“Nobody’s perfect. Which is another way of saying there’s no escape from this world.” — Billie Holiday in Crazy They Call Me
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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,611
yeah I know you did not ask!
Need more exercise to work on that Thanksgiving/Christmas belly? Get a small dog.
I am not sure how many times a day I bend over to scratch The Wee Dog’s head, but it is a significant number. Princess Lily is only 7 kilograms and stands 30 centimeters at the shoulder, the dachshund portion of her DNA being expressed in her body shape. She is slightly larger than your average cat and smaller than some of the larger felines.
It is nearly as good as doing 25 toe touches a day.
1 Lily scratch, 2 Lily scratch… no cheating now, bend from the waist, 3 Lily scratch…
The Book of Genesis: A Promulgator of Misogyny?
This is really just one of my random thoughts… something I have been ruminating on as I listen to the audio book of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow. This book is a reexamination of the current narrative of how our civilization, culture, social institutions, etc evolved in the light of new evidence and new interpretations. In it I came across the following passage:
“Rejecting a Garden of Eden-type narrative for the origins of farming also means rejecting, or at least questioning, the gendered assumptions lurking behind that narrative. Apart from being a story about the loss of primordial innocence, the Book of Genesis is also one of history’s most enduring charters for the hatred of women, rivaled only (in the Western tradition) by the prejudices of Greek authors like Hesiod, or for that matter Plato. It is Eve, after all, who proves too weak to resist the exhortations of the crafty serpent and is first to bite the forbidden fruit, because she is the one who desires knowledge and wisdom. Her punishment (and that of all women following her) is to bear children in severe pain and live under the rule of her husband, whose own destiny is to subsist by the sweat of his brow.”
I have no excuse why Continue reading “The Book of Genesis: A Promulgator of Misogyny?”
Cultural Differences, the US Dollar, Ecuador
I have been visiting with a young lady, Micaela Vallejo, from Ecuador every two weeks for over three years for conversational practice using Spanish. She is a little north of 30. How far I do not remember. She is unmarried, a fact I find remarkable given all she has going for her, but she seems quite content with her status. Micaela lives in Coca, a small town of around 45,000 souls in the northeast corner of Ecuador, close to the border with Colombia. It is located in the Amazonian rain forest at the confluence of two large rivers and a smaller third. According to the web and Micaela Continue reading “Cultural Differences, the US Dollar, Ecuador”
Matrimonial Log – Star Date 5783.326
“Matrimony… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Casamiento Segundo, its until-death-do-us-part mission… to explore a strange new relationship… to seek out a new life and new adventures… to boldly go where no sane couple has gone before.”
Last night I was lying in bed half asleep. Señora was next to me watching the tail end of a TV show about Gilda Radner. When the show was over she turned off the TV, and she leaned over to give me a good night kiss and hug. During the hug I caressed her back and arms a bit, then I decided I needed to do the same to her hip and leg. When I arrived there I had the thought, “she sure needs to shave her legs!” That is when I realized The Wee Dog had weaseled her way in between the two of us.
And so it went with our little ménage à chienne.
The Cookie Jar
We visited some friends this weekend in Chicago, well one of the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Despite the frigid temperatures, we had a great time. In their dining room, on the sideboard, is this cookie jar, brazenly inscribed with the eighth commandment, “Thou shall not steal.”
I bring this up as it reminded me of a story I posted about ten years ago that I am going to recycle with some small revisions. Enjoy.
Once upon a time, back in the day, when my kidrens were still knee-high to the proverbial grasshopper, my arm could still be twisted to get me to attend Sunday church services. My son, David, must have been around 4 which would have put my daughter, Keely, at 8. We were living in Oklahoma City, attending a Baptist church fairly regularly. Sporadically, before the main sermon, the preacher would have a children’s story. In the front of the church was a low stage with steps leading up to the pulpit. He would sit at the front of this stage and ask the children of the congregation to gather around him.
This particular Sunday he did that, made his invitation to the children, and off rushed our two kids. I do not remember exactly what the story was about, but it did involve a cookie jar and the partaking of the contents unauthorized.
The preacher looked at Keely and asked her, “Do y’all have a cookie jar at your house?”
To which she replied, “No.” Then she brightly added, “No, but we have a cookie bowl and Mommy hides it from Daddy as he gets into it all the time.”
The whole church burst out into laughter and turned to see me slinking down in my pew.
And so it went back in the “day”.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #3,040
yeah I know you did not ask!
This getting old gig is just weird. I do not need to shave every day so I generally just shave three or four times per week… but I need to trim my nose hairs just about every day. And at least once a week I need to shave the bridge of my nose. If I don’t Señora is trying to pluck the long, curly hair that cropped up there years ago. And what’s up with these Andy Rooney eyebrows that causes Señora to chase me around the house wielding a sharp pair of scissors.
Yes, I know, TMI.
Dear Elon Musk
I only infrequently post “memes”, but I really like this one! I don’t quite understand why THE MEDIA spends so much time on the utterances of billionaires such of Elon Musk. They generally do not add anything positive to our political or economic discussions. So many of them seem to think they are geniuses in all areas since they managed to make a boat load of money…one way or the other.
And so it goes…
Word of the Day –Bespoke
- Noun: Bespoke
- made for a particular customer or user
- dealing in or producing custom-made articles
- engaged
- Synonyms:
- custom
- customized
- specialized
- tailored
- custom-made
- tailor-made
- special
- custom-tailored
- Usage:
- “Custom courts are becoming more common, but a lot of pickleball is being played on tennis courts marked with bespoke boundary lines to show where the pickleball stops. By square footage, a tennis court is three times larger, so “picklers” have much less ground to cover.”
- Encountered:
- While reading: Editorial: Can pickleball save democracy? We’ve heard worse ideas.
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A Light in the Attic poems and drawings by Shel Siverstein
I found this little gem of a book while perusing Señora‘s bookshelves for something to read as I was “reigning” on my throne. This book has been out a while, my issue lists the publishing date as 1981, but it has been so popular that there has been several special editions published since then.
While it is a book of poems with accompanying line drawings aimed at children, I found it very entertaining with more than a few that talked to me as an adult… or perhaps my inner child. One such example would be the following poem:
REFLECTION
Each time I see the Upside-Down Man
Standing in the water,
I look at him and start to laugh.
Although I shouldn’t oughtter,
For maybe in another world
Another time
Another town,
Maybe HE is right side up
And I am upside down.
Perhaps this poem spoke to me Continue reading “A Light in the Attic poems and drawings by Shel Siverstein”