Jack Kerouac's On the Road

Each generation has habits that annoy the generation that came before it. When I witness the attacks on young men wearing their pants low, I have to remind my peers about how our generation wore pants backward along with fat untied shoe laces. On the Road is a novel about a group of people in an ealier generation. Jack Kerouac takes us along on a journey with a bunch of slackers as they move from state to state, job to job, and partner to partner, leaving behind bastard children. If someone tries to make you feel guilty about your generation's ills by saying how it was in their day, tell them to read Kerouac's On the Road.

Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane wrote a book depicting war that still holds up, even though it was written over one hundred years ago. Crane shows how young boys can look at the soldier from home and see a hero to be imitated. He then puts his main character, a boy, in the center of the war by making him enlist. Crane's description of war is so clear and accurate. First of all, war kills people in groups. War leaves many more soldiers with loses. Loses of limbs, organs, and mental health. Everytime I hear a young person in the subway discuss enlisting into the military, I wonder if he has read Red Badge of Courage. 

Back To School

Children are returning to school in New York City. Parents are buying all kinds of equipment for their children. Teachers are buying for the student's whose parent do not care. Everyone is busy and billions of dollars are being spent. The question is, what is the pay off for all of the money and energy that is being spent? Public Schools in New York City are good at a few things. They keep young people relatively safe during the day. Schools keep teenagers relatively safe from each other by keeping them in a controlled environment during the day. Schools also feed children that are impoverished with free breakfast as well as lunch. Schools offer the basic language  skills to children between the ages of 6 and 8 years old. That is about all New York City public schools have to offer. If your child needs more than that, you will have to provide it yourself or find it elsewhere. This is one reason why we created the Mighty Pen Center. as far as the 2010 - 2011 school year is concerned, good luck, you will need it.