Skip to main content

When I was your age...

The other day Michael and I were explaining something to Amanda about how things used to be when we grew up.  We may have been talking about the reason I still call books that someone reads aloud "books on tape" or "books on CD," even though the books are now collections of electrons on my phone.

Eleanor looked at Amanda and piped up in a crotchety, wavery voice, "When I was your age..."  I expected her to continue with something like, "I walked 5 miles uphill to school. In the snow. Both ways!"  Or, "We liked it!  Because we didn't know any better!"  Or, "When I was a boy, TV was called books!" These are some responses Michael and I use while talking about "the good old days."

But Eleanor continued, "When I was your age, I was ten!"

It is possible that you had to be there.  I still find it funny.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My hero, Helen Parr

Otherwise known as Elastigirl , a.k.a Mrs. Incredible. She is a stay at home mom ( SAHM ), she clearly feels that what she is doing is important and is willing to give up a lot to do it (remember her comment in the intro: "I'm at the top of my game! Leave saving the world to the guys? I don't think so.") But she is finding fulfillment in leading her family from day to day, in doing a hard job well. She also knows that she is very talented, and that knowledge helps her see beyond the repetitive drudgery of staying home. My favorite scene is from the deleted introduction, where she talks with a "career woman" who is of the opinion that staying home is fine for people who can't do anything else. She responds that taking care of her kid is at least as hard as saving the world, and is valuable contribution to society. The point for me is that someone has to do the job that I'm doing, and it's not something that you could pay someone to do. I see...
8 comments
Read more

Why you should study the history of math

  Why you should study the history of math In the mid 1300s a fad made its way around Italy. Mathematicians would challenge each other to “mathematical duels”. They would post problems for their opponents to solve, sometimes along with their solutions in coded poetry. The winners would get support and funding from rich patrons, the losers would descend into obscurity. One such contest, between Fiore and Tartaglia, involved a new method for solving the cubic. In order to win, Tartaglia worked day and night to find Fiore’s method---unfortunately, Fiore did not do the same and only knew his own method and no others. (*Recall that the formula for solutions to quadratic equations of the form use the quadratic formula, Giorlamo Cardano---physician, philosopher, astrologer and mathematician---convinced Tartaglia to share his method and promised never to reveal it. Then Cardano figured out a more general method, and wanted to share it, but was blocked by his promises. Fortunately (for Ca...
Post a Comment
Read more

Comfortable

Last night Amanda was sent to bed early for gross insubordination. I did snuggle with her for a bit, but then went to wash dishes and other exciting stuff. When I came upstairs, 20 minutes after her usual bedtime, she was still awake and flopping around. "Amanda, are you comfortable?" I asked. "No," came the answer. "What do you need?" I asked, thinking she wanted water, to be tucked in, her doll, something like that. "A mama," she answered. I could do something about that. I snuggled her for about 5 minutes and she fell fast asleep.
2 comments
Read more