The Lens: I wonder if George Lucas had any idea the unprecedented and unmatched franchise he was about to build when he created Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. If I remember correctly, he had a vision beyond the…
Butte Hole
The Lens: This post is a bit of an intersection of my Misunderstandings and Lost in Translations posts. When I was teaching 1st grade, I got pretty good at deciphering my students writing. At their level, spelling was de-emphasized when it…
Jeopardy and Bloom’s Taxonomy
The Lens: I guess you could call my household Jeopardy fans. We have watched it for years. And yet, I have always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the show. “Why” is always a good question. So, I’ll…
I am an American
The Lens: What exactly does that mean? In these United States, it seems there has always been a huge point of contention as to who, exactly, is an American. My best guess is that when we established the United States,…
Silly Injuries
The Lens: My husband and I have a vacation home in the mountains. For some reason, homeowner chores don’t seem so much like chores in the mountains as they do at home. It’s been a hot summer in the mountains.…
All the Mothers Jumped Up
The Lens: Motherhood is a transformative event. It changes you. I would guess most of us become mothers willingly. We understand, even if we don’t have the full picture, we are choosing to bring another life to this earth. Having…
The Obituary
The Lens: Have you ever written an obituary? That was the subject of a recent piece in the SF Chronicle by an opinion columnist. Without having an abundance of time, I am generally pretty selective about the opinion pieces I…
Princess Catherine
The Lens: Have you ever been diagnosed with cancer? I haven’t, but I know far too many people who have. It is devastating. There was a book a while back by Betty Rollin, a news correspondent, that was later made…
Daylight Savings Time
The Lens: We just got through the most exhausting week of the year – when we lose an hour so we can make the switch from standard time to Daylight Savings time (DST). In a sense, it is the equivalent…