I worked as a teacher in a 1,200-man prison and as a counselor in a privatized kid jail. I am a small, slim woman, not a Viking, and I paid close attention to the class on de-escalating tense situations. I paid close attention because I was either going to de-escalate a tense situation or run … Continue reading
When you were a kid did you build things? Like throw a sheet over a table and call it your tent? Or pile branches against a tree trunk and call it your fort? We humans build things, don’t we? We’re always scoping out the resources, finding a sheet of cardboard and saying to ourself, “Self, … Continue reading
Just a reminder: Relax, the world is going to keep spinning and beauty is all around you.
How’s your week going? Good, I hope. As a former missionary, I try to avoid profanity (with mixed results so far.) Profanity is so over-used that it loses its punch. So I save F-bombs for when I’m really outraged (and then I repent.) The word A**hole pops up so frequently that I began to study … Continue reading
We’re all prejudiced; that is, we all pre-judge based on appearance. Lots of us recognize this human tendency in ourselves and acknowledge that such judgments are often wrong. That’s not racism. Racism is DNA=Destiny. “Race” carries moral, physical and social inevitability. You can spot this when people say, “All Anglos ____” “Blacks all ____” Mexicans … Continue reading
I have formulated a theory and have tested it so often it is now a law: Je’s Law of Horizontal Attraction. Please feel free to test it at you house. The Law of Horizontal Attraction: Horizontal surfaces attract things: letters, pens, books, snacks, cell phones, all kinds of things. I tested it after the last … Continue reading
How is your week going? Good, I hope. Seriously. I’m moving websites soon and they tell me I can stay in touch with all of you. I certainly hope so. I’m moving because WordPress puts ads on here and I have no idea what they say, but I fear they may be as classy as … Continue reading
I agree with Einstein: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” So I teach a class for Adults Who Want Their Crayons Back and it’s always both fun and exhausting. I started out teaching basics: form, perspective, color theory and all that-figured we’d work our way … Continue reading
Do you like science? I do. Observing and theorizing and moving on to the next horizon-it’s definitely one of the “angels of our better (human) nature.” Of course, angels have been known to fall now and then, and so have humans, or at least this human has. A little humility is called for. We don’t … Continue reading
I woke up with a migraine, so you weren’t expecting a coherent blog post, were you? Sorry. The 5 Stages of a Migraine: 1. Ugh…Advil 2. Could this be fatal? 3. I certainly hope so 4. ZZZZ 5. Hangover My friend Tracy said I left out the throwing-up stage, but that’s 1.5 “Please don’t let … Continue reading
