tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58969838643293127612024-03-19T14:39:37.006-07:00Retired, but not Retiring"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." Richard BachJanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-82893936526045030302012-08-29T19:34:00.000-07:002012-08-29T19:34:03.234-07:00Rules for Mittopoly, adapted for 2012With the new economic proposals from the Romney-Ryan ticket, Monopoly needs some new rules to reflect the economic reality ahead of us if they are elected. And so I present:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Official Mittopoly Game Rules<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">(Adapted from the classic Monopoly® game)<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Original rules found at </span><a href="http://www.hasbro.com/"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.hasbro.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Monopoly® available from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">www.amazon.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
The following page is a copy of the rules adapted from the Monopoly® Rule Book.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Additions in Yellow</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Inspired by the Mitt Romney
Paul Ryan budget plan</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">By Jane Hurst, www.janehurst.blogspot.com</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="object"></a><b><u>OBJECT</u></b><br />
</span><a href="http://richard_wilding.tripod.com/monorules.htm#top"></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The object
of the game is to become the wealthiest player through buying, renting and
selling of property. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">If you want happiness, you have
to find it some other way than by accumulating wealth.</span><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="equipment"></a><b><u>EQUIPMENT</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The equipment consists of a board, 2 dice, tokens, 32 houses and 12
Hotels. There are 15 Silver Spoon Cards, 16 Chance <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">(Plus one Silver Spoon Card in the chance deck*
plus additional Chance cards as listed below)</span> and 16 Community Chest
cards, 28 Title Deed card (one for each property), and play money, with the
addition of 50 x $1000 bills.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">*Silver Spoon chance card is only inserted into the deck
every fifth game, or at the whim of the Politician,
who has written laws guaranteeing tax
advantages and write offs that allow the growth and transfer of wealth by the
Silver Spoon Player.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="preparation"></a><b><u>PREPARATION</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Place the board on a table and put the Chance and Community Chest
cards face down on their allotted spaces on the board. Each player chooses one
token to represent them while travelling around the board. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Roll the dice to decide
which player (and his descendents) will be the Silver Spoon Player. Highest
number wins. The Silver Spoon player
gets $15,000 and 5 houses and 5 hotels to begin the game. He/she also gets guaranteed loans from the
bank to expand his/her business when requested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Roll the dice to decide
which player will be the Politician. Lowest number wins. The Politician gets
$5000 to start the game and favorable guaranteed loans to buy and improve
property.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Each remaining player is given $1500 divided as follows:<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2 $500's, 2 $100's, 2
$50's, 6 $20's, 5 $10's, 5 $5's, and 5 $1's.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
All remaining money and other equipment go to the Bank.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span><b><u><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">POLITICIAN<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Politican in theory
serves at the</span><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">pleasure of the electorate, but in fact
is in the pocket of the Silver Spoon Player. The advantage to being the
Politician is that when he/she passes GO he/she collects $1000 in campaign
contributions from the Silver Spoon Player.
He/she also has a higher salary (set by the congress) than everyone else
and collects $500 from the bank when he/she passes Go. He/She also starts the
game with $5000 and one Get out of Jail Free card.</span><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<b><u>BANKER</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Select as Banker a player who will also make a good Auctioneer. A
Banker who plays in the game must keep their personal funds separate from those
of the Bank. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">The Banker may have a Swiss Bank Account to
conceal funds and avoid taxes. He/She also starts the game with$5000 and one Get out of Jail Free card.</span></span><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
When more than five persons play, the Banker may elect to act only as Banker
and Auctioneer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="thebank"></a><b><u><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">THE
SILVER SPOON PLAYER (The 1%)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The
Silver Spoon Player begins the game with $15,000 and the ability to borrow
money and make campaign contributions to the Politician in exchange for
favorable legislation. </span><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">He/She also starts the game
with two Get out of Jail Free cards and a favorable line of credit with the
bank.</span><b><u><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Anyone
who becomes a silver Spoon Player may convey this status to his/her heirs in
the next game of Mittopoly. If both
generations want to play they have to share their money, but the other
privileges convey to both.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">THE BANK</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Besides the Bank's money, the Bank holds the Title Deeds, and the
houses and hotels prior to purchase by the players. The Bank pays salaries and
bonuses. It sells and auctions properties and hands out the proper Title Deed
cards when purchased by a player, it also sells houses and hotels to the
players and loans money when required on mortgages.<br />
The Bank collects all taxes, fines, loans and interest, and the price of all
properties which it sells and auctions. The Bank "never goes broke."
If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker may issue as much as needed by
writing on any ordinary paper.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="theplay"></a><b><u>THE PLAY</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Starting with the Banker, each player in turn throws the dice. The
player with the highest total starts the play. Place your token on the corner
marked "<b>GO</b>", then throw the dice and move your token<br />
<i>(in the direction of the arrow)</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">the
number of spaces indicated by the dice.<br />
After you have completed your play, the turn passes to the left. The tokens
remain on the spaces occupied and proceed from that point on the player's next
turn. Two or more tokens may rest on the same space at the same time.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Depending on the space your token reaches, you may be entitled to buy real
estate or other properties, or be obliged to pay rent, pay taxes, draw a Chance
or Community Chest card, Go To Jail, or etc...<br />
<br />
If you throw doubles, you move your token as usual, the sum of the two dice,
and are subject to any privileges or penalties pertaining to the space on which
you land. Retaining the dice, throw again and move your token as before. If you
throw doubles three times in succession, you have committed financial fraud and
must move your token immediately to the space marked "<b>In Jail</b>".<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="go"></a><b><u>GO</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Each time a player's token lands on or passes over</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">GO</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, whether by throwing the dice or drawing a card, the Banker pays
that player a $200 salary. With these additions:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Banker</span></i><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> $2000 in mortgage interest, credit
card fees, and processing fees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Politician</span></i><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> $1000 in campaign contributions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Silver Spoon Player</span></i><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> $5000 in low tax stock dividends</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<i>The $200 is paid only once each time around the board. However, if a player
passing</i></span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">GO</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">on the throw of the dice lands 2 spaces beyond
it on Community Chest, or 7 spaces beyond it on Chance, and draws the "<b>Advance
to GO</b>" card, they collect $200 for passing GO the first time, and
another $200 for Advancing to it the second time by the instructions on the
card.</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="buyingproperty"></a><b><u>BUYING PROPERTY</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Whenever you land on an unowned property you may buy that property
from the Bank at its printed price. You receive the Title Deed card showing ownership.
Place the title deed card face up in front of you. If you do not wish to buy
the property, the Bank sells it at through an auction to the highest bidder.
The high bidder pays the Bank the amount of the bid in cash and receives the
Title Deed card for that property.<br />
<i>Any player, including the one who declined the option to buy it at the
printed price, may bid. Bidding may start at any price. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">The Banker, the Politician, and the Silver Spoon
Player may borrow money from the Bank to buy property at no interest, to be
paid back whenever the player wishes.</span></i><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="payingrent"></a><b><u>PAYING RENT</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">When you land on a property that is owned by another player, the
owner collects rent from you in accordance with the list printed on its Title
Deed card.<br />
<i>If the property is mortgaged, no rent can be collected. When a property is
mortgaged, its Title Deed card is placed face down in front of the owner.</i><br />
It is an advantage to hold all the Title Deed cards in a color-group (i.e.,
Boardwalk and Park Place, or Connecticut, Vermont and Oriental Avenues) because
the owner may then charge double rent for unimproved properties in that
colour-group. This rule applies to unmortgaged properties even if another
property in that colour-group is mortgaged.<br />
It is even more advantageous to have houses or hotels on properties because
rents are much higher than for unimproved properties. The owner may not collect
the rent if they fail to ask for it before the second player following throws
the dice. The Banker and the Silver
Spoon Player may bargain with the Politican (in exchange for a campaign
contribution) to pass a law that allows them to retroactively collect rent.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="chanceandcommunitychest"></a><b><u>CHANCE AND COMMUNITY CHEST</u></b><br />
<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">When you land on either of these spaces, take the top card from
the deck indicated, follow the instructions and return the card face down to
the bottom of the deck. The "<b>Get Out of Jail Free</b>" card is
held until used and then returned to the bottom of the deck. If the player who
draws it does not wish to use it, then they may sell it, at any time, to
another player at a price agreeable to both.
<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="incometax"></a><b><u>INCOME TAX</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you land here you have two options: You may estimate your tax
at $200 and pay the Bank, or you may pay 10% of your total worth to the Bank.
Your total worth is all your cash on hand, printed prices of mortgaged and
unmortgaged properties and cost price of all buildings you own. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">The Banker, the Politician and the Silver Spoon Player pay only 5% of
their wealth, so that they can create jobs later</span>.<br />
<i>You must decide which option you will take before you add up your total
worth.</i><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="jail"></a><b><u>JAIL</u></b></span><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You land in Jail when...<br />
(1)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Your
token lands on the space marked</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Go
to Jail",</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
(2)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You draw
a card marked</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Go
to Jail"</span></b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">or</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
(3)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You throw
doubles three times in succession.</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
When you are sent to Jail you cannot collect your $200 salary in that move
since, regardless of where your token is on the board, you must move directly
into Jail. Your turn ends when you are sent to Jail.<br />
If you are not "sent to jail" but in the ordinary course of play
lands on that space, you are<br />
<b>"Just Visiting"</b>, you incur no penalty, and you move ahead in
the usual manner on your next turn.<br />
You still are able to collect rent on your properties because you are</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Just Visiting"</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">.<br />
<br />
A player gets out of Jail by...<br />
(1)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Throwing
doubles on any of your next three turns,<br />
if you succeed in doing this you immediately move forward the number of spaces
shown by your doubles throw. Even though you had thrown doubles, you do not
take another turn.</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
(2)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Using the</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"<b>Get Out of Jail Free Card</b>"<br />
(3)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Purchasing
the</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"<b>Get
Out of Jail Free Card</b>"</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">from
another player and playing it.</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
(4)</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Paying a
fine of $50 before you roll the dice on either of your next two turns. If you
do not throw doubles by your third turn, you must pay the $50 fine. You then
get out of Jail and immediately move forward the number of spaces shown by your
throw.<br />
Even though you are in Jail, you may buy and sell property, buy and sell houses
and hotels and collect rents.</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="freeparking"></a><b><u>FREE PARKING</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A player landing on this place does not receive any money,
property or reward of any kind.<br />
This is just a "free" resting-place.
<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">If you are the
Banker, the Politician or the Silver Spoon Player, it has a water view.</span><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="houses"></a><b><u>HOUSES</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">When a player owns all the properties in a colour-group they may
buy houses from the Bank<br />
and erect them on those properties.<br />
If you buy one house, you may put it on any one of those properties. The next
house you buy must be erected on one of the unimproved properties of this or
any other complete colour-group you may own. The price you must pay the Bank
for each house is shown on your Title Deed card for the property on which you
erect the house. The owner still collects double rent from an opponent who
lands on the unimproved properties of there complete colour-group.<br />
Following the above rules, you may buy and erect at any time as many houses as
your judgement and financial standing will allow. But you must build evenly,
i.e., you cannot erect more than one house on any one property of any
colour-group until you have built one house on every property of that group.
You may then begin on the second row of houses, and so on, up to a limit of
four houses to a property. For example, you cannot build three Houses on one
property if you have only one house on another property of that group.<br />
As you build evenly, you must also break down evenly if you sell houses back to
the Bank (see SELLING PROPERTY).<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="hotels"></a><b><u>HOTELS</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">When a player has four houses on each property of a complete
colour-group, they may buy a hotel from the Bank and erect it on any property
of the colour-group. They return the four houses from that property to the Bank
and pay the price for the hotel as shown on the Title Deed card. Only one hotel
may be erected on any one property.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="" name="buildingshortages"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">BUILDING SHORTAGES</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">When the Bank has no houses to sell, players wishing to build must
wait for some player to return or sell their houses to the Bank before
building. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">You may also
contribute to the Politican who will pass
a law allowing you to seize the property of others for yourself, such as
happens during highway building or urban renewal projects.</span> If there are a limited number of houses and
hotels available and two or more players wish to buy more than the Bank has,
the houses or hotels must be sold at auction to the highest bidder.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="sellingproperty"></a><b><u>SELLING PROPERTY</u></b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Unimproved properties, railroads and utilities (but not buildings)
may be sold to any player as a private transaction for any amount the owner can
get. However, no property can be sold to another player if buildings are
standing on any properties of that colour-group. Any buildings so located must be
sold back to the Bank before the owner can sell any property of that
colour-group.<br />
<br />
Houses and Hotels may be sold back to the Bank at any time for one-half the
price paid for them. All houses on one colour-group may be sold at once, or
they may be sold one house at a time (one hotel equals five houses), evenly, in
reverse of the manner in which they were erected.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="" name="mortgages"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">MORTGAGES</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Unimproved properties can be mortgaged through the Bank at any
time. Before an improved property can be mortgaged, all the buildings on all
the properties of its colour-group must be sold back to the Bank at half price.
The mortgage value is printed on each Title Deed card.<br />
<br />
No rent can be collected on mortgaged properties or utilities, but rent can be
collected on unmortgaged properties in the same group.<br />
<br />
In order to lift the mortgage, the owner must pay the Bank the amount of
mortgage</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">plus</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">10% interest. When all the properties of a colour-group are no
longer mortgaged, the owner may begin to buy back houses at full price.<br />
<br />
The player who mortgages property retains possession of it and no other player
may secure it by lifting the mortgage from the Bank. However, the owner may
sell this mortgaged property to another player at any agreed price. If you are
the new owner, you may lift the mortgage at once if you wish by paying off the
mortgage plus 10% interest to the Bank. If the mortgage is not lifted at once,
you must pay the Bank 10% interest when you buy the property and if you lift
the mortgage later you must pay the Bank an additional 10% interest as well as
the amount of the mortgage.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="" name="bankruptcy"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">BANKRUPTCY</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You are declared bankrupt if you owe more than you can pay either
to another player or to the Bank. If your debt is to another player, you must
turn over to that player all that you have of value and retire from the game.<br />
In making this settlement, if you own houses or hotels, you must return these
to the Bank in exchange for money to the extent of one-half the amount paid for
them.<br />
This cash is given to the creditor. If you have mortgaged property you also
turn this property over to your creditor but the new owner must at once pay the
Bank the amount of interest on the loan, which is 10% of the value of the
property.<br />
The new owner who does this may then, at their option, pay the principal or hold
the property until some later turn, then lift the mortgage. If they hold
property in this way until a later turn, they must pay the interest again upon
lifting the mortgage.<br />
Should you owe the Bank, instead of another player, more than you can pay (because
of taxes or penalties) even by selling off buildings and mortgaging property,
you must turn over all assets to the Bank. In this case, the Bank immediately
sells by auction all property so taken, except buildings. A bankrupt player
must immediately retire from the game. The last player left in the game wins.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="miscellaneous"></a><b><u><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">FRUSTRATION</span></u></b><span style="background: yellow; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If
the ordinary players get too frustrated with the game and start to complain
about the rules, offer them 1) Distraction into political campaigns focused on
socal issues unrelated to the player’s own life, such as abortion and gay
marriage, which arouse passions or 2) easy credit to encourage distracting
consumerism or 3) a choice of addictions to take their minds off the cause of
their frustration. Addictions may
include gambling, drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, media, online games, eating.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Be
sure to limit treatment programs that would allow recovery from these
addictions by underfunding them in the healthcare system.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">MISCELLANEOUS</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Money can be loaned to a player only by the Bank and then only by
mortgaging property <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">or as
a personal favor to the Politician or the Silver Spoon Player</span>. No player
may borrow from or lend money to another player.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><a href="" name="shortgame"></a><b><u><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">WHY WOULD
ORDINARY PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME?</span></u></b><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Every
Fifth game the Banker may insert the Silver Spoon Card into the Chance Deck, so
there is the opportunity to join the 1%.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">RULES for a SHORT GAME</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">(60 to 90
minutes)<br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There are three changed rules for this Short Game.<br />
1. During</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">PREPARATION</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">for play, the Banker shuffles the pack of Title Deed cards, then
the player to the left cuts them, then the Banker deals out two, one at a time,
to each player. The players must immediately pay the Bank the printed price of
each. Play then begins as in the regular game.<br />
2. In this short game, it is necessary to have only three houses</span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(instead of four)</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">on each lot of a complete colour-group before the player may buy a
hotel.<br />
Rent for a hotel remains the same as in the regular game.<br />
The turn-in value of a hotel is still one-half the purchase price, which in
this game is one house fewer than in the regular game.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
3.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">END OF GAME.</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The first player to go bankrupt retires from play, as in the
regular game. However, when the second bankruptcy occurs, the game ends. Play
immediately ceases, with the bankrupt player's turning over to there creditor
all that they have of value, including buildings and any other properties.<br />
This happens whether the creditor is a rival player or the Bank.<br />
Each remaining player then values his/her property.<br />
<i>(1) Cash on hand</i></span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
(2) Lots, Utilities and Railroads owned, at the price printed on the board.<br />
(3) Any mortgaged property owned, at one-half the price printed on the board.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
(4) Houses, valued at purchase price.<br />
(5) Hotels, valued at purchase price including the value of the<br />
three houses turned in.</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<b>THE RICHEST PLAYER WINS!</b><br />
<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
<a href="" name="anothershortgame"></a><b><u>ANOTHER GOOD SHORT GAME</u></b></span><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></u></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> <br />
<br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">TIME LIMIT GAME...</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Before starting, agree upon
a definite hour of termination, when the richest player will be declared The
winner. Before starting, the Banker shuffles and cuts the Title Deed cards and
deals two to each player. Players immediately pay the Bank the price of the
properties dealt to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">ADDITIONAL CHANCE CARDS (Suggestions welcome here)</span></u></b><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Contract a serious but curable illness that your health
insurance plan does not cover. Surrender
all your money and property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">A family member contractsa serious but curable illness
that your health insurance plan does not cover.
Surrender all your money and property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: yellow; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Your wife finds out about you sleeping with your secretary
and you failed to sign a prenup. Surrender 50% of your wealth to another
player, chosen by the roll of the dice. Highest number wins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-54054818737963411892010-07-20T07:40:00.000-07:002010-07-20T08:21:40.715-07:00Greta Garbo, Zen Master<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPvyKst_zW83NG8Tp_M8GCj0vEG-e21N5OtpSY4UMSNu__v3zqjWx7pnfhamfKcLkhMtGKzwyzHvJ5nYeeB8p2Wb9tKhIldq81_ACwDQm_BXSCyM7e4TOPlB_KA3fWT_8y342KRBQxims/s1600/GRETA_GARBO.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPvyKst_zW83NG8Tp_M8GCj0vEG-e21N5OtpSY4UMSNu__v3zqjWx7pnfhamfKcLkhMtGKzwyzHvJ5nYeeB8p2Wb9tKhIldq81_ACwDQm_BXSCyM7e4TOPlB_KA3fWT_8y342KRBQxims/s320/GRETA_GARBO.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496008861441713586" /></a><br />Greta Garbo showed up as a fictional character in a book, and we got interested in her. We didn't remember seeing her movies, but we had seen that face. Of course. So we asked the kids at the local video store and they recommended <span style="font-style:italic;">Queen Christina.</span> Wonderful film about a woman who abdicates from the throne to live an ordinary life. We have followed up with <span style="font-style:italic;">Anna Christie</span>, better in the German than in the English, and a couple of her silent films. They say that she was so expressive that she needed fewer written words to describe her action and dialogue than any other actor. <br /><br />On film she is mesmerizing and magnificent. She glows in front of the camera. When I started to read <span style="font-weight:bold;">Garbo</span> by Barry Paris, an exhaustive bio for those interested, I didn't know what to expect. In life she was kind of...dull. She seemed to lack direction, and needed people around her to decide which films she would make and how she would invest her money. In Hollywood she lived with a couple of guys, but didn't have any interest in marriage or settling into one spot. She moved around a lot. She didn't read much, and was not known to have "big thoughts". And most of all she is famous for having said about the starstruck fans chasing her "I want to be left alone." <br /><br />Then why do I say she was a Zen Master? Because she did all this with an astonishing lack of ego. The makeup people made her look good for the camera, but she did not preen at herself. She seemed to have no obsession with how she looked on screen, letting costar John Gilbert always show his best side to the camera regardless of how she looked. She hated to rehearse, though she was letter perfect in memorizing dialogue. She just became the characters she played and with minimal fuss showed in her face and the lift of an eyebrow a lifetime of emotion. <br /><br />And then she let it go. She had been a huge star, but never liked star trappings. She didn't like Hollywood parties where she would be on display as "Garbo". (Though she had little physical modesty and swam nude in her friends' pools.) She disliked fans coming up to her on the street for autographs, trying to get a piece of her personality for themselves. She usually said no. It's not that she was angry, it was that she just didn't care and didn't see why she should do anything that didn't interest her. <br /><br />She just drifted out of film making. She lived in New York and traveled and walked a lot, and then stayed at home and watched Matlock on TV. She could have seemed depressed, but that didn't seem to be it. She was disinterested. She had few passions - not men or ideas or drugs or shopping. She was not motivated by the approval of others and did not feel the need to please them. She had many long term friendships but she was always less invested in the relationships than others were.<br /><br />She was, to use a Zen word, detached. If you imagine being gifted in your youth with such talent and beauty that the world wanted access to you, how would you respond? Could you keep your ego out of it and not think how great you were based on others' opinions? Could you let fame and fortune go when you felt it was right and give up the applause? Could you look at your own beauty in the mirror and not take it personally? Garbo was able to do that.<br /><br />So in the end, I'm not sure I would have been her friend, but I am moved by the way she lived her life. She did not let the world's opinion of what she ought to do keep her from following the path she felt pulled to. Eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are sleepy, act when someone puts you in a movie, as the old Zen teaching goes (sort of). And when the part calls for sadness you are sad, and when it calls for joy, you radiate your light through the lens, through the projector, to whoever is watching the film. And then you let it go. <br /><br />P.S. She was also the perfect height, 5'7 1/2" and was mad about lingonberries. But I don't take these coincidences personally.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-71081430260481832252010-06-02T06:12:00.000-07:002010-06-02T06:49:59.935-07:00The right book at the right time"A book is like a key that fits into the tumbler of the soul. The two parts have to match in order for each to unlock. Then - <span style="font-style:italic;">click</span> - a world opens." Brad Kessler <span style="font-style:italic;">Goat Song</span><br /><br />To say that I devoured this book is not exactly correct. I read it avidly over a period of the 22 hours since I got it from the library, with breaks for gardening and meals and sleep. And, happily, it is still available for me to read again. so I didn't consume it so much as it consumed me. <br /><br />But I did devour the goat cheese from Vermont, made in the same valley and manner described in this book, that I bought at the Tomkins Square Farmer's Market in NYC in April. It wasn't until the last chapter that I realized that I had actually <span style="font-style:italic;">tasted</span> the cheese he describes making, step by careful step. So now I have another sense memory to a book that goes up there with my all time favorites.<br /><br />I have for the last few years been fascinated with sheep and goats and yarn (and knitting and weaving and dyeing). This has led to an interest in the behavior of these animals, who often act very differently but are nonetheless herd animals. Which has led to long ruminations (forgive me) on the nature of prey animals and predator animals. Herd animals gather together so that if a predator attacks, only the weakest on the edges will be picked off leaving the central core to survive. Kind of like 8th graders if I remember right.<br /><br />Kessler takes my minimal knowledge and musings to an amazing level. Did you know that Swedish women used to sing to their herds in the mountains - secret songs that they would not share with men? Have you ever considered the connection between spiritual awakening and shepherding? (Moses, Muhammad, Krishna.) That shepherds and goat herds have traditionally been bards, creating poetry and songs that became the foundation of world literature? <br /><br />And the writing. Oh, Brad, you can write. Each sentence is beautiful. Descriptions so natural but powerful that you are there on the mountain with the goats as the Carthusian Monastery in the next valley rings the bells for prayer. <br /><br />I do not expect everyone to go pick up a copy of <span style="font-style:italic;">Goat Song </span>just because I loved it so much. It is rare that this kind of connection between book and reader is made. I always want to love my books, to disappear into them the way I did when I was a kid, sitting on the kitchen stool over the hot air register, reading amidst the chaos of the family so intently that I often had to be called three or four times to bring me up out of my book trance. <br /><br />Nowadays finding a book that does that for me is unexpected. You wander into the library and look at the books with those yellow "New" stickers and wonder what might catch your fancy. Sometimes you find a book that opens the door to your soul. And you never know when it will happen. I read Geraldine Brooks' <span style="font-style:italic;">March</span> almost halfway through before I became entranced by it. Every time I pick up <span style="font-style:italic;">The Hemingses of Monticello</span> by Annette Gordon-Reed I am carried away by her writing and I learn some new insight about slavery times. I am barely more than halfway through. It is too rich to eat/read in large amounts. <br /><br />I don't read only literature or high quality nonfiction. Sometimes I read junk, a stupid mystery or a romance novel (always with an interesting setting or historical era) or a airport bookstore thriller. That's because if Kessler is right, sometimes I don't want to go into my soul and deliberately avoid books that might take me there. Or maybe I can't find the key that day, so compromise with passing the time.<br /><br />"Reading good books ruins you for reading bad books" says Julia Ashton in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. </span> (I listened to this one as an audio book and thoroughly enjoyed it.) Sadly, this is true. I have been known to throw a book across the room in rage at the bad writing. Where are the editors? Do they just publish whatever a writer sends them? I'm working myself up here, and will now calm down. <br /><br />I'm sad to finish <span style="font-style:italic;">Goat Song </span>this morning, but surely there is another gem in the pile of books that are my planned summer reading. But it has to be the right book for the right moment. The key has to fit before I can disappear into the book. This, my friends, is my excuse for keeping too many books around. You never know when one might be just right for this moment.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-3180429007305343612010-05-26T05:58:00.000-07:002010-05-26T07:08:03.869-07:00College Reunion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTH6GC7Tx_jvfMSdOa3War59FAIZyrx2SWrIr02O286dJ7SbVx5lmYYz8IrxUYrfRD3xyZBgaPQ9ixHyFMKfx9asz00J1BIjUFh0-q0I5coH5jsVsIt7OWzk7vf9YHHV0nFJkCRL4mfd46/s1600/ParadisePond1.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTH6GC7Tx_jvfMSdOa3War59FAIZyrx2SWrIr02O286dJ7SbVx5lmYYz8IrxUYrfRD3xyZBgaPQ9ixHyFMKfx9asz00J1BIjUFh0-q0I5coH5jsVsIt7OWzk7vf9YHHV0nFJkCRL4mfd46/s320/ParadisePond1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475577934106079922" /></a><br />What we didn’t talk about at my 40th college reunion last week was the hard times we have been through. We didn’t dwell on illness, divorce, loss of loved ones, children in trouble, disappointments with our own achievements, those nights when you wake up wondering. We didn’t need to talk about that because by now we have all been through some of those difficulties, and it was understood that we were on equal footing. <br /><br />We didn’t start college that way. We were all smart and knew how to work at a task, having been admitted to a competitive college. But we came from vastly different life experiences. Socially and economically we were all over the map, from on the edge economic survival in small town Ohio (me) to the wealthy New York Jewish world. From upper class Irish families to working class and brilliant. We had socially prominent classmates in both the white and black communities. Some had “ideal” families where there was plenty of love and security (emotional and financial) or so it seemed at the time. Others were not so fortunate, and the public façade of “everything’s fine” covered up a boatload of suffering. We know that now, because we now know life has its unavoidable struggles. This is what Buddha meant when he said in the First Noble Truth “Life is suffering.” (But not all the time. We’ve learned that, too.)<br /><br />We may have come to college with expectations of where we would fit in the world, and certainly I thought there would be “happily ever after” both with the guy I would eventually marry and with my life now that I had left Ohio. But between the years of 1966 and 1970 the world changed. And we were in the wave of that change. By now everyone is sick of the sixties generation talking about what we went through, but we aren’t sick of talking to each other about it. Here are some of the significant changes we saw during our four years of college:<br /><br />• The Viet Nam War raged on, the draft took any of the guys who flunked out of or never attended college. The anti-draft movement was born, as well as the Anti-War movement.<br />• The time of “parietal hours” ended and we didn’t need to be back in the dorm by 11 on week nights and 1 am on weekends. We were allowed to have boys in our rooms more than 2 hours on Sunday with the door open. We didn’t have to wear skirts to dinner.<br />• Birth control became legal in our state for people who were not married, and we had easy access to the pill, though not through our college infirmary.<br />• There was access to safe but not legal abortions through a secret network of clergymen who had seen too many women die from back alley procedures.<br />• People began coming out as gay and lesbian, if only to a few close friends.<br />• The rise of Black Power, and the creation of the academic study of Afro-American Studies. (Women’s Studies came later.) We read Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver.<br />• The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.<br />• The moon landing. Now we could see that the earth is one, without lines defining countries.<br />• The Summer of Love, Woodstock, Altamont. <br />• The many demonstrations against the war, in our town and Washington.<br />• The invasion of Cambodia and the killing of 4 students at Kent State University in 1970, weeks before our graduation. We were part of the nationwide student strike as a result.<br /><br />Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ve seen that list or something like it before. But we felt it and lived it, and the changes in the world made changes in ourselves, or vice versa. You can argue that the change was bad, that it never should have happened (some do) but we were there and the change not only happened, but it is in us. We couldn’t avoid it. We are different from those who came before us as a result. <br /><br />So we gathered 40 years later to celebrate our lives up to now. My freshman year six of us were on the 5th floor (walk up!) of a dorm in what had been maid’s rooms. We had no phone service (we had to go downstairs if the phone was for us) and a bathroom with a tub, no shower. We bonded really well, and two thirds of us came to this reunion. We have had amazing lives. We have been a college professor, a corporate attorney, a forensic analyst, and a world traveler. Our experiences in life of love and loss are oddly parallel, whatever we were doing. <br /><br />Women are good at that. We find our commonality and stay with it whenever possible. We know the value of the group not only as a key to survival but as a key to thriving. At the reunion, we put aside our differences (political, social class, economic, health, appearance, success) and opened our hearts. We sang together a lot, from “Imagine” to “You’ve Got a Friend” to “You’re So Vain” to “Give Peace a Chance.” We danced and passed around the Advil. At the end of it we could imagine living together in a big building, and sharing our lives from here on in. Kind of college at the end of life, where the curriculum is self designed. <br /><br />In my life I am often the oldest person at a gathering, and it was great to be with so many dynamite women my own age. I love younger people, but there’s something about your own age mates. And I am used to holding back part of myself so as not to seem to be “too much.” Not with my classmates – I could let it all go and not have to make myself small to be part of the group. This group loves big! And we have realized there’s room for all of us to shine. <br /><br />Did I mention that this was Smith College, all women since 1875? When I got there, I was coming out of some difficult years. Smith nurtured me (literally, when they gave me a scholarship) and gave me a place to become myself. In those turbulent years, I needed that grounding. <br /><br />At the beginning of this post is a picture of Paradise Pond that I took last week. <br />I love this one especially because you have me, the photographer, in darkness, moving into the light where all is possible. That was my experience of college. And I am exceedingly grateful to the universe for the opportunity to share it with the amazing women I spent time with last weekend. I cannot imagine who I would be without them.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-42551576798108480312010-03-03T07:23:00.000-08:002010-03-03T07:54:13.135-08:00On a wave of love, a Funeral and a WeddingI feel like a cliche right now, feeling a wave of love that is so powerful I can't contain it. And the reasons are very sad and very beautiful all at once. <br /><br />I spoke to a dear friend yesterday whose husband has been battling (really too small a world in his case) serious illness (3 kinds of cancer) for more than 15 years. We don't talk often enough, but I had been dreaming about her. She asked for news of my kids, which I was happy to provide. And then she confirmed my hunch, that her dear Stephen had died in August. It was a beautiful death as these things go. He had been more sick than usual for months, but rallied enough to go with the family on vacation. This time they splurged, renting a place overlooking the water. They settled in, walked on the beach, and he died peacefully in his sleep. <br /><br />Even after years of illness, it is shocking. Despite my intuition that this might have happened, I am shocked, too. But this is a family so filled with love and creativity and positive energy, they had fit more into a too-short marriage and time with the children than many do in a long life. And Stephen didn't die in a hospital with tubes or unconscious for weeks or suffering as he made his exit. He died with dignity, and Love. I am filled with sorrow about his loss, but oddly also with the wave of love that people can create. <br /><br />My strongest memory of Stephen is the "Stephen Our Hero" story. After attending my mother-in-law's funeral several years ago we were driving home on a Sunday when the fan belt on our car broke. We pulled off the road, into a gas station that did no repairs until Monday morning. Neither did any of the other places we called. Stranded. And then I remembered my nearby friends who I hadn't seen in way too long. Worth a try, we said, and called. Stephen dropped everything and came to our rescue, making sure we were fed, taking my spouse and kids to the train so they could get home for school and work the next day, and taking me to their home until the car could be fixed. He was so kind and sweet and talked us down from "broken fan belt panic." Our Hero! And I had a chance to catch up with the family that night, which was a great blessing. <br /><br />I still have the broken fan belt, meaning to make it into a piece of art. It is dirty and (obviously) broken, but I feel Stephen's warm heart every time I look at it. <br /><br />The wave of love continues, because today, March 3, 1010 gay couples who wish to get married in the District of Columbia can do so! My neighbor Andy is one of my heroes in this, since he led the legal fight to resist challenges to the law from groups largely outside DC to stop it going into effect. I am so happy about this both from a human rights perspective and from my sentimental heart, which just loves weddings. <br /><br />And today I was asked by a couple who stood in line at 4:30 am to get the fifth license issued to perform their marriage. (I am an Interfaith Minister and help couples create the exact wedding they want.) I have known them for years, and know of the love and commitment they share. This just makes me so happy I am grinning from ear to ear. <br /><br />Today I am riding a wave of love, with rainbows.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-22589691176592163732010-02-25T05:46:00.000-08:002010-02-25T06:03:06.071-08:00The Chinese AcrobatsI am happy to report that the Chinese acrobats who were stuck in town due to the snowfall had the chance to perform twice in the Presbyterian Church Gym. It was cold in there and we kept our coats on. I thought to myself that this might feel like home to the acrobats, central heating of big public spaces being a western habit. Lots of young children, very little verbal communication, Chinese music that makes you amazed at the creativity of human beings. And that feels totally alien to me. <br /><br />The acrobats were great, and I was reminded of a simpler time when you didn't have glitzy entertainment via the tv or internet or radio, but were entertained by what the traveling players brought to town. And some themes are universal, like one young man being forced by another to keep many, many plates spinning in the air at the same time. The Moms looked sympathetic, the kids helped out by pointing out when a plate was about to fall. "Multi-tasking" remarked one of the women in the back where I was standing. We all nodded. <br /><br />I ran into friends there, and we repaired to the Middle East restaurant for lunch and conversation. I went to Now and Then and bought some knitting needles and walked home. I am going to miss being surrounded by millions of crystals. That snow was truly awesome to me, and made me feel terrific. But now it's melting and the flowers are starting to bloom, and that will be good, too.<br /><br />Here's a taste of the acrobats, complete with unicycle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojoXuf7l5hMJanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-34660946192338796992010-02-12T05:27:00.000-08:002010-02-12T05:54:38.129-08:00Snowed InIt has been an interesting week. We have had two snowstorms, the first one leaving 24 inches, the second about a foot of snow. When the sun shines on it, you can see tiny rainbows all around. I'm reminded of Russell Conwell's 19th century speech "Acres of Diamonds" in which he urges listeners to give up searching far and wide for wealth and success because the diamonds of opportunity are hidden right in your own back yard. <br /> <br />The crystal structures around me aren't very well hidden. They are mounds of snow. Mounds and mounds of white, fluffy, cold, beautiful snow. The snow muffles the sounds of the city, and since the DC Metro has been out of service for a few days that has been quiet, too. The snow makes us stop. Right where we are. There is no place else to go. <br /><br />This is the lesson of many great spiritual teachers, from Zen Buddhism to Advaita Buddhism to Meister Eckhart, the Christian Mystic. Just stop what you are doing. <br /><br />Being snowbound gives us that opportunity. Oddly it hasn't had that effect for me, mostly because when I retired I in some way stopped what I was doing, and have been giving myself time to stand still, as previous posts have talked about. I didn't need to stop being engaged with the world because I have been disengaging for weeks now. <br /><br />For me being snowbound has been a very social time. I've talked to neighbors, had potluck dinners almost nightly, and had long phone conversations with family and friends. We have all been checking on each other, and taking the time to really talk. And cook. And hang out. This is a lot of interaction, since I am basically an introvert who gets energy from time alone. I want everybody to go back to work so I can stop being so social! <br /><br />That will come soon enough, and in fact many folks are going back to work today. And I will have a chance to get lonely and crave human interaction and bother all my busy friends with phone calls and invitations. I am wondering about just this issue, because I do miss my colleagues at work. I am building new networks (mostly my retired or self-employed friends) but this is a slow process. <br /><br />Today I'm going to walk a couple of blocks to the church gym and see a troupe of Chinese acrobats who were stranded in town by the storm. Some neighbors organized a couple of performances for them since they can't get to the venues they had originally planned to go to. <br /><br />You just never know what is going to show up if you stop what you are doing and see what's next.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-3261070135208593942010-01-30T06:25:00.000-08:002010-01-30T06:55:22.701-08:00More Sparkle!When I was thinking about retiring, I was worried that my general exhaustion would make me nearly comatose without a job to go to. I got good advice from my dear friend Margaret who told me that when you make the changes your life needs, you are filled with new energy. I was skeptical, but had no evidence to the contrary. I wondered what would happen when I finally left the career I had loved for 35 years, but which had left me in a rut. <br /><br />Margaret, you were right! Such interesting changes have happened. With no effort, my blood pressure is down to a very healthy range, some other annoying stress related physical symptoms have improved. This is so interesting, that stress has such an impact on us and can come for a variety of reasons. In my case, it was time to make a change and the stress of not doing so was intense. That's how I understand my need to leave my job. Yes, there were conditions in the workplace that really stressed me out, but not everyone felt it as strongly as I did. It was time for a change. And changes there have been.<br /><br />I love the feeling of having the time to think and reflect, to read as long as I want to. My short term memory has improved (because of less junk cluttering up my mind's attic?) and I am really enjoying picking a variety of books to read. When I became a college professor, I imagined myself sitting in my office in a comfy chair sipping tea and reading. Occasionally a student would stop by for a discussion of some cool topic. Then I would go back to reading and sipping.<br /><br />Finally I am able to do that. Heaven, pure heaven. My mind is so happy. And, oddly, I have less tolerance for empty mental noise. I have been a news and information addict since my twenties, but all of a sudden I have little tolerance for the posturing and silliness of most political conversation. The lack of truth gets to me - why spend time discussing something that is based on falsehoods, diversions, and out and out lies? So I have turned the car radio to classical WETA. I will stink at this week's "Wait, Wait, Don't tell me!" <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=35"></a><br /><br />I have been working on cleaning out the basement, ably assisted by my daughter, Anna. I do regard this as metaphorical, clearing out untended parts of my unconscious. I believe that is the theory of Feng Shue, that the condition of your surroundings mirrors (and influences) the condition of your mind. And, to my distress, one of my favorite earrings disappeared into the clean up. We went through the trash bags (using the newly uncovered latex gloves) and the boxes for charity, to no avail. I did a search of the areas I had worked in, floor, shelves, no luck. I was pretty cranky about this. Grumble, grumble. (Who said work on the unconscious is easy?)<br /><br />The next morning I went back to the basement for another search, and spotted a pile of baskets I had made. Going through them I found the earring, happily nesting between layers. Happy, happy. And then I decided to commit to more sparkle. I wear silver, which gets tarnished. Why not stop and polish those favorite earrings before I put them on? Why not take the time to bring more shine and glitz to my life? It's working this week, anyway.<br /><br />Here's to more sparkle!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-37781464381112884522010-01-23T13:27:00.001-08:002010-01-23T14:00:48.556-08:00Farewell to a friendI haven't written for a couple of weeks. I decided that part of being off a regular schedule was to really be off a regular schedule and not force myself to sit down and write when I was otherwise engaged. I have been busy, traveling to see friends, reading, cooking, cleaning out the basement. And saying goodbye to a friend.<br /><br />It was in some ways an unlikely friendship, but not surprising. Randy Edwards collected the trash in the office building I moved into 18 years ago. Randy never met a stranger and loved to talk over whatever was on his mind, usually early in the morning. Through the years we shared stories about our kids, our health, our lives in general. <br /><br />One thing you learned about Randy very quickly was that he had not always been the responsible father, employee, and citizen that he was today. He never told me the details but he didn't have to. It was enough that he had spent more than 20 years in a twelve step program. His youth had not been ideal, and there were many things to make amends for, but he somehow made a change. I don't think it was easy. If you ask anyone who has achieved sobriety for a long period of time, there are ups and downs and disappointments and challenges. Somehow, Randy stayed with the program. <br /><br />I told Randy more than once what an inspiration he was to me. My own father, James Hurst, had died of alcoholism long before his three score years and ten. My father never met Randy, but I wish he had. He might have turned his own life around. Randy knew he had a powerful story to tell and gave back by leading twelve step meetings at homeless shelters and other places. I looked at Randy and in some way my father was redeemed, because it was possible for others.<br /><br />Randy gave me hope. Washington, D.C., my home city for the last nearly 30 years, has so many people debilitated by poverty, racism, drug addiction and alcoholism. Randy did not let himself become a statistic. And in so doing he showed what is possible, and what greatness lies under the surface of the most destitute and down and out of my fellow citizens. <br /><br />Randy also gave me encouragement. He was insistent upon working with his own feelings and responses to what happened to him, with the goal of serenity ever in mind. When there were hard times for me, when serenity was hard to come by, Randy just talked like he always did but helped me see the bigger picture. No preaching, no "shoulds", just a trust in the process and a trust in God. In my own moments of self pity and frustration, he helped me to see that change is possible. <br /><br />When my department had a farewell party for me in December, Randy came, all dressed up and having fun. In retrospect, it was wonderful to get to say goodbye to him. We talked about how we would miss our conversations and our shared spiritual search. Maybe the party was really for him! He died a month later of a heart attaqck at aged 55. <br /><br />At the Celebration of his life yesterday, I was in awe of how many friends he had at his workplace and in his community. I finally met the family I had heard so much about. I heard the Pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship, Ronald W. Miles, talk about how any obstacle can be overcome through faith if your goal is something more eternal than the immediate rewards of the material world. This amazing community is in the heart of one of America's worst ghettos, yet hope prevails. This was the community that Randy was a part of. <br /><br />Randy Edwards did not die a wealthy man in terms of material possessions, though he did pay his bills and own a home and a car, all of which are true achievements considering where he started. But he lived every day challenging himself to be his best self, to live with serenity even when his first response might be anger or frustration. <br /><br />Randy, you are a friend who will be missed, but who will always be an inspiration to me. And many, many others.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-45842401034073959352010-01-10T07:13:00.000-08:002010-01-10T07:42:57.618-08:00MendingCold outside, beautiful light streaming in the windows onto my bead table/sewing table. It's a lovely old thing with a wooden top and cast iron legs. It used to be a two person desk in a schoolroom. It has old carved and written words on it, and glue I've spilled on it, and my grandmother's pincushion, and a complicated mess of beads and potential projects and needles for almost any kind of beading or sewing project you can think of. Yesterday I sat down in this lovely spot to work on some mending. <br /><br />Mending is very satisfying work for me. You take something that is basically good that needs some small (or large) repair and make it usable again. Yesterday I worked on my daughter's jeans (third time for this - I am now to the point of patching patches, but they are still going strong), a pocket area rip in my husband's suit pants, the hem on a bathmat I can't bear to part with, some socks with cats on them, some reusable grocery bags that just had little rips that I didn't want to see get bigger, and my old brown backpack that I bought in 1979 when I gave up my car and decided to carry everything myself. <br /><br />The backpack used to have a label that said "Dolt" on it, which I thought was funny. Nice archaic word that as a teacher I thought I should endeavor to transcend, as in "I may be a dolt but I work hard to overcome it." With the hidden message, "and you can, too." And we are all dolts at some things. The backpack became the picnic basket, toy holder and diaper bag when the kids were young. It went on many adventures. And now, with its newly repaired seam and some trimming where the fiber was unraveling inside the bag, it is ready for more. Maybe a farewell visit to Tai Shan, the born in DC Zoo panda who is now 4 and who has to return to China soon. <br /><br />Mending things is something I've done all my life. Now it seems either quaint (who knows how to hand sew now?) or incredibly hip (the green alternative to buying new stuff.) It can lead to a basement full of things to be repaired, but it can also reinforce the "use it up, wear it out, make do or do without" attitude, which requires a lot of "make do" to be successful. <br /><br />Having had enough money to have some flexible funds for playing (buying yarn, music equipment, lunches out) I am now in the position of having to be more conservative with my spending. I don't anticipate it being difficult since I've lived on very little at various times in my life, and I'm confident that I can do it again. But being able to mend things should help the process. How wonderful to have the time to do it! <br /><br />Of course, I am also mending myself. With age, you have to do more maintenance that you do when you are young. And working in a highly stressful environment, especially the last 3 1/2 years, was taking its toll. It made sense to stay working long enough to retire, but there were costs. The good news is that I am sleeping better than I have in years, and some other annoying health things are getting attention and improving. <br /><br />If I apply "use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without" to myself, I guess I am working on the first three objectives. I want to use up every last bit of life experience that I can. When I am worn out, I will make do (for more experience, and hopefully more learning in the process). And when the time comes, I will let go of this life and "do without". I am not going to surrender to inertia and start dying while I am still alive. But anyone who knows me can tell you that - I'm pretty engaged in whatever comes along. <br /><br />Right now, I am mending.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-37661416470500259242010-01-02T14:40:00.000-08:002010-01-02T14:51:58.556-08:00Standing StillIt's the new year, and I woke up this morning to unexpected snow. Not much, just enough to be beautiful and slow me down. It is the time of year for New Year's resolutions, and plans for what is ahead. It is the time of year to set your intentions for the next 12 months. I am not ready to do that. I am ready to stand still and see what happens. For every other year of my life there have been classes to either teach or take, and books to read, and goals, goals, goals. I like the idea that this time it is different.<br /><br />Not that I don't have ideas, I do. But the sheer immensity of it all is too much to imagine right now. And this beautiful snow has me sitting and dreaming and feeling the deep roots that grow in the dead of winter. I want to make room for that, and if I move around too much or too hastily, I will lose those roots.<br /><br />I heard a story on the radio today about a man who accidentally planted red Russian kale, a lot of it, instead of the turnips he had expected. Every year he grew prize winning turnips, but now it was too late. What to do? Change the care of the plants, know that they will last in freezing weather, learn to make kale soup. I am like this farmer. I don't know what seeds I have planted and I want to see what comes up. I am curious, but patient. Right now I want the unexpected, which I can only find by standing still and noticing what comes up in the spring. <br /><br />I have read that in many cultures the new year begins in the spring. I like this idea. We have three more months of dreaming. No hurry.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-86332129160691061272009-12-26T07:40:00.000-08:002009-12-26T07:59:19.937-08:00What Would Molly Do?For Christmas I received a green message bracelet from Austin, Texas, that read "What Would Molly Do?" The Molly in this case is the wonderful, irreverent, and sadly missed Molly Ivins. She was not mean, but she called it like she saw it, never letting the need to be "nice" get in the way of a good punchline and the need to deflate the balloon of hot air that surrounds so many public figures and politicians. She was smart as can be, 6 feet tall, and unafraid of speaking truth to power. And funny, funny, funny. She died at 62. <br /><br />You get to a time in your life when numbers like that jump out at you. I will be 62 next month. Have I done what I came here to do? Could I say goodbye with a feeling of "job well done" the way I hope Molly did? Retiring has put me in mind of that since to me my career as a college professor was not "what I came here to do" and now I have the chance to try to figure that out. <br /><br />Molly knew what I should do. For years I kept a quote from Molly on my desk at work:<br />In 1993 she gave this advice: "So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was."<br /><br />Am I ready for a good fight? There are plenty of causes to take on, a world of things that need fixing. Am I ready to do any of this? I have to say that right now I can think about it, but I am not ready. I need some R and R, some time to recuperate from a challenging, stressful job. I am sleeping better than I have in years, just a week into this experiment. I don't want to lose that, or the feeling that of letting go of the weight of responsibility that has been on my shoulders. My friend Patty, a few years ahead of me in this process, advised that I let go of commitments for a year. Let what I truly love surface. <br /><br />Maybe it comes from being a middle child in a pretty nutty family, but I am a peacemaker by inclination. I always feel the need to fix things. A perfect co-dependent I found out after attending meetings for Adult Children of Alcoholics. You can imagine, as a hearing person at a deaf university, where my students and colleagues had plenty of wounds from being deaf people in a hearing world, I got busy doing what came naturally. This is rather exhausting, I found out, and I got better at saying no. But still...<br /><br />So here I am, the world outside my door, with much to be done out there, and me feeling the tug. What would Molly do? As I reread her quote above, I realize that it is easy for me to ignore the "fun" part of the message. In my new phase, maybe I can start to take fun seriously. If I have fun, then maybe it will lead to "what I came here to do". Or maybe it is what I came here to do. Hard words for an over-responsible person to hear. But I am wearing Molly's bracelet, and doing my best to have fun. <br /><br />Anybody want to play cards? Play Clue? Play some folk music?Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-17000769039265956052009-12-19T14:08:00.001-08:002009-12-19T14:47:08.544-08:00Turned in my key<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8ewf_VuFsoUz1o-yUADVO6aR2sp_nw9PvQUoEoxrkI5IXPPCybCNYLXmR6Tt_dl5MA71horYfJKDDQMbx5oDKTOAq3LdE9rpOGuB6Eyau4X_1F8300RXbn-gPW63ze2YeprtnuWjdHTq/s1600-h/IMG_0176.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8ewf_VuFsoUz1o-yUADVO6aR2sp_nw9PvQUoEoxrkI5IXPPCybCNYLXmR6Tt_dl5MA71horYfJKDDQMbx5oDKTOAq3LdE9rpOGuB6Eyau4X_1F8300RXbn-gPW63ze2YeprtnuWjdHTq/s320/IMG_0176.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417081118845209010" /></a><br />Yesteday was to be the last day at the office. Not the last day of work, since grades are not due until Monday and I have a student with a good excuse who still owes me work. But the day that I clean out my office and turn in my key and ID and close that chapter. <br /><br />I planned to get there 7:30 or so and be out by noon. But I woke up at 2:30 am and could not go back to sleep. Was I nervous, excited, just too much coffee the day before? Whatever the cause, by 4:00 I called it a night and got up and went in to work. I had to get a special buzz in from security, and found out who else is in the building at that hour (my IT pal who likes to get in early on Friday to be home in time for the Sabbath) and what it's like to see a Gallaudet sunrise. <br /><br />I cleaned out my desk, gave away office supplies to whoever stopped by, and left far too many mixed up pens and pencils in a bag in the supply cabinet. (Sorry - just toss 'em if nobody wants them.) I took the decorations off my door. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZmFlECtAaDOgGKd6wVgHeGOy9SIJbYjimKDK9D_keM7RO8i0lHJEoL9BbFT8PZ2qSxpRl_7C5TDEGsngTYsK6RZRgZqTVENvMtVOO2CIjNomm4ppXx9MrDSPABXNt2hrG2JixJHcpian/s1600-h/IMG_0167.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZmFlECtAaDOgGKd6wVgHeGOy9SIJbYjimKDK9D_keM7RO8i0lHJEoL9BbFT8PZ2qSxpRl_7C5TDEGsngTYsK6RZRgZqTVENvMtVOO2CIjNomm4ppXx9MrDSPABXNt2hrG2JixJHcpian/s320/IMG_0167.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417075596624538226" /></a> The door has always been a place for the quirky and wild and wonderful things that come my way. A former student even wrote a poem about its crazy juxtapositions in the eighties. This final incarnation had a picture of President Obama in Crow regalia after he was adopted into that tribe, a quote from Pat Robertson against feminism, a picture of a Zen monk and his dog in similar prayer positions, the Serenity Prayer, a quote by Groucho Marx from the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore that says "Outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." and a sign saying "Give Peace A Chance" from the protest one freezing January day before the invasion of Iraq, among other things. Sad it see it all go, and wondering where I will be able to express that "look at what I discovered" wonder - oh, it's this blog. I will miss having a door as my canvas, though. <br /><br />Near the end of the morning, I started to feel it a bit. Rebecca stopped by and we did the Medicine Cards - we pulled out the Hawk, for keen observation, and the Otter for playfulness. Go play! she said. Let's see if the obligation to work leaves me and I can really relax. Let's see.<br /><br />I always wanted to leave the office with one box, like they do on TV when someone gets fired. Fraudulent, because I have brought home tons of books, filled all the empty shelves and have to do another book purge to make room for everything. But I liked the image. It's the one you see at the top of this post, with a few books left behind for my department.<br /><br />What is that stick? you might ask. It is a stick from a tree hit by lightning on the campus 15 years ago. Who knows when you might need something like that. or the Tibetan incense or the rainbow leis in case of a rainbow emergency. Or the little spindle that spins tiny yarn so that I could demonstrate it to my classes. Spinning being a major cultural metaphor that shows up in lots of myths and stories. <br /><br />I turned in my key and my ID to Susan, and there was a pang of regret at leaving all these people I have enjoyed working with. Our little corner of the University has been such a positive place, such a haven from political nuttiness, and I will miss it terribly, but time to move on to what's next.<br /><br />I made myself walk out to the car, stow "the box" and start to drive. An odd thing happened at this point. I passed across the slightly hazardous bridge over the railroad tracks (they are replacing it with something that looks really substantial) and when I got to the other side I felt a release. Something has changed, and I felt it at the at moment even more than saying goodbye to friends and being "locked out" of my old life. <br /><br />That night it started snowing, and it's up to 13 inches by now. It's expected to reach 20" by the time it stops tomorrow morning. I'm not going anywhere for a while and that's fine. A little midwinter silence is a good way to prepare for my future.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5896983864329312761.post-10793460711692984252009-12-12T06:08:00.000-08:002009-12-12T06:36:57.034-08:00The last day<span style="font-family: arial;">How do you say goodbye to a profession you have loved for 36 years? That's how long I have been teaching college courses in the study of religion and philosophy. And now it was time to say goodbye. I was worried it would be anticlimactic, or one of those days when the students were stressed and ornery, or I would cry in front of everyone. I've pretty much said what I had to say to my students, though every semester I wake up a week later and say, "Oh, but I forgot to talk about ..." something or other that I thought it was vital to discuss. (I'm handling that problem by my new blog "Dangling Conversation" that will be a place for former and future students to talk things over.)<br /><br />So, to manage the last day of teaching, I gave a test in philosophy class and had a special event planned for religion and society. One of my favorite courses through the years was "Native American Religion and Culture" which was created out of student demand and interest. I learned a lot about the cultures of the 500 native nations that were here on Turtle Island (North America) at the time of contact. One thing I learned about I wanted to do on this day.<br /><br />In many native nations, when it is time to celebrate a change in your life, you have a giveaway. I had much to give away in gratitude for many great years of teaching and learning at Gallaudet University. And, I'm kind of a pack rat (please don't alert the Clean House people) so I had collected lots of craft supplies and toys and stuff they give away at information tables. And earrings I don't wear any more and office decorations that it's time to move to a new home. So I brought in a large basket full of gifts, and each student was able to choose a few. <br /><br />Then we had a talking circle with a feather I had added rainbow seed beads to years ago. (Just to alert those who are worried about such things, it was a genuine imitation eagle feather, originally grown on a domestic turkey and painted to look like a bald eagle tail feather.) We passed the feather around the circle and each spoke. The rules are that the person with the feather gets to speak, and no one else interrupts. If you don't want to speak you can pass the feather to the next person. We talked about what we want to let go of and what we want to include in our lives in the next year.<br /><br />I said that I wanted to let go of stress and embrace creativity. Simple, right? Well, we shall see. But I did sleep extraordinarily well last night. The class ended beautifully with us thanking each other for a good semester and hopes for continued learning for all of us. I did tear up a little, but I don't think anyone noticed. <br /><br />You should know that I have had a unique job teaching religion and philosophy in sign language at Gallaudet University. For many years, I was the only person in the world with that position, though now there are others on campus taking the torch for the next leg of the run. My students are all deaf and hard of hearing, with the occasional hearing student thrown in to make it interesting. Everyone communicates in sign language in the classroom and on campus. I guess I have to say my students<span style="font-style: italic;"> were </span>all deaf and hard of hearing. I am retiring, after all.<br /><br />Next week I finish grading (the hardest part of being a professor) and cleaning out my office, and my friends are having a party to say goodbye to me. Not that I'm going anywhere. I'm right here, getting ready for whatever is next!<br /></span>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08802390016760036434noreply@blogger.com2