Why didn't somebody tell me?! August 22nd has come and gone, and I didn't know that it was National Punctuation Day! Oh yes, National Punctuation Day is very real. It has its own Web site featuring ways to celebrate the day, as well as information on about a dozen different marks of punctuation and their proper usage.
The guy who created the day seems to have done it in good fun (just read his list of recommended activities for the day), but it also calls to our attention--and asks average citizens to call to others' attention--the problem of improper punctuation all around us: on billboards, in newspapers, even in our own written communication. Perhaps you'd like to advertise your concern for correct punctuation by purchasing and wearing a punctuation T-shirt?
I, for one, am excited to add this new holiday to my calendar. Is it just because I'm an English teacher that I find National Punctuation Day amusing and worthwhile? Are there any amateur punctuation mavens out there who are excited about National Punctuation Day? Share your comments and let me know!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
Game Night
Many, many years ago, we used to travel to Grandin, ND for occasional "game nights" with our friends the Zanders (for your reference). "Game Night in Grandin!" was our mantra and rallying cry before each scheduled night of fun. Then they moved to Harwood, ND, and the alliteration was lost. (Another friend suggested "Hell Night in Harwood," which--although colorful--did not capture the spirit of the event.) Perhaps not surprisingly, our game nights ceased shortly thereafter.
This year they have been revived--albeit without the Zanders! We and several offspring-possessing couples are mutual friends, and we have taken to inviting the entire crew to one another's house once every month or two for a meal and games. This past Tuesday it was the Mobergs' turn to host ("Entertainment Night in East Grand Forks"?). We felt compelled to take our turn during the summer so that we could use our sun room (read: "not insulated for winter use"), since without the sun room our house itself is approximately the size of a postage stamp.
Susan served "tacos in a bag" (here's the basic idea) and vegetable and fruit platters (the other couples brought additional yummies, including cake and brownies for dessert), and we served up strawberry slush for the kids and a brandy slush for the adults. The younguns played in the yard until we deemed it time to start the night's video: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a movie chosen not only because it's a delightful and age-appropriate classic, but also because it runs nearly two-and-a-half hours.
That translated to two-and-a-half hours of kid-free time for the adults to visit and laugh in the sun room. We also cracked open an old, old board game I had received in college that is essentially a survey to see what each sex knows about the other. Its questions rely on survey information that is, by now, at least fifteen years old, but it was still pretty funny to quiz one another. (Jesse, how can a dad with a daughter not know the name of the Disney princesses?!)
Our next game night is September 9 at the Jungs' home (the Jungs are perhaps the two funniest adults in our group). What do they have in store for us? Stay tuned . . .
This year they have been revived--albeit without the Zanders! We and several offspring-possessing couples are mutual friends, and we have taken to inviting the entire crew to one another's house once every month or two for a meal and games. This past Tuesday it was the Mobergs' turn to host ("Entertainment Night in East Grand Forks"?). We felt compelled to take our turn during the summer so that we could use our sun room (read: "not insulated for winter use"), since without the sun room our house itself is approximately the size of a postage stamp.
Susan served "tacos in a bag" (here's the basic idea) and vegetable and fruit platters (the other couples brought additional yummies, including cake and brownies for dessert), and we served up strawberry slush for the kids and a brandy slush for the adults. The younguns played in the yard until we deemed it time to start the night's video: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a movie chosen not only because it's a delightful and age-appropriate classic, but also because it runs nearly two-and-a-half hours.
That translated to two-and-a-half hours of kid-free time for the adults to visit and laugh in the sun room. We also cracked open an old, old board game I had received in college that is essentially a survey to see what each sex knows about the other. Its questions rely on survey information that is, by now, at least fifteen years old, but it was still pretty funny to quiz one another. (Jesse, how can a dad with a daughter not know the name of the Disney princesses?!)
Our next game night is September 9 at the Jungs' home (the Jungs are perhaps the two funniest adults in our group). What do they have in store for us? Stay tuned . . .
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Early the Caterpillar
Our daughters have a caterpillar named Early. Our good family friend Cathy brought it to them in a clear, plastic terrarium case, along with a hearty supply of milkweed leaves for it to eat. When the girls peeked in, they saw that the caterpillar was suctioned onto the underside of the lid at that particular moment, and they assumed it was already planning to transmogrify into a chrysalis. However, they also knew it was too early for it to enter that stage--thus, the name Early.
As it turns out, Early knew all too well that it wasn't yet time to form a pupa. It has since been all over the terrarium, exploring, stopping to eat its weight in leaves, hanging from the side or from the lid, and pooping. And pooping and pooping and pooping. The other morning, the girls and Susan were cleaning Early's poop out of the terrarium, and Suzanna christened Early a "lean, green, pooping machine." Early doesn't seem to mind.
In a week or so, Early will attach itself to a twig and metamorphose into a chrysalis, in which form it will stay for a couple weeks before emerging as a monarch butterfly. Early will inflate its wings with blood (stored in its abdomen while inside the pupa), then rest and wait for us to release it outside. Suzanna had a caterpillar a few years ago that she named Darin. It was a bittersweet moment that day on the driveway when we shooed Darin out of her (yes, "her") container and into the sky for her journey to Mexico for the winter. Soon we'll bid adieu to Early, too. I think a few weeks trapped in a plastic case tapped daily by thirty tiny fingers is a small price to pay for a winter spent in the South.
As it turns out, Early knew all too well that it wasn't yet time to form a pupa. It has since been all over the terrarium, exploring, stopping to eat its weight in leaves, hanging from the side or from the lid, and pooping. And pooping and pooping and pooping. The other morning, the girls and Susan were cleaning Early's poop out of the terrarium, and Suzanna christened Early a "lean, green, pooping machine." Early doesn't seem to mind.
In a week or so, Early will attach itself to a twig and metamorphose into a chrysalis, in which form it will stay for a couple weeks before emerging as a monarch butterfly. Early will inflate its wings with blood (stored in its abdomen while inside the pupa), then rest and wait for us to release it outside. Suzanna had a caterpillar a few years ago that she named Darin. It was a bittersweet moment that day on the driveway when we shooed Darin out of her (yes, "her") container and into the sky for her journey to Mexico for the winter. Soon we'll bid adieu to Early, too. I think a few weeks trapped in a plastic case tapped daily by thirty tiny fingers is a small price to pay for a winter spent in the South.
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