Things I'm Doing Right Now!

I'm taking two classes at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). A Geography class: Native Americans in the U.S. and Canada and a Women's Studies class: Native American Women and Indigenous Issues. They are both 3000 level classes, which makes me feel smart. The level of class I take as an indicator of intelligence is pretty superficial, and may or may not be indicative or anything. However, I think that is the mindset our culture operates within: that every stage and level of learning must be quantifiable, easily classifiable, easily compartmentalized, segregated somehow from the real world. To some extent as well, I see myself falling into some of the old habits I had in school. Measuring myself by the grades someone gives me on a test of their design on a topic for which they spent at least six years studying easily quantifiable, classifiable, compartmentalized texts and classes for. I studiously ignore things that are going on around me in lieu of reading, rereading, taking notes, and quizzing myself over texts. I think the worst habit of all is constantly comparing myself to the other students in my classes: are they more well-informed than I am, do they answer more questions, come up with thoughtful questions that provoke discussion, do they have better grades than I do, I even wonder about how much better looking they are. That being said, I do feel like I'm learning some things in the class. I know, especially in the geography class, that much of what I learn will be forgotten in the course of a couple years, but I'm really pleased with the women's studies class. I like my professor, I like a lot of the discussion, I enjoy reading (but don't necessarily like) the book we're working in, and I like the assignments thus far. Whether or not these classes are an experience that will help me move forward is, I think, debatable, but it was an experience I wanted to try, and I'm going to stick with it until this semester is over.

I'm taking a yoga class once a week. I don't exactly clear my mind, and I definitely do not go into a meditative state, but it is relaxing, it's good exercise, and I'm a lot more flexible than when I started last September!

I take choir at the local, public high school. Not sure how I feel about this. Some good things have come of choir: I take voice lessons from the choir instructor once a week. Sometimes we work on piano pieces as well, but lately we are preparing my song (Se Tu Mami) for the Solo & Ensemble Competition. Kids from this county (and possibly surrounding counties?) prepares songs, perform them in front of judges, and get a rating on a scale of 1-5 and constructive criticism on their performance. I also auditioned for District Honors Choir. High school students from surrounding areas send in an audition tape of themselves singing scales and "My Country Tis of Thee," and are then accepted (or not) into a choir that has two rehearsals and then a big performance at a nice theatre.
Otherwise, this experience mainly reinforces my opinion that schools do not foster growth or learning, but instead teach our youth how to obey authority, that young people are dumb, and adults know everything. Also provides me with lots of examples to illustrate this point to other people. Example: Middle School Principal screaming at a young boy that it is January, the fact that he has not done whatever it was he didn't do is unacceptable, and he just needs to get his act together. Boy trembles and runs away to do whatever it is he's been told to do. Did I mention she did this during lunch hour with all the other students around? Or that she was standing right next to a sign that proclaims this school is a "no bully zone"?

Solo & Ensemble, District Honors Choir

The blacksmithing class at the Toledo Museum of Art starts up again soon! I took some classes last fall, and have been dying to take more. I want to make some stools and a coffee table. Possibly put some patina on the candelabra I made last fall. Possibly not. I'm pretty content with it the way it is. I will post pictures of my projects sometime soon.

I go for a walk everyday. Not a really long walk, just 1 1/3 miles.
Sometimes on these walks I stop at my Grandmother's house and practice piano or help her out. For a little while I was working A LOT with her around the house and she was paying me. Now I am mostly doing little things.
Sometimes on these walks I also stop at an elderly woman's house whose lawn I mowed last summer. I never met her, she or her husband would just drop the payment off at my dad's place of work the next day. Then her husband died this past December, and I started stopping by to spend time with her. Chat. Occasionally help with household chores. Bring her yummy food that my Grandmother, my Mother, and/or I make. She is an incredibly sweet lady, and I cannot even begin to fathom what it must be like to be suddenly alone after being married (and never spending more than a day apart) to someone for over 52 years.

I'm taking care of all the small, domesticated animals that have taken up residence in my house, in the cat shed, in the barn, and in the old chicken coop! Hermann (kitten), Stuckwell (kitten), Milo (cat), Sunny (dog) live with my Mom and me in the house. B.B. and Snowball (cats) usually hang out in the shed. Sprinkle, Whiskers, Wheezy, and Mama Cat (cats) cuddle together on the heated pet pad in the old chicken coop. Spottie and an anonymous stray (cats) live underneath the floorboards in the barn. I think I've learned more taking care of these cats than I could ever learn in a class on veterinary care. I learned how to administer Feline Aids and Leukemia Vaccines on my own. Now instead of catching all of the cats and taking them to the vet (not pleasant), I pick up the shots and vaccines, bring them home, and administer them while the cats eat in the morning (pleasant). I've learned how to treat a plethora of cat illnesses, as well as infected cat bites, and I learned quickly the importance of scooping poop every day. Not every other day. Not a good experience. I also want to experiment with making my own kitty litter from biodegradable materials, so I can throw the poo in the compost, rather than in the trash bin.

I'm organizing and rearranging my house, with the help of my Mother. We have made SO much progress since this time last year. There used to be rooms that were beginning to look like those ones you see on hoarding shows on television. I'm proud to say that those rooms are no more! Our house is well on the way to becoming an extremely pleasant place to live. There is still much that needs to be done, and it is sometimes very stressful, but there is a very noticeable difference from just a few months ago.

I have a Netflix subscription. I watch a lot of documentaries and foreign films. I think it would be cool to make one of my classes on my annual portfolio/transcript/thing, "Feminism in Iranian Film." I've watched only three or so such movies so far, but it seems Netflix has pretty close to a never ending supply. We also got a Roku box. This enables us to instantly stream DVDS. Pretty neat!

I have a lot of subscriptions to online forums, newsletters, and updates (Mother Earth News, Submedia.tv, Ms. Magazine, The Adventures of Urban Scout, Unschoolers Network Ohio, Unschooling Basics, Always Learning, Web MD fitness updates, Global Sister, Crooked Brains, Democracy Now!). I love reading all of the discussions about whole life unschooling and I like getting news updates from Democracy Now!. And I love,love,love,love,love the occasional videos I get from Submedia. There's a show called "It's the End of the World as We Know it, and I Feel Fine." Every time I get one in my mailbox, I die a little bit from having unhealthy levels of happiness.

I read lots of books. Derrick Jensen is my favorite author. I also have a big row of books on my desk (supported by book ends I made myself) that I want to read. They are mostly about anti-civilization, anti-colonialism, feminism, animism, permaculture, and then a few novels by Vonnegut and J.D. Salinger.

I'm eating healthfully! I've made a lot of lifestyle changes in the past few months. I exercise daily, cut back on the baked goods, improved my posture, drink more water, and eat more fruits/veggies. I'm not thinking of this as a diet, but as a change in lifestyle. I have, however, lost 12 lbs. Over the holiday season, by the way.

I'm looking into travel and volunteer opportunities I have for after school ends this year and continued into next year (as an alternative to resuming classes! yay!). It might be cool to do some WWOOF-ing (world wide opportunities on organic farms), visit some intentional communities, and visit some family. In August, I plan on attending the East Tennessee Unschool Summer Camp. I just found an Unschool Adventures writing retreat for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November in Durango, Colorado. I haven't filled out an application, but I am interested. I also just found out about Zero Tuition College and the Zero Tuition College Pilot Program. People aged 16-23 commit themselves to the program for eight months to see what kind of accomplishments they can achieve not going to college or not going back to college. I've been too nervous to send an email expressing my interest thus far. I'll be working on this in the next couple of days.