What do you think?  Will the next evolutionary step be the loss of neck muscles needed to raise one’s head and look someone in the eye?

These Photos are Proof Albert Eisntein Was Correct About Technology

 

In spite of my previous rant about Rush Limbaugh’s treatment of women – I am now about to muse on how the sexes are different. Go figure.

I once observed the innate difference between little boys and little girls in the library. I had given my second graders a valentine art project to keep the little darlings busy while groups took turns browsing the shelves. You can count on it. The little girls’ pictures all involved butterflies, hearts and rainbows, while the little boys’ valentine illustrations mostly involved knives thrust into the hearts along with copious amounts of blood.

I was reminded of this while reading Doug Johnson’s latest post “Revisiting Childhood Reads“.  Oddly enough, I have been planning to re-read some of my old favorites.

Here is a picture of one of Doug’s favorite childhood reads.

 

And here is a picture of one of my favorites… 

 

 

I’ve been reading my early teenage diaries. That’s where I rediscovered this gem of the 50s. The diaries are so cringe-worthy that I am seriously tempted to burn them. Diaries and blogs might come back to bite you. I can always burn the diaries…..but how long will this blog hang out there? Perhaps one of my progeny will be so embarrassed, they will contact edublogs and beg for a mercy killing.

OK.  I’ve been worried about what to do with myself when I retire in June.  My dilemma is solved.  You have heard of the Horse Whisperer.  You may also have heard of the Book Whiperer.  But…have you ever heard of the Book Sniffer?

Smelling the Book [MoMA]

So, now I know what to do in retirement.  Indulge the Book Sniffer in me.  I have always loved the smell of books.  As a matter of fact, I can tell by the aroma of a book whether it was published in the U.S. or in another country.  Books published in England and Hong Kong have a particularly lovely scent…sort of a combination of tea and spice.

This weird and useless ability originated in childhood.  All my life I have received packages for Christmas and birthdays from my English family.  Books published there or in Hong Kong or Singapore always have the same wonderful scent.  It brings back happy childhood memories and always makes me feel happy.  I never knew it, but my son evidently notices the wonderful aroma also.  When we took him to visit his English relatives when he was 15, the first thing he did when he got off the plane was take a big inhale and say “Mmmmmm.  It smells like England!”

I have worked on this ability to some extent.  For awhile, I would find books that I knew were not published in the U.S. – but did not have the “English Christmas Present” smell.  They had a rather sharp, but not unpleasant smell.  Turns out, that smell indicates a book published in Italy.

Upon reading the comments to the “Smelling the Book” post, I have  also  found a new perfume I am dying to try.  I’ve always wondered about the viability of selling scents on the net – but I really must try this one!

In the Library

Hopefully every time I use it, I will remember all the wonderful times I have had in libraries since the first day I walked into the Middletown Thrall Library.  To me, it was like entering a fairy-tale castle.  I could not have been more thrilled had I entered the gates of Disney World.  The librarian was a person of power and wonder….purveyor of all good things.  I was in absolute awe.

Perhaps I am a retro-librarian after all.  As much as I promote and  love the convenience of ebooks, downloading a book will never be as magical as visiting a library.  After all, the internet is invisible to two of our best senses – touch and smell.

We have recently devoted time in our whole-school assemblies to stories of our veterans.

The faculty has been sharing PowerPoint presentations describing the contributions of their family members.  It is a very powerful, moving and personal way to honor our veterans and make their stories real.

It soon became clear how much the sacrifice of soldiers has touched all of us.  So many stories to share.  Soldiers are not “out there somewhere”.  They are part of real families and connected to all of us.  We should never forget their sacrifices.

I hope you will take a moment to look at my family story.

Mason Hedworth Veterans

Never forget.  Thank a soldier and their families on Veterans’ Day….and every chance you get.