@Atria - great!!
@twinsmama - Says the person with Polar Bears as her profile pic. :-j
Total non-sequitur: I thoroughly enjoyed “Wind River” (film by Taylor Sheridan starring Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, and Graham Greene among others). Not an easy film, but ultimately fairly satisfying.
Exciting news @goatmama! And as the saying goes… not moving kids or closets Priceless! Glad Irma avoided you.
We weren’t so lucky!
My parents were evacuated from their barrier island for over a week- we just got back from dropping DD off at school when my parents, their dog, their neighbors dog decided to evacuate north to our house- just in time for Irma to turn,btw and hit here. Best part… kid at BS is asking us to send stuff up to her! “Mom I forgot my…” “Can you overnight my…” Seriously, kid? Sure no problem. Once the hurricane passes. The power turns on. Our road isn’t flooded anymore. The post office opens. Your brother goes back to school. Oh, and we stop worrying about your grandparents house now 3’ underwater! I’ll get right on it! Oh the boarding school bubble!
Ever hear the expression, “Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement?”
The concept is old. Oscar Wilde wrote “Experience is the name every one gives their mistakes,” in 1892. The quote sounds like something Samuel Clemens or Will Rogers would have said, and mostly recently has been attributed to Rita Mae Brown.
The quote is traced back to an Army Officer by the name of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. descendent of a Confederate General (and Governor of Kentucky) of the same name and a three star general in charge of the 10th Army (a Joint Army and Marine command) when killed on Okinawa. He grew up in the tiny town of Munfordville, KY.
Buckner quotes a townsman by the name of Uncle Zeke. I contacted the Buckner family foundation and asked if they really had an Uncle Zeke, or was it just an honorific? An older though unrelated man was often referred to as “Uncle”in the South particularly in those times. They did not have a blood relative and believe he was a town character.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/02/23/judgment/
We heard it this summer, quoted us by Tabor Academy Head of School John Quirk.
Who names their son “Simon Bolívar”? I bet there’s a great story behind that one, too…
West Point summer field training is held at Camp Buckner. Probably same guy. Will have to look it up.
ETA: Yep, same guy.
The Wiki for his father, via the Kentucky Encyclopedis, notes at his birth in 1823 “He was named after the South American soldier and statesman, then at the height of his powers.” He attended West Point but resigned from the Army in 1855.
He supported Kentucky’s neutrality, but after that ended he 1861 he chose to accept a CSA commission. He then became the first Confederate General to surrender.
Heck, I’d name a kid after Bolivar. Wish I had thought of it. He accomplished some amazing things.
Good quote.
Today we found out that a full six, 6, 1/2-dozen, kids from our swim team are applying to the same school as day students. Think top tier and/or name boarding school in the target day student range, 20-25 minutes away; think 6 families who claim they’ll be applying for financial aid; think 6 kids of the same sex with the same major extra carr-icular activity.
It’s gonna be a bloodbath. I can see none of them getting in, but definitely no more than two.
Two would be a miracle.
A couple of cavities: one kid is a legacy on one parent’s side, but they have no contact with the school as far as donations or anything; at least one of the families might be a secret full-pay but not want to admit it owing to certain old country connections; another family might be one of those barely-swing-it-full-pay-but-no-way-in-heck-we’re-doing-that; the family with the giant house, giant BMW, giant Range Rover, and a red foreign sports car in the garage next to the cars they drive daily think they’re in full-FA territory because only one of 'em works. That’s gonna be entertaining. The other two families are basic entry-level upper-class working folks with kids and pets and mortgages.
I’m not sure all the kids get straight As, either, and test scores are not in. A couple of those kids are applying to 5 or 6 lesser schools (relatively) locally; two are one and done at the wondertown; the other two I don’t know for sure yet.
I think the parents are either completely oblivious about how competitive these schools are now, or they expect their kids won’t get in and are gutting out the process betting on inexpensive failure. I answer unending dumb questions and never volunteer anything unless asked; nobody seems to have noticed that the kids last year all went farther away to find their acceptances. Only two families have even been paying attention and realized that they need to cast a wider net with the local schools also.
If one (or two) of those kids aces the test, they might have a shot at the dream school. Otherwise…
Three non-sequitur points:
- I realized today that sometime in the winter of 2015-2016, I neglected to reply to PMs from various people. Apologies.
- Anyone else digging Kali Uchis ("Ridin Round")
- How about SZA?
Re: Kali Uchis… had not been, but am now!
Will check out SZA.
@london203: Both courtesy of 7D2…
I do have to admit that I found an oldie that was a fave of mine waaaayyyy back (totally dating myself): “County Line” by Pousette Dart Band. LOL Boarding school memories, for sure.
While I’m on the pop culture thing…just watched Baby Driver and thoroughly enjoyed it.
LOVED, loved Baby Driver! I need to watch it again.
I’ve been into what my parents once listened to lately… Girl from Ipanema… that sort of thing.
It’s fun music! When we were growing up we had Led Zeppelin and The Who blaring upstairs and when you’d come downstairs for something you’d hear this light tranquil Martini music playing softly off in the distance …
I totally get it now. It was like valium on vinyl.
All you need to do is add a box of frozen hors d’oeuvres ( cheese puffs, pigs in a blanket … ) and your favorite cocktail.
I’m sorry but that generation was definitely on to something. 
Cocktail hour at home needs to be standard again.
@london203 – that song!!! Here I go…
@gardenstategal I know! I laughed when I saw it, but was so happy when I listened to it… I went straight from that to “Amie” (Pure Prairie League). A fun rabbit hole to get lost in for a while.
Cocktail hour is sacrosanct at our house. You are all invited. Martinis and G&Ts at 5:00, a little bossa nova on the hi-fi, and plenty of unhealthy hors d’oeuvres. LBDs optional.