The Ojo Internet Mailbox – April 2016

The Ojo Internet Mailbox

(Wherein we publish some comments about our previous issues.)

 

BUS SERENADE

Dale Oliver

Decent voice and a nice gracious appearance do pay off!

mejim

🙂 jIM

UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE – FEBRUARY 2016

Alec Maidan

Everything old is new again.

Thank you for that historical perspective. The one (at best two) dimensionality of US politics is troubling but given the lack of knowledge also inevitable.
In light of Hilary Clinton’s ‘win’ in Iowa during which coins had to land six times in a row in her favor (and did!) would you not agree that the outcomes of US elections are so fixed that international observers should be invited to oversee them?

#OSCARSSOWHITE: IT’S NOT ABOUT THE OSCARS!

Alec Maidan

My solution to the Hollywood dilemma is not to watch their ‘talkies’… ever. It mightily clears the mind (I believe) and leaves me free to see what other nations are saying about themselves. The only requirement is that one be literate and learn the little trick of reading the subtitles and watching at the same time.  Kind of like walking and chewing gum.
Of course Hollywood as an extension of the State has spread like a cancer over the planet. It has often destroyed local national and regional cinema. Mexico is a good example of this. Just take a look at what is on at the local movie houses. And no it is not a ‘choice’ Mexicans have made. Generally US interests/businessmen buy up distribution and the movie theaters themselves and give preference to US ‘talkies’. Local film-making withers and dies. So it is the same kind of ‘choice’ as US elections. This has happened in Germany and the UK as well as (for all I know) Outer Mongolia too. Books have been written about it.  But with some searching and clever downloading there are thousands if not tens of thousands of treasures out there.
Only a few of them make it into the tiny ‘foreign film’ section of festivals and maybe even the Oscars.

ONE IS A LONELY NUMBER

Oma

Christy, while I have not felt the loss or pain that you describe here, I can imagine, that after living with another person for forty years makes them almost, an extension of You! I always remind my husband, that I have lived with him longer than anyone else in his life. Life unfortunately is filled with loss on many levels. The loss of growing up and leaving your parents to start your own life, watching your own children begin their life adventure without you, losing a parent, sibling, spouse or even a pet. All of these “losses” are emotional challenges that we all must endure at some point in our lifetime. It’s how you move forward through these losses that help to make you stronger person. No two people deal with emotional pain in the same way. So, all of us must learn to accept and support the way in which another individual handles their loss. It is not up to any of us to judge because we have never lived in that person’s shoes and walked the journey of their life!

I enjoyed reading this article and I hope that you continue on this path.

Thank you!

Gene spoon

I find your writings well stated and certainly need to be heard by many. Death of a spouse or loved one is singular, death of a loved one plural. We often blend the two in hopes of keeping them alive. The assumption that intimacy has also died leads one to an unnecessary death, your recognition of that is well stated. Keep writing and teaching, great job! Bravo!

John Webb

Christy writes much truth here. Aging is less about fond memories and more about regret and loss: the words unspoken and the deeds undone. For Christy most poignantly her spouse’s love song never written, never sung, carried away to wherever he went after his final breath.

“One” may be lonely, but still a number. The surviving spouse, the “One” handles grief in a myriad of ways and we do so with both a public and private face. Years after her spouse of fifty plus years passed away my mother would admit she still got “weepy” (her word) when only alone she thought about her departed partner.

The loss of intimacy is rarely spoken of when a spouse passes away and it can never be recaptured with youth’s ferocity nor with the comfort and familiarity aging brings. It once was and no longer is, but the yearning to bring it back is real. Capturing it again is like getting struck by lightning – twice.

I had the good fortune to serve in the Army in Vietnam with Christy’s spouse. I understand her loss. I’ve lost my youthful comrade in arms and I miss him dearly too. I hope we read more from Christy. John Webb (aka Whiskey Bravo, my call sign from Vietnam)

I HATE HATE!

Pam and Steve

We, like, so love this and since Justin Bieber isn’t up for an Oscar this year, we, like, plan to, like, totally boycott the Oscars. But first, like, we’ll be, like, getting matching beard-stubble tattoos and, like, a sexy, new blue Honda Civic.

AP/ CAPSTONE—A NEW WAY OF LEARNING

Miles Beacom

Great stuff. Teaching people to think and not what to think is a worthy goal. Einstein once wrote, “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” I can now call myself a researcher.

THE OLDER MAN—Part One

Christena Wiseman

I so enjoyed this honest look at the ageing male. His brutal honesty and self-evaluation were superb.