words, words, words
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If I begin to detail myself here, will you understand?
P. I am me
Q. I don't always know exactly who that is
R. I am Quaker
S. I like words and playing with them
T. I like genmaicha tea
U. I like the word napkin more than most others
V. I spend time walking my neighborhood
W. I cook rice often
X. I sleep well most every night
Y. I eat large amounts of fruit and vegetables
Z. I munch, sleep, write, create, cook, bike, watch, walk, listen, hope, learn, drink, live, breathe, touch, know, question, taste, copy, read, stare, carry, talk, dance, finger, try.
raisin@gmail.com
albums:
Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
Erasure: I Say, I Say, I Say
Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On?
David Bowie: Hunky Dory
George Michael: Listen without Prejudice
George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
songs:
Wild is the Wind: Nina Simone
Come Undone: Duran Duran
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: Rachmaninov
My Funny Valentine: Chet Baker
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate: The Flaming Lips
This Must Be the Place: The Talking Heads
Hyperballad: Bjork
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Teaching morality is a difficult task. Our schools have to do some of it, to curb lying, cheating, stealing, and the like. I think sex education is important, too. I know I learned more from the classes i received than i ever did from my parents, or would have on my own. i was a shy kid who didn't ask questions, and who certainly didn't know what a vagina was. i would agree that teenagers are probably better off not having sex, and yet, i rather wish i could have when i was in high school. What i don't like is the term abstinence. To me, it says that no matter what, you must never do this, never ever. When you put something off limits like that, you censor and change teenagers. a lot of them, like me, will try not to think about it, will not ask necessary questions about it, will be frightened by it. and then, quite a few will be excited by it, will want to do it merely for the thrill of breaking the rules. so who wins with pushing abstinence?
The New York Times released a survey done of teenagers who had taken a virginity pledge, asking them whether they kept it. by and large, they didn't, and it didn't stop them from getting diseases, etc. in fact, because they had been taught abstinence, they were less likely to use a condom - you can't teach someone to not have sex, and then teach them how to have safe sex, can you? i didn't know what a condom looked until i was almost 22. that's a shame, but i am certainly responsible too, since i was so scared of sex.
Maybe the difference is how someone goes about teaching morals. but then, you can't really compare stealing to having sex. one is a crime, because you're taking from someone. sex, though, is much more complicated, and while you can steal sex, you can also give sex and share sex. anytime you boil such a complicated issue into a statement of "don't do it," you lose. the students lose, the teachers lose, and the society loses because the young are not educated to respect the powers and the pleasures they control.
Don't teach abstinence. teach respect, understanding, and curiosity. teach all of it, the incredible feelings of sex, the emotions and passions. teach the potential pain, the potential diseases; teach the necessary safety requirements, the danger and the thrill of losing yourself in someone else. education should open the mind, not cage it.
11:39 AM
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