What Holly sees

Xsenia, Bea's younger daughter

I don't know who, but Holly did, and I like the images (from the first couple of days of SMUG):











Nice series:



Some kind of artist-card stigmata, I'm speculating:

What's Important

"Tests don't prove that learning is happening. Tests don't show whether a child is a nice person who is kind to others. Tests don't help a kid make honest decision for themselves. Tests don't create happy learning." —Jenny Cyphers wrote that on Always Learning


The past few days have been rough online, for me more than others, I guess. There have been a few snarky oddities here and there, plus I'm moderating a list that has several current problem people. It seems I'm spending half my day returning posts or explaining things or agitating over how to soothe a situation. I'm putting more work into returning posts than some of the authors put into writing them in the first place.

This will pass; it always does. There will be boring days and scary days and frustrating days and exciting, happy days.

I have the house to myself for over five days. That's pretty exciting, in a calm way. It's profoundly quiet, though, because Holly is at "SMUG" near Montreal (no computer/internet/phone), and Keith and Marty are beyond phone service at Battlemoor (a medieval event in southern Colorado). Holly will be back on Saturday night after nearly four months away, and Keith and Marty will come back home on Monday.

I do love the Always Learning list, and am grateful for those unschoolers who have helped other for years and years, freely and generously. I breathe and I look at what some of them write (such as Jenny, above) and I remember that the problems are small and the life-changing successes cannot be taken away from us, ever.

"The Best Teen Bible..."

Okay, first of all I didn't know there was "a teen Bible." And this is the one I read when I was a teen, but still... I needed a piece of art for a link on a page, because the old art disappeared. This (the page I will eventually link below, after a couple of worthy tangents) is one of my VERY oldest pages—it used to be on expage.com in the ancient days. And I was using expage art which stuck around for many years, but not this many years.

So I'm using it now, as a link for people to verify my Bible quotes which seem (after the fact of my having already been making and using Thinking Sticks) to sanctify them (or at least to tell some vague story involving two sticks, okay?), and to talk about sticks baked in a cake. Perhaps some ancient Hebrew Twelfth Night cake, or king's cake.... I don't know.

But while I was poking around in the book worshipping land of the King James Bible fanatics, I found a beautiful quote. They didn't mean to provide it as beauty, but that's how it goes. One man's trash-and-proof-of-heresy is another blog writer's treasure:

"Religion won't let you love yourself. Religion is the accuser of the brethren, that's what the devil is. It's legal systems, religious dogmas that say you're not good enough, you're not God enough," he said. "People who believe in hell create it for themselves and others. People who believe in devils and demons become that in consciousness, and they act it out."

Pearson said he firmly believes, as he told his congregation one recent Sunday, "We may go through hell, but nobody goes to hell."

But his current message does not focus on hell, even the hell that humans sometimes create here on earth.

"My hope is that, that people will learn to love themselves, accept themselves and celebrate themselves. That's pretty dramatic, but I think it'll save the planet."

That's the end of an article on an evangelist with a mega church who changed his mind about hell, and the article discussed why and how that happened, and his congregation went from 5,000 to 300.

To credit the art fairly, it was on this site:

There's a countdown to go with this:

155,000 People Die Everyday. . .
Two every second. . .
According to the Lord Jesus Christ, most people die and go to hell.
Sandra Note:That should have been "every day," but the Bible never says God cares about grammar.
And know ye, People of Internet, that Thinking Sticks have nought to do with hell.

Here is what the King James Bible says that seems clearly* to be about Thinking Sticks:

...I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. [part of I Kings 17:12]andThe word of the Lord came again unto me, saying...
take thee one stick, and write upon it...; then take another stick, and write upon it; And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. ... And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. [some of Ezekiel 37:15-20]

* Okay, "clearly" meaning as clearly as any sermon's explanation is ever a clear explanation. And I did leave some words out, but not important words. And you can read them by going here: sandradodd.com/biblicalsticks

Thinking Sticks look like this, but that's not the good part. There is a long insert with history and suggestions and ideas, and then a crucial list of warnings, including "Do not bake in a cake." See above, if you skipped the Word of God part.

click to embiggen

Preparation for Learn Nothing Day (July 24)

One lunar month, 28 days, until Learn Nothing Day.



Perhaps warming up to it would be helpful. Maybe this week people could try going five or ten minutes without learning anything. Next week, maybe half and hour, and so on until the actual event.

Back home, back to business!

One month from today is Learn Nothing Day. "The third time's a charm," they say. They also say "If at first you don't succeed,—try, try again." So wherever you are July 24, whatever you're doing, try not to learn anything. ("They" also say unschoolers won't learn anything. This is the annual attempt to prove that's possible.)

Two months from now I'll be in Sacramento, California, at the HSC Conference, where I'll be giving two talks and three workshops, or three talks and two workshops, or something. When I get there, I'll go where the schedule sends me. Kirby will be there too! August 19 - 22nd, 2010.

In March, I'll be the keynote speaker at the first UZOMA Black Unschoolers Conference in Atlanta. The schedule isn't set, but I think my main talk will be about how changing a life and changing a family changes the world. March 7th - 9th, 2011.


Between those, the much smaller, more informal ACE Festival, in Albuquerque, will be an opportunity for people to meet other unschoolers, and most notably the Daniel family from England—James and Julie and their son Adam. We will have a meet-up at the natural history museum (Adam loves dinosaurs), another day at Explora (hands-on science and children's museum) and a day at my house. February 7-10, 2011.

Slightly nebulous but happening for sure in 2011: I'll be in Pune, India, and in several places in the U.K. (Edinburgh definitely, and maybe France, perhaps). Vague dates, gradually coming clearer: India late January through February-somethingth. U.K. June through some-to-most of July.

Last hours in Maui

So I was too tired to blog the past few days, and having too much fun when I did have energy, so here are some images from the last couple of days, and I'll be in the plane or home by the time most people see them.

Keawala'i Congregational Church

http://www.keawalai.org/index.html

Went to church. Didn't know it would be largely in Hawaian. The building was erected in 1855, and the congregation that erected that church was founded in 1832. More images and some sound later.

The altar had a plain wooden cross with a white lei on it.

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Added on Wednesday, because I was too tired to blog for a couple of days:

Some of the sound of the service. After some piano, people sing the doxology in Hawaiian. I found these words online; I can check them against the program or hymnal later if that seems important to

anyone: Ho'onani ka makua mau ke keiki me ka 'uhane no ke akua mau ho'omaika'i pu ko keia ao, ko kela ao 'Amene.