Monthly Archives: September 2011

27 September 2011

Banned Books Week

By Nicki

September 24th was the beginning of Banned Books Week. This annual event is aimed at celebrating freedom of speech. The reason I write about this is because you and I have probably read a banned book. I know I have and am pretty sure you have also.

 

As I look over a list of 50 banned books, I am laughing as I know that the ones I have listed below were read by my children in public school.

The Handmaid’s Tale  by Margaret Atwood

Native Son by Richard Wright

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Animal Farm by George Orwell

1984 by George Orwell

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

These were taken from a list of 50 banned books that everyone should read (here). On this list were also about ten additional books, not counting the Harry Potter books as we have read all and seen the films, that myself or one of my children  has read.

 

My point is we cannot allow someone else to make decisions about what is to be read by others. I should be able to choose what I read. I do think parents should exercise some discretion based on the age of their children but by the time a child is 15, most should be able to make their own choices.

5 comments   |  tags: , | posted in Family, Just my Thoughts

26 September 2011

September 22nd, 2011

By Nicki

I was hoping to go to bed. I was attempting to be ignorant of news and world events. The area I live in had just been through a 100 year flood, the second time in five years. I was happy to be ignorant.  Unfortunately, I turned on CNN or MSNBC or some other 24 hour news channel. I was seeing that there had been a delay in an execution in Georgia.

 

Since I had a board of education meeting that evening, it was well past 8 pm when I turned on the television. The execution was originally scheduled for 7 pm ET. There was not a stay of the execution. The state was delaying it so, if it so chose, the Supreme Court could order a stay.

 

Why did this particular event, to take place in Georgia, catch my attention? News was saying that many, seven to be exact, of the witnesses that had original testified that Troy Davis had murdered an off-duty police officer had recanted their testimonies. Davis had been on Georgia’s death row for over a decade. Four hours after the originally scheduled time, the state of Georgia did execute Troy Davis.

 

My problem is why. If there is some doubt that the original trial was not valid, why execute a man?  Are we God? Can we take a life? I know many who would quote the Old Testament in saying an eye for an eye. Unfortunately, I believe in a God that gives second, third and fourth chances. I believe in a God that forgives, even when we mere humans cannot. It is not society’s job to act as God and take a life. There is no way to justify killing someone.

 

I probably would have let this execution, along with others that happened last week, go without any notice. Then I read a blog piece by Alex at Late Enough. We should all voice our concerns, if we have them, over a government that thinks killing a person – a member of its society – is the way to curtail murders.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Just my Thoughts, Politics

25 September 2011

Goal Time

By Nicki

I know that goals not put in writing are just dreams.  Next Sunday’s marathon is not a dream but an actual race so my feelings are I need to put some goals down in writing.

 

By this time next Sunday, I will have started my second marathon.  I have never run Wineglass before but have been to the race twice.  While there are some slight changes to the course this year – and the relay is gone, having been replaced with a half marathon – I am familiar with where I am going to be running.  You can see my photos from the past two years and my thoughts: 2010, 2009, and thoughts on running.

 

The good news is that Wineglass is a local marathon. Many people will think this makes running it easier.  I am thinking it actually makes running it harder.  With my first marathon – a destination marathon of sorts, I got away from home. I had kids who came with me and helped. I didn’t have to worry about the day to day pieces of life as I was not at home.

 

Enter Wineglass. The expo is Friday afternoon/evening and all day Saturday with the race on Sunday. The start is approximately two hours from my home with the busing location about an hour and 15 minutes from home. Friday I have a 6:30 pm dinner meeting so my initial plans of a Friday packet pick up have been pretty much ruled out. Saturday, my son has his SATs in the morning. My other son is home from college for a break and needs to be taken back to Oneonta for a Sunday morning work shift. There is no escaping life with the marathon close to home.

 

Now, on to the goals.  My training has been going well. In August, I ran two half marathons as part of my training plan. These were ten days apart and very different in terrain and topography.  I cut two minutes off my best time with each run. Then, September happened. We had hurricanes and tropical storms influencing our weather. The week of my last 20 miler roads were closed all around me. It was near impossible to get 20 miles in between the missing pieces of highway and the weather.  While I am not as prepared as I wish, I am ready.

 

My A goal is to finish in 5 hours and 30 minutes or less. I can do this but it will be a stretch.

 

My B goal – and probably not a stretch but very realistic – is to finish the marathon in under 6 hours.

 

My C goal – as it is for any race I start – is to finish.

 

I have a plan.  I just have to remember to run to my plan and not get caught up in the race.

1 comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Fitness, Just my Thoughts

13 September 2011

First of the Lasts

By Nicki

On September 12th, four days later than originally thought, the first of many lasts started at my home.  My youngest child started his last year of high school.  Yes, number six is a senior in high school.  Days not consist of reminding him of not only homework but also college applications, job applications and test prep.

 

Unfortunately for number six, this day came later than originally scheduled due to record flooding.  He was scheduled to begin his first day on September 8th when he would have reported for his BOCES placement.  School was closed September 8th and 9th due to road closures and flooding.  Along comes the weekend, receding waters and school begins on Monday.  This must have been very odd for teachers as school in NYS always starts on a Wednesday.

 

While the area is not anywhere near back to normal, a tad bit of normalcy has returned with the start of school. Children have some schedule in their lives.  School is not 100% normal as there are currently no after school activities but that will come also.

 

Good luck to all those students for the new school year!

1 comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Family, Just my Thoughts

12 September 2011

Disillusionment: A Political Commentary

By Nicki

I have been a political junkie since I was young. I stuffed envelopes for my first presidential campaign at the age of 12.  Yes, that qualifies me as a junkie.  Imagine my dismay when I realized that tomorrow is primary day in New York State and the recent flooding had totally put it out of my mind.

 

My immediate question/thought was that I was positive that polling locations had been effected and that the date would have to have been moved.  I remember – in a flash back to 2001 – the primaries were on Sept. 11 and they were postponed statewide a week.  I knew it was a possibility but had I totally spaced on news coverage of this and missed the announcement. No, the announcement – at least for Broome County – was out there but it was not what I thought.

 

Broome County Republican and Democratic leaders appealed to the state board of elections to allow postponement of the primaries but the request was denied as was an appeal to the governor’s office, according to an article in the Press & Sun-Bulletin. A direct quote from the newspaper is “Instead, local elections officials should set up tents and use generators on Tuesday, state elections officials told local leaders.”

 

In two major locales at least half of the polling places were effected by flooding. Add to that the thousands still in Red Cross shelters or staying with relatives or friends. One of this villages, Johnson City, has a lot riding on the local election.  The current mayor and council are considering dissolution of the village.  Who wins the primary can effect what will happen regarding this issue.

 

Broome County is going with the ruling that this primary cannot be postponed. Shuttle buses are being provided to polling locations.  Emergency shelters will be visited by election officials to be sure those wanting to vote get their chance.  The bigger problem is neighboring Tioga County.  The county office building in the county seat Owego was under water and may still have water in it.  It is a building that has flooded previously.  A local news reporter cannot get a phone number that works to find out what is going on with those primaries.

 

The response by state and local official to the natural disaster this area has just experienced has been unbelievably good. I have heard few complaints but the handling, on the state level, of the primaries has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and extremely disillusioned.

 

For those of you able to vote tomorrow, just a reminder – my little PSA – that primary voting in upstate NY is from noon until 9 pm.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Just my Thoughts, Politics

5 September 2011

The Harvest is Plentiful

By Nicki

From an outside window looking in, the big item missing from many food programs is fresh food.  Because of the perishable nature of fresh fruits and vegetables, it is hard to get them in food programs.  Enter an elementary school leadership program and the enterprising teacher who knew a garden could provide many lessons for students.

Molly Goosman approached a local dentist who had some additional property around his office about three or four blocks from the elementary school where she teaches.  She secured some land and then the work and the teaching began.  The plot, now known as Spartan Garden after the school’s mascot, had to be tilled and seeds planted.  Worse, the harvest comes during summer vacation.  Who would be doing the weeding, the watering – and this July was unbelievably dry here locally, and the harvesting?  Enter the school’s leadership club.

Last summer the group painted murals on the walls of the school.  This year the group watered and tended the Spartan Garden.  The beneficiaries of the garden: the district’s food programs M-EALS (M-E Assisting Local Spartans) and the local population in general as the students have held two sale dates so far.

The M-EALS program provides food to local families in need.  An application is available on the school’s web site.  Last year, on average, the program served 60 families a week.  Over the summer, the program was supplemented, once harvest came, by the fruits and vegetables from the Spartan Garden.  On top of that, proceeds from the sales the students held of additional items – zucchini grows plentiful in any garden – helped fund the M-EALS program.

In a world where food production is becoming more big business, students learned to garden and what is provided by such gardening.  The students also learn compassion as they are helping others in the community.  We cannot underestimate the value of education that occurs outside the classroom.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Board of Education, Food and Recipes, Just my Thoughts

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