What did we do before…

Recently I was mulling over what we did before some things which we now take for granted became so commonplace. What did we do before..

cell phones? And smartphones, pagers, beepers, and those hands-free units people wear on their ears?  We did manage to survive without talking on that phone in the ladies’  (or men’s?) room, texting whenever, or walking down the street talking to someone clearly not in sight.  We did manage to keep in touch with those we needed or really wanted to.  And  we  had one less distraction in class!

copiers that collate and staple? I can remember before copiers were so standard – educators, for example, used mimeograph machines. Carbon copies were really copies made using carbon paper!  I remember when copiers became common but still didn’t collate or staple.  When my college got machines that collated, that was a big step.  Now if staples run out, I’m upset and frustrated.

flavored coffees, creamers, lattes, cappuccino, etc.? Obviously we did, but having such a variety of options here is nice.  Make mine French vanilla!

calculators?  Wow! what did we do indeed?  They have come so far since the first one I saw, my cousin Albert’s.  His first was the size of a small (maybe 13″) tv!  Now they’re not much bigger than smartphones and so much more powerful.   They started becoming widely available when I was in high school.  I still didn’t have one yet, but Dad lent me a slide rule to use in senior year Chemistry class!  As a math educator, I do feel that students need a good mastery of basic arithmetic first – then should feel free to use them.  They greatly speed doing routine-type calculations, and are crucial  now for doing higher-order things.  I’m in awe when I think of what our great mathematicians centuries before us did without them!

remote controls?  Oh yeah, we actually had to get off the couch to change the channel or tune the tv.  Now with all the channels and capabilities of our tvs and services, they’re really a necessity.  What I really want is one for radios, so I can change channels in a flash if I don’t like the song that’s playing.  This reminds me though, that  I really should get more exercise (well, Bailey’s always ready to play…).   

The world seems to be changing faster and faster so I wonder: what will we not be able to do without in another ten years?

Still Around

Hi all -

My life is still as crazy as it has been recently.  I still miss Spunky;  I’m finally feeling like working on this blog again, after his tribute post.

One recent development is that I have a new kitty – adopted her in  late May and she is a real live wire.  Her name is Bailey and she’s now 7 months old. 

I do hope to continue writing to this blog at least from time to time.  Writing is fun – and of course sometimes challenging.

 

Remembering…

This is a picture of my sweetie, my cat Spunky.  Unfortunately, there is not good news as per my Christmas Wish.  He had gotten weaker the past two days, so I took him to our veterinarian today to check things out.  Sadly, there was some cancer that had spread to his lungs and one of the tumors in an ear was growing back.  Our vet also thought his digestive system probably had cancer cells through it, too.  So we decided to put my dear puss to sleep. 

He truly was a trooper during the last few months.  He never stopped giving his mommy lots of love even up to the end. 

He was just a wonderful cat and companion.  He used to like to play, especially catch the string.  He would swish his tail as he followed it and got ready to pounce.  He could be quite vocal with the meows and purrs (gotta love that!).  He often would sleep with me.  I always loved it when I came home and would call to him and he would come out to greet me (and I’d let him know he should if he didn’t). 

I miss him already, of course.  Anyone who has had to do this knows what an agonizing decision it is. But rather that keep putting him through more and more while the chances of any kind of recovery were very slim, it was the only decision that really could be made.  Rest in peace, sweetie.

Christmas Presents

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate – and best wishes to all.

Today is Christmas here and there’s always something going on about the holiday.  We Christians must remember that the Number One Christmas Present was/is Jesus Himself .  I know it’s cliche, but that is the origin of our celebration even though  it may have been changed over the years, morphing into a mix of the spiritual, the commercial, and the social.  We also remember presents presented to the Christ Child – gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the Three Wise Men. We also hear of  the fictional gift of The Little Drummer Boy; the spirit of that carol does ring true and continues to move and challenge us.  And I think one Christmas Present we can or should all agree on, regardless of any religious persuasion is PEACE.

A neat story happened during my quest for a Christmas present yesterday.  My cousin wanted a particular cd, and as I just found out, I was trying to hustle and find it before Christmas Day with a very limited amount of shopping time left.  I didn’t find it at the drugstore I went to (they used to have cds, I thought), and was debating on going to the local really big retailer knowing it would be totally mobbed.  I only had half an hour to spare and decided to give it a try.  After negotiating the extra busy parking lot, I headed in and a gal told me that it was crazy but the lines were moving fairly well.  As I only wanted the cd, I headed straight to that department and began to search.  Couldn’t find it.  I looked and looked, and finally decided to look on this last rack.  A young man was also searching there and – there was cousin’s desired cd – there by his feet.  I said “Excuse me,” and bent down to get the find.  I almost screamed - “Got it!”   He said – “Give me 5″  and I did! There was a checkout right there in the department so I went to get in line and I told another young man I found mycousin’s gift.  He even let me in line next.  It’s always nice to report on good young people and it’s nice to have a cool experience at a time when the long lines and the stress of crowds can get to almost anyone.

Now there’s still one Christmas present I wish for and that I try to visualize and help happen.  My cat, Spunky, has had a very rough time health wise recently.  He had two surgeries on his ears in the fall.   Right now I  have to hand feed him so I’m hoping he’ll get healthier and stronger – and back to gobbling down his food as he always did.  He’s his mommy’s sweetie since he’s such a good cat and faithful companion. So here’s hoping for better health for my baby for a long time to come.

Christmas Music

Hi all- I’m still around!  I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas.  My semester is over and now I can Christmas shop.  And vent and opine a bit about Christmas music on the radio.

One Philadelphia radio station actually started Christmas music 24/7 around 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. Another started the day before Thanksgiving.  My two cents: please, please stop this nonsense and don’t start until after Thanksgiving at the very earliest.  I only really started listening around Dec. 7 or so, and already I’m tired of most of the songs.  I’m tired of Frosty and even Rudolph. Although there are many different artists doing them, I still get tired of hearing them more than once or twice a day.  I’ve had it with “Winter Wonderland” (the verses are in the wrong order anyway).  ”Sleigh Ride”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” get tiresome. I really don’t like “Happy Holidays (It’s the Holiday Season)” or “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”; and please, please spare me “Merry Christmas Darling”. “Feliz Navidad” sounds peppy and fresh the first few times or so I hear it, but then it gets a little much. I’m really not a Grinch (and “Mr Grinch” is clever and fun – again until I’ve heard it too many times in this short period).

I do like a lot of Christmas music, just wish they’d have more of a variety – there’s got to be so much recorded.  As far as carols, I love “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “O Holy Night”, “Silent Night” and even “Away in a Manger”; “Joy to the World” is ok, too (Nat King Cole does a great version).

Other Christmas songs: I love “Rockion’ Around the Christmas Tree” – and it HAS to be Brenda Lee.  I like “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole is tops, but Tony Bennett is a close second.  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – I just love The Pretenders’ version, and Tony Bennett’s as well. And what about “What Child is This?”  as done by the Moody Blues? Radio never seems to play that one!  And while I hear Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra (I think there’s one he does with Ella Fitzgerald) , can’t they find ONE by Ella herself or even ONE by Rosemary Clooney they could play? Bob Seeger does a great “Little Drummer Boy” (haven’t heard it in a while, though). And whatever happened to Darlene Love’s “Noboby Ought To Be Alone on Christmas”? 

I do like Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”  and Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” both of which get played quite often. And I think one of the best ever has got to be Bing Crosby and David Bowie – “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth”; it works and has a wonderful message, too.

Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating something this season – and peace and goodwill to ALL.

This Date

I’m not sure what date and time will show up on this post’s time stamp (couldn’t make sense of the choices WordPress gave), but right now it’s still November 22. A date anyone old enough to remember has ingrained in his or her gray cells.  You remember where you were and what you were doing when you got the news that Pres. Kennedy was assassinated.

I was in 5th grade, Mrs. Hursey’s class.  None of us could believe it. On the day of the funeral, I remember being home and watching on tv.  I saw John-John’s salute to his Father (and yes, no matter that he became the fine young man he did, I still always thought of him as “John-John”).  I learned the Navy Hymn (“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”).  Americans were one (well, at least the vast majority of us) in our grief.

I’m sad to see now that for the younger generations, he’s solely someone in the archives of history.  Historians can debate how good a President he was, but I know how he made the country feel.  We felt hopeful and ready for new possibilities.  We could meet challenges like puting a man on the moon.  He really seemed to appeal to the young; the fact that youth could buy into his leadership and thus the system was important for citizenship (we’re just beginning to get this “buy-in” back!).  He had charisma and a sense of humor which drew us to him. His family was appealing, too.  I can still remember the story about Caroline telling on her father, that he was sitting with his shoes off and feet on the desk. 

It truly was a sad day when we lost him. It seems we lost so much more; certainly we’ll never know what he would have accomplished in a second term; how different the country might be now if that had happened.  I’m glad though that some of us remember.  Those years may have been turbulent at times, but there did seem to be a sense that society was working toward progress even if it was in fits and starts.

Today is also my friend Ruth’s birthday (so fat chance of me ever forgetting that!).  A shout-out and Happy Birthday to her.

Stuff I Love

One blogger, Shai, started a list of things she really loved.  Not a bad idea, so here goes:

Book: “Sense and Sensibility”, “Theirs is the Kingdom” (by Andrew Morton about the treasures of the British Royal Family)

Movies: “A Room With a View”; “Sleeping Beauty”

TV Movie: “The Love Letter”

TV Shows: (past and present) “Frasier”; “Hogan’s Heroes”;”My Name is Earl”

Music Albums: “A Question of Balance” – The Moody Blues; “Argent” – Argent

Bands/Artists: The Moody Blues; The Beatles; Argent; U2; Crosby, Stills and Nash( & sometimes Young); The Goo Goo Dolls; Bonnie Raitt; Rod Stewart

Commercials: (I know, what a category!) There used to be some pretty good ones, actually.  I liked the Pepsi Light one – “Things We Hate by the New York Giants Defense; The “Mean Joe” Greene Coke ad was good, too; There was a Honda motorcycle ad, mainly radio, I think, that had a “jingle’ just about good enough for a real song (following the highway the Honda way or something like that)

Paintings: I love Renoir and lots of Impressionist stuff.  Also Henry Ossawa Tanner – “The Annunciation” is just wonderful  But one I absolutely fell in love with and haven’t seen since was one I saw at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC around 1971 – 1972.  It was BIG and as I remember was on a wall near a stairs.  It was sort of impressionistic I think, in blues and whites of a woman in a white dress at a piano.  I didn’t note the name of the painting nor the artist, and have never seen it since. So if anyone can help, I’d apprecite it!

Sports Memories: Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs; the U.S. Hockey team beating the Russian Team and going on to win the gold medal at the Lake Placid Olympics; the Phillies winning the 1980 World Series ( they won this year too! However I don’t follow Baseball as I did back then…) The Dallas Cowboys finally winning their first Superbowl; being bat girl for a team in our town’s Semi-Pro Baseball Tournament

Dinner: crab cakes if they’re really meaty

Chocolates: dark chocolate or dark chocolate with caramel or the chocolates with hazelnuts

Daisy Jar

At a yard sale the other weekend, I saw this daisy jar. Since it fit the theme of this blog, I just couldn’t resist!

It might be a nice place to hide my chocolates.  No one will tell, right?

Whenever I see daisies, I always smile. Anyone remember making those daisy chains? They would be turned into ”crowns” or necklaces.  And of course we would pluck petals as we kept score – he loves me he loves me not..

Some years ago, I received a copy of Kate Greenaway’s The Language of Flowers through a gift exchange.  I looked up daisy – and its meaning was innocence.  With its pure white petals and childhood memories, I think the daisy fits this meaning perfectly.

Educational Surcharges

Classes at my college start on Wednesday.  It’s Labor Day? I can’t believe summer has gone by this fast.  Wasn’t May just yesterday? Although a new academic year is not without promise, there was still so much SUMMER stuff I just didn’t get to do!

I started thinking as I paid a fuel charge recently for a repair job that we educators have to buy fuel to get to work, too.  Why can’t we recoup some of this payout? Since many businesses now are passing expeneses on to consumers via fees and surcharges, I’m sure we educators could be doing the same. How about:

Caffeine fee – all that coffee to keep us up while grading papers late into the night costs money

Text-hauling surcharge – to be levied when textbooks are heavy enough for weight training; Math texts and English anthologies are particularly susceptible

Consultation fee – hey, committee work and answering surveys is time consuming

Technology surcharge- applicable when any of our available technologies (copiers, computer presentation systems, etc.) malfunction

Restocking fee – a surcharge for reactivating students’ unused brain cells after a vacation

Air Purifier surcharge – will finance stations where educators can catch a few breaths away from chalk dust or dry-erase marker fumes

and of course -

Diplomacy fee -for handling the varied constituencies of students, parents, administrators, and our communities with tact.

Family Four Pack

I hear it all the time on the radio.  Prospective contestants can phone in to win a “family four pack” of tickets to some attraction or event.  I notice that it is so often a “family four pack”, and although not usually explicitly stated, it must mean 2 tickets for adults and 2 tickets for children. Hmmm.  Mom and Dad, two kids – how average!

I’m happy for the winners, of course.  I also realize that an unlimited number of tickets just wouldn’t be possible.  However, being single myself I have to wonder about individuals or families who don’t fit that mold.  If I won a “family four pack” for example, I couldn’t treat 3 adult friends.  I could only treat one, and if he or she had no children, we’d have to  borrow some kids or give away the tickets meant for children.  An only child might be able to invite a friend.  A family with more than two children?  Well, at least they’d be subsidized.

Do I hear the sound of a cookie cutter?  Truth is, families now  do not all fit the same pattern.  There are lots of singles in society now – probably more than ever.  There are single parent families, families with many children, and some other very non-traditional families.  I just think it would be nice if there were more acknowledgement that everyone isn’t in the same family mold now.  It’s time that our notion of family broadens in our communities and in our national life.