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susandennisThis morning's swim was ok. If 1 is bad and 10 is the best, today was a 6. I was slow and sloggy and distracted. It took me more than an hour to do my mile. But, really a bad swim is still great so I look at a 6 as just a way to make the 10's sparkle and shine in comparrison. Variety.
They finally came out with the private lesson schedule and it sucks. No more mid day lessons during the weekdays. Only nights and weekends. There is a slot on Sundays. I think I'll probably sign up for that one. I can't do it this Sunday as I'm locked in by the Seahawks home game. But, next Sunday, maybe...
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I was a horrible student and hated school - every day of every single one of the 16 years I was stuck there. I was particularly uninterested in history. In high school, for all four years, I had a history teacher named Isabelle Quattlebaum (no kidding). She tried so hard to get me interested. In retrospect, I admire her efforts and am sorry for her total failure.
But, lately, I've discovered a tiny little grain of interest. It started with a casual and very high level view of how World War I happened. I think I was watching CBS Sunday Morning. Both my grandfathers were enormously affected by World War I and even knowing that, I'd never focused on the how and why.
My maternal grandfather was a doughboy and it really knocked the stuffing out of him. He managed a life after but I suspect it was about half the life he could have had. He was in France and whenever France or French was mentioned, he used to flinch visibly. He lived into his 90s but disappeared into dimentia for the last 25 years and spent those as a broccolli.
My paternal grandfather was born and raised in Germany and, as a teen, ran away and joined the British Navy. He and his German friend noodled out somehow that war had broken out betwen their fatherland and their employer and they figured they needed to get their asses off that boat and so they did ... in the dark of night ... having no idea where in the world they were.
Turns out they were in Galvaston, TX. So my father and me turned out to be American instead of German.
But, I never bothered to look at the details of how WWI started, carried on or ended until that very brief but illuminating piece on TV.
And... then... I heard about the Ken Burns Roosevelt thing on PBS and told TiVo to get it, please. I thought it was a couple of hours over 2 nights. But, I should have known Ken Burns would not be doing a quickie. However, the first 2 hours were really interesting so maybe I'll just keep at it. I remember Elenor Roosevelt and my Mom thought Franklin was brilliant.
I'm guessing that Isabelle Quattlebaum was maybe 40-ish when I was in high school. And that was 50 years ago so ... So I suspect it's too late to let her know that maybe she had a point or two?
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While my swim wasn't as good a swim as it could be, I did use the time to come up with a list of stuff that I'd like to get done today. Nothing huge but little things like move this from here to there and set up this gadget to do that and take the trash and etc etc.
Nothing big - just stuff. A regular day.
They finally came out with the private lesson schedule and it sucks. No more mid day lessons during the weekdays. Only nights and weekends. There is a slot on Sundays. I think I'll probably sign up for that one. I can't do it this Sunday as I'm locked in by the Seahawks home game. But, next Sunday, maybe...
---
I was a horrible student and hated school - every day of every single one of the 16 years I was stuck there. I was particularly uninterested in history. In high school, for all four years, I had a history teacher named Isabelle Quattlebaum (no kidding). She tried so hard to get me interested. In retrospect, I admire her efforts and am sorry for her total failure.
But, lately, I've discovered a tiny little grain of interest. It started with a casual and very high level view of how World War I happened. I think I was watching CBS Sunday Morning. Both my grandfathers were enormously affected by World War I and even knowing that, I'd never focused on the how and why.
My maternal grandfather was a doughboy and it really knocked the stuffing out of him. He managed a life after but I suspect it was about half the life he could have had. He was in France and whenever France or French was mentioned, he used to flinch visibly. He lived into his 90s but disappeared into dimentia for the last 25 years and spent those as a broccolli.
My paternal grandfather was born and raised in Germany and, as a teen, ran away and joined the British Navy. He and his German friend noodled out somehow that war had broken out betwen their fatherland and their employer and they figured they needed to get their asses off that boat and so they did ... in the dark of night ... having no idea where in the world they were.
Turns out they were in Galvaston, TX. So my father and me turned out to be American instead of German.
But, I never bothered to look at the details of how WWI started, carried on or ended until that very brief but illuminating piece on TV.
And... then... I heard about the Ken Burns Roosevelt thing on PBS and told TiVo to get it, please. I thought it was a couple of hours over 2 nights. But, I should have known Ken Burns would not be doing a quickie. However, the first 2 hours were really interesting so maybe I'll just keep at it. I remember Elenor Roosevelt and my Mom thought Franklin was brilliant.
I'm guessing that Isabelle Quattlebaum was maybe 40-ish when I was in high school. And that was 50 years ago so ... So I suspect it's too late to let her know that maybe she had a point or two?
---
While my swim wasn't as good a swim as it could be, I did use the time to come up with a list of stuff that I'd like to get done today. Nothing huge but little things like move this from here to there and set up this gadget to do that and take the trash and etc etc.
Nothing big - just stuff. A regular day.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-17 05:59 pm (UTC)If this was Ms. Quattlebaum, it's way too late.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-17 06:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-17 06:26 pm (UTC)There was also an Ora Isabelle Quattlebaum from Oklahoma. Isabelle and Quattlebaum just seem to go together.
If I ever find myself in need of a fake name I think I might use Quattlebaum.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-17 07:02 pm (UTC)I totally think Quattlebaum would be an excellent fake name.
Finding Miss Quattlebaum
Date: 2014-09-17 07:26 pm (UTC)"Miss Isabelle Quattlebaum
History
425 Yates Road
Winston-Salem, N. C.
fresh air . . . "Calhoun" . . .
"It's on page the
South shall rise again! "And
there's nothing like a CHARLE-
STON aristocrat."
from:https://archive.org/stream/quillpen19631963sale/quillpen19631963sale_djvu.txt
Isabelle Quattlebaum
Date: 2014-09-17 07:45 pm (UTC)Re: Isabelle Quattlebaum
Date: 2014-09-17 07:52 pm (UTC)Here's the 1964 The Quill Pen
Date: 2014-09-17 08:07 pm (UTC)1964 Yearbook
Date: 2014-09-17 08:09 pm (UTC)Re: 1964 Yearbook
Date: 2014-09-17 08:37 pm (UTC)Re: 1964 Yearbook
Date: 2014-09-17 08:45 pm (UTC)Re: 1964 Yearbook
Date: 2014-09-17 09:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-18 12:33 pm (UTC)In the meantime, I too have a grand distaste/disinterest for hisotry. BUt the Roosevelts are interesting to me.