Tales From Another Planet

As you may note from the labels, this is primarily a homeschool post, but it has many applications to real life as well, for those of you who haven't jumped on the homeschooling bandwagon yet (and may not ever). The last few weeks, I've gotten busy with other things. We started out the "semester" strong after a short Christmas break. We finished up our first set of math books and fine motor skill books. My 5 year old's reading has blossomed without any help from me, and his social skills are improving everyday. I was doing very little planning for our homeschool and the co-op had been planned well in advanced. So, I could finally relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor of an easygoing homeschool lifestyle, right? Then, the dreaded 3's hit our house a few weeks early. My adorable monster suddenly began demanding MY time and attention during our school day. He suddenly pushed his bedtime from 9:30 to 10:30 to 11:30 at night! Doesn't he know that I need sle...

By TC DMB Live Trax Volume 10 05.25.2007 1) Everyday 2) Dreamgirl 3) Crash into Me 4) Hunger for the Great Light 5) Louisiana Bayou 6) When the World Ends 7) Grey Street 8) The Idea of You 9) So Much to Say » Anyone Seen the Bridge » 10) Too Much 11) Sister 12) Lie in Our Graves 13) #41 » 14) American Baby Intro 15) Two Step » 16) Ants Marching 17) Gravedigger 18) Jimi Thing 19) Stay (Wasting Time) 20) Don't Drink the Water 21) Pantala Naga Pampa » Rapunzel Volume 10 of the Live Trax series takes us to a concert which took place a mere two months after Volume 9.  This show, part of the 2007 Europe tour, was noted for the crowd.  The audience in Portugal was absolutely insane and the recording captures it. This album, thankfully, is better than Volume 9.  Once again though, I'd put this one in the "historically significant" category rather than the "great" category.  It's not badly performed by any means (my favorite 2007 rele...

Today's society is all about the instant. Instantly fresh-brewed coffee in our Keurig, instant entertainment at our fingertips, instant change in society's viewpoint of what's right and what's wrong. Yet, we are still the same humans we were 200 years ago. Recently a close friend made a comment when I told them someone I knew was illegally giving her daughter CBD oils and they saved her life. When I explained what CBD oils were, he jokingly said, bet she went to California. Actually, it was Colorado, I corrected. But the bigger point is, why are we allowed to joke about the marijuana plant. I would argue those people are the same ones who refused to eat tomatoes for 100 years because they came from the deadly Nightshade family plants. Heaven forbid anyone against marijuana use purchase hemp cord, maybe they will accidentally overdose. Now, I'm making snap judgments and using hyperbole in the article above, but I don't truly believe this is what the friend th...

As told by almost 3-year old J.P.C. Daniel came in the sunroom. A chicken crossed the road. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And, some walls. Now, if a chicken crossed the road, he would eat a lamp. And now, the chicken got one of those (pointing to some circles on the keyboard)  and peeked out of his hole and pressed "w". Uh-huh, duvvle u. Now, the chicken would like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And Clifford. He jumps. Now, he does typing. tipo0ujuotyiokihfop;k99iuty9juutyyp0th6yo6ui97ik7uoup7u[0ouhohoki7upio6uji7u A peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Hmmmm, Now, a chicken crossed the road and ate it. Ummm, the chicken had a baby. Yeah, that what I said. And then he pushed numbers. 5885866565555555555554615555555555522222222222222222222222222222222222 The chicken typed. And then he pressed numbers. He got a phone and pressed numbers. He was calling 2222 and then a man hear him. And then, he pressed numbers again. The End That was my last story.

By TC There aren't many multiple night sets in the Live Trax series.  Volume 6, Fenway, is one of them.  Volume 9, MGM Grand in Las Vegas is the other.  That's the one I'm discussing today. DMB Live Trax Volume 9 03.23.2007 & 03.24.2007 Night 1 1) Pantala Naga Pampa » Rapunzel 2) Satellite 3) When the World Ends 4) Time of the Season 5) Hunger for the Great Light 6) Dreamgirl 7) Say Goodbye 8) The Idea of You 9) Louisiana Bayou 10) I'll Back You Up 11) Down by the River 12) Crush 13) The Maker 14) Jimi Thing 15) Stay (Wasting Time) 16) Sister 17) Everyday 18) What You Are Night 2 1) Crash into Me 2) You Might Die Trying 3) Grey Street 4) Sweet Caroline » 5) What Would You Say 6) The Idea of You 7) Seek Up 8) Still Water » 9) Don't Drink the Water 10 Dancing Nancies 11) Where Are You Going 12) The Maker 13) Louisiana Bayou 14) Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd 15) Down by the River 16) Too Much 17) Tripping Billies 18) Gra...

The blog has been silent the last few days, because I've been spending time on something a bit more important, time with my family and husband. We just got back from a family trip to Maggie Valley for some fun in the snow and to celebrate Valentine's Day and the 8th Anniversary of our marriage. We followed that up last night with a dinner out at a "fancy" restaurant sans kids. Why is this so important? Couldn't we have spent that money on feeding the homeless, or educating the poor, or worldwide poverty? We certainly could have done that with our $300 or so, but I think that money was well-invested in building a better relationship with my husband. I love to read, and one of the books I've been reading recently is very negative towards the institution of marriage. They romance the idea of extramarital affairs and make committed couples seem boring and just another way to escape from real life. If you watch TV much, you'll see plenty of the same, if y...

The Case of the Missing Meatballs As narrated by DC One day, I was in the kitchen in my house. And then, I wanted to go into the living room. And then, I gone back into the kitchen, and then I saw my meatballs. They were gone. I’ll give you some clues: His name is Algebra and he was a mean guy. He liked meatballs and he would like 1,000 meatballs, and I had the mix for that. And so he stole the mix. So, I had to buy some more mix, and then he stole the mix again. Again, and again, and again he did that. Then I said, “Crazy typing!” Then I wanted to do that… Fbyugenhnfdnxynycfnyfxyxxxjmnnnnnn We tried to kill Algebra. And then, and then, he almost got dead. But, he actually had a gun, and I died, because he shooted at me. And he shooted at mommy too. And then, he shooted Daddy. And then, he shooted our grandparents. So, Gran and Pa are dead. A fairy came and got Daddy alive, because God helped him. Then the police, which was...

By TC Another day, another Live Trax review.  Let's talk about Volume 8. DMB Live Trax Volume 8 08.07.2004 1) Hello Again 2) Granny 3) #41 » 4) The Stone 5) Crazy Easy 6) So Much to Say » 7) Super Freak [partial]  » 8) Too Much 9) Bartender 10) When the World Ends 11) Help Myself 12) I'll Back You Up 13) Joyride 14) Grey Street 15) Sugar Will 16) Ants Marching » 17) Everyday 18) Typical Situation 19) Warehouse The series returns to summer 2004 for this entry.  The pick this time around is one of the most highly regarded shows of that tour.  The show has its high and low points, but on balance, this is a much better selection for 2004 than Live Trax 2. Hello Again, one of the new summer 2004 songs, opens the show.  I'm not a huge fan of this song, but it works as an opener here.  Granny is fantastic, and a great one-two punch of #41 and The Stone follows.  So far, so good.  Crazy Easy, another of the new summer 2004 son...

I've been talking with a few "new to homeschool" mom's lately, and come to realize that, as overwhelmed as I am with all the curriculum choices, they honestly have no idea what type of curriculum they want or need. The good news is that, with a little time and patience, you can figure it out. I recently read one of Cathy Duffy's Top Pick books from the library. While it was helpful. and full of advice on choosing curriculum, I had fortunately already found the right curriculum for me and my kids. And my method didn't involve a whole bunch of charts or adding up percentages or open ended essay questions (because really, what homeschool mom has time for all that). First, I heard about an all in one curriculum that a friend loved (My Father's World). But her kids weren't really learning quickly with that method, and my son already knew the integrated phonics. Plus, I felt the Bible was a bit more kitschy sayings than actual Bible verses. But I loved...

Lately, there's been an article going around on Facebook about what it's like to be an outgoing introvert. Since my husband is the person in the family with that personality, I already know a lot of what goes through his head. I thought, however, it might be nice to hear the opposite perspective, since I am a reserved extrovert myself. I'll try to keep all my other odd personality tidbits out of this, so maybe you'll recognize some other reserved extroverts in your life. 10 things you might see a reserved extrovert do or say: People watch. We watch people, all the time. It's not creepy or stalkerish, we just want to be involved in something, and if we don't know anyone, we can live vicariously through people watching. OK, so maybe it does sound a bit stalkerish... Eavesdrop. If you notice someone on the outskirts of your conversation, listening intently, they may either be the aforementioned stalker, or a reserved extrovert. We probably really want to jo...

Lately, I've been thinking about my own challenging children. I see parents who seem to magically be able to convince their children to obey with a whisper, while I find myself routinely bargaining, threatening, yelling, and all the other things you're not supposed to do when disciplining your children. So, sometimes I do wonder whether my children are really just that challenging, or if there is a lack of appropriate discipline in my house. Obviously no parent is perfect, and maybe the people that I think have it all are just beating their children behind closed doors. However, it is difficult to determine whether or not your discipline is working when children have such different personalities. My dad seems to think corporal punishment is the way to go, but I think he's forgetting when my brother turned 14 and there was essentially a knock down drag out fight in the hallway as he didn't want to be spanked (and he was never spanked again). I also think, that any di...

Guest post by TC DMB Live Trax Volume 7 12.31.1996 1) Seek Up 2) Dancing Nancies » 3) Warehouse 4) Say Goodbye 5) Satellite 6) Rhyme & Reason 7) Two Step 8) Crash into Me 9) So Much to Say » 10) Anyone Seen the Bridge » 11) Too Much Set Break 12) Tripping Billies 13) Lie in Our Graves 14) #41 » 15) Minarets 16) Typical Situation 17) Ants Marching 18) All Along the Watchtower I saw a message board post from a guy who is involved with the DMBAlmanac.com site, archiving and cataloging information about the live performances of DMB.  He said, essentially, that when the Live Trax series was announced back in 2004 there were three shows which came to mind that should be released: 12.8.1998 (Live Trax 1), 12.31.1996 (this show), and 2.19.1996 (Live Trax 23 - I'll get there). When the series was announced, this show was one of the ones fans mentioned constantly as wanting to have it relased.  It is considered as one of the top 5 concerts from this band, ...

I'm sure you've heard the phrase (or read the book) about "being nickled and dimed" by the small expenses adding up and costing a fortune. However, I'm going to come at this from a backwards perspective. Rather than worrying too much about the $5 or $10 transactions, maybe I should let those ride a bit and focus more on the bigger ticket items. For instance, some of our neighbors were complaining to each other last fall about not watering the lawn or washing cars because they were watching their water bill. Considering that the water bill is likely no more than $50 or $60 (unless they have a leak in their house), this argument was over a relatively small amount, about $10 a month at most, or $120 per year. Now, I'm not against conserving water from an environmentalist standpoint, but they were concerned primarily from a financial standpoint, based on the argument. As a counterpoint, they also shop at the most expensive grocery store in the area. So their f...

There has been some recent discussion lately about raising teacher pay. Especially since North Carolina has fallen to 42nd in the nation in terms of teacher pay. Unfortunately, more pay is not the answer. When I worked in the Jefferson County School System, at one of the worst schools in the district, I talked with several teachers in different schools. I can guarantee you that private school teachers make 20%-40% less than public school teachers, and yet they aren't complaining about their teacher pay. What makes the difference? I had the privilege of attending private schools as well as quality public schools. I can tell you that one difference is that at a private school either the child or the child's parents, usually both, want them to be there to get an education. Public school, on the other hand, is compulsory. So, how do we fix this, while still prizing education as a nation? Is it okay to leave some kids behind, in the hopes of not leaving all our kids behind? ...

I’ve come to a realization lately. One component of our human nature is a craving for success. If we’re not careful, we can attempt to fulfill this craving by being better than someone else, or accomplishing something on our own. As Christians, this human nature isn’t sin in itself, but we need to be careful to not allow it to become sin. How many sinners have entered a church, only to realize that everyone attending that church is judging them? How many Christians have started to doubt whether God is real, because they are successful “on their own merit”? How many fresh, new, vibrant Christian souls are silently removed from Christian fellowship because of a difficult personality or lack of job, relationship, education? Whenever I look at my own personality, which is somewhat fluid, the one standout marker is a big fat J for judging (if you’re using Myers-Briggs at least). Now, the Holy Spirit has convicted me over and over again not to use this personality trait against peop...