Joining the Conversation

Evolution is our new mythology. We have tons of mythology and it's all true, and it all isn't. But we shouldn't let that stop us from thinking. Purple is a beautiful color and we shouldn't be so afraid of wearing it--even if we stink like Phoenicians. Of course, red and blue are lovely too--even if they tend to be a little gay.
Thinking is fun, but all things in their proper spheres.

Thinking

My ideas about God are fairly simple. I believe He exists. I hope He is good. By definition He is incomprehensible. If He is good, then He cares about me. If there is a God, He is good and He cares about me, then things must be better than they seem, even if that is incomprehensible. You don't have to be a Christian to believe that. I choose to be a Christian because if I were a being like God I would make a gesture like Jesus. I would let you know that just like the suffering is killing you, it is killing me too, and just like it wasn't really killing me, it isn't really killing you either. If God is the kind of being I hope for, then He has demonstrated His compassion. He has shown us the truth. Things are better than they seem.

Choking Iran

I watched snatches of Bush's War last night before general weariness sent me to bed early. I am left wondering if I'm the only person who looks at our current wars as actually a semi-subtle way of controlling Iran, the actual threat. We have very credible evidence that Iran is actually working on acquiring nuclear capability. We've invaded countries with little political clout in the middle east and removed regimes that were a general nuisance. Both countries have enough Fundamentalist fervor to provide us with endless excuses for staying, and staying means we are always just a step away from squashing any move the more popular regime in Iran cares to make. It's brilliant.
I worry about withdrawing not because of any real change in circumstances in Iraq or Afghanistan, but rather because of the real threat in Iran. I suppose those that would have us withdraw feel that we need to start having a more sophisticated relationship with the region, one that relies less on corporal punishment. That may be a better long-term strategy, but it is a big gamble. What is one to do about the unruliness of children.

The Teaching Company

One of my favorite pastimes is enjoying Teaching Company videos. My current indulgence is From Plato to Post-modernism. Literary Criticism is one of my new interests, and I'm getting the max out of this short-cut. I think I'm going to start with Hegel, because of all the ground Professor Markos and I have covered so far Hegel's ideas have captured my imagination. I'm sure the rest will be equally interesting, but this is what I want to learn now.
As a homeschooling parent, I've found the Teaching Company invaluable. We began with their course Understanding the Human Body, because I wanted a good foundation for a science class. Using the outline provided, I was able to cover all the systems of the body and construct a very fun and informative class. Every year since we've returned to the Teaching Company to provide us with a structure for science. Physics in Your Life was a lot of fun, but not as easy to use as a guide to curriculum. I ended up meshing another resource in with what Professor Wolfson was teaching in order to more systematically cover the material. This year we fell in love with two different courses. Dr. Renton's Nature of Earth had my kids looking at the world around them in new ways. I began to understand what the big deal is with water conservation, and we all had a good time. We're still finishing the extensive Understanding the Universe course. My kids love Professor Fillipenko and his crazy t-shirts. He's even inspired them to read Douglas Adams. Next year, we're tackling Chemistry. I'm planning on using a children's course I've found on-line, but we've purchased the High-school level class to stretch all of us as I'm very uncomfortable with Chemistry.
Rigorous inquiry into the world and the nature of life is an important value in our homeschool. I was looking for tough coursework in history and literature and I made an uneasy compromise with Veritas Press. Their rather virulent perspective is often repugnant to me, but they were the only homeschooling curriculum with any chops. My oldest and I worked through their Omnibus I, but by the end of the year I was dropping the book's assignments in favor of a commonplace book approach. This year, I'm going with the Teaching Company. I had purchased their Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition to offset some of the ideology in the Omnibus, this year I'm going to let those gracious professors be our guide to selecting the literary works we'll read. Since we're going to be in the medieval period, I just picked up Reason and Faith: Philosophy in the Middle Ages. I think this will beef up the philosophy portion of our studies where I feel less than qualified. I haven't decided how I will approach the history portion that was so much a part of our pleasure last year, though we will of course continue using The Story of the World with the younger children. Perhaps our friend Dr. Bell will give us a list of good medieval historians.
In any case, I've grown right along with the children. Areas of learning that seemed overwhelmingly complex have lost much of their intimidating glamor as the Teaching Company's professors have given me some good traction to get going. If you homeschool, I highly recommend their products.

Writer's Milestone

I applied for my first copyright. I'm entering a screenplay writing contest and in order to submit a screenplay you have to have it copyrighted. Dropping that package in the mail made me feel so good. There is a record of my creativity on its way to the Library of Congress. It doesn't get any better than that.
The bad part of this is that my writer's group thinks it's a pretty bad screenplay. Oh well, you can't have everything. I really enjoyed writing it. I may write more, and hopefully better, scripts in the future.
Life is about exploring.

15.2 is the loveliest number in the world

15.2 15.2 15.2 15.2 15.2 15.2 15.2 15.2

We have been concerned that our new baby might have cystic fibrosis. The verdict is in. He's negative. We are so relieved and grateful. Life is so unpredictable and catastrophe is always right there. Then again, just when you think it's caught you the tornado swerves. The only way to feel is thankful.

The Count

Our baby boy doesn't care for burping. I dutifully pat and pat and nothing happens until later when he makes up for it at the other end. I've been keeping track of his burps and today he reached the grand total of 33, ah, ah ah, 33 burps. He's a boy. I'm sure he'll get into it later.