Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Did you know that when a NCSU professor reviewed a high school science textbook that he found our Linda Rondstat (sp?) was a lithium crystal?
LOL! THAT's the part of the story my Dad would really love...he's convinced that fiddle is the best instrument out there. ;-)
We played a little "gig" at our parish's elementary school this spring...here are some of my notes:
Monday morning we had another "gig", if you want to call it that. The music teacher at my parish's elementary school is a friend of my mother's, and asked if we could come, sort of as a St. Patrick's Day event, and play for the kids' classes in the morning. From what I remember, grades K-4 each got half an hour, and then 5-8 had a combined class. For each class, we introduced ourselves, told a little bit about our instruments (how many strings they had, did a little sound sample, depending on the age told a little bit about technique or history), and then played some songs for them. Opened it up for questions between songs.THAT was a great gig. Some of the kids got really into the music, tapping their feet and counting along, and were very interested in the different instruments. Some of the questions were kind of funny...my Dad is no speed demon on the violin (though he does TRY), and one kid make a comment about having seen "a man with a fiddle, and he played REALLY fast! How come you don't do that?" Ouch. ;-) The 4th grade was my fan club - it was a hoot! Every question was about the mandolin, and when at the end of the class they were allowed to come up and see things up close, I got mobbed. I let them hold it and showed them a two finger G chord, which they seemed pretty thrilled to be able to do, simple as that is. After they left Dad mumbled some things about the mandolin being an inferior instrument for people too lazy to learn the violin, but I think he was just jealous...
This was before I started to attempt fiddle, BTW. Dad still teases me about my "fan club"!
Yeah, yeah...
Then there was the day that Corin, Jr. came home from kindergarten and told me that the South Americans killed Abraham Lincoln...
What? You didn't cook for anyone else?
LOL! Sir SuziQ has a PhD in Statistics, but still jokes that a lot of kids would be better off if their parents gave them the money that would have been spent on a college degree and let them learn a trade and start their own businesses! He considers the whole college scene today, with a few exceptions, to be a racket! If you 're in a field that requires some actual research, that's one thing, but for just Liberal Arts, unless you have to get a teaching certificate or you're using it as a stepping stone to a professional degree, it is sometimes a waste, especially if you go to a big name, big bucks college. Our oldest got a full 4 yr. scholarship to a state school, so decided not to go to either of the other two schools to which he was accepted because he realized he's have to be paying loans back FOREVER! Now he's decided to go to Law School, but at least he'll only be in hock for that! Our second son didn't get any scholarships, but was accepted into the Computer Science School at Carnegie Mellon. It is probably the BEST school in the country for CS, and he knew that, so that's why he applied. He may get a Master's, he may not. He doesn't think a PhD will be of any greater help unless he wants to get a job at a University. But he'll get out of college with a real skill which will earn him some big bucks, and which he just LOVES.
I was reading in my "This Old House" magazine yesterday that the tradespeople are beginning to worry because there are so few younger people going into those jobs. Because of that, it will take longer to get jobs done because there will be so few people doing them. It seems that would be a great skill for kids who aren't interested in higher ed., but want a good paying job. If a lot of dollars are chasing fewer workers, those people will be able to charge MORE for their services! They'd probably make MORE money than their friends who did go to college!
Oh UNFAIR, UNFAIR!! Boromir was protecting Merry and Pippin. You could say he was 'taking the arrows' for them! I won't diminish what Aragorn did; he really whupped up on Lurtz, but Boromir truly gave his life for his friends! ( even if he DID end up looking like a pincushion!)
I'm not an elf, and couldn't begin to teach fashion, but I could teach home design and handcrafts! I could have those little munchkins doing beading, sewing, jewelry making, polyclay, and decoupage, then show them how to use a CAD program to draw floor plans for their own Hobbit Holes!!
Yes, and are we about to have another serious discussion?
I'm not sure I can handle two on a Friday...
Or maybe, I could set up the dummies for self-defense class. (I know, I'm leaving myself wide open with that statement).
Republicans fail when they act more like moderates and/or Democrats.
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