Tuesday

I have been thinking a lot lately about people. Why are people so rude?

Occasionally I meet people that are compassionate, caring, and genuine but for the most part people are horrible. I am sure that everyone has witnessed some jackass in a car speed up instead of let another vehicle merge after blinking for a block. Another situation, people in a warm dry car who can not yield to pedestrians. Or another, people who make comments about others within earshot.

What is the virus that is attacking human kindness.

Is it apathy, low self esteem, is it out and out malice? Why are people so incredibly hurtful to others? Weigh in and let me know what you think...I would like to have some theories on this.

D

Update on #7 bottles and Sigg

The demand for Sigg is out of control. Read about this!

POETRY IN PROGRESS...

(Let me know what you think. This is the roughest of rough drafts as I was trying to think of things to blog about I just started typing and reflecting or vice versa. Sort of a conscientious stream of poem tonight.)

Eve is dawning.
While day noise hangs on to the last bits of sun;
Night sounds abound.

As slender fingers of light clutch the horizon;
Birds whistle their content tunes.
Bugs begin their dusky buzzing.

So much more aware of the sounds and smells of my Mother than I have ever been.
How can the masses ignore her beauty?
Can they not see how their actions cause her pain?

Mother, an ivory-skinned, ebony-haired, ruby-lipped woman;
Shows off her curves, her colors, her rich sultry voice, her bosom, her perfect scent.
Her feminine glory shows the world how intense and righteous she is.

How can the masses ignore her tears?
Will my Mother's beauty sustain when my son is raising his sons and daughters?
My awareness is the sweetest sweet and the bitterest sweet.

Graduation means...it's almost SUMMER!!!

This past weekend was graduation for my seniors. I had the privelege of being invited the parties of a couple of amazing kids. Dylan and Jimmy invited Steph and I to their parties. This picture was taken at Jimmy's party.

One of the most rewarding things about teaching is forging bonds with kids like these. Really amazing, funny, smart young men.

Interesting Article about Sensory Integration Disorder

One of my colleagues emailed this article for me to read. I am constantly reading about SID. My son was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder earlier this year. I love helping people to understand this disorder, and my kiddo!

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Therapy Helps Children With Sensory Disorders Find Joy In Play
updated 12:15 p.m. CT, Fri., May. 16, 2008

TheOmahaChannel.com

OMAHA, Neb. - A clothing tag on the back of a shirt is a scratchy annoyance to most people. But for up to 20 percent of the population, that tag causes a stabbing pain, so much that a person can't focus on anything else. Melissa Irving-Gass noticed her 1-year-old, Keelan, was deeply troubled by clothing tags and many other stimuli.

"He wouldn't go anywhere near grass. He didn't like carpet. He didn't like different textures of baby food," Irving-Gass said.

The child also wasn't sleeping through the night and had tantrums that couldn't be calmed. In addition, he had language delays.

Keelan was diagnosed at age 1 with Sensory Integration Disorder. It's a disorder that causes the brain to misinterpret sensory input.

"When I started with Keelan, he wouldn't even touch grass," said Children's Hospital occupational therapist Karen Felderman.

She said 70 percent of her practice is devoted to young sensory patients who are often living with additional developmental disorders.

Felderman's therapy includes organized play to help patients work through their discomforts. Part of Keelan's therapy involves placing the boy on a turn table on the floor and slowly spinning him while he plays with puzzles or strings beads.

She also hands him items with different textures and praises him when he engages in the toy or follows her directions.

"Basically what you do is work with the senses they try to avoid and make it a normal state so the child can play," Felderman said.

Adding stimulus to play makes the child focus on the task at hand. Felderman cheers for the boy when he succeeds at stringing beads.

Irving-Gass also dug into a bin full of dry rice and beans, searching for plastic toys Felderman hid there.

"Basically it's going to feel like pins and needles, very noxious. It hurts when he first touches it," she said.

Felderman said children with the disorder will often gag on certain food textures, engage in rough play or have an emotional meltdown when they come in contact with typical childhood playthings like crayons or clay.

She said these children also have difficulty socializing.

Irving-Gass is now 3 years old and speaks with one or two words at a time. He communicates with sign language. Speech therapy is also part of his routine. His family has to avoid noisy parties or events where sights and sounds might overwhelm their child.

"I hope he's able to participate and the other kids don't say, oh, he's weird. I just want him to be a typical child," she said.

On a recent vacation, Irving-Gass sat Keelan in a field of grass and snapped his picture. Proof to Felderman that two years of therapy is paying off with a young boy who's beginning to find joy in simple play.

The boy is also living with Angelman Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that makes it difficult for him to communicate and can cause developmental delays.

Poetry

So my final unit in Writing and Speech (freshmen) is Poetry. I love this unit. I love to see kids come alive and "get" poetry, express themselves, and enjoy English.

Yesterday I shared a revised version of my Untitled Poem, blogged here in March, at a Poetry Jam in large group with the kids. They dug it...that was cool, although how many 14-16 year old poetry critics do you know. Once in a while it would be nice if someone really told people the truth. I envision the interaction going something like this:

Denise: "Hey Bob, wanna read my poem and tell me what you think?"
Bob: "Sure..."*reads* *looks up*
Denise: "Well..."
Bob: "It's Shit"
Denise: "Super Shit or just Shit"
Bob: "Super Shit"
Denise: *shrugs* "Well no where to go but UP."

Something that is not S.S. is a poem I like that I ran across again in a Love Poem compilation that I bookmarked some years ago.

Petronius Arbiter Translated from the Greek by Kenneth Rexroth.

Good God, what a night that was,
The bed was so soft, and how we clung,
Burning together, lying this way and that,
Our uncontrollable passions
Flowing through our mouths.
If I could only die that way,
I'd say goodbye to the business of living.

How to Comment...TAKE 2...for Oma, Robin, and all you other anonymous posters.

I was reading through blog comments and realized that I was guessing who a couple of comments belong to, so I thought I might provide a mini tutorial.


You can type your name or initial(s) if you prefer in the space provided and then it does not just show up as Anonymous

Although this picture is fuzzy when it is small you can click on it and see what I am talking about.

Happy Commenting.

DW

Class, Saturday, and Mother's Day

Class--I am done!
That is a little misleading as a teacher. I am still teaching classes this semester, but last week I finished the two classes that I was taking for grad school.

I ended out with a B in one class, and an A in the other.

Initially I was disappointed, it is the first B of my graduate career. Then I put it in perspective. I had pneumonia this year when school started, I was the Speech Team coach, I have a seven year old, I had papers to grade and lessons to plan, and the list goes on.

The only reason that I earned a B was because I worked a deal with the instructor to let me stay in the class and turn in the work I was behind on from having pneumonia instead of having to drop the class and retake it. It was a good move. My work was all A work, but I earned a B because she did take off some late points.

C'est la vie.

Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a damn perfectionist when it comes to grades.

Saturday
Emily got us tickets to the USHL National Playoff Game last night. We went to see the best hockey game I think I have seen. Now I know why she loves it so much. It was a great game. We left excited with sore throats and painted face...one guess who was painted.

Mother's Day
Today I spent Mother's day lazing around in bed. I was reading magazines, snoozing, cuddling with H.D., and didn't emerge from my bedroom (for more than a half an hour) until about 5 p.m.. It was AMAZING. I just relaxed.

Now I will have to make up for it this week by doing yard work and house work, and grading. :(

Star Wars to make you Smile

H.D. and I love this video...Thought I would share for a good laugh.

Also this one cracks me up...though I didn't show H.D.
Damn Monsters...tee hee

Memories...

The Osborn house was made famous in a 1993 movie written, directed, and produced by one of my high school friends.

This was a blast from the past, total walk down memory lane. Reminded me of how much fun this time in my life was. Enjoy...

Do you think that because the Osborn house was in a film...it is worth more? It might attract collectors! :) LOL.

Been a While...

Well it has been awhile. Things at school settled down, but this time of year is hectic. Kids are trying to pass, seniors trying to graduate, I am trying to maintain my sanity.

I was trying to think of something interesting to blog about and nothing really came to mind. I visited the dentist yesterday...boring. I need to shop for summer clothes because I lost (don't ask how) all of my summer clothes...boring. I have a paper to write today...boring. So I decided to think back over the past couple of weeks to see what motivates me.

For a long time I have been debating my use of plastic anything at home. There has been more recent media attention for plastic, specifically #7. I found this article from 2005 published on the National Geographic Green Guide website about plastics.

I am tossing all #7 drink bottles from our home and we ordered Sigg bottles.

I am looking for old school glass storage containers to rid my world of plastic storage containers.

As I am aging I am turning more green. I like this, but I struggle with it too. The other day I saw a person (in a handicapped parking stall mind you) toss garbage out into the parking lot at Lowes. It was all I could do to contain myself. In my mind I walked over, picked up the garbage and tossed it back in their open window. I wish I had done that.

Do I sound fanatical?