Dr. Adam Twardowski is an astrobiologist and a massive Ray Bradbury fan. You could say his fandom has an invisible hand in his work. So on the afternoon of his lecture where he is to convince the world of life on Mars, not unlike the tan, leathery creatures chronicled in the Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. However, to his horror, one misplaced semi-colon in his data collecting program has voided the data. The Devil comes to him while he is having a fit in the bathroom, while the smarmy scholars wait in the ballroom. He looks like Ray Bradbury and offers him a trade for his soul. He wants life on Mars to be true, look just like Ray Bradbury's rendition, a trip to Mars, and 50 lbs as he is a scant and scrawny man. The stipulations are, he will never see home again and must spend eternity with a bunch of Martians who are huge fans of Bradbury. Only they slightly mispronounce everything. Eternal torment for the poor scientist. But, a feeling of renewed hope.
As for the 50 lbs, he arrives on Mars with a £50 bill.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
A Sense of Self
Essential Question - "How do moral and ethical convictions impact an individual, a group, a society, and/or a community?
Standards Addressed: W.11 - 12.3 - Write narratives to develop experiences using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured sequences. The entry should include an introductory idea that identifies the focus (W.11-12.3a), coherent progression of ideas and distinctive tone (W.11 - 12.3c), and a final concluding statement (W.11 - 12.3e).
Conviction is that thing everyone's secretly trying to get a beat on whenever they meet you. We don't really think about it, but whenever we meet someone, we're trying to, metaphorically, stick a pin in them. Figure them out, test the waters, see what lines you can and can't cross with someone. If you've ever had a crush on anyone, and actually brave those rapids (not talk about it), you're looking for that compatibility. And what sort of worthwhile compatibility ever comes from looks? The way I've noticed people get the attention they need, is two fold: the ones who've got it to an automaton; their gestures and heel-kicks are polished enough to make anyone blush. Maybe they wish they were different. Then the palette faced introverts who mark their targets carefully so they can get that same attention at a different pace. Maybe they wish they were different. I've always been a long distance runner (and by distance I mean a slow foot shuffle forward, dangling my hands like wet rags wondering why I was never a track star) so I fall on the latter end of that yard stick. Of course I can't dehumanize an individual in these myopic platitudes and pass myself off as an artist. No, you see, it's my conviction which batters down that I am a part of a greater whole, and all those faces I see every day live lives as complex as the one I lead.
I look at conviction as an outline for what is compromise and what is selling your integrity to the first bid paddle. Why not keep everyone wondering? They'll ask, "what can I get away with here?" When you feel the turn in your stomach seeing a face you'd rather not or something that doesn't sit well. Those are the convictions, and it's easy for them to be taken advantage of by others, but also by you.
There is integrity in compromise. It shows you'll row with the group. You'll muscle the walk with them to the Dunn Center IF we make a pit stop to Subway. Great battles aren't always won by the sword; peace is typically preferable, and it isn't cowardly. To quote a show I like, "we only make peace with our enemies." But there are some things you'll die on a hill for; things that paint you as the funny looking sheep. You'll be a drag, fake, a real stubborn tree you can't move out of the mud. But it's hard to test how far a tree can bend in a forest.
Luckily, it isn't all doom. That doleful paragraph is whom you want to avoid, if you can help it. Sometimes, something you believe in can bring you closer to people. Sometimes it's that huzzah! moment you need when it's hard to tell if there's anything more to know about your character. It draws people to you, and you to them, not necessarily to fight for the cause, but as something you have in common. I've made friends off of being "more than meets the eye," and it's connected me with people in layers I didn't think they had.
As for a community, I treat it like a larger group in theory. You have to ask yourself the same questions, like, what are you willing to be stalwart for in a world that's so easy to fall in line with? Not everyone's gonna see it your way, especially if you live in a community riding a more traditional (or dare I say, Old Testament) line. But I also think it's important to distinguish when you're projecting your opinions too much (kinda like I'm doing now). Are you a regressive leftist? Are you pushing the envelope or my buttons? The world doesn't always need to hear you. In fact, it's more powerful in doses, as a constant stream of shouting and condemning is bound to harbor diminishing returns.
But, like the world, I am painted in shades of grey. Full of contradictions and hypocrisy. So that get-out-of-jail-free card allows me to muse on obtrusion and explain what I find so beautiful about it. So here it is: it's easy to mind your own business. What's perhaps so unique and powerful of people is how little we do that. We'll surf against the gradient just to rub your nose in it. The fear of what we don't understand can make us a pinata and history the stick. We ask ourselves, through our convictions, what side of history will we be on? Right and wrong, that's your construct. Unfortunately, our world is base and grey and we can never be to sure of anything. Which is gorgeous to me. Before the big wallop from the pole arm of time, while our candy is still ours, we ponder what is worth sacrificing for what you believe in? Community? Family and friends?
It's tough thinking for ourselves, but I'd not want it any other way.
Standards Addressed: W.11 - 12.3 - Write narratives to develop experiences using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured sequences. The entry should include an introductory idea that identifies the focus (W.11-12.3a), coherent progression of ideas and distinctive tone (W.11 - 12.3c), and a final concluding statement (W.11 - 12.3e).
Conviction is that thing everyone's secretly trying to get a beat on whenever they meet you. We don't really think about it, but whenever we meet someone, we're trying to, metaphorically, stick a pin in them. Figure them out, test the waters, see what lines you can and can't cross with someone. If you've ever had a crush on anyone, and actually brave those rapids (not talk about it), you're looking for that compatibility. And what sort of worthwhile compatibility ever comes from looks? The way I've noticed people get the attention they need, is two fold: the ones who've got it to an automaton; their gestures and heel-kicks are polished enough to make anyone blush. Maybe they wish they were different. Then the palette faced introverts who mark their targets carefully so they can get that same attention at a different pace. Maybe they wish they were different. I've always been a long distance runner (and by distance I mean a slow foot shuffle forward, dangling my hands like wet rags wondering why I was never a track star) so I fall on the latter end of that yard stick. Of course I can't dehumanize an individual in these myopic platitudes and pass myself off as an artist. No, you see, it's my conviction which batters down that I am a part of a greater whole, and all those faces I see every day live lives as complex as the one I lead.
I look at conviction as an outline for what is compromise and what is selling your integrity to the first bid paddle. Why not keep everyone wondering? They'll ask, "what can I get away with here?" When you feel the turn in your stomach seeing a face you'd rather not or something that doesn't sit well. Those are the convictions, and it's easy for them to be taken advantage of by others, but also by you.
There is integrity in compromise. It shows you'll row with the group. You'll muscle the walk with them to the Dunn Center IF we make a pit stop to Subway. Great battles aren't always won by the sword; peace is typically preferable, and it isn't cowardly. To quote a show I like, "we only make peace with our enemies." But there are some things you'll die on a hill for; things that paint you as the funny looking sheep. You'll be a drag, fake, a real stubborn tree you can't move out of the mud. But it's hard to test how far a tree can bend in a forest.
Luckily, it isn't all doom. That doleful paragraph is whom you want to avoid, if you can help it. Sometimes, something you believe in can bring you closer to people. Sometimes it's that huzzah! moment you need when it's hard to tell if there's anything more to know about your character. It draws people to you, and you to them, not necessarily to fight for the cause, but as something you have in common. I've made friends off of being "more than meets the eye," and it's connected me with people in layers I didn't think they had.
As for a community, I treat it like a larger group in theory. You have to ask yourself the same questions, like, what are you willing to be stalwart for in a world that's so easy to fall in line with? Not everyone's gonna see it your way, especially if you live in a community riding a more traditional (or dare I say, Old Testament) line. But I also think it's important to distinguish when you're projecting your opinions too much (kinda like I'm doing now). Are you a regressive leftist? Are you pushing the envelope or my buttons? The world doesn't always need to hear you. In fact, it's more powerful in doses, as a constant stream of shouting and condemning is bound to harbor diminishing returns.
But, like the world, I am painted in shades of grey. Full of contradictions and hypocrisy. So that get-out-of-jail-free card allows me to muse on obtrusion and explain what I find so beautiful about it. So here it is: it's easy to mind your own business. What's perhaps so unique and powerful of people is how little we do that. We'll surf against the gradient just to rub your nose in it. The fear of what we don't understand can make us a pinata and history the stick. We ask ourselves, through our convictions, what side of history will we be on? Right and wrong, that's your construct. Unfortunately, our world is base and grey and we can never be to sure of anything. Which is gorgeous to me. Before the big wallop from the pole arm of time, while our candy is still ours, we ponder what is worth sacrificing for what you believe in? Community? Family and friends?
It's tough thinking for ourselves, but I'd not want it any other way.
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