Kraken Kronicles

This is Charley B., about to be 3 on February 9th. His 'mask' is courtesy of his older sister Maggie who turned 5 on October 5th. She decided to paint him with MAGIC MARKER and then told her Mom that Charley wrote all over his face and needed to be sternly punished.

Rena, showing unusaul observation skills (for her), noticed that Charley's mask was just a little too neatly drawn for a three year old doing self-body painting.

Maggie definately has a future as an artist both with paints and the con-kind. Charley has potential to be a Mummer some day, and will probably love it.

Rena is going gray faster than Michele!

Keeping in mind the busy life of today’s parents, or for that matter, parents through the ages, (You’re not alone) I sincerely think the time spent with small children exposing them to different forms of healthy stimulation is essential.

This principal actually holds true through the formidable years, that is, to about age eight. After that, as your child is exposed to social situations, school for example, the world at large will have an influence on your child’s thinking. Note: this is natural and not necessary bad; however, it is my feeling that you need to get there first to establish the values you and your spouse adhere to.

This, of course, helps to define your thinking about what is great and good. See how parenting works?

However, you do your best and with some luck, it all works out and one day, you can look back and be content. Believe me, the child rearing years go by in a blink, so enjoy every minute.



This was read to me by my Mom a long time ago. And, yes, it stayed with me. I lived it some years back, as you are living it now. Enjoy and savor, these times are quite fleeting.

I still think of lines 29-32 when I deal all my kids.


1 Between the dark and the daylight,
2 When the night is beginning to lower,
3 Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
4 That is known as the Children's Hour.

5 I hear in the chamber above me
6 The patter of little feet,
7 The sound of a door that is opened,
8 And voices soft and sweet.

9 From my study I see in the lamplight,
10 Descending the broad hall stair,
11 Grave Alice, and laughing Allegro,
12 And Edith with golden hair.

13 A whisper, and then a silence:
14 Yet I know by their merry eyes
15 They are plotting and planning together
16 To take me by surprise.

17 A sudden rush from the stairway,
18 A sudden raid from the hall!
19 By three doors left unguarded
20 They enter my castle wall!

21 They climb up into my turret
22 O'er the arms and back of my chair;
23 If I try to escape, they surround me;
24 They seem to be everywhere.

25 They almost devour me with kisses,
26 Their arms about me entwine,
27 Till I think of the Bishop of Binge
28 In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

29 Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
30 Because you have scaled the wall,
31 Such an old mustache as I am
32 Is not a match for you all!

33 I have you fast in my fortress,
34 And will not let you depart,
35 But put you down into the dungeon
36 In the round-tower of my heart.

37 And there will I keep you forever,
38 Yes, forever and a day,
39 Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
40 And molder in dust away!



Notes
11] Longfellow's three daughters, of whom Edith came second and may have been the subject of Longfellow's "There was a little girl."

27] In a 10th-century legend, Bishop Hatton, archbishop of Mainz, was driven by a horde of mice to his Rhine castle, Museum, and consumed by them there in revenge for his burning to death of a group of poor people so that the rich would have more food in a time of famine.

Poetry Source is HERE.

This post is from KRAKEN. He emailed it to me requesting I post for his minions to digest and reflect.

Way to stick to it in Denmark.

It seems the Saudi's have pulled thier ambassador and are now boycotting Danish products over the 12 cartoons depicting Mohammed that appeared in a Danish paper. According to the article, the Danish Prime Minister (Anders Rasmussen) refused to meet with ambassadors from 11 muslim countries. He said he has no control over the Danish press “and nor do I want such”.

Here's the problem with this: No country should honor or try to enforce the laws of any other country within their own borders. No Muslim cartoons in Saudi Arabia? Fine with me, if that is the law in Saudi Arabia, but don't try to enforce your laws in other countries with different values or cultures. We respect your laws, you respect our laws.

So - no lager, bacon, ham, salted pork, or Little Mermaid keepsakes are being sold in Saudi Arabia. OH the horrors!!! And don't forget the Akvavit!


I mean, how could you NOT want some of this:


It's beyond me...















Speaking of Denmark, How can we not fondly remember the newly established diplomatic relationship (which as been quite fruitful of late).

Check out these fancy Denmark Ladies getting a tour of a local historic site by the Flying Nun:

The beauty and serenity of Copenhagen:

Today's quote comes from an early 20th century educator; Angelo Patri.

Born November 2, 1795
Died June 15, 1849

In the 19th century only Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln MAY have wielded more power as the Chief Executive Officer of America.

Term: 1845-1849

Polk, who only desired to serve one term, annexed Texas by paying Mexico 20 Million, than started a war with Mexico to acquire all the land west of Texas to the Pacific Ocean. While this was going on, he threatened and bluffed Britain and Canada with war to establish the northern border of the United States. The cry was “54-40 or fight!” This added the Oregon territory to the land he won from Mexico. Under Polk’s leadership the land area of America was increased by 33%, from the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean. In 1849, gold was discovered in California, and the quote “Go West Young Man” became a reality. Polk, a native of Tennessee, never was in Texas or the frontier.

In the mean time, he fought Biddle to put the treasury under the control of the federal government. Up to this time the Government used private banks as the treasury, and, of course, paid for the service.

The Navel Academy was established and the Washington Monument was started under his Presidency.

Polk died after leaving office in 1849.

Here is a site about the 11th President

Ninth grade. Creating initial internet accounts. I put the prefix and the slang term together because I thougt it sounded cool. I've been using it ever since, and as you may know, using a name on the internet long enough forces you to stick with it so other groups can recognize who you are. An omnicommie is absolutely nothing. I've considered shortening it to "Omni," but, I uh... had some stuff to do with the thing and the whatnot.

My question is what exactly is a Joeandmajbritt? Google warrants nothing; my guess is some type of tree frog or an ancient carnivorous beast worshipped by the people of a small south eastern asian island.

Vegetable:


or a mineral???

If you look up in the dictionary (an actual book with definitions) you won’t find Omnicommie. But you will find Omni meaning ‘all’ and commie meaning a disparaging and offensive term used to describe communists. So, putting the two together, we have something that makes no sense whatsoever.

I guess it could mean ‘all disparaging communists’, but somehow I don’t think so. Perhaps it really was originally omnicommiserate, but was shortened by some idiotic friend who was too lazy to say the whole name. If that were the case, omnicommiserate might mean ‘all sympathies.’ Wow, that’s deep, somehow, somewhere.

So, going with this, Omnicommie is really a sensitive, caring, and empathic ‘thing’ - NAH, there’s no way that can be right!!

Hey Erin, HOW ABOUT HELPING ME OUT HERE. If I am correct, you lived with the Ominicommie for what, ALMOST 17 YEARS???? Why don’t you shed some light on this dilemma and give us a CLUE? I mean, I REALLY HAVE TO KNOW!!!!!

If you don’t, then I will send the OmniConnor to see you and believe you me, that won’t be a pretty thing. It gives me the shivers just thinking about it. Look, I’m shakingngngngngn.

Friends of ours had their first baby in September, and the memories of having just one made me say Ahhh... And the memories of what effects four have caused me to write this to them.

"We LOVE the pictures. You guys must be so happy! Best time of your life - oogling over Maeve and the only worry is when do we have another one.

It's after you have the second that life gets interesting because the first is standing on the kitchen table, drinking out of the toilet, wiping snot on his/her favorite stuffed-animal/blanket, getting into the refrigerator (which can cause a whole series of events -- pouring soy sauce on the cream carpet, squirting yellow mustard on the new quilt, dumping leftovers on the floor because emptying containers is fun, sitting in the now empty refrig eating an entire lb of grapes), throwing already folded laundry up in the air to watch it fly, etc, etc, etc,..."

--------------------

It's still such a shock that they don't come out with common sense and manners. That's all John and I do lately. We are constantly saying.....

Tie your shoes - you're going to trip and they look terrible - "what? they are tied"

Tuck in your shirt - you look messy - "what? it is"

Brush your hair - it looks like a birds nest - "what? I did"

Brush your teeth - they're yellow - "but I already did"

Wipe yourself after you go to the bathroom - " big smile meaning - too late my underware is already up"

Don't put mommy and daddy's toothbrush in your mouth - germs - note to self - buy new toothbrushes at Walmart

Please use your inside voice - Please lower your voice - Please talk softer - "OOOOKKKAAAYYY"

Did you do this - Did you do that - "ummm" - well did you or didn't you - "well sort of" - what does sort of mean - "well not all of it" - why didn't you say that in the first place - "because I thought you'd get mad" - don't I sound mad now that we've been trying to figure it out for 15 minutes!

Please do your chores - "WHINE - WHINE - WHINE"

Please sit on your butt at the table while you're eating - you might fall - and it's rude - "but... splat whaaaaaa" - [silent - told you]

Please don't interupt - is there anywhere parents can get two words in (between 6am-10pm) without an interuption?

Please don't grab - "but it's mine"

Please don't hit - "but it's mine"

Please don't push - "but it's mine"

Please pick up - "but" - they're your toys - "but" - ok they're going in the trash - "NOOO!!!-OK-OK"

and this in only for 0-8yr olds; stay tuned for the 9-12yr old crap (I mean stories)

Happy Parenting!

While Michele (msdata) grapples with the rules of the Church and preparing Emily for her 'preliminary' walk down the aisle (gulp!), let's keep in mind that at heart God is probably a mathematician (among other things) and has a sense of humor.

Humor Du Jour today is for Michele who is also a mathematician by training, programming wiz by trade, and keeper of the Look Of Death when the kids step out of line.



An engineer thinks that his equations are an approximation to reality.
A physicist thinks reality is an approximation to his equations.
A mathematician doesn't care.

TOP TEN EXCUSES FOR NOT DOING THE MATH HOMEWORK
1. I accidentally divided by zero and my paper burst into flames.
2. Isaac Newton's birthday.
3. I could only get arbitrarily close to my textbook. I couldn't actually reach it.
4. I have the proof, but there isn't room to write it in this margin.
5. I was watching the World Series and got tied up trying to prove that it converged.
6. I have a solar powered calculator and it was cloudy.
7. I locked the paper in my trunk but a four-dimensional dog got in and ate it.
8. I couldn't figure out whether i am the square of negative one or i is the square root of negative one.
9. I took time out to snack on a doughnut and a cup of coffee. I spent the rest of the night trying to figure which one to dunk.
10. I could have sworn I put the homework inside a Klein bottle, but this morning I couldn't find it.

Boy's Life, May 1973:

Ralph: Dad, will you do my math for me tonight?
Dad: No, son, it wouldn't be right.
Ralph: Well, you could try.


Astute Observation:

"The reason that every major university maintains a department of mathematics is that it is cheaper to do this than to institutionalize all those people."

Since we are preparing Emily for First Communion this year (Sunday May 7, 2006), we've had some questions as to why the girls wear white dresses and veils. Also, why must Catholics, as apposed to non-Catholics, go through the process of the sacrement. Here's what we've found so far:


Why do girls making their First Communion wear white dresses and veils?

White clothing has been a long-standing tradition dating back to the early church when the sacraments of initiation was administered together at the Easter Vigil. "New white garments" were worn throughout the season to symbolize new birth, purity and resurrection.
from : http://www.catholic-doc.org/miscellany/2002/0523first.HTM

First Communion is like a wedding where Jesus becomes one with us, and we become one with Him. This is why when little girls receive Jesus for the first time they dress in white, with veils, like Brides in a wedding. Little boys dress in suits too, like Bridegrooms. For it is at First Communion that we begin to share in the eternal marriage feast of the Lord!
from : http://www.acfp2000.com/Sections/Children/children.html

What is Holy Communion and why can't non-Catholics receive it in the Catholic Church?

In Roman Catholicism, Holy Communion is a Sacrament that children often receive when they are age seven, and had their first Sacrament of Penance. Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the body of Jesus Christ.

Non-Catholics wonder why they can't take Holy Communion in a Catholic church. The reason is that Catholics believe that the bread and wine used in Communion are Jesus Christ. It is not denying others of Christ, but it is the principal of taking something that you do not believe. Most other Christian religions believe that Communion is a symbol of Christ, and not actually Jesus.

Twenty years ago, I didn't see children in my therapy practice who resembled burnt-out, career-driven, Type A adults. I didn't see kids with chronic stress-related headaches, stomachaches and free-floating anxiety. I do now. Lots of them! Little kids. Big kids. Kindergarteners with stress headaches because they're not learning to read fast enough (even though developmentally they're doing just fine). Little girls who are afraid to tell their parents that they don't want to spend four hours a day practicing ice skating or gymnastics. Ninth graders who tell me they have to play competitive league basketball all summer or else their high school coach will think they're not serious about making next year's team. Parents of a fourth grader asking me if I think their daughter has she "right stuff" for an Ivy League college. FOURTH GRADE!!!

Playing in the MUD!!!

Dancing and singing to silly songs!!!

Articles on Hurried Child Syndrome:
Natural Family Online
Wordspy

Some of the Kraken's Grandkids.
There are some others, but I think he may have eaten them.

Now, how did this woman (and her partner) get past the 'Procreation Licence Board' and end up with three kids?

Wakefield, Massachusetts, mother Sherri Carlson said she tries her best to get her three kids to eat healthy foods. “But then they turn on Nickelodeon and see all those enticing junk-food ads,” Carlson said. “Adding insult to injury, we enter the grocery store and see our beloved Nick characters plastered on all those junky snacks and cereals.”

So she is suing.

What the Hell??? It is obvious who is in charge in that house. What is wrong with this picture? When her kids are teenagers and want to have their friends over for a beer party, will she blame it on the beer company???

I really think people that bring such irresponsible lawsuits should be fined and slapped with some jail time and then be required to take classes to learn how to be a PARENT!!!

Great comments by Peggy Noonan about the Judge Alito hearings:


How does Judge Alito put up with this?

How does any nominee?

Must he sit there bland-faced and unmoving as they say what they say? Yes, of course. Judge Alito and the White House know they have to let these men talk. They don't want the senators to feel resentful or frustrated. They know each senator feels he has to play to his base. They know the senators are, by nature, like Conair 2000 hairdryers: They just love to blow, and hard. Fwwaaaaahhhhhhhhh. And they know it is good, it is helpful, to let each senator reveal himself through his own words. I think senators feel that their words, when strung together, become little bridges. I think the White House feels that their words, when strung together, become little nooses.

But this one is all kind of over, isn't it? It definitively ended when Mrs. Alito walked out in tears. But to me it seemed over on day one. The Democrats on the committee seemed forlorn in a way, as if they knew deep in their hearts that nobody's listening. Two decades ago they could make their speeches and fake their indignation and accuse a Robert Bork of being a racist chauvinist woman hater and their accusations would ring throughout the country. But now the media they relied on have lost their monopoly. Everyone who's fired at gets to fire back, shot for shot.
It's all changed. Which is one reason Judge Alito will be confirmed, and another reason I like Joe Biden. He still has the old spirit--an ingenuous spirit, a crazy one, a stupid one. But spirit nonetheless.

Remember Theodore Roosevelt?? I know, before my time!

In 1907, alarmed by the Japanese Naval might on display after the Russo-Japanese War, he sent the Great White Fleet (US Navy battle fleet) on a cruise around the world. A bold move made without consulting the cabinet or Congress. He acted alone because the councils of war. He said "The (councils) never got around to making war, and in a crisis the duty of a leader is to lead and not take refuge in the generally timid wisdom of a multitude of counselors."



Lacking a crisis, he justified the cruise by saying that he wanted "All failures, blunders and shortcomings to be made apparent in time of peace and not time of war." When the Senate Naval Affairs Committee announced that it did not intend to seek funds for the voyage, Roosevelt said he had enough money to send the fleet to the west coast. If Congress did not want the ships to return to the Atlantic, it could leave them there.

The Fleet departed Hampton Roads, Virginia on December 16, 1907, and returned there on February 22, 1909.

Punta Arenas - February 1-7, 1908 (at the tip of South America)
Honolulu - July 16 to 23, 1908
Auckland, New Zealand - August 8-15, 1908
Sydney, Australia - August 20-27, 1908
Melbourne, Australia - August 29 - September 3, 1908
Albany, Australia - September 11 - 17, 1908
Yokohama, Japan - October 19-23, 1908
Colombo, Ceylon - December 14-20, 1908
Port Said - January 5-7, 1909
Gibraltar - February 6, 1909

Again in 1907 in one of his letters about the upcoming war with Japanese:

"When it comes, we will win over Japan, but it will be one of the most disastrous conflicts the world has ever seen."

Compiled by Jack Schmidt
Naval photos courtesy of Naval Source Photo Archive
http://www.navsource.org/archives/

A minister was seated next to a biker on a flight to South Dakota.
After the plane was airborne, drink orders were taken.
The biker asked for a whiskey, which was brought and placed before him.

The flight attendant then asked the minister if he would like a drink.
The minister replied in disgust, "I'd rather be savagely raped by brazen
whores than let liquor touch my lips."

The biker then handed his drink back to the attendant and said,
"Me, too. I didn't know we had a choice."


Thanks to Peggy Dennis for this bit of quality Christian humor.

Jordanian King Abdullah reportedly refers privately to surrounding countries Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia as "the neighbors from hell."

1. Alwas wach your step.

2. Do not drik posion stuf!

3. Never play loud music on a mikrofone.

4. Dial 911 in emegesys.

5. Be polite.

6. Look both ways befor crosing the street.

7. Do not pett a pet you don't no.

Our safety consciouss daughter brought this list home from school the other day. I told her if she is not careful, the spelling police are going to come and get her. She said Grandpa can't spell either and he is not in jail. Thanks Dad.

So, the phone rings and it is some young girl calling for.....

NICHOLAS!!!

Nicholas and Natalie had a nice five minute chat on the phone about their afternoon activities, what movie they might have watched today, etc...

It seems Natalie talks about Nicholas all the time after school and asks to call, so her Mother finally broke down and called. Oh boy.

He's FOUR YEARS OLD!!!!!

Here's the Stud Now. QUICK - LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS!!!

Speaking of Beer, How about this for a Ben Franklin Quote:

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."-- Benjamin Franklin

But Wait - There's MORE!!!

There can't be good living where there is not good drinking.-- Benjamin Franklin

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline--it helps if you have some kind of a football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."--Frank Zappa

"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."--Stephen Wright

A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure. -- Czech Proverb

Give me a woman who loves beer and I will conquer the world. - Kaiser Wilhelm

I work until beer o'clock. - Steven King

Whoa! Look at the time! Gotta go have a beer....

No, you can't have a beer yet Thomas. No, I don't care what Connor said...

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

In a resent story, I mentioned the fact that Ben Franklin left some money to the city of Philadelphia; actually he left a great deal of money. One of the things that were funded is the 3 times life statue or him sitting in the Franklin Institute. I think if our present City Fathers had got there hands on his money, the public would not see a cent.


Ben would be 300 years old this year, so let’s celebrate with some little known Franklin facts:

Franklin started writing under the name of Silence Dogood when he was 16, later he used the name of Anthony Afterwit, as “poor Richard” Saunders. In his almanac he predicted that a rival almanac maker would die at a certain hour and minute during the year. He didn’t.

Franklin’s greatest hoax was the “Speech of Polly Barker” He wrote that Polly was being persecuted for giving birth to her 5th illegitimate child. In her speech to the court, Polly cited God’s command to increase and multiply and claimed that she had enthusiastically obeyed His word. She concluded that the authorities should have a statue erected in her memory. Foreign papers, magazines and history books picked up Franklin’s tale. John E. Hall of Philadelphia also published it as fact in the American Law Journal of 1813. The last time the story was printed as truth was in 1945, in a book called “A Social History of the American family. The Polly Barker speech was written when Franklin was 40. This has been referred to as his “salty year”. He had just written his “Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress”, in which he gives eight reasons for having affairs with older woman instead of younger ones.

Colonial gossip had it that Franklin was not asked to draft the Declaration of Independence for fear he might hide a joke in it. While in England, he wrote a newspaper report that the whales in America leaped up Niagara Falls in pursuit of cod. In his Pennsylvania Gazette of Nov 24 1738, he reported that a woman gave birth to octuplets, seven boys and one girl, all living. He also wrote about a witch trial in Mount Holly NJ, which was also fictitious. When he was 76, he was still making up tales by propagandizing against England with a story that Indians scalped 1,062 Americans under orders from King George III.

The husband of Deborah Rogers owed debts he could not pay, facing legal action; he left Philadelphia and never came back. Deborah became the wife of Ben Franklin in what is believed to have been a common law arrangement, as there was no record of their marriage. Franklin was one of the best swimmers in the colony, and praised swimming as “a normalizer and reducer of fatty tissue.”

In the late afternoon a Franklin tree shades his grave located at 5th and Arch Street.

Jack Schmidt 2/9/2001
Updated 1/2006

Information found in the column “A Rambler in Philadelphia” published in the Philadelphia Bulletin in the late 1960’s.

Quotes by Benjamin Franklin

Does thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of.

Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, but Babbling is ever a folly.

Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise. Poor Richar's Almanac, February 1735.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Letter to Jean Baptiste Le roy, November 13, 1789.