Quite Bright

My adventures, Titanic, Photography and more

[pepperbright-blog1]

I will not hate

I'm tired. I'm tired of journalists and artists dying for doing their job. I'm tired of young people dying for their skin color, their sexuality and their gender. I'm tired of good causes loosing their integrity to those who are quick to turn to violence. I'm tired of police abusing their power. I'm tired of innocent people, police and civilians, loosing their lives. I'm tired of an eye for an eye. I'm tired of unfair judgement and hatred. I've known hatred for the color of my skin. I've known the fear of being persecuted for who I am. I've known harassment for my gender. I've known bullies who tried to torment me for being different. But. I've known love. I've known hope. I've known resilience. Because I've known these things I refuse to be a victim to hate. I will not hate because I've been hated. I will stand with those who feel weak. I will stand with those who feel victimized. I will stand with those who are different. Murrow said, "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak, and to defend the causes that were for the moment unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history but we cannot escape responsibility for the result." I will not fear. I will not hate. I will stand up to hate. If I do not stand, who will? S. Bright 1/13/15 Pledge against fear and against hate. Stand up and be heard.

[defranco-deactivated20210303]

(x) Today, I only wanted to cover this story because it is extremely important. So if you believe in free speech, you don’t need to share this video but please share the hashtag. ‪#‎jesuischarlie

[garfieldminusgarfield]

Respect to those who lost their lives for free speech and the right to draw cartoons about anything.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30719057

[pepperbright-blog1]

We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak, and to defend the causes that were for the moment unpopular.

Edward R Murrow (On Mcarthy)

[pepperbright-blog1]

This school gets to decorate the ceiling tiles.

[pepperbright-blog1]

Middle School History

Today I watched The Outsiders (1983) three times. I knew that the class would be watching a movie when I took the assignment, part of why I took my first middle school assignment. My favorite moment was on the third watch, several of the 7th grade girls started to dibs the male characters, played by Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estivez, Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe. Having never read the novel (at least I don't recall it) and never seeing the film either it was amusing. The poor North-side Greasers rival the rich South-side Socs. The Karate Kid (Ralph) ends up killing one of the Socs and is forced to hide in the country with his buddy Pony boy (that's actually the characters name). Matt Dillon eventually comes to get them and the building they were hiding in burns down with some school kids trapped inside. They go save them and the Karate Kid gets seriously burned. Now the building was an abandoned church. For some reason a teacher decides that this area would be great to take their class to and play around a boarded up death trap. The risk manager in me couldn't believe the stupidity related to this incident. I'm curious if the novel has any further insight to this (anyone?). I only had three of the four periods so once 5th is over I head down to the office to be reassigned as needed. I first got sent to life skills. Here, I am out of my element, but I'm only there for 15 minutes when I am sent to the theatre to cover that teacher for a half hour. They are doing a ridiculous play about Greek Mythology. They kids were already started when I got there so all I had to do was watch and make sure they were on task. Middle school wasn't bad.

[pepperbright-blog1]

Watching Cameron's Titanic for the first time in years

- Can tell when the underwater scenes are the model.

- Keldysh!

- Freaking out when he touches paper objects that aren’t yet preserved properly.

- I still hate Bill Paxton.

- I had forgotten how much i loved the costumes.

- Margaret Brown hated the name Molly.

- Tender Nomadic!

- Even if Smith was any of the negative things they say, how can you hate Bernard Hill?

- On the other side of hat, never have liked how they portray Ismay.

- Lake Wissota wasn’t a lake until 1917.

- Speed was never an issue! Again UGH to Ismay portrayal.

- Noticing that the fourth funnel usually doesn’t have smoke, as it should be. 

- I love Irish Folk Music and always will.

- I don't care what song was played, but Nearer My God to Thee will always make me cry.

- I still tend to fast forward through the Rose/Jack heavy scenes.

[pepperbright-blog1]

Conversations with 3 Year Olds: Muscle Flexing

Cooper: Daddy makes his nipples dance. 

[pepperbright-blog1]

Elementary Art

This time in south east Austin. I have never been in this area before. The school was very well laid out, can tell it is fairly new. Today I had a full day (7.15-3.15). Now I’m NOT a morning person. Like not at all. I could fake it at camp….sometimes. A 7.15 arrival time was a little hard on me. Luckily this school isn’t too far from my house and I didn’t have to take any highways to get there. Although waking up at 5.30 was hard, it was manageable and I was on time. I had all grades today, except 2nd due to a Veterans Day assembly during that class. The assembly was overly patriotic, but cute all the same. The lesson was on Non-Objective art. The original lesson was for black and white only, but the teacher said we could use colored markers. I adjusted this to using only two marker colors. We talked about shapes and patterns and how non-representational art can still show emotion, movement and mean something. Fourth graders understood and were mostly able to complete their task. Fifth graders were crazy and only a few completed it. Apparently this whole class was going through the "I'm too cool" stage. I was very glad when they were gone. My favorite was third grade. They were able to talk about how the different patterns in the example picture made them feel. Part of the discussion actually reminded me of college art review. These kids were good. While their time was cut short due to the assembly, most were able to complete most of the page. After lunch I had one period of Kindergarten and two periods of first graders. This is where my real challenge was. How the hell do I explain Non-Objective art to 5 and 6 year olds? By talking more about patterns apparently. The next challenge was when my kindergarten class arrived. Their teacher was talking to them in Spanish. I was about to teach my first bilingual class. I took Spanish in Middle and High School, 6 years total. I can get by reading Spanish ok, but speaking it is not a strength of mine. Luckily, most of the kids spoke enough English and I was able to recall enough basic Spanish (clase atención por favor and siéntate en tu silla) and we got through. Remembering what I learned in my last art teaching experience, I went through step by step with them, even more so than I had done with the other classes that day. A proud moment was when a student told me in Spanish that his marker an out of ink and he needed a new one, and I knew what he was trying to tell me. The first set of first graders were a little wild and we didn't get very far in their art work, but the second set were amazing and helped me clean up the room and put everything away. Lessons of the day: I really like teaching elementary art and I need to work on my Spanish if I want to keep working at schools on the east side.

[pepperbright-blog1]

Inspiration wall from my classroom today. Elementary art again!

[pepperbright-blog1]

Elementary Art

I was looking forward to this day since I picked up this assignment the week before. This would just be a half day (11.30-3.15) so I only had two classes.

This school was on the East side, so it was a new experience. While I am on east 6th and 7th a lot, I had not been to this area in a long time. The new developments around the school were surprising.

The school itself was old, but they had a lot of new equipment and technology. Gone are the old overhead projectors, now replaced by fancy ceiling projectors.

My first class was third grade. We made Lego self portraits. That is my example above. I loved this lesson. It reinforces shapes, detail, color, and self.

Going from high school to elementary was a mind shift. I had to remind myself more than once to over explain and go step by step.

My second class was second grade. They were supposed to do a fall landscape. This class was much more difficult. Many of the students couldn’t stay on task, follow directions or clean up.

Lessons learned today: step by step instruction for the lower grades. Lots of patience.

[pepperbright-blog1]

High School World History

My first assignment was for a tenth grade history class in south Austin. I had been to this school for wrestling matches and a tournament back when I was the wrestling manager for my high school team. It was bizarre being there as an adult. Nothing very exciting happened during my two days there. Tenth grade boys are an interesting species, but manageable. I decided I didn't like the A/B schedule since the class seemed too long for the assignment they had. That could also be part of my high school nostalgia though. I had 8 classes a day and did just fine. In middle school I had A/B and I was always bored at the end of class unless we actually had something take the whole period. Oh well, rant aside, it was a good first two days.

[pepperbright-blog1]

Abrupt career change

Without going into politics, I left the job I had and have transitioned into part time there. For three months I was sending out resumes and applying for jobs like it was going out of style. In mid October I was finally hired by the Austin school district as a sub. A mountain of paperwork, fingerprinting and orientation later: I started last week. As requested by some friends, I will update bits of my adventure in teaching, as well as any if the other random things I still do.

[who-news]

Listen. This is just a dream. But very clever people can hear dreams. So, please, just listen. I know you’re afraid, but being afraid is alright. Because didn’t anyone ever tell you, fear is a superpower? Fear can make you faster and cleverer and stronger. And one day, you’re going to come back to this barn. And on that day, you are going to be very afraid indeed. But that’s okay. Because if you’re very wise and very strong, fear doesn’t have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind. It doesn’t matter if there’s nothing under the bed or in the dark, so long as you know it’s okay to be afraid of it. So, listen. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this. You’re always going to be afraid, even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that’s okay. Because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home. I’m going to leave you something, just so you always remember. Fear makes companions of us all.

Clara Oswald, Listen. (via who-news)

[electricnik]

The new Titanic memorial garden, Cobh, Ireland. The memorial garden is set in an old fort which overlooks the point where the Titanic moored in 1912.

[pepperbright-blog1]

Inside me, a long dark hallway already caressed the other music of a single word, and what's worse, Despite the amazements of chemicals, continued to grow.

Johnny Truant

[fuckyeahhouseofleaves]

I noticed you have some music posted, but I was wondering if there are any really great instrumental songs that have similar feelings and vibes like the book that you know of?

um well all i can list are songs that remind me of hol so here are those songs:

Elgar Cello Concerto: Jacqueline du Pre

death is the road to awe - clint mansell

this list is much shorter than i thought it would be but i honestly can’t think of anything else :/  send in your suggestions if you have them.

[pepperbright-blog1]

I learned about Mogwai from the old HoL message boards when I first read this 12 years ago. Mostly instrumental and beautifully haunting arrangements.