All About Books discussion
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General Chit-Chat Part 2!
dely wrote: "Antonio wrote: "OK. The matter about identity sounds just like that of Hamlet: to be or not to be. As far as I'm concerned, I am what I am. If you give a look at my profile page, you may easily kno..."In Invisible Cities Italo Calvino describes a community where people changes jobs, location and connections every few years - so each time they create themselves anew. It reminded me of your comment and the one by Esther about separate selves in each of her virtual worlds.
And a big thank you to Marina Sonnenbark for encouraging me to read Invisible Cities!
Joan, I'm so glad you liked Calvino's book! I think I've said this before, it's my comfort book to which I go back whenever I feel the need to be comforted.
As for profile photos and identity etc., that's a very complicated matter. I agree with Esther when she says that her husband is the only person who needs to know everything about her. I believe the same - the only person who really knows everything about me is my boyfriend, and it needs to stay that way. I don't see that other people need to know everything about myself.I used to have my first and last name here on GR, then I replaced my last name with my Internet nickname. I've been using it on my blog for 13 years and it's part of my persona.
I don't have a picture of me as my profile pic because I don't feel the need to. I don't even have a personal photo as my Facebook profile pic. Still, I am who I am, and I am me, and I am a real person, not just a fictional persona. Moreover, I don't like having my picture taken, and I don't have to explain anyone else why. It's not a secret, though, so you may ask and I will answer.
As dely said, you can know a whole lot about me if you look at the books I list here on GR. A whole lot. You wouldn't know me better if you looked at an actual picture of me.
All this talk of photos, I just have to plug one of my favorite charities Positive Exposure, https://positiveexposure.org/“Change how you see; see how you change”
“POSITIVE EXPOSURE, founded in 1998, utilizes the visual arts to present the humanity and dignity of individuals living with genetic, physical, behavioral and intellectual differences. POSITIVE EXPOSURE celebrates the beauty of human diversity, inclusive of ethnicity, religion, age, ability, learning style, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. Our global footprint promotes a more compassionate world where all differences are embraced and celebrated.”
Check out their web page, your “likes” support the morale of the staff and the models.
Joan wrote: "All this talk of photos, I just have to plug one of my favorite charities Positive Exposure, https://positiveexposure.org/“Change how you see; see how you change”
“POSITIVE EXPOSURE, founded in ..."
Thanks for sharing it. I didn't know this charity and I think they do something amazing.
dely wrote: "Joan wrote: "All this talk of photos, I just have to plug one of my favorite charities Positive Exposure, https://positiveexposure.org/“Change how you see; see how you change”
“POSITIVE EXPOSURE..."
I’m glad you liked it. I’ve met one of the young adults he worked with. She said he helped her feel much better about who she is and she now feels much more comfortable in public.
Joan wrote: "I’m glad you liked it. I’ve met one of the young adults he worked with. She said he helped her feel much better about who she is and she now feels much more comfortable in public. "I think we don't think a lot about how people with such problems feel. Maybe we see them as normal or even don't notice if something is wrong, but we don't think that maybe they don't accept themselves as they are. So what that Charity does is very important for those people but also for us, to shake us.
Dely, his idea really affected me because my undergrad & grad coursework included classes for people in healthcare. When textbooks/instructors/students are focusing on a disease or disorder the humanity of the patients can be forgotten. When I first heard him speak, he talked about the photos in medical textbooks leading him to this work.
Joan wrote: "Dely, his idea really affected me because my undergrad & grad coursework included classes for people in healthcare. When textbooks/instructors/students are focusing on a disease or disorder the hum..."For me it's the other way around: my son had a surgery when he was only 3 months old. They had to redo half the skull. They did a huge and amazing work. Of course there are differences with a head and face that hadn't problems (also for my son it is a genetical disease) but you don't notice immediately. For me and many other people (also people who don't know anything about this surgery) he has nothing different. The problem is that he sees himself different. He notices the smallest difference and he doesn't like himself. As much as we tell him that there is only a small difference that can barely be seen, he doesn't believe us.
So that person really does a wonderful and important work. We may not see the differences in a person, but if that person doesn't like himself, we should believe her and not minimize.
Wow, I hadn’t thought of it - “...if a person doesn’t like (something) believe her and don’t minimize” Thanks for opening my eyes on that.
dely wrote: "Joan wrote: "We may not see the differences in a person, but if that person doesn't like himself, we should believe her and not minimize."You're totally right. It's the same for people who have body acceptance issues. I had a colleague who was very, very beautiful, but thought herself ugly and fat - everybody used to minimize and say she should just shut up because she was so beautiful she couldn't have an issue with her body at all. I found this so offensive.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
Merry Christmas everyone! I haven't been a lot around because I was very busy with my job and Friday my son arrived so I had also to prepare Christmas cookies and several errands!
Wishing you all a great new year, I hope it will bring you much joy and health!
Happy Mew Year to all!I do not have anything planned, I assume many of you do. Tell us and we can live vicariously.
Happy New Year everyone! I won't do anything, my son neither. So we will stay at home watching a couple of movies and eating some homemade focaccia.
Chrissie wrote: "Happy Mew Year to all!I do not have anything planned, I assume many of you do. Tell us and we can live vicariously."
Are your son and daughter + families and grandchildren still there?
Happy New Year everyone! I'm not doing anything either, maybe watch a movie (Bird Box maybe?) with my husband. It's supposed to start snowing around 2 am so I hope everyone is off the streets by then! We will most likely have a white New Year's Day.I am excited to get started on all of the 2019 reading challenges I'm doing (6 new ones plus 5 on-going). I hope I can keep track of all of them! That is part of the challenge for me. I think I will need a spreadsheet this year! I have some great books lined up for January, starting with Circe.
We will be doing the same as we have done for years- staying home . We ring in the new year with a nice dinner . I’m making lobster tails . We’ll have a glass of champagne at midnight and I’ll promptly go to bed !Happy New Year, everyone!
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Happy Mew Year to all!I do not have anything planned, I assume many of you do. Tell us and we can live vicariously."
Are your son and daughter + families and grandchildren still..."
Nope, they are gone now.
Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great holiday. Ringing in the new year at work.
dely, homemade focaccia sounds a delicious way to start the new year!We went over to a friend's house and had dinner there, it was a quiet New Year's Eve with only 5 of us. I much prefer this kind of thing over big gatherings with tons of people, let alone outdoor concerts or shows. Yesterday it was pouring for the whole day here, so it wouldn't have been a good night to stay outside anyway. Today we're having a wonderful day with sun and a cloudless sky.
Mod
It is, trust me!!!
I enjoyed this story about a commuter who knits, very creative. Commuter Knits a ‘Rail Delay Scarf.’
https://nyti.ms/2HenYX7?smid=nytcore-...
Joan wrote: "I enjoyed this story about a commuter who knits, very creative. Commuter Knits a ‘Rail Delay Scarf.’
Sort of a variation on the temperature blanket.
I never heard of a temperature blanket - do you knit rows in yarn colors coordinated with the temperature?
Joan wrote: "I enjoyed this story about a commuter who knits, very creative. Commuter Knits a ‘Rail Delay Scarf.’
https://nyti.ms/2HenYX7?smid=nytcore-..."
Back when I was in grad school, I used to knit on the bus to and from school (just an afghan, nothing fancy).
Mod
Alannah, like you I had a Mom who knit but I just wasn’t into it. After I retired, I decided to try to learn. My first project was a hat that works much better as a tea cozy :-). A friend invited me to join her shawl group - the shawls go to families with kids in hospital & adult hospital patients. Some folks make elaborate shawls but I keep mine simple.
I loved knitting, We still have the blankets and baby clothes knit for the kids. They have gone down from kids to grandkids. Don't do it anymore. You need good eyesight for knitting,when you drop a stitch and have to go back and pick it up.When I was about 10 I knit clothes for my Steiff figures that I set up house for in the chimney, not a dollhouse!
Joan wrote: "I never heard of a temperature blanket - do you knit rows in yarn colors coordinated with the temperature?"Exactly, you chose a colour for each temperature range and then knit a set amount of rows for each day.
Often the instructions show rainbow colours but you can chose whatever colours you like. The temperature ranges should be altered for your climate to give variation and the rows per day depend on how big you want the finished blanket to be.
https://www.wdio.com/news/temperature...
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/libr...
Alannah wrote: "Wow, that scarf looks cool. My mum still knits and I find it surprising how many women my age love the knitted cardigans for babies. My granny and my mum both tried to teach me knitting years ago b..."We had several relatives who knitted garments, accessories and even toys for me when I was a child. My Mum also knits though she prefers to crochet. When I was little I would beg mum and her friends to teach me to knit but they all claimed it was too difficult because I am left-handed.
When I was 18 I came to Israel and visited with my aunt. Both she and her eldest daughter were into knitting. She cast on for me and said 'Look at what I do.' She sat at an angle so I got a clear view of her movements and knit a little slowly so I could follow. Within a week I was knitting.
Ribbing took me a while to figure out and I made up my own method of casting on. As a result my knitting style is very idiosyncratic. After a year or so I bought a knitting book on sale to discover how to do increases and decreases.
Mid-twenties I stopped for a while but when I got hooked up to the internet I 'tripped over' a few knitting patterns which re-sparked my interest and then I discovered this fabulous new site called Ravelry.
Esther wrote: "Joan wrote: "I never heard of a temperature blanket - do you knit rows in yarn colors coordinated with the temperature?"Exactly, you chose a colour for each temperature range and then knit a set ..."
That is a wonderful idea!
Esther, my sister is left handed and I can remember my folks teaching her things like tennis, golfing, batting by having her watch them like in a mirror. The funny thing is she married a left handed guy and none of their kids is left handed.Chrissie- Your doll’s on the mantle sound sweet. I’m sorry you had to give up knitting, but your “can do” attitude about finding new things to do is inspiring.
Yes, using a mirror is a great way for a right handed person to teach something like knitting to a left handed person, and vice versa. Now you can usually find it on Youtube!I am not strongly handed and ended up teaching myself to knit left handed by closely examining how I knit right handed. It took some time, but the I tried knitting back and forth, switching each row to avoid knitting and purling. Imagine my surprise to see it was actually a new stitch since purling is NOT exactly the reverse of knitting.
Joan wrote: "Esther, my sister is left handed and I can remember my folks teaching her things like tennis, golfing, batting by having her watch them like in a mirror. The funny thing is she married a left hande..."
Yes, I am not sure that it's as genetically linked as people think it is. My kids swam on a swim team that included a pair of mirror twins (for those not familiar with this, they are identical but look like like mirror images of each other which is different than exactly the same from right to left). One twin was right handed, the other left handed, they also had opposite brain dominance from each other and so school subjects they were best at, etc.
Joan wrote: "Esther, my sister is left handed and I can remember my folks teaching her things like tennis, golfing, batting by having her watch them like in a mirror. The funny thing is she married a left hande..."Most people didn't take much notice of me being left-handed but those who did treated me like a nuisance.
Even so I am proud to be a south-paw and the one trait I am disappointed neither of my children 'inherited' is left-handedness. Both my parents are natural lefties.
Karin wrote: "Yes, I am not sure that it's as genetically linked as people think it is. My kids swam on a swim team that included a pair of mirror twins ."I heard one theory that left-handedness is due to mirror-twins where the right-handed twin died soon after conception.
Joan wrote: "Esther, my sister is left handed and I can remember my folks teaching her things like tennis, golfing, batting by having her watch them like in a mirror. The funny thing is she married a left hande..."I had the animals living not on the mantle but at the bottom of the fireplace. This was not covered with ashes. I still have these little figures dressed in the clothes I knit for them. The clothes did not take long to knit since they are so small but still I had no pattern to follow and so I had to figure this out myself. It was fun. On nice days they would take expeditions outside. Emily the Traveling Guinea Pig was one of my favorite books. I highly recommend it. If it is still available.
Chrissie wrote: "Joan wrote: "Esther, my sister is left handed and I can remember my folks teaching her things like tennis, golfing, batting by having her watch them like in a mirror. The funny thing is she married..."We love guinea pigs. When the children were small and I was a WAHM/SAHM we had Pitzi Efraim who when roaming free loved playing with the children but would hide under the furniture from everyone else.
Now our lifestyle is not pet-friendly so we have Winston a ceramic guinea pig who sits on a side table and is happy to be available for photo ops with our visitors.
Esther, that'is funny how you have switched to the ceramic sort! My kids had guinea pigs, long and short and curly haired, rabbits and hamsters AND tried to sneak caught country mice home. That we said no to.
Chrissie wrote: "Esther, that'is funny how you have switched to the ceramic sort! My kids had guinea pigs, long and short and curly haired, rabbits and hamsters AND tried to sneak caught country mice home. That we ..."When I was cleaning or tidying Pitzi Efraim used to squeak at me and I miss that. I would really like a puppy but you can't leave a pet alone for the long hours we are at work and Winston is an surprisingly comforting substitute.
Esther wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Esther, that'is funny how you have switched to the ceramic sort! My kids had guinea pigs, long and short and curly haired, rabbits and hamsters AND tried to sneak caught country mi..."I understand.
Antonio wrote: "A question often comes up popping in my mind. It's not my case. I am what I am. I'm sure of my identity. But the question remains: why do we decide to wear a mask online? How is that most of member..."Antonio, Your question got me noticing the profile pics on GR and I realized I had a visceral reaction (in a good way) to GR members showing faces. I suppose the psychologists or anthropologists could explain that.
Therefore, I decided to post a photo of myself instead of my pets. I didn't have to many to choose from but this one I think is representative of me (all wet and a bit goofy). I'm the one on the right.
I hope y'all have a positive reaction to the real me!
Esther wrote: "Karin wrote: "Yes, I am not sure that it's as genetically linked as people think it is. My kids swam on a swim team that included a pair of mirror twins ."I heard one theory that left-handedness ..."
Interesting, but I don't buy it :). It could be true, though, it just seems odd that that there would be that many identical mirror twins that start out and don't make it.
Although human chimeras (one body made of cells from 2 or more different individuals) are a separate issue from vanishing twins,I thought hard-core biology geeks might find articles about human tetragenetic chimeras interesting. It will probably give anyone else a headache. Basically we don’t yet know how common it is.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
J Forensic Sci. 2011 Sep;56(5):1346-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01794.x. Epub 2011 May 6.
Congenital tetragametic blood chimerism explains a case of questionable paternity.
Yu Q1, Li Q, Gao S, Su Y, Deng Z.
Joan wrote: "Antonio wrote: "A question often comes up popping in my mind. It's not my case. I am what I am. I'm sure of my identity. But the question remains: why do we decide to wear a mask online? How is tha..."I like the pic of the real you!
Joan wrote: "Although human chimeras (one body made of cells from 2 or more different individuals) are a separate issue from vanishing twins,I thought hard-core biology geeks might find articles about human te..."
Does that mean that two cells that would 'normally' produce twins combined to produce a single child?
Joan wrote: "Antonio wrote: "A question often comes up popping in my mind. It's not my case. I am what I am. I'm sure of my identity. But the question remains: why do we decide to wear a mask online? How is tha..."That's such a nice pic :)
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Mi profiel photo is of my TBR shelf at my old home, the one I had lived in for more than 30 years, and that now I've sold. Moreover I now tendo to read mostly ebook, eing much more easy to go around with. Still that picture depicts me in here and I don't think I'm going to change it, even if it's not so "up to date"