Dubiously

Excerpt from “I. Do. Not.: Why I Won’t Marry” by Catherine Newman in The Bitch in the House:

Because not being married means we get to keep choosing each other. Can married people do this? Of course they can (although one married friend described this as the difference between, in our case, choosing to stay together and, in hers, choosing not to divorce). For us, there’s something psychically liberating about that little bit of unmarried space that allows us to move forward, to come toward each other, over and over again. Michael knows me deeply - he sees me truly - and, astonishingly, keeps deciding to stay with me.

“Ms. Kessler’s pupils study factory farming and corn subsidies, read articles by Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry and watch documentaries like “Food, Inc.,” a dark look at the nation’s industrialized food system. They also tend a 2,500-square-foot organic vegetable garden that borders their school, financing it with funds they raise and with support from the New York chapter of Slow Food U.S.A. In season, their plot teems with cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peas, red cabbage, spinach, tomatoes and many herbs. The teenagers can take the food home free, and they sell the rest at an after-school farm stand.”

[After being interrupted a million times while reading from a book about the Statue of Liberty]

Me: ONLY raise your hand to say something if it is REALLY important and related to what we’re talking about. Do you understand?

[Kids nod]

Idiot kid: My mom went to San Francisco once!

Me: What does that have to do with the Statue of Liberty?

[Kid shrugs]

Me: OK, back to the book.

Another idiot kid: My birthday is October 28!

Me: Does that have anything to do with the Statue of Liberty?

[Same idiot kid starts to nod emphatically, then shakes head]

…

By the way, America = Freedom, and that’s all you need to know in grade school.

Will be useful for tutoring math:

“The cogitating body prefers a hands-on approach, and gesturing has been shown to help children master math.

Among students who have difficulty with equations like 4 + 5 + 3 = __ + 3, for example, performance improves markedly if they are taught the right gestures: grouping together the unique left-side numbers with a two-fingered V, and then pointing the index finger at the blank space on the right”

On Znet

Interview with David Barsamian