Saturday, January 23, 2021

Space Dogs and Missing Fish


I took this picture on my way home from work yesterday. I was trying to photograph the crazy "space dog" seat covers inside this car, but I wound up with a kind of surreal reflected street scene as well. I like it!

Yesterday was pretty low-key. I went to work as planned, and in addition to preparing books for the seventh graders to pick up, retrieving books from the sixth grade classrooms and going downstairs to make new shelf labels for the Lower School library, I helped the other librarians (working remotely) to compile lists of our e-books of various genres still available to students during the lockdown. Doesn't that all sound exciting? A day in the life.

I noticed that the school aquariums are mysteriously empty. Where did the fish go?! I wonder if we have an aquarium service person like Jennifer's husband Gregg who maintains those tanks. The fish have probably been spirited away to a temporary home while the school building is vacant.

I also posted my newest Newbery review. I've read 38 of those books so far -- so, still 61 to go, counting this year's winner, which I believe will be announced on Monday. Cripes! I'd hoped to finish this project by the end of this school year, but realistically it's probably going to be fall. I shouldn't have stopped during last year's lockdown and summer break. I wanted to wait until I was working face-to-face with the kids again, so I could talk to them about the books, but honestly, they're not all that interested in this little endeavor of mine. At this point it's more for me than for them!

A note about Blogger -- have any of you noticed that the quick-edit tools on our sidebars and posts have disappeared? There used to be a little pencil symbol that, when clicked, took us into edit mode and allowed us to make changes. Those little pencils are gone, at least on my blog. Now I have to go to the dashboard and edit that way. No big deal, but it's a weird change, and funny how it just happened with no warning. I wonder if it has something to do with Flash no longer being supported by Adobe and Chrome.

Dave and I watched "The Matrix" last night. I don't think I'd seen it since it was in theaters, 20-odd years ago. It still holds up pretty well! Remember how Neo and his fellow escapees had to pick up a ringing telephone to be transported back out of the Matrix? Well, that was the only obvious anachronism -- the phones were often public booths on the street or desktop models with big ol' clunky receivers. Funny!

46 comments:

Moving with Mitchell said...

It would be fun to watch the Matrix again. I haven't seen it since it came out. I love that photo!

Anonymous said...

While I don't really know what I am seeing in the photo, it looks great.
The fish may be floating belly up along the Thames. We've flushed a few dead aquarium fish down the lavvie many years ago.
Ah yes, that button on Blogger is no longer there. I didn't miss it.
I don't get why all your ebooks would not be 'still' available to students?

Ms. Moon said...

I, too, have noticed that the little edit pencil is gone. I was going to ask YOU about that!
Never watched The Matrix. Ever. I tried. I'm not a Matrix person, I guess. We watched "White Tiger" last night and it gave me a lot to think about. Very well done. Now I want to read the book.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

That is a weird photograph. It took me a while to even see the dogs. As for "The Matrix", I am so pleased to declare that I have never seen it and I will never see it unless I am kidnapped and place in front of a TV screen with my eyelids taped open.

The Padre said...

Getting Rowdy With The Photo There Brother Man - Also, "They" Removed The Delete Near The Reply Option - I Did Have A Small Minute Break Through With My Last Post, If You Load A Series Of Photos, Unclick All Of Them, Hold Command And Click, They Will Load In That Order - The Matrix!! Right On, Haven't Watched In Awhile - I Have A Number Of Soundbites From That Flick That I Would Insert Throughout My Radio Shows Back In The Day - Good Stuff - Stay Strong

Cheers
P.S. Olga Girl Is In Need Of An Uncle T Biscuit

Anonymous said...

That is such a cool photo. I love it.
I don't think we've ever watched The Matrix. We may have to take a look, if I can remember, which is highly unlikely given how much I seem to forget these days.

Mary said...

My only memory of The Matrix was not watching the film, but rather making the black robe like Keanu wore for a small grandson's Halloween costume many moons ago. It turned out to be a fairly complicated pattern.

Red said...

A second look at your weird photo and I see the seat covers. We sometimes don't see what we are really photographing.

ellen abbott said...

well, no I hadn't noticed. not only is the little pencil gone but the crosses wrench and screwdriver is also gone. I used that to add new blogs to my read list. what a pain. why do they always want to 'fix' things that aren't broken. and your photo above looks like a double exposure.

Ursula said...

Frightened of simulation, are you, YP? Open your eyes (of your own volition - not by being clamped open).

The moment Morpheus enters the scene (forget the visual effects) listen to what he has to say; a shiver (of recognition) will run down your spine.

U

Marty said...

I wondered at first how you'd managed to walk into one of those giant bubbles kids can blow with soap.
Blogger was weirdly changing the spacing on my writing for a while (I write in Word and then paste) but seems to have stopped for now. Yes, the pencil's gone, adding one more step. Sigh

Linda Sue said...

The matrix has haunted us since we saw it way back in the olden days. It is a reference we often use. We were so excited when another one came out, disappointing in comparison, though.Glad you brought that back, I think i will watch it again.

Your photo had me going for a long minute, LOVE it!!

Debby said...

It looks like the walker sees those wolves in front of her as well. Very cool. I have never seen the Matrix, and have no desire to. If YP is kidnapped, tied up and forced to watch it, I am going to have to beef up my own security.

Ursula said...

The main thing for anyone turning on The Matrix to not give up. Twenty six minutes into the film, on the appearance of Morpheus, it all starts falling into place - especially for those whose minds are wide open. The naming of the characters is very clever. Morpheus, the God of Dreams - Neo being, at first, caught up in nightmares of his own making.

Strange coincidence that you and Dave watched it last night. I too did albeit at three in morning (woken from one of my dreams machinations), stimulated by the Angel having mentioned simulation earlier in the day. Coincidence, no doubt. Touching nevertheless. My interest truly picked up when Morpheus made himself known in the "flesh". But, in order to enjoy and be frightened in equal measure, you've really got to get into WHAT he is saying. I made it to fourty six minutes till my own Morpheus (sleep) reclaimed me. Looking forward to watching the rest tonight. Hope I won't be disappointed. So many films (and books) do at the finishing line.

U

Sabine said...

The quick edit appears now above and no longer along the sidebar in my view. But this only when I use the laptop, not on the phone where it's weird in a way I just cannot figure out.
We tried The Matrix, esp. with the teenager who at the time was testing us to get it but no.

Margaret said...

That is a very cool photo--otherworldly! I've never seen the Matrix and don't use Blogger. I have to go into my dashboard to edit in typepad and it is a pain.

Allison said...

I noticed this last night, went to help - it's a known problem. Went to the blogger forum, found two workarounds, and installed the easy work around. Then I wrote about it. It's always something with blogger. Who knows if they'll kill the work arounds.

Jennifer said...

You should ask about the fish when you get a chance, Steve. I would be interested to know who takes care of the aquariums, too. I've worried so much about the tanks at our school--but we go back in person on Monday and Gregg will be going up there to service them, so we should finally be back on track at least for awhile. I'm shocked that we're going back, though. Our county's covid numbers are as bad as ever.

Never watched The Matrix, and I don't care to. It doesn't sound like my cup of tea!

Sharon said...

That photo of the space dog is great. It is very surreal.
I hadn't noticed the edit tool yet but I'm always noticing quirky little things. I've noticed that if the text you use to create a link has punctuation in it, the text won't appear in the pop-up box used to apply the URL. It still works and the correct text becomes the link. It just doesn't appear in the set-up box.

Ellen D. said...

Oh, I love how you are giving a review of each of the Newberry books for the students. Could you ask for the students to read and review some of the books you have not gotten to yet? Maybe the teachers could help with that.
Thank you for what you do to inspire your students to read! Such a life-long fun habit!!

Mike O'Brien said...

I just peeked at your Newbery page. What memories! Time to catch up on the newer ones. Thanks!

Chris from Boise (on Mike's computer)

No Matrix for me, either. Give me a good kid's book any day.

Steve Reed said...

It was fun. We enjoyed it more than I thought we might!

Steve Reed said...

I don't think they'd simply flush the fish. I think they just removed them so they could be cared for without someone coming in to school to do it. I'll get to the bottom of that mystery.

Steve Reed said...

Oh, and all the ebooks ARE available. We're just putting them in lists by genre for the 8th graders for a class assignment they're doing.

Steve Reed said...

"The Matrix" is a fun movie. I read "The White Tiger" when it came out, right before my trip to India in 2009. I enjoyed it, though I don't remember much about it now.

Steve Reed said...

That would be a very "Clockwork Orange" way of watching a movie! (Dystopia on top of dystopia.)

Steve Reed said...

I'm going to try that photo method! Thanks for the tip!

Steve Reed said...

Ha! I enjoyed it and I saw several of the sequels, too, but I don't see any need to re-watch those.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, Keanu's robe was quite the "look" at the time! I can imagine it would be complicated to make.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, it was strange how the camera saw the reflection so much more clearly than the seat covers. (It was my phone camera so I didn't have a lot of control.)

Steve Reed said...

I don't know why these changes happened. From what I've read Blogger (Google) has been mum about them.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, the spacing thing was a problem, and I still have to tweak the code a bit to get the correct spacing around photos, but it's no big deal. If you hold down "shift" and then hit return you get single rather than double spaces. That's what I do.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I haven't seen any of the sequels since the theater, and I have a feeling they're inferior to the original, which as I recall was quite ground-breaking at the time. (Tied up in all our pre-Y2K angst.)

Steve Reed said...

If people were being kidnapped and forced to watch movies we'd ALL need better security. LOL

Steve Reed said...

Funny that we were all watching it at the same time! I don't remember which line you're specifically referring to, but of course Morpheus is the one who makes clear what's going on. The ending isn't disappointing but it DOES set up the sequel, so it's not very conclusive.

Steve Reed said...

I don't see quick edit tools at all on my blog. Maybe it depends on what OS we're using.

Steve Reed said...

Well, we're in the same position now!

lea said...

Thanks for the link to your Newbery page, I really wanted to know what you have been reading. I made a note to read Moon over Manifest, it sounded interesting.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I reported it on the forum too. I think I'll just edit through the dashboard. It's a pain but not so terrible that I need to devise another system.

Steve Reed said...

I will follow up on the aquariums! I'm curious too! The one in the Lower School normally has tetras in it -- rosy tetras, I believe. I haven't even noticed what's usually living in the Middle School tank. But right now they're both empty of fish.

Steve Reed said...

I haven't noticed that about the links! Such bizarre changes they've made.

Steve Reed said...

I think if I were waiting for students to review the books I'd wait a long time. LOL! Hopefully some of them will take my lead and read them, though, and even if not I'll be more familiar with them all myself and in a better position to make recommendations.

Steve Reed said...

I've only read a few Newbery winners that have left me really flat. (Mainly older winners that haven't aged well.) The Newbery is generally a good indicator of a quality book.

Steve Reed said...

I liked "Moon Over Manifest" a lot! Tell me what you think!

The Bug said...

Maybe Allison's help request has already sorted things (I'm behind as usual), but those edit tools are on my blog today. I never remember to use them - ha!

I loved the Matrix! Mike & I were just talking about it last night - the scene where the guy is wondering what wheatabix (or some such) really tastes like. Maybe it really tastes like tuna (that was in reference to the oatmeal Mike had made for my breakfasts this week. I decided I probably wouldn't mind tuna flavored oatmeal. I know. I'm weird.)

Janie Junebug said...

That photo is cool. I hadn't noticed that the little pencil is gone.

Love,
Janie