West LA free school

Free school is something I became familiar with while living in Santa Cruz. I think it's a great way to develop a richer local community while sharing skills, ideas, and knowledge. The basic premise is that you know how to do something other people might want to learn, we help find a place and time to teach people and we help get people to show up. You won't make any money but you're sure to make friends and will likely become better skilled through teaching.

I spent the morning jotting down some notes on this idea and i'm going to put them here for reference. The bikerowave already acts as a community hub for west LA so it will likely be our head quarters. What this means isn't yet established, at the least I think that those organizing WLAFS will hold meetings at this space. I hope that some of the classes can be held there, especially those bike related and this can only happen if we are able to use the space free of charge (though I would encourage donating to all locations for use of space). Once this space is available as the hub we could seek other potential regular locations such as the rabbit hole or a coffee shop or even public parks or parking lots. The first step is to find a core group that wants to be in charge of getting this project rolling (and later organizing the class schedule). 2nd will be finding instructors willing to teach the classes. 3rd work out schedule and find locations for all proposed classes, 4th print schedule, post on website, and pimp the hell out of it.

The core shall be composed of all willing to do the work at this point, at some point in the future I hope elected board members will take this position.

Classes shall be given priority of space and scheduled time based on the level of service provided to the community, how well outlined the course is in the proposal, the amount of times the class is recurring, and eventually seniority.

I hope to encourage the use of open public spaces for appropriate classes. Classes can be a one time workshop or repeat weekly for any given amount of time. I hope to start with a few work shops this summer to get the ball rolling. Depending in the level of support this can be a summer only project or recur seasonally.

To teach a class, you must submit a proposal which includes a class description as you want it to appear in the catalog. A brief description of what the class will contribute to our community, the duration of the class, any location constraints (if you can secure your own location for this it would be good to include that info), the days and hours you'll be available to teach, and a course outline including the method of your teaching and materials needed.

ALL CLASSES MUST BE FREE, a donation can be requested for instructor and space (of no specified amount). Materials for the class can be offered for a cost but it should be with a minimal or non-existent profit margin and it should be encouraged for students to bring their own materials.

The Core shall make itself available in organizing a class and assisting in problems arising in a class. At some point I would like to require the instructors take a course offered on how to teach a course but that can wait.

I have a ton of course ideas that I'm going to make a huge list of, see if anything interests you or come up with your own idea.

Writer's workshop
DIY sewing
urban foraging
intro to bike repair (should be monthly)
Intro to law
DIY signage
foreign languages of some kind
Intro to city planning...
how to organize a group ride
Intro to 3spd/coaster hubs (i'll teach this)
wheel building 101
A series of riding classes from beginner to specialized
-intro
-intermediate
-commuter
-touring
-racing
-mountain
Mounting music to your bike
Making freak bikes
Intro to linux systems (tossing apples out windows)
Self defense on a bike

a whole series of sustainibility
-car free living
-water conservation
-DIY gardening
-composting/ vermiculture
-gifting/sharing/ repurposing
-living plastic free
-Setting up a garden sharing network
-setting up a work trade network.

Fun classes
-finger painting
-fort building
-hula hooping
-nature hikes
-fire dancing

There are a lot of options here, chances are you learned something that you'd thought you'd never use, now you can use it by teaching someone else.

howard hughes airport

Today I rode to what remains of Howard hughes' private airport and factory. The place he actually built the spruce goose among many other planes, they are currently turning it into a collection of corporate buildings and condos but you can still see the spruce goose's hangar(one of the largest wooden buildings in the world) it's interesting because it;s a huge tract of land where the wide blvds have been paved and set up but noone is riding on them yet (except me). It had a very eerie feeling to it and you can see that in just a few years it will be filled in with buildings and you will no longer be able to see the outline of the field and the remnants of the runway will become another street clogged with cars.

notice LMU in the top left.

I took ballona creek to get there and got to see a lot of the new exposition blvd light rail line being built I'm really excited to see a light rail come back to that route, especially since they promised a bike path as well.

"If we teach school children the habit of being skeptical perhaps they will not restrict their skepticism to aspirin commercials and 35,000 year old channelers. Maybe they will start asking awkward questions about economic or social or political or religious institutions, and then where will we be? Skepticism is dangerous. In fact, it is the business of skepticism to be dangerous. That is exactly its function."
-Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan Day Nov. 7th

I'm excited that he is being honored like this, I hope that someday it will be more widely recognized. I would argue that he was one of the most important figures of the later part of last century. Not only was he key in introducing a generation to the importance to science, he also made significant contributions to our understanding of the solar system and universe. On a more humanitarian note, he is largely responsible for spreading the concept of the nuclear winter and putting real consequences in the minds of those who argued for nuclear proliferation.

Is Clinical Psychology Science?

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7266/full/461847a.html

In sum, clinical psychologists and practitioners have been sticking to faulty theories for use in their practices for far too long. This is something I've noticed in my studies and in my experiences with a clinician. This wouldn't be a problem with the professors, but the lecturers who also worked in the field were often unable to represent the efficacy of their practices. If they expect their practice to be covered by universal health care, they'll have to be able to answer for their techniques. I am hopeful that organizations such as the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science or APCS will be able to make a major change in the requirements of certification so that practitioners will have more grounding in science and be able to comprehend and adapt the latest research into something they can use to help their clients. If I was currently in the need of clinical help I would search for a psychologist that has been certified by the APCS in some way or at least quiz them on somewhat recent research or literature. Unfortunately even psychiatrists are only learning about current research from pharmaceutical sales people and do not check the literature themselves often enough.