Image from the Art Renewal Center.
January 30, 2010
January 28, 2010
Getting the Idiom Wrong, And More
In an email from a friend, I received the following list of butchered idioms, historical references, names, and sayings (sometimes the correct word, name or phrase is given after a dash or in parentheses):
In my browsings on the Web (long story) I came across this. (Long story, it’s an offshoot from http://www.livejournal.com/~bcampbell/ if you’re that interested.) I reproduce it here as it appears on the page.
Jackisms [21 Dec 2002|08:11pm]
I found this on the network at work. It was called ‘Jackisms’. I suppose jack is someone that works in whatever area that particular server was located in.
1. Between a rock and a hard roll.
2. Verennial disease.
3. LaBarrage – L’Auberge.
4. Tarantula downpour.
5. See if any other eligibilities are evolved (involved ) in this case.
6. If Cleopatra doesn’t come to Romeo.
7. Basket and Robbins.
8. A.I. – Alcoholics Anonymous.
9. Apptabit – APTAD
…
11. The plane we flew in was a 537 – Marked down from 737.?
January 25, 2010
TAKS Practice Material
On the Internet there is a plethora of practice material for the math portion (and science, reading, etc.) of the TAKS test. The Texas Education Agency, TEA, has made available pdf files of some recent tests and also has a number of tests archived. This material would be good for preparing for the TAKS test and for practicing algebra and geometry.
Pearson has made available some pdf files of study guides and has some online, interactive study guides. (If those links do not work, start on the TAKS Study Guides page, then click on “Interactive Study Guides,” or click on “Printed Study Guides” followed by “Study Guide PDFs.”)
January 23, 2010
January 22, 2010
Happy Birthday Sir Francis Bacon!
See my 2009 post “Happy Birthday, Sir Francis Bacon.”
He is one that people interested in science and mathematics should study. I’d recommend that homeschoolers have their children read some of his works, when age- and developmentally-appropriate. If someone has not learned induction, they have not learned science.
“How Did You Die?” by Edmund Vance Cooke
Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, trouble’s a ton, or trouble’s an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it.
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?
You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what’s that?
Come up with a smiling face.
January 21, 2010
A Belated Happy Birthday To Edgar Allan Poe
See my 2009 post “Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe.”
For the SAT and ACT takers, his material is good to read and study to learn about language, grammar, and style. His work is good to study for an education, in general.
Hillel the Elder: A Quote
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?”
Source: Wikipedia entry on Hillel the Elder.
Update (9:37 AM): This is a quote we should all take to heart. We should be principled and fundamentally independent in our thinking and in our pursuit of happiness, material prosperity, and life. Because life and reason are worth it. And we should take it serious now, not put it all off for some imaginary future time.
January 18, 2010
The Graphing Calculator
Mathbits has some good information on how to use the TI-89 and how to use the TI-83/84. Valuable stuff for those taking math or getting ready for the SAT or ACT.
Update (1-21-10, 9:32 AM): I highly recommend that you be fluent with a graphing calculator for the tests. The test makers might say that the calculator might help, might not, and might slow you down, but they are talking to a general audience, including people who do not know how to use a calculator, people who are trying to use one they are unfamiliar with, and people who do not know how to use the graphing calculator effectively on the tests. The fact is that the calculator can make some of the questions, even some of the ones rated “hard,” virtually brainless; it makes it possible to get some easy points on the SAT, ACT, TAKS, and AP exams.
