Person #1:  I can’t name any baseball players besides Babe Ruth and the one who got what’s-it disease.

Person #2:  …Lou Gehrig?

I’ve seen this before, and I cry every time.  Copious amounts of tears.

At every homeschool orchestra rehearsal, I ask the students a get-to-know-you question. There are only 10 kids in the ensemble, so it’s a small enough group to hear everyone’s answer without wasting an unreasonable amount of time. Also, it’s important to me to give them a choice between two related questions, so they don’t feel locked into answering a question they’d rather not talk about (for whatever reason).

Some questions I’ve asked in the past:
— What is your favorite vacation spot? OR… What is the farthest place from Lincoln you’ve visited?
— [Post-Christmas] What was the best gift you got for Christmas? OR… What was the best gift you gave for Christmas?
— What is something you’ve learned recently? OR… What is something you’d like to learn about?
— What is your favorite book? OR… What is your favorite movie?

The only get-to-know-you info I asked about without giving them an alternate choice was:

— Think of a scar you have on your body, and tell us how you got it.

This question is one that I’ve used before, and it has always successfully gotten everyone to talk. I don’t know what it is, but people love talking about how they almost died, how their brother made them break their arm, or why they had to get 16 stitches.

So, I’m wondering if you, gentle readers, have any suggestions of questions I could ask these students. I’m having a bit more trouble coming up with them as we approach the end of the semester. Do you have any cool ideas?

Also, feel free to talk about your own scars in the comment section.

Props to my sister Bess for the image used in my new header.

Person #1:  So I got a different type of deodorant this week.  I’m still getting used to it.

Person #2 [Anne]:  Do you like it?

#1:  I’m not sure… I’m still getting used to it.

#2:  Is it just a different scent, or is it a different type?

#1:  Well, both.  It’s a completely different brand than I was using before.

Person #3:  You should definitely keep us posted on this topic.  Maybe you could blog about it.

I know it’s sometimes tiresome to listen to people tell about their dreams, but hear me out. I want your opinion. Last night in my dream, someone was talking about the band Men At Work. Someone else responded, “Oh, yeah! Colin Firth is in that band!” I scoffed and thought to myself, “Colin Firth is an actor. Colin Hay was in Men at Work.”

So here’s the dilemma. I pretty much see this dream-moment as having one of two explanations. Obviously, since it was my dream, the entire conversation came from my own thoughts, so here are the possibilities I came up with.

1) Was my brain actually confused about which Colin was in Men At Work? Did I remember wrongly and then correct myself? Was I tentative about it being Colin Firth in the first place, so I “gave the line” to that other person in my dream?

-OR-

2) Did I know it was Colin Hay all along, and the “script” I wrote for my dream just included a little joke?

Pastor Stu told us about this video in Sunday School today.  It’s truly incredible.

My first-grade class was doing a program on “The Alphabet.” I was starring as the letter “O.” I don’t actually remember anything about the show, but it must have been a great part. I mean — “O!” One of only five vowels. Not just anyone can pull off such a demanding role, I’m sure.

Well, the kids who were to appear as the letters of the alphabet were supposed to bring a white t-shirt from home. On the front of the t-shirt, we were to paint the upper-case version of our letter, and the back would be the lower-case version. I’m sure I totally forgot to tell Mom about the “bring a t-shirt from home” assignment. The morning it was due, though, I remembered. I looked through my clothes and couldn’t find a plain white t-shirt. Ah, but I knew that my sister Kate had a white t-shirt.

“Kate, can I borrow your white shirt?” I’m sure I asked her very politely.

“Sure, Anne,” she responded without a second thought. She didn’t stop to think about the fact that I didn’t wear the t-shirt that day, I took it to school in my backpack.

At school that day, I painted an awesome couple of Os on the shirt. When I brought it home later that week and Kate found out what I’d done, she flipped out. I remember that her reaction really surprised me. I think I figured that it wouldn’t be a problem since it was a school project. After all, it wasn’t my idea, it was my teacher’s. Well, at any rate, the t-shirt (or rather, the o-shirt) from that day forward was a part of my wardrobe. I have no idea of Mom ever got Kate a replacement white t-shirt, or if I even got in trouble.

Heck, I don’t even know if the performance was any good. How great can a show about “The Alphabet” be?

Epilogue: A few years ago for my birthday, Kate made me some presents at Paint Yourself Silly. One of the presents was a little ceramic t-shirt with a purple letter O painted on it.

Here’s a picture of me wearing the o-shirt: