I doubt that the saga of Karen Sypher has come to an end. It all began at Porcino's back in 2003 when Sypher came into Porcino's, a known hang out of Rick Patino's,and displayed her talents. She was provocatively dressed and made moves on Patino. He is a nationally known basketball coach and highly regarded by the U of L fans and many other basketball fans throughout the country. They had a brief encounter, 15 seconds he claims, and because he was slightly inebriated, she drove him home. Why? She is quoted as saying in a deposition that it 'was snowing'. The date was July, 2003.
Six years later she acused him of raping her at that time, twice, and causing her to have an abortion, which he supposedly paid her $3,000 to pay for since she had no insurance. The 'nasty' happened about 3 or 4 weeks before the alledged abortion.
In the years between the 'nasty' and the public becoming aware of it, she had been busy demanding hush money, she shopped for a new home, one that was listed at $800,000. test drove a $70,000. Lexus, checked out colleges for her four sons etc. She was looking for big time compensation. She was not totally successful so she resorted to threats and conned others into making phone calls for her to make her demands. She had been married and had four sons by one man but had made money before by extorting money from one of her bosses or co-workers, she divorced her first husband and ended up marrying one of Patino's co-workers. She had a baby girl by her new husband.
Her existance became more and more sordid. She obviously has no shame.She had no qualms about airing her dirty laundry in public. Speaking of which, when she went to the police to report the alledged deeds she felt it necessary to share with the officer the fact that she wears a thong! Vital information!
In August she was convicted for extortion and for lying to the FBI. (She claimed not to know who it was that called and relayed one of her threats).
Her sentencing was scheduled for October 2010 but she had filed many appeals for delaying the sentencing because of various claims of a conspiricy by her own lawyers and by her former husbands,(I think she divorced Tim Sypher also) and by the judge on the case. She accused one of the judges of being in cahoots with Patino and U of L because he had a checking account at Stock Yard's Bank which happens to be the same bank that U of L uses and that has members on the board of directors. Whew! That's a reach.
She was not permitted to take the stand during the initial trial because her lawyer thought it was the wrong strategy to use so she blamed him and said he was in on the conspiracy.She never got to tell her side!
Finally the judge said, "Enough! Mo more delays". The sentencing trial was last week and she was sentenced to seven years and two months. She will not be elegible for parole because of her lying to the FBI, that makes it a Federal Crime.
The prosecution wanted her to start serving immediately but the defence insisted that she was not a threat so she is still free as of now. She is supposed to report to the authorities in 4 to 6 weeks. Ya think?
Already, the present lawyer, she's had a few, says she has ADD,(attention deficit disorder) or is suffering from PTSS ( Post traumatic stress syndrome). Give us a break!
I am sure this is not the last chapter of this saga! How much longer can it go on? They are now saying her former husband, Tim Sypher is in on the plot, she accused him of child abuse. We are tired of this sleazy,cheap display of this avericious woman. Off to the clink with her! Be done with it! Ciao.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Early Winter Thaw
We have had such a horrendous winter this year! In most of the 50 winters I've spent in Louisville it has been cold, grey, and gloomy. We had occasional snow but other than one year when we had quite a lot of snow that stayed around for a few weeks and closed the schools for a number of days, our snow experiences were negligible. If the weather people predicted snow, the populace became hysterical and trotted off to the grocery to buy gallons of milk, loaves of bread and supplies for a long term confinement, and usually the snow ,if it came at all, just covered the grass and melted by noon. Doc worked second shift and he usually missed the snow because it had melted by the time he woke up in the morning. Needless to say, the schools closed!
Not so this year, it has been brutally cold, and we've had numerous snows, enough for building snow men and wearing boots, ear muffs and heavy gloves. The schools have been closed for enough days that it will be necessary to extend the school year until the 6th of June. (So far,- its still only February).
The city has done a much better job of preparing for inclement weather this year. The brine trucks are out on the streets promptly when snow is predicted and cover about 300 miles of roads before the snow actually hits. It has been wonderful to be able to travel all but the really remote streets during the time the snow is on the ground.
BUT the temperatures have been unbelievable. It has been below freezing most of the winter. Not often below zero on the thermometer but the wind chill factor has been below zero frequently. I have not been truly warm for most of the winter. In an effort to keep the LG&E bills manageable I have had the thermastat set on the lowest possible setting. I have Reynauds Syndrome and suffer from 'blue, black and eventually white fingers and lately, toes' for most of the winter. Hand warmers are a matter of 'to freeze or not to freeze' in my every day existance.
I finally decided to spend a week in Florida thawing out. I wanted to see the twins and Keith and Angela anyway and what better time to visit Sarasota than February? I left on Wednesday, Feb. 9th when the temp here was 17 degrees! Everything here is brown and dead looking and remainded so as I flew south until we approached the Georgia-Florida line when it became green!! What a treat, I warmed up just looking out the window of the plane. When I landed in Sarasota it was about 63 degrees, cold for them but comparatively speaking, warm for me. It became a little warmer each day that I was there. The major difference is that all of the trees, plants and grass are green and there are blooming flowers and trees everywhere you look. When I stepped out of the terminal I could smell the perfumed air from the flowering trees and plants. Each day that I stepped out of Keith and Angela's house the air smelled sweet.
I must admit that it was chilly the first few days, it rained one day but even that was pleasant. It warmed up enough for us to go to the beach two days. The people were sunning and walking on Lido beach with their shirts off (men) and bathing gear on. I'm sure that they were from the cold north and said,"By George, I'm going home with a tan!" More power to them . The following day was much, much warmer and the Siesta Key beach was crowded with sun bathers, volley ball players and beach walkers. It was ideal. Angela and I sat on the beach and watched the activity and got the added bonus of seeing three dolphins swimming and cavorting in the ocean. Oh, happy day! The next day we went back to Seista but just had lunch, (lobster bisque) and sat on a bench to see if the manatees would pay a visit to one of their hang outs, but,alas, they did not come.
On my flight down there, everything went well. Changing planes in Charlotte worked out and we had a nice smooth flight. When I arrived in Sarasota, I found that my luggage had mistakingly been sent to Charlston, S.C. The baggage clerk kept assuring me, "It is not lost, we know where it is!" I slept in a large 'Keith Fitztgerald for State Rep. tee shirt' and
waited until mid afternoon the next day for my wandering luggage to arrive.
I had to board the plane at 7AM to come home on the 16th, which required me to get up at 5:30 AM in order to get to the airport by 6AM. I was very well organized when I went to bed about midnight and felt I could be ready at 5;30 AM with out much effort. No drama! It all worked out and I was in plenty of time and boarded the plane with ease. Angela had given me a "Vanity Fair" magazine that had an article in it that she knew would entertain me for most of my flight. As we taxied out to the runway to prepare for take off, I pulled my magazine out of the bag and then discovered that my glasses were back in Sarasota!! I happened to have my prescription sun glasses with me so I was forced to put them on. I watched the sun come up as we flew north with my sun glasses on. Did I look bizarre? Well two men were wearing sun glasses. One was a blind man with a companion and the other one ordered a beer as soon as we were offered refreshments! I'm sure people wondered what my excuse was. Anyway, one more adventure in the life and times of EEF. Ciao!
Not so this year, it has been brutally cold, and we've had numerous snows, enough for building snow men and wearing boots, ear muffs and heavy gloves. The schools have been closed for enough days that it will be necessary to extend the school year until the 6th of June. (So far,- its still only February).
The city has done a much better job of preparing for inclement weather this year. The brine trucks are out on the streets promptly when snow is predicted and cover about 300 miles of roads before the snow actually hits. It has been wonderful to be able to travel all but the really remote streets during the time the snow is on the ground.
BUT the temperatures have been unbelievable. It has been below freezing most of the winter. Not often below zero on the thermometer but the wind chill factor has been below zero frequently. I have not been truly warm for most of the winter. In an effort to keep the LG&E bills manageable I have had the thermastat set on the lowest possible setting. I have Reynauds Syndrome and suffer from 'blue, black and eventually white fingers and lately, toes' for most of the winter. Hand warmers are a matter of 'to freeze or not to freeze' in my every day existance.
I finally decided to spend a week in Florida thawing out. I wanted to see the twins and Keith and Angela anyway and what better time to visit Sarasota than February? I left on Wednesday, Feb. 9th when the temp here was 17 degrees! Everything here is brown and dead looking and remainded so as I flew south until we approached the Georgia-Florida line when it became green!! What a treat, I warmed up just looking out the window of the plane. When I landed in Sarasota it was about 63 degrees, cold for them but comparatively speaking, warm for me. It became a little warmer each day that I was there. The major difference is that all of the trees, plants and grass are green and there are blooming flowers and trees everywhere you look. When I stepped out of the terminal I could smell the perfumed air from the flowering trees and plants. Each day that I stepped out of Keith and Angela's house the air smelled sweet.
I must admit that it was chilly the first few days, it rained one day but even that was pleasant. It warmed up enough for us to go to the beach two days. The people were sunning and walking on Lido beach with their shirts off (men) and bathing gear on. I'm sure that they were from the cold north and said,"By George, I'm going home with a tan!" More power to them . The following day was much, much warmer and the Siesta Key beach was crowded with sun bathers, volley ball players and beach walkers. It was ideal. Angela and I sat on the beach and watched the activity and got the added bonus of seeing three dolphins swimming and cavorting in the ocean. Oh, happy day! The next day we went back to Seista but just had lunch, (lobster bisque) and sat on a bench to see if the manatees would pay a visit to one of their hang outs, but,alas, they did not come.
On my flight down there, everything went well. Changing planes in Charlotte worked out and we had a nice smooth flight. When I arrived in Sarasota, I found that my luggage had mistakingly been sent to Charlston, S.C. The baggage clerk kept assuring me, "It is not lost, we know where it is!" I slept in a large 'Keith Fitztgerald for State Rep. tee shirt' and
waited until mid afternoon the next day for my wandering luggage to arrive.
I had to board the plane at 7AM to come home on the 16th, which required me to get up at 5:30 AM in order to get to the airport by 6AM. I was very well organized when I went to bed about midnight and felt I could be ready at 5;30 AM with out much effort. No drama! It all worked out and I was in plenty of time and boarded the plane with ease. Angela had given me a "Vanity Fair" magazine that had an article in it that she knew would entertain me for most of my flight. As we taxied out to the runway to prepare for take off, I pulled my magazine out of the bag and then discovered that my glasses were back in Sarasota!! I happened to have my prescription sun glasses with me so I was forced to put them on. I watched the sun come up as we flew north with my sun glasses on. Did I look bizarre? Well two men were wearing sun glasses. One was a blind man with a companion and the other one ordered a beer as soon as we were offered refreshments! I'm sure people wondered what my excuse was. Anyway, one more adventure in the life and times of EEF. Ciao!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Eerie Misty Day
There were very few humans in the park today, as I drove through.There were two men walking down the fairway on the first hole looking mighty cold but determined. They were bundled up in their heavy weight winter jackets with their hoods up and the gloves on their left hands were definitely not golf gloves. The mist was not yet frozen but pretty near. I could imagine their wives at home wondering if they were truly on the golf course or drinking coffee in the club house or certifiable. I think I would go for the last choice.
The whole scene was gray, the ominous looking sky had heavy dark clouds, and the winds were brisk. I could see the men's breath as they pushed their wheeled golf caddies along. The stark, naked trees were gray against the gray sky,the mist was so heavy that the intermitant swipe of the wind shield wipers was necessary for clear vision. I saw neither a single squirrel (or a married one for that matter)nor a bird
A lone male runner, in black spandex pants and a bright yellow jacket ran up the hill near the 'shoe tree'. Looked mighty lonely, but not as cold looking as the two golfers. His helmet type hat had ear muffs and he had black gloves on.
There was no traffic, I met no cars and there were none behind me. I have never seen the park so desolate looking. Could the usual runners, bikers, walkers, golfers have been scared off by the much touted threats of one to three inches of snow? What else could have convinced all of them to take a Saturday morning off? The two golfers and the lone runner were the macho men of the week. Kudos to them!
Twelve hours later, still no snow, and that's a good thing! Ciao
The whole scene was gray, the ominous looking sky had heavy dark clouds, and the winds were brisk. I could see the men's breath as they pushed their wheeled golf caddies along. The stark, naked trees were gray against the gray sky,the mist was so heavy that the intermitant swipe of the wind shield wipers was necessary for clear vision. I saw neither a single squirrel (or a married one for that matter)nor a bird
A lone male runner, in black spandex pants and a bright yellow jacket ran up the hill near the 'shoe tree'. Looked mighty lonely, but not as cold looking as the two golfers. His helmet type hat had ear muffs and he had black gloves on.
There was no traffic, I met no cars and there were none behind me. I have never seen the park so desolate looking. Could the usual runners, bikers, walkers, golfers have been scared off by the much touted threats of one to three inches of snow? What else could have convinced all of them to take a Saturday morning off? The two golfers and the lone runner were the macho men of the week. Kudos to them!
Twelve hours later, still no snow, and that's a good thing! Ciao
Friday, January 21, 2011
Hippo-Fetish
I have never written about my unusual attraction to the Hippotomus. Many, many years ago, perhaps 40 or more I became attracted to hippos. I can't remember which of my hippos was first to come into my home but at some point in time I started acquiring them. When Brian was about ten he went Christmas shopping with his dad to pick out my Christmas present. Later in the day, Doc told me that he was not sure that I would like the present but Brian insisted that I would like it. I did and still do. If you've seen the new picture on my facebook space you've seen one of the hippo families that has resided in my house all of these years.That was Brian's gift.
The Hippopotamus is an ancient species, it has been around since 2000 B.C. The Egyptians feared the hippopotamus who lived in the Nile River, it was worshipped both as the evil god, Seth and as the protective goddess, Thouera. Some Egyptian kings had hippo pools. They are sometimes referred to as 'river horses'.
Throughout the years I have acquired more than a hundred of them. It came to pass that when people saw a hippo as they traveled around they would purchase it and tell me that when they saw the hippopotamus they thought of me! Does a lot for your self image!
I have a pink ceramic hippo that has lovely eye-lashes and green and yellow flowers on it (could it be a goddess?) that Linda made. I have a white one with a red top hat that unscrews and at one time had cologne in it. It is an Avon collectible bottle. I have pewter, glass, brass, clay,wooden, bone and many stuffed animals, large and small along with a variety of others.
One of the teachers that I supervised at the de Paul School traveled to Africa one Christmas vacation to visit her missionary parents. She brought me two hand carved Keesie stone hippos. One of them was carved at an old man's stand by the side of the road while she watched. I love it because one of its legs is shorter than the rest, so he is wobbly. The old man was displeased with the end result and he wanted to do another one. She assured him it would be greatly appreciated by her friend (me) and she bought it 'as is'. I love it!
Mc Donalds, during the Beanie Baby rage, sold lavender Mama and baby hippo Beanie Babies with their Happy Meals. Four or five of my students at school knew that I liked hippos, so they bought them and gave them to me. I think they are the favorites of the great-grand children and they play with them when they come to visit.
When Andrea was quite young, she and her dad were at a Patoka Lake gift shop,(I think it was a gas station) and she saw a brown hippo carved out of wood that had rolled eyes and gritted teeth and it soon had a home on my shelf. Courtney, when I was in the hospital for one of my cancer surgeries brought me a purple stuffed toy hippo with a pocket in his back, filled with shaped figures, with a velcro closure. He kept me company while I was recooperating.
I have four Hippo napkin rings, a tiny inch high fuzzy hippo key ring, Paula gave me a huge ceramic hippo that spends his summer on the deck with my shamrock plants and spends his winters in my family room, I have a 12x7 glass bank hippo that has provided me with 'eat out 'money when I travel to Florida. Angela asks, "Is the hippo ready to fly yet?" There is a hippo that perches on the rim of one of my planters, one that is a belt buckle, a very, very tiny one that I could put on a chain to wear around my neck, a Christmas hippo with a wreath around his neck,(he has a permanent home on the Spinet desk in the living room), I have a carved mama and baby that Paula got for me at a convention in Denver. (carved out of wood) I have a few stuffed hippos that reside on various shelves.
Some of them have their mouths open, some have them closed. I went to Gus's school, when he was in Kindergarten, to read to his class and I chose the book,"The Hippopotmus That Ate the Teacher." It was a big hit with his class. His teacher, by way of thanking me, gave me another "Hippo" book as a thankyou gift."
I have two picture frames that are Hippos, Gus is in one and Keith and the twins are in the other one. The twins have spent time with my hippos , also. I have a framed picture that Bridget drew for me while she was here last summer. She also made a book of "paper doll hippos". They have many outfits equipped with tabs to afix them to the animals. Her thankyou note for her Christmas present featured a couple of hippos by their watering hole, or river, enhanced by plants. She drew them because, "Grandma likes hippos."
Some time in the near future, I will go through the house and gather them all up for a "Hippopatamus convention" so to speak, and perhaps put them on face book. I have not lost my affection for them and will continue to enjoy them. I had hippo wind chimes,but they no longer can chime. (Their hangers broke, but I still have them. They are lying down hippos. I also used to have a cookie jar, I loved it, but it took a header off the refrigerator and broke into many peices. Even Doc was unhappy to see that happening. I've had a few Birthday cards with Hippos on them. It is surprising how many items feature them. I'm not the only one facinated by them.
The Louisville Zoo had a baby hippo there a few years ago but I did not get to go visit it! I really wanted to see it. I've seen them at the Chicago Zoo, and was even more facinated by them.
Have a Hippy Day. Ciao
The Hippopotamus is an ancient species, it has been around since 2000 B.C. The Egyptians feared the hippopotamus who lived in the Nile River, it was worshipped both as the evil god, Seth and as the protective goddess, Thouera. Some Egyptian kings had hippo pools. They are sometimes referred to as 'river horses'.
Throughout the years I have acquired more than a hundred of them. It came to pass that when people saw a hippo as they traveled around they would purchase it and tell me that when they saw the hippopotamus they thought of me! Does a lot for your self image!
I have a pink ceramic hippo that has lovely eye-lashes and green and yellow flowers on it (could it be a goddess?) that Linda made. I have a white one with a red top hat that unscrews and at one time had cologne in it. It is an Avon collectible bottle. I have pewter, glass, brass, clay,wooden, bone and many stuffed animals, large and small along with a variety of others.
One of the teachers that I supervised at the de Paul School traveled to Africa one Christmas vacation to visit her missionary parents. She brought me two hand carved Keesie stone hippos. One of them was carved at an old man's stand by the side of the road while she watched. I love it because one of its legs is shorter than the rest, so he is wobbly. The old man was displeased with the end result and he wanted to do another one. She assured him it would be greatly appreciated by her friend (me) and she bought it 'as is'. I love it!
Mc Donalds, during the Beanie Baby rage, sold lavender Mama and baby hippo Beanie Babies with their Happy Meals. Four or five of my students at school knew that I liked hippos, so they bought them and gave them to me. I think they are the favorites of the great-grand children and they play with them when they come to visit.
When Andrea was quite young, she and her dad were at a Patoka Lake gift shop,(I think it was a gas station) and she saw a brown hippo carved out of wood that had rolled eyes and gritted teeth and it soon had a home on my shelf. Courtney, when I was in the hospital for one of my cancer surgeries brought me a purple stuffed toy hippo with a pocket in his back, filled with shaped figures, with a velcro closure. He kept me company while I was recooperating.
I have four Hippo napkin rings, a tiny inch high fuzzy hippo key ring, Paula gave me a huge ceramic hippo that spends his summer on the deck with my shamrock plants and spends his winters in my family room, I have a 12x7 glass bank hippo that has provided me with 'eat out 'money when I travel to Florida. Angela asks, "Is the hippo ready to fly yet?" There is a hippo that perches on the rim of one of my planters, one that is a belt buckle, a very, very tiny one that I could put on a chain to wear around my neck, a Christmas hippo with a wreath around his neck,(he has a permanent home on the Spinet desk in the living room), I have a carved mama and baby that Paula got for me at a convention in Denver. (carved out of wood) I have a few stuffed hippos that reside on various shelves.
Some of them have their mouths open, some have them closed. I went to Gus's school, when he was in Kindergarten, to read to his class and I chose the book,"The Hippopotmus That Ate the Teacher." It was a big hit with his class. His teacher, by way of thanking me, gave me another "Hippo" book as a thankyou gift."
I have two picture frames that are Hippos, Gus is in one and Keith and the twins are in the other one. The twins have spent time with my hippos , also. I have a framed picture that Bridget drew for me while she was here last summer. She also made a book of "paper doll hippos". They have many outfits equipped with tabs to afix them to the animals. Her thankyou note for her Christmas present featured a couple of hippos by their watering hole, or river, enhanced by plants. She drew them because, "Grandma likes hippos."
Some time in the near future, I will go through the house and gather them all up for a "Hippopatamus convention" so to speak, and perhaps put them on face book. I have not lost my affection for them and will continue to enjoy them. I had hippo wind chimes,but they no longer can chime. (Their hangers broke, but I still have them. They are lying down hippos. I also used to have a cookie jar, I loved it, but it took a header off the refrigerator and broke into many peices. Even Doc was unhappy to see that happening. I've had a few Birthday cards with Hippos on them. It is surprising how many items feature them. I'm not the only one facinated by them.
The Louisville Zoo had a baby hippo there a few years ago but I did not get to go visit it! I really wanted to see it. I've seen them at the Chicago Zoo, and was even more facinated by them.
Have a Hippy Day. Ciao
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Reading Maketh the Man
I am going to pull my soap-box out again and comment on the latest controversy that I've been reading about in the news. In recent years we've all been chastized and called upon to change certain words and phrases and become 'more politically correct' in our speech and comments. Even the church has been required to make changes in their dialogue and expressions. I am not totally against all of the changes, because some terms and phrases are a little more refined and a little kinder. The Holy Ghost became The Holy Spirit, the 'garbage man' became a Sanitation Worker, a chairman became a chairperson, mailman a mail person. We made changes in the names we use for different nationalities: Irish are no longer Micks, Chinese are no longer Chinks,Japanese,no longer Japs, Germans, no longer Krauts.When I was growing up many of my friends were of Italian descent and the ones from Northern Italy were called Wops and the ones from Southern Italy were called Dagos. My friend used to call her big brothers Wops when she was mad at them. They frequently called other classmates, Dago or Wop depending on which part of Italy their parents were from. None of those words are used today, and that's a good thing!
If I were to write a book about my life as a child and teenager before World War ll, if the book truly reflected that time in history, I would be bound to use many of the terms that were commonly used at that time. I would relay the fact that when we walked the six blocks to our Catholic School we passed many of the students of the public school going the other way,to the public school. We had an on-going verbal exchange with them. They stayed on one side of the street and we stayed on the other as we passed each other. They chanted "cat-lickers, cat-lickers" (Catholics) and we chanted back "pot-lickers,pot-lickers" (Protestants). It was not unusual for us to play with the 'pot-lickers' after school but in that little slice of time we got great satisfaction from our name calling duel.That would not happen in today's world but it did in mine. I would have to write the actual fact to tell it like it was.
Fast forward to today's time. When we were choosing a novel for our eighth graders to read about ten years ago the other teacher and I chose "Of Mice and Men" by John Stienbeck. It is a classic that tells of an era in our history that has been read down through the years and will be read for many years to come. The values dealt with in the book are many and values that a group of eighth grade boys need to learn, compassion, empathy and duty. If you have ever read the book you may well know that the language used is in the vernacular. It is the everyday language commonly used by the itenerants of that time in the community that is being written about.
Before we went forward with our plans to read the book, we wrote a letter to each and every parent and aprized them of the profanity that we would be exposing the students to and gave them a summary of the book and our plans for telling the students how to deal with the language. The parents were asked to sign the letter and to voice their approval or dissproval of the choice of that book. We received all of the letters back, signed and approved by the parents.
We spent one whole class explaining why the author used that language and told them they were not expected to read aloud the profanities and gave them a choice of just skipping the words or using a euphemism. We were quite impressed with the euphemisms they chose. Dag-nabbit,gol-derned, dog-gonned and many others. The book lost none of its impact and they were unabashed at the end of the book to weep together with their classmates and teachers.
My soap box piece concerns the people that want to take the N-word out of Mark Twain,s book about Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain wanted to expose the vitroil of that era in history, he wanted to emphasize the hatred,the cruelty, the ignorance of the populace at that particular time. Why can't the teachers talk with the students in advance of reading that selection and help them understand the connotation of the word "nigger'? Slave, that they want to replace the word with, carries a totally different connotation. Please let Mark Twain get his point across! It was his intent to expose the hatred and unfairness of the accepted behavior of that time in history. Do not change his words and thereby water down his intent. Ciao
If I were to write a book about my life as a child and teenager before World War ll, if the book truly reflected that time in history, I would be bound to use many of the terms that were commonly used at that time. I would relay the fact that when we walked the six blocks to our Catholic School we passed many of the students of the public school going the other way,to the public school. We had an on-going verbal exchange with them. They stayed on one side of the street and we stayed on the other as we passed each other. They chanted "cat-lickers, cat-lickers" (Catholics) and we chanted back "pot-lickers,pot-lickers" (Protestants). It was not unusual for us to play with the 'pot-lickers' after school but in that little slice of time we got great satisfaction from our name calling duel.That would not happen in today's world but it did in mine. I would have to write the actual fact to tell it like it was.
Fast forward to today's time. When we were choosing a novel for our eighth graders to read about ten years ago the other teacher and I chose "Of Mice and Men" by John Stienbeck. It is a classic that tells of an era in our history that has been read down through the years and will be read for many years to come. The values dealt with in the book are many and values that a group of eighth grade boys need to learn, compassion, empathy and duty. If you have ever read the book you may well know that the language used is in the vernacular. It is the everyday language commonly used by the itenerants of that time in the community that is being written about.
Before we went forward with our plans to read the book, we wrote a letter to each and every parent and aprized them of the profanity that we would be exposing the students to and gave them a summary of the book and our plans for telling the students how to deal with the language. The parents were asked to sign the letter and to voice their approval or dissproval of the choice of that book. We received all of the letters back, signed and approved by the parents.
We spent one whole class explaining why the author used that language and told them they were not expected to read aloud the profanities and gave them a choice of just skipping the words or using a euphemism. We were quite impressed with the euphemisms they chose. Dag-nabbit,gol-derned, dog-gonned and many others. The book lost none of its impact and they were unabashed at the end of the book to weep together with their classmates and teachers.
My soap box piece concerns the people that want to take the N-word out of Mark Twain,s book about Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain wanted to expose the vitroil of that era in history, he wanted to emphasize the hatred,the cruelty, the ignorance of the populace at that particular time. Why can't the teachers talk with the students in advance of reading that selection and help them understand the connotation of the word "nigger'? Slave, that they want to replace the word with, carries a totally different connotation. Please let Mark Twain get his point across! It was his intent to expose the hatred and unfairness of the accepted behavior of that time in history. Do not change his words and thereby water down his intent. Ciao
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The first few centuries after the Fall of the Roman Empire are sometimes referred to as the Middle Ages. There was prevailing ignorance and barbarism at that time. Fortunately, there were forces for Culture and enlightenment throughout the period. A group of Irish monks took it upon themselves to copy, by hand, all of the classics, the gospels, and other things so that a true account of the culture that had preceded the Fall of the Roman Empire could be preserved. These accounts are called the Book of Kells and are housed in Ireland in the library of Trinity College in Dublin. I have never been as impressed as I was when I got to see these Books when I visited Ireland. They had been laboreously hand written in the script that was used at that time. It apparently took a few centuries to copy from the Ancient Greek, Latin, Germanic and even more primitive script so that we could have an account of civilization.
We are now in the era of technology and letting our children fall by the wayside when it comes to comunicating by the traditional form. Keyboarding is taking precedence over penmanship. The children are not being taught penmanship in many schools. Shockingly, some of their teachers cannot write in cursive nor can they read cursive writing. Some educators insist that we now communicate by computers and there is no need for the students or anyone else to be literate enough to communicate by hand written means.
There are many methods of cursive writing. Enough to accomodate the students with underveloped motor skills or the difficulty, at first, that the left handed person encounters. The common Palmer method, or the Zanner-Blozer method can be a little more challenging for those students but the DeNealing Method which helps the student that is less dexterous is quite satisfactory. Legible hand writing is the ultimate aim.
There is so much talk about the quality of education in this country at this time that it seems counter productive to ignore the teaching of cursive writing and to encourage the child to depend on 'Spell-check' to spell. Spelling has pretty much fallen by the wayside and now cursive writing too. We will soon become a Nation of illiterate people.
Civilized people have been hand writing letters and other documents since the monks copied manuscripts in the Middle Ages. Shakespeare and Dickens and Poe and the signers of the Constitution found a pen good enough for their achievements. We cannot afford to let our society become deteriorated because 'it takes too much time' to teach penmanship and keyboarding too.
You must be profient in cursive writing to be able to sign your own signature to your important papers, your voter registration, your driver's licence and many, many other documents. Can you imagine getting a thank you note computer generated from your grandchild,a com.gen. love letter, a computer generated...well, you get the point. Fight to bring back the penmanship and spelling lessons in schools to prevent the New Era Dark Ages! Ciao
Note:
When children cannot write cursive writing they cannot read it either!
We are now in the era of technology and letting our children fall by the wayside when it comes to comunicating by the traditional form. Keyboarding is taking precedence over penmanship. The children are not being taught penmanship in many schools. Shockingly, some of their teachers cannot write in cursive nor can they read cursive writing. Some educators insist that we now communicate by computers and there is no need for the students or anyone else to be literate enough to communicate by hand written means.
There are many methods of cursive writing. Enough to accomodate the students with underveloped motor skills or the difficulty, at first, that the left handed person encounters. The common Palmer method, or the Zanner-Blozer method can be a little more challenging for those students but the DeNealing Method which helps the student that is less dexterous is quite satisfactory. Legible hand writing is the ultimate aim.
There is so much talk about the quality of education in this country at this time that it seems counter productive to ignore the teaching of cursive writing and to encourage the child to depend on 'Spell-check' to spell. Spelling has pretty much fallen by the wayside and now cursive writing too. We will soon become a Nation of illiterate people.
Civilized people have been hand writing letters and other documents since the monks copied manuscripts in the Middle Ages. Shakespeare and Dickens and Poe and the signers of the Constitution found a pen good enough for their achievements. We cannot afford to let our society become deteriorated because 'it takes too much time' to teach penmanship and keyboarding too.
You must be profient in cursive writing to be able to sign your own signature to your important papers, your voter registration, your driver's licence and many, many other documents. Can you imagine getting a thank you note computer generated from your grandchild,a com.gen. love letter, a computer generated...well, you get the point. Fight to bring back the penmanship and spelling lessons in schools to prevent the New Era Dark Ages! Ciao
Note:
When children cannot write cursive writing they cannot read it either!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Happy New Year
We are coming up on another New Year, Two-thousand and eleven! What is in store for us this year? We always hope for peace on Earth but for the most part we pretty much continue doing what we've been doing. Yes, I know we make resolutions but the resolutions are mostly self serving and frequently are abandoned after the first week or so. Predictable things like dieting, stopping smoking, not drinking to excess,spending less on frivolous things, saving money and the list goes on.
We should be resolving to be kinder to each other, to be tolerant of the people around us that are not like us, to LISTEN to the people we come in contact with each day. We need to try to understand other people. What makes them think the way they do. We can always learn something from everyone we meet, even if it's just that we don't want to be like them.
We should make an effort to discourage this trend of "name calling" that goes on around us every day. Why does everone have to have a 'tag'? If you read the letters to the editor each day you will see that almost every letter writer engages in name calling. ie: "your Liberal, Communist, Socialist, news paper..." "the Conservative, mean spirited, party of No.." " the Liberal, anything goes party ..." Aren't they all talking about their fellow Americans? If you are a patriotic American citizen you will benefit most by trying to get things done that benefit all of us whether we are Democrat, Republican,or Independent.
Make a New Years's resolution that we will try to tone down our criticism of each other and spend more time trying to understand one another. Spend more time trying to assist the poor, the lonely, ease the pain of the suffering. See if you can spend one day without making a negative statement about someone or something. (You might want to wait till the UofL/Kentucky game is over to start your resolution.) Happy New Year!Ciao
We should be resolving to be kinder to each other, to be tolerant of the people around us that are not like us, to LISTEN to the people we come in contact with each day. We need to try to understand other people. What makes them think the way they do. We can always learn something from everyone we meet, even if it's just that we don't want to be like them.
We should make an effort to discourage this trend of "name calling" that goes on around us every day. Why does everone have to have a 'tag'? If you read the letters to the editor each day you will see that almost every letter writer engages in name calling. ie: "your Liberal, Communist, Socialist, news paper..." "the Conservative, mean spirited, party of No.." " the Liberal, anything goes party ..." Aren't they all talking about their fellow Americans? If you are a patriotic American citizen you will benefit most by trying to get things done that benefit all of us whether we are Democrat, Republican,or Independent.
Make a New Years's resolution that we will try to tone down our criticism of each other and spend more time trying to understand one another. Spend more time trying to assist the poor, the lonely, ease the pain of the suffering. See if you can spend one day without making a negative statement about someone or something. (You might want to wait till the UofL/Kentucky game is over to start your resolution.) Happy New Year!Ciao
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