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Our Daily Thread 3-17-14

Good Morning!

And Happy St. Patrick’s Day! :mrgreen:

Today’s header photo is from me.

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On this day in 461 Bishop Patrick, St. Patrick, died in Saul. Ireland celebrates this day in his honor.

In 1756 St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated in New York City for the first time. The event took place at the Crown and Thistle Tavern.

In 1910 The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded by Luther and Charlotte Gulick. 

In 1942 Douglas MacArthur became the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in the Southwestern Pacific.

And in 1973 the first American prisoners of war (POWs) were released from the “Hanoi Hilton” in Hanoi, North Vietnam.

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Quote of the Day

“God, my God, omnipotent King, I humbly adore thee. Thou art King of kings, Lord of lords. Thou art the Judge of every age. Thou art the Redeemer of souls. Thou art the Liberator of those who believe. Thou art the Hope of those who toil. Thou art the Comforter of those in sorrow. Thou art the Way to those who wander. Thou art Master to the nations. Thou art the Creator of all creatures. Thou art the Lover of all good. Thou art the Prince of all virtues. Thou art the joy of all Thy saints. Thou art life perpetual. Thou art joy in truth. Thou art the exultation in the eternal fatherland. Thou art the Light of light. Thou art the Fountain of holiness. Thou art the glory of God the Father in the height. Thou art Savior of the world. Thou art the plenitude of the Holy Spirit. Thou sittest at the right hand of God the Father on the throne, reigning for ever.”  
―     St. Patrick

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Today is composer Alfred Newman’s birthday.

Today would be Nat King Cole’s as well.

And it wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without some Irish music.

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QoD?

Anyone know what kind of bird/fowl/duck that is?

78 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-17-14”

  4. wow, I agree with Aj, huh?? what a confusing thread. I understand nothing.
    I am excited that Michelle had someone in her house that will be joining me here next year. See, it is a small world!

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  5. Chas’ SWITW bought them at a market on Saturday (R&R – just catching up from the weekend).

    AJ, is it snowing up your way? We’ve got about 2″ and it’s still coming down.

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  8. Has this question been posed before? How did you learn to swim? Did your parents swim?

    Our father was determined that brother and I would learn to swim one summer. He invested in a season’s pass at the county pool, but not in lessons. He showed us how to swim, but it was not like having real lessons. I learned to swim under water, float on my back and swim with my head out of the water, and also how to tread. But I never learned to swim efficiently. By the end of summer I did get brave enough to jump from the high dive. My dad, being in the Navy, of course, could swim. My mother did not know how to swim.

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  9. “Coconut Cream Cheese Bars” is what it says on the package.
    Non commercial. Things sold at the Curb Market are things, whatever, made locally. It might be tomatoes grown in someone’s back yard, or a quilt, or some baked goods.
    They didn’t have anything to eat at the yard sale, so sthe stopped by the Curb Market.
    she is sweet.
    However, they contain 1,275, 450 calories. each.
    They’re gone now.
    They were delicious.

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  10. Charleston had a municipal pool. Bobby and I used to swim there. I suppose I taught myself to swim. I passed the swim test for my First Class Scout rank.
    I never had a lesson.
    I used to swim every day at the NWC. That’s how I got into the workout routine.

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  14. I wrote about 7,000 words this weekend: 3 full chapters and 2 half chapters. The end is in sight and I’m consumed with wanting to push hard and finish by Friday so I can enjoy a special treat with my daughter this weekend.

    The last, after 29 straight, spring break for a child of mine in school. (Feeling old).

    In the meantime, while I have written the final chapter already, you may enjoy this montage of the last scenes of great movies, 5 minutes long, but I’m smiling and ready to go back to work. (But not until tonight. Real life intervenes!)

    http://digg.com/video/brilliant-montage-compiles-the-last-image-of-every-best-picture-winner

    http://www.michelleule.com

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  15. Anon. “The Sound of Music” was the only ending I recognized.
    I didn’t see Bing Crosby in ay of them.
    I thought I recognized “The Third Man”, but I’m not sure.
    And “All Quiet on the Western Front”

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  16. Good Morning Everyone. Late to the party this morning. I was having trouble with the site. Internet Explorer is currently worthless and won’t let me post. I guest I am going to have to start doing everything in Chrome.

    CHERYL The tattoo on Mr P’s arm is a parrot sitting on a shark. It was almost a deal breaker when I met him. I do not like tattoos. To me they look dirty, like you need to take a shower and wash it off. It has special meaning to him because he is a diver.

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  21. Living in the land of more than 10,000 lakes, I grew up spending a lot of time at one lake or another. Swimming was taught by one or another adult around me showing me how to float and do the dog paddle. How else could one get to a raft, which is in water over one’s head? I did have swimming in school in high school and learned a few more strokes more precisely.

    I took my young daughters to a local beach when they were young to take lessons from an instructor who was giving a community education class. I think they took two of those lessons when I pulled them out. The final straw came when the instructor carried a neighbor boy out over his head and then threatened to let him go and make him swim to shore, if he did not do what she required. I cannot remember all the details, but I remember his panicked screaming. I informed the person who was in charge of the classes, that my children had never been afraid of swimming before and I was not going to allow this woman make them afraid. She was terrible in my opinion. I taught my daughters myself.

    My children did have swimming classes in the upper grades. Most students had them for a few years before my oldest had them. She had transferred to the school. All strokes, diving etc. had to be done to a certain standard. She took extra lessons from a friend who was a life guard at a local YMCA, yet could not get more than a C in the class. Since, she ended up being 5th in her high school graduating class, I assume she could have been valedictorian without that C.

    Another daughter kept doing something wrong and the teacher would not pass her. I recall going to a conference and asking the teacher if he would keep her until she was 21 if she could never do it. He was probably not amused. Needless to say, we are not an athletic family. However, to me it was like expecting all students to perform perfectly on the parallel bars or some such.

    Everyone should learn to swim, IMO.

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  22. Not sure about the ducks. One of my brothers was bragging to a conservation officer about a duck he had shot, when the officer happened to come by him. It was in season. The brother was not too happy to find out it was one that was not allowed to be killed and that there was a hefty fine.

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  23. Michelle’s link: I recognised (in order of appearance):
    Twelve Years a Slave – never seen it, but it is the most recent winner
    The Artist – never seen it, but it was the only recent black and white best picture winner
    The King’s Speech – recommended
    Return of the King – recommended
    Gladiator – never seen it, recognised the historical setting
    Chicago – saw some of it, not recommended
    A Beautiful Mind – recommended
    Shakespeare in Love – saw some of it, not recommended
    Titanic – saw some of it, not recommended
    Braveheart – not recommended
    Driving Miss Daisy – highly recommended
    Rain man – never seen it, recognised the actor
    Born Free – never seen it, recognised the lions
    Amadeus – recommended, with reservations
    Chariots of Fire – highly recommended
    Rocky – never seen it, recognised the actor
    The Godfather – never seen it, recognised the actor
    The Sting – not recommended
    Oliver – recommended
    The Sound of Music – highly recommended
    My Fair Lady – recommended
    Lawrence of Arabia – recommended
    West Side Story – recommended, with reservations
    Ben Hur – recommended
    Gigi – never seen it
    On the Waterfront – saw some of it, recommended
    Under the Big Top – never seen it
    All about Eve – highly recommended
    Gentleman’s Agreement – recommended
    Casablanca – recommended, with reservations
    Mrs. Miniver – highly recommended
    How Green was my valley – highly recommended
    Gone with the Wind – never seen it
    You can’t take it with you – highly recommended
    Grand Hotel – never seen it, but the sign was hard to miss
    Sunrise – never seen it, but it was the first best picture winner

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  24. My mom didn’t swim and was afraid of the water. She signed me up for swim lessons when I was young but the blockhead instructor decided the best way to get me over my reticence was to forcibly hold me under water as I flailed for air. Talk about trauma. First class became the last class. I learned to swim later a couple years later during a summer session offered at the local high school. My girlfriend who lived next door was in that same session but she didn’t learn to swim by the end of it (and never did since).

    I had an uncle in the Navy who said he didn’t know how to swim until he was on a ship at Pearl Harbor one Sunday morning. He dove right into that harbor when the bombs started falling.

    It’s supposed to be a little cooler here today, thankfully, more like mid to high 70s. It got up to 89 degrees yesterday.

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  25. Sounds like there were a lot of blockhead swimming instructors, probably mostly older teens with a summer job and little understanding of kid psychology/encouragement. It was the sink-or-swim mentality I suppose. It works in real life — like with my uncle at Pearl Harbor. But throwing a kid into the deep end or holding his head under water like you’re drowning him really just makes whatever fear of the water was there in the first place a whole lot worse.

    I remember leaving the first class in tears — my mom was upset but didn’t want to upset me more so we just walked home, although I suspect she lodged quite a complaint afterwards.

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  26. Roscuro, You need to see GWTW. I have seen fewer than half of those movies.
    I have no reservations about recommending Casablanca.
    I don’t see “The Third Man” on that list.

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  27. Janice’s QoD: My mother enrolled us in the swimming program in a local public pool. It was one of those programs that you could work your way up, with badges. I only got the first two badges before we lost our second car and had to withdraw due to lack of transportation. So, like Janice, I learned only a few of the basics – how to float on my back, tread water, and do the breaststroke. I always wanted to do more, but when I finally got the chance to practice – during my college course, I had free access to the pool – I was too exhausted to do much. I still swim whenever I get the chance, which is only about once or twice a year.

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  30. Chas, I have never had a chance to see GWTW. A lot of these movies I have seen by borrowing from the library and I’ve never come across a copy of that one for some reason. I recommended Casablanca, West Side Story and Amadeus with reservations because of the ambiguous morality portrayed in them (Amadeus also has some crude humour and disturbing scenes), though they are well worth seeing for their depth of thought.

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  31. I remember the instructor as been a teen guy, an impatient type. 😉 Of course, with my mom’s own fear of the water (she grew up in Iowa), watching him push my head under water and hold me there probably freaked her out just a little bit.

    I do remember crying and my our leaving right away. But it didn’t have a lasting impact on me — as soon as I started watching Sea Hunt on TV I began ducking underwater in the bath tub for fun, to see how long I could hold my breath. That also used to freak my mom out. 🙂

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  32. The Real’s QoD: The duck in the background is a male Mallard. I don’t recognise the other duck, but I don’t think it is a Muscovy duck. We used to have Muscovy ducks and while they had similar face and beak formations, the colouring was a lot different, more orange and brown.

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  33. Learning to swim: I did have swimming lessons, several years worth actually, and they were pretty much useless. We held to the side of the pool and kicked, we lay on the deck and kicked, and we stood in the pool and imitated the instructor’s arm strokes. And then one day the instructor had each of us get in the water, one by one, and she would pull us in the shallow end while we kicked our legs. One day I was the only one, or my sister and I, I forget which, and she had us do some actual swimming. But I’d been taking the “classes” for several years by that point. I think it was more an excuse to get wet than anything, and I’m pretty sure the classes were free (and usually the pool cost money) . . . but since we didn’t get to swim and didn’t really get to play in the water at all, it was a tradeoff and barely worth doing.

    When I was eight to ten, we met up one summer with some of my dad’s side of the family, including grown first cousins I’d never met (their children were only a little bit younger than me). One of my female cousins was disgusted that I didn’t know how t swim, so she decided she was going to pull me around the pool and teach me. Something in her manner frightened me and I didn’t trust her to do that, so I pulled back and resisted. Frustrated even more, she picked me up and threw me in. I went down, and frantically flailed my arms and my legs (which only succeeded in keeping me underwater). After what seemed some time of that, somehow I made it to the surface, and I went to the side, near where my parents were on lounge chairs talking to other adults. I was panting and gasping for breath, and I was hoping my mom would see me and ask, “What’s wrong, Cheryl?” In fact, I probably kept at it longer than strictly necessary just to give her the chance. It didn’t seem like I should tattle on another adult, but if she outright asked I’d have told her. (Later when I told her that story–it was probably several years later, though I don’t remember for sure–she told me that I should have gone to her and told her. But at the time it seemed like something I shouldn’t do, interrupting the grown-ups’ conversation to tattle on an adult.)

    But somehow I learned to swim, kind of, enough to keep myself afloat. My favorite is the backstroke. But I tend to get water in my eyes and ears and nose, I don’t think even the most “modest” bathing suit is modest enough to wear in public places (if I do swim, it is never around men I know, and I keep the towel as close to the pool as possible and have it not get wet, so that I can cover up the moment I emerge), and now that I can’t see more than a couple feet without my glasses it really just isn’t worth it to me. I still like the water, but it isn’t worth the downsides.

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  35. I learned to swim at Peck Park Pool; long periods of swimming those lanes so I could get good enough to jump off the high dive.

    By the time I could swim that well, the height frightened me and I never jumped!

    My kids learned in all sorts of arenas: Navy pools, the beach, regular pools. I made sure they had swim lessons starting at an early age. My daughter-in-law, who is a swimmer, starts them as soon as they can walk.

    In Hawai’i, you cannot graduate from high school unless you can swim. Great idea. All the high schools have pools. 🙂

    (I also insisted my children learn how to type. That’s worked out well, too.)

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  36. My father stood on the edge of the pool and told me how to swim. When he went in the Navy in 1957 they wanted to send him to the Naval Academy and put him on the swim team. I only saw him swim once or twice in my whole life.
    I got terrible ear infections as a child, so while I love the sun and water, I am not a strong swimmer. I am probably the only person you know who can jump in a pool and not get her hair wet.

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  37. Well, it just wouldn’t be St. Pat’s day without some music from The Chieftains. So here is a clip of them playing with friends in Matt Molloy’s pub:

    Now, what could be more Irish than that? Did y’ see the praist playin’ the flute?

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  38. Hi all, It’s been a long time. How’s everyone doing here?

    I’m here right now because my daughter needs some Southern fashion advice and I thought that Kim might be just the person to give it. I think of you, Kim, as a tastefully fashionable Southern woman, so you seemed like the perfect one. 🙂

    My youngest is a senior in high school and she’s in the process of choosing a college right now. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be traveling to South Carolina for a visit and a large scholarship interview at Furman University in Greenville. This is a hugely high stakes interview, and we wanted to make sure that my daughter was “dressed for success.” I’m a complete fashion reject, but my daughter has good fashion sense. But since we live in California where everything is less formal and less conservative than I understand the South to be, I need to convince her to dress in a way that would be impressive to the interviewers there.

    People on College Confidential discussion board have advised others to wear everything from skirts to pants and blazers, but she bought this dress, and she’s thinking to wear it with a navy blazer. http://www.thelimited.com/product/belted-ponte-sheath-dress/3319024.html?ppid=c9&start=9&cgid=dresses&dwvar_3319024_colorCode=501
    So first of all, would a dress be appropriate at all or does she need to go with the slacks or the skirt?

    Even though she has long legs, the dress is actually slightly longer on her than it is in the picture, which is good. It probably comes to about an inch above the knee. Since so many people have said knee length, though, I just hope it’s long enough. Also, people have said that stockings are mandatory, but she’s reluctant to do that because she’s afraid they’re just wrong and she’ll look really weird. She’ll do it if it’s appropriate, but out here, the thinking is that stockings are only for old ladies, so I don’t know what to tell her.

    There’s also a dinnertime reception the evening before the interviews where she’ll also need to look nice, but not necessarily so formal, I would assume. For that, she bought this dress.
    http://www.thelimited.com/product/obr-tweed-fit-%26-flare-dress/3278932.html?ppid=c12&start=12&cgid=dresses&dwvar_3278932_colorCode=175
    This one is also slightly longer on her than the picture, but a little shorter than the first one. Is that too short? She has a nice shape and nice legs, so it’s flattering, but I don’t want her to look immodest. She intends to wear a black sweater on that one.

    So, any advice from Kim or anyone else who feels competent to give advice on something like this? Thanks so much for any help!

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  39. My husband did not swim but had to pass a drown proofing class at eorgia Tech. He claims he can not float. He did nearly drown at Tech but somehow managed to do what was necessary or else someone felt sorry for him.

    Since husband did not swim I was determined to get an early stsrt with son. So husband and I carried him to Baby Splash at the Y for several sessions with a sweet Midwestern young woman named Paige. She had us teach the young to only jump in to their parents waiting arms. Son loved doing that and felt secure. Problem was that when he was maybe four, he took swim lessons and was told to jump in and he refused. No way was he going to disobey the firmly planted rule from before. So I had to take him out of that class and work with him myself. I got him swimming and he loved the water but I wanted him to know proper strokes.

    I heard about an area preschool teacher, from Hawaii, who had a pool who gave lessons. Her two young sons were champion swimmers on the county team. She worked with him for a bit one summer. Then I found a Special Olympics teacher at the local pool (this may have happened before the last one) and as you can imagine, she was excellent for a few private lessons. Then there was a lifeguard/pool manager who said he’d been a Navy Seal who did some group lessons. All of these lessons were sporadic. Later as my son was taking some local homeschool classes at a Boys and Girls Club where there was a pool there was a young lady, maybe young mom, who had been a Navy Seal swim instructor who gave lessos. He took those to get what he needed for the Scout swim badge.

    Since he did not get to swim for awhile before he was to go on a High Adventure trip on a sailing vessel in the Bahamas with the Scoutz I took him to a pool at a local hospital so he could practice. When the Scouts got to Miami they had to swim sll the way around their vessel or else they would be sent home. In other words, a big airfare for nothing.

    I don’t think my son goes swimming now. But he does know how!

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  40. No to a blazer of any type. She needs a nice black or white sweater for the black and white dress and perhaps the white sweater will also work for the melon colored dress or if she could find a print sweater with that color in it. I almost think a good shade of yellow would be pretty. Even for the black and white dress she could do a solid color sweater in a pretty blue or lime green.
    NO to pantyhose. I personally haven’t worn them in at least 10 years. She is a teenager not a little old lady (Think the Duchess of Windsor or Queen Elizabeth II)
    A sandal with a slight heel or even a higher heal would be pretty with the dresses and a pedicure is required.
    Be sure to take a few more casual outfits just in case she gets there and everyone else is more casual.
    I will look into it a little more and consult a friend who used to be a women’s college recruiter.

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  44. I recognize the one in the background (as someone said, a mallard). But the one in front is unfamiliar. But then, I don’t know ducks other than Daffy and Donald.

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  47. After seeing the camera pan up to the ceiling, I can’t blame them for diving under the desk. One of those cameras or lights shaking loose could do a lot of damage.

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  48. Qod: I was terrified of water for my first swim lesson at about age 6. I clung to the side and screamed. So mom enrolled me in a class for those afraid of water. We started out in a portable pool set up in a school gym with only 1 inch of water the first class. It was HUMILIATING! But I’m glad mom made me do it. There were people of all ages in the class so I don’t know why a 6 year old (one of the youngest) was so ashamed to be there. Every class added a few inches of water and by the time it was knee deep, I was no longer scared. I had swimming lessons taught by Red Cross instructors through elementary school. I am not a good swimmer, but I could survive in the water if I had to. I now swim without getting my head wet 🙂

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  50. Good thing it was those anchors and not me. I probably would have stayed under the desk expecting aftershocks.

    Yesterday a tax client stopped by here at home at the door to drop off info. I thought Bosley was afraid of the unknown male voice and hid under the bed. After time passed and she did not come out from hiding I finally looked outside and there she was waiting at the door (rain helped with that good fortune). She was not the scaredy cat I thought she was. Gotta keep a close watch on her!!! She would probably think an earthquake was for her entertainment. 😦

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  52. Haven’t had time to read today’s comments yet, & will be babysitting Forrest in a few minutes, but I want to share this with you…

    The custody hearing was today.

    The mediator seemed to be on R’s side rather than being impartial.

    Emily was not able to tell of how R has kept Forrest away from her on more than one occasion, not letting her know where they were;
    or how the last time, he kept him from her for three days;
    or any of the other bad stuff he’s done.

    So, the mediator pretty much gave R everything he wanted, at least for the next month, when there will be another court date to fine tune the arrangement & discuss child support. He gets Forrest whenever Emily is working or at school, which translates into this:

    Monday 10am to Tuesday 10am
    Wednesday 4pm to Thursday 1:30pm
    Saturday 9am to 4pm.
    On alternate weekends, he’ll have him also on Friday night into Saturday.

    (The only reason he can even have him this much is because he is again unemployed. Though, he claims he has a buddy opening a mechanics shop who will give him a job, & will work his hours around the custody arrangement. But he often claims to have a “buddy” in high places who will do this thing or that thing for him. We’ll see.)

    Emily protested that this switching back-&-forth throughout the week is not good for a young child. The mediator said it was fine, & she has a psychology degree, so she knows better than Emily.

    (That’s not me being sarcastic – the mediator actually said that. This is me being sarcastic – Apparently, she knows better than anyone who actually knows anything about young children.)

    Emily argued that it is best for a child to have one stable home, with visits to the other parent. The mediator firmly said, “No. He has two homes.”

    Emily mentioned that Forrest is always angry & acts out when he comes home from an overnight at R’s. The mediator said that is not related to having been with his father.

    Needless to say, Emily is very disappointed, almost devastated. R is not good for this little boy, & this arrangement is not good for any young child.

    The judge seemed surprised at the switching back-&-forth during the week, but let it stand, with one small adjustment.

    After this was all over, R said to Emily that he is going to demand that she pay him child support, because he will have Forrest more than she does. Because three days is obviously more than four days. (Yup, that was me being sarcastic again.)

    So for now, Emily is going to see if she can request a different mediator next time. Lee is going to call the lawyer to see if there is anything he can do.

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  53. Karen, Document, document, document. Everything. Her time with Forrest, your time with Forrest, and R’s time with Forrest. Preferably with a third party witness. Dates and times. All of it. It is important.

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  54. Some mediator. How do you mediate without all the information? Co-custody seems to be the norm today. I cannot imagine R keeping Forrest for all that time, however, for very long. That is based on what has seemed to happen in the past.

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  55. Are there written documents that the judge will look at before the custody is permanent, Karen? How convenient not to have a job for R. How do you determine child care payments with no job?

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  58. Michelle, not sure if you saw my comment yesterday. I live in Ukarumpa and if the gal is coming with W, she will be here. This is our main base, though we also have regional centres.

    I put my kids on the swim team as they got daily practice and it was cheaper than lessons. My son kept hanging onto the side. They came and told me that by the next Tuesday he would have to swim the length of the pool to continue. I know they were telling me he didn’t belong there, but the third kid in a family was only 5 dollars! God gave me the wisdom to share with my son and ask what he wanted to do (before this it had been all my decision) left to make his own decision, he decided he wanted to do it. After only going a couple of feet, by the next week he swam the length of the pool and became a swimmer.

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  59. regarding modest swimsuits: here you are not to expose the thigh, so I wear a one piece that is high in front with a man’s swimsuit that goes to my knees. Quite modest.

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  60. Happy St Patty’s Day ya’ll 🙂
    What kind of duck is it? an UGLY duck…that’s it!!
    Hello Ree! I’m looking forward to Kim’s complete response too….I don’t pull outfits together well…I think I need some direction on fashion and coordinating outfits myself. Furman is a great college…we know a couple of friends who have gone there…and it is right close to Clemson!! 🙂
    Swimming….I learned at the neighborhood pool in the Little Fish program…you start out as a tadpole and end up a shark…I was never a shark….I think I flunked out as a minnow 🙂

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  61. All right, I have to brag on my husband here.

    For nearly the last three years I’ve had a camera I like quite a lot–for the first time in my life I’ve been able to take bird shots. But it has some limitations, including an extremely slow speed. (Many times I’ve taken a photo of a bird that is sitting on a branch and by the time the camera takes the picture, it’s a bare branch! So I have to anticipate what the bird is about to do and hope I get it right. A couple weeks ago I was taking photos of Misten racing back and forth across the yard–that was the same day I took the photo of her that was posted on the blog, but the photo I posted was after she wore herself out. Anyway, I was taking the photo before she got in the frame at all, but every single photo only had her back end, because she was moving faster than my camera was.) I also have had many times when I want to take a photo of an animal that is just too far away. When deer cross the field behind our house, for example, I take photos, but the photos just don’t do the scene justice.

    Anyway, last night at midnight I just happened to stumble across the blog of a professional bird photographer who was talking about her new camera, and it isn’t a camera with separate lenses and all (I really just don’t want to deal with that, nor do I want to pay those kinds of prices). It has almost four times the zoom power of mine (50x instead of 14x), less “noise” when cropping a photo to use a smaller section, and a faster shooting time.

    So I e-mailed a couple reviews of it to my husband. This morning I asked my husband if he’d seen the reviews, and he said yes, but didn’t pursue the topic. Later I mentioned something else I was reading about it, and he finally asked did I still really like it, and I said yes. He told me well quit wasting my time reading all the research and just wait for the mail, since he had already ordered it (and several accessories) for me this morning.

    This is hardly a necessity. But he has seen how much fun I have with bird photography (this is the first camera I’ve had that can do it at all) and sometimes it’s frustrating to see a great shot I just can’t get (like a kestrel hovering over the back field this morning). It was so much fun to see he simply went ahead and ordered it, but after first doing the research and choosing a few accessories (including a filter kit, something I’ve never had). I feel spoiled. 🙂

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  64. We (some of the older ones and me) just watch A Beautiful Mind a couple of days ago. They are still reeling from it. It is one of my favorites.

    And, to me, an amusing little story about my seven year old in glasses. You know, of course, that he is developmentally delayed, speech delayed, low IQ, ADHD, can count to four and name no more than three of the ABC’s, not including B or C, and autistic among other things. He loves science and we have been studying insects. He had an oral quiz today where he was able to tell me the four stages of complete metamorphosis, the three of incomplete, the identifying marks of insects (such as the need to have six legs and three body parts which he can name as the head, the thorax, and the abdomen), explain the differences between crickets and grasshoppers and moths and butterflies, etc. When I asked him to point out the location of the sensilla on the grasshopper, he laughed and told me that grasshoppers don’t have sensilla so he could not show them to me. Instead, sensilla were found on various other insects on the antennae and legs and head and other places. I soon realized I had mispoken and meant to ask where the spiracles were. Well, sensilla are found on grasshoppers, he just had not noticed them but he knew about the spiracles. It must be tough being developmentally delayed and low IQ. Poor little feller.

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  66. I just realized my Constant Comment tea bag string and tag acted as a wick and left a little puddle outside my mug. Never seen that happen before.

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  68. Wow, Kim, thanks so much! My daughter will be thrilled to hear your advice–believe me! Looking forward to hearing what else you might find out.

    Hi, Cheryl! 🙂

    Chas, no doubt true about the football, but what will they pay her to go there? 😉

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  69. Sorry to jump in here with a question before having read the thread (and it looks like it’s been a busy one), but I would greatly appreciate the thoughts any of you might have on this article I came across today. (Read the comments, too, especially the long one by the author.) I see some truth in the article, but also some disturbing elements.

    http://www.perseveronews.com/of-men-and-megalomaniacs/

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  71. Congratulations on the new camera, Cheryl. I see you’re adept at dropping hints. 🙂 And he’s adept at picking them up. Good match. 😉

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  74. 6 Arrows, this is what I posted at the megalomaniacs article. I doubt they’ll let it through moderation, but I tried:

    Actually, this isn’t a “private” matter any more than it was a private matter when President Clinton was accused of his own sins against young women in the Oval Office. This is a man who is a false shepherd, and true pastors must be concerned with sparing the sheep. Furthermore, if you read the multitudes of data, you would see that private attempts have been done numerous times; but like any good cult leader, Bill Gothard is surrounded by people who protect him. (Oh, I have family involved with Gothard and thus good reason to research, if you were wondering.)

    To turn this into a slam against parents sending their young women to work for a ministry during their single years (which, by the way, is what the apostle Paul himself said the single years were for) instead of the predator who violated their trust is mind-boggling. Should the parents have been more discerning? Of course–there have been red flags around Gothard for years. But Gothard is the issue here, not the families he betrayed!

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  75. Donna, I actually wasn’t intending to be “dropping hints.” If I were single and working at a good-paying job, I’d have ordered the camera without hesitation. If I were single and struggling financially, I’d be looking for a way to make it work (saving up for it if necessary). As a married woman, I can’t just buy something that’s several hundred dollars without running it by my husband, and I was perfectly fine with him saying, “We really can’t afford it right now” or “How about if I get it for your birthday this summer?” I thought he might just say, “Go ahead and order it” or he might do some research of his own and say, “This other camera looks even better–do you like it?” I didn’t expect him to actually place an order and wait for me to be surprised in a few days when it arrives.

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  76. 6 Arrows – the man who wrote your link sounds like a megalomaniac. I found it especially weird that he quoted commentators rather than direct Scripture – almost as if he knew that the verses he was trying to use didn’t actually say what he wanted them to say. There was a definite ‘creep factor’ in what he wrote about surrogate fathers; and the claim that allowing young women to serve away from home increased their likelihood of becoming feminists was an insult to all those women missionaries who have given their lives in single service to God. I noticed he was formerly involved with Vision Forum – that says it all right there. I don’t agree with all that Recovering Grace posts, and certainly not with all the commenters on the site, but I am convinced the site did the right thing in their exposure of Gothard. All they did was to display the rotten fruit of an organization that I and many other Christians were convinced was anti-Biblical.

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