caput mundi - capital of the world

A guinea or sovereign is about $1 in today’s money. A looking glass is a mirror. Tip for writers: have in mind what you are going to say at the end as you begin.

The Austin Powers film franchise delighted audiences with its witty writing and its antics involving Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, both played by Mike Myers. During a scene in Goldmember, Dr. Evil notices that everything Powers does is aimed at gaining his father’s approval. After Dr. Evil points this out, Austin Power’s lines keep referring to his father. “Nothing could be my father from the truth!" “No, I dadn’t.”       source: wordgenius.com

Hunter Biden starred. One of my students loves Horrible Histories, the books! Next clip is funny, too.

We were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs  
Covered with bright colored,  
Lead-based paints.     
       
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,      
And, when we rode our bikes,      
We had baseball caps,      
Not helmets, on our heads.    
     
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags,
Bald tires, and sometimes no brakes.    
       
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.    
       
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.    
     
We shared one soft drink with four friends, and no one died.    

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar, and we weren't overweight.    
WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why!    
       
We would leave home in the morning and play all day as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.      

No one was able to reach us all day…      
And we were OKAY.    
       
We would spend hours building      
Our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill,
Only to find out that we forgot about brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned 
To Solve the problem.

We rode on metal skates,
Spent long minutes hunting for the key,
And no one was scarred for life.

Nor did movies about cops and robbers, or cowboys and Indians, turn us into killers.
(My friend from Vietnam watched the same movies, and he didn't become a killer.)
       
We did not have
Play Stations, Nintendo, and X-boxes.
Video games, 150 channels on cable,       
No video movies,  
No DVDs,       
No surround-sound or CDs,          
No cell phones,      
No personal computers,      
No Internet,
No social media, and  
No chat rooms.             
WE HAD FRIENDS      
And we went  
Outside and found them.   
       
We fell out of  
Trees, got cut,       
Broke bones, and  
Lost teeth,       
And there were  
No lawsuits       
From those accidents.  
 
We would get  
Spankings with wooden spoons, hangers, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand,  
And no one would call child services to report abuse.    

We ate worms,  
And mud pies made from dirt,  
And the worms did  
Not live in us forever.     
        
We were given  
BB guns for our 10th birthdays,    
(Tommy had his taken away because he shot a boy),  
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls,
And  although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes.    
       
We rode bikes  
Or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell,    
Or just walked in and talked to them.
 
Little League had tryouts       
And not everyone  
Made the team.       
Those who didn't  
Had to learn       
To deal with  
Disappointment.     

The idea of a parent    
Bailing us out  
If we broke the law 
Was unheard of… 
They actually sided with the law.   

We had freedom,  
Failure, success, and responsibility,    
And  learned.

My sister was quite competent at age 11. When Mom called the main office at school and Kathy answered, my mother yelled, "What are you doing answering the phone!"

A glimpse of the past.

And, sometimes, we would lie out in the backyard,
Wait for a shooting star,
And never see one.

Read what Kathy has to say in the comments! She will not say it, so I will. The skills she learned made her the #1 Women Singles tennis player on the islands far away.

Great orations are in Henry V, too.