Wednesday, November 21, 2007

From Paul Rolley's column in the Salt Lake Trib on Friday:
The advanced placement environmental class at Viewmont High School in Bountiful seems to be succeeding at making some of the school's best and brightest aware of the need for conservation.
Just so long as they don't become Commies.
RyLee Stowell says she and her fellow A.P. students, as a class project, created banners promoting "Buy Nothing Day," an environmental alternative to "Black Friday," which falls on the day after Thanksgiving and is touted by merchants as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
"Buy Nothing Day" encourages conservation rather than consumerism on that day.
But Stowell says when the students wanted to hang the banner on a balcony overlooking the commons area - where dances, programs and other student activities are advertised - they were told that the anti-consumer message would offend sponsors that promote their goods and services throughout the school.
Principal Scott Tennis, however, says the students were never censored. They were allowed to put their message on bulletin boards throughout the school and displayed their banner in the lunchroom.
But he was concerned that the students were unclear about what the message was trying to convey - if it was anti-capitalism, pro-socialism, or what?

What's unclear about the message being conveyed? It's a youthfully idealistic appeal to the spirit of humanity to pause what they rightfully see as materialistic and consumeristic insanity for just one day. That's fairly clear, even if the kids don't fully understand the implications of their message.
It would be really nice if more people who are 'in charge' could see through what we're doing to our schools these days, and into whose hands we're giving the system in the name of 'capitalism.'

Monday, November 12, 2007

The last of the photos; the sequence actually begins with this first and ends at the bottom of the line, if you want to follow it that way.
It still brings me joy to look at these, I'll be the first to admit, even with the trip over two weeks past.
Hm.


This is how it began, well, how it began as the sun rose over Idaho Falls on Saturday morn. We got off of the freeway to get some breakfast and pick up a few more thangs before heading into the park and all, and this is what we were met with- a WallyMart with a flyshop as the headline feature. Odd. Very strange and out of position, but we got a few closeout streamers and the like and were glad of it. Still, it was rather other-worldly.






Sunday, November 11, 2007

We were up north Saturday to attend a funeral for my dear Aunt Kaye, who passed after a two year struggle with cancer. We've a great family, and we're extremely fortunate to be a subset in the greater whole.







My dad, far left, and his brothers and sisters.












Anwyn, doing her thing.













My sister and her wee boy.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Yet a few more photos from around the Beartooths east of Yellerstone.









Friday, November 2, 2007