Vignettes

I always yell to people in too fancy of cars like that, “Hey! That sure is a nice car you live in!” :O) Love,

A car like that one cannot impress me ever. My car has to be cosy, and as long as it takes me to places I love, then I feel happy. The jail history is interesting! It reminds me of buildings I have seen in Scotland. I hate loud fire engines, but I never heard them louder than in your country. I couldn’t believe my ears when one of these passed our apartment in Baltimore. Never heard it so loud.

Huh? Wonder why this fire engine turned off his siren…and why it followed you! Maybe it kept silent realizing that you disliked that sound so much? I like the huge contrast in the last part of your entry…a dreadful loud fire engine, glorious blooming cactusses and the song of birds. What a weard world, but beautiful for those who know where and how to look! Take care my friend,

An oasis you found of peace and beauty.

I am an admirer of contrasts. I enjoyed this entry.

Agree with Mirror – I enjoy contrasts too. Awaiting semester’s end so I will take the time to notice more.

I love reading the juxtaposition of these things…cows and chewing gum and mountains and every damn thing…it’s all about connections, huh?

Someday when I win the lottery I’ll have a car like that. Remind me to buy lotto tickets someday too 😉

I really like these series of small scenarios, Oswego, the give a marvelous life to each individual moment. It seems that I have fallen far behind in keeping up with you, my friend, but hope to remedy that this weekend. I have been quite busy with so much work. I, as always, throughly enjoyed this entry, dear friend.

ryn: I do remember that you tutored from a prior note. And that friendship was as important as the literacy info. With two of my students, that has been so…glad you’d shared that. I think daughter will be fine, too. Sad but fine.

I never could fathom the sense in a car that costs more than most homes. Truth be known, the thing was leased and the driver is in hock up to his/her eyebrows, but still trying to maintain lofty appearances. The interlude with the fire truck… well, there’s no other word for it but surreal.

RYN: Yes, well, that’s often true because the education that those young people are receiving today isn’t much to appreciate. By all accounts – and I’ve read a lot of accounts lately – modern urban public schools are a horror.

Speaking of taking your writing to new dimensions. . .this entry is quite a departure from your usual–dare I say it–style. But I enjoyed it quite a lot. Very punchy. Seems like something I might have written.

RYN: The arguments you’ve made perfectly encapsulate those made by most modern voucher advocates. Unfortunately, they often work better in theory than in practice. Often times, research shows, parents choice of their children’s school is based on something besides strict educational performance – commuting convenience, available day-care, and so on are very frequent motives. …

Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that instituting vouchers would cause parents to choose the best schools – they might instead choose those with the best advertising campaigns. In many “choice” states, like Arizona and Michigan, schools have started advertising efforts to draw students in. Since consumers rarely act with perfect information, it can be hard to tell which schools are really best.

… Anyway, all these discussions apply only to those students who actually can use vouchers, but there’s no realistic way that all students everywhere will be able to. No program instituted yet in this country has even come close. The performance of the existing public schools, not just the private schools attended by a minority, has to be improved too. Sometimes ‘choice’ programs can do this …

… but sometimes they make things worse, depending upon a variety of economic exigencies. All this is why I’ve most strongly approved of programs like extra-district enrollment (as practiced in Minnesota and Michigan) and charter schools, which allow teachers to run their own schools and diversify their programs according to their students’ needs – without removing public school resources. …

… As I believe I explained in the conclusion, what I mean by “children’s choices” isn’t so much about where they go to school, it’s about giving teachers the opportunity to respond to the kids as individuals, by relaxing bureaucratic requirements and allowing them to learn at their own pace, according to their own merits. Many children actually do like learning, given such opportunities. …

… I also demonstrate, I think, both that we do not have a simple choice between educational performance and church/state seperation; and that church/state seperation is indeed an important policy goal (not to mention a fundamental principle of the law of the land). Many recent experiences with vouchers have seemed to suggest that the educational opportunities they offer poor students …

… are not necessarily more significant than the benefits that accrue to families that never used the public schools. I’ve been studying this for a year. I wrote a 100-page book on it. I can gladly point you to some sources of dataa for these claims, if you like… =P

Ha. AzureBloom’s note doesn’t apply to homes in California 😉 And I think you and I walked past the old jail on that marvelous walking tour. Reading on…

hmm. a car like that would make me tempted to walk by with my key out and scratch the whole side. that jail is just . . . wow. i’d love to take pictures of it, my god.

Me? I love reliable cars with good a/c and bitchin’ stereos that handle well. 🙂

It would seem I want my stereos to handle well, and I do! But I really want my cars to handle well! God grant me to change the bad grammer I notice and the grace to blush when I learn of my errors! 🙂

insert “the ability to change” Cheeze. Can’t type today!