ryansmusic.com

Over the past few months, the political winds have churned up some fierce storms in my mind. Almost reluctantly, I admit that I have written many pages, personally journaling my thoughts about this campaigning season, but mainly those writings have been about politics in general; the language, style, differences in party, application of faith etc. I hope to cover some of those topics in a series of posts. I laugh as I type this because I really (sincerely) don’t want to come off as vain as if you’ll wait in eager anticipation for Ryan’s next segment on American Politics:) I appreciate your readership of this blog but this is certainly by no means propaganda; I only offer my thoughts as a way to release what is penned up in my brain (a crazy one no doubt).

Part I; Faith in the Political Movement~

I’ve had several conversations with folks about this year’s campaign and what keeps coming up over and over again is this sense of subjectivity and emotion when people speak about their preferred candidate. If you take the time to listen intently to people’s voices and carefully to the sound-clips on many political ads, you’ll pick it up. This emotion and passion in their voices, the posture of their body as they speak proudly of the particular person or issue they are being asked about. They seem empowered and for a brief moment, on center stage. All of these things have interested me greatly over the past few months.

In many ways, and for many reasons that I will state, it has appeared to me that politics bleeds into the fabric of faith and the delicate realm of our passions, prides and tightly knit and hidden values. I can’t explain it really but it has just become so apparent to me, (because I’ve also seen this in myself) the tendency to identify with something and then hold so tightly to it afraid that if we give up some ground or admit some small defeat or inconsistency, we somehow loose it all. It’s really an all of nothing mentality and in my humble opinion, it so distorts our realities when it comes to politics. We hold so tightly to a particular candidate and feel the need to defend, speak and fight for sometimes using absurd grounds for doing so. We are quick to defend our candidate from any and all wrong doing.

I believe it is our innate need to identify and put our trust and energy into something; to identify with a higher cause, something greater than ourselves; in short, to practice faith.

I think it’s better to put my faith in something larger than politics; larger than the money trails, issues and speeches. Why not take all of that passion and put it towards something that transcends and is not definable by political, evangelical, catholic, anglican or english language?

Yes, I have my views on the issues and will vote accordingly. BUT, to put my faith in either of these two candidates is ridiculous; they’re too small and other things are too big!

And yes, I wrestle with my small definable English language as well, for it’s the only way to communicate these small thoughts from my small brain~

The rain poured down yesterday giving some much needed relief to our dry and dusty practice field, if you can call it that; it’s more like a dirt parking lot. Running around with 7th and 8th graders who are excited to be rolling around in the mud brought back years of backyard football memories as well as thoughts of wet and soggy high school practices; we always loved those the best.

My parents came up from Florida this weekend and stopped by the Cinn. area to see my school. It’s always great to have people stop by and see where I live and work. Sometimes I wonder if this experience is real because those closest to me are unable to experience some of the newness with me. I remember feeling this way about London England in 2002. That experience came and went and I wondered if it really happend; sometimes I still wonder if it really did.

Anway, I’ll leave you with a random quote from a student of mine. As is with Middle School, most quotes have no context and are just randomly spewed from their developing brains:

“My uncle pookie got bit by a rottweiler; he had to use a baseball bat to free his arm from its jaws. I have a rottweiler too.” Deangelo grade 7~

The context: after a fire drill he walked up beside me and just said this, and then went to his fifth period class…he’s a 7th grade football player, all four feet of him

I kept my somewhat slow yet tall quarterback in the ballgame and let my quick tailback touch the ball frequently. We optioned their end and took advantage of the outside because they often put five in the box. It was a good win and I must admit it felt good to come away with a big win to start the season. Delhi is a big school but certainly not the biggest we will face.

Tonight I’m picking apart chicken so I can do a chicken bone lab tomorrow in my health class. We are discussing the skeletal system. So far I have some pretty good bones, at this point it appears as though KFC uses real chickens

I’m also anticipating the Barak Obama speech tonight; What a monumental speech on the anniversary of King’s speech 45 years ago. I am happy that our Nation has come this far and it will be nice to witness the event regardless of political party and philosophy. This political season just reminds me how unforgiving and ungraceful politics are. I just think we must all remember that we always choose between two very imperfect and fallible candidates. I hope that we can get past the “who has more houses” or “whose pastor said that” issues. Both McCain and Obama are patriots and love their Country. They both have very different pasts and as a voter, one must choose individually what they feel are the most important things (based on the issues). I’m just tired of the questionable attacks that are personal in nature; that shouldn’t happen in our Country. We forget that we have two political parties for a reason; both parties care about their Country and both parties, at times, are equally guilty of abusing money, corruption etc. For every speck of dirt on one party or candidate, we can find just as much dirt on another party and candidate; how long will it take until we learn that mud slinging and personal attacks only reflect badly on the whole process?

For better or worse, we practice our faith in a lot more than merely the things of God~

Tonight is our first game of the season and it’s a long bus ride to get there. We play Delhi Middle School which is in South Cincinnati about one mile from the Ohio River. It’s going to be a long day…

In case you are wondering about my mom’s election results; here is a link to Central Florida News 13. This television station covers news throughout Central Florida and I assume will be kept up to date with the election results as they come in.

At this point, it looks like very low voter turn out. I talked with my mom this evening and she said they were expecting many more voters to turn out than did; I’m proud of you mom, you worked harder than any candidate, I’m sure of it; and I’m sure you would work harder than anyone else for any district you serve~

I own one of those easy buttons from Staples. The kids love to walk by my desk and push it and I encourage them to do so when they’re having a rough day. So, today in-between classes, I hit the easy button on my desk and for a brief moment went to a more peaceful place, one without hyper kids, severe poverty, and a room that smells of b.o and gas (welcome to middle school). This brief moment of time was extended in my mind and before long I found myself seated and vacantly peering into the space just beyond my desk. I didn’t feel guilty at all; I deserved that moment and hope to have many more peaceful moments among crazy kids in the near future.

Just thought I’d share a moment from my day; I hope your day was good.

Still listening to the Coldplay Album Vida La Vida and still absolutely amazed at the musical variety. Seriously, I can hear eveything from Elton John to Monkish Chants to Folk…The same album has been in my car for a month now and I’m not one bit tired of it! Please get this album, you will not be dissapointed.

As many of you know, Fay has dumped quite a bit of rain in Florida. My parents live in Melbourne which is literally right where the storm stalled and dumped lots of rain. Here are some pics of the water near their house and some of my mom’s campaign pictures.
water

As far as teaching goes, it was an eventful first day. I really enjoy the environment but it is definitely stressful. I have twenty-five or more students in each one of my classes. It’s really hard to describe my experiences so far and that’s been especially hard on me because as you know, I enjoy being able to relate and share my experiences with others. I guess if you just picture an inner-city school in your mind (from personal experience or what’s portrayed by the media etc.) it’s probably close to that. Very very poor and needy kids, but I work with a great staff who really really love kids; I don’t think one could survive in this environment if they didn’t. And I can safely say that I am earning every cent of my salary. I go in by seven in the morning and football isn’t over until five-thirty in the evening and most of time we meet as coaches after that. It’s a high energy environment and I enjoy that but man, I’m whipped at the end of the day. With that being said, goodnight~

Today, our 7th grade football team travelled to Cincinnati to play the Princeton Vikings in our first scrimmage of the season. Princeton is also a division I school but in a much tougher division with Moeller and Colerain. I was surprised at our abilitly to handle them up front which opened up some nice holes for our talented backs and receivers. We handled them well and I’m especially excited that our iso and zone plays are working! Terry did a great job with the defense only allowing two big plays before shutting them out.

It’s the clam before the storm as school starts tomorrow. Even as an experienced teacher, I don’t think you’re ever entirely ready for the first day. One things for certain; it will be interesting.

What else is there to say…9.68 is insane especially because he decelerated with 15 meters left to go! Unbelievable; I think it’s safe to say Bolt and his World record will be the standard for sprinting in the years to come. Where the heck was Usafa Powell anyway…

I could write for hours about all of the new and exciting things happening right now; My recent move to Middletown and the many stories that already accompany this transition. But I have limited time as I prepare for school this week, so I’m just going to throw a bit of it down on the page. It might be out of order and a bit sloppy but for information sake, here it goes:

The last two weeks my schedule was filled with football coaching from 7am-12 at the middle school and sometimes 12-3 going over the new offensive system with the high school offensive coordinator. Middletown just hired a new football head coach and staff so we’ve all been learning the new system and implementing it throughout the program. Middletown’s old head coach went to Canton McKinley; they don’t have a ton of good things to say about him down here; interested to see how he does in Northeast Ohio; the football capital of the World.

I really enjoy the guys I’m coaching with. I coach the seventh grade and have an assistant coach, Terry Shores, he is mainly responsible for the defense; I put in our offense based on the high school system and am responsible for our offensive system as well as all the paper work (pictures, medical forms, physicals…etc.) I didn’t think there was so much to do; it’s been a great learning experience!

I start teaching this week and was in meetings for school (as well as football practice) all last week. I really haven’t had time to catch up. The kids are great, they come from so many different backgrounds and I am definitely just part of the mix of populations; we have quite a racially diverse group; it makes it fun. We have our first scrimmage on Tuesday against Princeton, and I think we’re finally ready for it. I just put in a cool new trips play that isolates one of our taller receivers; I think that will be the first play from scrimmage next week:) We have so many great athletes, it’s quite ridiculous actually. Last night at the high school scrimmage, Terry pointed out four players on the high school team that had committed to division I college programs. It’s just great to be able to coach so much raw talent and speed. Much more later, but for now here are some pictures:

This is our practice field; very dusty and dry and we have to watch out for those telephone poles, they hurt.

Vail Middle School

my classroom

The soundtrack of my life right now is Viva La Vida (Spanish; live the life) by Coldplay. I can’t say enough great things about this album; it has a fresh and very authentic feel about it and the story behind the production of the album is quite remarkable. It seems as though Coldplay is branching out in this album and moving toward greater musical authenticity. Common threads in the album seem to be Ancient Churches and religious tradition and a more personal theology accompanies many of the lyrics as well. The music has such a diverse instrumental sound to it, whether it’s the ringing hammer dulcimer or the tunneled piano sound, it just makes you feel alive and on a journey. Give it a listen, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

My mom is wrapping up her campaign in anticipation of the August Republican Primary. Here is a picture from the Florida Today newspaper. You can visit her website for more details. Go Jan!

Need I say more…

About a year ago, I remember picking up a book called post-secret in Borders and not being able to put it down. This guy named Frank Warren came up with a brilliant idea to hand out post-cards and ask people to anonymously publish their deepest secrets in a short and creative way. He recieved thousands back and has published three books of people’s anonymous secrets to date. He has a website dedicated to his post-secret invention. I must WARN you that the content in the books and on the site can be somewhat graphic and obscene, but that’s what you get with honesty. Again, all of the sayings and pictures you see are from real people who just mailed in their secret. On the site, some people respond to others’ secrets; kind of weird I suppose, but interesting nonetheless.