Eclipse Photo

Here's proof that I stayed up all night Monday/Tuesday watching a glorious lunar eclipse from my front yard in downtown Warrensburg! Monday afternoon I napped briefly before Orion came home from school. After dinner I sent him to bed around 7:30 and told him I would wake him around 3:00 a.m. for the eclipse. I was too excited to sleep. I finally dozed a bit after 1:00 a.m. and the alarm went off at 2:30. Brrringgg! I was up, albeit groggy! Sometimes a little bit of sleep is worse than no sleep at all. By 3:00 we were outside with Orion's small scope and the camera. What a morning! Orion danced around like a pet monkey as we watched the moon being swallowed by the Earth's shadow. The weather was perfect. The moon reached totality around 4:50 a.m. and shortly after that I sent the pet monkey back to bed. I fiddled with more pictures before showering and heading off to work. Tuesday was a very long day! But worth it! I only wish the telescope attachment for the camera had arrived. I would have had some truly impressive photos. Perhaps in February!

WookieFoot!

"Buddha and Shiva and the elephant with six arms
All love jesus so put away your fire arms
Oh now people come together
Let's go down to the gateless gate"

That's right, people come together it's time to Activate! Head over to the WookieFoot website to learn more and hear more about one of my new favorites. WookieFoot rocks! Let me know what you think!

Lunar Eclipse

The Leslies are hopeful that the upcoming lunar eclipse will make up for the disappointment of the Perseid Meteor Shower earlier this month. I've got my chair, my tripod, and my camera. Let's hope that Mother Nature cooperates and that my astrophotography skills aren't so dusty as to be useless. (I'll be channeling you, big Brother!)

August 28th promises an astronomical event you won't forget! Tuesday morning, very early, the moon will be eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. Just about 3:00 in the morning (Yes, when "normal" people are sleeping!) the moon will begin entering the penumbra, also known as the faint, outer part of the Earth's shadow. Nearly 50 minutes later, the moon will then begin entering the umbra, or darkest part of the Earth's shadow. The moon will be totally eclipsed around 5:00 that morning and totality will last for about 90 minutes. The sun will begin rising just before 6:00. With this in mind, we will not be able to view the moon as it exits umbra and penumbra.

This event needs no special instructions or equipment for viewing. Just take a walk outside and look up! If you plan to spend some time watching the changes, bring a lawn chair, a beverage, and some insect repellent. Have fun! Let me know what you see! I hope to have pictures to let you know what WE see!

Demandatory

Orion has always had his own way of saying things. As a young man he would talk up a storm (He still does, for that matter!) to anybody who would listen. He had all the inflections and even paused. His understanding of the conventions of dialog were impeccable. Unfortunately, none of us knew what he was saying. As he grew, some of his words became clearer- some almost made sense. We had "beach shoes" for sandals; "rainbrella" for umbrella; "bunbun" for rabbit; and "window scritches" for windshield wipers. One that stumped us for nearly two years, was "gobbies." He was always asking for gobbies. We never knew what he needed. Until one day he brought us a AA battery and said, "Gobbie!" Sadly, we have never discovered the meaning of "boof."

Where am I going with this walk down memory lane? That is a good question.

Orion returned to school on Thursday of last week. Monday, the homework started rolling in. As a fifth grader, Orion has been reviewing the four types of sentences. You may know them as interrogative, declarative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. He's been learning them as question, statement, demandatory, and exclamatory.

DEMANDATORY? What on earth? Imagine my surprise when checking his homework! Demandatory, my mind whirled. I asked him, "Orion, what kind of sentences is, 'Write your vocabulary words five times'?" He replied, "Demandatory!" And the light bulb came on! When you tell somebody to do something, you are demanding that they do it, NOT commanding them. Combine this with exclamatory (A more exciting sentence to be sure!) and you get "Demandatory."

With this in mind, I think all fourth and fifth grade language arts be changed: remove the sentence category "command" and replace it with "demandatory." I command it! I demand it!

Perhaps I should just teach him how to write "imperative."

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

Hey all. Trying to avoid my dissertation. Again. Actually, I was cleaning my upstairs and moving some things around. I found 11 years worth of calendars (!). I know, I know. What was I thinking? Well, I'll tell you.

This is a picture of the calendar my friend, Shannon, bought me for Christmas last year! I plan to use it again in 11 years!

Years ago, when I was in college for the first time, my friend Jennifer Atkins, would reuse old calendars. She told me they could be used about every six or so years. I hadn't really thought about it.

Well, starting in '96 Shannon began buying me a calendar every year as a Christmas or birthday present. Yea! For seven years straight, I received Winnie-the-Pooh calendars. Nice ones. With stickers! But I didn't write on them. I told her I would reuse them. Well, I am! I am reusing 2001 for the rest of this year. I'll use 1998 for 2009 and 1999 for 2010.

This excites me as I have a wonderful Hello Kitty, Gods and Goddesses of India, Emily the Strange, and other favorites. Shannon as well as Michael and Robin give beautiful calendars just about every year. One for home. One for office. Best of all, I'll be able to reuse my Juicy Goose 2007 calendar in 2018. Ellie will be 13. Do you think she'll be embarrassed?

Well, if you're interested in reusing your old calendars, but you're not sure what year they'll be good, don't worry! Visit the Calendar FAQ site at Time & Date.com! Here you will find the link to the calendar calculator so you can find out when you can use that 1985 calendar again. One thing to note: While you're birthday lands on the same day every year, there are several holidays that change from year to year (e.g. Easter, the first Sunday after the first full moon to occur after the vernal equinox, or first day of spring!). If you decide to reuse your calendar, variable date holidays will not be listed correctly.

Good luck! Happy reusing!

P.S. Shannon, Michael, and Robin- 2008 will be a leap year and I will need a new calendar. Hint Hint! Leap year calendars can only be reused every 28 years so I don't have a calendar for next year!

The Galactic Apple Lives!

The Galactic Apple started as a class assignment some years ago. It later turned into a place to host a few materials from some of my workshops and presentations (e.g. PowerPoint slides). Over the past year, it fell into disuse and eventually succumbed to "web rot." Well, after a little bit of work-cleaning and rearranging, finding a new home, and adding a great deal of content, the Galactic Apple is ALIVE!

Check out the Galactic Apple for math games, literacy activities, and more! Or visit the Galactic Apple Blog to read my thoughts on just about anything school related. Check them out! I'll see you there!

Phone and Internet Restored

Phone and Internet service has been restored. Thank you Meme and My Bob!

Perseid Shower Blues

We were all set. Ready to go! This year promised to be one of the best Perseid Meteor Showers in a while. The new moon would provide us with a very dark sky- perfect for meteor viewing. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had her own ideas. After several weeks of 95-100 degree temperatures with heat indices to be calculated exponentially, the peak was amazingly disappointing. Despite all of our preparations - bug spray, camp chairs, bottled water, the darkest of skies, the haze was too much. Alas, I was able to spot three or four, but not the 50-60 an hour we were hoping for. Here's hoping somebody in Arizona or New Mexico had a good, clear evening of viewing! Since I have no photos of my own this time around, I will share with you one from the NASA site by Wally Pacholka from the shower of 1999. Maybe next time I will have one of my own to share!

LoLo

Angelo Pil Dong! A big name for a tiny boy. Hearing Ellie call him LoLo in her singsong voice would melt the heart of any old ogre. LoLo and I had a great time hanging out. He has got to be one of the best natured, most easy going babies around. LoLo is nearly five months old and he is about 17 pounds of lovin’ drool. He has a smile that lights up his eyes! I took way more pictures of LoLo than I did of his sister (She doesn’t stay still very long!). In some pictures he seems to have a fearful or stressed look about him. This usually happens with big sister is about.

I hope you are enjoying the belated pictures from my trip to visit Tree and PD.

Juicy Goose

Elizabeth JuSaeng is such a lovely name for such a lovely little girl. But I’ve never heard her called such. While I have heard her called Ellie, she is most often called Ellie Juice, Juicy Juice, Monkey, Ellie Jelly, and recently, Changito (Spanish for Little Monkey!). And monkey she is! Ellie will be two in November. Not only is she the prettiest toddler this side of the globe, she’s got to be one of the brightest.

I never grew tired of watching her. She’s inquisitive with a capital I. She’s brilliant with a capital B. She’s lovely with a capital L. Oh, and she will talk your ears off. Just in the few days I was visiting I watched and listened as she added to her vocabulary! What an intelligent lass! Best of all, she understands the importance of the blobly. I miss you Juicy Goose!

All's Quiet on the Warrensburg Front

Due to some financial struggles we have not had phone or email service for the past two weeks. We hope to have our services restored soon. I will keep you all posted.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

I made it home today in record time. Tree, PD, and Angelo dropped me off at the Toronto Airport this morning around 7:15. The timing was perfect. It took just over an hour to go through customs and security and then I was ready to find the gate and board the plane to Minneapolis/St. Paul. I arrived at the gate with about five minutes to spare. We made great time and arrived in Minneapolis right on time. I deplaned, make my way from one side of the airport to the other, and arrived at the new gate with 15 minute to spare! Excellent. Arriving in Kansas City, I deplaned, went to the bathroom (!), and picked up my luggage (It was waiting on ME!). As I walked out the door, the bus to Economy Parking arrived! What timing. I was on the road home by 1:10. I arrived in town at 2:30, swung by the grocery store, and arrived (still) earlier than expected to surprise my wee one!

But enough of the joys of traveling under the watchful eyes of T.S.A.

I had a wonderful week in Toronto. I spent the time visiting with my sister and Pil Dong as well as getting to know my niece, Ellie and nephew, LoLo. Tree and PD have created a loving and nurturing home to raise their wee ones in. To the right is a picture of Tree loving on Angelo, aka LoLo. Left, PD and Ellie enjoy literary adventures together.

The following picture is one of my favorites, I think. LoLo and I are hanging out in the living room smiling. He was truly appreciative of my ample attributes.

Tree, Ellie, and LoLo took me to the library early on during my visit. I was able to read two James Patterson novels, two trashy romance novels, 1/2 of a Stuart Woods novel, and a big book on family games. Not only did I get to read but I worked on a baby blanket that I hope to send to Ellie and LoLo upon completion! Best of all I got to cook up a storm. I made meatloaf and roasted potatoes one night, fried chicken and mashed potatoes the next. Spring rolls to accompany PD's Pad Thai. Eggplant Parmigiana and meatballs. Quiche. And I think my favorite, pictured below was Garlic Chicken, Won Ton Soup, and homemade Egg Rolls. (Thank you Chao for teaching me how!).