Saturday, December 27, 2014

Random vs Structured

Many years ago I learned these terms, random and structured, as they apply to ways people may be classified.  The older I get, the more profound I find these terms--I live them, people around me live them, and they can damage.

First, a structured person starts at the beginning and goes straight through to the end. Everything is organized: a place for everything, everything in its place. Order is the living creed. Everything is done now, not tomorrow. These people don't know the word procrastinate. Because of their nature, random people annoy the heck out of them.

Random people are just that: they lack structure, don't seem to have an idea of time management. Finishing projects is usually difficult, but when done, they are creative, inspirational, flamboyant, or subtle. While the day may begin organized, organization is not a catch-word for Randoms. Structured folks cannot abide the disorganization and lack of time management in randoms. On the other hand, Randoms scratch their heads and look askance at the Structureds and say, what the heck. What's bothering them?

Thus, the eternal conflict between the two groups. My sister lives near her daughter and son-in-law, both highly structured. There she is--a Random with no one else like her in the area. I live near my mother and brother and sister-in-law, all Structureds. I drive them crazy. Yet, I try to live with their constant criticisms of me. I think Paul McCartney and Wings best expressed it: "Live and let live!" Anyway, that's my motto.

Note: Structureds have another name but I could not remember it or find it on the internet.

A favorite souvenir

A favorite souvenir
These are my two girls from Ireland!

Judy's shared items

Books on my very ambitious TBR list (*denotes read)

  • *Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox
  • The Odd Women by George Gissing
  • The Zen of Fish by Trevor Corson
  • How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Raji Codell
  • The Cod Tale by Mark Kurlansky
  • In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
  • *Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
  • Dag Hammarskjold by Elizabeth Rider Montgomery
  • The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Rabbi Michael L. Munk
  • Children of Strangers by Lyle Saxon
  • Spiritual Writings by Flannery O'Connor
  • Nightmares and Visions: Flannery O'Connor and the Catholic Grotesque by Gilbert H. Muller
  • The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor
  • Flannery O'Connor's South by Robert Coles
  • Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
  • Sylvanus Now by Donna Morrissey
  • *Vincent de Paul by Margaret Ann Hubbard
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
  • A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
  • The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
  • Readicide by Kelly Gallagher
  • *Ruined by Paula Morris
  • Say You're Not One of Them by Uwem Akpan
  • Wandering Star by J.M.G. Le Clezio
  • Silence by Shusaku Endo
  • *The Assault by Harry Mulisch
  • Kari's Saga by Robert Jansson
  • *The German Mujahid by Boualem Sansal
  • Western Skies by Joseph Conrad
  • *The Giver by Lois Lowery
  • *Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski

School Library Journal - NeverEndingSearch

Imperium

Imperium
A semester course in one book about the Soviet Union. Click on image for my review.