Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Tom just texted from his doctor's appointment: No more knee brace except to work out! Any sports!

Lisa writes: I really liked this article in Thursday's New York Times. "Does Your Language Shape How You Think?" Well written and lots of interesting things to think about. This sentence in particular struck me: If different languages influence our minds in different ways, this is not because of what our language allows us to think but rather because of what it habitually obliges us to think about . The article goes on to explain how certain languages that require speakers to give directions in north/south/east/west oblige their speakers to be constantly aware of cardinal directions; and languages that assign gender to inanimate objects subtly influence their speakers' perceptions of those objects (i.e. Spanish speakers generally think of their puentes [bridges] as mas macho than German speakers' Brücken . All this to say, I had two thoughts: 1. The closest thing I've encountered to those Guugu Yimithirr speakers (one of the groups that uses cardinal dire...

Lisa's sister, Christi, writes: Madison is an official teenager...braces and all :) She is also helping clean horse stalls in exchange for riding time. Ahh, to be 13 again... Lisa writes, completely unnecessarily: The ortho chick has weird hair. Anybody remember Tuesday Taylor ? It was a 70s Barbie-type doll that had hair exactly like that. You could spin her scalp around and put the blonde in the front or the brunette in the front. Also, if left in bright sunlight, it would tan. I think my parents gave it to me -- I guess so I could enjoy the thrill of vicarious tanning ... the only kind of tanning I will ever know.

Christi (22), Donny (17), Debbie (12), Mom (49) Lisa's mom writes: For Madison who just got braces at age 13. March of 1998, Christi, Donny, Debbie, and I were in braces - and I complained the most!

Lisa's sister, Christi, writes: Christian was up at the park flying his favorite remote controlled airplane. He put it on the bench to recharge and started playing a game with his buddies. Along comes a group of girls (he says they looked about his age). They sit down on the bench and one of the girls proceeds to rip his plane into pieces (it's made of a styrofoam-type material). She even takes the the batteries out of the remote and brakes the antenna. Christian runs over to her and says, "Why did you destroy my plane?" She looks at him and says, "I didn't do anything." He says, "I just saw you do it." Again, she says, "I didn't do anything," and ran off. Christian picks up the pieces and comes home to tell me the story. My first instinct was to track down that little girl and go have a talk with her parents. But, I had the feeling to just stop and ask him how he felt. He looked at his little plane and said, "Sad....

Lisa writes: I'm at a Lyle Lovett concert! Don't be jealous! Lisa's brother, Donny, writes back: Ha ha nice ... My business partner out here is dating John Mellencamp's daughter, Teddi Mellencamp ... and we get to go front row to his concert on Thursday and hang out with John back stage after the show ... Willie Nelson will be there too! Cool, huh!? Don't be jealous. ;)

Lisa's sister, Debbie, writes: We caught a badger! It somehow stuffed itself into a little pygmy rabbit trap and was not happy to see us. We used a stick to open the back of the trap to let it out. I wrote back: What are you using for bait? Debbie wrote: Nothing. We just jam them in the burrow entrance and put rocks and burlap in the gaps. I put some granola in one and caught a kangaroo rat once. Debbie, this one's for you:

Lisa writes: Got the bat house for my birthday two years ago. Didn't get around to installing it until last summer. It's been a year. Still no bats, but plenty of fat and happy mosquitoes. Any suggestions?

Lisa writes: I made the stuffed birds and the birdie quilt (the sewn script on it reads "Up up in the sky / where the little birds fly / down down in their nest / where the little birds rest). I tried to assemble the mobile, but for the love of parakeets I could NOT get the birds to sit upright, so I finally gave up and just shipped it to them in pieces with a picture of what it was supposed to look like. They cleverly figured out the secret. (The secret is hot glue. Lots and lots of hot glue.)  

Lisa writes: That's Farmer Tom watering the corn and tomatoes growing in the front lawn. Notice the actual ears of corn growing on the stalks. A couple of months ago, he dug little holes in the ground, put seeds in them, watered them nearly every day, and last night we picked and ate eight ears of corn. It's like magical free food!

Lisa writes: Bunch of Columbia U. students make ironic, wickedly catchy, Paul Simon-esque song that becomes an alt hit. In the song, they name-check Peter Gabriel. So Gabriel covers the song. Win! Tom will attest, I can't stop listening to this.

Lisa writes: It's dessert! It's a physics and chemistry lesson! It's ice cream in a bag ! 1. Find a simple ice cream recipe . (Ain't nobody simpler than Paula Dean.) 2. Get a 1 quart and a 2 quart sealable bag. Can substitute a container with a lid, like a #10 can or something Tupperware, for the bigger bag. 3. Mix up the ice cream ingredients and pour into the smaller bag. Seal it up tight. 4. Put 2 quarts of crushed ice and 2 cups of salt into the bigger bag. Carefully nuzzle the smaller bag in there and surround it with the ice. 5. Seal the big bag and let the kids shake and massage it until the ice cream freezes. Takes about 20 minutes. Magic! The Washington Post article explains the science behind this. It also explains why we measure the freezing point of water as 32 degrees (instead of, say, 0). I'd always wondered that.

Lisa's sister, Debbie, texts: The ground here is white and covered in marble-sized hail. Apparently it's monsoon season in Utah.