Saturday, November 29, 2008
Eliana’s crowning achievement
Christmas theme 2008
Thought I would spruce the place up with a simple yet special design for the Christmas season.
{extended}Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Review: Oracle Bones
Oracle Bones
By: Peter Hessler
I read Peter Hessler’s first book,
River Town, and enjoyed it so much that I immediately brought his second book, Oracle Bones. While I enjoyed the many separate stories interspersed throughout the book, it also caused a disjointed feeling at times and made the book somewhat difficult to read and follow.
The main topic of the book and its loosely connecting feature is the study of oracle bones. These pieces of bone and shell contain some of China’s earliest written language. Peter Hessler also examines the lives and work of several individuals who studied the oracle bones. He goes back and forth between archeology; the Cultural Revolution and how it affected the oracle bone scholars; the life of Polat, a Uighur middleman in Yabaolu, who eventually travels to the United States and seeks political asylum and the lives of four of his former students. In reading I received wide insight into the lives of individuals during the Cultural Revolution as well as the lives of modern young adults in the People’s Republic of China.
Peter Hessler was witness to China during several key international incidents that involved the United States and/or China. The first being the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium by the United States and the second being the United States spy plain that was forced to land on Hainan Island. He was also witness to the reaction of people in China to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. I got a real sense of how modern adults in the People’s Republic of China view the United States through the way they reacted to these three incidents and the questions and comments they had for the author knowing he was from the United States.
I feel these reactions are a key to a better understanding of current relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of the People’s Republic of China and how its people view the United States.
{extended}Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Christmas parade 2008
Today was our town’s annual Christmas parade.
Floats and bands lined up along mom’s street in preparation for the start of the parade. Eliana, Karys and a friend enjoyed sitting on the front steps and watching all the activity.
Once it was over, mom used a hair dryer to warm Eliana’s hands ‘cause baby it was c-o-l-d outside!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thanksgiving at preschool
The teachers at Karys’ preschool laid out quite the spread today for their annual Thanksgiving meal. Parents were invited to come and eat with their children so I was able to visit with Karys for the very first time.
Before eating, each class gave a small presentation of songs they had learned. Here is our little squaw following her performance.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Determined to find a way
We told Eliana some time ago that she and Karys would not travel with us to China when we go to pick up their brother. Finances is the big reason (of course) but there are others. Needless to say, Eliana wants desperately to go.
Tonight we went out to eat after church with our Youth and Children’s Pastor’s family. Their middle child, a daughter who is 3 years older than Eliana, rode with us.
When we arrived at the restaurant, I heard their daughter tell Eliana that she was saving up her money for a Nintendo DS. Eliana replied that she is saving up her money so she can go to China.
The child is determined to find a way.
{extended}Thursday, November 20, 2008
Just as we suspected
I left work at 4:00 today and took Karys to her pediatrician. Karys wasn’t scratching or complaining of any pain but the bumpy areas on her body were redder than yesterday and she wouldn’t be allowed back into preschool without a doctor’s note. So off we went.
As soon as the doctor walked in, she confirmed what Carmi and I suspected all along. She said Karys had classic symptoms of a reaction to the antibiotic. Give her a few days, the docs said, and she should clear right up.
{extended}Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Hives anyone?
A friend called from preschool just before lunch today and said that Karys had suddenly broken out with a red, bumpy rash all over her body. I’m talkin’...the children sat down to eat and Karys was fine but a few minutes later she was covered from head to toe.
My first thought was that she was having an allergic reaction to ‘something’. But what?
Carmi called me a little later. She had been doing some research on the internet and felt like it was most likely ‘hives’. Karys was probably having a reaction to the antiobiotics we’ve been feeding her for the last week for an ear infection.
Fortunately Karys finished off the antibiotics last night so we’ll give her a day or two and see if the rash goes away. At least she’s not scratching.
{extended}Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases
How many of these are you guilty of?
Heading the list was the expression ‘at the end of the day’, which was followed in second place by the phrase ‘fairly unique’.
The tautological statement “I personally” made third place – an expression that BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys has described as “the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice.”
Also making the top 10 is the grammatically incorrect “shouldn’t of”, instead of “shouldn’t have”.
The phrases appear in a book called Damp Squid, named after the mistake of confusing a squid with a squib, a type of firework.
The researchers who compiled the list monitor the use of phrases in a database called the Oxford University Corpus, which comprises books, papers, magazines, broadcast, the internet and other sources.
The database alerts them to new words and phrases and can tell them which expressions are disappearing. It also shows how words are being misused.
As well as the above expressions, the book’s author Jeremy Butterfield says that many annoyingly over-used expressions actually began as office lingo, such as 24/7 and “synergy”.
Other phrases to irritate people are “literally” and “ironically”, when they are used out of context.
Mr Butterfield said: “We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often – an anecdote, a joke, a mannerism – and the same seems to happen with some language.”
The top ten most irritating phrases:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It’s a nightmare
8 - Shouldn’t of
9 - 24/7
10 - It’s not rocket science
[source]
{extended}Monday, November 17, 2008
Reading time
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Happy 22nd Anniversary
Thursday, November 13, 2008
You a sweet daddy
I came home from work this afternoon and Karys, as is usually the case, greeted me at the door with a, “Well hello!”
She followed me around the house making (a lot of ) small talk. When I finally slowed down for a second, she said, “I miss you today.”
“You did?? I’m glad.”
“Did you miss me?”, she inquired.
“I sure did. I always miss my Karys.”
“Awww. You a sweet daddy.”
{extended}Monday, November 10, 2008
My girls
Oh yeah. You gotta know these are MY girls.
How sad
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Fun in the autumn sun
It was an absolutely gorgeous day to get out and play with the kiddos.
