Life – Page 4 – Chewing Glass

My Cup o’ Tea

Like Arthur Dent, I enjoy a cup of tea during the day. Unlike Arthur Dent, I’m not that fussy about it. The reason may be that a) I’m not British, and b) I’m not marooned in space. [At least, I don’t think I am.] Or, it could be that I’m American and let’s face it, as a culture, we rarely take the time to pay attention to much of anything.

Hey Kid! Just whip up that Oprah Chai Tea Latte for me, pronto! I’m late for a meeting!

Well, no. Not me. I’m not going to be late for anything. I’m a writer after all. But while I was waiting for my tea to steep (that’s a funny word: “steep”) and wondering if I need a new pair of fuzzy slippers—the ears fell off the left bunny and the right one looks like it has mange—I began to reflect on how different cultures deal with the more mundane aspects of life…like tea.

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Yom Kippur

At sundown today, begins the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement.

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.

It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.

And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.

~Leviticus 16:29-34 NIV

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Your Thought for the Day

You can’t do anything about which way the wind blows, but you can certainly do something about how you smell.

~Doug Buffone

You know what I hate?

Stairs.

Oh, I used to like stairs. When I was just a small ball of dough, not the over-risen loaf I am now, my brother and I used to play a favorite game on the stairs.

He’d stand at the top by the kitchen and I’d take the bottom by the rec-room and utility room. I’d run back and forth between them while he tried to pick me off with yarn balls we stole from our mother’s knitting basket.

I would dodge as best I could, then return fire. We’d carry on until Mom yelled at us. Then there ensued a mad scramble for the balls of yarn, which we would then hide in order to launch an ambush later. Well, after Mom cooled down that is.

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Deadbeat Author Awareness Month

While sitting in my favorite public house over a pint and the Daily Herald, I overheard the noisy, excited discussion of some women who were planning to shave their heads.

Now that’s not a sentence you read every day.

You see, it appears they were planning a “Half-way to St. Patrick’s Day” party in support of St Baldrick’s Foundation. At said party, they were determined to shave their heads in solidarity with children suffering from the ravages of cancer.

One woman loudly proclaimed for all and sundry to hear, “I’ll shave my head anywhere, any time, if it helps one child with cancer!”

Well, that got me thinking.

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I Almost Forgot

Happy Rosh Hashanah to all our Jewish brothers and sisters!

Farewell Facetube

To paraphrase James May, I’m giving up Youbook for good. LinkedOut is next.

I’ve never been very good with “networking” which is probably why I don’t sell as many books as I’d like, but FB always made me itch.

Apart from the inordinate amount of unproductive time it can suck from you, the privacy issues, the voyeuristic, stalker-vibe involved, and the evil, I guess I never felt comfortable with the synthetic personal relationships it fosters.

Yes, I can hear some of you shouting at me, “Facebook allows me to make new friends, catch up with old friends, and keep contact with family who are far away.”

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Never Forget

There are people in this world who, through their wildly misguided view of God, innate cruelty and hatred, wish others harm.

Just because we don’t see it outside our own window, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Take a second today to pray for the lost.

And, as distasteful as it may be, take another second to pray for those who murdered them.