The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 17,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals
Today is my husband’s birthday. In honor of this momentous occasion, we attended the “Big Texas Train Show” yesterday. My husband loves trains (and planes and ships), having worked on the Soo Line Railroad in his much younger years. There are times that he regrets having left the railroad, as he will tell you that he enjoyed his work there very much.
As we were wandering through the show, looking at all the railroad memorabilia and the various displays of model trains, we came across a vendor who was selling ball caps. There, sitting among the other ball caps, I found one for the Soo Line. When I picked it up to show him, his face completely changed. I have not seen him smile that big in a very long time.
Now, in that moment, I knew exactly what I had to do. I began thanking God for “saving my bacon.” You see, I was totally unprepared for my husband’s birthday. I had planned a special meal, but had not yet purchased his gift. This was within my rather limited budget, so I told him grandly: “I will buy it for your birthday present.” A little further down the way, we came across a vendor selling coffee cups and, you guessed it, there was a Soo Line coffee mug. You know what I did; made the same offer.
Wearing his new ball cap and carrying his new coffee mug, I have never seen a bigger smile on his face nor more twinkle in his eye. He was inordinately pleased with these two rather simple and inexpensive items. There are few events in life more satisfying than giving a gift to someone and knowing that it has given them pure joy.
So, to my husband, I wish birthday felicitations with profound gratitude for your love and care these past thirty-three years. It is an honor to walk through life with you.
Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved
I would like to thank Angus Lewis of “From A Far Country“ for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award. I was stunned to see my blog listed on his latest post. Now, I would like to say that I had heard of this rather distinguished award prior to Angus’ latest post, however, that would be a fib. So, if I understand how this is supposed to work, I need to fulfill the following requirements:
The Rules of the Versatile Blogger Award
1. Thank the person(s) who shared the award with you by linking back to them in your post.
See above.
2. Pass this award to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know that you included them in your blog post.
Random order, with a description of each blog in their own words:
A Voice In the Wilderness; “a blog dedicated to exhorting and encouraging the body of Christ.”
The Warden’s Walk; “a young Christian American reader writer dreamer wanderer walker flier listener talker scholar adventurer musician-on-a-mission romantic critic religious idealist optipessimist man.” He “explores the craft of writing; its joys, difficulties, and purpose,; explores the Joy and Meaning of Fantasy” (fiction and poetry).
Kindling For Candles; “writing on the Christian life, and sharing thoughts about helping and ministering to others. I also wanted to include encouragement for women in the context of the issues and affliction that can embroil us.” Written in a Bible study type format.
Reform RGV; “to bring the spirit of reformation and reconstruction first to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, then to the world. Our vision is a picture of individuals, families, churches, and social organizations committed to living according to a biblical world view.”
Real Christianity; “is a simple effort at attempting to right our course. American believers must return to the bright, shining prototype of the first century (church). The Lord’s community was a powerful, united, and loving force back then. It can be that way again.”
In Hot Pursuit Of God; “After many many years of searching, I finally found Jesus. Everything has changed. With that comes the realization that I haven’t really been living all of this time.” As a relatively new Christian, this is ”one newbie’s search for grace.”
Not Happenin’ On My Watch; “blogs from a Christian worldview. As her interests are many, issues relating to life, relationships, Biblical views & interpretation, education.”
Dad Talk; “views from the heart of a Christian father.”
Scottish Country House; “My husband and I own Balkissock Lodge, a Scottish Country House B&B in South Ayrshire. I Tweet a lot too much, teach, and I’m currently failing miserably to avoid becoming addicted to social media. I hope to amuse you now and again.”
Sfnowak; “This blog is my attempt to start the exchange of ideas in an intelligent manner. It is intended to promote thinking, discussing, satirizing and just having fun.”
Heart To Heart Blog; “Committed to equipping audiences to counter today’s destructive cultural trends.” She blogs on: ”the erosion of the personal moral values rooted in our Judeo-Christian heritage; disintegration of the traditional family; widespread ignorance/apathy about the U.S. Government and its foundational principles.”
The Last Minstrel; “I have seen the strong survive and the weakling go to the wall. I have seen the strongman’s strength fail and the powerless, against all reason, prevail. I have had both feet in the grave, several times, and lived on. I have had the thing that I feared most come full upon me, and leave me with nothing left to fear. I have learned the difference between trash and treasure, and how easily one can pass for the other. I have acquired a fundamental philosophy of life: God is perfect, NOTHING ELSE IS.”
Connecting The Dots With Robert Adams; “Businessman, teacher, singer, composer, musical director, gemologist, man of ministry …a fascinating life journey through the western hemisphere, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Far East… buying diamonds and gold in Africa, plying the trade of the nail and wood (carpenter), teaching school, stage directing, performing on the opera stage, singing with past country greats Minnie Pearl and Tennessee Ernie Ford…owned a jewelry store and a singing telegram business….presently serving as an advocate and musician in ministry to raise support for the downtrodden of India.”
The Daysman; “As a consultant, teacher and journalist, this is what my life is about. As a journalist I try to understand my sources, and to represent them fairly and faithfully to others. As a consultant, I try to understand my clients and help them articulate their mission and goals more clearly. As a writing teacher, my role is to help my students find their voice, and to be good stewards of their gifts in the service of others.”
And last, but certainly not least, the one who started all of this:
From A Far Country; “Profound wisdom and imaginative folly discovered on the way to work.”
3. List 7 things about yourself.
I am a registered nurse who never considered I would be doing this blogging thing. It still amazes me that anyone reads what I write.
I have been married for 33 years and have a 20 year old daughter who is a senior in college and a ballet major.
I have lived all over the country–moved 28 times in 33 years and really enjoyed something about every place that we have lived. We have lived in so many different places that we are now on “re-runs.”
The older I get, the more I am discovering my passion for Jesus Christ and how little I care about much else.
I am extremely shy in social situations where there are large groups, but have no problems talking one-on-one with most people. I am absolutely terrible at, and have little patience for, “small talk.”
I have strong opinions on several subjects. If you know me at all, you won’t have any trouble figuring out what those subjects are.
No woman could be more blessed than I am. I have a husband and a daughter who love me and who have same same passion for serving Jesus Christ as I do.
So, there it is.
Thank you again, Angus. You have honored, blessed, and humbled me by including me on your list.
Oh, and if I have misunderstood how all of this Versatile-Blogger-Award-business works, just ignore all of the above accept the blogs that I’ve mentioned. Each one is worth an extended visit.
Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved
My special thanks to a Facebook friend, Barbara Klaassen, for sharing a shorter version of this poem on her Facebook page. I can’t tell you how many times I have run the Spell Check and found that it hadn’t caught some VERY obvious mistakes. I have included, in the title, a link to an article which gives a bit of background on this very humorous poem.
I hope this makes you laugh as it did me. If you are (or were) an English major, you may want to save yourself some heartburn by passing this up!
Candidate for a Pullet Surprise
by Mark Eckman and Jerrold H. Zar
I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it’s weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two reed,
And aides me when eye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o’er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Bee fore a veiling checker’s
Hour spelling mite decline,
And if we’re lacks oar have a laps,
We wood bee maid too wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know fault’s with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.
Now spelling does knot phase me,
It does knot bring a tier.
My pay purrs awl due glad den
With wrapped word’s fare as hear.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw’s are knot aloud.
Sow ewe can sea why aye dew prays
Such soft wear four pea seas,
And why eye brake in two averse
Buy righting want too pleas.
Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.” Deuteronomy 16:18-19 (NKJV)
A week ago today, I reported to U.S. District court for jury duty. I have received jury summons in the past, but never to a federal court, and I never had to actually show up before. As this was a new experience, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. As juror number 51, I felt that there was a reasonable chance of being chosen for something.
After checking in with the registrar at the desk, I received my packet of information about the day’s proceedings and sat down to wait for entrance into the juror assembly room. There was a lot of waiting that day; this was just the first of it.
At the magic hour of 8 a.m., those of us who had arrived and assembled, filed into a large room with many chairs. I would guess the room probably seated about two hundred, but the roughly thirty of us who were there, spread out all over the room in silence. We proceeded to sit down and then wait some more. At the front of the room was a podium and included on the walls were the required elements to show everyone that this was a federal court. There was a spirit of solemnity in the room; the sense that we were about to do something really important and we should not be jovial about it.
About fifteen minutes after we entered the room, a gentleman walked up to the podium, proceeded to welcome us, and began to explain the paperwork we had received when we checked in. We were told that, whether we were chosen or not, we remained “on call” for a total of six working days and were required each evening, after 6 p.m., to call or check online to find out whether or not we would be needed the next day.
Next, we filled out our “Expense Reimbursement Form.” I knew that jurors received a small stipend, with reimbursement of expenses, so I was expecting this. After filling out all the required forms and handing them in, we were told that we would be watching a short orientation film about jury service. So far, so good. I expected the usual patriotic type of video with many references to how we were serving our country and how we were part of the process of justice. In that, the film was about what I expected. However, there was a strong, but subtle, attitude of condescension that ran through out it. The film included lengthy remarks by two Supreme Court justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
This condescending attitude did not come from Chief Justice Roberts, but rather Sandra Day O’Connor. She said all the right words, of course, but the attitude was decidedly elitist. I should have expected that, but I didn’t. I also expected the video to have high production values, but it didn’t. You would think that with all the money the U.S. government spends every year, a really good quality film for jurors would have been easy to accomplish. And yet, it wasn’t. They lost a powerful opportunity to emotionally enlist everyone in that room using patriotic fervor. Instead of feeling good about service to my country and the process of justice, I felt vaguely disquieted, as if I was somehow being laughed at. I don’t know if others in the room felt the same way. Very few of us said more than a word or two to each other. The whole process was not exactly conducive to social conviviality.
Prior to my arrival that day, I had made the assumption that juries would be chosen for multiple trials. This proved to be incorrect. Of the roughly thirty people who actually reported along with me that day, only twenty were chosen for voir dire. Those twenty appeared to be numbers one through twenty on the juror list. There were no questions, no nothing; they just called the first twenty. One trial, one jury (or to be more precise, one jury plus alternates).
After those twenty were called and given their juror numbers, we were told that all of us had to wait until the selected jurors were called upstairs to court. Then, those remaining would be dismissed as soon as it was determined that the first twenty would be able to serve.
While we were waiting, they did something that actually shocked me: they began handing out our expense reimbursement checks. I never expected that. I had fully expected those checks would be mailed to us after an appropriately inefficient amount of time. The federal government was actually exhibiting efficiency at something that didn’t involve taking money from me.
Obviously, my personal bias is clear here. In general, I have little trust in government bureaucrats. Generally, I have found them to be inefficient and less than helpful, with a penchant for enjoying the power they wield over those of us not included in their exalted ranks. Frustration has been more the rule than the exception in my past experiences with government employees.
After the chosen jurors were called upstairs, the rest of us sat around and waited some more until we were told that we were dismissed for the day (with renewed instructions that we were required to call or check each evening about the following day).
All in all, the entire experience was vaguely disappointing. I have no idea which trial those jurors were selected for, and I will never know. I am glad, however, that I only lost one working day to the process and am not going to have to decide someone’s fate based on a legal system that currently has, what I believe to be, some serious flaws.
Statistically speaking, at some future point in time, I will likely be called to jury duty again, and that time I may well be chosen. I imagine I will be just as conflicted about serving then as I was this time. One thing I do know for certain, while our civil justice system has its flaws, God’s system of justice does not. We may be able to manipulate and pervert the judicial system here, but there is no way to escape God’s justice system. His love, mercy, and grace are sure; so is His justice.
“For I proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NKJV)
Original Content: Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved
For some reason, I am going to do something today that I have never done before: write a post that is totally unrelated to the general theme of my blog, and post twice in one day. I have had multiple conversations in the past with my daughter about Facebook, and more specifically about Facebook etiquette. My daughter signed me up for Facebook almost three years ago when she went to college as a way for me to keep up with what she was doing there. For probably a good two years, I never did anything more with it than look at my ”news feed” to see what she was up to. She had to explain to me the difference between the “news feed” and my “wall” because I just wasn’t getting the difference. I rarely posted anything myself and occasionally clicked a “like” button or two. Then a little more than a year ago, I lost a bit of my reserve/fear and began to tentatively do a bit more.
It wasn’t long until my daughter had to have “talk” with me about the fact that I didn’t have to “like” everything she said or posted. I told her something to the effect: “Of course I like everything you do–you are my daughter and I love you.” She proceeded to educate me on some of the unwritten ”rules and etiquette” of Facebook.
Now, of course, I was aware of some of those rules. I have heard in the news about nurses who put details of their patients and even some surgeries up on their Facebook page. I remember being horrified that anyone would break patient confidentiality with such foolish disregard. I did know that anything you put up on Facebook could be seen by all of your “friends” and others, depending on your privacy settings.
Not too long ago I became “friends” with the mother of one of the young dancers my daughter has mentored. This woman had been good to Hannah, and I liked what I saw of her sense of humor. After about a month or two, I began seeing posts about how unhappy she was with her job, and her boss in particular. After one vitriolic rant about her boss, I shuddered and wondered just how long she would hold that job. Sure enough, about a week later, she posted that she had been fired. You see, even I know that employers are checking out their employees’ Facebook pages. I quickly “unfriended” her thinking I just wasn’t sure I needed a “friend” who was that undiscerning.
During a recent conversation about Facebook, the subject of “Facebook stalking” came up. We have had several conversations about this topic in the past, and each time my daughter has tried to explain it to me, I have had to admit that, “I just don’t get it.” You see, as she explained it, Facebook “stalking” means checking out your “friend’s” wall, information, photos, interests, etc. So. . . correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that why we put all that stuff up there in the first place? Don’t we want our “friends” to see it; don’t we want them to know those things about us?
I have had to shake my head, time and time again, as I am continually bemused by the concept that all that information is up there for no one to see. So, I have decided to post a cryptic translation of the Facebook “dialect” that I speak, should anyone be interested or confused.
For the record:
If you are my “friend” on Facebook, it is because I genuinely like you or like what you do/stand for. I only have 58 “friends”. I have chosen them very carefully. If I look at your wall, information, or photos, it is because I care enough about you to be interested. I am not “stalking” you. I am showing you that somehow you are important to me.
If I click the “like” button on your comment or your post, I really do like it. It means you have said something I agree with; something that has made me smile, laugh, think, brought me enjoyment, or I have just wanted to encourage you.
If I comment on something you have posted, it means that I agree with you; you made me smile, laugh, think, or I wanted to encourage you.
Generally, I see most of what comes up on my “news feed” because I have so few “friends” (as opposed to my daughter who has 550+). Many of my “friends” are family members who rarely post anything on Facebook. So if you post something, I am likely to see it–I didn’t go looking for it.
If you care enough to look at my wall, information, profile, or photos, I promise that I won’t think you are “stalking” me. I just might wonder as to why you don’t have a better way to spend your time though. I am actually quite boring when it comes right down to it.
If you “like” or comment on something I have posted, I really appreciate it. It means to me that somehow you cared enough to take some of your valuable time to let me know that you appreciated what I put on Facebook.
I have actually come to enjoy Facebook. I believe that what I post tells others about what is important to me and I believe that what others post, tells me the same about them. Facebook gives me another way to get to know and understand those people in my life that I care about; and for that I am grateful.
That is my story and I am sticking to it . . .
Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved
