TALKING TO ONESELF...

Don't worry--if you talk to yourself, I won't let it get out. Some folks like to keep their opinions (and habits, etc.) to themselves.

But some of us do talk to ourselves, and for different reasons.

• Trying out different answers to a perplexing question--what color to paint the house this time? Is there any point in redoing all the landscaping, or can it be reworked in sections? 
• Is there a satisfactory answer to relationship problems? Is this something I can do myself, or do I need to find help?
• Am I the only kid on my block with money problems?

Lately I've been consulting myself on a different kind of question. Ready? Okay, here goes: How do I keep my spirits up when I'm facing something that seems to have the personality of an outsize boulder in the middle of the highway?

This is the kind of situation that has no easy answer.

It calls for thinking outside the box.

And--worst of all--it's totally personal. My answer might not work for you. Your advice seems totally outside anything I'd consider. So on and so on.

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So I've come up with some possible solutions--you might call them generic stuff. Or, One Size Fits A Lot Of People.

Okay, I'll admit, these work for me, but with a little tweaking or adjusting or turning it on its head, it might do the trick for you.

1--I watch a movie (or tv series) that draws me out of myself. The best ones, I've found, are ones I know well--if I already know most of the dialogue, I don't have to listen too closely. That allows my mind some space to veg out. (It thinks it's doing something just by listening.)

     In some cases, my thorny problem might be solved by the show itself.

2--I read. Could be an old favorite. Could be a new story that might eventually become an old favorite. I especially go for "escape" fiction. Like a little mental vacation.

3--I do something totally unrelated to my problem--sewing, quilting, playing the piano, looking up lyrics to songs I half-know, looking up poems (also half-remembered).

4--I seek advice from, well, practically anybody--writers, artists, essayists I've read in the past. If my mood is on the dark side, I try to find somebody whose work is guaranteed to make me smile. Erma Bombeck always did that for me. Phyllis Diller. Betty White. 

5--When all else fails, I put on a CD that always makes me cry. Yes, you read that correctly. My dad used to listen to sad cowboy songs when I was a kid. Supposed to be a good therapy--stimulating us to feel our feelings. Never mind the explanation, just try it.

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You probably already have your personal therapies. If they involve talking to yourself, then have at it. Your secret is safe with me!

Blessings,

Thursday's Child

P.S.--Happy Autumn!!

 

CELEBRATING MARK TWAIN

He was born November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. He was christened Samuel Cleghorn Clemens.

If you were around in the first half of the 20th Century, you probably met the author (who adopted the name Mark Twain) in your school work. Two of his best known books (still read) are Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And a well-known short story, often anthologized, is "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

Some writers claim Mark Twain was known for his optimism. Others claim he lost that optimism as he aged and death claimed his loved ones.

Today, let's celebrate the optimistic--and humorous--Mark Twain. Some of his wisdom still rings true!

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One of my favorites:

"The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened."

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If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first. — Mark Twain

     This quotation was used as the basis of a how-to book on getting things done. Don't remember the name of it, but I did read it.

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The secret of getting ahead is getting started. --Mark Twain

     Still good advice--I see it on nearly every art video these days.

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If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything. --Mark Twain

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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. --
Mark Twain

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But the main quote I read that started me thinking about a topic for this post was the following:

What a good thing Adam had--when he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before him.--Mark Twain

Blessings, 

Thursday's Child

 

Autumn is coming!

 

 

 SOME PUZZLING THOUGHTS.....

[THE FIRST PUZZLING THOUGHT--I CAN'T GET PICTURES/IMAGES TO COPY HERE. SORRY--TECHNICAL ERRORS TRULY PUZZLE ME.] 

Many years ago, I became intrigued by solving puzzles.

First there were picture puzzles--100 pieces! 500 pieces! 1000 pieces! Clues were in the pictures--if you were supposed to fit all those little pieces together and get a big picture of, say, a box of chocolates, well, you looked for the design of chocolate swirls, and wavy lines of the paper dividers.

Another kind of picture puzzle had only parts of the design, with significant sections left out. The thing that might be an elephant's ear was only a curve--it could be anything! Another twist was the two-color picture--black and white or blue and white; no hints in the change of color.

As I progressed in school, I also progressed in puzzles. After pictures, there were puzzles with NO pictures--puzzles with words only.

I have to confess--some puzzles are still a closed book to me. For example, unless an anagram is practically transparent, it can take me forever to untangle it.

In case you've forgotten what an anagram is, I can give you some simple examples. The word bats is an anagram for tabs. Same letters, different order; making a real word. In mystery stories, the sleuth is always looking at a jumble of 8 or 10 or more letters--and a perfectly good, understandable, word in English, and blurting out a totally different polysyllabic word (using every letter), which (of course) solves the mystery. I'll stand on the sidelines and applaud. Can't do it myself.

Another word puzzle that "puzzles" me is the crostic. (AKA anacrostic) It's a cousin to the crossword, but the clues are written in a separate area, each space is numbered, and those numbered letters are transferred to a larger area (also numbered). Eventually a series of words will be revealed, and you can read a quotation. If my explanation leaves you totally in the dark, search on anacrostic for a better one.

I've tried anacrostics with little success. But this type of puzzle is often used by characters in books and movies--the kind of characters who have super-brains.

Other types of super-brainy characters do their crosswords in ink. Inspector Morse was one of those.

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I am well acquainted with crossword puzzles, and have a regular date each morning with the New York Times Mini. It has enough quick answers to keep me coming back every day, and enough tricky clues to stimulate my brain early in the morning. And I've learned a couple of things--some answers keep me in the current usage loop, and others satisfy me that I still possess a working brain.

Another popular type of puzzle is the Word Search. Some people get through a whole book of them in no time, it seems; but I get lost with upside-down-diagonals. so I stick to the traditional crossword.

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Recently I came across a type of puzzle that I've not seen much. In an author commentary on parts of a PBS set of mysteries (Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders, Marble Hall Murders) Anthony Horowitz said he likes three kinds of puzzles: anagrams, crostics, and lipograms. Well, we've looked at the first two. How about a gander at lipograms?

A lipogram is writing that leaves out a letter. Here's another one you can type into your preferred search engine and learn more than you ever wanted to know. It's been around since 6th century BCE, but makes reading a challenge sometimes, so it's not popular in my neck of the woods. 

Here's an example from Wikipedia:

 A pangrammatic lipogram is a text that uses every letter of the alphabet except one. For example, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" omits the letter S, which the usual pangram includes by using the word jumps.

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I know what you're thinking--Life is puzzling enough (don't get me started), why should I think about these wordy things? Well, why not? Keeps you from getting wound up in your daily life, gives your brain some exercise, and who knows--you may solve a mystery some day because of your puzzle habit!

Blessings,

Thursday's Child

 

  

L I F E

It just has to be said: Sometimes life makes no sense. So today I'm throwing together thoughts/opinions of other folks who thought they had a handle on it. Ready?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life's more amusing than we thought. Andrew Lang

I have found that, if you love life, life will love you back. Arthur Rubenstein 

Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it. Irving Berlin 

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. Joseph Campbell

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. Mark Twain

 

 

Hope your Life is comfortable during these hot-hot-hot days of September!!

 

Blessings,

Thursday's Child