Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on February 6, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/06/todays-earworm-55/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on February 6, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/06/todays-earworm-56/
A Sad Thought
I’m currently doing 30 days of Mark Twain quotes. That’s got me thinking back to all of the hours I had reading his novels when I was a kid. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court were all my favorites by the time I was 10.
I realized the other day that Girlie Bear hadn’t read them yet, much to my shame as a parent. I’m ordering copies for her, so that issue will be rectified shortly.
But can I send her to school with them? The books have been dropped from the curriculum of most schools because of a misconception that they promote negative stereotypes of African-Americans, even though one of the heroes of the books, Jim, is just as intelligent, good-hearted, and admirable as Tom and Huck. Junior read them in school, but he went to a private, religious elementary school. When the principal has John Birch bumper sticker on his car, you know it’s not exactly a politically correct place. Girlie Bear is going to a public school in a racially charged, very politically correct school district.
I’m ashamed to say I don’t know if I ought to. She has every right to read them, enjoy them, and learn from the lessons. But is it better to spare her the potential problems from teachers and probable problems from other students and tell her to leave those books at home? Or would that teach a lesson that some things, no matter how good for you they are, ought not to be done publicly? Should I let the indoctrinated ignorance of other students and parents, the fear of the teachers, and the potential for social and physical harassment keep her from freely enjoying American classics?
Honestly, I’m in a quandary here. If I tell her it’s OK to take them to school and read them there, I run the risk of her getting in trouble with teachers and being labelled a racist by other students who don’t know any better. If I tell her to read them at home, I run the risk of teaching her to keep such things to herself as if reading a good book with a controversial aspect to it was something to be ashamed of.
The thing that galls me here is that I gave her The Diary of Anne Frank and To Kill a Mockingbird, and no-one batted an eye.
I’d appreciate y’alls thoughts on this one.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 5, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/05/a-sad-thought/
Today’s Earworm
Posted by daddybear71 on February 5, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/05/todays-earworm-57/
30 Days of Twain – Day 4
Familiarity breeds contempt — and children.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 5, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/05/30-days-of-twain-day-4/
Thoughts on the Day
- It’s really nice waking up to the whole family in the house.
- I’m really going to miss having the bed to myself.
- If it ain’t raining, it ain’t training!
- Flash-bang grenades are actually pretty cool when you’re not in the room into which they’re being tossed.
- Ricochets don’t hurt as much as direct hits. Not to say they don’t hurt, just not as bad.
- The muzzle of a 12 gauge shotgun is amazingly huge when it is pointed at your face from across the room, with the owner taking up slack on the trigger, even when your brain is screaming “It’s only loaded with wax shot!”.
- It is amazing how compliant you become when said shotgun is pointed at you and the owner is screaming “Get on the ground!”.
- Luckily, I wasn’t the one who had his clothes cut off of him so the medics could practice treating wounds. I had a pretty ugly head wound.
- Fake blood takes a lot of work to get off of your skin. Baby wipes just make it so it’s not drippy. I can’t wait to try to get it out of my clothes.
- Going into the Stop-n-Stab for a soda on the way home with your hands, clothes, and face dirty with mud and fake blood gets you some really interesting stares.
- Artillery simulators be loud.
- You know you’ve matured when you know better than to even ask if you can go out and get shot at for fun on the evening of Valentine’s Day.
- I will always own a home with a fireplace. Coming home, cleaning up, and lighting a fire made me feel a lot less old and cold.
- Having a wife who cares enough to have a pot of hot chili and a pan of cornbread waiting for you is worth her weight in diamonds.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 5, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/05/thoughts-on-the-day-8/
30 Days of Twain – Day 3
…”Remember this, take this to heart, live by it, die for it if necessary: that our patriotism is medieval, outworn, obsolete; that the modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the Nation ALL the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.”
My Take – When I took the oath of enlistment, I didn’t pledge faith and allegiance to my state, the president, or a party. I pledged to protect and defend the Constitution, the written embodiment of the ideals our country is based upon. That is all that was expected of me, and that is what I delivered. I was released from active service, but not my oath. I may prefer one part of the country to another, hold membership in a political party, and prefer one politician over another, but my loyalties are always to the Constitution and the nation that lives by it.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 4, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/04/30-days-of-twain-day-3/
Week With the Kids – Wrapup
Well, Irish Woman has arrived safely back in Kentucky, and all is right with the world.
On the whole, the week went really smoothly. I was trying to be funny with my last update. The kids have been real champs. Boo had absolutely no separation problems, which surprised both us and his teachers. He just kept on with his routine, talked to his mom on the phone a couple of days, and was a happy little boy. Girlie Bear has been a big help, and I think she was just as happy to have Irish Woman home as I was.
For the most part, I was able to keep the balls in the air pretty smoothly. The house never looked like a tornado had come through, the kids weren’t reduced to ramen noodles and hot dogs, and the pets haven’t gone feral. Yes, I’m tired, and I plan on recharging over the weekend, but I’m not totally beaten down or frustrated.
I think the fact that everyone did so well took a lot of worry off of Irish Woman’s mind. She’ll be going away every so often for training and to work in other cities, so knowing that we’ll be OK for a while will help.
Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement. I’m not looking forward to the next time, but at least now I know that I can do it.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 4, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/04/week-with-the-kids-wrapup/
Thought for the Day
Does anyone else wonder if Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones had payments to ex-wives or bookies that forced them to sign on with George Lucas to make Star Wars? I really enjoy the first movie that came out in the ’70’s, but you have to admit it’s not exactly the Royal Shakespeare Company or The Bridge Over the River Kwai.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/03/thought-for-the-day-22/
Week With The Kids – Day 5
Supplies are dwindling, as is morale and hope. The little one has figured out how to sharpen his toy light saber, and the wound he inflicted when he tried to hamstring me is festering. Girlie Bear has taken to wearing a black beret and making polemical speeches about the proletariat. Irish Woman will be home soon, and I hope she comes with reinforcements.
They have taken the bridge and the second hall. I have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes, drums… drums in the deep. I cannot get out. A shadow lurks in the dark. I can not get out… they are coming.
Posted by daddybear71 on February 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/02/03/week-with-the-kids-day-5/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 