What’s in a Name?
Titles for one’s writing are about the easiest thing about the art and the craft, as I see it. Titles, subtitles, and names of characters. In the book I’m about to start reading in a few minutes, the Contents page lists four parts to the novel. With the book’s title of The Cobra, these parts’ titles are COIL, HISS, STRIKE, and VENOM. What ingenious imagination and mathematical and poetic acumen! Time out now for getting the reading started.
This is yesterday’s tomorrow now. Last night I read through the COIL part of Frederick Forsyth’s The Cobra. It is more telling than showing right now, but much needed explanation. The plot concerns the drug traffic over the world with the two big markets for Colombian cocaine being the United States and Europe. The people of most countries can’t afford it. Many users in America can’t afford it either. That’s why they rob and steal, and even murder. The same must be true in Europe.
So, the president of the USA, obviously Barack Obama, has a silver-haired retired under-cover agent take on the task of ridding the world of these drug lords and dealers. The man spends a few weeks studying the problem before he accepts the job. Then he asks for two billion dollars for the endeavor and the president doesn’t seem to hesitate in allotting it.
Just imagine spending ten minutes reading the detailed ten-page report on the drug situation and when offered a copy to keep, the man’s saying, “I don’t need it. I’ve memorized it.” He has also memorized the three telephone numbers on a business card and returns it to the one whose numbers they are. That’s the sort of brain the Cobra has. He will now spend a longer time making specific plans to execute the assignment, with several demands on the president with regard to accessing information from any agency of government and sealed lips from all concerned.
Now I’m ready for the hissing. I don’t plan to tell you any more of the story except to add Cobra says he will carry out his mission on the water. I think this book will be recommended reading.
♥
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
A Fabulous Dessert
Years ago, when it became my turn to furnish dessert for the next meeting of my garden club, I opted to prepare a prize-winning recipe from a magazine. If memory serves me accurately, it was a $10,000 prize winner, perhaps a Pillsbury one. It had a fancier name than “pie” but was in that category. Of many ingredients, the recipe was the kind one should try out first before serving it to others. But I took the risk.
The filling was a complicated blend of raspberries, chocolate, and other goodies, topped by extremely thin lattice strips of a rich dough. Cheese of some sort was somewhere in the masterpiece, I think in the crust. That must have been grated cheddar. It was designed for a 10-inch pie pan (or was it 12?) and one pie would serve the entire garden club, for it was cut into thin slices such as cheesecake is. The triangle of delight was then placed on a spoonful of raspberry sauce on the dessert plate, with a floating berg of real whipped cream in the sauce, not on the pie. Since I knew this would be a hit, I took along printed copies of the page from the magazine, featuring the creator of the recipe, and, of course, a photo of the finished production. (Later I learned one member had actually made it to serve for a special occasion and it was a hit.)
But the point I want to make here is that when the dessert was served at the meeting, the first thing the woman sitting beside me did was to use her fork to place the whipped cream on top of the pie, as if it had slid off! This was one good time to copy the hostess to see how things are done. (I wasn’t the hostess, but that lady knew where the whipped cream belonged. She had helped serve it up in the kitchen, before taking it to the living room.) I refused to look around to see how many others, if any, had done this same thing.
One might wonder why the whipped cream was served this way. Well, think of a very narrow wedge of the rich pie that takes a lot of time to prepare. It’s the star. Anything topping it would likely fall to the side anyway and that might look messy and would diminish its attraction. I suppose the guest next to me thought the sauce should have been over the top too. But no. I’m quite sure this recipe won partly because of its presentation. (There was also a higher-prize winner but I never came across that recipe.) It pays to look through some nice magazines once in a while.
♥
Years ago, when it became my turn to furnish dessert for the next meeting of my garden club, I opted to prepare a prize-winning recipe from a magazine. If memory serves me accurately, it was a $10,000 prize winner, perhaps a Pillsbury one. It had a fancier name than “pie” but was in that category. Of many ingredients, the recipe was the kind one should try out first before serving it to others. But I took the risk.
The filling was a complicated blend of raspberries, chocolate, and other goodies, topped by extremely thin lattice strips of a rich dough. Cheese of some sort was somewhere in the masterpiece, I think in the crust. That must have been grated cheddar. It was designed for a 10-inch pie pan (or was it 12?) and one pie would serve the entire garden club, for it was cut into thin slices such as cheesecake is. The triangle of delight was then placed on a spoonful of raspberry sauce on the dessert plate, with a floating berg of real whipped cream in the sauce, not on the pie. Since I knew this would be a hit, I took along printed copies of the page from the magazine, featuring the creator of the recipe, and, of course, a photo of the finished production. (Later I learned one member had actually made it to serve for a special occasion and it was a hit.)
But the point I want to make here is that when the dessert was served at the meeting, the first thing the woman sitting beside me did was to use her fork to place the whipped cream on top of the pie, as if it had slid off! This was one good time to copy the hostess to see how things are done. (I wasn’t the hostess, but that lady knew where the whipped cream belonged. She had helped serve it up in the kitchen, before taking it to the living room.) I refused to look around to see how many others, if any, had done this same thing.
One might wonder why the whipped cream was served this way. Well, think of a very narrow wedge of the rich pie that takes a lot of time to prepare. It’s the star. Anything topping it would likely fall to the side anyway and that might look messy and would diminish its attraction. I suppose the guest next to me thought the sauce should have been over the top too. But no. I’m quite sure this recipe won partly because of its presentation. (There was also a higher-prize winner but I never came across that recipe.) It pays to look through some nice magazines once in a while.
♥
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
A Great Read
Several days ago I finished reading Daniel Silva’s The Rembrandt Affair and rate it right at the top of good modern novels. It is also right up to the minute with current events. While he doesn’t use the real names of world-famous politicians, the reader knows exactly whom he is writing about. But the story is fiction and required a great deal of research. Silva had his assistants in this category, including his little daughter and little son, who, he says, helped him steal art works from the Louvre. Then he quickly adds, fictionally, of course.
Near the end of the Acknowledgements (which I read first, no matter where located in a book), he lists his friends who supported him socially in the effort. Among them were the names Charles Krauthammer and his wife Robyn. I enjoyed reading this novel more just by knowing Krauthammer must have approved of it.
This book should fascinate art lovers especially, plus those interested in espionage, politics, sabotage, current war, the Holocaust, and related subjects. To its great credit, it is presented with decent language, in fact, lovely language, with colorful characters, more of them men than women, and at several different locations over the world. I recommend it highly.
♥
Several days ago I finished reading Daniel Silva’s The Rembrandt Affair and rate it right at the top of good modern novels. It is also right up to the minute with current events. While he doesn’t use the real names of world-famous politicians, the reader knows exactly whom he is writing about. But the story is fiction and required a great deal of research. Silva had his assistants in this category, including his little daughter and little son, who, he says, helped him steal art works from the Louvre. Then he quickly adds, fictionally, of course.
Near the end of the Acknowledgements (which I read first, no matter where located in a book), he lists his friends who supported him socially in the effort. Among them were the names Charles Krauthammer and his wife Robyn. I enjoyed reading this novel more just by knowing Krauthammer must have approved of it.
This book should fascinate art lovers especially, plus those interested in espionage, politics, sabotage, current war, the Holocaust, and related subjects. To its great credit, it is presented with decent language, in fact, lovely language, with colorful characters, more of them men than women, and at several different locations over the world. I recommend it highly.
♥
Monday, August 23, 2010
Only in America, It Seems
In America every citizen has a right to soapbox oratory but America does not have a Bill of Rights for non-citizens. However, many foreigners have taken the stance that they have the same rights as citizens have, and those in charge of things in this country have allowed it. But if hundreds of natural born American citizens began gathering on a New York’s busy Madison Avenue intersection for two hours every Friday afternoon—and doing nothing but standing there, stopping traffic—before they’d got so far as a dozen of them, they’d be arrested. My question is, why does the foreign element in America demand rights Americans don’t have, and get them, when we couldn’t?
♥
In America every citizen has a right to soapbox oratory but America does not have a Bill of Rights for non-citizens. However, many foreigners have taken the stance that they have the same rights as citizens have, and those in charge of things in this country have allowed it. But if hundreds of natural born American citizens began gathering on a New York’s busy Madison Avenue intersection for two hours every Friday afternoon—and doing nothing but standing there, stopping traffic—before they’d got so far as a dozen of them, they’d be arrested. My question is, why does the foreign element in America demand rights Americans don’t have, and get them, when we couldn’t?
♥
Saturday, August 21, 2010
All Part of the Job
From the time I purchased this new computer (Pete), that little man popped up on the Word Processor to ask if I wanted to save the changes I made in the document. I never liked him and got James, my techspert, to get rid of him for good in the old machine. But then he still existed in the new Pete. When this annoyance showed up this time, I noticed “Options" and clicked on that. I hope you have what I found, a cute little jigsaw puzzle, of four pieces in four colors, that come apart and then fit together again when he finishes a job. And just so you won’t forget it, I suppose, about every page of typing, it slowly spins around on one point. It’s fun to see it!
A note to you young writers, or beginning writers, out there. If you write genre stories, this may help, but not necessarily if you write literary ones. The Net says James Patterson, a suspense king, writes short sentences in short paragraphs in short chapters. Those four elements—suspense, short, short, and short—truly make a fast page-turner.
♥
From the time I purchased this new computer (Pete), that little man popped up on the Word Processor to ask if I wanted to save the changes I made in the document. I never liked him and got James, my techspert, to get rid of him for good in the old machine. But then he still existed in the new Pete. When this annoyance showed up this time, I noticed “Options" and clicked on that. I hope you have what I found, a cute little jigsaw puzzle, of four pieces in four colors, that come apart and then fit together again when he finishes a job. And just so you won’t forget it, I suppose, about every page of typing, it slowly spins around on one point. It’s fun to see it!
A note to you young writers, or beginning writers, out there. If you write genre stories, this may help, but not necessarily if you write literary ones. The Net says James Patterson, a suspense king, writes short sentences in short paragraphs in short chapters. Those four elements—suspense, short, short, and short—truly make a fast page-turner.
♥
Friday, August 20, 2010
My Try at Night Running
What a glorious morning it is where I am. It will be hot, of course, with 94 degrees predicted. I’m getting a late start and am just finishing breakfast at 11:30, because I slept late. I read 102 pages in a book last night, beginning after 10:00, and then went to bed and ran. Well, I started running (mentally, remember?), but I tired rather quickly (am not accustomed to running) and fell asleep.
I started running on a street in the city, but the houses distracted me, and I leaped (or leapt, if you prefer) over all that and ran awhile on a two-lane highway, new asphalt and freshly painted yellow line, uphill of all things. Then I got scared. It was in a no-buildings sort of place, perhaps way out in Idaho somewhere, or Nevada, and I had to hide before a car came by. I opted for running through overgrown dried vegetation (as seen in a war film recently) and I ran, twigs crackling under my shoes. Then I fell asleep. I don’t remember a dream, but who needs to remember dreams, with an imagination like mine? It’s still working. What if there had been snakes?
♥
What a glorious morning it is where I am. It will be hot, of course, with 94 degrees predicted. I’m getting a late start and am just finishing breakfast at 11:30, because I slept late. I read 102 pages in a book last night, beginning after 10:00, and then went to bed and ran. Well, I started running (mentally, remember?), but I tired rather quickly (am not accustomed to running) and fell asleep.
I started running on a street in the city, but the houses distracted me, and I leaped (or leapt, if you prefer) over all that and ran awhile on a two-lane highway, new asphalt and freshly painted yellow line, uphill of all things. Then I got scared. It was in a no-buildings sort of place, perhaps way out in Idaho somewhere, or Nevada, and I had to hide before a car came by. I opted for running through overgrown dried vegetation (as seen in a war film recently) and I ran, twigs crackling under my shoes. Then I fell asleep. I don’t remember a dream, but who needs to remember dreams, with an imagination like mine? It’s still working. What if there had been snakes?
♥
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Amazing Concepts
On my day out today, I heard an astounding statement. If you can truly imagine you are riding a bike, or swimming, or climbing Everest, you can use up calories exactly as if you were doing the real thing! The power of the mind is truly remarkable. I think I’ll run all night.
There’s something else I heard recently too, which we hear every so often. To ward off burglars from your house when you aren’t at home, keep the television going, so that it can be heard outside the house, indicating someone is supposedly at home. However—
What if someone is after you, some wandering stranger out for a kill, rather than after your expensive toys? Would you turn off the telly, pretend you’re not at home, to protect yourself? You’d better consider it. This is a time of high crime, as in senseless killing. And somewhere in Shakespeare, but I’ve forgotten in which play, the bard writes this very truth. In more poetic words than these, he says thieves break into homes more often for crimes against human beings than for stealing their gold. He wasn’t referring to the times, but to human nature.
♥
On my day out today, I heard an astounding statement. If you can truly imagine you are riding a bike, or swimming, or climbing Everest, you can use up calories exactly as if you were doing the real thing! The power of the mind is truly remarkable. I think I’ll run all night.
There’s something else I heard recently too, which we hear every so often. To ward off burglars from your house when you aren’t at home, keep the television going, so that it can be heard outside the house, indicating someone is supposedly at home. However—
What if someone is after you, some wandering stranger out for a kill, rather than after your expensive toys? Would you turn off the telly, pretend you’re not at home, to protect yourself? You’d better consider it. This is a time of high crime, as in senseless killing. And somewhere in Shakespeare, but I’ve forgotten in which play, the bard writes this very truth. In more poetic words than these, he says thieves break into homes more often for crimes against human beings than for stealing their gold. He wasn’t referring to the times, but to human nature.
♥
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Reading Day
A lovely letter came through today from a blog reader who said she was going to purchase the last four books I’d mentioned. I looked back to see what they were. Okay, very good, but one blog contains an error to correct right here. Felix Francis’s book Even Money, written with his father Dick Francis, came out in hardcover last year. This new ad was just for the soft cover edition. I’d already read it.
In The Rembrandt Affair, I’ve just reached the halfway point, for other duties have preoccupied my time. It has only 484 pages, you see. It will doubtlessly make a great movie but with numerous challenges in the process. It may take a while.
Barnes & Noble is currently offering on your computer 40%-off coupons (good through August 23) for certain books. Then if you have a membership there, you get another 10% off. And that makes the price about the same as the price at CostCo. The two I hope to get tomorrow on my day out are James Patterson’s The Postcard Killers and Frederick Forsyth’s The Cobra. One of the best plots I’ve ever read is a novelette by Forsyth called The Veteran, published under that title and including a few shorter stories. The Veteran is not great literature, but, as I said, has an intriguing plot. While I’ve given away several hundred books by this time, perhaps a thousand, The Veteran is still on my shelves.
One day I saw another famous American writer on the telly, running down the writing of Forsyth. I was amazed. Writers do not usually attempt to destroy other writers that way on television. So, I decided to read one of the attacker’s novels to make a comparison. He was at that time a highly popular author, whose novels men enjoyed perhaps more than women did. I haven’t heard anything of him in recent years. I can’t think of his name at the moment, but when I began to read the book chosen, I discovered in the first few pages he was only telling, not showing. A good writer mixes the two, showing and telling, and several pages of just telling, without any showing, didn’t keep me reading. I’ve never had that problem with Forsyth.
Of course, I read other types of writing, not just suspense, international intrigue, and plain murders. But is any murder ever just plain? I enjoy figuring out problems of this type. Since it’s all fiction, it’s a mental game that exercises the brain. And you know what? That brain activity takes off some calories. Happy sleuthing!
P. S. I remembered that author's name. It's Tom Clancy, who wrote The Hunt for Red October and other big hits. My comment holds.
♥
A lovely letter came through today from a blog reader who said she was going to purchase the last four books I’d mentioned. I looked back to see what they were. Okay, very good, but one blog contains an error to correct right here. Felix Francis’s book Even Money, written with his father Dick Francis, came out in hardcover last year. This new ad was just for the soft cover edition. I’d already read it.
In The Rembrandt Affair, I’ve just reached the halfway point, for other duties have preoccupied my time. It has only 484 pages, you see. It will doubtlessly make a great movie but with numerous challenges in the process. It may take a while.
Barnes & Noble is currently offering on your computer 40%-off coupons (good through August 23) for certain books. Then if you have a membership there, you get another 10% off. And that makes the price about the same as the price at CostCo. The two I hope to get tomorrow on my day out are James Patterson’s The Postcard Killers and Frederick Forsyth’s The Cobra. One of the best plots I’ve ever read is a novelette by Forsyth called The Veteran, published under that title and including a few shorter stories. The Veteran is not great literature, but, as I said, has an intriguing plot. While I’ve given away several hundred books by this time, perhaps a thousand, The Veteran is still on my shelves.
One day I saw another famous American writer on the telly, running down the writing of Forsyth. I was amazed. Writers do not usually attempt to destroy other writers that way on television. So, I decided to read one of the attacker’s novels to make a comparison. He was at that time a highly popular author, whose novels men enjoyed perhaps more than women did. I haven’t heard anything of him in recent years. I can’t think of his name at the moment, but when I began to read the book chosen, I discovered in the first few pages he was only telling, not showing. A good writer mixes the two, showing and telling, and several pages of just telling, without any showing, didn’t keep me reading. I’ve never had that problem with Forsyth.
Of course, I read other types of writing, not just suspense, international intrigue, and plain murders. But is any murder ever just plain? I enjoy figuring out problems of this type. Since it’s all fiction, it’s a mental game that exercises the brain. And you know what? That brain activity takes off some calories. Happy sleuthing!
P. S. I remembered that author's name. It's Tom Clancy, who wrote The Hunt for Red October and other big hits. My comment holds.
♥
Monday, August 16, 2010
Vacation Time
Another week starting! For most of my life, Monday was my favorite day, for it meant going back to school, either to learn or to teach, and later it also meant my children were in school learning. Sometimes I was dissatisfied with the latter, for what they were NOT getting in school. But that’s another story. Today I am putting in writing that over the weekend I was without communication with the outside world for about 30 hours, possibly 35. When I walked to Stan and Jackie’s house, two doors away, to call Cable One, my telephone and computer company (also television, but it was working), we got the recorded message there’d been an outage and they had a man out to work on it. So, after visiting my friends awhile, I came home. Intermittently I picked up to listen for a dial tone and never got one. I dreaded going through the night without being able to contact anyone. Then I remembered my Watch Dog and I slept well.
The next day I still had no connections. In the afternoon I went again to Stan and Jackie’s. The outage was apparently repaired but not at my house. So, while we were on the phone, Cable One said it was rebooting both my phone line and my computer. I came home, and found the phone worked, but when I tried to “compute,” a strange monster appeared on the screen and I couldn’t shoo him off. Although it was Saturday, I called my tech’s number and found someone there. The new man on staff would be out around 4:30. And he was. He got rid of the beast and hit keys to disallow its ever returning, he said. I hope it works.
Well done, but I lost a lot of time career-wise and need to catch up. I may be busy at that for the next few days.
♥
Another week starting! For most of my life, Monday was my favorite day, for it meant going back to school, either to learn or to teach, and later it also meant my children were in school learning. Sometimes I was dissatisfied with the latter, for what they were NOT getting in school. But that’s another story. Today I am putting in writing that over the weekend I was without communication with the outside world for about 30 hours, possibly 35. When I walked to Stan and Jackie’s house, two doors away, to call Cable One, my telephone and computer company (also television, but it was working), we got the recorded message there’d been an outage and they had a man out to work on it. So, after visiting my friends awhile, I came home. Intermittently I picked up to listen for a dial tone and never got one. I dreaded going through the night without being able to contact anyone. Then I remembered my Watch Dog and I slept well.
The next day I still had no connections. In the afternoon I went again to Stan and Jackie’s. The outage was apparently repaired but not at my house. So, while we were on the phone, Cable One said it was rebooting both my phone line and my computer. I came home, and found the phone worked, but when I tried to “compute,” a strange monster appeared on the screen and I couldn’t shoo him off. Although it was Saturday, I called my tech’s number and found someone there. The new man on staff would be out around 4:30. And he was. He got rid of the beast and hit keys to disallow its ever returning, he said. I hope it works.
Well done, but I lost a lot of time career-wise and need to catch up. I may be busy at that for the next few days.
♥
Friday, August 13, 2010
Something Like a Dream
After very busy days doing other things, finally perhaps there are a few minutes for this blog, mainly touching upon some previous reference to the book Unlocking the Secrets of Your Childhood Memories. The importance of this undertaking struck me again last night as I watched an old Miss Marple film. When Vincent Price introduced “Sleeping Murder,” he said Agatha Christie once wrote that her earliest memory was her third birthday party. The table of cakes and flowers and the ambience of the large house where her family lived, made a greater impression on Agatha when a huge spider swooped down over the table to join in the delights. Then Price said Agatha grew up to write about evil in pleasant surroundings. This is an excellent example of recalling and understanding one’s earliest memories.
Once we know this possibility of understanding ourselves through our earliest memories, it is highly important that we realize what they mean. The book cited above stresses we need to acknowledge what emotions we experienced in the memory, which may be more than a single emotion. In fact, the authors suggest we divide the memory into parts. In Agatha’s experience, part one could be the joy of anticipating eating birthday cake with her friends. Part two could be surprise at the spider’s appearing on the scene. Part three could be great fear. When one realizes the parts, then he decides which part had the greatest impact on him. That is the part that has more to do with our later personality. It could, of course, be a double blessing or a double whammy. The pleasure and the fear Agatha felt could have been equal in intensity. Ergo, all those mystery novels about evil in pleasant surroundings.
A friend recently told me her earliest memory, which she had never thought much about till then. She said she recalled holding onto her blanket when she saw her mother going out the door and wondering if she would ever return. She admitted insecurity then. I asked her if she’d carried over the feeling of insecurity into later life. She said after a moment’s thinking, “Yes, I think I have.”
If all early memories are filled with negativity and one can’t straighten out the results in his later life, he should seek counseling. For example, some earliest memories are of a father’s beating a son again and again. The boy learns the way to have power over other people is to beat them. So, he grows up to beat his own sons. This person needs counseling. When he understands why, he can change his behavior.
The authors also suggest when a young man calls a girl on the phone to invite her out for the first time, she should ask him what his earliest memories are to help her make up her mind if it’s okay to date him. Hilarious and a great idea! Now in case he’s wise to this memory business, she can go to dinner with him and during that time sneak his earliest memories out of him, perhaps by remembering one of her own to tell him first, then springing the question on him.
And there’s nothing ungentlemanly for the guy to know a girl’s earliest memories before he asks her out.
♥
After very busy days doing other things, finally perhaps there are a few minutes for this blog, mainly touching upon some previous reference to the book Unlocking the Secrets of Your Childhood Memories. The importance of this undertaking struck me again last night as I watched an old Miss Marple film. When Vincent Price introduced “Sleeping Murder,” he said Agatha Christie once wrote that her earliest memory was her third birthday party. The table of cakes and flowers and the ambience of the large house where her family lived, made a greater impression on Agatha when a huge spider swooped down over the table to join in the delights. Then Price said Agatha grew up to write about evil in pleasant surroundings. This is an excellent example of recalling and understanding one’s earliest memories.
Once we know this possibility of understanding ourselves through our earliest memories, it is highly important that we realize what they mean. The book cited above stresses we need to acknowledge what emotions we experienced in the memory, which may be more than a single emotion. In fact, the authors suggest we divide the memory into parts. In Agatha’s experience, part one could be the joy of anticipating eating birthday cake with her friends. Part two could be surprise at the spider’s appearing on the scene. Part three could be great fear. When one realizes the parts, then he decides which part had the greatest impact on him. That is the part that has more to do with our later personality. It could, of course, be a double blessing or a double whammy. The pleasure and the fear Agatha felt could have been equal in intensity. Ergo, all those mystery novels about evil in pleasant surroundings.
A friend recently told me her earliest memory, which she had never thought much about till then. She said she recalled holding onto her blanket when she saw her mother going out the door and wondering if she would ever return. She admitted insecurity then. I asked her if she’d carried over the feeling of insecurity into later life. She said after a moment’s thinking, “Yes, I think I have.”
If all early memories are filled with negativity and one can’t straighten out the results in his later life, he should seek counseling. For example, some earliest memories are of a father’s beating a son again and again. The boy learns the way to have power over other people is to beat them. So, he grows up to beat his own sons. This person needs counseling. When he understands why, he can change his behavior.
The authors also suggest when a young man calls a girl on the phone to invite her out for the first time, she should ask him what his earliest memories are to help her make up her mind if it’s okay to date him. Hilarious and a great idea! Now in case he’s wise to this memory business, she can go to dinner with him and during that time sneak his earliest memories out of him, perhaps by remembering one of her own to tell him first, then springing the question on him.
And there’s nothing ungentlemanly for the guy to know a girl’s earliest memories before he asks her out.
♥
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
A List of the Same Length
In this list you’ll find what I don’t like in people, although everything else about a person may be okay. These are, too, only those characteristics that can change with choice, nothing they don’t have any control over.
1. Not saying, “Thank you,” when it’s due.
2. Not being on time for appointments and causing others to be late.
3. Not keeping their children out of my study, and saying, “Oh, he won’t hurt himself,” when I have visions of his deleting everything in my Word Processor.
4. Following pop culture.
5. Saying “I’m good,” for “I’m fine.” Good is the opposite of evil and that’s not what they’re talking about.
6. Working crossword puzzles in lower-case letters. And in pencil!
7. Not writing thank-you notes, letters, or email, when suitable. “Thank-you” in person and by telephone are okay.
8. Copying me. I’m an original and think everyone else should be.
9. Making loud music in church. Instrumental music is to accompany the singing, not compete with it.
10. In church, singing songs full of “I, I, me, me,” and clapping the hands. Doesn’t sound like worshipping to me.
11. Doctors’ withholding from patients such information as “causes” and “long-term effects.”
12. An obese person’s continuing to overeat and to eat the wrong foods.
13. A pro’s keeping a clean desktop.
14. A child’s answering the telephone. He doesn’t need the practice to learn how; he learns by listening to dad and mom. It’s just a waste of the caller’s time.
15. Not returning a loaned book.
16. Returning a loaned book, still unread.
17. Lying, cheating, whining, boasting, evading taxes, and giving gifts of things you already had and didn’t want anymore, as if they were new. Giving an item you do like and cherish is entirely different. Just let the recipient know it’s not new, because the discerning person can always tell.
♥
In this list you’ll find what I don’t like in people, although everything else about a person may be okay. These are, too, only those characteristics that can change with choice, nothing they don’t have any control over.
1. Not saying, “Thank you,” when it’s due.
2. Not being on time for appointments and causing others to be late.
3. Not keeping their children out of my study, and saying, “Oh, he won’t hurt himself,” when I have visions of his deleting everything in my Word Processor.
4. Following pop culture.
5. Saying “I’m good,” for “I’m fine.” Good is the opposite of evil and that’s not what they’re talking about.
6. Working crossword puzzles in lower-case letters. And in pencil!
7. Not writing thank-you notes, letters, or email, when suitable. “Thank-you” in person and by telephone are okay.
8. Copying me. I’m an original and think everyone else should be.
9. Making loud music in church. Instrumental music is to accompany the singing, not compete with it.
10. In church, singing songs full of “I, I, me, me,” and clapping the hands. Doesn’t sound like worshipping to me.
11. Doctors’ withholding from patients such information as “causes” and “long-term effects.”
12. An obese person’s continuing to overeat and to eat the wrong foods.
13. A pro’s keeping a clean desktop.
14. A child’s answering the telephone. He doesn’t need the practice to learn how; he learns by listening to dad and mom. It’s just a waste of the caller’s time.
15. Not returning a loaned book.
16. Returning a loaned book, still unread.
17. Lying, cheating, whining, boasting, evading taxes, and giving gifts of things you already had and didn’t want anymore, as if they were new. Giving an item you do like and cherish is entirely different. Just let the recipient know it’s not new, because the discerning person can always tell.
♥
Monday, August 9, 2010
She Likes Me, She Likes Me Not
Two blogs coming up about people, what I like about them and what I don’t like. Where could such opinions be expressed but in a blog? However, I will include the caveat that these lists will not touch upon specific religious and political matters. Today, let’s go for the people I like.
1. Well-behaved children when they’re in my house.
2. Well-behaved children in restaurants and supermarkets.
3. Children who love to read books and do so.
4. Adults who read books and know how to discuss them without telling the story within.
5. Anyone who says, “Thank you,” when it is due.
6. Anyone who says to me, and means it, “You don’t look your age.”
7. Those who work hard crosswords.
8. Those who do not smile all the time.
9. People who have a specific religious faith, though it may not be mine.
10. People who can discuss religious and political topics with an open mind.
11. People who get all the facts before reaching conclusions.
12. People who are patriotic and place their right hand over their heart when saying the Pledge of Allegiance,
when the national anthem is sung or played, and when the flag passes by in parade.
13. Women who really know how to cook.
14. All those who support our troops in action.
15. Those who pray for our country, especially in this great hour of need.
16. People who develop hobbies in their youth, which they can enjoy in their retirement.
17. A man around the house.
There are certainly more of these, but a telephone call that just came takes priority in my thinking.
♥
Two blogs coming up about people, what I like about them and what I don’t like. Where could such opinions be expressed but in a blog? However, I will include the caveat that these lists will not touch upon specific religious and political matters. Today, let’s go for the people I like.
1. Well-behaved children when they’re in my house.
2. Well-behaved children in restaurants and supermarkets.
3. Children who love to read books and do so.
4. Adults who read books and know how to discuss them without telling the story within.
5. Anyone who says, “Thank you,” when it is due.
6. Anyone who says to me, and means it, “You don’t look your age.”
7. Those who work hard crosswords.
8. Those who do not smile all the time.
9. People who have a specific religious faith, though it may not be mine.
10. People who can discuss religious and political topics with an open mind.
11. People who get all the facts before reaching conclusions.
12. People who are patriotic and place their right hand over their heart when saying the Pledge of Allegiance,
when the national anthem is sung or played, and when the flag passes by in parade.
13. Women who really know how to cook.
14. All those who support our troops in action.
15. Those who pray for our country, especially in this great hour of need.
16. People who develop hobbies in their youth, which they can enjoy in their retirement.
17. A man around the house.
There are certainly more of these, but a telephone call that just came takes priority in my thinking.
♥
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Getting the Facts
I am a great believer in getting the facts before one makes a value judgment. No one has to have proof blue is one’s favorite color, for that is not a value judgment. But I recall quite a few years ago, when I taught senior English in high school, the debate raged over the idea that eighteen-year-olds should have the right to vote. The argument was, if an eighteen-year-old was old enough to fight in a war, he was old enough to vote. Some of my seniors were already eighteen, some became eighteen during the school year (some were only sixteen), and hardly a one of them was ready to carry the responsibility of wise decisions in the voting booth.
The fact they had not gathered for themselves was that during a war, the young enlistee is told exactly what to do, how to do it, how much time he has to do it, and the possible consequences if he did not do it. And the ones telling him were quite a bit over eighteen. Occasionally a hero has emerged when an officer in charge was killed and someone in the platoon had to start leading. At least, this sometimes happens in movies. It must happen in real combat too.
One of the most famous books to come out of World War II is To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy. Yes, the movie star, Audie Murphy. It is not for the squeamish, but is for those who like to get facts. Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of the war. He had been a farm boy, little in size, and when he joined the Army, he was 18 but looked younger. One officer called him Baby. He made several strategic decisions on his own which could have cost him his life. He was wounded at least twice but kept fighting.
Combat is much different today. The eighteen-year-old may be in a plane, and never actually see the victims that fall dead from this fly-over. But plenty of warriors are still fighting on the ground. But remember what Einstein predicted. One war ahead is to be fought with sticks and stones. One needs to learn how to make value judgments by first getting all the facts.
♥
I am a great believer in getting the facts before one makes a value judgment. No one has to have proof blue is one’s favorite color, for that is not a value judgment. But I recall quite a few years ago, when I taught senior English in high school, the debate raged over the idea that eighteen-year-olds should have the right to vote. The argument was, if an eighteen-year-old was old enough to fight in a war, he was old enough to vote. Some of my seniors were already eighteen, some became eighteen during the school year (some were only sixteen), and hardly a one of them was ready to carry the responsibility of wise decisions in the voting booth.
The fact they had not gathered for themselves was that during a war, the young enlistee is told exactly what to do, how to do it, how much time he has to do it, and the possible consequences if he did not do it. And the ones telling him were quite a bit over eighteen. Occasionally a hero has emerged when an officer in charge was killed and someone in the platoon had to start leading. At least, this sometimes happens in movies. It must happen in real combat too.
One of the most famous books to come out of World War II is To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy. Yes, the movie star, Audie Murphy. It is not for the squeamish, but is for those who like to get facts. Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of the war. He had been a farm boy, little in size, and when he joined the Army, he was 18 but looked younger. One officer called him Baby. He made several strategic decisions on his own which could have cost him his life. He was wounded at least twice but kept fighting.
Combat is much different today. The eighteen-year-old may be in a plane, and never actually see the victims that fall dead from this fly-over. But plenty of warriors are still fighting on the ground. But remember what Einstein predicted. One war ahead is to be fought with sticks and stones. One needs to learn how to make value judgments by first getting all the facts.
♥
Friday, August 6, 2010
New Books
Yesterday, before I left the house on my Thursday out, I found in my email the notice that Felix Francis had just released his new novel Even Money. How delightful his is out at the same time as the new one by Ridley Pearson, In Harm’s Way. Two of my favorite suspense writers. So these two books went on my shopping list.
But I’d heard about another suspense novel that I was eager to read, The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva. He’s written several best sellers but I just had not read any of them. I’d heard about this new book in the last few minutes of a television program in which Silva was on a panel, too late in the hour for me to hear him speak, but his book got a plug, even “his best yet.”
But Francis’s book had not arrived at the store yesterday and I got home with only two of the books. I started Pearson’s first, because it is shorter, and covered about 40 pages last night. But I also dipped into Rembrandt and was happy to find a suspense writer a cut above the rest. He may belong in the same category as Elizabeth George, I don’t know yet. But I can hardly wait to read Rembrandt.
♥
Yesterday, before I left the house on my Thursday out, I found in my email the notice that Felix Francis had just released his new novel Even Money. How delightful his is out at the same time as the new one by Ridley Pearson, In Harm’s Way. Two of my favorite suspense writers. So these two books went on my shopping list.
But I’d heard about another suspense novel that I was eager to read, The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva. He’s written several best sellers but I just had not read any of them. I’d heard about this new book in the last few minutes of a television program in which Silva was on a panel, too late in the hour for me to hear him speak, but his book got a plug, even “his best yet.”
But Francis’s book had not arrived at the store yesterday and I got home with only two of the books. I started Pearson’s first, because it is shorter, and covered about 40 pages last night. But I also dipped into Rembrandt and was happy to find a suspense writer a cut above the rest. He may belong in the same category as Elizabeth George, I don’t know yet. But I can hardly wait to read Rembrandt.
♥
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Krauthammer
If I were about to become president of these United States, I would name Charles Krauthammer to any post he would choose in my government, even in his wheelchair. He must be the most brilliant man on the planet. Since I won’t become president, I advise all future presidents to listen to this man.
♥
If I were about to become president of these United States, I would name Charles Krauthammer to any post he would choose in my government, even in his wheelchair. He must be the most brilliant man on the planet. Since I won’t become president, I advise all future presidents to listen to this man.
♥
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
What’s Cooking Now
It’s good to know Amanda’s grandmother is home again and is all right.
Tomorrow is to be a busy day for me, with four appointments to meet plus the usual Thursday grocery shopping. Somewhere in there should be time for a quick lunch. But the highlight of the day will be the purchase of Ridley Pearson’s new Sun Valley series novel In Harm’s Way, out on August 3. If you enjoy high suspense, he’s the author you want to read. Well, of course, there are other writers with that same touch of genius. Robin Cook, for one, and Dean Koontz, for another.
Most writers of suspense tend to spend their entire writing career in the genre novel classification and there’s nothing wrong with that (besides you can get rich that way). However, many literature aficionados don’t cotton to this type of writing. But there is one excellent suspense writer who has grown into mainstream literature with her suspense and mystery novels. Her books are probably located today under “Fiction” in libraries rather than “Mystery.” She is Elizabeth George, an American who sets her stories in England and sounds exactly like an English writer doing the writing. She often goes to England to find the inspiration of place to start her stories. She goes out in boots and with camera to look for, for instance, a likely place for hiding a body.
George is the second suspense writer I am aware of who starts with place. The other is P. D. James. She sees a structure that tempts her into meditation on it for possibilities. She has chosen, for her books, such items as a tower, a windmill, a church vestry, a lighthouse, a nuclear power station, a garage, a museum, a reading club business office, a winery, a large legal office and courtroom, and naturally, a country house. More than one of these sometimes appear in the same novel, such as the garage and the museum or the reading club business office and the country house.
But Elizabeth George showcases such unattractive characters that one wonders if England has any good looking criminals or victims (before death). How does a reader identify with such? And P. D. James is almost as bad in that area. However, movies made from her books show the characters to be a bit more human and likeable.
James has some good news for mystery writers, however. She claims that when times are bad (as right now in a huge way) people turn to reading mystery, in which things get done and answers are found, something lacking in their country’s reality. So I assume everyone in America is reading mystery these days. It’s time to begin writing your mystery stories, if you ever wanted to and didn’t get started. They’re selling big.
♥
It’s good to know Amanda’s grandmother is home again and is all right.
Tomorrow is to be a busy day for me, with four appointments to meet plus the usual Thursday grocery shopping. Somewhere in there should be time for a quick lunch. But the highlight of the day will be the purchase of Ridley Pearson’s new Sun Valley series novel In Harm’s Way, out on August 3. If you enjoy high suspense, he’s the author you want to read. Well, of course, there are other writers with that same touch of genius. Robin Cook, for one, and Dean Koontz, for another.
Most writers of suspense tend to spend their entire writing career in the genre novel classification and there’s nothing wrong with that (besides you can get rich that way). However, many literature aficionados don’t cotton to this type of writing. But there is one excellent suspense writer who has grown into mainstream literature with her suspense and mystery novels. Her books are probably located today under “Fiction” in libraries rather than “Mystery.” She is Elizabeth George, an American who sets her stories in England and sounds exactly like an English writer doing the writing. She often goes to England to find the inspiration of place to start her stories. She goes out in boots and with camera to look for, for instance, a likely place for hiding a body.
George is the second suspense writer I am aware of who starts with place. The other is P. D. James. She sees a structure that tempts her into meditation on it for possibilities. She has chosen, for her books, such items as a tower, a windmill, a church vestry, a lighthouse, a nuclear power station, a garage, a museum, a reading club business office, a winery, a large legal office and courtroom, and naturally, a country house. More than one of these sometimes appear in the same novel, such as the garage and the museum or the reading club business office and the country house.
But Elizabeth George showcases such unattractive characters that one wonders if England has any good looking criminals or victims (before death). How does a reader identify with such? And P. D. James is almost as bad in that area. However, movies made from her books show the characters to be a bit more human and likeable.
James has some good news for mystery writers, however. She claims that when times are bad (as right now in a huge way) people turn to reading mystery, in which things get done and answers are found, something lacking in their country’s reality. So I assume everyone in America is reading mystery these days. It’s time to begin writing your mystery stories, if you ever wanted to and didn’t get started. They’re selling big.
♥
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Dear Amanda,
This is an additional blog to the one of the same date. I’d like to reach one of my “followers” but the program didn’t accept my comment. I got as far as “Your comment will be posted after its approval.” Then nothing else happened. It certainly had no aspect to cause disapproval.
Hello out there, Amanda Rolik in Ohio. (I don’t have your email address, therefore, this note.) I read your latest blog several days late. I am concerned. I do hope all is well with your grandmother. I am six years older than she and have had my share of ambulance rides too. Your grandmother is fortunate to have family within sight. I have been praying for her and will keep checking your postings. God bless you and your family.
♥
This is an additional blog to the one of the same date. I’d like to reach one of my “followers” but the program didn’t accept my comment. I got as far as “Your comment will be posted after its approval.” Then nothing else happened. It certainly had no aspect to cause disapproval.
Hello out there, Amanda Rolik in Ohio. (I don’t have your email address, therefore, this note.) I read your latest blog several days late. I am concerned. I do hope all is well with your grandmother. I am six years older than she and have had my share of ambulance rides too. Your grandmother is fortunate to have family within sight. I have been praying for her and will keep checking your postings. God bless you and your family.
♥
Hungry?
A friend of mine said she didn’t like to see anyone take a bite of bread with every other bite they ate in a meal. She must have seen someone do that. Well now, John Montagu must have felt the same way, for back in the 18th century, he created the sandwich, perhaps to take care of the problem. His title was Earl of Sandwich, Kent, England. Today Earl of Sandwich restaurants and at least one motel exist in the United States, mainly in the northeast.
But if anyone really did eat a bite of bread with every bite of his beef, potato, broccoli, and salad, dessert (?) or every bite of his eggs, ham, and hashbrowns, that would be a great deal of bread, wouldn’t it? And bread turns to sugar in your body. And so do those potatoes and that broccoli. No wonder we have so many diabetics!
I heard on television just yesterday the present generation of students in our schools will be the first generation who will die before their parents. The main reason? Diabetes. The informer’s memorized repetitive replies came from the government, and she could not listen to Neil Cavuto’s comments. Neil Cavuto’s words are highly worth listening to. He believes the government should NOT force parents in how to feed their children. Right! The less government in our lives, the more freedom we have, and freedom is what America is all about. That’s why so many people keep coming here from other countries. Even some come here for the freedom to destroy that freedom.
P. S. But parents should feed their children better meals, just not by force of government.
♥
A friend of mine said she didn’t like to see anyone take a bite of bread with every other bite they ate in a meal. She must have seen someone do that. Well now, John Montagu must have felt the same way, for back in the 18th century, he created the sandwich, perhaps to take care of the problem. His title was Earl of Sandwich, Kent, England. Today Earl of Sandwich restaurants and at least one motel exist in the United States, mainly in the northeast.
But if anyone really did eat a bite of bread with every bite of his beef, potato, broccoli, and salad, dessert (?) or every bite of his eggs, ham, and hashbrowns, that would be a great deal of bread, wouldn’t it? And bread turns to sugar in your body. And so do those potatoes and that broccoli. No wonder we have so many diabetics!
I heard on television just yesterday the present generation of students in our schools will be the first generation who will die before their parents. The main reason? Diabetes. The informer’s memorized repetitive replies came from the government, and she could not listen to Neil Cavuto’s comments. Neil Cavuto’s words are highly worth listening to. He believes the government should NOT force parents in how to feed their children. Right! The less government in our lives, the more freedom we have, and freedom is what America is all about. That’s why so many people keep coming here from other countries. Even some come here for the freedom to destroy that freedom.
P. S. But parents should feed their children better meals, just not by force of government.
♥
Monday, August 2, 2010
Just Baffling Along
I believe the above blog “Green” is the first blog of mine that did not get a comment one way or another. I assume none of you knew what all that green was about either. We’ll just all be baffled together.
Actually, there is a lot of baffling going on these days. The more I hear of what’s going on in Washington, the more baffled I get, as to how we are going to get out of this mess. Right now, I don’t care to get baffled about that. It’s time for a good read.
♥
I believe the above blog “Green” is the first blog of mine that did not get a comment one way or another. I assume none of you knew what all that green was about either. We’ll just all be baffled together.
Actually, there is a lot of baffling going on these days. The more I hear of what’s going on in Washington, the more baffled I get, as to how we are going to get out of this mess. Right now, I don’t care to get baffled about that. It’s time for a good read.
♥
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