps and fly. Soaring towards the sun you find gravity outweighing your prayers, your knowledge learned in squares. Plummeting to the sea, you’re Icarus, kid, you’re left behind, you’re dead. <br />
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As you might expect in any education class, standardized testing came up several times. We also specifically discussed the “No Child Left Behind Act.” The idea behind the act, and indeed all standardized testing, is to ensure that all students who graduate high school in America all have the same basic skills in various subjects. I have many issues with this model, but the most hypocritical aspect of these programs is how funding is taken away from schools that perform poorly on standardized tests. This is supposed to work at incentive for teachers and administration to teach effectively, but instead it punishes schools with struggling students. It’s so obvious that this doesn’t work, I have no idea how the act got passed. It seems more ridiculous than a Dr. Seuss book…<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1mpnZJJglak/TtRnhJVxKhI/AAAAAAAAAEg/rmE-nu11fkE/s1600/seuss5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278849161603602" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1mpnZJJglak/TtRnhJVxKhI/AAAAAAAAAEg/rmE-nu11fkE/s400/seuss5.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 419px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 550px;" /></a><br />
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There a lot of people in this image, can you spot any diversity? A large number of readings from this course discussed the problems with curriculums in America that simply did not include any multicultural content to speak of. This image, by not including any people in a color other than white, makes it difficult for a reader who is not white to identify with the story, and worse, suggests that he or she may not fit into the society in which this book was written. As a future educator, it will be important to me to carefully analyze classroom material to make sure that it does not contain any hidden racism or other negative subtexts. <br />
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Note: At least it’s not like this scene in the book is portrayed as an ideal place, indeed it’s the opposite.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JlZR7ca0qO4/TtRnoao0S_I/AAAAAAAAAE4/fcgJPNa6_RI/s1600/seuss6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278974063987698" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JlZR7ca0qO4/TtRnoao0S_I/AAAAAAAAAE4/fcgJPNa6_RI/s400/seuss6.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 417px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 550px;" /></a><br />
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I find this illustration incredibly racist. The characters here closely resemble the middle-eastern caricatures of old Disney films. You’ll notice the beards, the mustaches, the turbans, and the pointed shoes with tassels. Again, foreign cultures are being displayed as stereotyped and set apart from the rest of society. You’ll also notice that the character in the middle of the image is playing marimba-like keys that are floating in the air. To me, this connotes the stereotypical mysticism middle-eastern cultures have traditionally been associated with. While the text does not provide a specifically negative context for these characters, that association seems implied by the image. <br />
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<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQbkALdywb0/TtRnoW8YZ0I/AAAAAAAAAFA/lKWBDB6IEMY/s1600/seuss7.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680278973072303938" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQbkALdywb0/TtRnoW8YZ0I/AAAAAAAAAFA/lKWBDB6IEMY/s400/seuss7.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 420px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 550px;" /></a><br />
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6.4% of all Black students dropped out of high school in 2008.<br />
5.3% of all Hispanic students dropped out of high school in 2008.<br />
2.3% of all White students dropped out of high school in 2008.<br />
About 30% of students in America will not graduate high school.<br />
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<br />
I was given a copy of this book when I graduated from a private Catholic high school. Everyone in my class was given a copy with small notes from teachers penned in the front. The percentage of students in my class who graduated: 100%. Dr. Seuss’s concluding statistics may be the most famous passage from this book, but they can only be accurately applied to an elite 5% of students. I don’t think that Dr. Seuss is intentionally racist; in fact I’m sure that this book was created with only good intentions. However, when analyzed under a carefully critical lens, some of the underlying issues at play in America’s education system come to light. θAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-70937856201160800752011-08-26T21:31:00.001-07:002012-07-09T20:09:13.688-07:00Working Title: "A Challenge"I hope to begin to update this more regularly. My goal for the school year is to read books, improve my physical fitness, and write a whole lot more. With several great video games releasing in coming months i'm not sure how successful my endeavors will be. Here's a poem i just busted out. I was inspired a bit by the Hip Hop artist K-OS (pronounced chaos). I've included a music video of a song i enjoy from his album Joyful Rebellion (2004) at the end of this post.
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<div style="text-align: center;">
the world's full of bitter truths
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
missed opportunities, miseducated youth.
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the mirrors on the wall see it all reduced
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<div style="text-align: center;">
the fear is in us all we don't care for truth
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<div style="text-align: center;">
we can't help but stare at a stupid fool
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<div style="text-align: center;">
fall in love like narcissus in an unused pool
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
no splashing acrobatics just
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
automatic nonaction
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<div style="text-align: center;">
a monu-mental contraction
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<div style="text-align: center;">
brought on by all this distraction-
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<div style="text-align: center;">
cordless ideaaas and wireless sentences
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<div style="text-align: center;">
with knowing online who swings for the fences?
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
photograph this if poetry's dead:
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<div style="text-align: center;">
living walking empty head
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<div style="text-align: center;">
trying to love and fucking it up.
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
but you're full of beauty
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
in a world of dark ash
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and my heart's full of a fire
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
hotter than greed and cash
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
you can give up hope babe
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<div style="text-align: center;">
but never desire
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<div style="text-align: center;">
so lift up your tired eyes a bit higher
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<div style="text-align: center;">
lift up your tired eyes a bit higher
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RyRB00Xe5-E" width="560"></iframe></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-47904434035306842232011-05-03T04:29:00.000-07:002011-05-03T04:29:03.061-07:00John Hunter on the World Peace Game | Video on TED.com<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html">John Hunter on the World Peace Game | Video on TED.com</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-84169580539502760482011-04-10T20:18:00.000-07:002011-04-10T20:33:37.448-07:00Early To BedWrote this poem a week or two ago. It's about memory, individual and collective, deteriorating over time. I just read the book "Feed" by M.T. Anderson for my Young Adult Literature course at WWU. It's a sci-fi novel in which those who can afford it have a computer hardwired into their limbic system. This computer, called the feed, can record and share memories as a complete sensory experience (much like the Pensieve in Harry Potter but digital, not magic). When one of the characters has a malfunction with their feed, that character looses a year of memory. Have you ever been disturbed because you couldn't remember something? What are ways that our memories can affect our thinking? History (collective memory) seems to dissolve over the years just like specific memories from the day (individual memory) dissolve away at night. Technology may allow us to record memory, but could an artificial memory ever replace a real memory? Is the memory or the experience more important, more true? We can't ever experience something directly, only through the senses, and the senses often lie. Anyway, my mind is working on interesting questions. <br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Early To Bed</span><br /><br />i'm early to bed, dear reader.<br />early for the birds sitting on branches<br />who die as i close my eyes. <br /><br />The scum in the toilet is what you think. <br />I think of roman viaducts while i wash my hands. <br />the sounds on the street are seeping through<br />the drywall to my eardrum. boom. boom. boom.<br /><br />In sleep the daily image is dissected,<br />memory scratched like a scab. <br />So many claws inside this head. <br />So much forgotten, early to bed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-32786633624039025092010-12-26T00:37:00.000-08:002010-12-26T01:46:44.971-08:00Space and Time are Strange Neighbors<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhTIvON-XiaH2PtDH-E7226vQqRkrBwPSx89PQp6uMm6_-hqS5AZ4Yndfur8tfrU3zb2l81gOUpsPLSRby8ORQw9uCirfJmvb5vPfWjB8yDoyZPthd3zP-p9tz8UdctBUM6Y9yHoKfx0/s1600/3313666124_6eea95a851_b.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhTIvON-XiaH2PtDH-E7226vQqRkrBwPSx89PQp6uMm6_-hqS5AZ4Yndfur8tfrU3zb2l81gOUpsPLSRby8ORQw9uCirfJmvb5vPfWjB8yDoyZPthd3zP-p9tz8UdctBUM6Y9yHoKfx0/s400/3313666124_6eea95a851_b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554924729821572386" /></a><br />I had an aunt in middle school. I'm not really sure how she became my aunty, but during that sensitive, pre-adolescent struggle she filled a deep void in my life. Aunty L. was my age and my grade but she provided the emotional reassurance and the intellectual camaraderie that I couldn't find anywhere else. After middle school we drifted away on our separate paths to different schools and different lives. Occasionally we randomly reconnect and although our lives are totally separated, it's like our minds have been developing identically over the years. We both see the patterns, the webs of society and nature, the consequences of knowledge and the impact of human life and consciousness. When we speak together it's a rush of excitement; the synapses in my brain/sponge put on a fireworks show.<br /><br />I saw her tonight. Had a nice long walk in the pouring rain on the streets where she grew up. We caught up on the state of our lives, the frustrations, the anxiety. She gave me some advice that i'd like to put in writing so that i'll be more likely to follow it:<br /><br />1. Set aside time to sit by yourself. Call it meditation, reflection, what you will. Empty your mind or/and let your thoughts bounce around and tangle. Be o.k. with <span style="font-style:italic;">existing</span>. Too often we (individuals) numb ourselves with television, consumerism, religion, etc. We forget to ask questions and to think for ourselves. We're ignoring our consciousness, the very thing that makes us human. <br /><br />2. Unplug. Everything you see on a screen has been filtered; it's disconnected from nature, disconnected from the source, pre-packaged and spoon-fed to our eyes. Technology is lovely and amazing but all of our social trends and ideas began in books and poems, before the internet was even conceived. In order to really understand the context of our existence we need a healthy balance between nature, literature, and technology. <br /><br /><br />Too tired to write more on this now. I'm pretty sure I got down the important stuff. Love you Aunty L!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-45725576667251543032010-10-01T04:59:00.001-07:002010-10-01T07:12:22.291-07:00Violent Nights</p><p class="p1"></p><p class="p1">holding one eye open and one eye closed</p><p class="p1">thinking of street lights, cameras, and sex</p><p class="p1">behind a tower of palms.</p><p class="p1">four in the morning air stings like a drop on the eye,</p><p class="p1">a drop in a rusting pail of rain water and old leaves. </p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p class="p1">half-words tune in and out through a screen,</p><p class="p1">half reaching me sleeping, here and there. </p><p class="p1">stop. blinking. </p><p class="p1">busy, sleeping, eyes.</p><p class="p1">these violent nights, unframed, disturb</p><p class="p1">my consciousness, a made-up word. </p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p class="p1">eyelids stretch thin over grumbling thoughts</p><p class="p1">who wander, like ancient mariners hung. </p><p class="p1">one eye open, <i>asbestos</i>.</p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p></p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p class="p1">I enjoy how I use quite a bit of formal technique here even though a first glace shows little structure/form. Having just watched Rear Window for my film class, you'll see frames appear as a theme here (read visually). Also notice how the poem contains soft violence or is 'disturbed' through punctuation and imagery. As with most of my poetry, the commas and periods are entirely intentional so please read it that way in your head (or aloud...). The tower of palms line might not be clear... pretend you're very tired and then rub your eyes. Not a huge fan of the albatros epic but the S.T.C. reference just fit way better than the generic old man image I was going to use. If you're confused now you may have missed an English class or two. </p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p class="p1"><i>Asbestos</i> is a great word and should be used as often as possible. I've been reading Wheatley for my American Literature course this quarter and she italicizes heavily and with great purpose so i'm trying it out. Not quite to the effect Wheatley enjoys; i'm using it here simply to add some visual weight to the last three lines which are kind of just hanging there...</p><p class="p1"><br /></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-48488056348507717282010-09-02T01:11:00.000-07:002010-09-02T01:18:15.041-07:00Rain Drops Fallin On My Head...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEFaRsU8Bo7gpo6OY1n3O8uURrBi0vvQuETAEo6grruKt1jaaxLy_MiPqRKWz6DD5PhDAMoWmf0msLeYg0J5miBTR4aVwDLpiCBAzgvCxpZqPUkrRvXog2EPbVkOL_4Xood36fA6SNHI/s1600/IMG_7062.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEFaRsU8Bo7gpo6OY1n3O8uURrBi0vvQuETAEo6grruKt1jaaxLy_MiPqRKWz6DD5PhDAMoWmf0msLeYg0J5miBTR4aVwDLpiCBAzgvCxpZqPUkrRvXog2EPbVkOL_4Xood36fA6SNHI/s400/IMG_7062.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512227084201684514" /></a><br /><p class="p1">When it rains things fall apart, disintegrate like sugar cubes under my tongue, less sweet. </p> <p class="p1">When it rains some people dream sweetly, but i dream twice.</p> <p class="p1">When it rains and the rain drops drip down my face i clench my jaw... stare... almost believing i'll see something in the mist. </p> <p class="p2">When it rains is when the wheel turns; the fishy brain remembers it forgets.</p> <p class="p2">When it rains and the hills stretch their backs, each blade of grass quivers and bows to the wind. </p> <p class="p1">When it rains, now, i lose my language so that i may listen. </p><p class="p1"><br /></p><p class="p1"><br /></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-15302731500851248272010-08-31T00:56:00.000-07:002010-08-31T01:14:24.162-07:00Two TED Videos For Your Perusal<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Qe5KsJEzFvk/THy5uoPePbI/AAAAAAAAABQ/aHMecYwb0-8/s1600/goggle_boxes.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 358px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Qe5KsJEzFvk/THy5uoPePbI/AAAAAAAAABQ/aHMecYwb0-8/s400/goggle_boxes.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511484254722080178" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaDKBLn3I-zxlhIwF6KJkwK8ITEuAaEui84r0IJrz6wibRwangMlqbfS7VflnfPE-lbhF4cGvYmV9KNXUn1C8z5ZfRBeEz2S2xsY9yS0hYBxnCpk79XaPw_Az2Mw73lfQsrlQXcaEKnE/s1600/Mountains+Out+Of+Molehills.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaDKBLn3I-zxlhIwF6KJkwK8ITEuAaEui84r0IJrz6wibRwangMlqbfS7VflnfPE-lbhF4cGvYmV9KNXUn1C8z5ZfRBeEz2S2xsY9yS0hYBxnCpk79XaPw_Az2Mw73lfQsrlQXcaEKnE/s400/Mountains+Out+Of+Molehills.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511484251591272290" /></a><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I was checking TED for new videos today (a practice I try to make a weekly habit) and I came across David McCandless' presentation on data visualization. His combination of modern design elements and raw data allows for some very interesting (and beautiful) patterns to emerge from otherwise lifeless numbers. I'm sharing the link for his TED talk below. If the presentation peaks your interest you may want to check out his <a href="http://www.davidmccandless.com/">website</a> as well. He has data sets on health supplements, politics, $$$, which flights are most likely to crash, military size and budget, wiki wars, international #1s... all kinds of stuff. </div><div><br /></div><div>Link:</div><div><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html">David McCandless: The Beauty of Data Visualization </a></div><div><br /></div><div>Also, Peter Molyneux (whose name i can spell without checking the web cause i have a streak of geek in me) has posted a video demoing Milo, the latest steps towards artificial intelligence. Milo is essentially an xbox 360 game that uses Microsoft Kinect hardware. Kinect, if you don't already know is an advanced motion, picture, and audio tracking device that allows the user to directly interact with software without the need for a controller or mouse. It's pretty cool tech, especially the cloud capabilities that Peter mentions. Milo (the software) will be connected via internet to a collection of data that is constantly updated (the cloud). This allows Milo (the software) to "learn" what things are called and how to speak and interact better with the audience (/consumer/participant/friend?). It's an interesting framework that will probably be a huge part of technology in the near future.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Link:</div><div><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_molyneux_demos_milo_the_virtual_boy.html">Peter Molyneux: Milo TED.com</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-52905236086894952812010-08-02T10:16:00.000-07:002010-08-02T10:19:48.270-07:00Tour de SwitzerlandFirst of all, I apologize for taking so long to blog! We've all been absolutely exhausted from biking and walking around small towns all week. Wifi has been pretty hard to come by at hotels and hostels we've stayed at. Only one hotel included free wifi, otherwise it costs a few francs to use a shitty desktop for 30 min. Brian and I made a habit of searching for free wifi in the small towns and we were actually able to get some surf time on unsecured networks once the town had gone to bed. Now we're finished biking and back at the hostel in Geneva we started our trip from. You can get a login and password to connect to wifi for 5 francs (for 24 hours) so I have Internet access for a bit. :) <br/><br/>In regards to my last post: <br/> Generally, the French were way nicer than the Germans. While we were biking the first couple days though the French speaking cantons (like states basically) other bikers would smile and say bonjour or salud as we rode past. It was very strange to see so many smiles and hear so many greetings from complete strangers. As we progressed on the route we entered the German speaking cantons and the people there didn't show as many outward signs of friendliness. We did, however, receive an unexpected and very warm reception from a German couple whose house we stopped in front of to replace the batteries in the gps. My dad spoke with them for a while with his broken German and they offered us coffee, water (they only drink bottled water in Switzerland for some reason, the tap water tastes fine...), and cookies. Overall the Swiss seem to be a nice bunch. <br/><br/>When it comes to clocks and timepieces the Swiss are extremely serious. Every town has at least one giant clock tower that chimes loudly to mark the hour (and sometimes half hour). The larger towns such as Berne, the Capitol of Switzerland, have multiple clock towers. Watches are for sale in just about every store and they're very nice but also very expensive. There are lots of Swiss army knives as well. <br/><br/>There are lots of gorgeous women here! Most if the population is very fit/healthy looking even though they all smoke like chimneys. There seems to be a fair amount of diversity in the country but everyone looks pretty decent. You have to try pretty hard to find anyone who is seriously overweight like so many Americans. There are some bread, beer, and cheese bellies on the older men in the countryside (festively plump). <br/><br/>Perhaps the reason the people here are skinnier has something to do with the cost of food. Basically any food you can think of is about 150% to 200% more expensive. The cheapest burgers at McDonalds are about 2.50chf which is like 2.25 or something American. A normal entree at a restaurant is 18 to 26chf! It's been about 70 to 80 bucks for the three of us to eat a meal at a restaurant. Instead of spending a grand on food we've been eating sandwiches from CoOps (huge grocery chain that's everywhere in Switzerland) and snacking on gummy bears and Ovomaltine chocolate cookies. <br/><br/>Interesting note bout Ovaltine/ Ovomaltine from wikipedia: <br/><br/>"Ovaltine was developed in Berne, Switzerland, where it is known by its original name, Ovomaltine (from ovum, Latin for "egg", and malt, originally its main ingredients). Soon after invention the Factory moved out to the village of Neuenegg a few kilometres west of Berne, where it is still produced.<br/><br/>Ovomaltine was exported to England in 1909; it was a misspelling in the trademark registration that led to the name being truncated to Ovaltine in English-speaking markets."<br/><br/>Anyway, the riding was great. There were only a few hills and we only missed one important turn that resulted in a few extra miles of backtracking one day (whoops). The countryside in Switzerland is absolutely phenomenal. There are fields of wheat, Sunflowers, corn, and other basic crops. The crops looked super healthy and when we biked next to a patch of chives it smelled like we were biking through the tastiest ranch dressing ever! Unfortunately they do not eat ranch in Switzerland and when we asked they didn't even know what it was. <br/><br/>The weather was really nice for the first few days of biking but then we got hit with a bout of rain for 2 days in a row. we had rain jackets, pants, and covers for our poniards but everything got pretty soaked, especially Brian, whose jacket seems to have lost most of it's waterproof coating. The rain came down so hard it reminded me of the rainforest in Costa Rica except much colder. We even got hailed on for a couple minutes one day and we had to stop riding for a bit and take shelter under some trees. When it's not raining it's really hot and humid which is great for biking but a little uncomfortable for walking around (we're from Washington remember...) <br/><br/>Tomorrow we're catching a plane to London and then a connecting flight to Vancouver B.C. where we'll have to spend the night. I'm hoping to visit the Yaletown Brewery where I got to go with some friends in a separate trip. They have great food and great beer! After that it's back to Sea-Tac and the end of our trip. It's been quite a ride...<br/><br/>If I think of anything I've forgotten to write about I'll post it later. Don't forget to keep your eyes out for pictures during the week after I return to the states! <br/><br/>~Adieu<br/><br/><br/><br/><div class="iblogger-footer"><br clear="all"/><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">[Posted with <a href="http://illuminex.com/iBlogger/index.html">iBlogger</a> from my iPhone]<br /><br/></div><br /><br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rue%20Ferrier,Geneva,Switzerland%4046.214879%2C6.145823&z=10'>Rue Ferrier,Geneva,Switzerland</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-88222002112492199392010-08-02T08:47:00.001-07:002010-08-02T08:47:05.464-07:00Giant Michael Jackson<div style="text-align: center"><a href="http://media.shozu.com/cache/portal/media/ace73c4/33554439"><img src="http://media.shozu.com/cache/portal/media/ace73c4/33554439_blog" /></a></div><br/>This huge statue of Michael is right down by the lake in Geneva. I think it's part if a festival going on down there but it didn't really seem to have a purpose or be attached to a ride... Brian pointed out that the grey color was an interesting choice... lol! <p align="right" ><a href="http://www.shozu.com/portal/?utm_source=upload&utm_medium=graphic&utm_campaign=upload_graphic/" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.shozu.com/resources/messages/logo_blog.gif" alt="Posted by ShoZu" border="0" /></a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-72569627579752606022010-08-01T23:36:00.000-07:002010-08-02T08:41:53.342-07:00schutzengarten!<div style="text-align: center"><a href="http://media.shozu.com/cache/portal/media/ace73c4/33554437"><img src="http://media.shozu.com/cache/portal/media/ace73c4/33554437_blog" /></a></div><br/><p align="right" ><a href="http://www.shozu.com/portal/?utm_source=upload&utm_medium=graphic&utm_campaign=upload_graphic/" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.shozu.com/resources/messages/logo_blog.gif" alt="Posted by ShoZu" border="0" /></a></p><div class="iblogger-footer"><br clear="all"/><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">[Posted with <a href="http://illuminex.com/iBlogger/index.html">iBlogger</a> from my iPhone]</p><br/></div><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-23347460723168685202010-07-27T16:52:00.000-07:002010-08-02T08:50:50.138-07:00Lies, Lasagna, and LaundryDad and I got a free train ticket from the airport to Geneva. We found the hostel pretty quickly and when we walked in the door Brian was sitting there waiting for us. Pretty convenient considering we had absolutely no way to reach him. We checked in and walked across the street to a Pizzaria Roma, a chain we've eaten at twice now in Switzerland. Craig and Brian had pizza, I had the lasagna. It was by far the best meal I've ever had in my life. The lasagna was baked in a ceramic dish and half submerged in a wonderful cheesy sauce. Interesting note, if the menu isn't in English you can just look for "lasagna," it stays the same in German, French and probably just about every language. <br/><br/>The next day we went to get our bikes from John, the owner of bikeswitzerland. John was really nice and answered all our questions and explained the gps, phones, poniards, and other tour related stuff. We're riding super nice BMC touring bikes with two side poniards and a handlebar bag (where I keep my camera handy). I was worried about everything fitting but the poniards can fit a ton of stuff and we all have plenty of spare room. We usually average between 12 and 16mph when we're not trying to pick our way through a town. Mostly we follow the gps John provided which has our route programmed in. It's a little slow to update sometimes and we've had some moments of confusion at weird intersections. <br/><br/>In my earlier post I said we'd be staying in hostels the entire trip, I lied. We only have a few nights in hostels, so far just Geneva. The hotels we've been staying in have actually been pretty nice and the fresh croissants, fresh bread, cheese, coffee, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast makes waking up that much easier. The bread is seriously on a whole different level here. Great Harvest has been thoroughly put to shame. I also mentioned in an earlier post that we'd be doing laundry in sinks. That has actually been the case. It's not ideal but hopefully the next hostel we stay at will have a laundry machine... I'm not getting my hopes up. <br/><br/>I have much more to write about but it's 11:48 here and I think we may try to hike tomorrow and climb around in some churches. Tune in next time to hear if the Germans or French Swiss are more friendly, if they're really serious about the whole Swiss watch thing, and what the women are like here. See yah! <br/><div class="iblogger-footer"><br clear="all"/><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">[Posted with <a href="http://illuminex.com/iBlogger/index.html">iBlogger</a> from my iPhone]</p><br/></div><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-68122119496473580572010-07-25T00:47:00.000-07:002010-07-25T00:47:00.756-07:00Mind the GapLondon is frickin huge! My dad and I stayed in a youth hostel (apparently their definition of "youth" is pretty flexible) near St. Pancras Station and King's Cross Station (yes, the one in Harry Potter). We were also directly across from the British Library. The big red brick building houses tons of old manuscripts. They conveniently keep all the really famous ones in a single gallery so tourists can access them easily. Of particular interest to me was a couple copies of the Magna Carta, the original Alice in Wonderland in Lewis Caroll's own hand (and the original woodblocks used to illustrate the first printed copy! Awesome!), a page of Shakespeare's handwriting, and the Gutenburg bible, which is way bigger than I thought it'd be. <br/><br/>If you enjoy architecture, go to London! the buildings there are amazing. It's a financial capital so there are brand new banks, malls, and skyscrapers with crazy designs. All this is right next to (sometime adjoining) ancient buildings with medieval architecture.<br/><br/>You can't really say you've been to London unless you take a tour on the double decker buses so we hopped on somewhere right in the middle of London. The buses are great and worth the 50 pounds unless you sleep the entire time like my Dad did... o.k. he didn't sleep the ENTIRE time, but he was nodding off for a good 30 minutes. Can't really blame him though, we only slept a couple hours on the plane which meant we were somewhere around hour 20+ with only airplane sleep and serious jet lag. Somehow we did the library, the bus tour, and Westminster Abbey (fun fact: Darwin and Newton are buried there... who would've thought!)<br/><br/>The last stop of the double decker tour put us out in leicester square where Tom Cruise happened to be attending the premiere of Knight and Day (new movie with Cameron Diaz, she may have been there too). We got there just in time to see Tom walk the carpet and pose for the cameras (on a giant screen; even though we were about 100 feet away they had it blocked off with covered fences from the general public. <br/><br/>Overall London was a little too crowded for my tastes. It was like Seattle + LA. There were hundreds of people on every block and the squares were like music festivals without the music. Just tons of people smoking cigarettes. Very cool to see but I'm not sure I could handle more than a couple days there at a time. <br/><br/>Yesterday was our first day on the bikes. I have to shower and conquer some hills today so I can't elaborate now but I'll post about Switzerland as soon as I can! (it's friggen rad) <br/><div class="iblogger-footer"><br clear="all"/><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">[Posted with <a href="http://illuminex.com/iBlogger/index.html">iBlogger</a> from my iPhone]</p><br/></div><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-49270663568059328802010-07-24T16:22:00.001-07:002010-07-24T16:22:07.211-07:00They serve wine with dinner on British airways. How classy!<div style="text-align: center"><a href="http://media.shozu.com/cache/portal/media/ace73c4/33554435"><img src="http://media.shozu.com/cache/portal/media/ace73c4/33554435_blog" /></a></div><br/><p align="right" ><a href="http://www.shozu.com/portal/?utm_source=upload&utm_medium=graphic&utm_campaign=upload_graphic/" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.shozu.com/resources/messages/logo_blog.gif" alt="Posted by ShoZu" border="0" /></a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-6533236203665771642010-07-21T03:51:00.000-07:002010-07-21T11:13:48.416-07:00it's a bird, it's a plane, no it's... actually a plane.Got to Sea-Tac this morning around 8 which means I had to wake up at 6... which means I had about 5 hours of sleep... which means this flight to LAX will contain hundreds of yawns. We flew (no pun intended) through security which was a great relief. Security is definitely the worst part of airports besides waiting for your flight. Although sometimes it can be fun to watch for terrorists or unattended luggage... <br/><br/>I picked up the latest issue of the New Yorker to read during the longer flight to London. I usually read Harper's but the New Yorker has an article about the new blockbuster movie Inception which I saw last night so I made an exception. There's also a pretty extensive article about Blagojevich. Interesting guy.<br/><br/>The flight has gogo wifi Internet so I'm actually blogging from somewhere about 33,000 feet up in the sky. I suppose this is a pretty cool feature for business men on longer flights but I can't help but feel a little disgusted with myself for changing my facebook status on an airplane... <br/><br/><br clear="all"/><div class="iblogger-location-wrapper"/>Mobile Blogging from <a class="iblogger-location" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.9337,-118.3968">here</a>.</div><div class="iblogger-footer"><br clear="all"/><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">[Posted with <a href="http://illuminex.com/iBlogger/index.html">iBlogger</a> from my iPhone]</p><br/></div><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-79200825334043470362010-07-19T00:07:00.000-07:002010-07-19T00:26:27.640-07:00What To Expect:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bikeswitzerland.com/assets/day/11_01.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 250px;" src="http://www.bikeswitzerland.com/assets/day/11_01.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div>Just a couple days before the big trip. I've been going over the itinerary and some of the trip details and i'd like to share a bit of that so you'll have an idea of what we're expecting. <a href="http://www.bikeswitzerland.com/">http://www.bikeswitzerland.com/</a> is the company we're doing the tour with. They will be providing us with bikes, panniers, and a map, among other things. Generally they have two different routes; there's a 'lite' route and a 'challenge' route. We decided to go on the lite route even though my father would probably love the challenge route which goes through the alps and includes a day of hiking as well. Each day we'll travel about 30 to 40 miles on our bikes, making plenty of stops for photos and food i'm sure. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some people stay in hotels and have BikeSwitzerland transport their luggage to wherever they may be staying that day. The Funcke family is too badass (or too frugal) to pay for that kind of unnecessary luxury. Everything we need for the 10 day trip will have to fit on the bikes. We'll be doing laundry in public sinks, staying in hostels, and smelling fantastic. I can't wait!</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to follow some of the stuff we'll be doing in each city, all you have to do is check the website and click on that city for more information. We're following the lite (red) route. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-8511319387937443792010-06-30T10:11:00.000-07:002010-07-21T11:22:54.592-07:0050 miles to UW and back.Normally when i bike it's in casual clothes without a helmet and i'm headed just down the street to the place i work at in Fairhaven. Today, though, i ventured down south of Bellingham to my father's condo in Renton and my mother's in Issaquah for a slightly different bicycling experience. My dad decided we need to train for our Switzerland trip where we will bike about 300 miles over 10 days. We biked for 4 hours total (3 hours of biking) and travelled from my dad's condo in Redmond to the University of Washington and back (50 miles). My brother and my dad had their road bikes. I borrowed my brother's mountain bike. If you know squat about bikes you know that mountain bikes absolutely suck for long trips on flat ground. The frames are heavy, the tires are fat and slow, and the shocks add even more weight. Usually when i bike i average 12 mph. Today i averaged 15 on a slow-as-shit bike. I didn't know i had it in me. <div><br/></div><div>When i was young biking was something i did with my brother and sometimes neighborhood friends. There were two incidents that i remember vividly from my childhood biking shenanigans and i will share them with you here:</div><div><br/></div><div>1. It was a sunny day in Kansas city. I know what you're thinking but it wasn't particularly windy. There was, i'd say, an average amount of wind. I think i was about six years old at the time which would make my brother about three, although i'm really not sure about our ages here... He was tooling around on his little red tricycle and i was rocking an awesome blue bike with training wheels. I love my brother, but when i turned my bicycle around to face him and saw the vacant stare of a three year old, the primal need for dominance and agression boiled to the surface inside of me. I'm not even really sure if i taught him how to play chicken before i ran him over with my bike, but i'll never forget my mother's scolding... </div><div><br/></div><div>2. Washington: the beautiful State of rain, sun, forests, mountains, coastline, and much more interesting people than in Kansas. A new bike, a steeper driveway, a busier street. I thought it would be great to coast from my driveway across the street to the neighbor's driveway. Ever had those moments when you act upon your first thought or instinct without concerning yourself with the consequences? Of course you have. Well the car didn't exactly hit me... it was more me t-boning the car with my puny bike. Don't worry, just a screaming mother (yah again) and a very concerned motorist. </div><div><br/></div><div>As i grew older my father tried to make biking a bonding thing for the three of us guys in the family. I'm not really a great 'bonder' so i pretty much gave up biking all together and let my brother go to the bike racing camps at the velodrome and ride the Seattle To Portland (STP) with my dad. I'd deserted biking so thoroughly that the bike i took to college freshman year stayed chained to the front of my dorm from the first day i moved in to the day i moved out. Now, for some reason, i seem to be getting back into biking a bit. I've biked down to McKay's for some company and some beer. I always bike to work (it's only .8 miles away...). And sometimes, on occasion, i just feel like biking for fun. My lower body is pretty messed up from running track and cross country in high school and biking is easier on my knees. It's also a great form of transportation, especially in a smaller town like Bellingham. But the thing that really gets me about biking is the wind on my face as i stand on the pedals of a bike and fly down a hill into the Bellingham sunset....</div><div><br/></div><div>So i'm really looking forward to biking across Switzerland. I've never been to Europe and i think a bike tour will be a great way to experience it. </div><div class="iblogger-footer"><br clear="all"/><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">[Posted with <a href="http://illuminex.com/iBlogger/index.html">iBlogger</a> from my iPhone]</p><br/></div><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1042810211822829737.post-65396223571995449142010-06-27T10:37:00.000-07:002010-06-27T10:43:27.659-07:00BloggingMy friend recently put up a travel blog for her trip to Ireland... I've always meant to blog and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">i've</span> gotten started several times but never really maintained those websites. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my brain and it feels good to get them out in writing. Also, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">i'm</span> headed to Switzerland towards the end of July so that will be fun to write about as well. <div><br /></div><div>I'll be posting poems, photos, and ideas so stay tuned and hopefully <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">i'll</span> figure out this blogging thing for real this time. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07221655994872308846noreply@blogger.com0