Finale!

Well folks, after about a week (more or less) of looking at this blank screen, I’ve concluded that this adventure of “Blog Posting” is over!

I’ve lost my inspiration.

I even asked you for some, in a previous posting.

So, it’s been coming on now for a couple of weeks, or more.

Who knows what MIGHT bring it (the inspiration, that is) back again, but for now, I’m gabbed out!

(Ok, Mike. Nobody’s gonna believe that!)

I checked, and it looks like I’ve made 139 postings here, mostly blabbing about whatever comes to mind - as an inspiration.

It’s not that I won’t have any more “weird” happenings in my life. They’ll always be there, I think. But, whether to have the inspiration to “set them down” on paper or not, is the question.

After all, I DO now have the inspiration to finish editing 46 more of these postings for another book, to be tentatively entitled “More Musings From Mike”. That’ll take another two months or more.

Thinking about these past postings, though, several thoughts come to mind:

I have a penchant for using unusual words for some things. Most times, it’s just the right word for the occasion - though occasionally I have used them as a show-off, I think. And other times, just for fun.

Actually, these words normally come to mind from some previous use of them - by me, or someone else - but occasionally, I’ve gotten them from some British mystery novel I’m reading. I look it up, and with the definition in mind, I store it into my subconsciousness, waiting for a propitious time to use it. I don’t TRY to find a spot for it, but sometimes it just “comes to mind”.

In the previous paragraph, I used the word “subconsciousness”. After doing so, I thought I’d better check. First of all, is it a word? Secondly, should it be hyphenated?

Dictionary - Yes, it is a word! Secondly, it should NOT be hyphenated.

Speaking of British novels, I think those guys (or gals) PURPOSELY use the biggest, and most unusual words they can find, just to “show up” us Americans. They KNOW we’re “definitionally” inept. (Well, that’s NOT a word, at least in my dictionary, but it describes what I’m trying to say. It does list the word “definitional” as an adjective.)

More commonly said, “They know we’re not good at definitions of big words”

As I said, most of these words just normally came to mind, from some time that I used - or heard it used - in the past. The word just seems to fit the occasion.

OK - - - - sometimes I just show-off.

One of the words I used that caused some reaction was the word “posit”. Like “he may not always agree with what I posit here”.

This word just came to me naturally as I was writing that piece. I don’t know where I ever heard it before, but I was confident of its meaning, and used it without question. It means to “put something forward”, or “suggest something”. (I DID look it up, as always, before I “put to bed” that posting.) It never occurred to me that it would be questioned.

The question was, “Was that a ‘typo’, that should have been ‘post’, instead?” No……..I meant to use that word, without question. However, I can easily see how someone could think it was a typo. After all, what I do with these writings is to “post” them.

The one “posting” I did that included 20 or more of those British words - along with their definition - was obviously “overkill”. (I just looked up that word, and had to remove the hyphen I had used.) I’m sure hardly anyone really read all of those words, but it just emphasized what I’ve been saying about the British writers - they think we’re ignorant!

Occasionally, I use one of the unusual words incorrectly. There’s no question in my mind about what the word means but I may mistakenly think it’s a “noun”, when it’s an “adjective”.

For example I ALMOST used the word “intrepid” incorrectly. I was talking about being “up-to-date”, and I ALMOST said, “Since I am intrepid, I have a cell phone.”

Intrepid means, “fearless and/or brave” (mostly fearless), and just to be sure of the meaning, I looked it up before posting, and found out that “intrepid” is an adjective, not a noun. So……….I finally said, “Since I’m an intrepid kind of guy……”. That was correct - at least the grammar part.

Some of the inspiration for these postings come from just the strange way things happen, or many times, how the circumstances just “scream out” for a “God moment” acknowledgement.

Like, how I “happened upon” the fact that the Speedway store had installed an ATM from my bank - Chase. I hadn’t visited that Speedway - or any other one here - since I had moved back. In fact, I had been trying for months to find a Chase Bank to get cash from my checking account, without having to pay two fees. And, this was just two days before I was leaving for a Florida vacation with our granddaughter Kelly, and her family. I needed more cash than you can normally get from an ATM.

God moment!

The strange way people seem to recognize my voice is one of the things that is “weird”. I mentioned a couple of them.

Falling and breaking my nose was an incident that I was inspired to write about. Doing so was a reminder to me to be more careful, at my age, as I walk or move around.

Last Sunday at church, the son-in-law of a lady my age, told me how she had fallen backwards, and hit her head. I went up to her, not knowing she was aware of my fall, and I said, “You know, you’d better be careful where you step so you won’t fall”. She said, “Speak for yourself, Bub” That’s almost what she said.

Time with my grandchildren is always precious to me, and deeply impressed upon my mind. So……I write about these experiences.

Funny things like losing my socks in the washer/dryer, strike me as something someone else might identify with.

One of the most remarkable happenings was how I “ran across” a lady who knew nearly everyone I knew, growing up, but we didn’t even know the other one existed. We’ve been living in the same complex now for months.

The postings that mean the most to me, it seems now, are: The three about New Guinea and Manila; the three about my Radio Ministry; and the four about my school experiences. They were the longest, at least.

Just reading about Jean’s sister’s 9 children, and how they treat their mother was a delight to me.

Jean and I took several vacations in the 65 years we were married, and though several are commented on here, not all of them were. But, these seemed to me to be of interest - at least to family members.

Actually, truth be known, these postings are mostly for present and future “Maddexes” and relatives, as Kelly envisioned when she suggested the book. Others have enjoyed some of them also.

Down this far, I just now wondered if I had used the right word for the title of this posting - “Finale!” If it was incorrect, I was going to change it. So, as usual, I looked it up. As I was reading the definition, I began to get worried, because..... well, just read it:

fi·nal·e

fi·nal·e [fi nállee, fi nlee]
(plural fi·nal·es)
n
1. final theatrical scene: a scene or musical number that brings a stage performance or an act of a performance to an end
2. final section of music: a final movement or section of a musical composition
3. final event in series: an event that is the last or climactic event in a series


[Mid-18th century. Via Italian < Latin finalis (see final)]
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

I guess the third definition fits this “Finale!”.

Another “snag” I occasionally come upon, is the use of quotation marks at the end of a sentence. Do they go before, or after the period?

It seems to me, that, if the quotation is within another sentence, the period would be at the end. If, however, the period ends a part of the quotation, shouldn’t it be BEFORE the quotation marks? I don’t have it down yet, and I’m sure I haven’t been consistent. I just did what seemed right at the time.

Though grammar is a hobby of mine, I am certainly NOT an expert!

A final quandary (dilemma) for me is in deciding what subject is worthy of posting - on this blog.

I guess, since it IS MY blog, I should have the final say in what is included. But……..sometimes there are personal issues of someone else who is mentioned. And, it is equally unsettling as to whether the name should be mentioned at all.

I’ve been told that the mention of someone no longer living is not even a possible question. But, how about a living person? I’m not talking about libel issues now, but whether or not any name should be mentioned - without their specific permission. Names I HAVE mentioned have been in a positive manner, and not pejoratively at all.

The same with organizations.

There were 3 different postings I made about an organization that I was a member and officer of several years ago, and some of the comments were not positive, in describing what went on. After some months, I deleted these three postings totally, in the interest of fairness.

FINALLY, other than the 45 years I spent in the Christian Radio Ministry; 65 years of marriage to Jean; and the 62 years I’ve been a parent, grandparent and great-grandparent, I’ve had no greater satisfaction than these 140 postings I’ve now made here, and, hopefully, the two books that have followed.

My profound thanks to all who have taken the time to read this stuff!

Mike Maddex
December 31, 2009