A Long-Promised Post

I said a long time ago that someday I would blog about what I feel to be unnecessary changes in the paperback edition of Amy Moves In, by Marilyn Sachs.  

That day has come, at long, long last!

In the original, Amy is trying to remember whether she has a nickel or a penny left over from her allowance; she is almost sure that it is a nickel.  The original version has, "Well, after all,

a penny is better than nothing!"  The paperback: "It was a nickel!"

I never understood why it was changed; the original was more
humorous.

Another unnecessary change is the incorporation of a letter from the first chapter of Laura's Luck, also by Marilyn Sachs, into the last chapter of Amy Moves In.

In spite of these minor changes, however,  even the paperback version of Amy Moves In is well worth reading.  And yet it took ten years for this book to be accepted by a publisher.

Books I'm Currently Reading

This replaces, and will be published more frequently than, my
list of "Books Read In The Past Week," and will include short
story collections, (fiction and nonfiction) joke collections, and
other books not previously listed.

Books read for the first time are marked with a #
Book(s) started today are marked with a *
Books are listed by author (or series creator)

"My Daily Spiritual Companion"

by Marci Alborghetti

daily devotional reading for 2017

I liked the book I used last year better

"Casebook of Successful Ideas for Advertising and Selling"
by Samm Sinclair Baker
[nonfiction]
this has been a favorite book of
mine for years.  I love the anecdotes

"The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ" #

by St. Alphonsus Liguori

[Catholic spirituality]

(Kindle book]

"The Book of Catholic Jokes" 

by Fr. Gregory Sakowicz and Deacon Tom Sheridan
[nonfiction, humor (obviously!)]
one or two pages a night

"Proverbs"

by Solomon

[current Bible book]

"People Speak 5:
People Talk About Themselves" # *
edited by Chaim Walder
translated into English by Aviva Rappaport
[true stories, Judaica]
(Kindle book)

"Farmer Boy"

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

[children's fiction, historical, 1860s]

(I'm reading the books in chronological order of events)

Also:

Daily readings in the Liturgy of the Hours
Nightly bedtime Gospel reading

 I choose a favorite passage every night

Announcing A Name-Change

So, am I changing the name of this blog?
Nope!
Then is it my own name I'm changing?
Again, nope!
Well, what about the cat's name?
Actually, I already changed it when we first got him.  Winky's original name was Mr. Winkler, but it didn't sound like the right sort of name for a cat.
However, I did not want to call him Henry, for two reasons.
1: It wasn't close enough to his then-current name, and might
have confused him.
2: There was a character named Henry on As The World Turns,
and I tend to talk to... or yell at... the characters on my soaps.
(And I know I'm not the only one who does that! For example, my Baba did it all the time. As for Mom... somehow the soap-viewing gene passed her by.)
Okay.  Enough rambling.  Enough digressing.
What I'm changing is the name of one of my collections. Henceforth, my Break-Off Collection shall be known as my
Detachments Collection.
[The preceding announcement could have been quite easily expressed in one sentence.]

Sunday Books?

You may have noticed some changes to my reading lists these past few weeks.  The words Reserved For Sunday no longer appear.  

Well, there is a reason for that.  I realized... and why it didn't occur to me sooner I don't know.... that by reserving these books for Sunday, I was actually depriving myself of some good
Catholic reading during the other six days. My Bible readings and daily devotions were not enough, so I decided to read more
Catholic books during the week.

But I still have a rule when it comes to my Sunday reading:

I don't read any secular books that I don't already know and love.

Hair Ribbons

I may be past middle age, but I love hair ribbons. In fact, I like them better than when I was a little girl!  I used to have so MANY of them, but most of them were lost when I moved; I now have only two, one green, one yellow, both

grosgrain.

I used to wear a grosgrain ribbon during the week, and a satin or taffeta (I love the word taffeta!) ribbon on Sundays.  Now, however, I go ribbonless during the week, and reserve my ribbons for Sundays.

A Post a Day

I miss the days when I used to post something on this blog every day.  In a way, doing that kept me on my toes as a writer.  (Or should I say "on my fingers?"  After all, I don't type my blog posts, or anything else, with my toes!)

Well, I've decided to go back to posting something new here

every day.

I have to admit that one reason (perhaps the reason) I've made

this decision is that I've just started re-reading Dandi Daley Mackall's "Blog On" series!

An "A-Ha!" Moment

I wanted to set up a really successful online club for awhile now, but it just didn't  work out.   I also wanted to spruce up this blog a bit; maybe (probably!) because I've started reading Dandi Daley Mackall's "Blog On!" series again. 
And then it came to me that I could do both!  (The "A-Ha!" moment).  Instead of setting up a new club, I could enhance this blog by turning it into a club.  I could even have a virtual clubhouse by making a few new blogs, naming them
"rooms", and linking all of them to each other.  
The club members would be me (of course!), and anyone who commented, or had previously commented, on any post here.
So I made the new blogs... and added a doorway!
So what sort of things do I plan to post here, in the Main Room, now that this is a Club?
Exactly the kind of things I've always posted here.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB!

Changes to my Sunday Observance

I've made a few changes to the way I observe Sunday.  Some of these changes were necessary.

When I moved, several important Sunday items were lost:

My nice Sunday clothes

My electric votive candle

My pretty tablecloths.

Many of my Sunday books

I bought a box of battery-operated candles, so I'm still able light a candle on Saturday evening.  The clothes and the tablecloths can wait; I'm on a fixed income and these things, while beautiful, are not essential.

And, thank God, I still have quite a few of my Sunday books.

My prayer schedule for Sunday, especially in regard to the Liturgy of the Hours, remains unchanged.

On weekdays, I pray one Daytime Hour, usually Midday Prayer, but sometimes, Midafternoon Prayer.  On Sundays, I pray all three Daytime Hours. 

 And I think I've mentioned that I rotate which Hour is current, and which two are complementary.

As for the games I play on Sunday, well, here is an excerpt, slightly edited, from an older post.

I don't think that innocent amusements are wrong on Sunday, in fact, they can help to enhance the observance, as long as they don't take precedence. How many times have we heard, "What's allowed on Monday is allowed on Sunday?"
I love to play games on the computer, and on my TV, but mostly on the computer. However, on Sundays I like to play different games than I do during the week.
On weekdays, I play a variety of games, both online and offline, but on Sundays, I play only
Beach Solitaire (on my TV) and mah-jonng.  I also do several online jigsaw puzzles,
The reason I play different games on Sunday from those I play during the week is that I like a change on Sunday.
This has not changed.

From another old post:

On Sundays, (and that means from Evening Prayer 1 to Evening Prayer 2), I put aside whatever non-Catholic books I may be reading. On Sunday, I read only Catholic books.
The book can be fiction or non-fiction, but it absolutely MUST be something I'll want to carry into the next week. Dull, dry books are not welcome! 

This HAS changed.  I've come to the conclusion, or perhaps the realization, that any good, wholesome book is suitable for my Sundays.  However, there are some books, some lovely books, that I will read ONLY on Sundays.