Tales From Shakespeare

When I was in High School, like everyone else, we studied one of Shakespeare's plays each year.  I knew to expect that, but I never thought I would absolutely fall in love!  I eagerly memorized a soliloquy to present to the class.  I don't think I'll ever forget the poor classmate of mine who, delivering her speech as one of Macbeth's witches, spray-dyed her hair green only to return to class the next day still green!

When I got the chance to study Shakespeare again in University, I was ready.  I remember that the final exam was going to be on thirteen of the fifteen plays we would be covering that year.  I took the "easy" route and simply chose two of his plays that I wouldn't read at all.  Thank God for graduate students to live with, and learn from; my roommate gave me that wise advice.  I also acted in every one of his plays my College put on.  Never enough.

So, why all the talk about Shakespeare on a Saturday?  I know my bestsister will agree with me that he is a fantastic writer; that we have both counted the days till we could introduce him to our children.  I picked up a large copy of the Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare at the local public school almost three years ago.  They were practically giving it away.  I guess it didn't interest anyone there (can I say idiots?).  I started reading from the book on Tuesday afternoons, surrounded by teacups and little cookies, right after reciting poetry.  We have not managed to hold to this as a consistent tradition for some reason (flighty Mom I guess) but I am reminded today by this email, and just had to let you know.

Our story this week is The Winter's Tale, as retold by Mary Lamb.

Did I mention that I am starting a curriculum guide for Swiss Family Robinson, now that Cheaper by the Dozen is on homeschoolbuy.com?  I just thought it was cool that both the Lamb's book and Swiss Family are children's books from the 1800's still in print!

Friday is my favourite

Friday has long been my most favourite day.  I love the thought of waking up next to my husband and NOT having to go anywhere, most Saturday mornings, anyway.  Every other day he leaves early for work, but Friday brings the promise of two whole days of being able to stare at him as much as I want.

I really am that pathetic.

The family can be together to do whatever it is we have waited all week to do with Dad.  Tonight we are going to see my oldest in the play he has been madly rehearsing for 10 weeks.  Tomorrow he has two performances and then we can have a family meal all seven nights of the week again.  No more divide and conquer.

This morning was our homeschool H.I.G.H. day morning.  The boys are progressing wonderfully with their sign language instructor.  He is deaf and funny as stink!  I wish I was a part of the class.  I keep thinking I should use my brain more, and I was all geared up to learn along with them.  I need to tell you that I still managed not to learn the alphabet.  Add it to the times tables I was finally going to learn and I am not doing quite as well as I would have liked.  ( I was selected in grade four to go to enrichment classes except I needed to learn my times tables.  Threats were made by my teacher ... this was supposed to motivate me?  What grade four kid wants to pick dumb enrichment over dinky cars or marbles at recess?  I even wrote all the tables I could on my hands in grade five so I could pass the test.  Ii didn't work; I got caught.)

My youngest son decorated a cake.  He wasn't thrilled to be "stuck" in a "girly" class, but we'll suffer through the taste-testing (if we have to).

really glad to "just" be home

I keep reading things in our local newspaper (we're talking the kind that only gets published on Wednesday, and has riveting stories like the woman who grew the potato that looks like a six-fingered hand, which, subsequently, served only to make me put down said paper and watch The Princess Bride.  I must say, though, that the photograph of the woman and the potato was very Gary Larson-ish and did indeed make me smile.  Ahh, the simplicity of small town life) .... back to the newspaper.  I keep finding articles on lock downs in our local High School and it does not make me want to send my children there.

at all

So, Neal and I are tentatively deciding to keep our kids at home for a longer time frame than we had once, oh so long ago, thought we would.  I am usually fairly quiet about our homeschooling, not because I am embarrassed about it (heck no) but because it has become so much of our life and what we simply "do" that I don't really "think" about it much.  Two lock downs in just over one year of us moving here has me thinking now; thinking a lot.

 

I Saw One (a robin)

so, it's official, spring is just around the corner because I have seen a



.  Yesterday, in a tree in our front yard, three of the chubby things were sitting on one limb.  It really signifies something worthy of conversation in these here parts.  Almost as exciting as hearing about someone you know who won a free coffee or doughnut at Tim's.  We look for these birds like crazy as soon as the snow is melting faster than it falls ... as soon as the shorts start appearing in the stores ... like the hope that I can wear just a sweater, not a snowmobile suit, to church on Good Friday.

If you haven't seen one when everyone else is talking about it, you almost begin to question what is really the matter with you ... and then you join the club.  Who said there is no such thing as peer pressure over 30?

Northampton Altered Book Show

One of my altered books was accepted into a juried show in the UK, and I thought someone might be interested in seeing a few pages of the sort of thing I do.  If only they would award me with tickets for four to actually see the show in person ...

Another Amazing Add-on, Walden's Wits

I have told you before that I really enjoy the writings at Walden's Wits.  Not only is he to the point, relative, and Scriptural ... but also funny.

I have declined a posting myself since his words today fit right where my husband and I are at.  I like that.

Check it out ... "free" fuel.  God is Not a Bigger Us .

went outside the box

last week, Saturday night, I thought about some friends of ours who lead a wee church, and wondered if maybe we should just "show up". Well, I forgot again so we went to our own little church, and on the drive home my husband brings up the couple for discussion. It was one of those kind of "should we be calling them?, do they need something?, did we make a mistake by not going to their church?" type of feelings. This morning, as we were readying ourselves, we decided to make the "call" on route.

we ended up at our friend's wee church.

No sooner did we walk in the door and the husband/Pastor sees us ... wow ... my wife has been talking about you guys all week. I knew we would see you soon. this is great. do you happen to have your bass and guitar in the trunk? We didn't, but I was able to help out by singing. The Lord focused on freedom during the music time.

freedom reigns in this place, showers of mercy and grace, falling on every face ... there is freedom.

one of the members shared how he had been blessed by a message earlier that week. It seems a man had been raised in one type of church that forbade dancing ... really saw it as evil. He couldn't seem to shake the desire to worship his God in that very way, though. One day, he literally lay down, prostrate, in front of a cross, and seemingly found his freedom. He may not be the most elegant dancer, but that was not the point of the story ... freedom was.

the rest of the message was talking about heaven ... and how we all have a place, right now, here on earth. We all need to find our "place". Nothing is worse than living a life of drugery. The kind of drugery that occurs because we are not doing what we were meant to do. All work can be hard, but there is a difference when you lay your head on your pillow at night and realize that you enjoyed the labour.

I'm not part of blogger friend school

but I read this post and was inspired ... So, read FaithfulGrace's post and come back to mine, or vice-versa. Perhaps you will want to add this to your list of good things to do. I know I was re-fueled.

I wanted to homeschool when my firstborn was under one. I cannot remember if I had given birth to baby number two or not, but it was at our first church, together as a married couple that I began announcing it to people. I was greeted by mixed reactions. Some thought it was wrong ... there were many perfectly good private Christian schools to choose from. Ok, my husband and I were pulling in less than $8000.00 that year, so how in the world we were supposed to afford this was beyond me. Some thought it was just to show off that I had obtained a degree (what?). Some just looked at me like they weren't sure why I was talking to them in the first place. I think the latter happens more often than I care to admit. Some people just don't know brilliance when they hear it, I guess.

I ended up sending my son to the local public school for jr. kindergarden because it seemed really cutesy and because I had actually given birth to the second child and had no idea what I was doing. His teacher told me to take him back home. "Most of these kids cannot even read their own name to see where to hang up their coats ... yours wants to sit at a desk and actually do lessons". So, for Thanksgiving, he came home (this is the first week in October here in Canada).

Next year we tried option #2 ... French Immersion. His teacher was wonderful, he learned copious amounts of French (which he is now re-learning) and I was there pretty well every day helping the teacher while my youngest used the in-class computer, at 3yrs old. I re-thought homeschooling and prayed about it with my husband ... "why not"? I ordered some stuff, and told the Principal that we would be homeschooling for the next year. He was very pleasant and wished me luck, then said "you'll be back", just like that. I have no regrets over that year ... my son had a lot of fun, but we wanted to have fun all together, and at home.

Move ahead to the year that my husband got a new job in a new city and our house just wouldn't sell. Can you say "emotional"? I tried my youngest in the system this time, for some reason, and he lasted three full days in our church's school. The principal had a lot to say about the benefits of homeschooling and that trying to fit my boy into their system, especially since he had not learned to raise his hand to ask a question, was like putting a square peg into a round hole. He told us that if he wasn't the principal, he would be homeschooling his own. I thanked him through my tears and went back home. I felt like a failure, and so did my wee boy, who just wanted some friends for a change.

Well, I "quit" homeschooling one more time ... did I mention that I have to try things out for myself and not just take other people's word for it? There was a tremendous amount on all of our plates a few years ago: infertility, severe weight loss on my part, house not selling (still) with Dad in a different city during the week, no friends for the boys (really), psycho friend I couldn't shake, failed adoption, foster children in and out of our house, had recently changed churches ... I could go on. We finally managed to sell the house, but had no money to purchase a new one. We actually lost money on the sale, but were desperate to just be together again. We found an 800 square foot townhouse 20 minutes from my husband's new job and put the boys in the local school down the road, assuming that a town of less than 2000 would be "different".

Wrong.

I remember day one, standing in the school yard, as my boys asked me to, when the principal approached me. She informed me I was not allowed on school property as they could not run the risk that I might discipline someone else's child. I guess that explained why I was the only parent within eyesight. This same principal also told me, as I was interviewing her before enrolling my boys, that "you know your children the best right now, but we will know them better by the end of the year". You are probably shaking your head right now, but remember, I was completely deflated at this point in my journey and honestly felt I had nothing left to give my family. We pulled them out, gladly, after 6 months and have been journeying on very solid ground ever since.

Sometimes it takes a few knocks to crack open the nut, revealing the sweet meat inside. No regrets.

copying the copy cat

One of my favourite art posts happens to be right here at HarmonyArtMom. I wrote a post not to long ago about my frustration of having to read posts that criticise the "art" of copy-catting. This quote is an excerpt from Harmony's wonderfully well-put post.

page 11: Mona Brooke's Drawing with Children
"We need to stop mystifying the drawing process and explain to students how artists actually achieve the results they do. For instance, Picasso and Michelangelo both copied other artists' work for at least two years as part of their initial art training." She wrote this in response to the myth that "real artists draw from their imaginations and don't need to copy things". She then says, "They (artists) make sketches from other drawings and photographs, rearrange things, add ideas from their imagination, and create what is considered an original piece of artwork."

This is what I have believed for, well, forever, and wanted to share it with you because it is vital to real success as an artist. I will say it again, art is not created in a vacuum. We all need vision, yes, but where do we suppose the vision originates?

the day I was "caught"

was taking a trip down memory lane the other day, for some reason, and found myself remembering the day I got caught by my youngest in a half-truth. What I had been saying to my boys for years was innocent enough, and something many a parent has jokingly uttered more for their own amusement than for the child's.

so ... picture it if you can. I am in my kitchen (there have been quite a number of them, so I cannot recall the exact one) standing in front of the stove, stirring something. More by sense than seeing, I can tell that my youngest child is standing behind me, holding up a piece of paper. I wait for words, but none come. Finally, I speak:

what are you doing, honey?

hmmmmm (child, revelation hitting)

what is it? ... child responds: I thought you said you had eyes on the back of your head ...

I have since learned to stress the things about me that are actual fact; it's much safer.

one more reason to just stay home

I am seriously considering adding "just stay home" to my list of mantras. My husband sent me a link to CBC's website this afternoon because there was an article updating a story I was following. Apparantly a young, teenage girl had been plagued with hiccups ... we're talking around 50 per minute here ... for over 5 weeks. They suddenly stopped this week, baffling everyone. I was amazed at the lengths she was willing to go to in search of a "cure", unable to imagine how hard life must have been. While I was pondering the list of cures she attempted, another article caught my attention,

An Australian state has banned video website YouTube from its government-run schools in an effort to stamp out cyber-bullying, a minister said Thursday.

But YouTube is not the only online venue where cyber-bullying has occurred.

Students at a Catholic school in Caledon, Ont., created a forum on the social networking site Facebook.com targeting their school principal after the Dufferin-Peel Catholic school board banned cellphones on Jan. 30, 2007

I had personally never heard this bit of news, but I suppose one needs to watch for these things every day. You can read the whole story here: YouTube ban.

I must admit that I was not surprised, and here's why. A woman in our local homeschooling group had posted a link to YouTube on our homeschool group's front page. It was a link to a video about quantum physics, so I eagerly checked it out. The video itself was really great, but the surrounding material was definitely NOT. Half-naked women, suggestive titles and expletives were the matting surrounding the video while it loaded. I was embarrassed and a little put out that no disclaimers were connected with the link on our local website. How naive of me ...


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Comments



Mar. 1, 2007 - Embedding vs. Linking
Posted by SteveWalden (75.70.150.137)


Whenever I do find something worth viewing on YouTube, I typically find the embedding link and avoid simply linking to it. The "Embed" link is typically on the YouTube page just to the right of the video and you can copy and paste it into your HTML editor on HSB.

I highly recommend embedding. Embedding allows users to view the content without leaving your site and exposing them to the racy content typically out there on the YouTube site.

*Hic-cup!* ...Oh no...


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