[blogfocus saturday] around the pond

Like a jacket sleeve from Jackson Browne or a painting by Magritte, this picture from Ms Zaftig starts us off:

1 Ruthie's currently in the middle of those bitter-sweet moments. Will she travel with him? Will she not? Tune in and find out:

This is the first time in my life I've ever felt completely unworthy of a man who is interested in me.

If you've ever read The Diary of Anne Frank, you probably remember Anne's conversation with her sister Margot about Anne's relationship with Peter. Margot says something along the lines of, "I could never be with him... I need a man who is my intellectual superior."

This is the first time I've ever found that, and now he's leaving in five weeks... I'm trying to come to terms with that.

2 Notsaussure has some words of wisdom to say on the education question:

My late mother, as it happens, did know, from her career, a fair bit about the teaching of reading; her take on the matter always seemed to me pretty sensible.

Different methods and reading schemes, she reckoned, all have their strengths and weaknesses and all, in practice, do the job pretty well for most children.

What’s important, she always said, is to have a good teacher who, first, actually understands the principles and practice behind the scheme she’s using and, second, has the expertise and insight to spot when an individual child is having difficulties and then both to identify the difficulties and decide on how best to help that particular child overcome those particular problems.

3 Matt, who considers Ohio the crossroads of America*, is not complaining, truly:

Note: This post is reflective, not complaining. If I was complaining, it would be much more obvious.

Well, here I am. It's 10:06 p.m. and I'm sitting in my room, alone. I barely see my roommate which is a good thing in my opinion. I have nothing against the guy, it's just I would have preferred not to have a roommate.

So, my daily grind of one two hour ten minute class and one meal will continue tomorrow.

What is it that attracts us all to Maymester? Is it the idea of completing a sixteen week class in a painful four weeks (especially considering this is my first 400 level class at Purdue)?

4 Bag touches on the vital issue of local election results. Hold onto your seats. Here we go:

Local Rag came through today. It has the election results and an analysis. It seems some of the other wards had additional boxes. One guy who was kicked out of office says it was due to the War. He said 'It was unfair because I'm only a local councillor'. I think he meant 'was'. I was nearly in tears but managed to hold on. Anyway that ward must have had a box that said 'Tory but I would have voted Labour if it was not for the War' Strange it was missing off ours. Seems it was nothing to do with their policies. That's OK then.

5 Cassandra is unique in the manner of her writing but she wields a pen with style and substance:

I may be one of a dying breed: call me peculiar, but I like to form an independent opinion, based on fullness of information, on my own - thank you very much!

Considering the postmodern press is doing our thinking for us by predigesting and preselecting the news as they see fit, I might as well open up a independent press agency here and make a day-job out of screening their omissions and censoring. I fear however I am already otherwise engaged.

I do however intend to nail Orwell's Infernal Journalism to the doorpost of hell whenever the opportunity presents itself!

6 Ellee posts on an issue close to many of our hearts:

Private Members’ Bills are debated on Fridays when most MPs spend the day in their constituencies. Surely this demonstrates that urgent matters like this should be heard mid-week.

Five years ago, the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons recommended that they should review Private Members’ Bills, including the possibility of whether they could be transferred to another slot in the week which might be more convenient for MPs.

It’s a shame that so few turned up to debate this important issue. I believe our elected Members should have nothing to hide (unless for reasons of national security), they should work openly and transparently.

7 I'm still trying to work out what or who Moggy is and what she/he/it does but one thing I know - it's an intriguing site and her color-diet even more intriguing:

If you're following along then you know that I came up with a fun color wheel diet plan. I got suggestions for "Brown" like whiskey and beans and maple syrup, but then I realized that with a little deep fryer I can have just about anything on Brown day ;-)

Today our work group is going to play miniature golf and so with that workout coming up, I will probably want to eat a lot so I will have lots of energy ;-)

8 UKDP explains the nein-iron in golf:

German golfers are celebrating this weekend after a Bristol golf course repealed a rule introduced in 1919 which barred Germans and Austrians from the course. Existing members have been asked not to mention the four.

Guthrum the Old still hasn't been forgotten. It's just that, at his age, he's a little slow coming up the stairs. He'll be here Tuesday. Meanwhile, enjoy this and this.

I see Lord Nazh in the distance as well.

See you Tuesday?

* A correspondent has informed me that ""The Crossroads of America" is Indiana's state motto, not Ohio's". Buckeye is apparently correct though. Sorry!