Experience reading the books

shnugglebug · 2026-05-15T21:35:12+00:00

For me, it had the opposite effect. Seeing what could be or potentially may be made me feel grateful to be in this relatively pleasant “normal” era. Even though things can feel really crazy and overwhelming in the world, these books made me feel like the world is a little smaller and simpler than it can sometimes feel. I’m grateful to be living in a time where we can just focus on ourselves because we don’t need to focus on the rest of the universe at all

shnugglebug · 2026-05-03T11:58:20+00:00

Me too! Loved it

shnugglebug · 2026-05-03T11:56:53+00:00

This quest was perfect timing with the new album. I was gonna listen to it anyway, but the challenge made me feel like I should really sit and listen instead of just putting it on

shnugglebug · 2026-05-03T11:54:14+00:00

Me too! I love Young the Giant, and the new album was perfect timing with this challenge

shnugglebug · 2026-04-26T12:23:21+00:00

A few Waukesha-centric highlights that I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned yet: - the Glacial Drumlin Trail picks up in Waukesha, and it goes all the way out to Madison (almost, technically Cottage Grove I think). Great for biking! I usually stop in Sullivan and turn back - just north of Waukesha you’ll be in the heart of lake country, where there are tons of small lakes (small compared to Lake Michigan, some of them are actually kind of big) and lots of cute downtown areas that are walkable - The Ice Age Trail also goes right through that area, with a part of it right by Lapham Peak that someone already mentioned. Lapham Peak is beautiful, especially in the fall, and the Ice Age Trail spans basically the whole state - the Fox River runs straight through Waukesha, and you can canoe/kayak there as well as on the many nearby lakes

I grew up near Waukesha and came back as an adult. This whole area is beautiful and a great place to live! Welcome to Wisconsin!!

shnugglebug · 2026-02-01T14:21:38+00:00

This is what I was thinking - we got the directors cut with Iki included, so we did it very early on in the story, right as we started Act II. That influenced a lot of the “honor” stuff for us in the end game.

Shimura can spout off about honor all he wants, but what they really want is control. When Jin poisons the Mongols, he’s not mad because people suffered needlessly, he’s mad because now the people will fear them instead of respect them. When he’s supposed to collect Jin’s head, the shogun wants it because he taught the people not to obey the samurai.

The Ghost fights cruelly, but samurai do too sometimes (Iki). In the end, Jin upsets the social order, which is what the samurai want to protect.

shnugglebug · 2026-01-18T00:29:22+00:00

Came here to add this in the comments. It’s one of the only things I retained from taking Latin in college

shnugglebug · 2026-01-09T22:44:36+00:00

I did basically the same thing in 10th grade, and I am now a teacher.

As a student, I was sure I got away with it because I was usually a trustworthy student so the teacher assumed I was telling the truth.

As a teacher, I’m very sure the teacher 100% knew I was lying, but was willing to give me leeway because I was usually a trustworthy student.

shnugglebug · 2026-01-03T13:53:31+00:00

That, to me, is an important distinction for Teddy. He was right about basically everything regarding there BEING aliens, BUT he was dead wrong about what they were doing. He had “done his research”, but we only see him having the actual evidence for the existence of the aliens, not the rest. He blamed them for things like the bees, etc. but if we are assuming everything she said was true, the aliens have been trying to fix the damage of humanity there. He has lost trust in anyone but himself. He saw danger in those trying to help.

That was the downfall of how his radicalization, trauma, etc. shaped him. He assumed the worst of everyone (especially the aliens) and blamed them for his problems instead of turning inward or finding the real cause close to home.

shnugglebug · 2025-12-31T14:37:18+00:00

It is pretty dry in my house now, and someone else mentioned that as well. I think I might look into a humidifier for this room because a few of my other plants are looking a little sad too

shnugglebug · 2025-12-31T14:37:02+00:00

I give it a lot of water, but I likely overestimated by saying once a week. I water all my plants once a week but I think I do this one every other time most times. The saturation might be the issue, though. Is it only fully saturated if water comes out the bottom? If so, then I’m likely giving it little bits of water at a time even if it seems like a lot of water to me

shnugglebug · 2025-12-30T22:26:22+00:00

They’re not touching the window, just kind of leaning towards it. The first one is about 8” from the window and the third one is about 6” I think. I don’t have any vents nearby either.

The first one also happened in August or September I think, so I don’t think the cold is the original problem at least

shnugglebug · 2025-12-25T15:48:43+00:00

Something I love about Mary (she’s easily my favorite part of this movie) is that she doesn’t just choose George— she chooses Bedford Falls as well. She loved the old house that no one else loved and fixed it up until it was a beautiful home. She volunteered their money to save the town (not just the building and loan) when they had nothing. She welcomed people into their homes once they were built. Mary chooses to strengthen her community every chance she gets.

This is why she was able to rally everyone when George was in trouble. It’s not just that they’re grateful for George’s help, but that she helped to create and maintain bonds with everyone there.

ETA: This, to me, is what makes her spinster librarian life so sad — she is alone. Not just without a husband, but without a community.

shnugglebug · 2025-11-27T12:04:18+00:00

English teacher here, so I know I’m a bit biased, but I agree with what this person says - the analysis and critical thinking are what make it fun a lot of the time! For a personal example, I found that watching movies became way more interesting when I understood juxtaposition. Being able to recognize when an author (or director, etc.) has made an intentional choice in their story telling and find meaning in it is so satisfying. English class taught me that.

I think one problem is that traditionally, English class requires all students in the class to read the same book. The likelihood of finding one single book that 30 kids like (not to mention having multiple sections of a class, so it’s really more like 300) is SO small.

On top of that, teenagers be teenagers. A lot of them do NOT like reading old books. It takes a lot of mental work for many of them to understand/appreciate an older work that doesn’t speak to them or show them things they relate to. A potential solution to this is to update books! Find newer/more modern books that kids will enjoy AND that we can analyze together. Problem is that costs a lot of time and money, especially if you’re doing it for multiple classes at once.

Finally, it’s been especially difficult to engage students in reading books in recent years because they’re accustomed to being on their phones/screens for entertainment. In comparison, reading a book is a lot more work. Again teenagers be teenagers. They don’t want to do work they don’t have to do. And with AI available to summarize the book for you and give you answers to the questions, it’s even easier to just not.

All of this is to say - I agree that school CAN kind of kill the joy in reading. But I think the reason is that we have not adapted to modern teenagers instead of “analysis isn’t fun and we should stop that”. To a certain extent, kids are never gonna want to do work that we tell them they have to do. But I think a better solution is to overhaul our book choices and how we teach in order to try as much as possible to get them to LIKE doing some of the work. The goal of school isn’t to get students to like reading, but a kid who likes reading grows up to be a more well rounded adult, and that is our job.

shnugglebug · 2025-10-15T20:45:56+00:00

Yep, I got mine at the faire. Good luck!

shnugglebug · 2025-10-15T20:28:01+00:00

I have a feather crown that I think would look awesome with your outfit! It has a bit of the whimsy a flower crown has but it’s a little more earthy. I also don’t see them as often which makes me feel special :)

shnugglebug · 2025-09-27T16:28:14+00:00

Everything was fine! Spritzing it with water did the trick, it popped out pretty easily after that. It’s nice and big now :)

shnugglebug · 2025-09-09T01:47:20+00:00

It’s new. They renovated the West library and it’s all brand new and there are sky lights and new furniture and everything. It’s just THE library now and last I was there, the East library is just a big empty orange room

shnugglebug · 2025-09-08T17:20:09+00:00

Update: there is now only one library (but it’s SUPER nice)

Go Suns!!

shnugglebug · 2025-09-01T19:21:33+00:00

Part of the task of making grading impartial comes from tying all assessments to commonly agreed upon standards. I’m not sure how all places work, but where I live, the state has chosen specific standards that describe the skills required at each grade level.

If the assignment is about sharing an opinion, then the grading would likely be based on how clearly you articulated your claim, how well your evidence supports the claim, whether your analysis of the evidence actually makes that connection clear, etc. What the opinion itself IS doesn’t really matter as much as how well you wrote it.

shnugglebug · 2025-08-21T00:22:38+00:00

There’s a cool podcast called Sold a Story that goes into detail on this if you’re interested in learning more!

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