The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Book Reviews - #septemberchallenge, #NaBloPoMo

  

Friday, September 25, 2015

If you could be paid to teach a special course, what would be the subject matter and how long would the course run?

~~~oOo~~~

I would like to teach a course on how to write a good book review.

Back at the end of 2013, I discovered reading challenges online.  I hadn't read for myself (non children or academic books) for a number of years and, well, the reading challenges were a sign of big changes to come into my life!

Then I 'discovered' writing reviews for books.

Favorable reviews can help books sales.  Unfavorable reviews can put a damper on sales.

Reviews I don't like to see:

+ where the reviewer as not even read the book, and (rather foolishly I believe) admits that they have not read the book.  If the reviewer is neutral or favorable towards the author, they do the author and themselves disfavor by writing a review for something they have not read.  If the reviewer dislikes the author and writes a trashy review because of it - STOP IT!  Such spite has no place in book reviews, and reflects at least as badly, if not more so, on the supposed reviewer.

(As an example, there is a series of books out by a writer - and to even use that word in relation to this piece of trash makes me want to vomit - where he travels around the world and writes about the best ways to 'pick up' women in various countries.  The books are titled "Bang X" where X is whatever the country du jour is.)  He advocates that rape be decriminalized if the attack (my word) occurs on private property.  Yeah, I know.  And it gets more repulsive from there.  But I will not go in and manufacture a "1 star" review of a book I have no intention of reading.  I will, however, feel free to express my opinion to any online sites (hello, AMAZON, are you listening?) that carry these complete waste of trees or disc space.

(It's all right, really.  I'm stepping off my soapbox now.  Maybe I'll get a cup of tea and meditate for a while ... until my mouth stops foaming.)

+ where the reviewer writes, "I really liked this book," and that's it.  What did you like about it?  Could you see the main character as a friend?  Was the story well paced?  Was the book outside your usual genre but you found you quite liked it anyway?  If you're getting the ARC for free in exchange for a review, it would be nice to give the author a little bit more than, "I really liked this book."

+ where the reviewer trashes the book unmercifully.  Yeah, maybe all the "t"s are not crossed and the "i"s are not dotted.  Maybe the grammar could use a little tightening - or a lot.  I was on a writing bulletin board a while back where someone asked for a critique of something she had written.  The grammar and spelling was pretty bad.  Other boardies were fairly cruel in their assessments of her writing ability.  I found something I liked about what she had written, elaborated on that a little and did bring up that maybe she needed to take another look at the structure issues.  But then I've never been a big fan of (academic) elitists who assume everyone not meeting their list of desirable qualities is beneath them.

Wow (looking back over the post), there's a lot of yuck up there, am I right?  Let's turn things around.

Reviews I DO like to see:

+where the reviewer lets a little of her or his personality show through.  Maria at Queen of the Night Reviews.  She does cover a number of books with adult themes, but her blog comes with a warning of that before you even get to the homepage.  Extra points for that.

+reviews that give potential readers more than "It was a good book," or a rehash of the synopsis.  Lori Caswell at Escape With DollyCas blog is a good example of this phenomenon and she organizes book tours too!

I'm sure there's more examples of reviews that I do like to see, but it is just before 7:am where I am and my coffee cup is empty.  Peace out, y'all.

Classroom or Home Room? - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Do you find it easier to learn in a classroom or at home?

Sometimes I learn easier at home and sometimes in a physical classroom.

Right now, I would LOVE to be in a classroom.  We have too many animals/pets right now and it's driving me up a wall!  Most of the puppies are going to their forever homes on Sunday and then maybe things will calm down somewhat.  One of the bigger dogs ripped my left forearm earlier today when I was trying to stop him from chasing the UPS driver.  I'd like to have a big whine about the aftermath, but it's not really to topic, so I will have to save that story for another day.

If I go to a physical classroom, it's at least as much for the social aspect of things as to the course of study itself.  I did a couple semesters of online classes through a local college and had a good experience overall.  There were class bulletin boards on the school's site and for the language class, we met in a virtual classroom and spoke Spanish back and forth at each other.

Lecture classes?  Rather connect from home via the internet.

Labs?  Well, you kind of have to be there.

Acting classes?  Again, not much you can do without being somewhere with other people (unless you are working on a 1 person show, I suppose).  

Although, there was a singing group on America's Got Talent (Forte) one year that found each other over the internet, practiced with each other over the internet, and only met in person for the first time about 20 minutes before their audition.  They got to the final round!

Cook Books vs. Recipe Sites - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Tell us about a recipe you learned to make from the Internet.

~~~oOo~~~

I don't think I ever have learned a recipe from the internet. Either that, or maybe one or two, but they are so far back in my memory (and I'm talking years instead of months or weeks) that it is nearly impossible to recall.

There was a time when I had a 'close call' to learning a recipe, though. I had wanted to make some caramels. We had all the ingredients, but no measuring spoons or cups, so I guessed at the amounts and tried to appear confident to my 12 year old daughter.

The taste was there, but the mass was so sticky that it nearly defied being cut. It was as much taffy as caramel. You could pull off a hunk, and pull it farther and farther away from the main dish, the strand of candy getting thinner and thinner, and then walk back to the pan, twisting up the strand(s) back and forth between the index fingers of both hands.

My kitchen and I have a somewhat adversarial relationship.

The Hack with This! - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Point us toward your favourite lifehack on the Web.

~~~oOo~~~

Lifehack - Informal: a tip, trick, or efficient method for doing or managing a day-to-day task or activity; a hack: a lifehack overcoming social anxiety; a computer programmer's best lifehacks.

lifehack. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lifehack

~~~oOo~~~

I have mixed feelings about 'lifehacks'.

On the one hand, do they actually exist?  For example.  I copy/pasted the above definition from dictionary.com.  There was SO MUCH CODING in the definition that changed the margins, text size, text color, etc, etc, etc.  That might save time, if you were trying to fit the definition into a blog post with the same style of text display.  I was not.  I was trying to fit it into this blog.

So I went into the "html" side of the blog post and deleted all the opening and closing "span" tags in those two lines of definition up there.  There was at least 10x (TEN TIMES) the number of lines that I deleted than I left in!  Where's the efficiency in THAT?  *sheesh*

On the other hand, who doesn't like a more efficient way of doing things, especially things that we don't normally like to do but that we have to do anyway.  Like laundry, vacuuming (steps especially), as well as other household chores and errands.

And I have an issue with the very term 'lifehack'.  It's a buzzword and I don't like buzzwords.  And I'm having trouble getting over the negative connotations of the "hack" part.  For the last number of years, 'hacking' has meant someone breaking into someone else's computer or program and messing things up somehow.  Do hackers hack because they can?  Because they think they're better than someone?  Everyone?  Because of the challenge?

That being said, there is one site I have gone to a number of times in my attempts to homestead on our house and yard:  the One Hundred Dollars a Month blog of Mavis Butterfield.  Specifically, to the "Tips and Tricks" section, accessible from the right sidebar.  I found the site by searching for how to make your own laundry soap.  As a result of that one visit, I subscribed to her blog and stalked followed her social media.  If DIY isn't your thing, there are plenty of great recipes and links to deals around the internet.

While writing this post, I came across a site called Lifehack.org.  There are scads (and scads) of articles, written by 'guest contributors', on just about every topic under the sun.  Most of the articles seem to be of a "x ways to ...." style.  I have not thoroughly investigated the site, but it looks promising.  And it had today's 'buzzword' in the site title. :O)

~~~oOo~~~

Is there a website (or sites) which you frequent to find way to make you life easier to manage?  Please share!

Mamaw's Sausage Gravy - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Monday, September 21, 2015

Teach us how to do something with a how-to lesson.

~~~oOo~~~

How to Make Sausage Gravy - Kentucky Mamaw Style

1.  Wake up before dawn.

2.  Swear because it's still dark out.

3.  While getting dressed, swear because you're getting old.

4.  Get out your ingredients (sausage, flour, milk, extra oil if needed).

5.  Brown your sausage in a cast-iron skillet (and swear at all those new-fangled frying pans that don't do the job 'proper'.

6.  If there isn't enough grease add a little bit, to give the flour something to hold onto, all the time vowing not to get that brand of dang sausage again because it doesn't have enough dang fat.

7.  Add a couple handfuls of flour, stirring the entire time.

8.  If the gravy scorches, swear, clean out the pan and go back to step #4.

9.  When you get past step #8, add milk almost to the top of the skillet.

10.  Swear at your young'uns (grandkids) to get their lazy *ahem* bones outta bed.

11.  Put the flour and milk back where you got them from with one hand, because your other dang hand is still stirring the gravy, and you surely don't want to have to go back to step #4 at this point.  You might have to swear if you did that.

12.  Get a bowl for your favorite grandson because he likes to eat his gravy separately from his biscuits.  Get plates and fresh-baked home-made biscuits for everyone else.  Swear at your ex-daughter-in-law (in absentia) for using those store bought frozen kind.

My House at Hogwarts #NaBloPoMo #septemberchallenge

  

Friday, September 18, 2015

Which house would you be in at Hogwarts and why?

~~~oOo~~~

I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, nor seen any of the movies.

According to a listing of four houses (Gryffindor, Hugglepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin) from the Harry Potter Wikia, it would be a close call between Hugglepuff and Ravenclaw for me.  Hugglepuff "values hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members".  Ravenclaw "values intelligence, knowledge, and wit."

I'd like to think I have some of that - intelligence, knowledge and wit.  And let's face it, Ravenclaw is a much more evocative name than Hugglepuff.  But when it comes right down to it I believe I am more defined by "hard work (well, you know), dedication, patience, loyalty and fair play".

~~~oOo~~~

What about you?  What house would you be in?  (The link in the text above will take you to the relevant page at the HP Wikia and you can find out about the different houses if you don't know them already.)

The Best Classroom May Not Be a Room - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Did you ever wish that you went to a different school? Which school did you covet?

~~~oOo~~~

The short answer:  No, not really.

The really short answer:  No

My answer, on the other hand:

When we lived in Cumberland, our next-door neighbors were Catholic.  All the Catholic children went to the Catholic schools in town and everyone else went to the public schools.  That was hard for me to understand growing up .  (I even saw a sign on a swimming pool clubhouse once that said, "No Catholics Allowed"!)  There are dozens of pictures in our family albums showing all of us kids, Catholic or Protestant, playing together.  One of the boys was about my age and our mothers did the "Oh, aren't they cute together" thing on more than one occasion.

There were no such issues in jr high school or high school.

When I first went to college, I attended the University of Utah.  It was the only college I applied to because I just assumed I would be going there.  

Most of the state of Utah is Mormon (LDS - Latter-day Saint).  In Salt Lake City, though, the ratio is about 50-50.  Brigham Young University (BYU) is a large Mormon college about a half hour south of Salt Lake.  Most of the Mormon kids wanted to go there and most of the non-Mormon kids wanted to go to the U of U.  The rivalry was very strong.  (But then again, in SLC, if you are non-Mormon, that seemed at the time to mean 'anti-Mormon'.  This was 35 years ago, so things might have changed since then.)

When I had talked myself into believing that I wanted to study International Business, I wanted to go to the London School of Economics for graduate work.  (I am a strong anglophile.)  Because, hey, it's the LSE!

When I dreamed of studying acting at the graduate level, I looked into the Yale School of Drama.  But I was a different person then, and did not (could not perhaps?) put forth the kind of effort that would have given me a chance to attend.

But that is in the past.  There's nothing much I can do about that, just make sure that future opportunities (in whatever endeavor I choose) do not escape me in the same way.  

These days, I'd almost as soon go to a master (craftsperson) and learn whatever it is I want to know - as most of my interests lie in the creative/artsy area.  There is a man who handcrafts dulcimers near to us - well about 3-5 miles as the crow flies, which in Kentucky means about 10-15 miles of road).  I would rather learn to make an instrument from someone like that puts their heart and soul into their work, than sit in a classroom and read schematics and make mechanical drawings.  (Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not where my interest lies.)

~~~oOo~~~

What was your favorite school?

What do Drawing, Shakespeare and Geography Have in Common? #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

What was your favorite subject back when you were in school?

~~~oOo~~~

I remember liking Geography when it was introduced to the curriculum when I was in 4th grade with Mrs. Goetches.  (If you had asked me yesterday what the name of my 4th grade teacher was, I would not have been able to tell you.  Funny what these prompts bring up.)  We must not have gotten to individual US states because the next year, when my family moved to Utah, I couldn't have told you where it was or that it was even a state.

There was a 1/2 year class in Shakespeare that was interesting and cemented Will's place as my favorite playwright EVER!

I also remember a Drawing 101 class in college (when I went back after a 10-year break).  Two things stick out in my memory.

1.  When we sketched our first 'still life' the professor told us to put our pencils on the paper and to look at the display and to draw what we saw without looking at our paper or lifting the pencil.  The gasps of horror from the students were audible.  And, of course, when we were done, to a student, our sketches looked like something only the mother of a toddler could love.  But you know what?  We could tell from looking at the drawings what the display had been.  So it turns out there weren't all that bad after all.  I think it was a tremendous confidence booster.

2.  A year or two after the class, I was in the play "Gertrude Stein and a Companion" (as Gertrude).  The art professor invited me to sit for his advanced portrait painting class in the manner that she had sat for Picasso.  Lots of black in that.  And the other best part?  I got PAID!

School Daze - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPomo

  

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Tell us about a school you attended.

~~~oOo~~~

Only one?  Y'all know me better than that.  This post is rather long, so don't feel like you have to read all of it.  

The kindergarten section is the shortest.  

The second section (1st - 5th) has wisps of really old memories.  

The third section (5th - 6th) is probably the 'driest' of the bunch.  

The 4th (jr high school) probably shows my writer's 'voice' the best.

The last (high school) is overshadowed by one event that happened my senior year.

DON'T FORGET to let me know in a comment one of your favorite school memories!

Kindergarten

The first school I attended was a kindergarten at a local Episcopalian church in Cumberland, MD.  Yes, I'm old enough that when I started school, there was no kindergarten in public schools.  I believe the classes were held in the basement of the church, and I remember something about a yellow 'graduation gown' and a pin with the school name on it, but that's as far as that goes.

1st - mid-5th grades

The local public grade school was "Johnson Heights Elementary School".  From what I remember there was nothing outstanding about the building.  Just your everyday brick school with two floors.  I remember more from these years, of course.  Every year there was some kind of harvest festival with a lot of booths and performances by the children.  I remember baking pies with my mother to sell in one of the booths.  (Like you could do that these days.  Hah!  If things don't come shrink-wrapped from the factory, they probably don't let you on school grounds.  Of course, in those days it seemed a lot less people were acting on their darker impulses.  But I digress.)  I remember practicing a dance (the Virginia Reel?) for a performance during 3rd grade, and getting slugged in the stomach by an overeager classmate who was REALLY into his dancing.  I remember going to speech therapy because I had trouble saying "r", "l" and "th".  I remember my mother turning in a form to get me out of the measles shots on religious grounds.  I remember there being a real competition every day tosee who would have the 'honor' of knocking the blackboard erasers outside the building to clean them.  I remember my 5th grade class writing stories about my adventures in the "Wild West" before we moved to Salt Lake City in January of 1972.

mid-5th - 6th grades

Fortuna Elementary School in unincorporated Salt Lake County, Utah.  We went back to school as soon as my parents started the process to purchase what would become our house.  Fortuna was a round building with 2 levels.  You could go in on the top side and children went out on the opposite side at the bottom to the playground.  (Remember when they still used those?)  In the center of the school, there was a 'mid-level' that was accessed by stairs from the bottom or top floors.  This center area contained the schools library.  The only interior doors were to behind the desk at the administrative offices, the restrooms (of course), the cafeteria, and maybe the janitor's closet.  Everything else was open.  You could see from the one of the top floor classrooms through the library into another classroom on the opposite side of the school downstairs.  It was not as chaotic as you might think.  On the ball field one day, I got hit in the eye with a pitched baseball (softball maybe?) and developed a black eye.

7th - 9th grades

Churchill Jr. High School, also in Salt Lake County.  It was your typical light brick, 70's, coulda-been-a-prison-instead-of-a-school building.  The bullying of younger students by older grades was almost as institutional as the building itself.  I was first 'invited' to try marijuana there.  I declined.  I had my first French class and we all giggled when we saw the vocabulary card by the blackboard eraser.  I took my first typing class there.  All but two of the typewriters were manual.  It was a real treat on the days it was our turn to work on one of the brand-spanking-new IBM Selectric typewriters.  You had to hold little pieces of white tape against the paper and strike the relevant key to correct mistakes.  The drama teacher would decorate his door for the Christmas season (back when that was allowed) with puppies his dog had had.  I really, REALLY wanted one of those puppies.   By the time I had convinced my parents that yes, I would take care of the dog, all the puppies were spoken for.  I was heart-broken.  Literally.  I cried right there in school.  One of my classmates said her dog had just had puppies and maybe I could come get one of those.  Hence, the first "Sneakers" came into our lives.  One of the math teachers let my parents know that apparently I had a head for math, which pleased them to no end.  I remember hearing the student body president cursing in the hall one day and that made me lose a little respect for him.  (I've always been of the opinion that there are times when swearing may be justified, but casual conversation is not one of them.)

10th - 12th grades

Skyline High School, Salt Lake County.  There was at least a little architectural interest here.  Angles, steel beams, funky roof and windows come to mind.  I was chosen to go to "Girl's State", which angered some of my classmates, because they thought they should have gone.  I was also chosen to go to a luncheon at the University of Utah, to encourage girls to go into 'scientific' (chemistry, engineering, biology, nursing, medical ... etc.) majors.  Again, I tweaked off some classmates (a different group) because they thought they were better and should have been 'honored' instead of me. Whatever!  (Talk to the hand.)  I was in one play in high school, Eugene O'Neill's "Lazarus Laughed".  I played several characters, including Lazarus's mother.  There was one scene where the Roman Soldiers killed Lazarus's family.  During one rehearsal my murderous soldier missed thrusting the sword in between my torso and upstage arm and beaned me right below the rib cage.  Thank goodness the swords were wood and not metal!  In any case, I did my best ever 'crumple to the stage like I was dead'.  With the resurrection and all, the theme of the play seemed to be, "There is no death".  Well, right in the middle of rehearsals, my father had a stroke.  A week later he had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 47. 

Study, Study, Study! - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Monday, September 14, 2015

If you could go back to school (for free) for a new degree, what would you want to study? Or if you could go to college, what would you want to study?

I would follow two courses of study.

The first would be acting.  It is where my heart of hearts lies.

My first college major was acting, back in the day.  (Musical Theatre actually.)  But at the end of the year audition, one of the professors wrote on my sheet that I had no future in theatre and should find something else to do.  So I did - for ten years.

Then I found out that one person's opinion was wrong, as evidenced by doing 5-6 plays a year for about 6 years.  Granted, they weren't all paid gigs, but most actors would be overjoyed to be working that much.

The most stunning experience I had is when a director I admired greatly basically picked me to do "Happy Days" by Samuel Beckett.  (No, not the one with 'the Fonz'.)  Basically me on stage for 45 minutes, talking.  In the first act, the character is buried up to her waist in sand.  In the 2nd act, she is buried up to her neck.  There is actually another character in the play.  He says about 35-40 words the whole time.  He had a music box specially made for the play that played "The Merry Widow Waltz", and gave it to me when the run was over.

Anyway, that's one.

Number two would be writing.  I think I definitely have a 'voice', but it needs practice and development.  And deadlines.  I need deadlines to give me that kick-in-the-backside to get me going some days.

You see, I love playing with words. Picking them up on the beach, and turning them over in my hands, holding them up to the light to see the sparkle and if they cast any shadows, holding them up to my ear to see if words can give off the sound of the ocean, like seashells.  I play with words.

For the time being there is really zero chance of working in theatre where I live.  The closest town with a playhouse is far away, and there's really not enough people around in this rural and semi-rural area to merit a run of more than a couple of days.  Putting plays together is a LOT of work!

So writing seems to be where my future lies.  Anything could happen!

~~~oOo~~~

What did you study in college, or what would you like to study if given the chance?

Best School Day EVER! - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Friday, September 11, 2015

Tell us about your best day of school ever. 

~~~oOo~~~

I really tried to remember something from my days in public school.  And while many images came to mind, nothing stood out as "best day of school ever."  So I'm going to briefly related two days I remember from college.

I was in the Finance program at Westminster College.  In late April 1992, I was sitting with a dozen or so nervous classmates in the basement level of an old building on campus.  There was a surprising amount of natural light in the room due to it well placed, and rather large, windows.

It was the scheduled time and date for the final exam for 'Cases in Financial Management'.  The last class final before I graduated.  We had all been given a list of two cases we could study and be prepared to expound upon the week before.  We had had study groups and made late hours making as much preparation as possible.

The instructor walked in, a huge bear of a man with white hair.  He put his briefcase on the desk and asked if we were all ready for this.  Other small talk ensued.  Then, he suddenly said, "Oh, wait just a minute," and he left the room again.  Figuring he was just going to retrieve something from his office, be began to chat amongst ourselves again.

Scant several minutes later, he walks in with 3 or 4 pizza boxes and sets them on his desk at the front of the room.  Gently pushing the boxes towards his students, he said, "There's your final!"

Amongst the squeals of delight and silent prayers of gratitude that rose up, he said, "I figure you've spent a week studying this case.  You've discussed it thoroughly.  You've already learned everything you can from it.  Why sit here and spend a tense couple of hours writing about it in a little blue book?"  Ok, maybe those weren't his exact words.  But give me a break?  This was 23 years ago.  The spirit of what he said is definitely there.

~~~oOo~~~

The second experience, also from my college days, had little to do with any individual course.

I had auditioned for, and gotten a part in, the college's production of "The Importance of Being Earnest".  (That's a whole other story for another day or two.)  It was the Sunday before we opened, and we all gathered in the lounge of the theatre.  All of the actors, that is.  The director was nowhere to be found.

We tried every other door in the building and the way into the room where the stage was located was locked.  We tried calling the director, who was also the college's lone theatre professor.

Thinking we couldn't let the rehearsal pass without any actual rehearsing, we decided to do a line-through in the lounge.  Now remember, this is the old college standard of "The Importance of Being Earnest", set amongst the well-to-do classes of England well back in history.  We all did all our lines with accents more suited to the American southern states.  Twangs and drawls abounded.

In the actual play, 'Bunbury' is an excuse that the male lead uses to pop into or out of London to get away...you know the thing, he can't stay for supper because his friend Bunbury has taken ill and he must pay the pour soul a visit.  As his two worlds (London and the countryside) begin to paint him into a corner, he blurts out that Bunbury has been taken off by a sudden chill while in Paris.  All that background is to set up the fact that in our transplanted version 'cousin Beauregard' was taken off suddenly in Atlanta by syphilis.

Ok.  Looking at it in the last paragraph, yes it does seem a little strange.  But back we were blowing off steam.  We opened in three days and the director didn't show up for rehearsal.  We knew she was eccentric, but really.  Anyway, I have rarely in my life laughed as hard as I did that night.

And the professor?  We found out the next night that she had overdosed on some kind of drug and would be in the hospital for a while.  The college really did well by us, pulling in locals with theatre experience to help get the show off the ground.

~~~oOo~~~

WE WILL NEVER FORGET! 9/11

~~~oOo~~~

Would you share a memorable good experience from your school days?  Thanks!

I Wish I Could Forget - #NaBloPoMo #septemberchallenge

  

Thursday, September 10, 2015

What is something you learned that you wish you could forget?

~~~oOo~~~

I've written about this a couple of times before, so you'll probably get the Reader's Digest condensed version, unless of course, I 'wax lyrical'...

I wish I could unlearn the lesson that "I wasn't enough" or "good enough".

Following are two memories, somewhat far apart in time.  I can't say they caused me to lack self-confidence, but they are things that stick out as times when I remember feeling "not enough".

When I was 6 or so, I saw an advertisement in the local paper, calling for young girls to enter a beauty pageant.  I took the notice to my other and told her I wanted to enter.  She said no and that added that so many girls enter and only one could win.  I know now she was trying to shelter me from disappointment.  Of course, for all I knew, we could not afford the entry fee.  We didn't have the newest and fastest things growing up, but we never went hungry either.  The lesson I learned here was that I was not (pretty) enough.

My father held a PhD in Chemical Engineering.  He was pretty much the smartest man I ever knew, and the first of his family to even go to college.  So academics were very important to him.  Since jr high school, I have not had a difficult time with just about any math class I took.  When I started high school, I had a trigonometry class that was a struggle.  I worked hard and on one test, I got 97 out of 100.  I was pretty pumped!  I went home and showed the test to my father.  His response was to ask, "What happened to the other three points?"  My bubble promptly burst and I learned that I wasn't (smart) enough.

I still struggle with this lesson sometimes.  I would like to get rid of it.  I definitely do not want to pass it along to my children - or anyone else for that matter.  Maybe I can bury it in the field next to our house.

Valuable Lesson - #NaBloPoMo #septemberchallenge 7

  

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

What is a valuable lesson you learned from a teacher?

~~~oOo~~~

As I went through all my years of schooling, from kindergarten through graduating college, I recall many wonderful teachers.  There was my 1st 5th grade teacher, Miss Martha Shaner, at Johnson Heights Elementary School in Cumberland, MD.  (We moved to Salt Lake City in the middle of my 5th grade year.)  She had my classmates write stories for me about the adventures I would have in the "Wild West".  At the time, I had no idea that Utah was even a state, let alone its location.  Let me tell you, I was quite the little heroine!

Another teacher I remember was my 11th grade English teacher.  Unfortunately I do not remember her name.  She had severe black shoulder-length hair.  I signed up for a Shakespeare class in my senior year partly because, hey, it was Shakespeare, and partly because this instructor was teaching the course.

I remember the class was having a discussion.  She asked a question and one of the other students was answering, giving a detailed response.  The teacher looked at this student and said, "You argued your point very well.  You're wrong, of course, but you made a good case."  That was going on four decades ago, but I still remember where I sat in the class and I can 'see' her saying that.

She did not mean it in a belittling way.  She acknowledged the student's effort and use of his (or her) discussion skills.  I hope that student learned as much as I did that day.

What was my lesson?  I can get my point across while disagreeing with someone in an agreeable manner.  I have as much right as the next person to express my point of view, even if it is wrong or in the minority.  And I better be ready to defend my position.  No one (well very few) sets out to do an awful job.  I have learned from the examples of others, and hopefully have given a few good examples myself.

~~~oOo~~~

What is an important lesson you have learned in your life?

Back-to-School Clothes - #NaBloPoMo #septemberchallenge

  

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Kick out the back-to-school fashion show on your blog: show us what you're wearing as we head into fall (or spring if you live in the Southern Hemisphere).

~~~oOo~~~

If I were to be a on-campus student again, you might see me wearing one or more of the following:

ThinkGeek.com is apparently out of this shirt right now, so I may also be found in:

Just the pants in this next picture.  I tend to wear a lot of black jeans.  I'd kill myself wearing heels that high though.  They are NYDJ Barbara boot-cut.  Clicking the picture on this (or any piece of clothing in this post) will take you to a shopping site (usually the manufacturers') with whom I have no affiliation whatsoever.

The boots picture I had saved (to Shopcade.com) did not show up on the manufacturer's site, so the next picture just goes to the main site and not to the product page:

Yeah, they may not be very 'feminine' but they remind me of something Abby on NCIS would wear.

~~~oOo~~~

So, what outfit would you wear to classes?

Childhood Snapshots - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Monday, September 7, 2015

Show us a picture of yourself from the first day of school as a child.

~~~oOo~~~

OK.  This one is not going to happen.

First of all, while there are numerous pictures around from when I was 5, I'm not at all sure there is a picture from my actual first day of 1st grade.  Secondly, any such pictures surviving the intervening decades are locked away in a storage space in Salt Lake City, where my brother stored the things from our mother's house that weren't given away, donated or trashed after the house was sold.  If I had thought about it soon enough, I could have asked him to send a picture or two, but speaking from experience it might have gotten here by Christmas.  I love my brother, and he just doesn't get in a big hurry about things.

There are a few pictures of me from the last couple of months, which is an oddity in itself, because I do not like to have my picture taken.  I saw a candid shot of me recently, taken on my husband's cell phone, and I literally burst into tears.  (Part of me doesn't want to admit that.  I don't want to be seen as weak, and I don't want peoples' pity.  I guess I'm trying to be transparent, maybe?)  Even though my weight has gone down, if the camera adds 10 pounds, most of the weight loss is negated.  My most common profile picture is from around the time my daughter was born - nearly 13 years ago now.  

This picture is about as close as we're going to get today:

As you can see, this picture is nearly 10 years old.  The children, of course, have changed tremendously.  I, however, look much the same, except for my hair is a lot shorter and grayer.

~~~oOo~~~

Do you like/mind having pictures of yourself taken?

#septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo 4 - Lessons

  

Friday, September 4, 2015

How did/do you get to school: bus, walk, drive, or bike?

I have been to four schools in course of my public school 'career':

I started at Johnson Heights Elementary School in Cumberland, MD, in 1966.  I tried using Google Earth to look it up a while back, but apparently it was torn down.  It's certainly not listed on the school district's website.  Anyway, we were only a couple of blocks away, so the vast majority of the time, I walked to class and back.  There was one street "Old Town Rd", I think it was called that was a little busier, that I had to cross, but there was a crossing guard.

The next school was Fortuna Elementary in Salt Lake City, UT.  My family moved in the middle of my 5th grade year, due to my father being transferred by the defense contractor company that employed him.  School was a little farther away, and about as far up the mountain (Mt. Olympus) as development went at the time.  Some years after I grew up, and the neighborhood aged, the school was closed and turned into a ballet school.  Later still, it was torn down and they built up scads of those cookie cutter large homes that were so close together you could hand things out the window of one house into the window of the neighboring residence.  

I walked there and back as well.  There was a short-cut placed between two homes a few streets away to the bottom of the school property which saved probably 5-10 minutes of walking time, giving the most direct route.

Next there was Churchill Jr. High School for 7th - 9th grades.  It was on the other side of the house.  I would walk to the end of the block, cross Brockbank, cut through the LDS Seminary lot and be at the circular track on the school property.  (I believe every middle and high school in Utah has an LDS Seminary building just off school grounds, where during the school year, the Mormon students would have religious instruction M-F as part of their regular school day).

Finally there was Skyline High School.  This was about 1.5 miles away, and again, most of the time, at least until I started to drive, I would walk back and forth.  I think it was supposed to be character building or something like that.  This is the school from which I walked home in sandals in 2' of snow, after an early-season freak storm.  I remember taking the driver's education course required by state law as an elective which was taught on school grounds.  I even took the motorcycle driving range portion of the class, even though there was little or no chance I would ever be at the controls of a motor bike after leaving school.

After my mandated schooling, I proceeded on to the University of Utah.  There was at the time, a fine public bus service in Salt Lake City and the metropolitan area.  A bus would come in the morning, at the end of our block (about two houses away), and drop us off on campus before proceeding downtown.  I imagine these days, what with it being nearly 40 years later, and after the 2002 Olympics, the public transportation has only gotten better.

~~~oOo~~~

So how do you get around during your day?

#NaBloPoMo #septemberchallenge 3 - Lessons

 

Thursday, September 3, 2015

What is/was your favourite thing to pack for school lunch?

~~~oOo~~~

OK.  Like I can remember back that far.  Literally, the only thing I can remember about school lunch (from my own school days) is when they started to have a 'salad bar' option in high school.

Our two sons spent at least a year or two in public school before we started homeschooling them, and our daughter has always been homeschooled.  About the only thing I remember from the school lunches, etc., for the boys was the hubbub about 'pink slime' - which is I suppose whatever they tried to pass off as ground beef.

But why should the subject of school lunch be any less political than the rest of public education?

• When I started grade school, children brought home-baked cakes or cupcakes to school for their class on their birthdays.  Do that these days and CPS (Child Protective Services) will show up at your door.
• Peanut butter and jelly was a perfectly acceptable option for sack lunches.  These days, schools actively discourage these because some children have virulent nut allergies.  (OK.  I can see that one.)
• My high school had rows of soda machines and a 'snack bar' with potato chips and candy bars.  It brought in income for the school.  These days, you'd probably be lucky to find anything like that.

And since this post is shorter than normal for me, I'm going to allow myself a wee 'school rant'.

No, not a "I used to walk uphill to school both ways in the snow" kind of thing.  (Although, I did walk to school in sandals one day and walked the mile and a quarter home in two feet of snow.)  Bear with me, please.

Is it me, or do schools seem more and more intent these days on turning out good little Stepford citizens than on developing the intellects and creativity of the students over whom they have charge?  These students' scores are lower in math and engineering than those in another country, so lets take away their art and music instruction, and recess, so they can concentrate on academics.

I'm not knocking math.  I liked math.  (Yes, I was weird that way.)  I was good at it.  In college I tutored other students in their various math subjects.

But I don't think the way to provide a 'better life' to someone is by taking away some of the very things that make life worth living!

And, again, I'm not knocking teachers.  I think there ought to be a line item in the application for sainthood that gives extra credit to anyone with teaching experience.

I'm knocking the treating students, especially in the younger years as pint-sized 'future employable units'.  They are children.  Let them be children.  Let them run and play and fingerpaint in addition to the "3 R's" (reading, writing and 'rithmatic - 3 words that start with the "r" sound).  That is the way to foster a life-long love of learning.

I could go on (believe me, I could).  But I'll stop there.  For now.

As for our 'school lunches' on our homeschool days?  They look a lot like our lunches on our non-school days.  So if you happen to be visiting and survived the rant above, maybe give me suggestions for new lunches to try?

Thanks for visiting.  Have a great day!  Learn something new. ;)

#septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo 2 - Lessons

  

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

What are some of your best tips for getting your day off to a good start?

~~~oOo~~~

My "X" Best Morning Hacks

1.  Power down well before bedtime the night before.  That means as little electronic stimuli as possible.  Phones, televisions, computers.  (I know, just thinking about this is raising my blood pressure!)  Get enough sleep.

2.  Lay out your outfit for the next day.  This saves you from staring bleary-eyed at the closet in the morning, trying to decide what to wear for the day.  If you fix lunches for family members, get as much together the night before as possible.

3.  Spend some time alone with your thoughts.  Waking up to chaos is jarring.  Having some quiet time, without having to respond to the needs or wants of others (even those we love and would do anything for) is necessary to develop your battle plan for the day.

4.  Read something inspirational.  Whether you are religious and read a spiritual text, or something that stirs or comforts you, it's all good.  It's a little 'fuel booster' for your personal gas tank first thing in the morning.

5.  Do something physical.  Walk, garden, play with your dog in the yard.  Think of your body as your transportation.  If you want to go places during your day, you want your vehicle to be in as good a shape as possible.

6.  Eat a nourishing first meal.  For me, that means something other than sugared cereal (which I love - I have a HUGE sweet tooth).

7.  Get the crud out.  In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron suggest writing "morning pages" long hand.  Four pages of uncensored, hand-written stream-of-conciousness writing.  So if your spouse said something hurtful the day before, put it down.  If your child took his or her first step, and you think they are the best thing since someone decided to slice bread, put it down.  Good, bad, ugly - it doesn't matter.  Get the pebble out of your shoe before you begin the race.

~~~oOo~~~

Do any of these resonate with you?  Tell me one of your 'get up and go' tips in the comments.  I need all the help I can get!