Thursday, March 15, 2007
Cute Letter to a Soldier
My little boy spent some good time on this letter. He tells where he's from and a little about himself. He took special care to separate his words so that they could be read. I love the picture he drew to go along with the letter. It's a "find silly things" drawing. The tree has lost a tooth. Has a soldier flying out of it, a "firefly" buzzing around it, and a superhero acorn with a cape and "zippy lines" trailing behind it as it flies from the tree. There is some gum, a tennis ball, and an airplane in the tree too.
A soldier on the other side of the world will read this letter from my kid.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Let it Be
That phrase has a few meanings. Let it happen... Leave it alone... Amen.
This morning I just let us be. I try to do this often, but I get afraid that things will go undone and my kids will deteriorate intellectually, if I don't monkey with them. In the winter I monkey a lot with worksheets, assignments, and activities. Now that it's getting springy I'm letting it be a bit.
It's funny what happens. This morning Jake came downstairs to tell me that I really am good at drawing, and that all the portraits I have on the walls are nice. I told him that when I was his age I took an interest in drawing. It was something I practiced all the time because I enjoyed it. At this point he picked up his recorder that he's been playing all week and asked me if I could find a place to put it that the dog wouldn't chew on it.
I asked him if he wanted to find some recorder music online to listen to. We went online and found "That Bach song. DOO-DOO-DOOO........." It's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring I told him. I discovered a few really simple and sublime pieces by Bach like Minuet in G, and officially changed my mind about him being the Eddie Van Halen of classical music. You know the guitar show off with too many notes.
Later this morning we went outside and burned some yard junk. While he was blowing on a stick to get the fire started up, he asked me what a pun was. That's a fine question for a 7 year old to ask, huh? I told him I'd let him know when we heard one, but they're used a lot in knock knock jokes.
Finding your joy, Bach, building a proper fire, and puns. All before lunch. Because I let it be. Amen.
This morning I just let us be. I try to do this often, but I get afraid that things will go undone and my kids will deteriorate intellectually, if I don't monkey with them. In the winter I monkey a lot with worksheets, assignments, and activities. Now that it's getting springy I'm letting it be a bit.
It's funny what happens. This morning Jake came downstairs to tell me that I really am good at drawing, and that all the portraits I have on the walls are nice. I told him that when I was his age I took an interest in drawing. It was something I practiced all the time because I enjoyed it. At this point he picked up his recorder that he's been playing all week and asked me if I could find a place to put it that the dog wouldn't chew on it.
I asked him if he wanted to find some recorder music online to listen to. We went online and found "That Bach song. DOO-DOO-DOOO........." It's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring I told him. I discovered a few really simple and sublime pieces by Bach like Minuet in G, and officially changed my mind about him being the Eddie Van Halen of classical music. You know the guitar show off with too many notes.
Later this morning we went outside and burned some yard junk. While he was blowing on a stick to get the fire started up, he asked me what a pun was. That's a fine question for a 7 year old to ask, huh? I told him I'd let him know when we heard one, but they're used a lot in knock knock jokes.
Finding your joy, Bach, building a proper fire, and puns. All before lunch. Because I let it be. Amen.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
One Woman and a Shovel
This little corner in our landscaping was just busted up red rock. I think it was supposed to look like lava rock, but it just wasn't pretty.
This morning I decided to look up how to build a frog pond. To build a frog pond you just need a dig a very shallow space that you fill with lilies and water. Eventually the little froggies move in.
We had heard a rumor that some former owners had a frog pond here and filled it in because it got too loud. This corner is right in front of what was a little girl's room, so I can imagine it bothered her. Now, my little girl is in that room and she is not bothered in the least by the sound of frogs, the feel of frogs, or their taste when she kisses them on the lips. Right now she has some bullfrog tadpoles that she collected at the grand's, so maybe they can live in there when the water's right.
I am so digressing.
I started digging at 8am. By about 9:30 I began to discover some huge river rocks under there. By 10 when Ray came out to see me he said "Wouldn't it be funny if you dug up the old pond?" By 10:15, I was finding stones in patterns of circles with spaces beneath them that I could shine a flashlight into.
I don't think it was a frog pond that they dumped all those stones into. It's deep and wide enough to be a koi pond.
I'm not finished pulling out stones, but I may need a pain reliever, and I definitely need a shower.
It's funny how I never seem to have the energy to carry the folded laundry up the stairs, but get me curious about something, and there's no end to the heavy labor I will do to get to the bottom of it.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Oh,Deer.
It's very interesting what my dog can find to play with on the Grandparents' property. Yep, there's a hoof on the end of that. I don't know where the leg's previous owner is, but I have a feeling he's not getting around much anymore.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Speaking of Feng Shui
Apparently the wisdom center of my living room is a shoe closet. Guess I need to get me some smarter pairs.
More Than I Thought They Could Handle
Yesterday my mother called at about 1:00 to tell me to turn on Sundance Channel and see these little boys in Africa doing some kind of routine involving dumbbells. Well, I missed it, but I left the TV on that channel, and left to clean my room. I popped in and saw that Josie was watching a sub titled program about illegal immigrants called "Wetback". It showed young people from Central America who were trying to cross into Mexico. Touching on police brutality, the dangers of jumping trains, rampant urban crime and gangs.
Of course it was Sundance, so the sympathy was for the illegal immigrants, some that crossed the Rio Grande at the end, and we talked about that sympathy, and how important it is to be compassionate to people who suffer. We also talked about how these people were breaking the law, and that sometimes laws seem harsh, but they are there to protect us. I told her some of the bad people who were hurting the good people in Mexico and Central America can come over our border too, so that's why our border patrol sends people back. The program was favorable to our border patrol, showed them to be respectful to the people they detain, as opposed to the Mexican police who beat and robbed two of the immigrants in the documentary.
Anyway, I was shocked she sat through the whole thing and really took it in.
Later some friends came over and we watched the show about Oprah's school for girls in South Africa. I'm not sure any of the kids understood the significance of the school to the little girls, or how those girls suffered in their own lives. We were trying to make the point to our children that they should appreciate their blessings. When you have a daughter who breaks into tears because you tell her it's time to go to the grocery store, you need a bit of ammuniton too. Maybe the show will marinate in their subconcious for a while and come out in a couple of years when they're developmentally able to understand it.
I went to Blockbuster and picked up "The Prestige" and we all watched it. Yes, Grandparents, the children sat through the whole thing. I'm certain they didn't get all the plot twists (I sure didn't), but afterwards Jake was talking his head off about electricity. He was a little outraged at one point during the movie asserting that "Magic is not real!" When it was apparent some real magic had occured.
I never expect my kids to have any attention span. That's unfortunate for them, because if I whittle down their education to suit what I believe they can handle, then it's like I'm spoonfeeding them. That's starving my children.
P.S. Dharma's coming over today to help me Feng Shui my house. I've been reading a book, and apparently I'm cutting the Chi's all over the place.
Of course it was Sundance, so the sympathy was for the illegal immigrants, some that crossed the Rio Grande at the end, and we talked about that sympathy, and how important it is to be compassionate to people who suffer. We also talked about how these people were breaking the law, and that sometimes laws seem harsh, but they are there to protect us. I told her some of the bad people who were hurting the good people in Mexico and Central America can come over our border too, so that's why our border patrol sends people back. The program was favorable to our border patrol, showed them to be respectful to the people they detain, as opposed to the Mexican police who beat and robbed two of the immigrants in the documentary.
Anyway, I was shocked she sat through the whole thing and really took it in.
Later some friends came over and we watched the show about Oprah's school for girls in South Africa. I'm not sure any of the kids understood the significance of the school to the little girls, or how those girls suffered in their own lives. We were trying to make the point to our children that they should appreciate their blessings. When you have a daughter who breaks into tears because you tell her it's time to go to the grocery store, you need a bit of ammuniton too. Maybe the show will marinate in their subconcious for a while and come out in a couple of years when they're developmentally able to understand it.
I went to Blockbuster and picked up "The Prestige" and we all watched it. Yes, Grandparents, the children sat through the whole thing. I'm certain they didn't get all the plot twists (I sure didn't), but afterwards Jake was talking his head off about electricity. He was a little outraged at one point during the movie asserting that "Magic is not real!" When it was apparent some real magic had occured.
I never expect my kids to have any attention span. That's unfortunate for them, because if I whittle down their education to suit what I believe they can handle, then it's like I'm spoonfeeding them. That's starving my children.
P.S. Dharma's coming over today to help me Feng Shui my house. I've been reading a book, and apparently I'm cutting the Chi's all over the place.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Don't Look Down!
Thought this was a cute little picture of my daughter and her current choice of reading materials. Notice the front says "Don't Look Down!". Just a clever warning that she might just be a girl."Ann Overboard!"
As a "conservative", for lack at the moment for a more appropriate word, I have to make the admission that we often crawl all over ourselves to prove to our "liberal" friends that we're nice people, who care for animals, plant trees, love our gay cousin Fred, drive a hybrid etc. Crap! I've even worn through a pair of Birkenstocks! Oh, the shame! (I won't get into the fact right now that I do not believe there are very many dyed in the wool liberals or conservatives out there. Most of us are individuals, and if we sit down long enough find that we agree on most fundamental things and just go about getting those things in a different way).
Anyway, sometime in the past 20 years or so the party of Abolition, Suffrage, and Civil Rights got tired of apologizing for itself and letting the other side define us, and started slinging the mud in the opposite direction. I don't know if this is a wise way to fight this war of ideologies, but some of that mudslinging is funny. Unless someone who speaks for me, starts slinging the really dirty kind of mud, and it gets on me, and I try to wash it off, and it leaves a stain, and I think people see it, you get what I mean.
Most humor comes from pointing out everyday people's little hypocrisies. Like the fact that the same people who are always demanding tolerance for other religious beliefs love to drive around with little fish with legs on their bumper. I think it's cute in a way, but it is hypocritical, why not wrap a pork rind around the star of David while you're at it? Oh, wait, that would be anti-semitic, and not really very funny. Sorry.
This is where Ann Coulter comes in. I guess she decided somewhere along the way to expose the hypocrisy of those who decry "First Amendment, First Amendment!" every time someone wants to do something rude and offensive to traditional folks, and then turn around and demand you go to rehab whe you say something that offends them. So she said something really rude. And not funny. So Ann yelled "Faggot" in a crowded theater, and some people got really bruised up trying to be the first one to the exit door. I'm sure it was entertaining to her. She loves this kind of controversy. Watching someone have a cardiac infarction over a the utterance of a word is usually high-comedy.
She's been making it her business for a while to throw verbal pies at her opponents. And for a while it was hi-larious. In the meantime she made some excellent points too. And her sharp wit is matched by no one. But this week she threw a real shit-pie and she knew what it was when she baked it up, this wasn't a gaffe, botched joke, or faux pas, she intentionally tossed that pie out there, and it got on everybody. I don't want that stuff on me.
She also gave the opposition ammunition for about 2800 news cycles, and I'm going to have to listen to that too.
One thing that's nice about the Republican Party (and at the moment there aren't very many nice things I can say), is that when somebody in the party says something "not funny", we generally condemn it. See Trent Lott, who was just confused IMHO. We don't have republicans in the Senate that were Klan wizards (Byrd), or folks who let their girlfriend drown in four feet of water because they were worried about their political future, and then have the nerve to buy a Portuguese water rescue dog and name him "Splash" (Kennedy). We have a few buffoons on our side, but you generally find that they are widely scolded for their buffoonery, and the media reports it, and they get on TV and apologize for it etc.
See the nice thing about the First Amendment, is that although it gives you the right to say any damn thing you want, it doesn't give you freedom from censure.
I don't think she should apologize to me. But I certainly won't defend her for what she said. She has the right to think it and say it. But she's not speaking for me anymore. I have the right to walk away any time I please, and as soon as my fellow denouncers manage to cram their way through the exit doors and come out like ground beef on the other end, I will be right behind.
Anyway, sometime in the past 20 years or so the party of Abolition, Suffrage, and Civil Rights got tired of apologizing for itself and letting the other side define us, and started slinging the mud in the opposite direction. I don't know if this is a wise way to fight this war of ideologies, but some of that mudslinging is funny. Unless someone who speaks for me, starts slinging the really dirty kind of mud, and it gets on me, and I try to wash it off, and it leaves a stain, and I think people see it, you get what I mean.
Most humor comes from pointing out everyday people's little hypocrisies. Like the fact that the same people who are always demanding tolerance for other religious beliefs love to drive around with little fish with legs on their bumper. I think it's cute in a way, but it is hypocritical, why not wrap a pork rind around the star of David while you're at it? Oh, wait, that would be anti-semitic, and not really very funny. Sorry.
This is where Ann Coulter comes in. I guess she decided somewhere along the way to expose the hypocrisy of those who decry "First Amendment, First Amendment!" every time someone wants to do something rude and offensive to traditional folks, and then turn around and demand you go to rehab whe you say something that offends them. So she said something really rude. And not funny. So Ann yelled "Faggot" in a crowded theater, and some people got really bruised up trying to be the first one to the exit door. I'm sure it was entertaining to her. She loves this kind of controversy. Watching someone have a cardiac infarction over a the utterance of a word is usually high-comedy.
She's been making it her business for a while to throw verbal pies at her opponents. And for a while it was hi-larious. In the meantime she made some excellent points too. And her sharp wit is matched by no one. But this week she threw a real shit-pie and she knew what it was when she baked it up, this wasn't a gaffe, botched joke, or faux pas, she intentionally tossed that pie out there, and it got on everybody. I don't want that stuff on me.
She also gave the opposition ammunition for about 2800 news cycles, and I'm going to have to listen to that too.
One thing that's nice about the Republican Party (and at the moment there aren't very many nice things I can say), is that when somebody in the party says something "not funny", we generally condemn it. See Trent Lott, who was just confused IMHO. We don't have republicans in the Senate that were Klan wizards (Byrd), or folks who let their girlfriend drown in four feet of water because they were worried about their political future, and then have the nerve to buy a Portuguese water rescue dog and name him "Splash" (Kennedy). We have a few buffoons on our side, but you generally find that they are widely scolded for their buffoonery, and the media reports it, and they get on TV and apologize for it etc.
See the nice thing about the First Amendment, is that although it gives you the right to say any damn thing you want, it doesn't give you freedom from censure.
I don't think she should apologize to me. But I certainly won't defend her for what she said. She has the right to think it and say it. But she's not speaking for me anymore. I have the right to walk away any time I please, and as soon as my fellow denouncers manage to cram their way through the exit doors and come out like ground beef on the other end, I will be right behind.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
On Vanishing
It's pretty late right now, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep if I don't journal my thinking a bit. And I thought maybe the things I'm thinking about will be beneficial to others, so I'll just put it out there on this little blog.
Lately, I've been sensing that something in me is vanishing. I've been getting the sense that I've neglected a part of me that I used to nourish before marriage and family and the unconventional choices I've made surrounding my children. I also have regrets about all the things I didn't finish or pursue; like my degree, a career, my art, my singing. I've been scared that there's a part of me that never really grew and it's already beginning to die.
So I've been saying to myself that I should never stop learning and striving. I should keep searching for that place where that part of me can continue to live. At the end of my life, I should be proud of how I lived, I should have found the answers, had some success and somebody should have something to say about me, otherwise what's the point?
That made sense to me, but at this moment I'm having a little epiphany.
What if tomorrow I couldn't sing? Well, lots of people can't sing and get along just fine. Singing is really a small thing after all, and I feel that there are a few musical family members that have passed who would forgive me for that sentiment. Why? Because there are so many ways to communicate love, and hopes and dreams besides singing. I'm not a bird after all. I'm a person with the power of speech.
What if tomorrow I couldn't speak? Thankfully, I write pretty well. I'm good at conveying emotions on paper, and getting my needs met would be easy if I had someone in range of my paper airplanes.
I'm also very good at drawing. I could make money that way. I already have done that. I draw people's children mainly. We all want to see someone we love all mapped out in pencil. There's something touching about it. That's why I do it.
But what if I lost the use of my hands and could no longer write, draw, work or speak? You know what my first worry would be? How could I let my family know I love them? That I'm so glad I'm not alone?
If I couldn't speak or sing or write or draw (or blog) I would still exist. I wouldn't vanish. You know why? Because I have my family. I have a husband who would still talk to me, even if I couldn't speak. I have children that would be close to me even if I couldn't chase them down. I have friends that would stick around even if I wasn't cracking them up. I know a few who have been there when I wasn't so funny.
See, the reason I want to sing, is to sing to somebody. I could sing to strangers, which I enjoy, and they can go home and forget me. I would have some attention. I would have a hobby. I would have a little thing that energizes me. Is writing a song for my husband less worthwhile? It's certainly not "blogworthy". Neither is writing a letter to my son and putting it in the mailbox for him to find, or drawing a blue jay for my daughter to put on her wall. It wouldn't matter to a lot of people. But it would sure matter a lot to the people that matter to me.
I've been so busy playing that nasty tape of fantasy, shame and regret to really tune in to the world around me, and I have been vanishing. I haven't been talking or listening or engaged. "What?" That's been my word lately. It's like I've been in a dream.
And tonight I had a moment when I realized something that seems so true about life, and helps keep things in perspective.
If I fell down at the end of it all because I had exhausted myself finding ways to feed my ego, at the expense of those who loved me, nothing I had ever done would make sense, because I never completely imprinted myself on anyone's heart, that's when I would truly vanish.
Lately, I've been sensing that something in me is vanishing. I've been getting the sense that I've neglected a part of me that I used to nourish before marriage and family and the unconventional choices I've made surrounding my children. I also have regrets about all the things I didn't finish or pursue; like my degree, a career, my art, my singing. I've been scared that there's a part of me that never really grew and it's already beginning to die.
So I've been saying to myself that I should never stop learning and striving. I should keep searching for that place where that part of me can continue to live. At the end of my life, I should be proud of how I lived, I should have found the answers, had some success and somebody should have something to say about me, otherwise what's the point?
That made sense to me, but at this moment I'm having a little epiphany.
What if tomorrow I couldn't sing? Well, lots of people can't sing and get along just fine. Singing is really a small thing after all, and I feel that there are a few musical family members that have passed who would forgive me for that sentiment. Why? Because there are so many ways to communicate love, and hopes and dreams besides singing. I'm not a bird after all. I'm a person with the power of speech.
What if tomorrow I couldn't speak? Thankfully, I write pretty well. I'm good at conveying emotions on paper, and getting my needs met would be easy if I had someone in range of my paper airplanes.
I'm also very good at drawing. I could make money that way. I already have done that. I draw people's children mainly. We all want to see someone we love all mapped out in pencil. There's something touching about it. That's why I do it.
But what if I lost the use of my hands and could no longer write, draw, work or speak? You know what my first worry would be? How could I let my family know I love them? That I'm so glad I'm not alone?
If I couldn't speak or sing or write or draw (or blog) I would still exist. I wouldn't vanish. You know why? Because I have my family. I have a husband who would still talk to me, even if I couldn't speak. I have children that would be close to me even if I couldn't chase them down. I have friends that would stick around even if I wasn't cracking them up. I know a few who have been there when I wasn't so funny.
See, the reason I want to sing, is to sing to somebody. I could sing to strangers, which I enjoy, and they can go home and forget me. I would have some attention. I would have a hobby. I would have a little thing that energizes me. Is writing a song for my husband less worthwhile? It's certainly not "blogworthy". Neither is writing a letter to my son and putting it in the mailbox for him to find, or drawing a blue jay for my daughter to put on her wall. It wouldn't matter to a lot of people. But it would sure matter a lot to the people that matter to me.
I've been so busy playing that nasty tape of fantasy, shame and regret to really tune in to the world around me, and I have been vanishing. I haven't been talking or listening or engaged. "What?" That's been my word lately. It's like I've been in a dream.
And tonight I had a moment when I realized something that seems so true about life, and helps keep things in perspective.
If I fell down at the end of it all because I had exhausted myself finding ways to feed my ego, at the expense of those who loved me, nothing I had ever done would make sense, because I never completely imprinted myself on anyone's heart, that's when I would truly vanish.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
All Out of Whack
This past couple of months I've been walking around confused in my house and it's really starting to get to me.
In December we decided to replace our kiitchen countertops, appliances, and cabinets. Things moved along pretty smoothly and we received our cabinets on January 12th. The first cabinet out of the box was damaged, and the installers wouldn't begin until all of the cabinets were at the site, so we would have to have cabinets sitting all around our living room for about 3 more weeks. The actual install of the cabinets happened on February 9th. Not all the cabinets though. They couldn't hang the corner wall cabinets or anything attached to them until after the countertops were installed.
The Silestone guys came to measure around the 11th of February. After the template is made, it takes about 3 or 4 weeks to get your countertops installed. About 10 days after the man came out to make the template, the store called to tell me I owed $62 and the countertops would not be made until overages were paid. Okay. So the install date on the countertops is March 15th.
In the meantime we have been going up and down the stairs to make dinner and do the dishes. Ray gave in and temporarily installed the cooktop, but we have no kitchen sink right now. We do have a tiny one in the basement, which we have been using.
All of this is very inconvenient.
I don't believe in quantum physics at the moment, but I do think there is some merit to this Feng Shui thing. My toilets aren't working right, our computer is acting up, our printer/scanner has stopped working and my camera is falling apart. There's a strange smell in my daughter's room that I can't locate to clean. Lately, my dog has been running off when we open the door to let her in. The roomba keeps shutting down at weird times. And I'm tired tired tired.
I know. Somewhere there's a baby in Darfur crying for me.
I'm moving my couch tomorrow. Wish me luck.
In December we decided to replace our kiitchen countertops, appliances, and cabinets. Things moved along pretty smoothly and we received our cabinets on January 12th. The first cabinet out of the box was damaged, and the installers wouldn't begin until all of the cabinets were at the site, so we would have to have cabinets sitting all around our living room for about 3 more weeks. The actual install of the cabinets happened on February 9th. Not all the cabinets though. They couldn't hang the corner wall cabinets or anything attached to them until after the countertops were installed.
The Silestone guys came to measure around the 11th of February. After the template is made, it takes about 3 or 4 weeks to get your countertops installed. About 10 days after the man came out to make the template, the store called to tell me I owed $62 and the countertops would not be made until overages were paid. Okay. So the install date on the countertops is March 15th.
In the meantime we have been going up and down the stairs to make dinner and do the dishes. Ray gave in and temporarily installed the cooktop, but we have no kitchen sink right now. We do have a tiny one in the basement, which we have been using.
All of this is very inconvenient.
I don't believe in quantum physics at the moment, but I do think there is some merit to this Feng Shui thing. My toilets aren't working right, our computer is acting up, our printer/scanner has stopped working and my camera is falling apart. There's a strange smell in my daughter's room that I can't locate to clean. Lately, my dog has been running off when we open the door to let her in. The roomba keeps shutting down at weird times. And I'm tired tired tired.
I know. Somewhere there's a baby in Darfur crying for me.
I'm moving my couch tomorrow. Wish me luck.
What?
Hey all my homeschooling homies! Apparently our parental authority to educate as we please is being undermined again! Isn't this infringing on our freedom to assemble?
This is from Rep. Stacey Campfield's blog.
| ATTACK ON HOME SCHOOL GROUPS In the last week we have had a rush of complaints from home school organizations from across the state. Home schools traditionally produce some of the best and brightest kids who achieve high results in the real world. As you may or may not know home school students are starting to team up and are becoming a more powerful group. They are starting to come together and do things like start sports teams and clubs that meet and interact with other more traditional students. Some home school groups and students have also been meeting in churches and Sunday school classrooms to get specialized teaching by a specialist in a common field of interest. An example might be a group of ten or fifteen home school students gathering together to hear a presentation or be taught about nuclear science from a nuclear scientist from Oak Ridge. I did a discussion one day about how our state government works for a similar group. Lately though these groups have come under attack. Codes inspectors have begun to shut these groups down in mass. The reason given is that when they meet they become "a school" and the churches and Sunday school class rooms that they meet in don't meet code for schools. Forget that these same rooms are much more packed every Sunday for church or Sunday school classes. Expect to hear more about this as time progresses. posted by TheRep @ 8:56 AM |
This is from Rep. Stacey Campfield's blog.
Monday, February 26, 2007
In Principle, I'm Just Uncertain.
Okay. I'm reading "Entangled Minds-Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality" By Dean Radin. I really shouldn't try to understand everything. But this quantum mechanics idea is supposed to be so freaking mindblowing that when I understand it, I'm supposed to be able to walk clean through the kitchen wall and rearrange my atoms at the other side. Because that's how nature really works on the atomic level. Unless somebody's watching, that is.
Did you know that single electrons shot from an electron gun through two slits in a screen line themselves up at the end of the day as if they had all gone through at the same time and interfered with each other? If you're observing them they act as if they are totally unmotivated to line up. And at the end of the day they are all scattered. But if you're not in the room, they behave.
This has something to do with the fact that light is both wave and particle, and it's also possible that light just doesn't understand the traditional concept of time. It may also be true that light is a bit oppositional and defiant, and doesn't like your beady little eyes.
But these facts correlate with the well- understood Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle:
which in laymans terms from the Uncyclopedia can be stated like this:
"After being virtually unknown by all humans for about 99.9999999% of their existence, atomic particles have become very shy. If they sense they are being watched, they won't do their usual tricks, just like that frog that simply won't sing broadway show tunes when I show him to somebody else."
Unfortunately for me it is bedtime, and I will probably wake up at 3am with animated frogs singing showtunes dancing around my bed. Wearing new black top-hats of course. In the quantum world, it happens all the time, when no one's watching.
Did you know that single electrons shot from an electron gun through two slits in a screen line themselves up at the end of the day as if they had all gone through at the same time and interfered with each other? If you're observing them they act as if they are totally unmotivated to line up. And at the end of the day they are all scattered. But if you're not in the room, they behave.
This has something to do with the fact that light is both wave and particle, and it's also possible that light just doesn't understand the traditional concept of time. It may also be true that light is a bit oppositional and defiant, and doesn't like your beady little eyes.
But these facts correlate with the well- understood Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle:
which in laymans terms from the Uncyclopedia can be stated like this:
"After being virtually unknown by all humans for about 99.9999999% of their existence, atomic particles have become very shy. If they sense they are being watched, they won't do their usual tricks, just like that frog that simply won't sing broadway show tunes when I show him to somebody else."
Unfortunately for me it is bedtime, and I will probably wake up at 3am with animated frogs singing showtunes dancing around my bed. Wearing new black top-hats of course. In the quantum world, it happens all the time, when no one's watching.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Little Blond Ibuprofen Girl and Other Troubling Developments
Last night I sent a very long detailed email to a homeschooling friend of mine who loves to draw. It was a list of four very interesting self-portrait ideas. Somehow the email didn't show up in my outbox, so I typed it again. Once again it didn't show up. So I poured myself a glass of wine and tried to breath deeply in through my nose out through my mouth.
Okay. I'm over it. Until I wake up at 3am because the cat thinks it's a grand time to go rummaging through the bags in the closet. In trying to get to sleep, my mind starts racing about the email. Wondering why she didn't receive it. Wondering how she would draw this or that. Imagining how I would draw my own self-portrait using only objects. Then I imagined various ways I could position my mother's old baby-doll in front of a mirror, in a puddle of spilled milk, with a gigantic pink bow taped to her head, with a noose around her neck and a bottle of Nyquil poured all over her.
Eventually I fell asleep. Kind of. Those who know me well know I'm a waking dreamer. Once upon a time, I even answered the phone when my father called one morning only to discover that my legs had decided to go back to bed before I did, and I had to drag myself back to the phone cradle ... "Uh, Daddy, blrglglglglgooglgb..." That was really weird. But the weirdest thing that happens to me usually happens on a night I take Ibuprofen. I'll get up to go to the bathroom and I'm really in a fog and I hear my name, and there's usually a little blond girl by my bed. Once after Josie was born there was a train in my hallway, and a wolf in my closet, and I thought Josie was sandwiched between the mattress and box springs. But when I'm not your regular post-partem nutcase, I'm just your average middle of the night hallucinator. Well, I digress. I got pretty used to the little blond ibuprofen girl, to the point I would just sweep my hands around and push her away so I could get back in bed. Last night while I was un-sleeping she was there again, but she's grown up a little. She was wearing a hat too. And it looked like she had a boyfriend, but he disappeared before I could make him out. I got a little scared, but my body was concrete and all I could do was breathe really hard and hope that would wake my dear hubby up so he could slap me. But he kept snoring.
Then the dog wanted out. So I got up and let her out and realized why she peed in her kennel last night. The door from the porch to the yard had been closed when I let her out before I "went to sleep". So she didn't want to pee on the deck, and came back in and peed in her house. Poor doggy.
I tried to send that email again this morning. It didn't work. I tried to post a comment on another friend's blog. It didn't work either. Don't tell me to go back to bed. You know better than that.
Okay. I'm over it. Until I wake up at 3am because the cat thinks it's a grand time to go rummaging through the bags in the closet. In trying to get to sleep, my mind starts racing about the email. Wondering why she didn't receive it. Wondering how she would draw this or that. Imagining how I would draw my own self-portrait using only objects. Then I imagined various ways I could position my mother's old baby-doll in front of a mirror, in a puddle of spilled milk, with a gigantic pink bow taped to her head, with a noose around her neck and a bottle of Nyquil poured all over her.
Eventually I fell asleep. Kind of. Those who know me well know I'm a waking dreamer. Once upon a time, I even answered the phone when my father called one morning only to discover that my legs had decided to go back to bed before I did, and I had to drag myself back to the phone cradle ... "Uh, Daddy, blrglglglglgooglgb..." That was really weird. But the weirdest thing that happens to me usually happens on a night I take Ibuprofen. I'll get up to go to the bathroom and I'm really in a fog and I hear my name, and there's usually a little blond girl by my bed. Once after Josie was born there was a train in my hallway, and a wolf in my closet, and I thought Josie was sandwiched between the mattress and box springs. But when I'm not your regular post-partem nutcase, I'm just your average middle of the night hallucinator. Well, I digress. I got pretty used to the little blond ibuprofen girl, to the point I would just sweep my hands around and push her away so I could get back in bed. Last night while I was un-sleeping she was there again, but she's grown up a little. She was wearing a hat too. And it looked like she had a boyfriend, but he disappeared before I could make him out. I got a little scared, but my body was concrete and all I could do was breathe really hard and hope that would wake my dear hubby up so he could slap me. But he kept snoring.
Then the dog wanted out. So I got up and let her out and realized why she peed in her kennel last night. The door from the porch to the yard had been closed when I let her out before I "went to sleep". So she didn't want to pee on the deck, and came back in and peed in her house. Poor doggy.
I tried to send that email again this morning. It didn't work. I tried to post a comment on another friend's blog. It didn't work either. Don't tell me to go back to bed. You know better than that.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Psychic Nonsense?
I got a book called Entangled Minds by Dean Radin. He was on Oprah talking about how psychic phenomena is no longer considered superstition but studies in quantum physics have made skeptics take a second look. Well, having had a few premonitions and truly spooky dreams where I'm speaking to lost loved ones and such, I thought it would be fun to take some online tests that Dean Radin has created. It's at GotPsi.com if you want to check it out and let me know how you did.
I really sucked at the card game. You had to choose among five cards to find the one that had the picture on the opposite side. When only able to choose the one card, I was right about 30% of the time. When the test allowed you to keep flipping cards until you found the picture, I usually flipped all of the cards before I found the image.
So laughingly, I moved on to the next game. It was remote viewing. I did really well at this. They show you a gray box and you are suppposed to imagine what shapes and images are going to show up in it when you press the button. There is a list to choose from. The first image I imagined was a house and a sky, but the shapes I selected were angles, and I didn't see any people in this image. The actual photo that popped up was a kitchen, and the prominent shapes and images I chose were 89% right on. Next I imagined a river and trees. The photo was really of a castle surrounded by water. Next I imagined two people next to a building. The photo was of a guard at buckingham palace with a tall red guard station behind him. It was about 8 feet tall and really skinny and red. He was up against a wall. I got an 89% on that one too. Of course I got a few 62% and 32% too. But a really startling thing happened in the 8th trial. I was imagining a fluffy white rabbit in the snow. It was curled up in a ball, and looking straight at me. Instead I got fruit. That one was way off I thought, so in the next trial I tried to go all Zen and not think of anything specific, just pick shapes and colors and images off the list sort of willy-nilly. The photo that popped up was a white rabbit running in the snow. Now what are the chances of that, really?
So if you're always walking around sensing Juju off people, or you've got hunches and intuitions, or you dream your late Grandpa Joe tells you what's coming up in world events, take the test and see how you do.
Update: These tests are designed for average folks who claim to have no special abilities. My hubby (whose psychic predictions extend only to the belief that he will singlehandedly save the Universe from the coming Zombocolypse) scored a 97% on his first trial of remote viewing. He pictured a big tire and a black background with no people. The actual image was of a classic car with a black background. So there you go.
I really sucked at the card game. You had to choose among five cards to find the one that had the picture on the opposite side. When only able to choose the one card, I was right about 30% of the time. When the test allowed you to keep flipping cards until you found the picture, I usually flipped all of the cards before I found the image.
So laughingly, I moved on to the next game. It was remote viewing. I did really well at this. They show you a gray box and you are suppposed to imagine what shapes and images are going to show up in it when you press the button. There is a list to choose from. The first image I imagined was a house and a sky, but the shapes I selected were angles, and I didn't see any people in this image. The actual photo that popped up was a kitchen, and the prominent shapes and images I chose were 89% right on. Next I imagined a river and trees. The photo was really of a castle surrounded by water. Next I imagined two people next to a building. The photo was of a guard at buckingham palace with a tall red guard station behind him. It was about 8 feet tall and really skinny and red. He was up against a wall. I got an 89% on that one too. Of course I got a few 62% and 32% too. But a really startling thing happened in the 8th trial. I was imagining a fluffy white rabbit in the snow. It was curled up in a ball, and looking straight at me. Instead I got fruit. That one was way off I thought, so in the next trial I tried to go all Zen and not think of anything specific, just pick shapes and colors and images off the list sort of willy-nilly. The photo that popped up was a white rabbit running in the snow. Now what are the chances of that, really?
So if you're always walking around sensing Juju off people, or you've got hunches and intuitions, or you dream your late Grandpa Joe tells you what's coming up in world events, take the test and see how you do.
Update: These tests are designed for average folks who claim to have no special abilities. My hubby (whose psychic predictions extend only to the belief that he will singlehandedly save the Universe from the coming Zombocolypse) scored a 97% on his first trial of remote viewing. He pictured a big tire and a black background with no people. The actual image was of a classic car with a black background. So there you go.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Some Art for Soldiers
This is a butterfly Josie made for our soldier in Afganistan. She made it so he can hang it from the ceiling. He's a paratrooper, and we're calling him Paratrooper Neil so we can remember him. I told the kids that he jumps out of planes. He sent us a letter and told us he would send along a photo of the guys in his unit.
Were going to send this one to Paratrooper Neil as well. It's a little poem from Jake. We are getting excited about spring coming and thought they would like to see a little spring too. There's a bird in that knothole in the tree.Here's a tree for you from Tennessee,
Here's a bird to you from me.
Here's a bird to you from me.
This card is from Jake to Sgt. Tina. She took a lot of time to tell us about where she is and what she does. We took a lot of time to make this card for her. It was a collaboration between Jake and me. He needs a lot of extra help and attention when it comes to crafts. He wanted to be sure that Sgt. Tina knew he cared after I explained to them how important our letters are and told them about "morale", and what it means to have high morale. He made the purple rose, and all the little leaves. He put the wings on the bee, and drew the ladybug. He made sure that the green field had blades of grass and he put one of the flowers in there. I did all of the cutting and glue-ing.
This is my favorite. I love Josie's little pop-up cards. We're going to send this one to Sgt. Tina. There's a beehive, two trees and a skunk. Josie likes skunks and feels sorry for them because she thinks other people don't like them very much. She also thought Sgt. Tina would like to see some water. Tina wrote us and told us that the Iraqis think that birds bring good fortune, so she included lots of birds.Tonight I'll go out and get the proper sized envelopes. Tomorrow we'll make cards for some "any soldiers" and send them along to the same locations.
I love doing this.
Anybody else out there who wants to send letters and supplies, here's the link to anysoldier.com.
Friday, February 16, 2007
What the Heck is that Thing?
This is a nutria.
This is the thing I saw swimming around in the Fountain City Duck Pond.I thinkthe thing in Fountain City is a muskrat, because although it is pretty icky, I didn't get that feeling looking at it that you get when you step on a camel cricket barefoot in the middle of the night.
I wanted to look up the nutria because I had never heard of one before, and I read about it on Dilbertblog. Some man thought another man was this particular water rodent and shot him in the head. He lived. I'm troubled by this story because it concerns me that these creatures may still be swimming around unshot in that area. I know. You're thinking "Michele, I've seen you kiss your rats on the lips! How can you judge what is disgusting?"
You know how you tell a nutria from a muskrat? You look the creature over, and if
IT HAS NIPPLES ON IT'S BACK
you know it's a nutria.
Josie asked me "Did God make that Mama?
I replied "Absolutely not."
Checking In
Just checking to see if my account works. Google thinks I'm somebody I'm not, and refuses to sign me in as myself. A whole online identity crisis. Another problem is when I try to post images and links I get HTML. When I try to post it like that I get told there is an error. When I try to get help, they need my password. But it's not my password, it's his password, and I don't know his password, cause I'm not him dammit.
Oh! Just noticed I was on the edit html page instead of the compose page. That makes all the difference! Thank you for patiently sitting with me while I ramble on idiotically.
Stay tuned for my post on the nutria. One of God's weirder creations, with pictures.
Oh! Just noticed I was on the edit html page instead of the compose page. That makes all the difference! Thank you for patiently sitting with me while I ramble on idiotically.
Stay tuned for my post on the nutria. One of God's weirder creations, with pictures.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
5 Non-Connected Ponderings About Random Stuff
1.) Due to the lack of socialization and isolation that most homeschooled kids experience, my children will only be making 23 valentines a piece this year.
2.) One of the most difficult things to find is a sugar-free, soy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, dye-free, and dairy-free Valentine cupcake. "Hey kids! I brought some clear paraffin lollies! Anyone allergic to wax? Hey Amberleigh! Don't eat those crayons! YELLOW NUMBER 5!"
3.) I see things in a glass- half- full way. When the tax man comes be grateful you have an arm and a leg to give.
4.) If you know you owe the IRS and you live in Tennessee, make sure you do your taxes between Monday and Saturday. Sunday the liquor stores are closed.
5.) If you're getting a tax return, screw you.
2.) One of the most difficult things to find is a sugar-free, soy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, dye-free, and dairy-free Valentine cupcake. "Hey kids! I brought some clear paraffin lollies! Anyone allergic to wax? Hey Amberleigh! Don't eat those crayons! YELLOW NUMBER 5!"
3.) I see things in a glass- half- full way. When the tax man comes be grateful you have an arm and a leg to give.
4.) If you know you owe the IRS and you live in Tennessee, make sure you do your taxes between Monday and Saturday. Sunday the liquor stores are closed.
5.) If you're getting a tax return, screw you.
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