1.5 Life

Many of you know I have a penchant for computer games. It probably started when I programmed my Mother's first Macintosh computer back in 1983 with a BASIC game that simulated a lunar landing. The graphics consisted of a dash (-) for the surface, and the exhaust were asterisks (*,) and the capsule was two slashes (/\). The whole game looked like this:

/\
*
*

--------

Carnack eat your heart out!

Now before you laugh too much, I know many of the readers of this will hearken to the days of Atari 2600s and playing Combat, where a colored "H" with an extra stick was what your tank looked like. Pitfall: an L-shaped stick with legs that would jump across leaned over V's, while swinging on straight line -- enough said.

So what do I play now? I stopped playing Guild Wars because they were pretty much ending the on-line game by introducing Guild Wars 2 with no way to transfer your character to the new game (I know, insert world's smallest violin playing"My heart bleeds for you" right here.) So the latest addiction, err... I mean diversion, is a game called "Second Life."

I could spend a lot of text and time boring you with the details of the game, but I won't. It's interactive and contains real world environments built by its users, who at anytime number between 30,000 to 50,000 on-line, with over 3 million registered users. People buy and sell stuff they make, and they chat with each other. In-game money can be exchanged for US dollars and vice versa.

It looks like real life, being played by real people, but it is a game. "SL is not RL, and RL is not SL." is a common slogan you hear (SL = "Second Life," RL="Real Life.") It is designed to be a "utopia" where everyone is equal, and everyone has a chance for success, there's no need for food, and clothing can be found for free, or you can just learn to make your own. Heck you can learn to make anything you want, and then sell it, allowing for your character to be successful in the game. It's all given to you. Yet the game has a darker side. There are those people who go about "griefing" others, those who try to steal, and those who use get-rich-quick schemes to entice others into scams. There are those who lie, and cheat, and manipulate. In a perfect digital world where everyone has an equal chance to succeed on their own merits, we still see negative behaviors of "Real Life." "SL" may not be "RL" but is shares in its virtues and vices.

"So, what's your point?"you may be thinking.

In the education business, we have many well-meaning people, and we have the legislature (not to be confused with the well-meaning people) all trying to create a utopian environment. "Everyone will be equal" -- so much in fact that we will expect all of them to pass the exact same tests, at the exact same level, at the exact same time. "There's no need for food" -- schools now provide much of the supplies for their students. A district I'm aware of provides vouchers for school supplies to families who fill out (not just qualify) an application for free and reduced lunch. The educational institution for which I work feeds every student breakfast as part of a government program. "You can learn to make anything you want, and then sell it, allowing for your 'character' to be successful" --All educators have ever asked is for those people whom we have fed, and supplied, and nurtured, to come and learn how to make it in the world.

Well, we understand how far this "simulation" has taken us... no further than the digital panacea of Second Life.

So I should start to call my job "1.5 Life." I'm sorry to say public education has become as much a game as those I play on computers. It's not whether we get a student ready for "Real Life", only when we can get the "high score" on the tests we give in "School Life". So we structure everything we do toward that goal. We learn the tricks of the "game," like the codes gamers type in to get more powerful items or special skills. We tirelessly practice, and refine our skills, until we play the "game" better than anyone else. Then we get to go around for big money and tell others how to play "The Game." In the end, if you really consider the disservice you're doing, it's hard to sleep. So you tell yourself, "it's just a game." You "de-humanize," and view those around you as "avatars" or only virtual representations of real people, because if they were real, you would be preparing them to be successful, instead of using them for your own gain. They become an ends to a means to achieve the goal of the "high score."

"School Life is not Real Life, and Real Life is not School Life."

When will the populace put an end to the game: "School Life" must become "Real Life," even with all its non-Utopian crass, failure, and finality. In this we truly find humanity.

Are you ready for some football?

Our Days

Just a quick update about what's really been going on around here.

Megan ended the summer by making huge strides in the swimming department. If you will remember back to when Megan had tubes in her ears, we had to be really careful not to get water in them. It was at this time that she became terrified of water on her head. Just look at her now.


She has mastered the art of jumping off a make-shift high dive into the pool at Maw-Maw and Papa's house. No floating devices attached. She goes all the way under the water and pops right back up to doggy paddle to the steps of the pool. Wow!!!

This year, Megan is in kindergarten. She loves her teacher and has made lots of new friends, Colby, Jessica, and Aubrey to name a few. I am so excited for her. She amazes me in the fact that she shows no prejudice. I love that about my sweet little girl. If only I could exhibit that quality more often.

She is learning a lot. Handwriting, music, and the beginning steps of learning how to read. She is easily discouraged in that area, so I make sure to work with her in the evenings on the things she brings home. She is also becoming quite addicted to reading library books. She is allowed to check out two books on Tuesday (library day) and keep them for a week. We also get books from the public library to keep it interesting. Every night we read a book before bed. Sometimes it makes is hard to squeeze in her questions for Bible hour. That is something we really need to work on.

Megan is also getting involved in activities outside of school. Today she will attend her first Girl Scouts meeting. She is extremely excited. I was in Girl Scouts when I was about her age. I don't really remember much about it, what we did, etc... But I have a feeling this will be right up her alley. She is not very interested in sports. She brought home a paper concerning youth soccer league. I asked her is she wanted to play soccer this year. She looked at me with a look that said the following:

Mom, you have got to be kidding. You mean wear socks and tennis shoes, run around outside in the hot sun chasing a black and white ball, sweating...

You get the drift. You would think the girl doesn't like to be outside. And that is not the case at all. She just doesn't see a point in the game. And the truth be told, the real reason is the fact that she doesn't like wearing socks and tennis shoes.

Having said that, we did sign her up for PIPs yesterday. That stands for Players in Progress. It is a basketball program that teaches kids as young as kindergarten basketball skills. She will go to a camp out at Rochester on October 6. The whole group (k-6th grade) performs at half time of local basketball games. I remember watching them last year and was amazed at what those kids could do with a basketball. She is really excited about this. And so am I. Basketball was my life in high school. I was hoping that at least one of my girls would take it up. I hope Megan enjoys it...tennis shoes and all.

That should catch you up on what Megan has been doing lately. Madelyn and I are glad to have some mommy daughter time alone. But she really misses Megan when she is gone all day. We both do.

I would post a picture of her, but I don't know what Shawn has done with the camera. He took it to Abilene the other day and I haven't seen it since.

I spend my days taking Madelyn to the potty, changing the DVD to the episode of Blue's Clues that Madelyn insists she needs to watch, and trying to convince her that it would be okay to play by herself for just a little while. She definitely has that second child thing down where she is unable to play by herself. Overall, I manage to find a few hours to do the things I need to do.

Madelyn is learning so much herself. She has amazed me at her ability to learn numbers. Maybe because numbers/math comes naturally for me. Before she was 18 months old she could count to ten. And shortly thereafter, she learned to recognize numbers by sight. I quiz her often and every time she spouts off (2) two, (4) four, (3) three, (5) five, (8) eight at the sight of the number I just can't believe it. We've just about mastered the basic colors also. I guess it's about time to move onto letters. She knows a few by sight, just ask Maw-Maw about the letter Y.

I guess that's all for now. I have a long to do list today. Maybe I can at least get started on it.

"It could be worse..."

OK...OK...OK.
We came off reunion....went on vacation...then school started.

In between I had to preach for the church... then had a part on the search committee, then found one... then covered a lesson or two 'till he got here.

Now its "District Educational Improvement Committee" meetings... being assigned the Science Department chairperson... Teaching Biology atop my usual Chemistry... Participating in the Texas Midwest Science Alliance...Coaching both UIL Science and Computer Science...and... announcing for football games (..."other duties as assigned," just ask a teacher about that clause in their contracts).

Still with me? If so, I've probably moved on to something else someone needs me to do. But it could be worse.

With a twisted, morbid sense of humor, I read this article on-line and it made me feel better:

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.

"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," Camejo said, according to a report on Friday in leading local newspaper El Universal.

His grieving wife turned up at the morgue to identify her husband's body only to find him moved into a corridor -- and alive.

Reuters could not immediately reach hospital officials to confirm the events. But Camejo showed the newspaper his facial scar and a document ordering the autopsy.



So for those of you who have been waiting for a post... I'm not dead, so don't "cut" us from your blog list.