Wanderer

I've not done well keeping up with daily entries this month. I can say the same thing about going to the gym to work out.

I need to be at the gym for an 8:00 workout called Genesis... it's an hour long. And here I am up at 1:30 a.m.

But today is my birthday!!! I just remembered. Born in '53, you do the math.

I haven't finished editing the photos I took at DisneyWorld last week, and I haven't even made the first movie... so many movie clips to go through. I did want to add music to them, like I usually do. So it may be awhile.

I'll keep in mind what Patrick said about video lengths on YouTube (keep them short, within a couple of minutes).

But for now, since I love drum music, most kinds, here is a video I found featuring young Tyler Hudson, drummer child prodigy. This YouTube video spans Tyler's young rise behind the drums from age two through age eleven. He's thirteen now, and is a member of a band called Mindwalk.

           

I thought you'd be impressed with this youngster's talent. You can read about him at this website.

 

bgilmore725 at 1:55:43 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 9 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

                                                

I am back from my family trip to Florida and Georgia, and have lots to tell and show you.  

                                   

I had a wonderful time with my sister and her family ... whether we were standing in line for a ride at Disney World/Epcot Center in Orlando, sitting around talking on the back deck of her home in Georgia, or riding around the lake on their new pontoon. That's my sister Joy on the right, and her oldest daughter, Tammy. Tammy has four boys. I'll show and tell more later when my eyes are more open.

                                   

This is my nephew Tim, Joy's oldest son, with two of his nephews, Casey and Cru. Cru is Tammy's youngest son.There is no better uncle for these boys than Tim.

Altogether, we were ten adults and seven kids... quite a crowd, but great fun. Two of my sister's children, four additional grandkids, plus our son, could not make the trip. They were missed, but I can't even imagine an outing like this with everyone. Well, maybe I could.

The weather was exceptional in Orlando... unbelievable considering it is the middle of July. I expected unforgiving heat, heavy humidity, and a searing sun... but the days were relatively comfortable, with very little humidity. Possibly those storms off the coast kept us cooler? It rained a little bit each afternoon, but not enough to stop anyone from enjoying the theme parks. There was only one day of major cloudiness and heavy rain, but that was the day we stayed in the motel room and just puttered around the resort. A day of rest, you could say.

I've turned on the alerts. Back to my daily journal entries.

bgilmore725 at 2:41:07 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 18 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Don't be alarmed. I'm taking a hiatus from the computer to be with family for the next week or so. I won't be posting entries, nor sending emails. I'll be turning off alerts so I won't be inundated when I turn the computer back on.

I guess I could have said that in fewer words, say six words or less.... 

Taking a break. Be back soon.     <grin>

bgilmore725 at 1:20:48 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Here are your Six Word Memoirs... Thanks for participating!

I was impressed by the number of you who wrote them in. I'm going to post them in the order they were given. Links to the author's blog are included where possible.

#1:   Nature lover, happily hitched, found contentment.   Beth

#2    Into adventure living a full life.   Sybil

#3   Once a romantic, now a realist.   Barry, oddbodkin

#4   In recognition of our shared differentness.  Mary

#5   Learned to behave.  Now regretting it.  dbdacoba

#6   All her wisdom was hard-won.  chaispice

#7   I am here for a purpose.  Marie, A Year at Oak Cottage

#8   I walked dry creek beds endlessly.  Russ,Toonguykc

#9   Never felt better or had less.  Barbara, bhbner2him

#10  I aggregate, synthesize and dispense information.  Karen

#11  She felt totally out of place.   lilhoneybee81

#12  Think something positive and do it.      jonh8m

#13  This moment changes life forever.      jonh8m

#14  Do I know who I am?    jonh8m

Thank you all for leaving your mini-memoirs... as I reread each of them, and thought about the person who wrote them, I knew if I had mixed the memoirs and the authors up, I could easily have matched the names to the memoir. What each of you wrote in six words is reflected, at one level or another, in your journals as a whole... I thought that was pretty darn interesting.

I enjoyed reading your memoirs... they are quite profound, actually. Simple and profound.

What I learned from this is that I should be able to say more by writing less.

I just don't often do it.

 

 

 

 

bgilmore725 at 9:03:12 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Just a reminder about the Six Word Memoir I wrote about in the previous entry... if you would still like to submit your Six Word Memoir, it's not too late. I'm going to post them as an entry with links to the authors by Saturday (tomorrow) evening.

So please, think of six words that summarize some aspect of your life, your philosophy, a period of your life. If you would, post them in the Six Word Memoir entry, not here. That'll help me out a bunch when I'm compiling them.

My goal to write one entry every day this month is going to end Saturday night due to some time I am taking away from the computer. Don't be alarmed that I'm not posting, but I will be back soon.

If you haven't been by Caroline's journal,A New Adventure, do stop by and give her a big hello. She has moved into a new-to-her home, and is thrilled with it, as I was when I saw it a few weeks ago. I really love the yard... her new home is surrounded by trees, a pond, and a variety of plants. I know that once she gets settled in, she will feel like she has gone on vacation.

I bought a 4 GB memory card for my camera... you might think that way more memory than I need on any given day, and it is. I learned real quick that a 1 GB was not enough to make more than a few short clips. A 2 GB held me through two days in Baltimore with my son about a month ago. I'm pretty sure I have close to an hour of footage all total on that memory card. 

When I learned that I'd be visiting  my sister and her children, and her grandchildren, I knew I would need a bigger memory card, so I bought a 4 Gb card today. And if that gets full, I can always fall back on the 2Gb, and the 1Gb... I'm all set for making family movies.

                            

And I'll probably take a few pictures. Like this one of my nephew Tom and his three boys, triplets. They are only three years old in this photo, the last time I saw them in person. Nineteen months ago, Tom and his adorable wife Becky visited us. Tom has a twin sister who will also be with us, and her four kids. I've only met two of her children... at Tom's wedding several years ago... she has been good about sending me pictures of her kids over the years. Tom also has an older brother, Tim, a younger brother, TJ (he has three kids), and a younger sister, TC. You can imagine that this Aunt Bea has lots of catching up to do with her nieces and nephews and their kids.

One of my favorite reality shows to watch on TV (The Learning Channel) is called Jon and Kate Plus 8. It's about a young family who first had a set of twins (girls), followed a couple of years later by a set of sextuplets (3 girls, 3 boys). Eight kids all under the age of 7 years old. My, my! I watch it because it reminds me of what Tom's house must be like sometimes with their crew of three: Avery, Brody, and Casey. Well, it's probably not quite as intense as J and K + 8, but I'm sure there's never a dull moment.

But more than anything, I'm looking forward to seeing my sister again. She makes me laugh.

bgilmore725 at 11:57:03 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

 

Six-Word Memoirs: The Legend Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

________________________________________________________________

This is a fun exercise in brevity that I first read about at Teacher Magazine. in the story The Short, Happy Lives of Teachers. The author of that story got the idea from a book called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure. 

Won't you join in and participate? I haven't seen this one around our 'neighborhood' so I'm hoping it's a new activity. If it has been around, and I'm just ignorant of it, please forgive.

Everyone has a story. Can you tell yours in six words? It doesn't have to sum up your life, but could reflect a period of your life, a moment, or where you are right now.

If you are having trouble thinking of six words to sum up your life story, check out the examples others have written at the link provided above. Here's a few examples to get you started:

Got sidetracked. Still playing catch up. (artm)

never felt worthy, now feel thankful (kzf)

Read the map. Still got lost. (thunderfire)

And here are three that I wrote. One reflects my life since I was an adult, the other a year in school, and the last my life as a whole:

Married, gave birth, worked, laughed, wrote.

Ten months tense. Two months relaxed.

Once dead. Now alive. Thank God.

Now you give it a try. Either write it up in your journal/blog, then come back to this entry and leave your journal link. I want to put them all together and link back to your journals. Or, send me an email, also with your journal link ... or leave them in my comment section for this entry only, with your journal link if you have one.

Deadline for this is Saturday morning, July 12th... I want to post the results by Saturday night. Thanks!!

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to reading your Six Word Memoirs.

If you need aditional inspiration, which most of you won't, because you all like to write, listen to this BBC interview with the editor who first called for the Six Word Memoirs, which became the book mentioned at the start of this entry. There you can click on the icon for the interview, and listen to the first 4-5 minutes of this broadcast, as the rest is news.

bgilmore725 at 10:26:17 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 17 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

July 9th. That's the date I wrote it. I just realized my clock is off by one hour, so it's showing up as a July 10th entry. Bah!

It seems my journal topics are all over the place this month. This entry will focus on the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act. I want to do my part to help bring attention to this bill that could/should be a law. (Now you know where I stand right up front!)

The Pink Ribbon Review has a great article explaining what this bill is all about. The bill was first introduced to Congress 12 years ago, but ever since then, it has remained a bill. Every year Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro reintroduces the bill, hoping to pass it into a law.

Remember that as a bill, it needs to continue through the legislative process. First it goes "to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Jul 4, 2008]"

To hear a young lady's perspective on this topic, there is a YouTube video. Meandmsc, her screen name, is a three time breast cancer survivor who has had a double mastectomy. Be prepared, though... she has not lost her sense of humor, as she advocates for changing the aforementioned bill into a law. Her language is blunt, she will show you her scars, and she makes a good point when comparing how insurance companies view the surgical treatment and follow- up care of men with testicular cancer who undergo surgery versus the care of women facing breast removal.

Twenty states have already passed the bill, and made it a law that women having mastectomies or lumpectomies would be offered a hospital stay as needed. Where it is not a law, insurance companies require that the patients be sent home just hours after having their breasts removed, regardless of what their doctor thinks of their condition. Advocates for this law want it to be nationwide.

I agree with Meandmsc. She asks: "Why should the women being diagnosed with breast cancer have another fight on their hands against the insurance giants when the only foe they should be fighting is cancer? "  narrative accompanying her video at YouTube.

It seems to me that it should be a case by case decision, but that the insurance companies should provide complete coverage if a woman needs to be hospitalized for more than a day or two. If a woman doesn't need to stay in the hospital, let her go home!

I received an email today requesting that I click on the link and go to a website where I could sign a petition to send to Congress asking them to make the Breast Cancer Patient Protection bill into a law. It's the Lifetimetv.com petition. You may even have already signed it yourself.

But I am wary of email or on-line petitions. I don't put much confidence in any of them ever reaching their intended destinations. I don't know for sure if anyone is going to pull all those 'signatures' and present them to Congress, or even if Congress will accept them for what they represent. Couldn't anyone make a fake list of people for an on-line petition, complete with fake emails and fake zipcodes?

I think it would be better for anyone who wishes to advocate for this issue to personally send their Congressmen/women and Senators an email, or a letter sent the old fashioned way, or even calling them.

Tonight, I emailed all of my district's representatives to let themknow how I felt about this matter.

If you want to be an advocate, and I strongly urge you to do this, it doesn't take long toget the email or office address of your Representatives. Just go to FormsHouse.gov and type in your state. You'll need to know your nine-digit zip code. They'll show you how to find those last four digits if you don't know them. Or you can do a Google search for your state's representatives. There will be a home site you can go to get a list of all of them by district or by county.

I think if you just sign the petition and don't write the personal letter, you are taking a chance that your action could be meaningless. Besides, if you want to be an activist, even a stay at home activist, you must do something other than sign an online petition.

DO something!! Go for it. I've provided a couple of links to heolp you get the information you need to decide if this something for you. A simple Google search using the words Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act will provide you any number of articles and resources.

Please help this worthy cause and write the people in your legislature.

Thank you!!

 

bgilmore725 at 12:07:52 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 9 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

One of my favorite songs has been playing in my head all day. I had been listening to it on one of those wondrous little music pod players while working out at the gym earlier this evening. It looks like an iPod, and acts like one, but it's not as expensive ... it's called a ZEN V, and is so small, but holds boat loads of music. I had copied several of my favorite CDs onto it. Hooked up my earphones, and my workout on the Elliptical machine and bicycle was much more fun and productive.

It occurred to me that YouTube would probably have a video featuring that song. I was wrong... YouTube has probably a hundred of them. It was hard to choose just one to post in my journal tonight. I narrowed it down to two, though.

Even though both are the same song, you will enjoy each of them for their unique message and presentation.

This one is by Dick Hoyt. You might recognize him from Team Hoyt, a father-son marathon/triathlon team who have been racing for the past twenty-five years. If you click on this link , you can read all about this amazing duo.

When I read about them, I thought of Patrick and Patti, another amazing duo. Although Patrick hasn't entered any triathlon races that I'm aware of, he is all about educating the general public about the physically and cognitively challenged every day, and about integrating them into life with able-bodied people. You can watch (and be entertained) by a variety of videos Patrick has made at his YouTube video website, or find information and links to other blogs and resources regarding caregiving by checking out his Caregiving Website.

As I mentioned, I had found Team Hoyt while I was looking on YouTube for one of my favorite songs, "I Can Only Imagine," by Mercy Me. If you get a chance, and if you like this song, go to YouTube and type in the name of the song in their search bar, and you will get possibly a hundred different versions.

I selected two of my favorites from the many videos, the Hoyt Team one mentioned above, and the one below, by someone with a screen name of Meowmixeater. Disregard the name he chose! This young man is amazing to watch as he signs his way through the song with passion and feeling. I chose this one because I wanted Indigo to hear the words through the expressive hands and face of this young man.

Words to I Can Only Imagine, by Mercy Me

I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When your face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus,
Or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence,
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing Halelluja,
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine when that day comes
And I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

The song repeats itself, gaining in volume and passion, then tapers off at the end, softly and gently.

There was another signing version by a six year old, but I'm not putting it here. Here is the link to the little girl who signs the song while her mother films it.

bgilmore725 at 11:57:09 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 15 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

It's July 7th, and this is my seventh entry in July... still on track.

Jury duty is one of those obligations we may be called to serve if we are a registered voter in our county. I don't know how the process is handled in other states or counties, but in my county, we receive a summons by mail. There's a date that we must report by. A citizen can apply for an exemption, or a postponement (a letter in writing is all that is needed explaining the hardship) of the jury date.

In times past, I've been summoned several times. Each time I had looked forward to doing my duty, excited to participate in the legal process. Alas, I've never actually been through the selection process, called voir dire, which is old French meaning to speak the truth. That's the examination by the judge and attorneys to find out whether they want to keep you on the panel of jurors or not. You've probably watched this process in movies and tv shows. I've never actually sat through that process.

I had a jury summons back in September, but it was to be on the same day as my NCCAT workshop, so I asked for a postponement (you must do this at least ten days prior to your jury date). I was given a July date in place of the September summons date. Back in September I thought July was a great date for jury duty. I'd be home, no conflicts of interest. I wanted to be a juror just to see what it was like, so I could have something to tell my students from a personal point of view.

Then about four weeks ago my sister reminded me that she was going to be in Florida for one week in July. She has a condo, with plenty of room for all her kids and grandkids. And even an extra room for another couple. Would I like to come? She'd love to have us come down if we could. Misty had just passed away. My son had moved to Baltimore. I was off from school until August, and VBS doesn't start until August 10. With nothing keeping me home, I said I'd love to go.

Except there's that obligation I may have to take care of first, I told her. The jury duty. For the past two weeksI've fretted about it, thinking that this would be the one time they selected me, and not only that, in my imagination, it would be a serious criminal case, and it would take several days to a week to go through all the testimonies and deliberations. Worst case scenario nightmare.

Hmmm, jury duty versus a rare family vacation in Orlando.... let me think about it first. Just kidding.

My sister and I have never been on vacation together since we were kids living under the same roof. That's about 35 years. Her kids are all grown, and the grandkids... I have not seen some of them in over five years. How could I give all that up?

I had to wait until after 6:00 pm this evening to call the number listed on the summons card. As soon as I got home from the gym (yeah, it was abs workout night... ugh!), I called the number, holding my breath. Was my vacation going to get cancelled? Would I have to report for jury duty at 8:00 in the morning to be part of the selection process?

The female voice on the other end of the line said: "all jurors who were summoned to report for jury duty on Tuesday, July 8th, do NOT have to report. You're services are not required. I repeat, do not report, you're services are not required."

YEAY!!

I whooped out loud, and nearly jumped for Joy.... literally. My sister's name is Joy.

 

 

bgilmore725 at 10:04:59 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 20 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Once again it's deadline time. It's nearing midnight, and what I really want to do is go lay in bed and read for awhile. But I made that commitment to do one entry a day.

The subject is Sunday School. I love Sunday School. Even on the days when the lesson I planned seems to get pushed aside because of something the kids say or do, or because something unexpected happens... even on those days, especially on those days, I love Sunday School.

Today wasn't unexpected... just not the ordinary. Ordinarily, I teach the third through fifth graders. I was asked to take the younger kids as well while the other Sunday School teacher visited her grandbaby. My church is a small country church. My Sunday School class may top off at five or be as few as one.

Today I had only three kids (in the summer, the attendance drops). Two are first graders. One is a new fourth grader.

The word I wanted them to learn today was yoke, and what it means in the Biblical sense. Mairie at Word in the Hand wrote an entry earlier this week about what it means to be yoked to Christ. She writes a very good description of why a farmer yokes his oxen, and how it helps the two animals work together. She imagines what it was like those first few times the younger ox was first yoked, how it fought and resisted what the farmer wanted it to do. Only when the farmer yoked the animal to an older more mature ox does it learn what is expected of it. I hope you'll click on the link I provided and read the entire entry.

It was this same analogy I wanted to bring to my students, whose only understanding of yoke was for it's homonym. I wrote both words on the board for them to see the difference in spelling, and then drew a picture of a yolk and ayoke. I explained how farmers yoke the animals to pull the plow. Still, none of them had seen one, and their understanding of the concept of being yoked with another was a bit weak.

So I pulled out a skein of yarn, and took a twelve inch length of yarn and unraveled it. Then I tied the single strand around a chair rail. When they pulled on the thread, it broke quickly. We repeated the experiment with another length of yarn intact. It held a bit longer before it finally snapped from the weight of the chair. Finally, I showed them how to twist two strands of yarn together, then fold it in half. They watched the yarn wrap upon itself, doubling it's thickness as well as its strength. We tied this double-twisted yarn to the chair, and lifted it up off the floor, and it didn't break.

They wanted to try it with each other sitting in the chair, and dragging the chair around, but still it did not break.

When they were done trying to pick up heavy things with their newly strengthened double-wrapped yarn, I asked the boy, a first grader, "What can we learn from twisting two strands of yarn together and picking up a chair?"

"The yarn didn't break." he said.

"Why didn't it break?" I asked.

"Because it was stronger when we twisted it together."

"That's right! Now, remember what I told you about farmers who yoked their oxen to pull the plow? How does the yarn rope you just made remind you of the yoke story?"

The girl said, "Because one strand alone broke when we lifted the chair, but the one we twisted and wrapped together didn't break. It was stronger."

"And how does that have anything to do with being yoked with Jesus?"

She thought a moment. "When we are yoked to Jesus, we are stronger. We can work harder and it will be easier."

And the boy said, "Yeah, and we won't break like that one string did. We can pull the plow."

To further illustrate how much lighter a load feels when they work together, I had them take turns trying to pick up the table by themselves, which they could not do, then all four of us working together to lift it and move it. They wanted to move it all over the room, but thank goodness the buzzer rang signaling that Sunday School was over.

I chuckled at what the little boy had said about us not breaking and being able to pull the plow.... it was so true. The mouth of babes.

Later, during the worship service, one of the students sat beside me, the future 4th grader. I could tell she was listening to scripture readings. Our Pastor read the same Bible passage, then preached a sermon on it.

He read verses 29 and 30, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I saw her head turn to me suddenly. She had heard the words. I looked sideways at her, and her smile grew... She took her twisted yarn from her Bible, where she had placed it for a bookmark, then she whispered, "I'm keeping this to remind me of being yoked to Jesus."

For days such as this, I live.

 

 

bgilmore725 at 11:59:23 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 14 comments: Show Recent | Add your own