SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2006
One Down, Eleven to Go!

Sheila and I took a nice sunset walk to the very end of the levee then back to Broad Street to Fifth Ave., back to Ave. A, and home. About 3 miles. That officially puts me over the Monthly Marathon distance for January. Ta-dah!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2006

Getting close!

Sheila and I (and Daisy for part of it) got in two long walks today to make up for the lack of walking the past week. Rehearsals every night until ten-thirty or eleven! Anyway, the marathon distance is still doable before Wednesday. How're the rest of you doing?

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2006

Today I marched in the 19th Annual MLK Day Freedom March up Broad Sreet in Rome, Georgia. (Read my post about the march at Alone on A Limb.) It gives me an opportunity to stand up in my community and publically declare, by my presence, that I support the brotherhood of all. And this year the bonus of moving my Monthly Marathon meter along a little. Getting there, marching up Broad and then walking briskly back to my car got me a total of 3633 steps, 1.5 miles. The march itself was a little slow but I deliberately walked briskly to and from.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2006

Sunday Report - Terrell

I got out after all sensible folk were in bed tonight and walked to the all night pharmacy about a mile away to pick up a prescription and wandered the city streets and the levee for another couple of miles to get home. The air was so nice and cool and I had my soundtrack to "The Civil War" on the CD player, so it served as rehearsal time too.

I'd love to give a little more time to blogging, but ....

I'll crosspost this on Alone On A Limb.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2006

Saturday Report - Terrell

I have fallen off, what with all my (fill in assorted lame excuses here). Nice walk in the cold tonight. I'm still on target to get the marathon mileage, though. And I'm over the halfway hump. and there's still half a 31-day month left.

But I have a competitive streak, and Joan is beating me!

Joan: Yes, Terrell; but Joan is retired. I ought to be keeping up with that 100-year-old former Georgian in Oregon! Instead I am barely squeezing in a little over a mile a day

But Daisy, my poor little blind/deaf Cocker Spaniel, and I got in a mile and a half on the levee tonight. Gorgeous weather. Nice walk. Maybe I'll get back to blogoshere participation next month.

Keep walking, folks!

awwww...I used to have a cocker spaniel named Tawny that was her color.... love those dogs and of course, the exercise will keep her in good shape too.

Walking the streets again... this time at 10 p.m.

School starts tomorrow - so my Christmas vacation is over. It'll be much harder to get my walking in.

You're doing great!

Another 3 mile brisk walk along the sidewalks. With plays and school and getting ready to send Brannon to Florida, it's been hard to get in the daily walks. My bad

Joan: I have to keep reminding myself that it doesn't HAVE to be daily! I would prefer to do it that way; but the deal is just to get in the 26.2 during the month. I missed yesterday too. I really like the little graphics you all are including -- my progress reports seem pretty bland.

Favorite Musical, Favorite Character

Surprise, surprise!!

I'm Jean Valjean, a criminal turned saint.


Which Les Miserables character are you?
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Thirteen Questions

Thirteen Questions/Assignments
for my Thursday Thirteen Friends

1/25/06 from Alone on a Limb

Here's my own little Thursday Thirteen meme. I'll try to respond to it myself next Thursday. You, dear reader, are welcome to copy it at will and spread it far and wide as long as you include my link. I'd like to see what the blogoshere comes up with as a result -- especially for number 12 and number 13.

1. What is your earliest memory?
2. What was your longest hike?
3. When were you most alone?
4. Describe a carefree moment of your life:
5. What has been your most daring moment?
6. Describe what you admire about someone you consider a personal hero/heroine:
7. What is your most interesting/outstanding talent?
8. You have won a free seven day airfare to the destination of your choice. Where and why?
9. Climb aboard my time/space machine. You get one turn and must return after the equivalent of a week's visit. Where, when, and why?
10. You have been appointed executor of my $10,000,000 charitable bequest. How will you use it?
11. What is your proudest accomplishment?
12. What question/assignment would you add to this meme? (Let me know!)
13. Write a seven line poem (diamante) about a person, place, or thing this meme has brought to mind. Use this form:

Diamante diagram taken from this website:
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3341/mythicmirror/pattern.html

Please link your response to Alone on a Limb.
www.aloneonalimb.blogspot.com

These folks gave it a shot, check 'em out:
Cozy Reader
Alone On A Limb
The Median Sib
Daddy's Roses
Stop Fidgiting



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Twenty-seven Questions

Why not?

The Median Sib did not tag me with this meme, but why not? I’ll give it a whirl:

• 1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what did you think? After several years of beard, I shaved yesterday (for my part as the rotten, racist prosecutor in To Kill A Mockingbird) so I thought: “Wow!! Look at that old, fat, face that’s been hiding under my beard!”
• 2. How much cash do you have on you? $0... I am - shame on me- still in costume from rehearsal. Don’t tell my director. I think there are about eight bucks in my show bag.
• 3. What's a word that rhymes with "TEST"? Carressed?
• 4. Favorite planet? The Big Blue Marble
• 5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? “Home.” That’s probably Lil.
• 6. What is your favorite ring on your phone? One I can actually pick out of the everyday sounds and recognise as a phone ring.
• 7. What shirt are you wearing? A long-sleeve, dress, white shirt with tie. The prosecuter, remember?
• 8. Do you "label" yourself? Labeling is a pet peeve. I don’t believe I am easily labeled.
• 9. Name the brand of shoes you're currently wearing now: I have no idea!! They are very plain, black, dress, lace-up shoes.
• 10. Bright or Dark Room? I like a homey, somewhat cluttered mix.
• 11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? She’s smart, talented, full of life and spunk, a loving mother and grandmother, and a great reading teacher. She’s also my sister.
• 12. What were you doing at midnight last night? Trying to wind down from rehearsal and get to sleep so I could rise in less than six hours.
• 13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten a personal text message. A few messages from Cingular. It’s not a feature I’m interested in using.
• 14. Where is your nearest 7-11? A couple of city blocks-- a Sav-a-Ton convenience store/gas station.
  
• 15. What's a saying(s) that you say a lot? “by cracky”, “I swanie!” “Yo soy un hombre sincero!”
• 16.Who told you they loved you last? Brannon. (She called a few minutes ago.)
• 17. Last furry thing you touched? Daisy, the blind, deaf Cocker Spaniel.
• 18. How many days of school did you miss this week? None. I’ll miss one for school shows of To Kill A Mockingbird next week.
• 19. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed? I use a digital camera, mostly. There may be an old roll around, but I’m unaware of it.
• 20. Favorite age you have been so far? College years. Early marriage years. My kids’ early years. Now. 51 (when I did Shenandoah!)
• 21. Your worst enemy? Definitely Terrell Shaw, though I like him a lot better than some folks. The Shrub comes to mind.
• 22. What is your current desktop picture? The MLK Day March down Broad Street.
• 23. What was the last thing you said to someone? "Do you know where my bag is?”
• 24. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you choose? I ‘spect, should I manage to fly reliably, repeatedly, and unassisted, a mere million would seem chicken feed.
  
• 25. Do you like someone? I like most folks. I have rarely been able to hold a grudge, other than a certain charlatan on Penn. Ave. who has spent the last five years dreaming up ways of dividing the nation and the world.
  
• 26. The last song you listened to? The country song the director is playing at the curtain of TKAM. I don’t know the name.
• 27. Carmen Electra or Pam Anderson? I probably shouldn’t admit my ignorance: Though these are familiar names, I have only a vague idea that they are both sposed to be sexy. I think they are probably singers or actors but I have no idea of anything they’ve been in. So I’ll say: Julie Christie. Ah, Lara...

If you like, consider yourself tagged, copy these questions, and there's a quick post.

35 Years

35 Years Ago Today

On January 23, 1971, beside a tiny stream splashing down the side of
Fort Mountain through huge pines, I asked Sheila Ann Matthews to marry me.

Best move of my life.

35 years later she is still the love of my life and my best friend.

Why We Fight

What Do You Think?

I happened to see this article on AOL. I don't know anything about this guy, but the following responses struck a chord with my thoughts.

Moviefone: Do you consider yourself a pacifist?

Eugene Jarecki: Wouldn't everybody consider themselves (pacifists)? Wouldn't everybody prefer peaceful resolutions of problems to violent resolutions of problems?

MF: But if everyone considered themselves pacifists then maybe we wouldn't be engaged in war in Iraq.

EJ:I don't know that that's true. I think that puts blame at the foot of people who probably think they're doing the best they can. Many of the people we talked to up and down the chain of command, they don't think, "I kill people for a living." They think, "I wield force because without that wielding of force worse things will happen." Now whether they're right or wrong may be a subject of debate, and whether they were right or wrong to think that the Iraq War was a worthwhile gamble, or that kind of thinking, is worthy of debate. But that's what their inner thinking is telling them. They're not going through life thinking "I like war." They're actually going through life thinking, "If I drop two bombs on a Monday it might prevent other bombs from blowing up on a Tuesday." And there have been times in history where that was probably a defensible way of thinking. I would say obviously all of those people, in a world where it's possible to be so, would be pacifists. The problem is that the world we're living in is very much through the looking glass. We are past the point of no return on a lot of ways that the world is run, and it is increasingly run by a smaller and smaller handful of figures and elite corporations who are making those decisions about when it's necessary to use force without democratic consensus and without a democratic process.

I know enough of real people to know the "everybody" in his first response cannot really be "everybody", but, instead, "most folks". There is a small proportion of folks who enjoy making others suffer: that is why we must have very strict controls on the use of force by interrogators in wartime situations or some will end up doing more harm than good as they have in Iraq. Even my hero, Robert E. Lee, said:

“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should get too fond of it."

But he also said:

“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself."

When I read the blogs of those, who at least in regards to the "war on terrorism," are on the radical right, I suspect they largely think themselves realistic "pacifists" forced by terrible circumstances to drop those preventive bombs. Put them at the sites of those bombs, many of these same people would be risking their own lives to save the bystanding babies and even grown babies maimed by their bombs. They are not evil people, just scared and mistaken people.

The evil is in those who manipulate the fear and who look on terrorist attacks, war, and recession as a "trifecta" for their political interests.