I’ve been duped. Tricked. Lied to. Taken for a ride to disappointmentville by a fancy I’ve held for years. In reality no one told me a falsehood. Like most times I find myself disillusioned, I did it to myself. A starry-eyed dreamer, I tend to put things onto such a pedestal that once attained, they can’t measure up to expectations.
Who can forget the Chia Pet of the 70′s that I saved and saved for. Don’t even get me started on sea monkeys. I had such high aspirations for them after seeing them on the back page of Mad Magazine. The promise of joy died quickly because the only time they moved was when I shook them out of the bag into their simulated habitat. Ant farms, the bass guitar, a shiny pastel jacket that I thought would be an absolute chick magnet. I was amazed when I found that on the discount rack and wore it proudly to school with my sleeves pushed up, only to find that the world had moved past Crockett, Tubbs, Miami Vice, and the style I flaunted. That first new car I had to have post-college before I understood the stranglehold sixty easy payments could be. I won’t even mention women of my youth, like Hilda* the friendly barkeep. For a foolish lad, women are the most dangerous sort of thing to deify.
I could go on. There have been a litany of things I prized – nah, idolized – right up until I got my grubby mitts on them.
And so, now, I am disappointed with baldness. I have always wanted to shave my head but been dissuaded by my lovely wife, who likes hair on my head, but not on my chin. If you recall my rant about Tom Selleck, I have never truly been satisfied with my hair. Current circumstances gained me quick approval to remove it and I did so excitedly.
I don’t like it and here are my grievances:
1. I always assumed it would be low maintenance. It is not. To my dismay, the hair on my head grows as fast as the hair on my chin. Who knew?
2. I thought it would save money – no shampoo, conditioner, or gel. See complaint number one, razors aren’t cheap and every shave seems to chew through one.
3. Who knew the skin under my hair was even pastier than the rest of me? I’m told paint stores can mix approximately 140 shades of white, welcome to Pure White.
4. When I was twelve, my football team had to get me an adult helmet, then pad the sides because my cranium was so long. Any time I hit someone, the thing wobbled side to side. Head shapes don’t change, they just expand. Let’s play a little game, shall we? I like to call it:
“Which one is Mark’s head?”
♦
Surprisingly difficult, is it?
So you can see why I’m disappointed. Like most broken things in my life, I have no one to blame but myself. I lifted baldness onto a throne it simply cannot occupy. Fortunately, I can grow my hair out to fix this monstrosity…but not quite yet. Part of me feels a little like a rebel since this has been against the marital rules for so long. And that, I like.
*Name changed to protect my stupidity
Even if you don’t work in a school media center, I’m guessing your life still tends to run on an academic schedule when you work with teens. So welcome to the new school year! Here’s what I think might be interesting, useful, or intriguing to you and your patrons this month.
- If your teens are interested in what’s new in the going green movement, have them look more globally to see what’s going on. In coastal Ecuador, young people from farming families are heading up efforts to save, cultivate, and redistribute heirloom seeds to revitalize the environment and help farmers prosper. Part of an organization called FOCCAHL, 20-year-old Cesar Guale Vasquez travels throughout nearby areas collecting seeds from farmers and also hosts swapping events so that farmers can trade seeds with each other in order to have more vibrant and diverse crops. Now take that for inspiration and add to it your own library’s resources on climate change, farming, and nutrition and plan an interesting program that combines science with activism and see what your advisory board wants to do with it. Many libraries now are creating their own seed libraries, and whether they’re for wildflowers or corn, they can be a great way to bring communities together, get young people to work with older people, and freshen up your local environment while doing your small part to keep the world cleaner and greener.
Matthews, J. (2012). Ecuador’s seed savior. World Ark, May 2012: 10-15.
- At the beginning of the school year, many teens are interested in refining or experimenting with their personal style. There is generally no shortage of mainstream fashion and beauty advice in the magazines and books you have in your collection already, but there might be a population you’re missing, and they’re getting bigger and more vocal. While the natural hair trend has been growing for years, the recent O Magazine cover presenting Oprah Winfrey with her hair relaxer-free has sparked a lot of talk. The social news web is blowing up with discussions of hegemony (the prevalence of hair relaxers in the African American community has been linked to unrealistic standards of white beauty), harassment (nearly everyone with natural curls, regardless of race, has experienced strangers touching their hair without asking first), and self image (who decides what’s beautiful, and is it more important to do what you think is pretty on you or to make a political statement with your hair?). Take a look at the reports of the Oprah cover at Sociological Images and Jezebel (it’s worth taking a look at the comments, too, but they’re probably NSFW and can get heated), and then consider hosting a discussion club or making a display of books on beauty. If you’re not sure where to start, I suggest Naturally Curly, one of the premiere websites (with social components, news, and shopping) for natural hair of all textures.
- STEM, STEM, STEM. Everybody wants students to engage with science, technology, engineering and math. Federal money is pumped into it. Grants support it. But do teens and tweens care for it? In a study of middle school students, researchers analyzed both boys’ and girls’ wishful identification with scientists on television shows to see what factors influenced positive feelings (possibly indicating an interest in pursuing a science career or hobby). They found that boys were more likely to identify with male scientists and girls with female scientists, which is unsurprising. What was more interesting is that the genre of the television show affected the positive feelings. Scientist characters on dramas were more likely to elicit wishful identification than those on cartoons or educational programs. What can you do with this information? Plenty. For your next film screening, try a drama or documentary that presents scientists in a good light, like Cool It, And the Band Played On, or Einstein and Eddington. If you want to take a crack at those who think that being good at science or math makes you a loser, connect STEM with the things teens already love, like working out, YouTube, and the Web by taking a look at the 35 fittest people in tech, videos by Vi Hart, who turns mathematical concepts and history into snarky audiovisual narratives, or how-tos at Lifehacker.
Steinke, J., et al. (2011). Gender Differences in Adolescents’ Wishful Identification With Scientist Characters on Television. Science Communication, 34(2): 163-199.
- Whether you’re in library school or you’ve been working for years, you might find Hack Library School’s new starter kit series interesting, especially their post on services to children. Anyone want to volunteer to write the starter kit for youth services? On a related note, Teen Librarian Toolbox has a post on what to do about all that stuff they don’t teach you in library school (I’m taking notes).
- If you’ve been trying to find a way to collaborate with nearby schools, see if you can get an advisory group to have a meeting with local teachers (it might be a good idea to make sure that the teachers are not teachers of the teens in your group so as to encourage openness and honesty) and start a dialogue. The topic? Standardized tests. Students may feel like teachers are against them, while teachers probably feel as if it’s administrators who are forcing them to be uncreative. So how do you get all sides to understand each other when schools are still tied to federal standards? For background information, try the journal Rethinking Schools‘ spring 2012 issue, which featured a special section on standardized tests. After a good discussion, maybe everyone can take fun “standardized tests” on personality types, books, or any other fun topics. Then see if students, teachers, and you can work together and form some sort of coalition that bridges the gaps between inside- and outside-of-school education, engagement, and issues. Start a collaborative blog. Take turns hosting book clubs at different places that feel like home to the different stakeholders in your group. What might be an interesting year-long project is to get everyone in the group to develop their ultimate standardized test to replace the ones they’re taking or proctoring in school. What skills do teachers and students think are most important to have before leaving the K-12 system? What topics do people in the real world need to know? Is it better to test knowledge orally? With essays? With student-led, student-designed creative projects? With their perspectives and your skills with information seeking, along with your vast collections, you should be able to create a really interesting partnership. And if you need more inspiration, check out these roundups of education blogs by both students and teachers, both here and here.
What are your plans for this upcoming academic year? As always, your questions, comments and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged!
I do plan on visiting other blogs and commenting. I just haven't had the time or the energy. But I will soon.
N is for...Natural
I have an anniversary coming up.
Next Tuesday, April 24th marks the one year anniversary of my being natural. This means I have not put a perm in my hair for almost a year.
I didn't think I could do it. My hair is crazy thick. The perm not only straightened it, but it also made my hair more manageable. My mom first put a perm in my hair when I was a little girl...about five years old. So, for about 30 years, I'd had permed hair. That's a long time. Last April, I'd decided maybe I'd try the natural thing. But I didn't think I'd last (I'd tried before, but just couldn't do it). Then, I was hired to work in Abu Dhabi. I honestly didn't think they would have perm here. And I don't trust just anybody to touch my hair, so that counted beauticians here out. I figured I'd keep doing the natural thing.
And now, one year later, I'm still a naturalista. I love it! Not having to stress about whether my hair gets wet...not worrying about "sweating" out my perm when I exercise...not taking forever to style my hair...being able to wash and go. My hair is even thicker without the perm, but I don't have to spend a long time to style it.
I did the "Big Chop" this past January. For those who don't know, the big chop is when you cut the rest of your permed hair off and become 100% natural. One day, I just realized how tired I was of having two textures of hair (permed vs natural). I took a pair of scissors and started chopping. I still call it temporary insanity cos it wasn't until I was about halfway through when it occurred to me: "I'm really cutting my hair." Yes, I panicked a bit, but by then, it was too late. I don't regret it, tho.
It's funny because my hair seems to be a source of fascination for my students. It's like they try to figure out how my hair is the way it is. They have a habit of touching it...or trying to. Like I said, I don't trust just anybody to touch my hair.
I enjoy watching my hair grow and seeing my natural curl. I can't wait to see what it will look like when it's long. It may not be as easy to maintain then. For now, I'll enjoy the low maintenance of having short natural hair.
7 Comments on N is for...Natural, last added: 4/17/2012
Dissertation. If you've been following this blog at all, you know my feelings on this subject. That graduation date just seems to drift farther and farther away from me. I keep telling myself it'll all be worth it in the end, but, really, sometimes, it's hard to keep that in mind. I just have to continue to picture myself all decked out in my doctorate regalia, walking across the stage as they call my name: Dr. Raenice B. Weakly. Rejection. So, I received about 3 more agent rejections within the last 2-3 weeks. Yeah, it stings, but that's how the game is played. I think I received my best agent rejection Monday from The Chudney Agency. The agent, Steven Chudney, sent me a friendly, personalized letter. He made suggestions on how I can make my manuscript better and made notations on the 50-page submission. OMG, are you serious? Clearly this is one of the reasons why The Chudney Agency is one of my top agencies (besides the fact that they represent some good authors). Mr. Chudney even suggested that I keep him in mind. Oh, I will Mr. Chudney...believe me, I will. Honestly, I think the second novel I'm working on, Who's Got Tha Moves, just may very well be my 'breakout' novel. I've always felt this way - since I came up with the WGTM idea. So, I think that, after finishing WGTM and going through a gazillion revisions, I may have more takers for my 2nd novel than my first. I know I'm a good writer. I'm not being cocky or egotistical...I just know that God gave me this gift and everything that comes from Him is good. I'm just looking forward to the day that I move from aspiring author, to published author. Changes. Some people have a hard time with change. Me? I'm okay with it, every once in awhile. This past weekend, I underwent a major change. I cut my hair off. I'd been looking for something different, saw the cutest hairstyle, and knew cutting my hair was the way to go. So, now, the hair that was once growing past my shoulders is know practically off my neck. People asked why I cut my long hair off. I say, my hair is meant to be played in and styled. I get bored very easily with my hair. I've had my hair braided, cornrowed, cut, and colored in different styles. Besides, my hair grows fast. In 2005, I cut my hair even shorter than it is now and, by 2007, it ended up being past my shoulders. Anyway, I'm lovin my new haircut! It's short and sassy, just like me. :) It's also easy to maintain. Here are pics: BEFORE AFTER 
|
I have now had my morning chuckle! Mad Magazine :) My brother and I used to collect those.
My husband tried it for six month and let it go for the same reasons. Let’s just say it was…comical!
I guess on the positive side, your husband and I have a choice.
Spy Vs Spy was my favorite! I had a ton of those and like so many things, I wish I had thought to keep them.
True! :)
I think I still have a box set of Mad Magazine that was sold on floppies. Need to find it and then get it converted to DVD
Haha! Floppies. How in the world would you convert those anymore? I didn’t know they sold them any way but paper.
I got the set back when floppies (or maybe they are hard floppies gotta find the box first) were all there was.
Too funny! Don’t get sunburned while you are hairless! That is the pits. My husband tried the razor until he got burned, then went to the #2 comb on the shears. He did that for me, I am partial to bald men.
I have been careful, but I could use a little color up there.