Nationwide Parent/Teacher Strike?

This post is in frustrated response to the murderous killing spree that took place Monday in a K-6 private elementary school about 7 miles from my home. It happened in the school connected to the church where my daughter's independent vocal choir regularly sings. See details at NPR.

A conversation the next day with my dear friend Rocky Alvey brought up this question, which has been bugging me since. I share it here: 

Why is no one calling for a nationwide parent/teacher strike against all school systems? Parents should not have to drop their children off five days a week fearing that they will not survive the day. Nor should teachers or school staff have to go to work daily with the same fears.  

Think about it. Someone has to. And I must admit that I am too old to pursue this. Step up. In any way you can.

Strike end conditions include but are not limited to total ban of automatic weapons by federal, local, and state legislatures and the immediate recall of all such weapons with state-funded compensation for their cost. Send the NRA and their puppet politicians back to the woods with a properly thought out, funded, and implemented online education strategy with true online teacher training, much more than the couple zoom sessions and a "good luck" that the Covid crisis generated, along with commensurate losses in learning. Power/support the strike with a shared set of curriculum and other resources in small homeschool groups utilizing itinerate teachers who, along with their charges, also don't ever again need to fear if they will survive the day.

Following the Uvalde school massacre, Dr. Bindi Naik-Mathuria, trauma physician at Baylor College Hospital, told Yahoo News that the wounds inflicted by AR-type weapons are "virtually unsurvivable."

I wrote this yesterday and if you can navigate the non-scanning lines with care, come up with your own melody and share it with me. Or read it aloud like a poem. A song to consider:

Because They Could 

by Scott Merrick

(soto voce introduction:)

You were so profoundly broken

in ways that went unspoken

that you kept it from your family

until you didn't.

(forcefully:)

Emilie, Hallie, William:

Audrey, why'd you have to kill them?

I'm writing this not because I want to

but because I have to

I didn't know you.

No one did.

Get off your lazy ass 

and to the polls

Send the NRA 

back to the woods

vote them out of office

get their guilty hands out of our lives

the shooter killed those kids

because they could.

And it's your fault

And it's my fault

They couldn't use those guns

if those guns could not be bought

And it's their fault

and it's our fault

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

I'm crying now

for those three children

and their families

and the others that you killed,

the hearts your bullets stopped

forever and the cops

who you forced to take your life

with your last free will

Emilie, Hallie, William:

Why'd you have to kill them?

I'm writing this not because I want to

but because I have to

I didn't know you.

No one did.

Get off your lazy ass 

and to the polls

Send those puppet politicians 

back to the woods

vote them out of office

get their guilty hands out of our lives

the shooter killed those kids

because they  could.

And it's your fault

And it's my fault

They couldn't use those guns

if those guns could not be bought

And it's their fault

and it's our fault

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

They couldn't fire those guns

if those guns could not be bought.

Raw Links:

https://momsdemandaction.org/resources/

https://www.alternet.org/tennessee-senator-prayers-nashville-victims/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_congressional_candidates_who_received_campaign_money_from_the_National_Rifle_Association

And a list of US Republican senators who received funding from the NRA and related PACs, from Newsweek:

Republican Senators Who Receive Funding From the NRA

• Mitt Romney (Utah) $13,647,676
• Richard Burr (North Carolina) $6,987,380
• Roy Blunt (Missouri) $4,555,722
• Thom Tillis (North Carolina) $4,421,333
• Marco Rubio (Florida) $3,303,355
• Joni Ernst (Iowa) $3,124,773
• Rob Portman (Ohio) $3,063,327
• Todd C. Young (Indiana) $2,897,582
• Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) $2,867,074
• Tom Cotton (Arkansas) $1,968,714
• Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) $1,475,448
• Josh Hawley (Missouri) $1,391,548
• Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) $1,306,130
• Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) $1,269,486
• Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) $1,267,139
• Mike Braun (Indiana) $1,249,967
• John Thune (South Dakota) $638,942
• Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) $341,738
• Richard Shelby (Alabama) $258,514
• Chuck Grassley (Iowa) $226,007
• John Neely Kennedy (Louisiana) $215,788
• Ted Cruz (Texas) $176,274
• Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) $146,262
• Steve Daines (Montana) $123,711
• Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi) $109,547
• Roger Wicker (Mississippi) $106,680
• Rand Paul (Kentucky) $104,456
• Mike Rounds (South Dakota) $95,049
• John Boozman (Arkansas) $82,352
• John Cornyn (Texas) $78,945
• Ben Sasse (Nebraska) $68,623
• Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma) $66,758
• Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) $55,961
• Mike Crapo (Idaho) $55,039
• Jerry Moran (Kansas) $34,718
• John Barrasso (Wyoming) $26,989
• John Hoeven (North Dakota) $22,050
• Susan Collins (Maine) $19,638
• James Lankford (Oklahoma) $18,955
• Jim Risch (Idaho) $18,850
• Tim Scott (South Carolina) $18,513
• Kevin Cramer (North Dakota) $13,255

Be well and share.

Lex Fridman Talks with Dr. Shannon Curry: Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Trial, Marriage, Dating & Love ...

I've been listening to Lex Fridman podcasts for months now, ever since my buddy Rocky suggested the episode about climate change that is a "sort of" debate between Bjorn Lomberg and Andrew Revkin. That podcast, Fridman's #339, was staggering to me, running 4 hours, 10 minutes. It was really my first foray into "long form" interviews, and I liked it. Since then, I've listened to his shows with Noam Chomsky, Ray Kurzweil, Michael Saylor, and Elon Musk. He comes to controversial topics with a heavy emphasis on empathy, love, kindness, and so appeals to me. The genius of the long form allows MUCH more depth in conversation, and it's a habit I'm glad to have in my Scheduliberation. 

That said, I want to recommend this episode to Anyone, Everyone, and you. Insights on Shannon Curry's views of everything in the title and more are absolutely worth the listen. AND it's a relatively brief one at just around two hours. 

I listen on Spotify, but you can listen and also watch on YouTube. You're welcome. Here:

Happy Spring, and carry on, safe and well always...

Chilly Saturday Morning at Chez Merrique

Well well well. Early Saturday morning and I'll be taking out o' here in a couple hours to do deliveries for Tinwings, the glorious gourmet grab-and-go market conceived and made golden by my lovely wife. I'm the back-up delivery guy, and her former delivery person is herself taking off for a 3 month chef gig in Greenland (!) tomorrow. It'll be fine, and the sky is blue and though it's chilly outside again I do love to drive all over my hometown and leave amazing, delicious food fare on doorsteps of some of the hundreds of clients who partake of her scrumptiousness regularly.

Tinwings in The Nations Nashville

We went to a live performance in the tiny Basement venue Thursday, to see and hear a solo performance by Tommy Prine, and we were treated to one song featuring guest star Amanda Shires. What a treat, the whole thing. Tommy's first LP will release in late June and we were lucky to have heard many of its songs. I'll tell you this: Tommy has inherited his father's gift for storytelling with metaphore, irony, and humor, but he has already proven that he has his own distinct voice, and it's beautiful and I am now a hardcore fan. I taught him every week for years in my University School of Nashville computer lab and I am so proud of hisgrownupself. As we were leaving after he said, "Mr. Merrick, thank you for coming," and I responded, "Ha, you can call me Scott." Made me smile. And I did say hi to Amanda just before leaving, introducing her to my honey. Amanda sometimes comes by to work in Charles's open studio class and she is, besides being a powerhouse superstar musician and singer, a hugely talented painter. She is also one of the nicest human beings it has been my pleasure to meet.

I'm currently working on a couple paintings, and I made good progress on my 16x20 painting of my best pal Watson last week. Charles Brindley's painting class at Scarritt Bennett Center has been on break for a few weeks and starts up next week, so Wednesday I took the hour or so at his invitation I drove up to his home in Adairville, Kentucky and spent a few hours painting under his supervision/tutelage. I got home with this improved version of mah boy (note that some of what you see is visual "notes" for me to revise, but I'm increasingly happier with it):

"Watson", in progress

And Charles gave me some great ideas for directions I can pursue on this abstract, which I am thinking will be dubbed "metronome":

"metronome", in progress

Lastly, for now, I've been doing some recording, and this one below kinda fun, I think. I'm not happy with my melody line yet, or the recording quality (Audacity with a USB mic on my Dell All-in-One computer) but I'm confident it will get there. Here's the lyrics I'm working with. Can you envision a melody for it? I may just keep what I've got and enhance it with other instruments but I'm open to hear a rough recording. Post it here in a comment...

Goin' Somewhere

by Scott Merrick

We're walking in the morning
Breathing in the freshest air
We're walking in the morning
Looking 'round to see what's there
And in the sky
a jet plane
flying high
Somebody goin' somewhere.
It's all of life we're livin'
We laugh we cry we don't give up
Whatever we are given
Reachin' out to scoop it up
And in the sky
a jet plane
flying high
Somebody goin' somewhere.
Somewhere a baby cries
Somewhere a lover sighs
Somewhere laughter
Somewhere tears
Somewhere a song begins
Somewhere a train comes in
Somewhere hope
Somewhere good cheer.
BRIDGE
Somewhere the darkest night
Somewhere the sun is bright
Somewhere you're home
Somewhere it's time
Somewhere friends arrive
Somewhere no compromise
Somewhere alone
Somewhere just fine.
 We're sitting on the back porch
Talking out the day's events
We're sitting on the back porch
Wonderin' where the weekend went
And in the sky
a jet plane
flying high
Somebody goin' somewhere.

That's it for this morning. Gonna feed Watson, toss on some warm layers, and drive around Nashville.

Happy Birthday to my magical godson, Seamus. I miss y'all but we'll be gettin' out your way someday soon

March, Coming Up on an Anniversary

I don't mean we are marching towards it, but maybe in a metaphorical sense. It's just 36 years of being legally married. She is my best friend and my life's love. More, please.

I'm doing my things, painting, fishing (not much on accounta the weather), playing some music, taking care of the hacienda, walking my doggy. Lee Ann's working on work, continuing to make Tinwings better in all ways, and maybe keeping a big announcement to herself for a while. No, she's not preggie. 

I completed another painting in what I foresee will be a little series of "vivid rorschach" paintings. I cleverly call it "vivid rorschach 2".

vivid rorschach 2, acrylics on stretched canvas, 16x20 inches, by Scott Merrick 2023

These are fun, especially when planned to mirror color relationships of one another. And I am really enjoying playing with the palate knives. Feel free to click on over to the original to think about what the hell this guy is doing with them. 

I'm going to head down to downtown Nashville this morning to see if I can find some painting-worthy images for my collection of iphotography. Then I'll do lunch at 3rd and Lindsley, timed to enjoy WMOT Roots Radio's "Finally Friday" trifecta of great emerging (and experienced) musical talents. If you are anywhere nearby, or you plan to visit Nashville, this is a must do. The chili and beer is good alll by itself. If you are not in our fair city (Tennessee's liberal bastion now under state administrative attack in an unprecedented way), tune into 89.5 FM from noon to two pm every Friday to listen. A gem always.

See ya.