Rozworld’s WebLog

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman was in Spooner WI this March 23 to raise money for the Republican party and Democratic demonstrators showed up to show their support for our Senator Russ Feingold and his call to censure the President. My Aunt Beth got to be on the Spooner Advocate front page for protesting during the fund raiser. The full article can be found here : Republicans rally, raise funds Meanwhile, protesters support Feingold.

The dog “Brandy”, Jean found on Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue, came to see us on 3/17/2006. The job interview went very well. She is a very energetic young dog, who likes to play and walk. That weekend the fosterer called our 3 references and let us know that we were chosen to adopt Brandy. Jean went and picked up Brandy from the Cities on Sunday 3/26/2006. This date turned out to be exactly 5 years to the day since Stretch died. Brandy is now home and we’re all going through an adjustment period to get use to our new member of the family.

We went to a local antique shop last weekend and I found a great piece of positive propaganda from the 1950’s. It was only a buck so I snatched it up. It’s a 58 page manual and experiment guide for a Gilbert Microscope from 1958. The sub-title of the guide is “Another Gilbert Career-Building Science Set” and it features two young ladies using the microscope and are flanked to the right by four pictures of Adult women in various technical careers. The president finally said something right when he announced incentives to stay competitive in math and science in his state of the union address :

President : “And to keep America competitive, one commitment is necessary above all: We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity. Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hardworking, ambitious people — and we’re going to keep that edge. Tonight I announce an American Competitiveness Initiative, to encourage innovation throughout our economy, and to give our nation’s children a firm grounding in math and science. (Applause.)”

I personally work with a lot of very technically savvy individuals, but a good percentage of them are not US citizens. Many of them come from India where children are taught to go into science and engineering from an early age. Companies are having to hire outside of their local area because there are not enough people around that have technical backgrounds. This is just unfortunate because computer science, engineering, and science are rewarding careers that pay good. Women now pass men as the majority of students in college however women tend to shy away from science, esp. the hard sciences (Physics, Chemistry) and engineering. Whatever this reason is, it’s important to encourage young ladies to be curious about the nature of things. The cold war and the space race might be over but it’s never been more important for people, especially women who often bring a different perspective to the table, to go into careers that enhance society and life on this planet.

There was an article in this week’s Time magazine about the "Multitasking Generation" or genM for short. This generation is growing up with a set of technologies that are actually changing the way the brain works. From wireless instant messaging, picture cell phones, and pod casting, schools and parents are struggling to keep up. The younger folk are also flocking in droves to new websites like facebook.com and myspace.com where they can set up a profile and build social networks. The article was mostly critical about such sites which can become a vortex of time. I can see where it would be an advantage to find friends with similar interests, give words of encouragement, express your individuality, etc. I looked up my cousin Andrea and found that she does have a very expressive myspace profile. Now I know why she hasn’t updated her old webpage in awhile.

The profile can be found here : Andrea on myspace.com.

Rosalind took an acting class this winter with the Madison Family Theater Company CTM http://www.theatreforall.com/. The class was once a week for about 6 weeks. Here is a description of the class from the CTM website : ACTING I (K-2): Using fun theatre games, pantomime, creative movement and story drama, actress/teacher Joan Marshall Collins encourages creative expression and self-confidence. The students learn the importance of collaboration and ensemble as they work on a simple script. Our final class period showcases the student’s new skills in front of an audience of friends and family. 

Rosalind played one of the daughters to the old Woman in "The Frail old Woman". This story is from India and it’s about an old woman who meets some fierce wild animals in the woods. Below are some pictures from the play.

Look out Dakota!

We’ve had a long standing job vacancy at our place ever since Stretch
passed on. The "Household Canine" position requires playfulness,
non-aggression, good health, and a willingness to work with small children and
cats. We’ll be interviewing in the coming weeks for this position. One
particular candidate will come from Minnesota.
Jean found her on the Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue website. The foster
guardian will be checking our accommodations also. They’re very careful in placing these
dogs with the best match. All applicants for dogs are considered equal until everyone applying
for a certain dog is checked out.