To College or Not To College (Book) - 2/2/2020 8:49:11 AM
Looks like a good book for those contemplating college. High school advisors don't seem to be very good at advising students, especially those who have had no of their family going to college before.
Having gone to four universities during my student days observing others, and then, teaching in four universities prior to spending the last 30 years of my career in administration, I have observed many students who shouldn't have gone to college, but did. When you offer them the other options, I hope they pay attention, because their lives will be much better if they make the right choices.
One of the biggest mistakes those entering college make, is overindulging, like using college grant money to buy a new car to go to college, buying all kinds of entertainment equipment rather than focusing on something for studies, and moving into expensive apartments with friends, rather than just looking for lodging where they will be free from too much partying and focus on study.
I have two grand nieces who recently graduated from their local state university without debt. Their sister just entered the same school last fall and will most likely have the same result. Their parents are not rich. They made their way through scholarships, grants and work while in school. Something everyone going to college should pursue. Taking loans is a dangerous and long-term obligation that has ruined the lives of many, even those who graduated from college to low-paying, unfulfilling jobs.
Ron
Interview with Author Tom Johnson (Article) - 8/4/2020 9:09:18 AM
I checked out, Jur: A Story of Pre-Dawn Earth, to see if in any way it was similar to my current novel, Tor: Last of the Thals. From the description of the book, I see that he is writing fantasy that he calls, pulp fiction, rather than my historical fiction. My attempt at describing a time period where nothing has been written but there is much archaeology and anthropology as realistically as I can. I do throw in a few remnants of the last ice age, 5000 years before, because some of these animals may still have been around 5000 years ago, but there is very little archaeological evidence.
Your interview asked the right questions. I learned a lot about Tom Johnson and his writing.
Ron
Interview with Kimberly Smith (Article) - 7/24/2020 11:06:52 AM
A very good interview. You asked all the right questions. However, I'm not sure that her "best" marketing tool is her covers. I have found that the best marketing tool is the author's familiar name, written big on the cover. Big names and names associated with big events that are televised, garner the most eye appeal.
Ron
Interview with Darrel King (Article) - 7/21/2020 10:46:54 AM
A great interview with all the right questions, Casey.
Ron
Interview with Daniella Bernett (Article) - 7/19/2020 8:54:06 AM
Thanks for the interview. Daniella gives some good advice for the budding writer. But not necessarily about how to get published.
Daniella said that reading horror and science-fiction (?) would cause her to, "lose sleep at night." Last night I lost sleep thinking about my latest story that developed while I was dreaming into a real story that I will write. And then, she commented matter-of-factly that it would be nice to "find a dead body." And she wouldn't lose sleep over that?
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Adam and Eve (Article) - 3/23/2020 9:01:16 AM
The Genesis story in the Bible came from stories passed down verbally through generations and into the Torah, and eventually, as part of the Bible. Biblical researchers have found variations that come from the various translations from Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, and then to English. As the stories have been refined and interpreted, the words that you examine so well, have had many reviews and edits, trying to perfect the story.
I will not get into science versus spiritual arguments like Rev. Buchanan likes to use to separate us because it is counterproductive. But we have "taken dominion over all of the earth's creatures," in a very bad way. About to cause extinction of most of the world's species through our success and dominance. Truly, to be good Christians or whatever, we should be about, "replenishing," what our earth has to offer. Our very existence.
The early Bible stories are like children's nursery rhymes. Fables that the elders used to teach young people how to behave before there was written word. When we make too much of them, we defeat the purpose of living. Especially, living today by old rules that don't apply anymore. That's why science is so important. Telling us that we have been too successful as humans, resulting in crowding our earth, polluting it, and destroying nature. The coronavirus is a result of natural processes and our crowding together. No amount of prayer will save us from its consequences… Only medical science and its ability to create an antivirus immunization.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Adam and Eve (Article) - 3/21/2020 7:12:37 AM
Scientists do not disbelieve in G-d because the earth is billions of years old. They believe that the earth is billions of years old because they are evolutionists who disbelieve in G-d. Beware the claims of fraudulent "scientists" who begin with a commitment to a conclusion before their research, tests and studies begin. Darwin was one of these--he was not a scientist, but rather a naturalist. They make a mockery of their fields. Where scripture is silent, Christians should be silent. Likewise, where "science" is silent, scientists are impotent to speculate and wrong to profess certainty. You're a smart guy, Casey, and a good researcher and writer. Examine every word, and you will not be fooled.
What You Didn’t Know… Owls (Article) - 3/20/2020 11:23:50 AM
Another myth about owls is that they are wise. Rice University even uses an owl as its mascot. My partner, who is Vietnamese, is frightened of owls because, in her culture, an owl is a sign of death.
In my youth, all owls were considered birds of prey and therefore given a death sentence, to be shot anytime seen day or night without any hunting season. I even admit firing my shotgun at a distant Great Horned Owl that flew off, hopefully was not badly injured. My high school friend had captured a young Great Horned Owl and had him in a chicken wire cage with a perch bar across the cage about 6 feet off the ground. The mother would come at night and bring food to her offspring. The perch bar extended a bit outside and there was a whole in the chicken wire where she could deliver birds. But she missed a lot. Beneath the outside perch, there was a pile of about 50 blackbirds, sparrows and numerous songbirds that we all love with their heads nicely removed. Owls apparently keep the bird population in check by consuming mass quantities of young, inexperienced birds.
One night in a blizzard a screech owl came down my fireplace chimney twice to escape the storm. I was amazed how like the bird was, picking it up on a broom to take it back out into the storm again.
One night about 10:30 pm I saw in the middle of a northern Wisconsin gravel road, my first snowy owl. It wasn't sleeping. It probably was hunting at night.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Car (Article) - 3/18/2020 10:16:01 AM
Yes, "research everything" is good advice in any period. Examine every word, especially in this era of hate news and politically revised history. Obviously, you didn't rely on Google, Bing or other jaundiced search engines. Beware of Wikipedia, though. Well researched and well-written, Casey.
What You Didn’t Know… Car (Article) - 3/15/2020 10:57:12 AM
Yes, automobiles and airplanes were in the minds of many during the 1800s when locomotives and steamships became commonplace. There was a race for innovation by many individuals working in their workshops both to develop a viable automobile and to cash in on it by getting patents. Cadillac proved its worth as having interchangeable parts in a contest in England, I believe in the year, 1900, where they shipped four complete cars to England. They were completely dismantled and the parts were mixed up. Three complete cars were constructed from the parts and they all worked. Other competing companies couldn't get a single car put back together that worked.
Ford took that idea to the assembly line and created the first car, the Model T (from a long line of A, B… R to T) that his workers could buy from the wages he paid them. Model Ts soon became everywhere, and that is why Ford is so recognizable as the founder of the American automobile industry when so many automobile companies--hundreds--failed and are still failing.
History in schools has been boiled down to essentials that seem like the books are lies. Thankfully with the Internet and the power of Google that some hate, we can find out the truth about any subject thanks to Wikipedia and other sources, constantly correcting the stories. A wonderful experience you are showing us.
The myth that I often remember was being told that city kids thought that milk grew in bottles. Some sources state that Ford was a racist. He certainly hated unions and unionization.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Diet (Article) - 3/12/2020 9:35:41 AM
I thoroughly enjoyed your massacre of the word diet. Especially its use as a weight loss [lost] diet. I always knew that diet had something to do with kill it. What we do to most food, including plants, in order to eat. I'll drink to that! (booze, beer, wine, juice, milk, tap or bottled water?)
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Man’s Head (Article) - 3/6/2020 10:31:09 AM
Thank you for your keen research about customs that we all adhere to without questioning. It always seems strange when I see scenes from the early twentieth century with many people in it. Nearly every male is wearing a hat. But, by midcentury, that was changing and I refused to wear a hat or even the hood on my heavy winter coat as a form of rebellion. I also feel quite proud of stopping wearing a hang on time while being a professional educator in the early 1990s. Soon everyone seemed to follow suit, like I started the trend towards more casual office attire. Many companies have required certain headgear, along with other dress codes as a way of branding their business. I'm glad I never worked for any of those, because I would find it quite confining.
Here in Texas, and throughout much of the West, the cowboy hat seems to have been worn inside buildings a lot, but probably not in church.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Child Labor (Article) - 3/4/2020 11:47:17 AM
Yes, another way that business owners benefit from the tax laws. I started working in the fields at 9 picking beans and making, on average, about $2.50 a day that I saved for college. Most kids either spent it on candy or the latest fad toy. Some kids were required to give it to their parents. Some parents require that money to be given to them.
Children have always labored. In some sectors of society have benefited from that.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… St. Patrick’s Day (Article) - 2/28/2020 10:15:57 AM
I don't think that University of Wisconsin students care where Saint Patrick came from. Especially after they've had enough green beer and the engineering students get on the top of buildings along State Street and bomb (green water balloons?) the law students parading below. While the Chicago River turns green during that time every year for some reason.
These Catholic rituals, like Mardi Gras, sure get carried away when it comes to celebration!
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… New Year (Article) - 2/21/2020 11:53:27 AM
Very interesting. It wasn't a scientists that established the new year, but religions. I believe it was here in February when the Buddhists recently celebrated their New Year of the Rat.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Tipping (Article) - 2/14/2020 11:47:25 AM
I have heard of this before but not to the extent that you have explained it. I have always found it difficult to tip, because I know that people who sure are low-paid, and I didn't know, in some cases, what they should be tipped according to custom. I detest business owners who take a "mandatory tip," rather than allowing me to tip according to the quality of service that I received. I always tipped more than what was customary, because I know that business owners would do everything in their power to keep pay low.
I agree with doing away with tipping and requiring minimum hourly wages. But as a business owner who hires three caregivers to take care of me, I understand the difficulty in paying people for hours they don't work, quality or not. For example, those that work for me at night are paid a minimum hourly wage even though they can sleep during the night and only have to wake up to help me several times, equivalent to something like 5 to 10% of the night. Otherwise, they are sleeping on my pay. Some have stayed up and not slept, but they tend to get involved on the Internet and are not good caregivers as a result.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Easter (Article) - 2/10/2020 9:28:59 AM
Thank you for the 411 on Easter. Yes, it does seem that Christians were quite capable of absconding the practices of "pagan" celebration and insinuating Christian origins. As a result, they have carefully rewritten history over time. But thanks to researchers like yourself, we are finding out the origins of many things that we didn't know before. It's good to have history revealed for what it really is.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Nuts (Article) - 1/25/2020 1:46:40 PM
I thought that all nuts were seeds. If I planted a walnut, it wouldn't turn into a walnut tree? My grandparents grew peanuts and we got them out of the ground. So while they are related to beans, they are more like a potato. And they may be seeds as well, because if you plant a portion of a potato that is sprouting, it will grow a potato plant. So a potato is a seed. But I have never seen a left alone peanut sprout.
George Washington Carver took the lowly peanut and made it a household necessity. I recall in my youth I thought that the kids who ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were getting less nutrition than I with my lunchmeat and lettuce sandwiches. Turns out I was wrong, with peanut butter providing more nutrition than lunchmeat.
We wouldn't have had one of our best presidents, Jimmy Carter, without the peanut.
Thanks for pointing these things out to us. It never hurts to learn more. I try to keep up with all that's happening all the time and the Internet sure helps clarify things.
Ron
What You Didn’t Know… Jonah and the Whale (Article) - 1/23/2020 10:15:54 AM
Orcas are the largest of the dolphin family and certainly large enough to swallow a human. Their favorite food are seals and sea lions. But they hunt in pods and tend to "play" with their prey by batting them about with their tails and biting them. Contrary to swallowing whole, they usually tear their prey apart and share it with the entire pod.
The Jonah story is probably an allegory or parable using people's general lack of knowledge at that time to prove a point and to teach young people to fear one thing or another. I don't think the story was ever meant to be literally taken as true.
Ron
Would You Love Me? (Poetry) - 3/29/2020 8:37:50 AM
There is some wisdom in "love the sinner, hate the sin."
P.S. What jewelry did you steal, and how much do you want for it?
Would You Love Me? (Poetry) - 3/25/2020 8:40:44 AM
Yes, I agree with John Domino. Jesus would accept lovingly of those apparent failures of "moral" society.
For me, there are some I would accept as very positive, even though the majority might think them negative. But for some, I see a strange desire to hurt oneself or others. In that case, I would forgive the past, but work towards understanding why what is different is harmful and needs to be stopped or changed.
When it comes to love of a romantic type, some of these more aberrant desires carried out there is often a codependent partner in the activity. If a bad behavior is supported by a loving partner, it becomes harder to change.
Ron
Would You Love Me? (Poetry) - 3/21/2020 6:45:26 AM
Jesus said love your neighbor. He also said NOT to judge. Amen
Complainers Lament (Poetry) - 3/6/2020 11:49:34 AM
I've heard them complain and you have heard them so well that you have captured all of their complaints a single poem. Bravo!
Ron
Milk That is Spilled (Poetry) - 3/1/2020 9:05:09 AM
Reads like sweet revenge for someone spurned. On the other hand, it could be just belated advice for someone who thought that love was real when it wasn't. So many young marriages are like that… One-sided and codependent. That's why the divorce rate is so high. But it's usually the woman that suffers. The poem suggests that she suffers too much, and needs to get on with her life and not make the same mistake again.
Ron
Love Is (Poetry) - 2/21/2020 8:47:10 AM
Ain't love grand. All we need is love, love love.
Happy the Dolphin (Poetry) - 2/17/2020 10:36:59 AM
Dolphins remind us that all mammals have a happy, playful, loving side, especially those who are gregarious, like us humans. Their lives are not always carefree as they sometimes struggle to find food or fight diseases and entanglements from our fishing nets.
Ron
Happy the Dolphin (Poetry) - 2/15/2020 12:06:49 AM
A nice tribute to the happiest guy in the ocean!
Hat Ladies (Poetry) - 2/11/2020 9:18:28 AM
I immediately thought of those churches where ladies dress up for church in elaborate hats. Certainly lighting up their day once a week as they show off their finery for all to see.
Ron
Hat Ladies (Poetry) - 2/8/2020 8:50:23 AM
Wonderful poetic inspiration, Casey.
If you want to be inspired some more. Watch the new movie "Breakthrough".
https://www.breakthroughmovie.com/
Christ Love & Blessings,
John Michael
Get Another (Poetry) - 2/1/2020 11:42:47 AM
Wonderful poetic advice. We were not meant to be monogamous. There are many potential partners out there if only we will allow ourselves to overcome any loss with a positive attitude that we can do better.
Ron
Advancement (Poetry) - 1/26/2020 9:07:40 AM
I think you succeeded with old English although you may have you some words that were not used in old English but the meaning was couched in other words, no longer used. But I believe the meaning of your poem was clear. You were encouraging students to move forward proudly rather than be anxious about the process.
Ron
Advancement (Poetry) - 1/25/2020 8:47:39 AM
Sometimes we advance to the front,
Sometimes to the rear,
But I enjoyed your poem,
And give it a hardy cheer.
Advancement (Poetry) - 1/24/2020 6:39:58 PM
Your poem reminds me of a favorite board game, "Go to the head of the class." Well said...
John Michael
Idioms (Poetry) - 1/17/2020 3:29:02 PM
You picked the cream of the crop for this lovely little ditty. Enjoyed.
Ron
Birds Do Why Not Us (Poetry) - 12/22/2019 10:16:59 AM
Birds are basically dinosaurs. Some are herbivores and eat only from plants while some are carnivores and eat only meat. While in high school, a classmate had taken a young great horned owl and put him in a chicken wire cage with a pole for a roost about shoulder high on me. I was shocked when I was there looking at the owl and the youngster staring at me, to find a pile of dead song birds, blackbirds, robins, meadowlarks, bobolinks, and several others with their heads nicely removed that fell from the end of the roost when the mother owl tried to feed her youngster through a hole in the chicken wire but missed leaving about 50 dead birds in a pile below.
Birds are very territorial, especially while nestling. The most aggressive tend to be hummingbirds.
But I agree with your allegory on diversity. We should start embracing all creeds, colors, cultures and genders without constantly trying to make one more superior or one more inferior than the other. It is infuriating to see that happen. But if one observes a busy market in a major city or a wilderness populated with a lot of birds, one will see similarities of activity that intersects without much conflict except minor squabbles over two individuals wanting the same thing at the same time.
Ron
Birds Do Why Not Us (Poetry) - 12/20/2019 10:43:03 PM
Birds learn to fly together in a team, and they are free. We can learn a lot from the birds about team work.
Sandie
Birds Do Why Not Us (Poetry) - 12/20/2019 9:20:31 AM
WE could a lot from birds, and nature in general. Enjoyed your thoughts.
