Raising Millers

Okay, so there weren’t nearly as many posts on this as I had hoped. I was aiming for a breathless account of the adventures and intellectual transformation that we would undergo during our year at Stanford. Those things happened — lots more than I could have ever imagined. But it turns out that leading an interesting life also means leading a busy one. Life - 1, Blogging - 0.

We’re packing up our house today and tomorrow and headed on yet another adventure. We’re going to spend next year living in the East Bay, in a small town adjacent to Berkeley called Kensington. There, I’ll be working for ProPublica with two of my colleagues who are already located out here. I’d call it ProPublica’s Berkeley Bureau, except it’s not quite big enough to merit the name. 

In any case, we’re staying in the Bay Area another year. It’s not so great for uprooting the kids (again), but it is great to have them close to our family, all of whom live out here. So come and visit us in the East Bay. The new house has lovely views of the Golden Gate. And room for visitors, unlike our teeny tiny Palo Alto home.

Onward.

George penned these on his last day of school. They were for all his collected homework papers. But I think they apply to most anything in life that burdens you.

20 Ways to Get Rid of Homework
By George Miller
 
1.  Burn it.
2.  Shred It.
3.  Tie it to a pinyata at the “Sweet Tooth Anonymous” convention.
4.  Tell the aliens that homework is plotting to destroy them.
5.  Tell a jungle tribe that gods prefer homework meat over human meat.
6.  Two words: “Trash” and “Can.”
7.  Tie each corner of it to a racing horse and yell “GIDDEYUP!!!” at the top of your lungs.
8.  Paint an apple on it, then throw it to the fruit ninja.
9.   Give it to Jason (Friday the 13th, not foxtrot.) and RUN!!!
10. Tie it to a dish on dishwashing night.
11. Force it to compete on wipeout.
12. Go back in time to WWII and tie it to the nuke.
13. Multiply it by zero.
14. Give it to Zorro and tell him that it’s a tree.
15. DYNOMITE IIIITTTT!!!!!
16. Secretly put it in a cement truck barrel.
17. Dunk it in honey and find a swarm of killer bees.
18. The secret? Gasoline and a flamethrower.
19. Tie it to a stereo that’s blasting Justin Beiber.
20. Tie it to Pikachu’s tail.

One of the things I have most enjoyed about the Knight Fellowship is time to think. It’s incredible how our time in the real world is split into micro-chunks. Being at the Fellowship has given me blocks of time that have allowed me to stretch and think in ways that I have not done in years. Earlier this year, I got to write a birthday letter to my Mom - I spent three days, four hours a day thinking about it, writing it and rewriting it. I can’t remember the last time I had that kind of mental space.

Just yesterday, I had three hours to concentrate on writing another poem for my poetry class. Just such a blessing. Thank you, Mr. Knight, for the time you have given back to me.