In my own little corner...

Correcting Mistakes

"The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing.
They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his
ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of
himself."

*Wang Yang-Ming (1472-1529) Chinese Philosopher

or to put it another way, "fall down 6 times, get up 7 times."  Or to quote Michael Card: "He gives us each new moment, saying you're free to begin again."

Back in Chicago

Yesterday was wonderful.  I hooked up with my friends and had breakfast at a nice little mom&pop place - one of the things I loved most about my college town was the number of mom&pop storers/restaurants/etc. that they had. The usual chains are there,  of course, but lots of little places, too.

Then R and her family came over and joined us for dinner, and R brought butter squash soup (she's supposed to give me the recipe, if she can remember what all she put in it - she loves to just throw in a dash of this and a pinch of that).  The kids started telling jokes, and a riotous time was had by all. :)

Celebrating Friendships

Once upon a time, I stumbled across a quotation that said:

Friends are the family we give ourselves.

I have loved that idea for over 25 years now, as I have always managed to have friends in my life who I consider to be as close to me (or closer) than my family.  I have several friends that I call my "sisters," and I am sincere when I say that about them.  It's not just hyperbole to me, or  slang.

These friends know who they are, and they know that when they need someone, I'll move heaven and earth to be there for them, and to help them out in whatever way I can.

And I know that these friends will do the same for me.

Antibiotics are good things...

wow, what a difference a day makes!

The doc had said that the first day or so of them I would feel worse instead of better, and boy, was he right!   But I took another one last night anyway, despite my misgivings, and today was a much better day.  Even so, I'm choosing to stay in my hotel tonight, and not drive to Valpo until tomorrow morning to visit my friends. That keeps me from over-extending myself when I'm still not 100%.

So I picked up a weekend rental car today (Jeep Liberty for hte price of a Grand Prix), and tonight will have Mexican food for dinner at a great Mexican restaurant just up the street.  Then I'll do some laundry, work on my homework for school, and try to make an early night of it. Tomrrow morning I'll make the 90 minute (or so) drive to Valpo, and have breakfast with 2 of my best friends in the world.

Life is good.

I spoke too soon....

Shortly after posting that last entry (while on a break in class), my instructor told me to go home and go to bed, in the hopes that I would be healthier tomorrow. Happily, the stuff he was covering today was stuff I'm already familiar with.  I didn't argue with him, because my head was so heavy it was all I could do to hold it upright.

My doc had told me that when I started taking the antibiotics I would feel worse before I felt better - guess he knew what he was talking about.

Crawling up...

I finally feel like I'm crawling back into the sunlight, after days in a cave.  I've been sick, since before Valentine's day. At first, I thought it was allergies, which typically kick up for me after a cold front comes through, but the Claritin had no effect on it, so I figured "Ok, it's a head-cold."

"No Weapon Formed Against You Shall Prosper"

Sometimes it's good to hang onto promises. :-)

Mental lapses

(note: I started this post on 2/9, when I found myself leaving all these little stories in the comments section of a friend's blog and realized they belonged here. Then getting sick kind of distracted me)

Some people call them "brain farts".  Or "senior moments."  I know one person who says he suffers from "EASS - Early Alzheimer's Sufferer Syndrome."  Whatever you want to call it, there have been quite a few of them this week.

RIP, Mr. Davis

Ossie Davis, star of stage,  screen, and Civil Rights, and husband/partner of Ruby Dee, was found dead in his Miami hotel room on Friday. Mr Davis, 87, was in Florida working on a film.

News Article

"His greatness as a human being went far beyond his excellence as an actor," former New York Governor Mario Cuomo said Friday. "Ossie was a citizen of the country, first, and the world. He and his wife were activists and they took it seriously."

(snip).

When not on stage or on camera, Davis and Dee were deeply involved in civil rights issues and efforts to promote the cause of blacks in the entertainment industry. In 1963, Davis participated in the landmark March on Washington.

We will miss you, sir.  For your gentility, your dignity under fire, your steadfast dedication to truth and love, as evidenced by your 57 year marriage.    Our world is a better place because you were here. Thank you for that.

hat tip: Lashawn Barber's Corner

The "Silver Ghost"

more pics

I was NOT going to buy a car yesterday.  I was just checking them out, seeing how I liked the salesperson, laying the groundwork, etc.  In fact, I took a friend with me, and we went in HER car, so I couldn't be talked into doing an immediate trade.

Then I stopped at a dealership on the way home from her place,  that's maybe 2 miles from my house, just to see what they had (I'd not found their inventory online)

They didn't have what I wanted on their front lot (silver PT Cruiser Touring Edition with moonroof), so we went and looked at their backlot.