Problems...

I'm not quite sure what to write about... But I wanted to write a post! So... I've been thinking a lot about unschooling lately. Thinking a lot about how much so many people seem to hate school. And I've been trying to figure out how I can promote unschooling, how I can help to let it be better known as an option for all the kids stuck in high school... I have a few copies of The Teenage Liberation handbook left over from when I was using them as a fundraiser to get to camp, and I was thinking I could attempt to sell them outside a high school. I mean hey, I need to sell them somewhere! Problem with that is, I really don't want to do that alone. Knowing too many high school kids, It could get pretty rough verbally, and I don't want to be the only one there to deal with things! But Emi doesn't seem interested, and I don't know anyone else who supports unschooling that I could drag along. So I'm feeling mildly forlorn... I'm doing some stuff, but I want to be doing more stuff. And if I had more ideas of things to do in the first place, that might help. *Sighs* Ideas, anyone? Please?

Peace,
Idzie

Letter writing and grandma's once again!

We (my sister and I) received a second letter from a mutual friend of ours (who's away at camp) today. It's good to hear from him. And since I haven't written anything to him yet, I wrote him a letter full of local gossip and goings on. Just the type of things you miss hearing about when you're away!

We also visited my grandma. We've been seeing a lot of her lately it seems! She really wanted to see us since we're going away on Saturday (the day after tomorrow, yikes!).

I read more of the TLH and looked into various association's that help teens with travel. Cool stuff...

I'll try to write tomorrow, but I'll be busy packing and may not be able to. When I come back, I will post pictures!

So, now that I'm done catching up... (read below post)

Today, our guest for the week had to go home. Things are so much quieter without her! Drama seems to hang around her in an ever present cloud, so things are very rarely boring (or restful) when around her!

It's official now: everyone thinks (knows) I'm a hippie. And teases me. Since hippies are amazingly cool though, I'm not exactly insulted. I had an interesting discussion on marijuana, dealing, using, culture of use etc. Just a note, although I may be a hippie, I personally don't do drugs of any sort. I do find the culture surrounding drug use interesting, however.

We also ran around in the rain, dancing and singing, drawing on the wet car, eating edible plants, making flower chains, talking and, of course, getting very wet. I'm sure we appeared to all passers by to be using some type of mind altering substance! Great fun.

This evening, I picked up my copy of The Teenage Liberation Handbook and continued reading. I find that whenever I start feeling hopeless, listless, and inadequate, reading Grace Llewellyn's ever optimistic words always helps instill me with enthusiasm once again. I will always keep that book close at hand for whenever I need a pick-me-up about education, or really, life in general. I'm greatly looking forward to meeting her for myself this coming Fall!

The news was interesting today. There was a segment on musical education in elementary schools, and I found myself feeling sorry for all the poor kids trapped in school. And even more interestingly, a segment on the clothing industry in Quebec, and it's problems with outsourcing to Asian countries. The more I know about our world culture, the more I think our entire system needs a complete overhaul. I'm still searching for ways I can be instrumental in that...

Oh, and I discovered an amazing artist today! His name is Josh Woodward and he plays acoustic rock, and gives away all of his music for free. Yes, you read that right. You can download mp3's of all his songs from his site for free, or buy the hard copy's of his CD's for anywhere between $2 and $20, you choose. Pretty darn cool in my opinion. His music really is awesome. You can check him out at www.joshwoodward.com.

Listening to today: To Lose The War, I Want To Break Something Beautiful, and Josephine by Josh Woodward

Reading: TLH (again)

A trip to Grandma's, much conversation, and some good old TLH

So, what did I do today? Well, it was a visit Grandma day, so mostly out of my control, but I did read some more of The Teenage Liberation Handbook (I think it's even better reading it the second time around!), Watched an episode of Mythbusters, and had a brief conversation with my family about religion. I really enjoy talking about my personal beliefs, as well as other peoples, and I find the more I talk about them, the more my views clarify. I find myself more and more comfortable with the path I've chosen. I also had a very interesting conversation with my grandmother about my plans for the future. I used to want to be a journalist, but at this point I really don't like the idea of spending four years in a classroom, and spending all the money on that when I could be doing so many more fascinating, life learning things with the same money!! Plus I don't think I'd make all that good a journalist. I'm less of a 'let's find the facts person' and more of a 'ooh look it's a pretty butterfly I should write a poem about it' one. I've been playing with the idea of clothing design, or even more interesting to me, opening a vegetarian restaurant. I'm going to look into the courses offered near me and see if I can find any on vegetarian cooking. I like making my own recipes on occasion, and I think I should post one here one of these days...

After I'm finished writing this, I'll probably read either some more of the TLH, or possibly continue reading the absolutely marvelous book I discovered at my local library entitled, quite simply, Faeries, described and edited by Brian Froud and Alan Lee. I will add a full description/review once I'm finished it!

Green Fact: Did you know that you should only ever buy carrots organic? Apparently they're actually used as a detoxifying crop in contaminated ground. Just think of all the pesticides and crap they must absorb normally. Yuck.

Listening to today: Pork and Beans by Weezer

Reading: The Teenage Liberation Handbook, Faeries