Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 8

The Myth of the Forbidden Fruit

 

Image courtesy IMGBIN.

The myth is that the forbidden fruit was an apple...

The Bible merely says fruit, but for hundreds of years, it seems that society at large has just accepted that the forbidden fruit was a bright shiny apple.

But how and when did that happen? Why did it happen?

I recently listened to a pod cast (are you surprised?) that tackled that very subject. Here's the link and I strongly encourage you to listen for yourself... The pod cast guest, Professor Azzan Yadin-Isreal, shares his journey of finding the answer, which is super interesting. So, as I said, you should go listen for yourself.

But the answers are as follows...

Professor Yadin-Israel posits that the forbidden fruit became an apple by the morphing of vernacular. Much as we see today, meanings of words morph and change over time. So sometime back in the 16th century, the general French word for fruit became the French word for apple and wha-la.

Interestingly, it took a bit longer for Italy to catch on. They still referenced figs in their art for a time.

Image courtesy IMGBIN.

And there you have it. The Professor makes a compelling argument, I think. I guess we'll never know what type of fruit was really the forbidden fruit. And maybe that's for the best.

Have a great weekend!

 

Blast From the Past ~ Barbapapas!

 

Image courtesy of Pinterest.

What is a Barbapapa, you might be asking... 

Well, I wasn't quite sure myself, although I recognized the name and have harbored vague memories of these creatures from childhood. Specifically from my visit/s to Denmark as a young child.

I've been reading a book about joy / joyfulness and the author happened to mention Barbapapas, and I was like -- Wait a minute! These things sound familiar.

So after a quick Google search, I was transported back in time a bit. Turns out, they're blobby-like creatures that can change shape. They began life in a French children's book and then came to fame as a TV show. Really, my memories are of the toys that I remember playing with:

Image courtesy of Amazon.

I had a set, and my memories say that I built houses for them out of Legos--because...of course I had Legos while visiting my grandparents in Denmark. :0)

Have a great week!

 

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn Truss ~ A Review

 

Image courtesy of Amazon.

I have finally, finally finished this book. Well, I finished it a few weeks ago. And promptly put thoughts of it in my rear view mirror.

It was a tough read for me because it was filled with chit-chatty anecdotal examples of the correct and incorrect usage of various punctuation marks.

I understand it would have been a very short book if it had just been the lists of how and when to use the apostrophe, the comma, the exclamation point, etc.

On the other hand, learning the do's and don't's of punctuation, especially commas, was super helpful.

One caveat is that this book was originally written and published in the mid-aughts and some of the do's, especially about commas, has morphed.

My philosophy on commas has been that if you need one for clarity, put it in; if the sentence makes sense without it--leave it out. Of course, sometimes, having or not having a certain punctuation mark changes the meaning of a phrase / sentence, so even if it makes sense either way, it might not mean what the author wants it to mean.

But then...I was reading a passage of one of my own books for some reason, and I realized that just because the sentence makes perfect sense without the comma, doesn't mean there shouldn't be one. If someone is reading aloud--say a narrator reading a book into an audio book--they need to know when it's okay to take a breath.

Read this book at your own peril. You might get more enjoyment out of the anecdotes and the writing style than I did, but, again, the actual rules are helpful to know. Of course, you could read an up-to-date style guide too...

Have a great weekend.

 

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!!!!!

 

It's my birthday and since I did posts about all my kids on their birthdays--I'm gonna do me. :0)

These pictures are in no particular date order--just the order in which they were selected...

Happy 55th birthday to me--here's to 55 more!!

Have a super week!"

 

PSA aka Pacific Southwest Airlines

 

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

My parents divorced when I was young... But as luck would have it, Dad, who'd joined the Air Force, eventually ended up stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona. Luke AFB was a hop, skip, and jump  (as these things go) away from where Mom and I lived in Southern California. And I'd reached an age that I could travel via air "alone."

As an aside, Luke AFB is also where Dad met my step-mom. Shout-out to Sharon--she and my 97yo grandma are the only "parental" figures I have left on my side of the fam. Hello to my in-laws who are alive and well in Central Texas.

But I digress...

If you're wondering what the picture at the top has to do with my story, I'll tell you. Or maybe you've connected some dots...

I flew this airline -- Pacific Southwest Airlines, PSA for short -- when being sent off to visit with my dad. I loved the smile on the bottom of the nose of the plane. I do, however, remember the paint job being yellow.

Recently, I listened to a podcast--okay, I've listened to many, many podcasts recently--but specifically it was about PSA and how they were the first discount airline in the United States. They were able to keep fare low due to loopholes in the industry--mainly that all their flights remained within California thereby allowing them to not be bound by certain federal rules and regulations. The model was eventually utilized by Southwest Airlines as well.

After airlines were deregulated in 1978, PSA was able to expand its routes to nearby states. It was eventually bought out, and after other buyouts and mergers, it became part of the American Airlines Group, which I learned after a bit of additional research. And American apparently maintains a few regionally based aircraft that have the smiley face paint job as a tribute to its origins. That makes the little girl heart inside me very happy.

You can read more here and here.

Have a great weekend.

 

God's Doors Are Always Open

 

Image courtesy someone on Facebook...FWIW. :0)

I've had this picture for a while, and I really love it. I've been waiting for a good time to use it, and now seemed like a good time.

Whether you're queer or straight, Black or white, Christian or Jewish or Buddhist or, yes, even Muslim...God's always open to you.

The doors of man-made buildings representing God should also always be open...

As it's Pride month and I write what I write (male/male romance for anyone new here), I figured I should acknowledge the month-long celebrations.

I've still never gone to a Pride parade and I do want to do that at some point in my life. Maybe I'll coordinate with a gay friend of mine to visit Fort Worth next June and go.

*schedules a reminder in Outlook to pop up next January*

Anyway...have a great week and have a lovely Pride month.

 

Dallas Stars lose to Vegas Golden Knights...

 

Image courtesy DD.

Sadly, my Dallas Stars finally succumbed to the inevitable. They'd gone down 3-0 and clawed their way back to 3-2...they needed a win Monday night in the worst way and just couldn't pull that rabbit out of the hat.

Seeing grown men cry is the worst. :0(

One of the traditions in hockey is the handshake line at the end of a playoff series. I'm of two minds about it... It's gotta suck as the losing team to wait around for the winning team to end their initial jubilant celebration in order to shake your hand. As a fan, I like it. I guess it has that sportsmanship element that acknowledges that things could have just as easily gone the other way...

I'm sad for my boys in Victory (!) Green, but am relieved for myself. Playoff hockey uses up a lot of energy, and life can kinda stall out as you progress from game to game and series to series. But now I'm off the hook and can look forward to and move forward toward upcoming events.

Have a great weekend.

 

Memorial Day

 As you enjoy this three-day weekend...

Thankful for Thursday

 

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

I like the weekdays just fine, to be honest. I get stuff done. As the regular readers know, I like routine. There's a day for everything and a task for every day. Oh, man--that's an awful bastardization of the maxim. :0) But it's true.

On the other hand, I do enjoy my weekends, and who doesn't love a long weekend? One extra day to sleep in or to just get other, random stuff done. I personally think there should be a long weekend every month. Who says no?

Now this long weekend, this Saturday, my besties are coming over for a day of writing, brainstorming, and general visiting. I haven't seen them in person since April, and sometimes we all miss just being together. During that first stretch of COVID lock downs, we met every week via Zoom to connect and uplift one another.

from l-r: Gina, Regina, Susie, Clover, Chrissy, me

We've been a group since the early 2010s; and what a motley group we are in a variety of ways. But these women have loved me and supported me and offered their friendship and experience and knowledge over the years. Each one of them is a treasured gift from God.

The picture above doesn't include our dear friend Michelle who passed in February. She was part of our original group, but due to her medical issues wasn't able to travel much as the years marched on.

I'm so thankful for each one of them.

 

Miscellaneous Monday

 

Hello again...

Two games into the Western Conference Final and the Stars are down two games. :0( The series comes to Dallas and the next two games are here: Tuesday and Thursday. I can't image the Stars losing two games at home, but the losses in Vegas were the first back to back losses they've had so far this playoffs. It's a whole new ball game. We're playing a team that is more our match than our first two opponents. It's going to a long series, even if it's a short one. *sigh*

*

On a completely different train of thought...don't you just love it when the universe converges on you in a good way? I've been reading some books and working on some things. I'm not sure which came first, but they're intermingled and completely related.

And this fascinating phenomena is happening; the more I work on a thing or think about a thing, the more the universe feeds me more information on that thing. And most of the non-fiction books that I've read this say that this very thing could / would happen.

And it's amazing.

And the books that I've read (or plan to) have been recommended by different people in different tracks of my life.

And speaking of books... so this latest recommendation... I clicked the link that took me to Amazon. The Kindle version is $12.99--way more than I'm inclined to pay for an ebook--but the hardback version is only $6.49 or thereabouts. And so I was considering this, although I'm not keen on physical books that much anymore.

But then--lightning strikes. I have the online library remember--with not one, but two library systems now at my disposal. (hee hee) So I open up that library app and search for this book, and--lo and behold--it's available for virtual checkout! Not right away, mind, there's a four week wait, but I put a hold on it. And that's fine because I'm in the middle of another book I want to finish first. So it all worked out.

But man--there's the universe looking out for me again.

I finally finished one of the other non-fiction books I'd picked out and that was a slog, but more on that book later.

*

I thought I had more to share today, but I guess I don't, so I'll sign off for now.

Have a great week.