My ballet instructor, Julie Powell, suggested to me that next year if I come under stress the way I did this year during Holy Week, I could anticipate it and take some time off from classes. This is a better solution than cutting back the amount of classes I commit to. I like it. It may be that the chair of the department who is on sabbatical might object. But it seems unlikely.
I wasn’t quite as exhausted last night after treadmilling as I was on Saturday evening. (I skipped it Sunday night). It may be that I’m gradually getting more rested.
The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison – NYTimes.com
As I exercised I read this article on Toni Morrison. I was so impressed that I decided to read her. I ordered a used paperback of her first novel, The Bluest Eye.
I have had my eye on her ever since I understood the plot of her novel, The Beloved. I’m also reading Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind
This was a $1.99 Kindle deal recently. It’s the third edition of the research and conclusions the authors have done. It was written intentionally for a wider audience than their previous editions.
I found this diagram very helpful. Even as our symbols, heroes and rituals converge with people from other cultures. Our values remain less subject to change.
The example the authors give is how similar young people in Turkey can be to young people in America: symbols (drinking Coca-Cola), heroes (hip hop or movie stars), fashion and consumption. In these ways they are similar. But in the area of values (fundamental feelings about life and other people) they differ as much as they did a hundred or more years ago.
Furthermore these writers conclude “There is no evidence that the values of present-day generations from different countries are converging.”
This is helpful when thinking about the different cultures that are now butting up against each other on the world stage.
The Dangerous Myth of Appomattox – NYTimes.com
Observations that the way we misunderstand the Civil War has hampered our view of later wars: When are they actually over?
Andy Warhol’s Guide to Public Policy – NYTimes.com
I’m not sure I agree with some of this writer’s policies on free trade, but I do like his use of Warhol and the beauty of boring strategies.
Education as if People Mattered. ~ Justin Vood Good | elephant journal
This link is to a blog post and a good one. “The highest form of intelligence is to be able to observe oneself without judgment.” I aspire to that. Can’t do it, of course. But I aspire to it.
Finally, I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Hopefully it’s not a train. I only have three days of classes left over the next week and a half. That will provide a welcome respite.
