Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Monday, September 29, 2008

Heads or Tails: A Dog That Shakes Off Predators

This very large Turkish guard dog protects the alpacas on the Cedar Brook Alpaca Farm from predators. He patrols the paddocks all night and sleeps all day. He was awake on Saturday because it was Open House at the farm. The dog chases off coyotes and other predators that attack alapacas. He has a large warm barn and a large run for the day time. There are signs on his fence warning people to stay clear of him because he is very protective of his alpacas.
My Cedar Brook Alpaca Farm Set on Flickr.
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Cats Tuesday: How Cats Come Down Trees

Here is Zorro coming down the apple tree. I love the photos because they show how he uses his claws to grip the tree. I love his eyes and his black coat. All these years I have wondered if cats use their claws coming down trees and now I know!



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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Camera Critters: An Alpaca

This was Open House weekend at alpaca farms all over the country. We visited the Cedar Brook Alpaca Farm in Irasburg. This female alpaca (a hembra) just had a drink of water. In her paddock were only females and crias (babies).

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Blog Your Blessings: Autumn in Vermont

Nuff said.
My Shadow Lake Set on Flickr.
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Friday, September 26, 2008

LOL Cat Bible: Lectionary Readings for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-9 (Ps. 25:6)
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32
Semicontinuous series
Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 (Ps. 78:4)
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32




Psalm 25
Here be of Davidz

1 ::hands ceiling cat a cookie::
2 I puts my stuff wiff u, k Ceiling Cat? don let me be pwned, an don let my enemies pwn me.
3 No an whos hope iz in u will evah be pwned, but dey will be put to shamez who are haterz wid no excuse.
4 Shows mz how toodoo it CEILING CAT lern me da wayz ofz duncle.
5 guide mz in da WURD and lern me, for you iz da CEILING CAT wha safeda me, caz aim contzin on ya from mornen to twelve.
6 dont fo get CEILING CAT, yourz groovay honey and suga, for tha ar fom of zda golden oldeez.
7 dont look atz my bads, o myz cars, butz at da bath tub we i am rinsdz dza badz outz da home indza wall de be for for yuo da man o CEILING CAT.

14 CEILING CAT confidez in themz who phe4r him; ee shewz them his harbls
15 My eyez ar evah on teh CEILING CAT, for only ee noz when I fwap.

Philippians 2: 1-13
Ceiling Cat jr. iz not teh selfish

1 Ifz bein wit teh Ceiling Cat maeks uz happee, an ifz uz feelz all warm and fzuzy cuz he wubs uz, an ifz uz spendz happee play tiemz wit deh Ceiling Cat, an ifz uz feelz all warm, fzuzy, nd poop toawrdz ohter cats,
2 Tehn uz can maekz mi happee by knot fyting wif ohter cats hoo ar freindz wif teh Ceiling Cat, an try two agrie wif eahc ohter, an wurkz twogehter an stuf. Srsly.
3 Dun bee selfihs, an dun luk in teh meeror and say, "Oh Hai! u iz best lukin wun aroun!" Inzted, luk at ohterz an say, "U iz wey mor awesum tahn mi. J00 r0x0rz."
4 Dun get teh catnipz jus fer urselfz, get sum fer everywunz.
5 U shud tihnk liek teh Baby Jeebus:
6 Hoo wuz teh saem as Ceiling Cat, yet nut robber, but deesidid knot to stey up dere
7 an maed himzelf jus liek uss, becumin not Ceiling Cat no mor:
8 Him wuz pretend lessr, nd obeyed thingz til deaf of cross.
9 So Ceiling Cat sez to him, "UZ AWESUM! lol" and callz him nice namez,
10 so dat wen we hears hiz nice namez, we bow at nee nd givez him all deh cheezburgerz, whether we findz dem in teh sky or on teh ground or in teh cavez,
11 and we all sez, "UZ AWESUM! UZ CEILING CAT JR! CEILING CAT ROX!"

Dey can see dat uz frienz wif Ceiling Cat
12 Uz all mai frienz, and Iz knoz uz alwayz gud kittehz, and uz not jus liek dat wen Iz around, but also when on vacashun. Go ahed wif wat uz startedz and stay frienz wif teh Ceiling Cat, but be afraidz cuz u kno him can pwn u.
13 Teh reazun u all gud kittehz is cuz Ceiling Cat maekz u gud kittehz.

Jeezus coms tuh grapz heepz an getz ahss
1 An den Jeezus got intuh Bethphage clos ta Jerusalem. Dey werz on a heepz ov salty grapz. Den hee sed go to too kitty jeezezes.
2 He dun toldzem. Goto dem hutz and fine some ass and a fillee; bring herz to me.
3 An if deez gize giv yuh guff. Yo meau. Baybee-Ceiling-Cat Jeebas wantz em. Hee wilz shutz up den.
4 It allz happenz lik hee sed. Lik hee haz seez duh fyoocher an sez so.

Dis Pararaable iz Two Kittehz Pararaable
28 Jebus sayed "A naiz hooman had two kittehz. Him sayz to first kitteh, 'good kitteh, yu goes outside nao.'
29 " 'DO NOT WANT! iz rainz,' teh kitteh sayz bak. But later is sunni so kitteh goes outside.
30 "Den hooman sayz other kitteh 'yu goes outside nao'. Dis kitteh says, 'okbai'. But dis kitteh don't goed outside, kitteh hides under bed.
31 "Which kitteh iz bestest kitteh?" is Jebus trix kwestshun. "wtf dis meanz?" disaiplz askd. Jebus sayed, "I sayz srsly, yu is all dum ass, da tax hoomanz, and Romens, and gud jewz, and bad jewz, and fat peepl, and Samariarntans and hookerz are goes up to ceiling before of yuz. srykthnxbai.
32 John showded yu to be good kitteh, and yuz did not want. Da tax hoomanz, and Romens, and gud jewz, and bad jewz, and fat peepl, and cheesemakers, and greeks hookerz dided. And even after yuz saw this, yu still dum ass, srsly.

Exodus 17:1-16
Water frum Roks

1 awl teh izrelites left teh sandbocks of bad, An tehy moovd arownd wehn Ceiling Cat say so. tehy mayd camp at Rephidim, but tehr no were water.
2 so teh peepls complaned too Moses An say "gives us waters!!!"
Moses say, "why y00 complane? is y00 giv Ceiling Cat pop quiz?"
3 but teh peepls wus reely therstee An tehy keeped complanes to Moses. tehy say "why u taked us owt of egypp? y00 wanna kill us An ar baybees An ar moocows from therstee?"
4 so Moses prayd to Ceiling Cat An say "wut i d00 wif teh peepls? tehy gonna frow roks at me soon!"
5 Ceiling Cat say to Moses "tayk sum izrelite leedrs An go in front of peepls. dont furget yor stik!
6 Iz gonna stan in frunt o y00 on a rok at Mount Sinai. hit teh rok wif teh stik, An waters come owt." So Moses did taht wehn teh izrelite leedrs wachd.
7 tehn taht playse wer calld Massah An Meribah cuz the izrelites complaned An gayv Ceiling Cat pop kwiz an akxed "is Ceiling Cat tehre?"

Go too War wif Amalekites!!1!
8 Amalekites caym An attakk izrelites at Rephidim!!1! teh Amalekites r not reely kites. tehy danjrus.
9 Moses say to Joshua "pik owt sum warryurs An armei d00ds to fite teh Amalekites tmorow. Iz gonna stan on teh hill ovr tehre wif my stik."
10 Joshua doed wut Moses say An he went to fite teh Amalekites. Moses An Aaron An Hur went to top of teh hill.
11 wehn Moses holded his arms up teh izrelites winned An wehn he put his arms down teh Amalekites winned.
12 Moseses arms gotted tired. so Aaron An Hur gayv him a big rok to sit on An tehy standed nex to him An holded up his arms til sun goed down.
13 so Joshua ttly winned over Amalekites.
14 tehn Ceiling Cat say to Moses, "write teh storei of teh win, so teh peepls rememer it frever. An say to Josh taht iz gonna destroy Amalekites."
15 Moses builded a altar An it had name "Ceiling Cat is my flag."
16 he say "hold up flag ov Ceiling Cat reely hi!! Ceiling Cat fite gainst Amalekites!!"

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Weekend Cat Events

Get ready now cuz the wild weekend is coming!

Board the Friday Ark at the The Modulator
(submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging
is hosted by Mom Robyn & the Hotties at Crystals and Jewlery

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos
is hosted by Salome at the Catboys Realm
it’s hers first hosting and she chose LOL CAT as theme, please join in the fun!
(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats
takes place Sunday evening at Chey’s Place
(submit your post here)


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Fractal Friday: Symmetry



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Monday, September 22, 2008

Cats Tuesday: George Loves Matt Best

Amelia's friend Matt moved in with us this summer. George moved in with us in May. George loved me so much . . . . until Matt came. Now I am second best, but only when Matt isn't around. As soon as he comes home, George runs to him, naps with him, kisses and head butts him. He even allowed Matt to hold him like you see here. You can see how George has gained weight. In fact, he's gaining a tummy now! He is extraordinarily clean and his fur is lush.

George has a few idiosyncrasies: he eats his kills; he will use a litter box but only in emergencies — he prefers to dig holes all over the front yard. He will go out in the rain and doesn't mind being soaked to his skin (although he has begun to show signs of sleeping through bad weather days lately!). He comes when he is called and when he wants in, he jumps on the railing outside and looks in the window. Every morning George goes out and sprays the brush on the perimeter of the house yards. He never sprays in the house. Buddy then goes outside and sprays where George sprays! Like Buddy, George loves to take walks in the woods with his people. His purr is a deep, mancatly rolling purr. And Mouse? Our scary, high-handed, dictatorial matriarch? She has almost accepted him!

George has become the perfect cat and we are glad he dropped in.

Thank you for stopping by!
To visit other participants, visit Gattina
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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Blog Your Blessings: Extrinsic Motivators

The weather has been beautiful this weekend and I have been stuck inside studying (and moaning about it) — although I did get outside for some great photos yesterday morning; this photo is Sentinel Rock, a glacial erratic in Westmore. I took a class this summer (Teaching Mathematics to ADD/ADHD/LD Students, paid by my contract) and am now taking two six week workshops (Tools for Building Math Concepts and Algebraic Reasoning at the Math Forum, both paid for by the National Science Foundation). Instead of doing my homework during the rainy season in August, I am forced to do it now. I love doing the assignments — so why didn't I? 

This year we are required to write professional goals for ourselves at school. I am going to read Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics by Liping Ma and Fostering Algebraic Thinking by Mark Driscoll. I've had these books for ages and have not read them. Books such as these energize and enrich my teaching and I find them fascinating. So why didn't I read them? 

My final blessing is my camera — an intrinsic motivator. Over the years, the camera has become a comforting companion for me. Behind the view finder I find focus and purpose beyond my professional life. This week I was finally published in Humanities (September/October 2008, page 19) — the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The photo is of the round barn at the Shelburne Museum that I took on a school field trip a year and a half ago. The photo is not in the online edition of the magazine, but the print edition has my name on it. I think I want to subscribe to this beautiful magazine out of thanks, but it costs $24 a year. I want to thank Maria Biernik at NEH for finding and using the photo.

My motivators — extrinsic and intrinsic — enrich my life.

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Camera Critters: More Cows

While out photographing on Saturday I ran across this herd of Holsteins grazing in the woods on Hinton Hill Road in Westmore. I found these amusing shots in the camera when I got home. I hope you enjoy them. 





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Friday, September 19, 2008

Photo Hunters: Barton Granite Railroad Overpass Supports

At Harrison Avenue next to the Bank Block

The supports for the railroad overpasses in the village were made from granite from the Barton granite quarries (approximately 1888 - 1930).

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Friday Fractal: How Fractals Can Explain What's Wrong with Wall Street: Scientific American

MATH OR ART?: This Mandelbrot set with colored environment. Each pixel is associated with a certain sequence of complex numbers. The index for which the absolute value of all following numbers exceed 1000 increases from each colored stripe to the next towards the Mandelbrot set by the amount of 1. Created by Wolfgang Beyer with the program Ultra Fractal 3.

Read this fascinating article about how "the geometry that describes the shape of coastlines and the patterns of galaxies also elucidates how stock prices soar and plummet" by Benoit B. Mandelbrot himself.


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