by minimus 559 Replies latest jw friends
Dear Diary,
Just returned from a brisk walk - well, brisk for me. Body's sore but the heart isn't so heavy. Exercise and exorcism always help. Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" playing now.
Must prepare for afternoon lessons. Always a bright spot. Moment by moment; that's all I can handle any more.
C...
Dear Diary,
Back from town - music lessons and then shopping. $5.00 for a bag of soup bones! $6.40 for two lbs. of hamburger. Oh well. Should be grateful that plenty of food is available. NEWS --- Express Jet - from Sacramento - opening up service to 7 more cities, including Colorado Springs, Tucson, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque. In April. Capacity - 50 passengers.
The day was warm and beautiful, but a bit hazy. Am tired but happy, well, content. I'm settling into solitude and actually, I kinda like the peace and quiet. Until, of course, I begin going stir crazy. Don't have the energy to stir, but crazy? No comment, DD?
Back atcha later......
C...
Dear Diary,
Awake from my early evening nap, had dinner and am now looking at WT, August 15, 1998, page 31: 'A Work That "Cannot Fail to Arouse Respect."' The article opens with a declaration of the fine work JWs do as preachers who display fine conduct. An [unnamed] Italian attorney and a priest [also unnamed] published accusations that JWs are "a pseudoreligious sect" that number among "secret societies that entrap people." JWs take legal action against defamatory statements. Court says no law is broken. Second trial: Venice Court of Appeals, July 17, 1997, overrules the first court's decision - both defendants are found guilty. Court says: "Both of the published articles in question contain expressions and phrases that are certainly capable of damaging the reputation of the followers of the religion of 'Jehovah's Witnesses.' It seems evident that the intention of the articles is to expose its followers to public contempt." Continuing, the court said that the articles "do not constitute legitimate exercise of the right of reporting and criticism." The attorney and priest - "the two defamers" - were fined and had to pay all court costs. In the written judgment the Venice Court of Appeals comments: "Only by balancing and safeguarding all the rights guaranteed by the [Italian] Constitution is it possible to prevent forms of intolerance and religious fanaticism."
There's more, DD, but I'm getting writer's cramp. How do I check this out? No names - the usual WT m.o. Where do I find the articles that the attorney and priest apparently collaborated on? What about info on the beginning of the legal proceedings that led to subsequent defeat for the WT? Take on faith what the "slave" publishes? I don't think so. Just yesterday dug through a drawer and found this WT. My curiosity is aroused; the article claims that the court's "decision" acknowledges that JWs and their work are neither secret nor pseudoreligious. Go to some Italian legal website? In the movies this mystery would have to be solved inside of two hours. Why did I have to pick through an old WT and find this? I am going to start asking questions - where do I begin?
C...
Dear Diary,
"Nuages" - "Clouds," from "Nocturnes," by Claude A. Debussy, plays now; so dreamlike - floating about effortlessly through the veiled skies - that is I. Was outdoors moments ago and the heavens are dark. Stars and spheres sparkling. A loom of light grows, radiating upward through a foreground of trees that obscure the light's source. Returning - a lesser but still luminous shard of that formidable dominatrix - La Luna.
CoCo
Dear Diary,
A bright and cheerful good morning to you. Beautiful and clear at the moment but rain - forecast per 8:00 news - is on the way for tonight. I don't recall any rain in January. A friend told me that we are some 15-plus inches behind for this time last year. About 90 inches last season. Halo around the moon did mean something after all, DD. Speaking of which: I told you in my stupor a few hours ago that the stars and spheres were sparkling. I just meant glowing - stars do twinkle but planets don't. At 4:00 I was up - again - and the sky was cotton batting, the moon glowing through, a single star visible at 11:00. Reminded me of going home from the valley as a kid. Looking through back window of Dad's Packard ["ask the man who owns one"] at the cotton-batting-against-deep-blue sky. Moon, encased by these fluff-balls, was shining onto mountains below as we climbed to the summit.
Speaking of old cars, I dreamed last night that I was driving on that very mountain highway and a 1954 Buick Skylark ragtop [top down] came in for a landing [aero-automobile] in front of me. Hit the tarmac wrong and wrought havoc - a huge pile-up. Moments later all us victims were at a party talking about the horrific accident. The injured were OK after all. I was seriously questioned about my story. Well, I wasn't the only witness!
Beethoven's "Symphony # 1 in C Major" playing again now. Was on a few days ago. Unique work in that it begins with what sounds like two or three dominant 7th chords [wish I could see a score to verify - recall an explanation years ago from radio commentator], one into the other - never done before. He sure broke the rules. NPR fund-drive raised over $240 000. Good for them!
C...
Dear Diary,
Coffee doesn't seem to be kicking in. Picking up little ones from educational center mid- afternoon. Need all the energy I can muster. They don't like mustard but mayo on sandwiches is OK. PB sandwiches last week. What today? Always a dilemma for me. Playground for an hour then off to the next drop-off. Piano lessons this evening and dinner with "new family." Rarely hear from my own. Life goes on. Too old and tired to raise a sweat over it. I've got my life and I'm content. Took long enough getting here. My new friends here, DD, spur me on. They're neither demanding nor cruel. I love them.
C...
Dear Diary,
So glad I found you. Back again soon - I hope. More dealings with S. He can neither reason nor be persuaded to to take a safer and more moderate course. I vowed to divest myself of any and all involvement, but tonight we may be locked in. I do hope to be back and make my report, DD. You were gone entirely too long this time. I won't chew you out. Some things cannot be helped, like the people who infest our life. I hate being uncharitable, but I am angry.
CoCo
Dear Diary,
I am home and writing my words, my ambivalent thoughts, upon your pages. S. needed things out of storage and the computer-controlled security system did not lock us in; we got out under the wire. I was angered by his insistence that it had to be done before closing. Today. Not Tomorrow. But when I saw him get out of the truck, he was so bedraggled and sad. His MAJOR beef is the elders beating up the sheep, including his loved ones. He goes from this KH to another KH. He was practically crying over how kind a few elders were toward him. He is no fool and not one easily persuaded by slickos.
He is different, a maverick with serious personality flaws. He makes people angry because of his intense doggedness. But if you're homeless, he'll put a roof over your head. A heart as big as that house. His slightly bizarro personality certainly does not make him unworthy. Nor does my anger. Who am I to judge? I had long nuttzomaniacal phases, like my entire life, thank you very much.
He appears to stand alone; aren't so many men of principle and integrity? Shouldn't that alone stand him in good stead? I tell him about the lives of JWD but his mind is unable to grasp the reality of lives viewed electronically. He cannot understand why Jehovah is allowing such evil in "His organization." Though DF'd, he feels loyalty to the "arrangement." I try to get through to him, but his daily tragedies - yes, DAILY - so overwhelm him that all he can see is doom and gloom. Oh Lord, give us both strength!
C...
Dear Diary,
I must tell you this instant what I came from viewing on PBS, KVIE - Sac/Sto/Mod [http://www.pbs.org] I almost turned it off to catch the zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs.
"The Supreme Court"; in this episode the story of Hugo Black, one-time member of KKK. He resigned the club and became a justice of the Supreme Court. He helped to interpret and apply the Constitution in the area of civil rights, viz., The Bill of Rights. States not taking unwarranted action against citizens, as in search and seizure, forcing confessions. And no abridging freedom of speech. He spearheaded exploration into this new and uncharted territory - moving forward by fits and starts, but never in a straight line, and often backtracking in the pursuit of justice - but a justice truly attained? He championed the cause of the JW Gobitis case, holding opinions opposed to those of Chief Justice Frankfurter. Miranda rights [is this the one on forced confessions?], the Gideon case [lawyers for poor folk]. He was a fighter on behalf of the average citizen. He displayed no attitude nor behaviors typical of a white supremacist.
One last item, DD, lest I forget - under the Earl Warren era - re: integration and the South's tenacious grasp on the old ways. The SC voted unanimously (H. Black still on board) that "separate but equal has NO place under the Constitution." Hence, segregation is unconstitutional. But making the law stick........?
Dear Diary,
Rain has finally come to our badly parched region. A few hours ago it was coming down rather hard, but it has let up at this point. Soft and gentle, a refreshment we've long awaited.
John Williams - the composer - is 75 today and actor Nick Nolte is 66. Just announced by John Zeck, NPR commentator. Beethoven's "Symphony # 4" finished up a bit ago. Referred to as the xxxxx between two xxxxx. [?] Both the 3rd and 5th are exceptionally well-known; they are truly great works. I wonder if #4 suffers by comparison?
Only checking in, DD. When next we meet, we'll do coffee. I am sore from helping load the truck for S. At least we beat the rain.
C...
