tfl: The Flatiron Life

We will be out of town for the next 4 days. We have not been posting much recently and I would not expect that to change while we are gone. I would expect some pictures of old stuff (Knoxville is both “Back East” and in the South) and natural stuff.

While we are gone enjoy pictures with Jonah from this year…

I am ready for what ever is happening today, originally uploaded by flatiron32.

Here is the little set of pictures from Jonah’s adventure on Wednesday.

Right Front, originally uploaded by flatiron32.

After 8 years, the time has come for Contique and I to part ways. She is a great little car and I will miss her.

I hope to find a good family for her, please share this ad if you know someone looking for a car.

There are more pictures here.

Tomaw Men are Ready, originally uploaded by flatiron32.

Finally!

This very moment I have tagged every photo in my Flickr stream. It is very rewarding to know I can find any picture of Jonah, Joscelynn, Mom, George, or anyone or thing I have captured on bits.

Tagged also means i have put real titles on all the images.

Now I feel more free to tae more pictures because I know I am not adding to the back log. I am going to try hard to keep ahead of the tagging, setting, and titling.

Hmm, should I start geo-tagging everything?

I look Good!, originally uploaded by flatiron32.

On Sunday we had a great (though heathenish) day on Sunday.

Joscelynn was overcoming a sore throat and did not want to infect the children she teaches in Sunday School, so we skipped church. We went out for breakfast and a nice walk.

Then for lunch we went for a drive out to the suburbs and ate at Stake and Shake.

After that we played in the back yard for a long time. Then Joscelynn decided it was time for Jonah’s first professional hair cute (and second hair cut). You can see the results in this set of pictures.

A city high school team, North Lawndale, was penalized, assessed a technical foul, in the state tournament for wearing “illegal” uniforms. It happened twice because their uniforms from last year, which they had worn to win the tournament, also violated this rule.

What makes their uniform illegal?

The uniform violation broke a National Federation of State High School Associations rule that states the torso of the jersey — the area from an imaginary horizontal line at the base of the neckline extending to each armhole, down to the bottom hem and from side seam to side seam — must be a single solid color. Also, the side inserts (stripes) must be centered vertically below the armpit, and those stripes can’t be more than 4 inches wide.

OK, that seems a little bit like micromanagement of uniforms. So what was wrong with North Lawndale? “North Lawndale’s stripe came around the front, which is not allowed,” said Kurt Gibson, the IHSA’s assistant executive director in charge of boys basketball.

Oh thank you Principal Rooney!

What advantage might these “illegal” uniforms give the boys? Does this make it difficult for the refs to call the game? Maybe the stripes are unsafe? Can you think of any reason for this rule?

I know, I know Sometimes you have to follow stupid rules (and you use that moment to teach your children about how power should be limited because people are power hungry). Also, the boys should have been able to over come the single point and starting possession advantage that the other team had.

Still, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

I was going to write this exact post, but Dr. Seth Roberts beat me to it.

Basically, doesn’t this prevent this?

If you don’t already, subscribe to his excellent eclectic/science blog. It is great for all readers.

People are so depressed that they went to the wrong Big Ten university in Indiana that two Boilers decided to cheer them up.

Tired of people being so down in the dumps amid the worst economy in decades, sophomores Cameron Brown and Brett Westcott—better known as the “Compliment Guys”—have taken it upon themselves to cheer up the campus.

From 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday, they stand outside the chemistry building in the shadow of the university’s Bell Tower with their “Free Compliments” sign. They’re there in the rain. In the snow. And this week when the windchill made it feel like 10 degrees.

Why are Boilers so down? You mean other than having made the poor choice to attend a school with a rather depressing campus in a city that requires you to drive everywhere?

At a time when students are struggling to afford tuition, graduating seniors can’t get jobs, and organic chemistry exams are as unpleasant as ever, it seems almost unbelievable that Brown and Westcott could be genuinely upbeat. They’ve been asked, skeptically, over and over, why they’re doing it.

In all honesty, when I was a high school senior I did not know if I wanted to go to Purdue or Indiana. I was getting free-to-me tuition at any state school. I assumed I could get a world-class education at either Purdue or IU.

Through 4-H and band I had been to Purdue some. It seemed nice. Lafayette and West Lafayette are nice cities. I took a college visit and thought I might attend there.

My only experience with IU had been getting lost on the way to Holiday World as a child. Looking back I realize mom must have taken the bypass when she should have stayed on IN37. We turned around in the Assembly Hall parking lot and she made a comment about this being as close to IU as we would probably ever be. (This was a statement on our poverty, not on Dana’s or my ability.)

After my visit to Purdue, I made a visit to Bloomington. I was blown away. I am struggling now to describe IU and Bloomington in a way that does not make me sound like a little girl or a partisan hack. IU is just beautiful. Bloomington is a great town. Students are happy. There are woods, meadows, and streams in the middle of campus. Pavement is minimal.

Having said all that, I should acknowledge that I will probably end up spending the majority of my life in the greater Lafayette area. It is not the worse place in Indiana. It is not Terre Haute!

Recently I was bringing groceries in from the car. In my first trip I had brought in a bag with bananas. After my second trip I found Jonah on the floor eating a banana, peel and all. I peeled it for him as he went and he ended up eating the whole thing.
In the days since we have practiced saying banana. I have heard him say it, but as you can see in this video he is not very consistent.

(HT: The Agitator)