November 11, 2024 a thought for today, The person who admits ignorance shows it once; the one who tries to hide it shows it often. Japanese Proverb

The first upload for yesterday was “what I am wearing”. Once I got home from church I changed into my “hanging around” clothes. So this is a look at an old, worn and comfortable sweat shirt. 

The next upload for yesterday was one in a series “minimalist”. This was a mistake. As I was getting up from the table after a donut for the fellowship hour at church, I accidently hit the snap button on the cell phone as it was set to camera mode. This is my empty place and napkin. I when I discovered it on the camera I decided to use it as a minimalists piece. 

The next challenge was “technology”. There is all kinds of “technology” in my house. At the moment I felt that all the cables and places for connections was a good example of technology. 

The last upload for yesterday was one of the challenges I have from the group
that has a photo a day upload four times a month. This one is “hometown tourist attraction”.  I don’t get to a lot of the “hometown attractions” much anymore. I chose this one from my archives. It was the first of the “tall” building in Columbus. I read that as it was being built is was a big attraction to on lookers. 

Life today. I have the bulletin done for the week. It’s nice when I get all the information I need early. I also got some church information uploaded to Instagram, Facebook and the church emails. 

Then I got back to photos and the letter for today. After that I tended to the hydroponic house plants. 

I have a couple of the calendars printed. I think I will get the binding of them today and get ready for the next printing. I had sometime then to make a couple of phone calls out of the way.

The first upload for today is “soft”. I was going to use cotton balls as the prop for this one but decided on fluffy white clouds instead. I wasn’t having much imagination for “soft” today. 

Nancy will be here tomorrow for some cleaning. Wednesday I will be dropping off the car. It’s weird how I develop a comfortable feeling with my cars. I am going to miss that for a couple of weeks or more. I can’t understand how it could take so long to make the repairs that mine need. I know the shop where I am taking it is new. They are building their “name” on the westside so they don’t seem to be that busy at this point in their growth. It is what it is. So be it.

The next challenge was “remember”. The word “remember” has a long check list for a person my age. I went through the old scanned photos that I have in my archive collection and found this one. It is myself and my granddaughter. As with many photos there are what might be called “Easter eggs” (hidden message). This holds many varied messages for me to “remember”  

The word today is part. Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness. Sophocles.  For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it. Patrick Henry.  In true education, anything that comes to our hand is as good as a book: the prank of a page- boy, the blunder of a servant, a bit of table talk - they are all part of the curriculum. Michel de Montaigne.  The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men. Plato.  We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success. Henry David Thoreau.  It is boorish to live ungraciously: the giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile? Jean de la Bruyere. Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle. Walt Whitman.  In those parts of the world where learning and science has prevailed, miracles have ceased; but in those parts of it as are barbarous and ignorant, miracles are still in vogue. Ethan Allen.  All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul. Alexander Pope.  In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech. Aristotle. 

The last upload for today is “brown”. This was an easy one in this season of fallen leaves. 

Article: This caught my attention. I frequently ready crime novels. I have found that there are some, particularly one, who writes a total picture of how the crime in the book happened. I think that is someone pays attention to the way these descriptions are presented something could actually be learned. So I wanted to see how this article presented the possibility. The title is “This course uses crime novels to teach critical thinking”.  First here is a description of what this series is about: “Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching”, What started this course was a story that the professor/author read and gave birth to an idea. About that time the professor had been asked “for proposals for new courses”. He decided to submit this one as an idea. The story that he had read was mystery/deceive novel that had, due to the way it was written, gave way to serious thinking about how the “crime” in the noel had been committed. He felt that the students “could become literary detectives – reading closely, finding clues, forming theories”.  He selected different types of mysteries and their solutions. He went on to share that this “unexpected approach to academic reading........also offers a way to make sense of some of the craziness of the world”. He mentioned that the students seems to have fun looking for clues in the text of the books and also seemed to lead to “thinking critically about language and how sociopolitical contexts shape our current thoughts about crime and justice”. The author felt that after having taught the course he found that the “importance of reading critically and the importance of historical and social context” was what he was looking for.  In his personal thinking he mentioned that he feels “most authors we read use fair play, the clues are there for the readers”. He went on to say that he feels that the “critical reading” leads to understanding of historical and social contexts. He hopes that by the end of the course his students will enjoy reading more and getting more from it. His hopes extend to hopes that “they’ll understand how the genre developed in relation to history and have a sense of the complexities of historical notions of crime and justice.....consider motives and avoid forming theories without facts.” Maybe this method would lead to reading of other types with the same “learning and understanding”. 

I may have coneys and potato soup for dinner. 

Joy                                     once upon a time