Weekend Assignment #361: Give It Up!

Let's get right to it:

Weekend Assignment #361: Give It Up!
Lent has begun, and in certain denominations, people are "giving up something for Lent" - in other words, not indulging in some pleasurable food or activity between now and Easter. Have you ever abstained from something for a period of time for a religious or spiritual purpose? What was it? How successful were you at avoiding it?

Extra Credit: Regardless of whether you believe in doing so, if you were to give up something you enjoy between now and April 24th, what would it be?

You know how this works, right?

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, March 10th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to. 

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory. 

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you! 

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged! 

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment #360: Toy Show, I asked about your favorite childhood toys. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Josie (welcome!) said...

Mr Bear was packed away in the huge shipping crate with most of the rest of our furniture for the six week trip to Australia. His return was delayed when the crate went missing for 10 months. It was very nearby in Port Melbourne all the time, within 40km of our final home. So I guess Mr Bear wasn't visiting relatives in Deepest Darkest Peru after all.

Trevor said...

So I only have one toy left from childhood, And it’s not really form childhood, but a reminder of that childhood. It’s a troll, up in my daughter’s closet. He’s grey, furry, has bare arms and legs, and was made by my grandmother. He’s also one of the few things left of one of the best memories of my life.

Karen said...

I'm not sure Trophy was my favorite toy, but he's an integral part of my childhood. One time, a dog got hold of him and tore off part of one leg, but an aunt of mine sewed him back together. That was when I was staying with my dad's family in New Jersey. while my mom was in the hospital with polio-encephalitis. On later occasions I repaired him myself, restuffing him with tissues and I think Elmer's Glue.

Have a great week!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #360: Toy Show

Every year about this time, John and I go to a local toy show, hunting for childhood treasures. That's the inspiration for this week's Weekend Assignment:

Weekend Assignment #360: Toy Show
Do you have any old toys or dolls from your childhood, either the originals or replacements purchased as an adult? If so, tell us about them.

Extra Credit: Is there a particular toy from your childhood that you especially remember as a favorite?

You know how this works, right?

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, March 10th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to. 

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory. 

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you! 

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged! 

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment #358: Career Day 2, I asked what new career you'd be interested in trying, if age, money, etc were no obstacles. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Anne said...

I have often said that I want to be the lady at the spa that brings you your ice water with lemon. Because everyone is in a good mood at the spa. And even if they weren't, who the heck yells at the ice water lady?.

Kara said...

I have always made my family my career. There has never been a time, even as a girl when I really wanted to be anything other than a good mum and a good wife. I know, I know….seriously?! But, yes.

Trevor said...

Would I keep doing what I’m doing? As much as I enjoy some days, it’s not what I’d prefer to be doing. I can think of dozens of jobs I’d rather be doing. Or not doing ,in the case of my safe deposit job I used to have. If’ I’d been emotionally able to write then, I’d have finished a ten novel series by now.

Karen said...

When I took ten weeks of Business Law in the fall of 2003, I got all excited about it. I really loved learning about legal decisions and the reasoning behind them. Were it not for my age, money issues and the fact that I hate confrontations, I'd have switched to law school then and there.

Have a great week!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #359: Career Day 2

A friend of mine went back to school to get a library degree, and guess what? She just got a good job in her new field. That's the inspiration for this week's Weekend Assignment:

Weekend Assignment #359: Career Day 2
It's often said that most people will change careers several times over the course of their working lives. If money, age and educational resources were all conducive to your trying another line of work, would you do so? If so, what new career would you choose?
Extra Credit: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

You know how this works, right?

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, March 3rd, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to. 

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory. 

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you! 

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged! 

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week! 

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment #358: Drive, I asked whether you enjoy driving. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Anne said...

Ten years ago, I would have told you that driving was my favorite thing.  I loved my car more than I loved my books.  I drove just for fun.  At that time (my mother recently reminded me), I even enjoyed my commute to and from work.  The driving time helped me get my head in the right place in the morning, and decompress on the way home. No longer.

Karen said...

So how do I feel about that long morning drive? Well, if I could get a full night's sleep first, and if gas weren't going up in price almost daily, I wouldn't mind it at all. In fact I kind of enjoy it. Driving is a game, in which the object is to arrive safely but also quickly, and without drawing a traffic ticket by going too fast or doing anything stupid.

Have a great week, no matter what work you're doing!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #358: Drive

Considering my 75-miles-a-day commute and the fact that I'm about to drive a rented car to Los Angeles, there's one thing on my mind at the moment (well, aside from the Doctor Who convention I'm going to):

Weekend Assignment # 358: Drive
Is driving something you actually enjoy doing, or is it merely a means to an end? Do you ever go for a drive for fun, or revel in certain kinds of driving?

Extra Credit: If time and money were not at issue, and you wanted to go somewhere 500 miles away, would you prefer to drive, be driven, take a train or fly? (Okay, you can also choose to go by boat.)

You know how this works, right?

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, February 24th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you!

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment #357: The Art of Packing, I asked how much stuff, particularly technology, you tend to bring on a trip. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Julie said...

Generally, my electronic gear consists of my backpack with DSLR gear and laptop, plus a cellphone and charger. If I know I'm not going to have time to shoot then I'll take a different laptop bag, or try to cram everything into a wheeled carry on bag we bought last year that has room for a laptop and a change of clothes or two. Or, I may just get radical and only take the cell phone or replace the laptop with my tablet.

Karen said...

Meanwhile, I get to borrow his iPad for my trip next weekend. This both thrills me and makes me nervous. I'm considered a bit of a techie, especially by people over age 70; but smart phones, PDAs and iPads are outside my experience. I don't even use my cell phone for anything but phone calls, the occasional photo if I forgot to bring my camera, and rarely a text message if there's no good alternative. I've never browsed the web with my phone, and my iPod is an old monochrome one. So now we've got less than a week to get myself and the iPad ready for my trip.

Anne said...

I used to travel light. Before the electronics. I don't bring a ton of extra clothes. I never bring a hair dryer. My suitcase never weighs more than 50 pounds. But I am always plugged in. I am on vacation. With me are: [click to see the list!]

Florinda said...

No, I don’t travel particularly light. I’m just lucky that I’m small, and my clothes and shoes take up less space than most adults’ do. That leaves me some room for the books. And yes, I absolutely plan those in advance too. It’s a tricky thing timing-wise; it’s not that hard to set aside a few books as designated travel reading, but scheduling my reading so that I don’t have an unplanned in-process book that I have to bring along to finish is a delicate enterprise.

Have a great week, and drive carefully!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #357: The Art of Packing

I'll be going out of town on President's Day weekend, and I'm already thinking about what to take along:

Weekend Assignment # 357: The Art of Packing
When you go on a trip, do you travel light, or try to make sure you have everything you might conceivably need? Specifically, what do you bring along by way of electronics?

Extra Credit: What's the most important thing you ever lost, broke, or forgot to bring on your trip?

Here are the guidelines in case you'd like to participate - and I hope you do!

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, February 17th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you!

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment # 356: Brrr!, I asked about recent weather in your area. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Julie said...

Unless you've been living in a cave, you might be aware that there's a football game in Arlington on Sunday. So really, we were just asking for it. The Steelers and Packers fans are calling us wimps, but what they don't understand is that this type of weather is atypical, and when it does happen it rarely lasts for more than a day. The temps bounce back up, the stuff melts, and it's business as usual again. People down here don't get to practice driving on ice and snow on a regular basis. We don't have snow tires or snow chains, and we certainly don't have the heavy duty road deicing equipment they have up north.

Anne said...

Yesterday, my office was closing early, so I called my dentist to see if my appointment was still on.  It was.  I arrived early and they took me early.  When I walked out the door, the blizzard was in full swing.  It took 45 minutes to drive the three miles home. I live in a cul de sac, so there are three snow plows required to get us out.

Karen said...

Yes, I know I live in Tucson, but we did have a winter. Really! We were in the throes of it when I wrote the questions above. No, we didn't get any snow; in fact it's been unseasonably dry. But it has been cold. How cold? Consider this: the all time record for the lowest temperature for Tucson in February was 17 degrees, set in 1899. In the early hours of February 3rd and again on the 4th, it hit 18 degrees here! I went out and bought myself a winter jacket, which John said I'd never wear. I think I've worn it every day since then.

Have a great week, whether or not you're planning a trip!

Karen

Weekend Assignment # 356: Brrr!

This Week's Assignment is the obvious one:

Weekend Assignment # 356: Brrr!
In much of the U.S. and Europe, this winter has been an especially cold and snowy one. How cold has it been where you live? Have recent weather conditions led to any unusual situations locally?

Extra Credit: What extra measures have you personally taken, if any, to stay warm? 

Here are the guidelines in case you'd like to participate - and I hope you do!

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, February 10th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you!

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment #355: Science!, I asked about your interest and competence in science. Considering the number of sf fans who have played along in the past, I'm a little surprised we got so few responses. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Anne said...

By high school, I didn't do particularly well in science. I didn't particularly enjoy science. In history and in English, it didn't matter who the teacher was - I was interested. In science and math, only the best teachers could engage me. And even then, I was more interested in impressing the teacher than embracing the material

Karen said...

I struggled in Earth Science in junior high school, got 100 on my Biology final in tenth grade, dropped out of Chemistry after getting a D the first semester, and never took Physics at all, which I regret. I took astronomy and some sort of climatology in college and struggled with those, too. Nevertheless, I am a great fan of science.

That's it for now. Considering what dramatic weather we've had recently, I hope more of you will find time to write about this, even if your entry is a brief one. Have a weagreat week!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #355: Science!

Sorry this is late: I needed a little extra time to think of it.

Weekend Assignment # 355: Science!

In this year's State of the Union address, the President spoke of the need for better education, particularly in math and science, and the desirability of celebrating winners of science fairs - in other words, science geeks. How good were you in science in school?

Extra Credit: Whether or not you were actually good at it in school, how much of a science geek are you now?

Here are the guidelines if you'd like to participate.

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, February 3rd, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I really want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Please post the URL itself rather than a live link.

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment # 354: Tour Guide, I asked where you take people who visit from out of town. Please click on the names to read the entire entries:

Anne said...

A a couple of summers ago, my Aunt Jacquelyn and Uncle Mike got in their RV with their youngest son, Matthew, and drove across the country. This was my aunt and uncle's third trip, but Matthew hadn't done it before. They chose their routes and destinations by a book based on the Food Network show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

Karen Funk Blocher said...

From there we took the freeway down to Mission San Xavier del Bac, a few miles south of Tucson on I-19. I explained that Father Eusebio Kino founded the place centuries ago but that it was built much later, by the Franciscans. I showed off the saint statues in real fabric (silk?) clothing, and explained about milagros, little charms attached to the statue of a saint as a prayer for a loved one's healing.

Really, people, I'm starting to worry again about the viability of this venerable meme. Please participate if you can this week - I'd really appreciate it!

Karen

Image credit: "Goldilocks planet" illustration by Lynette Cook, National Science Foundation.