News in the Links

So basically the continuation of the whole political post was to elaborate on how much I disliked all the Republican candidates except for one, Mike Huckabee.

And then, yesterday, while perusing through Google reader, Lo and Behold, I found this. Needless to say, I'm now surprised at the endorsements from the homeschooling community despite the fact discussed in the linked post. You've got Michael Farris, the Harris twins, and anyone else that I can't think of off the top of my head. I know the former realizes the situation but am not sure about the latter. (yeah, two endorsements justifies naming the whole homeschooling community, lol...kidding. *someone grumbles about the fallacy of composition* not all homeschoolers support Huckabee) As to my personal opinion on the issue, I don't know what to think of him now...still figuring out the pro's and con's, long term effects, etc.

HT: Trivium Pursuit

On a more humorous note, if you enjoy a look at religious satire, this will definitely tickle the funny bone. Thanks to Colin for the link. ;)

*posts*

For the unidentifiable, anonymous commenter...

Finals week.

Prayers would be appreciated.

This week's list:

Synthesis paper [check]
Critical Dialogue paper [check]
Critique CD's [check]
Catch up with USH stuff [check]
Read all the theo final prep [check]
Submit student critique thingys [check]
Finish Paradise Lost [check...except for 100 or so pages. oh well.]
Try to read Samson Agonistes
Try to catch up with WestLit posting
Prep for other three finals [check]
USH Final [check!!!]
Logic Final [check...YEEHAW!!]
Theo Final [check]
Westlit Final [check :D ]

(not necessarily in that order)

All due by Friday. Now I realize why I don't write all this stuff down. *suddenly feels overwhelmed*

But God is still in control.

After this week: Christmas break here I come.

Politicking

Definitions, definitions, definitions...if there's anything debate taught me, it's to define my words...

politic |ˈpäləˌtik|

adjective
(of an action) seeming sensible and judicious under the circumstances : [with infinitive ] I did not think it politic to express my reservations.
• (also politick) archaic (of a person) prudent and sagacious.

verb ( -ticked |ˈpɑlətɪkt|, -ticking |ˈpɑlətɪkɪŋ|) [ intrans. ] [often as n. ] (politicking) often derogatory
engage in political activity : news of this unseemly politicking invariably leaks into the press.

Personally, I don't think the former (adj.) definition fits in line with what I'll write about, rather the latter (verb) rings true to the point. As of late, all my essay writing requires expository writing, such as no reference to personal preference, if you will, such as including the personal pronouns: we, I, them, you, etc; therefore it's nice to have some freedom with blog posting. Not that I don't like strictly expository writing, it's just that it becomes repetitive and rather tedious after while, with making sure that every...single...sentence...has no selfishness attached.

Now that's an interesting thought. Maybe someone can correlate someday how expository writing become a more Biblical position.

Of course, the difficultly for me in writing non-expository is that I tend to steer towards rambling writing. Such as now. Moving on...

So last week, my brother and I hunted the second season, and while he hunted Thursday through Saturday, I could only make it for Thursday because, once again, of school reasons. We headed over Wednesday so that we might be able to head out nice and early Thursday morning, but, like circumstances such as these, it didn't particularly work out that way. But my focus in this post won't be about the hunting. Rather, it will be about what occurred Wednesday evening: the Republican YouTube debates.

(for those interested in seeing the youtube debates go here: http://youtube.com/profile?user=ytdebates)

The evening started off like most others regarding the hunting season: we traveled over to Athens in two vehicles, rented a movie (or in this case bought, seeing as the business was going out of business), and then headed over to the grandparent's house. This time they actually had the movie we wanted to watch, so that was nice. Upon arrival, naturally we saw the movie...around two hours or so long, after which everyone went to bed...except me. I guess the staying-up-late-every-night affected my sleeping habits or something. ;) I flipped through the channels for about an hour or so, watching some Sci-Fi here, some 90's Nick @ Night there, until I noticed that CNN had the debates going on at around 11 or so. At first, I just skipped it, thinking that it wouldn't be worth it. But twenty minutes or so passed and finally the decision was made to watch it.

I thought it interesting that the Republican debate fell on one of the few nights I had access to satellite TV, and seeing as last time we hunted the Democrat debate (not a youtube one) aired, I guess the Lord thought it necessary I get the other side of the opinions, even though I had to stay up until one in the morning both times to hear those opinions. *cough* :D It was kinda humorous, in an abstract way, to see Clinton, Edwards, and Obama (yes, alphabetical order) verbally attack one another...otherwise known as mud-slinging.

Oh...it appears Descartes needs to be read...

This'll be finished next time. :D

Snow!

Yesterday we received our second official snow of the season, with the first being the Thanksgiving snow...


regardless of how this appears, Jacob decided not to throw the snowball at me


behold, Sam and King Louis XVI (pronounced Lou-ee)


i'm...dreaming of a white...Christmas...

Hunting

[time for some Christmas music]

About this whole hunting topic.

By the way, if the reader doesn't enjoy non-skinned deer, I definitely would not suggest looking at the pictures. Then again, that just might pique your interest and now you're scrolling to them. ;)

Thursday evening my brother and I traveled in separate vehicles over to our grandparent's house, and no, not because we bicker excessively or anything like that, but because the reason of me returning home early for school reasons. We went to bed at [blank] o'clock and woke Friday morning at around 4:15, only to head out at 4:45 to shot us some deer. Now please understand that seeing as the lack of sleep the night before made us quite tired, rest came upon us during those early morning hours. Rest, in this case, would be defined as something between the closing of the eyes and literal sleep. (I think Emil leans towards the latter part in explaining my case...personally I would differ...kinda) After about a hour and a half or so passed and, at around 6:50 AM, 3-4 deer passed by our blinds. To make a long story short, two of them were killed and the rest of the day was spent gutting, skinning, etc.

I think some people at church are trying to create shirts that has the following, "Emil Bandy Loves Bambi," printed on it.

Saturday morning unfolded the same as the day before, with the exception being no deer killed. Most of the morning was spent opening our eyes and, if not seeing any deer, promptly closing them. Although, I did shoot at a particular deer thrice without any success. I guess that's why we're not supposed to try at 150 yards with a shotgun, eh? ;)


the Bandy brothers with the catch


calling into DNR to register the deer


slowly but surely, Bambi is hoisted for the skinning


a liner for someone's coat?


the pulling down of the skin

After all the outside work concluded, the inside work began...


chopping up the tenderloins...or whatever the cut is


some of us tried to process more than just the deer meat


um...yeah


Emil and Grace celebrate the end of processing by polka-ing around the kitchen table

Hippy Papib Udihthurdaiy!!

We've another birthday folks and this time, it's Naomi's turn. Seven years of age she turns today (er, yesterday, I guess, looking at the time now), and those years have gone by quicker than I'd care to admit. I can still remember the day we drove to the hospital to see our new addition to the family...and for as long as I can remember, I've referred to her as my silly girl. ;) Of course, she tells me, "no, you're silly!" "No...you are!" "Nooo....you are, silly boy!" And...the conversation continues that way for a few minutes.

Here's some pictures from our evening:





Happy Birthday, Naomi!!!

Life

And...

we're back from hunting!

And...

unfortunately I don't have enough time to post about it! (besides this quick thing)

I'll try to get something up/incorporate blog-change suggestions over the next few days amidst paperizing/catching up with ush/posting/reading/quizzes/etc.

the winds of change

farewell to the old...

hello to the new.

thoughts, anyone, on the different template?

Happy Reformation Day!

While I'm procrastinating on my term papers (lovingly referred to as "arpy's" among DLers, and I do believe we've Jake to thank for that *grin*), I'll go ahead and write about what we did over the weekend.

Saturday was our first annual Reformation Day Faire for Providence Church, and while the day began dreary, it turned out bright and beautiful regardless of the forecast predicted by weather.com. (don't trust 'em ;) After rising nice and early in the morning, and after sweating bullets with how much stuff we had to bring, we took off for Sommer Park. We decided not to do any videos--I apologize. ;)

As part of our preparation, Dad made a set of stocks, which of course we brought with us on Saturday, despite using only smaller vehicles (our van was rear-ended and has been out of commission for the past few weeks as a result). The infamous Tetzel made sure we received our indulgences, followed promptly by the constable arresting us poor, unsuspecting victims with placement into those stocks as punishment--t'was quite fun, actually. Watching some of the people being arrested, that is.


he's...happy?


one of the more entertaining arrests


an elder of the church?! IN THE STOCKS?!?


whoopsie-daisy, looks like one of the ladies was caught with an indulgence


a few of the booths set up for the Faire

Also during the morning, an archery contest was proclaimed and those who were prepared for the event headed over to the nearby range:





And the feast...ohhh my goodness, there was tons of German-American food and all of it looked SO GOOD! Unfortunately, though, since we all are human and possess limited amounts of stomach space, only part of it was I able to eat. Mr. Price and Anna provided the entertainment of the Reformation Polka afterwards...




some of the guys engaged in what I'm sure was lively discussion

Here's more pictures of the afternoon:


i think this may be why there was cheering off in the distance *didn't take this one*


the boffer war viewed from afar


dancing!

More thoughts on the Faire can be viewed here, here, here, here, annnd here. Oh, and a video here. :D

...and a big ol' thank ye to all of those who assisted in taking these pictures throughout the day: Melinda, Sam, Jessica, Emil...whomever else that had my camera throughout the day...lol.

Daily Conversations

On the way home from church today...



...be sure to check Emil's blog every so often for another, shall we say, interesting sing-along. ;)

Beach Boys Karaoke

After a stressful day of stressful events, this is how we unwind:



Me singing main vocals, with Emil providing background vocals...

[on our way to a party--a big THANK YOU to the Higginson's for providing a temporary vehicle]

Country Dancing

So...last night we danced. :D

We started at 6:30-ish with something along the lines of an "introduction to dancing 101," meaning, we paired up, the instructor told us what to do, and we did it. Rather simple, yes? No. If you've ever seen us try to dance something we've never danced before, you would agree with that conclusion. Half of the time it felt like I was apologizing to the gals I danced with during the evening. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed our folk dancing, which included the three-some-dance-thing, that one gypsy-awkward-stare-in-the-eye dance, and then, of course, the Virginia Reel, which happens to be the only name I remember. Ah yes...and the polka. It was...interesting, although I stepped on Anna's feet once (sorry Anna!). After that Garrison and I danced the polka, which was...interesting as well. The evening concluded around 10, with all of us bidding each other an adieu...though I wish we took a video sometime with the camera I left out in the van...

[edit: more pictures here]

'Tis another Birthday!

Five years ago, a gal of the Bandy family was born into this world on September 25, 2002...

A little lady by the name of Ruth Esther...





Happy Birthday, Ruth!!

Epistemic Probability

First off, let's define the term so no confusion enters our minds:

epistemic probability (n): the likelihood that a statement is true, given the total evidence available to you--that is, given all of your background beliefs and experiences

henceforth referred to as "EP"

So I was reading part of my logic assignment last night and the section about EP came up after the first few pages elapsed, followed by some exercises one might do (thankfully no required exercises for this week *cheers for Prof. Erhard*). The exercise was the following:

Provide two statements to which most people would assign the following measure of EP...then a sample exercise and the correct answer, etc.

Well, the first thing on the list just happened to be "Certainly true." "Hmm," I thought, "what could be a nice example for this problem. Oh, I know...Republicans are better than Democrats. Yes...a perfect answer." The ramifications of this statement were rather obvious; the, ah, entertainment overall overrode this. But I realized a requirement for this statement to be true: "which most people would assign the following measure of EP." Not to be caught totally off-guard, the 2004 elections came to mind. George W. Bush won, did he not? And! with a majority vote in both the popular and electoral. We shan't, however, deal with current polls or such matters showing America to be non-approving of Bush...

Continuing on this line of thought (i.e., interesting and controversial), another example came to mind: the North beats the South any day, or...I don't think I'll go any further. ;)

(disclaimer: no, I did not submit these examples as an assignment)

And so go the fields...

After months of seeing only corn behind our house, the farmers proceeded to harvest their crops starting this week along our way of the prairie. Though I guess that means we'll be blinded by on-coming cars in the evening when playing outside...hm, oh well, I guess there's advantages and disadvantages to a situation like this. ;) Yet, overall, it's nice to know we've now countless acres to enjoy...


now to your center, folks, we've the combine, with a row of bushes hindering our sight. we apologize...it was the photographer's fault


watch closely as it approaches, making sure nothing is left behind and wasted, except, of course, for the corn that is left behind


we believe, at this point, the farmer wonders why on earth this kid is taking pictures of him


behold, my readers, the combine in all its glory

Quote of the Day

"Man shall not live by bread alone...

Eggplant Parmesan has taken over."

Labor Day

So, while the event of my little sister pinching my leg transpires, I now am able to post. :D (or, for a better explanation, Ruth sits at my feet with some hair pincher-things, squeezes my leg with them and asks, "Does this hurt, Ashton?" "Yes, Ruth, it hurts!")

Yesterday, we were all invited over to the McDonald's house for a blessed day of fellowship and working...unfortunately, though, I was unable to get pictures of the working part, so you'll have to visit Tiffany's or Jessica's blog for more information concerning that subject. ;) We spent most of our day cleaning up around the yard, setting up scaffolding, taking down trees, setting up fences, and stuff along those lines. And then, in the evening, we celebrated Mrs. McDonald's birthday, complete with banana pudding and a single candle on top. :D

Pictures of our evening:


Tiffany taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her, etc.


Melissa reading to Naomi and William


making the banana pudding


The Banana Pudding


beware the two fly-killers, armed with hidden fly swatters and purple-hued sunglasses


Grace, Sierra, and Jessica...all laughing at some random comment ;)


presenting The Banana Pudding unto the birthday lady


posing with the presents