My new log book for exercise

 My Strength and My Shield: A Realtree™ Journal by Ellie Claire | Goodreads

This is a cute little journal in a camo style with inspirational messages inside. My old exercise journal has no design or flair and I think I bought it in Spain at a "dollar store" run by foreigners.  The Spanish just call them "the China store," instead of Dollar Tree.  That one is dated September 5, 2018, with about 6,500 miles ending with about 15,500.  I think my first one was around January 1, 2015. My new one is made by Ellie Claire Gift and paper Expressions c2016. I bought it at Marc's for maybe a dollar or $1.49, but you can find it at Thrift store sites on the internet for about $5.00.

At first when checking this journal I found a page for Ella Claire, who had a blog, recipes, poems, etc.  Not the same person.  There is also a St. Ella Claire and she's not it either.  

Gratitude

I keep a "Gratitude Journal." I saw the outline (6 items) in an article several years ago, and I've revised it a bit to suit my needs. The main part is writing down 3 things from the previous 24 hours for which you are grateful. Most days, our life is so pleasant and delightful, I have to think hard, and occasionally had to resort to "beautiful weather for a walk along the lake," or "modern technology."

Since our son Phil's diagnosis of brain cancer two weeks ago, finding things to be grateful for has been no problem--some days I can record 15 and bust right past three. From Ron Brown calling the squad, to Pastor Margo's faithful visits, to borrowed walker, to visits from loyal friends, some going back to his childhood, it has been a snap. And as you've noticed, I write a lot (always have). It's not a method I'd recommend for writer's block, but I think I'm not the only one who takes life for granted until we're shocked back to reality.

 

Phil (left) one week after surgery with friend Craig

Why start a magazine?

My hobby bloggy is called In the beginning. It's about the premiere, first issue, and Volume One issues of magazines, journals and serials that I own. One of the things I do when I decide to write about one of them is look at the "From the publisher," or "From the Editor" letter, usually at the beginning. It's a lot of work and money to start a magazine; so why do it? Today I was packing them into a box and looked at AEI Foreign Policy and Defense Review. After looking it up (v.1, n.1 was 1979 when Jimmy Carter was president), I see it actually had an earlier existence as AEI Defense Review (1977-1978). This journal ended in 1986. Here's what William Baroody, Jr., the publisher said 42 years ago:

This inaugural issue of the AEI Foreign Policy and Defense Review appears at a time when the future of American foreign policy has become highly uncertain and when the role of the United States, as the preeminent power in the world, has become especially difficult to define. To operate effectively in an international environment in which political, economic, and security issues increasingly overlap demands a careful ordering of priorities and of long-term goals. In recent years, government actions on foreign policy and public debate about them have moved from issue to issue without the consensus or the continuity evident in the decades following World War II. Concern has been expressed abroad and at home over the inconsistencies that result from the lack of a clear, overall rationale rooted in the American diplomatic tradition. Questions about our long-term national interests remain not only unanswered, but often unasked.

So let's see, 42 years ago things were uncertain; it was difficult to define the role of the United States in the world. The government was moving from issue to issue without consensus, and there was concern abroad and at home over the inconsistencies resulting from lack of a plan. Well, welcome to the second decade of the new century.

President Ronald Reagan said of AEI in 1988: "The American Enterprise Institute stands at the center of a revolution in ideas of which I, too, have been a part.

AEI's remarkably distinguished body of work is testimony to the triumph of the think tank. For today the most important American scholarship comes out of our think tanks--and none has been more influential than the American Enterprise Institute."

It's new notebook time

I've loved my Barnes and Noble lined 6 x 9 journal, with a sewn binding and a cover photo by Mark Barrett. He must be one of the most fabulous equine photographers in the world. I began this notebook on November 1, All Saints Day, and today turned over the last sheet.

Stock Horse Photography Library

Journal abuse

If a student or faculty member abused a library journal as badly as staff approved procedures, they'd probably lose their library privileges. Look at the cover of this journal



When the journal (Cultural Critique, No. 3, American Representations of Vietnam (Spring, 1986), was "checked in" after being received in the mail, it was smacked with a black ink date stamp, showing it was received January 2, 1987 at Ohio State University Library. Must be an old stamp, because the official name is The Ohio State University Libraries. Then the check-in-clerk marked it with a grease pencil. MAI in the upper right means that it was destined for the Main Library at Ohio State University, one of maybe 20 locations within the system. Then she scribbled the call number, volume and year across the cover. The brown stuff at the bottom looks like someone spilled coffee with cream on it--perhaps a user, but might have happened at check-in. The back cover, presumably by the same photographer, John Carlos Rowe, has a date due slip pasted over it, blocking about 1/3 of the picture. But the defacing didn't stop there. Before this journal was bound permanently (in 2006 according to a pasted stamp on the inside), it was "strap bound," with holes punched into the margins to keep several issues strapped together inside homemade cardboard covers, so when you open this volume, every page has four holes.

Eventually as things became more automated, grease pencils were discontinued and small stickers with call number and date received replaced the scribbling; I'm not sure about the temporary bindings since I haven't worked there in over 8 years. But I am still surprised when I see this sort of disregard not only for the artist, writers, publishers, but also the reader who may have found something useful in the cover. And publishers continue to include information on the cover or book jacket that may be no where else in the piece, and some libraries toss the book jacket, and paper covers may be removed if the book or journal is rebound.

I had no interest in resurrecting the Vietnam War, which is what this issue of Cultural Critique did, however, no author or group should have its work taken so lightly by those who say they preserve and protect information for future generations.

3539 Why it's better to trust the Bible

Bible scholars disgree on a lot of points, like whether a "day" is a literal 24 hours or a couple of million years, or how Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the New, or the true meaning of various miracle stories and parables, or how much first century sexuality should carry over to the 21st century. But it's nothing as changeable or as debatable as what you find in scientific, peer-reviewed journals.

I just love to read science literature and blogs. Fascinating stuff. But anytime you hear politicans or non-scientific people (media talking heads and journalists) claiming all disagreement needs to be limited on a particular topic, like global warming or stem-cell research or Alzheimer's treatment, I invite you to read the first 5-10 pages of any issue of Nature. Here's what I noticed today:

• The fat metabolism of Drosophila (fruit fly) is a mystery. . .
  
• They still haven't figured out the influence of genes vs. environment in disease, and some studies are "controversial."
  
• Astronomers' galaxy theories are in need of a new model because of new observational techniques.
  
• "despite intense investigation. . ."
  
• "it is a mystery. . ."
  
• "new techniques reveal. . ."
  
• "will test the hypotheses that . . ."
  
• "previously unknown changes. . . "
  
• "reveal an unexpected connection in. . ."
  
• "more widespread consequences than previously predicted. . . "
  
• "may play a role in climate change (this was not human related). . ."
  
• "long running debate in how . . . "
  
• "the nature of how this works is unclear. . ."
  
• "the reason for this variation has been something of a mystery. . . "
  
• "there is only one fossil of this 150 million year old species available for analysis. . . "
  
• "Even some of the most accomplished scientists are in the dark about the most basic information underpinning their work. . . "
  
• "The plant with the largest flower (a metre across) has no roots, leaves or stems and has no DNA clues on how it is related to other plants. . . "
  
• the question of whether this property plays an active role in tumors has remained under debate. . . "

I rest my case--for the Biblical truths.