Winnie-the-Pooh

Hi everyone. This week’s Wednesday Hodgepodge is all Pooh-themed. How lovely! I can’t wait to read everyone else’s answers, but first I’ll write up my own.

1. On January 18th we commemorate A.A. Milne’s birthday. Milne is the author of the beloved classic Winnie the Pooh. In many ways Pooh represents innocence and simplicity. His optimism and ability to see beauty in everything reminds us to appreciate the little things. What are three little things you’re appreciating in mid-January?
Little things? Let me think. First, a visit from my mother-in-law. Second, a great bargain on a winter coat last Saturday. My spouse told me fall is the right time for buying a new winter coat, but I didn’t know back then that my old winter coat would get a tear in it in January. Thankfully, my new winter coat was not only on sale for just €30 but it was also much nicer than my old one. Third, phone calls with my spouse.

2. Piglet teaches us even the smallest of individuals can achieve big things with the proper amount of determination. How do your current responsibilities make you feel?
I feel pretty good about them. Sometimes, I feel ready to take on more responsibilities. We’ll have my care plan review on the 29th, so we’ll see what comes out of that.

3. Tigger is known for his enthusiasm and energy, his boundless joy and love of life. What’s something you’re interested in learning more about in this new year?
Too many things. I want to broaden my crafty horizons, learn more about personality-related topics such as the Enneagram, start cooking for my fellow residents, etc. Oh wait, the question was specific…

4. Eeyore, while a melancholy character, teaches us the importance of resilience and perseverance. How do you stay motivated and persevere in difficult circumstances.
I try to focus on self-care and also on positive activities that I enjoy. When I’m in a rut, I celebrate even the smallest of things I accomplish with respect to self-care.

5. Last thing you ate that was made with honey?
Not a food but a drink: a smoothie to which I added honey as a sweetener. I can’t remember the last thing with honey in it I actually ate. Maybe honey licorice, although that probably just has honey flavoring in it.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
No “Freezer Fiat” yet. For whatever reason, the license plate wasn’t ready yet, so we won’t get our new car till next week.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is about books you’ve read that you’d add to your personal library. What is meant are books that you don’t own a physical copy of and wish you did. Well, I can’t quite use physical books, as I can’t read print and Braille books are very clunky. However, there are still books I wish I owned that I borrowed from the library. Here goes.

1. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I read it in its Dutch translation in one of my last years in primary school and, though I didn’t enjoy it that much at the time, I’d love to read the original English right now. My father read it in English at the same time that I read it in Dutch.

2. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. My father read my sister and me the best Dutch translation by Nienke van Hichtum. This yet again isn’t a book I’d necessarily want a physical copy of, though that’d be nice, but I’d love to read it in its original language.

3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I read this in my senior year of high school. Though I easily accessed it online back then, legally or not I’m not entirely sure, I would love to own a copy.

4. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Hannah Green. I borrowed this one from the UK’s National Library for the Blind and actually read it as a physical Braille book. Back then, you could send Braille books free of postage anywhere and the NLB offered its service to international customers. Bookshare, the U.S.-based online accessible book service, at the time didn’t, which was the main reason I used the NLB. I loved this book.

5. Planet of the Blind by Stephen Kusiisto. Another book I borrowed from the NLB. I loved how much I could relate to Kusiisto’s experienfce, going blind gradually from the same eye condition I suffer from.

6. Aspergirls by Rudy Simone. I had this book as an eBook, but lost it when I moved from Adobe Digital Editions to the iBooks app on my iPhone. I didn’t actually finnish this book, but would love to.

7. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I read the first book in this series in its Dutch translation at age twelve. Though I really don’t think I’ll ever read the other books, as they get really weird or so I’m told, I’d love to have a copy of this one.

8. All of Astrid Lindgren’s books. I don’t know whether they’re available in English, so I’d go with the Dutch translations.

9. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I read it in Dutch when I was about thirteen, but I borrowed it from the library back then. I’d love to own a physical copy of both the original Dutch and the English translation.

10. Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. This was an intriguing autobiography by a man with Asperger’s. I read it in its Dutch translation before I had access to many English-language books and would love to own a copy of the original English.

Which books would you add to your personal library?

The Wednesday Hodgepodge (January 17, 2024)

Books I’d Add to My Personal Library