Getting Better

ON THE MEND: Oh, how I love this photo. It's from yesterday. When Annabelle awoke on Monday we shared with her the news that CJ had come down with an icky flu during the middle of the night.

Immediately, she set about helping him the only way she knew how - crafting cures everything! All on her own, she rounded up a lunch sack, some letter stickers, her pens, and created a CJ puppet with a big ol' GET WELL SOON! message on it. Too sweet.

Despite the horrified look on CJ's face in the photo (another reason I love the pic), he really did appreciate it. The puppet stood guard next to his computer as he wiled away the hours and the rest of his virus. We're all feeling much better tonight, mercifully.

HOMEWORK: We didn't get too ambitious with our schooly stuff today, but we did do some math, some physics (bumper cars, fun!) and some science homework.

While working on his science sheet, CJ said, "This is where my physics class really comes in handy!"

That was music to my ears! The unit the class is working on now is  about levers and pulleys, and thanks to our Coursera "How Things Work" class, the kids know a fair bit about work, torque, ramps, levers, and such.

RECREATIONAL READING: CJ's latest guilty pleasure in the reading department has become the "Weekly World News" Web site. Tragically, they stopped with their paper issues several years ago. I reminded CJ tonight, that he's probably imprinted on the WW News, as the house he spent the first 3+ years of his life in had a bathroom wallpapered in the tabloid. (I'd saved the best/worst front pages of that paper for years with that home 'improvement' project in mind.) Here are a couple of the gems that used to grace our walls. ...

Source: Weekly World News 

Ah, memories!

CJ said he'd like to start a newspaper like the Weekly World News. I told him that sounds like great fun, I'd love to write for a publication like that.

We talked a bit about tabloid "journalism" and what makes people publish and buy "news"papers like WW News. I told the kids that one of the things that they usually feature are stories with at least some shreds of truth, so that readers will see that, think, "Well that's true, so maybe this is, too. ..."

For instance, the WW News Web site has a story about the "World's Largest Nutella Heist." And sure 'nuff, a big theft of the stuff did take place in Germany this week, and it was reported widely in the mainstream media. However, it's worth noting in the mainstream reports, 5 tons worth $20,000 were stolen, while the WW News Heist says 15 tons worth $200,000. Everything's bigger in the Weekly World News, eh? Their account also names Lindsay Lohan as a possible suspect, and notes that some Nutella addicts are injecting the sweet substance straight into their veins. Oh, how I've missed the Weekly World News.

We'll definitely be doing an MPA take on WWN style "news" stories in the future. What a fun way to get some creative writing done, not to mention have some fun with Photoshop.

BIG DIG: One of the biggest construction projects in Seattle history is underway - replacing the double decker Alaskan Way Viaduct running along part of the Seattle waterfront with a tunnel.  It's a $2 billion project just underway, scheduled to open in early 2016.

Part of the viaduct is down already and there's been all sorts of equipment and workers in the vicinity for months now. A few days ago, Big Bertha arrived. "She" is the boring machine. The Seattle Times has some nice photos of the big drill's arrival here: http://seattletimes.com/html/photogalleries/localnews2020694507/1.html

Tonight, I rather unfortunately made the kids watch this boring video about the drilling portion of the project (http://youtu.be/Dk-8Q42NCSQ). Honestly, could the Washington State Department of Transportation have made the project sounds any less interesting or exciting? I think not. ...