A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....10-16-02

Billie and daisyscarlett

[daisyscarlett]

The Free Republic Forum has approximately 14 "Daily Threads". Today, we are happy to SPOTLIGHT one of them, along with its founder, anniegetyourgun, and its current teacher, RikaStrom.

The mission of the Word for the Day Thread is to raise the level of discourse and expand language abilities. The Rules are simple: Everyone who chooses to post must leave a post using the "word of the day" in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.

Anniegetyourgun started the Word for the Day thread on 2-10-01. Click here to read that first thread .

Anniegetyourgun called the thread "Word For The Day" because she planned to "teach" a daily class. She developed a Freeper school scenerio-establishing the routine, monitoring responses, setting the rules, "grading" the results, etc. She did "lesson planning" the night before and opened the school house door every morning at 7 am PST. Soon the WFTD thread took on the feel of a cyberclassroom. Since AGYG is not a teacher by profession, this was quite an accomplishment!

Being as Freepers have such creative minds, one thing led to another. They soon had things like "recess" bells, lunchroom time (complete with tuna croquettes), JimRob as principal, and Show and Tell days. They even fancifully created teachers of other classes at FR School. (BTW, ultimately, the Spanish teacher ran off with the German teacher!) They also had running jokes about the school nurse, as many of the guys in the class presumed she was beautiful and were always coming down "ill" for some reason!

There have always been special weeks at WFTD, such as "graduate level" word weeks, a week of some of the latest words added to the English language (neologisms), Spring Break vacation week, etc. One weekend, they had an open house on FR so people could find out more about WFTD – complete with student work being "displayed". During the summer of 2001, there was a "WFTD Summer Camp" at Camp Lotsawords -. lotsafun was had at Camp Lotsawords - including pranks!

In the real world, at least two homeschool mothers on FR have used the WFTD thread for their children everyday.

anniegetyourgun
Freeper since 11-24-00

"In Her Own Words"

"I hate to say it, but it seemed to me that there was a need on FR to perhaps 'upgrade' the language, spelling, grammar, word usage, etc. Rather than insult folks by saying so, I thought I might try a forum that would allow people to expand their vocabulary, explore word origins, and generally try things out."

"The thrill for me was to find so many on FR who are truly gifted writers, people with excellent imaginations, those with incredible senses of humor who were always making me laugh out loud at my desk, even a student who wrote the FR school song."

"I had to stop in May (2001) due to schedule changes and RikaStrom took over. I was so relieved because the 'students' had become so close and I hated to see it die out."

"I had a blast with WFTD. I believe it has contributed to the 'persona' of FR. Why, we've even seen BIG name journalists use the WFTD in an article they wrote within a day or two of it coming up on our thread. Coincidence? U decide!"

Just in case you are wondering, that is not really a photo of anniegetyour gun shown above. Anniegetyourgun says she "actually looks like a cross between Marsha (of Brady Bunch) and Joey Heatherton - if you can imagine them in their mid-forties!"

RikaStrom
Freeper since 11-10-00

RikaStrom's Profile Page leads off with the following:

"I am the current 'teacher' for WFTD, the FReeper school of vocabulary and inventive verbiage. This school was the creation of Anniegetyourgun.

If you have a sense of humor, please come on in. If you are part of the 'short bus' group, you can come in too. My students need targets for their verbal veracity. We thank the talented Registered for our school logo!"

Miss Rika took over posting the WFTD thread during the Spring Break thread in 2001. At the time, "that particular thread was keeping me sane." So she decided that she would step right up and continue to post the thread after it became impossible for Miss Annie to continue. She has been posting the WFTD thread for over a year and a half.

RikaStrom, who is also very active FReeping with the Houston Chapter of FR, recently started a new job and does not have the time luxury that she experienced at her previous position. Student Bella_Bru is now sharing teaching duties with Miss Rika. Mistress Bella does one week, Miss Rika does one week. This new arrangement began around September 10, 2002.

Here are two links to memorable threads suggested by Miss Rika.

Word for the Day Review 4-24-01

Word for the Day Review 6-04-01

THANK YOU, ANNIEGETYOURGUN
THANK YOU, RIKASTROM

YOU ARE TWO OF FR'S FINEST

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

10-14-02 Molly Pitcher

10-15-02 Dutchess

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

     1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
     2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
     3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
     4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
     5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[lodwick]

A man was walking along the beach in California one day, thinking to himself and doing his best to sort out his life and pray for happiness. He stopped and looked up to the sky, looking for a sign of his faith, and said, "Oh Lord, if you are there... grant me one wish."

Suddenly there was a crack of lightning in the sky and in a booming voice echoed from above, saying, "Man, you have done your best to be faithful, though you have not always succeeded. I will grant your prayer and offer you one wish."

The man looked out over the ocean, thought it over for a moment, and said, "I wish for you to build a bridge all the way to Hawaii, so I can drive over anytime I want to."

The voice boomed, "Think of this would entail! The millions of tons of concrete and steel, the depths of the Pacific to build on... such a materialistic wish! I can certainly do it, as anything is in my power, but it would be better for your soul to put aside this desire for worldly things. Pray for a moment and think of another wish, a wish that would honor and glorify me."


The man sat down on the sand and thought about it. Finally he gazed upward and said, "Oh Lord, I have been married and divorced five times. I did not understand any of my wives, and every one said i was insensitive and ignorant..."

"Lord," he continued. "My wish is to understand women, to know how they feel, what they think, why they laugh and cry, and how I can truly make them happy." The man looked up at the sky, awaiting his answer. There was a minute of absolute silence... then another... and another.

Finally, the voice boomed, "You want two lanes or four on that bridge?"

[Slip18]

That would be my exact thought, too, lodwick!

[Slip18]

No biggie, CCC! I've been a "we" for a long time . . .

[Slip18]

Oh, my gosh, CCC. I've seen you up front and close; I've seen your profile page; I've seen your FReeper photo.

My, my, how you've changed.

[daisyscarlett]

Sorry for your long day...Love that graphic, though....Here's hoping tomorrow will be better....

[daisyscarlett]

Have a safe drive, Nan.....We will take care of Mr. Nan's photo - Billie is just about ready to do a new group of vets and he will be in it....

[daisyscarlett]

Thanks for the post Libby...Love the colors in the Congratulations.

AGYG, if you are still here, how do you like living in Fla. compared to the Pacific NW....

[daisyscarlett]

I clicked on your link and it did not make me smile this time...it made me laugh out loud...

[Mama_Bear]

LOL! That is one loooooooong cat!

I'm going to call it a day.......see y'all tomorrow.

[JustAmy]

Since you won't be here tomorrow, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy anniversary!



Have a safe trip and have fun!

[daisyscarlett]

Time for me to say good night....

Congratulations again to the WFTD thread and its great teachers....Thanks to all who came by to visit today....

If anyone hears an update on Beep tonight, please post it right away. We are all so anxious for her.

Sweet dreams to all and

[daisyscarlett]

THURSDAY THREAD IS HERE

[blackie]

Thanks for the info.

Molon Labe !!

[anniegetyourgun]

Hhmmmm, do I like FL? Well, I suppose it (like all states) has it good points. It certainly has the best orange juice in the world!

But I miss the N/W. I miss the alpenglow on Mt. Rainier on a clear Spring morning. I miss the silhouette of 60 ft. cedars against the moonlight. I miss the rhodies. I miss the Puget Sound. I miss sunsets on Lake Crescent. I miss the rainforest. I miss the Evergreen state fair. And, yes, I miss Starbucks on every block!

[paulklenk]

All is quite well.

[M Kehoe]

I've been bad recently. Skipping school and all. But, it wasn't entirely my fault, you see. I found were you keep all the thermos juice and well...hiccup!

5.56mm