In other news, my dancer was accepted in the ballet program at Interlochen for the summer, we could not be more pleased and heartily congratulate her.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day
I hope you all have a great day! I know I am supposed to be doing Tuesday's Tome Tracts, but I seem to be running behind lately. I have been sick or had sick children, and then my eldest daughter went to the first dance competition of the season, and I have projects I'm trying to complete. I hope to be back on track with the blog soon.
In other news, my dancer was accepted in the ballet program at Interlochen for the summer, we could not be more pleased and heartily congratulate her.
In other news, my dancer was accepted in the ballet program at Interlochen for the summer, we could not be more pleased and heartily congratulate her.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Enunciation
If you, or your children, need to work on your enunciation, tongue twisters are a fun way to improve! When you start getting good, put a pencil between your front teeth and try again. If you master that, use marbles like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Also like Ms. Hepburn, I would caution you to be careful not to swallow. ;-)
Here is a great website...1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters, you have to choose what language, and there are over 400 in English!
I did this with my children, some had lazy speech patterns. This helped immensely. I also have a daughter who performs, and has aced auditions because she does not trip over her words when she speaks. She is a nearly flawless tongue twister, reigning champion in our home...she unseated me in that title!
Here is a great website...1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters, you have to choose what language, and there are over 400 in English!
I did this with my children, some had lazy speech patterns. This helped immensely. I also have a daughter who performs, and has aced auditions because she does not trip over her words when she speaks. She is a nearly flawless tongue twister, reigning champion in our home...she unseated me in that title!
Monday, March 9, 2009
New on the Blogroll
I have not done this in a while, now that Blogger has the 'Follow This Blog' feature, I follow all sorts of blogs without sharing what I've found. New on the blogroll:
Sonitus Sanctus: Free Catholic MP3 Links
Catholic iPod: Their banner quote is: "We are no longer able to hear God - There are too many frequencies filling our ears." ~Pope Benedict XVI
Both of these blogs offer good Catholic content to download. Enjoy
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Not So Proud
TWO PEAS IN A POD:
WASHINGTON — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, an early Obama ally with a record of working across party lines, is emerging as the president’s top choice for secretary of health and human services, advisers said Wednesday. Read more here.
Now look at what Thomas Peters has to say:
WASHINGTON — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, an early Obama ally with a record of working across party lines, is emerging as the president’s top choice for secretary of health and human services, advisers said Wednesday. Read more here.
Now look at what Thomas Peters has to say:
Kathleen "I'm-so-incredibly-pro-abortion-my-own-archbishop-came-out-and-told-me-to-quit-receiving-Communion" Sebelius.Definitely two peas in the pod. Here we have two influential Catholic women in American government, and look at how they use their influence. Today, I'm not so proud.
Kathleen "I-took-almost-$40,000-in-political-funding-from-criminally-charged-late-term-abortion-provider-George-Tiller" Sebelius.
I'm not looking forward to the next nickname.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Proud to be a Papist!
I am always pleased to be a papist, but I am flushed with pride today as I read about the meeting between our "Catholic" Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and Pope Benedict XVI.
It was gratifying to read how she was denied a photo op and instead received much needed instruction. I pray we will see some changes in her behavior.
One has to wonder what would motivate Nancy Pelosi to request a meeting, did she not realize she would have to answer for a few things?
Monday, February 16, 2009
I am now on Twitter, though I have no idea what I'm doing with it. Let me know if you are there too!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tuesday's Tome Tracts
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
After reading Comfort Food by the same author, I was interested in reading more of her work. The deal was clinched when I saw that she has two books about a knitting club. Knitting is one of those skills I've not yet mastered, though would love to do so. This knitting club is made up of a diverse group of New Yorkers, and not all of them have a love of knitting, but somehow find themselves involved in this club.
The store owner, Georgia, is a single mother, who started her shop as a way to support her daughter, Dakota, after being left by the baby's father. There is an interesting family dynamic which goes on because the mother is white, the father is black and the child is cafe-au-lait. The father resurfaces when the child is 12. The story of their family, though different, is very beautiful and moving.
There is a point in the book where Georgia is brought into a Catholic church and later where she has a heart-to-heart with a priest. As a Catholic, I'm always intrigued by the portrayal of the Church in novels. It strikes me that when lives come to crisis, often times in books and movies, we will find reference to the Catholic church, whether obvious or subtle, it is often there.
Amongst the club members, we find a feminist grad student who attends the club meetings as research for her thesis, her major is Women's Studies. She ends up learning more through this group than she ever intended. There is a socialite from Georgia's past who joins when she leaves her loveless marriage, a middle aged woman going through a career change, a designer, a single woman who is pregnant because she wanted a baby and not a relationship, an elderly woman who is a mother figure for Georgia, and a host of other characters round out the story.
The language in this story is occasionally more coarse than I prefer to read, but the story is well written, and the events brought me to tears. Interestingly, the only character who is at all similar to the stereotype of a knitter is Anita, the elderly widow, and it is a stretch to label her as such. There is a second book, called Knit Two, which follows up on the group, five years later. I have not read the second book.
UPDATE: My husband informs me, The Secret Life of Bees, previously discussed here, is going to be made into a movie. I cannot wait.
After reading Comfort Food by the same author, I was interested in reading more of her work. The deal was clinched when I saw that she has two books about a knitting club. Knitting is one of those skills I've not yet mastered, though would love to do so. This knitting club is made up of a diverse group of New Yorkers, and not all of them have a love of knitting, but somehow find themselves involved in this club.
The store owner, Georgia, is a single mother, who started her shop as a way to support her daughter, Dakota, after being left by the baby's father. There is an interesting family dynamic which goes on because the mother is white, the father is black and the child is cafe-au-lait. The father resurfaces when the child is 12. The story of their family, though different, is very beautiful and moving.
There is a point in the book where Georgia is brought into a Catholic church and later where she has a heart-to-heart with a priest. As a Catholic, I'm always intrigued by the portrayal of the Church in novels. It strikes me that when lives come to crisis, often times in books and movies, we will find reference to the Catholic church, whether obvious or subtle, it is often there.
Amongst the club members, we find a feminist grad student who attends the club meetings as research for her thesis, her major is Women's Studies. She ends up learning more through this group than she ever intended. There is a socialite from Georgia's past who joins when she leaves her loveless marriage, a middle aged woman going through a career change, a designer, a single woman who is pregnant because she wanted a baby and not a relationship, an elderly woman who is a mother figure for Georgia, and a host of other characters round out the story.
The language in this story is occasionally more coarse than I prefer to read, but the story is well written, and the events brought me to tears. Interestingly, the only character who is at all similar to the stereotype of a knitter is Anita, the elderly widow, and it is a stretch to label her as such. There is a second book, called Knit Two, which follows up on the group, five years later. I have not read the second book.
UPDATE: My husband informs me, The Secret Life of Bees, previously discussed here, is going to be made into a movie. I cannot wait.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Internet Archive
LOOK at what I found!
Welcome to the Archive's audio and MP3 library. This library contains over two hundred thousand free digital recordings ranging from alternative news programming, to Grateful Dead concerts, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry readings, to original music uploaded by our users. Many of these audios and MP3s are available for free download.
Click here to see what is available.
Welcome to the Archive's audio and MP3 library. This library contains over two hundred thousand free digital recordings ranging from alternative news programming, to Grateful Dead concerts, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry readings, to original music uploaded by our users. Many of these audios and MP3s are available for free download.
Click here to see what is available.
Obscure Music Friday
SONG: The Unicorn Song
ARTIST: The Irish Rovers
WHY I LIKE IT: This is a song from my youth, when I hung out in an Irish Pub called Mulligans. I used to knock back pints of Guinness and sing with my friends. Oh those were the days.
And Noah looked out through the driving rain,
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games.
Kicking and splashing while the rain was pourin',
Oh, them silly unicorns!
Me thinks I can name a few unicorns in the public eye these days.
h/t to digi, whose posting I not only stole, but today she even reminded me of this gem out of my past, from my pub days.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Catholic MP3
I know, my singing the praises of MP3 players is getting old, but LOOK HERE! This is awesome, Catholic MP3 audio downloads for free! Thank you to Paramedic Girl, where I found amongst her links.
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