Thank you. My next post (aside from an extra one going out on Saturday) is about trying to pin down what 'fun' means. I love fun, but it is very difficult to define.
Ahaha! Oh I love this!! How clever! I’m so thrilled that your 15-year-old grandson is already so engaged. A wonderful way for family to connect.
(I’m one who was thrilled to stumble upon your second ‘Do not read’ post the other day. My inbox was overwhelming and being able to tick off two posts so quickly was such a relief! Whereas today (tonight, whatever) I have time and can thoroughly enjoy this post. Much appreciated.)
I thought I just replied to this, so if you get it twice, there was a glitch. I am very sympathetic to your being pleased you could delete two emails. We are all getting too much. I must have spent at least an hour today either reading or deleting Substack stuff. We need to be able to lead our lives!
And yes, Attila is a delightful addition to our discussions. We go around each person and say "what do you think?", "what do you think?". "What does Attila think?". And some good analysis at the same time. I wish I could telll Michael Smerconish but I have no way of getting through to him.
I'm with Atilla the Hun on the DT question! This is so much fun for households to engage in. I think I had already commented by the time your follow up newsletter arrived. Thank you for sharing Ann, and making me laugh all over again. It's such a fun game to play with family and friends. Hahaha! I wish I had known this game when I once had to settle a really heated office debate. As Cleopatra, I would've turned it into a right royal spectacle - glittery crowns for the winners, hieroglyphics for the losers and a pyramid of snacks for all!
Thanks for commenting again, Deborah. It's a wonderful game in requiring us to think about how someone from history would think. My son's an academic teaching history of ideas, so I suspect doing so comes very naturally to his son, but he's very good at it. AND you have to believe that all of us, including DT, are softies in the eyes of Attila! I can see you would make it even more fun with Cleopatra. This all began with the computer game Civ 5 (which I assume stands for Civilisation 5) and I did meet a rough contemporary who said he loved Civ 1. Said grandson got very interested in Nebukanezzer (sp?) and also a Doge called Dandolo. But somehow I prefer Attila the Hun.
This post is such fun. Both the addition of Atilla the Hun and the refusal to admit Jesus to the convo made me laugh out loud. I am proud to say I fully obeyed your request to wait and read the final version. It was a blast to see it in my inbox this morning and accept my award for delayed gratification.
Thank you. The discussions including A the H have been going on in our house for some months now, but it came to me only a week ago that it would make a great post.
Last weekend over lunch, my husband suggested adding the grandson’s cat to the mix, and the grandson said “But he can’t talk” to which I replied “Unlike Attila the Hun”. We all got the giggles. It was lovely fun.
What a great way to stimulate your grandson’s interest in the state of this battered world. Teenagers love being treated like almost-adults whose views matter. Happy birthday, Ann!
Thanks. I completely agree, but in his case, he has never doubted that his views matter, even when he was a small child. His father was the same way. Neither ever accepted 'child' status, although they both had to play along with the concept to suit grown-ups. It is a very interesting way to look at the world as a small child - we're all equals in this together - but doesn't suit teachers.
You are such fun!!!
Thank you. My next post (aside from an extra one going out on Saturday) is about trying to pin down what 'fun' means. I love fun, but it is very difficult to define.
Ahaha! Oh I love this!! How clever! I’m so thrilled that your 15-year-old grandson is already so engaged. A wonderful way for family to connect.
(I’m one who was thrilled to stumble upon your second ‘Do not read’ post the other day. My inbox was overwhelming and being able to tick off two posts so quickly was such a relief! Whereas today (tonight, whatever) I have time and can thoroughly enjoy this post. Much appreciated.)
I thought I just replied to this, so if you get it twice, there was a glitch. I am very sympathetic to your being pleased you could delete two emails. We are all getting too much. I must have spent at least an hour today either reading or deleting Substack stuff. We need to be able to lead our lives!
And yes, Attila is a delightful addition to our discussions. We go around each person and say "what do you think?", "what do you think?". "What does Attila think?". And some good analysis at the same time. I wish I could telll Michael Smerconish but I have no way of getting through to him.
I'm with Atilla the Hun on the DT question! This is so much fun for households to engage in. I think I had already commented by the time your follow up newsletter arrived. Thank you for sharing Ann, and making me laugh all over again. It's such a fun game to play with family and friends. Hahaha! I wish I had known this game when I once had to settle a really heated office debate. As Cleopatra, I would've turned it into a right royal spectacle - glittery crowns for the winners, hieroglyphics for the losers and a pyramid of snacks for all!
Thanks for commenting again, Deborah. It's a wonderful game in requiring us to think about how someone from history would think. My son's an academic teaching history of ideas, so I suspect doing so comes very naturally to his son, but he's very good at it. AND you have to believe that all of us, including DT, are softies in the eyes of Attila! I can see you would make it even more fun with Cleopatra. This all began with the computer game Civ 5 (which I assume stands for Civilisation 5) and I did meet a rough contemporary who said he loved Civ 1. Said grandson got very interested in Nebukanezzer (sp?) and also a Doge called Dandolo. But somehow I prefer Attila the Hun.
This post is such fun. Both the addition of Atilla the Hun and the refusal to admit Jesus to the convo made me laugh out loud. I am proud to say I fully obeyed your request to wait and read the final version. It was a blast to see it in my inbox this morning and accept my award for delayed gratification.
Thank you. The discussions including A the H have been going on in our house for some months now, but it came to me only a week ago that it would make a great post.
Last weekend over lunch, my husband suggested adding the grandson’s cat to the mix, and the grandson said “But he can’t talk” to which I replied “Unlike Attila the Hun”. We all got the giggles. It was lovely fun.
What a great way to stimulate your grandson’s interest in the state of this battered world. Teenagers love being treated like almost-adults whose views matter. Happy birthday, Ann!
Thanks. I completely agree, but in his case, he has never doubted that his views matter, even when he was a small child. His father was the same way. Neither ever accepted 'child' status, although they both had to play along with the concept to suit grown-ups. It is a very interesting way to look at the world as a small child - we're all equals in this together - but doesn't suit teachers.