Chris Wondra . com

This column first appeared in print on January 31, 2007 in that day’s issue of the Inter-County Leader.
I’m so bad at giving presents that my wife has taken to buying, wrapping, and then happily opening her own gifts so our children will think I actually got her something. As a grown man, part of […]

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Ok.
Ever do something you knew was stupid, and a complete waste of time, but you just couldn’t help yourself?
Yeah, me too.
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A Figure of Speech is a literary device used to create a special effect or feeling by making some type of interesting or creative comparison.
What follows are some samples of real students’ attempts at this. Each definitely create a special “effect or feeling”–though I don’t think it’s what the writer was shooting for.
These were not […]

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Writing can be a bitch of a thing to do sometimes.
Currently I’m working on a column (I’m sure I’ll post it here soon enough so I won’t spoil the surprise), but I’m having a heck of a time with it.
It’s a good topic– interesting, relevant, and I anticipated having a bit of fun with it. […]

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I’m putting on my academic “teacher” hat now so if that sort of thing bores you, consider yourself warned.
Shoo. Scram. Get lost.
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From the guide to excellent blogging:
Rule #24–Never recycle a forwarded email.  It’s tacky.
So sue me. It’s not like I’ve been Mister Postalot lately and I could actually relate to a quite a few of these. Plus I think they’re funny and haven’t seen them anywhere else yet.
And #8 sounded suspiciously familiar.
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1) I hardly ever watch the news anymore (or tv at all for that matter), but my head was all gunked up last night and I didn’t have any energy so I plunked down and caught almost all of Katie Couric’s CBS (or is it ABC–shows my ignorance) newscast.
I noticed a couple of things–above and […]

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Part of me still has a hard time believing we really have it.
It’s something I had dreamed about for years. From the start, I found the concept and technology fascinating. And oh, the money you can save!
For a confessed energy geek, everything about a geoexchange heat pump seemed really really cool.
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Rough night last night. Just couldn’t sleep.
But still, probably better than my daughter’s.
A snippet from our drive to school this morning:
Me: So . . . bad dreams last night, huh?
Her: Yeah.
Me: So what were they?
Her: I put my scarf down the toilet.
In her quest to retrieve it, terrifying […]

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“Dad?” She asked, leaning on the kitchen counter, watching me take plates out of the dishwasher.
“Yeah?”
“Do you know about new year revolutions?”
“Yep,” I said.
I knew what she meant.
I wanted to hear what she had to say.
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