How can anyone be too Marxist? And to think I thought it might be a problem. Hah! Well that was BEFORE I knew the game plan. Now I know better. Just as one cannot be too socialist, one cannot be too Marxist. It is all one and the same.

I guess I must be “awakening” finally. It’s taking long enough. Better late than never, though. It’s a new morning.  And a beautiful one, too. I love that song! It was the very first song Joe ever sent to me (in my imagination, of course), on a bright and beautiful morning with some very sweet, kind words that I will forever cherish. I was so happy that I sent the song right back to him in an email – in the form of a music video from YouTube. It was all SO CUTE. Funny thing was, I barely knew Joe and I did not know he wrote music or played in a rock band. Turned out, he loved Felix and the Rascals, too, of course.  I think that was the very moment he took me right under his angelic wings, like he did so many of his students (even though, I was not really his student, but he knew how much I loved his work). I was SO privileged and I will never forget how blessed I was to work with him nor will I ever take it for granted. I will be pushing forward this fall with my dissertation which will be based on his advanced conceptualization of the bricolage research methodology. Yes, I think I am finally waking up ….slowly, but surely. I still have far to go, but I can see more clearly now.

SOCIALIST POEM – No Wait, It’s a COMMUNIST POEM

Oh, the poem below was sorta handed down to me….sorta, because it was a joint effort, a multidimensional, multiperspectival team effort if you will. This could make a great song “as is” or revised as wished, maybe more than one song, if someone is into writing music. Be my guest.  I believe in open source, creative freedom, sharing and caring. Send me the sound file or a music video and I will post it on this site for you.

NEW ACADEMIC JOURNAL

That reminds me: For this site, I am supposed to be starting a new academic journal soon which will include ALL FORMS OF CREATIVE MEDIA. It is to be a totally multimedia journal, and so we will be publishing music, poetry, sound files, videos, photographs (including photos of your 3-D artwork), artwork of all types, stories, plays that have been videotaped, academic articles, research, critiques– anything your “creative imagination” can dream up that moves our thinking forward. Joe was big into new paradigms and therefore, what we want is a whole new paradigm for academic publishing. I will make a formal announcement down the road. We are having our project kickoff on April 3, so that may be a good time to launch this new journal….not sure what we are going to name it yet. Perhaps, our first issue will be next September (for us, September is the start of the New Year, not January.) Anyway, this is just advanced notice. If you thought you could never be published in an academic journal – well, the tide is changing! Joe knew that we are all geniuses and we all have so much to contribute to conveying perspectives of the world. It’s written throughout his works. It’s your time to shine.

Here is the poem….You will have to read Joe’s book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction to get the full definition of FIDUROD. It’s basically the underlying paradigm in which Western culture operates today. Joe discusses it extensively throughout his book, with several chapters devoted to explaining it succinctly in many different formats so that we can gain a clear understanding of how entrenched it is in our society and what we are up against in changing education and making the world a better place.

FIDUROD
 

It’s all a trick.

The game is slick.

They take your mind

Your hands they bind

Your feet can’t walk

No freedom to talk

Your food is tainted

Your forehead painted

With an identifying mark

They can see in the dark

You try as you might

To get out of your plight

But everywhere you turn

You suffer a burn

You only want relief

They give you more grief

And just when you think

You are on the brink

They jab it to you deeper

The mountain gets steeper

You claw your way up

Like a little lost pup

They push you back

With another smack

They throw you down scraps

Take away the maps

Test you on junk

Leave you feeling funk

You know the hour

But they have the power

They got the truth

And are they couth

That’s it, the very last straw

We will refuse to claw
Their constructed mountains

Disillusioned with fountains

Of youth, energy, and manifestation

Falsely instilled fake imagination

For now people awaken

No longer are they shaken

By fabricated fear

Instead, they hold each other dear

The truth is revealed

No longer concealed

In concrete boxes

We outwit those foxes

Who think they’re smart

With no guiding heart

It’s a new tide now

An awakening to how

Deep questioning why

And a willingness to fly

To the outer reaches

Past the continental beaches

As far as Heavens stretch

We now know how to fetch

Exactly what it takes

To topple over the stakes

Of their soul reliance

On profit, status and alliance

That have left us in the dust

With little left to trust

The tide is change

Their ways are strange

We move toward love

Buoyed by power above

There’s no stopping us

No matter what the fuss

We are on a total roll

To snuff out the hidden troll

No longer can the truth hide

We have justice on our side

So put away you money

Your fortune and your fame

It’s worth nothing in our game

You’ll soon see us rising up

You’re too late in wising up

You are doomed if not on target

And have all your money in the market

Ain’t worth nothing on this mission

Nor is your scientific war fission

All comes back right in your face

We have left without a trace

Homeward bound to a new Earth

Leaving you in your iconic mirth

We may be unpleasantly eccentric

But we're also shockingly electric

So, you awaken to your own destruction

Too late now for reconstruction

It’s all in the stars if you take a look

Instead of calling us a kook

We will take that happy name

It all just part of our sweet game

Look around you and enjoy

Cuz soon you’ll have no war toy

It’s all going to dissipate

Into your godly particulate

Which you all love so very much

It has become a handy crutch

That will be the demise of you all

Who stay beneath during the fall

We at the bottom will not go down

We will be dancing all over town

It’s party time for those who care

It’s wake up time for those who dare.

Wake up, It’s A Beautiful Morning – Michelle Tanner

P.S. WOW! Tomorrow is the first day of the NEW YEAR! And remember – September is Celebrate Freedom Month….I hope you had lots of celebrations in August for Celebrate Peace Month….we did!

This may seem like a strange topic here, but it is so totally relevant. I wonder sometimes how often teachers pressure parents to put their children on prescription drugs so that these children can be molded to fit in the classroom. This is consciousness molding in the most deviant form. I do speak from experience, having had four children with “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.” Hmm….I wonder if they might have been bored? I remember when my oldest son was in preschool and elementary and how the teachers often mentioned that he engaged in the discussions, but his contributions were totally unrelated. Were they, now? Were these teachers inside his mind to see how he got from point A to point Z when their expectations were that he should only get from point A to B on the path they spelled out?

As Joe would probably say, all knowledge is interconnected with multiple ways of getting from one point to the next. So, here was a brilliant child who could think so fast he sometimes ended up at point Z. Just because he did not travel the “beaten path” to get there or explain the path his thought traveled, it certainly did not mean that there was not a logical (and very rapid) succession of thoughts that got him there. But, if his teachers did not see how this happened or if it did not occur as a result of some prescribed linear method, then the assumption is that this is a child who is “off task” or engages in “irrelevant” conversation. What is there in our physical universe that can travel faster than the speed of thought? Is there anything? And so, the teachers and his doctors said he needed medicine to slow him down. Fortunately, we both decided that it was not beneficial. Joe was adamantly against mind altering drugs for any purpose. When you are spiritual and you experience joy in your everyday life, mind altering drugs have no role whatsoever and it is readily conceived how they would be counterproductive and destructive to the “good life”. Instead, you really learn to enjoy the fact that the roses are still blooming, we can still engage in learning and enlightenment, and we can share our joy with others. Giving drugs should be a crime.

Now, it looks like the CDC might just try to make it impossible for children to attend school unless they pump their bodies with a swine flu shot, two of them, in fact – more poison and more drugs! That’s fine. My children are not going to go through that. I do not buy into this “pandemic.” If there is one, it’s probably their evil machines that will cause it. That leaves people “between a rock and a hard place.” Get sick from untested immunizations, maybe even the swine flu, itself. Or get the swine flu. I had one of those flu shots during the last “pandemic” and it made me very sick and I developed severe allergies right afterward. My children have been harmed enough with the slow poisoning through immunizations. My daughter has been diagnosed with autism and I am certain it is from mercury poisoning, yet they would force her to take in more mercury which they do include in the immunizations still. All of this so that children are privileged by being allowed to attend our poor excuse for schools. Not a chance. She is hypersensitive to all toxins and allergens at this point. There are many things she cannot eat now. Some of us just are not as efficient at removing those toxins from our bodies. And what in the hell are we doing? Why do we poison our children by pumping them full of drugs to attend schools that mold consciousnesses to fit into such tight little boxes that children are in severe pain. What are we thinking?
 

Of course, most of us are quite trapped, working in slave jobs which we have no reassurances that we will have tomorrow for wages that barely meet our cost of living. How can we teach our own children? How convenient for the machine. We are tied up making them money while they program our children to be their future slaves, doing menial, dull work for even less pay than we are getting if the trend of downsizing, pay cuts, and massive engineered unemployment continues.

And now it seems, the government thinks there are too many of us. That is the only thing that explains some of these crazy things being put on us such as injecting us with poison. Of course mercury is poisonous. DUH! Remember the Mad Hatter’s disease? Check it out. Do the symptoms sound familiar? Alzheimers? Lest one think our government would not do such a thing as poison us – poison the masses, I suggest you start reading your food labels very carefully and looking up those ingredients online. One of the most toxic things that food is absolutely loaded with today is monosodium glutamate or MSG. It is a neurotoxin. And now they spray it on our fruits and vegetables in the form of Auxigrow just to increase crop yields and for what purpose? Money. But don’t take my word for all of this. Please research it for yourself. I am purposely not making this easy for you because we all need to research and if you are here reading this, you have access to one of the greatest (but not the absolute greatest) information sources we have ever had at our fingertips. Don’t rely totally on google, and heaven forbid, Wikipedia. While they are good for basic knowledge, I have also noticed that the most biased information sometimes rises to the top. One of the best sites for science information is www.scirus.net, although it is irritating that so much information costs money. I have learned a bit just by reading the abstracts, though, and once you get past the pay-to-view entries, the information is useful.

Take care of your health. Get informed. The best place in fact, to look up this information is probably Dr. Mercola. Do a search on his site for monosodium glutamate and see what it turns up. Still want to eat it? Oh well, we no longer have a choice (most of us). McDonalds anyone? I still go to McDonalds sometimes. I swear that stuff is addictive. I simply must break free. I will make another trip to the Gardner’s Farm in Kings Valley and get some more of those fresh fruits and vegetables very soon. We had corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and tomatoes for dinner. Huge, delicious peaches for dessert. Watermelon yesterday. And I’m making a vegetable soup. Now, that’s real food.

By the way, Joe wrote a great book about McDonalds, The Sign of the Burger, in which he demonstrates his bricolage research methodology and he looks at this monster corporation from different and enlightening viewpoints. I don’t think Joe left many stones unturned with his work. It is so amazing!

Bottom line is, please say no to drugs. In our food, in our medicines, in our immunizations. Look up swine flu and MSG on Dr. Mercola’s website and if you do not believe what he says, read a few science journals on www.scirus.net Make informed decisions that are best for you and your family. Whether you are a parent, teacher, friend, or neighbor, just give a child what they want most: Somebody who loves them.

Somebody to Love - Queen

I couldn’t believe this! I thought the Yard Search Treasure Hunt was over….but like all of the other treasure hunts, this one seems to continue on as well. And so yesterday morning, the request came in for Rainbow Princess and I to do some more searching with the metal detector for the Yard Search Treasure Hunt. It makes sense though, since I have only done the back yard where I found the Yin Yang disk, and I still have the front and side yards to do.  So, bright and early yesterday morning, I was asked to take the metal detector out and search just a few inches North of the yellow climbing rose bush I had planted. I was told, “There is something significant and unique about the “object” you find there and it will take you places you have only dreamed of.” 

So, knowing this was a special mission of some sort, I dutifully went out with Rainbow Princess and got “down and dirty” (Joe liked that expression), searching with the metal detector and digging in the dirt. It reminded me of how I actually enjoyed digging in the dirt as a child and making mud pies.  And what did this particular search yield? Down under the ground about three inches, I found a penny. Since it is not significant in terms of being very old or special in some obvious sort of way, my only conclusion so far is that the date must be significant. The date is 1981.

What is special about 1981? There is nothing in my life that I know of that’s special for that year. I am not sure what this penny means, but I do know I was very happy to get it because it just goes to show that just like my previous blog pointed out, we do get pennies from heaven, and if we acknowledge them, we end up getting more and more pennies from heaven. Just like in my last blog about this very topic, I was telling my daughter about finding pennies from heaven, and in that very instant, what should appear, but a penny from heaven. It had to be, just on account of the way it happened. 

Since this particular penny is supposed to be significant and can take me places where I have only dreamed of, I researched the date some more. I decided that it is not the date that’s important (unless I just haven’t discovered yet why that date is important, the important message has to do with the U.S. Code 1981! Yes, if we really practiced U.S. Code 1981, we would all go great and wonderful places, places many of us can only dream about.

Check out this:


TITLE 42 > CHAPTER 21 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 1981

§ 1981. Equal rights under the law

(a)       Statement of equal rights

All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.

We are definitely not there yet. I think Heaven is trying to tell us something with this message. The Universe is not happy with the current state of affairs. Not at all. I think we all have some work to do. I think Joe was “right on” by linking activism with education. It is the only way changes are going to be made. As the saying goes, “It takes a village.” We ALL need to work on making changes – teachers, parents, students, community members, and, of course we need to know HOW to work on them. This is grossly lacking in our educational system. Why is that?

When are we going to refuse to allow those at the top to tell us how things are – even when they so clearly violate what is written in Code, such as our 1981 Code that is supposed to ensure us all equal rights under the law? And notice that they cloak that under “white citizens.”  The truth is that it should read, “elite white male citizens,” from what I have been able to observe.

Even our code is devised to divide us so that we are easier to control and manipulate us in order to ensure that we serve those elite white masters at the top. We are all one, here at the bottom. We must realize this and work together, not in competition. This is a complex topic, but again, Joe has covered it so well in his books, which are listed on the About Joe Kincheloe page of this site. Please do take time to learn more. Something tells me there is more to this particular penny from heaven, but right now I do not know what it is. Time will tell.

For now, I am happy that someone told me the penny was there, that I took the time to find it, and took time to research the message. This does tell me I have much more work to do to ensure that those around me are getting what they are entitled to, according to our own U.S. Code. This is an area I know little about, of course, due to my lack of education about these matters. I have much work to do, and I will need to read Joe's books, myself, in which he so lovingly, empathetically, and fairly treats these issues so that we might all gain a better understanding and make the changes we need to make toward an egalitarian society. I have much work to do.

Bonus: 83 Uses for a Penny 

Well, have a great weekend, and if you find a penny from heaven, acknowledge it, be thankful, and even check into it. There might be a very special message there for you. 

Vanessa

Any Lucky Penny - Nikki Hassman

That was my dream. Now I really do wish dreams could come true. I could handle working on that project! I am supposed to receive $1.2 million dollars to develop and open the first Joe Lyons Kincheloe Academy. As you recall, on my last treasure hunt in Kings Valley, no less, I took a diversion from my normal route that led me to a building that was simply called The Academy; there was something missing from the name.

The conclusion was that I need to develop a plan for a Joe Lyons Kincheloe Academy that can be applied all over the world. And now that I know the significance of Joe’s first, middle, and last names, which I explained in detail in my What's In A Name? blog, I can see why the name of the Academy should include all of three of them.

It seems the dream is telling me I need to open the first one in my own neighborhood which would be a good place for such an academy since people here are getting more and more fed up with how the schools do schooling and so many people are struggling already. We really need to intervene before school messes up anymore children and they end up having to go off and fight in a war, work at jobs that do not even keep a roof over their heads, or get desperate and do something they shouldn’t just to survive and end up going to prison.
 

Supposedly, right in my mailbox I will find a check for the first installment of $500,000 which will cover a year’s expenses, including a down payment and monthly payments on the piece of property that is just waiting for me to buy it, the architectural design of an energy efficient “smart” school, and a year’s salary of $100,000. Wow that is so cool. I always did want to work for Joe….you know, my “dream job.”

Actually, I guess that’s what I’m already doing. And I do love it. The job pays well, too. And there are lots of company benefits that are quite amazing. I love the tee shirt with "I Love Eager Beaver." I even got an "I Love Eager Beaver" bumper sticker! I thought that was such a sweet gesture from whence it came, a manifestation of the universe, I suppose, after my traumatic experience of being called an "Eager Beaver Critical Pedagogue." I am NOT a critical pedagogue!

Anyway, as always, there is a “hitch” when it comes to money (at least for those of us at the bottom) and it appears it is no different in dreams. The “hitch” is that I have to believe it. I was told I needed to imagine – and believe - “there is a check sitting in your mailbox right now for the first installment of $500,000.” Ah, well … it was "just" a dream.

The Raspberry Award Goes to . . .

I get lots and lots of email, but very little passes me by. The other day I received an interesting email from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) about a new book that has not been released yet, but is getting high levels of praise from within, titled Critical Pedagogy in Uncertain Times: Hopes and Possibilities, edited by Sheila Macrine. Among the people who reviewed and praised the book was - if you can believe this - Joe! A quotation from Joe was at the top of the reviews, giving high praise for this book. While it is a hopeful sounding book, I do wonder how Joe provided the review for a book yet to be published when he passed away last December 19, 2008. Granted, he may have reviewed the manuscript for the book prior to his death, but I am wondering why it is not at least acknowledged that he is no longer with us. That would seem to be the honorable thing to do -- if it can be considered in any way honorable to use a deceased person's review to make money on a book when he has not had the opportunity to review any changes that may have been made to the book.

When I first received the email, I figured that whoever put together the promotional piece perhaps really did not know about what had happened to Joe. And indeed, Joe’s review was NOT included on Amazon.com at that time. So, I just ignored the email, figuring it was a fluke. Mistakes happen. But today I received a promo from Amazon trying to sell me the book, BECAUSE I had bought Joe's book, so I went to the site to see more about it. There is Joe’s review again! Right at the top of the Amazon.com Editorial Reviews, even. Is it an advertisement for the book or for something else? Or for both? They are USING Joe's book and his testimony (which, of course, he is not able to affirm or disconfirm) to PROFIT from their book, which has nothing to do with Joe's work. Joe had his own take on critical pedagogy which you can only read in his books -- complex critical pedagogy dosed with critical complex epistemology, as he has discussed in his Critical Pedagogy Primer and Knowlege and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. What has been done here is LOW CLASS. I do not recommend this book for that reason, even without reading it. They need to get someone new in their marketing and promotion department, obviously!

And so I have decided this is no fluke because it is also published on McMillan’s website, the book publisher, and again, it is right at the top of the reviews. No mention that Joe is no longer with us. Is this the "New Face of Publishing?" If they had at least acknowledged that Joe is no longer with us and that he had reviewed the book before he passed away, then perhaps using his review would be acceptable. But no acknowledgment whatsoever, thus, anyone who does not know that Joe passed away from a heart attack last December 19, 2008, will no doubt think he is alive and well and recommending this book. Was all of this just a tragic mistake? Or do the authors of this book know something that I don’t know?

Quite honestly, I am shocked. Critical pedagogy is all about exposing power and eliminating oppression. Or is it? At least if they are going to use Joe’s name to SELL AND MAKE A PROFIT off their book, they could mention the fact that our beloved Joe Lyons Kincheloe is no longer with us. It makes me cry. Literally. It is the absolute epitome of the sorts of things Joe fought so hard against for forty years.

MGMT VS JUSTICE (ELECTRIC FEEL MASHUP)

Image of raspberries courtesy of http://www.raspberries.us/

Visit them to learn about the delicious form of raspberries.

Image of Joe "Ever the Rockstar" (September, 2007) courtesy of Memorial University

After writing three blogs about soul mates (in which I barely touched on the subject), I’ve been thinking: What if everyone found their true blue soul mate? What great love everyone would be sharing. Love like that works wonders for changing our perspectives about things and wanting to do more to make the world better and to help people see that love really is the answer. Plus, the love radiates far and wide from just one soulmate couple, creating a vast environment or aura soaked in love, so can you imagine how it would be if many soul mates united?
 

Joe always said that “the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.” 1+1 does NOT equal 2. By the way, that is the type of thinking we need to be teaching in school. It is called eductive logic. Schools only teach deductive and inductive logic. That’s because as we use eductive logic, our consciousness expands, and since education is controlled by the imperialists in the highest echelons who want to keep us all under control for their own greedy purposes, they only teach limited forms of inductive and deductive logic.

For readers who wish more information, you might want to start by reading the paper I have posted on the Academic Papers and Articles Page of this site, The Need for a Continuing Assessment of our Educational Philosophy (Paradis, 2009). And I encourage everyone to do additional research so that it is clear in your minds what the differences are between eductive, inductive, and deductive logic. This is especially important if you are a teacher. And we are all teachers. I will be adding more papers to the site as time goes on and as topics come up in the blogs. This is my September project. (Well, it is actually my forever project.)

Love is what will help us take the actions needed to solve the massive problems in the world. As I was thinking about this, another thought came to me (well, to be honest, it was handed down to me with love. I like to give credit where credit is due). What if, not only did all of these individual people meet their own soul mates, but what if all of these loving people also begin meeting each other and they begin to share their knowledge and work together on this great mission to end suffering in the world?

What if they form those Critical Knowledge Networks that Joe describes in his book? We are all stars, by the way! Can you imagine how much love there will be in the world if this were to happen? If we could unite these united soul mates into Critical Knowledge Networks, along with other people who may be temporarily separated from their soul mates (because ultimately, we will all be united with not only our one true soul mate, but also with all of our other soul mates -- friends and family from times forgotten) – then there will be a more powerful force than this world has ever seen – an unassailable, exponentially growing love which the imperialist rulers will be at a loss as to knowing how to reckon with. Their favorite and well-worn tactic – fear, fear, and more fear -- will not work when love rules. The imperialists and all of their fame, glory, and possessions collapse. We, the people rise up and live in love, peace, and harmony.

Be My Baby - Ronettes

It is quite amazing that as I have been writing these blogs, engaging in the treasure hunts that are divinely assigned to me, and meeting the people that these treasure hunts manifest, I suddenly noticed that certain key people have names that describe what they do and seem to be passionate about. It is just very, very amazing to me. I do believe these particular people who I encounter on the treasure hunts somehow play an especially divine role in this wild drama, reality, unreality, dream, fairy tale or whatever one wishes to call this existence in the 3D Earth plane. I have read that we can construct our own realities.
 

If this were true, if we could design our own worlds, I would construct the very sort of fairy tale life I am living at this very moment after becoming intimately familiar with Joe and his work. Of course, I have not begun to tell all of the details of my fairy tale life on this website. Some people just might call me crazy, all right. But, that’s actually fine because I am very, very happy 90% of the time. The other 10% is being resolved by increasing my spiritual knowledge and connecting up with more and more critical knowledge networks that Joe discussed in his work. My fairy tale life is all evolving right here on this website gradually and in time, “the whole world is going to be totally amazed.” At least that’s what I keep being informed from my divine critical knowledge connections and I just happen to believe them. They are only all about knowledge, truth, justice, and the most supreme love you could ever imagine. When that love surrounds you, it is almost like you are in a heaven right here on this tattered, sad, crying Earth. We really must make Earth and the people on it the highest priority in absolutely all of our endeavors. We must ease the suffering just like Joe called for in all of his work – we must work on his mission.

Gentle Lord of the Land and Trees

And so….it is amazing to me how names match up with what people on this mission are doing! For example, first, quite some time ago I recognized that Mel’s complete name matched up exactly with what he loves to do: take care of the land and the trees. This is such a wonderful virtue and I will write more about this in a future blog. I would love to have Mel write or dictate all of his knowledge and get it permanently recorded so that other people can make use of it. We are losing that sort of knowledge that 84-year-old people who have become devalued in our society have stored away in their minds. At any rate I wrote a previous blog about Mel’s name, which, as I had conveyed, means Gentle Lord of the Land and Trees. He truly is!

Transformation, Jae and Heaven

Next, I discovered that my name matches up exactly with what I’m doing. My first name is Vanessa which means butterfly which means transformation (I wrote a previous blog about this as well). I am transforming. I hope as I transform, I can help other people transform. This is a good thing. It involves lifting ourselves spiritually to experience more joy and love. It meets Joe’s mission to ease suffering. And that brings me to my middle name: Jae. It just happens that Jae is the feminine of Joe. That is fascinating to me. That means that I am the feminine part of Joe and, thus, whatever the name Joe represents (which I will discuss in this blog) then that is a part of me, too. It’s the yin-yang concept, which is probably why I found the Celtic yin-yang disk in my Yard Search Treasure Hunt. It was a signifier. And then there is my last name, Paradis, which is the French word for Heaven. Yes, Joe was working toward creating a sort of heaven on earth in which there is no suffering, where people can live in love, happiness, justice, and joy.

Next, just a couple of days ago, when I was on the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt, I came across another individual whose name matches up with what he does – actually, I have not met him yet; I met his daughter who was covering the sales at the vegetable and fruit stand for a few hours. There are actually several with the same last name, Gardner, a father, wife, and son effort at maintaining their farming tradition and offering up the delectable fruits of their labor to the community. So here we have avid farmers who love doing their traditional farming in this era in which big corporate farming conglomerations with their substandard practices and produce have taken over so much of this. I did buy some vegetables and fruit from the daughter who was filling in and I took some pictures that did not turn out for reasons I explained in yesterday’s blog. I will need to go back and meet the farmers themselves and take more pictures. Now, because of their names and their choice of profession, I believe they are a part of the critical knowledge network stars, so I will be adding a description on that page of the website, if they would wish.

Joe

All of these serendipitous name-passion correlations made me curious about Joe’s name, so I did some research. Does Joe’s name match up exactly with what he was doing (and still does by virtue of the works he left us)? Well it turns out that the name Joe derives from Hebrew and it means “He shall add.” This can be interpreted in multiple ways, but Joe has added abundance to our educational knowledge and there are many, many ways Joe has added abundance to people’s lives – the people he worked with, his students, everyone he encountered. His abundance was demonstrated by the love he shared as well. So, yes this name definitely fits Joe. As my name is Jae and is feminine, then I should do the same things during the rest of my life, and in fact, if one considers the aspect of yin-yang, perhaps I can fill in some places for Joe and of course, he had qualities I can never match – that is just a fact of life. Purportedly, my role is to decipher and interpret Joe’s work so that everyone can apply it. I am working on that and it truly is my passion. And following Joe’s footsteps in a way that meets his level of love, commitment, and integrity is a hugely monumental task that I am not sure I can even expect to accomplish, not alone. I am grateful that I am getting a lot of divine help.

Lyons

So then, there is Joe’s middle name, Lyons. What does it mean? Of course, it is a derivation of the name, Lyon. It has several Scottish-Irish meanings. For example, one meaning is “a fierce or brave warrior.” I do believe that Joe was a warrior – a warrior scholar – and he was very brave to put out his knowledge the way he did so that the people are helped. There were many risks to him in doing this as far as his own academic reputation and standing, but he never let any of this stop him. He truly was a brave warrior. The name itself, derived from the name of a Celtic god named Lug. I know that Joe had so many qualities of a god, or as some frame it, a sort of a "christ-consciousness" which is a very spiritually advanced state (and one that we should all strive for, even though we may not expect to fully achieve it) that allowed him to love unconditionally, give with no expectations in return, and exhibit tremendous patience, total integrity, and an exemplary egalitarian role as a leader. In my fantasy fairy tale he is a King now and a god of love. (Maybe that is why the very first treasure hunt was in Kings Valley and the first Love Celebration was in Queen City  -- these are real places!) So, yes, his name matches up perfectly in this aspect.

There is another meaning of the name Lyons, and that is, when it is taken on as a personal name, it also means “brightness” along with “hill fort.” Coincidentally, Fort Hoskins as depicted in the photograph above is on a hilltop in Kings Valley, which, of course, a clue led me to finding. (I had been sent out on two treasure hunts to find something alongside "Old Fort Road.") This is all so very significant and I just happened to write in my blog yesterday how Joe, with his work, is carrying a lantern to light the way to the top of the mountain. I am following behind him with another light and there are others following behind us. This was conveyed to me by someone who is a mystic, basically, and is what she sees. In my view this, again, works completely and is in alignment with the meaning of his name. Joe was at the top of the mountain in comparison to the rest of us, and his work does lead and light the way to a better way of being in the world if we just read it and apply it. And he is a warrior who protects us all along the way.

Kincheloe

And finally, his last name, Kincheloe, is a derivation and Americanized form of the Irish name, Kinsella, which means “chief warrior.” This reinforces and emphasizes his warrior status as well as his “god” or leadership status. His work is so brilliant that I think he earned this status. Thus, his name – first, middle, and last – completely represent the things Joe did and love – the things he was very passionate about, just as I would have predicted because his work is central to this reality, fairy tale, or whatever one wishes to call it. I am so very, very blessed to share a name with him and I do hope that I can live up to the expectations he had for continuing work on his mission. When I actually worked with him, one of things I told him frequently was, “I hope I never disappoint you.” I loved him and I truly never wish to disappoint him and my passion is to continue his work in a way that it spreads across the globe just like in the analogy of the bugle weed. I was also so blessed to have experienced the magnitude of Joe’s love and it is something that I feel is with me still and will be with me forever. As Joe would probably frame it, his love is a “perpetual” gift. Thank you, Joe.

The following song was handed down to me from the “Higher Council” for today’s blog. I seriously do not choose these songs for the most part, but I do love them!

Love Machine – The Miracles

LYRICS to Love Machine

p

References
http://baby-names.familyeducation.com/

I promised an update today about my trip to King’s Valley yesterday, which is the continuing saga of the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt. As I reflect back, there is one thing that stands out as particularly significant. The clue I was provided yesterday before I went out to the valley indicated that the photos I take on the trip would be important clues. In fact, the exact clue was, “I don’t really have a new clue for you. You have yet to solve some of the old clues I gave you. You should take some photos, though. In the photos there will be clues that help you solve some of the previous clues.”  

Very oddly – and I say it’s odd because I have never had this happen before (I usually notice things like this) – when I returned home from the treasure hunt, I found many of the photos I had taken were not even on my camera. My camera memory was full and even though I had snapped many pictures, the only ones on the camera were taken early in the trip. So I did not get photos of the wonderful roadside farmer’s vegetable stand (with the great fruit and vegetables, some of which I ended up buying) nor did I get pictures of Mel’s famous cat (the one that had come back to life or so it had appeared, as I discussed in a previous blog).

Fortunately, Rainbow Princess was also taking photos, and she did get photos of the cat. Mel’s cat was so funny. When Mel came out of his house and walked down the path to greet us, the cat came out right alongside him. And this crazy cat just rolled around on the ground like she was so happy to see us again and had to find some way to express it….it almost seems like the cat is a real person. The first time we visited Mel, she checked us out carefully, and then seemed so happy we had come to visit. She kept rubbing up against our legs, walking all around us, like she was giving us kitty hugs. The photo is Mel’s famous cat that has multiple lives, which Rainbow Princess took, thankfully. Interestingly, just as we reached Mel’s house, he was about ready to take off and go to a church function. I was happy that we got to see him for a few minutes at least and had not missed him. He gave me the greatest hug! Wow, Mel looked spectacular.

He was all dressed up in a nice suit (usually, he is wearing work clothes when we visit him). And he was wearing a beautiful gold cross. I told him about the Celtic cross I had recently bought. That is an interesting story I covered in a blog about the West Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt. I was not wearing it because I have not found a chain I can wear with it since I seem to be allergic now even to sterling silver. That reminds me, my one true love told me just last night I should buy a narrow black ribbon to wear with it. That might look quite stunning, actually, so I think I will do that soon. I thought that was a good idea and that he was sweet to share it with me. He does want me to wear the cross because of its special significance.


I wish I had gotten a picture of Mel to put up in my office with the photos of my other idols. He is just SO Irish or Scottish-Irish….it is amazing. And since I am also Scottish-Irish, that is special to me. He might just be a relative! Anyway, I do need to go back to visit him soon, since I did not get to ask him the questions I had for him. For one, I want to find out his birthday since there will be a new Love Celebration in his honor since he loves the earth so much and has so much knowledge about taking care of it the way we all should. He really needs to write a book about what he knows about taking care of the trees and land.

I had asked him one time if he ever sold his fruit from the fruit trees, since he does not use any chemicals and only uses all natural and longstanding proven methods for taking care of them. He told me that he cannot sell them; it is against the law because he does not “poison” them. We both laughed. But, still, it isn’t funny when you think about it. How have we given so much power to those who do not have our best interests in mind? It is quite the epitome of hegemony, which matches my quotation on this site: 

The epitome of hegemony is represented by those instances whereby those in power are successful in manipulating us into destroying our own very means of survival. ~ Vanessa 

So, it seems as if we have been very nearly thorough in doing just that. This is where things must change. As I keep advocating, it will never, ever happen from the top down. It must come from the bottom. Joe knew that. He worked for forty years at the top and things have consistently gotten worse during that last forty years. But I think Joe will have the last laugh. That’s because he only worked at the top to leave all of his great work for us. And there is SO MUCH of it. He wrote nearly 60 books and they are all great and they are all ahead of their time. He was very prescient. He purposely did not push his work. There was a reason for that. He knew he could get more work done and he knew that we would come to use it. People like me and you who cannot seem to make a difference or climb that hierarchical ladder can come in just like this – and believe me, this is happening all over the world simultaneously in various ways – and together, from the bottom, we will make a difference and create change. Things are gonna change!

The perpetual revolution Joe told me about has already begun quietly at the bottom. And soon, we will all rise up and take complete control of our own lives and wellbeing again. By the time those at the top fully realize it, they will have lost complete control and power. We do have the cosmos working for us in all of this as well. That’s a story for another time, however. (Image courtesy of Microsoft.)

Back to the oddness of missing pictures, though. It seems like an odd coincidence that photos are supposed to be important according to the clue and then they turn up missing. Does it mean that the missing photos are not important and I only need to look at the ones that I did manage to get on my camera? Or does it mean the missing photos are the important ones and I had better go back and reshoot them?

These treasure hunts are like this. There are always multiple interpretations and multiple directions one can go with them. While sometimes it appears that maybe it does not matter which interpretation one uses, in my experience there seems to often be a “best” interpretation that yields the most informative results that serve to move the treasure hunt forward. I think it can be like that with most research we do. Like with Joe’s bricolage research methodology, we can get different viewpoints by interpreting things in multiple ways. We then see a phenomenon from various vantages and viewpoints -- multiple perspectives -- and none of them are wrong exactly, but nevertheless, particular views may give us a clearer picture than other views while the other views also add cumulatively to the understanding of the phenomenon. It’s like that with treasure hunts.  And so, I like to be selective in how I interpret the clues, but also keep in mind the other interpretations. It tends to pay off.

But in this case, I am not certain. It may be quite safe, however, to say that I will need to go back and reshoot the photos. I conclude this for several reasons: the photos are critical as clues; I was told this treasure hunt will extend for a long time; I did not get to ask Mel the questions I had for him since he was leaving and so I will need to go back soon to do so; I did not get photos of the farmer’s fruit and vegetable stand and I plan on featuring him on the Rising Stars Page. And another interesting and fascinating point about this: The farmer’s last name is Gardner (can you believe this?)– this makes three people in this continuing saga who live up to their names! Me, which I discussed in a previous blog, Mel, whose name I discussed in yesterday's blog, and now this farmer who grows the most delicious fruits and vegetables! This really is turning into a fairy tale! Just like I predicted it might in the introduction to this site! 

The Joe Lyons Kincheloe Academy 

One other really amazing thing happened on this trip and it totally relates to the clue! On the way home I always drive straight through this little town called Dallas. I kept getting this nudge that there was something I was supposed to see there this time. I was supposed to travel “off the beaten path” and view something specific. The amazing thing was, when I did get to Dallas, a town which I have never driven around in other than to pass straight through after treasure hunting in Kings Valley to head for home, I ended up going in “automatic” so to speak. I just went with it. I made a left turn instead of going straight through the town, drove down a few blocks to a specific street, apparently, made another left on that street. I went one block to the next street which was a one-way street going back the direction I had come from and then I made a right on the next block which was named Academy Street or Avenue. I went down that street just a little ways and right before me was this very large, interesting looking building and the only name it had was “The Academy.” The name seemed to be missing something about it.

It dawned on me instantly! We need to start new schools! All over the world! These schools need to be OUR schools and they must get out from under government dictates. We need to use Joe’s theories, which I have been assigned to write books about in order to show some ways his theories might be applied. And we need to name each of these new schools The Joe Lyons Kincheloe Academy! I hope you open one near you, soon.

That was my greatest revelation from the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt for August 23, 2009. I had another revelation about Joe’s name, too, but I will save that for later on in this "Fairy Tale." Also, I have a strong feeling that since I have a lot of experience writing proposals and now that I have completed all of my doctoral work in education during which I learned about the elements that should be considered in the administration of educational institutions, that perhaps I have been assigned to write a sort of plan or proposal for starting such schools. It would have to be flexible, of course, because we need to always leave room for customization and we need to acknowledge the fact that every community has different needs.

I will have to think about this some more. Of course, if I do write such a template, it will again be available right here for everyone to download, use, revise, etc. as they wish. 

So my big announcement is that we have added a new Love Celebration in Joe’s honor. August 23, 2009 marks the day for the launch of the Joe Lyons Kincheloe Academy. What shall we call it? The Joe Lyons Kincheloe Academy Foundation Celebration? Sounds good to me! (Photo courtesy of Rainbow Princess) 

Promises for September 

As far as the promises for September, I only have hints, but the surprises are sure to be spectacular and, of course, I will write about them right here! As the clue goes, “Come September, many, many more people will be undergoing training [for the mission]. You will continue with your treasure hunts with more put out in front of you as we move closer toward the kick-off [April 3, 2010]. So, do continue with the work lined out in front of you. Einstein and I have some great surprises for you in September!”  

Oh wow! I just realized something. It will be the Surprises in September Treasure Hunt! I have said this over and over again: I am so excited! I will also be following up on the Kings Valley Treasure hunt. Something tells me it is important to find out more about The Old Grist Mill. I do know that it was originally down this river. And judging by how the color of the river is purple (I only enhanced this photo slightly to make it look even prettier – it really is purple in the photo!), there is something highly spiritual about the location of the Old Grist Mill. 

"There Goes My Baby"

On a different note, quite honestly, I have been very sad and disappointed for the past few days. Sumptin’ happen’d that jus' ain’t right. Long story relating to particular manifestations. I made the mistake of letting it lead to a minor disagreement with someone I love the most, my one and only True Blue love, which then made him sad, apparently. Actually, I was asking him to do something he cannot do for me right now (begging him, in fact), so it’s not really his fault. In fact, if anyone was to blame, it was me, yet I was sort of blaming him when I should not have been. I really need to be thankful and grateful, instead of sad.

So, last night, he gave me a very special song that made everything all right again (he always knows how to make me feel so much better)…so today’s song is by his request and I am happy to oblige since listening to the song lifts me up spiritually. Maybe it will lift others reading this blog as well. It is such a beautiful and meaningful song. Maybe if your true love blames you for something that is not your fault, you can send them this song. It works wonders. 

NOTE: Today’s blog is long -- I had some more insights and discoveries as I was writing this -- so the blog continues after the song… 

There Goes My Baby – Drifters

  

There Goes My Baby -- Lyrics

There goes my baby, movin' on down the line
Wonder where, wonder where, wonder where she is bound?
I broke her heart and made her cry
Now I'm alone, so all alone
What can I do, what can I do?

(There goes my baby) Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
(There goes my baby) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
(There goes my baby) Whoa-oh-oh-oh
(There she goes) Yeah! (There she goes)

I wonder why she left me
Why did she leave me so all alone
So all alone

I was gonna tell her that I loved her
And that I need her
Beside my side to be my guide

I wanna know where is my (doo-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo)
Where is my baby (doo-doot-doo-doo-doo-doo) ?
I want my baby
I need my baby

Yeah, whoa-oh-oh

FADE
(There goes my baby)
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh 

Retrieved from stlyrics
 
OMG!!! You Won’t Believe This!

I was looking at my photos from yesterday’s King’s Valley Treasure Hunt while writing this blog and I came across this one (below). I call it Opening the Gates to Education: An Accidental Mulitperspectival Composition. It really was taken entirely by accident! Yet, it looks like a totally planned composition (and so it has not been cropped or changed in any way at all!). I love it! I was trying to take photos as I was driving through Kings Valley and I was aiming for the cows in the pasture, which can be seen in this image off in the distance. What I ended up with is a picture of me driving, the cows, the trees, the gate, what looks to be a small, confining box (the current state of education), the wide open pasture (the way we want education to be), the road flying by (we are in a hurry for change and to get those gates open), my hand steering the car, my “Joe-Vanessa” gold eternity ring, and even a car following behind me with its lights on seen in the review mirror. This is just so cool and significant beyond belief. It is so surrealistic. Is this what the clue was about relating to????  The clue stated, “In the photos there will be clues that help you solve some of the previous clues.”



Last Thursday I was given many messages from a spiritual adviser and friend about Joe’s work being the light to lead the way. She says I am following behind him and he is holding the light as we climb the mountain. I am also holding a light and there are many people following behind us. There were so many significant messages on Thursday that, as I look back at them, I see them in this composition as well as in this entire treasure hunt that just transpired.

For instance, I was told that Joe’s battle was to raise consciousness and the level of education, which it was and still is. Schools are to be built everywhere with a focus on the children. This is also a battle for truth and justice which is a separate and yet the same battle. I will have to think about this some more. It is incredibly significant and powerful. It is amazing how these treasure hunts turn out. And as if to remind me of the messages I received on Thursday as well, in which I was told not to feel overwhelmed and to just take “one step at a time; one brick at a time” today I also received the following email message that reconfirms the previous message: 

Cool message today from Brian Kim

I love this message because it totally relates to Joe’s bricolage research methodology and what I am doing with the blogs on this website, the treasure hunts, and all of the other projects relating to his work that I am engaged in. We build brick-by-brick! Don’t worry about what the wall is going to look like and don’t get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work in front of us. Just take it one little brick at a time and it will all come together in the end. And it is never the end. You can always take a brick out and put it somewhere else, add a new brick, or even move multiple bricks around and continue to evolve that brick wall. Joe was so “right on!” 

You're not building a wall. You're going to take ONE brick and place it as neatly as you can. Then you're going to take another brick and put it where it's supposed to go as neatly as you can. And if you keep doing that, you'll eventually build that wall.  Zone in. Break it down to repeatable actions. Don't get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the final product in the beginning.  

Not a subscriber yet? Like what you've read? Click the link below to sign up to get future issues delivered straight to you:  http://www.briankim.net/vipnewsletter.php  
Until next time, 
Brian Kimhttp://www.briankim.net
The Definitive Guide to Self Improvement^(TM)


TOMORROW: WHAT DOES JOE'S NAME MEAN? You will be amazed! It is just so serendipitous!

Are you open for miracles and magic?

  
Well, I was told this morning that I have lots to do on the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt yet, which was my very first treasure hunt (along with the Yard Search Treasure Hunt that yielded the Celtic yin yang disk and the diamond ring). This does not surprise me, because I had already been told that this particular treasure hunt is supposed to last for quite some time — on through next summer – and even longer because there are so many treasures in the valley. Plus, since it was my very first training mission, it has progressed slower than I would have wished. I have not solved many of the clues yet. There is The Mystery of the Grist Mill in which I have never determined in some sort of final way what really happened to the grist mill, nor have I even located its exact site. There are The Hidden Treasury Notes and I have not found those. I do think I have an idea where they might be, though and I will need to follow through. There was also the mix-up regarding The Old Fort Road. And then there is also the 84-year old man who lives in The House of the Forlorn. If you are new to reading these blogs, all of this treasure hunting began when I first was informed I had been chosen for a special mission. The mission began with treasure hunting in Kings Valley, OR, and has now expanded from there to other places around Oregon, and apparently by next summer it will stretch all across the nation as far as New York. The best way to get up to speed and learn what these treasure hunts are all about is to read through some of my past blogs about them.

I am thinking I probably need to write a book about all of these great and exciting treasure hunts (with the most recent excitement being the manifestation of a new car!) Better yet, I think I should put together some sort of instructions – not blue prints, mind you – but just general instructions so that people can start participating in their own treasure hunts. As I had mentioned in one of my previous blogs, these treasure hunts are waiting for you to discover! And even if you do not believe this, you do have special “angels” as many people like to call them, and this is an accurate depiction, actually, right there waiting to help you discover all of the treasures around you. I have found that the more I participate and interact, the more exciting and divine it can get. And as I stated in the introduction to this site, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, Baby – and it is SO TRUE. There are many, many more “Treasure Hunts Coming Up The Pike” and not only is it true that more treasure hunts are coming, that is also the title of a future treasure hunt in itself which I think will turn out to be quite fascinating once it gets rolling. All of this should prove to be so much fun.
 

What’s incredible is if you read the blog about my mission assignment, this is still the initiation stage! (Thus, the finding of treasures such as this rusty old screw and washer. What a joke that was!) And so, I have only been undergoing training for the mission project. It has already been incredibly fun, so I can imagine (or I probably really CANNOT imagine) what is in store when the REAL PROJECT begins. I do know the name of the project, but it has such a sad element to it that I have not wanted to put it out here. I don’t know why the Higher Council comes up with some of the things they do. You know, they are multidimensional so the titles to the projects they give me always seem to have multiple meanings and they end up coming up with titles and tasks sometimes that remind me of Joe and then I get sad thinking about how he has left the world and I miss him and so then it makes me cry again. Well, I will come out with the name of the mission much later; I think it’s still classified, anyway. The kick-off, just as a reminder, is April 3rd which is also a special day according to our Love Celebrations. I am looking forward to that celebration and the excitement that follows as we launch into the project. I hope that by then many more people have joined the mission, are looking for the MUSIC Easter eggs in Joe’s book – and on this website! – and starting their own great treasure hunts and Critical Knowledge Networks in their neighborhoods and that we all stay interconnected.
 

Speaking of MUSIC Easter eggs, I have started a booklet that will explain in greater detail how to find the Easter eggs in Joe’s book which I will make available right here to download for free. In it I will include the MUSIC Easter eggs I have found so far, along with detailed instructions on how I went about finding them, and then some general instructions that will help others locate additional Easter eggs. It would be great if we made this a joint effort and then worked together to update the book to keep a complete list of all of the Easter eggs. As I said, I do not have time to find them all and anyway, I believe Joe wanted this to be a project that people work on together, possibly even having weekly book discussion groups to go over what they have found and learned -- which is why he hid so many Easter eggs. Also, since this is a textbook, Easter egg hunting could add another dimension to the classroom instruction since the Easter eggs typically add greater depth and reinforcement to the message Joe was trying to get across in the text associated with them. (Photo courtesy of Microsoft)

Anyway, all of this should be lots of fun. And remember, too, there are several types of Easter eggs, one other type being MOVIE Easter eggs, which I have only gotten a glimpse of because I really do not know movies since I have rarely watched them. There, we will need not only the title of the movie, but a description of what the movie was about and how it ties in with what Joe wrote about in the part of the book where it was found. There are many other activities like this in his book, I am told, but I have not been told what they are yet. As I always stress (and Joe talked extensively about using an improvisational learning approach rather than force feeding bits of information to students), this entire project is evolving in an improvisational manner and we just have to go on what we have as we are handed it. And so far: MUSIC and MOVIE Easter eggs! These alone will keep everyone busy for quite some time….maybe until the Project launch. Perhaps there will be further announcements at the Celebration -- something is cluing me in that that could very well be the case. Maybe you will be the one to discover some of the additional activities Joe has hidden in his book.
 
Well, bright and early this morning, I was told that yes, I should go visit Mel, the 84-year-old man in Kings Valley who lives in The House of the Forlorn shown in the photo (I was thinking it was time, anyway). That reminds me, I will have to ask him when his birthday is. I think we should have a special celebration just for him. Why? He is a very important, divine, and blessed person. It was revealed to me by his name before I even met him. His name, which I have only partially revealed because I wish to protect his identity (and now I have questions: am I protecting his identity or the identity of those who are not taking proper care of him by helping him fix his house before it falls down around him?). Anyway, I shortened his name to Mel. When I first investigated this house, which I had discovered on the very first treasure hunt in Kings Valley, I did not think he lived in it, of course. How could someone live in a house that looked like so much sadness had emanated from within that it appeared the house itself was crying and falling to pieces? Really, that was my impression, when I first gazed upon this house! And not only that, I kept hearing someone crying for help. I could not see them, but I was informed it was an old man who owned this house I had come across and that he really did need some help. He was not aware, apparently that I could hear his cry for help, but I could (or maybe it was just my imagination, but I do think my imagination served me well here). And so, I researched the house through the county offices and found the owner’s name, Mel+, and I really thought he must be living in a nursing home. I assumed he was worried about his house and the need to clear up the property (there are a lot of old metal tools and all sorts of stuff around the place) and distribute the contents within the house, maybe selling some things for him because he needed money. It was like this house was hanging over his head because he really needed to do something about it and he needed money, but he was not in the position to do anything himself.
  

So, you can imagine my surprise to find that he actually was still living inside this sad house. I was so impressed when I met Mel, though. He is active, bright, has wild blue shining eyes and white hair to match – I wish I could describe him adequately. He is a totally delightful person, probably Irish or Scottish-Irish and he has such funny stories to tell, in that Irish tradition. I was shocked to learn that here he is living in this decrepit house while his nephew lives in a big fancy house up on the hill on property that used to belong to Mel – and still, Mel’s house is falling down around him. Why? So, who am I protecting here? While Mel is very, very active and he loves his land and takes great care of it along with the forest, meadows, orchard, and mountain stream on his property, he clearly does not do carpentry or home maintenance. He clearly could use a hand with that and he should have that help. We all have our special abilities, skills, and loves. We should all be helping each other using those and not be reluctant to accept help for the things we may not be so good at. (Photo of the Irish Shop was taken in Newport, OR on the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt.)

Take for instance the fact that there are a lot of things I can do and I love to help other people. But, I will happily tell you that I cannot even use a screwdriver or a hammer and nail with great success. I count on my soulmate brother to lend me a hand with the small maintenance tasks, because not only is he great at helping me analyze the results and clues from some of my treasure hunts, he also is an expert when it comes to using tools on the home or car. So, I will call him up and he will explain in great detail to me what I need to do to fix something and it just totally goes over my head…there is no way. I am so thankful he is willing to come over when I need something fixed and he has it done in no time and then we can enjoy talking about treasure hunting and other esoteric things that I enjoy talking with him about. He is my true brother.
 

So, back to Mel. As I was saying, I realized how special he was by his name. His complete name means “Gentle Lord of the Land and Trees.” How cool is that! And he actually lives up to his name! He plows all around his orchards with his ancient plow that still works! Last winter we had a terrible windstorm that knocked over a lot of pine trees on his property (which is about five acres, so we are talking here about quite a large area for him to care for). When I had visited him and he took me up the mountain (which was a very funny story because he is in much better shape than I am and he told me I need to get older so I can climb mountains better), he showed me where he had not only chopped down many of the fallen trees (and we are talking TALL trees), he had chopped them up into firewood and had them neatly stacked. I was amazed, quite honestly. He had mowed all of the prairie grasses. He had cleared out the stream and mowed the grass right up to the water’s edge. He laughed as he explained how he backs his tractor right up to the edge and then quickly throws it into gear to lurch forward before the tractor can fall backwards into the stream. It took special maneuvering and precise timing to accomplish this task. And so, he truly does live up to his name. (The photo is taken of the old oak tree midst the other trees on Mel's property.)

 
Yet his house is in very dire straits. I had all of these hopes for this summer – like getting a bunch of community members together and repairing his house by building him a new front porch and doing all of the other repairs needed. In fact, my soul brother even said he would help. The house needs to be reroofed and resided as well. But, like all things, this will need to evolve. Mel was not ready to have people come on his property and start changing things. Perhaps by next summer he will be, because, honestly, he has changed since I met him. He is thinking about these things and is talking about them now – even to his family. I have seen some positive things happen. He seems happier and he no longer needs for me to bring him food because family members and friends are now giving him more than he can even use. I will keep an eye on the situation, however and since this treasure hunt lasts on into the future, perhaps something further will manifest. As I have learned, these treasure hunts invoke magic, but you do gotta have faith and believe in magic. So we shall see. Right now I just worry if this house is even going to make it through another winter. I will pray that it does, and of course, visit him throughout the winter to make sure all is well and to take him anything he might wish for. If you would like to review previous treasure hunt excursions in which I visited Mel they can be read at:

On A Special Mission: I Wish I Knew What That Mission Was
There’s Gold Up In Them Thar Hills!
Wow! I Have Been Ambitious! (Postformally, That Is)
Memorial Day Message
Treasure Hunting: Where Are We Now?Treasure Hunting: Still Dancing
Just Some Updates 

It did not surprise me to awaken this morning with the encouragement to go visit Mel today. It is important to stay in contact with him. I was told the following bright and early this morning: 

Please do go out and visit Mel today. He also needs some cheering up. He enjoys your visits and is missing them, you know. You do know the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt is far from over, don’t you? I don’t really have a new clue for you. You have yet to solve some of the old clues I gave you. You should take some photos, though. In the photos there will be clues that help you solve some of the previous clues. You will need to follow up on these and write the interesting stories surrounding them. Once you do, suddenly you’ll come to understand how the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt is significant to you and I and how it ties in with what you need to be doing today. It sounds like I’m rambling, but it will all make perfect sense in the end. 

So, that’s it for today. I am off treasure hunting in Kings Valley! I will give you an update tomorrow. Be sure to check back soon, because I will post a free download, How to Find the Easter Eggs in Joe Kincheloe’s Book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. I am on a deadline with this book, so you should be able to find it on the site next weekend.

Also, I will be adding some more Rising Stars in an effort toward building those Critical Knowledge Networks Joe felt were so important to his mission. And note that Joe readily observed that each and everyone of us is a teacher.

Peace, Love, and Happy Treasure Hunting,
Vanessa

 

I don’t know about you, but I just love an excuse to get together with people and have a celebration. Well, the Higher Councils (in my wildest dreams) have been ordering up these various new "Love Celebrations" which I have been announcing in my blogs as they come up and now I list on the Critical Knowledge Networks page of this site. I have word there will be more of these celebrations added as we progress with our mission: You know the mission -- Joe’s mission -- the mission I share with him -- to ease the suffering, improve education, and make the world a better place. It’s the mission that he referred to as a “perpetual revolution.” It’s the kind of Revolution that Dreaming Bear say will be waged with Peace, Love and Kindness, not guns and bombs.

I have been reminding people throughout August that this is Celebrate Peace month and a time for community get-togethers. Have you had your peace celebration? I have had several now with more to come and I am right in the middle of planning a party and celebration that I hope will be fun.

As I was engaged in the planning, it suddenly dawned on me: what a great way to start building those Critical Knowledge Networks Joe talked about in his book! This was another dream Joe held close to his heart – Critical Knowledge Networks -- and it is close to my heart to see that we follow through on this dream. Eventually, I would like to see that many people are able to participate in these exciting networks.

What is a Critical Knowledge Network? Well, it is complicated, because like everything Joe wrote about there are always multiple interpretations and his ideas can be applied to multiple dimensions. Joe defined Critical Knowledge Network in general terms in the preface of his book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. First, he discusses the idea that we are all fallible and a sense of humility serves us all well so that we can fully realize we just do not know everything there is to know. He explains that it is critical to work with diverse peoples so that we learn the things we don’t know or as he puts it “to overcome our ignorance” (p. viii). He states:

In this process, we can develop forms of transformative, critical knowledges that at present do not exist. Thus, a key dimension of this book is to provide the conceptual basis for the construction of critical knowledge networks that connect individuals from all geographic areas and social domains. Such networks move us away from the oppressive dimensions of the so-callled information age where knowledge is produced and transferred via media and schools for the benefit and legitimation of transnational capital. In the critical knowledge networks that make use of the transformative understandings of knowledge, its production, certification, and deployment outlined in this book, such information is used to bring together a wide variety of oppressed peoples” (pp. viii-ix).

Joe goes on to say that in this way, “Workers in de-unionized, free market workplaces, women, racially subjugated individuals, indigenous peoples, colonized peoples, poor people, sexually oppressed peoples, and many others can join these critical knowledge networks in ways that contribute to their empowerment and emancipation” (p. ix).

Essentially, this is what Joe’s last book is about – his dream – and there is much more to his definition than this conveys, but you must be totally in tune with Joe to relate to it -- you must be ready to walk through the sacred door -- and that comes by reading his book, believing in his dream, partaking in Critical Knowledge Networks and helping other people do the same. As time goes on, I will cover this complex, yet very simple idea Joe had in mind for his advanced conceptualization of the ideal Critical Knowledge Network. It is amazing. And, no, it is not religion (although it is compatible with any religion).

For now, however, it suddenly dawned on me: It does begin at home. It begins in the community, but we also need to make global efforts. The critical knowledge network starts in the community and it grows just like the Bugleweed as I discussed in an earlier blog. There is a great change in education that is just about to take the world by storm and it is Joe’s Perpetual Revolution. Just today, it suddenly dawned on me that this is what all of the New Love Celebrations are about. These celebrations are where we begin to construct and connect the Critical Knowledge Networks – and it will grow in a perpetual manner from there.

Of course, meeting up with people is also one of the purposes of the Treasure Hunts Joe has discussed in some of his books as well. One of the outcomes of treasure hunting is what I mentioned before, in the introduction to this website and my blog here – and that is, “I believe that profound treasures, including many new and brilliant friends, will be discovered along the many paths this journey takes us. That is what is predicted by Joe's eclectic theoretical formulation for education, and which he himself had demonstrated, and we will see that he was right. Joe was brilliantly right on with his theory. It is so exciting!!!”

Now that I know that all of this also involves celebrations, treasure hunting, parties, games, music, etc., I am even more excited. We are going to manifest Joe’s perpetual revolution – and this is a very divine thing!

And so yesterday, I was sent out on the continuing saga of the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt. The only clue I had was, “You really need to do a little more on The No Ordinary Treasure Hunt today. Go over to the complex that has great windows that look over yonder hills.”

And so that was all I had to go on. I assumed this was referring to the hospital with its complex of various medical facilities. But on the way to the hospital, I was diverted to the complex of the city offices and services – the City Hall, the Courthouse, Human Services. Honestly, I do not know which complex was the right one. I have more work to do here.

Next, I headed on over to the Hospital and took more pictures. It was so odd that right next to the hospital parking lot is a graveyard. I shot some pictures from the parking lot because the sun was so beautifully shining down on the graveyard and somehow it provides such great hope. I went on into the hospital and there was an interesting gift shop but it was closed and all I could do was look in through the windows. I also had considered buying flowers to deliver to someone, but I did not know who, as discussed in yesterday’s blog. I even pulled up to a flower shop that I happened by, but it was also closed. I guess things close early on Friday evenings in Albany, OR. I was hoping that the man selling the cool flags I saw on the other side of the highway on my trip into town would still be there, because I was thinking that a flag would be great to add to the atmosphere of a happy celebration.

As I walked into the hospital I was greeted by a registration desk employee and I felt that I did not belong there. I did not know what I was supposed to be doing there or if it even was the right place that matched the clue. I mentioned that I had seen the gift shop, but that it was closed, or I was going to go in and shop in there. And so, I ended up leaving, feeling that this treasure hunt needed a few more clues. I do know that all of the places I visited – the church, the cemetery, the hospital, and the courthouse had been included in previous clues, but I was not sure how they fit into the scheme of things. I am supposed to enter the door of the church as well as visit the cemetery, and there is something about a courthouse, “the courthouse of opportunity,” as it was put. I will no doubt understand these better when continuing with this treasure hunt.

After visiting the hospital, I happened to pass by that Sacred Church again which I spoke of in my previous blog. The first picture (above) shows the door I need to go through, according to the clues that were given to me, and this picture shows that the light still shines down on the church in a very sacred way. I do have some more work to do on this aspect of the treasure hunt -- I was assigned some research to find out who the minister was who first established and built this church as well as find names in the cemetary near the hospital....I will update what I find out in a future blog.

Fortunately, the treasure hunt ended up being productive and worthwhile, in spite of feeling like I had somehow failed. On the way home, the man selling the flags was still in the parking lot. I drove in and began shooting pictures of all of the pretty flags. He asked me if he could be in the picture (he was joking) and I said, sure! I explained to him that I am looking to feature independent business people on the website. He gave me his card; his name is James Payne and he sells his flags on ebay at the West Coast Store, if you are interested in celebratory flags -- he has many to choose from.
 
As I mentioned, treasure hunting is a way to meet people and start building the Critical Knowledge Networks On the Open Source Photos page. It is my intention to feature people who are contributing to the mission in various ways, whether it is by escaping working for the machine through their own business (that relates to the mission – and in this case it is a provider of flags for our celebrations) or they in some other way contribute to the mission.

I still don’t know what the treasure hunt clue about "windows looking over yonder hills" was supposed to lead me to (I will have to ask for more direction), but like all treasure hunts, I still ended up finding treasures. Oh, and I ended up buying two flags for my future celebrations…I bought the one in the picture as well as a PEACE flag for my Peace Celebrations...it will also appear in these blogs soon. It's really pretty. And I do just want to celebrate 24/7.

Power of the Pen – I Just Want to Celebrate – Rare Earth

References
Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Knowledge and critical pedagogy: An Introduction. Amsterdam: Springer.

ONWARD AND UPWARD: OLD AND NEW TREASURE HUNTS

The rest of August and then throughout September will be spent wrapping up the treasure hunts (for now and so far). I have been informed that I will be venturing out a few more times for all of the treasure hunts: The Kings Valley Treasure Hunt, The Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt, The NEW Treasure Hunt, and the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt. These treasure hunts will eventually merge somehow, I am told, but I am not certain how that will happen. Not only that, they are all related to the upcoming New York, New York Treasure Hunt as well as the Appalachian Mountain People Treasure Hunt. Wow, I was just now given these last two treasure hunts (the treasure hunts “coming up the pike?” evidently, that have been mentioned several times now). I had to argue with the “giver” which I feel bad about, in a way, because I do want to honor all requests which I do feel are ultimately divine and good. He wanted to name the Appalachian treasure hunt “The Appalachian Hillbilly Treasure Hunt.” I said, “no, please, I can’t do that”…so we compromised with the more politically correct “Mountain People”….and I hope that is acceptable. It does appear that this particular treasure hunt will involve getting to know the lovely people of the Appalachian Mountains intimately.

Check out the Joe’s Appalachian Mountains pages on this site for some introductory information about the tragedy that is going on daily in the Appalachian Mountain regions. We simply must alleviate the suffering there. Something tells me that this was really important to Joe and is now important in the continuing of his mission.

The above information was just officially confirmed. Sometimes I get “wind” of things before the official word comes down. In the event you think that might be proof that I make all of this stuff up, please know that I am a creative person, but no one person can be THAT creative, if you know what I mean. I just cannot possibly sit around all day and rack my brain to come up with these treasure hunts, all of the clues, and all of the amazing outcomes. In fact, it takes me enough time just to go out and do these treasure hunts that are sent to me and then convey the information that comes my way in these blogs, much less try and think it all up. Thankfully, I do not have to do that part. But, then we are all free to believe what we wish, so if some people believe that about me, all I can say it, it’s an honor that they think I am so creative, ambitious, and have more time available than other humans have.

This morning, I was officially told that yes, these treasure hunts will merge eventually and I am not even sure what that means or what it entails. It’s just one of those things you have to take on faith. I was also told I have much more work to do on them – “some things to wrap up and pull together” is how it was put. Plus, I was given some assignments relating to them:

The No Ordinary Treasure Hunt

Visit the church and the cemetery. You may want to review the information about the houses and other historical information first; find out who founded the church, the minister.

There is much information you can bricolage; more background information relating to some of the places you visited.

The West Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt

Trips back to the coast to dine at the Panache. I will give you specific information when it’s time along with some additional clues.

Also provided were quite detailed instructions for writing all of these treasure hunts up, which I will not get into here. We compiled a complete list of all of the treasure hunts so far, though. They include (I think this is all of them so far):

King’s Valley Treasure Hunt

NEW Treasure Hunt

No Ordinary Treasure Hunt

Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt

MUSIC Easter Eggs Treasure Hunt

New York! New York! Treasure Hunt (new)

Where the West Sun Never Shines Treasure Hunt (new)

Coming Up the Pike Treasure Hunt (new – has not started yet)

Appalachian Mountain People Treasure Hunt (new – has not started yet)

I think that’s all of them. To add to the spirit and to get me launched in the treasure hunting mode, I was given new clues this morning. I was told,

Incidentally, that does remind me. You really need to do a little more on the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt today. Go over to the complex that has great windows that look over yonder hills. I know (as you laugh), my clues can seem odd, but you always figure them out.

I just want to remind you that you have not totally stunned the world yet with the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt and that is the ultimate goal, you know. And as they say, “It’s not over until it is over.” Some people are not impressed with the manifestation of a car. Others do not believe in reincarnation (much to their own evolutionary detriment) so the spiritual light shining on the church does not impress them. What does it take to impress the whole world? What do you think? What must we do? And so the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt saga continues – as do all of the treasure hunts you have been assigned….And also please realize there will be many more treasure hunts throughout the upcoming academic year. It will be such great fun as you shall see.

Well, there are obviously multiple clues in the above dialogue. For today, I will focus on visiting “the complex that has great windows that look over yonder hills.” As I recall, the only major complex we saw on Seventh Ave during the trip was the hospital and its associated buildings that offered the various specialty medical services. That would be the building that is also tall enough to see over the trees and “look over yonder hills.” Rainbow Princess said that what we should do is buy someone flowers and deliver them….hmm….that sounds like a great “random act of kindness” and not too difficult to accomplish. We will just have to see what transpires out of this. I suspect there is much more to this excursion. I will report back tomorrow.

Autumn Leaves – Candace Corrigan

Candace Corrigan sings Autumn Leaves with Doc West on guitar and a slide show of photos from The Old Stone Fort Park in Manchester, Tennessee.

References

Photo of the Appalachian Mountains courtesy of Don Hyatt http://www.tjhsst.edu/~dhyatt/fall/

I don't usually post two blogs in one day, but I just now received this very reassuring and sweet message from a source that I cannot ignore and it was advised that I post it immediately as a Public Service Announcement (PSA). I think all of us who engage in treasure hunting can be reassured that the loved ones who are sending them our way are real and will continue to be there for us as long as we wish. That's about all I really have to say. The song speaks for itself.

World of Our Own - Westlife

Thursday, August 20, 2009

New York! New York! And Where the West Sun Never Shines Treasure Hunts

I keep getting clues about a treasure hunt in New York in June. I thought the first clues were a part of the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt, but I gradually came to realize this is another new treasure hunt. At first, the instructions were very subtle – "I like New York in June, How About You?" and “well, it’s your decision” and “I don’t want to tell you that you must go,” and “I’m sitting on the fence” kind of a thing; and today, it was: “I cannot ask you to do anything surrounding that, not directly at all” which has my curiosity going, of course. But, I sense that there is something urgent and very important about me going to New York, even though I have not been filled in with the details. I did express again, as I always do when I am requested to do something like this, that basically, whatever is needed relating to Joe’s work, the treasure hunts, or the mission, I am here to do them. And besides, to me, the idea of going to New York in June is very exciting and I guess that excitement was picked up on because my next clue, which came yesterday, was quite loud and distinct. It came in the form of the song, New York, New York, which is the chosen song for today.
 

Now, I am getting wind of a particularly fantastic and extravagant treasure hunt in New York. Still, it is a long way off, so we will see what transpires out of this. There was the “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” clue in the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt which led to Seventh Avenue in Albany, OR which is also a city in New York….so, I think I have been adequately clued in here. It will be interesting to see what the treasure hunt is all about. I also had wind that I would go to TN in June, so maybe this will be some sort of combined treasure hunt….wow, they are going way out for me here….but then this is all after The Mission Project begins, so it would figure that I have to go farther away from home than I have had to travel with the training and initiation missions.

I was also told last night and this morning that I can plan for many, many more treasure hunts. It was explained that Treasure Hunts Coming Up the Pike is a treasure hunt in itself as well as a clue that there are many more treasure hunts coming with many “bountiful rewards” … this just keeps my life SO interesting! You cannot imagine! That is, unless you also have treasure hunts every single day. If you do not, you should be looking for them. They’re there for you because everyone gets to partake in treasure hunts. Once you start participating in them, they will keep coming for you.

Well, as if to prove that I am indeed going to continue to be blessed with treasure hunts, I was immediately sent another new treasure hunt this morning! Here is how the message came down to me (and when I say came down to me, call me crazy, but it is like I am a medium or something and someone who seems to love me speaks/writes through me). My imagination has run wild, I guess. I don’t mind though (Joe didn’t mind; neither did James Brown). This is what the message said:

So, my love, what is on your agenda today? Are you up to some treasure hunting? Just a short stint, maybe? How about where the west sun never shines? And what the hell does that mean you ask? Well if I tell you what the clue means it wouldn’t be much of a challenge would it? This is a new treasure hunt. I can tell you that much. Just call it Where the West Sun Never Shines Treasure Hunt. Think about it for awhile. I’ll get back to you later with more…your good Uncle Einstein and I are still putting this one together. You have a lovely day….

Well, that’s exciting! Multi-tasking with treasure hunts! How divine is that? I did some quick research on the clue and immediately a really FREAKY hard rock song popped up and I will have to think about that for awhile. While the song was freaky, it also had a very real and loving message to it in that it conveys the fact that even if our loved ones pass over to the other side, they are always with us, but I am not sure that is where the clue is supposed to lead me, although it would not surprise me (I refused to post the song for the time being; it is just too freaky). And anyway, another thing I pulled up at the same time when I googled the clue is a book about coal mining, titled Where the Sun Never Shines: A History of America's Bloody Coal Industry. It is true that the sun never shines in the coal mines. It’s sad when you think about all of the coal miners who sacrificed so much just so all of us can have electricity and heat. I may want to read that book because it provides the history of coal mining and this all relates to what I want to write about for the Joe’s Appalachian Mountains page on this website. Often, with treasure hunts, multiple clues will come up and they can take us in two directions – even more -- simultaneously. That is not unusual. Well, I was told in the clue that I will hear more later about this treasure hunt, so I am just going to wait for now and see what comes down to me. I have a lot of boring course assignments to get out of the way today….and who knows, maybe I will be asked to take “a short stint” and do some treasure hunting before the day is over.

My only question for the moment is – will I be provided a new luxury car for the trip to Tennessee and New York – or will I have to rely on the train….wait a minute, I think I know the answer. Back on the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt, when Rainbow Princess and I went back for the second time because we could not find the right section of Seventh Avenue the first time, there was this humorous incident with the train. I wrote about it in the How to Manifest a New Car Out of Thin Air blog. Just as we were approaching the train tracks, the signal started flashing and the gates went down. We waited, but there was NO TRAIN! The gates went back up and as I crossed the tracks I looked down the tracks both ways. There was NO SIGN OF A TRAIN! That is my answer. I will not be taking a train to New York. In fact, in that same blog, I was reminded that anything I want, I got it! So, I might as well think big: A new luxury car to drive…

Wow! New York! How exciting. I have never been to New York.

Here is my musical clue for the New York Treasure Hunt….I am excited about this upcoming excursion! At least they gave me plenty of time to plan for it! That was sweet.

New York New York – Frank Sinatra

LOVE

As I have been conveying through my blogs, Joe’s theory for education – and for life – is based out of a foundation of love, often called “radical love” by certain factions of educators, but which I have changed up to represent what we are really talking about here so that we are able to actually practice it  -- a deep spiritual love. When we fully embrace this form of love which Joe modeled so well for us all, but which many of us are very imperfect in following (myself included) we will be able to live our lives based from decisions that arise from our hearts and which we can feel more confident are the correct decisions. This in no way means we won’t make errors in judgment, but we can escape the “band aid” fixes that a top-down, socially-constructed ethics system proclaims to provide us.

We must escape these Western Cartesian “logical” systems and after-the-fact ethics programs which the U.S. tries so desperately to force on the entire world and that inflict harm on people more often than aiding in equitable decisions (Please refer to the Academics and Articles page of this website, as well as Joe’s books, for more in depth discussions of these issues).  Joe discussed the historical roots of this system and the disastrous outcomes in all of his works. This “rational irrationality,” as Joe refers to it, has never worked and it will never work.

In our consideration of increasing globalization, continuing to force these ideas and practices on cultures that already have embedded within their cultural practices a love for humanity and a reverence for a greater power will only serve to alienate people even more and this is not what it is going to take to create a global family of loving people. I do have confidence In Joe’s “perpetual revolution” and that through love we will turn around the current state of affairs and come to practice more loving and socially just ways of being in the world.

PEACE

August, as was mentioned is Peace Month and a time for celebrations. I hope everyone has at least one event in which you get together, whether with friends, family, or acquaintances – or people you do not know – to share your thoughts about peace and join together in a united front to do what you can to work toward positive changes in the world. Starting in your own community is a great way to get this project off the ground.

In relation to this, I wanted to share some special vegetarian recipes that make a great summer dinner. I had assistance picking out the recipes, so I do not take credit for them, although I did change them up slightly and I am not sure I can take credit for the changes either as it seems that someone else in another realm did have influence on how the dinner turned out (this, I can explain later).

This Peace Celebration Vegetarian Dinner Menu is posted on the Celebrations & Anthems pages of this website. I would like to open up this site so that we can all share many things. We are all teachers and we are all learners – the more we share our positive experiences and our knowledge about anything and everything that relates to living in joy, love, peace, and harmony -- whether it is a favorite recipe or how to paint a picture or the results of research undertaken for a dissertation, the faster we can move toward a peaceful, loving world.

This, truly, is what Joe’s theory was about as well – his Critical Knowledge Networks that he dreamed of creating and of which he speaks in his book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. And this is just a part of the story. The rest (at least my interpretation of it) is evolving right here on this website…

This month (as is every month) is also a time to reflect on the mistakes we may have made and to renew our thoughts and attitudes so that we do not make the same mistakes in the future – time for karmic clearing, as I have been conveying in the blogs. Treasure Hunting works wonders for karmic clearing as well as for many other great purposes, such as interdisciplinary learning and knowledge production - inventions of new epistemologies which Joe has said is important for escaping the hegemonic epistemologies forced upon us. There are treasure hunts waiting for you to partake in.

FREEDOM

September is a month to contemplate freedom. What is freedom? When do we feel most free? This is highly relevant for the start of the school year. If you are a classroom teacher, how can you assist your students with learning the things that are important for them to learn individually as well as collectively, while at the same time, create a sense of egalitarianism and freedom in the classroom? Of course, teachers are always concerned with classroom behavior and that is one of the first things to come down, usually on the very first day of class.

Instead of blatantly operating out of a position of authority, why not let the students, as a community, devise their own class rules? Honestly, you will be amazed at how capable the students are with coming up with their own expectations for classroom behavior for keeping a positive environment that is conducive for learning. You will be amazed at how well they enforce the rules they come up with. Students do want their classrooms to be pleasant places in which they can learn. Some teachers practice this method of establishing rules as just mentioned in the classroom with great success. Empower your students and allow them some freedom and flexibility. Take a sincere interest in their lives and well being. It will work wonders.

Of course, the questions I have posed here also begs the question, Do we really need rules? We will know we have more fully evolved as humans when we all just behave responsibly, considerately, respectfully, and with compassion and generosity.
 
MORE TO COME

Over the next few days, I will be going over what is to come during the next year. It is actually going to a very exciting and productive year in many ways on this website as well as in many dimensions of my life. We are entering a new school year, and for me, this is always the “NEW YEAR” (vs. January 1) and it is highly significant in terms of plans, change, and progress. In the next few blogs, I will cover what I will be adding to this website and relay information about the new treasure hunts “coming up the pike” (in fact I was just informed today of two new treasure hunts and I will be sharing those in more detail), plus other noteworthy items.

Just to remind readers of my ultimate purpose and to inform new readers: My purpose, as a tribute to Joe Kincheloe's great and ingenious contributions to not only the world of education, but to the world in general, is to interpret his theories in multiple ways and to show how they can be applied in multiple educational settings, informal everyday settings, work settings, church settings, etc. and to illustrate how doing so can bring joy, freedom, peace, justice, knowledge, and contribute to his mission to “alleviate human suffering."

This is a project that I have committed the rest of my life to, even though this website has absolutely nothing to sell and will never ask for funding of any sort. It is simply a reflection back of the monumental love that Joe sent to me when I had the privilege of working with him on his online research community project. I did have the wonderful opportunity to meet him and it is a beautiful memory as well as a monumentally humorous memory which I will hold dear for the rest of my life (I will convey this in a future blog).

The work I do here is out of my sincere dedication to seeing that his work is represented to the world in ways that everyone might benefit from it in some way, even if it is some small and minute way. While I have been criticized by some people (a small, but vocal minority) who contend that Joe did not want to be made into an “idol,” I don’t believe that is what I am asking other people to do here at all. While, yes, I do personally idolize Joe and I will always idolize him and I do have that right – to love him, even in ways that I suppose are beyond that which are “socially acceptable,” (which Joe would say is just a social construction, anyway, and we can always change those) I have also come to realize he loved me deeply as well (disclaimer: Joe loved everyone he cared about deeply). But discussing that in depth or bringing forth "evidence" is not the purpose of this website.
 
What I am trying to accomplish here is to merely relay his extremely important and profound contributions to education with the hope that this encourages many people the world over to apply his work so that they can immediately experience for themselves the benefits and rewards from doing so. As I have said, Joe was “right on!” with his theories. It does not take a rocket scientist to apply them and reap the wonderful rewards. It does take a brave soul, though, I suppose, to openly convey this information on a website when there are educators and people in power who would wish to subvert this work.

All of that said, I can honestly attest to the fact that I have been richly blessed in so many ways since I began this work. I receive indications on a daily basis that the work I do here is spiritually blessed, protected, and will be very substantially rewarded in mutiple ways. The greatest reward, in my view, is that many more people can experience the joy that I have come to experience since the day I first read Joe's work and have been applying it in many dimensions of my life. I do believe someone -- a higher power, if you will -- wants this work accomplished and I suspect that some day it will be clear where all of this is leading or evolving – that is, it will have led there, wherever that someplace turns out to be. I cannot predict that as I am just going with the evolution of this project and following directives as they are just sort of “handed down” to me in various ways. This is the very thing we need to be talking about more, which even I still feel constrained about…but in time, we must all open Pandora’s Box.

We will find that we have been lied to (which we know, anyway) and that in reality, opening the box will reveal more and more hidden and beautiful treasures that can lead to great love, peace, freedom, and a joy most of us can only dream of currently. I am totally dedicated to getting the word out about my interpretation of Joe’s theories and his unique and rewarding treasure hunts so that everyone can partake in the discovery of and participation in the specially blessed treasures that are waiting for each and every one of us to discover daily. Truly, if humanity is to survive in any meaningful way, we must all learn to support each other in this opening of Pandora's box during which we openly share our experiences. We must stand by each other and relieve each other's suffering and we should avoid circumventing the freedom to love, learn, share, and create. Of all of the things Joe taught me, I believe these are the most important and form the foundation of his theories.

I’ll Stand by You - The Pretenders 
 


Lyrics to I'll Stand By You

Oh, Why You Look So Sad?
Tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Don’t be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
’cause I’ve seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You don’t know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you

So if you’re mad, get mad
Don’t hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now
Hey, what you got to hide?
I get angry too
Well I’m a lot like you
When you’re standing at the crossroads
And don’t know which path to choose
Let me come along
’cause even if you’re wrong

I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I’ll never desert you
I’ll stand by you

And when...
When the night falls on you, baby
You’re feeling all alone
You won’t be on your own

I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you

I’ll stand by you
Take me in, into your darkest hour
And I’ll never desert you
I’ll stand by you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you
Won’t let nobody hurt you
I’ll stand by you

If my life is just a dream, it certainly is a fantastic "theme park ride" (as Joe has framed these joyful treasure hunting experiences in his book) and maybe I should keep "sleeping." Or perhaps it just might be that I am "awakening" and there are many people sleeping around me (if you follow Dreaming Bear's work, that is his contention and he travels the world encouraging people to awaken)....It is true that the blogs I write are conveying an ongoing, evolving transformation of sorts as I discover and relay more and more about Joe's work, his dream, and his mission.

One thing that I have recently awakened to is the significance of my name -- the amazing relevance it has for my chosen mission. I wonder if I chose my mission because of my name or my name was a gift because of the mission I would be assigned to. Whichever perspective one adopts, I find it fascinating that my name matches my reality -- or dream or fantasy or fairy tale, (or insanity, according to some, lol). How so? I will put it right out here for the skeptical.

First, if it is not clear by now, I will state it clearly: My dream is Joe's dream. As I have said in the special poem to Joe, "What Joe Wants, Joe, Gits" (only in my dreams, of course). It is true...for example, take my last blog about going to New York (Sunday, August 16) -- if he wants me to go to New York, I will go to New York. Joe's mission is my mission.

What in the world does that have to do with my name?

Joe's greatest dream was for Heaven on Earth (in my interpretation). That is not unreasonable. Most religions and philosophies strive for that; we do not have to be religious to want and work for a heaven on earth. I think this is something we would all wish for, but of course the behavior of some people (as has also been discussed) creates quite the opposite effect, which is something that simply must change. That is our mission -- to change so that there is a chance for Heaven on Earth. To correspond with my mission (and Joe's mission) it just happens that my last name actually means "Heaven." It is French for Heaven, you know, Paradis. (French word for Heaven.)

Well, that doesn't mean much. Who cares, right? There are many people with the last name Paradis. There is even another Vanessa Paradis and she is a famous rock star, married to a famous actor, Johnny Depp -- and I am just a nobody, as I have been reminded many times throughout my life. Btw, I am a big fan of Johnny Depp. He is one of the greatest actors today and he does not get the recognition he deserves. The picture was taken at the WAX museum (lol) on the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt (see my previous blogs about that great experience, which is ongoing). The picture was taken in honor of the treasure hunt clue, "Have radical fun." It was quite radical for me. Posting this here is even more radical. Maybe someday I can actually meet Johnny Depp.

At any rate, what does a last name prove in relation to a mission? What does it even take to get to Heaven? What does it take to create Heaven? It requires a transformation. Cool. My first name is Vanessa. What is the meaning of Vanessa? Butterfly. The butterfly is significant to many cultures because, of course, butterflies represent transformation. That's why we are seeing so many butterflies these days; many people are undergoing transformation or contributing to transformation and they recognize the power of the butterfly as a symbol. There is even a famous ancient sacred temple in Teotihuacan, Mexico "City of the Gods" that is named after the butterfly. (This is a fascinating place, by the way, and I encourage people to research it and learn more about it annd even visit it.) The name of the temple is actually Quetzalpapalotl Palace or "palace of the Quatzal butterfly"  and of course, transformation is significant in relation to this temple. It has been stated that Quetzalpaplotl is the Goddess of love, fertility, flowers, vegetation, and fire and reportedly, this temple was build in her honor. She is also a "patroness" to artisans, pregnant women, birth (and babies!). I can go with that!

So now we have transformation and heaven.

Well, I guess when my name was being selected, that was not enough. So, my middle name had to also have some sort of special significance. And it does!!! My middle name is JAE which feminine for JOE. Is this because we are soul mates?  (and by the way, Joe, being the humble person he was, ALWAYS went by "Joe" and not Dr. Kincheloe, or Professor Kincheloe -- he was always "Joe.") I find the relevance of my name fascinating, actually. If it was just one of my names, that would not really be significant. But what are the odds that my first, middle, and last name are ALL relevant to this project? Is there a mathematician out there? Now I am excited! I think I have the perfect name for the mission I am on. And I must say, the treasure hunts do seem to be a divine blessing of some sort for acknowledging and actively engaging in this mission -- for which I am unable to adequately express my gratitude.

So there you have it. My enlighenment for the day (lol):

Vanessa - butterfly - transformation
Jae - feminine for Joe
Paradis - Heaven

The main reason I am pointing this out is because I just want to let people know that I do take this work to improve education and make the world a better place seriously and that it is clear (in my world) that I was predestined to engage in this important mission with Joe. 

There is probably something just as significant in your life, and if not, then create it! We are the authors of our own destiny.
 
Peace,
Vanessa Jae Paradis

Just Another Dream - Cathy Dennis

Here is more food for thought that just came in my email today (and I like this idea):

Do you know somebody who can benefit from this newsletter? -

Click Here To Recommend a Family Member or Friend to Sign Up!

  

I love Joe's word "penache" SO MUCH that I took this picture of it. This was taken during the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt and is a restaurant I must surely dine in before this special event is considered over. For anyone interested, it is in Newport, Oregon.

The discussion about how Joe used the word fits here - it is totally relevant after the discussion yesterday about how some people in education behave. I mentioned that he had been subjected to more than his fair share of the piggish behavior some people in education exhibit.

Joe uses panache in context with how so many of us are under the spell of the Imperialists. He states, "The capture of the university by the corporate-driven forces of the empire certainly undermines our anti-hegemonic work" (Kincheloe, 2008, p. 113). Because universities are more in tune with meeting market demands than with providing a true education, disciplines are becoming narrowed and watered down, which does not pose a threat to those in power. He continues, "The corporate agents of pwoer for the empire are in many ways like the sorcerers from an earlier historical era. Because of the power and dissemination capacity of their knowledge work, they have cast a demonic spell on those peoples they can reach with their epistemological/ideological tentacles" (p. 113).

He points out how people come to engage in an "egomaniacal obsession with profits and status." In a previous blog I discussed how the Devil's Radio is used to carry out and reinforce the motives of the imperial market, and as Joe stated, "They destroy our sense of humane purpose, substituting a way of thinking and being that leads to an extreme makeover of the planet: an earth devoid of plant and animal life that works to imitate the chic look of the planet Mercury. Using the devil's radio (and TV) they bestow an austere future with a dash of panache, and as critical theorist Walter Benjamin maintained, they commodify the demise of the human race. Turn up that hydroden jukebox, baby, and together we'll listen to the crack of doom" (p. 113).

That is the context in which Joe used the word panache. What does panache mean, exactly? (I had to look it up in the dictionary, as is often the case when I read Joe's work.) According to the Oxford Dictionary it means assertiveness or flamboyant confidence of style or manner. In other words, these people who "bestow an austere future" are very arrogant and confident that they will continue to succeed in creating severely restricted, simple dull lives and impoverished conditions for the masses so that they will continue to reap the benefits.

They will not. I am just as confident that they will not (although not in an arrogant sense). Even the worst of the worst deserve a second chance. Everyone has the opportunity to turn their ways around, but time is running out. As I have discussed, the Treasure Hunts as Joe has defined them provide us the opportunity to clear our karma and be rewarded and highly blessed at the same time. But this has to be done during this unique window of opportunity and if it is not, people will live in a world that is not so happy -- in fact, it will be as close to living in hell as you can get, without actually being hell, if you know what you mean. People who have done their work will escape that torture.

Joe believed we can change the world through love, and indeed, he was known for his extraordinary unconditional love. As he conveyed, "I find it difficult to accept such a meaningless universe when I've seen the power of love -- as Paulo Freire put it, radical love -- to change lives and to bring about justice" (p. 122). Joe discusses how a critical complex epistemology (which we learn through treasure hunting, btw), that is "infused with radical love, enactivism, ontology, and subjugated knowledges contributes to the emergence of a new world" (p. 180). And he clarifies that this is not restricted to the formal academic world, "I'm not speaking here only in the academic realm (although it is a very important contested site), but a libidinally-enriched, erotic, exciting, curious, transgressive world where monotony becomes an enemy of the state. Education in such a society studies ways of making connections between self and other, becoming more adept at radical love, and acting in concrete, courageous, down-and-dirty ways to end human suffering" (pp. 180-182).

And so.... I LOVE Joe's word PANACHE. I am going to go celebrate at the PANACHE with confidence that people -- the so-called masses -- you, me, all of us -- do have the power to turn this situation around and make this world into the one we want, not what the imperialists want.

Can't wait for that Fine Dining! Think PENACHE! For US.

This has definitely been "No Ordinary Treasure Hunt." (And it's not even over yet!)

Peace,
Vanessa

No Ordinary Love - MYMP

Sunday, August 16, 2009


I am happy! It appears this treasure hunt is going to continue on perpetually! Perhaps it is part of the perpetual revolution Joe told me about! This is totally exciting.

I have just received this fabulous clue (and there are many clues-in-one, here). It really makes it sound like I can go to New York next summer if I wish. It was made clear to me that it would entirely be my choice, but as it stands, I would love to see New York. There are multiple projects I am supposed to engage in while I am there, so we shall see....that's a long way off yet, but here is the clue now. I hope I have a new car by then. If you have been reading my blogs, you know one car has been manifested already. We have two cars to go...long story, but I am last on the list and I am looking for a brand new luxury 2010 vehicle. We shall see. Will the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt manifest this or perhaps it's The Treasure Hunt Coming Up the Pike. One thing about it, if a new car happens to come my way before next June, how could I refuse to go to New York to do some shopping -- plus work on the mission all at the same time? How could I ever turn it down?

Anyway, here is the song that turned out to be a clue for this current treasure hunt. Here's a link to the lyrics and then the song by Frank Sinatra.

LYRICS to How About You?

How About You? Frank Sinatra


 

More Lyrics from the show:

PENNY:
When a girl meets boy,
life can be a joy,
but the note they end on
will depend on little pleasures they will share;
so let us compare.

I like New York in June,
how about you?
I like a Gershwin tune,
how about you?
I love a fireside
when a storm is due.
I like potato chips,
moonlight and motor trips,
how about you?

I'm mad about good books,
can't get my fill,
and Franklin Roos'velt's looks
give me a thrill.

Holding hands at the movie show,
when all the lights are low
may not be new,
but I like it,
how about you?

I like Jack Benny's jokes.

TOMMY: To a degree.
PENNY: I love the common folks.
TOMMY: that includes me
PENNY: I like to window shop on 5th Avenue.
TOMMY: I like banana splits, late supper at the Ritz, how about you?
PENNY: I love to dream of fame, maybe I'll shine.
TOMMY: I'd love to see your name right beside mine.
PENNY: I can see we're in harmony
TOMMY: Looks like we both agree on what to do
BOTH: And I like it, how about you?
TOMMY:
I'm so delighted I've ignited the spark within you.
Let me continue to make it burn.
PENNY:
With you I will be like a Trilby,
so let's not dally.
Come on Svengali, I've lots to learn.
TOMMY: When you're arisin', start exercisin' daily.
PENNY: For example, just a sample?
TOMMY: Bend and touch the floor fifty times or more.
PENNY: Ha! A fine start to be a Bernhardt!
TOMMY:
A dictionary's necessary but not for talking,
it's used for walking the Ziegfeld way.
PENNY: Is this OK?
TOMMY: That's the trick, you're catching on quickly.
PENNY: Should I take a bow?
TOMMY: A-ho! Let me show you how!
PENNY: Just like partners on the stage.
TOMMY: If you can use a partner, I'm the right age.

Retrieved from http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/babesonbroadway/howaboutyou.htm

Now, please don’t go misinterpreting this. Of course, there are nice people in education. It reminds me of the situation we can observe with cops, though. While there are a few good cops who can be very, very nice, and who take their duty to serve the public very seriously (and I am so grateful for these special people who maintain their integrity in an environment that makes this a monumental task), I have seen too many instances in which some of them really have earned the label “pigs.” And even that might be too nice a term for some of the behaviors I have observed of some cops. 

This is interesting because it brings me right back to the Easter egg in Joe’s book which is one of the major clues for this current, apparently, ongoing treasure hunt: “If wishes were pigs, it would be harder to keep kosher” (Kincheloe, 2008, p. 67). This relates to people in education, law enforcement, politics, and religion; in fact, it relates to people in every environment there is. And so, I ask, why can’t people in education be nice like Joe was? I have seen some very, very despicable things, and so had Joe. He talks about them a lot in his book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. Since he talks about them a lot, I assume he must have run up against them a lot. Now, I was not “in education” for very long at all. And unbeknownst to those around me, I was not “in education” at all. No, I was not an “eager beaver critical pedagogue” as some people chose to think. I could clearly see what was going on around me and, honestly, I did not want a part of it. Education is supposed to have positive goals and push for academic freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to create and contribute something new and unique that can move us all forward. This is what Joe’s work was all about. And his mission was always to bring people together. All people. He truly did offer equal opportunity to all, unlike so many in education who will offer an opportunity as long as you meet their criteria and their goals.

Joe did for others yet he had absolutely no expectations. And his work was so pure and fresh. He wanted the good things of education, of learning, teaching, and research for everyone. He wanted new and fresh perspectives as opposed to what so many of the tired old “dinosaur” professors wanted in this activity we call education.  I think Joe must have been blocked in many ways; perhaps he was between that “rock and hard place” he mentioned in Critical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now? He had so much he wanted to accomplish. I found it very sad to have worked “in education” (or at least I pretended to, while I was helping Joe with his mission), and to want to demonstrate the freedom of expression Joe advocated only to have the gavel come swinging down on me – and him. Yes, the gavel came down on him as well. We wanted to show how his theory worked, and quite frankly, if one believes in the truth of complexity and chaos and enactivism, it cannot be shown to work in a rigid environment in which freedom is curtailed. Intervening with freedom, including freedom of expression of even one individual, blocks the natural movement with communities – whether human or ecological – to organize for the benefit of their maximum potential and well being. We are all interrelated, just as everything is interrelated. When the interrelationships are blocked through censorship, controls, over-direction, power, and money or some ulterior hidden or not-so-hidden agenda, dysfunction is created and there is an interruption and stifling of what would have been a natural movement toward common good.

There is absolutely no freedom in the current educational system and thus, it is no wonder so many students drop out of school long before they finish their indoctrination. Joe wanted truth. He wanted love to propel humanity to new and beautiful ways to be in the world where there is no more “suffering.” Personally, I think Joe suffered. He did talk about it a great deal in his books. Of course, he took it all in stride and just viewed it as a part of the price for working on his super human mission (which he would not have regarded as “super human,” but I did, considering the circumstances) – and it was super human in that there were not many, if any, people working on that same mission he was. Of course, there were people working on various elements of that mission – fragments and pieces – but not enough people who bought into Joe’s theory and engaged in supporting it wholeheartedly. That is just my own interpretation, and it matters not who does or does not agree with me. I have freedom and for me, freedom entails expressing my thoughts whether they might be right or wrong. We all have our own realities. We can express them and that does not mean we should require or demand that others think the same. All I know is that it is sad that Joe's work has not been widely applied in education (yet) and it is to the detriment of humankind, because if everyone could see the true value of his theory and implement it in a big way – not some fragmented way with a bit here and a bit there – but in a global way – we could see some real changes in education and some positive progress toward the elimination of human suffering in the world. We need to do this for Joe. We owe him. And by repaying our debt, we will have done at least a portion of our part toward making this world a better place. 

Right now, my contribution is showing how “Treasure Hunts” work -- how they manifest so many wonderful experiences -- and to encourage people to look for the Easter eggs in Joe's books so that they gain a greater understanding of his work. I hope this gets people excited about learning more. When we get to the truth of how we can use our creative imaginations to clear karma (our karmic debts, negativity, and traumatic experiences) and begin to actively engage in treasure hunts with faith and gratitude, we not only make our lives so much more loving, meaningful and joyful -- as we share these experiences and the manifestations out of these experiences with others, they also begin to see new possibilities, which they end up sharing with others. Joe called this a “perpetual revolution.” Let the revolution begin.

Wild Wild West - One Tin Soldier - Coven

 
Update on the Treasure Hunt

A little more information has come to me regarding the church I wrote about yesterday. It seems that in my most recent past life I was married to someone very special (whose identity is currently unknown) and we lived in a beautiful house that we had built on Seventh Avenue in Albany, Oregon, and we attended this lovely church; in fact we were very active in the early founding of the church family. This would have been in the late 1800’s to about 1950. That is my recollection (or my wild imagination) so far, and if I step inside the church, or as the clue in the poem prompts, if I walk inside the right door, I will remember much more because it will trigger my memories. Indeed, I do feel that I have been inside the church, although I have never been in it in this lifetime. 

It appears that another purpose of these treasure hunts that are given to me as special gifts is to clear out karma, as I mentioned in a previous blog. One way we do that is by remembering our past lives, in addition to dealing with the karma in the present lifetime. This was all brought home to me with the Celtic music that someone had me buy on the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt. The very first song made burst into tears when I listened to it. I had no idea why, but the grief was very real. And what was so strange about that first listening of it, it was like someone had control of my stereo, because a few notes would play and it would stop. I would restart it, and a few more notes would play and it would stop again. This happened four times until, finally the fifth time, the first song played all the way through. As it turned out, the first song was my wedding song from very long ago, which was a very beautiful experience, but subsequent events caused me to attach very negative and painful memories to it.

From my recollection, I was married to a warrior, but he was a peace warrior who went out on missions to try and arrange agreements between various kings; thus, he was a peacemaker, and a very skilled and highly respected one. I believe he was Scottish, at least part Scottish and I believe I was Gaelic, somehow from a lesser position in society. We broke boundaries with our marriage, but we had a great love for each other that overcame any repercussions for choosing to marry. I came from a very poor background, but he always, always treated me like a queen. He even had built us a lovely, comfortable stone house, competely with his own hands and his brother's help. We were so much in love that it was difficult to have him leave and be gone so long. I always cried for weeks afterward and he would be gone for months at a time, sometimes nearly a year. Whenever he came home, he brought me back extravagant gifts from the different places he traveled (fabrics, combs for my hair, exotic gifts, and enough coins to last until he returned again, which I kept stored in a brass container on the fireplace mantle) and we always celebrated upon his return. We had a tradition to dine at what we would call today an “upscale” eatery. Live musicians were available to play music on request, Celtic music, so he always had them play our wedding song. Then, my greatest fear came to fruition. I waited for his return from another peace mission….and waited and waited. He never returned. I cried every day for months.

Finally, after about two years, his brother, came to visit to tell me the bad news. My one and only true love, my husband, had been run over by a chariot that carried war supplies. It was supposedly an accident. Only thing was, I knew it was no accident. He had been purposely run over to intervene with the peacemaking mission. It was common during those war times to kill people who were not actively engaged in combat if it served the purposes of one side or another. I cried for years.

His brother ended up marrying me, something that was also very common back then as a token of his love and feelings of responsibility toward his brother. I loved my husband’s brother, very much, but not as a husband – as a brother. I never felt right about being married to him and I spent the rest of my life missing my husband and feeling very guilty about being married to his brother because it just did not feel right and feeling guilty about feeling guilty. I knew it was also not fair to his brother to feel that he was lesser than my husband, when he had taken on that role. To try to make me feel better, his brother, who also went out on various missions, would take me to dine upon his return as well, trying to keep his brother’s traditions. Or at least, he did the first time he returned from a mission. When the music started playing and it was my wedding song, I burst out into tears and just could not handle it; we had to leave without finishing our dinner. After that, we never went out to dine again.

I had bought the Celtic music when I was on the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt, and I felt I had been guided to buying it since I have never listened to or had an interest in Celtic music during this lifetime (I didn’t even know what it was, actually) prior to that.

When I first listened to it, the memories of my true love’s death came back to me literally as if it were yesterday. After working on it, though, I can now listen to the music and remember the happy times we had – the wedding day during which he and I had danced to the Celtic music and we were so happy and totally in love. Thus, the negative karmic emotions have been cleared and replaced with much happier memories….and so this all leads me to believe that maybe there is something similar to happen with this more recent past life and this spectacular church shown in yesterday’s blog. Perhaps there are other karmic events that I need to deal with. But then, maybe not. Maybe it has a different purpose this time. Time will tell.  

Days Two and Three of the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt 

As conveyed on Day One of the Treasure hunt, we had ended up on the wrong side of town. On day two, August, 10, 2009, we were determined to find the intersection where the golden light was shining as shown on the google map. We assumed there was something very specifically important about that intersection, and there was. This time, we had no trouble making our way to it. We were amused, though, along the way. Just as we were coming up to a set of train tracks, the lights started flashing and the guard gates came down. We stopped and waited patiently. There was no sign of a train! The gates went back up and let us through. Not sure what that was all about.
  
We continued up Main and reached Seventh Ave – and there right at the intersection where the golden light shines in the picture on google maps (see previous blog) was a used car lot. So, of course, we got to thinking that there had to be something very special about the used car lot. It seemed to go with the clues about doors and colors and jewels, as well as the fact that my son was going to need a car soon – he is slated to take his driving test next week and get his license, so Rainbow Princess and I figured there just had to be a car there for him.  Just as a reminder, the clues we were given for this treasure hunt included:

So, yes, find the two special Easter eggs as I have instructed – and you will know immediately which ones they are and they will tell you where you need to travel. And it is not the place of the Golden Rule because Einstein and I have decided the Golden Rule is bogus and it must be abandoned. We will replace it simply with the Golden Light which brightens the path of all who reach it. Along this path are various jewels and keys. The jewels will specify colors of import that have special meanings which you will come to locate behind the special doors the keys open. Once you have found everything:
The Easter eggs
The Golden Light Path
The jewels
The colors
The keys
The doors
The gifts behind the doors  …then bricolage them. This will result in a new enlightenment that will stun the world. Then write this up into a paper and submit it as a special curricular activity that teachers can use in the classroom. Every time this activity is repeated by someone else it results in a new enlightenment. It becomes like the cubist painting that shows views from different angles. Everyone who completes this process has a different angle and each angle is very amazing.

Now there are two golden light paths, this used car lot and the church discussed in yesterday’s blog. It seems to make sense that jewels and colors represent colors of car, keys will open the car doors, and then gifts and special meaning can be found behind the doors….like maybe the gift of freedom having a car to drive offers someone? This is just a guess… 

The next morning, on August  11^th, I received some really bizarre clues that I do not understand, and I was told, “yes, I want you to go out one more time on the treasure hunt.” There was something about “keys that unlock destiny and allows the light to shine and the colors to dance vibrantly across your field of vision,” the “Seventh Avenue courthouse of opportunity that holds the doctrine of impossibilities” and being able to discard the impediments to live in peace and harmony. I have no clue what these clues mean; they could mean many things upon interpretation. 

Nevertheless, we went with our feelings on this one (this is where faith can be useful) and I took my son back the very next day, on August 11, 2009, – the third day of the treasure hunt to look at the cars in this very special used car lot. We were looking at a car in the $2,000 range since I am always overly conscientious about money (another one of my karmic issues), but the salesman was not in and so his wife gave us his card to give him a call later. We did not call him, though, because a new car manifested for my son almost out of thin air and with absolutely no effort whatsoever on our part. It was as if someone had magically picked a car out for my him, facilitated all of the actions that transpired to make it happen, had the loan go through, gave a hand with the paperwork, etc.

All we had to do was go take it for a short test drive, sign the papers and drive it home! Someone did all of the hard work for us! It was so great. 

How Our New Car Was Manifested 

Since I did not want to spend the entire cash amount outright for a car, in fact, neither my son nor I had enough money to do so, I needed to get a loan for a car. The very next day after visiting the Golden Light Path (the used car lot on Seventh Avenue), on Wednesday, August 12, I applied to Capital One – I have excellent credit with them. Wouldn’t you know it, they did not offer small loans -- the minimum loan amount was far more money than we even wanted to pay for a car. I went ahead and applied and was turned down. Next, I received an email from Capital One at 2:47 pm informing me that I was “conditionally approved” through some other loan company, called RoadLoans.  Shortly after that, in fact within a couple of minutes, an email came through from RoadLoans stating that I was approved for a loan up to $12,000, but a $5,000 down payment was required. I thought that was pretty lame. If I had $5,000 to spend, I would just go pay cash for a car that would work just fine for my son. So that left the option of buying a car an impossibility -- for the moment. My son was disappointed, but I told him not to worry; he would be getting a car. All of the treasure hunt clues were clear and by that time I was seeing them clearly.

Sure enough! The very next day, August 13 at 10:49 AM, I received a call from a car salesman from just out of the blue (I had not called him or any other car sales person!) He said that RoanLoans had sent him the loan approval. So, I explained to him that I just wanted a dependable, affordable car for my son’s first car and did not want to spend $12,000, nor did I have $5,000 to put down on a car. He said he just happened to have the perfect car, and in fact, it was the only used one that was close to our price range which an older woman had just traded in for a new car. It had been very well maintained. He put in my application for a loan at a credit union since the RoadLoan deal would not work for what we wanted.  Magic worked, or at least it appeared to me to be magic since I do not know what went on behind the scenes. I was approved for a loan that very same day through the credit union, and today we drove home a great looking 2003 vehicle for almost $1,000 below the Blue Book Price even!

Now, somewhere, behind the scenes, there was a lot of symbiotic action going on. I view the car as being manifested because the ONLY thing I did to get the car was put in one online application for a loan which was denied. Other than that, I just sat back and waited. Less than 24 hours later the car had been manifested especially for us, and so when I saw what had happened, I went on faith that this car is the exact car that was meant for my son – and indeed, it was much, much nicer than anything I would have probably picked out and he is very thrilled. I was happy that we did not have to go “shopping for cars” and test drive a dozen vehicles…this all saved me a lot of time and effort. And so I am very thankful for that.
 
What can I can conclude? This is just one gift I will be receiving from this current treasure hunt; there will be more. In fact there have already been more: a beautiful silver chain for my Celtic claddagh cross (purchased on the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt), a silver yin yang symbol that I can wear on a charm braclet since the yin yang disk I found in the yard probably belongs in a museum, a new Yamaha keyboard so I can again play music, and there has been more which I will have to discuss another time. Indeed, this is definitiely Not An Ordinary Treasure Hunt! It is a treasure hunt of karmic clearing and manifestation. Evidently, there is some sort of complex interrelationship between them.

I wonder what will turn up next -- which reminds me that I have gotten hints that the next treasure hunt is slated to outdo all treasure hunts previous to it and that I can have some "great expectations." I have been reminded that I was told during the NEW Treasure Hunt that whatever I want, I got it (see the great music video below)...

What will the rest of No Ordinary Treasure Hunt Bring? What will the Treasure Hunt Coming up the Pike bring? And what does all of it have to do with education and Joe's Critical Complex Epistemology? Time will tell....and it's so exciting!

Anything You Want You Got It – Roy Orbison

The people in power are so amazing. And the people in power I am referring to are those at the very, very top who really do not interact with us down here. What I find most amazing is the way they USE religion. They love religion when it can be used to divide and control people. They love strict doctrine and the extreme right wing evangelical born again movement, because they can not only orchestrate that movement, they can effectively divide and control people and keep us all in our places through their indoctrination. They can even use it to make it appear that we have important choices to make when we vote and that we even have a vote. But notice how those choices always serve to divide people. Are the issues that they tell us are the issues really the issues? What are we being diverted from seeing? 

And mention anything about religion or spirituality in an educational setting that threatens their position – and I am speaking here of powerful stuff that really puts the truth out there and sets people free – and then, all of a sudden we are accused of using religion in the wrong way and religion becomes a very dirty word. All of a sudden, we are crossing “boundaries” in the educational setting. The attacks are downright vehement in the high halls of academia, very, very vehement.  

From the perspective of those in power, funding an evangelical Christian school with taxpayer money is ok if students are being indoctrinated and controlled and as long as it is a sure thing that they will grow up continuing to support the oppressive system. This is good from the perspective of those in power because the oppressed are doing their own oppression and it lightens the load of those at the top since they would never be able to do it all on their own. Can’t get much better than that. But speak of religion or anything that they claim smells like religion such as metaphysical concepts or spirituality or even a philosophy based on Idealism as an education scholar, then you are doomed as a scholar. If you hold up through it, be ready for some serious flames being sent your way, including a ruined “career.” This is professionalism in academia. 

And if you think this is all exaggeration, I can assure you, whether it’s religious education of our young, or whether it is serious scholarship that involves spirituality, there is a right way and a wrong way. If innocent children are indoctrinated with negative and divisive information, that’s ok and good. For example, children come home from church camps reporting that they were informed that “Obama is evil.” Can these evangelicals get any more explicit? And I don’t totally blame the people who say these things; they are convinced somehow, although it escapes me how, but I do know consciousness molding is not that hard to do, according to what Joe has written in his book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. He has done extensive research on consciousness formation.  

An example of this happened just last week at “The Faith Journey” Centrifuge Bible Camp in Oregon. This is sad….parents pay a lot of money for these church camps thinking their children will learn Christian and loving ways, and instead, the children are indoctrinated for their roles in a hegemonic system that we, John Doe Public, have a big hand in constructing. I truly wonder how people who claim to be Christian can justify this sort of behavior. Jesus would not be happy. Fortunately, many of today’s children are very smart about these sorts of indoctrination attempts (even if they are subjected to a lousy education or maybe even because of it) and they do not readily buy into these kinds of statements and tend to see the hypocrisy of it – in fact, unlike some of the adults who promote this vile sort of agenda, it actually turns these children off from religion. That is not necessarily a good thing. What is needed in church is what is needed in education: big changes. 

Religion and spirituality can be very good things, but there is a difference between spirituality and religion. Spirituality does not mandate religion; yet, it frees up people to embrace their religion, in fact, whatever religion they choose, in a new way. Hopefully, a more loving, joyful, tolerant way than is demonstrated by some of the religions dominating the scenes today in the media. Isn’t this what is needed in the world today so that we can live in peace and harmony?

The Color Purple

Wow, here I have been talking about churches, religion, and spirituality and I was just now reviewing my photographs that I had taken on Day One of the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt and check this out! The reason the three photos below are significant is because of the heavy weight placed on the color purple in the previous clues --  and here, we definitely and miraculously, actually, have the color purple! As a reminder, I was given a number of clues about purple, which I had relayed on Monday, August 10^th in this blog, but which I had received much earlier (see dates associated with each entry). I will repeat these clues here because they are so important: 

What is purple? It is a rich energizer that facilitates the increase in your vibrations when you gaze on it. The more you look at those colors, the faster your vibrations will become. It is also like a fertilizer to the spirit – it’s a deeply spiritual color that soothes the soul. Not like red, which, while it can increase vibrations, it acts as an “antagonizer” which can hamper positive effects. [Received Thursday, August 6, 2009] 

What is special about purple? It’s like the Theory of Everything – it is all-encompassing and it brings all things good to you – money, fame, spirituality, knowledge, love, peace, everything we are all striving to bring to this planet. This is a known fact about purple and why so many children intuitively love purple. [Received Saturday, August, 8, 2009].  Also, on Saturday, August 8, 2009: Purple is the key. It’s a secret color….it must be specific shades of purple… 

The following clue was also given to me on Saturday, August 8, 2009. In fact, I was working on my paper for my Education class and was interrupted with this poem and had to quickly write it down.   

First, I want to state that I really hope it makes some sort of sense. I am not certain it came through to me accurately because a "newbie" (relatively, speaking) was relaying it. But, I was told it is close enough, so go ahead and "go with it."
 
More Clues for the “No Ordinary Treasure Hunt”

Purple is the color of my one true love
Which resides among the stars above
For purple is the color that signifies
All that is, all that was, and all forevermore.

Magenta, blue and yes, white, too
The lights that brighten the royal path for you
You shall see the road so clearly
As you step through the right door

So go on your way, continue your search for treasure
It will be an experience of total pleasure
And when you get closer to the end
You will find the beginning – where you must search behind yet another door. 

Additional Insight about Purple
 
I later came to realize, or was somehow told, that while the pigment purple such as we see in objects is good, but it is primarily purple LIGHT that is important. Its frequency is the highest level of the visible spectrum at 659-769 THz (in a vacuum) as compared to only 384-482 THz for red light (usbyte.com). To convert THz to Hz, you would have to add 12 zeroes onto the numbers. So, of course, gazing upon high frequency purple light or being bathed in purple light raises our vibrations as well, which raises us spiritually. There are many other things that can aid in this as well, of course, and these will all be discussed. At any rate, this is just one reason why the Internet is so important along with the use of purple, since we are looking at purple light, not simply purple pigment. I have already mentioned the benefit of the Internet being a fractal in a previous blog, and when the time is right, I will get into the technicalities of that. As I had mentioned, however, the Internet is a fractal and fractals are the same in all dimensions. 

When we gaze at things in purple on the Internet, we are looking at purple light, not pigment and so the effect of its rapid frequency on us can be quite positive and high in magnitude. Of course, there will be many skeptics, but that is ok. Skepticism can be good at times – although, once you open your mind, you will come to realize it is not so good when it comes to spiritual matters because that is when you will experience the limitations that skepticism can bring. Faith is emphasized for good reasons. 

I went into detail about the color purple for a reason. When I reviewed the photographs I took on Day One of the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt, which was on Sunday, August 9, 2009, I made a unique discovery. The Church we called the “castle” matches the clues about purple. In fact the second photo aligns with the poem because it shows the colors white, magenta, blue, and purple. So it “brightens the royal path” in some way, it appears. The poem also says we will see the road clearly if we step through the right door, so I am wondering if I need to step through the front door of this Church. 

The "Royal Path"

























This is it -- the church we called the “castle.” When we saw it, we just had to drive around it. This first photo shows how it looked when we first noticed it. We just happened to be heading south on Sixth Avenue during our confusion in trying to find the Golden Light of Seventh Avenue with no map, and there was the Church over toward Fifth Avenue. (The other large building is the Courthouse, by the way, and there was some sort of clue relating to that as well, so I think it’s significant in some way, too.)


























Pictures two and three show the special lights – Picture Two (above) shows the multiple colors the poem mentioned: purple, magenta, blue, and white. Picture Three (below) shows the purple light. As the poem stated:

Magenta, blue and yes, white, too
The lights that brighten the royal path for you
You shall see the road so clearly
As you step through the right door

Purple is the color of my one true love
Which resides among the stars above
For purple is the color that signifies
All that is, all that was, and all forevermore.





Rereading the poem, I have no doubt that in context with these photos, that this church is what it was referring to. There is something very special and sacred about this church for it to be included in the treasure hunt as it has been, so I will have to do some research. I had wanted to take a picture of the front of the building, which also had this lovely light shining down on it (the Fifth Avenue side), but there were people standing outside near the doors, given it was time for Sunday evening service, so I did not get that picture. Here is a picture of the front as shown on google maps.



After doing some research on the Internet, Rainbow Princess found that the name of the church is the United Presbyterian Church, its address is 330 Fifth Avenue in Albany, OR, and its web site is http://upcalbany.net/

As stated on the web site: Our beautiful stone church was dedicated on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913 with Povey stained glass windows accenting our sanctuary. We proclaim a timeless message of God's love for the world with a new and fresh voice blending the new and old. 

OK, all of this does not tell me much, or maybe it tells me too much…I will need to do more research to find out why this church is significant to the treasure hunt. Maybe it is one of the sermons posted on the web site that is important; I just don’t know at this point, but I am going to go on faith that there is something quite monumental about this church, perhaps in its history or among the membership -- something. 

So, in conclusion, while this may seem random to some people, there was something very significant about this church that I will need to follow up on. It was no accident that these beautiful colored lights were shining down on this church just as we drove by during the treasure hunt and that the poem, which was given the day before, matches up so perfectly.

Everything happens for a reason. It will take some work to figure out the relevance and interrelatedness of all of this, which the bricolage allows one to accomplish. The bricolage is just a way of building knowledge from bits and pieces of information using whatever tools you have at hand (Kincheloe, 2008). I am building knowledge from the bits and pieces of this treasure hunt using various tools – sometimes a metal detector to find treasure in the ground, sometimes a camera to find treasure in photographs as in this case, and the Internet to conduct more research, etc. Then we construct something new and unique with these tools and bits of information – that is the bricolage. So, in this case, there is something new and unique about this Church – it was given to me in the clues and found in the photographs.

Now, I will need to do some more research and even go back to the church to find out more about it. Does the golden light always shine down on it like that? What is so super special about this church that I was guided by some higher power to pay such close attention to it? More to come… 

References

Kincheloe, J. L (2008). Knowledge and Critical Pedaogogy: An Introduction.
 

www.usbyte.com (2009). Approximate wavelength (in vacuum) and frequency ranges for various colors. Retrieved August 10, 2009 from http://www.usbyte.com/common/approximate_wavelength.htm

Yikes! I am so far behind on the updates to this treasure hunt…it must be the music practice. No, it’s the paper writing for my course and final grades for the classes I teach…Anyway, I do hope to get this all caught up over the next few days. On top of being behind, I am being flooded with more information. After all, the roses are still blooming, but I am beginning to wonder if the roses have anything to do with it. This is still mission training, which I discussed long ago, and the training will no doubt continue for some time yet. I need to clear all of my karma and these treasure hunts have been helping with that, which I will explain another time. It is important that everyone clear their karma, which brings me to a point that I am supposed to make here. Of course, the treasure hunts are multilevel and so there are multiple purposes behind them.

I do not write these blogs to place myself on some kind of theatrical stage. I do not like stages. I like hiding in the woodwork or in a cozy home behind a white picket fence. (No, this is not a picture of my home, but just one of the lovely homes I discovered during this treasure hunt.) But, I have been assigned this job to attempt to demonstrate to other people things like “manifestation” (whatever that turns out to be) among many other things; and I am told that the book and movie The Secret was really more attune to The Lie, than the truth, although you can find the truth if you look deep enough. Most of us don’t and so that’s why it does not work for most of us or it might work sometimes and not other times.

Treasure Hunts are gifts that are handed down to each and every one of us and if we come to recognize them, learn to be thankful and appreciative in the right way, we are handed down more and more treasure hunts and it just gets more exciting each day. That is the purpose of my writing about these treasure hunts – I would love for other people to discover how they have their own personal treasure hunts available each day all around them, but they are going to have to open up their minds a bit and see things from different perspectives. The details will be forthcoming, and the details are what are always left out of other accounts. I can assure you that in Joe’s book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction, all of the details are in it, but they do have to be decoded…which is what I also have been assigned to do – not alone, of course. It is really hoped that as you see how I decode his MUSIC Easter eggs, for example, that you will also begin to do the decoding. It is not meant for me to do ALL of the decoding, but only to show others how to do it (I don’t know, though; maybe someone else somewhere else is also doing this decoding and I hope that’s true) so that we all can begin to understand WHY Joe put things in codes as he did. This is important for the advancement of education as well as a better world, and it is a collaborative, social effort that is required, not the work of one individual.

I truly hope that many more of you are out there reading Joe’s book, looking for the music and other special jewels in Joe's words, and ascertaining what special deep meanings are behind these very special Easter eggs Joe took time to construct and place so carefully in this textbook. It is clear that music was very important to Joe and there must be reasons for that. Is he telling us that we should integrate music into all of our courses? He has certainly provided a creative way to get music into education by placing it in this great and unique textbook for teaching teachers, although I strongly urge everyone to read it even if you are not officially a teacher, because, as was pointed out in a previous blog, we are all teachers – and we are all learners, so there is something for everyone to learn in this book to share with others.

Day One of the Not An Ordinary Treasure Hunt

Albany, OR is a small town and, even though we are new to the town and not very familiar with it, Rainbow Princess and I decided we could not possibly miss where this Golden Light was located on Seventh Avenue, so we made the mistake of venturing out without a map. We had no problem whatsoever finding Seventh Avenue and it was a very interesting adventure. The problem was, we could not find Main and Seventh Avenue at all, and the numbers on the streets led us to realizing Seventh Avenue was broken up into sections divided by spaces we could not seem to find our way around. We finally, after three attempts, gave up and decided we need to invest in a GPS – or at least print out a map from mapquest.com. (This move to purchase a GPS was further reinforced on Day Three of the treasure hunt.)

As the saying goes, everything happens for a reason and so there was relevance to this excursion and it was very, very interesting. It turns out that this area of town is a historical district and there were dozens upon dozens of houses that have been restored. They each have names and dates, and they are built according to different architectural styles. What a treasure trove of learning! I found a website that lists all of the houses, describes their architectural styles, and discusses the history of the original owners in context with the history of Albany, OR, which was quite a hub of activity during the early history of Oregon. So it was very fascinating.

Also, interesting was that on this one street alone, which is really not that long of a street given Albany is a small town, the hospital, the Albany School District Administrative offices, a cemetery, an ice cream store known for its big ice cream cones, the Democrat Herald Newspaper offices, a Stop and Go Market, a recreation area with a water slide, churches, dozens upon dozens of beautifully restored homes, and a cemetery (which was right after the hospital). One thing I thought was, perhaps I was supposed to try to find a job at the Albany School District, but sadly, all I found available was a part time job for less than $12 per hour in curriculum and instruction (which I would enjoy), but I cannot fathom working for such low wages. All this did was confirm for me the dire straits education is in as well as the job market…so I am keeping faith that there are better opportunities for me “down the pike.” (Isn’t that a treasure hunt coming this way – it was mentioned that I need to finish this treasure hunt for the Treasure Hunt Coming Up the Pike.)

We did make a side trip to a jewelry store. I needed a chain for the Celtic cross I had bought on the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt, so I found that along with a yin yang charm, for which I will need a bracelet now. I bought the charm because it reminded me of the yin yang disk I found in the yard search – and this has a deep meaning for me relating to soul mates and finding it the way I did. I was attracted to the jewelry store on account of the butterflies in the windows.

Also, on this first venture to Seventh Avenue, we found what we called a “castle.” I love castles! It was actually a church on Sixth Avenue that was readily visible from Seventh Avenue and it looked so interesting that we had to venture over to it. And guess what? The church is obviously special in some way, because each close up picture had the Golden Light shining on it….I do wonder what is up with that and it will take some research.

And so, I was told that this “wrong” Seventh Avenue venture was for a greater purpose and to conduct more research and explore it some more. For example, supposedly, “the historical archives hold something you will find interesting about the souls who rest in the cemetery”….”there was a reason you strayed to the South Side of Town.” Nevertheless, I was informed that I would need to go back and find the “real” Seventh Avenue where the Golden Light shines – so we did – and I will describe that tomorrow.

Southside Church of Christ – I Keep Falling In Love With Him

The "Not An Ordinary Treasure Hunt" Continues

After “sleeping” on the clues and knowing that we never travel too terribly far for these treasure hunts (e.g., the beach is about 70 miles, Kings Valley is about 30 miles), Rainbow Princess and I decided that the clue we should focus on is the Road to Carnegie Hall. So this led us to realize that we would need to travel to 55^th or 56^th St, or Seventh Avenue, according to the directions we found for getting to Carnegie Hall. 

Further, we decided that where we should travel might just be a town called Albany, Oregon since Carnegie Hall is in New York and Albany is also a city in New York, the capital, in fact. So we used google maps to find out if there was a 55^th, 56^th or Seventh Avenue in Albany. We hit “pay dirt” with Seventh Avenue and so we clicked on street view. I wonder if Comcast paid google to get in this picture. Another creative way to advertise. Those big businesses think of everything!

We “traveled” on down 7^th Avenue, just past this corner, which is about 1120 7^th Ave, SW and is at the corner of 7^th and Main Street which looks to be a lot of some sort with vehicles parked on it.



7^th and Main: The Golden Light Path!  

Just past the parking lot of vehicles, the golden light suddenly shone bright! This was exciting because this meets the clue specifications! The clue was “the Golden Light brightens the path of all who reach it.” Well, here it is. It is on the Internet and anyone can reach this path – just go to google maps, type in Seventh Ave, Albany OR and then select the street view. Head on up Seventh Avenue until you come to the lot on the left with vehicles parked on it, go a little further and this bright, golden light will shine just as it shows in the picture.

So that was how we determined that Seventh Avenue must be the special path and that it undoubtedly has some very special things designated by the clues for the treasure hunt – colors, jewels, doors, and meanings behind doors… we have some work here to do yet.  

 

We took that trip three days ago now, and so much has transpired since then: two more trips because we were not able to find this exact spot on the first trip, and then we were requested to go a third time. However, the first trip reaped some very interesting things, even if it was the wrong Seventh Ave. These things turned out to be significant for the treasure hunt (as they say, everything happens for a reason) – I will discuss this in a future blog. Then we took a second trip and actually found this place, but nothing really enlightened us or struck as profound. And we took a third trip, which to be honest, disappointed me tremendously, which I felt bad about, since these treasure hunts are special gifts and I should always be thankful. After sleeping on it and going through more training in my dream, it all started to make more sense, though.

I got sidetracked on the treasure hunt, but I have since learned that this is totally relevant to this treasure hunt as well. Here's what happened: I stopped at a music store and I was convinced that I just HAD to buy a brand new Yamaha keyboard! As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was deprived of music as a kid, much the way so many, many children today are. This is a tragedy today, by the way, with what we know about music and how beneficial it is. This is somehow all related to this particular treasure hunt. As I had menioned, when I was child we did have an organ for awhile, but it was sold because I was the only one who played it. So, just teaching myself to play with no music lessons, I did not get very far, although I did learn to play songs with the automatic chord buttons it had. I never learned to play chords like you can on the piano.

Next, I had to go grocery shopping. As I was waiting at the checkout stand, Rainbow Princess found this adorable pig! It goes with the theme of this treasure hunt, since one of the MUSIC Easter eggs was “If wishes were pigs, it would be harder to keep kosher” (from Joe’s book, p. 67). So, I decided I just had to buy this pig to reward myself and to remind myself that in spite of the few pigs in the world that seem to have a lot of power to do a lot of damage and harm to so many people, with Joe’s brilliant theory and a lot of people working together, we can beat this thing we mislabel as education and make true learning something we can all be proud of and we really can make the world a better place.

It is so cool—the pig plays “Born to be Wild,” when you press the heart on its tummy. So that is why “Born to be Wild” is today’s chosen song. That makes the second time this song showed up on a treasure hunt. It is getting as popular as "Bad to the Bone." The first time it appeared was on the shirt that someone (whoever designed the treasure hunt) had selected for Rainbow Princess at the Love Day Celebration Treasure Hunt. She instantly fell in love with the shirt, so we had to buy it.

And so, I am happy. I have a keyboard and I can already play Jingle Bells WITH real chords, just the way you’re supposed to! Well, not perfectly yet, but making progress….

More about this very, very complex treasure hunt tomorrow.

Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf
 

Once again, I am so excited! Yesterday, I received a special message about the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt and I really did not pay that much attention to it at the time, but before the end of the day, it was very significant. The message was, “I know you have another boring paper to write for your class; please try to get that out of the way. We have some things we’d like you to do on the treasure hunt --- you know --- the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt.” At the same time, I was also informed, “…there’s another Treasure Hunt Coming up the Pike. Soon, very soon.” So, that’s really exciting, too, because I just love these treasure hunts and I know that we “ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
 

All of these treasure hunts are like multiple pieces of some gigantic and amazing puzzle that down the road will all start fitting together in some miraculous and awesome way. In the meantime, I am having such a great time seeing new places, meeting new people, and even getting my new home all decorated up in the process. Of course, it was treasure hunting that brought me together with my dearest friends who are my soul mates, Keenan and Daniel and I just know they are going to play a very important role in the mission down the road. Well, they already have! Keenan was the man who, even though I barely knew him, delivered me the diamond ring that I was told I would find during the yard search treasure hunt, which was only Initiation and Training, by the way, for the bigger Kings Valley Treasure Hunt and future treasure hunts. As a reminder, here is what I concluded was the significance of treasure hunting at that time, and it is very relevant for this particular treasure hunt:

And of course, as a final note, all of this serves a great purpose. As we utilize Joe’s critical complex epistemology during our mission, which of course becomes essential when traversing in multiple directions at once as we are doing here, we are assured by Joe, himself that this holds the “key to discern the multiple realities obscured by Western science that can help unlock the door to a new vision of humanness and human action” (Kincheloe, 2008, p. 233). As he said, he had literally spent thousands of hours addressing these issues and explaining this in his work. Of course, critical complex epistemology is only one of the important keys he has provided to help us discover hidden treasures. As time goes on, we will be using more of those keys -- the gifts Joe left for the world -- during our mission, so I hope you stay tuned and maybe even join us.

And so the Kings Valley Treasure Hunt has actually been extended to last all the way through next summer and even beyond because there is so much treasure there and we need more time to find it all – plus we have been assigned multiple treasure hunts to work on, which are also important. We will, however, still be making some more treasure hunting trips to Kings Valley before the summer is over. And there are many other great people we have met in all of these treasure hunts, plus, during the NEW Treasure Hunt, I was even very lovingly informed that “anything you want, you got it!” That has been exactly true, and in fact, this has played out beyond my wildest expectations! Not only have I been so totally blessed with these treasure hunts, I am blessed with absolutely everything I would wish for. And I always end up receiving far more than I wish for because, not ever having been that much into material things, I don’t really wish for much. This was really brought home to me during the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt where I was literally showered with many expensive gifts and it left me feeling quite astounded. I was worried about the money, and as usual, I was told I must not worry, that it would be more than replenished -- and of course, just as promised, it was. And so, I am pretty happy just being able to live each day worry-free, not slaving for a “boss man,” enjoying treasure hunts, and researching and writing about Joe’s brilliant work. It is what I would call the blissful life.

Anyway, as I said, I did not pay that much attention to the message yesterday morning that I would be working on the treasure hunt, but the day before, Rainbow Princess had just returned from a mission and I had clued her in on this treasure hunt. So, after we “put our heads together” yesterday morning, we ascertained just where perhaps we should travel for this particular treasure hunt. We generally are not asked to travel far, with the exception of Tennessee, but we were given far advanced notice for that (it will be in April, 2010, so we have plenty of time to prepare). And then she found an incredible clue that confirmed where we needed to travel (more about that tomorrow, since this blog is going to already be quite long again).

As a reminder, here are the original clues that pertain to the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt:

So, yes, find the two special Easter eggs as I have instructed – and you will know immediately which ones they are and they will tell you where you need to travel. And it is not the place of the Golden Rule because Einstein and I have decided the Golden Rule is bogus and it must be abandoned. We will replace it simply with the Golden Light which brightens the path of all who reach it. Along this path are various jewels and keys. The jewels will specify colors of import that have special meanings which you will come to locate behind the special doors the keys open. Once you have found everything:

The Easter eggs

The Golden Light Path

The jewels

The colors

The keys

The doors

The gifts behind the doors

 

…then bricolage them. This will result in a new enlightenment that will stun the world

If you have been following along in the blogs, you know I have found the two Easter eggs which I believe are the correct ones for this treasure hunt – “If wishes were pigs, it would be hard to keep kosher” (p. 67 of Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction) which turned out to be a MUSIC Easter egg. The song was If Wishes Were Horses by Witchcraft. Of course, Joe was being very funny in his book and he had replaced horses with pigs, so I had to do a deconstruction of that to figure out where he must have started from. You can review how I determined the correct song in the blog, Not an Ordinary Treasure Hunt: Finding the Easter Eggs, Part One. In addition, I presented that the second Easter Egg was likely the song, How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? (also on p. 67) and I presented clues and interpretations (or lack of interpretations) in two blogs, How Do Teachers Get to Carnegie Hall?  and How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall? Finding the Easter Eggs, Part 2. I was leaning toward the idea that how you get to Carnegie Hall is by following The Road to Carnegie Hall.

The New Clues for the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt

I have been promising for a few days that I would provide some additional clues that have been handed down to me, so here they are:

First, there were discussions about what to name the treasure hunt and these do provide a little insight. When I asked what the name of the treasure hunt was (because they usually come up with some interesting titles) I was informed:

How about Wishes, Royalty, and the Golden Light Treasure Hunt? Wait a second, Einstein wants to help. Easter Eggs, Keys and Jewels….We are working on it, Love, and will get back to you.

Well, as we know the title turned into No Ordinary Treasure Hunt. They did say this was going to result in “a new enlightenment" and that it will "stun the world.” Of course, my question was whether they were trying to make me look “totally crazy” and “stupid” and of course I questioned whether this treasure hunt was going to actually “turn into something.” I was simply bounced back another question: “Do you think two geniuses working in you corner are going to make you look like a fool?” and I was told to “just go with this” and that I needed some sleep. LOL.

The Color Purple and Clues of Colors

As you have probably noticed, I have been prompted to add a lot of purple to this web site. There is a reason for this and it is related to this treasure hunt in some way, although I have not yet determined exactly how. And it seems there are other reasons to go with purple. Here is the clue I received regarding the color purple:

What is purple? It is a rich energizer that facilitates the increase in your vibrations when you gaze on it. The more you look at those colors, the faster your vibrations will become. It is also like a fertilizer to the spirit – it’s a deeply spiritual color that soothes the soul. Not like red, which, while it can increase vibrations, it acts as an “antagonizer” which can hamper positive effects.

Carnegie Hall Clues

Next, I received some Carnegie Hall clues: “Once they get to Carnegie Hall, they’re a star.” The goal is to get to “Carnegie Hall” doing things we love, so in other words, Carnegie Hall may be interpreted literally or figuratively. There was something about “hiding the light under a bushel basket.” and “breaking through the glass ceiling of education.” Evidently, this treasure hunt will do something about changing this up – something about light, a guiding light, and an enlightenment.

More Color Purple Clues

What is special about purple? It’s like the Theory of Everything – it is all-encompassing and it brings all things good to you – money, fame, spirituality, knowledge, love, peace, everything we are all striving to bring to this planet. This is a known fact about purple and why so many children intuitively love purple.

I questioned the money and fame aspect and it was clarified that we should not use purple for these purposes whatsoever, but that we should use purple because of our love for people, the Earth, and just the act of gazing on the color because we find such beauty in it. The rewards of money and fame are only side effects and will come only to those who expend 100% of their energy in genuine and true altruistic actions, with no expectations whatsoever. It was conveyed that, of course, people who do these things will become renowned in the world. However, there cannot be even one vestige of greed or of selfishness, or purple is just like any other color and will have no effect whatsoever -- in fact, for those who really come to misuse it, it will totally backfire and they will receive exactly the opposite of what they are intending.  It also has been brought to my attention that this works for only very specific shades of purple. And I was asked to research color psychology – this is something I have yet to do.

Next, this poem was sent to me:

First, I want to state that I really hope it makes some sort of sense. I am not certain it came through to me accurately because a "newbie" (relatively, speaking) was relaying it. But, I was told it is close enough, so go ahead and "go with it." 

More Clues for the “No Ordinary Treasure Hunt”

Purple is the color of my one true love

Which resides among the stars above

For purple is the color that signifies

All that is, all that was, and all forevermore.

Magenta, blue and yes, white, too

The lights that brighten the royal path for you

You shall see the road so clearly

As you step through the right door

So go on your way, continue your search for treasure

It will be an experience of total pleasure

And when you get closer to the end

You will find the beginning – where you must search behind yet another door.

So there you have all of the clues….tomorrow, I will cover how Rainbow Princess and I interpreted some of this to find exactly where we were meant to travel for this treasure hunt. Now, keep in mind, that this will be different for you, because you are in a different place and you may interpret things differently from how we have interpreted them. At any rate, indeed, yesterday we did travel, but we made a mistake by not taking a map and wound up on the wrong road, not being familiar with the area, and thinking it could not be that difficult in the small town we were sent to. We found ourselves lost and puzzled and finally, we gave up and went back home. Now, we will need to go back with a map. This was a reminder for me to get GPS for my car! Someone loves technology. Anyway, tomorrow I will describe how we determined the Golden Light Path, how that led us to the wrong road because we did not take a map, what we found on the wrong road and why it was meant for us to take this “side trip,” and where the right road can be found.

Check back soon, and in the meantime, see what you can do with the clues. It was promised that for those of us who follow through with the complete treasure hunt, there will be some kind of major new enlightenment.

I am very curious whether Bad to the Bone, which has been present at each and every treasure hunt, will show up again....or if I have to be satisfied with Deep to the Bone that was included in the lyrics for the If WIshes Were Horses MUSIC Easter egg....we shall see....(if you do not know what I am talking about here, I will explain it in greater detail, later).

Please note that all previous clues for this treasure hunt can be reviewed at:

No Ordinary Treasure Hunt Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Not Just An Ordinary Treasure Hunt: Finding the Easter Eggs, Part One Thursday, August 6, 2009

How Do Teachers Get to Carnegie Hall? Friday, August 7, 2009

How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall? Finding the Easter Eggs, Part 2

Sunday, August 9, 2009 

PEACE I hope you are remembering to think peaceful, loving thoughts during this month that has been set aside for peace. We are planning a huge celebration here. More about that later, but it will be full of fun, music, and lots of treasure hunting.

Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix 

References
Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. Springer.
Photo courtesy of Rainbow Princess. A light show at the Wax Museum in Newport, OR

 
As I had mentioned previously, I had conducted some research for the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt on August 5, 2009 on Carnegie Hall since the second Easter Egg was revealed to be on page 67 of Joe’s book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. The Easter egg turned out to be, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Praxis, Praxis, Praxis.“

I did write up a brief interpretation in my blog, How Do Teachers Get to Carnegie Hall?, but quite honestly I am still very much in the dark with these two Easter eggs  -- this one and “If Wishes Were Horses” (which Joe had turned into pigs: "If wishes were pigs, it would be hard to be kosher.") and which was revealed earlier.

I am just going to put out here the research I did and see if other people can come up with something. You may want to review all of the blogs written for this treasure hunt so far (see the end of this blog for the list), because it is going to take a holistic interpretation to figure this one out. I am definitely not there yet. The thing is, it sounds so exciting. I am supposed to travel somewhere (the Easter eggs are the clues to where) and there are jewels, colors, and doors to open with significant meanings behind them….I have the clues and yet I feel like I don’t have a clue!

And get this! I have hints of ANOTHER TREASURE HUNT on the way soon! It appears that it will be called There’s  Another Treasure Hunt Coming Up the Pike….or maybe that was just the message that another treasure hunt is coming….time will tell. This does mean I had better solve this one ASAP – or at least get it as far along as possible since they are never completely solvable in a final sort of way, but keep evolving,  And I have ANOTHER lame paper to write today….worse than deconstructing a toilet (you will have to see yesterday’s blog to understand). 

Below is My Research for: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? 

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You Tube!

How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall - Sparks

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Practice 

The Road to Carnegie Hall - Ken Lavigne
 
How to Get to Carnegie Hall

 


Lyrics to How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?
 
How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice, man, practice
Practice, man, practice
Practice, man, practice
Practice, man, practice

How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, man, practice
How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, man, practice
To get yourself to Carnegie Hall
Practice, man, practice
Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Hall

Technical facility,
Old-word sensibility
All of this I did for you
Still there is no sign of you

I practiced, I practiced
Carnegie Hall was beckoning
I practiced, I practiced
Carnegie Hall was beckoning
I was ready, I was ready
Carnegie Hall was beckoning
Still there is no sign of you, still there is no sign of you

Steinway, Steinway, Steinway, Steinway,

How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, man, practice
How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, man, practice
To get yourself to Carnegie Hall
Practice man, practice
Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Hall

Practice on the Steinway,
Practice on the Steinway,
Practice on the Steinway,

They loved it, they showed it
The audience was deafening
I was ready, I was ready
The critics all said, "riveting"
On the Steinway, on the Steinway
I guess it doesn't mean a thing
Still there is no sign of you,
Still there is no sign of you

How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice man, practice

How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, man, practice
How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice man, practice

Still there is no sign of you. 

Lyrics from Lyricsdomain.com
Where is and What is Carnegie Hall?

According to Wikipedia, “Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park.”

So, this tells me that the road to Carnegie Hall is either Seventh Avenue, 56^th Street, or 57^th Street. That is, if the clue is interpreted literally; there could be other ways to interpret this.

Wikipedia: Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891, it is one of the most famous venues in the United States for classical music and popular music, renowned for its beauty, history and acoustics. Carnegie Hall has its own artistic programming, development, and marketing departments, and presents about 250 performances each season. It is also rented out to performing groups. The hall has not had a resident company since the New York Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall in 1962.

Carnegie Hall Joke: A venerable story has become part of the folklore of the hall: A New Yorker (or in some versions Arthur Rubinstein) is approached in the street near Carnegie Hall, and asked, "Pardon me sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" He replies, "Practice, practice, practice." The Directions page of the Carnegie Hall Web site gently alludes to the joke. Retrieved August 5, 2009 from Wikipedia. See also, the official Carnegie Hall Web site

Conclusion: Those are all of the clues I was able to come up with for this particular Easter egg. Perhaps you can make heads or tails of it….I think I will need some more time myself to look at these more closely. And, unfortunately, I am stuck writing more papers today – plus I have grading and teaching to do, so I will be “tied up” for awhile.

I did want to share some new clues, though that have come to me and are associated with this treasure hunt, but I think I will wait until tomorrow simply because I have already put so much  out here and I have not even worked on understanding these clues yet, myself. So, tomorrow: Colors, Doors, and Other New Clues for the Not An Ordinary Treasure Hunt.  

Please note that all previous clues for this treasure hunt can be reviewed at:
 
No Ordinary Treasure Hunt Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Not Just An Ordinary Treasure Hunt: Finding the Easter Eggs, Part One Thursday, August 6, 2009
How Do Teachers Get to Carnegie Hall? Friday, August 7, 2009

Have a great day.

References
Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Knowledge and critical pedagogy: An introduction. Springer.
Images of Carnegie Hall courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carnegie-hall-isaac-stern.jpg and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carnegie_Hall.jpg 

Today has been busy. I was challenged to write a two page paper for my Education class evaluating the contributions of Dewey and pragmatism to “the reconstruction of professionalism in the United States.” What a loaded question to answer in two short pages. I deemed that it was an impossibility to argue that deconstruction and reconstruction of something that has failed us is a viable solution, especially given that I am SO influenced by Joe and his eclectic philosophy and critical complex theories and the promise they provide for creating better ways of being in the world. That brings me back to Joe’s Easter egg in the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt: “If wishes were pigs, it would be harder to keep kosher.” In other words, two pages must be wishful thinking on the part of the professor, or one could argue that it is wishful thinking to presume all students are going to agree with the position that deconstruction and reconstruction in the pragmatist tradition is THE answer for today's problems with education and professionalism. 
 

My paper ended up being 18 pages! Yikes! That’s a bit off the mark. Oh well, I have no choice but to submit it. It was not fair to give us such a biased question and then restrict our response to no more than two double spaced pages. Once I edit the paper and employ the bricolage a little more to give it greater richness, I will post it here. It is kind of interesting, actually. While we were supposed to argue that reconstructionism was a grand and wonderful animal, so in tune with what our needs are today, I, being the “rebel” that I am, argued that doing more of the same is not what is needed….in fact that is much like Einstein had contended – insanity – you know, when you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. We need to use Joe’s critical complex epistemology and the bricolage to produce new knowledge that can shine a light out of this horrible mess education is in. And professionalism? Is there such a thing? Well, Joe was truly a wonderful example in the most exemplary meaning of the word, but he was one of a kind. Anyway, deconstructing as the author of our textbook describes, is much like what Joe defines as reductionism under the Cartesian-Newtonian irrational mode of thinking (Kincheloe, 1999, p. 24). It will never work to redefine education or professionalism, either one.

I had not read this particular book by Joe yet, How Do We Tell the Workers? The Socioeconomc Foundations of Work and Vocational Education, until today as I worked on this paper and was seeking some relevant information.  I was happy when I found that his explanation and understanding of gender issues totally jived with what I said in my blog quite some time ago, What A Woman Wants. I did not know that I was that “in tune” with him, but I guess I was. It is in this book. On page 282, he has even laid it out: ”What Women Want In Their Vocational Life” and he states that it is really quite simple. “The most basic answer to this question is that this is little more than a simple quest for self-determination – for a woman to gain the ability to control her own life” (p. 283).
 

And how right he is!
 

As he further explained, it is quite simply because “Many women are not allowed to do so.” True. Rare is the opportunity to not have to “pleasantly comply” for mundane economic or patriarchal reasons. He also explained that “women from different social locations reason differently. In this circumstance, gender analysis is insufficient; we must examine the way gender interacts with other social categories to get a deeper and richer picture of moral reasoning (Stack, 1994). Such understandings are important in our effort to understand why different individuals engage with schooling and the workplace in divergent ways. Such awareness can help us distinguish between being different or being deficient – a distinction that when left unmade can perpetuate forms of institutional sexism, racism, and class bias” (pp. 263-264).

How many times have I felt deficient? That was exactly what I pointed out in my blog: Joe had a way of making women feel that they are NOT deficient even in a world that is constantly reminding us that we must be deficient in some way.

And Joe even knew that working-class women like me “have rarely felt a close affinity to the middle- and upper-middle-class feminist movement” (Zinn, 1994; Arnot, 1992), something else I wrote about in my blog. Gosh, I didn’t know I knew what I was talking about when I wrote that blog. And so now I just want to clarify and reaffirm that Joe really and truly did know What A Woman Wants.

Now, if I can just get the sexy music back – Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye -- the person who posted that song which I had embedded in my blog took it down. I love that song. There should be a rule against taking music down off YouTube once it’s up there. And I really wish the artists would get the fact that if people hear their music on YouTube, they end up buying it. The artists who won't let you embed videos are losing out. I have lost track of how many CDs I bought because I heard the music on YouTube and I liked it and decided to buy the entire CD....oh well, most of the artists HAVE figured it out, thank goodness. And a special thanks goes out to those artists.

Yes, I took a short break from treasure hunting….tomorrow I will post a few new clues that came my way. In fact, it was weird. Right in the middle of working on my paper today, I was interrupted with a poem that turned out to be clues for the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt. There are some other clues that have been handed down, too. I’ll post them all tomorrow. They may help. They are about colors and doors…I have yet to figure out the road I must travel…I wonder if it might be The Road Less Traveled? Or if I was right the first time -- Maybe it is The Road to Carnegie Hall. Just guesses at this point. I need a break. In the meantime, I hope you are working on this No Ordinary Treasure Hunt.  Your guesses are as good as mine.

Decontstructed: The Toilet (An interesting deconstruction, lol)
 

Reference

Kincheloe, J. L. (1999). How do we tell the workers? The socioeconomic foundations of work and vocational education. Boulder, CO: Westview

It Must Be Summer 
It seems that I am a little slow in getting blogs out these days, not that it matters that much right now. For one thing, it’s summer and during the summer we should be able to slow our pace a little. For another thing, I really have not even sent this site to search engines nor have I promoted it. If you happen to come upon this site, then know that it is a work in progress. I really have no intention to promote it for the time being. Which all gets back to why it does not matter if the blogs are posted “on time” everyday (the rule was by 7AM, and that may be reinstituted this fall, I’m not sure). I have many things I will be adding before fall: more academic papers, articles, reviews of Joe’s work and research, and Easter eggs….yes, there are and there will be more Easter eggs all over this site. Joe taught me well. 

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

As yesterday’s blog indicated, I do believe I have found the two MUSIC Easter Eggs that the clues the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt was referring to, although with treasure hunting, like all forms of research, findings are tentative and subject to change along the way. I provided the beginnings of an analysis for the first song I had found, “If Wishes Were Horses” which had derived from Joe’s statement on page 67, “If wishes were pigs, it would be harder to keep kosher.” I will get into a deeper analysis at a later date; right now I am just trying to find what the clues are leading me to. After some floundering, I finally realized a second MUSIC Easter egg was right in the title on the same page, in bold type: How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Of course, what Joe is pointing out here is that it takes “practice, practice, practice,” and for teachers, that translates into “praxis.” 

When I think back on my own children attending public school, I lost count of how many hundreds of those boring “word search” puzzles they brought home. How much educational benefit can a child obtain from spending countless hours looking for words in a word maze? That is ALL they are doing, is looking for the words. They are not even associating the meaning of those words with the words themselves! Yet, week after week, they would bring home yet another word search puzzle. While being skilled with finding and identifying words can be helpful, how much of this dull practice is really required? Evidently, teachers these days think it takes a lot of practice, practice, practice….well, I am on the same page as Joe with this: these teachers need “praxis, praxis, praxis” (Kincheloe, 2008, p. 67). Especially if they wish to get to Carnegie Hall. And as we were already informed by the other clue, wishes might just as well be pigs (lol) if we are not going to put out the effort it takes. 

As I engage in these treasure hunts that I am sure are modeled after some of the ideas Joe must have had in mind when he spoke of the how exciting treasure hunts were for him, then I wonder, why don’t teachers incorporate more of these sorts of creative and fun activities into their practice? What is holding them back? Is it lack of imagination? Is it that they just do not have time? Would they incorporate treasure hunting in place of the mundane busy work activities if curricular materials were readily available to them? What does it take to get teachers to, as Joe put it, “praxis, praxis, praxis”? Of course, I do not have the answers, but I am sure that Joe was hoping that if teachers are taught such things as treasure hunting, if they actually engaged in it themselves, for example through this very textbook Joe has written for teachers, they just might incorporate some exciting treasure hunting into their teaching and spice up learning for their students. 

Easter eggs inside Easter eggs inside Easter eggs…
As I have pointed out, and as most people who have read Joe’s work realize, Joe advocated multiperspectival, multilogical, multidimensional thinking. Did you think his Easter eggs would be any different? Not a chance! And so, we do need to come to realize that there are likely to be Easter eggs inside Easter eggs inside Easter eggs. There are likely to be multiple interpretations of his Easter eggs….take “If wishes were pigs, it would be harder to be kosher.” It seems like such a simple sentence, but do you know how many interpretations there are to that statement? Back to the theme, though, what is required here to become skillful at identifying and analyzing Easter eggs – and then ultimately, creating your own Easter eggs and treasure hunts to liven up your teaching – is practice. So look at this particular treasure hunt, which has been named, No Ordinary Treasure Hunt, as a means for gaining practice. Maybe, just maybe YOU will get to Carnegie Hall. And as is often said, by the time you get to Carnegie Hall, you are a super star! 

Speaking of music, it came down to me – and I believe it is associated with this treasure hunt, which is why I mention it – that I am to buy an electronic keyboard and practice, practice, practice. Wow, that’s interesting, and really a gift! When I was a child we had one of those new (at the time) electric organs which my mother actually had bought for herself. Well, yours truly (that would be me) loved it so much! But since I was the ONLY one in my entire family of five children and two adults who played it after having it about two years, the decision was made to sell it. I guess I did not count in the equation. I was very sad about that and of course, we were poor (which is why we ended up selling it, I guess) so there was no replacement, no music lessons, no nothing.….and so now, I have been instructed that I need to buy an electronic keyboard, write my own music, and use the music in my own videos – educational videos of course -- videos about treasure hunting. So, this is an exciting new development and it does seem to relate to, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Everyone should get to “Carnegie Hall” doing something they love. 

Fly on the Wings of Love - Olsen Brothers (this song was selected by Einstein -- in my imagination, of course)

 

Reference
Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction.

a special note

Are you working on the No Ordinary Treasure Hunt from yesterday and looking for the Easter eggs on pages 67-69 of Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction? After getting those clues, I just could not resist looking for them. I found two MUSIC Easter Eggs on page 67, but not exactly “right off the bat.” The first one I found easily enough, but it turned out not to be so easy to decipher, yet I was amazed and pleasantly surprised with the final results, and the second one escaped me totally until I slept on it and then I woke up this morning and saw it staring boldly right at me! I will describe these later to give other people a chance to find them.

In my search, though, I came across a hilarious song. I think I needed the laugh. It is just too easy in this confining 3-D Earth plane to take life (which is but a dream, you know) too seriously and one-dimensionally. I know I have been writing a lot about soul mates and hookin’ up with your one true soul mate. But what if you don’t want to ever get married again?

That was actually my choice after three divorces. I am afraid that with FIDUROD in charge here (and you will need to read Joe’s book to know what FIDUROD is), Earth marriages are doomed to failure (unless you are matched with a soul mate). I had decided that with three strikes, I was "out" so to speak and I decided I will spend the rest of my life here single. 

But then, I found the following song which lines out another humorous option for those of us who have given up on this patriarchal system.  It gave me a good laugh….I would marry myself before I married another earthling. Yes, often I feel like I must be from another planet (lol). Joe actually said that to me one time, so I think he felt the same way at times: “Obviously, I am from another planet,” he said to me in the middle of a very serious academic discussion. It cracked me up. He was so funny at times as his book also demonstrates. Every so often he has put in little comments that just absolutely have me cracking up. His humor carries on….

I Married Myself - Sparks
 

I was just handed down another treasure hunt! I had been getting hints the past few days that I would be getting another treasure hunt soon. This is exciting because I am supposed to share this one so that everyone can do it! So here is the message that came to me in my dream state, which I wrote down as soon as I awakened this morning:
 

The Treasure Hunt. I have been giving it a lot of thought, actually and I don’t want an ordinary treasure hunt for my Queen. No, it must be extraordinary and she must come out of this treasure hunt with something so special, so unique and so mind-startling that it stuns the whole world. Well, I was at a loss for ideas so I went to whom else but to Einstein. Now there’s a creative guy, if you think I’m creative. He has me beat by a long shot. So, this treasure hunt is a collaborative effort between the two of us and as they always say, “two minds are better than one.” And in this case, it’s two genius minds if what you have written about us is true.

Well, here is what we have come up with. There are two Easter Eggs on pp. 67-69 of my book, Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction. Find the two Easter eggs that light a path to the route you must travel to the golden ---

[the writing stopped briefly and I asked, Golden what? Finish please...you’re teasing.]

No, seriously, Einstein wanted to say that the golden rule is really wrong --  “do unto others.” It never works because it derives from selfishness…you know, “as you would have them do unto you.” It’s very selfish. He thinks it should be replaced with a new universal that does not involve reciprocity since tied up in reciprocity are expectations and we should always do things for others without expecting anything whatsoever.

Anyway, I was going to say, travel to the golden rule – or the place where the golden rule is followed, but we are changing the treasure hunt. So, yes, find the two special Easter eggs as I have instructed – and you will know immediately which ones they are and they will tell you where you need to travel. And it is not the place of the Golden Rule because Einstein and I have decided the Golden Rule is bogus and it must be abandoned. We will replace it simply with the Golden Light which brightens the path of all who reach it. Along this path are various jewels and keys. The jewels will specify colors of import that have special meanings which you will come to locate behind the special doors the keys open. Once you have found everything:

The Easter eggs

The Golden Light Path

The jewels

The colors

The keys

The doors

The gifts behind the doors

 

…then bricolage them. This will result in a new enlightenment that will stun the world. Then write this up into a paper and submit it as a special curricular activity that teachers can use in the classroom. Every time this activity is repeated by someone else it results in a new enlightenment. It becomes like the cubist painting that shows views from different angles. Everyone who completes this process has a different angle and each angle is very amazing.

And so, I will tell Einstein you said thank you. I know how much you love him. Did you know that you and he are soul mates as well? Not previous lovers of course, but you were family. Maybe you will recall. He was very devoted to you and you totally idolized and loved him. He has great love for you.

Well, you have a beautiful day and have fun treasure hunting. I hope this brightens your day and makes you escape that sadness into a more happy state. I think once you get started on this you are going to get much joy and pleasure out of it. And once you begin to see where it leads, you are going to be very excited and thrilled.

OMG FOLKS; It was JUST a dream!!!  I don’t know how this stuff works; this is actually totally new to me. It seems like my dream state imagination is wild. All I know is there are too many coincidences for it to be all from my subconscious mind. I mean think about the other treasure hunts. I just “knew” that there was a symbol of soulmate love (the yin-yang silver disk) buried deep in my yard and that a diamond ring was going to be delivered to my door so I just told myself to develop a treasure hunt to find them. Oh, I must have known that there was gonna be an Eager Beaver thrift store at the Pacific Coast with a book about tricks so I named the treasure hunt the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt and gave myself the clue “tricks up the sleeve” cuz I just knew that book was gonna be sitting there for me to buy and I just “knew” the Eager Beaver home improvement test was gonna be in there. All to find an Eager Beaver home improvement test in the Eager Beaver Second Hand Store during the Pacific Coast Eager Beaver Treasure Hunt in order to make the name of the treasure hunt all worthwhile. I don't think I could have planned that if I had tried! Oh, and somehow I just “knew” that way off in the middle of nowhere, on Celebrate Love Day which my subconscious mind also made up, that there was going to be a special celebration and treasure hunting within the treasure hunt I set up for that day. And I just “knew” that….no wait, there was no way I knew that they were gonna have that “Bad to the Bone BBQ” – do you how many times “Bad to the Bone” has shown up now during the treasure hunts? If not, you will just have to read all of my treasure hunts—makes me wonder if it is going to show up this time; Bad to the Bone has not missed a treasure hunt yet.

Look, so what if it was a dream. I say, go ahead and try it – I mean, after all, the structure of DNA itself was discovered in a dream --  try this and see what you come up with. Can you even find the Easter eggs? I just checked the pages since I love looking for Easter eggs in Joe’s books cause they are always such sweet surprises, and sure enough, I found one of them right off the bat. I will have to check into what I believe is the second one. This could be fun and exciting; in fact, that’s exactly what the message says: “you are going to get much joy and pleasure out of it …. you are going to be very excited and thrilled.” I will be back in a few days with what I learned from doing this treasure hunt – for now I am going treasure hunting! Unfortunately, it will take some time because I have some papers to write for my doctoral class and student work to grade for the courses I teach. But I hope by the end of the week, I will have made great progress on this very special new treasure hunt and maybe even have a new enlightenment to share. If not, you can call me a total fool, lol. Some people would love that, I’m sure.

Personally, I just love the dreams I have!  And I have them every single night – not treasure hunt dreams every night (those do come on a regular basis, though, and I love them, too), just simple miraculous “dreams” every day. They make life so joyful. If only "real" life could be as good as the dreams I have where we are always learning, creating, loving, sharing, and celebrating. Joe always said that people should explore their dreams more often, especially in relation to learning, and to look to indigenous cultures for help in that regard – although I would not blame them at all for not wanting to help us white Eurocentric folks after what we have done to them. I am so ashamed and shocked over the horrific things that people have done to other people throughout history – and even continue to do to this very day. It is appalling. If you have read my previous blogs, you know that I promote better ways of being in the world: love, peace, joy, etc., which is what Joe’s work promotes and exactly one of the reasons I am “married to Joe’s work.”  Anyway, there are many positive and great reasons for tapping into our dreams. While I have been learning to do this informally (but also formally during my dreams where someone teaches me each night), there is so much more I need to learn about it and it is on my learning agenda for the near future. And, yes, it is all exciting.

Vanessa

P.S. At least get Joe’s book and look for the MUSIC Easter Eggs! That is a great treasure hunt in itself! I have not found “bad to the bone” in that treasure hunt, though. I think this must be something new.

I’m So Excited – Natalia and Pointer Sisters

I just wanted to discuss a little more about soul mates since it is a topic that the educational community most likely scorns. Although, I am not really that concerned with the educational community that scorns it; I am more interested in providing the information for people who are open minded and who may realize they have something to benefit from the thought that there is a one true soul mate out there for them.

Note: The photo shows the yin yang symbol, which looks to be quite old and obviously handmade. I found this in the very first treasure hunt that was handed down to me in my "dreams". I was supposed to look in my back yard for a diamond ring using a metal detector (which I had to buy, since I did not have a metal detector at that time), but I found this silver disk instead, which was down about 4-5 inches or so in the soil under the grass -- and the diamond ring was delivered to my front door. That treasure hunt can be reviewed here:
 

It is interesting that Bloomstein recommends as a follow up to her study, not replication or validation of her findings since these findings arise out of a rigor that renders them valid, reliable, and generalizable, but rather narratives of the soulmate experiences of others from across the world. As she points out, “these narratives will be inspiring and poignant. They will further normalize and popularize the discussion of this important topic in a responsible way” (p. 176). She continues:

The normalization of the soulmate experience has important implications for clinical practice. Many people have been fortunate enough to be united with their soulmates. In some cases, as illustrated in this study, the process has been very painful. The fact that suffering is often inseparable from unfulfilled expectations of loving is distressing to those involved. However, the reinforcement they will receive from the couples whose experiences have been studied, and the hope that this will give to them, will make their own experiences easier to understand and cope with. Moreover, the discovery of a soulmate sometimes occurs when one is married to someone else. Their discovery, therefore, often leads to feelings of conflict and of failure in the existing relationship. In these cases, too, the experiences of others who have gone through the same process and ultimately found fulfillment in and with their soulmates will relieve the conflict and engender a sense of purpose and destiny within the new relationship.

This study has revealed the centrality of the spiritual dimension of the soulmate love relationship. It can therefore serve to facilitate the spiritual development of other couples and to normalize their meta-physical experiences, which are so widely ridiculed in skeptical circles. The revelation that extrasensory gifts can be developed within fulfilling relationships opens new vistas in transpersonal practice.

The importance of reincarnations to soulmates also has intriguing clinical implications. The work of Brian Weiss, Adrian Finkelsteins, Bruce Golgberg, and others in the use of regression hypnosis to uncover previous lifetime experiences of soulmates can be a valuable clinical tool not only in explaining the relationship of soulmates to such clients, but also help them to understand the unique challenges they face together in this lifetime’s process of tikkun.

The outcomes of this study have another very important clinical implication. Soulmate love has been added to the psychological typologies of loving. Many of the relationship enhancing techniques of couple’s therapy simply do not apply to soulmates.They have their own unique challenges. These techniques are, however, approporiate for other couples and can be usefully employed in those contexts. Our ability to differentiate between soulmate love and what one of the participants in this study termed “generic couples” love, will enable more appropriate interventions both for generic couples and soulmate couples.

Finally, it is important to reiterate that the experiences of the participants in this study fit most comfortably, if not all together perfectly into the Jungian model of love. The ubiquitous experience of synchronicity by our participants, the essentially spiritual nature of soulmate love, the various articulations of the existence of the third subtle body, the importance of dreams, and even the notion of reincarnation resonate with C.G. Jung’s thought. (Bloomstein, 2000, pp. 176-177).

Well, that’s  it today. There is so much more to say about soul mates and soul mate love, but it will have to be covered another time. I just feel it is important not to dismiss the notion, especially given that it is so real for many people and it does appear that more and more bad marriages are breaking up so that the parties can match up with their true soul mates and thus, be much happier and complete. This is not to say men and/or women are not complete in themselves or that all matches must be heterosexual; not at all. But, I will have to take a rain check on explaining all of that because it becomes very scientifically complex. You would need to understand quantum mechanics among other complex science concepts. A book I mentioned previously explains it in terms that are easier to understand and perhaps are less complex, is The Science of Soulmates by Henderson, if you would like more information right away. I actually recommend that everyone read it because it is very joyful and provides so much hope and promise for the future.

This poem was included in Bloomstein’s dissertation:

A LOVE POEM

Loved you before you knew my name.

Chose my fate, before I came.

Loved you then, and now the same.

Time was gone, the light took me through.

So close, so close…could have touched you.

The light said no, took my hand.

Said you couldn’t understand.

Saw you kneel beside the bed.

Heard the storm inside your head.

Felt your pain…eyes so red.

Tears upon the empty bed.

Mourn not!...that I am out of sight.

Listen!... in the deepest quiet.

A whisper soft upon your soul.

Will tell you, our love is very old.

Got to spend some time with you.

Happy through and through.

Shed no tear, for time gone by.

The light…is just beyond your eye.

(Bloomstein, 2001)

References

Bloomstein, Y. (2001). The soulmate experience: A phenomenological investigation. (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2001). UMI no. 3015795

Henderson, W. (2002). The Science of Soulmates: The Direct Path to the Ultimate

Love transcends