Truth

It is interesting to me how we "spin the truth." We add details, leave them out, embellish. How do we know "the truth?"

One author that I adore, makes reference to the idea that truth is a matter of perspective. No matter where you are standing, your perspective determines what you see, feel, know. I saw a car accident once. I was getting ready to pull into the intersection and a car ran the red light. I was lucky. I was distracted and did not pull into the intersection as quickly as normal. The car across the way, however, got nailed.

My sister-in-law and I pulled over to call the police. We were both in the front seats and yet, both of us saw something different. Does her account of the story make mine wrong?

How do we know when the truth stares us in the face? Is the truth a logic based ideal or is it rooted in the heart and we know the truth by how guilt free our heart feels?
Does the truth ever evolve?

Books, books and more books!!!!

To begin with, hello to Ashley in Wooster. Feel free to continue to blog with us. I hope all is well. To those who like to criticize Mrs. Perrin on the blog, please find a new hobby.

My daughter made fun of me this past summer because I constantly had a book in my hand. She called me an addict. I am addicted to reading. Everywhere I go, I have something to read. The summer is the time when I read all of the books I have been waiting for during the school year. I try to pick a book that is considered by the academy as academically sound and then I fill the rest of the reading time with what I want.

How do you pick what to read? Do you only read what the teachers dictate? Do you pick because your friends recommend a book to you? Or do you read the backs of books to find what would interest you?

My favorite book is Atlas Shrugged and I love it because it makes me think about my place in the world and the role of "the mind" in the way society flourishes or fails.

Synopsis--from Barnes and Noble

"Who is John Galt?" is the immortal question posed at the beginning of Ayn Rand's masterpiece. The answer is the astonishing story of a man who said he would stop the motor of the world—and did. As passionate as it is profound, Atlas Shrugged is one of the most influential novels of our time. In it, Rand dramatizes the main tenets of Objectivism, her philosophy of rational selfishness. She explores the ramifications of her radical thinking in a world that penalizes human intelligence and integrity. Part mystery, part thriller, part philosophical inquiry, part volatile love affair, Atlas Shrugged is the book that confirmed Ayn Rand as one of the most popular novelist and most respected thinkers of the 20th century.

Write about your favorite book and why? What does it make you think about, dream about, or what action does it make you want to take?

Education

I have always lived by the belief that "education is the way to reach dreams and make them come true." As a little girl, I can remember my mom saying every time my father left for his three weeks military training, or any other military training that he did out of duty, "What will happen to us if he doesn't come home or his plane crashes and we are left alone. We have no money, and I have no skills that would provide for five kids." I knew at a young age that the song she sang when my dad left was a song I never wanted to learn. I wanted to grow up and be educated well enough to not have the fear of not being able to support myself. As a child, all I saw was that those who had an education were the ones who had more and could do more. This motivated me to push myself to acquire an education.

For as long as I can remember, a debate has begun in our country about the best type of education: public, private without religious ties, or a parochial school. I always wanted, as a kid, to attend CVCA--Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. My parents could not afford it. Instead I attended Akron East High School, a public city school. Oh, the stories I could tell. I do not think I got the short end of the stick. I learned so much from the many different cultures I was involved with and I was able to see life from some very different goggles, not the rose colored kind.

Think about all of the opportunities that you have been privy to by attending a public school, living in a world that is so unpredictable, and meeting the many people who walk in and out of your life. In Sheepskin, by Fisher, a battle of what it means to be educated arises. Where do you feel your education comes from and where will that education take you? How do you see your idea of education changing over the next several years? What would be your school appropriate mantra about education?

Fate

Fate--a life planned without an individuals consent. (I would hate to be so lame as to use the dictionary definition again.)

Romeo says to his friends, "He that has the steerage of my course, direct my sails. On lusty gentlemen." (Rough citation) This begs the question, "How much choice do we have in the way our lives turn out?" Do we direct our sails or is it the wind that pushes our vessel out to sea or to the nearest shore and we are simply the riders waiting out the ride?

I have always believed that everything happens for a reason. President Obama became President to silence the others, you got the luck of the draw of having Mrs. P as your teacher, bell bottoms went out of style and oh so many other events. What does fate have to say? Does fate exist? Are we pawns? Or, is fate a scapegoat for our fear of taking responsibility?

Write out your thoughts on fate.

Picture Prompts to Ponder

Look at the photos and respond!









How often do we look at the world and never take time to learn the story behind what we see? We make quick judgements that are often unfounded. We have been practicing supporting our thinking with research and literature. Now practice supporting your thinking using the items in the picture.


Create a brief 75 word story, using the images found within this site. You have three to choose from. Feel free to use your vocabulary words.

Tips for analysis: Make a list of everything you see. Create a motivation behind why each item is in the picture. Determine how the items fit into the storyline you are creating. Start writing.

It should make sense and not be too outrageous. The story should be supported by the items in the photo. Have fun:)

Love?

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place. ~Zora Neale Hurston

Oh, the yucky LOVE stuff is upon us. Roses are red, violets are blue the world sees love in Valentines Day. How about you?

I have and probably will always be a sappy, hopeless romantic for the rest of my life. Everywhere we look, newspaper ads, magazine articles, billboards, song lyrics, plays, stories, and yes, poetry, tell us how to define love.
According to dictionary.com, love has many possible definitions. Here is the first of soooo many:
love 
–noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

The strong words in the definition are interesting. Such profound language speaks to the weight of such a feeling/emotion. "Profound and passionate," both denote a sense of strength and purpose not to be questioned. Yet, most people question LOVE. It is a word that is over used, yes, I know. But, how does one establish it exists? Shakespeare uses Romeo and Juliet to address this idea of true love through his beautiful iambs and couplets. We see it in Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid, Taylor Swift sings about it in her song, "Romeo and Juliet," Moulin Rouge revisits the idea through a medley of songs that stretch across rock and roll history and the list could continue.

How do you see LOVE speaking to the romantic expectations of those who pursue it? Does romantic love exist? How does it differ from all of the ways portrayed in the books, plays, poetry we read? You have read Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Kettle Bottom, and soon will embark on a journey through Romeo and Juliet. Is there hope in the real world for LOVE or is it fit only for the books? DO these expectations that have raised the bar so very high make it all worth it? Does it exist? Is there more than one kind?

(How can we not blog about Valentines Day the week of?)

Listening:

I do not know whether it has to do with me being a teacher or if it is just human to want others to listen. When others speak to me, I try to turn and face them, so I can hear everything they are saying. I watch body language, listen to voice inflection, listen to and make meaning based on the words (vocabulary) used and I try to really hear what is being said or asked.

It is my belief that most people do not listen. Most people do not allow their own bias, life, needs be set aside so others can be heard. I know that I have been guilty of this. That is why I face the person and allow myself the opportunity to face them. My eyes allow me to focus.

Do people not listen because their own narcissistic needs absorb them entirely too much forcing others' needs to become secondary and irrelevant? Is it because we do not practice living in the moment but live only in our plans? Perhaps, it has to do with constant distractions thus driving us into small idle chatter where speaking and listening become space fillers, not meaning makers.

I am not sure. Think about a time when you truly engaged in a conversation with another person. How did it feel to be heard? How did the connection feel? How does this differ from when others, including ourselves, disengage and no longer hear, but nod their heads in a fake conversation?