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Elizabeth RosalesI was thinking about the homeless issue, as well. I noticed that they meticulously described the homeless population as middle-aged men, who were neat and clean and only slept and then left for work the next day. That is very different from LA. My brother is very often one of them. He had (probably has) a drug problem and chose not to finish going through rehab and wanted to live on the streets of LA. In and out of friends homes, but sometimes just on a bench. I think our homeless problem is largely due to drug and alcohol problems. That is much harder to fix. Believe me. I offered my brother my guest room if he would get clean and get a job. He wanted none of it. His mind is a mess. This is true for many homeless across the nation. He came here from the Minneapolis area where the drug problems are just as bad. There is no simple fix for LA. There is no simple fix for drug addicts.
Elizabeth RosalesI was also wondering why Hong Kong reverting to Chinese rule wasn't talked about more. It seemed like it was just a minor, seamless transition. Perhaps it relates to the person that wrote the article or whomever was the intended audience, that they were being careful not to insult anyone, inadvertently. I was in Hong Kong in 1988, before it reverted back to Chinese rule, so I was curious.
Elizabeth RosalesIt makes me sad. I have three kids, and my boys used to love to skateboard in our street and driveway. I know that skateboards cause some scuffing and damage, but I wonder if people realize that there are so many worse things kids could be doing.
Elizabeth RosalesThe drawings are an interesting perspective. The view from an upper floor window. I am going to share those with my students, if that is alright. I love the big sign in the foreground of one. It looks like a photograph taken from a window, but done in black and white lines and outlines, it is more interesting.
The growth in population before and after WWII was shocking. So many people fleeing Japanese occupation. I know that Hong Kong was still under British rule,but I don't see how it avoided being invaded and occupied as well. Are there any films about Hong Kong during this time?
Elizabeth RosalesKids just naturally go to urban flux. They grab their skateboards and start riding down something that looks good. They dance wherever they are standing. Urban flux seems just very, naturally, human. Creative and necessary. The amount of work it takes to live by all of the rules is difficult and costly, and not everyone can do it. I wonder myself, sometimes, how I keep doing it. But I enjoy seeing people dancing and singing and selling. My town becomes like a ghost town sometimes. Everything has to be properly enclosed, unless it is a special occasion. It is neat, but it is boring.
Elizabeth RosalesOn a side note, I have studied (a little bit) the albedo effect, and it was made very apparent to me that it matters when I was driving this summer in a car whose air conditioning was broken. It was extremely hot, over 100 degrees, and I was driving from the high desert to Riverside, where I live. I was so hot, I thought I was about to pass out. Just as I came near the 91/215 interchange and overpass, I passed from black asphalt to nearly white cement. Immediately the temperature started to come down, and I felt better. I feel that this is a very important concept in city/road planning. Not just the color of the road, but roofs, cars, any massive surface. Reflecting heat, rather than absorbing it into the earth helps.
Elizabeth RosalesHands down, no question, the highlight of this video for me was the freeway being removed to reveal and reclaim the river below it. That just lit a spark in me about researching with my students, ways in which we can do things like that in California. We have immense amounts of open, wild, prairies, forests, and deserts, for which I am grateful. But we can also improve upon the cities and urban areas we already have. We do study land formations and waterways in third grade. I look forward to hearing my students ideas about how to live in and around natural features.
Elizabeth RosalesWith my students, I will facilitate a discussion about the necessities of life. What do you need to survive? What do you need in order to thrive, and not just survive? What does that look like? Whom does that involve? We are a Leader in Me school, so I would ask about how those questions relate to the seven habits of being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, seeking first to understand and then to be understood, finding a win-win, sharpening the saw, and synergizing.
Patterns of heritage are the ways in which we use these seven habits privately and publicly. How do we take care of ourselves and then work with others in order to have healthy and effective patterns, which become our heritage? The practicality of a building is integral to it's effective use. In order to determine that, we have to ask basic questions of our future engineers and architects and scientists, and let them come up with innovative ideas about answering those basic questions surrounding surviving and thriving.
P.S. I teach third grade. They are eight years old. My training as an elementary teacher is to find ways to say things positively, when possible. We are literally told that instead of yelling at kids to, "STOP RUNNING!!!", we should ask them kindly to, "Walk, please." It is important that we teach good manners and treat others with kindness and respect. So, where I come from, positivity is seen as healthy. It is healthy. Actively looking for things to appreciate and be grateful for makes your body healthier. I felt a caveat was necessary, based on some previous misunderstandings of my comments.
Elizabeth RosalesGood point! When I have taken my students to a California mission, they have learned about the life there. Learning about the good and bad points of history while on site really stick with us.
Elizabeth RosalesYes, that is what I meant by not forgetting the lessons. I do not mean that we should not teach the history of a place and people, but that we have a choice in how we do it. When I teach science, I use a lot of questions. "Why do you think that is so?" "How do you think that occurred?" "How can you fix that?" Open-ended questions allow students to think about a situation.
Elizabeth RosalesSame question! I have wondered this for a long time.
Elizabeth RosalesBeautiful example of positivity!
Elizabeth RosalesI get over those thoughts by planning how not to go through them again. I think through what caused them, and then I often write down my plan for solving that problem, and then I let it go, believing that it will never happen again.
Breathing techniques help immensely, as well. Your brain functions more effectively if it has adequate oxygen, and when we are stressed, we tend not to breathe well, because of tension, especially in the stomach/diaphragm area.
Lastly, I started reasoning with myself when I felt I had done something wrong or ineffective. I asked myself, "Is anyone going to die because of what I did or did not do? No. So it really is not that bad. Just do better next time and let it go today."
Elizabeth RosalesI have been to both of those Japanese gardens, as well. I think the vast openness of the space at Huntington feels just that, open. But the San Diego garden IS more comforting. Like the difference between a pond and the ocean.
Elizabeth RosalesSuch a sad story! It seems we are all bound by that ruthless master, taxes!
