ShellieBellie Naps

Hey, don't ask me to shovel! I earn the dogfood by barking at the mailman.

ShellieBellie

Mother Nature has a Strange Sense of Humor

Mother Nature delivered her first gift of late-winter weather to the Madison area overnight. I think we got at least 4 inches of the white stuff. It felt like about a foot, though, as I shoveled the sidewalk. My old back just can’t do it anymore. Fortunately, I have a great neighbor who pops on over to help when he can. Thanks, James!

Here’s the regional update:

TONIGHT: *****BLIZZARD WARNING****** IN EFFECT FROM 6PM UNTIL 12PM SUNDAY. 7-13" OF SNOW POSSIBLE. STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH HEAVY SNOW TO CREATE REDUCED VISIBILITY, DOWN TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. WHITE OUT CONDITIONS POSSIBLE.
WIND: E 20-30+

Then throughout Sunday:

MODERATE SNOWFALL THROUGHOUT THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. 2-3"

It’s a good thing that my girls love the snow and play well in it on their own in the backyard. I don’t have to bother with long walks, hauling 180 lbs of dog on icy sidewalks.

Ok, Mom Nature, I’m not rolling on the floor laughing about this latest joke, but I am chuckling a bit.

Another Ode to the TaxMan

Ok, so I broke down and took my taxes to a tax preparer today. It really wasn’t that painful. I worked with a woman who was upfront about what she was doing, asked good questions, knew her software, and was open to learning from me, too. By the way, the 1040 instruction manual uses a great example about deducting sidewalk improvements as a “tax” along with your property taxes.

I still think it is sad that the forms and calculation-balancing process is so complicated. I also think it is just WRONG that so much legislation happened in the 11^th hour and couldn’t be reflected on forms and instructions in a timely manner. While I appreciate the legislation working in my favor, such late changes push people to pay preparers rather than do their taxes themselves. We should all be able to do the process ourselves! But, at least I can deduct the cost of tax preparation next year…….And, my stress in having to do all of the math has been significantly reduced.

Now, if only I could just get rid of this head cold…….

I Wonder as I Wander

As I searched through my archives for a particular childhood picture this evening, I came across this concert ticket stub. It threw me back to another time and place. A time of quoted poetry and Shakespeare (from Henry V to be exact). A time of shared books and music. A time of love, longing, and dreams of every possibility. And now, I can only wonder what ever happened to that certain someone who endured the speeding ticket on the way home from the concert; who shared the shock the next morning of hearing that SRV and his entourage had died in a helicopter crash just hours before; and who just disappeared while I went on to graduate school and other romantic mistakes. I just wonder…..

A Bitter Response

A certain person in my life has raised concern about the offensiveness of a previous post and the violent (and vulgar) language of the wording. I believe that the individual has misunderstood the context, intent, and tone of the piece. I find this troubling since this individual is one who should know me and my “tone” the most. Perhaps this individual has also not taken the time to understand the context before making and voicing his/her judgments. That requires attention to and honoring of the details of daily living. That simply is not possible in this situation, nor has it been prioritized in the last 20 years. As part of this distance, I am troubled by the individual’s obliviousness of my intense passion and respect for our First Amendment rights (in times of war or peace). If there is one entity of living in this nation for which I would risk life and limb, it is my intellectual freedom.

But, while the individual’s lack of understanding of intent and tone deeply saddens me, what really angers me in this exchange is that my “responsibility” as a teacher was raised, and with that, my professional integrity questioned. It is my responsibility as a teacher to challenge my students to understand the historical precedent and question the contemporary context. It is my responsibility to help them learn their rights (and their own responsibilities) and not to fear them. It is also my responsibility to create a new generation of critical thinkers who are willing to take educated risks that will prevent us from living through generation after generation after generation of WAR, death, and dishonor. To do so, we must experiment with language and tone in a variety of rhetorical styles and contexts. Etiquette of the past is not always effective--as the cited three generations of war and fear have proven. I am clear and highly professional in my approach within the classroom, and I resent my professional sense of responsibility being in question. And yes, I will admit that my resentment here is informed by the fact that I have made huge sacrifices in my personal life to be that teacher. I have given up social and financial stability, as well as my physical health to be the teacher I am. Questioning my professional integrity is of the highest dishonor and disrespect.

And one last thing … If we follow the principles of our Constitution, what a teacher says outside of the classroom/professional forum, as long as it is within LEGAL guidelines, should have no bearing on his/her professional role. If that is not the case, and public “opinion” has more power than legal statute, should we not view that as a form of mob rule? I happen to still trust in our legal system and the strength of our foundational principles. I won't step down and quietly walk away from my views in the public forum. Maybe that’s a generational thing. Maybe that’s because I wasn’t “of age” through all the lies of the Vietnam War. Maybe because all of the lies and illegal actions of the Iraq War haven’t come to the surface--yet. Time can only tell us that.

“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” -- William Brennan: Texas v. Johnson