2024*2: LizzieD at Home with a Book

In Brookgreen Gardens in May. I like our matching hats.

READ IN APRIL
16. Betrayal in Death
17. Common People
18. Rotherweird
19. Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens
20. Like the Appearance of Horses*
21. Damaged Like Us

Into the House in April
28. Cities that Built the Bible - Kindle deal through BookBub
29. The Ancient Roman Afterlife - Kindle deal through BookBub
30. Wellington: The Years of the Sword - AMP
31. Poor Deer - Kindle deal
32. Semiosis - PBS
33. The Power of Babel - AMP
34. Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue - AMP
35. Dickens's Dictionary of London- Kindle
36. Brotherless Night - Kindle deal through BookBub
37. Derring-Do for Beginners - Kindle
38. Saint Elspeth - Kindle
39. Damaged Like Us ✔ - Kindle

READ IN MAY
22. The Postscript Murders
23. Saint Elspeth
24. The Nonesuch
25. -27. The Lois McKendrick Omnibus: Quarter Share Half Share Full Share (much reread)
28. Britain BC
29. Double Share

Into the House in May
40. Under the Dome - AMP
41. James
42. Floating Hotel
43. Vermeer's Hat - AMP
44. Cold Welcome - AMP
45. Oath of Gold - PBS
46. Against the Odds - AMP
47. Himalayan Dhaba - AMP
48. The Redemption of Alexander Seaton - Kindle
49. The Adventures of Isabel - Kindle

READ IN JUNE
30. Captain's Share

Into the House in June

*review on book page

OPEN FOR READING IN JUNE


(Just because they're open doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to get to them this month.) (This is such a joke. Maybe this will be the year I actually read *Life* --- maybe not. I do live and read in hope!)

BEST OR MOST MEMORABLE OF THE FIRST QUARTER!

The Marriage Portrait*
The Man Who Died Twice
The Debatable Land
Resurgence
Covenant of Water

Rockton series + Haven's Rock series
Greenwing and Dart series

Happy new thread Lizzie!

Why, thank you, Lily! I don't have a crown for you, but I appreciate the visit.

>6 LizzieD: Thats totally fine, and im glad you appreciate my visit before your thread hits off to a lot of messages.

Happy new thread Peggy!

>3 LizzieD: A Memory of Light really is the Last Battle.

Happy New Thread, Peggy!

Happy New Thread, Peggy and happy reading ahead!

Lovely to see a new thread from you dear Peggy. xx

Happy new thread, Peggy!
(((hugs)))

Happy new thread.

'Morning, my dear Peggy. I was glad to read that your family and friends were there for you at your mama's service on your first thread, thanks for posting.

I guess I need to write down a few of the things I want and a few of the things I DON'T WANT for any service for me. I have two favorite hymns, How Great Thou Art, and Just As I Am - heard them at chapel in my freshman year at Pepperdine. The first works for a non-Christian, the second doesn't, but I love it any way.

I need to get going - I've got a massage soon and a bit of grocery shopping to get done besides all the usual stuff.

Much love!

>3 LizzieD: Well, I am glad to see that The Warburgs is at least open :)

>4 LizzieD: Adding The Debatable Land to the BlackHole. Thanks, Peggy!

Happy new thread! ((Hugs))

I love new thread visits! Thank you, Stasia (you can thank Lucy for reading *DLand* first), Karen, Anita, Anita! (y'all can decide which Anita is which), Paul, Deborah, Roni, and Susan. *HUGS* to you every single one, and Lily too!

Karen, I'm glad that you will give people an opportunity to sing at your service, far far far into the future though it be, please!

I am going to try to do a few more positive things today and then stop early to nap and read. That's my style.

Wordle 1,020 3/6*

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, broil, climb

Peggy, I can't stop thinking about church music for some reason. My mom was Catholic so I grew up in the Catholic church, but "defected" to my dad's Presbyterian church in high school. When you first mentioned "Holy Holy Holy" all I could remember was a rather blah congregational hymn sung at mass. Yesterday out of nowhere I remembered later (as a Presbyterian) singing a version with an amazing descant on the last verse. Magnificent.

I hope your day is going well and that you get your well-deserved nap.

Happy new thread, Peggy! I hope you had a great nap this afternoon. I felt like one at midday, but had lunch instead and read afterward.

Laura, you have quite an interesting history of churching. I can't tell you how badly I wanted to sing that *Holy* descant, but I was able to restrain myself.

Hi, Irene. The nap was from 7:30 to 8:00 and still refreshing. I'm amazed at how early it is for me to be here. I'll visit a minute and then get to read some before getting another good night's sleep.

>19 LizzieD: Restraint was probably a good idea, Peggy. Just to clarify, my first experience with the descant was hearing the choir do it during the service. I sang in the choir for several years, but as an alto. I enjoyed singing harmony (and still do so if there's a hymnal with music notation in the pew), but altos never get the fun descants.

Have a great day ...

‘Morning, Peggy! I hope your day goes well.

>16 LizzieD: I didn’t make time to mention that I didn’t know that How Great Thou Art was my maternal grandmother’s favorite hymn until her funeral. When the minister said that, I started crying. Thank goodness my Uncle Doug has a pack of tissues!

Yes, I have always said that to me ‘old’ is 90s. I’m more careful of my body now, and plan on living well into those 90s.

That you’re doing positive things to take care of yourself makes me happy.

Wordle in 4 for me today.

Happy new thread, Peggy!

I can't believe it. I wrote a long message to Laura and Karen and a word of thanks to Jim - previewed a link, and when I came back, the post was gone. I'll know not to do that again. I just can't duplicate it now. Poooo.

Wordle 1,021 3/6*

⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, foist, wrist

>20 lauralkeet: I agree completely. I also sing alto, and I sing harmony if there's a hymnal. Somehow I need to both hear the parts and see the music to do well singing the harmony. But one of the reasons I love Holy, Holy, Holy is that it's one of the few hymns that has a great alto part.

>23 LizzieD: I know how frustrating that is. More than once I've worked on a long post, previewed it, hit a link to make sure it was working, and came back only to find that the post was gone. If I remember to right click and open in a new tab it's OK, but if I forget that, poof! It's very frustrating, so you have my sympathies.

'Morning, my dear Peggy.

I've lost a fair few messages over the years, too.

Wordle in 4 for me today. Congrats on yesterday's 3.

Good morning, dear Karen! My run of 4s and 3s ended today as I waded in alphabet soup and barely made it out.

Good morning, Irene and Laura! I'll at least try to post my favorite anthem again with the glorious descant, which I love to sing, and its simple, lovely ending. If I decide to test the link, I'll copy this #())@#$&*^&!!! post first. Oh well. I was born a first soprano in quality and range, but I've sung alto and tenor in the church choir before settling into second, the hardest voice for me to hear. (Ah well. If I'm harmonizing freely, I tend to sing a bass line an octave higher....) I love to rehearse second and perform first. Oddly enough, I've never met a choir director who would let me do that.

My Song is Love Unknown This is a newer setting of a 17th century poem by Samuel Crossman. The composer is Edwin Childs; the better known version is by John Ireland.

Thank you for the visit, Jim. I'm ever grateful to be here!

Wordle 1,022 5/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, choir, pinch, winch, finch Go figure.

'Morning, Peggy!

Glad you made it out of Wordle intact, as it were.

I'll have to get back to your link. I'm heading over to book sale setup this morning, masked, of course, with the triple goal of seeing Jenna, saying hi to the book sort team, and getting a book fix.

Good afternoon, Karen! I made it to SS and church this morning, masked, of course - the only mask. I know you're having fun cruising the sale and seeing Jenna. It was sweet for me to be in church.

Wordle! I would never have gotten this one without a list. I don't think of this as an English word. The abomination (walla) is English. So much for what I think!

Wordle 1,023 5/6*

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, aloof, royal, polka, voila

>28 LizzieD: Walla isn't a real word, is it? I've seen it only a few times, and I always thought it was because the people using it were ignorant, and had misunderstood voila. I got Wordle in 4 today, thanks to a good guess on 3. It was the only word I could think of that would fit. But I was honestly surprised to see it, since it isn't originally English. I guess it's used enough now to count as English?

>28 LizzieD: I was annoyed by the non-English word too, Peggy, although it's been pointed out to me that many of us (myself included) have used ADIEU as a starting word and Wordle accepts that, so why not other foreign words that are commonly used by English-speaking folk? All the same, hubby and I both cried foul on today.

>29 atozgrl: That's what I've always thought too, Irene.

We're in harmony here, Irene and Laura. The language changes, and the abomination is used enough that I'd be surprised if it were not in a current dictionary. It was certainly on the list I used. I should look it up to see, I guess. I'm feel a rant coming on in the matter of language change, so I'm leaving. (I'm particularly unhappy with young women's pronunciation closing a long A to almost a long E, etc. "We got the peent on sell, and we'll start at tyoo." How are their children going to learn to read????)

>31 LizzieD: I didn't see it when I tried looking online earlier today. If it is in the dictionary, it is indeed an abomination. And I keep hearing pronunciations in the last 10 years or so that I never heard when I was young. (Some of which seem to be British pronunciations--how did they infiltrate the US?) I don't really know what's going on these days.

(((((Peggy)))))

Yay for SS and church. I mask, too, and did so yesterday at the book sale set up. I only stayed 45 minutes, saying hi to folks but not really feeling the books. I’m so glad you’re able to go to church now.

It is not an English word, but mispronouncing it as voy-la or even worse, of course, walla is definitely an abomination. You think right!

Wordle in 3 or me today.

The only thing that keeps me sane about language usage is listening to John McWhorter’s The Story of Human Language once every three years or so. I’m less rigid in what I think of as proper English, but do admit that I’ve never been an English teacher.

We are 3 Sisters again, (((((Karen))))), the two of us. Irene????

Wordle 1,024 3/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, noire, breed I'm very happy that Wordle accepts my "e" at the end of my new choice of second word when that is my only correct letter.

You got me. I've just ordered used copies of 2 McWhorters, *Babel* and *Bastard*. My go-to man has been S. Pinker, but I'm eager to try JMcW.

ETA: Speaking of *Babel*, I'm sneak-reading the R.F. Kuang of that name and am quite taken with it a very little way in. I think that it will replace Rotherweird when I've read the second half.

Happy new thread!

It is good that you will be able to go out more now.

We're all very excited up here to have a sunny day for the eclipse!

>34 LizzieD: Yes, it was Wordle in 3 for me today too.

We had a gorgeous day today, perfect temperatures with nary a cloud in the sky. It's a pity we had only a partial eclipse; it would have been perfect for totality.

Happy New Thread (imagine that sung in perfect harmony!). Glad the mask is enabling you to get out. : )

Hi, Kim! Thanks for the visit (in perfect harmony -- I'm probably singing something like a bass line an octave or so higher)!

So, Irene, we are truly 3 Sisters. We wouldn't have noticed the eclipse if we hadn't been looking for it. Our temp dropped about 3 degrees as it grew a bit less sunny, but that's all. We did see totality back in '70, whatever that date was. It was as magnificent as everybody says.

Off to look at Lucy's eclipse experience!

'Morning, Peggy!

Bill took a few photos. The eclipse was subtle here, too. Our friend Todd went to Ohio to see it, and being a photographer, got some gorgeous photos.

Wordle in 4 today.

Good morning to you too, Karen.

My stay in 3-country was short-lived.

Wordle 1,025 5/6*

⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩least, newer, reedy, perve, merge I didn't expect it to accept #4. Oh well.

*smoochiesmoochsmooch*

*smooches* right back, O Richard!

COMMON PEOPLE by Alison Light

I've read bits of Henry Mayhew's book about the work of London's poor, but I've never read anything quite like this history of Alison Light's own family. Her father's people were "just folks" (to quote my college roommate's father about my parents), agricultural workers and needle makers in 17th century England. They moved where they could find work until bricklayers among the men settled in Portsmouth. They were a solid working-class family. Her mother's people were another story. The most financially successful were still barely on the margins of security. They lived in the Portsmouth slums, and somebody from every generation spent at least a few months in the workhouse. Two of the women even died as pauper inmates in insane asylums. In finding her people, Light also uncovers a more intimate description of how poor people lived. I found her history both sad and inspiring.

>38 LizzieD: My Internet has been down most of the day today. Finally getting around to a few threads.

The temperature drop here was noticeable yesterday. The sun was hot on my back when I went out to get the mail, around the time that the moon started to cross in front of the sun. By the time of the greatest coverage, it was cooler, and I didn't feel any heat from the sun on my back.

You got to see a total eclipse? I'm so jealous! I have always wanted to see one, and have seen several partial eclipses, but never totality. I had hoped to be able to travel somewhere this year to see it, but with my DH's knee surgery, that was out.

I saw a couple of mentions on the news yesterday of people seeing a total eclipse here in NC many years ago. It's so frustrating. I grew up in Illinois, and I know we had at least a couple of partial eclipses then, because I remember the school activities of making a pinhole viewer, or one from a cereal box. So you all must have gotten totality then when we had a partial eclipse. The one yesterday, I looked at a good map of the path of totality online, and my hometown was just barely outside the path. So there you would only have to go a few miles to be in the path, and wouldn't have to drive very far to have gotten to a spot in the middle of the path. In other words, if I were in my hometown yesterday, I could have seen it, but I was here in NC. But if I'd been in NC when I was young, instead of Illinois, I could have seen one here. I guess now I'll have to find an eclipse cruise or some such thing if I ever hope to see a total eclipse.

Wordle in 5 for me today too, after we finally got our Internet back.

I hear your eclipse frustration, Irene. Missing totality twice is bad. It is worth a great deal of trouble, but we had only to drive out to my family's farm to stand in a field with an unobstructed view of the shadow lines that were at least as eerie and fascinating as totality itself. An eclipse at sea would be something else!!!!!

Wordle 1,026 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, tonic, mouth, broth Even with using a used word at 2 and being stupid at 3, 4 is still better than my lately-usual 5.

Hi Peggy! Happy Wednesday to you.

I got lucky, with the help of my spreadsheets, and got Wordle in 2.

Other than that, lazy day with reading, puttering and soccer at 3.

edited to add:

Happy Thursday, my dear.

Wordle in 3 today. It's the first day of the book sale I'm not going to, so am a tad melancholy.

Hi, 3 Sister. That's all I know. I need to finish Mama's taxes, look for her safety box keys (NOT where I thought they were for years and years, NOT in any other likely place. Oh dear)(Any Suggestions?), and keep an appointment for a mammogram this afternoon. Enough said.

Wordle 1,027 3/6*

🟩🟨⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, loose, louse

Hmmm. Safety box keys. A little box? Jewelry box? Purse? Pocket of an item of clothing? Behind something on a shelf? Between mattress and box springs?

Ugh. Taxes, and mammogram appointment. Not a fun day at all. (((((Peggy)))))

>46 LizzieD: On a nail in a closet? Taped to the underside of the desk or the back of a drawer? In an envelope marked "Safe deposit keys", which is in plain sight somewhere and so easily overlooked? (I have looked right over the VERY THING I WANT so many times...) In YOUR safety box? Good luck.

I'm voting for the jewelry box or nail-in-closet ideas, Peggy. Mama had stuff squirreled away in those places, too.

Good luck! *smooch*

Thank you for all the suggestions, Richard, Linda, and Karen. I thought it was in the drawer of her bedside table. That's where I keep mine because it was where I am pretty sure Mama kept hers. I'm very much afraid that she used the key some years ago when she was still driving and forgot to return it to the drawer. That means a pocket or an old pocket book or her gym bag. Oh Lord. I'm hoping against hope to find it in an envelope in the other drawer where she kept her important papers.

I hope the treasure hunt is successful today, Peggy.

Wordle in 4 for me. It's how I feel today.

I think it will have to stay where it is today, Karen. I've packaged the audio CDs and bulletins from my mama's service for the cousins who couldn't attend, and I think that's all I'll do today. I can see myself polishing off Rotherweird today, maybe.... (It is more than "rather" weird.)

I didn't do Wordle yet.... Let me take care of that.

ETA: Wordle 1,028 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, noire, chink, whiny She had already used the noun, I see.

Just dropping by to wish you a great weekend, dear Peggy.

Hi Peggy. It is a beautiful Carolina blue sky day 'up north' here...

Wordle in 3 for me today. I hope you get a chance to rest and recuperate and read today in addition to all the things that need attention.

Many hugs to you and kind regards to your DH.

Many thanks for good wishes, dear Karen and dear Paul!

We're enjoying beautiful Carolina blue skies 'down south' here... I thought I'd get those packages mailed today along with Mama's federal tax listing, but that's not happening now. Monday is the 15th, eh? Good grief.

Wordle 1,029 2/6* WOOO! HOOOOOO! Love my first word today!

🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, steel

>55 LizzieD: Since my first word is an anagram of yours, I was also able to get it in 2 today. That's fun!

Good luck getting everything done that you need to get done. I know it's a lot of work. Take some time for yourself too.

GOOD for us, Irene! I do prefer my arrangement of the letters to the more common one because I can be pretty sure of a final "e" if my combo is wrong. At any rate, we get there all the same. Yay Us!!!

This was a frustrating day, but I did manage to plow through some paperwork and spend a non-fruitful hour looking for that blessed safety box key. I also took time to finish a book, and that's always satisfying even if the book wasn't completely so.

ROTHERWEIRD by Andrew Caldecott

Jonah Oblong is hired to teach history to the 4th form of the Rotherweird village school, but he's not allowed by law to refer to anything before 1800. The village is cut off from the rest of England, and is a weird combination of Brigadoon-like surface smugness and cutting edge science. Oblong arrives at a crisis point when the whole thing will either begin a new age or fail entirely.

I should have loved it, but I didn't. I didn't hate it, but I never connected with even one character. I'm mildly curious about what happens in the second book of the trilogy, but I probably won't care enough to pursue it. It was OK. I didn't mind finishing it. Oh well.

Wordle in 2 , Peggy! Excellent! It took me 4 tries.

Congrats in Wordle in 2!

I got it in 3 today, and it's another beautiful Carolina blue skies day.

>57 LizzieD: Hiya smoochling...I, like you, wanted to love Rotherweird but found it Rotherdull.

Love and hugs!

When you and I both react negatively to a book, that's probably a death knell, Richard. *smooch* Better things coming up!

Ah well, Karen and Deborah. Wordle inspiration comes and goes. 4 for me today, and I had to reuse a rejected letter to get a jump-start on finishing it.

Wordle 1,030 4/6*

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, prowl, tulip, blimp

I've been moving books back home from Mama's, accumulated over there for four years. I found The Dickens Boy, which I think I'll read next - except that I also found Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens that I'll sneak in first. I've been sneak-reading Babel and liking it, so up it goes, and I really really need to finish Like the Appearance of Horses. It is really good, but I'm depressed by it and read it only by fits and starts.

ETA: I completely forgot my current nonfiction, Britain BC. I love Francis Pryor, and I'm enjoying the book a lot!

Sheesh. How I struggled with this one!!!

Wordle 1,031 4/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩least, noire, wifey, equip I finally got it on my own. I guess that's something.

On the phone with the last 2 of Mama's financial people. It all sounds easy enough at the moment. Now, that @(*()@#^&^ safety box key.

Peggy, I didn't want to cause you heart failure when you see the news on my thread...you're not losing your marbles: I am reading a poetry book for my annual self-test of intolerance to the stuff. No Charity in the Wilderness: Poems from the University of Nevada Press...I'm sure as heck not gonna BUY one, and these good folk have auto approved me on Netgalley, so...they, in the long run, get the blame or the praise.

Thank you kindly for your concern, Richard. Probably well placed! What a curious choice! *I* think you'd do better to read The Never-Open Desert Diner, which I liked well enough to start the sequel this month, Lullaby Road. I'm not reading poetry right now. Today I didn't read anything. *sigh*
But a *smooch* for you.

‘Morning, Peggy!

You’ve got so many things to do re your mama’s house and etc. Financial people are so not fun – as you know we had our dealings with them Friday and yesterday. I hope things are getting resolved.

Depending on how long you can wait to get into your mama’s safety deposit box, you might need to get it drilled out. We’ve had to do that, and it’s not cheap, but sometimes necessary.

In foodstuffs in the kitchen? Taped to the back of the toilet? Inside a Bible? Other book? In her recliner? Is there a drawer with lots of unidentified keys? Tucked between mattress and box springs?

Wordle again in 3 for me. I’m on a roll – of course, as soon as I say that it’s jinxed.

Don't be jinxed, Karen. You roll on! I don't mind my 4 today since my second word was a winner by luck...
Wordle 1,032 4/6*

⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, shark, shack, shank Normally I would have guessed the winning letter in third place, but I thought I'd be good and use alpha order.

I have now 82 or 3 days to find that key. Mama was well-organized and thoughtful. It would have been very uncharacteristic of her to hide it at all. There is a ring of unidentified small keys in the right drawer, and I should check it again just to be sure I didn't miss the right one. I'm told that the drilling will be about $500. There's certainly nothing in the box worth that much unless Daddy had a brilliant coin or two that I don't know about.

I wish us both a more peaceful day.

>21 karenmarie: Karen, My grandmother's favorite hymn was How Great Thou Art. I'm thinkiong about her a lot. She died this time of year, and was was the single most person who was a loving presence in my life. She taught me about patience, love, and forgiveness (of which I thought she forgave so many wrong actions done to her.)

During her graveside service, my friends sang How Great Thou Art. The small town where she is buried overlooks the mountains. A small town needed to drive through to get to where she lived, was called Wind Gap. It was call such because years and years ago the formation of a dip in the mountains was becaue of the weathering that occurred for many years.

The day of her service was perfect. The sun was bring, the air clear and lovely and it was such a perfect day to honor her.

Peggy, I hope you find the key you need to find. I will always remember the love, patience and kindess you gave to your beloved mother.

'Morning, my dear. I hope there's some you time today.

Wordle in 4 for me today, with no yellows. I love seeing the patterns.

Good morning, Karen. I'll go look at your pattern! I checked a word list after #3 to get it in 4. *sigh*
The morning has become my time, but I have to jump on stuff right away. This is a lot more fun than stuff.

Wordle 1,033 4/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, wrote, untie, tithe

Cleaning out one of my drawers today (Did Mama give me the second key to the safety deposit box? It's been almost 44 years since I'm sure we opened it, and I have no recollection), I found another short list of student howlers. I'm happy to dole them out to you one by one or two today.

Senior classes were still going to DC and NYC when a student wrote this:
"We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Monument, and a real live prostitute."

I also found the original that I've been quoting a bit in error: "I am a very smart person and i believe in myself, i have very high self-a-steem."

'Morning, Peggy.

Wordle in 5 today. Sigh.

I always love the student howlers.

Side-tracked, Karen, and this isn't my best 4-solve.

Wordle 1,034 4/6*

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, begat, cadet, facet

O.K. This is an ESL student, and I'm guessing it's from mishearing rather than dyslexia, not that the two are mutually exclusive.

"...saying the same thing twis or rebeating the idea."

I'm pretty sure I rebeat a bunch of ideas.

>72 LizzieD: Rebeating is a *wonderful* word that English needs very much.

>70 LizzieD: I love hearing student howlers. I remember when I was in college seeing an article in a history journal that had quotes from what students had written, it may have been on exams, I'm not sure. Some of them were hysterical. I made a copy of it, but I've no idea if I can find it. Probably in a box somewhere.

>72 LizzieD: You did better with Wordle today than I did. It took me 5. I wasted my second guess on a word with the A in a spot I had already eliminated. Obviously I wasn't paying enough attention.

I like "rebeating" too.

We're agreed on the rebeating, Richard and Irene. I think it's my favorite from this list. I could have gone on and on about it.....

I did the same thing with the E, Irene. Tomorrow is another Wordle.

>42 LizzieD: I've added Common People to the TBR list. Your description is wonderful.

(((((Peggy)))))

>72 LizzieD: Rebeat ideas. *smile*

Wordle in 3 for me today.

(((((Karen))))) At long last we are 3 Sisters again. Irene????

Wordle 1,035 3/6*

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⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, parse, raise

From Latin class -----

"Pomona she was a wood niff."
(I think apple wood smells pretty nice.)

>78 LizzieD: Wordle in two for me today! I was just trying a different order for the letters I had plus try an R and another vowel. And lo and behold, it was the right word. It's nice when that happens.

I hope you are having a good day!

It took my three tries for Wordle today too, Peggy. Lots of great hymn talk on your thread . I love Holy, Holy Holy, , How Great Thou Art and the choir song Just As I am many years ago when I was baptized. I've recently returned to attending church , and I miss those old hymns . I find that they only sing new to me " worship songs" , though another new comer mentioned to the pastor last Sunday that she too misses that old Hymn's . He said he did too, and they may consider it, but there a lot of new to the church people, so the simple worship songs might serve best.

Crappy day today. I'm afraid that's my future, though, for a while...Old Stuff broke his clavicle in a drunken fall, guess who gets to coddle him? Religious-nuttery starts Monday, so we will be eating even worse food while that goes on. The world's gone mire haywire than usual with that crazy man self-immolating in protest to the world coming to an end and it had something to do with 45 so he did it in front of the courthouse where 45's on trial. I just can't.

Richard, all that sounds completely dire. I'm so sorry that OS turns out to be your responsibility. How on earth can that be anything even considered??? And on bad food. My philosophy prof back in the mid-60s married the widow of one of the first men (maybe even the first - who immolated himself to protest the Vietnam War. Horrors!
Find some peace inside! I wish it for you. *smooch*

Well you, can be our third sister, Deborah! IRENE stands alone. YAY IRENE!!!!!
I have a very hard time with the new praise songs - the 12/7s or whatever they're called ---- 12 words repeated across 7 pitches. Surely they could include one real hymn a week. I don't think that's too much to ask. My church has 2 services. That's not ideal, but I keep reminding them that we could find our unity in service.

'Morning, Peggy.

Foggy here, dank, too.

Wordle in 4 for me.

I went to church with Jenna's friend Ethan's family for a bit in 1997 or so. I think they were hopeful that I'd come into the fold. The absolute worst part of an experience I didn't particularly like was the modern Christian music.

Karen, I've seen side-by-side comparisons of what fundamentalists and their ilk and liberals (for lack of a better word) think the Bible is about. This was some years ago, and I suspect that the lists might be a bit different now. They boil down to personal salvation vs. justice for the marginalized. They aren't mutually exclusive, of course, but modern praise music seems one-dimensional to me. I'll stop before I go on and on.

It's overcast here, but no rain yet. We got a half inch yesterday in less than ten minutes.

Wordle 1,036 3/6*

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, lurid, lucid Where on earth did word 2 come from? I do want to give that third letter a chance as soon as possible, but talk about luck! I certainly deserved 4 or 5.

More Latin ---
"Roads were paved & runts were made by wagons."

Hi Peggy, you're the Wordle star today. It was Wordle in 4 for me.

I'm with you on the modern praise songs. They all sound the same to me. It seemed like the praise songs we sang back in the 80's were better. But in general I prefer the old hymns.

'Morning, Peggy.

I like the Latin...

Wordle took me all six today. I was preparing myself for a skunk but guessed right.

>84 LizzieD: Runts are, in fact, made by wagons. That's why my sisters couldn't go on dates with boys who arrived in Mom and Dad's wagon....

*smooch*

>87 richardderus: I see it clearly, Richard. I'm not sure anybody else would have foreseen it. *smooch*

I didn't cotton to the double letter until too late, Karen, so I start again at 0. Here's to hope!
Wordle 1,037 X/6* I won't even take you through my struggles.

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⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

More Latin - of sorts....
"Ganymede was the cup barer for the gods."

>88 LizzieD: It's also an alias in my favorite of Shakespeare's plays.

I had a malapropism that made my high school English teacher laugh at me (😡): I wrote about "the sword of Damascus" hanging over someone's head. It was at least appropriately incorrect.

Welcome to my thread, Renee! I had to Google Ganymede to see that you're referring to As You Like It. I really need to read Shakespeare now in my old age. I always promised myself that I would, but I keep thinking that I'm not old enough. Wrong!

I'm sorry your English teacher laughed at you. That sounds like a mistake typical of children who read. I'd have praised you for knowing the allusion, but I would have corrected you too. These children never read anything. That's why they rely on whatever they hear for easy words like "rut." I'm GLAD to have retired.

'Morning, Peggy! I hope you have a Very Good Day.

I was skunked today in Wordle. First time in a very long time.

Other than that, things are okay.

>91 karenmarie: Well ptui. My skunk yesterday....yours today........What are they thinking????

Wordle 1,038 2/6*

🟩🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, laser

"...the walls were to keep the enimes out and were the dividing lines of order and casose."

That sentence from an otherwise bright Latin student illustrates what I mean about typical children who have never read at all. I despair. It was possible for bright kids to make good grades in our schools and still be the next thing to functionally illiterate. I doubt improvement.
I remember meeting with a parent, the non-reader, and the guidance counselor.
I said, "Paul, let me help you find a book about something you like. Then you pledge to read it.
Counselor said,"Oh! I know a good computer program for that."
Guess which the family chose if they chose to do either.

'Morning, my dear.

I wonder if it's better to get skunked on Wordle or in real life? I'm not fond of them here in our yard, that's for sure.

Congrats on your two.

Wordle in 5 for me today.

Took me a bit to get both errors in >92 LizzieD:, not enough coffee yet. I can imagine you rolling your eyes, but you probably did it in in your mind. However, you must have done that many times a day for many years, right?

Well, I am on a roll that I don't particularly care for. Skunked again today in Wordle. Do we have skunks around here? I don't think I've ever seen one.

Wordle 1,039 X/6*

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⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 Boo. Also hiss. I don't give up though.

"...golden arrow made someone fall in love at first size."

Don't you wonder how somebody forces that to make sense?

Hi Peggy.

Ugh to your getting skunked again. No skunks down south? You're lucky.

No attention to detail and sloppy thought processes in general, of course.

I am preening - Wordle in two for me today.

Whoo! HOOOO! for YOU, Ms. 2!!!

Wordle 1,040 3/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, inert, overt I'm more than content with 3.

"Thisbe saw a lion that was drenched from mulberry juice."

This may be what happens when you nap a bit in class. My favorite was an exam essay where the poor child wrote something along these lines: Nora killed her children that looked like her husband and slammed the door." (This was in 10th grade when NC forced the poor dears had to read World Lit all year, and we had tackled both Medea and A Doll's House.)

LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF HORSES by Andrew Krivak

If I had realized that Like the Appearance of Horses was the third book of a trilogy, I likely would not have asked ER for it. I'm happy for my ignorance because I would have missed beautiful, beautiful writing. On the other hand, this is the saddest - or maybe I mean most elegiac - book I've read in years. I took a year to read its 286 pages because I was too emotionally wrung out to read it straight through.
Krivak chronicles four generations of the young men of the Vinich/Konar family who went for soldiers from WWI through duty in Afghanistan. We see what they saw and watch them decide what duty compelled them to do. They returned home damaged. Their love for family and their place led them to heal more or less. To send our sons to fight is a horrible, horrible thing.
For Jozef, Becks, and Sam what redemption comes, comes from love. Redemption for the reader comes in images like the young widow rocking her nursing infant and wondering whether he can taste her bitterness in her milk or in phrases like, "...cottonwoods so old they looked like their limbs ached." Hannah of the second generation has the final word, "Yes, he fought in a war and she doesn't know why. She only knows that he did things he would not speak of, and it took time for him to forgive himself, just as his father had, and her father had. Just as she had."
I will find the first two books of the trilogy, The Sojourn and The Signal Flame, but not now. Not now.

(This appears on the book page, finally paying my debt to ER and Bellevue for allowing me to read the book!)

Wordle 1,041 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, tonic, piton, intro I was surprised when Wordle accepted today's word as a guess not so long ago. I'm relieved to have gotten it this time.

>94 LizzieD: Sorry that you got skunked, Peggy. I'm even sorrier that I now know someone thought of "first size" and didn't seem to question what the devil it could actually mean....

*smooch*

'Morning, my dear.

It's so gorgeous out! Spring continues to spring, although I'm still sneezing from being out on Monday.

Wordle in four for me today.

>96 LizzieD: LOL for Thisbe and the lion. Euripedes and Ibsen in tenth grade? Yikes. Even though I was always in advanced or AP English, the most we did from the ancients was Aristotle’s Poetics. Remiss of my school district, of course.

>97 LizzieD: Oh my. Excellent review, and elegiac always brings me joy when seen visually.

Good morning, Richard. We cross-spoke, and I like that. My favorite response when I asked a student what he meant by "worthwild" (and I don't recall that he had an answer; it's often true that people don't think that words mean anything in particular) was to ask me what on earth "worthwhile" could mean.

I'll also add that US News & World Report just evaluated NC public high schools. My school, from which I graduated and at which I taught, ranked 383rd of 686. 25% were proficient in math; 37% in reading; 42% in science. Yet they graduated 74% last year. This was not the worst-performing school in the county or the Border Belt. On the other hand, our early college ranked 168th - best in the area and tied for the highest graduation rate in the state at 95%. How can it be good to send such a huge percentage of children out in the world so ill-prepared? I won't even go into what the state considers a passing score on their end-of-course tests. When I was teaching, it was something less than 50% correct.

To add to my rant, Karen, tenth grade is NOT the place to force kids who can't read to tackle world lit. I don't know whether NC still does it, but finding easy texts was impossible, and I spent a lot of time reading to them. If you could have read some of the ancients, and I know that you could have, I'm sorry that you didn't get to them in high school.

I'm glad that you like my review. I can't quite get my brain in gear yet to say what I want to. I hope I improve.

AND I see that I neglected to give you the last of the Latin confusions.

"San Scritt can be connected with English and Fresian."
(I think that this came from viewing the episode of Robert McNeil's Story of English that dealt with Latin influence. Otherwise, bad marks to the teacher for not writing down the word for everybody to see.)

>97 LizzieD: If you were emotionally wrung out by it, I am going to stay far away at the moment. . .

I think that's a good plan, Stasia. I've been staying away from it for a whole year. The book is well worth reading but not by anybody who is already having troubles.

>101 LizzieD: SAN SCRITT

LOL

LMAO

...and what a cute fancy-up of putting two "t"s on "scritt"! Where'd they think that one up from? "Fresian" is a gimme, though. I must motor right past the unable-to-read sophomores or we'll be here all day with my ragey screedmongering.

Weekend-ahead *smooch*

Collecting funnies is not the main reason I kept on teaching, Richard, but it ranks. When I was teaching, nobody else in my school was teaching them how to evaluate an internet site, or to spot bias, or to recognize logical fallacies, or that advertisers didn't love them and neither did politicians - all dealing with the manipulation of language. I was the only one to assign independent reading and require some engagement with it; the only one to teach the meaning of prefixes and how a suffix changes a word's function; the only one to teach basic grammar so that I could communicate about writing. Nobody else in honors and AP English required a research paper.

Here's the last of the Latin - or I truly have no idea where it came from or what it was about.

"Did your dad change your dipper when you were little?"

Wordle 1,042 3/6*

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, cairn, vapid I have no idea where that came from, but I'll take it.

Got an eye shot early this morning, and I'm off to nap a bit to ease it.

Just turned afternoon, Peggy. (got up late)

>105 LizzieD: I love the last of the Latin - a true LOL one.

Ugh for the eye shot, glad that eye shots are available for you and my friend Karen.

Three is good, Wordle sister, I got it in three today, too.

Nap away, dear one.

>105 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I've been out all day and just getting around to threads.

As for the teaching, you have *got* to be bleeping kidding me! When I was in school, I had more than one class where we looked at advertising as well as other writing, and had to think about who was behind what was being said and why they were saying it. Critical thinking is even more important with the Internet. I am truly horrified that you were the only one teaching all these things or requiring a research paper.

I love all the Latin quotes you've been sharing. This last one is hilarious.

I'm glad you're able to get the eye shots to save your vision. My mom got them too, but she got diagnosed late, and lost more vision than she should have.

Wordle in 4 for me this time.

All-purpose *smooch*

Glad for the APS and one right back to you, Richard. *smooch*

Irene, I wish I were kidding. If I get started, I'll never stop and my blood pressure will sky-rocket. Suffice it to say that I doubt things have improved in the nearly 16 years since I retired. A person can't teach what she doesn't know, and most of our English teachers have been women educated at our local branch of the UNC system.

I'm sorry that your mother was diagnosed so late. I'm adamant about getting checked as soon as I can every time - 6 weeks instead of 8 instead of 12, etc. I understand that my doc doesn't want to overtreat, but I don't want to lose a bit of what I have any sooner than I must.

Wordle 1,043 4/6*

🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, feral, clean, gleam Careless second guess or I might have gotten it in 3. I'm happy with the 4 though!

On reading The Crucible - "John and Eliz were two descend characters."

That's the end of this page. OH WAIT!!!! Here's a bonus page. I don't think I've told you these.

Another about *Crucible* - "He was clapped in the stalks with the other people."

Back to Latin.

Write in Latin and translate the state motto of NC (which for the rest of you is esse quam videre - "to be rather than to seem")

"e pluibrus bono It is better to be shorter than taller."

>109 LizzieD: e pluibrus Bono
IJBOL

That is PRICEless!

Hi Peggy! Happy Saturday to you.

It took me 4 for Wordle today too, so, once again, we're Wordle Sisters.

Just gently touching base, dear lady.

I'm always happy to see you, Paul! I hope everything is going well with you.

Wordle 1,044 3/6*

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩least, noire, prune

"The Illiad is believed to be a ballet."

(Let's make a firm commitment here.)

Hi Peggy! Happy Monday to you.

Wordle in 3 today. Congrats on your 3 yesterday.

Another gorgeous Carolina blue skies day here.

Good morning, Karen! Another gorgeous day for sure! We are really getting a Spring, and I'm loving it!

Congrats on your 3 today!

Wordle 1,045 4/6*

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, grant, bract, craft

"incolumis" - "in rows" "reddo" - redo (They are actually "unharmed" and "give back")

conga gona sum "It is what it is always" (cogito ergo sum)

(This is the "pluibrus" person and was early in the semester. She was one of my all-time favorite students - extremely dyslexic. I met with her, her mother, and the special ed teacher about the 2nd week of school and would have discouraged her except that she had learned every single thing I had asked and was loving Latin. She soon got the phrases down too even though she consistently wrote words like "caggade" {for "cabbage"}. Traditional Latin is actually a good subject for dyslexic people if you think of practicing declensions and conjugations written all in a row, or maybe I mean incolumis)

'Morning, Peggy! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Took me 5 today. Sigh.

I love the bits about your dyslexic student, so glad you were able to work with her, her mother, and the special ed teacher. Do you know what she's up to now? Is she still in your town?

Breezy, some clouds floating by, and etc.

Good morning, Karen, as we count down, I hope that you're feeling mostly anticipation, as opposed to dread, of getting this thing done. Prayers and love!
So if we average our last 2 days of Wordle, we come out with the same thing... I think.

Wordle 1,046 4/6*

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, bling, holly, prowl

A TRANSLATION from the Latin:

"Not facial expression because clothes know or get to learn."

>115 LizzieD: "conga gonna sum" is sheer perfection. It takes an outsider to see what is there for the taking.

Have a happy Wednesay, only it's bloody bollocking Tuesday and it's all Horrible's fault. (I haven't quite figured out the mechanism, but I am morally certain I'm Right about this.)

Hi, Richard. Who am I to argue with moral certainty? conga gonna sum!!!

DAMAGED LIKE US by Krista Ritchie

I did it. I read one of Karen's MMs! I've already said that I found the sex repetitive, but that's true for me in MF romances too. I did like the family and the security force and the two young men. I don't think I'll read another, but I'll certainly scroll through some reviews to see what happens in a general way.

Now on to something else!

‘Morning, Peggy. Another gorgeous day here in NC.

>117 LizzieD: It’s a combination of dread and anticipation, frankly. Regardless of the math, we’re always Wordle Sisters.

>118 richardderus: Gads, RD. I can’t even escape your attacks on Peggy’s thread. NOW it’s Wednesday, although you’re probably confused and think it’s Sunday. *smooch*

>119 LizzieD: I’m glad you tried one of my MMs. I’m glad you saw what I saw about the family and security force and the two young men. I loved the series unreservedly at the time, although now, in hindsight, only seriously love Maximoff and Farrow’s story. I liked Sully/Akira/Banks’ story next, then Luna/Donnelly’s, and etc. Brava and yes, on to something else for you.

Wordle in 3 for me today.

Morning, Karen! I've skimmed some reviews. It's hard for me to imagine the Luna/Donnelly and Sulli/Akara combinations since the girls are so young when we meet them - especially Luna. Then I remember that even Akara is still a very young man, so I see how it works out.

Wordle 1,047 4/6*

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩⬜🟨
🟨⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, brand, roady, diary Fine with me. Congrats on your 3, Karen!

I am staying out of any time discussions!

"Catullus was a poet born to two wealthy men."

Hi Peggy - I somehow lost your thread! How are you?

>121 LizzieD: ...
...
...
...wow...

*smooch*

I wondered whether you'd like that, Richard. *smooch*

Hi, Beth! I appreciate your visit since I have been conspicuously absent from your thread for months and months. I'm sorry. I hope to get back. Meanwhile, I'm doing OK but dealing with stuff that leaves me flummoxed every single day.
Hope you're well and planning a great summer!

I have been in book acquisition frenzy - some on Kindle, some used, and some with the help of my friend. RICHES!!!!!

Another book in today, thanks to the nonfiction challenge for last month: Vermeer's Hat. It looks really good!

Wordle 1,048 4/6*

🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜
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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, shell, slime, slice Karen got it in 3 and should be in surgery even as I type and think about her.

I got a haircut!!!!! It isn't what I wanted yet, but it looks a LOT better than it did.

"Apollo had a place where he gave speeches and a maiden would sit on a volcano."

(It's always humbling to find out what people think I said. I'm pretty sure I didn't say that.)

You Elly Griffiths readers probably know this, but I've just found out that EG is the pen name of Domenica De Rosa. I ask you, "Which name seems more plausible?" I guess I would have used a pen name too.

>126 LizzieD: She certainly looks more like an "Elly" than a "Domenica" to me.

Hi, Linda! If she were writing romances, Domenica De Rosa would be perfect but still unbelievable. Am I being insensitive? It's just so exotic!

I've texted Karen this morning and she had a good night and hopes to go home at midday. I'll bet she's already said so on her thread which I haven't visited yet.

Wordle 1,049 3/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, noire, ebony Hooray! I'm still thrilled that Wordle recognizes my second word. I like it.

>124 LizzieD: I have been in book acquisition frenzy - some on Kindle, some used, and some with the help of my friend. RICHES!!!!!

Yay! You need some spoiling, woman.

>125 LizzieD: I enjoyed my read of Vermeer's Hat last month so I hope you do too.

Have a fantastic Friday!

Good morning, Good Stasia! I look forward to *Vermeer*, but I'm enjoying my plow through Britain BC. The print is a bit small and gives my eyes a bit of trouble.

Have I said? Friends are whisking me off to the beach Monday afternoon. We'll come back Thursday. DH won't come or the whole thing would be about perfect. Anyway, I can't wait!

I forgot!

"They would go to this house of worship and worship the dolls of each one of the gods."

(Bible Belt for sure)

>130 LizzieD: Peggy, I am happy to hear that you are getting a nice time down at the beach. It sounds wonderful. You definitely deserve it!

Thank you, Irene. I don't know about deserving, but I am definitely excited and looking forward to the time with old friends.

>130 LizzieD: *snort* I myownself think the kid's got a point. But I would, wouldn't I?

*smooch*

Good morning, Good Richard. Has anybody else in this world ever referred to a pagan temple as a "house of worship"? It reeks of home and makes me smile. *smooch*

Wordle 1,050 4/6*

🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, anile, valve, value I puts 'em down as they comes to me.

Book Report
"He was getting bad grades and constantly getting in trouble. He also had a drug problem at this time. During this time he goes to a canceler to seek help."

>134 LizzieD: I want to see a canceler. Not the media sort, the personal sort that can cancel a problem right out of me!

>134 LizzieD: We need a lot more cancelers in this culture.

I can see no real difference between the christian one or the pagan ones...the dolls tend to be prettier in the Greek ones but apart from that what's the diff?

That's interesting, Susan and Richard. I have always read that as a person canceler instead of a problem canceler. I would hate to be canceled right now.

I'm not an apologist, Richard. I'm just talking terminology.

Wordle 1,051 4/6*

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⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, feral, penal, decal

Last one for awhile. I'd get the title of my book about teaching from this one.

"But Brandon copied my paper. I am sorry for the big missed ape."

I'm off and away with old friends until Thursday! Y'all take care!!!!!

>137 LizzieD: Terminology is so deeply important when trying to reach understanding and agreement. Like information theory, it breaks my teeny little brain-thing trying to get it to fit inside my cranium.

I was thinking problem-canceler, but a person-canceler who, oh let's just take an example, hates orange spray-tanned persons would get my enthusiastic support....

*smooch* Richard. The thing is to care enough to ask questions and listen to the answer

Let's see. I wouldn't mind canceling the first young woman who talked with a ten year-old's voice and distorted vowel sounds and ended each phrase with an upward inflection and each sentence with vocal fry. Or the first person to use "you know" as a mannerism without saying anything that his listener knows. Or the one who thought "as well" sounded better than "too" or "also." Hmmmm. I think I'll not go down that path any further.

>140 LizzieD: Jim and I went to a play reading meetup yesterday, and what caught my ear was how one of the readers would interpose 'like' when it wasn't in the script.

>140 LizzieD: I believe you! I believe!! I'm sad about it, but language changes. I guess every generation deplores the loss of what seemed good to them. I do wonder how children are going to learn to read if they have any phonic teaching at all when their young mothers say, (my favorite illustration), "We got the peent on sell, and we'll start working at tyoo."

I remember how appalled I was when Nathalie said that her English coach had told them to say, "as well" instead of "too."

I know you are off today for your trip. Have a wonderful time!

Thank you, Stasia! I have my teeth cleaned early in the afternoon and expect my ride to be here when I return. I am more excited than I can say! It will have been six years since I've been with all these friends together and their husbands (who also grew up with us with one exception.... They've been married 56 years, so in a real way he grew up with us too). My DH can't come, and that's the only downside for me. To the BEACH!

Wordle 1,052 6/6*

⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩least, share, shape, shake, shade, shave This is one time when hard mode guarantees alphabet soup. WHEW!

I'll give you some student wisdom for the days I'll be gone. I may have posted these before, but I'm enjoying them, and I hope you are - some surprising, some predictable.

"Th Wife of Bath wants to be the first for communism because of her social status."

"... hung from the limp of a tree."

"the witches tell him to be where of Macduff." (later in the same paper) "Macduff goes to England to find the real air to the throne."

"... did not know Macduff's mother didn't have him natural she had a seasection."

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time Peggy. I can feel your excitement. Bon voyage!

Enjoy your trip to the beach, Peggy!

Home at last!!!!

Thank you for good wishes, Beth and Laura! We fulfilled them. It was a wonderful long weekend but not on a weekend. We have been close friends all our lives and are amazed to find ourselves still agreeing and agreeable. We're all back in NC except for our hosts in SC, so we'll be able to do it again. Meanwhile, we're looking forward to a HS class birthday party in October since most of us turn 80 this year.

Having said that, I can't tell you how glad I am to be home. GLAD!!!!!

I didn't realize that Elly Griffiths was a pen name for Domenica De Rosa. and I've read quite a few of her books. I just picked up The Last Word. I prefer her Harbinder Kaur series to Cathbad and whomever else. I'm so glad you had a great trip away!

Thank you, Deborah! I think you may be in a minority in preferring Harbinder to Ruth, but I really enjoy Griffiths. I didn't realize that she was writing as DDR, so I'll have to check those out. Thanks!!

I missed 2 days of Wordle but had 4 one day and 6 the other day this week that I tried it. I need to get myself together. Today's effort was certainly less than optimum.

Wordle 1,056 4/6*

⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, rebar, henna, media

"Venus was discovered in the ocean wearing a foam dress." (I'm pretty sure I showed them the picture, and that's not what I saw.")

>149 LizzieD: The Botticelli is recognizable, though, in that description. I myownself woulda focused on the half-shell....

Happy that you're home, and safe, and well pleased with your world me lurve.

I just saw this on Tumblr and thought you, of all people I know, would get a hoot out of "Godzilla Preaching to the Masses" from an AI account I follow:

>147 LizzieD: Welcome home, Peggy! So glad to hear that you had such a great trip and time with old friends.

Wordle in 3 for me today.

>151 richardderus: I like that one too.

>152 atozgrl: Oh good, Irene! Since they're up-front about it, and since the idea of Godzilla Through The Ages is so completely absurd, I feel okay about enjoying it. AI images that aren't plainly labeled irk me for their normalizing manipulated imagery.

>151 richardderus: I was about to say, "What an imagination!" Can I say that about AI??? Thanks, Richard, I call it "Venus on the Half Shell" too, as I'm sure most right-thinking people do. *smooch* with a hope that your weekend is pleasing.

Hi, Irene!!! I'm happy to hear from you. I have lost my Wordle chops. May the force return! Meanwhile, the fource is the best I can do.

Here comes another storm. So far they've skirted us today.

>147 LizzieD: Glad you had a great three day getaway. I am always nervous meeting with friends that I have not seen in a while. Glad all went well!

Thanks, Anita! We have kept up with each other pretty consistently all these years, so it's not hard to fall right back into place. We are amazed at how we all came out of ultra-conservatism by different paths to embrace the same "liberal" values. I put the word in quotes because they seem to us to be decent human values.

I am so happy that you made it back safe and sound - and it sounds as though a wonderful time was had by all!

I'm glad to be home too, Stasia, but it was very nearly perfect.

Wordle 1,057 3/6*

🟨⬜🟨⬜🟨
🟩⬜🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, trial, tidal Now that's how it's 'posed da be.

"like for a explain"

Wordle 1,058 3/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, toner, outer HA!

"Bacchus was the god of whine."

LOLOLOL

Warn't he jest the God of Whine...and whinge...and grumble...

*smooch* Todays's book review is, be warned, a book you should read. Stay away or wear bibliokevlar.

Oh, Richard. You know I can't resist a challenge. Off I go. *smooch*

Good morning and good week, Good Richard. I can't recall the title of the book right now, but I'm not sure that I particularly need to read that one. I've seen it play out in RL a few times over the years with damage and pain but also with growth and a couple of times with miraculous opportunities for love. I'll think on it. *smooch*

Wordle 1,059 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, round, unfix, cumin

I laughed out loud at this one. Improbably, this kid had read The Custom of the Country and understood most of it.

"Undine ... viewed others as pawns to make her ends meet."

>162 LizzieD: Undine Spragg is one of Wharton's vilest women. And that group includes Miss Mattie Silver! Shocking.

I think Afterlight will woo you with its insights, so maybe a sample? *smooch*

>163 richardderus: Oh! Wrong book!!! I'm off to chase it down. I thought you were referring to the woman with the unacknowledged baby. I didn't see In the Afterlight when I last visited.

Now I feel obliged to tell about two incidences of a mother finding the child that she had given up for adoption.

My cousins adopted their daughter. As an adult the daughter used Ancestry and turned a page in her results to read, "We are 98% certain that this is your biological mother." Their reunion was magical. Her teen-aged mother hadn't given her up. Her uncle, a lawyer, had taken the baby overnight and somehow managed to put her up for adoption. The loss pretty much ruined the mother's life. Although she married, she didn't have other children. Meanwhile, her daughter had a wonderful childhood with a family who adored her. Healing and forgiveness all around! Also, it is amazing to look at pictures of the two: they not only look alike, they wear exactly the same kind of clothes, etc.

In the other case, the parents of my friend's younger sister sent her to England to have her illegitimate child. She returned to England ten years later because she had enjoyed living there. She told a friend her story, and the friend said, "I know your daughter's family. They know that their Susan's mother was Emma from a southern state in the USA." The friend was right. The families have had an enduring and amazing relationship, and Susan moves comfortably and happily among them all.

ETA: Wrong yet again. You did read Afterlight, not *In the*. I'll think about it.

>162 LizzieD: I rather liked Undine as a character. A worthy opponent to the self-elected elite she'd been convinced was important to join. But I understand her and have no sympathy for any of the other adults in the story. Her son, a bit, but he's without agency so it's easy to feel for him.

Hi, Susan! My couple of favorite students (although I had problems with their values) loved Undine and saw her as much put-upon. They also loved the older sister in The Poisonwood Bible and were relieved when she got some of what she wanted. I can't recall who else read *Custom*, but the two that I remember earned 4s on their AP English Language exam, so I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have tried to make her ends meet. Your reaction is a measure of the complexity of Wharton's creation, I think.

Wordle 1,060 3/6*

⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, grass, amass Yay!

"... everyone's two senses worth should be brought in."

>166 LizzieD: I question if some people even have as many as two senses...

I'm content that you'll think about Afterlight. I think you'd enjoy Robben's storytelling. *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

>167 richardderus: Hard to say, Richard. Hard to say.

SAINT ELSPETH by Wick Welker

I really loved this book. In fact, I put almost everything else aside for the few days I took to read it. Earth has suffered an alien invasion, but the aliens haven't done anything since their arrival. Humans, however, have bombed each other into an apocalypse as they disagreed about how to treat the Hila. Dr. Elspeth Darrow has bunkered with survivors underground until it was safe to come out and try to build neo San Francisco. A pathologist, she has become the only doctor in her colony in a hospital set up in the old city hall. For twenty years she has salvaged medical supplies and learned surgery and internal medicine as she also tries to bring along a medical student. That's the set-up.

Elspeth is tired, but she can't stop being who she is as crisis feeds on crisis.

Read Richard's review on the book page. He gets it right, and I don't have anything to add.

>168 LizzieD: I'm glad you forgave his grammatical solecisms, Peggy. Thanks for the shout-out, too. I'm pleased that Dr. Welker's made a decent impression, he's a good sort.

Wednesday *smooch* (oh, and current read? VERY MUCH NOT FOR YOU, dark and ugly)

>169 richardderus: You are, of course, more than welcome. Being incurably pedantic, I dropped Dr. Welker a note at his website about the grammar. I don't really expect him to respond. I did mean to ask, and so I'll ask you.... How is it that antibiotics and everything else have lasted through the 20 years of the new colonies plus whatever time people were in the bunkers? If he covered this early on, I was reading too eagerly to catch it.

Thanks for the warning. I definitely don't need dark and ugly.

Wordle 1,061 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, round, mingy, pinch Good Grief!

I'm perplexed as to what to read next. I'll surely pick up Britain BC again to finish this month. I've been sneak-reading The Nonesuch with glee, so it's come out of hiding. I need one more thing and can't decide where to settle.

ETA: How could I forget???

(overheard in Latin class) "I think you mean Artemis not Arthritis."

>170 LizzieD: What a howl from Latin class!

Hi, Judy! I couldn't make that up in a million years.

>170 LizzieD: ...I *really* wanna know what that save, saved us from...

The issue of expirations wasn't, that I recall anyway, dealt with. I assume expirations are more than any other factor meant to increase sales, but I am a bitter, cynical old man. I'll be interested in his reply, should one be forthcoming.

>173 richardderus: Can't help you with the save, Richard.

As to the expired meds, I remember nurses mixing antibiotics, so maybe that's a semi-cover. I'm hard-pressed to think that anything would be good after 30 years or so, but what I don't know is vast.

Wordle 1,062 3/6*

🟨⬜🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, stalk, stall My word shines today!

I keep forgetting the wit and wisdom of the young!

"... truth about nature & meaning of human life can be interrupted through the mythical symbols."

>174 LizzieD: That works on so many levels I'm a little gobsmacked that I've never said it for real myownself!

YAY for your 3day, dear lady. I'm getting love notes from the publisher of that fantasy I reviewed...they've put me on their auto distribute DRCs list. No good deed goes unpunished. *smooch*

>174 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, we're really Wordle sisters today. I also got it in 3. Different first word, but the second 2 were exactly the same. I debated which word to guess first, and went with the wrong one, or I could have had it in 2 today, but 3 is still good!

I hope you've had some success finding what you are looking for at your mom's place today.

Good morning, Irene and Richard! I'll never complain about a Wordle 3, especially on days when I feel lucky to have gotten it in 4.

Irene, I have taken this week off by default - just couldn't get myself going. I'll have to jump on everything next week.
(Richard, I'm sure you would have said it more elegantly and meant what you said.)

Wordle 1,063 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, thong, torch, tutor I got it in 4 instead of 5 because I know the editor's reluctance to use unpleasant words like "tumor."

Back to The Crucible .......
"Danforth minuplated John & Elizabeth."

I thought this morning of my sad experience with misspelling in the fourth grade. I walked home in tears with an X in writing that completely filled the block, as opposed to the minuscule double checks everywhere else on my report card. Grandmama got Mama off work to talk to the teacher. She said that I couldn't spell the words I was using in my written work, which was true. She couldn't give me an X in spelling because I made 100 on the weekly spelling test of fourth grade words. Neither of them thought that she might have kept a list of the words I couldn't spell and given those to me for testing instead. I don't know how the problem was resolved, but it's still a sore memory.

>177 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I used that unpleasant word this morning but only because I didn't want to go directly to a repeat letter. Oh well.

I'm sorry about your spelling memory! That would have made me cry too.

>177 LizzieD: That explains so much of one's life trajectory: That moment where Authority behaves unjustly sets most of us off on a track to redress that horrible, helpless outrage.

In my case it was a librarian refusing to check out Stranger in a Strange Land to me unless my mother said it was okay. (She did.) The sheer balls of the woman, questioning my autonomy!

My entire life's trajectory, in a single moment.

>177 LizzieD: What a disaster of a teacher. A real educator would have helped you with those words instead of compiling ammunition to aim at you.

I read (well, skimmed the essays) Tom Jones after being refused entry to the movie - and I was with my mother at the time.

>177 LizzieD: I have a similar "sore memory" of my sixth grade reading teacher. We had workbooks with exercises related to what we were reading in class. We were supposed to do the exercises on our own, and turn the workbooks in for grading once a week. I was very sick, missed nearly a whole week of school, but was required to turn in my workbook anyway. When it was handed back to me every. single. question. was marked with a big red X because none of the answers were filled in. My mother made a visit over that one, and was told "Oh, she can do the exercises after she's done the class-time reading on her own, and I'll re-grade it". So the red x's were just some sort of ego trip for him, I guess.

I'm sorry but not surprised that we have so much fellow feeling for injustice done by teachers. I shudder to think what I likely did to students without realizing it. I'm sure that I hurt some of them. Teaching is hard.

I'm glad you don't harbor such a memory, Laura and Susan (well, you sort of do, but at least it didn't come from a teacher)! Richard and Linda, I'm sorry for the humiliation because that's what it was. I think that sometime in the last year I mentioned the librarian at my elementary school who required me to read Winnie-the-Pooh before she would let me check out the books I wanted to read. That was second grade, and I was furious to be forced to read a baby book. It didn't matter. Before the end of that year, I had read everything I wanted out of the school library, and Mama was regularly taking me to the public library.

THE NONESUCH by Georgetter Heyer

How can I have missed this one????? I loved it! In fact, I always love Heyer's older women and men. I love that Ancilla, Miss Trent the governess, is smart enough to outwit her spoiled and unruly charge time after time, and that Sir Waldo is smart enough to appreciate her worth immediately. Justice rules!

>183 LizzieD: The ghastly Ancilla! The terrible Tiffany! What fun it was to see them get what they deserved.

Saturday *smooch*

Aw, Richard. Ancilla is ghastly? She's lovely. *smooch* you Richardly curmudgeon, you.

Sad to say that after holding out 6½ months, I started Quarter Share again this morning after making my Saturday omelet and having a swig of good coffee. Apparently, I need comfort. Not surprised.
Otherwise, I'm still keeping on with the wonderful Britain BC a bit at the time (while checking images of causewayed enclosures and barrows) with Stonehenge on the horizon AND Babel.

Wordle 1,064 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, minor, grind, briny That's a good second word when the starter is all wrong.

I keep forgetting these. I like them.

"Tartarus was the place were all bad souls went for internal punishment."

>185 LizzieD: mmm
Ancilla, lovely?
mmm

I used to love episodes of Time Team with Francis Pryor on them. He was never afraid to conjecture about the past's motives for doing weird stuff.

That kid was onto something! *smooch*

I'm just now getting back to *Time Team*, Richard. I have a preference for the earlier seasons, and I love the ones with FP.

As to Tartarus, the external punishments were pretty rough too.

Wordle 1,065 6/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I'd say "whew" if I were not such an idiot. I got stymied when kitch wasn't accepted as a word. Good grief!

"Erysthicthon cut down a tree in the goddesses favorite ghetto."

>188 LizzieD: Well, I got skunked by World last night, Peggy, so you did better than I did. I used the word i nstead of the correct word. Yikes! Well, I was going to put the word I used, but it seems I have forgotten what to use for spoiler. I thought it was just - well when I type what I thought it was without that disappears, but not the word.

>1 LizzieD: Great picture of you, Peggy.

>188 LizzieD: We could revolutionize city planning by using "grotto" in place of "ghetto"! Reorients the entire concept.
>187 LizzieD: I'm enjoying the thirtieth-year Time Team episodes on YouTube, with so many of the old gang on it...only old. Really interesting to see who's aged well.
Because it's spelled "kitsch".

*smooch*

Ah, thank you, Richard. I fear for my brain. Wordle is not going well when it should be at least one word better...
Hmmm. I thought some of the old gang looked pretty old in earlier seasons. I'll be glad to get back to them. Did I say that I love Phil Harding??? I LOVE Phil Harding!

Wordle 1,066 5/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, noire, nixer, niner, nicer I don't know where my brain is going, Deborah, but I can't say that I care for its journey. Thank you for a kind comment about the picture.

I am having so much fun revisiting the student writing that I'll continue. Besides, Richard often has a different spin...

"It also had vestigal virgins betraying their valves."
(I swear that I didn't make that up or combine two attempts at coherence."

>191 LizzieD: Very alliterative! Have to keep faith with the valves.

>191 LizzieD: Do you think they meant "vestigial" in the first case? "Valves" is, one supposes, baldly accurate on a mechanical level if one is of a lower cast(e) of mind, but not entirely in the spirit of things is it.

I love the way their minds record details that feels significant to them.

Hi, Susan. I guess I should have been glad for the alliteration.......

Richard, at first I thought it was "vestigial," but this was Latin and the virgins were Vestal. I doubt that this person knew the word "vestigial." I'm pretty sure I had another one who could spell "Vestal" but said they were buried alive if they betrayed their vowels.

I keep asking myself, "Didn't I write that down for them?" I also remember that so much of this was written in the text.

>194 LizzieD: "betrayed their vowels"
IJBOL
Oh me oh my, how easy it is to forget that the stuff we know is deeply complicated and obscure to those, erm, differently abled shall we say.

Good morning, Peggy! I hope you are having a good day.

I'm going to try to get back in the messaging saddle, so to speak, but just don't have it in me to read your last 75 messages...

Wordle in 4, a beautiful Carolina blue sky, pain management plan in place, brekkie, coffee... nothing official to do...

Sounds great to me, Karen! (I can't think why you'd want to read 75 messages here since you know how Wordle went. Threads are not choresome!) We walked this morning since we both have various errands this afternoon that must be done, so I'm off my schedule. When I get home, I plan to be completely nonofficial!

That's true, Richard, but I do expect 16 year-olds to know the difference between vow and vowel. Silly me.

Wordle 1,067 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, minor, bingo, dingo

"Chariot races were taken place in the Gluteus Maximus."

(I promise. This was a senior girl who was taking Applied Health at the same time as Latin I. She studied but not enough to keep the two courses straight.)

>197 LizzieD: That one gave me a good laugh. I think I mentioned that long ago I read an article where a history professor retold history through time using quotes from students. The one I remember from that essay was "Martin Luther nailed 95 theocrats to the church door."

>197 LizzieD: I’m adoring your malaprop quotes, Peggy! I’m sure I’ve let slip one or two in my life! They probably happen more under pressure, like in a test environment or when churning out final papers, maybe? In any case, I hope you keep them coming.

Karen O

'Morning, Peggy!

Wordle in 4. PT, Jenna's coming for a quick visit, and I hope you and I can have a phone call today.

I adore finding visitors have left a note!

I'm eagerly awaiting our phone call too, Karen! Look at what my first word did for me today!!!!!

Karen, I'm glad you're having fun. You're right. Most of these come from weekly tests, but some of them were in huge papers. When we were in must-support-career-choices mode, a senior girl with her eye on the mortuary business referred to "the decreased" through the whole paper. I'm sorry I didn't make a copy of that one before I returned it. Aside from "funeralizing," which is a common term around here, she had several more howlers that I don't remember right now.

Irene, I LOVE Martin Luther and the theocrats! We could use some of that these days! In fact, that sounds like a band name ----- a very peculiar band.

Wordle 1,068 2/6*

🟨🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, exalt Wooo HOOOO!!!!!

"Roman army had both infantry and Calvery. Men were chosen by providence."

Checking in on you as you were kind enough to check in on me.

As I mentioned on my thread (since you expressed your love of the cello), I am listening to Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Opus 107 on YouTube at the moment as I am currently reading M.T. Anderson's Symphony for the City of the Dead.

>197 LizzieD:

Just a reminder that I am heading out of town to Mother's tomorrow and will unlikely to be visiting LT while I am gone since the Internet at her house is horrendous.

Please take care of yourself (and it goes without saying, Graham) while I am gone and I will check back in with you next weekend. . .

>203 richardderus: One never knows what a fellow's funnybone is tender for. *smooch*

Wordle 1,069 3/6*

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, gross, swish Rarely, being in a hurry pays off.

"Say nothing but good to the dead" (de mortuis nil nisi bonum

>206 LizzieD: A maxim to which I do not adhere, in either the original or the malaprop-ed one. Hell with that!

*smooch*

Hi Peggy! Happy Thursday to you.

>202 alcottacre: Both my mother and my aunt played cello. My aunt still has hers, my mother’s gone before I was born, I think.

Wordle in 4.

>208 richardderus: I've just remembered another translation: "there's nothing but bones in the dead." I suspect that you can agree with that one, Richard.

>202 alcottacre: Safe travel and fabulous visit, Stasia!!!

>209 karenmarie: I remember your saying that your mother and aunt were both cellists, Karen. I envied your aunt her cello, but now I have one that is more than adequate for me if I ever get to pick it up again. I live in hope.

>210 LizzieD: Heartily!

>202 alcottacre: >210 LizzieD: My sister played cello while in school. I think she may still play some for her own enjoyment.

>201 LizzieD: I hadn't thought about treating theocrats that way today. And it does sound like a good name for a band.

After much looking, I finally found that that article I referred to has been republished on the web. It had me laughing so hard when I first read it, but that quote about Martin Luther was the best. Here's the link: https://www.wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/winter-2014-four-decades-of-classic-es...

Oh, Irene, thank you for that! I needed a good laugh and got several. I have to say I like the victims of the Black Death growing boobs on their necks.
Needless to say, I envy your sister too. I can pick things out on the cello, but it takes forever and sounds like nothing much.

*smooch* Richard

>213 LizzieD: I am very glad it gave you a good laugh! I always remember it as one of the funniest things I ever read. I was so happy to find that it's actually available online now. If I'd only remembered the phrase "life reeked with joy" I would have been able to find it a lot sooner.

'Morning, Peggy! Happy Friday.

We had thunderstorms and rain last night, and lost power from ~ 4 - 11 p.m. due to equipment failure. Our generator did its job.

Wordle today in 4.

I'm going to go take a quick nap before PT.

Good morning, Karen! I hope that you're already back from PT, maybe outside a crisp taco, and chilling with lessening pain, a book, and a cat or two. That's my wish for your day. Except for the pain and taco, that's pretty much my wish for myself too!

I copied the whole thing, Irene, so I'll have it when I need it without having to remember the reek of joy. That's hard to forget in the short term anyway. Stay tuned for the next high school entry.

Wordle 1,070 3/6*

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, exile, glide ---- my first word working one letter better than Karen's today

"Petronius friend of Knerow"

>216 LizzieD: Kneerow!! I thought that was something I saw that no one else did. Ha!

Hi Peggy! Happy Saturday to you and your DH.

>216 LizzieD: Alas, no taco, but kitty visitors galore. Reading and napping, too.

Wordle in 4 today.

Nothing planned except icing, reading, napping, puttering.

Good afternoon, Karen! We walked early but not early enough to be cool. I've been recuperating for 45 minutes now - and trying to do Wordle for most of them. It took a stupid guess to give me enough to get there in the end.

Except for the icing and puttering, I hope to make my day like yours! Enjoy!

Wordle 1,071 4/6*

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, garth, float!!!, titan

Richard, I'll bet you could spell "knee" when you were in high school, you precocious devil, you. *smooch*

"The Roman medicine unlike ours was very different."

HALF SHARE by Nathan Lowell

I take great comfort in the ordinary life of these young people. On to the next because there's no break between books.

>219 LizzieD: ...different from...? Was the antecedent always missing? *oof*

>220 LizzieD: You've already been to mine to walk through my bibliobullets. Get that one on your Kindle ASAP! *smooch*

>219 LizzieD: I love this Goofy Quote! Reminds me of Yogi Berra.

Karen O

>221 richardderus: >222 klobrien2: I promise that I copied them just as I found them.

Richard, your comment reminds me of a real puzzler from a "regular" English class. (These were the kids who didn't qualify for special ed. where they might have gotten some real help.)

"A big fel rat on the teble." My DH figured that one out for me. The subject is missing. Translation: A big _____ fell right on the table."

A bug fell right on the table. Works for me.

>223 LizzieD: Here I was, goin' down the rathole of middle English, thinking the rodent was a fell beast...hardly likely in this context, eh?

Oh, Susan! That's another possibility, but I really think it was a big something else.

That's where I was trying to go too, Richard, and I knew it couldn't be. This was the same kid who had occasion to write about how bad his scinous problems were when he was caught out in the win.

'Morning, Peggy, and happy Sunday to you.

Wordle in 4. Time to eat brekkie/brunch, I guess. Not particularly hungry right now for some reason. 99.9% of the time I live to eat, but every once in a while, I eat to live. I may be going into one of those cycles, not sure yet.

I need to work on the bird feeders today in addition to reading and etc.

Take it easy, friend Karen. I would be happy to be less hungry, but I'm with you for the 99.9%, and I show it.

Back from church and an easy time with Wordle today, I'm grateful to say!
Wordle 1,072 3/6*

🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, rebel, bevel

"Farce was a comedy that was either violent or funny."

Peggy! Sunday *smooch*

Richard! Sunday *smooch* right back

Hi Peggy. Happy Monday.

Wordle in 4. Reading and napping are on my to-do list for today.

Good afternoon, Karen. That sounds exactly like my day. We're just back from our walk. I need to force myself to get up at 6:30 to walk before the heat gets unbearable, but that's going to cause major readjustment of my schedule, and I don't know that I can do it. I don't think I can continue this for much longer though. The past couple of days have been borderline too hot and too humid.

Wordle 1,073 4/6*

⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟨⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, snore, sixer, skier

"The Children were tied up & beaten and washed in cold H2O so their skin wouldn't get soft."

(What I said and what they heard --- have mercy!)

I hope you walking goes well. I'm having issues even trying to get myself to start!

>232 LizzieD: ...
...
...I ...
I...
...can't?

Richard, according to sources when I was teaching, Roman babies had a tough first year. They swaddled them tightly so that their arms and legs would grow straight (but at 6 months freed the right arm to the elbow so they'd grow up right-handed). They got daily massages with a lot of shaping for round heads and were bathed in cold water so that the boys wouldn't grow up soft. They changed wet nurses every few months so that they wouldn't grow attached to one person, again so the boys would not be soft. If this is true, it's a wonder they weren't all raving lunatics.

Hi, Susan. We used to walk a couple of miles a day. Now it's not quite that much. It's just late May hot (87° on the thermometer and heat index of 94), and I'm not able to tolerate it. I should have gone to bed by now so that I could get up with the sun and be out as soon as the mosquitos have thinned out. Behold. Here I sit.

BRITAIN BC by Francis Pryor

What a super book! Pryor leads his reader through the archaeology from the Lower Paleolithic through the Late Iron Age in Britain and Ireland. He offers a near-perfect balance between description and analysis of what is in the ground and what it may have meant to the people who lived with it. I appreciated both the photo plates and the 112 figures that include maps, diagrams of sites, and artifacts.

In an effort to get to sleep a bit earlier than usual, I'll say that interested people should read (and thumb!) Lucy's review on the book page.

If it were not so late, I'd be watching a Time Team!

'Morning, Peggy!

Getting up early to walk before it gets nasty is good in theory, but hard to do when you're a night owl. I'm sorry it's so nasty.

Wordle in 4 with a lot of help from my spreadsheets.

Nothing much otherwise...

Good morning, Karen! We did get up and walk a bit before 8:00. It was nice - 75° when we set out but really hot for the last third. If we can do that even most mornings, I'll be glad. It won't happen tomorrow, I'm sorry to say.
So now I'm having my second cup of coffee and finishing Wordle. My weird choices took me to five, but I'll take it!
I wish you another good day!

So what nonfiction shall I read today????

Wordle 1,074 5/6*

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, shock, wispy, virus, minus

*More Latin from 2001*

Juno was jealous of Jupiter's children from moral women.

>237 LizzieD: Hi Peggy! I'm with you on the walking. I really need to start doing a lot more of it. I've been having back issues lately, which put a major crimp in my walking. And now that my back is finally getting better, NC summer is here, which makes walking unpleasant because of the heat and humidity. And since I'm not a morning person, getting up to walk before it gets hot is not easy. But I really do need to try.

Wordle in 3 for me today. I decided to try minor as my second word today after being inspired by you, and it turned out to be the perfect day to do that today.

Hi, Irene! Good look with the walking. DH has a medical appointment in the morning, and I'm getting my hair trimmed in the afternoon, so we won't walk at all. *sigh*

Oh! minor! I forgot all about that one, but I couldn't have used it because of the one letter I had in the first word, but it might have triggered the right one - or not.

FULL SHARE by Nathan Lowell

Ishmael continues to grow up and finds his passion that will keep him in the Deep Dark. I meant to stop here for awhile, but I likely won't.

>235 LizzieD: "Richard, according to sources when I was teaching, Roman babies had a tough first year. They swaddled them tightly so that their arms and legs would grow straight (but at 6 months freed the right arm to the elbow so they'd grow up right-handed). They got daily massages with a lot of shaping for round heads and were bathed in cold water so that the boys wouldn't grow up soft. They changed wet nurses every few months so that they wouldn't grow attached to one person, again so the boys would not be soft. If this is true, it's a wonder they weren't all raving lunatics."

Suddenly Caesar in Gaul makes more sense...*shudder*

>240 richardderus: *shudder* indeed! *smooch* instead!

Wordle 1,075 4/6*

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, royal, canal, papal I knew that #2 had been used before, but it's a good word for nailing things down, I think, so I'll be glad for my 4.

"One day Jupiter had a headache and she came spewing from his forehead."

>241 LizzieD: I always get a chuckle from your quotes! Thanks!

Karen O

Hi Peggy! Happy Wednesday.

It’s beautiful out and only going to 82F up here – of course it will be hotter where you are – yikes! 90F according to weather.gov.

Wordle in 4 too, sister.

PT and FL pick up today, otherwise reading and napping.

>241 LizzieD: "Spew" is the best verb yet for Artemis/Diana's genesis. Happy Wednesday, Peggy.

>242 klobrien2: They tickle me too, Karen. Glad you like them!

>242 klobrien2: Hope you're back in and reading or napping, Karen. I have a haircut coming up!

>244 richardderus: My question, Richard, is "Who is doing the spewing? Jupiter's forehead or Minerva?"

>245 LizzieD: I'm betting on Minerva, after all it has to be gross getting hoiked out of someone's brainbox.

I'm thinking that wasn't the writer's intent, but I have to agree that your interpretation is the more likely. *grin* *smooch*

Wordle 1,076 5/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟨🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, round, juicy, muggy, gummy LUCKY!!!! Since I'm playing hard mode, this could have gone many, many rounds. I guess our summer weather served me well for once.

"People didn't hardly stay in inns because they were dangerous, so they split a token in half and gave one to the person they were sleeping with."

>247 LizzieD: How on EARTH did you grade that?! I had to read it three times to parse what the hell the kid was probably trying to say about communal sleeping in the inns of the time. And I wouldn't bet on my accuracy. ::impressed::

'Morning, Peggy! Hi to your DH.

Yay for the haircut - I hope they did right by you.

I got Wordle in 4 today.

I've got a girl kitty who is parading in front of me, purring and rubbing up against me, my laptop, and anything else on the desk that needs marking.

Good morning, Karen! I thought today's Wordle was a meanie. Good for you to get it in 4! Lucky you and kitty girl. All of ours are elsewhere enjoying the cooler weather.

Actually, Richard, it was more about the practice of the very wealthy in trading tokens so that each could present his half to the other's doorkeeper and enjoy the hospitality of the house when he had business in that town. The term evades me, but I expect it will come back sometime.... "something-guest"...... "guest-something"??? The inns were dangerous though. Another kid I remember but don't find in my lists wrote, "Roman roads were good but the ends were horrible."

Since this is about books, I should add that I'm still reading Ish along with Babel, which I like at about the half-way point but don't love, and Names on the Land, which I've only just started and love already.

We are still America. No matter what happens next, we have this moment in which we can say that the system works, and there is justice.

>251 LizzieD: Just stopping by to wish you a lovely evening, Peggy dear.

>251 LizzieD: Amen to that, Peggy.

>251 LizzieD: Unless you're Tucker Carlson...

I am very grateful that I'm not Tucker Carlson, Linda!!! Meanwhile, you're very welcome here!
Hi, Laura, and amen to your amen!
Thank you, Paul, and the same back to you!!!

Wordle 1,077 4/6*

⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, shark, chasm, chaos I like logical ones even if I do take 4 to get there.

Q: What is the imperative mood?
A: It means to give a comeback.

HI Peggy! Happy Friday to you.

>251 LizzieD: Amen, sister. It’s amazing how seeing him convicted on all 34 counts is uplifting.

Wordle in 5.

I was just off to your place, Karen, and that's where I'll be!

>255 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy. I lurk more than I comment these days. I do think this verdict is an indication that not everything is broken, no matter how much people like Ol' Tucker try to convince us otherwise.

>250 LizzieD: I agree that yesterday's Wordle was a mean one. I don't play in hard mode, and I thought I did well to get it in 5. I got Wordle in 3 today. I went down a similar road to you, but guessed your 3rd word on my 2nd try.

I'm glad you explained the student's quote, because I really didn't understand that one. And I finally got an overdue haircut this week as well, went out yesterday afternoon and got it done.

>251 LizzieD: And I will also add an "Amen" to that.

>255 LizzieD: ...!!!...

Yes! Exactly that! Brilliant kid.

Happy 34-is-a-felon day, smoochling.

>260 richardderus: We aren't stupid down here, Richard, just uneducated. I have long lamented the fact that enormous talent of every kind isn't nurtured when kids are young. You can't teach what you don't know. Since most of the teachers in our school system come out of the same program, they perpetuate the not-knowing generation after generation.

Wordle 1,078 3/6*

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, sandy, basin Great way to start the thinking day!

".... to make a mense with her."

‘Morning, Peggy!

Wordle in 4 today. Congrats on your 3.

It’s a gorgeous day with low humidity here. I successfully got into and (more importantly) out of the hammock yesterday and need to take advantage of it today, too.

>259 atozgrl: I do not understand why the Wordle folks call it hard mode – it’s “Any revealed hints must be used in subsequent guesses”, which to me makes it easier to not waste guesses on words that don’t contain yellows and greens.

Hi, Karen! I hope you do get hammock time..... I wondered about your in-and-out mobility. GOOD for you!!!!!

For me it's hard mode when I have only a couple of guesses left with a multitude of consonant possibilities. I used to guess a word that had as many of them as possible to drain off some of that alphabet soup.

Britain BC sounds fascinating, Peggy. I just started The Britannias, and the first chapter on Orkney Island has a lot of archeology. So interesting.

>261 LizzieD: *ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*

hello Amazon I need fifty jillion gallons of brainbleach STAT

Sorry, Richard. I confess that I was curious about what you'd have to say.

Hi, Beth. *BBC* is a super book for history/archeology buffs. I'm one. *Britannias* was not on my radar. Thanks!

‘Morning, Peggy!

>263 LizzieD: Alas, no hammock time – soccer reared its ugly head. Champions League final.

Sometimes I guess with words with many vowels, other times with many consonants. It’s just whatever mood I’m in.

Today I got it in 4 again.

I'm looking forward to late afternoon...

Me too, Karen, me too. And me too for 4 today and glad to have it.

Wordle 1,079 4/6*

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, grain, crack, bravo

"--- most of his friends had pasted or moved away."

>266 LizzieD: *ew*ew*ew*ew*ew*ew* redux

And a good long *shudder* for emphasis.

Sunday *smooch*

It's so sad when your friends paste.

It is, Susan. I can't read that without thinking about Jeanne Roberson and Left Brain. I know I've put this on my thread before, but here it is again.

Don't Send a Man to the Grocery Store

You're welcome.

>268 LizzieD: >270 quondame: added:>271 LizzieD: You two three made me guffaw out loud! Thanks!

Karen O

I always love to laugh, Karen. Glad you enjoyed it!

>262 karenmarie: My reaction to Wordle is actually the opposite. If I get, say, just an E on my first guess, then I want to use my usual second word to find or eliminate a bunch more letters. In fact, I got completely annoyed with myself once when I tried a different word using the letters found in my first guess, and it took me 4 to solve, when it was obvious if I'd stuck to my usual second word, I would have gotten it in 3. That has happened to me multiple times, but that one time a few months back really bugged me. Therefore, most of the time I don't like hard mode, but there are times, like today, when I have a good word to try that does use the letter(s) found on the first guess. But it's rare that I have a 2nd word that gives me the letters from the first guess and also includes the additional letters I want to try. So I have a "usual" first and second word, and even a third one if the first two fail.

But I did get Wordle in 3 today, and did use "hard" mode. I was just able to think of a good word for my second guess this time.

Britain BC sounds really interesting to me as well. I've added it to my wishlist.

Peggy, I'm simply stopping by to say hello and see how you are.

>271 LizzieD: Thank you! That was too funny for me to get through in one chunk!

'Morning, Peggy, and happy Monday to you!

Thanks for the link to the Jeanne Robertson routine - I cracked up the entire time. It's SO true, and I love it that LeftBrain got exactly what was on the list.

My mom stopped sending my dad (and me) to the grocery store because one time there were 3 or 4 things on a list, and he came home with $30 in groceries - that was a lot of groceries in the early 1960s.

Wordle in 3 for me today.

I tried Strands last night and couldn't get anywhere. I'll try again today.

Good morning, Karen and Susan. I'm happy that you enjoyed JR. I heard her do that one years ago and have been a fan since. I think it's one of her funnier efforts. My dad was like yours, I guess, Karen. A trip to the grocery store was a rare outing, and he could be counted on to spend way too much and buy way to many luxuries.

I think of you every day, Linda, and still don't get to your thread. Thank you for stopping here. We're OK, and I'm awfully glad to see you here.

Irene, I've gotten a little used to hard mode. A lot of the time it does feel hard to me for the reasons you cite. Today I'm in raptures - haven't seen a 2 in a long, long time. Strands will bring me back to earth. I can't do better than using four hints, and my mouse clumsiness is an added burden. I'm off to persevere. Meanwhile, congrats to you and Karen on your 3. I love 3s; a lot of time they indicate more logic than luck.

Wordle 1,080 2/6*

⬜⬜🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, stark The used word list was a great help, of course.

'.... Jim learns that Antonia has been jolted by Larry Donovan & given birth to his illegitimate child."

Strands #92
“Better with age”
💡🔵💡🔵
🔵🟡🔵🔵
🔵

At last! I haven't been working all this time, but this is the best I've done. I kept trying the spangram without the -ed. Oh well.

>271 LizzieD: Oh, my...I hadn't encountered her before. What a hoot! My daughter having adopted Virginia as her home, we often talk about Southern customs...but men and grocery stores is universal, I think. Mine can't find anything unless it's in the candy aisle, but I suspect it's an act to keep me from sending him to "pick up a few things".

Happy Moon's Day, Peggy! *smooch*

My husband does almost all the grocery shopping - he started as an excuse to get out of the house after retirement and now just takes a picture of the want list before leaving the house. The main danger is that he sometimes comes back with treats he thinks Becky or I want. And we do have to be quite specific on the list if it is a new item.

Hi, Susan, Richard, and Linda. Glad to see you all!!! I figured the women would enjoy JR. I know about specificity on a grocery list for my DH.

Wordle 1,081 5/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, round, choir, proof, groom Definitely not the best starter word today!

We're trying to walk before it gets so terribly hot that I can't.

"Elizabeth comes before her troops as a queen, briefly steps off her pedalstool to join their strife."

(That's QE 1 at Tilbury. Givers and takers of the AP English Language exam will recognize the practice prompt from long ago.)

>282 LizzieD: "Pedalstool" must enter the vernacular. With immanent celerity. The Tilbury speech..."weak and feeble woman" my lily-white one...is justly preserved in the Akashic Records. I wonder what she *really* said.

It's going up to 68° today...how shall I bear up...

*eville cackle*

Hi Peggy!

>278 LizzieD: Congrats on your Wordle in 2. Fantastic. Ah, that’s what it’s called – jolting.

Another gorgeous Carolina blue sky day here.

Wprdle in 3 for me today.

I smile when reading the posts regarding men and shopping. Will sold his practice when he was in his late 50's. In order to obtain a decent social security payment, I worked until I was 66. He loved to grocery shop and I gladly relinquished this task. He passed away mid April 2019. I didn't have the chance to clean the basement.

When CoVid hit and many were talking about lack of coffee and toilet paper, I attributed it to my living alone. However, as months continued, and there still was a goodly stock in all the bathrooms, I made a trip to the basement. There I found 65 packs of coffee, and hundreds of rolls of toilet paper.

In addition, he had too many cans of soup to count. Some had expired and I threw them away, but my neighbors were happy for what I gave away.

In addition, my lovely young neighbor Ashlee, who loved "Mr. Will" dearly, helped me clean out the clothes in the attic. Because the steps are pull down, and I didn't feel safe, Ashlee helped with that task. By the time we were finished, there were 42 plastic tubs of his used clothing. Fortunately, Purple Heart came and picked everything up the morning of an appointed day.

With a collection of thousands of books on every shelf in the house, I have no right to complain about Will's previous obsessions.

I recently found the series about Tiny Houses. I'm hooked, and laugh knowing I would need many tiny houses to store books.

I am better than 80 posts behind and not even trying to catch up. I just came by to check in on you :)

Thanks for the check, Stasia. I'm here and everything is good enough as far as I know!

Oh my goodness, Linda! I know a little about that hoarding instinct. My DH had supplies of TP that lasted through most of the pandemic. Since we continued to isolate, he continued to stockpile, so I could always come across when I needed something for Mama and shop in our own warehouse. I'm glad that the clothes went to a good cause. I won't have 42 containers, but it's taking a long time to sort out and pack Mama's clothes - and mine. I haven't been over here to clean out my closet in about six years. Good grief!
I had an LT friend in my first year here who did rent an apartment for her books after her husband died. I never see her here now.

Good morning, Karen! DH is just back home, and we're going to try to walk in a bit since it's overcast and breezy. We'll see if I can tolerate it.

Richard, I think "pedalstool" may be my all-time favorite word. I've always wanted one since I first read it.

Wordle 1,082 3/6*

⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟩⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, armor, organ I would have sworn that that word had been used before!

"The guard did not willingly seize fire."

>287 LizzieD: No duh!! I wouldn't either. The good thing is that this one couldn't be clearer and easier to correct.

I really see the appeal of AI today. I'd love to have it look for rheumatologists for me.

>287 LizzieD: Seizing fire reminds me a lot of The Hands of the Emperor as "holding the fire" comes up frequently both metaphorically and literally.

Good afternoon, Peggy.

Late visit today - got up late and then had to rush off to PT, then lunch, then nap.

Congrats on your 3. I'm very proud of a rare 2.

>278 LizzieD: Hi Peggy, I got that Wordle in 2 as well, and like you, it had been a while. But I got it without reference to any word lists, so it made me really happy. Back to Wordle in 4 the next two days.

Every now and then my DH accompanies me to the grocery. He usually winds up in some aisle, checking out something he found interesting. Sometimes I have trouble finding where he disappeared to.

Hi, Irene. Welcome back!

Congratulations on your well-earned 2, Karen! I thought your starter word should have been very good for you today, and you made the most of it!

Indeed, the fire business does come up, Susan. Count on you to make the connection!

Ah, Richard. May you find what you need, AI or no AI!

I continue to read Babel, which is too long but worth pursuing. Names on the Land continues to enchant when I get to it. I did today, and I'm glad.

Wordle 1,083 4/6*

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, tribe, otter, ether I'll gladly take it.

How do, Peggy Lou. Hoping you're well and happy and disfruiting your life's joys.

Late morning greetings, Peggy.

I'm still in my morning routine - coffee, LT, meds, brekkie. After this, puttering, reading, etc. I did enough adulting earlier this week to keep adulting-guilt from getting hold of me today.

Wordle in 3 for me, with the help of both spreadsheets. 4, of course, is what I'm always happy with.

Been a day for me, Peggy, but wanted to check in on you :)

Greetings, Faithful Karen, Faithful Richard, and Faithful Stasia! It was a bit of a frustrating day, but I will be on my way to a different financial institution Monday to get that medallion signature at last. David was aghast at that woman's rudeness. (I delayed seeing him until today because the report I needed from the stock didn't come to my email until last night.)

I see that I forgot to regale you with student writing. I'm about out of what I copied.

"the subject displays a pestimistic attitude toward the world."

>297 LizzieD: pestimistic pretty much sums up my attitude most days.

'Morning, Peggy! Beautiful day after lots of wind/rain/thunder/lightning late yesterday.

PT today, possibly a visit inside Walgreens. I'm going to take both the cane and walker to PT so I have options when I get to Walgreens. I really need a lutein supplement and I'm going to try ZZZQuil.

>297 LizzieD: Ah, those darned cicadas.

Wordle in 2 for me again - I kept cycling through words that would fit, and they had all been used until...

Another 2! GOOD for you, Karen!!!!!

We got a little, very little rain yesterday but had a breeze. Today it just looks hot. I have an eye appointment at noon, so I'll sideline myself until I get feeling back in that eye. That's my day.
Have you had cicadas, Karen? We think we might have heard one, but that's all.

I'm afraid I'm sort of a pestimist these days too, Susan.

Wordle 1,084 3/6*

🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, rebel, melon

".... all that they had been working toward was finnished."

Here I am at last, having walked and taken an unconsionable amount of time to get my big Saturday breakfast prepared and eaten. Whew. Then Wordle was hard for me. My clues were not helpful, so I was thrilled to have it in 4.

Wordle 1,085 4/6*

⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, penny, wench, hence

I copied this to show the ridiculousness of having our regular (meaning a step higher than special education but needing the individual attention that special ed. kids received) 10th graders "study" world lit as NC used to require. I read A Doll's House to them pretty much, and we worked with it. Here's this kid's response, bless him.

In A Doll's House Nora has to Broad money from Krogstad. she frag her father siang. to Broad money from Krogstad. so she can help her husben live.
Nora love her husben thats why she Broad money in the play Krogstad tried to tell torvald.

>301 LizzieD: Well. I am...nonplussed I think is the best way to say it by this, um, response.

Hm.

I wonder, very often, if I live in the same world as others.

Late afternoon hello, Peggy.

>300 LizzieD: I think we had some rain yesterday, but I was mostly napping. We had lots and lots of cicadas a while back, but I think they’re all gone. The only evidence, of course is the exoskeletons. I must have done this but don’t remember – putting one in one of the cup holders in my SUV. *eye roll*

>301 LizzieD: Did you get Teacher of the Year? ‘Cuz you more than deserved it.

Wordle in 3 today. Bird feeders filled. Spreadsheets updated. Drugs taken. Dinner time.

Good night Good Karen and Good Richard! I think I'll close down here and spend the rest of the evening on the sofa with book, wine, cheese, and an occasional cat.

No Teacher of the Year for me ever. Everybody faced the same kids day in and day out. I do cherish a memory or two - like the time the junior regular kid was complaining about something I had them working on. He said, "Why can't we just do a worksheet like everybody else?" His friend answered before I could open my mouth, "She want us to think, yo." Bless him!!!!

Richard, I don't know about you and a different world, but I can guarantee that the powers in the state department of education at that time were in a different universe. One person leading a 10th grade English workshop suggested that each school develop a squad of student specialists in various world authors. The county could arrange for the Kafka specialist from one school to exchange places with the Ibsen specialist from another school and each lead a discussion.

More tomorrow.

'Morning, Peggy!

I hope you enjoyed your book, wine, cheese, and kitty time last night.

Wordle in 3 for me today.

It is going to get into the low 90s here. Ugh, just... ugh.

It was good, Karen, although it turned more into play on the Fire with the kitty's help time.

I'm back from church. It's 88 and climbing, and I can't walk. I guess I'll try to use the exercycle at Mama's for a bit later - or not. You stay cool! You certainly had a better first word today, and you capitalized on it. Good for you!

Wordle 1,086 5/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 least, noire, proof, crock, crowd

More from the land of illiteracy ---- I didn't copy this exam response, but I think the prompt was to write about the piece of literature that the kid most appreciated that semester. This kid wrote something along these lines:

"Nora left her husband because he didn't like her borrowing money for him. She looked at her oldest boy and saw that he had his father's eyes, so she killed him. She slammed the door when she went out."

(Yep. They had "read" both A Doll's House and Medea that semester. I'll hasten to add that these were normal children with normal abilities. They had simply never been taught, and I couldn't do a lot of what they needed because I had to expose them to world literature. In this case it was like an inoculation to protect them from ever reading anything by a non-American - or maybe ever reading anything at all - again.) Almost the end of the rant.

The NC 10th grade writing test, required for every 10th grader, had prompts something like this: "Write about a character in world literature who was different. Show how he was different from the people around him and how his difference affected the character himself, the other people, and the plot. Include the author's use of symbolism, motifs, or other devices that enriched your appreciation of the character's difference."

I remember that one because we had read The Metamorphosis that semester, and one of my honors students made one of the two 5s (the highest score) in the county ever.

>305 karenmarie: I'm reasonably sure that teacher was high...

>306 LizzieD: ...and here's my evidence.

Oh myyyy, as Takei would say. That "instruction" is an invitation to failure. "Your PhD thesis, please" to people who don't know why they should care who wrote what when. "Education" my lily-white one. That's class thuggery. (I'm being very good and not railing about the "him" but it really hurts me not to.)

I appreciate your restraint, Richard. I agree about the prompt. "Write about a character who is different," sounds like a middle school question; then you read the rest. Good grief! As to "him," do remember that this was 1996, and that's how things were.

I am trying so hard to finish Babel. What started as an intriguing concept has gone on and on and on and on, and I don't much care anymore. Since I'm nearly through, I'll finish and even write a few words about it.