Pottery Wheel Video Controversial?

October 29th, 2012

With my Kid’s Pottery Wheel video getting over 16,000 views, you would think that people liked it. After all, I stated lots of helpful tips on how to successfully make pottery on a toy pottery wheel. But I’ve had lots of people hit “dislike”on the video because they hate toy pottery wheels in general. Hello, people. You are rating the video, not rating the topic in general. Who would have thought that I would get so many vicious remarks, some of which I had to delete? Who on earth would “dislike” some sweet children making pottery? And why cuss at me about it?

I’ve gotten pretty much an equal amount of likes and dislikes on my video, indicating that it’s a controversial issue. I agree with the people that say that toy pottery wheels are lousy. A lady e-mailed me a few days ago about what brand I recommended. I told her, “Since I recorded the pottery wheel video 2 years ago, I don’t own the pottery wheel any more, and I don’t know the brand. Sorry about that. In my opinion, all toy pottery wheels are the same.”

She e-mailed me back again, insisting that I tell her the brand. She said that all the reviews on toy pottery wheels were bad. I almost just copied and pasted my previous e-mail, since I had already told her that I didn’t know the brand. Instead, I just took a deep breath and wrote: “I agree that all toy pottery wheels are lousy. If the person using it is angry or impatient, they will not have success. You need to be gentle with it, and using the tips in the video, you can have success, even when you use a lousy toy pottery wheel. Like I said, in my opinion they are all the same. Most people can’t afford an extremely expensive real pottery wheel, so I show people how to use a lousy toy pottery wheel effectively.”

I’ve gotten a similar reaction to my YouTube video “A Typical Homeschool Day,” with people hitting “dislike” because they dislike homeschooling. At least the “likes” far outweigh the “dislikes”–32 “likes” and 4 “dislikes” out of almost 10,000 hits. I’ve gotten 51 comments, including an atheist who was angry with me that I teach my children the Bible. I answered him, and then he was just picking a fight and I was tired, so I asked my husband to deal with him.

At least in “Bible Costume in Five Minutes” (over 15,000 hits), only two people hated my Bible costume demonstration, while 41 people said they “liked” it. And nobody has said anything vicious about my Bible costume. Nobody is cussing at me over it. So that’s good.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Art | 6 Comments »

The Best Minnestrone Soup

October 26th, 2012

minestrone-soup

My friend Carla from church came over several years ago to help me do Once-a-Month Cooking. She and I were in my kitchen for five hours, cooking and freezing enough food for a month. It was wonderful not to have to cook from day to day.

This minnestrone soup has been requested by many people and is perhaps her best recipe. She did not give me exact amounts, so years later I have attempted to list the exact proportions of each ingredient. I would take out the 1 1/2 cups of sliced carrots because unless you make it at the beginning of the day, the carrots will still be crunchy when you serve it. (I made this soup recently four hours before dinner, and it tasted delicious except for the crunchy carrots. So skip the carrots if you are not letting the soup simmer the entire day.)

  • 1 pound of ground beef
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • a teaspoon of crushed garlic
  • Italian seasoning to taste
  • 16-oz. can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups peeled and sliced carrots
  • 3 beef bullion cubes dissolved in 4 cups of hot water
  • 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 16-oz. cans of kidney beans, not drained
  • 1 can of corn, drained
  • 1 can of green beans, drained

My friend threw the onion, garlic, and at least a tablespoon of Italian seasoning into some olive oil in a pan on the stove. We caramelized the onions for about two minutes before adding the ground beef. (I always cook the ground beef and onion together, so this step seemed strange to me. But she definitely knew what she was doing because her soup was so darned good.) After browning the ground beef in the onions and garlic, we dumped the contents of the pan into an enormous crock pot. (The pot has to be enormous, or the contents won’t fit. You could always simmer it on low on your stove in a large pot if your crock pot is not big enough.) Dump all the ingredients into the pot except for the green beans. Add the green beans during the last half hour. At the end of the day, your house will smell delicious. This soup is enjoyed best with freshly baked bread.

Tags: ,
Posted in Cooking and Baking | 4 Comments »

Romeo and Juliet Slapstick Humor

October 25th, 2012

romeo-and-juliet-slapstick-humor

My son Stephen (age 10) was halfway through writing a summary of Romeo and Juliet when he saw his older brother writing a poem. He asked me, “Can I write it as a poem, too, but can mine be funny?”

“As long as you keep the main plot line, you can add humor to it,” I answered, and he excitedly ran to get started.

His Romeo and Juliet poem for kids includes slapstick humor similar to the Three Stooges:

Once upon a time there was a fight
Because a Capulet bit his thumb.
A Montague tied his belt too tight,
And a Capulet fell on his bum!

A Montague named Romeo
Went to a Capulet ball.
He was handed some strawberry jello,
Which he dropped when he climbed the wall.

“What light through yonder window breaks?
‘Tis the east, and Juliet is the sun.”
“Not now, Romeo; my toe aches.
But I’ll marry you tomorrow at one.”

The next day they were wed.
But Romeo hit Tybalt with a frying pan
Because Romeo’s friend was dead.
So he was banished by a man.

Juliet in her grief and sorrow
Ran to the friar for relief.
“This potion you may borrow,
And your life will seem so brief.”

She drank the potion,
Was put in a crypt,
Romeo saw her without motion,
And on a banana peel he slipped.

He died by her side.
Juliet woke up, screamed, and died.

Related product: Romeo and Juliet Unit Study

RomeoAndJulietUnitStudyPromo450

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | 10 Comments »

Another Romeo and Juliet Poem for Kids

October 24th, 2012

romeo-and-juliet-poem-for-kids-2

My 9-year-old son Nathaniel also wanted to write his summary of Romeo and Juliet in poetic form. His poem ended up with very short lines, which were easier to write. He had a great time trying to rhyme all the action in the story. We made a list of the sequence of events on a sheet of paper, and he referred to the list as he wrote this Romeo and Juliet poem for kids:

Romeo arrived at a party
Dressed up with a mask.
He fell in love with Juliet.
Winning her heart would be a task

Because their families were enemies.
Later Romeo climbed the wall
To see Juliet at her balcony.
To her he did call.

They decided to get married
The next day on the morrow.
Juliet said to Romeo,
“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

After marrying at the church,
Tybalt killed Mercutio.
So Romeo killed Tybalt
And was banished. Oh, no!

Because of Juliet’s grief
She drank a potion and fell asleep.
Her family thought she was dead.
All they could do was weep.

Romeo visited her grave,
Drank some poison and sighed;
While Juliet woke up,
Stabbed herself, and died.

Related product: Romeo and Juliet Unit Study

RomeoAndJulietUnitStudyPromo450

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Writing | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »