In Search of Art
Over the weekend, a friend of mine sent me a link to this article: "For Senior, abortion a medium for art, political discourse." (Now there are all kinds of news stories saying it’s "creative fiction." For the record, the "artist" still says it’s real.) The short and not sweet version of it is basically this: some messed up chick inseminated herself multiple times over a 9 month period, then induced abortion, and took video and pictures of herself doing so in the name of art. (You should know that she’s referring to these multiple incidents as "miscarriages." FYI to the art student, it’s only a "miscarriage" if it’s a natural occurrence. It’s called abortion when you do it to yourself and want it to happen.) That’s right people; she’s displaying everything from the videos to the blood. She decided to run her body through multiple induced miscarriages/abortions to "spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body." Here’s some conversation for you on that.
I am absolutely aghast about this. What professor approves such a reckless and disgusting project? What kind of person thinks this is a good idea? This is one project that carries the whole, "my mind, my body, my choice" thing a bit too far. This type of "project" should not be an option or a choice. It’s just plain sick.
This misguided and obviously in-need-of-help individual thought she was making art, when in fact she was starting human lives and disposing of them so that she could create what she deems to be "art." What’s next? Let’s shoot people and take pictures of the aftermath to spark conversation about violence?
If she wants to do things to her own body, fine; but when she decided to use potential human lives as toys in her stupid little game, she crossed the line. I’d also like to know more about this so-called self insemination. What does that mean exactly? She had sex with random people? She went to a fertility clinic and was inseminated there? If that’s the case, I’d like to know which idiots continued to inseminate this obviously disturbed woman. When I think about all the people I know who desperately want to add to their family and can’t, it makes me even more sick. Recently there have been some seriously disturbing displays of art, but this little abortion project is the absolute worst.
Another blogger recently posted a link to pictures of dead people that was also being called "art." Readers of her blog posted hundreds of comments talking about the "beauty" of these pictures and stating that anyone who doesn’t like them can’t deal with their own mortality. Maybe I’m guilty of that, because I thought the pictures were disturbing and anything but art. But what I’d really like to know is this: when did "art" stop being Monet and Picasso and start becoming a must-push-the-limits toying with human lives and subsequent death?
If these displays are "art," then I can do without. Paint brush anyone?
We’ve Got it ALL Wrong
When I was a high school English teacher, my students spent an entire week of our Julius Caesar unit decorating the classroom to look like ancient Rome. While many students in the other sections of 10th grade were busy working on study guides, my students were studying architecture and erecting carpet rolls into pillars, drawing replicas of the statues and art seen at that time that were hung up around my classroom and preparing to become ancient Romans. On one of these days, a principal was walking the halls and noticed that the entrance to my room now had pillars as seen in all the Caesar movies. He walked in and was shocked to find that he had been transported back to ancient Rome.
My students didn’t sit at their desks for that unit and take turns reading lines. Instead they requested parts and stood in the front of the classroom and acted the play out. It was a play after all, meant to be acted out, not read like a newspaper. I can pretty much guarantee you that my students had a much better understanding of Julius Caesar and what actually happened than the students who sat in other classrooms filling out 18 pages of study guide while they tried to read the play independently.
During my second year of teaching, the English teachers and administration decided that students should have 10-15 minutes of SSR (Silent Sustained Reading) in our classrooms. I was all for it. I knew that many of my students didn’t pick up a book outside of the classroom and I was happy that we were told to give them that time to read. Each quarter they created a cool project based on something they read. Some of my students crafted tattered looking journals of what it might be like to live on a deserted island. Others made fashion portfolios of what the styles might have been during the time period they were reading about. It was a great way to get others interested in the books and the students really seemed to enjoy sharing what they had read and learned.
Half way through the year, the administration changed their mind, and told us that we should instead use 10-15 minutes a day drilling out students with multiple choice questions as seen on the state tests. A veteran teacher and I spoke up. We told the administration that all the research out there says that teaching to the test teaches nothing but how to take that test. No real learning takes place. The research also states that students who are exposed to active learning, who aren’t forced to take standardized type test after standardized tests, actually do better on standardized tests overall. It didn’t matter. Despite a Master’s degree and many hours of classes that said otherwise, we were overruled. That was my last year of teaching.
Since I left the world of education, it’s only gotten worse. I have several friends who are still teaching in classrooms and the emphasis on testing, testing, testing, is stronger now than it ever was. Today I read an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal about students in Finland. The Finns are kicking our butts. I read the article with great interest and there are several things that stand out as much different from the classrooms of today.
First, the Finns don’t start going to school until they are over the age of seven (To all those who have silently shaken their head at me for not putting my kids in preschool or Big I in full day Kindergarten, read that line again). They rarely have more than a half hour of homework per night. They don’t have clubs, honor societies, sports or tracked classes, and there is little or no standardized testing. Despite the fact that their teachers have the freedom to come up with their own materials and choose the books and materials for their classrooms, the students score higher than every other country in the world in science. In math, they’re number two, coming in a point behind Taiwan. In reading, they score only slightly less than South Korea, also coming in second. In Finland, teachers are trusted to do what’s right for their students and they’re obviously doing it.
When people from other countries go to observe their classrooms, they find simple chalkboards, not technologically laden classrooms, an environment where the more advanced students are helping the slower students, highly educated teachers, and kids who take responsibility for their own learning and actions.
I can’t tell you how many times I had parents calling me to make excuses for their kids on why they couldn’t complete their homework or show up after school for extra help. Only about 30% of my students completed their homework each night. The other 70% didn’t want to take responsibility for their learning. These were the same students who came groveling to me the week before report cards came out asking if they could still turn in those 10 assignments that never got finished. I had parents and coaches who came lobbying for these special privileges as well. For the record, I never caved in. The Finns don’t seem to have these problems.
When they come here for student exchanges though, they are often asked to repeat the year upon returning. In the article, one student who spent a year in the states said that all her tests were multiple choice, a project consisted of spending an hour gluing a poster and most kids didn’t complete their homework. So why do teachers do these types of things when they obviously aren’t working for the students here?
Education administration is so ridiculously top-heavy. While there are plenty of good administrative people, there are plenty of people who sit at the top collecting top dollar salaries and dictating to teachers what’s best for their students when they haven’t stepped foot in a classroom in a decade. Administration and government need to get out of the classrooms and let the teachers do their jobs. Given the time and materials and freedom to do so, I think most teachers would choose to forgo the multiple choice tests that administration dictates are necessary and create more active learning environments where true learning takes place. There’s a reason why even my Special Education students had a better comprehension of Shakespeare than some of the other kids from classrooms where they just sat and read Caesar. I didn’t do anything in that unit that translated to state tests, but the learning was apparent.
While educators from around the world are studying how the Finns are getting it done, I think they should be looking in both the classroom and beyond. It’s not just how teachers are teaching in the classroom. It’s also the home life that matters. The truth is that there are a great many parents who are not involved enough in their children’s lives here. We have students who don’t take responsibility for their actions or education. We have a society full of people who don’t see the importance of learning for the sake of learning. This is something that has to change, and the first place it has to happen in order for us to compete with the rest of the world is in the home.
***Speaking of "education," Monday begins Admired Martial Artists Month here at BBM. I’m SO excited for Monday. The articles are rolling in from our esteemed list of contributors and I think you’re going to REALLY enjoy reading what they have to say! Grab the button and help spread the word! Thanks to Becky for all the great buttons!!!
How to Make a Head McExplode Part II
I dropped Big I off at a play date yesterday and there was no way I was getting Lil C out of that house quietly without some serious bribery. When you are wearing a leg brace, it’s just not worth it to cause a temper tantrum. I’m wisely choosing my battles. So, I promised her a happy meal from McDonald’s and she was more than happy to leave with me like a little angel.
We went to the drive-thru. I ordered a meal for me that cost $4.98 and a happy meal for Lil C. There was a sign up that said, "Order any extra-value meal and get a happy meal for $.99". Perfect. So, my total before tax should have been $5.97. I couldn’t hear my total through the speaker, and their display monitor wasn’t working properly. I should have seen trouble coming right then and there.
When I pulled up to the window, the woman reached for my credit card and said my total was $9.54. WHAT?
I politely told her that the amount was incorrect. She didn’t even allow me to finish my statement before she started barking at me (as if I’d just called her a horrendous name or something) that "I don’t punch in the orders; I just take the money. If it says it’s $9-something, then that’s what it is."
Now I’m annoyed, and my head is about to mcexplode. This happens at McDonald’s a lot.
"Well actually, that’s not what it is. My meal costs $4.98 and the happy meal is $.99. That equals $5.97, nowhere near $9 and I’m not paying $9." I considered asking her to add it up in her head but realized that this was probably an unrealistic request considering my treatment thus far. I did the work for her and still. . .
"Well, that’s what it says," she barks back at me.
"Well, then you’re going to need to go find someone who knows how to fix it and work the cash register because I’m not giving you my credit card until you do." I contemplated driving away, but there was Lil C to consider and also the principle of the matter.
She then proceeds to bark at me that "I can’t see the breakdown until I charge you and print out the receipt.
"Well, then you’re going to need to find someone who can," I tell her, "because that’s just going to make extra work for both of us-you over-charging me, and me having to get you to take the charge off when this is already proving difficult enough for you."
"Well I didn’t do it!" she yells at me.
"I didn’t say you did," I said back to her calmly. "I just told you that the total is not correct and asked you politely to please fix it. If you can’t do that, then kindly find someone who can and will. I’m not going to be overcharged $3."
Maybe money grows on trees (or by overcharging customers) for McDonald’s, but I work hard for mine. Meanwhile, the cars are lining up behind me.
She slams the window and leaves the area in a huff. My blood was boiling on the inside. I believe I started breathing as if trying to get through a bad labor contraction. She comes back, punches a couple things into the cash register and amazingly enough, my charge is reduced by $3. Amazing. It turns out those cash registers can take charges off. Who would have ever thought they could do such an incredible thing???? They seem to just need a willing human being to work them.
I hand her my credit card and she hands me back my receipt. It’s only as I’m driving away that I see that she actually charged me ten cents more than she should have for the happy meal. I didn’t go back.
It’s just not worth it. I think we’re done at McDonald’s. My blood pressure will thank me, and so will our arteries.
So NOT Cool
This is "light mix turning into rain by rush hour":
The roads are covered with snow. Roads are closed due to accidents. It will probably take Mr. BBM three hours to get home. I almost fell on my butt when I had to retrieve Big I from school because I can’t fit boots over my stupid immobilizing brace and it was slippery out there. It’s rush hour and the snow is coming down like crazy. So not COOL!
Oh, almost forgot to mention that when I got in the car to go get Big I, I attempted to clear off the windows without having to walk around with the scraper. I lowered the windows, but the stupid automatic thing on my driver side window brought the window the entire way down which brought a big old pile of snow right into my lap. Also NOT cool. Actually quite cool as my heated seat quickly melted the snow onto my pants. GRR.
Here’s another thing that’s not cool. This is my leg:
I stood in front of the mirror the other day in my underwear and could not believe the difference in my legs. The difference is just ridiculous. It’s not at all unlike that chicken leg. I think it’s a cruel joke for women who have ACL surgery. As women, we always carry more weight on the upper thigh/butt area. If ACL surgery is going to take away my muscle, at the VERY LEAST, it could also take away some of the upper thigh/butt area. Just call me KFC BBM because that’s what I look like. It is so not fair, and SO NOT COOL!
Here’s yet one more thing that’s not cool. Mr. BBM and I bought our new exercise bike primarily for me and my rehabilitation. On the first night we had it, I was already hurting from PT so I didn’t take a turn on the bike. Mr. BBM spent the whole evening on the thing.
The next day, I went to ride the bike before my shower. The seat was so insanely high that I could barely get on the thing. Once I did, it only took a second to realize I was NEVER going to be able to make this work. I jumped off the bike onto my good leg and tried to adjust the seat.
SWEAT.
FRUSTRATION.
SCREAMING.
SWEARING.
And a phone call. . . Mr. BBM answers his work phone.
"What the hell are you trying to prove? (Mr. BBM tries to inquire why I’m so upset but I continue. . .) No seriously, what are you trying to prove? I just spent the past 10 minutes trying to adjust the seat that SOMEONE screwed on so ridiculously tight that I will NEVER be able to move it. I can’t ride the bike, and who did we buy this bike for? Me, right? ME! It’s just like when you screw the cap on the bottle of soda too tight that I can’t open it. Are you trying to prevent me from drinking soda? Are you trying to prevent me from riding the bike? Just as you show common courtesty in lowering the toilet seat, do a girl a favor and lower the bike seat when you’re done, especially if you are going to be intent on proving you are Hercules."
So
NOT
COOL!
If it Looks like a Rat. . .
For a moment, imagine you are a model. You’ve always taken good care to make sure you accept projects that are respectable. You don’t want your image tarnished because you have a husband, children and even elementary students since your day job is as a graduate student in elementary education.
You accept a job modeling a necklace. You go to the shoot, and film several different scenarios. They’re all family friendly and potentially humorous. At the end of the shoot, while wearing a silky lingerie camisole and necklace, you’re asked to lay down on the red satin sheets and writhe around a bit as if you’re a-hem, enjoying something.
When the ad comes out, the only thing you see is yourself writhing around on the sheets, looking "happy." All that funny family-friendly footage is gone. This is what remains. If you can’t see the video, go here for the video direct from you tube. (This is totally not work safe unless you watch it on mute. I wouldn’t watch it around your children either unless you plan on having a lengthy discussion that you might not yet be ready to have):
Need a minute? Understandable. . .
(Twiddling thumbs). . . ready now?
So, you do what any scorned American would do, right? You sue the company for portraying you in such a manner and expect to get $5 million out of it.
If I didn’t know better, I would think that this entire thing (commercial and lawsuit) is a publicity stunt pulled by Szul.com and the model to gain "buzz" about their ad campaign and to get their name out there. I’m sorry, but I just can’t imagine someone being stupid enough to think that footage like this wouldn’t be used if you allow it to be filmed. We live in America where sex sells. Let’s see, humorous commercial featuring a necklace, or one with a woman writhing around on a bed? I’m putting my money on the bed images to get more attention. How about you?
This isn’t some young, naive girl either. She’s a grown woman, in her 30’s with a family and a career other than modeling. If she’s been in the business for so long, then why couldn’t she spot a bad situation. If I’m a model and I go to film a funny commercial and someone asks me to put on lingerie and writhe around on satin sheets, I think I’m probably going to sense that there is a serious problem and get myself out of there. If she was so concerned about not tarnishing her "wholesome" image, then why did she agree to do this anyway? It’s not like someone stood there with a gun and made her do what she did.
Congratulations to Szul.com for finding a way to get their previously unknown name out there in ways they could not ever have imagined. There’s nothing like another frivolous lawsuit to get the attention of the entire country and beyond.
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