Click on the purple

We recently had a stack of legal papers to sign.  Each place where a signature was called for had a purple spot on the computer display.   We were asked to click the mouse on each purple spot and our “signature” would immediately replace the purple bit.  All our clicks were witnessed by two members of the staff but I want to avoid taking a test on what I “signed”.  We did discuss what the papers said a week or so beforehand but still…

Poetry and me

Our former teacher told me about an event at the library and I got myself there.  It was a meeting of the local chapter of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.  I am definitely not much of a poet.  Here is a sample of my poetry.  It might be my entire production of poems.

https://sites.google.com/view/kirbyvariety1/bill-kirby-poems

I have had courses in English departments that included work on and with poems.  I have never felt drawn to writing poems but I am quite interested in the best wording for what I am trying to say.  

Lynn and I have enjoyed the three part special on PBS by Ken Burns and crew about Henry David Thoreau.  I thought of saying to the small group at the library that they might enjoy reading “Walden” for the poetic images that imaginative individuals used in his book.

Blog statistics

Most days, as I finish a blog post, I check the web page to see that the post was posted nicely.  It is only a click or two away from the page and the owner (me) can see the past week’s statistics about the blog.  I am a fan and former teacher of basic statistics and I am interested.  The information of most interest to me is the number of blog visits during the past week from viewers in different countries around the globe.  Usually, there have been blog page views from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.  Sometimes, Australia too but not Antarctica.

Looking at babies and toddlers

When I look at a baby or toddler, I feel something happen in me.  It is usually a joyous moment.  It is so strong and so reliable, I wondered if what I feel is a common experience.  I looked up:

“is there a human reflex that is felt when an adult looks at a baby or toddler?"  Here is a link to what I found: t.ly/1Soiz

I guess what I feel is an innate nurturing response.  I really like the way babies stare at a face as though they are hypnotized.

I don't know!

Henry David Thoreau first came to my attention when I was about 14 years old. Our English teacher gave us a flyer listing books we might enjoy.  One was “Walden” by Thoreau.  The description of the book intrigued me and I bought the book.  At about 17 years old, I tried basing an English paper in college on the book. Last night, we gravitated to Wisconsin Public TV and the Ken Burns programs about Thoreau.  That got me reading Walden again.

Today, I read his question “How can he remember well his ignorance when he so has often to use his knowledge?”  That brought my friend’s description of worry about that day’s doctoral oral exam to mind: “They could ask me ANYTHING!”  She was aware of her ignorance of many, many subjects.  I have often wondered if some such stark focus on what one does not know is a pivotal part of being helpfully educated.

The world of feminine beauty

We watched “Legally Blonde” on a whim.  We had seen it before but that time I paid attention to the story, to what happens.  This time, I paid attention to the world of beauty.  I see that a real beauty queen gets a facial, skin treatments, comes close to being assaulted with all the things that must be done to her skin, her hair, her nails, her other nails and plenty of other things that guys are not allowed to even know about.  Once that is all properly done, she is PERFECT! (for a short time). 

Morning sites

I still look at CNN Five Things AM.  The limit of five items appeals to me and I am a fan of the language Alexandra Banner uses.  It is clear, honest, direct without being comforting or scary.  I supply my own level of comfort or fright.  My wife and I share events on Google Calendar despite Apple efforts to get us to use their products exclusively.  I am not trained in meteorology but I like to see all of the US at radar.weather.gov. I still use Gmail mostly and rarely use Voice for texting. 

Happy

I may not have time later so I am blogging earlier than usual.  

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!

Wishing you a fine day!

Ice storm #2

We just had our second ice storm.  The temperatures and moisture content of the air are just right to coat the trees with ice.  The result can be visually unusual but the situation creates an overload of broken power lines.  I am an ex-Boy Scout and I know humans can do all right without electricity. But we are used to having a supply and the things we derive from the supply such as tv and digital communications.  

I am surprised that as the day warms, ice on trees not only falls off but it often bounces when it hits the ground. 

"Call" and "Hurt"

I wrote some about the book “This Is Going to Hurt” by Adam Kay.  That book and the TV show “Call the Midwife”, now in its 15th season”, are both about women’s lives and bodies.  It is amazing that we all came out of a woman’s body.  That fact and how the process of us emerging gets started is often disguised or avoided with children until somebody thinks they are old enough to hear about what happens.

To this American with a rather sketchy understanding of medical training and the vocabulary connected to it, reading about medical training in Britain is interesting.  But I didn’t know that the training involved is in the gynecology and obstetrics field.  I read that “Call the Midwife” was very popular on British TV.  I am confident there are many paths to interest in the book and the TV series.  Both are arresting.  

Take the recent episode in the book where a young woman was unhappy with the appearance of her labia and just took some scissors to what she felt was misshaped. She bled very badly, even to the point of threatening her life.  She explained to the author that she just wanted to look normal.