Tall and Proud

Written in 1973 by children's author, Vian Smith, the author gave horse lovers a treat with this wonderful story about a girl and her horse. When the main character contracts polio in a nearby stream, she struggles to learn to walk again. Her mother, overcome with guilt and pity for her child, does not have the heart to push her daughter the way the doctors and nurses urge her to. When it is obvious that the girl is losing what strides she had made (polio cases were often met with nearly full recovery if caught in time...), her father decides to buy an old race horse as motivation for his daughter's recovery.

Deftly and beautifully written with an eye toward the problem with pity and the need to challenge ourselves. Easily recommended for kids who are facing physical or emotional handicaps as well as young equestrians... and not bad for parents and teachers either!

Are we done being victims yet?

Does it help? Maybe we can celebrate Obama's victory because we have to give up our "poor me I can't do it because of the establishment" now? The only place I have seen sexism or racism in a long time is in the church. Largely moneyism is what determines who's going to be in charge or get the job.

arrogance

I never raised my children to believe that their color or gender would ever keep them from doing anything... but I also never gave my children the idea that they needed to be the president of the U.S. or even of a corporation in order to have worth. I always felt they needed to be the best people they could be. And looking back, I don't think if I had told my daughters they could be the president of the United States that that would have given them anything they needed.

Too many of the children in this country-- for that matter too many Americans in general-- suffer from entirely too much ego. They act as though they are the most important person in the universe already-- do we really need to emphasize our children's potential (and I might add FALSE potential-- I mean, really, what are the ODDS of becoming president even with the right education and background? Pretty high I'd wager. Maybe even higher than winning the lottery) to be the most powerful person on earth? Religion already gives it's followers the idea that they can be like Jesus or god (which is WAY better than the president, by their doctrine)-- and most of them are just arrogant and self-conceited jerks who can't live what they preach. Is that what we need? REALLY?? MORE self-important individuals????

Haven't we suffered enough from that attitude?

If there needs to be an emphasis- it really does need to be on Obama's education and intelligence- that he did not get the job because his momma had money or his daddy was the president or because he had the best commercials (at least I hope he's not all marketing!) Perhaps that emphasis will put the idea in the black kid who comes into the library every day that he needs to start getting his own education-- that he CAN be more than a dumb football player because there are too many black and white football players who are idolized in this country- and being more than an uneducated athlete isn't really all that hard! And when my son is pouting because he doesn't really like to read and doesn't see the value in it- he can't sit back and feel sorry for himself because he doesn't know of any black men who read and are smart, so why should he work on his reading???... well, now he does! And yes, I will celebrate that! But then if my son were white, he could learn the same thing!

A new day???

Many hope for change with the election of Barack Obama. I know I certainly do, or maybe it would be better to say that I am hopeful that I can have hope. I am simply losing faith in the people of this country to do anything that isn't in their own best interest (and as the most powerful country in the world, we certainly have the responsibility to think of more than just ourselves). Here's why...

I work two jobs- one full time with health coverage, albeit Kaiser (which is fine as long as I am not sick), another part time job that gives me as many hours as I can manage. But with the price of food, gas, meds, etc. LIVING basically, I don't have the money to go to the dentist. My teeth are cracked and one is falling apart. Another is probably abscessing but the only option is to have it pulled- there is no way I can afford a root canal or a replacement. Jobs are getting harder to find so just finding a new job sounds good, isn't necessarily going to happen (especially since I have been actively looking for many moons already). And frankly I like this job but it does not seem reasonable to me that DPS expects professional work when they are paying hourly wages. (Teachers who do the SAME job I am make more than twice I do-- but they are eliminating teachers from this position in order to bring in cheaper librarians-- like me! And teachers are underpaid anyway!!!).

A small used book store down on Broadway owned by a friend is struggling for survival. Advertising, a near necessity when you compete with Amazon and Barnes and Noble, is out of the question and and rents are high-- his business is clearly struggling. He is thin and haggard with worry. He works another job to make a living and to keep the bookstore open.

Ben Franklin's, a family owned dime store in "Littletown" Kansas, went out of business because Walmart moved into the town fifteen minutes away: close enough to drive the higher priced family owned store out of business. (How does an independent businessman compete with a business that can mandate it's own price from the vendors -even big ones like Rubbermaid!- and buy cheaply made toys from their subcontracted toy-makers in third world countries?)

Rikki Ducornet has a new book out which I am anxiously awaiting. She is an amazing writer who incorporates metaphor and symbolism into her writing with a deftness that is breathtaking. Her talent looms like the sun over the literary world. Her newest book is not available at Barnes and Noble- nor for that matter are any of her other books. She is not a best seller-- just a great writer. Her books have to be specially ordered and this new one is being released in paperback. You can find some of her older books in the used bookstore on Broadway. No promotion, no books on hand in the large bookstores-- not likely to get enough sales to pay for the daVincian quality of her work.

Subcontracting: the illusion of independent, individually owned business. In truth it is a way for large corporations to contract a job, bid/charge for it, then hand it over to a smaller business for a cheaper price. Those small businesses are not able to offer healthcare or benefits to their workers because they are barely able to stay afloat the way it is. It's an easy way for corporations to get out from under government regulations on employees and to save on employment costs. And in too many cases, they use every means they can to charge the subcontractors so they aren't even paying the price agreed upon before the job began. (Barnes and Noble uses such subcontractors to clean the stores. Do they get the same healthcare coverage the managers and booksellers do?)

Borders is not doing well and may soon be out of business. For some reason BnN sees this as a triumph. The Walmart mentality seems to be spreading-- it's not good enough to make money anymore-- you have to corner the market and drive the competition out of business. Meanwhile, the only product you order is what you can sell cheaply and plenty of. . . more and more dreck.

Newspapers/TV news/Major internet providers offer almost all the same news. No coincidence-- they're owned by corporations that are happy to keep us preoccupied with gossip about movie stars, grizzly murders, terrorism. Their product? Fear in a box. The FEW independently owned operations are often forced then to compete in the same marketplace. Self-imposed censorship.

We need a new paradigm! We need to rethink the way we do things-- this corporate, capitalistic state that feeds our cravings but never provides nutrients...

Change? I hope it's coming... I sincerely hope it's coming.

I think I need another moment of zen...



"Speak not of guilt, speak not of responsibility. When the Regiment of the Senses parades by, with music, and with banners; when the senses shiver and shudder, it is only a fool and and an irreverent person that will keep his distance, who will not embrace the good cause, marching towards the conquest of pleasures and passions." ~~ C.P. Cavafy