Two routes to social change

Joseph de Rivera, writing in Field Theory as Human-Science about Kurt Lewin's field theory (p.428):

"In the situation where one group is trying to change the norms or procedures of society at large, they are essentially trying to change customs that are held in place by a whole set of forces. An analysis of the situation will reveal that some of these forces are preventing changes in the customs while other forces are actually working for changes. That is, the customs are really held in a "quasi-stable" equilibrium by a set of opposing forces. The group working to change the customs may do so either by attempting to increase the forces for change or by decreasing the forces against change. However, there is a critical difference between the strategies. If the former is adopted, there will necessarily be an increase in the tension of the situation, with the resulting consequences, while if the latter strategy is successful, the change will occur with a decrease in tension."

Ecocriticism, and it's coming to Eugene!

Well, I am very excited! Months ago, I'd made a note to myself to look up a UO class on ecocriticism that would be offered this fall through the English dept., probably to find out what it was about and what they'd be reading, so a few days ago I did that, and through the related links I learned that there are several faculty interested in the topic... and then today I learned that there's a professional group called The Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE)... and then I learned that their next conference, in June, will be right here in Eugene, and guest speakers will include Ursula LeGuin, Gary Snyder, and Kathleen Dean Moore! So now I have until February 1 to decide if I feel bold enough to try to present at the conference, or if I'd just like to attend. Meanwhile, I have lots of great links to explore to learn all about this new field of "ecocriticism."

We went out to dinner this evening with my step-brothers and their significant others and my mom, at Mazzi's. This was D's first experience in a real restaurant, being asked to sit still without squirming or complaining or being loud or roaring like a dinosaur for more than two hours, and we were astonished and so proud, because he actually did it.