Randi Schenberg ~ 2017 Award

Besides Randi and Nikki at the beginning, Edie and Gert and Marilyn are knitting with Randi at the end of the video.  I also saw Sandy and Galina with Randi in the Cafe, and Melvin and Mark were at another table with Alyssa.  Katie is the coworker in the office with Randi, and one scene shows Alyssa talking with Randi in the library.  I'll probably pick out other people as I watch this video a few more times.

If this YouTube video quits working, view it here instead.

Clawdia the refugee

Refugees are very much in the news lately, so this post about refugees in Bowling Green is very timely.  While I was reading it, Clawdia jumped up beside me, and it occurred to me that she is also a refugee, in a sense.

• Before she came to live with me, Clawdia had been living with someone else.
• She was in a "refuge camp" when I met her.  (Okay, it was a cat rescue shelter.)
• She did agree to come with me, but what were her options for getting out of that cage?
• Clawdia had to figure out a new language (mine) as she learned to trust me.

And now she basically has only me for the rest of her life, unless I help her get to know other people around us.  Her friends include Donna and Tiny and Tomoko and Sharon who pets her and several others who talk to her and smile at her.

Sunday Salon ~ words and books

Two books I'm reading now — one fiction, one nonfiction:

The Whole Town's Talking ~ by Fannie Flagg, 2016, fiction (Missouri)

This will be a quick, fun read.

Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals ~ by John A. Buehrens, 2003

I'm studying this one along with my Sunday school class in Chattanooga — sending them my comments by email.

For anyone still thinking about a thesaurus, here's a synonym joke.

                       And another.

Bloggers gather in the Sunday Salon — at separate computers in different time zones — to talk about our lives and our reading.

Caterwauling on Caturday

Can a cat just pretend to be caterwauling?  I'm afraid I'd be in even more trouble if I really did it.  I'm having to type this up in the middle of the night because Bonnie is angry at me.  It's like this ... we were visiting Tiny.  I could hear her television and knew she was in there, and I wouldn't move from her door until Bonnie knocked on it.  Tomoko was also there, and she and Tiny were watching a movie.  I got treats from both of them.  But when Bonnie thought I was ready to go, I ran in Tiny's bedroom to hide.

Bonnie called, she threatened to leave me there, she DID leave me there (though later I heard her tell Tiny and Tomoko she waited those five minutes in the hallway), and still I did not come out of hiding.  When she came back inside Tiny's apartment, Bonnie said we would never come visit again if I didn't come out NOW.  I didn't come out because I was sure she wouldn't do that to me.  But then Bonnie got down on the floor and looked under the bed.  Even Tiny, who has back problems, got down to look under the bed.  So I meowed and inched my way out of a corner of the closet where I was hiding.  When Bonnie reached for me, though, I really DID run under the bed.  Not very far, and she could reach me.  Which she did.  And she pulled me out, saying, "You're in BIG trouble now!"  She's never said that to me before.  I think I really am in big trouble because Bonnie wouldn't put me down, and I do NOT like being held or carried.

After we were out in the hall, Bonnie let me jump out of her arms.  But she kept saying I was a "bad girl" and shooed me into our apartment.  When she went to bed, I jumped up beside her as usual, but Bonnie didn't pet me or coo at me like she usually does.  I curled up against her, and she didn't cuddle.  She never said a word.  It just FEELS like she's angry at me.  Well, I mean, she even said it.

Pray for me 'cause I don't like being in trouble.  I don't like this feeling.  Maybe I shouldn't hide so long next time.  If there IS a next time.

Clawdia   >^. .^<

Beginning ~ with an unwelcome lecture

"They're in our house maybe ten minutes and already Mark's lecturing us on the Israeli occupation.  Mark and Lauren live in Jerusalem, and people from there think it gives them the right."

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank ~ by Nathan Englander, 2012, short stories

• "What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank"
• "Sister Hills"
• "How We Avenged the Blums"
• "Peep Show"
• "Everything I Know About My Family On My Mother's Side"
• "Camp Sundown"
• "The Reader"
• "Free Fruit for Young Widows"

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

Thesaurus ~ Wednesday Word (a day late)

Sitting around the table with an ever-changing group of friends at lunchtime, we got to talking about words.  Melvin said he wants to revise his book of poems, changing some of the wording.  I had gone straight into the Circle @ Crown Café when I got off the van from our trip to the book sale at the Jewish Community Center, so I had my huge bag of books on the floor beside me and whipped out my newly-acquired Merriam-Webster Thesaurus.  I offered it to Melvin, but he says he already has two of them.  But he did make "thesaurus" his word of the day.

thesaurus = a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms, such as the online Thesaurus.com

A thesaurus helps us pinpoint the precise meaning we want to convey.  It also usually gives sample sentences to show how words are used in context.  Don't you love the thesaurus rex illustrating happiness?

One very, very full bag of books

A couple of years ago, I came home from the JCC used book sale with two bags full of books, for a total of 16 books.  This morning, I bought only one very, very full bag of books.  It held books for myself, for the Crown Center library, for a friend (one I already have, so we could study it together), and some workbooks and a package of vocabulary posters for my friend who teaches Hebrew.  Here are some of them.

1.  Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life ~ by Irwin Kula, religion
2.  The Power of Hope: The One Essential of Life and Love ~ by Maurice Lamm, 1995, psychology
3.  Talk Before Sleep ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1994, fiction
4.  Galileo's Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith, and Love ~ by Dava Sobel, 1999, historical memoir
5.  Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith ~ by Anne Lamott, 1999, memoir

6.  Jesus Drives Me Crazy! ~ by Leonard Sweet, 2003, religion
7.  Religions of the West ~ by Ninian Smart, 1994, religion
8.  Maimonides ~ by Sherwin B. Nuland, 2005, biography
9.  Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife ~ by Eben Alexander, 2012, religion
10.  After the Apple: Women in the Bible — Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing ~ by Naomi Harris Rosenblatt, 2005, religion

11.  How to Pray: The Best of John Wesley on Prayer ~ by John Wesley, edited Barbour Publishing, 2008, religion
12.  The God Delusion ~ by Richard Dawkins, 2008, irreligion
13.  What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank ~ by Nathan Englander, 2012, short stories
14.  With Open Hands ~ by Henri J. M. Nouwen, 1972, religion
15.  The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus ~ by Merriam-Webster Publishers, 1989, reference

16.  The Lifetime Reading Plan ~ by Clifton Fadiman, 1960, education
17.  The Complete Dream Dictionary: A Beside Guide to Knowing What Your Dreams Mean ~ by Trish and Rob MacGregor, 2004, new age
18.  No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam ~ by Reza Aslan, 2005, religion
19.  Reading Workbook: The Hebrew Primer ~ by Elizabeth Zinbarg Nover, illustrated by Guy Brison-Stack, 1986, language

20.  I Can Read Hebrew: Primer Reinforcement ~ by Ruby G. Strauss and Ahuva Schuler, illustrated by Jana Paiss, 1982, language
21.  My Hebrew Practice Writing Book ~ by Sol Scharfstein, 1976, language
22.  Work Book for Hebrew Through Prayer: Book 1 ~ by Roberta Osser Baum, illustrated by Larry Nolte, 1994, language
23.  Work Book for Hebrew Through Prayer: Book 2 ~ by Roberta Osser Baum, illustrated by Larry Nolte, 1995, language
24.  Work Book for Hebrew Through Prayer: Book 3 ~ by Roberta Osser Baum, illustrated by Larry Nolte, 1996, language
25.  Student Games: Hebrew Through Prayer, Books 1, 2, and 3 ~ by Shoshana Silberman, illustrations by Larry Nolte, 1998, language