He made her three promises;
only three promises.
I will never lie to you.
I will never hurt you on purpose.
I will never forget you.
They were all she needed.
He kept two of the three
faithfully.
Sunday, April 26, 2020
An EZ Quote from a Master
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly,
acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite
certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” Agatha Christie
Monday, April 20, 2020
Baking in the time of Corona - More EZ Than I Thought
Twenty-four days ago, the 13th day of mandated social distancing
here in Arizona, I found that I had turned in my man-card and turned to the act
of baking to fill the time (and my enlarging tummy.) On that day, I
posted to FaceBook about my first-ever attempt at a quick-bread from
scratch.
 |
| Beer Bread - Photo by Dan Moyes |
This is a beer-bread, where the
carbonation of the beer, along with a little baking powder, replace the yeast.
It's a quick-bread because it doesn't have to raise and be kneaded. You just
mix it all up in a bowl, pour it into a greased baking pan and throw it into a
350-degree (F) oven for an hour. My first attempts were made using Michelob
Ultra (left in my garage fridge by visitors a few weeks ago). I made several
loaves over a week or two and they were all quite good.
I shared a loaf with our
cross-street neighbors and got thankful raves!!
But now, the Michelob is all
gone...No problem, there are other things that have been left in that garage refrigerator. And I'm
an experimenter anyway.
First, I tried a can of
raspberry-flavored seltzer water from Kroger's. It worked -- the texture was
good and the flavor was OK. The berry didn't come through and the bread lacked
a certain degree of bitter which probably comes from the hops in the Michelob
Ultra. I probably won't try that again.
The next thing I found in the
refrigerator was a bottle of Hop Knot IPA from Four Peaks Brewing in
Scottsdale. Well, if the berry-seltzer mix lacked the hops bitter, this IPA
should fix that, right? In mixing the dough, I found that the Hop Knot
presented a prominent fragrance of citrus (grapefruit?) with a touch of
pineapple. "Well," I thought, "This should be good!" As in
the case of the berry-seltzer loaf, it baked well and exhibited a good texture.
The first heel piece, plated while still, warm soaked up a pat of melting
butter attractively. My mouth watered.
About then, my beloved Glenda
asked for a moment's help with her iPhone. I can't say no to her! Finishing the
tech task, I turned to find our bichon-frise dog, Dak, walking out of the room
with MY slice of buttered bread in his mouth. Damn! Four stars from the dog!
Oh, well, back to the bread knife.
Once I got the second piece
buttered, I found the flavor of the bread made from the hoppy IPA to be fine,
but not outstanding. The fragrance of the citrus carried through to the
finished bread. I did not notice a citrus flavor. The hoppy bitter was there -- and perhaps just a touch too
strong. The bread didn't have the sweet wheat finish of other breads; providing
a light bitter after taste. Like the berry-seltzer recipe, I probably won't try
this one again. But, like the berry-seltzer loaf, we certainly will eat all of this one!
What to do in this time of
quarantine? I know, for my next loaf I think I'll try Corona -- without the lime.
Here's the basic recipe:
Quick and easy beer bread
One and one-half hours
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour
Cooling: 20 minutes
NOTE: Not intended for the gluten intolerant or those on carbohydrate-restricted diets
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour -- NOT self-rising)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
¼ cup granulated white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
*¼ cup old-fashioned oatmeal (optional)
*¼ cup cracked wheat (optional)
*1 TBSP powdered milk (optional)
¼ cup melted butter
1 egg
1-12 ounce can or bottle of beer
DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease or non-stick spray a standard loaf pan (glass or metal)
In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients ensuring a complete mix
Add egg and beer and mix well but don’t over-stir – don’t “beat” the mix
A proper dough mix should be thoroughly “wet” but not “creamy.” It will be heavy and sticky
Pour/scrape dough mix into loaf pan
Drizzle melted butter over top of loaf
Bake at 350 F. for one hour - when done, a table knife inserted to the loaf will come out clean
Cool on a rack – slice - enjoy
As this is not a yeast bread, it will be somewhat heavy, but with the CO2 from the beer and the added baking powder, it should raise nicely while baking and have a chewy, bubbled interior and a crunchy crust.
You can get a less crunchy crust by stirring the melted butter into the dough mix rather than drizzling it over the un-baked loaf.
*The optional grains and dry milk add character to the loaf and may be omitted if you don’t care for them. If you do add the optional extra grains, you may need to add a tablespoon or two of room-temperature water to the dough mixture for your desired consistency.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
The Modern Ethical Dilemma of COVID-19
As anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes considering it
knows, economics is an extremely complicated matter. It's been called the
dismal science. Maybe the most simple rule of the economy is that any
transaction that leaves both participants happy is a positive thing and
enriches the overall economy.
Some hold out that we should now open the economy fully to stanch
the financial bleeding. Yes, they say, some will die, but mostly the old and
ill anyway.
The loss to society of illness and premature death has been
studied and written about in great detail. I'll give you just a couple of
links, later, so you can ponder this question.
But, first -- even if all the deaths were those receiving social
security -- do you think those recipients stuff the money in their sofa
cushions? No. As a retiree, I can tell you that the money gets spent on
housing, utilities, food, clothing, transportation, medical care, and
recreation (to include gifts for children and grandchildren). Every dollar they
spend is good for the economy. All the vacation travel canceled due to
COVID-19? Much of it by seniors. Ask any airline executive what that's worth to
the economy.
But the elderly and sick won't be all of those taken. When a person
in mid-life (20 to 45) is taken, there are somewhere between 1/2 and 2 million
dollars of value lost, forever, to the economy. They won't fill a job. They
won't raise a family. They won't spend their earnings. They won't pay taxes.
They won't invent the next big thing. Imagine if the cancer that took Steve
Jobs life had done that when he was in his 20s, or if Alexander Fleming had died
young.
But, wait, there's more! Even if this illness killed nobody, even
if the illness didn't close a single business, there is a horrendous cost from
the illness. I've read that COVID-19 runs 8 to 16 days from onset to death or
recovery. What does that illness cost? My most recent 3-day hospital stay for
surgery cost nearly $150,000.00; so $50K a day. Maybe that's high. Maybe the
average is more like $20K a day--and that does not include the loss to the
economy from that person being off the job. Every dollar spent on health care
that could be prevented is a dollar that isn't spent in restaurants, stores,
bars, and entertainment venues.
In the 1918 flu epidemic, 20% of Americans were stricken. Let's be
conservative and work with only 1/4th of that as possibly needing hospital care
-- if only 5% of our populace of 300,000,000 is stricken by COVID-19, that's fifteen
million people. If their average hospital stay is half the sixteen days, 8 days
at $20K a day, that's 2.4x10^12 dollars--$2.4 TRILLION. Pure, direct cost to
the economy, not including the loss of their productivity. The total, true cost
is much higher and beyond the scope of this discussion to calculate. If 2% of
the fifteen million ill will die, that's 300,000 deaths -- news flash, we are
already over 100,000 world-wide -- how long till just the U.S. reaches that.
So if by closing and quarantining we can reduce the illness by
only half, that's a savings of at least $1.2 Trillion just from the avoidance
of the illness.
It has been said that those who will not learn from history are
doomed to repeat it. OK, look at history: Again, in 1918, the jurisdictions
that quarantined early, stayed long, and enforced it suffered MUCH, MUCH less
than the jurisdictions that did a poor job of quarantining. They had lower
mortality, lower morbidity, less overall impact to their economies and
recovered MUCH, MUCH faster and fully. Minneapolis tightened early and long:
388 deaths per 100,000 people. Pittsburgh didn't: 1,244 deaths per 100,000
people. And the financial recovery was strikingly different. Minneapolis
tightened early and long: Growth in employment in 1919 over double the rate
Pittsburgh saw in 1919.
Pittsburgh: 1,244 dead per 100,000. That same rate would mean 3,732,000
deaths in the U.S.; nearly 25,000 deaths in just the San Antonio, TX area.
25,000 fewer to work, spend and live in one city. About half of COVID-19 deaths
have been people younger than 65. What would the loss of 12,500 full-time
employed do, long-term, to the economy of San Antonio? And the human cost – are
we ready to allow this kind of carnage without doing all within our power to
fight it? I believe we have a moral imperative to do all we can to prevent
illness and death. This is our real-life ethical dilemma of the trolley problem
(see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem)
The illness, the cost of care, the deaths, the lost productivity
has the potential to impact the economy in a much more negative fashion than
the quarantine. And for much longer -- literally, forever.
There is something called the parable of the broken window,
introduced by Bastiat in 1850, that considers the impact of negative events on
the economy. A broken window in a storefront, good or bad? Good for the
glazier, bad for the storekeeper. No, in the long run, it is bad for everyone
because it causes resources to be expended just to maintain the status quo --
there is no advancement when the window is repaired -- things are simply returned
to their earlier status.
For further reading:
Friday, March 27, 2020
The Times They are A'Changing...but not EZily.
My eldest son posted a link on our family Slack channel this morning for a YouTube video of old-school dancers reset to very modern music. That video reminded me of one I had seen earlier, available, as of this date, on YouTube as Old Movie Stars Dance to Uptown Funk (https://youtu.be/M1F0lBnsnkE). Both videos are very well crafted, but I must admit I like the Old Movie Stars video better, and I watched it through its nearly five-minute play-time several times.
I have a few take-away thoughts after watching the video. Primarily, I was surprised to note the sensuality of the dress and the movements, some clearly erotic in intent and presentation, of the dances and the choreography of these moving images--most from the first half of the 20th Century. These would have been the images that I would have been introduced to as acceptable, and even lauded, 'entertainment' and 'dancing' as I grew up, along with my cohort of boomers born between 1946 and 1964.
The '50s are called a conservative, family-oriented time. And they were. But much less prudish than most may think. Then, we came of age with Elvis-the-pelvis, the Beatles, Chubby Checker and the Twist, Lenny Bruce, and into the tumultuous world-shaking year of 1968 and the "sexual revolution" of the '70s and '80s.
Nineteen Sixty-Eight was especially shaking. The History Channel, on its Website, says, "The year 1968 remains one of the most tumultuous single years in history, marked by historic achievements, shocking assassinations, a much-hated war and a spirit of rebellion that swept through countries all over the world."
Some say we lost our innocence in the fall of 1963. If so, 1968 was the year that our youth vocally demanded something in return for that loss.
In that year alone we watched and listened as Czechoslovakia overthrew the Stalinists only to be reinvaded and occupied by the Soviets. North Korea captured a U.S. Ship, the Pueblo, and its crew. The North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive against the South and our supporting forces while T.V. brought the horrors of that war into our living rooms on the evening news. February 18th, 1968, my mother's birthday, the U.S. announced the deadliest week of combat during the Vietnam War: 2,547 wounded, 543 dead in one week. On March 16th, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) announced that he would run against President Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic nomination for president -- that same day U.S. troops murdered over 500 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre. In March, Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election. On June 5th, RFK was assassinated. Of course, his brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated in 1963. Martin Luther King had been assassinated in April, putting a horrible exclamation point after nearly two decades of work and some progress in Civil Rights in the U.S. Throughout the spring and summer of 1968, students around the world demonstrated demanding civil rights and government reform. Perhaps nothing sums up that summer better than the events at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Turning, again, to the History Channel's Website, we find the following description: "In August, thousands of students, antiwar activists and other demonstrators—including groups like the Yippies, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Black Panthers—poured into Chicago, where they were met with a violent police response called out by [Democratic] Mayor Richard Daley. As TV cameras captured the bloody clashes between police and demonstrators, the chaotic convention ended in Humphrey’s nomination as the head of an embattled Democratic Party." The year was especially traumatic in Mexico, host of the Summer Olympics, itself a site of dramatic televised political protests. In October of that year, Mexican police opened fire on a group of demonstrating students and other civilians in Mexico City. The actual death toll of the Tlatelolco massacre is unknown but is widely estimated to be around 400. Indeed the Mexican government's "dirty war" on its own citizens may have cost thousands of lives in 1968 alone. In November Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election by a sizeable margin in the electoral college but a razor-thin popular vote win. On Christmas Eve, Apollo 8, with Jim Lovell in charge, orbited the moon. Glenda and I had married on August 16th, 1968. On November 22, 1968, the fifth anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, my father died of a stroke and my mother entered her 20-year widowhood. One year--1968.
From 1968 and on into the sexual revolution of the '70s and '80s. These years saw an increased acceptance of sex outside of traditional heterosexual, monogamous relationships and the wide-spread use of oral birth control. The normalization of contraception and the pill, public nudity, pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality, masturbation, alternative forms of sexuality, and the legalization of abortion all followed. Society changed--marriage rates declined and divorce rates climbed. Cities and campuses nationwide saw large demonstrations against traditional rules involving nudity and public sex. Some of these were called "Love-ins" and focussed on meditation, love, music, sex, and psychedelic drugs. The Kent State shootings and Woodstock happened. Feminism became an open topic, and women burned their bras. It was in the summer of 1969 that I first saw a young-adult woman walking nonchalantly down a public street bare-breasted.
So...how did we get from there to here?
Here being now when progressives are showing themselves to be essentially prudes while still supporting a libertine lifestyle--but that lifestyle must be hidden or covered. Members of the younger generation are uncomfortable with nudity and shocked to find that Americans used to regularly and without drama see and be seen naked in gymnasium dressing rooms and showers. They are frankly unbelieving when told that swimming in the nude (generally in gender-segregated fashion) was the norm in the U.S. until the end of the '50s. They avert their eyes quickly as in shame when shown a picture of a large tiled shower with plumbing for six or more. Many seem to feel incomplete without shaming others (as the un-woke) while assuring that they arrogantly signal their virtue to all around. Many of their earlier heroes and stars have been found wanting, with feet of clay--as proven, for example, with those who (rightfully) fell to the #MeToo movement.
We of a certain age find all of this confusing and incomprehensible. Blogger Nathanael Blake says, "Our cultural elites are embracing libertine prudishness in an attempt to rebuild a culture. But they lack a culture to build around. They are trying to establish a sense of sacrilege without anything being sacred. They want us to seek the good of others while denying any doctrine of the common good or idea of human flourishing beyond self-indulgence. The result is an ideology that is a mashup of occultist Aleister Crowley (“Do as thou wilt”) and Emily Post." Anything goes, as long as it's hidden. We, your elders, don't see the culture being rebuilt in a constructive manner.
The turn of the Century: 9-11; wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; 2008; the Arab Spring followed by severe government oppression; Clinton, Trump, and Coronavirus. I've said it before, and I must say it again: This is NOT the Twenty-First Century I expected to live in.
I have a few take-away thoughts after watching the video. Primarily, I was surprised to note the sensuality of the dress and the movements, some clearly erotic in intent and presentation, of the dances and the choreography of these moving images--most from the first half of the 20th Century. These would have been the images that I would have been introduced to as acceptable, and even lauded, 'entertainment' and 'dancing' as I grew up, along with my cohort of boomers born between 1946 and 1964.
The '50s are called a conservative, family-oriented time. And they were. But much less prudish than most may think. Then, we came of age with Elvis-the-pelvis, the Beatles, Chubby Checker and the Twist, Lenny Bruce, and into the tumultuous world-shaking year of 1968 and the "sexual revolution" of the '70s and '80s.
Nineteen Sixty-Eight was especially shaking. The History Channel, on its Website, says, "The year 1968 remains one of the most tumultuous single years in history, marked by historic achievements, shocking assassinations, a much-hated war and a spirit of rebellion that swept through countries all over the world."
Some say we lost our innocence in the fall of 1963. If so, 1968 was the year that our youth vocally demanded something in return for that loss.
In that year alone we watched and listened as Czechoslovakia overthrew the Stalinists only to be reinvaded and occupied by the Soviets. North Korea captured a U.S. Ship, the Pueblo, and its crew. The North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive against the South and our supporting forces while T.V. brought the horrors of that war into our living rooms on the evening news. February 18th, 1968, my mother's birthday, the U.S. announced the deadliest week of combat during the Vietnam War: 2,547 wounded, 543 dead in one week. On March 16th, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) announced that he would run against President Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic nomination for president -- that same day U.S. troops murdered over 500 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre. In March, Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election. On June 5th, RFK was assassinated. Of course, his brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated in 1963. Martin Luther King had been assassinated in April, putting a horrible exclamation point after nearly two decades of work and some progress in Civil Rights in the U.S. Throughout the spring and summer of 1968, students around the world demonstrated demanding civil rights and government reform. Perhaps nothing sums up that summer better than the events at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Turning, again, to the History Channel's Website, we find the following description: "In August, thousands of students, antiwar activists and other demonstrators—including groups like the Yippies, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Black Panthers—poured into Chicago, where they were met with a violent police response called out by [Democratic] Mayor Richard Daley. As TV cameras captured the bloody clashes between police and demonstrators, the chaotic convention ended in Humphrey’s nomination as the head of an embattled Democratic Party." The year was especially traumatic in Mexico, host of the Summer Olympics, itself a site of dramatic televised political protests. In October of that year, Mexican police opened fire on a group of demonstrating students and other civilians in Mexico City. The actual death toll of the Tlatelolco massacre is unknown but is widely estimated to be around 400. Indeed the Mexican government's "dirty war" on its own citizens may have cost thousands of lives in 1968 alone. In November Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election by a sizeable margin in the electoral college but a razor-thin popular vote win. On Christmas Eve, Apollo 8, with Jim Lovell in charge, orbited the moon. Glenda and I had married on August 16th, 1968. On November 22, 1968, the fifth anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, my father died of a stroke and my mother entered her 20-year widowhood. One year--1968.
From 1968 and on into the sexual revolution of the '70s and '80s. These years saw an increased acceptance of sex outside of traditional heterosexual, monogamous relationships and the wide-spread use of oral birth control. The normalization of contraception and the pill, public nudity, pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality, masturbation, alternative forms of sexuality, and the legalization of abortion all followed. Society changed--marriage rates declined and divorce rates climbed. Cities and campuses nationwide saw large demonstrations against traditional rules involving nudity and public sex. Some of these were called "Love-ins" and focussed on meditation, love, music, sex, and psychedelic drugs. The Kent State shootings and Woodstock happened. Feminism became an open topic, and women burned their bras. It was in the summer of 1969 that I first saw a young-adult woman walking nonchalantly down a public street bare-breasted.
So...how did we get from there to here?
Here being now when progressives are showing themselves to be essentially prudes while still supporting a libertine lifestyle--but that lifestyle must be hidden or covered. Members of the younger generation are uncomfortable with nudity and shocked to find that Americans used to regularly and without drama see and be seen naked in gymnasium dressing rooms and showers. They are frankly unbelieving when told that swimming in the nude (generally in gender-segregated fashion) was the norm in the U.S. until the end of the '50s. They avert their eyes quickly as in shame when shown a picture of a large tiled shower with plumbing for six or more. Many seem to feel incomplete without shaming others (as the un-woke) while assuring that they arrogantly signal their virtue to all around. Many of their earlier heroes and stars have been found wanting, with feet of clay--as proven, for example, with those who (rightfully) fell to the #MeToo movement.
We of a certain age find all of this confusing and incomprehensible. Blogger Nathanael Blake says, "Our cultural elites are embracing libertine prudishness in an attempt to rebuild a culture. But they lack a culture to build around. They are trying to establish a sense of sacrilege without anything being sacred. They want us to seek the good of others while denying any doctrine of the common good or idea of human flourishing beyond self-indulgence. The result is an ideology that is a mashup of occultist Aleister Crowley (“Do as thou wilt”) and Emily Post." Anything goes, as long as it's hidden. We, your elders, don't see the culture being rebuilt in a constructive manner.
The turn of the Century: 9-11; wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; 2008; the Arab Spring followed by severe government oppression; Clinton, Trump, and Coronavirus. I've said it before, and I must say it again: This is NOT the Twenty-First Century I expected to live in.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
EZ Thoughts in the Time of Contagion.
Death should have taken me sooner.
I find myself solidly within the cohort that is supposedly most at risk of death from a COVID-19 infection.
I am taking reasonable measures--suitable social distancing, hand washing, monitoring my body for symptoms--but I am NOT living in fear of the virus.
It may kill me. I won't say I don't care, but I will say I am not afraid of death. He and I have danced several rounds, already, over seventy years of life. I know he will take me in the end, but I feel that it will, at worst, be a draw. I am several hands ahead in the game of life and I'm not folding, yet.
I have faced death directly and obliquely.
Directly through dealing with cancer (twice) and heart problems (two kinds). Medical science has told me that neither of these ailments or threats is known to be related to my diet or habits. Still, my diet and habits have been mostly for my pleasure and comfort--not for the good of my long-term health. And, OH! How I have enjoyed the pleasures and comforts of life. My body has always been better to me that I've been to it.
Obliquely by being a motorcycle and auto enthusiast. I have ridden far and driven fast. When I first started these activities, we didn't even use helmets or seat belts as a defense against death himself. I have traveled broadly by air, sea, and land. I have eaten street food in Latin America and Asia. I have saunaed naked with strangers. At least twice, my training and experience have enabled me to extend the lives of others. I have stood on the plain and looked up into the eternities. I have stood near the cliff and looked into the infinite. I have been in foreign lands during times of war. I often complete travel with the phrase, "There. Cheated death again."
He will take me. But I am still here.
And I've been here. I've not built nations nor huge edifices. Unlike Cromwell, I have not drained any swamps. It is unlikely anyone will ever build a monument to me. Yet I will remain. The laughter and tears of friends and family will echo forever. The lessons I have watched my children learn live on in what my grandchildren are now learning. I have looked into the wondering eyes of a great-grandchild. Times may get hard. Times may get worse, but the wonder will remain.
For this life I have lived, I thank God or the Universe or whatever truly is the Great Power -- I believe there must be one. I think of him as the Great Scientist, a God who would not be complete without the Goddess next to him. I have been blessed by having my Goddess next to me for these many decades. I thank death, himself, for being so weak.
So when he takes me, he will do so over my laughter. To win, he should have taken me before I was three years old!
I find myself solidly within the cohort that is supposedly most at risk of death from a COVID-19 infection.
I am taking reasonable measures--suitable social distancing, hand washing, monitoring my body for symptoms--but I am NOT living in fear of the virus.
It may kill me. I won't say I don't care, but I will say I am not afraid of death. He and I have danced several rounds, already, over seventy years of life. I know he will take me in the end, but I feel that it will, at worst, be a draw. I am several hands ahead in the game of life and I'm not folding, yet.
I have faced death directly and obliquely.
Directly through dealing with cancer (twice) and heart problems (two kinds). Medical science has told me that neither of these ailments or threats is known to be related to my diet or habits. Still, my diet and habits have been mostly for my pleasure and comfort--not for the good of my long-term health. And, OH! How I have enjoyed the pleasures and comforts of life. My body has always been better to me that I've been to it.
Obliquely by being a motorcycle and auto enthusiast. I have ridden far and driven fast. When I first started these activities, we didn't even use helmets or seat belts as a defense against death himself. I have traveled broadly by air, sea, and land. I have eaten street food in Latin America and Asia. I have saunaed naked with strangers. At least twice, my training and experience have enabled me to extend the lives of others. I have stood on the plain and looked up into the eternities. I have stood near the cliff and looked into the infinite. I have been in foreign lands during times of war. I often complete travel with the phrase, "There. Cheated death again."
He will take me. But I am still here.
And I've been here. I've not built nations nor huge edifices. Unlike Cromwell, I have not drained any swamps. It is unlikely anyone will ever build a monument to me. Yet I will remain. The laughter and tears of friends and family will echo forever. The lessons I have watched my children learn live on in what my grandchildren are now learning. I have looked into the wondering eyes of a great-grandchild. Times may get hard. Times may get worse, but the wonder will remain.
For this life I have lived, I thank God or the Universe or whatever truly is the Great Power -- I believe there must be one. I think of him as the Great Scientist, a God who would not be complete without the Goddess next to him. I have been blessed by having my Goddess next to me for these many decades. I thank death, himself, for being so weak.
So when he takes me, he will do so over my laughter. To win, he should have taken me before I was three years old!
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Memoir writing is not EZ - 001 of 127
At our last writers' group meeting, one of our number handed out a device as an aid in writing memoirs. (Memoirs have been our focus for the past couple months.) The handout consists of a list of 127 questions and is titled, "127 Writing Prompts to Finish Before You Write About Yourself." In looking at the 127 questions two things stand out to me: (1) By writing answers to these questions you ARE writing about yourself, and (2) It's a long, long road from number one to number 127. I've decided to challenge myself to complete the entire list and I'm going to publish them here. I'll first quote the question and follow that up with my written response. So here goes: Number 001 of 127 naval-gazing posts:
1. What is your best physical feature? Why do you like it? Describe it.
To determine which physical feature is my best I would like a bit more detailed definition of best. Best for what purpose? Everyday living? Accomplishing unusual tasks? Attracting a love interest? Further, this question may have been easier to write about many years ago before all of the physical features in question began to deteriorate due to advancing age.
Were I to stand in front of a full-length mirror in my pink and untanned birthday suit I wouldn’t see much that I would like. My body shows the ravages of life: scars from youthful adventures; excess fat from an easy and plentiful life; a couple of reminders of medical procedures. My feet are OK—not badly calloused or distorted from tight shoes. My legs are strong and always have been. I walk a lot and these legs have to carry a heavy load contributing to their strength. On the subject of legs, I’ve been blessed with very little trouble with knees or ankles. Going back to the mirror, though, those legs just look too chunky – too short and heavy to call my best feature. Upper body strength is something I’ve never had. My biceps are not well-defined, my chest is flabby, so let’s not write any more about that portion of my anatomy. Face? No—I’ve often been told I have a great face for radio. My teeth are straight and have been relatively trouble-free, but who wants to write about their teeth? My eyes are blue, and I like that, but my vision is too weak to call the eyes my best feature. Wearing glasses improves my appearance because they hide part of my face! Because I’m writing this for an undefined audience that will likely include mixed company let’s not even consider any more personal bodily real estate.
Having ruled out most everything, where does all of this leave us? What’s left?
Well, let me tell you…
That’s it! I can tell you. The voice! My favorite physical feature is my voice. A speaking voice, not a singing voice. I have always wished I could sing, and everyone who has ever heard me try to sing wishes much the same. But speaking! Oh, I do like my voice and I have received kudos for the sound of that voice and my use of it. It’s not an incredibly deep, bassy voice nor is it overly shrill and high-pitched. When I pay attention I can modulate the sound with good effect, though the range falls far short of the three octaves that were showcased so well by Roy Orbison in his work. In my career, I have, by request, served as the voice for public service announcements, promotional videos, entire instructional courses, and the introduction of Top-40 music hits on the radio (does anyone remember radio?) I’ve also been asked to sit down and shut up at Karaoke events. There is a great difference between speaking and singing!
So, there you have it. My favorite physical feature cannot even be seen in front of that full-length mirror. That’s probably a blessing to all.
1. What is your best physical feature? Why do you like it? Describe it.
To determine which physical feature is my best I would like a bit more detailed definition of best. Best for what purpose? Everyday living? Accomplishing unusual tasks? Attracting a love interest? Further, this question may have been easier to write about many years ago before all of the physical features in question began to deteriorate due to advancing age.
Were I to stand in front of a full-length mirror in my pink and untanned birthday suit I wouldn’t see much that I would like. My body shows the ravages of life: scars from youthful adventures; excess fat from an easy and plentiful life; a couple of reminders of medical procedures. My feet are OK—not badly calloused or distorted from tight shoes. My legs are strong and always have been. I walk a lot and these legs have to carry a heavy load contributing to their strength. On the subject of legs, I’ve been blessed with very little trouble with knees or ankles. Going back to the mirror, though, those legs just look too chunky – too short and heavy to call my best feature. Upper body strength is something I’ve never had. My biceps are not well-defined, my chest is flabby, so let’s not write any more about that portion of my anatomy. Face? No—I’ve often been told I have a great face for radio. My teeth are straight and have been relatively trouble-free, but who wants to write about their teeth? My eyes are blue, and I like that, but my vision is too weak to call the eyes my best feature. Wearing glasses improves my appearance because they hide part of my face! Because I’m writing this for an undefined audience that will likely include mixed company let’s not even consider any more personal bodily real estate.
Having ruled out most everything, where does all of this leave us? What’s left?
Well, let me tell you…
That’s it! I can tell you. The voice! My favorite physical feature is my voice. A speaking voice, not a singing voice. I have always wished I could sing, and everyone who has ever heard me try to sing wishes much the same. But speaking! Oh, I do like my voice and I have received kudos for the sound of that voice and my use of it. It’s not an incredibly deep, bassy voice nor is it overly shrill and high-pitched. When I pay attention I can modulate the sound with good effect, though the range falls far short of the three octaves that were showcased so well by Roy Orbison in his work. In my career, I have, by request, served as the voice for public service announcements, promotional videos, entire instructional courses, and the introduction of Top-40 music hits on the radio (does anyone remember radio?) I’ve also been asked to sit down and shut up at Karaoke events. There is a great difference between speaking and singing!
So, there you have it. My favorite physical feature cannot even be seen in front of that full-length mirror. That’s probably a blessing to all.
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