Personal: May 2008 Archive Page

I just took the kids outside to watch the International Space Station fly overhead. It was visible for about five minutes, and at its brightest I thought I could see some details (the solar panels?), but it was mostly just a bright dot. It rose from the southwest, went by almost overhead, and disappeared to the northeast.

As soon as we came back inside, my wife presented us with a book, The Amazing International Space Station, and now Peter is excitedly reading it aloud to Carolyn at the dinner table.

I got the tracking information from heavens-above.com.

The family took in a matinee showing of Prince Caspian. I'd heard mediocre reviews, so I had low expectations. I knew they'd have to add some subplot because the book is pretty thin, and the long narration of Caspian's boyhood would have been out of place in an action/adventure movie (which is how they're billing the franchise). 

Many of the reviews complain that there's little character development, and while I can see their point, I do think that the expansion of Peter's temptation was a good choice to ramp up the dramatic energy. But Peter was never in any real danger, thanks to Edmund's wisdom, so that moment came and went quickly.

If your father is an English professor, how do you respond to poorly written signs in a kiddie park?

Everywhere I go, I like taking pictures of signs with mistakes that make good classroom proofreading examples.

Shortly after I moved to Western Pennsylvania, I learned that Idlewild Park is the regional version of Disneyland.  Every year we get season passes, and a regular stop for us is Storybook Forest -- which my wife remembers visiting when she was a little girl. 

Who knows how many generations of children have seen this sign and wondered about the anonymous dwarven sign-maker who claims ownership over the familiar seven?