Growing up in a rural community in North Dakota, Daniel Stenberg never thought of himself as a professional storyteller. But that’s exactly what he’s about to become. Daniel has been working with Prairie Public Broadcasting (North Dakota’s PBS affliliate) to shoot a documentary about 6 World-War-II-era brothers who grew up in Watford City, North Dakota. (You can see his Kickstarter project page here.) The project is scheduled to begin shooting in June, when the background shots of the rolling Dakota prairies will be green and lush, the crops will be well on their way, the birds will be chirping and [...] Read more »
On the (Non)Grammatical Comforting of Charlie Brown
The husband of a college friend recently posted this wonderful graphic to his lovely wife, who is an elementary-school teacher and grammar-lover extraordinaire. I can’t quite tell if Snoopy is being passive-aggressive, or if he is innocently trying to comfort Charlie with all possible spellings, or if he’s finally getting even with Charlie for all the times he’s been “corrected” for his grammar. Who knows? No matter which way it shakes out, this graphic is still adorable in that special Peanuts way. Happy comforting of your favorite Grammar Nazi on this beautiful spring day! Read more »
I like big books and I cannot lie
I have had little time to read for pleasure over the last several months. But yesterday I was finally able to spend some quality time reading, and I finished off not one but two books. I feel like a new woman. And so I found a wonderful photograph that captures my feelings about reading today, yesterday, or any day, for that matter: Happy reading, everyone! Read more »
A Cat’s Torment
Yes, perhaps I am one of the simpletons this black cat degrades in his manifesto. But I still found this chronicle of existential angst to be one of the funniest, most intelligent, and hilariously self-deprecating videos I’ve seen of either cat or human all year. : ) Please enjoy—I surely did! Read more »
I know what you did last night…
Ha! As a teacher, I can certainly vouch for this one: Read more »
Quotes I feel like sharing today
As always, I may agree, disagree, or be of divided mind about any one of these quotations, but I found all of them thought-provoking or inspiring. I hope you do as well~ “My high school counselor told me that I shouldn’t go into computer science in college because they were a fad and there wouldn’t be many jobs for computer programming in the future….”~~Paul Sterzinger “For better or for worse, music is the language of memory…”~~Jodi Picoult “Voice-teaching ranks among the dodgiest of all professions—worse even than management consultancy if you ask me—because it relies on processes that can’t be [...] Read more »
It’s good to be a woman! (Perhaps more so in some places than others…)
This is a fascinating list, published in honor of the recently-passed International Women’s Day. You may not agree with the particular perspective underlying each aspect on this list about the best and worst places to live, work, and parent if you’re a female. For example, #11 on the right to choose in Sweden isn’t something I’d be bragging about as being universally good for women, as recent articles have made it clear that sex-selective abortion is currently obliterating the vast majority of female children prior to birth in certain cultures and nations. Still, however, there are some heartening surprises on [...] Read more »
The Real Secret to Truly Great Housekeeping
I recently discovered the secret to getting my house thoroughly clean from top to bottom. It’s quite simple, really: I have only one question: why didn’t I think of this years ago??? Read more »
Happy Easter!
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! And a joyful, merry Easter to you and yours~ (14th-century carol, originally in Latin; first published in 1708.) Jesus Christ Is Risen Today Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia! Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ, our heavenly king, Alleluia! Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia! But the pains which he endured, Alleluia! Our salvation have procured; Alleluia! Now above the sky he’s king, [...] Read more »
Allegri’s Miserere Mei
Traditionally sung in the Vatican during Holy Week on Wednesday and Good Friday, the Miserere Mei was most likely composed during the 1630s by Gregorio Allegri under the reign of Pope Urban VIII. This exquisite setting of Psalm 51 was jealously guarded by the Vatican: it is said that anyone who wrote the music down and tried to share or perform it elsewhere—outside of the Holy Week setting in the Sistine Chapel—would be punished by excommunication. The form in which this piece has come down to us has been altered by the passage of time: different transcriptions at different times [...] Read more »
A Grown-Up Library
You know when you’re a kid, and you think it’s going to be so wonderful to be a grown-up? You can hardly hold yourself together in anticipation of the great adult life that will be yours as soon as your little limbs and torso and feet and hands just get with the program and grow already. Oh, the glamor! Ah, the freedom! And finally, at long last—the overwhelming excitement of your first taste of independence and adulthood! But unfortunately the charms of adulthood can start to pale pretty quickly once the bills, the errands, the perpetual lack of both sleep [...] Read more »
Jackpot, jackpot!
My husband is indeed a modern American. Along with about 250 million other Americans, he decided to buy a lottery ticket yesterday (I’m totally speculating about the numbers at this point—in fact, I made them up wholesale). Then he realized he would need to be responsible with the earnings he would inevitably win, so he figured out a quick budgetary guide to assist him in managing his sure-to-come new windfall. But alas, the next morning it fell upon my shoulders to delicately inform him that according to Facebook, his jackpot…hadn’t materialized. My husband promptly decided an immediate protest of the [...] Read more »
“Oh, give me a home/Where the buffalo roam”
I grew up in North Dakota. It was often said (prior to the recent oil boom, anyway) that North Dakota had more bison than people. This opinion was most frequently intoned by East Coast “scientists” of overly-graviteous demeanor and overly-unctous, mournful tone. They would then follow up with their latest and most clearly brilliant plan to turn North Dakota into a wildlife preserve so the buffalo (another term for bison) could freely roam. Upon finding out that the latest of this string of earnest scientists was from the fine state of New Jersey, North Dakotans mumbled that they’d be happy [...] Read more »
Eternal life in heaven through social networking?
While growing up in Christianity—and as a practicing Christian throughout my adult years—I have heard numerous discussions regarding where we spend eternity and how each of us ends up getting there. Various Christians—committed people who thoughtfully practice their faith—have argued about these issues for literally millennia now. Despite the fact that these are committed people who thoughtfully practice their faith, traditions within Christianity have still differed on the levels of importance each facet of the Christian journey has, and how that in turn affects our hope of spending eternity with an all-wise, all-omnipotent, all-loving, and all-just God. As you can [...] Read more »
Free Lessons
I believe in lifelong learning. As such, I am going to share this rich gift of a free voice lesson with you. A friend on a social network shared this, uh, er, um, well, words simply don’t do it justice! At any rate, please do enjoy this free 5-minute voice lesson. And be aware that every voice teacher worth their salt will disagree with every single aspect of the ideology and the exercises and the explanations given in this 5-minute free voice lesson (courtesy of YouTube). But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the rich hilarity of it all. P.S. [...] Read more »