1) I am morally conflicted about silk…I used to have this naïve idea about how the silk worms made their cute little cocoons and after they emerged, people unwrapped the silk…but that isn't how it works at all…as soon as the caterpillars finish spinning their cocoons, they are immersed (alive) in boiling water, because if they emerge, they will cut through the silk fiber, ruining its commercial use...
my issue is this...i don't believe in killing an animal, unless you intend to make full use of the remains...i have a big problem with people buying fur coats, made by the fur industry, because of how those animals are treated...i do not have a problem with people who trap, who eat the little bunnies (or whatever) and who then tan/sell the furs, even if the those furs are eventually made into coats...
my moral conflict about silk is that roasted silk worms are a foodstuff in asia...so, in theory, nothing is going to waste...but silk worms are not part of my diet (now or in the future)...and somehow it doesn't seem appropriate for me to wear silk for that reason...
2) to further complicate matters, I believe that the only other valid reason for killing an animal is if it is threatening you…I often watch my feet when I'm walking so that I won't step on an insect…I grossed out a friend last year because while we were walking around the parking lot, i picked up a praying mantis to relocate it to a (hopefully safe) grassy area...i relocated some ladybugs that got in the building for the same reason...
mosquitoes fall into the threatening category...as do ticks...(even if they aren't touching me...)
spiders...that's difficult...logically, i know that they are good...however, i'm TERRIFIED of them...that's a very fine line for a spider to balance, without getting squashed...
3) I still have an irrational fear of getting swept out to sea and being eaten by a shark…
4) lolcats make me laugh hysterically…
5) I sacrifice my own wants and needs to those of my children to a degree that they will never comprehend…
6) I have a large scar on my left hand because I used a sickle incorrectly as a child…(a sickle is sort of like a short-handled scythe…)
7) I adore monarch butterflies...last summer I planted milkweed in my garden to attract the caterpillars…(it worked)…and i was very happy that my boys were able to experience watching a monarch emerge from its chrysalis…
but it was a strange moral experience at the same time...i planted milkweed so that the caterpillars would have something to eat...yet i was raised (probably like most people) that it's a bad thing if insects decimate plants in your garden...i had to keep reminding myself that the goal was the animal and not the plant...
8) I think grass is a homogenous, green desert…it is devoid of nutrients...it reduces biodiversity…and it enslaves modern man to chemicals and pointless yard work…(not all yard work is pointless, just the part that involves caring for grass)...
if i had my way, i'd rip it all out and replace it with a short flowery mix of violets, maybe some clover, and a bunch of spring beauties (which are a tiny white flower with pink veins on the petals...)
9) I have poor eye contact because of a guy named Mickey…at the time, I had an eye condition called GPC (Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis)…amongst other things, it caused my eyes to quickly build up deposits on my contacts…these deposits looked like tiny white dots...
once upon a time, i was flirting with Mickey at the bus stop, and he was just one of those people who was absurdly blunt...in a VERY LOUD VOICE, in front of all my classmates, he said, "did you know that you have dots on your eyes???"
i was horribly embarrassed, and the fact of the matter was that, yes, i did know that i had dots on my eyes...but i couldn't afford another pair of $300 contacts (disposables didn't exist back then)...and the lenses on my glasses were really thick, plus my glasses made me look hideous...so my solution was to not look people square in the eye...i've never really broken that habit...
10) I am happiest when I am stomping around in Bear Creek (outside of Ottumwa, IA) with my boys, reminiscing about how my dad used to do that with me…
11) my dad committed suicide when he was 41…I will be 41 this year…
12) I broke off my front tooth in a sledding accident in 7th grade…I crawled around in the snow trying to find it, thinking that they could glue it back on…(I wasn't able find it, and the dentist told me that he couldn't have glued it back on anyway…)
13) I am not allergic to shrimp/crab/lobster, although I say that I am…in reality, I have a severe intolerance…and it's just easier to explain it as an allergy…
14) My home computer shouts "Inconceivable!" (from the Princess Bride) when I make a mistake…it says "You're all clear kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!" (Han Solo from Star Wars) when I shut it down…
15) my favorite movie quote of all time is: "Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You Killed My Father! Prepare to Die!"
16) I think it's cool that my dog actually understands what I'm saying, even if his vocabulary is limited…
17) if I could do my life over, I would have been a paleontologist…
18) I am fascinated with any clear object that contains visible moving parts…I can relate to the guy from the Flight of the Conchords who said that his favorite color was "transparent"…
19) I think everybody should kiva…it's just the right thing to do…
20) last of all, thanks to facebook, I now have 3 friends named Barbara [Something Italian]…isn't that crazy???
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Grindlewylde The Ninja
Mrs. Grindlegrowl liked an orderly classroom. She liked rules, rules, rules. She had so many rules, that little Grindlewylde couldn’t help himself. It seemed like he was always getting into trouble.
Mrs. Grindlegrowl frowned when he crawled under the chairs, pretending to be a guinea pig. And she scowled when she discovered that he had fired staple-shaped projectiles at the class, using the stapler from her desk. But when he made origami throwing stars and pretended to be a ninja, she had three words to say: Detention, Detention, Detention.
Little Grindlewylde was not happy about this. He fussed all the way home, to anybody who would listen. He argued that Mrs. Grindlegrowl never told him that he couldn’t play ninja, that this was a silly new rule that she invented because she was just plain mean.
His mother, Grindlewyse, being a very loving and kind dragon, would hear none of his excuses. She patiently explained that little Grindlewylde had broken a rule, and that he needed to be punished. Then, she told him that his punishment was fair, and that she agreed with Mrs. Grindlegrowl.
Grindlewylde huffed & puffed and a tiny wisp of smoke came out of his throat. But Grindlwyse did not change her mind. And neither did Mrs. Grindlegrowl.
Copyright 10/15/2008
Mrs. Grindlegrowl frowned when he crawled under the chairs, pretending to be a guinea pig. And she scowled when she discovered that he had fired staple-shaped projectiles at the class, using the stapler from her desk. But when he made origami throwing stars and pretended to be a ninja, she had three words to say: Detention, Detention, Detention.
Little Grindlewylde was not happy about this. He fussed all the way home, to anybody who would listen. He argued that Mrs. Grindlegrowl never told him that he couldn’t play ninja, that this was a silly new rule that she invented because she was just plain mean.
His mother, Grindlewyse, being a very loving and kind dragon, would hear none of his excuses. She patiently explained that little Grindlewylde had broken a rule, and that he needed to be punished. Then, she told him that his punishment was fair, and that she agreed with Mrs. Grindlegrowl.
Grindlewylde huffed & puffed and a tiny wisp of smoke came out of his throat. But Grindlwyse did not change her mind. And neither did Mrs. Grindlegrowl.
Copyright 10/15/2008
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
"I'm Not On Drugs, I'm On Cookies" -- Little Boy #2
you know...sometimes it's fun to just sit back & listen to what your kids tell their friends...
Saturday, January 17, 2009
If Your Cat Has Gas, Don't Point The Stinky End At Your Face
little boy #1 learned this lesson the hard way...
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Geography Lesson Part 3 - The Badlands & Omaha
outside of rapid city is badlands national park...the formations were delicate pastels & my camera washed everything out to an even shade of taupe...
i'm still trying to understand the geology of the badlands...the contrast between grassland and badland was so distinct...absolutes like that fascinate me...
i'm still trying to understand the geology of the badlands...the contrast between grassland and badland was so distinct...absolutes like that fascinate me...however, the little boys were bored with my enthusiasm...and they only got out of the car once, to use the restroom...soon after, we stopped at an authentic sod house and i was practically giddy, because i had always wanted to see one...
here is a link to the Prairie Homestead website so that you can learn more...i wish that the website had interior pictures, because my camera couldn't take pictures under those lighting conditions...
the left portion of the house has authentic sod walls...i think the ceiling was sod too, held up by beams...although if i remember right, the front wall was just wood...there was a front "room" that was essentially a kitchen...the back "room" was partitioned off by a curtain & it held a small bed with a quilt...the floor was dirt, with planks here & there, probably to cross mud puddles...everything was so dirty...i couldn't imagine living that way, but it was inhabited until 1949...my mother would have been 1 year old...absolutely mind-boggling...
the right side was a small shack that was later attached to the house...it was not made of sod, so the walls were only a few inches thick...it had a normal wooden floor and it seems to have been used as a parlor...it contained a little couch with many antiques in the room...a handful of linens, etc...stuff that would normally have been roped off, but was available for people to touch...i couldn't bring myself to do it...
the thing that fascinated me the most was that they had to cut a hole in the wall to make an interior doorway from the sod house to the shack...and because the sod wall was about 18 inches thick, the arch of the doorway lasted forever...it was too short to be a hall and too long to be a normal arch...to keep the sod from crumbling, they had wallpapered the opening with newspapers...they were very old...barely in the 1900's...i would have loved to read them all, but the boys were not enjoying themselves being inside of something so anti-modern...
having said that, the boys were absolutely fascinated with the white prairie dogs...many people in the west view prairie dogs as pests...and the sioux were going to poison a large colony, so the current owner of the sod house caught one white male and started a breeding program...now most of the prairie dogs around the sod house are white...it's not a blinding white, probably because they are always covered in dirt...they are very skittish & if you throw them a peanut, eventually they will scurry out to get it...(if you're patient)...on the other hand, the chickens are not afraid of anything & if they think you have peanuts, THEY WILL CHASE YOU DOWN...little boy #2 will attest that it's pretty darn freaky when you are being stalked by a chicken... : P
we wrapped up the vacation by stopping at the henry doorly zoo in omaha, ne...we had gone there several years ago, but the boys were young & there was too much zoo & not enough time...last year, we finished the zoo in record time (since their legs are longer)...the highlight was the "budgie experience"...which was an enclosure that easily contained at least 500 parakeets...
you could buy a tongue depressor covered with peanut butter & seed...
here is a link to the Prairie Homestead website so that you can learn more...i wish that the website had interior pictures, because my camera couldn't take pictures under those lighting conditions...
the left portion of the house has authentic sod walls...i think the ceiling was sod too, held up by beams...although if i remember right, the front wall was just wood...there was a front "room" that was essentially a kitchen...the back "room" was partitioned off by a curtain & it held a small bed with a quilt...the floor was dirt, with planks here & there, probably to cross mud puddles...everything was so dirty...i couldn't imagine living that way, but it was inhabited until 1949...my mother would have been 1 year old...absolutely mind-boggling...
the right side was a small shack that was later attached to the house...it was not made of sod, so the walls were only a few inches thick...it had a normal wooden floor and it seems to have been used as a parlor...it contained a little couch with many antiques in the room...a handful of linens, etc...stuff that would normally have been roped off, but was available for people to touch...i couldn't bring myself to do it...
the thing that fascinated me the most was that they had to cut a hole in the wall to make an interior doorway from the sod house to the shack...and because the sod wall was about 18 inches thick, the arch of the doorway lasted forever...it was too short to be a hall and too long to be a normal arch...to keep the sod from crumbling, they had wallpapered the opening with newspapers...they were very old...barely in the 1900's...i would have loved to read them all, but the boys were not enjoying themselves being inside of something so anti-modern...
having said that, the boys were absolutely fascinated with the white prairie dogs...many people in the west view prairie dogs as pests...and the sioux were going to poison a large colony, so the current owner of the sod house caught one white male and started a breeding program...now most of the prairie dogs around the sod house are white...it's not a blinding white, probably because they are always covered in dirt...they are very skittish & if you throw them a peanut, eventually they will scurry out to get it...(if you're patient)...on the other hand, the chickens are not afraid of anything & if they think you have peanuts, THEY WILL CHASE YOU DOWN...little boy #2 will attest that it's pretty darn freaky when you are being stalked by a chicken... : P
we wrapped up the vacation by stopping at the henry doorly zoo in omaha, ne...we had gone there several years ago, but the boys were young & there was too much zoo & not enough time...last year, we finished the zoo in record time (since their legs are longer)...the highlight was the "budgie experience"...which was an enclosure that easily contained at least 500 parakeets...
you could buy a tongue depressor covered with peanut butter & seed...the boys had a blast feeding the budgies...after the zoo, we went back to the hotel for a swim...and the next day, we headed to iowa to spend (quiet time) with family & friends...
it was a good vacation...but it was a lot of driving...and i don't have any intention of doing that again any time soon...
it was a good vacation...but it was a lot of driving...and i don't have any intention of doing that again any time soon...
Geography Lesson Part 2 - Rapid City
while in rapid city, we stopped to see mount rushmore...which looks exactly like it does in all the pictures that i've ever seen...
then i let the boys each pick 2 things to do...one picked stopping at a chocolate store and the "roo ranch"...
little boy #2 was lovesick...he adored his (sleeping) joey...
little boy #1 thought it was pretty cool too...
honestly, i wouldn't recommend the roo ranch...it was stinky, boring, & the employees were mostly apathetic...but for a fee (i think $10 per kid) each little boy got to hold a joey and to get their picture taken against a cheesy tourist background...but there were technical difficulties, resulting in little boy #1 being purple...which meant that they got to hold their critters for about 20 minutes, while the staff figured out that the printer needed a new toner cartridge...the boys didn't complain one bit... : )
then i let the boys each pick 2 things to do...one picked stopping at a chocolate store and the "roo ranch"...
little boy #2 was lovesick...he adored his (sleeping) joey...
little boy #1 thought it was pretty cool too...honestly, i wouldn't recommend the roo ranch...it was stinky, boring, & the employees were mostly apathetic...but for a fee (i think $10 per kid) each little boy got to hold a joey and to get their picture taken against a cheesy tourist background...but there were technical difficulties, resulting in little boy #1 being purple...which meant that they got to hold their critters for about 20 minutes, while the staff figured out that the printer needed a new toner cartridge...the boys didn't complain one bit... : )
the other kid picked the black hills museum of natural history...which was an interesting choice, since he's never liked science museums unless it was the hands-on type...but these were the researchers involved in the discovery of "sue" the t-rex which was the subject of a HUGE court battle...ultimately, sue went on display at the field museum in chicago & neither kid cared at all when i fawned over sue when we saw her in person...but they enjoyed hearing the story again, when we were in south dakota...i guess it was familiar to them this time, so it was okay...kids are weird sometimes...no pics of the museum, since none turned out...
that kid also picked reptile gardens...which was a combination zoo / carnival / disney-like theme park...it wasn't a true zoo, because most of the animals weren't in a natural setting...
for instance, these prairie dogs were as fat as sausages from all the peanuts...you could walk down some stairs and pop up in the bubble to get a close up of them...btw, prairie dogs are cute...but they apparently bite pretty hard...the bubble was a nice safety feature...
the sign actually encouraged gently scratching the tortoise's neck...
that kid also picked reptile gardens...which was a combination zoo / carnival / disney-like theme park...it wasn't a true zoo, because most of the animals weren't in a natural setting...
for instance, these prairie dogs were as fat as sausages from all the peanuts...you could walk down some stairs and pop up in the bubble to get a close up of them...btw, prairie dogs are cute...but they apparently bite pretty hard...the bubble was a nice safety feature...
the sign actually encouraged gently scratching the tortoise's neck...the animal shows were very educational & extremely funny, which is a hard line to balance...i would definitely recommend this place, but only if you do the shows...
all & all, the boys enjoyed themselves that day...
Geography Lesson Part 1 - Salt Lake City & Yellowstone
we went to yellowstone this summer...except, in my quest to take the boys to as many of the 50 states as possible, we went the long route...we stopped in saratoga, wy...(see the post from 11/03/2008 detailing those adventures)...we also stopped in salt lake city, ut to see the great salt lake...but the drought was so severe, that the lake had receded at least 75 feet from its banks...so we couldn't get a very good look at it...that afternoon, we went to timpanogos cave...which seemed like a good idea...and while i realized that there was a 1 1/2 mile hike when i purchased the advance tickets...i somehow missed the fact that it was pretty much STRAIGHT UP A MOUNTAIN...i don't do well at high altitudes, but with a lot of encouragement from the boys, i managed to make it to the cave...
80% of the climb is complete...can you see the shelter area a little to the right of the center of the picture?
using every photo op as a chance to rest...these are sedimentary layers...the tops of these mountains used to be the bottom of the ocean...it's been pushed up & folded by tectonic activity...
looking at a neighboring mountain...we are around 6700 ft above sea level...
using another photo op to catch my breath...
rare cave formations...the curly shapes are called helictites...
a large portion of yellowstone burned in 1988...the forest still hasn't recovered...
there were so many geysers & steam vents that the boys became blase about them...
although they were always fascinated by the streams...
and by the incredible power of the rivers...
ultimately, the boys decided that it's wrong to eat bison...
and that they should be free forever...Saturday, January 3, 2009
Grindlewylde’s Song
Grindlewylde was glad that his brother was gone. It was quiet. And he liked quiet.
Except at bedtime, when he liked to sing. His voice filled the room and it made him feel a little less lonely. Sometimes his songs made sense. And sometimes, they just didn’t. But that was okay. Because sometimes emotions don’t make sense either.
Grindlewyse tucked her son in with a kiss, and she looked sadly at his brother’s empty bed. She would miss her Grindlemyre forever. And, at that moment, Grindlewylde missed him a little too.
After she left, he started singing softly. He sang all the songs that he learned at school. Then he sang about the floor. And the curtains. He tried really hard not to sing about his brother’s bed, but he just couldn’t stop himself.
"Little bed with a cover of blue.
I miss the brother that belongs to you.
He was kind of mean and he stole my candy all the time (especially my chocolate).
But I miss him and I wish he could come back
Because I want to play with him some more.
(Sigh.)
Little bed with a cover of blue.
I miss the brother that belongs to you."
Snot bubbles came out his nose, so he stopped singing. But he still missed his brother. And he probably always would.
Copyright 9/2/2008
Except at bedtime, when he liked to sing. His voice filled the room and it made him feel a little less lonely. Sometimes his songs made sense. And sometimes, they just didn’t. But that was okay. Because sometimes emotions don’t make sense either.
Grindlewyse tucked her son in with a kiss, and she looked sadly at his brother’s empty bed. She would miss her Grindlemyre forever. And, at that moment, Grindlewylde missed him a little too.
After she left, he started singing softly. He sang all the songs that he learned at school. Then he sang about the floor. And the curtains. He tried really hard not to sing about his brother’s bed, but he just couldn’t stop himself.
"Little bed with a cover of blue.
I miss the brother that belongs to you.
He was kind of mean and he stole my candy all the time (especially my chocolate).
But I miss him and I wish he could come back
Because I want to play with him some more.
(Sigh.)
Little bed with a cover of blue.
I miss the brother that belongs to you."
Snot bubbles came out his nose, so he stopped singing. But he still missed his brother. And he probably always would.
Copyright 9/2/2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Grindlewylde’s Frogs
Grindlewylde was a happy go-lucky child. He loved origami, which is a strange skill for a dragon, but he didn’t care what his classmates thought. He could fold a frog in 9 seconds flat. His desk was covered in them and sometimes he would sell them to the other kids.
Mrs. Grindlegrowl was an old-fashioned teacher. She was a dragon that was raised on proper etiquette. She valued gold and gems, but not paper frogs. She took the paper frogs from Grindlewylde, which made him very angry.
Grindlewylde knocked his chair over with his tail and he sulked in the corner, glaring at her. When he thought she wasn’t looking, he tore pages out of her books to make more frogs.
But Mrs. Grindlegrowl knows everything. She marched little Grindlewylde to the Principal’s Office, and made him call his mom. Then she took away his recess for a whole week, which made him even madder.
Little Grindlewylde was angry at the whole world and he kept getting more & more punishments. He got punished at school and he got punished at home. He got so many punishments, that he finally broke down in tears.
All the punishments were so big. They felt heavy and he couldn’t understand how he had gotten them so quickly. He was sad about the punishments.
But he did not learn his lesson about folding paper frogs, no he did not.
Mrs. Grindlegrowl was an old-fashioned teacher. She was a dragon that was raised on proper etiquette. She valued gold and gems, but not paper frogs. She took the paper frogs from Grindlewylde, which made him very angry.
Grindlewylde knocked his chair over with his tail and he sulked in the corner, glaring at her. When he thought she wasn’t looking, he tore pages out of her books to make more frogs.
But Mrs. Grindlegrowl knows everything. She marched little Grindlewylde to the Principal’s Office, and made him call his mom. Then she took away his recess for a whole week, which made him even madder.
Little Grindlewylde was angry at the whole world and he kept getting more & more punishments. He got punished at school and he got punished at home. He got so many punishments, that he finally broke down in tears.
All the punishments were so big. They felt heavy and he couldn’t understand how he had gotten them so quickly. He was sad about the punishments.
But he did not learn his lesson about folding paper frogs, no he did not.
Copyright 8/15/2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Geography Lesson - North Platte River
the north platte river begins in colorado and it flows north into wyoming, through a cute little trout fishing town by the name of saratoga...this town also happens to have a natural hot spring that flows into a sand bottom swimming pool, which sounds like an amazingly cool (no pun intended) experience...
unfortunately, the water was too hot and we ended up at the stream about 50 feet away, where several hot springs mix with the cool water...the mom said that the little boys should wear water shoes, but the mom doesn't know anything about anything and they insisted that they wanted to wear their sandals into the creek...which did not work out well, since the rocks were very slippery...ultimately, the mom went trudging back to the car to get their water shoes...
little boys changing into water shoes,
note the single sandal floating in the water between them...
yep...you guessed it...Little Boy #2 lost his sandal...by the time we noticed, his sandal was long gone, without any trace...after the north platte river leaves wyoming, it joins with the south platte river, meandering across nebraska, where it dumps into the missouri river...eventually the missouri empties into the mississippi...and we all know that the mississippi goes past st. louis on its way to the gulf of mexico...
after that, every time we crossed the north platte river, we waved goodbye to Little Boy #2's shoe...and we teased him mercilessly about how his shoe was going to beat us home...
unfortunately, the water was too hot and we ended up at the stream about 50 feet away, where several hot springs mix with the cool water...the mom said that the little boys should wear water shoes, but the mom doesn't know anything about anything and they insisted that they wanted to wear their sandals into the creek...which did not work out well, since the rocks were very slippery...ultimately, the mom went trudging back to the car to get their water shoes...
little boys changing into water shoes,note the single sandal floating in the water between them...
yep...you guessed it...Little Boy #2 lost his sandal...by the time we noticed, his sandal was long gone, without any trace...after the north platte river leaves wyoming, it joins with the south platte river, meandering across nebraska, where it dumps into the missouri river...eventually the missouri empties into the mississippi...and we all know that the mississippi goes past st. louis on its way to the gulf of mexico...
after that, every time we crossed the north platte river, we waved goodbye to Little Boy #2's shoe...and we teased him mercilessly about how his shoe was going to beat us home...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Booger Small
There was a little girl
who had a booger small.
She didn't know what to do with it,
so she stuck it on the wall.
One friend joined another
in that gob of greenish goo.
It seemed her only hobby
and every day it grew.
She painted herself a picture
of eyes, ears and nose.
Then she got creative
and gave him nine new toes.
In the morning she would greet him,
with a pucker and a kiss.
His face was nearly two palms wide.
It was very hard to miss.
Then one day he left her
and didn't say goodbye.
Her heart was nearly broke in two,
she couldn't help but cry.
Later she got a postcard,
in time for Sweet Sixteen.
"Love forever, Boogie."
It was signed in tell-tale green.
Copyright 6/8/1994
who had a booger small.
She didn't know what to do with it,
so she stuck it on the wall.
One friend joined another
in that gob of greenish goo.
It seemed her only hobby
and every day it grew.
She painted herself a picture
of eyes, ears and nose.
Then she got creative
and gave him nine new toes.
In the morning she would greet him,
with a pucker and a kiss.
His face was nearly two palms wide.
It was very hard to miss.
Then one day he left her
and didn't say goodbye.
Her heart was nearly broke in two,
she couldn't help but cry.
Later she got a postcard,
in time for Sweet Sixteen.
"Love forever, Boogie."
It was signed in tell-tale green.
Copyright 6/8/1994
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Christmas Throwing Stars
Little Boy #2 loves origami...and he recently discovered this pattern in a book from the school library...there are a variety of names for it, including: German Stars, Swedish Stars, Moravian Stars, and Froebel's stars...anyhow, he was really excited when he found the pattern because it made him remember that i know how to make them...it took a while for him to catch on, but above are some of his results...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Legend of Grindlemyre
Grindlewyse loved her son Grindlemyre. He was handsome, funny, and very, very intelligent. But he was also rude and unkind. Grindlewyse tried to teach him the ways of loving dragons, but as he became a teenager, Grindlemyre refused to listen. He became mean and spiteful, and did very hurtful things to his mother and to his siblings.
Grindlebane was an evil red dragon who delighted in stomping on things when he was mad at people. He was the brother of Grindlewyse. And it made Grindlewyse sad to see her son becoming more & more like his uncle every day. She tried extra hard to teach her son how to be a loving dragon. But, as always, Grindlemyre refused to listen.
One day, Grindlemyre didn’t get his way, so he went on a stomping spree, just like his uncle. He killed many, many flowers in Wentzville. He even had the nerve to kill the witch’s hydrangea bush not once, but twice.
The witch was very angry and when she found Grindlemyre, she attacked him with her sharp tongue and her little shovel. She fed his body to her hungry children, calling it chicken. And she enchanted his heart so that it became stone.
This stone she put in her garden, as a warning to all teenage dragons, that they are not as wise as they think. And that they are, in fact, quite tasty.
Grindlebane was an evil red dragon who delighted in stomping on things when he was mad at people. He was the brother of Grindlewyse. And it made Grindlewyse sad to see her son becoming more & more like his uncle every day. She tried extra hard to teach her son how to be a loving dragon. But, as always, Grindlemyre refused to listen.
One day, Grindlemyre didn’t get his way, so he went on a stomping spree, just like his uncle. He killed many, many flowers in Wentzville. He even had the nerve to kill the witch’s hydrangea bush not once, but twice.
The witch was very angry and when she found Grindlemyre, she attacked him with her sharp tongue and her little shovel. She fed his body to her hungry children, calling it chicken. And she enchanted his heart so that it became stone.
This stone she put in her garden, as a warning to all teenage dragons, that they are not as wise as they think. And that they are, in fact, quite tasty.
Copyright 6/1/2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
And the Lord Created Underwear
"And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thigh." Exodus 28:42
"They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the alter to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him." Exodus 28:43
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not only that, but he said that priests had to wear them in church...
"They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the alter to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him." Exodus 28:43
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not only that, but he said that priests had to wear them in church...
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Clarity
apparently, the mom (aka me) was confused when Little Boy #2 said that he got detention because he was "playing with his teacher's stapler"...the mom should have interpreted the statement to mean that the little boy was firing staple-shaped projectiles at the class...the mom has learned a lesson about clarity...
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Bitterthought
When trees and bees and purpleness
Have flushed this world away.
And sanity has left the room,
Afraid of what to say.
I cry my tears of emptiness
And scream "It's all too soon!"
But it goes on and on
Around the moon
This craziness to be spent.
And I find myself wondering
Where have all the purple leaves went?
And so I laugh and sigh and bat my eyes
As the cow begins its song.
Wanting, needing, hoping,
That my pain will soon be gone.
For in my world of bitterthought
Crazy, at times, true,
Is told the story of who I am
As I try to talk to you.
For when nonsense words are truly heard
And laughed about with glee,
Between the text that makes no sense
Look there to find who's me.
copyright 9/10/2001
Have flushed this world away.
And sanity has left the room,
Afraid of what to say.
I cry my tears of emptiness
And scream "It's all too soon!"
But it goes on and on
Around the moon
This craziness to be spent.
And I find myself wondering
Where have all the purple leaves went?
And so I laugh and sigh and bat my eyes
As the cow begins its song.
Wanting, needing, hoping,
That my pain will soon be gone.
For in my world of bitterthought
Crazy, at times, true,
Is told the story of who I am
As I try to talk to you.
For when nonsense words are truly heard
And laughed about with glee,
Between the text that makes no sense
Look there to find who's me.
copyright 9/10/2001
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