Barnes and Noble University

I found this at I Have To Say blog. It looks like something I could do sometime in the future, so I'll be saving the link in my favorites.

"Barnes and Noble University's on-line classes start on Tuesday. Most of them are free plus the price of a book and they have a wide variety of subjects such as: The History of Western Culture-1500 to the Present, The Art of the Short Story, Exploring Herbal Medicine and Web Pages Made Easy. These classes are worth a look for yourself or for your high-school students."

"Free plus the price of the book" . . . wow, what a concept. It reminds me of a curriculum I've heard of somewhere. ;)

Can't Keep Still!

It's getting to be nearly impossible to get pictures of Miss M. When I get her outside in the nice lighting, she's here, there, running to a get a stick, stooping to pick up a rock, turning to point to a butterfly . . . oh well, I did the best I could. More of the same on her page.

Modern Retro Housewives

I wanted to save this article to show a friend, I found it on the Got Me a College Girl blog.

The article is about the joy of being a Modern Retro Housewife. I enjoyed the article, but the dress code scares me.

Altariello Nainië Lóriendessë

With thanks to Professor Tolkien for creating the beatiful elvish language. And apologies to the elves in my audience whom I have offended by my poor pronunciation. The poem's text, along with the translation and an analyzation, can be found here.

Picky, Picky!

I found out today that Internet Explorer has spelling prejudices. When you tell it (in the CSS code, and I assume the HTML code too) you want "grey," it refuses--ignores it and displays the user's default color instead. But "gray" it will accept with pleasure.

(Is this because of dictionary-exposure-challenged programmers? Is it subtle anti-British discrimination? Anti-British-spelling-sympathizers discrimination? Is Tim reading too much between the lines?)

I realized this when I checked out (in IE) a page I had created and posted some time ago; the links were a bright shade of purple which didn't quite match the rest of the colour scheme. Excuse me--color scheme.

Who Has Seen the Day?

Who has seen the day
Falling into night
And kissed with every quiet breath
The swiftly-fading light?

Fear not; falter not
For the sun will rise
And in the morning a new day
Will greet thy shining eyes.

Who has seen a life
Fading into death
And mourned with every passing day
The swiftly-failing breath?

Weep not; sorrow not
Though a life may end--
For surely as the darkness falls
The day will come again.

This Month's Books - August 2005

It has been a fun month of reading. I was introduced to Father Brown, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Catherine Morland, and explored deeper the wonderful realms of C.S. Lewis's imagination and Jane Austen's 18th century England.


The Life of Thomas More by William Roper (More's son-in-law)
Actually a re-read, but I had forgotten a lot. It has some strict biography mixed with anecdotes from his family and personal life, as well as the tale of More's friendship and disagreement with (and eventual execution by) Henry VIII.

Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers
My first Sayers novel. A well-wrought, exciting and rather unusual mystery.

The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
A collection of short mysteries solved by the equally short Father Brown: a very likeable man with a turn for theological philosophy and criminal cases. Chesterton's "uncommon sense" shows through tantalizingly. I must read some of his apologetic works...

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
The same as the above, only more so (if possible).

Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
A series of short stories, each based upon a theory or principle of modern science. The principles themselves are sometimes questionable, but the stories are very entertaining--if very strange, in a way that reminds me of Madeline L'Engle or Lewis Carroll. Some mild sensuality appears in the love of the quantum particles, mollusks, dinosaurs et cetera that make up the characters of these stories.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
A well-written story (no surprise there), witty and entertaining. Miss Morland is a different heroine than I am used to in Austen--more naive, perhaps. I confess I prefer Lizzy...but a good book all the same.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
There's so much I don't know where to begin. Several levels of enjoyment: wit and humour, "knowable" characters, and a surprising plot (even if you know it already). Much food for thought, too: the prudence and imprudence of Elinor and Marianne, the intricate characters with understandable motives and morals, and even Marianne's romantic opinions on poetry, life and cliches.

Of Other Worlds by C. S. Lewis
A collection of essays and short stories. Lewis's opinions on film, fairy-tales, criticism (et al.) are enlightening, and his short stories are interesting. Did you know he started a novel about Menelaus and Helen after Troy?

AO Curriculum Help for Katrina's Displaced Families

It's not enough, and it was a rush job, but it's something. Hopefully, it helps families who lost their homeschool materials in the hurricane.

"A free, complete, user-friendly curriculum plan for homeschooling families who need support, encouragement and alternatives to the curriculum they've lost in a disaster, and also for churches and other groups needing to set up temporary schools for children who may not have been homeschooled. All texts and teaching materials needed to implement this plan are free online. The only things you need are access to a computer and printer, paper and pencil."

http://www.amblesideonline.org/HELP.shtml
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So Quiet . . . .

I'm not used to the house being this quiet. Where are the boys? I don't hear them playing. Are they building with Legos in their room? No. Swinging wooden swords in the basement? Running around outside? No, too windy. Where are they??

There they are, in the family room, all three of them, one on the couch reading The Black Arrow, one in the rocker reading Sense and Sensibility and the other on the floor reading Paddington Bear. What a picture!

It's really unusual for the house to be this quiet, and for all of them to be reading for so long in one day. And we haven't even started our school year yet!

Our First School Tea

I feel like I lost the last couple of years, between working with AO and having the baby. But this year is going to be different. My children are growing up so fast and I feel like I could be making more of the opportunity to be with them while I still can. I've had this verse in my mind for awhile: "A wise woman strengthens her family, but a foolish woman destroys hers by what she does." (Prov 14: 1) I don't want to let the time I have with them slip through my fingers. I'm inspired from the recent AO conference, both from hearing the speakers, and from watching Queen Shenaynay's family in action during our stay at their beehive. I'm hoping to spend more time enjoying my kids and enjoying our school year instead of just trying to rush through it. I haven't got it all worked out yet, but one thing we're going to do is to have tea a couple times a week.

We've done that some Sundays, but I think we need something to make our schooldays a little more fun. Tuesdays and Thursdays we have nothing going on, so those will be our tea days.

The first thing to do--plan for success by getting the tea things out where they'll be easy to get to, and easy to put away. I re-organized a shelf to make room for the teapot and cups - including Miss M's plastic cup and saucer. :)

Then a trip to the health food store to get some non-trans fat treats and organic cheese. I figure fruit-nuts-cheese-and a treat ought to be a nice routine.

Today, being Tuesday, was our first school tea (even though we don't start school for almost two week). We put on Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, buckled Miss M in her chair, and we had tea.