24 Comments

Thank god you escaped the conventional unlearning process. Your stories never seem to end.

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...convention is for ovens...i want a campfire stove...

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Your life... Just wow! What have you not done?

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...definitely still need to (looks over list of one million more things) produce a live action wizards, mermaids and dinosaursmovie...riverboat the amazon...sandboard a dune...explore far siberia...watch the wire season 2...the list is growing every day :)...

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“…a librarian named Ms. July, named like a pin-up in a fireman’s calendar, and known for coming to and from school in hand embroidered capes.”

Hand embroidered CAPES?! Did she fly to school??

Also, I would absolutely join/start a communesque cult with you. (I think this is a compliment?) ((should we start one?))

You didn’t tell me that when you worked at a school it was a “christian alternative education school” — wtf does that even mean???

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...i am not certain about capes as attire, but apparently it was a thing or could be a thing?...next hike we shall discuss...as for the alternative, largely it was a "last chance" type of school...they also baked bread there but never when i was there...drinking llama aura to start the day in honor of our cult creating...

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Ah, I didn't know they had Christian last chance type schools. I've never heard Christian and Alternative together like that -- makes sense!

We can bake bread in our cult everyday! You can be head bread baker (I don't know how to do that).

Also hoping you dive in more on some of these different school periods of your life -- super interesting.

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...i'm just hoping to start a new period of my life...new school...

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Dude, have you seen artist Doris Salcedo’s work with chair graves? Your pics are channeling Salcedo vibes 🪑

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...was totally unaware but what a killer artist!...thank you for the rec...also for the room these pics are taken from the web, none of my own hands...that said maybe i should start hunting dead chairs...

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Awesome essay CansaFis! I’m glad the school system didn’t institutionalize out what makes you special (:

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...thanks Tommy...only the uneducated amongst us will everyone learn anything...take this from a full time unknow it all...

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somehow being schooled has been conflated with being educated, but often not the case

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"I escaped my suburban boredom by trying to tame as much shrew as possible."

I love these historic recaps, they always take turns into unexpected phrasing and musings, it feels like music as I read them. Thank you for continuing at this, and did you take all the photos?

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...thank you...all the photos are found on the web...searched for "broken learning" and "mess of desks" and the like until I found what I was looking for...oh and also "school is stupid"...i always wanted a pet weasel for a week nd a domestic squirrel...perhaps there is time to add an shrew to the list...

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"I spent my suspension suspending disbelief and enjoying suspense, rereading a couple of horror novels I had left half finished over the school year. I half finished them all over again." -- f'ing brilliant word play, man. F'ing brilliant.

Also, Ms July sounds cool, due to the hand-embroidered capes!

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...we could all use more capes...

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The saga of wonderfully unique, hilarious, and intriguing stories continues. Thanks for putting it all out there, CansaFis.

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...appreciate it Jack...your support (and all the feedback here) helps brother...makes me feel like there is some reason to share all this even if it is just an adult version of adolescent release...i can't help but think of all the stories we have to tell, most not yet written or lived...but it feels like the work we put into understanding those which we have already encountered at least can help prepare for a future far weirder and greater than what stands already...cheers to someday riding in a whale's taxicab...

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My pleasure. Love what you said there. I always try to come back to that, regardless of who or how many people read my writing, it’s still an insanely valuable and worth doing thing. For creating and understanding and dissecting the stories we’ve lived and will live and might never live.

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Wow, I really loved this!

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...thank you...i felt like Chunk from goonies with my hand in the blender getting this one out...so glad it was at least semi readable...

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it was so good! totally worth sticking your hand in the blender (as long as I got a laugh!)

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...i'm telling this to the doctors when i have to explain my injuries...

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