Essays

            I just returned from Occupy Oakland in downtown. What can I say? It is not immediately inspiring. Not clean. A bit muddy. Lots of straggly dressed youth mixed with older street people, radicals, liberals, anarchist kids with black rags covering their faces flying black flags. But there is order in the chaos. There is an excitement in the people there who are building community. (Remember that thing that we used to think we were a part of and then gave up on it when everything didn’t go the way we wanted.)           

Below is the intermittent live feed from BP's own rover camera over the leak. It's horrifying. Once it starts to move you can double click for a full screen view.Today, June 13, the image is almost completely black except for a couple of white lights.  That's oil you are looking at.  A few days ago you could see the blowout "preventer" now the image shows just a swirl of black.  Occaisonally the robot moves around and you can see the pinchers opening and closing and the camera operator changes the angle and enlargement. You can visit the compilation of 12 different seafloor feeds at the following addresses.  The BP media player seems to work on more platforms the .gov website compiles them all together.

About a year ago I joined this group called the Laundry List. Laundry List advocates for people hanging out their laundry. I dig it big time. There are some amazing stats on what would happen if everyone stopped using their drying machines. There would be some serious immediate reductions of greenhouse emissions if everyone took up this habit…along with the personal sense of well-being that comes with spending quality time with your laundry and the great outdoors (indoor hanging and using racks can be satisfying too).

I’ve been trying to look into people’s faces lately while remembering that everyone has a history. Everyone is in this same huge ship called humanity. I’m an elementary school teacher, and the blessed summer has given me time to reflect, something I often neglect in the rush and pressure of the school year. Tomorrow I return to school with the kids and I want to remember this reflection when I look at them and their parents. I want to take the time to hear them and let them be heard by others in my class. I