Musing about a book ~ and a word

Abide with Me ~ by Elizabeth Strout, 2006, literary fiction, 320 pages

In the late 1950s, in a small New England town, Reverend Tyler Caskey has suffered a terrible loss and finds it hard to be the person he once was.  He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, and to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake of the family’s tragedy.  Tyler’s usually patient and kind congregation now questions his leadership and propriety, and accusations are born out of anger and gossip.  Then, in Tyler’s darkest hour, a startling discovery will test the humanity of his parish — and his own will to endure the trials that sooner or later test us all.  (I had a hard time finding a picture online of the old paperback version in my hands, so thanks to whoever posted the one above.)

Musing

The book itself seems to be musing about the life of this preacher and his little daughter.  So let's define the word, at least in its verb form:

muse / myo͞oz / verb = to be absorbed in thought.  Example:  "He was musing on the problems he faced."  Similar words are:  ponder, consider, think about, mull over, reflect on, contemplate, meditate on, give some thought.

Books at the end of the year

When one YEAR ends, another one begins.  So are we ready to read, write, and blog about books?  This year has apparently been a slow reading year for me, apparently.  Maybe I just haven't finished the many books I have started.  So I decided that my New Year's resolution is to finish what I start.  Just do it!

As I look around at my stacks of books and my boxes of books in every room of my apartment, I think I see the problem.  I've gotta find a place to put all these books.  I have only one library book checked out of University City's library at the moment — a children's book which I've already read and will return in its delivery bag to the library.  Here's my review of it:

Yaks Yak: Animal Word Pairs ~ by Linda Sue Park, 2016, children's, 40 pages, 10/10

Yaks Yak presents animals acting out the verbs made from their names.  Illustrations show hogs hogging, slugs slugging, and other spirited creatures demonstrating homographs, words with different meanings that are spelled and pronounced the same.  A chart listing the words, their meanings, and their history is included at the end of the book. This book offers an introduction to wordplay.

Today Matters:  12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success ~ by John C. Maxwell, 2004, motivation, 336 pages

The author offers a dozen things to achieve success.  I wrote about this book on Friday HERE, if you want to know more about it.  (Okay, so this is another library book, but it's from the little library here where I live, and I checked it out just befrore writing about it on Friday.  That means I'm still a long way from the end right now.)

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

hosts The Sunday Salon.

Beginning ~ with a look back

Beginning

A few weeks ago I was going through a box of old books in the basement looking for something to read to my grandchildren, and I came across a book my wife, Margaret, and I used to read to my daughter, Elizabeth, when she was little.  It's called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  It's the story of a little boy whose day falls to pieces.

Today Matters:  12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success ~ by John C. Maxwell, 2004, motivation, 336 pages

Most of us look at our days in the wrong way:  We exaggerate yesterday.  We overestimate tomorrow.  We underestimate today.  The truth is that the most important day you will ever experience is today.  Today is the key to your success.  Maxwell offers 12 decisions and disciplines (he calls it his daily dozen) that can be learned and mastered by any person to achieve success.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

A book and some thoughts

I'm about to read this study about one of the most interesting books I've ever come across.  I've found this copy in an old box with my first hardcover copy.  It was published a hundred years after the book came out.

Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind ~ by Richard Maurice Bucke, 1900, consciousness, 121 pages

Bucke explores the concept of cosmic consciousness, which he defines as "a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man."  This is a scientific study of illuminated individuals.  Bucke provides three dozen very consistent examples of  "cosmic consciousness."  These enlightened figures, he says, are evolutionary jumps, the predecessor of a more advanced species.

Back in 2012, I shared stories about some rather clueless folks.  When I happened to run across them the other day, I decided to share some of those stories (and laughs) again.  My readers have probably changed since then, and they were funny to me when I re-read them, too.  Here's one of those stories for you to laugh a little with me:

Customer:  "I've been calling 700-1000 for two days and can't get through; can you help?"

Operator:  "Where did you get that number, sir?"

Customer:  "It's on the door of your business."

Operator:  "Sir, those are the hours that we are open."

When packages are delivered to our building, this is where they are left by delivery drivers, even those that should have been taken to someone's apartment door, like food deliveries.  So there's a jumble this time of year, when folks are sending Christmas gifts.  That rumpled white-plastic thing in the middle is my package.  It's simply some wafers I ordered, but notice the two big delivery containers below the counter!

Added later:  I told a friend that today is my grandmother's birthday, then I had to try to remember what year she was born.  Inez Geneva Underwood Reynolds (my mother's mother) was born December 22, 1880, and died about a week after my third birthday in 1943, when she was only 62 years old.  She's the second person from the left on the front row, standing next to my grandfather.  It was about 1928, and my mother (the tall girl on front row) was about 12 years old.  The six brothers and two sisters of the Reynolds family are lined up by age.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

hosts The Sunday Salon.

Today is the shortest day of the year for us

The winter solstice occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun.  This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere.  In the Northern Hemisphere, it happens every December and marks the shortest day of the year.  I'm in the half that's officially now winter.  It officially begins at 3:20 a.m. today, so that's when I've set this to post.

As I looked for illustrations, I also learned that Alaska experiences the shortest daylight hours in my country.  In Fairbanks, sunrise on Dec. 21 is 10:58 a.m. and sunset is 2:40 p.m., so they'll less than four hours of daylight today.

Beginning ~ with a diagnosis

Beginning

"Mia has leukemia."

What?

"It's important for her to start treatment immediately," the oncologist said.  "She'll need to be admitted to the hospital as soon as possible."

Human Kind: Changing the World One Small Act at a Time ~ by Brad Aronson, 2022, social action, 256 pages

When Brad Aronson's wife, Mia, was diagnosed with leukemia, they were overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness from family, friends, and even complete strangers.  Inspired by the many demonstrations of "humankindness" that supported their family through Mia's recovery, Brad began writing about the people who rescued his family from that dark time, often with the smallest of gestures.  But he didn't stop there.  Knowing that simple acts of kindness transform lives across the globe every day, he sought out these inspirational stories and shares the most heartwarming ones here.

You'll meet a mentor who changed a child's life with a single lesson in shoe tying, the six-year-old who launched a global kindness movement, and the band of seamstress grandmothers who mend clothes and hearts for homeless people.  There are dozens of ways you can make a difference in the lives of others through simple words and deeds.  Be amazed at how far a little kindness goes.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thoughts

Using the translator for the Chinese couple on my floor, I was able to make (and confirm) a lunch date with the Chinese neighbor who offered me muffins (story HERE).  I'm already in the Cafe early as I type this.  I guess she and I will buy lunch and then smile at each other while we eat.  I've already decided to get their avocado panini, which has avocado, munster cheese, onions, and tomato on freshly baked ciabatta bread.  Today is sunny (but barely above freezing) here in St. Louis, so I'm glad we are not going OUT to eat.  I took this photo yesterday, when every single table had somebody sitting there.

I brought my laptop today and have just read today's email.  Jodi Picoult, my favorite author, said in her regular mailing:  "Wishing you all health, happiness, and excellent books in the coming year!"  Wait!  We haven't even gotten through the Christmas stuff yet.

After lunch:  When my neighbor arrived, we both went to the counter to order.  She pointed to me to go first, so I ordered the avocado panini.  When asked, she indicated she'd have whatever I had ordered.  I paid, and she moved forward to pay for hers and was told I'd paid for both orders already.  We found a table and sat down to eat.  Not a lot of conversation.  We both ate about half of our meals and had rewrapped half to take home, so I take home.  We ended up getting desserts, indicating she would have the same muffin I'd chosen.  She insisted on paying for THAT, at least.  We did it!  I'm pretty sure she no longer has hurt feelings!

I'm sure I hurt her feelings

I was in the Café waiting for a friend to arrive.  I had invited her to meet me there so I could treat her to lunch for her birthday.  I live in a community of elderly folks who speak three different languages:  English, Chinese, and Russian.  That doesn't count a few who know more than just their own native language.

Before my friend arrived, a Chinese-speaking neighbor came to my table with two muffins and offered them to me, apparently wanting me to choose one.  I wasn't ready to eat dessert first and didn't take one, shaking my head "no" and hoping she'd understand.  She pointed to me and the dessert again and smiled.  My friend still hadn't arrived, so "no" was still the answer.

When the birthday person arrived, we went to the counter to order.  I let her decide where we would sit, which table and which part of the Café.  As we sat down, I noticed in my peripheral vision that the Chinese neighbor was looking our way.  She looked very disappointed, and now I don't know what to do.  I'm sure I hurt her feelings, but how do I tell her and apologize?

I did look up how to say "thank you" in Chinese and found it HERE.  It sounds like "shay-shay" to me.

Word of the Day

/pe·riph·er·al vi·sion / adjective + noun = something that is seen on the side when the eye when looking straight ahead.  Peripheral vision is seeing something the person is not looking directly at.

Two books that just arrived

A Clowder of Cats: A Joy Forest Mystery ~ by Blythe Ayne, 2022, cozy animal mystery, 208 pages

Dr. Joy Forest's Sri Lanka research is disrupted when a beautiful woman with violet eyes breaches the security of her home by paranormal means and insists Joy look for her missing cat.  Although Joy agrees to, she does so for the sake of the cat, more than for the strange woman.

As Joy searches for the missing Booji, she finds several other cats, unearthing the mysteries of the people they belong to along the way.  It's an intriguing journey of mystical places and unusual creatures, with a dash of romance.

The story takes place in the Cascade foothills of Washington state, in the near-future world of 2032, a world of eccentric small-town people and peculiar small town events.  You'll discover that although the times are somewhat different, people are ever the same — lovable or loathsome, truthful or deceitful, generous or selfish, courageous or timid, loyal or treacherous, but always a mystery!

Curl up in your favorite cozy nook and escape into a delightful world of enigma and riddle.  Especially if you love cats and if you love mysteries.  And it is NOT a murder mystery!

5-Minute Core Exercises for Seniors: Daily Routines to Build Balance and Boost Confidence ~ by Cindy Brehse and Tami Brehse Dzenitis, 2021, exercise and fitness, 158 pages

Having a strong core can improve mobility, reduce aches and pains, prevent falls, and build everyday confidence. 5-Minute Core Exercises    for Seniors makes it easy to incorporate daily exercise for seniors, with a collection of 40 individual movements and 25 quick routines for strengthening the major core muscles.

This guide to exercise for seniors helps you:

• Get to know your core―Learn the muscle groups that make up your core, the benefits of keeping them strong, the importance of breathing and stretching, and the latest science behind exercise for seniors.
• Enjoy a wide variety of exercises―Discover a range of seated, standing, on-the-mat, and weighted exercises that mimic everyday movement and don't require any special equipment.
• Follow step-by-step instructions―Find how-tos and illustrations for engaging the right muscles and preventing injury, as well as tips to increase or decrease the intensity of each movement to meet your needs.

Coincidences for us to muse about

Coincidences

If you've been reading this blog, you know I love coincidences.  HERE are ten coincidences that I thought were fascinating.  If you've noticed a coincidence, please share it with us in a comment below.

Added later:  The date that "just happens" to be 3.14 is both the date Einstein was born in 1879 and the date that Stephen Hawking died in 2018, well over a century later.  I'm not sure the words in the illustration make that clear.

A gratitude journal and exercising

Hmm, this is only the fourth time this year I've posted anything about Action for Happiness, which I used to do every month.  But I've been reading each day's suggestions on my iPhone.  They don't match up with what shows up for that day on the monthly calendar.  There are several notices each day, and people make comments on each of them almost immediately.  Recently, they sent us this:

It's easy to take the good things in life for granted, but research suggests that the more we stop to appreciate what we have, the happier and healthier we are.

Within a minute or two, the very first person to comment said "keeping a daily gratitude journal has improved my life!"  So I told myself I should start keeping track of the things in life that I'm grateful for.  Is it enough to note it mentally, or should I write it in a notebook?  Do any of you keep a gratitude journal?

5-Minute Core Exercises for Seniors: Daily Routines to Build Balance and Boost Confidence ~ by Cindy Brehse and Tami Brehse Dzenitis, 2021, exercise and fitness, 158 pages

This book will help by strengthening your core and boosting your confidence.  Having a strong core can improve mobility, reduce aches and pains, prevent falls, and build everyday confidence.  This book has a collection of 40 individual movements and 25 quick routines for strengthening the major core muscles.

This guide to exercise helps seniors:

• Learn the muscle groups that make up your core, the benefits of keeping them strong, the importance of breathing and stretching, and the latest science behind exercise for seniors.
• Discover a range of seated, standing, on-the-mat, and weighted exercises that mimic everyday movement and don't require any special equipment.
• Find how-tos and illustrations for engaging the right muscles and preventing injury, as well as tips to increase or decrease the intensity of each movement to meet your needs.
• Improve strength, balance, and confidence with this detailed introduction to core exercise for seniors.

This book just arrived on Friday, so I'm learning (and remembering from past classes I've taken) these movements for old folks like me.  The pictures help me see how to stand, sit, and move my arms and legs.  So far, so good.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

hosts The Sunday Salon.

Do we live in a simulation?

Question:  Do we live in a simulation?  According to THIS ARTICLE, we do.  Okay, some of you are wondering what I'm talking about, so here's a definition:

sim·u·la·tion /ˌsimyəˈlāSH(ə)n  / noun =  (1) imitation of a situation or process.  Example:  "simulation of blood flowing through arteries and veins."  (2)  the action of pretending; deception.  Example:  "clever simulation that's good enough to trick you."  (3)  "the production of a computer model of something, especially for the purpose of study.  Example:  "The method was tested by computer simulation."

The opinion article that says we do was published on April 1, 2021, with the title "Confirmed!  We Live in a Simulation."  It was written by Fouad Khan.  Here's part of the article, quoted:

Ever since the philosopher Nick Bostrom proposed in the Philosophical Quarterly that the universe and everything in it might be a simulation, there has been intense public speculation and debate about the nature of reality. ... Recent papers have built on the original hypothesis to further refine the statistical bounds of the hypothesis, arguing that the chance that we live in a simulation may be 50–50. ...

The claims have been afforded some credence by repetition by luminaries no less esteemed than Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of Hayden Planetarium and America’s favorite science popularizer. Yet there have been skeptics. ... Why would a conscious, intelligent designer of realities waste so many resources into making our world more complex than it needs to be?

... To understand if we live in a simulation we need to start by looking at the fact that we already have computers running all kinds of simulations for lower level "intelligences" or algorithms. For easy visualization, we can imagie these intelligences as any nonperson characters in any video game that we play, but in essence any algorithm operating on any computing machine would qualify for our thought experiment. ...

Pretty much since the dawn of philosophy we have been asking the question:  Why do we need consciousness?  What purpose does it serve?  Well, the purpose is easy to extrapolate once we concede the simulation hypothesis.  Consciousness is an integrated (combining five senses) subjective interface between the self and the rest of the universe.  The only reasonable explanation for its existence is that it is there to be an "experience."

The simplest explanation for the existence of consciousness is that it is an experience being created, by our bodies, but not for us ... [It is] mostly likely for the benefit of someone experiencing our lives through us. ... All we can do is come to terms with the reality of the simulation and make of it what we can.  Here, on earth.  In this life.

 

Musing

My Monday was going along just fine yesterday, until I realized it was only Sunday.  So I decided to walk to the grocery store for four small items I needed.  I came home with four bags full of stuff.  As I walked, I thought (again) of how walking to the store always seems like I'm walking uphill in both directions.  Which I do, actually.  It's uphill part of the way and then downhill to the store, which means I then walk around the store and walk uphill partway home before going downhill the rest of the way.

Reading

As I was reading A Charm of Goldfinches (see HERE), I was surprised by a word on page 88:  "these phantasmic birds."  Oops, I thought, here's a typo.  I thought the author meant "phantastic" birds.  Then I realized that would be spelled "fantastic."  So I decided to look it up.  Well, I found out it actually IS a word.  So.........

Words of the Day

Phantasmic means something is unreal, illusory, or spectral.  For example, you might describe a creature from a nightmare as phantasmal.  Here are some synonyms for phantasmic:  illusive, apparent, chimeric, deceitful, delusive, dreamlike, fake, fallacious, and fanciful.  The word phantasm comes from the Greek verb phantazein, which means "to present to the mind."  Other words that come from the same root include fanciful and fantasy.

Fantasmic:  Notice the last couple of examples are "f" words:  fanciful and fantasy.  So I looked up "fantasmic" and discovered it has multiple definitions, including:

1. Adjective:  An archaic term that means fantastic or fanciful. 
2. Noun:  An obsolete term that means a fantasy or fancy. 
3. An unbelievably fortunate occurrence.  Example:  "I can't believe I didn't hit that car! That was fantasmic!"

How sociable do you feel these days?

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement ~ by David Brooks, 2011, psychology, xviii + 427 pages

This is the story of how success happens, told through the lives of one American couple, Harold and Erica — how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed.  It shows a new understanding of human nature.  The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind — not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done.  This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, personality traits, and social norms:  the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made.

Drawing on a wealth of research from numerous disciplines, Brooks takes Harold and Erica from infancy to school; from the years that have come to define young adulthood to the high walls of poverty; from the nature of attachment, love, and commitment, to the nature of effective leadership.  He reveals the deeply social aspect of our very minds and exposes the bias in modern culture that overemphasizes rationalism, individualism, and IQ.  Along the way, he demolishes conventional definitions of success while looking toward a culture based on trust and humility.

Word of the Day

so·cia·ble / ˈsōSHəb(ə)l / adjective = willing to talk and engage in activities with other people; friendly.  Example:  "Being a sociable person, I love going out to lunch with a friend or two."

Caturday on Sunday

Have you heard of cats sitting in circles?  Even better, have you actually seen a cat do this?  I was fascinated when I read about it, HERE.  What do you think?

I've found pictures of cat sleeping in a circles, which they do with or without the help of a container (like the cat on the left curled up in).  It shows us just how flexible cats actually are.  This is how Clawdia (and my other cats) would often sleep, though not all the time.

How would you reply to this question:

On Friday, I came up with a weird thought:  If I asked you to think of your childhood, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?  For me, it was my special tree.  I wrote about it in 2012, HERE.  I loved climbing the plum tree in our yard.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Beginning ~ with labels

Beginning

We do love to put labels on things, don't we?  Everything from the slightest variaties of tone in a color to the taste of a single flavor in a dish, right through to the tiniest variations in the beats of a song ― they all mark a difference and, no matter how small, every variation has a name.

A Charm of Goldfinches ~ by Matt Sewell, 2017, words, 144 pages

Whether you're an animal lover or a grammar geek, illustrator Matt Sewell has the perfect menagerie of beasts (and beast-related terms) for your reading pleasure.  Along with fifty-five color illustrations, Sewell presents the unexpected collective nouns used to describe groups of animals on land, in the air, and in the water.  Discover the secret behind a "sleuth of bears," keep your eyes open for a "watch of nightingales," and learn something new about a "school of whales."  Illustrated in inimitable watercolor, this book makes a great gift for nature and art lovers.

I will add to the description I found online that it is also a fun book for those of us who love words.  I like that the subtitle is "Quirky Collective Nouns of the Animal Kingdom."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

A different look at Dr. Seuss books

The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss ~ by James W. Kemp, 2004, stories, 90 pages

The stories of one of the world's most beloved children's authors are both imaginative and entertaining, but a closer look at Dr. Seuss's stories reveals that many are inspirational as well as instructive.  James Kemp has identified as his favorite theologian not Barth or Pannenberg, but the inimitable Dr. Seuss.  Kemp finds parallels between the actions of cats in hats, Grinches, Snitches, Sneetches, and other Creachas and lessons found in Scripture.  As the author shares his enthusiasm for the creativity and wisdom of Dr. Seuss, the meaning and the relevance of many Bible passages come to life.

A word for the wise (or otherwise)

Would you like to see a catastrophe?  I posted one yesterday, HERE.  Okay, so I was playing with words again.  Aren't I always, though?

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.