Author Topic: The Library (Read 2083371 times)

marjifay · « **Reply #15480 on:** July 05, 2015, 09:15:37 PM »

The Library

Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is always out.
Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

*Suggestion Box for Future Discussions
*SeniorLearn's Archives

I'm so glad July 4th is over and done with! Some of our idiot neighbors set off some terribly loud (and illegal) fireworks until around 1 am. They must have bought the illegal ones from Mexico. We thoroughly hosed down our house's roof and our front and backyards, afraid that they might be set afire. I am so mad at our city council people. We are about the only city in our county that still allows people to set off their own fireworks. I wrote them a letter, and they said they had allowed people to vote on whether to still have them, and (of course) the nincompoops (my word, not theirs) in this town wanted them. If I were younger, I'd walk around this town with a petition to get rid of them; there must be others who hate them as much as I do.

Marj

jane · « **Reply #15481 on:** July 05, 2015, 09:15:38 PM »

Jonathan...in your Profile, you can adjust the time to fit your time zone. I'm in the Central USA time zone, so I needed to put a 2 in the time zone box.

PROFILE/Look and Layout. There is a box for Time Offset and you can click on Auto Detect to find the number you need for your local time.

jane · « **Reply #15482 on:** July 05, 2015, 09:16:31 PM »

So we can let the Library get back to talking about books and reading, we've opened a discussion for issues dealing with this upgrade and this website.

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=200.0

MaryPage · « **Reply #15483 on:** July 06, 2015, 08:01:59 AM »

I set my book down yesterday and watched the game, yelling GO U.S.A.! all the way. Such fun! Such excitement! Such excellent soccer. You could tell all the way through that their training and practice made them know just EXACTLY what they were doing and how to anticipate and be where they needed to be at the right time. Nothing at all hap hazard about THEIR game; either our women or the Japanese. Members of my family kept phoning in a state of great enjoyment.

Steph · « **Reply #15484 on:** July 06, 2015, 08:38:30 AM »

The control and scroll bar makes the print larger, but not darker andGinnys green is now impossible for me to decipher..

ginny · « **Reply #15485 on:** July 06, 2015, 10:59:47 AM »

Thank you Jane!

Jonathan, I've been thinking about your remark about The Emperor's Club and Mr. Hundert ever since I saw it. Wasn't that a wonderful scene? I'm rereading The Palace Thief today but I don't think it's in it.

If it's NOT in it, it says something about how the movie sees Mr. Hundert. I had missed what it's saying. How clever of you to bring it up.

This posting box will continue as long as you do. Just hit Return or Enter on your keyboard as you near the bottom of the posting box, and watch it expand. How lovely it is to find somebody who actually follows directions like you staying within what you see as the posting parameters. Go for it, we don't want to miss what you're thinking!

Sorry you're having a problem reading the green print, Steph. We're asking folks to report all problems here: http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=200.0. This way we can keep track of any issues in one place.

Hooray, Back to Books!

ginny · « **Reply #15486 on:** July 06, 2015, 11:47:07 AM »

Books!!

Ella, how good to see you here, what a beautiful place you are living in. Great job starting a book club, you should be very good at that.

I am tremendously enjoying the summer and reading, being able to just sink into a book, and read and read and read, whatever I want. What a luxury! Whatever book interests me at the moment. Of course I'm reading and excited to discuss starting tomorrow The Palace Thief, and I finished the Mantel Bring up the Bodies and am almost though with Wolf Hall, which is not, to me, as well written nor as engrossing as Bring Up The Bodies. I think she hit her stride with her last one, and hopefully the last of the trilogy when it comes out will be as good as Bring Up The Bodies.

I am also almost through Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, which is not for the faint hearted, a non fiction account by a mortician about funeral practices, and a lot of other things connected with death. I see it's important to go on a diet. hahaha It's quite graphic so it's not for everybody, but it is interesting. Today either on the CNN app or the BBC app (I forget which) they coincidentally have a look at some of the sculptures in the old cemeteries of Paris, and what they depicted.

I'm also reading Day Four on kindle because I deliberately did not want to have a hard copy to keep. It was highly recommended in one of the articles I read. Real escapism. I couldn't say the genre---- it reminds me of The Shining except here we're on a cruise ship with a predator loose. The ship has lost power in the water and people are getting the norovirus. In their delirium they report seeing a ghost here or one there. Are they delirious or are there ghosts? Lots of the F word. But the thing is really well written. I don't read a lot of horror or sci fi so I don't know how to judge it, and I'm half way thru it and so far it's very suspenseful and has actually scared me to death. Really. You can't read it at night. hahahaa If she would loosen some of that power without ghosts she would be a force to reckon with in fiction.

Next up I have The Little Paris Bookshop, The Sunken Cathedral, and The Rocks sitting here waiting.

I'm sure your taste is better than mine, what are you all reading?

marjifay · « **Reply #15487 on:** July 06, 2015, 03:06:40 PM »

Ginny, the books you have waiting to be read sound very interesting, especially THE ROCKS which I have put on hold at my library.

I already posted about my current read in the Fiction section, but it is Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety which I'm finding very interesting, a novel about the French Revolution. She starts out writing about the childhoods of Robespierre and two of his revolutionary acquaintenances. Since so little is known of their earliy lives, she has IMO done a great job of writing about them based on what is known of their later lives. I love the wry humor she injects in their stories. Now I want to read a nonfiction book about the French Revolution, about which I don't know very much.

I have a nonfiction book I want to read, THE NEWS; A USER'S MANUAL by Alain De Botton. Amazon review says "We are never really taught how to make sense of the torrent of news we face every day, writes Alain de Botton (author of the best-selling The Architecture of Happiness), but this has a huge impact on our sense of what matters and of how we should lead our lives. In his dazzling new book, de Botton takes twenty-five archetypal news stories—including an airplane crash, a murder, a celebrity interview and a political scandal—and submits them to unusually intense analysis with a view to helping us navigate our news-soaked age. He raises such questions as Why are disaster stories often so uplifting? What makes the love lives of celebrities so interesting? Why do we enjoy watching politicians being brought down? Why are upheavals in far-off lands often so boring?

Am also planning to read A DOOR INTO SUMMER (Science Fiction) by Robert A. Heinlein. I don't read much science fiction, but this looked good.

Marj

ginny · « **Reply #15488 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:00:33 AM »

Oh all three of those look good, Marj, thank you for bringing them here. I think the press has a lot to answer for in many areas. And I also wonder what it IS about some "celebrities" which causes so much interest, the Kardashians, for starters. To me they all need serious therapy.

I saw yesterday where the Kim Kardashian person said that taking selfies gives her strength. That poor girl. I hope that she can maintain whatever it is she needs into old age, I fear for her when the mirror no longer shows her what she wants to see. A modern fairy tale.

I just read an editorial about the press/ news doing the terrorists work for them by their dire warnings over the 4th, people cancelling plans, etc. It was very provocative. Either on CNN or BBC, I don't know which.

So many interesting things to read, and talk about, so little time!

Steph · « **Reply #15489 on:** July 07, 2015, 10:21:32 AM »

I honestly think that the news media in the fourth of July mess were inbetween the rock and the hard place. Either way, attack or not, they would not win.

MaryPage · « **Reply #15490 on:** July 07, 2015, 05:33:02 PM »

That's what I think, Steph. And no matter which way anyone chooses to go these days, you can be sure they will be roasted loudly by SOMEone for going that way!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15491 on:** July 07, 2015, 06:27:13 PM »

Frankly I am so tired of spreading fear through the media it is all reminding me of the nursery story about Chicken Little -

I am shocked and amazed at the various stories we never saw about the coming together of average folks on 9/11 like the thousands of small boats and tug boats that answered a call by the coast guard to evacuate thousands and thousands from lower Manhattan who were trapped between the towers falling and the water front and the many who chose to escape in that direction instead of going north - I've seen the video that was never shown on TV but is now on Facebook - it is stirring and reminds you of how we really are as a people.

But then we never hear about the bravery of those on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania - all we hear of is the fear of who is going to plot or how we must protect and watch anyone strange, constantly look over your shoulder - never how innately we are a courageous people who will face danger -

The Boston bombing is a story all about the injuries and deaths suffered with no attention given to the many individuals who helped and assisted, who they are and what they did. Bravery in not lorded - no more stores of a Molly Pitcher type heroine.

Steph · « **Reply #15492 on:** July 08, 2015, 08:35:19 AM »

Go for the bang is the news outlets big motto. I discount so much of what I see..But there are just as many silly not quite accurate items on patriotism in peculiar forms.

ginny · « **Reply #15493 on:** July 08, 2015, 10:02:24 AM »

There also seems to be quite a bit of difference in the fear coverage of Isis in the press overseas, they don't seem to be bombarded daily with fear coverage, at least in the three countries I was in a couple of weeks ago. It was quite refreshing. And we do have this thing about having to examine every last bit of the perp's life and habits.

For every sentence done about the perp, his background, his family, his school friends, what "caused" him to be this way we should be also be required to all read or view what happened to him. How he is faring in jail, or on death row, or suffering or suffered from his injuries of the capture, how he ended up: the indignities he's had to suffer at the hands of his fellow jail mates, his miserable life from now on. There's no deterrent to those seeking the spotlight in our modern press who are so desperate for news they would breathlessly cover the carpet on his floor. Let's stop making media figures of these monsters.

And that's my rant for today.

We can all choose not to read it or watch it.

ginny · « **Reply #15494 on:** July 08, 2015, 10:07:24 AM »

Speaking of books, I did finish Day Four and it was excellent. That is going to be a movie, or I will be very surprised. It's well written and very clever, I still don't know the genre: supernatural, horror, but with a good dose of very good realistic writing. I almost feel I have been on a cruise without power with the norovirus. Very clever book. Similar to The Shining in many respects, that type of book.

The author's bio says she lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and has a taste for the "macabre." That she has. Nice escapism.

bookad · « **Reply #15495 on:** July 08, 2015, 09:55:25 PM »

hello there
just popped into the story of civilization site and realize you had ended this.....it was truly a wonderful endeavor and I wanted to thank you for the excitement you gave me when I first noticed the group beginning in about 2004 I can remember borrowing the first book from the library with an extended time on it as we were heading to Florida for a month....what a book...to think Will Durant had such a project and excitement to follow...what a life they must have had....I remember sitting at the little desk in our 5th wheel reading away and the idea was ...can not remember how many pages a day ...was it 30 and to finish the group of books in about 6 years...well Robbie & Trevor and everyone else wish I could have continued for the ride but along the way lost site of where the group was and fell back ...Greece was hard to pursue (maybe if I had university literature behind me; but by myself it was hard to keep track and as I say could not find the group..though I understand from later comments it must have been disbanded for a time and regrouped & I came across it but you were very ahead of my reading and I never quite caught up)_ but I want to say that it was very inspiring and my reading took quite different directions I might otherwise have pursued. Finding online sites like penguin books that publish in many countries and their bestseller lists gives me help in determining books that are relevant to other parts of the world to gain different perspectives and influences....if I could figure out google maps I would place the books in their locations, as I love reading books from other countries....0
...my main point though is to thank you guys for all your endeavour into this project and your encouragement when I was just testing the waters putting my 2 cents worth into the discussion....
I am posting this to the library discussion as it looks like the civilization discussion has closed.

thanking Trevor 3 kings
JoanK
Mabel 1015
Ginny
those who posted on the last page of the civilization discussion.......
and those whose paths I crossed thru the times online
thank you as well ...
bookad

ginny · « **Reply #15496 on:** July 09, 2015, 07:33:00 AM »

Bookad, how nice to see you again and what a lovely post. Would you mind if we moved it after a while to the permanent archive of The Story of Civilization so it rests there?

Thank you for doing such a nice tribute to that discussion and those participating in it!

It's good to see you again!

Steph · « **Reply #15497 on:** July 09, 2015, 08:34:50 AM »

Ginny, I have always been interested as I travel how different coverage is all over the world. It is also full of misinformation about the U.S. overseas, so I would suspect our news is full of misinformation as well on other countries. Things that are vital to us, are not interesting to overseas and vice versa. We all have different monsters, it seems.

marjifay · « **Reply #15498 on:** July 09, 2015, 11:52:45 AM »

I'm afraid I don't know anything about Kim Kardashian, and don't think I care to learn anything about her.

As to the craze today to know about celebrities, I'm pretty much bored by them. But I have to admit that as a young girl I devoured movie magazines and sent for photos of my favorite stars which when they arrived, I'm sure were autographed by their secretaries. But that never occurred to me then.

Marj

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15499 on:** July 09, 2015, 12:13:06 PM »

Some of you may be interested in a project I'm facilitating today at our library. I came across a book titled Elderwriters: Celebrate Your Life! By Sue Borocas. She's a retired high school math teacher who started this idea at the library in Rochester, NY. The sub-title is "A guide for creating your own personal legacy document." I prefer to use the word "project" rather then "document". Document sounds like you're writing a memoir, which this isn't.

The point is to gather a collection of original and/or otherwise authored writings (opinions, sayings, poems, etc) and objects that reflect your thoughts and feelings about what life has meant to you. It is a gift to give your family, friends, future generations and yourself. The first exercise is to list 20-25 of your favorite things.

Of course, for me, the fun part will be the discussion of the ideas that people write about.

I mentioned this here before, but today is the first day of the group meeting.

Jean

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #15500 on:** July 09, 2015, 12:19:26 PM »

Would you post some of the other Exercises here, Mabelj? That would be a
marvelous thing for some of us to do, or attempt to do. I mean individually, not here on the boards.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15501 on:** July 09, 2015, 12:22:48 PM »

Of course, ........later today.

Jean

Steph · « **Reply #15502 on:** July 10, 2015, 08:35:28 AM »

I think it would be fun here as well. Sounds like a make me think sort of project and I always need new ones.

marjifay · « **Reply #15503 on:** July 10, 2015, 04:01:42 PM »

My ideas about life:
Life is to be lived
Friends and family are to be treasured. Treat your family as you do your friends.
Try not to stay angry for more than an hour or so.
Brush after each meal and floss daily.

Marj

bookad · « **Reply #15504 on:** July 10, 2015, 05:58:19 PM »

ginny

I would be pleased to have my note to go with the civilization site-thank you

Deb

Steph · « **Reply #15505 on:** July 11, 2015, 08:23:06 AM »

hmm favorite things... well the first would be reading...each and every day, finding new worlds and new ideas.
next w ould be the joy of friends, some in person, but some on senior learn.. isn't it amazing how close we all feel and have never met face to face??

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15506 on:** July 11, 2015, 01:12:00 PM »

Marjifay and Steph- those are good little vingettes to put in your "personal legacy box". A favorite's list is just a way to get you thinking about who you are. Can you come up with 20-25? Just write a word or two about each, you can flush them our later as a poem or short piece, but just the list says quickly and briefly who you are.

Another exercise is to finish the sentences:
The sight of..................soothe my senses
The sound of.................soothe my senses
The feel of ...................soothe my senses
The taste of..................soothe my senses
The thought of..............soothe my senses

You can fill in with a few phrases if you wish. I.e., The sound of the ocean waves, a soulful sax, the birds in the yard, soothe my senses.

Are there favorite sayings, songs, quotations, prayers that have had special meaning for you over the years? Marjifay has given one example of that.

Are there family documents you would like to include in your writings or collection?

Any writings are to be short pieces, this is not a memoir, unless you later want to use some pieces to do one.

You can do short pieces about basic themes, i. e. Aging, grief/lose, friendships, joy/humor, lessons learned, professional life, marriage, leisure, values and beliefs.

Or on special topics, i.e, awards, gardening, environment, gay/Black/women's rights, travels, heroes, siblings, hobbies, reading/writing, technology, pets, holidays, illness, money, tv/movies, vacations, community service, yoga/meditation, poetry, grandparents, an epiphany, or anything else you held dear or spent a lot of time on, or thoughts that indicate "who you are."

This is an introspective project. It's YOURS, make it whatever you want it to be. Short pieces are suggested because they are easy for you to do and they will be easy and interesting for your family to read, or whomever you wish to share them with.

Have at it, and have fun! I'll add more as we go.
Jean

Steph · « **Reply #15507 on:** July 12, 2015, 07:32:25 AM »

I keep a journal, always have,but that is quite different, since it is not for public consumption, not even my children. After Tim died for almost two years, it was simply a huge wail of grief and fear and loss, but now it seems to be at least mostly upl

MaryPage · « **Reply #15508 on:** July 12, 2015, 08:28:23 AM »

The sight of trees soothes my senses
The sound of harp music soothes my senses
The feel of a good facial soothes my senses
The taste of ice cream soothes my senses
The thought of my beloved husband soothes my senses

I kept a journal for about thirty years, give or take. It was not, nor was it meant to be, a literary effort. The purpose was to keep track of things for the sake only of my own record keeping. I used those yearly calendar books you can buy in Barnes & Noble (where mine came from) and such places. A page to a week, with about an inch to a day. I bought the ones with themes and pictures; often a Monet. Wrote in it just before settling in bed for the night. September 8, 2003:
went to lab to have blood drawn
went to work
walked in park
talked to Melissa
Chip called
Kathryn is 19 today
And that filled up the lines for the day. I have them on one of my bookshelves. I quit some years ago, and don't really remember why; I just quit. Have read through a lot of the earlier ones and tossed them, figuring posterity can do without. Will finish the job one day, or at least that is my earnest intention.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15509 on:** July 12, 2015, 11:51:20 AM »

Yes, journals are the place to ramble, rant and ruminate. That is not what a Personal Legacy Project is about. A PLP is not for publication, although it could motivate one to expand on it at a later date, but for you to tell your family and friends about you and, maybe, privide a little family history. It's a "celebration of your life" in the words of the author of the book, Sue Boracas.

A PLP is made up of short pieces, easy for you to write, easy for your family to read.

Jean

ginny · « **Reply #15510 on:** July 12, 2015, 12:04:39 PM »

So glad to hear of your positive experience in the new book club, Stef!

There's an hilarious take on this type of thing in the July 6 and 13 New Yorker. I was hoping they had put it online but they haven't.

It's called Let's Be Less Stupid and Old , which of course attracted me. hahahaha

You have two minutes to answer 8 questions and you are to set a timer or "start counting." I should have known right there, but I'm slow on the uptake.

Question 1:

What's the word for the stuff you sprinkle on your food but it's not pepper? No, not salt, but like salt but supposedly better for you because it doesn't have salt in it.

That's question number 1.

Question #2:

What's that thing that you put in the thing? The thing you take pictures with. That thing. What's the thing you put inside that?

At that point I realized it was a joke but unfortunately I could not understand question 1, I was in "test mode," get them done and get them done fast, the timer was ticking, hahahaha and so found #1 incomprehensible, got stuck on monosodium glutimate which is hardly healthy and started to realize what was up.

DOH!

Steph · « **Reply #15511 on:** July 13, 2015, 08:38:51 AM »

Oh Ginny, that is a truly funny thing. I would have fallen for it for sure.
Had a frustrating weekend. Bought a new stove last week. They said that Saturday was a good delivery day around 2-4.. and I agreed.. At 4:30 on Saturday, I called the store since the stove had not appeared. I got a truly hateful female, who said that I was mistaken and that no times were ever given, that the delivery people had 20 deliveries for Saturday and that who knew where I was on the list and by the way, they delivered until 10pm.. Then at 6pm, the delivery people called and said they would be there in an hour.. at 9:30pm, I called again and got the same female ( sigh), I said that I lived in a small neighborhood, no street lights, narrow winding roads and that it would not be safe to deliver and she basically said,,, she could care less. I went to be at 10:30pm, steaming.. Then on Sunday morning, I got another call from a delivery person, no apology, just sthey would be delivering my stove in early afternoon and to call a number and confirm. I tried calling the number and got an automated message, that their voice mail was full and taking no further calls.. Sigh.. I called the store once again and hurray, got an gentleman, who apologized for the wrong number to call, then, they called me yet again and told me things were running slow and they would not deliver until after 2pm.. I allowed as to how I would be there and by the way, I intended to never buy anything from the store that needed to be delivered ever again ( and I truly mean that). They came 2:45.. took out old stove, replaced with new stove and said,, well the second truck broke down on Saturday.. I quietly(truly) said that all they had to do is call me on Saturday and put off the delivery. I had not picked the day and time, The store person did.. They did not want to hear that.. Sigh.. So a wasted weekend.

maryz · « **Reply #15512 on:** July 13, 2015, 12:19:52 PM »

Steph, sounds like it's time consumer affairs of the main office (if it's a Nat'l store) or the owner (if it's a local store). They need to know what their employees are doing. Grrrrr I have no patience with lousy customer "service".

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #15513 on:** July 13, 2015, 01:43:53 PM »

Steph my experiences taught me complaining on the phone does not change anything nor do the folks involved get the message - the only thing that works is to write a letter to the CEO or owner of the company/store - and then there is a letter in return apologizing also some coupons for free or reduction % for my use which you know that got the attention of someone who makes an adjustment in the service provided by the work force. For some egregious mismanagement I share how I will affect the reputation of the establishment with a word to the Real Estate community or the Neighborhood association or any number of groups that have a large membership.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #15514 on:** July 13, 2015, 02:04:14 PM »

I know that some of you have Netflix. I don't, but my best friend is allowing me to be included in her account so i can watch Grace and Frankie! It is GREAT! Grace and Frankie are portrayed by Jane Fonda and Lillie Tomlin and their husbands are Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston. Each fits the role perfectly. The writing, especially the dialogue, is very good. They are openly 70s,

and open about just about everything else in a funny way. Jane is, of course, the more uptight one and Lillie is the old hippy. The husbands follow suit. I won't say any more about the story, i don't want to spoil it for you.

I spent last evening watching and laughing through 3 episodes. It's wonderful to have it in reserve for when there's nothing else i want to see on tv.

Jean

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #15515 on:** July 13, 2015, 04:27:03 PM »

Will Put it in my Queue immediately. Thanks, Jean

Frybabe · « **Reply #15516 on:** July 14, 2015, 05:51:29 AM »

Barb, you are sooooo right. I have, in the past, resorted to writing to the CEO of a company about not receiving a product and then getting a run around by customer service. My product arrived with an apology from the CEO shortly thereafter. Thank goodness, I've only had to do that once in my life.

My main compliant nowadays is that some businesses (more lately) make it very difficult to even talk to a live CSR. I have used those online reps (don't like it much) and sent emails. So far, both seem to work okay, but just okay. Occasionally, I get an answer back that is in no way helpful, indicating that the CSR is not knowledgeable or is to lazy (or not instructed to) go beyond a very general pre-prepared answer that does not fit the situation at all. Most of the time, my contacts with CSRs via the phone have been good.

Steph · « **Reply #15517 on:** July 14, 2015, 07:46:59 AM »

The store of course was Lowes and I have written and mailed a letter to the CEO already.. But I have already discovered that the main problem is that the local Lowes ( and possibly all of the) farm out deliveries and that is the problem..
I also have a fitness bracelet that I have only had3 months and it now refuses to charge up.. I have contacted the company on line. The problem seems to be followthrough.. They keep emailing with information that they will replace and then send me a part, which does not work either. Sigh..

maryz · « **Reply #15518 on:** July 14, 2015, 07:59:20 AM »

Sorry to hear that about Lowe's. We've always had the best service and store help from them - it's our big-box-hardware store of choice. Hmmmmm

LarryHanna · « **Reply #15519 on:** July 14, 2015, 08:50:55 AM »

I have found that where available, using the chat feature for a company saves a lot of time and the results have been good. I hate being put on hold on the phone. The chat also allows me to save a copy of the conversation for future reference. We have had good luck with Lowe's and have gotten several appliances from them. However, our last purchases were from Home Depot.

News:

Author Topic: The Library (Read 2083371 times)