Fifteen Albums

THE RULES: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note).

In no particular order, esp since my musical tastes are so eclectic: 

1.   Van Cliburn played Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2 and Chopin Piano Concerto #2  (I was a baby, but remembered the music.)

2.   Time Out - Dave Brubeck (One of Dad's favorites.)

3.   The Beatles Red Album - The Beatles (I memorized it.)

4.   Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (Love at first listen with the heartbeat and the clocks!)

5.   The Wall - Pink Floyd (It makes me happy.)

7.   Back in Black - AC/DC (First time I heard it, I froze and just listened.)

8.   A Night at the Opera - Queen (musical ecstasy.)

9.   Pyromania - Def Leppard (Rock was NOT dead!)

10. Stan Freeberg (Don't remember the album name, but I can't help but laugh when I hear it.)

11. Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975  - The Eagles (memorized it.)

12. Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" - London Symphony Orchestra (He wrote it for us!)

13. Trashed, Lost, and Strung Out - Children of Bodom (launched me into new areas.)

14. Death Magnetic - Metallica (Got an hour? These songs mean something to me.)

15. Royal Tapestry - Claudette Royal (Her voice, her heart, and above the subject of her songs are excellent.)

A Yellow Belt in Five Styles by Rabbi B. Shafier

A Yellow Belt in Five Styles by Rabbi B. Shafier

Thirty years ago, I read and believed Colossians 3:2 "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." This refers to God and His Word (2 Timothy 2:15) While I did not have perfect adherence to what God wrote, eventually, I came back to it and God prospered me. (Deuteronomy 28) God never fails.

111227 Finally

I finally manged to piss off enough people on Live Journal to quit - myself included. I stress too much, so I stomped my feet and left. It is not deleted yet, because I want to review the posts and see if anything is worth keeping. I can repost here if necessary, but it is all old news. Maybe I can tie this blog to Facebook. Maybe, I'll just quit blogging. Maybe, I'll end my Internet connection and use the library. Maybe, I'll just get a life.

111227 Not Enough Golden Eggs

"Obamacare" concerns me. Forbes published a report about how all but 27% of doctors believe that it will be more expensive and less effective than the current system. Nearly two-thirds of physicians say that the president with his sycophants in congress shot the pouch. Our shortage of doctors will become extreme when our best and brightest choose other professions rather than trying to deal with 1000+ pages of new regulations, additional patients, and lower salaries. That's about what opponents have said all along.

I'm rather thankful that I spent the last thirty-five years learning natural remedies. I expect that I'll need that knowledge. Who do you think would be rationed first in state-run medicine? How about the old, the infirm, and the political irritants. Reminds me of that song I can't find, "Would You Like to Be a Slave, Baby?":

"They say, they say, they say, they say 'It can't happen here!
"'Believe us friends and neighbors -  there's nothing to fear!'
"But as I remember, as I recall, that's what they said in Berlin
"Now you can hear them again!"

People tell me that I'm reading the signs incorrectly, that I'm overreacting, that I listen to the wrong elements.

I think like a general. I studied history, especially political and military history: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Patton, even William Wallace (after watching Braveheart, of course). Many more passed by inspection, including Biblical battles. Look at generations, not just decades.  I studied the rise of communism in the Soviet Union. I studied the rise of the National Socialist Party. There are incredible similarities between those two governments, and we are living under many of the same preceding conditions now. Officials tell us that the economy is getting better, but many people cry that it is not improving for them. Even so, only the poorest of the poor, who are hiding in a hole away from social services, have it as bad as most people did in the 1930s. Now, "poor" people have cars and watch their own TVs in their own homes! Civil discontent is killing the goose that was laying the golden eggs, and the social reformers are blaming the goose.

This is how it begins.

111226 Gifts, Thankfulness, and Goals

Christmas is over. Kwanza has started. Hanukkah has two more evenings. Pagan celebrations continue into the New Year. Twelthnight is January 6th. Yesterday, I went to see my dad. He is well, and extremely fit for an eighty-six year old man. Everyone who has a good dad says that their dad is the best. Mine is the best. I don’t always agree with people, and my dad is no exception. When he talks of money, however, I listen with both ears. He is still as concerned about my financial situation as he was when I left home at age eighteen. Our visit yesterday included the bi-monthly lecture on retirement savings and budgets. I nodded a lot, and said that I am simplifying my life and working on starting my own business. My minister is also a good source for financial information. He used to tell me that I needed more income, but last week he revealed that he was starting to see my position. No one makes demands of me, because they know I have no money. Because he has been a successful middle class businessman, everyone expects him to give elaborate and/or expensive gifts. This year, he surprised me by giving me a book called, The Illustrated Word - a collection of original drawings. I was surprised, blessed, and effusive in my thanks. I was not expecting anything from him. He told me that I showed far more thankfulness than his business associates showed him for gifts that were four or five times more expensive. Some people seem to believe that ‘gifts’ are their ‘right’ by association. Not me. I’ve learned that the givers of gifts and recognitions are more than a little fickle. Once I put forth the effort to divorce myself from needing either, I could become excited, thankful, and supremely blessed with each gift and every word of praise.

I must admit, however, that praise means far more than things, and recognition buoys me for days, and sometimes for years.

Thanks to everyone who sent me a card or gift. One online friend sent something with no return address, so I was not able to send anything back! :’( That saddened me, but I asked God to bless her on my behalf.

When the year turns, many people set goals or see the new year as a fresh start. I do it, too, but do not feel tied to an exact day. Today, I started a diet, and today, I shall be meeting a possible new customer for Herbalife.

My goals for 2012 include:

• gain 25 regular customers this year
• reach my goal weight
• walk without pain
• pursue regular strength training
• start high school for the younger

Be at peace. The world can’t give it to you, so you have to find it for yourself.

111222 Homemade Salve

Well, it worked well enough that I slept all night, got up early, and cleaned house today. I reapplied it this morning, and need some now, too. Looks like three times a day will take care of the pain from normal activity. It works better than Tiger Balm. Agent Em complains about it, but Moon thinks it smells good.

In my palm, I put two drops of Peppermint Oil, two drops of Lavender Oil and rubbed it all over the top and sides of my knee. The pain is greatest where the ligaments are. Then, I sealed the oils in place with about a tablespoon of  Vick's Vapor rub, which had the other two recommended ingredients: Menthol and Eucalyptus.

I use my new found pain relief to exercise the muscles around the knee. On a hard chair or bench where my legs can swing freely, I simply lift my leg at the knee slowly in three sets as if I were weight training, but without weights. It seems wimpy, but this knee is so damaged that wimp is the best I can do. For aerobics and 'real' weight training, I need to stick with upper body work. ;) Moon bought me a membership to Planet Fitness. After the holidays, I'll see a trainer there.

111221 Knee Treatment

I was looking online for information about my reoccurring knee problems. I've seen three doctors in the last five years who all agree that expensive treatment is necessary. Even when I had insurance, I resisted spending that much money. Money does not solve everything. Today, I ran across a commercial site that sold a "wonder drug". I looked at the ingredients. It was all natural, and consisted of peppermint oil, lavender oil, menthol, and eucalyptus.

O.O

I have all those things here at home! Yes!

I concocted my own topical salve that provides significant relief, smells good, and is supposed to speed healing. I'm not kidding about the pain relief! I just applied it, and it feels great! I don't know how long this is to last, so I'll continue to use the cane and be careful on the stairs. If the pain relief lasts for hours, this means I'll be getting regular sleep again! Hooray!

111212 I Live!

I hope that yesterday was the worst. Last night, I had one of the girls put the humidifier next to my bed while I dosed myself with Nyquil. Apparently, Dayquil doesn't work on me. I don't remember anything after Nyquil took effect. Twelve hours later, I woke. The faucet in my nose seems to be in the "off" position, but my throat feels swollen. :( It has been a long, long time since I had a cold.

I want to whine some more! My head feels like my skull is too small, and my brains are threatening to force their way out by way of my ears. Waaa! Waaa! Waaa! Cry! Cry! Cry!

Ok. I'm done. Now I can be a nice person again. :)

111211 Sick

Sick. I feel like I am going to die, but then again, I'm afraid that I won't! Colds suck the big one. If it is a real cold, I'll be well by Tuesday. Flu lasts for weeks. Moon got over her version of warmed over death in two and a half days. I'll just stay home from work tomorrow. Tuesday is the important day for after school care. Tuesday and Thursday... Agent will have to go in my place.

An elephant inhabits my sinus cavities... Wish I could shoot the dang thing and yank it out of there.

111209 One Hundred Reasons

An elementary student transferred from the after school care where I work to the daycare where a much younger sibling is. In many ways, that saddened me, but it is also a happy thing for siblings to stay together. It reminded me of something in our own past.


Moon started her educational career in Head Start, because her sister, Agent, had been born prematurely two months before school started. The new baby needed extra attention. I was not able to spend much time attending to the four-year-old. Head Start was a good fit, because a bus came to the door for her, kept her half a day, fed her, then delivered her home for me. She loved it.


By first grade, she started to complain about school. This particular story, however, concerns the bond between siblings. Not all siblings love each other with the same affection, but they are joined none the less.


By second grade, we had a routine. Three year old Agent rode in the stroller as we walked seven year old Moon the two blocks to school. The trip to school was generally jovial. Then, we would drop Moon at the door to her class. She would grab my hand and want me to enter with her. She would plead and pull or simply look sad. Then Agent would start to cry and try to get out of her stroller. They did not want to be separated. After much fuss, Agent and I would leave, with Agent crying all the way home. This happened almost every day!


After a couple of months of this, I asked Moon to walk herself to school to avoid the public scene. Many days, she came home crying, and one day in March she asked, “Mommy, can I be homeschooled?”


I had met my first homeschooler and her teen daughter on a bus in 1986. We almost became roommates. Between 1991 and 1998, I became close friends with another family that homeschooled their five children, so I was not unfamiliar with the concept. We talked with our minister. We talked with her teacher, a wonderful woman who told us positive things about homeschooling. She told us how to withdraw Moon from school with a minimum of fuss. She warned us to avoid talking to the Administration about our plans, and to contact the Texas Homeschool Coalition instead. We kept Moon in classes until the end of the year, but simply did not register her for third grade. We never had a speck of trouble about shifting to homeschool.


The siblings were delighted to be near each other. 


When Moon started college this year, the chief complaint thirteen year old Agent has given has been: “She’s never around anymore!” Siblings. :)

111205 Monday

I broke down and set an appointment with a chiropractor. My knee feels like it is slipping and sliding in and out of socket, and the sudden pains are bad enough to make me shriek with every misstep. I need to know what kind of brace or bandage to put on it. What I have been doing is not right. Over-the-counter products are either too tight or ineffective. Lavender and peppermint make it feel good, until it pops out again.

Pain is a signal that something is wrong. I can deal with pain. Last year proved that, when the ER nurse asked how I could handle what the numbers said I must have been feeling. Raymond used to chide me for being a wimp whenever I mentioned pain, but now I know that pain means I need to do something. I told the chiropractic nurse that I would pay for an x-ray.

Next, I want to see a homeopath. Maybe, I should simply treat myself. I know some things and can study more treatments for myself. The doctor I contacted did not answer last week’s e-mail nor today’s phone call. Not a good beginning. Trust is a major factor in naturopathic medicine. Then again, the chiropractor may be enough. Once I get the knee fixed, the rest may fall into place.

111202

Grr. LJ shut down unexpectedly while I was in the middle of something. Obviously, all that work will not be posted here, because I cannot access it. Maybe next week, I have things to do today, tomorrow, and the next!