the smartest kids in the world - amanda ripley (2013)

chatty informative and a harrowing indictment of the state of education in the united states. a believable one too, and not just because J1 and J2 are in high school around the time she writes about. the absence of consistent minimally moderate standards may explain why one so often encounters agrammatical constructs and outright illiteracy.

one hopes that things have changed for the better in the twelve years since.

qipao

it's arrived! oh the wonders of modern communications and transportation!

starting again

apprehensive about the new academic year and instructed otherwise today by the preacher.

in the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. (eccl 11:6)

would that all prosper much in this next year!

the ones that got away

what i wish i can play:

• the drums
• the flute
• the violin

which is why HOM is more admirable. instead of wishing he goes and takes piano lessons.

expired vouchers...

... in the junk drawer. for full moon celebration cakes going back ten years. the type that parents give to celebrate their baby's first month and that you redeem by bringing to the bakery to exchange for cake.

that's a lot of cake we forgot to get to eat.

MVP (maybe not)

it goes to show how often we forget to pack them on our trips.

döstädning

for today's activity i hand-tear up my diaries dating from '87. what i say is, they need to make paper products that are easier to dismantle. people who want to manually shred their lives are often too old for paper cuts and related annoyances.

after the diaries i courageously discard 37 years' worth of employment papers appointment papers and promotion notices. there is no longer a paper trail of my contribution to the economy.

in final news, more photos magically appear to be digitized.