Friday Follies

SHORT(NING) STORY: This post is going to be an abbreviated one, as we have a party to go to and we're not going empty handed. For the past couple of days in our 'spare' time we've been working on cupcakes and cookies for Rick's birthday. I think he's 27. That makes me SUPER ANCIENT. ;)

For whatever reason I decided to go with a football theme this year. It's a good thing when I asked Rick (after the fact) what he wanted as a theme this year and he said football. :)

As usual, the kids were very helpful in the process. They are experienced taste testers of batter and cooked cake, as well as frosting and cookies, of course.

We also had a little Phun with Photoshop, also in the football theme, imposing Rick's mug onto some football movie photos - the sillier the better. Like this ...

And this ...

And this ...

We spent a couple of hours at the Moon Temple tonight for the party. It was good fun, though things got a little bit crazy at one point with masking tape and CJ's face. :)

Mixed Bag

HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE: We have a massive grape vine on our property. Based on its trunk (yes, it looks like a tree), it's probably as old as the house - which dates back to 1907.

In years past we've pretty much ignored the grapes, but this summer has been so relatively sunny and dry, the grapes are actually tasty right off the vine this year. Yummy!

SELF PORTRAIT: Here's a pixel pic Annabelle created today. She used a program found on the Disney Web site called Pixel Art Digital Painter.

GIVING THANKS: This afternoon we spent about an hour watching a video storybook compilation from Scholastic called "Giving Thanks Storybook Treasures." It was pretty great.

It featured four stories. First was "Giving Thanks," written and narrated by Chief Jake Swamp and illustrated by Erwin Printup Jr. The story is known as the Thanksgiving Address, and it's a  Native American good morning message, with the writer thanking elements of the natural world, from the blades of grass to the stars in the sky.

"Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrated by Susan Jeffers, was up next. It was an excerpt of Longfellow's famous poem. 

"The Pilgrims of Plimoth" gave great detail about the first pilgrims' journey to their new home, and the struggles they endured upon arriving (including HALF of the people dying the first winter). It gave interesting details of the daily lives of the men, women and children in the settlement. We learned about their work, their diet, their recreation, their relationship with Native Americans and how important the Sabbath was to them.

The last story was "Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship" by Nikki Giovanni, with great illustrations by Bryan Collier, narrated by Danny Glover) The story of an unusual, historic friendship between two great American leaders – Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The story told us how the men met and how much they had in common - as well as how they paid the price while battling to put an end to slavery. Afterward there was an interview with the author. It gave us a better understanding of her goals in writing the book and the resources she used to get information to write it.  .

MEANWHILE, ON MARS: We listened in on a news conference today with an update about the Mars Science Laboratory's latest activities. Right now, Curiosity is readying to take its first scoop of Martian soil. Once it does that, the mobile laboratory will begin analyzing it. What the rover will be checking is to see if the soil at Gale Crater ever offered the environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. MSL's chemical analysis should be able to tell if the ingredients necessary for life are present.

To me, on first glance the photo (courtesy NASA-JPL) looked like a footprint. What it actually is is is a wheel scuff mark.Guess that's as close to a footprint as Curiosity gets, eh? 

Mission managers predict that the first solid samples will be in the analytical instruments in about two weeks.

STORY PROBLEM: For the kids' math homework, they had to solve a mystery called The Big Top Carnival Caper.  It's from Scholastic's Math Mavens Mysteries series. I thought it was a great "real world" math problem. They had to figure out the total cost of giving away a free balloon to every 10th rider of a Ferris wheel during one day at the carnival. It was a step-by-step process, where they first had to figure out total attendance, and then how many balloons they need (1/10 of the total riders). And knowing the cost of 10 balloons ($1), they had to figure out how much it would cost to buy X amount of balloons. 

It was a great exercise to demonstrate the importance of being orderly and neat when solving a math problem, how important labels are, and keeping track of what you know, what you need to know, and how to get from A to B to C to D.

We'll definitely be doing more Math Mavems Mysteries in the future. 

Safeco Swan Song

SAFECO SWAN SONG: The photo above is of the very last pitch of the 2012 season. Sigh. What the hell am I supposed to do between now and April ? As Rogers Horsnsby reportedly said, "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

I feel you Rogers. ...

The game was Big Fun. We bought great seats off Stubhub right behind home plate for a (relative) steal and enjoyed hearing the sound of the pitch in the catcher's glove (or sometimes on the batter's back, as was the THUD we heard in the first inning when Mike Trout got pegged).

The Ms and the Angels having both been eliminated before today's first pitch, it was a small crowd. That, no doubt, factored in to the kids being on the big screen TWICE tonight. In the first instance, they and bro Ken demonstrated how they all were Gangnam style. Here's the blurry pic I took of them getting down - Ken, Bee and part of CJ. Gangnam style!

In case you are one of the .001 percent who doesn't know about Gangnam style is (that would include Christian, who wondered what the hell these guys were doing) check this out:

And just an inning later the Safeco DJ broke out "Moves Like Jagger." The kids were all over that too and CJ was doing his best Mick on the big screen. :)

LOL. Apparently our "Just Dance" is paying big dividends. ;)

EARTHSONG: As the saying goes, "In space, no one can hear you scream." But apparently they can hear you sing - if they have the right kind of equipment. Enter NASA. .

Thanks to the .Storm Probe mission, we're  npw mapping the radio waves captured by the Probes and caused by the two Van Allen belts. Apparently HAM radio operators have been hearing chorus in the background for years, but there's never been a recording this clear. http://news.yahoo.com/earth-singing-whale-says-nasa-hear-now-151345965.html

TURN ON YOUR HEARTLIGHT: Today marks the 30th anniversary of the debut of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. What a great movie.

We celebrated the occasion by sprinkling Reese's Pieces on the kids' dessert tonight.

Dancing Machine

SCHOOLED: We probably fire up "Just Dance" on the Wii about four times a week for a fun half hour of exercise. 

Today, we were about 15 minutes into our session when Annabelle turned on the whine machine and started complaining that she could never score as well as CJ because clearly her Wii remote was defective and blahblahblah. 

I told her that tomorrow they could change remotes and positions on the floor, but based on watching her, I wouldn't expect the outcome to change. I also suggested that she give me the 'defective' remote for one song and we'd see how it went.

And so CeeJ and I went head to head during "Jerk it Out" by Caesers. It was a song neither one of us knew, so that made it a level playing field. Imagine everyone's surprise when suddenly Annabelle's 'defective'  remote came to life in my hand. In fact, I SCHOOLED CJ, 7700-something to 2500- some. Go me, go me, go me! I like shocking the kids once in awhile. :)

GAME CHANGERS: We read an online Popular Mechanics' article today about 10 World-Changing Innovators for 2012.

The list led off with amazing Voyagers 1 & 2, which are breaking on through to the other side - exiting our solar system. That, my friends, is a Really Big Deal. 

                            IMAGE: NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology
The twin spacecraft launched in 1977 on what was supposed to be a 12-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldy go where no probes had gone before!! 

Sorry, couldn't help myself there. But seriously, who knew back then that 35 years later we'd be knock-knock-knocking on the heliopause. 

Other amazing inventions profiled in their sideshow include tires that maintain their own air pressure, cameras that can see around corners, a revolutionary oil spill cleaning system, prosthetic devices with built in, pain relieving thermo-resistive wiring and a solar powered battery. Oh, and of course Elon Musk of Space X (it *is* the year of the Dragon, after all).  Wonderful photo gallery of Dragon's first mission to the ISS here: http://www.spacex.com/dragon.php

                                            PHOTO: NASA - Dragon taken from the ISS in May of 2012
Speaking of SpaceX and the Dragon, the private space company will be launching a resupply mission on Oct. 7, this Sunday. We'll be watching for sure. Hope these flights become routine - and MANNED - in the very near future.

SO CLOSE: It's not quite as monumental as crossing into another solar system, but today the kids were thrilled to discover they're just one exercise away from completing their Singapore 3B math books. 

I remember that feeling of great satisfaction as a student. I also remember my excitement at getting a new book. And how quickly that excitement wore off as I started slogging through it, LOL. ;)

STORYBOOK SESSION: We checked out two library DVDs that need to be returned soon. The first was "An Apple for Harriet Tubman." We are familiar with Tubman's fetes as an adult, but this story focused on her childhood and early years. It made her easier to think of and relate to for Annabelle and CJ, I'm sure. For instance, we learned that slave children had to work long and hard and that as a 7-year-old girl, one of Harriet's jobs was to sit up all night and tend to her owner's infant. If the baby cried and woke its mother, apparently Harriet would get beaten or whipped. "Think about that!" I said to the kids. "She was Annabelle's age. Can you imagine having to do that all night, every night, Annabelle?" It's just plain horrifying thinking of a child being in that position. 

We learned that one of her jobs as a teen was harvesting apples. She had to pick and polish them, but she wasn't allowed to eat a single one. Harriet loved apples, and one day the temptation was too great. When she thought the field boss wasn't looking, she took a bite of one. Unfortunately, she was caught and as a result, whipped mercilessly. Harriet bore scars from the attack for life. 

The stories are almost too much to bear. And it happened here, in America, just a handful of generations ago. And now, we have an African American president. Talk about change! Here's to social justice and equal rights.

We also watched a Scholastic Storybook Treasures collection. It was quite a mishmash, with no theme. The first feature was "I'm Dirty," which was a very primary-ish counting book about backhoe. 

Next up was "Burt Dow: Deep-Water Man," the last book written by acclaimed children's author Robert McCloskey. It's about a retired fisherman who rides out a storm int he belly of a whale.  

"The Paperboy" by Dav Pilkey of Captain Underpants fame had lovely illustrations of a paperboy making his way along his early morning route with his faithful canine companion.

"Stars! Stars Stars!" written and illustrated by Bob Barner is from the good ol' days, when Pluto was still a planet. :) 

"Fletcher and the Falling Leaves" is a book we've read before. It's a sweet story about a young fox who thinks "his" tree is sick, as its leaves are changing and falling off. He learns from his mother it's just the cycle of life and the seasons playing out.

The last story was a version of "Johnny Appleseed," written by Reeve Lindbergh and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen. It told of John Chapman's botanical adventures and the messages he shared during his travel - and he wasn't just talking apples. 

"Apparently this man was religious," CJ said when the story shared some of Chapman's proclivities  such as always carrying a bible and often preaching to people he'd encounter in his 40 years of wandering around Ohio and eastern Indiana. 

Illustration of John Chapman from 1862, 17 years after he died, as published in

 A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County

I told CJ that some called Appleseed an eccentric pioneer, while others have labeled him a religious fanatic. One resource we read today said Chapman practiced Swedenborgian religion. That was a new one on me. Multiple resources said Appleseed was usually attired in a coffee sack with cutouts for his arms and head, multiple papers of tattered pants, one or no shoes, and he wore his cooking pot on his head. Practical, and waterproof. ... 

Monday Matinee

WEBBY: Don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods, but in these parts, the spiders seem to be readying to stage a World Takeover. Seriously, there are So. Many. Spiders. With so many webs, and so many egg sacs they've spun. At this point I think it's time to prepare to bow down to our Spider Overlords.

BIG WHEEL KEEP ON TURNIN': This weekend on one of my too-many runs to the hardware store, I spied what looked to be a Big Wheel by the side of the road with a "FREE" sign on it.

Screech went the brakes on the CR-V. I hastily stopped and threw it into the car. Score!

Upon closer examination, it's not a genuine Big Wheel, but it is a close enough approximation (by Radio Flyer) to give the kids a Big Wheel experience. CJ has asked a few times over the years about Big Wheels. We've never owned one and I don't know that he's ever even seen one. 

It's a little too small for CJ to really get going on, but Annabelle tore up and down the alley this weekend. 

They sure are fun little vehicles. I read today that they were introduced by Louis Marx and Company in 1968. I remember when all of the sudden in the early '70s it seemed like every kid in the neighborhood had one. 

The original Big Wheel manufacturers went bankrupt, and the name was sold to . They, too, went bankrupt. Today, a company called Kids Only Toys has the rights to the righteous ride. 

MONSTER STORY: This afternoon we read a library book, Frankie Stein, with a bold, colorful cover. How could I *not* pick this up??

It's written by Steven T. Seagle, creator of a couple of cartoons the kids have watched (Ben 10 and Generator Rex), and it's illustrated by an artist who has worked on SpongeBob, Marco Cinello.

It's an interesting story about a young boy who lives in a castle and he looks every bit the monster. However, his father has taught him that "Boys live in castles and monsters live in the cities." Frankie's father has also instructed him not to go to the city. However, Frankie decided it's time to find out more about these monsters, and he strikes out for the town - on Halloween. That's an eye-opening encounter for all involved. 

FISHY TALE: This afternoon we finally took the kids to see "Finding Nemo" in 3D. It's such a visually appealing movie - gorgeous, colorful animation of the undersea world. I really appreciate the fact that the title character has a disability (one undersized fin), but it's not portrayed as a huge shortcoming, or overly fixated on. It's just a part of him and it's one of the many things that makes him unique. Good life lesson there. The 3-D effects were just OK, but for me by far the best part of the movie was Ellen DeGeneres as a yellowtaill tang. That woman makes one funny fish.

There were just 6 of us in the theater, with our family making up two-thirds of that total. Slow day at the AMC Loews Oak Tree.  

THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY: It was 1958 when President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, providing for research into the problems of flight within Earth’s atmosphere and in space. With the act was the creation of a new civilian agency designated the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The agency began operations on this day in 1958.

When NASA opened, it operated with five facilities inherited from the National Aeronautics and Space Council. They were the Lewis Research Center in Ohio, Langley Research Center and the Wallops rocket test range in Virginia, and Ames Research Center and the Muroc aircraft test range in California. Also on Oct. 1, Eisenhower issued an executive order transferring space projects and appropriations from other space programs to NASA. This order gave NASA a staff of 8,240 (8,000 from the NACA) and a budget of approximately $340 million.

Today's also the birthday of the Model-T. It was Oct. 1, 1908 when the first production Model T rolled off the line at Ford's Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit. Over the next 19 years, some 15 million "Tin Lizzies" were built. According to History.com, the Model-T had the longest production run of any car until 1972, when the perpetually popular Volkswagen Beetle beat it. 

On YouTube, we watched some vintage video of the Model T being produced. 


And I should also mention that Cartoon Network turned 20 today. They had special programming all day. You just know the kids tuned in for The Annoying Orange's new episode, "Planet of the Grapes of Wrath." Highbrow comedy, that show is. 

Furry Ambassador

WHAT'S IN A NAME?: Here's a scene from our house about 8 this a.m. Kirby and Laika seem to have found their Détente..:) 

That said, we had to leave for our south end schoolin' this morning and I wasn't about to leave 8-week old Laika and Kirby alone together for five hours. So, the pup came with.

While the kids were in class, Laika and I hung out in the Honda. While she crawled on me and whimpered, I tried to write the next great American novel. 

When it was time to meet the kids post class, I took Laika to the grassy spot out front of the Southwest Teen Life Center in West Seattle. Puppy = kid magnet, and soon our little furry one had a legion of admirers. What was cool was when people asked her name, the conversation invariably turned into a spaceflight history lesson. 

Laika, we explained, was the first living creature to (reportedly) orbit Earth. (I say 'reportedly, because depending on which account you read, she might not have survived the orbit.) We explained that Laikia's launch was a huge accomplishment for the Soviets. Of course, shortly after that we have to explain that the ability to de-orbit (return to Earth safely) had not yet been developed, so Laika's trip aboard Sputnik 2 was one-way from the get-go. BUMMER! (At this point I find it necessary to link to a NASA article about animals in space that lists a whole lot more animals and a whole lot earlier than Laika. Hmm. Who knew?)

Rather than stop on a sour note, we then inform curious kids about Ham, the chimpanzee NASA launched aboard Mercury Redstone 2 on Jan. 31, 1961. Check out this photo from NASA of lift off. There's so little rocket fire, it's almost hard to believe the chimp reached orbit!

Fortunately, Sam returned intact! Check out this great post-splashdown photo from the NASA archives. ...

And we learned tonight that Ham lived  nice long life - until 1983 (the year I graduated from high school). That's fantastic! 

When we chose the name Laika I figured it as an inside 'joke' of sorts, but as it turns out, already her name has provided us an opportunity to talk to other kids about the history of spaceflight. 

And that is awesome.

SHINE ON HARVEST MOON: There's a full moon this weekend, and a special one at that. For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, it's a "Harvest Moon." (Below is a lovely photo of a harvest moon from Wikipedia.)

As we came back from dinner at our favorite dive bar/diner Hattie's Hat, as we were crossing the Ballard Bridge, I pointed out the big Harvest Moon to the kids. 

Of course that magical moment was spoiled by Annabelle (LOL) asking me why it's called a harvest moon. Christian and I started making noises about it having to do with fall and the harvest. I was quite relieved when I came home and engaged The Google and found a great NASA Science News article about it.

After reading the story, with more confidence I was able to explain to the kids that really not so terribly long ago, none of us had electric lights to use. When daylight ended, work often had to cease. However, this time of year, so many crops are coming on strong and need to be gathered right now. For that reason, for eons, humanoids have been relying on the bright moonlight - the "harvest moon" - to extend their harvest time. 

Of course, I had to dig up a YouTube video of the song "Harvest Moon" for the kids. I was happy to find a 1909 recording for them to check out! 

FREE TICKETS: One day only! Get 'em while they're hot! Saturday, Sept. 29 is National Free Musem Day (thanks to the Smithsonian and participating museums). 

Ticket REQUIRED for entry, and can only be obtained via the Internet at www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ticket  There, you can browse the list of participating museums by state. The program allows for ONE ticket per household, which is good for TWO admissions. Take the ticket for two admissions with you to the venue. Tickets may have limitations regarding some special (extra fee) exhibits. If museum reaches capacity, museum has right to limit guests until space becomes available.

THERE IS ANOTHER: Tonight at dinner, CJ surprised all of us by ordering a root beer with dinner. He'd never had one before. 

I watched as he took his first sip. He shuddered. But he took a second and a third. We talked about the taste of rootbeer, and how it's different from other sodas. We also noted that many of the neat-o microbrewery places we go to have their own root beers they brew and suggested that CJ might want to consider becoming an aficionado, blogging during his 'pub' crawls. He was all over that, and so when we got home he registered a blog domain: http://therootbeerkid.blogspot.com/  Don't ask me how, but within 5 minutes of creating his blog, he had 17 pageviews!

CJ has all sorts of great ideas already about the ratings he'll give root beers, and he wants to make a custom rootbeer tasting mug with which to sample new brews. I think this might be a lot of fun for all of us. Time will tell. ... 

One of Those Days

A COUPLE OF CARDS: We decided to mix our math time up a bit today by playing card. I fetched the deck of cards we got from the "Explorations in Math" at the Seattle Science Festival a couple months back. 

As a side note, when I visited the "Explorations in Math" Web site today, I learned they're now Zeno and "Math Powered" is their tagline. They explain the name change as "the next evolution of Explorations in Math" and reports "Zeno is about the infinite possibilities that arise from an individual's relationship with math."  

ROBOTIC: This morning we struggled valiantly to try to get the DVD player and TV in the living room to properly play "Robot Adventures with Robosapien (TM) & Friends."

For whatever reason, we just couldn't get the audio to work on the TV. I was SUPER frustrated and trying to troubleshoot the situation and have I mentioned I was SUPER frustrated? As I'm muttering Bad Words under my breath and the video is playing silently on the screen, I couldn't help but laugh at this exchange.

CJ:  It's going to be really hard to read lips during this.
Annabelle:  Yeah, especially since robots don't HAVE lips.

We went to Plan C (when Plan B, playing the DVD on the laptop didn't work, either), and played it in the kids' bedroom. The third time was a charm.

The kids really enjoyed the program and talked about it off and on for the balance of the afternoon. (At one point Annabelle declared her intentions to not only be an astronaut to Mars, but to design and build robots on Mars and send them off on explorations.)

Here are their reviews. Annabelle's is first. 

   Robot Adventures with Robosapian™ & Friends was a part-cartoon video (on DVD) that I watched in the bedroom (for some reason, living room sound wouldn't work) and it was very good. It was about toy robots that would wake up at night, and on Fridays they said it was "movie night." This was presumably the first episode, because they had a new toy in the toy shop and wanted to start from the beginning (of the history of robots, that is) and there were video sections with questions to see if you were paying attention. We *almost* answered all the questions right, and there were three "D" words to describe robot's jobs: Dirty, Dangerous, and Dull. these were called "the three D's" sounds like the three R's, doesn't it? Well, these three D's have NOTHING to do with those.
   We also learned about the main parts of a robot, axis (ack-zeez), motor, and wheels. These parts help the robot move and do it's job. You can also program the robot to have senses, and even give it artificial intelligence, sight, and lasers that can sense how far or close it is to (or from) an object.
   As you can see, robots have many complex parts and can do many, many tasks. In fact, you are using one right now to view my message. and, I think you can stop using this robot for this task, because my message is over.

And here's CJ's report ...

In Robot Adventures with Robosapien & Friends, it starts in a factory, with a woman picking up things, and then leaving. after that, a whole bunch of robots (and a newcomer) turn on. After that, the robots tell the newcomer (roborover) that Friday is movie night, and it is a blue face(?) that comes on the screen. The face tells the robots about how it has access to a different factory, so it knows about that factory. It first tells the robots about how robots are not machines. It then tells them about the earliest robots date back to the 13th century, to make music. 600 years later, in Japan, another robot was made to serve tea. Both are still used today. Near the end, the face told about Asimo, 20-year project humanoid robot made from a Honda. Asimo is currently working with humans now, and he can even interact with "Just Dance." At the end, there was a trick question asking what robots are used for. (It had all the things robots are used for and no "All of the above/below answer.)

DARN IT: Today we FINALLY got around to something that took 60 seconds, but we've been putting it off for days. We sewed up a hole in Annabelle's brand new and beloved footie pajamas. The hole was a factory flaw - just about a three inch section of leg seam someone in China missed. 

We also did a little maintenance to her Vanilla Cupcake hat and scarf combo which she made a year or so ago.

Feels "sew" good to have that done. :)

TIPPING POINT: Perhaps it was three non-stop days of dealing with puppy pee and doggie defecation that finally sent me over the edge, but after a series of Really Lame and Unhelpful actions (or inactions) from the kids, by midday when they somehow couldn't find their frigging math books by themselves (they were approximately 1.5 inches from we normally store them on the shelf after all), I'd had enough. Enough of picking up everyone else's dirty dishes. And dirty clothes, And cleaning up after their dirty shoes. And being the only one to ever replace a roll of toilet paper ... I won't bore you with the rest of the long, LONG list. 

And so, the kids got a "bonus" writing assignment today. I asked them each to write about what "responsibility" is and how they can/should be more responsible. Annabelle came up with this essay, which she titled "What Responsibility is and What it Looks Like." 

Responsibility is when you do what you're supposed to do, when you are supposed to do it. Responsibility makes a clean home and tidy surfaces all around. Responsibility is when you see something that you were supposed to do and didn't do it, but then do it, or in case if you forgot last time. Responsibility can be shown in many ways, for instance, cleaning up your room without even being asked! Being a good family member is also part of responsibility, even if it means tidying up the bathroom and cleaning after your pet. Responsibility is a good thing that all people should have, including manners! Manners are part of responsibility, because you're in control of yourself when you say "please" if you want something and "thank you" when you get it.

CJ's interpretation why (somewhat hysterically) different. Here it is, for your reading pleasure. ... 

Sorry for the things that happened today. I will improve my behavior really soon. One way to be responsible is this: when you are searching for something, (such as a book or pencil) do not look in ridiculous places. (such as under your couch, in your bathroom, etc.) Also, you should not ask someone something as soon as they come through your door. (only do it if it is EXTREMELY important.) A responsible person is someone that is not rude, and they will usually attempt to avoid bad behavior, such as farting in public, and will not hurt people, unless they are defending themselves. People that are responsible will also look in places where the thing they are searching for would be (example: if the thing they were searching for was a book, they they might look in a bookshelf or a business area.) An example of a situation with a responsible person might be this: for a task, a person might get a book from a school, and if they forget to read it on the last day they might say this: Oh my! I forgot to read my book! I need to read it now!.

Oh, CJ. So, so interesting, as always. And so, we had a talk about  the difference (and similarities) between a polite person and a responsible person, and I suggested he read both definitions on Dictionary.com

LITTLE EINSTEINS: Thanks to an email from the National Science Foundation today, I read an interesting article with the headlind "Babies are Born Scientists." 

The article is about new research methods revealing that babies and young kids learn by rationally testing hypotheses, analyzing statistics and doing experiments. Sounds very scientist-like, doesn't it?  The NSF article centers on findings of Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. Gopnik is one of three authors of The Scientist in the Crib, first published in 1999 by William Morris.