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Today is Columbus Day. I remember this 'Day' from earliest childhood. It was always a day off of school. All the Italians in the neighborhood used to 'party hearty'. And we all (all of us children) heard the story of how America was discovered by Columbus, how he was so brave because everybody thought the world was flat and his sailors were afraid they'd sail off the edge of the earth. Really. That's what we were taught.
Now, of course, the picture has changed a bit, and the things being taught in our schools are closer to the truth, Texas School Board notwithstanding. We know now that the world was known to be a sphere; the Vikings, the Chinese and the Polynesians ALL preceded Columbus in discovery, and we know, now, that C. Columbus was NOT a nice man. There are times when one begins to understand what is meant by "Ignorance is Bliss".
Schools are off today in most places. I wish I was.
If anyone who reads this is interested, even vaguely, in finding an alternative to their current computer operating system, try Linux. In fact, try SuSE Linux 11.3, the current iteration of this opensource operating system. You can download the O/S for FREE - just go to www.opensuse.org - you'll find all the information you need to find it and download it.
If you can, burn the DVD. If not, you'll need 5 CD's. Install EVERYTHING. If you need help picking things out - or picking your way through the install process - click on the 'Call Me' on my left sidebar - I'll help you. Gladly.
You'll be VERY surprised at the completeness of the scope of the applications that come with the system - with the ease of use - with the ease of installation.
Yesterday, we had a family gathering. In-laws and cousins galore. Many photographs were taken. We'll see some of them tomorrow.
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9 comments:
Columbus Day.... Yep. We studied him in our school this year but with a tempered view on who he really was. (And I'm ITALIAN to boot!) We just watched a couple of cool documentaries about the earlier explorers and my kids wanted to know when the days to honor those discoveries were. They just want more days off of school...
Oh yeah, Christopher Columbus discovered a land where thousands of indigenous people already lived! How did we swallow that? Sometimes ignorance is dangerous.
I forgot it was Columbus Day. They're celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, over here.
I remember when it was a day off too. I guess the mafia no longer has its influence in our politics. ;)
Yay, a family gathering! I hope this helped lift Grannie's spirits.
I don't live far from the Bahamas, where they mark the places that Columbus landed. I guess it's historic and all, but yes, people should learn about the other explorations and "discoveries" as well.
I chucked Columbus Day as a possible holiday to mention to my students when I was looking for a US holiday of which they knew nothing. I decided it wouldn't be worth the confusion. Then, yesterday, I got to explain US Thanksgiving to a Japanese friend. I started with the picture of everyone sitting down sharing nicely. And then I told the truth. Later, after a discussion about health care in Japan vs. back home, we watched Sicko, and I watched my friend's face turn from "nah, really??" to utter shock and horror. Not the most putting America's best foot forward face on. I'll try to do better today. Some of our history was just no much less complicated when we were taught the sunshine and bullshit version of misinformation. *sigh*
Um, I mean was just much less complicated. Not sure how that "no" got in the middle of all that. It was a 3 day weekend here, as well (Health and Sports Day - pretty much zero controversy). My brain is slow today.
I only learned the truth of Mr. Columbus a few years ago - shocked, although I guess I shouldn't have been: "history" is often *ahem* skewed.
Of COURSE I know it's Columbus Day. One more day that the kiddos throw socks and shoes and toys on the floor that I get to pick up, instead of them goint off to school. YEA ME. No, seriously, my husband had the day off too and we had a nice picnic at the park. It was a really nice family day.
And, seriously, LINUX? I hear it's a great program, but that would be like buying a dress and then taking it apart and sewing it back together again. WHY WOULD I DO THAT??? But Lou, I'm sure you'd do it for the challenge. YOu're always up to a challenge.
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