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shipping news onscreen A year ago in the journal I was wondering whether or not I would buy a house this year. Well, I now know the answer to that question. Yes, indeed, I am a homeowner. I also made it to Australia which was another one of my goals from a year ago. Finally there was some talk about new furniture and my sleigh bed should be delivered next week Saturday. Okay, maybe none of those ideas were definite goals of mine, but they were things that I was pondering at the time. Does this line of thinking and or behavior make me goal oriented? Does this make me someone who plans their future? Have I become responsible? I don't know, but maybe I should throw out some ideas for next year and they'll get done as well. ... In class today, Sherman Alexie's collection of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven was the subject of my oral presentation. I had a feeling that some of what I would say would spark some discussion, which is actually the desired effect. Standing in front of the class and putting them all to sleep really isn't that productive. I wasn't saying that my point of view was right, but at the same time the stories left me feeling frustrated. Almost all of the characters seemed resigned to their fate. There was talk of humor to survive, but very few of them did anything to change their lives. Most of them calmly accepted their fate. One person argued that that has to do with the way that they saw the world. They saw the world in more spiritual terms than the physical aspect that is so often emphasized in the West. Another person suggested that Native Americans feel very little need to assimilate into a society that has no respect for them. No solid answers and or solutions were given by the time that I sat down, but I was curious to see who was paying attention to me. Classmate Kelly, or as I'll call her from now on Mattie, did make eye contact, but never offered up an opinion. Sincere, quiet, insightful and charmingingly attractive Valerie commented and smiled at me as I walked by to sit down. Athletic and almost Amazon Ashley was the one who said that the American people continue to disrespect the Native American people. Then there was the spiritual versus monetary world view offered up by the very idealistic and earnest dredlocked Tania. I even got a response from the film guru Jason who suggested that the book itself was an effort at change. Actually I think that I got a few more comments from others in the class, but those were the people that I remember the most as I shuffled back and forth up in front of the class. It was the first time in a long time that I had done any form of public speaking. Not much is left in the semeter. On Thursday we'll watch the film Smoke Signals and compare and contrast the book and film the following Tuesday, then next week Thursday we'll talk once more about the final paper and be done. On the social side of things that gives me three more days to see whether or not I'll be keeping in touch with Mattie or realize that I should have been focusing my attention more on Valerie.
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