Old Student Mom

Review: Won’t You Be My Neighbor

First, I have to get this off my chest…

Last term, one of my profs would always say something along the line of “it would be like being in an empty movie theater and some stranger comes and sits next to you.” Don’t ask me the context, but my response inside my head was always, ‘Well, today seats are generally assigned; however, I get your point.’

Let me tell you, it’s creepy, even with assigned…

Gonna be frank, this week sucked, but that was entirely unrelated to school. School just sucked as a result.

It’s frustrating to have your kids calling you in the middle of lab while they are in a completely other part of the state, supposedly supervised by a certain other adult (I do so hate to name-drop) and you have to parent because apparently this is something you alone are capable of.

I’ll…

The problem of evil is a huge problem that the church has spent thousands of years excusing. One of the usual excuses I get when I am forced to discuss this matter with religious people is the idea that ‘god’ gives people ‘free will’ and he doesn’t interfere with that because that would not be loving.

I love my kids. I mean, I would probably jump in front of a bullet for them. OK, I’m putting…

And so, we had our first actual exam. All those others before were apparently just practice. 😉

This is true for chemistry, as well. And pretty much college, in general.

But, I was smart. I drank no caffeine after three so I could sleep really well.

This meme doesn’t do my insomnia justice. I was up at one, stressed over the test.

Just in case you wondered what Chemistry actually looks like.

Whether a person likes to admit it, humans naturally lean toward learning everything from someone else. It’s encoded in our DNA to look around us for examples of how to move and how to act and how to speak. We see the evidence in children. But we delude ourselves into believing that, after that initial rush of learning, we learn very little, and less from others. Oh, sure we learn at school, but…

This is how I begin each day. Good thing I like science because summer school feels test heavy. Three this last week. Fortunately, just quizzes. Next Monday we’ll have our first exam.

I got BC some books for his birthday. This one, Grandmother Fish, is a nicely illustrated, easily comprehensible introduction to evolution for little kids.

Have I mentioned that chemistry is my life? Well, in…

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness… Rom 1:18

I started listening to The Making of the Fittestby Sean Carroll on Friday on my way up to Santa Barbara. It is an excellent conveyance of the overabundance of evidence for evolution. All one needs to understand this book is a basic grasp of the…

(All zoo trips must include taking a photo of flamingoes. Or, maybe just if you grew up going to the San Diego Zoo.)

Today was BC’s 9th birthday so we drove up to the Santa Barbara Zoo. It’s a nice little zoo, easy to cover the whole grounds long before closing.

https://videopress.com/embed/gi5aB8R6?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0

Started with a train ride around the park.

Saw the elephants…

Monday: Aaaahhhh!!!! I’m already behind and it’s only the first day.

Tuesday: What was I thinking? Maybe everyone was right, it’s too much to take Chem in the summer.

Wednesday: OK. Let’s skip the chapter we’re behind on and save that for the weekend. Let’s just study for today’s class.

Thursday: Answered more questions correct in class than that annoying old guy who thinks he’s going to teach…

The Last Time I Stayed up All Night to Finish a Book Was…

The Only Story by Julian Barnes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think the saddest thing about literature and cinema is the way abuse is romanticized. It’s usually a “Sleeping with the Enemy” thing and we believe that all a woman has to do is leave her abuser, later maybe fight him off a bit more, then she will have freedom. In general, we ignore the long-term psychological effects. Barnes does not.

In…

I’ve been thinking lately about this whole idea that is taught in Christianity about the Holy Spirit and how it will guide, teach, and change a person. If I were forced to number detrimental ideas in Christianity, this would land in the top five.

Take the situation of a person who is raised in an abusive home. The person comes to the church and is “saved.” What happens next is what will make the…

So many bugs, so little time. That was my attitude about the van this morning so MG and I took it down to the car wash. It is nice, but the rims are starting to spot so I’ll be back at it next Saturday.

I had hoped to get my room organized by Monday before school starts. I should have known better. I went into it with only a vague notion of what I wanted to do. Hard to get things done quickly…

I have to say, that was the most relaxing vacation I ever took. We had the typical familial situations that people with kids have, but otherwise, it was totally chill. We didn’t rush around much. Even though I planned things for each day, there was no pressure to get anywhere. I even took the longer routes to get to places just to prove to myself I could. 🙂

Good thing, too, since I just got an…

This is a new place to us this year.

(No significant spoilers)

Full disclosure: 1) I don’t care for prequels. 2) I’m bored of the Star Wars series. 3) My main source of fiction reading is fan fiction.

I can still recall the summer of 1977 and sitting in a theater in the, then, small town of Kalispell, MT. I read these words to my five-year-old brother…”A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away…” Then I was blown away by the…

Mostly pics because we had a very long day and I’m really tired.

This is my vacation read. My goal is to finish it by Sunday night. It’s pretty good but is going to get weepy.

MG today…and four years ago at Black Horse.

Look, there was a ton of sand in my car and I didn’t think to bring my vacuum.

The vase below is the one above. BC was only four in that pic.

The Atheist child at prayer. 😉 I…

In shocking news, we are at San Luis Obispo for vacation. Unlike last year, when we were in San Luis Obispo. 😉

The kids like it here. There’s Black Horse Coffee and a really cool candy shop. Other things too, but I’m pretty sure those top their list.

We started…after several pit stops and an adventure at Warner Bros Studio…at our beach.

The water was super clear today so not a whole lot of…