I'm excited about "Mrs. Job"

OK, I'm claiming bragging rights, but I'm flying high about the publisher's evaluation of Mrs. Job: "This is a wonderful and unique presentation that should find a strong audience.  This reviewer has never seen a work based on the perspective of Job's wife despite the myriad of studies completed on the life of Job. The way the author portrays her and Job in relation to her is fascinating and engaging." Oh, and there's more: "It's easy to feel an emotional connection to Dara and to Job; the author's professed love for both characters is evident and readers will share that feeling.  Overall the characters are wonderfully crafted and believable."

Please forgive me while I preen. (or is that reserved only for male birds.)

And speaking of forgiveness, I just got word of good stuff that came of someone's reading "Forgiving One Page at a Time." Real forgiveness followed as the person described "I got it. It's really down to earth and practical, and I got it."

OK. Now back to preparing for whatever comes of November 4.

6% for the governor

I finished my purchase and the salesperson added, "and 6% for the governor." How hard would it be to speak the truth: "6% for the health, safety, and well-being of our community?" Call me naive, but I wonder where the money to repair the collapsed 35W bridge or to prevent further collapse is supposed to come from? Or the money for the police and fire vehicles I hear regularly sirening their way north or south on highway 41 visible from my kitchen window. Or support of our schools which should be the best we can offer our children. Or keeping our land free of pollution. Or solutions to the problems of homelessness and starvation.

Maybe it's because I've been around so long, but I can remember when we pulled together as a community to make life better for all of us. Did it take the horror of WWII to do that, following up on the disaster of the "great" depression? Do we have some kind of objection to peaceful progress?

'Nuff said for today.

I'm excited about "Mrs. Job"

I found a clergy person willing to read my Mrs. Job manuscript. I admit, I was excited and scared. After all, she is steeped in Biblical history. She could have nicely told me that I had strayed too far from the Biblical source, or from the reality of life in the desert, or that the writing was dull. Instead, she called to tell me that she didn't just like it; she loved it. She said more good stuff, but I don't know that it's appropriate to repeat that until she puts it in writing herself. She said she'll write a blurb for me for the back cover. 

Based on a recent e-mail, I should soon be receiving the editorial evaluation from iUniverse, the publisher. That might turn out to be a downer. Who knows? But for now I'm going to bask in the pleasure.

Thinking About the Day of my Birth

OK. I can't pass myself off as 65 any more. (As if I ever could once I passed 66) But I feel an intense need to be open about my birthday coming up on October 28. Among other things, I find myself thinking a lot about my mother as an intensely pregnant woman anxious to get me out into the world. My big sister points out that Mother was carrying me in an optimistic time. The family's new home in Forestville, Connecticut, was being completed and would be ready to occupy a month after my birth. The headlines in the New York Herald Tribune were: "Briand Takes Post As Socialists Join Radical in Cabinet. (That was referring to French politics); "Connecticut Tariff Lobby Called Greedy;" "Scientist Checks Cancer Cells After Growth in Living Tissues;" "Coudert Puts 337 Murders Up to Banton: 190 Slayings Last Year Without Penalty in Manhattan Alone, Says opponent of Justice Grain;" "LaGuardia Trend Spurs Republican Final-Week Drive." Oh, and by the way, a lesser headline was, "Mussolini Calls Fascism Perfect at Celebration."

The next day, October 29, 1929, the major headline was "Stocks Decline Heavily, Erasing All Year's Gains; Buying Near, Say Banks." And then the sub-headlines, "Market Support Ready, Bankers' Meeting Hears," and under that, "Heavy Purchasing by Investment Trusts Expected to Stabilize Stock Values Is View of Spokesman After Session in Morgan Office."

Been there? Done that? It's feeling almost spooky.