History of Math
06.26.05 (7:10 am) [edit]
Got this in an email and I thought to share it with the rest of ya. hehe . . .
[line]
Last week I purchased a burger for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register.
I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help.
While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.
Why do I tell you this?
Please read more about the "history of teaching math":
Teaching Math In 1950
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of productionis 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
Teaching Math In 1960
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
Teaching Math In 1970
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
Teaching Math In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
Teaching Math In 1990
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees. (There are no wrong answers.)
Teaching Math In 2005
El hachero vende un camion carga por $100. La cuesta de production es.............
And we wonder why jobs requiring intelligence are being
outsourced??
'KORAN RIPPINGS' AND 'CANCER JUICE'
06.26.05 (7:05 am) [edit]
ALSO:
▪ HR cited at Cordoba conference
▪ Anatomy of a successful letter
In the wake of Newsweek's now-retracted Guantanamo Bay Koran toilet abuse story, Palestinian prisoners have floated their own version to the western press.
On June 7, The Scotsman headlined: 'Israeli Soldiers 'Desecrated Koran During Riot''. Reports on this unfounded claim from Israel's Megiddo prison (including these Associated Press and Reuters
versions) included a refutation from the Israeli Prisons Authority, but the media-fueled rumors were enough to spark violent protests and public burnings of American and Israeli flags in faraway Muslim communities.And now, this:
This rehashing of an ancient anti-Semitic blood libel appeared prominently on GoogleNews.
Throughout the Arafat years, Palestinian spokespersons fed similar items to the western press, such as claims Israel deployed radioactive uranium against Palestinian protestors, and Suha Arafat's accusation in the presence of Hillary Clinton (pictured) that the IDF made 'extensive use of poisonous gas... which has led to an increase in cancer cases among women and children.'
A senior Israeli official said the cancer juice case reminds him of 'the same types of lies Yasser Arafat used to spread.' As documented in a JCPA report, those included accusations that Israel disseminated bubble gum that sterilized Palestinian girls and sent AIDS-infected prostitutes to infect Palestinian men.
We understand that Google uses an automated algorithm to filter news search results, but as HR has repeatedly indicated, this system is deeply flawed and lends itself to promulgating such absurd propaganda.
Comments to GoogleNews: news-feedback@google.com
HR CITED AT CORDOBA CONFERENCE
At last week's high profile OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism in Cordoba, Spain, Sander Gerber of the U.S. delegation delivered a speech on 'Anti-Semitism and the media', citing HonestReporting as his first example of a non-governmental organization (NGO) that's committed to ensure responsible coverage of Israel and the Mideast conflict:
There are NGOs who enable aggregates of public opinion to speak out. For example, the NGO, HonestReporting, offers a grassroots collection of 120,000 readers who are committed to drawing attention to unbalanced stories aThat particular incident is documented on our website. Gerber emphasized why honest reporting matters:platform to speak... For example, the London Times website had a photo of a woman wearing a headband emblazoned, "KILL JEWS." The photo was captioned simply: "A university student protests against the war in Iraq." After several letters, the Times apologized and corrected the caption.
Generally, in free democracies, an individual will form an opinion based on what he or she has seen and heard in the media. That presents a special challenge to the media to provide its audience with material that can serve as the basis for an informed opinion. The power of the media is such that slanted reporting can have an enormous impact on public opinion.Indeed. View Sander Gerber's full speech from the OSCE conference here.
ANATOMY OF A SUCCESSFUL LETTER
On Monday (June 13), BBC's 'On This Day' distorted the all-important content of UN Resolution 242, prompting HR subscriber Anat Tcherikover to write the BBC editor. Anat received a prompt response, and elicited a correction on the BBC website.
Anat's letter (view it here, with BBC's response) is a fine example of how to approach editors by e-mail. Note these effective techniques:
● Quick response ― within 24 hours of the article's posting on the news outlet's site.
● Factual tone ― no name-calling or accusations.
● Use of own words ― no cut-and-paste from an HR critique.
● Inclusion of the URL of the article in question.
● Inclusion of the URL of the evidence brought to critique the article.
● Clear, succinct line of reasoning, with summary. Anat wrote: 'I hope you'll agree that taking the single sentence... out of context creates the false impression that demands were directed solely at Israel.'
● Requesting a specific response: 'For fairness, a correction would be appreciated.'
● Respectful signoff, including one's title and address.
● Keeping HR in the loop (via a 'cc' or forward), so we can share the problem/success with our broad readership.
Good work, Anat! For more tips, see HR's guide to effective media monitoring.
THREE LESSONS FROM A WOMAN TERRORIST
06.26.05 (7:03 am) [edit]
On June 20, a Palestinian woman took advantage of a humanitarian medical clearance to attempt a suicide bombing of an Israeli hospital. Israeli security caught Wafa al-Bas at a Gaza checkpoint and safely detonated the explosives that had been tied to her undergarments.
View AP news video of capture.
This episode highlights three important points that remain largely ignored or misrepresented in media coverage of the Mideast conflict:
1) SUICIDE TERROR: ASPIRATION, NOT DESPERATION
Al-Bas explained to reporters why she carried out the act:
I love Allah, I love the land of Palestine and I am a member of Al-Aksa Brigades... my dream was to be a martyr. I believe in death... Since I was a little girl I wanted to carry out an attack.
Though media outlets often rationalize Palestinian suicide terror as a 'desperate' response to Israeli wrongdoing, al-Bas' statement is the latest indication that the main motivation for the heinous crime is a twisted, lifelong aspiration to achieve 'greatness' via mass murder.
A primary source of this problem is incitement in Palestinian media and culture. On Sunday (June 19) PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and western reporters that official Palestinian media 'no longer incites against Israel'.
But very little has actually changed. As documented by Palestinian Media Watch, imagery promoting violence against 'illegitimate' Israelis and 'conspiratorial' Jews remains prominent in official Palestinian TV and newspapers. This is a direct violation of the PA's roadmap commitment for 'all official Palestinian institutions [to] end incitement against Israel', and it continues to fuel the ideology behind acts such as al-Bas'.
2) IMPORTANCE OF ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS
The latest Amnesty International report accused Israel of 'crimes against humanity and war crimes' that included 'obstruction of medical assistance'. Such reports invariably receive broad, uncritical media coverage that lacks appropriate context.
Al-Bas' act, however, clearly demonstrates the need for strict Israeli administration of checkpoints and medical permits. She is the latest in a long string of Palestinian terrorists who cynically used their status as medical patients or modest women to perpetrate terror attacks.
An important condemnation of al-Bas was carried only in the LA Times:
"We utterly condemn this action in every respect," said Shabtai Gold, a spokesman for Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which is often critical of Israeli authorities for impeding Palestinian access to medical care inside Israel.
IDF spokeswoman Sharon Finegold put the matter in perspective: 'These terror organizations are not only the enemies of the Israelis but also of the Palestinian people themselves, who suffer as a result of this abuse of the young, the sick, the wounded.'
3) PA EMBRACING, NOT STOPPING TERRORISTS
According to a Haaretz report, Israeli security received a tip on al-Bas' imminent attack, and gave the PA and Abbas detailed information regarding it, but the PA did not act.
Al-Bas' thwarted effort followed on the heels of a brutal ambush of an Israeli civilian car in the West Bank (pictured), which killed 28-year old Yigveny Rider.
The PA continues to do very little to fulfill its roadmap obligation to uproot terror groups, choosing instead to incorporate terrorist operatives into its political and security leadership.
Media outlets continue to ignore this violation of the signed agreement, describing it as a mere 'Israeli demand', as in this UPI report on yesterday's Palestinian violence:
These seemed to be "perfect" examples for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who Tuesday afternoon is to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his official residence in central Jerusalem... Sharon never seems to tire demanding a complete cessation of terrorism, violence and incitement, dismantling terrorist organizations and collecting their weapons.
UPI's jab at Sharon is both an unprofessional editorial comment inserted in a news article, and a complete misrepresentation of the PA's own commitment to the world community to uproot terrorism from its midst.
Comments to UPI: international_desk@upi.com
HonestReporting encourages subscribers to be on the lookout in your local media for these three ongoing misrepresentations of Palestinian terror.
Interesting Stuff
06.21.05 (6:38 pm) [edit]
I've almost moved out of this dormatory and back home! I love taking breaks to sit at the computer and do nothing. It's rather good for my soul. Enjoy the fruits of my relaxation.
| Your Expression Number is 7 |
| Very intelligent, you are usually thinking, introspecting, or analyzing. You have a good mind, and you are especially good at finding out the truth. Very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You tend to obsess over wisdom and hidden truths. You are likely to become a authority on any subject you undertake. Operating on a different wavelength, most people don't know you that well. Very logical and rational, at times you tend to lack emotion. So much so, that you often have times coping with emotional situations. You are not very adaptable - you may tend to be overly critical at times. |
Your Geek Profile: |
Fashion Geekiness: Highest |
Academic Geekiness: High |
Gamer Geekiness: Moderate |
Movie Geekiness: Moderate |
Music Geekiness: Moderate |
Geekiness in Love: Low |
General Geekiness: None |
Internet Geekiness: None |
SciFi Geekiness: None |
Your Political Profile |
Overall: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal |
Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal |
Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal |
Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal |
Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal |
Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal |
Your Linguistic Profile: |
60% General American English |
25% Yankee |
10% Dixie |
5% Upper Midwestern |
0% Midwestern |
You Are Best Described By... |
Girl With Hair Ribbon by Roy Lichtenstein |
You Are 25% Left Brained, 75% Right Brained |
The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports. |
Your Brain is 46.67% Female, 53.33% Male |
Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve |
Happily [Married] Ever After
06.20.05 (9:03 am) [edit]
I was about 15 or 16 when I was invited to my first non-family wedding. It was a person whom, at the time, I cared for very much. They were getting married and I was invited to share in their happiness in New York. That's where the bride was from. Of course, I knew the groom and being a poor kid from a Navy neighborhood, I didn't have the money for air fare so I didn't go. I really didn't want to go. I thought that the wedding was a mistake. I thought that the two weren't right for each other and I thought the whole thing was stupid. My thoughts really had nothing to do with it only being a couple years since my parents first separated, as most would assume. No, I just thought the whole thing was ridiculous.
The next wedding I was invited to was when I was about 17. A friend of my family was getting hitched. My mother had set the two up. I actually wanted to go to this one. I liked Allen and his new soon-to-be wife seemed all right. Unfortunately it was not to be, for I fell ill and had to go to the hospital. My father took me. My mother and brother went to the wedding.
Almost a year ago, I was invited to another wedding. This time, I knew the bride. She had moved to New York to find herself a husband. She wanted to be that stereotypical wife with children at her skirt, baking Challah in the kitchen. I went to this wedding and it was nice. It was what she wanted. I still thought it was stupid, however. She only knew this guy 10 days before they got engaged. Believe it or not, this is common practice for Orthodox Jews. It’s even considered a long courtship by some standards. S-t-u-p-i-d. And what’s worse, after the engagement, she found out he’d been married before -- twice! She broke off the engagement but they soon got back together and went through with it all because, well, she was thirty something and desperate. Sad.
I went to another wedding last Halloween. No, it wasn't all cool because it was on Halloween. To these people, that’s just another day. After all, it is a paganistic holiday when you get right down to the roots. In any case, this was probably the nicest wedding I’d ever been to. Once again, I knew the groom. I didn’t think this was quite as stupid as the others because these two actually dated for a few months this time before they were engaged and had about a 6 month engagement. A little more sense. I still had qualms. I thought it was an odd coupling. They were happy. But it seemed too strange that my friend, this particular friend, was getting married and getting married to this particular bride. But it was really none of my business.
Almost four years ago, I got a steady boyfriend in my first year of college. For a few months we kept our relationship secret so as not to be annoyed by the local Jewish marriage police. “Nu? So when's the wedding??” is something you really don't want to hear if you've only been dating a few weeks! At least that was something the two of us didn't really want to hear. Eventually people found out. If you spend enough time with someone, people talk around here. I guess that’s everywhere. It just seems to be worse here because it’s a small town.
During almost the entire four years that we’ve been together, we’ve endured the pressure. People come up to me almost on a weekly basis and ask “what’s going on with you two?” as if they feel entitled or that I owe them some sort of explanation. I wrote an entire blog about people like that before. In that time I’ve had to come to grips with people shunning us because we don’t “tow the social line” or “fall into step” with the rest of the adult population. One couple, the ones whose wedding was first and at the top of this page, even refuse to eat food cooked by me or in my kitchen because “something must be going on.” Apparently, to them, in order to maintain a kosher household you have to do what other people tell you to do with your life or risk excommunication. And here I thought you need to keep the Sabbath as well as keep and know the laws of Kashrus in order to be considered a reliable person to eat by. Silly me.
We’ve even gotten the pity look at all those weddings we’ve actually shown up for. “It’s ok, your day will come soon.” Kiss my ass! It seems that everyone’s life revolves around getting married! If you’re not married, get that way. If you are, make single people’s lives miserable.
Miserable.
That’s when I started to take a look, take a real good look, at my pressure people. The first couple (and ones who won’t eat my food) have three children now. The third was apparently quite unexpected. When I used to be more friendly with them and come to their house, they’d fight. They seemed miserable. My instincts seemed to be right at the naive age of 16. They obviously have issues with each other.
The second wedding, my family friend, his wife hates him. He's alone all the time. He takes care of their baby while she is not much of a mother.
The one where I knew the bride, she moved out of her husbands apartment about a month ago. She wants a divorce, but he wants to work it out so they’re staying together for now and she moved back in. She’s angry at him. He’s aparantly (big surprise) not the person he said he was. She wanted to get married so badly that she blinded herself to his major faults as a person. This led to major faults in their marriage.
The one that was on Halloween, they’re expecting right now. Since she doesn’t cover her hair, the first couple won’t eat by them and it seems they weren’t ready to start a family.
All of these people are miserable. All of these people are champions of the wedding canopy. All of these people can stick it up their arse.
I will get married if and when I ever feel like it. If we get married it will be because we’re both ready, not because some fools who don’t even have their own lives together feel it’s time for us to. Until then, I’ll enjoy the company of my beloved and we will live as we dictate.
Those who know nothing about living their own lives need not open their mouths about mine.
Perhaps there really is no such thing as happily ever after. Maybe there is. But all I do know is that Happily Ever After doesn’t come easily. First comes the Happy before you can have the Ever After. And before the happy; right there in the fine print on that label that comes with your wedding gown, there’s the words “Think about it! Be careful! Don’t throw your life away for nothing! Make sure it’s right!”
No one ever reads the fine print.
MIT Weblog Survey
06.16.05 (2:53 pm) [edit]
I got an email today that I'd been chosen to take part in a weblog survey from MIT. Interesting stuff. It took about 15 mins to fill out all the questions but I hope I was some help. I was aparantly chosen randomly from my blog. The survey should be complete sometime in mid July, according to the site which can be found [url=http://blogsurvey.media.mit.e...]here[/url].
Interesting stuff indeed!
Anyone else out there get one of those emails?
The shocking face of anti-Semitism
06.16.05 (7:32 am) [edit]
[i]At a West Ham cemetery yesterday: the 117th attack on a Jewish graveyard in 15 years
[b]By Marie Woolf[/b]
16 June 2005[/i]
The graves of the two children - Rachel, aged 13, and Abraham, aged four and a half - had stood undisturbed side by side for almost 150 years. But yesterday their headstones lay smashed, the Hebrew inscriptions, etched on fine Portland stone, crumbling in the dust.
Only yards away on an intricately crafted tomb, the words "Jew Boy Dead. Ha Ha" were scrawled in marker pen. Swastikas defaced the headstones of some of the 87 graves desecrated at West Ham cemetery in east London, where generations of Jews have been buried since the mid-19th century.
Vandals wreaked a trail of destruction, smashing and kicking over headstones in an act which has shocked the Jewish community. The main target of the attack appeared to be a grand circular mausoleum, built in the 19th century by the Rothschilds, one of Britain's most prominent Jewish families.
It is the latest in a rising number of racially motivated attacks on Jewish cemeteries across Britain. This was the 117th Jewish cemetery desecrated in Britain since 1990 and the third to be discovered in a week.
On the wall of the Rainham Jewish cemetery in Essex, it was discovered yesterday, two giant swastikas and the words "Yids out" had been daubed in paint. Last week, vandals smashed 100 gravestones in a historic cemetery in Manchester.
The desecration is part of a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Britain, including violent attacks on children and orthodox Jews. There were 532 anti-Semitic incidents last year, the highest since records began 20 years ago.
Earlier this week, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance said it was "concerned at the considerable and steady increase of anti-Semitic incidents in the United Kingdom."
"While these incidents usually mirror tensions in the Middle East, representatives of the Jewish communities report there now seems to be a higher level of background violence against these communities," the report by the European human rights watchdog said. "Although manifestations of anti-Semitism continue to come from extreme right-wing and neo-Nazi groups, an increasing number ... is reportedly coming from Muslim fundamentalist groups," the report said.
"It has now regrettably become commonplace to desecrate Jewish cemeteries," said a spokesman for the Community Security Trust, which offers security advice to the Jewish community. "These acts must be treated seriously by the police and the judiciary should pass deterrent sentences in these cases."
Melvyn Hartog, head of burials for the United synagogues, was picking his way yesterday through the mess of graves in West Ham. Standing before the broken headstones of children, he said: "Tell me what these kids have done to people? These are dead kids. They can't fight back. This is the greatest form of cowardice you'll find."
The circular tomb, designed for the Rothschilds by Matthew Digby Wyatt, the architect of the India office in Whitehall, had its door battered in with iron bars, ripped from the sides of tombs.
The 4th Baron Rothschild was said to be aware of the desecration but declined to comment.
Police visited the cemetery and removed items for forensic examination. Detective Inspector Steve Lane, of Newham police, described the vandalism as "a despicable racist attack" and asked anyone with information to come forward.
A clue to the identity of the those responsible was found on the side of an elegant mausoleum, where the words "A Hitler" and several swastikas were scrawled. A number of graffiti "tags", including "snow-man and Greedy" were scribbled alongside, suggesting that teenagers were involved. The scrawled swastikas were the wrong way round.
Members of the Jewish community said they had no doubt the motive was anti-Semitic. Directly next door to the Jewish cemetery is a communal graveyard that was left untouched.
Rewarding terrorism
06.16.05 (7:25 am) [edit]
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
President Bush has given away the Israeli store to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.
There's hardly anything else to say about it.
By proclaiming that the new starting point for future negotiations between Arabs and Israelis is the 1949 armistice line, Bush actually took a more anti-Israeli position than most of the hostile, Jew-hating Arab states have in recent years.
What is it about Abbas and the Palestinian Authority that Bush finds so encouraging?
Quite simply, Abbas has not lived up to a single agreement he has made with the Israelis:
* He has failed to arrest Palestinian terrorists;
* He has refused to dismantle terrorist cells or to seize weapons from those identified as having attacked Israel;
* He has not only failed to stop incitement, his new schoolbooks remove all Jewish and Israeli references except those that demonize Jews;
Asked about his relationship with the terrorist group Hamas, Abbas said: "Hamas is not a threat for us."
Hamas exists to destroy Israel. It does not believe in any compromise. It has been declared a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
So, as my friend Hal Lindsey wryly observes, "Helping Hamas can either get you 20 years in U.S. prison or an invitation to the White House.
Now do you understand why Abbas is not renouncing terrorism or abiding by any of his earlier pledges? Why should he? Bush has confirmed that terrorism works.
Bush has adopted the hard-line of the anti-Jewish radicals of the left and the anti-Jewish zealots of Islam who maintain there are some pieces of land on which Jews are just not welcome.
He has accepted the hate speech of the Arab extremists as a legitimate bargaining position. The Arabs say Jews are not permitted to live within the future of home of Palestine. It doesn't matter whether they are peaceful civilians who mind their own business. It doesn't matter how long they have lived there. It doesn't matter that they did not replace any Arab population in the area.
None of that matters. All that matters is that they are Jewish – and they have to go.
Not just from Gaza, apparently. But, according to Bush, they need to go from Judea and Samaria, too – the entire West Bank. Oh, and don't forget East Jerusalem. No Jews permitted there either – because that part of the city needs to be returned to the Arabs in accordance with the 1949 armistice line. The Temple Mount? No way. It belongs to Muslims only, no Jews allowed. The Western Wall? It's going back to the Arabs.
That's what Bush told the world last week and I'm still waiting to hear some outrage about it.
Silence on French Court Ruling
06.06.05 (5:10 pm) [edit]
While this is an encouraging sign that Europe is waking up to the vitriolic anti-Israel content in its media, it's disturbing to note that this important ruling received almost no media coverage - in Europe or the U.S. None of the major wire agencies, and none of the major American news outlets (with one notable exception) has carried this story. The French case focused upon a particularly troubling 2002 Le Monde article, 'Israel-Palestine: The Cancer', that described the Jews as 'a contemptuous people taking satisfaction in humiliating others... imposing their unmerciful rule.' Tom Gross notes in a Wall Street Journal article that while the Le Monde piece was bad, it was no worse than thousands of other news reports, editorials, commentaries, letters, cartoons and headlines published throughout Europe in recent years, in the guise of legitimate and reasoned discussion of Israeli policies. HonestReporting has continually critiqued problems in the British media (see recent examples here, here, and here), as well as problems in Sweden and Austria. Gross cites more examples of the hateful anti-Israel and anti-Jewish material filling European media, including these editorial cartoons: Earlier this year, a US State Department report on global anti-Semitism found a significant increase of European incidents. European media was found partly culpable in the report: These media attacks can lack any pretext of balance or even factual basis and focus on the demonization of Israel. The recent French court ruling against Le Monde is an important opportunity for HR subscribers to publicize this problem of anti-Israel media bias in the European media. ACTION ITEMS: 1) Write a letter to the editor, noting the French ruling, the State Dept. anti-Semitism report, and the general problem of European anti-Israel media bias. Use some of the examples provided above. 2) Contact your local editor directly, requesting a reprint of Gross' Wall Street Journal article.
In a landmark ruling, a French court has found that country's leading paper, Le Monde, guilty of 'racist defamation' against Israel and the Jewish People. 
GREECE - Ethnos, April 7, 2002
IDF soldier: "Don't feel guilty, brother.
We were not in Auschwitz and Dauchau to suffer, but to learn"
ITALY - Panorama, front page, April 4, 2002
Baby Jesus: 'Surely they don't want to kill me again?!'
GREECE - Eleftherotypia, April 1, 2002
'HOLOCAUST II': 'War machine of Sharon is attempting
a new Holocaust, a new genocide'
Rose Cake & The Death of a Little Friend
06.02.05 (9:35 am) [edit]
So last week I was sitting at my computer playing Sims. I glanced over at the mouse cage and Allegra was doing ok. She was moving around and so on. I continued playing. Then I happened to glance over again and there she was. Just lying there with her little legs in the air.
I was devastated.
I scooped her out. Donna, the other mouse, was fine. Allegra was buried in the front yard near a cypress tree. I went to clean out the cage and she had had diarrhea all over the cage before she expired. I called the store where I got them and told them what happened. She hadn't grown at all really since I got her. She stayed the same size while Donna was humongous. And Allegra was the one that I always saw out and about in the cage feeding on everything.
The man on the phone told me it had been a parasite. "Can she give it to the other one?" I asked. "No." was the reply.
"Can my cat get it?"
"No."
"Can I?"
"No."
So I mourned her passing and Donna was alone. I felt bad for her. She seemed really lonely. So yesterday, I went looking for a new roommate for Donna. This time I went to a different store, so as not to make the same mistake twice. What I found was one of the sweetest little things I'd ever seen! She's a little white mouse with a couple of black spots, one of which is covering one of her eyes. I named her Margaret because that was the first thing that came to my head. They've really been getting along now. Margaret is very smart.
I put her in one of those hamster balls so she could walk around on the floor and she knew right away what to do. Donna was kinda scared of it. We're working on it. But so here's a pic of Margaret. Isn't she adorable?
On a slightly different note, I found a new baking interest. I got this rose shaped bundt cake pan and I made a rose cake using red velvet cake mix and the bundt. It came out really cool and I made a glaze that made it look like dew on the petals. Check it out:
Next I got one shaped like a castle and I'm going to make a vanilla "sand castle" cake from scratch this week for Shabbos. Exciting. I'll definitely be taking pictures of that. It's probably going to be done sometime tonight! More later! :)
