SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO

Another gorgeous day at 9:00, breakfast time. We have a Residents' meeting today and are expecting some good news about living here. We heard some of this yesterday and I am excited. I must tell you about one item of interest. Our Executive Director has been looking around to purchase a new or newish affordable piano for our dining room. She was having a problem finding a good used baby grand. And then I received something special in the mail. 

A university in Nampa, which is my alma mater, sent me its annual notice of pianos for sale. It listed several famous makes. I had the office to place this letter in the E. D.'s mailbox and forgot about it. At yesterday's "Chat with Janine," she said that thanks to me, she was on the hunt for a piano again. She has an appointment in two days to see these pianos, some of which are baby grands. (As a side note, the university is going "all Steinway," for the future.)

Further excitement includes this place's getting rid of its guest suites and directing over-night guests to nearby Marriott Hotel at a reduced price. This allows us more suites here for people moving in. And they are coming in all the time. Some leave, of course, for various reasons, but growth is imminent. Soon, with all the changes taking place, this will be the most desired retirement facility in the Treasure Valley. 

STILL A BEAUTIFUL DAY EVEN AFTER 15 MINUTES

This is the same beautiful day, my door to the outside is still open, and at 2:30 I'm finally dressed for the day and have had lunch in my apartment. I must go walking and check my mailbox downstairs. That reminds me of something to tell you writers out there. Several months ago, last May I think, I mailed a short story to a popular magazine, WOMAN'S WORLD.  It was a romance, as they require, and I haven't heard from them since. When this happens, it means the story might be chosen for publication. The WW guidelines say not to e-mail them or call them about it, just send the story in again, giving the date of the first mailing! There has been no time for doing so, but I still hope to manage it. 

The other mag I sent a story to has the same problem. ALFRED HITCHCOCK MYSTERY MAGAZINE has kept my story for several months with no word. Its guidelines do accept e-mail inquiry, I recall, but I haven't had time for doing that. I have to skip meals downstairs to do anything about the writing world, and still I pay for the meal missed downstairs. This situation has become severe enough that I do not return business calls, and at certain times I try not to make a dash to answer the phone. There are four phones in my suite and apparently manned by foreigners, whom I cannot understand. Or they fly with their memorized speeches that I just tell them they are not speaking clearly. I hear their noise, but their enunciation is way off, for they do this all day long. There needs to be a course of training for telephone callers from a business. Well, when I become Empress . . . 

Now a letter to write to one of these business places for the telephone is out! I brought home a form to fill out about the saleswoman's service and then she promptly called  to ask how I liked the merchandise I had purchased from her! I was too busy to do either of these things. Now the letter, in which I shall point out AGAIN to her I don't have time for these things. Some people, perhaps most, never hear you when you tell them that. 

BEAUTY FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

What a beautiful spring day it is here! The door to my porch has been open for hours, well before my arising. I love the fresh air and perhaps a walk around the building is in order today.

I didn't see much of the Olympics for so many other topics in the news were more important. The uprising in Ukraine is over now, with the trial of that losing president now coming up. Korbachev, former premier of soviet Russia, says it's a real mess, but can be resolved. Remember him? He's the one that President Reagan told to "tear down this wall." Though many would-be dictators will take note, their "logical" conclusion will likely be that they could have succeeded better than Yanoukovych did, and grabs for such power will still be sought. History repeats itself and we should all learn from it that ultimately right wins over evil. Dictators in world history are famous by their horrible deaths.

Last night the producers of a new movie "Son of God" were featured in an hour's interview. Have you ever heard of any Hollywood movie-makers asking people to pray for the production at the beginning of work on it? Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, a married couple, told of such spiritual preparation. I'd like to encourage all my readers to see this film. I'll have to wait for the DVD for I don't go to theaters these days. I'm sure this program last night was more enjoyable and beneficial than the Olympic wind down.

GOOD AND BAD THINGS TO REPORT

I just checked and learned Parliament has ousted the president of Ukraine! I am eager to get back to reading all these stories. But first, i'd better go down to lunch. 

The News Police is now not planned mainly because of the outcry of the journalists who would be involved and others. However, history tells us it may happen piecemeal and not be realized till the victims get acclimated to it. That is, sneaked in.

Yesterday I learned that another citizens' revolt is going on in Venezuela. I count at least three countries who are each fighting for their freedom. 

HE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY

Why should the self-promoter-in-extreme, most popular host on cable television for what -- 15 years or is it 51? -- act so cocky? Does he not know we can see through him? For instance, he has on his show many persons who already work for his channel. But who are they? Well, the females are, it seems, the most beautiful bottle blondes on the staff. One of them was Miss America. Sure, they have to be smart. Several have law degrees, perhaps all of them do.  
But what about the men from the same staff whom he chooses for his show? Do you ever see darling Bret Baier on this cocky guy's show? Or handsome Brit Hume? Or gorgeous James Rosen? Seldom, if at all. I mean, there in person at the next seat at the table, like the women. (Of course, with his chair lower than the cocky guy's chair. Yes, I know the cocky guy's height.) The ones he usually picks are less handsome than he himself. Some are brilliant. But in this part of the country, however, one has the reputation of being a wife-beater, his first wife. I don't know if that is true, but it came from a reliable source. I did not like to see this man join this channel, from another channel perhaps. The one really good male choice he made was to use Charles Krauthammer once a week, a man both handsome and brilliant. But he could not ignore Krauthammer, could he now? Perhaps some of his fame might rub off onto the cocky guy. Then when this cocky man takes a day off, and has a male substitute for his show, he is likely less handsome than the cocky one. The usual female sub is great and also beautiful. 

What a psychological study!  This cocky man has many traits to admire. He is a huge success. So, why does he have to be this way? It belittles him.

INSOMNIA, QUITE A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Questionable to-be weather here this morning. It looks pleasant outside but the sun has not shown its face. I'll wait 15 minutes for that. I read till 12:05 this morning and slept till 8:30. Great for me. I have always been an insomniac. As I look back over 30 years of teaching high school English, I wonder how I got by repeatedly on nights of 2 or 3 hours of sleep. I'm in Edison's Club. Rarely did I sleep in on Saturday. 

I developed my insomnia before school age by going to bed and thinking up stories in the dark. I created in my mind a whole family of people to follow in episodes. I met these interesting people after my high school days. Last night, I got to sleep by seeing what they were now up to. The youngest daughter of three, is the main character currently, as she has been for at least the past 20 years or so (at the same age). She has met the love of her life, but hasn't married him yet. She has been busy getting her Ph.D. and then an LLD before age 22, writing best-sellers since age 13, rejecting numerous suitors, designing and making her own beautiful clothes that every other young female goes looking for in department stores! Not believable? Well, yes, but this is make-belief. She also sings beautifully, plays piano and violin, but gives them up for her writing. She speaks several languages. She writes literary mysteries. What else would you expect? And her sisters and her one brother are all beautiful and well educated as she is -- almost, but she's the only daughter with a law degree -- but they all have different interests. She also is on the adjunct faculty of the university her father is president of! One afternoon per week she teaches creative writing for two and a half hours with a break. Of course! Yes, she follows my own interests, not that I actually realized hers. 

Time to finish breakfast now, in time for lunch. Not much change in the weather in these fifteen minutes. Yesterday, when Amy and I took my black eye to the doctor, it was spitting rain and snow. I hardly paid attention to it. I wasn't driving. ***

TWO SITUATIONS TO WATCH DEVELOPING

First, it seems that the fighting in Ukraine has to do with Putin, president of Russia. On the opening night of the Olympics, he was quoted as saying that the demise of the Soviet Union was one of the worst happenings ever, or something to that affect. Now we hear he wants Ukraine back into the Russian net. One article about this calls Putin a "thuggish" leader. He earned that description of himself by heading the KGB, an Intelligence branch of the NKVD, if I have these initials right. It's not easy to remember data of the initial kind. 

 The other situation to watch is what is already called the News Police. Where? In the United States of America. The president has said a government inspector will "inspect" news agencies where they are. This is, of course, unconstitutional. The president says he taught the Constitution for ten years. So he knows just how to break it. Greta Van Susteren says she didn't believe she'd live to see this day. She's on the television channel that the president watches, we are told, for he thinks it's giving out the real facts. He cannot allow that. So, they are all up for inspection, but most viewers will likely feel he's after just one channel. 

I warned you of the current presidential Power Grab and advised you to do something about it. Actually, I think Congress may be working on this very grab of power, but it takes them forever to get it done. 

ABOUT WINNING

It's still a wonderful day here but at the moment, not quite as sunny as it was earlier. However, our weather here is noted for changing in another fifteen minutes. You just wait for it! I never keep up with our local forecasts but see the weather on the telly occasionally. I do try to keep up with the weather in other parts of the country, where I have family scattered about. More of my attention goes to those areas where people are fighting for their lives for freedom, such as in Ukraine currently. Perhaps the evening news will give more details.

My blog these days has quite a few readers in Russia, likely as not Americans there for the Games. Maybe they are looking for some publicity about themselves and their wins. Who knows? Keep reading. But for me, the more important wins are always those of subjugated people gaining their freedom. ***

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL MORNING

This morning I awoke to a bright sunny day, with birds seemingly learning to sing out my open window. Really, they sounded like babies. It was 9:20 and I'd gone to bed at 1:20 this morning. What a great sleep, especially after four consecutive nights of sleeping only 2, 3, or 4 hours. And what a joy to wake up surrounded by the new watermelon-red bed sheets. Now I'm having my hot chocolate and in no hurry to dine downstairs for lunch today. There is so much else to do here and going down just might spoil the morning's perfection. 

I was reading late last night. My friend Jack finished reading DUTY and brought it to me to read. I am not far into the over 600-page book yet, but I must tell you what a hit the author has already made with me by his sense of humor. It took a while just to look at the photographs with their comments. One said, "Just another dinner with fellow government workers, visitors, and spouses."  The line-up shows Gates, Prince Philip, Laura Bush, Queen Elizabeth, George W. Bush, and Becky Gates. 

Still in the reading process is the book THE GIRL WITH NO SHADOW. Over half-way through it, I'll stick with it. There are witches in it, more than two, I think. But I'm learning more about chocolate. I am sure this author knows all about chocolate. I must remember to buy some nutmeg for my chocolate, a change from cinnamon. Only the author uses 70% dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, and cooks it in a pot. I microwave mine! 

Two more things to tell you before I finish my breakfast. Last Saturday morning I awoke with a black eye, a bad one. I suppose I rubbed it in my sleep. Sunglasses help when I show my face and tomorrow evening I should look much better, for that afternoon, I'm getting permed. ***

A MOMENT NONPAREIL

Under the honey locust

a breeze whips at me.

It's my childhood again

when skies were like 

this blue today with such 

white clouds.

Nothing stirs. Nothing.

Not a motor of the city

sounds.

No bird calls.

A lack of trees reveals

vast heavens, lets me know

the world is mine.

All this, as far as

I can see, is mine

and no other knows. 

Not one soul.

             -Lindsley Rinard

COLOUR PAIN

Long after he is dead --
Evelyn Arthur  St. John Waugh --
I take down from the shelf
that book a library discarded,
When the Going Was Good,
flip through it for description,
find a river in South America
ruby-clear, wine-coloured
from the crimson timber.

I read that line once more:
ruby-clear, wine-coloured
from the crimson timber.
After a while I breathe again.
That's a beauty I ache to.
                          --Lindsley Rinard

HOW TO SPLIT A SHEET

One of the ways of saving money during the depression days of the 1930s was splitting down the middle a bed sheet that was wearing too thin in the middle. Then the two halves would be reversed and sewn together where the two selvedges would become a finished seam, pressed flat, of course. The now thinner material on the outer edges would be hemmed on a sewing machine and the sheet could last another year or two. 

But today you can't do that anymore, at least, not easily. Sheets don't have a selvedge; they have hems all the way around. I have never ripped out a new hem to see if a selvedge were hiding inside it, but I doubt that's the case. You see, we are not meant to save money that way. We are to buy more sheets. This sounds like an example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. I have found the same situation going on in other areas of our lives, but of course, they are not now coming to mind. You may know of some of them too. ***

 . . . ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY

If you are spending your time watching the Olympic Games, having friends over to play cards and feast, planning another day out shopping, going out to the next hit movie, or even just taking full-time care of your little children, you are probably not aware of the presidential power grab that is going on in this country. It is progressing amazingly fast. When I'd like to be writing, even a mere blog, or reading a good book, I must catch up on the news first. There is only one television channel where I can get that. That is Fox News. Tonight and recent other nights this power grab was the major theme, it seemed, though I didn't watch all the programs available on the subject.

When a guest, usually from the Senate or the House of Representatives spoke about this, some reminding us of how the Germans were tricked into such a power grab in the 1930-40s, I had to turn the telly off. Or I would have cried in heartache. The speakers seem to believe that it is up to us people, to make an outcry, till the halls of Congress ring with our pleadings for them to stop that despot. If you ever thought that the Holocaust could not ever be repeated, think again. The situation is ripe for that very thing. And next time, it may include Christians, not just the Jews.

I volunteered my life when I joined the WAVES in WWII, though I was not expected to take part in combat. I would do that again, if the action could help save my country. All I can do now at my age, is write a bit here and encourage the rest of you to write e-mail to members of Congress, tweet them too, use your face book, and if the president can use his pen and his phone to get action (as he said), you can do the same. But time is running out.

And if you are depending on other networks for your news coverage, please, please, switch to Fox News. (Not the same as Fox Channel.) ***

SOMETHING ABOUT SHAKESPEARE

Our clouds were both dark and white and especially billowy this morning, and we knew to expect another rainy day, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeping in, as Macbeth said, but for a different situation entirely. I just checked to see how many tomorrows he used, although I know the soliloquy from memory, and found something rather astonishing. There was the soliloquy as we knew it in school, but then there it was written in modern English too! A desecration, in my book. I remember learning many years ago, as a young teacher, Shakespeare must never be brought down to anyone's inadequacy, but the student must be brought up to Shakespeare's level. The original version is poetry. The modern version is prose. I will rub it in and say it is prosaic prose. To save time for those who aren't familiar with that word, I'll tell you one of the meanings of prosaic is dull. Poetry--real poetry--is never dull. ***

MORE ABOUT FIRST MEMORIES

This blog has talked more than once about children's first memories. But someone(s) got interested in knowing what happened with what a child learned before that first recalled memory.  Now we find that Emory University has made such a study. I  ran across this information from an AOL story yesterday and will not indulge your time with details except to say Emory found at age seven is a huge drop-off of early memory for some children they interviewed.

The interviews were carried out between child and parent and were recorded for the researchers. If this is especially appealing to you, you might dig it out from AOL, or simply ask for Emory University's Study on Children's Memories. ***

NEW HOME FOR LENO?

About 30 minutes ago I heard Leno may go to work for Fox News. What a boost for both of them! ***

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO AMERICA?

This area is currently having snow on a rather regular basis, usually when I'm asleep. But nothing weather-wise here compares with the tragic weather conditions that much of the country has suffered for weeks now. But it could be worse, according to reports.

Last night we heard from more than one expert who spoke about the "grids" that control electric power across the country. Apparently, work is needed to fortify whatever supports the grids. I don't know enough about things electrical, mechanical, or technological to be even discussing this matter. But maybe this info will be enough to spark someone's interest in the subject who can understand what's what. But the gist seems to be the whole country could be blacked-out unless something is done in the right direction soon.

Think about it: not only no lights, but no heat. Many would freeze to death in their homes. Some in power couldn't care less, regardless of their wordage. ***

I DO NOT LIKE THIS CHANGE

After my computer tech fixed a few things wrong with Pete, he left me with much chrome stuff that I find difficult to work with. I don't have a way to write my blogs in my private documents and copy and paste them. Now I must write my trial and error page on the blog's choice of location. I cannot find the SYMBOLS I often use in composing prose. Not even the heart to end the blogs with. There has to be a way. I just don't have time to play with a computer. Nor would I like to do so. I'm too busy for that game.

THE PRESIDENT'S SMIDGEN

The president's smidgen is currently the talk of intelligent folks. How could he say, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly, that the IRS targeting scandal had "not even a smidgen of corruption"? The jury is still out on that one, so to speak, with plenty of evidence of a contrary persuasion. His body language, at the time of denying the corruption, was like that of a child, secure that someone would make what he said right. Not quite a "Gotcha!" look, for his face showed he was not exactly sure of his own answer.