Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Learning About Life in Catholic School
So…. today I get an email from my high school alumni group and decide to take a few minutes to poke around the St. Blabla site
www.freedigitalphotos.net Image: Carlos Porto
to see how things have progressed in the umpteen years since I attended.
To my dismay, but not to my surprise, NOTHING seems to have changed. But the stand-out is the dress code, emblematic of all that was 1965, with the possible exception of the mention of “multiple piercings.”
My favorite line: “Judgement (sic) concerning the appropriateness of any student’s attire rests with the administration.”
Such is, and was, the life of the teenage girl who attends(ed) this school.
Now I ask: If “judgement concerning the appropriateness of any student’s attire rests with the administration” how and when do students develop their own judgment concerning appropriate attire?
This, in a nutshell, was my experience attending a Catholic girl’s high school. “No need to think for yourselves. We’ll do it for you!”
Below, if you are curious, is part of the CURRENT dress code, which, if memory serves me, is identical to the 1960′s.
“Students are required to adhere to the following dress code:
* Uniform skirt or uniform pants (when Permitted)
* Skirts are to be a presentable length for school. They may not be rolled up at the waist.
* The School shoes must be worn at all times-either the loafer or lace shoe, whichever you choose.
* Dark stockings are required; black, charcoal gray, navy tights or dark knee socks must be worn. Fish net and patterned stockings are not permitted. Students are to arrive, remain, and leave in the school uniform/dress code.On days that uniforms are not required, it is expected that each student will select attire which will not call attention to her in a negative way. Judgement concerning the appropriateness of any student’s attire rests with the administration.
Students may not have visible body piercing (e.g. eyebrow, lips, nose, tongue, etc.) except for earrings, and no more than 2 pair of earrings may be worn at school (these earrings should be small in size.) No headwear is permitted in class. Only one neck-chain may be worn-and one ring on each hand.”
Is this still the way to go?
Do you think this teaches anything?
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Recycle Your Old Shoes-Unless They Add Chocolate, This Can’t Get Any Better
Here’s a great way to clear out some closet space with a clear conscience, do a good deed and get a receipt for your income taxes in the process.
You all have them. Those several pairs of shoes you never wear… but can’t bring yourself to throw out?
The fashion faux pas shoes. The gee-when-did-my-feet-grow shoes? And those cool cross-trainers that gave you dime-sized blisters both times you wore them.
New shoes. (Courtesy of soles4souls.org)
Some of the shoes Soles4Souls.org has collected went to tsunami survivors and to those who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina. Others go to the homeless, or to shelters for battered women, or to hospitals. Way better then going to waste in the landfill.
And Soles4Souls will happily accept not just your shoes, but the gently-used shoes and boots your toddlers have outgrown, your teenager will no longer leave the house in, or that just plain hurt your husband’s feet.
Click here for your closest Soles4Souls drop-box location.
Quick, easy, painless sustainability and recycling. By my reckoning, unless you add chocolate to this deal, it just doesn’t get any better.
See an earlier, related post on sustainability.
And then do a good deed for your shoe-aholic friends by passing this post onto them.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
So…What’s on Your Bucket List?
You know … that list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”?
It helps to take them out of the closet first.
Okay… I’ll start, but then let’s hear from you lurkers out there on this one… share some of the top items on YOUR bucket list. ( You know who you are!)
Here goes:
(I note a common thread of travel through these, which does not surprise me in the least.)
1. Visit the towns my father walked through as an infantryman during World War II- they would be France, Germany, Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia. ( Happy Birthday, Dad. He would have been 85 today!)
2. Meet all my great grandchildren.
3. Go to each of the 18 states I’ve not been to…yet. (I could cheat and make the list shorter, but just an airport doesn’t count.) Michigan, North Carolina, Colorado, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Oklahoma ,Utah, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.
4. Own, and know how to competently use, a kayak. ( NOTE: This does NOT imply there will be any white water rafting. This means quiet water kayaking.)
5. Research the rest of my family tree.
6. Knit just one sweater that really looks great on me…. and that I LOVE to wear.
7. See the Northern Lights.
8. Master watercolors. Ok, maybe master is a bit strong, but at least use them occasionally? And taking them out of the closet is a good first step, don’t you think?
Okay lurkers … your turn. It’s simple… Just click on the word “comment” below.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Redefining “Community Gardening”, the New Jersey way
We started planting our first-ever plot in our town’s community garden today.
What could be better? 
Great exercise, fresh air and fun visiting with all the other eager, new gardeners on this, the first day planting was “permitted.”
Much to my surprise, it turned out that of the six other gardeners we encountered, four were also newbies.
As I “played in the mud” and mentally planned how to fit in all the sun-loving herbs, tomatoes, tomatillos and sunflowers we can’t grow in our shady yard, I couldn’t help but wonder just why so many of these much-coveted, 10′ x 12′, already roto-tilled, mini-farms were suddenly available this year.
As we finished our third hour of working (3 x 2=6 hours*), one of the more experienced gardeners showed up and regaled the newbies with this story: Late last growing season a woman who was NOT a participant, arrived at the garden with a basket on her arm and began happily picking tomatoes. “My son told me it was OK because this is a community garden, ” she said.
And so, the adventure begins.
As the old Irish saying goes , “May the rain fall softly on your fields and the wind be always at your back”…
*Just for the fun of it, I’m counting the person-hours we invest. (I’m afraid to add up the cost!) We’re now at 10, including the garden committee meeting, shopping for plants, seed, fertilizer and the chicken wire to keep the rabbits out, setting up the fence (an engineering feat for two non-engineers) and then finally, actually planting some seedlings.)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
“Playing for Change” Releases CD/DVD
I was first moved to write about Playing for Change, Mark Johnson’s peace-through-music organization, last year.
Today, Playing for Change, “a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music” released a CD/DVD, “Songs Around the World”.
“The album demonstrates that regardless of our religion, race, gender, or political views we can unite through music.”
And despite the fact that I am on self-imposed knitting supplies- shoe- handbag etc.- purchasing probation, I am planning to purchase a CD for myself and a few more for gifts so I can support this international peace work of building schools to teach music.
(Click here to listen to preview.)
Let me know what you think, and if you decide to buy one, via the comments below.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
This will make you smile
What an idea. Peace through music. We are all one.
Watch this clip. It just might restore some of your faith in humanity.
If it was up to me, I’d nominate Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls for the Nobel Peace Prize based just on the little bit I’ve seen of what looks to be an AMAZING 75-minute movie “Playing for Change: Peace Through Music” and for the music education foundation Playing for Change, that grew out of the ten-year production saga.
“It isn’t really a documentary as much as a global concert film, recorded on the streets of New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, Tibet and elsewhere, as the filmmakers (Johnson being an award-winning engineer and producer) traveled across the globe, finding musicians to record tracks on versions of “Stand By Me” and Bob Marley’s “One World” without any of the individual musicians ever having met each other. The purpose of the project, which led to the formation of a foundation to help impoverished people in the areas visited, is to show how music brings people together regardless of their cultural differences.”
Read more about their fine, uplifting work here.
