#154 Missions accomplished

I left the house with a sack of used kitty litter, a library book, a grocery bag of 36 hamburger rolls for Faith Mission to be dropped off at the church, and about 50 Christmas cards for the mail box. Each item got to the correct destination. There is an angel of multitasking watching over me.

#153 December 21st, a poem

Christmas will be here in only four days.
House is festive--we found the artificial poinsettia
in the attic with other mementoes of holidays past.
A big roll of wrapping paper--blue with snowmen--and scissors
wait on the dining room table for those final exchange gifts
we’ll take to Indiana, socks for a guy, gloves for a girl.
The decorative shopping bag waits for its next assignment.

Christmas will be here in only three days.
It’s always been a pagan holiday, but now it’s more so.
The cranky ACLU is just spinning its wheels in snow
because not even Christians can make it religious these days.
Mistletoe, holly, evergreen trees, candles, and Santa Claus,
feasting, caroling, office parties, gift giving and shopping.
It’s all worldly or completely secular, therefore legal.

Christmas will be here in only two days.
The early Christians scooped up local winter festivities
in a giant snowball, soft and white, and pronounced it holy.
The godly let the Angles, Saxons and Romans keep their ways.
People do not care who they worship if they have a good time.
Our Puritan forefathers tried to stamp out the revelry.
They were the nay sayers of yesterday, spoiling the party.

Christmas will be here in only one day.
Yes, there really is a new born babe, and a sweet young mother,
and angels announcing to shepherds in the fields, Peace on Earth.
But Rachel is weeping because Herod is killing her sons.
One baby lives on only to die on a cross for my sin,
including celebrating his coming rather than going,
his birth, not his death and resurrection.

#152 Traveling with Pilgrim, pt. 1

While returning from Indianapolis this morning, I pulled out my tape player and tapes and held them up to the heater on the dash. Left my briefcase in the car overnight at 27 degrees, every voice was verrrrrry slooooooowly telling me the story of Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.

I had never read this Christian classic, so had checked out the dramatized version from the church library. A foreign language major in college, I was not required to take any English or American literature courses, and feel somewhat uneducated in my own language’s heritage. Pilgrim’s Progress is a classic for good reason--next to the Bible, this title has probably sold more copies than any other because it is completely understandable in any language, any era, any medium.

Bunyan endured twelve years of imprisonment for his faith, and during this time developed the concepts that appear in Pilgrims Progress which he released in 1678. Pilgrim’s Progress has absolutely no subtlety. It is an allegory, and the characters Pilgrim meets have names like Sloth, Faithful, Hopeful, Formalist, Timorous, Mistrust, Prudence and Piety, Flatterer, Ignorance and Atheist. No problem at all figuring out their role in Pilgrim’s journey.

The places he visits on his way the Celestial Kingdom when he gets off the straight and narrow highway are Vanity Fair and Lucre and a prison in the Land of Doubt. It was in the Land of Doubt that he and Hopeful are entrapped and imprisoned by the giant named Despair with “rats and bats, mice and lice” and they are beaten unmercifully and encouraged to commit suicide. Perhaps it was my imagination, but Bunyan seemed to spend more time and description on the dungeons and dragons of Despair than any other challenge.

Through the good Christians of Mt. Zion Church in Pensacola Florida, you can download in html, RTF, PDF or text file the complete works of John Bunyan. There is a Quick Time movie, Illustrated Overview of Pilgrim’s Progress by Judith Bronte with music on the web.

Traveling with Pilgrim, pt. 2

After writing about listening to this famous classic on tape while returning from Indianapolis, I suddenly remembered I might have a print copy. I looked in the obvious places, finally locating it in a small stack of books not pretty enough or sturdy enough to be displayed with my other old books. I had picked it up about ten years ago for a dime at a yard sale.

Its bibliographic details and provenance are: edited for school use by George W. Latham, published in Chicago and New York by Scott, Foresman and Company in a series called “The Lake English Classics,” in 1906. However, it still had a bookplate declaring it a part of War Service Library, of the American Library Association, stamped “Camp Library, Camp Funston, Kansas, presented by the faculty and students, Sioux Falls High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The introduction is reprinted at Wholesome Words.

151 Christmas in Indiana

Each year there is a new face at the family Christmas in Indiana. Sometimes it is a baby, a spouse, a significant other, a fiancé or someone who is a friend with no where to go. This year it was Isaiah, the grandson of our niece Julie. On our first date my husband showed me a photo of sweet little Julie, his niece, and now she is a grandmother. Unreal. Aren’t we too young to be great-great aunt and uncle? And we met Jennifer’s fiancé--after they finally arrived two hours late, having taken a wrong turn.

When our children were little, Christmas was always at my mother-in-law’s. Then as they aged and a houseful of company was difficult for them, it was all moved to Jean’s, my sister-in-law. A few years in the late 90s we went to Bob and Krista’s--the twins were babies then, and Aunt Roberta was in her early 90s. I still see her sitting by the fireplace with a lap robe in their family room. Then when Jean’s daughter Joan had four to keep track of and nice big house, it was easier, I suppose, to move the gathering to her house and everyone bring food.

I take along a couple of pies, a small suitcase for an overnight and wonder why I ever complained back in the early 70s that they never came to our house for Christmas. I must have been crazy, or else traveling with little kids was harder than I remember.

#150 Third Party Talk

“On both the Republican and Democratic sides of the fence, there is talk about third parties. Libertarians and many conservatives within the Republican Party are deeply frustrated with President Bush's budgetary profligacy and a number of other issues. The libertarians feel the war in Iraq has been a mistake and are gravely worried about the erosion of civil liberties under the Patriot Act. Conservatives support the war and are not too concerned about lost civil liberties, but they are deeply concerned about homosexual marriage, the failure to get conservative judges confirmed and other social issues.”Bruce Bartlett

Republicans aren’t that thrilled about the Patriot Act either, Bruce. Or how about the administration’s musings on being more inclusive about illegals, “who want to work and contribute,” rights for the undocumented worker .” Bush’s domestic spending is so out of control, that the election of a Democrat will make no differences on that traditionally Republican platform. It was the third party candidate that drew off enough Republican votes to get Clinton elected. Some Republicans probably remember that. And didn’t Pat Buchanan and some green candidates draw off some important votes for Gore in crucial precincts?

There’s no reason at this point to have a Republican president, except for the unborn babies of America who have fewer rights than butcher Saddam, than the illegal immigrants, than the gays who want to walk to the altar, than the crooks at Enron, fewer rights even than that sexual predator in Indiana who buried teen-agers in his basement. If it will keep one baby alive, one abortion clinic closed, one abortionist out of business, I’ll vote for Dubya. Reluctantly.

#149 How to donate books, Pt. 1

When I was a librarian, this was my “dream donor:”

Contacted me with his offer.
Supplied a list of author/title/date.
I returned the list with my selection.
He brought the books in his clean, sweet smelling truck to the loading dock.

Unfortunately, dream donors don’t come along often. Usually it went like this:

Grandson about 50 years old showed up at the library.
Had cleaned out the hay loft of the barn.
Found grandpa’s old, moldy, dirty books from vet school in 1920.
Was positive these were of value because they were old.
Wanted staff to help unload his car, not very clean and not parked very close.

When I received a large number of book donations or had withdrawn them from service (called de-acquisitioning in library-speak), I was not allowed to sell them from the office/library. I sent them to the Friends of the Libraries Book Sale. But one year I had such a fabulous group of titles, I had my assistant run an author/title list which I sent to the various faculty members who were collectors of veterinary titles. That way they knew what to look for when they got to the sale (many thousands of books and hundreds of buyers), plus they could look up the bibliographic details ahead of time.

How to donate books, Pt. 2

Here’s what I would recommend for someone who loves his books, has treated them well, and wants to find them a loving home (you wouldn’t drown your kittens--books deserve the same care), preferably in a library collection.

Make an author/title list, looking at each book and sorting as you go (keep, don’t keep).
Say good-bye and thank them for their many years of service as you handle them the final time.
Send the list to interested parties (nieces, nephews, children, friends, etc.) with a deadline for response.
Delete selected titles if any are chosen and then send the list to the librarian of your chosen library.
Box up her selections and deliver the books either personally or by UPS.

Once you’ve got your list, you just might, if looking for something to do, go to www.abe.com to see the going rate for these titles, which will give you an estimate for your taxes (donation). I did this for a yard sale one summer, and placed the information inside the book. In all cases I got more than the $1 most hard covers go for at yard sales. One little railroad pamphlet turned out to be quite valuable. Most libraries will not give an estimate of value, but should supply you with a form that tells how many you donated.

#148 An irregular face

In watercolor class yesterday (Dec. 17) we did portraits. Each person brought in a photo to work from. One was using a photo of an Indian from a book; one was using a photo of her daughter; the instructor, Charlie, was using candid shots of his grand daughter; one woman brought in the movie poster with Russell Crow’s face; my husband had a color snapshot of Lindsey, our step-grand daughter; and I was working from a black and white studio photograph of a young woman.

Charlie first reviewed the face map concept. Draw an oval and divide horizontally, and vertically in halves. Most people draw the eyes too high--they are actually in that middle horizontal line. The face is about five eye-widths wide, and there is an eye width between the eyes. Divide the bottom half of the head in half again. The nose gets the top half and you divide that bottom half in thirds to find the lips and chin. Draw lines from the eyeballs down the cheeks and that is the edges of the mouth. The top of the ears line up with the eyebrows.

Of course, no one has a perfect face map. Charlie stopped by to see what I was drawing. He suggested that the face didn’t really fit all the mapping rules, since my drawing wasn’t really looking like the photo, although I was following the rules of mapping. The distance from the nose to the chin is irregular, he commented, longer than would be expected. And the lips don’t quite line up with the eyes. Before he could go much further, my husband said, “Do you recognize that person?” “No, I don’t.” “That’s Norma the first year we were married.” “Oh.” No more comments on the irregular face.

#147 True and False in the same paragraph

The Wall Street Journal had an opinion piece today (Dec. 17) by a former Reagan official. He wrote something very true:

“If it were up to the U.N. or the E.U., or the editorial boards of most major American newspapers, Saddam would still be happily making palaces for himself and torture dungeons for his people.”

But in the same paragraph, same numbered point, he also wrote:

“America is the greatest force for good on the planet.”

Since we enabled Saddam and Osama bin Ladin when they were enemies of our enemies, that obviously can’t be a true statement. It might have been expedient at the time, but it wasn't a force for good in the long term.

#146 It’s a no-brainer

The Columbus Dispatch this morning carried an article about the new regulation in central Ohio that patient care workers can’t have artificial fingernails. I think other areas had this regulation sooner, but perhaps it is just now coming to the attention of the reporter. The CDC guidelines. The history of hand hygiene and infections in hospitals.

Any woman who has ever worn fingernail polish for a few days and then removed it, should know why. Oh, yuck, is my thought as the polish remover reveals the crud under my nails that I haven’t been able to see while wearing polish. However, with artificial nails the bacteria can’t be removed because it lives between the artificial nail and the bed of the real nail (which it eats away).

That regulation should extend to food workers. Every time I see a waitress or grill cook or buffet stocker with artificial nails--bright colors and imbedded designs--I know exactly that she has brought along about a million of her closest little friends--bacteria, many from the restroom she just used.

Apparently sixteen babies had to die in a neonatal unit in 2000 before someone wised up and did a study on the nails of the medical staff. Even then, there were the experts (probably trying to avoid a law suit) who said those babies would have died of something else, if not that.

#145 After Abortion

This is an interesting blog. Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, the writer has compassionate things to say. For instance, she found this comment by a reader lacking and added some suggestions:

"Many of my clients have felt regret after abortion that is as deep (as far as I can tell) as any regret they've ever felt. They then confess to Christ, ask for forgiveness, and know that Jesus forgives; and they move on, as they move on from other actions that they know are grave sins. Because all this is private and can happen in a moment (praying the Sinner's Prayer, for example, or responding to an altar call), I think it can look, to people raised outside this particular strain of Protestantism, less weighty and less of a relief of a terrible burden than it really is. These women speak very precisely about how they've dealt with their grief and moved on; but the way they deal with grief and regret over abortion is the way they would deal with grief and regret over any terrible sin. They give it to God and move on."

Interesting summary and history of Democrats for Life. Sadly, there used to be many--like the early versions of Clinton, Gore, Simon and Kucinich, who switched only recently.

#144 Major Pain

Major Pain is a nurse working in Iraq. She has some interesting observations and funny stories, like the Thanksgiving turkey (live) complete with pictures. Her brother, Bear, posts her letters at Magic in the Baghdad Cafe.

#143 Blog flog

One of my most loyal readers of this blog is my son (did I tell you he could identify all the letters of the alphabet before he could speak a word?). Last night he asked me why I hadn’t blogged about Saddam.

My husband told me about his capture when I walked in the door Sunday morning about 7:45 a.m., returning from the coffee shop. For once, I hadn’t turned on the news at 6 a.m., and apparently neither had any of the others I usually see there, because no one was talking about it. There are two reasons not to blog.

1) The first words out of my mouth were, “This is bad news for Democrats.” I thought that was too cynical and unkind to record here, but two days later they (except for Liberman) are proving me correct.

2) Every blog, pundit, and news outlet would be going on and on and on, I figured. I was right again.

No need to say anything, except why I’m not saying anything, except this, of course.

Later: It didn't occur to me to wonder what the BBC would say--we know it will always put the U.S. in a negative light. See this blog for more.

#142 Itty-bitty footprints

An article in e-Week today (Dec. 15, 2003) comments on the problem Campbell’s Soup is having with RFID tags on its Chunky Soup supplied to Wal-Mart. An RFID is a radio-frequency identification tag that is smaller than a grain of sand and destined to eventually take the place of the barcode, but with some significant differences--it just might continue tracking you after you’ve left the store with the item. Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense have set deadlines for companies to comply with supplying RFIDs. Wal-Mart accounts for 12% of Campbell’s sales, so they need to quickly find a way for that frequency to pass through liquid and not bounce off cans--although that isn‘t required--yet.

Current applications include tracking moving things--like boxcars, packages and children in theme parks who can wear little sensors so parents can be less personally vigilant.

The first big test for RFID will be for the 100 major suppliers of Wal-Mart to have boxes and pallets tagged by January 2005. And when Wal-Mart talks, all retailers listen. Wired covered this in November. The Department of Defense is requiring that its top 100 vendors must supply RFID tags on their pallets and cases by January 2005; the top 500 vendors must comply by July 2005, and all vendors (more than 10,000) must be on board by January 2006.

With deadlines like this from these heavy hitters in the economy, someone needs to quickly figure out how to deactivate these little guys once we leave the store. I won’t even use a loyalty card--I sure don’t want this kind of digital trail with its itty bitty footprints.

#141 What to call the guy in charge

Yesterday we had a congregational meeting to vote on a new pastor. The chair of the Call Committee was Paul Nordman, a man of subtle wit and great faith. He commented that throughout the call process, he had been called the Chairman, the Chair, and the Chairperson. He paused, and then noted that considering his surname perhaps he could be called Nordman, Nord or Nordperson.

#140 Abercrombie & Fitch of Columbus

Full page ad in USAToday--“100% filth, made in the U.S.A.” Isn't that sweet about a hometown company? It’s about their pandering “sex for teens” catalogs.

The ad points out that the 1998 catalog promoted drinking excessively. The 2002 catalog was selling thong underwear for 10 year olds. The 2003 Christmas catalog had 100 pages of nude models, including staged (I assume) group sex and an article promoting it. Even the title is suggestive, “The Christmas Field Guide.” Their stock has dipped 13%. Consumers have protested. Even an Urban Legend site on the internet confirms this, in case you think the group sex thing is a myth or rumor.

The catalog has been pulled, and the writer of this article adds, “A&F's CEO Mike Jeffries has for years sneered at those who complained about his quarterly's filth. Asking him softly to clean up his act didn't work, but big stick evidently did.”

#139 The Family Film Menu of Choices

This morning I was browsing the TV listings for “Family Best Bet” featuring the movies with a Christmas theme. Family films aren’t very friendly to the traditional--a mom, a dad and a couple of kids--family. In fact, the term “family film” at any time of the year almost assures a plot with a single mom or dad, or a dead parent, or a deserting parent, a stand-in parent, or no parent showing up for any significant role in a child‘s life.

Here’s what’s available on TV this week in the Columbus viewing area :

Mr. St. Nick: Kelsey Grammer is junior Claus who doesn’t want to follow in Dad’s snowshoes. There is a Mama Claus, but I think the Latino cook provides more guidance.

Miracle on 34th Street: the 1994 version, but Mom is still a widow with the cynical daughter.

Mrs. Winterbourne: Ricki Lake in 1996 plays a pregnant single mother-to-be taking someone else’s identity.

Secret of Roan Irish: girl with dead mother and alcoholic father lives with grandfather, wants truth about a baby washed out to sea.

Babes in Toyland: Drew Barrymore in 1986 fights evil plot to take over Toyland--parents aren’t apparent.

Borrowed Hearts: Roma Downey, single mom, pretends to be executive’s wife.

The Santa Clause: Tim Allen, cynical divorced father playing St. Nick.

The week is offering two versions of a classic, the Christmas Carol, 1938 with June Lockhart as one of the children and her parents as Bob and Emily Cratchet and a TV adaptation (1999) with Patrick Stewart. So, we have to go back to an early 19th century story for a traditional family for the holidays.

#138 Thinking about bodies--yours, mine and His

I’ve been thinking about bodies this Christmas season, a time we remember that God took on flesh and dwelled among us. These bodies fail us. I have a good friend wasting away from an eating disorder and a cousin who shot herself to death this week; I have another friend losing her sight from a piece of plaque that broke loose and went to her eye; another friend is in rehabilitation for a fractured pelvis; everyday my sister and I compare our aches and pains as we increasingly don‘t recognize our own aging bodies.

The Christian faith puts great stock in the physical body. We are told in the Bible our bodies are God’s temple, that God knew our tiny physical bodies while we were still in the womb, and we are told to take care of others’ physical bodily needs, too. The biggest reminder of the importance of the body is Jesus’ bodily resurrection--the tomb was empty and he‘d defeated death. And that's his plan for you and me, too.

I found this very nice prayer about bodies, which I’d like to share:

“A Prayer Lord Jesus, we praise you and thank you for all the blessings of this life, including the blessing of our bodies. We rejoice in our bodies, the wondrous way that we are put together, the complexity and grace of our physical selves. Forgive us when we abuse the good gift of our bodies, especially forgive us when we abuse the bodies of others.

We praise you . . . for the wonder of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and for the promise that, by your grace, we also shall be raised. Help us to live today as those who know that great promise and live today in the light of it, following our risen Lord toward eternal life. Amen

#137 Correction on the pie crust blog

One of my earliest blogs (#3, out of order) was on how to make a good pie crust. I was thinking about it for several reasons. First of all, my niece Joan wants me to bring two apple pies to the Indiana Christmas, and second, my daughter requests one of those be the sugarless apple pie made with apple juice concentrate. Third, I’ve recently replaced my Pyrex glass 8 oz. measuring cup I purchased when I got married. However, there needs to be a disclaimer to that recipe I posted:

"2/3 cup peanut oil, 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup water. Gently mix."

I forgot to add in that blog that because all the markings had disappeared from my 43 year old glass measuring cup, I use the measuring cups for solids. 2/3 cup of peanut oil would be about 1/2 in a measuring cup for liquids. And the water would be 6 Tbsp of liquid.

I think we learned that in third grade and certainly in 4-H--how to measure liquid and solids--but I’d forgotten.

#136 Wishing you a P.C. Holiday

On my mail run this morning I heard Glenn Beck (Clear Channel Talk Show Host, 610 here in Columbus) talking about RamaHanuKwanzMas. His way to suggest a P.C. holiday season.

A few years ago I got a "holiday card" from a library organization to which I belonged which sent greetings in every language except the English phrase, "Merry Christmas." I sent my complaint to the organization that it was ignoring English speaking Christians on their own holiday.

#135 Two really absurd items

Although they aren't related at all, a Republican proposal to take FDR off the dime and substitute Reagan and the complaint by France and Germany that they aren't going to get contracts to rebuild Iraq both seem to be beyond belief. FDR should stay put; coalition countries that took the risks should get the contracts. And they'd want our forces to protect them while they "help" with the rebuilding?

Tammy Bruce's column on following the money.