This Year in Life... Including Dogs, Trips, Zines and Glasses

Hi! Long time no see.

I'm back because I've realized that, since this year was one of such infrequent posts, there are some things that have happened, changes and experiences and projects, that blog readers just never heard about (or maybe might have heard about if they caught that one post on the Facebook blog page at midnight on a quiet Tuesday in July, but otherwise almost certainly didn't).

So this is my year in review. A peek into some things big and small that happened in my life, be they actual events or emotional revelations or what have you, in the year 2013.

I got glasses 

After years of seeing everything in a kind of fuzzy blur, and two years of holding onto the prescription without choosing frames (because what if I got them and then hated them??), I finally bought a pair of glasses. So this summer, for the first time since I was 15 and got my first pair (which I promptly decided I hated and never wore), I could actually see! And it really has changed my life. I can read subtitles on movies now, read the digital clock from across the room, read street signs (which though it's not solving my getting lost habit is certainly helping), and can actually recognize individual people from a distance of more than 15 feet. It's really nice. And I even like how they look!!

My family got a new dog

After our beloved Airedale Terrier, Winston, passed away in the spring of 2012, we were devastated. It took many months of grieving before we felt ready to start looking for another sweet puppy to share our home, but in February of 2013 we started. We've never had any animals that weren't adopted before, and we weren't about to change that this time, but when you're looking to get a dog through a rescue organization, it's not like you can just say "well, this is my list of specifications, where is a dog who fits them??" and have one be waiting there for you. You have to have patience and just keep looking until you find a good fit for your family. This is especially true when you're dealing with one family member who is allergic to many breeds, and two much adored cats at home whom the dog absolutely has to be good with. Then even when you find a dog that fits those specifications on paper, often it just won't click between you and the dog in person. There needs to be that spark. As usual (that was the case with our last two dogs, as well), how we finally ended up finding our boy was through actually being in touch with specific people at specific shelters. We got a call from the woman we'd been in contact with at the Montreal SPCA (ironically the very evening my father had taken a plane to France for two weeks), saying hey, a dog just had a failed adoption and came back to us, and I think you might like him...

Blue at the SPCA, the first day we met him.

Enter a shaggy, skinny, big eyed Irish Wolfhound  mix who looked up at us with worried eyes and leaned on our legs. My mother, sister, and I were smitten. But we couldn't exactly adopt a dog without my father meeting him and being part of the decision, even if the SPCA had allowed that, which it doesn't. However, we were encouraged to foster him for those two weeks, since he wasn't doing well at the shelter, and then make a final decision once all members of the family had spent some time with him.

We were warned that, despite Blue's age of a year and a half, he'd be more like a 6 month old puppy due to his early neglectful and abusive life. We nodded, but anyone looking at this solemn, calm, well behaved creature would have had trouble picturing that. 

Blue on Christmas day.

Fast forward to now, over 5 months later, after my father having fallen in love with him as much as all of us have. While he still has the capacity to be both very calm and polite, as often as not he's bugging the cats (whom he absolutely adores) to play with him, climbing mommy (he loves putting his feet on her shoulders and kissing her face), snuggling with Papa on the couch, racing up and down the hallways going SQUEAKY SQUEAKY SQUEAKY SQUEAKY with one of his much loved plushies, barking at us to give him the human food on the counter, table, or stove that he would very much like to taste, and trying to (very gently: he's always gentle) chew on/mouth hands, arms, and occasionally noses (yup). In short, he's kind of like a 6 month old puppy. A very intelligent (he learns things scary fast and is most excellent at communicating his needs and wants), snuggly, energetic puppy. I can't even put into words how much laughter, joy, and love Blue has brought into our lives, and it's just been amazing to watch him become more confident and so much more happy in the time he's been with us. I couldn't have hoped to find a better dog.

And if anyone is looking to adopt a dog in the Montreal area, though the Montreal SPCA had a horrible reputation for many years, under current management it's great. Every employee and volunteer we dealt with was lovely, helpful, and seemed to really care! 

Here, have a couple more pictures of the cutest dog ever.

Getting cheek scratches.

Covered in snowballs from frolicking in the snow.

I went on a few visits and trips (though less than some years)

In the spring I met up with a couple of close friends and we spent almost a week in Maine, with a stopover in Vermont on the way. It involved staying at beautiful places, lots of time wandering around the streets of Portland, eating pizza and drinking mead, and even more time spent just hanging out and talking. Things went to shit after that trip, and stayed pretty shitty for the rest of the spring and summer, but that trip... That trip was good.

Bread and Puppet Theater.

The view from a friends house.

Live music and tasty pizza.

July brought the 4th annual Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering, a cozy group of teens and young adults, and parents of teens and young adults, that my family organizes each summer. There was lots of art making, game playing, swimming, bubble blowing, and even some jazz listening.

There was so much coming and going that sadly this shot is missing some people!

In august was the Northeast Unschooling Conference! My very favourite unschooling con, where some truly amazing people go. I miss them the rest of the year when I don't get to see them! It's the unschooling conference I recommend most.

NEUC picnic!

In October, for the first time in a couple of years, I headed back to Not Back to School Camp, in the capacity of a brand new role, assistant, at a brand new session, a retreat session with the aim of, essentially, helping people figure out their lives! Goals, plans etc. I have very mixed feelings on this event. Or, not so much the event, which was a huge success and a great idea, but more my own role in it. I felt like I failed. Like I could have done SO much better at connecting with campers, and being a good role model or some such thing. Instead, coming out of a very difficult summer, I barely held it together. If it wasn't for friends who sat with me and talked long into the night when I was shaking and dizzy and struggling to breathe, or just plain old sobbing my eyes out, I would have managed even worse. Though when I actually stop beating myself up for a moment, I can say I definitely worked hard at my dishwashing job, and considering how much trouble I was having, I handled things okay. I had some good conversations with many good people, attended  couple of cool workshops, and got to know some cool people better. Not too bad, all things considered.

Photo by Signe Constanble, found at the official NBTSC photo collection.

I dealt with some anxiety stuff

As mentioned previously in this post, my mental health this past year has not been superb. And in fact, I've struggled with anxiety for a very, very long time. This year doesn't really mark a turning point in the existence of anxiety, but it does mark a turning point in my commitment to being a lot more open about it. I don't think that's something I need or want to go into more here now, but I did write a whole post about the subject!  

I made a half-assed attempt to start selling clothing online

I love thrifting, and I find so many good things for ridiculously good prices, so this past year I decided hey,

I have a fill-a-bag-for-$1 store. This all was $1 total. Not kidding.

why not sell clothes online? However, I quickly got bogged don't in worry and fear (wait, I have to actually get things shipped out, what containers/packages do I use?? What if it gets damaged?? what if people ask for their money back?? How much should I charge in the first place anything? There's nowhere clean to take pictures all these clothes will look horrible in my messy house no one will buy them!!). Which is why I only ever posted 1 item to Etsy, I still owe etsy 20 cents for that posting, and I have not even signed in there in months. Oops. I do still want to do this, so providing I can get my act together, that might be something you'll actually see in 2014!

I started feeling at least a bit more comfortable identifying as queer

In case you didn't know from my brief mention in my bio or the very rare comment to that affect on the Facebook bog page, consider this my coming out: I'm queer! Which for me means I'm attracted to people of different genders. My sexuality has been something I've been angsting about since my later teens, mainly because it's never seemed clear cut, and the ways and levels of intensity with which I'm attracted to people does tend to vary with gender, leading to all kinds of questions about whether I'm really queer, or queer enough, or queer in the right way. But this year I think I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that I'm really, genuinely sure I'm not straight. Therefore, I have every right to claim the identity of queer, and, since I really do feel more kinship to that label than any other I've seen, for now I'm working on being comfortable with my queerness.

I started writing a zine

And I'm still working on it, I swear! I even had over half of the content finished, when I decided much of it was horrible and awful and why would I want to publish that?? and that it needed to be re-written. It's working title is Breaking Pavement, and it's essentially a personal zine. In October I wrote this rough list of contents:

1. An article on domestic rituals (bread baking, fermenting) and how comforting they are, how those things, as well as other direct connections to the… products of everyday life, I guess? Help me feel grounded. I’m sure there will be discussion of how anxiety works into all that, and how much it matters for someone who’s almost always stressed to find rituals, whatever they are, where you can actually feel at peace.
2. Navigating being a feminine queer feminist woman, how people treat me, my struggles with how I feel happy presenting versus how I want to be perceived, etc.
3. An article on my almost lifelong love of traditional fiddle music, including a few recommendations.
4. A small collection of one breath poems/haiku.
5. My cinnamon bun recipe.
6. Some comically bad illustrations.

See? I said comically bad.

I plan to post periodic updates on the Facebook blog page as it starts to come together more.

I'm finally building a personal site

I've been feeling for a while that my presence on the web feels... Spread out. Disorganized. So I've wanted to build a personal website, a place that can act as a gateway to my various blogs and projects. I've been using weebly, and I am amazed at how easy it is to use. My site is nearly finished and looking great, even though I have pretty much no skills when it comes to web design! All I need now is to buy a domain name, which I'm not currently feeling like I have enough money for. It might only be $10 and change, but that's a day out in the city actually doing things, since I live in the suburbs far from anything, and those days out are more important for my mental health than a domain name. If you feel moved to help out with that though, and would like to send a dollar or two my way, I would be very appreciative. I can't figure out how to link it (remember that very-little-web-skills thing I mentioned?) but a donate button can be found at the top right sidebar of this blog. Thanks!

Sneak peek of the new site!

 Now I think that's it

As in, all I can think of right now. All I feel like sharing. Already longer than I'd either expected or wanted it to be! But that is my year, in headlines, with the boring parts skimmed over. That's what I've been up to. I hope, since I've been so out of contact with all you lovely readers this past year, that you can feel like you know a bit more now, and that you have a better grasp of where I am in life!

Wishing everyone all the very best in 2014! Happy New Year!

Stuff Worth Sharing with Unschoolers: a Gathering, a Group, and a Mailing List

This post came about when I was realizing just how many things, events and online groups and other things, that I wanted to let my readers know about. And, well, once you have more than one or two, it seems pretty silly to give each one it's very own post! So here are some things I really think you should check out.

Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering (SMUG) 2012 This event, organized primarily by my wonderful mother Debbie, is now in it's third year, and I'm sure will be every bit as fun as it was the last two years! For unschoolers (and friends of unschoolers), unlike many overnight (SMUG is a six day event) unschooling events, this is not a conference, but instead a gathering of like minded people with the express purpose of hanging out and having fun (not that unschooling conferences aren't also a ton of fun)! It also tends to have a very large percentage of young adults in attendance, so if you're a grown unschooler this might be an especially good event to look into (the first year there were also lots of young families, last year less, and this year I'm hoping there will be a nice mix of ages). So yeah, it's cool. You should come. Join the Yahoo! group, and list yourself as "going" on the Facebook event! It's been a little slow in the organizing stage because of a lot of things going on for my mother, but as long as we get enough people wanting to stay in the lodge (we know we have enough people combined camping and lodge to make a good gathering, it's just that we need a certain number in the lodge to get it all to ourselves), it's going ahead and it's gonna be great!

SMUG 2011, photo credit Patrick Morris.

Stuff Worth Sharing Network My sister Emilie just launched a Facebook group yesterday, aimed especially at the unschooling community! As the description says: "This group is about giving, trading, recycling, and generally providing for and receiving from your community! You can offer and ask for items, a place to stay on your travels, help with learning a skill, etc. I hope that this can be a tool to help unschoolers get things, be it help with a project or that rare book they've been searching for, that they can't find locally." Check it out here.

Freedom-Based Education Events Montreal I started this mailing list (for "sharing freedom-based, radical, and alternative education events happening in and around Montreal"), and then haven't really done anything with it. Yet I really want to change that, because I really think it's important! From the description:  "for several years I've been as involved as I can be with the freedom-based education community in Montreal.  During that time I've often been frustrated at how far-flung and disconnected the various people and groups interested and involved in freedom-based education are, and how hard it often is for people wanting to get involved to know where to start.  So I've started this list in an attempt to remedy those issues, to help people get involved and stay involved in the various events and projects going on, to connect with each other, and to help build momentum in this growing movement." Join the mailing list here!


Anything else you think other readers of this blog might want to know about? Events, groups, etc.? Share them in the comments!

Idzie is Speaking at the Rethinking Everything Conference 2012

The Rethinking Everything Conference is one I've had my eye on for several years, and came very close to attending as a regular ol' attendee a couple of years ago when Daniel Quinn (author of Ishmael and Beyond Civilization among other books) was speaking, but ultimately it was just outside my budget. So I was truly thrilled (and honored) to be invited to attend this year as a speaker! I'm greatly looking forward to being part of this conference, now in it's 16th year, that has the aim of "Exploring our lives in brave new ways, supporting radically empowered birthing, gentle parenting, sustainability, unschooling and self-design, entrepreneuring, super enlightened wellness and sexuality, and lots more." Click below to see the bios of all the speakers and the talks they're doing:

You'll probably notice some familiar names there, like Peter Kowalke of The Unschooling Experiment and unschooling author Dayna Martin, among many other really interesting looking people!

The talks/discussions I'll be doing/moderating myself are as follows:

What Do Unschoolers Do?

It's easy to read lots of philosophy and theory, the history and evolution of unschooling. But when you get right down to it, sometimes it's hard to know what exactly unschooling looks like in actual peoples lives, hard to know what, exactly, unschoolers do? Join this panel discussion to find out about what unschooling looks like in different people's families and lives.

The Art of Nonconformity

Sometimes not going to school is the only thing we're doing that's against the ideals of the dominant culture, but often, unschooling is just the start. When the food you eat, your political views (or lack thereof), your relationships, and the way you're choosing to live your life all seem to set you apart from the majority of people, it can be both a difficult and rewarding experience navigating through the world. Come to share your experiences and support each other, as we discuss finding community, following our own paths, dealing with negativity from others, and other important things to think about when you're living an unconventional life!

Misconceptions of Unschooling

Unschooling especially as it's begun to be a bit better known thanks to recent media attention, is plagued by quite a few myths and misunderstandings about just what it is and how it "works." In this workshop, we'll dispel a bunch of common misconceptions, and discuss sharing what unschooling really is with others.

Unschooling is Forever
Now you're a little bit older, and suddenly the questions are changing. Instead of "don't you have school today?" it's now "so what college are you going to?" We know that unschooling means we're always learning, thus it can naturally continue long past what are conventional compulsory school years for many, though definitely with some new challenges. For those of us who have decided (for the time being, anyway) not to go to college or university, and instead to continue unschooling, it's a unique time and experience in our lives, both very similar yet different from unschooling in the younger years. How does unschooling evolve as we grow older? How do the expectations and reactions from the culture around us change and impact our experiences? Come to this discussion to share your experiences and support with each other.

I hope some of you will be joining me at Rethinking Everything this year, as I'm sure it'll be a fun, challenging, and just all around enjoyable gathering of like-minded people!

Public Speaking, Here I Come! ...I hope.

Some people may have noticed that I changed/updated/sort-of-made-a-new page (it used to be "speaking at..." and never got any hits) last week.  It's entitled speaking schedule and information on booking.

Up until recently, my approach to public speaking tended to be more along the lines of "oh, yeah, I guess I probably will, if someone asks", so this new page is signifying a change in perspective.  I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the things I like doing, and how I could do them differently, as part of a last-ditch attempt to figure out ways to earn some money doing the things I actually enjoy doing, before surrendering completely to the idea of hunting for a real job.  Some of this rethinking will not involve money, but money has been on my mind, as I've been thinking of how it relates to what I'm doing and want to do, which is something I never really did seriously before (I always seemed to have the mostly subconscious idea that the only way to really earn money was through far less fun ways, so those are always what I thought of when it came to money-earning).

TUC 2010. Definitely a case of "what? Um, yeah, I guess!"

And, well, in that thinking and rethinking of things, I decided to make it clear that not only will I do public speaking, but I actively want to be doing more public speaking gigs.  I enjoy it quite a bit, and though stress is often involved, it's a challenge that I genuinely like.

So here's what I have to say on my new public speaking page:

If you would like me to speak at your event or to your group, please contact me at unschooledwriter@gmail.com.  If it's something local (Montreal and surrounding area), I'm happy to do Q & A's, panels, and/or short speeches for only the cost of transportation (bus fare, basically), simply because I think it's important that people learn about unschooling!  However, especially for longer speeches though for the above as well, I prefer to speak on a by-attendee-donation basis, thus helping to support me and my ability to write, travel, and speak, while still being accessible to everyone who's interested in hearing what I have to say, regardless of income level.  Receiving a flat fee also works, of course!  I'm very open to discussing and trying hard to make things work for everyone involved.
 
I'm also quite happy to travel further afield to speak, with similar views on cost (paid transportation, beyond that it's negotiable).  Contact me!


I don't know if this will change anything in terms of frequency of public speaking (I'm currently discussing speaking in Quebec City sometime next month, though I started talking to the organizer in that case before making any changes on the blog), but I felt it was important to at least put it out there to see if anything comes of it.


Comments, questions, advice, suggestions, are, as always, welcome in either the comments or by email!

Against the Current: Talk from the Toronto Unschooling Conference

I just arrived home yesterday from the Toronto Unschooling Conference, which was a truly lovely weekend.  Talking to lots of cool people, hanging out and just relaxing...  And, of course, presenting a talk.  Being the perfectionist that I am, I still have some feelings of oh, I should have written the talk sooner.  I should have practiced it more.  I should have spoken slower.  But honestly?  Overall I'm pretty happy with how it went!

It really is too long for a blog post, yet unlike last year's talk, I really don't feel like this one can be broken up into multiple posts.  So, I shall simply post it all despite it's length, with a "read more" option so people who aren't interested don't have to scroll forever to get to older posts...  So, here it is!

Against the Current

Introduction

When I was six, I went to a street fair with my mother.  My little sister was probably there, too.  There were booths, from different companies and organizations, as there are at every street fair I’ve ever been to.  One of them was about the meat industry—it was probably PETA—and I think that’s the first time my young self made the connection between those furry and feathery creatures I so enjoyed spending time with, and the food on my plate.  Right then and there, I decided I was no longer going to eat meat.

I don’t even truly remember this incident.  When I try and pull it up in my mind, all I get is the shadowy almost-memory of a story told so many times, you can almost see yourself there.  My mother is the one who always told me this story, until I got older and started repeating it myself to those who queried me in-depth about my dietary choices.

I didn’t stop eating meat right away.  As determined as I was at six, Chicken McNuggets and hot dogs proved too much of a temptation right up until I was eight and gave those up for good, too.

But the decision was made at six, the summer after my parents pulled me out of kindergarten, and looking back now, I feel like that was probably the first major decision I made in my life that went against the current.  It seemed like everyone else ate meat, but this was not something I wanted to participate in.  This is yet another time when I’m so grateful to have parents that supported such a decision, despite my young age.

Now, this isn’t meant as a morality tale.  Though I still don’t eat meat, I’m not interested in convincing people to change their diets, and that’s definitely not the point of this speech.

It’s just an interesting example of how making decisions counter to those of the dominant culture started early on in my life.

Just by virtue of unschooling, all of us here have made a radically different choice in how we live and learn than that of the mainstream.  Whether you chose to never send your kids to school, pulled them out later on, or decided yourself to leave school, it was a huge decision, likely accompanied by much soul-searching and thought.  Possibly also a large amount of reading and researching and discussion.  Maybe you just followed what felt right.  But whatever path lead you away from schooling, I’m sure the impact of that choice was felt in a profound way.

Yet as big a thing as unschooling is in our lives, sometimes I think it isn’t apparent to others just how very many choices we’re making differently in our day-to-day lives.  Not only does the unschooled child answer with a shrug and a “why on earth should I know that??” look when asked what grade they’re in, the unschooled parent winces when they hear a parent, as so often happens, threaten to leave their child (who is very much enjoying themselves sitting on the plastic pony in the mall) behind if they don’t come right now!  The unschooled parent likely doesn’t understand how parents can scold their children for getting dirty, or rejoice at the beginning of each school year, or if they do understand, they shake their head sadly at their memories of a less enlightened time.

As an unschooling teen, one may make sympathetic noises when their friends complain about being grounded yet again, while secretly just not getting it.  Not allowed to go anywhere?  Why would parents do that?  And why are they listening, anyway?  Can’t they just… walk out?

Then there are the news stories on TV about back-to-school, the article in the paper about the importance of preschool in a child’s later “academic success”, the advertisement on the bus shelter about the failure a person will be if they don’t go to university…

In a hundred different ways or more, day by day, the society around us is telling unschoolers what they’re doing is wrong.

And that’s just unschooling.  If you’ve also made other different and radical choices in how you live, if your views on many other things are very different from the dominant culture, it gets even worse.

So how do you navigate in a world where you live so differently from those around you?  How do you find and maintain community?  How do you deal with the constant pressure to conform to the edicts of the dominant culture?  These are questions I think a lot about in my own life, and am continually attempting to answer.

The Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering (SMUG) is coming up!

When: Friday June 24 to Thursday June 30, 2011

Where: Camp Tamaracouta, in Mille Isles, Quebec (a bit over an hour from Montreal)

What: This is a gathering of unschoolers (kids, teens, young adults, adults: aka, this is an event for all ages!), where we can laugh and play and have long discussions and take hikes and hang out in the beautiful city of Montreal! This is not a conference. There will not be speakers. There will, however, be as many planned activities as the attendees want to organize, which can be anything from round table discussions, to crafts, games, and potluck dinners.

This is the second annual Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering (SMUG). Last year was a huge success, with around 70 people, all of whom seemed to have a great time! I know that my family is really looking forward to having as wonderful a gathering this year, and I hope you can join us in helping to make that happen!

To find out more about this summer's gathering, get updates, and connect with other potential attendees, join the SMUG Yahoo! Group, check out the SMUG website (to be updated shortly), and RSVP to the Facebook event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Debbie Smart and Idzie Desmarais

Co-organizers

Open.eyed.slave@gmail.com

Points for Toronto Unschooling Conference Talk

I'm leaving for the Toronto Unschooling Conference tomorrow, along with my mother and sister, and will be back on Monday.  As I've mentioned before, I'm going to be presenting a speech there, Entitled Unschooling is Forever.  After the fact, I'll be posting the various sections of the speech on this blog over the next couple of weeks.  Until I get back from Toronto, I wanted to give you a bit of a teaser: let you know the posts you'll be seing in the near future.  The sections/points of the speech are as follows:

• How I Became An Unschooler (modified from old post of that name)
• "How Do You Learn?"
• How Did My Parents Support Me?
• Changing Parental Roles and Relationships in the Teen Years
• The Teenage Years
• Letting Go of Fear
• Isolation and Socialization
• Dealing With Doubters (slightly expanded version of old post Unschooling Questions)
• The College and University Years (will probably become an article in Life Learning magazine, so will take longer to appear on this blog than the other subjects)
• Where Do I Go From Here?
• The Power of Life Learning

I hope everyone has a good weekend, and if you're going to be at the conference, I look forward to seeing you there!  Also, feel free to send me some good luck vibes, because doing this speech is nerve-wracking!!

Falling Thoughts (Bad Puns are Cool)

From last year... 

As the new style of this blog has probably led you to believe, I have Fall on the brain.  As recently as four days ago it was damn hot.  Like, REALLY hot (the news told me that with the humidity it felt like nearly 40 degrees Celsius, which translates to about 104 degrees Fahrenheit!).  But the last couple of days things have cooled down a lot, it's become slightly damp instead of humid, the wind has been blowing loudly through the trees, and I've been bundled up in warm sweaters, delighting in having everyone finally agree to opening all the windows (in the summertime my family always wants all the windows closed and the air on, even though I'd much rather have *real* air in the house, which means open windows!).  It's really starting to feel like Fall.  And I love Fall.  The smell, taste, and feel of it is singularly unique.  It's an amazing season!  Yet, at the same time, Fall is almost without fail a really emotional time for me.  Melancholy and happiness course through my system depending on the day (and in some cases, the hour), since Fall always catches me by surprise.  Is Summer really over already?  I'd swear it was Spring just a couple of weeks ago!  It reminds me of the passage of time (something that I tend to find pretty terrifying, since there never seems to be enough of it), while heralding a movement toward slowing things down, moving toward the hibernation of Winter.  Fall feels deeply spiritual to me, and usually involves a lot of deep thinking and questioning, a lot of soul searching and wondering of what-comes-next...

And also, of course, Fall to me means Samhain and dark windy nights, beautiful yellow, orange, red, and brown leaves falling and swirling through the air, to be jumped on when they land on the ground, making an incredibly satisfying crunching sound.  Fall is candles and year-end (because Fall feels more like the end of the year to me than January) campfires, warm sweaters and knit blankets and sharp air...  I miss Summer already, but I love Fall every bit as much as Summer.

This month I'll be away so much I'll probably miss seeing the beginnings of the mass change of leaf colour here, though since I'll be away in both the Toronto area and Vermont, I'll certainly see the changes there.  Last year at Not Back to School Camp (in Vermont) I marveled at the changes I could see every day. But, though I'm greatly looking forward to NBTSC, the next trip I'm going on is to the Toronto Unschooling Conference!  And (dare I admit it?), I *still* haven't written more than a snippet of the speech I'm supposed to be presenting there.  This threatens to send me spiraling, once again, into extreme stress and worry.  But, that has not happened yet, so I'll just have to (in a calm and collected manner) write it in the next few days.  I certainly have lots to say on the subject of unschooling, it's just a matter of getting it all down on paper in a somewhat organized fashion!  Wish me luck...

And forgive me for such a disjointed and generally pointless post.  I simply wanted to touch base with my lovely readers, let you know what my currently cold addled brain is thinking about, and that I'm still alive.  I might even be blogging about the Northeast Unschooling Conference (which was TERRIFIC!!) in the next few days.  Or, depending on how this cold progresses, I might just be curled up on the couch watching season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer under a fuzzy blanket while listening to the leaves rustle outside the open window...  I guess time will tell.

Oh, and if you have any thoughts on the new blog layout, please share them in the comments!

Freedom-Based Education Conference Outline

After brainstorming with a few different people, I've come up with a pretty vague outline for what I want this conference to look like.  My vision for this conference, if you will.  As things move further ahead, it may very well change, but right now, this is what I've got.  Note that when I say "we" I'm referring to both myself and everyone who's contributing to the planning of this event.

Theme/overarching message: Freedom based education can be for everyone.  Looking to break the myths of who unschooling and freeschooling is for, and to give the tools and information for people to *make* these types of education available where they currently aren't.

A two day conference, held close to downtown Montreal (probably) and easily accessible by public transport.  Either in a hotel's conference space, or, preferably, in a separate venue but with a nearby hotel that we've worked out a special rate for conference attendees.

Talks and workshops split roughly half-half between unschooling and freeschooling, with hopefully some other talks and workshops that don't fit into either of those categories directly (what's wrong with the school system, freedom based education at the university level, learning centers and co-ops, etc.).  Also a film screening room and a vendor hall (with vendors that we've approved, so meet with the vision for this conference).

Something I feel strongly about is that everyone who wants to should be able to attend, so there will be a sliding-scale registration fee for attendees, as well as an added note that if the lowest end of the scale still doesn't work for you, contact us and we'll work something out.
 
We'd also like to find multiple sponsors to lessen the cost, and have a food collective or similar there so that food can be bought, but isn't included in registration fee.


Speakers from across North America (if we can afford them).  We still need to put together a list of speakers we'd love to have, and want to approach to find out more details...

And I think that's basically what we've got right now.  There are other details, but that's the general overview!  So, what do you think?  Does that sound like a conference you'd like to attend?  Any suggestions or ideas that you'd like to share?  Speakers you think we might want to look into?  Comments are very welcome!

Talks and Magazines

As the early registration deadline comes closer, I wanted to tell my readers about the Toronto Unschooling Conference.  Happening in September, it's the only Canadian unschooling conference (conference, not gathering) that I know of, and I'm excited to be going for the first time!!

I'm also both excited and totally terrified that I'll be speaking there, not just attending.  I've done talks on unschooling before, but only introductory ones, where I give a short speech then answer lots of questions.  But this time I'm doing a *real*, non-introductory speech.  A LONG one (minimum 45 minutes).  I can't help but find this slightly terrifying.  Also exciting, though, so I'm just trying to look at it as a challenge and have faith that I can manage it!

I haven't written up a proper description yet (I need to, and will, very soon, at which point I'll link to it on my Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as the Speaking At page on this blog), but basically what I'll be talking about is unschooling in the teenage and college years, not going to college, and stuff like that...  I have some scattered ideas, they just need to be drawn together and fleshed out to create a proper talk!

In other interesting news, a past article/post of mine that you may remember, The Necessity of Shakespeare, appears in the July/August issue of Life Learning Magazine, a terrific online magazine about all things life learning/unschooling.  It's edited by probably my favorite big name unschooling advocate, Wendy Priesnitz, and I'm thrilled for my article to be included in an issue that also includes an article by a marvelous author (of 101 Reasons Why I'm an Unschooler) and online friend Peggy Pirro, as well as awesome unschooling mom, writer, and Twitter friend Kelly Hogaboom.  Yeah.  Lots of cool people!

Annnd, that's about it for updates, at the moment.  I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed and drained lately (not to mention emotionally volatile), so I can't promise there will be all that many posts in the near future, but, as always, when inspiration strikes I will write!

I hope all my lovely readers are enjoying the (extremely hot, if you happen to be in certain places) summer weather!

Peace,
Idzie

The Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering 2010

Firstly, I have to say that if this post is mildly incoherent, I'm sorry.  That pesky cold seems to be intent on hanging around for at least a little while longer, and I still haven't fully caught up on sleep.  But I want to get a post written about the gathering, so that's what I'm doing!

I feel like starting with the negatives first, because the positives outweighed them and I don't want to end this post on a sour note.  I have to say that I found it far more stressful than I'd expected.  I expected the stress beforehand, in the planning stages, but what I didn't expect was the stress while there!  There were problems with the building/facilities (it was not nearly as clean as it should have been for the price we were paying for rooms; the electrical circuits were easily overloaded, meaning we regularly had to take a drive out to the main building to get them to fix it; the basement ceiling leaked; park workers were working on the building while we were there, including using power drills in the morning one day, and turning the water and power off while they fixed something...), issues with around 70 people living in close proximity for nearly a week (trying to make sure both late night and early morning people were happy, and that everyone had the opportunity to sleep without being woken up by noise too early or late; issues with respecting others property; the bit of tension and disagreement that's virtually impossible to avoid after a group gets over a certain size...), and I felt like I had some sort of responsibility, as one of the two organizers, to make sure everyone had a good time.  Which is silly, because, as I often need to remind myself, I am not responsible for other peoples happiness!

HOWEVER, lest it seem like things didn't go well, it was truly amazing having so many awesome people in the same place.  I loved, so much, getting to spend time with friends I see far too infrequently.  I loved the music that was played and the songs that were sung.

I loved all the art that was created and shared.

 

I loved all the laughter, chatter, and sleepy silences.  I loved the bustle of mealtimes, the camaraderie of eating together, and the late night hanging out. 

I loved all the wandering around the campsite in bare feet, and the exploring of the city.  

 

I loved all the interesting discussion and sharing of stories.  I even loved the ridiculously crazy moments (can anyone say insane car ride?).  It was good.  I'm so glad we held this gathering!  And it seems other people really enjoyed it too.  All the feedback I've gotten so far has been positive, and multiple people at the gathering asked if we were going to do it again next year!  At the time, I said that I still had a lot of processing to do, and really wasn't sure.  But at this point, both my mother (who is also the co-organizer) and I have decided that we will do it again next year.  I don't think I could bear to pass up on a chance to bring so many wonderful people together here again next year!!

This may not be a terribly in-depth look at SMUG, but it's what I can do right now. 

And I miss all my friends from far away already... *Sighs*

Peace,
Idzie

Come join us for the first ever Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering!

Time is running short... Less than THREE WEEKS until the start of the first ever Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering!

We'd love if you would join us, and help make this event a real success!

SMUG website: http://smugunschoolersgathering.blogspot.com/

SMUG Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SMUG_unschoolersgathering/

Come share your skills and passions, meet others following a similar path,
laugh, love, explore, and just hang out!

Any questions can be sent to open.eyed.slave@gmail.com

Hope to see you there! :-)

Idzie

P.S. Feel free to pass the message!

A lovely outing and more info on SMUG

My mother and I drove out to check out a campground today, Oka national park, that we thought might be good for the Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering (we figure since we came up with the idea so late, only a few months before we want it to happen, we should get everything done as soon as possible!).  And I'm very happy to say that I think we've found the perfect place!!  It's only about 45 minutes from downtown Montreal, and it's also a really lovely place.  It's lovely in the Winter, and looking around, we think it'll be even more beautiful in the Summertime!

There's even a (swim-able) beach on a large lake...

Why we were especially interested in this campground/park was because they have a building with twelve rooms to rent, but you can rent as little as five rooms and get the whole place to yourself!  Here are the pictures I took on our tour of the Gîte Sous Les Pins:

Here it is from a couple of angles...

Inside, there's a lot of lovely wood...

A dining room...

A downstairs hangout room (my mom thinks those tables are perfect for playing Bananagrams! ;-))...

 

 

The upstairs hallway, which is entirely comprised of bedrooms...

Each bedroom sleeps three people, with the option to add a fourth bed (which would make it wall to wall beds).

 

Each bedroom also has a sink and closet space.

 

For those who would prefer to camp, either for money reasons or because it's more fun, there are campsites RIGHT by the gîte, as in a two second walk, so that really wouldn't affect your ability to hang out in the main building at all.

Also, the park includes several historical chapels and oratories (see the little white building on the hill?  That's one of them!).

The staff there were even super nice, and very knowledgeable, so we were just pretty impressed with the place in general. 

Nearby Oka village is lovely, and my mother and I decided to drive through it and make a list of important local stores (I found it funny that, by chance, the grocery store and the liquor commission where at the top of our list.  Really, what else do you need. ;-)).  While we were there, I hopped out and took a couple of pictures, including of this old church, that I've always thought was gorgeous.  Quebec has an abundance of lovely old churches!  All the old buildings are one of my favorite things about Montreal and surrounding area. :-)

Right by the church is where the ferry is in the Summer.  The ferry goes right across the water, to another scenic little town called Hudson. 

On our way home, but still only minutes from Oka national park, we pulled over to take a closer look at an old, yet still operational, monastery.

Having now looked the place up online, I know that it's not only operational, but open to visitors!  Next time I'm out that way, I TOTALLY want to see inside that building.

So, it was a really nice day out.  The weather was beautiful, and we were both so pleased to have found such a pretty place for the gathering, that's also so close to the city!!

Now we just need to find a good date (we're thinking maybe July 2nd to 6th or 7th?  We're not sure how attached the Americans who want to come are to July 4th celebrations though, so that might not work...).  The jazz fest would be on then, with TONS of free music, so it would be a great time to hang out in the city (if that date doesn't work, there are plenty of other music festivals with lots of free shows.  It's just that the jazz fest is both the biggest and bet known!).

I'll be setting up a website for the gathering soon (both because I love playing around with Wordpress, and because it's practical to have all the info in one place!).

If you're interested, don't forget to join the yahoo group:  Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering

Really excited about this, and hope to see you in Montreal this Summer! :-)

Peace,
Idzie

Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering

I've been having a difficult time of things lately, emotionally.  I'm not thrilled to be turning 19 in less than two weeks, and having some family issues.  But, one thing that's making me feel happier at the moment is a tentative unschoolers gathering this Summer in Montreal that my mother and I are (looking at) organizing...

Tentative time: June or July 2010

Tentative place: A campground within an hour of downtown Montreal

My mother and I are actually going to be visiting a campground with a building to rent this week!

If you're interested in possibly attending this gathering (if it ends up happening), and would like to provide some much needed and appreciated input, join the Yahoo! group here:  SMUG: Summer Montreal Unschoolers Gathering.

Montreal is a gorgeous city, and I'd love to share it with a bunch of awesome unschoolers!! :-)

Peace,
Idzie

The Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering 2010

So, in case you couldn't guess, I'm home!!  I had a really great week, spent time with many truly wonderful people, and took way too few pictures.  But I'll do my best to tell the story with only a few shots...

Last Saturday, we headed off toward Pittsburgh, to stay with a family we met at last years UWWG.  We were originally supposed to arrive much earlier, but by the time we actually got there it was midnight, and by the time we all stopped talking and hanging out in favour of bed, it was pat 3:00 am!  Emi, mum and I were thrilled to find out that not only were Jody, Bethany, Timmy, & Sam awesome people, they were also just as much night owls as we are. *Grins* The time we spent with the Hagensen's was great, and involved lots of conversations around the table in the sunny kitchen, about a variety of topics.  I love how with unschoolers, age matters so much less.  Between our two families, there were ages 9, 15, 16, 18, 18, and parents (I don't think they'd be thrilled if I tried to add their ages as well... ;-)), and all of us would happily sit around talking to each other...  That just makes me really happy.  As do the Hagensen's.♥  I really hope I get to see all of them again soon!

Here are Sam, Emi, and Timmy playing Smash Bros on Nintendo...

Their adorable, fluffy, crazy, cat.

 Isn't he cute?

On Monday, we headed to the Kalahari, for the third annual Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering!  We took Timmy along for the ride, since his family was leaving a bit later in the day, and he wanted to have as much time as possible there!  On the way, we spotted the official Girls Gone Wild bus.  Seriously.  We found that hilarious!

Yeah, I know you can hardly see it.  But trust me, that's what it was!

The first night there I was sooo tired I nearly fell asleep in John Taylor Gatto's keynote address!  That first day though, it struck me how very different it was for me just a year from my first unschooling conference.  I knew SO MANY PEOPLE!  I could barely take two steps without running into someone to hug hello, chat with, or just enthusiastically wave hi to.  I was even greeted by a lovely gift in one case.  It was a truly great feeling. ♥

The next day, I attended John Taylor Gatto's workshop.  I find what he has to say very interesting, though I don't agree with all of it.  He's very Libertarian, and I'm definitely not, so I found myself feeling uncomfortable with some of the surrounding assumptions and beliefs in many of his statements.  Regardless, I really enjoyed his talk, and found that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  Not arrogant at all, and very friendly. 

   

It's blurry, but that's him!

The conference centre was filled with hoards of happy teenagers...

 

People with interesting clothing...

And cheerful goofing off.

I enjoyed myself, spending time in the waterpark and in the conference centre, with teens and with parents...  Sadly, since I'm the photographer here, I have no pictures of me having fun! *Grins*

We also had the great pleasure of seeing the world premiere of the short documentary about Not Back To School Camp!  This film is seriously, absolutely and completely, AMAZING.  It captures so perfectly what NBTSC *is*.  I love it. ♥ Both Emi and I can also be glimpsed in several scenes...  I highly suggest you watch it now!!

Not Back to School Camp: A Glance Within from Allen Ellis on Vimeo.

On Wednesday there was a marketplace, complete with advertisers!

Emi was very happy with the stuff she sold, and felt she got a good idea of what sold well and what didn't, what price ranges worked, and similar useful info.  She also met some very kind and helpful people, who shared their experiences with both selling handmade items and traveling.

 

A friend kept her company while she sold her Creations...

Emi introduced one of her favorite games, Werewolves, to her friends, and they played some pretty intense rounds, or at least so I've heard...

 

Apparently playing Werewolves is much more fun than dancing. ;-)

You know, I really don't have all that much to say.  I hung out with awesome people, had lots of cool conversations, played in the waterpark, went to a couple of talks...  Of course, that's a lot of stuff.  But at the moment, I don't really feel equipped to elaborate on all of that!  So I'll just say that I had a good time.  Oh, I did also get to meet a few blogging and Twitter peeps whom I hadn't met before, which was cool, and got to know some people whom I'd only met briefly at earlier conferences and gatherings, which was also great!

On Friday, we left the Kalahari, with much sadness.  After an unschooling gathering, home seems pretty lonely...  I really want to make sure that I keep in touch with people this year!  

But anyway, we left the Kalahari and headed to my grandfathers, whom I haven't seen in several years.  I was a bit nervous about seeing my granddad and step-grandma, honestly.  Having had only brief phone calls for the last few years, it felt a bit strange to be visiting.  But I'm really, really glad we did!  It was really great to see them, and I was a rather sad when it was time to leave the next day.

 My step-grandmother and my grandfather, with their adorable but VERY yappy little doggy.

Me, my grandfather, and Emi.

Then, on Saturday, we came home.  It's always surreal coming back home after being away.  The tap works the same way, the dishes are all in the right spots, and the bed is in the same state of dissaray it was when I last saw it, yet it all seems different somehow...

I should mention that the Tuesday we were away, we got some bad news.  My great-grandmother, Eileen Boyle Caputo, passed away at age 99 on the day we left, Saturday the 6th of February.  I wasn't very close to her, having only known her in her later years, but my mom was, and it hit her hardest.  I don't think any of us really thought she was going to die soon.  She always seemed like the Energizer bunny: you just expected her to keep going forever!

So I will leave things at that for now...  I hope everyone had a great week, and there are, as there often are, several post ideas bouncing around in my head, that will hopefully turn into actual posts soon!

Peace,

Idzie