“The goal of life, for Pascal, is not happiness, peace, or fulfillment, but aliveness.”

Hubert Dreyfus, who was a philosophy professor, said that.  What do you think?  On this 60th Christmas Day of my life, with the snow falling outside and two (yes, two) dogs walked and my sons still cozy in their beds, I like the idea of "aliveness".  Just relishing the world around us.  We can't be happy or peaceful for an extended period of time.  I think we can fulfill our dreams and maybe even ourselves, with good work, but that is something that keeps moving away from us.  If I feel fulfilled at this moment, am I just going to sit on my laurels and feel fulfilled forever?  I don't think it works that way.

On our walk this morning, I saw the flock of crows making its daily journey to the Inlet.  They don't get a day off for Christmas.  They have to make a living every day or they won't have a life at all.  But like Mr. Allison used to say about his dog, they are fully alive in the moment.  I wonder if crows have any idea how wonderful it is that they can fly.

Sometimes, we can't help but get caught up in the minutiae of our daily stressful lives.  But think of the wonder of a snowy day (a white Christmas, that we've all been dreaming of!) and the beauty of a crow flying from his roost in Burnaby to the inlet, which is full of all sorts of living creatures -- ducks and seals and fish and different plants and tiny organisms we can't even see.  No matter what challenges we face, I think we can find some comfort (and aliveness) in the natural world.

The second dog I mentioned is my friend's dog and he is staying with us for Christmas while she is away.  He is a very cute little chihuahua (crossed with something else), but he is quite a different matter from our sweet Daisy.  He craves attention and whines when he doesn't get it.  But he seems to be calming down at last (he's been here since December 22.)  Daisy just ignores him.  He gets under her feet sometimes, and she looks very concerned, as if to say, "what is this thing doing here?"  He is a slow eater, and so she tries (with little success, because we know what she's up to) to eat the food he leaves in the dish.

What are your plans for the day?  We will open our presents when the boys get up and then have some breakfast and watch a Christmas movie (we've already seen "A Christmas Story" and "Scrooge" which are two of my favourites -- Mike and I always used to watch "Scrooge" as we wrapped presents on Christmas eve.  We knew the movie by heart.  Michael Hordern is fantastic as Jacob Marley -- he just chews up the scenery in the best and most alive hammy way.  And although I've seen the movie countless times (maybe 50?), I always cry when Scrooge's niece says, "Dear uncle, you've made Fred so very happy."  And her face just beams with love at him.)  Late in the afternoon, we are going to go to my sister-in-law's house for Christmas dinner.  And then come home and "play with our toys" -- I hope I get a book!

I hear the stirring of a fifteen year old.  Time to sign off.  Merry Christmas to all and my very best wishes to everyone for a happy, peaceful and fulfilled 2018.

Instructions for Show and Tell

Instructions for Show and Tell

Your speech should be 2 minutes long.  Practice what you want to say and time yourself to see if you have 2 minutes.  More is not better.  Brevity is the soul of wit.

Do not start your speech with "so".  It is a good idea to start your speech with something that will engage your audience -- a joke, a question, a quotation.

Do not end your speech with "yeah" (as in "so that's what I wanted to say about my carpentry project . . . yeah").  Think of how you can come to a conclusion.  "I learned that . . . "  "This was one of the most important moments of my life" . . .  "I will always remember . . . "

If you have an item that you cannot bring to school, a photograph is fine.

The item should inspire a story or ideas that can engage the audience.  For example, you bring your grandfather's medals from the Second World War.  You ask us to imagine an eighteen year old boy volunteering to serve in the army, describe a battle in which he took part, or the state he was in when he came back to Canada after the war.  You don't need to spend too much time describing the item itself.

The goal of this project is to demonstrate that you've made progress in public speaking.  That means you need to speak clearly and project your voice.  You need to appear to be confident.  You need to prepare a speech that does not use words and phrases inappropriately (phrases like "sort of" and words like "like").

If you are interested in what you have to say, we will also be interested.  You need to show that you are interested by speaking with expression, by making eye contact with the audience, and by taking care to prepare your speech.

Getting close to the end of the year!

Grade 8:  What are your comments on "High School Confidential"?  Who was the best actor?  Explain.  What scene was your favourite?  How could it be improved?  Remember, Ms. Kosar worked very hard on the play and you need to be kind.

Grade 9/10; Theatre Production; Senior Drama:  What purpose does learning Drama serve?  What is the most important lesson a person can learn from studying theatre as an art form?  Explain.