Since Ronald Reagan died nine years ago, I've watched him transmogrified into something of a saint. Even Democrats like Obama don't dare say a bad word about this bigoted right-wing, demagogue. All he had going for him was a faux affability, which was a thin veneer on deeply dangerous ideas.
Two weeks ago Bob Dole, in a critique of the Republican Party on Fox News Sunday, argued that the GOP had moved so far right that Reagan couldn't even make it as a Republican candidate were he to run today.
Back in April, Jerimi over at My Antidepressant Life wrote about her pen-pal through the Letter Writer’s Alliance. First off, Jerimi has a great blog if you’re looking for something to read. Secondly, letter writing? An entire group of folks devoted to writing letters and absolutely yummy paper related items?
I joined right away even though I had a backlog of thank you cards waiting to go out and am spotty at best when it comes to sending out holiday cards be they for anniversaries, birthdays, or other appropriate occasions. In my defense, cards are freaking expensive for what you get and signing a card really never feels like “enough.”
But….letters? I love letters. Even better? While writing my very first penpal letter, I discovered that I still like writing after all. Just not blogging.
So.
Here’s the deal, if you’re a regular here and you’d still like to keep in touch, I’d love to hear from you. Want a handwritten letter in return? Drop me an email with your snail mail address (maplecanopy [at] gmail [dot] com) and I’ll send one your way! :0)
We’ve finished three books in the last two weeks and are very close to finishing a fourth. Books #8, 9, and 10 were “Stuart Little” by EB White, “Bartleby of the Mighty Mississippi” by Phyllis Shalan,t and “A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning” by Lemony Snicket. Book #10 is E.L. Konigsburg’s “From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler” which has been equally as delicious to read as #s 9 and 10.
From there, we’ll be on to #12, “The Son of Neptune” by Rick Riordan.
Another thing that I have settled on declaring finished lately is this here blog. I’m not done writing (seeing as writing is a lifelong process), but my writing ambitions are definitely finished. My apologies to those who have commented within the last month or so. I really did mean to get back to you, but the reality is that I won’t. I do feel the tiniest bit sorry about that. Only the tiniest bit, though. Much as I meant to get back to writing here, as time went on I found that what seemed so urgent or necessary before didn’t any longer.
The short version? I still have plenty to say, but I have no desire to say it here.
So, dear reader, my deepest appreciation to all of you for reading along with me. You are certainly welcome to continue, but know that I’m going to be shifting focus and what will follow in this space will primarily be a personal record of next year’s homeschooling. In other words, less blog, more record keeping. Read alouds, units I have created myself, resource lists, etc.
I won’t begrudge you if a litany of lists and records does not thrill you. :0) You have my permission to go therefore and read someone else.
In what feels a bit like a whirlwind of reading, tonight we finished book #7 for the year, Rick Riordan’s “The Lost Hero.” The kids loved this book to pieces and can’t wait for the next one in the series. We’d actually start the next one right away…except that I discovered that we don’t actually own it. Oops!
So…rather than try and wait for it to arrive from inter-library loan or buy it at Target for full price (perish the thought!), the kids are just going to have to wait. In the meantime, book #8 is E.B. White’s “Stuart Little.”
A quick read with a movie on the other side? Yup, they’ll get over it.
We have endured 30 years of lies, half-truths, and myths. Bruce Biddle and I debunked many of these untruths in our book, The Manufactured Crisis, in 1995. But more falsehoods continue to surface all the time. The most recent nonsense was "U. S. Education Reform and National Security," a report presented to us last year by Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice.
So, the kid is in second grade. Yesterday he was working on a practice math test and turned it in today. When I asked him about it this afternoon he said he got six wrong because he has a hard time with fractions.
I asked him to give me an example. He said one problem had two rows of five for a total of ten. Five of them were shaded in. He wrote 1/2 as the answer and it was marked wrong.
Reader, they wanted him to write 5/10.
Say it with me now, “5/10 is the same as 1/2.”
*sigh*
The kid is not having problems with fractions.
On Wednesday, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) introduced the Inclusive Prosperity Act (H.R. 1579), which would create a financial transaction tax that would raise billions of dollars in new revenue. The tax is similar to one that existed in the United States until 1966 and that is levied in 40 countries around the world. Another 11 countries are currently considering joining them.
A couple of days ago we finished book number six, “The Trumpet of the Swan” by E.B. White. Groceries has already added this to his “books I’m going to read after I finish the Harry Potter series” list – a sure sign of a winner around here. We found it a fairly easy read with wonderful illustrations and an entertaining story.
I rearranged the list a bit again after enduring constant reminders from the husband and the children about the Rick Riordan books they don’t think we have and by the way, when are we going to start the new series?
So much for my short book hiatus.
You have to give the people what they want even if it’s over 500 pages. Book #7 for the year is Rick Riordan’s “The Lost Hero.” We started it on the same day we finished ”The Trumpet of the Swan” and if the “please read another chapter” pleas win out, we’re in for some long reading sessions!
So, certain persons online host contests. Do this, follow that, comment, make, and otherwise jump through hoops for this chance and that chance. Let’s be honest, most of them have sponsorships of some sort that provide the prizes. At least that’s the case for the big name bloggers. You can bet your rotary cutter that they aren’t out any money for the giveaway (or a great portion of the fabric they use to make their quilts). They’re selling something just like Target, WalMart, and Kraft. It’s every bit a business, except instead of selling a product or service, they are selling themselves. The blogger is the brand.
I find it just the tiny bit ironic then, when the folks selling their brand and hosting contests, declare some grand community purpose or some other such nonsense. As if somehow contests and giveaways aren’t that important. Chastise is probably the better word for it, and yes big blogger, I am aware that your comment was directed at me. Sometimes reading your blog or participating in your contest (and driving traffic to your blog) is just a means to an end. And really, can’t we be honest, since this is your business, isn’t that really the point? And, no I didn’t let your comment through on the original post because it seemed to me more the quilty equivalent of “well, bless your heart.”
I don’t know about you, dear reader, but when I enter a contest I kind of want to win otherwise I wouldn’t enter. I guess in this case I did sort of win. Sadly it was insight rather than fabric which would have been nice since we don’t all have access to the same fountain of free stuff (like sewing machines and fabric).
And that, big blogger, is the point at which I stopped reading big name quilting blogs just as sure as I stopped reading the pioneer gal. That sort of “community” isn’t for me. Too bad it cost me money to find out.
