kindness
we all say we have it; but as I work retail this holiday season i find that kindness is in short supply this time of year.
others of you who work in retail/customer service will probably second this.
What is it about this time of year that makes it harder for people to be kind?
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
J Edgar Hoover
This last month I read "J. Edgar Hoover" by Curt Gentry.
I saw it while we were visiting the Library of Congress back in Sept/Oct. There were several presidential books, and biographies. I used my Goodreads App bar code scanner to quickly file books that looked interesting. I just happened to scan this book. Its a great read!
I recently discovered that I do enjoy reading biographies. Once I realized this, I stopped and thought, back in high school I read a biography on General George McClelland, and I remember really liking it and going through it really quickly. Had I realized this back when I was in college I probably would have maybe majored in History, or taken more History classes.
A while back I also read "American Lion" a biography on Andrew Jackson we picked up on our way to DC from Joplin when we stopped in Tennessee. We got it at the gift shop at The Hermitage, thought we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money to take the tour of the actual house, nor did we have the three hours it takes to tour it.
So, back to the book. J Edgar Hoover lived from 1895-1972. So he is an adult during a time in history when everything is changing, and not only does he live during these years, but he has a very important job, with lots of political leverage. During his time at the FBI he sees 10 presidents come and go, and serves directly under 8 of them as director. The amount of history that he lives, and creates is honestly astounding. More importantly, the amount of corruption not only in the FBI but across all branches of government at the time is a real eye opener. There are things that the author talks about, that when you can wrap your head around the fact that they really happened, just blow your mind again. It brings into perspective our political world today.
As I was reading it, the new about NSA spying on Americans and also foreigners broke. For once, I was actually so unsurprised by this because, well, its nothing new. Really! To get all the details you will have to read the book!
One of the things I also like about these two biographies is that a bulk of the persons life is lived here in Washington DC. The places mentioned in the book are places I have rode my bike to, sat and read in, and driven by as I take Mike to Law School on rainy or snowy days.
I now am having a hard time deciding what my next biography should be. A couple of contenders are:
- Simon Bolivar
- Nelson Mandela
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Abraham Lincoln
- Benito Juarez
- Thomas Jefferson
Note that Bolivar and Lincoln I have already picked out books for. The rest I have not had a recommendation for a certain book. A Mandela bio is a new one on my list.
Do you have any recommendations on my other want to read? if so, please let me know in the comments.
I recently discovered that I do enjoy reading biographies. Once I realized this, I stopped and thought, back in high school I read a biography on General George McClelland, and I remember really liking it and going through it really quickly. Had I realized this back when I was in college I probably would have maybe majored in History, or taken more History classes.
A while back I also read "American Lion" a biography on Andrew Jackson we picked up on our way to DC from Joplin when we stopped in Tennessee. We got it at the gift shop at The Hermitage, thought we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money to take the tour of the actual house, nor did we have the three hours it takes to tour it.
So, back to the book. J Edgar Hoover lived from 1895-1972. So he is an adult during a time in history when everything is changing, and not only does he live during these years, but he has a very important job, with lots of political leverage. During his time at the FBI he sees 10 presidents come and go, and serves directly under 8 of them as director. The amount of history that he lives, and creates is honestly astounding. More importantly, the amount of corruption not only in the FBI but across all branches of government at the time is a real eye opener. There are things that the author talks about, that when you can wrap your head around the fact that they really happened, just blow your mind again. It brings into perspective our political world today.
As I was reading it, the new about NSA spying on Americans and also foreigners broke. For once, I was actually so unsurprised by this because, well, its nothing new. Really! To get all the details you will have to read the book!
One of the things I also like about these two biographies is that a bulk of the persons life is lived here in Washington DC. The places mentioned in the book are places I have rode my bike to, sat and read in, and driven by as I take Mike to Law School on rainy or snowy days.
I now am having a hard time deciding what my next biography should be. A couple of contenders are:
- Simon Bolivar
- Nelson Mandela
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Abraham Lincoln
- Benito Juarez
- Thomas Jefferson
Note that Bolivar and Lincoln I have already picked out books for. The rest I have not had a recommendation for a certain book. A Mandela bio is a new one on my list.
Do you have any recommendations on my other want to read? if so, please let me know in the comments.
Getting ready for Christmas
I enjoy Christmas,
growing up I enjoyed Christmas because it was a family centered time, with great food, and lots of presents. We never had snow or even cold temperatures in Mexico, in fact, one Christmas I remember having to scavenger hunt a gift and we went outside and I was too warm in my sweatshirt and jeans.
My family lived in the US only one year of my childhood, it was my 7th grade school year. That was the first year that we actually experienced snow with our Christmas season. There is something about the snow that makes Christmas just a little more special, the coldness driving people inside and so more time is spent together. Also, though I complain about it, the shorter days, make Christmas lights a bigger show piece.
Everyone has certain things that make December actually turn into Christmas. Its the traditions that we do that make this time of the year special. For me growing up it was:
- Decorating sugar cookies, ever since we were little its something we have always done, and not just a few, my mom and grandma would bake dozens of them that we would then have to decorate, it would take several hours, and cover more than one table.
- Pie. Thanksgiving and Christmas was the ONLY time we ever had pie, pumpkin pie. This year I have made 4 pies, and I have plans to make one more before Christmas. And then at least one more for Christmas dinner.
- Decorating. When we were little my mom would decorate, once we were bigger, us girls did more of it. We would take down all of our regular wall hangings and put up Christmas themed decor. The Christmas tree would be covered in ornaments and lights. I liked trying something new each year.
- Watching mom and dad "drain" the turkey all day on Christmas to get the juices for the gravy. It was a mixture of english and spanish, some concern about it being hot or missing the receiving container, and always a bit stressful it seemed. They now have it down pat, a twice a year routine that they do flawlessly.
- Opening presents. It was always a nice and orderly affair. Everyone opening presents in turn and everyone else watching. My younger sister used to be the present distributer, and last year it was Ela, my niece, that took over that honor.
- Stocking presents. There were three girls in the family. On Christmas morning, we would wake up, get our stockings, dump all the presents on the bed, then proceed to open them according to what they were. Each year we were pretty much guaranteed to get a new tooth brush, chap stick,or a small perfume. They were all the same, and so we would say "lets open the big square one" or "lets open the tooth brush".
As a grown up there are things that I now do, that I have added to the list.
- Present shopping. I enjoy trying to think of a lovely gift for each person. Something that they need, or that I think they would like. Its a challenge, a fun challenge. Since I work now I actually have a little to spend on people, when we were kids, there was a lot of gift making to compensate for our lack of funds.
- The snow, the last Christmas I had in Mexico was in 2003, ten years ago. Since then we have celebrated this season in the US. So along with Christmas there is cold, ice, and snow.
- Time with family. There have been a few Christmases we have not all been together. One year Erica and family were in Tennessee, and Amanda was in Illinois. It was just my parents, grandmother and I that year. The Christmases since my grandmother has passed have also felt a bit incomplete. After these things, all of the Calderon's being together has been a lot more special.
These are the things that make December into Christmas for me.
growing up I enjoyed Christmas because it was a family centered time, with great food, and lots of presents. We never had snow or even cold temperatures in Mexico, in fact, one Christmas I remember having to scavenger hunt a gift and we went outside and I was too warm in my sweatshirt and jeans.
My family lived in the US only one year of my childhood, it was my 7th grade school year. That was the first year that we actually experienced snow with our Christmas season. There is something about the snow that makes Christmas just a little more special, the coldness driving people inside and so more time is spent together. Also, though I complain about it, the shorter days, make Christmas lights a bigger show piece.
Everyone has certain things that make December actually turn into Christmas. Its the traditions that we do that make this time of the year special. For me growing up it was:
- Decorating sugar cookies, ever since we were little its something we have always done, and not just a few, my mom and grandma would bake dozens of them that we would then have to decorate, it would take several hours, and cover more than one table.
- Pie. Thanksgiving and Christmas was the ONLY time we ever had pie, pumpkin pie. This year I have made 4 pies, and I have plans to make one more before Christmas. And then at least one more for Christmas dinner.
- Decorating. When we were little my mom would decorate, once we were bigger, us girls did more of it. We would take down all of our regular wall hangings and put up Christmas themed decor. The Christmas tree would be covered in ornaments and lights. I liked trying something new each year.
- Watching mom and dad "drain" the turkey all day on Christmas to get the juices for the gravy. It was a mixture of english and spanish, some concern about it being hot or missing the receiving container, and always a bit stressful it seemed. They now have it down pat, a twice a year routine that they do flawlessly.
- Opening presents. It was always a nice and orderly affair. Everyone opening presents in turn and everyone else watching. My younger sister used to be the present distributer, and last year it was Ela, my niece, that took over that honor.
- Stocking presents. There were three girls in the family. On Christmas morning, we would wake up, get our stockings, dump all the presents on the bed, then proceed to open them according to what they were. Each year we were pretty much guaranteed to get a new tooth brush, chap stick,or a small perfume. They were all the same, and so we would say "lets open the big square one" or "lets open the tooth brush".
As a grown up there are things that I now do, that I have added to the list.
- Present shopping. I enjoy trying to think of a lovely gift for each person. Something that they need, or that I think they would like. Its a challenge, a fun challenge. Since I work now I actually have a little to spend on people, when we were kids, there was a lot of gift making to compensate for our lack of funds.
- The snow, the last Christmas I had in Mexico was in 2003, ten years ago. Since then we have celebrated this season in the US. So along with Christmas there is cold, ice, and snow.
- Time with family. There have been a few Christmases we have not all been together. One year Erica and family were in Tennessee, and Amanda was in Illinois. It was just my parents, grandmother and I that year. The Christmases since my grandmother has passed have also felt a bit incomplete. After these things, all of the Calderon's being together has been a lot more special.
These are the things that make December into Christmas for me.
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