Anne Adjusts

Anne Hiler, my father's sister and last of her generation, is adjusting to widowhood as well as can be expected.

My mother is with her, and Kathe and I are checking in with her.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "It's okay if that's all you have to say."\\

Good Cookies

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

I make them for Kathe and me to eat on the paper route.

Still wish I could find Becca's recipe card for the recipe I used to use.

Or ask Becca about it....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "She loved her mother. And she loved you."\\

A New Post at My Massage Blog

You might find it of interest, especially if you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders just now.

http://johnmburtlmt.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-shoulder-well.html

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Don't we all?"\\

Edublog Post

I found this while searching the phrase "Frankenstein's World", because that is the title of my next book and I was wondering what else people would find when searching for it.* I found the thoughts of someone reading the original novel, and a final post which expresses disappointment in the ending. My comment:
"I have to say I disagree with you about the ending of the original book. I think Frankenstein dying unavenged, and the monster likewise unavenged, is entirely appropriate, since what I have known of revenge tells me that even when it is 'successful', it is almost never satisfying.
"Clearly, though, many have disagreed, since I have not yet seen any dramatization or adaptation which has ended that way. The monster almost always kills Frankenstein and then dies himself, via a bolt of lightning (as in the original stage version) or in a fire (as in the 1931 Universal film) or literally fading away (as in the 1910 Edison film). The closest to the original ending that I have seen is a TV adaptation in which Frankenstein and the monster wrestle aboard Walton's ship and then fall through the ice to drown together."
In my own Frankenstein's World, I don't kill off either Frankenstein or his abandoned child. But I hope readers will find it satisfying.

*Mostly, references to a TV series called Once Upon a Time -- it looks interesting.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "There are as many Frankenstein's worlds as there are readers -- at the very least."\\

Light a Candle

Although Kathe and I haven't attended the Quaker Meeting in several years, we still get e-mails from them.
The other day, we heard that a Quaker had suffered a stroke. We have visited twice, talking with him and me rubbing his shoulders. Today, I read to him from a book about the peace witness movement. In one essay, the author said that the act of bearing witness was more often a candle held over an abyss than a bolt of lightning illuminating the landscape.
The thought occurred to me that if you lean over the abyss with a candle, you won't see very far, but anyone at the bottom will see your light, and know that someone is looking.
An isolated person will feel less lonely.
A despairing person will know someone cares.
A guilty person will know that the abyss does not hide everything.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Brighten up the corner you're in."\\

Meanwhile, The Ice Continues to Melt . . . .

[W]ith thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.
Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea
Contagious fogs; which falling in the land
Have every pelting river made so proud
That they have overborne their continents:
The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn
Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard...
The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
The human mortals want their winter here...
And thorough this distemperature we see
The seasons alter...the spring, the summer,
The childing autumn, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world,
By their increase, now knows not which is which....

We can't blame the fairies for this. It's us.

We are their parents and original.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "It is decidedly so."\\

Whose Flag Is This?

Anybody know?

I saw it the other day, and thought it was quite interesting.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it."\\

Magic Eight-Balls Got Legs

They were sitting on our doorstep, much the way the Magic Eight-Ball arrived on our doorstep some weeks ago, with three black suction cups and a note explaining that they were "Eight-Ball legs". Well, okay, then they must be....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Thank you."\\

[Update: Finally did find out who was doing all that stuff. He came by while we were in and gave us a "cuestick" (not sure what it really is, but it's pretty) to go with the ball. And its legs.]

I Forgive You For Hating Teen Moms

I have only just discovered the FB page "I Hate Teen Moms" and the unfortunately large group of pages which imitate it. Looking them over has helped me to finally understand why Jesus said "Judge not, lest ye be judged". Clearly, Jesus understood that most people who are extremely judgmental are trying to push away the possibility that they would not measure up to the standards they set themselves, and think that attacking other people they will somehow shield themselves from judgment. Lighten up, people. It won't work. In fact, the best way to feel better about your own failings is the opposite: to be forgiving and understanding of other people.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "I think Jesus said that, too."\\

Happy Birthday, Walden

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Hold him in the Light."\\

Christmas Truce Poem

Not long after I finished The Christmas Mutiny, I met a woman writing poems "to order" at the Saturday Market. I commissioned a poem on the subject of the Christmas Truce, but then didn't see her for several months. I learned later she had been out of town most of the time.
Yesterday, she was at the market again, spotted me and delivered the poem. I like it a lot:


The Christmas Truce, by Cassie Ruud

We will not fight today.
We will not let you order us
into these pukish
mud-blood-soaked trenches
on this day.
You took us from our families,
from the arms of our wives and children
and thrown us against each other
for reasons
we do not understand.
So we will not fight today.
We will stand a tree,
sing our songs,
play soccer out in No-Man's-Land
almost far enough away
to hide from the trench stench
We will pretend our darlings
are close to us, show
each other pocketed lockets
full of pictures,
smoke our pipes in silence and stare numbly into the fire.


//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Peace on Earth."\\

The Magic Eight-Ball Says, "Here I Am!"

Kathe and I were just out, and when we returned there was a package on the porch.
A note read only, "As the Magic Eight-Ball rolls."
Inside was, sure enough, an eight ball. It appears to be just the usual pool table type of eight-ball, but I am going to watch it for any signs of magical properties.
In the meantime, we have an eight ball. How cool is that?

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Totally cool."\\

Philmfotos

I saw this on Facebook today:

http://philmfotos.tumblr.com/

Nifty.

Before there was such a thing as Google Street Views, I imagined it, and added bonus features like icons floating in the air: you could move your POV in front of the icon and "look through" it to see things like notes on the location, historical images of the same place, paintings of the same view and, yes, stills from movies which were filmed on the spot.

And then there are sites like

http://dearphotograph.com/

and one I really like

http://sergey-larenkov.livejournal.com/

The Taming of the Shrew

It was pretty cool.

The weather was mild, also.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Kiss me, Kat(h)e."\\

I Am An Oddfellow, But I'm Okay With That

I have just come home from an Oddfellows meeting, and have been reflecting on the Oddfellows' call for honorable conduct and service to humanity.

Thinking about how profound are simple truths such as, "This, too, shall pass" and "governments depend on the consent of the governed".

Thinking about how my parents really did raise me to be a good neighbor and to help move the world forward (or at least not impede it).

Thinking about my relatives and their values, and how I do feel privileged to be a member of a family like mine.

Yes, really.


//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Psst -- all men are brothers. Pass it on."\\

Fifty-Two Pickup

A week from Friday, I will turn 52, and as of now I am resolved that the theme of the next year of my life will be Fifty-Two Pickup.

The cards are all over the floor, but I will pick them up, one by one. I will shuffle the deck thoroughly. I will deal everyone a new hand.

Many thanks to my hypnotherapist, Robert Plamondon, who helped me reach this resolution*.

Resolution: 1) A formal declaration of understanding and/or intent. 2) The achievement of clearer vision.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "That is how the game is played."\\

A very Good Piece of Music

Someone sent me this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be

Really a gorgeous piece of music. That's why, among other things, I used it in The Christmas Mutiny.




//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Alle Menschen Werde Buredern".\\

Hope Needs an Eyrie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cVOOXQo22o

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "What makes one step a giant leap is all the steps before."\\

Inside the Benton County Courthouse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9soLYwwl87s

I first saw the Benton County Courthouse in 1966, when I was six years old.

Coming over the Harrison Avenue Bridge into town, seeing the Courthouse illuminated by floodlights, I was powerfully impressed with it.

I still am, really.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "It's impressive."\\

Wanna Buy a Sputnik?

We call it "Sputnik" because it has a fault that causes it to beep-beep-beep whenever any of the doors are open.

For the most part, though, it's in pretty good shape.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "And you could use the money."\\