Mostly school
Listening to: Big City Rhythms,- Michael Feinstein
Reading: Once Upon A Star Nora Roberts
Weather: 9, clear, wind-chill -30
Trivia:Where did glow in the dark toys come from?
That mysterious yellowish green material we all know from our youth, used in all manner of toys and, perhaps most notably, in glow in the dark monster model kits, seems to have been with us forever. It seems rather fitting that such a mysterious substance was created by accident by a seventeenth-century alchemist attempting to transform base metals into gold. Vincenzo Cascariolo was a cobbler in Bologna, Italy. Experimenting in the centuries old tradition of alchemy, he sought the "philosopher's stone" to transmute relatively worthless metals such as iron and copper into silver or gold. In 1603, Cascariolo combined barium sulfate with powdered coal, heated the mixture, spread it over an iron bar and let it cool. The bar did not become gold, but when he put it on a darkened shelf for storage he was astonished to see that it glowed. Though the light eventually faded, Cascariolo discovered that repeated exposure to the sun "reanimated" the bar. Believing that he had stumbled upon a means of capturing the sun's golden rays, he hailed his discovery as the first step in producing a philosopher's stone. His compound was popularly known as lapis solaris or "sunstone" and quickly became a great novelty, particularly with the clergy. Crucifixes and other religious items were coated with lapis solaris to imbue them with eerie halos. The belief developed that prayers recited in the presence of a glowing amulet were more readily answered. And the market for objects that glowed in the dark expanded throughout Christian countries. Cascariolo hadn't succeeded in transmuting iron to gold, but he did end up spawning a gold mine in religious artifacts. The substance would only lose its mysterious aura centuries later when physicists explained how molecules absorb and radiate light through the process of Chemiluminescence. Although, even today, it's possible to find glow in the dark crucifixes and the like at religious supply stores
Cool word:pompous (POM-puss) - Pretentious, overblown, or self-important.
sedulous (SED-yuh-luss) - Done or crafted with skill, diligence, and care.
"Although the artist was thought by many to be a pompous windbag who could carry on for hours praising his large body of work, it couldn't be said that his pieces weren't sedulous, in that they showed a great deal of attention to detail and a clear understanding of form and craft."
I HATE ANGELFIRE!!! I am having the worst time accessing my own site and getting entries posted. Yesterday’s is still sitting here as Angelfire keeps refusing to connect. I have no patience for this.
It may also be the fault of my slow modem, but I’m trying to get a new one. It requires the help of my brother who is near impossible to get in touch with these days.
I wonder if anything will ever get posted again…?
Today was another crazy day at work, but at least a few problems have apparently been solved. The principal had found someone to deal with the small math group that I need someone to take over. He really did some creative thinking to solve this one. I think he’s afraid that the parents are going to go berserk if he doesn’t figure out something. If all goes as expected this new arrangement will start next Wednesday.
Which (of course) means more work for me.
I also got really bored with what I was doing with my reading group and decided to give them a story to write. They had to write about being a snowflake. Patsy was one of a million snowflake children and she decided to run away from home because her parents weren’t paying enough attention to her. It will take a couple more days to finish these but I think it will be worthwhile to give them the time.
I’ve also decided to abandon the reading anthology (which I hate) in favor of reading a book called My Father’s Dragon. Chinese New Year is February fifth so I’ve decided to do a unit on dragons, leading up to the New Year celebration, it is going to be the Year of the Dragon.
I need some fun in my life. I only have a couple of weeks to do it, but I think it might be worth the effort. Besides, I love designing units. My problem is in narrowing my focus and not doing EVERY activity that I come up with.
The only other thing that happened today was that we actually WENT OUT FOR RECESS! It was a wind-chill of about twenty-five below zero with huge gusts of wind, and WE WENT OUT. It was freezing. And of course I had recess duty.
Never fails.
It continued to be cold tonight, but I needed to get out, so Dee and I went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s and had ribs, then I ran to the pet store for more carpet deodorizer (Yes, he peed on the rug again. Twice.) I also needed light bulbs, as I’ve been going through one of those exploding light bulb episodes. I think it’s been six in the last two days. Then I went to Barnes and Nobles to get copies of the book for the kids and to see if they had any interesting kid’s books on Chinese New Year.
I came home forty-two dollars poorer. I can always find things to buy when it comes to books.
It’s going to be an early night. I’m getting up early tomorrow to go to my stamp show, then I’m calling Dee so she can meet me part way and we can ride the rest together to the Adeline’s Regional weekend. I think she would have stayed home if I didn’t offer to do that.
It’ll be a busy day.
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Horoscope
ARIES
The first full moon of the century falls in Leo on Jan 21 and brings out your more effusive and creative possibilities over the next fortnight. You are very much affected by the mood and spirit of celebration that still permeates the air as the new year gets into its stride. Do not pass up on chances to join in the festivities and properly greet the coming good times, or they may move on somewhere more congenial. Children's affairs go well.