3 Ring Binder

The oldies station also played Loverboy's Working for the Weekend , but that just confused me as they usually save it for Fridays. By the time I got home, I was exhausted from all that car dancing.

Alea Jacta Est. This is what Julius Caesar is reported to have said as he crossed the River Rubicon at the head of his army and began the pursuit of Pompey, his rival in the Roman Senate, into Northern Italy. Literally translated it means, the die has been cast . Practically speaking, it means there is no turning back once this action has been taken. Here, the German artist, Wilhelm Truber , gives his version of Crossing the Rubicon ( 1878/79 ). Painting image found here .  I love how the painting captures the moment within which the dog may actually be considering its options and how the title perfectly reflects the import of that moment.  What kind of dog do you think this is?  It looks a lot line a Cane Corso to me - the cropped ears* particularly.  *This image is slightly different from the one I have in the book, Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Rennaissance to Today , Yale University Press, 2006.  In that book, the dog is darker, its eyes ...

Ay, there’s the microhouse. Last year in my daughter’s homeschool co-op, she attempted to help build an 8' Microhouse a la Ken Isaacs (quintessential hippie buildings of the 1970s - you can actually download a copy of his classic book, How to Build Your Own Living Structure here).   From Ken Isaacs' book,  How to Build Your Own Living Structure . Maybe it’s my own experience with having the only custom-made geodesic dome play structure in the neighborhood (Dad’s always been a real Buckminster Fuller fan), or my fascination with small spaces, but I was very excited when she undertook the project with her homeschool friends. Like our dome, except it was made of wood and painted blue. With minimal spatial, geometric, and woodworking skills, a group of ten kids attempted to make the biggest of Isaacs portable structures with his plans.  When it was completed , you couldn't get me to step inside of it, but they did learn how to measure, calculate, cut, carry, and...

Found in the ephemera of my daughter's constant doodling, here is a curious list of scattered historic statements and slogans. I thought some of them were random ideas without historical significance, but, as she so gleefully explained, I was wrong. Your task is to put them in chronological order - bonus points for telling me the historic significance of each. For those of you not fluent in reading my homeschooler's lamentable handwriting, here is the list: Eureka! No taxation without representation Let them eat cake! Et tu, Brute? Liberty or death! Blood and iron Liberty, Equality, Fraternity Know thyself HA. H and A spells "HA." Thus, with a kiss, I die. They ride on sticks! The die is cast.

And, according to today's Federal Register, has agreed to pay $40,000 for her egregious error in judgment: selling this jacket in children's sizes 7-12. I certainly see the fashion felony for parents who buy this for their 7-10 year olds, but Ms. Bubbles has been fined for not complying with the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Drawstring Hazard Guidelines . It’s important to note that no child has been harmed from Ms. Bubbles actions. CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting   www.saferproducts.gov Merely, Ms. Bubbles violated the unwritten law that guidelines issued by bureaucrats are to be obeyed as laws -- particularly those designed to protect us from ourselves.  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from...

 Subconscious fashion choices lend credence to daughter's claim.

Adding to the list of OBloggers who have posted on their CrossFit styles ( Jenn and Kelly , Diana Hsieh , Trey Givens ), I am herein exposing the ugly truth about mine. While I am a big weight-lifting fan, and an extreme advocate of my CrossFit gym , I am not above playing the old lady card for personal gain.   Not to be confused with Old Maid, the old lady card allows me to sit on the couch between lifting work sets, wait for an inquiring look, and order the manservants to load up my bar with the appropriate weight.   Okay. That happened only once, but I think I could get used to it. Actually, I am a bar-loading maven – and I can do math – early in the morning , even!   As every weightlifter knows, this is a valuable skill to have when figuring out weight distributions for every person using your weightlifting platform. Occasionally I get it wrong, but such a mistake usually comes to light before the lifter is crushed by the bar or cruises through the lift.  ...