My Covid Followup
Since my post a few weeks ago about my family contracting COVID (and the disturbing revelation that negative Covid PCR tests are wrong at least 20% of the time), a lot of people have asked me what it was like to have COVID as a doubly vaccinated 50-year-old. Here's my best attempt at putting it into words:
Why Mystery Snails Make Great Pets
If you have children, then your children probably want a pet. If you don’t want the added responsibility of a dog, cat, or other fuzzy animal but your kid(s) won’t let it go, I urge you to get them a mystery snail. All you need is ~$3 and the info in this article.
On Forgiveness
Support Whistle Blowers: I used to harshly judge people who, after having knowingly enriched themselves in an unethical system, call out that system and try to lock the door behind them - hypocrites! But they are far better than the alternative majority, who knowingly enrich themselves in the same unethical system and wholeheartedly support it.
First Day of School
My dreams have been ridiculously stressful as my son’s first day of middle school - and first day of school post Covid - approaches. After the bittersweet drop off, my dreams suddenly make sense. Hindsight truly is 20/20 - sometimes immediately so.
Guns
I felt the same way when I first heard Coldplay's Guns that I did when I first read Jonathon Swift's Modest Proposal. Even the most obvious and entertaining presentation of the truth won't change people's minds; but it can instigate and perpetuate the discussion until it leads to action.
Berkeley Springs and the Paw Paw Tunnel: A Worthwhile and Affordable Weekend Getaway
June 20 was my husband’s and my 23rd wedding anniversary; so last Friday my mother came to stay with the kids, and we went to The Country Inn of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, for the weekend. It was the first time we’d been alone for more than just a walk around the block since before the Covid quarantine started over a year ago, and the first time we’d gone away alone together for more than a night in years; so it would have to be horrible to be a disappointment. But our trip was filled with unexpected history and culture.
N.C. Bill Hinders Local Tree Protection Ordinances, Underscores Need to End Gerrymandering
A couple weeks ago, our tree maintenance company requested that we contact our state legislators to oppose a NC bill requiring localities to receive state approval for future (and many existing) tree protection requirements. For decades, the state-created NC Forest Service has encouraged and assisted local governments in Developing Tree Protection Ordinances. NC State and other NC Universities have also gone to great lengths to educate local governments and the public about the importance and ways to develop tree protection ordinances. And now the Republican-majority NC General Assembly is setting itself up to negate these same local tree protection ordinances.
Is Berklee Worth it? Weighing College Options for Child #2
We are still waiting for my son’s financial package from Berklee, but our online research indicates that it will cost >4 times what UNC-Asheville has offered him. We know UNC-A is a great value. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked it the seventh-best public liberal arts university in the United States, Forbes magazine ranked it #21 in the country for "Best College Value", and the Princeton Review ranked it within the top 13% of America's four-year colleges…
Judy Garland's Ever Elusive Rainbow
Judy Garland first recorded “Over the Rainbow” for The Wizard of Oz with MGM on October 7, 1938. Since then, the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts ranked the song number one on the “Songs of the Century” list, and the American Film Institute named it the greatest movie song of all time on the list of “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs.” Somewhere Over the Rainbow was adopted in World War II by American troops in Europe as a symbol of the United States…
Remembering Mr. Hammond
My #ThemeSong today, once again, is Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes. It's one of my all-time favorites, and today the chorus calls to mind the life of SamHammond, long-time carillonneur at Duke University (53 years, daily(!)) and generous accompanist for Duke University String School (local elementary through high-school students, many on scholarship), who passed away recently. …
Eulogy for My 2014 MacBook Air
Yesterday, like a sign from the Universe, I accidentally killed my MacBook Air. I felt the urge to be with my 7-year-old computer as it died there on the table. The software was still working like nothing had happened, but the hardware was clearly taking its last breaths. To pass the time, I logged into my blog and began typing the following eulogy to my old inanimate friend. …
What Exactly Do I Stand For
In April, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency calculated that fifty-five percent of monitored waterways in the United States are impaired by pollution, meaning they are too polluted for healthy recreation, public drinking water and subsistence fishing. Twenty-five percent of the nation’s beaches are under advisories or closed at least once per year due to water pollution.
When Your Relationship Is “Irrationally” Falling Apart...
I know so many relationships that have broken up this year – the Covid pandemic and the election have put tremendous stress on every one of us, and many previously ignorable concerns are bubbling to the surface as a result. My marriage has not been immune, which prompted me...
Sustainably 'Wrapping' Your Christmas Presents
Here's a great way to get rid of some stuff that’s accumulated in your house, while saving money and reducing your contribution to the 2020 load of Xmas wrapping paper that will soon be stuffing our landfills. It’s also a great craft project for kids of all ages, and you don't have to worry about what to do with your creations once they're finished…
Visit Pilot Mountain. Stay at Jomeokee Campground (even if it's just for the day).
Jomeokee Campground in Pinnacle, NC, is one of the most beautiful places I have ever spent the night (and I have camped throughout the US, Australia, and New Zealand). I encourage you to visit and camp (if you are up for it), particularly during the week when you may have the entire grounds to yourselves.
The Ironic Story Behind My Sweet Bessie Van
Eight to ten years ago, back when I lived in a South Durham Home Owner's Association (HOA), my neighbor across the street complained about the chalk drawings on our driveway, then my Obama signs, then our vegetable garden - all of which resulted in violation letters and my presence before the HOA board of directors to defend my actions…
Teaching Density to Elementary Students: Lesson Plans for Building Lava Lamps Using Materials Found at Home
The craft-store franchise AC Moore went out of business just before the Covid Quarantine was imposed. One of the prizes among the windfall we brought home was a do-it-yourself lava lamp kit. My son followed the first of several recipes provided with the kit and, with the help of his teenage brother, created a lava lamp that garnered the admiration of everyone in the family that evening. What follows is how we constructed more lava lamps using stuff we already had in our kitchen…
Society Rewards Psychopaths
Psychopaths make up about 1 percent of the general population (sociopaths make up3-4%), yet at least 1 in 5 CEO’s are clinically psychopaths. Sadder still, the same proportion (~20%) of prison inmates are diagnosed as psychopaths…
How much is enough when it comes to animal medical care?
When my son and I got home, he found Kale laying in his comfy chair behind the house. I picked him up gently and held him on his back like a baby, like we always do. A circle of hair on his lower belly had been licked clean and among the wet curlicues was an open rip in the skin. The wound was clearly deep. I could see the rippling tissue moving like a clam underneath…
My Video Game Addiction (Part 1)
Do you or anyone in your family play Plants versus Zombies on Xbox? If not, keep reading. If so, I have a couple questions for ya: Do you prefer to play as Plants or as Zombies? And which character is your favorite? Why am I asking you these questions? Because I am a PvZ addict…