M.J. Compton's Blog, page 49

Deck of Cards

Today is National Card Playing Day.

I always used to travel with a deck of cards. It didn’t take up much space and the possibilities were endless. Now we play “card games” on our phones.

I grew up playing cards. Yes, we had board games. I recall many marathon Monopoly games with my siblings and cousins. And of course there was Barbie, Queen of the Prom.  But what I mostly remember are the card games. All kinds of card games.  Pitch, Spoons (Pig), Rummy, Gin Rummy, Crazy Eights, Crazy Canasta. We would sometimes laugh so hard we would fall out of our chairs–or worse.

We played cards in high school, too, even though we weren’t supposed to. Our favorite games was one we called Sit and Bull$#!+. When my mom taught it to us, she called it ‘I Doubt It.’ I’ve also heard it called ‘Liar’ or ‘Cheat.’ I had a deck of tiny cards we could hide in our hands. I still have most of the deck.

Oh, how we would laugh while we played. And I don’t thing we were ever caught. We weren’t gambling or playing strip poker: we were having fun.

I don’t see people laughing over their cell phones when they play games.

What are some of your favorite card games?

Peace on Earth

For Christians, today is Christmas, the day the birth of The Prince of Peace is commemorated. Peace on earth, goodwill toward man is the holiday mantra.

This year, December 25 is also the first night of Chanukkah. In the US, this holiday has gotten a reputation for being the Jewish Christmas. Not so. It’s not even a religious-based holiday.  It is a commemoration of the first war ever fought in the name of religious freedom. After the war was won, and religious freedom was a right, the Israelites rededicated their temple. The word “chanukkah” means dedication.

Apparently religious freedom was a daring new concept back in the days of the Maccabees. Sometimes, it seems like it still is.

Regardless, if you celebrate Christmas, observe Chanukkah or any of the other approximately 27 other holidays observed by seven major religions on this planet, may your day be filled with peace and a dedication to it.

Turning Point

I’ve been awfully tired lately. I can’t seem to get enough sleep. It’s probably due to lack of daylight. It’s dark when I go to work in the morning, and it’s dark nine hours later when I come home at night. I do get to see daylight on my lunch hour, but that’s it.

But today is Turn-Around Day: The Winter Solstice.

After today, the day when we have the least amount of hours of daylight, things will get better. The minutes of daylight will increase. Dusk will creep in later and later until I actually get more hours of sunlight for my very needy soul.

I don’t blame the ancients for worshipping on this date.

Tantalizing Trivia: Bread & Butter

When I was growing up, my mother put bread and butter on the table every night for supper.  Butter she kept in a butter dish in the cupboard.

That’s right. Not the refrigerator. The cupboard.

The bread was usually the unhealthy white stuff the bread man delivered twice a week (when I was really young) or was purchased at the supermarket. But my mom baked her own bread, too, and it was fabulous.

But we ate bread and butter with every meal.

When you go to restaurants, you’re usually served bread/rolls and butter before your meal. There are a lot of theories as to why this is.

Breaking bread is a sign of hospitality
In the past, tavern owners served one meal at one time, so people ate bread and butter to tide them over until meal time
Eating bread and butter gives patrons something to do while waiting for their meal
Bread (a simple carb) actually makes one hungrier.

The phrase bread-and-butter is also an idiom meaning livelihood, the source of one’s food.

Bread is found in every culture because it’s a basic food that supports life. To butter someone up is to flatter them. So butter just makes bread better.

But I no longer eat bread and butter with every meal. I think it was a calorie/carb/fat decision.

 

 

 

A Book from Long Ago

I inherited my reading habit from my mom and my grandmother. I actually inherited my grandmother’s library when she passed. I can’t think of a single thing I wanted more.

My mom used to belong to a book club, so there were lots of hardcover books around. One, a favorite of us all, was For Time and All Eternity. (We used to reread books all the time. Books were expensive. Hard to come by.) Although the story was fiction, it took place in years leading up to, during, and after the US war on Mormon polygamy. The heroine was Mormon, and the tale is told from her point of view, sort of. Mom leant the book to someone, and that was the last any of us saw of it.

I searched for this book many times over the years. A few months ago, I finally located a used copy online for an extremely reasonable price. Of course I bought it.

First of all, I never realized it was written by a man. For some reason, this annoys me. The story is about a Mormon woman who loathes polygamy, but lives with it. How can a man possibly understand her emotions? But then, the writing style doesn’t contain a lot of emotion. The copyright is 1964, and writing styles have changed drastically since then.

The first couple of chapters of the book seriously irritated me because the women cackled, gobbled, screeched, and made other barnyard noises instead of conversing. Again, I blame the male author for the way he portrayed the women.

That said, I am truly enjoying getting to know these characters again; to read the story with the eyes of an adult instead of a young teenager. The historical aspect is also fascinating.

Have you ever revisited a book from your youth?

The Longest Hour of the Day

I work a day job. My hours, usually, are 8am-5pm, although I do on occasion work 7am-4pm.

Now, you may think the longest hour of the day would be 4-5pm (or 3-4pm), but you would be wrong.  Based on my observations over the years, the longest hour of the day is 10-11am.

I have absolutely no idea why. But it’s true. I notice it every single workday.

Any theories out there?

I Wish You Would Read…

I inherited my love of reading from my grandma and my mom. Most of my cousins are voracious readers, too.

We used to read a lot of gothic romance back in the day. One of my favorite books–and it’s the book that actually turned my sister into a reader–is by Anya Seton. Many of you may be familiar with Anya Seton because author Barbara Samuel is enamored of Seton’s Green Darkness. And Green Darkness is a wonderful book. Seton has written many wonderful books.

But not one of them is as wonderful as her Dragonwyck. Dragonwyck is a gothic historical romance taking place in the manor-system of the Hudson Valley before, during, and after the American Civil War. If I hadn’t read this book, I never would have known about this northern version of sharecropping. It certainly wasn’t taught in the New York State History classes we took in school.

I wish everyone who loves a meaty historical story and a great romance would read this book.

 

 

National Cookie Day

In honor of National Cookie Day, I’m going to tell you about the most erotic scene ever written in a book involving a cookie.

Seriously.

The book: Kill and Tell

The author: Linda Howard

The setting. New Orleans. A rainy summer night in the French Quarter. A balcony. Jazz in the background, enhancing the sultry tone. Bare feet. Red wine. Cookies.

Seduction.

The Organized Writer Pt 5

I’ve finally settled on an organization system for 2017.

I’m going to use a combination of Bullet Journal and Google Calendar.

Is my BuJo going to be as elaborate as some I’ve seen on Pinterest or Facebook? No. I don’t have that kind of time to spend even tho’ I love color and images.

My Google Calendar is up and running. I’ve been taking a class on organization with Sarah Wendell (Smart Bitches) and have found several great tricks for making Google Calendar work for me.

Can’t wait to get rid of my bulky Day Runner.

 

We Interrupt Your Regularly Schedule Blog Post

Today was a scheduled “Snarky Sunday” post, but I find I’m too grateful to be snarky.

I’ve had a long, lovely Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I’ve left the house only twice: once to go to my parents’ for turkey and trimmings, and once to visit my sister and nephew, who has completed his “man cave” complete with a pretty impressive home theater.  We watched two movies:  Star Trek Beyond and Nice Guys. Both were very funny in their own ways. I had seen the Star Trek movie in the theater and loved it. I loved it even more watching with my family.

So no snark today.

Live long and prosper.