Early in April of 2008, I posted this.
Well, this year it's Zoe's turn. Her artwork, entitled "The Beast of the African East" was selected for the AISD district-wide art show.
Wow!
AISD seems to love Czarnecki art.
I'll post a photo after I've actually *seen* the piece.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
A Couple of Photos from Poland I Need to Post Here in Order to Repost them Somewhere Else. . . Carry On!
Here are some photos from our trip to Poland. I had to post them here to be able to post them on another site for a photo contest on up-and-coming travel destinations. And get this. . . I WON! The prize was a cool little camera that essentially replaces the one Davy dropped down the stairs at the castle in the picture. Yay, me!
Here, for posterity, is my entry. . .
When we told friends we were heading to Poland for Christmas/New Years, we got all kinds of reactions. Nobody we know had ever been, which, truly, is a shame. Poland is a beautiful country. It has changed so much since I first visited in 1991, but the generosity and hospitality of the Polish people is unequaled!
This trip we visited the beautiful city of Gdansk, home of the shipyards that were the setting of the Solidarity movement. We found both the city and the surrounding countryside to be more beautiful than we ever expected.
And the food wasn't bad either!
My travel tip? When exchanging money, at least in Poland, you don't always have to accept the posted exchange rate. It's worthwhile to try and negotiate a better rate, or at least a waiver of fees. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it can save you a few bucks (or zloty, or whatever). And that's always good.
And another tip: Don't travel near the Baltic Sea in the dead of winter if you're going to be a sissy about the cold. If you do, pack plenty of wool socks and silk undkies. It's C O L D. But frankly, coming from the mild winters of Texas, a little bit of cold is exactly what we were looking for.
While this next photo is NOT representative of how much we enjoyed our trip, I'm posting it because it's one of my absolute favorites. We like to call it "Why the Czarneckis Left Poland in the First Place."
Here, for posterity, is my entry. . .
When we told friends we were heading to Poland for Christmas/New Years, we got all kinds of reactions. Nobody we know had ever been, which, truly, is a shame. Poland is a beautiful country. It has changed so much since I first visited in 1991, but the generosity and hospitality of the Polish people is unequaled!
This trip we visited the beautiful city of Gdansk, home of the shipyards that were the setting of the Solidarity movement. We found both the city and the surrounding countryside to be more beautiful than we ever expected.
And the food wasn't bad either!
My travel tip? When exchanging money, at least in Poland, you don't always have to accept the posted exchange rate. It's worthwhile to try and negotiate a better rate, or at least a waiver of fees. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it can save you a few bucks (or zloty, or whatever). And that's always good.
And another tip: Don't travel near the Baltic Sea in the dead of winter if you're going to be a sissy about the cold. If you do, pack plenty of wool socks and silk undkies. It's C O L D. But frankly, coming from the mild winters of Texas, a little bit of cold is exactly what we were looking for.
While this next photo is NOT representative of how much we enjoyed our trip, I'm posting it because it's one of my absolute favorites. We like to call it "Why the Czarneckis Left Poland in the First Place."
If you think all I talk about is my kids, you're probably right.
Mia, this morning, out of the blue: "If I were a Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I'd probably eat myself for the yummy goodness."
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy Whatever!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to those of you who care about that kind of thing.
At our house we've skipped the green beer and boiled cabbage this year. Instead, we're celebrating New Hamster Day.
Today Zoe welcomed her new fancy Russian dwarf hamster to our home. Her name is George (because, really, a boy dog named Mr. Pink didn't confuse people enough). She is very sweet and playful, or at least she was at the store. Right now she's in a 24-hour-hands-off-so-she-doesn't-get-stressed-out-and-die acclimation period. The real fun starts tomorrow. I'll try to get a photo, because, as Sean says, "Without a photo, it didn't happen."
At our house we've skipped the green beer and boiled cabbage this year. Instead, we're celebrating New Hamster Day.
Today Zoe welcomed her new fancy Russian dwarf hamster to our home. Her name is George (because, really, a boy dog named Mr. Pink didn't confuse people enough). She is very sweet and playful, or at least she was at the store. Right now she's in a 24-hour-hands-off-so-she-doesn't-get-stressed-out-and-die acclimation period. The real fun starts tomorrow. I'll try to get a photo, because, as Sean says, "Without a photo, it didn't happen."
Monday, March 02, 2009
What do YOU think she's trying to tell me?
Here's a picture of Zoe's desk:
Now, let me zoom in on that post-it note for you:
Other clues to her subtle intentions. . . The two full-color stapled documents I discovered bound in a green folder on my desk last night: "Hamster Guide" (a summary of her research on the selection and care of a hamster) and "List of Possibilities for My Hamster" (a product and price list of all the various supplies and accessories the theoretical hamster would require.
What to do? What to do????
Now, let me zoom in on that post-it note for you:
Other clues to her subtle intentions. . . The two full-color stapled documents I discovered bound in a green folder on my desk last night: "Hamster Guide" (a summary of her research on the selection and care of a hamster) and "List of Possibilities for My Hamster" (a product and price list of all the various supplies and accessories the theoretical hamster would require.
What to do? What to do????
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I'm Gonna Live Forever. Light Up the Sky Like a Flame!
Fame! It's been a recurring theme around my house lately. First, and somewhat randomly, it came up in my 14 Things list (or was it my appended 25 Things list?) on Facebook, when I wrote that I've never had any desire to be famous. I'm sticking by that, by the way, but we'll get back to that later. Next, it has been an ongoing topic with Mia, who definitely wants to be famous. For what? you might ask. And, being 7, she doesn't really have an answer. She just knows she wants to be famous.
Finally, it came up on the radio today. Listening to our local public radio station on the way home from the gym this morning, I heard John Aillei say something that baffled me and brought all my recent fame musings bubbling to the surface.
So, Aillei is talking about a cello performance that's taking place this weekend in Austin--and he mentions that the program will be made up of cello sonatas by Mendolssohn. And then he says something along the lines of "By the way. I heard a sad story about these cello sonatas. They're all dedicated to Mendolssohn's brother Paul, who played the cello. Of course, we all know Felix Mendolssohn's name, and his sister Fanny was somewhat famous as well, but nobody has ever heard of Paul." Then Aillei moves on to his next topic, and I'm thinking WAIT! What about Paul? Did he die a tragic death? Did he suffer from a wasting disease that made him unable to play the cello he so loved? What about the sad story? And then I GET it. That WAS the sad story. Paul Mendolssohn wasn't famous.
Now as many of you know, I have no great love for John Aillei. I don't often listen to him because I know his pretentious prickishness is bound to tick me off in one way or another. But what the hell? Do normal people really think it's "sad" that someone wasn't famous?
So what's the deal? Am I in a minority because I have no interest in fame? Am I missing some natural human drive? Or are we divided? Do some people have some base desire for fame and others don't? And why?
It's not that I don't want to be "known." I absolutely do have that drive. I want to the people around me to know me and to understand me. And when I'm dead and gone, I would like to be remembered by my friends and family. I've also had dreams of being a performer of some sort--but that was more about being really good at something and less about "fame."
But the thought of strangers recognizing me and talking about what I do and when and how I do it? The idea of people broadcasting details of my life to the whole world? Having to hear and read about the details of my mistakes and failures in newspapers and magazines? That all sounds truly awful to me. I honestly don't understand why anyone would want that.
But try to explaining that to a 7 year old. . .
Finally, it came up on the radio today. Listening to our local public radio station on the way home from the gym this morning, I heard John Aillei say something that baffled me and brought all my recent fame musings bubbling to the surface.
So, Aillei is talking about a cello performance that's taking place this weekend in Austin--and he mentions that the program will be made up of cello sonatas by Mendolssohn. And then he says something along the lines of "By the way. I heard a sad story about these cello sonatas. They're all dedicated to Mendolssohn's brother Paul, who played the cello. Of course, we all know Felix Mendolssohn's name, and his sister Fanny was somewhat famous as well, but nobody has ever heard of Paul." Then Aillei moves on to his next topic, and I'm thinking WAIT! What about Paul? Did he die a tragic death? Did he suffer from a wasting disease that made him unable to play the cello he so loved? What about the sad story? And then I GET it. That WAS the sad story. Paul Mendolssohn wasn't famous.
Now as many of you know, I have no great love for John Aillei. I don't often listen to him because I know his pretentious prickishness is bound to tick me off in one way or another. But what the hell? Do normal people really think it's "sad" that someone wasn't famous?
So what's the deal? Am I in a minority because I have no interest in fame? Am I missing some natural human drive? Or are we divided? Do some people have some base desire for fame and others don't? And why?
It's not that I don't want to be "known." I absolutely do have that drive. I want to the people around me to know me and to understand me. And when I'm dead and gone, I would like to be remembered by my friends and family. I've also had dreams of being a performer of some sort--but that was more about being really good at something and less about "fame."
But the thought of strangers recognizing me and talking about what I do and when and how I do it? The idea of people broadcasting details of my life to the whole world? Having to hear and read about the details of my mistakes and failures in newspapers and magazines? That all sounds truly awful to me. I honestly don't understand why anyone would want that.
But try to explaining that to a 7 year old. . .
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
And Because I'm Apparently in Touch with My 12-Year-Old Boy Side
This headline on MSNBC today amused the hell out of me.
How to know if the stimulus is working
Unfortunately, the actual story isn't nearly as funny. . .
How to know if the stimulus is working
Unfortunately, the actual story isn't nearly as funny. . .
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Bored
I think I'm bored.
No, not this very minute. In general.
Maybe that's why everything I think I might write about strikes me as too boring to merit the cyberspace.
YAWN.
More later.
No, not this very minute. In general.
Maybe that's why everything I think I might write about strikes me as too boring to merit the cyberspace.
YAWN.
More later.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
And While I'm Bragging About My Kids. . .
Last night Mia and I were out having dinner at her current favorite Panda Express (sigh). We were chatting about school, and she told me her second-grade class was working on fractions. "I can do ANY fraction," she said, clearly enthusiastic about her new skill. "Give me one!" I didn't know exactly what she wanted, so I asked what I needed to give her. "Well, if Ms. Waters [her teacher] tells me there's a circle divided into 4 sections and 2 of those sections are colored in, I can tell her it's two-fourths."
"Oh, I see," I said. "but do you know what else that is?" She thought about it for a few seconds, and then she gave up. "I don't know what you mean," she said.
So I picked up the paper plate in front of me and divided it into 4 sections with a pen. Then I shaded in two adjacent sections. "So, what's that?" I asked her. She smiled and answered immediately, "two-fourths." "Exactly, but what ELSE is it?" She looked at it for a minute, and then her face lit up. "Oh my gosh, it's one-half!" "Yep," I said. "And look what happens if I subdivide the four sections to make eight sections. Nothing changes. It's still one-half and it's still two-fourths, but what ELSE is it?" "Four-eighths!!!" says Mia.
And then she looked up at me, really excited, like we had just discovered electricity or something, and she asked, "Do you think Ms. Waters knows about this?"
I was mightily amused.
"Oh, I see," I said. "but do you know what else that is?" She thought about it for a few seconds, and then she gave up. "I don't know what you mean," she said.
So I picked up the paper plate in front of me and divided it into 4 sections with a pen. Then I shaded in two adjacent sections. "So, what's that?" I asked her. She smiled and answered immediately, "two-fourths." "Exactly, but what ELSE is it?" She looked at it for a minute, and then her face lit up. "Oh my gosh, it's one-half!" "Yep," I said. "And look what happens if I subdivide the four sections to make eight sections. Nothing changes. It's still one-half and it's still two-fourths, but what ELSE is it?" "Four-eighths!!!" says Mia.
And then she looked up at me, really excited, like we had just discovered electricity or something, and she asked, "Do you think Ms. Waters knows about this?"
I was mightily amused.
"Up in Smoke" or "Another Great Moment in Parenting"
Zoe has been working on a writing assignment for a while now. It has taken longer than it should have because we left the country in the middle of it and then it was forgotten. The assignment was to write a letter to an imaginary cousin from the Old Country either suggesting that they come to this country or not. To do it right, the kids had to put themselves in the character of a child of the early colonies over 200 years ago.
For some reason, this assignment really spoke to Zoe. She started out putting "-eth" on the end of all her verbs and taking a silly "old-fashioned" approach. But at some point she got pretty serious about it. She did a little research into the appropriate language of the time and corrected her draft accordingly. She found some manilla construction paper to use as parchment paper for her final draft. She painstakingly wrote her final draft in "old-fashioned-looking" cursive script, with curly-ques between the paragraphs. She brought her beautiful final draft for me to admire, and then said, "I don't think it looks old enough" as she crumpled it into a ball.
That's when I had my great idea. "We could burn the edges to make it look even older!" She loved it, and we got right to work over the kitchen sink. I started out small, singing a corner her, a hole there. But the third time I touched the lighter to the paper, I didn't blow the flame out quickly enough and things got out of hand. As the flame grew and started to race across the paper, I realized that I was burning up hours of my daughter's work. As I frantically blew at the growing flame and considered turning on the faucet to make it stop, I knew that she was going to have to redo the whole thing.
Aggggghhhh.
I finally put the fire out. The bottom left-hand eighth of the paper was gone. No getting it back. I looked at Zoe, knowing she was going to be furious. But she was grinning from ear to ear. "That looks GREAT!!!" she says. "So you're not mad?" "NOOOOO! It's COOL." I pointed out that you could no longer actually READ a good part of the letter, but she said she was going to present it as an artifact and she would read from her rough draft and say it was the version she decoded during her research.
Strange bird that she is, I've got an amazing kid.
For some reason, this assignment really spoke to Zoe. She started out putting "-eth" on the end of all her verbs and taking a silly "old-fashioned" approach. But at some point she got pretty serious about it. She did a little research into the appropriate language of the time and corrected her draft accordingly. She found some manilla construction paper to use as parchment paper for her final draft. She painstakingly wrote her final draft in "old-fashioned-looking" cursive script, with curly-ques between the paragraphs. She brought her beautiful final draft for me to admire, and then said, "I don't think it looks old enough" as she crumpled it into a ball.
That's when I had my great idea. "We could burn the edges to make it look even older!" She loved it, and we got right to work over the kitchen sink. I started out small, singing a corner her, a hole there. But the third time I touched the lighter to the paper, I didn't blow the flame out quickly enough and things got out of hand. As the flame grew and started to race across the paper, I realized that I was burning up hours of my daughter's work. As I frantically blew at the growing flame and considered turning on the faucet to make it stop, I knew that she was going to have to redo the whole thing.
Aggggghhhh.
I finally put the fire out. The bottom left-hand eighth of the paper was gone. No getting it back. I looked at Zoe, knowing she was going to be furious. But she was grinning from ear to ear. "That looks GREAT!!!" she says. "So you're not mad?" "NOOOOO! It's COOL." I pointed out that you could no longer actually READ a good part of the letter, but she said she was going to present it as an artifact and she would read from her rough draft and say it was the version she decoded during her research.
Strange bird that she is, I've got an amazing kid.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
History
I can't watch anything about the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama without dissolving into tears. I've never been prouder to be a citizen of the United States of America. I don't know whether or not Obama will be able to turn things around, and I fear that people's expectations for what he should be able to achieve may be unrealistically high. Nonetheless, the simple fact that this man will be our president speaks volumes about the potential of this country to improve itself.
I was talking to my girls this weekend about what a big, big deal this inauguration is, and I realized that there's no way they can possibly understand the enormity. And frankly, that makes me very happy.
I was talking to my girls this weekend about what a big, big deal this inauguration is, and I realized that there's no way they can possibly understand the enormity. And frankly, that makes me very happy.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thinking about buying a Dell? Well, good luck with that!
I've been trying to sort out a small problem with Dell, and really, their customer "service" is so bad, it's almost funny.
Davy's brother asked for a Dell gift card for Christmas. Easy, right?
I ordered it on Saturday, during an hour window when I placed 5 or 6 other online orders from other sites. Thursday evening I realized I hadn't received a shipping notification, although I had received notifications for everything else I bought from other vendors that day. Then I realized I never even gotten the order confirmation e-mail. So I started to question whether I'd even placed the order, so I checked my credit card, and sure enough, there's a charge.
So, I figure that maybe I entered my e-mail address incorrectly when I placed the order, and I try to call Dell to make sure the card has been shipped. And this is where the fun begins. . .
Dell customer "service" uses a system where your call is initially answered by a "reception" rep, to whom you explain your problem and they connect you to the correct person to deal with your problem. Unless you don't have an order number because you never got your confirmation e-mail. Then, apparently, the joke's on you.
Hahahahahaha.
In the event that you don't have an order number, and they don't understand your problem (which they are likely not to, as none of them seem to be native English speakers), and they connect you to the wrong department, you have to start over in the cue from the beginning.
Last night I spent 34 minutes on hold, being shuffled from one clueless person to another until I was finally transferred to a department that was closed.
This morning I called that department, which turned out to be (surprise) the WRONG department. So I was sent back to the customer care reception cue where I held for 15 minutes, was then transferred to a "supervisor" where the phone RANG (old school, ding-a-ling, no hold music) for 10 minutes and nobody ever answered. There was no way back to the system, so I had to hang up and start over.
Then I held for 21 minutes, during which I was connected to two more wrong departments (incentive sales and financial services) each of which sent me back to the cue.
I finally spoke to a person who sounded like she understood the problem, but she connected me to a department called "credit card services," where I held for 19 more minutes before I hung up.
My next call will be to my credit card company to cancel the charge.
And then I'll call my BIL and let him know that he definitely does NOT want a Dell.
As much as I love my Dell laptop, I can say with confidence that I will not be purchasing another Dell product.
Ever.
Davy's brother asked for a Dell gift card for Christmas. Easy, right?
I ordered it on Saturday, during an hour window when I placed 5 or 6 other online orders from other sites. Thursday evening I realized I hadn't received a shipping notification, although I had received notifications for everything else I bought from other vendors that day. Then I realized I never even gotten the order confirmation e-mail. So I started to question whether I'd even placed the order, so I checked my credit card, and sure enough, there's a charge.
So, I figure that maybe I entered my e-mail address incorrectly when I placed the order, and I try to call Dell to make sure the card has been shipped. And this is where the fun begins. . .
Dell customer "service" uses a system where your call is initially answered by a "reception" rep, to whom you explain your problem and they connect you to the correct person to deal with your problem. Unless you don't have an order number because you never got your confirmation e-mail. Then, apparently, the joke's on you.
Hahahahahaha.
In the event that you don't have an order number, and they don't understand your problem (which they are likely not to, as none of them seem to be native English speakers), and they connect you to the wrong department, you have to start over in the cue from the beginning.
Last night I spent 34 minutes on hold, being shuffled from one clueless person to another until I was finally transferred to a department that was closed.
This morning I called that department, which turned out to be (surprise) the WRONG department. So I was sent back to the customer care reception cue where I held for 15 minutes, was then transferred to a "supervisor" where the phone RANG (old school, ding-a-ling, no hold music) for 10 minutes and nobody ever answered. There was no way back to the system, so I had to hang up and start over.
Then I held for 21 minutes, during which I was connected to two more wrong departments (incentive sales and financial services) each of which sent me back to the cue.
I finally spoke to a person who sounded like she understood the problem, but she connected me to a department called "credit card services," where I held for 19 more minutes before I hung up.
My next call will be to my credit card company to cancel the charge.
And then I'll call my BIL and let him know that he definitely does NOT want a Dell.
As much as I love my Dell laptop, I can say with confidence that I will not be purchasing another Dell product.
Ever.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
But why??
So, we've discussed plastic surgery before--here and --oh never mind. I won't link to the second instance because it disturbed so many of you. But, as you may or may not recall, I'm not a big fan of plastic surgery. I simply don't see the point of risking your life to look a little bit "better." And "better" is really quite relative, considering how screwy some people look when they're done.
With "risking your life" being my major sticking point, at least for argument's sake, you might guess that I wouldn't have a problem with the latest rage in cosmetic enhancement: post mortem plastic surgery.
Well, you'd be wrong.
Who is so damn vain that they need work done after they're dead? It's certainly not going to do anything for their self esteem.
With "risking your life" being my major sticking point, at least for argument's sake, you might guess that I wouldn't have a problem with the latest rage in cosmetic enhancement: post mortem plastic surgery.
Well, you'd be wrong.
Who is so damn vain that they need work done after they're dead? It's certainly not going to do anything for their self esteem.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Some Jokes Never Get Old!
From my favorite magazine, The Week (November 28, 2008 issue):
(I don't know why, but this amused the hell out of me!)
A British publisher translated Philogelos: The Laugh Addict, a 1,600-year-old joke book from ancient Greece. One gag that presages the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch concerns a man who complains that the slave he just purchased has died. "By the gods," replies the seller, "when he was with me, he never did any such thing!
(I don't know why, but this amused the hell out of me!)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
If, and ONLY if, the Sun Refused to Shine
Bah!
"Zeppelin" Considers Touring Sans Plant
Clearly, they're all senile, or they wouldn't even be considering the possibility.
"Zeppelin" Considers Touring Sans Plant
Clearly, they're all senile, or they wouldn't even be considering the possibility.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
On Second Thought
My venting done and friendly support received, it occurs to me there is nothing to be gained by leaving my previous post on the internet. God forbid the wrong person should come sliding down one of those internet tubes and discover it. . .
I will say that the simple act of writing the post, plus thinking about some of the questions posed in your comments, lead me to a personal discovery today. Don't know that it will change anything, considering that 40 years of cumulative damage has already been done, but I actually did end up with a bit of insight.
What do you know. . .
Next up--my letter from Jimmy Carter. I found it in that box too. I'm going to scan it and post it later.
It turns out that Jimmy and I are friends.
I will say that the simple act of writing the post, plus thinking about some of the questions posed in your comments, lead me to a personal discovery today. Don't know that it will change anything, considering that 40 years of cumulative damage has already been done, but I actually did end up with a bit of insight.
What do you know. . .
Next up--my letter from Jimmy Carter. I found it in that box too. I'm going to scan it and post it later.
It turns out that Jimmy and I are friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
