Carl Sagan ~ on books

Beginning ~ with a broken heart

The Death of Fidel Perez ~ by Elizabeth Huergo, 2013, fiction (Cuba)

Some fifty years after the 1953 Moncada Army Barracks Raid, at nearly seven o'clock on the morning of July 26th, and at just the moment when the sun's rays rose magically from the edges of the earth, Fidel Perez, who had already ingested a quart of Chispa de tren, the cheapest beer his younger brother Rafael had found on the black market, was nursing a badly broken heart.

This sounds only vaguely interesting to me, so I hope it gets better.  When I opened the book, I read the first two chapters, straight through.  I'm a bit frustrated, since chunks of the words are in Spanish, which I can't read.  I think I probably get the gist of it, but it mostly seems improbable so far.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's links (Mister Linky is broken).

Monday Mindfulness ~ watching

Sometimes it's the small things that make life interesting, like a cat watching a deer watching a dog.  With photo, of course.  Probably using the ubiquitous cell phone camera.  I have no particular reason to consider this "mindfulness," but it makes me smile and I feel good about these animals all keeping an eye on each other, even the human animal.  Would that our interactions could always be so peaceful.

Kiki's Caturday ~ cat on Hemingway's desk

I used to walk on Bonnie's desk, back when I first moved in with her.  Kinda like this cat on Hemingway's desk.  Bonnie doesn't have a nice clean desk like this, though.  She has papers on her desk.  I would cross the desk between the twin beds, occasionally taking time to nudge a pile of papers onto the floor.  That accomplished two things:

1.  It was fun to watch paper flutter to the ground.
2.  It always got Bonnie's attention, no matter how busy she was.
2-1/2.  It always got Bonnie's attention, even when she was asleep on one of those beds.

It did NOT always convince her to get up and feed me, so now I don't bother.  Besides, those papers are piled too high to walk on now.  If I tried, I'd slide off the desk and have to scramble to land on my feet.

I'd rather take a nap.

Kiki Cat, signing off

Footnote from Bonnie:  This is one of Kiki's book notes that I found under the green chair.  It may have been among her earliest musings, since that "desk between the beds" thing was back in 2001 when Carol thought I needed a cat.

Friday Five ~ prayer of silence (or not)

"The inspiration you seek is already within you.  Be silent and listen."

Jan @ RevGalBlogPals provides our questions for this week's Friday Five:

"At the beginning of this past week, I attended a conference on contemplative prayer entitled 'Turning to the Mystics' at the 2013 Summer Institute at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. The speakers were James Finley, author and former novice of Thomas Merton; Mirabai Starr, author, translator, and speaker; and Father Ronald Rolheiser, author and president of OST [the Oblate School of Theology].  We were encouraged to regularly sit in quiet to come to realize our union with the Divine, who continually loves us into being.  So for this Friday Five, let us share about our prayer practices, whether silent or not."

1.  How do you pray?

Once upon a time, I prayed like a child:  "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep" or "God is great, God is good, and we thank him for this food."  Now I am more likely to sit in mindfulness, trying to be aware of what's around me, sometimes thinking about a specific person or conundrum, sometimes not.

2.  How has your idea of prayer changed over time?

In my teens, I was MYF president (that was Methodist Youth Fellowship).  It was my responsibility to lead the closing ritual each week.  It was the 1950s, and my mother had a copy of the newly published Revised Standard Version of the Bible.  I was impressed by the revised wording.  Some grumbled when I changed the words of Numbers 6:24-26 that we had always said from "The Lord bless thee and keep thee" to "The Lord bless you and keep you," but it made sense to use regular words.  It felt like talking to God when we used normal words, rather than old-fashioned, holy-sounding words.  I like the wording (above) that I found last night, which changes "and give thee peace" to "and give you shalom."  Okay, so shalom is a foreign word (Hebrew), but it's a word most Christians have heard in church, and the word enlivens this blessing for me.  I have always been a word person, and shalom is a vivid word meaning hello, goodbye, and peace.  It's almost like saying, "Go in peace."

3.  Do you ever sit in silent prayer?  How does it go?

I first practiced long silences for group prayer in the 1980s when a couple of other pastors would meet weekly in my church office.  I was surprised that a half hour or even an hour could pass in stillness and quiet without seeming long at all.

4.  Do you have any difficulties and/or pleasures in prayer?

I used to have a poster, back in the 1970s, that said someething like "your whole life can be a prayer, if only you make it so."  Doesn't that sound cool?

5.  What is the best advice that helped you with prayer?

I have passed along what I learned about why we pray, so let me tell you a story.  A former parishioner recently left a comment about prayer on one of my other blogs:

"What I do not understand is those people who live their lives by God will end up praying for things that never happen."

I responded:  "I guess this isn't a problem for me because I don't see prayer as a transaction where, if I'm good enough, God will do whatever I request.  (Also, we parents don't do everything our children want us to do, right?)  I see prayer more as a meditation where I pay attention to what's going on around me, trying to discern the proper way for me to act, rather than telling God what to do for me."

Bonus:  Share something about prayer or an example of a prayer you like.

I like the symbolism of this pillow, resting one's head on the prayer between "Dear God" and "Amen" while sleeping.

Mirrors reflect who we are ~ so does the world

 I found this story of two dogs on Facebook.

"Both at separate times walk into the same room.  One comes out wagging his tail, while the other comes out growling.  A woman watching this goes into the room to see what could possibly make one dog so happy and the other so mad. To her surprise, she finds a room filled with mirrors.  The happy dog found a thousand happy dogs looking back at him, while the angry dog saw only angry dogs growling back at him.  What you see in the world around you is a reflection of who you are."

Kiki

Kiki was startled by the mirrored closet wall when we moved here, but she soon approached it, plopped on her side, extended her paw behind the open door, and looked at me as if to say, "See, I know there's no cat behind here."  After that, Kiki would occasionally stare at herself in the closet mirror from where she slept on my bed, but most of the time she ignored it.

Sammy

Sammy still fights the cat in her mirror.  She usually pauses to get up her courage before entering her room (she and Donna share the other bedroom in our apartment), then Sammy either marches past "that other cat" without looking or stops to hiss and growl at it.  Sometimes she stands on her hind legs to do battle.  She obviously can't stand that other cat.

"What you see in the world around you is a reflection of who you are."

The last sentence in the story adds a new thought.  Mirrors reflect who we are, but so does the world.  Now I must ask myself, what do I need to change to make my world a better place?

Monday Mindfulness ~ confession time

I finished reading my (first) book on getting rid of clutter.

Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back ~ by Brooks Palmer, 2009, self-help, 9/10

"Clutter-Busting Principles" are summarized in the final chapter.  I get it, I know what Palmer is saying, but can I actually use the advice?

• "Toss or give away gifts that you don't like" (p. 212).

One Christmas, I was given a pair of tall candlesticks that I'd never use.  If my cat investigated them and tipped one over, she could have burned down my house.  My sister-in-law saw them the next day and liked them, so I gave them to her.  I'd had them less than 24 hours.  Okay, I'll admit I've kept other unliked gifts, sometimes for years.

• "Most photos are clutter.  You were trying to preserve a moment that felt good to you in that moment.  But now it's over.  You are collecting ghosts.  Ghosts are dull impressions of the original event.  Do you want to live among ghosts, or do you want to live in the vibrant living world?  Only keep the photos that resonate with this moment" (p. 212).

Okay, I ask you, Can you throw away your snapshots?  Can you throw away your wedding album, even if you divorced the guy?

• "Avoid the habit of hiding things that you don't want to look at.  Even if something is buried at the bottom of a box, underneath other clutter, it still affects you.  Everything you own is attached to you in a subtle way.  It will drag you down" (p. 214)

I confess ~ piles of paper are the worst.  In a week, I can lose things in a neat stack of printed-out pages, waiting for me to do whatever it is I need to do with each piece of paper.  Paper is my nemesis.

• "Nothing should be under your bed" (p. 213).

There's nothing under my bed.  Hurray, I pass under-bed inspection.

• "Clutter is sticky.  Look for things that have piled up or been layered together.  Chances are you can toss it all" (p. 215).

I don't need all these books — and notice the paper mess covering my desk!

• "Put nothing in storage.  Storage is clutter alimony and a waste of money" (p. 214).

You mean I've been paying alimony?  Okay, this resonates with me.  I'm ready to "mindfully" dispose of the stuff in storage.  I'll pay myself that money each month and buy a thing new, if I need it later.  (And "if" will probably never happen.)  A bit of humor is needed.

This is NOT my house, though — another confession — the photo of desk and bookshelves above IS mine.

Sunday Salon ~ carpets and camels

FLYING CARPET

Sheila threw a big party for her blog readers, asking us to bring something and tell her how we arrived.  I got a new flying carpet just for her event, as she celebrated her four-year blogiversary.  Go take a look at the kangaroos from Australia, a dogsledge from Greenland, moose from Canada, private jets, another magic carpet, and a couple of dragons in her yard.  My carpet was rolled up in the corner until I needed it to fly home.  By the way, it was awesome that Rita came by camel — an early Book Buddies group discovered our books weren't getting to us on time because they were being delivered by slow camels.  Readers have great imaginations!

I'M A WINNER (twice, no thrice)

The next morning I woke late and dashed madly into my day, taking a friend to her physical therapy session barely on time.  When I finally got online in the afternoon, I was surprised to find my name at the top of the winners' list on Sheila's blog.  Here's what I wrote in the comments:

"I stayed so long at your party that I almost overslept this morning and have been running ever since. And now I get online and see my name at the top of the winners list. Thanks, Sheila! And it’s even the package that looks most interesting to me. A fun time was had by all, and I safely flew my magical flying carpet home late in the evening, smiling all the way."

And Sheila's reply:

"It was funny Bonnie — when I was working on the winners last night your number came up first… I am so glad you made it home safely — I was worried after the sangria drinking contest (which you also won by the way ) but I was revealed to see" [I'm pretty sure Sheila meant she was relieved to see] "the carpet had auto pilot."

Now you know:  Sheila claims it's possible to drink sangria at a cyber-party.  It's a first, brought to you by the drinking contest winner herself.

The next day (Tuesday), I got an email from Armchair BEA saying I was a winner among those who completed the survey.  So I won another book.

The Death of Fidel Perez by Elizabeth Huergo, 2013, fiction (Cuba)

On July 26, 2003, the 50th anniversary of the Moncada Army Barracks raid that sparked the Cuban revolution, something unexpected happens.  When Fidel Pérez and his brother accidentally tumble to their deaths from their Havana balcony, the neighbors' outcry, "Fidel has fallen!" is misinterpreted by those who hear it.  That wishful mistake quickly ripples outward on the running cries of the people, and it gloriously reawakens a suppressed city.  Three Habaneros in particular are affected by the news:  an elderly street visionary named Saturnina, the remorseful Professor Pedro Valle, and his impressionable firebrand of a student, Camilo.  All three are haunted by the past and now, once again, are made to confront a new future, perhaps another revolution.  Their stories — so real, distressing and insuppressible — are beautifully braided into new hope as they converge in the frantic crowd that gathers in La Plaza de la Revolución.

The Sunday Salon's Facebook page has links to other blogs.

Caturday ~ resume of a cat

This has been a busy week, and I didn't get any of Kiki's book notes transcribed.  I'm so sorry, and I apologize to all her fans.  I'll try to do better next week.  In the meantime, consider what a cat puts on her resume.  Can you think of any other things that could be on the list?

Book Beginnings ~ a look at archaeology

NIV Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk through Biblical History and Culture ~ by Zondervan, 2005

"The Holy Land, at times variously named Canaan, Israel, the Levant, or Palestine, has changed hands many times and has often been the center of conflict.  The archaeology of Palestine is complex, in that it reflects all eras of the region's long history."

These opening pages — a chart on one page, then five more pages of descriptions — give readers information about the various ages and historical periods.  I've changed B.C. and A.D. (Before Christ and Anno Domini, which means "in the year of our Lord") to the modern BCE and CE (Before the Common Era and Common Era):

Neolithic (8300-4500 BCE)
Chalcolithic (4500-3200 BCE)
Early Bronze Age (3200-2200 BCE)
Middle Bronze Age (2200-1550 BCE)
Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BCE)
Iron Age I (1200-1000 BCE)
Iron Age II (1000-586 BCE)
Babylonian/Exilic Period (586-539 BCE)
Persian Period (539-332 BCE)
Hellenistic Period (332-141 BCE)
Hasmonean Period (141-37 BCE)
Roman Period (37 BCE-133 CE)
Byzantine Period (324-638 CE)
Arab Period (638-1516 CE)
Crusader Period (1099-1291 CE)
Ottoman Period (1517-1917 CE)
British Mandate (1917-1948 CE)
Israel and Palestine (1948 CE-present)

Counting the maps at the back, this volume has a total of 2,352 pages.  It's thick, and it's very heavy.  No, I won't be reading this one straight through, since it's the whole Bible plus articles, footnotes, and frequent pages of photographs, charts, and archaeological information.  I'll use it for studying, just as the title suggests.  The book was a gift from a friend clearing off her cluttered shelves — thanks, Jane!

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.

Library Loot ~ June 12-18

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death ~ by Jean-Dominique Bauby, 1997, memoir (France), 9/10

In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of the French  Elle, the father of two young childen, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life.  By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem.  After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working:  only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired.

Almost miraculously, he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail:  dictating a word at a time, blinking to select each letter as the alphabet was recited to him slowly, over and over again.  In the same way, he was able eventually to compose this extraordinary book.

By turns wistful, mischievous, angry, and witty, Bauby bears witness to his determination to live as fully in his mind as he had been able to do in his body.  He explains the joy, and deep sadness, of seeing his children and of hearing his aged father's voice on the phone.  In magical sequences, he imagines traveling to other places and times and of lying next to the woman he loves.  Fed only intravenously, he imagines preparing and tasting the full flavor of delectable dishes.  Again and again he returns to an "inexhaustible reservoir of sensations," keeping in touch with himself and the life around him.

On 9 March 1997, three days after the book was published in France, Bauby died of pneumonia.  This book is a lasting testament to his life.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages us to share titles of books we’ve checked out of the library.  Add your link any time during the week, and see what others got this week.

Monday Mindfulness ~ a bird in the bush

For this Mindful Moment, pause to take in the world.  Look up from the screen to see what's going on around you.  Yes, right now.

Glancing out the window, I see a bird in the bush chattering away loudly to someone or something beyond my sight.  Loudly.  Maybe she wants me to fill the empty bird feeder in front of the window.  While I have been lost in the words I post on my blog, this little bird has been busy searching for something to eat.  (Notice that I've put myself in the bird's "shoes," so to speak.)  I am now aware of her existence and consider that she may be searching for food.

I could be mistaken in my guess, but what's wrong with experiencing a bit of the world from her perspective?

Sunday Salon ~ demolishing the past

CHURCH

This building being demolished was the first church I served after graduating from seminary.

Even this second photo of Forrest Avenue United Methodist Church seems barren to me.  When I was there from 1987 to 1991, green bushes grew along this street side of the building, and we regularly put something new on the sign.  The elderly people died, and the younger people mostly moved on as the neighborhood changed.  When the church closed, the homeless ministry moved a block or so away, first under the bridge (yes, ministry by the Rev. Barry Kidwell — not just the homeless people themselves) and later to First-Centenary UMC across the river.  One friend of a friend who commented on Facebook said, "The other day I looked as they were bulldozing part of it and the pulpit was still there.  They didn't even have the respect to remove it."  That's so sad.

YOGA

I started a yoga class this week with Katelyn of Plum Padma Yoga.  My new yoga mat shows the tree of life, as I move my stiff body to regain some of the flexibility I used to have.

BOOKS

I'm reading three (or four) books at once:
The Dalai Lama's Cat ~ by David Michie, 2012, fiction (India)
The South Beach Diet ~ by Arthur Agatston, 2003
Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back ~ by Brooks Palmer, 2009
The Cove ~ by Ron Rash, 2012, fiction (North Carolina)

The Sunday Salon's Facebook page has links to other blogs.

Kiki's book notes ~ what a find!

Regular readers may know that I've been clutter busting my home as I read through the book of the same name.  In rearranging my bedroom, I found something really exciting — at least to me.  Under the pale green chair where Kiki used to hide and sleep, I found a treasure trove of her book notes!  Some of you who are really old-timers know Kiki would usually post her opinions on Caturday (you know, that day that follows Friday).  For example, her favorite book was My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World by Gilles Bachelet, a 2006 children's picture book Kiki reviewed a couple of years ago (click the title, if you want to read her review).

That find got me to thinking.  Maybe Kiki stashed book notes in some of her other favorite places.  I looked under my bed (well, she'd say it was really OUR bed, since she usually slept with me every night), and I found another messy pile of papers.  More of Kiki's notes.  I'm beginning to think she was as bad as I am about accumulating clutter.

Kiki especially enjoyed hanging out at her end of the bedroom closet.  I folded a soft blanket and put it there for her, and she used it regularly.  Especially if she heard thunder and lightning.  Here's a photo of Kiki in the closet — rather dark, back in that corner, but I think you can see her well enough.  I snapped this picture on a day of thunder and rain.  She later used the photo herself when she wrote a Caturday post about snow, saying, "I didn't go outside like Simon's Cat.  It's warmer at the end of my closet.  Kiki Cat, signing off."

I found more of Kiki's book notes in the closet.  There may be other scraps of paper I haven't found yet, like in old shoes or pushed under something on the floor.  I'll keep looking.  In other parts of the house, I found more notes behind the sofa and behind books on a lower shelf.  Do you know what this means?  I may find even more of Kiki's notes as I move furniture around or look behind books on other low shelves.  She complained on this blog about not being able to reach the higher shelves.

I think I'll go read another book, if there's anything good on the lower shelves.  Maybe I should ask Bonnie for a recommendation, since she's tall enough to reach books on the higher shelves.

Kiki Cat, signing off

I'm excited about finding these notes, though Kiki's scritchy scribbles are a bit hard to decipher.  In other words, I'm not likely to try posting her thoughts more often than once a week.  On Caturdays, for instance.  It's nice to know that Kiki's book reviewing days are not over yet.  Why do you suppose these papers are coming to light now?   Today, June 8th, is the first anniversary of her unexpected death.  Rest in peace, dear kitty friend.

Beginning ~ with rejection

The truck's government tag always tipped them off before his Kansas accent could.  After a decade of working for the TVA, he'd learned the best reception to hope for was a brooding fatalism.  He had been cursed and spit at and refused a place to eat or sleep, his tires slashed and mirrors and windshields shattered.  Knives and guns had been drawn, pitchforks and axes wielded.

But it had been different here.  There was no one to evict and, once he explained where the lake would be, no more glares or sullen words.  You can't bury that cove deep enough for me, an older man named Parton said, and those sharing the store bench with him nodded in agreement.

I'm hooked.  Who is he, what's he doing here, and why are the people so angry?  And what's wrong with "the cove," anyway?

The Cove ~ by Ron Rash, 2012, fiction (North Carolina)

Deep in the rugged Appalachians of North Carolina lies the cove, a dark, forbidding place where spirits and fetches wander, and even the light fears to travel.  Or so the townsfolk of Mars Hill believe — just as they know that Laurel Shelton, the lonely young woman who lives within its shadows, is a witch.  Then it happens — a stranger appears, carrying nothing but a silver flute and a note explaining that his name is Walter and he is mute — and Laurel experiences true companionship and happiness for the first time.  But Walter harbors a secret that could destroy everything.  In a time of uncertainty, when fear and danger reign, Laurel and Walter will discover that love alone may not be enough to protect them.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.

Catching up ~ busy week

Caturday's post ~ Cool cat ~ was written early and scheduled, but somehow I failed to press "publish."  So it didn't show up on Saturday.  It was Monday before I noticed it and clicked "publish," but you may not have seen it.  Why?  Because it did (finally) get posted on Saturday, two days earlier.

Sunday's post ~ Sunday Salon ~ did not get posted on time because it wasn't finished.  I was at church a couple of hours that morning and taught my regular Sunday afternoon Disciple Bible study class.  I was tired, so my Sunday Salon didn't get posted at all.  Okay, I'll skip a week.

Monday's post ~ Monday Mindfulness ~ wasn't written on time because I drove my friend Donna to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville for a doctor's appointment.  We ended up staying overnight at a motel because she's still healing from knee replacement surgery and her leg stiffens up after sitting a long time.  That means she definitely did not need to drive another two-and-a-half hours home to Chattanooga.  Neither of us had taken a laptop, so Tuesday was traveling, then Wednesday arrived, followed by Thursday, and I have just today posted what I had intended for Monday.  (Did you follow all that?)

Tuesday's post ~ South Beach Diet ~ while we were driving home from Nashville, Donna read bits and pieces of this book to me.  Click the link to read what I plan to do.  This one, though showing Tuesday's date, was also posted today.

Wednesday's post ~ Workout ~ I need to exercise more, doctor's orders.  Walking and swimming (pool's open for the summer) are recommended, but the office sent out a notice that yoga will be offered every thursday at the clubhouse.  I signed up.

Thursday's post ~ Booking Through Thursday ~ was actually posted on Thursday!  Hurray, I'm about to be all caught up.  Imagine, posting about books on a book blog!

Thursday extra ~ Catching up (this post) ~ is my way of trying to catch up with (almost) all I wanted to publish in the last few days.  Does anyone else have weeks like this?  And it's still Thursday.

BTT (#37) ~ choosing books

Today's prompt from Booking Through Thursday:

"What makes you choose the books you read?  Genre?  Reviews?  Certain authors?  Covers?  Recommendations?"

By the covers, to some extent.  Look at these two book covers.

. . . The one on the left looks like literature, and the one on the right looks like chick lit.  Look closer, though, and you'll see that both are the same book.  I wouldn't look twice at the one on the right, but I might read the back cover or dust jacket information of the one on the left.

• Genre?  Yes, as above, I don't generally read breezy beach books.
• Reviews?  Sure, if a book blogger I trust recommends a book.
• Certain authors?  I notice a new book, if I liked her previous books.
• Covers?  Yup, see above.
• Recommendations?  Of course, especially from like-minded friends.

This topic makes me realize that I don't read like other book bloggers.  I read too many "kinds" of books.  Mostly, I read books on the subject of my professional life — books on theology, which makes me wonder why I have 73 followers.  Those books are obviously chosen by subject matter, as I go from one scholar to another, or from one theologian's book to her next book.  I'm a teacher, a writer, and sometimes a teacher of writing.  And that determines another kind of reading.  I also read fiction for fun.  For this Booking Through Thursday, I simply assumed Deb @ BTT was really asking, "How do you choose the novels you read?"  That's what you, my readers, are probably interested in, anyway.

Wednesday Workout ~ yoga

My doctor said, "Exercise."  Walking is good, and I can swim in the pool (now open for the summer).  But when the office sent out a notice that yoga will be offered at the clubhouse every Thursday, I signed up.  I took yoga classes when I was younger, so I know it can be adapted to what each person can accomplish.  I envision doing poses like the one in this photo, though realistically I don't know if I'll ever do it — because I broke my shoulder six months ago and may never be able to get my arm that perfectly straight up again.  Wish me luck — or better, wish me perseverance.  The more I do, the better off I'll be.

South Beach Diet ~ here goes!

The South Beach Diet ~ by Arthur Agatston, 2003

The South Beach Diet isn't complicated and doesn't require that you go hungry.  You'll enjoy normal size helpings of meat, fish, and poultry — and eat eggs, cheese, nuts, and vegetables.  Snacks are required.  You'll learn to avoid the bad carbs, like white flour, white sugar, and baked potatoes because this diet replaces "bad carbs" and "bad fats" with "good carbs" and "good fats."  Best of all, as you lose weight, you'll lose that stubborn belly fat first!

Is it possible to combine the South Beach Diet with the Mediterranean Diet?  I'm ready to find out.  My cardiologist and my regular doctor both recommend the Mediterranean way of eating, and a good friend has made major changes in her life with the South Beach Diet.  I'm reading Part One ("Understanding the South Beach Diet") about losing weight and gaining life, how eating makes you hungry, and how proper diet is essential for heart health — I've had a couple of heart attacks and quadruple bypass surgery.

If you've tried either of these diet plans, tell me about your experience.

Monday Mindfulness ~ lotus blossom

"When you forget your own scheming, happiness will come to you from your spiritual guide.  When you are forgetful of self, you are remembered by God; when you have become God's slave, then you are set free."

— Rumi