★~ Odds and Ends Winner:
Congratulations, Odd friend, Irene you won last weeks Odds and End give-away! We will ship out your Sugru on Monday! See below for this weeks Give-A-Way.
★~ Rest in Peace: Roger Ebert:
Kindness covers all of my political beliefs,” he wrote, at the end of his memoir, “Life Itself.” “No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.” Roger Ebert Chicago Sun Times
★~ Another Point of View:
Increasingly teachers are speaking out against school reforms that they believe are demeaning their profession, and some are simply quitting because they have had enough. Here is one resignation letter from a veteran teacher, Gerald J. Conti, a social studies teacher at Westhill High School in Syracuse, N.Y.: Teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’
★~ How the Chess Set got its Look and Feel:
Prior to 1849, there was no such thing as a “normal chess set.” At least not like we think of it today. Over the centuries that chess had been played, innumerable varieties of sets of pieces were created, with regional differences in designation and appearance. As the game proliferated throughout southern Europe in the early 11th century, the rules began to evolve, the movement of the pieces were formalized, and the pieces themselves were drastically transformed from their origins in 6th century India. Originally conceived of as a field of battle, the symbolic meaning of the game changed as it gained popularity in Europe, and the pieces became stand-ins for a royal court instead of an army. Thus, the original chessmen, known as counselor, infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots, became the queen, pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. By the 19th century, chess clubs and competitions began to appear all around the world, it became necessary to use a standardized set that would enable players from different cultures to compete without getting confused. Read More: Smithsonian
★~ David Bowie Releases a Collection of His Vintage Videos Online:
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/61213952[/vimeo]
David Bowie Releases Vintage Videos of His Greatest Hits from the 1970s and 1980s
★~ 10 Ideas for Two-Ingredient Appetizers:
When you want to serve appetizers but don’t have the time to get finicky about them, here’s a list of ten easy appetizer ideas made from only two ingredients.
★~ Two guys in their 90s racing the 100 meter dash!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/QYLVd7plaV8[/youtube]
★~ Zooportraits
Click to see more Zooportraits of Lions, and Tigers, and Pigs…Oh My.
Hey, Mom!! Look at us.
A little help from your friends.
Pig in a blanket?
BIG HUG!
Thinking BIG!
Wise Words.
The Word!
This Weeks Give-Away!
It is no secret that I love gadgets and try to keep my life as paperless as possible, but who can resist a new notebook? Not I, especially a Moleskin notebook; the notebooks that are the heir and successor to the legendary notebooks used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. Would you like one? Just leave a comment below for a chance to win a Moleskin notebook of your very own! I will throw all the comments into a hat and draw one lucky winner, who will be announced on Odds and Ends next Saturday (4//13).
And finally….Do you ever feel this way?
Until we meet again…Odd friends remember: If it makes you smile, giggle or laugh…Do it again!
Love this weeks links. I would miss most of these if they did not show up on Odd. Ebert, he will be missed.
Throw my name into the hat. I love a new notebook!
Glad you like the links. It’s a fun post to write. Consider your name in the hat!
What a great list of fun links. The animal pictures are such fun. I loved the race between the two Seniors. Embarrassed to say I might lose to either of them.
Yes, I can totally relate to feeling homicidal somedays! Thanks for sharing.
I would hate to be in race with them!! Sometimes it’s just fun imaging what you would use, num chucks for example! 😀
Loved your animal pictures (especially the weenie dog!). As someone who almost went into Education, I truly appreciated that guy’s resignation letter — he hit the nail on its head, didn’t he?
Roger’s aim of contributing joy to the world sounds like a good philosophy to me.
I don’t necessarily NEED a new notebook, but what the heck? Throw me in the hat anyway!! Maybe I’ll outline a new novel!
Yep. Giving teachers control and responsibility over their own curriculum would be high on my list of fixing things, as well as reevaluating the whole testing evaluation.
Debbie, everyone needs a moleskin notebook! They will spoil you for life!
thank you for your years in education, mr. conti.
hooray for the 90 yr old athletes running the 100! i’d like to be doing that in my 90s.
now we’re talking…..two ingredient appetizers!
who can resist animal pictures & clever captions?
good whatever is left of the day!
…..*years* in education….
apparently, should have taken a study hall with mr. conti.
I fixed it for you—Just like I fix errors on my posts each time I read it again, and again. I even have an outside proof reader. I wish I could figure out how to add an edit to the comments, but alas I have not.
Uhm, did you notice that you, yourself was the bigger Sugru winner???? BTW, do you know how many times I have misspelled that brand name and looking up above in the post I see I have done it again. Arggggh. Confratulations.
I loved hearing Roger Ebert’s reviews and I think that he will be greatly missed. He always had such a great way of telling it like he saw it. His struggles later in life were phenomenal and I was always struck by the devotion of his wife during his health issues.
Animal pictures—you can never go wrong with animal pics!
I agree. I’m not much for following reviews, but he was my go to person. Glad everyone liked the animal pictures because there was a plethora to browse.
Thought I already left a comment, but clearly I did not. Just wanted to add for the official record I received my fun package of Nancy Boy products. They are great. Love the moisturizer. Thank you odd friend. For all that you do.
Your welcome. Glad it arrived. It seems, so I’ve been told, Odd has been a little ornery. Sorry for any misdirected or deleted comments.