Mb's Musings of the Random: On America

Just a few thoughts...

First, I was disheartened (though not entirely surprised) by Ms. South Carolina:

Having taught last year, I am now much more aware of the apathy and ignorance that plague many schools. While I'm sure there are myriad reasons why this is (lack of parental support, apathetic/ignorant teachers, media, etc.), I'm trying to figure out what can be done. It's hard to fight an uphill battle when you're one of the few.

Also, I'm currently reading John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley: In Search of America.
It's absolutely PHENOMENAL, and I love it. I wish that I could make the careful observations he does about people and areas. Sigh.

Anyway, in the book, Steinbeck notes that America's identity is slowly becoming streamlined. He suggests that regional "personalities" are disappearing in lieu of a more national identity. (Keep in mind that this book was written in the early '60s.) He says that, because of mainstream radio and television, regional dialects and accents are being erradicated, and there is more of a push for homogenous speech. Only in the Deep South and the East Coast are accents really noticeable anymore, Steinbeck observes. Interesting... and I'm inclined to agree. When I moved to Arizona, I'd assumed it'd be like a different country- new geographical region, perhaps a specific (and different) dialect... But no! Arizona is comprised largely of Mexicans and Midwesterners. Go figure.

So, otherwise, life is good. Wednesday and Thursday, the coworkers and I went to an awesome conference in Phoenix... We stayed at a POSH resort, and it was incredibly awesome. The 17th Surgeon General (Richard Carmona) was the keynote speaker, and there were numerous other really good speakers as well. Wednesday night, we went to the attached water park for several hours, had margaritas, and basically relaxed. See the pics to follow! :)