Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Picture Life

Here's what you do: Type the answer to each question into a Google image search, and then pick an image from the first page of results. My trouble with this one was picking a single image.

Here we go!

1. Age At Next Birthday: 43




2. Place I'd Like To Travel: Eutopia


3. Favorite Place: Lost in a good book


4. Favorite Objects: Hugs



5. Favorite Foods:

Pesto


Swedish Fish


My mom's fried chicken


My grandma's snickerdoodles


6. Favorite Animal: All my children


7. Favorite Color: Royal blue


8. My Nicknames:

Miss V


Mouth (when I was a very young, even more talkative child. Don't use it if you expect me to answer nowadays!)


9. Town I Was Born In: Ellensburg


10. Bad Habit I Have: Biting my nails


Tag! You're it!

Monday, November 26, 2007

A crisis of optimism

resilience — NOUN: 1. The ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune; buoyancy. 2. The property of a material that enables it to resume its original shape or position after being bent, stretched, or compressed; elasticity.

"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.' How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!"
— Abraham Lincoln

Click to read more cool tidbits about This too shall pass.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Thursday Thirteen


Thirteen Hopes for My Daughters' Futures

The obvious
1. Planetary conditions conducive to the full life they've been given to expect
2. World peace
3. Health, vitality, and long life
4. Relationships full of love and acceptance
5. Children of their own (okay, so this one is a bit selfish)
6. Fulfillment

The rest
7. Adventures (however they define that)
8. A continuing sense of wonder and discovery
9. A life defined
10. Abundance both perceived and actual
11. Community
12. All the animals they can support (no allergies!)
13. Laughter every day

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A word game

A few years ago, some fellow unschoolers introduced us to Quiddler, a rummy-like game that uses letters instead of numbers. You gather letter cards to make words, and it's pretty fun.

This evening, Chloe and I used the Quiddler cards to play our own game. We used all the cards in the (large) deck to make a bunch of random words. Well, we used almost all the cards: we had one Q left over. Next, we tried to use all of the words in a bit of creative writing. I am not allowed to share Chloe's, but here's what I came up with. The required words are boldface.

A wiser Jack did dig that day
His one-quid tax resigned to pay,
"Hey, you there, Pearl!" he called with fear,
"Evil Nott has bid me quiz your lair!
"With thunder clap and roar of jet,
"His Key of Truth I must now get."

So while Heaven watched and Evil waited,
With Ruin, her gay air a-bated,
Jack the 'Niner, with ladle and drum,
Against the cliffs applied weary thumb,
Til in Zone of Six he found his cure
The hope of hopes for one less pure—
And mounted his toboggan and left his woes
To pass beyond the status quo.

Monday, November 19, 2007

"Neat"

Here's an entertaining blog for my fellow wordsmiths:

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

Friday, November 16, 2007

Friday fill-in

1. The things I give thanks for this Thanksgiving are: Frank, MJ, Chloe, family, friends, unschooling, health, my own resilience.

2. My Thanksgiving traditions include a round-robin of gratitude, pasta with our turkey, champagne, and time spent playing charades and board games.

3. The best part about Thanksgiving is the traditions.

4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is pie.

5. There's never been anything that was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me on Thanksgiving.

6. After the meal, I will have some more champagne and do something idiotic as a charade (but I won't be embarrassed).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being with my family, tomorrow my plans include doing the laundry and Sunday, I want to see the Seahawks beat the Bears!

All hail the FSM

Pasta Monster Gets Academic Attention

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21837499/?gt1=10547

"Indeed, the tale of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and its followers cuts to the heart of the one of the thorniest questions in religious studies: What defines a religion? Does it require a genuine theological belief? Or simply a set of rituals and a community joining together as a way of signaling their cultural alliances to others?

"In short, is an anti-religion like Flying Spaghetti Monsterism actually a religion?"

Indeed.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Disappearing water

Widespread Water Shortages
World Water Crisis
US Drought Monitor
America's Drought
The Incredible Shrinking Colorado River
Southwest Sizzle
Atlanta Dries Up
Australia's Desperate Rain Dance
Water Shortages in Africa
Greece Struggles
10 Million Face China Water Shortage
India's Water Worries
Vanishing Himalayan Glaciers
Water Conflict in the Middle East
Thoughts from Dave Pollard
Thoughts from Ted Turner
Even Big Business agrees...

Get the picture?

Thursday 13

Thirteen Lists I Could Include in a Thursday 13 Someday

1. 13 places I want to visit.
2. 13 reasons to vote for a Democrat in 2008.
3. 13 things I would do if I won the lottery.
4. 13 best foods to eat in New Orleans.
5. 13 more places I want to visit.
6. 13 things I would do if I knew I could not fail.
7. 13 ways I would have filled my time if I'd been unschooled.
8. 13 things I wish I hadn't bought.
9. 13 things I don't regret buying but wish I could get rid of now.
10. 13 places I want to visit again.
11. 13 things I proselytize about (update to this).
12. 13 reasons to unschool.
13. 13 hopes for my daughters' futures.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

My baby!

MJ is getting her learner's permit today!! I foresee a lot of my time spent in the passenger seat from now on.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Hugs to Eric and family

Frank's cousin Eric (Mike and Edie's son) has been diagnosed with lymphoma. It sounds like his prognosis is pretty good, thank goodness. We send our wishes for an easy-as-possible chemo experience and speedy recovery.

Pretty in pink

My stepmom, ReneƩ, spent last weekend walking in San Diego's Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. Sounds like it was an incredible experience. Here's a picture of ReneƩ, flanked by her walking buddies, Deb and Kim. Pretty awesome women!


And here is my dad, acting as their very attractive cheerleader. The woman with him is their friend Cindy, a survivor.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Borrowed photos

I've just been cruising around MySpace and discovered that some of the Non-Con kids have put some of *my* photos into their profiles and Non-Con albums. How cool is that?

Okay, so I'm easily flattered. :-)

Ten pet peeves

It's been a while since I ranted. Can't go too long without a good rant! Of course, I'm feeling too good to do it right. Five minutes ago, I set my mood (at right) to "Mixed." And then our STUN Movie Night came together so I know we get more good times tonight, and now I'm all chipper (even if I do have to clean house now).

So maybe I'll skip the rant and just list some pet peeves. This is by no means a comprehensive list.

1. When mothers threaten their children, especially in malls and other public places. Most recently overheard threat: "Stop doing that or you won't get your cookie." gack

2. When the scissors have not been returned to their drawer in the kitchen. We probably own eight pairs of scissors, yet I can never lay hands on one.

3. When people don't show up for meetings at work.

4. When people on message boards get pissed off over the advice they receive instead of simply ignoring what they don't like (or better yet, thinking about what was said).

5. When people hog the left lane. I know I might have mentioned that one before (like a dozen times), but it bears repeating.

6. When people say "so-and-so and I" when they should say "so-and-so and me." The trick: If you would use "me" if there were no so-and-so, then you should use "me." For example, "She went to the store with so-and-so and me" and "Send the e-mail to so-and-so and me" are both correct.

7. Same as above but substitute "myself" for the "I".

8. When I make grammar and spelling mistakes, especially mistakes that get published. (Did you know I have been known to flush with shame over and hurry to edit two-year-old blog posts?)

9. When Wendy's (and it always seems to be Wendy's) gives us the wrong food. "They f*** you at the drive-through!"

10. When I set out to make a list of ten items and can only come up with nine.

A new Favorite for you

MJ has started blogging!

http://www.awesomerandomosity.blogspot.com/

I've added a link to this and many other Favorites in the updated sidebar at right. And in other blog news, I've added a new label: non-con. Now LIFE is Good and Non-Con posts are separately grouped. Grouped separately? You know what I mean.

Friday, November 9, 2007

February whispers

Could there be a Non-Con North coming our way for Mardi Gras?

Remember, dear readers, you heard it here first, off the record, on the Q.T., and very hush-hush.

Friday fill-in

1. Plans and schedules are fluid things.

2. I'm happy when things are. (period)

3. The last thing I drank was Coke.

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is our friendships with other unschoolers.

5. I like mushrooms, black olives, and lots of cheese on my pizza.

6. Dear November, don't go by too fast.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping ('cause I've had a couple of short nights in a row), tomorrow my plans include a STUN movie party, and Sunday, I want to smile as much as I did last Sunday! (was "see the Seahawks win..." but I just found out that the Hawks play Monday instead)

A taste of MySpace

Quizzes go 'round on MySpace with great regularity. I liked this one. Actually, what I especially liked was MJ's answers to it. My answers are next to hers, in green.

A
• Are you available?: indeed [for what?]
• What is your age?: fifteen [the answer to life, the universe, and everything]
• What annoys you?: stupid people. mean people. bad grammar. [GW Bush - a stupid, mean person who uses bad grammar]

B
• Do you know anyone named Billy?: i do. [I know some Bills (my dad for one!), and a woman named Billie. No Billy that I can think of.]
• When is your birthday?: september [May]
• Who is your best friend(s)? chloe [4-way tie: Steph. Frank. MJ. Chloe.]

C
• What's your favorite candy? what a difficult question. [Duds]
• Crush? exists and seems like it will for awhile [yep, for more than 20 years now]
• When was the last time you cried?: hmmm, when i finished a very sad book the other day called extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer [two nights ago]

D
• Do you daydream?: all the time. favorite pastime. [Not really. I think a lot.]
• What's your favorite kind of dog?: great danes and irish wolfhounds [belonging to other people]
• What day of the week is it? mondayyy (MJ answered this Oct. 29th, I think) [Friday, baby!]

E
• How do you like your eggs?: over medium and made by my father or scrambled and made by my sister. [in a cheese-and-mushroom omelette]
• Have you ever been in the emergency room?: i have. [a number of times, but never as exciting as MJ's trip]

F
• Do you use fly swatters?: i avoid flies at all costs. [rolled-up newspaper usually]
• Have you ever used a foghorn? sadly, no. [no]
• Is there a fan in your room?: no, i live in the northwest, it's too cold for fans. [yes, 'cause even in the northwest the upstairs gets hot in the summer -- and no A/C]

G
• Do you chew gum?: for sure. [occasionally]
• Do you like gummy candies?: yep, but not constantly. my dad buys them all the time and i get sick of them. [occasionally]
• Do you like gory movies?: oh yes, so very much. [occasionally]

H
• How are you?: groggy, kinda unhappy, missing people [sleepy but good]
• What's your height?: 5'3" [5'6"]
• What color is your hair? dark brown [salt-and-brown]

I
• Have you ever ice skated?: i'm horrible at it. [yes, very carefully]
• What's your favorite kind of ice cream?: chocolate chip cookie dough [rocky road]

J
• Have you ever heard a really hilarious joke? indeed. ["...major combat operations in Iraq have ended."]
• Do you wear jewelry?: two rings, a bracelet or four, a necklace, three earrings in each ear and a nose ring. [one pair of earrings and my wedding ring always, other stuff from time to time]

K
• Do you think kangaroos are cute?: absolutely. [absolutely]

L
• Love at first sight? maybe. [self-fulfilling prophecy maybe?]
• Lions or tigers?: bears, oh my. [tigers]
• Do you like black licorice?: kinda. [yes]

M
• Favorite movie as a kid?: beauty and the beast. [West Side Story]
• Ever shopped at Moosejaw?: never heard of it. and i wouldn't shop there cuz it has a ridiculous name. [no, but I would even with the ridiculous name]
• Favorite store at the mall? i like scorning hot topic, then shopping there anyway. [Cinnabon]

N
• Do you have a nickname? MJ, Mary Jane, Idgy, Marjie. [now? dragonfly, Miss V. from my youth? I don't wanna talk about it.]
• What's your favorite number? 15 [22]
• Do you prefer night or day?: nighttime. [both, but night wins by a nose]

O
• What's your one wish? it's a secret. if you ask i might tell. [that the Republican scientists are right (but I think we are all doomed to disappointment on that score)]
• Are you an only child?: siblings, i have. [no, I have siblings of many varieties]
• Do you like the color orange?: sure, why not? [some shades more than others, but yeah]

P
• What are you most paranoid about?: alien invasion. [nothing]
• Piercings?: 7 [2]
• Do you know anyone named Penelope?: i do not. [only in fiction]

Q
• Are you quick to judge people?: i get a first impression, then learn about them, then judge. not in a bad way or anything, god. [not too much except for certain "triggers"]
• Do you like Quaker Oats?: i like sugar with quaker oats. [occasionally]
• Quilts?: yes please. [often]

R
• Do you think you're always right?: it's a bad habit of mine. [about half the time]
• Do you watch reality tv? not on your life. [only by accident]
• Reason to cry?: sad stories. [what have you got?]

S
• Do you prefer Sun or Rain? both [sun]
• Do you like snow?: adoration [in moderation]
• What's your favorite season?: summer, winter, fall, spring. [late spring, early fall -- summer weather without the crowds]

T
• What time is it?: 11:55 [4:43 p.m.]
• What time did you wake up? nine? eight? ten? dunno. [half an hour too late]
• Any Tattoos?: not yet. [not yet]

U
• Can you ride a unicycle?: hahahahahahahahahahahahahaHA. [I don't know]
• Umbrellas?: once in a blue moon. [usually not]

V
• What's the worst vegetable?: asparagus. [canned peas]
• Did you ever watch Veggie Tales?: hell no. that's religious shit. i do like the pirates who don't do anything song, tho. [I might have heard of it once before this.]
• Ever considered being vegetarian? i am and have been for over a year. [not for long]

W
• Do you like water rides?: yeaaaa booooyyyyyeeeeeee. [on a hot day, oh yeah]

X
• Have you ever had an x-ray?: yes. [hmm, don't think so]
• Ever used a Xerox machine? i live for xerox. [maybe not an actual Xerox, not sure]

Y
• Do you like the color yellow?: adoration. [very much]
• What year were you born in?: 1992 ['65]
• Do you yell when you're angry? i curse a blue streak and yell myself hoarse. i don't have good temper control once i lose it. [it's been known to happen]

Z
• What's your zodiac sign?: virgo [Gemini, of course]
• When was the last time you went to the zoo? forever ago. i like the zoo, except for the fact that animals should be in the wild. [February 2007 in San Diego]

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Non-Con revisited

I can't stop looking at Non-Con photos and videos. Want to see some more?

Zenmomma's Garden (Mary)
Our Joyful Life (Kelli)
The Wonderful Happens (Gillian and Craig)
Bodhicitta (Diana)

Want more unschooling blogs? Here are some other of my faves:

Normal is SO last week (Qacei)
Learning in Freedom (Ren)
Another Roadside Attraction (Rue)
- author of the amazing Parenting a Free Child
This Is How We Shine (Anne)
Warts and All (Schuyler)
Sandra Dodd (family-life blog)

Oh, there are too many good ones. Many of those have Live and Learn, LIFE is Good, or Unschooling blog ring links that you can click to see even more.

Thursday 13


Thirteen Things I Am Putting Off

1. Sorting the mail
2. Sorting the paperwork in the office
3. Sorting the kidstuff in my closet
4. Sorting the laundry
5. Doing the laundry
6. Paying bills
7. NaNoWriMo
8. Cleaning... Cleaning everything
9. Writing or calling various neglected friends and relatives (Hi, Caroline! Hi, Nick!)
10. Exercising
11. Drinking more water
12. A moment ago: writing up my Thursday 13 (and now: writing for work)
13. Turning over a new leaf


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The only bright side...

...to this story is that it gave me something to blog about.

Girl, 13, gets detention for hugging two friends

I'm just not sure what this experience is supposed to teach her.

And when I contrast it with our joyous weekend—where we had kids of all ages hugging, holding hands, walking arm in arm, wrestling, tumbling, tickling, and laughing, laughing, laughing—I just want to cry.

Socialization? I prefer our variety, thank you.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Acceptance

what the fuck is with everybody lately
i have no air
no space to breathe
everything i do is wrong
everything i say is rude
every way i look is bad
what the fuck people
i can't please anybody
i'm not happy with myself
so why should you be
but for god's sake
you don't really have to tell me every
single
time
i fuck up


— Anonymous. Used by permission.



I've added a new label to the blog: acceptance.

The poem above was written by a teen friend. It made me realize that acceptance is the unschooling concept I would most like to promote. It is, after all, the concept that has made the biggest difference in our family, from repairing my damaged relationship with MJ (who had to live through more of my newparentitis and horrible mistakes), to building our new family dynamic, to opening up the world—with a nice side benefit of improving my self-esteem.

Our society is geared toward correction. If someone was wrong yesterday, we tell them. If someone is wrong today, we tell them. If someone might be wrong someday, we tell them. When it comes to kids, this inclination toward correction is magnified a thousandfold. From "Say please" to "Chew with your mouth closed" to "Stand up straight" to "Are you going out like that?" to "Have you given any thought to your future?", we bombard kids with messages that they will only be accepted when they change. So they do. And then they're confronted with the next set of expectations. So they change again.

For most of us, a day comes when we realize "they" will never be satisfied, so we'd just better get on with accepting ourselves.

Well, here's a question for you: If you have to tell a kid something, why not tell them that? Why not let them skip all those pointless years of struggle? Let them skip the part where they fight that voracious monster, Expectation.

Just let them be.

Accept.

One small example: Those of you who knew Chloe when she was younger might remember her headful of superfine blonde snarls. Matted rats. (And if you didn't know Chloe then, check out Fergus and multiply snarls by three. Or maybe six.) There were a couple of times when she and I decided cutting it off was our best option (easier than, if not as rewarding as, brushing it out). I had moments of hair-despair, and my mother probably wanted to call CPS on me. But I let Chloe be. And this is Chloe now.

We still don't tell her to brush her hair. But now it's beautiful, and people compliment her, and she likes it. She remembers being that messy-headed kid, though. At Non-Con this weekend, I overheard a little conversation between Chloe and Fergus:

Chloe: I like your hair.
Fergus: It's unusual, but I like it.

That's acceptance, folks.
...

Look at this!

Top Ten Tips to Fight Global Warming (on a personal level)
History of Photography (photographic, of course!)
Deadliest Year (despite recent "things are improving" reports)
Fruits Basket (Chloe's favorite manga/anime)
Tattoo Magazine (one of MJ's subscriptions)
Decisive Battles of the Civil War (interactive)
Luke and Laura's Reunion (a BIG General Hospital moment from Ronnie's college days)
Ten Places of a Lifetime (I've been to 5 of them so far)
Free Hugs ('cause you can't watch it enough)
Ronnie looks like... (try it with your name!)

Monday, November 5, 2007

Non-Con '07

We've just returned from Corvallis and an unschooling un-conference. We call it "Non-Con" and it was a BLAST!! A double shot of thanks to Mary and Jon and Conor and Qacei for hosting most of it.

Here are just a few—okay, more than a dozen—of the 155 photos we took.


Our man Fergus, enjoying hot cocoa and whipped cream—in separate cups, thank you—at the Sunnyside Up CafĆ©.


Dragonfly and Zenmomma


Blurry but beautiful Girl Circle
- front row: Kyra, Effie, Steffi
- back row: Chloe, MJ, Qacei, Abbi


An Amy Steinberg concert just for us


Watching Amy
- at the bar: Chloe, MJ, Scotty, Diana, Abbi, a friend of Amy's, Kelli
- at the front table: Effie, Steffi, Kyra, Qacei, Mary
- others: Craig (sitting on the floor with not-shown Fergus and Marty), Michael (another friend of Amy's whom we adopted), Mercedes with Jon behind her, Donna, Hayden at the Community Table with Conor), and of course Frank


Merchandise moxie


Chloe and Qacei


Bad Marty! Just kidding—he's counting for yet another game of hide-and-seek with Fergus and the gang.


Daughter and Dad


MJ and Chloe doing Yankee Doodle while Conor looks on


Rafael shows Fergus her new 'stache


Hola!
- from left: Kyra, Qacei, Hayden, Mercedes, Diana, MJ, Chloe, Ducky, Mads


Qacei and Chloe


Kyra, Qacei, and Chloe walking (?) down Monroe Street


The unschoolers invade the Fair Trade store

Stepping out of the box

Here's an excerpt from a mini-article written by a newer unschooling mom. The whole post is available on Sandra's site here.

"For the first time, in what seems like my entire life, I am not terrified...

"My husband and I were talking about being put into the proverbial box (i.e. the 'school' box or the 'good little child' box or even the ‘good parent’ box) and he made an analogy that was quite startling to me. He said, 'It’s as if people start lopping off pieces of the child, in order, to fit them inside that very tiny box.' I had a disturbing image of pieces of myself lying outside my own box. I have been in that box since a very early age and only the label on the outside has changed. I was the Good Girl, the Good Student, and the Good Parent among other things. He asked, 'What if the best parts of us are lying outside that box?'

"I didn't even realize I was confined because I was put in there very early in my life. Even though the lid has been off for quite sometime now, I didn't know to get out. It makes me very sad to think that my fear has pushed me to confine my children the way I’ve been confined. I think of the pain caused by ‘lopping’ off parts of who they are just to fit some kind of ‘ideal’ that [is] not even beneficial to them and I’m so remorseful.

"So as of today, I am stepping out of my box..."

By jbantau

Gratitude Dance

Today, I am grateful for...


  • F, M, & C (as always)

  • Good friends (especially Steph (as always), Mary, and Gillian)

  • Laughter and joy by the truckload

  • Anne's normal BP and EKG that was only "a teeny weeny bit irregular"

  • Jambalaya

  • Keeping our Sunnyside Up

  • Unschooling (as always)



Sunday, November 4, 2007

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Auction success

Last night was the annual Hope for Horses fundraiser auction at the Bellevue Westin. Frank and MJ volunteered there all day, helping to haul the lots in, set up the band, organize the silent auction, and generally make it come off. They worked SO hard! Both of them straggled in last night, worn to the bone.

Cool stuff:

MJ was in charge of one group of volunteers. She handed out assignments and provided information and instructions.

Warren Moon and his (new) wife are pretty involved with HFH, so they were there. In addition to all of the above duties, MJ and Frank spent some time with the Moons' ~1yo son. He is evidently quite the cutie, and he found Frank's beard fascinating.

No word yet on total donations, but it sounds like it went well.

If you'd like to contribute to the cause—and having seen several of the horses that they've helped this past year, I can tell you it is a very worth one—you can use PayPal, or you can mail a check to:

Hope for Horses
PO Box 1790
Woodinville, WA 98072

Friday, November 2, 2007

Photo recap

I can't remember all the times I promised photos and never delivered, but here are some from a couple of key events over the last couple of months. Hover to see captions, click to see larger images.

MJ's Birthday at IHOP



Everybody help blow out the candles!
Lovely cousins
Lovelier cousins...
...losing it...
...and gone.

Maddie's Birthday



Wow!
Life is good
Enough with the camera, MJ!
Nice hat!

Halloween



Ewww
MJ, her work
Lila learns to knock over towers
Trippy Alice
The gang at the beach
Chloe's 2nd costume
Sherlock Hunter and one of the destroyers of Raccoon City

What I want to write

I'm home with my cold today, sniffling and coughing in private. This means I could be working on my NaNoWriMo novel. Instead, in true champion procrastinator form, I'm posting to my blog.

Part of the problem is that I don't know what I want to write. Chris Baty says, "No Plot? No Problem!" and his kickoff e-mail certainly has me tempted to indulge my inner goofball. But there are a couple of dusty works in progress that I should work on instead.

Aha! Did you see what I said?! I said "should." I owe myself a quarter.

And I think I just unblocked myself. Bye!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Thursday 13


Thirteen Things about Ronnie

Exotic places I've visited
1. Mexico
2. Panama
3. Costa Rica
4. Cayman Islands
5. The French Quarter, New Orleans
6. Virgin Islands
7. Bay Islands, Honduras
8. St. Martin/St. Maarten
9. Kauai
10. Lake Powell, Utah
11. The Gulf Coast after a hurricane
12. England (well, it's exotic to me, Schuyler!)
13. LIFE Is Good 2007

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

I am...

I'm catching up on my favorite blogs and found this meme over at Ren's place. If you pick up the chain, please put a note and link to your blog in the comments.

You can play by finishing the following sentences about yourself:
aaa
  • “I am…”
  • “Right now I am in…”
  • “Most people do not know that I…”
  • “I am passionate about…”
  • “Decades from now, when my children think of me, I hope that they remember…”
  • “My soul feels warm and I have a big smile when I remember…”
  • “If I could go back in time and give one piece of advice to myself when I was 18 years old it would be to…”
  • “I think that the most important thing about life is…”

aaa
aaa

Here are my answers:
aaa

  • I am suffering from a cold but hanging in there. In the larger sense, I am more happily mySelf with each passing year.
  • Right now, I am in a good mood due to the excellence of our Halloween festivities last night. MJ and Chloe were Alice in Wonderland a lĆ” Grace Slick and a beautiful fairy/butterfly, respectively. They very kindly went trick-or-treating out at Grandma's with younger cousins first – 4yo Ella won the Cutest Kid in the World contest – and then roamed our neighborhood with unschooling buds Hunter and Logan (Sherlock Holmes and an employee of the Umbrella Corp., respectively). A most excellent night.
  • Most people do not know that I have secrets. Amazing how much you can hide behind a whole lot of talking.
  • I am passionate about my kids, my husband, unschooling, doing a good job, writing, family, travel, and fun. Not necessarily in that order.
  • Decades from now, when my children think of me, I hope that they remember unconditional support, Christmas mornings, Happy Halloweens, cozy family nights watching Heroes, fun, fun, fun.
  • My soul feels warm and I have a big smile when I remember birth days, especially MJ's and Chloe's, but also Megan's, Madison's, Ella's, and Lila's, when I was the coach. Nursing. Dancing at my wedding. Our honeymoon. Our family roadtrip in 2000. Our year with Chiara. Also, see the previous item.
  • If I could go back in time and give one piece of advice to myself when I was 18 years old it would be to learn about attachment parenting before MJ was born and never send my kids to school.
  • I think that the most important thing about life is nurturing kids and family, plus living it instead of letting it live you.

aaa
aaa

Your turn.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

BOO!


NaNoWriMo starts TOMORROW!

Greetings, potential writing buddies!

Are you ready? Well, you'd better be, because the NaNoWriMo fun starts tomorrow!!

If you want to add us as your writing buddies, go here:
Ronnie - hmsdragonfly - http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/203795
Chloe - C.B.Pierce - http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/201352
MJ - coming soon! Check back later.

Still debating? Here's an excerpt from founder Chris Baty's kickoff e-mail. It might just bump you over into Yes.

For those of you who are new to NaNo, I want to quickly run through the noveling schedule for the month ahead.

Step 1: Keep reading this email; learn the secret of NaNoWriMo.
Step 2: Wait for 12:01 AM local time on November 1.
Step 3: Write a novel.

No problem.

Okay, back to Step 1. The secret of NaNoWriMo. Which is this: There is a door in your brain. The door has been there your whole life. You may not have noticed it before because it blends in with everything else in your brain. Weird art. Mismatched furniture. Squishy gray bits clinging to everything.

So what does this door have to do with your novel?

Your job this month is not so much writing a book (which is intimidating) as it is finding that door (which is easy). It's easy because you'll have guides in November who will take you right to it.

These guides are also known as your characters. They're kind of an abstract notion now, but you'll meet them in all their glory in Week One of NaNoWriMo. They'll be a strange lot. Insecure warlocks. Stamp-collecting squirrels. Teenage detectives. Whoever shows up, go with them. And go quickly. You may have a general sense of where you're going together; you may not. It doesn’t matter. Just write your allotment of 1667 words (or more) on November 1. Don't edit any of it. Editing is for December. Then come back and write another 1667 words the next day. And the next. And the next.

By Week Two, you'll be at the door. A few words later, you'll be through it. You'll know you're there because the writing will feel different. Less like work, and more like watching a gloriously imperfect movie with cringe-worthy dialogue, heaps of confusing tangents, and moments of brilliance so delightful that you'll want to scream. Once you've stepped through that door into the vast reaches of your imagination, you'll be able to return there as often as you like. It's an enchanted, intoxicating place, and there are other great things besides novels in there.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

What unschooling looked like today

MJ spent most of the day working: my mom hired her to dogsit Angelo for the day. Since this is not an especially labor-intensive task, she also did some reading and movie viewing. She finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, a book we all enthusiastically recommend and which, academically speaking, covers more subjects that I can list. I'm not sure what movies she watched, will update later if I remember to get more details.

The work part of her day involved administering doggie medicines and food and acting as walk companion.

Chloe spent the day visiting unschooling pals Logan, Hunter, and Kyla. Sounds like it was a very physical day, with lots of running around shooting each other with Airsoft guns. (Don't worry, they wear goggles!)

Frank and I had a rare day sans kids. We used part of it to start our Christmas shopping, because we're anticipating a very busy November and December since MJ will have driver's ed three nights a week. Plus driving practice. Oy. Anyway, after shopping, we watched Casablanca.

MJ stayed over at my mom's, but late Saturday night, we went out to pick up Chloe. I'd been feeling headachy on and off all evening, and somehow the round trip out to Snohomish did me in. I had my usual, best-not-discussed-in-public response to a migraine the minute we got home, then put myself right to bed. By morning, I was fine. Very odd; I don't think I've had a migraine since I was 16.

Academic translations (excluding parental activities):
Development of A Sense of Responsibility
Physical education
Socialization
Lesser included subjects: math, history, physics, English, sociology, French, geography, psychology of grief, human anatomy, etc.

An open letter to a former math teacher

Let me introduce you to some wonderful kids.

First, there's Kyla, a 17-year-old whitewater rafting guide. She is also a book lover, so much so that she works part-time at the library and is considering a degree in library science. We don't see as much of her as we'd like, because her social life is very full and Patrick is very cute. She is gracious and friendly and loyal and fun.

Next, there's MJ, who just turned 15 and is eagerly anticipating the start of driver's ed next month. She's a vegetarian animal lover who volunteers twice a week at a horse rescue place; they love her there and have awarded her "rank" over their other volunteers. She's a beautiful writer, has very un-Maier-like penmanship (she can write in italics!), and knows more about music than anybody I know.

14-year-old Logan (aka "The Great God Logan") is a knight-in-training with the SCA. He loves manga and XBox and hanging out with friends. He's writing a comic book, loves horror movies, and wants to teach everybody how to play Magic. He's kind of a picky eater, but we all bow down to his greatness anyway. He flings himself into whatever fun presents itself, and he is always ready to laugh.

Chloe is a creative force and has spent most of her 13 years writing, drawing, telling stories, and imagining. She can talk faster than most of us can listen, has more faith in her little finger than I have in my whole body, and feels the injustices of the world quite keenly. She's something of a loner until she's in the mood to socialize, and then she's an effortlessly sociable creature. Small kids love her, because she hasn't forgotten how to pretend.

Hunter (12) is our athlete. If it involves running, jumping, swimming, batting, throwing, dodging, or shooting, Hunter is your man. He's sensitive and sweet, accepts you as you are, and always tries to be accommodating. Like his big brother, he is a talented gamer and an apprentice knight with the SCA, but he prefers anime to horror movies.

Michelle is also 12. She is passionate about gaming and often carries her DS and games with her in a special purse. She's teaching me Pokemon characters, but I'm a little slow. She is crazy about horses in general and rides a Clydesdale for her lessons. She has firm "self boundaries" and expects them to be respected, loves to talk, loves to win, and loves to drive dad's driving simulator.

These are the kids you had in your wagon at the corn maze last Thursday. These are the kids who couldn't (or perhaps wouldn't) tell you what 8x7 is. These are the kids you quizzed, judged, and criticized, and at the same time ignored.

What do you think you learned about these kids that day? Can you tell me which of them do math for fun? Can you tell me which of them use math every day? Can you tell me which of them score well on standardized math tests? I very much doubt it. You can't judge mathematical competence by a person's ability to do turn-the-crank parlor tricks.

More importantly, can you tell me a single one of them who enjoyed your company that day and wasn't thrilled to have that wagon ride over with? I very much doubt it.

Restaurant review: The Cherry Blossom Grill

Both girls were occupied last night, so Frank and I had a date. We went to the Cherry Blossom Grill for Japanese food. This is a new restaurant in Everett that we discovered last summer when Chiara's favorite sushi place was closed. Now we all like this one better! The decor is pleasant, the prices are good, and the food is very good.

Our favorite thing to get is a bento box combo. You get two entrees, rice, salad, and miso soup, all for the bargain price of $8.99 to $10.99 (depending on the entrees you choose). Last night, Frank had a hefty salmon steak and spicy chicken teriyaki, and I had California rolls and tempura. Very delish, and only $9.99 per person.

Another Cherry Blossom highlight is their wasabi (Japanese horseradish). It's the best we've ever had, creamy and flavorful.

For sushi lovers, we recommend the dragon roll. Excellent presentation!

Anyway, check it out next time you're in town!

Writing for success

I flattened my deadline at work and rolled right into the next project. Ah, the exciting life of a tech writer....

"The next project" is a couple of articles for the Web. I really enjoy writing these, since the product they are for is not documented well and we have never been given time to fix that. These articles help to fill some of the gaps. If you're really short on stuff to do, you can read the "Inventory Management Series" on the Web site that I maintain.

Write of passage

Chloe completed her novel—more than 50,000 words in less than 30 days—about a week ago. She was very pleased and still wears the pride in her own accomplishment gaily. We had a little quickie party to celebrate, complete with champagne—the good stuff!

MJ wanted to know why we hadn't had a party when she finished her novel. Our answer was rather unsatisfactory ("Umm, because we didn't think of it...?"), so we now owe MJ one quickie party.

Both girls and I are still planning to take part in the official National Novel Writing Month starting next week. Join us!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Thanks for your patience!

Still here? I'm impressed! I apologize for my blog neglect. Here are a couple of family reports.

Home alone

While Frank and MJ were gone, Chloe and I had a pretty idyllic stretch of mom-and-daughter time. I was (and am) working a LOT, but we still connected to a delightful degree. When I got home from work in the evenings, we both made a point of settling down to be together. It was great!

She made good use of her days at home alone. She is still working on her NaNoWriMo practice swing and put in some 5000-word days last week. Her total wordcount now is up over 44,000, with four days remaining in her 30.

I made good use of my days, too, putting in a whopping 65 hours of work last week. But enough of that! I'll still have some OT this week, but nothing like that.

One of our bonding experiences was reading Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me aloud together. We LOVED this book, although Chloe—being firmly in writer mode—did perfectly anticipate many of the best jokes.

Scrabble, Mollypop, Paul Jr., and the Blues

Frank and MJ returned Wednesday from their dad-and-daughter trip to New Orleans. Here are a few highlights from their visit:

  • Dad Marty is doing okay. He has lost a little more right-side mobility due to a second "circulatory problem of the head" (that's a quote from a movie, not his doctors) last summer, but he gets by pretty well with his left hand. Mentally, he is as sharp as ever in some ways—he very much enjoys playing Scrabble and pulls off some sophisticated multiple-word turns—but he has to be strapped into his chair because forgets that he can't walk, and he doesn't consistently remember Gary, whom he has lived with for a year now.
  • I'm almost too envious of this one to write about it, but Frank and MJ got to meet Jerry and Cori's too adorable daughter, Molly, who is (umm) 9 months old (I think) and whom everyone calls "Mollypop." She loved MJ's jewelry especially. I'm sure MJ protected her nosering carefully from those clever little fingers.
  • Chrissy's son, Paul, and his significant other are expecting! Baby is due May-ish, Frank says.
  • MJ wanted to see a couple of bands that were playing at the House of Blues, so Frank took her down there one night. I think he went only reluctantly, but it sounds like he was pleasantly surprised by the experience. She loved it, of course!

.....
There is more to tell, but my time is limited. Maybe Frank and MJ will fill in the blanks in the comments.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Another view of Columbus Day

From Columbus' own journal, written about the Arawak Indians of Hispaniola (Haiti).

"They...brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

Within a few years of his arrival, 175,000 men, women, and children—half of the Indian population—were dead.