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The Waking
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I cannot go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree, but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
--Theodore Roethke
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Joy's Updates - Straight from the Horse's Mouth.
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Sunday, October 30, 2005
Doesn't Belong
Everybody sing, "Which of these things is not like the other? Which of these things doesn't belong?" On Says You on NPR this morning was a clever quiz I'll post as much of as I can recall. What you need to do is tell which one of the terms or people on the list is different from the others and why. Can someone else (Michael) remember the others? If so, please email them to me, and I'll post them. These were fun, but this is all that stuck with me.
1. tavern, bar, cane, corn
2. Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, Hades
3. Suzanne Somers, Spring Byington, Elsa Lancaster, Robin Wright Penn
11:19:00 AM
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Quiz
Answers are posted in the Squawkbox comment place.
from the Pop Culture Edition of Trivial Pursuit ...
1. MOVIE - What movie features Meryl Streep as a substance-abusing actress and Shirley MacLaine as her mother?
2. TV - What thirtysomething character reappeared on Once and Again?
3. MUSIC - What body part was celebrated in a 1983 song by ZZ Top?
4. SPORTS & GAMES - What nickname was given to the last-second play that won the Tennessee Titans the 1999 wildcard playoffs?
5. BUZZ - What music mogul owns the Sean John fashion line?
6. FAD - What 1992 Billy Ray Cyrus song reigned country-western line dancing?
from the "Know-It-All" Edition ...
7. PEOPLE & PLACES - Who led the Million Man March to Washington, D.C., in 1995?
8. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - Who was Walt Whitman honoring in his poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"? [any of my former students should get this one right!]
9. History - What farmland state was the site of the famous Brown vs. the Board of Education trial?
10. SCIENCE & NATURE - Where would you look for a uvula?
11. SPORTS & LEISURE - Who holds the current record for playing the most games in baseball history?
12. WILD CARD - What do you call the serpent-entwined rod traditionally carried by the Greek god Hermes?
8:11:00 PM
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Hemispheric Conditions
Why doesn't South America have hurricanes? What about Australia? Does it? Do you think it has to do with clockwise and counter?
I googled and found out some interesting things about all this. They do move in different directions in each hemisphere and are called different names (as Scaryduck commented). They are cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere and typhoons in the Pacific. I still don't recall South America having the destruction from so many tropical storms that turned into much worse that we've had. I have to go to work at China Place now and will research this later unless some of you know the answers.
10:21:00 PM
Monday, October 24, 2005
Quiz
Answers are posted in the Squawkbox comment place.
from the Pop Culture Edition of Trivial Pursuit ...
1. MOVIE - What is Alex Owens's (Jennifer Beales) day job in Flashdance?
2. TV - What was the catchphrase of Jacko, the Aussie Energizer spokesman?
3. MUSIC - What record-industry executive was attacked by Sean "Puffy" Combs in a 1999 altercation? [ah, the name changes of the P]
4. SPORTS & GAMES - How did Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher finish the 2001 Indianapolis 500, the first time two women qualified for the race?
5. BUZZ - What tennis Grand Slam champion rebelled against her early success by shoplifting?
6. FAD - Who played the construction worker being ogled by women in the late '90's Diet Coke commercials? [ah yes]
from the "Know-It-All" Edition ...
7. PEOPLE & PLACES - What studio mogul, whose company once merged with Metro Pictures, said, "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on"? [that's just funny]
8. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - What is inscribed on the statue of Emil Faber in the movie Animal House?
9. History - What patriotic song did Julia Ward Howe write the lyrics to?
10. SCIENCE & NATURE - What word can mean "dull" or "insensitive" or can refer to angles in geometry?
11. SPORTS & LEISURE - Who is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice?
12. WILD CARD - What flower is named from the mythological figure who couldn't stop staring at his reflection?
1:34:00 PM
Monday, October 17, 2005
Warning!
This will make you throw up.
10:58:00 PM
HBO
I just discovered a hilarious show on HBO. Ricky Gervais has done it again. This one is Extras and so funny. The premise is that he's an extra on movies which paves the way for guest stars. Samuel L. Jackson was on the one I saw. I loved The Office on BBC-America and am glad he's created another series.
10:46:00 PM
May I?
I thought when I retired from teaching that I would never again have to give anyone permission to go to the bathroom. I must have been sending out a teacher vibe at the Chinese restaurant when a customer came in and asked if he could go to the bathroom before he went to his table. I laughed behind my face at this.
3:39:00 PM
Chopsticks
Something I've wondered about is why don't people eat other food besides Chinese with chopsticks. It's as if because it's Chinese and they know how to use chopsticks, they just eat that with them. Why not branch out?
3:34:00 PM
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Olio
I learned that word olio from working crossword puzzles. Mother taught me how to do those when I was a teenager, and I've enjoyed them ever since. She also gave me the advice to use all capital letters because the conformity helps make the words easier to figure out.
After watching some of the new TV shows, the only ones I like are Commander-in-Chief and Bones. Out of Practice isn't that good which is too bad since the creators and cast are really talented. It's too silly. There are fewer shows I want to watch which will give me more time to do other things. I still have my favorites and look forward to those.
I added another very part-time job to my resume this week and filled in at China Place for the regular hostess who had surgery. I worked Wednesday and Friday from 11-2 and will work this next week Monday and Wednesday. Asking if they want the smoking or non-smoking section and booth or table is not something I'd want to do all the time, but this works out fine for four days and gives me time to play and enjoy being retired. Later on I'd like to do something and have had this idea to create calendars. I have a lot of ideas and just need to get started.
Brian has participated in the National Novel Writing Month the last two years and urged me to do it, too. I told him last year I would, so I'm going to sign up and be one of them. Michelle did it, too, and finished her word count as well. Here's the link if any of you want to join the festivities. Apparently this offers the incentive and motivation for us to do what we've been procrastinating about. I need it.
Earl and I still haven't won the lottery. I guess you've noticed. This means my traveling plans are still on hold.
10:37:00 AM
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Did You Know?
What esoteric oddities of information do you know that don't really work themselves into conversations? I was able to use many of mine when I taught but some never made it. For example, Patrick Sky made Buffy Sainte-Marie's mouthbow which she plays on "Groundhog" and other songs that I still know the words to. Mimi Fariña is the sister of Joan Baez. Her husband Richard Fariña played the dulcimer on several albums ("Pack Up Your Sorrows" and "Carry It On" with Joan Baez and also Judy Collins) and was killed in a motorcycle accident. I have one album by Mimi and Richard (who were both of Celtic and Hispanic ancestry) as well as a copy of his book Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. I was a big folk music fan and learned a lot about it. When I played my albums, I'd tell Brian all kinds of things about it which gave him a diverse music background. He played my Beatles albums more than I did when he got older and looked quite a bit like John Lennon when he was in college. I wish I'd taken a picture of him when he did. It was neat.
Tell us some things you know. Here's your chance! We can learn from each other.
11:34:00 PM
Quiz
Answers are posted in the Squawkbox comment place.
from the Pop Culture Edition of Trivial Pursuit ...
1. MOVIE - Who played Jim Morrison in the film The Doors? [good job he did, too, as usual for him]
2. TV - What is the name of Sabrina the Teenage Witch's cat?
3. MUSIC - Where did the Beatles play in their last official concert?
4. SPORTS & GAMES - What grunge band was originally named after NBA guard Mookie Blaylock?
5. BUZZ - What TV show does former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson star in? [I wouldn't say star in. Unfortunately I know this since he's from Tennessee and I regularly watch that series.]
6. FAD - What's the fictitious hometown of radio personality Garrison Keillor?
from the "Know-It-All" Edition ...
7. PEOPLE & PLACES - Who was Time magazine's first Man-of-the-Year?
8. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT - What were the three spin-offs of the Mary Tyler Moore show? [watched them - especially one of them]
9. History - Who were the only two Americans executed for being Russian spies?
10. SCIENCE & NATURE - Where does a pyroclastic flow originate?
11. SPORTS & LEISURE - Who designed the course at Augusta National, home of the Masters? (Michael, you should know this.]
12. WILD CARD - What youth service organization uses the motto, "We learn to do by doing"?
10:56:00 PM
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
What if?
If you could uninvent anything, what would it be? Mine would be the Stairmaster. Of course, I can avoid that, so maybe I need to think of something that intrudes on my life. I'll get back to you on this. What's yours?
12:40:00 AM
Monday, October 10, 2005
The Devil and the Angel
Be sure to notice the new photos on my blog that Earl took. One of them is his revenge for what I wrote about him. He never reads my blog, but some kind of radar led him to it today.
Also if you haven't seen the new photos of Brendan from the birthday brunch, they are in the Brendan folder.
9:23:00 PM
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Blues Festival
Helena, Arkansas, is a small town that opens its doors and heart to blues fans, some of whom have been attending their three-day festival, which was named the King Biscuit Blues Festival for the flour which also originated there, since its beginning. The New York City organization that produces the King Biscuit Flour Hour won't allow the festival to use its own name now, so for its 20th anniversary they had to change. Not fair, is it? Still the spirit of the festival prevailed, and the blues filled the air.
Earl and I drove down and met his daughter Margaret and Chuck who drove up from Florida. It was quite chilly and windy there by the Mississippi River, and I got sunburned Friday. Fortunately, it was cool enough Saturday to wear a jacket and protect my arms. I'm still a partial redneck, though. Most of our time was spent at the acoustic stage listening to Bob Margolin, Fruteland Jackson, Honey Boy Williams, Paul Geremia, and many others. Pinetop Perkins was at the main stage and was amazing at 92. The entire line-up is listed on the website. There are photos from last year, and I have a few in the new photos section of my Photo Album. I'll post some more when Earl emails me the ones he took.
We all stayed in Clarksdale, MS, where the Delta Blues Museum and Ground Zero Blues Club are located. (Just for the record, I had my own room. Earl and I don't have that kind of relationship and are more like siblings. Besides, even to save money, there's no way I could deal with his smoking, snoring, and messiness. OK, yes, I do have some control issues. LOL) The museum has some wonderful black-and-white photographs of musicians, baptisms, scenery, and other blues-related subjects by Bill Steber. It's really interesting and a worthwhile place to visit. Ground Zero is co-owned by Morgan Freeman and was featured in the documentary Last of the Mississippi Juke Joints. We didn't go in and found out too late to change our plans about a brunch today since the festival ended last night. Pinetop Perkins was honored at Hopson Plantation and was signing autographs. Earl had a poster of him he was hoping to get signed, but we missed that, too.
The crossroads of Highways 61 and 49 is the legendary location where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to play the guitar. The location of the crossroads is the subject of debate and speculation among those who like to do that kind of thing.
Sunday morning breakfast was at this neat place, the Delta Eye. There were events down the street at the Cat Head which sounded very interesting. This is a neat place to visit.
It was good to get away and have a change of scenery. I'm going to make plans to take some more trips and do things that are fun. I'm still feeling so good. The morning I woke up on my birthday, I felt great and still am. Maybe it just took three months for me to get over all those years of teaching. Or maybe it was having Brendan spend a night both weekends before my birthday. Plus being more active and enjoying cooler weather. Perhaps 62 is a better number for me than 61 was. Whatever it is, I like it.
9:44:00 PM
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Birthday Blues
Not how it sounds! I've been feeling so good since my birthday Monday that I haven't posted on the blog. I have a lot to tell you about but am packing to leave for a blues festival in Helena, Arkansas. Be sure to read the letter about the name change from the King Biscuit Blues Festival to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival. The place to click is in the first sentence above the poster. Comment on how you feel about this. I think it sucks. I'm really looking forward to going and know it will be fun. I'm going with friends, and we'll stay in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Morgan Freeman owns a blues club. I'll be back sometime Sunday evening.
Brendan spent the night with me this last Friday night and Saturday night before last. We had a great time. I'll tell you more about it when I get back. I had fun celebrating my birthday, too. This year is starting out well.
How are y'all doing?
10:04:00 PM
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