The assignment was too difficult; that much was obvious. But we all worked at it, me with increasing intensity and, in a way, excitement. Because I began to see a kind of genius behind the questions even though they were impossible to answer. Our English teacher had given us a simple worksheet of Middle English and Scottish and Gaelic words to ( Read more... )

Little E's school got to see the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker today and it was the best damn Nutcracker I've ever seen.  It was lush with color, full of energy and relevance, chock-a-block with powerful male dancers, and it had the most striking corps of fluttering snowflakes I've ever seen.  On the way there I was silently composing an apology ( Read more... )

My sweet J spent about half an hour talking on a live phone yesterday, helping someone with math.  This is remarkable for several reasons.  For one: did I say live phone?  This must be a first for her generation!  These kids do not talk.  They text, they chat, they email incessantly, they tweet, Facebook, like and unlike.  But they do not talk ( Read more... )

This is stolen from a comment on Bob Bausch's Facebook page, a comment by his brother Richard ( Read more... )