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Keillor on Happiness, Love

In a recent newspaper column, Garrison Keillor wrote: “I never won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, but then neither did Seinfeld or Johnny Carson, so who cares? And instead of major awards, I have these old friends. Some luck lies not in getting what you want but getting what you have, which — once you take a good look — you may realize is what you would’ve wanted if you had only known. I’m not sure that sentence is grammatically correct but it’s true.”

This reminded me of a similar aphorism: “Happiness is wanting what you have.’ I do and I am.

A few days later, the king of aphorism scored again, “so I’ve come to accept that being loved by one person is an amazement…” Several of you reading this once loved me deeply and completely, as I did in return. It still an amazement. Thank you.

April 04, 2021 in Personal |

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Paul Schindler on TV

  • Paul Schindler on TV
    Starting with an appearance on a WBZ public access program in 1972, I've been on local and national TV numerous times, mostly as a game show contestant (I also appeared on the game shows Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Scrabble , Win Ben Stein's Money and Merv Griffin's Crosswords)and as an author. I was also on the Computer Chronicles for years. Read my game show journals, Here are my journal entries for three of my game show appearances: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Merv Griffin's Crosswords
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Paul's Reading

  • Wright, Robert: Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment

    Wright, Robert: Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
    It is an amazing and impressive work, using evolutionary biology to demonstrate the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings about not-self and meditation. (*****)

  • Doty MD, James R.: Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

    Doty MD, James R.: Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart
    I agree with the Dalai Lama, this is a remarkable and compelling book, similar to The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior, as it tells the story of a young man meeting an unlikely teacher and learning life-changing lessons--in this case about meditation and visualization. It should be given to every 12-year-old in the world. My grandson will get it.

  • Sittenfeld, Curtis: Rodham: A Novel

    Sittenfeld, Curtis: Rodham: A Novel
    “Hillary Clinton Fan Fiction,” about her life if she hadn’t married Bill. It mixes fact with fiction and the romantic scenes are chilling in their accurate portrayal of what love is like. The fictional timeline of the American presidency is worth the price of admission by itself. (*****)

  • Kadish, Rachel: The Weight of Ink

    Kadish, Rachel: The Weight of Ink
    Very long but very gripping examination of the difficulties of being a woman during the plague in England in the 17th century, and in American Academia in the 21st century. (*****)

  • Strayed, Cheryl: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

    Strayed, Cheryl: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
    This book is sweet and wonderful. Cheryl Stayed was the writer of an advice column called “Dear Sugar,” and the book is a reprint of her advice. In general, I am a sucker for column collections, but this one more so than usual. Her advice is consistent, loving and interesting and her cast of characters is amazing and amusing.

  • Yoerg, Sonja: Stories We Never Told

    Yoerg, Sonja: Stories We Never Told
    In a nutshell, this novel is a taut, brilliant, twisty story about the inside of human minds. Turns out people are complex, something the author would appreciate, being a psychologist. It has been years since a novel had me literally on the edge of my seat the way this one did. I read the last 1/3 of the book in a straight shot, because Vicki refused to tell me who did what to whom. (*****)

  • Siegel, Bernie S.: Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients

    Siegel, Bernie S.: Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients
    Although it was first published in 1984, I just came to this book. It should be handed out by any oncologist to any patient whose diagnosis is cancer. It is an amazing summary of the effect of the mind on physical health. “True healing teaches patients how to live.” Increase your odds of survival? “Independence, optimism, faith and trust in your doctor.” (*****)

  • Kirk, Lucy: The Poison Factory: Operation Kamera

    Kirk, Lucy: The Poison Factory: Operation Kamera
    After a half century of avidly reading spy novels, I find, for the first time since my teenage self haunted the newsstand, waiting for the latest episode of James Bond in Playboy, that I am excited about the publication of a new entry into the genre: Lucy Kirk’s novel Poison Factory: Operation Kamera. And I mean REALLY new, because the protagonist is not James or George but Decktora “Decky” Raines. Just as I am tired of pale, male and stale in my choice of politicians, I have grown tired of pale, male and stale spy novel protagonists and authors. (*****)

  • Jacobs, Gregg D.: Say Good Night to Insomnia: The Six-Week, Drug-Free Program Developed At Harvard Medical School

    Jacobs, Gregg D.: Say Good Night to Insomnia: The Six-Week, Drug-Free Program Developed At Harvard Medical School
    This book could have made a serious difference in my life, had I the discipline to follow its Sleep Hygiene program. It turns out I didn’t, but if you can I am here to tell you it will change your life and improve your sleep beyond comprehension. You’ll never need a sleeping pill or a Tylenol PM or even melatonin again. This is the only scientifically proven sleep program that involves no drugs. When I found I couldn’t do it by myself, I took the six-week course based on the book offered by Kaiser (and, I am sure, by other health organizations). That’s how I know it works. If you read it carefully, and do what it says (easier said than done, I know), I guarantee you it will be life-changing. If you are a person than can stay on Weight Watchers without meetings, just buy the book. Otherwise, buy the book, read it, and then take the class.You won't lose weight, but you will sleep better. (*****)

  • Nelson, Rob: Hacking Reality: Upgrade Your Life From the Inside Out

    Nelson, Rob: Hacking Reality: Upgrade Your Life From the Inside Out
    Quantum physics came after my time (or in one of the classes I skipped), so I never quite got it. Rob Nelson thinks he did, but not in a way, I suspect, most physicists would. He says we don’t actually store out memories in our heads, we store them in the Quantum Cloud, share them with the other people involved, and access them via cosmic wi-fi. And he says we can hack those memories in the cloud. I tried it. It helped me deal with trauma. My wife is a psychotherapist, and has had some success as well. He also says we are a blueprint in the cloud, and that our physical existence is just a moment-to-moment copy of the blueprint, which sometimes gets corrupted in transmission. It helped me, it might help you, and, in any case, it makes good reading. (*****)

Favorite Movies

  • My all-time favorite movie:
    Groundhog Day. I have created a fan site that is universally acknowledged to be the best on the Internet dedicated to this work of art.

    All the rest of my favorite movies (Deadline USA, The Paper, CitizenKane) are Journalism movies.

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