Unearthing a life.....

Aleister has always been artistically challenged. Not only is he loathe to color within the lines, he is loathe to color at all. But the rigors of kindergarten discipline seem to be having a leavening effect on him. He brought home the above assignment yesterday and I was moved to an outburst of chuckles when I read what it was (nickel added for size/scale).

"DRAW two lions lying on their backs with their paws up in the air."
"How many paws do we see?" 8
"How many ears do we see?" 4

He earned a big star on his paper ... and grandpa thinks his two lions are a real hoot!

Last week was not a great joy for young Aleister. On Wednesday he committed the social gaffe of clubbing his bus-mate 'Two-juan' over the head with his backpack -- which by luck of the draw contained the clay pinch-pot that he was taking home to his Mom as her Mother's Day present. The pinch pot was not damaged, but 'Two-jaun' was elevated to a loud martyrdom of tears and Allie was marched off to the office by the bus driver. On Thursday, he had to go to the Principal's office for a butt chewing and he lost his recesses for Thursday and Friday. He was also assigned the task of writing a note of apology to 'Two-juan'. With the help of his Mom, he printed out "I am sorry for hitting you. Allie." And they sealed it in a big purple construction paper envelope. The bus driver reported (to me) that 'Two-juan' was greatly impressed and had declared it very 'cool'. On Wednesday afternoon, facing his prospect for consequences, he remarked to Bookworm, "This is so embarrassing!"

Speaking of Bookworm, I bought her a Canon PowerShot A530 digital camera this past week. She demanded something simple, without bells and whistles. No such worthwhile critter out there that I could find. A clerk was assisting me and made an attempt to up-grade my intentions by saying "...but what if she wants to grow in her photography?"
"No, no!" I replied. "She specifically said that she didn't wish to grow in her photography. She wants to point and shoot. Period."

Certainly the A530 has a lot of bells and whistles. But as I pointed out to Bookworm during my bried orientation lecture ... "You leave this dial turned to the green mark where it says 'AUTO' and never move it and this button for on and off and this button (shutter) to take the picture. Leave everything else alone and you will not have to suffer bells and whistles." Now she can retire the old Polaroid Instamatic that she's used for years - at great expense. She took the two pix of the Azteca Restaurant posted on her 'Bremerton Review' blog site. I think she's happy with it.

An unforeseen problem arose. My Nikon 4500 that cost an arm and a leg 4 - 5 years ago cannot match her cheapie Canon (well, not all that cheap). The inexorable advance of digital photography has nudged me towards the rear of the shooting crowd. I am feeling an inner need to upgrade. WalMart has a nifty $400 Canon that has been crying out to me.
"Buy me, buy me, buy me!"