3:44 p.m. on 11/30/13

At 3:44 the doorbell rang.

I couldn’t believe it. I was on high alert because I was keeping an eye on my computer clock so I would know the exact moment that the pre-ordained moment arrived. I expected the doorbell, but not until 5. So when the doorbell rang, and it was actually 3:44, I knew what I would write about.

The person at the door is one of my former writing students, Teela. Now she is a senior, and I am her senior graduation project advisor. But she wasn’t here because of the graduation project. She was here to help me for the next two hours with whatever tasks I had in mind. Sometimes, we work on data entry for one of my research projects. Other times, we work on record keeping. Whatever needs to be done is fine with Teela.

Normally, Teela comes on Friday evenings to help me. This week, she had something come up for Friday evening. It was no problem for me, she’s doing me a favor. It was fine for her to have a pass for the week. But she wanted to come and offered me three options for other times that she could come. That’s one of the amazing things about her. But there is more.

Teela has an amazing command of the English language. And I am in awe of the vocabulary she has. I asked her once how she managed to have such a large vocabulary, and she attributes it to fiction reading. Teela loves to read, and she reads novels in English and expands her vocabulary along the way. And it shows. When we are going over things that require reading, she has very few questions. She asks occasionally about pronunciation, which I’m happy to help her with. She is likely to actually use the words–correctly and in the right form.

Her understanding of English is so strong that she gets the most subtle forms of humor. She understands jokes, and makes a few of her own. She does this in verbal and written communication. She also has quite a grasp of American pop culture, so we always have lots to talk about. In addition, one of the things I like about Teela is her ongoing curiosity. She has many questions about all kinds of things, and she doesn’t hesitate to ask. Sometimes, I forget that English isn’t her native language.

Teela is one of the many people who make me feel comfortable and welcome in Taiwan. Through them, I have a new web of friends and a wealth of experiences; I treasure the friendships and the moments we share, and it will be very difficult for me when it is finally time to leave this place.

Thanks, Teela! I appreciate everything you do to make my life better. It’s a joy to spend time with you, and I look forward to next Friday.

A Moment in Time is a shared blogging experience, where writers document and share their stories from the same moment on the same day. The day and time for the next A Moment in Time is posted by Randee every few days in such a way that you’ll have a heads up on the exact moment to which you need to attend and focus on and, if it’s significant in some way, write about and add to the list.

http://randeebergen.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/a-moment-in-time-344-p-m-on-113013/

The Lie is Revealed!

We come to the end of a journey. I have strung you along for nearly a week with this game of intrigue and mystery, and now the time has come to reveal which of the final three statements is the lie.

A brief recap:

#1:  I broke my toe in Taipei. TRUE (no one doubted this one)

#2: I got married in a Chinese restaurant. TRUE (and there were pictures to prove it). This was one of the two with the most guesses. But lots of people believing it is a lie doesn’t make it a lie.  😀

#3: I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev. TRUE (I posted this just yesterday).

NOW FOR THE FINAL THREE:

#4. I attended a Klingon convention in costume.

Fans dressed as Klingons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

5. I volunteered to assist with a 6-week quilting class for beginners.

quilting class (Photo credit: _Jill_)

6. I climbed the Great Wall of China.

Great Wall of China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev as part of an academic program I was part of, The Roberts Fellows. As a Fellow, I had many amazing experiences and opportunities, including a two-week trip to Asia. During that time, the 12 Fellows from that year’s program visited Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Tokushima. While in Beijing, we made several stops, one of which was at the Great Wall.

One of the interesting things about climbing the Great Wall is that even though there are stairs to assist you, you have to remember that these stairs were done many years ago. There was no code for how many stairs there would be, how steep they would be, or even a common stair height. So you could have a couple steps that were only a couple inches, and then have one that was nearly 10 inches. No predictability: you have to watch.

One of the traditions among the Roberts Fellows is that there is a record for how fast someone makes it to the top. As you might imagine, I am not one of the record setters, but the year I was there, someone from our group did break the record. Alas, it’s been broken a few times since then. (We were the group from the program’s fifth year, and now the RF 15’s will make their trip in May of 2014.)

Anyway, that’s my long way of saying that #6 is TRUE!

And while I do not have the photos with me in Taiwan, I did attend a Klingon Convention, known as the Camp Dover Peace Conference in Dover, Ohio in 1996..My then husband was VERY heavy into Klingon fandom, and was the leader of an international Klingon fan club. He used the name Kris and the Klingon honorific of Thought Admiral. He went to many Klingon conventions, while the 1996 one is the only one I went to. He stayed home and I went with one of our mutual friends, who was also high-ranking in the Klingon organization.

Now, while I helped (albeit somewhat reluctantly) with the newsletter (Mindscanner) and helped create one of his costumes, I was not that interested in the club. I enjoyed the original Star Trek series and eventually came to like some of the later series as well. As for the convention, I was happy to have the chance to dress-up and go do some role-playing and spend some time with my friend. Anyway, while I did not do the Klingon forehead (I preferred to be a rather non-descript species), I did have fun with my costume. My outfit of black and gold looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, and the shoes had amazing heels that I could probably not even stand in today.

As the Thought Admiral’s Consort (wife), I was a bit of a celebrity, but apparently not for one particular Klingon who engaged me in an innocent bit of hand kissing. Since I don’t have a photo to share with you, here is a post that another Klingon wrote after the Thought Admiral reprimanded him for the hand-kissing incident. I don’t remember his name, but that’s nothing: I don’t even remember my own Klingon name. And so you know I didn’t make up this quote below, here is the link.

Warning from On High, May 1996

I receive a warning handwritten on this month’s issue of “Mindscanner” from the Thought Admiral. If I ever please his consort again he will have my head on his battle standard. Thick skulled as I am, I take days to come to the realization that the object of my hand-kissing lesson at Dover was none other than Kris’s consort. Kishin even sent me an implicating photograph.

So this is long way of saying #4 is true.

Which means that:

#5 is the lie!

While I love quilting and do a lot of teaching, I have never mixed the two. I take quilting classes, I don’t teach them. Sometimes the most obvious “truth” is not what it seems.

If you enjoyed this came, check back in a couple of weeks when I will launch another, with an interesting twist.

Thanks for playing along!

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11:27 a.m. on 11/27/13

I’m intrigued by this idea, and thought some of my readers might find it interesting as well. I look forward to the possibility that we may share some moments.

A String of Pearls

This is a post and a proposal. The post comes first and, after that, a proposal for you. You can read about my idea below as well as here.

————————————————————–

We’re at the counter of a convenience store in a small town on our way north to visit my family for Thanksgiving, paying for drinks and road trip snacks.

There are the usual distractions–candy, toys, magazines.

“Mama, will you buy me a Cosmo?” As in Cosmopolitan magazine.

“No. I’m not paying for a magazine for you.” And especially not a magazine famous for its sex advice!

“Mom, it’s reading material. Material for the car.”

“The last magazine I bought you on a road trip was tossed aside after 12 minutes. 12 minutes. That’s not long enough for four bucks.”

“But mom, I need to know how to sex up my holiday.” My seventeen-year old. She’s brazen, too loud in…

View original post 401 more words

Truth or Lie? Lunch with Sergei Khrushchev

(Photo credit: vasta)

A few days ago, I posted a list of six things about me. Five of them are true; one of them is a lie. Here is the original list: https://myriad234.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/can-you-pick-out-my-lie/#comment-960

Yesterday, I revealed that both #1 and #2 are true.

I did break my toe in Taipei, and I did get married in a Chinese restaurant (the most popular choice for the lie).If you want to see a little evidence, check out some of the wedding pictures here: https://myriad234.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/did-you-guess/

Time to move on to number 3: I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev, son of Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev. Only a handful of people thought this was a lie, but I think it’s time to set the record straight.

Sometimes, we attend big meetings and conferences where there is a guest of honor and hundreds of other people sitting at tables around the room. And while everyone is having lunch, it can’t really be counted (in my opinion) as having lunch with someone specific. Besides, it’s kind of sneaky, and I wouldn’t be that sneaky. Well, at least not on a contest like this. .

Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev, presents his books about his father in Moscow. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, that was not the case with my 3rd statement. When I said I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev, I did not mean in a room with hundreds of people. I mean in a room with 14 people, 2 tables. And I was on the other side of a round table with seven people, smaller than the table shown in the photo above..

The year was 2003, and Sergei Khrushchev was one of the featured speakers for our university’s 40th anniversary celebration. That was also the year I became part of the Roberts’ Fellows.* The 12 members of that year’s Roberts’ Fellows were invited to attend Khrushchev’s presentation and to have lunch with him afterwards. BONUS: After the presentation, he autographed books, and I bought one of his books for my history buff son. Score!

On to lunch: As I mentioned, I was at the table of seven where Sergei was seated. I can’t tell you what we had to eat for lunch that day, or even what topics of conversation we covered, but it was definitely a great experience. I do remember, he was interested in what people were studying, what their plans were, and he was gracious about asking questions. To be honest, I think most of us were a tad intimidated to be having lunch with someone of such historical significance. That could be the reason I had a place at the table with him, because I was a little less intimidated than some of the others. But I could have easily just made that part up. After all, we do rewrite our stories every time we tell them.  🙂

As I write about this experience and realize how much of a gap there is in my memory of this event, it is a reminder that life has amazing moments, and that even when we’re paying attention, things fade over time. I used to think that because I had what could be considered by many to be “a good memory,” I didn’t always make notes or record my impressions at the time. I understand now why written reflection on a regular basis was part of the Roberts’ Fellows program. I plan to dig out those journals the next time I’m back in the US to see if there are any more comments about this particular day.

But for now, with the wonderful world of blogging, I can have a better record of what I’ve experienced. It’s still interpretation, my story of what is happening and what I’m experiencing, but stories are a good thing to have.

So there you have it. #1, #2, and #3 are all true. Stay tuned: Tomorrow I reveal the final results!  See you then! 🙂

*Roberts’ Fellowship Program: a program in which 12 students from my undergraduate university (Saginaw Valley State University – SVSU) are selected from an applicant pool of over 100 to participate in a year of seminars, leadership training, various extracurricular activities, and service projects, culminating in a two-week trip to Asia. 

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Wishing and Hoping (Musical Theme for November 27)

Wishin’ and Hopin’

A light-hearted beginning, to put me in the mood of wishin’ and hopin’ and thinking of possibilities. This came out before my time and has recently made a come-back. I also heard a lot of 60’s music later in life.  🙂

My Wish (Rascal Flatts)

This selection and the next were recommended by my daughter/collaborator Kate. She may be joining in on some of these challenges later on, but for now, I still can reap the benefit of her musical interests.

I’m Wishing on a Star (The Tenth Kingdom)

Wishing You Were Here (Phantom of the Opera)

This song makes me think of the times in my life when there was something I wished that could be other than the way it was, but wishing was not going to make it so. Yet they were too powerful to just push away. The expression of the longing was painful, but necessary. It can lead to new resolve and intentions that bring a new direction that is even better than what I thought I wanted.

Imagine

My daughter also sent this one along, and I couldn’t agree more. The song has always been powerful, and this cover by Glee takes it to an even more amazing level. I am moved by the pure emotion of this rendition. If you can imagine it, it can be. And sure, realistically, we know that many of these things won’t happen anytime soon, but without hope, we have little reason to go on.

I Hope You Dance

In the end, this is my fantasy, my fondest hope is to inspire others: my children, my students, my friends, anyone who is searching for more in their life. Anyone who dreams of dancing, or of writing, or of being an artist, a scientist, a teacher, or an engineer. It doesn’t matter, as long as they find their way to being the best at what it is they want to be and not simply settle for what’s easy. If I can help someone find their way to a life of purpose and fulfillment, then I will have my wish. This song captures that for me.

Other posts on this theme:

Bear:   MY SECRETS, HOPES, WISHES, AND FANTASIES ARE ALL DREAMS       http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/music-themes-secrets-hopes-wishes-and-fantasies/

Eva:  What’s my secret fantasy desire? My hope? My fond wish? Animate Art with Music! What else is worth living for?   http://47whitebuffalo.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/music-theme-whats-my-secret-fantasy-desire-my-hope-my-fond-wish-animate-art-with-music-what-else-is-worth-living-for/

Johnny: http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/secrets-hope-wishes-and-fantasies/#like-2575

WIllow: http://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/musical-theme-secret-fantasies-and-hopes/

D.S. Nelson: http://hatpaintladdersandwonkypooh.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/27-secrets-hopes-wishes-or-fantasies-whats-your-music/

Did You Guess?

Ok, wonderful readers. Some of you participated in my challenge to discover which of 6 statements about me is a lie. If you missed those posts, you can still play along here, but you will have fewer answers to choose from.  🙂

I’m going to start sharing some of the answers for the 5 truths and a lie. You know you’re excited. There weren’t a lot of people who played, but those who did were fairly convinced of their answers, so let me give you the count first.

#6:   I climbed the Great Wall.

Four people think this is a lie.

#5:   I volunteered to assist with a six week quilting class.

While no one actually selected this as a first choice, one person thought this might be it if her first choice is incorrect.

#4:  I attended a Klingon convention in costume.

Two people think this is the lie. And another person was torn between this one and #3.

#3:  I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev.

1 person guessed this one, and one person was torn between this one and #4.

2. I got married in a Chinese restaurant.

A Chinese buffet restaurant in US (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This had the most votes for being the lie. Six people voted for this one. That means six people think this is a lie! BUT THEY ARE WRONG!  David and I were married at a Chinese restaurant in Saginaw, Michigan. It was one of our favorite restaurants, which sadly, has closed since our wedding.

Shilin Night Market (Photo credit: roboppy)

1. I broke my toe in Taipei.

No one voted for this one. And with good reason. It is true. I also twisted my ankle and banged up my knee, which led ultimately to the knee replacement surgery I had a couple of years ago.

For the other nine of you, stay tuned. I will reveal more tomorrow.  🙂

BONUS

A few wedding pictures if you’re interested.  🙂

For those of you who think this was a lie, the picture above shows one of the witnesses signing the marriage license!   🙂

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Can You Pick Out My Lie? :-)

How Well Do You Know Me?

I’m going to try this again. I think I put too much information in the last post. But this time, I’ll make it easy.

Here are six statements about me! Five of them are true! ONE IS A LIE!  Use the comment section below to make your guess. Even if you don’t have a blog account, you can register with your email and name. Then you will be able to leave your answer in the comment section. 🙂  I’ll be posting the answer in a few days.. .

Here are the choices.  HAVE FUN! I will post the answers in a few days. Maybe you will be the one to figure out the lie!  🙂

.

MY LIST: 5 Truths and 1 Lie

1. I broke my toe in Taipei.

Shilin Night Market (Photo credit: roboppy)

2. I got married in a Chinese restaurant.

A Chinese buffet restaurant in US (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev.

Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev, presents his books about his father in Moscow. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4. I attended a Klingon convention in costume.

Fans dressed as Klingons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

5. I volunteered to assist with a 6-week quilting class for beginners.

quilting class (Photo credit: _Jill_)

6. I climbed the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What Really Happened in My 40’s

BACKGROUND

I read a blog post yesterday, “One of These Things Will Not Set You Free,” In it, Aussa Lorens told about six interesting (and sometimes, downright scary) things that happened in her life. Except one of them is not true. And that’s when the fun starts. Well, actually just reading her post is fun. But in the comments, everyone tries to guess which of the six statements is not true. Some people actually go through the items one by one to discuss the probability and their logic about the likelihood of such events.

She also invited her readers to do a similar post and then include it in her comments. While I haven’t had quite the number of off-the-wall experiences she’s had, I have done some unusual things. The hardest part of my list making was writing the lie. I found it a little hard to find something what wasn’t either too far out there or too mundane. But I think I’ve got it now.

THE GAME

My 40’s were a great decade, so I focused on things that happened (or didn’t happen) during that time. If you want to get the full experience, see if you can figure out which of the six things I did not really do, and post your guess in the comments.

I will post the correct answer next week (Monday or Tuesday).

BONUS POINTS

Do a post of your own, and post it in my comment section, so I (and my readers) can play.

MY LIST: 5 Truths and 1 Lie

1. I broke my toe in Taipei.

Shilin Night Market (Photo credit: roboppy)

2. I got married in a Chinese restaurant.

A Chinese buffet restaurant in US (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. I had lunch with Sergei Khrushchev.

Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev, presents his books about his father in Moscow. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4. I attended a Klingon convention in costume.

Fans dressed as Klingons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

5. I volunteered to assist with a 6-week quilting class for beginners.

quilting class (Photo credit: _Jill_)

6. I climbed the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Blog of the Year -2013

I want to thank Cate at http://wingedprisms.com/  for nominating me for the Blog of the Year Award – 2013. Please check out her blog. She has so much to say about the things that happen in life, and she maintains a great sense of humor. Reading her blog is like visiting a good friend.

The instructions for this award are simple:

1. Select the blog(s) you think deserve the Blog Of The Year 2013 Award.
2. Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen- there are no minimum or maximum number of blogs required- and ‘present’ the blog(s) with their award.
3. Let the blog(s) that you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the instructions with them. (please don’t alter the instructions or the badges!)
4. Come over and say hello to the originator of the Blog Of The Year 2013 Award via this link:http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/blog-awards-2-/blog-of-the-year-2013-award/
5. You can now also join the Blog Of The Year Award Facebook Page.Click the link here:https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlogoftheYear. Share your blog posts with  an even wider audience.
6. And as a winner of the award- please add a link back to the blog that presented you with this award-and then proudly display the award on your blog- and start collecting stars!

I nominate the following blogs for “Blog of the Year.”

http://sincerelykaterz.wordpress.com/

http://stephsscribe.com/

http://scvincent.com/

http://poeticparfait.com/

http://aussalorens.com/

http://buzyday.com/

http://ohsewtempting.wordpress.com/

Congratulations to everyone! I am so happy to nominate you and to be following your blogs.

The Power of Fire (Musical Theme for November 22)

I’m not happy with the way I handled this theme, but it was either this or sit it out. I’ve sat out most of today on many levels, as my personal fire is in short supply today. Luckily, I won’t always feel this way. So I’ll post this, knowing tomorrow will be different, if not downright better.

Fire and Rain (James Taylor)

Set Fire to the Rain   (Adele)

I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen)

Mother Earth is Burning   (Aloid)

We Didn’t Start the Fire  (Billy Joel)

This Fire    (Franz Ferdinand)  

Songwriters: HUNTLEY, ALEXANDER PAUL KAPRANOS / MCCARTHY, NICHOLAS JOHN / HARDY, ROBERT / THOMPSON, PAUL ROBERT
Eyes, boring a way through me
Paralyse, controlling completely
Now there is a fire in me
A fire that burns

This fire is out of control
I’m going to burn this city
Burn this city
This fire is out of control
I’m going to burn this city
Burn this city
This fire is out of control
I’m going to burn this city
Burn this city
This fire is out of control
I’m going to burn it, I’ll burn it
I, I, I’ll burn it down
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/franz-ferdinand-this-fire-lyrics.html ]
Eyes, burning a way through me
Overwhelm, destroying so sweetly
Now, there is a fire within me
A fire that burns

This fire is out of control
I’m going to burn this city
Burn this city
This fire is out of control
I’m going to burn this city
Burn this city
This fire is out of control
Then I, I’m out of control
And I burn,

Oh, how I burn for you
Burn, oh how I burn for you
Burn, how I
Burn, how I
Burn, oh how I…

This fire is out of control,
I’m gonna burn this city,
Burn this city…

This Fire lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Raging Fire

Raging Fire
Can you see the licking flame
Waiting for its time
Its increasing energy
Preparing for the prime
Fed up with your boring prate
All senses gettin’ lost
Second to none our flame shall rouse
Just like a growing host
Raging Fire burning down the walls
Raging Fire the rebellion force
Raging Fire all across the land
Raging Fire fights in self-defense
The anger grows on and on
The young sand up and fight
No more lies and censorship
All oppressed sand tight
Knights of fortune and dictators
They can’t stand this heat
We know what we want from life
beware we break your greed
Raging Fire burning down the walls
Raging Fire the rebellion force
Raging Fire all across the land
Raging Fire fights in self-defense
Wake up break the silence
Come on join our league
We must stand defiant
To dethrone the breed
[Solo]
Raging Fire burning down the walls
Raging Fire the rebellion force
Raging Fire all across the land
Raging Fire fights in self defense
Raging Fire

To see what others have done with this theme, check out the blogs listed below:

Bear

Willow

Eva

D.S. Nelson

Johnny