KRAUTHAMMER ON THIS SUBJECT

Wouldn’t it be great if Charles Krauthammer wrote or talked about the specific subjects of my latest two blogs? He must have done so somewhere in his writings, but we need a refresher course. Am I right or am I wrong about this? ♥

MORE ABOUT READING AND YOUR CHILD

Somewhere in these blogs you have read about early childhood and the importance that time can make to the very young. (At least two of my most read blogs.) This importance is the very reason the young child needs to be at home and not in a state institution where its young brain can be shaped to order by government planners. Our society at this moment is ripe for such schooling for those who don’t know better. One parent may have a part-time job while the other may work at three jobs to make ends meet. Leaving a wee child in the hands of a “government approved” school might be convenient and perhaps free of cost to you, but staffed by trained brain-washers it is just the recipe for totalitarianism. Could a society of joblessness be a deliberate status quo for this type of tyranny? A Reading household might be able to determine such and keep its children safe. But we seem to be headed in that very direction with, of course, a big fine hanging over your head if you don’t comply. Think about it and talk with your state’s Congressional delegation. That is, if they are Readers. ♥♥♥

A BIG OMISSION

This blog is not for analyzing any politician’s public address, but I must point out the absence of mentioning Reading and English among the subjects in school that our president says we must make progress in. He has spoken about this before and did not name these two subjects. Some great mind, perhaps several great minds, have maintained that one of the ways to subjugate a nation is to deprive its citizens of literature and language. If young people can’t read, they will believe anything and that is exactly why we must stress the importance of teaching Reading.

If the youngest children are to be schooled, as the president said in his speech tonight, and Reading is ignored, what will we gain? Reading is the key to every other subject, the sciences, math, law, medicine, history, theology, the whole caboodle. How many of you noticed he left out Reading in his list of subjects?

Why not let the littlest ones be children at home till age six and not become a pea in a pod. Parents can teach them MUCH about science, math, etc., in a loving environment, and even babies of age two have been known to start Reading—at home with Mother. Your computer will show you books about that. There are some requirements for teaching your baby to read: patience, time, love. We don’t need to be bringing up baby for the State. Let the child just be. ♥♥♥

ALL THE TIME SOMETHING NEW

It is great fun and real value too to use one’s computer just to learn something new—when there are a few minutes to spare. I seldom have such minutes unless I take them from my sleep time. Last night I did just that, well after 10:00. I looked up Fiesta dishes and made sure I had the date right when I wrote about my yellow cup. Yes, they were on the scene in the early 1930’s and by 1936, one could purchase the whole set. I thought they were ugly and cheap looking at the time and didn’t dream they would become collectors’ items. They didn’t have this coffee mug shape of my cup at the time. The cups then were squat with saucers and remind me today of sailboats at a carnival pond.

In those early days only a few colors were manufactured, six I believe. But last night, I learned about 30 more colors that have appeared from time to time, and the years are given for their appearance and for their withdrawal from sale! Listed are Persimmon, Sapphire, Marigold, Sunflower, Chocolate, Black (special shade), pure White, Cobalt, Apricot, Cinnabar, Shamrock, und so weiter. I don’t know if my yellow cup is one called Yellow (pale custard/butter) or the Sunflower (bright yellow). Just reading about them makes one wish for sets in several colors.

I’m glad my family did not purchase any of these early dishes for, it turned out, they had radioactive glazes on them. They are free of that danger today. ♥

MY PREDICTION SEEMS TO BE TRUE

Without any of the articles I checked stating specifically what nonfiction book is currently # 1, # 2, etc., heading the best-selling chart, DUTY by Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense, leads the list. That must be the #1 best-seller now. What a handsome face is on the cover too! Enough to get a few more sales. ♥

WHO IS WHO?

Zozie, Suzie, Rosette, Sophie, Anouk, Vianne, Annie, Yanne, Nanou, Roux, Chantal, et al, are just a few characters in the book I’m trying to read, usually only one short chapter at a time, not every day. Different characters tell the story—I think—without my remembering exactly who is talking. This can happen easily perhaps when the author is half French and sets her story in France, while writing in English with numerous avid readers among the unFrenched Americans. I am a fourth through the reading and if I had to write a paragraph about any one of the characters mentioned above, it would have to be about Rosette, who is “three or four” years old, seems highly intelligent, but has yet not spoken, though she can “speak” a tune by repeating a particular sound over and over. I feel she will likely play a more important role than she is now indicating.

Some of the above names may refer to one or more characters. And though perhaps the author has made the names clear, in a rather unclear way for us Americans, I’m getting only the bare bones out of this plot. A rich guy loves a poor woman and wants to marry her. But she may feel that would be the loss of what she holds dear, her kind of independence. But there are people, at least one, trying to control the situation. Didn’t I early on mention something about witchcraft? Nothing about that has really happened yet—I think—but undercurrents may be at play and the witch may become thwarted. I still enjoy Joanne Harris’s writing style. ♥

THE YELLOW CUP

Last evening a minor accident occurred in my kitchen and I learned something. I had poured a cup of grape juice (I prefer this cup to a glass) and then tried to do two things at once. While I was turning myself to face the fridge, I made an attempt to set the cup on the counter behind me on the oblique. The cup made a whopper of a splash but did not break. It was exactly upside down on the floor and when I picked it up, I found most of the juice had been still inside the upside-down cup. Perhaps you have studied all sorts of science and physics classes and have known this kind of antic ever since, but this was news to me. I suppose the maneuver was about speed and the true level of the rim of the cup and the tile it landed on, right? In case you are interested, the cup that did not break was one of the set called Fiesta, an old pattern of dishes (as old as my childhood), revived and now made in China. However, this one yellow cup I bought was made in the USA. The saleslady at Macy’s had to search for it. The American makes were not displayed. That effrontery must be written into the trade agreement with China. Haven’t we learned somewhere not to trust items painted in China? ♥

WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT

The plot of the short story (title still withheld) concerns a young woman’s emergency operation for a ruptured appendix. After that is taken care of, she has heart failure, resulting in a successful resuscitation of a duration of five minutes and thirty-three seconds. (I consulted my primary doctor for this time span.) The interesting parts, of course, are what happens to her in those five minutes. She gets around but you must wait to read where.

I wrote this story with the aim of sending it to a certain magazine which had categories for stories at specific times, such as romance, humor, etc. I’d had articles published in it several times, but now I can’t find it at a book store or online. So I must locate a different mag for my story. One just came to mind but that must remain a secret. ♥

A DAY OFF

Saturday now, January 25, and I’m taking the day off as many people do in their routines, but of course yours and mine are different. First, let me remind you it’s only 11 months till Christmas. If you don’t realize that time is flying super fast, you must be extremely young. Ordinarily I’d say I hope you’re young. But these are not ordinary times. Some of my latest writing takes me back to my childhood, which I recall was rather carefree. While I was jumping rope and playing Red Rover, an alleged wallpaper-hanger in Europe was starting to build up his empire, eventually called The German Fourth Reich. But the typical American family never heard of him in those days. Even few politicians had heard of him, if any.

What are our young people today learning about what’s going on in the world? There is so much happening they could never keep up with it, even if the family discussed it at the breakfast table. I recall one household where this ritual did occur at the breakfast table daily. I learned this by taking a tour of the subject’s presidential library and birthplace years ago. Hey, Matthew, do you remember that? You were five years old and with Grandpa John and Granmarie. It was Lyndon Johnson who had to know the news before he came to the breakfast table. Can you imagine such a requirement today? If LBJ ever played Trivia, he surely won the game with all that knowledge in his head. It pays to learn facts, for you never know when you’re going to meet the next Trivia nut.

I started out to write about the inside of my latest short story. I think I’m ready to tell you something of it, but not the crux. See next blog. ♥♥♥

SOMETHING NEW

Two or three mornings ago I woke myself up by humming in my sleep. Too early too! It was no recognizable tune. I just kept humming, till I forced myself to stop. I had never heard of this before. And I just now checked it out on my computer. Guess what. Numerous women had asked Pete the same question. So far, it seems Pete knows nothing. But several of the ladies wrote that they were pregnant, that maybe it will go away when the pregnancy is past. Say, now, I wonder . . . ♥

I DO NOT LIKE HUFFINGTON POST

When I click on a story shown on my computer screen, I want to read that story and nothing else at the moment. I do not want a list of politics, sports, entertainment, etc., to choose from. I made my choice when I clicked on the story’s heading. So, that’s where I sign out. I don’t read another word from Huff. •

UPDATE ON MY SHORT STORY

As you know, my story has been resting for a few days and now has taken a turn for the better. It was my first story whose title had not popped out in its notoriety (or otherwise) during the writing. However, one morning before I got out of bed, I worked on it in my head and decided to delete some parts of it. I did, and the title instantly appeared! But it is still a secret. And with the changes made, it will need a little more time. But just a little, I think. I wonder where in the world I can find any time. ♥

WHAT A GOOD DAY TODAY

Two special letters came today, one an e-mail and the other one over two pages printed from a computer, because my e-mail address didn’t work for her. (Now it does.) This was from a former student who wrote to me earlier telling me she had read MY ANTONIA years after I’d recommended it, remember that one? She and her husband live in Alaska, where they raised their five sons (no daughters). She was surprised at my memory when I recalled what I had known of her as a student and her family. I must reread the letter before I write more of it. I just might get something wrong. I enjoyed it immensely. By the way, she said she had ordered THINGS THAT MATTER. She also likes Charles Krauthammer.

The e-mail was from my grandson Robert, who was informed he’d completed his master’s work at the top of his class in Perth, Australia. The citation read:

"You have been awarded the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) Postgraduate Award, which is awarded to the graduating student with the highest weighted average mark in the Master of Project Management."

He gets a sizable cash award and a seat at the monthly AIPM breakfast. I am very proud of him. He works in Boise, and I doubt he will be flying back to Perth every month. ♥♥♥

SOMETHING SAD

If you have AOL on your computer, and if you hurry, you can see what I described a few days ago, about some good parents being unkind to their little children. In this photo we see a tiny tot, perhaps two years old, holding her or his arms straight up in the air at the convenience of two adults, presumably the parents. Let’s hope she or he didn’t have to hold them up very long. ♥

SOMETHING FUNNY

During the weekend I sent to several people a forward showing the $6,000-a-day house the Obamas rent during their vacations in Hawaii. One of those recipients replied with this:

Thanks, Lindsley. I have to save all my aluminum can recycling money all year to get a room at Motel 6 for the yearly IWL conference! I hike the highways in my county all summer and pick up cans whenever I can find them. Good exercise though! ♥♥♥

SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOUR HEART

Your doctor isn’t going to tell you what I’m going to tell you, but in the medical field several doctors, perhaps thousands of doctors, know about this health remedy. Some aren’t telling, for they have been trained not to believe in natural treatments, even those that have been around for a long time. A few months ago, I gave this information to a friend here where I live, when he was having some heart trouble, but he opted not to try it, but to trust his doctor’s treatment. His memorial service is tomorrow.

I first learned of this treatment when my husband had been told about it, I don’t know by whom. He had taken this simple food for nine years when he died of complications of surgery. His heart was steady till the last moment.

I know for a fact that this health food brought me out of a heart attack at 2:50 one morning when I was alone. I called 911, nevertheless, and the doctor in the emergency room belittled my story, for he had never been taught natural healing. How arrogant! Both my primary doctor and my cardiologist listened and did not laugh at me. They believed the story and I think they would try the method in a minute, if they had heart trouble.

Once at a health food store I saw a man buying this item in a large quantity, and he said to me, “You take this every day and you’ll never have a heart attack.” I already knew about the food, but I will not go as far as to guarantee what he said for everyone. But I was there to buy the same thing. This miracle food, as you might have guessed by now, is cayenne pepper. Not just in any ole form, but in a special way. One acquaintance I told about it said her husband decided to just add it to his food at meals. That is not the way you do it. In a little juice glass, place a measured level teaspoon of cayenne into the glass with a very small amount of water, about one inch deep, and stir well. Right after a meal drink this down quickly. You can have a bite of something to eat then, such as a cracker or the last spoonful of your breakfast oatmeal.

There are two colors of cayenne: the paler red is the hotter one and the darker red is weaker. Yes, just the opposite from what they seem. With the paler red, you might get by with a tiny bit less in your glass, say, ¾ teaspoon.

I am not prescribing anything for anyone, but am relating what others have found to have helped them. ♥♥♥

CURRENT TREND IN CARTOONS FOR ADULTS

That was a cute baby who used to play with an i-phone in his crib and who hid a second one under a blanket from interfering adults. His English for the commercial was perfect. But cute babies grow up. We got instead older children with adult voices! They seemed abnormal. I used to turn up the volume to hear the cutie but with these commercials of the older children I turn off the volume completely. There’s one that shows an older child yet, perhaps a teen-ager with her hair in braids to look young, talking to some man at a desk about business. I don’t know what business, for that one really gets shut off instantly.

And now, we are getting cartoons of children selling us goods. How positively icky! What’s the deal? Are cartoons cheaper than paying a baby an honest wage? People are out of work. Let the cartoons go and hire another cute baby. ♥

THE LATEST ON POOR ME, POOR CHRISTIE, POOR KRAUTHAMMER, AND BRUNT’S HIT NOVEL

First, yesterday when I got down from the highest bookshelf the boxed set of the books mentioned in the blog just before this one to read their exact titles, I fell down softly under the load, knocking over one small table, but holding on to the heavy box till the last mini-half-second. I wasn’t hurt, but I couldn’t get up off the floor. The location was only about four feet from the cord to pull for help, but between it and me was too much furniture, along with other books, and such, that I could not get “from here to there.” So, I scooted a good distance to do so, around the wingback chair, an occasional chair, an electric cord to a lamp, a small table, more books on the floor, and around the swivel chair that didn’t even lend a hand. I pulled the cord and waited and waited and waited. Finally someone knocked, but she did not have a key to open the door! So, she left to get a key. Then she saw she could not get me up off the floor without help. (I was taller than she.) She called some number and a newly-hired maintenance man arrived. By this time it was 20 minutes after the first pull of the cord. Then, I had to assure them I was not injured before they were allowed to help me up, after which I walked around to prove I was not hurt. This was no fun.

As for Chris Christie and the bridge “scandal,” I feel it will be a long dragged-out investigation before it’s settled. The Democrats are probably laughing all the way to the pub. That’s to be expected. But who in the world declared CC was the Republican “front runner?” No one asked me. I can think of a few GOP big-names in the Congress that I would vote for, rather than CC.

As for my Krauthammer blogs, it seems everyone has now read them, as he is no longer climbing in my blog charts. He got to second place but Hitchcock still is Number 1 with his two movies on the same plot.

If you are a fan of Megyn Kelly and her Kelly File, you may be interested in knowing her husband, Douglas Brunt, is a writer, author of the best-selling novel GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN. Megyn has called it “awesome.” I don’t know if it’s on my reading list or not. I may need to know more about it before I choose. ♥

KEEPING UP

One could spend the entire day keeping up with the news, one way or another. As Jefferson once wrote, it would be better not to read newspapers. He would probably repeat that advice today and include many other publications, perhaps most that bask in the sunlight of popularity. However, in his time, the newspaper was almost the exclusive source for the average person to learn what was going on.

But there was something else to read, a highly important newpaper source, that must have enlightened enough of the public to desire what America became. This highest recommendation of Jefferson’s for the reading of his day is probably the highest he would suggest for today’s readers. It’s called ThE FEDERALIST PAPERS, essays by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

This volume belongs in a set with five other classics America needs to pay more attention to. He who wants to learn what America is all about should study the rest of them along with the above mentioned TFP. These are REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE by Edmund Burke; two volumes of THE WEALTH OF NATIONS by Adam Smith; and two volumes of DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA by Alexis de Tocqueville.

It is quite likely every winning and losing candidate for president of this country in 2016 will have a passing acquaintance with all these authors, but what we need is a candidate who believes in them and will work to lead America back to these basic American beliefs. And if the reading public is knowledgeable of the contents of these volumes, they will know what questions to ask candidates.♥♥♥

A BIT MORE TO ADD TO THE ABOVE

When the named countries faced their adversaries as stated above, who came to their rescue? Among a few others, the United States did. I ask you, with this quiet uprising going on in many countries at the moment, who will there be to rescue us? No one! We must do it ourselves and start now, as the German says above. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

FROM AN E-MAIL THAT CAME THIS MORNING

A German's View on Islam:

This is very interesting in light of the identification of two young Muslims as the perpetrators of the latest Boston Massacre.

A German's View on Islam - it's well worth reading.
This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. The author's references to past history are accurate and clear. It's not a lengthy read, it's easy to understand, and it's well worth the read. The author of this email is Dr.Emanuel Tanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist.

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When he was asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.
Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet. And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

Now Islamic prayers have been introduced into Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, and, yes, in Ottawa too while the Lord's Prayer was removed (due to being so offensive?) The Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being in our country until the fanatics move in.

In Australia, and indeed in many countries around the world, many of the most commonly consumed food items have the halal emblem on them. Just look at the back of some of the most popular chocolate bars, and at other food items in your local supermarket. Food on aircraft have the halal emblem, just to appease the privileged minority who are now rapidly expanding within the nation’s shores.

In the U.K, the Muslim communities refuse to integrate and there are now dozens of “no-go” zones within major cities across the country that the police force dare not intrude upon. Sharia law prevails there, because the Muslim community in those areas refuse to acknowledge British law.

As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts - the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world-wide, read this and think about it, and they also continue to send it on - before it's too late.

And we are silenced!!! Think about your children and grandchildren saying of us: if only they (us) had done something!

THE SHORT STORY IN PROGRESS

Yesterday the current story got a revision (hours). Today it got another one (hours). Now the manuscript gets to rest for a few days. For the first time ever while working on one of these short writings, I tallied up the uses of the senses and was amazed that the story was replete with such description. Many times beginning writers have to intersperse these in the revisions. But they should come naturally and not “have to be” added later. This was the work of the bolt out of the blue. Call it inspiration, if you like; I prefer a name less mundane.

Before today’s revision, the tally shows 13 references to sound; 6 to taste; 5 to smell; 8 to sight; and really surprising 15 to touch. In addition, 14 references to colors, not that many different colors, but some repeated ones. This story at the moment is only 3,300 words. (Expected to be shorter when finished.) These many uses of the senses in so short a paper (and in a longer one) are a good thing. They help the reader see what the author sees, tastes, touches, etc. This tallying will likely change as the work continues.

I must admit the subject matter made this favoring chance possible. And I will not reveal that subject at this time. Talk about a writer’s current work is usually a fatality on the road to publication. A writer should keep it to himself until the manuscript is in the hands of a critic or an editor. ♥♥♥

CHRISTIE'S IDEA OF TRUTH?

During this morning’s press conference, I felt sorry for Chris Christie for several reasons. I still have not heard the story that has been termed a scandal, but his appearance today convinces me I do not want him as my president. Listen to these reasons:

He is first and foremost a politician. What we need in the White House at this tragic time in our country’s history is a STATESMAN, not a politician. Christie said several times, “the truth as I see it.” Truth is steadfast, not subject to change. It’s opinions that change, and the country has had enough of opinions for a while. How tiresome it would be to hear “the truth as I see it” every time something went wrong during the man’s presidency.

The man talks about himself too much. While he was supposedly the subject of a press conference about some “scandal,” he was also campaigning for office. That is bad taste. Can you imagine George Herbert Walker Bush doing that? Or even George W?

We need a dignified president who doesn’t talk too much about himself, steeped in the classics, wherein great truths lie.

But, of course, a statesman never calls himself a statesman. That’s for others to do. ♥♥♥

IN POLITICS ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

All day as I was out taking care of other duties, I wanted to be at my computer writing a couple of blogs. First, one about the president. Earlier mention of his dependence on teleprompters and not showing emotion as he spoke must have got his attention. Since then, he’s been smiling in numerous poses, and did a better job today with the teleprompters. He seemed to be trying to take in us in the middle for a change. Good!

I have not mentioned anything about the vice president, but
I think now might be a good time for that. Surely, the man made his special kind of goofs while he was in the Senate. Do you suppose he was picked for the veep because of the goofs, to take heat off the president, while the nation laughed? I think that’s possible. ♥

A PREDICTION

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s new book DUTY will soon replace Krauthammer’s position as #1 on the nonfiction best-seller list. Krauthammer’s been there about ten weeks, I think, and that is super wonderful. Everyone should have read his book by now and be ready for the next great one. ♥♥♥

MY FICTION STORY AND WHAT IS REAL

Boise has another look for a Christmas card this morning. Fresh, I suppose, for the roads on our compound are not yet cleared. At least I can stay indoors today, but tomorrow I must go out again. Before I saw the snow, I had decided to have lunch in my apartment for a terrific reason. The short story in progress is nearing the finish line because a whole wallop of bolts from the blue struck. You may remember my saying if I don’t cry at some point in the writing, I feel a story is not interesting enough for others to read. This one is really touching—this author believes—and I have cried at my make-belief plotting. I may record it and have a reading group here listen to it and critique it for me, before I send it out to an editor. That is, of course, without their learning the name of the author. It is highly dramatic when read properly and this is the only way to get that across: I myself must ♥ emote.

This fiction story has kept me not exactly keeping up with the news, but it sounds terribly disturbing and distressing. I knew at the time this president was wrong in his eagerness to bring our troops out of Middle East. He was truly ignorant of war and how it works, and how to plant democracy in such a place. It takes time. He is totally unsuitable to hold the highest office in the world. What a mess he is making of it! And he called himself the “fourth greatest president,” remember?

A new book is about to come out that evidently will showcase this president’s mistakes, written by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates accusing the president of evincing too little enthusiasm for the U.S. war mission in Afghanistan and sharply criticizing the vice president’s foreign policy instincts. With the White House already bristling about this memoir, the reading should be a must for every loyal American. ♥

WEATHER, WINTER GAMES, PUTIN, PAPERS, AND “IT’S”

Today the sun is bright on what’s left of our old snow. But I feel dreadfully sorry for those suffering from extreme cold in the northeastern part of our country. I read yesterday 71 had died from it and there will surely be more. It is probably colder than usual here, but I am blessed to be in this comfortable building and not have to go out in the cold. When I went out Thursday, I wore neither gloves nor head covering.

One particular place being watched with regard to the weather and especially to terrorists is the geographic area around Sochi, Russia. I hope the host country will be amply prepared to deter any criminal assaults against the Winter Games. In America, the events will most likely be watched with greater interest than usual, just because of the possible threat. Perhaps we may see just what Putin’s KGB can do in a good way.

I decided to get up this morning when I wanted to, which was after 9:00, and not go downstairs for lunch. There is so much to do here, papers to go through and the like. I will pick up my mail when I go down to supper. Sorting papers can take longer than many might think with their “Why not just pitch the lot?” I have discarded some and regretted it afterwards. So, I’m keeping some of the others, but just where will I put them for my family to know they should keep them—at least for a while? Ah, this apartment has a safe with nothing in it. There’s the place.

What sort of papers am I talking about? Well, love letters, for example, from former students. (And from my husband, if any of those are still around.) And those from other writers, or from hopeful aspirants of writing. I recall one that may be still found here somewhere, from a published writer. He was thanking me for the opportunity to meet with other writers every second Monday in my home for a period of five years. He said he admired me for I knew how to spell “it’s” and “its.” I had explained more than once that “it’s” always means “it is,” and “its” is always a possessive, like his or her, as in “its boots” (referring to a cat-in-boots). He couldn’t understand why he could not remember that. I knew why. He hadn’t learned it in elementary school and here he was past 80, trying to learn it! There are a lot of letters and notes in such a vein. No one may ever really know me till these are found and read. ♥

PROGRESS REPORT

Oh, my! The blog about MAN’S UNCONQUERABLE MIND is catching up! It’s only nine behind the one called KRAUTHAMMER, THE SMARTEST MAN ON TELEVISION! I have a feeling some real book-reading is going on. That’s the idea I wrote about them, to get you to read the books. ♥

OLD ADAGE EXPLAINS WHAT SHE SAID

Recently I heard only a bit of a television panel discussion concerning something that Sarah Palin had said. I do not know what she said, but the man on the panel seemed to be accusing Palin of having used an Old Testament reference to explain a New Testament “event.” He said the “event” or whatever it was had not happened in Old Testament time; therefore, what she was saying was invalid.

How ignorant can one really be? Doesn’t every child learn in Sunday School:

“The New is in the Old contained,
The Old is in the New explained.” ♥♥♥

WASHINGTON SQUARE

One Christmas many years ago, I gave a copy of Henry James’s novelette Washington Square to a couple who lived at an address on a Washington Square in a small town. After the holidays the wife told me they loved the book, that it was so much better than today’s output of fiction. How true that was! And I’m sure it is even more so today.

This week I asked a new waiter in our dining room if he were going to college, as so many of our waitstaff do. He stumbled around to answer he was, and when I asked what he was studying there, he seemed to be apologizing to say “Liberal Arts for right now.” I had only about half a minute to say, “That’s the best and the hardest,” before he got away. But in that brief conversation, I learned he has a lot to learn besides school work. He does not even know how gigantic a field Liberal Arts is. And I doubt, also what it covers. So far, he does not seem to be succeeding at waiting tables.

Yesterday at lunch, I was the first one to show at our table and I ordered the Mahi-Mahi selection. Lena was the second person to arrive and she ordered her usual half-serving and it was Mahi-Mahi. Edith was the last one to arrive (just the three of us at our table for lunch) and she ordered last and her choice was fried chicken. Soon this big guy who is going to study Liberal Arts brought in one dinner and set it down in front of Edith. (She was closest to him.) I could see it wasn’t fried chicken. But she ate it and told Lena it was fried chicken. Oh, well, she’s 98 and nearly blind. Lena and I kept Edith’s secret of what she was really eating. After about another fifteen minutes Lena and I got our Mahi-Mahis, brought to us under the supervision of one of the waitresses. That is, she was supervising the big guy bringing our meals. I had waited for my food for thirty minutes and I had an appointment at 1:00.

I made the appointment on time and another one at 2:00 and then Amy took me shopping. I got home at 5:30, just in time to make it to the dining room for supper before 6:00. I could hardly wait till after the meal was finished to get back to my apartment, put my feet up and rest. And of all things, I thought of the novelette Washington Square. If you have been stuffing your mind with the likes of the works of Janet Evanovich and others such, I recommend your reading Washington Square.

TWO CRUEL THINGS GOOD PARENTS SOMETIMES DO

One cruel thing good parents sometimes do to their little children is remove the child’s slip-on sweater or shirt in one pull. The child may be half-asleep when this happens, and hardly knows what’s happening to him. His hair is messed up, he may feel as if his eyelashes disappeared, and an elbow might have got caught and was yanked out. There is a kinder way for this maneuver: remove one sleeve at a time and slip the sweater gently over the head. An additional cuddle would be good too.

While the above may happen quickly and perhaps the child forgets it in sleep, the next one is worse.

You be the child in this one. You are almost three years old. You are going to an office building with your parents. The van is parked four blocks away. Each of your parents is holding on to one of your hands so that they can hurry and you won’t slow them down. Four blocks is a long time for you to be holding both of your little arms straight up in the air.

Try it sometimes. Four blocks without let-up, not a hint of bending your elbows. See how you like it. ♥