7 Quick Takes about Answering Philosophical Questions, and Digitizing the Past One Page at a Time

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? —1— My high schooler was supposed to pick up his sister from middle school, but he forgot. When I finally arrived home and realized she wasn't there and went to go pick her up myself, she wasn't too happy.He apologized for not coming to get her (apparently he'd set an alarm on his watch but...

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7 Quick Takes about Getting Personal with AI, Heartfelt Poetry, and Mario Lopez and the Demise of a Generation

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? —1— Lately, I've been using ChatGPT to help me write texts and emails where I need to word things delicately but I don't know exactly how to say it. So I'll explain the situation and AI usually gives me a pretty good first draft to work with.Now I know it's not rude to walk away from a robot...

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7 Quick Takes about Sledding Dangerously, Books That I Probably Won't Miss Not Reading, and the Plus Side of Slippery Driveways

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? —1—One day I decided to take the kids sledding, and after much discussion we settled on a local hill nearby. Two of the kids wanted to go to a bigger, better hill that was farther away, but I explained that it had been melting and freezing a lot, and the big hill might be too icy.“Besides,...

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7 Quick Takes about Valentine Donuts, Reality Shows, and Pillows to Use When You're Feeling Melancholy

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? —1— My 13-year-old got the idea to make donuts the other day, and decided to decorate them in Valentine's Day colors and give them out at school. I like how she clearly anticipated the "but I only had one" defense when writing this note.She may have been partially inspired by a baking...

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7 Quick Takes about Creative Budgeting, Dress Drama, and Hanging Up My Pancake Whisk for Good

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? —1— Okay, I'm tired of winter now. A hundred years is enough, I'm ready for spring. Here is a shot of the 10-year-old going outside to play basketball in the driveway:Not the correct way to play broomball.And no, this isn't an action shot snapped at the precise moment the ball was going through...

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7 Quick Takes about Emotions Personified, Near Misses, and Unlikely Character Arcs for Me and Snoop Dogg

It's 7 Quick Takes! How was your week? —1— My 7th grader was assigned to make a hackeysack in art class, but she liked the yarn sticking out of the top and didn't cut it off. Then she thought it would be cute to add a little face:Makes a good paperweight.Her friends think it looks like Anxiety from Inside Out 2, but since it's blue...

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7 Quick Takes about Handling Laundry Like a Guy, Bunk Beds, and How to Get Out of Your Driveway

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? —1— When you have boys, sometimes you walk by and see a pair of pants clamped to a dining room chair and you never quite know why:Turns out that my 16-year-old's pants shrunk a little in the dryer and he was stretching them out. His method got the job done just fine, I'm just amused that he...

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