Author Archives: ruthek

Need help putting photos into blog

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I've spent most of these freezing days continuing to work on my China book. While I make the book using Adobe InDesign I am also proofreading and adding photos to my original posts. You can see them up to and including October 18. I am appalled at some of the errors I found and even more appalled by the problems I've been having putting multiple photos into that WordPress.com blog. There is something called a "Gallery" that I don't fully understand and can't find adequate documentation for.

I was planning to use WordPress when I teach the blogging class, but I'm having second thoughts. I can't teach something I don't fully understand. I don't seem to be able to use individual pictures and a gallery in the same post; the individual pictures show up in the gallery, also. I have so many photos I want to use just a few large ones and smaller ones for the rest. I'm sure I can put in each picture, large or small, one at a time. There is a feature allowing uploading of many pictures at one time. But I can't figure out how to get them in the post without putting the entire gallery in. Can anyone help me with this?

One of the things I like about this Typepad blog is the ability to create photo albums. I will probably take advantage of it to post my garden pictures from Japan. You've only seen a few of them.

Numbers rule my life

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The sun is shining; there is snow on the ground and it is minus six degrees here in Pittsburgh with a high of four degrees predicted. Yesterday was similarly cold; I don't remember seeing the sun. My class was canceled yesterday. I thought about going to work out, but never got there. Today, I'm not even thinking about it. Instead I spent about a half hour doing my leg exercises.

Exercise has become very important to me. I lost about 15 pounds while I was in Asia because I was doing so much walking. I confess I was not on a diet. I ate very well in China and frequently had chocolate or other candies. In Japan, I ate a lot of bread, sweet rolls, and other no-no's. For most of those two months I walked most of every day. I don't do that here. On days like today, I won't walk at all.

I don't want to gain back the weight–altogether too easy for me to do. So I have no nosh in the house. I have food; I'm not going hungry. There is tofu, spinach, another kind of tofu, tomatoes, clementines, but no sweet rolls, scones, cookies, not even popcorn. It's driving me nuts. I've been working on my China book with breaks to continue organizing my work room. Every so often I get up, walk into the kitchen, remember there is nothing I want to eat and go back to work. It's very difficult. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 19 degrees–I'll go out and walk.

Chicago, China and Japan

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I am supposed to go to Chicago next month, and I'm actually thinking about not going. I love going to Chicago; I don't know what's wrong with me. I was planning to drive–the amount of snow on the ground there doesn't please me. I haven't bothered to find a place to stay. I suspect I won't go. I was supposed to meet Renee but she really doesn't need me. I'd love to see her, but…

I started working on my China book. Last year I used a 2 column format with miscellaneous stuff in the second column, like emails or information about the places I visited copied from various websites. I was never entirely happy with the result. I think it's confusing. This time I am putting the the info in a double column at the bottom of the page, in some instances, and just using separate pages where I want to include a lot. I don't know if it will be less confusing, but it's much easier to set up. I haven't done anything with emails or chats, yet. I'm including more pictures than I put in the blog. So far, I've only done the two days I was in Shanghai and I've got 31 pages.

I've also been doing lots of reading about Japanese gardens. I read a couple of these books before I went. They are much more meaningful now. Also, I found a book that explains most of what they do to the trees: Niwaki, by Jake Hobson. That's the best, yet.

I don't know how I'll handle Japan. I may do a separate garden book. Or maybe a book about trees and another about rocks. I got teased about not understanding that rock pictures were about music. In my mind rock pictures are about rocks.
Taizoin-Tenruji: - 14

A kiss

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I had not intended to publish this when it appeared on Saturday afternoon. It was a draft and I intend to continue working on it. I was working on the funky computer I traveled with, and I swear it has a life of it's own. The ending has changed. If you read it before, please read it again.

Last night I went to our usual Shabbat dinner at Robin and Steve's. I
enjoy these dinners. It's a way of connecting with the family; finding
out what's been happening all week; just being family together. There
were just the four of us; Charna was home, but Eli is back in Chicago. 
This weekend they had a house guest, a rabbi who had come to visit their
synagogue. He had dinner at the synagogue and arrived at the house just
as we were cleaning up from dinner. When he was introduced to me I put
out my hand to shake his just as he was about to bend down to  kiss me.
He stopped and shook my hand. I didn't think much about the whole thing
until this morning. He had tea and dessert with us; told us about some
of his experiences interviewing at various synagogues and some things
about the place he works.

As I was getting ready to leave the rabbi came over to say goodby
and kissed me; I didn't duck in time. I've been thinking about this ever since. I don't like
being kissed except by family, close friends and people I am intimate
with. At gallery openings I accept that everyone kisses everyone; I
don't like  it, but it doesn't offend me. This kiss bothered me. I thought it was
the sweet old lady, grandmother type of kiss; the same kind of subtle ageism Ronni Bennett
writes about. But Robin told me he tried to kiss her too. She also managed to shake hands. So maybe it wasn't ageism; maybe I'm too sensitive; maybe rabbis from the east coast kiss everyone. I still don't like it. I think it devalues the kiss.

Coffee

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I couldn't fall asleep last night; probably because of the cup of coffee I drank in the afternoon. I intended to have decaf, but I think I just asked for coffee. I tossed and turned, got an inspiration for a difficult email and got up to work on it, closed the computer and my eyes and still didn't fall asleep. I think it finally happened about 4 am, but I was up before the alarm rang at seven, couldn't open my eyes and stayed in bed listening to NPR for an hour.

I usually drink tea, although I love coffee. Twenty years ago, while I was in Alaska with Raja, I began to feel very ill–upset stomach type ill. I couldn't figure it out–this never happens to me. Finally I realized that while I was shopping I was drinking the coffee available in each shop we entered. It seemed a great way to warm up and the coffee smelled wonderful, thick and black. I stopped drinking it, felt much better, and finally switched to tea. I still drink coffee, but only very rarely and usually only when I am assured of a good cup. Since I moved to Pittsburgh and started back to school I find the coffee very attractive. Somehow school and coffee seem to go together, but I guess it's another practice that has to stop.

I will be teaching a class about blogging for my University of Pittsburgh Osher program, beginning March 21. As I prepare for the class I will post some of my thoughts about teaching and creating a blog on Silver Streakers. I'm not too happy about posting to a third blog. I started Silver Streakers at the urging of Len Zapler, a fellow Osher paticipant, but he seems to have lost interest and the blog has had no action since last summer. If you have any interest in teaching blogging, come visit me there. I would be delighted to have your input.

Moments of reality

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The sun was shining; the sky was blue and cloudless; despite the cold I decided to walk to East Liberty and pick up my prescriptions at Walgreens. There's a Borders in the same complex as the drugstore and I stopped in to warm up. While I was browsing in the magazine section, in fact looking at a jewelry mag, a woman questioned me, "What kind of jewelry do you make?" One of the great things about Pittsburgh is that people talk to you. We had a long, very pleasant conversation during which she mentioned she had been a librarian. I told her I thought that was something I might have enjoyed doing. She said, why don't you do it? Go back to school. I said no, I didn't want to work again. We left it at that, but I've been thinking about it all day. I think this was the first time I've acknowledged to myself that I am too old to do something.

This evening I finally went through the pile of papers I brought back from my trip. It made me very sad. I will probably never return to Japan, although I would very much like to. I have finally, at almost 75 years, concluded I would not do another trip like that alone and as inexpensively as I have done these last two. Having money makes things much easier, and I no longer have confidence that my money will outlast me. I may have to go back to work, yet.

The lady in Borders had the same undaunted attitude I had a year ago. This has been a hard year for me, sometimes wonderful, occasionally frightful; it has very much altered my vision of myself and my attitude. I hope I can recover my sense of invincibility, or maybe it's just a fantasy I've had for 74 years.

Sunday walk

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I smell like latkes, or rather my coat smells like latkes. I've taken the coat out for several airings, but it doesn't seem to go away. Everything else has gone into the laundry. I went to two Hanuka parties where they fried the latkes (potato pancakes) after we arrived. Latkes are good on Hanuka, but not having to smell them for days afterward.

The weather has been amazing these last two days. Yesterday was in the high 60's and I didn't wear a coat. It's colder today, but the sky is that beautiful blue and the sun feels warm. The radio was forcasting high winds; I wasn't sure I wanted to go out. After Robin told me it was beautiful I put on my coat and started walking. Pretending I was still in Japan I took my camera with me. This was the first thing to catch my eye.

Library - 10280

I watched the red house being painted before I left. It makes an amazing contract with the pristine white lady next to it; almost enough to inspire a story.

Further on this tree spoke to me.
Library - 10283
It's not like the Japanese gardens, but somehow the trees give me the same feeling.

I finally got to Trader Joe's where I had one of their little cups of coffee and bought a few things I should have left in the store. They have great nosh and I don't want to gain back the weight I lost.

Another travel concern

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Here in Pittsburgh we always seem to be flying on small planes, which use those awful stairs to get you off and on. I know there are jetways that fit those planes, but they are seldom used. Getting on the plane at Dulles I had to walk down the steps from the gate, walk across the tarmac, then walk up the steps to the plane. Arriving in Pittsburgh I had to do the same thing. Those of you who followed my trip in China and Japan know that I am phobic about steps: not all steps, but certain ones with narrow treads and steep angles. Granted these things have railings–otherwise I might just stand there and scream–I don't like them. I want to know what they do with you when you are in a wheelchair. Or what happens if you get sick while the plane is enroute?

I asked the flight attendant and the Traveler's Aid people in Pittsburgh, but never got an answer. The next time I have to fly from Pittsburgh this will be an issue for me. It wasn't too terrifying this time because I had no carry-on luggage with me, only my purse, which hangs across my chest. I was able to use both hands on the railings. No one has ever offered to help me when I've been carrying a bag. Would they help if I was in a wheelchair?

Pittsburgh has a large elder population. Will the airlines figure out they ought to accomodate us, or do we stop flying?

Home in Pittsburgh

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I am having a hard time getting back to normal. I not only have to get my body back on Eastern Standard Time, I have to put my apartment back together. My tenants left the same day I was supposed to return. (You can read about my miserable trip home, here.) They cleaned up and left everything in good shape, but I had pulled everything apart and stored all my personal stuff in my second bedroom. Now I am putting it all back in place. Many things are still over at Robin's house. I have been slowly bringing things back. My biggest problem seems to be getting enough sleep. I slept for 12 hours on Thursday night; ten hours last night. It's not even 1 pm and I am ready to get back in bed. When will this end?

I am actually trying very hard not to take naps. Also, I have been doing what ever I can to get back to normal, whatever that is. This morning I went out with my walking group. It was cold but not unpleasant. When I logged on to the computer after my walk the Weatherbug thing said it was 53 F. in Kyoto. More like 31 F. here. But it's been great being with the family, particularly seeing Eli, and I would have missed that had I stayed in Kyoto. Weather isn't everything.