September 11, 2010

I found this postcard in a used bookstore last week. It was postmarked in 1975. Of course, this skyline changed on September 11, 2001. That was a frightening day even from relatively far off Chicago. That day I kept checking to assure myself that the Sears Tower was still standing and worried for the safety of my children and the world. Of course we all know the consequences of that day, from lives lost, to a mess in Iraq and elsewhere around the world, to more closed borders and more painful air travel.
But I feel a need to state my opposition to the recent politics regarding the "Ground Zero site" and the proposed location of a mosque near by. The rhetoric I hear troubles me deeply and I fear that the move to restrict the location of a mosque near the Ground Zero site represents a frightening move to restrict religious freedom in this country.
I have revealed before that I am Jewish. One might think that Jews and Muslims don't necessarily see eye-to-eye in this world and that certainly can be true at times. Nonetheless we share something in common. We are both minority groups in a Christian majority country. If this majority loses respect for religious pluralism, not only Muslims will suffer.
Our country was founded on principles of religious freedom and separation of church and state as well as many other noble ideals. Yet more and more we hear from a vocal Christian element that hopes to restrict our freedom-- to choose the people we date or marry, to regulate our fertility, to read whatever books we please, to maintain our textbooks and our science in a religion neutral manner and to freely place our religious institutions wherever it is reasonable and legal to do so.

An oft quoted poem (somewhat controversially because it has shifted and altered over time) attributed to Rev. Martin Niemoller, a German Holocaust survivor, speaks about standing up for people of different ideology than one's own.

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

Substitute in Muslims, gays, Mexican Americans, African Americans, atheists or any other group, non-Christian, non-white or somehow deemed unacceptable to the political right, and the poem still holds in a future that can scare folks like me who are proudly American but less sure of our welcome in 2009. So here I am speaking up for the Muslims, at the risk of incurring hateful comments on my blog. My great-grandparents came to this country over 100 years ago to escape oppression and find opportunity. The world has changed since then but the desire for freedom and opportunity have not.

What is she on?--a rant

I'm sticking my neck out again, something I try not to do but I can't resist this one. Be aware, I can and will delete any comments that I don't like. I reserve the right to be arbitrary and biased on this one.
First of all the juxtaposition of the article with the ad for Concerta is just too choice to miss (Concerta is an extended release form of ritalin).
Second of all, I'm sorry but since when do medical marijuana advocates recommend marijuana for school children and as a treatment for ADHD? In my mind giving pot to your kid is tantamount to child abuse. I know it is a free country but really. So your 5 year old has trouble sitting still and concentrating--what give him a little "medical marijuana"? Are we insane? This makes me so glad I don't live in California.
I am trying very hard to picture a classroom of stoned first graders. I might just have to write to the Comedy Network about this one. According to this writer, Jennifer L., there are 20 clinics in Oakland California dispensing marijuana to teens with ADHD. My brain hurts--hey, I forgot, weed helps with that too. I will not dignify Ms. L. with a link or even the use of her last name. I have no wish to engage her in a dialogue or promote her brand of insanity. You can see it on the screen shot if you use a magnifying glass and if you are really desperate for a laugh I will personally e-mail you the link. Ms. L. finishes her blog post with the following words:
"If I had a child with ADD, I think I would prefer they were on cannabis rather than Ritalin because it is a natural remedy." To which I reply, arsenic is natural too. As are ricin and tetrodotoxin. But I don't give them to my kids. What is the world coming to?

Gary, Indiana

"There is just one place
That can light my face.
Gary, Indiana,
Gary Indiana,
Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome, but--
Gary, Indiana,
Gary, Indiana,
Gary Indiana,
My home sweet home."

Lyrics from the Music Man



When I was a kid I saw the movie, Music Man, a number of times. It was one of my father's favorites. It is all about the sweet wholesomeness of a small town and how it brings out the best in a man of bad character. Since I grew up in Seattle and Los Angeles, this was my only encounter with Gary until recently.
Living in Chicago as a young adult, I came to regard Gary as a place to pass above (on the Skyway, an elevated toll road) on the way to the Indiana and Michigan Dunes, great sandy hills on Lake Michigan. No one that I knew ever went to Gary. It wasn't considered a destination.
Gary has repeatedly been called the "murder capital of the country." It has earned the title by having the most murders per capita of a city of more than 100,000 people. This number was 58/100,000 in 2005.



I would have never have considered going to Gary but my fellow urban photographers kept posting wonderful pictures of the Gary area. In my wanderings on the south side of Chicago I keep moving farther south and the next interesting stop appeared to be in Indiana. I had a child-free day and there I went.
Honestly, Gary has some lovely architecture and the first neighborhood I passed through seemed relatively prosperous and well kept. I truly loved the homes which were a mix of brick and stone, each unique and elegant.



Closer to downtown Gary I saw the parts of town that generated the negative reputation. Gary seemed more desolate than the worst parts of Chicago I have visited. There were hardly any people out on this cold day, but there seemed to be almost no place for people to go to. I saw a few young men on the main street but didn't stick around to chat.



Gary is a city that has great architectural bones. I hope they find a way to revitalize it, to bring back jobs, safety and hope to its residents. I'm glad I'm not the mayor, though. I wouldn't know where to start.



I know it is a lot to ask, but as the new president is inaugurated today, I hope Obama remembers his "community organizer" roots and figures out a way to help those Americans who live in the direst of poverty in these pockets of violence and despair.

Makes Me Proud to Be an American!

Actually I feel angry and ashamed. I know it is just a few bad eggs but what kind of animals threaten to bomb elementary schools to make their political point? Here is what I learned about just today. As the parents of a child in a "Chicago Jewish day school" I feel like the last to know.

Chicago Jewish day schools receive bomb threat

January 1, 2009

(JTA) -- Jewish day schools in Chicago received a bomb threat in the mail.

The letter, received Wednesday at the Chicago offices of the Associated Talmud Torahs and the Ida Crown Jewish Academy, threatened Jewish day schools in Chicago and in the suburbs, WBBM newsradio 780 reported.

The police bomb and arson squad is investigating.
Quoted from JTA.

I may be saying too much on a public forum but threatening my kids is just going too far.
By the way, this is a free country but if anyone posts comments in favor of bombing elementary schools it will be summarily deleted. It's my blog!

There are No Ghettos Here

Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago from 1955-1976 once said: "There are no ghettos in Chicago." (Cited in Waiting for Gautreaux, by Alexander Polikoff). Was this denial? Or a blind refusal to look at the evidence before his very eyes.
A selection of data regarding Chicago community areas from U.S. census data:



Grand Boulevard
White 0.62%
Black 97.7%
Hispanic 0.84%
Asian 0.07%
Other 0.74%
Median income $21,672

Bridgeport (where Daley lived)
Demographics
White 41.0%
Black 1.05%
Hispanic 30.2%
Asian 26.1%
Other 1.63%
Median income $35,535

Englewood
Demographics
White 0.44%
Black 97.8%
Hispanic 0.86%
Asian 0.07%
Other 0.79%
Median income $18,955



Lincoln Park
Demographics
White 84.5%
Black 5.17%
Hispanic 5.06%
Asian 3.61%
Other 1.67%
Median income $83,328

Data cited in Wikipedia.

Afternoon and Evening Photos

How I spent my early afternoon.



How I spent my evening.

Forbidden

On Thursday, I posted about bad books. Today the item on the menu is banned books. Today’s Sunday Scribblings is perfect for me because I was planning a post in honor of Banned Books Week (which alas was last week, late again sarala). Last year I posted about reading Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky in honor of the week. Thanks to A Free Man for reminding me of the week in his very interesting post.

I have copied the ALA’s list of most frequently challenged books of 2007. Here they are:

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence
3. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit and Offensive Language
4. The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Reasons: Racism
6. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,
7. TTYL, by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group
8. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
Reasons: Sexually Explicit
9. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit
10. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Which book to pick? I think I might go for Maya Angelou. I haven’t read the Caged Bird and it sounds like a good idea. I have read Huckleberry Finn and really enjoyed reading it for a college class. The racism is difficult (why people have tried to ban it) but I just read a Dicken’s novel and The Great Gatsby which had anti-Semitic parts to them and there are racist comments in Gatsby. It didn’t prevent me from reading either novel and wouldn’t prevent me from recommending either book to others. We need to take this old literature within the cultural context of when it was written.
I recently read the first of the Golden Compass trilogy and could move on to Book Two. I actually enjoyed the anti-religious viewpoint. Criticism of religious intolerance is pretty common in Science Fiction and Fantasy. The only likely reason this particular series is on the banned list for ’07 is because it became a popular movie. Maybe they should ban the movie instead.
I think It’s Perfectly Normal is a great book that should be in the library of most families with kids. Personally, I don’t feel the need to read it. I’m a bit old for most of the information it shares. Plus I’m a doctor. I give sex ed. Reminds me, I recently talked to an adolescent who believed that birth control was irreversible. She said she wouldn’t use it because someday she wanted to have kids. Apparently her middle school only provides abstinence education. There are quite a few teen parents in the high school this school feeds into. Guess abstinence isn’t quite working out.
Do you have any favored banned books? Any on your reading list for this year? I’ll let you know what I wind up reading.

Breaking news, I bought I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou. I'll post on how I like it as soon as I've read it.

New Beginnings?

I've been thinking about posting an open letter to Barack Obama. I am feeling overwhelmed by the problems with our society as it stands. I'm coming off a few weeks when I have been especially sensitive to the suffering of my patients. It seems there are problems related to poverty and poor health care that are insurmountable. Thursday I learned that a family I work with had to declare bankruptcy due to health care costs (not from me!)and are losing their home. It sounds like a cliche nowadays but it isn't when you know the people. They are hard working people, continuously employed, but the wife became disabled and needs an organ transplant. She is only a few years older than I am and will die without it. They are insured but not for a transplant and the required medications. Other patients of mine are going hungry, unemployed, disabled. A kid wants drug rehab and no programs will take him.
I know that bad things happen to good people (another cliche) but the past year seems worse somehow. These are things a 700 billion dollar bailout won't fix. I wish we could redistribute all those "golden parachutes" to people who really need it.
I am relatively blessed with stability at home but that doesn't make me sleep that much more easily. I can't run for office--I have no ambition, no drive, no hope beyond helping the few individuals that I can invest in in my office and personal life. I always say I try to save the world one person at a time.
We need leaders who somehow "get" the big picture. I'm sure McCain isn't it, Palin less so. Cynically, I guess that Barack is just another politician but he is what we have. Or, what I hope we will have.
Tonight is the beginning of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. I hope that all my friends and readers, Jewish or otherwise are inscribed for a good new year. Tonight and in the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I will be struggling to reconcile an unhappy world with something bigger than I am.
I was listening to NPR last night--they had a theologian speaking about the meaning of the Jewish High Holidays. He said one thing that was meaningful to me. He said that in the Jewish faith, "God does not intervene but we are profoundly helped by the knowledge that our pain is heard." Perhaps that is, in a humbler way, my part in this world. To hear pain. Just for this one moment, you are hearing of mine.

I stand corrected

OK, so I exaggerated. There are a few Native Americans left in Wisconsin! (See previous post and comments). I still doubt the Indian-themed motels I passed are owned by Native Americans. As for the casino, well I figure the first peoples need to take revenge on us "white folks" after all the years of oppression and displacement.
I'm just remembering all the fights over whether Indian names and mascots for college ball teams were insulting. I was at Stanford shortly after the school changed its team nickname from the Indian to the Cardinal. The decision was based on the impression that the use of an Indian name and mascot was disrespectful to Native Americans.
The University of Illinois retired its Chief Illiniwek mascot in 2007. Not all Native Americans were opposed to the mascot but the Chief retired anyway. I was amazed to discover in researching this bit of most-important American history, that Chief Illiniwek has a MySpace account. I guess it is nice to know that some fans are truly in touch with their inner children.
So I guess the logic goes, football team mascots are out, motel names are allowable. Or nobody has gotten around to suing for being tacky yet.

Sunday Scribbling--Curves

Curves

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

John Keats

I couldn’t think of what to write on this topic. I thought of telling you about the infamous “S Curve” in Chicago, a dangerous bit of Lake Shore Drive, now smoothed out. But that seemed a bit trivial and boring to one who has never driven it. Then it hit me. Curves, as in women’s curves.
This week I flagged an article in Time magazine (June 9, 2008 issue, link is http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1703763_1703764,00.html) relating to eating disorders. It references a study of an intervention in classrooms to make girls and women less fixated on the American ideal of thinness. I consult to a high school in my area and I thought that this intervention might be worth reading up on as of possible utility in this school.
I frequently deal with women, girls, and, more rarely, boys and men, with eating disorders. At their most severe form, these disorders scare me. At the less severe end of the spectrum, they make me angry. How many times have I told women that curves are normal, that a flat stomach is neither necessary nor ideal? I tell them that we would be hard pressed to find a girl or woman in this country who doesn’t feel critical of at least one part of her body, whether it is thighs, abdomen, breasts, skin, nose or neck. Ask yourself: what part of your body do you hate the most? I think most of us can answer that one in around 10 seconds or less because the answer has been well-rehearsed in hours of self-consciousness or self-hatred.
Around 13 years ago, I burned myself by spilling hot coffee on my hip. I realized that I would likely get a scar as a result. Being in my mid 30’s it occurred to me that I had found one advantage of aging. I didn’t care if a scar marred my look in a bikini. What a liberating feeling! Now, I’m not saying that I would be indifferent to putting on 30 pounds. I’m as much a product of our society as the next person. But I aspire to make it to a ripe old age without a face lift, liposuction or Botox. I will admit that I have been tempted by a good chemical peel although I haven’t tried one yet. I’m not dyeing my hair either although I only have a handful of gray hairs (which I wear with a degree of pride).
Obesity is a serious problem in this country so I am not arguing against diet and exercise for those that need it, even gastric bypass as a worst case scenario. What I am fighting against is the legions of young people I meet nearly daily who hate their bodies, who measure self esteem by how tight their jeans fit that week, who value five pounds more or less as more important than their many meaningful accomplishments.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever. The important thing is to stick to meaningful definitions of beauty.

For more reading and viewing check out Lauren Greenfield’s website, http://www.laurengreenfield.com/index.php?p=VQTME4W6, about her documentary, Thin.

Preparing this article has added a couple new books to my wish list.

The Price of Gas

I'm reminded of a quote attributed to the late senator SI Hayakawa who became famous for allegedly saying that rising oil prices (during the gas crisis of the 1970's) do not affect the poor, saying: "the poor don't need gas, because they're not working." Cited in a Washington Post obituary posted here. It would therefore follow that this summer's gas prices won't do the poor any harm either.
I am tempted to write a math problem of this nature.
A young high school drop out is looking for a job. Due to the poor state of the economy and high unemployment the only work she can find is a minimum wage job at McDonald's. The restaurant is 5 miles from her house. She can't take the bus because she has to work a lot of night shifts and the store is in an unsafe neighborhood.
If gas costs $4 a gallon, her car gets 20 mpg, she earns $7.50 an hour, and works 30 hours a week over 4 days, should she take the job?
(a) Yes, and buy lottery tickets with her first paycheck.
(b) No, she should apply for welfare; she will make more and not need to pay for gas or car insurance.
(c) No, she should get pregnant and hope her boyfriend will marry her and support her.
(d) No, she should get pregnant and remain single. The state will support her and her child.
(e) Yes, she should take her first paycheck and buy stock in Amoco.

Sigh.

Fame and Fortune

Kids herded together waiting to take the SAT tests.

Well, actually I managed neither fame nor fortune but still. . . . I've been getting back to posting regularly and was wondering what had happened to my nearly non-existent fan club--I love all three of you--so I looked at the source of some of my recent "hits." As usual most are from Google searches which is after all, interesting. However, I discovered I have garnered a teeny-tiny bit of vicarious fame from an old post about a Tom Chapin song on No Child Left Behind. It turns out that Tom Chapin has a web site and has linked to my 2007 post (which linked his song) on it. I guess this is kind of like returning a compliment. Thank you Tom. I honestly do think your song is great.
My attention has turned again to the issue of school testing lately as my older son it suffering from an excess of tests. As a junior in high school and a serious student, he has more tests than most. In the past 6 weeks, and I'm sure I am missing a few, he has taken the SAT subject tests (calculus, physics and U.S. history), the ACT's, and 2 AP tests (with a third today in AP Physics). He has his SAT scheduled for early June. This is not to mention his high school final exams and so forth.
The poor kid frequently has the deer-in-the-headlights look and we have had to rigorously encourage him to "chill" on numerous occasions. We also spoil him with lots of good food. I don't know who is looking more forward to his summer vacation, his parents or him. I am not "getting" this high stakes testing. How many times does a kid have to prove how smart he is in any 12 month period? Is it really helping the colleges pick the best students or just earning money for the College Board? I can tell you that my son believes the latter. I tend to agree with him. As yet another aside(I seem to specialize in asides) I am nonetheless a proud mom who can boast that his ACT score was off the charts.

Well that explains it.

"The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals." From CNN.com found on March 10, 2008.

Hmmm, let me see:
Valium--see no evil, feel no evil
THC--they didn't inhale!
Prozac--for the rose colored glasses
Oxycontin--they don't feel your pain
Ritalin--too late, they never did pay attention in school
Viagra--enough said

For the real story, go to the link.
The sad thing is that doctors were always told to flush expired sample medications down the toilet. Only recently did I learn that pharmaceuticals are supposed to be otherwise disposed of. The question is where? In the trash that the homeless regularly dig through in my neighborhood? One article suggests that you mix the used medications in with something unsavory like used kitty litter. What an awesome idea. Quick, let's mix up a batch right now! Even the rats won't eat that!
Of course it isn't medication samples that are the main source of the problem. It is the other stuff we flush. All the medications we take and then excrete unmetabolized. Who woulda thunk it? I always assumed that sewage treatment took care of it. Turns out if our livers don't break it down, our sewage plants may not either. Water filters like Brita aren't effective either.
Of course there is no reason to panic. The amounts are minute and we have no evidence they are harming us. But still room for thought. Oh, and bottled water may not be any better. Besides think of all the plastic waste the bottles generate and all the trucks, boats, trains and planes moving all that tap water across our planet to give us the placebo effect that it is better liquid than what one can get for free at home.

Speaking of THC, I'll close here with a final quote from that bard and social historian of the sixties (and he sure did inhale) Tom Lehrer.

"Lots of things there that you can drink,
But stay away from the kitchen sink.
The breakfast garbage that you throw in to the Bay,
They drink at lunch in San Jose."

If you haven't already seen it, watch Lehrer sing it on You Tube. It will brighten your day.

More from my reading list, or a guilt trip

Not quite K2 but mountains, nonetheless.

I guess I am on a roll for book reviews. This is generally a good thing, unless I am boring you, the gentle reader (or not-reader as the case may be). I seem also to be on a non-fiction kick. My reading habits signal a lot about my mental state. No books or no books I'd care to admit to in public, means I am tired and low on energy. If I'm only reading "comfort books," in other words, books I read 14 times when I was a kid, then I'm depressed. For the years of medical school, graduate school, kid #1 in diapers, residency, fellowship, kid #2 in diapers, I hardly read anything not assigned reading unless it was a beach novel on one of my rare vacations.
Then a miracle happened. I quit my insane, 60 hours a week plus call job, started working for myself and my kids aged out of diapers. Books started looking like something other than useful doorstops. I have only read one novel in French in the past 10 years, but that requires that my brain cells be on overdrive. So anyway, here is another book review.
This time I wandered over to Pakistan and another kind of poverty. Sometimes I wonder about books that are shamelessly promoted at Border's but this one came recommended by a family member. The book is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book had a few interesting prerequisites: an exotic locale, a do-gooder mentality, and some very tall mountains. So I read it. The premise is so hard to believe that I wonder if I should check it out on the net (since I fell so ignominiously for A Million Little Pieces--see this post).
But I choose to believe that not everyone who is noble, heroic or addicted in this world is a liar. So I choose to believe that Mortenson really is a former mountaineer who gave it up to build schools for Muslim children, especially girls, in Pakistan and later Afghanistan. Other than the obstinacy necessary to attempt an assault on K2, Mortenson has none of the obvious credentials for a major philanthropist. After getting lost on the way down a mountain, Mortenson stumbles into a village of friendly but poor people who help him recover from his ordeal. He learns they dream of having a school for their children and one thing leads to another. Next thing you know Mortenson is building schools throughout two countries, learning to pray like a good Muslim, being kidnapped by bandits (does he know Venkatesh of my previous book review?), and heading a major charitable organization. All of it is in the name of peace, love, fraternity and education.
So, what does this have to do with guilt trips? Well, books like this make me, and probably most other people with Catholic or Jewish guilt, feel like we ought to be doing more for this world. Even though I am in a helping profession, I haven't changed the lives of thousand of poor children in a far off country. I ponder joining Doctors Without Borders or the Peace Corps. I wonder if I should retrain in surgery (not) so I can repair cleft lips and palates in a third world country. As traveling in third world countries has alas taught me, I don't have the GI tract for unsanitary living conditions. I think in a month or so, I'd wind up a casualty of my own charitable inclinations, getting IV rehydration salts and using up the scarce supply of antibiotics. Which makes for a convenient excuse to hang out here at home doing what I am best at, helping American kids and adults deal with their own traumas.
Anyway, I am not trying to tell you how I console myself for my own role in world affairs. There is always someone out there who is better, smarter, poorer, more talented or holier than thou or thee. If you like this kind of thing, read this book. It is a great read, whether as an adventure story or as the book jacket proclaims, as "a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit." Besides, Borders has it on the "buy 1, get 2nd 50% off" table.

Did You Vote on Super Tuesday?

Englewood

Driving through Englewood is a bit mind bending. If you stick to the main streets it looks like the rest of Chicago. Old buildings with funky stores in them, fast food restaurants, hair salons and auto repair shops are everywhere.
When I first started taking photos in the inner city, the number of store front churches also caught my eye. Denominations such as M.B., A.M.E. and Apostolic meant nothing to me. In a way it is ironic to me because at one point I attended a store front synagogue that didn't look all that much different.
In these parts of Chicago, all it seems you need to run a church is a can or two of paint, a storefront on a main street and a preacher or minister. I've wondered how many people attend services at some of these churches and how the bills get paid. I photograph as many of these churches as I can on my outings. Some are funky, some loud, some a bit sad. I probably have well over a hundred pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing how these places change over time as the neighborhoods they are located in are nothing if not transitory.
Leave the main street and things become a bit grimmer. There are the usual mix of brick, frame and greystone homes. Many are clearly remnants of a richer era. On some streets half the homes are boarded over. Young men hang out on the street tinkering with cars. One day I saw cash changing hands. I hoped it was someone paying someone back for cigarettes but I feared otherwise. The same day I slowed to take a picture of a vacant house with broken windows and saw someone looking out at me. I doubt it was the homeowner doing a little rehabbing. Yesterday in the place of a neighborhood block sign, I saw a t-shirt with the words RIP. I didn't slow to see whose name was there. It might have been a child's. On the major corners are liquor stores with older men holding brown bags hanging around outside. Sometimes you see kids and women but mostly men and teenage boys.



I don't feel safe here but I try to keep my eyes open and I keep getting drawn back. I'm not sure why. I've seen greater poverty in Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. But this is in my own back yard, only a few miles from my home. There is character, culture and despair here. Am I here to spy and pry or am I some sort of amateur historian or journalist? I'm not sure but if you scan the pages of Flickr you will meet a few others who take pictures in the same places I do. I hope my interest runs deeper than mere tourism. I feel that there is a story here that needs to be told.
I wonder, why are we sending Chicagoans to rebuild New Orleans when we have devastation in our own backyard? Is it because a hurricane is more romantic way to lose a home? Do we somehow blame the folks who live in Englewood for their poverty, drugs, and violence? These homes, just as historic and charming as many in the deep south, will fall to rot or be torn down because they become crack houses. And what will become of the people who live here? Perhaps as in Bronzeville, Kenwood and Woodlawn, neighborhoods that seem to be on the upswing, the poor will be pushed out by gentrification and old homes will be replaced by modern townhouses made of concrete blocks. Someone told me recently that the suburbs are becoming the new ghettos of Chicago. I'm not much of a sociologist, but will the cycle of ghettoization and white flight ever end?

Thanksgiving is so, like, over!

Sorry for the title. I've been reading and writing too much young adult literature of late. I missed a day of writing and more than a day of blogging due to the demands of cooking and feeding 10 people on Thanksgiving. I lost a little momentum on my NaNo novel over the holiday but I seem to be back on track.
Today, I had the inspiration to have my character read a banned book and I happened to have just the right banned book in my library. (I bought it during Banned Book Week from my local independent bookseller). Last week I attended a local NaNo event and got a little feedback on my work-in-progress from a professional. Her take was that I needed to add more dialog and descriptive detail. She also recommended a couple of books that might help me with catching the adolescent "voice." (Don't forget I live with an adolescent voice.). So I dutifully went out and bought one of the books she recommended, dredged up a copy of Catcher in the Rye from my bookshelves--I never read it since I tried to read it and didn't like it as a teen myself--and bought a couple of modern YA books with catchy titles or themes.
Among my recent thematic readings are:
The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger
Ice Drift by Theodore Taylor (not YA but an adventure book for middle schoolers about kids surviving alone in the arctic).
Here is my favorite line from Hard Love: "I flopped on the couch, attempting to render myself invisible by passing for a normal teenage boy."
I don't really have time to review these books and others I've read this month. I really need to focus on surviving NaNo now that it is down to the finish line. To get back to the banned books theme, the book I am working into my story is the perks of being a wallflower--omitting capitals seems to be de rigeur in titles of teen books. So far it is interesting. It is pretty obvious why someone might want to ban it. In the first 42 pages there are references to drugs, alcohol, homosexuality and other naughty stuff. In other words, exactly what all the teens in my family and office are talking about. No magic yet which triggered Harry Potter haters to try to ban it.
I also found an interesting blog about banned books. It is recommended reading as is the American Library Association information about Banned Books Week. Happy reading!
The count for the day, so far, is:
46920 words
77 single spaced pages.

TTFN!

Sunday Scribblings--Queen of the World

If I were Queen of the world. . . well, my first act would be to abdicate. I truly believe that I wouldn’t run things better than even, say, George W. Bush. That being said, I still feel superior every time the man opens his mouth. I lack patience, tact, wisdom, foresight, and interest in important things like politics and economics. But if someone left me the queenship in his or her will, and I had to accept, what would I try to change?
I’d try to improve on the health care mess we’re in. Not just locally but globally. Something more has to be done to treat the curable illnesses and reign in the uncurable but treatable, like AIDs and malaria.
I’d treat global warming as a number one priority. Big incentives on small, gas-saving cars and on the use of public transportation. Big taxes on Hummers and their like. More solar energy everywhere. Let the government lead by creating less waste and being more energy efficient. I walk into my local grocery store, a coop where they should know better and ask for paper from the bagger. They uniformly think this means paper and plastic since the only other choice that makes sense to them is plastic only. When I say no, just the paper, they look at me like I’m some strange sort of eccentric.
I’d mandate more vacation for Americans and better family benefits. Then I’d try to gently teach Europeans that having stores and tourist sites open on Sundays would benefit the economy and decrease unemployment. Besides I always feel that Sundays lose me precious tourist hours when I travel.
If I’m going to be grandiose, I’d pass a law banning religious intolerance. Of course, it wouldn’t work, but it sounds good on paper, right? In the U.S. this would mean a serious attention to separation of church and state issues. But I wouldn’t try to dictate this to other countries.
I would really value public education for everyone. I’d try to equalize the access to a quality education across all socio-economic groups. And I would mean it, not just require more high stakes testing.
I’d push for gun control, parity for mental illness and universal health care for children. I know I would make enemies and I would probably run the global economy into the ground but I didn’t ask for the job. It was forced on me, wasn’t it?

Lensday--Freedom

Not a great picture but I worry that we have less and less freedom in a country that ought to stand for freedom (and liberty and justice for all). We've had erosions in our rights to freedom of speech, privacy and separation of church and state. Tap my phone, spy on my internet and library use, and tell me the next President of the United States has to be a Christian. What's next?
I don't want to pick any fights here, but I find it offensive that many people in this country would pick a candidate for president not on the basis of his/her qualifications for office but based on religion alone. I heard an interview of an Evangelical Christian saying that she would not vote for Romney because he wasn't a Christian. What's more, neither were Catholics considered Christian by this woman. Forgive me for being naive and thinking Catholics and Mormons were Christian, but this is beside the point. My question is what does that have to do with American politics? I'm not voting for the man but it has nothing to do with his religion or mine. I'd gladly vote for an atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Jew, woman, African American, Asian American or gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual individual if he/she fits my criteria for who is best to run this country. I would cheerfully vote the adulterer back into office if it would solve this country's bigger problems.
Nowadays all it seems to take to win the presidency is a rich, famous father and an insincere conversion to the "right kind" of Christianity. If you were pro-Choice last week, that's OK, recant and everyone will believe you. Oh, and no stem cell research unless your family member suddenly develops Parkinson's Disease. Then you can change your mind freely.
Preach family values to me and mine and it becomes O.K. if you cheat on your wife, your son is gay, your daughters are alcoholics and you try to seduce teenage interns. Actually I don't mind if your son is gay as long as you attend his marriage to another guy and if your daughters are alcoholics if you admit that you too are powerless over drugs and alcohol.
Forgive my rant. I couldn't help myself. And no hate mail, please. It's a free country, isn't it?
By the way, I read banned books too. Below are two books on the ALA list of most challenged books of 2006.

Loss of identity

I just knew this photo would come in handy.

Two weeks ago, the Department of Veteran's Affairs saw fit to inform me via a form letter that a database with my identity as a physician, including social security number, physician license number and who knows what else, was stolen in January. They helpfully suggest I access my free credit report to check for any illicit activity. Apparently 1.3 million other doctors are involved and many who have billed Medicare who are not physicians (which the news reports omit).
Why did the VA wait so long? Why are they not taking more action to help protect my identity? Why did Veterans whose information was also compromised (199,000 of them) receive their letters in March and doctors only in late May? Why was the VA doing research on my billing practices, given that I do not work for the VA? What was the government thinking? Apparently it wasn't thinking much at all given that this is not the first, very large, data breach at the VA in the past year.
Last of all, for how long is my data at risk? The rest of my life? Too bad I can't change my identity to avoid it being misused this time.
Skip the government site. It is worthless.
For more, read this link.