Continued Confessions

Is it really good for the soul?

I actually always associate confessions with the Catholic Church, and since I am not a member of any formalized religion, I wonder whether I am using the term correctly. Be that as it may, this is the time I sit down and write about whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. If I tell on myself occasionally that will be good for me without a need for absolution from another human being (some of whom are terribly flawed from what we read about these days).

I have been spending a ton of time reading other Substack posts because it seems as though everyone is gravitating here. I’m not a big fan of statistics—in fact it annoys me to have them showing at the top of my site and I avoid looking at the details most of the time. However, the powers that be sent me a specific attaboy the other day saying that I had posted for 50 weeks in a row which purportedly puts me in the 90 something percent category whatever that signifies. What it seems to mean is that there are a lot of newbies here, which is exciting and I hope they continue to post on a regular basis as well. Personally, I like knowing that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posts on Tuesday and Friday mornings and that Asha and Renato do their Friday roundup every week. Other great Stackers post every day (and in the current chaos sometimes multiples times). I do try to keep up with Jay Kuo, Rick Wilson, and Kim Wehle for instance, because I value their insight, and now that I’ve thought about it more I could list a great many sites that I catch as often as I can. Every once in a while, though, I decide to check out what people who have different views might be posting. And then finally at the end of my day, I completely detach and watch some good telly instead. The phone gets put on Do Not Disturb after my sweet dreams call and a good night’s sleep gets me ready to survive another day.

Speaking of television, as I posted somewhere, the debate was past my bedtime, but I watched the entire thing the next morning. TKO Kamala! Plenty has been written by legal and debate experts, so I’ll leave it to you to follow up with any of them. I cannot wait until November 5th.

Meanwhile, I did have something to say about the use of first names. Someone had written that it was demeaning and was because the candidate is female. Of course, when Hillary ran, it was done to differentiate her from her husband who had been President. Now I don’t know why we all started using Kamala’s first name, but I think it is endearing. It in no way diminishes the amazing power of her language and ability to traverse the halls of power. And speaking of first names, I’m almost finished with Dr. Ruth’s book, and I find she and I have something else in common—neither of us has any interest in cooking. She also pointed out that she is not a medical doctor, and has instead her advanced degree in education. I thought it was refreshing for her to put that in her book because many of us automatically think the Doctor means medical. This leads me to my original thought for a topic for today, which has to do with titles and first names.

My very dear friend, Betsy, also had a PhD in education, but she rarely used the title Doctor except in specific academic settings. I met her when she counseled me as I graduated from the college where she worked and somehow we continued to be friends until she died recently. She would invite me for lunch regularly and I would arrive with whichever man was part of my life at the moment. She was occasionally a guest at my house as well, but as she aged and transferred to a life care facility I would take her out so we could share lunch at the local restaurants. Betsy taught my daughter and me how to eat a lobster, for instance. And back to the doctorate, I was chatting with Betsy once and asked whether she was ever referred to as Doctor. She allowed as to how she occasionally used it when she spent the winter in Florida and called to make a dinner reservation. It seemed to carry some weight down there!

Memories of those who are gone are very comforting I find. I hope the people with whom I have interacted through life have kind thoughts about me too. Not that I’m checking out any time soon, I hope. My BFF Carol and I are channeling Jimmy Carter.

Now I’ll end with a fact that I had never considered before this week. Did you know that it is legal to drive with only one good eye? So far so good . . .

TTFN