madameblogalot

I watched part of a show on PBS this afternoon called Hunting the Hidden Dimension. It was very interesting to me. It is about the discovery and use of fractal geometry. I first heard of fractals about four years ago. I can’t remember exactly how I came upon it, but I remember trying to introduce my son to it. (He was in sixth grade and didn’t seem to really get “into” it, though mildly interested.) After watching today’s program, I can’t wait til he gets home so I can ask him if they have or will talk about this in his Geometry and/or engineering design classes.

Fractal Geometry was not really “discovered” until the late 1800’s and not really pursued until about the 1970’s. It is all about self similarity in designs. I guess what I find so intriguing about it all is the way that fractals are expressed in nature. You can see fractals in everything from broccoli and trees and clouds and cacti to coastlines and whole rain forests and the human systems (respiratory, neural, renal and circulatory)! The replication of a tree and its branches can even give a micro-view of the design of the whole forest in which it resides! In the program, of course, the scientists say that natural selection and evolution have hit upon a design that works. I just cannot believe that. To me, the intricate patterning and design that consistently works so efficiently points me to a Creator. I also wonder how tessalations (which I think are pretty much the same thing) and the Fibonacci Curl fit in with fractal geometry. I hope this is going to be taught in the schools at some level. This branch of geometry has already been used for things like measuring coastlines and making mirco-antennas for cell phones!

This weekend I am taking my son to the play Frost vs. Nixon. It is a reenactment of the televised interview between David Frost and Richard Nixon. I am looking forward to it for a few reasons. I don’t know much about the Watergate scandal; it’s something I’ve never really understood too well. My son loves history and I think this will be the kind of show he will like. And of course, spending time with my son is good.

But in preparing to see this show, I think I missed a great opportunity. There is a study guide available. I read through it when I first ordered the tickets, but decided I just would not have time to go through it with my son since he now attends public school, though we would both enjoy the study. I did think about printing it out and letting him read through it before and/or after the show. I think it will help answer some questions and help to understand that era better.

But I had the perfect opportunity to use this guide and to spend the time studying with my son while he was out of school for two and a half weeks due to Hurricane Ike. I did have him do some studying every day he was home, but this would have been the perfect study for him. It would not have required a lot of time each day and would have set up the performance perfectly. It would have been the kind of thing we did when he was being homeschooled. What kind of a homeschool mom am I that I would let such an opportunity go to waste??!! I do regret that I did not think about/remeber it at the time! I did print out the study guide today for him to read through, but it would have been just right to have him do the assignments while he was home for those 12 days! I am lamenting the missed opportunity to have homeschooled with him again, if only for a couple of weeks!!

My son was thrilled to find out that Halloween was on a Friday night this year. I was not really sure why. After all, he is nearly sixteen years old! He said it would be so much fun going around the neighborhood with his friends and they could stay out later. I said “Aren’t you a little old to be trick or treating?” He said “No way, you are never too old!”

This gets me to thinking. I think he is too old. But he thinks it’s all in good fun and if people are offended or don’t want to give the teens candy, they don’t have to; they (the teens) aren’t doing anything wrong by trick or treating. Still, I wonder.

And then I see ads for Teen Halloween Costumes and I know that at the
Halloween Costume Stores there are costumes for all sizes, from newborns to adults. And I know plenty of adults that love to have fun and celebrate on Halloween. I don’t have anything against a good pirate costume or a gladiator costume, or a beautiful medieval costume. And I know we are never really too old for candy. I guess what I feel is, are the teenagers too old to dress up and go to neighbors’ houses asking for candy? I know some in our neighborhood will oblige and others who may not. I guess that is ok. After all, these teens are just big kids and still love their candy! And they don’t take away from the littler kids. They either go with the younger kids and help out and take what the neighbors will give them, or they wait til later when most of the littler kids have gone in and then they go around toget whatever is left…

So I guess pretty soon we will be looking for a good costume suitable for a teenaged boy, possibly Captain Jack Sparrow or something simple like Indiana Jones. And if he knows exactly what he wants, it is just as easy to order it online. I guess part of the fun is finding a good costume. And hanging out in the neighborhood and eating candy from friends and neighbors is not such a big deal for teens to do on a Friday night. I can think of a lot worse things they could be doing!

As I was driving today, I was thinking about why I like neither the Democratic nor the Repulican candidates. Of course, I think the two parties have gotten too close to being the same, and that they do nothing but play a big, mean game. So that, I don’t like. Even though I did not get to see last night’s debate, I have seen those two candidates on TV and saw part of a PBS documentary on the two a couple of nights ago. I did learn some interesting things about both of them, some things that I could actually respect about both of them. But when it comes down to it, I don’t want to vote for either one. Among other reasons (things they stand for, believe in, vote for), they are both too arrogant and cocky.

That got me to thinking about the difference in those two words. And yes, I do think there is a difference. Although they may have the same underlying meaning and we can and do use them interchangeably, I think the feeling they convey is different. I guess in my mind “arrogant” is used for someone who is acting “uppity” and “cocky” is someone who is acting like a bully. The connotation of the words may be a little different, but in the end, they turn me off just about the same. So when I see one candidate acting arrogant and one acting cocky, I don’t care to listen to either one of them.

I have been considering another conservative candidate. I like the party’s stance and I did vote for this party’s candidate four years ago. I got an email from this year’s Constitution Party candidate yesterday. In it he talked about not wasting a vote and why he believes voting third party is not a wasted vote. I agree with most of what he said. But in it, he did make a “barb” towards one or both of the major candidates. That really got my ire up. I mean, if he is supposed to be better, why is he stooping to one of the same tactics. Never mind that it was only a small one, never mind that it could be excused as a joke, it was still there. I am wondering if it takes a bit of over-self-confidence (arrogance, cockiness) to even run for President….

A few posts back you see where I talked about my daughter reading Tuck Everlasting. One of her assignments was to post a review on Amazon.com. You can find her review of the book here . Although she did not really review the book outside of saying “good book” and filling in four stars, I do like how she summed up the story.

It has been one month since hurricane Ike blew over us. A lot of work has been done in clean up efforts. But so much still remains to be done. We drove over Galveston Bay yesterday and saw a scene straight off the news. There on the banks of grass were several boats washed up, looking like toys dropped by a distracted child. It was amazing to see and I do not know how those boats will be gotten back to where they belong.

Today, we went down to a small bayside town to help provide food and cleaning supplies. There were many people whose homes are still damaged, awaiting insurance and all the repairs that need to be done, their belongings sitting out in their front yards.

For such a quick visit, Ike sure left his mark….

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” –John Quincy Adams

Even though I am not sure yet who I will vote for (though I am pretty sure that it will not be either one of the main parties’ candidates), tomorrow is the last day to get registered to vote in this election. There have been times in the past when I just did not vote. And in this election it is pretty tempting. However, I have decided that it is important and I have even decided that voting for a third party is not wasting my vote. It is having my say. It is voting my conscience. It is standing up for what I believe in. How can that be a waste? So if you have not registered and like many others have been tempted to just skip it and not even vote, please reconsider. Have your say. Register tomorrow!

voting information for those displaced by hurricane Ike