Live Free Learn Free Blog » Musings <title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/wp-content/themes/thirteen/style.css" type="text/css" media="screen" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/xml" title="RSS .92" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/feed/rss/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Atom 0.3" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/feed/atom/" /> <link rel="pingback" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/xmlrpc.php" /> <style type="text/css"> </style> <link rel='archives' title='August 2007' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/08/' /> <link rel='archives' title='July 2007' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/07/' /> <link rel='archives' title='June 2007' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/06/' /> <link rel='archives' title='April 2007' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/04/' /> <link rel='archives' title='March 2007' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/03/' /> <link rel='archives' title='January 2007' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/01/' /> <link rel='archives' title='December 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/' /> <link rel='archives' title='November 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/11/' /> <link rel='archives' title='October 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/10/' /> <link rel='archives' title='September 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/09/' /> <link rel='archives' title='August 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/08/' /> <link rel='archives' title='July 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/07/' /> <link rel='archives' title='June 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/06/' /> <link rel='archives' title='May 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/05/' /> <link rel='archives' title='April 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/04/' /> <link rel='archives' title='March 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/03/' /> <link rel='archives' title='February 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/02/' /> <link rel='archives' title='January 2006' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/01/' /> <link rel='archives' title='December 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/12/' /> <link rel='archives' title='November 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/11/' /> <link rel='archives' title='October 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/10/' /> <link rel='archives' title='September 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/09/' /> <link rel='archives' title='August 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/08/' /> <link rel='archives' title='July 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/07/' /> <link rel='archives' title='June 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/06/' /> <link rel='archives' title='May 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/05/' /> <link rel='archives' title='April 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/04/' /> <link rel='archives' title='March 2005' href='http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2005/03/' /> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> </head> <body> <div id="headwrapper"> <div id="header"> <h1 id="title"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog">Live Free Learn Free Blog</a></h1> </div> </div> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="content"> <div class="post" id="post-270"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/07/21/the-search-for-john-gissing/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to The Search for John Gissing">The Search for John Gissing</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> July 21st, 2007 at 4:21 pm (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>This looks to be an uproariously funny (definitely R-rated) film. I adore Alan Rickman and Janeane Garofalo, but I hadn’t heard of <a target="_blank" href="http://thefreebird.com/gissing"><em>The Search for John Gissing</em></a> before today, so I thought I’d blog about it. Maybe you haven’t heard of it, either.</p> <p><img id="image269" alt="John_Gissing.jpg" src="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/John_Gissing.jpg" /> </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/07/21/the-search-for-john-gissing/#respond" title="Comment on The Search for John Gissing">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-268"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/07/18/terrible-tuesday/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Terrible Tuesday">Terrible Tuesday</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> July 18th, 2007 at 4:17 pm (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>I just glanced outside and noticed that the sky had that ominous, brown, tornado-y tint that reminds me of my hometown, and it occurred to me that tornado season is, for the most part, over.</p> <p>Once upon a time, I could never have just breezed through tornado season without a second thought. Growing up, I lived in a town that was dotted with <a target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmragNQ_TfY">tornado sirens</a>. We were under what seemed like a constant tornado watch from about mid-March to mid-June. It was routine to have to file into the school hallway and crouch down against the wall with our heads buried under our hands. And at home, we had our tornado gear ready in the utility room - the weather alert box, the battery-operated radio, a cordless phone, flashlights, pillows, beanbags, and (if I remember correctly) a football helmet for my brother. If my mother had time, she would always pull a mattress off their bed for us to hide beneath.</p> <p>We lived in Tornado Alley. And not just any town in tornado alley. We lived in Wichita Falls, TX, a town with a long memory of <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Valley_Tornado_Outbreak">Terrible Tuesday</a>.</p> <p><img alt="terrible-tuesday.jpg" id="image280" src="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/terrible-tuesday.jpg" /></p> <p>On April 10, 1979, 13 tornadoes formed in the region, and 3 of those combined into one super tornado that ripped through Wichita Falls. In fact, we lived in the tornado’s former path, along Southwest Parkway next to Memorial Stadium and McNeil Junior High (a school that seemed to have more “disaster drills” than most others - I wonder why). The tornado’s swath of destruction was an astounding 8 miles wide, causing $400 million in property damage and leaving over 20,000 people (more than a fifth of the city’s population) homeless. 2,000 people were injured, and 42 died.</p> <p>I was small when the tornadoes hit, and we lived, not in Wichita Falls, but in Seymour, TX (where one of the three tornadoes formed). I don’t remember that night at all, and my mother, being from a small town in Pennsylvania, thought the sirens were to call the volunteer firefighters. We didn’t take cover, but she did wonder how big the fire must have been. Those sirens just kept wailing and wailing.</p> <p>When we moved to Wichita Falls a few years later, many of our neighbors had storm shelters dug into their backyards, and the people who sold these huge concrete rooms did a brisk business in the town. In fact, a few years ago, before we moved, I almost decided on a house simply <em>because </em>it had one of these shelters. Tornadoes are nothing to take lightly in Wichita Falls.</p> <p>We were used to it, for the most part. Used to the adults remembering that day, telling us how they had survived, where they had taken shelter. Used to the sirens wailing in all seasons - that first Monday of the month test at noon. Used to disaster drills. Used to that ominous, brown sky.</p> <p>Now, here I am in Austin. Sure, the sky looks brown and frightening, but I don’t worry too much. There’s no tornado “season” here. Heck, they haven’t even felt the need to erect sirens. It’s kind of nice, really, not to have the threat of giant tornadoes constantly in the back of my mind for several months each year….</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.weatherenthusiast.com/wxpics/1979_0410/index.html">Photos of the Terrible Tuesday tornado<br /> </a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/wxevents/19790410/media.php">Windows Media video and audio files about Terrible Tuesday<br /> </a><a target="_blank" href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.richardcox.net/images/blog/wfwidening.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.richardcox.net/061306.html&h=385&w=600&sz=123&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=oxkby12rH6z51M:&tbnh=87&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522terrible%2Btuesday%2522%2B%2522wichita%2Bfalls%2522%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN">Photographs and captions</a> </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/07/18/terrible-tuesday/#respond" title="Comment on Terrible Tuesday">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-235"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/01/26/presenteeism/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to “Presenteeism”">“Presenteeism”</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> January 26th, 2007 at 6:48 pm (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>When I graduated from high school, I was a year ahead of my age-mates. Throughout my last three years of school, I started classes an hour early, I attended summer school, I took correspondence courses….</p> <p>I wanted out.</p> <p>I was an honor student with wonderful grades and impressive test scores, but school officials weren’t happy with me. I cost them money. They missed out on an entire year’s worth of funds.</p> <p>My friend, however, graduated in the normal time-frame. But, she was special - so special, she was given a scholarship and a plaque, and while I sat anonymously in a vast sea of look-alike students ready to make a run for it as soon as the caps were thrown, she was allowed to sit proudly on the stage with the valedictorians.</p> <p>My friend had a perfect attendance record.</p> <p><em>What’s wrong with that?</em> I hear you asking. <em>She made an effort to attend school every day while other kids played hooky. </em></p> <p>But there <strong>was </strong>something wrong. From kindergarten through 12th grade, she didn’t miss a day of school - <strong>despite being ill</strong>. Colds, flus, stomach viruses, and countless other maladies afflicted her, just as they afflicted other children, and yet her parents sent her out the door, regardless. She would sit, sniffling, coughing and retching, passing her germs to anyone who came near.</p> <p>Why am I thinking of this, now? Reuters has just published an article on “presenteeism,” or “going to work when one is sick.” According to the author, the problem costs businesses $180 billion (yes, with a B) per year.</p> <p>Perhaps my friend didn’t make the school system quite as much money as officials thought….</p> <blockquote><p><strong>“Presenteeism” Afflicts Buisness, Experts Say</strong></p> <div class="storyhdr">By Ellen Wulfhorst<br /> <em class="timedate">Fri Jan 26, 9:11 AM ET</em></div> <p>NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters Life!) - Practically every workplace has one — the employee who comes to the job aching, coughing and sneezing.</p> <p>So-called “presenteeism,” or going to work when sick, is a persistent problem at more than half of U.S. workplaces and costs U.S. business a whopping $180 billion a year, research shows.</p> <p><em>Read more at <a target="_blank" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070126/us_nm/life_work_dc_2">Yahoo.com</a>. </em></p></blockquote> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2007/01/26/presenteeism/#respond" title="Comment on "Presenteeism"">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-221"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/28/buggy/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Buggy">Buggy</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> December 28th, 2006 at 12:32 pm (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>Is it just me, or is Dreamweaver the buggiest program ever written? It baffles me. I spend hours at a time trying to figure out what’s wrong, only to discover that nothing is actually wrong; it’s just Dreamweaver doing its thing. I swear, there must be programmers somewhere laughing their bottoms off. </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/28/buggy/#respond" title="Comment on Buggy">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-216"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/12/too-cute/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to I Feel Ancient….">I Feel Ancient….</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> December 12th, 2006 at 4:38 am (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p><a href="http://lilypie.com"><img width="400" height="80" border="0" alt="Lilypie 6th to 18th Ticker" src="http://by.lilypie.com/-UQqm6.png" /></a> </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/12/too-cute/#respond" title="Comment on I Feel Ancient....">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-214"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/09/owls-in-the-christmas-tree/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Owls in Our Christmas Tree">Owls in Our Christmas Tree</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> December 9th, 2006 at 12:57 am (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/unschooling-life/" title="View all posts in Unschooling Life" rel="category tag">Unschooling Life</a>, <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>Our Christmas tree is populated by owls this year - small, colorful, wide-eyed little creatures who stay nestled between the tiny lights, the Fimo mushrooms my mother made, and the many pipe cleaner ornaments Kenzie and I have created over the years. They’re shy little guys, but I managed to catch one unaware the other night and snapped a quick photo:</p> <p><a class="imagelink" title="Owl-for-Web.jpg" href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/Owl-for-Web.jpg"><img id="image215" alt="Owl-for-Web.jpg" src="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/Owl-for-Web.jpg" /></a> </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/12/09/owls-in-the-christmas-tree/#respond" title="Comment on Owls in Our Christmas Tree">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-202"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/11/13/my-old-age/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to My Old Age">My Old Age</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> November 13th, 2006 at 2:35 am (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/unschooling-life/" title="View all posts in Unschooling Life" rel="category tag">Unschooling Life</a>, <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>Well, it’s official. I’m 30.</p> <p>Sigh….</p> <p>Not that 30 is old, or anything, but I just don’t <span style="font-style: italic">feel </span>30. 17, maybe, but not 30.</p> <p>My mother and I went out to see <span style="font-style: italic">Running with Scissors</span> last night. I’d definitely recommend it, though we seemed to be the only people in the theatre who were laughing. Warped senses of humor? Perhaps.</p> <p>She, my father and my brother also gave me their presents while I was there - a copy of my favorite childhood Golden Book (<span style="font-style: italic">My First Counting Book</span>) and a beautifully painted, shabby-chic antique breadbox. Top that off with pizza and pumpkin cheesecake, and I’d say it was a pretty good day.</p> <p>Right now, I’m wondering where this headache came from and watching Ezzy (our newest rescued kitty) sleep peacefully on my desk - quite an accomplishment considering she was too afraid to eat during the first week we had her, and it took over six-months for her to come out of the bedroom. I don’t know what happened to her before she came here, but it wasn’t good.</p> <p>Okay, it’s late, and I need to drag my 30-year-old bottom off to bed. The elderly need more sleep, doncha know. </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/11/13/my-old-age/#comments" title="Comment on My Old Age">1 Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-200"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/11/10/meat-loaf/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Meat Loaf">Meat Loaf</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> November 10th, 2006 at 3:11 am (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>Yes, I’m a fan - ever since a kind-hearted bad-boy-wannabe that I miss like all hell introduced me to his music when I was fifteen. I remember speeding through town in his Mercury Lynx hatchback, windows down, cone incense in an ashtray that must have been glued to the carpeted dashboard, our hair tangled around our heads while we screamed along to “All Revved Up with No Place to Go.” And we were.</p> <p>Meat Loaf is pure cheese, of course, but I really don’t have all that much cheese in my life (well, music-wise, at least), so this makes up for it. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.johngorka.com/">John Gorka</a> often adds some extra cheese to the dishes he serves up, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ellispaul.com/">Ellis Paul</a> has been known to go a bit over the top, but that’s about it.</p> <p>That said, if you’re not up for a long, rambling review of <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_loaf">Mr. Loaf</a>’s latest album, stop reading now.</p> <p>Anyway, I’ve been listening to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bat-Out-Hell-Meat-Loaf/dp/B000FQ4M58/sr=1-1/qid=1163147350/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-9303284-7150502?ie=UTF8&s=music"><em>Bat Out of Hell III</em></a> (which came out on Halloween, no less), and I’m not sure what I think about it, yet. It certainly didn’t hit me the way the first two <em>Bat Out of Hell</em> albums did - like a direct link to my heart. Several of the songs will have to grow on me. I swear, I’m hearing Motley Crue (not surprising, considering one of the M.C. guys is playing on the album) and Iron Maiden. Blech! That’s not the Loaf I know! So, three heavy metal songs…. I don’t know that I can handle that. Can heavy metal grow on me? We’ll see….</p> <p>Then, his version of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Yes, it’s a <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Steinman">Jim Steinman</a> song (not all of the tracks on this album are), but they’ve chosen the wrong girl for the duet! She has this perfect, pop-ish voice, and that just doesn’t jive with Meat Loaf. Give me Ellen Foley or Lorraine Crosby - or even Cher (who sang with him on “Dead Ringer for Love”). Someone with a less polished set of pipes. Two bell-like voices just don’t work for a <em>Bat </em>duet. Sigh…. Well, at least it’s better than Celine Dion’s version….</p> <p>Looking to listen to some Queen? Try the fourth track: “Bad for Good.” Yup, Brian May from Queen plays on this track - and it really works. There are a lot of similarities between Steinman/Loaf and Queen. It’s very Queen-like, especially in the guitar (of course) and some of the background vocals, but this song is definitely steeped in pure <em>Bat Out of Hell </em>stylings. Others reminiscent of the older <em>Bat </em>albums are “Alive,” “What About Love” (featuring Patti Russo - who, of course, also would have been a <em>much </em>better choice for “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”), and “Seize the Night” (ah, more Queen guitar).</p> <p>But, strangely, my favorite track is “Blind as a Bat” - a song that would do well on just about any alternative radio station, I think, and <em>not </em>a Steinman creation. The lyrics can hold their own - despite their Steinman-less status:</p> <blockquote><p>And I wish that I could give you something in return<br /> For the precious time you wasted on the tears I’ve never earned<br /> For reaching out to help me ‘cross the bridges that I burned</p> <p>…Your love is blind, blind as a bat<br /> The way that you’re leading me home like that<br /> Your love is blind, blind as bat</p></blockquote> <p>Don’t judge by the snippets at Amazon or B&N, though - they capture the intro only. Instead, check it out at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.myspace.com/meatloaf">Meat Loaf’s MySpace page</a>. It’s intense and catchy - as all good Meat Loaf songs are. But, the chorus doesn’t sound like a typical Meat Loaf song. At all. It’s <em>much </em>more mainstream than that, which is why I can’t understand how it’s become my favorite…. Go figure. I’ll just put that bag over my head, now, and shuffle away quietly….</p> <p>All in all, the album feels pieced together to me. It’s not cohesive the way the first two are. That’s not surprising, I guess, given that Steinman didn’t write all the songs, didn’t produce it, didn’t really have anything to do with the making of it…. But, there are a few songs that will undoubtedly find a place among my favorites. Perhaps I should just make my own little compilation cd. Hmm…. Off to look for blank discs…. </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/11/10/meat-loaf/#comments" title="Comment on Meat Loaf">2 Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-133"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/05/22/remembering/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Remembering">Remembering</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> May 22nd, 2006 at 1:05 am (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>My mother returned to Tyler this weekend to help my grandmother pack up her home and move back to Pennsylvania (she’s a snowbird from the north, spending the colder months in East Texas near where she grew up, and the warmer ones in Wellsboro, PA, the town to which she followed my grandfather). She’s doing much better.</p> <p>My mother came back with canned food from my grandmother’s pantries, as well as photographs of my great grandmother’s old house and a seventy-year-old watch that once belonged to her.</p> <p>We always drive by Grandma Chapman’s house when we visit my grandmother or my great aunts and uncles in Tyler, but there are usually people milling about out on the porch, so we never get a good, long look. It’s usually the most exhilarating - and, ultimately, depressing - part of the trip. Why? The house is full of both <a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/2005/03/driving_by_gran.html">dreams and problems</a><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/2005/03/driving_by_gran.html">….</a></p> <p><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/jo_jo_1.jpg"><img width="200" height="250" border="0" alt="Jo_jo_1" src="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/images/jo_jo_1.jpg" /></a></p> <p>My grandmother, Annie Jo (Chapman) Howey Thomas</p> <p><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/grandmachapmansroad.jpg"><img width="200" height="150" border="0" alt="Grandmachapmansroad" src="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/images/grandmachapmansroad.jpg" /></a></p> <p>The road leading up to Grandma Chapman’s house</p> <p><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/grandmachapmanshouse1.jpg"><img width="200" height="150" border="0" alt="Grandmachapmanshouse1" src="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/images/grandmachapmanshouse1.jpg" /></a></p> <p>And the house, itself</p> <p><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/grandmachapmanshouse2.jpg"><img width="200" height="150" border="0" alt="Grandmachapmanshouse2" src="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/images/grandmachapmanshouse2.jpg" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/grandmachapmanshouse3.jpg"><img width="200" height="150" border="0" alt="Grandmachapmanshouse3" src="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/images/grandmachapmanshouse3.jpg" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/grandmachapmansshed.jpg"><img width="200" height="150" border="0" alt="Grandmachapmansshed" src="http://livefreelearnfree.typepad.com/editor/images/grandmachapmansshed.jpg" /></a></p> <p>The barn</p> <p>It was difficult to look at the photos, I’ll admit. And holding my great grandmother’s watch in my hands was… I don’t know - surreal and sweet? I’ll search out a watch repair shop tomorrow to get it fixed and cleaned. Then, as much as I’d like to wear it, I’ll probably just keep it in its case…. I’m allergic to metal, so I’m not sure that there’s any way I can wear it without breaking out in a rash. Paint the entire back with clear nail polish? Or is there some sort of sealant I can apply to it? Hmm…. </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/05/22/remembering/#respond" title="Comment on Remembering">Comments</a> </p> </div> <div class="post" id="post-131"> <h2 class="posttitle"><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/05/18/casino-anthropology/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Casino Anthropology">Casino Anthropology</a></h2> <p class="postdate"> May 18th, 2006 at 5:16 pm (<a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/" title="View all posts in Musings" rel="category tag">Musings</a>) </p> <div class="postentry"> <p>Kenzie has a tooth hanging by a thread. He’s much like I was as a child - trying to leave it alone if at all possible, dreading the certainty of blood, keeping a washcloth handy. He won’t eat anything but applesauce because his last tooth came out while munching on pretzels.</p> <p>This will be the first top tooth to come out. He’s lost four bottom teeth in the last two years, but no top teeth. I’ll have to get some good snaggletooth pictures.</p> <p>Yesterday, I found several canister sets at a local thrift store, and I’ve been busy switching over all of our staples - pastas, dried beans, rice, oats, popcorn, split peas, flour, etc. The pantry looks so much better, now. I also found a spice rack - something I’ve never had before. With as much baking and cooking as I’ve been doing recently, it’s probably high time I had one.</p> <p>We’ve finally made the switch from pre-packaged bread to using homemade breads. Because Kenzie is allergic to soy (and soy is in <strong>all</strong> pre-packaged breads), this is definitely a good thing. I’ve been experimenting with different recipes recently, and am slowly figuring out what works best for us. For the record, warm oatmeal honey bread is heavenly.</p> <p>Kenzie and I, along with my mother and brother, went to visit family and attend my brother’s wife’s college graduation in Wichita Falls last weekend. For Mother’s Day, my mother and I decided to go gambling across the border in Oklahoma. We got to the reservation casino at about 11:30 Saturday night and left at 3:30 Sunday morning. Four hours of slots (I stayed away from the table games). I’d never been to a casino before and had a blast watching others play. I used the cheapo machines so that I’d be able to play longer, eventually spending $41 and winning $55.</p> <p>Winning, though, wasn’t really my goal. Mostly, I watched others - people shoving twenties into $5 machines over and over and over. By 3 AM, there were really only die hards left. No one looked like he was enjoying himself. There were no smiles, no laughs, no leisurely meanderings through the aisles. Just the compulsive need to win. These people were fast - leaving no time between plays. Their eyes never left their screens. One hand repetitively pushed the buttons, the other held a cigarette or coffee cup or both. I felt like a social anthropologist who’d stumbled upon a new culture.</p> <p>We had fun, though, my mother and I, trying to figure out each sort of machine (even at the end of the night, most still didn’t make much sense), watching the people, seeing how long we could play on a given amount…. It was certainly the most interesting Mother’s Day excursion I’ve ever had! </p> </div> <p class="postmeta"> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/2006/05/18/casino-anthropology/#comments" title="Comment on Casino Anthropology">1 Comments</a> </p> </div> <p> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/page/2/">« Previous entries</a> · <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/page/2/"></a> <a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/category/musings/page/2/"></a> </p> </div> <div id="sidebar"> <ul> <li id="meta"> <h2>Meta</h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/wp-login.php">Login</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/feed/" title="Syndicate this site using RSS">Entries <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.livefreelearnfree.com/blog/comments/feed/" title="The latest comments to all posts in RSS">Comments <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="search"> <form method="get" id="searchform" action="/blog/index.php"> <p> <input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s" /> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" class="submit" value="Search" /> </p> </form> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="footer"> <p> <a href="http://wordpress.org" title="Powered by Wordpress, state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform.">Powered by Wordpress</a> · Design by <a href="http://beccary.com" title="Theme designed by Beccary">Beccary</a> and <a href="http://weblogs.us" title="Theme sponsored by Weblogs.us">Weblogs.us</a> · <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer" title="This page validates as XHTML 1.0 Transitional"><abbr title="eXtensible HyperText Markup Language">XHTML</abbr></a> · <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer" title="This page validates as CSS"><abbr title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</abbr></a> </p> </div> </div>  <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> var sc_project=605365; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_partition=4; var sc_security="d224bf47"; </script> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js"></script><noscript><a href="http://www.statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://c5.statcounter.com/counter.php?sc_project=605365&java=0&security=d224bf47&invisible=1" alt="free stats" border="0"></a> </noscript>  </body> </html>