Eva went to the Alice Austen House with friends today

[conuly]

They were doing a workshop on pinhole cameras, and Eva was even able to help develop the three pictures she took with hers and bring them home to show us. But the most interesting thing, she reported, is that one of the girls with them - a friend of the family she went with - had never taken the train, despite being older than her! "Well, I guess every family has their own rules." Indeed.

If any of you are visiting Staten Island ever, and are interested in the history of photography or LGBT history you would do well to visit the Alice Austen House. It's not that far from the boat, and it's better than just catching the boat and turning around at the other end! (If, on the other hand, you are devoted to the subject of snakes then you probably should visit the zoo. It's not generally worth making a trip to see, but we do have a good reptile collection.)

*****************

Hydraulic Press vs. Non-Newtonian Fluid (Video. There is some minor profanity... but the guy has a really thick accent, so maybe your kids won't understand anyway.)

Annie Swynnerton: Manchester gallery shows off pioneering feminist's work (Short video. There's a related article here or you can try Wikipedia.)

Why Do So Many Judges Cite Jane Austen in Legal Decisions?

The Depression-Era Glassware That Came in Boxes of Oatmeal

The Last Urban Farmers of Turin

Where's Capt. Molly? Search on for Revolutionary hero grave

Shanghaiing: How Trickery And Deception Turned Thousands of Unwilling Men Into Sailors

This Start-Up Says It Wants to Fight Poverty. A Food Stamp Giant Is Blocking It.

The Godfather of Sexist Pseudoscience

Schools fret as teens take to vaping, even in classrooms

The Top Jobs Where Women Are Outnumbered by Men Named John

The Best Ways to Fix College Admissions Are Probably Illegal

High-Paying Trade Jobs Sit Empty, While High School Grads Line Up For University

Texas Women Prisoners Can Learn How to Type and Cook. Men Can Get a Master’s.

How American Racism Influenced Hitler

The cost of Donald Trump’s deserted government

NRA Convention Bans Guns To Protect Mike Pence. Parkland Survivors’ Jaws Drop.

Water delivery suspended in Nevada mine battle

U.S. likely to back freezing fuel economy standards from 2020-26: sources

Asylum-seekers in Mexico snub warnings of stern US response

The Military Doesn't Advertise It, But U.S. Troops Are All Over Africa

A Lifesaving Pump for Cancer Patients Is Being Phased Out

America’s Fentanyl Problem Is Reaching a Whole New Group of Users

Iraq's IS trials bring swift verdicts, almost all guilty

In southern Iraq, drought tightens its grip

Comments

[thewayne]

That hydraulic press vs non-Newtonian fluids is awesome! There re municipalities that temporarily fill big potholes with bags filled with non-Newtonian fluids.

[conuly]

Wasn't it the best? Those potholes sound fascinating.

[thewayne]

I think that pothole filling technique is used in towns that suffer really severe winters where doing pothole repair in the winter just isn't sensible.  It'll tide 'em over 'till spring.  It is a great concept: throw in some bags, fill the rest with sand/gravel, should be good for a while.  The bags are made of kevlar, IIRC, so they're durable, thus it's a fairly inexpensive temporary fix.

[nocowardsoul]

I feel that the article on trades misses something very important: for many teenagers, college (like the military) is a way to escape abusive parents. Trade school students with zero money have to live with parents or be homeless.

(Long time reader, first time commenter.)

[conuly]

Abusive parents may not pay for a residential college either, though - and in many areas, you can get an associate's degree or finish an entry apprenticeship while still in high school. We have a lot of those programs here in NYC - you finish high school and you already have your nurse practitioner or dental tech or electrician license, or you have the equivalent amount of training in some career that doesn't require a license, like coding. (Or you just have an associate's degree.)

[nocowardsoul]

you finish high school and you already have your nurse practitioner

As a country person, I'm amazed at this.

I realize now that I phrased that comment wrong - by "zero money" I meant "zero money to get an apartment/house/trailer" not "zero money to pay for education."

[conuly]

As a country person, I'm amazed at this.

Eva and I started looking through the high school directory yesterday. This year's directory, we haven't gotten next year's yet, which is the one she'll be using (but it's never too early to start thinking about this!)

It's, um, hefty.

[nocowardsoul]

There was one high school in my town and it had about 600 kids.

I always liked reading through course catalogs.

[conuly]

Both the high schools I attended had more than 600 kids per year, but there's been a trend in recent years to break up the big schools and put lots of small schools in the same buildings. (Actually, both those schools still exist as big schools - Stuyvesant is never going to change, and neither are any of the Staten Island high schools - but most high schools nowadays are much smaller, 300 or 400 students. But they only get one floor or one wing of a big building, and they share the cafeteria and library and gym with other schools, and also often some of the sports teams.)

[conuly]

But if you really like, I'll link you the PDF of the high school directory, LOL!

[nocowardsoul]

Please?

Have fun!

[conuly]

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/243F4EC2-4ED4-4F1C-8A7D-DF4B8BD14771/0/2018NYCHSDirectoryCitywideENGLISH.pdf

Re: Have fun!

[nocowardsoul]

Thanks!