3 Ring Binder

Who else, but Harry Potter (and Ms. Rowling) could inspire such enthusiasm in the young (staying up past midnight and in line for hours) and old (allowing aforementioned young to do such things) alike? Thanks to Mariposario and Rational Jenn for the reminders.

There are five children in my daughter's swim class. On the first day, when there were only three children, the instructor really impressed me with his thoughtful, individual attention and judicious, appropriate use of each of the children's names. On the second day a new boy, Lewis, joined the group and I began to hear his name and the other boy's name, but the two girls had suddenly become "the girls". On the third day, a third boy, Kevin, joined the class. This not only solidified the girls' collective appellation of "the girls", but I began to hear "Kevin", "the boys", and "the girls". Does this instructor's ability to differentiate names stop at the number 3? Is 4 his " crow busting " number? Shoud I be concerned that he is in charge of the safety and well-being of my quiet, nascent swimmer? The instructor's name? I think it's...The Professor.

Our dog, Izzy, the stogie-smokin'-man-faced Pug, is hanging on to "dog" status by a thread. As she walks around the house desperately searching for the very best place to bury her partially digested chewy thing (I suppose it used to be bone shaped), her behavior may reflect her wolf ancestry of old. However, it is not long before she finds a place, an open violin case, deposits her treasure and with a swipe of the paw places it perfectly, then sits back, tilts her head, and seems to wonder why the case won't close over said booty when her "bred for human companionship" gene pool reveals itself.

Thanks to a post on the History At Our House yahoo group, I just found out that David Harriman is creating an entire science program through Falling Apple Science Institute . From the website: There is a necessary logical order to the history of scientific discoveries. Nobody would claim that it is possible to understand calculus before grasping the principles of geometry and algebra. Similarly, one cannot develop modern genetics or immunology without chemistry, or understand modern chemistry without the atomic theory of matter, or prove the atomic theory without first grasping the basic principles of physics and scientific method. Each discovery was made possible by the previous discoveries. The history of science reveals the order in which the principles had to be learned, and therefore the order in which they should be taught. It seems the products will not be available for a while, but we've got time. How cool is that?

As someone with wacky vision (myopic in one eye/hyperopic in the other), I have often theorized that some artists, such as vanGogh perhaps, use their passing visual misinterpretations of reality as inspiration for their creativity. Without my glasses on, I often see odd shapes and colors and have to work to understand what things might really be or how they might really appear, because what I see doesn't reconcile with what I know. It’s rather amusing sometimes. I wish I could remember some examples right now, but in the meantime, please enjoy today’s poetry selection which touches upon this idea. A Passing Glimpse by Robert Frost To Ridgely Torrence On Last Looking into His 'Hesperides' I often see flowers from a passing car That are gone before I can tell what they are. I want to get out of the train and go back To see what they were beside the track. I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't; Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt-- Not bluebells gracing a ...

I love Louis Prima's addition to this classic Disney movie.

When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one. - Ben Franklin in a letter to Richard Price 9 Oct 1780 But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. -Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782 Inasmuch as God was an inextricable part of colonial life, our founding fathers appreciated the importance of keeping religious beliefs outside of the realm of government force. Despite our ever advancing prosperity and scientific knowledge and access to a greater range of historical facts, why has our country seemingly turned its back on their wisdom? Where are our bold statesmen who will speak out against the slippery slope of using government to force a religious agenda? As students of political ...