partsofspeaking

Jerry Stiller recently passed away. He had a second life as George Costanza's father and as a character on King of Queens (a show I may have watched 20 minutes of, all told). To say he played a crotchety old man is an understatement; he played the ultimate in embarrassing elderly relatives. Famously, he celebrated Festivus, with the line, "It's time for the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about 'em." In the spirit of Jerry Stiller, I'm going to express some opinions here. 1. The opening credits music of To Kill a Mockingbird is the most hauntingly beautiful score. 2. What is this about "Karens"? I certainly hope I'm not one. From the description, I think I'm safe. Definitely not my haircut. 3. We will never know the real number of deaths of coronavirus. 4. We will live with conspiracy theories about coronavirus for many, many years. 5. The government and public health an...

I hear a lot of people on podcasts talking about the great television of the last twenty years, especially on HBO. For me, I'll stick with The Twilight Zone, which I think has had more effect (positive, of course) on writers of a certain age than any one show. I know it has shaped my short fiction. Tonight I watched "Mirror Image." At first, I was annoyed while at the same time drawn in and seduced. Is this going to be a "women hysteria" thing? A pre-60s-feminist-woman-with-mental-problems thing? Shame on me for thinking that TTZ would take such a superficial approach to storytelling. I won't give it away; it's short, on Netflix and other places, and easy to find. Vera Miles is pretty enough to watch, doesn't overdo her part, but isn't movie start I can't believe she's riding a bus glamorous. At the end of the preceding episode of TTZ, Serling admits he doesn't do the female perspective well but that Miss Miles is going to help h...

Lots of them. Please check out Barbara G. Tucker (or Barbara Graham Tucker) on Amazon. I realize money is tight for everyone; those of us with good steady jobs are still angsty about spending money now. But my books on Kindle are really low-priced. Contemporary fiction, mysteries, Southern-themed, faith-based, depending on what you read.   

Recently I fulfilled a fifteen-year-old goal and joined Toastmasters. The COVID-19 situation has somewhat dampened our meetings, but I enjoy it a lot. My goals in doing so were to: (1) gain credentials and some branding that I can use in my erstwhile business; (2) improve my nonacademic public speaking skills; and (3) meet people in the community. We also have to have community service credit at the college, so this seemed like a good option. Next month I give my second speech in my first pathway. They are somewhat lenient on topics, so I hope this works. All my life I have been in a minority. That’s a pretty bold statement, so let me explain. In my family, the men have outnumbered the women 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 for three generations. My father had eight brothers and three sisters. My mother had three brothers and no sisters. My husband has three brothers and no sisters, and I had three brothers and no sisters. My mother-in-laws grandchildren numbered 4 boys and o...

This may not be as original as I think it is, but after listening to a lot of podcast on politics (thanks to the Dispatch media folks) I've decided we need to replace libertarianism and conservatism with a new word, limitarianism. The key here is limited, but not in limited rights for people like me. I mean limited: government intrusion in our lives limited expectation for the government to solve problems taxes for things that don't help the public good help to those who don't deserve it illegal immigration This is a little tongue in cheek; the list runs intentionally from reasonable to fanatical.  Or maybe not. There are many times I have wanted to vote libertarian, and have when so opposed to the two options I was given, but I could never call myself a libertarian. Their policies on drugs is ridiculous and even worse, too important to them. Check out their websites: the first issue is usually marijuana legalization. Is that what I'm supposed to care about mos...

I have been reading about this tragedy in Brunswick. Questions: 1. Why in the H did it take two months for any news of this to come out? 2. Why did those two men think it was a good idea to carry guns with them? (this is ironic, of course; the point was not that it was a good idea, but their God-given right to carry a gun. Granted they may have thought Mr. Arbery was armed; still .....) 3. Why did they think it was a good idea to follow the young man in their truck? (if Mr. Arbery were armed, what good would come of it?) 4. Why do so many white people jump to the conclusion of "black jogger" equals thief? Or black shopper means shoplifter? I have lived through this when I was younger and thought it was better now. It's despicable. 5. Why did Mr. Arbery lunge at the man with the gun? This is not an accusation, only a reflection on why he would put himself in danger like that, no matter the situation. Lunging at guns is not a good idea. He perhaps thought this was hi...

In my doctoral work I learned about Chris Argyris and Donald Schon's work. Here is a good synopsis: https://infed.org/mobi/chris-argyris-theories-of-action-double-loop-learning-and-organizational-learning/ Briefly, Argyris proposed "Theories in use" or "theories in action" vs. espoused theory, and used action science methodologies to pull out those theories in use that conflict with espoused theory. I see the value of using this approach in, for example, an interpersonal communication or a management class. I may say I believe, or have a mental map, of a certain type, but when I am in the situation, I might default to another mental map: my theories in action, that I don't even recognize fully or at all. I think this relates to hypocrisy, or accusations thereof. We do not always see our theories in use in conflict with our espoused theories. It takes a sometimes painful process to bring them out.

1. Streaming worship services are a poor substitute for in-person worship, but I greatly appreciate those who lead it. 2. Jesus said, come, take up your cross.  As Bonhoeffer put it, come and die (at least in terms of ego if not body). He didn't say "Come and be cool." Yet, in trying to be relevant, we allow for the cool factor in modern U.S. worship. 3. Case in point: Our church played a video of two missionaries, women from Jamaica, who have a medical ministry to Liberia and other countries. They are remarkable. They have taken up their crosses. They and their constituents are not conscious of the cool factor. We spend a lot of time worrying about the cool factor.  4. We sang a song with the words "consume me." I do not find that in Scripture. Consuming is judgment. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)  God is not interested in consuming us, thank Him for that. The tune is catchy but the words are wrong. 5. T...

What exactly is hypocrisy, that all-purpose accusation? We are often told in sermons that the word stems from the Greek actors in the theatres. Masks of that time were not flimsy face coverings. Look them up--they were heavy (stone or metal), huge so they could be seen throughout the theatre, had built-in natural megaphones, and were not pretty; they were meant to characterize the person in the play and extend or communicate the plot. All that said, putting on a mask in that time was a very intentional process, which is the first quality of hypocrisy: intentional deception or hiding of one aspect (the face, here) for the purpose of something else being seen. The  motivation was not self-aggrandizement per se.  When we say someone is putting on a mask, we mean they are acting in a way that prevents us from seeing their "true inner self." But who really wants every aspect of their true hidden self to be revealed? We have good reasons for everything about us not to be visi...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/8-rules-to-do-everything-better?utm_source=pocket-newtab Every time I open a browser window, I get links to articles. They are better than click bait; obviously the program has figured out what I like, history, literature, and evidence-based self-help. This article popped up and I agree with it, although in #5 we read: In Stanford researcher BJ Fogg’s behavior model , whether someone takes action depends on both their motivation and their ability to complete a given task. Actually, that should read, I think, "their belief in their ability to complete a given task (perhaps in addition to the ability). In other words, their self-efficacy, as Alfred Bandura has researched We can have the ability, but if we do not believe it or recognize it, we will not attempt or succeed.  Self-efficacy is more specific than the global self-confidence; self-efficacy connects to specific tasks.

An explication, using the King James language because that's what we know, in the time of COVID-19. Our Father, Who art in Heaven. And if in heaven and the Father, who is in charge? Hallowed be Thy name.  Holiness is one of the most utilized character traits of the Father. Why? Why not love or justice or wrath? Because holiness is far more than we think of. Our thoughts run to a form of human purity and piety. That is not the holiness of God. Holy means separate, which means "not us" as well as "separate from sin." We are not praying to ourselves. We are not praying to a big version of mankind, a superhero. In the first two lines of this model prayer, if we are intentionally and consciously and conscientiously praying it, we are aligning ourselves cognitively and emotionally and willfully with the direction of a totally other being upon whom we are totally dependent. So don't say these lines without full purpose. Give us this day our daily bread. We ...