Recovery Day 3

Oprah Winfrey: Most people know Oprah as one of the most iconic faces on TV as well as one of the richest and most successful women in the world. Oprah faced a hard road to get to that position, however, enduring a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was "unfit for TV."

Pat and DR convinced me that yesterday was day two of my recovery so that makes today Day 3. I went to the doctor for a follow-up this morning. Improving. Medicine the dosage was doubled. Elevate and walk. Not the full tilt elevation of the past few days but the elevate whenever I am not walking. I'm to walk part of the day to increase the circulation in the leg. If it isn't healed in ten days back to the doctor. Progress is a good sign.

This is for DR. Here is an article about the most inspirational stories of 2010:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/toan-lam/small-acts-big-changes-wh_b_796309.html

Here is a link to the article mentioned in the above article where you can click on any story not mentioned in the above article:

http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2010/us_inspiring_acts#Inspiring%20Acts

I'm doing my usual New Year's Eve threesome. Diet coke, DVD, and a warm blanket. And I'm following the advise in the following article under "unusual tradition." To ensure good luck in 2011 you must wear yellow underwear on New Year's, to ensure finding love in 2011 you must wear red underwear on New Year's eve and if at the stroke of midnight if you carry a suitcase through your neighborhood it ensures that in 2011 you will embark on the journey of your dreams. I've already got both yellow and red undies on and I've go my suitcase by the door for my midnight journey around the neighborhood. I'm not sure if I should wear pants over the red and yellow boxers on that journey. Stay tuned.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/new-year-traditions.html

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Are you going to follow any traditions tonight?

Day 2 or 3 of Recovery

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mozart began composing at the age of five, writing over 600 pieces of music that today are lauded as some of the best ever created. Yet during his lifetime, Mozart didn't have such an easy time, and was often restless, leading to his dismissal from a position as a court musician in Salzberg. He struggled to keep the support of the aristocracy and died with little to his name.
I think this is day three of the recovery. I'm just now sure how to count it. I went to the doctor Tuesday so you Tuesday as a bench mark this would the third day. However, it has been less than forty-eight hours since I started the anti-biotic so am I still in my second day? So much to ponder when you are confined to a recliner. Like pondering the top ten crime stories of 2010.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/28/top-crime-stories-of-2010/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C192418

I think I am improving, it really is hard to tell. The good thing is the redness has stayed within the non-danger zone and has even lessened a little. Not as bright red as it was either so that is a good sign.

Back to elevate. Hope your day is going to be more exciting than mine!

On The Shelf

Igor Stravinsky: In 1913 when Stravinsky debuted his now famous Rite of Spring, audiences rioted, running the composer out of town. Yet it was this very work that changed the way composers in the 19th century thought about music and cemented his place in musical history.

A couple of the days ago I did a blog post entitled "Off The Shelf" today the post is titled "On The Shelf" because that is what I am until Friday. I had a small cut on my leg. I didn't think it was anything serious so just put anti-biotic cream and lived with it. Mom and my niece repeatedly beat me up over the head with constant love nags to go to the doctor. I went to the doctor basically to prove them wrong. Damn it they were right. The medical personnel was really concerned and immediately put me on an anti-biotic and ordered me to three days of staying off my leg. I have to be in the recliner with my leg above my heart for three freaking days. Of course I can take short breaks for certain things but mainly I'm locked in the recliner and loaded with books and food. They diagnosed it as cellulitis whatever the heck that is. I go back to the Doctor on Friday and if it hasn't improved I am in it deep. It already looks better than yesterday so I'm very optimistic.

However, I can't stay up long enough to research the Who Am I and the articles for the blog. So until Friday the blog will be either on vacation or there will be really small posts or updates on the man in the recliner.

Back to my uplifting life.

Health & Drugs

Jack London: This well-known American author wasn't always such a success. While he would go on to publish popular novels like White Fang and The Call of the Wild, his first story received six hundred rejection slips before finally being accepted.

Interesting article about cancer cells:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20101223/hl_hsn/cancercellsmaybeabletourgetheirowndeath

Just think of the possibilities if the can encourage cancer cells to kill themselves.

Next up is what illnesses to watch out for during winter:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101216/sc_livescience/7healthwoesbroughtonbywinter

I knew most of them but it did kind of surprise me that heart attack and strokes are more prevalent during the winter.

The United States has spent a trillion dollars over the years on their War On Drugs. Does Portugal have a better way?

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/US-Eyes-Portugals-Drug-Policy-Success/1$55981

And a brief correction to the above story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101227/ap_on_re_eu/eu_failed_drug_war_solutions;_ylt=Atzy5rPKWNlK3a3_hz8kiULVJRIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ0ZjgwMTZsBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMjI3L2V1X2ZhaWxlZF9kcnVnX3dhcl9zb2x1dGlvbnMEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3BvcnR1Z2Fsc2RydQ--

Certainly sounds like something our government should look into.

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Sharlot Hall.

Your comments and thoughts will be well received here!

Off The Shelf

I'm doing some off the shelf items today on the blog. I had planned on stopping the little blurbs of people throughout history that had suffered failures before they became famous and successful. I have several left so will continue to them until the shelf is bare.

Zane Grey: Incredibly popular in the early 20th century, this adventure book writer began his career as a dentist, something he quickly began to hate. So, he began to write, only to see rejection after rejection for his works, being told eventually that he had no business being a writer and should given up. It took him years, but at 40, Zane finally got his first work published, leaving him with almost 90 books to his name and selling over 50 million copies worldwide.

Now on to the articles of the day. Some people are social and some aren't. I probably fall in the middle, I'm incredibly shy to being social is kind of difficult but by the same token I love to interact with people. It may be the size of my brain that causes my at times anti-socialism:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101226/ap_on_sc/us_sci_social_brain

We all hate spam. Those annoying penal enlargement and breast implant emails providing the links to there websites. Delete. Delete. Delete. However, now a man has taken another approach, read on:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101227/ap_on_hi_te/us_anti_spam_crusader

As you know by now I love stories of children succeeding or doing fun and good things:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101222/ap_on_sc/eu_britain_child_scientists

Your comments are appreciated. Off to Mom's which may be my last night there until next week. It depends on the road conditions from Utah to Portland and when my sister can make it back home.


WHO AM I?

I was born in 1870 and died in 1943 and was an American journalist, poet and historian. I was the first woman to hold an office in the Arizona Territorial government and my personal collection of photographs and artifacts served as the starting collection for a history museum which bears my name. When I was eleven my family followed the Santa Fe Trail to Arizona Territory. During the trip I was thrown from my horse and suffered an injury to my back or hip. The pain of the injury would remain with me the rest of my life. Il was educated in public schools, At an early age I demonstrated an interest in poetry. My work would eventually earn me an honorary Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona. At the age of 20 I sold my first article to a children's magazine. By age 22 I was working as a journalist, poet, and essayist. I served as Territorial Historian. A year after my appointment I released of Cactus and pine: songs of the Southwest. Following the death of my father l acquired the cabin which had served as the "Governor's mansion" for Arizona Territory's first governors. I founded the Prescott Historical Society. I was a popular speaker, giving talks on local history and folklore to schools and clubs throughout the state. I was among the first to be inducted to Arizona's Women Hall of Fame. Who Am I?

A Day Of Rest.

I am really tired. It has been a really busy three weeks with first the caregiver off on vacation, then sister off for the holidays, and then the holiday themselves with guests in and out. I spent a ton of time at Mom's in the three weeks and it has left little time for some of the things I need to get done at home. I get one day today and then back to Mom's tomorrow. So I am resting today and this blog entry is going to set a record for how short it is. Yes, I know this normally is update day but all of you have already shared your holiday stories and I have shared mine. You are still welcome to share anything else your little hearts desire and update us on anything that you would like to share. This is still your day on the blog to do whatever the heck your want to. But for me it is a day of rest. I will share with you a link of the most inspirational stories of 2010. Of course you don't have to read all of them, just read the headlines and then click on the ones you find interesting.

http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/12/25/our-12-most-inspiring-stories-of-2010

That is it for the day. Comment at will.

Christmas Day 2010

Hope this Christmas Day will bring you joy and happiness. We had our celebration last night. Well, we had our first celebration last night. I cooked a meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls. As the cook I can honestly say the meal was damn good. We opened our gifts. Santa was really good to me. A generous movie gift card, an Oregon Duck sweatshirt, a combination tie-vest-shirt, sugar free candy, three nice calendars (one for each room in my house), a nice pair of pajamas and a generous check. The annual gift from heaven was a hit with Mom. Today my nephew and his family are coming up from Eugene and bringing a turkey. My niece and her family are coming over from Tualatin and bringing desert. Mom & I are provided the leftover rolls, ham, and scalloped potatoes. No gift exchange, just eating and playing games. Well one game. We all love Catch Phrase, it is a hoot. Two Christmases! Can a man be any luckier.

Wanted to provide a link to one of Dona's memorable moments of 2010. It's hilarious.

http://mrgreenjeans.blogspot.com/

Christmas is for inspiration and sharing. Today we are sharing inspirational stories.

First up a young woman that started giving at a very young age. Adults provided her with a field and she ran with it:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/07/30/sixth-graders-harvest-stocks-food-pantry-shelves/

Like the above story the following story was picked as on of the top ten good stories of 2010 by AOL news.
A secret agent outs herself:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/08/06/secret-altruistic-agent-reveals-identity/

In Parade Magazine issue last Sunday they awarded several foundations doing good things grants of fifty grand. The following foundation stood out for me:

http://www.awarriorwish.org/

Enjoy the day!!

Merry Christmas

With relatives in an out during this holiday season and emotions (mine and Mom's) in and out throughout the holidays there will be no regularly scheduled Who am I of the day until the new year arrives. The Who Am I may make an appearance before then but no promises.

We always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. That was our tradition. When young us kids just couldn't wait until Christmas morning to open our gifts. Greedy little tykes we were. However, in the growing up process I learned that the best Christmases were the ones were memories and pictures were shared with friends and family, where there was in inspirational story here and there, and where stories of giving were the focus of the holiday season.

First the inspirational story:

Oliver Stone: This Oscar-winning filmmaker began his first novel while at Yale, a project that eventually caused him to fail out of school. This would turn out to be a poor decision as the the text was rejected by publishers and was not published until 1998, at which time it was not well-received. After dropping out of school, Stone moved to Vietnam to teach English, later enlisting in the army and fighting in the war, a battle that earning two Purple Hearts and helped him find the inspiration for his later work that often center around war.

I consider all of you here as family. Nothing better than sharing pictures of family. One of DanaRae's memorable moments of 2010 was her family reunion. The first picture is of her "Clan."



Next up is DanaRae's Mom sitting, with siblings Rhonda, Deb, and Lake and DR herself on the far right.




Following is a picture that I am completely shocked that Dona didn't share with us as one of her most memorable moments of 2010. How could The Shankster teaching us all how to get rid of data on the hard drive of a printer not be memorable? The shame, Dona, the shame.



Last are two stories of giving. A woman gives on her birthday instead of receives:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/12/barbara_cookes_birthday_was_al.html

The final story is one of a man that decided to see how he could impact others even though he was unemployed:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/22/laid-off-american-reed-sandridge-gives-away-10-a-day-for-a-year/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk2%7C191577

Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for the gift that you have given me all year, the most valuable gift of all, your time!

Memorable Moments of 2010. The Final Entry.

Charles Schultz, Peanuts creator, had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook staff and Walt Disney wouldn't hire him.

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Francesca Saverio Cabrini.

This is the final entry of my memorable moments of 2010. I know I wasn't going to rate my moments but the first one mentioned today really is my favorite moment of the year.

My uncle Frank & my Aunt Velma had four children. Dixie, Denny, Debbie, and Dave. The beautiful Debbie died at the much to young of age of fourteen. Their family and our family always lived in the same city growing up. We all celebrated holidays together. Frank and Velma were a second set of parents. Dixie, Denny, Debbie until she passed away, and Dave were not cousins but a second set of siblings.

I hadn't seen Dixie since my Dad's memorial. I hadn't seen Frank and Velma since the year before dad died. Mom hadn't seen her brother since then either. Frank is her only sibling. In September bless Dixie's heart she brought Frank here to see Mom and I. It was a great reunion. We had a blast. As great as the visit was it was also a wave of emotions. I had never cried about losing Dad. This was the third most read post on the blog in 2010 barely beating out "Things I Learned From My Dad." Here is the report of Frank and Dixie's visit:

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/09/stark-realities.html

The week before Thanksgiving I decided to make some changes. I decided I need a new suit. This time I was going for the gusto. I wasn't go to go cheap I was going good quality. I set out to buy an Armani but the salesman and the tailor convinced me that the Canali suit was better made than the Armani and you wouldn't be paying for the brand name. I didn't go cheap, I went stylish. I started my year of saying yes with this new suit:



The final memorable moment was just a couple of weeks ago. As we all discussed when you become a caregiver you often lose yourself. You also isolate yourself. I had been isolating myself for several years now. I decided after observing a year Lian Dolan, the hostess of The Chaos Chronicles Blog, lived using her "Let Her Rip" motto that I was going to take inspiration from her and adopt my own motto for next year. Just say yes.

As luck would have it Lian was having a book signing at Powell's for her first novel, HELEN OF PASADENA, not from where I live. Her sister Monica was going to introduce her. This is exactly the type of event in the past I would have wanted go to but would have talked myself out of it. I would have found every excuse in the book not to attend. I spent most the day trying to talk myself out of going but I sucked it up, put on my new suit and went to the signing. It was one of the most fun evenings that I have had in a very long time. Lian and Monica were just so doggone nice. If I had a choice of having someone put a lighted match under each one of my fingers and toes or take my picture I'd choose the matches every single time. Except at the book signing I really wanted my picture taken with Lian. This is the picture her sister Monica took. Great picture of Lian, not so great of me.



I've been kicking myself in the hindquarters since then for not also having a picture taken with Monica.

That was my 2010 in three narcissistic posts. Thank you for bearing with me! Your comments are appreciated.

PS

Remember you can share your memorable moments at any time on the blog. You can also be the guest blogger for a day and tell us your memorable moments in the form of a blog entry. Just email me at williamjdahn@aol.com. Also remember that on any picture on the blog you can enlarge it by clicking it.

Memorable Moments of 2010 - Part Two

Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made a 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

I was tired of the lack of civility in today's world and took a pledge.

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-pledge.html

Some of you took the pledge with me. How did you do? I give myself a C and hope to improve that to an A in 2011.

One of the most memorable and fun events for me was the cousin reunion here in July. Because Mom really couldn't travel to the cousins, the cousins traveled to Mom's. I was put in charge of pulling it all together. Frankly, I did a damn good job.

Google has a stat service on all blogs. It really doesn't tell you much but one of the more interesting features is it will calculate the most read posts. The most read post on the blog of 2010 was my report about the cousin reunion:

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/08/reunion-full-story.html

After the reunion Mom and I spent a lot of time going over family pictures preparing for cousin Barbara's visit. Barbara was and is working on the family history. Getting ready for Barbara's visit produced the second most read blog entry of 2010.

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/08/family-history-in-pictures.html

It was a wonderful look for me at the past and how I arrived at where I am today. I just didn't think anyone else would be all that interested in pictures of my family or my history.

Your comments are appreciated. Remember you can share your memorable moments of 2010 at any time.

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1850 and was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. I was the tenth of eleven children to rich cherry tree farmers. Only four of the eleven siblinhd survived beyond adolescence. Small and weak as a child I remained in delicate health throughout my life. I became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where I taught. The orphanage was closed. Myself and six other sisters that took religious vows with my founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until my death. The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought me to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII. The Pope sent me to New York City to help the Italian immigrants "Not to the East but to the West". I obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage. It was the first of 67 institutions I founded in New York, Chicago, Des Plaines, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Golden, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after my death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve my goal of being a missionary to China. I died of complications from dysentery at age 67. My legacy is healing, teaching, and caring around the world. Who Am I?

Memorable Moments of 2010 - Part One

Isaac Newton, known as the greatest mathematician of all time, derived the law of universal gravitation, invented the branch of mathematics called calculus, and performed experiments investigating the nature of light and colour. He did very poorly in grad school.

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Tenny Emma Albright

I am not doing memorable moments in order of importance, all the moments are important to me.

In January my Mom and an old friend Maxine celebrated their birthdays together. It was Maxine's 90th birthday. Mom and Maxine hadn't seen each other for over twenty years. Maxine's daughter and granddaughter brought her to Portland for a very fun weekend. They took Mom for a pedicure because she had never had one before. We had a nice dinner at Rose's the night they arrived. Then we had a great dinner at McCormack & Schmicks. They even had menus with Happy Birthday Maxine & Miriam at the top of them. On the morning the Idaho group left we had a nice breakfast at their hotel. Of course the weekend was filled with conversation, laughter, and memories.

Maxine and her husband Boyd and their children Billy and Tammy lived next door to us in Pocatello, Idaho when we lived on a very small farm. Our two families bought ten acres together and then split it down the middle. Growing up I road horses with Tammie. We were buds. I hadn't seen her for years and years. So not only was it reunion for Mom, it was a reunion for me too.

Mom is seated, Maxine is standing.



Nikkie, Maxine's granddaughter, is standing on the left, Tammie Maxine's daughter is kneeling on the right.



Not all memorable moments are good ones. Mom and I had a doctor appointment with the foot doctor in January. I overslept and dressed in a hurry. I didn't bother to turn the lights on, I just got dressed in the dark and run out to the car. When I got to Mom's I looked down at the shoes I was wearing. Oops. My choice was to go home to get the right shoes and be late or go as is and be on time. I went as is and made it with three minutes to spare. It was memorable for the doctor and his wife/receptionist too since every time I have returned since then they say "it is nice to see your shoes match."




The following is the final memorable moment of the day. A link to the blog entry where after years and years I earned redemption.

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/04/redemption.html

Your comments are appreciated. Be kind.

Word Of The Year

Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer whose psychologically and morally complex novels are regarded as masterpieces of realistic fiction flunked in college. He was described as "both unable and unwilling to learn."

Tomorrow will start my memorable moments. It was actually fun going through the year and taking a look at the year in my rearview mirror. I was surprised that there was more memorable than I had anticipated and disappointed that there weren't more.

Previously I listed the most annoying words of 2010. So today I am going to share with you the words of the year:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101220/ap_on_re_us/us_word_of_the_year

We have a lot of Jeopardy fans amongst us and next year will bring us the Jeopardy competition of a lifetime:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/14/ibms-watson-supercomputer-will-play-jeopardy-on-these-dates/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl7%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190681

I'm closing with a very touching article. It just pulls on my heartstrings. Courage written all over it.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/18/with-love-sabrina-parker-and-matt-scozzari-face-a-deadly-diagno/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190841

I'm looking forward to you all starting my week off with you always informative and great comments.

Who Am I?

I am one of the more amazing women that Bill has used as a Who Am I. I am a polio survivor, an Olympic athlete, and a doctor of medicine. I was born in 1935. A graduate of The Winsor School in Boston, I entered Radcliffe College as a pre-med student, and after my Olympic triumph focused on completing my education and graduated from Harvard Medical School. I went on to become a surgeon. I was also selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 100 female athletes of all time thanks to being the first triple crown winner in skating and the first American female to win a gold medal in skating. I never skated professionally instead concentrating on my medical career and my first marriage to a former owner of the Ritz-Carlton. I was the daughter of a prominent Boston surgeon and a homemaker. I had one younger brother. My parents gave me my first pair of skates at age eight. Illness almost ended my skating career before it began. At age eleven I contracted polio and nobody knew whether I would walk again. I was not scared about being sick. The fear I had was staying in the hospital overnight. I couldn't imagine anything worse. No one told me how serious it was. In fact, they took the sign 'polio' off my door, hoping I wouldn't realize how sick I was. Looking back, I don't think I ever knew how sick I was, because it never occurred to me that I couldn't and wouldn't get better. I recovered and was soon released from the hospital. Since I was still weak, the doctors encouraged me to return to ice skating, feeling that the exercise would improve my strength. The doctors were correct in their assessment; just four months after my polio attack I won my first competition: the Eastern Juvenile Skating Championship. I was known for the quote, "If you don't fall down, you aren't trying hard enough, you aren't trying to do things that are hard enough for you. So, falling down is part of learning for whatever you do, and it certainly is for skating." After winning the medals I entered Harvard Medical School and was one of only six women in a class of 130 students. I served on the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society and chaired the National Library of Medicine Board of Regents. I also led international efforts to eliminate polio when she was a member of the World Health Assembly. My two marriages produced three daughters. I am in the Olympic Hall of Fame. Who Am I?

Sunday Update

Winston Churchill is widely regarded as the greatest British leader of the 20th century. Churchill is celebrated for his leadership during World War II (1939-1945), one of the most desperate struggles in British history. He failed sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister of England until he was 62, only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks. His greatest contributions came when he was a senior citizen.

I left Mom's on Thursday about noon. I was at Mom five of the previous seven nights and seven of the previous eight days. When I left Mom's I went directly to the movies to catch LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS. It was a really good movie that probably should have had a strong R rating and not for sixteen and under. Acting good. Story good. Ending touching. Friday and Saturday besides the blog I finished my shopping and did most of my cards. I must have been pretty exhausted because I ended up getting over a total of twenty hours of sleep the last two nights.

Next week on the agenda is only two nights at Mom's. Wednesday and Saturday. Saturday is Christmas Day and of course I am going to look forward to spending Christmas with her. At her age you never know if this will be her last Christmas. I'm also going to take Mom to church services on Christmas Eve. Opportunity number two to wear my new suit. The rest of the week is lunch on Monday with a client. Tuesday night out to dinner with Sister, Brother-in-law, and Mom for an early Christmas celebration. Sis and her husband are taking off for Utah on Wednesday morning to spend time the holidays with sister's daughter and her four boys. Thursday Mom out to lunch. Friday is Christmas Eve. Saturday is Christmas.

Not much on the entertainment front. The doctors did win The Amazing Race. First all women's team to do so. And an women's team finished second, the Shopping Network TV hosts. There were some reports that on the next Dancing With The Stars will be Lindsay Lohan and Todd Palin, husband of Sarah Palin. If the later is on I will probably not watch the show this season.

Coming up on the blog next week will be My Most Memorable Moments of 2010. There will be either a picture of the moment or a link to a blog entry about the moment. I won't do it all in one day, it will be over two or three days. I would love it if you would begin to think about your memorable moments of this year and share them on the blog. For now your task is to catch me up on your lives. Let me know how your health is, what you have been up to, any events attended or that you will be attending, any deep dark secrets, or just introduce yourselves. I really do like to learn more about all of you.

Let's Observe Ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the USA. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered from a nervous breakdown.

On the agenda today is starting and finishing my Christmas Shopping. I also hope to finish sending Christmas Cards. I only send cards to relatives. When I was in business for myself and had five hundred clients I quit sending out cards. It was just to expensive. It was also hard to separate out the ones that celebrated Christmas and the ones that didn't. So I made a decision to only send cards to relatives. It certainly has made the season a lot easier.

You may have visitors coming to visit you this season and want your house sparkling clean. I have some tips for you:

http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/12/03/cleaning-tips/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl5%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190663

Now I know why people buy Spam. Not to eat it but to polish their furniture with it. After reading the above article are you going out to buy diapers?

You may be traveling overseas during the holiday season and one of your stops may be the city where our Snugpug resides, Singapore. Right the city is involved in a LOO campaign. Let's Observe Ourselves. What do you think the campaign refers to? Check this article out:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101217/od_nm/us_singapore_toilet;_ylt=Am7ALtj8ToUDUVuxe9YPnSftiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJvNzcyZmZyBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAxMjE3L3VzX3NpbmdhcG9yZV90b2lsZXQEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNmdWxsbmJzcHN0b3I

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the second woman to be given the title of doctor. As you know most of the Who Am Is of the day feature women who have done groundbreaking and/or spectacular things. While there isn't a Who Am I for today I am sharing with you an article about a spectacular woman:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101218/ap_on_re_us/us_search_for_amelia

Hope your are enjoying the weekend. I am off shopping but will look forward to returning home from the malls to read your spectacular comments.

Thank you.

Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution, gave up a medical career and was told by his father, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat catching.” In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, “I was considered by my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.


Let's start out the day with a charming story:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/12/raising_six_kids_from_haiti_im.html

I really admire the family for providing a home for six previous homeless children.

Sometimes with how busy we all are and at the pace we lead our lives I often think that we really don't to enough time to stop to smell the roses, to appreciate nature, to see the good in our lives, or to say thank you. Do you think the words "thank you" are powerful? Read on:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/excerpt-365-yous-john-kralik/story?id=12402610&page=1

There is a video of the TV interview of Mr. Kralik that I saw in the article. During the year of gratitude he found that he not only changed the lives of others but he changed his own life. He realized he wasn't that bad of a person.

Because of the length of today's two articles that is it. Your comments are appreciated.

PS

To the followers, readers, and commenter's of the blog. Thank you. Thank you making room in your life to read the blog and share you life with me. Thank you for being a part of my life.

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1836 the second of the nine children of a grain merchant and a homemaker.
My younger sister became a leader of the constitutional campaign for women's suffrage. . I was educated at home and at a private school. When twenty-four I resolved to study medicine. I was refused admission as a full student at many medical schools to which she applied. I studied anatomy privately but not only did medical schools deny my application many refused to even to admit me to their examinations. Eventually end the Society of Apothecaries allowed me to enter for the License of Apothecaries' Hall. I was later appointed general medical attendant to St Mary's Dispensary, a London institution started to enable poor women to obtain medical help from qualified practitioners of their own gender. The dispensary soon developed into the New Hospital for Women, and there I G worked for over twenty years. I obtained the University of Paris degree of MD the same year I was elected to the first London School Board. I married the co-owner of a steamship company but did not give my her practice. We had three children, one died of meningitis, and one became a pioneering doctor of medicine and social campaigner. I gained membership of the British Medical Association and remained the only woman member for 19 years, due to the Association's vote against the admission of further women. Elizabeth was the first woman in the world to earn the title of doctor, I was second but the first woman in England to be referred to by that title. I was also the first woman in England to be elected mayor of a city. I died at age eighty-one. Who Am I?

Whatever

Colonel Sanders had the construction of a new road put him out of business in 1967. He went to over 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken recipe before he found a buyer interested in his 11 herbs and spices. Seven years later, at the age of 75, Colonel Sanders sold his fried chicken company for a finger-lickin' $15 million!

Whatever. For the second year in a row that came out on top as the most annoying word or phrase in the English language. I'm a sure a lot of you will be happy that my bad didn't make the list. Checkout what made the cut here:

http://www.canada.com/Like+whatever+Poll+results+find+most+annoying+English+words/3982753/story.html

The ones that didn't make the list that I would have liked to make it were; "to be honest with you", "if you will", "at the end of the day" and "at this point in time." I really don't mind "it is what it is". What would you put on the list? What would you take off the list?

From depressing words and phrases let's move on to depressing jobs. My occupation made the list:


http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/depression/10-careers-highest-depression-rate?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190021
http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/12/15/larry-king-live-tribute-the-shows-11-greatest-moments/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190220

It does surprise me that accounting and finance made the list. Does any job on the list surprise you? Any jobs not on the list that you would add? I would add firemen, policemen and EMTs to the list.

I'm closing with some laughs. We really aren't laughing are others, we are laughing with them. I'm sure most of us have had our embarrassing moments at work. Here are few ones that I am glad I didn't make:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/12/15/professional-mistakes/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl4%7Csec3_lnk1%7C190230

I'm not confessing to my embarrassing moments so I am not expecting you to. However, if you want to tell us your deep dark secret about a work experience I know we would all appreciate it.

Looking forward to your comments.

Mona Lisa Eyes

The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in Hollywood before 20th-Century Fox finally produced it. It went on to be one of the largest grossing movies in film history.

I start out the day at Mom's. After tonight I don't need to be back until next Wednesday. After parts of six out the last seven days at Mom's and as much as I love Mom and the incredible woman that she is I am looking forward to being home for a few days.

First up is what I call a we will have nun of that story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101213/od_nm/us_crime_nun

I don't why is always surprises me when a religious figure ends up accused of a crime but it does.

Next up is a story about a woman's eyes holding secrets that could unlock history:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/13/do-hidden-letters-in-mona-lisas-eyes-reveal-a-real-da-vinci-cod/

We are closing with puzzles. Do you like puzzles? I don't. They frustrate me and I really don't have the patience for them. I love to take a good quiz because I am good at those. But no to crossword puzzles. No to jigsaw puzzles. One man is lucky that there is such a thing as a jigsaw puzzle expert:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101210/od_nm/us_taiwan_cash

I will be checking in on the blog throughout the day from Mom's to look for all the outstanding comments I am sure you have about today's blog entry.

It's A Crime

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.

Dr. Seuss' first children's book, "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street", was rejected by twenty-seven publishers. The twenty-eighth publisher, Vanguard press, sold six million copies of the book.

I think it is a crime that Dr. Seuss had to go through twenty-eight publishers before finally find one with brains enough to publish his first book. I'm not so sure, however, that men wearing makeup is a crime. I've worn makeup before when I was in plays in Drama in High School:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101208/od_nm/us_sudan_decency

What is your reaction to the article? I don't know, I certainly wouldn't waste a courts' time to prosecute a man for wearing makeup.

Did you know that there was a murder in outer space? Read on:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101212/ap_on_sc/us_sci_saturn_rings

Should we send a team of detectives up there to see if they can solve the murder?

It bothers me sometimes when I go to check out a book at the library and it isn't there because some irresponsible human being didn't return it out time. I want to put those that don't return library books in jail when that happens. I'm not sure if that is just venting or if I would actually put them in jail if I were in charge. However, some people have no doubts:

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/texas-woman-jessekah-few-jailed-for-overdue-library-books/19749685?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec4_lnk2%7C188797

Are you with them or against them.

It is a crime that I have to be in a boring seminar today but I hope none of you get arrested today so that you can comment on today's blog entry.

Men Can Smile But Women Can't

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

Eighteen publishers turned down Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, before Macmillan finally published it in 1970. By 1975 it had sold more than seven million copies in the U.S. alone.

Smile and the whole world will smile with you is the old saying. Your winning smile will take you places. Unless you are a woman at work:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/12/10/women-at-work-should-smile-less-to-earn-more/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl4%7Csec4_lnk1%7C189356

The above article surprised me a lot because I would think a smiling woman is a happy woman and a happy woman is a confident woman. What is your take on the article? Are you going to quit smiling?

There have been numerous accidents caused by deer or other animals crossing the road. I know when I am on a mountain road I am lot more careful and look all around to make sure my car isn't going to marry a deer or other animal. There have been a lot of articles lately about wild animals making their home or being at home in cities and populated areas. There are critters crossing everywhere it seems and according to the following article critter crossings incrase road increase traffic safety.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/crittercrossingsimprovehighwaysafetystudyfinds;_ylt=AkS3JCNT6P50YcPxC5BUTF.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTRrM2ExYWh2BGFzc2V0A2hzbi8yMDEwMTIxMi9jcml0dGVyY3Jvc3NpbmdzaW1wcm92ZWhpZ2h3YXlzYWZldHlzdHVkeWZpbmRzBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMTAEcG9zAzcEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNjcml0dGVyY3Jvc3M-

I am all for anything that make the roads safe. You? Want a critter crossing in your neck of the woods?

At first when I read the following article I was kind of thought the article would be depressing:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101210/ap_on_he_me/us_med_life_expectancy

While our live expectancy dropped there is still a lot of positive information in the article. What is your take on the article? Good news or bad news?

I hope you are enjoying the day more than I probably am. I'm down at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville either being bored stiff or reading REVERSAL the new novel by Michael Connelly. They do have Internet hookup there so I will be checking the blog throughout the day.

Hound Dog Update

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis Presley after one performance. He told Presley, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere… son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.” Elvis Presley went on to become the most popular singer in America.

Looking in the rearview last week as a blur. Monday was the very enjoyable book signing. Tuesday a business meeting and luncheon. Wednesday an all day work assignment. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and this Morning at Mom's. I am really tired and it doesn't look like there will be a break anytime soon.

On the agenda this week. I'm leaving Mom's at ten to go have breakfast with the guys. Afterwards I am going to get a birthday card for my favorite uncle, some theater gifts cards for my mom that she wants to give away for Christmas gifts, and do some of my own Christmas shopping. Monday and Tuesday is a two day seminar on the new tax laws, laws that will no doubt be changed right after the seminar. Tuesday night, Wednesday day and night, and Thursday morning are at Mom's. Friday is a business meeting. Saturday I'm disappearing.

The seminar will allow me a little rest. The good thing about the seminar is that a little over two years I couldn't make it through one of those boring things without having a panic attack. Now they are a piece of cake. I just slide right through them. Or sleep right through them.

What I do when I have busy weeks like last week and next week is write all my blog entries ahead of time and then set a day and time to have them post automatically. This afternoon I will write Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's entries. When, I do that something usually gets eliminated and what is getting eliminated this coming week is the Who Am I. That takes the longest so it goes by the wayside. Seminars start at freaking eight in the morning so that doesn't leave a lot of time to do everything I would like to do. The blog will return to normal Friday.

The entertainment update. Brandy won The Apprentice. It was really close but I think an extraordinary number of "you alls" did Clent in. The jackass Nick and his soon to be ex girl friend Vicki were eliminated on The Amazing Race. If she doesn't leave that jerk she is incredibly foolish. Tonight is the final on The Amazing and I'm pretty sure an all women team will win the Race for the first time. I'm going with the doctors but the shopping network babes could sneak in there and take the win.

That's it for the today. You know the drill. Catch me up on what went on, is going on, or will go on in your lives. I would also be in seventh heaven if the lurkers or newbies introduced themselves. May this be a great day for all of you.

Relationship Saturday

When General Douglas MacArthur applied for admission to West Point, he was turned down, not once but twice. But he tried a third time, was accepted and marched into the history books.

Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15 out of 22 in chemistry.

Are married men more trustworthy than single men?

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/12/07/married-men-behave-better/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk1%7C188707

I understand the study and maybe some of its conclusions. A married man has to answer to his wife and if he is really in love with her he wouldn't want to embarrass her or put her at risk. However, I'm single and I think I behave pretty damn good. I don't remember recently robbing a bank or murdering anyone. To me good behavior comes from the man's heart not from the responsibility to his wife.

During the Christmas season you discover your spouse or significant other is cheating on you or you discover he or she isn't who they said they are but are notorious bank robber wanted by authorities in several states. Is Christmas the time to break up with him or her? According to the following article Christmas ranks second to spring time in the number of relationship breakups.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/christmas-breakups-romantic-relationships-end-holidays/story?id=12307305

I get that the stress of the holidays, shopping, families merging, and out of control spending can lead to a breakup. I am just wondering what happens in the Spring that puts that time of the year first.

OK, you want to breakup with your honey but you don't have the courage. I have help for you:

http://www.lemondrop.com/2010/12/06/need-help-ending-a-relationship-idump4u-com-can-help-you-out/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl5%7Csec3_lnk1%7C188067

It may just me but I think if you break up with someone you should suck it up and do it in person. They are owed that much, no?

OK, off to find someone to get together with so I can breakup with them before Christmas and have a happy holiday too. Your comments are appreciated.

Tear Up Friday

After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, said, “Can’t act! Slightly bald! Can dance a little!” Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home. ( I can dance a little but I'm sure in the heck not Fred Astaire.)

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” He was expelled and refused admittance to Zurich Polytechnic School. The University of Bern turned down his Ph.D. dissertation as being irrelevant and fanciful.

We interrupt this blog entry with some advise, get the tissues.

The first hero written about on today's blog:

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/mind-soul/doing-good/2010-12-09-holidayherostephen09_ST_N.htm

The article made you smile instead of cry? Didn't need the tissues? You aren't out of the woods yet. Read about the next two heroes on today's blog:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2010/12/portland_police_sgt_pete_simps.html

Don't get rid of the tissues yet. Brave little girl follows:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500803_162-4675613-500803.html

Want to know what where Pearce was September 10, 2010?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/10/earlyshow/main6852861.shtml

I shed tears reading today's articles, not because they were sad but because they were inspirational. You turn on the news and there are the brink of war in North Korea, the unemployment rate is sky high, the pages are filled with crime and trials. I took a break from that today to read only the inspirational. A boy giving from the time he was four. A young girl and police officer overcoming an awful tragedy. A cancer survivor with the help of a young actress giving back.

Comment at will.

The History Of Clothes

Pat and DR have made positive comments about my inspirational snippets between now and Christmas so since the next few days may be hit and miss on the blog and the Who Am I may take a vacation I am starting today's blog out with two snippets.

Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his humorous war novel, M*A*S*H, only to have it rejected by 21 publishers before Morrow decided to publish it. It became a runaway bestseller, spawning a blockbusting movie and highly successful television series.

When the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book was completed, it was turned down by thirty-three publishers in New York and another ninety at the American Booksellers Association convention in Anaheim, California, before Health Communications, Inc., finally agreed to publish it. The major New York publishers said, "It is too nicey-nice" and "Nobody wants to read a book of short little stories." Since that time more than 8 million copies of the original Chicken Soup for the Soul book have been sold. The series, which has grown to thirty-two titles, in thirty-one languages, has sold more than 53 million copies.

I love getting gift cards as a gift. I know there are some in the ethics and manners business that say gift cards are not the appropriate gift but I say hogwash. Give me a gift card anytime and I am in seventh heaven. To me it is like getting the gift twice, once we you get it, and once when you use it. There are some dangers out there when you purchase a gift card so check out the following article:

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/12/08/10-ways-to-avoid-gift-card-fraud-this-holiday-season/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl8%7Csec4_lnk2%7C188890

I am pretty safe because I almost always buy the gift card directly from the merchant. Rarely do I buy them at the grocery store.

Ever wonder why men wear pants? Ever wonder where socks come from? What about bow ties, want to know all about them? I've been pondering these questions for several years and just this morning I found the answers:

http://www.asylum.com/2010/12/08/mens-fashion-clothing-history/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl5%7Csec4_lnk2%7C188871

I was really relieved that socks weren't really instruments of death.

Now that you know all about clothes you might want to go shopping and buy some new duds. That takes money. Here is how to fill up your bank accounts:

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/12/02/six-tips-to-increase-your-odds-of-becoming-a-millionaire/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%7C188002

That is it for the day. Comment at will. Comment on anything written on the blog. Comment on anything written on any day! We have only two things you can't do on the blog. Say you are whining and using the F word.

PS

The answer of yesterday's Who Am I was Annie Besant

You lie! So do I.

I'm not sure what is going to happen on the blog the next few days. Tomorrow I start a daunting schedule that doesn't end until a week from Thursday. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is at Mom's. Next Monday and Tuesday is a two day seminar on new tax laws. Then that Tuesday and the following Wednesday night will be at Mom's. At minimum there probably won't be a Who Am I until late next week. I'm hoping to do a daily blog entry but no promises.

Did you ever wonder how many lies a man tells by the time he reaches the age of sixty? How about how many lies women have told by the time they reach the ripe young age of sixty? Do you wonder what men and women lie about?

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/12/06/top-4-lies-men-and-women-tell/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk2%7C188707

I'm fine, thanks for asking. I don't think I lied that many times. I really don't have a good enough memory to lie. Are you surprised at either the number of lies or what the lies are about are both? Do you think you would be above or below the average?

"Phone Home" ET says in the famous movie. If he does are you going to take the call?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101208/ap_on_sc/us_sci_alien_life

Do you think there is life elsewhere besides earth? Would it scare you?

Words Macy's said to Santa Claus "You're Fired!"

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/12/07/could-santa-sue-macys-fired-john-toomey-speaks-out/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%7C188718

Santa didn't update his joke to reflect what is going on in society and he paid the price. The joke would have probably scared a lot of parents. Was a firing in order? Or would have you given him a warning and sternly told him not to use the joke again? A fine? A suspension?

Lies, Aliens, and Santa. That is enough for the day. Comment at will.

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1847 and died at the age of eighty-five. I was known as a Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule. I was married at age nineteen to a clergy man whom I had two children with but we separated over religious differences. I was prosecuted for publishing a book by a birth control campaigner. After being prosecuted my husband persuaded the court that I was an unfit mother and I lost my children. I became involved with Union organizers including the Bloody Sunday demonstration and the London matchgirls strike. I would later travel to India and help establish the Central Hindu College. I established the International Order of Co-Freemasonry in England and over the next few years established lodges in many parts of the British Empire. I became President of the Theosophical Society and began to steer the society away from Buddhism and towards Hinduism. I abecame involved in politics in India, joining the Indian National Congress. When war broke out in Europe in 1914 I helped launch the Home Rule League to campaign for democracy in India. After the war I continued to campaign for Indian independence until my death. I was born into a middle-class family of Irish origin. I was always proud of being Irish and supported the cause of Irish self-rule throughout my adult life. My father died when I was five leaving the family almost penniless. My mother supported the family by running a boarding house for boys. Mom was unable to support me and persuaded a friend to care for me. The friend made sure that I had a good education. I was given a strong sense of duty to society and an equally strong sense of what independent women could achieve. When I married women did not have the legal right to own property and my husband was able to take all the money I earned. I fought for the causes I thought were right, starting with freedom of thought, women's rights, secularism, birth control, Fabian socialism and workers' rights. For me, politics, friendship and love were always closely intertwined. My decision in favor of Socialism came about through a close relationship with George Bernard Shaw. My most notable victory was my involvement in the London matchgirls strike. Workers at Bryantand May's match factory in Bow, London, who were mainly young women. They were very poorly paid. They were also prey to horrendous industrial illnesses, like the bone-rotting Phossy jaw, which was caused by the chemicals used in match manufacture. I led demonstrations by "match-girls". They were cheered in the streets, and prominent churchmen wrote in their support. In just over a week we forced the firm to improve pay and conditions. At the time, the matchstick industry was an immensely powerful lobby since electric light was not yet widely available and matches were essential for lighting candles, oil lamps, gas lights and so on. My campaign was the first time anyone had successfully challenged the match manufacturers on a major issue and was seen as a landmark victory. I was a prolific writer and a powerful orator. After WWI broke out I launched the Home Rule League modeling demands for India on Irish models. For the first time India had a political party to fight for change. Do you wonder "Why I became a Theosophist"? Who Am I?


Inspirational fact of the day:

Did you know that the father of the sculptor Rodin [The Thinker Statue] said, “I have an idiot for a son.” Described as the worst pupil in the school, Rodin failed three times to secure admittance to the school of art. His uncle called him uneducable?

Let Her Rip!

I went to a book signing last night. It is the type of event in the past I would have wanted to attend but would have avoided going. There would have been a number of excuses I would have used. Don't have anything to wear. I'm just to heavy and don't look good. Mom needs me. I'm to tired. On the day less than two weeks ago when I bought the suit I came to the conclusion that since dad had died that I basically had sheltered myself from the outside world. If people came to me I'd enjoy them but I made no effort towards meeting new people or going out. I made a goal that that I was going to spend the next twelve months not making excuses and just saying yes. Whenever something comes up that looks interesting I am going. The author last night was Lian Dolan and she really was the inspiration for me for starting my getting up, getting going, and getting out year. This column by her will explain why:

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/The-Year-of-Letting-It-Rip/1

I had a great time at the book signing. Lian's sister Monica introduced her. I met both Lian and Monica, what a pleasure. They are really fun, beautiful, and charming women. Monica's introduction was warm and funny. Lian was absolutely hilarious. She talked about Helen of Troy and a real housewife from Pasadena that "did everything right" but ended up alone and broke after a divorce from a cheating husband being the inspiration for HELEN OF PASADENA. I don't know how many people were at the signing but I'm guessing there were well over fifty. Would you believe that Lian came out before the signing and went around and individually introduced herself to everyone there? I've been to a lot of books signings and that is the first time an author took the time to do that. I really hate having my picture taken. I just don't take good pictures. However, when she asked her sister to take a picture of us with us holding the book I did something total out of character for me. I said yes. It is a great picture of her and a terrible picture of me. But the picture is a symbol of my year of saying yes. Here is the picture.



Just in two weeks my attitude has changed. I'm really looking forward to a great year!

Because it relates to my decision to start saying yes for the next twelve months the rest of today's post is about caregiving. Most of us here are or have been caregivers. It isn't a job any of us really wanted, circumstances just placed us in the position. Did you send a resume applying for the job? I don't remember sending one myself. It is very tough duty. One of the things I found out is how easy it is to lose your identity in the midst of caring for a relative. I've also noticed how even easier it is to isolate yourself while performing your duties. You quit. You quit being yourself. You quit going out. You quit being social. You quit your social connections. You quit taking care of yourself. You quit everything that doesn't involve caring for the elderly relative. That just makes an already stressful job even more stressful. Folowing is an article that has suggestions on how to avoid stress that comes from the job you didn't apply for:

http://www.cornellcares.org/pdf/handouts/shs_caregiving_stress.pdf

Notice three, four, and five on the list. Just because my Mom needs me doesn't mean I have to quit on myself. I'm starting. I'm starting to reclaim my identity. I'm starting to take care of myself. I'm starting the year of getting up, getting going, and getting out. Will you join me?

Your comments are appreciated.

PS

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Mary Kingsley.

Did you know that Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer?

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

The good. Especially for DR:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_fitness_linedancing;_ylt=AhS2r2JZq522S.9yeULnmTms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNxbzR1OWh0BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAxMjA2L3VzX2ZpdG5lc3NfbGluZWRhbmNpbmcEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDbGluZWRhbmNpbmdn

The bad:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101203/od_nm/us_tarantulas

The ugly:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101203/od_nm/us_germany_streaker

Between now and Christma, some days I will mention a name of someone that didn't give up. It will be hit and miss depending on the length of the post. Did you know that Margaret Mitchell's classic GONE WITH THE WIND was turned down by more than twenty-five publishers?

Comment at will, on anything, anywhere and in anyway!

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1862 and died in 1900. I was a writer and explorer. I was the daughter and oldest child of a traveler and writer and was the niece of two novelists. My parents were married just four days before my birth. My father was a doctor and was often away from home on his excursions. My father and a friend were offered the opportunity to join American General Custer and his men into Native American lands. Later reports describing the massacre of Custer's party left my family terrified. We were relieved to discover that bad weather had kept Dad from joining Custer. My father's views on the Native Americans helped shape my opinions on British imperialism in West Africa. I had little formal schooling but I had access to my father's large library and loved to hear my father's stories of foreign countries. I preferred books on the sciences and memoirs of explorers. When my mother became ill I was expected to care for her well-being. I was unable to leave my mother's side for more than a few hours and had limited travel opportunities. Then my father also became bedridden with rheumatic fever and died shortly. Mom followed a few months later. Freed from my family responsibilities and with an inheritance of £4,300 I was able to travel. After a visit to the Canary Islands, I made preparations to travel to the west coast of Africa. The only non-African women who dared brave the dangers of Africa were usually the wives of missionaries, government officials, or explorers. Exploration and adventure were not seen as fitting roles for a Victorian woman. Even African tribal women were astonished that a woman of my age was traveling without a man. I landed in Sierra Leone and pressed on into Luanda in Angola . I lived with local people who taught me necessary skills for surviving in the African jungles. I often went into dangerous areas alone. My training as a nurse prepared me for injuries and jungle maladies. When I returned to England I secured support from a prominent zoologist at the British Museum, as well reaching a writing agreement with a to publish my travel accounts. I longed to study cannibal tribes and their traditional religious practices, commonly referred to as fetish during the Victorian Era. I became acquainted with a Scottish missionary living amongst the natives with little company and no husband. I became aware of the tribal custom of twin killing. The native people believed that one of the twins was the offspring of the devil who had secretly mated with the mother and since the innocent child was impossible to distinguish, both were killed and the mother was often killed for attracting the devil to impregnate her. I would later travel by canoe up the Ogooué River where I collected specimens of previously unknown fish, three which were named after me. After meeting the Fang tribe and traveling through uncharted Fang territory, I climbed the daring 13,760 ft Mount Cameroon by a route not previously attempted by any other European. When I returned home I was greeted by journalists who were eager to interview me. I wrote two books about my travels that were best sellers. Upon a return trip to Africa while treating the natives I contacted and died of typhoid fever. If you do not know who I am by now should wonder how TRAVEL, GENDER, AND IMPERALISM are related? Who Am I?

The Ducks vs. Auburn.

One of the problems with doing Updates is sometimes all my days run together and I can't remember exactly what I did last week. I'll try. Monday, Mom & I took Brother-in-law and sister out to dinner for his birthday. Tuesday & Wednesday nights and Thursday Morning was at Mom's. Thursday afternoon I went to the movie, THE NEXT THREE DAYS. It was OK but I thought the ending was a little disturbing. Friday was Christmas Shopping, picking up & dropping off dry cleaning, picking up drugs, grocery shopping, some reading, and a few other things that that I forgot about. Saturday was watching the Oregon vs. OSU The Oregon Ducks won and now will play Auburn for the National Championship on January 10, 2011 at 5:30 PST in Chandler, Arizona. You have my permission to root for The Ducks.

This coming week seems a little busy. Today is lunch with Mom and if I can find my car amongst all the dirt I will be taking Clara to get a bath. Tomorrow I am going to a book signing. Tuesday I will work all day on a work project. I have set aside Wednesday to write the entire day unless something comes up. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights are at Mom's. The caregiver is going to LA to be with her sister on her sister's birthday so my sister is doing Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It seems exhausting already.

The entertainment update. I just can't get into Skating With The Stars so I haven't a clue what happened on that show. I tried to watch but that lasted about ten minutes before I tried to do something less painful like getting someone to give me fifty lashes with a wet piece of red licorice. On The Amazing Race it was a non-elimination week. There are four teams left and one will be eliminated tonight. I think this year an all woman team will win it. I'm betting on the doctors. On The Apprentice the annoying Lisa was eliminated at the start of the show meaning Clent and Brandy are the two finalists. They did bring back two teams of three made up of previously eliminated contestants with Lisa being included on one team. Two lessons were learned this week; Make sure your tell the photographer exactly what golf course to be at and make sure you spell the featured star's name right on all printed documents. On Top Chef All Stars Elia Aboumrad from Season 2 was eliminated.

I'm closing with good news:

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/12/02/calm-bill-will-at-long-last-stop-loud-commercials/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl3%7Csec4_lnk2%7C188165

It is now your turn to do whatever and say whatever you want on the blog. This is the day for it. This is also the day you share what is going on in and what went on in your lives. I always love to learn about you and what you are doing.

Teens. The Inspiring. The Troubling.

The answer to yesterday's Who Are We was the Hello Girls. You can read all about them in an essay written by one of their daughters:

http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/signal.html

What a shame it is that it not only did it take almost sixty years for them to get their honorable discharges but that they aren't taught in history in schools. We should know about women like this. I found their story very inspirational.

Speaking of inspirational could there be a more inspirational story then the one that follows:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/46915/

She wanted to finish for her coach who suffers from a terminal disease. She did. With the drive that the young woman has, she is going to be an amazing success.

There are good kids accomplishing amazing feats like Holland Reynolds helping her team win the championship and then there are teens that are doing things that are really disturbing:

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/mexico-arrests-el-ponchis-american-boy-alleged-to-be-drug-cartel-hit-man/19745575?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk1%7C188128

Can you believe it? Where in the world were the boys parents? Boggles the mind.

Short day today. Oregon is playing Oregon State in football with the kickoff at 12:36PDT and that is a game for the ages here in Oregon. If Oregon wins they get to play for the national championship. If Oregon State wins they get to claim the state and head to a bowl game. I'm rooting for Oregon simply because I think it would be great for the State of Oregon if a school from our great state played for the championship. January 10, 2011, every TV in the state would be turned to the championship game if it included Oregon.

Your comments about anything, everything, anytime and anywhere are appreciated.

Good News Or Bad News?

I am on the fence on whether or not the following article is good news:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_high_speed_rail

The train would certainly get you where you were going fast, almost as fast as airplanes. But a crash at the high of speed? Would their be survivors?

I'm also on the fence on whether or not the following is good or bad news:

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/12/01/finger-length-could-point-to-prostate-cancer-risk/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk1%7C187781

My ring finger is longer than my index finger. Not by much but still bigger.

The following article I would classify as good news:

http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/arthritis/celebrex-skin-cancer-prevention/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk3%7C187781

Well maybeit isn't good news because a lot of people had to suffer from arthritis before the discovery was made.

Are the articles good news or bad news? Any other comments are also appreciated.

PS

Following the Who Are We is a picture of me in the previously mentioned Canali Suit. It isn't a very good picture. Trust me, I do have a neck. Mom can't stand long enough to take a picture so she took the picture while sitting down and I was looking down at the camera.


WHO ARE WE?

We began in late 1917 when General Pershing's appeal for bilingual telephone-switchboard operators was published in newspapers throughout the United States. It was called an "Emergency Appeal" and specifically requested that women who held the position of switchboard operators be sworn into the U.S. Army. These women were to be subject to all Army regulations, including Court-Martial, as well as another ten rules designed to assure their moral character. Married women were accepted if not married to anyone serving overseas. It was expected we be twenty-five years old. There were few among the 700 volunteers who spoke French. In selecting the first 300, the age requirement and even the switchboard training was waived, for two sisters who had moved from France to the United States, when their widowed mother had married an American. They were 18 and 20. A 19-year-old American of French-Canadian origin also volunteered, she had played piano for dance-bands throughout the Thumb District of Michigan, for six years, since the age of thirteen, and she knew all the World War One popular music. While sailing "Over There" on the S.S. Olympic, which had been placed in quarantine at Southampton, England for two weeks because of the Spanish Influenza pandemic, she entertained the troops. When she was asked by a Red Cross official to accept a position touring camps and hospitals to entertain, she replied that she was in the Army under orders for the duration of the War. When us girls returned to the United States and applied for our honorable discharges we were told they could not have been sworn into the Army, because U.S. Army regulations stated that "males" were sworn in, and said nothing about "persons," as the U.S. Navy regulations had. "Yeomanettes" who served in the United States during WWI, were therefore considered veterans, but not the U.S. Army Signal Corps women, who had served Over There. From 1930 to 1978 we introduced bills into Congress, which had actually given Citations for Bravery to ten of us, to give us our honorable discharges. The ten of us that had received Citations for Bravery were in a building that had caught fire from bombardment and we had been ordered to leave the switchboards. We believed the order for our safety to have been in consideration of our gender and continued to operate until the fire was so threatening that GHQ threatened Court Martial if we did not leave our posts. We were back in an hour after the fire was put out. A Seattle lawyer volunteered his services to help us get our honorable discharges. He and us received help from several Congresspersons, who introduced the bill that gave them recognition of our status, on the 60th anniversary of the Armistice. For the seventy of us still alive, there was nation-wide coverage in the newspapers, but our story has still not been told in the history books. Each of us remaining were visited by a General of the U. S. Army and handed our Honorable Discharge in a ceremony at her home. Who are we?

Rescues

Today the subject is rescues. However, before writing about rescues a little about yesterday's Who Am I. The answer was Sarah Emma Edmonds. Pat asked if we had had her before because she remembered another Who Am I that featured a woman who dressed like a man. We had but that was a former slave. I didn't go to the trouble of finding out the name of the slave and African American. Edmonds was a Canadian Caucasian. Pat's question did spark my curiosity. I did a little research and found out in the following book review that two hundred and forty women dressed as a man to serve their county during the Civil War. Check out the book review:

http://www.cojoweb.com/books-they-fought-like-demons.html

Now on to rescues. I'm starting with the good rescue and the good story:

http://www.pawnation.com/2010/12/02/meet-lily-rescued-from-starvation-she-now-helps-alzheimer-pat/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl6%7Csec1_lnk3%7C187573

Next up is one of the most unique reasons that someone risked his life to save another human:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101130/od_nm/us_newyork_subway

We will close with Rescue for Dummies:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/24/ap/strange/main7087650.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.12

Any comments are appreciated.

Science

Today we are all about science.

An interesting experiment which might lead to an identity crisis for cells. Well, actually the experiment could lead to some amazing cures for disease.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101129/ap_on_sc/us_sci_cell_id_switch

Now that we switched identities of cells, can we talk about slowing global warming? The following scientist is trying a new way to do just that:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_ice_age_park

The ice age is being created but what about the beginning of the universe? Could that be recreated?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101130/sc_livescience/dawnoftheuniverserecreated

Your comments are dearly appreciated.

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1841 and died in 1898. Although I was born in Canada I am known
for serving with the Union Army during the American Civil War. I left home at a young age after my mother and my verbally and physically abusive father attempted to force me to marry a man I hated. I worked for a time as a milliner and later sold Bibles and other odds and ends. Afraid of being found by my father I fled to the United States. During the Civil War, I enlisted in the 2nd Michigan Infantry on my first try, disguising myself as a man named Franklin. Extensive physical examinations were not required for enlistment at the time, and I was not discovered. First I served as a male field nurse, participating in several campaigns under including the First and Second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, the Pensilur Campaign, Vicksburg, among others. My career took a turn before the war when a Union spy was discovered and went before a firing squad, which opened up a slot in intelligence gathering for me. Seeing this as an opportunity to avenge a fallen comrade's death I eagerly accepted. When I went before the committee for an interview as Franklin, I impressed the committee and the position was given to me. Having to travel into enemy territory in order to gather information required me to come up with many disguises and I established several. For my first disguise I used silver nitrate to dye my skin black, used a black wig, and walked into the Confederacy disguised as a black manm by the name of Cliff. Another time I entered as an Irish peddler woman by the name of Bridget claiming that I was selling apples and soap to the soldiers. Yet another time I was "working for the Confederates" as a black laundress when a packet of official papers fell out of an officer's jacket. When I returned to the Union with the papers, the generals were quite pleased. My career as Franklin came to an end when I contracted malaria. Unable to go to the military hospital, because I would be revealed as a woman, I left the army and checked myself in to a private hospital, intending to return to military life once I had recuperated. Once I recovered I saw posters listing Franklin as a deserter. Rather than return to the army under another alias or as Franklin in which case I would be shot for deserting I decided to serve as a female nurse at a Washington, D.C. hospital for wounded soldiers run by the United States Christian Commission. After the war I married a Canadian mechanic with whom I had three children. My two sons and daughter died young, so I took in two boys. I received a government pension of $12 a month for my military service, and after some campaigning gained an honorable discharge. I was inducted posthumously into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. If you don't know Who I am by now maybe you should read what I wrote about being a NURSE AND SPY IN THE UNION ARMY. That could help you answer the question, Who Am I?

Yoga, Boring Days, & Exciting Cities

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Margaret B. Davis.

First up today is a woman that I would absolutely love:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101129/lf_nm_life/us_fitness_yoga

Sometimes my life is really boring. Ever wonder what the most boring day in history was? I have the answer for you:

http://www.switched.com/2010/11/29/computer-declares-most-boring-day-william-turnstall-pedoe/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl5%7Csec3_lnk1%7C187004

Are you so bored that you want to move to a different city? The most recent survey of the best places to live is out. Number one the best places to live also shows up as number one on the worst places to live. Mary's Seattle and Pat's Los Angeles make this surprising list of best cities.

http://realestate.aol.com/home-prices/us-cities-we-want-to-live-in?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl9%7Csec1_lnk3%7C186995

Short post today because I have to pack and get ready to spend the next two nights at Mom's. What was the most boring day in your life? I can't really answer that because I have had to go to so many accounting seminars during my life. If you wanted to move from the city you now live in, would you move to any city on the above list? I would like to re-try Los Angeles. Then Ashland, Oregon. Are you going to doing you yoga at 92? Not me, I'll be dead. Any other comments you would like to make? Feel free.

Turkeys, Open Minds, & Oscar Hosts.

I wanted to let you know that Snugpug checked in with us. You can read her comment in the comment section here:

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/11/tunnels-trunks-heartless-thieves.html

Her husband had quite a scare and she has been up to her ears in hospital waiting time. Her husband is home now and we wish him the best.

Turkey is big this time of year and turkeys in the news have big all year. Here are the biggest turkeys this year according to AOL news.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/aol-news-2010-news-turkeys/19711562?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C186338

I would put the teen that the tried to blow up downtown Portland on the list. Anyone you want to add to the list? Anyone that is already on the list that shouldn't be?

Next up is an article I would classify as the master of the obvious:

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/mind-soul/2010-11-23-goodtraits23_ST_N.htm

Of course being open minded and happy you live longer. Or do you agree?

I'm closing with the article that discloses who will host the Oscar telecast next February. I found it to be a complete surprise. Not in the Steve Martin or Ellen DeGeneres mold:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101129/ap_en_ce/us_oscars_hosts

Are you surprised by the choices?

That is it for the day. Off to do some mailings and then tonight Mom & I are taking brother-in-law out for dinner for his birthday. Comments are always appreciated.

WHO AM I

I was born ub 1931 and started a career as a paleoecologist, a discipline that studies past ecologies of the Earth by geological evidence in fossils. Paleoecologists had been utilizing correction factors between 4:1 and 35:1. I threw a monkey wrench in these calculations by suggesting correction factors of as much as 24,000:1. After growing up I attended Radcliffe College, where I studied floral physiology and ecology as well as stratigraphic pollen deposits from the late Quaternary period. I earned my B.A. degree in biology. I won a Fulbright Fellowship from 1953 through 1954 to research of pollen from ancient plants at the University of Copenhagen. When I returned I married and then fourteen years later divorced. I used my Europe findings to earn my Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University. Harvard retained me as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow for two years and then I transferred this fellowship to the California Institute of Technology. I eventually went to Yale for a year to study the correlation between vegetation composition and pollen sedimentation in lakes. I would eventually become a professor of biology at Yale. I am now Regents’ Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at a Midwestern college. Throughout my career I published more than 65 papers, and served as president of the American Quaternary Association and of the Ecological Society of America. I have received numerous honors, including the Ecological Society of America’s Eminent Ecologist Award as well as the 1993 Nevada Medal. If you don't know who I am by now did you wonder what I had to say ON THE THEORY OF POLLEN ANALYSIS?