Old Fashioned Humor

How many of you have ever seen, or even heard of, the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show? It was on television back in the dark ages—the 1950s, I think. Since Den and I don't have cable TV, we are limited to programs we can get via an on-the-roof antenna, which means we are pretty well limited. We do have something called EyeTV loaded on both our computers through which we can record shows that we don't have time to watch. You'd think that with only a few channels, we would never find anything to record, but you'd be wrong. We have enough shows recorded to last us several weeks, even if we don't record anything else. I should clarify that we don't watch TV on the computer, but on the TV, just like everyone else. It's just that our channel selection is limited.

To get back on track: One of the stations we can pick up through our antenna is WJW, channel 8.2, called Antenna TV. And every night, late, this channel shows two back to back episodes of Burns and Allen. It is the funniest program on TV. And it doesn't use profanity, drugs, or sex to be funny. When I say funny, I mean, laugh out loud in your own living room, funny. Gracie Allen's timing is impeccable, as is her self-expression. She is never confused, but everyone else usually is.

I love this show! It is the last thing I watch before bed every night, and I usually get a good night's sleep. If you ever get a chance to watch Burns and Allen, take it. You won't regret it.

Good Music; Good Book

Whether or not this feeling I have right now will last, it is currently strong enough that I have to write something about it.

Den put a CD by Odetta on the stereo to test one of his tubes, or speakers, or something else I don't understand, but it is simply a wonderful CD, brought to our attention by a good friend, Laurie, who knows the kind of music I like. The title is One Grain of Sand, and was first recorded in1963.

Maybe it is because I am reading a book about race relations in the South in the late '60s and early '70s that  this music seems so powerful right now, or maybe not. The book is Blood Done Signed My Name, by Timothy Tyson, and is really good—reads like a novel, but is a true story written by the son of a white Methodist minister who served a white congregation in North Carolina. I am half-way through the book; it is a very powerful story about the murder of a young black man in Oxford, N.C., how race relations were changing, and how the changes came about. Having grown up in the North, I had no idea how oppressed African Americans had become, and still were, in the 20th century. It seems there was more equality right after the Civil War than there was when the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 were passed.

Reading this book, and listening to this CD at this particular point in the reading (just past half-way), has made me wonder where I was when all this going on. Why wasn't I more aware? Why didn't I do something? Of course, I knew about the marches, the assassinations, the bombings; but they did not seem as real to me then as this story does now. I'm not sure anything will be changed by discovering something I didn't know 45 or 50 years ago, but maybe there is some value in hindsight.

The Healing Power of Time

The last seven months have been very distressing for me and for my family. However, it seems to be true that time does heal, or at least covers over, the worst of the horribly aching feelings that have invaded my whole being. I have to admit that I am reluctant even now to write about the depth of my feelings; they are very hard, if not impossible, to put into words. These feelings are much too emotional to talk about, but they have to come out somehow, so here they are.

The worst thing that you could imagine happening, happened on August 29, 2011. Our niece was murdered by her boyfriend. I know murders happen much too frequently; but it doesn't happen to someone you know, much less to someone in your family. It hurts way too much to talk about, even to those you love, and who loved and knew the person who was killed. But I know that my sister-in-law needs to talk about her beautiful daughter, needs to know that others share her pain (although we do not feel it as deeply as she does), needs to know that we, too, will never forget. But I find myself unable to speak for fear of saying the wrong thing; I am afraid of hurting her more deeply than she has already been hurt, even though I know that is impossible.  Maybe writing about this will make it a bit easier for me to help her, for her to know that I am here if she needs me.

Politics Again (Can't Help Myself)

Is the 1% taking over, state by state? I know I have said I would try to steer clear of politics in these blogs, but I just read an article by the investigative journalist Jane Mayer that has so upset me that I have to speak out somewhere, and here is as good a place as any.

Perhaps the scariest result of the Supreme Court striking down limits on corporate campaign spending is now being felt in North Carolina. One man, James Arthur (Art) Pope appears to be on a tear to take over the state and turn it into his private fiefdom, and a stronghold for very conservative Republicans. An article in the October 10, 2011, issue of The New Yorker magazine (I really need to catch up on my reading) examines how this one man seemingly has the clout and the dollars to stir up racism, hatred among political groups, and reductions in state funding for higher education.

According to the article, Pope and others believe that the state has no obligation to take care of its citizens; this should be left to the private sector.  Pope is chairman and CEO of Variety Wholesalers, a discount store chain. He has been known to complain that having to pay his employees minimum wage has hurt those people who could be hired for less money.

What this man, and others like him, are doing to this country is terrible. It seems they are trying to turn it into their own private dominion. And we seem powerless to stop them.

I cannot begin to delineate the horrors this man and the groups he supports have unleashed on NC, but if you care to read about it yourself here is link: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_mayer

Chardon School Tragedy

"A third student has died." These words on Tuesday hit me like a blow to my heart. How could this be? How could even one student be dead? This was in Chardon, practically right next door. My thoughts immediately turned to the murder of my niece this last summer. She was older than these students from Chardon, but she was still so young, and her life was cut tragically short. So I know it happens. Why, then, does this new catastrophe hurt and shock so much?

Three students have died, one is still in the hospital, and one has been released from the hospital. How could this have happened here? Why does this happen at all? How does our society and lifestyle contribute to this, if at all? Or have there always been troubled kids, but they haven't had the means to act out so violently? How do we keep our kids safe from such violence? And from committing such violence? Is it even possible?

The big question—should guns be banned? I don't think so. There would then be as much illegal trafficking in guns as there is in drugs. We have to do the best we can in providing kids with safe places and in recognizing and helping kids who need help.

The killer did not kill himself, and is in custody. Maybe if they (whoever they are) can talk to him, they can begin to understand why someone, especially a young person, would do this. Does it have anything to do with the fact that a teenager's brain isn't fully developed yet? Is there something in a young person's lifestyle we should be watching for? If the family did not have guns would it have made a difference? We will never know. We can only hurt for the families who have lost so much, for the students who will never forget, for the teachers trying to deal with the aftermath, and for the community that has lost so much.

Weight and Diet

Can you tell it's winter even without looking outside or at a calendar? I can. My weight is starting to creep up where it shouldn't go. It seems that every winter I put on two, three, or more pounds. Last winter was the worst; I weighed more a year ago than I did when I was nine months pregnant! At least, I took off a few pounds this last spring and summer, so I feel better. I was even, for a short time, down below my pregnant weight.

But that was last year and this is now. The weight is starting to get out of hand again. I know I have no will power; I especially love cookies. And chocolate, of course. And I like to bake. Last week I made a batch of meringue cookies (they can't be bad for you; they're mostly air) and some monkey bread. And I ate them, with help. This week, Den made hot butterscotch sauce and poured it over vanilla ice cream. He didn't put any whipped cream on top, and it was delicious; but just think how good it would have been with whipped cream!

We have also been indulging in mac and cheese, tomato cheese soup, and clam chowder; all home made. Don't laugh, but one of my favorite meals is a guacamole burger from Steak and Shake. I can't imagine there would be many calories in that. Then there is the nisu at the coffee shop at the Finnish Heritage Museum. How can we go there and not have nisu?

I'm sure you know where this is going. Too much food, too many treats, not enough exercise; it's diet time again. I had better get back on The 17 Day Diet, and fast. Now where did I put that book?

Time for Reading

Does anyone else have stacks of unread magazines? And shelves of unread books? Yesterday, I actually had the urge to sweep the magazines off the dresser where they are stacked and just get rid of all of them. When that thought went through my head, I panicked. I had never before wanted to get rid of any reading material, especially if I hadn't read it. Don't get me wrong; when I finish a magazine, it usually goes in the recycle pile, unless I know someone else would like to look at it.

Books, that's different. It's only lately that I've been able to pass on books to others, or to give them to the library or even the Salvation Army. Books have been my reason for being, or, at the least, very important to me. But now, when I look around the house and see the hundreds of books and dozens of magazines, I see clutter. I have been able to curb the urge to buy a lot of books because the library makes them so available. If Mentor Public Library doesn't have the book I want, chances are I can find it through Search Ohio. Only if I cannot find it there do I consider looking on the internet to buy. That way, I tell myself, I am at least not adding to the book clutter that has taken over my house.

Back to the magazines. I know the solution is easy - just don't renew them. Then I stop to think; I have to renew The Week, it's great for keeping me up to date on what's going on in the country and the world (if only I were up to date on reading it). And what about the Atlantic, Alfred Hitchcock Magazine, and a few others? Don't I legitimately need them to study what kind of stories they publish? Then there are a couple of dog magazines that I can't quit because, well, because they're about dogs. And the writing magazines, their content is about writing! I do think that I won't renew The New York Review of Books, because I have no trouble finding books to read. So there is at least one magazine gone, I think.