Imagine the Sky

We live near a star on the edge of our spiral galaxy (Milky Way Galaxy). If you get out of city lights, you can see the Milky Way, what you are actually seeing are other stars in our galaxy. Imagine what the sky would like like if you were on the edge of one of these colliding spiral Galaxies.

So cool to imagine...

Been A Long Time

On House the doctors are always diagnosing Lupus and usually do a lumbar puncture. Hmmm....it's been a long time since I have had either.

Beyond Therapy - not what you think!

Esh performed his final exam Thursday night in his acting class. He and his partner did a wonderful skit (which was a subset of a comedy play) called Beyond Therapy.


Synopsis of their skit:
An interchange between a therapist and her patient (Esh). She has trouble getting words correct and he ends up by hugging her as she unloads on him. She keeps wanting him to fill out personal ads even though he is in a relationship with another guy. Wonderful interchanges and they did a great job.

The full play (has been played by John Lithgow and Dianne Weist) can be found at:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beyond-Therapy/Christopher-Durang/e/9780830083152/?itm=1

Some Day I Will Be Free

From early childhood I knew that I was different. I could solve puzzles and do math problems that my siblings who were five and six years older could not do. I was meant to do something amazing in this world; something that would make a difference. Yet, I was told by my mother that the only reason I had to go to college was so I could marry well. She thought it was a good reason to go to college. She was wrong; there are better reasons than that for women to get educated.

Some day I will be free of the bonds I have placed on myself due to other people's limited sight of what I could be. I will leave everyone behind so I can travel the road I was truly destined to follow, the road that people have worked so hard at preventing me from going down. I will travel it fearlessly knocking all obstacles out of the way. It is my destiny and I have known that my entire life. I did not begin doing math at the age of four for no reason, or just so I could be a housewife and mother. No! I can be more and I will be more. I will make a difference and not through my children or my husband. I will make it on my own, by myself. I will be strong. I, yes I, can make a difference.

"Advice is a Gift"

One of the things that really struck me in Randy Pausch's Last Lecture is when he says that advice is a gift; treasure it. Over the years, I have received much advice and I have been glad. It is a gift and a tremendous sign of caring by those who take the time to give it.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you have received?

Mine was probably from one of Chesterfield County's Gifted advisors. When they wanted to skip Esh over all of the high school science curriculum and directly to AP courses, I balked. The advisor suggested that Esh and I attend both an honors biology class and an AP biology class and then decide. I am SO glad that I listened and took her advice. In the honors class the class was reviewing for an exam. When I saw Esh raise his hand and answer the questions correctly, I knew that what the county wanted to do was correct.

Advice is not criticism. It does mean that no one is perfect and can not possible know everything -- that is why we are social animals. We don't need to know it all because we have others in our lives which is a good thing. Advice is a gift -- treasure it! So what is he best advice you have received?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I love Ferris Bueller's Day Off! What an hysterical movie. The three star rating is well deserved.

Physics major Here!!

Last Wednesday, Esh declared his primary major at UVA as Physics and now has keys to the building and the conference rooms! Whoopee!

Spring Saturday In Midlothian

or The not so little rascals
Playing Saturday Dungeons and Dragons. A common gaming and social event. Today's is from 3:00 until 10:00.

Early on in the dining room

Dinner (pizza) break. Discussions from Dungeons and Dragons to philosophy and religion, people, economics, and science. You name it. They talk about it. They are the bright and well read one's having fun.

How Fast They Grow Preamble

CHHS Academic Team captain. But remember when....

How Fast They Grow

Just the beginning.......

Already beginning to read.

Finding the perfect pumpkin.

How Fast They Grow 2

Sixth grade Halloween.










Surf camp Ocracoke.









Middle school state chess champions.








The real chess team!

How Fast They Grow 3

12 year old in AP Biology.

Vice President of Mu Alpha Theta.

Last summer at CTY Princeton.

Last Christmas on Ocracoke Island.

How DO The Shows End??

Okay, so it has now happened with Boston Legal now and CSI New York. It has happened three times to Medium, Without A Trace, and Crimainal Minds. One minute I am watching the shows and then all of a sudden the news is on. And I have no idea how any of these shows ended in the past two weeks!

The Importance of Play

On the drive today to C'ville, I began to think back to the lecture given by Randy Pausch and how he stressed the importance of play and having fun in life. Earlier in the year, Esh and I listened to Richard Feynman tapes covering various letters he had written in his life to various people. Feynman also believe that one of the most important things in life was having fun. Einstein developed the entire process of "thought experiments" from the playful side of his nature. All of these great minds worked hard but also found incredible fun in both their work and life. I think there is something very important to be learned from them. Individuals can take themselves and life in general far too seriously. Their lives include only work. Humor is never found in any of the little things of life. As Will expressed in "Good Will Hunting", they are smart and have learned a lot but they will never have an original thought.

So go out roller skating. Bask in the sunshine of today and find joy in a bird or a flower. Throw a Frisbee with your child for hours on end. Go on a roller coaster. Work on a really hard math problem and find joy in discovery. Make some jello squares and throw them at each other out in the yard. Have a squirt gun fight. Or simply read Dakota Cheyenne's blog!

Animal Talk

A friend and I were talking yesterday about the Human Ego. Our species has such a huge ego that I actually think it interferes with our species gaining knowledge about the world around us. It blinds us to things that make our species just one of the pack of creatures on this Earth. According to my friend, it has been shown that elephants have a complete language. Many of the sounds are beyond our range of hearing so all we hear are grunts, etc. But it appears that they may have a language as complete as ours. I suspect that the cats and dogs in our home also have a complete language too; and as with elephants, probably many of the sounds are beyond our narrow range of hearing.

So one question I have is: do the other animals also have dialects and accents? Do they have actually different regional forms of language?. I suspect that they do. What do you think?

Taxes Are Done

Hooray!! I finished taxes today so they will be files in time to get the tax rebate. We will use it to pay savings back for the new washer and dryer. BTW, there is now a tax deduction for the purchase of Energy Star compliant appliances so we will get that on next year's taxes!

Super Power

If you could have a super power, which one would it be? Some examples are:

- reading minds
- creating weather
- invisibility
- super strength
- controlling others minds
- super speed
- pyrokinesis
- telekinesis
- healing
- creating force fields

etc...........There is a long list! Use your imagination.

Great Last Lecture

I know this was on AOL but this video is REALLY good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&eurl=http://news.aol.com/health/story/ar/_a/last-lecture-web-sensation-now-a-book/20080408120609990001

Time Travel

During our slider puzzle shuffle, I came across some board books that Gravity and I used to read to Esh when he was a tot. Now, as Esh is thinking and preparing to go off to college, I looked at those books and decided that it was time to do some time traveling.

I took them downstairs and sat down on the loveseat next to Esh and began to read. "I remember that book!" Then "That was one of my favorites!"

Gravity come down and joined us in the reading and then Esh began to read them out loud to us.

" A is for Aardvark...." What a wonderful way to time travel connecting past with present and then to the future when Esh will be reading these books to his children.

It's Painted!!!

The middle room upstairs is finally painted.....and the slider puzzle continues.

Copenhagen

We watched a BBC version of the play "Copenhagen" last night. It was really really good. I highly recommend it to anyone. It discusses the relationship between two of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century, Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, and Neils Bohr's wife. Truly wonderful how the playwright goes back and forth between ghosts in the current day and back to 1941 when Bohr and Heisenberg had their fateful last meeting. Heisenberg is known for his Uncertainty Principle (it is impossible to know both the location and the momentum of a particle at the same time as measuring either aspects changes the other aspect). It is also great how the author weaves Bohr's and Heisenberg's physics into their conversation. Go out and rent the film today! It is awesome.

10 Days

The distance between Midlothian and Charlottesville does not seem that huge but the climate can be quite different. This is probably because of the change in altitude. Richmond is at 166 feet above sea level but Charlottesville is 594 feet. As we drive the 75 miles, we notice the buds on the trees diminishing as we approach Charlottesville. Today, at home, I looked out at the top of one of the hickories and noticed tiny new leaves have begun to appear. As I look out the window now in Clemons, the trees still have tiny reddish buds. Many days there is a 5 to 10 degree difference in temperatures, too. Interesting. So I estimate that there is about a ten day difference in climate created by the 75 miles.

All Legs

What walks on four legs then two legs then three legs?

Riddle

What run but never walks,
Has a mouth but never talks,
Has a bed but never sleeps,
Has a head but never weeps?