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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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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Gift Ideas
Ronni Bennett gave some of the best suggestions for gifts for older people on her blog Time Goes By. Some of these are great ideas for people of many ages and quite helpful. She also wrote about the problems with airport security now, too. It's really a pain. Have you encountered some of this while you've flown? I dread flying now because of this and always enjoyed it before.
11:49:00 AM
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
OK, I'll quit taking these tests soon. Sorry for the self-indulgence, but I'm curious to see how your tests turn out, too. Chris, I know you love taking them! Confess. You, too, Oxy. And the rest of you. C'mon and play.
Notice the reference in this description that explains why I don't like the current mis-administration now in the White House. And I get to have Christine Lahti and John Houseman on the picture for mine! All right!! I need to get a life? Probably so.
I'm a Mandarin! 
You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now. You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking. It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power. You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try. Talent: 41%
Lifer: 33%
Mandarin: 46%
Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.
8:38:00 PM
Which Cartoon Character Are You?
You are Tweety!
You are cute, and everyone loves you.
You are a best friend that no one takes the chance of losing. You never hurt feelings and seldom have your own feelings hurt. Life is a breeze. You are witty, and calm most of the time. Just keep clear of backstabbers, and you are worry free.
Oddly, I've been told that I reminded people of Tweety Bird when we'd have those conversations about which animals we were like. Interesting that this quiz came out that way, especially since the animal I reminded people of was a cartoon.
3:55:00 PM
Do-Over
That Porsche 911 description didn't sound like me, so I took it again. This one is more like it.
I'm a Mazda RX-8!
You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.
Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.
3:37:00 PM
Monday, November 27, 2006
On a Cheerier Note
I began teaching my homebound student today. I decided to take on another part-time job because I want to amass some money. Now I have begun. I guess this is actually a mixed-blessing note since it's too bad students are not able to be in school but good I can make some money. These posts aren't doing much for my image, are they?
6:14:00 PM
Speaking of Murder Weapons
You can kill some people with peanuts, you know. I am not mad.
5:56:00 PM
Cricket Farming
I have a cricket farm in my house against my will. They are quite prolific and apparently chirpless. I'm learning about the life-cycle of them before I kill them when they get older and slower. The younger ones are too quick to step on. Yes, that is what I do. I admit it and am not sorry even though crickets are supposed to be good luck. I think they are better luck outside. Melissa will probably hate me for this, but we can't co-exist in my house. They outnumber me.
11:59:00 AM
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Christmas Cheer
How many of you have the Christmas spirit? How many of you are Grinches or Bah Humbugs? Or are you somewhere in between? I'm not into it but will enjoy being around family. I don't like to decorate and then take it down again even though I used to do all that as well as the baking. I did have good Thanksgiving feelings, looked forward to it, and really enjoyed it. What about you?
10:12:00 PM
Friday, November 24, 2006
T-Day
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We did. Lots of food and children and laughter and hugging. I have some photos in the New Photos section of my Photo Album over there. Check them out.
12:39:00 PM
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope you have a good time whatever you're doing and are thankful for all your blessings! I am.
1:06:00 PM
OJ
Did you notice that publication of OJ's book has been discontinued and the interview cancelled by FOX? What do you think about that?
1:05:00 AM
Monday, November 20, 2006
Fruitcake Lady RIP
Marie Rudisill died November 3, 2006. She was the Fruitcake Lady who appeared on Leno's show. What I didn't know was that she was Truman Capote's aunt who helped raise him and that she's written several books herself, among them Fruitcake: Memories of Truman Capote & Sook. She was hilarious in those "Ask the Fruitcake Lady" segments, and that explains something about Truman Capote, doesn't it? She was 95 when she died.
11:31:00 AM
Saturday, November 18, 2006
IE 7
I like the new version of Internet Explorer 7. The print is easier to read and clearer (as advertised), and the tabs make navigating from site to site much easier. Neat!
7:15:00 PM
Friday, November 17, 2006
Funnies to Share
 I find this hilarious for some reason. It cracks me up every time I look at it.
5:09:00 PM
WTF?
The world is mad!!
Can't believe the gall he has! Interesting graphics for the title. If the money from the book will go to the Goldman and Brown families, that might help, but good grief! Horrible! This defies belief. Perhaps getting by with murder isn't all its cracked up to be. Or maybe confession is good for the soul? Not in his case, I hope.
The publisher refers to him as the killer. I don't condone censorship and believe we have a right to information. Whether we choose to read, watch, listen, or participate in it is our choice as adults. We do have the responsibility to monitor and decide those things for our children. So I don't agree with the people who say this book should not be published but do hope lawsuits will keep him from profitting from it since he's never paid a cent for the wrongful death suit he lost. He should be in prison, but that's another rant.
Playstation Mania!
And check this out! The lengths some people will go. Good for that Best Buy for issuing the tickets. All the stores need to do that instead of having people camped out in line for a week.
Then There Is This!
No more CNN for this hotel. Here's the story. They probably kept FOX "News" on there. Not surprisingly, FOX is the network that will carry OJ's interview. However, FOX also has some of my favorite series: House, Standoff, and Bones.
And Another One ...
Pentagon guidelines that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder now put it among a list of conditions or "circumstances" that range from bed-wetting to fear of flying.
The new rules are related to the military's retirement practices. The change does not affect the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits officials from inquiring about the sex lives of service members and requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
Read the full article here.
Read supporting documents here. I copied that from The Huffington Post. It seems there are people who think being gay is a choice as in, "I think I'll wear the red shirt today and become gay."
This Has to Stop
No one should die from starvation, especially when they have the resources to eat. This model and Karen Carpenter already died, and many more entertainers will if things don't change. This is an entirely different reason from the many thousands who starve because they literally do not have food which is heartbreaking.
The world is mad.
1:29:00 PM
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Museum Troublemaker
Yesterday Paige and I met her daughters Virginia and Rebecca at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. Yes, it's THAT Frist, the Senator and heart surgeon from TN. It was established by his family and is an extraordinary addition to the area since there are exhibits we'd never get to see without traveling quite a distance. We went to see the jewelry exhibit from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. It was beautiful and informative. All that jewelry from ancient Egypt to Tiffany!
We also saw other exhibits there such as Extra-Ordinary which had pieces by Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Man Ray, and others from the Whitney. There was one mixed media collage with prescription and illegal drugs placed into designs. This is where I got into trouble. We were identifying the aspirin, Tums, marijuana leaves, and various pills when I just had to touch it to see what was over it. It was a sort of plexi-glass or epoxy layer over the top which made it smooth. About that time, one of the many security guards appeared beside me and said, "Ma'am, you aren't allowed to touch that." I wish I'd saved that experience for the Paper Bag sculpture because I could tell by how the light reflected off the pill painting that something was over it. The Paper Bag sculpture, however, was sooooo touchable. Paige and I kept wondering how it felt. After careful scrutiny, I think it had a glaze over it, but Paige thinks it feels soft like suede. We'll never know. Those guards are are good. I've tried to find the sculpture online but haven't yet. Anyone?
The gift shop has all kinds of neat things in it. We had a great time, and it was fun to be with the girls again. We went to Cummings Station for dinner after the exhibits and had more fun. Paige and I ate at PF Chang's before we met them at the Frist, and since the day was so pretty we ate on the patio there. Again, I'll say how happy I am that Paige and Carl moved back to Dickson!
10:29:00 AM
Thursday, November 09, 2006
How Do They Sound in Philadelphia?
This was on Melissa's blog, so I took it myself. I knew I had a Southern accent but Philly is second? I need to find out what that accent is like. Apparently some of my words are in other categories or they speak Southern. Interesting and fun. What about your accent?
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The South That's a Southern accent you've got there. You may love it, you may hate it, you may swear you don't have it, but whatever the case, we can hear it. | | Philadelphia | | | The Midland | | | The Northeast | | | The Inland North | | | Boston | | | The West | | | North Central | | What American accent do you have?
Take More Quizzes |
2:29:00 AM
NaNoWriMo
I joined the National November Writing Month but am not doing very well. I might have to quit, so I don't mess up the stats for the region. Maybe I can catch up, but it's looking grim.
2:27:00 AM
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Election
Yesterday the time went by pretty fast because we were busy. Almost 600 people voted in our precinct, but this time we finished at 7:00 and got everything packed and closed and ready to go at 7:15. It was good to visit with people I hadn't seen for a while. I do get tired of explaining the machines over and over again, but that's why I make the big bucks. Yep, $75! I don't want to think about how much that is an hour. I like sitting at the machine and printing out the numbers the best. It's not so interactive, and I'm not on my feet. Mostly though it's good to see all the people voting and taking it seriously. I don't understand why people don't vote but wish some hadn't.
I knew the marriage amendment would pass and wasn't at all surprised because I know where I live. At least some of us made our views known and voted against it. I don't know why people get so upset that gay people exist and don't want them to have the same rights the rest of us have, but then I don't understand a lot of things. I do wish it weren't part of our constitution. Some of the voters were confused since the wording in the amendment was difficult to understand. A large Church of Christ ran full-page ads in the local paper explaining it and telling people to vote YES, so anyone who read that or went to most of the churches knew their stand. The Episcopal Church where I'm a member wasn't one of them, and the Methodist Church I grew up in didn't teach me to be judgemental and exclusionary. Well, apparently I got over that, didn't I?
Harold Ford, Jr. ran a good race but unfortunately didn't win. It's really difficult for Democrats to win national elections in Tennessee. I miss the Solid South. Now we have to hear Corker's whiney nasal voice that is even worse than Frist's voice which I didn't think was possible. Those Corker ads were the slimiest, dirtiest I've seen for a long time. Thank goodness we don't have to hear any of them again for two more years. Every commercial break had several political ads during them to the extent that almost no products were advertised. I'm glad that's over. Ford did carry Dickson County and our precinct, so I'm happy about that. Just wish the state had gone in that direction.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi! That's really exciting! She's third in line of sucession to the presidency and the most powerful woman in our government now. We now have the majority in both the House and the Senate. That makes dealing with the next two years a little easier. I don't know if the budget will recover for a very long time. Not only was the budget balanced when Clinton left office, but there was a surplus. Now we're in greater debt than imaginable. Maybe something can be done to control all this spending and bring some more money into the treasury. It has to happen.
No more Rummy! Enough said.
I'm tired today from the long day on my feet yesterday but happy with the outcome of the election. (well, mostly)
8:16:00 PM
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Let the Dancing Begin!
Tickets went on sale today at noon for the Dancing with the Stars tour, so I was online like a vulture to get tickets for it. Linda and I are going and are really looking forward to it. Two of my favorite professionals Cheryl Burke and Maksim will be in it. Cheryl is dancing with Drew Lachey and Maksim with Willa. Lisa Rinna, Harry Hamlin, Joey Lawrence, and Ashly DelGrosso will be on it, too. Here's the list of all the dancers. This is so neat!!
2:38:00 PM
Friday, November 03, 2006
E-Voting
Linda and I went to the screening of a documentary by David Earnhardt about voting reform tonight in Nashville. The title is Eternal Vigilance, and it focuses on the 2004 election. There are some clips from it on their website that are quite illuminating and informative. Election reform is bipartisan because we need to know that all our votes are counted honestly and correctly. Check out the clip about Clint Curtis and the problems in Ohio. One precinct had over 600 voters recorded by the workers, but somehow George W. Bush got over 4,000 votes from there. The inequities go on and on from voters being excluded to the software being compromised by code being written that changed votes. That's in the Clint Curtis part.
If we had paper receipts that verified our votes that had to be left at the voting place for auditing purposes and recounts if needed, it would help a lot. A Nashville accountant Athan Gibbs designed TruVote which provides a paper record and much more. Here's an article about him and his invention. One of the people at the screening tonight said that his software is auditable and could be used with other machines.
This is something that affects us all and we need to be aware and involved because no matter what we believe about higher or lower taxes, how our tax money is spent, and ways we want to improve our country, it doesn't make any difference at all if we aren't voting for the candidates we think we are. My goodness, we go all over the world to see if other countries have legal elections and Americans believe it is one of the cornerstones of democracy! Why then do we allow it to exist here? It's not just the machines but other methods as well that we need to be aware of. Go to the polls and watch the lines to be sure people are getting to vote. Volunteer to be a poll worker. Pay attention! No matter what your party affiliation, we all need to work together on this. It's criminal.
10:56:00 PM
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Photos of the Beamish GrandBoy!
Check out the pictures from the weekend over there in the Photo Album under New Photos. C'mon, you know you want to. Earl said the ark could also be a pirate ship depending on its location. This ark is at Charlotte-Fagans Methodist Church where Mother and most of my relatives attend. Others were taken at my house.
10:31:00 AM
Schadenfreude
It's not often I take delight in the misfortunes of others, but in Ann Coulter's case, I'll always make an exception. I can only hope she goes to prison and is befriended by Big Bertha and pisses everyone off as much as she does me. Read and hope along with me!
10:05:00 AM
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