| two things - the closest i'll ever come to being published |
[May. 14th, 2007|01:00 pm] |
first -
An Ode to NYU*
the mother of exiles stood at the mouth,
said, so it goes, and so it went
she said send me your wealthy,
noon-rising sons and daughters,
your well-dressed masses yearning to spend free,
the creme de la creme of a nation's bourgeoisie,
send them to me, the brazen giant of greek fame said,
the well fed, angsty youth, we must be paid! they yelled
ancient lands of storied pomp called thence,
and the fortunate sons and daughters,
of finer things dense,
went afar because they still sought her,
and the mother of exiles stood silent still,
and said, so it goes, and so it went
the lamp lifted beside the golden door was lifted,
brought to washington, cleaned, called a torch
the golden door was replicated, a price tag added,
and a gee for two hundred square feet's a bargain
the mother of exiles cries with silent lips, so it goes,
and so it went
*this poem is inspired by "The New Colossus" , the poem on the statue of liberty
second-
Socialist Studies
it's seven and there's thirty
then it's nine and zero
and there's ninety till twenty
then there's still two before one,
and then another four
parallel tracks seen in parallax,
partition the people, divide the indivisible,
silently we slide together, and seek the invisible,
futility to search the flora, fauna and florescence
for the one.
two o'clock rock, five six,
and there's still three and two
between one and one
this alien nation has got me feeling alienated,
step aside, let the sick through
thickly stepping stumble by
afflicted by a poison with no prescription
selflessly helping themselves
to ten to the six,
to left side zeroes
and yet still some walk
while everyone runs
it's january then it's may
it's junejuly and november,
august what it's december?
it's one to thirty-one,
it's two then it's fifty-two,
it's five then it's three-sixty-five
first was the fight for ten,
then the fight for eight
first the fight for sixty,
then the fight for forty
first was the fight for six,
then the fight for five
brother sees brother in true light for the first time
each looks at the other, knows what is right
sister sees sister and suddenly sees a mirror
smiles slightly when she sees herself,
they took the numbers out,
and there was only one |
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| on becoming a teacher |
[Mar. 28th, 2007|09:19 pm] |
"holy shit," i thought.
then my heart took a breather while my stomach jumped to the ceiling.
"i got the job."
it was sort of a sublime moment, on my seventh day of vacation in California, finding out that somehow I had stumbled into responsibility.
my brain, taking the cue of my heart and stomach, called it a day and walked away in separate directions.
"are you serious?"
For the most part, everyone is really happy and supportive when I tell them. Most people give me the crazy eye though, the, "Teaching? WTF is wrong with you?" look. Like, somehow, I'm letting them down or something. Like, he must not know what he wants to do.
I don't know. I remember thinking I wanted to be a teacher when I was asked in the fifth grade. I didn't say that though, because teachers were girls (and I wasn't) and furthermore, they were the enemy. But I couldn't ignore it: my first reaction to the question was, "I want to be a teacher." If the space between my brain and my mouth weren't so large I would have said it out loud, but I made something else up, something cool. But after that day, I spent all of my time in intermediate and high school sort of "knowing" that I wanted to be a teacher.
Who really "knows" anything in intermediate school?
So I made up this plan in high school.
When I got my bachelor's degree, I would go straight into teaching. I would have the Board of Ed pay for my master's degree. Since I was staying in New York, as soon as I got into the NYC Board of Ed, it wouldn't matter what boro I taught in, I'd be putting years towards my pension and my (eventual) retirement.
So I got into NYU. I didn't know I wanted to go there until I got in. Probably could have made that choice a bit better, but what the hell, it's worked out not-so-bad. I've no regrets. (tangent: people say regret is a useless feeling, that you shouldn't be regretful of things you've done. that's all bullshit. i used to think that too. then i realized, hey, i've done shit i regret doing. it's not useless. it's how we grow.) I got a(nother) girlfriend. I went to NYU. I lived in the city, I traveled abroad, I met more douchebags than cool people, pretty standard fair. I didn't really forget about the ultimate plan, but it faded into the background for a while. I took an education minor junior year. I regret that shit.
And now, holy shit, I'm a fucking teacher. I went on the website, clicked on "apply", filled it out. They told me to come talk to them, I did, they sent me an e-mail five weeks later, on my seventh day of vacation in California, and told me I was hired.
It's usually the case that the "older you" looks with humor on it's younger self, at how naive and ignorant it was. I think that, but I also surprised myself with my seriousness. I set into motion a plan that has finally come to fruition, and I feel like I didn't even have to do much of anything. (there were books...yes, I remember, and written words, too...)
I'll tell you the truth. I was feeling sort of down in January. And December, etc. Well, I wasn't really feeling down, but I'm so high up these days that January looks pretty low. It's like I'm waking up from a dream, and I'm a teacher, with an honest-to-goodness salary and shit.
It feels pretty good.
(on the other hand, a part of me, a part that is being smacked across the mouth and told to shush, realizes following the life plan of a high schooler may not be the best idea, doesn't want to have a career and a salary, would rather have a job and a paycheck...the grass is always greener...but at least it's always green?) |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 6th, 2007|01:46 pm] |
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zomg livejournal. (((echo))) |
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| Transit Strike |
[Dec. 24th, 2005|03:56 am] |
I know a lot of people have been angry at the striking transit workers. I would ask you to pause, however, and consider the situation from their point of view. Many have complained of the inconvenience caused to them by the strike, or the unfairness of the TWU's demands. I would like to address both, the latter first.
I have heard people saying that the TWU workers should be happy with what they have. They have decent salaries, and they do not have a copayment for their health insurance. "They should be grateful," we say, "for what they have." When I hear that statement uttered by unhappy commuters, what I really hear is, "They should be glad they don't get as screwed as I do." It seems unfair to me to decry the transit worker's demands as "greedy." Has our society reached a point where health insurance is considered greed? What about their salary increases, you ask. Why should they not be paid more? Why should the people who do our most important work - our fire fighters, our teachers and policemen, sanitation workers and transit workers - get paid the least? Do we not agree that your salary should be commensurate to your job? And if we do agree to that, are not the people who transport us around this great city some of our most important workers (it would seem a 'yes' to the latter question, as the strike has recently shown)?
"You wouldn't say that if you paid taxes," one might say, "then you'd feel differently." Well, no, I wouldn't. If I knew my income taxes were being spent to give workers health care and living wages, then I would more happily give up my earnings than if I thought they were being wasted, on, say, discounted public transportation rides.
As for the inconvenience caused by the strike, I would ask that people step outside of their own interests and view the strike in a more social context. Labor unions are an important part of the way democracy has formed in our country. They are integral to whatever benefits we receive today: no corporation has ever willingly gave its workers what was not demanded. Who do you think is looking out for you in the end, the MTA or the workers? If you think the MTA ever thought of you as anything more than money, you have a lot to learn about the way society functions. The history of democracy is in part a history of labor unions: workers did not have rights until they demanded them, and so it goes until today. To frame the problem more clearly, you will be hard pressed to find democracy in non-industrialized countries or industrialized countries that have successfully prevented the workers from organizing. The rich people in this country are dependent upon other people to maintain and increase their wealth, therefore it is in their benefit that they (the workers) be included in the government. In countries where the rich are not dependent upon workers for the maintenance and reproduction of their wealth (rent-based economies), the people do not have a voice in the government. African-Americans were completely freed from slavery by 1875. They were enfranchised not long after. It was not the vote or freedom that gave them their rights, however, but from their organization and their demand for equal rights. Women got the right to vote in 1922, but "equality" did not begin until women were forced into the workplace in the 1970's to maintain the standard of living for their household (recession created the need for two-wage earners in the house to maintain standard of living).
Is not our modern democracy weakened by the absence of strong labor unions? The emergence of white collar, non-union jobs that is a peculiarly 1990's transformation has lead to the decline in the strength of the unions. Do we not see the growing rise in power of the corporations in our nation? Who do you think bends the politicians ear more, the corporation or the citizen? Does the government act for the citizen or for the corporation? The government will always act in the favor of those who keep it in power, and those who keep it in power are those who control the wealth of the country. Ask yourself, who is my enemy? Is it my fellow workers, the transit employees, who serve me every work day, or is it the state corporation, whose heads are staffed by the wealthy?
I guess what I'm trying to say Rage Against the Machine put more eloquently: "Know your enemy." It's not the workers. "Take the power back," because if you think your single vote is influencing political decisions, I envy your bliss. |
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| you'll never take away my lj |
[Dec. 2nd, 2005|08:46 pm] |
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Perhaps that is why it is really best, as Bucephalus has done, to immerse oneself in law books. Free, his flanks unhampered by the rider's loins, at a peaceful lap, far from the tumult of Alexander's battle, he reads and turns the pages of our ancient books. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 12th, 2005|02:04 am] |
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if i do this once every 6 months, they'll keep my italy entries archived indefinitely. |
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sagremor's journal