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Zelda

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Everything posted by Zelda

  1. Zelda
    Entirely up to the business and I support their decision either way. They are a private enterprise and should do as they please within the law.
  2. Zelda
    These were pretty much my thoughts. I didn't care for the overall tone of the article starting with the idea that the 3yo didn't want to say his own name and the suggestion that it might be because he didn't like it. Whatever. My kids have fairly reasonable names and often would not say them when prompted at that age. I seriously doubt that a 3yo has been able to absorb the full impact of his name or its historical implications. I find the viewpoint of the parents to be disgusting but in the absence of obvious abuse (the psychologist's strange assertions to the contrary aside) what laws are they violating? I think you could plug in some home school reference for every white power reference in the article, print it alongside a picture of a child named, "William Shakespeare Jones" or "Martin Luther Stevenson", or any name that might fulfill a home school stereotype and get tons of people agreeing that the parents were perpetrating some kind of abuse on the children. Just my initial reaction to the article.
  3. Zelda
    A few of the items mentioned are lovely but have essential oils in them that could be irritating to the paper thin skin of a very elderly woman (anything citrus for starters). L'Occitane is very nice and the shea butter line seems to have less irritants than the more scented (albeit gloriously scented) ones. :grouphug: My great-grand will be 99 this week also.
  4. Zelda
    :001_huh: :lol: I do! I love Clarice Bean and super-love Charlie and Lola. How could you not? It might help that I'm not especially attached to any particular edition of Anne.
  5. Zelda
    I've been mulling over this one and I usually land on the side of the traditionalists but I have to say that this time I don't. While I tend to prefer the classic illustration that I associate with the book there isn't anything sacrosanct about it. It doesn't alter the contents of the book at all. I notice that Puffin recently reworked some of their covers and I found the illustrations charming. Lucy Childs, whose work I enjoy, illustrated the cover of, "Anne of Green Gables" and I grabbed it. And I shocked myself recently by falling in love with a copy of, "Alice in Wonderland", illustrated by Alison Jay instead of John Tenniel. Understand that this is my favorite book and Tenniel's are some of my favorite illustrations ever. Thanks for the info about the, "Little House", illustrations. I had no idea and will be on the look out for a copy.
  6. Zelda
    There aren't any creams that can reverse dark circles or lines. If there was one, you'd already know about it. Any moisturizer can minimize the appearance of these problems temporarily and certainly there are antioxidants that seem to slow the process but that's the most you can really hope for. I use a serum loaded with antioxidants and a moisturizer loaded with antioxidants and use them together. It doesn't have to be specifically for the eye area but sometimes those are creamier. They also cost more for no good reason.
  7. Zelda
    Fantastic list!
  8. Zelda
    Log cabin in a pastoral setting then quick to a wide angle pan of the prarie. Slowly a band of armed robots from the future stealthily emerges from tall grass. Cut to black. Bold words flash one at a time on the screen. "LITTLE" "HOUSE" "ON" "THE" "PRARIE" Back to log cabin. Deep, booming voice-over, "Little House, Big Adventure. Coming soon to a theatre near you." Is that why?
  9. Zelda
    Agree. My older dd isn't the voracious reader that I thought she'd be and I was distressed about that. She seemed to only like things like "Goosebumps" and "Junie B. Jones". I was still of the as-long-as-they're-reading-mindset, pre-WTM. Post-WTM I started picking what we read more carefully and guided her free-reading too.
  10. Zelda
    We have a lot of Barbies. I don't find her objectionable. Bratz make my blood boil. But there was a time when my dd was obsessed with them. I mean, obesessed. She was about 4 and going through a very intense control thing. She's the first born daughter of a first born daughter of a first born daughter so I know this could be a theme of our relationship. I finally decided to try a new tactic and I let her have one of the more innocuous Baby Bratz mini-dolls from Grandma (so as not to subvert my own authority by buying it on my own...I only had to put on a show of reluctant agreement). I held my breath and was relieved when it worked. She got over Bratz. Put it down after a few days and rarely revisited it. Five years later, she agrees that they are gross. It was a gamble that paid off that once.
  11. Zelda
    Okay. I guess I must have misinterpreted. Extreme jingoism is certainly not my thing. Neither do I think other cultures have little to offer. I do however, live in an area where attacks against American culture are the status quo and anti-American sentiment is high and it does tend to put your back up against the wall. :glare: Thanks for the nice comments. I haven't heard from Stacy so I'm guessing she talked to the last person foolish enough to marry me and changed her mind. :001_smile: I want to pinch your baby. I am a cute baby pincher.
  12. Zelda
    These were not simply comments about other countries. They were comparisons that implied that Americans lack family values and, I don't know, decorating skills? I'm not going to discuss the difference between hyperbolic sarcasm and being literal. According to your article, the US birth rate drops to "suicidal French levels" if there is ZERO immigration. And the U.S. doesn't really have a problem with not enough immigration yet so I wouldn't sweat it.
  13. Zelda
    You brought up European family values. I'm pointing out that they aren't quite as rosy and charming as you depict. Your anecdotal evidence aside. When you say that Europeans do things one way and that Americans do things another, less desirable way you are indeed assigning a set of values to Americans. According to you we live in either cookie-cutter mini-mansions or trailers with cars on blocks in the yard while Europe has nothing but charming cottages festooned with loveliness. Pish. Posh. When you say that Europeans do things differently than we do by caring for their families then you are assigning the reverse value to Americans. But since you played your military wife trump card I guess I have to fold my hand now. Is there a wry face smiley?
  14. Zelda
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401340.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/magazine/29Birth-t.html Its funny that the tidy, manicured lawns of the "character-free" suburbs of the U.S. are as frequently maligned as the garbage strewn lawns of the less kempt neighborhoods. You can't win for losing. A quick google image search of "poverty Europe" yields interesting results. I don't believe that America is perfect and I have yet to meet anyone that does. It amazes me when I'm told that such people exist. I've lived in 3 different regions of the United States from Vermont to California in a mixture of political and socio-economic circumstances and I have yet to meet the person that has no criticisms of some aspect of America. I disagree with your approach here and your overbroad classifications of American values.
  15. Zelda
    And then the children pour into the streets to join hands with their voices raised in song. Oh wait, no they don't, no one in Europe is having children anymore. The enlightened family model is not having a family, which, I agree, does simplify that issue quite a lot. Small town America is doing fine and never worried about what Europeans thought of them even back when they were all 1st generation Europeans. Its what makes small towns so ding danged refreshing.
  16. Zelda
    :thumbup1:
  17. Zelda
    :lol: Well, I didn't tell you what I tell my kids. When they ask me I tell them that its a very bad thing, dirty and wicked and it is never to be spoken of or thought of or looked at. If they challenge me I just say, "Hey, look it up in the dictionary. You'll see its not there. Don't you think there's a reason?"
  18. Zelda
    We know you already did. :001_smile: I was thinking though, that if my child who is old enough to read, asked me what it was, I wouldn't tell them to go look it up. I'd probably tell them myself.
  19. Zelda
    Just generally? Or are we still talking dictionaries?
  20. Zelda
    No, I think I must have misspoken. I'm a flag waver for the US b/c of my experiences with other countries.
  21. Zelda
    :lurk5: I am enjoying the parsing of words in the responses to your question so far. I haven't lived in another country since I was a baby but I have enough ties to that country and lived close enough to Canada to be a dedicated flag waver because of those experiences.
  22. Zelda
    *Hides her copy of Webstar's New American Dictionary: Now With Less Pen!s* I've never thought to check my dictionary to see if that word is in there.
  23. Zelda
    Gah! How about Los Gatos? http://local.yahoo.com/info-45483825-phan-patricia-c-dds-los-gatos-family-dentistry-los-gatos
  24. Zelda
    You do? Protecting your children is certainly honorable and I never suggested doing anything unethical or dishonorable or illegal. Selfish in the sense that you are looking out for yourself/your interests? Yes, absolutely. Caring about yourself and making sure you have a solid foundation at home before overextending yourself to prove your largesse, as an individual or a nation, isn't admirable or honorable. Words like humanitarian give me hives.
  25. Zelda
    Welcome to the club you didn't want to join but will soon find out is not as bad as you'd think. The more you read the more hopeful you will feel. Tony Atwood has already been mentioned and for good reason. :grouphug: and know you are not alone.
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