Lit. quiz

I can't wait till the trip. Just think - all that time to read! Of course, this week I was too busy making the usual girly vacation preparations, i.e. insulating the first-floor addition windows and discovering Madame Raccoon & Co.'s breezeway residence. [Update: Mme. apparently entered by climbing up 8 feet of plywood]

So today I picked up a book... first time in several weeks, I think.

"... all His biddings are joys."

Anybody want to guess the book and author?

Putin visits the Middle East

Read it in French or read it in English, Vladimir Putin is offering aid to the Palestianians.

"Nous allons offrir une aide logistique, des équipements et de l'entretaînement à l'Autorité palestinienne." (Le Monde)

"We will give the Palestinian Authority technical help by sending equipment, training people. We will give the Palestinian authority helicopters and also communication equipment." (BBC)

Furthermore, Putin hopes to host an international conference on Middle Eastern peace in Moscow this fall (see above articles). Not everyone is cheering the idea. Putin's Russia is developing at the same time as Middle Eastern events.

Cornfield Techies

Oh yes. The land of farmers and brilliant scientists.


*America's first satellite carried instruments designed at the University of Iowa.

*Jerold Mathews, an Iowa State Univeristy math teacher, helped Hewlett-Packard develop calculators.

*Iowa State University's John Vincent Atanasoff and assistant Clifford Berry built the world's first electronic digital computer in 1939; Eniac, the first general-purpose computer, was not created till the 1940s.

Of course, we've come a long way. . . Did you know that the computing power of these first models is now surpassed by a digital wristwatch?


--from notes scribbled down at the State Historical Society Museum in Des Moines

Warning: Composed after 11:00 P.M.

My few AIM buddies may have noticed I'm not on much anymore. Well, I would be. But I'm too lazy to sign on and think up an away message that will cover the entire day. Have to admit I only read 'the blogworks' about twice a week, except for my family's blogs, of course.

My life right now can be easily reduced to the following equation:

Life = work + sleep + food + study + (miscellaneous other = etc. + etc.)

(in decreasing order of time spent)

While we're discussing equations, maybe you can help me with something. I'm currently working on another one that looks like this:

Get up early + stay up late + get 8 hours of sleep = ???

Any ideas? I'm beginning to suspect that, if we want to make it work, we'll be forced to warp the 24-hour day into something 25+ hours long. Unfortunately, I haven't studied enough relativity theory to find out how to do this, barring the chance expeditious wormhole.


Oh, has anyone heard a new radio ad that goes something like this...

Child: "Mom, I think I'm getting a cold. My throat feels funny."

Mother (peering into child's mouth): "Oh, you don't have a cold, honey! You just have a light coating of fiberglass dust. Don't worry, it's great for your digestion!"

Announcer: "When Metamucil isn't enough - reach for the fiberglass."

Undertone Warning: "Some restrictions for sentient beings may apply."

Successful Day

Today at Goodwill I found a pair of shoes, two bags, and then six books totaling $1.50:

Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally
The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
Four Comedies: The Tempest; Twelfth Night; A Midsummer Night's Dream; As You Like It, William Shakespeare
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
At the Back of the North Wind, George MacDonald
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

Not bad, right? I'm especially glad to finally have The Essential Tolkien Library - The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

"Le non"

Who, you may ask, would be stupid enough to start analyzing a French philosophy of politics at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday evening?

Originally it was Saturday morning, which means I could take my time getting the news, wandering at my own sweet will through the online editions of various foreign newspapers in other languages. For a while Le Monde has been running articles on "the yes vs. the no" debate currently taking place in France, that is, the debate over acceptance of the European Constitutional Treaty. I always enjoy editorials and started this one, only to realize that I really should accomplish some work first. So I saved it to read later. Due to work, 'later' ended up being after 10:00 that night.

I read it twice, first time to understand it, second time to comprehend it - and read it aloud to myself, for the sheer pleasure of speaking French, since the kids had all gone to bed. Out came the gigantic Cassell's French/English dictionary Grandpa sent me several years ago, in an effort to crack that occasional word obstructing my vision.

The editor paints the "yes" and "no" parties effortlessly; a few sentences allow the reader to grasp the present political landscape. The French administration keeps explaining the treaty in an effort to convince the people to vote for it, without considering why they are so decidedly voting against it. A rather scathing criticism of the political structure follows:

"Notre présidentialisme monarchique est la première cause de notre lassitude politique et de notre imprévisibilité électorale." Or, in English, "Our monarchical presidency is the primary cause of our political lassitude and our lack of electoral foresight."

I found that rather interesting.

The editorial concludes by pointing out the substance contained in "the no" - "Ce n'est pas un renoncement, mais un appel." In English, "It is not a renunciation, but rather an appeal [or a call]." To sum up, the author seems to be calling for the elected French officials to begin heeding the people who elected them.

Of course, the article has more to say and says it much better.

In the middle of all this, I was re-amazed to think of all the Internet lets us do... from paying bank bills to building spud guns to reading articles from a Paris newspaper. Incredible!

The way it goes. . . for some of us

Sometimes my life seems to be an endless series of failures.

-Wednesday, seeing that we needed some groceries and wanting to save gas, I stopped at the J & C in Allison on our way to prayermeeting. Prayermeeting is at 7 p.m. We arrived at the grocery story at 6:30 p.m. The J & C, as I discovered, closes at 6 p.m.

Result? We played on the church swings and merry-go-round for twenty minutes till someone came to unlock the church. The evening was gorgeous and the kids were thrilled!

-Thursday morning, seeing that we had not yet obtained the needed groceries, I drove into Ackley with Nolan. That is, I tried to start the minivan in order to drive, and discovered the battery was dead. I guess I must have left the interior light on last time I drove home from work.

Result? Jason taught me how to jump-start the van, and while we waited for the battery to charge, I burned the trash. In my great skill, however, I managed to miss all the trash bags I had filled while cleaning out the addition.

-Thursday noon, driving in to Ackley, Nolan and I discovered that road work was tying up Highway 20, and we had to wait about ten minutes just to turn on to the road.

Result? Let's see...

We listened to ten more minutes of beautiful music. And I think Nolan learned some patience. At least, he learned that you're not supposed to run down the sign lady who's waiting to give you a Go signal. Oh yes, and we learned a little more local geography by driving home a different way. Now, I think I understand why people used to enjoy going for a Sunday drive!

Hooray!

Two posts in one night, you know I must be happy!

I just received word that Morgan Library at Grace has an opening for me. This means I will have both my old jobs back: work study in both the library and the Language Department! This is work that makes me look forward to going to work.

This calls for proof that I'm smiling! :)

The Lord is good, as He always is.

Trivia

Okay, let's settle this.

That delightful advertisement you read in the previous post was from a 1927 issue of Women's World. Personally, I would like to see more advertisements like that! Especially on TV. They are at least more linguistically aesthetic and rationally interesting.

Good job on the date, Ardith. Mommy, you would get a prize for the most backroad way to justify your answer - if I were giving it.

Another good one...

Treasures You Never Can Replace
A cherished silver heirloom - would you scour it with grit?

-1923 magazine advertisement for Colgate

10 words that fell the opposition with one sweeping stroke!

Culture Jeopardy

Finally, it rained! So here's something fun I've been saving for a rainy day.

I did my part... I found this in the Iowa State Historical Society Museum in Des Moines, and scribbled it down, and will type it here. Now, you get to guess the magazine and the date!


"You have felt the gladness of the morning sun, when little winds make merry with white puffs of cloud in bluest sky. You have seen apple blossoms aquiver at sunset while the breezes are whispering. You have watched waves dancing in the path of the moon, and in the far-off silver stars you have read how Beauty brings happiness.

"As surely as night follows day, you recognize in your own life the intense desire to reflect the Beauty that you see about you. Armand is in the business to make the world happier. Back of every Armand product are the highest standards, behind them principles, and beyond those - ideals.

"Armand Cold Cream Powder. . ."


Isn't that great?

Come on, do guess! Just imagine - you have the power to save me from an untimely prison sentence for plagiarism - if you can just provide the year and publication.

Forget that bowl of cherries

Life is like applying minimal expanding sealant.

It makes your hand sore, and there's no pause button.

One of My Favorite Things

My favorite part of going to work?

Coming home.

Especially coming home when the classical station is playing Bach's music!

Catch-up

Another week and another attempt at regular blog posts!

Now that my USB ports are finally working correctly (which is to be blamed, as usual, on Windows), I can link you to that photo Mommy suggested of Trevor's haircut, and, as the laws of camera-happy little boys go, Nolan's too. Yes, we have two super-slick little boys here! . . . too bad I didn't get shots of the other three, but you know how boys love getting their picture taken. This love decreases as an exponential function of their increase in age.

I have some sad news to report! - I did not blow out all the candles on my birthday cake with one breath. . . not because I couldn't, but I didn't take the time for the scientific analysis necessary to accomplish this. So, you won't get to hear my 20th birthday wish. Don't feel bad. I wouldn't tell you anyway. But I will let you see one photo Mommy took - on my camera, incidentally, as hers wasn't turning on. Now you have to guess what may be the present I'm opening.

Yesterday evening we played our first baseball game of the year! Baseball played with a tennis ball, that is. Kendra and Carolyn and I took on the rest - Jason, Derek, Melinda, Ethan, and Nolan. Hmmm... I'm sure they fell on those teams due to Kendra's home-run hits, as my own baseball prowess was sadly lacking in comparison to her and just about everyone else! But that's all right. We all had a great time yelling insults and jokes at each other. When we come in hoarse, ball-game season has truly begun.

Don't forget to celebrate! April is National Poetry Month. And don't get stuck on American poets, just because we owe this to the AAP.

Now, go do some poetry reading.

weekend notes

Thanks to ma chère maman, I finally found the initiative to download last month's pictures, including some of the Iowa state capitol which will be coming in a future post.

Haircuts: Here's Trevor, as Mommy suggested, and here's Nolan, as he insisted.

Birthday: Mommy made my 20th memorable by giving me a book of poetry.

By the way, did you know that April is National Poetry Month?

Upgrade

French newspaper Le Monde's online publication has a new look!