Computers Are a Fad. Poetry Has Been Around for Centuries.

11 October 2006

That’s why I’m keeping my options open. Plus, writing poetry pays so much better than writing software.

My mother, a public school teacher, was explaining last night that her school can’t afford to give her more than one small stack of post-its per year. After all, they can run up to ninety cents per pack.

It never ceases to amaze me how profoundly our culture undervalues the things we need to remain human–like good teachers and good poems. Yet we have always needed them, and always will. So people do it anyway, through almost comic undervaluing.

I guess those moments when a child learns something or a person takes in a poem make it worthwhile. I guess those moments must have been happening continuously for centuries, to carry us through adversity and give hope. If so, the best thing we can do is to keep noticing.

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Posted in Education, Humor, Insights, Poetry, Technology | Tagged , | Comments (6)

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  • Bea

    That’s kinda sad we came to the same conclusion (diff times). Isn’t it a sickness in our society that we constantly undervalue these things?

    I’ve changed away from computer science (as a living) to teaching overseas ultimately, I get to keep a lot more of my own money despite the lower pay! I would never consider teaching in the west, due to the conditions your mother mentioned.

    I think something ultimately has to give (aka snap). I’d like to think that it gives to teachers and those giving back to society and away from those that seem to only take, you know the ones. If we were in a survival situation, we’d see clearly those that are in the giving situation.

    Anyway, came to your site through 43 folders and your 2 part article, nice. Just starting to impliment the system myself – illness is my major spanner at the moment so the system goes out the window until I’m better. Funny, I’ve never been able to schedule health.

    Cheers,
    – B

  • Robert

    Hi Belinda, thanks for stopping by. I agree it’s sad, and yet it seems to have always been the case somehow. Funnily enough my mom’s a total GTD champion — we all have inboxes at her house! Didn’t grow up that way, but I think she’s found a lot of value using GTD in the teaching profession — probably similar to clergy, where you’re “on” full-tilt (when sermonizing or teaching), and then have to manage all the back-end stuff in the supposed “off” time. Anyway, glad you’re enjoying the article series and best wishes in your adventures overseas.

  • http://booksinq.blogspot.com/2006/10/but-first.html Books, Inq.

    … here’s an encouraging word: Computers Are a Fad. Poetry Has Been Around For Centuries.

  • http://mortalghost.blogspot.com Lee

    There’s not a day that I don’t read some poetry, but I must admit I wouldn’t find a lot of work without my computer. Just yesterday, for I example, I stumbled across some ghazals in English, which led me on a wider search.

  • Robert

    Ditto that. Resources like poemhunter and others are a great way for me to sample a known writer’s work before shelling out for their book.

  • http://mortalghost.blogspot.com Lee

    Precisely. And good reviews of poetry books are not always easy to come by. Nor should you forget someone like me, who lives overseas and would otherwise have very limited access to published materials in English. Despite my commitment to open culture/open publishing via the web, I order a lot of books online!

  • Robert

    Yeah, me too. Amazon.com my constant companion. But then I always feel bad when local bookstores fold. The convenience factor is just huge.