Little fish, big pond

Southpark wants to offend you.

And not because of the president’s talking dinglie-doo, unless you are a believer in The Cult which has brought us to a place in history where bad is good and profits are far superior to people. And not because of a skewering of the return of Jesus, unless you are a believer and cannot accept that other people are not.

Southpark wants to offend you because it’s satire, and when things are bleak, humor provides the exit sign out of the dark room. BTW, the reason I have never really liked the show is one, it’s a cartoon, and two, it uses phrases like “retarded faggot”, two words which should have gone the way on the n-word years ago.

I mean, don’t we have more important things to work on? Like, I don’t even know if I’ll have any students in 2 weeks because of fear of ICE. Like, why can’t I find any Lululemon golf skirts in the right sizes for my golf team this season? Like, why can’t I fold a fitted sheet the way my wife does? Like, how will I accomplish my cross-curricular, PBL teaching agenda in a new environment where resources and innovative leadership are limited?

And, most importantly, how can I power-rest in the next week so that I can thrive for another year, doing what I love but keeping my homeostasis in a time of Koyaanisqatsi?

The simple answer is Stoner Dan. Let me bore you for a minute with the email I received two days ago.

How’s it going Walter,

I hope you are well. Great to hear that you’re still holding it down at Creekside.

As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that it’s mid summer. So I’m assuming that there’s no school in session. In any case, I’ll be in Sonoma County on Monday, August 4th during the daytime, and I could potentially slide through.

What are the dates for the upcoming semester? I’ll aim to make an appearance for this Fall semester. Much to catch up on! You’ll never believe that I grabbed a master’s degree and I’m actually teaching in a university here in Jersey!

-Dan

Dan was a Creekside student way back, he always danced to the beat of his own drum, smoked a lot of weed (thus the nickname), made funny instruments in art class (a pan flute created from empty plastic pen containers), made incredible burritos which he sold for two bucks back when we could do that kind of thing.

And now he’s Dan Neville, Jazz Vibraphonist (yes, I had to Google it too), Composer, Educator, touring the world and inspiring others.

Now, I don’t bring this up just to humble brag, I bring it up for perspective and how if we are going to survive and even thrive during this time of life-out-of-balance, we have to prioritize the things which will move us forward. Creativity, compassion, humor, innovation, that kind of stuff. And don’t just type those words into Chat GPT and see what comes out, think deep about what you can offer and then Do The Work. Because we all have something to offer.

I am starting this school year with a unit called, “Self: Who you are, what you do and where you are going.” Cells, bodies, neurodiversity, aces scores, mental health, nutrition, exercise, goals, that kind of thing. The final project is a trip to the Ropes Course in Glen Ellen thanks to Dianna Rhoten who has given us free access for years.

Will it change lives? Doubt it. Will it plant seeds? Maybe, and that’s all I can hope for.

August 16, 2025

fiction, life, love, mental-health, writing
I am the dog that caught the car.

Two things most people know about me, I hate cell phones and I have a lot of crazy ideas. Well, guess who had the best Monday in years? This guy.

After a ridiculous amount of data our district has become a cell-free district. This might not seem like much unless you look at the decline in reading and math scores since 2013 and think about what was happening around that time and what has happened since. Smartphone use up, intelligence/creativity/interactions down. Fewer independent artists in my art classes, less independent play from the golf and tennis teams, less inquiry, lighter conversations, more pot, more students who ask me, “What can I do to get a D?” and fewer students who seem fully engaged in life and learning.

Add to that leadership that promotes hate, separation and fights against scientific truth plus ten years of profits over people and I believe we are going through a type of de-evolution of the species.

OK, that’s kinda dramatic but overall Smartphones have made us stupider. But now, for four hours per day, bell to bell, phones cannot be out anywhere and after day 1, it feels really good. I had deeper conversations about kid’s summers, goals for the year, plans, jobs, our new site, and even why the new policy is the right one. Students know they are addicted to their phones and they need the adults to say, “I see this, it’s hurting you and I’m going to stop it”. Kudos SVUSD board.

Now, could it all turn to crap tomorrow? Sure, and it might but it’s progress not perfection and judging by the excellent Marshmallow towers (Google Marshmallow Challenge) sitting on my desk, we are in for more creativity, innovation and engagement than ever.

And did you hear the one about the teacher who got everything he wanted? Well, he lived happily ever after or at least until he retired in a few years. It’s not a very exciting story unless you are the teacher and you suddenly have a gymnasium, basketball courts, a field, acres of land, gardens, full sized classrooms, AC and heating that work, natural light, no dripping ceiling, a freaking kiln, and a central quad which makes your othered students feel not so othered for the first time since you started in the alternative education world 26 years ago.

I even have multiple places to store 10-foot letters (CARE in US flag colors coming soon to the di Rosa), my multiple golf team bags, there is the gallery showcasing art and displaying our thematic units (Unit 2, AI: Really cool pencil or end of the world?) and did someone mention the 9-hole frisbee golf course being created by my PE class? See, having space also means letting my idea flag fly free (like designing our first school flag to fly on our new flag pole).

The funny thing is, I never knew any different, I just went to work, did my job, sometimes had success, sometimes not, I was content and my teaching life was as well.

But something happens when things start working out, you want other things to start working out, that’s how the brain works, success and growth lead to more success and growth. And I have big ideas like vocational programs, building tiny homes, more internships, deeper learning, it’s a growth mindset which I could talk about for hours but I’ve bored you enough for one day.

Can’t wait for Tuesday.

August 15, 2025

education, learning, teachers, teaching, writing
Are the busses coming?

How close are we to busses driving down Lucas Ave. Knocking on doors, taking people away, no papers, you go.

Sure, most were for getting rid of criminals. You are incarcerated for a crime, came into the country illegally, are not adding to American society and have committed offences severe enough for incarceration, no brainer.

But now it’s phase two, and anyone with brown skin is suspect. This is why LA erupted, this is why San Francisco erupted, this is why we were all out in force Saturday screaming “Enough!”

Because America is the land of immigrants, we are the wonderful melting pot of cultures, started originally to flee an oppressive political system (king) and start over in a new land. All of us, except the Native Americans who were pushed aside (and by pushed, I mean killed) so that this new land would become the wonderful, messy, complicated country we now live in.

But you knew all that. And recently, because of the magic of carrying capacity, the world has become strained (3.5 to 8.2 billion people in my short lifetime) and resources have to be allocated in a fair and just and equitable way. That’s how organisms live and grow together.

And you know where I’m going with this, fair, just and equitable are not so popular especially in our capitalist country with our bully/baby leader where profits are prioritized over people. Which brings me back to what has been happening in the last few days.

See, I think there are more good people than bad and yes that evaluation is subjective but it’s also based on what I see and have seen around me for the last 60 years. I know most people prioritize people over profits, if someone falls down, you help them up, your first instinct is help not hurt.

And the immigration situation is tough. Unless you have simple answers like reform the pathway to citizenship and make employers help their employees become legal. Or be honest and admit the system creates a working underclass which is vital to our economy. There are no easy answers but trying to round up 11 million hardworking, essential people is shortsighted, mean and racist, creating more problems than it solves.

But we’re good at solving problems and those 11 million people are really what our country is about. Hope for a better life, a place to raise kids and contribute and thrive-American Dream stuff.

The only light in this tunnel is the money situation, that if the busses do come down Lucas avenue, the wine industry will be done, the Sonoma tourist industry will be done and the bully/baby will be responsible for the largest recession in history.

That’s the real question currently pinging through that little orange brain, “How can I deport 3000 people a day and not take down the American economy?”

Enough.

August 2, 2025

history, news, politics, trump, writing
“Millions of dollars in art found in dumpster behind school.”

There’s a headline you won’t see in our local Index Tribune partially because I have no idea who writes for, covers education, or is in charge of our local rag but mostly because the art in question is really uh, garbage.

That’s hard for me to write especially because I see where the art market is, I’ve laughed my way through the new Mr. Brainwash exhibit at the ZK Gallery in SF, followed the tale of the 6.2 million dollar duct taped banana, taught the story of Basquait’s “Five Thousand Dollars” painting and what it means in an art world where people buy art based not on what they like but on the perceived value and future investment potential of the work.

Bottom line, 1980 is not 2025, and I am not Basquiat or Warhol or Rauschenberg or Haring or even Banksy (who I’ve impersonated many times because he’s still anonymous) so 25 years of art goes into the dumpster.

But that’s OK, I needed to purge 30 yards (not a misprint, I actually filled a 20-foot dumpster) of collected educational and art detritus because it was time to clean house and I was given two days to pack up.

Gone is Puffman, the lifesize human cutout covered in discarded JUUL Puffbars, collected every Friday around Nathanson Creek in the 2010’s when my Science classes would pick up two full bags of garbage every week behind SVHS (no longer a problem-thanks Puffman!).

“Kids on the Vine” from 2004, all the giant canvases of “Better out than in, Sonoma” patterned after Banksy’s “Better out then in” New York experience. The 3’ by 6’ Values paintings: Justice Integrity, Honesty. The 1% artwork from 2007 (wealth distribution is not new), the protest signs, the giant wooden signs (SONOMAWOOD was only the first, we also made HOLLYWOOD, BOLLYWOOD, POOL, PEACE, SWEEP, VOTE, JOY, EMPATHY, SONOMA and READ).

Plus, Shorty’s and Anthony’s and Kayla’s and Dan’s and 25 years of student works which they didn’t take home but which I didn’t want to toss out, because well, I can just roll it up and stash it in the corner.

But now it’s all gone, destined for a giant hole in the ground outside of Petaluma, and it’s time to move forward. Because the future is all that matters, going out with a bang in my final few years of engaging minds, moving to a facility with a real art room and kiln plus a gym and farm and library and oh my.

And cleaning house is therapeutic. Remembering the good, like the projects above, and the bad like the morning of 9/11, the killing of Luis Miranda, meth month, Kyle and Chris and Amanda and Abraham and all the other students who have passed.

Plus, all the leadership and colleague changes, 7 superintendents, 8 principals, 11 teachers and me riding my little Schwinn cruiser to work each day, hopeful and optimistic that what I’m bringing might have some effect on the direction of students.

Not to mention impacts to education like the Internet, smartphones, project-based learning, flipped classrooms, SEL, STEAM, Covid, I’d like to say education has evolved in 25 years but, as you know, I’m worried about where we’ve landed with today’s smartphone addicted students.

“Yesterday’s news is tomorrows fish and chip paper.” The great philosopher, Elvis Costello said that and it’s a good mantra because if we’re going to change the future, we have to get to work now.

I want to increase tennis interest in Sonoma so I’m holding free clinics (Monday, Wednesdays 9:30-11, June 23, 25, July 14, 16, 21, 23, August 4, 6 at the High School courts). I want to have the largest, happiest and best dressed golf team ever so we are having a car wash this Saturday June 21^st, 10-1 at the Chevy Dealership. And I want to really kill it next year so my co-teacher Sam and I are developing 10 thematic cross-curricular units for this year (First one, “Self, how you can be the best you”).

Then there’s surviving the orange menace who wants you swirling around in his dysfunctional administration. That one’s a no-brainer people, put down the phone, go for a walk, talk to a friend and realize that there’s more good than bad in the world even though the bad gets most of the press.

And clean your room, you’ll feel better.

August 2, 2025

art, creativity, education, teaching, writing
Autism is not sexy.

I laughed my way through the Accountant 2 the other day and you should too. Because it’s not only a great summer movie (if you can stomach a body count of about 100 dead bad guys) but it has some of the funniest scenes of neurodivergent behavior since Peanut Butter Falcon.

The dating scene alone in the Accountant 2 is worth the price of a ticket. Oh, and please go see it in a theatre with a giant bucket of buttered popcorn and large soda (free refills although really, 2 buckets is a little excessive), it will cost you about half of a nice dinner out and I promise you won’t go away hungry.

But back to the movie, Ben Affleck is brilliant from his Solomon Grundy repetitive chant to his buddy relationship with his also-a-tinge-of-the-tism brother. I won’t reveal much more, go see for yourself, but I will say it got me thinking about how we’re really all kinda neurodivergent.

Remember that myth that we only use 10% of our brain? Well, it’s not fully a myth because as America becomes dumber and more sentient, our brains develop paths which reward and perpetuate the situation. It’s like reverse evolution, we wake, we watch, we fight diversity, innovation and connection, we watch, we eat, we sleep, we repeat. OK, maybe not all of us, but for many of us the paths in our brains are set on repeat and difficult to change. But change is life, failure is growth and difficulty sometimes leads you down better paths. IT’s uncomfortable to get out of your bubble but you should do it at least once every day.

Now I understand why my Lou Reed Pandora station plays Sugaree by the Dead.

My sis gave me “Lou Reed King of New York” for my birthday and it’s become my new tequila. I had a path of acceptable tequila consumption for many years then about 10 years ago decided that it was not going to help my final chapter so I put it down. Nothing dramatic, I had some supports and the monster was never stronger than my conviction so I built a path of sobriety versus the path of acceptable-but-more-than-average consumption which I grew up with.

Did it change my life? I guess, I mean, things are still hard but not as hard as they were with hangovers and sleeping on the couch. Did I become the famous novelist living by a river in between competing in professional tennis tournaments? No, but I was able to continue helping lost students find a path and my bed is a much more comfortable place than the couch.

Oh, right, Lou and the Dead, damn ADHD. See, I learned that my love of both bands isn’t really such a stretch, “Both bands like to take simple modal patterns of one or two chords and spin them out into long jams, though they took these in different directions. The Velvets freaky ambient noise not far removed from the Dead’s ‘Spaces’”

I’m learning about myself, my own neurodivergence, how I perceive the world and a little bit about how the world sees me. And if you’re reading this, you’re a part of my journey (ADHD, RSD Rejection Sensitivity Disorder, HED Hyper-Empathy Disorder) because journaling and being heard are important to me. Yeah, I hate the acronyms too but they serve a purpose.

I am also working on a four-week unit called “Self: why you do you.” For next year because my students will benefit from knowing about themselves and why they feel and think and act like they do.

Have you ever read any of these rantings and thought, “How does he think up this stuff?” or “How does his brain go from movies to the Dead to neurodivergence?”

Well, now you know.

August 2, 2025

adhd, autism, mental-health, neurodivergent, neurodiversity
Plumpynut not war.

I’ve never understood war. Killing people for peace just doesn’t make sense to me. Sure, I get territorial disputes and bad leaders who need to be deposed and, in this case, potential nuclear buildup from an unstable regime. But to me (and Marvin Gaye), war is not the answer.

Have you ever had to deal with people who had a conflict about some issue and you had to mediate between them before they came to blows? Welcome to my world where for 25 years I have refereed this equation with an even simpler equation, drama class starts at 12:35 and nobody wins in a fight.

The drama class is kind of a joke because our school

day ends at 12:35 (Get it?) but nobody wins in a fight is how it works in education because when fights happen, they rarely end with the fight. Especially now when 10 people are recording the altercation to insure that it never dies. Also fights usually require at least a day of inquiry and restorative justice so it affects all parties involved.

The world is a big classroom, filled with bullies, pacifists, and a whole lot of people who just want to have a nice day. But world conflict means 1.5 million dead in Ukraine and 4.5 million dead in the Middle East in the last 20 years. BTW, that’s the population of Colorado, gone.

Solutions? Not really possible with the personalities involved today. MLK, Gandhi, John Lennon, Mother Teresa, Bob Marley, all just memories of a time when things were different. Priorities were different, life was different.

Plumpynut is my new favorite thing. It’s a high nutrition food, created to alleviate hunger and disease, costs 35 cents per serving and can cure hunger.

War in Ukraine, 400 billion=12,000,000,000 servings of Plumpynut. Middle East, 5.8 Trillion=17,600,000,000,000 servings of Plumpynut. Trump’s birthday party, 48 million=144,000,000 servings of Plumpynut. And just for fun, Bezos’ wedding, 20 million (lowest estimate)=60,000,000 servings of Plumpynut. You see where I’m going with this, feed people or feed hate.

The good news? The democratic socialists are coming and I’m not talking just Bernie and AOC and Beto, Mamdani in New York, Jackson in Maine, Cooke in Wisconsin, they’re popping out all over and this is only the beginning. Because there are more lovers than haters, more rational people promoting rational ideas like people over profits.

And are you supporting the No Kings movement? Well, get on board because the next one is on the fourth of July (my favorite holiday) where America takes back its independence from an oppressive leader, just like we did in 1777.

Celebrate this year with a constitutional refresher course. Understand what the Constitution really stands for: liberty, justice, freedom from oppression, a balance of power, issues which have become undervalued. Domestic tranquility, yeah, not really feeling that these days.

And if you hate war, say it out loud, tell your friends, teach it to your kids because it’s kinda outdated and nobody really wins in a fight.

Oh, and more plumpynut, always.

August 2, 2025

politics, russia, ukraine, war, writing
It’s time for a little vacation.

And by little, I mean a couple of days away, rediscovering a lake which has been a lifelong power spot but somehow, you’ve forgotten about for the last few years. We are spoiled in Northern California, within three hours we can be on hundreds of beaches, in the mountains, sitting on top of Half Dome, or in one of the greatest, most diverse cities in the world.

You deserve a couple of days at least. You work hard, try to do good, try to make the world a little better than it was yesterday (quite challenging these days). You know it’s not getting any easier, money is tight, the news is bad, America is no longer a democracy but an oligarchy, every day, a little bit older, a little more tired, wondering if it’s all worth it…

Well, it is worth it. But you have to appreciate why you work as hard as you do, and there’s no place better place to do that than Lake Tahoe. Now, some simple rules, go during the week (cheaper, less crowded), walk, bike, swim, explore, and leave your screens at home.

There’s magic in Tahoe, Sylva restaurant, the outdoor bar at Za’s Pizza, Basecamp and the Evo hotel, the bike path from Meek’s Bay to Olympic Village, Baldwin Beach, beauty like no where else in the world. My perfect three days? Well, thought you’d never ask.

Leave early Monday morning, stop at Sonoma market for sandwiches (Firecracker on focaccia please) and a smoothie (C-booster with extra ginger) then up highway 50 to south shore for a day at the beach (Baldwin, Meeks Bay, or for the adventurous, park in the Vikingsholm lot and hike down to Emerald Bay). Set your REI camp chair at the edge of the lake, open up your summer reading material and hang until all of your stress drains away. Listen to the lake, stare at the 17 shades of blue, realize that this is why you are alive.

Next, continue to Tahoe City where you are staying at Basecamp or The Evo hotel. Shower then head to dinner at Sylva where you have to order the ceviche, the beets and cherry crack for desert. Talk with the owners, look for the guy with FOIE GRAS tattooed on his knuckles, realize that food is more than fuel, it’s art. Watch the sunset from your outdoor table, bring that wine you’ve been saving (for me, a 2008 Bucklin Zinfandel). Breathe deep, sleep hard.

Tuesday you rent electric bikes and ride along the Truckee to Olympic village then down the Westshore to Sunnyside for a late lunch and quick dip next to the restaurant to cool off. Then continue to Meeks Bay because electric bikes make long distances super short and if you stay at the Evo hotel, bike rentals are half price.

Walk to Za’s Pizza for dinner and have at least one drink at the world’s greatest outdoor bar while you wait for your table. Get a second wind and head to Jim Kelly’s Nugget for a little gamble or walk down along the lake to the Little Truckee Ice Cream Truck and take your toasted coconut chip waffle cone to Fanny Bridge to watch the monster trout.

Wednesday wake up with coffee and pastry and provisions at Tahoe House Bakery, then either a round at the Everline golf course in Olympic Valley (a close second most beautiful course in California after Pebble Beach) or back to the beach. Find a spot for dinner and drive home late so you miss the 5:00 Sacramento traffic.

Return to Sonoma, tan rested, and ready for whatever the rest of summer can throw at you. Begin to see the world differently, scroll less, walk more, think about what goes in your body and brain and why it matters. Plan your next vacation, take your camp chair to Maxwell beach or the Rez or the Plaza and realize there’s a reason people come from around the world to visit where we live.

August 2, 2025

adventure, europe, hiking, travel, travel-tips
A day in San Quentin

By Walt Williams

It’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon and Lumpy is nervous. Partially from the years of meth, which make him twitch and move his head around constantly kinda like a bird looking for food, and partially, because he knows he may be out in 100 days after 26 years in prison.

Lumpy has grown up in prison, Pelican Bay to High Desert to San Quentin. He was a fat kid in Sacramento who discovered that meth helped him loose weight. He bought from a dealer and then when his friends wanted some, he started selling to them. Then he got a job with Hostess delivering Twinkies and realized that his route was full of people and stops where he could make lots of money selling more than cream filled goodness.

Soon, he had graduated to meth runs from Sacramento to all over Northern California in the Twinkie van. Dealers loved Lumpy and his Twinkies and since he was smart, when one of the cooks suggested that the real money was in production, he signed on. This lasted until things went bad (things always go bad), he killed a man over a deal gone south, that was 1990. 25 years to life.

We are sitting in the lunchroom at San Quentin when Lumpy tells me the Twinkie story. I’m not exactly sure what is true but I feel a sadness listening to his stories. In a few months he’s going into a world where his job options are limited and where the easiest money is jumping back on the Twinkie van.

In 1963 the SQUIRES program was created. The general philosophy is, “We don’t scare straight, we communicate.” Groups of high school aged kids travel to the prison and spend the day inside talking with inmates, touring cells, walking the grounds, and learning why prison is not the place to be. This works when the group experiences the harsh reality of being behind bars but does not work when the reality is not so harsh. This is my second time bringing students into the prison, reading books is one thing but walking the yard is quite another.

Let’s start with racism and segregation. According to inmates, there are five groups in prisons: Northern Hispanics, Southern Hispanics Whites, Blacks, and Others. You see it on the yard where there are territories claimed by race. Around the basketball court is where the blacks hang out, around the tennis court is where the whites hang out (yes, there is a tennis court in the middle of San Quentin), the baseball diamond and picnic benches are for the Hispanics and the track around the yard is neutral territory used by everyone. Those who don’t self-segregate face consequences from both their own people and the people who they are trying to mix with. In prison you hang with your race, period.

As a nerdy white guy, I felt it as soon as I entered the prison. There was even a subtle divide within the SQUIRES program. The inmates I talked to (Lumpy and Tommy) were the same race as me, we sat together at lunch and we walked together through the yard.

“You wouldn’t hang with this guy.” Lumpy explained, pointing to Jaime, my Hispanic co-teacher. “If you did, the Arians might hit you up and the northern Hispanics, man, they would shank you just for trying to talk with one of theirs.”

Most inmates in the SQUIRES program are at the end of long sentences, usually for murder. The program is a part of their rehabilitation and reconnection with the outside world. The inmates could use some race relations curriculum.

The message from the program is valuable but there are some problems. This is my second time visiting San Quentin with a group of teens and I am always curious what the lasting impression will be. There is plenty of scared straight that goes on with the program. Part of the day consists of two sessions with the inmates where students sit in circles talking about their lives. One student from Santa Cruz had been busted with brass knuckles.

“Funny.” Tommy (30 years to life for murder) said, “I started with brass knuckles, then I graduated to knives, then guns, then I killed a guy, and now here I am.” That’s the message, they all started with skipping school and drinking and smoking weed and getting in fights, and then it escalated or they were suddenly in a situation which they couldn’t get out of. Like I said, things always go bad.

The California prion population is actually decreasing. Currently 135,000 people are serving time, down from a high of 160,000 a few years ago. This is good, what is not good is a recidivism rate of 61%, or a structure that focuses on holding not on rehabilitating. 13.4 Billion is spent on maintaining the 37 California prisons. 64 thousand dollars per inmate seems like way too much when you spend a day inside. The food is bad (pre-packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a mealy apple, oatmeal cookie and some flavored sugar water). Most inmates work to buy food at the commissary that has a nutritional level similar to 7-11.

Then there’s the booze and the drugs. When I smelled the familiar scent of weed wafting down from the cellblock we visited, I asked Lumpy how I could get drugs in prison. “No problem, weed, heroin, acid, long as you got money.” I told him about a documentary I saw which depicted the inmates holding a daily happy hour where they would bring out their pruno to share. “Yeah, when I was in High Desert I had a still winding around my cell, that’s how I made all my money, making and selling liquor.”

“But what about the guards?” I ask.

“Naw, most prisons have a blood code where if no one is bleeding, the guards leave you alone. The prisoners run the show, until someone bleeds, then they have to get involved.” He explained. Yikes.

At the end of the day the group gets together in a single room and talks about their experience. A chubby kid from Santa Cruz is talking out of turn so the head of the program asks him what he will remember from the day.

“I’m going to remember what a fun day I had at San Quentin.” He replies. The head of the program loses his shit and we all shake our heads in defeat.

The message is powerful but not quite on target.

August 2, 2025

books, news, politics, prison, writing
Us

Donald Trump should be in jail. Instead, in about a week, he might be voted in to the most powerful position in the world.

This is Democracy in action. The will of the people. People who are scared and poor and gullible, able to look beyond all the bluster and find a savior. People who are wealthy and selfish and hopeful that their pile of money will only get bigger. People who are tired of pronouns and wokeness and trans issues because they do not see the value in any of it. People who relate and aspire to the bravado, the machismo, the message. And people who believe that gas and food and life will become more affordable.

Us versus them or Us. It’s really a simple choice. And each side knows that they’re right so let’s stop arguing and evolve. Do what teachers do and back plan from where you want to be to today.

The kids do this, David Hodges has been explaining on the talk show circuit about his generation coming of age and getting ready to work toward peace love and understanding. 20somethings see the mess that 60somethings are ignoring. A planet in crisis, wars killing innocent people, nuclear buildup, an education system unable and unwilling to keep up with technology, problems that need attention right now while the two candidates spend 16 billion dollars on… What?!?

Back planning is simple, think about where you want to be in 1, 5, 10 years then create the curriculum which will get you there. Want to solve climate change? Homelessness? Wars? Nuclear buildup? Guns? Move toward caring not killing? We already have a plan for all of it but four more years with a leader who simply does not care will only keep us arguing while the issues grow.

Donald Trump believes that Climate Change is a hoax. That the homeless should just get jobs. That we should not get involved in any any wars outside our boarders and get to fighting “The enemy within” which means me and anyone else who thinks freely. Nuclear buildup, good, guns, good, caring not killing, sorry boomer, Capitalism has winners and losers.

And how about this for a scary potential scenario, the National Guard driving a bus down Lucas Avenue in the springs, knocking on doors, “Do you have papers? No, then get on the bus.”

I have hope for the next generation. We just completed a unit on AI and realized, just like smartphones, it’s really just a fancy new pencil. The key is in how we use it.

Cell phones have ruined the world, it’s been my mantra for years but what I really should say is our use of cell phones as entertainment has ruined the world. AI is on that same page, amazing potential to make us smarter, but we will probably end up using it wrong and create more problems. Why find a cure for cancer when you can watch AI Taylor Swift porn.

One of my favorite activities during the AI unit was asking one of the platforms how to solve climate change and it came up with the simple answer to just get rid of all people which was true but kinda scary. AI will be good at solving problems but not so good at understanding the complexities of the question.

Solutions? Sure, start with leadership that values Us instead of Us versus Them. Listen to the next generation as they fumble and try and fail and try again and move forward in a world with a lot of broken parts. And maybe look at those broken parts and see what you can do about them before your very short time on earth ends.

Or don’t. Continue the struggle, continue to hate, continue to believe that the bad people just have to fall in line for society to work. Winners and losers, empathy is for the weak, strength through superior fire power, blah, blah, blah.

If Donald Trump wins next week, he will cut the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% to thank all the billionaires who got him elected, erase all pending litigation against himself, cut all social programs and end the department of education, and it won’t be long before we see those busses coming down Lucas Avenue.

Believe in Us America, make America smart again.

October 27, 2024

donald-trump, kamala-harris, news, politics, trump
Hurt People help people

by Walt Williams

This is my main takeaway after four days in Soledad State Prison where I spent four Mondays this summer painting hearts with inmates. On the first day, one of the inmates, we’ll call him John 1, said

“You know that saying, Hurt People Hurt People, that’s us man, but programs like this, it’s hurt people helping people.”

The hearts came from Tracy Ferron and her posse at “Life on Art” in Petaluma. The program came to my classroom in Sonoma last year and did their hearts with wings art project which was the most engaging project I can remember in my many years as an art teacher. https://lifeonearthart.org/

The art program was brought to Soledad through “Empathy in Action” and its founder, UCSC professor Megan McDrew, I would link the website to the program here but there isn’t one because Megan is just getting started.

“How can we get this into every prison in California?” was a question I asked anyone who would listen. Prisons in California are a mess, archaic, expensive, and they don’t do what they were designed for. Criminals go in and often learn to be better criminals. “Empathy in action” gets them thinking and moving in the right direction.

I was honored and intrigued when Life on Art asked me if I wanted to be involved in the prison program because I believe the incarceration system parallels the education system in that both systems could and should function much better (Isn’t an 82% national recidivism rate proof that things aren’t working?)

The symbolism of the Life on Art program is deceptively simple, A heart with two wings attached, but what it evokes is much deeper. A few students went deep when the program came to my classroom but at Soledad some went all the way to the ocean floor. https://vimeo.com/video/974752277?share=copy

A good art project hopefully makes people think, “How does the art make me feel?” “What can I learn from this project”. A great art project does that but also leads to questions like, “How can art improve my life?” it can inspire and unlock further creativity. It can make hurt people want to help people.

Soledad Prison (formal name, Correctional Training Facility) is a minimum-median security prison unlike San Quentin,https://valleytalking.blogs.sonomanews.com/2016/06/14/day-san-quentin/. When you deep dive into California prisons you see that while incarceration is down, costs are way up and when you walk the yard and talk with inmates, you wonder where the estimated $132,000. per inmate per year goes.

I want to interject here that prisons in California are changing, our governor is looking at the problems, designing programs and closing facilities but many problems continue to be ignored. I also want to interject that while I am a big believer in restorative justice and rehabilitation programs, consequences matter and incarceration sometimes leads to remorse, understanding and change.

I also have seen, after 25 years teaching in an alternative high school setting, students who learned to be better criminals in juvenile hall and that is always wrong.

It’s all about choosing the right path. On day two of the art program the warden came to see the inmates creating and we talked about teen rebellion and how yes, it is perfectly normal (I told him the story of hitting my Physics teacher in the face with a cake in high school) but the key is to learn and grow from the rebellion.

I also had three different inmates talk about the 15 second choice which they think about every day because making the wrong choice in that 15 seconds led to their incarceration. This will be a big topic in my classes this year.

“Those seconds when I could have walked away, I think about those seconds every day. But I was so full of rage and hate that I lashed out and it led to 20 years in here.”

John 2 needs help putting his thoughts into his art. He wants to depict non- traditional gender stereotypes on his heart so without asking too many questions (we have been counseled not to ask too many questions or share personal information), we come up with the right colors and images.

On the third Monday I ask John 3 about the dog he has painted on his heart,

“This dog is just like me man, it grew up abused, kicked, hit, thrown away then it came into this program where it gets attention and love and learns a different way.”

John 3 is training dogs through PAWS, which brings rescue dogs into prisons to be trained and cared for so they can be adopted by the public. Amazing program, amazing results.

On the last Monday of the program we had a an organic art show pop up on the wall of the Gym (painted by inmates), one of the guards was strumming a guitar with two inmates in the corner of the gym, one guy was crocheting at the end of the table, Peanut, the rescue dog from New Life K-9 Rescue (a second therapeutic dog program) was sniffing under the table, and John 4 tells me,

“I feel like I’m not in prison for two hours per week during this project.”

Prison costs are up while the prison population is down. The governor changed the name of San Quintin Prison to San Quentin Rehabilitation Facility and there is an interest in more programs like “Empathy in Action” which is all good but the machine moves very slowly, too slowly.

The hearts created by inmates will be on display in a show called, “Visions of Hope” September 5 through October 24 at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael.

September 3, 2024