The Sweet Up and Down

Cameran really seems to enjoy his new school. He had to move from Sunflower in the southwest part of town to Sunset Hill in the central part because I have residential custody of him. When we actually move into the new house, we'll be closer to school and I plan to walk him there instead of drive so that may be an adventure.

He went to Sunflower for one day before they ordered him out and to Sunset. So while Cameran had to get readjusted, he seemed to do it rather quickly, which I knew he would because he's had to readjust a lot in his short life and kids that age are so resiliant. Oh to be six again.

I'm debating on whether I should volunteer for stuff since I am closer to the school but I don't know. I think I'll wait and see what all they have coming up and see what peaks my interest. I went to parent's night about a week ago and they had a sign-up sheet for all the stuff that's coming up and if you are going to bring anything or volunteer. I'm sorry but I don't want to commit myself to something that's not happening until November. I want to be involved but my laziness tends to try to override anything I try to do. And that's fine for some things but I sometimes feel bad for working and sleeping all day.

I know that if I volunteer there's no way in hell I'm gonna get my name on the marquee sign as Volunteer of the Month but maybe there's a kind of "We Got 'Im" honorable mention or something that's more my speed. I have plenty of time to figure out what to do.

This is just a sample of what I have done. Before, I created a city named Mason City and it grew from a small town consisting of three pieces of paper to a sprawling city of about 40 pieces of paper. It was something I was proud of but, sadly, I had to throw it away because of liquid damage and other problems. I kind of wish I would've kept it as a reminder or even just to show it off. I tried to redo the damaged parts but the paper grew weaker and started to tear easily. Below is a small map of Mason City to give you an idea of what it looked like. Just imagine it spread over several feet of paper.


I love drawing maps and have for years. People have said I should be a cartographer or a city engineer but you really need to be good at math for both of those jobs and I want to stay as far away from using math at work as possible. The map below is of a town I had a dream about. The town bordered a man-made lake and the road winded around the lake and limestone bluffs. The imposing view of a factory interrupted the rural horizon. I didn't get too far into the dream until I woke up but the dream has always kind of creeped me out. Whenever I'm near a lake I drive around trying to find anything reminiscent of the dream I had.


I have always been fascinated with maps as anyone should be able to tell you. I don't know why, maybe it fits in with my fascination on street names. My fascination with maps doesn't just extend to city and county maps. Back in 7th grade, a friend and I created our own island nation: Shmand. I don't remember how we came up with the names but I was the one to develop the surrounding island provinces. I have no idea where he came up with the name Shmand but the name stuck.


As far as I could tell, Shmand was located in the Caribbean but when I actually drew the map and gave it a history, I moved it to the South Pacific, near Antarctica. I consider Shmand a crowning achievement of originality, even though you could say I stole the basis of the idea from someone else. It could also be considered the pinnacle of my dorkiness, of which I am very proud.



~Brian

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If I ever became a teacher I would want to teach third grade. I figure that's the age where they can still be silly and it's cute but they're smart enough not to need someone to hold their hand. I actually enjoyed third grade the most but Kindergarten and fifth grade were pretty cool. No offense to the other grades but those three grades were just a little bit better for one reason or another.

Anyway, I went to school with Cameran today just to observe and see what goes on in a Kindergarten class these days. Since it was Lawrence's short day, it was a pretty simple morning. We all went to library, read The Hat by Jan Brett about a hedgehog who gets a stocking stuck to his prickles. Then the kids acted out the book in a pseudo-quasi play. They all picked out new library books, Cameran got The Hallo-Weinie by Dav Pilkey. Back in class, the kids did a matching rhyming game then cut out paper and matched a rhyme with the main picture then they all got ready for gym.

The gym teacher actually taught gym when I was in fifth grade at Sunflower back in 1994-95 so I'm sure that made him feel old. The kids played some game where these plastic tubes were in a "bank" and you had to steal them. If you were tagged you went to prison and could only be rescued if a teammate pulled you out. Sadly, the game had a moral: all of the kids focused on protecting and stealing the tubes that a lot of teammates were in prison but how can you protect and steal the tubes if all of your friends are in prison? Deep, deep thoughts.

I've never really wanted to be a teacher although I've always thought they should get paid a lot more, schools should be given a lot more money and our entire education system needs an overhaul. In a perfect world, college would only be needed if you were going into a specialized field (medical, law, engineering) and everything else could be learned in public school but sadly, we feel that George Clooney and Tom Brady are more important and worth more than our own children and their future.

Gotta love our priorities as a society.

Until next time, I remain...
~Brian

 My son, Cameran, is learning about bullying in school because apparently it's mandated by the Senate or something like that. Kansas Senate Bill 68 requires district school boards to adopt policies prohibiting bullying on school property, in a school vehicle or at a school-sponsored activity. This bill also requires each school district to adopt and implement a strategic plan to address bullying, including provisions for training and educating staff and students. That's fine. Wish they had something like that when I was in school. But look at where my bullies are now: dead! I was talking with Cameran about it and he had a simple solution to the bullying problem. Kick them in the balls and use a knife to cut them off. They won't be bullying anyone again. I don't know where he got it but you have to admit that they wouldn't be bullying anyone after that. ~Brian

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