The things that go through my head

Yes, I realize that it’s a day late and a dollar short but Merry X-mas anyway. I have to admit that I was dreading the whole painful ritualistic ordeal. As a mother of two children, a consumer in a wealthy privileged honky white society and a tool of the patriarchy, I am under enormous pressure to spend money I don’t have on crap that I don’t need. I did have a Christmas tree covered with shiny useless gaudy junk but I did adorn it with cephalopods and tiny stoned Jamaican angels. I didn’t buy my child that Nintendo DS that she had her heart set on but I did buy Rock Band 2. I am spoiled and pampered enough and I have enough free time that I got bored of Rock Band 1. I didn’t buy Rock Band 2 as a Christmas present but as an impulse buy on Boxing Day. Yay consumerism!

What business do any of us have buying this junk while we teeter on the edge of ecological collapse? I should be spending my extra spending money on replacing my storm windows and recycling my milk jugs or new fridges! It’s too bad that my meager efforts will make a minor difference in the whole grand scheme of things. That’s how I justify my lifestyle to myself.

I am trying to convince myself that going back to school and getting an education so I can further my career is a terrible idea. I mean, once I get tired of my current role in the educational institution I can always sell furniture or work at Wal-mart. I know that carrying on in my current role as an educational assistant just might drive me crazy, but how do I know that I won’t go through the same thing once I get done with school. I don’t and that’s what bugs me. Oh well. I will just play Rock Band and forget about it.

I also have to admit that I used to read Lucy Maud Montgomery from time to time. She specialized in flowery chick lit. All the stories upheld patriarchal values in some way. The main female character desperately longed for love and marriage and babies and lived happily ever after. Anne of Green Gables did get a bachelor of education and teach school for three years but she also wasn’t truly happy until she got married and became Mrs. Dr. Gilbert Blythe (typing that makes me feel nauseous) and relieved her achy, throbbing uterus syndrome with 7 children. Seven children! They didn’t believe in birth control back then and it showed. Even a doctors’ wife can’t avoid child-bearing, even when it almost kills her!

At this point you are probably wondering why I am going on at length about old Lucy Maude, that cornerstone of feminine Canadian literature that she is. You see, even though I know that she wrote some of the most atrocious fiction, the beginnings of feminism took root. I remember reading one of her books, not the Anne series, and there was an older female character who admitted that she would do anything to have the opportunity to get an education. The characters did contemplate that perhaps they should be allowed to vote or go to school. This was just like the real world, like any half-decent fiction is. I often wonder what our ancestors from a mere 100 years ago would think of our current world, with its totally uprooted social mores. What would they think of me spending hours playing video games when I could be doing something useful, like getting an education or becoming some sort of loud-mouthed activist? Don’t I just take all my opportunities for granted?

Not only that, but I have to admit that school gets to me sometimes. I see the problems with these institutions and hierarchies that we humans love to create. The educational system is full of them too. I see these problems and feel helpless to do anything about it. What is one educational assistant against hundreds of years of tradition? I can’t even shelter my own children from the problems of school. I can merely teach them how to tolerate it. Should I get a degree and become one of them? I do love learning new things and explaining all about it in great detail to anyone who will pretend to be paying attention. Don’t you know what this means? I will be an awesome teacher. I will be so great that the whole institution will reform its ways and kittens and rainbows will follow me wherever I go.

I just want school to be about learning, instead of encouraging conformity and asserting your authority because you can, even when you shouldn’t. I want school to quit being pointless busywork and drills and rote learning in isolation from the real world. I am sick of marks and grades and ranks and head pats and report cards and evaluations and the whole lot of it. I am sick of the way that I can launch into a “teacher speech” without even thinking about it, to berate some kid for making a mistake.

In conclusion, either I have to figure out a way to live with school or I have to change careers.

The world’s oldest drug bust happened 2700 years too late. All the criminals that perpetrated this crime are long dead! As a science nerd I found this story via the Discovery channel website very interesting. Also, check out the pics.  The burial site was probably of a shaman, and certainly a person of high status in the community.   He was buried with all the things that he needed for the afterlife, his archery equipment and his horse bridle as well as his stash.

I wonder what they will bury me with when I die.  Probably my family will follow my explicit instructions and have my corpse incinerated.  It would be a terrible waste to bury me with a stash of someone’s fine homegrown.  Obviously I am happy to see scientific evidence in favor of the ancient use of cannabis, I just hate to see something so great go to waste.

I have been incredibly busy for the past few weeks and I have had no time to blog.  By the time I am done being a mom and a school board employee, there isn’t much time left over for intellectual pursuits, if in fact this blog could be considered intellectual.  This greatly annoys me, as I find blogging a very worthwhile past-time.  It’s a good thing for Friday 4:20.  Since I started this blog, it has been a weekly commitment that I have managed to keep, even if it means putting it off until the last minute.  I will have to start thinking of this blog as an important job that needs to be done, like making the kids do their paper route or any other household chore.  Chores never end!  I don’t want to feed the dog or vacuum the floor.  It will just get messed up again.

Also, today as the last day of school for two weeks.  I am so glad.  I really need a break.  It seemed like every day for the last two weeks I had to go to a party or take the kids shopping or something.  Christmas is stressful, even when you have two children who love the holiday, because it means more stuff for them.  As if they didn’t have enough already.  No matter what we do over the Christmas holidays I will be enjoying having the days off.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Yes, I said Merry Christmas, even though I don’t believe in God.  Take that, you soldiers in the War on Christmas.

We Saskatchewanians got pretty spoiled over the past couple of months.  Our cold days reached lows of minus ten degrees with slight breezes.  Still people would complain about the weather.  I would remind them, schoolmarm-like, that it could be a whole lot worse.  It looks like the weather gods were listening.  Winter came with a vengeance today.  I realize that I did a shoddy job of weather-proofing the house.  I totally forgot to change the weatherstripping in the door and a cool breeze blows through it and down the stairs.  I need to wear four sweaters to keep warm.  We need to replace these energy hogging single pane windows.  A pox on the moron who put single pane windows in this house and a pox on me for not thinking ahead and getting the dang windows fixed!

Also, my darling BFFFL’s car did not start this morning, so he had to take a cab to work this morning.  Then when I tried to start the car to take first-born to visit her horse and run errands, I found that my car was also dead as a doornail.  I was swearing as I turned the key and the car reluctantly said, “ERR-ERR-RERR…”  then nothing.  Luckily my kind neighbour took pity on me and helped me with my vehicular troubles.  But unfortunately there isn’t a booster cable or electrical cord to be found for sale at any of the retail outlets in Saskatoon.  What was everybody thinking when they decided to wait until -43 hits to prepare for the weather?

I spent my entire Sunday getting two cars to work and that was all.  What a waste.

Now it is no secret to the four people that read this blog that I am not optimistic about an Obama presidency.  I hope to be proven wrong, but it seems to me that “Change” is just a slogan.  Case in point, this is the man that Obama is thinking of appointing as the United States next drug czar.  Of course Jim Ramstad is opposed to ending the federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries as well as funding needle exchanges.  These things actually help people!  Being a recovering alcoholic does not insure that you will be compassionate towards drug users.

The Drug Czar that we need is none other than Dr. Ethan Nadelmann. He is an extremely smart and outspoken drug policy reform activist that wishes to abolish most drug laws.  This would make the job of Drug Czar completely unnecessary.  That would be so great.

Now that that is out of the way, how about if I make fun of the name Drug Czar?  That is such an absurd title for a government post.  It makes me think of a fat, little, pompous dictator sitting on a throne and oppressing the minions.  I suppose that is a pretty accurate job description, as all the Drug Czar does is find ways to punish people for using the wrong drugs.

This letter to the editor was posted by Herb to the EFSDP email list:

THE EDITOR:

On Oct. 9 I was caught smoking marijuana before class. Also, I had a large quantity of marijuana in my bag. Through the restorative justice process, I agreed to fulfill several resolutions, one of which is to apologize to the community by writing this letter to the newspaper.

I am taking responsibility for my actions by admitting to what I have done and apologizing to all the people that my actions have affected.

I realize my actions have affected the community in different ways. One way is that the money from the taxes the community pays goes toward paying the constable for the time she spent. The time she spent with me at school could have been spent in a manner that could have benefitted the community in other ways.

With regards to the school as a community, parents assume their children will be in a safe environment while on the school premises. Their children aren’t safe when there are drugs going around in the school.

Through the restorative justice process and subsequent resolution agreement, I have learned that poor choices in friends and breaking the law are costly to the community, dangerous to others and negatively impact my family.

A Kwalikum Secondary

School student

We suspended our policy on no anonymous letters to help this student, who can’t be named as a young offender, fulfill the obligations of the agreement. — Ed.

This poor kid thinks he is to blame because the community chooses to waste their time making criminals out of teenaged pot smokers. The government should apologize to all of us for the drug war, for the lives lost and the time and money wasted, for all the Constables everywhere that waste their time on minor drug offenses. Legalizing pot won’t stop teenagers from using it but it sure would go a long way towards alleviating the damage caused by drugs. I would hope that teenaged drug use would not be a criminal justice issue but a parental and educational issue. Or am I crazy? Sometimes I wonder.

Will I ever find my very own Edward?

Oh wait, I already had an emotionally abusive bad boy that treated me like crap. It’s over-rated girls, it really is.

A recovering Mormon read the Twilight series so you don’t have to. Go ahead and read and laugh.

For this weeks’ Friday 4:20 post, I will not be sharing too many deep and philosophical thoughts.  This was a long week and I am whiny and I don’t even wanna write a post today.  It’s cold outside and I am tired adn I think I am getting sick because I am surrounded by sick people at school.  Call the Wah-mbulance!  Bah, who am I kidding I love blogging.  Anyway, there are a couple of things in the drug policy world that caught my eye today.  First of all, today is the 75th anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United States.  Hopefully, while people are celebrating this occasion they will reflecton the absurdity of drug prohibition, especially the prohibition of my favorite plant.  Ethan Nadelman wrote an excellent article about this that is in the Wall Street Journal today.

Also, the provincial NDP wants to increase drug enforcement in Northern Saskatchewan in response to youth suicides.  While I understand that something must be done about the social problems in the North, I wonder if this is what the residents of Northern Saskatchewan really want.  Do they think that more police and more enforcement of bad laws is really going to help anybody?    Near the end of the article, much more useful solutions to the social problems are mentioned, such as:

Belanger said the government should be pursuing actions such as a concerted effort to “denormalize” substance abuse, ensuring RCMP detachments are fully staffed, boosting cultural and recreational programs for youth and supporting northern economic development.

Although I do wonder what they mean by “denormalize” substance abuse. Is it normalized now? Sending more cops up north may make people feel better but it won’t make an impact on the drug problem. You see, drug busts are merely the cost of doing business for your average drug dealer. Legalize drugs and the incentive to sell to the people that you know disappears. That is why there are far fewer drug users in Amsterdam, where cannabis friendly coffee shops are tolerated.

Anyway, I got to go do my paper route now before I sink into my couch (not Pete’s couch) and relax and enjoy my weekend. Do I ever need it.

It did make it into the paper after all.  I am very proud of myself.  Go me!