#162 Criminal SUVs

I saw a small headline in the paper yesterday, "Good Samaritan killed by SUV in hit-and-run accident."

#161 Cookies, pt. 1

I subscribe to the e-mail editions (easier to read) of Collector’s Newsletter because I like their amusing, home-spun stories and old fashioned recipe requests. Today’s was this one:

CHEWY MILK DUDS COOKIES

1 1/2 cups butter-flavor shortening
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (10 ounce) package Milk Duds

In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter, 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Shape 4 teaspoons of dough around each Milk Dud so it is completely covered. Roll balls in remaining sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks.
Yields about 8 dozen

I don’t buy much candy, but didn’t remember seeing Milk Duds recently. But they are still around, and are named “dud” because the original shape didn’t work out. Working from and marketing their failure, the creators chose that name.

Cookies, pt. 2

My daughter made 120 dozen Christmas cookies. Not little, finger cookies, but big giant ones, and elaborately decorated. Placed on platters, wrapped in green cellophane, tied in silver ribbon, they were delivered to friends and family on Christmas Eve. I unwrapped mine and redistributed them into ziplock bags for freezing. If I eat one a day, they will last about 6 weeks. But today, I ate two. I'll try harder tomorrow. Yummy!

#160 The Good Patient

Comments overheard at the surgery clinic (rotator cuff) Tuesday and Wednesday between my husband and various staff members.

"Now, you will feel a little giddy, like you've had too much to drink."

"I've never had too much to drink."

"When you wake up you might feel like you have a hang-over."

"I've never had a hang-over."

"Are you allergic to any pain medicine?"

"I don't know; I've never had any."

"You could take Aleve or ibuprofen product--or whatever you use when you
have a headache."

"I've never had a headache."

“For awhile, use the bathtub instead of a shower, so you don’t get the shoulder wet.”

“We don’t have a bathtub.”

The Good Patient, pt. 2

When I helped my husband get ready for his first shower after surgery yesterday morning, I covered the incision with plastic wrap and taped it down with wide masking tape. The bathtub had been removed by a previous owner, but we have three showers.

In the afternoon after a big Christmas dinner, my daughter and I were cleaning up in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher and putting the left-overs away. I opened the drawer with the wraps--plastic and wax and foil.

“Honey, would you go up to the bedroom and get the plastic wrap?”

Her eyes got very wide. “I don’t even want to know,” she said and quickly left the room.

#159 Joe's double

I like Joe Lieberman, I really do. But he reminds me of Willie Tanner, of the 1980s comedy “Alf” played by Max Wright. Joe looks and talks like the TV/movie actor Max Wright. Same whiney voice, manner of speaking, body language. It is uncanny.

Alf may have a talk show. Not sure how this works when one person controls the puppet and another is the personality/voice. The comedy series was very popular in Germany, and used a German voice over, obviously.

#158 Merry Christmas to All

Everyone had gone home with the new gifts packed away in the shopping bags in which they had arrived, beautifully wrapped. Deciding I would figure out my new laptop tomorrow, I sat down and clicked on the TV. To my pleasure, C-Span was running Book-TV, my favorite week-end program, even though it was Thursday. John McWhorter was discussing his book on discourse in American English, “Doing our own thing,” at the Clean well lighted place for books (apparently the name of a store with a whimsical name) in San Francisco.

"McWhorter details how cultural change is turning the English language upside down in America today, but he explains that it hasn't always been this way. He marshals an impressive array of examples to show that when Americans were comparatively less well-off and well-educated, they understood and appreciated speeches that would be far too intricate, too lofty in their ideas, and simply too long for modern audiences."
Bookservice

#157 The new notebook

I bought myself a new coffee-time notebook yesterday--a purple Miquel Rius (made in Spain) with about 5 sections tinted various colors. My other one, started in Oct. 2002, was all filled up and I was writing in the margins and on the index pages. I thought I could make it to the new year, but there were no clean spots left. I had it divided into 4 sections by general topics that interest me, but after about half a year, was writing everywhere.

Sometimes I start an essay, or a poem, and finish it at home. Mostly I jot down things I see in the papers (WSJ, USA Today, Columbus Dispatch) that I find interesting, and know I would forget by the time I drive home (1.5 miles).

Today I saw 55 shopping bags and boxes at Panera's ready for Christmas parties. The young assistant manager told me she had come in at 2:30 a.m. So I'll probably write something about that--like how the low carbohydrate fad is put aside for the holidays, but jotted it down in my new notebook to percolate for awhile.

The new notebook, pt. 2

Before I put the old one away, I looked for the careful list I made Friday about church events listed in the paper for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I was short on space and couldn't find it any where. Found a few notes about cat shows I didn't attend; a recipe for German apple cake I never made; a partial sentence about the Obetz zucchinifest law suit; a statistic from Ricoh, "up to 60% of white-collar time is spent managing documents" and my note wondering about the source of that statistic; numerous URLs to check at a future date, like www.dinkytown.net--which I never checked. No list of Christmas programs.

So here it is in a nut-shell. I found brass ensembles, magnificent choirs, live nativity scenes, traditional, informal and rock special music, old fashioned hymn sings, a Latin mass service, a 1928 prayer book service, special family services, and communion at midnight.

But I also found three different churches offering free meals and fellowship, open to anyone who wanted to come. From the names and locations, I think they are African American churches. I think they've got the Christmas spirit.

#156 Thoughts at the surgery clinic

The rotator cuff repair had been suggested last February--but he needed his arm to close out his architectural practice. So this morning at 6 a.m. we arrived at the orthopedic clinic. He actually chose Dec. 23 because he figured it would be a good week to watch football!

Random thoughts at the clinic:

His heart rate goes up 5 points when I take his hand.
Normally a very quiet guy, he uses an entire day's quota of words in the 10 minutes after he receives the block.
My Starbucks cup has the "hot" warning in French, not Spanish.
There's a broken spot in the new tile floor--underlayment is uneven.
The attendant's name is "Angel."
The trendy decorator colors--purple, burgandy, rust, moss green, dark yellow ochre and aqua are the same we picked for the new veterinary library before I retired in 2000.
His chart says he is 157 lbs., 5'9". I need to lose weight.
His right shoulder is marked with ink, and he is asked 3 different times which shoulder will be repaired. It's good to be sure, I suppose.
In the waiting room, a young female patient arrives with her husband, her mother, her aunt, her sister and her grandmother. Maybe this is their Christmas?
The lobby is decorated in retro-50s blonde furniture with wide flaring arms--looks like a 1949 ad in a woman's magazine.
There are 3 television sets; 3 books on the shelves. A sign of the times?
At 9 a.m. they call me to recovery. He is eating ice chips and smiling.
We are home by 10:30.

Tomorrow the pain.

#155 Starting late, better than never

Penelope Fitzgerald’s “Afterlife; Essays and Criticisms” appeared on a top 10 books of the year 2003 list. One reviewer of the collection said she didn’t publish her first novel until she was 60, then became very successful before she died in 2000.

Another reviewer in the Washington Post commented about her: “Two grandfathers were archbishops; her father, Evoe Knox, became the editor of Punch. The extended clan included the illustrator Ernest Shepard, a brilliant World War II code breaker and the witty Catholic apologist and translator Ronald Knox. Little Penelope grew up in Hampstead, frequented Harold Monro's legendary Poetry Bookshop, met Walter de la Mare.”

So, I’m thinking she probably isn’t a role model for starting late, because she appears actually to have had an enriched early start.

#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.