Tag Archives: education

I’m in!

May 22, 2022 Rivergirl 16 Comments

Let me just throw this out there… I love dinosaurs!

Always have, always will. While other little girls were playing with baby dolls and decorating Barbie’s stupid dream house, I was waging a life and death battle with my T Rex and Brontosaur. When other children wanted to go to Madison Square Garden to see the circus, I begged my parents to take me to the Museum of Natural History to see the Stegosaurus skeleton. In a perfect world I would have grown up to be a fossil hunter, endlessly scouring

the Black Hills for remnants of the Cretaceous. The best I can do now? Live vicariously through documentaries my husband thinks are dry as toast. Until this one –

Tomorrow on Apple TV, the dinosaur documentary to end all dinosaur documentaries will begin. Hosted by David Attenborough…. All Hail Sir David! …it’s the dino version of Planet Earth and I can’t wait.

*note to self – buy copious amounts of popcorn and butter*

Now that’s tv worth watching!

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Games to play with your mouth breathing friends.

November 29, 2020 Rivergirl 19 Comments

We all have them. That special group of friends you’ve known for years but don’t like to advertise. You can’t invite them out to dinner with your crew, and you won’t bring them to the cocktail party at work. But thanks to me? You could ask them to your house to play a game right up their alley.

So they’re not the brightest bulbs in the pack?

No problem.

This is a game that won’t embarrass the less than erudite among us.

And they get to hit people with a club!

You know they’re going to love it.

Neanderthals.

Admit it, you know a few.

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Update…. You’re Never Too Old To Learn.

April 23, 2020 Rivergirl 20 Comments

I ran across a catalog for continuing education the other day, and because I used to have a ~~totally ridiculous~~ blog series about this, I had to look.

The series started here back in August of ’18 with a class on Spoonbending.

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Shows what you know Junior. There’s a whole class devoted to that spoon.

Yes. An actual college class, I’m not lying.

(Or drinking… go figure.)

So when I saw this current class being offered, it simply begged to be blogged about.

Spoon Carving Level 2
Up your spoon carving skills and build on what was learned
in your previous spoon-carving class. This time around you’ll
carve a deeper serving spoon, as well as practice additional
refining and finishing. Prerequisites: Previous woodworking
experience or Spoon Carving, Beginner. Material fee of $15
included in the price of the course.

Wednesday, beginning Oct. 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. for 3 weeks

Cost: $75

Clearly our college is still obsessed with spoons.

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Well, that may be a different class entirely.

“Up your spoon carving skills?”

Who said I had any to begin with.

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“Carve a deeper serving spoon?”

Hell, that’s totally worth $75.

And I’m sorry…

But you know there can only be one possible instructor for this class –

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I bet you didn’t know…..

April 21, 2020 Rivergirl 37 Comments

There’s a political party of beer lovers in Poland.

The PPPP… Polska Partia Przyjaciol Piwa. They won 16 parliament seats before breaking up into smaller factions. The Big Beer Party and the Little Beer Party.

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You didn’t know that.

But I did, because….

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I bet you didn’t know….

The unofficial mascot of Delta State University if the Fighting Okra.

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But it’s true.

I once went 4 rounds with some fried okra… but I’m sure no one wants to hear about that.

I bet you didn’t know…

Snow angels originated from medieval Jewish mystics who practiced rolling in the snow to rid themselves of evil urges.

Maybe I need to try that the next time I want pie and ice cream.

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I bet you didn’t know…

Horseshoe crabs are bled for medical science.

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Horseshoe crabs use hemocyanin to carry oxygen through their blood. Because of the copper present in hemocyanin, their blood is blue. … Amebocytes from the blood of L. polyphemus are used to make Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), which is used for the detection of bacterial endotoxins in medical applications.

Run crab….

Run!

I bet you didn’t know…

In Athens, Greece a driver’s license can be taken away if the driver is deemed “unbathed” or “poorly dressed”.

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Good thing this trend never caught on.

I bet you didn’t know…

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel This Side of Paradise was the first time the word ‘daiquiri’ ever appeared.

Rum… Paradise…

Makes sense to me.

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Yes, this is real.

April 5, 2020 Rivergirl 19 Comments

Ya gotta love New York City.

My late father worked on Wall Street and I grew up marveling at it’s magic and savoring the myriad flavors of it’s streets.

Now? My heart breaks for it’s citizens. The virus is testing them, but they’ll pull through. They’re resilient.

They’re New Yorkers.

Yes, it’s the city the never sleeps. The Big Apple. The home of Broadway, the Empire State Building and Katz’s Deli…. but what you really have to love about them right now?

This:

Yes.

The New York City Health Department is recommending masturbation.

Among other things.

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Wording.

April 3, 2020 Rivergirl 31 Comments

I love to word.

I love to read them, write them, and learn them.

And I love weirdo words most of all.

When you travel you hear words unique to certain regions and words used in different contexts.

Words!

Ya gotta love them.

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So when I saw this the other day?

I knew I had to share.

I admit I’ve been known to make use of dingleberry, dicombobulated and kerfuffle now and then…. although I’m not nearly old enough to drop whippersnapper into a conversation any time soon.

In Maine we tend to say things are wicked. As in “That margarita is wicked good” or “That beer is wicked cold”.

We also can lose control of our cars and end up in the puckerbrush.

Mainers say ayuh when we mean yes.

We call submarine sandwiches Italians.

If you’re cute? We’ll call you cunnin’.

If something is the best? We’ll say it’s finest kind.

If you live far away from town? That would be the willy wacks.

And if you live really far away from town? That’s bumblefuckEgypt.

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So educate me.

What words do you use in your backyard?

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Part 2… of something I started a while ago then promptly forgot about.

January 5, 2020 Rivergirl 29 Comments

Language.

By definition, the method of human communication.

Glorious varieties abound, so let’s take a look at some foreign words you may not be familiar with… and their meanings.

Shemomedjamo (Georgian)

You know when you’re really full, but your meal is just so delicious, you can’t stop eating it? The Georgians feel your pain. This word means, “I accidentally ate the whole thing.”

I don’t know about you..

But I have totally shemomedjamo’d in my day.

pie

Backpfeifengesicht (German)

A face badly in need of a fist.

Oh, I think we’ve all met a few of those.

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Faamiti (Samoan)

To make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child.

I’d just call it a whistle, but who am I to argue with a Samoan?

(Okay… so I was looking for a GIF of a big bad Samoan warrior when this popped up. Big bad Samoan bat will kick your *ss!)

Gigil (Filipino)

The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is irresistibly cute.

I have this every time I watch the movie Magic Mike…

But maybe that’s just me.

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Lagom (Swedish)

Maybe Goldilocks was Swedish? This slippery little word is hard to define, but means something like, “Not too much, and not too little, but juuuuust right.”

*See above comment and picture of Magic Mike cast*

Zeg (Georgian)

It means “the day after tomorrow.” OK, we do have “overmorrow” in English, but when was the last time someone used that?

Never.

No one has ever used overmorrow in my presence…. and I want you all to start right now.

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(Proof positive there is a meme for everything)

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You’re never too old to learn….. LEGOS.

October 7, 2019 Rivergirl 40 Comments

Next up in my continuing series on ~~the absolutely crazy things people will pay money for~~ Maine Adult Education is…. LEGOS.

Yes, LEGOS.

Those annoying little plastic toy pieces we’ve all stepped on and paid the price.

And while there have been some other ridiculous classes…

You’re never too old to learn…. Spoons.

You’re never to old to learn…. Potatoes.

You’re never too old to learn…. Ukulele

You’re never too old to learn…. Chakra Toning.

You’re never too old to learn…. Mindfulness.

You’re never to old to learn…. Tin Cans.

You’re never too old to learn…. Knotweed Flutes.

You’re never too old to learn… Succulent Picture Frame.

This one, and it’s ~~how the hell can we make this nonsense sound like a legitimate college course~~ description really made me laugh.

lego

Oh, it’s a facilitated process? Well, that explains everything.

And they use specially selected LEGO elements! Wow.

Does that mean the red ones… or the green?

The group discussion would be interesting to hear. Problem solving and decision making? Give me a break… exactly what wisdom will you gain?

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Okay, there’s that.

But hey, you’ll be utilizing kinesthetic skills and will be required to learn and listen.

This is Serious Play!

Taught by a Serious Play facilitator!

Of course when I was young, the people who took LEGOS seriously usually ended up like this….

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But maybe times have changed.

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Did you know….

October 4, 2019 Rivergirl 33 Comments

The name of the novel that inspired the film Blade Runner was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I do because…..

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I find it rather disturbing.

As should you…

Did you know…

La Brea means The Tar? So when you talk about ‘the La Brea Tar Pits’ in California you are actually saying The The Tar Tar Pits.

Talk about overkill.

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Did you know…

Hindu men once believed it was unlucky to marry a third time so they avoided misfortune by marrying a tree? It was then burned, freeing them up to marry again.

I imagine it went like this:

Did you know…

To improve her memory, Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate-covered garlic balls for breakfast most of her adult life?

It’s a matter of record that she and Franklin Roosevelt took their meals at opposite ends of a long, long table.

And geesh, who could blame him?

Did you know…

Due to a different gravitational force, if you weigh 200lbs on earth….. you would weigh 76 lbs on Mars?

Come on Elon.

Momma needs a trip to Mars.

Yeah, you’ll need to put that down first.

Did you know….

An octopus’s testicles are located in it’s head?

He also can remove his spermatophore-loaded mating arm and give it to a female if she’s hungry and likely to eat him.

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I think this has to be a new series.

September 12, 2019 Rivergirl 39 Comments

I read an article the other day that was so good it might need to become a blog series.

It’s about words.

Stop that.

It’s going to be great, I promise.

English is a funny language and apparently if it’s not your mother tongue, can be quite difficult to learn. So naturally it stands to reason there would be a large collection of foreign words with no direct English equivalent.

Let’s explore that.