One Bird's as Good as Another

We have a friend who recently became an Eagle Scout, and we attended his ceremony (the whole thing reminded me of Charlotte Mason - I think Scouts and CM share ideals). He sent a thank you card with a nice photo of an eagle on the front. Miss M wanted to "read" the card, so she asked, "can I see that vulture letter?"

I don't think Vulture Scout has quite the same image of nobleness and honor as Eagle Scout.

What Book Are you?

I found this linked from a blog linked from a fan site.

You're Siddhartha!
by Hermann Hesse

You simply don't know what to believe, but you're willing to try anything once. Western values, Eastern values, hedonism and minimalism, you've spent some time in every camp. But you still don't have any idea what camp you belong in. This makes you an individualist of the highest order, but also really lonely. It's time to chill out under a tree. And realize that at least you believe in ferries.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

For the record, I'm a practical realist and I believe in using any resource available to get from point A to point B, whether that be a bridge, ladder or ferry. Wait - was that supposed to be 'fairies'? LOL!

I don't understand...

...why the evangelical Protestant church picks and chooses which liturgical holidays it will observe. Christmas yes, Easter yes; Epiphany no, All Hallows' Eve no, Good Friday no. Et cetera. It's the equivalent of reading someone a book and only reading them your favorite parts. There really is more to the story.

My Life is Now Complete

Tim found a blog that does nothing but rate pencils. Drafting pencils, mechanical pencils, black pencils, square pencils, colored pencils. Even a link to how to sharpen pencils.

Move over, Candy Blog - I've found a new favorite! I wonder if there's a pen blog?

Miss M this afternoon

L set up a Western town on the table with his Playmobil. While he's at piano lessons, Miss M is playing with it.

"Sheriff! There's a man stealing my dog!"
"Well - kill him! No, I mean - put him in jail!"
"But you're supposed to do that."
"You're whining."

And now brother J just came in with a sweet little handful of purple weedy flowers for her. Now she wants to marry him! Such is the power of flowers with women. I hope J will use that knowledge responsibly.

The Scarlet Letter quotes

These are all from the Introductory. I've started the actual story, but these are all from before the story.

"It is a good lesson--though it may often be a hard one--for a man who has dreamed of literary fame, and of making for himself a rank among the world's dignitaries by such means, to step aside out of the narrow circle in which his claims are recognized, and to find how utterly devoid of significance, beyond that circle, is all that he achieves, and all he aims at."

I think the above lesson would be good for anyone dreaming of fame and glory, not just writers.

And this next one reminded me of the nature of Postal work. Once you're in, the job is so secure that it can breed a lack of initiative and foster a dependence on the system. I guess this could be said of anyone who comes to depend on a government job of government help. In this case, it's being said about a person employed as a customs official.

"An effect--which I believe to be observable, more or less, in every individual who has occupied the position--is, that, while he leans on the mighty arm of the Republic, his own proper strength departs from him. He loses, in an extent proportioned to the weakness or force of his original nature, the capability of self-support. . . Why should he toil and moil, and be at so much trouble to pick himself up out of the mud, when, in a little while hence, the strong arm of his Uncle will raise and support him? Why should he work for his living here, or go to dig gold in California, when he is so soon to be made happy, at monthly intervals, with a little pile of glittering coin out of his Uncle's pocket?"

Do you ever feel...

...that life is like a run-on sentence? One of those long frustrating things that gallop forward without question-mark or exclamation-point or full-stop or even a comma to slow them down and give you no pause for breath and only hold together with conjunctions of dubious efficacy that stumble over themselves in the mad dash to get to the end of the sentence which is hardly recognizable when you reach it because by that time you've completely lost the thrust of the thing and are only staring glassy-eyed at the words and waiting for the punctuation mark at the end?

Emma

I like Emma - she's not perfect but tends to be a little self-absorbed and thoughtless, which I think more people can relate to than would admit. Yet she's got her good points. Her charity works, for instance, are sincere and from the heart, not just going through the motions to appear charitable. This is from chapter ten:

"Emma was very compassionate; and the distresses of the poor were as sure of relief from her personal attention and kindness, her counsel and her patience, as from her purse. She understood their ways, could allow for their ignorance and their temptations, had no romantic expectations of extraordinary virtue from those, for whom education had done so little; entered into their troubles with ready sympathy, and always gave her assistance with as much intelligence as good-will. In the present instance, it was sickness and poverty together which she came to visit; and after remaining there as long as she could give comfort or advice, she quitted the cottage with such an impression of the scene as made her say to Harriet, as they walked away, 'These are the sights, Harriet, to do one good. How trifling they make every thing else appear! I feel now as if I could think of nothing but these poor creatures all the rest of the day; and yet, who can say how soon it may all vanish from my mind?'"

Book Reference (note to myself)

In deciding which books to read, sometimes it's as valuable to know why people dislike specific books as to know which ones they love and why.

This blog post from Dominion Family is a year old, but I want to keep it bookmarked because the comments are helpful. One thing I already learned: I probably wouldn't like anything by Flannery O'Connor.

I'm enjoying Oliver Twist (I'm reading it my son for AO Year 5), and it makes me wonder if I might like Charles Dickens.

An Interesting Journey, continued

I've been posting links to a series of "Ebenezer" posts by online friend Camille tracing her experiences with parenting and how they changed her perspective. I could have added the continuing links to the same post, but her journey moved away from just parenting and into conflict over grace and theology at the conservative university where she was employed.
The Meeting
The Chapter
The Document