Creative Nonfiction Blog by Brenda Gaines Hunter

Quote of the Week

Brenda — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:32:01 PST

I don't want to know what the law is; I want to know who the judge is. ~ Roy M. Cohn

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Heaven

Brenda — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:38:57 PST

I started thinking about free will again. Free will is not a quality that humans have that is separate from God, but instead it is a gift that is granted freely by God to keep us engaged in life. However, I am now wondering if during my afterlife (I guess I'm assuming that I'll have one), God will allow me to have my vices. In "heaven" can I have all of the food I want: lobster, crab, steaks, ribs, white sauces, butter. I haven't had butter in almost two years, and I want some. How about...

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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Brenda — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:33:21 PST

I have never been able to answer that question. Perhaps had I actually grown up I'd know by now. When I was a child, I told my parents that I wanted to be a lawyer, like Perry Mason, and I later reiterated that I wanted to go to college. They just stared at me. I've always loved architecture and astronomy, as well. As a child, I spent hours and days and weeks building houses and entire cities out of anything and everything imaginable. But life went awry. I ended up in foster care and could not...

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Rigor

Brenda — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:03:54 PST

I was asked today, What does elegance and beauty have to do with rigor? During my Beautiful Theories post, I included rigor when discussing the beauty and elegance of a theory. I didn't know why I threw that in either at first. I've stated that "simplicity is elegance". I believe that is true. When a statement or argument is simple, almost 'commonsense', it is difficult to defeat. It has already been reduced to it lowest constituents. It's balanced. It gives that feeling of "Eureka!" That same...

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Beautiful Theories...

Brenda — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:58:48 PST

Scientists' greatest pleasure comes from theories that derive the solution to some deep puzzle from a small set of simple principles in a surprising way. These explanations are called "beautiful" or "elegant". Historical examples are Kepler's explanation of complex planetary motions as simple ellipses, Bohr's explanation of the periodic table of the elements in terms of electron shells, and Watson and Crick's double helix. Einstein famously said that he did not need experimental confirmation of...

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Another Word: Pete Johnson

Brenda — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:03:51 PST

Now back to Roll 'em Pete by Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson. I believe that Pete Johnson was a magician on that piano, or there are actually two piano players. Two piano players would account for why there is a back-beat in that song, the necessary requirement for a song to be classified as rock 'n roll. However, I will concede that Pete Johnson was a superb pianist in any case. 13 Turner, Big Joe - Roll 'Em Pete (12/30/1938)

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A Little More Big Joe Turner

Brenda — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:12:44 PST

I can't find a date for Big Joe Turner's version. (I'll continue to look.) But I found a record store that sells very old records. I just might start a collection. Records and English coins. (I still need a King Stephen, by the way. Got a Robert the Bruce--not English, eh.) Would need a record player, too. In any case, the recordings are below. Enjoy! 16 Big Joe Turner - Night Time is the Right Time (60) Now compare Big Joe Turner's original version with Ray Charles'. I think both did a...

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God's Omnipotence & Free Will

Brenda — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:04:40 PST

Now what am I going to do with this? Well, I'm going to stay the course on this issue. Keep my beliefs. I do believe that God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, but I don't believe he is omniscient and omnipresent. I think some things just slip by him, and sometimes when he finally does intervene all he can do is hold our hands to help us to feel better. And that is also why we are free to choose how to behave. God is not always here to hold our hands. That's what I wrote the other night....

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Jewish Concepts and Elements III

Brenda — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:40:01 PST

God's Relationship to Humanity; God is personal ...is the belief of most Jewish sects. We have a relationship with God, which is reflected in learning the Torah and the higher truths that allow the intellect to connect with God and be immortalized and enjoyed in "Glory of the Presence" of God for all eternity. In the midrash (stories that fill in the gaps), God also cares about us in the same way that we care about God. Moses Maimonides and many other medieval Jewish philosophers rejected the...

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Jewish Concepts and Elements II

Brenda — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:37:06 PST

Broke my promise last night, because I was too tired to keep it. For the first time, in a very long time, I was too tired last night to write anything. So I neglected my promise to talk about a concept of Judaism each day for a few days. Today: God is all-powerful. God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. The Tanakh: “Attribute to the Lord all glory and power” (Psalms 29). That is the belief of most Orthodox Jewish sects. However, most Jewish rabbinic texts also present God as omnibenevolent...

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