HEAD(hed), (n.) 1. the top part of the human body or the front part of an animal where the eyes, nose, east and mouth are. "Your brain is in your head." DIBS(dibz), (n.) 2. a thick, sweet syrup made in countries of the East, especially the Middle East, from grape juice or dates. [Arabic "debs"]--World Book Dictionary, 1976.
It's been such an exciting start to 2020 that I'm looking forward to a re-start in February.
On Christmas Day, I came down with a cold.
On Christmas Day, as our kids and grandkids were leaving at 9:00 p.m., our hallway toilet decided to get into the giving spirit. Spent Christmas night cleaning up the mess.
Day after Christmas, I (with a cold) had to drive across town (40 minutes, one-way), rent a machine, drive back home, ream the plumbing (three times, for good luck), drive the machine back across town, drive back home, reset the toilet, got cleaned up, had dinner, crashed.
Rested all-day December 27. Whew!
December 30, put car in the shop due to 3 recalls. Toyota paid for it. Such a good car. Been lots-o-miles in it. Found out still needs some repair work. Won't be able to do those repairs for a while, so driving with prayers tossed and fingers crossed.
January 1, 2020. Toilet got into the festive mood again and this time, disabled the kitchen. Out of funds for a bit, so we're washing in tubs.
January 5-6 neighbors decided they wanted to throw a big, loud drug-fueled party. Richland County Sheriff was not happy about not being invited, so they showed up anyway. The partiers did not share. After the Deputies left, the partiers tried to have a nice bonfire in the back yard with their stash, which brought Sheriff back again, only this time the deputies paraded up and down the street for an hour, flooding the house with searchlights and blue flashing lights. No arrests were made, but the show was fantastic. All. night. long. Now it's quite over there . . . strange.
So, as I'm still getting over a cold, preparing for a new semester with half the house not working and the car is . . . well, making it . . . I am starting my third year reading this book (which anyone might get for a very low price on Amazon--and probably should).
The theme for January is "Clarity." And I appreciate that. I receive that. Just so happens that one of my favorite groups has a piece pertaining thereunto.
I didn't get any revision done on my dissertation chapter and my next course starts next week. If nothing prevents me, I'll be posting more soon.
One probably wonders what I’m working on. As an Independent Scholar, as I am not attached to a University, I am writing a commentary on the first book of a personal journal written by a 2nd Century Roman Emperor. In that book he lists 16 names and describes what each person contributed to his life. That’s the short version. I’ve covered the first 8 so far and hit a wall. Now I’ve gone back and am editing Chapters 1-3 to keep my mojo going. Not sure when I’ll be done but hopefully by years’ end. I already have another project lined up.
I'm nearly finished reading Joan Didion's collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem. The book was discovered through another book I was reading, Jon Krakauer's Eiger Dreams . If Jon felt this book was good enough to pack along on a mountain climbing expedition, then I'm interested. Took me three tries, but I finally found my copy on Amazon. One of the best book buys I've made. Joan selected the title of this book from William Butler Yeats' classic poem, Second Coming . The book title is shared with one of her larger essays, a record of encounters with people in the 1960's drug culture. Didion's book is divided into three distinct parts: "Life Styles In The Golden Land," a collection of articles capturing the California experience of the 1960's; "Personals," a few of essays of the first-hand nature; and "Seven Places Of The Mind", some thoughts about those parts of California that are now long gone. One essay...