BrownSuga's sweet spot: Do you even know your neighbor?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I hope that we can all remember the actual point of the holiday. The point being to be thankful for what we have. Because not everyone spent the day with family, not everyone had a meal to eat, not everyone could argue with family members about the lack of skill in the NFL, while eating 4 different kinds of pie.

But in the midst of the traveling and cooking many Americans do for the third Thursday, even more get up at 4am to be ready to shop for “Black Friday” specials. And this year a week before black Friday two video game consoles were sold by retailers, the much anticipated PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s new Wii.

Retail prices for the PS3 max at $600 and the Wii at $250. But if you are one of the unlucky ones who couldn’t secure one of the 10 PS3’s available at each retail location, you can attempt to win an e-bay auction for one. I came across one that sold for $2000 and someone reported the sale of one topping $30,000.

Yes! That was insane. And this brings me to blog for tonight. What are these games doing to our society?

Growing up my family had an Atari, a Nintendo and a Sega Genesis. We went to Valley Forge, Pa to compete in the world premiere of Super Mario Brothers 3 before the release of the game and mastered old games. But there is no way you could even compare my childhood to that of children today. In the midst of our video games, my siblings and I spent at least 2 hours outside playing with our friends. And at least triple that amount of time on weekends. Every night we ate dinner together as a family, we always completed our homework and we had bedtimes. With 4 children, Christmas time was no cheap feat. We always got more than we probably deserved and everyone was treated equally.

I have a cousin who expects every new toy the day it comes out. He got every new pair of $100+ shoe that came out, he has an Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 1 & 2 (he probably has the third one as well), Sega Genesis (whatever the new one was called). He has no respect for anyone. He steals money. He lies. He just turned 16 and should be in the 6^th grade. But because he moved to another state they let him enter the 8^th grade.

In college I knew people who failed out in 2 quarters because they were addicted to computer and video games. They spent so much time in their rooms and going to lan parties (if you don’t know what they are, trust me you don’t want to know) that they couldn’t recognize their professors.

The number one growing addiction in the world currently isn’t drugs or alcohol it’s not sex or food, it’s technology. Do you know anyone who does not own an iPod, computer, or cell phone? Of course I don’t believe by just owning one of these makes you an addict. But when they prevent you from socializing or taking care of your responsibilities then a problem seems apparent.

But again this isn’t about adults who have the right to make their own decisions, who make the money to pay for their addiction. This is in reference to our kids. In a society where recess is thought of as “wasting time” and the Arts are losing funding in public schools, how can our children learn how to interact with other children?

This year for Halloween a local news anchorman labeled is “Lame-o-ween.” He was referring to the litany of rules everyone spouted for parents to make sure no harm came to their children. I had to laugh and because of that I now only watch his news instead of the competition. I’m not saying don’t protect your children. But there is a point of absurdity. I went trick-or-treating every year I lived in Philly. I lived in West Philly, on a tiny street that was barely considered middle-class by anyone’s standards, in the middle of the city. Once my parents felt I was old enough to go with just my brother, not once did they follow me in a car or even run my candy through an x-ray machine for safety. And I’m still alive.

My mom was president of the block association. We knew everyone who lived on our block. We had annual block parties. All the kids would play together; during the day boys would play tag football and girls would jump double-dutch. At night we all got together to play hide-n-go seek in the dark or some other game that required a lot of running. We held racing competitions, Uno competitions, Acey-duecy (more commonly called backgammon) competitions. I had the chance to go to a performing arts school and a magnate school. I got the chance to join after-school programs some people have never heard of. I met people from all over the world and we learned about everyone’s cultures.

People ask my husband and I when we’re going to have children. And honestly I’m sad that I wouldn’t be able to raise children in an atmosphere like I was raised. I applaud my aunt and uncle who are raising three boys in a major city and they all excel in academics, sports and each plays an instrument. They always choose playing outside with friends over video games. They don’t ever ask for name brand clothes or shoes. They enjoy traveling and learning new games. They pray every night and they read for pleasure. They don’t overeat and they are considerate of others. I am so proud of them. If I were to have a child I would do my best to follow my parent’s footsteps and my aunt and uncle’s.

How many of you know your neighbors? Do you have to stop your newspaper delivery when you go out of town? On Saturdays do you see kids outside playing together? Every heard the phrase It takes a village to raise a child. Can’t have your child raised by a village when you don’t even know the names of the villagers.

BrownSuga's sweet spot: Not so sweet today

This will not be a regular length blog for one reason. There are too many things right now that have set my temper off and because this is not the right place to let off the steam I will just say a few things.

This can not be explained to your satisfaction so please let it go, but if you are NOT black then you do NOT get to use the N word. Of course people will claim that we've got to take the power out of the word or if it's ok for black people to use it why can't everyone.

There is still power in that word. And it coming from someone, anyone who is NOT black and that includes whites, hispanics, asians etc. is negative. Many groups of people like to compare their stuggle with blacks but I'm sorry there is no comparison. I've never heard of blacks trying to compare our struggle to anyone else's. It is our own. No matter what you have gone through you can't honestly know what it means to be black in this country. And vice versa. I won't claim to know how the Holocaust affects the Jewish regardless of if there are similarities.

As for blacks using the word. When the word is used by another black person the basic idea is that it is not used in a negative way. There is no power in it when it comes from a black person. Now I will admit there have been times when a black person has used it in the same way as a white racist. And that is when it becomes negatively powerful.

Simply put, if you are not black don't use the N word. You will not be able to defend your use of the word no matter what you say.

Chasing Orchid: Hope Reborn?

I know, I know, I've been conspicuously absent the last few weeks. Yes I've been busy, but I'm not making any excuses, I simply haven't really had much to say. However, today was a bright spot in my short teaching career so I thought I'd share it with all of you. Hope you enjoy! ~ElusiveOrchid

I teach world history to juniors in high school. Today it was Ancient Greece. Of course the first thing my students had to say was “Miss we have to watch Troy!” To which I was bombarded with a chorus of “cool” and “I have the dvd at home, I’ll bring it in.” After the cacophony quieted down, I explained to them the three reasons why we couldn’t watch Troy.

1. It’s rated R! My school and most schools have a strict policy against any movie that is rated above PG13. First I have to view the movie (no I haven’t seen it just because Brad Pitt is in it.) then if I deem it’s worthy enough to show my students, I have to send home permission slips for parental signatures.

I tried to explain this to my students and they couldn’t understand it. Apparently a good chunk of my colleagues ignore the R rule and just let their students watch them. After I told them I wasn’t about to break policy they argued that they would just get their parents to sign the permission forms. This leads to reason number two.

2. Parent release forms. I only had one thing to say to the parent signature idea…I just told them the following: “By the time all of you Yea-Hoo’s get the permission forms back to me, the school year will be over.”

They had nothing to say to that. *chuckles*

3. We're studying Greece! Reason three was very simple, so simple my students just didn’t get it. Troy is in Turkey, we’re studying Greece. How hard is that to understand? Sure Troy was a huge battle that Greece fought but aside from that, Troy has nothing whatsoever to do with Greece. Not to mention that archaeologists aren’t even sure Troy existed. At least Greece is a proven civilization!

My students tried to argue with me on reason three when they saw Troy mentioned in the text…I just pointed out the sections in the text that said “Turkey” and “Debate the existence of.”

They eventually gave up. I told them that if they put forth as much energy to their studies as they did with arguing about the movie, they’d all be passing my class. Needless to say they didn’t appreciate that.

The rest of the class passed relatively uneventfully, until about the last 15 minutes.

Let me backtrack a bit. For me teaching World History isn’t about dates and timelines, it’s about thinking critically and reasoning about cause and effect. For the most part I had begun to doubt that critical thinking was ever going to even flicker into the picture. That is…until today.

In the last 15 minutes of class we got into a sideline about modern day, technology and those types of things. One of my students, who rarely ever says anything, looked at me and asked a very introspective question he said “Miss, why is it that ancient Egyptians were so smart and we’re so stupid? I mean they didn’t even have technology and they figured things out.”

I looked at him and said “Well why do you think we’re not very smart these days?”

He went into a long explanation of how technology has pretty much rotted our brains. If we need answers we can hop over to the computer and google or yahoo the question. If we need to add something we get a calculator.

Pretty soon, my other students were debating the pros and cons of technology. I just stood with my back against the blackboard, smiling.

Perhaps there is hope for them yet.

BrownSuga's Sweet Spot: Humor me

I know I know I was supposed to post yesterday. I have a really good excuse. And yes I know that excuses are tools of the incompetent, that build monuments of nothingness and those who excel in them seldom excel in anything else, Excuses.

But I was completely engrossed in a book and the only I put it down was because my husband made me go to bed. And since he didn't stop me to post here, it's really all his fault.

Anyway, I thought for a bit of laughs I'd post some e-mails I've gotten recently that made me laugh. They are not meant to offend anyone and if you are too bad.

Sipping Vodka

>>It's funny
>>
>>A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak.
>>After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done.
>>The monsignor replied, "When I am worried about getting nervous on the
>>pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to
>>get nervous, I take a sip."
>>
>>So next Sunday he took the monsignor's advice.
>>At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink.
>>He proceeded to talk up a storm.
>>Upon his return to his office after the mass, he found the following
>>note on the door:
>>
>>1) Sip the vodka, don't gulp.
>>2) There are 10 commandments, not 12.
>>3) There are 12 disciples, not 10.
>>4) Jesus was consecrated, not constipated.
>>5) Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass.
>>6) We do not refer to Jesus Christ as the late J.C.
>>7) The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred to as Daddy, Junior
>>and the spook.
>>8) David slew Goliath; he did not kick the shit out of him.
>>9) When David was hit by a rock and was knocked off his donkey, don't
>>say he was stoned off his ass.
>>10)We do not refer to the cross as the "Big T."
>>11)When Jesus broke the bread at the last supper he said, "Take this and
>>eat it for it is my body." He did not say "Eat me".
>>12)The Virgin Mary is not called "Mary with the Cherry".
>>13)The recommended grace before a meal is not: Rub-A-Dub-Dub thanks for
>>the grub, Yeah God.
>>14)Next Sunday there will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peter's not
>>a peter pulling contest at St. Taffy's.

The FBI had an opening for an assassin. After all
the background checks,
>interviews and testing were done, there were 3
finalists.
>
>
>
>Two men and a woman.
>
>
>
>For the final test, the FBI agents took one of the
men to a large metal
>door and handed him a gun.
>
>"We must know that you will follow your instructions
no matter what the
>circumstances. Inside the room you will find your
wife sitting in a
>chair.
>
>Kill Her!!"
>
>The man said, "You can't be serious. I could never
shoot my wife." The
>agent said, "Then you're not the right man for this
job. Take your wife
>and go home."
>
>
>
>The second man was given the same instructions.
>
>He took the gun and went into the room. All was
quiet for about 5
>minutes. The man came out with tears in his eyes,
"I tried, but I can't
>kill my
>wife."
>
>The agent said, "You don't have what it takes. Take
your wife and go
>home."
>
>
>
>Finally, it was the woman's turn. She was given the
same instructions,
>to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into
the room. Shots were
>heard, one after another. They heard screaming,
crashing, banging on the
>walls.
>
>
>
>After a few minutes, all was quiet. The door opened
slowly and there
>stood the woman, wiping the sweat from her brow.
>
>
>
>"This gun is loaded with blanks" she said. "I had to
beat him to death
>with the chair."
>
>
>
>MORAL:
>
>
>
>Women are evil.
>
>Don't mess with them

Forget Politics...Remember the Fighters

(Photo courtesy of www.photojournalism.com)


I know, I know. I'm supposed to be writing my novel. But I'm taking a short hiatus from my hiatus because of the above picture. I received this picture from my "Big Boss" at work yesterday, reminding us that Veteran's Day is upon us.

This picture popped up in my e-mail and I immediately became teary eyed. The flag draped casket is certainly a stark reminder of the toll the war in Iraq has taken.

War isn't something to be proud of. I would much rather make peace than war. I don't agree with the current administration's decision to continue on. If you asked me straight out if I thought we needed to be there, I'd tell you yes...just not this long. Now we've overstayed our welcome and they need to come home.

But I have to always remember to separate those who DECIDE about war and the people who actually FIGHT the war. Regardless of how I feel about war, there are people out there fighting it for me and to protect me. And I can't hold that against them.

They're fighting not only for their lives, but the millions of lives in our country. Today's soldier isn't drafted into service -- they CHOOSE to be in the service. They put themselves in harm's way for the good of the cause.

Jounalist, I.F. Stone once wrote, "The essence of tragedy is not the doing of evil by evil men but the doing of evil by good men, out of weakness, indecision, sloth, inability to act in accordance with what they know to be right."

While he wrote that in reference to Nazi Germany's persecution of Jews...it lends credence to the choices and the life our frontline military deals with today. They have been put in harms way to battle a determined evil. The option to run is there, but many stay or repeat duty because they believe they're fighting the good fight.

And if they're willing to do that -- then I'm willing to back them up.

This Friday, please take the time to remember and thank military personnel, both past and present, for keeping the life we are accustomed to safe. Across the country, the call has been put out: Wear RED this Friday and take a moment to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

And to all military personnel: THANK YOU.

BrownSuga's Sweet Spot: Decisions Descisions

I was all set to write on one topic. Then a friend sent me to a site that intrigued me. It is what I consider a facinating topic. However, on the eve of Election Day 2006 I have decided to go with my first instinct and introduce the other topic at a later date.

Although we here at MGF try to keep the more "hot" topics i.e. religion and politics off the blog, I figured that since it is the day before the election AND what I have to say makes everyone look like b*tches, I didn't think it would a problem. So onto my rant...

This year we've seen an ENORMOUS amount of negative ads. Everyone is at fault, the policitians, the parties, and the ones I really hate are those "special interest" groups.

There is an ad here that talks about a candidate and how his mother sued him and a judge ordered him to never see or speak to his sister. Of course there are the usual ones that talk about Govenors creating legistration to pad their pockets, or the ones that show article after article about how a person REALLY voted while in Congress. But this year we have the ones that use Bush. If you voted with Bush, they are using that to crush you. If you didn't vote with Bush, then they are using troop sympathy to crush you.

One candidate spent 6 million dollars of his own money on negative ads. Can you say "Whose dick is bigger?" complex any louder? My mom and I can't believe people spend money on Halloween decorations so imagine how we feel when we hear about the millions of dollars spent on negative ads. At least I enjoy Halloween.

So next election I have decided that if this happens again, I will keep track of all the negative ads. I need to see just how many times I'm expected to watch this crap during the campaigns.

Every person who has approced, created or paid for one of these ads is despicable. I'm embarrassed to be a citizen of a country that does this. There needs to be some regulation for everyone. The claim is the government can regulate the amount the parties or candidates can spend on ads but the groups have free reign. Until we get rid of the two-party system we are probably stuck with this. But one day...I have a dream :)

So here is my advice for any person running for office anywhere. Tell me what YOU can and will do. Try it you might be surprised that you can catch more flies with honey. Defend yourself. Explain why I should vote for you and not why I shouldn't vote for the other guy. Because I think people are getting smarter and realizing that sometimes there are other choices. And the only people you can give a "resume" on are people you have sex with (that includes yourself and your spouse).