July 21, 2008 — by Edward Atkinson
Ouch. That title is a bold statement. For the past few weeks, I’ve been searching for evidence to the contrary and have yet to find it.
The Constitution of the United States is not just clear, but so extremely clear that misconstruing it is close to impossible (Article IX of the Bill of Rights even tells you what not to misconstrue, as do the Federalist Papers).
Article I, Section 8 enumerates all the powers of the Federal Government. Nowhere is any mention of regulating, centralizing, or otherwise federal involvement with education mentioned. Only the powers mentioned in the Constitution are granted to Congress. In other words, Congress is not granted the power to create the Department of Education (even though they did so in 1979).
I’m wondering a few things: has the Department’s constitutionality ever been tried in court? How many people in the education system know of this? Do people not care, or am I missing something completely?
(I realize that this is technically “political”, but I find it to be a very interesting topic. Almost 30 years of an unconstitutional department? Wow!)
July 21, 2008 — by Jacqueline Johnson
On a walk through the city this past weekend, I stopped in the park to see if I could catch some photos and maybe even a few thoughts in my notebook.
I happened upon two birds, who kept following each other incessantly. Either they were best friends, or one was male, the other female, and the male was pursuing a love interest. Quite diligently, I might add. Usually I find pigeons together in a big group, but these two were the only pigeons around. Immediately after I captured a quick snapshot of the two (love)birds, a man walked up and stomped right in between them.
Now mind you, I ran into the middle of a pigeon pack only to watch them scatter as a child. But this specific instance was rather perturbing, mostly because I was taking such enjoyment in watching these two birds. (Meanwhile, a black squirrel was scampering about them.)
Maybe that man was having a bad day or his parents taught him to always break up bird friendships. I hope not, but I’ll give him the benefit of doubt.
As I continued this walk, I came up to another intersection where a man and a women were serving a line of people hot meals on trays from the back of their van– at dusk on a weekend even. I wanted to capture this scene in a photo from across the street, like I was a newspaper journalist, but I simply couldn’t. Happening upon this site felt like I happened upon a naked person in her own bathroom. The event was just raw and vulnerable– I didn’t want anyone to catch me observing, I felt like I wasn’t supposed to run into this. People serving people. Ah, now my walk had redemption.
July 17, 2008 — by Jacqueline Johnson
Go see Wall-E if you haven’t already. It’s quite the social commentary, I wasn’t expecting to see all my criticisms of American culture rolled into an animated movie in local theaters. The message doesn’t bombard or attack, though. Even without looking for a message, it’s still just an enjoyable animation.
July 15, 2008 — by Lindsey Anderson
So I was sitting in morning rush hour traffic, waiting to make a left hand turn. Though I deal with it daily and should be used to it, I still marvel at the volume of cars on the road in the morning and evening.
But while I was sitting in my left hand turning lane, I noticed the kinds of cars in front of me. A BMW. An Audi. An Acura. Two newer Hondas. A Corvette.
And I figured that although to some, America might be the country where you can walk in and get anything you want, you can’t call even the wealthiest person with the nice car lazy. They spend their entire day getting to, being at, and getting home from work.
And I don’t know why, but it’s just kind of interesting.
July 14, 2008 — by Jacqueline Johnson
When is a writer legitimately a writer? When do others look at her and identify her as such? Is having the title, “writer,” a dream people hold fast to as small children, or is the responsibility to write thrust upon them without choice? What makes a writer, well, a writer? There have to be more connotations to the word besides the obvious, a writer writes.
Anyone can publish a book: politicians, theologians, musicians, computer experts, cartoonists. But being published doesn’t automatically convert one into the writer title. Anyone can submit to a magazine or a newspaper for publication, join Oprah’s book club, or attend a poetry reading. In fact, anyone in school has had to write a paper of some sort, and at least one term paper since high school. The question remains, however, when does a person jump the fence into writer’s territory?
Come to think of it, the people I identify as writers never boastly introduce themselves with a polite handshake and explain when you ask what they do, that they are in fact, a writer. Most writers will not even claim the title.
A true writer lives in two experiences. She lives the present through first-person eyes, while seeing the same experience from a third person view. A writer’s mind takes her outside of herself, and with practice and development, is able to experience herself as another character. In developing her writer skill, she can channel this vision into an enlightening story.
July 10, 2008 — by Edward Atkinson
Do you like advertisements? I can’t say that I’m a fan. They are invasive, cause clutter, and more often than not unhelpful.
“But wait!” the crowd shouts. “You’ve got them on Mind Sprocket.”
Ah ha, good eye! That is a sad fact indeed. Unfortunately, like everything and everybody, we have bills to pay. For our first couple of years, we fought to completely avoid advertising on our website. But as Lady Fortune, Luck, or Fate (take your pick) would have it, the bills kept coming and coming. We were forced to cave in, and here we are, but not to stay!
We want to get rid of the ads, and permanently. We haven’t figured out exactly how we’re going to do that yet, but it’s a commitment of ours that we wanted to share.
In the meanwhile, perhaps the ads will provide you with something useful to you. Currently you can learn about wedding photographers, musicians in North Carolina, and real estate specialists! For now, while the ads are still up, have at it. See what sort of treasures lie in wait.
We’re working on a long term solution to replace the advertising, and as we come up with options, we’ll share those with you to get your opinion. But if you have any thoughts already, please leave a comment!
July 10, 2008 — by Edward Atkinson
If you’ve lived to the ‘age of reason’ as some call it (and if you’re visiting our blog, then that is a likely possibility) then you know that life is not all cookies and cream.
Life is a balance not of two things, but of everything. And that includes the stubbed toes, discovering a new band, high-priced gasoline, and falling in love.
If you read our blog or check in with the main website regularly, you probably know by now that we’re preparing a big publication for this Fall. (We gave away free music over Memorial Day weekend, are giving away free e-books, are taking a survey, keep leaving not-so-subtle hints, etc…)
Putting together a major print publication has proven to be quite difficult (but also incredibly rewarding). We’ve hit our hitches, speed bumps, and pot holes, but recovered from all of them. I’ve learned something important about myself and my work through this: I don’t think I’d be able to do my job as Executive Editor without Beethoven.
I balance my life with Beethoven. Beethoven is playing through the delightful, the painful, and the crazy moments of life. Having a sanctuary, or a retreat, is necessary in life, and for me that’s Beethoven.
When life gives me lemons, a curveball, or any bad day, I listen to Beethoven. What do you do?
July 9, 2008 — by Lindsey Anderson
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.- Psalm 31:24
What do you put you hope in?
July 7, 2008 — by Jacqueline Johnson
I had a whole Saturday afternoon to myself this past weekend. I took a stroll down to Barnes & Noble and spent the afternoon sipping coffee and words. While there, I was just getting comfortable into noticing only the voices of the books, not necessarily the voices of people in the store.
Eventually, I settled into the Cafe to write. While collecting my thoughts, I noticed the man over at the next table. He had a stack of books on the subjects of photography, sketching, laptops, and more that I couldn’t see. (I wasn’t trying to be rude and stalker-like). As presumptuous as it is to say, his features looked paternal, like he had a family back home. As his back was to me, I noticed later that he was looking through books for ideas, and he was sketching in a sketch notebook with special pencils. He even had stencils and a hole punch in tow.
On this Saturday afternoon, I found a certain solidarity with this man. We never shared eye contact or exchanged words, but it felt like I was sharing coffee with him– just knowing that he was sitting at a table, enjoying himself while sketching, and I was sitting near him, writing, reminded me that Saturdays are for activities that matter to us, outside of the work world.
July 2, 2008 — by Jacqueline Johnson
Somewhere along the way, we figured out that normal is just a setting on the dryer. –Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird
Is there a single event in your life where you can say you asked “What does normal even mean?” or finally accepted something about yourself because you realized that normal isn’t really a setting we can turn to in reality?
June 30, 2008 — by Jacqueline Johnson
Our culture has become efficient at planning out our lives, sometimes to the finest detail. People who don’t have five and ten-year plans are considered irresponsible.
So when plans change for reasons out of our control, we fall harder. We become less flexible, and less willing to accept things that require us to deviate from our Excel spreadsheets. But whomever said,
The only constant is change
was pretty smart.
Let’s take today to embrace what we don’t control and adapt as necessary. When plans fall apart, this doesn’t mean the world is ending, it means there is opportunity for something else. The doors are wide open. You just have to be willing to walk through them.
June 27, 2008 — by Lindsey Anderson
Slowly but surely, The Back Page is becoming something more than just a web page with words on it. Well, we’d like to think that that’s not all it has been, but visually speaking, it didn’t start out as anything fancy.
We’ve been adding some interesting blogs to our blogroll and now have post categories, so if you’re just looking for announcements (okay, probably not likely) or writing inspiration (more likely), related posts are only a click away as opposed to a tedious search away.
Maybe most importantly, notice the links at the bottom of each post. See something you like? Digg it, Stumble it, send a comment to our Facebook group, or bookmark it on Del.icio.us.
Telling others has never been easier!
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