6/26: Homeschooling and animal skinning (thanks Slithy_Tove)

Undertoad · 06-26-2001, 10:05 AM

[IMG]pictures/ratskinner.jpg[/IMG]

Tove sent this one along and linked to it in his own Livejournal. You can read his entry for it at:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/sli...day/2001/06/23

Meet Amy Ritchie, homeschooler and hobbyist SKINNER. She's all proud and stuff. Unfortunately, her site seems to have died or been taken down between the time Tove sent this along and today.

[IMG]pictures/ratskinning.jpg[/IMG]

This was one of the images she had on her skinning page.

I don't mean to make fun of her. I'm a fan of homeschooling, although not a fan of skinning. I do find it interesting that she has become a near-expert on this subject, that this is her hobby. It's something she never could have learned at a public school, and a dying art, and something that probably most people knew how to do before the industrial age.

Serk · 06-26-2001, 01:21 PM

The page is still there, just on the web journal page someone inserted an extra _ into the URL...

The correct URL for the site is http://amyritchie.homestead.com/skinning.html

And for this girl's main site is
http://amyritchie.homestead.com

I'll withhold comment on the site itself... Kinda creepy, but as you said, it has it's place I 'spose..... I don't like it, but if I did I certainly wouldn't want someone telling me I couldn't do it...

Slight · 06-26-2001, 06:55 PM

I think this young lady is pretty smart. At first I thought that the website was a joke but this girl has talent and ambition. She has lots of knowledge of animals and also lots of animals.

Her website has lots of "content." I know that I could make a site about stuff I am interested in too, but I probably have half the time Amy does, and half the ambition. Her site lacks good style but I could not expect someone that young to even care about such a thing. The funniest thing on the site is a script that keeps you from right clicking and downloading the images. It serves no copyright protection from the techno elite but shows Amy's tenacity.

I find nothing wrong with skining although I find some of the images disturbing. As long as the creatures were dead when found, then go ahead. I don't think I would ever buy my sisters dead pet just to skinit though.

I think this girl can become whatever she wants to be in life. I can't think of any girls her age I know that have websites like this.

These images taken out of context will be shocking, but it seems to be normal healthy activity to me.

nedritchie · 06-26-2001, 08:32 PM

Just wanted to say that I'm Amy's mom, and before anyone criticizes her too harshly, let me just say that she is such a wonderful, talented, and very gifted child. She aspires to be a trauma surgeon someday, thus the interest in anatomy etc. They all have to learn on something, and small mammals are physiologically quite similar to big ones. If you knew her, you would agree that she is a "breath of fresh air" compared to most of today's teens. Despite her "unusual" hobby, she is also very lovely and ladylike ("multi-faceted" we like to say!) and she plays classical piano by ear (since she was 3) and is very artistic and articulate. She just won the gold medal at our county's district competion for her Taxidermy presentation, and goes to compete at the state level next month. As her parent, I can honestly say that she is a joy, and I couldn't be prouder of her. She's a wonderful daughter and human being. America, after all, has always been known for it's unique, free-thinking, and generally"misunderstood by the masses" individuals. Give her the praise she deserves, or at least the respect. She's just a kid.

Undertoad · 06-26-2001, 09:00 PM

Hiya! I hope Amy doesn't mind that I used the images. From the guest book it sounds like she's getting some media attention! All of which must be pretty educational, too.

I have to agree 100% with Slight's post. Amy does seem like she's got great ambition, drive and intelligence. I guess we all have to think about what we were up to at 14. I had some interests, but I don't remember actually taking things on like this.

The homeschooling fascinates me. As someone who's generally a libertarian sort, I like knowing that there are people who are opting out of the system - for whatever reason.

So, why did you opt out? Religious concerns? Quality of the public system? You don't have to answer, I'm just being curious.

nedritchie · 06-26-2001, 09:38 PM

No, Amy didn't mind your using her images-everyone else on the net has, it seems! She has really been getting lots of publicity lately, and not all good. She's had her site memepooled, and put on about 10 other sites that I know of, and she's been interviewed and written up in the American Stateman newspaper in Austin Texas. She's received a lot of hurtful, rude mail, that I have deleted . She doesn't deserve or need to see that at all, because there is nothing to be gained from being call evil, sadistic, and worse. Thankfully, most people recognize that she's just basically a very smart, very independent, very unique, and very loved little girl. One of the main reasons we homeschool is because she is so smart and gifted that we felt she deserved better than to be forced to conform to peer pressure, and the generally dumbed down environment of the public school environment. She's a very self-motivated, self-directed kind of kid who never stops being excited about new things she's interested in, and we support her any way we can, but mostly just by giving her the time, space, and resources to just follow her interests and run with them. It's amazing what kinds of good things can come from a kid, who is completely unconcerned with what kind of label clothes she's wearing, or the latest fads, or whatever else most kids devote their brainpower to. She has plenty of socialization, which seems to be everyone's big unfounded concern, and is involved with lots of people of all ages, in lots of different ways. But, am I selective about the people she hangs out with? Sure I am. I'm not foolish enough to think that my great kid would not be pulled down by "bad" kids, long before they were ever pulled up by her company. I know that there are all sorts of lowlifes in the world, but I don't choose to hang out with them, and I don't expect my kid to either. I actually have four children, all wonderfully unique and blessed in their own ways and I just want them all to have the opportunity to blossom in a stable ,unstressful environment where they are loved and unconditionally accepted and not held back by the very sorts of stifled thinkers who have been more concerned about the feelings of the animals she skins, than with her feelings about the cruel things they write about her. Thankfully, because of homeschooling, she is very confident, and not easily upset by others' criticisms. She respects their right to a different opinion, because that's what she's been taught is right. Homeschooling is obviously not for everyone, but in our case, it has been great. My children, who would be virtual strangers because of their widespread ages, get to spend their entire days together, learning so much from each other, and we are making great memories together. I'll never be one of the parents who will look back regretfully, wishing I'd spent more time with my children, because we spend it all together, and we really are a very happy family, and each others' best friends. I didn't mean to ramble so- I'm sure that's way more info. than you wanted or needed! Amy's Mom

Count Zero · 06-26-2001, 10:10 PM

http://bonsaikitten.com/

Yep. That's it. And always remeber: "You can't trim a cat !"

The watermellon was only the beginnig ! ;-)

jaguar · 06-27-2001, 12:52 AM

........alll very intersting, wasentt bonzaikitten pulled because of complaints?

Frankly i don't know what ot think, the second image is a tad distrubing but i've seen wierder hobbies, wouldn't like to cheat on her though, god knows how you'd end up lol.

OGREMkIV · 06-27-2001, 08:08 AM

I'm happy to see that parents still take interest in their children, and support them to such a great extent. Keep up the good work Amy's mom (for lack of another name), and best wishes to your daughter.

russotto · 06-27-2001, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jaguar
........alll very intersting, wasentt bonzaikitten pulled because of complaints?

Frankly i don't know what ot think, the second image is a tad distrubing but i've seen wierder hobbies, wouldn't like to cheat on her though, god knows how you'd end up lol.

Bonsaikitten got kicked from site to site thanks to threats from the thugs at the Humane Society (no joke). It ended up hosted at rotten.com. They used to have a picture of a bonsai kitten in an box resembling an Apple G4 cube, but they pulled that (probably for trademark violation)

Even the humane society can't complain about skinning, though -- the 4H club would take 'em to task over it.

Undertoad · 06-27-2001, 09:34 AM

Well Amy's mom, I'm glad you stopped in, and now reading what you wrote makes me glad beyond words.

Chewbaccus · 06-27-2001, 01:18 PM

Amy's Mom, a question:

A friend is with me here, as we were reading this board, and he got curious. The hate mail you deleted aimed at your daugter, was it all personal, or did you confirm any as officially coming from organizations like PETA or the ASPCA?

~Mike

nedritchie · 06-27-2001, 02:32 PM

No one actually claimed to be affiliated with any particular animal rights organizations, although I'm sure they were. They were all just a bunch of cowards who hid behind the anonymity of the computer, so they could say horrible things to Amy. Most of them were filled with misspellings and grammatical errors, while they berated her "inadequate" homeschooling parents (go figure!), or her large family - I believe we were called a case of"overbreeding" more than once. Lovely stuff like that. I love animals as much as the next guy, but ya know what? I love people more, and those folks need to get their priorities straight. If you're going to be kind, loving, and protective, it ought to start with your fellow "animals"- other human beings.

Lisa Ritchie

elSicomoro · 06-27-2001, 02:45 PM

I agree with Ogre...that's very cool that you take interest in your daughter's hobbies/interests.

This takes me back to dissecting a cat in anatomy class my senior year of high school...and I can relate to that. She's learning, and WANTS to learn...so I can go with that.

As far as the un-fan mail: Any village idiot can hide behind a computer screen and talk smack about people or ideas. They would NEVER have the cojones to say it to her face. 1) They're too chicken-s**t and 2) In the real world, why would you ever want to say something like that to a young girl?

As long as she enjoys it and has the support of her family (which she obviously does), then it's all good.

Griff · 06-27-2001, 04:33 PM

Very Cool!

Every time I meet a home schooled kid, I come away impressed. I think the socialization aspect has been pretty well debunked. If the parent works hard to find people and resources for the child to take advantage of they will have a broader group of friends than most kids locked in school buildings. It seems like such a natural way to learn, if the parents are up to the challenge. One thing our industrial style education system may be doing is severing childrens ties to older generations, limiting the ideas they are exposed to. I'm sure there are some horror stories out there involving parents who couldn't do the job but all in all I'm for it.

06-26-2001, 10:05 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	6/26: Homeschooling and animal skinning (thanks Slithy_Tove) [IMG]pictures/ratskinner.jpg[/IMG] Tove sent this one along and linked to it in his own Livejournal. You can read his entry for it at: http://www.livejournal.com/users/sli...day/2001/06/23 Meet Amy Ritchie, homeschooler and hobbyist SKINNER. She's all proud and stuff. Unfortunately, her site seems to have died or been taken down between the time Tove sent this along and today. [IMG]pictures/ratskinning.jpg[/IMG] This was one of the images she had on her skinning page. I don't mean to make fun of her. I'm a fan of homeschooling, although not a fan of skinning. I do find it interesting that she has become a near-expert on this subject, that this is her hobby. It's something she never could have learned at a public school, and a dying art, and something that probably most people knew how to do before the industrial age.

06-26-2001, 01:21 PM	#2
Serk So liberal, he's conservative. Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rowlett, TX Posts: 20	The page is still there, just on the web journal page someone inserted an extra _ into the URL... The correct URL for the site is http://amyritchie.homestead.com/skinning.html And for this girl's main site is http://amyritchie.homestead.com I'll withhold comment on the site itself... Kinda creepy, but as you said, it has it's place I 'spose..... I don't like it, but if I did I certainly wouldn't want someone telling me I couldn't do it... __________________ Never ask a geek 'Why'. Just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda

06-26-2001, 06:55 PM	#3
Slight Semi-Evil Genius Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Boulder CO Posts: 195	Active girl I think this young lady is pretty smart. At first I thought that the website was a joke but this girl has talent and ambition. She has lots of knowledge of animals and also lots of animals. Her website has lots of "content." I know that I could make a site about stuff I am interested in too, but I probably have half the time Amy does, and half the ambition. Her site lacks good style but I could not expect someone that young to even care about such a thing. The funniest thing on the site is a script that keeps you from right clicking and downloading the images. It serves no copyright protection from the techno elite but shows Amy's tenacity. I find nothing wrong with skining although I find some of the images disturbing. As long as the creatures were dead when found, then go ahead. I don't think I would ever buy my sisters dead pet just to skinit though. I think this girl can become whatever she wants to be in life. I can't think of any girls her age I know that have websites like this. These images taken out of context will be shocking, but it seems to be normal healthy activity to me.

06-26-2001, 08:32 PM	#4
nedritchie Neophyte-in-training Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 3	Just wanted to say that I'm Amy's mom, and before anyone criticizes her too harshly, let me just say that she is such a wonderful, talented, and very gifted child. She aspires to be a trauma surgeon someday, thus the interest in anatomy etc. They all have to learn on something, and small mammals are physiologically quite similar to big ones. If you knew her, you would agree that she is a "breath of fresh air" compared to most of today's teens. Despite her "unusual" hobby, she is also very lovely and ladylike ("multi-faceted" we like to say!) and she plays classical piano by ear (since she was 3) and is very artistic and articulate. She just won the gold medal at our county's district competion for her Taxidermy presentation, and goes to compete at the state level next month. As her parent, I can honestly say that she is a joy, and I couldn't be prouder of her. She's a wonderful daughter and human being. America, after all, has always been known for it's unique, free-thinking, and generally"misunderstood by the masses" individuals. Give her the praise she deserves, or at least the respect. She's just a kid. __________________ amy's Mom

06-26-2001, 09:38 PM	#6
nedritchie Neophyte-in-training Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 3	No, Amy didn't mind your using her images-everyone else on the net has, it seems! She has really been getting lots of publicity lately, and not all good. She's had her site memepooled, and put on about 10 other sites that I know of, and she's been interviewed and written up in the American Stateman newspaper in Austin Texas. She's received a lot of hurtful, rude mail, that I have deleted . She doesn't deserve or need to see that at all, because there is nothing to be gained from being call evil, sadistic, and worse. Thankfully, most people recognize that she's just basically a very smart, very independent, very unique, and very loved little girl. One of the main reasons we homeschool is because she is so smart and gifted that we felt she deserved better than to be forced to conform to peer pressure, and the generally dumbed down environment of the public school environment. She's a very self-motivated, self-directed kind of kid who never stops being excited about new things she's interested in, and we support her any way we can, but mostly just by giving her the time, space, and resources to just follow her interests and run with them. It's amazing what kinds of good things can come from a kid, who is completely unconcerned with what kind of label clothes she's wearing, or the latest fads, or whatever else most kids devote their brainpower to. She has plenty of socialization, which seems to be everyone's big unfounded concern, and is involved with lots of people of all ages, in lots of different ways. But, am I selective about the people she hangs out with? Sure I am. I'm not foolish enough to think that my great kid would not be pulled down by "bad" kids, long before they were ever pulled up by her company. I know that there are all sorts of lowlifes in the world, but I don't choose to hang out with them, and I don't expect my kid to either. I actually have four children, all wonderfully unique and blessed in their own ways and I just want them all to have the opportunity to blossom in a stable ,unstressful environment where they are loved and unconditionally accepted and not held back by the very sorts of stifled thinkers who have been more concerned about the feelings of the animals she skins, than with her feelings about the cruel things they write about her. Thankfully, because of homeschooling, she is very confident, and not easily upset by others' criticisms. She respects their right to a different opinion, because that's what she's been taught is right. Homeschooling is obviously not for everyone, but in our case, it has been great. My children, who would be virtual strangers because of their widespread ages, get to spend their entire days together, learning so much from each other, and we are making great memories together. I'll never be one of the parents who will look back regretfully, wishing I'd spent more time with my children, because we spend it all together, and we really are a very happy family, and each others' best friends. I didn't mean to ramble so- I'm sure that's way more info. than you wanted or needed! Amy's Mom __________________ amy's Mom

06-26-2001, 09:00 PM	#5
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Hiya! I hope Amy doesn't mind that I used the images. From the guest book it sounds like she's getting some media attention! All of which must be pretty educational, too. I have to agree 100% with Slight's post. Amy does seem like she's got great ambition, drive and intelligence. I guess we all have to think about what we were up to at 14. I had some interests, but I don't remember actually taking things on like this. The homeschooling fascinates me. As someone who's generally a libertarian sort, I like knowing that there are people who are opting out of the system - for whatever reason. So, why did you opt out? Religious concerns? Quality of the public system? You don't have to answer, I'm just being curious.

06-26-2001, 10:10 PM	#7
Count Zero Colloquialist Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 75	Also very interesting... http://bonsaikitten.com/ Yep. That's it. And always remeber: "You can't trim a cat !" The watermellon was only the beginnig ! ;-)

06-27-2001, 12:52 AM	#8
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	........alll very intersting, wasentt bonzaikitten pulled because of complaints? Frankly i don't know what ot think, the second image is a tad distrubing but i've seen wierder hobbies, wouldn't like to cheat on her though, god knows how you'd end up lol. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

06-27-2001, 08:08 AM	#9
OGREMkIV Neophyte-in-training Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Outside New York Posts: 3	I'm happy to see that parents still take interest in their children, and support them to such a great extent. Keep up the good work Amy's mom (for lack of another name), and best wishes to your daughter. __________________ bin ich nicht Mensch?

06-27-2001, 09:34 AM	#11
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Well Amy's mom, I'm glad you stopped in, and now reading what you wrote makes me glad beyond words.

06-27-2001, 01:18 PM	#12
Chewbaccus Freethinker/booter Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 523	Amy's Mom, a question: A friend is with me here, as we were reading this board, and he got curious. The hate mail you deleted aimed at your daugter, was it all personal, or did you confirm any as officially coming from organizations like PETA or the ASPCA? ~Mike __________________ Like the wise man said: Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

06-27-2001, 02:32 PM	#13
nedritchie Neophyte-in-training Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 3	No one actually claimed to be affiliated with any particular animal rights organizations, although I'm sure they were. They were all just a bunch of cowards who hid behind the anonymity of the computer, so they could say horrible things to Amy. Most of them were filled with misspellings and grammatical errors, while they berated her "inadequate" homeschooling parents (go figure!), or her large family - I believe we were called a case of"overbreeding" more than once. Lovely stuff like that. I love animals as much as the next guy, but ya know what? I love people more, and those folks need to get their priorities straight. If you're going to be kind, loving, and protective, it ought to start with your fellow "animals"- other human beings. Lisa Ritchie __________________ amy's Mom

06-27-2001, 02:45 PM	#14
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	I agree with Ogre...that's very cool that you take interest in your daughter's hobbies/interests. This takes me back to dissecting a cat in anatomy class my senior year of high school...and I can relate to that. She's learning, and WANTS to learn...so I can go with that. As far as the un-fan mail: Any village idiot can hide behind a computer screen and talk smack about people or ideas. They would NEVER have the cojones to say it to her face. 1) They're too chicken-s**t and 2) In the real world, why would you ever want to say something like that to a young girl? As long as she enjoys it and has the support of her family (which she obviously does), then it's all good.

06-27-2001, 04:33 PM	#15
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	home schoolin' Very Cool! Every time I meet a home schooled kid, I come away impressed. I think the socialization aspect has been pretty well debunked. If the parent works hard to find people and resources for the child to take advantage of they will have a broader group of friends than most kids locked in school buildings. It seems like such a natural way to learn, if the parents are up to the challenge. One thing our industrial style education system may be doing is severing childrens ties to older generations, limiting the ideas they are exposed to. I'm sure there are some horror stories out there involving parents who couldn't do the job but all in all I'm for it.

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