commentary

What Do I Write About?

Recently, a similar topic came up on two different list groups I'm a member of.

First, one list posted this writing prompt:

I find that, unless I *force* myself to write something meaningful in my journal, I tend to just regurgitate the events of the day with little comment or insight. Is this a problem for you? How do you overcome it?

Then a fellow group member made this comment on a different list

[my diaries] mainly record the hard facts of a day i.e. "Got up, went to work, had ... lunch, came home, temperature was 72 degrees, nice day...

Synchronicity strikes again (but then, that's what synchronicity is all about).

Basic Education

A recent topic in a technical discussion group I belong to has been the state of education in the United States. Members have been discussing this based on their own experiences (as children) in the system, as well as their perceptions as parents of children in the system today. An (obvious) conclusion has been that schools differ widely.

One member posted a pointer to a rather distressing article, written by the late Richard Fenyman, regarding his experience on a school textbook review committee. Although the article was written in 1965, the Textbook League (established in 1989 to support the creation and acceptance of sound schoolbooks) claims that Feynman;'s points are just as relevant today.

In 1964 the eminent physicist Richard Feynman served on the State of California's Curriculum Commission and saw how the Commission chose math textbooks for use in California's public schools. In his acerbic memoir of that experience, titled "Judging Books by Their Covers," Feynman analyzed the Commission's idiotic method of evaluating books, and he described some of the tactics employed by schoolbook salesmen who wanted the Commission to adopt their shoddy products. "Judging Books by Their Covers" appeared as a chapter in "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" -- Feynman's autobiographical book that was published in 1985 by W.W. Norton & Company.

To introduce a series of articles about corruption in schoolbook-adoption proceedings, we present here (with permission from W.W. Norton & Company) an extended excerpt from Feynman's narrative.

As our "Annals of Corruption" series unfolds, readers will see that Feynman's account is as timely now as it was when he wrote it. State adoption proceedings still are pervaded by sham, malfeasance and ludicrous incompetence, and they still reflect cozy connections between state agencies and schoolbook companies.

Having read Feynman's essay, I can only say

Egad

Dream Interpretation, part 2

I received this comment about dream interpretation when I mentioned that I often dream one or more of my cats has gotten outside:

Many cultures see cats as representing a type of aloofness and leadership qualities. ...

Not long after that, a friend on another list posted this:

I thought you all might find this interesting...
What it means when you dream of certain animals:
...
Snake - Shedding old skins, healing, renewal
...
Domestic Cat - Wildness with affection, wisdom, detached observer

I don't believe it :-)

Dream Interpretation

One of the online writing groups I participate in (Personal Writing) posts a weekly topic and then discusses the topic through the week. I was particularly interested to discover that this week's topic is dreams; I posted some of my thoughts on dreams last week, before this topic came up, inspired by a largely unrelated thread in another writing group. (I'm fascinated by the concept of synchronicity.)

Anyway, back to dreams.

I posted my essay to the Personal Writing group and we've been discussing my dreams and thoughts along with those of several other people in the group. This being a discussion about dreams, we've also been discussing symbolism and interpretation.