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  My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| Seriously, seeing a child who is happy to see you and running to greet you is more joyful and fulfilling than any material gift. |
How exciting! It's almost here. Whether you are alone or surrounded by lots of people, get your rest and find a little peace, if only a few moments at a time. Peace, joy, hope and love to all of you.        |
| Prompt; What is the one thing you wish you knew how to do? Play the piano. There. A simple truth, but one that takes a lot of diligence. It's best to start early, in preschool or elementary. If you learn to play a band instrument first, well, you can only concentrate on one note at a time, not a whole chord. It takes effort to read a single line of notes spread over two staffs, but seeing all the notes at once is very difficult, made even harder when the rhythm is different in each hand.. I have thought about putting it on my bucket list. I don't own a piano, although I probably have access to one, at least most weeks for occasional practice. Daily, not so much. And I might be a little thick headed and temperamental for a teacher correcting me. And I wouldn't want to do recitals with the other kiddies. However, I would love to sit down and play some music for my own enjoyment. Again, no piano, I don't know when I could do that. If I got rid of my sofa and end table and spent my retirement money, I could buy a piano.(How to get it up the stairs?) I'd make everyone gather around to sing along, since they wouldn't be able to sit. It's something I've wanted all my life, but I am old now. It's not likely to happen. Imagine if I had started early. I could have played Bach, Mozart, and Schumann all these years, swing, love ballads, etc., even if I wasn't concert quality. It was just a missed opportunity. |
| Prompt: “I often talk to people who say, ‘No, we have to be hopeful and to inspire each other, and we can’t tell [people] too many negative things’ . . . But, no — we have to tell it like it is. Because if there are no positive things to tell, then what should we do, should we spread false hope? We can’t do that, we have to tell the truth.” ~ Greta Thunberg I basically disagree with the quote. I discriminate according to my listeners. With some people, I'm straightforward and honest, no matter how bad the news. With others, it's none of their business, or they have burdens enough of their own. I don't lie to them, I just avoid the truth. If negative things involve a lot of us, then rather than dwell on them, I try to find something else to discuss, to balance things out. Maybe the situation calls for an act of kindness, not a discussion. If I go out of my way to do something nice for someone else, I don't feel the negativity so much. The worse things are, the more we need to do and say good things. I have cancer. I can avoid the topic, and never tell anyone what I'm facing. No one will understand my moods, or my busy schedule. I can focus on it, and make it the center of every conversation or encounter. No one will want to be around me. I can feel sorry for myself and indulge my gloom. I am volunteering at several places, playing hand bells, and singing in the church choir. I organized a family trip with 7 kids, who just made a Christmas memory to last a lifetime. I am baking cookies to take to several shut-in friends this week. I will act in a positive manner, but will respond truthfully when questioned. The truth, even when negative, does not have to defeat us or our relationships. |
| A Holiday Affair is a lesser known Christmas movie. It stars Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh, and was made in 1949. It's worth seeing. Some of the best lines about love come from the men in the movie, including the supporting actor. There is one very short scene with Harry Morgan that's terrific, not realistic, but very funny. Supposedly, the director just let Morgan run with it, the way he wanted, and it turned out great. I am very moved by the movie every time I see it. Another one I've just seen for the first time is Remember the Night, from 1940, starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stynwck. It's an unlikely event, but we buy into it right away, maybe more now more than they did in the 40's. Today, they would have taken a plane, instead of a car. The farm would not be managed by two older ladies, the salt of the earth type women that we all want to nurture us. And there wouldn't be an old-fashioned barn dance, and we'd have too many presents on Christmas Day, instead of the simple exchange of one gift each. But we do buy into it and fully accept it. By the end of the movie, where every thing is not settled neatly the way you want, I was sobbing out loud. It hit very suddenly. The tenderness and intensity between these two lead actors pulled me and had me hoping for the relationship between this unlikely pair A Christmas Story 2 was not as good as the original because of the absence of Darren McGaven, but it's a believable follow-up of the 16 year old version of the 9 year old. The writing stays true to the original, even if the acting does not. And, yes, a resurrected version of the fish net stockinged lamp does show up. |
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