" The reason you clone rather than plant from seed is because potatoes, like human children, are wildly heterozygous. Lloyd taught me that word when I was eight. It simply means that if you try to propagate a domesticated potato using seed, sexually, chances are it will not grow true to type. Instead it will regress, displaying a haphazard variety of characteristics, reminiscent of its uncultivated potato progenitors--it may prove superior to the parent plant or may be wildly inferior. At eight, gazing up at my father's face, I didn't know which was worse" (57). 

“That’s what it felt like when I was growing up. Like I was a random fruit in a field of genetically modified potatoes […] Honestly, I had never liked potatoes much. I preferred rice, a taste I inherited from my mother, Momoko, and which, in a state of spuds, was tantamount to treason” (4).

 “The words were familiar. Ocean studied my face, listening intently, so I read on. “ ‘… The newborn child has a heritage of tendencies and inclinations which furnish the foundation of groundwork from which he must build his house of Life.’ ” I closed the book” (177).

 “ “Tell me about your father,” she said. “he ran out on my mom when I was just a kid. […] He was a real womanizer […] My dad was a lousy role model,” he said softly” (224).

#1 (124)

"And all the other palnts, too. Each one is a complex software program, and so are we. And the really wild part is, we're all interactive! We can all learn, Frankie, and that's the marvel! The pea trains the farmer, and the farmer trains the pea. The pea has learned to taste sweet, so that the farmer will plant more of it. Vegetables are like a genetic map, unfolding through time, tracing the paths that human appetites and desires have taken throughout our evolution."

#2 (130)

Quote 1 (Page 267):

"Lloyd brought his fist down on the arm of the chair. 'A life is a life!' he said. His eyes were bloodshot, and he could barely choke out the words. 'It is God's gift! How can you be so careless?'"

Quote 2 (Page 219): 

"'I don't know,' he said slowly. 'There was a time I laid down my life for my government and was glad to do so.' He took off his cap and raked his fingers over his head, combing back the loose hair from his face. He looked exhausted, and even though most farmers looked tired at this time of year, it struck Elliot that there was something else, as if his worn face were at war with his basic good nature. Even his ponytail looked dispirited."

Quote 3:

Dear Students,

Please use this space to share the "You Are Here" course maps we created. Thanks!

Dear Students and Consultants,

Please use this forum to post, comment, and exchange in cross-talk about weekly field and project notes.  Enjoy!

Those of you doing research on the school to prison pipeline may find of interest a recent
TED talk by Alice Goffman, "How we're priming some kids for college--and others for prison":
http://www.ted.com/talks/alice_goffman_college_or_prison_two_destinies_one_blatant_injustice

For my project I'm continuing to look into prison reformation and abolition movements, though I'm shifting my focus into examining the intersections and compliments to each other rather than the differences. While I appreciate the goals and ideology of prison abolition, I personally find it an unattainable goal at this time, though rather than dismissing the movement outright I want to examine if it can in any way aid prison reformation. As for my container I'm very interested in the idea of blackout poetry, taking passages from authors/activists on both sides of the issue and blacking out portions of the writing in order to distill it down to a different form, one that hopefully highlights something meaningful.

Dear 360 folks,

Please take some time to offer mid-semester feedback on our 360.  What's engaging, stretching, and otherwise working well for you in our work (and play) together?  What are your suggestions for the second half - what would you like us to do more or less or differently?  As you reflect, consider your own and others' roles in our group dynamics, shared materials and projects, activities in and beyond the classroom...  And thank you!

Please respond as a comment to this post.

We look forward to discussing this on Monday evening at 5:30 pm in the Dorothy Vernon Room (with meal tickets as needed).  See you then!