Who could spend six hours driving and shopping and talking, and love it? Only three girls! That's what we did Sunday... Sarah has some pictures and Rebekah has some write-up.
Today Trevor and I had a nice little conversation, while I was working and he was watching. We established that: he likes ants and dislikes crickets; all planes are big; he would like to go to the moon someday and plans to get back down by means of our ladder; big dogs might not eat him; my work was hard, and we were both hot. Thankfully, lunchtime came and rescued us.
And I came across another wonderful German word!
Quadratisch
It's pronounced kvah-dra-tish.
What does it mean?
Guess!
Okay, I'll tell you. It means square (the adjectival form). How delightful to connect anything square with those truly beautiful quadratic equations (that is, truly beautiful when they come out nicely). I think we should take this even farther... why say "Shape up!" when you can say "Quadratish up!"
Monday, August 08, 2005
Saturday, August 06, 2005
This was a good one
Only Saturday night, and it's already been a super weekend!
Friday afternoon I drove down to Cedar Rapids to visit Ardith and spend the night. We had fun, naturally! We watched movies, ran errands, and Ardith fixed us delicious stir-fry.
Ardith wants to tell you about the Saturday shopping.
So I got to drive four hours, and spend time with Ardith, and then come back to find my calculus book waiting for me. The list price is $151.16, and I bought it for $25.00. That's 16.54% of the list price, which means I saved $126.16, or 83.46%. Not bad, right?
This semester I may spend less than $100 on textbooks!
Friday afternoon I drove down to Cedar Rapids to visit Ardith and spend the night. We had fun, naturally! We watched movies, ran errands, and Ardith fixed us delicious stir-fry.
Ardith wants to tell you about the Saturday shopping.
So I got to drive four hours, and spend time with Ardith, and then come back to find my calculus book waiting for me. The list price is $151.16, and I bought it for $25.00. That's 16.54% of the list price, which means I saved $126.16, or 83.46%. Not bad, right?
This semester I may spend less than $100 on textbooks!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Conversation
I despise "blog rants". So you will never hear me "rant" on this blog... or in person, hopefully. That said, if I were a ranter, and if I wanted to rant about anything, I'm sure my ranting would be over weblog comments.
There must be two philosophies of comment out there.
The first person says, "Oh, good, someone commented on my blog. Now I'll go to their blog and leave a comment in response to their comment on mine."
The second person says, "Oh, good, someone commented on my blog. So naturally I'll respond to their comment on my blog with a comment of my own on my blog."
Now, the question is how each person thinks...
The first person thinks, "Here we are: two people having a conversation, only it's online. Obviously I'm talking to this person and not just carrying on a thought, so I'll respond on this friend's own site."
The second person thinks, "Here someone is: a friend is commenting, and I want to carry on the conversation by responding. Naturally, we're both interested in what we're discussing, and we'll both keep returning to the same place to carry it on."
This first method (not the person) frustrates me slightly, since it results in very disjointed conversation. If I were ever to read over old posts and comments, who knows if I could dig up the relevant comments from others' blogs? But each to their own.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first method focuses on the people involved, while the second focuses on the topic of discussion. Naturally, we need both people and a topic for conversation. May I just say that the second method seems slightly more logical?
There must be two philosophies of comment out there.
The first person says, "Oh, good, someone commented on my blog. Now I'll go to their blog and leave a comment in response to their comment on mine."
The second person says, "Oh, good, someone commented on my blog. So naturally I'll respond to their comment on my blog with a comment of my own on my blog."
Now, the question is how each person thinks...
The first person thinks, "Here we are: two people having a conversation, only it's online. Obviously I'm talking to this person and not just carrying on a thought, so I'll respond on this friend's own site."
The second person thinks, "Here someone is: a friend is commenting, and I want to carry on the conversation by responding. Naturally, we're both interested in what we're discussing, and we'll both keep returning to the same place to carry it on."
This first method (not the person) frustrates me slightly, since it results in very disjointed conversation. If I were ever to read over old posts and comments, who knows if I could dig up the relevant comments from others' blogs? But each to their own.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first method focuses on the people involved, while the second focuses on the topic of discussion. Naturally, we need both people and a topic for conversation. May I just say that the second method seems slightly more logical?
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Derek's Knowledge Test
1. Gaius (Caligula) was the third Roman Emperor. True / False
2. A conjunction is a statement of equality. True / False
3. New Delhi is the capital of India. True / False
4. 54.9380 is the atomic weight of chromium (Cr). True / False
5. R. L. Dabney wrote The Mysterious Island. True / False
6. Matthew is the longest Gospel of the Bible. True / False
7. The Visigoths were the western Goths. True / False
8. Cambodia lies in Southwest Asia. True / False
9. Thunder comes from lightning's tremendous heat. True / False
10. 2(15 + 3) = 6(6) is a true equation. True / False
If you submit your answers, Derek will score them.
2. A conjunction is a statement of equality. True / False
3. New Delhi is the capital of India. True / False
4. 54.9380 is the atomic weight of chromium (Cr). True / False
5. R. L. Dabney wrote The Mysterious Island. True / False
6. Matthew is the longest Gospel of the Bible. True / False
7. The Visigoths were the western Goths. True / False
8. Cambodia lies in Southwest Asia. True / False
9. Thunder comes from lightning's tremendous heat. True / False
10. 2(15 + 3) = 6(6) is a true equation. True / False
If you submit your answers, Derek will score them.
Heard
Two alarming events happened today!
Coming in from working, I stopped short, on hearing three measures from Mommy's Three Tenors CD that I didn't recognize.
A reporter mentioned "500 bucks" on a radio news program. Now I ask you... is that professional?
Coming in from working, I stopped short, on hearing three measures from Mommy's Three Tenors CD that I didn't recognize.
A reporter mentioned "500 bucks" on a radio news program. Now I ask you... is that professional?
Monday, August 01, 2005
Till then
When a successful Internet connection and my online time actually coincide, I may be able to post!
Happy August.
Happy August.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
hmmm...
If you're having trouble accessing this blog, let me know. I've been receiving varied reports.
Sorry, no posting tonight. Time to improve on last night's 1.5 hours. Good night.
Sorry, no posting tonight. Time to improve on last night's 1.5 hours. Good night.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Housekeeping
Tonight I made the switch from Public to Private. My brothers and sisters read this blog, and I'd rather not increase their vocabulary with words I've never even heard myself... even if that exposure comes very indirectly and unintentionally. This weblog began as a private venture (originally just to comment on my mom's blog) and it will remain private, especially so I can keep in touch with my beloved family while I'm overseas next year.
By the way... if your blog is linked on the sidebar, and you want me to remove it, let me know, and I will be happy to do so. Not happy to take you off, but happy to respect your wishes in any way.
If your blog isn't linked on the sidebar, and you would like me to add it, let me know, and I will be happy to consider that.
By the way... if your blog is linked on the sidebar, and you want me to remove it, let me know, and I will be happy to do so. Not happy to take you off, but happy to respect your wishes in any way.
If your blog isn't linked on the sidebar, and you would like me to add it, let me know, and I will be happy to consider that.
Monday, July 25, 2005
A prayer for the day
I am not sure I know which Collect this is. But its words are good to ponder, as we all have work to do.
Guide us, O Lord, amidst the trials and conflicts of our daily life, and fill our hours of occupation with thy presence; that daily work may become to us a high vocation, and that we may learn the dignity of labour, and make it a freewill offering to thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Guide us, O Lord, amidst the trials and conflicts of our daily life, and fill our hours of occupation with thy presence; that daily work may become to us a high vocation, and that we may learn the dignity of labour, and make it a freewill offering to thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Now publishing
Whoops! There went the week!
As Mommy mentioned, Daddy was working on the plumbing last week. The most exciting day was Tuesday, when Kendra and I had a Bible study at 7:00 p.m. Somehow this was not communicated to Daddy. He started his work around 4:30, and I stopped my work around 6:00 to take a shower and wash the vegetables we were bringing. (It was Taco Salad night.)
Whoops! No water!
Daddy worked quickly and eventually had the cold water up for us. So we washed and chopped the tomatoes and lettuce. Then he glued the hot water pipes... unfortunately, the glue didn't plan to hold. So he held the pipes together for us while we finished showering (unbeknownst to us, although we were already speeding, since it was well after 7:00). Fortunately we live only five minutes away from our church friends, and thankfully we have a wonderful father!
In other news, I ended up with three nearly-cold showers during the last week. This had nothing to do with the plumbing, and everything to do with the washer and the dishwasher and certain persons who like to steam off well in the shower. It's amazing how fast one can shower when the hot water is disappearing! So, I was doubly blessed with extra time and extra thankfulness that we have showers at all.
This week was also the one we (Jason, Kendra, and myself) settled on for our summer viewing of the Lord of the Rings films. Of course, we had to watch them at night, for two reasons...
1) The younger kids aren't allowed to see them yet.
2) How can anyone watch them in the daylight?
We also had to time the last one (nearly 4.5 hours) to fall on a Friday night, so we could all sleep in... theoretically.
It was fun. :)
I was willing to sacrifice a little sleep for such a good cause, especially so I could work during the day. It would be ridiculous to take time off work just for movies. For some undoubtedly unrelated reason, a cold finally grabbed hold of me, but I should have it kicked off by tomorrow.
After work and sleep and language study, there isn't much time left for posting, especially when our wireless connection keeps cutting out. But I'll try not to let a whole week go by this time.
Into the midst of such busyness come those little bright spots, such as this lovely bag, designed by my lovely friend and embroidered by her lovely mother. I thought you'd like to see it!
(Of course, she put some chocolate inside...!)
As Mommy mentioned, Daddy was working on the plumbing last week. The most exciting day was Tuesday, when Kendra and I had a Bible study at 7:00 p.m. Somehow this was not communicated to Daddy. He started his work around 4:30, and I stopped my work around 6:00 to take a shower and wash the vegetables we were bringing. (It was Taco Salad night.)
Whoops! No water!
Daddy worked quickly and eventually had the cold water up for us. So we washed and chopped the tomatoes and lettuce. Then he glued the hot water pipes... unfortunately, the glue didn't plan to hold. So he held the pipes together for us while we finished showering (unbeknownst to us, although we were already speeding, since it was well after 7:00). Fortunately we live only five minutes away from our church friends, and thankfully we have a wonderful father!
In other news, I ended up with three nearly-cold showers during the last week. This had nothing to do with the plumbing, and everything to do with the washer and the dishwasher and certain persons who like to steam off well in the shower. It's amazing how fast one can shower when the hot water is disappearing! So, I was doubly blessed with extra time and extra thankfulness that we have showers at all.
This week was also the one we (Jason, Kendra, and myself) settled on for our summer viewing of the Lord of the Rings films. Of course, we had to watch them at night, for two reasons...
1) The younger kids aren't allowed to see them yet.
2) How can anyone watch them in the daylight?
We also had to time the last one (nearly 4.5 hours) to fall on a Friday night, so we could all sleep in... theoretically.
It was fun. :)
I was willing to sacrifice a little sleep for such a good cause, especially so I could work during the day. It would be ridiculous to take time off work just for movies. For some undoubtedly unrelated reason, a cold finally grabbed hold of me, but I should have it kicked off by tomorrow.
After work and sleep and language study, there isn't much time left for posting, especially when our wireless connection keeps cutting out. But I'll try not to let a whole week go by this time.
Into the midst of such busyness come those little bright spots, such as this lovely bag, designed by my lovely friend and embroidered by her lovely mother. I thought you'd like to see it!
(Of course, she put some chocolate inside...!)
Monday, July 18, 2005
Dark is good
The job description for this blog requires its writer to inform said writer's audience on the latest medical updates.
Today's article (via the New York Times) brings that long-awaited success story: How to experience a "clinically meaningful decline" in your blood pressure!
Any debate over the previously linked article is welcomed by the blog writer at some risk to the writer's reputation with The Hierarchy.
Today's article (via the New York Times) brings that long-awaited success story: How to experience a "clinically meaningful decline" in your blood pressure!
Any debate over the previously linked article is welcomed by the blog writer at some risk to the writer's reputation with The Hierarchy.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Ridiculous to sublime
Last night we had our biannual viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean. (I had to get out the dictionary again just now, because I always get biannual and biennial mixed up; every time I reformulate some way to use the a and e to distinguish them, and every time I forget it.) Jason decided it would be biannual. However, this was about my seventh time - more or less - and I almost fell asleep. The movie has become less frightening and more funny.
This afternoon Kendra and I went out for a movie and ice cream to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. Turning sixteen definitely merits some celebration! Happy birthday, Kendra.
We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was different and the same. Same story with a different feel.
My mind is running in German just now, so I thought I would share The Lord's Prayer with you. It is very beautiful... I'm sorry you can't hear it.
Vater unser im Himmel,
Geheiligt werde dein Name.
Dein Reich komme.
Dein Wille geschehe,
wie im Himmel so auf Erden.
Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
Und vergib uns unsre Schuld
wie auch wir vergeben unseren Schuldigern.
Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.
Denn dein ist das Reich
und die Kraft
und die Herrlichkeit
in Ewigkeit.
Amen.
This afternoon Kendra and I went out for a movie and ice cream to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. Turning sixteen definitely merits some celebration! Happy birthday, Kendra.
We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was different and the same. Same story with a different feel.
My mind is running in German just now, so I thought I would share The Lord's Prayer with you. It is very beautiful... I'm sorry you can't hear it.
Vater unser im Himmel,
Geheiligt werde dein Name.
Dein Reich komme.
Dein Wille geschehe,
wie im Himmel so auf Erden.
Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
Und vergib uns unsre Schuld
wie auch wir vergeben unseren Schuldigern.
Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.
Denn dein ist das Reich
und die Kraft
und die Herrlichkeit
in Ewigkeit.
Amen.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Out of Context, June / July edition
Some of these do need context.
Family
Nolan (regarding his coleslaw): "I wish I could have hotslaw."
Coming back from Texas, Ardith attempting to follow Daddy...
Ardith: "See, this is the problem with Daddy. He can't turn around!"
When the dishwasher pipes were going in...
Nolan: "Pipe cement is very bad for you."
Daddy (snorts): "Just breathing it can make you sick!"
Nolan: "Then you have to have a cough drop."
Derek and Carolyn playing Romans, Ethan playing their slave...
Derek: "Please? Carolyn, you're saying please? You don't say please to a slave."
Looking out for Uncle Stan's in Georgia...
Trevor: "Is it a white house?"
Nolan: "Umm, yes, I think."
Trevor: "Is it a white house, Mommy?"
Mommy: "I don't remember."
Nolan: "Or maybe it's painted - blue! Or - red!"
Trevor: "Yes, it's not a white house, it's a blue house!"
Nolan: "Or maybe it's green."
Trevor: "Yes, it's a green house! It's a green house, Mommy."
Mommy: "Trevor, do you have to talk all the time?"
Trevor: "Yes, Mommy, I have to talk all the time."
Heard on the radio
"Spend less on hotels and more on power tools!"
"The carnage will be devastating. AND YOU'LL BE THERE!"
Family
Nolan (regarding his coleslaw): "I wish I could have hotslaw."
Coming back from Texas, Ardith attempting to follow Daddy...
Ardith: "See, this is the problem with Daddy. He can't turn around!"
When the dishwasher pipes were going in...
Nolan: "Pipe cement is very bad for you."
Daddy (snorts): "Just breathing it can make you sick!"
Nolan: "Then you have to have a cough drop."
Derek and Carolyn playing Romans, Ethan playing their slave...
Derek: "Please? Carolyn, you're saying please? You don't say please to a slave."
Looking out for Uncle Stan's in Georgia...
Trevor: "Is it a white house?"
Nolan: "Umm, yes, I think."
Trevor: "Is it a white house, Mommy?"
Mommy: "I don't remember."
Nolan: "Or maybe it's painted - blue! Or - red!"
Trevor: "Yes, it's not a white house, it's a blue house!"
Nolan: "Or maybe it's green."
Trevor: "Yes, it's a green house! It's a green house, Mommy."
Mommy: "Trevor, do you have to talk all the time?"
Trevor: "Yes, Mommy, I have to talk all the time."
Heard on the radio
"Spend less on hotels and more on power tools!"
"The carnage will be devastating. AND YOU'LL BE THERE!"
Sudden existence!
Sorry it has taken me so long to put up links for weblogs of friends. Originally I'd wanted to ask everyone personally... finally decided that the courtesy was becoming less than courteous, as I never got around to it.
The married persons have a proper title before their name. Nope, this is not to divide everyone into "single" and "married" status. This is because I still don't feel comfortable using first names where I've used the title so long. So I extended the rule to all married persons.
This is another reason I like Blogger. My friends can have real names and not just screen names.
The married persons have a proper title before their name. Nope, this is not to divide everyone into "single" and "married" status. This is because I still don't feel comfortable using first names where I've used the title so long. So I extended the rule to all married persons.
This is another reason I like Blogger. My friends can have real names and not just screen names.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
A mother's third eye
Today my junk mail inbox announced, "Peace of Mind is only $75 at Geeks.com."
Mommy, this is what you should have had, especially to strap on to the kid in question. Then again, maybe it's not too late! (Actually, they need to create one that reads the child's mind.)
You know, everybody, Mommy's birthday is coming up... in a couple months...
Mommy, this is what you should have had, especially to strap on to the kid in question. Then again, maybe it's not too late! (Actually, they need to create one that reads the child's mind.)
You know, everybody, Mommy's birthday is coming up... in a couple months...
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
A little story of a movie
(This was due for publication last night, but the Internet was a little crowded)
While down at the Hoyt reunion in Georgia, some of us (some of us between the ages of 16 and 28) saw The Village. This won't be a critique, just my impressions. But if you haven't seen it yet and don't want any spoiler, you can stop reading now.
We really had the perfect setting for this movie: we were in a little cabin-style home stuck away off a dirt road in the Georgia woods. It was after 1 A.M., and our seating - couch, chairs, and floor - had its back to the door to the deck and windows overlooking the deck. Of course, someone was kind enough to turn off all the lights. My cousin Laura and I were on the floor, a good strategic move since it put the couch between us and the windows.
The first scenes left two distinct impressions. One was a man crying over his son's coffin, so I immediately concluded that the movie would be sad and frightening. The second could have been a scene from an early Thanksgiving feast: a long row of tables and everyone dressed rather old-fashioned. Being pretty dense, I immediately rewinded my mind a few centuries. It all seemed a little Puritan, kind of somber, no red allowed, too gaudy, or too... something. Everyone spoke oddly, too well and almost archaically. And there was a village council. Make that a progressive Puritan village where women sat on the council and talked at least as much as the men. Oh yes, they were religious too, down to the priests in yellow cloaks tossing the devoted meat onto a huge flat altar - ah, rock... stone. But this was a religion driven by fear.
I suppose I should have figured out that They weren't really monsters... finally one of Them actually appeared, could have been a person dressed up. But it had to be an Outside person hostile to the village. Truth didn't strike me till Walker told Ivy, and that was an immense relief... very welcome relief, because the sound technicians kept blasting bursts of bass at us, especially at the frequent startling moments. Laura must have jumped a little higher than I did, since the others teased her and not me. I was glad to have someone else share my reactions, and occasionally voice them, which I didn't dare to do in the face of such manipulative genius. The writer obviously wanted to overpower me, so like a good little villager I'd sit there and let him do it.
Kitty's nearly hysterical declaration of love to Lucius made us all laugh... as did Ivy's asking Lucius when they would marry, and his response, "Why don't you let me lead for once!" Short reprieve, more shocks were to come. When the camera staggered with Noah right up to Lucius, something had to be wrong... when Ivy gasped for breath behind a tree, the camera would pan out, of course, to show It right behind the tree. Now that was really cruel, especially to Ivy, when she knew there should be no more of Them!
When Ivy stumbled out onto the road, I think I was the last one to realize it was a modern-day vehicle driving up, and of course I completely missed the Walker on the side. That's why I like watching movies with Hoyt cousins who sit around and discuss anything afterwards, no matter how late it is.
Now which is worse... an outside group terrorizing the village, as I first thought... or the council members terrorizing their own village? How absurd to use fear to protect their people. And their own children. In the end, that's what I can't understand. I suppose it's a choice everyone has to make: hole up and let your children grow up believing the evil comes from monsters, or live in the real world and let them realize the evil is in everyone, and they must deal with it. They couldn't escape the evil; it came from one of their own, when Noah stabbed Lucius. (now that really was not pleasant)
There should be more movies like this, movies you have to figure out - or find out - as you go.
I think we all slept that night, but there were Red jokes making the rounds for a while.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially if you've seen The Village. By the way, I didn't title this weblog Sharon's Soliloquy for a reason. (besides the obvious ones) Comments are always welcome!
While down at the Hoyt reunion in Georgia, some of us (some of us between the ages of 16 and 28) saw The Village. This won't be a critique, just my impressions. But if you haven't seen it yet and don't want any spoiler, you can stop reading now.
We really had the perfect setting for this movie: we were in a little cabin-style home stuck away off a dirt road in the Georgia woods. It was after 1 A.M., and our seating - couch, chairs, and floor - had its back to the door to the deck and windows overlooking the deck. Of course, someone was kind enough to turn off all the lights. My cousin Laura and I were on the floor, a good strategic move since it put the couch between us and the windows.
The first scenes left two distinct impressions. One was a man crying over his son's coffin, so I immediately concluded that the movie would be sad and frightening. The second could have been a scene from an early Thanksgiving feast: a long row of tables and everyone dressed rather old-fashioned. Being pretty dense, I immediately rewinded my mind a few centuries. It all seemed a little Puritan, kind of somber, no red allowed, too gaudy, or too... something. Everyone spoke oddly, too well and almost archaically. And there was a village council. Make that a progressive Puritan village where women sat on the council and talked at least as much as the men. Oh yes, they were religious too, down to the priests in yellow cloaks tossing the devoted meat onto a huge flat altar - ah, rock... stone. But this was a religion driven by fear.
I suppose I should have figured out that They weren't really monsters... finally one of Them actually appeared, could have been a person dressed up. But it had to be an Outside person hostile to the village. Truth didn't strike me till Walker told Ivy, and that was an immense relief... very welcome relief, because the sound technicians kept blasting bursts of bass at us, especially at the frequent startling moments. Laura must have jumped a little higher than I did, since the others teased her and not me. I was glad to have someone else share my reactions, and occasionally voice them, which I didn't dare to do in the face of such manipulative genius. The writer obviously wanted to overpower me, so like a good little villager I'd sit there and let him do it.
Kitty's nearly hysterical declaration of love to Lucius made us all laugh... as did Ivy's asking Lucius when they would marry, and his response, "Why don't you let me lead for once!" Short reprieve, more shocks were to come. When the camera staggered with Noah right up to Lucius, something had to be wrong... when Ivy gasped for breath behind a tree, the camera would pan out, of course, to show It right behind the tree. Now that was really cruel, especially to Ivy, when she knew there should be no more of Them!
When Ivy stumbled out onto the road, I think I was the last one to realize it was a modern-day vehicle driving up, and of course I completely missed the Walker on the side. That's why I like watching movies with Hoyt cousins who sit around and discuss anything afterwards, no matter how late it is.
Now which is worse... an outside group terrorizing the village, as I first thought... or the council members terrorizing their own village? How absurd to use fear to protect their people. And their own children. In the end, that's what I can't understand. I suppose it's a choice everyone has to make: hole up and let your children grow up believing the evil comes from monsters, or live in the real world and let them realize the evil is in everyone, and they must deal with it. They couldn't escape the evil; it came from one of their own, when Noah stabbed Lucius. (now that really was not pleasant)
There should be more movies like this, movies you have to figure out - or find out - as you go.
I think we all slept that night, but there were Red jokes making the rounds for a while.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially if you've seen The Village. By the way, I didn't title this weblog Sharon's Soliloquy for a reason. (besides the obvious ones) Comments are always welcome!
Friday, July 08, 2005
Death or estate, that's the question
Why don't you read "Double Trouble Speak"? Good article. Almost makes me want to start an Old English revival.
...after twelve days of blogging sabbatical...
It was a lovely trip!
But, since I used my expendable Internet time to catch up on blogs of friends - which mostly was a quick skim of everybody's latest post - and since today was a day for sleep and business and German, there is no time for a real post. I'm still trying to think of how to tell you all the highlights of the trip. Maybe I will spend one of my eight hours on the ladder tomorrow thinking about it.
Anyway, tomorrow is Friday night. Tomorrow night I will have plenty of time. Tomorrow night, once it comes, I probably won't have time, what with a birthday party and a movie. But tomorrow night I will try to defy the weekend time wormholes and post.
But, since I used my expendable Internet time to catch up on blogs of friends - which mostly was a quick skim of everybody's latest post - and since today was a day for sleep and business and German, there is no time for a real post. I'm still trying to think of how to tell you all the highlights of the trip. Maybe I will spend one of my eight hours on the ladder tomorrow thinking about it.
Anyway, tomorrow is Friday night. Tomorrow night I will have plenty of time. Tomorrow night, once it comes, I probably won't have time, what with a birthday party and a movie. But tomorrow night I will try to defy the weekend time wormholes and post.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Bye
H-Hour is 0700 Saturday 25 June 2005.
Tomorrow morning we leave on our big long summer trip. Georgia for the Hoyt reunion, Indiana for a Baker get-together. This will be so much fun. :)
Auf Wiedersehen, Adiós, Au revoir!
Tomorrow morning we leave on our big long summer trip. Georgia for the Hoyt reunion, Indiana for a Baker get-together. This will be so much fun. :)
Auf Wiedersehen, Adiós, Au revoir!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Several thousand words
One day, when most everybody is outside....
Nolan proudly shows the cameragirl a worm from his worm collection.
Derek instructs Trevor in the fine art of dirt-clod chopping.
Carolyn happily weeds her radishes.
Kendra and Carolyn marshal their radish ranks for a French Breakfast vs. German Giant war.
Jason mows in fine form.
Ethan pauses as the crafty cameragirl asks him a question so she can snap him.
Someone's missing. It must be Melinda!
Nolan proudly shows the cameragirl a worm from his worm collection.
Derek instructs Trevor in the fine art of dirt-clod chopping.
Carolyn happily weeds her radishes.
Kendra and Carolyn marshal their radish ranks for a French Breakfast vs. German Giant war.
Jason mows in fine form.
Ethan pauses as the crafty cameragirl asks him a question so she can snap him.
Someone's missing. It must be Melinda!
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Your Spanish for today
Can't promise when the next "today" will be, but don't worry... one will pop up somewhere. I have two months till returning to school and taking the Spanish and German finals, so I'm back to regular language study. Which means that you, my beloved reader, will get more of those much-missed language posts!
It's always a good idea to try translating that phrase literally - you know they're hiding something if they lump a bunch of words together under one English meaning.
ponerse boca abajo (arriba) - to be face up (down)
Literally, the Spanish reads "to put one's mouth up (or down)".
Now, I find that very interesting. Don't you? Should we draw any politically incorrect and linguistically discriminating conclusions, or just laugh?
Since I will be studying abroad for Spanish in Argentina, I was hunting around for some good (and interesting) information on the country. This looks like it may keep me busy for a while.
Todo lo que quiera saber sobre Argentina, proclaims the site - Everything you wanted to know about Argentina. Even if you want to listen to all of Argentina's historically significant state speeches!
It's always a good idea to try translating that phrase literally - you know they're hiding something if they lump a bunch of words together under one English meaning.
ponerse boca abajo (arriba) - to be face up (down)
Literally, the Spanish reads "to put one's mouth up (or down)".
Now, I find that very interesting. Don't you? Should we draw any politically incorrect and linguistically discriminating conclusions, or just laugh?
Since I will be studying abroad for Spanish in Argentina, I was hunting around for some good (and interesting) information on the country. This looks like it may keep me busy for a while.
Todo lo que quiera saber sobre Argentina, proclaims the site - Everything you wanted to know about Argentina. Even if you want to listen to all of Argentina's historically significant state speeches!
Monday, June 20, 2005
Senses
Watching Master and Commander last Friday made me think about sound, because it was full of sound... waves slapping, canvas snapping, men's voices shouting, but also more subtle sounds, especially the inflections of voices.
I realized that I wasn't just hearing the sound, but feeling it. On thinking about it, two kinds of feeling: one, hearing the sounds of something being done 'on screen' made me feel that same thing being done where I was; two, sounds skipping directly to my nervous system or something inside that could feel.
Have you ever been lying on a couch and listening to other people talk, and as you get sleepier and sleepier, the voices are different, almost as if they've changed pitch, or as if the sound waves reaching your ears are slowing down?
I wonder if we can 'feel' sound because of its nature - soundwaves produced by vibrations, reaching our ears and passing the vibrations on to our eardrums and eventually to the brain. Those vibrations must be going down the spinal cord as well as up it, because I can feel them inside, almost as if the sound bypasses skin and physical touch to pluck some internal strings.
If hearing is like a multiple sense, it isn't unique that way... smell and taste aren't just related, they actually affect each other. It makes me wonder what those lightwaves are up to.
Maybe all this is extremely obvious to everyone else. Or just extremely stupid. Anyway, it intrigues me.
I realized that I wasn't just hearing the sound, but feeling it. On thinking about it, two kinds of feeling: one, hearing the sounds of something being done 'on screen' made me feel that same thing being done where I was; two, sounds skipping directly to my nervous system or something inside that could feel.
Have you ever been lying on a couch and listening to other people talk, and as you get sleepier and sleepier, the voices are different, almost as if they've changed pitch, or as if the sound waves reaching your ears are slowing down?
I wonder if we can 'feel' sound because of its nature - soundwaves produced by vibrations, reaching our ears and passing the vibrations on to our eardrums and eventually to the brain. Those vibrations must be going down the spinal cord as well as up it, because I can feel them inside, almost as if the sound bypasses skin and physical touch to pluck some internal strings.
If hearing is like a multiple sense, it isn't unique that way... smell and taste aren't just related, they actually affect each other. It makes me wonder what those lightwaves are up to.
Maybe all this is extremely obvious to everyone else. Or just extremely stupid. Anyway, it intrigues me.
Check off that one
There, I finally finished The Case for Democracy. Only 279 pages, but when my reading gets limited to about fifteen minutes a night, I fall back on weekends for catch-up.
This was a fairly easy and interesting read. Sharansky makes his case not from abstract theoretical arguments but rather from his experiences as a Soviet Jewish dissident in the USSR and as a statesman in Israeli politics.
I could quote a few sentences that very nicely sum up the book's thesis, which is just why I won't do it. Go read it yourself. However, the following caught my attention:
When some questioned why Israel was not using information [Peace Watch papers keeping tabs on Palestinian compliance] that could be very helpful in exerting diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian Authority to comply with its agreements, Israeli officials scoffed that it was the government's role to determine whether the Palestinians were fulfilling their commitments. (pg. 158)
So where does the informed citizenry of a democracy come in? Where government bureaucracy leaves off, I suppose... which would seem to be wherever the informed citizenry doesn't come in.
I do not believe in an end of history. The diversity of the world ensures that there will always be argument and conflict. (pg. 278)
Not sure that I would define history as "argument and conflict." And I do believe in an end to history; at least, an end to recorded time. Then again, who really knows?
But as "the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is [definitely] wearying to the body" (Ecclesiastes 12:12), I am off to bed. Goodnight.
This was a fairly easy and interesting read. Sharansky makes his case not from abstract theoretical arguments but rather from his experiences as a Soviet Jewish dissident in the USSR and as a statesman in Israeli politics.
I could quote a few sentences that very nicely sum up the book's thesis, which is just why I won't do it. Go read it yourself. However, the following caught my attention:
When some questioned why Israel was not using information [Peace Watch papers keeping tabs on Palestinian compliance] that could be very helpful in exerting diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian Authority to comply with its agreements, Israeli officials scoffed that it was the government's role to determine whether the Palestinians were fulfilling their commitments. (pg. 158)
So where does the informed citizenry of a democracy come in? Where government bureaucracy leaves off, I suppose... which would seem to be wherever the informed citizenry doesn't come in.
I do not believe in an end of history. The diversity of the world ensures that there will always be argument and conflict. (pg. 278)
Not sure that I would define history as "argument and conflict." And I do believe in an end to history; at least, an end to recorded time. Then again, who really knows?
But as "the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is [definitely] wearying to the body" (Ecclesiastes 12:12), I am off to bed. Goodnight.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
To whom it may interest
I added a few sidebar links a while back.
People who are serious about chocolate don't just love eating good chocolate (read: good-quality dark chocolate) - they love reading scientific studies of chocolate (read: studies revealing the health benefits of eating moderate amounts of good-quality dark chocolate). So here's what I like to call The Chocolate List, for the serious chocolate lovers out there. Please notice that I didn't say "chocoholics".
Online dictionaries seem to lack etymologies, which is too bad, since the story behind the word is the most interesting part. So I added Etymonline.
Oh, let's see, I think I also added U. S. News & World Report at the same time. And Al-Jazeera.
People who are serious about chocolate don't just love eating good chocolate (read: good-quality dark chocolate) - they love reading scientific studies of chocolate (read: studies revealing the health benefits of eating moderate amounts of good-quality dark chocolate). So here's what I like to call The Chocolate List, for the serious chocolate lovers out there. Please notice that I didn't say "chocoholics".
Online dictionaries seem to lack etymologies, which is too bad, since the story behind the word is the most interesting part. So I added Etymonline.
Oh, let's see, I think I also added U. S. News & World Report at the same time. And Al-Jazeera.
Friday, June 17, 2005
It's Friday again
This is so unfair. My right arm is getting all the hammer exercise, which means my left arm and the right side of my brain must be suffering.
Maybe I'll start using my left hand for less important things, like eating and writing.
This is so annoying. Ardith's AIM away message won't get off my screen.
... never mind, there it goes...
This is so inexplicable. Why does it take me all morning and afternoon to get past tiredness and starvation, only to really feel like working at about 5 o'clock?
I think I'll blame it on the heat.
That was so delicious - chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream for Nolan's 6th birthday.
Happy birthday, dear little brother Nolan!
This is so great... being lazy on Friday night.
Jason and I are going to watch Master and Commander, for only the second time.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Maybe I'll start using my left hand for less important things, like eating and writing.
This is so annoying. Ardith's AIM away message won't get off my screen.
... never mind, there it goes...
This is so inexplicable. Why does it take me all morning and afternoon to get past tiredness and starvation, only to really feel like working at about 5 o'clock?
I think I'll blame it on the heat.
That was so delicious - chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream for Nolan's 6th birthday.
Happy birthday, dear little brother Nolan!
This is so great... being lazy on Friday night.
Jason and I are going to watch Master and Commander, for only the second time.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
How to answer the question. . .
"Why ten kids?"
Give 'em a sonnet!
Sonnet VI.
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd.
That use is not forbidden usury
Which happies those that pay the willing loan;
That 's for thyself to breed another thee,
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thyself were happier than thou art,
If ten of thine ten times refigured thee:
Then what could death do, if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir.
--William Shakespeare
"Because we were so beautiful, we just couldn't bear to leave the world without us when we die. And because we didn't want worms in the will."
I couldn't resist. :)
Oh, this doesn't apply to my parents (I don't think). But really, if Shakespeare can construct an argument entirely from vanity!. . .
Give 'em a sonnet!
Sonnet VI.
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd.
That use is not forbidden usury
Which happies those that pay the willing loan;
That 's for thyself to breed another thee,
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thyself were happier than thou art,
If ten of thine ten times refigured thee:
Then what could death do, if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir.
--William Shakespeare
"Because we were so beautiful, we just couldn't bear to leave the world without us when we die. And because we didn't want worms in the will."
I couldn't resist. :)
Oh, this doesn't apply to my parents (I don't think). But really, if Shakespeare can construct an argument entirely from vanity!. . .
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Irish hymn
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art-
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Traditional Irish hymn, translated by Mary E. Byrne, versified by Eleanor H. Hull
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art-
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Traditional Irish hymn, translated by Mary E. Byrne, versified by Eleanor H. Hull
Friday, June 10, 2005
Help.
Anybody want to contribute to the "Get-Sharon-A-New-English-Dictionary Fund"?
Click here for visual stimulation.
Click here for visual stimulation.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Look out, here comes the Weed Commissioner
Wow... I'm glad we don't live in Franklin County. I know the following refers to the Code of Iowa, but the Hardin County advertising edition didn't mention this. Not, of course, that I would care if it did. We live in Butler County.
Notice is hereby given this 6th day of June, 2005 pursuant to the Code of Iowa, Chapter 317, Weed Law. All owners, occupants, agents and public officials in charge of lands in Franklin County Shall destroy or eradicate noxious weeds standing, being or growing on such lands by effective cutting, tillage, cropping or otherwise destroying, as often as may be required to prevent the weeds from blooming and maturing seeds and on or before the dates according to the following tables:
. . .
Group 3 - By July 15
. . . Velvetleaf. . . Sunflowers. . .
--from the Hampton Reminder
How can velvetleaf possibly be a noxious weed? Those leaves are soft enough to make a pillowcase. Not to mention, the drafter of this law has obviously never sat on his lawn and carefully stripped fuzzy velvetleaf skin off the long, smooth, woody stem inside.
And sunflowers?
So I looked up the Iowa Weed Law and discovered a few discrepancies: no mention of velvetleaf and sunflowers - unless they're masquerading under more scientific names - but it does bring up bindweed / European morning glory, which I suppose would be "binderweed". Good luck with that. You can't get rid of it if you try. Besides, how is this fair to children's imaginative play in the great outdoors? Carolyn and Ethan and I made ourselves some beautiful crowns with the stuff.
Notice is hereby given this 6th day of June, 2005 pursuant to the Code of Iowa, Chapter 317, Weed Law. All owners, occupants, agents and public officials in charge of lands in Franklin County Shall destroy or eradicate noxious weeds standing, being or growing on such lands by effective cutting, tillage, cropping or otherwise destroying, as often as may be required to prevent the weeds from blooming and maturing seeds and on or before the dates according to the following tables:
. . .
Group 3 - By July 15
. . . Velvetleaf. . . Sunflowers. . .
--from the Hampton Reminder
How can velvetleaf possibly be a noxious weed? Those leaves are soft enough to make a pillowcase. Not to mention, the drafter of this law has obviously never sat on his lawn and carefully stripped fuzzy velvetleaf skin off the long, smooth, woody stem inside.
And sunflowers?
So I looked up the Iowa Weed Law and discovered a few discrepancies: no mention of velvetleaf and sunflowers - unless they're masquerading under more scientific names - but it does bring up bindweed / European morning glory, which I suppose would be "binderweed". Good luck with that. You can't get rid of it if you try. Besides, how is this fair to children's imaginative play in the great outdoors? Carolyn and Ethan and I made ourselves some beautiful crowns with the stuff.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The New Man?
You might want to read this. Really interesting how fashions reflect sociological trends.
"The masculine ideal is being completely modified. All the traditional male values of authority, infallibility, virility and strength are being completely overturned". . . [i]nstead, today's males are turning more towards creativity, sensitivity, and multiplicity.
"All those labels which have adapted to this freedom of expression are on the up..." Le Louet said, pointing to the growing success of sports and casual wear manufacturers.
This brings to mind my sad nostalgia over the dying style of suits and the gentlemen who wore them.
The emergence of this new male beast who wants to look and feel good, and who will also have an impact on the role of women...
No kidding. But then, women have already tried changing their role, haven't they?
"There is an increasing desire for people to be in charge of their own lives, and an intolerance for any lack of autonomy..."
Maybe it's just me, but social autonomy sounds like a lonely way to live.
"The masculine ideal is being completely modified. All the traditional male values of authority, infallibility, virility and strength are being completely overturned". . . [i]nstead, today's males are turning more towards creativity, sensitivity, and multiplicity.
"All those labels which have adapted to this freedom of expression are on the up..." Le Louet said, pointing to the growing success of sports and casual wear manufacturers.
This brings to mind my sad nostalgia over the dying style of suits and the gentlemen who wore them.
The emergence of this new male beast who wants to look and feel good, and who will also have an impact on the role of women...
No kidding. But then, women have already tried changing their role, haven't they?
"There is an increasing desire for people to be in charge of their own lives, and an intolerance for any lack of autonomy..."
Maybe it's just me, but social autonomy sounds like a lonely way to live.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Roofing
My darling mother, a prolific and esteemed blogger in her own right, has encouraged me to blog about my work on the roof. I think I will. That's really all I'm doing right now, and I don't have spare brain cells for anything more creative, as most of them are on emergency duty to counteract an extreme attack of vitamin D.
Has anybody ever laid down shingles? Lots of fun, isn't it? Daddy gave us all a crash course in shingling four years ago... I think it was Memorial Day. We had over a family from church, supposedly to celebrate the holiday, but actually to work on the garage roof. By the time they left, the east side was ready to shingle. Time to start making some memories for future Memorial Days! Up went Daddy and his crew of willing, albeit naive, slaves - Ardith, Sharon, Jason, Kendra, Derek, Melinda, Carolyn. Daddy cut and fit the edge shingles, and we laid down the rows. Two kids laid the shingle, two kids hammered in four nails, on to the next. It only took us till 9:00 or 9:30 P.M., when we were finally allowed to eat supper, many with severe cases of hammer wrist but - between yawns - immense pride in our accomplishment.
Later that summer a work crew from church did the other side.
Well, four years and many gusts of Iowa wind later, some shingles haven't sealed down and several have blown up. So I've been patching. Patching shingles is great fun, as you have to take out nails two shingles up in order to get the problem out. Put that one in and re-hammer everything back in. Patching shingles is almost more satisfying than laying them down fresh, because nobody can see where you patched (as long as you did it right...).
Now, do you know how to TOP patching asphalt shingles on a sunny 90-degree day? Gluing them down with asphalt roof cement, of course. Big caulk-style tubes of extremely black sticky asphalt that only gets softer and stickier under the sun. In one day you can turn those plain-old pants into a uniquely black-smeared design. Forget washing this stuff off your skin. Your best bet is to let it dry a little and then scrape it off with your fingernails (which had better be long so you can cut them afterwards). Pray that you don't get asphalt smeared onto sunburnt skin. You can avoid some of the wash-and-scrape ritual if you wear rubber latex gloves that make your hands incredibly sweaty.
Figure out a way to increase the rate and distance these guns can project asphalt, and you needn't bother learning karate.
Disclaimer: I decided to go ahead and get burnt so I can relax the rest of the summer. Don't blame my parents. They warned me.
Has anybody ever laid down shingles? Lots of fun, isn't it? Daddy gave us all a crash course in shingling four years ago... I think it was Memorial Day. We had over a family from church, supposedly to celebrate the holiday, but actually to work on the garage roof. By the time they left, the east side was ready to shingle. Time to start making some memories for future Memorial Days! Up went Daddy and his crew of willing, albeit naive, slaves - Ardith, Sharon, Jason, Kendra, Derek, Melinda, Carolyn. Daddy cut and fit the edge shingles, and we laid down the rows. Two kids laid the shingle, two kids hammered in four nails, on to the next. It only took us till 9:00 or 9:30 P.M., when we were finally allowed to eat supper, many with severe cases of hammer wrist but - between yawns - immense pride in our accomplishment.
Later that summer a work crew from church did the other side.
Well, four years and many gusts of Iowa wind later, some shingles haven't sealed down and several have blown up. So I've been patching. Patching shingles is great fun, as you have to take out nails two shingles up in order to get the problem out. Put that one in and re-hammer everything back in. Patching shingles is almost more satisfying than laying them down fresh, because nobody can see where you patched (as long as you did it right...).
Now, do you know how to TOP patching asphalt shingles on a sunny 90-degree day? Gluing them down with asphalt roof cement, of course. Big caulk-style tubes of extremely black sticky asphalt that only gets softer and stickier under the sun. In one day you can turn those plain-old pants into a uniquely black-smeared design. Forget washing this stuff off your skin. Your best bet is to let it dry a little and then scrape it off with your fingernails (which had better be long so you can cut them afterwards). Pray that you don't get asphalt smeared onto sunburnt skin. You can avoid some of the wash-and-scrape ritual if you wear rubber latex gloves that make your hands incredibly sweaty.
Figure out a way to increase the rate and distance these guns can project asphalt, and you needn't bother learning karate.
Disclaimer: I decided to go ahead and get burnt so I can relax the rest of the summer. Don't blame my parents. They warned me.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Saturday, June 04, 2005
well...
I put myself on sick leave yesterday. After five days, my sore throat finally decided to upgrade to full cold status Wednesday. Thursday night I was in bed by 11 and up by 7:30, and two hours of sleep were in there.... somewhere... last night at nine hours was a great improvement.
Anyway, I needed a book to pull me out of myself, and settled on Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain (hey - somebody else who comes up with the title before the book). Keyword for me was sterilization, more interesting since we've become a very germ-conscious family. Just like Congo, this one was full of impersonal computers and technology, and of course, that annoying ubiquitous "data". Kind of funny to read about computers in the pre-digital age. Anyway, the book became palatable once I realized that the psychological element would once again kick in. Hall in Andromeda Strain as Ross in Congo, two people chosen for their respective teams due to a computer's analyzing their personality and psychology. Ridiculous, but as long as humans triumph over technology, I don't really care. When I got to the end, I thought, "I've been duped." What was the point of the book again? Great authors can do that to you. Just so you know that it was my idea first.
Haven't yet read Jurassic Park. Its powers over me will be weaker after the movie. Still can't believe I wanted to watch that... although, I'd almost do it again, just out of sheer fascination over being that terrified.
Anyway, I was very proud of reading an entire book (269 pages) in almost 24 hours.
And if you think this post is poorly written, you win. But I ain't taking more time. Sleep is extremely precious.
Anyway, I needed a book to pull me out of myself, and settled on Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain (hey - somebody else who comes up with the title before the book). Keyword for me was sterilization, more interesting since we've become a very germ-conscious family. Just like Congo, this one was full of impersonal computers and technology, and of course, that annoying ubiquitous "data". Kind of funny to read about computers in the pre-digital age. Anyway, the book became palatable once I realized that the psychological element would once again kick in. Hall in Andromeda Strain as Ross in Congo, two people chosen for their respective teams due to a computer's analyzing their personality and psychology. Ridiculous, but as long as humans triumph over technology, I don't really care. When I got to the end, I thought, "I've been duped." What was the point of the book again? Great authors can do that to you. Just so you know that it was my idea first.
Haven't yet read Jurassic Park. Its powers over me will be weaker after the movie. Still can't believe I wanted to watch that... although, I'd almost do it again, just out of sheer fascination over being that terrified.
Anyway, I was very proud of reading an entire book (269 pages) in almost 24 hours.
And if you think this post is poorly written, you win. But I ain't taking more time. Sleep is extremely precious.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Psalm 90
Psalm 90
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
You turn man back into dust
And say, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night.
You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it fades and withers away.
For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.
You have placed our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
For all our days have declined in Your fury;
We have finished our years like a sigh.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.
Who understands the power of Your anger
And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Do return, O Lord; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Your servants.
O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants
And Your majesty to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
You turn man back into dust
And say, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night.
You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it fades and withers away.
For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.
You have placed our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
For all our days have declined in Your fury;
We have finished our years like a sigh.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.
Who understands the power of Your anger
And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Do return, O Lord; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Your servants.
O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants
And Your majesty to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Ganz verblüffender!
Suddenly the Andromeda Galaxy has tripled its size! Bet you didn't think the galaxy was expanding that fast, right?
Actually, it's just a halo of 3000 extra stars that French scientists (aided by an Hawaiian telescope) have determined to be moving with the Andromeda Galaxy. But we could see a lot more expansion if other spiral galaxies work the same way.
So eine verblüffendere Entdeckung, nicht wahr?
Such an amazing discovery, isn't it?
Isn't that a lovely word... verblüffender! Means amazing or puzzling.
Actually, it's just a halo of 3000 extra stars that French scientists (aided by an Hawaiian telescope) have determined to be moving with the Andromeda Galaxy. But we could see a lot more expansion if other spiral galaxies work the same way.
So eine verblüffendere Entdeckung, nicht wahr?
Such an amazing discovery, isn't it?
Isn't that a lovely word... verblüffender! Means amazing or puzzling.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Doublethink
Reading Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democracy, I was struck by the following excerpt (page 49) concerning German writer Leon Feuchtwanger's visit to the Soviet Union in 1937:
At the height of Stalin's repressions, when nearly the entire Soviet population was living in utter terror, Feuchtwanger offered readers in the West his impressions of the public mood:
At the height of Stalin's repressions, when nearly the entire Soviet population was living in utter terror, Feuchtwanger offered readers in the West his impressions of the public mood:
Though from time to time they criticize a minor short-coming, all the people whom I met, even those whom I met by chance, who could not have been prepared for a discussion with me, all agreed with the existing [Stalinist] system. All the vast city of Moscow was brimming with satisfaction and consent, and even more than this, happiness.
I won't pretend to be smarter than I am. I didn't know what doublethink was before reading this book. Doublethink, in the above case, would be Soviet people agreeing with the Stalinist system because they were terrified of it.
I won't pretend to be smarter than I am. I didn't know what doublethink was before reading this book. Doublethink, in the above case, would be Soviet people agreeing with the Stalinist system because they were terrified of it.
Memorial Day
May I ask you to honor the White House Memorandum for the National Moment of Remembrance?
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Sunday's reading
I was looking through a Vision Forum Family Catalog today. Here's the VisionForum website and its mission statement, if you want some background.
The heading "The Biblical Family Now and Forever!" caught my eye, so I read on...
Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. . . . He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. . . . The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. (Psalm 112:1-2, 7-8, 10)
Following these selected quotes is an extended and triumphant declaration regarding the "biblical family - now and forever!"
I did take the liberty of looking up Psalm 112, and I don't see it referring to said "biblical family", but rather the upright man.
The author (Doug Phillips) later comments, "I am reminded that teaching my children the way of Christ 'is not a vain thing; because it is [my] life.' (Deut. 32:47)"
Deuteronomy 32:46-47 reads in full: he [Moses] said to them, "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."
Perhaps I'm just nit-picking. But the "life" these verses refer to seems to be God's Word, not teaching one's children "the way of Christ".
Please don't misunderstand me. I rejoice that Vision Forum so ardently supports the God-ordained institution of family. I just think they could make their case without misquoting Scripture. Or perhaps alter their case slightly? It seems to me that "now and forever" best applies to God and His Word, unless they are extending their definition of "biblical family" beyond earthly families.
What really disturbed me was discovering that the most exciting toy in the girls' catalog was a mere top, while the boys were offered The Zip Line: The Next Best Thing to Flying. Okay, so I know life isn't fair, but you could never get me near a top if the boys were outside soaring around on a Zip Line... and I'm pretty sure I speak for all my sisters!
The heading "The Biblical Family Now and Forever!" caught my eye, so I read on...
Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. . . . He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. . . . The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. (Psalm 112:1-2, 7-8, 10)
Following these selected quotes is an extended and triumphant declaration regarding the "biblical family - now and forever!"
I did take the liberty of looking up Psalm 112, and I don't see it referring to said "biblical family", but rather the upright man.
The author (Doug Phillips) later comments, "I am reminded that teaching my children the way of Christ 'is not a vain thing; because it is [my] life.' (Deut. 32:47)"
Deuteronomy 32:46-47 reads in full: he [Moses] said to them, "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."
Perhaps I'm just nit-picking. But the "life" these verses refer to seems to be God's Word, not teaching one's children "the way of Christ".
Please don't misunderstand me. I rejoice that Vision Forum so ardently supports the God-ordained institution of family. I just think they could make their case without misquoting Scripture. Or perhaps alter their case slightly? It seems to me that "now and forever" best applies to God and His Word, unless they are extending their definition of "biblical family" beyond earthly families.
What really disturbed me was discovering that the most exciting toy in the girls' catalog was a mere top, while the boys were offered The Zip Line: The Next Best Thing to Flying. Okay, so I know life isn't fair, but you could never get me near a top if the boys were outside soaring around on a Zip Line... and I'm pretty sure I speak for all my sisters!
Overwhelmingly
Not surprisingly, the French said, "Non."
For French readers, Le Monde has all the coverage you could want and more: a special European Constitution edition, sporting a lovely red, red, and blue map, plus the entire European Constitution presently attempting ratification, if you're that ambitious.
For English readers, here is one article from BBC.
For French readers, Le Monde has all the coverage you could want and more: a special European Constitution edition, sporting a lovely red, red, and blue map, plus the entire European Constitution presently attempting ratification, if you're that ambitious.
For English readers, here is one article from BBC.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Good things
This has been a lovely end-of-the-week!
-- Daddy taught me how to mix and lay down cement. This is fun, although a little hard on the knees.
-- Jason and Kendra and Derek and I watched Shrek II last night. I prefer Shrek I, but Number II had its great moments... my personal favorite was when Prince Charming whipped his hair around (on entering the castle to look for Princess Fiona). Face it, laughing is just plain fun, but especially laughing at characters who deserve it, and most especially arrogant guys!
-- Ardith dropped by today, supposedly to pick up her new mattress, but we all know she really wanted to check her email. And now, finally, she's back online with a superb DSL connection, reportedly three times faster than ours! I can feel her enjoying it right now.
-- I am drinking Bigelow's Constant Comment Tea... for the uninitiated, this is black tea "deliciously flavored with rind of oranges and sweet spice". Mmmmm. And looking forward to reading French online, as I did last night, and the night before that... mmmm.
May God bless your Sunday.
-- Daddy taught me how to mix and lay down cement. This is fun, although a little hard on the knees.
-- Jason and Kendra and Derek and I watched Shrek II last night. I prefer Shrek I, but Number II had its great moments... my personal favorite was when Prince Charming whipped his hair around (on entering the castle to look for Princess Fiona). Face it, laughing is just plain fun, but especially laughing at characters who deserve it, and most especially arrogant guys!
-- Ardith dropped by today, supposedly to pick up her new mattress, but we all know she really wanted to check her email. And now, finally, she's back online with a superb DSL connection, reportedly three times faster than ours! I can feel her enjoying it right now.
-- I am drinking Bigelow's Constant Comment Tea... for the uninitiated, this is black tea "deliciously flavored with rind of oranges and sweet spice". Mmmmm. And looking forward to reading French online, as I did last night, and the night before that... mmmm.
May God bless your Sunday.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Terrorism and the French
Le Monde held an interview with Pierre de Bousquet, head of France's territorial surveillance, which included the following exchange:
You speak of the "adversary" where the Americans speak of the "enemy". Is the concept of "the war against terror" inapplicable in Europe?
Our response is judiciary, not military. To compare the antiterrorist struggle to a war increases the risks, for it gives the terrorists extra acknowledgement and rumor. Recourse to immoderate force fuels resentment and hate against democracies. In this respect, the Guantanamo dentention camp has doubtless been counterproductive, by rallying to our adversaries' cause individuals who indentified themselves with their Islamic brothers - brothers apparently chained and taken outside of all legal framework.
You speak of the "adversary" where the Americans speak of the "enemy". Is the concept of "the war against terror" inapplicable in Europe?
Our response is judiciary, not military. To compare the antiterrorist struggle to a war increases the risks, for it gives the terrorists extra acknowledgement and rumor. Recourse to immoderate force fuels resentment and hate against democracies. In this respect, the Guantanamo dentention camp has doubtless been counterproductive, by rallying to our adversaries' cause individuals who indentified themselves with their Islamic brothers - brothers apparently chained and taken outside of all legal framework.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Time
Everyone knows that big arguments are over little things. Our family has two camps: the Analog Camp and the Digital Camp. Let's defer to the opposition. The DC is mostly guys who think all watches, alarm clocks, and other public displays of time should be digital. The AC is mostly girls who prefer the analog format.
Now I'm definitely in the AC camp. A clock face helps me visualize time and where I am in it. But I began to wonder... is this because my mind sees time analogously? No.
(If you have ever tried to translate your mental processes into language, you will be kind)
"Time, like an ever-rolling stream..." Let's try that again - Time, like an ever-rolling strip of white tape, on which the times are all digitally entered, begins with 1:00 (A.M. or P.M.) and runs up an inclined plane to 12:00, only to drop off more sharply and begin at 1:00 again. Picture running up the triangle's hyptonuse and falling off the shortest side. This is (very roughly) how time appears to my brain. Analog and digital processes following alarmingly mathematical patterns to attempt reconciling time's infinity with my finite mind.
I'd be very interested to hear how your mind sees time.
Now I'm definitely in the AC camp. A clock face helps me visualize time and where I am in it. But I began to wonder... is this because my mind sees time analogously? No.
(If you have ever tried to translate your mental processes into language, you will be kind)
"Time, like an ever-rolling stream..." Let's try that again - Time, like an ever-rolling strip of white tape, on which the times are all digitally entered, begins with 1:00 (A.M. or P.M.) and runs up an inclined plane to 12:00, only to drop off more sharply and begin at 1:00 again. Picture running up the triangle's hyptonuse and falling off the shortest side. This is (very roughly) how time appears to my brain. Analog and digital processes following alarmingly mathematical patterns to attempt reconciling time's infinity with my finite mind.
I'd be very interested to hear how your mind sees time.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Wheee!
This is so much fun, it deserves its own post!
I am very lucky - ah, blessed. My computer's crashed! Which means, of course, that I get to recline out here on the living room carpet, using Daddy's wireless keyboard and mouse to surf the Web on our new entertainment center... complete with widescreen monitor.
My sympathies to all you computer desk prisoners.
I am very lucky - ah, blessed. My computer's crashed! Which means, of course, that I get to recline out here on the living room carpet, using Daddy's wireless keyboard and mouse to surf the Web on our new entertainment center... complete with widescreen monitor.
My sympathies to all you computer desk prisoners.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
All growed up
Today some of us drove down with Ardith and her stuff to help her move it all in. She's happily settling into her Cedar Rapids apartment.
By the way. Ardith is the best sister ever.
By the way. Ardith is the best sister ever.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Weekend entertainment
Friday and Saturday night -- Jason and I watched Gods and Generals. Ardith attempted to watch it with us, but the slow battles scenes finally drove her off.
I was trying to decide whether the acting was overdone or underdone... then we hit our first battle, and suddenly two lines of men were charging at each other. Why? Men were dying. Why? Each side prayed for God's aid. Why? Yes, I know that sounds naive and stale. This film's war was different from modern war, when the enemy is often in a tank or bunker. Different from Lord of the Rings war, where men are fighting orcs. To me, this film's war = men killing each other till one side loses more. Horrible.
Saturday evening -- Ardith and I went out for supper and then hastily grabbed a parking place and our Star Wars tickets. We both enjoyed it. My condensed evaluation: somewhat weak acting and plot line, excellent visual effects. For me, a visually decent film is good enough, because I don't watch movies; I live them. Did make me cry.
Currently reading That Hideous Strength, some of my favorite lines:
" 'Hope not for minde in women; at their best
Sweetness and wit, they are but Mummy possest.' " (p. 16)
John Donne's entire poem is here. Don't ask me to explain it. But that quote is funny!
" 'That's why Camilla and I got married,' said Denniston as they drove off. 'We both like Weather. Not this or that kind of weather, but just Weather. It's a useful taste if one lives in England.' " (p. 113)
I was trying to decide whether the acting was overdone or underdone... then we hit our first battle, and suddenly two lines of men were charging at each other. Why? Men were dying. Why? Each side prayed for God's aid. Why? Yes, I know that sounds naive and stale. This film's war was different from modern war, when the enemy is often in a tank or bunker. Different from Lord of the Rings war, where men are fighting orcs. To me, this film's war = men killing each other till one side loses more. Horrible.
Saturday evening -- Ardith and I went out for supper and then hastily grabbed a parking place and our Star Wars tickets. We both enjoyed it. My condensed evaluation: somewhat weak acting and plot line, excellent visual effects. For me, a visually decent film is good enough, because I don't watch movies; I live them. Did make me cry.
Currently reading That Hideous Strength, some of my favorite lines:
" 'Hope not for minde in women; at their best
Sweetness and wit, they are but Mummy possest.' " (p. 16)
John Donne's entire poem is here. Don't ask me to explain it. But that quote is funny!
" 'That's why Camilla and I got married,' said Denniston as they drove off. 'We both like Weather. Not this or that kind of weather, but just Weather. It's a useful taste if one lives in England.' " (p. 113)
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Forward to the Past
Sorry I haven't been posting more regularly. If one has a blog and expects others to read it, seems only fair for said one to keep it up. Please don't think I leave posts up for days because I think they're worth multiple readings and comment watches. Please don't think I'm lazy. Please just think I must be busy.
For those of you who are into Star Wars! - here's something fun: reviews of the original Star Wars movies (plus the newer ones). New York Times has had this section up all week... but in case you haven't read them yet, here are some teasers...
Star Wars [A New Hope]
"I have a particular fondness for the look of the interior of a gigantic satellite called the Death Star, a place full of the kind of waste space one finds today only in old Fifth Avenue mansions and public libraries." -- Vincent Canby, 5/26/77
The Empire Strikes Back
"The first film's off-handed gags have virtually been cast in bronze; the comic shabbiness of all the space gadgetry, for example, has been expanded from a casual giggle to a full-scale running gag." -- Janet Maslin, 5/21/80
Return of the Jedi
"Does Princess Leia do her own hair or does she pay someone to make it look that way?... Will Darth Vader sacrifice his only begotten son so that evil might triumph? And, speaking of Vader, when he takes off his mask, what is underneath? James Earl Jones? David Prowse? A cantaloupe?" -- Vincent Canby, 5/25/83
Definitely funny to see Canby's first hopeful review slide into cynicism six years later!
While I'm at it, may as well throw these in for free...
The Phantom Menace
"... Anakin seems to be here mostly to try out the film's many toys. Only in the bland conception of Anakin is "The Phantom Menace" really undermined by its own innate boyishness. There's no hint of the future in him, though the audience knows this is one high-pitched voice that's really going to change." -- Janet Maslin, 5/19/99
Attack of the Clones
"But where are the clones? Send in the clones! Patience, young Jedi. They're already here, on a distant, storm-tossed planet, waiting for their big climactic battle scene. First, however, you must attend to the political turmoil that threatens the stability of the republic." -- A. O. Scott, 5/10/02
You may need to sign up online in order to access these (and other New York Times) articles. Only costs five minutes.
For those of you who are into Star Wars! - here's something fun: reviews of the original Star Wars movies (plus the newer ones). New York Times has had this section up all week... but in case you haven't read them yet, here are some teasers...
Star Wars [A New Hope]
"I have a particular fondness for the look of the interior of a gigantic satellite called the Death Star, a place full of the kind of waste space one finds today only in old Fifth Avenue mansions and public libraries." -- Vincent Canby, 5/26/77
The Empire Strikes Back
"The first film's off-handed gags have virtually been cast in bronze; the comic shabbiness of all the space gadgetry, for example, has been expanded from a casual giggle to a full-scale running gag." -- Janet Maslin, 5/21/80
Return of the Jedi
"Does Princess Leia do her own hair or does she pay someone to make it look that way?... Will Darth Vader sacrifice his only begotten son so that evil might triumph? And, speaking of Vader, when he takes off his mask, what is underneath? James Earl Jones? David Prowse? A cantaloupe?" -- Vincent Canby, 5/25/83
Definitely funny to see Canby's first hopeful review slide into cynicism six years later!
While I'm at it, may as well throw these in for free...
The Phantom Menace
"... Anakin seems to be here mostly to try out the film's many toys. Only in the bland conception of Anakin is "The Phantom Menace" really undermined by its own innate boyishness. There's no hint of the future in him, though the audience knows this is one high-pitched voice that's really going to change." -- Janet Maslin, 5/19/99
Attack of the Clones
"But where are the clones? Send in the clones! Patience, young Jedi. They're already here, on a distant, storm-tossed planet, waiting for their big climactic battle scene. First, however, you must attend to the political turmoil that threatens the stability of the republic." -- A. O. Scott, 5/10/02
You may need to sign up online in order to access these (and other New York Times) articles. Only costs five minutes.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
It was a Dark and Quiet Saturday Night...
3:30 A.M.
Two college alumnae slept.
3:31 A.M.
Into their sweet slumber broke a
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
pulling the younger out of her dream, a sound she'd come to hear with the same nostalgic familiarity as the summer cricket concerts, crickets maintaining monotone and distinctively dragging Gregorian chants on just those two or three discordant tones which pierce to the dividing of slumber and sleeplessness... only this time she realized, heart sinking, this time the
... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
had no intention of stopping - as it usually did - the whole reason she looked back on the cricket chants with decidedly nostalgic familiarity. She stumbled out of bed to try the only measure she knew, which was pressing the plug-in behind the device to make sure it was securely plugged. But unfortunately, this did not stop the
... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
as it usually did. In horror she realized the terrible struggle for power then taking place within the device. For the device was a Uninterruptible Power Supply responsible for maintaining the residence's Wireless Internet Connection through power outages. This room, the scene of the piercingly present
... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
and underneath, the distressingly pre-digital and archaic sound of the UPS attempting to regain power, archaic due to its extremely loud
CLICK-click... CLICK-click...
no, this room was not a bedroom, despite the cleverly suggestive furnishings... the bunkbed, the twin bed, the two dressers and closetful of girls' clothes, the large mirror and the shoe rack...no, this room was the house's Central Processing Unit, and the girl stumbled out of bed not to quiet the device but to preserve the all-important Wireless Connection. Unhappily, her efforts failed... she dropped back into bed... the UPS continued its struggle alone...
...BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
undergirded by the
... CLICK-click... CLICK-click...
...and finally won. Its guardian relaxed into the peace of a once more silent and dark room, dark except for the rythmically flashing lights that signaled a newly smooth wireless connection, and between those green flashes
flash... flash... flash...
considered that the BEEPs must not have been at a volume high enough to wake the ten other sleeping residents on the floor, as there was no stumbling rush of groggily panicked computer addicts... the green lights flashed on
flash... flash... flash...
and she fell back into dreams... dreams which she would distinctly remember on waking the next morning, and thereafter distinctly try to forget.
Two college alumnae slept.
3:31 A.M.
Into their sweet slumber broke a
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
pulling the younger out of her dream, a sound she'd come to hear with the same nostalgic familiarity as the summer cricket concerts, crickets maintaining monotone and distinctively dragging Gregorian chants on just those two or three discordant tones which pierce to the dividing of slumber and sleeplessness... only this time she realized, heart sinking, this time the
... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
had no intention of stopping - as it usually did - the whole reason she looked back on the cricket chants with decidedly nostalgic familiarity. She stumbled out of bed to try the only measure she knew, which was pressing the plug-in behind the device to make sure it was securely plugged. But unfortunately, this did not stop the
... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
as it usually did. In horror she realized the terrible struggle for power then taking place within the device. For the device was a Uninterruptible Power Supply responsible for maintaining the residence's Wireless Internet Connection through power outages. This room, the scene of the piercingly present
... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
and underneath, the distressingly pre-digital and archaic sound of the UPS attempting to regain power, archaic due to its extremely loud
CLICK-click... CLICK-click...
no, this room was not a bedroom, despite the cleverly suggestive furnishings... the bunkbed, the twin bed, the two dressers and closetful of girls' clothes, the large mirror and the shoe rack...no, this room was the house's Central Processing Unit, and the girl stumbled out of bed not to quiet the device but to preserve the all-important Wireless Connection. Unhappily, her efforts failed... she dropped back into bed... the UPS continued its struggle alone...
...BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
undergirded by the
... CLICK-click... CLICK-click...
...and finally won. Its guardian relaxed into the peace of a once more silent and dark room, dark except for the rythmically flashing lights that signaled a newly smooth wireless connection, and between those green flashes
flash... flash... flash...
considered that the BEEPs must not have been at a volume high enough to wake the ten other sleeping residents on the floor, as there was no stumbling rush of groggily panicked computer addicts... the green lights flashed on
flash... flash... flash...
and she fell back into dreams... dreams which she would distinctly remember on waking the next morning, and thereafter distinctly try to forget.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Out of Context, April / May Edition
And the Ides roll around again. Quotes have been scarcer the last couple months. Or maybe I'm just not listening!
Derek: "Be polite and let me go first."
Carolyn (very giggly): "You're crushing me!"
Sharon (also very giggly): "I am-m-m?"
Carolyn: "I'm crushed!"
Ethan: "I know what I was born for! To be loud!"
Ethan: "I'll be there in a minute."
Carolyn: "Okay, I guess I'm King of the Mountain. Bye - - Prince."
Ethan (concerning boys' laundry): "It was 2 feet by 2 feet, compacted--"
Kendra: "Really."
Ethan: "--like 500 clothes in 1 square foot!"
--En route to Texas--
Carolyn (after 10 minutes): "Well, the van seems to be stickin' together."
Jason: "I don't call that a sprawling suburbs. I call that an irresolute housing development."
Derek: "Be polite and let me go first."
Carolyn (very giggly): "You're crushing me!"
Sharon (also very giggly): "I am-m-m?"
Carolyn: "I'm crushed!"
Ethan: "I know what I was born for! To be loud!"
Ethan: "I'll be there in a minute."
Carolyn: "Okay, I guess I'm King of the Mountain. Bye - - Prince."
Ethan (concerning boys' laundry): "It was 2 feet by 2 feet, compacted--"
Kendra: "Really."
Ethan: "--like 500 clothes in 1 square foot!"
--En route to Texas--
Carolyn (after 10 minutes): "Well, the van seems to be stickin' together."
Jason: "I don't call that a sprawling suburbs. I call that an irresolute housing development."
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Back at it
Oh yes, we're definitely back. Most of the way. My muscles are sore from all the exercise they got on the 9-hour drive from Oklahoma to here... that is, jaw muscles from beef jerky.
I could write an extremely long post about the trip, which I'm sure would bore you, so I'll just hit the high points:
-- Announcing the graduation of A.A.H.! The First Child has made it!
-- You thought "Scattergories" was fun if you played it traditionally? We and our cousins came up with a great new version.
That's all I feel like typing tonight, since I typed a long email earlier. However, I did read this article in U.S. News & World Report. It's encouraging to consider that relativism cannot erase man's innate longing to know God.
I could write an extremely long post about the trip, which I'm sure would bore you, so I'll just hit the high points:
-- Announcing the graduation of A.A.H.! The First Child has made it!
-- You thought "Scattergories" was fun if you played it traditionally? We and our cousins came up with a great new version.
That's all I feel like typing tonight, since I typed a long email earlier. However, I did read this article in U.S. News & World Report. It's encouraging to consider that relativism cannot erase man's innate longing to know God.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Spring means flowers and bunnies
Before leaving, and to celebrate spring and Ardith's graduation, I thought you might enjoy these three different views of our budding orchard, from west to east, each shot beautifully balanced.
In the first, a dainty little cherry tree against dead corn stubble.
In the second, looking down the orchard to the old blue van and the unfinished garage.
In the third, two blossoming cherry trees with just a hint of burnpile beyond.
And here's The Bunny-Boy. Aww, you don't want to chase this little guy away, do you?
In the first, a dainty little cherry tree against dead corn stubble.
In the second, looking down the orchard to the old blue van and the unfinished garage.
In the third, two blossoming cherry trees with just a hint of burnpile beyond.
And here's The Bunny-Boy. Aww, you don't want to chase this little guy away, do you?
Sunday, May 01, 2005
C.S.L.
Heh heh. Guess that quote was confusing - sounded more like a devotional than science fiction.
"All His biddings are joys" is from C. S. Lewis's Perelandra, second book in his space trilogy.
C. S. Lewis keeps making comments that halt my mind. Here are a few.
It was not really like a woman making much of a horse, nor yet a child playing with a puppy. There was in her face an authority, in her caresses a condescension, which by taking seriously the inferiority of her adorers made them somehow less inferior -- raised them from the status of pets to that of slaves. (p. 65)
"I thought," she said, "that I was carried in the will of Him I love, but now I see that I walk with it. I thought that the good things He sent me drew me into them as the waves lift the islands; but now I see that it is I who plunge into them with my own legs and arms, as when we go swimming. I feel as if I were living in that roofless world of yours where men walk undefended beneath naked heaven. It is a delight with terror in it! One's own self to be walking from one good to another, walking beside Him as Himself may walk, not even holding hands. How has He made me so separate from Himself? How did it enter His mind to conceive such a thing? The world is so much larger than I thought. I thought we went along paths -- but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path." (pp. 69-70)
"The world leaps forward through great men and greatness always transcends mere moralism." (p. 95)
. . . and then, sweeter than all, the suggestion that he had been brought there not to do anything but only as a spectator or a witness. (p. 107)
The last one I understand now, not just mentally, but experientially. God's why is usually beyond me. But I wonder less, when I think that perhaps He means for me to sit and watch instead of doing.
"All His biddings are joys" is from C. S. Lewis's Perelandra, second book in his space trilogy.
C. S. Lewis keeps making comments that halt my mind. Here are a few.
It was not really like a woman making much of a horse, nor yet a child playing with a puppy. There was in her face an authority, in her caresses a condescension, which by taking seriously the inferiority of her adorers made them somehow less inferior -- raised them from the status of pets to that of slaves. (p. 65)
"I thought," she said, "that I was carried in the will of Him I love, but now I see that I walk with it. I thought that the good things He sent me drew me into them as the waves lift the islands; but now I see that it is I who plunge into them with my own legs and arms, as when we go swimming. I feel as if I were living in that roofless world of yours where men walk undefended beneath naked heaven. It is a delight with terror in it! One's own self to be walking from one good to another, walking beside Him as Himself may walk, not even holding hands. How has He made me so separate from Himself? How did it enter His mind to conceive such a thing? The world is so much larger than I thought. I thought we went along paths -- but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path." (pp. 69-70)
"The world leaps forward through great men and greatness always transcends mere moralism." (p. 95)
. . . and then, sweeter than all, the suggestion that he had been brought there not to do anything but only as a spectator or a witness. (p. 107)
The last one I understand now, not just mentally, but experientially. God's why is usually beyond me. But I wonder less, when I think that perhaps He means for me to sit and watch instead of doing.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
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?
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?
Friday, April 29, 2005
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.
"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.
Monday, April 25, 2005
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
*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
Thursday, April 21, 2005
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."
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."
Monday, April 18, 2005
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.
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.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
"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!
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!
Friday, April 15, 2005
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!
-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!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
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!
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!
Monday, April 11, 2005
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.
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.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Forget that bowl of cherries
Life is like applying minimal expanding sealant.
It makes your hand sore, and there's no pause button.
It makes your hand sore, and there's no pause button.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
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!
Coming home.
Especially coming home when the classical station is playing Bach's music!
Monday, April 04, 2005
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.
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.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
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?
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?
Thursday, March 31, 2005
odds and ends
Technology
Thanks to Daddy's latest upgrading session on my computer, I can finally use my beautiful new wireless keyboard and mouse, which is definitely boosting my motivation to post! If you love to type, if you have spent hours trying to beat the typing tutor's impossible game, and find your fingers tapping out on an imaginary keyboard the words you hear from the TV, then you will understand my joy in typing on a new and a good keyboard!
Culture
I'm thinking of starting a 50s club. Want to join?
Of course not, it has nothing to do with the decade! Think. What could the daughter of a heart transplantee be referring to? Heart rate, of course. After spending approximately ten minutes thinking about it, I'm convinced that those of us with a resting heart rate of about 50 must be psychologically different from other people, and I'd like to explore those differences, for the purpose of proving our superiority, of course.
Wine & Dining
I have not yet had "the drink" and I think that enjoying a delicious beverage at my computer constitutes dining. Careful observers will realize the above is a transition sentence artfully stated to arouse curiosity over this beverage which is obviously (yet somehow also subtly and delicately) being favorably compared to wine.
Basically that's a cheap ad for what was just in my glass, a drink of 3.66 parts water to 3.66 parts milk (math addicts may simplify as desired). Better than skim because it has all the fat, just spread out a little more. In other words, you can drink more of what looks like milk and not have a stomach revolt.. if that sort of thing plagues you. How to manage the taste? It's all in your mind. Don't think of it as milk watered down. Think of it as water milked up.
Enjoy your day!
Thanks to Daddy's latest upgrading session on my computer, I can finally use my beautiful new wireless keyboard and mouse, which is definitely boosting my motivation to post! If you love to type, if you have spent hours trying to beat the typing tutor's impossible game, and find your fingers tapping out on an imaginary keyboard the words you hear from the TV, then you will understand my joy in typing on a new and a good keyboard!
Culture
I'm thinking of starting a 50s club. Want to join?
Of course not, it has nothing to do with the decade! Think. What could the daughter of a heart transplantee be referring to? Heart rate, of course. After spending approximately ten minutes thinking about it, I'm convinced that those of us with a resting heart rate of about 50 must be psychologically different from other people, and I'd like to explore those differences, for the purpose of proving our superiority, of course.
Wine & Dining
I have not yet had "the drink" and I think that enjoying a delicious beverage at my computer constitutes dining. Careful observers will realize the above is a transition sentence artfully stated to arouse curiosity over this beverage which is obviously (yet somehow also subtly and delicately) being favorably compared to wine.
Basically that's a cheap ad for what was just in my glass, a drink of 3.66 parts water to 3.66 parts milk (math addicts may simplify as desired). Better than skim because it has all the fat, just spread out a little more. In other words, you can drink more of what looks like milk and not have a stomach revolt.. if that sort of thing plagues you. How to manage the taste? It's all in your mind. Don't think of it as milk watered down. Think of it as water milked up.
Enjoy your day!
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Easter
Matthew 28:1-9
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Out of Context, March edition
A little late
But worth the wait?
(I hope)
Ethan (on my receiving mail from Grandpa): "We had a very secret conversation going, and you don't have to interrupt. It was very secret, between me and Grandpa."
Derek: "It's nutty to waste time."
Mommy: "Nolan! This is a big day! You lost your first tooth! Now go look in the mirror."
Ethan: "You'll see a lot of blood."
Derek (commenting on packaged mixes): "Plastic processed food flavored with dead herbs - eewww."
Jason: "What an unmitigated piece of junk!"
Sharon: "Ardith got a speeding ticket?"
Jason: "Ardith got a speeding ticket!"
Derek: "Ardith got a speeding ticket? Yesss..." (almost under breath)
Kendra: "What's this about Ardith getting a speeding ticket?... Whooaa..."
Kendra (wonderingly): "Baked apples?"
Jason: "Yes, Ardith prides herself on thinking she can cook."
--Special thanks to Ardith for supplying half my quotes this month!--
But worth the wait?
(I hope)
Ethan (on my receiving mail from Grandpa): "We had a very secret conversation going, and you don't have to interrupt. It was very secret, between me and Grandpa."
Derek: "It's nutty to waste time."
Mommy: "Nolan! This is a big day! You lost your first tooth! Now go look in the mirror."
Ethan: "You'll see a lot of blood."
Derek (commenting on packaged mixes): "Plastic processed food flavored with dead herbs - eewww."
Jason: "What an unmitigated piece of junk!"
Sharon: "Ardith got a speeding ticket?"
Jason: "Ardith got a speeding ticket!"
Derek: "Ardith got a speeding ticket? Yesss..." (almost under breath)
Kendra: "What's this about Ardith getting a speeding ticket?... Whooaa..."
Kendra (wonderingly): "Baked apples?"
Jason: "Yes, Ardith prides herself on thinking she can cook."
--Special thanks to Ardith for supplying half my quotes this month!--
Euromediterránea
The Spanish president José Zapatero made some interesting points today in his speech before Arab League leaders, reported by abc.es.
"Liberty is the best barrier to intolerance and fanaticism," he said, proposing an Alliance of Civilizations, which he and Kofi Annan have in the works.
Democratic reforms are now "changes perceived as necessary for Arab peoples and governments."
He called for definitive action in order to avoid "a wall more subtle and dense" than the Berlin Wall, this one rising between the West and the Arab World.
He also said that "cada cultura es una forma absolutamente legitima de aproximarse a la realidad"; that is, "each culture is an absolutely legitimate form of approaching reality."
Finally, he called on his fellow Spanish citizens to be "traductores" (translators) in this effort, that is, "facilitadores de diálogos".
This determined call for new efforts in Western-Arab relations shouldn't be surprising, though Zapatero takes a more diplomatic tack than President Bush first pursued. Americans and Spaniards understand terrorism's threat on a very personal level.
"Liberty is the best barrier to intolerance and fanaticism," he said, proposing an Alliance of Civilizations, which he and Kofi Annan have in the works.
Democratic reforms are now "changes perceived as necessary for Arab peoples and governments."
He called for definitive action in order to avoid "a wall more subtle and dense" than the Berlin Wall, this one rising between the West and the Arab World.
He also said that "cada cultura es una forma absolutamente legitima de aproximarse a la realidad"; that is, "each culture is an absolutely legitimate form of approaching reality."
Finally, he called on his fellow Spanish citizens to be "traductores" (translators) in this effort, that is, "facilitadores de diálogos".
This determined call for new efforts in Western-Arab relations shouldn't be surprising, though Zapatero takes a more diplomatic tack than President Bush first pursued. Americans and Spaniards understand terrorism's threat on a very personal level.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Now breathing without technological support
Now, there are two ways we can look at this...
--Oops. Guess I haven't posted in a while.
--Hooray! What a milestone! No blog posts for an entire week!
Blogging incentive is running low because my computer is under for repairs. I'm afraid it may drive Daddy nuts if he can't figure out why it keeps rebooting.
But, that's fine with me. I don't survive on my computer. Only thing I miss is my foreign language radio. And meanwhile, there are plenty of other computers in the lab to use... at least, during school hours and pending successful applications for permission.
--Oops. Guess I haven't posted in a while.
--Hooray! What a milestone! No blog posts for an entire week!
Blogging incentive is running low because my computer is under for repairs. I'm afraid it may drive Daddy nuts if he can't figure out why it keeps rebooting.
But, that's fine with me. I don't survive on my computer. Only thing I miss is my foreign language radio. And meanwhile, there are plenty of other computers in the lab to use... at least, during school hours and pending successful applications for permission.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Milton on Blank Verse
From Richard Eberhart's introduction to Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.
"The measure [of Paradise Lost] is English Heroic Verse without Rime, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; Rime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works especially, but the Invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Metre. . ."
"Not without cause therefore some both Italian and Spanish Poets of prime note have rejected Rime both in longer and shorter Works, as have also long since our best English Tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt Numbers, fit quantity of Syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one Verse into another, not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned Ancients both in Poetry and all good Oratory. This neglect then of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vulgar Readers, that it rather is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to Heroic Poem from the troublesome and modern bondage of Riming."
What do you think?
"The measure [of Paradise Lost] is English Heroic Verse without Rime, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; Rime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works especially, but the Invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Metre. . ."
"Not without cause therefore some both Italian and Spanish Poets of prime note have rejected Rime both in longer and shorter Works, as have also long since our best English Tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt Numbers, fit quantity of Syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one Verse into another, not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned Ancients both in Poetry and all good Oratory. This neglect then of Rime so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vulgar Readers, that it rather is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to Heroic Poem from the troublesome and modern bondage of Riming."
What do you think?
Saturday, March 12, 2005
And The Stick moves on. . .
Thanks to Rebekah, who passed this on to me.
1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
(I had to look up "Fahrenheit 451" on Google to understand this reference, just to show how ignorant I am)
[Updated, thanks to Crystal's helpful comment] I would have to pick Emma. Not just for its main character, but for its 'feel'.
2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Oh, definitely! Mr. Knightley in Austen's Emma. If I could be any fictional character, I would be Emma, because Mr. Knightley seems like one of the finest men imagineable. Let's hope there is a Mr. Knightley in the real world!
3. The last book you bought was...?
Good question - what was the last book I bought? Because, you see, I ordered a set of five. I'll just pick one at random - The Practice of the Presence of God, with Spiritual Maxims, by Brother Lawrence. I was delighted to get this little book, because it seems to me that the Christian life is learning to be more and more present with God.
4. The last book you read was...?
I guess that means "read and finished." That would be Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, by Mark Crispin Miller. Now, I always thought the media was slanted to the left, but after reading this book one would think every news anchor and journalist was a rightist fanatical Republican. Miller seems to be a liberal libertarian, which is an interesting mindset to explore.
5. What are you currently reading?
Too many books at once, as usual. I'll try to be honest.
In progress...
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver
El Sombrero de Tres Picos, by D. Pedro A. de Alarcón, edited by Benjamin P. Bourland
Die Trapp-Familie, by Maria Augusta Trapp
Beautiful in God's Eyes, by Elizabeth George
Founding Mothers - The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts
There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale, by Sean Astin, with Joe Layden
The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by Edith Schaeffer
And two that need to be resumed...
The Iliad, by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler, edited by Louise Ropes Loomis
Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis, second book in his Space Trilogy
Now you really don't want commentary on all those, do you? I didn't think so. But I do have some excuse for having so much current reading, because some of them must be read in stages.
6. Five books you would take to a desert island?
Easy!
-my Updated New American Standard Bible
-the Complete Works of Shakespeare
-My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
-Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, John Milton
-my Greek New Testament
What three people are you passing this stick on to and why?
Can I make it four?
My English major friends at Grace will come up with great responses... Crystal, Laura, and Anne Elizabeth (whom I can't link for you because I haven't asked her permission yet).
And Mommy. Just to see what you'll do with it, Mommy!
And anyone else who visits this site is free to post their ideas on their own, or comment on mine, if you so wish. Books are always worth discussing!
1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
(I had to look up "Fahrenheit 451" on Google to understand this reference, just to show how ignorant I am)
[Updated, thanks to Crystal's helpful comment] I would have to pick Emma. Not just for its main character, but for its 'feel'.
2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Oh, definitely! Mr. Knightley in Austen's Emma. If I could be any fictional character, I would be Emma, because Mr. Knightley seems like one of the finest men imagineable. Let's hope there is a Mr. Knightley in the real world!
3. The last book you bought was...?
Good question - what was the last book I bought? Because, you see, I ordered a set of five. I'll just pick one at random - The Practice of the Presence of God, with Spiritual Maxims, by Brother Lawrence. I was delighted to get this little book, because it seems to me that the Christian life is learning to be more and more present with God.
4. The last book you read was...?
I guess that means "read and finished." That would be Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, by Mark Crispin Miller. Now, I always thought the media was slanted to the left, but after reading this book one would think every news anchor and journalist was a rightist fanatical Republican. Miller seems to be a liberal libertarian, which is an interesting mindset to explore.
5. What are you currently reading?
Too many books at once, as usual. I'll try to be honest.
In progress...
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver
El Sombrero de Tres Picos, by D. Pedro A. de Alarcón, edited by Benjamin P. Bourland
Die Trapp-Familie, by Maria Augusta Trapp
Beautiful in God's Eyes, by Elizabeth George
Founding Mothers - The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts
There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale, by Sean Astin, with Joe Layden
The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by Edith Schaeffer
And two that need to be resumed...
The Iliad, by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler, edited by Louise Ropes Loomis
Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis, second book in his Space Trilogy
Now you really don't want commentary on all those, do you? I didn't think so. But I do have some excuse for having so much current reading, because some of them must be read in stages.
6. Five books you would take to a desert island?
Easy!
-my Updated New American Standard Bible
-the Complete Works of Shakespeare
-My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
-Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, John Milton
-my Greek New Testament
What three people are you passing this stick on to and why?
Can I make it four?
My English major friends at Grace will come up with great responses... Crystal, Laura, and Anne Elizabeth (whom I can't link for you because I haven't asked her permission yet).
And Mommy. Just to see what you'll do with it, Mommy!
And anyone else who visits this site is free to post their ideas on their own, or comment on mine, if you so wish. Books are always worth discussing!
Friday, March 11, 2005
Happy March
So many lovely things have happened, and it's only March 11!
~A $100 tax refund!
~Finishing War and Peace, all 1136 pages of small print. I don't think I'll ever forget that number.
~Seeing our beautiful Iowa capitol buildings for myself. Photos will be coming.
~New library books, including Milton's Paradise Lost and the complete works of Scott.
~Ardith and Heather coming up for spring break! Think of them, they're traveling all day tomorrow.
~And of course, to be redundant, poetry.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
~And best of all, knowing that the best is yet to come.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:4
~A $100 tax refund!
~Finishing War and Peace, all 1136 pages of small print. I don't think I'll ever forget that number.
~Seeing our beautiful Iowa capitol buildings for myself. Photos will be coming.
~New library books, including Milton's Paradise Lost and the complete works of Scott.
~Ardith and Heather coming up for spring break! Think of them, they're traveling all day tomorrow.
~And of course, to be redundant, poetry.
A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
~And best of all, knowing that the best is yet to come.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Colossians 3:4
Monday, March 07, 2005
Two bits
Last night, reading Mark Crisipin Miller's Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order, I had to laugh at this reasoning!
The World Trade Center had been bombed a few months earlier, and Clinton surely grasped the Islamist threat; but the rightist drive against him hampered his ability to fight that danger with the proper force and concentration. (p. 131)
And what about Martha? What is she up to today? Who would like not to know? This morning Drudge Report had this article by Christopher Byron.
The World Trade Center had been bombed a few months earlier, and Clinton surely grasped the Islamist threat; but the rightist drive against him hampered his ability to fight that danger with the proper force and concentration. (p. 131)
And what about Martha? What is she up to today? Who would like not to know? This morning Drudge Report had this article by Christopher Byron.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Saturday evening's hymn
I love the old Mennonite hymns, even without the music, and I thought this would be a good one, whether you read it tonight or tomorrow.
My God, how endless is Thy love!
Thy gifts are every evening new;
And morning mercies from above
Gently distill like early dew.
Thou spread'st the curtains of the night
Great Guardian of my sleeping hours;
Thy sov'reign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers.
I yield my powers to Thy command;
To Thee I consecrate my days;
Perpetual blessings from Thine hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.
-Isaac Watts, 1709
My God, how endless is Thy love!
Thy gifts are every evening new;
And morning mercies from above
Gently distill like early dew.
Thou spread'st the curtains of the night
Great Guardian of my sleeping hours;
Thy sov'reign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers.
I yield my powers to Thy command;
To Thee I consecrate my days;
Perpetual blessings from Thine hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.
-Isaac Watts, 1709
Thursday, March 03, 2005
What's happenin'
Actually, not that much, and why anyone would want to hear about my life - that is the unanswerable question. I shy away from diary-style blogging, while avidly reading it in blogs of friends. But I have to remember that some readers don't live with me in the house, and some of those don't read Mommy's blog (in which case, please let me refer you to the "Pa and Ma Hoyt" link on the sidebar).
Daddy and Mommy have been home for a month now, which is just dandy with this little girl! Daddy is much, much better... he is up and around the entire day, exercises every day, takes the stairs twice as fast as before and many more times a day. He has upgraded all the computers in our computer lab (with Jason's help), set up a computer for Trevor, has both his upstairs and downstairs computers running, and he upgraded Mommy's as well (mixed results still coming in). He and Jason have been setting up high-definition TV in our living room, adding a 21-inch monitor above the TV with superior colors and clarity. Sadly, Daddy has a cold right now.
Well, what can I say about Mommy that she doesn't already post on her blog? She's also back into the home routine, including her janitorial job at the church up the road. If I dare say it, she is turning into more of an Internet geek than some of her own children. As long as I publicly admit that referring to her as a 'geek' may get me kicked out of the will, I should have plenty of witnesses for the trial.
Ardith tells us she may be up for Spring Break week after next. Can I brag on my sister? She had two offers for positions at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids. What fun to have a popular, sought-after older sister! All of us are looking forward to seeing her graduate from LeTourneau in May.
I study Spanish or German every day and otherwise try to help out where needed. I am the one they send into town on errands. After all, every teenager loves to drive, right? Actually, I do, but don't let that slip, it could be awkward. I'll have you know that I saw FOUR deer en route to prayer meeting last week, and hit none of them. Currently I'm overseeing Jason's and Derek's Greek, and Derek's writing.
Other miscellaneous notes on the kids under me, i.e. whatever pops into my head first...
Jason - planning an extensive filming production
Kendra - surpassing me at the piano
Derek - taking over the Age of Empires world
Melinda - reading voraciously
Carolyn - loving horses, especially pet stick-horse "Trigger"
Ethan - still springs for feet and nomute button
Nolan - new hero is Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes
Trevor - daily adding vocabulary for new 'annoy-the-big-kids' tactics
8:41 P.M. and all's well.
Daddy and Mommy have been home for a month now, which is just dandy with this little girl! Daddy is much, much better... he is up and around the entire day, exercises every day, takes the stairs twice as fast as before and many more times a day. He has upgraded all the computers in our computer lab (with Jason's help), set up a computer for Trevor, has both his upstairs and downstairs computers running, and he upgraded Mommy's as well (mixed results still coming in). He and Jason have been setting up high-definition TV in our living room, adding a 21-inch monitor above the TV with superior colors and clarity. Sadly, Daddy has a cold right now.
Well, what can I say about Mommy that she doesn't already post on her blog? She's also back into the home routine, including her janitorial job at the church up the road. If I dare say it, she is turning into more of an Internet geek than some of her own children. As long as I publicly admit that referring to her as a 'geek' may get me kicked out of the will, I should have plenty of witnesses for the trial.
Ardith tells us she may be up for Spring Break week after next. Can I brag on my sister? She had two offers for positions at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids. What fun to have a popular, sought-after older sister! All of us are looking forward to seeing her graduate from LeTourneau in May.
I study Spanish or German every day and otherwise try to help out where needed. I am the one they send into town on errands. After all, every teenager loves to drive, right? Actually, I do, but don't let that slip, it could be awkward. I'll have you know that I saw FOUR deer en route to prayer meeting last week, and hit none of them. Currently I'm overseeing Jason's and Derek's Greek, and Derek's writing.
Other miscellaneous notes on the kids under me, i.e. whatever pops into my head first...
Jason - planning an extensive filming production
Kendra - surpassing me at the piano
Derek - taking over the Age of Empires world
Melinda - reading voraciously
Carolyn - loving horses, especially pet stick-horse "Trigger"
Ethan - still springs for feet and no
Nolan - new hero is Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes
Trevor - daily adding vocabulary for new 'annoy-the-big-kids' tactics
8:41 P.M. and all's well.
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