That Went Quick

Z as in Zoom.

Not the t.v. show but my first month of blogging A to Z zoomed right by. 26 posts in 30 days and a very eventful month in the books. I had a lot of fun with this alphabet soup stuff. Peace and blessings and I'll be back sometime next month. Oh yeah, that's tomorrow.

Late!

Y as in yesterday.

It took 25 letters but I finally missed an A to Z deadline. This one should have been done yesterday. Be back Monday for Z.

Lessons From A Train

X as in Xenophobe

One of my favorite stories I like to tell from my time in Russia has to do with waiting for a train.  I used to travel from the city I lived in to a neighboring city twice a month.  I would leave by train at about 5:00 A.M. while it was still dark and get back into my town by about 8 P.M. 

One morning I was waiting in line to board the train.  It was January and about 20 below outside.  I lived in an area that had large populations of Russians of Korean descent as well as Chinese peddlers.  Both types of people were often looked down on by the "white" Russians.

On this particular morning, there was an Asian man in front of me who the train official   was haggling with for not having the proper documentation.  While I couldn't fully hear or understand their conversation it was clear by their manner the Asian man was not being treated with respect.  A second train official started getting into the act and then noticed me waiting and said
something like don't  worry about that foreigner go help that man he is one of ours.  By ours I was pretty sure she meant Russian because I was certainly dressed like one and as long as I didn't talk I sounded like one.  I got on the train.


Dictionary.com defines xenophobe as a person who fears or hates foreigners, strange customs, etc.  It always struck me funny that the Asian man was possibly a Russian citizen and at least no less of a citizen than myself , but it was I who was treated as the citizen because I looked the same.

West Wing

W as in West wing.

Amy and I are big Aaron Sorkin fans.

My favorite thing he has ever done is by far the West Wing. We recently borrowed my parents copy of the complete set on cd.

I was watching it tonight when I should have been working on my blogging and then it hit me West Wing starts with a W.

Here are a few more W's from the show.

Walking - The show seems to always feature scenes of walking often accompanied by talking. After watching a few episodes, I usually have to change shoes.

Will Bailey - When Rob Lowe left the show in the 4th season he was replaced by Joshua Malina, an Aaron Sorkin go to guy (Sports Night, A Few Good Men, and The American President.) Malina portrayed Bailey through the end of the series.

Walken. The name of the President played by John Goodman at the end of the 4th season and beginning of the 5 th.

Watchable - The show may be intense and sometimes it the fast paced nature of the show made it hard to comprehend in one viewing.  However, it was quality entertainment, with comic timing better than all but a few of the best television comedies ever.  Which is high praise indeed for a political drama. 

Re United

V as in Viral, Video and Vault

This is only my second time using an HSD rewind to get through the marathon-like paces of blogging from A to Z.  I say marathon-like, because if this were a marathon, we would need to stick an extra 1/5 of a letter at the end.

Today's post goes back to October 2010, when I was writing posts about labels something, I call meta blogging, something Amy calls wake me when it's over.  I wanted to share this post about the United Break's Guitar videos yesterday for U.  But it turns out V works just as well.

One of my most popular tags is videos (# 6 after initial 300 posts). There are 3 types of videos that I post here:


1) videos I have taken of my family


2) Videos friends and family have asked me or allowed me to post


3) Viral videos I have found on the internet or that have been reccomended by other blogs.


One of the videos from the third category that I found most compelling is actually a series of three videos by a group called the Sons of Maxwell fronted by Canadian Dave Carroll.

The incident that inspired the songs took place in my home town of Chicago as United Airlines mishandled the guitar of Mr. Carroll. The real tragedy took place as Carroll could not get United to fix the guitar. After going round and round with United, Carrol told the airline's representative that he was going to write 3 songs about the incident, record them, make music videos and post them on you tube. Carrol was as good as his word and he posted the following 3 songs:

United Breaks Guitars Song I

United Breaks Guitars Song II

United Breaks Guitars Song III

Now I haven't flown United since the incident. This isn't really much of a boycott as I haven't had flown anywhere to since July of 2001. I will continue to post cool videos like these though.

Meanwhile back in 2012

I still haven't flown in a plane (although the rest of my family has) since July 2001.  I have continued to post cool videos and will continue to do so.  Here is a video of J.J. Heller who we as a family saw in concert last Friday. 



They told us at the concert that the video had just reached  100,000 views on YouTube.  I am going to take credit for anything past that, so go ahead and share it with your pals.  And don't worry United didn't break her guitar, she has a tour bus, and she plays harmonica. 

Under the wire

U as in under

I had a post all planned today - A HSD rewind. The problem? Computer problems. So I am typing this in from my iPod. The HSD rewind will work for V as well. So tomorrow's shouldn't be so under the wire

T as in Toledo (Holy implied)

Holy Toledo! One of us gets sick, then like dominoes, the whole family falls, one by one. Back tomorrow with some health and something for U!

Six Word Concert Surprise Update

S AS IN SURPRISE

Six Word Saturday.

Here's our Six Words:

Eureka, We found J.J. Heller Concert.




Puppy loves a Christian music artist by the name of J.J. Heller.  Whatever Puppy loves usually becomes a giant obsession with her.  So when she fell in love with the song "What Love Really Means" she wrote J.J. and asked when she was coming to concert near us.  J.J. wrote her back and told her to have us check the schedule at her website for upcoming concerts in the area.  Months passed and Puppy diligently reminded me to check the schedule.  When I did, nothing was really close.  Then a few months ago, I found it, a concert 2.5 hours from our house.  The concert was in Eureka, Illinois.  Eureka roughly translated means I found it. 

Now knowing Puppy like I do, I knew that 3 months of anticipation might not hurt her, but would probably kill us.    So I planned an elaborate day trip to see some historic Ronald Reagan sites which had us ending up in Eureka, Illinois this afternoon.

Bunny and Spider Droid were in on the secret, and it took every inch of self control they had not to spoil it for Puppy.

The field trips and the concert were amazing.  Here is some footage and pictures from the concert.

JJ Heller when she found out Puppy has same birthday as her daughter

For More Six Word Saturday CLICK HERE

Field Trip

R as in Reagan

As you read this we are on a family field trip. We are going to visit some Illinois towns steeped in Presidential history.

It is a Reagan themed trip with a little Honest Abe thrown in for good measure.

Today we are travelling to Dixon, where Reagan grew up. and to Eureka where Reagan went to college. I was also going to stop by Tampico, where he was born, in betwee Dixon and Eureka. I have decided to scrap Tampico and get a presidential 2fer by stopping in Galesburg. Reagan lived in Galesburg prior to Dixon. It is also one of the locations that Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln debated.

It should be fun and educational.

Quarterly Update

Q is for quarter. Today was the day that I was to announce the state quarter winners. well I have decided to give you all a few more weeks to enter. I will announce the winner on May 1 yes I will announce the winner on May 1.

Pennies from Heaven

P as in Penny

I  spent most of the day cleaning out my parents' attic.  They, mostly my Dad, want to reduce the clutter that can accumulate with 45 years at the same address.  With the help of Spider Droid I got everything out of the attic and into a spare room. 

There were plenty of memories and reminders in the attic and while there was some junk, it was definitely not like an episode of hoarders.

Halfway through the job, I found a c.d. boom box box.  It was so heavy, I thought it might still contain the c.d. player.  It was actually my brother Keith's coin collection.  It had been brought back to my folks' house shortly after he died 3 years ago this month.    As a rule,I didn't spend a lot of time going through all of the boxes.  Otherwise I'd probably still be over there.  I did spend 20 minutes or so looking through Keith's coins.  He really had a  pretty nice collection, buffalo nickels, Indian pennies, even a 2 cent coin from 1868.  Many coin books filled or partially filled.  Then I came to two bags of loose coins.  The first one was clearly marked foreign coins and the second was written in his unmistakable and almost illegible chicken scratch, Robert David Roller, his 11 year old son, who was 8 when Keith died and 5 when sickness made extened hospital stays a big chunk of his final years.  In those last years coin collecting seemed to have been put on hold.

That meant then when Bobby was very young, Keith purposed to share his passion of coin collecting and his collection itself with his son.

Seeing my nephew's name scrawled on that huge bag of coins,helped me completely form an idea that had been floating in my head.  I could prepare those coins in Keith's collection and give them as a gift to Bobby from Keith.  So, I took the coins home and am planning on doing just that. 

Original

O is for Original.

Dictionary.com says:

o·rig·i·nal

   /əˈrɪdʒənl/ Show Spelled

adjective

1.

belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to a thing at its beginning.

2.

new; fresh; inventive; novel

3.

arising or proceeding independently of anything else

4.

capable of or given to thinking or acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner

5.

created, undertaken, or presented for the first time

When I think about the word original, I often think about my children, and how unique they are.  Many things they say and do make me wonder at their cleverness and originality.  I spend a lot of time documenting those things right here, and in conversations with other people. 

I also think about original in terms of the first definition:  a thing at its beginning.  One of the many reasons I love homeschooling is because I love being there when my children learn something.  I love seeing learning in action.  One minute, they don't know something.  The next minute, they know it 

Another way to look at the word original is to talk about original sin.  We are sinners because Adam and Eve started us off running with their disobedience.  But I often wonder, if those two didn't choose the fruit, wouldn't their children have done so, or their children, or, theirs?  Or, say, me?  I often think that if nobody had sinned up until me, I still would have sinned.  I am a sinner.  There's no way around it.  Saved by grace, yes. Transformed daily, yes.  This is a reminder to myself, really.  I am often stuck marveling at my childrens' originality rather than helping them working out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philipians 2:12), because of our original sin. 

Or maybe we can do both?

A Needed N Word

 AS IN NO



There are many useful words that homeschoolers need to know.  Very few are more useful than no.
Specifically for the myriad of activites in the real world and on line that can pop up.  A good healthy dose of no is very needed.

A short post today, because I said yes to more than I could handle. 

Six Word Stattler Day

 AS IN MUPPETS

Unlike them, I love the Muppets

For more Six Word Saturday Click here. 

Leave a comment  on this post for a chance to win a set of state quarters. Click here for more details. 



Muppets Statler y Waldorf, a photo by hablandodelasunto3 on Flickr.

Is Your Mama a Llama (Original Song)

 AS IN LLAMA

I love a good catch phrase.  It probably comes from spending my formative years watching 70's t.v. it seems each show had at least one good catch phrase.  But instead of merely being happy with Dyn-o-mite, Heyyyy! or Shaz-bot, I like to make my own catchphrase.  A few years ago I took to inserting the word llama into every conversation I got into, much to the chagrin of my children.  It got so bad that somehow I agreed to paying them 5 cents each time I said llama in a month long period.  The kids played a terriffic joke on me when they asked me to read 2 bedtime stories to them, and pulled out Is Your Mama a Llama and Llama, llama red pajama which their co-conspirator, Amy took out from the library.  After the month we were all richer for the experience, them literally and me figuratuvely. 

So when I was trying to figure out what to post about today, I thought back to my carefree llama days of yore. I also found this cool video on you-tube where they make a song out of Is your mama a llama.  

That must have caught a pretty penny to produce.  Not to mention the nickels.

Speaking of change don't forget that by commenting on this post you enter into the drawing to win a collection of  50 state quarters.  Click here for more details.

Visual Reminders

AS IN KIDS

Sometimes we forget what is important in life.  Sometimes I get so caught up in homeschooling that I forget why I am homeschooling.  Here is why . . . 

Happy Anniversary

 

AS IN J JUMP JOYFUL JUMBLE

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary.  Yes 14 years today I woke up as a single man and went to bed as a married man.  There has been good and bad in my life since that day.  But the truth is that our life really has been a joyful jumble. 

I found out that the traditional 14th anniversary gift is Ivory while the modern 14th gift is gold.  Both these songs are golden oldies and notice that Barney is tickling the ivories in the video below. 


Happy Anniversary Amy, I heart you big time. 

State Quarter Give-A-Way

 AS IN ILLINOIS

Yes, to celebrate I day on A to Z Blogging, I am giving away a quarter from my home state of Illinois. 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

In order to be fair, I will also be giving away the state quarters of Indiana, Iowa, and Idaho.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!

I will also give away all the state quarters that have the letter i in their name.  Such as Maine, South Carolina, and California. 

AND AS IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH. . . .

To give the winner an idea of how majestic the letter I is when it appears in the name of states a little perspective is required.  I will also give away quarters from every state not fortunate to carry the letter I in their name such as New York, North Dakota and Delaware.

THAT'S 50 QUARTERS!

3 years ago I gave away 50 state quarters here and it turned out to be one of my most popular endeavors.  I have been wanting to give away some more for awhile and was waiting for the right opportunity.  I am actually going to be giving away

NOT ONE BUT TWO

sets of state quarters.  That's right two sets.

Set one will be given away in the traditional way.  At the end of the contest, I will draw a name from all the entries and choose the quarter winner.

5 entries will be given for every comment on this post.  One entry will be given for each comment on my A through H posts and my upcoming J through R posts. If you blog, tweet or post on FB about this contest just leave a comment for an extra entry.

 And A week from tomorrow on April 18th (Q day) I will announce a winner from all the entries.

In an effort to bring my followers up to 100 and beyond.  I am having a follower only give away for the second set of state quarters.  If you are already a follower of this site you automatically get 5 entries to the second drawing.  If you sign up now you will get 10 entries and if you are the lucky 100th follower you will get 100 entries and 10  state quarters (If you don't snag the set of 50). When I get 100 followers all previous followers will get an additional 5 entries.  All followers after 100 will get 20 entries.  On April 18th or when I reach 100 followers, whichever comes later, I will do a second drawing for the remaining set,

Excited?  You know I am.

Please pass on the info on this incredible contest.   

No School Today? A Review

 

AS IN HOMESPUN


I have been meaning to review Christina Ramos-Payne's fine collection of homeschool comic strips for some time now. I have been a big fan of Cristina's blog Home Spun Juggling for some time now. This book, a collection of her early strips is fantastic.

I love comic strips and have most of my life. The Home Spun strips remind me in some ways of the excellent comic strip, For Better or For Worse. But Home Spun is definitely it's own animal.. Cristina really gets to the heart of homeschooling. I relate very easily to her work because my children are much like hers.   But even in the areas I can't can't empathize with she does a masterful job crafting her narrative so that the humor is obvious to all.
 
I guess the best way to review this book is to share some of the strips from the book ad tell you what I think of them. 
 
 
This is a great strip in so many ways. The thing I like most about it is the sentiment.  The Mom is glad that her daughter showed such kindness to her little brother.  At the same time she is bemused that her daughter will not be able to shine as the star of the show.  But you can tell by the wistful glance in the last panel that her daughter’s decision does make her the star of the show. 


I had my daughter write a short review of this  book for her blog.  This is the strip she liked most.  This strip rocks, because proficiency can never replace passion. 



I don’t know the technical terms related to comic strip writing.  So I just make up my own terms.  Each comic strip usually has one main punch line that the strip builds up to.  Sometimes there’s a joke at the end wholly unrelated to the continuity.  I would probably call it the non sequitir if there wasn’t already a strip with that name.  So I’ll call it the late hit.
The strips that I think do the late hit the best are Calvin And Hobbes and Fox Trot.  The above strip is of that caliber.  I also can relate quite well to it as Bunny has finished many a book just checked out from the library before we ever left the building.


I guess I don’t have to say why I like this strip. 

I would strongly recommend this book for both homeschoolers and comic strip aficionados and folks like me who are both.  No School Today can be purchased at Amazon,  Barnes And Noble and Create Space

Keith Rhymes with Grief.

 IS FOR GRIEF

Wait one minute, you might be thinking.  In yesterday's post you basically promised that G would be for Give-A-Way.  You indicated that you would be giving away some state quarters. 

That's true, I really did.  Then I realized that today (April 7th) is the 3 year anniversary of my brother Keith's death.  I just didn't feel like putting my Crazy Uncle Dave hat on over my mourning brother one.  So, the quarter give-a-way will be soon.  You won't have to wait all the way to Q, I promise.

I have spent better than an hour rehashing Keith stories here and then deleting them.  I do that because this post is not really about remembering Keith.  I do that often.  This post is not really about his life. This post is about the grief I feel from his death.

I thought that it might be good to give a working definition of grief.  Since I decided to check in at Show My Face for Six Word Saturday. Here are my 6 words:

Grief - Deep stress caused by bereavement*.

*Bereavement is generally associated  with the loss of a loved one by death.

Pushing 50 as I am, I am not a total stranger to death.  Most of that death has come as a result of old age.  My grandparents all died between the ages of 79 and 97.  Keith was 7 months from 39 when he passed away.  Sometimes, even now, I can't wrap my head around him being gone. 

I do still have deep stress about his passing.  This stress is not daily, nor weekly, or even monthly.  It will sometimes hit me at random times but generally hits at 3 times during the year: On or near his birthday, the anniversary of his death, and Christmastime.  Teaching school, blogging or just about anything becomes difficult to focus on and I become quite a bit more irritable. 

A few months after Keith died I won a book from the Library Thing Early Reviewers Program about bereavement.  I still haven't read it fully or reviewed it.  I guess it's hard for me to imagine reviewing a book for early reviewers 3 years after it came out.  The book's title "In the Grip of Bereavement"  accurately describes my episodes of grief.  I really do feel like grief has a hold on me during these times.

Keith has now been dead longer than he was sick.  Our sister who is 3.5 years his junior is now the same age he was when he died. Life has gone on without him.  His children were 8 and 5 when he died that means they are 11 and 8 now.  In just 2 years his daughter will have lived longer without a father than with one. 

My faith in God has been a great sustainer over the past 3 years.  Even so,  sometimes the grief is so strong it is all I seem to be able to feel.  Sometimes I am even frightened that someday I may not grieve at all.  These thoughts and feelings are not the entirety of who I am.  but like today's post, which is neither well crafted nor polished, they are incredibly real. 

For more 6 word Saturday Click Here.

To see other G posts in Blogging A to Z click here.