Progress

Good news keeps coming . . . and I am so relieved.  I know that my brother and his family have a long road ahead of them but it has been nothing short of a miracle . . . a week ago the prognosis was so poor and evaluations were being done and this week he's awake, responsive and in physical and speech therapy.

He's a very lucky man - and I'm very lucky too. 

Having to face one's own mortality when a parent dies is one thing - facing the possibility of having a younger sibling not around any more is almost more than can be borne.  Thankfully I'm not facing that prospect!

Keep positive thoughts and prayers flowing to him and his family . . . they need it.

News and How I Get It

I stopped getting the newspaper delivered some time ago - it was piling up and going unread more than it was being read - and, by the time I did read it, the news was old.  So my news reading is now done online.

I must say that the experience is entirely different!  I used to enjoy sitting down with the paper - opening the sections, snapping the pages in half and settling in (however, I've discovered our paper is now MUCH smaller that it used to be and not only in the amount of content - but the actual physical size of the page - not nearly as satisfying!)  The online version gives the same information (without many of the pictures but that's ok) along with comments from readers.

I read the comments (even those from people I consider to be on the fringe or even over the edge) but I don't find that they add a lot to the discourse.  Many are rants, many are totally off-topic and most contain extensive misspellings (a pet peeve). 

Recently the news concerning the budget has been in the news.  MPOW is a small portion of the overall budget and that part is not getting a lot of play (which may or may not be a good thing) but there are cuts and recommendations for revenue increases that have elicited a great deal of ire among the commenters.  I'm not certain what I think about all the coverage - I know what we're giving up and I know what the additional revenue will provide - but I am also a resident of this locale - and I'm not sure that I want increases in my tax rates either. 

This economic mess has been horrible - we've been lucky here, we've not been dramatically affected until now - and it may just be that drastic efforts are needed all around.  I'm willing to do my part as long as everyone has to participate! 

Anyway - days of my getting a daily newspaper are over - but I'm still uncertain that the online version is a truly acceptable alternative.  Maybe I'd be happier if the comments added to the story and provided thoughtful discourse - but, based on what I've been reading, that's just not going to happen.

Pondering more than Musing . . .

Over the past year I've often thought about why this format has such appeal for me - why I've continued to blog after the end of our Library 2.0 training - because normally I'm not much of a diarist.  As a tween I loved the idea of a diary - the small, one page per day book complete with small lock and key - what wasn't to like?  However, the actuality wasn't as great as the thought - for one thing I had (have!) a younger brother who did find one such small book [not that there was much in it!] and {HORRORS} read it!  Somehow keeping a written record of my thoughts was less appealing!  (so now it's online for anyone to stumble across - now where's the logic in that!!)

I have a diary (paper) somewhere - I started it at the time I was expecting my first child - it initially ended shortly after his birth - it was VERY obvious that the care of a newborn was much more labor intensive than I had initially thought!!  That book had later entries of important events in my life but over the intervening years, entries were sparse and widely separated.

Then came the Internet and Library 2.0 and I discovered that online diaries were much more fun and easy to do!  Perhaps because I never thought my handwriting was as good as my mother's and, being a perfectionist, I wanted all my entries to be perfect - including the color of the ink (I know, I know).  Electronics solved that problem and made errors (and they occur often) easy to correct without it looking as if there was a correction (have I mentioned perfectionism?).  Not to mention "Preview" which helps detect those errors before anyone else can possibly see them.

So here I am - at the start of year 3 of this missive still contemplating why I'm continuing to post.  Cathartic perhaps?  Fun definitely!

2010 - Week 1

Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a weekly rehash of 2010 - mostly because I know I don't have the dedication or maliciousness to bore anyone, including myself, with a weekly rehash of life, work and anything else!

I don't know exactly what I expected from 2010 - after all it's a man-made number on a piece of paper and not a cosmic event (beyond the regular rotation around the sun) - but the reality of the first week is leaving me a bit underwhelmed! 

I tend to think the best of everyone - I can be sarcastic but not really cynical - and I expect (hope?) people to be good and do good for the most part.  And I don't know why I'm always surprised and disappointed when that doesn't happen - SIGH.  Peoples is funny - they're also confusing, annoying and just plain CRAZY!! (PS yes, I do include myself in "peoples" in case there was any question about that!)


I seem to be running faster and faster and yet getting further and further behind - everywhere - home, work - DOUBLE SIGH.  I'm certain that things will eventually right themselves and life will even out somewhat - but the road to that end is increasingly bumpy and I can only hope that the shocks on the vehicle going down the road are equal to the task.

Enough of week 1 - getting a bit maudlin and that's just gotta end!