The Gift of Speech

{This post is based on several older posts.} I've been working on conquering my habit of misusing the gift of speech, and there are so many ways to misuse that gift. Bad language, gossip, lies, unkind remarks, or just an impatient tone of voice. For a short while, I had a page where I listed the number, if not the type, of faults I committed in this field. I deleted that page last night; I never meant for this blog to be used as a confessional. I will, however, share the methods I am using to keep myself from slipping. 1: Frequently making the Sign of the Cross on my lips. 2: Praying to my Guardian Angel for help. 3: Reading Scripture passages on the use of speech. 4: Playing the GAME I've blogged about before. 5: Just clamping my mouth tight shut.

Snoopy Imitation

Winky was on top of Mom's rocker, leaning down. He reminded me SO much of Snoopy doing his vulture imitation!

A Bit TOO Personal

I deleted one of my pages because I finally realized that it was too personal. Starting that page was not like me. I may make ONE post on the subject, but that will be all. :)

Corn Something-Or-Other

I love to experiment with food and cooking. Yesterday, for breakfast, I had a sort of cereal made from corn meal and water boiled together, with margarine, salt, and sugar added. All I will say is that it was appropriate fare for a Friday in Lent. I wouldn't even call it corn meal mush, a name I dislike anyway. The only proper, fitting name for it is GLOP. This morning, I took the leftovers, added a beaten egg, some flour, some creamed corn, sugar, and baking powder, and cooked the batter in a pan with melted margarine. The result: Corn pudding! Much better!

Rescued Pot

There was a tarnished pot Mom wanted to get rid of, but I scoured it with steel wool, and now it looks almost as good as new. I love getting the tarnish off of pots and pans.

Once Again, A Post About The Rosary

I've changed the way I pray the Rosary. Instead of praying two decades at a time, I now pray the Joyful Mysteries in the morning, the Luminous Mysteries [offered for priest]in the afternoon, the Sorrowful Mysteries in the evening, and the Glorious Mysteries at night.

Crossed Channels?

Something strange happened while I was watching the live Mass on EWTN. Just as Fr. Mark was about to begin the Eucharistic Prayer, Channel 12 began transmitting on Channel 59. I had to switch to Channel 135. Thank God for Channel 135!

Bread Dough

I stirred up some bread dough yesterday, although I had no milk. I used three eggs, some melted margarine, baking powder, and, of course, flour. {Quote from "Anne of Green Gables", by L.M. Montgomery: "Flour is so essential to cakes." } Yes, and essential to bread, too! It was good, but I won't make often because I don't want to run out of eggs.

Snowflakes

They're predicting another snowstorm for tomorrow. Incidentally, I think I'll try to find out about the different types of snowflakes.

Studying Again

I've been neglecting my studies lately, but I'm getting back to work. Right now I'm on decimals.

New Ad

I found a new ad for my collection.

One Of My Great Ambitions

From an old post: One of my great ambitions is to take a nap every day, but that seldom happens! Update: I think I've figured out how to manage that: Go downstairs a bit before 11:00 AM, and lie down for 30 minutes. Whether I sleep or not isn't important; what counts is that I am resting. Update: I've found that I can't always manage a nap at the same time every day; sometimes I have to postpone it. However, I've had to skip my nap only once so far.

Overheard on Line (not online)

This happened when "Another World" was still in production. I was on line at the bank. There were two women in front of me speaking in Yiddish. One of them said, "Rachel." I didn't pay much attention; Rachel is a fairly common name. But then she added, "Ken Jordan," to which her friend responded, "Feh!" I thought, "Feh, indeed!", and I sighed and said one word, one name, "Mac." They turned, nodded and said, sadly, "Mac."

Collection Moved

I've moved my collection back to its own blog.

Two Ads

I found two new ads for my collection.

What We Outgrow, and What We Don't

Years ago, someone told me that it was about time I outgrew children's books. I was tempted, [oh WAS I tempted!] to say, "Isn't it time you learned to mind your own business?" What I actually responded was: "You outgrow your clothes. You, hopefully, outgrow bad habits. You do not outgrow good books."

I WON'T Read these Books right now!

Two books I definitely won't be reading during Lent: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl (sidenote: his short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter" is PRICELESS, IMO. "The Chocolate Touch", by Patrick Skene Catling

From the "I Love Reading" Files

From the "I Love Reading" Files I commented on this post.

New Page

I've given my collection its own page, and added a new ad. LOL! Added a new ad!

Laughing During Lent

Thank God I don't give up laughing for Lent. If I did, I couldn't watch EWTN.

Some of My Collections

I've been interested in collecting things ever since I read "Herbert", by Hazel Wilson. The first chapter was called "Herbert's Can Collection". That story got me started on my first collection: the LABELS from cans. Later on, I collected soda bottle caps, and then, obsolete words, which I copied into a notebook. That one didn't last long because of my handwriting. Another collection I had might best be called Chocolatania, because it was made up of ads, wrappers, boxtops, ANYTHING to do with chocolate. (And WHY did I remind myself of chocolate NOW????) My current collection, of course, is part of this blog. I also enjoy reading about other people's collections,especially the more unusual ones. I'd sort of like an unusual collection of my own, but I'm not sure that I want to start a second collection just for the sake of having an unusual collection.

It's Lent Again!

Lent has begun. I find it easier to give up ALL junk food, and ALL snacking than to give up just one thing. One year, I gave up only chocolate, and nothing else, and I was going crazy thinking how much I missed chocolate. In fact, if I remember correctly, that was the one year since I've been a Catholic that I didn't make it all through Lent! This year I decided that I wouldn't add any condiments to my food, at least on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. So I had one egg on one piece of bread, no margarine on the bread, and no salt or pepper (I sometimes, but seldom, pepper my eggs) on the egg. To my surprise, it didn't taste bad at all, nor did the unsalted, unmargarined small boiled potato I had later on. The only thing that really didn't taste good was the unsweetened tea. But is Lent so much about fasting, as it is about growing as a Christian?

After All, It IS a Tradition!

Shrove Tuesday! Of course I made pancakes, and not frozen or from a mix. I stirred up my own, using flour (some of which, naturally, ended up on the counter), corn meal, eggs, and milk. I'm not so great at measuring due to my perceptual problem; even using a measuring cup I can't judge correctly. Nevertheless, my cooking usually turns out all right. The first two pancakes were pretty good, but tasted a bit more eggy than I like them, so I added a bit more flour, corn meal, and milk. Much better! I had forgotten to order maple syrup or honey, so I used margarine and granulated sugar as a topping.

Renegade Phoenix Priest Laicized

Renegade Phoenix Priest Laicized

Koala Bear

I posted this on Facebook, but I also wanted to blog it. Rochelle Brown Rochelle found a lost Homeless Koala when they were cleaning up! Their pet Kiki was tidying up around their friend's place when they discovered this abandoned Homeless Koala. This lost toy now needs a good home! 2 minutes ago via PetVille · Comment · Like · Adopt Toy Rochelle Brown That reminds me of the Koala Bear toy in Carolyn Haywood's "Betsy" books! Oh, how I wanted a Koala of my own. Only, I thought it was pronounced COLA! (Can't post the picture)

Daytona 500

Mom and I watched the Daytona 500. I wasn't sure if I'd see all of it, because at 3:00 PM I always stop whatever I'm doing and pray the Chaplet of Mercy, and at 6:00 PM on Sunday, I'm downstairs watching Benediction and Devotion on EWTN. They expected the race to be over by 5:00, but you never know. This race lasted past 7:30, because it was red-flagged twice for track repairs. A red flag means that the race is stopped, and no work may be done on any of the cars.

Win a copy of the Rosary book -- on the radio Monday morning

Win a copy of the Rosary book -- on the radio Monday morning

Cabbages

I just reached Level 27 on FarmVille. Now I can plant cabbages. Side note: Oh, for some of my Baba's stuffed cabbages! Nobody, but nobody, could make them like Baba. Her secret: a piece of dark chocolate in the sauce.

Bad Reactions

Time for a little bit of brutal honesty; something I don't like to admit about myself. I can't take criticism. I am a grown woman, and yet I tend to react like a child when I am criticized. And when I say that I react like a child, I do not meant that my response is childlike, but rather, childish. Oh, I know the reason. All too well do I know the reason. For years, I was unfairly, and often publicly, criticized, scolded, shamed for things having to do with my disability. The result is that I resent all criticism, no matter how justified it may be. But maybe it is time for me to grow up a little bit, to stop hiding behind the hurts of the past. And something good did come from all those unfair scoldings. I learned from my own experience, my own hurt, never to criticize a child for not being able to do something.

One More Purchase Before Lent

I ordered "Changes For The Chalet School", by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. This was probably my last non-grocery purchase until Easter.

Red Contact Paper

I just ordered a roll of solid red Contact Paper for the kitchen counter. Right now, the pattern on the counter makes spots hard to see.

Weather Phenomenon

This is definitely something for the record books. There is snow on the ground in every state! Yep, EVERY STATE! As far as I know, this has never happened before. God is working wonders with the weather.

Rest and Prayer

From an old post: One of my great ambitions is to take a nap every day, but that seldom happens! Update: I think I've figured out how to manage that: Go downstairs a bit before 11:00 AM, and lie down for 30 minutes. Whether I sleep or not isn't important; what counts is that I am resting. After resting, I pray the Office of Readings.

Co-ordination and Other Things

This is taken, slightly modified, from one of my old blogs. Time to reveal something about myself. I am a middle-aged {I've never liked that expression, because to me middle-aged is half as old as one is GOING to be}single woman, still living with my mother due to a physical disability. We have separate apartments; mine is downstairs, and Mom's is upstairs. The computer is upstairs. I have poor eye-hand co-ordination, and a perceptual-motor problem. To put it as simply as possible, this means that my hands cannot copy what my eyes see. This is why I took exception, in a review on amazon.com, to something Beverly Cleary wrote in one of her books. In one of her notes to the principal, Maggie's teacher, Mrs. Leeper, writes: "Maggie is now reading cursive. I saw her reading what I had written on the chalkboard. If she can read it, she can write it." Not necessarily. There are children (and adults) with perceptual motor handicaps, poor eye-hand co-ordination, and other, often unrecognized, disabilities, who CANNOT write well, even though their reading skills may be at grade level or higher. I feel that Beverly Cleary (who has been one of my favorite authors since I was in the third grade) does a disservice to these people with this passage. I was reading at an early age, but I still can't write legibly. How many times was I scolded by my teachers who felt that since I read so well, my sloppy penmanship must be due to carelessness and laziness? "She's just not trying!" My poor co-ordination also gives me a problem with my balance. I can walk all right in my own home and my own yard, where I don't have to worry about people in a hurry pushing into me. So I only go out and about if I have someone to hold on to. Another aspect of my perceptual problem is that I cannot properly judge where things are in relationship to where I am. I can see WHAT it is, but I won't be able to point to it accurately, nor can I tell what other people are pointing to. This meant that I "saw" the teacher pointing to me when, in reality, she was calling on someone else, and vice-versa. Once I was aware of this, I asked my teachers to call on me by name. I was also one of the kids other kids picked on and called "REE-tard!" I'm sure that some, at least, wish they could apologize. I have no grudge against my former schoolmates; they, like me, were just kids. I may very well have been the one MAKING fun of someone had the situation been reversed. In fact, I probably did, at one time or another, make fun of someone. Perhaps we all did it at least once. After I had joined the Catholic Church, someone told me that Purgatory would be much worse than anything that happened to me in school. I responded, "No, I think it will be better, because it will be FAIR. I won't suffer anything I don't DESERVE in Purgartory." And as I type this, it occurs to me that Purgatory won't only be FAIR; it will be MERCIFUL, because God is merciful. I'll suffer in Purgatory much LESS than I deserve.

Yay, Pippi!

One of my favorite scenes takes place in a "Pippi Longstocking" book. Pippi and her friends, Tommy and Annika, pass a drugstore with a sign in the window that reads. DO YOU SUFFER FROM FRECKLES? After Pippi finds out what the sign says, she goes in and tells a clerk, "No, I do not suffer from freckles." The clerk responds, "But, my dear child, your face is covered with freckles!" "I know it," Pippi answers, "but I don't suffer from them. I love them." And I love that attitude!

Two Chalet School Books

I finished "The Chalet School in Exile", and am now reading "The Chalet School at War" {Hardcover title: "The Chalet School Goes to It"

Following a Blog

I am now following Karen Edmisten's blog. {See "Blogs I Like} It turns out that she, like me, is a fan of the "Anne of Green Gables", "Betsy-Tacy" and "Ramona" books.

Reading List

CURRENTLY READING: "The Chalet School in Exile", by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. {juvenile fiction, school series} (This is the first of the "war years" Chalet School books) "The Art Spirit", by Robert Henri (nonfiction) "Pirkei Avos Treasury" (I prefer this to the version I started reading online, because it has commentaries, which the online version lacks.) (Judaica, nonfiction) The Rosary: Keeping Company With Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten {New book, published this year}

Did I Really Need to Announce This?

I've finished "In This House of Brede".

Cold, and I Don't Mean the Weather

This will probably be a short post. I've got a cold, and I'm spending most of the day resting. [Originally published when I had several topics in each post.]

Blizzard, and Poetry

I keep thinking of these words from "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", by Wallace Stevens: "It was snowing and it was going to snow." I've always loved those words.

Has it REALLY Been 46 Years?

"> On this night in 1964,at the age of ten, I fell in love with Paul McCartney while he was singing "Till There Was You." The next day, I bought some teen magazines for the first time. When Mom saw them, she said, "She's too young to be a teenager!" At the age of twelve, I wrote to Paul: "Dear Paul, I love you very much, but I am only twelve years old. Please wait until I grow up." LOL!!!!

I LIKE Lent

Lent starts a week after tomorrow. Actually, I like Lent. I'm not saying doing without certain things is easy. What I like is the focus on the spiritual, the time to work even more diligently than during the rest of the year on improving myself by concentrating less on myself and more on God. Give up some foods, yes, but even better, give up a bad habit. The difference is that on Easter Sunday, I'll go back to the foods I'm giving up, but not to the bad habits

Need a New Book

I've finished "The Interior Castle". Now I need to select another book for my Catholic spiritual reading.

Nauseas, and Then....

I felt really nauseas this morning, even while I was watching the Mass on EWTN. And then, during the Eucharistic Prayer, when Fr. Wade held up the consecrated Host, I felt fine!

Thank God for Sour Milk

I've got some milk that's going sour, but I'm not going to throw it out. I plan to mix up some biscuits tomorrow; sour milk biscuits are delicious! So I can even say thank God for sour milk, and thank God I have flour!

Da Vinci Code? No, thanks!

TNT is showing "The Da Vinci Code" tonight. I won't be watching. I get my bologna from the deli!

Found A Better Copy

I never heard from the seller who sent me the wrong copy of "The Chalet School in the Oberland", but, thank God, I found a relatively inexpensive copy from the original publisher on abebooks.com. I've ordered the book.

Still Studying

I'm now up to Absolute Values in pre-algebra. Not NEARLY as interesting or challenging as what I've been working on for the last few days; in fact not challenging at all. {So far}

An Old Reading List

CURRENTLY READING: "In This House of Brede", by Rumer Godden {fiction, Catholic themes}. This is one of my very favorite books. "The Art Spirit", by Robert Henri (nonfiction) "Pirkei Avos Treasury" (I prefer this to the version I started reading online, because it has commentaries, which the online version lacks.) (Judaica, nonfiction) The Rosary: Keeping Company With Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten {New book, published this year)

Praying the Rosary

Less really IS more. I've discovered a way to pray SEVERAL rosaries, FULL rosaries a day. Instead of praying a full set of mysteries at a time, I now pray just two decades. Also, I pray these two decades after each activity, which means I may be praying those two decades several times in one hour. I begin each rosary in the usual way, and then, after the last Glorious Mystery, I pray the conluding prayers. Every morning, I pick up where I left off the night before. I use a list and a paper clip, so I don't lose my place. Update: Lately I haven't prayed the Rosary QUITE so many times a day, but I always manage at least ONE full Rosary. I've also tried two decades every half hour, except when I'm doing something that can't be interrupted. Maybe I should go back to that. I'm definitely getting at least one new book of Rosary meditations this month.

Japanese Customs

I want to learn about Japanese culture and customs, holidays, theater, flower arranging, the tea ceremony, religion. I especially want to know more about the Catholic Church in Japan.

Weather in Alabama

They had SNOW in Alabama, according to Fr. Anthony, who celebrated the morning Mass.

The (Original) 40th Post

Announcing the 40th post in this blog!!!!!!!! Modified to add: According to my old blogging system, that is!

THREE Collections

This is something that happened over 25 years ago. I was out of town, and I went to Sunday Mass in an unfamiliar parish. Well, they had three, yes, THREE collections. The second collection was taken up DURING THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER, RIGHT AFTER THE CONSECRATION!!! Now that was just plain sacrilegious!!!

Changes on FishVille

I was just on FishVille. Hungry fish have balloons with FOOD icons over their mouths. Today there was something new. One of my fish had a balloon with a red cross; he/she was sick and needed medicine. I'm going to keep checking my tank.

Sundae? Float?

I tried an experiment about an hour ago. I put a cut-up banana, some walnuts, and some chocolate ice-cream into a soup bowl. Then I poured less than half a can of cream soda over it. Not quite a sundae, and not quite a float or ice cream soda, but quite delicious.

Spider Solitaire

I just played Spider Solitaire Deluxe on grab.com, Normal level, two suits. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy that game. Next time I might try the Hard level.

Winky Takes Playing With His Food to a Whole New Level

Winky was dragging his cat grass around, pausing every now and then to nibble a piece. Mom and I were hysterical! I asked Mom, "Is he taking a picnic?" Mom said that she wished she had a camera. I wish we had a camera, and a scanner!

Tune, Yes, Lyrics, No

One song I both love and hate is "Only The Good Die Young", by Billy Joel. I LOVE the music, but I absolutely LOATHE the anti-Catholic lyrics.

Our Friend Frances Kaplan: RIP

I heard Mom's phone ring at a bit after 7:00 this morning. I knew that, at that hour, it had to be either bad news or a wrong number. When I came upstairs around 10:00, Mom told me that she had gotten some terrible news, but it wasn't about anyone in the family. Frances Kaplan, Mom's friend since the first grade, passed away suddenly last night. Her landlord found her sitting outside, not moving. I told Mom that that was a beautiful way to go, sitting outside and maybe looking at the stars, and also that her family and friends were spared seeing her suffer. Rest in peace, Frances.

Must See Astronomy Picture

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a must see!

February 2, 2010

I played Schnauser on this GAMES SITE earlier today. It's been awhile, and I only got to Level 7. I may play Mahjonng later, but I want to do some math first.

An Old Reading List

CURRENTLY READING: "In This House of Brede", by Rumer Godden {fiction, Catholic themes}. This is one of my very favorite books. "The Art Spirit", by Robert Henri (nonfiction) "Pirkei Avos Treasury" (I prefer this to the version I started reading online, because it has commentaries, which the online version lacks.) (Judaica, nonfiction) The Rosary: Keeping Company With Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten {New book, published this year)

Math Puzzles? Maybe

I, who had so much trouble with math in school, am now thinking of getting a book of math puzzles. Unbelievable! Update: I may hold off on that, and look for online (untimed) math games and puzzles instead. They have to be untimed, because of my poor co-ordination and slow typing.

December 4, 2009

There's a new game called PetVille on Facebook. I've already started playing. It's a bit on the silly side, but that's fine with me.

December 3, 2009

CURRENTLY READING: "In This House of Brede", by Rumer Godden {fiction, Catholic themes}. This is one of my very favorite books. "The Art Spirit", by Robert Henri (nonfiction) "Pirkei Avos Treasury" (I prefer this to the version I started reading online, because it has commentaries, which the online version lacks.) (Judaica, nonfiction) The Rosary: Keeping Company With Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten {New book, published this year)

December 3, 2009

I ordered a copy of "The Interior Castle" from the EWTN catalog. This time I KNOW I'm getting a faithful Catholic translation!

Front Page

Welcome to my blog. As you can see, I post on a variety of subjects here, some more personal than others. Since different people have different interests, please click on the labels that interest you. New material added every day.

"A systemic pattern of cooperation with evil"

"A systemic pattern of cooperation with evil" God help us.

February 1, 2010

I found a new game called ORBITAL. I think that this is one I'll be playing frequently.