Finished: Me and Mr. Darcy

Just a waste of time book. Why do I bother? Because I'm exhausted and need something to keep me awake. Don't read it.

The premise is that every woman wants a Mr. Darcy. Then the book sets out to show why that isn't so.

Me and Mr. Darcy, Alexandra Potter

Not So Fun

It just isn't as much fun Christmas shopping when on the way there, you get a ticket for turning the wrong way, and the cost of the ticket is how much you were planning on spending.

Finished: The English Patient

So I can see why this would be chosen to be made into a movie, although I have no desire to see it. The text leaves you a bit muddled as to who is speaking and who is listening. But all in all, a rather compelling saga about putting life back together (or not) after wartime.

The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje

Homeless. Hungry!

I was driving home from an appointment this afternoon. I passed a man sitting on the side of the road holding a sign.

Homeless. Hungry! Please help.

My initial reaction was to lock the doors. Then my heart softened, and I remembered that I had a container of crackers in my bag. (I carry crackers wherever I go these days.)

I rolled down my window, eager to offer something to a hungry man.

"I have crackers. Do you want crackers?"

"I can't take the salt," he refused.

I can't take the salt.

Finished: The Worthing Saga

I find it revealing of the compelling nature of the Word of God that people can't help but use it in their own "creation" of society.

The Worthing Saga, Orson Scott Card

Go Fish

My kids have a Golden Book Go Fish game. In this game, you have to get four of a kind of the characters from certain Golden Books. My son and my daughter have two entirely different strategies on how to play this game.

My son plays to win. If you drop a card, and he sees it, there is no mercy. He asks for it the next time around. He strategizes, asks for different cards, remembers who had what the last time he went. He alternates players to ask on different turns. As a result, he ends up with a lot of matches.

My daughter, on the other hand, has only one goal: to get all four cards of the Poky Little Puppy. If she's got one in her hand, she asks for them every time. She'll ask you again, and again, and again. She does not stop until she gets all four. Subsequently, the number of matches that she gets are few, and she is devastated if someone asks her for the Poky Little Puppy, and they are removed from her domain.

There's something about that single-minded devotion to a particular thing that resonates within me. It's not the right way to play. Or is it?

"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever." 1 Chronicles 28:9