We laughed, we cried, we spent too much money.....

I haven't done a movie review in FOREVER....

Most recent-
Frozen -
              I was going to skip this one.  Then news started floating around Facebook of the awesome music that fills this movie and the newer life choices for Disney Princesses.  Awesome.  I tracked it down, I even went out of my way to find the movie.  I managed to drag Tom and we both thought it was great.  It's been out since before Christmas and it's now middle of January and the movie theater was half FULL on a Thursday night.  No Kidding.  Sure there was a couple noisy kids, but heck it is a kids movie.  Great Music.


Catching Fire   (No. 2 of Hunger Games)
             Loved it!!!  Thought they did an even better job with this movie.  It moved you along quickly enough and had plenty of suspense without bogging you down for hours in the GAME itself.  I had completely forgotten how that book had ended and the movie took me right there.  I have high hopes for movie number 3.

The Desolation of Smaug   (or Hobbit 2- as it is otherwise known..)
            Some people I talked to loved it.  I thought it was alright.  I didn't feel that they had as good of music in this one.  There was no Dwarf awesome song in this one.  The whole bit between Smaug and Bilbo was cool, but you know it was rather predictable even for me - and I have to admit I never read the books. (None of them- I know - I'm a pathetic fantasy reader.)  We did not see it in 3D, maybe that helped bring Smaug more to giant size life.  I don't really like the OVERLY shaky camera work anyway.  I forget that I feel a little sea sick after watching his films.  All that crane camera work from long weird angles spinning around people and up into the air - it all just makes me feel like I'm on a roller coaster.  I am sure that is his main reason for doing it, to make you feel like you are right there riding the rapids in a barrel with them.

I can't think of what else we have gone to see.
I can tell you that we miss going with friends to the movies.  Getting to talk about and tear them apart with other people is really a lot of fun.
Which is why- I was thrilled that while the Dinosaur was here in Kentucky we watched the Hunger Games with her and her family.  It really is a good movie.

Link

Oh my Goodness - I totally forgot about Despicable Me 2-  Okay it came out last summer.  But I bought the Blue-Ray copy for Christmas.  It came with 3 mini-movies about the minions that Newbie directors got to make using all the cool gear they were using to make the big movie.  They were able to use already created characters and backgrounds in order to really get to the heart of a short story.  In animation the ground up phase of creating characters is always the hardest.  So, to be able to use the WORLD that was already up and running, really made it easier for the new directors to really get right to the point.  They were great little movies and I hope those new Directors get noticed because of them. :~)

Link

Road Trip

Woo hooo-  a road trip with three other women. The Dinosaur, two other friends and I are traveling East. 

It's been Many years since I've done this. 

I remember the one road trip we took to Illinois  somewhere for a 4-H competition. 

It was my mom, our 4-H leader and 3 teenagers; myself and the twins. I'm pretty sure that I drove part of the trip. We went past Chicago on that trip. 

I have to admit that the trip between Detroit to Chicago is pretty boring. Especially when you've done it more than 5 times. 

Anyway- 5 women in one hotel room is stretching the limit on anyone. 

I think it was more taxing on my mom as the other two girls were terrible sleepers and slow to get ready. In my head when I think of it - I imagine my high school French teacher yelling "Veit, Veit" at students to hurry up. I heard that story from students who went to Europe with her. 

( I just spent 10 minutes trying to get the right spelling for "Veit" and proper translation.  Well- can't find one that works. I tried hurry up, rush, faster, & something else- nothing works.  Maybe one of my Canadian friends can help me - as my teacher was from Quebec and the word might be slang from there. )

Road trips- that was the point of this post.  

Today we are driving from Detroit to Niagara  Falls, NY.  Thru Ohio - yup one person does not have a passport or enhanced license.  Although people on this trip have said other people have told them that going thru Canada is slower due to Construction and the boarder crossings. 

Ohio is just the turn pike and the cops.  We have seen lots if Po-Po in Ohio today. They were totally nailing everyone today. We saw them out with radar guns and friends. 

We just got to Pennsylvania and saw this Casino race track when we stopped for gas. We hit a Sheets gas station. It was pretty fabulous. Think like 7-eleven and huge gas station. It was new and clean. Just what I like.  :-). 

Off and on we can see Lake Erie out the driver side of the car and the weather is beautiful today. I'm glad we decided to drive to the falls today and not on the way back.  I'm sure it will rain on the way home. You just know it. 

Well off to watch out the windows to Buffalo. 

We'll be on the mountains of Massachusetts for most of the weekend with no phone or Internet service. See us when we emerge. 

Best items ever

Traveling

We have been on the road for a week. 

Sleeping is always a worry on the road.  It's not your bed, it doesn't have the same sounds, or your pets aren't in the same place.  

Well, I give you the next best thing. 

And this worked even on my mothers hardest bed of the universe. ( I woke up in pain but I did sleep). 

There are two items here and the only thing missing is iPhone ( which I used to take the picture). 

First is the double USB plug from Costco- although I know they are at Kmart, meijers and probably Walmart. I have an iPhone 5 so it uses the bottom plug- to the white cord. 

The second item is the speaker. Mine is a rechargeable USB powered speaker. There are two kinds of these. Mine is the kind you can daisy chain a few together to maximize sound. The Dinosaur has one that changes color while it plays. 

I use this for sleeping so the lights don't help me. 

With the 2 USB plug both items have power and are close enough to each other to work just fine.  I like it on a bedside table. 

WHY?? You ask.  

Well I found an app called Sleep Machine lite. 

It plays different white noise sounds. Like wind, waves and stuff like that. You can take a few sounds and mix them to get your blend. 

It also has a timer and you can add an alarm at the end or not. 

These items have made it so that I can get at least 5-7 good hours of sleep even in the worst situations. Plus- I only have to carry ONE small bag with me. Not my whole computer. Or blow out the tiny speakers on the phone. 

(Which I did last summer to my old phone after 2 weeks on the road.)

Hey - it also works great for a instant hotel room party.  Or sharing music with a small group. 

The speaker does work with its rechargeable battery, but I have not tested out its battery life yet. I'll probably do that later this month. 

Well- sweet dreams. Off to plug in and pass out.  

Update Apps - Lose it!!! and Coupon Sherpa

Alright-y then,
Tom gave me all kinds of crap for not actually TRYING the apps out.
So I did.

Lose it -

I think I like it.  Not sure if the novelty will wear off, but it's sort of fun putting all the stuff i that I'm eating.
I love the scan the bar code deal.  Coke, Chobani, Grape nuts,- the thing works a ton better if you can actually scan a bar code of whatever it is your eating.
My biggest problem is that the size of things like - Milk or cereal - how much am I really eating?  I am not going to measure out all the food I eat. I don't see that happening.
Here is a screen shot of this mornings excitement.

I had to manually add the walking, but that wasn't too bad. I actually did more walking than my Run Keeper would admit, because When I stopped to pick up the poop in the yard - well she kept pausing.  I think that map probably looks hysterical today.  Lets see.


These are screen shots from Run Keeper.  This app I have been using since Early April.
And as you can see, my road does not exist yet.  If you come see me it will take you to Turkey run, behind our house.

 That is just my back yard.  HA
<---- p="">
This was the entire walk ---->

You can see all the pauses on the left side of the whole walk, where I was walking the dogs.  They either had to sniff, pee, or leave me presents.

Of course most of you are like - why is she talking about this.  Well, it shows WHY- I can't get my time down for a mile. LOL


Coupon Sherpa -

Yeah, I was right.  Not much in there- okay- lots of stuff that some people I know will be happy about.  Toy R Us and Baby's R Us of course have a bunch of stuff.

They have in Store Coupons, that have the bar code on them, so the person at the cash register can get it off your phone.   (Warning for those of you YOUNG people who have cracked screens or the cracked Screen film on your phone, this isn't going to work well for you - but what do you care - you won't use coupons anyway.)
They also have online coupons, where they will tell you the coupon code to type in.

My biggest problem is that they want you to give your email address to all the wonderful stores to sign you up to get the coupons.  Now, I know a few people and I myself get email from some stores.  It CLOGS up the darn inbox.
If they would PROMISE not to email me anymore and just send stuff to Coupon Sherpa - I would LOVE IT.  But, I am very sure that when I sign up to get coupons from Qdoba they are just going spam my inbox.
Yes, I know how to filter all that stuff to other spots in my inbox- but I still have to set it up to do that.

I have several more apps to work on- expect more on this subject.

Apps

Back to Dinosaur Training......

I was asked today by the Dinosaur to check out some apps to see if they were worth using or losing.
This is a bit of a challenge for me, because, well - I've gotten rather lazy.  (See previous posts. LOL)

Anyway - First one on the list is - Lose it.

I Google'd Lose it and found there is an App for both the iPhone and Kindle fire.  It might be the same app, didn't see a picture of the icon on the Amazon page.  But I did find the reviews there and that is really what I am looking for.

• The good - people say it is sort of balanced and they do a pretty good job of keeping track of all the stuff they eat. You can find lots of food from different restaurants.
• I noticed someone on the iPhone said it used to sync with RunKeeper (which I do use), but after an update it wasn't working.  Those kind of complaints happen when one app updates and the other hasn't yet.  I figure that is what happened.  RunKeeper and this app look like they are in it for the long haul.
• It has some complaints that connecting to social media might be on the premium version - of course, same for RunKeeper.  I still use the free version and am doing ok.  

So the question becomes - would I use this app.   I totally should use this app.  I know I need to lose a little weight and maybe my lovely self could be addicted to the filling in the info, instead of filling my face.  Ahh, what a lovely idea.  I haven't used it, but I'd be willing to give the free version a try.

Second app -  Coupon Sherpa

Ah, they named stuff after me.  Actually there are about 10 Apps with Sherpa in the name and then there is a company called Sherpa Solutions Business that makes a ton of apps.  So, much came up when I did a search for the app.  I found an About.Com review of the app and it made sense.

• This app is great if you have kids or buy lots of clothes, shoes and books.
• This is does nothing if you want to get your grocery coupons for food.
• Oh, if you love Starbucks- I saw it listed, so yeah okay- if you could get a Starbucks coupon each week, that could be a big saver.
• I think they have stuff for fast food and entertainment. 

Tanya from About.com said she saved 15% on something at Barnes and Noble and then 10% at Petco.  Sadly my dog food does not come from Petco.  My boys have delicate stomachs, ha ha ha. 

 For Free I would be willing to give it a try, I need to make some room on the screens. LOL

Third App -  Book Crawler Lite  

This app I can way in on a little more myself.  I did go check the reviews on my phone and then hit someone else's blog and their full review on it.  I personally use iBookshelf, that came out way before the Apple IOS update that included the books and newspaper shelf thing as a part of the phone.  And I found some interesting info.....

• Book Crawler shares all your books.  Other people see what you are reading.  (umm, I already do that with Goodreads - I don't need another app to do that)
• The Blog I found said they had a real problem with scanning their books in.  YES, you do have to download one of the Pic-to-shop or something like that scanner- but I already have that stuff for the QR codes everywhere.   Their problem was the phone can not keep up with the scanner, you can scan a ton of books, but it has to search online for the info to go with the ISBN number. (which means it has to connect online)
•  Oh, I just noticed on my iBookshelf that it connects to Goodreads and will show me reviews from that website.  (I totally do not need Book Crawler)
• I liked iBookshelf because it had a space for me to say if someone borrowed the book from me and WHO has it.  THAT is worth everything.  

Overall, I already have this app covered and I'll certainly stick to iBookshelf.  I still have a ton of books to add to it anyway, hate to start over- because that would suck... LOL  I wonder if I can go in and link iBookshelf to my Goodreads log in.  That would save a ton of time.    I totally PASS on this App.

Last one today -  Walkie Talkie Apps....

This category I'm not so sure about.  There were 15 apps right at the top.  One had a free version and then a paid version. ugh.  Okay, so I guess the point of this app is so that you are not using minutes but you can still talk on your phone.  This is where they DIVERGE greatly.

I read a ton of reviews and it is almost like there are two versions of this type of app.

1.  The phones talk to each other over wifi - okay we already have that with Face Time???
2.  The phones talk to each other using Bluetooth.  (Um, severe distance limitations)
3.  They can either be live conversations or sort of saved things that go over the internet to someone else and they can listen later.  Basically like text talking.  The one app had people saying they really liked that feature as they were not texting but talking to someone- while driving. hmmmm  
4. The biggest problem is that you MUST have both people with the same app on their phone.  I know young people are really into a million apps on the phone, but really, I think I'm not impressed.
5. Several people used it as baby monitors or a way to talk to each other from one end of the house to the other without waking the baby.  Okay, useful.
6. One person said it was the best way to keep in contact with family overseas and deployed.  If you have wifi you can talk, I would think Facetime would be better, but hey Facetime uses a ton more bandwidth and battery I would guess.

The one that seemed to have the best reviews was Voxer Walkie-Talkie PTT.  

I would be willing to try it out, but you have to have someone else with the same app, and I'm not sure if you have to start on the same wifi network.  

That used way more brain power than I was expecting.  Sure, only looked at what other people had to say.  I will download the first two and give them a try.  I don't really have any spending money right now so I don't know how much good Coupon Sherpa will do me for a couple months.  

Dinosaur wants me to figure out how to link Calendars - that is going to be way harder.  I'm hoping someone figured that out......  

Maybe tomorrow I'll have more....  Sorry no pictures this time.

Movies and Stuff

I seriously need to make that book someone found on Pinterest.
It's mostly about organizing yourself to write a blog.  The funny thing is, I like writing on the blog and sadly wait until I have way toooo much to talk about and then finally get on.  Then I forget half the stuff I wanted to talk about and ramble for 20 minutes.

TODAY- Movie Reviews -
I remember doing reviews a while back. Okay, a long while back.  Well, it is the summer blockbuster season and we are pleased with the Options.

First big movie - that we care about - is Iron Man 3.  
SAW it twice already, it's only been out 3 weekends I think.  Tom and I went for 3D and enjoyed a loud but good crowd with a lot of kids.  I personally think the movies are a little violent for the little ones, but hey- I'm not their mom.  There was a ton of good action and a nice little mystery at the end to see what the heck would they do to top this.
Then I saw the movie with Dinosaur and Minion.  HA, I think I enjoyed the Dinosaur's reactions to the movie more than seeing the movie again.  It was still good and I will probably own it. :~)

Second big movie - Star Trek (2) Into the darkness or some crazy thing.
Why do they make the names hard to remember?  It's #2 in the new version.  That suites me just fine.
Okay, I haven't actually seen it yet.  Probably today. LOL

We re-watched the first one last night. Awesome, although I do not like the beginning at all.  I saw the movie 2x's right away the first time.  First in 3D and then in IMAX and guess what- IMAX sucked big time.  I had to move my head from side to side to figure out what I needed to look at.  That sucked and the beginning is SOOOO big and crazy that you can hardly see what is going on to begin with.  Even last night watching it again, you can barely see what is happening.  It's dark and shot very close up and from very weird perspective.  I understand they wanted it to be different - oh it is.

Also saw the director JJ Abrams on Jon Stewart and he didn't like Star Trek as a kid.  ARG- oh well he didn't understand them.  I get that, I really enjoyed watching them with my dad.  He didn't give me any commentary, he just let them be what they were.  The funny thing is, I was a kid when Star Wars came out and NEVER saw them in the theater until the re-release in the 2000's or something.  I still haven't seen all of them in the theater.
Abrams is doing the new Star Wars too.  I find that really Weird.  Stewart did too.  I just hope they get better, cause the last ones were seriously lacking in acting.

Okay, enough blathering about movies.  I best go see the new one.  LATER

Dinosaur exercise

Just a quick iPhone update.
With all the walking and exercise I've been wanting to keep track or help me get motivated or whatever.
I started with the couch to 5k app and well it sucks because it assumes you honestly want to run.
Yeah that's not going to happen.

Then I noticed Chicken Paul doing stuff and it showing up on Facebook. He uses Runkeeper and I now have the free version for myself. Or $20 it will broadcast for the whole year and do some other analysis for you. I don't feel the need to share it all. Lol. I can post stuff afterward- but I think I have it so only I can see it.

That is something else I found with several games and such that want to post to Facebook. I just put the setting to me only when I set up the app and it doesn't spam my timeline or my friends.

Anyway - I like Runkeeper. It shows where I went- it's fun because the streets back here in the sub don't exist on the map yet. So it looks like I'm off roading it. It gives you the choice of activity- with biking and other stuff- not just run or walk. It tells your phone to play music.
I spent a hour or two making a walking playlist that's actually several hours long. It just picks up where I left off. So far so good on that front.

Plus it keeps track of how fast you go and personal bests of all kinds.
It works because of GPS. So it's not going to work in the caves- which is a bummer. And it doesn't work on a treadmill, but you can hand enter that stuff.

At the end of each activity it asks you to take a picture and write about it. I like that. Because I can distinguish between walking with or without dogs. You can also say how you felt. Which can help you remember how long it takes to hurt or whatever.
So yes. I give Runkeeper a definite thumbs up!!

Dinosaur training. Rocu

Not sure where to start.
It's been busy.
Between getting the dinosaur an IPhone and Internet at home to this weekend getting a TV and Rocu box - wow. And packing to move.

The good news is everything seems to be working well.
I on the other hand dropped my phone on the clean commode and had to replace it. That became an ordeal in itself.
I was able to do the upgrade to a 5 w/out paying the $600 price. Then Radio shack had it on sale. But of course - Apple decided to do an over haul on the phone and so began my torture.
First they changed the pins on the bottom. No longer the 30 pin slot that they had for at least 9 years. Had to change it to make you replace all the Ihome stuff we' ve collected over the years. (Bought an adapter- there went the savings)
Second they've upgraded the brains enough that my laptop was running the equivalent of win 98 or 2000. The phone refused to talk to the computer.
After hours of google and Apple help searches I broke down and called Apple. ( I had just bought the new phone- I had 90 days banked to use with help )
We determined that yes my computer was probably to old for Mountain Lion the current Apple OS. But- there was a strong possibility that the newest ITunes and IPhone 5 would talk to Snow Leopard and my computer could handle that .
Thank goodness it was only $20- thank you Apple. Took a couple days to get here then 8 hours of downloads and updates later it all worked. Whew.

More later.

Learning something new.....

 I freely admit I did not figure out any of this stuff on my own.......
I got help from friends, Google and from whoever posted it somewhere else.
I just want to put some stuff in one place.   And it helps the Dinosaur, which is the best part...

Screen Shots

1. I just learned how to take a screen shot on my Iphone.  You would think I knew how to do that and I have been wondering for a long time how everyone shares those wonderful terrible Autocorrect freak outs online.  - Now I know and I'll tell you.....
2. First just get what you want to show up in the middle of the screen.
3. Then Hit the Home button (the circle) and the On /Off button at the same time.  Not for real long, but if you hit them together the screen should flash and TA DA- a picture of the screen will show up in your Camera Roll.
4. I will now use this special technology to show you how to Get the Emoticon keyboards.

That Crazy Emoticon Keyboard for all your Smiley Face needs.

1. Hit the home button on your phone.  Find the Settings Icon.
2. Hit the Settings Icon and scroll down till you see - Keyboard.

 3. Once you tap Keyboard, it will come up with more 
      icons, with on and off buttons.  
4. Scroll down to find Keyboards - it should just show 1. 
    Once we are done, it will show 2 like seen to the left
     there.
5. Tap the keyboard icon.

6. This screen comes up and you just click the Add new Keyboard.

7.  A whole giant list of keyboards of other languages will come up.

      Look for Emoji - Tada-  You will have a ton of Emoticons on

        your keyboard.

I just realized, you have to see how to use it. LOL

OK, next picture please....

Ok, look at the new picture.

Down in the Left Corner there is a little world icon.
That is your access to the Emoticon Keyboard, or any other keyboard you add to help your typing.  There are 5 different groups of icons down there.  As you see its currently on the smiley tab.
The Tab with the clock on it is a list of all the emoticons that you have recently used.
To get out of this keyboard, just click on the World Icon and it will take you back to the regular keyboard.

I hope this helps someone.
Have a good night....

A new Year and New Titles

It seems that many things are changing in my world.

First, we are moving and I'm in the middle of chaos trying to organize what it going, and what is getting tossed, given away or sold.  The sold part isn't working very well.  I have a Large Dinning room table that I'd like to sell, but no takers. It is nice, just needs some love and well, somewhere bigger to put it.

Second, I'm still looking for a job.  Yeah, that's a toughy. But what else can I do, unemployment runs out and well, the government has some fun rules.  They don't seem to apply to everyone, but they certainly apply to me.

Third, I have taken my tech-y status to a new level.    As a part of that, people are calling on me a lot more to help with a lot of the little trouble shooting stuff on their computers, phones and tablets.  I am seriously helping a few people get into the 21st century before I leave town.  That is the funny thing, people that were willing to wait or hang on are like - oh no, you'll be gone, then where will I go for tech support.

Which brings me back to why in the world am I blogging again.

The Dinosaur (my friend) and I have decided to blog a bit about our experiences - me from the side of a teacher and her from the side of a learner.  Or as we decided earlier today - the Dinosaur (Brontosaurus like) who is enjoying hanging out just chewing the grass and letting things pass by, to me the Dinosaur Trainer.
Said Dinosaur has decided that becoming extinct in this world doesn't sound like as much fun as it could be.  We have already decided that the Mayan Apocalypse was said Dinosaur joining Facebook.  It fit. LOL

I've noticed that some days I am much better than others helping people with their technology. I've decided that I should reflect on this process and make sure that I'm not pushing people too fast, or forgetting a step in my explanations.

So, between our two blogs, it might be an interesting read.  Who knows, it may be nothing, but if I get more specific in my explanations and learn to go slow enough, I may be able to use that later.

(I just realized there is going to be a really big post here..... too many things in my head today.)

OK, so to go with the theme of ,"What am I teaching other people?", here are the items we have been working with this past year.

1.  Mostly Apple products.  Yup - I will admit that I am a fan of Steve Jobs (RIP) and well, his stuff speaks to me.  The funny thing is- people are buying Apply products BECAUSE a bunch of their friends also have them.  (I'll get into some reasons later.)
2.  Phones and Tablets - Phones are now computers, not phones and Tablets have huge capabilities, just have to dig it up.  Not easy really, too many hidden things and sadly they DO NOT set you up well at the store, OK - I'll admit that we don't go to the APPLE store to buy stuff anyway.  (That's another story)
3. Computers - I do really have something to say here. Go OPEN source or go home. Yup ok, that's it. If you want to get a desktop and don't want an Apple, then get something open source.  What does that mean?   Well, I prefer PowerSpec by Microcenter.  It's a computer store (with tons of stuff) that originates in MI and OH, I think.  I can pull parts and swap stuff, very important when you don't want to spend 5 days looking for drivers from your NOT friendly neighborhood big PC companies.
4.  Scanners - this originates with me and the stupid software that comes with them.  UGH, that sucked and I'm not even going to go there today.
5. Google Documents or now called DRIVE.  Best thing ever designed (OK, I'm exaggerating) but best use of CLOUD stuff out there.  Saves my bacon, and really helps students keep there stuff together.  I mean, I have cool papers and like 9 chapters of a Memoir LOST to the voids, because I did not have this option.  How many times do you change computers now, how many times does a hard drive fail and you didn't back things up.  AHHHH, I might have all that stuff on a cd somewhere, but still have to go looking.
6. The Cloud - great idea, still not working right.  I can tell you that much.  At least in regards to phone OS change up grades in Apple.  I hope its working better in other stuff, but we had a big glitch last fall.

Alright, on to other things.  Remind me later I have lots to write about those 6 topics, I'm sure we will come up with more.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi or anything not very realistic in BOOKs and my African American Students.

I have been tormented for 7 years now with the lack on interest or even willingness of my AA students to even try to read Fantasy stories. I keep finding them only reading simple realistic books with too much sex usually and then written at a 5th grade level in Ebonics.  

As an English teacher this makes me crazy.  How am I to teach them the proper way to spell and use grammar if they are continually reading books that refuse to use proper grammar???  They want to say that it is separate from what we do in school, and that is complete crap.  I grew up reading, and I know most of them would say, "At least I am reading" and sure you could go with that.  But, when you look at terrible spelling or complete lack of grammar for that long, you are going to emulate that.  

I know that to be true.  I count myself as a perfect example.  I pick up accents.  I don't know why, some people can't understand even the smallest change in accent - where as I just pick it up and go with it.  I might not know all the slang words, but I do get a lilt or drawl or just start using "You all" pretty quick.

I can only guess it's from my Grandmother having a Southern Accent when I was young. or I just like the sounds.  Anyway- I had a small break through this morning, because of my friend.

I had a conversation with the Dinosaur this morning and we hashed out a couple things.

1. I have to approach the subject differently with the students.   She had the great idea that I should coach the idea in the way of Martin Luther King.   How was he to imagine or become aware of what things really could be if he did not let himself see BEYOND what was happening in front of him.   How could he find that dream of people working together and living together if he hadn't imagined it.
2. Which comes to the idea of explaining Fantasy as as story of people, and it doesn't matter what they look like. (They had real trouble dealing with Trolls and Vampires and stuff living in the same place- which really was the point of the book - I digress.) The story revolves around that person trying to figure out how something works, do they need to change, does the situation need to change, or is there really a bad guy.
3. Also, we talked about starting with shorter works - less characters to remember - and then find AA authors.  Octavia Butler is the only one either of us knew off the top or our heads.  I'd like to find more and read their work.  Good place for me to start.
4. So, The ACT MME crap wants them to focus on realistic reading (which they don't like either) that includes facts and maybe even charts to figure things out.  I agree they need to know how to do that.  But I feel, if they can't imagine anything in their heads in the first place, if you try to make them SEE how the graph helped explain the why or what of something - it won't work there either.

In the spirit of this - with Martin Luther King's Birthday celebration and Barack Obama's 2nd term Inauguration this weekend.  It's time for me to find some AA authors in Sci-fi or Fantasy.