h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think both General Patton and Mrs. Roosevelt were in their own ways loose cannons. Whether or not you admire Patton the man, you must admit that he was more effective than the vast majority of his contemporaries. The reason I chose a quote from him is because of the day. The reason I also posted the quote from her is because I think it is a fair description of Patton. He did what he thought should be done whether it meant running roughshod over his orders or not.

From what I've read about Patton, he comes as close as any to a true warrior. He was born for war, recognized this in himself, accepted it and actually relished it. Can you imagine having the responsibility of sending men to their deaths? Patton lost fewer men by keeping his own council than he probably would have done by being more of a team player. Just my opinion.

I think to some generals war is a game. It would almost have to be so in order to bear that horrible burden of command. To Patton it wasn't just a game; it was a ballet.

I am a fan of this quote by Admiral Halsey: "There are no great men. Just great challenges which ordinary men,out of necessity, are forced by circumstance to meet."

That is very well put. That statement also applies to so many unsung people who are heroic in their daily lives. They don't receive recognition the way people on the world stage do, but just coping with life and maintaining balance in the face of one difficulty after another is heroism in my book.

I should add that I don't think Admiral Halsey's statement is always true. I do think that some men are born to greatness, that it is there within them and not just found because of being in a certain place at a certain time. As far as WWII goes, I think Eisenhower fits Halsey's statement. I don't think Patton necessarily does.

Here's another wonderful quote from General Patton.

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer."

I know and like that thought.

Friday, November 12.

Today's quote is from Shirley MasLaine. It describes perfectly how I handle hosting all those programs and receptions at the library.

"If I had a party to attend and didn't want to be there, I would play the part of someone who was having a lovely time."

It doesn't make me actually enjoy what I'm doing, but it makes the time pass more quickly and keeps those attending from knowing I'd much rather be someplace else. Not being a crabby old lady is a real chore sometimes.

I know just what you mean. I can see myself in the future, employing the wheelchair as a social crutch (you should pardon the expression) for getting out of boring occasions!

Here's Google's quote of the day, from George Burns:
You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there.

And your remark about using the wheelchair to get out of doing things reminds me of my mom's father. He wore a hearing aid and would turn it off when he didn't want to talk to someone.

Sometimes I wish I could turn my hearing off

Oh Taralome do not say that. I truly think that deafness is the most isolating of illnesses. People hate to have the person they are talking to saying plaintively

"But I did not hear what you said"

I always feel that Beethoven must have had the most dreadful time. Imagine writing all that wonderful music and never being able to hear it.

Incidentally I did not realise you were from Melbourne. I have been there twice when my daughter and her husband moved there from Hong Kong. I absolutely love Melbourne and have had many a happy picnic in the beautiful park next to the River. My youngest granddaughter now lives there, my eldest granddaughter lives in Sydney and my daughter lives in Perth. !!

Go well
Christiane.
AlsoRan80

Saturday 13th November 2010 7.29 GMT

Christiane, it is amazing how many places you've lived or visited. I will die happy if I can see half as many.

When I was in my fantasy phase, Marion Zimmer Bradley was a favorite author of mine. I found this quote of hers that perfectly describes how I choose to journey through life.

To preface this, I will share a bit about my upbringing. I was raised in a household filled with contradictions. My father was an eternal optimist, kind and gentle, a fabulous storyteller, generous to fault and beloved by everyone who knew him. My mother has always been disappointed with her life. She is a woman of great intellect and unfulfilled talent who lacks the ability to enjoy life. Sometimes I think she is afraid to be happy. She holds her breath, waiting for some clamity to occur. She can find something to worry about in absolutely every situation. Dad would find a reason why something would work and Mother would counter with two reasons why it wouldn't. I suppose they balanced each other.

Fortunately for me, I inherited my father's disposition. But enjoying for the good in life rather than magnifying the bad is a conscious choice that all of us can make.

Saturday, November 13.

"It has never been, and never will be, easy work! But the road that is built in hope is more plesant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination."

-Marion Zimmer Bradley

It is the journey that is important. The arrival is anticlimactic.

I never exactly know where I am going, but when I arrive, I am pleasantly surprised at what I find.

Don't ask me to name names, ... somehow Ray Bradbury comes to mind, or maybe even Robert Anson Heinlon. Doesn't matter really, ... I like the notion

Hi Hypatia,
Thank you for your lovely note,. Good to hear from you.

I have never thought that I had travelled a lot. But adtually after reading your posting to me I thought that you were right. In the first ten years of my life I travelled to Europe from South Africa four times, Akways by sea, as air travel was very much in it's infancy thn. I was very fortunate as I really had the most privilegewd childhood.

My father was a very successful wool buywer for a French wool buying firm and as a reward for Papan being obliged to live abroad in order to buy the wool, the firm rewardwed Papa and his family a travel ~"home~" every two years. We were sooooo lucky. French was my home langiage in South Africa so I never had to leasrn French,. It was my first language.

Thanks for telling me asbout your mother and father. I think and have always believed that there are some people who are really ohappy when they are unhappy.!! It is rather odd and sometimes miserable for those around them, but quite honestly if that is the way they like it - searching for calamities, let them be.!!

You see my dear friend, I remember you when your darling husband was still alive. And I well remember your sadness when he died. You have made yourself a wonderful life at your Universit5y and amongst all your friends both here ahnd in your own environment. Your have combined the best of all possible worlds and made a great success of it. It would be lovely to visit you, but I fear that there is going to be no visiting further than Wadhurst and possiblyCornwall for this old biddy during the rest of my lifetime.

Keith and I were discussing going to our favourtie holidau destination in the UK. i.e. Torquay in Cornwall which they call the Cornish Riviera for Christmas. We have a favourite hotel where Keith can play golf every day on the 9 hole golf course and I can just sit and look at the beautiful garden surrounds the hotel and gaze at the sea and hopefully some people may come and talk to me. That would be fun.

With very much affection

Christiane
AR80 Sunday 13th Nivenber 2010 1.31 GMT

Christiane, Torquay sounds lovely. I hope you and Keith have a very enjoyable Christmas there. The weather there should be much warmer than Christmas weather in my climate.

The next holiday here is Thanksgiving. It is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. But the retailers are so anxious to make money that they are already pushing their Christmas merchandise. Anyway, I always cook for relatives and friends on Thanksgiving and have done so for 40 years. The only exception was one Thanksgiving when Frank was in hospital. I simply couldn't manage it that year.

This year I'm expecting 16 guests. That is a smaller number than in the old days, but I had a much larger house then. Fortunately I have a screened porch/patio/lanai/whatever you want to call it just off of my dining area. I have heavy plastic panels to put up in fall that winterizes it. I always have part of the guests at tables out there.

Today's quote is just for fun.

Monday, November 15.

"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do."

-Jean-Paul Sartre.

How existential.

Indeed. Every time I read anything by or about Sartre, I can't help thinking about that silly Monty Python sketch.

Tuesday, November 16.

"The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves, they find their own order...the continuous thread of revelation."

-Eudora Welty

Yay, Eudora. An insightful comment.

I would like to apply that comment to this morning's discovery that the moderators have pulled my little short story from the AWW. This has inconvenienced about four people, but still...

Now, Elektra's swearing that it's because I dissed grasshoppers in it. She says they must have an anti-defamation league. We are 100% sure I never mentioned earmuffs. I went over the document with the 'Find' function.

Although events on h2g2 happen in a sequence in time, in their significance to ourselves, the irritations of coping with protocols find their own order...the continuous thread of frustration.

I enjoy Southern novelists. One of my secret vices.

I have no idea why so many things are being moderated these days. Lots of things that seem perfectly fine are pulled. It's becoming a serious problem. It discourages people from submitting their writing here. Maybe that's the idea. Get enough people upset enough to leave the site and therefore justify pulling the plug.