Lounge Forum

Middle grade novels in my library tend to be around 200 pages in paperback.

I saw Lilians novel it was 66 pages and only on kindle so I think it would be a quick read. But it wouldnt reach most middle graders here in nz because they dont read on devices. They prefer real books, preferable with hardback covers and colour illustrations.


A picture book is usually 32-48 pages, a junior chapter book tends to be less than 80 pages. A quick read under 100 pages.

Harry Potter book one, aimed at around 8-10 year olds, had over 240 pages

Interesting title though

I think apprenticeships tend to be overlooked in this day and age, parents just dont have time to teAch their young. Many parents dont have anything to had down to their children. Like a family business or whatever. Many young people have to start from scratch and make their own way in life.

I dont do what my mother or dad does.

It used to be you just did whatever your dad did if you were the son and whatver you mum did if you were the daughter. So if she was a housewife you became one too, and if your dad was a lawyer or carpenter. that was what was taught you and you had no choice in the matter really.

But if you are Orphan Annie and get adopted by a millionaire you can just be whatever you want like a dancing, singing superstar lol

Only if you can find an audience who will pay to come watch your movies.

If you can't find that, you'll sing and dance your way to starvation.

The 50's sound like a dream. Check out what it was like flying back then!




Flying in 2022. Do you have your Covid test?!?!

I would relate video games to movies, that you can control, rather than being just a spectator, when watching movies.

What jigsaw puzzles do you typically do?

1000 pieces

some movies are boring yes and fall asleep but that is why popcorn . also if you watch them at home you can control them, put on subtitles, pause them etc

video games just feel like a time suck to me. I cant remember the last video game I played maybe it was the flappy bird one. I remember when singstar was all the rage but its just easier to sing along to your own recordings or do karaoke on you tube than those video games. Theres too much going in video games with all the buttons and options to push plus everyone tries to cheat them anyway.

1950s...after the war and before everything else blew up.

Well most people had died in the war and they had to restart the population again. So, was a heady time.

The 1950s annoyed me..because my dad has a fixation on that decade. Hes always playing 1950s music on those plastic vinyl records. The top song of the day would have been 'How much is that doggy in the window'

it was also consumerism gone mad, it seems like everyone had money back then and was a rebellious teenager.

The 50's was a golden age for sure. That sounds good right about now, a new golden age.

The problem with golden ages is that here in the US, they bred complacency. That led to boredom. I think for some it also detached them from being able to recognized genuine suffering and genuine tyranny. These led to seeking false senses of purpose. That led to radicalization.

Of course, if the parents of the post-WWII generation had taught their kids what they knew and valued, we might not be in this mess still.

Paul said to remain perpetually vigilante, because our enemy never sleeps. Thomas Jefferson, in a secular sense, said the same thing. But, we let our guard down 80 years ago, and witness the results: Girls can now become boys! Yeah! The best part? That's not anti-science.

But, I digress.

This is amazing and crazy.

I haven't entered the chat room but hey, chocolate always has my vote. 🍫🍪🍩😆

Good to hear. People can't resist chocolate.

Recently J. Witnesses knocked on my door and I gladly answered it, because I like talking about the Bible.

The guy who knocked on my door, wouldn't let me speech, until I said, let me finish speaking. Also, I think knocking on everyone's door is a great way to spread the seasonal flu. Plus, they don't really care about your time, what you say, and they just want to sell their religious views.

Next time a religious salesperson knocks on my door, I'm handing them a Bible track, and closing the door.

How do you handle religious door knockers?




Oh great, it's the religious door knockers, says, no one! lol

Go easy on them. They are just doing what their pastor told them to do.

The objective is actually not to find other converts. The objective is to get their existing members out in the world and experience a lot of haughty rejection. This reinforces the us versus the world mentality, which makes the door knockers much more firmly entrenched members of their church.

We live out in the country, so we don't get door knocking even on halloween. But if we did get them, I would invite them in for a discussion, and calmly and quietly counter everything unbiblical they said with scripture. This plants a seed of doubt, and the ones who want to know the truth will follow up on the doubts I have planted and find the truth in the bible.

With my right hand, and just rap on the door.

In one of my first interactions with JWs, they got what they may have though of as an unusual response from me. They wanted to just give me some magazines but I insisted that I'll only take literature from people who are willing to discuss it, so I was actually "forcing" them to come in and talk about what they were "selling". There have been at least five pairs of JWs that I've interacted with over the years since then.

Interestingly, I heard from some online lectures that JWs are unwilling to continue discussions when it becomes clear that there are strong disagreements and the other person knows what he believes whereas Mormons are supposedly more willing to continue after that. But my experience has been exactly the reverse of that. Mormon missionaries typically indicate that they don't want to continue when it becomes clear that I have serious objections about their teachings and perhaps bring up topics that they'd rather not talk about. JWs on the other hand have more or less stuck around even when I've been clear about my disagreements and have at least occasionally "stumped" them. E.g. one JW gentleman admitted that I "schooled" him on the subject of Trinity (I found Rob Bowman's short book replying to JW propaganda against the doctrine of Trinity really useful). Word may have perhaps even gotten around about this among JWs because it seems that the newer pairs of JWs I've met typically don't bring up their objections to the Trinity or Jesus being God in our discussions. I thought these were supposed to be among the main subjects that they want to focus on. But still they keep coming back. Although during the pandemic, we've communicated via phone instead.

The current pair (or at least the guy who does most of the speaking) is kind of difficult because while this gentleman seems much more knowledgeable than the average JW, he speaks really s l o w l y. I don't think it's an intentional tactic, but basically, it leaves me with the options of being rude and interrupting him frequently, having to endure really long discussions, or cutting down my own speaking time in those discussions. All of these options seem less than ideal.

Man sneaks into Area 51.