Just wanted to tell you that I met a person in my "uke" (never can properly spell full name) jam session that played flute in your orchestra the time you played in Kalamazoo. Her name Chris Griffith. I told her my sister and niece played in the orchestra. Told her the names, and she knew both of you. She was part of the music played for your movie, "Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club". Said she had never heard or seen the movie, so I leant her my DVD for her and her husband to watch. Her husband also played in the orchestra. They were so thrilled to receive it to watch and hear the music. When she returned it to me, she said she was so intrigued watching the movie closely that she didn't pay attention to the music. So, what they did was order their own copy of the movie. (I sold a movie for you). Myself and they agreed it was a great movie.
Kalamazoo has a lot to offer, as you know. It has changed a lot over the many years I've lived here. I liked it better in the1950's. Since I-94 was built and it is located halfway between Chicago and Detroit, it has changed. It grew like crazy. Also, Portage, Michigan became a city. West Centre Street back in the 50's was a country road. Now it is a 5-lane busy main road.
Fascinating. I have never heard of the Fetzer Institute, reading about it it doesn't seem so bad, but I am prepared to believe it is, and really a latent Marxist group. Can you say more? Thx.
James Lindsay has done a really deep dive into the Fetzer Institute--reading their documents and things. I'll go find his podcast on the topic for you.
This should get you started. He lets a lot of f-bombs fly in this, so my apologies ahead of time. It is worth listening to, and extremely illuminating. https://newdiscourses.com/2022/12/wtf-is-sel/
Brilliant thank you. I had never heard of it, and at first glance it looked like some kind of place to promote spirituality, but I am quite prepared to believe it has a Marxist undercurrent. I will listen and comment back.
So thanks for that. I am very pleased to learn about it and the origins of SEL, which is a major problem in schools today. I myself am a Christian, and while a lot of the stuff Fetzer studies and promotes is fine with me, the association of SEL to Marxist thought is a huge red flag. Interestingly, and you may or may not know this, but Donald Trump himself was an acolyte of Norman Vincent Peale, and the Power of Positive Thinking and the Law of Attraction. Its clear to me in the way Trump talks that he practices these methods even today, and it seems in a way his thinking may overlap a bit with Fetzer (although Fetzer seemed more interested in peace, harmony and new-agey stuff, and obv Trump is not into that. I also was interested in the way you described Kalamazoo as being totally woke and filled with oddballs, I never appreciated how Blue a state Michigan was.
I was raised in a far-left, upper-middle-class community that was highly insular—they advocated for policies without ever feeling their real-world consequences. But I did to the fullest extent and it completely crushed my spirit.
Then, at 33, I became a Christian, and now I’m far more mentally stable than my family probably ever will be. Even those I once saw as the most grounded and loving turned out to be merely performative and narcissistic.
Pretty crazy how a relationship with God can undo a lifetime of wrongthink in a matter of a few years and transform you into a version of yourself you could only dream of.
You’re kidding! What are the odds? How is it these days? I haven’t been back to visit for about five years. My last piece was about the house my grandpa built there, so now you can drive right by it!
Just wanted to tell you that I met a person in my "uke" (never can properly spell full name) jam session that played flute in your orchestra the time you played in Kalamazoo. Her name Chris Griffith. I told her my sister and niece played in the orchestra. Told her the names, and she knew both of you. She was part of the music played for your movie, "Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club". Said she had never heard or seen the movie, so I leant her my DVD for her and her husband to watch. Her husband also played in the orchestra. They were so thrilled to receive it to watch and hear the music. When she returned it to me, she said she was so intrigued watching the movie closely that she didn't pay attention to the music. So, what they did was order their own copy of the movie. (I sold a movie for you). Myself and they agreed it was a great movie.
Kalamazoo has a lot to offer, as you know. It has changed a lot over the many years I've lived here. I liked it better in the1950's. Since I-94 was built and it is located halfway between Chicago and Detroit, it has changed. It grew like crazy. Also, Portage, Michigan became a city. West Centre Street back in the 50's was a country road. Now it is a 5-lane busy main road.
I remember her! She did a great job.
Fascinating. I have never heard of the Fetzer Institute, reading about it it doesn't seem so bad, but I am prepared to believe it is, and really a latent Marxist group. Can you say more? Thx.
James Lindsay has done a really deep dive into the Fetzer Institute--reading their documents and things. I'll go find his podcast on the topic for you.
This should get you started. He lets a lot of f-bombs fly in this, so my apologies ahead of time. It is worth listening to, and extremely illuminating. https://newdiscourses.com/2022/12/wtf-is-sel/
Brilliant thank you. I had never heard of it, and at first glance it looked like some kind of place to promote spirituality, but I am quite prepared to believe it has a Marxist undercurrent. I will listen and comment back.
So thanks for that. I am very pleased to learn about it and the origins of SEL, which is a major problem in schools today. I myself am a Christian, and while a lot of the stuff Fetzer studies and promotes is fine with me, the association of SEL to Marxist thought is a huge red flag. Interestingly, and you may or may not know this, but Donald Trump himself was an acolyte of Norman Vincent Peale, and the Power of Positive Thinking and the Law of Attraction. Its clear to me in the way Trump talks that he practices these methods even today, and it seems in a way his thinking may overlap a bit with Fetzer (although Fetzer seemed more interested in peace, harmony and new-agey stuff, and obv Trump is not into that. I also was interested in the way you described Kalamazoo as being totally woke and filled with oddballs, I never appreciated how Blue a state Michigan was.
I was raised in a far-left, upper-middle-class community that was highly insular—they advocated for policies without ever feeling their real-world consequences. But I did to the fullest extent and it completely crushed my spirit.
Then, at 33, I became a Christian, and now I’m far more mentally stable than my family probably ever will be. Even those I once saw as the most grounded and loving turned out to be merely performative and narcissistic.
Pretty crazy how a relationship with God can undo a lifetime of wrongthink in a matter of a few years and transform you into a version of yourself you could only dream of.
Amen! God is greater than any ideology.
Wow. This is my hometown, born and raised and relocated back to after a 6-year stint away. So fascinating reading about it from another's perspective.
You’re kidding! What are the odds? How is it these days? I haven’t been back to visit for about five years. My last piece was about the house my grandpa built there, so now you can drive right by it!