What's left? Well, the tile by the water valve is sunk in a little bit, so I probably have to take that out and redo it. Not looking forward to that. But I've also got to finish the glass accent, then decide how to top if off. I'm hearing rumblings from Michelle that she doesn't want the glass right at the top. But I'm dealing with huge tile, and I've only got four pieces left of it. I might have to go to Lowe's and find something I can put on top of the glass row to make it not at the top (aside from the edge tile, which will be the top).
Getting that row of tile in between the tub and the tile I already placed was tricky as always, but I got it. And only really screwed up on one cut, so I'm feeling pretty good about the day.
I also did some cleaning -- not near enough, but got a start on it -- so the next few rounds should be easier. I want to do some more cleaning tomorrow between Conference sessions.
I haven't read any of Riggs' other books, though the titles are familiar. This one caught my eye at the local thrift store based on the illustration, and there are a lot of them throughout the book. The illustrations are by Andrew Davidson, maybe a distant relative. Anyway, anyone with that name is a winner in my book.
Two tales in particular stood out, principally for the morals they embody. The Locust is probably my favorite; a tale on honestly loving those that surround us. Right behind is The Man Who Bottled the Sun, which should be read and ignored by every oligarch on the planet because it couldn't possibly have any bearing on their behavior.
This one's a keeper.
I have a problem.
I work in the nuclear field. I encounter mention of the element strontium constantly in the papers I edit.
I'm half Dutch. "Stront" is Dutch for poop.
Did I mention this is a *juvenile* problem?
What's startling to me about this one is the clear display of the cross -- something that's typically been anathema in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Some in the church get sniffy and say they worship the living Christ, not the Christ on the cross. But I kinda feel like we've got to take the full package and ought to acknowledge more in the church that we do outwardly recognize the sacrifice the cross represents.
I'm not going to get tangled in culture -- because culture is about all it is, frankly. When I see someone wearing a cross, or see cross-centric statuary, I'm not bothered by it. The cross is an important, powerful symbol to most Christians.
The lack of crosses -- whether by culture or doctrine, and I'm not sure which holds more sway -- is part of the package of anti- or skeptical-Mormon thought out there. Our outward symbols are odd: the angel Moroni atop the temple, statues of Joseph Smith all over the place. Not that they're wrong; they're doctrinally and culturally significant to us. But I don't think it will hurt our chances if we allow a cross or two to slip into the culture.
I served a mission for the church in France. I loved visiting the churches, from the little parish churches to the grand cathedrals. The history, the architecture, and the deep symbolic meaning in the many depictions of Jesus Christ with and on and without the cross brought significant meaning as I strove to understand the culture and beliefs of the people I served. I won't say I understood everything, and might at times have mocked things. But I was a callow youth who should have been a better ambassador of Christ than I was.
Me: [In the study, reading a book while the rest of the family watches Dr. Who in the next room.]
Alexa, on the desk behind me: FFFFRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPT. That was an old lady one. Ask me if you want me to give you a cheek-wobbling fart.
Me: [Stunned silence.]
Liam and Michelle deny all knowledge of the Old Lady Fart delivered by Alexa.
I have to wonder if Isaac Davidson is somehow involved . . .
I'm generally not a fan of war fiction. There are so many true stories out there to read there doesn't seem to be a need to get into the fiction end of things. I have, however, made some exceptions, and found some pretty good stories out there.
This is not one of them. I'll finish, but there's not much of a chance I'll get past Book One; this is apparently a series.
I appreciate that writers - myself included - may make checklists as we plan the stories we write, but this book's principal shortcoming is that it wears that checklist on its sleeve.
Americans training in England where they're "oversexed, overpaid, and over here," check.
Spunky member of the crew killed needlessly by his own hubris, check.
Friend of the spunky crew member brooding in resentment, check.
Leader grappling with his own personal demons that he keeps in check because he's the leader, check.
New love interest for the leader, identified in wartime, kissing him out of the blue because it's on the checklist, check.
Member of the French Resistance popping into the story randomly, sometimes interacting with the group, sometimes not, in a subplot that still may be paid off but you never know, check.
War-weary surgeon in a proto-MASH refusing to evacuate the hospital because there's a bomb nearby because his patients "will" die if they evacuate versus everyone "could" die if they're there and the bomb goes off, check.
I'll predict a few more as we go along; I still have about 100 or so pages to read:
Longtime friend of the leader who also went into dangerous work killed heroically in action, check.
Resentful friend of the dead spunky crewmember either
a. Killed in action, mirroring the death of his spunky friend, or,
b. Forged into a new leader despite himself by the leader he blames for his friend's death,
check.
It's good to read these books, though. Inspires me to do better. Checklists are fine, but ya gotta bury them. And a lot of that could be done by showing, rather than telling. Put near all of the resentment in the character mentioned, for example, is delivered in dialogue, rarely in action. I keep forgetting the resentment is there because we don't see it in action, we only hear it occasionally in the dialogue.
UPDATE: Finished. And this is what came to pass (slight spoilers if you don't have the checklist):
Resentful friend of the dead spunky crewmember forged (very preliminarily) into a new leader despite himself by the leader he blames for his friend's death,
So, I think we're mostly aware that fake news - and fake news purveyors - are a real thing. And while the Venn diagram of such may occasionally include legitimate news outlets, the biggest problem by far are the Joe Six-Packs and Betty Housecoats we encounter on social media.
Only less dangerous than these are the actual real people who believe what the propaganda farm bots post and spread around.
That probably includes me. And you. Nobody is immune.
So we really, really need as individuals to be very careful in believing what we see online. As Benn Jordan says at the conclusion of this video:
"At this point in time, you should always be asking yourself if social media users or features are separating you from your own instincts or logical conclusions because this isn't political; the goal is not to make you support a particular party or candidate. The goal is to make you constantly question your own convictions by filling your entire world with conspiracy theories. The goal is to make educating yourself about your surroundings and questioning what's real or not so exhausting that you're too worn down to care that there's lead in your childrens' drinking water. You're too worn down to care that the American life expectancy has dropped below the average of some developing countries. What politically-oriented problems are bigger than those things?"
Media literacy has entered a new era, and we've got to be really vigilant lest we fail.
