We have to leave for the airport in 2.5 hours. Ask me if I've packed ANYTHING. No, wait, don't. Please don't.

Half of what I want to pack had to be washed this morning and has to hang dry. I stuck it in the California sun and have been praying to the sun gods to dry FASTER for the last two hours.

{{Tamara}} All my sympathy to your family. Peace~ma to your aunt.

What a bummer, Barb. I hope all further revisions are quick (if not painless.)

{{{Tamara}}} Sympathies to you and yours.

Oh, yay, another Rachel Maddow guest host for Countdown! I'd love it if she and Keith ended up co-hosting a show.

Glory Box – Portishead

Er...you listed this as an UPBEAT song, Billytea??

Hee. It didn't really fit properly into any of the categories, and the Misc Disc was already full. Wallybee doesn't much like it anyway, so I may have to replace it.

{{{Tamara}}} I'm so sorry for you and your family.

(Also, and I know this sounds weird, could I Photoshop that deck picture for you? I've been teaching myself Photoshop techniques for a couple of months, and that picture is just perfect for some color boosting.)

Experiment away!

{{{{Tamara}}}}}

I have my 8th graders write a research paper in my drama class (on a topic about theatre history). Turns out, it's a good thing as one of the language arts teachers does NOT teach how to write them.

I also have my 7th graders give a speech where research is required and they have to document their findings much like a research paper. I do that to prepare them for the paper in 8th grade.

I think our first proto research paper was in fourth grade. We had to write a few mini papers about an animal -- one with a paragraph or two about their history, one with a paragraph or two about what they eat, one about where they live, and so on. Fourth grade was also the New Jersey project -- some sort of project and a short writeup about something about New Jersey. (My project was about Molly Pitcher, and I made a model of the battle of Monmouth.) Fifth grade, we had the Philadelphia report, which was longer, and the teacher gave us a list of questions that should be answered in the paper. Fifth grade seemed to be the "learn how to write a paper" year -- we also had to write a paper on a disease for science, and a paper on a traditional craft for art.

{{{Tamara}}} I'm so sorry for your loss.

I don't remember writing much of anything (doesn't mean it didn't happen, it just means I don't remember) in 4th grade, but I do remember having to write a "big" report on a state in 5th grade - had to have at least three citations beyond the encyclopedia. I was at a little church school until 8th, developed excellent writing skills up to that point, then transfered to public school for 9th, in which there was precious little writing, and backslid. In 10th I got into the honors program, and had to suddenly do a whole lot of writing, which I managed by doing a whole lot of weeping, wailing, and feeling woefully inadequate. In 11th, I gave my favorite teacher the unpleasant surprise of getting a D on the first test I took in his class, by dint of having no ability whatsoever on the essay question. As I had displayed an obvious understanding and interest in the material through class discussion, Mr. C. put a heck of a lot of effort into teaching me how to successfully craft an in-class essay. For which I remain grateful. In his honor, and on behalf of all the students of the Buffista teachers, I thank you for teaching writing skills.