"Keep on keeping on," the author says

Affirmations of a Dissenter ~ by C. Joseph Sprague, 2002, theology, 112 pages

"I began to question the literal approach to scripture," Sprague says on page 9.  He affirms his trust in and commitment to unconditional love for all humankind, and dissents from some beliefs and positions long espoused by certain religious institutions, particularly United Methodism, his own denomination.  He deals with issues such as biblical authority, the humanity and divinity of Jesus, and homosexuality, stating what he affirms, where he dissents, and how he suggests change and progress in each case.  He calls people of God to seek to work in the spirit of Jesus, even when — especially when — doing so goes against the culture of the day.  He stresses internal spiritual nurture and external mission and justice-seeking outreach as vehicles for congregational renewal.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I mused about quotes from a book, HERE.
• I wrote about Jodi Picoult's newest book on TWOsday, HERE.
• Wonderful Wednesday's book HERE, was about a paperback book from National Geographic about cats, as I've just taken in another one.
• My Thursday Thoughts were about the nearby library sending their Book Bike to Crown Center, HERE.
• My Book Beginnings on Friday, HERE, was about a 646-page book.
• My new cat's post for Caturday, HERE, mentions using her claws on my sofa.

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Stephen Hawking's ideas fascinate me

On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking's Final Theory ~ by Thomas Hertog, 2023, cosmology, xxiv + 313 pages

Perhaps the biggest question Stephen Hawking tried to answer in his extraordinary life was how the universe could have created condi-tions so perfectly hospitable to life.  In order to solve this mystery, Hawking studied the big bang origin of the universe, but his early work ran into a crisis when the math predicted many big bangs pro-ducing a multiverse — countless different universes, most of which would be far too bizarre to ​harbor life.

Holed up in the theoretical physics department at Cambridge, Stephen Hawking and his friend and collaborator Thomas Hertog worked on this problem for twenty years, developing a new theory of the cosmos that could account for the emergence of life.  Peering into the extreme quantum physics of cosmic holograms and ven-turing far back in time to our deepest roots, they were startled to find a deeper level of evolution in which the physical laws them-selves transform and simplify until particles, forces, and even time itself fades away.  This discovery led them to a revolutionary idea:  The laws of physics are not set in stone but are born and co-evolve as the universe they govern takes shape.  As Hawking’s final days drew near, the two collaborators published their theory, which proposed a radical new Darwinian perspective on the origins of our universe.

On the Origin of Time offers a striking new vision of the universe’s birth that will profoundly transform the way we think about our place in the order of the cosmos and may ultimately prove to be Hawking’s greatest legacy.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I mused about a book recommended by an old friend, HERE.
• My Thursday Thoughts, HERE, were about Isabel Allende's memoir.
• Friday's Book Beginning was from Book #18 in the Maisie Dobbs Series, HERE.
• Caturday's post was about curiosity, HERE.

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September 6 is a day for book lovers

Hey, we have a National Day for bookies like me.  National Read a Book Day isn't news for those of you who've been reading this blog for a long time.  HERE is what I posted about it in 2019, for example, with a photo I took that shows some of my friends in the Crown Center's little library.

Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything ~ by Viktor E. Frankl, 2019, history of Judaism and existential psychology, 136 pages

Find hope even in these dark times with this rediscovered masterpiece, a companion to his international bestseller Man’s Search for Meaning.  Eleven months after he was liberated from the Nazi concentration camps, Viktor E. Frankl held a series of public lectures in Vienna.  The psychiatrist, who would soon become world famous, explained his central thoughts on meaning, resilience, and the importance of embracing life even in the face of great adversity.

Published here for the very first time in English, Frankl’s words resonate as strongly then — when the world was facing a coronavirus pandemic, social isolation, and great economic uncertainty — as they did in 1946. He offers an insightful exploration of the maxim “Live as if you were living for the second time,” and he unfolds his basic conviction that every crisis contains opportunity.  Despite the unspeakable horrors of the camps, Frankl learned from the strength of his fellow inmates that it is always pos-sible to “say yes to life” — a profound and timeless lesson for us all.

Week in Review

• My Wednesday Word was "never," HERE.
• Friday's book beginning, HERE, was from The Personal Librarian.
• On Saturday, my new cat resumed the Caturday posts, HERE.

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Look what my new cat did

Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice ~ by Michelle Obama, 2019, journal, 208 pages, 10/10

What's your journey of becoming?  This journal features an intimate and inspiring introduction by the former First Lady and thought-provoking questions and prompts to help you discover — and rediscover — your story.  “It’s not about being perfect.  It’s not about where you get yourself in the end.  There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.  And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others.  This, for me, is how we become,” Michelle Obama says.

Michelle Obama shared her own extraordinary journey in her memoir to help create space for others to tell their stories and to give people the courage to discover the power of their own voice.  With this journal, she now provides you with the encouragement to find value in your own journey of becoming.  It includes thought-provoking prompts designed to help you reflect on your personal and family history; your goals, challenges, and dreams; what moves you and brings you hope; and what future you imagine for yourself and your community.  She writes in the introduction:  "I hope you’ll use this journal to write down your experiences, thoughts, and feelings, in all their imperfections, and without judgment. ... We don’t have to remember everything.  But every-thing we remember has value."  As you journal, take heart in the experiences that brought you to where you are today, and also feel empowered to take those next steps, wherever they might lead.

What my new cat did

What my cat did astounded me.  I finished reading Barack Obama's book, that I wrote about HERE, and went to bed.  The next morning, I discovered she had shoved some books off my desk in the other room.  This was one of them.  Did she really "notice" I'd been reading about Barack Obama, and while I slept had gone into the other room and noticed the book by his wife?  Weird.  And no, I'm not making this up.  I guess she really IS going to follow in the footsteps of my other cats blogging about books, if she's that smart.  Otherwise, what an uncanny coincidence.

________________________________________________________________

Week in Review

• On Sunday, I posted one for Monday Musing, HERE, accidentally posting it too early.
• Sn on Monday, I mused again, HERE, this time about imagined experiences.
• My Wednesday Words quoted Barack Obama, HERE.
• Wednesday was also International Dog Day, so I posted again (with a dog), HERE.
• A book (and a couple of kittens) were featured on Thursday, HERE.
• Another cat was featured in my Caturday post, HERE, but this one moved in with me.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a place for us to link up and share what we have been reading and doing during the week.

A book for people who love words

Phraseology: Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections, and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions ~ by Barbara Ann Kipfer, 2008, etymology, 320 pages, 9/10

The front cover (above) has nine examples, which you may be able to read by clicking to enlarge the illustration.  Here are a few other examples from the book:

• alter ego is Latin for "other self" (p. 11)
• a captain's chair is one having a rounded back formed by a heavy rail resting upon (p. 30)
• the term flash flood only dates to 1940 (p. 109)
• flower children were hippies who typically wore flowers in their hair (p. 110)
• home page (1993) actually entered the language before website (1994) (p.139)
• kiss of life was a name used in the 1960s for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (p. 158)
• living will, a written request that, if the signatory suffers severe disablement or terminal illness, he or she should not be kept alive by artificial means, dates to 1969 (p. 168)
• news flash (1904) originally applied to telegraphic news dispatches (p. 192)
• a red herring is something introduced to distract from a more important or controversial issue (p. 230)
• you're welcome did not exist as a polite formlaic response to a than you until 1960
  
  
  Week in Review

  • On TWOsday, I wrote about two books, HERE.
  • My book beginning on Friday, HERE, 
  • It's been a slow week for posting on my blog, it seems.

  

  Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a place for us to link up and share what we have been reading and doing during the week.

Library Loot

Arrivals and Departures ~ by Amanda Eyre Ward, 2026, literary fiction, 288 pages

The Perkins family has problems.  They’re scattered across the globe.

• Lee, a glamorous reality-TV star, is struggling with her mental health in the spotlight.
• Reagan, her younger sister, has fallen for a romance scammer.
• Cord, their charming brother, is one drink away from losing it all.
• And their mother, Charlotte, still longs for the love she let slip away a decade ago, a lover who sailed off with her heart to a remote island in Greece.

When Reagan disappears, Lee flies first-class to Athens to save her family — again.  There, against the glittering Mediterranean and the shadow of the Acropolis, Lee contends with emotional nieces, relentless paparazzi, and her own fragile heart.  Lee is desperately searching — for her sister, and for the hope and joy she thought was gone forever.  Across continents and their crises, each member of the Perkins family must face the same question:  is it ever too late to choose love?  It’s the story of a family finding the courage to say the only words that can save us — I love you.

Week in Review

• On Monday, I wrote about two kinds of people, HERE.
• My subject on Wednesday was troublesome words, HERE.
• Friday's post, HERE, was about my new book about alien encounters.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a place for us to link up and share what we have been reading and doing during the week.

A book and a review of my blogging week

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life ~ by Arthur C. Brooks, 2022, aging, 272 pages

This #1 New York Times Bestseller is a roadmap for finding purpose, meaning, and success as we age.  This bestselling author is a Harvard professor and the Atlantic's happiness columnist.

Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that frequently accompanies aging.  But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs.  So what can we do, starting now, to make our older years a time of happiness, purpose, and success?

At the height of his career at the age of 50, Arthur Brooks embarked on a seven-year journey to discover how to transform his future from one of disappointment over waning abilities into an opportunity for progress.  This book is the result, a practical roadmap for the rest of your life.

By drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks shows us that true life success is well within our reach.  By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn (such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress), we can set ourselves up for increased happiness.  You, too, can go from strength to strength.

Week in Review

• On Monday, HERE, I mused about butt dialing (also called pocket dialing).
• "Negative Nellie" were the words I chose for Wednesday Words, HERE.
• Book Beginnings on Friday was from a book showing a black cat, HERE.
• Saturday's post, HERE, was full of cats to celebrate International Cat Day.  So it really WAS Caturday that day!

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts Sunday Salon, a place for us to link up and share what we have been reading and doing during the week.

National Friendship Day

Thursday's post was about International Friendship Day, HERE.

That's one day to celebrate our friends.  In the United States,

the first Sunday in August is National Friendship Day, so

let's enjoy all the possible days to celebrate friendships.

Dear Author: Students Write about the Books that Changed Their Lives ~ collected by Weekly Reader's Read Magazine, introduction by Lois Lowry, 1995, children's literature, xii + 188 pages, 5/5

A collection of letters from students to an assortment of authors both past and present about the impact of their work on the lives of their readers.  One person who commented on Amazon (after giving it a 5 of 5 rating) wrote:  "This book provides a brilliant reading list for young readers.  I highly recommend it and intend to pass on to my fourth grader."

Week in Review

• My subject for TWOsday was two rolls, HERE.
• Thursday was International Friendship Day, HERE.
• On Saturday, I shared the Action for Happiness calendar for August, HERE.

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Oh, no! I missed National Ice Cream Day!

"The third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day the United States.  It was established by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, who also declared the entire month of July as National Ice Cream Month."

Oh, good.  That means I can eat some ice cream right now, because we are still at the peak of summer heat (which was the whole point).  Yes, of course I have some ice cream in my freezer.  My favorite is Coyote Tracks from Schnucks, a grocery store near me.

Animal: Portraits of Eighty-Eight Animals & One Shy Enchanted Boy ~ by Tein Lucasson, 2022, animal photography, 192 pages, 8/10

What would an animal look like if it were a human?  The question is actually a contradiction in terms, and Tein Lucasson's answer is as humorous as it is creative.  With digital photo technology, he combines pet portraits with human poses, celebrating each animal's unique personality, while drawing on his passion for costume and art history.  Open up Animal and discover a raccoon sporting a sailor's suit, an aristocratic pig enthroned above a roulette table, and a giraffe grinning in its thick wool sweater.  (And if you don't speak English, each page has translations in English, German, and Italian.)

Week in Review

• On Tuesday, my post was about a book by Rachel Maddow, HERE.
• On Wednesday, I wrote about three homophones, HERE.
• My Book Beginning on Friday, HERE, was about a book by Alice Sebold.

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Having owned one, I'm rather partial to book stores

The Lost Bookshop ~ by Evie Woods, 2023, fiction (Ireland), 411 pages

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found.  For too long, Opaline, Martha, and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.  But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books.  And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder — where nothing is as it seems.

Week in Review

• My Twosday post was about TWO books by the same author, HERE.
• My words for Wednesday, HERE, were related to the book I was reading.
• I hope my Thursday Thoughts, HERE, made you think.
• My Book Beginning on Friday post was about a surrogate mother, HERE.
• On Saturday, I wrote about an unexpected love story, HERE.

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Another book by an excellent writer

Daughters of the Sun and Moon ~ by Lisa See, 2026, literary fiction, 384 pages

This New York Times bestseller by Lisa See is the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post–Civil War Los Angeles.  In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty, and violent pueblo of Los Angeles.

• Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and innocent. These characteristics should bring her great rewards, beginning with her arranged marriage to a much older merchant.
• Petal, the big-footed daughter of peasants, has grown up hungry and with dirt between her toes. In a moment of desperation, Petal’s father sells her to buy money for rice seed, and she is loaded onto a ship to the Gold Mountain — America — where she is once again sold.
• Moon is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She is educated, speaks fluent English, and has been endowed with a face of great beauty, yet her failed footbinding as a child has left her with a limp that lessens her value in the eyes of many.

Each woman has her own desires.  Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom, and Moon seeks justice.  Together they face a larger society that wishes them not one ounce of good will.  Anti-Chinese sentiment is strong in Los Angeles, and this eventually leads to the Night of Horrors during which all three women are challenged in ways they could not have imagined.  Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, they must use their bravery, endurance, and ability to “eat bitterness” to discover their voices, find freedom, and connect through solace and friendship.  Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.

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Another book donated to our Crown Center library

Stalker (Book 12 of 27) ~ by Faye Kellerman, 2000, suspense thriller, 406 pages

A first-year rookie with the LAPD's Hollywood Division, Cynthia Decker became a cop against her father's wishes.  But police work is in her blood, and she's determined to make it on her own, without Peter Decker's help.  Although her time in uniform has been brief, her instincts for danger are already razor sharp, like the electric tingle that is telling her something is very wrong . . . right now.

It begins with a nagging sense that she is being watched, that little things are being moved around in her apartment.  The feeling of dread escalates when she finds that some personal effects have been crudely destroyed.  But it is a harrowing trip down a dark canyon road that substantiates Cindy's worst fear:  For some unknown reason someone fiendishly relentless — someone with decidedly evil intentions — is stalking her.

Cindy is fiercely independent, and her stubborn pride will not allow her to confide in her father — nor can she seek the guidance and advice of her stepmother, Rina.  And as Decker's own investigation into a particularly heinous string of carjackings further isolates him from his daughter's troubles, Cindy covertly begins to probe her personal and professional lives for the identity of the person who wants her frightened, harmed ... or dead.  As her stalker grows bolder and more devious, Cindy finds her options limited, her friends and colleagues off-bounds — as the well-concealed rages and dark secrets of those surrounding her slowly come to light and threaten to pull a nightmare out of the shadows and in for the kill.

(If you have read this book, please share your opinion of it in the comments.)

Week in Review

• My Monday post was about a different library book, HERE.
• On Thursday, I wrote about a book recommended by my favorite author, HERE.
• For Friday's Book Beginnings, I chose a book on mindfulness, HERE.

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Shared summer reading at my library

Mississippi Solo ~ by Eddy L. Harris, 1988, memoir, 256 pages

Eddy Harris, the author of Mississippi Solo, is a St. Louis native. The book blends memoir, travel narrative, and cultural insight as it explores life along the river.  In this exciting classic, readers follow an adventurer whose lifelong dream is to canoe the length of this mighty river, from Minnesota to New Orleans.

The trip's dangers were legion for a Black man traveling alone, paddling from "where there ain't no black folks to where they still don't like us much."  Barge waves loom large, wild dogs roam the wooded shores, and, in the Arkansas dusk, two shotgun-toting bigots nearly bring the author's dream to a bloody end.

Sustaining him through the hard weeks of paddling were the hundreds of people who reached out to share a small piece of his challenge.  This is an unforgettable story of a man testing his own limits.

Week in Review

• My Monday post featured cats, HERE.
• Cats and water may not mix, but my next post, HERE, was about a boat sinking into the water.

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A true-crime thriller that took place in St. Louis

Evidence of Murder ~ by Bill McClellan, 1993, true-crime thriller (St. Louis), 246 pages

This thorough (but frustrating) true-crime tale concerns Ed Post, a model family man and affable realtor in New Orleans, who was accused and convicted of drowning his wife, Julie, in a St. Louis hotel bathroom in 1986.

Bill McClellan is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  In this book, he reconstructs the complex investigation: 

Post claims the death was an accident, but police found his statement exhaustive and therefore suspect.  Investigators learned that the couple argued regularly, that Ed faced rising debts and that Julie's insurance policy had been increased.  But there was countervailing evidence:  the Posts regularly upgraded their insurance; the medical evidence was inconclusive; and Julie's brother Bobby Thigpen, who claimed his sister feared her husband would kill her, failed a polygraph test. 

McClellan's detailed account of Post's trial borrows a lot from the transcript, showing how lawyers attempted to shade the evidence.  After jurors found Post guilty of murder, his conviction was overturned because of misconduct by deputies regarding the jury.  Post's family and friends, formerly his staunch defenders, then began to doubt his innocence, and testimony from Post's elder teenage daughter helped lead to another conviction and a life sentence.  Though Post, who still claimed his innocence, cooperated with McClellan, maybe the author should have probed his subject's psyche more deeply.

Week in Review

• On Friday, my book was about what people shared, HERE, when the author saked them, "What has life taught you?"
• My Saturday Stuff included a quote and Snoopy balanced on top of his doghouse, but in a very unusual way, HERE.

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Movie this afternoon

"Fried Green Tomatoes" was today's movie in the Community Room where I live.  Here's a synopsis I found online:

"Evelyn, an ordinary housewife, visits a nursing home and befriends the old lady Ninny.  Together, they bond over stories from the past about two intrepid women of Whistle Stop Cafe."

I came away from the movie annoyed, even though I remember enjoying the book.  What annoyed me was the fake accent for those people in the movie used.  I have NEVER in my life heard such a ridiculous Southern accent, ever  That may be one reason I prefer books.

Week in Review

• My Tuesday subject was a book about Harriet Tubman, HERE.
• On Friday, I wrote about my tears while reading a book, HERE,  The good part was my cat's reaction.

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What's life all about?

The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect ~ by Tenzin Gyatso, edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, foreword by Richard Gere, 2000, buddist teachings, 160 pages

The Dalai Lama examines existential questions about meaning, purpose, and responsibility.  Using the traditional Buddhist allegorical image of the Wheel of Life and the teaching of the twelve links of dependent origination, he deftly illustrates how our existence, though fleeting and often full of woes, brims with the potential for peace and happiness.  We can realize that potential . . .

• by cultivating a wise appreciation of the interdependency of actions and experience, and 
• by living a kind and compassionate life.

A life thus lived, he says, becomes thoroughly meaningful both for oneself and for others.

Week in Review

• My Thursday Thoughts, HERE, were about a short story discussion I had attended.
• On Saturday, I shared a bit of joy, HERE, by quoting from a book.

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A really old book for today's post

Arrival and Departure ~ by Arthur Koestler, 1943, literary fiction, 192 pages, DNF

This was the third novel of Arthur Koestler's trilogy on ends and means and the first he wrote in English.  The central theme is the conflict between morality and expediency, and in this novel Koestler worked it out in terms of individual psychology.  Peter Slavek starts out as a brave young revolutionary, but suffers a breakdown.  On the analyst's couch he is made to discover, in Koestler's own words, "that his crusading zeal was derived from unconscious guilt."

Week in Review

• On Wednesday, I posted "THE END" for this blog, but I've changed my mind because I miss doing it too much.  I removed that "ending" and am posting again.  Should I call this my "new beginning"?  Nah.

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Reading this was a waste of my time

Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History ~ by Bridget Quinn, illustrated by Lisa Congdon, 2017, art history, 192 pages

From Amazon:  "Historically, major women artists have been excluded from the mainstream art canon. Aligned with the resurgence of feminism in pop culture, Broad Strokes offers an entertaining corrective to that omission. Art historian Bridget Quinn delves into the lives and careers of 15 brilliant female artists in text that's smart, feisty, educational, and an enjoyable read. Replete with beautiful reproductions of the artists' works and contemporary portraits of each artist by renowned illustrator Lisa Congdon, this is art history from 1600 to the present day for the modern art lover, reader, and feminist."

That's Amazon's opinion, not mine.  I read two chapters, maybe a couple of dozen pages, and took it back to my neighbor Betty, who had handed it to me.  Nope, I don't intend to waste any more time reading that book.  My rating system below is totally subjective, and I could choose either of the bottom two (I've used both over the years since I started blogging in January 2007).  This book is one I "did not finish" and "do not recommend."  It was NOT educational, NOT enjoyable, and didn't go where I expected it to go from the description.  Betty said that was exactly her experience.

10 ~ Loved it!!  Couldn't put it down!!

9 ~ Excellent!

8 ~ Very Good

7 ~ Good

6 ~ Above Average

5 ~ Average

4 ~ Struggled to finish, but not worth it

3 ~ Annoying ~ a waste of time

2 ~ Poor

1 ~ Pitiful!

0 ~ Awful!!  Don't bother                                        

* DNF ~ Did Not Finish ~ one I abandoned

* Nah ~ I don't recommend it

Week in Review

• On Monday, I shared a book that my favorite author recommended, HERE.
• On TWOsday, I shared two words derived from Latin, HERE.
• I had a cat post on Caturday (that day after Friday), because a neighbor gave me a glass with Morris the cat on it, HERE.  Do you remember Morris?  Wikipedia can tell you more, HERE, if you are interested.

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we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.