I don't know if this will work but, I'm trying it. In the spirit of promoting fun and not being too much of a perfectionist to try things here is a link. I don't know why it isn't blue. Somebody sent me this email called Piano Steps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
The Fun Theory is a project thing Volkswagen is doing. The idea is that you can get people to do things if they think they are more fun. It really does look like it would be fun to go up and down those piano steps.
I wonder what kind of ideas I could come up with to make things more fun and make me what to do stuff that I don't want to do?
I remember working with someone on a boring job. We were hand-writing addresses on envelopes for a business (they employed us because they wanted to give the personal touch to a sale they were having). This person I was working with encouraged us to have races to see who could get the most done in a certain amount of time. It did make the time go by faster (and we got more done). We had thousands of names to go through. After a while it did get pretty tedious. He was good to work around because he also had a good sense of humor as well.
I used to not like washing dishes and now I don't mind it. In fact it is one thing I seem to get done regularly. I do them by hand because the dish washer is broken. I don't know how much fun it is for me, however. Maybe I like doing it because I like having it done. But I really don't mind it. I've heard many people who say they hate to hand wash stuff, they only want dishes and pans they can put in a dishwasher, and to use the dishwasher for everything no matter how many loads it takes. I wonder why. Maybe it is fun for me! I know I feel satisfied when it is done.
I also know people who hate to do hand sewing. Hand sewing is something I enjoy.
I also like peeling vegetables. I wouldn't want to have mountains of potatoes to peel like in those old army movies, but I don't mind doing enough to make a meal for myself or others. I find it relaxing.
During a period in my life when I was feeling stressed out a woman who I just had started to get to know was giving me a ride with her to Curves (a workout place for women). She was a neighbor who I just had waved hello to in the past. She suggested we go to the Dollar Store (a generic term) after our workout. In the store she went to the greeting card section, noticed some cards out of order, and she started putting them in their right places. She said she found that relaxing. Hehe! I thought I was the only one who did stuff like that!
But I have been having trouble with my quilting because of perfectionism, and I'm not sure what else. And quilting is fun. I think the most fun part is picking the colors and designing. I haven't gotten into a groove about quilting. Maybe I need to just do it.
Churchill liked to lay bricks and painting for fun. I think he enjoyed writing. I think he also enjoyed writing speeches (which seems like a distinct kind of writing). I enjoy writing. I have done painting in the past and have enjoyed it.
I've been reading about Churchill as I've said in previous posts. I haven't gotten very far in the first book I was reading, I got interested in Churchill more than the book written by him, and ended up getting into a library book about him. (I had gotten two actually but I took one back. The book I took back was by Churchill's granddaughter and seems like it would be worth trying again later. It was about lessons in leadership we could learn from Churchill.) The one I've kept is The Last Lion, Vol. 2: Alone 1932-1940, which were years during which everyone had dismissed and mocked Churchill as a man who had failed to live up to his potential and a reactionary not to be taken seriously. That would make another post.
Showing posts with label accomplishments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accomplishments. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I have been reading, "Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West", by Ambrose Stephen. It's about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, primarily through the eyes of Lewis.
The author begins developing the story by taking the reader through Lewis' birth in Virginia in 1774, his formative years as a young man eager to get an education, and his early manhood, (at the age of 18 he bore the responsibility as the head of the family estate).
Something, I didn't know or remember was that before he embarked on the famous expedition, Lewis had served as the personal secretary to Jefferson and even lived in the Whitehouse with Jefferson (who was single). Jefferson was a mentor to Lewis. It struck me that that alone might have been considered a noteworthy accomplishment by some.
But there was much more to come. I felt the excitement that Lewis and Jefferson must have felt as they spent time discussing and planning the expedition. Among other things that needed to be done, Jefferson had to provide for funding. He was not a spendthrift as President, but he felt this endeavor to be worthy. So, he set about trying to convince congress. Jefferson meanwhile was working on another project, an offer to Napoleon for the United States to purchase New Orleans. Napoleon offered not only the city of New Orleans, but also France's whole claim to lands known as Louisiana. Jefferson took the offer. Curiously, neither Napoleon or the Americans had an exact mapping or knew the exact extent of the land involved in the transaction. Louisiana was vaguely construed the area encompassing the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
With the successful completion of that enterprise, the purchase of Louisiana, Jefferson had even more reason to request funding from Congress for the exploration of the recently purchased lands. Jefferson also envisioned that a water passage to the Pacific, the so-called Northwest Passage, could be found.
When congress did approve the trip, Lewis received basically a carte blanche, letter of credit for supplies and expenses. (What's new, the expenses of the trip were greatly underestimated.) Reading about Lewis' purchases of supplies, and deciding on what would be needed for the trip, I could only imagine what would have been like to buy anything he wanted. And I thought of my own anticipation before trips trying to pack light and usually not successfully. He must have been trying to think of everything that would be needed, reviewing what he had bought and trying to think if there was anything else they would need. The list included, nourishment, medicine, journals, arms (rifles and ammunition, etc.) for hunting and protection, items for trading with the Indians, many tools of various sorts, and what not, for many months travel and camping. And then packing it; it amazed me to think of all of that being packed into a boat.
The first of the boats purchased could hold many tons of goods, it was not one of the sort of canoes that I had always pictured them traveling in. I must admit I'm not very familiar with boats and that I had a hard time picturing the vessels although the book describes them in some detail. I would like to see pictures, or better yet see them in person.
Waiting on a drunken boat builder to complete the boat he had ordered caused Lewis several weeks delay. But he had to wait, he was dependent upon that fellow's services because no one else around had the skill to finish the job. I could feel his anxiousness to get going and his frustration. He had a long way to go before winter set in. It was already August (of 1803).
By the time he did get going, (he was on the Ohio River at this point), the river was too low for easy passage and the boat had to be dragged at several points. He then purchased some canoes to help share the load. There would be several more boat purchases along the journey. They also made some boats.
As part of his preparations, Lewis had also spent a good bit of time learning about botany, and how to make geographical measurements using the sun and stars for references. Jefferson wanted him to keep records about a vast array of subjects including not only records of new plants and animals seen, and the geographic records, but also detailed descriptions about the various Indian groups and their trading practices.
An interesting note about Clark: Lewis chose Clark to accompany him and wanted him to have equal position with him as a captain. He hired Clark and sent notice of his request that Clark be made a captain. But when the papers finally came through, he found that Clark had been designated as Lieutenant. Lewis told Clark that he wanted him to be a captain and they didn't tell the crew any different.
It must have seemed like such a grand adventure as Lewis set out from Pittsburgh. And they must all have been filled with excitement when Lewis and crew met up with Clark and his men along the Ohio River, and again when they reached the Mississippi, and really at some many points along the way until they finally achieved their goal and reached the Pacific.
Not only Lewis, but Clark and the crew kept journals. One thing one can't help noticing in reading the various excerpts is the spelling and punctuation. The spelling was typical of the spelling of the time, there were no absolute standards. Even the well educated found it difficult to choose the proper spelling of words. I found the many variations in spelling for the same word rather amusing. But then I thought about the fact they would not have been carrying around dictionaries (and certainly did not have spell checkers). I'm not sure that there were dictionaries yet.
Much of what we know about their journey is through what they recorded in those journals. Naturally, there were many frustrations and difficulties along the way. There were dangerous encounters with Indians, with the elements, with grizzly bears, and mosquitoes, sickness, injuries, hunger, cold, anxieties and uncertainties about where they were and which way to proceed.
In one way, I was impressed with Lewis' bravery over all, and in particular in encountering the Indians. I just wonder what those meetings would have been like. I suppose that he must have had a forceful personality to not only make the initial approaches but to be welcomed and to continue in the company of all of the different Indians they met. In other words, I think they must have liked and respected him.
I could admire his bravery, but then again, I was saddened by the way Lewis and the rest of the party viewed and treated the Indians. For one, he was trying sell the story that they, as representatives of the United States, were just friendly visitors. Jefferson and Lewis had fixed their stories as to what they would tell the Indian tribes. Lewis had his agenda and he stuck to it, pretty much. One version of the story was that Lewis's group were merely on a scientific expedition (they were, but that was only partially true), and another was that they were just hoping to establish trade with the Indians.
Invitations were extended to the chiefs to meet their "father" Jefferson. They urged peace and cooperation between all of the other Indians and with the Americans. I wonder if their words were met with any skepticism by the Indians? If so, rightly so. It would nice to have a record of those visits through the Indian's eyes.
I felt saddened especially when they reached the Pacific Northwest learning that the Indian tribes that they spent time with there would mostly die off in not too many years, due to small pox.
I really disliked reading what Jefferson told someone in a letter, essentially that he was hoping to pacify the Indians by creating dependence on the United States through trade. He said, if the United States could put the Indians in the position of buying trade goods on credit, they would likely soon go into debt and then they would likely pay off they debts with their land.
The Indian way of life, including their notion of "ownership" of land, being a sort of fluid thing, would soon be coming to an end. In some ways the Lewis and Clark expedition might have served the purpose of notifying the Indians of the changes that were coming their way.
It would be easy to romanticize that way of life, but then again they were warring peoples, not only fighting white men but also among themselves. As one of their young men remarked fighting was their way of proving their bravery, how else could they do it? It's difficult, if not impossible, to imagine the Indian way of life continuing the way it had been.
The author begins developing the story by taking the reader through Lewis' birth in Virginia in 1774, his formative years as a young man eager to get an education, and his early manhood, (at the age of 18 he bore the responsibility as the head of the family estate).
Something, I didn't know or remember was that before he embarked on the famous expedition, Lewis had served as the personal secretary to Jefferson and even lived in the Whitehouse with Jefferson (who was single). Jefferson was a mentor to Lewis. It struck me that that alone might have been considered a noteworthy accomplishment by some.
But there was much more to come. I felt the excitement that Lewis and Jefferson must have felt as they spent time discussing and planning the expedition. Among other things that needed to be done, Jefferson had to provide for funding. He was not a spendthrift as President, but he felt this endeavor to be worthy. So, he set about trying to convince congress. Jefferson meanwhile was working on another project, an offer to Napoleon for the United States to purchase New Orleans. Napoleon offered not only the city of New Orleans, but also France's whole claim to lands known as Louisiana. Jefferson took the offer. Curiously, neither Napoleon or the Americans had an exact mapping or knew the exact extent of the land involved in the transaction. Louisiana was vaguely construed the area encompassing the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
With the successful completion of that enterprise, the purchase of Louisiana, Jefferson had even more reason to request funding from Congress for the exploration of the recently purchased lands. Jefferson also envisioned that a water passage to the Pacific, the so-called Northwest Passage, could be found.
When congress did approve the trip, Lewis received basically a carte blanche, letter of credit for supplies and expenses. (What's new, the expenses of the trip were greatly underestimated.) Reading about Lewis' purchases of supplies, and deciding on what would be needed for the trip, I could only imagine what would have been like to buy anything he wanted. And I thought of my own anticipation before trips trying to pack light and usually not successfully. He must have been trying to think of everything that would be needed, reviewing what he had bought and trying to think if there was anything else they would need. The list included, nourishment, medicine, journals, arms (rifles and ammunition, etc.) for hunting and protection, items for trading with the Indians, many tools of various sorts, and what not, for many months travel and camping. And then packing it; it amazed me to think of all of that being packed into a boat.
The first of the boats purchased could hold many tons of goods, it was not one of the sort of canoes that I had always pictured them traveling in. I must admit I'm not very familiar with boats and that I had a hard time picturing the vessels although the book describes them in some detail. I would like to see pictures, or better yet see them in person.
Waiting on a drunken boat builder to complete the boat he had ordered caused Lewis several weeks delay. But he had to wait, he was dependent upon that fellow's services because no one else around had the skill to finish the job. I could feel his anxiousness to get going and his frustration. He had a long way to go before winter set in. It was already August (of 1803).
By the time he did get going, (he was on the Ohio River at this point), the river was too low for easy passage and the boat had to be dragged at several points. He then purchased some canoes to help share the load. There would be several more boat purchases along the journey. They also made some boats.
As part of his preparations, Lewis had also spent a good bit of time learning about botany, and how to make geographical measurements using the sun and stars for references. Jefferson wanted him to keep records about a vast array of subjects including not only records of new plants and animals seen, and the geographic records, but also detailed descriptions about the various Indian groups and their trading practices.
An interesting note about Clark: Lewis chose Clark to accompany him and wanted him to have equal position with him as a captain. He hired Clark and sent notice of his request that Clark be made a captain. But when the papers finally came through, he found that Clark had been designated as Lieutenant. Lewis told Clark that he wanted him to be a captain and they didn't tell the crew any different.
It must have seemed like such a grand adventure as Lewis set out from Pittsburgh. And they must all have been filled with excitement when Lewis and crew met up with Clark and his men along the Ohio River, and again when they reached the Mississippi, and really at some many points along the way until they finally achieved their goal and reached the Pacific.
Not only Lewis, but Clark and the crew kept journals. One thing one can't help noticing in reading the various excerpts is the spelling and punctuation. The spelling was typical of the spelling of the time, there were no absolute standards. Even the well educated found it difficult to choose the proper spelling of words. I found the many variations in spelling for the same word rather amusing. But then I thought about the fact they would not have been carrying around dictionaries (and certainly did not have spell checkers). I'm not sure that there were dictionaries yet.
Much of what we know about their journey is through what they recorded in those journals. Naturally, there were many frustrations and difficulties along the way. There were dangerous encounters with Indians, with the elements, with grizzly bears, and mosquitoes, sickness, injuries, hunger, cold, anxieties and uncertainties about where they were and which way to proceed.
In one way, I was impressed with Lewis' bravery over all, and in particular in encountering the Indians. I just wonder what those meetings would have been like. I suppose that he must have had a forceful personality to not only make the initial approaches but to be welcomed and to continue in the company of all of the different Indians they met. In other words, I think they must have liked and respected him.
I could admire his bravery, but then again, I was saddened by the way Lewis and the rest of the party viewed and treated the Indians. For one, he was trying sell the story that they, as representatives of the United States, were just friendly visitors. Jefferson and Lewis had fixed their stories as to what they would tell the Indian tribes. Lewis had his agenda and he stuck to it, pretty much. One version of the story was that Lewis's group were merely on a scientific expedition (they were, but that was only partially true), and another was that they were just hoping to establish trade with the Indians.
Invitations were extended to the chiefs to meet their "father" Jefferson. They urged peace and cooperation between all of the other Indians and with the Americans. I wonder if their words were met with any skepticism by the Indians? If so, rightly so. It would nice to have a record of those visits through the Indian's eyes.
I felt saddened especially when they reached the Pacific Northwest learning that the Indian tribes that they spent time with there would mostly die off in not too many years, due to small pox.
I really disliked reading what Jefferson told someone in a letter, essentially that he was hoping to pacify the Indians by creating dependence on the United States through trade. He said, if the United States could put the Indians in the position of buying trade goods on credit, they would likely soon go into debt and then they would likely pay off they debts with their land.
The Indian way of life, including their notion of "ownership" of land, being a sort of fluid thing, would soon be coming to an end. In some ways the Lewis and Clark expedition might have served the purpose of notifying the Indians of the changes that were coming their way.
It would be easy to romanticize that way of life, but then again they were warring peoples, not only fighting white men but also among themselves. As one of their young men remarked fighting was their way of proving their bravery, how else could they do it? It's difficult, if not impossible, to imagine the Indian way of life continuing the way it had been.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The House that Roone Built
A few years ago a local bookstore was going out of business and I bought several fat hard-bound books; books I might not ordinarily have chosen for reading matter.
I just finished reading one of those books, The House that Roone Built: the Inside Story of ABC News. I'm not sure why I picked up this book, except that I had happened to catch the funeral service for Roone Arledge on C-Span. The book published in 1984 describes the highlights of Roone's career at ABC and in the process, as the title indicates, give you an inside view of ABC news.
Did I have any particular interest in ABC news? Well, yes. For one, I had a sort of celebrity crush on Peter Jennings, and too I have watched a good bit of ABC news. Certainly much more than CBS or NBC news.
At one time I watched only PBS news. This was because I didn't have cable and I could only get two stations with my rabbit ears (yeah, with the coat hangers and foil). And it was a hassle to change between the two stations and realign the antennae. I usually stuck with PBS. I think ABC may have been the other channel, I don't remember for sure.
As for PBS's Newshour: one thing I really liked then and still appreciate is that there are no commercial interruptions. Among other things this means that they have time to go into stories in depth. On the other hand maybe I'm not really that deep! I find my mind often wanders listening to "talking heads" on PBS (or anywhere). Sometimes I would try really hard to make myself focus; only sometimes successfully.
Since I'm discussing news, I could mention that I also used to have a subscription to Time Magazine at the time. In the beginning I tried to read it from cover to cover. I found that this required that I have a dictionary at my side. That's cool, beef up my vocabulary. However, I finally realized even armed with a dictionary there was no way I could keep up reading all of the stories. The longer stories sometimes seemed to be not that substantial once I had deciphered the big words. Some interested me but didn't seem so important. I think I liked most the editorial posts. They were generally short and unambiguously biased.
And I used to get the Sunday paper too. I would save all of the issues of all of my magazine subscriptions (non-news varieties as well) and the Sunday papers (well I am a pack-rat of long-standing). And I would try to stay informed about the news. I don't think I was very successful really. I always read the funnies first. I would look at the pictures, generally scan the headlines and read what interested me. I'm not sure how much "news" I was really taking in.
In truth I fear I may have just the sort of short attention span that most of the news broadcasts seem to pander to.
If on the one hand, I do find myself getting frustrated when I hear a short blurb about something, maybe one or two sentences and on to another subject. It often seems I'm still wondering about the last story and then miss the next one. For one thing, I'm thinking why did they even mention that; I don't really know much more than before I heard the blurb.
On the other hand, I have a hard time trying to keeping track of the facts of stories, who is who and what is what and listening to long discussions about stuff I can't quite follow. To be fair this is true no matter what news source I'm using.
I have thought sometimes I have some instinct for what will make a good story subject, what local stories will make the national news. I don't know what this amounts to but I do have some kind of curiosity or fascination with the whole news making process. So I guess after all that it makes sense that I would read this book.
I've been trying to figure out what kind of job I would be good at. As I was reading this book I joked to myself, maybe I should have been a network president! (Ha!)
It seems that Roone was a man with many faults. One that irritated many people was that he would not return people's phone calls. (I do that! I'm afraid I'm apt not to return phone calls. I don't even have the excuse of getting many.) He let problems go, blamed other people and was indecisive. (I can relate to that.) He had a tendency to make everything about himself. (Um well, yeah I do that pretty often). He tried things that were a big flop. He sometimes went for the showy and the sensational. In the end perhaps it was his extravagant expenditures of money that led to his being pushed into a role of figurehead. As the book describes it, that is what his being named chairman amounted to. (Spending extravagantly sounds like fun, but it hasn't been my experience). Roone retired about 4 years before he died in 2002. So, the book doesn't cover the last 4 years of his career.
He had faults and failures. But he also tried some things that worked and he recognized talent. He went after the major stories and if he spent a lot of money, he often delivered. At his funeral I recall that people were saying that he pushed people to become more than they thought they could.
I guess those are the main things I got out of reading the book. There was a lot of competitiveness and politics behind the scenes--surely no surprise. And I suppose reading this book just reinforced the reality of the humanity of our news people; those on screen whose names and faces become familiar to us, the anchors and reporters, and all of those people off-screen, the little people and the big-wigs who are behind the scenes, all of those people who are responsible for bringing the news to us.
As a sidenote:
I have had this idea for news, now that news can be kept up with on the Internet. It's kind of vaguely in my head. Someway to help people know what they really would like to know about the news, get caught up on stories they've missed. But then again maybe that's already being done. Perhaps a person can find out about just about anything that they really want to, hm, well to a certain extent anyway.
I just finished reading one of those books, The House that Roone Built: the Inside Story of ABC News. I'm not sure why I picked up this book, except that I had happened to catch the funeral service for Roone Arledge on C-Span. The book published in 1984 describes the highlights of Roone's career at ABC and in the process, as the title indicates, give you an inside view of ABC news.
Did I have any particular interest in ABC news? Well, yes. For one, I had a sort of celebrity crush on Peter Jennings, and too I have watched a good bit of ABC news. Certainly much more than CBS or NBC news.
At one time I watched only PBS news. This was because I didn't have cable and I could only get two stations with my rabbit ears (yeah, with the coat hangers and foil). And it was a hassle to change between the two stations and realign the antennae. I usually stuck with PBS. I think ABC may have been the other channel, I don't remember for sure.
As for PBS's Newshour: one thing I really liked then and still appreciate is that there are no commercial interruptions. Among other things this means that they have time to go into stories in depth. On the other hand maybe I'm not really that deep! I find my mind often wanders listening to "talking heads" on PBS (or anywhere). Sometimes I would try really hard to make myself focus; only sometimes successfully.
Since I'm discussing news, I could mention that I also used to have a subscription to Time Magazine at the time. In the beginning I tried to read it from cover to cover. I found that this required that I have a dictionary at my side. That's cool, beef up my vocabulary. However, I finally realized even armed with a dictionary there was no way I could keep up reading all of the stories. The longer stories sometimes seemed to be not that substantial once I had deciphered the big words. Some interested me but didn't seem so important. I think I liked most the editorial posts. They were generally short and unambiguously biased.
And I used to get the Sunday paper too. I would save all of the issues of all of my magazine subscriptions (non-news varieties as well) and the Sunday papers (well I am a pack-rat of long-standing). And I would try to stay informed about the news. I don't think I was very successful really. I always read the funnies first. I would look at the pictures, generally scan the headlines and read what interested me. I'm not sure how much "news" I was really taking in.
In truth I fear I may have just the sort of short attention span that most of the news broadcasts seem to pander to.
If on the one hand, I do find myself getting frustrated when I hear a short blurb about something, maybe one or two sentences and on to another subject. It often seems I'm still wondering about the last story and then miss the next one. For one thing, I'm thinking why did they even mention that; I don't really know much more than before I heard the blurb.
On the other hand, I have a hard time trying to keeping track of the facts of stories, who is who and what is what and listening to long discussions about stuff I can't quite follow. To be fair this is true no matter what news source I'm using.
I have thought sometimes I have some instinct for what will make a good story subject, what local stories will make the national news. I don't know what this amounts to but I do have some kind of curiosity or fascination with the whole news making process. So I guess after all that it makes sense that I would read this book.
I've been trying to figure out what kind of job I would be good at. As I was reading this book I joked to myself, maybe I should have been a network president! (Ha!)
It seems that Roone was a man with many faults. One that irritated many people was that he would not return people's phone calls. (I do that! I'm afraid I'm apt not to return phone calls. I don't even have the excuse of getting many.) He let problems go, blamed other people and was indecisive. (I can relate to that.) He had a tendency to make everything about himself. (Um well, yeah I do that pretty often). He tried things that were a big flop. He sometimes went for the showy and the sensational. In the end perhaps it was his extravagant expenditures of money that led to his being pushed into a role of figurehead. As the book describes it, that is what his being named chairman amounted to. (Spending extravagantly sounds like fun, but it hasn't been my experience). Roone retired about 4 years before he died in 2002. So, the book doesn't cover the last 4 years of his career.
He had faults and failures. But he also tried some things that worked and he recognized talent. He went after the major stories and if he spent a lot of money, he often delivered. At his funeral I recall that people were saying that he pushed people to become more than they thought they could.
I guess those are the main things I got out of reading the book. There was a lot of competitiveness and politics behind the scenes--surely no surprise. And I suppose reading this book just reinforced the reality of the humanity of our news people; those on screen whose names and faces become familiar to us, the anchors and reporters, and all of those people off-screen, the little people and the big-wigs who are behind the scenes, all of those people who are responsible for bringing the news to us.
As a sidenote:
I have had this idea for news, now that news can be kept up with on the Internet. It's kind of vaguely in my head. Someway to help people know what they really would like to know about the news, get caught up on stories they've missed. But then again maybe that's already being done. Perhaps a person can find out about just about anything that they really want to, hm, well to a certain extent anyway.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Tough Choices
I am not living on government assistance and don't qualify for it yet. But it sadly seems to be a good possibility for me not too far down the road. I'm not sure how long I can make the money I have now stretch. I heard that many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. I don't know what the statistics are. Unlike some folks I really hate the idea of depending on assistance.
I need a job. I'm not sure what kind of job I should be looking for. I may end up working at McDonalds. That was where I worked when I first graduated from college with my degree in Religion and Philosophy. It was not a very practical thing to get a degree in. Neither was my first choice for a major when I started college. After trying then to consider my strengths I decided upon an art major. I didn't really have drive for art however. I don't know if I have ever had a drive for anything. I did really want to get married. I thought I would have children.
And wanted to go to college from when I was in Junior High School. I knew I was smart enough. So maybe that was the main reason I wanted to go. My mom had gotten a college degree, worked a few years and then she got married, and quit working when she had me. I guess I was supposing that I would be like her, marry soon after college and be a well educated mother. I didn't really have any strong ambitions for what I wanted to do as far as employment. I have had a very hard time figuring out what I'm really good at.
Advice about how to get hired and get your resume noticed seems hard for me to take. On this one talk show they were saying you should put your achievements on your resume. The guy said and everyone has achievements.
So far I've tried to think of what sort of accomplishments I could put on my resume and nothing much in the way of achievements has come to mind. Even people who have been in jail get jobs. So I guess there must be something out there for me somewhere. I have stayed out of jail so far. I am reasonably intelligent. I read Les Miserables last year. That was a bit of an achievement, I think it took me about 2 months. I have read books about grammar for fun and tried to work at my writing skills. I'm thinking that and $5 bucks will buy me a cup of coffee at Starbucks (if I was willing to pay that much).
I just found out that not only does my dog (one of two) have a broken leg, but he has heartworms also. Arg! How do you put a value on a dog? He is the best companion and most loyal and affectionate dog a person could ask for. And he seems to really like my company, he actually wants to be around me. I'm not sure if any humans like my company quite so much. I don't have to do anything special and he just likes hanging around. Isn't that great?
With times the way they are I guess it's true that a lot of us are having to make tough choices.
I need a job. I'm not sure what kind of job I should be looking for. I may end up working at McDonalds. That was where I worked when I first graduated from college with my degree in Religion and Philosophy. It was not a very practical thing to get a degree in. Neither was my first choice for a major when I started college. After trying then to consider my strengths I decided upon an art major. I didn't really have drive for art however. I don't know if I have ever had a drive for anything. I did really want to get married. I thought I would have children.
And wanted to go to college from when I was in Junior High School. I knew I was smart enough. So maybe that was the main reason I wanted to go. My mom had gotten a college degree, worked a few years and then she got married, and quit working when she had me. I guess I was supposing that I would be like her, marry soon after college and be a well educated mother. I didn't really have any strong ambitions for what I wanted to do as far as employment. I have had a very hard time figuring out what I'm really good at.
Advice about how to get hired and get your resume noticed seems hard for me to take. On this one talk show they were saying you should put your achievements on your resume. The guy said and everyone has achievements.
So far I've tried to think of what sort of accomplishments I could put on my resume and nothing much in the way of achievements has come to mind. Even people who have been in jail get jobs. So I guess there must be something out there for me somewhere. I have stayed out of jail so far. I am reasonably intelligent. I read Les Miserables last year. That was a bit of an achievement, I think it took me about 2 months. I have read books about grammar for fun and tried to work at my writing skills. I'm thinking that and $5 bucks will buy me a cup of coffee at Starbucks (if I was willing to pay that much).
I just found out that not only does my dog (one of two) have a broken leg, but he has heartworms also. Arg! How do you put a value on a dog? He is the best companion and most loyal and affectionate dog a person could ask for. And he seems to really like my company, he actually wants to be around me. I'm not sure if any humans like my company quite so much. I don't have to do anything special and he just likes hanging around. Isn't that great?
With times the way they are I guess it's true that a lot of us are having to make tough choices.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Accomplishments
I have been getting at working on the quilt project that I decided needed to be redone. The project is making blocks for a game called quilt bingo that we will be doing next month at quilt guild. I have redone 3 out of 4 and have started picking apart the last. It is rather tedious, but not so bad picking out stitches once I made up my mind to do it. I'm not satisfied that the blocks look better or anything. The problem was that I did not have them done correctly. I was meant to put 5 different kinds of an assortment of fabrics (such as stripe, flower print, plaid, etc.). But I had repeated some of the kinds such as having 2 geometric prints. There are 6 different columns in different colors and a black center - like bingo. When we are done we are going to make a charity quilt with the blocks, I think someone said.
Reverse sewing some people call it when you have to pick out stitches. But I do feel some sense of accomplishment. I have finished the blocks, not just leaving them picked apart. It is something I can see that is done. I have mostly been doing the ironing in the cooler part of the day. This month it has been somewhat cooler than June and July and I have generally been managing without having on the air conditioning. It is getting up into the upper 80s by the end of the day here, but in the morning it is in the 60's, tolerable to have the iron on.
I do prefer the warm weather to cold. But I find myself looking forward to cooler weather. I like fall. I really like seeing the trees turn color and feeling the air crisp, just a little cold - sweater weather. When I started learning quilting it was in the fall - September of 2000. Before 911. In August of the 2001 I finally completed my quilt, which however still lacks a label, so I guess it isn't completely complete. I'm glad that I finished it before 911. I don't know why, exactly. Well, so that's another subject. It seems to cast a shadow 911.
That it took me a year to do my first quilt was awfully slow progress. Some people could probably have had it done in a couple of weeks. I did hand quilt it. But it isn't even full sized, it's a wall hanging, not a full bed quilt. It could be used as a throw, but I think of it as a wall hanging. I did receive lots of compliments on it however and especially people were admiring it as a first quilt, when I had it on display in our guild's quilt show. People have told me that I am good with color.
I also did one maple leaf block (finished 6" square) in fall colors for a fall quilt. I have been planning to do such a quilt for a long, long time. So, now I've gotten started - one block - it's a long way from a finished quilt of any size.
Reverse sewing some people call it when you have to pick out stitches. But I do feel some sense of accomplishment. I have finished the blocks, not just leaving them picked apart. It is something I can see that is done. I have mostly been doing the ironing in the cooler part of the day. This month it has been somewhat cooler than June and July and I have generally been managing without having on the air conditioning. It is getting up into the upper 80s by the end of the day here, but in the morning it is in the 60's, tolerable to have the iron on.
I do prefer the warm weather to cold. But I find myself looking forward to cooler weather. I like fall. I really like seeing the trees turn color and feeling the air crisp, just a little cold - sweater weather. When I started learning quilting it was in the fall - September of 2000. Before 911. In August of the 2001 I finally completed my quilt, which however still lacks a label, so I guess it isn't completely complete. I'm glad that I finished it before 911. I don't know why, exactly. Well, so that's another subject. It seems to cast a shadow 911.
That it took me a year to do my first quilt was awfully slow progress. Some people could probably have had it done in a couple of weeks. I did hand quilt it. But it isn't even full sized, it's a wall hanging, not a full bed quilt. It could be used as a throw, but I think of it as a wall hanging. I did receive lots of compliments on it however and especially people were admiring it as a first quilt, when I had it on display in our guild's quilt show. People have told me that I am good with color.
I also did one maple leaf block (finished 6" square) in fall colors for a fall quilt. I have been planning to do such a quilt for a long, long time. So, now I've gotten started - one block - it's a long way from a finished quilt of any size.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Random Thoughts
My hair comes out in little handfuls (7 or 8 hairs at time) all of the time, several times a day. I wonder if that is normal? But luckily I have lots of hair. I am a real hair factory.
I "recycle" my hair, too. I put it in my compost bowl which I keep in the kitchen for veggie/fruit scraps and I compost the hair along with everything else. I did not think of this idea on my own. LM, a friend from PCC in Hawaii gave me the hair idea. And the composting thing in general was inspired in several places. It always did bother me throwing away the scraps and the hairs!
The tomatoes in my brothers garden are finally coming in. Not too abundantly. I do love to eat stuff that comes fresh from the garden. It always seems so alive.
We did have a wonderful supply of peaches this year. (I say we, but I mean my brother's trees.) My brother's girlfriend "put up" a bunch of the peaches. She froze them individually on a cookie sheet first so they wouldn't freeze together. This is a worthwhile step to take. I froze one batch (one 1 pint container) just putting them straight in. But they were so juicy they froze together into a solid block which was harder to deal with. I like to make smoothies. I can consume a good deal of frozen fruit. I was blessed with gallons of blueberries several years ago. They didn't go to waste. I froze most of them. Ate some fresh and I tried making jelly and syrup, but that uses so much sugar. The smoothies seem healthier. My blueberry source has dried up, so now I am buying them - about a 3 lb. bag every week, plus other frozen fruits!
She also canned some green beans from the neighbor's garden. Since she has gotten to know the neighbor pretty good, neighbor said she could have all the green beans she wanted. And some tomatoes. But she didn't offer any okra. I wouldn't mind having some okra. My brother says a "mess" of okra, as the southerners call a batch, is a mess.
Why is it called canning, when people use glass jars, not cans?
I have been up to my old bad habit of playing games on the computer, again. I heard on Oprah yesterday someone talking about addiction transfer. I could understand that concept. That people could give up one addictive activity for another. I had quit one game recently, but I started another one. It's a word game, so I have all these words running through my head. stop, pots, tops, opts, post, spear, pares, pears, rapes, spa, spar, par, peas, pea, binges, bangles, tangles - my head is all in a tangle. But I keep wanting to try again and try to get better scores and so on.
My friend, Zippy asked her son, a 20-something how long he plays games on the computer when he plays. He said he plays on Friday nights and might play 8-12 hours at a time! She also asked him if he gets sore wrists or anything from it and he said no, but it might give him a headache.
I guess I need to go find something more productive to do. Ciao!
I "recycle" my hair, too. I put it in my compost bowl which I keep in the kitchen for veggie/fruit scraps and I compost the hair along with everything else. I did not think of this idea on my own. LM, a friend from PCC in Hawaii gave me the hair idea. And the composting thing in general was inspired in several places. It always did bother me throwing away the scraps and the hairs!
The tomatoes in my brothers garden are finally coming in. Not too abundantly. I do love to eat stuff that comes fresh from the garden. It always seems so alive.
We did have a wonderful supply of peaches this year. (I say we, but I mean my brother's trees.) My brother's girlfriend "put up" a bunch of the peaches. She froze them individually on a cookie sheet first so they wouldn't freeze together. This is a worthwhile step to take. I froze one batch (one 1 pint container) just putting them straight in. But they were so juicy they froze together into a solid block which was harder to deal with. I like to make smoothies. I can consume a good deal of frozen fruit. I was blessed with gallons of blueberries several years ago. They didn't go to waste. I froze most of them. Ate some fresh and I tried making jelly and syrup, but that uses so much sugar. The smoothies seem healthier. My blueberry source has dried up, so now I am buying them - about a 3 lb. bag every week, plus other frozen fruits!
She also canned some green beans from the neighbor's garden. Since she has gotten to know the neighbor pretty good, neighbor said she could have all the green beans she wanted. And some tomatoes. But she didn't offer any okra. I wouldn't mind having some okra. My brother says a "mess" of okra, as the southerners call a batch, is a mess.
Why is it called canning, when people use glass jars, not cans?
I have been up to my old bad habit of playing games on the computer, again. I heard on Oprah yesterday someone talking about addiction transfer. I could understand that concept. That people could give up one addictive activity for another. I had quit one game recently, but I started another one. It's a word game, so I have all these words running through my head. stop, pots, tops, opts, post, spear, pares, pears, rapes, spa, spar, par, peas, pea, binges, bangles, tangles - my head is all in a tangle. But I keep wanting to try again and try to get better scores and so on.
My friend, Zippy asked her son, a 20-something how long he plays games on the computer when he plays. He said he plays on Friday nights and might play 8-12 hours at a time! She also asked him if he gets sore wrists or anything from it and he said no, but it might give him a headache.
I guess I need to go find something more productive to do. Ciao!
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