Category: Sometimes

censorship or common sense?

Books and Reading, Commentary, opinion, Sometimes, This and That

During my work in trying to reduce the volume of books from my inventory, I have thought a lot about censorship. I hereby state unequivocally that I have always been against censorship, and the current hysteria at certain school board meetings in our nation grates against my position. Having been a news reporter back in my day, I attended some pretty wild school board meetings. The parents who would show up to protest (almost anything) to do with teaching, teachers, or education in general. My favorites were objection to requiring girls to wear special gym clothes, which were always ugly; the great brew-ha-ha about students smoking; the length of boys’ hair; and the frantic issue of expelling pregnant girls from school.

So anyway, I won’t belabor the subject and cut right to my current thoughts.

I have a great number (several hundred) childrens’ books, most of which came from two of my main inventory sources, who were school teachers. I have decided not to donate “all” of the books to the Goodwill because of the current censorship craze some places in the United States. I also don’t want to list multiple-lots of random childrens’ literature, or even grade-level non-fiction or series books (I think they call them chapter books now.) Also, I do separate the occasional book that even I would prefer kids not have access to. Even these I would classify as “age appropriate.”

Six-year old girls don’t care about “how Susie got her boyfriend” but 11-year-old’s might. That’s what I call age-appropriate, but even that is subjective, and I am not comfortable deciding who gets to read what, and I would never in a million years support any legislative or otherwise action that would entitle random outraged parents to close down a board meetings.

Now when it comes to general fiction, or non-fiction, that’s another thing. When I come to certain titles that I believe to be subject to …let’s say… “parental supervision” I set them aside— no, never into the trash, just aside to be reconsidered or duly noted as a listing on ebay. I hasten to add that I never list any material that I consider porn, and on occasion a girly-magazine hidden in a Woman’s Day collection will hit the trash, censorship bedamned.

over or under? that is the question re toilet paper rolling

Sometimes, This and That

OK Sometimers…let’s get it on! The dilemma of the ages—how to hang the toilet paper on the roller. I have to thank a couple from the Hometalk site comments, for their forwarding of this vital information. I had put in my two-cents about how my personal preference is the “under” position of the roll. I have had this discussion over the years with various husbands and family members, and I am usually outnumbered by “over the top of the roll” adherents.

The inventor explained his reasoning very simply–to which I say “ah ha!” His explanation for his reasoning in planning the patent. exactly states (in reverse) my reasons for preferring the “under rolling” application. (Italics mine.)

https://www.businessinsider.com/patent-shows-right-way-to-hang-toilet-paper-2015-3

/“Since the advent of rolls of paper…many devices designed to prevent waste have been patented; but all effort in this direction has been apart from the roll of paper-namely, in the construction of holders for the rolls provided with means to prevent free unwinding of the roll and cause the sheets to separate singly at their connecting points,” Wheeler wrote in his patent.

I really hate to sound sexist, but in this case maybe it doesn’t matter. But any of my fellow women (is that an oxymoron?) will attest to dismay at the success of the inventor’s plan…and a near-full roll of TP quite efficiently does result in single sheets ripping off of the roll, thanks to preforations. So…uh, the result is often a lot of little specks and straggles of paper on the floor, and a handful of single sheets instead of a comforting “free-unwinding” paper.

I wonder what Mrs. Wheeler thought about her husband’s invention?

/…

This is Sister…do you like Color or B&W best?

Cats & Animals, Cee's Photography, My Place, photography, photos, Sometimes, This and That, Writing and Blogging

I like this Color photo of Sister, who is a true Calico Cat.   But I also like the black and white rendition, mainly because the B&W allows both the green and the blue patches to be removed.     I could remove the color patches from the color shot, or I can go with the grayscale version.  

What do you all think?  Does the removal of color affect the quality of the picture?   

One thing I really like about pet pictures is the sharpness and detail of whiskers and fur gradations.    I did not attempt any enhancement or special tricks, the photo is the original color shot with the removal of color.  Since I like to play around with filters and the like, I plan to take the Sister Shot through the paces and see what it does.   

I’d like to have some input into this…color or black & white?      

(©Patricia Dreger, Sometimes, 2021)

a walk through the tree garden, entry for Cee’s path challenge June 22

My Place, Nature, photography, Sometimes, This and That, tree garden
a maple tree seedling (all photos ©Sometimes, 2021)
  • blooming azalea
  • facing East in April
south west corner entrance to tree garden, along lane from dog yard
old bird cage on path (photos ©Sometimes, 2021)
The Maze in foreground, the Tree Garden includes all of that wooded area behind the grassy lawn.

ever wonder what it’s like inside a daylily bud? (me neither, until now…)

My Place, Nature, photos, Sometimes
  • A scape getting a head start on the world of Daylilies.
  • These guys are fast: I didn’t even see them yesterday.
  • Five scapes vying for position.
  • Here’s the package that presents the Lilies.

I believe we had six Daylilies several years ago when we bought the first plants. Each is a different color and has its own features. Up until recently I knew completely nothing about Daylilies, now I know a few things, but I am not yet comfortable in discussing the subject. Stay tuned and we will see where this new interest goes. (All photos on this page © Sometimes, 2021.)

early daffodils

My Place, Nature, photos, Sometimes, This and That

These daffodils are always the first to open. This particular line of flowers came from bulbs that were dug up on the western side of the property when they built the horse yards several years ago. Originally those bulbs were planted by my late husband Bob a couple of decades ago on the perimeters of our property… (Photos ©Sometimes 2021)

about my new header photo…its not photoshopped

clouds, Nature, photos, Sometimes

The photo of the heart-shaped cloud formation is one I took several years ago. It is an actual photo of the sky, taken from a parking lot. A glance at the clouds when I got out of the car suggested that two opposing clouds were on a “collision course,” so I waited until they actually merged into the heart shape. No tricks of photo manipulation.

just sayin’ 🙂

That particular parking lot is known (by me, anyway) to produce some great sky-scapes.

this is a practice post, trying out the new editor :-)

Cats & Animals, My Place, Sometimes, This and That, WORD PRESS, Writing and Blogging

In order: Bob, Toby, Bog, Moby, Moby, and Guess Who? Wrong— its Tinkerbell.

Bob and Toby are still around in March of 2021, Moby and Tinkerbell both died in 2017, respectively 17 years and 19 years. (All photos © Sometimes 2021)

  • Bob—used to be “Baby” but prefers being Bob.
  • Nap Time
  • Moby the Maine Coon
  • Tinkerbell.