I think I got a 31, but I'm not sure. I took it a couple of days ago when this thread started and now I can't remember. Anyway, I made it. I would not have made it when I was at the age range for the competition, that's for sure. Preliminaries: Wednesday 8:00a EDT and 1:15p EDT, ESPN3 Semifinals: Thursday 10:00a EDT, ESPN2 Finals: Thursday 8:00p EDT, ESPN

Now I'm a bit sad, knowing I could have seen one of the sovereign folk in the wild. Maybe next year.

Were you in Felton? I think that was this weekend. We wanted to go but I was too tired.

:svengo:

Alice, who knew lots of things way back in 2007, for example that it was 4 out of 5 girls, said Josh got up in front of the church and confessed. In a way I hope that's not true because how could so many people go along with that for so long? And how could he ever think it wouldn't come out? On the other hand, it would lend credence to the idea that he hasn't been hiding it until he was caught. I don't know.

Sigh.... Yes, the moment one of my family members burns the toast, I'll hold it against them for the rest of their life. Luckily, I have an absolutely perfect husband and my children never err, so it all worked out. I honestly think the order is Jim Bob, Josh, then Michelle. The show may not be edited that way (never watched) but I think their long-term plan revolved around Josh. You're racking 'em up, I see.

Sorry, quoting myself. I signed up and it seems to work fine. I'm watching ESPN and we plan to watch the bee! I had forgotten how annoying commercials are. :glare: I'll give it a real test tonight during the NBA western conference final. Everyone here is going nuts about that so it should be a good test of the bandwidth and buffering. I'm happy to be at the bee in spirit!

Ok, I did some research. It turns out ESPN announced Sling in January of this year. It's a legit service, not an illegal virus-laden site, for watching selected channels without a TV, including ESPN and ESPN2. It doesn't appear to have ESPN3. Cost is $20/month, first 7 days free. You can add HBO (sorry, not related to this thread!) for $15/month. Here are some packages. I'm going to sign up and I'll report back on how well it works. Hopefully not too much of the bee will be on ESPN3. P.S. I looked into "adult swim", one of the listed channels, due to the name. It's a cartoon. I don't know enough to know if it's okay for children, but it's not what it sounds like. :)

There's a difference between being narcissistic (adjective) and having Narcissistic Personality Disorder. While I'm not willing to say your mom has NPD, I am willing to use the adjective. It's not just that she got upset, but her use of "vindictive" to describe what you did. :grouphug:

Anyone know if people can watch if they don't have a TV or cable?

:confused1:

I do agree with you that he should have kept out of the public eye, but I'm not sure this info came out simply because he went into politics. I think someone had an eye on the dates when this info could be released and he was already in the public eye as a result of the show, and the content of the show is offensive to many. Do you think it would have come out anyway, just because they are on the show and how they portray themselves? I do.

Can you post the opposing page link again? I can't find it. Yes, I am embarrassed to be asking.

Still praying for healing and for your specific requests. I remember you talking about all his physical activities. His heart is so strong!

If you're looking for a place to stay in Custer, check out the Shady Rest. It's run by a husband and wife team who homeschool their 4 children. They live behind the office. The kids enjoyed having someone to play with after 10 days of travel without any other kids. The other thing I liked about it was that it was two blocks off the main strip, which made it much quieter. You can easily walk from there to downtown. It's close to the Mickelson trail too, maybe 1-2 blocks away. It's a bit funky, but I liked being off the main strip and the price was better than the other hotels. And the people who unit are super sweet and hard working. The dad (John?) is quite helpful about things to see and do. He's the one who told us we had just missed the Volkswalk.

I'm reading The Waste Land and Four Quartets in June. Have you seen this very cool (but expensive) app? I'm thinking about buying it.

I'm not sure. It's been a long time. I do remember people like the tunnels and the trail runs through several towns including Custer and Hill City. I think Hill City is considered the best place to get on the trail. I would ask around when you get there. The locals are very friendly.

Agreed. I'm not familiar with the foster system. Don't kids age out at 18? I'm wondering if the older ones might come back after they age out. I mean, one of them is 17 and has almost no academic education. Between now and his 18th birthday, will he really be able to get the skills to go to school or get a job and forge a bond with a new family? Isn't the next oldest 16? Maybe they will, but I'm thinking there won't be enough time between now and when they are legal adults for them to move on. The younger kids are more likely to forge bonds and all that. If the older ones age out, will CPS still help them get documents and such, or are they on their own, even if they desire help?

I was browsing and saw this thread while eating asparagus so I'm going with that. Quick and easy—no cutting except the ends, no peeling, just sauté or oven roast and done.

Check out the Mickelson Trail. It's quite long and is a converted railway track (part of the Rails to Trails project). Black Hills are also has a good Volkssport group that does a lot of walking. The walks are open the the public. I think they might have a few walks where the public is not allowed to go, meaning they have special permission so you can see things others can't. You'd have to call and ask. When we visited our hotel proprietor mentioned we had just missed some walk and that was too bad; they had permission to see something unusual.

This is a good place to read Chesterton mysteries.

I finished Inferno, having read it before in high school but not remembering much of that reading. I get so much more out of books now. When I was 17, some of the things I would have regarded as facts I needed to remember for a paper I would have to write. Now, with no paper looming and more living behind me, I feel the tragedy and fear more deeply. One of the things I really loved was how much art has been inspired by Commedia. Amazing pieces of art, especially by Gustav Dore´ and Dali. Looking at the art was my favorite part of the reading. I normally don't like to look at depictions while I read because they are different from what I'm imagining, but Dore´was exactly what I was thinking. Here's his (public domain) depiction of the forest at the beginning of the book: The main thing I didn't enjoy about the book were all the references to local Italian politics. Dante placed a lot of people with whom he didn't agree into Hell. Many of them were local Florentine people who would have been know to readers at the time, and I'm sure with research I could read more about who they were and why they were included, but I didn't care, nor did I have the time. Thank you for suggesting the Mandelbaum translation. Some of the language really was beautiful. I loved Dante's addresses directly to the reader and his similes and metaphors:

Continuing to pray for you son's healing. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: