Universally Acknowledged Truth

[Error: unknown template qotd]While living in China I tried my best to be brave and try all sorts of food that I knew I'd never have the opportunity to try in the States. The only thing specifically remember refusing to try was suckling pig. It was brought to the table whole, stretched out on a platter, still a perfect little baby. I can't stand the thought of eating baby animals.

What I did eat:

Scorpion
Pig brain
pigeon
rabbit
octopus (not fried)
tripe



Pictures? Why yes, thank you:

( Read more... )

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My least favorite genre for movies and books is horror. I don't watch horror movies-ever, nor do I read horror books. Perhaps my imagination is too vivid, but I get nightmares that really upset me. I don't even allow myself to watch certain TV shows that I know will affect me that way (NCIS is one of them). Am I a wimp? Maybe. But there are plenty of other awesome books, movies and shows out there to occupy my over-active imagination.

Do I feel left out when people talk about them? Nope. I could really care less.

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Three best books:

-Les Miserables
-Pride and Prejudice
-Peace Like a River

I think the first two are obvious, as they are tried and true classics. Peace Like a River is a coming of age story, mixed with a bit of mysticism which for some reason always seems to appeal to me. I'm not sure why I count it as one of my bests, just that when I read it I was deeply moved and it holds a special place in my heart. It reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird, to some degree.

Three worst books:

-The Yiddish Policemen's Union
-And Another Thing
-The Girl with the Pearl Earring

I rarely finish a book that I hate. I'm picking these three from my goodreads.com list as they are the lowest rated. I admit, I have quite a few two-starred books and only a handful of five-starred. I gave Twilight two stars. I must have been feeling generous that day :)

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I love corny jokes. I'd probably be the one cracking it!

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Since I've moved to Florida, I've started recycling all my plastic, glass and aluminum containers. I can really tell a difference in the amount of trash we (don't) generate. And don't think it's because the recycle truck comes to the house. It doesn't. I take the stuff and drop it off. That's how good I am. And oh-so-humble.

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The someone would probably be me! The funny thing is that my kids have been talking about space travel a lot lately. To them, the existance of alien life is a given fact, not something to be debated. I wonder if this is a product of Chris and I's sci-fi fandom, or their generations inundation of alien movies/video games?

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A device that lets you eavesdrop on other peoples' mp3 players.

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Aside from lots of babysitting as a teen and pre-teen, my first job was a cashier at Superfoods in Ozark, Alabama. That was back in the days when there were still paper foodstamps and cashiers had to hand punch in the price of each item. I was a senior in high school and I used the money to pay for my cap and gown as well as my graduation invitations.

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I consider fasting a personal matter, not one to be casually discussed or "bragged" about. When I hear people talk in church about the fact that they've fasted for 24 (or more) hours, it feels a bit disingenuous. Fasting is an important part of the LDS religion and it is expected that members will fast on a monthly basis for the length of two meals. During that time, no food or drink (including water) should be consumed. Members are encouraged to donate the money they save by not eating to the church welfare program.

I've personally had some amazing experiences through fasting. It is very difficult for me to follow through with, probably one of the most challenging religious rituals that I practice. However, when I do it, I always feel much better and certainly more at peace.

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I find it interesting that so many people are angry about this question. The most common answer is "kids don't need more screens, they should be outside playing." But isn't this hypocritical? It's ok for an adult to use laptops but not kids? I find it very unrealistic to say kids shouldn't use computers. Raising a kid that doesn't use a computer in this generation is like raising a kid that doesn't know how to read or write. It's become an integral part of American society and trying to tell kids that access to computers will harm their childhood is inaccurate. Of course, there should be balance in all things. Kids shouldn't have hours of daily computer time just like we wouldn't lock them outside and expect them play outdoors for 10 hours a day. An hour a day of game/computer time is plenty.

Children have regular computer/typing classes in elementary school these days, just as they do PE, art and music. It's naive to believe that the raising generation won't be plugged in to a level we've never experienced before. Even the "kids" in college right now are constantly texting/tweeting/etc. It all comes down to parents. Teach a love of reading along with an understand of computers, as well as an appreciation for outdoors.

And, just to answer the question, for a kid-friendly laptop I include the following components:

-No downloads without parental approval.
-Keys that don't pop off easily when little fingers pull at them.
-Plenty of memory and processing ability to handle highly interactive sites. My computer is relatively new and there are still some kids sites that freeze it up (nick.com, for example.)
-Internet filtering software that cannot be circumvented by a crafty kid, but that can also be adjusted by parents as the kids get older. A smart piece of software that isn't going to filter everything out that has the word "sex" in it. Sextants are perfectly acceptable topics of research :)