Is Cursive Writing an Essential Skill?

I think it is time to abandon teaching this antiquated and seldom used method of writing.

What would signatures look like if/when this happens? I'm thinking they will not just be block letters, but maybe each person kinda develop their own custom method of signing documents and letters.

Your thoughts?

Globe Worn

They still have this giant globe at the Downtown Library. I can remember the worn spot where Cincinnati should be from visiting as a kid:

CPS Photocopy Budget

What is up with the restriction on teachers making Xerox copies at Cincinnati Public schools?

I've noticed that our children's teachers refer to this often. For example, yesterday, I received a notice from my daughter's teacher that stated:

"My copy budget is limited thus your child will only receive one sheet of math homework per week instead of five."

WHAT!!??

Does this make any sense at all? Has anyone else dealt with this in their school?

Do some parents donate paper and toner? Should we return to use of the mimeograph?

Also, the Enquirer has an article today on one of my other pet peeves: short lunch periods. It is so frustrating when the kids bring full lunchboxes back home. I think a parent at our kid's school brought a proposal to the CPS school board that would mandate longer lunches, but they decided to leave it up to each principal.

Intersection Density

The Power of Intersection Density

Intersection density is the number of intersections in an area. It corresponds closely to block size — the greater the intersection density, the smaller the blocks. Small blocks make a neighborhood walkable.

...Of all the built environment measurements, intersection density has the largest effect on walking — more than population density, distance to a store, distance to a transit stop, or jobs within one mile. Intersection density also has large effects on transit use and the amount of driving...

Continued here

End of Feminism - Are Men Needed?

In my parent's generation, a single paycheck usually was enough to support the family. This allowed more for a more relaxed child rearing situation, and it also had a built-in saftey mechanism in that in rough times, the mother could pitch in to make ends meet. Today families need both full-time incomes to make ends meet and if one parent loses their job the result can be foreclosure. Couples today work more hours for less stability.

I've recognized these issues, but this article goes further along the path wondering what the growing strength of women in the workforce will do to the family structure:

Childrearing and marriage are no longer connected

...In 1970, women contributed 2 to 6 percent of the family income. Now the typical working wife brings home 42.2 percent, and four in 10 mothers...are the primary breadwinners in their families...

... it is going to become more common for women to have children outside marriage. But this doesn't mean you're necessarily going to see a rise in single motherhood. Women will be free to experiment with many different kinds of parenting arrangements, from raising children alone or with a female partner, to raising them in an extended family.

More reproductive freedom does not mean women will want to lead non-traditional lives or abandon their families. In twenty years, a woman might decide she wants children, but instead of getting married she wants to live with her parents and grandparents. Because she has the income to pay for her child's needs, and to contribute to the family home, she now has the freedom to choose this option.

...We may return to arrangements that look a lot like what people had over a century ago, when servants and nannies took care of middle-class homes while the middle- and upper-classes ran countries and businesses. Except this time around, women's incomes will be what allows a household to afford its servants. (Remember, the wealthiest families are dual-income.)

...In a future where women workers report to women bosses, fewer and fewer women are going to feel that they share a common social status with their sisters. In fact, female nurses might feel like they have more in common with male nurses than they do with the female hospital administrators who treat them like crap and cut their hours.

Women's equality with men may spell an end to women's solidarity with each other. But women will forge new alliances - ones that have nothing to do with gender. And maybe that isn't so much the end of feminism, but the beginning of a world that no longer needs it.

As a side, look at some famous man-caves.

Janis

the only


An album I just found, that I had never seen before:

Holding Company video:

Brick Walls OTR

Random stuff from past 2 days

layers of paint

bangs

kicking it

new storefront going in on Vine

Shift Toward Urbanism Predicted

Harvard Business Review says shift toward urbanism is imminent and business must plan for it:

...companies are getting a jump on a major cultural and demographic shift away from suburban sprawl. The change is imminent, and businesses that don’t understand and plan for it may suffer in the long run.

...“In the 1950s, suburbs were the future, the city was then seen as a dingy environment. But today it’s these urban neighborhoods that are exciting and diverse and exploding with growth.”

.. partly a reaction to real problems created by suburbs. Their damage to quality of life is well chronicled...

..the trends ... are part of broader recent changes businesses already accept: the shift to an experience economy, consumers’ and employees’ demands for greater corporate social responsibility, an emphasis on work/life balance, and the importance of interaction between companies and their customers. The demographic aspect is simply the newest part of an ongoing conversation. Companies that recognize the larger trend, however, and seize the opportunities that it presents will contribute to its social impact—and may gain a competitive advantage in the process.

Archeological Digging

at Washington Park, where the playground was just removed:
 

I have no idea if they have found anything of interest.

Wood Floors and Gorilla Glue

I have an ongoing struggle with old floor boards that I am sure many readers also share. The problem in many of these old Cincinnati buildings is that the floor boards are a soft wood like pine or fir, maybe poplar, and they dent easily and sometimes they splinter. But the really annoying thing about them is the gaps between some of the boards.

I have noticed several ways these gaps have been repaired around the neighborhood. Some people use Bondo. This seems to work, but the Bondo is harder than the wood, and it certainly does not stain. Another method is to use a product called "part 50". This is a clear epoxy wherein you mix equal parts and pour it into the holes and it solidifies so that it looks like glass. They sell the stuff at Cincinnati Color. This is pretty cool, but can be very expensive and is really only appropriate for small dents and depressions.

Years ago, I experimented with wood epoxies like Abatron. These worked pretty well when repairing window sash, but again, it was pretty expensive not to mention time-consuming. I found out later that if the wood was that rotten, it was better to just get some new sash made to match. And that is an approach that some people take with the wood floors: cover them with new wood. However, I prefer to keep the old wood floors whenever possible. A new floor just doesn't have the character IMO.

Lately, I have been experimenting with Gorilla Glue. Gorilla glue is the duct tape of the modern handy man. To my wife's delight, I use it to fix everything from kid's shoes to broken dolls. The cool thing about Gorilla glue is that it expands into the recesses of the cracks and bonds very strongly to the wood, and seems to have the same flexibility of the wood. It also sands easily. The big negative is that when it expands, it leaves lots of air bubbles, which are not so good when trying to refinish a smooth floor. Below are some photos I took this week, while trying to repair a crack. I think the Gorilla Glue is great at solidifying the old loose boards, but I need something that is better for the final finish coat. Anyone have ideas?

staining the fill

wiping excess stain off

final look: