Banning books update

Remember when I got all mad a few months ago, because an Oregonian mother was refusing to return a The Book of Bunny Suicides to her son's school?

Said mother thought the book was tasteless and would turn all children into rapist serial-killing elitist liberals?

So, remember, I taught at that school last year. You may have heard stories (I love a lot of the students and respected the other teachers, and that's the extent of the nice things I can say)...

The mother filed a grievance to have the book banned from the school library. Fine--it's her right as a parent to take that action (that is much better than her idea to steal the book).

Well, the board voted 3-3 about banning it. In January they will reconvene with all seven members and vote again.

This is just preposterous! I cannot believe they are thisclose to banning a book. Well, I can believe it--there are some backwards folk there.

Seriously. If the board bans this book, they are setting an extremely dangerous precedent. I suggest they ban the following works of literature I taught to students at that school last year:
Brave New World
Hamlet
Things Fall Apart
Catch-22
Cat's Cradle
The Awakening

They all feature suicide. If we're banning suicide, we should probably ban death as well...

The Great Gatsby
Harry Potter
The Scarlet Letter
short stories of Flannery O'Connor
The Crucible
The Hobbit
The Stranger
Tom Sawyer

Oh, wait. That was almost everything I taught. Damnit.

BURNING BOOKS is always the solution.

While reading Jezebel today I see this link: Taffey Anderson, a mom from Oregon, says she plans on burning The Book Of Bunny Suicides, which her teenage son checked out from his high school library, because she thinks the book is "not OK."

I don't know why, but I instantly thought "Halsey!"

Unfortunately, I was right.

Taffey Anderson has filed paperwork to have a popular graphic novel banned from the library of Central Linn High School in Halsey.

There’s just one hitch: Anderson refuses to return The Book of Bunny Suicides to the school district so a committee can review her complaint.

She won’t budge. In fact, she reportedly plans to burn the book. (The Oregonian, via Oregon Live)

I taught English at this school last year, so it pains me to see this happening. Central Linn is a small underfunded school—typical for rural areas (typical for Real America, yeah?). I initially thought it was so funny because it rings of redneck stereotype: I don't like this book, so dangit! I'm settin' it aflame! Just like your homosexual sinning soul!

Then, I thought it was funny because a different book, Shutterbug Follies, was challenged last year, mostly because of cartoon nudity. We were pretty split about what we should do with it. Being a young liberal, I thought we should read it to kindergartners. Others didn't like it, for it was a little prurient. One History-sometimes-English-teacher said "it wasn't written well." Which, as others agreed with him, means ultimately "I don't like cartoon nudity, cursewords, and a female protagonist who sneaks around detective-like." Because you know what? It was written well. If you agree with Oscar Wilde, you can't make any other judgements about it.

MOVING ON...What is so heartbreaking about this story?

First, rather than take advantage of this "teachable moment" (something that was harped on constantly in the College of Ed.), the mother tears the book away from her son and says she is going to burn it. Because she doesn't like it. Second, the mother, in knowingly not returning the book to the library, is stealing. Well, as it turns out, in this great teachable moment, the mother is imparting a lesson to her child: if something upsets you, get rid of it. Preferably illegally (stealing) or violently (burning).

Luckily for mom, she has a legal recourse to get this book out of the library: she can challenge it through the district by filling out some reconsideration forms. This is a good thing, should there truly be some offensive literature in the library (perhaps a "How to Start a Juvenile Chapter of the KKK" book). Parents participating in their school community is always a good thing.

But pushing their own agenda on other students? Rather than use this opportunity to talk about what is reponsible or appropriate literature, she leaves her child wondering. And perhaps this taste of forbidden fruit will leave him wanting more liberal trash! He may vote for Ralph Nader in eight years?

And why should she get to dictate what other students in the district have access to? This book didn't magically appear in the library. The librarian is not an irresponsible woman out to corrupt your children. She would never order a book she thought was harmful! In fact, last year's nearly-banned book and this one have something in common: they are critically acclaimed and recommended by librarians across the country.

It is refreshing to see parents get involved in their student's curriculum and reading. However, trying to get a book banned helps no one, and stealing the book sets a very bad example. And burning it? Shit. I really wish Central Linn had copies of Fahrenheit 451. That book would spurn the greatest, most relevant English lesson EVER at that school.

The great thing about blogs is that this story is all over the place. Commenters upon commenters have said, "I sent a new copy of the book to CLHS via Amazon." Which is great, because this mother will never be able to check out all the copies (in just reading two blogs' comments, I saw that there are at least 10 copies headed to the school).

But on the other hand, if this story is all over the place, other parents may get the idea to fill out "Material Reconsideration" forms. When we reviewed Shutterbug Follies last year, each person on the committee spent hours in meetings/reviewing the book/reading relevant articles. This school district cannot afford that—it is spread too thin as it is!

AND DAMMIT, it just makes me mad. I don't think books should be banned because they contain suicidal cartoon animals, cartoon nudity, profanity or sexual content.

LAST YEAR, in Senior English, the students (well, realistically, four of 23) read Brave New World. If we apply the same standards of these controversial books, it should be banned too. Hell, I should have been fired on the spot. True, there are no graphics, so we nix the suicidal animals and nudity. However, it is full of profanity, sexual content, and perhaps most dangerously, satire.

OK, I MUST STOP or I will go on forever. Please comment! Let's discuss. Your thoughts?

I have much more to share concerning this.

This is why I don't start conversations.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of frustrated and hungry Americans filter through a single CostCo store on any given Sunday. This past Sunday, I joined the flock (Josh's mom bought us some groceries! I'll do anything for free food). Surprisingly, I didn't get mad at the crowds or the scholarly college students stocking up on party cups for their first weekend of beer pong. No, I got mad at a guy who wanted to talk music.

We finished shopping, so I stood in line at the "Cafe" for a 59-cent soda. Earlier that day I made the mistake of wearing a Lou Reed shirt I screened last summer:


I like Lou Reed's music so much I made a shirt. Not that you can tell here, but I screened it slightly off-center. Oops. Back to Costco: the conversation below is not verbatim, but an approximation:

"What's your favorite Velvet album?"
"I don't really have one. I prefer Lou Reed solo."
"I gotta go with Velvet Underground & Nico. But that's BS, I'm a Lou Reed fan too."
"They are very different."
"Lou Reed is the Velvet Underground. Well, Nico's great too, but she's a whole different woman."
"There are other people in the band."

Ok, condescending music nerd, I am checked out of this conversation. It could have been a fruitful conversation. Heck, we could have been best friends!

But me stating I don't really have a favorite VU album is BS? Personally, I think it makes more sense to admit that than to pose and pretend I have a favorite when I don't. I can look at the tracklistings to & Nico and White Light/White Heat and recognize the songs and perhaps sing along, but is that enough of a basis to proclaim what my favorite album is?

Besides, I was wearing a Lou Reed shirt. Why didn't he ask what my favorite Reed album is?

Oh, and saying Lou Reed is the Velvet Underground (except maybe Nico?). Give me a break. Does this guy really think Velvet fans are the only people who have ever heard of John Cale?

And Nico? Andy Warhol put her in the band and she sang on a few tracks.

Bah! He probably thought I was a dumb girl because I stopped talking to him. There are things I wold rather do on a Sunday than debate how my opinion is OK and not BS.

Like, I'd rather bitterly blog about it two days later.

Bicycle update (Girl, you need Pussy Control!)

It's funny to think, it was just a little over two years ago that I got back onto a bicycle (I hadn't been on one since the beginning of high school). I was in my first semester of grad school, and liked the idea of biking to the UO. Well, I really liked the idea of starting a bicycle gang.

One time Prince wrote this little ditty "Pussy Control":

Our story begins in a schoolyard
A little girl skipping rope with her friends
A tisket, a tasket, no lunch in her basket
Just school books 4 the fight she would be in
One day over this hoodie
She got beat 4 some clothes and a rep
With her chin up, she scolded "All y'all's molded
When I'm rich, on your neck I will step"
And step she did 2 the straight A's
Then college, a master degree
She hired the heifers that jumped her
And made everyone of them work 4 free?
No! Why?
So what if my sisters are triflin'?
They just don't know
She said "Mama didn't tell'em what she told me
'Girl, U need Pussy Control'" (Are U ready?)

Suffice it to say, I love "Pussy Control." So much so, that I named my crap-Royce Union bike after it.

Well, that bike came and went. For a little over a year I've been rocking a Raleigh Passage 3.0, which I purchased mostly because it was a beautiful shade of purple. I am not going to lie.

Now, a natural move would have been to stick with the Prince song bike names and call her "Purple Rain." But that is just so... obvious. And besides, the Biker Ghouls were trading up bikes left and right... and giving our new bikes sequel names.

So, Pussy Control became Pussy Control II: The Secret of the Ooze (thanks, Ninja Turtles!). Parenthetically speaking, her name is Prairie Rose, after the Roxy Music song (her technical color is like Dusty Rose or something acrylic-painty like that).

Pussy Control wore a cheap Dymo label announcing her name to the world. Up until last week. While doing a St. Vincent De Paul trip I stumbled upon some really cheap, really ancient, decorative letters—the kind you get wet and stick somewhere. They happened to be gold, which is one of my favorite colors. So...



What do you think of her now? I suppose I need to find a spot to add the necessary II: The Secret of the Ooze.

KK

Costume party run-off

There wasn't too much enthusiasm for the last October Costume Party poll. So, we are having a demented run-off. I am putting up the most two most popular ideas from the last poll, as well as some suggestions that I received.

3 parties=vote 3 times!

We are having 3 October costume parties. Vote for your 3 fave themes!
	Tabloid party (dress like paparazzi, or a celebrity, or something from Weekly World News, etc.)
	YouTube phenomenon (dress as something from a YouTube video, or a YouTube user)
	Comic book character (obviously, dress as a comic book character)
	Y2K party (Dress as if Y2K brought on Doomsday: post-apocalyptic, like Mad Max)
	These all suck, give me more options.
pollcode.com free polls

October Costume Parties

So, we generally have a bunch of costume parties in October. This year is no exception.

We plan on having three parties. Which parties are you most likely to attend?

What is your favorite idea for a costume party for Halloween? Feel free to vote three times, as we plan on having 3 costume parties in October!
	Tabloid party (dress like paparazzi, or a celebrity, or something from Weekly World News, etc.)
	YouTube phenomenon (dress as something from a YouTube video, or a YouTube user)
	Safari party (like you are on safari, duh)
	Rocky Horror (like a character or inspired by)
	Politics party (dress like a politician or a hot issue, such as tax cuts)
	TGIF (dress as your fave TGIF TV show character)
pollcode.com free polls

KK

The 48 Hour Film Project

Our historical fiction flick, "Lafayette" screened last night. This film was made in 48 hours; we drew the genre and received a mandatory character (Jane Gravenstein, Wellness Practitioner), line ("Ok, I think I got it straight") and prop (jumper cables) on Friday night. On Sunday night, we turned in the final cut.

It was so much fun! Words here cannot describe, but you can find running commentary: Fetus in Fetu blog.

So, funny thing... the screening started, in Portland, at 7. We left Eugene at 4:30, which put us on track to be in Portland at 6:30.

Then fires erupted on 1-5. Apparently trees were spontaneously combusting; the flames from one tree licked a hay truck, and that shit took the whole freeway down. For hours.
I also lost T-Mobile service. Right off of I-5 I had an "SOS" on my screen. I blamed the government for stealing my spectrum. But it might have been Al Qaeda.
Oh, and Sami texted me saying some intrepid enthusiasts found a dead Bigfoot? It sealed the deal... Armageddon.

We made it to Portland at 8:30, approximately one minute after our film finished screening. We went last, so we made it for the Q&A. But those jerks didn't let us vote :(

Dawn recorded the audience reaction to our film—and it was great! Laughs (and cringes) where we wanted 'em.

Check it out:


P.S. Here are the handbills
:








KK

Jukefrüt, or The Hottest Band that Never Happened

Can you pinpoint the moment of your life you decided to be a rockstar?
If you say, "No, I never wanted to be a rockstar," you are a liar.

My moment occurred in late 1995, when I saw God on my TV:



and by God, I mean Billy Corgan in the "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" music video. Seriously... if it weren't for this watershed moment, I might still be listening to shitty countrypop.

Lying on the couch that morning, I wanted the following things: silver pants; a black Zero t-shirt; and a guitar. Over the years, I failed with the silver pants, but got the Zero shirt in various colors, and finally, a guitar. Did I ever learn to play it or take lessons? No.

But I was in a band, for like, 10 days. In the 11th grade my sister, friends Jessica and Ann, and I decided we would form a band. Luckily, we had some talent, as Ann could play the guitar and sing. The rest of us, not really so much.

Here's our story:


I filmed "practice" in 2001. Seven years later some footage sees the screen. You know, I might have more, somewhere, but all I have on my hard drive is fighting. Go figure. Did we ever play a song?

My apologies for the choppy editing. Back in the day I used Adobe Premiere, and I just tried Final Cut Pro yesterday. I've found it's not so intuitive as Premiere, and damnit, I just can't figure out how to make transitions work correctly.

Anyway, here's to your inner rock star...