Category: Culture

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The Obvious … isn’t

Eagle F-16 with ONE WINGTake a close look at this fighter plane. Do you see anything unusual?

One of the things that makes living in America in the 21st century a challenge is something I’ll call inscrutible complexity. That is, some things seem simple or manageable, but when you actually try to do them, you get lost. I have business clients, for instance, who look at a computer screen as they try to figure out how to do something, and they’re toast. They are looking at the same screen I am, but they are overwhelmed by all the information and can’t make sense of it. Something like that has, I believe, happened with US foreign policy in the last decade. So many things are going on, and they seem so complex and dangerous, that the average voter just wants to “get the troops out of there”, come home and be done with it.

I recently read at article at EjectEjectEject.com that is Continue reading “The Obvious … isn’t”

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The End of School

Dear family and friends,

I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. I am thinking about whether or not to write during Christmas break, and I think I will at least twice, since break is all of December. I have one final left, Arabic, which is at 7:30 AM on Monday morning. This, contrary to some expectations, is not early for me, since I usually get up at 6:30 anyway. It is a problem, however, for many of my classmates, who are used to sleeping till 10 am, or getting up to go to a class and then going back to sleep again. After my final I’ll be done with school and homeward bound.

This being the last week of classes, a lot of parties and various celebrations went on. Thursday night I Continue reading “The End of School”

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“Poisonous Individualism”

If I told you that homeschool parents had established a leadership academy in their home, you might be surprised. Even most homeschool parents would be surprised because surveys show the two main reasons parents choose homeschooling are to avoid the negative peer environment of public schools and to teach from a religious perspective. Few homeschool parents identify training their children to be leaders as the reason they chose home education. But are they right? Perhaps many homeschool parents are training their children to be leaders without realizing it.

So begins this article by HSLDA President J. Michael Smith, recently published in the Washington Times. He’s right. We have four children, and they would all scoff at the suggestion that meekly following the agnostic and “whatever feels good, do it” crowd is even remotely desirable.* Our goal has always been to teach, lead and counsel, and always based on the truths of Scripture and common sense. Though they haven’t always been wise nor sinless, no one would say any of our kids are crowd followers.

To find out where the title of this blog entry comes from, read the whole article.

Guess we accidentally raised a bunch of leaders. Praise God! We are so proud…

*Even Andrew, our son who died several years ago in a tragic accident of his own creation, managed to do it by stepping out of the crowd. Later, at a Louisville Youth Choir function where his memory was honored, at least one person described how he had been a leader in ways we didn’t even know…

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A small respite

Dear Friends and Family,

We have a small respite this week. Monday is Veterans day so we have a three day weekend. Which means……more time for homework! Really, I’m serious. First off I want to thank all of our brave men and women who have served and are serving in the armed forces who have/are putting their life on the line to preserve the freedom of America. Thank you!!!

Friday night, I went to see “Three Short Plays” (Medea, English Therapy, and Vendetta Chrome) at Ohio State’s Drake Theater. The reason for this was because English Therapy was written by Nancy Gall-Clayton, a resident of Louisville KY. I do not know Mrs. Gall-Clayton personally, but a good friend of mine who is a friend of hers was so kind and thoughtful as to send me a ticket. I was accompanied by Debbie, my Taiwanese conversation partner, who upon hearing I was going to see a “real, live American play”, promptly bought a ticket and announced she would be going with me. She said she quite enjoyed the plays too, though she didn’t understand English Therapy very well. It used a lot of tricks and twists of the English language to create comedy, and Debbie is not a native english speaker.

Thursday night I had the pleasure of Continue reading “A small respite”

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Fall has finally fallen

Dear friends and family,

Well, fall has truly come to OSU campus, and the war is in full swing. What?….you don’t know about the war? It is an epic battle of mighty proportions that I see raging back and forth across the campus. The sides are not equally matched, and I fear that those who fight for good on campus shall be overpowered and ground to shreds. Haha, I hope I’m confusing you >;)>. I’m speaking of the heated battle between the groundskeepers and the falling leaves. The beautiful, many colored fall leaves are swirling and falling all over campus, making everything beautiful, as if covered with a weird colored snow (hmmm, maybe not). Anyway, it is the hight of my fall experience to swish through fallen, crackly leaves on the way to class.

However, it seems that the powers that be on campus are not an open minded and nature loving bunch. They’ve sent their lackeys (groundskeepers) out on a quest to gather and destroy all rebellious leaves who refuse to stay up in their trees. I see the evil work being done every day, and I long to pause in my hurried rushing from class to class in order to lend a hand to the poor leaves.

Despite the fact that I know the leaves will eventually be overcome, they Continue reading “Fall has finally fallen”

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Arabic can be annoying…

In the ancient Middle East, Arabic scholars could often be seen, head wrapped in a turban, bent over their low study tables with scrolls and manuscripts spread about. Behind full beards and bushy eyebrows, they would scowl or squint as they pondered the flowing script on the pages before them. Quill pen in hand and ink nearby, they would respond to a colleague or write a sermon in the same flowing script, all the while unaware of the intense scowl or pursed lips which might be seen by a discrete observer.

The Arabic ScholarThese days, Arabic scholars take a more direct approach. As one can see here, headphones are the new turban, and the beard is optional. However, scowling is the norm, especially when the scholars are serious and a tad bit annoyed. This particular scholar must be pondering a technical point, perhaps an esoteric reference or obscure construction, resulting in a peculiar intensity of gaze and clarity of effect.

Of course, this might also be a sign to go on the bathroom mirror which reads, “Do laundry on Tuesday!” I never enjoyed doing laundry, either, so I can relate.  Actually, it might read, “Dad, if you post this picture on the blog, I’m going to …”

Fortunately, I can’t read Arabic ;-).

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My first full week of school

Dear Friends and Family,

My first full week of school has gone well. I’m still alive and excited about next week. I feel like I’ve been here for ages though. I have to think for a moment, “has it only been one week?”

I have finally made a final decision on what clubs I’m going to participate in. Though I really wanted to, I’ve decided to pass on the Renaissance Guild club. It was tons of fun, but it would take too much time and money. Instead I’m joining the women’s rugby teem, and the OSU college Republican’s club. Yesterday I volunteered for a door to door campaign effort to support the republican candidates for city council and mayor. They have elections this Nov. for city level stuff. It was nice to talk politics with people.

Arabic is really hard at the moment because Continue reading “My first full week of school”

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Property Stripping

Sounds like another environmental horror, doesn’t it? Perhaps some big corporation yanking all the resources out of a small community and leaving it bare, or some natural disaster brought about by us, the rich, white, Protestant brats of the developed world (according to our friends and neighbors, the liberals). That’s what I would have thought, but … no. The truth Continue reading “Property Stripping”