Joe Mills

Getting Angry

I know I’ve sort of lost the original intention of this blog by posting things that fall in the realm of “social commentary”. I’m hoping to get back to the inspiration part of this blog soon, but I guess a lot of the things I’ve posted recently have just been on my mind and I think important. Just an FYI…

A lot has been talked about recently on the press conference given by Mike Gundy. Some people have given him a hard time because he “lost control” or “went on a tirade” or “went ballistic”. What’s wrong with that? He was passionate about what he said. Not enough people get angry about the right things any more. You are more likely to see people get angry at the McDonald’s employee for screwing up their order than they are about real issues. I’m not perfect when it comes to this but we have lost passion in this country. We are willing to be alright with status quo and be “flexible” instead of seeing what is wrong with what we see and speaking up about it. Challenging people.

A lot of what the media reports on nowadays is mostly watered down, irrelevant garbage. The “problems” they discuss should not even be reported on. (Brittney is losing her children! O.J. robbed somebody! Angelina isn’t eating!) The news should do a better job of presenting real issues that impact real people. But when it happens, what do they do? Mike Gundy gets made fun of and vilified for speaking his mind about a REAL issue. He wasn’t just trying to be some crazy coach trying to get the attention of the country…he was mad about something and he wanted to make sure that his voice was heard. He cared about it and he wanted to make sure that the reporter who wrote the story understood that he felt she was wrong. That is not to be made fun of…that is to be celebrated.

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5 Pointz Live!

I was in New York City over the weekend and I’m so glad I got a chance to see 5 Pointz in Queens. I posted about it before, but now I have seen it in the flesh. It truly is amazing. I did not realize how big the entire stucture is. And, it seems like every single inch of the building has grafitti on it. I did a grafitti unit with my students last year, so I’m looking forward to showing them the pictures I took of the building. If you are interested in grafitti at all, I would strongly recommend seeing this if you are in New York.

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Jena 6

It is amazing to me how we are shoveled so much slop on television and the news that in no way impacts the American public (OJ…again…are you kidding me?) yet stories like this about blatant racism are completely ignored. I had to find out about this from a hip hop blog I read. How about this…after running all of your stories on which celebrity is pregnant or what they are wearing or when they are going to rehab…how about informing the public with real stories?

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My Kid Could Paint That

I want to see this…and, if it is good, I want to show my students…

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Change the Message

From No Impact Man

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No Impact Man

I’ve enjoyed this blog No Impact Man since I have become more interested in “living green”. Now, I have not taken to the limit that this man has, so I can’t say I’m completely green, but he does make me think. Here is something that he posted recently about getting the message across to people that being green is important to all of us and it IS possible:

So, we can change the message.

For many years, in this country, smoking was trendy. Now it’s not. The message changed. When I was young, people threw their wrappers on the New York streets without a thought. Now people sneer if you drop your trash. The message changed.

Why wouldn’t the same be true of our use of planetary resources? For many years, as a culture, we thought it was great to get more and use more, and that was the message.

People argue that changing course is impossible. You can’t, they say, change human nature. But we don’t have to change human nature.

All we have to do is change the message.

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Nathan Sawaya

I first read about Nathan Sawaya on Yahoo. I guess there are many Lego builders, but I liked how his take seems to be a more artistic approach rather than just building Lego models. Check out this time lapse video of him building…

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Becoming Adult

I love this quote from Becoming Adult…a book that one of my favorite author’s, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, worked on:

We mainly train them (children) to be consumers – of abstract information, entertainment, and mostly useless products – with too little regard for concrete, active engagement with the environment. What is needed is an opportunity for youth to experience the joys and responsibilities of making things happen, without being permanently drawn into monotonous work.

I think I post things like this a lot, but the more it is ignored…the more I believe it.

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Stuff

Why do we like stuff so much? I was at my brother-in-law’s apartment recently, and this thought I have had before popped back in my head. He is 21. He is in college. And, his apartment is devoid of stuff. Yes, his roommate has the unnecessary 60″ flat screen television, but they have no pots and pans. They barely have any dishes. Decoration is sparse. And, they wash Solo cups to drink out of. Does this anger them? No. They just don’t care. It makes think of my days in college when I had limited things and I was perfectly content. Now…stuff…all over the place. Actually, I don’t think my wife and I have done terribly, but it just seems that as you get older, you want more stuff. It is like the stuff will make you happy when you know it won’t. It is not like I’m advising a return to college, but why was it alright back then and not now? Since I have money, am I supposed to spend it on stuff? You have to maintain it. You have to store it. You get mad if it doesn’t work or breaks. And eventually, you are going to get rid of it. I used to be a big collector when I was a kid, but not any more. I’m glad I have my collections, but I try to keep that to a minimum nowadays. The collections I have now or almost all digital. All the purchases I make are usually made on things I expect to use. Plus, I have found that if I wait to buy something and decide if I really want it, I end up liking the purchase more. I don’t need any more stuff.

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Legislation to Put Calories on Menu

Yes, this is a good idea. From the Consumerist:

According to the Center For Science In The Public Interest, menu labeling legislation is gaining momentum in the California State Assembly. The menu labeling law “would require chain restaurants to list calories on menu boards and calories, saturated and trans fat, sodium, and carbohydrates on printed menus.”

The fact that some of the fast food companies are trying to block it proves that it is a good idea. Obesity has become such a problem in this country that it only makes sense to know exactly what you are eating. It might make someone think twice.

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