Some favorite photographs

I'm not sure why I'm still awake at 2:31 a.m., but I thought since I was awake, I would share two more images from the Library of Congress collection on Flickr.

Unidentified shelf of kitchen utensils and jars of spices



Unidentified stacks of home-canned food

How I have been spending my winter, part 1

Midsummer Day, Bronx Park

I have really enjoyed looking through the Library of Congress photosets on Flickr.

From The Commons description:

The key goals of this pilot project are to firstly give you a taste of the hidden treasures in the huge Library of Congress collection, and secondly to show how your input of a tag or two can make the collection even richer.

There are two sets of photographs: News in the 1910s and 1930s-40s in Color.

Over the course of two or three weeks, I managed to see all 1500 photos in the News in the 1910s photoset. If you are a baseball fan, you will find photos of Cy Young, Germany Schaefer, Russ Ford, James Mullen, John Titus, and many, many more. If boxing is your sport, there are pictures of Jack Johnson, Kid Sullivan, and Mrs. Edwards and Fraulein Kussin to name a few. Interested in politics? How about some pictures from the 1912 Democratic and Republican National Conventions? There are even pictures of the Titanic survivors reaching New York.

There are 1,615 pictures in the 1930s-40s in Color set. I have barely made my way into those, but I am looking forward to finding a lot of great treasures there, too.

By the way, the Library of Congress also has a blog.

I am?

I saw this at Red Cardigan's and thought I would try it.

You Are a Semi-Colon

You are elegant, understated, and subtle in your communication. You're very smart (and you know it), but you don't often showcase your brilliance. Instead, you carefully construct your arguments, ideas, and theories until they are bulletproof. You see your words as an expression of yourself, and you are careful not to waste them. You friends see you as enlightened, logical, and shrewd. (But what you're saying often goes right over their heads.) You excel in: The Arts You get along best with: The Colon

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Semicolons are a dying breed of punctuation; maligned, misused, and misunderstood, they are fast disappearing.

I think I rather like being a semicolon. I agree with Red Cardigan when she expresses her admiration for those writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth century and their incredibly constructed sentences. I feel a need to reread some of those great authors.

The view over the fence this morning

If you were an IRL neighbor chatting over the back fence this morning, this is some of what you would have seen:


















And it would be unthinkable for me to be outside by myself.



And after such a cold, wet morning, there is nothing like a nice hot cup of tea.



Thanks for dropping in!

Maybe if you hum a few bars

One of my new favorite bloggers (that's you, Soutenus!) recently posted about an upcoming total lunar eclipse on 20 February. To celebrate, she and her students are having a moon song contest. They want to know:

"How many songs can you think of that have the word "moon" in them (not just the title but in any part of the lyrics)?"

I've come up with a couple and have some more trying to work their way out of my subconscious. If you know of any, head over and suggest them.

She's moved

Not Found

The requested URL /sys/main was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

That's what I have been getting the past few days when I clicked on my bookmarked link to Danielle Bean. If you like her blog and have been getting the same thing I was, don't worry -- here she is.

A question of privilege

I saw this at Entropy's site and thought I would take part. Having backtracked it through a few linked blogs, it is interesting to note that some -- me included -- are saying this isn't what matters. I knew I was loved. Even though we didn't have a lot, we had what we truly needed: a home and family.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An interesting privilege meme from What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home -- most of them were mine :)
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively -- maybe the now me, but not the me of childhood
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs -- Grants, scholarships, student loans and work study
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels -- What's a vacation? We did go visit my grandmother in Ohio when I was in ninth grade and had to stay at a Holiday Inn. Does that count?
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child -- maybe for one year after one of my sisters moved out and before she moved back :)
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school -- for that one year of my own room, I had a small black and white TV in my room that wasn't for my use only; mine was the only room it could go in so whoever wanted to watch something different from the rest of the family could
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family


It doesn't look like much -- two definites and two partials -- but I don't feel underprivileged now, nor did I then. I was loved (check number 7 for proof of that!) and somehow we always had a roof overhead, food on the table, and clothes on our back. Anything else is gravy -- and too much gravy isn't good for you :)

~ ~ ~ ~ Because I had to find out more, I tracked down Dr. Barratt's web page about the privilege meme.

My new alarm clock

Or The son also rises . . .

My day started with the four year old jumping on the bed at 5:30 trying to wake me up because "the sun is up!" It appears we have a slightly different opinion of what constitutes sun up because it was pitch black when I opened my eyes. Just in time for him to cut on my bedside lamp. Ouch.

But it was okay anyway because it was the four year old. Perhaps I should let you in on the fact that yesterday he was the three year old. He's a little excited.

He was also nice enough to go wake up his brother and sisters so they were ready for school with plenty of time.

What's going on here

This is what the kitchen table looked like in November when the products sold by the family's Webelos scout (popcorn and peanuts) and Brownie (candy and nuts) came in for delivery.

Webelos end of the table

Brownie end of the table

I was thinking about this because it is Girl Scout cookie time and I am wondering what the table will look like next month when the first orders come in -- especially since Marie set a goal of selling 250 boxes.

Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.





The history of the prayer to St Michael the Archangel, as well as the long and short forms of the prayer, can be found here.

My new favorite song

And my new favorite group. These guys are great!



H/T Rachel

11,000 words -- more or less

The Uncredited Google Image Meme courtesy of Christine.

How to play: Type the answer to the following questions into Google Image, then pick from the first page of images.

1. Age at my next birthday:



2. Place I'd like to travel:

OR

3. Place I've been:


4. Favorite food:




5. Place I was born:


6. Place I live:



7. Name of past pet:


8. Best friends' nickname:



9. My first name:


10. First job:


I tag anyone needing an idea for a post! Just leave a comment linking back to yours, please.

Spread a little cheer

Check out the Christmas Cheer Challenge at Suzanne's. And if you feel so moved, participate however you can -- even if it's only by spreading the word.

A new holiday

I noticed this at Domestic Vocation on a day I didn't have time to watch it. Then Jay linked to it on a day I did have time.



I hope you have the time to watch it. And if you have some extra time, check out Christine (at either of her blogs) and Jay. They are both great bloggers and well worth a visit.

Christmas gift ideas and giveaways

More giveaways can be found at From Dates to Diapers. They are mixed in with her gift ideas. Check it out -- I'm sure you'll find something for someone on your list!