In which I sum up the entirety of my feelings regarding driving

I want the control, but not the responsibility.  The speed, but not the ticket.

Finally, a solution

I have a very sweet younger sister.  Everyone in my family (also, pretty much anyone in my whole life) knows that I don't know my left from my right.  So my dear younger sister decided she'd help solve the problem by giving me... socks.

Isn't that brilliant?  Now (as long as I put them on the correct foot) I can always just kick up a heel a read the bottom of my foot and viola! I know which foot is which.

And yes, I've included two photos, even though they're pretty much identical, because do you have any idea how hard it is to take a photograph of the bottom of your feet?  It's hard.  I'd say you should try it, only (as I said) it's hard, and unless you have a reason to take such a photo, it's probably not worth it.  So anyhow, behold, another picture of the bottom of my feet.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

I read a super interesting book recently.  Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, to be precise.  I read it at the urging of my sister.  Well, more specifically, because my Chasm's Lady sister told me that my other Until-Recently In Denial About Reading My Blog sister liked it a lot, and it "revolutionized her life."  So I read it, and really liked it, but must admit, it didn't change my life.
Then again, I don't have kids, so...

The general idea of the book is as follows: a Chinese immigrant marries a Jewish guy and they have two girls--Sophia and Lulu.  She wants to raise them in the traditional Chinese manner (which is to say, all work and no play makes Sophia and Lulu very smart and focused children), and thinks the kids will be happy all working and no playing.  They learn musical instruments and how to do math and excel at every school subject.  These girls were set up to be the next Chopin/Supreme Court Justice.  Whatever they wanted.

Only...  the girls were less than enthusiastic about the fanatical practice sessions.  Less than warmed when their mother out-and-out rejected poorly made birthday cards and called the girls "garbage."  Not so thrilled that they couldn't have sleepovers, or go on vacation without their musical instruments in tow.  Even irked that they were taken out of school all the time so they could get "real work" (read, more musical practice) done.

Eventually Lulu, the younger daughter, figured out that her mother could be broken.  So, she broke her.  After enough times of refusing to practice her violin, and then even more times of refusing to practice her violin, her mother, Amy, let it stop.

And that, basically, was the end of the book.

That review sounded less than glowing, but, as I said earlier, I really liked the book.  It was well written, thoughtful, and easy to identify with (well, inasmuch as I know how to identify with either the parents or children in this situation).  Amy Chau was candid, and you could tell (she mentioned in the follow-up portion of the book, in fact) that her daughters had a say in what went in the book and what stayed out.  Not like I know what's not in the book, obviously, because, well, I'm not Amy's friend, and she didn't tell me.  I have no idea.

Besides all that thought-provoking stuff, the book was downright, genuinely amusing.  Between the discussions of why they had a dog--and then got another one--you'd find a paragraph containing a rant about school.  "...there's nothing I hate more than all these festivals and projects that private schools specialize in.  Instead of making kids study from books, private schools are constantly trying to make learning fun by having parents do all the work."

For some reason, I find that very amusing.  I was reading this book on a bus, by the way, and got some strange looks because I would inadvertently allow a laugh to audibly escape every once in a while.

The book came under a lot of criticism.  Which I partly understand.  I mean, calling your children garbage?  But on the other hand, I'm pretty sure that most of the people who hate it passionately (and the people who sent the author death threats and such--which actually happened) maybe didn't actually finish the book.  It's divided into three sections.  The first section: background story and stuff that went on when the girls were young and everyone got along well.  Section two:  when everything went horribly, terribly wrong and Amy realized that Chinese parenting maybe didn't work so well after all.  Section three:  Amy explaining why she wrote the book, and how the household dynamic changed now that there wasn't quite the same level of tyranny, as it were.  So yes, I cringed several times as I read it, but I also was impressed at the willingness of the author to bluntly share her faults and walk us all through what worked and what decidedly didn't.

I'm glad I read it.  It's true, I don't have children, but it was an interesting read if only for the things I learned about Chinese culture.  It was valuable for the things I learned about parenting (not just Chinese parenting, but general parenting) and, quite frankly, I found it an interesting study in human nature in general.

And now, in my opinion, the author owes us another book.  A book about her poor husband, Jed, who got basically no say in the parenting.  There needs to be an ode to Jed.  I feel sorry for that man.  But that's not the subject.

Anyhow, if, like me, you've ever read the articles about the book (first I heard about it was from Time magazine--both girls say, by the way, that as far as they know, they're going to turn out fine), or had it recommended (possibly even by my sister, haha), you should read it.  And then we can all discuss it.  I'd very much like to hear what other people have to say about it!

Eutychus Catchers

I've decided, by the way, that life would be a lot more interesting if screens on windows were now just called "Eutychus Catchers."  I think there's really a slogan opportunity in there.  Perhaps one of the big companies can use the idea for a nifty slogan?  Pella Windows, undoubtedly, would appreciate the suggestion.  I mean, think of how much more fun it sounds!

I, for one, am going to train myself to put on the Eutychus Catchers in the spring, and take then off in the fall whence cometh time for storm windows.  I keep my Eutychus Catcher in my closet in the winter, so it's easily found come spring.

I just like to say Eutychus Catcher, really.  A tad longer than "screen," but entirely worth it, I'd say.

Things I Ought to Know

I decided the other day that instead of a bucket list, perhaps I should have a list of things I should know.  I mean, we should all know a great deal of things (I'm taking this wildly out of context, but as we all remember from Hosea 4:6, knowledge is kind of important.  Never reject it.  The verse obviously isn't talking about cumulonimbus clouds or anything, but I'm simply making the point that knowledge=important), plus, learn something new every day (my father would be so proud), but I feel like maybe I should have a list of things I should know/do/have.  And since I really do love lists quite a bit, I thought I'd turn my hypothetical musing into an actual list of things in no particular order.  I'm sure this isn't complete, but it's just sort of stuff that comes to mind.

Knitting.  I feel like every virtuous girl should be able to knit.  I... cannot.  Yet.  My friend Joy knows how, so maybe whenever I get around to visiting her, we can have a little session wherein she teaches me and I attempt to learn.

Have a cool vocabulary word.  My mom just found solidus the other day, which is basically a cooler/more intelligent-sounding word for, well, slash.  Good call, Muth.  I like to have a word and use it often enough so that I might never forget it.  Then I move on to a new one.  I tought everyone insouciant a while ago, just because I found it and it's swell.  I like to use words other than "like" and "um," though they do have their place.  Places.  Oh, and recently I was bringing back forsooth, and it sort of worked.  I have friends who use forsooth now.  I love it.

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.  I was determined to know what it meant, because I always get it confused with the Higgs Boson thing, and after a long time of seeing stuff about the God Particle in the news, I decided to set it to rights in my head which was which.  So far, I never remember what the Higgs Boson thing is all about, but when I remember, I review the Uncertainty Principle in my head, just for kicks.  "It's impossible to simultaneously find the position and velocity of a subatomic particle.  It's impossible to simultaneously find the position and velocity of a subatomic particle."  I don't even know if that's 100% correct, but I had to break it down into layman's terms so I could even figure out what the principle was about.  No wonder they're so uncertain.

Have a favorite verse.  I read a book recently where the girl claimed the "In all things we are more than conquerors" verse and would quote it about every other page.  Personally, I'm still working on finding one.  I have different verses for different occasions.  For instance, I have a whole selection of verses for morning times.  I have Rejoice Evermore on my wall by the postcards I collect from my cool vacations, so as to remind me that ever situation and place is rejoiceable.  I (mis)quote the second half of Matthew 26:41 when I work out.  I remind myself of the first part of 2 Cor. 12:15 when I'm doing someone else's work for them and I know I should have a better attitude about it.  I I have other verses for other occasions, but I won't expand tediously on this point.  This point being that no, I don't have an all-time favorite verse.  Yet.  Perhaps I never shall.  I just sort of have a bunch I use at different times.  But I feel like I should have One Really Special Verse For All Occasions.  We shall see.

Know something cool about science.  My dad knows a lot of stuff about stars and... other sky-related things.  He has made it a habit to utilize the tools we have available to us in this modern age and learn.  That's cool.  I decided a while ago to re-learn stuff about clouds.  When I was in sixth grade or thereabouts, I had to know the difference between the cirrus and cumulus and all those types of clouds.  I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember them any more.  So I have resolved to learn something really cool (what?  clouds are cool!) and retain it in my feeble memory.

Figure out the Bible chronologically speaking.  I'm not going to lie.  For as many times as I've read through those Old Testament books, I still get hung up on which prophet was around when which king was reigning, and when those Persians came into play, and who was doing what.  It's hard to get it straight.  So I've been working on having a better grasp of what comes when.

Hepygroga.  I had a teacher in school who used to refer to geography as "hepygroga," which is an anagram of geography.  Anyhow, his point was that when you don't know where things belong, it's much more difficult to sort things out in your head.  Much like a proper chronology of the Bible is bound to help me when I read the Bible, a proper idea of geography will help me as I hear/read/observe the world around me.  Honestly, I'm terrible at geography.  The other day we were discussing In Search of the Source (great book) and whether or not the book is set in Papua New Guinea, and I couldn't even remember where that was.  So yeah, I've got work to do.  Sometimes I go to Google Maps (or Google Earth, whichever), and just sort of scroll around the world, seeking where I might learn more.  There are a lot of countries.  Goodness.

Have better handwriting.  At the urging my sister, who gently (coughcoughornotsogentlycoughcough) told me that my handwriting isn't even at an 8th grade level, I started working on handwriting with my younger sister.  We practice for about a half hour a day.  It'll probably still be an 8th grade level (I am what I am, alas), but you know what?  I'm working on it.  I am trying.

When to speak up and when to shut up.  This one speaks for itself.

Know what a gerund is.  My mom does.  She knows all those things about participles and parenthetical clauses.  I think that's genius.  To me, a gerund is confusing.  How can it do so much stuff?  I mean, "ing"ing stuff is a good enough job description, so why overachieve and perform as a subject, object, or whatever else it does?

Imaginary numbers.  I am sorry to admit, that I was rather... questionable at math.  And then I got to the part about imaginary numbers, and I thought, "They're just MAKING THIS UP????????" and I stopped paying attention.  One day I should really go back and figure out what an imaginary number is.  Honestly, I couldn't even begin to tell you.  That's so shameful.

ROY G. BIV.  Because everyone should have a tried-and-true way to remember the rainbow colors.  I also use a little acrostic (That He Just Peter Loves Grapes... virtue, praise) to help me remember Philippians 4:8.  And I still sing the Books of the Bible song in my head to help me remember where to find Ezra and Nehemiah.  I find it not at all shameful to get a little help from time to time.

Learn the rules to a game.  I one time Do Hard Things by the Harris Twins, and they said to do things outside of your comfort zone, and especially do more than just the things that come naturally to you.  So, while I don't think it's at all important in the slightest to learn the rules to football or baseball or another sports-type game that I have zero interest in whatsoever, I figure that next time somebody tries to explain such rules to me, I'll pay attention and thank them for their time.

Know when it's appropriate to follow a recipe--or not.  I've gone over this before, but but I find it easier to not follow recipes.  I'm doing my best to actually follow recipes in earnest.  It's not very fun.  I feel sorry for methodical people.

Anyhow, I could think of more things to list about, but then next time any of you ask me about it ("What kind of cloud is that?  Oh, you don't know?  What happened to that list?") I'd rather have fewer items to feel obliged to learn.  So I shall end it with this paragraph upon which you are gazing now.  This is truly the end of this post.  Now I go forth and learn, my friends!

Traveling dreams...

Do you ever just think it would be awesome to officially have a bohemian (wanderer?  adventurer?  vagabond?  sign me up) lifestyle and just travel hither and yon?  Honestly, that's basically what I do already (I mean, I DO travel kind of a lot, let's be honest), but sometimes I see signs like this and think, "Shanghai?  I've never been there!  I must go!"

Which only reminds me, of course, that there are places I could be going to help people instead of for my own enjoyment.  And people at home who need help.  And all kinds of things I could be doing in between that wouldn't cost so much money.

An ode to dyslexia

When I was at Navy Pier we saw this statue.  Which I think is pretty cool, but we basically decided was a statue about what dyslexia feels like.  I can't claim to actually have dyslexia myself (though sometimes you'd think it, what with all the mixed-up talking and the left/right issues I have, as I've said before, haha), but I like to think about words in different ways.  Why write letters in a row?  Why not stack them all up in colorful statue?  Exactly.  Sometimes art is awesome.  The end.



Navy Pier

A photograph of parts of Navy Pier from on high.

Two weeks ago I went to Chicago to hang out with my best friend.  A nice girl who used to keep a blog, and then one day stopped.  We forgive her.  Anyhow, all of the kids were on spring break, so her mom took a day off and we all went to Navy Pier.  I'd never been before.  

They live in a suburb, so it took a while to get there, and we passed a bunch of stuff in the city, like the Sears Tower, which, of course, isn't even named that any more (it's now the Willis Tower tower, but obviously that's somewhat akin to Big Ben being called Big Ben, even though Big Ben is just the clock, not the tower), and a really cool library downtown Chicago.  I was in the car when we passed it, so this picture is kind of lousy, but you can see here that the building is sort of awesome.  I'd get books at this library at any time.

The old-timey library building.

At the pier we mostly just meandered about, looking around stores and such.  Also, we went on a Ferris Wheel, which was exciting to me, because I thought it was my first time ever on a Ferris Wheel, but everyone I've mentioned that to says, "Uh, what about the London Eye?"  So, apparently The London Eye counts as a Ferris Wheel, which means this makes twice.  Picky picky. 

The view from the Ferris Wheel.

This is what happens when her two brothers decide they need a picture with her.  Hilarity.

I look a little tired.  But hey, you can see a corner of Chicago in the corner, at any rate.

Then we ate at this delicious restaurant called Bubba Gump's.  It was delicious.  It's apparently based off of that Forrest Gump movie, and the waiters came and did movie trivia with us about five times while we were eating, because they of course assumed that if we were eating there, we must have seen the movie before. Enforces the idea that it would be a boring movie, haha, but anyhow, they were gracious to me, although I knew not of what they spoke.

All the waiting for the food, however, was SO WORTH IT, because when the food came it was basically the best ever.  This is a picture, and honestly, if you ever go there, you should get the stuffed shrimp.  Because it was SO good.  It's been two weeks and I still dream of that food.  Seriously.

Best.  Seafood.  Ever.

Anyhow, it was windy and a little cold, but we all had fun.  We went home afterwards and slept.  Or read.  Personally, I read Sea Legs, and laughed the afternoon away.  Honestly, that book is hilarious.  Two motherless boys stow away on the cruise ship their father works on and save the day.  All turns out well in the end, and the British humor has me laughing and crying all at the same time.

That was a tangent.

Anyhow.  Navy Pier.  Good stuff.

Things that terrify me

1)  When a tree has a blight and the leaves have those terrible bumps.  I literally can't stand to look at that.  It makes me want to just... run away or something.  Honestly, it's terrifying.

2)  When you realize that a situation is dangerous.  You know the one.  An angry car is tailing you, and the driver might just ram you off the road.  For their own personal enjoyment.  At the expense of your life.

3)  Change.  There is nothing quite like realizing that everything is out of your control, and only the Lord knows what is happening.  I know it's reassuring to know that HE knows, but the fact that I don't know terrifies me.

4)  Being outside of the Lord's will.  Because sometimes I do things that seem to make sense at the time, and then I realize that I'm just making it up as I go along.

5)  This point removed.  Just because.

6)  That moment when your heart stops because you think you heard some terrible news but actually you just have a hearing problem and everything is fine.  I like the everything-is-fine part, but the wait-WHAT? moment freaks me out.

7)  Myself.  I'm happy that the old man is dead and all that, but I'm still firmly attached to my flesh.  Sort of wish I weren't.  I hate that I'm capable of so much sin.  I'm not trying to be dramatic, but seriously, the flesh ruins a lot of stuff.  Stupid free will...

8)  The realization that I've made no significant headway in life.  And after 2+ decades I probably know less about what I want to do with my life than when I had just a few years of life under my belt.  When I was young, it all made sense.  Then I grew up and realized that my plans mean nothing whatsoever.

All in all, it's a good thing that God hasn't given me a spirit of fear.  Also, that He's given me a sound mind.  Otherwise, I would let all this stuff get to my head.  Especially that leaf thing.  Seriously...

Happiest of Easters to you!

Okay, so the official flower of Easter is an Easter Lily (huh.  wonder how that happened.) but who doesn't like daffodils?  That's what I thought.  Of course, that's not what Easter is about.  As my mom and I echo to one another at Easter time, "The Lord is risen!"

"The Lord is risen indeed."

Amen!

Adventures in

Pathfinder

I love Chinese Checkers.  Seriously, best game ever (besides The Next Tetris.  Or other fun games).  Our family played the other night.  There are only four of us at current, alas, but we still manage to find enough pieces to jump over!

I think it's important to note that in each one of the photos there is a book showing.  It's the Klutz Book of Inventions, which I had from the library.  Which is a HILARIOUS book!  Book reading is an important part of game time at our house.  I mean, besides the Klutz book (which everyone was fighting over, haha), we had The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, On Fortune's Wheel, and two Muse magazines.  Three books and two magazines for four people?  Not bad.

I don't even remember who won.  My dad, perhaps?  Either way, it was fun, and our family felt well bonded by the end of the evening.  Also, well read.