partsofspeaking

Thursday I went to see my mother-in-law in South Carolina.   I went by myself and with the dog, because my husband had to work on my car (big job) and he says the dog is too demanding for him to take care of both!   The dog can be very clingy.   Anyway, I really just went because it was my mother-in-law’s 76 th birthday and I didn’t want to see anyone else there, so I came home Friday.   I was driving the truck, which has no cruise control and little power, and I drove through the mountains, so it was tiring.   My mother-in-law’s phone rings constantly.   I would listen to her conversations to try to figure out who is on the other end of the line.   I could usually tell by what she said.   I bring this up because reading some of Paul’s epistles is a little like listening to one side of a phone conversation; if you don’t know a lot about the other person on the line, it won’t make much sense to you.   S...

Another trait of spirituality is discipline.  However, this is not to be confused with following rules.  Spiritual discipline is about singularity of focus related to spiritual goals and activities. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_supreme_court_funeral_protests I am angry only because these people use the word Baptist and because they use their God-given rights to be so evil and hurtful.  But I am a free speech advocate and am glad to see it protected. 

I have always done my own taxes.  Except for the year we bought this house, I have never used a third party tax preparer in my adult life.  But this year I had some good reason to go to, well, H.R. Block. Let's just say that, yes, they charged me a hefty fee, but they found me over twice as much money as I could have possible found myself on a refund, and it's a pretty hefty amount itself.  So I am happy.  Perhaps other tax preparers could have done the same; I don't know.  But I am happy this evening to have my taxes done and know I'll be a good bit richer in a few weeks.

I do not talk very much in class about speech anxiety for two reasons. First, there are other resources I can point you to. (See Public Speaking Series #12, upcoming).  Secondly, it's like swimming:   “Just do it,” as the Nike commercial says. Each time you succeed at something fearful, you have faced your fears and started to conquer them. But I do have a few pointers. A. You never look as nervous to others as you feel inside. B. If you focus on your message and motivation, a great deal of the fear will be displaced. It’s not about you, it’s about the message and the purpose and the audience. C. Think about why you are nervous. What are you afraid of, really? For most people, it is fear of failure and/or fear of rejection. At least in this class, you don’t have to worry about the second. We’re all in this together, and I go to great lengths to make sure the class is attentive during the speech rather than distracting, and supportive rather than adversarial. However, I do r...

Interesting piece. http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/03/toddlers_tiaras_and_surviving.html My reaction is, why have we created a generation of obsessed children?  Why can't a child read Harry Potter, or play princess, then put it away and do life?  Why must a child read every Harry Potter as soon as it's printed, dress up as a wizard to see the movies at 12:01 a.m. on opening night, or be completely Disneyfied?  Things can have a small place in one's life and not control it. 

Why the news media actually reports on the inane rambling of Charlie Sheen when the world is absolutely falling into chaos?