Stories by Maddie
Colorful anecdotes and insightful, yet sometimes pointless, observations
Monday, May 16, 2022
Pizza Police
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Depress and Re-Press
Statement
Somehow we've managed think it's okay to focus on dystopian futures, but not utopian futures. In school we're read Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" but not "The Island". We read dystopian and depressing stories like "1984", "Farenheit 451", "Lord of the Flies", "The Great Gatsby", "Harrison Bergeron", "Slaughterhouse Five", "Night", "Animal Farm", "Hamlet", etc.
I honestly don't remember reading one uplifting book when I was in school. No wonder I read slowly, I likely linked reading to feeling lethargic, helpless and depressed.
While there are great lessons in the aforementioned stories, may we explore the possibility that we can also learn lessons from uplifting books that imagine a healthy future that we can feel more inspired to create?
The only major cultural influence of a healthy future that I recall is Star Trek. More recently "The Celestine Prophesy" taught ways of being that promote harmony and healing.
Reply
Simply put, difficult topics are essential for teaching and practicing empathy. These "depressing" texts create socially-consciences adults.
Ideally, up to this point, children have been reading books that build technical and critical thinking skills with less danger – like “Johnny Termain” or “Little Women” or “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or “Anne of Green Gables.” Even "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."
Also, let’s not pit books against each other - the human condition is complex and often many aspects of humanity exists in each story. What each person takes away from a book is different. Conflict and consequence exist even in the happiest of stories, it is what makes them compelling.
As teenagers, students finally recognize themselves in the texts and characters - and through that opening, can see struggling communities and worlds beyond their experiences and in safe spaces. They can discover circumstances surrounding issues and parallel elements within their own lives and systems allowing them to be more socially minded outside their spheres. We grow through discomfort - when readers are uncomfortable, they open themselves blind spots in their own thinking and then have the ability to confront and dismantle normalized harmful ideologies.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Get Lit
The general focus in many corporations is on emotional intelligence. There are meetings, books and so many talks around EQ...
Emotional intelligence is defined as a person's capacity to deal with their #emotions in any given situation in order to further interpersonal relationships.
One of the missing pieces of this initiative is emotional literacy.
Emotional literacy is the ability to identify, understand and communicate your emotions to others while also identifying and understanding someone else’s emotions about themselves and about you. Emotional literacy is a social process requiring the accepting of other people who probably have diverse backgrounds, education, resources and come from other cultures.
Monday, March 29, 2021
Change Is Fine
People are not actually afraid of change as much as it's broadcasted.
People are afraid of uncertainty, giving up comforts and having to embrace what they perceive as detrimental to their livelihood or processes.
For example: anyone who had to suddenly endure $1,000 more in each paycheck probably will cope and adapt to that change just fine. Anyone suddenly having to endure the loss of $1,000 in each paycheck will probably exhibit a different response.
It is critical to understand and address what your audience is actually concerned about over stating, "we understand people are afraid of change."
Friday, September 4, 2020
Stop the Abuse: Better Betta Care
We Are Taught To Abused Bettas
Bettas are extremely tolerant fish – they can live in a variety of horrible conditions and continue to live. They are called a good "beginner fish" because you can make a lot of mistakes with them without killing them.
Betta fish do not make pet stores much money, so, they get crammed into tiny jars to take up less retail space and now we all think they are happy in a space where they can barely turn around. If you saw a dog or cat in a cage where they could not turn around, sitting in their own feces and urine, you'd probably feel some sort of way.
I know this because my first betta I kept in abusive conditions because he was "just a fish" and needed some water and food. I thought I was doing everything right. When I realized what I was doing, I was horrified and that's why I often comment when they get bettas for their home, kids, friends and classrooms.
Betta Basic Needs
Imagine being locked in a closet with all your pee and poop and unable to exercise? When a betta has a nice sized tank, you will see him darting around and happily playing.
If you do not have the room for a manual 5 gallon tank – or don’t want to use up that amount of space – don’t get a betta. An animal should not have to suffer because you don’t feel like provide it what it needs.
Also, make sure you have a lid for your tank. Bettas can jump from their tank – they are quite good at it. If they are very unhappy, they might try to jump from the tank because they want to find a better home. If they are very frisky, they also might do it.
Water Conditioner
Tap water contains ammonia, chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals that need to be removed because they are toxic to bettas. Sure, they can live in it but it will slowly destroy them inside and out and greatly reduce their life expectancy.
I had a large tank, so, I also checked the water levels to make sure everything was balanced because I had other fish in with my betta. I used the API Freshwater Aquarium Master Test Kit and then could adjust elements to ensure the water was balanced.
Heater
Bettas are tropical fish. They need their water to be at 76°F-81°F. Some say they should always be minimal 80°F.
Imagine living in a world where you are always cold and continually prone to illness. Cold bettas suffer from something called temperature shock. Symptoms are lethargy, laying at the bottom of the tank all the time and slipping into a coma. They are not built to handle cold temperatures.
No one wants to see an animal in a coma because it's too cold.
I got a submersible wand type heater and a thermometer to make sure my water was always warm enough for my betta. It was about $12 and it meant my betta wasn't feeling like he was freezing to death everyday of his life.
Food and Treats
Bettas are carnivores. They do NOT want to eat plants.
Imagine being locked in a room with no food but roaches. You will eventually eat those roaches. That doesn't mean it's a yummy part of your balanced diet.
Make sure you get good pellets (feed per instructions) and offer treats of larva and bloodworms to keep your betta happy. You should remove all food your betta does not eat within about 3 minutes. I also followed advice to not feed my betta one day a week to give his system a break.
If you really want to see a happy betta, get some live bloodworms or larva and watch your betta go into hunting mode! It's great stimulation for your betta and super yummy for him.
Filter
Make sure you have a gentle filter appropriate for your tank size – tanks under 3 gallons with a filter can cause damage to your betta - even though you shouldn't have a betta in a 3 gallon tank.
Imagine trying to sleep while on a treadmill with a fan blowing in your face. Not really a good life. Again, have a 5 gallon minimum aquarium and watch your betta when you install your filter to make sure he's happy and not being tossed around.
Light
Do not keep a light on 24/7. I never actually used a light in my tank. My living room got both sun and dark...as the world works that way.
If you think your fish tank is a good night light for your child, it's not – just, get a real night light and let your betta sleep.
Plants
Yes, you need plants!
You can get fake or live plants for your betta. Fake plants are easier to maintain and I preferred them in my tank. I really enjoyed the plant thing, too, by the way. I loved making a little environment for my betta with forests and grasslands and open space.
If you ever notice your betta laying on the bottom of the tank (if you have a working heater and he's not in a coma), it's because he's sleeping or being lazy.
Imagine wanting to go to sleep and only having the floor to sleep on. It’s ok, I guess. But a nice bed where you can lounge is better. Get some plants.
Rocks and Things
Bettas like to feel safe – being in the open all the time can be stressful. Sure, I wanted to look at my betta all the time, but, he needs to feel safe. If you don't have a lot of hiding spaces for your betta, you might notice him cowering in the corner or showing signs of stress.
Bettas also like to explore and swim around and through things. Make sure you get some fake logs or rocks that give your betta something to swim around and through. If you are likely to get your cat a cat tower and your dog a chew toy – get some fun things for your betta to keep him mentally stimulated (more on play later!)
Make sure you rub your hand over every object to check for sharp edges and clean it before putting it into the tank. If you notice your betta fins are getting torn (ouch!) it might be because he is getting caught on sharp edges of rocks or other décor.
I think one of the best things about fish tanks is the beautiful environments you can create and re-create.
Please stop using neon tank setups for bettas. Your kids might love it, but the poor betta now has a very unnatural environment that is probably make his eyeballs bleed.
Stick to natural colors with only some fun accents. Bettas do love color in moderation.
Bettas are intelligent. It's a myth that fish only remember things for 3 seconds. Bettas can remember things for month and will quickly be able to recognize faces....that feed him. They are very curious, as well.
You can even use a dry erase market on the outside of the tank to draw things – you’ll see your betta come over to investigate what is it. This is great mental stimulation and fun to watch. If you have a classroom betta, it's a super fun way to write a message and watch the betta get excited about it because it's colorful and new.
You can also place new objects outside the tank. After all, the betta doesn't like to stare at the same walls all day. He is looking outside the tank and some fun objects around the tank are very interesting.
- Fin rot
- Dropsy (aka pineconing)
- Velvet
- Swim badder disorders
- Ick
- Popeye
- Columnaris
- Cuts/ulcers
So, how do you know if you are doing this betta thing right?
You will see your betta being active – zooming around. He will rush through plants (for a tickle) and hide out in logs or swim through rock holes. The motions will be smooth.
Your betta will have open fins (not flaring, that's different) and look relaxed. Fins tight to the body all the time is not a good sign. Bettas will stretch and display their fins - they will basically strut when happy and healthy.
You might also see a bubble nest. A bubble nest means the male is ready to mate – it’s not 100% that your betta is happy as mating is an instinct over an emotional thing. But, having a betta making a nest indicates he is well fed and feels safe. If your betta does not make a nest, he can still be very happy but just not into mating.
Monday, December 16, 2019
Mighty Morph Don't Rhyme
A few-ish reasons:
1. The words are combination of different etymologies from different languages with different origins or ages
2. Because English is a natural language, not a constructed one like, say, Esperanto, which was constructed to be a international auxiliary language.
3. English has an alphabetic writing system. It has only 26 symbols to represent 44 sounds that, together, create millions of words. Unlike, let's say, Chinese which has an unlimited set of characters to display meaning.
4. English is morphophonemic language so the way we write words is a code that represents both sound and meaning. Unlike, say, the Serbo-Croatian language where exact letter maps one-to-one with the sounds of the language.
Language is super fun! English is one of the languages with requires a some critical thinking but once you start to understand the roots, it can really open up a lot of fun discoveries.
Monday, December 2, 2019
The Sound of Scent
In "Scent," neither letter is silent.
Together, this combination of letters, create a softer sound than if one or the other was missing.
English is morphophonemic language - the letters represent a code for both sound and meaning - "scent," "sent" and "cent" are three separate words and actually are spoken (technically) in three different ways.