What Is Going On?

Yesterday had a weird 'alternate universe' feel to it. Youngest son (18) was doing the dishes when I got up at 6am. Turns out he never went to bed. On the surface this doesn't seem shocking, but this is the kid that has NEVER managed to stay up past 1am in his life! Add to it he was VOLUNTARILY doing the dishes! (okay so this second part is actually the more amazing bit)
Add to this, my eldest son (20, & yes he still lives at home) the night owl, actually went to bed before midnight and was up, showered & dressed before 7am for NO reason!
All day there were things happening, that on the surface looked innocent enough, but given the people involved were strange indeed.
I'm happy to report that today seem normal. So far...

Canada and Our Aboriginal Community

Interested in learning more about the modern day Aboriginal Community in Canada? Interested in being part of the dialogue? Check out 8th Fire on CBC.

It's Cold Outside

I'm sitting at my kitchen table wrapped in a blanket. The furnace hasn't cut off for more than 5 minutes all morning (possibly all night.) When it is -35C out, the drawbacks to living in a 40 year old trailer become very apparent, even if it is affordable.

In a weird way it seems rather appropriate that this is the day that so many websites, in the US and beyond, are demonstrating against the US government's SOPA bill.
I won't rehash what others have said (and done a better job than I could) about the drawbacks of the bill. I will direct you to Michael Geist's blog and his Huff Post column for more information.
The world is extremely interconnected. What the US government is attempting with SOPA (and PIPA) is to strong arm the rest of the world into doing things THEIR way. Seems like a rather dictatorial move from a country that prides itself in it's democracy.

Good Reads

Boing Boing will go dark on January 18 to fight SOPA - great explanation of SOPA by Cory Doctorow
Also from Cory Doctorow is The Coming War on General Computation.
Ned Potter, over at thewikiman, has a great post about spoon feeding students. It isn't the standard argument.
Shawn Ram has a post, It shouldn't be about the NUMBER, on his blog Learning to Lead, Inspiring to Change, that should be mandatory reading for all parents.

Stuff

After an extended break I finally opened up my blog. After starting the following post on New Year's Day I never did get back to finish it. After 2 weeks I can't remember where I was going with it anyway. I do, however, still think that the last sentence rings true.

I've drafted so many blog posts and tweets in my head this month, just never got them written. I needed to mull over the ideas, feelings and information for a little while longer. I'm not sure if I will get everything down today, but it is time to start.

Blogging is saying something out loud. Whether or not someone "hears" you is not always the point. Sometimes you just need to let it out.