WWTBAM Bored

Eve Curie

Eve Curie, who died on October 22 aged 102, was the youngest child of the Nobel prize-winning scientists Pierre and Marie Curie but gained fame in her own terms as a concert pianist, writer and biographer.

As her interests were musical and literary rather than scientific, Eve Curie was the only member of her family who did not win a Nobel Prize.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... db0803.xml

This obituary told me much about her that I had not known. What an interesting woman she must have been. What a strange childhood (I surmise) she must have survived.

I found her biography of her mother at the library when I was a kid. I must have been jaded or skeptical even then, because although I was exactly the kind of little girl for whom it was intended, I didn't find the book nearly as fascinating as the Weekly Reader Book Club's biography of Peter the Great.

I had never heard of her. It sounds like she had a very interesting life.

silvercamaro wrote: I must have been jaded or skeptical even then, because although I was exactly the kind of little girl for whom it was intended, I didn't find the book nearly as fascinating as the Weekly Reader Book Club's biography of Peter the Great.

I'm thinking the Weekly Reader version of Peter the Great would have to be pretty short even for WR, with all the stuff they had to leave out. Abused children given absolute power is not the best form of government.

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote: I'm thinking the Weekly Reader version of Peter the Great would have to be pretty short even for WR, with all the stuff they had to leave out. Abused children given absolute power is not the best form of government.

I've still got that book in a box somewhere. I should try to dig it out and see how I like it from the perspective of many years. Whatever its virtues or faults, it spurred me to read additional biographies of Peter and other Russian notables, in addition to many more general books on czarist history, over the years. (I ended up being a Russian studies minor in college, too.) From that standpoint, I'd say the book was a success in spurring learning, no matter how much whitewash may have been brushed over the subject.

silvercamaro wrote:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote: I'm thinking the Weekly Reader version of Peter the Great would have to be pretty short even for WR, with all the stuff they had to leave out. Abused children given absolute power is not the best form of government.

I've still got that book in a box somewhere. I should try to dig it out and see how I like it from the perspective of many years. Whatever its virtues or faults, it spurred me to read additional biographies of Peter and other Russian notables, in addition to many more general books on czarist history, over the years. (I ended up being a Russian studies minor in college, too.) From that standpoint, I'd say the book was a success in spurring learning, no matter how much whitewash may have been brushed over the subject.

I guess it would be like going back to your elementary school and seeing how small it really is.

I went back to my high school and couldn't believe they hadn't shrunk it.

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:
I guess it would be like going back to your elementary school and seeing how small it really is.

When I did go back to my elementary school, I never noticed the size of the building. They had removed an entire giant hill right adjacent to the playground. That hill was a central part of every childhood memory -- climbing, sledding, hunting for horned toads, watching out for snakes -- all the good stuff. Without Garfield Hill, I lost interest in "ownership" for the school.

I don't know if the hill was flattened because of fears of liability, or if some kind of long-range construction plan was afoot.

Now, if the hill had still been there, I concede that it might not have been nearly as high as I remember it.

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:I guess it would be like going back to your elementary school and seeing how small it really is.

It couldn't be any smaller. They tore down my old elementary school 2 years after I graduated 6th grade....

lb13

littlebeast13 wrote:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:I guess it would be like going back to your elementary school and seeing how small it really is.

It couldn't be any smaller. They tore down my old elementary school 2 years after I graduated 6th grade....

lb13

Mine has been preserved as a memorial to my advanced academic prowess at such a young age...

Or not. It is intact, upgraded, but still surprisingly tiny. And they had to fence off the wooded area behind it because the property did not belong to the school and became a hangout for weirdos and dealers. But if you found a hole in the fence, you could find $20 bills occasionally.

minimetoo26 wrote:

littlebeast13 wrote:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:I guess it would be like going back to your elementary school and seeing how small it really is.

It couldn't be any smaller. They tore down my old elementary school 2 years after I graduated 6th grade....

lb13

Mine has been preserved as a memorial to my advanced academic prowess at such a young age...

Or not. It is intact, upgraded, but still surprisingly tiny. And they had to fence off the wooded area behind it because the property did not belong to the school and became a hangout for weirdos and dealers. But if you found a hole in the fence, you could find $20 bills occasionally.

All that went on at my school out in the open! Probably why they tore it down rather than leave it vacant or sell it like they did the umpteen other schools they closed down here after the steel mill layoffs back in the 80's...

Well, perhaps because it was also built in the 1910's and was crumbling down anyway....

lb13

littlebeast13 wrote: Well, perhaps because it was also built in the 1910's and was crumbling down anyway....

lb13

Oooohhh! How much lead and asbestos did you ingest at lunchtime? Add that to the chunky air, and it's a miracle you don't have a thumb growing out of your forehead!

You don't, right....?

minimetoo26 wrote:

littlebeast13 wrote: Well, perhaps because it was also built in the 1910's and was crumbling down anyway....

lb13

Oooohhh! How much lead and asbestos did you ingest at lunchtime? Add that to the chunky air, and it's a miracle you don't have a thumb growing out of your forehead!

You don't, right....?

No, just a finger.

Guess which one....

lb13

littlebeast13 wrote:

minimetoo26 wrote:

littlebeast13 wrote: Well, perhaps because it was also built in the 1910's and was crumbling down anyway....

lb13

Oooohhh! How much lead and asbestos did you ingest at lunchtime? Add that to the chunky air, and it's a miracle you don't have a thumb growing out of your forehead!

You don't, right....?

No, just a finger.

Guess which one....

lb13

Do I get 5 guesses? I'm pretty dense these days....

minimetoo26 wrote:

littlebeast13 wrote:

minimetoo26 wrote: Oooohhh! How much lead and asbestos did you ingest at lunchtime? Add that to the chunky air, and it's a miracle you don't have a thumb growing out of your forehead!

You don't, right....?

No, just a finger.

Guess which one....

lb13

Do I get 5 guesses? I'm pretty dense these days....

Here's a hint....

When did GW Bush give the middle finger like that in your avatar? and at who?

I let mini go play Prison Throw, and this place goes all to heck!

Put that hand back in your pocket young man!