reversed Converse

Whose feet are whose?


Two feet belong to me and two to JS.
Two feet are flat and two are very arched.
So confusing.

red and yellow, black and white...?

I found the greatest deal at Target the other day. On sale for $1.88! My only question is why they haven't been snatched up already?!

Behold, the Crayola Multicultural Crayons! Eight non-toxic large crayons!

Hey, while you're at it, you should try the Crayola Multicultural Washable Markers too! Apparently, they make it easier to color pictures of people in natural-looking marker colors! (not skin colors?)

What a find. Now I have six shades of brown-ish to choose from when drawing people, AND it comes with black and white colors, specifically for blending. So if one of my friends or family doesn't fit the six races that apparently exist in Crayola's world, I can create a new one by blending with black and white.

And really, should I be offended that they only picked six colors, and my skin tone didn't make the cut?

The Amazon page says:

Product Description
Create an inclusive world without cleanup fears using 8 washable skin-tone colors! AP (non-toxic).

Whew. I've spent my whole life caught between wanting an inclusive world, and fearing a marker mess. I finally found the solution!

One customer review reads:

...What is more important is expressing how important it is for schools to incorporate the multicultural coloring products into their classrooms. It is not easy to find these products outside of online and catalogue venues (which is unfortunate), however it is critical for young students of color (or Caucasian students, for that matter) to have a full range of options when asked (as they so often are) to draw themselves, their family, or their general community. The 10 shades offered here help them do that accurately.

The second parenthetical observation completely baffles me.

As do these crayons. Seriously.

she needs a blog of her own

The following was written by my now-twelve-year-old sister Emily. It was sent to my brother and sister and I. All I did was remove full names and italicize.

My Dear friends,
The committee of the flower news has decided to have a newspaper sent over e mail to the surviving children of D and K Schupack residing in the United States of America on the 20th of every month.
good day

FLOWER NEWS
D, D, C, AND E GO WITH SPECIAL GUEST ANDREW TO VISIT THE HIGHEST PEAK IN EUROPE
The trip was originally planed for Andrew and D only, but after missing their cheapest form of transport, the marshrutka, and discovering that they would have to go to the expense of paying for a taxi, they invited the girls to join them on their trip. The children readily agreed and the adventure began.

Everyone piled into the car belonging to a nice 59 year old Armenian orthodox Christian named Borya (Boris). During the two-hour trip to Elbrus we were able to take some excellent pictures of the humongo hills. As we neared our destination we began to fear, for the weather was turning fowl. When we arrived our fears were confirmed: the snow was almost knee deep, it was cold, it was VERY windy and it was snowing as hard as it could without being a blizzard. Added to that we were under-dressed, and it was no wonder we didn't stay more than an hour. We fought our way to a nearby building and recovered sufficiently to use the unsanitary restrooms, eat the snacks Mrs. Schupack had given us and leave for home.

On the way back we stopped two times and had some adventures by the river Baksan. Here are fotos from our lovely trip:

Disappointed at the Elbrus lodge:


Our sputnik, Brat Andrei iz Anglii [translation: Our adventurer, Brother Andrew from England]:



Sincerely,
The Flower News Committee: Emily, Dina and Carrie

from NorCal to Norman

My spring break visitor hails from Kazakhstan, via Northern California. That is to say, my friend Rachel who went to high school with me is here for a visit. She has never been to Oklahoma before, but she says she likes it. "It's not pretentious," were her words, I believe.

I got her the shirt to help her fit in. Then I patiently went over what a Sooner is, why we would want to be called Sooners, what the Sooner Schooner is, and how you can say "Go Sooners" or "Boomer Sooner" but you can't say "Go Boomer Sooner." We also wondered together what exactly a Boomer is and why we aren't Boomers.

She learns pretty quickly, I'd say, for a Californian:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........


U!

some words

The last almost two years at RUF have taught me to appreciate and then love the hymns that we sing, unfamiliar, wordy and awkward as they seemed at first. I own and listen to Indelible Grace music often. Their hymns speak truths directly that are too often avoided or trivialized.

One of my new favorites that, I think, can never be not relevant:

Whate'er My God Ordains is Right,
Holy His will abideth.
I will be still whate'er He does,
And follow where He guideth.
He is my God, though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall,
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate'er my God ordains is right,
He never will deceive me,
He leads me by the proper path,
I know He will not leave me,
I take, content, what He hath sent,
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate'er my God ordains is right,
Here shall my stand be taken.
Though sorrow, need or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My God is true, each morn anew,
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

part two

sister RM around 1991


my mom around 1968

family resemblance

Isaac, 2008:

My dad. 1964, maybe?

something new every day

This is what I learned today in Russian class.

the Russian is ever in search of self-realization. A Russian man has three milestones to reach in order to attain this goal. The Russian man must, in the course of his lifetime:
- build a house
- plant a tree
- father a son

The Russian woman has two milestones. To achieve self-realization, she must
- get married
- birth/raise children (the more the better!)

why can't all societies be this simple...