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Our Daily Thread 3-12-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1664 New Jersey became a British colony.

In 1789 the U.S. Post Office was established. 

In 1884 the State of Mississippi authorized the first state-supported college for women. It was called the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College.

In 1894 Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time.

And in 1912 the Girl Scout organization was founded. The original name was Girl Guides.

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Quote of the Day

“A place for everything and everything in its place.”

Isabella Beeton

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Today is composer Thomas Augustine Arne’s birthday.

It’s also James Taylor’s birthday.

And it’s Ed Nicholson’s birthday as well.

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Anyone have a QoD?

70 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-12-14”

  2. Morning all. Had a long day with a staff meeting at the end after having to evacuate the school due to smoke. They were burning tall grass just the other side of the school fence and you couldn’t even see across the playground. The land of the unexpected…

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  5. I had to go back and find the comments by Chas and Ann. Okay, now I’m on today. Getting late here, so I will leave you all to your discussions and see you on Thursday morning. In my solitary world, it means a lot to have you all to visit with. Blessings
    Oh, a new grandchild is due in two weeks!

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  7. Two things in the Daily Post reminded me of my grandmothers. The first was the note about the U.S. post office being established. One of my grandmothers was the postmistress in her small town way back when. (I’m not exactly sure how long a time she served in that capacity.)

    And the Quote of the Day was what my other grandmother would always say. She lived it, too. I still need to learn to live it. That would be nice, but after 51 years, I’m not sure if I ever will catch on. 😉

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  8. I’ve loved James Taylor since I was four years old and used to listen to Smiling Face, Honey Don’t Leave LA, and The Secret of Life… Hubby teased me once that I was in love with a bald, ex-heroin addict…I don’t care for his politics, but, boy, can he sing! I’ve seen him in concert numerous times–one time even shaking his hand! All four of my siblings like his music, too, so he was sort of the soundtrack of my life growing up.

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  11. Good morning everyone. I am so glad for the sense of community we have here. I got a little snarky on yesterday’s political thread. I should let some things get under my skin. I am coming up on a busy few days. I have work the next three days. I have a new agent starting today. She is the Baby Sister My Parents Neglected To Have For Me. She started working with me about 10 years ago. She was newly wed, pregnant, and only 21. Today she is a college graduate, the mother of two beautiful children, a Christian, beautiful—I mean drop dead gorgeous—and I couldn’t be more proud of the woman she has become than if I had raised her myself. She is going to be Guy I Used To Work With’s handler/keeper for a while until she can get her feet under her real estate wise.
    Tomorrow will be busy with setting up for a trade show, making breakfast casserole for Friday morning, because Friday begins the weekend of The Outdoor Art Show and Arts and Crafts weekend. Friday night I will be “feeding the artist’s” for the awards banquet. We have a great caterer this year so I will just be a runner making sure everyone is happy. Saturday I will get to walk the show, perhaps buy something. Who knows?

    Life is good.

    WordPress.com / Gravatar.com credentials can be used.

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  12. Nice Arne sonata, AJ. I had not heard of that composer or the piece. The music was quite elegant in its simplicity (although I’m sure it wasn’t easy to play with all those ornaments — the player just made it sound easy; I was impressed with the ease with which he executed the ornamentation).

    I enjoyed the James Taylor song, too.

    Ricky, thanks for that article. I was glad to see the emphasis on repentance and faith.

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  13. OK, so how about this for the Question of the Day? (A two-parter.) Do you have a place for everything, and is everything in its place?

    For me, no and no. 😉 But maybe I can make some headway and try to at least turn that first no into a yes today. The second one will take much longer. 🙂

    You all have a good day!

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  14. 6 arrows QoD: No and no. I am not an organized person by nature. Also, unfortunately, neither is my housekeeper. She started out as our nanny and has become like one of the family, but her idea of clean is just to stick things in drawers–if it’s not on the counter, it must be clean! So, we frequently “lose” things around my house….But, she’s unbelievably good with children and I wouldn’t trade her for the best housekeeper in the world. I genuinely believe she’d protect my kids with her very life. And, that is worth much more than an organized house!

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  15. The only time my house has truly been organized was when we had a Polish housekeeper/nanny who worked for us full time when I was very ill, back when L. was about two. She was amazing, but not very warm.

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  17. I have a place for important things like scissors, tape, light bulbs, kitty food and litter, contribution envelopes for church, telephone directories for yellow page searches although the internet has replaced much of that, pens and notepads, address labels, refills for soaps and detergents, medicines, and more. So I have a place for some things, but it is all the rest that makes the house look crazy lived in while a tornado came through.

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  18. I have three main areas of disorganization. First, all the books our family ownes. Second, accumulations of paper that enter into our house awaiting for opening, reading and determining action. Lastly, I never seem to be able to keep up with hand washing of all the things that get used in the kitchen. I need to become good friends with fly lady on that one. I just finished bagging up the 40 clothing items I decided to give away for Lent. I still need to go through shoes and handbags. Lots to be rid of there, too.

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  19. I’ve gotten used to the banner changing every day and when its the same, I’m suspicious I’m not on the right day! 🙂

    Love James Taylor’s voice, too.

    It’s been easier to have places for everything and find them there now that I’ve pared down some of my possessions and the children have moved out (that might have something to do with it). With all our moves, however, I have a mental image of where things belong and, more importantly, what else will be sitting next to them.

    So, if I can’t find the first item, I look for the second.

    Except, where is the heating pad? Hmmmmmmm

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  20. I have a place for everything, but live with a man who never grew up with that. He has become better and I will leave it at that, like Chas. 😉

    I hate wasting time looking for something to do a project or a job that needs to be done. I also hate wasting money buying things we already have.

    Even so, I will have things piled up, if I have not gotten to them or know I will be using them in a little while. Right now I have several pieces of fabric out on a futon, which is in my sewing/computer room. I study one set for an idea of the quilt I am going to make with them. I have another set with a small doll on top, which is for making doll clothes for Sam’s purse. If I put them away, I will forget about the clothes until too late to put in the box! I have a couple of other projects out and ready to go when I get the time.

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  21. Good Morning all…and thanks so much for including JT this morning…listening to him just makes me smile…and I know all the words to his music :-)..like you Ann…he is my all time favorite!!
    I still recite the “a place for everything and everything in its place” to my family…I am ocd and Monkish in that respect….I drive my family batty at times!
    It has been quite the nightmarish morning for drivers in Denver this morning…a crazy guy sent troopers on a high speed chase…kidnapping a 4 year old in a stolen car…then proceeded to carjack two more cars…thankfully no one was killed, but there were several injured…the 4 year old boy, thankfully, has been returned to is parents…and the guy has been captured….

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  22. I am a yes and yes person married to a maybe and no person. Long ago I realized that if that bothered me, it was MY problem, not his, so I’m actually quite at peace with it. So far, he’s never misplaced anything really important like a child or a car. His tools, shoes, glasses, wallet, gloves, pencil, keys, and half-finished soda, on the other hand, are a different story.

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  23. I’m like Janice, I have “areas of disorganization.” Which means I generally know where (regionally speaking) I can find something, but from there it takes some hunting and pecking. I was looking for some paperwork this morning which I still haven’t found. But I think it’s in the pile I thought it was. I just went through it too fast. Oy.

    College boyfriend loved James Taylor, we saw him in concert at the Greek Theatre in the mid-1970s. I was never a big fan, but enjoyed the live performance since he did some fun and upbeat rockin’ tunes not usually associated with him. I was more used to acts like The Who. 😉

    And speaking of classic rock music (which I know Chas thinks is an oxymoron), I had an hourlong phone interview yesterday with the guy who was the lighting and technical director (and also at the last minute was tapped to be the emcee) at Woodstock. He lives in Australia now, still busy working on projects (at 75 years old). Fascinating conversation, he got his start at the tiny village club in NYC where Dylan, Peter Paul & Mary and other acts were playing at the time. Dylan composed some of his songs in this guy’s apartment basement that was just about 10 steps from the club.

    He also toured 5 years with the stones and worked with just about every top act in the 1960s and 1970s rock scene you could name, developing some of the cutting edge special effects for large arena-style shows that were taking off in the late 1960s and through the ’70s.

    It also was his job to handle/baby-sit all the celebrity “hangers on” like Capote and others who liked to hang out with the bands back in the day. Lots of egos going on, he said it was like herding cats making sure no one got into too much trouble. Very nice guy who seemed to come out of it all with his head still on his shoulders.

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  25. With all the talk, I had to go back to hear James Taylor. I don’t recall hearing him before.
    He, OK. But I like music to have rhythm and rhyme. The song expresses an interesting concept.

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  26. Thanks Donna.

    Ever since you mentioned Woodstock yesterday I’ve had this stuck in my head. It was gone this morning, but for some reason whenever anyone says Woodstock, like this morning, it pops up. Again.

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  27. Explosion of apartment building in Harlem? Almost sounds like it could be what happened with Georgia Tech student. Then again it could be a meth lab or anything.

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  31. Lovely video of Joni Mitchell….thanks for posting that one Donna. I always told my kids as they winced upon hearing me sing, “you should hear me in my head…I sound just like Joni Mitchell”!! Maybe this one will get stuck in my head and knock out the one AJ posted!! 🙂

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  33. It’s a cloudy day today. Nothing like the blue sky of yesterday. Lots of trees with white blossoms in the Atlanta area right now.

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  34. 6 Arrows QoD: Yes and no – for both. Being in transition so often means that I am always in the process of making a place for everything and trying to keep it there. However, one of the upsides of constantly changing residences is that it keeps all the superfluous stuff to a minimum.

    I must confess, that I don’t really like Joni Mitchell. I know, she’s Canadian; but somehow she always misses the mark for me. Same goes for Anne Murray. Give me Stan Rogers or Gordon Lightfoot over them any day; or for women’s voices, the McGarrigle sisters:

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  35. Cute video, Roscuro. And I’d forgotten about Gordon Lightfoot. Didn’t he do “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”? I always liked that song.

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  36. I am having a headache today. Maybe from Spring pollen or too many dweets yesterday. Or change in air pressure since it is windy today and so different from the past few days. I took two baby aspirin so I will see if that helps.

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  39. I think James Taylor may have been in that vimeo Donna posted at 11:27. I saw one scene that had Carly Simon with two other men, one being the Woodstock guy Donna interviewed, and I think the other guy was James Taylor — he and Carly Simon were married to each other sometime in the past.

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  40. My husband and I really like Gordon Lightfoot and once saw him in concert. We have not heard him in a number of years though.

    At a younger age I really liked James Taylor. I guess I did stop being as interested because of politics. And i was disappointed with the heroin addiction phase.

    When I was in the college dorm I would listen to Sweet Baby James, Carly Simon, Creedance Clearwater, The Fifth Dimenzion and The Lovin’Spoonful mostly. Don’t know what that says about me?

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  41. Bosley is hanging close to me today. I think with all the noise from the wind she wants a little extra security. And maybe it is because I left her at home by herself for longer than usual yesterday.

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  42. I am trying to get things sorted in my classroom. It is 75 feet by 25 feet and has the stuff of many kinder teachers before me. I figured it was time to make it my own and clear things out. Especially since a WASC team is coming and next year at this time I will be on furlough with someone else teaching. Fun to get rid of stuff and be organized. However, I am doing assessments this week and my desk is just covered with papers.

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  43. 6 Arrows & Janice: Yes, Lightfoot wrote “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, as well as many other hits of that era like, “Early Morning Rain”, “If You Could Read My Mind”, and “Steel Rail Blues”. He isn’t in the best of health these days, but he does still perform locally (he lives in Ontario).

    Stan Rogers was killed in a plane crash in 1983, so many people have probably forgotten him, but his songs are worth hearing. I just discovered this one recently:

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  44. Just got back from seeing Mr. Peabody and Sherman with Becca and her friend. I detest how loudly they play movies these days. I take cotton balls, but it’s still way too loud for my comfort. The girls loved it.

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  45. I’ve gotten used to the banner changing every day and when its the same, I’m suspicious I’m not on the right day!

    Actually, the banner picture is the same for every thread. When the picture changes, it’s for the whole blog, which means that today’s picture won’t be there when AJ changes it.

    As for the QoD: I have a place for everything, I just don’t know where that place is all the time.

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  46. I may have been at that same JT concert, Donna. 🙂

    It’s awfully disappointing when artists you appreciate aren’t as wonderful as their art! 😦

    I have stacks of papers around my desk . . . that’s where they belong until I’m done with them. That’s what you meant, right? 🙂

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  47. “If You Could Read My Mind”…wow, I hadn’t heard that song in, like, forever! And I didn’t know that was Gordon Lightfoot. I’m not sure how I couldn’t have known, though, with his very distinctive voice. I had to go listen to it on YouTube — I love that song so much, even better than “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

    When I was over at YouTube, “Sundown” was in the sidebar. We had that on an LP my mom had bought back in those years. When I listened to the song today, I noticed for the first time that, particularly in that song, Lightfoot’s voice resembles that of B.J. Thomas, whose singing voice is very similar to a friend of mine’s from college who was a voice major.

    Michelle, yes, stacks of paper that are where they belong until you’re done with them — that’s exactly right. 🙂

    6 arrows

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  48. You all motivated me to clean out a file cabinet today and sort papers. The woman who had my job before me died suddenly. I have been sensitive to just throwing her things away, but she did save EVERYthing.

    My Windows 7 computer was infected with a nasty virus today. I called the tech helpline provided by the board of realtors. He did what he could but told me I would have to take it somewhere and let them physically work on it. I came home and got the new Windows 8 computer that I bought last August. I do NOT like Windows 8. If I wanted to use an iPad or a Mac I would have bought one. My brain appreciates files and logic. This is not easy or fun.
    I can’t figure this thing out. I can’t figure out how to close a file or put them in logical folders.
    Did I mention I do not like Windows 8?

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  49. Haven’t yet read today’s comments, but want to toss this in here before time gets away from me.

    Our friends/tenants, the “McKs” are in the process of moving out. They’ve been sleeping at the new place since the night of March 2, but still have some more packing, moving, & cleaning to do upstairs.

    When they are finally all finished & out, Emily wants to do an extra-good cleaning up there, including cleaning the carpets. Then, for Forrest’s sake, she wants to slowly transition to living up there.

    I know I shouldn’t complain, but this process seems to be going so slowly. I am SO ready for the girls & Forrest to move upstairs, & to start getting my home in order. After they move upstairs, we still have some moving around to do downstairs.

    One of those moves we will make is to turn what is now Chrissy’s room (the pink room off the dining room) into an office, moving the two desks, computers, & file cabinets out of our bedroom. (Yay!)

    Well, sometime this afternoon, Lee & I went to take a peek upstairs, since the McKs are not around today, to see how things are looking up there. What we found was quite disturbing.

    Background: Something I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned before is that they are extremely messy. I mean piles of junk on the floors & on furniture – papers, books, clothes, whatnot – in every room, stuff everywhere. The counters in the kitchen almost completely covered with stuff, & there is a lot of counter space in that kitchen. Lee has even mentioned that he thinks those piles are a fire hazard, not only because they would feed a fire, but because they would have to climb/walk over some of those piles to get out of the door. (Yes, really that bad.)

    The McKs had a rented moving van all day on both March 2 & March 9, & still are planning to rent one again this weekend. Originally, they thought they would have mostly moved out & only have some details to take care of, & then be all out after this Saturday, March 15. From what we saw up there today, that ain’t gonna happen.

    The whole place is full of stuff! We could barely walk from one area to another. Emily mentioned seeing bills mixed with other papers & plastic forks & whatnot all over the floor. One bedroom was impossible to enter, with a huge pile of stuff covering the floor, & a rocking chair sitting on top of that large pile. Even the bathroom is full of stuff, like piles of clothes in the laundry/shower area.

    Quite frankly, the place reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of the homes of hoarders. It really was quite disturbing. And now I am feeling discouraged again, because I can’t imagine they will be finished & out this weekend. (They also had a lot of stuff in the attic, which may account for some of the stuff we saw.)

    If I were my friend M, I would feel very depressed & hopeless at the thought of having to move all that stuff. And to think they’ve already moved two vans full of stuff. Disturbing & discouraging.

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  51. I just got back here & finished reading today’s comments. Kinda funny that you were all talking about organization & then I came along with my story.

    BTW, I know it sounds like I was exaggerating, but I wasn’t. It’s actually worse than I described. 😦

    I can understand one person having this problem, but the whole family? It’s kind of scary.

    And yes, I am one who believe in a place for everything & everything in its place.

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  52. Kim – And they’ve had 10 months to go through all that stuff.

    I’d say that not only is this some kind of mental/emotional illness, it seems like a spiritual problem, too.

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  54. Karen O, perhaps some of what is left they are planning to put out by the street or have a donations truck come by to pick it up. Maybe that was what some of the odd piles were about?

    Remember to pray rather than worry. This, too, shall pass.

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  55. Kim – Nope, no security deposit.

    Janice – These are not piles of specific items. These are piles upon piles of junk all mashed together, flowing down on the sides, not neat piles. Most of the floors are covered with either the huge piles, or random junk thrown on them – even trash like the plastic utensils Emily saw.

    I have to go now, but I’ll catch up with you all tomorrow.

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  63. College boyfriend also loved Joni Mitchell. Me, not a whole lot, I’ll admit. But that may have been James Taylor in the video with Carly Simon, I didn’t pick up that it was her — only that she looked awfully familiar — until I watched it over again.

    Well, I finished the story anyway, it’s probably online by now and will be in the paper tomorrow. Then it’s on to find something else to write about, but after two 1960s-era stories within a week I’m done with the hippies I think. 🙂

    Karen, hopefully they’ll be back or get a big dumpster and just throw most of that stuff in — the paperwork is the hardest with all the stress on shredding everything. And if everything’s all mixed together, it’ll be doubly hard to go through all that.

    But I did find the paperwork I was looking for this morning. 🙂

    (The Woodstock guy I interviewed was in the process of moving out of a house he’d been in for nearly 30 years in Australia — he said it’s not at all advisable to move after being somewhere that long. When he mentioned he was using lots of nice interlocking boxes for packing — I told him I usually start out using neat little boxes but then, by the last day or two, it’s down to jamming whatever’s left into huge garbage bags, then dragging them out and heaving them into the already over-packed car. “Well, that’s a look,” he said. I hate moving.)

    I really do need to take some time off to attack my spare room (again). Sigh.

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  65. It’ll be 25 years this summer since we moved into our house. A LOT of things would have to get tossed if we ever moved.

    Which makes me wonder, do we really need all those things now?

    I know the answer to that. 😉

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  68. maybe someone is still around??
    Karen, that is so discouraging. I agree with the others that you may be left with a lot of it.
    When we leave here to go on furlough, we have to leave our place ready to rent. So we have to go through things. At home, before I return, I have to decide what to do with every piece of paper that I have accumulated, before I leave. It takes a lot of time and energy.
    Everytime I come home I get rid of more. I know I have boxes of books, but not much furniture left. I keep giving things away. Not really worth paying to store things for so many years.

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