Questions for Obama

Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105479712798762608629/posts

This is a link to the White House circles in Google +.

I believe this is a wonderful way for us to connect with our government and the people we elected.

For our voices to be heard in such a direct way is amazing. When I was in elementary school in the early 1980's I remember writing letters with my class to President Reagan. Its amazing to me how far technology has come in my lifetime.

In high school we had a "computer lab" which we used in computer class and we were allowed to use before school, at lunch and after school. My High School was one of the few in the area which had such a thing. I remember people saying that there would one day be a way for computers to "talk to each other." For years I wondered what that would really mean.

I wonder now what technology will bring for our children and how they will connect with their world...how they will influence it. With being able to connect with the President this way, or other politicians, transparency of the government is greater, and accountability is increased through our ability to connect directly. SOPA was summarily murdered with our ability to connect with government. Following that victory on our part with an ability to have questions directly posed to our President gives me a lot of optimism for how my kids will be able to influence their world.

I'm back.

 


In one of my last posts I claimed that I was determined to keep blogging. Well, I did not keep to it as religiously as I thought I might be able to. A lot has happened since my last post;I graduated from WSU-Online~Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Social Science and a minor in History, I moved to a new town with my family to be closer to my husband's work, and I have been dealing with mothering three pre-schoolers, my stepson who has come to live with us (yay!) and my adult son who has difficulty with mental issues and addiction.

I think I fell out of the habit of blogging at the end of school, and while dealing with my eldest's various crisises. What's that Chinese curse? "May you live an interesting life?" Don't get me wrong. I love being a mother and wife. I love my life and I'm grateful for everything. I have no misconceptions about just how fortunate I am. My children are the center of my life, and it is really really painful to see one of them suffer so greatly.

I was using facebook for quite some time as a substitute for blogging. I did that mainly because I felt the need to connect with people who really knew me. It's nice to have responses from friends and loved ones.

I was thinking today about the social needs we have as humans and how we tend to use our abilities with technology to communicate with one another. Today I was reading an article written by Jeff Lee, MD, in the December issue of Seattle's Child. In his article
Confessions of a Faulty iDad, Lee explains why he chooses not to have a cell phone, and how this affects his relationship with his environment...particularly his family. Lee has chosen specifically to not use one particular form of technology to communicate with others, including his family and children. He does not even have an emergency cell phone. He jokingly calls his lack of a phone a "condition" and notes that when people ask how he "lives without one" he says, "As bizarre as it sounds, I was actually born without one(Lee, 11)."

I think if there were any kind of technology I would choose to live without it would be my computer. I love email, facebook, the fact that I completed my college education online...but as Lee pointed out in his article, we loose a certain amount of real human contact when we place a piece of technology between ourselves and our friends, loved ones, fellow co-workers and classmates. I've lived without a computer for much of my life, and I had a hard time getting to know the technology. I graduated High School in 1992. The only computers I had access to were the ones in my school's computer lab. Not even my local library had one. When I started my business in 1999, I had a facy smancy electric typewriter with a little screen akin to Word Perfect (for those of you who may remember that ancient OS. I thought it was amazingly convienient to word process on it, then press a button and let the type fly! It was a year later when I bought a computer, ordered dial-up internet, and got my very first email account. It took me forever with trial and error, and almost blowing up my hard drive before I could navigate through the web. I did not even start looking things up on the internet for another two years! So the thought of not having a computer...I could deal with. In fact the need to phisically go somewhere to get information would not take a whole lot of getting used to.

I can sympathize with Lee's comments about his children. He says that he can't get texts from them or share the joy of the technology with them. In fact he insists that when they go to have dinner together that their cell phones have to stay at home. Lee says that he catches some criticism for that, but I have to agree with him. I think he is teaching his children how to interact with him without a device in hand, and not through that device...which means they have to speak to him, make eye contact, and listen to what he has to say.

Although I think I can live without my cell as Lee does and I can live without a computer, I do like the quality of life this technology brings us, just as my electric typewriter improved my life many years ago. We can "live" without quite a bit. We just don't know it because we don't have to. But being able to pay my bills online, look for a good dentist or preschool, send grandparents pictures, let my teenager email his teacher ect. are all things that benefit my family, and connect us more to our world. Lee makes an excellent point that we must excercise our ability, make a point of the importance of personal communications and teach this to our children.

Works Cited

Seattle's Child.Lee, Jeff, M.D.December 2011. p. 11.

"Wind and Solar Powered Clothes Dryer": SameTeam.us

http://www.sameteam.us/MONTHLY.HTML.html

This is a link to my Cousin's website. I have mentioned him before recently, and posted a picture of him painting in his backyard. Damon is a talented artist and writer from Berkley California. He has a monthly newsletter, and if you are ever in the mood to check out some great ideas, and inspire some of your own, visit this website! This month I highly recommend looking at the featured artist. Her work is amazing, and she speaks about women's topics through her art.

I also recommend checking out "Introspective" and reading Damon's "Revolutionary Hang." In this post Damon talks about his "wind and solar powered clothes dryer" Very good read, and inspiring.

When I grew up, that was how we dried our clothing. There is something especially clean about the way sheets and clothes smell when they have been outside. In my neighborhood we are not allowed to hang our clothes out, but my neighbor from Germany, opens up her bedroom window and hangs out her comforter in the spring and summer months. Everyone complains about it, but I know why she does it...the smell of fresh air in your sheets can lull you to sleep.

If you need a fabric softener, use a liquid one in the summer and hang out the clothes! I wish I could! Maybe I will get some drying racks and place them near an open window this summer.

Editorials & Opinion | Sarah Palin can do us a favor by running for president | Seattle Times Newspaper

Editorials & Opinion | Sarah Palin can do us a favor by running for president | Seattle Times Newspaper

Loved this piece.....LOVED IT.

William Kamkwamba: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Kamkwamba: Download Cover"> I read about this story from a publication I get from my Credit union called, brass magazine.com, Spring 2010.

William Kamkwamba is an amazing young man from the village Masitala, which is a landlocked district of Malawi: a southeast African plateau country. William is a natural when it comes to putting together machinery and educated himself at the local public library. After his village experienced a horrible drought, he made a windmill by hand from parts from junkyards. The windmills produce electricity and pump water. The story is amazing.

William's family as well as many of the villagers are subsistence farmers, and often go hungry in times of drought. Williams engineering spirit is changing the landscape and the ability of his village to produce food. With the money for his book, he has started a non-profit organization to rebuild a primary school in his village. his future plans involve starting a renewable energy company and he is in the process of developing a steam engine powered by a solar oven, and a hand operated well drill.

This is a quote from him: "For me, I feel like living a rich life is to have food, to have a chance to access clean water, have access to medicine and have access to education."

What a simple thing to think of for having a rich life. Some people here in the United States, where I live, feel that being rich means that "you've made it." You have fancy clothes and several cars, eat at nice restaurants and can buy beauty treatments. William's idea of RICH is something that most Americans feel are basic rights. We can get clean water by turning the tap on. We eat by going down the street and walking into one of several shops on the corner. We expect an education from our children provided by our taxes. Trying to imagine a different world than that is almost impossible.

You can support William by buying his book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Chosen as one of amazon.com's top 10 books of 2009) and donating to movingwindmills.org where you can also learn more about what he is doing and accomplishing in Africa.

To see a presentation by William go to ted.com/speakers/william_kamkwamba.html

Reference:

Odegaard, Jens, Brass Magazine : WSECU, Spring issue 2010

Art for Progress

This is my cousin. He is an artist in Berkley CA, and has a website called SameTeam.us. He creates Art for Progress for local businesses, for private use, and for farmers markets. He also does some really great political cartoons with a "green spin" (you will have to check it out to get the joke). He had a really funny collection of Christmas Cards this year. My favorite was Santa soaking in a hot tub with his red suit in the snow next to it.

I liked this picture of him painting in his backyard, so I thought I would share. When we were little he called me Big Essie because I could jump from our grandmother's top garden step. When he was a little guy he thought that was great. When he was finally big enough to do it too, that is when he decided he was big.