Food for Thought

Here is a fluff piece, sort of, about Sarah Palin from the Brit newspaper, The Sun. I call it fluff because it talks about her the way people talk about her, and they way most people, sadly, make their voting decisions. This article talks about her bucking the system because she's not one of the big boys of Washington, she is a pro-life feminist (seems a contradiction of terms if you ask me) and she allowed (OH MY!) a pregnancy to continue when she knew the baby would bear the burden of Down's Syndrome. Imagine! A feminist who chooses life, regardless of the inconvenience! She gets points there no matter how I feel about the party ticket and American politics in general, that is to be commended.

From the article:
A child with special needs. A daughter of 17 pregnant. A constant juggle between family and career. Compared to the career politicians dominating both parties here she seemed fresh, natural — one of us and not one of them.
Okay she's fresh and natural, but is having a pregnant teenage daughter to be commended? Should she be admired for juggling family and career? Let's look at those things a little closer.

Kids are kids, no matter what values we instill in them, they grow up and make their own decisions. On bended knee parents beg God that anything they've tried to instill in their children made it through the thick skulls that God gave them for their physical protection but often times those skulls are fortified by obstinance and rebellion. One cannot blame the parent for the acts of the teenager in this case, we can question the influences in her life, but it seems we cannot blame her for her daughter's pregnancy, the daughter has free will. In my opinion, a teenage daughter's pregnancy should have no bearing on the political career of the mother, except in the mother's reaction to the daughter. Here I can find no fault. She is definitely not just talking about valuing life, she obviously does. She may not embrace the fact the daughter is pregnant, but she does embrace the daughter. She is not sending the daughter out to be alone and face her very adult circumstance of a pregnancy alone, which, again in my opinion, causes a great many abortions. When parents are mortified their daughter is pregnant, and are too ashamed to face their family, friends, peers, co-workers, subordinates, parishes or whatever, that is when they either blatently or inadvertantly through their actions, encourage teen abortion. Sarah Palin got this right, she is choosing life, both her daughter's life and her future grand child's life.

Being a working mother, I do not feel is something to advocate generally, but society is what it is. I would rather see a mother working for a cause rather than working for a hummer and a McMansion. We have many female saints in our church who have managed motherhood and career. We have many female historical figures who have done the same. There are times when a mother is called into service. This may be one of those times. I have not fully formed an opinion on this, but surprisingly to me, I am leaning toward this conclusion. I am not sure we can compare an American politician of today with any saint given the corruption which permeates today's political system, but God can and does work in strange ways sometimes.

I have another article which I plan to post later today with another look at Sarah Palin.

A Lily for my profile

Notice the lovely new Tiger Lily photograph my daughter took for me to use as a profile picture. I asked her to photograph a lily for me when she could. I think she did a fine job. I just wonder if she was trying to tell me anything when she chose a TIGER lily. Her next assignment is to photograph a 'Never Fading Wood' for my blog banner.

Flowers

My daughter has a new camera, and it turns out, a very good eye for photography. She's taken some lovely photos, so I thought I would show off a bouquet of flowers my husband brought home. Just in case you think it was my birthday or anniversary or some special occasion, it was not. My husband brings me flowers just because...I am blessed with a very sweet husband. He brought me home two dozen pink roses which we broke up into two bouquets.

The first picture is just a vase shot. Then she found a 'flowers' setting on her new camera and started taking some more interesting pictures. The next shot is on my porch.


A close up of the flowers in the living room, I can tell by the wall paper in the background.
Finally, black and white, which is always fun and a bit artsy.
I hope you enjoyed my flowers as much as I still am, almost a week later! I will try to post more again soon, she is really doing a fine job.

Loveliness!

Oh the beauty of it!

Read the article here. H/T to Brocante Home Chronicles for pointing this one out!

Touch Typing skills

Funnily enough, after the post I had up for so long about penmanship, I will now offer some links about typing. Penmanship is all important due to all the reasons I listed earlier, and then some, but the ability to type is absolutely essential to survival in today's computer age. With that in mind I was looking to find a typing program to have my children use for 15 minutes a day...or less as time allows...to improve their skills and speed. Here is the best of what I've found:

From the BBC is a fun and somewhat cheesy typing instructional site aimed at ages 7-11. My teens rolled their eyes and begged for something else, but all my 6-11 year olds were very intrigued.

For those kids who can at least use the home keys, there are typing games available for all levels. I played the Frogs Are Off Their Diet game and had a lot of fun with it.

For my teens I found a free downloadable typing instruction program. Actually all ages could use it, it is a basic to advanced typing program with no frills and teachers can make out lesson plans bringing the students to the lesson when they sign in. I have had fun with the program trying it out, it will provide all the practice they need at their pace. At the end of each segment there is a pop up box which provides accuracy (including backspace), true accuracy (all errors, no backspace), characters per minute and words per minute. The students can opt to re-do the lesson or move forward. I downloaded this and intend to use it this school year.

Happy typing!

Not His Paygrade?

Check out this link to A Thorn in the Pew...unbelievable...don't miss the comments written by her readers.


A thorn in the pew: His pay grade? WTH?

Back to the Blog AGAIN!!

Well, I think we may have finally gotten all the bugs out of our internet service, and we've replaced our computer...we may be back in business!

I will have to try and mess with uploading pictures and all of that fun stuff again after I get myself caught up on the web, and learn a bit more about our new computer, featuring Windows Vista. So far, I think this new Windows is great but I'm not very computer savvy, so I may not be the best judge. As a mom, I like all the parental controls, I have an administrator account and I can block out times my teens cannot use the computer. They cannot access the computer at all between the hours of midnight and 8am, unless I sign them on. If I leave my account for ten minutes, then no one else can get on...it is password secured. I tried to figure out how to do this with Windows XP but had no success. I also like that you can switch between user accounts without signing off, which again gives me more control as a parent...they do not need to use my account because I don't want to be signed out. I understand there are a lot of bugs in Vista, but I've not encountered anything, and it is unlikely I will because I don't get into all the aspects of the software.

The BEST thing about my new computer is now I can use my SKYPE account! Anyone out there use SKYPE? It is amazing! I called my friend in England the other day and we talked for almost two hours...the cost was $2.26. It only cost anything because she hasn't got her headset yet. Once she is set up with the headsets, a SKYPE to SKYPE call is free, I called with my SKYPE to her landline. When I called my husband at work, in a different area code, he complained I sounded far away but for 2 cents a minute to anywhere worldwide, we aren't complaining. My friend in England said I sounded quiet when I was actually talking quite loud, so I'm sure improvements will be coming in the service, but for now we are thrilled. I also wonder when she has her headsets and we place a SKYPE to SKYPE call, if the sound quality will be better on her end. As far as my end, all calls, both across the ocean and long distance within the US have been crystal clear, I couldn't be happier with the sound quality.

The Thorn children have had a banner summer with camp, swim lessons and my youngest is now in a library program. We have some excellent programs in our town. Too bad we will be moving, we will miss these wonderful programs.

An "F" in Penmanship

I am sorry to say that my computer is now dead. Or so it seems. The only time I will be surfing the net will be when I can get to the library. Or on someone else's computer. I do not anticipate getting a new one any time soon, however I will attempt to get the dead one repaired. It is too bad, I had many posts I wanted to make! I will have to write them down and post when I can get on line. The writing exercise will be good for me.

Has anyone else noticed that their handwriting has degenerated since this computer age we are living in? With all the blogging, emailing, facebooking, all in all typing that is required for proficient computer use, people no longer write anything any more. It is an essential skill really. I read an article ages ago, about how elementary students were no longer being taught penmanship as a course. Other things have taken priority and as a result the little brain connections that were formed from the practice of penmanship, those little electrical brain circuit connections (how's that for accuracy in medical terminology?) are not being formed. It is actually detrimental to brain development to not practice penmanship, according to this article. I am not sure about that, but I do not doubt it for an instant. all I know is my penmanship resembles chicken scratch more than anything else these days. Perhaps being forced to write my thoughts, instead of typing them out, will be of benefit to my poor little brain.

Articles about the connection between penmanship and learning/intelligence/brain connections:

Computer Literated: Writing Preliterated?

Handwriting Skills is an interesting article which explains why it is important that we continue to teach penmanship.

Poor Handwriting, a Major Cause of Underacheivement by Linda Silverman, Ph.D.

Penmanship's Storied Past and the Technological Roots of Its Revival by Karl Barksdale

Crochet

I love to crochet. I learned to crochet at the feet of my grandmother who was an expert. She was a seamstress by profession, forced to go out and work when she had her 'change of life' baby, an unexpected child 18 years after she thought her family was complete. That child was my mother, who always claimed she didn't received one ounce of her mother's talent and creativity. She said it all went to me and I do have a knack for certain domestic arts. What I didn't get from my grandmother, perhaps due to lack of time to learn from her, was her talent for knitting, though I inherited all her needles. She taught me to crochet. As my mother was born when Grandma was 42 years young, I had my grandmother for only ten years before she died.

In my younger days I lacked the patience needed to enjoy and really capitalize on the talents God has bestowed upon me. I am only now learning to appreciate the process instead of longing for the instant gratification of the result. I have found peace lately, peace through tremendous stress, through crocheting and working with my hands on the traditionally female domestic arts.

Because finances are so tight these days I'm always seeking free patterns. Unfortunately some free patterns are lacking some important instructions and the end result is disappointing, but many patterns are beautiful and plenty of commercial patterns are available for free on the internet, patterns which have undergone testing and passed muster. One of my favorite websites for free patterns is Crochet Pattern Central which has tutorials, stitch instructions and a well organized pattern directory. Another favorite is Free Vintage Crochet which features tried and true patterns from old sources.

I cannot recommend enough the joys of crocheting to any one who needs a diversion. We do not have television service and despite collecting several classic television series and accumulating a respectable collection of home DVDs and videos, there are only so many nights I can spend watching a screen, it is mind numbing. Crochet is a totable hobby so it increases my enjoyment because I can take it along with me. This makes it as enjoyable for me as reading, and it is obviously more interactive. When I'm done reading I've expanded my mind, when I'm done crocheting I have something beautiful to show for it, and it is a pleasure of a different sort, something to share with those around me.

Generally I give away everything I've ever made. It was like I almost felt it was wrong to make something for myself. I've decided I'm going to start making some things I would enjoy owning, things to keep for myself that I would not be able to afford ready made. This brings me to another joy to be had in crocheting. You can really run the spectrum of prices in yarns. There are beautiful yarns to be had for very little money. Some of my most admired projects have cost me less than $10, some less than $5. To make a beautiful item, sure to be cherished and left behind after I'm gone (that's a disturbing thought, lol) for so little money, is a great satisfaction. My first gift for myself after I finish two planned projects, is going to be a shawl. I love the genuinely feminine beauty of a shawl, and the way it feels to wrap yourself up in one. It is a comforting indulgence, a connection with the past, it makes me think of my grandmother. I cannot wait.

Voting with conscience

As I promised I found the document, Faithful Citizenship, which I referenced in an earlier post, because I wanted to read about Catholics not being permitted to opt out of politics. As is typical in the press, it seems the document was misquoted.

I refer you to the document, item number 36 which reads:

When all candidates hold a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, the conscientious voter faces a dilemma. The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or, after careful deliberation, may decide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human goods.

Obviously this document allows for a conscientious voter to reject all candidates and not vote, or to opt out. This is what I'm considering doing. I may have only a few readers, but the intelligence of those readers is very high. One comment I found in the comm box suggested that I write in a candidate rather than do nothing. I like that suggestion...I wonder how you do that, I will have to find out. The same commenter also remarked that we have been fooled into thinking we have a two party system, the two parties are the same. I do believe there are differences but the philosophical differences amount to very little in actual job performance of the candidates. Or do they? I don't know. If Bush hadn't been elected would we still be in a war right now? I don't know. If an oil man was not in office would gas be $4.21 a gallon? I don't know. If we elect Obama, do we have to worry about abortion survivors being legally murdered despite surviving once, against all odds? Can you compare war with abortion? Can you compare the economic crisis with the loss of human dignity? Or, is the economic crisis a loss of human dignity in another form? Initially it is less shocking, the murder of babies seems more critical than the price of gas. But when you consider that people are losing their homes or are unable to heat their homes because they cannot afford the cost of gas and oil, will we see people freezing this winter? What about the people who cannot afford to buy food because food prices are escalating due to gas prices, and the cost of getting to and from work is so high, yet, paychecks are the same? Is this not still a loss of human dignity in a disguised form?

I can see that voters can, with a clear conscience according to the teaching of the Catholic bishops, opt for the 'lesser of two evils' but I detest that as a basis for voting. I'm not sure, in this day and age we can say we will not vote for Obama because his policies are intrinsically evil (which they are) and by casting a vote for him we are guilty of formal cooperation in a grave evil (which we would be) is any different than voting for a politician who will continue the war in Iraq and keep the price of oil so high that people will be destitute come winter. Is that not also a formal cooperation in a grave evil which compromises human dignity?

This post has more questions than statements. Again, any opinions or guidance would be welcomed. Meanwhile I will continue my research into these questions.