november 30

JOURNAL TOPIC:
This morning I drove around a bend in the 101 -- and traffic stopped.  I got off the freeway (feeling not very free at all, and looking for a better way) and drove into more traffic.  Very, very frustrating.  Then I came over a hill and saw the accident that was blocking the 101.  I quickly realized that the drivers of those crumpled cars were having a much worse morning than I was, and I felt very, very fortunate to be alive, safe, and on my way to work.

We are all aware of the obstacles in our lives, but what about the good things?  Describe something that makes you feel lucky to be you today.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Two Things

net neutrality

Do you have any idea what is going on?  The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is planning to end Net Neutrality.

What does that mean?  It means we're screwed.

Right now, when you go on the Internet you can get to every website at the same speed.  If there's a delay it's a delay for every website, not just the one someone else doesn't think you should see.

But if the FCC goes through with its plan, it will give ISPs and big, wealthy websites (think Facebook) a huge advantage.  These sites will pay the ISP to "fast track" their information to you, and everyone else will be stuck in the slow lane.  This is terrible news for individual bloggers (like us) and small businesses.  Under the FCC's proposed plan, if you want anyone to see your website you will have to pay AT&T, Verizon, and the other huge corporate ISPs for the privilege.  Otherwise, you'll be stuck behind people and companies with more money.

This will make Internet access harder for everyone except big companies and rich people. (Huh.  Is that starting to sound familiar?)

But there is something you can do about this.  Go to https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express
and fill out the quick form.  I just did. See the image below; you can copy the Proceeding # (17-108) and the comments (I support Title 2 oversight of ISPs and I support net neutrality.)


If saving the Internet isn't worth 2 minutes of your time, then you don't deserve to use it.

november 29

JOURNAL TOPIC:
It's often been said that, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."  What does this mean to you?  Who are the impressive people in your life, and what impressed you about them in the first place?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Work Wednesday: poetry analysis, blogs, Big Questions, life after HS

november 28

JOURNAL TOPIC: (Today's Tunes: "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love & Understanding" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions)

Every culture throughout history has had some idea about peace.  Some cultures do peace better than others.  What do you think is necessary for peace?  You can think about peace within yourself, peace within your close circle of family or friends, or peace between nations.  How can you relate the idea of peace to Jimmy Santiago Baca's "Immigrants in our own Land"?

AGENDA:

1. Journal

2. Table discussion:

a) Consider Jessica Parra's blog entry about the poem

b) Compare your answers to the questions about theme, tone, mood, and devices

c) Change your mind about (at least) one of your answers based on the conversation and update your blog

PLEASE NOTE: Either every single one of us will have a blog entry to show for this week's thinking about the poem, or we will have a gut-wrenchingly difficult in-class exam on the poem Friday.

immigrants in our own land

Immigrants in Our Own Land 

By Jimmy Santiago Baca

We are born with dreams in our hearts,

looking for better days ahead.

At the gates we are given new papers,

our old clothes are taken

and we are given overalls like mechanics wear.

We are given shots and doctors ask questions.

Then we gather in another room

where counselors orient us to the new land

we will now live in. We take tests.

Some of us were craftsmen in the old world,

good with our hands and proud of our work.

Others were good with their heads.

They used common sense like scholars

use glasses and books to reach the world.

But most of us didn’t finish high school.

The old men who have lived here stare at us,

from deep disturbed eyes, sulking, retreated.

We pass them as they stand around idle,

leaning on shovels and rakes or against walls.

Our expectations are high: in the old world,

they talked about rehabilitation,

about being able to finish school,

and learning an extra good trade.

But right away we are sent to work as dishwashers,

to work in fields for three cents an hour.

The administration says this is temporary

So we go about our business, blacks with blacks,

poor whites with poor whites,

chicanos and indians by themselves.

The administration says this is right,

no mixing of cultures, let them stay apart,

like in the old neighborhoods we came from.

We came here to get away from false promises,

from dictators in our neighborhoods,

who wore blue suits and broke our doors down

when they wanted, arrested us when they felt like,

swinging clubs and shooting guns as they pleased.

But it’s no different here. It’s all concentrated.

The doctors don’t care, our bodies decay,

our minds deteriorate, we learn nothing of value.

Our lives don’t get better, we go down quick.

My cell is crisscrossed with laundry lines,

my T-shirts, boxer shorts, socks and pants are drying.

Just like it used to be in my neighborhood:

from all the tenements laundry hung window to window.

Across the way Joey is sticking his hands

through the bars to hand Felipé a cigarette,

men are hollering back and forth cell to cell,

saying their sinks don’t work,

or somebody downstairs hollers angrily

about a toilet overflowing,

or that the heaters don’t work.

I ask Coyote next door to shoot me over

a little more soap to finish my laundry.

I look down and see new immigrants coming in,

mattresses rolled up and on their shoulders,

new haircuts and brogan boots,

looking around, each with a dream in their heart,

thinking they’ll get a chance to change their lives.

But in the end, some will just sit around

talking about how good the old world was.

Some of the younger ones will become gangsters.

Some will die and others will go on living

without a soul, a future, or a reason to live.

Some will make it out of here with hate in their eyes,

but so very few make it out of here as human

as they came in, they leave wondering what good they are now

as they look at their hands so long away from their tools,

as they look at themselves, so long gone from their families,

so long gone from life itself, so many things have changed.

meet jimmy santiago baca

Baca by dpreston1441 on Scribd

november 27

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Describe your Thanksgiving.  Start with the details: Who was around your table?  What did you eat? 

Then think back:

What were you especially grateful for?  As you look back on last week and consider today, what are you grateful for right now?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Every good story suggests a question for us readers.  Today we will ask it of each other. 

About the next few weeks...

What Happens Next?

 

3. Meet Jimmy Santiago Baca