cornerofmadness

probably because grading tests makes me cry. I will actually have to curve this since one class had only three people pass out of 25. (the other class did better)

So the parents came for the weekend and weren’t in a good mood when they got here so I was annoyed. Luckily they settled down (mostly someone was being a jerk for not getting his way) and we almost immediately went to the Bob Evans Farm Festival. There are just so many crafts there. Dad was a little bored but at least now he can see some of the things he can do (dollhouses and furniture dad, start making and ebaying). Mom and I garnered a lot of ideas for our own crafts. A lot of it is ‘country’ stuff we neither make nor buy. Some really fantastic Halloween stuff but most of what I liked was too expensive and dad wasn’t in the mood to let anyone slow down and buy. I did manage to snag a huge thing of raw honey for cheap, maple syrup cotton candy and apple butter.

We went to the local pizza joint in Jackson, Cardos, which I like a lot. I didn’t know they have a pizza bar. Yum. 4 of my students were working there and one eating there. Ah the joys of that. We watched some tv and I got stuck sleeping on the futon (I have no idea how people do this every day)

The next day the Hopewell Native American Mound center was having an open house and demonstrations at Mound City in Chillicothe so we went up to do that. That was nice (barring parents who were expressly told not to let their kids play on the sacred mounds because they’re fragile and did so anyway, giving the ranger looks that said, ‘what can I do? I have no control over my brat.’) We unfortunately don’t know a lot about the Hopewells, having no written language and only very little left behind in these mounds. I don’t want to sound...snobby or insensitive or whatever you want to call it because that’s not how I mean it but really in the Hopewell movie they would have been just better off to give a date and not show what else was happening around the world at that time. They kept insisting showing the mound (some 17 feet of dirt humped up with no real structure) against the Coliseum etc. It just didn’t work.

But we did spend a good part of the day there, played with an atalatal (I could throw the spear further without it...) Talked flint knapping and looked at the museum at the few things the Hopewells did leave behind. Then we went home with a pronouncement by dad that he didn’t need to come back since he was already ranging an hour away just to find something to do at my place (he’s not wrong). We didn’t do much else. We just came home and watched tv again.

They left the next morning and I went back to the festival to get the things mom wanted including a glass paper weight (mom and I both like glass), some twisted wire art, a snowman for my sister in law and a Christmas ornament for mom....but I think I’ll give it to the SIL too

and pic spam -

horrid pic of me at the Mounds

two of the bigger mounds

three mound styles

using trees to frame things

forgotten Viking shop pic from the Renn

My Henna tattoo

Parking by Ye old hitching post at the Wal-Mart