Jump to content

Menu
Giving You and Your Child a Road Map to the Best Possible Education
The Well-Trained Mind Community

idnib

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,833

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Posts posted by idnib

    Book a Week 2017 - BW33: Happy Birthday Alfred Corn

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I think I prefer my non-fiction books without too much of the authors personality in them.  Even Bill Bryson, who I generally find to be hilarious, grates on my nerves by page 300.

     

    This is an epiphany for me. I've been trying to figure out why certain authors bug me, and this is absolutely the reason. Thank you!

     

    And The Story of Western Science makes it 52.

     

    :party:

    • Like 13

    Book a Week 2017 - BW33: Happy Birthday Alfred Corn

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I'm still working on Independent People and really enjoying it, although Jane was correct in saying I would learn more about sheep farming than I ever wished to know. Still, an excellent book so far; I am only about 15% of the way though, asI'm a slow reader and all my free time has been spent following the news and reading related articles.

     

     

    Completed Louise Penny's Nature of the Beast which leaves me with X in Sardonyx to complete.  Up next Jeff VandeMeers Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance

     

     

    I'd like to hear what you think about the Southern Reach trilogy when you're done. I read it a few years ago when the first book popped up on the Indiespensable subscription from Powells books. It's quite different from anything I had read before or since.

    • Like 13

    If we think we are so high minded and so developed

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I missed whatever happened on the boards.

     

    I do think that there is a diminishment of the base of common facts from which citizens can launch productive discussion. This erosion, whether intentionally implemented by outside forces and a reduction in the quality of education, or incidental via factors such the growth of online identities, a diminishment in the value of the liberal arts, etc, is causing a weakening of the "town square"  and an inability to work together.

     

    And make no mistake, Congress has held open hearings for the express purpose of making the American public aware that we are under attack in a new way. When we spend so much of our lives online and geographical locations don't matter, it was only a matter of time before governments would use the Internet to foment unrest.

     

    I don't have a solution and I feel powerless in the face of insidious propaganda and interference in such a high volume.

    • Like 8

    Keto vs Paleo... Questions

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by idnib

    As far as more kid-friendly, paleo is. But it's really adjust keto if you want to eat keto and still have it be easy for kids by adding healthy carbs such as fruit, higher-carb veggies, honey, and higher-carb dairy. Or you can turn keto into a traditional diet but healthier foods than the SAD by adding soaked grains and legumes.

     

    Or if your kids eat outside the home often, then you can eat keto at home and they'll get enough carbs elsewhere. We have had times where we had keto at home but between the kids eating snacks and meals at the homes of friends or relatives, pizza parties for classes, potlucks, ice cream socials, etc they got a fair amount of carbs anyway.

     

    You didn't mention cost, but either of these diets can get pretty pricey for multiple people. I found keto to be more expensive than paleo.

    • Like 1

    Fermentation Experimentation

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Mouse melons sound adorable, even though I don't like mice.

     

    I have to put them in today. I put it off because I opened the crock with my string beans int it and it smelled terrible, like acetone. So I popped the lid back on and went to bed. I was way too tired to deal with that. I'm going to have to clean all that out today.  :ack2:

    Book a Week 2017 - BW32: Dorothy Dunnett

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Mom-ninja, I love the photo! Swoon.

     

     

    Just Mercy was a compulsive, but deeply uncomfortable, read that left me shaken and inspired.  No New Jim Crow shook my faith in our criminal justice system on a bigger picture level, but this, one lawyer's work and experience, and a smattering of the individual cases he's dealt with, was much harder to witness, but felt equally important.  ...and the author's amazing heart and conviction will stay with me for a long time.

     

    ...

     

    I finished reading Wrinkle in Time to my little guy (while editing out Meg's obsession with her appearance).  It is always fascinating to experience a well known book with a different child, and this was no exception.  ...but, overall, L'Engle doesn't hold up well for rereading as a middle-aged adult.  (I have been delaying rereading Other Side of the Sun which blew me away when I was 17 because I don't want to ruin it... but I do want to revisit it... )

     

    I ordered Just Mercy, which has quite a wait at the local library. I admit I'm nervous to read it, though, based on your experience. Still, it sounds very important so I'm in.

     

    As for Wrinkle in Time, I re-read it a few years ago as a pre-read for DS and it was completely different to me as an adult. I don't know if I could say whether it held up or not, but I saw it through a completely different political lens (the novel having a Libertarian bent) that whooshed over my head when I was ~10 years old.

     

     

    And Matryoshka, fastweedpuller, and idnib - I totally understand about the Warriors series :)

     

     

    I think it stayed with me because for the first time my idealism about reading everything along with the kids for discussion was tarnished. Or rather, it was badly dented.  :)

    • Like 9

    arm flapping but no ASD?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by idnib

    DS has this, although it's declined through the years. I had him evaluated twice for autism (once through the school district and one through a private neuropsychologist) and both said he's not on the spectrum at all.

     

    The neuropsychologist considered it a tic and diagnosed it as such. (At that point he was also blinking a lot, but that's subsided naturally.) She also predicted at some point in his teens he will probably find it more socially undesirable (he's 13 now, 10 when tested) and at that point she will refer him to a behavioral therapist so he can learn to substitute another behavior that's more socially acceptable. She said he will probably always feel the urge, and mentioned that she has anecdotally found rubbing the edge ridged of a quarter to have been the most effective substitute, with training.

    Book a Week 2017 - BW32: Dorothy Dunnett

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    :seeya: 

     

    I've been taking a break from the weekly thread for a few months, or maybe more than a few. 

     

    Lately I haven't had much time for reading. I'm spending most of my days decluttering and organizing (konmari style) and the rest of the time planning out this upcoming school year. That does involve a lot of reading, but mostly about different ideas and things we might use. I am reading SWB's History of the Ancient World in anticipation of making a history decision for DS for 9th grade. Hopefully that counts!

     

     

    Ask an Icelander for the one book that defines the country and its people and I suspect that many would say Independent People by Halldór Laxness.  This book was on the recommended reading list for our I hiking trip to Iceland; one of our guides, a retired librarian and intrepid hiker, encouraged all to read the book.  I had not read it before the trip.  Several fellow travelers started the book but failed to finish.  Our guide said "Stick with it.  You will be rewarded." 

     

     

    Put a hold on this at the library. The excerpt is right up my alley and I still have Iceland at the top of my list to visit!

     

     

    Speaking of clunky, plot stopping writing...   I'm just not feeling the love for Artemis, Andy Weir's follow up to The Martian.  I'm almost done, but there is far, far too much science and technology detail taking up pages in the big climatic event. The plot had picked up and become interesting again, but all this exacting detail just derailed it. I'll likely skim through to the end. 

     

    I didn't even know there was a follow up, but had I known I probably would have made an attempt but I think I'll skip it based on your review. I like science and technology just fine, but it has to be the right amount and the right placement. This sounds like neither, which is too bad because I really liked The Martian. 

    • Like 18

    All day at JFK... with four kids... multiple suitcases....

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by idnib

    I had to kill 9 hours once at Heathrow with an 18 month-old. Which is definitely easier than 4 kids, but it was after an 11-hour flight and before a 7-hour one. Ugh.

     

    Bring a read aloud. Find a place where you can watch planes take off and land, if possible. Pack a few surprise snacks or small toys (cheap new or used, but new to the kids) that you can pull out at strategic times. A deck of cards is useful. Make sure you can re-charge batteries. While books bought at the airport are not as cheap as used, at least the price is on the cover so it's not 3x expensive like other airport things are. The two oldest kids can go explore stores and gates on their own as long as you remind them not to go out of secure areas. (Show them the exit to baggage claim.) Spend a lot of time at the play area.

     

    The Airspace Lounge is $25/person instead of $50. Description: Entry fees start at just $25 and no membership or long-term commitment is required. Entry includes complimentary espresso, cappuccino, Peet's Coffee and Tea, soft drinks, small snacks and fruit, printing and scanning, use of house computers, Wi-Fi, use of private restrooms and shower facilities, plus a $10 credit to purchase items from Airspace’s premium menu including alcoholic beverages.

     

     ETA: That was a cut and paste, I know you don't drink alcoholic beverages.  :laugh:

     

    • Like 3

    Fermentation Experimentation

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I've made the carrots with both fried and fresh oregano. I think if would pick fresh if I had both.

     

    I bet you can get away with the wet ginger if it's not preserved. But I think the oregano is sounding better to me.

     

    I went through a phase of adding fresh dill to all my ferments and I later regretted it as their flavor profiles were too similar.

    Toxic Relative (a rant)

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    But, my mother takes the cake. She has always been awful. She pitted her children against each other, was never satisfied with any of her kid's accomplishments, and told at least two of her kids (separately) that we were her "biggest disappointment."

     

    You had no choice growing up but to be exposed to her, but you have a choice whether your kids are, and if they will suffer the same damage. They're not going to feel any better about her than you do. And I agree they deserve better and I'm sorry.

     

    :grouphug:

    • Like 11
×
×
  • Create New...