That photo reveals one impressive assemblage of 'stache.

Hi, Bob and Dave!

Who sez you need to figure out Photoshop, as long as Ricochet's got EJ and you've got feminine wiles?

In all seriousness, though, I imagine there's a good deal of Photoshop talent knocking about Ricochet. I know you like to make contests for us. What about a cover contest?

Have you tried Bitter Orange or similar?

Well, maybe not. But at least if she spends time with her family after living away from them, the likelihood that she might recognize herself increases.

Midway through college I got seriously ill and had to take a medical leave and move back in with my parents while I got medical care. After having been away from my parents for two years, I was shocked to see how many bad habits they actually had, and to recognize that I had inherited most of them, simply because those habits were my baseline of "normalcy" as I was growing up.

My parents were good, well-meaning people. But I'm a happier, kinder person for knowing that I inherited bad habits from them along with the good, and striving to correct those bad habits in myself. That might never have happened if I hadn't been forced to spend time with them after living away from them.

Yet at the same time, when my husband was telecommuting he absentmindedly left a honkin' big spring-assist knife in his carry-on (after receiving it as a gift from his brother during a trip). There it remained for about a year, going in and out of airport security, without anyone noticing. Eventually, hubs removed it himself at home during a search for something else he'd lost.

I used to, but was tired of having it confiscated for one reason or another. So now I don't bother.

Sorta sad, dontcha think?

You confess to no pocketknife, and now this, GA.

Clearly, you are secure in your masculinity.

• That tights are not pants merely because they are footless will continue to elude many women.
• That most men look like pansies in skinny jeans will continue to elude many men.
• My phone will remain a stupidphone.
• I will find out in spring that rabbits, along with chipmunks and other rodents, have dug up at least 50% of the spring bulbs I planted.
• The deer in our neighborhood will continue to feast on "deer resistant" shrubbery.

She is absolutely right. It's the teacher's job to instruct and correct. The parents are to love and encourage -- or at the very least bear it stoically.

Many parents have success giving their children basic music lessons, like showing them what a scale is and so forth. Some famous musicians (Glenn Gould, for example) also received a large portion of their training from their parents. And if a family were poor enough that music lessons from the parents was the only feasible option, I would hate for them to think that they shouldn't give it a try.

But you're right. A great many sticky problems can arise when parents play music teacher -- especially when they're already paying a professional teacher. Hiring out is often the wisest strategy.

Ah... that would be my husband. After being raised by two parents who smoked like chimneys, he can't stand any sort of tobacco product. But that's OK. He married an asthmatic, so it all works out.

When dear hubs wants an hour or two of solitude, all he has to do is watch a chick-flick. No kidding.

Well, there's something like it for sale on e-bay, if that helps. Have you got a chicken that needs stimulation?

We were thrilled to receive a packet of smoked salmon that requires no refrigeration until it's opened.

And we're always thrilled to give and receive interesting books. (This year, several friends and family are receiving de Soto's "The Mystery of Capital" from us. It was on sale.)

Somehow I doubt Katie would measure parental success by how much the parents suffer at the hands of their children, either.

That said, as a musician myself -- after I went to college and had the opportunity  to shut myself in a practice room and just practice, without the constant barrage of criticism (or at least external criticism: I still have difficulty making music without distracting myself with the same complaints about my performance I internalized as a child, which is counterproductive to say the least) -- I don't expect that any amount of focused and disciplined effort on our children's part will keep their practicing music from being an occasional -- perhaps frequent -- source of suffering to my ears:

That's just not how the game is played. There's some amount of stress and suffering you must be willing to accept if you're to encourage your children to persist in learning to do things right.

In case you're wondering what form the church blessing of a civil marriage takes, it includes an affirmation of the traditional Christian vows and a humble petition for the Lord to show mercy on the couple's prior union, and look upon their life together with favor. (In other words, the union of the couple is considered already established by the secular marriage.)

It is more modest and less celebratory than the sacrament of marriage in the church, and it's considered tacky -- even sinful -- for the surrounding festivities to be as extravagant as they would have been if the couple had been married in the church in the first place.

That is also several protestant churches' understanding of marriage.

Marriage by a judge (even of two Christians) is considered legitimately binding before God's eyes, after which a couple is not considered to be living in sin by living together and performing marital acts. There is even a sacrament to bestow the church's sacramental blessing on a union previously sealed by a judge.

While secular marriage followed by the church's blessing is considered inferior to starting the marriage with the church's blessing, it is considered far, far superior to succumbing to temptation before marriage simply because the church wedding cannot be arranged on time.

Couples facing certain circumstances (such as military deployment) may ask permission for judge first, church later, if they believe it will likely be the least sinful path they can manage.

I understand that for musically sensitive people, having a child musician in the house can be excruciating. When you're passionate about music, listening to sour notes and lousy rhythms really is a form of torture. But if you want your kids to be musical, too, that is the sacrifice you make. It's simply selfish to expect their practicing to be pleasant to you.

Oh, and if your gripe is that your little darlings aren't perfectly on key, check whether the family piano's in tune. If it's routinely more out of tune than they are... well... children learn by example.

OK, I'll stop ranting now. But sometimes too little tolerance of childrens' natural limitations spoils 'em as badly as too much tolerance.

Speaking of unintended consequences, one thing my parents never quite got is that when you're not noticeably less critical of your children when they make a good-faith effort to do what they're told than you are of them when they disobey, you can't really be surprised when they aren't as obedient as you expect.

In our house, it was the dishwasher and practicing music. We never were able to load the dishwasher to the satisfaction of either parent. Consequently, it was a waste of everyone's time when the children loaded the dishwasher, as both parents could never learn to resist the temptation to repack the thing and complain about loading that didn't meet their idea of perfection (on which they disagreed with each other, too).

As for music... if you expect your children to be musical and complain about your kids not practicing, at least have the decency to let your kids alone when they do practice, eh? We don't need to be constantly interrupted with the information that we're still doing things wrong. We already know that.