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Epiphabets

~ My.Daily.Distraction

Epiphabets

Tag Archives: Books

Resolutions

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized, wander, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Advice, Art, blog, Blogging, Books, Learning, life, work

January 1, 2018

It must now be twenty years since I read Stephen King’s book; the craft of writing.

In that book he advocated that any serious writer must be committed to writing at least one thousand words a day.

It was a promise that I made to myself time and again, but never kept.

Today is January 1st, 2018, the first day of the new year and I have made two New Year’s resolutions.

The first is to commit myself to writing one thousand words a day. I feel I have a better than average chance at doing this because on December 28th of last year, less than one week ago, I retired after working 29 years at the post office. This retirement did not come one minute too soon. After suffering a serious shoulder injury last fall which rendered my tow motor driving days at work over and done with, the horrible night shift of 3:00 am to 11:00 am has left me exhausted.

My husband who retired last summer make it very clear to me that my retirement would be filed with everyday walks and plenty of activity.

Well, that hasn’t really happened yet because of the extreme temperatures outside. Indeed, every day seems to set new low temperature records. Even some of last night’s new year festivities were cancelled due to public health and safety.

As for my second New Year’s resolution, it is about 44 years since my school band instructor Mr. Inglis told his music student’s that if you undertake a hobby and commit yourself to it, you must strive to learn at least one new thing a day. It doesn’t have to be anything overwhelming, but something you noticed, that you have never noticed before.

About a year ago, I began to notice that I was beginning to take on an interest in watercolour art. My daughter had purchased a travel sized watercolour palette that really began to peak my interest.

What made me take notice? You ask…

Well, it was probably when she, my husband and myself were making our way through security at England’s Heathrow airport. She failed the carry on luggage test when the screening noticed something odd in her suitcase. It was pulled over for inspection much to our chagrin. Anytime you are pulled over to have your suitcase inspected the world seems to grow dark with shame and fear.

In the end it was her travel size set of watercolour paints that caught security’s attention.

They opened it up and asked her what it was.

She told them.

They allowed her to pass through their sacred portals along with her box of paints. However, they made it clear to her that had they been in liquid form, they would have been confiscated.

During my summer holidays in June of last year, I bought myself a box of paints and some paper and began to paint.

Badly, of course…

However, I found joy in my awkward paintings. Underwater scenes seemed to be the nicest ones that I produced.

I began to dabble my way around the internet and you tube looking for direction.

From “The Watercolour Misfit” I eventually learned how to properly push water and paint around the paper. Mind you, I still need a lot of practise of this and many other things.

Anyway, my second New Year’s resolution for this New Year is to learn something new each day.

This, of course does not strike me an overly time consuming commitment, yet I recognize it will require some sort of dedication.

And so, on this first day of the year, I discovered not only one, but two epiphanies in regards to the fine art form of watercolour…

The first discovery came when I was doing a pink flat wash background for a bird that I had sketched onto my cold pressed watercolour paper.

Noticing that in my paint mixture, there were small specks of debris, it didn’t take me long to figure out that they flecks had come from the rubber eraser of the pencils that I used to sketch my drawing. I had erased several pencil lines and did not think to ensure the remover of the eraser leavings. That’s a mistake I will not be making again.

The second lesson came as I was putting away the tubes of paint after I had finished painting.

I noticed that the white tube of paint that I had used to highlight my bird’s eyes with was missing it’s small little cap. It was in that moment that I realized that after removing the cap on a tube of paint, you must immediately replace the cap.

Why?

Because those little caps are so small, once misplaced, you will be hard pressed to try and find it.

Good thing that I had made a new palette of cooler hues of blues and greens and had emptied several tubes. I retrieve an empty tube from the garbage, removed the cap and rinsed off the dried paint from inside.

And voila, I had a replacement cap.

While, I was at it, I retrieved two more caps from other discarded tubes. I know myself well enough that I can be quite absent minded when I am preoccupied with my tasks at hand.

And so, there you have it. I know two things that I did not learn yesterday.

Yay me.

Tomorrow, I will write of the painting books that I made.

To be honest with you, I actually had three epiphanies today, however I’ll leave it to next time.

I was just informed by my husband that I don’t have to worry about running out of paint anytime soon.

It seems that along with the three reams of paper that I asked him to order for me, he also mistakingly ordered another three boxes of 18 count paint tubes.

Three boxes.

Fifty-four tubes of paint.

I am going to be doing a lot of watercolour painting this year.

There’s going to be a lot to be learned.

There’s even more to be done.

The Book Of Thank You ~ Post Six: Thank You Wicked Witch Of The West

30 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by duckykoren in Books, Education, Entertainment, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

blog, Books, Education, Entertainment, evil, fear, good, Movies, witch, wizard of oz, Writing

 

The first time that I ever felt real fear in my life was when I was four years old. I was watching the movie THE WIZARD OF OZ based on the book by L. Frank Baum. Everything was good until the part of the movie when the Wicked Witch of the West started throwing fireballs at everybody.

First lesson learned from the Wicked Witch of the West:

Don’t play with fire.

I ran into my parents bedroom and stayed there until I knew all was well again in the land of Oz, which was only about five minutes or so.

Second lesson learned from the Wicked Witch of the West:

Fear is only temporary.

Then there was the scene where the Witch has Dorothy locked in her castle. The Witch then shows Dorothy an hourglass and threatens her by saying that when all the sand has run dry, her life will be over.

Third lesson learned from the Wicked Witch of the West:

Time is precious.

Now fast forward to the scene in the movie where Dorothy has just thrown water onto the Witch and she is dissipating into nothingness leaving only her pointy black hat and clothes.

Fourth lesson learned from the Wicked Witch of the West:

If you treat people badly, you will suffer the consequences.

When I learned that Gregory Maguire had written the book WICKED, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST, I immediately purchased a copy.

As I read the forward, the author wrote that he wanted the book to be a study on the nature of good and evil. He invited us to ask ourselves as we read the book: By what criteria do we distinguish a good person from a bad one?

Then I went on to read all about the Wicked Witch of the West’s life and realized that I had badly misjudged her.

What had been perceived as an evil hag was in truth a very misunderstood soul.

Now, whenever I watch the movie WIZARD OF OZ it’s a totally different experience.

Fifth lesson learned from the Wicked Witch of the West:

Be careful when judging people without knowing all the facts.

Thank you Wicked Witch of the West for all the lessons. In return, you can count on me to always come to your defence.

I’ve got your back, my pretty…

 

 

❤

The Book Of Thank You ~ Post Three: Thank You Mrs. Carter

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by duckykoren in Britain, Children, Reading, Uncategorized

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Tags

#joy, Books, Family, Reading, School, teachers

 

The year was 1971.

Mrs. Carter was my 7th grade home room school teacher.

She was grandmotherly both in nature and appearance and was always neatly dressed in a sweater and skirt. She wore gold rimmed glasses and spoke with a British accent.

Mrs. Carter introduced me the concept that reading could be fun. She was also the first person that I can remember who ever read to me.

Looking back, it’s been hard to for me to remember the first book that she read to us. If I had to make a guess, I’d say the book was THE MOUSE THAT ROARED.

It was read to us in small doses as class time permitted. Sometimes we got to listen to her read for five minutes. Sometimes we got a full half hour.

We all enjoyed listening to her lovely British cadence. I was struck by the confident manner she showed to us as she read. She seemed to actually enjoy reading aloud in front of others.

I wondered if I would ever be able to read a story to someone else.

My first introductions to reading aloud in front of others was in school and always tinged in awkwardness and embarrassment, I’m sure we all remember that uncomfortable feeling.

When I was six years old, my Father would make me read him a story from my German book of Grimm fairy tales. Then, the purpose of reading was all about practising my German and had little to do with sharing joy.

The first books that I remember reading in their entirety on my own were the TRIXIE BELDEN mystery series when I was nine years old. After that I read CHERRY AMES, STUDENT NURSE and then the NANCY DREW mysteries. I was twelve years old by the time I finished them.

As my children were growing up I tried to make it a point to read to my daughters from time to time. I read them the CHRONICALS OF NARNIA and the HARRY POTTER series. My impression of Hagrid was very well received.

Then there was the time that I was reading a particularly touching Christmas novel THE TIMEPIECE by Richard Paul Evans to my youngest daughter. While I was overcome with teary emotion, my daughter handed me one tissue after another as I wept inconsolably while reading the final chapter.

Good times.

Indeed, the joy of sharing a book with someone else can be a very good thing.

Thank you Mrs. Carter.

 

❤

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 141… Are Our SmartPhones Making Us Stupid?

12 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Education, internet, Media, SmartPhones

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Tags

Books, Einstein, Encyclopedia, information, Internet, media, paper, Pennsylvania, Radio, Schoolwork, SmartPhones, Toronto

The question asked yesterday on Toronto’s CBC Metro Morning radio program was:

“Are our SmartPhones making us stupid?”

My interest was piqued. I was going to enjoy listening to this conversation which began right after the 6:00 a.m. news. Hopefully it would see me through my half hour drive home from work.

I was all ears.

The discussion that followed came from people advocating that our SmartPhones are making us stupid. They claim that those of us who use our SmartPhones to google general knowledge questions are getting soft in the brain. They believe that by not working out problems in our head we are diminishing our ability to think.

I disagree.

When I was growing up, my parents did their best to provide me with encyclopedias so that I would always have easy access to information for my schoolwork.

Did anyone question the necessity of these books by arguing that getting the answers was just too easy because all you have to do is look it up alphabetically?

No.

There was a similar argument made in the 1970’s when pocket calculators hit the scene.

Schools immediately began to ban them from classrooms saying that it is important to know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide using only your brain, pencil and paper.

That argument did not live to see the end of the decade.

Albert Einstein said that…

“It’s not important to know all the answers.
However, it’s important that you know where to find them.

It’s empowering to have the ability to answer just about any question imaginable simply by looking it up on the Internet.

On a whim, I can look up any person, place, song, quote and book.

How can this possibly be a bad thing?

In the Star Trek television series we saw futuristic devices that enhanced communication, education, and quality of life. They enabled people to solve really big life and death situations quickly and efficiently.

I remember thinking to myself… “Wow, isn’t that an incredible device. I wonder if I’ll ever have one in my lifetime?”

Well, many of those devices have been created and are now a part of our daily lives.

One of my Father’s favourite sayings was:

“We grow too soon old…
And too late smart.”

Certainly, when using old world tools such as paper and pen, it took a very long time to solve major problems.

Let me be clear…

I have no qualms with the people of this earth getting smarter faster.

We certainly have a great many global problems that need solutions now…

…While there’s still time.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 138: Beware Of Backwards Thinking

09 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Books, Culture, Feminism, Reading, Society, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Books, Culture, Entertainment, Feminism, IBM, Marabel Morgan, Reading, Society, stepford wives, The Total Woman, Virginia, women

image

As International Women’s Day drew to close yesterday my thoughts were drawn to an unfortunate encounter I had with a book in the mid-seventies.

I was seventeen.

To read it now, one would think that this book was written centuries ago during the dark ages.

For the most part, the 1970s were about social change, the sexual revolution and freedom of expression.

However there was one major catastrophic blip that entered my radar.

It happened during one of my visits to Virginia. I often travelled there to spend some time with my Mother and her husband Jim.

While I was there, we went to visit one of Jim’s IBM coworkers.

Our hosts lived in the Shenandoah mountains high atop a ravine in a beautiful wooden house. They were obviously comfortably affluent.

The lady of the house was dressed in an appropriately 1970s stylishly long dress and her lovely blonde hair was done up in a bun. She wore an apron and when she was not preparing dinner she was knitting in her rocking chair.

Our conversation eventually revolved around to books and what we were reading. She told me that her favorite book was THE TOTAL WOMAN by Marabel Morgan.

I told her that I was unfamiliar with this book.

It was then that she excused herself and got up from her rocking chair and left the room. A few minutes later she reemerged carrying a paperback in her hands.

She handed it to me.

“Here,” she said to me.

“You can keep it.”

It was the book she had just mentioned.

On the cover was the lovely Marabel Morgan with her hair perfectly coiffed wearing a pink dress suit. It was uber 1970’s feminine fashion and of course, Marabel herself was beaming back at me from where she sat on the front cover.

image

As our hostess began to explain the premise of the book, I could feel Mother begin to bristle. She said nothing, but even from across the room I could keenly sense a low growl.

Mother’s beaming countenance still had the demeanour of a graceful and happy visiting houseguest.

But I knew better.

Mother, no doubt had heard of this book before.

Upon closer examination, each chapter of this book pertained to how to have a happy marriage.

And how do you have a happy marriage?

According to the book THE TOTAL WOMAN a wife must be 100% totally submissive to their husband, and have his dinner and martini ready for him when he gets home. Further, a wife must never ask their husband for anything and thus be a nag.

Yup, just when you think the dark ages are a think of the past, some yahoo comes along and resurrects backward thinking.

Go figure.

After several appearances on the Phil Donahue show, Marabel Morgan was unceremoniously crowned as queen of the anti-feminists.

Perhaps there are some of you who think that such backwards thinking is at long last a thing of the past.

Think again.

One recent movie release, is a clever variation on this very same theme. It promotes male superiority and female submission in no uncertain terms.

I’m grateful that Mother gave me that warning shot across the bow which immediately made me wary of the backwards thinking that fills Marabel Morgan’s book, THE TOTAL WOMAN.

It’s easy to get swept up in what is thought to be popular, trendy and right.

But in the end I hope you will agree as I differ with another one of today’s popular trends:

It’s not about the bass…

It’s about the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

~.~.~.~.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 126: Homage To Trixie Belden

25 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Books, Reading

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Tags

Book Series, Books, Cherry Ames, mysteries, Mystery, Nurse, Reading, Trixie Belden

image

The first books that I loved to read were the Trixie Belden mystery series written by Julie Campbell Tatham.

It was the summer of 1968 when I was introduced to the series through a friend of mine. After I read the first one, I wanted to read them all.

But that was easier said than done.

The only store that I could buy them for myself did not carry the entire series of fifteen books. It was hit and miss whenever a new shipment of books came in.

Sadly for me, it was mostly miss.

Another one of my favourite book series was ‘Cherry Ames, Student Nurse’. This was about a young woman who trains to become a nurse just as the Second World War is about to break out. Subsequent books chronicle her nursing adventures in the years that follow, including the discovery of penicillin.

Good stuff!

Several years back, I attended a ‘pinning ceremony’ for my daughter just days before she received her degree as a registered nurse. The guest speaker spoke at length about how she also read the Cherry Ames series of books when she herself was a young girl. It was this series of books that inspired her to become a nurse. She is currently head of nursing in one of Toronto’s major hospitals.

This was an incredible lesson for me on the positive power of books in a young person’s life.

Last month, I found a Trixie Belden book on a used book counter.

As I read the back of the cover, imagine my glee when I realized that this was one of the few elusive Trixie Belden books I had not been able to find as a girl.

Oh, the serendipity…

I’m sure that Trixie is still the curious, mischievous little sleuth that she was in 1968, and that her neighbour and best friend Honey is still as lovely as ever.

However, it is truly a lifetime since I’ve last visited them. I am much older now and have two grown daughters of my own. Hence, hopscotch and jumping rope are no longer my forté.

I look forward to seeing them again very soon.

I hope they recognize me.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 123: Confessions Of A Forgetful Reader

22 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Books, Friends, Reading, Work

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Tags

Books, Friends, Memory, Reading, remember, Time, work

Every now and again, I have an epiphany.

The word Epiphany, as per Wikipedia…

Epiphany (feeling), the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something.

My epiphany happened at work while I was sitting across the table from a co-worker, Miss H.

She and I were discussing the subject of reading.

“I don’t get to read much anymore,” she told me. “By the time I get the kids in bed I’m too tired.”

“I used to read a lot too,” I admitted. “However, I’m really frustrated that the majority of books that I’ve read over the years have all melded together and I can’t remember them anymore.”

Then I let out a deep breath and wearily confessed my fears…

“I sometimes wonder if all that reading was worth my time and effort.”

I could instantly sense Miss H.’s back stiffen. She then looked at me and said…

“Yes, but you did enjoy reading them, didn’t you?”

With that comment, I was stunned into silence.

She was right of course.

As I was leaving work, I spotted Miss H. by the exit doors and walked over to her.

“I want to thank you for what you said to me.”

“No need to,” she replied.

“I know what it’s like. Why just the other day I was trying to remember that book … you know the one, written by… what’s his name, and it was about, uh… you know that guy and the thing he did.”

We both laughed as we walked outside and went our separate ways.

Today, I learned this lesson:

Reading isn’t always about the plot, or to gain knowledge or insight. Sometimes, reading can just be about having some time to myself.

Reading can also bring people together in ways that they never expected.

For example, When Miss H. and I left work today we were both smiling.

Imagine that!

Thanks Miss. H.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 113: Thank You Peter Pan

12 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Authors, Books, Classics, Entertainment, Fiction, Movies

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Tags

Books, Childhood, Christopher Newton, Fairies, Fiction, J.M. Barrie, Niagara On The Lake, Peter Pan, Shaw Festival, Theatre

Artistic Director Christopher Newton was at the helm during the Shaw Festival’s iconic production of Peter Pan.

On the day that my daughter and I went to see the play in Niagara On The Lake, I received a theatre program. Inside, Christopher Newton shared his thoughts on his love for author J.M. Barrie’s book, Peter Pan.

As I read it, he conveyed to me some Peter Pan magic of his own.

In an effort to prepare for directing Peter Pan, Christopher decided to visit the town he grew up in. What better place to find some insight into his boyhood roots he thought.

After all, Peter Pan is best known as the boy who never grew up.

His first stop was the home he had lived in while he was a young boy.

Of course, the house looked familiar as he viewed it from the sidewalk standing by the front gate. But somehow, the scene seemed all wrong.

The magic that he had anticipated at the thought of visiting his childhood home just wasn’t materializing.

After a few moments, he had a thought.

As he stood by the gate, he squatted down to half his size.

Then he grabbed the steel rungs just like he did as a boy.

He continued to peer into the front yard.

Gazing at his old house at the same height he would have been at ten years old he could feel his boyhood visions fall back into place.

Suddenly, the insight that had failed him only moments ago flooded back into his memory and he was ten years old again.

All it took was a simple adjustment to his vantage point.

As I read this narrative, it occurred to me that even the slightest shift in viewpoint can lead to a path on which I might find my own elusive magic moment.

Thank you Christopher Newton…
Thank you J.M. Barrie…
And of course,

Thank you Peter Pan…

Thank you for validating what I have believed all along…

Even as an adult, when the moment is right it’s okay to to affirm to myself that:

“I do believe in fairies.”

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 109: Observing The Graceful Silence

08 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in History, Stories

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Tags

American Civil War, AutoBiography, Books, Friendship, History, Jefferson Davis, Lake Ontario, Port Colborne, relationships, silence, Varina Davis

image

Many years ago I read Varina Davis’s autobiography.

Varina Banks Howell Davis is better known as Mrs. Jefferson Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis. He was the President of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

Even twenty years after reading her autobiography, there are two things about that book which still stay with me.

The first is that she enjoyed taking month long summer holidays each year in Port Colborne, Ontario. Port Colborne is right on the shore of Lake Erie and is known for the cool breezes that blow in from the lake. It is also about a half an hour’s drive from where I live.

I’m sure these cooling breezes were a refuge from the unmerciful summer heat of the southern states. No doubt that is why she sought them out.

The second thing that I love to remember about her book is the statement she made about…

“Observing the graceful silence.”

For someone who does not eagerly seek out, or willingly submit to “small talk” conversation, this term wafted over me very much like the cooling breezes that blow through Port Colborne.

For those who are curious about the context in which she used this term, she was referring to the state of her friendships among her circle of friends once the Civil War began to go badly for the south.

In the last two years of the war, not hearing from her friends anymore, she understood well the toll that politics had taken on her personal relationships.

Refusing to think ill of anyone, she conveyed to all that she will continue to observe the graceful silence between them all, until the politics of war is resolved.

I believe that truly good friends as well as family, know well on how to observe this graceful silence.

They need not fear the end of a relationship because of a simple and most innocent pause in conversation. Loved ones know that continual and idle banter does not validate a true relationship.

A good friend always knows that their comrades are always… somewhere, out there.

Perhaps silent,

…but certainly never forgotten.

Ever.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post Ninety-Nine: Lessons From My Father… *Respect All Books*

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Books, Crafts, Family, Family Stories, Reading, Stories

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

book covers, Books, comics, crafts, efucation, fathers, geography, Maps, Math, newspaper, Reading, School, shopping bag, wrapping paper

In the years that followed after losing my Father to cancer, I wanted to take stock of all the lessons that he had tried to teach me in life.

Did I say teach?

Drum into my head might be more accurate.

It took me years to remember what some of those lessons were.

Ten years later, slowly, very slowly one of the lessons has finally risen to the surface.

Today, as I took a newly purchased book out of my shopping bag, one of those lessons hit home as I remembered a similar scene with my Father.

The scene was of me coming home after my first day of school in grade two. I had just brought home several new school books which had just been assigned to me by my teacher. They included an elementary reader, math, and geography book.

My Father led me to the kitchen table where he had just placed my newly acquired text books. He had gathered a pencil, scissors, and ruler along with a large piece of heavy paper. His preferred choice of paper was usually a recycled piece of wrapping paper, a unwanted street map, or an old poster. However, I do remember times when a newspaper, or the funny papers would do in a pinch.

He would sit me down, and with pencil and ruler he began to measure and mark the big sheet of paper laid out before him.

With several long straight lines here and a couple of notches there he would then take the scissors and carefully cut along the pencil drawn edges. He finished off with two neat folds along the top and bottom. Then there would be another two more, one to the left and then the right sides.

…and VOILA!

We now had a book cover.

Father would then take the front cover of the school book and slip into into the neatly measured front flap. Then he would do the same with the back cover.

In teaching me the importance of these homemade book-covers, I learned many different things.

First, it taught me that books are to be handled with both care and respect. I still have books that Father gave me. The ones with these sorts of covers are still in their prime. The other books are not so lucky.

Secondly, it is indeed a noble thing to take care of something that does not belong to you. I was always proud to give all borrowed books back to the school at the end of the year, intact and with a minimal amount of blemishes.

Last, I learned that you can take something which is otherwise considered useless and unwanted and turn it into something with the potential to be both useful and meaningful. That accounts for the used wrapping paper, old street maps, and last weeks Saturday comic section from the newspaper.

And there you have it. It only took ten years to sort this particular lesson out, but it finally hit home.

I only hope I don’t have to wait another ten years till I figure out the next lesson.

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