I heard two good quotes this week, the first from my new job at a middle school.
Student to his friend as they were leaving the cafeteria: "Dude, there is no way you could beat me as a level 66 paladin because I'm a level 65 shadow priest."
Michaelangelo: "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." Michaelangelo's response when asked how he could carve an exquisite angel statue from a mere block of stone.
I used the term "derring-do" with my friends the other day and they thought I was weird. Hmmm, that happens a lot! Anyway, I argued that lots of people knew what derring-do meant. None of the 8 people we polled knew the definition. So, I am trying to get a larger sample to find vindication. Please take the two seconds to vote!!!!
The other day I was in the grocery store picking out tomatoes when I realized I am my father’s son. I didn’t realize it that weird way when you are 18 and you say something that just slips out and then you cry, “NO!” because you realize it is exactly what your mom or dad would have said in that same situation. This time it just made me smile.
My dad likes sandwiches. On the farm, us boys used to help out during the summer while it was school holidays. At noon we would head back to the house for lunch (usually while listening to Paul Harvey!). Sometimes mom would cook but so many of the meals were sandwiches. Not meat and bread sandwiches but Dagwoods, with thick cut tomatoes that dripped onto your napkin with every bite you took and the napkin by the end. Come to think of it, my dad should have a show on the Food Network showing how to make homemade French fries and sandwiches. It would be a hit.
So there I was, in the produce section, hand-selecting the expensive tomatoes. You know, those vine-ripened ones from the hot house that cost twice as much as the other varieties. Then it hit me, this is what dad does, buys these same tomatoes, because only the best tomatoes should be on a sandwich. Here I was doing exactly the same thing because I missed sandwiches so bad in Malaysia.
My parents have had huge impacts on my life. I had both of them as teachers and as I pursue teaching as a career, I can’t think of finer examples to follow. My mom was teacher of the year last year and the hours she puts in are amazing. If only those kids knew the number of nights she falls asleep grading papers in front of the TV.
I had my father for world history and algebra one, so my memories of his class are much stronger. I had such a poor high school education and his classes stand out as one of the bright spots. I still know the Vietnam War, from the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution to the Tet Offensive to Operation Rolling Thunder and General Westmoreland because of my father, not because of a great university class.
I told a friend yesterday one person I admire in history is Hannibal Barca (not the fictional mass murderer, the general from Carthage). “Your weird,” he said. I still remember mom and dad helping me with that sixth grade term paper on Hannibal. If I’m weird he can blame my parents.
As I watch my friends raise their two-year old daughter, I see them striving to be good parents. But I want to tell them they already are good parents. No parent is perfect, even mine weren’t. Good parents try, they spend time with their kids, they share experiences, they ask for help. What a hard job, where the object of your affection may never, ever turn to you and thank you for all those days you worked so they could have a better life.
Thanks mom and dad, for sandwiches and so much more.
I have a few Canadian friends and a question I have asked on a few occasions is, "Who do you feel is the greatest Canadian?" Usually their attempts at an honest answer are interrupted by my annoying interjections of, "Is it Shania Twain or Nelly Furtado?" Anyway, I found a poll online and it was helpful for me to know a few Canadian greats, so, on this day, Canadian Thanksgiving, I offer you the list of the Greatest Canadians.
I have played lots of games in my day. Card games, games with people in circles, board games, geocaching (is that a game?), organised sports and the list goes on and on. A few years back I was introduced to a game that I consider to the the funniest I have ever played. This game doesn't have a name that I know of, so I call it the sentence-draw-fold game.
It goes like this. Every person gets a blank piece of paper, with or without lines is unimportant. Everyone writes their name at the very bottom of the paper. Then each participant writes a sentence at the top of the paper. It can be anything you want but just a single thought encapsulated in one sentence. It shouldn't be too long either.
Second, once your sentence is complete, you pass the paper to your left or right. The direction doesn't matter, as long as everyone passes the same direction, i.e. to their left. Now you have a new piece of paper with a sentence written at the top. Now the real fun begins. You read the sentence and then you must draw the sentence in a picture just below the sentence. So, if the sentence is, "A man is driving a car", you draw that just below the original sentence. You don't want to draw it too big, because the paper should be passed and drawn or written on several times but draw large enough so that the picture can be understood.
Once you are finished drawing, you have to fold the paper. Your paper should have a sentence at the top and a picture just below it. Fold your paper where the next person can see ONLY your picture, not the original sentence. The original sentence must be obscured by the fold but the picture must be visible. Now, pass your paper to the next person on your left (if that is the way you are passing).
Now you will get a paper with a fold and a picture. Looking at the picture, write a sentence that you feel encapsulates the picture. Then, fold the paper to cover the picture and leave only your sentence showing. Now pass to your left for the next person to draw under the sentence. Draw, fold, pass. Write, fold, pass.
When your original paper finishes the circuit (you know this because you wrote your name at the bottom of the page) you may unfold the page and begin guffawing. The game usually works best if each person gives a short presentation of their original sentence and the various evolutions it went through. I am not kidding, you will laugh during this part.
Here are a few examples to show why (It may help to click on the picture so you can enlarge it and see it better):
This one was going well until I got a hold of it. Somehow my frightened princess was mistaken for a frog and my knight for a space alien. Can you believe it?
Last Saturday I went geocaching with my friend Dave. (Just as a note, if your name is Dave you may want to be my friend because I have one uncle and at least three friends named Dave.)
Geocaching is a little like organized treasure-hunting. First, someone goes out and hides a 'cache'. Then they go home and get on the internet. They record the GPS coordinates of the cache and a few details (if they want to) including clues about where the cache is hidden. Then, you go to www.geocaching.com and find those coordinates and clues and go out with your handheld GPS to find the cache.
The cache is usually a Tupperware-type container. Inside are small trinkets and a logbook. You sign the logbook and if you choose, take a trinket and put a new trinket of your own in the container. Items such as travel bugs and special coins can also be in the cache. These are special items and you are expected to log the fact that you found it and then you can't keep it but you must put it in a different cache. Some of these coins and travel bugs have goals, such as making it to a certain location etc.
Dave and I had coordinates on 5 caches and we found 4 of them. We speculate that the fifth was found by 'muggles', a term stolen from Harry Potter meaning non-geocachers as the cache was probably just beside the trail. I say probably because we never found it and can only speculate.
I found geocaching was great fun and an enjoyable way to spend a few hours out traipsing around in the woods. Many caches are in neighborhood parks but some are extremely remote. And, for you Malaysians, there are also caches in that part of the world as well. Happy hunting!
