CatHouse Chat

The Lego NXT/Mindstorm programming interface

Oh, heck, I posted the previous post too quickly! Here's the photo I ment to send.

It's a mystery to me, since I've been coaching in other areas... But the kids use the Lego Mindstorm software to program the robot to do pretty amazing things. Of course, it can't solve a Rubik's cube (search for NXT and Rubiks on YouTube - THAT'S cool!), but there is a solid and precise depth of programming possible.

First round for the Scream Team

After each round, the team gathers to talk with the referee about their score

Our fearless Leader

The Beloved Husband really is saintly to endure all the craziness we foist upon him... *snicker*

The scoring table

Teams like to hang out here to monitor their progress and ranking

FIRST Lego League Virginia/DC State Championship - Robot performance day!

Teams get a practice round before the REAL excitement begins. When the teams start the real runs, the whole gym ROCKS... Music blaring, spectators cheering, teams screaming (OK, *our* team screaming, LOL). I hope I have enough tape to record all the fun!

LUNCH!!

We've come through the insanity that is the bus shuttle, and are now eating. At 230p, we have teamwork judging, followed by the skit presentation. After we're done, the girls want to go shopping [headdesk]. We STILL need to finish their shirts for tomorrow, and assemble the spirit stick their Coach (my Best Beloved) will be carrying. Oh, and Scream Team Survival Kits have been quite popular! BWAHAHAHAHA! They remember us from last year!

Virginia/DC FIRST Lego League Championship Opening Ceremony

The Gathering - of the Lego teams, anyway - has begun!

The Scream Team is in the house!

We are READY to ROCK!

The Scream Team Survival Kit

We just have to look out for our fans' safety... Hearing loss is a serious problem around us LOL!! State Championship is this weekend in Harrisonburg, VA, hosted by James Madison University. Should be fun! .... And *LOUD!*

The Scream Team and the Mini CougarBots sweep (almost) the FIRST Lego League regionals!

I am so proud of the teams from my Munchkin's small school! They worked hard (OK, yeah, yeah, with more than a little "coaxing"), and each won FOUR First Place awards, including CHAMPIONSHIP in each division! (Make sure you go check out what FIRST Lego League is all about!)

We transported three of our four plaques home, and here they are:

So, congratulations to the Mini CougarBots (the younger, Division 1 team), and all hail my Darling Munchkin's team:

THE SCREAM TEAM!!!

(faces blurred to protect their privacy)

LUNCH!!

Voracius kids devoured the two pizzas we got

Run those LegoBots!

Here's the main competition floor, where the teams do the robot runs. This is one fourth of their total score.

Are you ready to LEGO???

Here we are, all set up in the "Pit" with the other teams. This is where we wait until we have a judging session or a competition round. My poor Munchkin is not happy due to her ankle, which she sprained yesterday :-(

I like the Free Online Dictionary!

I'd been using Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com (partner sites) for the longest time, but they went through some weird change a couple of months ago, and just don't seem to have the same... excellence as before.

Today, I googled a word ("peroration," which I got from Rick Moran's article about Sarah Palin over at Pajamas Media - love learning new words!), and came across a link to the Free Online Dictionary. I like - no, I LOVE it!

The front page is fun, too - besides the typical "word of the day" sort of thing, they also have a hangman game and also a spelling bee widget and a match up game. I think that's great - they all help you play AND learn at the same time. The match up game was interesting, because I had to think about how the words were put together (prefix, suffix, root) to get some of the possible meanings and then match them with really out-of-the-ordinary synonyms. Here, take a look (click to embiggen):

I confess, I'd never heard of about HALF of those words, but with a combination of using what I did know, the process of elimination, and examining word construction, I managed to get 100%! Go, me! ;-)

So, if you're looking for an excellent online source for definitions and word games, try out the Free Online Dictionary.

Now, I'm going to go prowl their thesaurus entries....

Woot!!

Second place overall champions, division 1!

This is the First Lego League championship for Virginia/D.C. - and we won second place overall!!! I'm still reeling in astonishment and glee. The girls worked hard, and they kept up their efforts, even when our robot didn't perform as well as we wanted.

Next year's theme will be on climate (gee, what a surprise! [rolls eyes]), and we're already brain storming (heh) possible scenarios and research projects.

Waiting for Opening Ceremony

Much Abides...

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"

I just read this, quoted in a story I'm reading, and it touched my heart. I'm not usually much on poetry - not surprising with the dreck published these days - but real poetry, bold, moving and powerful, has the knack of stirring up the best and noblest of emotions.

Shakespeare, Byron, Kipling, Longfellow, Coleridge, Donne, Poe, Spenser... Men and women who could paint word pictures of incredible beauty, with vivid images and subtle rhythm that lured you into the poem and made it wrap around your senses...

We don't seem to have this any more; instead we have drabbles which are read one moment and forgotten the next, or drag us down into unsettling, uninspiring and unprofitable thoughts. My cousin writes poetry, and I confess that I haven't read much of what she's written, because samples have only left me feeling confused, unworthy and depressed.

Read those lines from "Ulysses" again. The speaker has been humbled, has gone through loss and disappointment, yet he has the ability to say "much abides." He can still conclude with that triumphant determination

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

I think I need to read some of the old masters - they knew whereof they spoke!

Smith Mountain Lake Dam

Up here to learn about hydroelectric power... The Darling Munchkin is participating in robotics at school this year, and the theme is "energy." Smith Mountain Lake Dam is only about a half hour away, and set in a beautiful area. Although I've visited the Leesville Dam before, I hadn't yet gotten up to see this one, which is about 17 miles upstream...

Here are a couple little video clips I took, but you might also want to scan the Wikipedia entries for Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Dam for more information.

(The first video I took is still processing at YouTube, so I'm going to save - and thus post - this update, so I don't lose any of my edits. As soon as YT has finished with the first video, I'll post it.) Ah, and here it is!

Blogs United - quick post

I *just* got back to my hotel room from the Blogs United conference, held at Christopher Newport University (and they were excellent hosts!), and I just wanted to toss this post up before I let it slide:

Jim Hoeft, of Bearing Drift, set up a stupendous conference with eloquent speakers from both sides of the aisle. All his hard work really paid off, because we had an informative and congenial meeting, and I would venture to say that "a good time was had by all."

In spite of the fact that Jim came under undeserved fire for being, ah... "non inclusive"... er, "un-inclusive"... um... Well, in spite of the fact that certain people felt they weren't included, and in spite of the fact that he had a wrenched body and broken arm from a Fourth of July fall, Jim hosted the event with style and grace.

I cannot thank him enough for all his hard work and patience while trying to "herd cats," and I offer a standing ovation to him in thanks for a wonderful and educational time.

Thanks, Jim!

I'll be posting about the conference, but it most likely won't be the detailed posts I have done before (OK, so maybe not terribly detailed...). I think that the general theme/trend/topic of the conference will be my main subject - and it may not be quite what y'all expect, so stay tuned.

And, yeah, there will be pictures, I promise! [rolls eyes - hey, this is ME! Can I post without pix???]

Technorati Tags: Blogs United, Christopher Newport University, conference, Bearing Drift, blogging

The Fourth of July (2007 Edition)

--- I posted this last year, and it was well received. And so I post it again in hope that it lifts up someone's spirit and reminds them of the foundation of this great country on its birthday. Here is the wonderful mix that my blog brother, Alton, made for me. He'd asked me to record this post, and then he added music. Listen or read - but enjoy either way!

I would also encourage you to go over to Rick Moan's site, where he is "liveblogging" the events which happened July 2, July 3, and July 4 of 1776. He is an excellent and imaginative writer, and you won't be disappointed.---

Two hundred thirty years ago, a group of men - men of influence, wisdom, and courage - gathered together to sign a Document and birth a Nation:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

And so began the war for our Independence, a war where we threw off the stifling apron-strings of our Mother, Britain, and began our journey of discovery. The War was long, and fraught with set-backs, disasters, tremendous hardship, and discouragement. But through it all, one man held true to the ideal and fought with dogged determination to keep his army and his new country from giving in.

General George Washington. He was not necessarily a brilliant man, but he was honorable and resolute. He had been given the duty of defeating the British and winning the War, and he pursued his orders with unflinching persistence.

And in October of 1781, the British General, Cornwallis, surrendered at Yorktown, VA.

The United States of America was free.

But freedom doesn't come easily. The States had adopted the Articles of Confederation in early 1781. The Articles gave the States many sovereign powers, and any changes to the Articles had to be approved by nine of the thirteen States. Federal power was practically non-existent: it couldn't raise taxes, it couldn't regulate trade, it couldn't stop States from printing their own money.

With authority to act scattered throughout the States, and an anemic central government, America threatened to dissolve into a group of bickering little provinces. The States had their own armies, their own international ambassadors, they argued over interstate trade, the justice system left quite a bit to be desired. In other words, it was a bit of a mess!

In 1786, after much unrest and disputes among the States, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton petitioned that the Constitutional Convention convene to write a new Constitution which would strengthen and unify our young Nation. The man the Convention elected to preside over this process was none other than George Washington, the man all Americans look on as our First Father. General Washington was reluctant - he had recently lost his brother, and he preferred to remain at Mount Vernon, managing his lands. Finally, however, he accepted the duty, and made his way to Pennsylvania.

Under his calm influence, eventually each of the States made compromises and came to agreements, negotiated the power of the Federal Government and State Governments, outlined the authorities of the branches of the Federal Government, and placed the ultimate power of Government firmly in the hands of the People. The first draft was accepted in August of 1787 after months of wrangling and debating. Five weeks later, on September 17th, the convention dismissed, and the Constitution went to the States for ratification. It wasn't until July of 1788 that the Convention received word that the ninth State, South Carolina had ratified the Constitution.

Finally, enough States had accepted the Constitution to begin to implement its laws. Of course, there was further debate about the Bill of Rights, which were passed by a total of three quarters of the States by late 1791, but now America had her "supreme Law of the Land," which began:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Thus we began to work out this fine balance between the Power and Authority of the People, and that of the Government. Men and women have stepped up to serve our country in war and in peace throughout our 230-year history. Elected officials, military, police, firemen, medical personnel, charity organizations, human rights groups, and so many more have furthered the cause of Freedom and Liberty in our country.

But for me, no group deserves our honor and our respect more than the men and women who serve her in our Armed Forces. Each man and woman who enters the military takes this oath:

...I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same...

Our men and women do not swear to a particular leader. They are not members of a cult of personality. They swear to uphold the Law, and the Supreme Law of the United States of America is the Constitution.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the Fourth of July means to me. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," "We the People," and "I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same."

Happy 231st birthday, America! I love you dearly, and pray that God will continue to bless and guide you. I pray that you will always be that "shining city on the hill," a light and example to the rest of the world of Freedom and Liberty.

Happy birthday!

America's heritage: Fort McHenry

As I said, today I visited Fort McHenry, and it was wonderful! I was greeted by Old Glory, of course:

She is so beautiful! I was reminded of Michael W. Smith's song, "There She Stands" -

When the night
Seems to say
All hope is lost
Gone away
But I know
I'm not alone
By the light
She stands
There she waves
Faithful friend
Shimmering stars
Westward wind
Show the way
Carry me
To the place
She stands
Just when you think it might be over
Just when you think the fight is gone
Someone will risk his life to raise her
There she stands
There she flies
Clear blue skies
Reminds us with red
Of those that died
Washed in white
By the brave
In their strength
She stands
When evil calls itself a martyr
When all your hopes come crashing down
Someone will pull her from the rubble
There she stands
We've seen her flying torn and tattered
We've seen her stand the test of time
And through it all the fools have fallen
There she stands
By the dawn's
Early light
And through the fight
She stands

She does stand. She is still waving over the land of the free and the home of the brave, no matter that there are those who want to pull her down.

Anyway - back to Fort McHenry. There's an EXCELLENT video by the History Channel (I spoke about it here) that is well worth watching.

The War of 1812 is actually America's second war for independence. Britain was taking our sailors off of merchant ships and impressing them into British service (one of the many factors of the war), and we didn't take too kindly to that. Another little factoid most people don't realize about this "forgotten" war, is that the Battle of Baltimore - the most famed battle, and the one which inspired our National Anthem - didn't actually take place until September, 1814. So, our fondness for playing the 1812 Overture is actually a mistake on this point, besides the fact that it was written to celebrate the victory of Russia over Napoleon's French army...

As you leave the Visitors' Center, there is a large statue of the brave man who commanded Fort McHenry that fateful night.

Major George Armistead.

When he arrived in Baltimore in 1814, he commissioned a huge flag from Mary Pickersgill. He wanted a "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance" and that is the flag which Francis Scott Key saw flying proudly the morning after the battle.

Consider the situation: in August of 1814, Washington had been sacked, President Madison had been forced to flee the city, and our fledgling country was in disarray. The Major probably knew that a rallying point - a glorious symbol - was desperately needed.

I doubt, however, that he had any inkling of the critical importance that flag would have in our country's history. Neither could he have imagined the inspiration it has provided to our nation down the years.

Here is the front entrance to Fort McHenry. To the left, out of frame, is the ravelin, which protected the front gate so troops could move out into battle safely. It also stored ammunition, and provided a base to catch any attackers in the defenders' crossfire.

Here's a picture from inside the ravelin, looking up and out. The grate to the right blocks a doorway that leads into an ammunition room. The angle of the stairs as well as the depth below grade helped to protected any powder from exploding due to a stray mortar.

I probably ought to have taken a picture from the outside, but, well... Ooops...?

 This is one of the cannons which surround the fort. Most aren't from the Battle of Baltimore, but instead they're dated to the Civil War. Fort McHenry was fortified by the Union forces, but it never came under attack by the Confederacy.

It's actually quite interesting - the technology was pretty sophisticated. You can see the tracks at the lower left of the picture, which helped swing the gun from side to side. Some time after the Civil War, if I recall correctly, these guns were upgraded with "hydraulic" pistons. When the gun was fired, the recoil would slam it to the back of its frame. The pressure which the recoil built up in the piston would move the gun up to the load/fire positions. This made the process of load-fire-repeat much faster and more efficient.

Look at the size of those critters, though - pretty impressive, huh?

How about some video? This is a video I took from the top of one of Fort McHenry's bastions -

I took another from the interior of the fort as well:

Fort McHenry it truly inspiring, and you really need to go and visit yourself. If you're quiet and really listen, you might hear the voices of the men who served here. They would whisper their stories in your ear, they would tell of blood and fear and courage.

They would remind you of why they fought and died - and ask you to love and serve the country for which they sacrificed.

Men and women throughout America's history have stepped forward and lived this verse of "America the Beautiful" -

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

Do you love your family, your country, more than yourself? Do you understand and cherish America's founding concepts of duty, service, self-control, honor and courage?

Will America - will we - return to God our Savior and Provider, God who has blessed us beyond compare, and allow Him to refine our gold?

Will we be able to answer "YES!" to Francis Scott Key's question:

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Technorati Tags: Fort McHenry, Star Spangled Banner, anthem, Armistead, Baltimore, patriot

Parents... They're watching you!

This morning as I was driving from the hotel to the Naval Academy (yeah, yeah, I'll post pictures - let me get this done, first. Oh, and last night's dinner and the pics of Annapolis, and... I'll get to it, OK??!) I was listening to this Rodney Atkins song, "Watching You."

Beautiful, just perfect - and oh, so true!

So, Dads and Moms, listen up and ask yourself what they're seeing, all right?

Drivin’ through town just my boy and me
With a “Happy Meal” in his booster seat
Knowin’ that he couldn’t have the toy ‘til his nuggets were gone.
A green traffic light turned straight to red
I hit my brakes and mumbled under my breath.
His fries went a flyin’, and his orange drink covered his lap
Well, then my 4 year old said a 4 letter word
It started with “S” and I was concerned
So I said, “Son, now where’d you learn to talk like that?”

Chorus:
He said, I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that kool?
I’m your buckaroo, I want to be like you.
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are.
We got cowboy boots and camo pants
Yeah, we’re just alike, hey, ain’t we dad
I want to do everything you do.
So I’ve been watching you.

We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said, “Lord, please help me help my stupid self.”
Just this side of bedtime later that night
Turnin’ on my son’s Scooby-doo nightlight.
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees.
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
Spoke to God like he was talkin’ to a friend.
And I said, “Son, now where’d you learn to pray like that?”

Chorus:
He said, I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that kool?
I’m your buckaroo; I want to be like you.
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are.
We like fixin’ things and holding moma’s hand
Yeah, we’re just alike, hey, ain’t we dad.
I want to do everything you do; so I’ve been watching you.

With tears in my eyes I wrapped him in a hug.
Said, “My little bear is growin’ up.”
And he said, “But when I’m big I’ll still know what to do.”

Chorus:
‘cause I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that kool?
I’m your buckaroo; I want to be like you.
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are.
By then I’ll be strong as superman
We’ll be just alike, hey, won’t we dad
When I can do everything you do.
‘cause I’ve been watchin’ you.
hey yeah
uh huh

They're watching us.

Each and every day, our children are watching us. What are we teaching them? Do we show love or hate? Hope or despair? Courtesy or arrogance? Integrity or dishonesty? Courage or cowardice?

I would like to live an example of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Then, when my Darling Munchkin is exhorted

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

perhaps she'll think of me...

Technorati Tags: Rodney Atkins, country music, parenting, example, songs

Dolphins!

Yes! Finally I'm getting the pictures up!

So, on Tuesday, while all y'all were snarking and fisking all the idiots who are screwing up our country, the Darling Munchkin and I got up close and personal with some of God's most glorious creatures: dolphins.

Dolphin Quest has a facility inside the Hilton Waikoloa Village, and we made reservations ahead of time - I think they allow up to 60 or 90 days in advance (check out their website).

These are Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins, not the Pacific Spinner dolphins, which are a deep water creature, and therefore unsuitable for this environment. All of these dolphins were born in captivity, so this life is all they know.

They are beautiful, BEAUTIFUL animals, and if I believed in reincarnation, I would like to either come back as one of my own (terribly spoiled) cats, or as a dolphin

The Dolphin Quest staff are obviously devoted to their charges, and full of information as to their habits, needs and behaviors. One thing which the Beloved Husband learned was that the staff actually feeds the dolphins water. In the wild, dolphins get all the water they need from their prey, but that's not the case in captivity. So, the trainers deliver water via a sort of gastro-IV line which they snake down the dolphin's throat. Also, each dolphin has its own dental cleaning kit(yep - it's a toothbrush!), because they aren't using their teeth to catch their prey as they would in the wild.

This guy's name is Lono, and he's the only mature male in the Hawaii pod. He's a real sweetie and very patient will all these strange people making a fuss over him. Here he is, waiting for the Munchkin to give him a kiss:

We also got to meet one of the ladies, who is pregnant and due in September... I want to say that her name is Kona, but I might be mistaken.

Their skin feels like a very, very smooth cool rubber - actually, Madeleine L'Engle put it better in A Ring of Endless Light: she describes a dolphin's skin as "resilient pewter.

Anyway, it was wonderful, and if there's a Dolphin Quest near where you take your next vacation, I highly recommend that you try to participate in one of their "encounters."

Technorati Tags: dolphins, Dolphin Quest

School's.Out.For.SUMMER!

Oh, yeah, I remember what that felt like! But today was the Darling Munchkin's last day of school, and she's now enjoying the pool with a friend...

I'm wondering, will she succeed in her mission to completely saturate herself with chlorine before the summer is over?

... I bet she can...!

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I've been trying to find a source, preferably online, for old school textbooks. Specifically, I'm interested in texts copyrighted/published from, oh, 1860 through about 1960. Does anyone know of such a source?

I've stumbled upon the Online Books Page, which may be a huge help, but I was hoping y'all could give me some more leads.

Technorati Tags: vintage textbooks, textbooks, research

Indoctrinate U

Looks like the full version is finally ready to hit the big time!

I've seen a rough draft of Evan Coyne Maloney's documentary on his website - it's been available for a while - and I'm very glad that it looks like it's coming out soon. It's got its own site that I'm sure has lots more info, so make sure you go check it out.

Yeah. Our colleges are centers of higher learning, where inquiring minds can learn different viewpoints, evaluate them themselves, and choose their positions based on facts. Our universities are open forums for ideas and ideologies, and fair and factual debate is welcome.

NOT!!

Thanks to Squeaky for the heads up!

(Less than) 12 cards in (more than) 40 minutes **sigh**

All y'all know that I adore, love, and cherish my Darling Munchkin... But she's turning my hair gray at the moment!

Every week, she has 12 vocabulary words for which she is required to write flashcards: word on the front, definition on the back.

Simple, right?

Nope. It's been forty minutes since she started, and she's

• only got six done
• has already asked for a break
• is in "sigh and groan" mode
• and is grumbling under her breath

[banging head against wall]

I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her.... Just gotta keep reminding myself... ;-)

The Kat still has it!

Whip up a lunch for 25? Not a problem!

Today is the monthly Teachers' Appreciation Lunch at the Darling Munchkin's school, and it was my responsibility to organize or cook their lunch this month. Well, me being me, I decided to do the thing myself - probably a control issue, LOL.

But, before we moved out here, I worked in the Munchkin's school cafeteria in Virginia Beach, where I was responsible for making the salads every day, and helping the other workers get their food out, hot and packaged, for the kids as they came through the lunch line.

Yesterday, I made the Sausage-Pasta Bake casseroles, and shoved them in the oven (on low) when I dropped the Munchkin off this morning. I swung by Food Lion to pick up the salad makings, and came on home, arriving at about 8:30am...

It's now just after 9am, and the lettuce (romaine, of course - no icky iceberg lettuce for me! *blech!*) is chopped, washed, dried, and in the bowl. The tomatoes are diced, the cucumbers are sliced, and the loaves of italian bread are sliced and spread with garlic butter and warming in the oven.

All I've got to do now is load things up and be back at the school by about 11:15....

[happy dance!]

Yep. I can still cook up a storm...!

... Of course, the next meal is going to be Christmas dinner... here's my fav menu to use...

It'd be easy to think it's a conspiracy...

I'll get back to this in a minute, but for now, just hold this thought in mind, would you?

Commonly reported side effects include difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, irritability, stomachaches, headaches, blurry vision, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and tics and tremors. There have been concerns that ADHD medication temporarily delays growth, and one study found that up to 5 percent of children experience tactile hallucinations, often involving a sensation that bugs or snakes are crawling on their bodies. The FDA recently announced that certain ADHD drugs should caution users about the risks of serious heart problems and psychotic behavior.¹

I'm tempted to think it's a conspiracy corrupt young minds and deliberately manufacture easily manipulated sheeple, but then I'm reminded of the quote attributed to Napoleon:

"Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity."

I'm speaking, of course (and again), of the public "education" system in these micromanaged-from-the-swamps-of-D.C. United States.

But it's not just micromanagement of local schools by remote bureaucraps and educraps or even bad (or lazy--and there are plenty of those) teachers or even pubschool adminstrators *spit* that are at work creating mind-numbed children (future citizens). Nope. Parents are the ones most responsible for the failures of American schools that have created a populace that is largely subliterate (while feeling good about itself, falsely calling itself literate). Parents could require discipline in school, could require their children to learn useful information, turn off the video games and TV and, well, read... Parents could vote in such a way as to lessen or even eliminate remote micromanagement of their public schools, even to voting in school board members who would turn down fedgov funds in order to maintain some semblance of local control.

But no.

Fascinated examination

The Munchkin loves all the bugs and critters. Well, she DOES say she wants to be a scientist...

Our fearless leader

Lori examines a catch.

Capture of a salamander

A baby one - absolutely TINY!

On the creek

Looking for critters - and with a good sized group, too!

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

This is going to be a very photo rich post, so most of it is below the fold. Also, although I love my little Sony camera, it unfortunately does not do too well in low light on its automatic settings. However, not having a tripod handy, I was kinda stuck with what I got. Still, the pics came out pretty well, even if they're not perfect...

Moooooving along, now: I'm up in Annapolis with the Beloved Husband and the Darling Munchkin, while Husband conducts some business. We came up on Sunday so we could have Monday to go to the National Air and Space Museum outside of Dulles International Airport. The Munchkin loves scientific things - she adored the Museum of Natural History when we were in D.C. over Memorial Day Weekend - so this was a huge treat for her.

Actually, it was a treat for me, too! I got to see some planes that made history, as well as take lots of pictures of the the plane which is - for some unfathomable reason - my absolute favorite in all the world.

For more yummy aviation-type stuff, you can now click to read below the fold! I've used fairly large thumbnails throughout, but ALL of the pics can be enlarged by clicking on them. Go on, now - you know you want to!

Encouraging news!

I am so pleased to see a graduating high school class tell the ACLU where to get off:

The senior class at a southern Kentucky high school gave their response Friday night to a federal judge's order banning prayer at commencement.

About 200 seniors stood during the principal's opening remarks and began reciting the Lord's Prayer, prompting a standing ovation from a standing-room only crowd at the Russell County High School gymnasium.

The thunderous applause drowned out the last part of the prayer.

God bless those kids. They didn't let one lone whiner stop them from having the graduation ceremony that they wanted.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed suit on behalf of the unidentified student on Tuesday.

ACLU attorney Lili Lutgens said she was pleased with the judge's order and "very proud of my client for standing up for the Constitution." Lutgens said prayer would be unconstitutional because it would endorse a specific religion and religious views.

Funny. MY copy of the Constitution says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

Therefore, it seems to me that you treat this like an election: if the majority says they want the prayer in the ceremony, well then, the minority abides by that choice. If this person's faith (or lack thereof) is so fragile and insecure that they take "offense" at well-established traditions, perhaps s/he should have gone to a school more in line with their philosophy. Besides, I don't see anyone here in the United States beheading anyone, or making them pay extra taxes, or denying them legal rights, simply because their religion is different from the majority.

Finally, one little thing. Since when is a Kentucky High School's graduating prayers equal to Congress legislating a state religion?

Anti-Christian Libel Union, 0 - Kentucky high school Class of 2006 - 1

(HT to Emperor Misha and Stop the ACLU)

Weekly walks with Uncle Charles

The Beloved Husband's uncle lives very close to us, and he's a brilliant man. He taught at Penn State many years ago (I want to say he was the Dean of their Geology department, but I'm sure I have it at least a little wrong...), and he still has a love of teaching. Charles loves his grand-nieces, and is enjoying introducing the Darling Munchkin to all sorts of good stuff, now that we live close by.

Yesterday, we took a walk up to his place to enjoy his irises, and he took us on a little tramp around the property. Unfortunately, I couldn't take as many pictures as I wanted, because my little Sony was in her death throes. Nevertheless, I did coax a last few photos out of her, and I hope you enjoy them, too.

Charles is really a brilliant man; I haven't come up against any topic that he doesn't know at least something about. As I said, he has a love of teaching - he must have been wonderful in the classroom! - and really enjoys answering questions. I'm hoping to do this regularly over the summer, longer if possible, and post about all the fascinating information he gives us. I will have to remember, though, to a) wear my hiking boots for ankle support, and b) make sure I'm dosed up on my allergy medications!

One thing that's blooming around here right now, and which I did NOT photograph (baaaaad Kat!), is the honeysuckle. It's beautiful! The flowers are white, pink, and yellow - sometimes on the same vine - and it smells heavenly! Of course, that's probably what's giving my sinuses fits right now, but... Anyway, I'll make sure to take some pictures when my new camera gets here.

We walked up the Charles' place and gave our co-dependant dog, Tasha, a treat by taking her with us. Of course, you can't see her in this picture, but it does give you an idea of how... rustic our area is! This road runs between our property and Charles' - ours is on the right in this picture, with our house about, oh, 100 yards off this section of the road.

I suppose it's about a fifth, maybe a quarter mile walk to Charles' house. It's lovely; all shaded and quiet and private. That's one very nice thing about living where we do: we've got 18 acres of PRIVACY!!! No one's looking over our shoulder. Mmmm!

Here's a shot of a lovely old wild rose of some type or another. We originally thought that it was a blackberry, since we have blackberries growing all over. The flowers looked just the same, but the leaves were much smoother and less crinkly than the blackberries. Also, the thorn pattern was a little different. Charles said it's no surprise that we confused them, since this rose and blackberries are in the same family.

These roses bear very little resemblance to what you find in a florist's chop. As you see, they're tiny, and only have one layer of petals. And their scent!! My gosh, do longstem roses really even have an aroma any more? These small beauties, however, have a lovely, delicate scent that drifts out from the plant and just lures you in for a deep sniff.

Egad, I hope these guys aren't responsible for my aching sinuses! Yup. Call the Doc tomorrow - time to get back on Allegra, and maybe go for allergy testing... *blech!*

Finally - well, not finally, but for the last photos I was able to take - we got up to Charles' iris patch.

It's very cool the way the leaves of the iris grow out like a fan, all flattened. I wasn't able to get a good shot, but it looks very cool!

Charles also took us over to his little bog and showed us some pitcher plants, several lush ferns, and some water irises (I think that's what he said they were). He also has a gingko tree, and some Mahonia (Oregon Grape). He also has some... horsetail? broom weed?... I forgot what he called it, but it was a little bush, with droopy, willow-like "branches" that had tiny leaves and beautiful little flowers, yellow with dark orange or brown centers. I think he mentioned that he has some papyrus, and I know he's got some lily pads in a little teeny pond...

... Good gracious, Charles has a LOT of stuff! I'm looking forward to my new camera's arrival, because I've got a LOT of pictures I want to take.

Anyway, that's all for now - I've got to take care of my poor, sore nose!

UPDATE: Suddenly I notice that I repeated myself several times (brilliant, cool!) in this post. I blame the Claritin: it can't clear up my allergies, but it certainly confuzzles me!

Whacky Do-Re-Me

The Darling Munchkin's school just had their little spring concert, and the Third and Fourth grades had four songs which they did very well. The last was this "Whaky Do-Re-Me" which I thought was too cute for words. At any rate, it certainly was a change from "Do, a deer, a female deer..."

Do... I make my cookies out of dough
Re... like on a sunny, sunny day
Me... there's no-one else I'd rather be!
Fa... sing out your fa-la-la
So... like a solo, wo-wo-wo
La... like the lava makes my lava lamp glow
Ti... have a cup of tea with me
And we'll sip it with our cookies made of... DO!

Isn't it the cutest? Yeah, I know, I'm a besotted Mommy *grin*

The Darling Munchkin is on the far left in the dark shirt. I know the video isn't very good, but it was taken with my little Sony DCP-WP2 camera, in terrible light, and from a fair distance away, so I'm not going to whine too much about the lack of quality.

Besides... It's cute!

Chatting with Virginia's Lt. Governor

Well, it was certainly a memorable occasion! Imagine... ME talking with Lt. Governor Bolling... Wow... I really have to thank Norman for the invite to join the teleconference.

Just... wow!

All right, now that I've got a few of the stars out of my eyes, I suppose I ought to explain to y'all what I'm talking about.

Last week, Norman (of One Man's Trash fame) e-mailed me asking if I'd like to join in a teleconference with Virginia's Lt. Governor, Bill Bolling. I was a tad hesitant at first, thinking it would be a pretty heavy-duty political analysis session. I'm really much more of a "life-blogger," even when I do talk politics or current affairs, and I thought I might be in over my head. But Norman said I could listen in and participate as much or as little as I wanted, so I said what-the-heck.

Tonight, many members of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance spoke with Mr. Bolling from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Mr. Bolling was well spoken and enthusiastic, and gave each question a careful and well-considered answer. It was a pleasure speaking with him, and I hope I will have the opportunity sometime to shake his hand and thank him again for his time and graciousness.

Each of us participating in the teleconference had the opportunity to ask a question, and I inquired what Mr. Bolling's stance was on the general subject of school vouchers and tax relief for families choosing to send their children to private school.

The Lt. Governor was quite responsive and firm in his support for what he called "meaningful educational choice." Although we certainly have educational freedom in Virginia - we have a wide range of choice, from public to private to home schooling - he is interested in promoting "meaningful" choice, where the residents of this state have more actual power to exercise those choices.

Mr. Bolling mentioned that school vouchers and educational tax credits were a couple of means to accomplishing this, but added that the issue has had problems getting past the State Senate Finance Committee. Also, Governor Mark Warner never made it a priority issue, and Mr. Bolling doesn't foresee Governor Tim Kaine changing that position.

Some opponants to vouchers and tax credits might say that they could never work and would harm funding to public schools. However, Lt. Gov. Bolling reminded us that, first of all, competition is good for many areas of our society. Monopolies can strangle by offering an inferior product at an inflated price, but when companies - or schools - compete, they must offer a good product at a reasonable price, or they die. Competition in the school system, he said, would strengthen the school system and encourage a better education.

He also pointed out that this has already been done in Virginia in higher education with no ill effects.

Established in 1972, the Tuition Assistance Grant Program (VTAG) is designed to assist Virginia residents who attend accredited private, non-profit colleges and universities in Virginia for other than religious training or theological education. The VTAG is authorized in Chapter 4.1 Section 23-38.11 through 18 of the Code of Virginia as the Tuition Assistance Grant Act.

The Tuition Assistance Grant Program offers annual grants of up to $2,500.00, and Mr. Bolling said that these grants were supposed to be increased to about $3,300.00 per year. (As an aside, I see that "religious training or theological education" are not permitted fields of study for these grants, which seems discriminatory to me) Mr. Bolling pointed out that this program is quite successful, allowing our state colleges and universities to thrive, while giving many private colleges the opportunity to grow and increase in number.

But, for these educational programs to be realized, we need to have a Governor, Senate, and House of Delegates who will back them and push them through the bureaucratic and partisan obstacles.

All in all, it was a very profitable and interesting question and answer session, and Lt. Governor Bolling expressed a desire to see if we could set this up as a quarterly event.

Thanks, Mr. Bolling, I enjoyed myself and learned a lot!

Also blogging: Spank That Donkey, Norman at One Man's Trash, Elephant Ears, Singleton at NoVATownHall, Virtual Conservative, Too Conservative, Kilo (who was unable to join, but Norman gave the Lt. Gov. Kilo's question), the Jefferson Mammoth, From On High, Bacon's Rebellion

Working on a school project

The Darling Munchkin, who is in Fourth Grade, is working on a project for her class, which requires her to gather facts about the State of Virginia.

I swear, it's been like pulling impacted wisdom teeth!

Thus, I am writng this post to show her how it ought to be done, so feel free to completely ignore this post - but if you do, I request that you send up a few prayers on my behalf so I don't go mad with frustration!

The first of the six sections of her "scrapbook" project is basic Virginia facts - state flag, state bird etc., etc. - and it's all below the fold. (And, yes, I'm going to TRY to modify my style to something more like a 4th grader...)

Where is The Outrage?

Frosty Woodbridge has a very scary article up. I am very glad that we can bless the Darling Munchkin with a private education in a small school! Lord only knows how any child could handle going to school in the cesspools which are (frequently) our public schools!

Short Winter Reading List

Here are a few books to put on your wishlist for Christmas...
The FairTax Book and








America's Best Kept Secret Fairtax: Give Yourself a 25% Raise

Those books could easily be a way to give America a great Christmas present: the abolition of the IRS.













It's in paperback, now! Michael Crichton's wedgie for eco-religionists:
State of Fear














Do As I Say (Not As I Do) :
Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy












(Now, how about one on "Profiles in Conservative Spinelessness" featuring most of the Republican't Congresscritters?)


David Weber! Some new Honor Harrington (OK, so she' just does a cameo in "Shadow... ").

The Shadow of Saganami (The Saganami Island)




and

Good News

JackLews.net has two stories up about some true civil rights victories in schools(both are from Agape Press), School Stops Censoring Christian Student and School Drops Discriminating Practice After Legal Threat.

They're very encouraging, especially after all the seeming "advances" by the *spit* ACLU *spit*.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Can you say exhausted? Five kids - three of them boys (what the heck do I know about boys??) - it was like trying to herd cats. I don't know how the Darling Munchkin's teacher, Mr. E., does it every day. He is a very patient, kind, and loving man who truly adores those kids and wants the best for them. Wow.

The museum was fun and had very nice displays. From what I understand, a lot of the animals were born in captivity or injured in some way, which would preclude their release into the wild. So, we get a nice living museum, and the animals get a safe home.

We saw foxes, coyotes, and a wolf. There were some deer, a bobcat, a skunk (no odor, thank goodness), and a 'possum. I'm going to post pics of the 'possum for tomorrow's Friday Ark - it was curled up in a tree stump, very cozy.

We got to "pet" a horseshoe crab, saw some paddlefish

(not mine - source)

and atlantic sturgeon. And that's just what I remembered off the top of my head.

OK. Time for a break... I'm going to relax and have a glass of wine.

Third grade field trip day

Yes, I got sucked in. I'll be driving/chaperoning Beloved Munchkin's third grade class while we visit the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, VA.

Obviously, if I'm there, I won't be here, blogging. BUT! I will be taking pictures, and if I see something especially interesting, I'll have my trusty cell phone with me for moblogging!

Everybody pray for a safe and fun trip!

Combating the "Vagina Monologs"

(HT to the Anchoress, who rose from her sickbed in irritation about this whole... debacle.)

You do know what the "Vagina Monologs" are, right? No, I'm not going to tell you, go google it for yourself. Well, finally some college Republicans got sick of all the lewdness masquerading as "socially conscious art" and staged a satire: the "Penis Monologs."

Christina Hoff Somers, over at National Review posts Why can't they "Just Get Along"? However, there is some small problem with the administration over at Roger Williams University - they either have no sense of fair play, no sense of humor whatsoever, or both.

The P-Day satirists are the first to admit that their initiative is tasteless and crude. But they rightly point out that V-Day is far more extreme. They are shocked that the administration has come down hard on their good-natured spoof, when all along it has been completely accommodating to the in-your-face vulgarity of the vagina activists. [...]

The campus conservatives artfully (in the college sense of "artful") mimicked the V-Day campaign. They papered the school with flyers that said, “My penis is majestic” and “My penis is hilarious.” The caption on one handout read, “My Penis is studious.” It showed Testaclese reclining on a couch reading Michael Barone’s Hard America, Soft America.

“Testaclese” tipped the scales when he approached the university Provost, Edward J. Kavanagh, outside the student union. Apparently taking him/it for a giant mushroom, Provost Kavanagh cheerfully greeted him. But when Testaclese presented him with an honorary award as a campus “Penis Warrior,” the stunned official realized that it was no mushroom. After this incident, which was recorded on videotape, the promoters of P-Day were ordered to cease circulating their flyers and to keep Testaclese off campus grounds. Mindful of how school officers had never once protested any of the antics of Vagina warriors, the P-warriors did not comply. The Testaclese costume was then confiscated and formal charges followed.

It is easy to understand why school officials would not want a six-foot phallus wandering around campus; nor why they would ask students not to paper the college with posters describing all the things it likes to do. But that is just the sort of thing the vagina warriors have been doing, year after year, on hundreds of campuses. In fact, P-Day at Roger Williams was mild by comparison. Wesleyan College hosted a “C***” workshop; Penn State held a “C***”-fest. At Arizona State, students displayed a 40-foot inflatable plastic vagina. It was not confiscated and no one was ever threatened with probation.

Be still, my beating heart! If this crudity is what college-bound youth have to look forward to, instead of a solid education... *sigh* My distaste is profound, especially since the "conservatives" had to descend to such depths of vulgarity to make their point about the cesspit of vile smut that is the "Vagina Dialogs."

Gadzooks. It makes me want to puke. Excuse me......

College plans for the future...

Thanks to Jayson at PoliPundit, I see this interesting news article Yahoo! News - Wanted: CEO, no Ivy required.

If anything, the CEO trend away from Ivies is intensifying. So far in 2005 there have been 24 new CEOs named to run Fortune 1,000 companies, according to public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. USA TODAY found only one, Corning's soon-to-be-CEO Wendell Weeks, with an Ivy League degree, a Harvard MBA ('87).

Yesterday I saw this item over at Betsy's Page, which mentions a related topic. Betsy quotes from this WaPo article (free registration required)

With faculty and administrations leading the way, political correctness and posturing -- from both the left and right -- is reaching dizzying heights in the land of the ivory tower. And rising right along with it is the frustration of middle-class parents, who are growing increasingly resentful of paying sky-high tuition for colleges they see offering their kids a menu of questionable courses and politically absurd campus climates that detract from the quality of a university education. [...]

Colleges have long been hotbeds of political agitation, of course. But where it was once students who did the acting out, as they spread their intellectual and philosophical wings, now the professors and administrators are more likely to be playing politics -- and more and more Americans with college-age kids are getting fed up with it. In 18 years of in-the-trenches experience counseling kids on their college choices, I've never seen the unhappiness as widespread as it is today. If colleges don't tone down the politics, and figure out how to control ballooning costs, they run the risk of turning off enough American consumers that many campuses could marginalize themselves right out of existence.

Colleges are having an ever-harder time making what they do comprehensible to the families footing the bills. I counsel families of all political stripes -- liberal, conservative and in-between -- and varied income levels, but they all agree on one thing: the overly politicized atmosphere on campuses is distracting colleges from providing a solid education to our young people.

All of which means to me that I don't have to worry about breaking the family finances to send the Darling Munchkin™ to a Name College© for her to get ahead. We can look for a good, solid liberal arts college with an outstanding core curriculum and which doesn't charge the GNP of a small country for tuition.

And, we can send her some place where the academic nutcases don't infest the professorship of the university....

Brainwashing 101

Have you watched Brainwashing 101 :: AcademicBias.com yet? I'd seen a part of this video a couple of months ago, but didn't finish it. Tonight, I did - and wow! what a punch! Even Darling Husband, normally the most even tempered of gentlemen, was getting a bit hot under the collar.

The full feature is supposed to be released this year, and I am looking forward to it.

*sigh* It just makes me realize that in 10 years, give or take, I'm going to be seriously examining college campuses ("campusi"?) for entrenched bias and inequality.

The tuition money I pay to any college will not support extreme leftist-or-rightist nutcases if I can help it.

This is.....um, interesting...

Via Beautiful Atrocities, I got this link: Hot Abercrombie Chick Posts: Leave more children behind.

Um. Well, I see some of the reasoning, yes. But... Um.... Huh. (Playing Pooh-Bear: *ponder, ponder, ponder*)

I have a cousin who is a teacher, and she hates a lot of the "No Child Left Behind." I haven't discussed it at length with her, so I'm not sure of what her precise objections are. I think I'll run that link by her and see what she thinks.

UPDATE: This over at I Love Jet Noise has a discussion on some of the pros and cons. Very interesting. The only big problem I see is complaints of "pigeon-holeing" students, or "discriminating" against disadvantaged students, and such-like.

I found this comment interesting:

Maybe it should be no PARENT left behind: a few years ago, SF spent a lot of money to unravel the mystery of why Asian kids excelled. Guess what: Asian parents spent long hours with their kids over homework, enrolled their kids in after-school programs to supplement their education, & expected their kids to excel.

I have a lot of empathy for this statement: I spend a lot of my time with my child making sure homework is done, drilling on facts, etc. I also spend a lot of time discussing issues, asking for reasons and facts to back stated opinions. My goal is to teach my child to think, and state the case in a logical and courteous manner.