october 1

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Junk Food Junkie" by Larry Groce]

Today's topic comes with a story.  Last year Ms. Anderson (my former student and our favorite SMJUHSD substitute teacher) dropped by with some food she thought I might like.  I turned it down and asked if I could re-gift it to students.  You should have seen the smile on Ms. Anderson's face when I told her why.  Later we exchanged texts.  Mine's in blue, hers is in gray:

This is a fairly recent thing for me.  For most of my life I put away more than my fair share of burgers, steaks, chicken, ribs, eggs, fish, cheese, butter, etc.  I used to defend my carnivorous way of life to my vegan and vegetarian friends.  But over time things have changed, and I've learned more about the subject.  Animals grown for food are often sickly and stuffed with antibiotics.  The way they're raised is horrible for the environment.  When my cousin had a major heart attack last December, he started eating vegan, and when he told his doctors -- some of the best -known cardiologists in San Diego -- they said, "Yup.  Us too."  That was the tipping point for me.

People eat differently for all sorts of cultural and personal reasons.  When I was in graduate school I dated a woman from Taiwan who loved plucking the eyes out of steamed catfish with her chopsticks.  In my travels I've eaten ants, grasshoppers, horse, yak, durian, Lucky Charms, and many other things that are delicious to some and disgusting to others.  There is tremendous beauty in the way our planet provides nutrition and we share that nutrition with each other.  Childhood memories, first dates, holidays & special occasions, and even business meetings revolve around food.

Today I watch students consume Hot Cheetos, processed meat and rancid orange juice with artificial ingredients, even though our school is right in the middle of some of the most fertile agricultural areas in the world.  I don't criticize anyone for their eating habits (to their face, usually), but I do wonder: why do any of us eat what we eat?  Because it tastes good?  Because we're used to it?  Because of our relationships with the people who make food for us?  Because we don't have enough money or enough freedom to make different choices?  Because it's the best fuel for energy or the healthiest nutrition?

What do you eat?  Why?

AGENDA:
*Minute of Mindfulness*
1. Journal
2. Tech Tuesday: Browsers & Search Engines
3. Writers' Conferences (continued)
4. Work on your posts in order to publish on time:

REMINDER:
Please bring a hard copy your updated résumé to class tomorrow (10/2).  This is the second-to-last time you will turn it in.  After you get it back next week, you will revise one more time (to make it perfect!) and then Cake Wednesdays will focus on cover letters, reference lists, interviews, scholarship searches, and college/university research.

POSTS:
1. [Due Today, 10/1] Write a response to the poem.  What was your first impression?  How did it make you feel?  Did anything about it bring your journal topic to mind?  (title: FIRST IMPRESSION OF A DREAM)

2. [Due Friday, 10/4] Memorize & recite the poem-- post the video on your blog (title: MY DREAM WITHIN A DREAM)

3. [Due Monday, 10/7] Once you have completed the essay we started last week, take a hack at the prompt below and post a first draft on your blog (title: HAWTHORNE & POE ON DREAMS)

Compare and contrast Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" with Poe's "Dream Within a Dream."  How do the authors use the idea of dreaming to make us think about what's real?  What elements do you see in both pieces, and how are they different?  Use what you know about literary style and techniques to support your answer.