Sense and Sensibility

I had some catching up to do, so I listened to four chapters on Librivox.org and then read four chapters this afternoon to bring me up to chapter 34 (is that where you're at, Ginger?)

I've seen the movie with Kate Winslett and Emma Thompson a number of times, and I thought the movie exaggerated the coldheartedness of the oldest brother, John, who had been requested by his dying father to take care of his mother and sisters. But the book goes even further - in his guilt at neglecting them, he's misreading the signs and trying to marry off Elinor to rich Colonel Brandon, and persuading Elinor (and himself) that kind Mrs. Jennings intends to leave them some money when she dies! How he can think that she would do that when she has her own daughters, and when he himself won't give them anything, is beyond me. He's a strange piece of work.

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NMSC

This came in the mail today:



Tim is a National Merit Scholar! He took the PSAT last year and scored high enough to be a semi-finalist. For the next level, he needed, among other things, a letter from his school (our umbrella school principal) and he had to write an essay. And he advanced to the final level!

(His full name is on the certificate - but, for privacy, I blurred all but the Tim part.)

Sometimes parents wonder if Ambleside Online or a Charlotte Mason education will provide what it takes to prepare a student to get into college. Tim is a good student, self-sufficient, organized, disciplined and able to manage his time, motivated. But his only schooling since fourth grade has been Ambleside Online (we did Sonlight for his first three years). He's had no formal creative writing, language arts, no math tutoring, no supplemental courses or projects to boost his knowledge of history or anything. So I think that a CM/AO education is enough for any student. Not that a CM education can guarantee the same results, but no education, not even a public school education (since that's the standard that homeschooling is held up to!), can make that kind of guarantee.

White Stag Sighted in Scotland

News link.

"And one year it fell out that Tumnus (who was a middle-aged Faun by now and beginning to be stout) came down river and brought them news that the White Stag had once more appeared in his parts--the White Stag who would give you wishes if you caught him. So these two Kings and Queens with the principal members of their court, rode a-hunting with horns and hounds in the Western Woods to follow the White Stag."

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

No wonder Britain is in trouble

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK "seems unavoidable".
...
Dr Williams argues that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion.
...
He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".

Goodness, no, we wouldn't want to make them do that. Where do they think this is, England or something?

The BBC has the full article.

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Update: There has been a considerable backlash against the Archbishop's statement, both from the Anglican clergy and the community at large. The Times has a selection of blogs.

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Update, February 10: The Archbishop has now tried to retract his original statement, saying in a statement on his website that he "made no proposals for sharia" and "did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law."

At the same time he argues that "the very term sharia is not only misunderstood, but is the focus of much fear and anxiety deriving from its 'primitivist' application in some contexts."

The Gates of Vienna continues to blog on this topic here and here:

I admit to being surprised at the depth of the antagonism towards the Archdhimmi, especially from within the Anglican hierarchy. Is it possible that they have been roused from slumber?

Blogging Without Obligation

I saw this first on Beth's blog. She found it here, with an explanation of what it's all about. To be honest, that's been the way I've always blogged - if I have something to say, I post it. If three weeks go by and nothing strikes me, then I don't. My desire to say something has always gone in spurts, even before blogging. Blog lags never bothered me because, over the long haul, it all evens out. Now I'm part of a movement and it has a name. :)

I've been a bit saddened recently to see a few friends say goodbye to blogging. They have great reasons - wanting more time with family, etc. - but I haven't felt any nudging or desire to follow suit. Blogging Without Obligation allows me to blog when I want, and take breaks when I want, without a nagging sense that I should be posting something.

More of the Day

Already?

The calendar may say February, but we've had warm weather and thunderstorms the last few days, and the air smells suspiciously of spring.