Gail's comments (member since Sep 27, 2009)

Gail's comments from the True North group.

Sally, and Bun, I completely understand. When I worked with some more troubled students, I would have to take a nap when I got home (and ya know, I was young then and all). And I've often thought I must be part chameleon as I took on whatever emotional color was around me. Exhausting.

Sher, cats are so good for this sort of thing.

Absolutely, Lori. This issue has been at the root of some moments of, shall we say, dissonance in my marriage as my husband is an extremem extrovert as his family; thus he thinks introverts are at best, odd.

Absolutely an introvert. What recharges me is reading, watching a movie, or, best of all: sitting on the back porch watching the wild life. (uh, petting/being with/watching a cat is also very refreshing.

A nightowl for 40 years, now more of a morning person.

Wow, what an intriguing issue. I agree that all have good points here; this is a many-sided situation. One question: how is this different from all the priests who have been in the press so frequently? By that I mean that the crimes often took place years and years ago, the crimes are similar in that they involve sex with minors, the perpetrators have avoided prosecution/sentencing in various ways. So, let me rephrase my question: would those of you who favor dropping this case feel the same in the priest cases? Does it all depend on what the victim wants? I'm not trying to be inflammatory here; I'm honestly interested in this discussion, as my own thoughts aren't clear and I need some help in seeing all sides of the issue. I don't like to rely on my own first impulse in something so complex.

Interesting on how holidays differ from place to place. Of course I realize that what I'm about to mention is in the dear dead past, but it was great in Massachusetts as a child to get Columbus Day off and also, March 17th...which was officially a state holiday because it was Evacuation Day, or the day the British left Boston forever...this celebration was helped along by the enormous population of Irish descent; we could thus have our St. Pat's Day parade interspersed with people dressed as Militiamen (ya know, from Colonial Days, not the current types).

Maybe these are just the dog days, Jackie, and things will get more, er, involved as the days cool and we head towards winter. Let's hope so; this has been an informative and often entertaining group.

Gee, the quiet here (i.e., in the whole group, not just this thread) is deafening. Is it

a.) Sad reflection on the passing of Ted Kennedy?

b.) Sad reflection on what seems to be the proof of the old saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same?

c.) Sheer exhaustion from all that's been happening?

Late to this most interesting topic.

1. How really sad that one of the main blessings of summer: warm, right-out-of-the-backyard tomatoes are not going to be available. That, in my mind, is a crime and the perpretrators should be punished, whether by being set in the rain with a few mold spores for cover, or by having to eat the pale red, hard, sour-yet-tasteless rocks that pass for tomatoes in the supermarket.

And 2.: What! Bun, say it ain't so! The world is not being run by the Fluffy Pink Ponies??? Damn! Another good idea gone glimmering....

Oh, thanks, Rob; on the bookmarks it goes.

Ruth, I think you have the germ of an excellent idea there: reading history through novels. One would have to pick carefully, of course.

Well, I'm pretty sure about the phone-camera thing; I don't always follow these things, but I've people (friends and relatives) who always like to share odd phenomena with me, and they've noted a distinct lack of available newer data in this more modern day and age.

And yeah, it's really, really hard to leave one's preconceptions behind, or even to attempt to allow for them and realize our biases. But we can keep trying.

Doni: a) I think your posts are great and quite funny; and b)it's so hard to prove a negative, is it not? I mean by that, when they say, "Well, we have no proof of this, that or the other" the conclusion should not immediately be--okay, then; it doesn't exist. Who would have believed much of our modern tech. or science stuff 60 or 100 years ago? Even 20 years ago I would have been hard-pressed to imagine a Sony Reader that actually worked, for example, pulling literature out of the ether and presenting it to me on a small but readable screen. So we scoff at our own risk, I guess.

ETA to add: Another hope dashed, Bun; I was planning on consulting by duck-billed platypus this evening. Damn.

Well, crap, I wish I could talk as well as you do.

Of course, I can make a mean lasanga or cheesecake, or occasionally make people laugh.

Has anyone here besides myself experienced sleep paralysis? My dad had it quite often, one brother a few times, and I was scared witless (perhaps that is what's wrong with me today) by it in my very early twenties. One lies there, conscious, but completely unable to move...one feels one cannot breathe. Absolutely maddening. At the time these little problems occurred, by daughter felt complete freedom to mess with me at any time, and I was often profoundly grateful for those two huge gray eyes one inch from my own, and her touch on my wrist while she said, "Hey, Ma, can I have fried peaches for breakfast today?" It was the touch that seemed to break the spell of motionlessness. At other times, of course, I would say, "For Christ's sake, would ya back up a bit? You're blindin' me here."

I agree, Bun, about the lack of expectations making observation much better. That's what's so great about childhood---you have few expectations, so every experience is new and fresh for you.

On the alien thing---since the advent of camera phones, have we not had very, very few of these visitations? Phone camera phobia on the part of the aliens? Or maybe...they weren't there after all.

Bunny, who *are* you? You possess an amazing collection of facts, are able to put them into well-organized posts, and be funny withal. Sigh. Sometimes when I read your posts, I think, "Geeyuz Loooweeez, how does she summon all that up?" Most of my mind seems to be wind lately. Perhaps if I ate more organic food?

And Doni, it is kind of comforting to think that the collective stupid is indeed a government plot, presumably to keep the masses from noticing what the hell they are/are not doing.

My God, I seem to have been in a coma---how could I miss this????

Mmmmm...ice cream...one of my (thousands of) dietary weaknesses. Let me just see what comes to mind:

Absolutely, hands down, the old pink peppermint stick ice cream. So luscious and cooling. We had a local dairy with a summer ice cream stand when I was a child...sigh.

Um, pumpkin ice cream is really good, as is egg nog. Nice and rich. Pumpkin latte is a great treat on a cool day. One flavor I love that I dont see here is Caramel Sutra by B and J. Rich, sweet, almost too sweet, but good in small amounts. Also black raspberry ice cream is a delight.

Another good thing is frozen custard...we had a great place in FL which had a concoction called Bradenton Beach Sunset--custard, peaches, raspberries, and blueberries. *Rolls over, unable to move*

Rob, no, I'm a true Water Baby born and bred. Can't imagine what would keep me out of it (water, I mean, as opposed to my right mind, which I escaped long ago). My daughter, on the other hand, who grew up on FL's Gulf Coast and spent copious amounts of her childhood and youth at the beach and in the water, is terrified of sharks. Go figure.

Sherri, rationality is indeed a disease in addition to being a pain in the neck, as one has to strive to consider facts and logic before one expresses oneself. Usually I consider those thing immediately *after* I express myself.

I like satire, so I'm probably well in.

BTW, it occurred to me yesterday that the very best beach read book I ever read *on the beach* was Jaws. Lived on the Mass. coast at the time and found it to be appropriate fun.

Doni, you must presume that they were inadvertantly remiss because they were so busy adopting your ideas. I too have been baffled by a certain, shall we say, lack of response to some of my own more outstanding thoughts. It is disconcerting.

I thought that was a great pome too. A brave man to take on both the difficult rhymes and that crazy author.

I think if you're insane and go insaner (and who among us has not been there and done that?), your impression of yourself would be that you are instead becoming more sane. Because your fantasies would far outweigh your contact with reality.

Hmmm....now that I read that, insanity is starting to look really, really good.

Bun, your list may be percolating within me, leading me at last toward Flashman.

Vey, very difficult, but so much fun---love lists, love salt water, love books: who could ask for anything more?

1. African Lives by Denis Boyles (gossip from the Veldt)

2. Book by Book by Michael Dirda (it's BOOKS)

3. Gods, Graves, and Scholars by C.W. Ceram (digging stuff up)

4. In the Ghost Country by ? Hillary (opposites attract)

5. Clubbed to Death by Ruth Dudley Edwards (wickedly funny mystery)

6. The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford (great writing)

7. A Death in the Family by James Agee (great writing)

8. The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley (sweet but not cloying)

9. A House for Mr. Biswas (funny and bizarre)

10. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (the beach)

Bun I couldn't agree with that more. But, I'm in total confusion as to where we go, in a sane and sensible way, from here to more individual responsibility and a clearer policy on improving all these areas. These are parlous times, I think, and it's going to take some brave and intelligent folks to get things moving in a constructive way. What I would like us to do is to avoid as many of the mistakes of the past as we can.

I'm not too sure that consumerism is a current trend (as in, not ancient). A big problem for those in charge, resulting in lots and lots of minute, stinky laws, was the desire of the common folks to dress in the manner of their "social betters"; this resulted in strict sumptuary laws guiding the dress of all classes...during medieval times. Surely that was early consumerism/consumption? Not saying this is a good thing, just saying that it may predate our current era of woe.