I'm starting a new--to me-- kind of post. Sometimes it will be reading, other times listening.
I an reading or have read the following titles in the last few days:
Sanderson, Brandon Words of Radiance -- The second book in a 10 book series. I'm still trying to determine the overaching theme, although it seems to be determinism versus free will. The authorhas a gift for developing cultures and worlds which I enjoy. The problem with this book and the rest is that is has just started, and the reader will have to wait a long time before reaching book 10 if ever.
Spencer-Fleming, Julia Through the Evil Days. This mystery continues the story of Episcopal Priest, Clare Fergusson and Miller Kills Police Chief Russ VanAlstyne. Very enjoyable story because of it includes Christianity within the framework of the plot and has contemporary feel about the kinds of crime which occurs in small towns throughout the United States. If I say any more, I'll spoil the plot.
Tamora Pierce The Immortals. A work classified as young adult because the main characters are in their teens, although this seems to have many characters from previous works. While I have a hard time accepting some of the so-called magic in the plot, her series have enough suspense and misdirection to make me keep turning the page to see what happens next.
Marr, Melissa & Tim Pratt. Eds. Rags and Bones: New Twists on Timeless tales. Haven't started this yet because it was buried. 18 stories using older myths and folktales as their base.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
If it's Thursday...
So much for trying to write every day. I'll just have to keep trying.
I'm still trying to decide what labels to place on each day as a guide for readers about topics.
Unfortunately, unless I use foreign names for days, I'm not going to find an alliterative meme such as Flashback Fridays or Take a Stitch Tuesday.
Here goes a thought for one day.
Poverty. We've heard much about poverty lately. It seems to be couched in financial terms, although many people may be cash poor but not consider themselves poor.
Here are some of my thoughts on poverty from a financial setting.
Poverty is being unable to replace a valuable item if it wears out or is broken. If you can run out and charge a broken or lost item such as a refrigerator or even a computer, you are probably not really poor. If you can replace something even when you still have perfectly good resources, you are relatively well off.
Poverty is probably not having shoes or badly repaired shoes.
Poverty is being unable to replace a service such as water or lights if it is turned off or never seeing such a service in your area.
Poverty is hearing your children cry themselves to sleep at night because you don't have money for enough food for that day, week, month, year to adequately nourish them.
Poverty is never seeing a doctor in your area--ever. As a result you have parasites and other diseases which you may consider normal but could be treated if a doctor or healthcare professional were nearby.
Poverty is having to walk miles to carry potable water for daily use.
Like most Americans I have never had to deal with any of these, although I grew up constantly hearing my parents say "we don't have money for that." We always ate well, had shoes, a roof over our heads, and good transportation. We children took any delays in repairs or goals as just that--delays. Sometimes they were disappointing, but we never truly considered them unreachable.
Proverbs 30:8 describes our lives which echoes the sentence in the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread."
The worst kinds of poverty are not monetary but in other areas such as spirit or imagination or character. More on those later.
I'm still trying to decide what labels to place on each day as a guide for readers about topics.
Unfortunately, unless I use foreign names for days, I'm not going to find an alliterative meme such as Flashback Fridays or Take a Stitch Tuesday.
Here goes a thought for one day.
Poverty. We've heard much about poverty lately. It seems to be couched in financial terms, although many people may be cash poor but not consider themselves poor.
Here are some of my thoughts on poverty from a financial setting.
Poverty is being unable to replace a valuable item if it wears out or is broken. If you can run out and charge a broken or lost item such as a refrigerator or even a computer, you are probably not really poor. If you can replace something even when you still have perfectly good resources, you are relatively well off.
Poverty is probably not having shoes or badly repaired shoes.
Poverty is being unable to replace a service such as water or lights if it is turned off or never seeing such a service in your area.
Poverty is hearing your children cry themselves to sleep at night because you don't have money for enough food for that day, week, month, year to adequately nourish them.
Poverty is never seeing a doctor in your area--ever. As a result you have parasites and other diseases which you may consider normal but could be treated if a doctor or healthcare professional were nearby.
Poverty is having to walk miles to carry potable water for daily use.
Like most Americans I have never had to deal with any of these, although I grew up constantly hearing my parents say "we don't have money for that." We always ate well, had shoes, a roof over our heads, and good transportation. We children took any delays in repairs or goals as just that--delays. Sometimes they were disappointing, but we never truly considered them unreachable.
Proverbs 30:8 describes our lives which echoes the sentence in the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread."
The worst kinds of poverty are not monetary but in other areas such as spirit or imagination or character. More on those later.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Great memories
What is success? is it a no-hitterhttp://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2014/06/19/kershaw-throws-no-hitter-dodgers-rout-rockies-8-0 which is defined a not quite a perfect game. I would say close enough for those of us who would never be able to strike out even one batter.
Would an event as this be emblematic of the Hebrews 12. We witnessed the cumulation of the results of years of practice and probably many home runs by this pitcher. yet we would have encouraged him to keep on. Do we do this with our friends and loved ones ? just a thought.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
6 months and counting
I wrote a save list identifying thoughts to record.
First, the last six months have been about learning to rebalance life. Maybe those who have husbands and families are able to resist moving on the work continuum toward workaholic, but I have often found myself inching toward true workaholism in every job I've undertaken
The New Retirementality identifies the best retirement as not retiring from but retiring to. However, something in between seems to be there for me. I've had to leave jobs to actually retire to better balance. These six months have helped rebalance me. I resisted too much volunteering or jumping back into a part time job so that I could enjoy large blocks of free time.
I'm still not doing leisure very well, but I've been able to start exploring a passion for crochet and want to improve other needle arts as well. The temptation to be busy is still there. I think it is probably an addiction at times as Overwhelmed states.
My conclusion is that one size does not fit all. Just because some people ease into retirement while others go cold turkey doesn't mean one of them is wrong. Perhaps we need more people who eschew the common job oriented approach to life the 20th and 21st century espouse. However, I cannot recommend a viable alternative, except to say follow God's leading and pray!
Final thought here is from a series of books by Guideposts
The two female characters in the book are visiting a beauty shop. The elderly character says to the beautician, "Don't do anything special." Whereupon her friend reminds her not to fall into the trap of not taking care of herself just because she has fewer social contacts. "You're retired from a job, not life." Jones, Annie. The Flight of the Sparrows. Guideposts, 2009 (p. 62).
So, the upshot is that I don't know what I'm retiring to as yet, but I hope to have many more thoughts and memories to add to the past 60 years.
First, the last six months have been about learning to rebalance life. Maybe those who have husbands and families are able to resist moving on the work continuum toward workaholic, but I have often found myself inching toward true workaholism in every job I've undertaken
The New Retirementality identifies the best retirement as not retiring from but retiring to. However, something in between seems to be there for me. I've had to leave jobs to actually retire to better balance. These six months have helped rebalance me. I resisted too much volunteering or jumping back into a part time job so that I could enjoy large blocks of free time.
I'm still not doing leisure very well, but I've been able to start exploring a passion for crochet and want to improve other needle arts as well. The temptation to be busy is still there. I think it is probably an addiction at times as Overwhelmed states.
My conclusion is that one size does not fit all. Just because some people ease into retirement while others go cold turkey doesn't mean one of them is wrong. Perhaps we need more people who eschew the common job oriented approach to life the 20th and 21st century espouse. However, I cannot recommend a viable alternative, except to say follow God's leading and pray!
Final thought here is from a series of books by Guideposts
The two female characters in the book are visiting a beauty shop. The elderly character says to the beautician, "Don't do anything special." Whereupon her friend reminds her not to fall into the trap of not taking care of herself just because she has fewer social contacts. "You're retired from a job, not life." Jones, Annie. The Flight of the Sparrows. Guideposts, 2009 (p. 62).
So, the upshot is that I don't know what I'm retiring to as yet, but I hope to have many more thoughts and memories to add to the past 60 years.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Just for today
I will amend this later to add the novel which incorporated this poem into its work, but I want to remind myself of Robert Browning's poem Grow Old Along with Mehttp://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173031
I'm perturbed by all who dismiss early literature and history because they are about dead white men.
first, that's a racist comment by people espousing nonracial epithets. Second, dismissing early figures because they are dead falsely assumes that we can learn nothing from the past or those who lived there. This is a very dangerous and naive assumption. I expect to hear those kinds of comments made from teens not from adults who should know better. Yes, history and literature may have a bias we don't agree with, but are the accounts and stories we like any better or give more affirmative life lessons?
Yes, the best may yet to be, but it comes at the price of living and loving from the past years no matter how immediate.
I'm perturbed by all who dismiss early literature and history because they are about dead white men.
first, that's a racist comment by people espousing nonracial epithets. Second, dismissing early figures because they are dead falsely assumes that we can learn nothing from the past or those who lived there. This is a very dangerous and naive assumption. I expect to hear those kinds of comments made from teens not from adults who should know better. Yes, history and literature may have a bias we don't agree with, but are the accounts and stories we like any better or give more affirmative life lessons?
Yes, the best may yet to be, but it comes at the price of living and loving from the past years no matter how immediate.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Regrets. I've had a few...
My way isn't appropriate for Christians but the song's reflections sometimes resonate with us. What I regret the most is those opportunities when I could have chosen to be a better Christian. The wonderful aspect about being a Christian is that we never stop growing and learning from other Christians. Here's to those opportunities to come and those encouraging memories.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Build good memories
Sometimes we forget that decisions result in actions which build memories. Decide to smile, act with love, be more tolerant but resist rudeness.Say yes when no isn't necessary.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Ready,Set
Going to Conference when one is retired is an odd feeling. For the first time no school I was entered by my name, just a blank space. I'm going to recommend they put at least the address or status.
But conference attendance is a loose end as committee work goes beyond employment. I will always have fond memories of past conferences and look forward to adding this one to those memories.
But conference attendance is a loose end as committee work goes beyond employment. I will always have fond memories of past conferences and look forward to adding this one to those memories.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Just another thought
How does one give advice without sounding pompous or sanctimonious ? I think the listener has to be ready to hear the advice.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Post 9 Monday, Monday
Thoughts about today.
For most Monday starts the workweek. For the retired, it is probably just another day. What does one do on just another day?
Take pills and weigh.
Clean the toilets,
write a list of things that need to be done this week as well as stages to complete on long projects.
Listen to Fox and C-Span to insure the world is still turning.
Iron fabric and shirts
Block a premie blanket.
Write out bills
Walk to the nearest mailbox to mail them.
The mailbox is next to a big box store so I walk on and purchase some items.
Return home. Help a man find his way out of our complex to the main street.
Change the AC Filter
Enter budget items and look at how little money is left for the rest of the month. Yipes.
Start another premie hat. These use little bits of yarn and I'm guessing as to the right size so I don't have to change yarn.
Cut squares for mugrugs.
Try to get excited about sewing said squares and crocheting more rows. I know I have difficulty with inertia and once started things will be fine.
Write this blog.
Listen to a lecture on a series about the American Revolution.
Plan some of the packing for the conference coming up,
And then one hour will have passed! --Not really This is just the morning.
For most Monday starts the workweek. For the retired, it is probably just another day. What does one do on just another day?
Take pills and weigh.
Clean the toilets,
write a list of things that need to be done this week as well as stages to complete on long projects.
Listen to Fox and C-Span to insure the world is still turning.
Iron fabric and shirts
Block a premie blanket.
Write out bills
Walk to the nearest mailbox to mail them.
The mailbox is next to a big box store so I walk on and purchase some items.
Return home. Help a man find his way out of our complex to the main street.
Change the AC Filter
Enter budget items and look at how little money is left for the rest of the month. Yipes.
Start another premie hat. These use little bits of yarn and I'm guessing as to the right size so I don't have to change yarn.
Cut squares for mugrugs.
Try to get excited about sewing said squares and crocheting more rows. I know I have difficulty with inertia and once started things will be fine.
Write this blog.
Listen to a lecture on a series about the American Revolution.
Plan some of the packing for the conference coming up,
And then one hour will have passed! --Not really This is just the morning.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Minutes, years, decades
The month of May marked several milestones related to graduations. Two nieces received their diplomas. My nephew, Riley, remarked "Has it been three years since I graduated?" That question reminded me it was 5 decades since I walked that line the first of at least three for a diploma. What was once a monumental occasion has dimmed and been placed in the context of other achievements. However, the high school Commencement is probably the most important of all. Up until the last part of the 20th century a high school degree was rarely achieved. Indeed, only 50 per cent of those entering high school actually receive a diploma even today. That statistic is reprehensible considering how little we value that degree today.
Today nearly everyone in my family has at least that degree if not more. Before my generation, only about 2/3 graduated and before that,--well life's circumstances such as poverty, custom, and work, tool precedent. So congratulations to my two nieces. You follow in a good tradition, and I wish you all the best and pleasant memories.
Today nearly everyone in my family has at least that degree if not more. Before my generation, only about 2/3 graduated and before that,--well life's circumstances such as poverty, custom, and work, tool precedent. So congratulations to my two nieces. You follow in a good tradition, and I wish you all the best and pleasant memories.
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