Yearly Archives: 2012

A Fist Full of Berries: Nobody Reads in Panem?

Posted by Caleb Coy on

The Hunger Games movie is coming out on DVD tomorrow.  I remember first hearing about the book.  I’m like, “neat teens book idea.  A little violent sounding.”

The idea sounded silly.  Then I saw the movie.  Then read the book.  Then the others.

On the surface, the idea seems very profane.  Kids killing each other.  For entertainment.  What has society come to?  But if you read these books what you soon realize is that the book is using such a profane thing to ask questions about what entertains us, and what we are willing to embrace and accept, what we are passionate about changing and what lengths we will go to to make that happen, and what the consequences are of those lengths.  And if you think that was a run-on sentence, then you see how oppression and violence can likewise run on and on and on, if we don’t do something to stop it.


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The 10 Suggestions: A Public School Solution

Posted by Caleb Coy on

It’s been a whole summer since the decision in Giles Co. VA to remove the ten commandments from a public display and replace them with an alternative.  This week many students will be going back to school, and some might even notice this new display when they pass by it.  Maybe.

I didn’t go up on a mountain, didn’t have a personal conversation with God, and my face is not glowing.  But I have read his book, his good book, and I can’t give you any new commandments.  Not that I need to.
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Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Sponges

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Sponge Facts:

When you scrub your floors, decorate the wall with paint, or just wash your car, you may be using an organism to do the job.  Many people do not know that sponges are animals.  As a matter of fact, sponges are the simplest of organisms in the animal kingdom.  The aquatic sponges all belong to the phylum Porifera, which means “pore bearers”, and is the only phylum in the animal subkingdom Parazoa.

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It Was the Best of Times; It was the Worst of Times. And There Was This Kid President Too

Posted by Caleb Coy on

It Was the Best of Times; It was the Worst of Times.  And There Was this Kid President.

The State of the Union is: Awesome
The State of the Union is: Not Awesome

How can this be?  Isn’t it too simplified?  That message is too happy.  No, that message is too sad.

We got wisdom; we got foolishness.  We got belief; we got incredulity.  We got light; we got darkness.  We got spring and winter; We got hope and despair.  Everything and nothing.  Heaven and Hell all around this here world.

Why, just last week, silly people who were trying to do the right thing gathered round a poultry peddler and stuffed their faces in the name of patting themselves on the back for liking family to look a certain way.
Why, just a day later silly people who succeeded in doing the right thing gathered in a burrito bazaar and stuffed their faces while helping out a family in need in a certain way.

Why, just this morning, I had to drop my baby boy off at the day care for the first time.
Why, later this afternoon, his momma’s going to stop by and feed him and rock him, and later take him home.

Why, just this weekend an sweet old lady I know passed away.
Why, that sweet old lady was one of the sweetest I ever met, and she’s still around, you know, in a way, and she’s somewhere else now, and when I think about where, I think about sweet things.

Why, just this past week some people some gold medals.
Why, just this past week some people didn’t win any medals.

So you know things all over this world are going to be the way they are.  Which one would you like for it to be more like?  Better or worse?

Let’s make it better.

Now dance.

We’re all diffabled

Posted by Caleb Coy on

I Am Sam is one of my favorite movies.  In high school I dated a girl who I’m convinced only dated me just so she could see my impersonation of Sean Penn’s Sam whenever she wanted.  It was really awkward and it didn’t last long.  But my love for the movie remains.

It’s about a man with a developmental disorder who tries to raise a daughter alone.  The problem arrives when she begins to grow old enough to surpass him on a developmental level.  It is a bit of a sentimental morality play, but it has too many good moments to dismiss merely because it tries to convince us to believe in supporting a situation that is so borderline unfeasible it’s reckless: Are we really ok with a single father who has the development of a 7-year-old raising a child all on his own?  But part of the question in the film is what it really means to be alone when you’re surrounded by people like you, and by people who care.  And the entire soundtrack is Beatles covers.

Here’s one of my favorite scenes:

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Home-style Chikin Fellowship

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Leaders of Chick-fil-a, I first want to extend my sympathy towards you after the loss of your vice president of public relations, Don Perry.  Public figures are often targets of hateful attacks, even in their deaths, and I am saddened to hear that there are so many people spewing hateful rhetoric in the wake of his death.  There is no reason to dance on the grave of anyone.

I also hope your claim is true that it was not anyone in your PR department who created fake Facebook profiles using stock photos of teenagers in order to booster your company’s reputation.  I believe your denial that you did so, although we would hopefully agree that whoever did so was guilty of lying and deceit.  I hope that your denial, which represents a denial that you would stoop to such a low place, encourages other people and organizations not to use stock photos to represent people who do not exist.
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Remember when “virtual” used to mean “pretend”?

Posted by Caleb Coy on

This weekend my blog is a guest post on Trae Bailey’s blog, The Curated Self, about the pros and cons of virtual learning, and where we can go from here.  This is for everyone who ever has or may take one or more classes online.

Remember when “Virtual” used to mean “Make Believe”?