New logo for Charlie Hudson Writes

So much for posting right after returning from my trip. I was greatly delayed in getting home on Thursday, Friday was incredibly hectic, Saturday was the Book Fair, and yesterday was up-ended by a series of unexpected events combined with scheduled things. Let me dwell on the pleasant though with the Book Fair. Actually, in all the hub-bub of prep, I forgot to take my great banner. Oh well, next time.

Let me describe the scene for you for what we believed to be Homestead’s first formal book fair. The historic (not yet rebuilt) Seminole Theater is to the left of the downtown Losner Park as you face it, with an overhang over the sidewalk. The stage for the park is in the right corner and the historic Townhall Museum is across Krome Avenue behind you. The Kiwanis had their Just-One-Book give-away (a wonderful program they have been doing for more than a year) on the sidewalk at the Seminole Theater. There were ten 10×10 tents set up on the left side of the park – two rows of five tents – with mostly two authors per tent (had a few no-shows, but still, fifteen local authors). The band was on stage, the lecture series by some of the authors was in the Museum, and there was a writer’s workshop upstairs. The downtown restaurants were open, food trucks and other vendors were arrayed along Krome Avenue.

It was a very warm day with more sun than clouds and that was a bit uncomfortable for the tents that were placed catching the sun, although since the Fair was 4-8 p.m., the conditions were pleasant by 6:00. There was a wonderful mix of ages in the crowd and it seemed that a lot of people lingered. Estimated attendance was around 400, which is the usual for similar gatherings. The atmosphere was exactly what we had hoped for and notwithstanding the inevitable few glitches, the feedback was that, yes, this should be an annual event. Now that we have the foundation laid, it will be using “lessons learned”, so the next one will be even better.

Continuing education and non-credit classes through a local community or regular college are some of those great programs for seniors. I attended an art exhibit yesterday at the wonderful ArtSouth we have here that featured a friend who has led an interesting life. (http://www.artsouthhomestead.org) There have been times of tragedy as well as extraordinary inspiration and she has always had an inclination to write – journals, short stories, poetry, but events occurred to also stir her interest in painting. I’ve posted about ArtSouth before, an enclave that provides a nurturing platform for artists in many mediums, to include a foundry. My friend began to volunteer at ArtSouth and was urged by some (sadly discouraged by a few) to take her first formal art class and when she did, it was a personal awakening that released the artist she is developing into.

Another friend is taking classes in Chinese (different college), intrigued by the complexity of the language. Community colleges often have very affordable classes in these categories precisely because they do want to make life-long learning available to people who finally have the time to pursue study that they had not able to do for one reason or the other. With the proliferation of community colleges, many places are served that had not been previously, and on-line classes are of course another option. If you’re a Baby Boomer, you may have already embraced this idea and if not, have you thought about it? What say you, readers?

It was another of those interesting lunchtime conversations where yes, a glass (or two) of wine was involved. It had to do with an incident that had occurred with my lunch companion involving another individual who has an abrasive personality and is prone (allegedly) to holding grudges. That set into motion the discussion about what is the difference in simply disliking another person (for whatever reason) and holding a grudge. After all, if you don’t like a person, there is normally a root cause, and does that root cause then mean that you are holding a grudge? We tossed that around for a bit and came to the conclusion that no, holding a grudge was a special type of reaction.

After all, there are simply personalities that you don’t like, although you can’t always clearly define why. (The fairness of that response is not in question here.) In other cases, an individual may have done you harm to some degree and that is why you don’t like that person. If that is the case, and if you have made that known, attempted to rectify the situation, and been rebuffed, then not liking that person is not the same as holding a grudge. If, on the other hand, the individual is unaware of having wronged you in whatever manner, you refuse to confront the issue, and you seek to “get even” at some point, that is holding a grudge. Having confronted an issue, being unsatisfied with the outcome, and continuing to dislike the other person is a bit “mushier”. Maybe an apology wasn’t extended, or maybe you perceived it as not sincere. Okay, then disliking the person is understandable – it is when you hope for an opportunity to “get even” that the question of holding a grudge comes in. And perhaps, more importantly, if you get and take an opportunity to “get even”, do you consider the matter settled, or do you seek yet another opportunity? This is where we determined you have crossed the line into active grudge-holding. Of course, if we’d had another glass of wine, perhaps we would have come to a different conclusion. Thoughts on this one?

I haven’t looked the studies up, but I saw a headline the other day that there has been a noticeable rise in cases of skin cancer in young women. Since we have lived in tropical climates for some time now, we are sensitive to the issue of sunscreen, but of course, not living in a warm climate can give a false sense of security for people, especially if one is already of a darker skin tone. However, as can be seen on many sites to include http://dermatology.about.com, all skin is vulnerable to sun exposure and using a low-level sunscreen (SPF 15) daily is an effective means of combating this. From a cosmetic perspective, sunscreen also helps hold wrinkles at bay.

If the cosmetic industry depended on me, they would take a drastic nose-dive in the stock market. However, a very long time ago, an older woman that I worked with told me that if I would just be sure and cleanse well and moisturize, that would make a tremendous difference in my skin. I did take that advice, although during those days about all I could afford was Noxzema (which I still think is a great product). Having attained a better financial posture, I don’t buy the really expensive stuff, but I am careful to buy a moisturizer that also has sunscreen. Fifteen is the minimum and I prefer 28-30. That’s for daily use and when I go out on the boat, I apply regular sunscreen, but I use the one for babies. Yes, I know it sounds a little odd, but here’s the thing – whose skin needs protecting more than a baby’s? Hats, too, hats are a good thing in a climate like ours.

Anyway, please give this some serious thought it you haven’t considered it lately and especially if you have influence over young women who might think sunscreen is a waste of time.