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Showing posts from April, 2012

Manners/Courtesy

I'm convinced more and more that a lot of people should be living in pig pens and not let loose in the world. This becomes more and more apparent to me at restaurants and theaters. After a movie (and my hubby and I go to LOTS of movies), the theater is littered with cups that often spill, popcorn, candy wrappers and other disgusting detritus. It's disgusting. I've seen beautiful new theaters reduced to looking like garbage dumps. Why don't people pick up their trash and take it out of the theater. At the door of every theater we've been to there are large trash cans crying out to be filled. Why don't people use them? To me, it's no different than littering on the streets/roads/highways. That is now against the law? People have to dump their trash at the next gas station or rest stop. Why is theater behavior so different? Now, I can imagine what you're thinking...the theater hires workers to clean up. That's true, but isn't there some level of

To everything there is a season...and this includes books!

There's a well-known scripture with words summarizing that there is a time for everything. It is also a well-known song from years past. I think most of us would agree that it's true. My focus today is how it also applies to books which may not seem that important but I think it is. A few years ago Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Pray, Love was on bestseller lists and it was so well liked that it was made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. I read a synopsis of the book and the reviews. It sounded interesting, so I bought it and started reading it. Arrgh! I read the first few pages and was disappointed. I forced myself to keep going and gave up. I couldn't seem to get through a single page without forcing myself and couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Nevertheless, I left my bookmark in place and set the book aside. I'll try again later. Later came several months after the first attempt and the "Eat" part of the book was so appealing that I

Grieving is a funny thing

Over a month ago my oldest daughter posted on her blog about her grandfather's (my father) death. She talked about other deaths in her life and it got me to thinking (or perhaps I should say wondering). I went to my first funeral when I was 4 or 5 with my Nanna. It wasn't anyone I knew but a friend of hers. Since then I've attended many numerous family funerals (father, grandmothers, great-aunts, uncles), close  friends, and, unfortunately the funeral of children. Once I was the soloist at the funeral of an infant. I can still remember the pall bearer (there was only one) carrying in a coffin about the size of a shoebox since the infant was premature. I was asked to to sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children," and it was the most difficult song to get through because everyone in the congregation was crying and I was, too. Every adult there could only be thinking, "That could be my child," and the horrible sense of loss that would have followed. But I d

Hunger Games--Is there something else going on?

I finished book 2 of the Hunger Games trilogy on my way to work this morning (I wasn't driving). The two books I've read so far are compelling reads and I will start the last one tonight (I can't wait!). This trilogy is the Harry Potter series of young people today which has me puzzled and maybe a little concerned. The Harry Potter world was magical and finding children and adults interested in it wasn't a big surprise; the world of fantasy has always intrigued humans. I'd love to have a flying broom like the students had at Hogwarts. Talk about a "green" solution to getting around--no gas to buy and/or exhaust to mess up the air. I suppose if everyone had brooms, there might be broom traffic jams. LOL However, the world in Hunger Games isn't magical; it could be very real even though it's set in the future. Why are young people so fascinated with this series? Is it just the writing or is there something more? In the books, the people in the 12

Anniversary

Yesterday my hubby and I celebrated our tenth anniversary. Hubby did all the planning and we had a lovely day together; we toured the Crystal Bridges museum in northwest Arkansas which was the most beautiful art museum I've ever seen. We plan on going again next month when a new exhibit arrives. Then we ate supper at Ruth Criss' steak house. We ate filet and lobster Rockefeller. They were both sublime. The day was leisurely and beautiful. What a memorable day! It got me to thinking of other anniversaries in our lives and how an ordinary day can become significant to us even if it's not significant to anyone else. For instance, I remember the days I graduated from high school and college, May 28 and May 13 respectively. Our birthdays are anniversaries of our birth. These are fairly major milestones. But I also remember the day my oldest daughter took her first step, the day I fell and broke my ankle, the day I had lasik surgery on my eyes. What's interesting about th