Draped to the Ankles

Meanwhile, Back at the Atelier...

I feel the need to post on art history. Anything on art history. As it happens, DS and I just finished a very cool 3D puzzle.

St. Peter's Basilica

I had DS write a short paper on it, but since he didn't save the file (grrr) I'll just give some links to a few decent sites.
Catholic Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
Tour of St.Peter's
EWTN

And speaking of Michelangelo, there's this article about a newly found fresco by him.

Coyotes

This month's Smthsonian Magazine has a short article about coyotes (you'll have to find a hard copy to read it). When we first moved to El Paso, we lived in an apartment complex on Franklin Mountain. On summer nights, you could hear the coyotes yipping it up out there. Since then, I've moved away from the mountain, and there has been a lot of developing going on. A lot of what my son and I used to call the "desert" is now apartments. It's very sad.

I had thought the coyotes would be displaced, but it seems that coyotes are a much heartier species than everyone thought. They have been seen in downtown Chicago and New York! They have learned how to survive in the city and their population is growing by leaps and bounds. On one hand, this is good, because they keep the rodent population down. On the other hand, it's a lot like having bands of wild dogs roaming your neighborhood. So far, they have fatally injured one small child, and they have bitten people trying to defend their pets.

So I guess I'll keep my eye out for them. Maybe they'll adapt down here, too, and I'll see them (or hear them) some night.

Carnival of Homeschooling

My first carnival! Whee! Carnival Of Homeschooling, Week 8 is up over at Home Education and Other Stuff, my favorite source for homeschooling news. Go over there and check it out.

It's Easy When You Know the Answers

You scored as SG-1 (Stargate). You are versatile and diverse in your thinking. You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor. Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body. SG-1 (Stargate) 100% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 88% Serenity (Firefly) 81% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 75% Moya (Farscape) 69% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 69% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 69% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 50% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 50% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 38% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 38% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 25% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

So, the first time I did this and actually put down answers I thought about, I got a tie between Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and wound up on Farscape. That just didn't work for me. So, I went back and put in the answers that would get me on SG1.

(Hat tip to Craig, who also knew which answers would get him in the right crew, I think!)

His Side of the Story

My son felt it necessary to respond to the charges levelled against him. This time, he sat down and produced something a little more mature and thoughtful, as follows:

Okay, this situation has gotten so out of hand. I feel the need to tell my side of the story, and end all of this here and now. I feel that these anti- home school comments are personal attacks on me because they are saying that I am stupid, uneducated, socially inept, and that I have no sense of humor. All of these statements are untrue, and unfounded. I have previously said something on my mother's blog, but obviously, that was not enough.

First off, I don't mean to brag, but I am proud of my intelligence, and my education is far better than what it would've been if I had gone to public school. As you can see here, at least I can write. My mom was exaggerating when she said I could get into college, but I DID get a 900 on the SAT when I was eleven. And yes, I DO have a sense of humor. I am even more proud of that than I am of my education. Wherever I am, I can make friends and family laugh out loud. I inherited my sense of humor from my father, and I thank him for it. And as for social life? Once again, I don't mean to brag, but just today, I successfully asked out a girl from my church. Wow, I am SO socially inept.

If you must chew out somebody for home schooling their children, chew out the psycho who killed her kids because god told her to. My mother, on the other hand, is not like that. She does not deserve to be lectured about her methods, let alone be punished for them. -AC's DS

It's all Reprehensible

I suppose if Anonymous hadn't begun his post by calling me "worthy of reproof, rebuke or censure," and if he hadn't posted as Anonymous (or "t" as the case may be) I might have responded in a more adult fashion. But I didn't. I don't apologize for anything I said, though my son may have been out of line. I don't take back anything I said, either. I just want to point out that the reason I have comments is to allow for debate, reasonable debate between people who can refrain from making it personal. I have often left up comments I considered "wrongheaded" because I recognize their right to their own opinions. I do not recognize anyone's right to attack me or my family personally. I suppose when dealing with the homeschooling issue, this may be difficult. But try.

Great Expectations

I was thinking about one thing my troll said.

I've worked with and around home-schooled children for many years, and they all have the same faults. I do not say "most", I say "all". They all believe they are far more capable and talented than they actually are.

I wondered if this might have some truth to it. It's a valid complaint. I see signs of this in my son as well as some of his peers. But today I saw this and realized it's not just homeschoolers: it's an entire generation.

Thanks to their overinvolved boomer parents, this cohort ["millenials"] has been coddled and pumped up to believe they can achieve anything. Immersion in PCs, video games, email, the Internet, and cell phones for most of their lives has changed their thought patterns and may also have actually changed how their brains developed physiologically. These folks want feedback daily, not annually. And in case it's not obvious, millennials are fearless and blunt. If they think they know a better way, they'll tell you, regardless of your title.

You can't tell me they're ALL homeschooled. (via Cranky Professor)

Trolling for Attention

Well, it seems I have attracted someone of the cowardly class to my blog. Odd, since I don't have that many readers to begin with. However, I have decided to post Anonymous' comment, with appropriate responses.

What you are doing to your child is reprehensible.

Have you ever met my child? Do you even know from whence you speak? Have you ever been to my house? Do you have some insight into some sort of child abuse issues that you wish to bring to CPS? I have no idea, since you didn't have the courage to sign your post (but I doubt it.)

We are far safer than we were when you were a child, considering cell phones, pepper-spray, The Scarlet Letter, and a hundred other legal and techonological innovations.

So, I take it that your children have cell phones and pepper-spray and whatever-the-hell The Scarlet Letter is (a big old letter "A" on their chest which stands for adultery? Not MY son). And really, why do we need all these things if the world isn't more dangerous.

The only element which has become more dangerous is parents.

Goodness, but you've got me there. More parents are dangerous, especially the ones who neglect their children, beat them, starve them, and kill them in various hideous ways. But you know something? A lot of them send their kids to school, where they are so well cared for that nobody notices the kids are being mistreated.

Note that while we've added Air Marshalls to US plane trips, you still consider them too dangerous for a 13 year old. When you flew as a six-year-old, were there any policemen on your plane with a gun? Remember, the PLO was right in the middle of making hijacking an international sport when you were six. Yet YOUR PARENTS put you right on the plane.

Quite right, my anonymous friend. But I'm not worried about sky-jackings or the PLO. I'm worried about that average-looking businessman who strikes up a conversation with the child travelling next to him all friendly-like who turns out to be a sexual predator who really likes young boys. And BTW, I was travelling by planes before the PLO started high-jacking them. Are you too young to remember pre-terrorist air travel?

Your child-ruining, child-stifling decision has nothing to do with the state of the world. It has to do with the cowardice of modern US adults. It's as if Lizzie Borden could not have existed, as if no crimes were committed before 1995, as if child molesting was invented by weird uncle Joe.

My child is not ruined, nor is he stifled. Perhaps you are transferring here? Were you stifled as a child? Perhaps that's your problem. I think you are also out of touch, sweetheart, because although many crimes were commited before 1995 (why '95? That's practically yesterday!) many more children go missing today than ever before. The predators are out there, and they are on the prowl, especially in Vermont from what I hear. Are you from Vermont? Are you one of those judges that O'Reilly hates so much? Hey, let me know when I get close.

Crime rates have been going down for thirty years, yet you can't even let your child make friends and get a decent education. And no, I don't believe you' re providing your child with an opportunity to play in a school band, work in a chemistry lab, play team sports, learn trigonometry or calculus, or one of several foriegn languages. I don't believe you're giving him any practical experience in the hiding of an erection from thirteen year old females.

First, my child is getting a better education than you ever had, which is obvious or you never would have left this ridiculous comment on my blog. He could get into college tomorrow if I let him try. But, I'm stifling him because I think he's far too young for college. And frankly, I don't care what you believe. My son played basketball last fall, goes to Spanish class twice a week, and has girls crawling all over him even though I'm ruining him because I think he's too young to date. And "practical experience in hiding an erection?!?!?" I wouldn't give him that experience on a bet! Not even if he begged me! Is that something you would teach your son if you had one? Good god, are you a pervert?

I've worked with and around home-schooled children for many years, and they all have the same faults. I do not say "most", I say "all". They all believe they are far more capable and talented than they actually are.

YOU'RE A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!!!! Knew I'd figure it out. The only other offensive rant I've gotten in my comments was from an admitted school teacher. That one had no children, either. Are you the same one?

"Mommy told me I'm the best!" but Mommy has no idea because Mommy won't let you measure yourself against your peers. They are all incredibly inept in a social setting. They don't know what's funny, they don't know what's cool, they just don't know how to talk to their peers. They treat adults as equals when adults are their superiors, both physically and mentally.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm guessing my son is your mental superior by a long shot.

So go ahead, wreck your son out of irrational fear and a cloying, stifling love. It's your right.

Thank you for your permission. I don't think I could carry on without it.

My son read this comment, and here are his words:

"My mother has informed me of this horribly offensive comment, and here's what I have to say about it. I have many friends, and some of them are homeschooled as well. They are more socially adept, nicer, friendlier, etc. than any public schooled child I have EVER met (and I've met many).

"My education is very advanced, in reading especially. (I just got through reading Catcher in the Rye and Frankenstein)

"To sum it up:
1. I have plenty of friends.
2. I have a good education that I am proud of.
3. You're a b****."

LOL!

P.S. Anonymous - if you post anything else, I will just delete it (or worse, let my DH respond to it.) Thanks!

UPDATE: I have been informed by someone I respect that my son's last comment undermines my argument. Perhaps it does, but he's a normal 13-year-old boy, and those were his words. He was really outraged. Besides, I thought it was hilarious. - AC

UPDATE #2: I have changed a word that my son used (perhaps inappropriately) not because I am caving to certain anti-homeschooling factions, but because I have submitted the Socialization post to the Carnival of Homeschooling and have no desire to offend any Christian readers. (Must.... not... make any.... comments about rioting in the streets over it.....) -AC

The Socialization Issue

My father recently got on my case about not sending my DS to a public High School. His argument was, of course, socialization. He thinks it's time he was thrown into the system, to learn about how life really works. I have heard this argument from many people, and the gist of it is this: life is hard, school is hard, people can be cruel, and every child needs to learn to deal with them. There's a kind of "sink or swim" attitude here, a throwing our children to the sharks and hoping for the best. "Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Granted, there is some validity to this, along with the idea that "we got through it ok, so can our kids."

But I've been giving this a lot of thought. I think we can all agree that there are problems with our society today, and it seems like it just gets worse as the years go by. How many of you DON'T think society was safer when we were kids than it is now? I don't kow of anyone personally. I travelled by plane by myself when I was 6 years old, no problem. My son is 13, and I still won't let him travel by himself. My DH used to bicycle to other towns when he was DS's age. We won't even let him bicycle to the mall.

So what has caused this deterioration in society? There are many, many theories about it, from divorce to sexual permissiveness. But I think at least some of it stems from the attitude of our public schools. We throw our kids into it knowing it won't be pleasant, hoping it won't be too bad, but thinking we are doing what's right. But what happens when kids learn to "deal with" things like bullies, drugs, overbearing teachers, arbitrary rules, and shifting priorities? They deal with it the way the KIDS AROUND THEM deal. And kids are not being taught or guided by adults in this. They have to fend for themselves. If you've read Lord of the Flies you should know where this is going. Kids are savages. They need to be taught things like manners, compassion, respect for society's rules. It's no wonder our culture is angry, aggressive and violent. It's what our kids are learning in schools when they're learning to "deal with" people in general.

So the next time someone asks, "What about socialization?" my answer will be that MY son, at least, will not be one the people fueling our angry, aggressive and violent society. Perhaps he will be a leader, as will some of the other homeschooled kids, and they can perhaps, throw some water on those flames.

Bags O Money

So I found myself watching "Wife Swap" the other day. It wasn't my fault! I was surfing and stopped a moment too long on the channel and they hooked me. The wife they were talking to was an anti-hunting, anti-gun person who hated cleaning. That was just too close to home, and it was obvious what kind of home she was going to be thrown into. Now, she was also a little over the top: she was like me, but much worse. Of course, she wound up at Zeke's and Skeeter's and the first thing she encountered was a deer head hanging on the wall. She burst into tears and apologized to it. The woman who was sent to her house was an uptight southern baptist woman who wouldn't even eat dinner the first night because the kitchen was dirty.

I'm not going to go into the whole thing, mainly because I wonder how much is staged and how much is real. I know a lot of it is staged because that makes good TV, and there have been stories from participants of different reality shows about how things really went. In this case, the two couples met at the end and yelled at each other, but in a follow up, it seemed to me that "Skeeter" actually took something from it - he spent more time with his kids instead of going out hunting with the boys every weekend. The only thing "Tree Hugger" woman took was to become a vegetarian (I'm suprised she wasn't already.) One thing I found interesting was that they never showed "Tree Hugger" woman interacting with "Skeeter's" kids except on one night she declared "family night." I think she got along so well with those kids that it just wouldn't have made good TV. Especially with that witch they had for a mother. It would have made her look really bad.

So then I was wondering about the people who do these things. You have to know it's going to be unpleasant. And who really wants all of America looking in at their private lives? Then I thought of the truck-load of money they drive up to their houses, and thought, well, maybe. Especially if it means that someone else is going to clean my house, and I get paid for them doing it! The DH even thought that might be worth the aggravation. But, I'm still a private person, so don't expect to see me on "Wife Swap" or "Trading Spouses" anytime soon.

Wasn't Going to Go See it But...

Tom Hanks as an Art Historian. I'm likin' it.

Word Cloud

I saw this cool little item on Circle of Quiet. You can make a t-shirt from your blog. I think it tells a lot about a person. Since the larger words are those used more often, they must have more significiance. Well, they do for me, at least.

I think this would make a cool and unique t-shirt.

Lost Caravaggios Discovered

Ok, so they weren't exactly "lost," just unknown for many years. This article in the BBC News tells of two Caravaggios found in a church in Loches, France. The scholars spent a few years studying them before making their pronouncements. And a good thing, too, because I would not have immediately thought they were both by the same hand.

Supper at Emmaus
Church of St. Anthony
Loches, France

Supper at Emmaus
1601-02
National Gallery, London

The first one is the newly discovered version of Supper at Emmaus. The second one is the version in London. Side by side, the Loches version seems like a cartoony copy of the London version. It lacks richness, and Christ looks completely wrong. The old man by his side (St. James) looks like a faithful replica of the other, and the other apostles almost as much. However, since I am not a Caravaggio scholar, I will trust the experts to tell me this is, indeed by Caravaggio, and not a follower or a student. It may be that the patron wanted a more iconic version of Christ for his painting, one with the narrow face made popular by the Byzantines, and perhaps insisted on the change in his looks. But that only works if the London version came before the other. I don't know what date they have given (if any) to the Loches version.

The other painting is of the doubting Thomas putting his finger in Christ's wound. They did not publish a picture of that one, so I don't know how they compare. But, for your edification, below is the version now in Potsdam.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
1601-02
Sanssouci, Potsdam

(Hat tip to Craig at The Anger of Compassion for pointing out this article.)