It's News to Us ~ Tuesday 4

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Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we give you 4 questions to ponder and blog about each week.  The details of our lives are 'news'.

1. Do you or did you ever have a nickname? Care to share?

Yes, I've had several nicknames over the years. These were usually given to me by my maternal uncles and my maternal grandfather.  One I can share is 'jawbreaker eyes'.  My uncle called me that because in those days I had very large, dark eyes.  He thought they resembled a candy made in those days called jawbreaker. The candy was round, large, very hard & tasted like liquorice if I recall correctly.  Sadly, my eyes are no longer so large.  The candy also seems to have disappeared from the marketplace.

2.  Did you ever have a penpal or have you chatted online with someone you don't know in person?

Yes, I've had several pen pals over the years, people I never met.  I've also chatted with several people on line that I've never met and likely never will.  The last pen pal that I shared snail mail with was in my young adult years. I 'met' him through a local friend who worked at the university when I was a student there. But I can't recall why I started corresponding with him. I think my university friend thought it would be a good idea.  The man's name was Lezek.  He was Polish, married with 2 children and they all lived in Poland.  My memory is hazy but I Leszek and his wife were teachers.  I do remember that they were both deeply fascinated with Native Americans. 

This interest is what later made me back off from corresponding with Lezsek.  I was very uncomfortable with his views of Native Americans and his insistence on seeing them as historical, noble savages rather than the contemporary peoples they are today.   No matter what I shared with him, he and his wife refused to see Native Americans as contemporary beings with a rich history.  Instead they wanted to romanticize Native Americans and view them as still living in teepees, hunting game and living as they were before contact.  

In many parts of Europe, primarily Germany and Poland, there are people who romanticize Native Americans.  They have clubs were they get together each summer to go camping and try to recreate the lives they think Native Americans live/d.  They got their beliefs and teachings from the former Eastern German novel writer, Karl May. 

Karl May never actually ever met a Native American and never travelled to America but he wrote many novels about the life of Native Americans.  It was all in his imagination and still today there are so many people who believe whole heartedly in what he wrote. I met some of these people when I travelled to Germany and I also visited the Karl May museum. Anyway, the correspondence was interesting while it lasted as I also learned a bit about Poland and how his family lived.  I almost forgot, I do currently have a friend in England and we've been corresponding by snail mail for several years.  We've never met in person but if I get to England there may be an opportunity to meet.  My friend's name is Joy and she's been going through a lot of trials recently with a bitter divorce and the loss of 3 family members.

The last person I chatted with on line and whom I've never met is a man from Nigeria named Tony.  He owned an accessories shop for women though I'm not sure if he still has it. Recently he has gotten married and had a child so we haven't had an in-depth talk in some time and likely won't.  It's not likely that I'll be chatting with more people on line that I don't know.  It takes a lot of work to sift through their intentions and I no longer have an interest in doing that, nor do I have the time to do it.  Again, I almost forgot that I have another friend who I met on line when she lived in Spain. Her name is Enza and she's Italian but she has lived in Mallorca and the Netherlands, even New York City for a time more than in Italy.  Presently she lives in Dubai, UAE.  She and I keep in touch by chat and voice messages, not usually live phone calls due to the time differences and schedules. She is a dear friend though we've never met. We talk about meeting but so far we haven't done it. 

3. Do you read a  newspaper ? How do you keep up with the latest news?

I no longer read a physical newspaper but from time to time, I read some on line newspapers.  Mostly I catch 'breaking news' on Instagram (IG), You Tube and local news broadcasts. IG seems to be a good way to see what the latest breaking news is. Formerly I caught up on news through X (formerly Twitter) but since Elon Musk bought it I no longer follow.

4.  Is there any news in your life lately?

There isn't much news of interest to share.  I'm still in the middle of renovation chaos.  I've learned to live with it but I can't wait until everything is completed. I also want to update that the MRI I had several weeks ago didn't reveal anything of concern.  Just one small issue that we already knew about and which doesn't require anything more.  Thank you to those of you who remembered to pray for me when I mentioned it in this space prior to the MRI appointment.