Category Archives: education

2025, animals, education, pets, Theatre, Travel, Uncategorized

Home Away From Home

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Last year our local college terminated the Theatre, Music, and English departments. There is a rather fine auditorium at the college that has remained pretty silent and unused for the last while. It is in the main building on campus and is surrounded by the library and classrooms. There are multiple ways of accessing the other rooms and hallways from the auditorium.

The Badlands Opera Company is putting on Into The Woods in a couple of months. They often use our church sanctuary for their productions, but this time they are using the college auditorium. Last week the Opera Company folks paid a visit to the auditorium to scope out the place and see what they would need to do to get it up and running. There is a loft above the stage that was used for costumes and props. It was left in incredible disarray by the theatre faculty as a sort of “screw you” to the college administration. Much to the Opera Company folks surprise, they noticed a cat sticking its head from out of the loft ceiling. They also noticed a litter box and the personal effects of someone who had been squatting in the loft.

They phoned the police and campus security, who secured the auditorium and found another cat. Both cats were taken to the city animal shelter. They also figured out who had been living in the loft and had him get his stuff out. I don’t know how long the guy had been living there. The college is upping its security. The Opera Company folks decided that they would only go to the auditorium in groups of three from now on. It was interesting that public comment indicated more concern about the welfare of the cats than the fact that someone had been living in the theatre loft. I hope they are comfortable in their new digs at the animal shelter.

What is the most memorable hotel you ever stayed at? What hotel would you like to stay in if you got the chance.?

2025, education, Mysteries, Words

Weird Words

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Vocabulary has always been a fun topic for me.  It started in the fifth grade when Mrs. McCracken offered extra credit if we found the week’s vocabulary words out and about in the real world (books, newspaper, etc.) 

I get an email every day with a new vocabulary word from a dictionary site.  I’d say that about 60% of the time, I know the word or can work it out based on its parts.  Nothing else, just a few seconds of each day.

But in the last couple of weeks I’ve come across two that not only did I not know, but I had to look up how they would be used in a sentence to make sense of them. 

Animadvert – to comment unfavorably or critically.  First recorded in 1630–40.  From the Latin animadvertere, meaning “to heed, censure;” combines animum, meaning “mind,” + advertere, meaning “to notice or advert¹.”   Here are two examples.  “The famous director was not afraid to animadvert on the lack of originality in modern filmmaking” and “The union leaders publicly animadverted on the company’s decision to cut wages, arguing it was retaliation”. 

Carpophagous – feed on fruit, fruit-eating.  First recorded in 1830–40.   Combines carpo-¹, meaning “fruit,” + -phagous, meaning “eating.”   Again, two examples.  “The carpophagous bat species are crucial for pollination as they feed on nectar and fruit” and “The carpophagous diet of the iguana primarily consists of fruits and leafy greens”. 

Both of these words strike me as not being too useful these days.  I suppose in biology circles you might eventually stumble across carpophagous but even having sentences for animadvert, I’m having trouble imagining anybody using it these days.  I could be wrong – but I don’t think so (Monk theme song…)

Any words you think the English language would be better off without?

2025, Business, education, Uncategorized

Out With the Old

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Most of my adult life, the new year has come with the headache (mild) of having to remember to write the correct year on forms and checks, mostly checks.  I can’t even guess how many times into a new year I have still been writing the old year in the date.

As I changed out all my calendars this morning, I thought was thinking about this problem and realized that it’s not much of a problem anymore.  I write almost no checks anymore.  I still write a check to Bachmans most months since they do not have any kind of online billing yet.  And the place where I pick strawberries in the spring and raspberries in the fall still needs a check.  Even the apple picking place accepts cards now.  Since I write so few checks, writing the date isn’t as automatic as it used to be either.  Of course, I haven’t had to order checks for a couple of years now.

When I got my first checking account, my mother spent a couple of hours teaching me how to balance my checkbook, which I did religiously for decades.  These days I check my bank stuff online every few days so even balancing the checkbook has gone by the wayside. 

Do you still write many checks?  How do you remember the new year’s date?

2024, books, education, Movies, Music, Uncategorized

Excuse Me?

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I’m re-reading Fried Green Tomatoes for Sunday – not sure the first time I read it but it was quite some time ago, before the movie.

In the chapter about Stump and his friend Peggy taking a picture of the dead Harold Pinto, Fannie Flagg writes that “Peggy screamed … and Stump squealed like a girl.” I did a double-take and re-wound the CD a bit to make sure I’d heard it correctly. Ticked me off.

That made me think about the end of Sahara, a movie that I adore even though it has so many plot holes that you could strain rice through it, when the Matthew McConaughy characters says “you do throw like a girl”.  This pisses me off every time I watch the movie.  Since it’s the very end of the movie, often I just turn it off at the beginning of that scene.

Guess I have trouble with phrases ending “like a little girl”.  I don’t even like the Bob Dylan song although “she breaks just like a little girl” isn’t quite as derogatory as the usual “like a girl” comment.

Run like a girl, cry like a girl, squeal like a girl, throw like a girl, drive like a girl (one of those Allstate Mayhem commercials) – these all drive me crazy. 

I guess don’t really have anything else to say – just ranting today.

Any words/phrases that make you nuts?  Anything you need to rant about?

2024, Automotive, education, History, Kids, Uncategorized

What’s Your Ride?

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I made it home from South Dakota early yesterday afternoon. There were lots of newspapers waiting for me to go through. We subscribe to print editions of the Bismarck Tribune (6 days a week), the Dickinson Press (1 day a week), and the Rock County Star Herald (1 day a week). They are usually delivered on time. I was only gone 4 days , but that still left a lot of news to read.

I was tickled by an article in the Star Herald about Luverne’s recent High School Homecoming and the ABC Parade (Anything But A Car), which challenged students to drive on a parade route from the ice arena across town to the high school in unusual vehicles. Motorcycles were the most common, followed by tractors, lawn mowers. scooters, golf carts, a race car, a bulldozer, and a dump truck. How fun!

My first vehicle was a very old Nash Rambler my dad got very cheap from someone in 1973. I graduated to a Chevy Chevette when I got to college. I would probably have driven in an ABC Parade in one of my Dad’s U-Haul trucks. No CDL needed for that!

What did you drive to school in? What was your first vehicle? Ever been in a parade? What news outlets do you subscribe to?

2024, education, Family, Kids, Music, Uncategorized

Happy Kids Music Day

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The National Day folks have determined that today is National Kids Music Day, to emphasize the importance of music education for children.

My first music teacher in school was Miss Roesetter, who studied music in Paris at the Sorbonne. How she ended up in a small, rural school in Minnesota I’ll never know. Our school was blessed with wonderful band directors, most who had been educated at Luther College. Husband played cello in his school orchestra. Son played trombone. Daughter played piano, French Horn, and violin. Grandson is to start piano in a year ago. He loves to toot on his great grandfather’s bugle.

Grandson loves our recording of Peter and the Wolf and The Carnival of the Animals, narrated by Hermione Gingold. He listens to it on a cd player in his bedroom. His parents value music education as much as we do. His mother was a vocal performance major, so perhaps he will have a voice, too. It fun to watch how much children benefit from music.

Daughter is currently on vacation in Maine with a former Suzuki violin student she studied with in Bismarck as a child. Last year they visited their violin teacher who had moved to New Mexico. How fun is that?

Tell about your experiences with music teachers and music lessons as a child. What was your favorite music as a child? As a teen? Any instruments in your home now?

2024, education, Family, Uncategorized, work

Continuing Education

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In order for me and Husband to maintain our licenses to practice psychology in ND, we need to complete 40 hours of approved continuing education every two years. At least twenty of the hours must be from live presentations (which can be accessed either in-person or on-line). At least three must be on ethics. This is pretty standard for most licensed mental health professions.

We needed to have our 40 hours completed by this October 31. I started out September with only 12 hours, so I had to scramble to get the rest completed. It wouldn’t look too good if the president of the licensing board didn’t have her hours done on time. I spent time doing some on-line trainings, and spent most of last week in Bismarck at a conference that got me to a whopping 51 hours for the biennium. Husband was ahead of me in terms of hours, and completed his final three hours in an ethics workshop last week.

This is probably the last time we need to complete the continuing education requirements for licensure, since we plan to be fully retired two years from now, and have no intention of remaining licensed after we move to Minnesota. Husband commented that now we can do whatever trainings we want, whether in psychology or other topics, and this made me wonder what I want to continue to learn about. I want to learn to speak German. i want to delve more into my family history and the history of Ostfriesland. This could be really fun. I might want to learn more about the history of psychology, but we will see about that.

What are you learning about now? Did you have to attend required trainings for your job? If so, what were the best and the worst?

2024, education, Fantasy, Games, Uncategorized

AArrrggghhh

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Photo credits:  MIT PE Department

If you thought that getting a degree from MIT was all work and no play, you’d be wrong.

Since 2011, if you complete Physical Ed classes in Archery, Fencing, Pistol (Air Pistol or Rifle) and Sailing, you are eligible for the MIT Pirate Certificate.  I am not making this up.                                                                                                                                   

From the MIT website:

“The MIT Pirate Certificate is only made available to MIT students and is an incentive for undergraduate students to complete their Physical Education & Wellness General Institute Requirement of 4 physical education & wellness courses. It is not a stand-alone certificate. Non-MIT courses and life experience are not counted towards completing the certificate. The MIT Pirate Certificate is for entertainment purposes only and does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities.”

 I think raising a mug of rum to MIT would be appropriate on Talk Like a Pirate Day!

How do you make a pirate angry?

2024, books, education, Mysteries, Uncategorized, Words

Rules of Engagement

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When I was in junior high I never did really figure out how to diagram a sentence.  In my mind’s eye I can still see the examples that the teacher had written up on the board but I’m pretty sure if it were ever on a test, I probably missed that question.  I think my grasp of the English language is sufficient without that bit of knowledge.  Although I couldn’t point out a dangling participle to safe my life, I do recognize the subjunctive.  In fact, I remember how excited I was that the first paragraph of Uprooted by Naomi Novik not only mentioned dragons but also used the subjunctive correctly.  Twice!

Correcting someone else’s English use isn’t a habit of mine; since I can’t claim perfect usage, I stop short of deciding if anyone else does.  In fact, I’m re-thinking the idea that anyone has perfect usage.  Bill Bryson’s Mother Tongue (which I just finished) has pretty well convinced me that most of the “rules’ that we think know were just made up (fairly willy-nilly) by folks whose only qualification was their strong opinion!

Imagine my surprise when I found that someone else obviously had a strong opinion about grammar.  I turned the page on a book yesterday to find the above edit.  In red pen in a library book no less.  I can’t imagine that anyone would care enough to do this. It’s clear what the author meant – I’m sure every single person reading this book knew exactly what she was saying.  Makes me think of a t-shirt I’ve seen online recently that made me laugh:

I doubt seriously if this “correction” will give other readers an “ah ha” moment.  No one will look at those red letters and say “Oh, I’ve been using that and because wrong all these years”.  So I’ve decided that I don’t care if the way the sentence is written is wrong by anybody’s standards.  I DO think it’s a heinous crime to write in a library book in red ink.  `Nuff said.

Do you write in your own books?  Margins or editing?

2024, Business, education, Kids, Uncategorized

Sidewalk Sales

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Photo credit: Ames History Museum

On Sunday, my little neighbors Minnie and Marie came home from errands with their folks and decided to have an “Icee” stand down on the boulevard.  I was weeding in my yard so I got a front row seat to all the proceedings.  First off, “icee” was a misnomer, since they were actually selling those Fla-vor ice pops but they had their signs made so I wasn’t going to quibble.  They also were giving out dog treats free and borrowed one of Guinevere’s bowls so they could have water for dogs as well.

Most of the work for setting this up was done by their folks and then Dad sat up on the driveway with his laptop as they got going.  They were selling the ice pops for $1.00 – a long cry from the 5 cents that was the going rate for a cup of Kool-aid when I was a kid – but that didn’t seem to stop anybody (including yours truly).  Of course, there was also some sampling of their own product as well.  Even on a busy street like ours, a few people actually stopped as they were driving by.  A third neighbor child, Lindsay, joined them for the last hour, although it was clear they were all flagging by then.

Minnie told me that they made $18 and then confided that it was really boring.  They were open for 3 hours total (they took a break for lunch), so that’s 6 ice pops per hour… not terribly rigorous traffic. 

I had several Kool-aid stands when I was a kid.  The house we lived on when I was Minnie’s age was on a corner lot of a fairly busy street.  Like most kid-run stands, my folks paid for the Kool-aid, the sugar, the cups and any other supplies that were used.  One time my father suggested that we kids split the profit with him since he had paid for everything.  Unfortunately this lead to graft and a second set of “books”. He never asked again.

Did you ever sell stuff as a kid?