Dubliners and Wee Folk 3:31

Song without Words  by Frank O'Connor 1931

“No man is as anti-feminist as a really feminine woman.”
― Frank O'Connor

The Plain Facts

1. Length:7 pages 
2. Genre:Irish Literature
3. Characters:Brother ARnold, Brother Michael,
4. Setting:Monastery

So, what's It About Man?

“I suppose we all have our little hiding-hole if the truth was known, but as small as it is, the whole world is in it, and bit by bit grows on us again till the day You find us out.”
The monks show what happens when their secret passions are hidden from each other. The passions grow and grow and soon they rule our day. This story tells much more than this, but the moral is one about authenticity between believers.

To listen or not to listen?

Reading according to Websters Dictionary is an  activity of interpreting music, a situation, or something said or written.   But it also means to be able to read a written or printed text.  Today one can read in a variety of formats; the traditional format can be read on the computer, on one's kindle, or on a traditionally bounded set of printed words.  But also reading is now being defined as listening to books; the reader can listen to complete books via audio c.d.s or via a MP3 file, on their computer.

But is listening to an audio book reading?  Does listening to a book constitute the same experience as reading one?  Will the reader's reaction to the book be influenced by the listening experience?  Some authors have published and read their own works on an Audio format.  Neil Gammon read his Graveyard Book and recorded it onto C.D..  I ponder if my liking Fahrenheit 451 was due me listening to it, and not reading it.  Bradbury is a really good oral story teller, but is his writing good?  Hmm we ponder!

Book Clubs: No Guts, No Glory!?

I confess I love doing book clubs. But I am the only guy in the library book club called Books Sandwiched In (BSI). Every first Tuesday we have a book offered to us that we have the option to read and discuss the next First Tuesday of the month.

Men join a book club in your area if you've got the guts. 

Do I feel light in the loafers by taking part in a book discussion group? No Way! I feel that my masculinity is not challenged in any way by being a participant in BSI. Often being the sole male in the group is valuable to the whole group. I can offer insight into the stories that woman cannot offer. But the women also help me understand the books better from their shared POV. It feels good to have fellow travelers in our explorations.

There are a number of books that we all have hated. Brenda our book group leader finds books that will make for good conversation. I have had my point of view stretched by a number of the books. A novel should give you new insight that you may never have known, or even wanted to know. The art of the novel is to live the experiences of others different from ourselves.

Men may fear that they will not be accepted by the women in the group. I have never felt the death glare that tells me I am not wanted here. Not once have I felt rejected.

All right, now it's your turn to join a group in your area and be the sole guy that drives the ladies crazy.

Remember: No Guts, No Glory!

Off the Grid

Off the Grid is a heartfelt film about a bunch of bumbles living in New Mexico, in the middle of the desert. The film shows the lives of people who live Off the Grid; 

Off the Grid is defined by Urban Dictionary as - 


 1) Living without using the services of public or private utility companies (grids) such as electric, gas, or water, by generating and providing for one's needs such as by using solar power, etc. 

2) One who disdains all recordable common forms of commerce, such as eschewing any form of credit extension, banking services or reportable payroll activities, using only cash so as to avoid any traceable transactions, e.g., living completely 'underground.'))  


It is easy to overlook or gossip about people who live in an alien community: 

"Look at what they are doing!"

"They can't do that!"

"You can't live there!"

"Look at those Dharma Bums!"

But what is needed to live freely is defined in different ways; some people want absolute freedom, to live like they want to live, and do what they want to do; these people find life is best lived "Off the Grid".  Some people need the solitude only a place off the grid can offer. Some people live off the grid because they enjoy shooting guns. Some find Off the Grid the safest place to protect themselves from their former dangerous lives.  Some live off the grid because they fear society will brain wash their kids.
There is danger in living off the grid. Drugs are common here. And the law is the law of the people, vigilante old west style.
But without a full portrait, we are left arrogant. Jeremy and Randy Stulberg do a fine job of presenting these people objectively.  The people of the mesa are given a fair space to share their free formed lives.  

8 turnips out of a possible 10

Where we Stand? Open for Business

The United States is going through a period of change.  Change theory says that the first reaction will be shock; then the US reaction will move to denial; than the People will find blame in themselves; this period of Self Blame will be followed by acceptance.  Once we find acceptance and move from the river of denial we will than learn to experiment and find new ways of conducting ourselves in the United States and in the World at Large.

 The United States of America is slowly tilting to a change, a change, a change.  A change between the Old Guard watch dog conservatives, to a newer vision framed by a younger mind set.

  In a way we can blame the 1970's curriculum of "Free to Be You and Me" for the shift.  The new frame of America is shaped around acceptance of diversity, and a need to resolve all conflicts peacefully.   Their will be a battle between the old guard who desire self reliance, to the new guard who see possibility of unity in Big Government.   The important thing to do is to hold onto the rails, keep your hands and legs inside the cart, and get ready for the bumpy ride.

It is good to get informed.  It is good to comment as we will all be responsible for shaping the United States today.   Conservatives don't stop critiquing and editing the thoughts of well intentioned liberals.  For the liberals will dream and the conservatives will edit these dreams so that they are coherent to what the United States will publish to the world.

I do believe the United States will reshape itself into something we won't recognize today.  But don't fret to much,  for we (The People of the United States) will regain our footing and continue to set the tone for what it means to be a Freeman in the 21st Century.

Confessions of a Book Collecting Addict

Hi, my name is Greg and I am a book Collecting Addict!



You see it all started when I was in Kindergarten and I wanted to be a reader.   Not just a reader but one of the Blue Ribbon type of Readers.  I wanted to be considered a great reader, one that has read Mark Twain by the first grade.  One of my Childhood friends is a genius and when I was in classes with him, I wanted to be able to read what he read.   So I began to get myself to read more and more.


  But the problem was I am truly visual good cover is something that I cannot resist. A book in my hand makes me feel comfortable in all situations… 

Books gave me a sense of control, I could decide how much or how little I wanted to engage in a book. 


If I found my friends boring, I could always find a book with more interesting friends. I love my books each and every little one, and hope to one day find time to read them all.  Although dark thoughts arrest me and say, "Son, you will never have time to read them all! Why don't you bring them back to the library so that others may find them useful."

All of you Book Collecting Addicts out there; you are not alone.