Time Off

To tell the truth, I am not a person who sits still easily, my husband will tell you. Perhaps it is a by product of growing up in the Catskill Mountains on a farm in the middle of the woods. My parents were city people who moved long before it was a popular thing to do. We always had something to do. As a teenager, my mom would leave me notes instructing me how to make dinner, or heat up things. My dad would expect me to weed the garden boxes with vegetables. They were always busy as we owned a business and my dad had a full time job, also. My brothers were older and left the house as soon as they could. I often had time alone and was responsible at a very early age.

We did have a pool and 14 acres, a beautiful barn (2), and a beautiful location until my father sold as I graduated, moved out, and taxes continued to climb for New York state.

So, I have 9 days off from my in person job but my online job is still “on.” I do have Conferences, correcting papers, a lesson plan that I am teaching with a resource person about mythology when I return…she asked me to prepare the lesson. I am trying to not have thoughts of my students, plans to interest them overwhelm my thoughts. It takes a few days to make my mind blank and then I rush around trying to shove in everything I am missing like exercise at the health club, enjoy the garden, walk the pug, a bike ride, some fun shopping, should I get my hair cut, new meals to try….and then I begin throwing away some plans, doing some plans, and voicing my thoughts to my husband.

I realize it won’t always be like this. After January, the teacher I am replacing will return, so I don’t have to keep track of everything and try to leave it all together and in good shape for him. About two weeks ago, I replaced a plastic apple full of pins and paper clips with chocolate from my Halloween treats for the students. I used books with the class that had not been used in ages and the resource person became involved. She asked me about my plans for January and I told her “I don’t know.”

I do realize that what I wrote on the black board “Hail Mary” and something about ‘The Cardinals Hitting One” doesn’t have to be a blog. Although sports is a foreign language to me, as is Spanish, I don’t have to know the answer today. It is a time for a break, so I will continue reading the latest Jack Reacher on my kindle, dusting a few corners, enjoying the gym, maybe a coffee with my friend, Ms. D. if she is up to it, talk of a future vacation with my husband, and enjoy being in the home and the garden, sitting in the sun, just learning to be.

Enjoy your week, everyone!

End goal

Sometimes I wonder what the end goal is for other people? If you are writing that you feel sorry and sympathy for teenagers or children in trouble, why not become a guardian ad litem?

If you write posing in a picture without a bra asking for a money donation, why not find a job or a friend if you need attention.

If you left Portland, Oregon because of the crazy politics and you voted in some crazies and you now live in Podunk, I don’t need to read your crazy liberalities. Check out the candidate you voted for very carefully.

If you don’t like someone, so what…in the end it is the policies or the actions we vote for. I know that I don’t want to be wearing masks for another year and for small businesses to go under. I don’t want to see hypocrites in action.

I want real. In other words, I want everyone who needs something to do it instead of whining. And if you plan on coming to my state and taking advantage of a few things, remember to give back because those who don’t think ahead might have to prepare for a rude awakening. If your taxes increase and you can’t sell your home. Apartment rents are too high, I don’t want to hear about the second job you are forced to take because you did not anticipate the end goal of some.

Thanks for listening. And I don’t want to hear anymore about masks, donations for coffee, etc. get a job, vote in the best person, and move forward.

This and that

The other day we were at Ollie’s and I picked up a couple of men’s casual t-shirts for workout clothes and to wear around the house. It occurred to me that men’s clothes seem to last longer than women’s do. I picked up a couple of t-shirts at Target and they eventually (6 months later) became cleaning rags. I did not care for the v-neck, etc. and the material ripped.

Ollie’s is like a big discount store where I can buy my Columbian keurig, pick up sole savers for my gym sneakers, and find a few odd items. I couldn’t find the coconut oil for my almond fat bombs, so while I went to one line, husband went next door to the Dollar General.

I was pleased to find find a 15-pack of slimfast keto meal shake to go for $8. A steal! I bought 2. Husband found a book which I will probably read also. I like these days when one has time to meander around a store, sleep in the mornings, and stay up later watching Rockin’ 1000 full concert at Stade de France, Paris 2019. We both agreed we liked the conductor the best!

What was nice to see was everyone getting along and to read some of the comments. We stayed up way past our bedtime. Tomorrow is Monday, a busy week! Enjoy.

I was even able to release a few clothes into the bin of let go’s which is something I have trouble doing. I bought new ankle socks for my workout, and got rid of some of the old ones. I cleaned out my drawers. I have two closetfuls of clothing. Asking myself, “Do I really need to keep a top I had made in the Middle East while teaching there?”

“Will I really wear it here?” Challenging questions to answer this morning, more so even than will I fit into the size 8 pants again? Don’t get me started on shoes. Thanks for listening!

After “Eta”

This is why I comb the plants carefully. The wasp’s nest.

Requiring some interesting maneuvering to spray and then take a photo.

After Hurricane Eta left the house, the gecko found this house.

He or she found their way in, and now will find a way out.

Lots of rain and heavy winds last night. No watering needed.

The frog keeping watch. No trees blew down. A few heavy branches did.

Pond husband build to catch water. Full of pebbles and water evaporated.

The cherry tree keeps growing with lots of rain, looks healthy.

A good window on the world.

Husband blew the driveway clean with a blower. A woman went by while I was online with my Conference to the adult students and peered in with her three dogs looking at our clean driveway at 8:45 a.m. I mentioned it to my husband smiling, and he said, “Maybe I should buy a shirt which reads, ‘This is Mike, husband of Eve, and then it should say, who is that man, Eve’s man.”

Always entertaining…between hurricane Eta and the clean up. Enjoy the rest of your week!

A good deal?

Husband and I went to one of the remaining flea markets in the Tampa Bay area recently. The building and property have been sold and there was one vendor left with a few excellent deals.

He sold me a clear plastic bag which can be used at a sports event, for a lunch box, or as an airline take on bag. I bought some strong hanging line for a project for my classroom. He sold me these two items and a third for $5. I was happy!

Wandering around the dust bowl, checking out various items is something I like to do. Husband was checking out a few items on this own wondering if we could use a few things. I found these and I could not give them up. There were like 20 or more in a small bag and I thought I know I can use them especially when he told me $5 for everything.

What do you think they are for? I went home and researched them and it seems they might be ties for camping, fishing, boating, but I figured at that price I will find a use for them….

And if I have to keep it for awhile as an investment, I have the time and it looks as if the world is all in knots right now, so I will figure it out! Give us until the next 4 years and most of us will have it all figured out.

Have a great week everyone!

Who is she?

I admire Kayleigh McEnany. I see glimpses of her, her husband and her baby at press conferences. I like how her husband is supportive of her and how they are a team and how the crowd respects her.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds her first press conference Friday in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

I like how she gets down to living calmly taking the questions posed by the rabid reporters, often hostile, and then leaves the stage. In particular, I like how she took her baby from her husband, hugged the child and left the stage. She is a cool customer getting on with living.

I was more amazed to know that she is from Tampa. Answering questions from the press and communicating the president’s decisions to the public is a job she embraces. I was not surprised to learn that she has a degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from Harvard. She attended the Academy of Holy Names, a private Catholic preparatory school in Tampa. Many of us are familiar with the beautiful campus located near Bayshore Boulevard. After graduating, she majored in international politics at Georgetown’s University School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2016.

As you watch her on camera answering questions, one would assume that anyone who has the ability to think so quickly on her feet and retain information quickly has an impressive background. She is married to Sean Gilmartin, a pitcher in major league baseball. He joined the Tampa Bay Rays in February 2020 as a relief pitcher.

Tampa is still her home and they own a house on Davis Island. I am proud to know that she is a Tampa Bay native. Thanks for listening.

Reading list

What do I read after long days at a middle school?

Interesting question.

The Art of War-because I can and it gives me strategies dealing with new things and a whole slew of new attitudes. How to confuse someone entirely does not escape me easily.

Walk in the path defined by rule, and accommodate yourself to the enemy until you can fight a decisive battle.

My interpretation: these students know their school well and how to get around a few rules. Observe carefully until you can plan best how to intercede and get the work done.

I have found a new author I enjoy: Linwood Barclay: Fear the Worst and Never Look Away.

Good intrigue and pure escapism. My favorite show last season was not renewed: Bless this Mess! I do enjoy The Neighborhood!

There was a waiting list for a book about MS-13 and I am reading this now. It is interesting. I am not sure why they keep blaming the politics of the United States for gang activity but I will keep reading and forgive their bias.

Sometimes you just observe, stay quiet, and move on. Thanks for listening. Enjoy your weekend!

Ahem….

One of my lesson plans from the book was about “Lincoln’s Funeral.” Although I realize everything has its place, I have a few challenges getting the attention of 8th graders, so I read over the sample in the book, researched a few things on google and decided to go with something else. I found a lesson plan about social media and decided that with a few PowerPoints I had from teaching in the past that I would be able to use this article and perhaps interest the class more with this lesson.

I realized that when you have challenges being interested in the funeral sermon for Abraham Lincoln that it is a good indicator to look deeper. “Self-Driving Cars”and an excerpt from Fahrenheit 451 along with a few lessons about using the active vs. passive might be something we can take on.

In between, I gave them a fortune cookie to open and read aloud. Sometimes you just have to look for inspiration outside of the book.

Keeping Quiet by Pablo Neruda

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

Pablo Neruda is a Chilean poet, who started writings poems at the age of 13. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971.

Men & simplicity

No, I am not calling men “simple” and by including “men” in my blog title, I know a few I will interest immediately. We like to complain to the men, about the men, and sometimes for the men but sometimes men have it right.

Simplicity. Women like order or to be completely unbiased, someone like myself likes order. So I plan my clothes for the week, my lesson plans, a menu if I am cooking, what to get at the store, etc. I freaked out the end of the week when I was having a few classroom issues with one class and I went to the principal and he suggested a lesson plan and he would pop in on this class. I was grateful for the intervention but then realized my plans are mostly distinguishable to me. I write shorthand and sometimes “go with the flow” since I am so new to teaching middle school children, all students whose first language is not English.

So this past weekend, I woke up and it was a beautiful fall day in the 70’s temperature. I started to do a few gardening things, the husband joined me, and it was nice. Then I came in, made a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, with a little bit of chocolate/coffee mixed together. Not very keto, but a good energy builder and steeled myself for the task.

I was grateful to my husband for coming in and dumping the little Hershey chocolates in my beautiful steel pot and saying, “We are ready for trick o treaters.” Then, I spend the next two hours or so putting together lesson plans for the week for four different classes. I kept it simple respecting my way of doing the lesson plans and along the way realized the principal is so busy but he most likely appreciates that I came in, took charge, and am doing the best I can. I was hired a week after school began and not given many directions except, “You are the expert.”

He is a man. He thinks and speaks most directly and sometimes when I feel overwhelmed I need to remember this with many things. Sometimes the chocolate for Halloween just needs to be given out and we move forward. There are no discussions.

Thanks for listening. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Snippets of Garden

The garden. Michael built a side entrance into the side, so now we can also access this area easier.

Asking questions

How do make a new keto dessert?

How to quiet a noisy classroom without yelling?

How to find beta readers?

How old was Amy Winehouse when she passed away?

Will there be a Halloween this years?

What other books has Michael Koryta written?

Who is Chad Zunker?

How is bubble tea made?

Okay, I admit it…I have recently googled these items and they come up on my history of computer. If you really want a peek inside someone’s character, look at their history on the internet. It will tell you a few things. If I looked at yours, what might I see? Just to make you feel okay, you gave me permission because you like and trust me and having nothing to hide.

Now, I feel like we are playing 2 truths and a lie through social networks. Join in at your own discretion.

Keeping bits and pieces of me…information

Meta.Cogna.Data

Quiche Lorraine

HAYT? Acronym-How are you today? Add a number.

FLAVOR!!!

Nbomva@@4819

What am I? old passwords for old jobsites, applying for jobs, sites for media etc.

How do I forget you? Like the keys, I am afraid of I get rid of you, I may need you one day..

Is this a familiar feeling to anyone else? What is very scary is if your computer seems to read your mind and show you advertisements for favorite foods like Quiche Lorraine, old home numbers, acronyms become favorite tv shows, hmmm…

Lucky, luckier, luckiest

It happens when I am cruising social media or the news and I see notice that someone won 1.2 million on a scratch off ticket. I think, “Why not me?” or “Why not I?”

Am I not just as lucky but they don’t tell you how many rolls or tickets someone might have bought to get lucky. Are some of us luckier than others with choice of our mates, spouse, significant others, etc. and with the choice of our career or do we just make better choices?

Do the stars rule by fate and fortune or can we significantly turn the odds in our favor? Luck rules that if we buy many tickets, we will win, eventually and as for our mate, if we marry more than once, do we get better at our choices if the first one or two don’t work out….

I don’t know. The same goes for jobs. The more we try, the more we know which we like and which we don’t. Unfortunately, I do believe that the luck of the scratch off is significantly luck…the right time and the right place, as it turns out many of life’s more significant and influential choices are made.

What about you? Is or was there a time in your life when luck definitely dealt a winning hand or was it a combination of a few factors, some of which included making a good choice? Not sure if that will be a question or a definitive declarative statement from some of us.

Photo by Jonathan Petersson on Pexels.com

And as for the winning lottery scratch off for me today, it was a no-go, so will keep reading the media news and wishing. Thanks for listening. Have a wonderful week! Some days you feel luckier than others, but your feelings are not always valid….so sometimes the truth is in the numbers or just luck.

Drinks, and more drinks

Sometimes the small things like staying hydrated turn out to be the most important in a long week. Ice tea, propel, H20, Lipton ice tea. The best ice tea seems to be from Aldi’s for me without sweetener. Then I add stevia and a drop of fruit squirt and my morning is ready. I carry a beautiful thermos of ice cold water. The thermos sells for $15 but was garnered at a sale at Walgreens for .99 cents one weekend. It was an ambush sale, surprise and my husband found it for me. Sometimes those little things are the most important. Have a great weekend everyone! Need to replenish liquids this morning.

Jim’s blog reads “Walks to the Coffee maker” and that is my mini vacation today. A walk to the Coffee maker. I put her in caps because of the importance this morning after a rough week. Thanks for listening.

French Manicure

The truth is I have been wanting a French manicure for some time now. I was reminded of the manicure by another blogger who would show off her husband’s work on their barn with her beautifully crafted hands. So, I have a few extra dollars from work, so I treated myself to a French manicure.

I did not even know what it was called. Now as a lady, I tell you we meet all types of women getting pedicures and manicures. Some of them scare me with their long nails painted bloody red, black, green, rainbow, etc. I wonder how they get work done but I try to keep quiet and go with the flow. You know.

So, I finally find a neighborhood place where the ladies don’t seem to laugh at my naivety and they help me out as I keep saying to the owner of the store, “You know it is the clean manicure. It has white tips painted on and it looks so clean.” One giggled and said, “You mean a French manicure.” I shrugged as if part of the in group. “That’s it.”

Well, let me tell you. First, I locked in the price $33, thought about the tip and then sat down as two people worked on my nails. I tried to start a conversation with the lady next to me but she just stared at me as if sizing me up for something. I took off my wedding ring, so he could massage my fingers. I immediately checked to see if my gold ring was still where I put in. Okay, I did get a little paranoid. I tried not to be intimidated and watched my reflection in the mirror with my mask on. I was looking good, I thought. My new haircut looked cute, the owner was massaging and stretching my weary hands and I felt okay.

I think I could get used to this, I thought. I was surprised that there were a few young ladies in their late teens getting a manicure. I wondered why I was a latecomer to this. Then today, I made some keto treats and as I tried to open the different ingredients I found myself worrying about ruining my nails. I thought about all the typing I do on my computer and the cleaning, going to the gym, watering and working in the garden, etc. Would I have to curb my activities?

I found myself wondering how long the French manicure will last. Then I began to tabulate: $33 every other week or do you pay just for the tips, so I went to the website and I found I could not understand the language. There were like 18 different types of manicures. One was only $12, so I said to the husband, “I wondered if I paid too much for the manicure.” For me, it was definitely “manicure as a second language.” I thought about it once a month $40 including the tip for 12 months =$480. Whew. As a treat, it is nice but then as a writer behind the scene I began thinking of those who have a French manicure each month and I wondered how some of them could afford it. I think hmm, and my mind began thinking of mysteries and reading a good book or maybe writing one.

He laughed, and said, “But you like it. So it is worth it.”

Yeah, but some of those ladies still scare me a little with their long daggers and I find myself wondering if they can understand the menu and the cost, are they ahead of me in this game? Thanks for listening. We will see how long the manicure lasts in this working girl’s life. For the second language, I enjoyed learning about the rewards today. Thanks for listening!

A key box

Is it a safe?

A box for keys.

There were so many keys hanging around with no owner nearby. It just felt unsafe. What if we needed a key? Could we find the key? Which key belonged to this lock and that lock? Have you ever gone slightly wacko trying to find what a key unlocked? Was it to a storage unit or maybe the previous house owner before we changed the locks; was this his key? Front door, back door, old office (Adjunct Offices), business, church key at one time….husband accepted the challenge and found the key box for $19.99 on Amazon.

Thank you. Now the keys have a place in the key of life, and if the key of life changes, we can find the keys or so we are keyed in. Have a great week!

And if you open the door, there is another door where you can post the key locations. Wow! Organization. Now, I feel we have too many keys. Time to pare down. You can lock it also but then you have 4 numbers to remember. So chose, which is your poison? Is it easier to remember a number or where the key is or if you are anal, both….which will you remember?

Keeping the faith with …..

What to eat for following diet for low carbs?

Coffee, black coffee, ice coffee, coffee with cream and stevia, Coffee.

Eggs and more eggs, including Jimmy Dean Delights-Egg’wich with 8 carbs and minus dietary fiber 2 so that equals 6 net carbs.

Turkey bacon, pork bacon, any bacon, yay!!

Light & Fit original Greek yogurt=plain for 7g total carbs. Tablespoon of frozen fruit including blueberries or strawberries. Sometimes as an extra treat a teaspoon of coconut cream. Heavy on the carbs, so tread lightly but delicious!

Did I say coffee?

Xtreme Wellness! High Fiber spinach & herbs carb tortilla wraps. Total carbs are 15 g -dietary fiber 11g=net carbs 4.

Cheese-yellow cheese, muenster cheese, swiss cheese, brie, blue cheese but no processed cheese.

Condiments-sugar free ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, horseradish, salt & pepper, etc.

Kefir-Love it from Aldi’s but there are many carbs so stay with one cup once a week which is 20 grams.

Did I mention tea? Ice tea, homemade…Lipton tea…Aldi’s tea without sugar and add stevia.

A glass of milk allowed but not too many. Cream or creamers is good as is fat so cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, butter, etc. Butter is allowed in coffee to give extra fat and energy.

Without carbs, your body must adjust to the new diet. You can do it but it will take time, discipline, and a little scouting to find recipes best for a low carb diet. They are out there and I will share some of my finds. If you eat some of your favorite foods sparingly, it is possible to succeed with a low carb diet. You might not see the weight loss on the scale but you will notice in your clothes as with time you can take off your pants without unbuttoning them. You will notice changes with your body. Keep the faith and thanks for listening. Your energy level will also rise with adjustment to the new diet.

Would you care to add any advice?

Coldplay VS. Joe Satriani

For the coming week: I will leave you with this video. This is my favorite example of plagiarism which comes in many forms. It comes to a point: is anything really ours or sacred or should we just keep dessert for ourself? And for me, the questions remains why do I prefer Coldplay to Mr. Satriani because I can identify this as Joe Satriani’s work. Why in the gym, do I prefer listening to Coldplay instead of Satriani while running?

Coldplay and Joe Satrini settled the lawsuit but it remains for me one of the best examples of plagiarism in many forms bringing to light a new term “Subliminal Plagiarism.”

So, what can we do as some people don’t respect copyrights? Keep it to yourself for a rainy day or be discovered posthumously after death like the first volume of Emily Dickinson’s book of poems.

What do you think? Any thoughts on this matter? How do you give credit to those who deserve or do you swallow those words? Thanks for listening! Have a great week!!

Note to self: I discovered I repeated myself in an earlier post about this same subject two years ago. Does this mean “I plagiarized myself?” or am “I like a running record playing my same old favorites?”

Unfortunately, my likes of music and artists rarely change, so I am like a book easily read. I do have a few poems I want discovered before my death…

Open Book

“I am an open book but I don’t show my footnotes.”

Source: husband when I mentioned some things you can say and some you shouldn’t.

Grace of the Athlete….

I was talking about Bugsy Malone the other day regarding appearances can be deceiving. Then someone brought up Spud Webb, a retired professional basketball player known for winning a slam dunk contest despite being one of the shortest players in NBA history. Then I realized looking up a few facts that the person being spoken about was Muggsy Bogues and my memory deceived me as it was not Bugsy Malone. An American former basketball player who at 5 feet 3 inches was the shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association.

There is a lot of information about his stats, his background, net worth, film and movies appearances of which I will let you do the work. However, why am I writing about him?

I think I was referencing “The Art of War” (Sun Tsu).

In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack: the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. Consider the timing of what you do….how can this lesson apply to us? We might not understand the mechanics of basketball but we can appreciate the grace and beauty of the basketball player knowing when to take his or her shots.

Knowing that height does not matter as where there is a will, there is a way. Final thoughts: I will always appreciate basketball because to me it seems you only have to dunk the ball in the basket. Although there may be many rules, the end result is the same. And as for Bugsy Malone, I do like his movies but now I know a little about the other Muggsy and Spud. One can never know too many basketball players defying the odds or too few readings of “The Art of War.” Those are my final thoughts before Monday.

Thanks for listening! Have a great week.

Sunday-banners of rain…Sally New Orleans…

Rain and no barbecue today.

Rain bands pour down on granddaughter’s plants.

No water needed for bird bath.

This plant produced some white flowers.

As the sunflower kneels down to the rain….

The concrete frog rules the roost seen on the stump of the fallen oak. We need not fear tree falling as the wind picks up and the banners of rain fall down.

Shoes and more shoes…

‘If loving shoes is a crime . . . I’m looking at life without parole.’ Brian Atwood.

Photo by jan valle on Pexels.com

Sometimes the biggest worry is “What shoes should I wear?”

Photo by Alexandra Maria on Pexels.com

It is not abstract but concrete. It comes in more than one color composed of some height and can be described by adjectives, sometimes nouns and mostly it is something we all need. Depending on our differences in climate, disposition, needs or cultural or just a need for comfort, we may park at the door instead of wearing inside the home.

Photo by Wellington Cunha on Pexels.com

Sometimes we have to accept that not all shoes will be the same on a person. How we wear them depends often on where our shoes have tread or where others have tread on us wearing them shoes….so,

Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

Wherever you find them shoes, remember you might outgrow, outwear, or just sometime need a new pair of shoes…and to that, congrats as that means you are growing and needing a new pair.

Photo by Bess Hamiti on Pexels.com

So you may find a new shoe store, new books, new friends and you talk about new things because you are no longer at the same shoe store finding the same old shoes, reading the same old papers or books, or talking about the same old things.

Photo by wendel moretti on Pexels.com

You have taken off the old shoes, the old stuffiness, the heat index and put on some new shoes.

Keep on trying on shoes….enjoy your weekend!

Sunflowers

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Around the same time the sunflowers bloomed, I found out that I passed my English 6-12 exam for re-certification. This is always a challenge as one never knows what to expect from the questions and the essay. I have been out of school for awhile but I passed and now will study for the Reading test which is in October. Hopefully, I will be able to add this certification to my certificate also! This will be the last time for re-certification before I turn in the hat.

As for the sunflowers, I planted a few tiny ones also to the immediate right near the blackberry bush I planted. I went to the same vendor and for $12 he gave me 4 more + 2=6 including a beautiful cactus plant which I planted in a pot. He told me that if he is there next summer, he will have more for me. I showed him pictures of the sunflowers. He told me that I was one of the few who said they were coming and showed up.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all you need to do in life is show up on time? Although half of the battle might be won by doing this…..

Moonlight Fortress

Continuing with Florida’s Romantic Past…Florida History With Flair!

“What is the best way to remember history?” If you are visiting the site, how can you imagine the people who used to live and work here?

How do you think the feelings of the prisoners were affected by the thick gray walls of the fort? Can you make any connection between the forts of the past and today?

Look at the first paragraph. Which word is made up of two words? Moon + light=moonlight. We can also notice this in the illustration.

Fortress…can you identify any words within this word?

What words are challenging? How can we use inference? Which words are from another language?

Who build the forts? Let’s research the history. What material did they use? Are they still there today? This will help us learn more about the rich and interesting history of Florida.

Update-The illustration made me want to discover more forts in Florida. I am very interested in viewing the Dry Tortugas National Park the next visit we make to the Keys. Bucket list. At heart, we enjoy best by remembering the child within.

Compare Blondie/Yamazawa

A poetry which tells a story is called slam poetry and one of the more recognized slam poets is George “G” Yamazawa from Durham, Carolina. He was born in 1990 and raised in a Buddhist family. When I look at some of his poems, I am reminded of Blondie and her hit “Rapture.”

I found this today going through some of my old papers and writing. I had written this piece for a young man about five years ago. He wanted this for some educational enterprise he was working for and paid me for the writing. As I was reviewing this, some old memories returned of me telling my freshmen students that the first rapper was Blondie. Most did not know of her, so I found a video of her. Then there was the usual, “No,” and the shaking of heads and the giggles.

I continue reading, “Similar to the way “G’ is reaching mainstream audience, as did Blondie with the introduction of the song “Rapture” in 1980. Blondie brought rap and the song “Rapture” to number 1 in 1980. The song was not about fitting in with the mainstream but instead breaking barriers. The song was inspired by events in the African American communities at the time.

You go out at night, eatin’ cars

You eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too

Mercuries and Subarus….

Different interpretations for everyone but both genres of songs are about breaking barriers. Slam poetry and the music of Blondie reach different audiences with similar results.

And that is all I have to say….still the music I listen to at the Health Club pounding away on the running machine. As for Yamazawa…who? My students might laugh but she was the forerunner and still going strong. We forget him but Blondie we still google or ask Alexa, “play Rapture.”

Thanks for listening. And I just sampled the new WordPress format. That was interesting.

After the rain

Nice after the rain to see growth. Reading an old journal from my time in South Korea: Sept. 28 The rain falls softly outside my window once again. Tomorrow Chusok season will begin. Everyone who is Korean seems to be shopping.

From a couple of day prior: They caught the other spies in South Korea. It was fascinating to watch all the guerrilla tactics that went on. I wonder if I have ever taught any North Korean spies. What a marvelous cover, to be a University student studying English at Jeonju University!
(I remember the tanks, tear gas…the Koreans don’t mess around with rioters or dissenters).
October 9th-Went with two Korean teachers, Ms Ko and Mr. Hun to the country. He mentioned the teacher’s union and called Mr. Chung, VP-a dictator. A Canadian teacher tells me K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple). I feel flustered about his crass thinking of Koreans.He tells me “they don’t look further than their armpit.” I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t think this way. I notice the country has developed very quickly. I went to the acupuncturist and was stuck with 6 needles in my back. Today when I came home, one of the locks on the door was unlocked as if someone had tried to enter. Going to sleep. Tired.

Note to self-Nice to be an armchair traveler and remember those days.

Phone books

I am going to write about the lost art of phone book directories. I am a phone book person I realized today. I grew up using phone books to find names, restaurants, location of school, employment agencies, and everything else now covered by Google.

Phone books were an important part of my past and controlled some chaos for me as I like order. I read everything including phone books. The phone book enabled an old friend and her husband visiting the states from London to find me in 2008. I love phone books. I even taught a remedial reading class in the early 2000’s using a phone book. They didn’t like to read anything, so I made a game of it using the library, nearby locations, the parking lot of the teacher’s car including license plates (which did not endear me to the Assistant Principal) and a few phone books.

The art of controlling chaos: now we have Google but a google search can get like 123,456 hits. I like the small numbers in the phone book and how the names are lined up alphabetically, so even a non-native speaker of English can find the name or location. So in the yellow pages known as “the original search machine” I can find burglar alarms-monitoring & system; coupons for dentists; to tax return preparation. For someone who craves order, I hesitate to throw away a phone book from 2018. We haven’t received any on our doorstep lately and what if I need the location of the nearest private school or a restaurant.

I like it. I like the old-fashioned way of looking things up and no device is listening to me or monitoring my activity. The art of controlling chaos means simplified, doesn’t it? My mind craves simplicity like the water rolling off the duck’s back. Sometimes you can’t improve on this but I guess I need to get rid of this phone book. We are in a disposable society and my google just replaced any phone book you have.

So there….

Award and nominations….

Big thank you to Brizzy Mays Books and Bruschetta for nominating me for this award and for a sterling tribute: a lass who is most up to anything presented. I accept challenges well! Thank you for those kind words!

Brizzy introduces me to the land Down Under and to her interests, many of which we share including a love of old books, movies, and a keen sense of humor.

Award Rules:

1 Thanks the blogger who nominated you (as above )

2 Answer the questions you are asked ( if you’re comfortable doing so!)

3 Create 10 questions for the bloggers you’ve nominated.

4 Nominate at least 3 bloggers for the Special Blogger Award.

5 Comment on your nominees most recent blog post to let them know you’ve nominated.

6 Have fun!

Answers to questions follow:

My Questions:

1. The last theatrical production or musical performance you attended? Les Miserables.

2. Your next holiday destination? Most likely, the interior of Florida, a small fishing village or a town on the edge of the ocean.

3. Do you set yourself goals? Yes, sometimes. Finish 1 a day, even if it is small like take out the pug for a walk.

4 So many books are made into a movie. Do you have a favourite? I like the Jack Reacher series but the movie never made the mark for me.

5 If you could invite any three people – dead or alive- to a dinner party who would they be? Truman Capote; John F. Kennedy; and Robert Redford.

6 You wish your Super Power was? Invisibility to spy upon situations I have no business hearing.

7 If you could do one thing to change the world what would you do? Write more crime stories with true life good endings.

8 Please share a secret about your childhood. I would play dress up with my paper dolls as they were my invisible friends.

9 Name two things that are on your MUST DO LIST

1. a safari in Kenya with my husband.  2. Publish a book of fiction.

10 Do you have a song, movie or book that you return to when in need of comfort?

Cold Play: Viva La Vida.

My Nominations (with zero pressure attached!):

Kuched-I recently started following this blogger and like his postings.

Murisopsis: A Different Perspective-Yes, I get her “perspective.”

Sinharishika, How can I be so normal? I like her normalcy.

My questions:

1. If you were a cat with another life, where would you be sitting right now?
2. What is your favorite song in times of challenge?
3. In one sentence, tell us about a time you enjoyed being proven wrong.
4. What is your favorite mode of transportation?
5. What is your comfort food?
6. Which is your favorite social media app to use?
7. If you could name yourself, what name would you chose and why?
8. What news did you hear recently that surprised you?
9. How often do you walk in your neighborhood?
10. Are there any writers who influence the writing of your blog?

Thank you for your graciousness and kindness with this endeavor! Cheers…

If I could rule the world….

 

 

 

 

U.S steel production is booming due to Trump admin`s steel tariffs — Shiny bull-“America First”

Coalition For A Prosperous America chief economist Jeff Ferry said to Fox that the Trump administration`s tariffs have a positive impact on the steel industry. This is one of the reasons why Trump is so popular in the United States. Jeff Ferry said; «…..even as some pundits and economists say America`s steel industry is in […]

U.S steel production is booming due to Trump admin`s steel tariffs — Shiny bull