We have calcium in our bones, iron in our veins,
carbon in our souls, and nitrogen in our brains.
93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames,
we are all just stars that have people names.
-Nikita Gill

In my latest example of weird obsessions, I recently requested copies of all the Ontario Curricula for Grades 1-8. In part, this was inspired by a friend's research into homeschooling and wanting to know what the benchmarks should be, but I was also just curious. Among the books that arrived on my doorstep was the full text of the controversial 2015 Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum. The controversial parts include a focus on inclusion, approaches for teaching young children about consent and bodily autonomy, and goals for age-appropriate conversations on the variety of experiences of gender and sexuality, all of which are apparently somehow up for debate. In any event, reading the actual curriculum as it's laid out really draws attention to how overblown those arguments have been. In contrast, what really drew my attention to the emphasis on the importance of family and community reinforcement of the curriculum as a whole, and the encouragement for families to seek opportunities to practice and celebrate physical activity as a normal and common part of everyone’s lives.

​There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet
No matter where you live
There'll always be a few things, maybe several things
That you're going to find really difficult to forgive
-The Mountain Goats, Up the Wolves

Physics says: go to sleep. Of course
you’re tired. Every atom in you
has been dancing the shimmy in silver shoes
nonstop from mitosis to now.
Quit tapping your feet. They’ll dance
inside themselves without you. Go to sleep.
 
-The Sciences Sing a Lullabye, Albert Goldbarth