True that
by chuckofish
“I would far rather have two or three lilies of the valley gathered for me by a person I like, than the most expensive bouquet that could be bought!”
― Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters
dual personalities
Category: Uncategorized
March 10, 2014
Don’t tell me the lights are shining any place but there*
by chuckofish
Did you have a pleasant weekend?
Earlier in the week my dual personality sent me a couple of old books that were right up my alley,
so I had those to peruse. I also picked up a pillow that I had left to be finished at the Sign of the Arrow.
If you recall, I bought it at an estate sale. I thought it was Edinburgh Castle, but a friend told me he thought it was Strasbourg. Well, hats off to Allan’s eagle eye, because when I separated it from its tacky polyester backing and took it apart, it said “Strasbourg” on the original canvas. The ladies at the Sign of the Arrow were impressed with the design and workmanship and it turned out really well, don’t you agree?
On Sunday afternoon, the OM had the bright idea to go down to the Riverfront to see the new Stan Musial bridge.
Here is the OM taking a picture of the bridge in front of one of the ubiquitous “cakes” that are found throughout the city and county celebrating the 250th birthday of our flyover city.
Standing four-feet-tall, each two-tier ornamental birthday cake has been decorated by local artists and marks a location of note in our region. Two hundred and fifty locations were chosen. We ran into two quite by accident on our adventures downtown.
Since we were in the vicinity, we had to go to Ted Drewes.
And there was a cake!
I think these cakes are kind of silly, but if it amuses people, who am I to quibble?
Meanwhile the amaryllis is going by having put on quite show.
Have a nice week!
“Meet Me in St. Louis” by Andrew B. Sterling
March 8, 2014
There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous*
by chuckofish
And I’m going to take it today. Let’s begin with the sublime. I got up early this morning, gathered up my Presbyterian Session books and my friend, Wanda, the indefatigable, octogenarian Clerk of the Session, and we made our way to Heuvelton, NY
tiny town, lots of churches
for the annual review of the books. You’ll recall that I posted last year about my trip to Evans Mills for the same purpose. I love all the nice, old churches in the North Country. The First Presbyterian Church of Heuvelton is a lovely clapboard building with a funky, lighthouse-like steeple and a dark interior. The people in charge were very kind and welcoming and the whole meeting was pleasant, though in some ways kind of depressing…
Time was all these churches had large congregations, but not anymore. The other Session clerks spoke of their churches having membership in the 10-35 range and none of them under 60 years old. How sad is that? What will happen to these places? Well, I guess as long as three or more gathered in His name… I do feel blessed to belong to a church that has about 130 members, even if most of them are older than I am.
Now for the ridiculous. Son #2 and I are going to a matinee today to see
I know, I know you are shocked that we would stoop so low, but I’m doing it for academic purposes only and since I don’t want to go alone, my darling son has agreed to accompany me. He is so good to his mother! I never made it through all of 300 and it’s possible I won’t make it through this either, but we’ll see. But I do have to go. I’m teaching Ancient Greek Warfare this semester and my students convinced me to give them extra credit for critiquing the film. I made the assignment difficult. Unfortunately, I can’t grade their papers unless I have seen the movie. I promise to watch something GOOD tonight! See what sacrifices I make for my students?
In other news, we have an update to last week’s post. My DH got interested in Dorothy Chamberlin and did some digging. Along with her obituary he found notice of an auction to sell her possessions in July 1974.
Please note that the sale included a West Point WWI uniform and several WWI ‘insignia pins’. Obviously, she had kept Guy’s effects all those years. Maybe it was a love story after all.
Have a great weekend!
*Napoleon Bonaparte commenting on his invasion of Russia
March 7, 2014
Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.*
by chuckofish
I am looking forward to some good Lenten movie viewing! Are you? In the past we have watched a combination of straightforward religious films such as:
The Robe (1953)
Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
and, of course, Ben Hur (1959) on Good Friday/Holy Saturday.
We also watch movies with a general theme of sacrifice, such as:
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Shane (1953)
and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
I have been trying to come up with some new ideas: Sling Blade (1996)?
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)?
Buffy, season 5?
This is harder than you think. Just google “films about sacrifice” and see what you get! Titanic! And, no, you will not find me watching Son of God (2014) with the “hot” Jesus, put together by those people responsible for the unwatchable “The Bible” TV miniseries.
Suggestions please!
*Cool Hand Luke, screenplay by Don Pearce and Frank Pierson
March 6, 2014
And the wind shall say
by chuckofish
11th century stained glass Jesus
From “Choruses from the Rock” by T.S. Eliot
The Word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
O miserable cities of designing men,
O wretched generation of enlightened men,
Betrayed in the mazes of your ingenuities,
Sold by the proceeds of your proper inventions:
I have given you hands which you turn from worship,
I have given you speech, for endless palaver, I have given you my Law, and you set up commissions,
I have given you lips, to express friendly sentiments,
I have given you hearts, for reciprocal distrust.
I have given you the power of choice, and you only alternate
Between futile speculation and unconsidered action.
Many are engaged in writing books and printing them,
Many desire to see their names in print,
Many read nothing but the race reports.
Much is your reading, but not the Word of GOD,
Much is your building, but not the House of GOD,
Will you build me a house of plaster, with corrugated roofing,
To be filled with a litter of Sunday newspapers?And the wind shall say: “Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls.”
March 5, 2014
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.*
by chuckofish
“All the absurd little meetings, decisions, inner skirmishes that go to make up our days. It all adds up to very little, and yet it all adds up to very much. Our days are full of nonsense, and yet not, because it is precisely into the nonsense of our days that God speaks to us words of great significance – not words that are written in the stars but words that are written into the raw stuff and nonsense of our days, which are not nonsense just because God speaks into the midst of them. And the words that he says, to each of us differently, are “Be brave…be merciful…feed my lambs…press on toward the goal.”
-Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark
Lent begins today on Ash Wednesday. There is a traditional Ash Wednesday service going on somewhere near you. At our church, we have two services today, but neither time works for me. So I think I’ll go to a Noon service near work. If I do, then I will wipe my forehead off. If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s pretentious Ash Wednesday worshippers.
No brownie points for the Veep.
When my children were younger and lived at home, I tried to make them aware of Lent. We watched our Lenten movies and discussed them. These efforts were a hit.
Once I put a lot of bible verses in a bowl on the dining room table. Each night one of the kids would pick one and read it. We would attempt to discuss it during dinner. My family was less comfortable with these efforts on my part. They seemed hokey I guess. I’m glad I tried. Perhaps something sunk in.
Once again I will endeavor to keep a “holy Lent”–not by denying myself things like chocolate or wine but by being more intentional about keeping the Great Commandment. You know, the one about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Good luck to me, right?
*Psalm 51, verse ll
March 4, 2014
Grace to you and peace
by chuckofish
“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.”
― Andrew Murray
(1828 – 1917) Murray was a South African writer, teacher, and Dutch Reformed minister.
Are you thinking about giving up something for Lent? Or taking something on? Are you eating pancakes tonight?
March 3, 2014
March comes in like a rockety ride
by chuckofish
A new month has commenced! March, the weather forecasters predicted, would come in like a lion.
From “Katy and the Big Snow” by Virginia Lee Burton
They sure had everyone in a tizzy of expectation. Church was even called off yesterday! (The rector is in the holy land–is this what happens when the cat’s away?) In fact, most churches in the area canceled all services because of the expected 10″ of snow/sleet. Unheard of in the “olden” days! Can’t say that I wasn’t pleased to be able to stay in bed and read Olivier and Parrot by Peter Carey.
I also finished The Sweet-Shop Owner by Graham Swift, which was well-written and held my interest, but I can’t say I recommend it unless you are in the mood for a depressing story about post-WWII England.
But back to the weather and our snow-pocalypse that didn’t happen.
In fact, not much happened.
But Spring will be here before we know it! You know this is true.
Here’s evidence:
P.S. I did not watch the Oscars. I watched Serenity (2005) which was nominated for no Academy Awards (although 8 years later Chiwetel Ejiofor was nominated for Best Actor in 12 Years a Slave). However, it is a favorite of mine. I am a leaf on the wind…
March 1, 2014
The Good Wife?
by chuckofish
It’s time for another installment of family history. This one involves a collateral mystery/love story. You will recall that in 1918 our great uncle Guy Chamberlin transferred from the Cavalry to the exciting, new Tank Corp
much cooler than cavalry
and was promptly killed in the Argonne Forest just a month and a half before the Armistice. I blogged about it here.
It was, of course, a terrible blow to the family, made more so by the fact that he was the youngest, and that unbeknownst to them he had gotten married just weeks before he died. According to family tradition, the young widow showed up in Vermont to meet her ‘new family’ and was promptly dismissed as a tacky, gold-digger, who had had the audacity to claim the poor boy’s pension. That seems straightforward enough, but is it true?
While looking into family history I went off on a tangent and found out more about his wife, Dorothy. She was originally from the Washington DC area and she went back there after the war. A couple of things stand out about post-war Dorothy that may not fit the gold-digger image. She was obviously proud of her marital status. In the 1920 census the twenty year old Dorothy resolutely names herself Mrs. Guy R. Chamberlin. At the time, she was living in Rockville, MD with her sister and brother-in-law. The household included a servant, so it can’t have been too mean. What really stands out about Dorothy, however, are three additional facts. She served her country again briefly during WWII.
She never remarried, but instead bought a small farm in Maryland.
Found on Ebay (!). I’ve now bought this so it’s okay to post. She’s identified on the back.
She was legit — hey, she and her cows made it into the Baltimore Sun. I think she looks nice — though she’s certainly no beauty (to be fair she is probably in her 40s in these pics).
Finally — and I think most telling — she is buried next to Guy in Arlington.
Is this a great love story? Probably not. All of the positives I just mentioned could also be interpreted in a negative way. Dorothy clearly understood the fact that Guy’s death allowed her to live independently and have the life of her own choosing. She must have known that to his family it looked as if she had gone to France to find a husband. After all, that was not uncommon. Perhaps it was guilt rather than love that made her stay true to him all those years. We’ll never know, but I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt. She doesn’t LOOK like a gold-digger — she looks like the type of fun, down to earth girl that Guy might have liked. What do you think?
February 28, 2014
My baloney has a first name–it’s O-S-C-A-R
by chuckofish
For the first time in probably close to 50 years, I am contemplating not watching the Academy Awards on Sunday night. Daughter #1 says I should at least watch the opening with Ellen Degeneres.
Maybe. I mean I get that it is on her network and I want to be supportive, but I am now officially in that grumpy demographic. Old.
Remember when it was a big deal to see who presented the awards? It might be your only chance to see Clint Eastwood or Steve McQueen or Audrey Hepburn or Paul Newman. But I don’t care about any of the actors and actresses nowadays. Remember when it was a big deal to see what Cher wore? Now it is more about what everyone wears than anything else.
And there is no mystery. Everyone is over-exposed these days. And there are no surprises. We all know who is going to win.
Well, boo-hoo, time marches on.
I will be marching too–away from the TV.
Anyway, I thought I would share a clip from the good old days (1972) when Ben Johnson won the Best Supporting Actor Award. (Please note Richard Harris’ reaction when Ben wins.)
Ben was 53 years old when he won the award for The Last Picture Show. He was pretty cute all dressed up in a tuxedo. The story goes that Ben did not want the part, so Peter Bogdonavich, the director, asked John Ford to talk to him. He was finally convinced. He does more talking in his one big scene (a monologue) than in most of his previous movies combined. He was the real deal and a working actor right up to the time he died.
