Via COD, I found and read the fabulous letter from a librarian to a patron who complained about the content of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. As you might guess, Uncle Bobby is gay. I firmly believe in the right of parents to determine what books their kids read (though I don’t censor, myself). I also firmly believe that those parents or persnickety library patrons DON’T have a right to limit the books available to my family. Bravo, Jamie Larue!
Archives for July, 2008
And I’m not talking science, here.
California differs from Hawai’i in so many ways, but one difference has been noticeable to us more than any other: the negative attitudes of the people around us. Not every single person, certainly, but when I head out into the fray of grocery stores and gas stations, the negative energy is palpable. Smiling people are rare, as are people who take the time to make eye contact or greet us with a simple hello.
Having lived in the land of aloha for three years, this has been the hardest thing to take. I want people to greet me as if they are happy to meet a fellow human being. I want people to understand that life is short, and to spend it on a continual downer is not the best use of that time. I’d just like to see more smiling people sharing a little warmth toward new acquaintances or customers.
I’m conscious of my own attitude as I deal with these people and I work to share a smile and make small talk. Unfortunately, not everyone is thrilled with my attempt to spread a little aloha. I actually had TWO people roll their eyes at me the other day.
I don’t remember it being this bad before we left. As a matter of fact, when we moved to this community we all raved about how friendly everybody was compared to our previous location in relatively close proximity to San Francisco. Maybe it’s the economy? Maybe it’s gas prices? Certainly, it’s a frustration.
Katie Konrath over at Get Fresh Minds has opened the floor! A commenter on a previous post about the possibilities of change said:
- 100 years ago, students were sitting in classrooms with a teacher and blackboard at the front.
- 50 years ago, students were sitting in classroom with a teacher and a blackboard at the front.
- 5 years ago, student were sitting in classrooms with a teacher and a whiteboard at the front.
- Breathtaking speed of change! Education seems to be a little behind the curve.
Today, following up on that comment, Katie asks:
Should our schools be changing to meet the times?
I daresay she’ll have some good feedback, and I think home educators have a lot to say about what works in educating kids and what doesn’t. Go give her YOUR two cents!
I mentioned in the previous post that Kelly at Pass the Torch would be giving away two of my books. Head on over by August 1st to enter to win either my colonial or Greek book.
You know how once you’ve accomplished a task, often the details of it disappear from memory? When I saw the photos of the abacus on Kelly’s blog, I thought, “cool!” before I realized that the project idea came out of Tools of the Ancient Greeks. (Hey, it’s been awhile!)
Over at Pass the Torch, Kelly has a few great pictures of the abacus that her son made, as well as a post about cracking codes and the cipher out of Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself. If you’re like me and appreciate pictures of projects, head on over to take a look.
Kelly’s giving away a copy of each of these books in the next week – I’ll post a link when I have it. Kelly, by the way, has a book of her own due to hit shelves within the next month or so, titled Empowering Youth.
Dreaming of finishing that novel and getting a six-figure advance and accolades? Sure, it happens, but author Laurie Halse Anderson has a reality check for you in her blog post, Cold Hard Facts About the Writing Life. If you’ve ever considered penning your own manuscript this is worth a read, as is the collection of comments.
The other day, my eldest wondered aloud what our country would be like today had we elected Al Gore as president. Oh, wait. We did. But what if he had actually been honored with that position? No one knows, but I’d wager a guess that at least once in awhile, someone would make a statement that I haven’t heard much lately: “Our president is so smart!”
Check out this snippet from a speech Gore recently made:
…our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges – the economic, environmental and national security crises.
We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that’s got to change.
But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we’re holding the answer to all of them right in our hand. The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.
…when you connect the dots, it turns out that the real solutions to the climate crisis are the very same measures needed to renew our economy and escape the trap of ever-rising energy prices. Moreover, they are also the very same solutions we need to guarantee our national security without having to go to war in the Persian Gulf.
But wait! We can’t survive without those fossil fuels. How could we possibly get by?
We have such fuels. Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world’s energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses.
And enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of US electricity demand. Geothermal energy, similarly, is capable of providing enormous supplies of electricity for America.
President or no, that man is smart. The entire speech is here. I’ll be sending that link to my eldest, so he can do some guesswork as to what our country might look like, if only.
I got the final review copy of my medieval book today. Oddly, it’s not a set of paper galleys like I’m used to. This time, it’s an electronic version. I can review the layout and double (triple!) check for errors right on the computer. It’s a little odd to be making notes on the computer, rather than with my trusty highlighter. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, though.
As expected, it’s looking good. The graphics are wonderful. In another month or so it will be a real book! Not bad for a project I started back in early 2006, eh?
Curious to know what book edits look like? You can take a look at my edits for the first half of the book under the cut. You’ll see that I’m catching missed commas, redundancies, and other minor errors. Whose fault is this? Hard to say. The manuscript at this point has gone through many hands. I could have made errors in my original document, my editors (several) could have made errors as they reviewed and rearranged the copy, and errors could have been made during the layout stage as the text was copied and pasted. We just hope that we catch all of the errors in this final read through!
I’ve wondered about introducing my kids – esp my youngest - to a speech and debate program. Anyone know of a secular organization like this one?
I’m also interested in suggestions for logic programs/lessons/instruction. My youngest worries me sometimes in that he seems to lack a certain amount of common sense and the ability to deduce likely consequences. We’ve used logic workbooks (the series name is escaping me) and he likes the process of deducing who was wearing the green dress by using the grids provided. However, he seems unable to translate that skill into real life. If you’ve got a product suggestion, I’m all ears.
I’m looking ahead to two full days without my children, and find myself wondering what to do with myself. I have a certain desire to be productive, but I’m kind of reveling in wandering in the solitude and quiet. Maybe being productive isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
