Che Bella Giornata!

...as we who are almost fluent in the Italian tongue are wont to spout on days such as this; for today was undeniably beautiful. Spring arriveth!

I enjoy a merciful amnesia throughout the winter months that permits me to enjoy the snow and the cold without actually realizing that I am simultaneously enduring them. Once I get a taste of spring, however, I look back on the months and realize that winter isn't so hot after all. The sunshine, the smell, the sounds of water and of birds - all these and more take the days of spring and set them in a different league from the days of the rest of the year.

Today was such a day. As I walked down to get the mail, it struck me that I had forgotten how much FUN it is to be outside and comfortable at the same time! I had to do school, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the great outdoors. On the contrary, I simply moved my classroom! (The joys of homeschooling...) I did most of Calculus outside, enjoying the relatively warm breezes, the cooing doves, the radiant sunshine, and the tinkling of the melted snow running into the gutters. I had a great perspective of all these things from my perch on the roof.

Yes, on the roof.

Kids, don't try this at home.




The skylight made a terrific table, but I must say whoever invented roofing shingles wasn't thinking about comfort. It's not bad on some roofs, I'm sure, but ours is a bit steep. Nevertheless, the fresh air and the view were nice while they lasted.



Now I'm off to cogitate on the symbolic role of the one female character in Call of the Wild...

The Famous Balancing Wood Chip

Long regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of Chestnut Hill, the Famous Balancing Chip is now being displayed on the internet for the first time! Now you can join the select few who have seen this incredible spectacle - this marvelous phenomenon. How does it remain balanced, you wonder? Those who know the answer to this question are few indeed, yet balanced it remains. Defying gravity, puzzling the populace, mystifying many - my friends, allow me to present to you the Famous Balancing Wood Chip!!!!!!

Why School Should Always Come First

Because you never know when you're going to have trouble with your first Calculus problem and spend an hour on it, only to have your Dad look at it and say, "OK, let's see; first thing to do is make sure everything is in radians...." Oops. And if you were planning on taking an hour doing Calculus, and the first PROBLEM takes you an hour, you know you're in pretty bad shape.

Therefore I cannot blog tonight.



I'm not always that neat with my Calculus...

A Sagacious Perception

I have been reluctant to write a new post recently because I have been doing so much writing for school anyway. (Or at least THINKING about writing; half the time has been spent dealing with technical difficulties.) Every time I sit down to write a post I feel like I don't have a clear enough outline. I don't have organization of thoughts. I don't have a clear purpose. But then, a blog doesn't have to be purposeful and organized, does it? A blog can be random! A blog can be about my incoherent personal thoughts and experiences! Suddenly I feel free! I will update! I will not be considered a blogger manqué!

Disclaimer: From here on, the rest of the post is not necessarily sagacious, although perceptions continue to abound.

Speaking of technical difficulties, I'm sure most of you have noticed that my Link Gallery has stopped working. (I know that Claire, Jenna, Andrea, Derrick, and anyone who reads Andrea's blog have noticed, and that probably covers most of you.) I assure you I had nothing to do with the problem and I've spent enough time trying to fix it to write seventeen or so posts so glorious that you could not but dance for joy. However, all my efforts have been to no avail as of yet. Perhaps the website (feedblendr.com) will remedy itself. Maybe I'll find some other way to blend a new terrific sixty-two-blog feed. But until then, I'm sorry for all the suffering you'll have to go through: the grueling agony of adding to favorites, the tortuous clicking of the mouse, link after link.... but, as some wise pirate once said, "Life is pain, Highness."

Those of you from the South may think that just because it's spring down there, and Andrea said it was spring up here, that it is spring up here. However, you would be wrong. I mean, it was spring up here, but it is spring no longer. Au contraire! It is fr-r-r-r-eeeezing! After a record warm start to the winter (and cries of, "HEEEEEEELP!!!! GLOBAL WARMING!!!!") it has now come to a record cold middle or end. You never know how much winter is left in NH; spring could be here tomorrow, or it could be put off until late May. Who knows? All I know right now is that the numbers the meteorologists are showing are in the single digits – without the major wind chill. And there isn't even any good skating! Ah, well, "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant…." (Anne Bradstreet)

I... love…

Microsoft Word 2007! (You thought I was going to say "celery root," didn't you?) I haven't bitten the bullet and paid the hefty purchase price, but I did download a free 60-day trial and I love it! It's so easy to use and so graphically pleasing… and it comes set up for posting to blogs!!!! How cool is that? The best thing of all is that my trial doesn't end until I graduate, so I get to spend the rest of my grade school days writing in style! I feel so CTU.

Of course, if I really were that advanced, I would probably be able to fix the feed problem myself, but who said I felt like an O'Brien? I'll just content myself with being a Buchanan. Or maybe Josh Bauer. Except He wasn't in CTU. And my dad is actually quite nice, as is my grandfather. So I guess the analogy – if it was an analogy – really breaks down there. Sigh. Good thing this whole discussion is completely irrelevant.

Thus concludes my heart's outpouring to all ye, the faithful readers. I hope I provided you with a hearty boff or two, but whether I did or not I must now popple off to finish my Calculus.

Question of the Day

Why do we say, "Never mind," when what we mean is, "Don't mind me this time," or "It's not worth repeating"? I mean, if we got taken literally when we said, "never mind," that would be EXTREMELY annoying. Can you imagine?