Stupid Design (or Theory of De-evolution)

There’s been much brouhaha in the past several months over Evolution (Darwinism) vs. Intelligent Design (Creationism.) According to one national survey published by the Chicago Sun Times, 62% of Americans believe that both sides should be taught in schools. To me, this seems like pretty small thinking. I mean, here’s a chance to challenge so much more of the narrow-minded dogma that populates the nation’s school curricula!

To that end, I propose this partial list of subjects and material that should – that MUST – be added to the curriculum in order that ALL SIDES be considered and properly taught.

First and foremost, we should of course be teaching The Bible – every word – because lots and lots of people believe in that, and it’s an exciting read, with characters you can relate to.

Then there’s The Koran – there’s a mess of people believe in that one too, though not that many Americans. But hey, can billions of people around the world be wrong? And like the Bible, it’s pretty long, so right there we’re gonna need to extend the school-day, probably by about half.

Back to the Origins of Species thing, some people do believe that back in the day Martians populated our planet, so that theory should obviously be taught as well.

Next – and I know this might be a little controversial – we should seriously be looking at the Power of Magnetism, which has a pretty good following in the Southwest and is catching on across the country. Maybe we put that one up to a vote.

Other theories that should be on the agenda, in order to do justice to all sides and not bias our young people’s views of science and history include:

The earth is (still) flat
The moon’s made of cheese (and NASA moonwalks were staged in New Mexico)
The Holocaust was a hoax
Kennedy was assassinated by angry leprechauns
Santa does NOT have a list of who’s naughty and nice

Please contact your legislators and move to get these onto the national agenda. The time is now!

"sittin' in a park in Paris, France
readin' the news and it sure looks bad..."

so begins Joni Mitchell's album, Blue
this is when I fell in love with music, with the romance of music, with letting it calm my mind and send me to sleep or to thinking of rivers covered in ice and California suns and smoky, dark bars bathed in blue "TV screen light."

"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling, traveling, traveling..."

back in a flash to 1971, and the sweet pungent aroma of Jamaican weed which was so harsh on the throat, and smelt like danger and excitement as it crackled and popped in the little silver bowl we'd filled and lit ever so carefully. I was 12 and this was initiation - membership to a generation of people seeking another way.

that was 34 years ago and I've been asleep for over half of it. keeping up, doing, being, sleepwalking. and the news continues to be bad. I just realized that I probably would have moved out of the U.S. after G.W.Bush's second election victory were it not for family commitments and responsibilities, not to mention utter gutlessness.

now I sit with a laptop plugged in next to my college stereo: a Harmon Cardon 330c purchased in Tweeter, Etc. in Harvard Square in 1977, along with a Sanyo turntable, outfitted last year with a new stylus. My friend Michael Aronson advised me on what to buy. That was a few years before I sprung for a tape deck (a Nikko, also sitting next to me.) I think in 1979 my housemate Charlie gave me an amazing gift: a new thing made by Sony called a Walkman. The body was all stainless steel, with two microphones at the top on each side. It played cassettes and could record your voice. And the best was that you listened through tiny little headphones that no one could believe would carry bass tones and loud volume. That was a revelation. I still have that Walkman, though it doesn't work, and there doesn't seem to be anyone alive who knows how to repair it.

work relationships
have always been so strange and foreign to me
it's like you're supposed to act like you've known and worked forever with
whoever you meet, and they act just the same
occasionally peppering work with personal questions to get to know you better
and more often just joking and making the most of what is after all still
work
I've learned how it works -- it's taken 20 years
and gotten so much more comfortable
still when people leave, my old feelings come tumbling back
like I've invested time in relationships that are so transient and which
absolutely will and must change
at least in the corporate/marketing world I inhabit during many of my waking hours.
but then, in the grand scheme, you could say that every relationship is transient
and will come to an end,
so is there really a difference, and why not just put it out there
and continue to ask personal questions and pretend it's more than it is
and then sometimes,
maybe it is.