more a4A

I finished my knitting for newborn Afghans. I enjoyed how quickly it went. It was also really neat to take it to school and show my advisory (homeroom) students what I was up to. Their attention was captured by the cuteness of small knitted things, and we talked about Afghanistan (they remembered watching Osama, a movie I personally didn't like very much, in their Humanities class, but had forgotten that it took place in a real country that exists today). I showed them the pink-and-yellow hat, and they suggested I put a pompom on the next one, so I did. :) It reminds me of ice cream, somehow. The girls expressed interest in learning how to knit for themselves, so on Fridays (designated as Free Day in my advisory), I will start bringing my knitting, and if they bring needles and yarn, I will teach them what I can. I went to Loopy Yarns this weekend, and the proprietor offered some assistance with supplies. I love that store.


It's been cold in Chicago, and snowier than it's been since we moved here. I kind of like it. All the snow on the ground makes it feel like January. Spring will be here before I've realized it! Patrick and I attempted to make an igloo. I got cold, though, so we came in and made soup. :)

We streamed a documentary last night from Netflix, No End in Sight, about the war in Iraq. There are things for which I can be proud of America; some of these are represented in Barack Obama's candidacy for President, in his message of determination and hope. In contrast, I am ashamed of and confused by the way things have gone in Iraq. How did we get so many things wrong? Why didn't our leaders listen to people with regional expertise, or to their own people on the ground? How did we elect leaders whose decision-making calculus relies on sticking with your gut instead of careful study and thought? When Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush made statements about how the war was going, did they really believe what they were saying? Is it better if they were so irresponsible in their research that they did believe it, or if they knew better but lied to the public? Is the same thing happening now on other issues? It was heartbreaking to watch No End in Sight and think about all the lives that have been lost and irreversibly changed by our carelessness. And to be knitting booties for newborns in Afghanistan. I don't know what to tell my students. Do we really learn from the past? Can one person really make enough of a difference to be worth the emotional turmoil of trying? What messages does history have for us?