2. Students need to understand that there are consequences to their actions, though pointing this out to them is not one of the things that makes teaching a rewarding profession when you get right down to it.
3. On the plus side, yesterday was Halloween and it was a nice, crisp fall day. Lauren and her friends decided that they were going to be Miss Frizzle and the entire crew of the Magic School bus, so they spent much of this past weekend putting together a bus and getting costumes assembled. It went pretty well, all things considered.
You could follow them by the cacophony. They had a very good time, though.
4. It was also Lauren's birthday, and now she is another year older. The Magic School Bus crew stayed over for dinner and a small bonfire in the portable firepit that we have, and a good time was had by all. Happy birthday, Lauren. I’m proud of you.
5. We spent several hours on the road last weekend to see the Small Liberal Arts College musical, with Tabitha on spotlight. They did a very nice job with it, and we got to have dinner with our college student daughter and a couple of her friends, so win all around.
6. The election is next week, and I am very much looking forward to not having to deal with the avalanche of right-wing trolls that has taken over social media and made me question the wisdom of not only the internet but of any form of communication more advanced than a quill pen and a sheet of parchment. Seriously – what do these people do all day when they don’t have the good people of the world to vomit nonsense upon?
7. So let me get this straight – we’re spending millions of dollars to send thousands of heavily armed troops to the border to protect us from unarmed women and children who are still a thousand miles and several weeks' travel south of us, and this is acceptable? Of course, nobody’s talking about der Sturmtrumper’s support of Saudi Arabian executioners anymore, or the fact that Robert Mueller’s investigation is turning the heat up enough that right-wingers are plotting to smear it with half-assed conspiracies, or the rapid slide of the United States into both Fascism and unprecedented fiscal irresponsibility, so perhaps it’s doing what the GOP wants after all.
8. I need a hobby. I need time to have a hobby. I don’t even read much these days. This must change.
9. I got thoroughly Warehoused on my Halloween candy this year. We usually get about a hundred kids at the door, so I bought two bags of candy and figured that was enough, except that a) we only got about half that many kids this year, and b) they were Big Mega Warehouse Store bags of candy, the kind that look like they contain a reasonable amount of product when you’re in the store but once you get them home you realize that you have entire burlap sacks full of the stuff. I think I’ve got candy through the next millennium. I will file this under Not Such Bad Problems To Have.
10. It’s tea weather, and I am gladly partaking thereof. One needs small comforts these days.
What a creative bunch of kids. It would have been great fun to see them in person. I hope their work was appreciated by all who did see them. We had a grand total of 5 kids at our house and 3 of them were too young to be walking. I guess parents need candy too ��
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn’t for the election I don’t think we’d have any mail or phone calls. I’m slowly learning not to click on FB comments, the headlines are discouraging enough.
Will Lauren be working at the play starting next week? It sounds like another ambitious project.
I think parents just need the Halloween experience, more than the candy. :)
ReplyDeleteNever read the comments on anything remotely political unless the site takes the time to moderate them. They will destroy whatever faith in humanity you have left.
Lauren was going to work on the play but seems to have changed her mind about that, alas. We'll probably still go see it, though. They always do a nice job with those plays.
Some comments.
ReplyDelete1. No. Your entire premise is incorrect. The problem with working for a living is that you have to work for a living.
2. Nice bus ya got there. Does the driver have a passenger endorsement on their license?
4. Improper use of word = bonfire
Noun
a large open-air fire used as part of a celebration, for burning trash, or as a signal.
Origin
Late Middle English: from bone+ fire. The term originally denoted a large open-air fire on which bones were burnt (sometimes as part of a celebration), also one for burning heretics or proscribed literature. e.g.: Dr Johnson accepted the mistaken idea that the word came from French bon ‘good’.
Oxymoron. “Small Big Fire” just doesn’t work. Unless you’re going for a laugh. Or, perhaps, actually burning heretics. [/grammernutmode]
6. Eat and partially digest more to vomit. Or was that a rhetorical question?
8. Maybe you could, oh, I dunno, start a blog or do something online? There was this guy who used to write all this incredibly interesting historical stuff about, well, history and stuff. Maybe you could do something like that in your spare time. Oh, wait …
😉
9. Trick or treat? (If I get a vote, I’m going with the treat every time!)
10. You definitely need to reassess your priorities. Sleep, then tea. Instant. Iced. Presweetened. Lipton. (Is it possible to get any more sacrilegious than that?)
And, I never* read comments online. Ever. Even if the site is heavily moderated. By actual armed moderators.
Lucy
* Well, okay, there is this one blog - I think the guy is some sort of history nut or something. But other than that ...
3. We don't need no steenking endorsements.
ReplyDelete4. Perhaps etymologically, but it seemed appropriate.
8. I have to admit the last month or so has been hard on blogging. I feel obligated to comment on the rapid slide toward Fascism that the US is on, and the open embrace of racism and violence by the GOP, but it just makes me crazy so I don't. And then I feel as if writing about other things is somehow not appropriate in light of that. So I don't.
9. Come on by - we have mini-Snickers up to our eyeballs. Take several - they're small.
10. Sleep does not seem to be on the list of approved activities at the moment anyway, so I'll stick with my tea. I actually like instant iced tea. It shares nothing with actual tea except the name, but once you accept that then it's a perfectly lovely beverage.
I generally avoid comments on most sites, but I do watch out for friends on social media. Sometimes they attract trolls. I find myself becoming less and less polite toward said trolls - I have gone past the point where I would dismantle their arguments and have moved straight to ridicule. It saves time for everyone.
3. There will be trouble …
ReplyDelete4. Not at all certain how I failed to mention it, but just noticed that I utterly failed to offer a belated Happy Birthday to Lauren, so I shall do so now, accompanied by the appropriate level of bareass. ment. bareassment. em. embarrassment. Oy. (to quote a grate someone or other …)
Still, “Little Big Fire” really does work for heretics such as I. And certain proscribed literature.
8. Gotta get serious for a minute here. [PhilosophyHatOn]
Please, again, for Njörðr’s sake, do not ever take anything I say in these comments as criticism*. The content you choose to post is absolutely fine. And, perhaps even Dandy. At times, anyway. ;) The account of your European trip was actually fun. Other stuff good, too. Hell, we all need a break from this shit. You provide a welcome very entertaining alternative to the nightmare theater on the nightly news.
But in the same breath, I know that you possess a wealth of knowledge, and a sincere desire to teach. I think there may even be some college or maybe even a university somewhere that would be willing to pay you for that. From time to time. Modestly. (Ouch)
I know I would, if I could, pay you dearly for the opportunity to sit down and just bullshit about certain periods of History** in the hope that you would go off on some tangent, dropping little nuggets of insight that you never actually get to share in a classroom where you are obliged to educate students according to the Institutions goals, and lesson plans and other boundaries.
How many times have you wanted to go off on one of those tangents and spend a couple of hours exploring the subtle little eddies that never make it out of obscure texts, but felt you couldn’t? I read somewhere once that History does not repeat itself - it rhymes. Well, you are one hell of a poet, and your expression is not bound here. This is, when all is said and done, your space. Take your time, write what you will, when you want to, and about whatever may tickle your fanny (I have feathers if you need them), and I will continue to return, as long as I am able, waiting, patiently, for you to drop another little nugget. [/PhilosophyHat]
9. Never been real picky about the treats. I’ll take all ya got. In a bag. Preferably accompanied by a large quantity of small, unmarked bills***.
10. Shit. You know, even when I get a chance to grab an extra hour of sleep due to some asshole wanting to play with the clocks, I still manage to screw it up.
And finally:
Ridicule: If you are on the receiving end, you should probably reexamine your worldview …
Lucy
* Well, except that shit which is actually intended as criticism. I’ll provide labels. Okay, I’ll try to remember to label that shit in the future.
** The period between 26 July 1921 and the invasion of Poland are of particularly high import these days … hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLRZ0dIvwHY
*** Utility bills and insurance bills are not small. think ‘currency. Benjis and sons of Jack.
I like the term Little Big Fire, actually. I will continue to use it.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t take your comments as criticism – and to be honest if you can’t take well-intended criticism from your friends then you’re in trouble anyway so even if it were meant that way I wouldn’t have minded it. You have earned that right. And at some point our travels will lead us into each other’s neighborhoods and we will in fact have that sit down. I’m looking forward to it.
It’s just been a hard time to write, for reasons that are my own. The nation is running off the rails, and I have a platform that I should use. I do use it sometimes. I’ll use it again.
I thank you for the support and kind words – and I’ll keep writing. :)
On top of general stress levels and workloads, a good portion of why I didn’t get to sleep in this morning is the simple fact that nobody has yet figured out a way to explain to cats the concept of time changes, so they want their breakfast at the same time regardless. I find that this time gets earlier and earlier even without the clock shifting around (we really need to stop this whole DST nonsense). They wake me up, and then since I’m already up and at least one of us should get some rest, I leave Kim sleeping and go feed them, and then make my tea. It’s a system, I suppose.
On that note, what stress? Workload? Pshaw. In our little house in the Basin, the cats have a free choice feeder, so I don't have to deal with them. The alarm bells in this asylum belong to my wife's Chihuahuas.
ReplyDeleteAnkle biting little yappers. The other three big dogs are patient enough to wait. Ya want insane? Six dogs, 9 Cats. I like dogs, and loathe cats, but If I ever get to vote on it, the Chihuahuas are going to be the first ones out the door. So there.
Yet I understand your pain so I will send you Here:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/3/1809613/-Caturday-Pootie-Diary-Fall-Back?utm_campaign=trending
I sent a letter to the god of time (Chronos, just in case you forgot) and asked him to intercede in this debacle called DST and just move the time one-half hour and just leave it there as a compromise.
His lack of intervention is yet another reason why I worship no gods.
Lucy
The problem with the free-feeder system is that Midgie does not really get the whole concept of "not eating everything within her reach" and eventually she loses the ability to reach around and clean her butt, which leads to Unpleasantness.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile Mithra is skinny and needs bulking up.
So we try to limit their feeding times and the amount that Midgie gets - Mithra gets wet and dry food, Midgie gets diet dry food - and it kind of works. Mostly. Except for the whole "don't try to sleep in" thing, as well noted on that link.
You can have the dogs - I'll take the cats. It will work out well that way.
I don't know. We demoted a planet named after the God of Death and ... well, look around.
Sounds like Midgie may be a republican. (Ouch, Again)
ReplyDelete"... well, look around."
Touche, as they say.
Lucy