Week #1

Week 10/3 through 10/9/11

Tuesday (10/4)            7:25 – 7:35pm – School Law

Thursday (10/6)          3:20 - 3:28pm Dropkick Murpheys (Wikipedia)        

5:40 – 5:50pm – School Law

Friday (10/7)               11:00 – 11:30pm – The Education of Little Tree

Saturday (10/8)           7:30 - 8:15am – The Education of Little Tree

Total minutes=103 min.

                While School Law doesn’t immediately appear to be  for pleasure reading, I read it regularly when I have short periods of time such as when one of my sons in the bath.  This week I covered sections on religion in school.  I am a proponent of separation of church and state.  It’s informative to know that teachers cannot post religious items such as the Ten Commandments in their classroom, nor can they distribute religious materials.  The same is true for organizations. However, the school is limited in its power if students choose to distribute materials.  School choirs can sing religious hymns during the holidays if it is deemed for entertainment and not worship.  I agree with this as long as it suits the demographic.  In the pledge of allegiance, the words “under God” are upheld by court rulings, but teachers cannot force students to stand or recite if they so choose.

                I did a quick informative online research on the Boston-based Celtic Rock Band the dropkick Murpheys.  The band has multiple members and a wide array of Irish and world instrumentation such as tin whistle, banjo, mandolin, and bagpipes along with traditional rock instruments.  The Wikipedia website chronicles the changes in members and instrumentation roles.  I would characterize the band as having roots more closely aligned with punk rather than rock.  They are loud and rough; not for those easily annoyed.  I find them interesting because of their instrumentation and interpretation of classical Celtic sounds.

                I began a reread of the Forrest Charters short novel, The Education of Little Tree.  This is an interesting book which meshes with the type of pleasure reading I like to do.  It has good natural imagery.  This story is a fictional memoir of a little boy, who at the age of five, is adopted by his grandparents after the death of his parents.  His grandmother is full-blooded Cherokee and his grandfather half.  They give him his Cherokee name Little Tree.  The story takes place in the Tennessee Mountains.  I like that the story setting is a place of solitude and wild. Little tree is learning about his life as he encounters new experiences learning how to live off the land.  The mystique and reverence for grandparents guide Little Tree as begins a new reality.