Spring has sprung

These blooming trees are beautiful all over our part of town.  I took this photo facing the Tallin building a few minutes ago, on my way back from leaving Clawdia to visit at Donna's.  We hope she'll get used to being there, so I can leave her when I go to Chattanooga next week.  I'll see her later today and tomorrow, so she'll know I haven't abandoned her.

Sunday Salon ~ Reading? Of course!

"I don’t plan on reading."  Wow!  That doesn't compute in my world, even before retirement.  I'm always reading something.  I don't read two novels at the same time, because my mind jumbles the characters together; but I always have one or two nonfiction books going, usually along with a novel.  I read in snatches of time between commitments, or even DURING commitments, like while waiting for a neighbor I've taken for a doctor's appointment.  I am often interrupted, but that simply means I go back and re-read a paragraph or two to re-focus when I find another chance to get back to my book.  I can't imagine a day without reading part of at least one book, usually more than one.  It probably helps that I gave away my television ten or fifteen years ago.  Maybe it was closer to twenty years.  I prefer to read and get my news on the computer and occasionally from listening to the radio.

That's my response to what another blogger wrote:

"I plan on reading for a few hours this afternoon as my wife, who works night shift, is sleeping.  Tomorrow, since I’m working for the middle part of the day, I don’t plan on reading."

When do I read?  Any time I'm awake and not busy with something like driving, or meditating, or chatting with a friend.  That means I usually have a book with me, just in case.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading. Other Sunday Salon musings are linked at the bottom of this Readerbuzz post.

Happy Birthday?

Did you hear what she said?

I told her you wouldn't like it!

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Mindy Cat

This I Believe

"This I Believe® is an exciting national project that invites you to write about the core beliefs that guide your daily life. ... In reviving This I Believe, Allison and Gediman say their goal is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, they hope to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own."

Yesterday, I bought a book.  That, in itself, is not noteworthy since I collect books from everywhere:  from the library, from bookstores, from friends, from sales tables, on my Kindle.  But it appears I have bought a book I already own.  I was with my friend Donna and said, "I've had this book in my hands before, but don't remember if I ever read it."  Yep, I searched my blog and found it twice.

What I remembered is the cover, and having perused parts of it last night, I'm pretty sure I haven't read the whole book.  But ... but ... but it was only $2.00 on sale.  It had been marked down the day before from $7.99, and the original price of this hardback was $23.00.  A bargain, right?  Since I haven't seen it in years, probably not since I bought it in 2010, I'm sure it's in one of my many boxes of books.  This first one is what I bought yesterday, but I've also had my hands on the second book.

This I Believe: Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women ~ edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, 2006

This I Believe (2006) is an inspirational book based on the NPR series of the same name. Studs Terkel wrote the Foreword, and the book was edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman. I mentioned this book three weeks ago, when I found This I Believe II (2008) at my library. ... This last book is mine and will definitely have to wait.

https://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2010/09/six-more-books-today.html

This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women ~ edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, 2008

I have requested a copy of This I Believe, which I have obviously not yet read. But seeing this at the library, I got it to read while waiting for the first collection of essays. These books are based on the NPR series of the same name. From the three or four essays I've already read this afternoon (yes, I had to force myself to put down two out of two books that quickly pulled me in), I can see that I'll really enjoy these short pieces by such varied people.

http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2010/09/latest-books-reading-ruminations.html

From the dust jacket of the first book:

Based on the NPR series of the same name, This I Believe features eighty Americans ― from the famous to the unknown ― completing the thought that the book's title begins.  Each piece compels readers to rethink not only how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring many renowned contributors ― including Isabel Allende, Colin Powell, Gloria Steinem, William F. Buckley Jr., Penn Jillette, Bill Gates, and John Updike ― the collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer; a part-time hospital clerk in Rehoboth, Massachusetts; a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, Texas; and a man who serves on Rhode Island's parole board.

The result is a stirring and provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of people whose beliefs ― and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them ― reveal the American spirit at its best.

Gratitude

Clawdia bird watching in 2015.

This morning, I noticed the tiny buds on the trees below my window and felt grateful that spring is finally arriving.  I think.  It's been that kind of year so far, with winter easing up for a day or two here and there before dumping us back into snow and storms.  Not always major, but kind of miserable.  So today, I've opened my windows, much to the delight of Clawdia, who jumped up on the windowsill to sniff the fresh air and watch birds flitting through the tree limbs and chirping to each other.

I was sitting near a window playing Solitaire on my laptop, waiting until time to take my friend Donna to a doctor's appointment in a few minutes, when a sharp breeze blew in and ruffled my hair.  My first thought was that I'm glad those were not REAL playing cards, which would have blown clear across the room.  Aha, another gratitude moment!

I've gotta go, Clawdia.  Donna will be waiting.

Book review policy ~ updated April 2019

Apparently only my friends read my book review policies, but I seem to be updating them every two or three years anyway.

Review policy ~ 2013

Book review policy ~ 2016

My policy is simple now:

Nope, not interested.

If you have looked at my blog, even a cursory glance at books I write about, you'd know I don't read thrillers or mysteries or horror or whatever bestseller "everyone" is reading.  I have enough books on my shelves right now to last the rest of my life.  I'll be 79 in a couple of weeks, so that is NOT an exaggeration.  Not only are my shelves full, I have boxes of books stacked in my bedroom and even more boxes of books in storage.  Ridiculous, I know.  But that's why getting another book "for free" doesn't interest me.

In 2016, my policy update began with these words, which have been ignored:

"I am not accepting requests for review..."

It's 2019 now.  Believe me, I really mean it.  I'm not reviewing books these days.

Seen around the Crown Center

Flowers in the lobby (4-1-19)

Sometimes the nearby Schnucks grocery store gives us flowers at the end of the month, so I assume that's why these were in the lobby.  I noticed flowers on the table at the entrance, in the office, in the Café, and in other random places that day.

Greek salad in the Café (3-26-19)

Early last week, I said I'd take a picture of this salad, and I did.  I just didn't get it posted as soon as I had intended.  This is the salad Ezra recommended:  "Olive the Greek Salad!   It's Feta than the rest!"

Head in the laundry room (4-5-19)

What?  Wait, a head?  I was walking past the laundry room on my way to Donna's apartment when I noticed this head sitting on a table.  Life is never boring at the Crown Center!  I have no idea why it's there or who put it there.  I'm guessing someone is "giving it" to anyone who wants it, since it is beside the recycle bin (on the left), and styrofoam cannot be recycled.  But who knows?

Jesus may not be who you think he is

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time ~ by Marcus J. Borg, 1994, theology, 9/10

"In Hebrew (as well as in Aramaic), the word usually translated as 'compassion' is the plural of a noun that in its singular form means 'womb.'  In the Hebrew Bible, compassion is both a feeling and a way of being that flows out of that feeling.  Sometimes it is very specifically linked to its association with womb:  a woman feels compassion for the child of her own womb; a man feels compassion for his brother, who comes from the same womb.  As a feeling, compassion is located in a certain part of the body ― namely, in the loins.  In women, as one would expect, this means in the womb; in men, in the bowels.  Thus we have that somewhat odd biblical expression 'his bowels were moved with compassion.'  But obviously it is the same part of the body" (p. 47).

Bonnie's note:  Compassion is a GUT feeling.

"For Jesus, compassion was more than a quality of God and an individual virtue: it was a social paradigm, the core value for life in community" (p. 49).

"Compassion, not holiness, is the dominant quality of God, and is therefore to be the ethos of the community that mirrors God" (p. 54).

"Jesus knew God as the compassionate one, not as the God of requirements and boundaries. The life to which he invited his hearers was the life in the Spirit that he himself had experienced. The narrow way, the road less traveled, is life centered in the Spirit of God" (p. 87).

"Importantly, for Paul 'life under the law' is not simply to be equated with 'life under the Torah.'  That is, the problem was not with the Torah as such, but with a way of being that sought to be 'okay' before God through the fulfillment of requirements, be they many or few.  Christians sometimes misunderstand this, thinking that the problem was that the Torah had the wrong requirements, and then substituting Christian requirements instead.  When this happens, 'life under the law' remains" (p. 105).

"The multiplicity of images for speaking of Jesus' relationship to God (as logos, Sophia, Son ― to name but a few) should make it clear that none of them is to be taken literally.  They are metaphorical.)" (p. 109).

"To illustrate the claim that all Christological language is metaphorical, I share a story that I owe to John Dominic Crossan.  Asked by an exasperated questioner, 'Do you believe Jesus was the Son of God or don't you?'  Crossan replied, 'Yes ― I believe he was the Son of God, and the Word of God, and the Lamb of God.'  The point of the reply is clear, even though it was not appreciated by the questioner (who said, 'You theologians!  You're all alike!').  Just as Jesus is not literally 'the Lamb of God' (he was not a sheep), and not literally the Word of God (what would that mean?), so also he is not literally 'the Son of God' (what would it mean for this to be literally true ― biological sonship?).  Rather, all involve the metaphorical use of images" (p. 118).

"The image of Jesus I have sketched ... His own self-understanding did not include thinking and speaking of himself as the Son of God whose historical intention or purpose was to die for the sins of the world, and his message was not about believing in him. Rather, he was a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion" (p. 119).

"For some, the need is liberation; for others, the need is homecoming; and for still others, the need is acceptance. But beneath their differences the stories all image the Christian life as a journey whose central quality is a deepening and transforming relationship with God" (p. 133).

These are quotes from this excellent book that I want to remember.   I rate this book 9 of 10, partly because I don't think it quite measures up to Borg's later book The Heart of Christianity (2003), which I gave a 10 of 10.  Still, these are ideas that I want to share, both with Christians who see a magical God image for Jesus and for non-Christians who want to lump me in with those who misunderstand metaphors.

Active April 2019

Click on calendar to enlarge it.

I found this month's calendar by searching for "calendar" on the Action for Happiness (AfH) web site.  Here are the first seven days of April.

April 1
~ Commit to doing something active every day this month.
April 2
~ Have an outdoor meeting, instead of sitting down inside.
April 3
~ Listen to your body and be grateful for what it can do.
April 4
~ Go up and down the stairs whenever possible today.
April 5
~ Enjoy moving to your favorite music.  Really go for it.
April 6
~ Go exploring around your local area and notice new things.
April 7
~ Get outside and plant a tree, flowers, or some seeds.

"Movement is a medicine for changing our physical,

emotional, and mental states." ~ Carol Welch

Ads on blogs? Not mine!

I just discovered that some bloggers had ads running on their blogs without their knowledge.  I don't think that's ever happened to me, but how would I know?  Have you ever seen any ads on this blog?  If so, I didn't put it there, didn't want it there, didn't know it was there.  I'm not blogging to make money, and I would not want ads placed on my blog without my knowledge.

Café favorites ~ staff recommendations

Scott was cleaning behind the counter when I snapped this photo showing the display of staff favorites on the easel last week.  Here's what they said, with pictures showing their choices:

Soup of the Day

Katie ~ "Perfect on a chilly day!  OR any day!"

Lox and Bagel Platter

Nikki ~ "Perfect lunch — healthy, delicious, and reasonably priced!"

Circle Salad

Randi ~ "I always add tuna."

Classic Greek Salad

Ezra ~ "Olive the Greek Salad!  It's Feta than the rest!"

Grilled Veggie Flatbread Pizza-for-One

Tonya ~ "Who doesn't love delicious pizza?"

Impossible Burger

Ron ~ "HI-TECH BURGER."

My favorite order?  I agree with Randi about the Circle Salad, and I too always order a scoop of tuna with it.  But my favorite wording is Ezra's pun:  "Olive the Greek Salad."  And I really like Feta cheese!  I think I'll order it, take a snapshot of it, and add it with his words to the bulletin board beside the elevator on my floor.  That will have to wait, though, because I've decided that today's a good day to run down to the Café for pizza!  Hmm, I'll have to ask Scott what he likes best.

Eat crow

Time for me to eat crow.  This idiom (a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words) basically means to be humiliated by having to admit my mistake.  I have to say I'm wrong sometimes.  I was wrong last week when I made a snide (derogatory or disrespectful) comment about someone.  I should have kept my mouth shut, since it turns out I was mistaken in my assessment.  This morning, or as soon as I run into the person I spoke to, I'll rectify what I said (make it right).

How are we doing on definitions, here?  Let's see:

1. idiom ~ a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual word (for example:  raining cats and dogs, see the light).
2. snide ~ derogatory or disrespectful in an indirect way.
3. rectify ~ make it right, remedy, repair, redress, ameliorate.

Huh!  I could have made this into at least three separate blog posts.  Oh, you're waiting for me to give you details?  Nope, doing that would mean I was still being disrespectful, because my assessment was wrong-headed.  All I intend to share in this public forum is my own wrongness.

Diddly-squats

Here are a few other exercises I also do regularly:

jumping to conclusions, skipping lunch, running

my mouth, pushing my luck, dodging responsibility,

stretching the truth, exercising discretion,

grasping at straws, and jogging my memory.

I was never good at social climbing, though.

The only white boy ~ book beginning

"I am the white boy at Martin Luther King Middle.  Well, one of two."

Green ~ by Sam Graham-Felsen, 2018, fiction (Massachusetts)

Sam Graham-Felsen’s debut novel is a wildly original take on race, privilege, and the struggle to rise in America.  Boston, 1992.  David Greenfeld is one of the few white kids at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School.  Everybody clowns him, girls ignore him, and his hippie parents won’t even buy him a pair of Nikes, let alone transfer him to a private school.  Unless he tests into the city’s best public high school  — which, if practice tests are any indication, isn’t likely — he’ll be friendless for the foreseeable future.

Nobody’s more surprised than Dave when Marlon Wellings sticks up for him in the school cafeteria.  Mar’s a loner from the public housing project on the corner of Dave’s own gentrifying block, and he confounds Dave’s assumptions about black culture:  He’s nerdy and neurotic, a Celtics obsessive whose favorite player is the gawky, white Larry Bird.  Before long, Mar’s coming over to Dave’s house every afternoon to watch vintage basketball tapes and plot their hustle to Harvard.  But as Dave welcomes his new best friend into his world, he realizes how little he knows about Mar’s.  Cracks gradually form in their relationship, and Dave starts to become aware of the breaks he's been given — and that Mar has not.

The New Yorker lists this as one of the books they loved in 2018, and I happened to find it in our little library at the Crown Center when I was re-shelving books today.  I've never seen it before, and neither has Donna.  Someone here must have shelved it as a donation, or the third person who shelves books found it shoved through the return slot and shelved it.  So I checked it out to read myself.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click link for more book beginnings.

Borrowed books ~ and two programs

Back When We Were Grownups ~ by Anne Tyler, 2001, fiction (Maryland)

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

That's the opening line of this novel, about a 53-year-old grandmother who wonders if she's an impostor in her own life.  Or is it indeed her own life?  Or someone else's?  I thought I had read this book, but it doesn't seem to ring any bells, now that I have it in hand.  You may wonder why I am contemplating a novel I thought I'd already read, so here's the story.

2019 Book Club Kick Off
On Thursday, we met here at the Crown Center with a woman from the University City Library Outreach program, who introduced this novel, told us a bit about the author, and distributed copies of the book along with questions from the publisher already printed out for us to consider.  This is the same great library that sends books every three weeks for home bound patrons living here at the Crown Center.  So we'll be discussing Anne Tyler's book on April 11th.  This is in addition to the two other, completely separate, book clubs already meeting here.

Ties That Bind: Stories of Love and Gratitude from the First Ten Years of StoryCorps ~ by Dave Isay, 2013, social history

StoryCorps founder Dave Isay draws from ten years of the revolutionary oral history project’s rich archives, collecting conversations that celebrate the power of the human bond and capture the moment at which individuals become family. Between blood relations, friends, coworkers, and neighbors, in the most trying circumstances and in the unlikeliest of places, enduring connections are formed and lives are forever changed.

I borrowed this book from my friend Donna after we were each invited to a meeting about a project similar to what StoryCorps does.  I'd never heard of it, but Donna had this book of stories she's letting me read.

Oral History Project
Last week, I got a letter from the office in the box beside my apartment door that began with these words:  "How would you like the opportunity to share your story with others?  University City has begun an oral history project and you have been invited to participate."  The U-City Library representatives explained the local project to us on Thursday.  Besides answering our questions, their handout had a two-page list of possible questions we could discuss.  Some examples:

• Great Questions:   How would you like to be remembered?
• For older community members:   What do you miss most about the way it used to be?
• For friends:   What makes us such good friends?
• For parents:  Do you remember any of the songs you used to sing to me?  Can you sing them now?
• For grandparents:  Who were your favorite relatives?
• Growing up:   How would you describe yourself as a child?
• School:   Are you still friends with anyone from that time in your life?
• Love and relationships:   What lessons have you learned from your relationships?
• Marriage:  How did you meet your husband/wife?
• Working:   What did you want to be when you grew up?
• Religion:   What role does religion play in your life?

TWOsday ~ two new books

Never Let Go ~ by Elizabeth Goddard, 2019, fiction

As a forensic genealogist, Willow Anderson is following in her late grandfather's footsteps in her quest for answers about a baby abducted from the hospital more than twenty years ago.  The case may be cold, but things are about to heat up when someone makes an attempt on her life to keep her from discovering the truth.  Ex-FBI agent — and Willow's ex-flame — Austin McKade readily offers his help to protect the woman he never should have let get away.  Together they'll follow where the clues lead them, even if it means Austin must face the past he's spent much of his life trying to forget.

Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival ~ by Velma Wallis, 1993, fiction

Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mothers to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine. Though these women have been known to complain more than contribute, they now must either survive on their own or die trying. In simple but vivid detail, Velma Wallis depicts a landscape and way of life that are at once merciless and starkly beautiful. In her old women, she has created two heroines of steely determination whose story of betrayal, friendship, community, and forgiveness "speaks straight to the heart with clarity, sweetness, and wisdom" (Ursula K. Le Guin).

I added these two books to my Kindle this evening, even though I haven't read 97 of the 265 books (total) now on my Kindle. So many books, so little time.

Free fruit for kids

Yesterday, I went into my nearby grocery store to pick up a few items and saw this wagon in the produce section.  Click to enlarge the photo, if you want to read it:

Schnucks FREE FRUIT for kids

In the wagon are mandarin oranges on the left, apples in the middle, and bananas on the right.  I had heard about stores doing this, but it's the first time I'd actually seen it.  I no longer have children shopping with me, since I'm a great-grandmother, but this warms my heart.  I want to show it to everyone and brag about the Schnucks grocery store near my home.  Maybe all of the stores in this chain are doing it, but I am showing you that Schnucks in Ladue Crossing is, for sure.  Thank you, Schnucks.

International Women's Day

For all my women friends

on International Women's Day,

March 8th, have a wonderful day!

Wear purple today!

The 2019 initiative is aimed at gender equality, a greater awareness of discrimination, and a celebration of women's achievements.  Read more about this day, including its history (since 1909), by clicking here.

Mindful March 2019

Click on calendar to enlarge it.

I found this month's calendar by searching for "calendar" on the Action for Happiness (AfH) web site.  Here are the first seven days of March.

March 1
~ Start today by appreciating that you're alive and have a body.
March 2
~ Get outside and notice five things that are beautiful.
March 3
~ Cultivate a feeling of loving-kindness towards others today.
March 4
~ Stay fully present while drinking your cup of tea or coffee.
March 5
~ Every hour simply take three calm breaths in and out.
March 6
~ Eat mindfully.  Appreciate the taste, texture, and smell of your food.
March 7
~ Listen to how you speak to yourself.  Try to use kind words.

"The best way to take care of the future is to take

care of the present moment." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

First Line Fridays ~ The Borrower

Welcome to First Line Fridays, a meme hosted by Hoarding Books.  Grab a book, and share the first line.

"I might be the villain of this story.  Even now, it's hard to tell."

The instructions for this meme I've just discovered says to share "the first line" of my book.  So which line is the FIRST line?  Is it the Prologue that I shared above?  Or would you say the REAL first line of a book comes in the first chapter?  Just in case I'm wrong, here's the first line from the first chapter, followed by a description of the book, shown on the right.

"Every Friday at 4:30, they gathered cross-legged on the brown shag rug, picked at its crust of mud and glitter and Elmer's glue, and leaned against the picture book shelves."

The Borrower ~ by Rebecca Makkai, 2011, fiction (Missouri)

Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home.  The precocious Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly anti-gay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob.

Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a knapsack of provisions and an escape plan.  Desperate to save him from Pastor Bob and the Drakes, Lucy allows herself to be hijacked by Ian.  The odd pair embarks on a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont, with ferrets and an inconvenient boyfriend thrown in their path.  Along the way, Lucy struggles to make peace with her Russian immigrant father and his fugitive past, and is forced to use his shady connections to escape discovery.

But is it just Ian who is running away?  Who is the man who seems to be on their tail?  And should Lucy be trying to save a boy from his own parents?

I'm hooked.   I just got this book from the library, and I'm ready to find up what Miss Lucy Hull and Ian Drake will do next.