Beauty or Brains

If I had to choose between beauty and brains I wouldn’t want to. I think that life gives you whatever you get and that’s just what you have to take. I mean I guess I would prefer 1/2 beauty and 1/2 brains. Anyone can expand their brain after a certain amount of effort and if you really wanted to there’s plastic surgery available. I really disagree with plastic surgery unless it’s for medical uses.

Facts about Judaism

Judaism is about 3,500 years old and was founded by Abraham and Moses. Judaism is a Monotheistic belief which means that the followers believe in one god. Followers worshiping place is called a synagogue and their spiritual leaders are called rabbis. Judaism has 12 million followers who mostly consist of people in Israel and the US. Another important fact about Jews is that 6 million of them were murdered in the Holocaust in attempt to wipe out Judaism.

The Chicken or the Egg

Whether violence in society or violence in media came first is like the debate about whether the chicken or the egg came first. In my mind I think that violence in society came first. Violence is in human nature. There’s not one person in this world that doesn’t get or feel violent at some point in their life. Although I do think that since movies and television have been showing more and more it’s caused a few issues. It’s very possible that if some movies weren’t shown then there wouldn’t be as violent as people. But then again you could take me as an example. I hate scary movies and don’t care much for violent television but I’m very high tempered. I think that the most important thing in having a nonviolent society is to have role models that are not violent. I think that I have picked up many of my fathers bad habits such as my temper and television didn’t really have much to do with it.

Homeschool Update

Well, we’re surviving – that’s about it at the moment, I think. Spanish 2 is drving Michelle nuts and me nuts. Geometry and Chemistry are just a bit too boring for both of us. Michelle’s easing her way through The Good Earth and of course her daily journaling and daily religion entries. Boring.

The only two things of interest around here, on the homeschool front, are as follows:

• The school board seems to have misplaced her evaluation from last year – twice. They sent a nice note saying she was no longer considered homeschooled and would need to be enrolled in a “real school” immediately. Ha. I stopped by the office and took another copy in and handed it over in person. All better.
• Michelle is anxiously awaiting the opportunity to start dual enrollment at SFCC. The question is, will they let her? For homeschoolers you have to be 16 and she doesn’t hit that magic number til 3 weeks after the paperwork has to be turned in. We need to give those folks a call next week and see whether she qualifies. Fingers crossed, please!

Michelle slicing potatoes for Thanksgiving

Technorati Tags: homeschool, dualenrollment, evaluation, update

No Women Stand-Ups

I think that all women should be able to have any job that they want if they have enough experience for that job. I dont think that anyone should be should have to struggle with respect. Men are allowed to do whatever so women should be too.

The Bhagavead Gita: The Eternal “This”

"Know that to be imperishable whereb all this is pervaded. No one can destroy that immutable being…. This is never born nor ever dies,, nor haveing been will ever not be any more; unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, this is not slain when the body is slain…. As a man casts off worn-out garments and takes other that are new, even so that embodied one casts off worn-out bodies and passes on to others new. This no weapons wound, this no fire burns, this now aters wet, this no wind doth dry. Beyond all cutting, burning, wetting and drying is this—eternal,all-pervading, stable, immovable, everlasting. Perceivable neither bye the senses nor by the mind. this is called unchangeable; therefore knowing this as suck thou shoulder not grieve."

This famous Hindu passage is about death and life. About natural death and dying of a wound. It’s about being recarnated and whatnot.

The Boob Tube

"Television hangs on the questionable theory that whatever happens anywhere should be sensed everywhere. If everyone is going to be able to see everything, in the long run in all sights may lose whatever rarity value they once possessed, and it may well turn out that people, being able to see and hear practically everything, will be specially interested in almost nothing."
– E.B White

I think that because of television people’s thoughts are mores scattered. I feel like television brainwashes people. That there is better things you could be doing instead of sitting around watching television but instead people get lazy and just sit around. Television is evil.

The Ramayana

The story The Ramayana is a very complicated story. It’s about a mother who asks her husband (the king) to let her younger son rule instead of her eldest one and to banish the eldest one for 14 years. The king does so and the mother gets kindnapped and the banished son saves her. The story is really complicated. Or at least the summary of it was. I guess in Hinduism you are taught to do good by people no matter what. That’s kind of what this story expresses.

Types of Love

I was asked by this book of annoyingly stupid questions to explain how I love two different people differently. I love my mother because she’s my mom and without her I wouldn’t exist. She also goes out of her way a lot worrying and working to make sure that I have a good life. There’s also my cat Trixy. She’s my baby. I’ve had her for about 8 years now. I guess she’s like my bestfriend.

18th Century Necklace

An 18^th Century diamond necklace that was
believed to be made for the Russian empress Catherine was sold in Geneva
this past Thursday for 1.5 million dollars (1.3 euros). The auction house was
very full but the executive director wasn’t surprised that it was sold under it’s
estimated amount. In total, over 340 lots were sold for 35.8 million francs
($27.0 million; euro23.1 million) during the daylong auction. The most
expensive of the jewels — a pink diamond ring — sold for 5.17 million francs
($3.90 million; euro3.34 million). The article stated this about the history of
the necklace:

“Catherine II, or "the Great," was one of 18th century Europe’s
enlightened despots, known as much for her correspondence with French
philosophers Diderot and Voltaire as for the reforms she introduced into
Russian society and government. The self-described "philosopher on the
throne" ruled as Russia’s empress between 1762 and 1796.

The
necklace, which holds 27 large cushion-shaped diamonds, is believed to have
been made for Catherine during the beginning of her reign and was housed in the
Russian state diamond fund in St. Petersburg   until 1917. It includes a matching bow clasp.”
A lot of people think it is remarkable that this piece of jewelry survived the 1800s because most of the jewelry was broken to make new jewelry in the latest fashions.