Im certainly not done with Daredevil, Im just a little underwhelmed. Doesnt anyone else think the whole Frank Castle thing is stupid? Doesnt anyone else think that someone would figure out that the FBI Director wants them to kill each other? Doesnt anyone else wonder why these prisoners can just wander around with no supervision whatsoever (another part of the FBI Directors evil plan, I suppose)? No? Okay. Im on board for the next three issues, but Brubaker better pull it together.
As for Desolation Jones, Im sticking by my opinion that the last issue was shit. Someday Ill break it down further, but not now.
Am I insane? Should I just shut up and stand in line for the comic book goodness that Brubaker and Ellis are dishing out?
1. Please remember to remind your child to complete his/her reading for book clubs. (See post below about needing juice and comments about reading.)
2. Keep working on those multiplication facts! We did not get a lot done last week with facts due to the early outs but will get back at it this week. Each 3B student needs to let me know when they are ready to be assessed as it is not a "whole class" activity each day.
3. We are finishing up our unit in science on Simple Machines by completing our Keynote presentation. Students will publish their Keynote soon on their student blogs. Stay tuned. We will then be moving back into Social Studies.
4. Our focus for literacy has been recognizing how prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of base words, sequencing, story elements/plot, and words with multiple meaning. These are the focus strategies and skills for our Lead 21 theme. Within our book clubs, groups focus on different strategies, including sequencing, character analysis and development, and connections as well as other strategies through their "reading tracks".
5. Book orders will be sent home this week. Please return them by the required date.
Hopefully the cold weather will warm up soon. Please remember to send necessary clothes for 3B students to go outside, even when it is chilly. We may get out one of these days!
We have finally, after six months of hard work, gotten our new fantasy RPG series to the point where we can announce it to the world. It will be Avadon: The Black Fortress.
You can now see the screenshots and first details of the story. In the nine months or so it will take to finish the game, we will also be putting monthly development diaries up. That will give nice little breaks from my ranting.
Hope it looks interesting, and well have a bunch more information soon.
Its a question I pose to myself every hour of every day. In weary tones, I roll out my usual self-consolations. I am building a sustainable career. I am singing more now. I am writing and rehearsing a lot. I shouldnt be ashamed of needing to earn money while I do it.
Sometimes this works. Some days I can just accept the inevitability of menial office work because I have such a clear understanding of why Im doing it.
Other days (like today) it does not.
I can feel my resilience ebb away as I am patronised and condescended to. The loss of self-esteem is not irrevocable, I know that, but it is enough to make hot tears of self-loathing bubble up and temporarily blur my ability to visualise a time when life will not be like this.
Yesterday I was wearing a red dress and I was singing. The sun shone as we played and then, in our breaks, lounged on the grass under the azure skies. In my capacity as a singer, as a musician, I felt happy. Natural.
Today, once again, I am sombre in black. I grudgingly do work I hate and feel the thrill of yesterday fade away. I am not natural here. I do not belong. I try to cajole myself out of my stupor by mentally compiling the set list for the gig on Wednesday, then focusing on what I would like to achieve from the rehearsal tomorrow night. Tonight I must finish off some lyrics and record some songs in preparation. I trudge through the repetitive, vacuous work and try think of places to sing, people to contact.
It doesnt help today. I am sucked back to the monotonous, grey world I inhabit against my will and the ache in my stomach returns. The ache grows from whatever passion it is that will not allow me to give up. It is a passion that can also turn sour and angry.
I resent my introspection, knowing it has no value. London is an expensive city, and I do not yet earn enough through music to properly be able to take part in its splendours. I can and do reason it out all the time, both to myself and to others.
Today, though, it doesnt work. I dont want to have to endure the sombre anymore. I hate it, and it hates me.
My energy ebbs, and I wait for my self-esteem to return.
Its Friday and No Quiz Instead Im Just Gonna Blog About Bikes
First of all, heres a self-serving reminder to get your limited edition bike-riding hat!
(If you have any comments about how you dont like the color or anything like that please direct them here and I can assure you well see to them immediately.)
I dont know how limited they are, but presumably theyre still available because I havent heard otherwise. Also, this discount code is good for 10% off until the end of the month:
BSNYC2787
So there you go.
Oh, also, while were talking about caps, I have some Yehuda Moon comic books at home:
Only 15 copies left of Vol 1. If youve thought of getting (or gifting) a set of Yehuda Moon books, now is the time! https://t.co/zU1mhgHk54 pic.twitter.com/ZzCW71d97j
— Yehuda Moon (@YehudaMoon) October 14, 2016
And the other day one of my seventeen (17) kids put on this cap with the brim over his face and said, "Look, Im that guy from the comic book!"
Thats how you know a kids growing up in a bike house, and hopefully when he grows up he can find a good shrink to help him undo all the damage.
In other news, the Wall Street Journals Jason Gay had the exclusive on Robin Williamss bicycle collection, which is now being auctioned:
When Robin Williams died, the world lost a great comedian, and the sport of professional cycling lost its only remaining fan.
In any case, if youre a bike dork (which, if youre reading this blog you are, sorry to break it to you) youll no doubt find his collection fascinating. It spans years, and Ive been totally nerding out on it. Indeed, you could start a museum with the mountain bikes alone:
Plus, if youre a recovering Fred like I am, youll find yourself nostalgic for bikes you once coveted. Hes got all the sweet team replica bikes from the EPO era, like this Bianchi:
Looks like it even has the embroidered Il Pirata saddle:
Id argue that this era represents the pinnacle of the road racing bicycle: pretty much everything was still made of metal (with the exception of the fork), the headsets were threadless but not integrated, the bottom brackets were threaded but not integrated, and the shifting was integrated. Its even got a square taper crank. I mean sure, its no Hollowtech II (which is and will always be the worlds greatest bottom bracket interface), but Ill take square taper over all this press-fit crap any day.
Oh yeah, and you didnt even have to charge anything.
Alas, its all been downhill from there. Have we really gained anything with the modern-day equivalent, apart from a bunch of batteries and proprietary fittings and a 100% price increase?
Id argue that we have not.
Sadly, I never owned that sweet Pantani replica, but I will admit I did own another team replica in the Robin Williams collection:
What can I say? I was blinded by lust for the crabon-accented Campagnolo Record group, as well as the then-still-kinda-edgy sloping top tube geometry. Sure, I could have done without all the Festina decals, but it turned out to be a non-issue as the frame cracked at the chainstay in less than a year.
(To their credit, Specialized promptly replaced it, but to their detriment they replaced it with an Allez frame with S-Works decals.)
And thats not the only bike Ive owned thats also represented in the Robin Williams collection--nor is it the most embarrassing. I also owned this monstrosity:
My excuse is one youll hear from many Freds, which is that its what our team was riding that year. Unlike the Festina bike, which at least looked pretty cool at the time, this piece of crap was ugly from Day 1. I could never come to terms with riding this thing, though I rode it anyway, and it wasnt long before the crabon top half of the frame started to separate from the aluminum bottom half of the frame at the head tube, complete with creaking sound. (A similar fate befell pretty much every one of these as I understand it.)
Specialized also replaced that frame for me, with this one, which to their credit was an actual full-crabon S-Works:
Note I moved the stupid Zertz seatpost over from the ungodly crab-O-luminum freak bike, only because I dont believe in putting metal posts in crabon frames (they seize, dontcha know, unless youre into torque wrenches and boutique assembly paste) and I wasnt about to buy a new one. This frame served me well for a number of seasons, until eventually I suspected maybe it was cracked:
Instead of verifying this I instead decided to end the cycle by stripping the bike of its parts and putting it in storage.
So if youre wondering why Im often dismissive of the hot new Fred bike technology, theres your answer.
But of course now weve entered a new era of Fred bikes. Now its all about #whatpressureyourunning, not to mention #whatwidthyourunning:
For years, the standard road bike tire size was 23mm. Thin, light and able to be pumped up to back-achingly high pressures, there was no need to experiment. Then science, endurance events, and gravel riding got in the mix. Science has now proven that wider tires actually have less rolling resistance than skinnier tires. Wider road tires provide a more forgiving ride and improve handling through a, you guessed it, wider contact patch that makes endurance riding safer, easier, and more accessible. Finally, gravel riding popularity brought on wider tires and the associated equipment to mute the bumps, take on the rocks, and provide some traction in the loose, dirt road conditions.
You know, this pisses me off. For years the bicycle industry has been telling us that the path to excellent ride quality and superior performance was expensive frame materials. And of these materials, ostensibly the best one was crabon fribé, since they could mold it into all sorts of stupid shapes and even put dumb little see-through inserts in it. (Like the ones you see above in my seatpost). Yet during this same period there was nary a mention of how tires affect ride quality, save from impassioned reviews about how this 23mm tire is more "supple" and "confidence-inspiring" than that 23mm tire.
So successful was this propaganda campaign that crabon fribé has pretty much completely taken over the Fred bike market--and only now that the takeover is complete and no Fred in their right mind would consider anything else are they telling Freds the truth, which is that its all about the tires, and fatter tires make for a better ride.
"Oh yeah, come on, SCIENCE says wider tires are better, where have you been?," says the bike review machine.
"Uh, reading your dumbass reviews of crabon bikes with skinny tires," say the Freds.
But its already too late for the poor Freds, who now think they need disc brakes to run the wider tires that are now de rigueur, even though they could have been riding on 28mm tires on their short-reach rim-brake Fred chariots all along. My plastic Specialized as pictured above took them happily, as does the Ritte on which I undertook my Brooks gravel extravaganza:
And to go even wider, all you need are some long- (or technically medium-) reach brakes like Ive got on my Milwaukee:
And I wont even mention cantilever brakes, which despite being powerful and offering lots of clearance are of course hopelessly out of style.
But no, there was nary a mention of medium-reach brakes until it was too late.
No, in order to run todays slightly-wider-than-23mm tires and slightly lower gearing youve got to buy a dedicated gravel bike with dick breaks and that thats it.
And there you go.
Not that I dont want bike shops to sell lots and lots of bikes or anything like that. And heres a bike shop owner whos also a mayor:
One day maybe well finally get a Fred or a Frederica into the White House. Then well all get a "pro deal" on our taxes.
I apologize (again) for my hiatus, and yes, maybe not on the blog only but everywhere else, facebook, twitter, pinterest... Lifes getting in the way, as usual, more than it ever was for both me and Fredy, my partner in babalisme. Put simply, things are not looking quite good, no, not with each other, it just happens that our own personal life (and health) are not going well. So, lets hope and pray for the best! I hope we can have more fun here real soon! Thank you for your understanding!
In an effort to support the importance/necessity of play for young children, Ive decided to use some of my favorite quotes on play and some of our playful moments in a post each Monday. Please feel free to list a link to your blog in the comments if you have some Just Play photos or a favorite quote of your own.
"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning."
Fred Rogers from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
"Play is a major avenue for learning to manage anxiety. It gives the child a safe space where she can experiment at will, suspending the rules and constraints of physical and social reality. In play, the child becomes master rather than subject. Play allows the child to transcend passivity and to become the active doer of what happens around her."
Alicia F Lieberman The Emotional Life of the Toddler
"In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself."
Just Admiring the Resort 09 Collections A Few Favourites
Even though the Resort collections are becoming more and more important, they dont seem to have the directional importance that greatly infleunce trends. But the clothes are usually also a lot more practical and relateable. So this year I actually looked through most of the collection on style.com and picked out my favourite outfits:
3.1 Phillip Lim
As usual, his collection is very loveable. Most of the clothes look so young, modern and perfect for people who have the parties to go to (and the money to spend.)
These day dresses are so cute. I love the colour combinations -of the jacket with the navy dress and of the light green dress with the dark green belt. Im really loving the long jacket with mini dress combination at the moment.
Phillip Lims cocktail dresses never disappoint. They look so customer-friendly and imagine if you had loads of events to attend about town, then the dresses look like theyll be suitable for so many dresses.
Nina Ricci
Everything is so delicate and so etheral looking (-maybe its just the models,) with a bit of edge.
Lanvin
The Lanvin collection was great to ooh and ahh over as usual, but theres a bit too much of eveningwear and expensive dresses to truly imagine them being worn by myself in real life. I love the loose-fitting, silk, white jacket with those large pockets (on the right.) Its so casual yet cool and luxurious at the same time.
There were a lot of sharp colours, as expected from Lanvin, although it seems to be the general trend for next year too, especially yellow and orange.
OK, this post is obviously not so much of a fashion analysis post and more of a ooh-this-is-so-pretty post. These clothes somehow look so much cooler and more modern than this seasons floral dresses.
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In the past year Ive done a lot of reading and thinking about young children and play. I think now days it takes a strong parent to feel secure in the fact that play is the most important thing their young child can do. In an effort to support the importance/necessity of play for young children, Ive decided to use some of my favorite quotes on play and some of our playful moments in a post each Monday. Please feel free to list a link to your blog in the comments if you have some Just Play photos or a favorite quote of your own.
"It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self.”~ D.W. Winnicott (British pediatrician)
**Please see below for a message from The Old Schoolhouse Store, plus see below for info about their online homeschool conference...Im really excited about it!**
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Homeschool teachers-what do you need to learn? More about teaching multiple grades? All about different homeschool methods? Transcripts? Are you ready for college prep or alternative college options? How are you doing teaching elementary grades? Could you use some help with reading, language arts, math, and more? Are you intimidated by the idea of teaching middle school and high school-those dreaded, advanced courses? Would some encouraging words and motivational Scripture help you on your way? Get answers when you attend The Schoolhouse Expo, presented by The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse® Speakers Bureau. Preregister today for only $19.99, or register April 1 or later for $24.99. But DO register. You do not want to miss this unbelievable, virtual homeschool convention! Check out the over $300 in free gifts when you register!
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In our Easter Clothes! This is only the 2nd family portrait that weve had made since that little one came into the family. The bad thing about this fact is that the first Family Portrait with all 4 of us was done just this past Christmas! Yikes!
Family Portrait
On the knitting front - Ive completed Branching Out (see it at our Branching Out KAL!) Ive started another in the same colorway for either my SIL or my MIL - not sure yet!
.jpg)
These day dresses are so cute. I love the colour combinations -of the jacket with the navy dress and of the light green dress with the dark green belt. Im really loving the long jacket with mini dress combination at the moment..jpg)
Phillip Lims cocktail dresses never disappoint. They look so customer-friendly and imagine if you had loads of events to attend about town, then the dresses look like theyll be suitable for so many dresses.
Everything is so delicate and so etheral looking (-maybe its just the models,) with a bit of edge. .jpg)
The Lanvin collection was great to ooh and ahh over as usual, but theres a bit too much of eveningwear and expensive dresses to truly imagine them being worn by myself in real life. I love the loose-fitting, silk, white jacket with those large pockets (on the right.) Its so casual yet cool and luxurious at the same time..jpg)
There were a lot of sharp colours, as expected from Lanvin, although it seems to be the general trend for next year too, especially yellow and orange.
