ruminations from the rockin' chair

Happy Thanksgiving!

2004-11-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.
- Kahlil Gibran, 1883 - 1931

Credit where due

2004-11-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Some of the content in "senior moment" has been funneled to me through one of my best friends, Carolyn. She and I go back to the sand pile. She's a retired "senior" English teacher (high school seniors..*#@!), who is a very clever woman with a quick turn- of- the- phrase manner of speaking. She is not bothered by being "onstage" to a room full of strangers, to the delight of many. These factoids on the gray-haired brigade came from research for a "stand-up" routine she could do on her next cruise...I would be mortified. Later on, I will probably use some of the clever work of her sister, Mary Helen, who is truly the wordsmith among us. She also is a retired teacher, although she worked mostly with elementary students, particularly in remedial situations. At some point, she attended several Mensa meetings, but declined to join because they all seemed so "narcissistic." (that means "full of themselves..") It's really wonderful to have vintage friends, and they do improve with age, just like fine wine. As a fifteenth century author, Gracien, said:

Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island ... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.

Senior Moment

2004-11-23T23:52:00.000-08:00

New tee shirt for seniors: Physically PHFFFFFT!

Still gettin' started

2004-11-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

I've got to get into the discipline of posting on a regular basis. If I didn't have to work to pay bills, I would have more time to devote to this fascinating pastime. I was surfing all day yesterday and today, looking for newsreaders and feeds. There are so many "bells and whistles" for these weblogs that it's distracting. However, I did pick up on a few "goodies" from the news feeds and the web.

This from KeepAhead: "At a steady jogger's pace of six miles per hour, it would take 173 days to go around the equatorial circumference of Earth, and over five years to go around Jupiter, the largest planet." (I want to see Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley out there...anything to get them off the infomercials)

And from the BBC Front Page News: Blonde jokes are set to be banned in Hungary after blonde women staged an angry protest outside parliament. The protestors handed in a petition claiming they were being discriminated against in every walk of life by bad taste blonde jokes.
(I suppose this would be in addition to all the "four-letter" words that are unutterable in polite company...perhaps we can look forward to a revised stand-up routine from George Carlin :o))

I took an IQ test in passing, during all this discovery process. I discovered that they have not changed materially since I was tested in "grammar" school (yes...I'm that old). I realize that it was free, but I was annoyed that the results of the test were not revealed along with the score. I wanted to know which ones I missed, and why. They were obviously not as interested in reinforcing good learning habits as they were in the $19.95 for the "interpretation" of my score. (I'm not telling the score.)

Then I got disturbed by a tragic tale of a dysfunctional* family. (*aside-did you know that word was one of the buzz words of the 90's. Practically everything in the 90's was dysfunctional! And of course, they had to have an affected spelling. And would rappers of this socio-eco group complain of being "dyssed"?) Anyhoo, this young man publishes (present tense ?) a blog (raggedshirt.blogspot.com) from a public library. Says he's at the end of his rope, then proceeds to tell a rather grim tale of domestic violence. He posted twice, had a comment on the first posting, and the web hasn't heard from him since October something. I posted a comment tonight, and will keep checking to see if he will respond. I don't know why I'm apprehensive. You know how us old folks are, we worry about everything.

Well, I think I'll have a look at info on html. Mercy, the things you can do with a bunch of letters and squiggly lines. But before I go, here's a thought from Thoreau (Henry David):

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

Senior Moment

2004-11-22T01:23:00.000-08:00

My mind works like lightning - one brilliant flash, and it's gone...

Gettin' Started

2004-11-21T23:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm so good at this that I "lost" two drafts of this posting - what am I doing here? I've got six decades of life experience, so I should have something to say, and an opinion or two. Not that I'm opinionated, but I think when someone's been around that long, they should have some definite feelings about something...right?

Did you know it is Voltaire's birthday? Well, the anniversary of his birth. His birthday was way back in 1694, which means he's older than I am :-). He had some neat opinions, most of which I agree with. Here are two of his quotes that I've been "chewing" on today:

How is it that when these ideas are first introduced, they mostly go unappreciated until centuries (or maybe just years) later, when everyone agrees that they are rare gems. If they are so valuable to everybody, why is it that we still believe absurdities, commit atrocities, and salute at the sound of trumpets.

I know you noticed the change in type-style. I have no clue what happened. You know, maybe you should stick around; this might be as good as the "Scream Machine"...then again.