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Our Daily Thread 10-25-14

Good Morning!

Welcome to the weekend!

On this day in 1812, during the War of 1812, the U.S. frigate United States captured the British vessel Macedonian. 

In 1881 the founder of “Cubism,” Pablo Picasso, was born in Malaga, Spain. 

In 1955 the microwave oven, for home use, was introduced by The Tappan Company. 

And in 1962 American author John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. 

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Quote of the Day

“When in doubt, punt!”

John Heisman

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 Not many birthdays, so random selections.

Since I missed one of their birthday’s this week… From SwitchfootVEVO

And who doesn’t love some Johnny?

And yes, that’s a rhetorical question. 🙂

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Anyone have a QoD?

51 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 10-25-14”

  2. I talked briefly with our new pastor at the luncheon yesterday. I knew he came her from a large church in Opilaka, Al. I learned, as I suspected, that he is an Auburn fan.
    We have all sorts in our church. He seems a nice guy though.

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  5. Good morning, Chas. I awakened at six and came out to make the coffee and let the dog out. Becca was already sitting on the couch on my laptop. She’d been up since 5:30 watching American Girl crafting videos. She has a fun day ahead: tutoring with Mr. Dean at 10:30; her school’s Fall Festival from noon to three (her good friend, Brie, is going with us); and a birthday party from 3-5. Brie’s coming home with us after the party until around eight, as her parents have a prior commitment. Brie is a super sweet girl who is very easy to have around. I’m of the opinion that it’s easier to have two than one–as Becca rarely plays alone–so I’m thrilled she’ll be spending the day with us. L. spent the night with one of her oldest friends last night for her birthday. We don’t pick her up until six tonight. L.’s been friends with Jessica since first grade, even though they haven’t attended the same school since fourth grade. She lived about ten minutes away until summer before last when her parents decided to move to The Woodlands. Unfortunately, it’s now a 40 minute drive from our house to hers, so the girls see each other only sporadically. But they still text almost every day. I’m glad the friendship has survived as Jessica is a strong Christian and a genuinely kind human being. She’s the oldest of five, with a baby sister 13 years her junior.

    Anyhow, hope everyone has a great Saturday!

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  8. I know great blue herons nest in trees, but it is amazing to me to see four-foot-tall birds fly into a tree and perch on the limb like some sparrow.

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Good morning. The weather is perfect for fall activities in Atlanta. Husband and I went out to breakfast and are now at the office. I overheard the guy sitting behind our booth at the restaurant tell the waitress that he is in a band that does music for Tyler Perry shows. Never know who you might be sitting near in a place like Atlanta.

    I hope everyone has a good Saturday. I am still playing catch-up on all the things I got behind on. Husband will be doing the same for quite awhile.

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  10. Jo, I read what you wrote about Christmas morning being a sad time for you. It made me feel your pain over what could have and should have been. We’ve had many Christmas times that have been heavy with sadness because it has been a month when a number of tragedies have hit our family. The story that I wrote about when my mother died on December 26 will be in the book, Divine Moments at Christmas. My story was retitled by the editor as, “Dreading Christmas.” We got the final proof of the book by email yesterday. The proceeds of the book will all go to Samaritan’s Purse. I was just thinking that you might make plans to read that book or another similar book on Christmas morning so you will not feel alone in your suffering.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. I feel similar to Jo this time of year. My mother died 50 years ago November 1. It was hardest on my sister, the oldest child. She ended up being my second mom. It was also two days after my brother’s 10th birthday. I wrote a poem 20 years ago about that day, based on a paper I did for an English class. I’ll post it next Saturday. The original is in Spanish, but I’ll post the English version. It was the first long poem I wrote in Spanish first.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Good Morning all. We are off to shop, have lunch, and see a movie. We still have things to buy for a Little Boy’s birthday. He will be getting a Baby Sister as one gift but Grandpa and I will be sending others. It concerns me that Baby Sister is going to be born “nekkid” so I have clothes to send as well. She will have a Christmas sac gown with a pacifier holder that says First Christmas–reminds me she needs a pappy. She will have a Christmas long sleeve and footed onesie and an outfit she can were to church. Big Brother will be receiving toys for his birthday to offset the shock of a sister. 😉
    Then of course Christmas is around the corner…I have my own BG to shop for and we will need to have some things for Middle Son and Youngest Son for Christmas.

    I think I have solved my Thanksgiving dilemma. We will be attending a ball on Wednesday night so we will spend the night in Mobile…We will just have lunch at the hotel before coming home.

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  13. It’s Pablo Picasso’s birthday? So why isn’t there an obscure painting posted? By the way, did you know his full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso? It honors a variety of relatives and saints.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. I think they should just call him Pico for short. Can you imagine having to fill out those name slots on standardized tests with his lonnnngggg name? The other children would finish the test before he finished writing out his name!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Kim, I don’t think I’ve ever spent Thanksgiving by myself, though I did get out of the hospital on Thanksgiving Day one time, so I made my contributions to the dinner in the form of canned goods (cranberry sauce and pickles and olives) bought in advance.

    I once spent Christmas alone, no place to go for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. My workplace gave us a turkey or a ham, so I made my own turkey with all the sides, and had plenty of leftover turkey for the first time in my life. I chose to focus on the goodness of the day rather than the sadness of being alone. I didn’t travel to see family that year, all my local friends were out of town, and no one at church asked “What are you doing for Christmas?” After it was over, one of my pastors asked what I had done for Christmas, and I told him I’d spent it alone, and he said, “Shame on you! You should have had people over!” Um . . . I was the only person I knew who had nowhere to go, and really someone should have had me over. In later years a friend at work adopted me, and I had Christmas with her family for my last several years in Chicago.

    I invited myself to someone’s house for Thanksgiving at least one year. That was a very, very sweet Thanksgiving. It was a black family from my church; the hostess had seven children, lots of grandchildren, and oodles of extended family. I had been meaning to ask her if I could come for Thanksgiving, but hadn’t yet done so when she moaned to me about how much work Thanksgiving was going to be, and she wasn’t sure any of her daughters would come over in time to help other than that they were bringing a few side dishes. Without even thinking that I was inviting myself, I asked, “Do you want me to come and help you?” and she said a very enthusiastic “Yes!” I helped her cook and stayed all day, the only white person in the house all day. But nearly her whole family knew me, and I’d been in her home enough to feel at home there. Burt it was very sweet to be treated like family in a home where culturally I was the odd woman out.

    Now that I’m married, it would be “enough” to have it just with me and my husband, with the girls for as many years as they will come home once they have moved out, without worrying about having to have a place to go. Currently we always have such meals with his parents and sister and our families, so we do have places to go. But I had plenty of years of not knowing till the last minute if I had anywhere to go for the holidays, and I didn’t always look forward to them.

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  16. I have a bunch of CDs of J.S. Bach’s music checked out of the library, and earlier in the day yesterday I listened to the Brandenburg Concertos, following along with the score I had purchased several years ago.

    Later, in the evening, 6th Arrow picked out The Well-Tempered Clavier Volume 1 CD to play. About the time the CD was getting to the Fourth Prelude from that volume, she asked me if I had a score for that music, too. I most certainly do. 😉

    So I got it out for her. (She loves sitting at the piano, with print music in front of her, but since she has not studied piano formally yet, she does not read the music, only improvises.)

    This time, though, we sat down at the dining room table, and I pointed to the notes as we listened to the CD. I showed her how the faster notes would pass from one hand to the other, and traced them on the score, asking her to listen for how the sounds on the CD sounded higher and lower as the notes went up and down in a gently wavy line as they moved across the page.

    About halfway through the piece, her face lit up and she suddenly exclaimed, “That’s how it works!”

    Bingo 🙂 She’s been hearing music for a long time, seeing it for less time, but interested in it nonetheless. For her to begin to realize the connection between printed music and the sound of music was hugely exciting to her, and, of course, to this mom, too. 😉

    Liked by 2 people

  19. I have a cube notepad on my desk that is printed with musical scores. You would like it,6 Arrows. You could even read it! I gave it to my husband and noticed he was never tearing any pages off of it to write notes. I guess that would be difficult for a musician. I don’t have a problem tearing pages off of it. I like to write more than read music. 🙂

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  20. I am just not inclined to cook this year and have people over. On November 4th we are having our company annual mandatory RECAD meeting and Thanksgiving lunch afterward. I am having two turkeys smoked and a ham (company provided–I am just in charge). I am making the cornbread dressing. One of my new agents was talking about this cranberry salad her grandmother used to make, after questioning her we determined it was “cranberry stuff” so I printed off the recipe and gave it to her so she is bringing that. Another employee didn’t know what to bring so I asked her if she remembered the spinach casserole everyone used to make with the cream cheese, artichoke hearts and cream of mushroom soup—she did so once again I stacked the menu to what I want.
    November 5th we are repeating the whole thing with our Coastal Division agents so I will get a repeat. So it isn’t as if I am going to miss Thanksgiving food.

    Which brings me to another question. I have had three people sign up to bring macaroni and cheese. That isn’t something I normally think of as holiday fare. Do you have mac and cheese for Thanksgiving? I don’t think I ever have.

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  21. Macaroni and chees goes everywhere but breakfast. I don’t care for it much, but it’s all Jennifer would eat. No kidding. They had my youngest granddaughter on nutritional supplements for a time.
    I used her as an illustration once. “My youngest GD is on supplements. It isn’t that her dad doesn’t……….It isn’t that her mother………. ” etc. I talked about the opportunities she had. But I didn’t mention the problem. Then I talked about Christians neglecting Bible study, fellowship….etc. A full lesson on that without telling what Jenn’s problem was. I closed with the statement of how many Christians try to exist on a spiritual menu of macaroni and cheese. .

    Liked by 2 people

  23. I can see how the point was made Chas. BG lived on Mac and cheese. For a while too while I was doing everything to try to get her to taste something else

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  25. So, husband took seven and eight year olds with him to town. He stopped at the drugstore and could not help buying them an ice cream. They could not get in the car with food so he bought them a ride on one of those mechanical horses. They had great fun, so he did it again. A passerby asked if she could buy them a ride as her children were grown and no longer appreciated such things. He let her. Eight year old decided to ride like a racer with head down low. He got whacked on the forehead, some tears, a goose egg, but I sure got a life out of it…….I can see a lawsuit pending…mechanical horses by stores must have warning signs, seatbelts, padded necks, and provide helmets…..

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Janice (6:14), I received something like that cube notepad you described, which had music notes on it, too, from a piano student one year, as a Christmas gift. I’ve gotten a lot of music-related gifts over the years, and I never tire of them.

    I don’t remember if it was a gift, or if I bought it for myself, but a long time ago I had a different, lined notepad, and at the top of each page it said “Liszt”. 🙂

    Macaroni & cheese for Thanksgiving: not completely sure, but I don’t think we have had it then. Some of my kids would enjoy it anytime, though. 😉

    MP3s: We don’t have that, but I have downloaded onto my computer some audio files that say “MP3” on them, and I can play them (and hear them) on my computer, so maybe I should say we do have an MP3 player.

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  27. We had some years when Velveeta Shells and Cheese was quite popular with our son. I also would buy spinach pasta from the farmer’s market. After cooking and draining it I would melt butter on it and sprinkle on parmesan and shredded mozzarella.

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  28. Hello, Wanderers, and hope you are having a blessed Sunday. I missed church today. I am trying to keep hanging out with husband so he will not have alone time that might put him in danger of picking up a cigarette. So far, so good. We kept forgetting to put a new nicotine patch on him so either he is over that help or we need to drop down to the lowest level on the patches.

    We’ve watched some good programs on PBS lately. The first was about Shirley Temple. Last night we saw a documentary film on Glen Gould which I assume Roscuro and 6 Arrows have probably seen, http://glenngouldmovie.com/ .

    The weather continues to be perfect for the fall right now in Atlanta. Just wish we could be out in it. We are at the office right now. I have been doing Bible study while husband enjoys a nap in his chair at his desk. It is a restful Sunday. I am thinking it is good to lay low for a few Sundays since husband is still being treated for the MRSA infection. People at church might want to run when they see me! I can watch my pastor”s sermon here on the internet. We finally got the speakers working on this computer.

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  29. On my email I just received an invite to a fundraiser at the newly opened College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta. It costs $75.00 to attend. I know some of the folks here would enjoy that!. I forwarded the info to my husband. He would probably like to attend if he felt up to it. The speakers appear to be the sons of Jack Kemp.

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  30. Here is a link to the group having the fundraiser: http://www.georgiaopportunity.org/ It use to be known as The Georgia Family Council when I first got involved with it. They use to be more active in a conservative political manner. Now I see on the website they stress being non-partisan. I guess that helps keep a larger donation base.

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  31. Mumsee, I have an MP3 player – it is just a tiny little square, with a place to plug in a pair of earphones. I love it because it is easy to transport, so I can listen to music anywhere. Its memory space holds a couple of hundred pieces; which is nice, because I like to listen to longer classical pieces, like symphonies and concertos, which take up a lot of memory – though I listen to some pop and even, gasp… rock music too. I buy the songs from Apple’s online music store, using the prepaid cards you can buy in the grocery store. I do not steal music from the internet – as a musician I understand the challenges of artists making a living and, really, 99 cents per song isn’t very expensive.

    Janice, I have actually never seen the documentary on Glenn Gould. He, of course, was Canadian and also from Ontario, the province in which I live. I had a dear elderly friend, now with the Lord, who was a cousin of his. She said he once came to visit her and played music on the church piano (the church my family used to attend); she described him as something of a hypochondriac, always taking pills. My friend was a fascinating woman to talk to, since, as a girl, she had lived in the same community as Lucy Maud Montgomery, and she also had a nephew who was an Olympic silver medalist.

    I have seen this amazing clip of Gould practising, completely absorbed in the music:

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  32. Roscuro, I hope you can find a way to see that film we caught on PBS. Maybe your local library has it. You really need to see it because of the Canadian connection! Or maybe you could find it on Amazon Marketplace for a reasonable price. Do you have local discount used books, and media stores? I shop Amazon Marketplace, e-bay, half.com and Alibris on-line, but I am not sure what shipping rates are for Canada.

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  35. I am enjoying the music posted here today! Is anyone surprised by that statement? 😉

    Janice, I have not seen the Glenn Gould movie, but I’ll bet it’s a good one. I enjoyed the trailer at the link you provided, and the title itself is very intriguing to me: Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould. I’ll have to seek it out.

    I’m finding it interesting of late to learn more about the backgrounds of famous pianists, but Gould is not one I’ve studied up on much (yet), although I think I did see his name on a list of “Famous People with Asperger’s Syndrome” one time. That’s an interesting study in itself, to learn more about what makes Aspies tick, so if he indeed is one, a title like Genius Within becomes doubly fascinating, at least to me.

    BTW, Janice, who was the player in the video you posted at 2:08? That was good music, too.

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  36. We often have had homemade macaroni and cheese at Easter or Christmas. It pairs well with ham. Our children did not like potato salad, but did the mac and cheese. I have made it quite a few times, but in recent years my husband is generally the chef for that item. I have never liked macaroni and cheese. I am not sure why. I never had it before I made the boxed stuff for my own children. I do like the cheese, but am not a pasta fan, in general. Spaghetti is about it.

    I have never seen mac and cheese with turkey, however.

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  37. We have one person who brings sweet potato hot dish to a summer pot luck. It is very good, but does seem out of place at that time of year. It is a specialty for him, however, so I think that is why he brings it.

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  38. Some house where I’ve spent some holidays included mac and cheese as one of the dishes, but I don’t remember who it was.

    For me, I never get enough turkey, and I’d happily host the meal just to be able to keep the leftovers! Not really, since we’re the only ones in the family with no room to host. (Our eat-in-kitchen table seats four, five if necessary, and my parents-in-law and sister-in-law have dining rooms with big tables.)

    Oddly (to me), I married into a family where everyone has some meat they don’t eat or don’t particularly like. I guess my father-in-law is OK with all of it, but my mother-in-law won’t eat any poultry, my husband doesn’t like seafood, one daughter doesn’t like beef and the other doesn’t like ham, and neither wants any meat with a bone in it (like fried chicken). Guess what meats I cook for dinner? Anything I want to–and they can eat it or eat something else later. (I think my mother-in-law is the only one who will go hungry rather than eat her non-preferred meat. We made the mistake of serving turkey burgers once when she was here, with us thinking “burgers” but forgetting about her issue with poultry. She ate the sides, not the burger.) But for holidays we have both ham and turkey and everyone gets something they like.

    In Nashville I had a housemate for a year who never outgrew extreme childhood pickiness. She was about 25, had a master’s degree, and was a beautiful and intelligent young woman. But in the ten or twelve months she lived with me, her diet never varied at all. The only foods she stocked in the house were sliced ham, chicken nuggets, yogurt with Oreos, and granola bars. I may be missing one item, but not more than that. She said the only vegetables or fruit she liked were french fries, so I guess if she ate out she had chicken nuggets and french fries, so that is one more item than she ate at home. She told me she didn’t like the texture of any fruits or vegetables, and I told her they come in every texture imaginable; try a few until you find one you like, then add another. I would get so bored with that limited a diet, not to mention the health issues!

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  40. 6 Arrows, here is a bit more info on Brad Mehldau. Our son was in a jazz band (clarinet) along with being in a woodwind group, and regular band when he homeschooled. He taught himself piano, and although he did not advance far with it, he had an appreciation of jazz piano. My husband took piano for years but does not play now. Mehldau is a typical artist that might show up in a gift package at Christmas (at least his music, LOL).
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Mehldau The two pieces I posted are some of his tamer offerings that I thought people on the blog might enjoy even if they don’t listen to much jazz.

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  41. Thanks for that information on Brad Mehldau, Janice. I had not heard of him, as I am not generally a jazz aficionado. However, the music you posted here by him is very nice. Smooth, and I hear some of the classical influences in his music that the Wikipedia article mentioned.

    Good stuff! Thank you for gently expanding my musical horizons. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Jo, that’s funny, we haven’t had the time change here yet, and it sure isn’t Monday yet here, or at least I hope it isn’t. 🙂 Sunday’s sun is still up.

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  44. One really interesting thing about Glen Gould was that he used a short chair to get the proper height to play in his style. He always carried his chair and rug with him to concerts. If he did not carry his chair, they would have to saw off part of the legs of the available chair. That got too expensive as you can imagine. 🙂

    He said he would die at fifty and he did. The way he mentally went downhill at the end was pretty sad. 😦

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  47. Janice, that was only four or five years ago, so she is about thirty and probably still alive and still healthy. But I imagine it will be catching up with her soon, if she hasn’t modified her eating habits. She told me once that she was excited to find out that vitamins now came in gummy chewy versions, and I told her strongly, “Multi-vitamins don’t take the place of a healthy diet” and she told me yeah, she knew that . . . but I think she was hoping they’d help enough that she could get away with it.

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  48. A while back, a couple (or a few) of you were discussing at what age children should stop trick-or-treating.

    For at least several years now, maybe longer, it has been common for teenagers to go trick-or-treating. Once, when I casually commented on Facebook that I thought teens were too old to be doing that, a young friend (Chrissy’s best friend) somewhat angrily responded that it is something she enjoys doing, is good, clean fun, was her choice, & no one should be able to tell her it is inappropriate. Or some similar sentiments.

    I still think teens should leave it to the little kids, but I’m not offended or angered if they show up at my door.

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  50. I think it went whoosh, like that political yard sign you mentioned the other day your mom had given the heave-ho to. 😉

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