Bfth's Boring Blog

If you live in the USA (as well as many other countries, but certainly not all), you have the right to express yourself.  Freedom of speech is a cherished right.  This freedom includes the rights (and I took this directly from the uscourts.gov website):   Not to speak (specifically, the right not to salute the flag),  of students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war (“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.”) and t o engage in symbolic speech, (e.g., burning the flag in protest). It does NOT include the right: to  incite actions that would harm others (e.g., “[S]hout[ing] ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.”) or t o make or distribute obscene materials.  The above does not cover everything, but it gives a basic overview/common sense idea of what it means to have free speech. We are blessed to have this freedom.  Men and women have died for this freedom.  (Something we should have all thought about this past Memorial Day.)  It's a fr

If you didn't read part one, you should:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/10-albums-part-1-early-years.html .  Remember, these are not just albums that I listened to "back then" but they are also albums/songs that are still in my current playlist rotation.  (If this was just a list of albums that I listened to "back then" and made an impact on me this list would go on and on and on...) If you know me personally (and maybe even if you don't) you were probably surprised at what WASN'T on the part 1 list.  That's because I was a "late bloomer" when it comes to my favorite musician and band so let's get right to it:  It was the first McCartney/Wings album I bought.  To this day I have no idea WHY I bought it.  (Cover art was a big thing for me back then and this certainly isn't the type of thing that would usually suck me in.)  I bought it (Korvettes...lower level is where the albums were and where you could find me

My son is celebrating his confirmation this weekend.  (He and the 3 other young adults actually joined the church 2 Sundays ago, but the official celebration is the 20th).  One of the things he and his fellow confirmands (yes, that's a word) had to do was write a statement of faith.  That was NOT something I had to do when I was confirmed.  (Actually I don't think I really had to do anything...which upon reflection is not a good thing.)  His statement was brief, but clear and well thought out. All of which got me to thinking...I SHOULD write my own statement of faith.  I had to think about it for a LONG time before I could commit anything to paper (or blog, as the case may be).  The truth is that while I believe myself to be a good Christian/human being and try to stay faithful to God's Word (as I hear/understand it), I DO have trust issues.  Even trusting in the Lord can be challenge for me.  My husband has even said, for a "religious" person, you don

You want a "rap battle"?  Well here you go. Though you think I'm old, dumb and slow. You want to show off in front of a crowd. Don't care about family or making them proud. You care about style and the way that you look. But when it comes to school, you close the book. When you talk to us you lie, lie, lie. Are you happy when dad and mom cry? You say the words; I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But your actions say something else to me. Words out of your mouth are lies, lies, lies. Once again tears fill my eyes. When it comes to looks you DO care, to be "cool" you'd take any dare. It's important for you to look "great," But when it comes to school work, you're filled with hate. You laugh with your "friends," treat your parents with scorn. Study for five minutes then look at some porn. When it comes to life, we want you to do well, You do what you want, tell us to go to hell. When you talk to us you lie, lie

So there's this social media thing going on about posting 10 albums that made an impact and are in still your rotation.  (For those of you not old enough, albums were compilations of songs either on a vinyl lp [long playing record], cassette  or compact disc...all of these were modes of listening to/getting music way long ago and these thing had to be bought...unless you had a cassette player that recorded and you "captured" music by taping it off the radio by holding your recorder next to the radio or you had a dual cassette tape player where you could play one tape and record off of it while it played.  Long ago...so long ago...)  Coming up with 10 albums is next to impossible for me, so I decided to to this blog post and give you 10 albums with an some explanation that covered the early/pre-teen years of my life.  If it goes well, who knows maybe I'll get into the teen years and beyond, but for now I give you: My first exposure to music comes from my mother.  A

As the day winds down, be you mother or not, take a look to the east.   From the high tops of my town you can see the Empire State Building. The building has been lit up in a variety of colors for a variety of reasons and on this Mother’s Day it will be lit up in teal. Why teal?   If you’ve read any of my teal pumpkin posts ( http://www.myveronanj.com/2017/10/30/the-color-of-halloween/ ), you may remember that teal is the color for food allergy awareness.   May 13 th starts the beginning of Food Allergy Awareness week. The Empire State Building is not the only landmark that will be raising awareness with teal light.   If you happen to be in West Virginia check out the Elk River Bridge.   In Oklahoma the Skydance Bridge will be awash in teal on the 13 th .   The Orlando Eye will turn teal on the 18 th as well the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.   But there are many, many more.   (A complete listing can be found:   https://www.turnitteal.org/?tr=y&auid=16690449 ).

I love my son!  I like my son!  I adore my son!  (But there are times when I want to kill my son!) And I'm happy to announce that I am a BRILLIANT mom!  BRILLIANT! I am brilliant because I have just figured out the source of all ills when it comes my tween son.  (Get those nomination forms out for the Nobel Prize and I'll start writing my acceptance speech as soon as I finish this blog post.) It all comes down to following directions.  (Not just verbal and written directions, but implied directions as well!) Following directions...it would make everyone's life so much easier. There would be no trust or safety issues because he would be following directions.  Hanging out with his friends after dinner?  No problem.  He follow directions and by doing so lets me know where he is and will be home at the time I specified. No more anger or upset about school work or grades.  When he follows directions he does all his homework/schoolwork and his grades refle

Austin Brower Cohen Craig Crawford Curcio DePietro Fahy Hansen Hughes Joenke King Kistner Lamb Lozauskas Luks Lynch Messer Moss Nadler Nelesnick Ringle Roth Roberts Rotella Rudolph Sabates Schmaus Skorski Strauss Stiefbold Strazza Sutter Varallo Wacker Williams Young These are names that I pulled out of my head (and then had Word alphabetize).  I didn't cheat and look them up on line.  I didn't go old school and  look them up in a book.  I remembered them.  Maybe I didn't spell them all correctly, but I remembered them.  (And I purposely did not go back and check yearbooks to make sure I got everything correct; I wanted this to be from my memory for better or worse.) It's pretty obvious that they are last names.  For some I know the first names, but for the majority they were Mr., Mrs. or Miss. Or in a couple of cases Senora, Senorita or Madam. Those names represent most (not all; I'm not

I n our district, spring time doesn't mean warm weather, flowers blooming and the excitement that builds as we get closer to summer (and summer break).  It means it's time for that CCRAP again. CCRAP is unrealistic.  We all know that, and yet it continues on.  It tears precious time out of the classroom where kids could actually be learning (and maybe even ENJOYING) something (anything!) and shoves them in front of computers where they answer pointless questions in order to get scores that show how good the school district is (or isn't) and how ready they are for college and careers.  (REALLY??? It's ridiculous in my book for a high school student, but for middle school and/or elementary???) But what do I know...I'm just a parent? A parent who went to school and graduated.  (Not top of the class, but not bottom either.)  A parent who went to college and graduated.  (Not top of the class, but not bottom either.)  A parent who works outside of the home to pa