My Insanity Project has gone from feeling huge to feeling the enormity of what I have at my fingertips, my feet, my desk top.......my entire office. I am surrounded by antiquity. And, by enormous, I mean I feel so very responsible for the family history I have been keeping all these years.
Just recently, I was back in my hometown and a family member asked me how I came to have all of the family photos. Mind you, these photos go waaaaaay back to Great-great-greats on both sides of my parents' lineage. Some of these photos must have been taken when photography was in its infancy. The reason I ended up with all of the family photos is because their mass took up the entire interior of a rather large cedar chest. One sister lived over a thousand miles away and shipping wasn't an option for her. The other sister declared she didn't want them and so they went home with Capt. SO and I along with other family treasures in a rented U-Haul trailer. I have dutifully kept them for almost fifteen years now, not realizing what a priceless family treasure I had in my possession until I began the Insanity Project.
My family - siblings, grandchildren, etc. - made rather merciless fun of my mother because she kept everything. She was not a hoarder.....not by any means. What she did was keep boxes, folders, large envelopes, photo albums, and scrapbooks filled with what one might call mementos, along with pictures, letters......I can't begin to describe what she kept.......but looking through it all has given me the feeling of really knowing these ancestors of mine in an intimate way that I didn't think was possible, given the chasm of years that have passed since their deaths.
I am now filled with an energy to continue working on this project that is almost like a master's degree in geneology for my family. The family history present in my office is irreplacable and I can only hope to complete it in a timely and organized way. I am in awe of the gift my mother and father left, with pictures that actually have people's names and relationships written on the backs of them so that my job is made that much easier.
I feel buried but I am at least buried with the past of my relatives. I am in good company and I can feel their presence. It is as if they are cheering me on.
Someone has to. The enormity has hit me square in the face!
Ancora imparo
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Leadership Thoughts
Over the past two-plus years, I've written a fair amount about leadership. Why? I guess because, due to the career paths I've taken, I've almost always been in a position where I had to "lead" groups of people. Some groups have been small - like fifteen to twenty, others have been relatively large, say in the seventy-to-ninety-member size. Large, at least in my limited frame of reference. My group-leading experience has been split almost fifty/fifty between adults and students (in the range of fifth grade through college-age). I have discovered that about the only difference between people twelve through seventy-five-plus years of age is the actual chronology, some height variances, the right to vote and the possession of a driver's license. The ability to hear or listen is similar and attention spans are almost identical.
So, why write about "leadership" again? Two things precipitated this return-to-topic. First, someone recently asked me if I thought "So and So" was a "good" leader. I responded that the word "good" was highly subjective and that what was "good" to one person could be unacceptable to another. That was my "snake-oily" answer - politically correct, safe, inane, and innocuous. Secondly, my outdated-but-cherished, hard-copy Franklin Planner has what is called "Leadership"-themed pages and I always read the quote regarding leading above each day's page. Tomorrow's page has a quote from Theodore M. Hesburgh, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame: "The very essence of leadership is that you have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."
Dr. Hessburgh is so very correct. Leading requires the strength to blow the trumpet and the good sense to know when, where, how long, and how much volume is required. Leading requires persistence, humility, forthrightness, the ability to apologize when warranted, and the good sense when to acquiesce. Leading can be invigorating at times, almost debilitating at others, but never, never boring. Leading requires a continual positive demeanor, even when the leader is withering inside. Leaders can be tired but should never display their tiredness. Leaders are not always popular but must be respected. Above all else, leaders must respect those they lead. Respect is a two-way street.
Some of think we can lead and others actually can. Kitchen heat can be unbearable so if those of us who lead can't stand the heat, we all know what should happen.
I'm buying the most accurate thermometer I can afford.
Ancora imparo
So, why write about "leadership" again? Two things precipitated this return-to-topic. First, someone recently asked me if I thought "So and So" was a "good" leader. I responded that the word "good" was highly subjective and that what was "good" to one person could be unacceptable to another. That was my "snake-oily" answer - politically correct, safe, inane, and innocuous. Secondly, my outdated-but-cherished, hard-copy Franklin Planner has what is called "Leadership"-themed pages and I always read the quote regarding leading above each day's page. Tomorrow's page has a quote from Theodore M. Hesburgh, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame: "The very essence of leadership is that you have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."
Dr. Hessburgh is so very correct. Leading requires the strength to blow the trumpet and the good sense to know when, where, how long, and how much volume is required. Leading requires persistence, humility, forthrightness, the ability to apologize when warranted, and the good sense when to acquiesce. Leading can be invigorating at times, almost debilitating at others, but never, never boring. Leading requires a continual positive demeanor, even when the leader is withering inside. Leaders can be tired but should never display their tiredness. Leaders are not always popular but must be respected. Above all else, leaders must respect those they lead. Respect is a two-way street.
Some of think we can lead and others actually can. Kitchen heat can be unbearable so if those of us who lead can't stand the heat, we all know what should happen.
I'm buying the most accurate thermometer I can afford.
Ancora imparo
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
My Inquiring Mind Wants To Know
Can somebody tell me who made the decisions on what the "countrymen" of the world's countries would be called? My curiosity has the best of me.
For instance, who decided that England's citizens would be referred to as the "English"? Why not "Englanders"? Why not Americish instead of Americans? If Canada's citizens are Canadians why aren't we, here in the U.S., referred to as Americanians? Italy = Italians = Italish? Cuba = Cubans = Cubish or Cubanians?
Does "it" have anything to do with geography? Why is it that most Asian countries have their citizenry ending with "ese"? Vietnam = Vietnamese. Why not Vietnamians? China = Chinese. Why not Chinaians? Japan = Japanese. Why wasn't it Japanicans? There is the Middle East where there is no rhyme or reason to suffixes. India = Indians. Iran = Iranians. Iraq = Iraqis. Pakistan = Pakistanis. Napal = Napalese.
Who made these decisions? Who decided who would decide? Is there a book somewhere that designates what the citizenry shall be referred to? Does anyone else ever wonder about stuff like this?
Germany = Germans. What was wrong with Germanese? Or Germanch is to Germany like France is to French.
There must be a key that is kept deep in a room hidden in some ancient monastery. A key that is ensconced in a small, red velvet box, a box which can only be opened by a matching key worn around the neck of an obscure prelate that spends twenty-three hours a day in meditative contemplation about why the countries of the world have so many differing suffixes.
He, too, wonders just like me. Do you?
I think I must have too much time on my hands. Time to greet shoppers at a big box store.
Ancora imparo
For instance, who decided that England's citizens would be referred to as the "English"? Why not "Englanders"? Why not Americish instead of Americans? If Canada's citizens are Canadians why aren't we, here in the U.S., referred to as Americanians? Italy = Italians = Italish? Cuba = Cubans = Cubish or Cubanians?
Does "it" have anything to do with geography? Why is it that most Asian countries have their citizenry ending with "ese"? Vietnam = Vietnamese. Why not Vietnamians? China = Chinese. Why not Chinaians? Japan = Japanese. Why wasn't it Japanicans? There is the Middle East where there is no rhyme or reason to suffixes. India = Indians. Iran = Iranians. Iraq = Iraqis. Pakistan = Pakistanis. Napal = Napalese.
Who made these decisions? Who decided who would decide? Is there a book somewhere that designates what the citizenry shall be referred to? Does anyone else ever wonder about stuff like this?
Germany = Germans. What was wrong with Germanese? Or Germanch is to Germany like France is to French.
There must be a key that is kept deep in a room hidden in some ancient monastery. A key that is ensconced in a small, red velvet box, a box which can only be opened by a matching key worn around the neck of an obscure prelate that spends twenty-three hours a day in meditative contemplation about why the countries of the world have so many differing suffixes.
He, too, wonders just like me. Do you?
I think I must have too much time on my hands. Time to greet shoppers at a big box store.
Ancora imparo
Communication Forms
LMFTF.
If you do not know what that stands for, in today's internet linguistics, then you may be dating yourself. Or, put another way: if u do not know what that stands 4 in 2day's internet linguistics, then u may b dating urself.
"Let's meet face-to-face." LMFTF
I see the writing on the wall. We humans are less and less apt to have face-to-face, or even voice-to-voice communications than previous generations. To be fair about this, other than Morse Code, Western Union telegraphs, the Pony Express, the barefoot runners that were the precursors of the Olympic runners, or the U.S. Postal Service, options of alternative communications did not exist that many decades ago, except, perhaps, deep within ten-foot concrete U.S. military bunkers.
Today, if some people have interpersonal-relationship issues, they are more apt to "talk" via texting, tweeting, or emails rather than having an actual tete-a-tete or even a conversation "ala voce'" The relationships that I maintain with teens, twenty and thirty-somethings have taught me that more serious conversations and breakups take place through the "cloud" than ever before.
I'm practically a dinosaur-yet-not-quite and I do not understand how meaningful communication can occur without either seeing the eyes of the other or hearing the other's voice or, preferably, both. There is a 1990's rock ballad by the band "Extreme", "More Than Words", that says it all. Dialogue between people is so much "more than words". To truly ascertain another's meaning behind the words, either speech or facial expressions are needed for the real litmus test. Tweets, texts, and emails, however filled with caps and exclamatory punctuation, are not substitutes for interpersonal chats with look-into-my-eyes meanings. Of course, if the "other" person is a jerque or wacked-out and dangerous, then utilizing "the cloud" is the safest way to go. Otherwise, "man-up" and say what you have to say with the other person present.
What is next? A cell phone with a finger-port where you stick your index finger into a slot and the machine reads emotion, sentiment and passion that is then electronically conveyed to whomever you are talking with?
George Orwell didn't have a clue. Or, perhaps a bigger clue than we realize?
Ancora imparo
If you do not know what that stands for, in today's internet linguistics, then you may be dating yourself. Or, put another way: if u do not know what that stands 4 in 2day's internet linguistics, then u may b dating urself.
"Let's meet face-to-face." LMFTF
I see the writing on the wall. We humans are less and less apt to have face-to-face, or even voice-to-voice communications than previous generations. To be fair about this, other than Morse Code, Western Union telegraphs, the Pony Express, the barefoot runners that were the precursors of the Olympic runners, or the U.S. Postal Service, options of alternative communications did not exist that many decades ago, except, perhaps, deep within ten-foot concrete U.S. military bunkers.
Today, if some people have interpersonal-relationship issues, they are more apt to "talk" via texting, tweeting, or emails rather than having an actual tete-a-tete or even a conversation "ala voce'" The relationships that I maintain with teens, twenty and thirty-somethings have taught me that more serious conversations and breakups take place through the "cloud" than ever before.
I'm practically a dinosaur-yet-not-quite and I do not understand how meaningful communication can occur without either seeing the eyes of the other or hearing the other's voice or, preferably, both. There is a 1990's rock ballad by the band "Extreme", "More Than Words", that says it all. Dialogue between people is so much "more than words". To truly ascertain another's meaning behind the words, either speech or facial expressions are needed for the real litmus test. Tweets, texts, and emails, however filled with caps and exclamatory punctuation, are not substitutes for interpersonal chats with look-into-my-eyes meanings. Of course, if the "other" person is a jerque or wacked-out and dangerous, then utilizing "the cloud" is the safest way to go. Otherwise, "man-up" and say what you have to say with the other person present.
What is next? A cell phone with a finger-port where you stick your index finger into a slot and the machine reads emotion, sentiment and passion that is then electronically conveyed to whomever you are talking with?
George Orwell didn't have a clue. Or, perhaps a bigger clue than we realize?
Ancora imparo
Monday, March 28, 2011
Not In My Genes
Honestly, I had given up on wearing jeans that had any style to them at all. I was resigned to the idea that finding blue jeans (Now there is an antiquated term.) that would fit or remotely flatter my body-type was a pipe dream. I own five or six pair of jeans that have easily recognized names such as Pierre Cardin, Liz Claiborne, Levi's, Lee Jeans, and Ralph Loren but I gave up wearing them several years ago because my old faves had worn out and finding newer models that fit was an exercise in frustration and seeming futility.
First of all, the jean fabir of old was not necessarily comfortable to sit in. They were great to stand in but to be seated in jeans just never was an experience that bore repeating, as far as I was concerned. The denim of old is also uncomfortable next to the skin in cold weather. Give me cotton, flannel, corduroy, polyester......anything but pure denim in very cold weather.
Because I turned my back on "blue jeans" a number of years ago, I have ignored and missed the entry of Spandex and other flexible fabrics into the "blue jean" manufacturing mix. What a difference! On a recent Saturday shopping excursion, I was determined to find some jeans that would fit and even flatter. I held out little hope but, being the intrepid shopper that I am, I promised myself to persevere and peruse the available choices. At first, I simply chose all of the tried and true styles and, sure enough, the old problems were present.......finding a waist size that didn't have elephant legs accompanying the jeans.......or finding legs that flattered mine but with a waist so small that I couldn't get the waist past my hip bones. This doesn't even begin to address the inseam issue that so many short people have.
But, lo, a miracle occurred and I found two different labels that actually had jeans that would fit and flatter moi! Plus, I discovered that denim manufacturers for women have become more savvy to what women want and have followed......FINALLY.....the path that makers of men's jeans have known for years........give women a choice with waist and inseam sizes. For years, when I was much younger, I bought men's jeans simply because it was the only way to find inseam lengths that would give me leg lengths that did not seriously drag on the ground.
Thanks to Spandex, I actually have a pair of jeans that I can bend in, sit cross-legged in, not look like a teenager with incredibly baggy pants in , and look as hip in as a short, highly middle-aged female can. I wore my jeans this weekend and actually felt slightly stylish. Mind you, I said "slightly". I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that I was remotely stylish. It is simply not in my genes!
I might go purchase one more pair of these miracle jeans, just to have on hand when I wear my current pair out. You've heard of the miracle bathing suit? Well, I found miracle jeans. I wonder if DKNY makes bathing suits?
Guess I shouldn't press my luck.
Ancora imparoinspandexta
First of all, the jean fabir of old was not necessarily comfortable to sit in. They were great to stand in but to be seated in jeans just never was an experience that bore repeating, as far as I was concerned. The denim of old is also uncomfortable next to the skin in cold weather. Give me cotton, flannel, corduroy, polyester......anything but pure denim in very cold weather.
Because I turned my back on "blue jeans" a number of years ago, I have ignored and missed the entry of Spandex and other flexible fabrics into the "blue jean" manufacturing mix. What a difference! On a recent Saturday shopping excursion, I was determined to find some jeans that would fit and even flatter. I held out little hope but, being the intrepid shopper that I am, I promised myself to persevere and peruse the available choices. At first, I simply chose all of the tried and true styles and, sure enough, the old problems were present.......finding a waist size that didn't have elephant legs accompanying the jeans.......or finding legs that flattered mine but with a waist so small that I couldn't get the waist past my hip bones. This doesn't even begin to address the inseam issue that so many short people have.
But, lo, a miracle occurred and I found two different labels that actually had jeans that would fit and flatter moi! Plus, I discovered that denim manufacturers for women have become more savvy to what women want and have followed......FINALLY.....the path that makers of men's jeans have known for years........give women a choice with waist and inseam sizes. For years, when I was much younger, I bought men's jeans simply because it was the only way to find inseam lengths that would give me leg lengths that did not seriously drag on the ground.
Thanks to Spandex, I actually have a pair of jeans that I can bend in, sit cross-legged in, not look like a teenager with incredibly baggy pants in , and look as hip in as a short, highly middle-aged female can. I wore my jeans this weekend and actually felt slightly stylish. Mind you, I said "slightly". I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that I was remotely stylish. It is simply not in my genes!
I might go purchase one more pair of these miracle jeans, just to have on hand when I wear my current pair out. You've heard of the miracle bathing suit? Well, I found miracle jeans. I wonder if DKNY makes bathing suits?
Guess I shouldn't press my luck.
Ancora imparoinspandexta
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tired Yet Inspired
I'll admit it. It's late and I'm tired yet I feel the need to write about the sources of my inspiration.
Princess Leia inspires me, as do her brothers, to be a better granny by taking better care of myself so I can live as long as possible to see her (and them) grow way past young adulthood. I realize how long I stay on this earth is not up to me but I'll do my best to extend my time here.
Princess Leia's parents inspire me on a regular basis. They live their Christian faith on a daily basis and are always a source of support to me and countless others, in prayer, the spoken word and deed.
My new pastors are an inspiration to me and the others in our congregation. God sent them to our church and, through them, is breathing new life into our midst, which, not too long ago, felt as if we were gasping for each breath, like those with COPD do. Taking the Biblical story about the one missing sheep, I feel as if we have been a faithful, yet disorganized bunch of livestock, grazing about on many hills, occasionally looking up to see where our fellow sheep were, but having no distinct direction or any instinct that told us we needed a direction. Now it feels as if we are coming together as a flock of faithful followers and, in our growing unity, may actually have the opportunity to make a difference in ways we never imagined were possible. I realize that our pastors are human beings, just like the rest of us, but they occupy positions of God-given influence and importance to our tiny sphere of existence and, through them, we might hear God in ways and in places we didn't realize existed. I now actually hear people dreaming about what "might be" instead of "what was".
The night is over and a new day is truly dawning........... and if I don't get to bed, that is exactly what will be happening before long.
This sheep is heading for her stable.
Ancora imparo
Princess Leia inspires me, as do her brothers, to be a better granny by taking better care of myself so I can live as long as possible to see her (and them) grow way past young adulthood. I realize how long I stay on this earth is not up to me but I'll do my best to extend my time here.
Princess Leia's parents inspire me on a regular basis. They live their Christian faith on a daily basis and are always a source of support to me and countless others, in prayer, the spoken word and deed.
My new pastors are an inspiration to me and the others in our congregation. God sent them to our church and, through them, is breathing new life into our midst, which, not too long ago, felt as if we were gasping for each breath, like those with COPD do. Taking the Biblical story about the one missing sheep, I feel as if we have been a faithful, yet disorganized bunch of livestock, grazing about on many hills, occasionally looking up to see where our fellow sheep were, but having no distinct direction or any instinct that told us we needed a direction. Now it feels as if we are coming together as a flock of faithful followers and, in our growing unity, may actually have the opportunity to make a difference in ways we never imagined were possible. I realize that our pastors are human beings, just like the rest of us, but they occupy positions of God-given influence and importance to our tiny sphere of existence and, through them, we might hear God in ways and in places we didn't realize existed. I now actually hear people dreaming about what "might be" instead of "what was".
The night is over and a new day is truly dawning........... and if I don't get to bed, that is exactly what will be happening before long.
This sheep is heading for her stable.
Ancora imparo
I'm Ahead!
I find it personally objectionable that, at 3:30 p.m., after one spillage and seven re-heats in the microwave, I just finished the coffee that I made at 11:30 a.m. This is not my usual modus operandi, or, regular procedure. Cold coffee doesn't particularly agree with my digestive system, nor does the re-heated variety, but today I was desperate. It was as if I dared the world to prevent me from making my own brew and consuming it as well. The world tried but I won. Moi - one, World - zero.
Now I know that there are those who are employed both outside the home and inside the home that never have time to finish a cup of coffee whilst it still resembles a warm beverage, so I shouldn't feel special. In fact, there are people who have made a second career out of re-heating the cold coffee in their even-colder coffee cups. I once knew a woman who, daily, left a trail of coffee cups throughout her home, each containing some amount of unfinished java and the person who dared to dump even one of those scattered cups took his or her life into his or her own hands.
Eating today has been about as routine as my coffee drinking experience. For some reason, nearly everything I've consumed since awakening has been eaten standing up, while walking from room to room, or while seated before my laptop. One of these days my luck will run out and I will have some mammoth spill on my keyboard, for that is the first rule of stupidity........eat at your computer. I have previously blogged about how many crumbs must be residing underneath the keys of my laptop and, by now, the amount must have grown exponentially larger. Still, I persist.
Now that I have complained about my eating and drinking for the day thus far, there seems little left in my sleep-deprived brain to write about. I am desperately clinging to my lists of tasks that need to be accomplished in the next twenty-four hours, although I have determined that my main list now needs to be re-written. It seems that yesterday while I was riding in the car and creating my lists, I kept dozing off. Consequently, some of the entries were written in a less-than-legible manner. I did catch one break with the new jeans that I bought. No shortening required as of yet!
Cross one more item off my list! Moi- two, World - zero.
Ancora imparo
Now I know that there are those who are employed both outside the home and inside the home that never have time to finish a cup of coffee whilst it still resembles a warm beverage, so I shouldn't feel special. In fact, there are people who have made a second career out of re-heating the cold coffee in their even-colder coffee cups. I once knew a woman who, daily, left a trail of coffee cups throughout her home, each containing some amount of unfinished java and the person who dared to dump even one of those scattered cups took his or her life into his or her own hands.
Eating today has been about as routine as my coffee drinking experience. For some reason, nearly everything I've consumed since awakening has been eaten standing up, while walking from room to room, or while seated before my laptop. One of these days my luck will run out and I will have some mammoth spill on my keyboard, for that is the first rule of stupidity........eat at your computer. I have previously blogged about how many crumbs must be residing underneath the keys of my laptop and, by now, the amount must have grown exponentially larger. Still, I persist.
Now that I have complained about my eating and drinking for the day thus far, there seems little left in my sleep-deprived brain to write about. I am desperately clinging to my lists of tasks that need to be accomplished in the next twenty-four hours, although I have determined that my main list now needs to be re-written. It seems that yesterday while I was riding in the car and creating my lists, I kept dozing off. Consequently, some of the entries were written in a less-than-legible manner. I did catch one break with the new jeans that I bought. No shortening required as of yet!
Cross one more item off my list! Moi- two, World - zero.
Ancora imparo
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