Green Anarchy

If I wait until I feel ready to explain green anarchy in my own words, I will never write that post.  So I decided, instead, to give you the link to a great introductory article on the subject, and to comment a bit on specific parts of that article.

Before going into that, I'm going to say this: I'm not looking to start debates, and as I've mentioned previously, I find posting highly politicized posts to be nerve wracking.  I've decided to keep the comments on this post open for now (depending on the nature of the comments, I *may* choose to close commenting at a later date.  I don't think I will, and I don't want to, but I also want to keep that option open in case I find the feedback I'm getting is stressing me too much!  Yeah, I know, I'm overly sensitive.), but I ask that you please refrain from attempting to start any big political debates!  I feel a need to add a bit extra to this anti-debating thing, that I feel in my last couple of posts I didn't address as much as I should have.  I have no problems having my opinions questioned.  I do have a problem with my opinions being questioned in a confrontational, adversarial, disrespectful, way.  I love talking in person about my views with people whom I know to be open-minded and respectful, and the person I spend the most time having in-depth conversations with is my sister.  She's a more analytical thinker than I am, and we complement each other wonderfully in discussions.  She'll often point out things I may not have seen, or tell me when something I say doesn't seem thought through very thoroughly.  I don't, however, like having those conversations online, where it's often hard to tell how the other person feels.  But I seriously digress.

There's a lot of information to be found on green anarchy online, but almost none of it is information for "beginners", just for those who already have a basic understanding of green anarchist philosophies.  So I was very happy to find this article, from Green Anarchy magazine, called An Introduction to Anti-Civilization Anarchist Thought and Practice.  I warn you, it is quite long, but it's also a wonderful introduction to the types of things that most green anarchists question and think about.

This article covers many different things, including the all important thing, when talking about being anti-civilization, of What Is Civilization?:

"Green anarchists tend to view civilization as the logic, institutions, and physical apparatus of domestication, control, and domination. While different individuals and groups prioritize distinct aspects of civilization (i.e. primitivists typically focus on the question of origins, feminists primarily focus on the roots and manifestations of patriarchy, and insurrectionary anarchists mainly focus on the destruction of contemporary institutions of control), most green anarchists agree that it is the underlying problem or root of oppression, and it needs to be dismantled."

And in the section Biocentrism vs. Anthropocentrism, it talks about one of the things I consider to be my core values:

"Biocentrism is a perspective that centers and connects us to the earth and the complex web of life, while anthropocentrism, the dominant world view of western culture, places our primary focus on human society, to the exclusion of the rest of life. A biocentric view does not reject human society, but does move it out of the status of superiority and puts it into balance with all other life forces. It places a priority on a bioregional outlook, one that is deeply connected to the plants, animals, insects, climate, geographic features, and spirit of the place we inhabit. There is no split between ourselves and our environment, so there can be no objectification or otherness to life. Where separation and objectification are at the base of our ability to dominate and control, interconnectedness is a prerequisite for deep nurturing, care, and understanding. Green anarchy strives to move beyond human-centered ideas and decisions into a humble respect for all life and the dynamics of the ecosystems that sustain us."

In Division of Labour and Specialization, another important point is brought up, that of how disconnected we are from the mechanics of our own well-being:

"The disconnecting of the ability to care for ourselves and provide for our own needs is a technique of separation and disempowerment perpetuated by civilization. We are more useful to the system, and less useful to ourselves, if we are alienated from our own desires and each other through division of labor and specialization. We are no longer able to go out into the world and provide for ourselves and our loved ones the necessary nourishment and provisions for survival. Instead, we are forced into the production/consumption commodity system to which we are always indebted."

It also talks about decentralization, something I think is incredibly important. From Against Mass Society:

"We reject mass society for practical and philosophical reasons. First, we reject the inherent representation necessary for the functioning of situations outside of the realm of direct experience (completely decentralized modes of existence). We do not wish to run society, or organize a different society, we want a completely different frame of reference. We want a world where each group is autonomous and decides on its own terms how to live, with all interactions based on affinity, free and open, and non-coercive. We want a life which we live, not one which is run."

Of course, as the author even says in Influences and Solidarity, many green anarchists come to different conclusions on various points from those of the author:

"It is also important to remember that, while many green anarchists draw influence from similar sources, green anarchy is something very personal to each who identify or connect with these ideas and actions."

However, I definitely think that this is a very good introduction!

I hope that if you're interested in truly learning about green anarchy, you choose to read the entire article, not just the bits I've included in this post, because those bits really only give you a part of the whole story (hell, they just give you part of the whole story, taken from an article that is itself just a small part of the whole story!).  And I hope that it gives you a better understanding of where I'm coming from, as well!

How I ended up considering myself a green anarchist was actually by process of elimination: anything that didn't jive with my core values, I just didn't agree with.  I had no faith in politicians or governments, and had been interested in anarchy, in a very vague sense, for years.  However, I just always believed everyone around me when they said that it was a load of crap, and so I didn't look into it myself for a while...  But when I did, I sure liked it!!  However, with most anarchist philosophies, I saw a major flaw: they were concerned entirely with humans and with human society, and didn't really seem to consider the environment or the greater web of life.  So when I found green anarchy, it just felt right.  Here was something that finally made sense to me!

I also hope that by reading that article, it'll cause you to think about and question some things that you may never have thought of before...

For a currently small but ever growing resource list of interesting stuff on green anarchy and post-leftist anarchy, go to the bottom of my Links and Resources page!

Peace,
Idzie

Core Values

This is a bit of a follow-up to my previous post, Debating and Discussing.

Many people feel that, because of my age, mainly, my "radical" ideas will likely change (after all, all anarchists are young, right?? *Snorts*). I find this view rather offensive, but I'm not going to go into it now. Many changes happen over time, and I can't know what I'll look like or think like or who I'll be in the future. But I can know that some things are far more integral and essential to me, and have, since I was much younger, been essential to my Being, and those things I think are FAR less likely to change than anything else.

I have a few unshakable values, things that can’t be affected by others opinions, by arguments, by new findings. Things that aren’t up for questioning in my mind, and that I don’t think *can* be “objectively proved”. Things that are rooted firmly in the core of my being, and which without their existence, I would be an entirely different person.

One is the absolute belief that ALL life has inherent value, not just human life, and that the status of “person” does not belong solely to humans (or even solely to other animals). This is what everything else I believe in, support, and live is based on. That the Earth is Alive, that all it’s inhabitants are People, and that the Earth should be respected and revered.

Secondly, I believe humans to be capable of living as free beings (and to deserve the right to live as such): I do not believe that humans “need” to be controlled by others. I believe each human has the inherent ability to lead their own lives and make their own decisions.

All my other opinions and views are just window dressings, really.  They have changed, will quite likely change, and are in a perpetual state of changing, as I think on things and talk to people and read new books and have new experiences…  All my other views are simply those that, with my current experience, most closely line up with my core values.

And those core values, well, I’m pretty damn sure those are here to stay.

Peace,
Idzie

Debating and Discussing

For the last while, the posts on this blog have been almost entirely about unschooling.  My political views on other things seem to have taken a back seat.  And I wondered: why is that?  Unschooling is the subject I'm the most passionate about, so it seems logical I write a lot about it, but there's more to it than that...  When I think of writing something to do with my green anarchist views, I shy away from it, mentally.  It kind of scares me to talk about it.  Each time I open my mouth to state my views, or start to type a highly politicized post, I feel a rush of nerves.  Why is that?  I think it just comes down to the fact that I hate arguing.  Like, really hate it.  And if I am going to be dragged into an argument (some call it a "debate".  Yes, yes, I know they're different.  I just don't like either!), I want it to be a subject I have absolute confidence in my knowledge of.

Unschooling, for example.  I still hate debating that subject, but it's the one subject I hate debating (very) slightly less than other subjects...

And, of course, I can *safely* post about unschooling on this blog with very little risk of arguments or debates.  I know that what I'm most likely to get are just a few differences in opinions, honest questions, and interesting discussions...  Good things

When things get into political views, and general worldviews, however, nowhere is "safe" anymore.

Many people find it strange that I hate debating.  They say, often with a certain measure of disapproval, that debating is good for you, good for solidifying views, and is cowardly to avoid (well, no one has actually ever said the last one to me, I've just gotten that feeling...).  Our culture seems to put a lot of emphasis on debating, and I actually find myself feeling slightly embarrassed when saying I hate debating, and usually avoid it.  But really, just like anything else, people don't learn or develop in only *one* way.  For some people, debating is very helpful in their learning process.  For others, it's not.  I just wish people would recognize that!

When I let myself get sucked into a debate (an argument to determine which arguer is "right", as if right-ness was somehow objective), I feel a spike in stress levels.  Not a pleasant mental jump in alertness, just a spike of stress and unhappiness.  Really, that's how much I don't like debates.

Discussions, however, I consider to be a respectful exchange of opinions and ideas.  Totally different from an aggressive debate.  Discussions feel good to me, energize me, give my brain a pleasant workout, introduce new ideas and ways of looking at things, help build friendships...  Debates stress me, anger me, make me feel defensive, make me feel like my words are being judged and like my "opponent" is trying to rip everything I say to shreds, because, well, they usually are (isn't that what a debate is?).  I also find that I'm far more open to new opinions and ways of looking at things in a respectful and friendly discussion than in a competitive debate. 

I really don't mind at all if other people are happy to debate.  But if someone tries to start one with me, and they push when I say I'm not into debating, it REALLY bothers me.  And don't even get me started on people playing devils advocate when talking to me (when I argue something, I really, truly, and with all my heart believe in what I'm saying.  I'm often talking about things that are vital to how I live my life, and are very close to me heart.  If someone else is just arguing something they're not invested in at all, just for the kicks, I find it incredibly disrespectful.  Again, have the sense to argue with other people who enjoy it, not with people who really care about what they're saying.).

So, having gone off on a major tangent, I come back to the reason why I'm nervous about posting things to do with green anarchy.  Links to other things are fine: but when it's my own words, what if someone says something I disagree with SO MUCH in response that I have to tell them they're wrong, then I get sucked into a debate, and get stressed, and and and...  You get the picture.

So maybe I should just close comments on especially political posts?  But I love comments, generally, and want to hear what people have to say.  I don't want to do that...  You see the dilemma.  So that's a main reason I write less about politics...

But I want to change that.  There are thoughts and musings and views I really want to put out there.  I just have to take a deep breathe, and be brave enough to do so!

Peace,
Idzie

How I Learned to Read and Write

This is something I seem to see parents worrying about sooo often...  Parents of four and five year olds (both in and out of school) wring their hands and tear their hair out over the fact their children can't read.  When I see this, I just shake my head, and feel bad for those poor kids!

There is such an industry built up around teaching kids how to read.  So many programs, flash cards, DVD's, computer programs...  I can't help but think that an awful lot of money must be wasted annually on something that really doesn't need any "teaching" at all, something that children will learn simply by spending time with literate adults.

I suppose my own family bought into this at first, as well.  When I was first pulled out of kindergarten (my only experience with traditional schooling), my mother bought a program called Sing, Spell, Read and Write, and, though my memories of that are pretty foggy, I know I did it for a while, and managed to sound out words, but never finished the program.  I don't remember ever being *forced* to do it (and my mothers memories match up with mine), no tears were ever shed over it, and it was simply forgotten about.

Now, I should point out at this point that my family is VERY big on reading.  Bookshelves line every free wall in our house, filled with everything from sci-fi and fantasy novels, to cookbooks, to locomotive repair books, to encyclopedias, to natural health books, and a thousand other things.  From the time I was tiny, the people around me, my parents, were regular readers.  And from the time I was tiny, they read aloud to me.  Poetry, the newspaper, picture books, you name it.  Words were something I appreciated from a young age.

But I had no interest in reading myself for several years.

I don't remember precisely what age I was when I started to read, although I do remember feeling embarrassed in Brownies when I couldn't read.  I also remember (or at least I think I remember-as I said before, a lot of these memories are rather cloudy) my mother calmly assuring some other mothers that I would read when I was ready to.

And, sure enough, she was right!  When I was something like age eight or nine, my mother was reading the first Harry Potter book aloud to my sister and I.  But, well, she had things to do other than read, and if she read too long, her voice would get hoarse.  So, being quite frustrated at how slow a process this was, and really wanting to know what happened next, I picked it up and began to read.

I haven't looked back since!

After that first Harry Potter book, I became a truly voracious reader.  I went through countless novels, often two or three of them in the same day, just soaking up all the stories, characters, places.  I truly fell in love with fiction.  I also simply loved poetry, and memorized several fairly long poems in their entirety (most notably The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.  After seeing the movie Anne of Green Gables, where part of that poem was recited, I just fell in love with it).

As for writing, well, since before I could read I'd been dictating simple poems for my mother to transcribe.  And after I learned to read, I simply wrote more poems myself!

How I actually learned to write, the mechanics of it, grammar and sentence structure and all that, I have no real memories.  I simply knew, I suppose, from reading so very many novels and poems!  I've never been *taught* how to write in my life.  Not one lesson from my mother.  Yet I obviously learned...

I do remember playing spelling games with my sister, where my mother would say a word and both of us would try and spell it properly.  This was always great fun to me!

So now, years later, I just get so frustrated when I see parents worrying and fussing over when their children will learn to read.  So many teens, so many adults for that matter, hate reading.  I firmly believe this is because it was forced.  Things aren't fun when you *have* to do them.  Reading, and writing, come so naturally, so organically, if only you're brave enough to take a deep breath, and let things unfold.  I can see so many ways that things could have gone wrong, had reading or writing been made into Schoolwork (I know so many homeschooling families who make their children write a book report when they finish a book...  Who would want to read a novel when you have that tedium waiting at the end of it??), that I'm forever grateful to my parents for fostering such a great love of words in both me and my sister.  We love reading and writing precisely because those things have never been anything but joyful, even when it was hard (sometimes I have to push myself to write something I want to get written, but it's always worth it), because something you do entirely because you want to do it is inherently joyful.

So, I want to say to all those parents of younger kids, that you really, truly, don't need to worry about reading and writing.  Read to your kids, enjoy reading yourself, and the rest will come!  Your kids may or may not develop a passion for language, as that depends in large part on personality, as well, but I can't help but feel that they're so much more likely to come to love words, love the beauty of language, if they approach it in freedom!

Peace,
Idzie

Emi's new blog, and changes to this blog!

You remember Emi, right?  I've even shared some of her writing on here!  And I've long lamented the fact she doesn't keep her own blog.  Well, now she does!!  It's called...  *Drumroll*

The Creations Of A Scribbling Face

And this is what the description on that blog says:

Hello and welcome to my writing blog, or, as it's officially known, The Creations of a Scribbling Face! I am said scribbling face, and I'll be using this blog as place to post some of my poetry and prose, as well as my ideas, inspirations, epiphanies, dilemmas, and general musings on creative writing.
I love receiving feedback, whether it be encouraging praise or bluntly honest critique, so if you have something to say please go ahead and say it! I really appreciate every comment. (Don't worry, I appreciate every silent visitor too ^_^).
And now, on to the scribbles! :) 

I HIGHLY recommend you check it out!!  It's just started, so there isn't much to read yet, but just follow along, and I'm sure it'll soon be a wonderful place to hang out...


In other exciting news (to me, anyway, since I'm such a blogging nerd) Blogger has FINALLY added the option to add "Pages" to a blog!!  Woo hoo!  I've been waiting for this for a very long time.  You'll now notice that at the top of my blog, there are multiple pages.  More will be added soon, as well, and in the coming days, all the varied and very messy, hard to find, info located on the sidebar of this blog will be slowing disappearing, and moving into the far more organized and pretty pages at the top of this blog!

The Links and Resources page is proving to be quite a project, and I'd LOVE some help with it.  Please feel free to share your favorite websites, posts, and articles on unschooling with me, so I can add them to the page.  I'm hoping to put together quite a collection of helpfull stuff!

Peace,
Idzie

Canadian Olympics 2010

My grandmother, a lovable but frustratingly conformist person, says I'm against everything.  What she doesn't realize is that every single thing I'm *against* can be flipped around to be something I'm for!  I'm anti-sexism, which means I'm pro woman's rights.  I'm anti-colonialist, which means I'm for Indigenous rights.  I'm against governments, but for decentralization, and community organization.

It's all in the way you look at it (by the way, I've used the positive ways of saying these things when speaking to my grandmother as well, but she seems to only remember the "negative" ones.  I think I need to remember to ONLY say "I'm for..." when talking to her, thus making it much harder for her to accuse me of being negative. ;-)).

 (By Zig Zag, via the site No 2010 Olympics on Stolen Native Land)

What's making her say I'm "against everything" at the moment is the fact that I'm anti-Olympics (also known as FOR the abolition of poverty and homelessness, for the rights of Indigenous peoples, for an end to environmental destruction, for small businesses instead of huge corporations, and for the right for people to live, love, and protest without the fear of police surveillance, oppression, and violence).  Yes, I feel for the athletes who dream of this day and all that.  But I'm afraid I feel a lot more for the people who have lost their homes due to the games (homelessness has more than doubled in Vancouver since they won the bid to hold the games), and feel more for all the other countless people who are being harmed by these games, than the few thousand athletes who want to play sports.  Hell, there's even the issue of elitism: no one I know can afford to spend thousands of dollars on tickets to any of the Olympic events!  This is a spectacle by and for the wealthy only: the rest of us just get to watch it on TV, live it vicariously (which is never the best way to live), and apparently feel some swelling of pride when people we've never met win a race. And, if you're lucky to live in the right area, you also get to pay off a huge debt that the Olympics has created...  Fun!

Or, of course, you could just protest.  Which many people out in BC have decided to do!  Here are just a few interesting links and videos on that subject:

Though most of the protesting has already gone down, you can still find lots of interesting info at the Olympic Resistance Network.

Also check out this video: Weekend Roundup of Olympic Resistance (it won't embed or I'd just put it here), to see what went down in terms of anti-Olympic protesting in Vancouver this past weekend.

...And this interesting video on the BC Civil Liberties associations decision to demonize certain protesters (I liked this video because I felt the guy they talked to has some very important things to say!).



...And this video as well, the latest episode of It's The End Of The World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine, which, though it's not entirely about the Olympics, includes some stuff on it.



For months I've been finding interesting links about the Olympics, but of course I wasn't smart enough to bookmark them, so I can't find them now when I want to...  I guess this will have to do.

So for the first time ever, this year, I am not watching, and not supporting, the Olympic games. I'd much rather support those resisting the games, fighting for causes that are genuinely worthwhile, than support the corporate circus that is the Olympics!

Peace,
Idzie

The Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering 2010

So, in case you couldn't guess, I'm home!!  I had a really great week, spent time with many truly wonderful people, and took way too few pictures.  But I'll do my best to tell the story with only a few shots...

Last Saturday, we headed off toward Pittsburgh, to stay with a family we met at last years UWWG.  We were originally supposed to arrive much earlier, but by the time we actually got there it was midnight, and by the time we all stopped talking and hanging out in favour of bed, it was pat 3:00 am!  Emi, mum and I were thrilled to find out that not only were Jody, Bethany, Timmy, & Sam awesome people, they were also just as much night owls as we are. *Grins* The time we spent with the Hagensen's was great, and involved lots of conversations around the table in the sunny kitchen, about a variety of topics.  I love how with unschoolers, age matters so much less.  Between our two families, there were ages 9, 15, 16, 18, 18, and parents (I don't think they'd be thrilled if I tried to add their ages as well... ;-)), and all of us would happily sit around talking to each other...  That just makes me really happy.  As do the Hagensen's.♥  I really hope I get to see all of them again soon!

Here are Sam, Emi, and Timmy playing Smash Bros on Nintendo...

Their adorable, fluffy, crazy, cat.

 Isn't he cute?

On Monday, we headed to the Kalahari, for the third annual Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering!  We took Timmy along for the ride, since his family was leaving a bit later in the day, and he wanted to have as much time as possible there!  On the way, we spotted the official Girls Gone Wild bus.  Seriously.  We found that hilarious!

Yeah, I know you can hardly see it.  But trust me, that's what it was!

The first night there I was sooo tired I nearly fell asleep in John Taylor Gatto's keynote address!  That first day though, it struck me how very different it was for me just a year from my first unschooling conference.  I knew SO MANY PEOPLE!  I could barely take two steps without running into someone to hug hello, chat with, or just enthusiastically wave hi to.  I was even greeted by a lovely gift in one case.  It was a truly great feeling. ♥

The next day, I attended John Taylor Gatto's workshop.  I find what he has to say very interesting, though I don't agree with all of it.  He's very Libertarian, and I'm definitely not, so I found myself feeling uncomfortable with some of the surrounding assumptions and beliefs in many of his statements.  Regardless, I really enjoyed his talk, and found that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  Not arrogant at all, and very friendly. 

   

It's blurry, but that's him!

The conference centre was filled with hoards of happy teenagers...

 

People with interesting clothing...

And cheerful goofing off.

I enjoyed myself, spending time in the waterpark and in the conference centre, with teens and with parents...  Sadly, since I'm the photographer here, I have no pictures of me having fun! *Grins*

We also had the great pleasure of seeing the world premiere of the short documentary about Not Back To School Camp!  This film is seriously, absolutely and completely, AMAZING.  It captures so perfectly what NBTSC *is*.  I love it. ♥ Both Emi and I can also be glimpsed in several scenes...  I highly suggest you watch it now!!

Not Back to School Camp: A Glance Within from Allen Ellis on Vimeo.

On Wednesday there was a marketplace, complete with advertisers!

Emi was very happy with the stuff she sold, and felt she got a good idea of what sold well and what didn't, what price ranges worked, and similar useful info.  She also met some very kind and helpful people, who shared their experiences with both selling handmade items and traveling.

 

A friend kept her company while she sold her Creations...

Emi introduced one of her favorite games, Werewolves, to her friends, and they played some pretty intense rounds, or at least so I've heard...

 

Apparently playing Werewolves is much more fun than dancing. ;-)

You know, I really don't have all that much to say.  I hung out with awesome people, had lots of cool conversations, played in the waterpark, went to a couple of talks...  Of course, that's a lot of stuff.  But at the moment, I don't really feel equipped to elaborate on all of that!  So I'll just say that I had a good time.  Oh, I did also get to meet a few blogging and Twitter peeps whom I hadn't met before, which was cool, and got to know some people whom I'd only met briefly at earlier conferences and gatherings, which was also great!

On Friday, we left the Kalahari, with much sadness.  After an unschooling gathering, home seems pretty lonely...  I really want to make sure that I keep in touch with people this year!  

But anyway, we left the Kalahari and headed to my grandfathers, whom I haven't seen in several years.  I was a bit nervous about seeing my granddad and step-grandma, honestly.  Having had only brief phone calls for the last few years, it felt a bit strange to be visiting.  But I'm really, really glad we did!  It was really great to see them, and I was a rather sad when it was time to leave the next day.

 My step-grandmother and my grandfather, with their adorable but VERY yappy little doggy.

Me, my grandfather, and Emi.

Then, on Saturday, we came home.  It's always surreal coming back home after being away.  The tap works the same way, the dishes are all in the right spots, and the bed is in the same state of dissaray it was when I last saw it, yet it all seems different somehow...

I should mention that the Tuesday we were away, we got some bad news.  My great-grandmother, Eileen Boyle Caputo, passed away at age 99 on the day we left, Saturday the 6th of February.  I wasn't very close to her, having only known her in her later years, but my mom was, and it hit her hardest.  I don't think any of us really thought she was going to die soon.  She always seemed like the Energizer bunny: you just expected her to keep going forever!

So I will leave things at that for now...  I hope everyone had a great week, and there are, as there often are, several post ideas bouncing around in my head, that will hopefully turn into actual posts soon!

Peace,

Idzie

An Epic Adventure

SO, bright and early tomorrow morning, we are heading off into a snowstorm!!  Seriously, we are.  The forecast isn't looking great, but my mom is a tough Montreal driver who is very used to driving in lots of snow, and if it gets too bad we can always pull over.  Hopefully that won't impact on our plans, which are to drive to Pennsylvania tomorrow, and stay with some lovely people who live near Pittsburgh until Monday morning, at which point we'll drive to the Kalahari waterpark for the Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering!  We'll be there until Friday, when we head to just outside Toronto, Ontario, to visit my grandfather, whom I haven't seen in several years!  Saturday, we'll complete the final leg of our journey, and return home.

By that point, I expect to be thoroughly exhausted, but very hopefully cheerful!

I will, of course, have my camera with me, and try to remember to take lots of pictures.

And I most likely will not have internet access.

Right now I'm both very excited (I'm going to be seeing lots of awesome people!!), and rather stressed (we still have tons of stuff to pack!!).  We're bringing all of our own food (or at least, bringing *most* of our food, and buying some at a grocery store in the States), because otherwise we couldn't afford to go, but that means that today includes cooking and stuff as well as packing and tracking down lost clothing items and buying last minute things...  PLUS I signed up for what will be my last year of NBTSC just a couple days ago, so I need to send in my registration form before I leave!

...Phew, it made me tired just writing all that...

Point being, I have much still to do.  But I'm excited!!

Oh, and if you're going to be there, come say hi!! 

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Peace,
Idzie

Interview on Unschooling

Emi doesn't often consent to go along with my random whims, so I was pleasantly surprised, and pleased, when she agreed to answer a few questions about unschooling on video!  Here is the resulting short interview:



It can be found on YouTube here, if you prefer to watch it there!

Peace,
Idzie