Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Two books I'm reading, finally
Monday, January 30, 2023
16 years of blogging
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Sunday Salon ~ what I'm reading now
- So You Want to Write: How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction and Memoir (2nd edition) ~ by Marge Piercy and Ira Wood, 2001, 2010, writing, 330 pages (info HERE).
- A History of the World in 100 Objects ~ by Neil MacGregor, 2010, history, 736 pages (info HERE).
- A Love Attempt ~ by Morhaf Al Achkar, 2021, self-help, 122 pages (info HERE).
- The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times ~ by Michelle Obama, 2022, self-help, 336 pages (info HERE).
"So, in the meantime . . . Find one thing you can actively complete . . . Maybe you spend an afternoon wallpapering your bathroom, or baking bread, or doing nail art, or making jewelry. It could be two hours spent meticulously producing your mom's fried chicken recipe, or ten hours building a miniature replica of Notre Dame Cathedral in your basement. Allow yourself the gift of absorption" (p. 38).So what absorbs YOU? Michelle Obama loves knitting (this photo is from page 32 of her book). I enjoy getting lost in writing (notice the book pictured above). I used to write book reviews for the Chattanooga Times newspaper, was published nationally in Baby Talk magazine in the 1960s, and now blog about books right here. I'm a reader and a writer, even back when I wrote for the school paper and edited two in-house publications.
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Coal Miner's Daughter ~ original 1976 version
- I'm a Honky Tonk Girl
- Don't Come Home A-Drinkin'
- One's on the Way
- Coal Miner's Daughter
Friday, January 27, 2023
Beginning ~ with a cane for balance
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Thinking about a lot of things
- Coexist = Islam \
- cOexist = peace \
- coExist = male and female \
- coeXist = Judaism What does each letter represent?
- coexIst = Bahai religion /
- coexiSt = Taoism/Confucianism /
- coexisT = Christianity /
- Inability to find the right word
- Use of made-up words
- Trouble understanding speech and written language
- Talking in short, one-word sentences
- Repetitive language
- Failure to realize writing and speaking errors
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Wednesday Workout
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Two waterfalls
- Taughannock Falls = 215 feet, the tallest single drop waterfall east of the Rockies.
- Fall Creek Falls = 256 feet, one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States.
Monday, January 23, 2023
Monday Musing
her·me·neu·tics/ËŒhÉ™rməˈno͞odiks / noun = theory of interpretation; the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of literary texts.
"Habermas is probably one of the most sophisticated philosophers of our time. ... He's been my favorite philosopher. As I write these words, I have three books on my desk: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, and Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action" (p. 104).
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Chinese New Year and a new book
"Help those in need always,and watch abundance as wellas generosity flow your way."
Saturday, January 21, 2023
Attempting to be a loving person
Morhaf Al Achkar, a practicing family physician at the University of Washington, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Since then, his research has focused on the experience of patients living with cancers. In this book (free for Kindle), he shares his understanding of love from the perspective of someone aware of his finitude. A Love Attempt is the third book in Dr. Al Achkar’s self-help series. I blogged about the first two HERE. Quoting from the book's introduction:
"I have thought about love so much it has become my obsession. I am convinced that defining love is a task so important that if I succeed at it, my life will have been worthwhile. Love has been my life’s ultimate answer … Because I have been loved, I wanted to train myself to love. I wanted to learn the how-to of loving so I could love more … I have the vantage point of someone who is aware that my end may be near … This book is an attempt to complete the first two projects … I'm writing this book as if it is the last thing I will do" (pp. 2-6).
The first chapter is about the author's concept of love, followed by three chapters on listening, acts of love, and becoming authentic with love. The author says, "I consider these three concepts essential to developing the competency for love" (p. 8).
Friday, January 20, 2023
Beginning ~ with a shocking dream
Beginning ~ with a call in the middle of the night
The call came in the dead of night, the way those calls nearly always do.Stella fumbled for the phone. ''lo?' she mumbled.'Is this Stella Distry?' a woman asked.Stella sat up, finally clearing sleep. She pushed her curls out of her face, heart pumping. 'Yes,' she said. 'Who's this? What's wrong?''It's about your grandmother, Gina Pontin. She's had an accident. I'm calling from Lincoln hospital. Now don't panic — it was just a tumble. She's broken her right arm, bruised a couple of ribs, and sprained her ankle. We can't send her home alone, but she's being very difficult. Abusive actually. You're down as her emergency contact number.'
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Thoughts collected for Thursday
"Coloring outside the lines" is an idiom that means not following the rules, thinking creatively. It invokes an image of a child who does not fill in the pictures in a coloring book in a conventional manner. I ran across it in a book I was reading, so I looked it up to share here.
- 1 million seconds is about 11 days.
- 1 billion seconds is about 31.5 years.
- 1 trillion seconds is over 31,709 years.