Noe
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Thursday
Eating organic
Our family tries to eat as much organic food as we can. I have always wondered, though, why organic foods cost so much more than food grown with pesticides and other poisons -- after all, the farmers do have to pay for all the stuff they spray on their crops, don’t they? That kind of farming is called “conventional farming”. There is something about that term, “conventional farming” that doesn’t sit very well with me, but more on that in a moment.
I decided to research the reason organic foods cost more, and I’m glad I looked that up, because even though we are eating organic for our health, I couldn’t help thinking someone was taking advantage of our desire for better health by raising prices unnecessarily. I pictured some wise guy laughing as he charges more, knowing people who are concerned about the toxic effects of pesticides, weed killers and fungicides are willing to pay more to be safe. I was glad to know that there seems to be legitimate reasons for the higher prices.
Now, back to that term conventional. The word is defined: based on, or in accordance with, what is generally done or believed.’ When you consider that for thousands of years everything that was grown -- plants and animals -- were grown with what we now call organic, or non-conventional methods... doesn’t it seem like something is backwards? Wouldn’t the thousands of years of growing foods one way be the conventional way? With regard to what is now known as “conventional farming”, it has only been practiced for less than a hundred years, and in addition to reaping higher yields of produce, it has also in so short a time correspondingly caused damage to our planet and humans likewise.
Please don’t confuse what I’m saying here with some ignorant wish for ‘the good ol’ days’ of hundreds of years ago, as if everything was better then. Anyone that has even the smallest knowledge of history knows better than that.
Obviously, there is no food today that is as pure as that grown hundreds of years ago. Buying organic really means buying less contaminated, and that is something I am willing to pay extra for.
Noe
I decided to research the reason organic foods cost more, and I’m glad I looked that up, because even though we are eating organic for our health, I couldn’t help thinking someone was taking advantage of our desire for better health by raising prices unnecessarily. I pictured some wise guy laughing as he charges more, knowing people who are concerned about the toxic effects of pesticides, weed killers and fungicides are willing to pay more to be safe. I was glad to know that there seems to be legitimate reasons for the higher prices.
Now, back to that term conventional. The word is defined: based on, or in accordance with, what is generally done or believed.’ When you consider that for thousands of years everything that was grown -- plants and animals -- were grown with what we now call organic, or non-conventional methods... doesn’t it seem like something is backwards? Wouldn’t the thousands of years of growing foods one way be the conventional way? With regard to what is now known as “conventional farming”, it has only been practiced for less than a hundred years, and in addition to reaping higher yields of produce, it has also in so short a time correspondingly caused damage to our planet and humans likewise.
Please don’t confuse what I’m saying here with some ignorant wish for ‘the good ol’ days’ of hundreds of years ago, as if everything was better then. Anyone that has even the smallest knowledge of history knows better than that.
Obviously, there is no food today that is as pure as that grown hundreds of years ago. Buying organic really means buying less contaminated, and that is something I am willing to pay extra for.
Ratings are really important
I had to go to the dentist recently, hadn’t been in awhile and suddenly had to go. I was flossing with this really great floss -- EcoDenT Vegan Cinnamon, I love that floss! -- and somehow I got it up under my crown. My teeth are very tight, and I could tell the floss wasn’t going to come out easy... thought to myself, ‘I need to just pull this through instead of trying to wiggle it back up’, but too late! -- I had already pulled so hard, the crown popped off! That was the weirdest, scariest feeling, but I grabbed it and shoved it right back on as good as I could. Great, now I had to go to the dentist!
Actually, I’d been needing to go and putting if off for awhile... I do mean awhile. I hate going to the dentist, maybe because I had to go often when I was young. I’d been asking around for recommendations, but seems like a lot of people were in my same shoes; no one really had someone they liked either, except one person whose dentist I already knew and didn’t want to see. So what to do?
We’re on a sort of a plan -- it’s one that dentists sign up on, then give discounted rates instead of you having insurance. So we picked one from the list, a real shot in the dark! But thankfully, he turned out to be great, not so much his staff. Let me tell you about it:
So.... ratings are really important! Noe and I always look for those, don’t you? And we try to read a lot, not just the first one or two. It’s good to be specific, but not too detailed. Give the reasons why you’re saying you like what you’re rating, or why you don’t. Help the people that are searching for your help to find the best thing -- or dentist, or whatever -- to choose one they can afford.
That brings me to our books. Honestly, I think Amazon was one of the first places I remember having ratings on things, and that is so helpful. Anyway, we have sold more books than we have ratings for, and I wonder why some haven’t put in their thoughts... we’d like to hear what people think, even if they have some “negative” criticism. If it can help us as authors do a better job next time, that’s great! Of course, we also appreciate the praise -- that helps you feel like continuing to try, not to mention, makes you feel good.
If you’ve read one -- or all -- of our Sarah’s World books and haven’t rated them yet, please do. Noe and I, and all the other hundreds of readers looking for a good book for their kids to read, would really appreciate it!
Actually, I’d been needing to go and putting if off for awhile... I do mean awhile. I hate going to the dentist, maybe because I had to go often when I was young. I’d been asking around for recommendations, but seems like a lot of people were in my same shoes; no one really had someone they liked either, except one person whose dentist I already knew and didn’t want to see. So what to do?
We’re on a sort of a plan -- it’s one that dentists sign up on, then give discounted rates instead of you having insurance. So we picked one from the list, a real shot in the dark! But thankfully, he turned out to be great, not so much his staff. Let me tell you about it:
They sent the “new patient” forms by email, so didn’t have to go early to do that, which was very handy. Noe talked to them on the phone and says they were very polite and helpful, friendly enough. But I was kinda let down by the front desk staff’s reception -- granted, they seemed a little busy. You’d think, though, that they would have done something to welcome a new patient... maybe a ‘Hi, it’s so nice to have you, my name is---’ sort of thing, but that didn’t happen, even though there’s a sign in the waiting area saying ‘our best patients are recommended by our best patients’ or something like that, which you’d think would cause the staff to put their best foot forward. Oh, well.
The main thing is the dentist, and I couldn’t say enough about how much I liked him. He was in a happy mood, introduced himself, talked about the area of town we live in -- his mom had lived there awhile too. Now even though it was obvious I hadn’t seen a dentist in some time, he didn’t say anything about it (I was dreading that; thought he might chastise me a bit). He asked if I wanted him to also fix a cavity I had while I was there … of course, I knew I needed that done, but I figured, they’re gonna make me come back so I’ll have to pay for two visits, and here he just told me he could do both of these things on this one visit! It was all done in less than an hour, and I was super pleased.
I went home and searched for a place online to brag about this guy. If I had been able to read something about him first, I think I wouldn’t have been so anxious about trying him, so I really wanted to go rate him. I found two places, one that I was even able to blab a little on. I only said about the staff that they ‘weren’t particularly friendly or unfriendly’, because maybe it had been a hard day or something. I mentioned they took me on Tuesday (it happened Sunday night!), the cost was quite reasonable, and the dentist was great.
So.... ratings are really important! Noe and I always look for those, don’t you? And we try to read a lot, not just the first one or two. It’s good to be specific, but not too detailed. Give the reasons why you’re saying you like what you’re rating, or why you don’t. Help the people that are searching for your help to find the best thing -- or dentist, or whatever -- to choose one they can afford.
That brings me to our books. Honestly, I think Amazon was one of the first places I remember having ratings on things, and that is so helpful. Anyway, we have sold more books than we have ratings for, and I wonder why some haven’t put in their thoughts... we’d like to hear what people think, even if they have some “negative” criticism. If it can help us as authors do a better job next time, that’s great! Of course, we also appreciate the praise -- that helps you feel like continuing to try, not to mention, makes you feel good.
If you’ve read one -- or all -- of our Sarah’s World books and haven’t rated them yet, please do. Noe and I, and all the other hundreds of readers looking for a good book for their kids to read, would really appreciate it!
cindy
Wednesday
About Sarah and Pcee
When I was in fourth grade, we were given an assignment to make up a story. This was a perfect assignment for me, so I made up a story about a kid finding a worm that he kept in his room in a jar. He would let it out from time to time and finally it spun its cocoon and emerged as a butterfly. I can’t remember everything about the story but the rough outline and a point or two; it was, after-all, some forty-five years ago. The teacher liked it so much she had me read it to the class.
That was an unusual experience for me back then because I made very bad grades in school, so it was always someone else being put before the class, certainly not me. The teacher evidently saw some potential in my writing and asked me to do another. I wrote a comparatively longer story about a kid that sees a spaceship land in his backyard, and subsequently, by his contact with the aliens, develops ‘spider powers’. Yes, I was an avid reader of Spider-man comics.
I have been working on a novel for about a year and am very close to being done with the finishing touches to make it ready for publication. Cindy suggested we try publishing something else first so we could see what is involved before trying to get our novel out. My fourth-grade assignment came to mind, and soon we had a story we could use to try self-publishing on Amazon. Even though it is rather straightforward and easy, we learned plenty on that first go-round and are glad we did it that way.
At the time I was writing Sarah and Pcee, I had no idea of turning it into a series, but other stories came into my mind, and so far now there are three Sarah’s World e-books on Amazon Kindle.
Noe
That was an unusual experience for me back then because I made very bad grades in school, so it was always someone else being put before the class, certainly not me. The teacher evidently saw some potential in my writing and asked me to do another. I wrote a comparatively longer story about a kid that sees a spaceship land in his backyard, and subsequently, by his contact with the aliens, develops ‘spider powers’. Yes, I was an avid reader of Spider-man comics.
I have been working on a novel for about a year and am very close to being done with the finishing touches to make it ready for publication. Cindy suggested we try publishing something else first so we could see what is involved before trying to get our novel out. My fourth-grade assignment came to mind, and soon we had a story we could use to try self-publishing on Amazon. Even though it is rather straightforward and easy, we learned plenty on that first go-round and are glad we did it that way.
At the time I was writing Sarah and Pcee, I had no idea of turning it into a series, but other stories came into my mind, and so far now there are three Sarah’s World e-books on Amazon Kindle.
Noe
Tuesday
The wonder in my life
There is a line in a very famous song that has always bugged me from the first time I heard it. The song is “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton.
I like the song well enough, because I’m a sucker for love songs and romantic movies. (I did a little research on this song, it’s amazing what you can find on Wikipedia: It was written September 7, 1976 for Pattie Boyd, while Clapton was waiting for her to get dressed to go to a party thrown by Paul and Linda McCartney -- something called a “Buddy Holly” party that they held annually. Of course, who knows if that’s really true, but at least it makes a good story.)
He sings about how beautiful this woman is and how everyone looks at her when they go to the party, and then this is what follows:
That line, ‘you don’t realize how much I love you’ just doesn’t follow the flow of the lyrics. He is saying what a wonder it is that such a beautiful woman is with him, and then he turns the whole point around by making it about himself and how this woman doesn’t know how much he loves her. It would have been a much better love song if he would have written something like: ‘the wonder of it all is that someone like you loves me’.
I have often thanked my wonderful wife for loving me, telling her I don’t know how someone as special as her would fall for such an ordinary guy; and I try to tell her as often as I can throughout the day what she means to me. After more than 30 years of marriage, I never tire of looking at her face... there is a loveliness about it that holds my attention and makes me marvel. Given the fact that my love for my wonderful lady has not ended, nor has hers for me, I would say that gives me some freedom to find fault with a love song, even if it is famous.
Noe
I like the song well enough, because I’m a sucker for love songs and romantic movies. (I did a little research on this song, it’s amazing what you can find on Wikipedia: It was written September 7, 1976 for Pattie Boyd, while Clapton was waiting for her to get dressed to go to a party thrown by Paul and Linda McCartney -- something called a “Buddy Holly” party that they held annually. Of course, who knows if that’s really true, but at least it makes a good story.)
He sings about how beautiful this woman is and how everyone looks at her when they go to the party, and then this is what follows:
I feel wonderful
Because I see the love light in your eyes
And the wonder of it all
Is that you just don't realize how much I love you
That line, ‘you don’t realize how much I love you’ just doesn’t follow the flow of the lyrics. He is saying what a wonder it is that such a beautiful woman is with him, and then he turns the whole point around by making it about himself and how this woman doesn’t know how much he loves her. It would have been a much better love song if he would have written something like: ‘the wonder of it all is that someone like you loves me’.
I have often thanked my wonderful wife for loving me, telling her I don’t know how someone as special as her would fall for such an ordinary guy; and I try to tell her as often as I can throughout the day what she means to me. After more than 30 years of marriage, I never tire of looking at her face... there is a loveliness about it that holds my attention and makes me marvel. Given the fact that my love for my wonderful lady has not ended, nor has hers for me, I would say that gives me some freedom to find fault with a love song, even if it is famous.
Noe
Monday
What goes in, must come out...
... or, "Come on, ice cream!"
My mother relates a story from her childhood that always makes me laugh, no matter how many times I hear it or repeat it.
One of her brothers liked to eat jalapenos. Of course, those of us who eat hot stuff do so for the burn in our mouths. I know there are more than just a few that don’t understand the pleasure of what they consider pain while eating, and I don’t think it could be explained in any rational way. But, anyway, the burn going in is one thing, the burn going out is quite another! -- and it is with reference to this that my uncle had what he believed to be an answer.
After eating jalapenos with his meal one day, he then ate some ice cream, thinking, ‘if it works for one, it might work for the other.’ My mother happened to be near enough to the restroom a little later to hear her brother appealing, “Come on, ice cream!”
So I’m sure you can understand, around her house the phrase ‘come on, ice cream!’ has a very unique meaning...
Noe
My mother relates a story from her childhood that always makes me laugh, no matter how many times I hear it or repeat it.
One of her brothers liked to eat jalapenos. Of course, those of us who eat hot stuff do so for the burn in our mouths. I know there are more than just a few that don’t understand the pleasure of what they consider pain while eating, and I don’t think it could be explained in any rational way. But, anyway, the burn going in is one thing, the burn going out is quite another! -- and it is with reference to this that my uncle had what he believed to be an answer.
After eating jalapenos with his meal one day, he then ate some ice cream, thinking, ‘if it works for one, it might work for the other.’ My mother happened to be near enough to the restroom a little later to hear her brother appealing, “Come on, ice cream!”
So I’m sure you can understand, around her house the phrase ‘come on, ice cream!’ has a very unique meaning...
Noe
Sunday
What makes you happy...
Happiness, to some extent, could be considered a matter of semantics. After all, some may think of happiness as a fleeting feeling of elation, whereas others could think of it as a deeper, more enduring sense of well-being. In either case, I think most people that give the subject of happiness that kind of thought would agree that, even though the expression ‘whatever makes you happy’ is used everyday, it is not a matter of being made happy as much as it is being happy.
I often observed in my son as he was growing up (he is now in his mid-twenties) that he would be happy in such varying circumstances, some of which most kids would have been complaining, ‘it’s so boring’. He was satisfied wherever he was, regardless of whether there were other young ones or just a gathering of adults. When it was just adults, he would listen, laugh and have a good time, rather than complain that he was not somewhere else.
So it has struck me through the years watching my son, that what makes us happy is our own attitude or disposition to our circumstances. And we can all do something about that, to make ourselves happier than we might generally be.
Noe
I often observed in my son as he was growing up (he is now in his mid-twenties) that he would be happy in such varying circumstances, some of which most kids would have been complaining, ‘it’s so boring’. He was satisfied wherever he was, regardless of whether there were other young ones or just a gathering of adults. When it was just adults, he would listen, laugh and have a good time, rather than complain that he was not somewhere else.
So it has struck me through the years watching my son, that what makes us happy is our own attitude or disposition to our circumstances. And we can all do something about that, to make ourselves happier than we might generally be.
Noe
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