Musings
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Veterans Day
Today is Veterans’ Day, the day we set aside to remember all of those who died in wars for our country. From patriotism.org: At 5 A.M. on Monday, November 11, 1918 the Germans signed the Armistice, an order was issued for all firing to cease; so the hostilities of the First World War ended. This day began with the laying down of arms, blowing of whistles, impromptu parades, closing of places of business. All over the globe there were many demonstrations; no doubt the world has never before witnessed such rejoicing. In November of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Armistice Day proclamation. The last paragraph set the tone for…
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Stupid Grammar Rules
English grammar is a tricky field to negotiate, with many little rules that can easily bug the hell out of you…I have my pet peeves, which would be rules that make sense to me, and people misuse them and abuse them and drive me crazy, but also, there are many rules that just make no logical sense whatsoever. I was thinking this would be a Thursday Thirteen, but I couldn’t think of enough stupid rules to make my list. So I turn the question over to my loyal readers…besides the five below, any really stupid grammar rules that you think need to be retired? Split Infinitives. I never even understood…
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Perfect Start to a Weekend…
…lunch with a Republican. Gosh, I never thought I would say those words! HA! But honestly, some of my best friends are Republicans. One such friend is Janet, who lives in NYC. Janet and I met at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA, and became good friends. She is a truly loyal and wonderful friend, though not without her faults, including: Spoiling my daughter. It was she that started Maya’s American Girl obsession. Maya now has 4 of the things. Janet only bought her one, so it’s not ALL her fault. Waiting until the last minute to call me and let me know she’s in town. I received a…
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Kindness
“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind, the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.” ~ Henry James I feel as though this message is coming at me from all directions lately. My beloved Py Korry wrote a post about hatred, and how it can be used to dehumanize others…then Ms. Mama wrote a post about the death of someone she knew, and how we should all be kind to those we love, for you never know when we will see them again…then Cherry wrote about how we can start a peace revolution, spreading peace with kindness. Last night,…
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Learn Where You Can
I had an interesting vocab lesson the other night…I learned the following words: parvenu – one that has recently or suddenly risen to an unaccustomed position of wealth or power and has not yet gained the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it. I think I’ve always used the other French term, “nouveau riche“, though in looking at the definition, it is slightly different in meaning. dyspeptic – showing a sour disposition. I think I’ve always used “sour puss”.  I think I need to try to use these words in conversation…that’s how you keep them, right? Anyway, the funny thing is where I got these new words…from the Netflix jacket…
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Eastern State
Yesterday, I had a sudden craving for Orange Chicken from Panda Express. So good, and so bad for you. So I hopped in my trusty car and drove over to the local PE. On the way, I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR. The few minutes that I heard were discussing Eastern State Penitentiary. I remember when we lived in Philadelphia, once in awhile we would drive past this prison, and I knew a little bit of its history, but not a lot. They have tours of the prison, which are supposed to be pretty amazing, but I was unaware of that at the time. And I’m…
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An Unmade Bed…
 Gina wrote recently of her love for a clean, uncluttered top of the fridge. She hates to have stuff up there, where some folks might not even notice. Py cannot stand to have any miscellaneous items in the car. Car must be clean and uncluttered at all times. The house? Not such an issue for him (as long as the bathroom is clean, he’s OK). Maya’s Granny likes to have all of her books alphabetized. Not sure if she still sorts her clothes the way she used to…with different colored hangers for different seasons or whatever… My sister likes to have EVERYTHING very clean, organized, and put in its proper…
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What’s in a Name?
Over at Gina’s blog yesterday, she asked this question: “For what Latin number is October named?” Well, I knew the answer, but not quickly enough to win any points on her ongoing trivia game. Dang. It got me to thinking about the names of the months, though, and how interesting the first 8 are, and then how…boring…the last 4 are. Interested? I found this on Encyclopedia Mythica. Tell me that naming a month after its place on the calendar (like October, for the 8th month) is as interesting as March being named for a Roman god, Mars. I won’t believe you. January Named after the Roman god of beginnings and…
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Madonner (That’s Madonna with a cockney accent, if you’re confused…)
I don’t have much today. I went and gave my presentation last night, which went OK, but I was nervous all day, so it sucked my energy dry. I received a phone call that my poor Grandma had fallen and hurt herself (she’s going to be OK, no broken bones, but still, she fell pretty darned hard), which was very upsetting because I love her to pieces, and that kind of took what energy I might have had left. And it’s only Friday, not Saturday, so I have a bunch of work to do today, blah blah blah. SO, I’m going to post today, because you know, the world would…
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Halloween Candy
I was at the grocery store the other day, and passed by the piles and piles of fun sized candy, ready to be bought a bit too early, brought home and eaten, and for the eaters of said candy to come back and buy some more. I was thinking about how nice a tiny little Baby Ruth would taste, or maybe an Almond Joy. I’m looking forward to after Halloween, when our ‘candy cow’ is full of yummy candy. Most of it will be from Maya’s trick or treating, and some will be the leftovers from our failure to get anyone to come this far back into a little condo…
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Self Esteem
[youtube]MFPGa0pKyTg[/youtube] Apropos of my post the other day, my mom sent me this for Maya. Pretty cool, huh?
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Weekend…
I wish all weekends could be three day weekends. More specifically, I wish this had been a three day weekend. No worries, though, because we had a lovely time, and got in some touristy stuff, some shopping, and some loafing. 🙂 We started out with Friday night…Ted and LaLuna made a lovely hamburger dinner, which we enjoyed at S’s house, while we watched Battlestar Galactica. Lovely. We had a nice time, and S opened a wonderful bottle of red wine for us to enjoy. After we got home, Maya went to bed, and Ted and I watched Lost, which we had taped on Wednesday. Saturday, I woke up with a…
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Looking Good
LaLuna has two wonderful daughters, Big Sis and Chee. In so many families, each person has a role, i.e., “The pretty one”, “The smart one”, “The funny one”…in this case, they are both pretty, smart, talented, and funny, so she’s obviously doing something right. Chee has always been interested in fashion…when she was little, she used to like to talk to me about my clothes…”Auntie J, I like your shoes…” that kind of thing. She used to like showing people her newest outfit, and she would come out and say, “This is how I look.” Just matter of fact, satisfied and happy with her appearance. I wish that confidence could…
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Thirteen Thoughts
My brain is scattered today, like the birds screaming outside of my window…a big raucous mess that occasionally gels and quiets down, and then start screeching again. Not sure what’s up with them, or with me, but this is the best I can do today. Thirteen Random Thoughts: 1. I’ve decided to try life without Diet Coke (not all at once…no need to evacuate the region). I know, I already cut back on the wine consumption (not giving it up, just cutting back). I think I was out of whack with how much I was consuming of both of these things anyway. BUT, don’t worry. I won’t be giving up…
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My Wise Child
I’m sad, because I lost one of my favorite earrings the other day. They were little gold hoops, but with a delicate pattern etched into the gold. My bestest friend, Rosemary, gave them to me a few years ago. I’ve worn them pretty much every day. They had a little click attachment on the back. Well, on Sunday, I was wearing them, and I lay down to take a nap. I forgot to take off my earring when I did so. When I woke up, we went to the shops to get a few tops for our growing girl. We walked all over Old Navy and the mall. I came…