Every weekend, for the better part of junior high and early high school, my dad made me and my brother learn 10 SAT words and solve 10 analogies before anything weekend-y could happen. I hated it at the time but as I got older, I actually started liking analogies and the power of metaphor and how to use them to explain abstract ideas.

For example, several years ago I offered a program during Summer Reading that introduced children to the art of illuminated manuscripts. I can't tell you how handy it was to compare webpage hyperlinks to the occasional red lettered text in, say, a Medieval book of hours. Red sentences told the reader where to skip ahead or back in the book to find specific prayers for specific holy days. Like cruising Facebook for friend news: follow the links and you'll eventually return to your home page one way or another.

Weekend test-prep prison, multiple choice vocab tests—even Sesame Street's 3-kids-jumping-rope-while-the-fourth-one-reads—all prepared me adequately to group and sort like things, and probably influenced my decision to work in a public library, art gallery and museum. And hooray! This morning I got to use my skillz after yesterday's Senate vote made the following words indistinguishable from one another!

• casinos/gambling venues
• aquariums
• zoos
• golf courses
• swimming pools
• stadiums
• community parks
• museums
• theaters
• art centers
• highway beautification projects (personal favorite)

Apparently, in the hypothetical multiple choice question, "Who and what can our society quickly and effortlessly forfeit in cash-strapped times", the answer yesterday was (d), all of the above, when the Senate passed the Coburn Amendment (73-24) prohibiting funds from the Economic Stimulus bill/act from going to museums, aquariums and zoos. It states:

None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise  made available  by this Act may be used for any casino or other gamblilng establishment, aquariums, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, park, museum, theater, art center and highway beautification project.

Old habits die hard. It's a saturday. I'm not allowed to do anything weekend-y until I get my work done. So all morning, now that we're being asked to consider these words synonyms, I've tried designing additional questions to satisfy a (d)-all-of-the-above answer. It's hard to force such diverse activity under one umbrella, but I tried—so, E for effort!

• Where would you feel most comfortable leaving your teenager for an afternoon?
• Where can you spend as little money as possible and still have a great time on date night?
• Where can you see civilization's history, species and artifacts preserved, restored and made accessable for free or little cost?
• Which entertainment venues work with your child's school to enhance their curriculum?
• Which entertainment venues rank in the top three family vacation destinations?
• Which entertainment venue employs a quarter-million American workers?