Tag Archives: NaBloPoMo

All Quiet on the Western Front

Today, November 11, is Veterans Day in the US. It is when we remember the veterans of our wars. It is too bad we have so many wars to remember but we can not forget the men and women who fought in them even if we hate to remember the wars.

I have noted that many of the British bloggers are remembering Armistice Day. My husband always reminds me that Veterans Day was originally remembered here for when WWI ended as well.

Just recently we watched one of our classic DVDs All Quiet on the Western Front. It was based on a book by the same title written by Erich Maria Remarque. The film was the winner of the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. This was before my time but I have been aware of this film for quite a while.

Even though this film was made long ago it still has a universal appeal and message. The setting is WWI but it could apply to any time and place.

It is about a young man and his friends who are caught up in the nationalistic fervor of their country during WWI. They are idealistic when they enlist and go off to fight for their country. The young men quickly become disillusioned and it becomes a fight for survival. This film gives a realistic depiction of what is what like for the soldiers who fought in that war.

The message of the film is the great human waste of war and how it swallows up our youth with all their potential lost.

|Nano Poblano|

Our DVD Collection

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I love reading books and I love films.

We have quite a library of DVDs we have acquired over the years. We do not buy them as often lately. I borrow many DVDs from my local public library.

I recently purchased some great DVDs from PBS that I thought would be good additions to our collection. They were on sale so I decided to go for it. My husband and I have been watching them the past few days.

A perk of owning DVDs is that you can watch them over and over. If I haven’t watched something in a while I forget enough parts of it that I can enjoy it all over again. Or even if I remember the story, because I love them so much, I don’t care how many times I have seen them. Like re-reading a beloved book. I may even see more of the nuances that I may not have seen with the first viewing.

I like collecting older films or classics. We have a few. One reason I want to collect them is I am afraid that eventually we won’t be able to find them. That they won’t be available anymore. It is like old books that go out of print.

We just finished watching The DVD of Mark Twain by Ken Burns. Very good. It is a 2 Disc set. It covers Mark Twain’s life from beginning to end. It includes many great and funny quotes and excerpts from his books and some great photos. I really love many of his quotes and will be using them from time to time. There are interviews with some Mark Twain scholars, Hal Holbrook and Arthur Miller. It has special features that go into the making of the film and more Mark Twain quotes and photos.

The scholars, Holbrook and Miller share their knowledge, insights and impressions of Twain’s writing, motivations and personality. It is interesting to hear about the man behind the writing.

We all like to think that we are revealing our truth(s) with our blogs. Here is a quote from Mark Twain about honesty:

I think we never become really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead–and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought to start dead, and then they would be honest so much earlier.

Do you like having your own collection of films? Have you watched this particular film about Mark Twain and what did you like about it or learn from it? Do you have some favorite classic or older films?

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Day of Rest

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Now that I have found my voice I am getting tired of hearing myself talk.–D.

Introverts do not like making small talk. I think blogging daily is like trying to make small talk. I wondered if blogging is for introverts at all. I googled the topic and found an old blog about it. It claimed that introverts like to blog because it is easier for them in that they do not have to talk to someone face to face. That is probably true but on the other hand to endlessly blah, blah, blah is not the introvert way.

So today I am taking a day of rest from blah, blah, blogging. Happy Sunday!

Do you think bloggers are introverts or extroverts?

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Zombie Fishing in Lake Michigan

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When I first saw the headline in the Huffington Post it did pique my curiosity. Oh no! Could this be another environmental disaster? There have been stories about zombie fish. Thank goodness they are not some horrible mutant caused by toxic pollution. The fish become zombies because they are shocked with an electric current so scientists can study their health status. The fish recover and are released back into the water. Although some people argue that being shocked with electricity is not a great experience for the fish.

Another zombie nature story that is not as benign. I was upset to read about zombie bees. There are so many accounts nowadays of the severe environmental stresses on honey bees. Now there is a parasitic fly that has been invading the bee colonies and using the bees as a host for its eggs. As a result of this parasite the infested bee’s behavior becomes very erratic and they demonstrate zombie night-time activity. Fortunately they die right after they begin to act this way.

So when I saw the headline that they were fishing zombies out of Lake Michigan I reluctantly clicked on it. I was relieved to find that it was not about any poor creature, neither human, animal, fish or insect becoming a zombie. Turns out a Halloween barge with a bunch of mannequins dressed as zombies sunk during windy weather. Now they are fishing them out of the lake.

I can see this as being the impetus for a good horror tale. ” Yup, we were out there fishing those zombie mannequins out of the lake when we noticed one of them looked like it had flesh rotting off of it. Then it’s eyes opened and it let out this high pitched inhuman scream……..” Or maybe a new reality TV show like ” Already Dead Catch.”

Huffington Post: Crews Have Been Pulling Zombies Out of Lake Michigan

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Inspiration

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There are a multitude of synonyms for inspiration like fountain, spring, root, well, guide, creativity, vision, spark and illumination.

Sometimes when I re-read my writing, after I have had a good session with words flowing, I think to myself how did I come up with that thought expressed in that way?

I am not sure from where in me this creativity originates. Is it part of the brain? I think more likely the soul because it is spontaneous. It is not contrived or mechanical.

Some have credited a muse or external source. A spirit guide or angel.What do you think is the source of your creativity? Is it external or internal?

|Nano poblano| among other things.

Different

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” Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” –Apple Inc.

Abolitionist and Suffragette

Too Passionate

I think there is a passionate temperament. A person that can feel so strongly. There have been many times when I have been standing upon my soapbox and declaring my opinion about something I found wrong in the world.

During those times of strong emotion I have noted others looking on calmly, almost disinterested. I have thought to myself how can they not feel anything about this? How can anyone not feel strongly about this ? How can people feel so dispassionately about things? It is like they are already dead.

I realized that I was different.

It is not just passionate indignation that I feel. When you have the capacity for strong feelings you can feel great joy and elation as well. Like when you see something you find beautiful or hear music that you love.

I am glad I am different if it means to feel deeply and be more aware in the world. Maybe this is why I always wanted to stand up for people’s right to be different. To be who they truly are.

Have you ever felt different or been told you are different?

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Women, Cats, Men, Dogs

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“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” –Robert A. Heinlein

I do like cats an awful lot. Our cat died a few years ago. It was originally my daughter’s cat. Well you know how it goes. The daughter goes away to college and the cat became my cat. I became very attached to the cat. Her name was Angel. It was very hard when she died.

Cats do have interesting personalities like all animals. I don’t agree with people who say cats are so independent that they do not care about people. Angel did not bond with everyone. She would not slobber all over you. But she did bond with me and my daughter very much. I think cats know if you are a cat person or not. They can be easily frightened by people. Once they trust you they will be your friend. Just like us.

I liked the quote. Thought it is fun.

|LindaGHill One-Liner Wednesday|

|Nano Poblano|

How to Defeat Aging

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This is day 4 of the post a day challenge. I am basing this post on a prompt on the Nano Poblano site. Tell everyone how you have defeated aging.

I have to say that I have not defeated aging and I do not want to. What I would like to defeat is Ageism.

All this anti-aging talk is because people have a real prejudice and fear about older people and getting older. And the current definition of older is pretty young. This is pathetic and sad. We are all going to get old. You may be able to delude yourself and invest in all manner of plastic surgery and end up looking like Jim Carey in The Mask with The Mask on.

I am not saying you can’t use moisturizer, some makeup or color your hair and try to stay in shape and healthy. I am talking about this exaggerated reaction to the appearance of aging where we are all trying to look like we are in our 30s or 40s when we are in our 50s and 60s.

I am not afraid of aging and do not desire to defeat it. Aging to me is not a negative thing. It is part of life and very natural. Of course I hope to remain healthy and with an intact mind but none of us knows what the future holds. I refuse to live in fear.

I hate the way old people are devalued by many in our society. It is such a mistake and a loss to everyone when this great resource is neglected. It is a valuable thing to have the older generations interacting with the younger ones.

Children benefit so much from relationships with grandparents. The elders are the keepers of our history and culture. We can learn a lot from listening to their life stories and hearing about their experiences and struggles.

People should not be marginalized and shunned because they are old. This is such a pernicious trend in our culture. It is like a bad science fiction or a dystopian film. The old go off to some disintegration machine because our youth obsessed culture can’t bear to look at them any more.

All the negativity about aging is dispiriting and discouraging. I believe that it can actually make people feel depressed about themselves and adopt a hopeless attitude about their lives. It certainly is not empowering is it?

It is really discouraging to me to hear older people denigrating themselves on top of it by making stereotyping statements or ageist remarks. It is like they have been so saturated with this prejudice that it has become part of them. Almost a kind of self-hatred or a way of ingratiating themselves with biased younger people.

It is pretty difficult to combat this prejudice because it is so ingrained. We have all internalized it to some degree. But that does not mean it is not worth it to fight to change this negative image of age.

Many older people are continuing to live fulfilling lives in spite of what is expected of them or not expected. They go on enjoying pursuits, being creative and engaged with life. They are usually not noticed by the mainstream.

There are many organizations and websites that are working to combat all the negative spin about ageing. Some are the National Center for Creative Ageing or NCCA, Encore, AARP, Engage and Senior Planet.

I hope we can turn the tide against ageism because it will benefit all of us. It is a human rights issue. No one has the right to put limits on the lives of others on the basis of gender, race, religion or age.

I challenge you to promote tolerance and become aware of ageist speech and stereotypes. See if you can catch yourself before you continue to spread these negative attitudes in your families and to your children. Do you have any older friends or family members in your life? Have you believed a stereotype about an older person?

|Nano Poblano| among other things 🙂

Taking on Challenges

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You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What mood is that? Last minute panic.–Bill Watterson

I first saw this quote on my friend Natso’s blog. It was at a time when I was wrestling with the demands of writing a blog. I am new to blogging and began writing posts as an experiment to see if I had a talent for writing and if it would develop through blogging.

The demands to write something on a frequent basis and connect with people in the blogosphere, view who liked my posts and read their blogs was getting to me. I have written a few blogs on this topic, Blogger Burnout and Disconnections, that I thought were pretty good.

So here I go throwing myself into another experiment with the daily posts for November. I think I like pushing the envelope of my comfort zone. Taking risks. I have been known to do this before during other times in my life. I have taken on big challenges. Jumped into things that were outside my comfort zone.

When I decided to go back to college and enter an accelerated teacher training program is one example. Note the word accelerated. Not only did I go back to college at 60. I went into a super demanding program. I was to complete this program in 1 year. It consisted of 21 units the first semester and 19 units the second. The second semester included student teaching. This is when you are placed in a classroom and get on the job training. You need to prepare lessons for your students and have separate written assignments related to it and this added to the work you are already doing in your other classes.

This is not the first time I have thought something sounded like a good idea in theory, to get through quickly, and turned out not to be in practice. I had sound reasons to want to get my teaching credential quickly. As mentioned earlier I was not getting any younger. I hoped to make a quick transition into another field. My first career had been in Nursing. Another determining factor was the cost. If I could do it faster it would not cost as much. The California State University tuition was less than other programs as well.

There were many things I liked about Nursing. I love learning in general. I was very interested in medicine and physiology. I am an idealist and wanted to work in a profession that does good and helps the world.

Although I liked these aspects of Nursing it was not a good fit for me in other ways. I am an empathic type who can take on the suffering of others. Being an idealist can put you into conflict with situations where the bottom line is more important to the companies or hospitals you are working for than the employees or the people you are caring for.

I have read that when your work puts you in conflict with your values it can cause tremendous stress. I can say in my case I found this to be true. I tended to be very self-critical, a perfectionist and a worry wart in addition. So this combined with everything else was not a healthy situation. I did not give up right away. I stayed in Nursing off and on for many years.

I worked in many different areas of Nursing until I felt I had come to the end of it for me. So that is when I thought about teaching. I had done teaching as a Nurse in that you do a lot of patient and family teaching about their conditions, medications and self-care.

I had some experience in the classroom working part-time as a teacher’s aide. I wanted to work with kids who had learning problems. I felt I needed more education to do that. So that is how I ended up in the ACT Program as California State University Northridge.

It is a big challenge to go back to college after so many years. I was barely computer literate. This caused many little challenges. Like learning to order books online from the school book store for my classes, learning how to register online for classes, learning how to access and use the college library online. You notice a lot of these things involved getting comfortable with the computer quickly.

Then it was the whole thing of being the oldest student in the class. I had to learn to relate to people my kids’ age or younger. Thankfully there were some who were open to being my friend. I think others really did see me like their parents. So there was this barrier. But gradually I found I was able to work with most of them pretty well.

I was not the only one who found this accelerated program stressful. I discovered that the 20 year olds were having just as hard a time with the demands of the coursework as I was. I also found out I still had a brain in my head and could learn all this new information and get good grades and cope with learning the technology.

I am not saying that at times it was not a pretty rough go because there were times when I felt like I was barely making it. But it was encouraging to find out that the other students were feeling the same. I was not the only one. It was a tough program.

So now why am I worried about this daily post. It’s a piece of cake.

|Nano Poblano| among other things. 🙂

A Post A Day Will Not Cause An Emotional Breakdown I Hope

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All right. I have committed to write a post a day for, and I am terrible at acronyms and why do we need them anyway, NaBloPoMo and Nano Poblano. OK I know poblano is a type of chile pepper and not an acronym.

This is the first day of November and we have had our first rain of the season all last night here in Southern California. It really gave me such a great feeling. In case you are unaware, we are going through a drought here.

I usually love listening to the rain at night but last night was particularly wonderful. I had just finished writing a post. My husband had the radio on in the bedroom. I think that blocked the sound of the rain at first. Then I heard a loud drip, drip, drip like there was a leak somewhere. Our plumbing has been noisy lately so I couldn’t be sure.

Then I thought maybe it is rain. It had been predicted for last night. I turned on the light over the backyard patio. I was so happy to see the dripping noise was the rain running off the edge of our tile roof.

It is like any everyday thing that you haven’t experienced for a long, long time and when it happens again it is so special. As if it has never happened before and this is the first time.